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My freelance writing can now be found at mikeatkinson.wordpress.com.
Recently: VV Brown, Alabama 3, Just Jack, Phantom Band, Frankmusik, Twilight Sad, Slaid Cleaves, Alesha Dixon, Bellowhead, The Unthanks, Dizzee Rascal.
On Thursday September 17th, I danced on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Click here to watch, and here to listen. Friday, December 21, 2001
Ding dong merrily on high.
Christmas greetings to all my lovely readers. Yo ho bloody ho! 
Love from Troubled Diva (right) and K (left).
· link to this
Thursday, December 20, 2001
Christmas midweeks.
At least one person I know will be sorely disappointed to see that Gordon Haskell won't be the Christmas Number One. Anyway, courtesy of the Popbitch board, here are the midweeks. 1. 50,528 Somethin' Stupid Robbie Williams/Nicole Kidman 2. 38,490 How Wonderful You Are Gordon Haskell 3. 33,865 Gotta Get Thru This Daniel Bedingfield 4. 22,053 Murder On The Dancefloor Sophie Ellis Bextor 5. 17,855 Handbags And Gladrags Stereophonics 6. 15,992 Have You Ever S Club 7 7. 15,089 I Believe In Christmas Tweenies 8. 14,100 Lately Samantha Mumba 9. 14,005 Country Roads Hermes House Band 10. 13,682 Will I Ian Van Dahl 11. 12,691 Resurection Ppk 12. 12,664 What If Kate Winslet 13. 8,296 Words Are Not Enough/I Know Him So Well Steps 14. 7,749 Hey Baby Dj Otzi 15. 7,614 Can't Get You Out Of My Head Kylie Minogue 16. 6,971 Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song) Janet Jackson Ft Carly Simon 17. 6,932 Just A Day Ep Feeder 18. 6,461 Because I Got High Afroman 19. 6,453 In Too Deep Sum 41 20. 6,371 Who Do You Love Now (Stringer) Riva Ft Dannii Minogue
How is this picture of the Vauxhall Tavern managing to link to this site? And who are Wayne and Robert anyway?
I don't understaaaaaand!
The Mayfly Project.
This is great. Sum up your past year in 20 words. Go take a look (click on the button above).
Wednesday, December 19, 2001
Events of 2001.
3. Tackiest stab at celebrity status. I have not had an illustrious TV career to date. My debut came in 1996, on the late night ITV dating show "God's Gift", hosted by the then unknown Davina MacCall. They were doing some gay editions, so a load of us piled up to Manchester to be part of the audience at this major televisual landmark (we're still waiting for "Blind Date" to follow suit). That's me on the right in the red check shirt, while Davina interviews Chig. 
During the show, I recklessly volunteered to have one of the contestants lick chocolate sauce and whipped cream off my stomach. Mmm, classy move there Mike! As it turned out, my licker refused to use the whipped cream, as he objected to the taste (and quite right too - it was that disgusting synthetic stuff that comes out of a can). So we made do with chocolate sauce only. Unfortunately, it just looked like someone had crapped on my stomach: 
Davina came round interviewing us all while we were being licked. And so it came to pass that my first words on national television were: "He's surprisingly tender actually". So, clearly I had a media profile to maintain here. Which explains why, in June 2001, I appeared as a contestant on the Channel 4 quiz show "Number One". Never heard of it? Well, it went out in the 4pm weekday slot that is normally occupied by "Fifteen To One". Hosted by Channel 4 newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy, it was a general knowledge quiz based on the, um, radical new concept of elimination, where 10 contestants were eventually whittled down to one. At the end of the game, the 9 eliminated contestants re-appeared, and went "head to head" with the one remaining contestant for Big Cash Prizes. The show sounded promising during auditions and rehearsals, but on screen, turned out to be a complete dead duck. The rules were too complicated and the show lacked any real drama or tension. Plus it all looked rather cheap and silly (quelle surprise!) For some reason, I found myself being filmed in an old Ben Sherman shirt which I was meaning to change out of, and with my specs still on. Never mind - I wasn't exactly on screen for long. In fact, I was knocked out before the commercial break in a rather humiliating fashion. In fact, I only said ten words during the course of the show. These were: Terry Pratchett. David Baddiel. Pacific and Ocean. Royal Family please. Still, this turned out to be enough to win me 200 quid. Mainly because during the final head to head, I had the good sense to keep my mouth shut, allowing my opponent to buzz incorrectly, thus handing me over the loot. Thanks to Chig's camera work, we can see the precise moment that I realised I had won the money. 
