Tag Archives: Eurovision song contest

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #35

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For the first time of 2025, let’s indulge in another Singles Night. A night of spinning records, having a few drinks and enjoying the vibes.

The “singles” in the event title refers to vinyl singles: the 7 inch, 45 rpm discs that were once the pocket money swallowing masters of the weekly music chart. Now I have a massive stack of said singles, and on some nights I dig a load of ’em out, and play ’em. Both sides – A then B – and onto the next.

There are many wonders to be found amongst the hefty pile of 7″ records. And a few oddities. But the randomness and variety always an entertaining night.

Grab a drink and settle in with my latest playlist:

  1. Generation X – “King Rocker” / “Gimme Some Truth”
  2. David Bowie – “Modern Love” / “Modern Love (Live Version)”
  3. Motorhead/Girlschool – “Please Don’t Touch” / “Bomber” / “Emergency”
  4. The Alarm – “Presence of Love (Laugharne)” / “Knife Edge”
  5. Depeche Mode – “See You” / “Now, This Is Fun”
  6. Dana – “All Kinds of Everything” / “Channel Breeze”
  7. The Steve Gibbons Band – “Eddy Vortex” / “Little Suzie”
  8. Shirley Bassey – “So In Love” / “As Long As He Needs Me”
  9. Darts – “Don’t Let It Fade Away” / “Early In The Morning”
  10. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – “Oliver’s Army” / “My Funny Valentine”
  11. David Bowie – “Blue Jean” / “Dancing With The Big Boys”
  12. AC/DC – “Guns For Hire” / “Landslide”
  13. ABC – “The Look of Love” / “The Look of Love (Part 2)”
  14. The Jam – “Start” / “Liza Radley”
  15. Jimmy Cliff – “Reggae Night” / “Love Heights”
  16. The Sweet – “Little Willy” / “Man From Mecca”
  17. Propaganda – “Duel” / “Jewel”
  18. Patrick MacNee & Honor Blackman – “Kinky Boots” / “Let’s Keep It Friendly”
  19. A-Ha – “Hunting High and Low (Remix)” / “The Blue Sky (Demo Version)”
  20. The Creatures – “Miss The Girl” / “Hot Springs in The Snow”
  21. Queen – “Somebody To Love” / “White Man”
  22. Ike & Tina Turner – “Nutbush City Limits” / “Help Him”

Twenty two records this week, and a few strange ones are still creeping in – some are the remains of a bundle of singles I bought at a car boot sale for a fiver. I kept Dana in the collection due to the Eurovision connection, but Shirley is a superstar.

Punk and New Wave genres are nicely represented in this selection, with great songs from Generation X, The Jam and Elvis Costello. A-Ha, Depeche Mode and ABC bring in some pop classics, while good old rock’n’roll is delivered by AC/DC, Motorhead and Girlschool.

Two great 1980s Bowie discs made the playlist and there’s a favourite from Queen (though it’s one of my least favourite songs of theirs). Adding to the 70s vintage is a cheeky number from Sweet, which never fails to raise a smile!

Another successful night spinning vinyl. More to come soon.

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #32

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Here we go again, my little Hot Tub amigos! Yes it’s time for another Singles Night at Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub – grab a cocktail and jump right in, we’ve got some listening to do!

Do I really need to explain what we’re up to, here? OK, well very quickly then: I have a pile of 7 inch singles that I’ve acquired from various places, all of different artists and genres. On Singles Night, I play through a stack of ’em in order, A side then B side, and we go on a musical odyssey.

Sound like fun? Well it is. Drink up and let’s rock with this latest selection:

  1. The Cult – “She Sells Sanctuary” / “No. 13”
  2. Iron Maiden – “Infinite Dreams (Live)” / “Killers (Live)”
  3. Rod Stewart – “Lost in You” / “Almost Illegal”
  4. Steve Miller Band – “Rock’n’Me” / “The Window”
  5. Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Mr Chatterbox” / “Mr Chatterbox (Version)”
  6. Wizzard – “Rock’n’Roll Winter (Loony’s Tune)” / “Dream of Unwin”
  7. Hot Chocolate – “A Child’s Prayer” / “Everything Should Be Funky”
  8. Mud – “Show Me You’re a Woman” / “Don’t You know”
  9. Bay City Rollers – “I Only Wanna Be With You” / “Rock’n’Roller”
  10. The Kartoon Krew – “Inspector Gadget” / “Inspector Gadget Dub”
  11. Snap! – “The Power” / “The Power (Dub)”
  12. Nicole – ” A Little Peace” / “Thank You, Mercy”
  13. Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Stir It Up (Alt. Jamaican Version)” / “Stir It Up (Alt. Jamaican Instrumental)”
  14. Katrina & The Waves – “Walking on Sunshine” / “Going Down to Liverpool”
  15. Hot Chocolate – “Disco Queen” / “You’re a Natural High”
  16. UK Subs – “She’s Not There” / “Kicks” / “Victim” / “The Same Thing”
  17. Run DMC – “Walk This Way” / “Walk This Way (Instrumental)”
  18. Iron Maiden – “Run to the Hills” / “Total Eclipse”
  19. The Nolans – “Attention to Me” / “Old Feelings Again”
  20. Chas & Dave – “Gertcha” / “The Banging in Your Head”

