158. Confetti by The Lemonheads

The Lemonheads - Confetti (Video)

I was in Carlton Readings in 1992 when I came across the new Lemonheads album on the wall at an unbelievably cheap price probably 10 or so bucks. At first I thought it was  second hand or even an extended play (which at less 30 minutes is a lot shorter than some of the singles out at the time). Mrs. Robinson was already a big song at the Lizard Lounge but it was the song Confetti that caught my imagination. I just loved the way the song was so simply put together with a bunch of chords that I myself liked to plunder now and again.
Listening to it now it takes me back to Carlton basking in the sun as I walked with my purchase to a local coffee shop. I was waiting for someone but I've forgotten who it was. I do remember this was one of the first times I'd been to Carlton since living in Fitzroy in the late 70s and it seemed so different. Back in 81 the Mods would regularly ride their scooters over to Lygon street for a late night cappucino.

He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.

The story's getting closer to the end.

He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.

He'd rather be alone than pretend.

She just wanted him to love her but he didn't.

He took to the woods and wandered in it.

Walked along and on until they couldn't.

Stole himself to tell her that he wouldn't.

157. Not Over yet by Grace

 Grace - Not Over Yet

In 1995 I was over in  Spain for the Running of The Bulls in Pamplona. The bulls ran very early in the morning. The coach party I was with were staying about 30 minutes away in the hills. Each night all the backpackers would drift down to the one and only pub in the village and take over the music, drinking until the small hours. Which meant we didn't always get up for the bulls at 6am every morning. The hotel did have a pool! While a lot of the sounds were cheap and cheery euro disco sounds this song stood out amongst the dross. I especially like the what sounds like an electronic accordion before the chorus. We were playing a bit more dance music at the Lizard so I brought this song and a bunch more home with me.
One of the first things I did when I got back to Melbourne was buy a Honda Prelude. That was a time when I did have a bit of cash. Some of those dance hits sounded especially good with the sun roof open driving around St. Kilda with the music blasting and the sun shining. That was time when summer meant sun too. Things have changed. Not Over Yet reminds me of the Upper Espanade 96.
Later the Klaxons would cover the song quite brilliantly. luckily my time away from guitars was quite short but this song still sounds fantastic.

I'll live for you

I'd die for you

Do what you want me to

I'll cry for you

My tears will show

That I can't let you go

It's not over, not over, not over, not over yet

You still want me, don't you

It's not over, not over, not over, not over yet

Cos I can see through you

It's not over, not over, not over, not over yet

156. So Sad About Us by The Who 1966

As the Mod thing got really into high gear in 1980 it was a time I totally immersed myself in Who records. Before Mod my only proximity to The Who was constant listening to their Meaty Big and Bouncy album in the early seventies. Oh and a copy of Odds and Sods I got from a Brashes sale for 1:99 with braille writing on it. Unfortunately a lot of their early albums were not available. Only their heavier albums which most of the time were not that appealing to me. But in the late seventies the albums started turning up and more often than not cheap. A Quick One was the first album I picked up. So Sad About Us was just about the best song I'd ever heard. A sad lyric backed by amazing guitar and fantastic harmonies. Easy one of the Who's top songs even in retrospect and probably their best.
A friend of mine John whose birthday the Murders played at recently told me it was his favourite Who song too. And then his band went ahead and played it before us. Boy! was I jealous but The Jam already covered it on a single and we already play a Jam song so.....

155. Twisterella by Ride

Ride - Twisterella Official Video

I was living in Elwood when this record came out. I was sharing the house with  Rod the guitarist from little Murders. The Ride album Going Blank Again had just come out. We'd play chess, drink beer and listen to Ride. It was a great. Then I went and got a girlfriend. Rod moved out soon after. He actually moved out the same week that my girlfriend left me. It was also the week I started work on my house renovations so I had no bathroom. Christ it was depressing for a while there. I'd play music so loud the neighbours would come over at 7:30am in the morning and ask me to turn it down.
Anyway the only song I remember from that album was Twisterella. For one it reminded me of the film Billy Liar (they borrowed the title from a song in the movie) We also started playing the song at the Lizard Lounge.It was their poppiest song by far but it still retained thier left of centre sonics. And it was a welcome break from all that rubbish pouring out of Seattle.

