500. Alex Chilton by the Replacements 1987

I heard this song so many times before I knew who sang it. And I loved this song. But I was always hearing snatches of it on the radio but I always missed the tag where they revealed the name. Usually because they either talked about it before or because there was like 5 in a row. But it was familiar from the first listen.
It's a great guitar pop/rock band saluting another great guitar pop/rock band. Big Star. Who kind of laid down some of the guidelines for pure seventies power pop. And Big Star was a band I got into the same time as The Replacements. So I kind of don't know which came first. Rod, our guitarist in Little Murders had the double CD of Big Star and as I was sharing a house with him it was pointless to buy another copy so I went out and bought a Replacements CD. All For Nothing/Nothing For All. An album which as been pointed out to me numerous times is a best of Stones album without their early hits. Anyway it's a great album despite that. It would take me a few years more to hear their early songs but I'm still quite taken with my first purchase. Alex Chilton, Bastards of Young, Left of the Dial. Too many to mention. Kind of stuff that makes me want to pick up and guitar and maybe a bottle of Jack Daniels. Wait a minute...that might be Keith Richard invading my soul.
A few years later I was over in the UK and Teenage Fanclub had just released The Concept. And they easily fit into the guitar pop sound of their American predecessors. Guitars and great pop songs. Nothing better.

499. Heat Wave by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas 1963

Alright it's freezing outside and the night is as black as coal but I put this record on and it's like instant sunshine. Back in the seventies I was a little mad for the Sound of Motown and it was bands like the Vandellas that got me shaking rather than the pure pop of the Supremes. Certainly I liked the Supremes and they had some massive hits but there was a bit more soul and foot stomping lingering in the Motown vaults.
In fact the only Motown star I've ever seen was Diana Ross. I was in London around 1995 walking around the town with a friend I had hooked up with over there. We were in Kensington when there was this massive rush of photographers running down the street. And it front of them was Ms. Ross with big hair and and a flowing red dress. And it was mayhem. Shouts of "Turn This Way" and "Who are you meeting?" and it went for 30 seconds and was over. The paparazzi melting back into the shadows.
Back to Heat Wave. I first heard it on a Who album. The Jam also covered it. They were my two favourite bands at the time so they led me to Martha and the pure joy of dancing to Heat Wave in a sweaty club on a Wednesday night in Richmond. Or a packed Rubber Soul where drinks were spilled as the floor heaved to sixties classics.

498. Blue by the Fine Young Cannibals 1985

Johnny Come Home by the Fine Young Cannibals was a big dance floor hit back in 1985. I almost think it was the bit where the guitarists dropped to their knees during the film clip that really sold the song. Great song. Was Blue better? I don't know It was different and wasn't a dance floor filler. But it reminds me of DJing at Barbarellas in Smith Street Collingwood. Before that club I'd only DJed up to midnight at Rubber Soul. This one went to 5 in the morning. And it was mental. Queues around the block before opening. And we played everything. Whatever took our fancy and kept people on the floor.  Of course going so late it was harder to go out for a drink after the club because by the time we'd finished the place was almost emptied out. Made it even harder to chat up girls. You might talk to a girl half way through the night just to see them leave halfway through a set.
One night I was particular smitten by a girl I was talking to. She reminded me of Cindi Lauper in that clip for Girls Just wanna Have Fun. The bit in the clip where she actually opens her eyes.
I found out what songs she liked. Bought her a few drinks. Went back to the DJ booth. Near the end of my set I noticed she was leaving.  I liked her but I didn't have any way of contacting her if she left now. As she was halfway to the door I put on a song she had spoken about. Blue by Fine Young Cannibals. She turned around and brought her friend back onto the dance floor. I got Adam Duncan who I DJed with to take over and I went over to dance with her. I think she recognised my attempt to catch her before she left. She wasn't put off by my dancing. She gave me her phone number before she left for real. We ended up seeing each other for a short time. Eighties romance.

