Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #12

Posted on September 30, 2019 by platinumal

The pile of 7″ singles in my music room continues to grow. They arrive from all manner of sources, in various conditions, and wait patiently for me to spin them. It’s a never ending task – like that old cliche, painting the Forth Bridge.

But it’s fun – making my way through the collection of random vinyl goodies; having a few drinks and enjoying the music.

I play both sides, A then B, and then move onto the next single in the pile. All manner of tunes could be heard, from the classic to cheesy nonsense.

Here’s the latest batch:

The Fatback Band – “(Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop” / “Gotta Learn How to Dance”
Earth, Wind & Fire – “That’s the Way of the World” / “Africano”
Tom Jones – “Letter to Lucille” / “Thank the Lord”
Belinda Carlisle – “Little Black Book” / “Only a Dream”
Betty Boo – “24 Hours” / “24 Hours (Instrumental)”
Jan Hammer – “Miami Vice Theme” / “Miami Vice Theme (TV Version)” / “Miami Vice Theme (12″ Edit)”
Survivor – “Burning Heart” / “Feels Like Love”
The Kinks – “All Day and All of the Night” / “You Really Got Me”
Roxy Music – “All I Want is You” / “Your Application’s Failed”
Owen Paul – “My Favourite Waste of Time” / “Just Another Day”
The Simpsons – “Do the Bartman (7″ House Mix/Edit)” / “Do the Bartman (LP Edit)”
Edelweiss – “Bring Me Edelweiss” / “Kitz-Stein-Horn”
Roy Orbison – “You Got It” / “The Only One”
The Lovin’ Spoonful – “Summer in the City” / “Bald Headed Lena”
Elton John – “Song for Guy” / “Blue Eyes”
Ohio Players – “Fire” / “Together”
Kool & The Gang – “Cherish” / “Celebration”
Diana Ross – “I’m Still Waiting” / “Touch Me in the Morning”
The Real Thing – “You to Me Are Everything” / “Keep An Eye (On Your Best Friend)”
David Soul – “Don’t Give Up On Us” / “Black Bean Soup”
Kelly Marie – “Feels Like I’m in Love” / “Shattered Glass”
Dusty Springfield – “I Just Don’t Know What to do with Myself” / “My Colouring Book”

I really enjoyed that Singles Night session. There were a fair few out standing funky numbers, as well as songs by my favourite pop babes ever, Belinda and Betty. Lovely.

Plus – how great is that Kinks single? An all time classic couple of tracks – and a great record for my collection. Along with a few other legendary rock tunes, this was a great evening of music.

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #10

Posted on June 22, 2019 by platinumal

Playing music, having a few drinks – it’s fun. In this case, what I do (as regular readers will know), is play through a stack of 45 rpm singles and see what Lady Luck decides to bestow on me.

Some of the singles are classic, some less so. Some are cheesy, some have at least some small notion of integrity. One thing’s for sure: one way or another, all of the following 7 inch singles are part of my vinyl collection – there’s no hiding from the shame.

Lets see what we got this time:

Elvis Presley – “The Wonder of You” / “Mama Like the Roses”
Chris Isaak – “Wicked Game” / Angelo Badalamenti – “Cool Cat Walk”
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – “Happy” / “Twenty Three” / “Hour Toothache”
Duran Duran – “The Reflex” / “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) – Live”
Inspiral Carpets – “This Is How It Feels (Radio Mix)” / “Tune For a Family”
Transvision Vamp – “Sister Moon” / “Oh Yeah” / “Walk On By”
WAR – “I’m the One Who Understands” / “Corns & Callouses (Hey Dr. Shoals)”
Frank Sinatra – “My Way” / “Blue Lace”
Rocky Sharpe & The Replays – “Rama Lama Ding Dong” / “When the Chips Are Down”
Gene Vincent – “Say Mama” / “Be Bop Boogie Boy”
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – “Without Her” / “Sandbox”
Tracey Ullman – “Move Over Darling” / “You Broke My Heart in 17 Places”
Billy Joel – “Uptown Girl” / “Careless Talk”
Boney M. – “I’m Born Again” / “Bahama Mama”
The KLF – “What Time Is Love? (Live At Trancentral)” / “What Time Is Love? (Techno Gate Mix)”
Billy Fury – “Because of Love” / “Running Around”
Nat King Cole – “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” / “Let There Be Love”
The Crusaders – “Stomp and Buck Dance” / “A Ballad for Joe (Louis)”
Bobby G – “Big Deal” / “It’s All for Jan”
Duane Eddy – “Rebel-Rouser” / “Stalkin'”
Ricky Nelson – “It’s Late” / “Never Be Anyone Else But You”
Tears For Fears – “Shout” / “The Big Chair”
Yannis Markopoulos – “Who Pays the Ferryman?” / “Fanfare for Charon”

