Decayed Prelude

Exactly eight months ago, I posted Decadance V: 1999, the final year in my mixtape series covering the 1990s, itself a follow on from Decade, the original cassette compilations I had recorded to sum up the 1980s.

In an attempt to create some (pre-millennial) tension, I concluded my post with a portentous - many (me included) would say pretentious - statement

I suspect that when I get around to a series on the Noughties, 

the gulf between my singles selections and the UK charts will be vast, 

yet I know that like Decadance and Decade, 

there will be many gems to be uncovered and shared. 

I'm not planning on doing it any time soon, 

possibly not even this year, though I have come up with the series name. 

Decayed. 

Well, it proved to be a scratch that I needed to itch sooner rather than later, it seems!

And so, here we are again, with a prelude to a series that will start properly next Saturday (8th) and run for the next 5 weekends.

As before, each mixtape will cover a single year via a dozen songs to fit on, in old money, one side of a C90 cassette, just like the original Decade series managed back in the day.

It turned out that "the gulf between my singles selections and the UK charts" was not as vast as I suspected and there are a fair share of UK hits, number ones even, throughout. That said, I've reserved the right to include songs that spectacularly failed to dent the Top 100, just because I think they're great songs and should've had more love at the time. Especially when you consider some of the inexorable crap polluting the upper regions of the Top 40 in this decade.

This was a decade of significant changes in my life: becoming a homeowner, a husband, a father; I gained friends and lost friends; soaring highs and deep, deep lows. And always music to discover or rediscover and rejoice in.

Today's prelude selection features ten songs, each charting in the UK in respective years from 2000 to 2009, starting and ending with a #1 hit. None of the artists featured today will appear in the main series. Yep, this is the only time that you'll hear The White Stripes or Massive Attack in the next five weeks. 

Much as I'd like to make an exception, Julian Cope will be absent from proceedings, as The Arch Drude didn't release any singles in the 2000s. Some might argue that he didn't release any decent albums either, but I will stick my fingers in my ears and sing ba ba ba ba ba if I see any of this nonsense.

A feature (gimmck, you say?) of the Decadance series was my efforts to shoehorn in a MAW (Mandatory Andrew Weatherall) track into every year, mostly remixes of other artists, which proved to be less difficult than I first thought.

No such studio trickery this time, though I can reveal that The Guv'nor will be making an appearance in this series, with a surprise Top 30 single.

But what of the ten that have made the cut?

Groovejet by Spiller was a ubiquitous tune in the summer of 2000, although in terms of chart action, it followed the growing trend of singles debuting at #1 then dropping out immediately after. In fairness, Groovejet dropped to #2, then #3, and spent 12 weeks in the Top 40, 30 weeks in the Top 100, which clearly reflected it's popularity. 

It also proved to be a relaunch for Sophie Ellis-Bextor, fresh from the break up of theaudience and about to launch a solo career that, a quarter of a century later, has seen her elevated to National Treasure status.

In 2001, The Avalanches came out of nowhere (well, Australia) with an approach to sampling and cut-ups that as dizzying as it was unsustainable. Since I Left You sounds as magical now as it did then and the album of the same name that followed was a breathtaking piece of work. I don't know the full story of the  'extended alternate version' featured here, and discovered on YouTube in 2016, but I reckon it's a DIY cut and edit job by the poster, the wonderfully named Chungus Bungus.

From two seven-minute songs to one that comes in at under two minutes, it can only be The White Stripes. It took me a while to catch on to Jack and Meg's back-to-basics music and whilst I don't love everything they did, singles like Fell In Love With A Girl were spot on, retro yet sounding fresh and exciting. I'm surprised that this stalled just outside the Top 20 in March 2002.

Massive Attack returned in 2003 with 100th Window, and lead single Special Cases, featuring Sinéad O'Connor. Only four albums in, yet a world apart from the Blue Lines album just over a decade before. I finally got to see Massive Attack live in concert the following year, appropriately enough in our shared birthplace, Bristol.

Reign was originally released on the UNKLE album Never, Never Land in 2003, then as a single, peaking at #40 in November 2004. The song features Ian Brown, at this point half a decade into his solo career, with no hope of The Stone Roses getting back together again. 

Antony & The Johnsons caused a stir in 2005 when they won the Mercury Music Prize with debut album I Am A Bird Now, qualifying in part as Antony Hegarty (now Anonhi) had been born in Chichester, West Sussex. You Are My Sister features a beautiful duet with Boy George, who also enjoyed an artistic renaissance in the 2000s.