Another twenty 45 rpm slabs of varying quality there, but I’m not including Katrina (great song!) or Chas & Dave (who can do no wrong) in the dodgy list.

We started with possibly my favourite song of all time, the wonderful “She Sells Sanctuary”. Love that tune. I never had the 7″ as a kid, I bought the 12″ as it had an extra track on it, as I was always obsessed with collecting B sides. That was in 1989, however, well after the single was originally released in ’85.

Other highlights included a double dose of Iron Maiden, a UK Subs EP and the classic Run DMC single “Walk This Way”. Not to mention a couple of very cool Bob Marley singles, both of which were Record Store Day purchases.

As I said, Singles Night is always a journey, from well known paths to the very different excursions. I can recommend it as a fun evening.

I really should do this more often.

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #30

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Boo-ya! It’s the thirtieth instalment of the ever popular Singles Night, where yours truly plays through a big ol’ stack of 45 rpm singles. It’s all vinyl, all the time folks, as I dig into the never ending pile of 7 inch wax.

Let’s take a look at he latest batch:

  1. The Four Horsemen – “Nobody Said It Was Easy” / “Homesick Blues”
  2. Van Halen – “When It’s Love” / “A Apolitical Blues”
  3. Ramones – “Baby, I Love You” / “High Risk Insurance”
  4. Chesney Hawkes – “The One and Only” / “It’s Gonna Be Tough”
  5. Brenda Lee – “Break It To Me Gently” / “So Deep” / “Tragedy” / “Will you Love Me Tomorrow”
  6. Lulu – “Boom Bang-a-Lang” / “March!”
  7. Rubettes – “Kid Runaway” / “Southbound Train”
  8. Neal Hefti – “Batman Theme” / “Holy Diploma, Batman – Straight A’s!”
  9. Charles Aznavour – “She” / “La Barraka”
  10. Bobby Goldsboro – “A Butterfly for Bucky” / “Another Night Alone”
  11. Phil Collins – “If Leaving Me is Easy” / “Drawingboard”
  12. Phil Collins – “Another Day in Paradise” / “Heat on the Street”
  13. Hawkwind – “Angels of Death” / “Trans-Dimensional Man”
  14. Van Halen – “Runnin’ with the Devil” / “D.O.A.”
  15. Perry Como – “My Days of Loving You” / “Happiness Comes, Happiness Goes”
  16. Alice Cooper – “Elected” / “Luney Tune”
  17. Judge Dread – “Big Seven” / “Dread”
  18. Golden Earring – “Radar Love” / “The Song is Over”
  19. Herb Alpert – “This Guy’s in Love With You” / “A Quiet Tear (Lagrima Quieta)”
  20. Shakin’ Stevens – “A Love Worth Waiting For” / “As Long As”

Well that box of singles I got for £5 is still stinking up the list a bit, hence the double Phil Collinson offer this time. At least double Van Halen more than compensates for that. Incidentally, I owned the “When It’s Love” single when I was a kid, bought it from Woolwroths in Shotton when it was released. This copy is a replacement, as my original was swopped a long time ago.

The Batman theme is quite possibly the best TV theme of all time, so glad I have that in the collection. Also, some genuine classics from Ramones, Hawkwind, Alice Cooper and Golden Earring made this one of the best sessions yet. And The Four Horsemen are great, though long forgotten band.

As I mentioned, the pile of 7 inch records never seems to dwindle, so there’ll be another Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub soon. Make sure you don’t miss it!

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #20

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Here we go with the first Singles Night of 2021! The Virtual Hot Tub is ecstatic with anticipation for the return of these playlists.

