As well as producing some shorter mixes to use in Calico (see “The Calico Session R&B 1833“) I also made some of my own bootleg tracks to play, generally when I didn’t like the original mix!
Mumbly Joe and Bart Simpson
One such track was Mumbly Joe’s “Candy Shop“, which is okay, but it’s quite slow and for a house jock like myself I preferred something a bit faster and more sprightly than this original mix:
So I decided to produce my own house version so that I could use it during a set and used Ableton Live to make one. I found a good quality acapella and spliced it with the 12” remix of Alison Limerick’s “Make It On My Own“. There wasn’t a decent instrumental to be found, so I just cut and pasted various sections from the 12” mix by Mark Pichiotti to create this mix.
You can listen to this track by clicking on the audio player below, and download it by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.
This is the second part of the Shenanigans 03 mixtape. The first part was posted a couple of days ago, and featured (amongst others) Gorillaz, Beastie Boys, Primal Scream and Skee-Lo.
This second episode feautures a mash-up I found online of Kylie Minogue’s “Slow” with the wonderful “Angel” by Massive Attack. I was utterly determined to use it somewhere! And seeing as there are none of Horace Andy’s amazing vocals featured in the mash-up, I thought it was only right and proper (Warning: tenuous link approaching) that we include the full version of the video here.
When you download Shenanigans 03, please note that it comes in iPod friendly m4a format, not mp3 as the other mixtapes have been.
Shenanigans 03 – Part 2:
Format: m4a
Size: 8.4Mb
Tracklisting:
Massive Attack – Angel
Kylie Minogue – Slow
Mansun – Stripper Vicar
Lisa Maffia – All Over
Justin Timberlake – Like I Love You
Mis-Teeq – Can’t Get It Back
Simon Harris – Bass (How Low can You Go?)
Alexander O’Neal – Criticize
Adina Howard – Freak Like Me
De La Soul – Jenifa (Taught Me)
As people who know me will recall, I used to “work” at a bar in Chesterfield called Calico (the one that used to be called Inspirations). This series of mixtapes – called The Calico Sessions – are self-contained, much shorter mixtapes designed to take up anywhere betwen the last 10 and 30 minutes of a night so that I could walk round, say hi to people, have a drink, help tidy up or whatever. Unfortunately, Calico closed its doors recently for the very last time.
Calico, Chesterfield: Quiescat in Pace
These mixes were not created using Ableton Live, which is what I used now, and I don’t think the actual quality of the reproduction is as good as Ableton Live can produce. However, the quality was certainly fine when played in the bar so you shouldn’t have any problems when you stick it on your iPod or whatever you wish to do with it.
So! The first of the Calico Sessions mixtapes is an R&B-based mix, lasting 18 minutes 33 seconds – hence the name (it helped me work out how long I had left before the music ran out!). The video I’ve picked to go with it today is “She Wants To Move” by Nerd. The video features Alesha Dixon, and her new solo single – “The Boy Does Nothing” – is out soon and you can see the video on this blog by clicking here.
The Calico Sessions R&B 1833:
Format: mp3
Size: 17.0Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Sugababes – Round Round
2. Pussycat Dolls – Don’t Cha
3. Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
4. Britney Spears – Slave 4U
5. Charlotte Church – Call My Name
6. Jamesy P – Nookie Tonight
7. Nerd – She Wants To Move
8. Kelis – Milkshake
9. Grandmaster Flash – White Lines
10. Amerie – Touch
11. James Brown – Living In America
12. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
13. Mariah Carey – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
14. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
15. Fatboy Slim – Praise You
16. Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
17. Fatboy Slim – Gangster Trippin’
18. Faith Evans – Love Like This
This is the last of the early Shenanigans mixtapes. You can tell the early ones – they start slow and build up speed until they get fast and frenetic at the end, and this one in particular has (in my humble opinion!) the best ending of any of the mixtapes so far, looping the opening guitar riff from The Kink’s “You Really Got Me” with Leftfield’s “Phat Planet“. You’ll be surprised how well it works!
But we can’t get to the end without starting at the beginning, so this is part one of Shenanigans 03. There were a lot of tracks that I could have used the video for from part 1 – “Loaded”, “Fun Lovin’ Criminals”, “I Wish” but instead I decided to go with this Beastie Boys track from their underrated album “Paul’s Boutique”. This track, “Hey Ladies“, has a very seventies disco/funk feel to it, as has the video. If you’ve ever hankered to see Mike D, MCA and Ad Rock boogie-ing in the disco, you should probably seek professional help – but before you do watch this video:
When you download Shenanigans 03, please note that it comes in iPod friendly m4a format, not mp3 as the other mixtapes have been.
