Category: Music

Contributor: Dave Wiseman (currently celebrating 65 years on the go..)

Here we go then, with the second part of my music mix@65 tracklist..

31-40 Nineties

1993 ‘Show Me Love’, Robin S.(Dubdogz remix) : Another infamous, fave sample and dance track from the 90’s. Addition of horns here makes this into a recent bangin remix. But that ten note sample has been sampled a million times since. Always remember hearing this in an almost empty ‘Pacha’ in Ibiza (having got there far too early) and being blown away by how it works and sounds in a huge space echoing off the walls. I might have been a bit out of it too. 

1994 ‘Hold that Sucker Down’, OT Quartet, (reworking live): Another classic dance choon that absolutely blew you away in a club. Fave ever version: The Fridge in Brixton one Saturday when when I swear we all saw God.   This is a pretty spirited live rendition though nevertheless.

1994 ‘Atomic’ dance remix’ (2013 Strauss remix) Blondie: for some long time this was my fave dance track of all time (it was no 2 on my list of 40 at my 40th party) specifically the Diddy remix from the Blondie remix album released in 1994. However maybe this newer version now sounds fresher and a tad more interesting to me. But overall I love the track still: the ultimate mix track.

1977/1995 ‘Always Touched by your presence Dear’, Annie Lennox version of Blondie song:  Always loved this song , loved Annie Lennox and so put the two together and you get this classic cool interpretation of Blondies song. Nice!

1995 ‘Something for the weekend’, Divine Comedy (karaoke) . Never was the novelty song so cool. Another early Duckie favourite we all sung & danced along to at the tops of our lungs. Shoutout and sorry to the lovely and sweet  Ilya.

1995 ‘Common People’, Pulp (iamxl Art meetz Beatz remix) To my mind, still the best of all the Britpop classics, with its clever, concise, witty lyrics by the legend that is Jarvis Cocker. The way it gets faster and faster as it moves along is absolutely, completely sublime.  And its impossibly long late hook too. And another one to sing and dance to, like the world was going to end tomorrow. When living and breathing in the UK was cool. RIP to those times. We miss you.

1995 ‘He’s on the phone’, St Etienne (Primax Bungee mix): loved this group through the nineties and this track in particular still has an oomph value about it. From an era when ‘the phone’ wasn’t always on hand. Actually itself a remix of a song called ‘Weekend a Rome’ by Etienne Daho.

1996 ‘Missing’, Everything but the Girl (live) This has been a grower on me and over the years I’ve come to appreciate its quiet simplicity and sentiment with Tracey Chapmans’ beautifully clear vocals pulling it all together. The Todd terry remix here is the ultimate mix but there have been a number of others in its time..

1980/1997/2017 ‘Xanadu’, Olivia Newton John & ELO. (Barry Harris 2017 enhanced club mix, video) In 1997 came LGBTQI night ‘Duckie’ at the RVT and a whole host of indie pop Saturday nights in this packed Vauxhall venue, with its mostest host Amy Lame. The last track played by the Readers Wives DJ’s would always be this. ‘Right you fuckers’ they would announce, ‘this is the very last one your getting tonight’. And the place would always go wild,  as you put every last ounce of energy into dancing to this song. Joyous times. I can still feel them now just by listening to this song.

1997 ‘History repeating’, Propellerheads ftg Shirley Bassey (video) : Aping the legendary sixties BBC 2 show ‘Jazz625’ this video presented a knowing faux rewrap of styles by bringing together the legendary Shirley Bassey with the then new wave sound of the Propellerheads.  Cool as hot jazz on hot summer day.

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41-50 New millenium:

1997 ‘Trash’, Suede (Hedflux mix)  And along with Xanadu came a host of classic Britpop songs from this era, like this, Suedes Trash from their third album ‘Coming Up’. Never was trash so glamorous.  And, according to Brett Anderson, so cookie. Great stuff.

1999 ‘Sandstorm’, Darude (interpretation by the Auckland Symphony Orchestra live): One of the all time most famous samples by Sandstorm. If you don’t know the name of the track you’ll definitely know the riff trust me. Sounds best in a big, big club, off, off, off, your face.

2000 ‘Lovely Head’ , Goldfrapp : I think it was Alison Goldfrapp that has helped me keep my sanity when all around me were losing it. The sublime essence of Will Gregory’s synths  and oh, her lovely voice are a constant delight. And ‘Lovely Head’ is a tune I can listen to again and again and get lost in. Escaping into that fantasy land. Wish Alison Goldfrapp would do covers from the ‘Sound of Music’. Can you imagine how wicked they would turn out? Hmm, maybe I might try one.