497. Throw Your Arms Around Me by Hunters and Collectors 1984

The second gig Hunters and Collectors played after their triumphant debut at the Ballroom a week previously was on a bill with Little Murders at the Jump Club on a Wednesday night. It was a benefit gig for RRR and was part of their Radiothon. The Hunters were the middle band and we were on last. We were quite popular in those days. The place was packed when I got there so I thought it was going to be a great night. On a Wednesday! The Hunters played and I couldn't beleive how good they sounded. Just amazing. A real modern sound which made me feel I was playing stuff from the stone age. They had a gas cylinder on stage. They had these mighty rhythms banging away.
They finished their set to rapterous applause and left the stage. Unfortunately this was also the time the majority of the audience left the building. So we were playing to a small crowd on a Wednesday night. Where minutes before there were a few hundred. It felt rubbish. After the gig  John Archer, the Hunters bass player was packing away the PA and apoligising for the audience leaving. We had worked with John many times as we were always hiring his PA. He made some excuses for the crowd but I knew when I saw them it would be impossible to follow the Hunters.
A month later we were supporting them at RMIT Storey hall.
I didn't think they captured that live sound on their early records and I was still into guitar pop not Teutonic Rhythms so it was a surprise a year or so down the line when I heard this record. This is the first of many versions they released. To me it sounded like a Byrds song. Just a great melody. Great lyrics. I remember playing it to Mick Barclay who loved it and who ended up getting on stage a few months later with the Hunters and doing backing vocals on this song.

496. Sad Girl by The Stems 1987

Lately I've going to a lot of garage sales and record fairs trying to get my singles collection in order. Which means I want the best pop tunes ever made on 7 inch plastic ready to pop on the record player. Then I have to sort them out so they're easy to find. This can leave a mess of records on the dining room table. This turned out alright because we have a cleaner who pops in every few weeks to give the place a shine. She saw the place full of records and said she had a box of records she was getting rid of.  I wasn't expecting much but after I saw the first two singles I knew there would be some beauties. All mint and in plastic sleeves. A lot of them guitar bands from the eighties like The Stems, The Johnnies and the Lime Spiders. Fantastic.Sometimes you just luck out. Like yesterday a few doors away someone threw out about 100 comics and Mad Magazines. On their nature strip. Me and my son were so happy. 

Sad Girl became a particular favourite of mine after seeing them at the Corner Hotel a few years back. Their bass player Julian had a new band called the Level Spirits and they had supported Little Murders at our record launch. So he kindly put us on the door for the Corner Show. We did buy a poster though and put it up in the kitchen. 

Sad Girl is the one that went off. And the one I sang all the way home. And three years later I have the single. But even better the b-side is "The Beach" A song that is covered by my mate Poz's band The Squad. And they do a great version. And dig this. The last gig the Squad played at the Tote Julian played guitar for them. 

495. People Say by the Go Betweens 1979

I loved the first Go Betweens single "Lee Remick" but I really loved the second single "People Say" and the b-side "Don't Let Him Come Back" Of all those early bands they were the ones I never got to see live though I did see Grant McLennan at the Central Club when Mick Barclay was drumming with him. And I have to admit I always preferred Grant's songs on the albums. But that's a lie because there's some seriously great Robert Forster songs. They seemed to take turns with their songs on the albums.
I did get to meet the band one night at some party on Spencer Street in this underground venue near the station. Pleasant chit chat and obviously they had never heard of Little Murders. But I did all the fan stuff and retreated quickly. Years later I would me mistaken for Grant at Inflation when a guy asked me why I was down from Sydney. This happened a few times although I never saw the resemblance myself. I think it was my short hair, my stature and the denim jacket I wore.
No matter. I've always had a soft spot for the Go Betweens. There first records were Australian Indie classics. They recorded cool pop songs. They would end up being on the Postcard label and recording in Edinburgh. This one came out around the same time as my first single. It would have been in my stack of singles next to my record player. Tidily packed away in old wine cask boxes. In with the Saints and Little Murders and Clint Small.