The Automatic had a monster hit with, er. Monster in June 2006. It looks like the band called it a day in 2010, after three albums. I can confidently say that I have never knowingly heard another song by The Automatic and, much as I like Monster, I don't feel a strong urge to check out their catalogue. 

Asobi Seksu, on the other hand, were a band that I feel for as soon as I heard the single Strawberries in 2007. Clearly the record buying public didn't agree, as Strawberries managed only one week at #54 before disappearing without trace. Sadly, Asobi Seksu have been on 'indefinite hiatus' since 2013, though I hold hope of a musical reunion one day.

When I started accessing loads of free MP3s via the RCRD LBL in 2007, I discovered loads of new artists and songs as a result. Paper Planes by M.I.A. is a good example, with a plethora of official and unofficial remixes offering up for download. Roughly a year later, it was released as a physical single in the UK, cracking the Top 20 in September 2008. The mix I've picked here, by then-partner Diplo, retains The Clash sample and adds raps from Big Bun and Rich Boy. Whatever happened to them?!

Another RCRD LBL freebie in 2008 was Just Dance by Lady Gaga, remixed by the RAC (that's the Remix Artist Collective, not the motoring services company!) Just Dance subsequently scored Lady Gaga her first UK #1 in January 2009, followed a couple of months later by Poker Face. Her debut album was appropriately titled The Fame.

As with previous series, for all those info heads, I've listed the parent EP or album, and the single's peak position in the UK charts. I've also included the date it got there which sometimes, but not always, is the same week that it debuted.

If you're thinking, as I did back in March, that the 2000s was the decade that your music tastes acrimoniously parted from the UK Top 100, stick around for the next five weeks, you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

1) Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) (Spiller's Extended Vocal Mix): Spiller ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor (2000) 

2) Since I Left You (Extended Alternate Version By Chungus Bungus): The Avalanches (2016)

3) Fell In Love With A Girl: The White Stripes (2002)

4) Special Cases (Album Version): Massive Attack ft. Sinéad O'Connor (2003)

5) Reign (Album Version): UNKLE ft. Ian Brown (2004)

6) You Are My Sister: Antony & The Johnsons ft. Boy George (2005)

7) Monster (Album Version): The Automatic (2006)

8) Strawberries (Album Version): Asobi Seksu (2007)

9) Paper Planes (Diplo Street Remix): M.I.A. ft. Big Bun & Rich Boy (2008)

10) Just Dance (RAC Mix By André Allen Anjos): Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis (2008)

20th August 2000: Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) EP (#1): 1

1st April 2001: Since I Left You (#16): 2

3rd March 2002: White Blood Cells (#21): 3

2nd March 2003: 100th Window (#15): 4

21st November 2004: Never, Never, Land (#40): 5

4th December 2005: I Am A Bird Now (#39): 6

11th June 2006: Not Accepted Anywhere (#4): 7

12th November 2007: Citrus (# 54): 8

28th September 2008: Kala (#19): 9

11th January 2009: The Fame (#1): 10

 

Decayed Prelude (45:37) (GD) (M)

Just Have Fun. Smile. And Keep Putting On Lipstick.

Celebrating Diane Keaton (née Hall), 5th January 1946 to 11th October 2025.

I adored Diane Keaton in spite of, not because of, her association with Woody Allen and was a huge fan of her films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. I started losing track of her appearances in the latter part of the 1990s and into the 21st century, and in some cases Diane was the sole saving grace of some otherwise bland movies. 

I knew that Diane had also stepped behind the camera to direct, but not that this included a season 2 episode of Twin Peaks and several videos for Belinda Carlisle, including arguably her best known song, Heaven Is A Place On Earth.

Throughout her life, Diane always carried a deceptively simple yet striking image, be it a penchant for pants (trousers), wide brimmed hats or gloves. And always that incredible smile.

Diane has occasionally committed her voice to vinyl: I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard featured in the 1981 film Reds, and was released as a single in the USA.

However, for today's selection, I've fallen back on the tried and tested approach of a 12-song, 45-minute compilation of songs that (more or less) match the titles of films from Diane's extensive CV.

There were a few also-rans: if Lloyd Cole had only moved upstairs, he could have been a shoo-in for 5 Flights Up. Similarly, Anne Clark is kicking herself that Woody Allen never got around to making a sequel to his 1973 hit, and calling it Sleeper In Metropolis.

