B68: Scottish Songs

 I've done a list of Scottish songs before in various forms, but I'm having another crack.

I felt, watching a documentary recently about the Glasgow scene of the 80s, that my own taste in "Scottish Pop" is very much second or third generation - B and S are one thing, but most folk in the know would mostly think of Josef K, then the Pastels etc

Anyway, this is an attempt to be somewhat all-inclusive, including the more mainstream side of it. I love 'Goodnight Girl', after all ...

There's still so much missing:

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/scottish-songs/pl.u-e90JqhpkGAY

1. The First Big Weekend - Arab Strap
2. Just Like Honey - Jesus and Mary Chain
3. Sunshine on Leith - The Proclaimers
4. The Sweetest Thing - Camera Obscura
5. Ivo  - Cocteau Twins
6. Sorrow - Life without Buildings
7. Pretty in a Panic - My Latest Novel
8. The Ballad of the Broken Seas - Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan
9. Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam - The Vaselines
10. When the Haar Rolls in - James Yorkston
11. Willows of Carbeth - Trembling Bells
12. My Secret is My Silence - Roddy Woomble
13. Oblivious - Aztec Camera
14. Party Fears Two - The Associates
15. No One Speaks - Geneva
16. Barriers - Aereogramme
17. False Alarm - KT Tunstall
18. Top of the Pops - The Rezillos
19. Next to Me - Emeli Sande
20. Young at Heart - The Bluebells
21. What Time is Love - The KLF
22. Amsterdam - UNPOC
23. Ready for the Weekend - Calvin Harris
24. Pauper's Dough - King Creosote
25. Drop the Pressure - Mylo
26. Rip it Up - Orange Juice
27. Surf - Roddy Frame
28. Verisimilitude - Teenage Fanclub
29. The Mother We Share - Chvrches
30. Serious Drugs - BMX Bandits
31. All the Records on the Radio ... - Ballboy
32. When I Argue I See Shapes - Idlewild
33. The Saints are Coming - The Skids
34. Default - Django Django
35. Helicon 1 - Mogwai
36. Dry the Rain - The Beta Band
37. Love Anyway - Mike Scott
38. Flowers in the Window - Travis
39. Mid-Air - Paul Buchanan
40. The Sexual Loneliness of Jesus Christ - Jackie Leven
41. The Final Arrears - Mull Historical Society
42. Into the Open Air - Julie Fowlis
43. 9 to 5 - Sheena Easton
44. Catch the Wind - Donovan
45. Coming up Easy - Paolo Nutini
46. Colourblind - Darius Danesh
47. Stuck in the Middle with You - Stealer's Wheel
48. Goodnight Girl - Wet Wet Wet
49. Labour of Love - Hue and Cry
50. Smile - Supernaturals
51. Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
52. Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat
53. Sorry for Laughing - Josef K
54. Look Away - Big Country
55. To Sir With Love - Trashcan Sinatras
56. Many of Horror - Biffy Clyro
57. The Modern Leper - Frightened Rabbit
58. Only God Knows- Young Fathers
59. Darts of Pleasure - Franz Ferdinand
60. Parks and Recreation - Emma Pollock
61. Vienna - Ultravox
62. Nothing to Be Done - The Pastels
63. Kandy Pop - Bis
64. There Must Be An Angel - Eurhythmics
65. Feels Like I'm in Love - Kelly-Marie
66. Kayleigh - Marillion
67. Alive and Kicking - Simple Minds
68. Sick - The Twilight Sad
69. You Are My Joy - Snow Patrol
70. Superstar Tradesman - The View
71. Godhopping - Dogs Die in Hot Cars
72. Fight them Back - Steve Mason
73. Heliopolis by Night - Aberfeldy
74. I Don't Know Where to Begin - The Pictish Trail
75. Daddy's Gone - Glasvegas
76. Happy Birthday - Altered Images
77. In Demand - Texas
78. Caledonia - Bert Jansch
79. Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri
80. Dignity - Deacon Blue
81. Rhythm of my Heart - Runrig
82. I'm Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage
83. OhKatherine - Josephine Foster
84. Robot Man - The Aliens
85. Movin' on Up - Primal Scream
86. Coming in from the Cold - The Delgados
87. Caledonia - Frankie Miller
88. I'm a Cuckoo - Belle and Sebastian

B67: American Songs

Here's a playlist. I think it's a really great one, albeit it's a bit obvious.

My starting point was listening to The Band a lot lately, and also to the great song by Drive-By Truckers, 'Danko/Manuel'.

So, yes, The Band were 4/5 Canadian, but that's, in a way, what made them one of the definitive American bands. All the acts in the playlist will be American, apart from a few Canadians who are wrapped up in American music.

This got me thinking about five bands of the 60s, all beginning with B, whose instrumental and vocal sounds really define what white rock and pop became - The Beatles, The Bee Gees, The Band, The Beach Boys, The Byrds. There are similarities between various of them, but all took the music down different paths. All of them had such brilliant singers. [there is a 6th too, which i think is almost as important and influential, though a little later and much less successful - Big Star].

I also thought the "survivors" of each band tell a tale. Each act has had tragedy, and each has a small number of survivors holding their legacy, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes controversially.

Anyway, the Beatles and the Bee Gees aren't on this playlist, for obvious reasons, but the other three are all very much part of it.

Like I said, it's a bit obvious in parts, it's a tour through frontline American music history, but I've tried to make connections everywhere. If there's modern music, I want it to call to the past.

There is so much that isn't there which could be there. I didn't want to go too far into folk/acoustic music, country music, modern Americana, or pop, but there's a bit of all of them.

I could make the list again, include so many different things. but still I hope you enjoy.

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/american-songs/pl.u-d29JjFAZrR6

1. Danko/Manuel - Jason Isbell
2. The Weight - The Band
3. Blind Willie McTell - Bob Dylan
4. Who Do You Love? - Bo Diddley
5. Diamonds and Rust - Joan Baez
6. Boulder to Birmingham - Emmylou Harris
7. The Return of the Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
8. So You Want To Be a Rock'nRoll'Star - The Byrds
9. Turn! Turn Turn! - Judy Collins
10. Carry On - CSNY
11. My Baby Don't Understand Me - Natalie Prass
12. Heads Gonna Roll - Jenny Lewis
13. Free Falling - Tom Petty
14. Crying - Roy Orbison
15. Bring it On Home to Me - Sam Cooke
16. Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye
17. Mississippi Goddam - Nina Simone
18. Blood on the Leaves - Kanye West
19. The Wolves - Bon Iver
20. Frankie's Gun - Felice Brothers
21. What it Means - Drive-By Truckers
22. Formation - Beyonce
23. Pa'lante - Hurray for the Riff Raff
24. Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival
25. Dancing in the Street - Martha and the Vandellas
26. i - Kendrick Lamar
27. Night Train - James Brown
28. He Got Game - Public Enemy
29. Sonny Could Lick All Them Cats - Chuck E Weiss
30. Hold On - Alabama Shakes
31. Love Love Love - Mountain Goats
32. Spanish Mary - Rhiannon Giddens
33. Where Did You Sleep Last Night? - Nirvana
34. Dancefloors - My Morning Jacket
35. Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters
36. Dylan Thomas - Best Oblivion Community Center
37. Heart Like a Wheel - Kate and Anna McGarrigle
38. Tell It Like It Is - The Neville Brothers
39. Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry
40. I Walk on Gilded Splinters - Dr John
41. Rock'n'Roll - Mos Def
42. If All I Was Was Black - Mavis Staples
43. Hummingbird - Wilco
44. Bastards of Young - The Replacements
45. September Gurls - Big Star
46. The Trader - The Beach Boys
47. Maybe the People Will Be the Times Or Between Clark and Hillsdale - Love
48. California Soul - Marlena Shaw
49. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
50. Eye Know - De La Soul
51. Livin' for the City - Stevie Wonder
52. Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
53. Hudson Line - Mercury Rev
54. Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips
55. Downtown Train - Tom Waits
56. The Gash - The Flaming Lips
57. Chuck E's in Love - Ricky Lee Jones
58. Talking 'Bout a Revolution - Tracy Chapman
59. Badlands - Bruce Springsteen
60. Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner
61. Love Child - The Supremes
62. Woodstock - Joni Mitchell
63. All Your Favourite Bands - Dawes
64. Do What You Gotta Do - The Four Tops
65. If you Could Read My Mind  - Gordon Lightfoot
66. One Headlight - The Wallflowers
67. No Other - Gene Clark
68. River - Dennis Wilson
69. Steady Pace - Matthew E White
70. Respect - Aretha Franklin
71. The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash
72. Schooldays - Loudon Wainwright
73. Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill
74. Save the Country - Laura Nyro
75. Oh My Sweet Carolina - Ryan Adams
76. My Country Tis of Thee - Mahalia Jackson
77. Elvis Presley Blues - Gillian Welch
78. Lucille - Little Richard
79. Mystery Train - Elvis Presley
80. Midnight Special - Odetta
81. Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
82. Make Your Own Kind of Music - Mama Cass

B66: The BBL

So, farewell again, Big Bash League, which, every year but particularly this year, has been a great winter friend.

Just when I need it, when the cold draws in, the days are short, when leaving the house is a distant memory, it provides consistent, untaxing morning entertainment for the best part of two months.

If you don't know what it is, it is a T20 Cricket League in Australia, usually broadcast in the UK at 8.15am on BT Sport, so I can have it on for the first three hours or so of my working day.

There are 8 teams, the Sydney Thunder, Sydney Sixers, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades, Perth Scorchers, Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes, all in garish colours. They all play each other twice, then there's a brief knockout denouement.

It is, simply, as straightforwardly enjoyable, in format, presentation and action, as a sporting tournament gets. I enjoy it far more than any English T20 or the more prestigious and lucrative IPL.

I'm not overly invested in any one team, but usually have a favourite or two each year. The players are mainly Australian, with two or three overseas players per team. Most teams have one or two English players, and they usually do very well.

The level is excellent but not quite as high as the IPL, but I prefer that. The pressure, particularly for overseas players, is enormous in the IPL, and good players can go weeks without a game because of limits on foreign players. 

The IPL tries to be fun but takes itself too seriously, more seriously than T20 should ever take itself. The BBL takes itself that crucial amount less seriously, and the commentary, though Aussie-matey, is far less excruciating than the Danny Morrison-led extremeness of the IPL.

They banter but they don't BANTER! They had Brian Lara this year, Lisa Sthalekar's great. Damian Fleming's genuinely witty, Ricky Ponting is clear-headed and sensible.

The unlikely star of the tournament this year was James Vince, an elegant, talented English batsman whose been a punchline for many years for his propensity for scoring 20 then getting out, in every form of the game. Well, this year, he scored superb 90+s in the semi-final and final of the BBL, winning the tournament for the Sydney Sixers. No one could begrudge him his day in the sun.

Anyway, there it is. It's over for another year. I'll miss it, albeit there's a potentially superb England-India series just starting. 

Some see a moral issue in the effort taken to protect sportspeople so they can carry on doing their sheltered, meaningless job, but, honestly, it really does provide so much comfort, calm and pleasure, I think any measures are worth it.