It’s 6 years today since Joe Strummer died.

Just a note to mark the date, and to say the 5th anniversary mashup album from last year ‘This One’s For Joe‘ is still up and rolling. Thanks Joe!

BBC Radiophonic Workshop (something that regular listeners and readers to the show shouldn’t need any introduction to) hit 50 this year, and you might have seen or heard various events at the Electric Proms relating to this (listening to Coldcut remixing the works of the Workshop as I type this).

What you might not know is that next Monday 3rd November (despite what Stuart Maconie said on the Freak Zone) Mute are releasing a retrospective 2 CD set of the usually hard to find Radiophonic Workshop.


Even better – they’re re-releasing several album including the legendary pink album. This has been changing hands for upto £500 quid (!) as it was only briefly re-released in the early 2000’s. And another album of later work.

Don’t really have the money but guess what I’ve ordered!

Coincidentally I’m working on a Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram podcast for digitaldebris; so I will put out a show related to this, hopefully before 2008 is out!

Peel Badge by Skreen from the Cuban Boys

Today was the 4 year anniversary of John Peel’s last show – and on the 25th of this month the anniversary of his death. And fittingly I was reminded of this by the excellent Cuban Boys by the ever-present and psychic DJ Charles III (my iPod). Down down deeper and down!

So, given that BBC has seemingly given up the ghost on a John Peel Day this year, I think a fitting tribute is to play this loud on the 25th (or today if you get it in time). It’s not totally the same without Peel, although Rob da Bank seems to be doing pretty well in his own way, there probably won’t be anyone with the same breadth of music and definitely not anyone with that history. The industry is far too marketing niche and career orientated for that to happen now.

Cuban Boys – The Nation Needs You (7″)
Cuban Boys – The Nation Needs You (12″)

To those of a certain age, the porcine NOW! compilations (aka Now That’s What I Call Music) were a fundamental part of their youth….I remember the first ones, my sister had NOW 8. Well to make me feel utterly old they have now reached 25 years of age, and the 25th anniversary edition is soon to be out.

So let’s see:

Disc: 1
1. Backstreet Boys I Want It That Way
2. Belinda Carlisle Heaven is A Place On Earth
3. Beyonce feat Jay-Z Crazy In Love
4. Billy Joel Uptown Girl
5. Black Eyed Peas feat Justin Timberlake Where Is The Love
6. Bon Jovi Livin’ On A Prayer
7. Boyzone No Matter What
8. Britney Spears Baby One More Time
9. Cher Believe
10. Coldplay Fix You
11. Crowded House Weather With You
12. Culture Club Karma Chameleon
13. David Bowie Modern Love
14. Diana Ross Chain Reaction
15. Duffy Mercy
16. Duran Duran The Reflex
17. Elton John Are You Ready For Love
18. Eurythmics There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)
19. Fatboy Slim Praise You
20. Feargal Sharkey A Good Heart
21. Frankie Goes To Hollywood Two Tribes
22. Gnarls Barkley Crazy
23. James Sit Down
24. James Blunt You’re Beautiful
25. Jermaine Stewart We Don’t Have To
26. Kaiser Chiefs Ruby
27. Katy Perry I Kissed A Girl
Disc: 2
1. Kylie Minogue Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
2. Leona Lewis Bleeding Love
3. Mark Ronson feat Amy Winehouse Valerie
4. Mika Grace Kelly
5. Natalie Imbruglia Torn
6. Nelly Furtado Maneater
7. New Radicals You Get What You Give
8. No Doubt Don’t Speak
9. Oasis Wonderwall
10. Outkast Hey Ya!
11. Pet Shop Boys It’s A Sin
12. Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer
13. Phil Collins You Can’t Hurry Love
14. Phil Collins / Philip Bailey Easy Lover
15. Queen I Want To Break Free
16. R.E.M. Everybody Hurts
17. Ray Parker Jr Ghostbusters
18. Ricky Astley Never Gonna Give You Up
19. Rihanna feat Jay-Z Umbrella
20. Robbie Williams Angels
21. Roxette It Must Have Been Love
22. RUN DMC feat Aerosmith Walk This Way
23. S Club 7 Reach
24. Shaggy feat Ricardo ‘RikRok’ Ducent It Wasn’t Me
25. Shania Twain That Don’t Impress Me Much
Disc: 3
1. Simple Minds Don’t You (Forget About Me)
2. Sinead O’Connor Nothing Compares 2 U
3. Snow Patrol Chasing Cars
4. Spice Girls Wannabe
5. T’Pau China In Your Hand
6. Take That Patience
7. The Beautiful South A Little Time
8. The Killers Somebody Told Me
9. The Proclaimers I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
10. The Scissor Sisters I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’
11. The Sugababes Push The Button
12. The Verve Bittersweet Symphony
13. Timbaland pts one Republic Apologise
14. Tina Turner The Best
15. Tony Christie (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
16. U2 Pride (In The Name Of Love)
17. UB40 Red Red Wine
18. Westlife You Raise Me Up
19. Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around
20. Wham! Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
21. Whitesnake Here I Go Again (87 Remix)
22. Will Young Leave Right Now
23. Yazz The Only Way Is Up