Shenanigans 03 – Part 1:
Format: m4a
Size: 9.2Mb
Tracklisting:
Primal Scream – Loaded
Soul II Soul – Back To Life
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – The Fun Lovin’ Criminals
Gorillaz – 19-2000
NWA – Express Yourself
Skee-Lo – I Wish
Beastie Boys – Hey Ladies!
Happy Mondays – Wrote For Luck
For anyone who missed a part of the Shenanigans 02 mixtape, I thought I’d recap all the section here in one convenient place. And just because we have a convenient excuse to do so, let’s include one of the greatest dance records of all time, one that’s featured on this mixtape; Deep Dish’s wonderful “Flashdance“:
Shenanigans 02 – Part 1:
Format: mp3
Size: 14.2Mb
Time: 15:25
Tracklisting:
Lazyboy – Underwear Goes Inside The Pants
Radiohead – High
Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing
Sheryl Crow – What I Can Do For You
Crowded House – Take The Weather With You
Dr. Dre – Stil D.R.E.
A Tribe Called Quest – Bonita Applebum
Mark Ronson – Just
Prince – Sign Of The Times
DJ Yoda – Wheels
Moby – Honey
Sugababes – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Beastie Boys – Body Movin’
The Soup Dragons – Free
Diana Brown & Barrie K. Sharpe – Masterplan
Amerie – Take Control
Annie – Chewing Gum
Prince – Bob George
Foxy Brown – I’ll Be
David Bowie – Let’s Dance
Pink – Get The Party Started
Playgroup – Number One
Rose Royce – If It’s Love You’re After
LL Cool J – Take Control
Freeez – IOU
Bodyrockers – I Like The Way You Move
Kylie Minogue – Did It Again
Double 99 – RIP Groove
Madonna – Ray Of Light
Praise Cats – We Got Love
Deep Dish – Flashdance
Syntax – Pray
Dire Straits – Money For Nothing
Noir – All About The House Music
Avenue D – Do I Look Like A Slut?
Planet Funk – Who Said?
The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
Soulsearcher – I Can’t Get Enough
I’ve mentioned before what a sucker I am for three minutes of perfectly formed pop music. I always think that a pop song should be like a kebab – it should take about three minutes to get through, make your fingers kind of sticky and leave you feeling both guilty and happy at the end.
See, it's exactly like a pop song.
This video, from the new ITV series “Britannia High” (which I was unaware of before I came across this video) seems to be the UK answer to the kids from Fame (except they’re not as old – they’re only school children, as far as I can tell).
I’m not quite sure what the link is between the two, but of you follow the link below you can see The Saturdays taking you through the dance moves to their two singles. If that’s the sort of thing that floats your boat, I’m sure you’ll get a lot out of it. Me, I have no idea how people can walk in heels as high as they wear in this dance class, let alone dance in them.
Welcome to the final part of the Shenanigans 02 mixtape! Coming soon I’ll post the third of the Shenanigans mix series, but for now you’ll have to make do with the final part of this mix …
I really wanted to find the video for the hilariously rude “Do I Look Like A Slut?” by Avenue D. I think this two-piece female rap band from the USA have split up now, which is a shame because their brand of electro-clash and rap is well worth a listen.
"Do I Look Like A Slut?"
Instead, I’ve gone for a track from Italian band Planet Funk, entitled “Who Said“. This is taken from their album Non Zero Sumness and is an excellent mix of rock and dance:
Shenanigans 02 – Part 5:
Format: mp3
Size: 14.0Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting
Noir – All About The House Music
Avenue D – Do I Look Like A Slut?
Planet Funk – Who Said?
The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
Soulsearcher – I Can’t Get Enough
I confess I didn’t know this record at all before I tried to find a piece of music from the movie “Se7en“; at that time I was planning to use it on a mix of more downtempo, downbeat tracks that I had it in mind to start (that mix is now finished. It’s called “Shenanigans 09: Untitled” and features bands like Massive Attack, The Verve, Placebo, Leftfield and Siouxsie & The Banshees and will appear on the blog in good time). The actual track that closes the movie is called “Closer (Precursor)” and does appear on the mix but I also use this vocal version, entitled “Closer” (or sometimes “Closer To God” and occasionally “Halo 9″) by the ‘band’ Nine Inch Nails.
Trent Reznor
Nine Inch Nails (NIN) basically comprise one man: singer, songwriter, producer and instrumentalist Trent Reznor. Every time he releases a new album as NIN, he gathers a group of musicians together to tour as NIN. For the next album, he’ll choose a completely different line-up and start all over again.
This song, which is usually heavily edited for video and radio play, was voted number 93 by VH1 in its poll of “The 100 Best Songs Of The Last 25 Years”. The video, which is equally as controversial as the song in its own right, was directed by Mark Romanek. VH1 Classic voted it the greatest video of all time in a poll in 2006, and it is one of two videos (along with Madonna’s “Bedtime Story”) directed by Mark Romanek that the Museum of Modern Art has added to its permanent collection.
Hello, and welcome to the fouth and penultimate installment of the “Shenanigans 02” mixtape. Previous installments, which are still available on the blog, feature artists as diverse as Mark Ronson, Rose Royce, Pink, David Bowie, Sugababes, Beastie Boys, The Soup Dragons and LL Cool J.
There was a time in Kylie Minogue’s career when it failed to even remotely approach anything even slightly resembling the meaning of the word “career”, which is a shame as the stuff she produced during that period was actually very decent and much more accomplished than some of the turds she’s polished recently.
Kylie Minogue "Did It Again"
To prove my point, I’ve dug out probably the best video of Kylie’s career to date. No gold hotpants, no fancy effects, not man-of-the-moments producer – just a straightforward pop song and a clever video where Kylie plays herself at five different points in her career. This track is called “Did It Again” and features on this fourth episode of the Shenanigans 02 mix CD:
Shenanigans 02 – Part 4:
Format: mp3
Size: 12.1Mb
Time: 13:07
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
Kylie Minogue – Did It Again
Double 99 – RIP Groove
Madonna – Ray Of Light
Praise Cats – We Got Love
Deep Dish – Flashdance
Syntax – Pray
Dire Straits – Money For Nothing
The video I’ve chosen for you today is “The Reflex“, Duran Duran’s magnum opus from 1984 (technically, it starts in Part 6, but any excuse for a Duran Duran video!). However, instead of the normal single version video, I’ve dug out the version from 1984’s concert video and live album “Arena“. If you haven’t seen ‘Arena (AN ABSURD NOTION)’ and you’re a fan of the 80s, then shame on you: it’s the most perfectly eighties thing of any description, anywhere! It features Dr Durand Durand – the character from Barbarella from where the band took their name – making his way back from the psychadelic void (to where he’d been banished in the film) and attempting to take over the earth again. Only Duran Duran and their many fans can stop them. It’s all quite bonkers and utterly magnificent:
Shenanigans in the Eighties – Part 7:
Format: mp3
Size: 10.1Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus
Wham! – I’m Your Man
Man 2 Man featuring Man Parrish – Male Stripper
New Order – Blue Monday
The Saturdays‘ album “Chasing Lights” will definitely be released on October 27th and you can pre-order the CD now. I’ve seen a couple of different tracklistings – this one is from Amazon.co.uk:
1. If This Is Love
2. Up
3. Keep Her
4. Issues
5. Lies
6. Work
7. Chasing Lights
8. Set Me Off
9. Fall
10. Vulnerable
11. Why Me, Why Now
12. Up
I’ve also seen tracklistings that have the Bobby Blanco and Miki Moto remix of “If This Is Love” as a bonus track, so it might be worth your time shopping around to get the best value copy.
This video is taken from the 2008 KCAs with the band performing “Up”:
Guru’s 1993 single “No Time To Play” was taken from the groundbreaking album “Jazzamatazz Vol. 1“. It features influential jazz guitarist Ronny Jordan, and former Wham! backing singer and ex-Mrs. Paul Weller Dee C. Lee provides additional vocals on the chorus.
The single is funky, jazzy and very optimistic-sounding record and sounds nothing like a lot of the rap music produced at this time.
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Danish-American rapper Lucas Secon – known throughout his career simply as Lucas – is best known for this video for his jazz-inspired 1994 single “Lucas With The Lid Off“. The video, which was nominated for a host of awards, is directed by Michel Gondry and was shot in one take through a variety of sets. Gondry has directed videos for acts like The Chemical Brothers, Radiohead and The White Stripes, and has since gone on to direct feature films such as “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”.
Lucas concentrates now on his song-writing and production, and his efforts have featured on songs that have gone on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide. Amongst others, Lucas has worked with Sugababes, Liberty X, Nick Carter, Mos Def, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Hayden Panetierre. He also worked on the forthcoming Pussycat Dolls single “I Hate This Part”.
Ah, the end draws near; it’s the penultimate part of my 80s mix CD, “Shenanigans in the Eighties“. I looked for a while for a video to go with this section and I was very tempted to go with the video for Martika’s cover version of Carole King’s “I Feel The Earth Move”, but her dancing in the video is far too cringeworthy, so I decided to go with a video from archetypal eighties girl group Bananarama:
(Witty caption not supplied)
This video, which is taken from some show called “What’s Up Doc”, features them performing two of their songs ‘live’ – the criminally underrated “Moving On” and the track that’s featured on this mix, “I Want You Back”. By the time of this performance they’d been reduced to a duo again, consisting of founder membes Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin. Although many would suggest that the band’s best years as a pop act were during the eighties, they have attempted something of a comeback in recent years with a lot of new material, including an excellent single calle “Move In My Direction” which had some excellent club mixes.
