My lack of physical product to  bring along to DRC has forced me down some strange avenues of new purchases recently. This venture in to extreme progressive rock, was fostered by a childhood fascination by this album. Too young to understand what it was all about, but it looked great. A gatefold with page inserts kept me occupied in record shops on many a wet Saturday afternoon. In the mid 70’s world of men with long hair, this was what an album should look like and was seemingly greeted with the appropriate respect on release in 1974.

I introduced this with a tug of the forelock to Punk, pointing out you can’t really understand what comes next, until you appreciate what came before. This has apparently sold 14 million units worldwide and has been described as one of Prog Rock’s “crowning achievements”. It comes post Wakeman’s debut of ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’ and follows his departure from Yes after concluding ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ was too pretentious!

How would you pitch this to a record company these days? “It’s too expensive to record in studio, can we hire the Royal Festival  Hall for a couple of nights, get the London Symphony Orchestra along and see if Richard Harris will be the narrator (David Hemmings finally got the gig)? “Cool, here’s the cheque”.

It sold in bucket loads, won an Ivor Novello awards and was described by  Melody Maker as  “entertaining, fresh and disalarmingly unpretentious”. I guess you had to be there at the time, because listening today I certainly don’t get it. The most dramatic element  are the pinched bars from  ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ by Edvard Grieg. Maybe just the rock/orchestra combo was enough to excite people? There were a splurge of subsequent albums by the LSO under the clever title of ‘Rock Classics’ (for reference listen to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXTtkKzLY4A)

Rick did an national arena tour of it this year, and even people from the Guardian seemed to enjoy themselves, http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/apr/29/rick-wakeman-review-journey-to-the-centre-of-the-earth

Having listened now, my childhood (perhaps ‘misplaced childhood’) memories are dashed. I understand better why punk turned up later in the decade, but have no idea where music like this ‘fitted’ in the mid 70’s. As for Prog, give me Marillion anyday!

Tom listened: My mum always told me that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!

Nick listened: I was fascinated by Ed’s reaction to this; as he’s a musician, I kind of trust and defer to his judgement on certain things, because he does actually know what he’s talking about, even if he’s not got the anally-retentive alt.pop factoid recall that some of us are blessed/cursed with. If someone who knows about playing music, especially classical music, says this is simplistic, infantile bullshit, then we’re correct to completely discard it, right? Even if we’re discarding it from some post post-punk ideological platform, rather than on a purely musical basis

And Ed did dismiss this as simplistic, infantile bullshit, so everything’s fine. This was overblown, deliberately therefore uncomfortably ‘odd’ for the sake of it (while at the same time being absolutely not odd in any real way, either), and sat at distinct odds with the Owen Pallett record, which, in some ways (strings, synthesisers, classical-meets-rock, other reductive signifiers), it bore some slight resemblance to.

How many million people bought this? The 70s were weird.

Ed listened: Like politicians at a pre-election televised debate, I agree with Nick.

I suppose some explanation is due
as to why I turned up this week with a Celtic punk album from a US band not really known that much out of Boston.  Partly lack of inspiration for Round 63, led me to some unusually adventurous/flippant CD purchases in an effort to explore new genres.

For this choice, movies and football hold the key, and Boston’s intense connection with its Irish heritage. The Red Sox are owned by FSG Group, who also own the ‘might reds’, so that explains a loose affinity to a band who are the local heroes and provided the team with ‘Tessie’ (live version on this album) as a stadium soundtrack.

My first exposure to the band was the inclusion of ‘I’m Shipping up to Boston’ in the Departed soundtrack (it also features here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDKrkmkUHsk, in the similarly acclaimed ‘The DeBarted’ . One of their best known songs and nearest thing to a hit record they have ever had. A riotous Celtic punk noise which I sought out, to be surprised to discover it’s a  Woody Guthrie cover about a one legged sailor, who knew?

Their  5^th albumfrom 2005, it doesn’t really warrant too in depth a study of the ‘Dropkicks’ musical style, as they are probably the ‘Ronseal’ of Celtic US punk, by delivering exactly what it says on the CD cover. They borrow riffs and guitar styles left right and centre. Part of the enjoyment of the album is the familiarity with some of the echoes of the Clash, Skids, Big Country (plus a bit of Stiff Little Fingers) that fall out along the way.

