Youth Is Wasted On The Young

Youth aka Martin Glover could never be accused of slacking off. Since picking up a bass and co-founding Killing Joke, he's been a constant in my musical consciousness since the 1980s and shows no sign of slowing down in 2026.

Youth's CV includes production, collaboration, "supervision" and remix credits for artists ranging from Tom Jones to The Irresistible Force, Transglobal Underground to Cast, Du Blonde to Crowded House, The Orb to Shack and back again.

This ten-track, hour-long selection is rooted in the early 1990s, occasionally branches out into the 21st century and features some of my favourite reworks.

There's the Led Zeppelin-sampling cavernous boom of Björk's old band The Sugarcubes, with late period classic VItamin. 

This is preceded by a mighty dub of Killing Joke circa 1994, when the original line-up not only reformed but dove even deeper into the dub oceans they had previously explored a decade and a half before.

The remixes of Walking On Air by Frazier Chorus were a game changer, and I would have loved to have heard what Youth would have done if let loose on the entire album Ray, not just a couple of songs.

And Natacha Atlas' breathtaking ululations find a perfect complement in Youth's remix of Yalla Chant, which cropped up on a disproportionate number of my mixtapes in the mid-late 1990s.

Not that the remainder are any less of an experience, whether it's teaching old Goths new tricks (Peter Murphy, The Mission), flirting with pop (The Art Of Noise, P.M. Dawn) or going toe-to-toe with legends (Bim Sherman, Jah Wobble). Youth takes it all in his pace, weighted down with plenty of bass.

1) The Art Of Slow Love (Remix By Youth): The Art Of Noise (1991)

2) A Watcher's Point Of View (Don't 'Cha Think) (Youth Extended Mix): P.M. Dawn (1991)

3) Freaks Of Nature (Natural Dub Mix By Youth & Ott): Dub Trees ft. Bim Sherman (2000)

4) I Am My Own Name (Youth Remix): Peter Murphy (2015)

5) Another Cult Goes Down (Portobello Mix By Youth & Greg Hunter): Killing Joke (1994)

6) Vitamin (Babylon's Burnin) (Remix By Youth): The Sugarcubes (1992)

7) Tower Of Strength (Lysergic Dub) (Remix By Youth): The Mission (1994)

8) Walking On Air (Dub Instrumental) (Remixed By Youth): Frazier Chorus (1990)

9) Inspector Out Of Space: Youth Meets Jah Wobble ft. Rhiannon Sharkey (2020)

10) Yalla Chant (The Lesson Four Remix By Youth): Natacha Atlas (1995)

1990: Ray/The Baby Album (ltd 2x CD): 8

1991: A Watcher's Point Of View (Don't 'Cha Think) EP: 2

1991: The FON Mixes: 1

1992: Vitamin EP: 6

1994: Exorcism EP: 5

1994: Tower Of Strength EP: 7

1995: Yalla Chant EP: 10

2000: Nature Never Did Betray the Heart That Loved Her: 3

2015: Remixes From Lion: 4

2020: Acid Punk Dub Apocalypse: 9

Youth Is Wasted On The Young (1:00:07) (GD) (M)

Decadance II: 1992

Side 1 of a mixtape mockery, focusing on the 1990s and today in particular, 1992. It's also Dubhed post number 1,400, whatever that's worth.

 

1992 was a weird year in that, after a few years working and travelling, I decided to go back to college. I originally went to college straight from school, had a really crap time, dropped out half way through and vowed 'never again'. How fickle we human beings are, eh?

 

It was slightly better the second time around, although my outsider status was maintained by being older than the majority of my fellows, though I would hesitate to describe myself as a 'mature student'. Mature I most definitely was not. 

 

I wasn't even the oldest student there. That dubious honour was reserved for a forty-something woman in my English Literature class who frequently expressed her frustration at the juvenile antics of her peers.

 

I wouldn't say that I had the time of my life, but I enjoyed the classes, liked most of the people, fell in love with a girl, and got to make some horrendous fashion choices on a daily basis. Oh, and I had a part-time job so that I could afford to run a car and have a social life. Critical, considering that I was back home living with my parents out in the sticks.