2003 ‘Strict Machine’ , Goldfrapp (instrumental mix ) Excuse me while I go and dance. More completely sublime sublimeness from Alison & Will’s camp. I used to go to a club called Subline in Brighton in which they never played Goldfrapp once, even though the place cried out for it. Notice the huge Giorgio Moroder tribute on this track too.

2003 ‘Black Cherry’, Goldfrapp . Did I tell you I liked Goldfrapp?

2005 ‘Ride a White Horse’, Goldfrapp. You know what I mean? To the disco, obviously.

2013 ‘A Forest’, The Cure (Bollywood remix,  Olly & the Bollywood Orchestra) Always a Cure fan this is a classic track from their 1980 album release ‘Seventeen Seconds’ that has become more than the sum of its parts by reworks like this one, giving it a flavor that’s quite different from its original but none the less hugely enjoyable. If youde asked me whether a Bollywood version of ‘the Forest ‘ would work I’d have thought no way. But there you go, somehow it all fits together .. and the sitar suddenly sounds like a completely obvious instrument to choose, to play it.

2017 ‘All over the World’, ELO (mixed live performances). And suddenly all that cheesy stuff from the late seventies sounds coolio. Cool enough to create a flash mob. Like this.

2017 ‘Open your Mind’, USURA (remix, video): surely time for a remix of this classic isn’t it? Let’s put in Putin and Trump doing kissy kissy. And that PM what’s his name, from that island too. Hey!

2019 Blinding lights, The Weekend (cover remix ) Tasty indian curry remix anyone?

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51-60 Here ‘n now (mas o menos):

2020 ‘A-Ha’ v the ‘Weekend’ (mix). Suddenly we find we can mix these together and ‘hey’, it sounds pretty good, yes?

2020 Batacluda (video) It sounds great here, how about putting this sound at the front of a Pride march? Oh yeh, in Almeria: they did ! Nice! 😉

2020 ‘Mi Danza’, Fuel Fandango (video): saw these two live last year at the Almeria Feria. Nice!

2020 ’23rd June’, Vetusta Morla (video). The late lamented band. Comeback tour due now please! Vamos?

2020 ‘Los ojos de Pablo’,  Algora (video), whilst Victor Algora is still making music like this, I’m happy man.

2020 ‘Dioses y Hombres’.Algora (video).  Hola Victor!

2022 ‘As it was’, Harry Styles (karaoke) Sing a long version. Wonder if they can remix this both with Aha and Blinding Lights? Oh, it’s been done already? Drat.

2022 ‘Running up that hill’, Kate Hill (Stranger Things remix)

2022 And how about doing a ‘Footloose’ riff on Netflixes Umbrella Academy? (video) Think band, think wagon, Nice!

2018-2022 Así suena ‘Nosotrxs Somos’ (video), con música y letra de Víctor Algora, que resume en acordes y palabras cuatro décadas de activismo LGTBI en España; una larga lucha en la que no sirve bajar la guardia

2022 Mmm, yeh, I’m still thinking about the last one..

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By Contributor Dave Wiseman

How to choose a mix of sixty-odd, favourite songs to ‘delineate’ your life? Well, I sat down to think (and frankly have some fun..) and put these together. They are a complete mix of sound, video, live performance . See what you think and tell me how profoundly you disagree! (And yes, I know I have a pretty odd taste!) It’s also worth saying yes, I do like other genres but these were simply my top of the pack. My creme de la creme, if you will.

1-10…Early Days

1965: ‘The Sound of Music megamix’ : (*Debbie does Dallas remix*) Say what you like about these songs, for me its significance is it’s the first time I realised you could escape reality and enter into a *fantasy* world. Odd but true! Bliss!

1973 ‘This town ain’t big enough for the both of us’,  Sparks (live): I could have chosen so many ‘growing up songs’ but hearing this for the first time when I was 13 sticks in my mind as being like nothing else..  truly inspired!

1974 ‘Si’ (Go), Gigiola Cinquetti  (live at eurovision) : This italian song earnt a Eurovision second place in Brighton in 1974 when Abba won but was one of the first records I ever bought -I loved its drama- and one of Euro’vs best songs ever in my opinion . It’s so effing sad! Quelle drama!!

1974 (but track from 1969) Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson showing its then groundbreaking use of the electronic  ‘mellotron’, which every prog rock band used. You can see the strips of magnetic tape in the back of it , encoded for each note, rolling over the pick up heads pressed onto it as each key is played. This the first prog rock band I ever loved, back in 1974 and I still do, and is perhaps its meisterwork with an infamous album cover. Dare I include it? Yep, it’s my birthday & I dare.