I think that's what might reasonably be called a "shit eating grin". I blew the lot in Kendalls straight after the show, on a DKNY jacket, shirt and trousers. None of which I wear any more, as the quality wasn't really that hot. What an appropriate reward for my labours!
Is it too late to ask for this for Christmas?
Another day, another list. Here's the full tracklisting for "2001 - The Year In Song", which is a double mix CD of some of the choons which rocked my world this year.
Disc 1
basement jaxx - romeo (acoustic version) groove armada - my friend kings of convenience - i don't know what i can save you from (royksopp remix) alicia keys - a woman's worth india.arie - video sunshine anderson - heard it all before destiny's child - bootylicious playgroup - number one felix da housecat - silver screen shower scene kylie minogue - can't get you out of my head daft punk - digital love the ones - flawless roger sanchez - another chance depeche mode - i feel loved (danny tenaglia mix) jon cutler feat e-man - it's yours photek feat robert owens - mine to give squarepusher - my red hot car (girl) missy elliott - get ur freak on aaliyah feat timbaland - we need a resolution Disc 2 ismael lo & marianne faithfull - without blame leonard cohen - in my secret life ben & jason - the wild things charlatans - a man needs to be told super furry animals - juxtapozed with u avalanches - since i left you r.e.m. - imitation of life ryan adams - new york, new york ben folds - rockin the suburbs dandy warhols - bohemian like you andrew wk - party hard strokes - last nite white stripes - hotel yorba new order - crystal radiohead - knives out pulp - sunrise dolly parton - down from dover prince feat angie stone - u make my sun shine spacek - language If you're really, really nice to me, I might just post you a copy. Try me. NB - the Best SIngles and Best Albums lists won't be along for a while yet - probably not till December 31st. Can you all please contain your anticipation just a while longer?
At last: Chig’s article on the Nottingham scene has appeared in this month’s Gay Times (pp 116-117 if you read it in the newsagent’s without buying it!)
However, those evil sub-editors have been at it again. Having vetted Chig’s copy prior to submission, I know full well that he did not write of Nottingham’s major club NG1: “There are many attractive men, most with their shirts off”. Nor would he ever, as the second part is simply not true. NG1 is very much a tops-on sort of place, and we East Midlanders are modest souls. At least, on our home turf we are. And in fact, anyone looking at the bottom picture will see it’s not true! A trivial point? Arguably. Trouble is, Nottingham people willl now read the article and think “Cuh! He hasn’t even been there!” Which hardly enhances Chig’s journalistic credibility, does it? Chig – you have my sympathies.
Events of 2001.
2. Most unlikely new interest. K and I have been collecting art for the past 10 years now – in fact, the first painting we ever bought was exactly 10 years ago this month. We have always been abstract contemporary boys through and through – everything we’ve bought before this year has been by a living artist, and nothing we’ve bought until this year has been directly representational. So, how did we end up at the end of 2001 with a room stuffed with late C18th and early C19th caricatures, mostly by James Gillray? 
