How good am I at dancing, you and I may both wonder. Erm…I either half heartedly go along with it and look uncomfortable, or throw myself into it fully and make a night at the Wigan Casino look like a simply romp. So here I need to choose a song that evokes the latter.
Before I do, “DARE” was chosen back in 2020 simply because I’d likely just watched that video of Noodle dancing around in her bedroom with the massive disembodied head of Shaun Ryder. Uncanny, unforgettable, much like the song. Can easily dance to it no matter who you are.
Now, “Stop the Rock”. That’s a song I can categorically confirm I danced like mad to until my head was drenched with sweat. I was a wee lad and me and my Mum went to someone’s house for a party. This song came on, I was already aware of it as to me it was the highlight of the soundtrack to FIFA 2000 (Or a close second to Robbie Williams’ “It’s Only Us”, depends on the day). My memories of that day are patchy, it was about twenty years ago after all, but I absolutely remember me and a girl standing in front of a shed window and watching ourselves dance away to this track. Maybe I looked cool, maybe I looked like a tit. Either way I felt happy. And that’s what a song that makes you want to dance should do.
Happy Friday! To sign off the week, let’s choose something that needs to be played loudly and proudly!
Day 5: A song that needs to be played loud
2020: “All My Life”, Foo Fighters
2025: “Yes”, McAlmont & Butler
Playing the Foo Fighters loud? There’s no other way. Of course it’s a little harder to stomach them now, what with Taylor Hawkins unfortunately passing away and Dave Grohl shooting his PR in the back of the head. Still, quality band, could’ve gone for a whole multitude of singles from them but I think I’d just had “All My Life” on repeat at the time.
And “Yes” is a song that absolutely deserves to be on repeat – If heard just once, it shall be heard again. It’s a one-song rabbithole. One of the best songs of the 90s, bar none. Best heard progressively louder and louder, turn that dial up to maximum by the time David McAlmont reaches that cathartic falsetto.
Not to sound like a pacifist hippy type but I hate getting into conflict. Always try to steer clear of it, keep my nose clean. So when I’m told to present a song that reminds me of a person I’d rather forget, I struggle for choice – The people I’d rather forget are few and far between, and I’ve probably already forgotten about the obvious ones. Remembering to forget is a bitch.
Day 4: A song that reminds you of someone you’d rather forget
2020: “Yummy”
Well seeing as I have no personal relation to the man, I can easily tell you why I’d rather forget the existence of Justin Bieber. Have done since I was a kid. If you hit your double digits in the late 2000s/early 2010s, there were a few guarantees alongside death and taxes, like 1-v-1’s on Rust, and hearing “Baby”. Ugh…
Never liked him, never will, and I’m sure I just picked “Yummy” because it was all over the place in early 2020 and it gave me the ick. I know “DAISIES” only did the rounds for a couple of weeks earlier this year, so I think people are finally starting to forget JB. Mind you, he’ll probably just re-release that song he did with Kid Laroi and he’ll be a daytime radio fixture for the next six months.
Ok, rant over, now I still need something to pick for this time around. I could cheat and repeat myself like yesterday with “Three Lions” but doing that over and over would make this whole thing pointless…
(And now for a quick look at how my thought process went for the next few minutes)
Tones & I? No, she’s actually got a half decent song out right now.
X Factor alumni, like Jedward? No, Jedward have come canny in their old age.
AJ Tracey, for that “Ladbroke Grove” song that wouldn’t piss off? Nah, not enough.
AH-HA! I’ve got it!
2025: Prospect WCPW theme
I know what you’re thinking: What. The. F*ck.
I have a casual, on-off relationship with wrestling and WCPW was a local company that got off the ground in 2016. I went to a couple of shows, one of them included this group whose entrance music I’ve chosen because it is catchy even though it’s essentially a loop. But I remember after the show, I posted about on social media and this person who followed me got a bit tetchy with me for going. We got into it and somehow he made the connection that by going to see a wrestling show that meant I was supporting Donald Trump.
No, I’m serious. In this person’s head, because of Trump’s involvement in a match at Wrestlemania about 20 years ago, that must mean that every fan of wrestling must be a fan of his. Including the ones like me who went to a small-time British indie show being held at a local university. Screams MAGA, that.
Anyway, yeah, one person I’d rather forget is them. And Trump for that matter, but that’s never going to happen is it? I should have chosen “YMCA”…
2020: “Three Lions”, Baddiel and Skinner and the Lightning Seeds
2025: “Three Lions”, Baddiel and Skinner and the Lightning Seeds
We all look back through our younger days to pinpoint that last good summer; before we got hitched, or the kids came along, or some nasty accident occurred, or a combination of the three. In my case it was the last good summer before COVID screwed my generation up for a while (2019 was a dull one).
So why “Three Lions”? Simple. The 2018 World Cup. Hot summer evenings in the pub with my mates, actually socialising, watching the footy and using the booze to fight off the heart palpitations the England squad gave us. And of course, each time we scored a goal the entire pub would be singing ‘It’s Coming Home’. It was one of those rare modern times where we dared to dream, to be optimistic.
That was a damn good summer. And it’s one I’ll always think of when I hear “Three Lions”. It might be sentimentality, but I don’t want to change it. My choice remains the same then and now.
Here we go again. We’ve done a colour, now we need a number with a number in it.
Day 2: A song you like with a number in the title
2020: “Song 2”, Blur
2025: “Monday Morning 5:19”, Rialto
Last time I did this, I ended up using a few songs from the same few bands. As I alluded to yesterday, my tastes were more rigid than they are now so I did rely heavily on my old Britpop favourites. Blur was a fairly obvious choice when it came to choosing a song that had a number in the title. I mean, “Song 2” is easily one of their most famous.
This time though I want to do things differently and I am restricting myself to one song per band/artist, so as with Nick Cave I’ll be saving Blur for another day.
Now that I say that though I’m hoping I’m not choosing Rialto too early but alas, here I am playing their most famous single, one that gets across all the Cliffnotes one needs to understand the band – The film noir vibes, the reverb-drenched drums (times two), sinister lyrics driven by perversion and paranoia. It’s a good ‘un.
I’ve also just noticed as I prepare to publish this that these two songs have a fair bit in common: Both from self-titled albums released in the late 90s, both the second-highest charting singles from those albums respectively. There’s your trivia for the day.
A-Side Glance 