a selection

There you go: and those selections (random as they are) weren’t all that cheesy after all. Boney M.? Under rated. And that b-side reminds me of summer. So rather than a few pungent offerings, there’s quite a few great ol’ rock’n’rollers dominating that playlist.

A final word regarding Ned’s Automatic Dustbin and Inspiral Carpets. Both indie bands, my least favourite genre of all. I found those singles super cheap in a charity shop, tried ’em and they weren’t too bad, really.

Still hate indie music though.

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #8

Posted on April 10, 2019 by platinumal

OK, so Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub is not a dating service. What it is, is me spending an evening playing through my ever growing stack of 45 rpm vinyl singles and having a drink or three.

Here’s the latest batch of 7 inch goodness:

Elvis Presley – “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” / “Patch It Up”
Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Song From the Edge of the World” / “The Whole Price of Blood”
The Rolling Stones – “Undercover of the Night” / “All the Way Down”
Queen – “Headlong” / “All God’s People”
Ozzy Osbourne – “Shot in the Dark” / “Rock’n’Roll Rebel”
The KLF – “What Time is Love? (Live at Transcentral)” / “What Time is Love? (Techno Gate Mix)”
Linda Lusardi – “Eye Contact” / “Eye Contact (Club Mix)”
Philip Bailey – “Easy Lover (with Phil Collins)” / “Woman”
Albert King – “Born Under a Bad Sign” / “I Got the Blues”
Isaac Hayes – “Do Your Thing” / “Ellie’s Love Theme (Instrumental)”
Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell” / “(Do Not) Stand in the Shadows”
Kim Wilde – “Love Blonde” / “Can You Hear It”
Aerosmith – “Love in an Elevator” / “Young Lust”
Talking Heads – “And She Was” / “Perfect World”
Shakin’ Stevens – “Because I Love You” / “Tell Me One More Time”
Samantha Fox – “Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)” / “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again”
Can – “I Want More” / “More”
ABBA – “Knowing Me, Knowing You” / “Happy Hawaii”
KC & The Sunshine Band – “That’s the Way (I Like It)” / “Queen of Clubs”
Madonna – “Into the Groove” / “Shoo-Bee-Doo”
Dean Martin – “Return to Me” / “Forgetting You”
Roxy Music – “Pyjamarama” / “The Pride and the Pain”
Steve Winwood – “Valerie” / “Talking Back to the Night (Instrumental Version)”
Glen Campbell – “Why Don’t We Just Sleep on it Tonight (with Tanya Tucker)” / A Daisy a Day”

The selection above was, as always, determined by whatever was next on the pile. There’s no choosing songs involved, it’s just playing the records in order.

But what a great selection that was! Not one, but two 1980’s Page 3 legends; plus a load of tunes from classic rock to pop, country and soul.

By the way: What’s Madonna and a piece of toilet paper got in common?

They both get into the groove! HAHA!

I had a great time spinning these tunes, more soon.

Ozzy

Queen

Foxy

Aero

Linda

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night #16

Posted on February 6, 2019 by platinumal

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night

The Queen’s Head, Mold

Friday 25th January 2019

January is a bloody miserable month, so it was nice to have an event to look forward to. The event in question was Bring Your Own Vinyl Night – the first one I’d been able to attend (for various reasons) for quite some time.