 

Music-wise, I was out of sync with my contemporaries. The college jukebox was great, but invariably had Nirvana, Soundgarden or Pearl effing Jam on constant rotation. Whenever I got the opportunity, I would stick on Don't Fight It, Feel It by Primal Scream, the 7 minute Andrew Weatherall Scat Mix on the B-side, naturally, Denise Johnson's voice resounding around the room to general indifference. Philistines!

 

Today's eclectic selection reflects the times and my tastes. I was still leaning heavily into dance music (literally, on some club nights when I'd been at it for hours without a break) but I was still knocked for six by a new indie tune. I was just as inclined to listen to Pete Tong's Essential Selection as I was John Peel or Annie Nightingale's Request Show.

 

Opening song, the Kate Bush-sampling Something Good by Utah Saints is the only one from 1992's Top 40 best-selling UK singles, scraping in at #36. 

 

Another sacrilegious sample carries Messiah's Temple Of Dreams, it's shameless lift of This Mortal Coil's cover of Song To The Siren giving Elizabeth Fraser an unexpected (and uncredited) #20 hit in June 1992.

 

Less contentious is Orbital's use of Kirsty Hawkshaw's la la la's from Opus III's It's A Fine Day on the sublime Halcyon. The dictionary definition "denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful" is in keeping with the tone of the tune. However, the song is dedicated to Phil and Paul Hartnoll's mother, who was addicted to the tranquilliser Halcion (Triazolam) for many years.

 

A couple of songs were technically contenders for the previous year. Lithium first appeared on Nirvana's gargantuan album Nevermind in 1991, but wasn't released as a single until the following July. 

 

Hit by The Sugarcubes was officially on sale as a single on 30th December 1991, though it's prophetic (optimistic?) title was fulfilled a couple of weeks later, in January 1992.

 

Whilst you are thankfully spared big hitters (is that a typo?) by Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, Jimmy Nail, Wet Wet Wet and Billy Ray Cyrus, a ridiculously big shortlist means that R.E.M., Beastie Boys, PJ Harvey, Suede and Neneh Cherry also failed to make the final dozen.

I had to find a place for Julian Cope, though. The Arch Drude released his magnum opus Jehovahkill in 1992, and lead/sole single Fear Loves This Place is as good a single as Julian's released at any point in his career. 

1992's MAW (Mandatory Andrew Weatherall) is Papua New Guinea by The Future Sound Of London, a ground breaking song in it's own right, transformed into an 11-minute aural odyssey by Mr. W. As with Finitribe last week, even the 3-minute edit featured here (found on the B-side of the 7" single) is epic.

 

Representing indie discos were a couple of absolute classics, the minute they burst onto the airwaves. Weirdo by The Charlatans, with it's juddering intro that sounded like the noise my car made, trying to get it started on a cold morning, remains one of my favourites by Tim and the band. 

 

As for The Auteurs, what better song than Showgirl as a statement of intent. How was this not a huge hit in 1992?!

 

Rounding things up, The Age Of Love released their eponymous single multiple times though it was another five years before it became a UK hit. 1992 however saw the debut of the superb remixes by Jam & Spoon, which for me remain the definitive versions of the song.

 

Bassheads burned briefly but brightly, and I thought they were great. A clutch of singles, an album and a handful of remixes and that was it. Back To The Old School is itself now old school, yet still gets the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. And when the beat kicks in... perfection.

More Nineties nonsense tomorrow. Who will win? Who will lose? And which Weatherall shall I choose?

1) Something Good (7-Inch): Utah Saints ft. Doctor Douglas
2) Weirdo (Album Version By Flood): The Charlatans
3) Hit (Album Version): The Sugarcubes
4) Showgirl (Single Version): The Auteurs
5) Back To The Old School (Edit): Bassheads

6) Temple Of Dreams (U.S. Edit By Messiah & Ralph P. Ruppert): Messiah

7) Halcyon (Edit): Orbital

8) Papua New Guinea (Andrew Weatherall Mix) (7" Edit): The Future Sound Of London

