Im deep into LCD Soundsystem and also DFA at the moment, especially their remixes of various people over the years. I posted a mix of Gorillaz a while back.
This mix is a particular favourite too, and I dont really remember the original! This is gorgeous, really old school, part early 80s 12″, part early rave. I can almost hear the old Atari with cracked copy of Cubase starting up.
Fans of Weller will know about his shortlived Respond Records label. Some of you will own the Love The Reason compilation from 1983. And some of those will have wondered who the mysterious N.D.Moffatt was, with the lovely track Peace Love And Harmony that sits above these words. I certainly have thought about that over the nearly 30 years since I first heard the lovely song.
The answer lies at the other end of this link:
I completely missed the fact that the blog was 3 years old in February. Bloody hell, an eventful 3 years that’s been.
Anyway it’s been lovely. My first post was my first single, Kim Wilde’s Kids In America. This was either my 2nd or my 3rd single, Kim’s Chequered Love. A great little pop song, probably the greatest song that Blondie didn’t release! 30 years old in May….wow….
And didn’t Kim look lovely…ahhh…
This turned up on the Ipod today, The First Picture Of You by The Lotus Eaters. It’s one of those songs that I don’t listen to very often. It’s capable of taking me right back to the summer of 1983, stepping into the 14 year old me. And with all the good and bad feelings of those days. I seemed to feel…off most of the time. Everything was awkward, and when it wasn’t awkward it was a fight. And the theme of the times for me was unrequited love for the most part. Which never feels good.
There were a few moments of good that year. A summer holiday romance for instance. This song manages to combine both the unrequited love and the holiday romance in one melody line. And the awkward staring at my shoes feel of not quite knowing who I was yet. Even when I thought I knew it all.
Some things don’t change too much.
Here’s something from the Special AKA, Bright Lights featuring the brilliant Stan Campbell and Rhoda Dakar on vocals. It’s something of a lost classic from the early 80s, and lyrically it’s another one of those things that still fits now, nearly 30 years later.
There’s something both uplifting and completely depressing that, for want of a better word, protest songs from years ago are just as fitting today as they were then. I guess they will still fit in another 30 years too. Some things unfortunately don’t change very much. When you consider that the current Prime Minister can trace his family tree back to 12th century royalty it’s not really a surprise.
And this then is folk music. Pure, but never so simple.
The Songs That People Sing 