The seeds were sown back in January, when we went over to my mother’s house in Cambridge. She had just treated herself to a full set of original engravings of William Hogarth’s “The Harlot’s Progress”. As she talked us through each of the six pieces, explaining the story and pointing out the details, we both found ourselves – quite unexpectedly – captivated by the work. Something about it was utterly compelling and haunting. A couple of weeks later, we were walking down the street in Ashbourne when we came across a shop with a load of framed caricatures in the window. This turned out to be Lunar Antiques, run by a lovely couple called David and Carol, and caricatures are one of the specialities of their shop. We’ve since seen a lot of David and Carol this year. The first piece to catch our eye was an engraving by William Heath. It shows a fat, sour-faced old broad in a pink gown with a tiara on her head, fiercely guarding a cupboard stuffed full with valuables. The legend says “What piles of wealth hath she accumulated to her own portion.” She is saying “Do you think I care for the opinions of any of you?” I pointed at K and said “That’s you, that is.” To start with, we were choosing pieces that we felt in some way satirised ourselves – vanity, gluttony, social climbing, lust, that kind of thing (obviously!) But as time went on, we learnt more about each work, the characters depicted, and the stories behind the characters. Often, this would alter the meaning of the work to such an extent that you couldn’t really bracket it as self-satire any longer. So now, we choose pieces that grab us for a wider set of reasons. We’ve also decided to concentrate on Gillray, as he is by some distance the master of the genre. 
Initially, we were perfectly happy to think of this as an obscure, specialist interest, quite at odds with the other trendy modern stuff we buy. So, it was quite a surprise to discover that Tate Britain were hosting a major Gillray retrospective over the summer. Godammit, we exclaimed – we just can’t help being totally f***ing zeitgeist! And it was a stunning, fascinating exhibition – we spent 3 hours in there, and even then we couldn’t take everything in. So, who’d have thought that a confirmed neophiliac such as myself could have had this dormant antiquarian streak in him all along? Growing older can be a surprising process.
Tuesday, December 18, 2001
No blogging to speak of today - I'm laid up with a bug. It's very tedious.
Simon Cowell was once engaged to Sinitta? He's gotta be so macho...
Jeez, linking to The Sun...whatever next...
Monday, December 17, 2001
Top 20 singles of 2000.
1. eminem - stan
2. bloodhound gang - the bad touch 3. ronan keating - life is a rollercoaster 4. pj harvey - good fortune 5. kelis - good stuff 6. damage - ghetto romance 7. eminem - the real slim shady 8. angie stone - life story 9. moby - porcelain 10. wookie - battle 11. ruff endz - no more 12. badly drawn boy - disillusion 13. robbie williams - rock dj 14. azzido da bass - dooms night (timo maas mix) 15. cousteau - she don't hear your prayer 16. madonna - music 17. britney spears - oops!…i did it again 18. aaliyah - try again 19. lambchop - up with people 20. laurent garnier - the man with the red face Top 20 singles of 1999. 1. WESTSIDE TQ