9) The Age Of Love (Jam & Spoon Radio Edit): The Age Of Love

10) Lithium (Album Version): Nirvana

11) Fear Loves This Place (Album Version): Julian Cope

12) Hallelujah (Leftfield Edit): Inner City

19th January 1992: Stick Around For Joy (#17): 3

19th March 1992: Weirdo EP (#19): 2

5th April 1992: Hallelujah '92 EP (#22): 12

24th May 1992: Papua New Guinea EP (#22): 8

31st May 1992: Back To The Old School EP (#12): 5

21st June 1992: Something Good EP (#4): 1

28th June 1992: Temple Of Dreams EP (#20): 6 

26th July 1992: Nevermind (#11): 10

27th July 1992: The Age Of Love EP (# n/a): 9

20th September 1992: Radiccio EP (#37): 7

18th October 1992: Jehovahkill (#42): 11

November 1992: Showgirl EP (# n/a): 4

Side One (46:09) (GD) (M)

Decade V: 1988

Side 1 of a C90 of the 80s, recorded 8th April 1990.

 

First up, apologies for the very late post this morning. I had a long day at work, overslept and woke to a wailing cat, who was behaving like they had been trapped at the bottom of a well for a week without food. Where were they three hours ago?!

Anyhoo...

1988 was a transformative year, in good and bad ways. By the end of the year, I'd turned 18, dropped out of sixth form college, passed my driving test and bought my first car, got a job, went clubbing more and found myself mostly single and 'friend zoned' more often than I planned, and before that was even a thing. And still living at home with my parents, which was really starting to bite.

Musically speaking, my horizons were broadening exponentially, though you'd be hard pressed to guess from today's selection. 

I went to relatively few gigs in 1988, but all ‘first timers’: Erasure supported by Zip (Pete Shelley's short-lived band); Siouxsie & The Banshees; Pixies supported by My Bloody Valentine (!); Marc Almond and Julian Cope. What a year!

Despite the absence here of songs aimed squarely at the pop charts or the dancefloor (as explained last week), I quite like this selection's eclectic mix of hits, non-hits and never-had-a-hope-of-being hits.

The lush gatefold 12" single of Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie's eponymous single leapt out from the record racks almost as much as the 'reduced for a quick sale' sticker in the top right hand corner of the sleeve did. I'd seen The Rattler on TV, and bought this one on  spec. I enjoyed this EP and their debut album, though it was the first time I really understood what was meant by 'over produced'. Turns out the guy at the controls was Rheinhold Mack, Queen's go-to producer. Not such a good fit for the (other) Macks, unfortunately. They never got the success they deserved, but Shirley Manson did alright afterwards.

By 1988, Killing Joke were reduced to a duo of Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker and released the album Outside The Gate, which seems largely unloved. On first hearing lead single America, I thought it was so awful that I had to buy it. I've grown to love it - and the album - since, it's bonkers. 

Andrew Eldritch was continuing to piss off the Goth purists by reforming The Sisters Of Mercy with Patricia Morrison (ex-Gun Club) and daring to grow a beard and wear a cream suit with tie on Top Of The Pops. I loved what went before, but I loved the overblown drama of This Corrosion and the Floodland album too. Dominion was another heavy single, but a welcome chart-troubling contrast to Rick Astley, Mel & Kim and Johnny Hates Jazz.

Zeke Manyika was a member of Orange Juice and played on The The's Soul Mining album. Matt Johnson returned the favour by co-producing and 'editing the lyrics' for Zeke's single Bible Belt. One of many anti-apartheid songs at the time, the astonishing video was filmed in The Beira Corridor in Mozambique with the blessing of the authorities, who lent a train, a military helicopter, and an armed security detail! Bible Belt was sadly not a hit.

Orange Crush, however, provided R.E.M. with their first Top 30 single in the UK. The title refers to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange used extensively by the US Army in the Vietnam War. Coincidentally, Agent Orange also inspired the title of a Depeche Mode B-side the previous year. Whilst Green is not my all-time favourite R.E.M. album, it was head and shoulders above much of what was in the charts in 1988, as was the single. It still holds that power.