To lighten the mood further, I manage to squeeze in ‘I hate every bone in your body except mine’, as a track from the gloriously named Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters. http://www.last.fm/music/Buck+Satan+and+the+666+Shooters/_/I+Hate+Every+Bone+in+Your+Body+Except+Mine I still haven’t fully completed my exploration of the world of country metal crossovers, but Buck and his gang are a start.

Rob listened: … sorry, got distracted there reading members of a white power forum debating whether Dropkick Murphys are racist or not, bemoaning their conclusion that they are not, and wishing they could have some of their songs for their ‘side’.

Funnily enough I’ve been wondering whether I can sacrifice a Record Club choice to bring some Big Country along. They were one of my first musical loves and, partly for that reason, their blend of post-punk-becoming-straight-rock and traditional Scottish melodies and sounds still has some frisson for me. I hear that in the first track or two of ‘The Warrior’s Code’ but it soon sinks beneath the surface of their tendon straining rock-punk which ultimately bludgeons flat any and all subtlety.

They do seem occasionally to take their feet off their collective pedals. ‘The Burden’ could easily be a Grant Hart Husker Du track, but in this context it sounds equally like the sensitive kid who’s going to get the crap kicked out of him repeatedly in this particularly uninviting school yard.

Tom listened: A new one on me, I am not sure I have even heard (or taken in at least) the name. Some of it sounded like The Clash, some of it like The Pogues, but in both cases I’d prefer to listen to the originals and am not sure The Dropkicks brought much of their own slant on proceedings. They can obviously play, they obviously have plenty of energy and I am sure they would be good in a live setting but, as an album, this left me cold I’m afraid.

Nick listened: Not really my bag, I’m afraid, but I didn’t dislike it. Reminded me of a more rambunctious Hold Steady, in many ways.

Lazy choice or back by popular demand after one track aired in last round? Probably a bit of both, spurred on by Nick reminding everyone he was still in short trousers when it came out.

After my turning point/guilty displeasure/downer on ‘Green’ many rounds back, I almost felt obliged to bring along the album which made me think R.E.M. were the most important band in the world when they released their 4^th album in 1986.

Perhaps care free living and youth, adds rose-tinted memories to how I remember this sounding, but it stills sounds great to me today. Its the album I wanted them to make after the awkwardness of ‘Fables of the Reconstruction’ and they pulled it off magnificently.

Everything points to increased confidence in playing and Stipe’s vocals coming far more to the front of the sound. You start to get inklings into what an amazing vocalist he could be as he is not afraid to almost carry whole tracks with his voice.

They can rock out subversively, ‘Begin the begin’, ‘These days’ and  ‘Just a touch’. Go quirky, ‘Underneath the bunker’ and ‘Superman’. Get sentimental and sensitive with much of the rest of the album. In retrospect it does sounds somewhat stereotypically ‘jangle-pop’, but there is still so much variety and content bursting out it ticks so many boxes for me.

I wasn’t worried about how influential they probably were, as at the time I just wanted another album by them. Thankfully with ‘Document’ they delivered one last piece of glory.

Rob listened: ‘Green’ was my first REM record and I stepped back to ‘Pageant’ after spending a lot of time with the two albums which followed it. So for me it represents a warming and loosening of the hard-edged bite of ‘Finest Worksong’, the machine-tooled melody of ‘Exhuming McCarthy’ and the breathtakingly confident nouveau-pop of ‘Stand’. So, I loved it. ‘Begin the Begin’, ‘These Days’ and ‘Fall On Me’ seem about as good a way to start a record as I can imagine. ‘Swan Swan H’ and ‘Superman’ are pretty much perfect closers. All the stuff that goes in between is almost as good.

Tom Listened: Green was also my point of entry into REM’s work and I too worked back from there but, despite now owning all bar Document of REM’s first six albums, Green is the only one I’ve actually purchased. I guess that says something about my feelings for them – I like them…a lot…but they have never quite set my world alight in the way some other bands have.

The closest they have come to this is on Life’s Rich Pageant. As I stated in my comment last time, I listened to it a lot at uni but must have lost the cassette it was on because I literally hadn’t heard it for 20+ years. For some reason, since we’ve been doing this thing and I’ve been going back through my collection in search of nuggets from my past, those records that have led to the greatest disappointment have usually been the ones I enjoyed  most at the time. Maybe I was just after something different from music way back when; maybe it’s that I now feel I’ve worked the records out and there’s nothing left to discover from them; maybe they were records that ‘fitted in’ better with the time they were released and so have aged less well…I don’t know. As a result I was intrigued to hear LRP – I recall it being wonderful, bright and breezy, a bit rootsier/folkier than what was to come later and a bit poppier and less obtuse than what came before. It still sounded fantastic and I am very grateful to Graham who passed on his spare copy to me…it’s gone to a good home!