2. IT’S NOT RIGHT BUT IT’S OKAY Whitney Houston 3. MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE Whitney Houston 4. RED ALERT Basement Jaxx 5. NO SCRUBS TLC 6. MY NAME IS Eminem 7. RENDEZ-VU Basement Jaxx 8. AFRIKA SHOX / PHAT PLANET Leftfield 9. I TRY Macy Gray 10. TURN YOUR LIGHTS DOWN LOW Bob Marley & Lauryn Hill 11. ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK Badly Drawn Boy 12. YOU DON’T KNOW ME Armand Van Helden featuring Duane Harden 13. NORTHERN LITES Super Furry Animals 14. UNPRETTY TLC 15. FLOWERZ Armand Van Helden featuring Roland Clark 16. BILLS, BILLS, BILLS Destiny’s Child 17. AT THE RIVER Groove Armada 18. HEY BOY HEY GIRL Chemical Brothers 19. WINDOWLICKER Aphex Twin 20. PRAISE YOU Fatboy Slim Top 20 singles of 1998. 1. Outside - George Michael
2. Brimful Of Asha - Cornershop 3. Music Sounds Better With You - Stardust 4. Ray Of Light - Madonna 5. Everybody Here Wants You - Jeff Buckley 6. Sincere - MJ Cole 7. Believe - Cher 8. Sexy Boy - Air 9. The Boy Is Mine - Brandy & Monica 10. Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill 11. Stop - Spice Girls 12. Last Thing On My Mind - Steps 13. A Little Soul - Pulp 14. God Is A DJ - Faithless 15. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers 16. Up And Down - Vengaboys 17. Spellbound - Rae & Christian feat. Veba 18. You Make Me Wanna… - Usher 19. Love Like This - Faith Evans 20. Diva - Dana International Top 20 singles of 1997. 1. Lucky Man - The Verve
2. The Drugs Don't Work - The Verve 3. Paranoid Android - Radiohead 4. Free - Ultra Naté 5. Help The Aged - Pulp 6. Closer Than Close - Rosie Gaines 7. The Sweetest Thing - Lauryn Hill 8. On And On - Erykah Badu 9. North Country Boy - The Charlatans 10. Tellin' Stories - The Charlatans 11. Gabriel - Roy Davis Jr 12. Nancy Boy - Placebo 13. History Repeating - Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey 14. Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve 15. Somewhere - Pet Shop Boys 16. All Mine - Portishead 17. Rented Rooms - Tindersticks 18. Give Me Love - Diddy 19. Say What You Want - Texas 20. Never Gonna Let You Go - Tina Moore Top 20 singles of 1996. 1. BORN SLIPPY (NUXX) Underworld
2. DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER Oasis 3. OOH AAH...JUST A LITTLE BIT Gina G 4. A DESIGN FOR LIFE Manic Street Preachers 5. SE A VIDA E (THAT’S THE WAY LIFE IS) Pet Shop Boys 6. STUPID GIRL Garbage 7. THA CROSSROADS Bone Thugs-n-Harmony 8. YOU’RE GORGEOUS BabyBird 9. SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND The Divine Comedy 10. TRASH Suede 11. DOWN LOW (NOBODY HAS TO KNOW) R.Kelly featuring Ronald Isley 12. WANNABE Spice Girls 13. STREET SPIRIT (FADE OUT) Radiohead 14. FASTLOVE George Michael 15. E-BOW THE LETTER R.E.M./Patti Smith 16. RETURN OF THE MACK Mark Morrison 17. BEAUTIFUL ONES Suede 18. FEEL THE SUNSHINE Alex Reece 19. THE BOX Orbital 20. HYMN Ultramarine (with David McAlmont) Top 20 singles of 1995. 1. COMMON PEOPLE Pulp
2. SORTED FOR E’s & WIZZ / MIS-SHAPES Pulp 3. HIDEAWAY De’Lacy 4. HOOKED 99th Floor Elevator featuring Tony De Vit 5. YES McAlmont & Butler 6. BACK FOR GOOD Take That 7. YOUR LOVING ARMS Billie Ray Martin 8. WAKE UP BOO! Boo Radleys 9. MISSING Everything But The Girl 10. BLUEPRINT Attica Blues 11. WONDERWALL Oasis 12. RIGHT AND EXACT Chrissy Ward 13. GLORY BOX Portishead 14. REVEREND BLACK GRAPE Black Grape 15. A GIRL LIKE YOU Edwyn Collins 16. FAIRGROUND Simply Red 17. THE FIRST REBIRTH Jones & Stephenson 18. WATERFALLS TLC 19. WAKING UP Elastica 20. DOLL PARTS Hole Top 20 singles of 1994. 1. BITS AND PIECES Artemisia (guess who had just started going down Turnmills?)
