Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #40

Singles Night! Singles Night! At the Virtual Hot Tub, yeah!!! Yes it’s that time again, hot tubbers – grab yourself a drink and let’s enjoy the latest Singles Night playlist!

If you’re not sure what’s going down, it’s like this: your Old pal Platinum Al has a big pile of unplayed, sexy 7 inch vinyl records – and they need to be played. So we’ll spin ’em, A side then B side, one after the other, and have the rad time while we do it.

Sound like fun? Ok, here we go…

  1. The Stylistics – “You Make Me Feel Brand New” / “Only For The Children”
  2. Scott McKenzie – “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)” / “What’s the Difference”
  3. Sylvester – “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” / “Was it Something I Said”
  4. Nik Kershaw – “Don Quixote” / “Don’t Lie”
  5. The Mighty Wah! – “Come Back” / “The Devil in Miss Jones”
  6. Blondie – “Dreaming” / “Sound Asleep”
  7. Bryan Adams – “Can’t Stop This This We Started” / “It’s Only Love (Live)”
  8. Muddy Waters – “Mannish Boy” / “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man”
  9. The Creatures – “Mad Eyed Screamer” / “So Unreal” / “But Not Them”
  10. Los Lobos – “La Bamba” / “Charlena”
  11. Kate Robbins – “Run Wild” / “Cassie’s Song”
  12. Kim WIlde – “I Can’t Say Goodbye” / “Sanjazz Megamix”
  13. Crystal Gayle – “When I Dream” / “Someday Soon”
  14. Samantha Fox – “Aim to Win” / “Holding”
  15. Billy Ray Cyrus – “Achy Breaky Heart” / “I’m So Miserable”
  16. Boney M. – “Gotta Go Home” / “El Lute”
  17. Nina Simone – “My Baby Just Cares For Me” / “Love Me or Leave Me”
  18. The Monks – “Nice Legs, Shame About Her Face” / “You’ll Be The Death of Me”
  19. Transvision Vamp – “Baby I Don’t Care” / “Time For Change” / “Strings of My Heart”
  20. Sinitta – “love on a Mountain Top” / “Don’t Tell Me Not to Cry”
  21. The Alarm – “Unsafe Building” / “Up For Murder”

Now that’s a pretty eclectic playlist. Covering all manner of genres from pop, soul/disco, rock, punk, country, blues and more.

The absolute cream of the crop is the Muddy Waters single – “Mannish Boy” is one of the greatest songs ever written. This version came from a late 80s Levis commercial, always a handy way to pick up reissued classic songs. Similar with the equally awesome Nina Simone record.

The Stylistics are one of my Dad’s favourite bands and something I grew up with. Any Disco records on these lists are a result of upbringing

Sinitta crops up again, due to the fact that I always had a crush on her. Likewise Sam Fox, Kim Wilde and Crystal Gayle and of course Debbie Harry. Though I never fancied Wendy James of Transvision Vamp. Good track, though.

No absolute stinkers this time round, either. “Achy Breaky Heart” is a kitsch classic and I love it – stoked to find that one in a charity shop!

And we’re done. Another pile of 45 rpm goodies played – stay tuned for more, very soon!

Winter Rocks – Canada

Way back when I started this blog, the very first post in the Music section was about Scandinavian bands/artists.  I was inspired by the cold weather in early 2013 to listen to music from Scandinavia as a theme for the winter months.

Two years on and I needed another theme for this winter’s music homework.  So despite no (or very little) snow, I went with another northern country and chose Canada.

Now I’m sure that the summer weather in Canada is very nice, but without falling prey to stereotypes, the theme fits.  Plus there are loads of artists from that country to fill my playlist.

Here they are:

  • Alanis Morissette
  • Annihilator
  • Bachman Turner Overdrive
  • Black Mountain
  • Bryan Adams
  • Cancer Bats
  • Cauldron
  • Death From Above 1979
  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor
  • The Guess Who
  • Neil Young
  • Nickleback
  • Rush
  • Shania Twain
  • SNFU
  • Steppenwolf
  • Voivod

There you go: a fairly eclectic mix of everything from country to thrash metal.

My thanks to Matt Barnes, who introduced me to quite a few artists on this list (but not Shania or Alanis…).

Did I forget anyone?  Leave further Canadian music suggestions in a comment below.

Platinum Lounge Rocks!

On Friday 6th September 2013, I was at the Platinum Lounge as part of a leaving do for my great friend and colleague, Ben the Swede.  He was going off to be a hobo on the streets of London, begging for loose change off commuters.  No doubt he would hitch down there, then spend his nights sleeping in a cardboard box with only a stray dog for company.

To celebrate Ben’s move to pastures new, we were all out and about painting the town red as only us filthy tramps know how.  There was a rumour that the Platinum Lounge was having a rock weekend.  The rumours were true.

Rock night at the Platinum Lounge featured the best music I have ever heard in any establishment in Chester.  It left other venues in the dust as the Lounge dared to play the tunes that would rock other clubs to their foundations.

It was a truly legendary night.  Here’s the playlist – or at least, what my compadres and I remember.

  1. Run DMC & Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”
  2. Ugly Kid Joe – “I Hate Everything About You”
  3. Soundgarden – “Black Hole Sun”
  4. Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
  5. ZZ Top – “Legs”
  6. Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me”
  7. Motley Crue – “Girls Girls Girls”
  8. Metallica – “Enter Sandman”
  9. Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”
  10. AC/DC – “Whole Lotta Rosie”
  11. Aerosmith – “Janie’s Got a Gun”
  12. The Cult – “She Sells Sanctuary”
  13. Rainbow – “Since You Been Gone”
  14. Alice Cooper – “Poison”
  15. Def Leppard – “Animal”
  16. Guns’n’Roses – “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
  17. AC/DC – “Back in Black”
  18. Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Foxy Lady”
  19. Fleetwood Mac – “The Chain”
  20. Bon Jovi – “Livin’ On a Prayer”
  21. Skid Row – “Youth Gone Wild”
  22. Dire Straits – “Money For Nothing”
  23. U2 – “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
  24. Bryan Adams – “Run to You”
  25. Billy Idol – “White Wedding”
  26. Pink Floyd – “Another Brick in the Wall”
  27. Rolling Stones – “Paint It Black”
  28. Santana – “Smooth”
  29. Whitesnake – “Here I Go Again”
  30. George Thorogood & the Destroyers – “Bad to the Bone”

OK, so I know the Ugly Kid Joe song sucks, but how many top tunes are there on that playlist?  I mean Soundgarden – you never hear Soundgarden played anywhere!  Especially not in Chester, where that sort of thing is punishable by whipping with a designer handbag.

Thanks to all at the Platinum Lounge for a great night.