Nick listened: I’d not heard this before, because I was seven when it came out, and, y’know, you can’t go back and hear everything. Unlike everyone else around the table, Automatic for the People was my first contact with REM, which means my perception of them as a band is very different indeed to Graham’s, Tom’s, and Rob’s. I quite enjoyed this; it was surprisingly muscular, and not very jangle-pop (I gather they were mean to be quite jangle-pop very early on?). Every time the other guys talk about REM I have to clarify the timeline, and where in their catalogue whatever record they’re discussing falls, because I seem to have some kind of blindspot there. They’ll never be my band, but that’s fine.

Oh for the normality of proceedings to be restored! Another head bender which actually required more preparation than I am normally used to/prepared to put in. The title sums up the majority of my choices but did take the opportunity to run out a few tracks  from some greatest hits albums that would otherwise gather more dust.  So here we go pop-pickers:

1. This Mortal Coil –Song to the Siren.

From 1984’s ‘it’ll end in tears’. I’m conscious this album was on its way to DRC once, but never made it for reasons I forget. Obviously a Tim Buckley cover, but one of the few covers that I would willingly agree improves upon original. A precious little jewel in my collection which is only allowed out when I feel it is appropriate to share the emotions it screams (but very quietly). Changed my view of what music was meant to be about. I could actually sense the track quivering in its sleeve that it had to be let out in same company as Jello Biafra. However, all this welling up of emotion can be quickly dispelled by laughter when you clock Robin Guthrie’s hair in the extremely 80’s video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUmdR69nbM

Rob listened: We’ve established that I don’t know Tim Buckley. I also had a block on This Mortal Coil despite following several of their label mates and parent bands. They were too 4AD, if you know what I mean. I knew this, and it’s lovely, a gauzy bed for Liz Fraser’s luminous voice. Not knowing the original must, I imagine, lessen the impact.

Tom listened: Obviously fantastic, possibly better than the original, this must be one of the most identifiable covers of the 80s; one of those rare events where the song becomes owned by the magpie.

Nick listened: I’ve owned this record for years but barely ever listened to it; this is really good, but, like the Tim Buckley original, after having it hyped for so many years I eventually found it a little underwhelming.

2. T Rex – 20th Century Boy.

Failed a late fitness test for singles world cup but this track from greatest hits album deserved an airing. What a riff, followed by an increasing wall of sound approach. Interesting artist who spanned mercurial talent, to hosting his own children’s TV show.

Rob listened: I’ve been troubled by Bolan at various times in the past. My flatmate Clive used gleefully to play some awful nonsense of his about Unicorns and mermaids and other such bollocks. This was sufficient to stop me ever going beyond the standard radio play singles. All of which counts for shit as soon as this crunching riff stomps in and the song begins its rockin’ rollin’ boogie.

Tom listened: I like Marc Bolan well enough and always enjoy hearing his hits whenever they occasionally crop up on 6 music or desert islands discs or whatever…but I do find the singles a bit indistinguishable. It’s all more or less the same song but that song happens to be a good one.

Nick listened: Just a great pop single by a great pop star.

3. The Who – Baba O’Riley.

Time to get  ‘Back with another of those cock rockin’ beats’. Innovative, creative and we used it to open the 2012 Olympics, 41 years after first release. Stands the test of time, though the fact Mr McCartney closed the ceremonies, does weaken that argument. Spent many years believing the title referred to an Irish baby, really proves research pays off.

Rob listened: The Who are another almost total blindspot. I’ve seen Tommy and own Quadrophenia, but before I got to either of these my feelings were shaped as an impressionable young lad by seeing Roger Daltrey shilling for American Express. I love loads of bands who credit The Who pretty heavily, but for whatever reason, they leave me pretty cold. I get why you’d like Baba O’Riley but I just don’t.

Tom listened: I’ve been on the verge of buying Who’s Next on numerous occasions, I’ve even walked up to pay for it but put it back when something in the rack caught my eye on the way to the checkout. Of course, Baba and Won’t Get Fooled Again are pretty much ubiquitous and I am not sure they quite live up to their reputation but, that said, this is still a great song that I always enjoy hearing.