There was a loose Scottish theme for those who chose to indulge, with it being Burns Night. Personally I didn’t bother as I had other plans for my setlist.

As it’s been a while, here’s a recap on what Vinyl Night is all about:

Organised by the awesome chaps from Halcyon Dreams and VOD Music, Bring Your Own Vinyl Night is held in The Queen’s Head, a dependable boozer in Mold. Aspiring DJs can play a fifteen minute set of any songs they choose, but the format must be vinyl.

Here’s the selection I made:

1968 – Devilswine

This is the opening track from the superb debut album by 1968, “Ballads of the Godless”. That behemoth of a record was one of my favourites of 2018 – a stoner rock classic in the making. The song is a heavy, riff fuelled monster with a groove that will make your head nod. Psychedelic biker rock, retro metal, fuzzed up grunge; call it what you will – these Chester lads know how to rock.

Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind – Dream

I’ve long been a fan of Jim Jones’ previous bands like Thee Hypnotics and Jim Jones Revue, so I swiped a copy of this latest musical venture as soon as I could. The album “Supernatural” is amazing, full of swampy, bluesy rock’n’roll that’s part Stooges, part Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. “Dream” is also the opening track, and it’s lethal. HIghly recommended.

1968

Jim Jones

The Incredible Bongo Band – Bongo Rock

This is a 7″ single that I was lucky to pick up for a few pence in a charity shop. I really need the album too. This is early seventies funky soul-pop and extremely groovy. It will make you want to wear a polo neck jumper and huge flares whilst sporting a gaucho moustache, Beastie Boys style. The Incredible Bongo Band are an integral part of the story of how Cliff Richard invented hip-hop. If you don’t believe me, Google it.

RL Burnside – Goin’ Down South

My final track was another opener, this time from RL Burnside’s amazing “A Ass Pocket of Whiskey” LP. When I first heard this heavy blues stomper on a CD compilation, I knew it had to be mine one day. An infectious collaboration with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, this was recorded in the nineties but sounds timeless.

Bongo

RLB

In retrospect, it seems that my set inadvertently did have a theme after all – though I swear that the suggestive images of ladies on record covers was purely incidental.

With thanks to Halcyon Dreams and VOD Music, hope to see you all again soon.

The Halcyon Dreams blogspot is here.

The Halcyon Dreams mixcloud page is here.

The Halcyon Dreams Facebook page is here.

The VOD music website is here.

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #6

Posted on January 23, 2019 by platinumal

Welcome to another Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub with your host, Platinum Al!

As previous, I spent the evening listening to a stack of 45 rpm singles that I’d acquired over time from several sources. Whilst imbibing some fine alcohol. The following is a list of those singles, A and B sides listened to in order.

There are some particularly sweet slabs of vinyl in this edition. As always, however, we’re never too far away from some rank cheese…

INXS – “The Gift” / “The Gift (Extended Mix)”
Sweet – “Action” / “Sweet F.A.”
Rod Stewart – “Reason to Believe” / “Maggie May”
The KLF – “America: What Time is Love?” / “America No More”
ABBA – “Mamma Mia” / “Tropical Loveland”
Elvis Presley – “Trouble” / “Young Dreams” / “Crawfish” / “Dixieland Rock”
Cream – “Strange Brew” / “Tales of Brave Ulysses”
Right Said Fred – “I’m Too Sexy” / “I’m Too Sexy (Instrumental)”
Anthrax – “Indians” / “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” / “Taint”
The Stranglers – “All Day and All of the Night” / “Viva Vlad!”
W.A.S.P. – “I Don’t Need No Doctor” / “Widowmaker”
Beastie Boys – “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” / “Time to Get Ill”
Iron Maiden – “The Clairvoyant” / “The Prisoner”
AC/DC – “Let’s Get It Up” / “Back in Black”
Yes – “Into the Lens” / “Does It Really Happen?”
Marillion – “Incommunicado” / “Going Under”
Kim Wilde – “Cambodia” / Watching for Shapes”
The Beatles – “Day Tripper” / “We Can Work It Out”
The Spencer Davis Group – “Keep On Running” / “Somebody Help Me” / “Every Little Bit Hurts” / “I’m a Man” / “Gimme Some Lovin'”
Booker T and the M.G.s – “Time is Tight” / “Hang ‘Em High”
The Byrds – “Mr Tambourine Man” / “I Knew I’d Want You”
The Skids – “Circus Games” / “Onedecree”
Manuel & The Music of the Mountains – “The Portugese Washer Women” / “Never on Sunday”

