Rewind Festival Playlist

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.

New Year – New Playlist

What did you do on New Year’s Eve?  Did you go out partying?  Did you dance the night away in a pub or club?  Or maybe you gathered together with family and friends for a house party.  The really fancy ones amongst you may have done something extravagant, and gone away for a short break.  Perhaps somewhere with it’s own bar and hot tub.

Chez Platinum Al, we stayed in and rocked.  Drinks, food and music – that’s how we roll at the Virtual Hot Tub.  Staying in has been the new going out for a good few years for us.  No queues at the bar; no being crammed in like cattle; no paying for tickets when you’re VIPs at your own party.

Instead, Mrs Platinum Al and I sipped some fine drinks and played a music playlist game.  Here are the rules:

  1. One person starts, and chooses a band/artist beginning with a letter of the alphabet.  Start with the letter A.
  2. Pick one song by that artist and play it.
  3. The next person picks a song by an artist beginning with the same letter and plays that.
  4. Then you move on to the next letter in the alphabet, and pick one more song by a band/artist beginning with that letter.
  5. Continue in this fashion.  You can be as obvious or as random as you like in your choices.

Here’s how we got on:

  • Al: AC/DC – “Big Gun”
  • Ness: ABBA – “Happy New Year”
  • Al: Boney M – “Daddy Cool”
  • Ness: Belinda Carlisle – “Heaven is a Place on Earth”
  • Al: Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Born on the Bayou”
  • Ness: The Cure – “In Between Days”
  • Al: Donovan – “Season of the Witch”
  • Ness: Destiny’s Child – “Independent Women Part 1”
  • Al: Eagles of Death Metal – “Anything ‘Cept the Truth”
  • Ness: EMF – “Unbelievable”
  • Al: Fun Lovin’ Criminals – “Too Hot”
  • Ness: Foo Fighters – “Monkey Wrench”
  • Al: Garbage – “Queer”
  • Ness: Green Day – “Basket Case”
  • Al: Hard-Ons – “Don’t Wanna See You Cry”
  • Ness: Heart – “Alone”
  • Al: Iggy Pop – “Beside You”
  • Ness: INXS – “Never Tear Us Apart”
  • Al: Johnny Cash – “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”
  • Ness: Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
  • Al: Kool & the Gang – “Jungle Boogie”
  • Ness: Kylie Minogue – “In Your Eyes”
  • Al: Led Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love”
  • Ness: Lenny Kravitz – “Stand By My Woman”
  • Al: Motorhead – “Killed By Death”
  • Ness: Madness – “One Step Beyond”

That was as far as we got before it was time for sleep.  We aim to complete the other half of the alphabet soon.

This is a fun game that can reveal a lot about your mood, or just your taste in music.

All selections were provided by Platinum Al’s monster iPod, Ipodicus.

Father’s Day

A great deal of my blog is related to music (as if you hadn’t guessed by now).  I’m obsessed with it.  Always looking for artists – and genres – that I’m not familiar with, always looking to expand my musical horizons.  As well, of course, as re-visiting favourites or establishing relationships with bands I’ve only dabbled with.

This particular article relates to Father’s Day (which is today).  I’ve decided to publish one of my iPod playlists, which is inspired by my Dad.

Many of you may have a pre-conceived idea of what my musical preferences are.  And I admit that there’s a lot of rock, metal and punk in the melting pot.  There’s other stuff too – a great deal of which, I think, comes from my Dad’s influence.  If rock’n’roll provides the foundation of my musical knowledge, these artists provide the light, shade and colour.

So this playlist is dedicated to David Owen Jones, with fond memories of Sunday night taping sessions and endless hours of driving listening to the results.

  1. The Beach Boys – “Sloop John B”
  2. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel – “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”
  3. Diana Ross & The Supremes – “You Keep Me Hanging On”
  4. The Isley Brothers – “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)”
  5. The Real Thing – “You to Me Are Everything”
  6. The Stylistics – “You Make Me Feel Brand New”
  7. Tavares – “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel”
  8. Chic – “Le Freak”
  9. Village People – “YMCA”
  10. Hot Chocolate – “You Sexy Thing”
  11. Elton John & Kiki Dee – “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”
  12. The Gap Band – “Oops Upside Your Head”
  13. Roxy Music – “Same Old Scene”
  14. Madonna – “Holiday”
  15. Phil Collins – “Easy Lover”
  16. Rockwell – “Somebody’s Watching Me”
  17. The Pogues – “Dirty Old Town”
  18. Big Country – “Fields of Fire”

From classic pop, Motown, through to disco and beyond.

Dad, if I’ve missed any favourites out – please let me know.

I’m a Dad too now.  I hope my daughter finds as much to love in my music.

Happy Father’s Day.