1977 ‘Livin Thing’ ELO: Jeff Lynne’s band at their very best, with a sound that still sounds pretty much as electric, eclectic & euphoric, as it did 50 years ago.

1978 ‘The Motors’, Airport (karaoke) Punk swept everything aside but this track I would have been listening to in 1979 when I was first up in London & liking ‘new wave post punk’ bands like the Jam

1979 ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ Bowie (video) : so of all the other great Bowie songs, why this one? Well this searing fusion of glam & garage rock & new wave from album Lodger is for the video really, despite it being written by Eno & Bowie and recorded in Montreux, Switzerland: Bowie’s tongue is firmly in his cheek and he plays three drag queens, the last modelled on Berlin’s Romy Hague and featuring the habit of german drag queens taking off their wig and smearing make up, as they concluded their acts, except Romy, who was far too cool to do anything like that. 

1979 ‘Cabaret’ theme (remix) this was when I first saw ‘Cabaret’ onscreen (the big screen) and was blown away by its themes and the audacity of its lead Liza Minelli. This musical broke the genre.

1980 ‘The Chase’, Giogio Moroder (live performance) I first heard this in the film about drug smuggling in Turkey with the lovely Brad Davis, ‘Midnight Express’ by Alan Parker and was hooked on its simplicity (and its hook) from the very start.

1980 ‘Helden (German version of ”Heroes ”) Funnily enough my Bowie journey began with the ‘Berlin’ trilogy and I worked back. Of all the albums ‘Heroes’ was my favourite and at my 40th birthday party it was my number one favourite track of all time. I still prefer it sung in German. When I eurotripped with my first boyf in a pup tent, we used to play this on a portable tape recorder, whilst watching huge lightning storms over the Adriatic. Magical. That was a great trip Gaz, big thankyou!

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11-20 Early Eighties

1980 ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’, Adam & the Ants: This title track is the second album by English new wave band ‘Adam and the Ants’. Released in November 1980 by CBS it introduced the Burundi beat sound to popular music. The band and sound still stands up well over 40 years later.

1981 ‘Video killed the radio star’, The Buggles (instrumental) Strip away the corny lyrics and you see why this tune has held up, it has a very strong hook and great production from Trevor Horn. Famous for being the very first video MTV ever played!

1981 ‘Everything Counts’ (in large amounts, video), Depeche Mode: Absolutely love this synth riff and its cooky Berlin shot video. My love affair with Berlin started here. Oh and Martin Gore too, whose quiff I admired greatly.

1981 ‘Say Hello, Wave goodbye’; Soft Cell, (Noise perception extended remix); This one has been a grower , we used it in our ‘Revenge of the teenage perverts’ film in 1985 and I especially like the haunting clarinet intro, extended on the long version for five minutes. As I’ve got older it’s more how it makes me realise how fast life goes and I get all mushy inside. It brings me to tears every time now. Apologies for the length!!

1981 ‘Libertango’ (Strange, I’ve seen that face before, video) , reworking of Grace Jones song, ; this version from the stunning album ‘Nightclubbing’ features a live orchestra in full flow. Check out the ‘bandoneon‘ player in his own world!  This is actually a reworked Argentine tango classic written by the composer and bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla (first recorded by Piazzolla himself in 1974), with a tango, reggae and chanson sound. Mixed up or what? Sometimes reworked stuff is as good as the original, occasionally even better.

1982 ‘Love is a stranger’, Eurythmics (Condition One extended remix) . Everything about this is divine: Dave’s synth drive, and Annies voice and its bittersweet lyrics. Heard it hundreds of times, never get tired of it.  

1984 ‘This charming man’, The Smiths (video) This band fronted by the ambisexual Steven Morrisey was one of the first in the new wave of northern based bands with an aesthetic that sounded exceptionally fresh at the time and unlike a lot of the synth based music in the charts at the time, it was a return to strongly guitar n bass driven sound. For a long time Morrisey was god and then bigmouth struck again. Quite sad really.

1984 ‘Duel’, Propaganda :Stunning track with Claudia Brucken on lead vocals and having  alternative/Indie, R&B/Soul, Dance/Electronic vibes this album highlights the very best of the mid eighties german nu wave scene. Underated at the time by many (not me)  this is now generally  recognised forty years on as the masterpiece it undoubtedly was. Eye to eye stand winners and losers- hurt by envy, cut by greed..  classic stuff! And german too (tick)!

