Pop

THE PRETENDERS - “Brass In Pocket”

I had a pub conversation once about Radiohead’s “Creep”, where we decided the ideal cover would be one grounded in full-on swagger, simply inverting every “I” and “You” in the song: “I’m so fucking special - you wish you were special…you’re a creep!”. “Brass In Pocket” isn’t quite what we were getting at - there’s no sense that Chrissie Hynde’s target is any weaker than her, even if his capitulation is inevitable - but as an exercise in total confidence it takes some beating. The danger in the song is that its determination could shade into desperation, but when you listen to it you never once doubt that Hynde’s got the moves to back up her words: if anything, the song’s a challenge to her lover-to-be to step up and match her. … read on …

Poppin and stalkin

The BBC has come up with another thinly-disguised attempt at tracking its listeners online while providing nothing in return - this one’s called “Radio Pop”.

“Got to get home and type up what I was listening to before I forget!”

Here’s the idea: instead of listening to BBC radio stations on, say, a radio, or through the BBC’s own “listen live” links, go to this address: http://www.radiopop.co.uk Then register, login and choose your station. A little pop-up window will appear that plays a live stream of that station. If you like what you hear, press the “pop” button. Why “pop” and not, say, “favorites” I have no idea. Maybe last.fm - a much better system not tied to any broadcaster and integrating with a huge variety of other sites and applications - has dibs on that.

What else? Well, the site includes a perfunctory gesture towards creating a network of friends. You can also install a “widget”. Or hope someone actually produces and sells a radio with Radio Pop integration. (They won’t.) Or hey, you can download a dynamic badge for your blog that shows the world your readers what you’re listening to right now (if you’re listening with the Radio Pop widget or web site, of course). And in the extremely likely event that you listen to a BBC programme somewhere and you weren’t using Radio Pop, you have the sensational opportunity to fill that information in manually, on the web site! Brilliant! Now I can do data entry about my own listening habits! It’s almost like the plot of the only good Kevin Costner vehicle, with less running in corridors and more tedious typing.

What all this aggregation adds up to is anyone’s guess, since the kind of person likely to actually use this site is probably not very representative of the BBC’s total audience. Indeed, the most popular station on Radio Pop appears to be the Asian Network - a piece of info that may actually make the whole enterprise worthwhile from the BBC’s point of view. Hey Auntie! You’ve got an underserved audience here who is so desperate to be catered for they’ll even use this awful website.

Popular ‘79

‘79 ends up as one of the best years, according to my marks anyhow - but which of its tracks would you have handed six or higher to? Pick as many as you want, then discuss the year in the comments boxes if you like.

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My highest marks were 9s for Buggles, Dury, Blondie - lowest 2s for Lena M and the Rats.

PINK FLOYD - “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)”

The 1970s ends with one of its most explicitly anti-establishment hits – Roger Waters’ direct frontal attack on the school system. Education is thought control, the flower of youthful creativity ruthlessly crushed by frustrated men grinding kids through their sausage machine. If we don’t watch out this will end up in a fascist state where we’re all ruled by robot hammers. Grinding conformity is represented by the dark pulse of a disco bassline, which wells into the unfettered individuality of a big old Dave Gilmour guitar solo – hurrah! … read on …

THE POLICE - “Walking On The Moon”

“Walking On The Moon” has two strong, distinct and positive associations for me. It’s one of the first videos I can remember, and I was beyond impressed that The Police were standing around playing in front of an actual spaceship. Having no idea what dub reggae, or indeed any reggae, might be, I associated the record’s strange lope with the bouncy effects of moonwalking, which I knew from Herge’s Explorers On The Moon were quite dramatic. Of course I’m pretty sure this was Sting’s intention - at least on the chorus which has a certain sproing to it. … read on …

DR HOOK - “When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman”

The song may be a standard of sorts, but Dr Hook were one of the acts I came to Popular with very little idea about - kind of bluesy? Rootsy? Definitely rockers - the name summoned vague associations of bike grease and whisky… but then I remembered. I was getting them confused with Dr Feelgood. Of course! How silly of me - I should have known that the smoothies behind “…Beautiful Woman” weren’t some kind of gnarly bar band outfit!

And then I saw the video. Oh well. … read on …

Blog ‘92: YOU’D BETTER SHAKE YOUR BONES

18. 2 Unlimited - The Twilight Zone

The last couple of tracks on Rave ‘92 have been grounded in everyday settings - mild frustration over misplacing small items, feeling a bit dizzy, epic clubbing fail, slumping in front of kids’ telly when you get home at 5am. Songs that paint a daft picture of the things frazzled clubbers must deal with on a day to day basis. It’s all very British: muddling through life and attempting to make the best of it with good humour.

Then suddenly AWOOGA AWOOGA the warning sirens blare out and we’re blasted off into space! … read on …

LENA MARTELL - “One Day At A Time”

Like so many of 1979’s chart-toppers, Lena Martell was a new face: but this time trailing no stylistic or cultural shift. In fact “One Day At A Time” is one of those occasional Ronseal hits you got back when the buying base for singles used to be huge - a plain sentiment, quite plainly expressed. If it struck something true in you, you might buy it; otherwise just hunker down and wait for it to pass. Relatively unbowed by life’s trials, and with no great interest in Jesus, I’m in the second camp. In fact after a year so stuffed with delights - or at least interesting failures - this sticks in the craw, feeling like a refugee from grimmer times: it would have fitted into the more erratic, unlucky-dip lists of the mid-70s. … read on …

BUGGLES - “Video Killed The Radio Star”

A self-fulfilling prophecy: Buggles’ MTV-launching promo clip for “Video Killed The Radio Star” is as extraordinary is it had to be. Had to be not because of that particular historical coincidence, but because if they’d got it wrong they’d have turned the track into the novelty it almost sounds like. Instead the film - unlike a lot of music videos - enhances the song, stays true to its contradictions and tensions, threats and regrets. So, for once but I hope aptly, this is a review of a video not so much a record. … read on …

THE POLICE - “Message In A Bottle”

The number ones of 1979 look from one angle like a beauty parade - a line-up of ambitious talents sniffing a chance at genuine, lasting superstardom. Whether punk rock had actually cleared any decks, or whether disco had changed the market, or whether simply the enormous surges in singles sales led smart operators to look again at the medium’s potential for making names, there’s a feeling in the air of a brass ring up for grabs - for the first time maybe since Bowie and Elton’s early-decade breakthroughs. … read on …