A Decade of Being Uptight

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 Online

MP3: 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 Records

MP3: 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 site

MP3: 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 site

MP3: 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 site

MP3: Stereolab – French Disko

"and this..."
Find it on Oscillons from the Anti-Sun| Stereolab official site

MP3: Nina Simone – My Baby Just Cares For Me

"and this."
Find it on The Very Best of Nina Simone| Nina Simone official site

MP3: 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 MySpace

MP3: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth

"See above."
Find it on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah| official site

MP3: LCD Soundsystem – All of My Friends

"Ditto."
Find it on Sound of Silver| LCD Soundsystem official site

MP3: 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 Online

MP3: The The Walkmen – The Rat

"Nosebleed Strokes. Innit."
Find it on Bows + Arrows| The Walkmen MySpace

MP3: 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 MySpace

MP3: Bo Didley – Pills

"'A rock n roll nurse went to my head'. Indeed."
Find it on Bo Didley - His Best| Bo Didley Wikipedia

MP3: 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 site

MP3: 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 page

MP3: The Beatles – She Loves You

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Find it on The Red Album| The Beatles official site

MP3: 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 Wikipedia

Download 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

State Songs #2: Alaska

Our musical tour around the United States takes us to the country's most northern point. Until Sarah Palin made her unwelcome entrance into my consciousness pretty much all of my impressions about Alaska came from Northern Exposure, a whimsical 90s TV show that was actually filmed in Washington state.

This was my favourite programme as a teenager. What was not to love about the eccentric small town of Cicely and its residents that included Martin Scorsese's pen pal, a sexy female pilot and a well-read DJ who still played 78s?

I digress. There are more than 500 miles between Alaska and Seattle and the state averages just one person per square mile. With that in mind it's unsurprising that in most of these tracks Alaska seems to be a metaphor for remoteness. Wrap up warm...

MP3: Port O'Brien - Fisherman's Son

The song that inspired our musical trip across America. If I'd got round to making a list of my favourite albums of 2008 Port O'Brien's All We Could Do Is Sing would have have been on it.
More Port O'Brien: official site | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Michelle Shocked - Anchorage (live)

One of my favourite songs of all time - I'm not quite sure why. This version was recorded for Dutch radio and appears on disc two of the Short Sharp Shocked re-release.
More Michelle Shocked: official site | Amazon

MP3: The Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says

It's debatable whether this song is actually about Alaska but it's a beauty nonetheless and one of only two tracks on VU that feature John Cale. Lou Reed re-wrote it as the much darker Caroline Says II for his Berlin album.
More Velvets: Wikipedia | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Dan Bern - Alaska Highway

Regular visitors through these doors will be familiar with Dan Bern. The Alaska Highway runs 1,522 miles through Canada, connecting Alaska with the rest of the US. The song also mentions Kodiak, home the famous bear.
More Dan Bern: official site | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Johnny Cash - When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)

At last a song that wallows in Alaskan clichés. Johnny Horton's lyrics mention blizzards, freezing temperatures, grizzly bears and caribou. I have found no evidence to suggest that the "Eskimo Hop" is a genuine dance.
More Johnny Cash: official site | Amazon | 7digital

I hope you've enjoyed our trip up North. Things will be warmer next time as we head southwest to Arizona.

Related Posts
State Somgs #1: Alabama - Cat Power, Billie Holiday, Jim White, Joan Baez, Shelby Lynne and, of course, Lynryd Skynyrd.