1985 ‘Slave to the Rhythm’, Grace Jones (12 ” extended remix): The divine Ms Jones here doing a marvellous job at interpreting this Horn /Wooley track. She absolutely rocks it live too. I’ll always remember a post Pride set she did at Brockwell Park in London, as being one of the best free gigs of my life. Here´s Grace….

1985 ‘Smalltown Boy’, Bronski Beat: well this one is as hard to leave out as it is to put in. For a long time it was hard to listen to, as it was overplayed on the gay scene but it’s come back into its own I think in the last few years as a ‘classic eighties track’ remixed sampled and repolished. And more importantly I’ve come to realise its importance to me in my own life and other peoples and so respect it for that. Jimi is still performing it and I think that’s fine. Though I think he (or rather the Communard ) released even better songs like ‘Disenchanted’ for example..

1984 ‘West End Girls’: Pet Shop Boys (Bobby Orlando original 12″ mix,) this often gets to the number one position in ‘all time greatest’… awards & here’s a version with accompanying video shot on my old home turf (Angel Islington, 42 to Aldgate, Euston station blah blah..) that is now incredibly retro & nostalgic, (and made more so in this mix..)

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21-30 Five busy years

1987 ‘Never Let me Down again‘ Depeche Mode (12″ version): this Martin Gore written song, I like again for its ambiguous lyrics and quirky as hell video  by Anton Corbijn ..that car, the old man.. (me, I do love a quirky video). It’s been analysed to death but no-one really quite knows what he is on about after 40 years. And actually who cares!?

1988 ‘Sex, Love and Life trilogy’ (compilation video). Here’s one I made earlier. Well yes, a LOT earlier. We made these safer sex videos way back in 1988. This was mixed featuring Craig Snelling´s rather wonderful track Taste ,This is a compilation of all three. Warning: very slightly porno 😉 .

1988 ‘Ride on Time’, Black Box (Original version):  So this marks a change for me, as I got into a more clubby dance driven scene, towards the very late eighties  ‘Gotta get up’ is a command and when this came on, never mind  how knackered you might be, you simply had to dance to it. Heather Small (later one of the M people)  is on vocals duty. The italo producers thought the sample they used ‘thank you baby, ’cause your right on time‘ was ‘ride on time’ & actually yeh, it works better..

1988 ‘Buffalo Stance’, (DJ Lombardinos 12 inch mix,) Neneh Cherry : hugely innovative, merging early hip hop sounds with dance, this is an inspirational song I’ve always loved, despite initially struggling with hip hop as a genre but it’s so well held together by Neneh Cherry’s style and tight, tight voice. ‘Buffalo stance’ is an attitude you had to have to get by in the inner city. Gorgeous, and way ahead of its time in many respects. Ladies and Gentleman I´d like to introduce the high hat!

1990 ‘Bizarre Love Triangle‘, New Order : (12 ” extended remix) Loved the complex 12 inch remixes of which there have been many, but here is the original simple seven minute version of this classic. Sometimes slightly less is more!

1991 ‘Justified and Ancient’ KLF’ ft Tammy Wynette . A great song to sing along with, from the KLF teaming up with Tammy Wynette; this band is legendary & this song is the ultimate legendary KLF song. Ancients of Mu Mu… you are herby certified!! What’s not to love? Did they really literally burn a quarter of a million quid as a anti capitalist protest? Who knows?

1991 ‘Rhythm is a Mystery’, K Klass (remix): Number 34 on the roll call of ‘Greatest Dance hits of all time’, it’s an early-ish dance number I loved, with its clarity, simplicity, hooks and the classic piano drop. You can & could completely lose yourself in this. And I often did.

 1992 ‘Even Better than the Real thing’: (Perfecto Dance remix, video), U2: This track more or less from the very pinnacle of the groups career has always been a favourite of mine but this perfecto dance track is simplemente el perro’s cojones. The video, cutting between the preening slightly self conscious glamor of the white girls, the clubbing and the south American samba dancers speaks for itself.

1992 ‘Open your Mind’ , USURA (extended video): This track on the wonderful Deconstruction’ label with its legendary sample from Simple Minds ‘New Gold Dream’ (fave album time) and its accompanying video needs little introduction and has been a firm love of mine for all of its 33 years play time. It still retains a freshness that is almost remarkable given its age and popularity. It has been called ‘Crass but brilliant – as is its none-more-early nineties video”.

1992 and we’re half way through…? See part deux here: