Tag Archives: dance music

Talacre Playlist

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Recently, we had a family weekend break in Talacre, North Wales.  It was to celebrate Mrs Platinum Al’s Dad’s big birthday.  We had a great couple of nights in a caravan at the Talacre Beach Holiday Park.

In the evenings, we often found ourselves having a drink and a chat whilst taking turns to select some music from the old iPods.  Here are the tracks I played.  Some were suggested or requested by others, some I chose to force on them!

  1. The Beatles – “Misery”
  2. The Beatles – “Anna (Go To Him)”
  3. Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls
  4. Queen – Flash
  5. Queen – Seven Seas of Rhye
  6. Suzi Quatro – “Can the Can”
  7. Suzi Quatro – “48 Crash”
  8. Johnny Cash – “Ring of Fire”
  9. Johnny Cash – “Orange Blossom Special”
  10. Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash – “Jackson”
  11. Chris Isaak – “Wicked Game”
  12. Chris Isaak – “You Owe Me Some Kind of Love”
  13. The Animals – “House of the Rising Sun”
  14. Eddie Cochran – “Summertime Blues”
  15. T.Rex – “20th Century Boy”
  16. The Kinks – “You Really Got Me”
  17. The Kinks – “All Day and All of the Night”
  18. The Kinks – “Tired of Waiting For You”
  19. Little Richard – “Good Golly Miss Molly”
  20. Roy Orbison – “Only the Lonely”
  21. Roy Orbison – “Crying”
  22. Roy Orbison – “Dream Baby”
  23. Roy Orbison – “Working for the Man”
  24. 2 Unlimited – “No Limit”
  25. The Clash – “I Fought the Law”
  26. The Clash – “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
  27. The Clash – “Rock the Casbah”
  28. The Damned – “Eloise”
  29. Rolling Stones – “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
  30. Rolling Stones – “Honky Tonk Women”

Really nice place, Talacre.  Recommended.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Graham!

Bring Your Own Vinyl Day

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Bring Your Own Vinyl Day

Civic Hall, Connah’s Quay

Saturday 24th September 2016

It’s been a while since I wrote about a Bring Your Own Vinyl Night.  What with holidays and other commitments, the Mold event has been a no go for me recently.  Not to worry though – the fine people at VOD Music ecord fairs would come to the rescue!

The record fair organised in Connah’s Quay Civic Hall also hosted Halcyon Dreams, organisers of the very fine Bring Your Own Vinyl events.  And this time, what with the timing of the record fair, this would be a day time event.

As I was at a record fair, I didn’t bring along any vinyl from my collection at home to play.  Instead I decided to wing it and just spin a few discs that I bought on the day.  This could be risky as I wouldn’t necessarily be familiar with the tracks.

I spent a long time perusing the various record stalls and making several purchases.  Whilst this was going on, the Halcyon Dreams decks were spinning all manner of wondrous delights.

Eventually I took my place at the turn tables, and made a few quick decisions on what to play.

Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere

My first problem was following a 12″ of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service by Propellerheads. An absolute killer track.  I went for “Road to Nowhere” by Talking Heads, from their “Little Creatures” LP.  I’d been after some Talking Heads for a while, and this only cost me £3 for a nice copy.  Great song – and I think I got away with the mix!  The vocals at the start were a nice contrast, and soon one or two people seemed to be enjoying it. th

Next there was a brief gap in my set, as one of the dealers asked us to play one of his singles for a potential buyer.  I think it was a group called The Jackson Sisters; early 70’s rare soul.  The cost?  £85.  But I can attest to the fact that it was DAMN fine track: funky, danceable groove – if only I had the money myself!

Eddie Cochran – C’mon Everybody

I followed up the 85 quid 7″ single with one that cost me 50p.  It was a re-issue from 1988 of the rockabilly classic, “C’mon Everybody” by Eddie Cochran.  I thought this would add some variety to my planned set, in style and age.  I remember becoming familiar with this song from the Sid Vicious cover, however Eddie’s version is superior.  It’s a stone cold classic.  I do love these 1980’s jean commercial promotional tie-ins, don’t you?  Classic song for next to nowt.