Nick listened: Perfect single; crazy synth loop, crazy drums, crazy violin solo. Great fun. Loved it for years.

4. REM – Begin the Begin.

Simply, before ‘Green’ when it all started to go horribly wrong. Their fourth album and they weren’t afraid to play with a more powerful/muscular sound  and a vocal talent coming to the fore.

Rob listened: Perfect. I finally got to see REM play in Cardiff a couple of years before they hung it up ‘These Days’ the song that follows this on Life’s Rich Pageant hit me so hard, had such an irresistible undertow pulling me back to younger days that I cried my eyes out. ‘Begin the Begin’ is everything that was great about mid-80s REM. Forceful, beguiling, nagging, sensual and packed with oblique hooks. It gets no better in my view.

Tom listened: Life’s Rich Pageant is my favourite REM album, yet it is one of the few early records I don’t actually own. I had LRP on a cassette whilst at university and spent many a happy hour wandering the streets of Sheffield with this blasting on my walkman. Hard to pick a favourite from the record, it’s a shame Graham didn’t save it and play the whole thing at a later meeting.

Nick listened: It’s alright, I guess. Maybe you had to be a certain age at that time? I was 7, so, y’know.

5. Roachford – Cuddly Toy (a la Alanpartridge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ei0-wq9AqQ)

Since I saw the film I have not been able to get this song out of my mind. To rediscover that I owned the album with the track on came as a joyous surprise.

Rob listened: Alan Partridge is a scholar of rock the likes of whom we at DRC can only (and often attempt to) aspire regularly.

I present exhibit A:

“’Sunday Bloody Sunday’. What a great song. It really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday, doesn’t it? You wake up in the morning, you’ve got to read all the Sunday papers, the kids are running round, you’ve got to mow the lawn, wash the car, and you think ‘Sunday, bloody Sunday!”

Tom listened: I liked Alan Partridge for a series or two but feel somewhat bewildered by the esteem he is held in by my fellow DRC members. Unfortunately, if you don’t find Partridge all that funny, all you’re left with is Roachford!

Nick listened: This is great urban pop; way better than REM!

6. Paul Weller – Broken Stones

The Modfather has had barely a mention at DRC as far as I can recall. Played this track from Stanley Road because I liked it, even the others didn’t.

Rob listened: I gave my future wife a copy of this album on our first date. Not because I liked it, but because she mentioned Weller, I had a review copy, and I was massively allergic to it. I remain so.

Tom listened: I’ve never quite worked out what my problem is with Paul Weller…but for some reason he makes my skin crawl. He does look like an afghan hound but I don’t think that’s the main sticking point.

Nick listened: He’s clearly very talented, but there’s just something a bit ‘heritage railway’ about how he writes songs and records them, post The Style Council. It’s like ‘artisan bread’ when you just want Mighty White.

7. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Sidewalking

1. 20^th Century Boy reinvented for the mid 80’s, loud and scary. Sits menacingly on the Barbed Wire Kisses compilation.

Rob listened: I still remember the first time John Peel played this and was so struck by it that he dragged the needle right back to the start and played it again. I was blown away not only by the song but perhaps even more so by the notion that music, this sort of music, could affect someone so very much. I love Sidewalking and I loved the Mary Chain but this song’s most lasting effect on me was caused by Peel’s reaction to it. I’ve been looking for those moments ever since.

Tom listened: The last great Mary Chain song. Sidewalking is undeniably wonderful and should have heralded a bright new direction, but instead we were treated to the turgid heap of crap that was Automatic. One of the most disappointing albums ever!

Nick listened: Never heard this before, but it was great. Might pick this compilation up. Or just download this one tune…

‘Album of the year’, always a difficult one for me.  This year even more challenging given the record breaking 5 options I had to pick from. Hands down would be Hookworms, which Rob played earlier in the year. Nick inspired me with These New Puritans and The National, while I made a mistake with Boards of Canada. All this points to Tom not yet being forgiven for the stunt he pulled when introducing Al Green earlier this year.

I don’t own any other Arctic Monkey’s albums having never really felt the need. Liked the well known singles but never felt there was a substance that needed to be explored. But having heard extracts fom this I took the plunge and felt well rewarded. Being pretty transparent in my tastes, the first things that hit are the guitar licks of ‘Physical Graffiti’ era, cleaned up in a no need to ‘rock out’ way. The evidence for this being my daughter listening in the kitchen on her knees, in an an attempted power slide with her acoustic guitar gripped in a way which bodes well for NOW86 to be leaving her cd collection very shortly.