I've also taken a few liberties: Something's Gotta Give is replaced with a more grammatically satisfying B-side by The Comsat Angels. And Akron/Family drop the 'And' for So It Goes, but it's close enough for me.

Kicking off the second half of this mixtape, it was too good an opportunity to pass up a reference to Because I Said So, not least 'cause it's sonic equivalent was recorded by The Godfathers, a wonderfully unsubtle reference to the fact that Diane played Kay Adams in all of Francis Ford Coppola's legendary trilogy.

Aside from all that, I think it's an eclectic but entertaining selection, which is a (very) simple way of summing up Diane's film career. If you're in the mood for a Diane Keaton marathan, then click on any of the titles for more info (courtesy of IMDb) and fill your boots.

I'm going to end with a quote from Diane, which inspired today's title and is something we could all do more of.

Don't give up on yourself. 

So you make a mistake here and there; 

you do too much or you do too little. 

Just have fun. 

Smile. 

And keep putting on lipstick.

Thanks, Diane, you were - and will always be - wonderful.

1) Morning Glory (Edit): Chairmen Of The Board (1974)

2) Northern Lights (The Freelance Hellraiser Mix): Ian Brown (2002)

3) Something's Got To Give: The Comsat Angels (1986)

4) Sleeper: Espiritu (1997)

5) Manhattan: Cinerama (2000)

6) So It Goes: Akron/Family (2011)

7) 'Cause I Said So: The Godfathers (1988)

8) Mama's Boy (Album Version): Ramones (1984)

9) Hampstead (Demo): Adam & The Ants (1977)

10) Interiors (Song For Willem De Kooning) (Album Version): Manic Street Preachers (1996)

11) Love And Death (Re-Recorded Version): Ebo Taylor (2009)

12) Plan B (Single Version): Dexy's Midnight Runners (1981)

1974: Skin I'm In: 1

1981: Plan B EP: 12

1984: Too Tough To Die: 8

1986: The Cutting Edge EP: 3

1988: Birth, School, Work, Death: 7

1996: Everything Must Go: 10

1997: Another Life: 4

2000: Antbox: 9

2000: Manhattan EP: 5

2002: Remixes Of The Spheres: 2

2010: Love And Death: 11

2011: S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey Of Shinju TNT: 6

Just Have Fun. Smile. And Keep Putting On Lipstick. (44:42) (GD) (M)

Decadance V: 1999

After five week(end)s and ten posts, the Decadance series ends inevitably with 1999. 

Unlike my previous look at the 1980s, which largely recreated existing mixtapes, each one of these posts started completely from scratch and tried to imagine what my 20-something self would have tried to cram onto each side of a C90.

It's been a lot of fun, but a lot more time consuming. Even compared to my usual posts containing a Dubhed selection, each one has taken about three times longer to complete, sometimes at the expense of other planned posts (like gig reviews, with apologies to Mike...it's coming!)

I'm really glad I did it though, not least because it's enabled to me to revisit lots of artists and tunes that I haven't heard in ages. I also had the impression going into this that, unlike the Decade series, this one would be largely comprised of outlier music that only rarely troubled the UK singles charts. 

I decided to track the highest chart placings for each post and it turns out that my latter assumption was way off. Despite being subjected to some of the most dire, bland, identikit pop pap throughout the 90s, the decade also delivered some great music that made more of an impression (however briefly) with the record buying public. There are way more Top 10 hits than non-charting singles throughout, for example.

Decadance has delivered 120 songs by 110 individual artists, meaning that some - but not many - appeared more than once.  No surprise perhaps to find that Julian Cope and Massive Attack were the only to have three bites of the cherry, though the revelation that the former had at least 3 hits in the 1990s may.

Honorable mentions for those who managed two appearances: Fluke, Lionrock, The Sabres Of Paradise, Saint Etienne, Suede and, just under the wire with today's selection, The Chemical Brothers. Likewise, Dot Allison, by dint of her previous outing with One Dove.

So, let's have a look at who made the final dozen of the millennium.

1999 starts off with The Chemical Brothers and Hey Boy Hey Girl. I had assumed that like Block Rockin' Beats before it, this song had gone straight in at #1, but no. Keeping Ed and Tom off the top spot were Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann and the previous week's #1, Sweet Like Chocolate by Shanks & Bigfoot (more of which later).

As with most singles at this time, it was all about first week sales, usually bolstered by multiple formats offering slightly different B-sides and versions. Unfortunately, the following week Hey Boy Hey Girl dropped to #6 and it was downhill from there.