Stormtroopers of Death – Kill Yourself

And so, how should I conclude the set?  With a bit of egging on, I knew it had to be S.O.D.  I’d just picked this up for a nice price – most expensive purchase of the day, but worth it – as it was on my vinyl wish list.  Nasty thrash metal/hardcore with horrid lyrics (that I understand are a joke) – this Anthrax off shoot rounded off the set in scuzzy style.  It was a bit of a shock, anyway.

So there you have it – a great day’s record buying and some awesome tracks.  I’m already looking forward to the next Bring Your Own Vinyl Night!

You can check out the Halcyon Days blogspot here.

The Halcyon Dreams mixcloud page is here.

The Halcyon Dreams Facebook page is here.

The VOD Music website is here.

Random Driving Playlist

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And by that I mean the playlist is random, not the driving.  OK?

Driving back from the North Wales coast recently, here are the random songs that were chosen by the iPod for forty minutes of the journey.

  1. Propellerheads – “Bang On!”
  2. Ludacris feat. Shawna – “What’s Your Fantasy”
  3. Sisters of Mercy – “Torch”
  4. David Lee Roth – “Elephant Gun”
  5. Status Quo – “Gerdundula”
  6. Dolly Parton – “Jolene”
  7. Led Zeppelin – “Communication Breakdown”
  8. Public Image Ltd – “The Body”
  9. Therapy? – “Church of Noise”

Rewind Festival Playlist

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Rewind Festival 2013 – Playlist

Around this time last year, we visited Rewind Festival to celebrate the stag do of my great pal Jarrod.  A fine crew of chaps were assembled for a weekend of much hilarity and fabulous entertainment.

Set in Henley-on-Thames, Rewind festival offered a feast of musical acts from the 1980’s.

Some of the gang are returning this year, unfortunately I can’t make it due to family commitments.  Never the less, in honour of our 2013 adventure – and as a “bon voyage” to my comrades for this year – I’ve compiled the following playlist.

To compile this playlist, the acts had to have performed over the festival weekend last year.  They also have to actually be in my music collection, in iTunes.  I was quite surprised that there were several acts who performed that I don’t actually possess any recordings of.  No matter – this list consists of what I actually own.

  1. Doctor & the Medics – “Spirit in the Sky”
  2. The Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight”
  3. Billy Ocean – “Love Really Hurts Without You”
  4. Nik Kershaw – “Wouldn’t it be Good”
  5. Heaven 17 – “Temptation”
  6. Kim Wilde – “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
  7. The B-52’s – “Roam”
  8. Belinda Carlisle – “We Want the Same Thing”
  9. Go West – “We Close Our Eyes”
  10. ABC – “The Look of Love”
  11. Pointer Sisters – “Jump (For My Love)”

Short but sweet.

A big shout out to Jaz, Gol, Tone, Baz, Adam, Si, Brendan and of course the one and only Richard Minshull esq.  What a top quality bunch!

And to those of you going this year – hope you have an amazing time!

You can read my review of Rewind Festival 2013 here.

The website for Rewind Festival is here.

Chester Rocks 2014

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Chester Rocks

Saturday 7th June 2014

Chester Racecourse

I went to the first Chester Rocks festival at the Racecourse back in 2011.  The main reason for this was to see the living legend, Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop.  With the Stooges, no less.  Performing songs from (one of the greatest albums of all time) “Raw Power”!  That was not to be missed, not when Sir Iggy and pals were playing so close to home.  Also playing on the day were attractions such as Feeder and Leftfield – so a bargain of a day out right on my doorstep.

That was the “rock” (as in “Chester Rocks”) day.  The previous day had seen a pop theme with McFly, The Saturdays, Sugababes and some geezer called Taio Cruz (is that how you spell it?  How the flip do you say it??!).  Our rock day saw glorious weather and a fun day out, and the consensus was that this event would be a great annual fixture, should we see more of the same in the future.

Alas, Chester is a city (small C) with no culture.  No cinema, no theatre, few options for live music.  Culture, in Chester, is thousands of drunken, vomiting Hollyoaks wannabes watching horses run round a field.  And so, alas, Chester opted to jettison the “rock” for the far more lucrative teeny bopper pop market.  Chasing the dollar won out, though Rocks was retained as a (somewhat inappropriate) name. CR1

This year, I was lucky enough to be offered a couple of free tickets for the Saturday, and happily snapped them up.  Although none of the bands were favourites, it was a chance to enjoy a day out and see some live music.  So why not?