Can you get a mostly blander set of hits than this? NOW used to be a mix of the shit and the good, cred and the crap…now sadly success is probably only measured in sales rather than whether it’s good or not.

There are some Pop Classics™:

Kylie, Yazz, UB40, RUN DMC, Beyonce, Bon Jovi (I hate to say it, but yes) Ray parker Jr., Sinead O’Connor, Scissor Sisters, Britney Spears, Robbie Williams (ditto), R.E.M, Queen, Gnarls Barkley, FGTH, Outkast, PSB’s, Peter Gabriel, Spice Girls (double ditto), The Proclaimers, Diana Ross

but there are a lot even with the benefit of hindsight which should have been suffocated at birth:

Will Young, Fergal Sharkey, U2 (ooh controversy!), Tpau, Roxette, Cher, Phil Collins, The Verve, Westlife, Tony Christie, The Killers, S Club 7, Shania Twang, Boyzone, Backstreet Boys, Rihanna, Duffy, Wet Wet Wet, Belinda Carlisle, Mika, Natalie Imbrooglywoogly, Crowded House, James Blunt, Katy Perry

and others which are like ‘yes but not that song?!?!’

David Bowie, Take That, Tina Turner, Wham, Elton John, Coldplay, No Doubt, Timbaland, Eurythmics, Kaiser Chiefs

And talking of DJ Timmy Tim as he was known, why no Missy? Distinct lack of Eminem too. As we all know Madonna has never graced a NOW album either, having been kept off the No. 1 slot by one, but Prince has, so why the no show?). And no New Order – not even Blue Monday.

So what would be your NOW 25 years wonder playlist?

I met John (pictured above in rare-smiling-photo-SHOCKA! My favourite picture of him), my partner around the March 1st (neither of us can remember) 1997, so this is our 10th Anniversary.

Not bad for the man who was once described by the Daily Express as ‘The Evilest Man in Britain!’ and myself, emotional stress puppy extraordinaire, and it being both of our first serious relationship, and all…10 years in gay years, that’s like a century!

So I play some music that reminds me of him, and music that he likes, and go all soppy and get all Simon Bates ‘Our Tune’ on yr asses.

For an hour.

*evil laugh*.

My name is Simon Bates, I’m just a normal guy…(44Mb, 60mins) http://media.libsyn.com/media/radioclash/rc_110.mp3

• Elvis Costello – Every Day I Write the Book
• Bjork – Hyperballad (off Post)
• Mahlatini and The Mahotella Queens – Pitseng Tse Kgolo
• Louis Mhlanga and Eric van der Westen – Zvinoshamisa (off Song for Nomsa)
• John Cash – I See a Darkness
• Foo Fighters – Walking After You
• k.d.lang – Wash Me Clean
• Bjork – Anchor Song
• Wagner – Ride of the Valkyries
• Wendy Carlos – Jesu, Joy of Man Desiring
• Handel – Agrippina, Act 3 – Pur ch’io ti stringa