I got into Pixies straight away, as my brother had a copy of Come On Pilgrim, though I think he was less excited about it than I was. I soon got my own, along with follow up Surfer Rosa and the double A-side 12" pairing re-recorded versions of Gigantic and River Euphrates. Whilst I prefer Steve Albini's production on the former, Gil Norton's extended take on River Euphrates on the single just about edges it for me. 

I bought The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu double vinyl compilation Shag Times in 1989. I subsequently trading it in for a CD version, which is these days cited by writers recalling the "CD rot" travesty of the same period. My copy is rarely played now, but (touch wood) is at least still playable. I also belatedly bought the 12" single of Burn The Bastards, which contains an edit and a club mix, both credited to The KLF. 

 

Burn The Bastards is a joyous, carefree pastiche/rip-off of Sly & The Family Stone's Dance To The Music (repurposed as "JAMS have a party!"). Bill Drummond tries rapping and there are samples galore, including Whacko Jacko and yes, that's Dirty Den from EastEnders being abruptly cut off at the end.

Also benefiting from a remix are The Sugarcubes, with Cold Sweat. I loved their album, but I have a special place in my heart for the remixes of Cold Sweat and Deus, on limited edition 12" and 10" singles respectively. This version strips things back a little, beefs up the drums, inserts a well-placed sample and gives more room to Björk and Einar's dynamic duet.

And yes, some U2 with their first UK #1 single, Desire in October 1988. I perhaps should have included a health warning for some of the regulars. I make no apologies, I like the song, they were my friend Stuart's favourite band and whilst I didn't own any of their albums, I begrudgingly enjoyed U2's Rattle & Hum film, even if Bono was being a hairy arse for most of it. An unintentionally hilarious hairy arse, to be specific.

Shane MacGowan was called many things, but he was definitely less of a hairy arse than Bono. And The Pogues were fantastic. I bought the limited edition 12" of If I Should Fall From Grace With God, released in a green tinted sleeve to coincide with/celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Why on earth wasn't this a #1 too?

Scritti Politti were also back in 1988, with the follow up to the phenomenally successful Cupid + Psyche 85. Provision is a great album and made the Top Ten, though didn't quite match the success of its predecessor. Likewise, the singles.  

 

Boom! There She Was only managed #55, despite the added appeal of "Roger" aka Roger Troutman of Zapp fame, who thankfully remembered to bring along his trademark talk box, which he uses liberally throughout the song. Maybe radio listeners weren't quite ready for this. Or maybe it was Green's lyrics, which reference the Tupamaros (a guerilla group in Uruguay circa 1970-1971), Pharmacopoeia (a book used to identify of compound medicines), or Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi. Stock/Aitken/Waterman it most definitely was not!

 

Talking Heads delivered what was to be their final album this year. Reading Chris Franz' autobiography, it seems that this was essentially David Byrne getting to work with a bunch of other artists (including Johnny Marr), with the rest of the band treated as little more than session musicians. Byrne may or may not remember things differently, but regardless, the end was nigh.

 

I don't think I've ever seen anyone refer to Naked as the best Talking Heads album and it most certainly isn't. And yet, there are moments of greatness on it, not least with the single Blind. It's recognisable as Talking Heads, but it's paving the way for David Byrne's subsequent solo album. Blind is also funky as hell, with an infectious twangy guitar and rolling toms, demanding that you get into the groove.

 

See you here again tomorrow (hopefully back to the usual time) for the final part of this series and the last gasp of the 1980s...

 

1) Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie (Single Version): Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie

2) America (Single Version): Killing Joke

3) Dominion (Unreleased Promo Version): The Sisters Of Mercy

4) Bible Belt (7" Version): Zeke Manyika

5) Orange Crush (Album Version): R.E.M.

