Party Shuffle Friday

15 years ago

Well, the partygoers are going to be mightily confused from this random selection. I'd better pour a half-bottle of vodka in the punch (I'm going to stick to my bottle of Maudite from Canada), because we're going all over the map both in terms of music genre and decade.

Follow You, Follow Me, by Genesis, from And Then There Were Three... The famous single from the Genesis' first album after Peter Gabriel left (hence the name of the album). Needs no intro from me: still sounds as good a love song now as then. Perfect.

Jumbo, by Underworld, from Everything, Everything. This is their live album at the end of their second reincarnation, just after Beaucoup Fish, and this track is from that album. Very electronic, and not bad for a live version (all them tapes you know). I'm buggered if I know what it's about ("tetris keyring"?), but it's very hypnotic with its chorus of someone saying "click". On the original album, there's a couple of rednecks talking about a sale at WalMart. Guess I'm not arty enough, sigh.

It's Looking Good, by The Rutles, from The Rutles. The Rutles were a brilliant, brilliant, and definitely wicked, parody of the Beatles, so well done that I understand the current pressings of the CDs have Lennon and McCartney listed as co-composers. This one is a take-off of something on Help! I think, perhaps not as recognizable as the others.

It Won't Be Long, by Moyet, Alison, from Hoodoo. Alison Moyet started off with Vince Clarke as Yazoo (Yaz in the States due to some copyright thing), and then went solo with Alf. This is from her third album, when she was chafing under her popularity. The album is more melancholy and personal than her previous two. This one is the singer waiting for the day that her current lover has gone and she can forget him: it won't be long.

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), by ABBA, from Gold: Greatest Hits. Ah, ABBA. You know this: driving disco beat, Agnetha and Anni-Frid singing along about something to do with a man after midnight. Them Swedes, eh. I'm usually asleep in the early hours.

Wall Street Bongo, by Yello, from Tied Up. My fave band from Zurich, this from the CD single. Wacky tune, bongos, screams, Tarzan calling, what more could you ask for? Hmm? Plenty of sound effects from Boris Blank bound into the track; the man will record absolutely anything.

One Day I'll Go Walking, by Deacon Blue, from Fellow Hoodlums. Back to serious music from the 80s/90s, and a great band from Glasgow; one of my favorites from the era. Nice bouncy tune with Ricky Ross' vocals to the fore and Lorraine McIntosh's in the background. Lovely.

Just as Long as You Are There, by Paradis, Vanessa, from Vanessa Paradis. Lenny Kravitz meets the French teenager, in effect, falls in love and produces her next album in English. An everyday tale of music folk. Very jazzy tune, perhaps even Motown in its use of the chorus singers. Actually I feel this is a very underrated album these days: there's some great music in here.

The Memory of Trees, by Enya, from The Memory of Trees. Music to code by for me, this. Nothing too bright or frenzied, nothing to distract one's attention. Multitrack chorus. Not bad, but then not particularly good either.

Cloak and Dagger, by Kershaw, Nik, from Human Racing. This is from Nik's first album (his best for me) and is about Big Brother watching over you and me. Bouncy electronic tune, ominous "cloak and dagger" chorus, little squeaks of "mum's the word".