Mainly dirty, grubby style and lyrics but plenty of commercial appeal, which I am still a sucker for. Ends beautifully with John Cooper Clarke’s words on ‘I wanna be yours’, “And let me be the portable heater that you’ll get cold without”.

The Hookworms would make me want to be in a band if I was a teenager, the Arctic Monkeys just made an album I really liked.

Oh it looked so easy when Rob set the  theme  of a UK No:1 album. I sat firmly on my laurels having estimated 50 or so CD and vinyl albums to choose from after a quick scan of the possibilities. Then came the crunch of getting them together and making a choice. In a matter of minutes I proved to myself that I sat high on the “commercial whore index” by having a collection of stuff that I hadn’t played for years and certainly had no intention of playing at record club without body armour. Add to the mix some work issues requiring a prompt getaway, I opted for some novelty choices (what ever did happen to Terence Stoke-on-Trent D’arby?) which included the above. This was rescued from my parents record collection at some point in the late 90’s and is in pretty much the state of the thumbnail above.

Thinking we would only last a couple of tracks, we eventually finished up with the whole of side one as the precise, yet syrupy voice of Karen Carpenter began to wash over us. Growing up, Carpenters seemed a strange MoR/TV special/Pop type crossover that were to despised by any spotty youth taking music seriously. I taught my self to ignore them, which wasn’t easy given there huge radio and TV coverage in the 70’s. Little did I know that as a brother and sister, behind the scenes they were enduring drug and  lifestyle issues, a world away from their clean-cut image.

Not sure if some of these songs count as guilty pleasures or whether years of radio bombardment have just weakened my defences really. The arrangements are so crisp on ‘Weve only just begun’, ‘Ticket to ride’, ‘Rainy days and Mondays’, ‘Goodbye to Love’, Yesterday once more’, and Karen’s voice just eases you back in the chair.

Highlight of the abridged listen was a reminder of the nuts guitar solos midway and on the ‘outro’ of ‘Goodbye to Love’, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nooeMrCws-A. Simply creams anything Richey Blackmore ever came up with!

 

Recently I have given cause for my fellow contributors to start to get quite nervous that their DRC blog is rapidly turning in to some kind of Agony Aunt/Self Help page. I probably did not help with my introduction to this album when outlining that inevitably a personal crisis has some kind playlist which develops as time goes past. As they reached for their Kleenex, they seemed somewhat surprised that this popped out.

Rage is a dangerous emotion and needs to be channelled appropriately. For me, no album has done it better recently, and on odd occasions in the past, better than this. Yes, there is far more aggressive and abrasive stuff out there, but this has the bonus that it has rage you can sing along to at times, in addition to the mash outs.

PJ are an odd bunch and much of their behaviour has led to people believing their worthiness and sincerity has led to them taking themselves far too seriously and on occasion coming close to disappearing up their own proverbial. Yes they were in the shadow of Nirvana, but who wasn’t and I never imagined that they were trying to do the same thing.

The follow up to their debut Ten, Vs feels more honest with less pressure or possible rejection of need for radio friendly hits. The most ‘anthemic’ track, Leash, is littered with the profanities which immediately prevent mainstream radio broadcast. Go, Animal and Blood are all there as a helpful alternative to throwing furniture around the room, while Dissident and Daughter are there for the wind down afterwards.

I stayed with PJ for another 2 albums and felt that was enough as they were good at what they did, but had done enough for me.

In “agony uncle” corner next round, we will be focussing on your DIY problems as we have now moved on from previous personal issues causing disruption to normal service….

Rob listened (and also noticed, true story, that a picture of the late and much missed Claire Rayner seems to have appeared in our Media Library – Graham?):

No. No, no, no. I haven’t come all this way to suddenly start liking Pearl Jam. However, hearing this gave a good, an ultimately entertaining, opportunity to discuss why Pearl Jam were different from those other bands, in ways we each either applauded or decried.

I guess I never liked straight down the line rock music, however well it might be played, or with whatever level of conviction. Also, at the time Pearl Jam were hocking their wares, I was sufficiently unencumbered by self-doubt or wider perspective to consider them sell-out motherfuckers. They may or may not have been, but even 20 years later, they still sound a hell of a lot like a lot of bands that were.

Tom Listened: Two record clubs meetings ago Graham introduced The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan and in so doing stated that I would hate it. This comment missed its mark by a country mile and I was bamboozled as to why Graham would have thought this (especially as I had brought John Maus to record club on a previous occasion – surely a pretty direct descendent of Mr Numan’s).

Well, Graham repeated the trick with Vs…and this time he was spot on! Sorry, Eddy and all you other Pearl Jam boys, but there is something about the sound you make that is deeply unpleasant to my ears and if I ever work out what it is (which will probably be, like, never…as I have no intention of ever listening to one of your albums again) I’ll let you know.

Nick listened: This album is totally conflated in my head with Ten, Pearl Jam’s debut; both of them got absolutely played to death by my friends when we were teenagers, and I don’t really know where one ends and the other begins. I never actually owned either myself, though I did own a Pearl Jam t-shirt. As such I have no idea whether I like this or not; I’ve internalised a huge amount of it simply via osmosis through repeated exposure, and familiarity and reminiscence ca easily be confused with affection and appreciation. That said, I have none of the issues that Tom and Rob seem to with this; Pearl Jam are very obviously ‘a good rock band’, I’m just not that bothered by rock music for the most part these days. I own a couple of their mid-period albums – No Code and Yield – but seldom play them, although “Given To Fly” used to get on a LOT of mixtapes / minidiscs / playlists [delete as appropriate]. Why is it OK to like Nirvana but not this? I’d just be projecting pseudo cultural studies ideology if I tried to answer that. It’s probably something to do with guitar solos.

1977 was my lucky dip year for this  round’s theme. After exhausting and exhaustingly turning boxes of records and cd’s upside down looking for all the albums I thought were from 1977, I finally discovered that I only owned one from that year. Luckily for everyone, it was one worth listening to.

For a good part of my adolescence I parked Fleetwood Mac with the Beatles and the Beach Boys in the dullest parts of the Radio 2 playlists which played in the kitchen and the car. I reckon ‘Albatross’ must have got played at least twice a day during the Jimmy Young and Terry Wogan era’s at the helm.

I never thought of the band much until the end of the 90’s when I started to read about the history and mythology behind the band and particularly, the making of this album. By then tracks like ‘Go your own way’ and ‘Don’t Stop’ had started entering my subconscious. Finally buying and listening to the album was a revelation.

I think I used the word “craft” a lot when I introduced this on the night. There is just something about the way the vocals and instrumentation on this album are so perfectly put together, without sounding as if they have been slaved over, that makes it work so well. The subtle use of drums and percussion when you might not expect it, crashing guitars one minute to haunting and sparse the next.

The vocals drift from soaring sing-along’s to intimate stories of the complex relationships (and even if you don’t listen to the album you should read up on those) members of the band were involved in. The fact that some of those relationships are then openly exposed on the album makes it even crazier that something so well ‘crafted’ (there it is again) could be produced. Sex and drugs can sometimes produce a rock’n’roll masterpiece, and I would venture that this is one.

Strangely, I have never felt the need to go back any further with the band, settling with their next album, ‘Tusk’, as the end of the journey. ‘Tusk’ has moments of masterpiece but too many moments of madness/self indulgence that point to abuse of substances and disintegration of some of the creative madness that inspired ‘Rumours’.

Oh and just in case readers thinks I’m letting my current situation influence album selections around complex romantic themes, its a good time to recite my daily mantra, “I f*****g hate Coldplay!”

Rob listened: I’m forced to reflect that of the four albums played this evening, the only one I didn’t know well was this, the 14th best selling album in UK history, and 6th in the US. Having finally heard ‘Rumours’ through for the first time, i’m pretty happy with that situation. I’ve warmed to the pre-punk 1970s a huge amount over the last couple of years, and Devon Record Club has been a huge influence in that regard. I watched the Fleetwood Mac documentary on BBC Four recently, and found it fascinating. I was ready to be converted but ‘Rumours’ just didn’t do it for me at all. Some great tunes, and vocal hooks particularly, but it’s just too smooth for my rough palate. There’s no edge for me to get a grip of and those hooks just don’t stick in me.  Perhaps it deserves a closer listening. I’m sure it does. But i’m not sure that’s something i’ll bother with.

