1. Vladimir Cosma – Sentimental Walk (Diva Soundtrack)
A misty dawn in 1980’s Paris. Seminal dark romantic cinema on a VHS now torn to ribbons… featuring the piano, forerunner of the synth and the perfect elevator/hallway music for guests to take their shoes off to.
2. Steely Dan – Kid Charlemagne
Much love to Andy Gill wherever you may be. He gave me two cassettes at school in about 1978 The Royal Scam and Rumours as he felt I needed to broaden my horizons from Abba ‘Arrival’ and The Strangles. Still have the cassettes and both are still in my all-time top two. Sublime songwriting that one believes is real at 17 and supreme art at about 47.
3. China Crisis – The Highest High
The Walter Becker connection only came to my light after 20 years of playing this LP !! Love the story that he came to the UK to produce with China Crisis and they got on like a house on fire, smoking bamboo cruisers, letting the arpeggiator run wild and humming stuff over top… genius songwriting and fader shifting for sure. Opted for fashion over bit-rate with the YouTube clip.
4. Empire of the Sun – We Are The People
One for the family… This CD has done approximately 200,000 miles jammed in the car player. To France numerous times, footie/cricket training every week and collecting Kylie from work. Probably the track that broke the camels back and brought me back to producing after 15 years of just listening. I have so much respect for this band… they leave nothing in the box.
5. Caroline Crawford – Coming On Strong
From crystal clear to pure disco dirt… The funk governor Hamilton Bohannon, honouring a promise and letting the magnificent Ms.Crawford loose on the clubs. Surely the greatest breakdown,
popping cones off rigs wherever she sings and H.B was forward-thinking enough to make the vocals un-samplable… Doh!
6. Jesse Green – Nice And Slow
You know as a DJ, some of those looks you get from a dance floor when you drop something outta the ballpark, stay with you forever, and this track has so so many of them (Dr Bob Sadler)… it drops in a techno set or at a BBQ …all it needs is people. It has to be the Mel Cheren and Howard Metz Special Disco Mix though… sorry ! Or am I?
7. Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come
Back to the VCR for my favourite ever; Vocal performance, bassline, offbeat, history lesson, production master class, religious experience, drumming, cigarette holding passionate vocal performance etc etc etc… way beyond perfect.
8. Kraftwerk – Computer Love
I do blame Kraftwerk for my dire 1 E at A levels.. but the memories of the six-form parties when Computer World came out in 1981 have remained with me far longer than any of the stuff I was supposed to be remembering. This track was the perfect late teen, Suzuki AP50 and Binatone cassette deck with one earplug… thang.. and still influences to this day.
9. The Cure – All Cats Are Grey
Held off from dropping in a track by The Sisters of Mercy (phew!) and could have included any one of 30 tracks by the awesome Robert Smith. But opted for my fave, especially as we cooling it down a lil now. Its getting close to that “ Have you got a spare jumper (that you never want to see again ) I could borrow”… time.
10. David Bowie – In Memory of a Free Festival
We’ve all experienced a lil free party moment or even a Back to Mine that gets a tad spiritual. David Bowie cooly takes that moment and turns it into a song that holds all the feeling and love of a generation forever and always. This tune goes out to Andrew Weatherall, who kindly took our generation by the hand to a new Sun Machine and hammered it around the cosmos… Thank you.