6) River Euphrates (Single Version): Pixies

7) Burn The Bastards (Edit): The KLF

8) Coldsweat (Remix): The Sugarcubes

9) Desire (Album Version): U2

10) If I Should Fall From Grace With God (7" Remix): The Pogues

11) Boom! There She Was (U.S. Mix): Scritti Politti ft. Roger

12) Blind (Album Version): Talking Heads

31st January 1988: Life's Too Good (#56): 8

28th February 1988: Floodland (#13): 3

6th March 1988: If I Should Fall From Grace With God (#58): 10

24th April 1988: Shag Times (# n/a): 7

1st May 1988: Outside The Gate (#77): 2

11th June 1988: Green (#28): 5

14th August 1988: Surfer Rosa (#59): 12

21st August 1988: Good Deeds And Dirty Rags (#62): 1

28th August 1988: Surfer Rosa (#93): 6

11th September 1988: Mastercrime (# n/a): 4

2nd October 1988: Rattle & Hum (#1): 9

13th November 1988: Mastercrime (#55): 11

 

Side One (45:48) (GD) (M)

Thousand

No prizes for guessing what post number this is. 

Here's an eclectic 90 minutes of songs, remixes or acts featuring either '1000' or 'thousand' in the name. What was a little surprising was just how many examples are bouncing around in my collection. Even my shortlist contained roughly twice as many songs as made the final selection. 

Something for everyone, although not necessarily all together or in the right order. Ride, Hoodoo Gurus, Dengue Fever, The Sugarcubes, Gram Parsons, Gonzales, Stereolab, the selection also hops around the world a fair bit. Speaking of which...

 

Those of you who follow the excellent 27 Leggies and in particular Ernie's African Odyssey will have been hugely disappointed by the difficult decision to exclude the mighty King Ayisoba from this week's stop off in Ghana, such was the embarrassment of musical riches emanating from the country. Rest assured, his majesty makes an appearance here, with one of the songs that Ernie originally posted and part of my introduction to the Ghanaian great.

The selection closes with a two-hander from XTC and The Coral and I don't think I could have picked two better songs to wrap up. 

Viel spaß mit meiner tausendsten beitragsauswahl, meine Freunde!

1) 1000 Miles: Ride (1994)

2) Rilly Groovy (S1000 Mix By Spencer Williams & Mike Koglin): Beautiful People ft. Jimi Hendrix (1992)

3) Furious Angels (Rollo's Thousand Volts Mix): Rob Dougan (1998)

4) 1000 Miles Away: Hoodoo Gurus ft. Vicki Peterson (1991)

5) One Thousand Miles An Hour: Stereolab (1995)

6) 1000 Faces: Gonzales (2002)

7) Through It Poured The Next Day, I Never Noticed The Rain (Single Version): One Thousand Violins (1986)

8) One Thousand Tears Of A Tarantula (Album Version): Dengue Fever (2005)

9) One Thousand Years: TUU (1993)

10) Swords Of A Thousand Men: Tenpole Tudor (1981)

11) 1000 Dollar Car: The Bottle Rockets (1994)

12) Son Of A Thousand Fathers: Prince Fatty & Mutant Hi-Fi (2011)

13) 1000 Miles: Dirty Three (1996)

14) Blue-Eyed Pop (S1000 Mix By Spencer Williams & Mike Koglin): The Sugarcubes (1992)

15) 1000 Can Die: King Ayisoba ft. M3nsa & Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2017)

16) $1000 Wedding: Gram Parsons ft. Emmylou Harris (1974)

17) A Girl Like You (1000 Times) (Remix By Howard Gray): The Wolfgang Press ft. Claudia Fontaine (1992)

18) 1000 Umbrellas: XTC (1986)

19) 1000 Years: The Coral (2010)

 

1974: $1000 Wedding: 16

1981: Eddie, Old Bob, Dick And Gary: 10

1986: Please Don't Sandblast My House EP: 7 

1986: Skylarking (2016 Steven Wilson Mix): 18

1991: Kinky: 4 

1992: A Girl Like You EP: 17

1992: It's-It: 14

1992: Rilly Groovy EP: 2 

1993: One Thousand Years: 9

1994: Carnival Of Light: 1 

1994: The Brooklyn Side: 11

1995: The In Sound EP: 5 

1996: Horse Stories: 13

1998: Furious Angels EP: 3

2002: Presidential Suite: 6

2005: Escape From Dragon House: 8

2010: Butterfly House: 19

2011: Return Of Gringo!: 12

2017: 1000 Can Die: 15

Thousand (1:29:08) (KF) (Mega)

And if that's not enough for you, there are thousands of others that could have made the cut. 