Shenanigans in the Eighties – Part 6:
Format: mp3
Size: 9.1Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
The 49ers – Don’t You Love Me
Rick Astley – Together Forever
Bananarama – I Want You Back
Bros – I Owe You Nothing
Martika -I Feel The Earth Move
Five Star – The Slightest Touch
Duran Duran – The Reflex
I must admit, I found this hard to believe when I first came across the evidence but if you take a look at the video for Five Star’s 1986 hit single “System Addict” you’ll see there can be absolutely no doubt about it! If you watch the video through to about the 1:17 mark you’ll see Andi Peters on the screen dancing solo.
Peters supposedly came to prominence as the straight man for puppet creation “Edd The Duck” and has since gone on to create the T4 brand for Channel 4, as well as being one of the people responsible for finally running Top of the Pops into the ground. He was also trounced in the final of the Celebrity Masterchef final by former Atomic Kitten Liz McLarnon.
Part 5 of my 80s mix “Shenanigans In The Eighties” starts with Sabrina’s track “Boys (Summertime Love)”. As you know I like to accompany these entries with the video for one of the tracks, but it’s terriby difficult to find a video on YouTube of this song that is, ahem, suitable for family viewing! There’s no place on this blog for pop videos of scantily dressed girls jiggling about – which reminds me, the new Girls Aloud video for “The Promise” can be found by scrolling down a few pages.
In the end I decided to go with the video for one of my favourite male vocalists from this decade – Stephen “Tintin” Duffy. “Kiss Me” is the second of his videos that I’ve posted on here, and you can find the video for “Icing on the Cake” by clicking here. For now though, please enjoy “Kiss Me”, performed ‘live’ on Top of the Pops.
In other news, have you seen the video for Five Star’s “System Addict”? I’ve watched it a few times and I’m reasonably sure that former puppet sidekick Andi Peters is a member of Five Star – take a look at the guy on the right side of the picture below – if that’s not Andi Peters I’ll eat KFC gravy. I’ll post the video on here and you can see what I mean.
Andi Peters - on the right side of the picture
Shenanigans in the Eighties – Part 5:
Format: mp3
Size: 8.8Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
Sabrina – Boys Boys Boys
The Jets – Crush On You
Freeez – IOU
Stephen ‘Tintin’ Duffy – Kiss Me
Hue and Cry – Labour of Love
Five Star – System Addict
Double Trouble and the Rebel MC – Just Keep Rocking
Let’s let Mark Radcliffe – radio presenter, Man Shitty fan, rock’n'roll drummer and surprisingly good author -explain how this rock and roll classic came into being:
“1972; we were called the ‘Po Faces’. We wrote a song about not being able to get any bread with our soup. We were at a Berni Inn – we’d splashed out. And we were shouting to the waiter, ‘Oi, I want a roll with it’.”
The Po Faces record became a minor underground clasic, until fellow Manchester Shitty supporters and serial Beatles plagiarisers Oasis were struggling to come up with inspiration and decided to rip of the Po Faces. Well, it makes a change from copying everything John Lennon ever did.
I went with a friend to see The Shirehorses at Sheffield Octagon and they were brilliant, although I’d have to say I could have done with Marc ‘Lard’ Riley gobbing beer and water on our heads a bit less!
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Part 4 of my eighties mix CD “Shenanigans in the Eighties” opens with one of my favourite tracks from the 80s – “I Want To Be Your Property” by short-lived pop act Blue Mercedes.
Blue Mercedes "I Want To Be Your Property"
It reached only number 23 in the UK charts but was a bigger hit in the dance charts. For my shame, I remember regularly requesting it at the Monday under-18s night at the Aquarius nightclub in Chesterfield!
Shenanigans in the Eighties – Part 4:
Format: mp3
Size: 9.1Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
Blue Mercedes – I Want To Be Your Property
Rick Astley – My Arms Keep Missing You
Yazoo – Situation
Adam and The Ants – Ant Rap
Adamski – The Space Jungle
Krush – House Arrest
Def Leppard – Animal
Pet Shop Boys – Opportunities
With a synth riff from Felix’s “Don’t You Want Me” forming the basis of this track, “Feels Like Home” is Meck’s follow-up to his number one single “Thunder In My Heart”. It’s a collaboration between Meck – better known as DJ and head of free2air records Scott Dimech – and Italian DJ/producer Dino Lenny.
A couple of videos that I found of The Saturdays performing live at the Nokia Green Room. In the first they perform their first single, “If This Is Love“; in the second, they perform an acoustic version of a track called “Issues” in which Una plays guitar.
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