Note: the B-side of the Anthrax single is actually their track “Imitation of Life”.

I’m mighty proud of that selection. Not that I had anything to do with it, the choice was random – I just took whatever disc was top of the pile and made my way through.

But what a bunch of scorchers! One of my favourite Beatles tracks; Cream; Booker T; some classic metal and the Beastie Boys. It doesn’t get better than that.

Or rather, it won’t. Most of the rest of the pile of 7″ singles isn’t up to that quality…

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #5

Posted on November 22, 2018 by platinumal

It’s been a while, but time to work through that stack of 7″ singles again. I had a few beers and listened to the tunes in my collection – good and bad – in order, both sides.

There have been a few stinkers in previous editions. This week, however, the good outweighed the cheesy for once. Just about.

Here we go:

Jimmy Barnes & INXS – “Good Times” / “Love is Enough”
Tubeway Army – “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” / “We Are So Fragile?”
Black Sabbath – “Paranoid” / “Snow Blind”
Rod Stewart – “Sailing” / “Stone Cold Sober”
The KLF – “Justified and Ancient: Stand by the Jams” / “Justified and Ancient: The White Room Version”
Bobby Gentry – “Ode to Billy Joe” / “Mississippi Delta”
Sweet – “Fox on the Run” / Miss Demeanor”
Generation X – “Ready Steady Go” / “No No No”
Atomic Rooster – “Devil’s Answer” / “Tomorrow Night”
Blondie – “Call Me” / “Call Me (Instrumental)”
The Incredible Bongo Band – “Bongo Rock” / “Bongolia”
All About Eve – “What Kind of Fool” / “Gold and Silver”
Level 42 – “Something About You” / “Coup D’Etat (Version)”
Dave Brubeck Quartet – “Me and My Shadow” / “At a Perfume Counter” / “Frenesi” / “Mamselle”
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass – “Casino Royale” / “The Wall Street Rag”
ABBA – “Does Your Mother Know” / “Kisses of Fire”
Hank Williams – “Honky Tonkin'”/ “Howlin’ at the Moon” / “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Time” / “You’d Better Keep it on Your Mind”
The Rolling Stones – “19th Nervous Breakdown” / “As Tears Go By”

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #4

Posted on September 30, 2018 by platinumal

Yes, it’s that time again – a playlist of 45rpm singles that have provided me with an evenings entertainment.

I have a stack of 7″ records that haven’t been listened and filed away yet. So I spend a night listening to them, both sides, in order.

As you can imagine, there are some dodgy songs in amongst the good stuff. And this week, there are some corkers. However, the rules are: the songs MUST be listened to. I own them, so I must be responsible!