A song that deserved far better than its peak of #54 was Honey by Billie Ray Martin. A great pop song, produced by Dave Ball, remixed by Chicane and Deep Dish, it didn't get the love (or radio play) that it deserved. Time to address that injustice here.

It's hard to comprehend that it's been more than a quarter of a century since Dot Allison released her debut solo single (Mo' Pop) and album (Afterglow). Again, how was Mo' Pop not at least Top 40, higher even? Thankfully, Dot has continued to record and release wonderful music ever since.

I know, I know, there are many other and arguably better James songs that should have seen them appear earlier in the series. That said, I have a real soft spot for I Know What I'm Here For. I didn't buy the single or album but obtained it via Q magazine's 'best albums of 1999' freebie CD at the end of the year and it's remained a much-loved song since.

The Stone Roses made their sole appearance in my Decade mixtape series in 1989, with Fool's Gold. It seems fitting therefore that Ian Brown should make a solo appearance in 1999 with Love Like A Fountain. Never one for modesty, this song was a precursor to Ian's second album, titled Golden Greats. 

Great is a word I'd use to describe GusGus, the unlikely 4AD signing from Iceland, who brought a glacial cool to the dancefloor. Again, many other worthy contenders throughout the mid- to late-90s, but the opening seconds of Starlovers make me want to move every time. And Daníel Ágúst's voice is just sublime.

Lovefool did nothing for me, if I'm honest, and I figured The Cardigans to be just another band that were quickly in and out of favour. Then I heard Your Favourite Game and Erase/Rewind and really liked them both. By sheer coincidence, I'd placed the latter at track 7 in this selection before discovering it's peak UK singles chart placing was...7. 

I remember Sweet Like Chocolate by Shanks & Bigfoot as much for it's crap video, which I haven't seen since but which probably looks even more horribly dated now. Nothing to detract from what was quite a clever dance/pop crossover hit (it was #1 in May 1999). I normally avoided generically titled CD compilations like the plague, but I succumbed to the appeal of The Best Ibiza Anthems...Ever!, which included the Ruff Driverz remix of Sweet Like Chocolate featured here. It remains the only version of the song in my music collection.

Beck was back in 1999, although he'd never really been away, having released his previous album the year before. Sexx Laws was a bit different though, offering up a (retro)poppier take that I found quite appealing, as I did the rest of the Midnite Vultures album. I've know idea what esteem or place in the canon this holds with Beck fans. For me, it was the right music at the right time. Did it appear in the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me? If it didn't, it could have.

The final Mandatory Andrew Weatherall (MAW) appearance didn't present the same challenges as 1998. Another Two Lone Swordsmen remix, though this time included on the official CD single release with full vocals and a smidge under five minutes. That the song happens to be Swansong by Rae & Christian featuring the wonderful vocals of Veba aka Beverley Green is just icing on the cake. Andrew and Keith Tenniswood excelled themselves with this one.

Despite being their most commercially successful decade, R.E.M. make their one and only appearance as the penultimate song in the very last post of the series. What a song, though. At My Most Beautiful is a thing of, well, beauty although the jingle bell backing always had me thinking that it must have been released in time to exploit the Christmas market. Not so, it was March! 

I bought the CD single in the bargain bins, many moons later. I'd not heard the lead song at this point and got it solely for the bonus live versions of Country Feedback and The Passenger (Iggy Pop), performed on Later...With Jools Holland. At My Most Beautiful has since become a personal favourite.

How to follow that and close out the series and the decade? By going back to January 1999 and Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp by Mercury Rev, that's how. The album edit here comes in at just over 3 minutes, stretching my imaginary C90 tape to almost breaking point, though there was no question of ending this selection in any other way. Just a joy from start to finish, which then inspired me to dig out the full length version and remix by The Chemical Brothers to keep it going on and on.

Thank you for sticking with me for the last few weekends. I hope that, as it did for me, these weekly trips have been a reminder of some great music and artists, many of whom are still going in some shape or form today, continuing to add to their rich and varied history.

I suspect that when I get around to a series on the Noughties, the gulf between my singles selections and the UK charts will be vast, yet I know that like Decadance and Decade, there will be many gems to be uncovered and shared. I'm not planning on doing it any time soon, possibly not even this year, though I have come up with the series name. 

Decayed. 