2. WATERFALL Atlantic Ocean 3. WHATEVER Oasis 4. 7 SECONDS Youssou N’Dour / Neneh Cherry 5. END OF A CENTURY Blur 6. ALL I WANNA DO Sheryl Crow (…is apologise…most humbly) 7. PARKLIFE Blur 8. LIVE FOREVER Oasis 9. REGULATE Warren G / Nate Dogg 10. I’LL STAND BY YOU The Pretenders 11. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Prince 12. THE MORE YOU IGNORE ME, THE CLOSER I GET Morrissey 13. INCREDIBLE M Beat / General Levy 14. STAY TOGETHER Suede 15. GIRLS AND BOYS Blur 16. LOSER Beck 17. 100% PURE LOVE Crystal Waters 18. BOUNDARIES Leena Conquest 19. GHETTO DAY Crystal Waters 20. SATURDAY NIGHT Whigfield Top 20 singles of 1993. 1 CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? Pet Shop Boys
2 SUPERMODEL (YOU BETTER WORK) RuPaul 3 ANIMAL NITRATE Suede 4 GO WEST Pet Shop Boys 5 OPEN UP Leftfield/Lydon 6 SUNFLOWER Paul Weller 7 PLAY DEAD Bjork & David Arnold 8 I'M EVERY WOMAN Whitney Houston 9 50 FT.QUEENIE PJ Harvey 10 SLAVE TO THE VIBE Aftershock 11 CANNONBALL The Breeders 12 HUMAN BEHAVIOUR Bjork 13 SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING Adorable 14 INTO YOUR ARMS The Lemonheads 15 STILL A FRIEND OF MINE Incognito 16 YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED Gallon Drunk 17 WILD WOOD Paul Weller 18 VENUS AS A BOY Bjork 19 ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY Lenny Kravitz 20 MOVING ON UP M People Top 20 singles of 1992. 1 MAN ON THE MOON R.E.M.
2 PEOPLE EVERYDAY Arrested Development 3 WHEN YOU GONNA LEARN? Jamiroquai 4 THE DROWNERS Suede 5 THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson 6 STEP IT UP Stereo MC's 7 FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE The Cure 8 CONSTANT CRAVING k.d.lang 9 METAL MICKEY Suede 10 SHEELA-NA-GIG PJ Harvey 11 PENNIES FROM HEAVEN Inner City 12 GROOVY BEAT The D.O.P. 13 REVIVAL Martine Girault 14 AVENUE Saint Etienne 15 FAR GONE AND OUT Jesus & Mary Chain 16 DRIVE R.E.M. 17 MY LOVIN' En Vogue 18 SEXY MF Prince 19 SUCCESS HAS MADE A FAILURE OF OUR HOME Sinead O'Connor 20 TOO FUNKY George Michael Top 20 singles of 1991. 1 UNFINISHED SYMPATHY Massive Attack
2 CREAM Prince & the New Power Generation 3 APPARENTLY NOTHING Young Disciples 4 TOO BLIND TO SEE IT Kym Sims 5 LOSING MY RELIGION R.E.M. 6 WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO Kylie Minogue 7 LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX Salt 'N Pepa 8 BLACK WHIP Chapter & The Verse 9 FINALLY Ce Ce Peniston 10 SOMETHING GOT ME STARTED (HURLEY'S HOUSE MIX) Simply Red 11 SIZE OF A COW The Wonder Stuff 12 SET ADRIFT ON MEMORY BLISS PM Dawn 13 SHOCKED Kylie Minogue 14 LOVE & PAIN Carlton 15 JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT The KLF/Tammy Wynette 16 SAFE FROM HARM Massive Attack 17 BOW DOWN MISTER Jesus Loves You 18 SILENT ALL THESE YEARS Tori Amos 19 WHERE LOVE LIVES Alison Limerick 20 IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER Lenny Kravitz
Top 20 singles of 1990.