Here’s the list:

Joe Dolce – “Shaddap You Face” / “Ain’t No Hurry”
Sinitta – “Shame Shame Shame” / “Maybe Someday”
The Charlie Daniels Band – “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” / “Rainbow Ride”
Rod Stewart – “Angel” / “What Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)”
Kate Bush – “Babooshka” / “Ran Tan Waltz”
Tom Jones – “Help Yourself” / “Day by Day” / “Delilah” / “Smile”
Bananarama – “Love in the First Degree” / “Mr Sleaze”
The Timelords – “Doctorin’ the Tardis” / “Doctorin’ the Tardis”
Pig Bag – “Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag” / “The Backside”
Blondie – “Union City Blue” / “Living in the Real World”
The Sweet – “Hell Raiser” / “Burning”
The Who – “I’m a Boy” / “In the City”
Depeche Mode – “Enjoy the Silence” / “Memphisto”
Free – “My Brother Jake” / “Only My Soul”
Nazareth – “Love Hurts” / “This Flight Tonight” / “Broken Down Angel” / “Hair of the Dog”
Lalo Schifrin – “Jaws” / “Quiet Village”
Rainbow – “I Surrender” / “Vielleicht Das Nachster Zeit (Maybe Next Time)”

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #3

Posted on September 9, 2018 by platinumal

No, not that kind of Singles Night! This is all about working through the stack of 45 rpm singles that I’ve picked up from various sources over the last few months. I play them in order, regardless of how good or bad they are, and whether I’m in the mood for a certain genre or artist or not.

And there are some stinkers in the collection. Some ripe specimens that I just had to own for some reason or other. Don’t ask me, none of it makes much sense to me either.

There are, of course, a few absolute gems in there too. Let’s see how this current session played out…

Sinitta – “Toy Boy” / “Toy Boy Instrumental”
The Jam – “Beat Surrender” / “Shopping”
Marc Bolan – “Sing Me a Song” / “Endless Sleep” / “The Lilac Hand of Menthol Dan”
Herbie Hancock – “I Thought It Was You” / “No Means Yes”
Debbie Harry – “Backfired” / “Military Rap”
The Stranglers – “European Female” / “Savage Breast”
The Cult – “Revolution (Remix)” / “All Souls Avenue” / “Judith” / “Sunrise”
Status Quo – “What You’re Proposing” / “AB Blues”
Johnny Cash – “25 Minutes To Go” / “I’m Gonna Try To Be That Way”
Tom Jones – “It’s Not Unusual” / “To Wait For Love”
All About Eve – “Martha’s Harbour” / “Another Door”
The Tornados – “Telstar” / “Globetrotter”
Dr Hook – “Sexy Eyes” / “Help Me Mama”
Kim Wilde – “Chequered Love” / “Shane”
Bow Wow Wow – “I Want Candy” / “King Kong”
Blondie – “Hanging On The Telephone” / “Will Anything Happen?”
Bananarama – “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” / “Tell Tale Signs”
Althia & Donna – “Love One Another” / “Mighty Two”

Hey, you know what? I think I acquitted myself quite well with that selection. Despite kicking off with yet more Sinitta, there were definitely some great tracks in that list. Let’s wait and see how I do next time…

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #2

Posted on July 17, 2018 by platinumal

Here we go again! Quick recap:

I’ve bought loads of 7″ singles; some good, some bad, some ugly. I decided to listen through the pile by having an evening playing them all in the order in which they were bought; oldest first, A side then B side. This is the list of what I played.

As before, some of these songs are absolute gems – some are absolute stinkers. Don’t judge me; this is already difficult enough for me to confess.

Yes, there’s another Sinitta song. I know it’s terrible, but in my defence she’s in my record collection ‘cos she’s a babe. Trust me, she’s well foxy on the cover of this single. So, sorry about that one.

All in all, though, I feel this is a much less cheesy selection than last time. There might even be a few cool choices. And remember – this is all 7 inch vinyl only!

Now, shall we proceed with the embarrassment?