1) Hey Boy Hey Girl (Radio Edit): The Chemical Brothers

2) Honey (Chicane Radio Edit): Billie Ray Martin

3) Mo' Pop (Album Version): Dot Allison

4) I Know What I'm Here For (Album Version): James

5) Love Like A Fountain (Radio Version): Ian Brown

6) Starlovers (Edit): GusGus

7) Erase/Rewind (Cut La Roc Vocal Mix): The Cardigans

8) Sweet Like Chocolate (Ruff Driverz Vocal): Shanks & Bigfoot ft. Sharon Woolf

9) Sexx Laws (Album Version): Beck

10) Swansong (Two Lone Swordsmen Vocal): Rae & Christian ft. Veba

11) At My Most Beautiful (Radio Remix): R.E.M.

12) Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp (Album Version Edit): Mercury Rev

31st January 1999: Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp EP (#26): 12

28th February 1999: Erase/Rewind EP (#7): 7

14th March 1999: At My Most Beautiful EP (#10): 11

28th March 1999: Afterglow (#81): 3

18th April 1999: Starlovers EP (#62): 6

23rd May 1999: Sweet Like Chocolate EP (#1): 8

6th June 1999: Hey Boy Hey Girl EP (#3): 1

13th June 1999: Swansong EP (#17): 10

25th July 1999: Millionaires (#22): 4

15th August 1999: Honey EP (#54): 2

31st October 1999: Love Like A Fountain EP (#23): 5

14th November 1999: Midnite Vultures (#27): 9

Side Two (47:01) (KF) (Mega)

The Third Degree Of Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon

The third and, at least for now, final installment in the Kevin Bacon trilogy for your entertainment / derision (delete as applicable).

I had an idea of who/where I wanted to start, but could I pull it off? Turns out that yes, I could. It's Kevin Bacon we're talking about here!

Here's another half dozen songs taking you from one Monkee to another monkey, with some rather fine tuneage along the way, if I say so myself. Spoiler alert: nothing from The Comsat Angels this week. Complaint letters to the usual address, please.

 

More nonsense tomorrow.

1) Mike Nesmith was an incredibly talented - and hugely underrated - singer/songwriter. Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care) appeared on Nevada Fighter, his 1971 album with The First National Band. However, he originally wrote and recorded a version back in 1968, which remained unreleased until the 1990s, when it appeared on a rarities album by the band that gave Nesmith his big break, The Monkees.

2) The Monkees formed in 1966 and were originally conceived as a fictional group for a TV sitcom. Initially, the majority of their songs were written by other people, including (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone. In 1990, The Farm released a cover version, which was remixed by their manager Suggs and superstar DJ Terry Farley.

3) Terry Farley co-founded the Boy's Own collective, who in turn released a couple of singles as Bocca Juniors, with fellow DJs/producers Pete Heller, Hugo Nicholson and Andrew Weatherall.

4) Andrew Weatherall was a prolific remixer, producer and artist in his own right before his untimely passing in 2020. In 2016, he provided a couple of remixes for French psych pop duo The Limiñanas, featuring a beautiful contribution from guest bassist Peter Hook.

5) Peter Hook is a little bit famous for being in Joy Division then New Order, arguably less so for Revenge and Monaco, but he has also had a good run as a producer. Although the better known version was produced by John Leckie, Hooky was at the controls for the original version of Elephant Stone by The Stone Roses, with unmistakable vocals from Ian Brown.

6) Ian Brown went on to have a successful solo career, starting in 1997 with Unfinished Monkey Business. Can't See Me was released as the third and final single in June 1998, remixed by production duo Bacon & Quarmby, comprising Jonathan Quarmby and - who else? - Kevin Bacon.

 

1) Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care): The Monkees (1968)

2) Stepping Stone (Ghost Dance Mix By Terry Farley & Mr. Suggs) (Video Version): The Farm (1990)

3) Raise (63 Steps To Heaven) (Dubhead Mix By Adrian Sherwood & Keith LeBlanc): Bocca Juniors ft. Anna Haigh & Protege (1990)

4) Garden Of Love (Lundi Mouillé Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Nina Walsh): The Limiñanas ft. Peter Hook (2016)

5) Elephant Stone (Peter Hook Original Mix): The Stone Roses (1988) 

6) Can't See Me (Bacon & Quarmby Remix): Ian Brown (1998)

 

The Third Degree Of Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon (23:41) (KF) (Mega)

 

In case you missed the previous installments, here's the original selection and the rather wonderful follow up from guest contributor The Vinyl Villain.