What’s it all about? Well, I’m glad you asked. The singles in question are 45rpm vinyl singles, which I have accumulated over time from various sources. The plan: listen to the records, side A then side B, one after the other without skipping any in the pile. Whilst drinking booze.

Let’s see how I got on this time…

  1. The Temptations – “Psychedelic Shack” / “That’s the Way Love Is”
  2. Queen – “Killer Queen” / “Flick of the Wrist”
  3. Buzzcocks – “I Don’t Mind” / “Autonomy”
  4. The Clash – “Bankrobber” / “Rockers Galore… UK Tour”
  5. The Clash – “Complete Control” / “City of the Dead”
  6. The Damned – “History of the World Part 1” / “I Believe the Impossible” / “Sugar & Spite”
  7. Skids – “Sweet Suburbia” / “Open Sound”
  8. The Beach Boys – “Mona” / “Rock and Roll Music” / “Sail on Sailor” / “Marcella”
  9. ABBA – “Head Over Heels” / “The Visitors”
  10. Bananarama – “Cheers Then” / “Girl About Town”
  11. The Belle Stars – “Sign of the Times” / “Madness”
  12. Chicory Tip – “Son of My Father” / “Pride Comes Before a Fall”
  13. John Farnham – “You’re the Voice” / “Going, Going, Gone”
  14. Stevie Wonder – “My Cherie Amour” / “Don’t Know Why I Love You”
  15. Bardo – “One Step Further” / “Lady of the Night”
  16. The Motors – “Love and Loneliness” / “Time for Make-Up”
  17. Hot Chocolate – “So You Win Again” / “A Part of Being with You”
  18. Elton John – “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” / “Screw You”
  19. Blondie – “The Tide is High” / “Susie and Jeffrey”
  20. Slade – “We’ll Bring the House Down” / “Hold on to Your Hats”

Twenty – count ’em – twenty great tracks. Well, mostly. A solid offering from the world of punk rock in that collection, with the Buzzcocks, Clash, Damned and Skids singles all being salvaged from a local charity shop. Lucky day.

I had a great night spinning these discs, there are some really awesome records to add to the collection there. Time for more soon. Stay tuned!

Lordi Gig Review

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Lordi + Hollywood Groupies + Dirty Passion

Friday 3rd April 2015

The Live Rooms, Chester

One thing’s for sure: when the Live Rooms say “doors open at 7pm”, make sure you get in there on time.  I was having a cheeky pint in Kash up the road, so missed the start of the first set tonight.  I arrived about 7.20pm and the first band were already on.

Dirty Passion were that first band, and I’m happy to report that they were pretty damn good.  Hailing from Sweden, this gang of greasy deviants sounded somewhere between Motorhead and Sonic Temple-era Cult.  A confident start to the night.

Next up on our international smorgasbord of rock was Hollywood Groupies, all the way from Italy.  The fact that there were two females in the band (one on vocals, one guitar) is one reason why this band stood out.  Female equality is all very good, and not a novelty in this case – the whole band threw out a quality set.  Again it’s straight up rock’n’roll, and I sensed a slight Danzig influence with big, sing along choruses in abundance.  Nice work. LORDI_on_Tour_Force_One_2015_Masters_of_Rock_CZ

Finally, our main course tonight is a Finnish dish – the Eurovision slaying Monsters of Rock known as Lordi.  I’ll never forget watching the Eurovision song contest in 2006, and the moment when Finland’s entry appeared on stage.  Fully kitted out in monster outifts, the band made jaws drop across the world and rightfully stole the event.

Tonight at the Live Rooms isn’t much different – Lordi appear on stage and drag the audience in to their bizarre horror rock world.  Complete with lights, foam guns, confetti, additional (monster mask wearing) dancers and more, it’s an unrelenting show that is pure, spectacular fun.

I have a couple of Lordi albums, but know only about a quarter of the songs played tonight.  No matter – I was quite surprised even the songs I wasn’t familiar with were listenable, catchy, enjoyable.  “Hard Rock Hallelujah” is played third song in, but there’s no indication of Lordi giving away their ace card too soon, there’s plenty of thrills to be served up.

Like seeing Alice Cooper, there’s a sense of theatrics with Lordi’s show.  It all adds up to a visual treat as well as a musical one.  Highly entertaining, and very hard rocking.  Hallelujah!!!

The Live Rooms website is here.  Keep an eye open for more great gigs coming soon!

The Lordi website is here.