Any minute you will feel

The chemistry

Vibrations in the brain

Can't ever be explained

Slip away and out of sigh

Feel the magnet of a night

The circus lights you see

Is where you have to be

If I've seen it all before

Why's this bus taking me back again

If I don't need anymore

Why's this bus taking me back again

Feel the weight of letting go

Feel more lightness than you've ever known

You can't see when light`s so strong

You can't see when light is gone

154. Dominos by Big pink

The Big Pink - Dominos (Official Video)

A briliant single. Slightly off centre and a favourite of my kids when driving the car. Of course remi my youngest as trouble with the word Dominos so it comes out like Domi-nomi-nos to break it up phonteically. Here's a family that drives along singing along to sounds of Big Pink. Fantastic.  And it means we don't have to listen to some of the awful stuff polluting the charts. Remi even recognises the Beatles when they come on the home stereo so I'm making headway in their musical grounding. I hope. Ruby is starting to show some interest in guitar.
Saw the Big Pink perform this on Jool Holland's Later. Whereas I thought they were a psychadelic band it turns out they are a kind of bedroom two peice recording outfit. The things you can do at home nowadays!
I've always liked references to domininos too. Back in the early days of Au Go Go Bruce M would always bang on about working on the domino theory.

These girls fall like dominos, dominos

These girls fall like dominos, dominos

These girls fall like dominos, dominos

As soon as I love her it's been too long

Talks of future with you caves me in

Swallow my sugar kiss and eat it alone

Hearts collide and smash any dreams of love

153. Does He Love You? by Rilo Kiley

Tonight I was about 3 metres away from Jenny Lewis as she performed in the band Jenny and Johnny at the RRR studios. I love their album and the band was in good form and really I have been waiting a long time to see Jenny. For a while there I was obsessed by her band Rilo Kiley. I first heard about them in an Elvis Costello interview. And then in Uncut magazine and Mojo and The Word and then I picked up More Adventurous.
It was full of great songs but this one bowled me over. I swear it sent tingles down my spine. And sometimes still does not matter how many times I hear it. It's like a great novella condensed into a 3 minute pop song. The lyrics have a little twists and the music follows these twists. And then it all comes together at the end for the final denourment. I keep playing this song to friends. You gotta listen but Rilo Kiley isn't a band too well known by a lot of people. Brilliant music from a great band and they should have been right up there.
I can't find  a decent video for this song which is a shame I might have to put up one myself.

152. I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better by The Byrds

The whole punk thing although we seemed to regard it as year Zero for me it opened many many doors to music. I started spending all my time scouring record shops and second hand stores looking for cool music which more often than not were sixties artists. I  guess thats why my bands started to lean towards sixties pop as the decade wore on. Punk blew away a lot of the crap from the progressive mid seventies but it also unleashed a tidal wave of forgotten sounds.
Though I was well aware of Byrds singles it was picking up a cheap copy of their first album which got me hooked. full of great pop tunes with that ringing and chyming 12 string Rickenbacker and crystal harmonies I couldn't stop playing it and then started collecting all their stuff. The big song was I Feel A Whole Lot Better. It was so good I convinced Little Murders to cover it. It was just after I had broke up with a long time girlfriend and this song allowed me to vent my feelings on stage. One thing about playing in a band is that even when you split up with someone there is often a tendency for them to turn up at a gig.
If the song takes me to a place it would be New year's Eve 1981 playing at this pub in Richmond whose name escapes me but was opposite the train station in Swan Street. The support was AEIOU. I think it was a buck to get in. The night had a certain glow to it.

151. Give Him A Great Big Kiss by The Shangri-Las

Fitzroy North 1981. I was living in a small flat behind a garage opposite the San Remo Ballroom. Across the road was a church wall which would be adorned with the writing The Sets + Little Murders= God. The wall on the other side would be completely plastered with She Let's Me kNow single launch posters.
Inside the flat were parquetry floors and a bedroom without any kind of natural light. The walls were adorned with posters of The who and The Jam and The Stones. On the Tv was Get Smart. On the record player was The Shangri Las. A best of.  For a time there I had a massive crush on these girls.
I guess the reason this song got stuck in my head so fast was the opening lines which I had heard from The New York Dolls "Looking For A Kiss". "When I say I'm in Love you best believe I'm in love LUV"  And it's such a New York song. It bounces along and then stops for the monologue with the best line ever "What colour are his eyes?   I don't know he's always wearing shades" Avery cool song.

150. The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead by XTC 1992

This came out in 1992 and was the opening track on the Nonsuch album. At the time I had a new girlfriend I had just bought a house in Elwood and I was sharing the place with Rod the guitarist from little Murders. This album got a hammering on the record player. And this was the song I played mercilessly. It takes me back to the first days of the Elwood house with it's 70s decor and shabby carpet. A gas heater in the fireplace. A feature wall in the tiny dining area out the back.  the first thing I went for was the carpet. Thinking back though I realise carpet is actually quite nice to have under your feet. anyway it was all to go. There was a built in bar in the living room too.
I've always been a big fan of XTC from their very first single. There's something very English about them but at the same time other worldly kind of like early Pink Floyd. And to make such a brilliant song from such a wacky title. That's genius.