Steve Winwood – “Higher Love” / “And I Go”
Sinitta – “Hitchin’ a Ride” / “I’m On My Way”
Madonna – “Papa Don’t Preach” / “Ain’t No Big Deal”
Bob Dylan – “Is Your Love in Vain?” / “We Better Talk This Over”
Peter Gabriel – “Games Without Frontiers” / “The Start” / “I Don’t Remember”
George Harrison – ” My Sweet Lord” / “What a Life”
Madness – “Shut Up” / “A Town with No Name”
Toyah – “Thunder in the Mountains” / “Street Addict”
The Jam – “Town Called Malice” / “Precious”
The Beat – “Ackee 1-2-3” / “Monkey Murders”
The Selecter – “Missing Words” / “Carry Go Bring Home”
Blondie – “Denis (Denee)” / “Contact in Red Square” / “Kung Fu Girls”
Herbie Hancock – “You Bet Your Love” / “Knee Deep”
Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” / “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday”
Roxy Music – “The Same Old Scene” / “Lover”

Any comments/abuse on the above are welcome, I’m getting used to it. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy – will be back soon with more.

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night #15

Posted on July 5, 2018 by platinumal

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night

The Queen’s Head, Mold

Friday 22nd June 2018

The mixed grill on my plate was a massive meal, and I tucked in with ravenous glee. For I knew that I would need my strength tonight; this would be Vinyl Night unlike any previous. Tonight, I would test the mettle of all of us in attendance.

Otherwise, it was business as usual for Bring Your Own Vinyl Night at the Queen’s Head in Mold. Beers, goods company and the opportunity to play whatever you liked during a fifteen minute set. Vinyl only, mind!

Although I don’t always run with a theme, this evening I had a definite plan. Ever since I’ve first attended one of these events, put on by the brilliant Halcyon Dreams and VOD Music, there was one song n my collection I really wanted to play. It would inform the rest of my set and provide a connection between all the songs. I decided to leave that track till last, and put together a collection of songs to accompany it.

The question was: How would my star track be received by the audience?

The Beatles – Here Comes the Sun

To start the set, a classic Beatles song written by George Harrison and needing no introduction. Of course it’s from “Abbey Road”, and I love it as it instantly makes me think of summer days, sitting in the sun on the beach. It’s a perfect song; beautifully written and with such an uplifting feel.

Nancy Sinatra + Lee Hazlewood – Summer Wine

Next up was this gem; a duet between Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. I have the album with this track on it, however this version was a 45rpm single that my friend Colin lent to me for the event. “Summer Wine” reminds me in some ways of a Bond theme, it has a little of that drama, but somewhat more relaxed. A wonderful song that brings back memories of holidays abroad and cocktails.

Black Sabbath – Laguna Sunrise

A brief interlude on side 2 of the absolutely essential “Volume 4 album”, here’s yet another tune that demonstrates just how versatile Black Sabbath were. A beautiful relaxing instrumental that effortlessly conjures up an appropriate image, this shows perfectly the genius of Tony Iommi. As good as any song you’ve ever heard.

The Cult – Sun King

After that, the tempo was raised with a full on turbo charge rocker from my old faves, The Cult. This was the 7″ single version, edited down from the album track. One of my preferred songs on the massively successful “Sonic Temple” album from 1989. With a title referencing French King Louis XIV, this is a great fun fists-in-the air macho rocker that reeks of burning up desert highways in a hot rod.

Johnny Griggs/Simon May – When You Go Away (Eldorado Theme – Instrumental)

Could you tell what the theme was, reader? All leading up to this final cut, I wanted to play songs related to summer and sunny days. I used to be a huge fan of hyper naff BBC soap Eldorado when I was a student – so bad it was good, and the Spanish setting used to cheer me up on dreary wet days. Sadly that amazing programme was canned, but I found the single in a Woolworths bargain bin (for 29p, I think) back in the day. Along with my VHS cassette of “The Best of Eldorado”, that’s all the merch from this class show that I have. I played the instrumental B-side here, but cocked up by playing it on 33rpm at the very start. Years of planning, bollocksed.

So there you have it – my summer sun themed set. Although I was ridiculed for the Eldorado song – and quite rightly too – I loved playing it. I managed to ruin my cool reputation with one song, though.

Never mind – as she was leaving, one old dear told me she enjoyed my set very much. I’ll take that as a win.

She must have been an Eldorado fan as well.

Nice one Halcyon Dreams and VOD Music, yet another great Vinyl Night – more soon please.