Contributing today's cover photo, I bought the 12" of I Feel It/Thousand by Moby in the 1990s. I remember reading in Mixmag or DJ magazine at the time that the song achieved a Guinness World Record for having the fastest BPM tempo of any released single, peaking at approximately 1,015 beats per minute. 

 

None of which means the song is any good, of course. Rather than subject you to the full version, here's two minutes of Moby "performing" Thousand at the Electric Daisy Carneval in (I think) 2015. Health warning: strobe lights, plus a bald, pasty-skinned man topless and puffing his chest out to the largely indifferent masses. The fireworks are lovely, though.

 

Someone else who's still rocking the hairspray and lippy like it's 1985 is Robert Smith of The Cure. Here's A Thousand Hours (and bonus At Night) performed last October in Los Angeles. The venue is the Smoothie King Center, presumably named after a US company/sponsor but was there ever a more appropriately named venue for ol' Bob?

Back to 1994 and The Fatima Mansions live on stage 1000%, again cutting away to some fairly blank faces. Phillistines! I saw Cathal Coughlan and crew at The Fleece in Bristol around the same time and it was one of the most blistering, incendiary gigs I've been to. A greatly missed creative genius. 

You get some strange stuff on You Tube, don't you? I love The Beloved and I really like the song 1000 Years From Today. One fan has taken this one step further and created their own video. Not the mental image I had when listening to the song previously.

 

I have one song by Lia Ices aka Leah Kessel, courtesy of a Mojo magazine cover mount CD. A bit of an insult really, given that she's released four albums since 2008. Luckily for Lia, the one song is called Thousand Eyes so it gets a mention here. Not a fan-made video, although it's cut-and-paste job shamelessly stealing from Bollywood.

And for those of you who on seeing the post title and theme have been shouting "Where's Slough's finest, Thousand Yard Stare, for feck's sake?!" at the screen ever since, I think it's about time you got your comeuppance. 

 

No, I mean the song's called Comeuppance... 

 

Wait, come back....

 

...oh, now I've gone and done it.

Whatever Happened To Reg? Revisited

Side 2 of a cassette compilation, recorded on 2nd December 1989 by my friend Stuart as a 19th birthday gift.

 

Revisiting mixtapes from my teenage years is a reminder of a simpler time, when my friends and I had much smaller music collections - vinyl or cassette, very few CDs at this point - but knew them inside out and loved them deeply. As my head bobs slightly above the surface of a sea of music, when pretty much anything from the last 100 years is accessible with a few taps of a keyboard, clicks of a mouse or a voice instruction, it can be overwhelming. 

I loved this compilation, so much so that it got packed with a bunch of other cassettes and joined me on my travels Down Under in 1990/1991 and was pretty much a staple of the in-car stereo playlist during my second attempt at a college education in the early 1990s. It survived more or less intact throughout that decade and into the 2000s, until years of excessive play and poor storage in a succession of damp flats did for it. Thank goodness for MP3s, Audacity software and music blogs then, eh?

What is immediately apparent (to me, at least) from the track listing of Sides 1 & 2 is that:

1) Stuart was (and still is) a huge fan of R.E.M. and was determined to educate his largely ignorant friend in their brilliance (it worked);

2) We both loved The Doors; I'd got the first two albums, Stuart got the rest, including their final proper album with Jim, the two best-known songs appearing on this C90;

3) We also both loved Talking Heads and between us had all of the albums from 77 to Naked;

4) Architecture & Morality by Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark was also a pretty important album for us both;

5) Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week! by The Sugarcubes was only a few months old at that time and we were both in agreement that it was even better than the debut album;

6) Fools Gold / What The World Is Waiting For had been released a few weeks before I got this cassette. Stuart (& I) clearly blown away by it; I'd heard both on the radio but I think this might have been the first time I'd heard anything by The Stone Roses.

 

I adore the opening live version of Vicious from Lou Reed's 1975 album, the inspiringly-titled Lou Reed Live. It sets the pace for what is a rollocking ride through music that has since become so important to me. Incredible to believe now, but listening to this cassette was probably the first time that I heard Catapult or Don't Worry About The Government...