The featured acts – three big name bands, plus local support – were all on the big main stage on the field.  Quite an impressive place for the smaller bands to play.  The only negative was looking to be the weather – a thunder storm that morning with more forecast for that evening.

The first band I caught were local Chester band The Suns.  I’d never seen them before, but had heard some good words in advance.  I was expecting some friendly, straight forward Indie, but they were very different.  Taking to the stage in black suits, with a vocalist with a massive beard, they actually sounded more like a rockabilly band.  Oh wait – I get it!  Sun Records – The Suns?  Bloody marvellous!  The rumours are true, The Suns are fantastic.  Full of swagger and charm, they’re like The Hives if they’d been formed in 1956 by Elvis, Cash and Perkins.  Catch them soon.  Band of the day and no mistake.

Next up were The Fallows, another local band.  Coincidently, I had seen this band before at my previous visit to Chester Rocks.  Back in 2011, Shaun Ryder had disgraced himself with an incompetent, puked-up set of utter shit.  I wandered off to see a Battle of the Bands in another area, where I found The Fallows making Ryder look like a lager chimp.  Four years later and The Fallows are on this huge main stage.  They’re still great.  The singer has obviously been to Indie School, where he majored in Richard Ashcroft; but fair does he’s got the balls to superstar it up, way up there.  There are hints of U2 and The Verve, and the rumbling bass helps make this set another success. CR2

Purge are next.  Never heard of ’em, but they had to be on soon, judging by the number of punters wearing their t-shirts.  They brought the whole fan club.  Hailing from Manchester,   these guys are more of an early RHCP/Primus hybrid.  Bring the funk!  Good fun, these boys have tons of confidence and are worth keeping an eye on.

Before Purge’s set began, we had a fine example of the type of punter Chester Rocks attracts.  Purge fans were waving a huge, home made blanket banner – and a group behind who had their view obscured were unhappy.  So riled were they, they barged in and grabbed the banner down and made off with it, in an eruption of petulant self-righteousness.  Obviously they don’t go to gigs much.  Can’t see?  Move.  It’s a big fucking field.

The main bands of the evening were The Hoosiers, The Feeling and Razorlight.  Can’t say I’m familiar with any of them.  It’s light weight, inoffensive Indie pop – though it all seems to blur into one another.  A couple of songs I recognised from DFS adverts.  They’re all enjoyable and nice enough.  I don’t really want to say a bad word about any of the bands, as despite the rain, it’s a jolly day.  I won’t be buying their music, but for a free evenings entertainment I ain’t complaining.

Just think how cool it could have been though.  From Iggy Pop to Hollyoaks.  Where next?

Another Random Bike Ride Playlist!

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A cheeky little playlist from a few weeks back.  You know the score: hit shuffle, see what music provides the soundtrack for my bike ride.  This adventure was around fifteen miles.

  1. GBH – “Do What You Do”
  2. Revolution Mother – “Runaway Train”
  3. The B-52s – “Mesopotamia”
  4. Big Black – “Bad Penny”
  5. Jimmy Sabater – “La Flauta”
  6. Elton John – “Circle of Life”
  7. Big Chief – “Cop Kisser (Mack Fucks Up the Scene at the Freezer)”
  8. Kenny Rogers & The First Edition – “Heed the Call”
  9. Mudhoney – “In My Finest Suit”
  10. Queen – “Bijou”
  11. Machine Head – “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
  12. Ugly Duckling – “Smack”
  13. The Yardbirds – “Evil Hearted You”
  14. Audio Bullys – “Take You There”
  15. Ramones – “Poison Heart”
  16. PJ Harvey – “Down by the Water”
  17. Mikis Theodorakis – “Fragosiriani”
  18. Living Colour – “Ignorance is Bliss”
  19. Slash – “Doctor Alibi”
  20. GangStarr – “You Know My Steez (RMX)”
  21. Kiss – “Comin’ Home”
  22. Corrosion of Conformity – “Loss for Words”
  23. Iggy Pop & The Stooges – “Consolation Prizes”
  24. Public Enemy – “Can’t Truss It”
  25. Revolting Cocks – “Prune Tang”