1. rhythm of life - oleta adams
2. groove is in the heart - deee-lite 3. nothing compares 2 u - sinead o'connor 4. vogue - madonna 5. wicked game - chris isaak (when david lynch ruled the earth - part 1) 6. so special - blaze 7. the only one i know - the charlatans (probably one hit wonders, right?) 8. since day one - teena marie 9. groovy train - the farm 10. i'll be good to you - quincy jones / ray charles / chaka khan 11. glad you're in my life - shabazz (modern r&b turns a corner right about....here) 12. what about this love - mr. fingers 13. hold on - en vogue (that acapella intro!) 14. unbelievable - e.m.f. 15. wash your face in my sink - dream warriors 16. don't be a fool - loose ends ("sort ya life out!") 17. kinky afro - happy mondays 18. falling - julee cruise (when david lynch ruled the earth - part 2) 19. can't stop loving you - richard rogers (dance music had divided by then: soulful garage vs. "bleep" techno - and i swung firmly towards the former. my turnmills epiphany was still 4 years away...) 20. type - living colour (WHY?) Top 20 singles of 1989. 1. she bangs the drums - stone roses
2. pacific state - 808 state (the original from the "quadrastate" ep, not the hit single version) 3. back to life - soul II soul 4. one man - chanelle (has everyone forgotten just how good this one was?) 5. musical freedom - paul simpson featuring adeva 6. ride on time - black box 7. fools gold / what the world is waiting for - stone roses 8. she drives me crazy - fine young cannibals 9. french kiss - lil' louis (aah, dirty dancing in amsterdam...) 10. promised land - joe smooth 11. keep on movin' - soul II soul 12. tell me when the fever ended - electribe 101 13. dirty blvd. - lou reed (blind drunk in a cool bar in tel aviv) 14. say no go - de la soul 15. eye know - de la soul 16. manchild - neneh cherry 17. express yourself - madonna 18. voodoo ray - a guy called gerald 19. express yourself - n.w.a. 20. that's the way love is - ten city Top 20 singles of 1988. 1. left to my own devices - pet shop boys
2. right back to you - ten city (frequently overlooked garage classic) 3. alphabet street - prince (used to mix it into shirley & company "shame shame shame") 4. buffalo stance - neneh cherry (had it on white label, hem hem!) 5. can you party - royal house (from the days when todd truly was god) 6. fast car - tracy chapman 7. teardrops - womack & womack (filled the floor some weeks, cleared it other weeks. started off loathing it, ended up adoring it) 8. reachin' - phase II (another new jersey garage monster) 9. fairplay - soul II soul 10. ye ke ye ke - mory kante (the orginal and the afro-acid remix) 11. it takes two - rob base & dj e-z rock (remember the old lyn collins "wooh! yeah!" looped sample?) 12. first we take manhattan - leonard cohen (my first cd single) 13. it's alright - sterling void 14. the only way is up - yazz & the plastic population (failsafe floor filler at my biggest residency: fever @ eden) 15. theme from s-express - s-express (ditto) 16. follow the leader - eric b & rakim 17. jenifa (taught me) - de la soul (on import at that time) 18. know how - young mc (isaac hayes "shaft" sampling rap) 19. cars and girls - prefab sprout 20. every day is like sunday - morrissey Top 20 singles of 1987. 1. pump up the volume - m/a/r/r/s
2. sign 'o' the times - prince 3. i know you got soul - eric b & rakim (the original, not the norman cook remix that became a hit) 4. paid in full - eric b & rakim (the coldcut remix, not the original) 5. letter from america - the proclaimers (our spooky doppelgangers of the day) 6. tramp - salt 'n pepa 7. luka - suzanne vega 8. it's the end of the world as we know it - r.e.m. (though rock was getting short shrift from me at the time) 9. rok da house - beatmasters featuring the cookie crew 10. birthday - the sugarcubes (which introduced bjork to the world) 11. fairytale of new york - the pogues featuring kirsty maccoll 12. do it properly - 2 puerto ricans a blackman and a dominican (radical remix of adonis "no way back", and an early house lost classic) 13. scream - mantronix (good memories of my first dj residency at the garage) 14. don't come to say - hot house (which introduced heather small to the world - still her finest hour) 15. true faith - new order (marc almond aside, the world's first song about ecstasy?) 16. it's tricky - run dmc 17. whitney joins the jams - justified ancients of mumu (early sighting of the klf) 18. the rhythm divine - yello featuring shirley bassey (it was the start of the "rehabilitate an old diva" movement) 19. what have i done to deserve this - pet shop boys featuring dusty springfield (ditto) 20. females (get on up) - cookie crew (made the separatist dykes get up and boogie at my second dj residency) Top 20 singles of 1986. 1. kiss - prince & the revolution
2. panic - the smiths 3. word up - cameo 4. it doesn't really matter - zapp (long forgotten funk goodie) 5. don't give up - peter gabriel & kate bush 6. bigmouth strikes again - the smiths 7. walk this way - run dmc 8. rise - public image ltd. 9. still smokin' (hug-a-but) - trouble funk 10. pain - betty wright 11. sweet bird of truth - the the 12. sweet love - anita baker 13. ask - the smiths 14. mr. big stuff - heavy d & the boyz 15. the word - junkyard band (go-go on def jam) 16. do you get enough love - shirley jones (latter day philly soul) 17. war on the bullshit - osiris (i sure liked my go-go in them days) 18. what have you done for me lately - janet jackson 19. rock the bells - ll cool j 20. heartland - the the
Top 20 singles of 1985.