 

You might be hard pressed to find anyone who would name Automatic as their favourite album by The Jesus & Mary Chain. The album had been released on 9th October 1989, Stuart and I saw them live in concert at the Studio in Bristol on 14th November 1989 and I got this cassette around 11th December 1989, so Automatic was fresh and new at that time and I loved it. It's not my favourite JaMC album either, but it will always have a special place in my heart for all of the above reasons.

 

Timing issues were always a challenge when compiling cassettes, especially trying not to leave a massive gap at the end, an anathema to being out with friends and a battery-powered ghetto blaster. I might imagine that Stuart may have originally intended to end on a high with track 10, added (arguably) a R.E.M. album filler (which I still love, by the way) and then cursed at seeing a sizeable chunk of reel remaining. Hence, the inclusion of a U2 B-side from a limited edition double 7" of The Unforgettable Fire. For all you Bono fans out there, stand down, it's an instrumental. I like it, and even more in the context of the compilation and the decades of repeat listens that have passed.

Stuart opened the compilation with a cheeky edit of Paul Hardcastle's 19 muscling in on Pixies. Suffice to say, Black Francis gets his revenge - and the last word - at the end of Side 2.

1) Vicious (Live @ Howard Stein's Academy Of Music, New York): Lou Reed (1973)

2) Catapult (Album Version): R.E.M. (1983)

3) L.A. Woman (Album Version): The Doors (1971)

4) Superman (Album Version) (Cover of The Clique): R.E.M. (1986)

5) Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town: Talking Heads (1977)

6) Fools Gold 4.15 (7" Version): The Stone Roses (1989)

7) Tidal Wave (Album Version): The Sugarcubes (1989)

8) Here Comes Alice (Album Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain (1989)

9) She's Leaving (Album Version): O.M.D. (1981)

10) Don't Worry About The Government: Talking Heads (1977)

11) Underneath The Bunker: R.E.M. (1986)

12) Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come / Outro: U2 / Pixies (1985) 

 

1971: L.A. Woman: 3

1975: Lou Reed Live: 1

1977: Talking Heads: 77: 5, 10

1981: Architecture & Morality: 9

1983: Murmur: 2 

1985: The Unforgettable Fire EP: 12

1986: Life's Rich Pageant: 4, 11

1989: Automatic: 8

1989: Fools Gold EP: 6

1989: Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!: 7

 

Side Two (45:11) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here

Whatever Happened To Reg?

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded 2nd December 1989 by my friend Stuart for my 19th birthday nine days later.

I read the sad news on Sunday that Tom Verlaine passed at the age of 73, with some of my fellow bloggers posting tributes to him and, by default, Television and in particular Marquee Moon. In 1989, I don't think I had heard a single note of music by Television. In fact, it was probably 1993, when I sent a cheque in the post to Melody Maker and received by return a CD compilation, Rebellious Jukebox.

Commenting on C's wonderful Tom Verlaine tribute at Sun Dried Sparrows, Swiss Adam said that the title track of Marquee Moon "is one of those songs that when you hit play, you're in for the duration, no way you're going to turn it off before the full thing has unfolded". 

 

I know what he means. Marquee Moon closes Rebellious Jukebox but it's not the original album version, a relatively brisk run through, stopping just shy of ten minutes. Oh no. This is a live version, clocking in at fourteen minutes and forty five seconds. Quite an introduction to the band, let me tell you.

Which makes the appearance in 1989 of Tom Verlaine's mug on the homemade (by me) sleeve to this cassette inexplicable. Verlaine - either solo or with Television - doesn't appear on the compilation at all! I guess I'd taken a cutting from a music rag and decided that Tom looked "Reg" enough to adorn the cover. So, this is my personal if somewhat irreverant tribute to the great musician. So long, Tom, you were something special.

Returning to the selection, being a 19th birthday present, you get a snippet of Paul Hardcastle's big hit before thankfully cutting to one of Pixies' finest moments. What seems so surreal now, thirty-odd years later, is that this was very 'now' compilation, most of the tracks having come out in 1989 or the year before, with the odd smattering of older songs. Stuart was into U2 and Cactus World News, we had a shared love of O.M.D., Talking Heads, The Sugarcubes and The Doors, and he was introducing me to R.E.M.'s incredible back catalogue. We'd been to see The Jesus & Mary Chain live for the first time at the Studio in Bristol the previous month and Stuart was raving about The Stone Roses' debut album, which at that point I hadn't yet heard.