149. Blue Red and Grey by The Who 1975

This came out in 1975 but I don't think I really began playing it until I was living in Collingwood in the late 70's. Not an album I can really listen to much nowadays although I think this song is a gem. I also have a fondness for Squeeze Box. It has a real melancholy feel about it probably stemming from Pete's use of a ukelele. From what I hear Pete often plays this song solo.
Anyway what really comes to mind is my girlfriend Leonie's flat in Collingwood. I seemed to spend more time there than at my place probably because I could get fed decent food. I think at my place I used to eat cereal for dinner. There was a milk bar at the end of her street. One day I was in there and I noticed there was a toy Monkee mobile on the shelf. 5 dollars. When I pulled it out there was another one behind it. In all he had twenty Monkee mobiles. I only bought one but later I ran into Bruce Milne who convinced me to buy the lot and he would sell them at Missing Link. I bought them but when I got them home I found the music didn't play. So I got an old train set transformer and gave each of them a burst of electricity. Fixed. I think he sold them for 100 bucks each and  I got half.
When we broke up he said constantly putting my Fender Twin Reverb in her boot had killed her rear suspension.

148.Enola Gay by OMD 1980

This song came out in 1980 and although it came out as the Mod thing was really starting to take off most of the Melbourne mods could find a little time to dance to this hit. A lot of the Mod girls were somewhat modern with leanings towards the arty side of music (usually the Models I guess) They danced to this song and therefore the boys followed. Especially if one wanted to pull.  Other than all that it was a brilliant song and fantastic to dance to. For a while there I was a bit of a fan buying and loving some of the singles that followed.
Of course Australia got the band to tour when they started releasing crap singles. In those days some bands only made the long trek when their light was fading. Anyway they played the Venue in St. Kilda a few years after Enola gay had been a hit. By that time I was a Venue regular spending many nights drinking at the back bars. It was where you met other band people, drank yourself silly, met girls and sometimes even danced at the crappy disco at the back which always seemed to be playing Wham singles. I went down to see OMD briefly and caught one or two songs including Enola Gay which was a wonderful moment. then I was back out.
I just played the video and it still sounds great,

147. That Ain't Bad by Ratcat 1990

I saw this band at the Palace in St. Kilda just before this record came out. I think they were supporting the Buzzcocks but I'm not sure. What I was sure of was I thought they were bloody horrible.  The sound was a mess, lacking any kind of dynamics.
Not long after this ep comes out with the superb That Ain't Bad and it's just brilliant. I never got to see them live again so maybe it was just a bad gig or I was too intent on waiting for the headliners but whatever it was it doesn't take anything away from their records. It's got the quiet loud bit. It sounds a bit like Jesus and Mary Chain who themselves were quite the pop band under all that distortion.
This came along at a good time for The Lizard Lounge. The crowd really were after stuff like this to dance to. Alternative music led by Nirvana was about to take over the charts. Tingles went to number one. A well-deserved hit. The early nineties alternative music became mainstream.

146. Time is Running Out by Muse 2003

Around 2003 Liz and I would watch this TV show on Channel 2 called Wire In The Blood. Every Friday night we'd sit on the couch after the youngsters had gone to bed , drink red wine, maybe have a chocolate, Aero or whatever, watching the show. We were quite taken in by it. It was winter, we had young kids..what else could we do. and the show was quite gripping.

Halfway through the season or so it seemed the ads for the show started featuring this song by Muse. And it sounded perfect. I was never much into Muse finding their sound bombastic and some kind of mutant Radiohead. But just as this song broke them in the States and gave them their first top 10 in the UK it was the first song I really liked and made me appreciate them. So much I found quite a few Muse songs I liked and even learned to loved their more bombastic songs. checking out my CD racks I can't help but notice I have most their albums. Better go and make a Muse mixtape I guess. 

145. Disco 2000 by Pulp 1995

More than anything this reminds me of the night at Festival Hall when Pulp didn't actually play the song. They played all their great songs and of course we were expecting this one to come on. But no..it didn't happen. At the time we would play Disco 2000 religiously every night at the Lizard Lounge. Apart from Common people it was probably their most popular song. But they didn't play it. Each time the show comes up in conversations we talk about that rather than the gig itself.
Still we played it a lot at the Lizard. It was a song I actually danced a lot to and I wasn't one to dance much preferring to entertain punters from behind the decks.
I also loved the style of the film clips. They were probably the coolest of all the Britpop bands style wise and certainly had the look down. We had a Pulp poster for Different Class in the Lizard hallway. Rock mags like Select would give away a bunch of posters that we used to decorate the club walls.
I've seen Jarvis Cocker 3 times now and I still haven't heard that song live.