1. you are my world - communards (in hindsight, one of my more perplexing choices)
2. slave to the rhythm - grace jones 3. johnny come home - fine young cannibals 4. status quo - donald banks (social commentary washington dc go-go track) 5. the show - doug e. fresh (strange how badly this has dated) 6. blue - fine young cannibals 7. i'll still be looking up to you - wilton felder (vocals by bobby womack and alltrina grayson) 8. the lady don't mind - talking heads 9. can't get there from here - r.e.m. 10. it's gonna take some time this time - millie jackson 11. if things were perfect / hymn from a village - james 12. walls come tumbling down - style council 13. the wind of change - robert wyatt & the swapo singers 14. under mi sleng teng - wayne smith (landmark electro-reggae track - still sounds storming today) 15. sisters are doing it for themselves - eurythmics & aretha franklin 16. raspberry beret - prince 17. i had a dream - long ryders (great guitar solo at the end; saw them live at the Garage on the night before K and I got together as a couple) 18. chief inspector - wally badarou 19. tequila - no way jose (i am baffled by this one...) 20. leave it to luck - topper headon (...and by this one!)
Top 20 singles of 1984.
1. relax - frankie goes to hollywood
2. rocket to your heart - lisa (the original not the remix; my all time fave hi-nrg choon) 3. two tribes - frankie goes to hollywood (especially the super-long cassette single version) 4. why? - bronski beat 5. strike - the enemy within (arthur scargill samples and all!) 6. beat box / diversions 1-4 / moments in love - art of noise 7. i feel for you - chaka khan 8. rock box - run-dmc (the first ever rap/rock hybrid) 9. lost in music (1984 remix) - sister sledge 10. holiday - madonna 11. let the music play - shannon (memories of saturday nights @ the metropol on nollendorfplatz) 12. william, it was really nothing / how soon is now? - the smiths 13. somebody else's guy - jocelyn brown 14. song to the siren - this mortal coil 15. unity - afrika bambaataa & the godfather of soul james brown 16. slippery people - the staple singers 17. hip hop bommi bop - the incredible t.h. scratchers starring freddie love (german punk band die toten hosen discover hip hop) 18. give me tonight - shannon 19. you think you're a man - divine 20. cockney translation - smiley culture
Top 20 singles of 1983.
1. one more shot - c-bank (influenced by yazoo; big influence on shannon)
2. blue monday - new order 3. so many men, so little time - miquel brown (12" version every time) 4. rock the boat - forrest (awesome extended drum break on the 12") 5. where is my man - eartha kitt (the soundtrack to my year in west berlin) 6. soweto - malcolm mclaren 7. looking for the perfect beat - afrika bambaataa & the soul sonic force 8. steppin' out - joe jackson 9. church of the poison mind - culture club 10. it's raining men - weather girls (before the 1984 top 10 re-issue, and subsequent over-familiarity/eventual contempt) 11. the lovecats - the cure 12. all night long (all night) - lionel richie (has to be the full length version) 13. rockit - herbie hancock (had this on import before the UK release) 14. you can't hurry love - phil collins (erm, for personal reasons at the time!) 15. total eclipse of the heart - bonnie tyler 16. let's go to bed - the cure (memories of the asylum club on stanford street) 17. fields of fire (400 miles) - big country (i was a recovering skids fan) 18. moonlight shadow - mike oldfield (more of those personal reasons - blush) 19. everyday i write the book - elvis costello & the attractions 20. pills and soap - the imposter
The office party.