This might have been the first mixtape that Stuart did for me and it's a good one, even if it did require a bit of fast forwarding at the end to get to Side 2. It's a snapshot of a time in our lives where the decade (and our teens) was coming to an end and anything seemed possible. Happy days.

And who was "Reg"? There was an inscription on the cassette: "Smarmy Reg Varney". Neither of us were fans of On The Buses or Mr. Varney, it has to be said, but it was knocking around as one of those meaningless catchphrases at the time. Sometimes, that's as deep as it goes...

 

1) Intro / Bone Machine: Paul Hardcastle / Pixies (1988)

2) Touch Me (Album Version): The Doors (1969)

3) UV Ray: The Jesus & Mary Chain (1989)

4) The Beginning And The End: O.M.D. (1981)

5) Unchained Melody (Cover of Todd Duncan): U2 (1989)

6) The Book I Read: Talking Heads (1977)

7) Just A Touch (Album Version): R.E.M. (1986)

8) Bee: The Sugarcubes (1989)

9) Reconcile (Single Version): Cactus World News (1989)

10) What The World Is Waiting For: The Stone Roses (1989)

11) Riders On The Storm (Album Version): The Doors (1971)

12) No Compassion (Part II): Talking Heads (1977)

1969: The Soft Parade: 2

1971: L.A. Woman: 11

1977: Talking Heads: 77: 6, 12

1981: Architecture & Morality: 4

1986: Life's Rich Pageant: 7

1988: Surfer Rosa: 1

1989: All I Want Is You EP: 5

1989: Automatic: 3

1989: Fools Gold EP: 10

1989: Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!: 8

1989: Rebound EP: 9

Side One (44:54) (Box) (Mega)

Another Kick Up The Eighties

Side 2 of a cassette compilation, recorded 22nd January 1990 and looking back on the 1980s.

 

Whereas Side 1 was firmly rooted in the first half of the decade, Side 2 is split 50/50, slightly favouring 1986 to 1989 and 7" and 12" single versions. A few songs have appeared previously, others albeit in different versions/remixes, whilst some I'm surprised to find haven't featured before now. Incredibly, this is the first time that Faith No More have been on this blog, full stop. Introduce Yourself, indeed.

 

I realise I could have waited a couple of days to post this on the 33rd anniversary of originally recording this compilation but I saw that I'd previously uploaded Side 1 on a Friday and I decided to do the same here. Let's face it, Side 2 is definitely more Friday than Sunday listening!

 

This one's for Dave. Fourteen years and still miss you lots.

1) Burning Down The House (Album Version): Talking Heads (1983)

2) House (Flashback Mix): The Psychedelic Furs (1989)

3) How Soon Is Now? (Single Edit): The Smiths (1985)

4) Spellbound (Album Version): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1981)

5) We Care A Lot (Album Version): Faith No More (1987)

6) River Euphrates (Single Version): Pixies (1988)

7) Never Let Me Down Again (Tsangarides Mix): Depeche Mode (1987)

8) All We Ever Wanted Was Everything: Bauhaus (1982)

9) Deus (10" Remix): The Sugarcubes (1988)

10) Kiss (Leeds v. The Bronx) (Remix By DJ Chakk) (Cover of Prince): Age Of Chance (1986)

11) Perfect Blue (Album Version): Lloyd Cole & The Commotions (1985)

 

1981: Juju: 4 

1982: The Sky's Gone Out: 8

1983: Speaking In Tongues: 1

1985: Easy Pieces: 11

1985: How Soon Is Now? (7" single): 3 

1986: Kiss (Jack-Knife Remixes) (limited edition 12" single): 10

1987: Introduce Yourself: 5

1987: Never Let Me Down Again (limited edition 12" single): 7

1988: Deus (limited edition 10" single): 9

1988: Gigantic / River Euphrates (12" single): 6

1989: House (12" single): 2

 

Side Two (45:45) (Box) (Mega)

Side One here