Tom Listened: For me, Fleetwood Mac belong in the same company as Madness, The Cure and Abba – capable of producing unimpeachable pop music, seemingly at will but, somewhat bafflingly, never quite managing to sustain their brilliance over the course of an entire album. All that cocaine must have blurred their judgment…after all Tusk has more than enough incredible songs on it to be a brilliant single album but whoever thought Sisters Of The Moon or That’s Alright With Me were a good idea? Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

Anyway, Rumours was always my least favourite of the big three – for me it lacks Tusk’s wonky personality (I’ve always been drawn to wonky personalities, hence the company I keep at record club) and the eponymous album has Rhiannon on it, so that’s always going to be better! But Rumours does have a clutch of all time classic songs, mainly the singles and whilst the rest of the album is a little too smooth and fluffy for my tastes it isn’t hard to see why this is such a behemoth in the rock ‘n’ roll canon. It was good to hear it (crackles and all) again.

Nick listened: There’s a literal list of albums on my phone – mostly recent stuff – to look out for and buy if the chance arises. There’s a theoretical list in my head – much, much longer – of other stuff that I’m interest in or feel I should own but never got round to. This was at the top of the latter list for years. I must’ve picked copies up a hundred times in record shops but never got to the till. It infuriated my wife. After Graham played it, I bought it. For £5. It’s great. I already knew 80% of it. The other 20% might be less great but it doesn’t really matter. These songs feel like platonic essences.

Doubt if anyone noticed but I have been  AWOL for sometime as a result of a bit of bother. On the upside I did manage to slip in ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ at Round 53 while nobody was looking and two fellow members were being far too polite for their own good.

I don’t think anyone, including me saw this one coming. An impulse buy a few days before I hadn’t really had the time to listen properly myself. Why buy it?

Well firstly I was sticking to the prescribed theme of artists with a “generous amount or lack of hair”. Through his remarkable rug transformation, Gary ticks both ends of this spectrum.

Secondly, I keep reading and seeing documentaries where Mr. N. is now being held up as a innovator and still find it hard to believe that people like Afrika Bambaataa are talking about his influence of hip-hop. There might be something about the simplicity of some his tracks meant they leant themselves to be easier to mix? Apart from the inevitable ‘Cars’ the only track I recognised on this album was ‘M.E.’, and that was from Basement Jaxx’s  sampling for ‘Where’s your head at’.

I wouldn’t now describe myself as a ‘Numanoid’ but I was quite surprised by what I heard. I had expected more ‘pop’ as that is what I thought Gary was all about in 1979, but ‘Cars’ is really all you get on this album. ‘Metal’ is a stand out track and on the whole the sound is far darker, moodier, gothic (and quite dull on occasion) than I was expecting. I suppose pre-Midge Ultravox was my only reference point at the time, but Gary’s chart success had me pigeon hole him as a purely pop act.

At the end of the day he retired briefly in 1981 to fly around the world and got arrested in India, they don’t come much more Rock ‘n’ Roll than that.

Tom Listened: Graham stated in his introduction to this record that I would hate it. I’m not sure why he would have come to that conclusion as prior to the meeting my experiences of Gary Numan have been wholly positive – to my knowledge, I had heard two Gary Numan songs (you know which ones) and I like Cars well enough. Are Friends Electric on the other hand, I have always thought of as close to brilliant, the blueprint that Cars tried desperately not to ape (but failed) and a song that has stood the test of time, its standing in my mind being even further enhanced by The Sugarbabes glorious sample on Freak Like Me. Unfortunately, The Pleasure Principle seemed to contain a dozen versions of Cars – pleasant enough, certainly not something I would hate, but not really a boat floater either.

Nick listened: Despite Graham’s suggestion that I might have explored Numan’s oeuvre some time ago and then moved on, I never actually have; I’ve never properly listened to Kraftwerk either, and the reasons are similar; they’ve both been so completely and fully assimilated into so many other things that it seems to have obviated any desire I might have to explore them. I guess that’s how Rob feels about The Beatles. This was, as suggested, actually quite light on pop songs, but very pleasantly heavy on synth-y instrumentals, like simpler, less spooky versions of side two of Low. I really rather enjoyed it.

Rob listened: ‘Cars’ is better than ‘Are Friends Electric?’ I enjoyed listening to this. I’d always considered Gary Numan a little too earnest for my liking, or at least guessed his records would be that way. Somehow I had him bracketed with bands which take themselves just that teensy weensy little bit more seriously than they really ought to. And use too much black hair dye. Step forward Siouxsie and the Banshees, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails and Chris de Burgh. In actual fact, the only thing these artists really have in common is that i’ve drawn lazy conclusions about them without ever listening and that I’m likely completely wrong about them. Except Chris de Burgh.