I've never actually been to a proper Office Party before. So, that's what they're like! With a free bar all night, I was courting a disasterous lack of dignity, but thankfully the remnants of the previous night's truly epic hangover acted as a crucial braking mechanism. Didn't stop me dancing to DJ Otzi, though. With my hands waving above my head at all the right moments. And doing the "hoo, hah" bit every time it came round. Yeah, well. Oh, and I went completely mental to Bon Jovi's "Living On A Prayer" later on. Well, to be fair, we all did. The weird, Twin Peaks, is-this-what-people-normally-do moment came just before pudding was served. The "personality" DJ dimmed all the lights, slammed on Queen's "We Will Rock You" at full blast, and got everyone to "drum in" the pudding by bashing their spoons on the tables in time to the music (that old familiar boom-boom-THWACK, boom-boom THWACK: yes, you can hear it now, can't you?) I mean, it was only chocolate mousse in a wine glass, fer gawd's sakes! Actually, it was all a real larf. Much better than I had feared. Even the food was essentially edible. Merry Christmas, everyone!
The inevitable has happened: my Amazon wish list. If you are familiar with any of the items on it, then please leave a comment.
Chig's 2001 lyric quiz.
Instructions:
Answers are HERE.
All of these lines are from singles which were top 40 hits in the UK in 2001. In fact, all except two or three were top 20, and over half of them were top 10. Some of them are easy as a Sunday morning, others might require a little thinking (and maybe some singing out loud!) Two points available for the EXACT artist, two points for the EXACT song title. One point will be awarded for partially correct answers, but all featured artists, brackets in titles etc. must be included to get four points per song. All points given at Chig's discretion. Maximum score = 25 x 4 = 100 points. No correspondence will be entered into (unless Chig thinks you have a valid and interesting point, or you are someone he's never met who sends him a provocative photo.) Group entries are perfectly acceptable, as there’s no prize anyway. Chig doesn't care. Entries can be e-mailed to chiggins@cmdh.freeserve.co.uk, either in standard e-mail format, or as a Word attachment, or by post (e-mail Chig for the postal address if you need it). Either way, the deadline for entries to reach Chig is midnight on Thursday 3rd January 2002. A full list of scores and names will be available after that to anyone who wants one. Please write song titles first and artists second – it will make it easier to mark. Thanks. Good luck! 1) "Gimme some, gimme some sweet FA. "Have a nice day", as Americans say." 2) "With all those meteoric songs, and all those sheep they never cloned, okay." 3) "I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly." 4) "Get a house in Devon, drink cider from a lemon" 5) "People sing around, let people gather round, let people jump around." 6) "Take one step left, and one step right, one to the front and one to the side." 7) "Honey, I am feeling so confused, don’t wanna play a game I know I’m gonna lose." 8) "So beat sense back into me, cos you are like forbidden fruit, out of my reach." 9) "The time has come for me to be someone, a rich man, a superstar." 10) "And tighten your buttocks, pour juice on your chin, I promised my girlfriend, the violin." 11) "Let’s make a move, let’s leave this world behind, I know you approve." 12) "We danced with the angels, where heaven touches the end of the world" 13) "Four and twenty blackbirds in a cake, and bake ‘em all in a pie." 14) "Can you think of anything that talks, other than a person? A bird, yeah! Sometimes a parrot talks." 15) "Baby when we’re grinding, I get so excited…..you’re making it hard for me" 16) "In you the song which rights my wrongs, in you the fullness of living." 17) "I dream about a girl who’s a mix of Destiny’s Child, just a little touch of Madonna’s wild style, with Janet Jackson’s smile." 18) "Do you ever question your life? Do you ever wonder why?" 19) "Who’d think that I would finally find the perfect love I’ve searched for all my life?" 20) "If you don’t believe in Jesus, then Mohammed or Buddha too." 21) "Hardcore, you know the score, rhymes so good I deserve an encore." 22) "Drinks like Richard Burton, dance like John Travolta now" 23) "Is this the real life? Is this, is this, is this? Is this just fantasy?" 24) "Give me ‘til tomorrow then I’ll be okay, just another day and then I’ll hold you tight." 25) "You walk like you’re in a daze, unresponsive eyes and a desperate gaze."
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