494. New Race by Radio Birdman 1977

1977. The Tiger Lounge, Richmond. I was trying to get my band Subway up and running since our  change from disjointed folk rockers to punk idealists. Bruce Milne had introduced me to Rob Wellington with the idea he might play bass with us. After hearing the band he quickly turned us down. We were pretty bad. He would come back a few months later and offer to play lead, write songs together and change the name of the band to The Fiction. Which is what we did.
We celebrated the birth of our new band with a trip to see Radio Birdman at the Tiger Lounge. And what a gig it was. The place went mad. Rob even pogoed for a short while. He was the first pogo dancer I had ever seen.
The band rocked through New York Dolls Personality Crisis. Rob Younger was wearing eye liner and he smeared it down his face while he rolled on the floor. It was just majestic. And all the Melbourne punk scene were there. Nick Cave and the Boys Next Door. The Negatives. Everyone.
The highlight for me was New Race. Yeah Up. Which sent the crowd wild. Bumping into each other. Spilling beers. I bought the album not long after. But it was nothing to seeing them live. Melbourne 1977. There was something in the air. I had to get my band on stage.

493. Wasted Little DJs by The View 2006

I was checking out Facebook on the computer and playing Tunes in the background when this song came on. My wife Liz was in the kitchen reading the paper or something like that and called out "Turn it up! I like this song"
I guess being someone who DJed for around 20 years it still gives me a buzz when someone likes a song I put on. Especially when playing a song that's maybe not so mainstream. I've played plenty of crappy songs when drunk girls on Hen's nights have slobbered their undying love for a particular piece of popular crap that they wouldn't remember in a few months. Or a classic which you just played 2 songs ago and they want it again. No, I like it when you play a Serge Gainsbourg song when the dance floor is packed and the crowd keep dancing and someone comes over and compliments you on your choice of song.
Wasted Little DJs comes from that time when there were a lot of guitar bands making a racket over in Blighty. Following the lead of the Libertines came Scotland's The View. I bought a few of their CDs and hunted down demos and such. I loved their sound. Another band that soundtracked the summer of 2006/2007.

492. Geno by Dex'ys Midnight Runners 1980

Dexy's previous single Dance Stance was a massive hit down at Kommotion the Mod club we had down at a small pub in Richmond. Just before the bridge that crosses the river into Chapel street. The small but very cool Mod crowd would gather there every Wednesday night to show off their scooters, dance, drink beer and when the night really got going climb to the top of the speakers and throw oneself into the arms of the crowd. Only once did that go wrong.
Dexy's fit right into the scene we were creating which included soul, ska and bands like the Jam and the Who. So we couldn't wait til they brought out a follow up. Which came in the form of "Searching For The Young Soul Rebels" I guess what we didn't expect was Geno which was released a single off the album becoming a lot bigger than we thought it would. The radio stations picked it up. As did Countdown. And so every party we went to Geno was playing. And everyone was singing along. Maybe this Mod thing was going to take off. As long as they didn't hear the Merton Parkas. A hit single  by what we thought was a cult band. Brilliant. Even the Jam were played on Countdown. Good times indeed.
Dexy's next big hit in Australia was "Come On Eileen" And that's what they're known for. Too Tye Ay fiddles and banjos. Which is another song I could write about. But I would be just reflecting on how I played it so many times ..so many times.

491. Slave Girl by the Lime Spiders 1984

In 1984 just as the wheels were coming off the Little Murders wagon a whole bunch of new guitar bands started appearing on the scene. Everyone of them sounding as if they had spent a lot of time listening to the brilliant Nuggets double album of 10 years before. The same one I was digging into back in 1977 to get my musical ideas together. And bands are still drinking from that well. And why not? It's a deep rich well full of musical escapades.
The copy I have is pretty much worn to the bone and the cover is ragged and smells of night clubs. It's first airing would have been the Venetian Room in the city. I was playing records semi regularly and it ended up being the place Little Murders did their final show. Well one of their final shows. Then it would have moved to Barbarellas then onto The Beehive and KAOs before ending it's days in retirement at the Lizard lounge. To be replaced by a pristine CD copy.
I would always play this together with the Stems "Tears Me In Two" I found them fitting together very well in the set. probably chased up with a Hoodoo Gurus track. All those guitars. Wonderful. A great way to block out the sound of Duran Duran.