I enjoyed this, as I may have said. I thought the synth sounds were really substantial, which surprised me, and I could hear immediately how influential it had been, even if I couldn’t quite tease out the through-lines.

Tom Couldn’t Resist Taking The Bait: Just listened to both Cars and Are Friends Electric? You’re wrong, my friend!

As Alan Partridge might say,  “B.A.D., the band the Clash could have been”.

Well at least against to Partridge’s original comparison of the Beatles and Wings, B.A.D. never recorded ‘Mull o’F***intyre’ so we can start on a positive note, but I expect the odd Wings apologist out there may have something to say.

On a warm summer’s evening on the night before DRC, I plonked this on and sat in the garden with the windows wide open ‘Medicine Show’  just floated outside and wrapped me up in a warm glow of 1985 nostalgia. It fitted the mood perfectly, though it was a shame it was gloomy and raining by the time we got to Rob’s the following night. A little bit of the magic from the previous night’s listen was missing in the process.

Mick Jones harnesses all of the ideas on this debut album that finally got him thrown out of the Clash a couple of years before. I’m currently on the search for his original mixes of ‘Combat Rock’ to see exactly what he had planned.

It’s ironic that an album which was so groundbreaking with its use of samples, drum machines, hip-hop rap, etc. can now sound so stuck in its time as a result of all that came along behind. I’m not sure how far they were influenced by B.A.D.’s rock/dance crossover but would we (should we) had to have put up with Jesus Jones, EMF, PWEI etc, etc….

Side one on this album is so strong with all the singles, ‘Medicine Show’, ‘E=MC2 and ‘The Bottom Line’. The 12inch remixes of all 3 are hiding in somewhere in my loft and I remember the last one being the most improved by the process, whereas the other 2 were just great in their original form. With reference to ‘The Bottom Line’, nearly 30 years later there is some irony we should still be boppin’ along to;

 A dance to the tune of economic decline, is when you do the bottom line, nagging questions always remain, why did it happen and who was to blame?

Side 2 would always struggle with such a front loaded side 1, but it seemed to just about keep hold of everyone’s attention. ‘Sudden Impact’ has still got a pretty good groove all these years later.

After all these years this album sounds very much of its time, but there is still enough to enjoy and mull (back to Wings again) over its later influence.

Rob Listened: I never saw the point of Big Audio Dynamite. I could hear that using samples and what we were encouraged to refer to back then as ‘beat boxes’ was unlike a lot of other stuff, but when ‘E=MC2’ was doing the rounds in 1985, I thought it was a little hokey. I’d already worn out my 7″ of ‘Hey You, The Rock Steady Crew’, spent a couple of years puzzling over the lyrics of ‘White Lines’ and within 12 months of B.A.D.’s debut, my brother was using my Grandad’s unwanted phonogram to play ‘Raising Hell’, ‘Licensed To Ill’ and ‘Yo! Bum Rush The Show’. So, I never saw the point. Plus, Mick Jones has an annoying voice.

I liked bits of this though, particularly the second side. I’d have to listen again to verify, but I suspect that when the songs were more groove-based, more genuinely sound system influenced, I preferred them. They should have let Don Letts sing.

Tom Listened: Having come late to the Clash party, steadfastly holding out for many years on the assumption that they were rubbish (based pretty much solely on my hatred of Should I Stay or Should I Go – a staple of indie rock discos in the early 90s and such a terrible song on so many levels…one of which is that it is crap to dance to!), my expectations of This is B.A.D were less than favourable as Graham set it to play. I remember some of my friends at school liking the album at the time of its release but I always found the singles somewhat leaden and melodically underdeveloped.

So I was pleasantly surprised hearing this almost 30 years later and finding there was much more to it than E=mc^2 and Medicine Show. Like Rob, I preferred side 2 but I found all of it much less annoying than: a) I expected to and b) Graham expected me to. Good choice Graham!

Nick listened: I’m only aware of “E=MC^2”, which is one of those singles that I find almost unbearably catchy whilst I’m listening to it, but that I can only remember the name of and who it’s by once it’s finished (the opposite of my usual problem, where I can remember a chorus or hook but not what it’s called of who it’s by. None of the rest of this album struck me as being quite as naggingly earwormy as that, but it was all, at the very least, interesting on a technical level for how it was put together.