JUNE PLAYLIST

Some stuff that has taken my mind off the football…

1. Ernie Tucker – “Can She Give You Fever” (1960)
Thumping R&B throat ripper out of New York City. Fifteen quid well spent.

2. The Ones – “You Haven’t Seen My Love” (1967)
Tucked between the smashes Motown was having in ’67 was this curious blue-eyed soul release from Midwestern teenagers The Ones. An organ led ballad that both The Tempts and The Zombies would’ve been proud of.

3. James Carr – “I Sowed Love and Reaped A Heartache” (1968)
Look, it’s James Carr and a song called “I Sowed Love and Reaped A Heartache”. Marriages are seldom as perfect.

4. Public Image Ltd. – “Banging The Door” (1981)
The Flowers of Romance is one of the more challenging records in the collection. There’s a very fine line being trod here.

5. The Prisoners – “I Am The Fisherman” (1985)
I spent most of 1985 hunched over a ZX Spectrum playing countless games of Chuckie Egg and Manic Miner whilst listening repeatedly to The Last Fourfathers. Computer games have come on somewhat but there have been few better albums.

6. The Field Mice – “September’s Not So Far Away” (1991)
The Field Mice didn’t jingle-jangle as frequently as their reputation suggests which is a shame because when they did, they did it well.

7. Harlem – “Psychedelic Tits” (2008)
Not the best track from their Free Drugs ;-) album but how can you resist that title? Bit like an early White Stripes with the miserable blues shit replaced with fun pop hooks recorded in a biscuit tin by a bunch of doolally druggie slackers.

8. Teenage Fanclub – “Sometimes I Don’t Need to Believe In Anything” (2010)
Two albums in ten years. What do Teenage Fanclub do with their time? Sit around the house twiddling their thumbs? Serve pints of McEwan’s in their local boozer? It doesn’t sound like they spend time honing their craft - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

9. Pete Molinari – “Minus Me” (2010)
Molinari borrows more from Presley than Dylan on his new album but “Minus Me” is close enough to “You’re A Big Girl Now” to make up for it (but it doesn't forgive his cheesy videos that almost makes me never want to listen to him again).

10. Frankie & the Heartstrings – “Tender” (2010)
Looking for a new indie hope to hang your straw trilby on? Then you’ll do worse than get behind this Sunderland quintet drawing from the white poppy, vaguely northern soul spirit of Dexys, Aztec Camera and even The Housemartins. Nice video too.