It is rare indeed that I will be enticed on to a dance floor. Yet anyone who has seen me at the monthly London club night Uptight will know that it only takes a few bars of Jonathan Richman's Roadrunner or an early REM track to get me under the disco ball. The music you hear at Uptight is so great that when Jo and I thought about who would DJ at our wedding there was no question who we'd ask.
This Saturday (24 April) the last ever Uptight takes place at the Albany on Great Portland Street. After 10 years of spinning everything from Donna Summer to Spacemen 3 my pals Wayne Gooderham, his brother Marc and Gary Rose are hanging up their headphones.
I have lots of fond memories of Saturday night's in the Albany's basement. Most notably perhaps when my friend John Barner thought he could become Christina Ricci's friend by lighting the pint-sized actress's cigarettes.
To mark Uptight's passing I've asked Wayne to share some of his essential Uptight tunes. For one week you can download the whole lot together, all nicely tagged with artwork etc. The link is at the bottom of the post. If you like what you hear get down to the Albany on Saturday night. I'll be the one punching the air to Born To Run.
MP3: The Fall – Blindness (Peel Session)
"Not only one of the best things The Fall have done in recent years, but one of the best things they’ve done period. But don’t bother with the album version though. It’s the Peel session version yer wantin’."
Find it on The Complete Peel Sessions
| The Fall OnlineMP3: Von Sudenfed – The Rhinohead
"And this is the best pop song MES has had a hand in for bleedin’ ages."
Find it on Tromatic Reflexxions
| Von Sudenfed at Domino RecordsMP3: Bob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone (live)
"Obviously the studio version is perfect and the live '66 version has its own ragged charm (to put it mildly), but the live '74 version from Before The Flood is more fun for the dance floor: sing-a-long-an-alienation."
Find it on Before The Flood
| Bob Dylan official siteMP3: The Rolling Stones – Rocks Off
"Coz the sunshine bores the daylight out of me (baby)."
Find it on Exile On Main Street
| Rolling Stones official siteMP3: Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
"When we started Uptight it was with a clear agenda to play songs we genuinely loved that wouldn't necessarily appear to go together in a set. Like this."
Find it on Born to Run
| Bruce Springsteen official siteMP3: Stereolab – French Disko
"and this..."
Find it on Oscillons from the Anti-Sun
| Stereolab official siteMP3: Nina Simone – My Baby Just Cares For Me
"and this."
Find it on The Very Best of Nina Simone
| Nina Simone official siteMP3: Smog – Ex-Con
"The best Smog songs sound like the Velvet Underground (in my humble o'). And this one sounds like New Order too. Everyone's a winner."
Find it on Red Apple Falls
| Bill Callahan MySpaceMP3: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth
"See above."
Find it on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
| official siteMP3: LCD Soundsystem – All of My Friends
"Ditto."
Find it on Sound of Silver
| LCD Soundsystem official siteMP3: New Order – Love Vigilantes
"New Order were always more of an 'Uptight band' than Joy Division, y’know..."
Find it on Low-life
| New Order OnlineMP3: The The Walkmen – The Rat
"Nosebleed Strokes. Innit."
Find it on Bows + Arrows
| The Walkmen MySpaceMP3: Teddybears – Punkrocker (feat. Iggy Pop)
"The Uptight Dancefloor Classic that never was. Pity. I still think it's brill, though."
Find it on Soft Machine
| Teddybears MySpaceMP3: Bo Didley – Pills
"'A rock n roll nurse went to my head'. Indeed."
Find it on Bo Didley - His Best
| Bo Didley WikipediaMP3: Morrissey – Every Day Is Like Sunday
"His finest three minutes. A perfect pop song with a bridge that lesser talents would have settled for as a chorus. Industrial Motown sez I."
Find it on Viva Hate
| Morrissey official siteMP3: David Bowie – Modern Love
"'I know when to go out. And when to stay in. Get things done.' Surprisingly pragmatic advice from the TWD."
Find it on Let's Dance
| David Bowie BBC artist pageMP3: The Beatles – She Loves You
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Find it on The Red Album
| The Beatles official siteMP3: The Velvet Underground – After Hours
"Without whom... 'If you close the door the night could last forever.'"
Find it on The Velvet Underground
| Velvet Underground WikipediaDownload the entire Uptight compilation (.rar) via Megaupload
Related Links
Uptight - full details plus flyer for reduced price entry
Three Score & Ten - Wayne's age-based literary project
1 comments:
It was a fine night out. I started going to uptight when it was at the tatty bogle. I just loved the music and the atmosphere there. Now the hunt begins to find a decent replacement. Is it possible?
Post a Comment