What’s the best England football song?

It’s been 25 years since the highly emotive Italia’90 World Cup, and it’s still so very fresh in the memory I could probably do an entire blog on that one tournament in no time. Strangely I recall more about the games of that tournament than I can about last years’ event in Brazil, even though the quality of football in Brazil ‘14 was far superior to many World Cups of recent years.

Oddly history shows that ‘experts’ believe Italia ’90 was a boring tournament apparently!?

I suppose it just goes to show that if you are in the running for winning something in sport, your memories are perhaps clouded by sentiment!

Italia ’90 for me though wasn’t simply about what was played on grass – overall, it created the roots that brought about the biggest change in football in my lifetime.

Whilst it preceded the Premier League blueprint in England by a couple of years, I believe the ‘feeling’ that exuded out of this particular tournament started a huge ground swell of change and altered perception of how football was forever to be viewed in this country.

One of England’s many heroes of Italia ’90 was Gary Lineker, and he sums it up pretty nicely:

"There's no question Italia '90 was a watershed moment for football in this country. Football in the 1980s had half empty stadiums, then we had the Taylor report and all-seater stadiums. After Italia '90, football became the place to go: it wasn't just the working classes; it was other people as well. And women and children. I think Italia '90 was significant in that."

As an attending fan of Brighton & Hove Albion since 1987 (and a season ticket holder since 1992), what Lineker states is bang on the money. I was 14 years old whilst that tournament was on, and almost overnight football stopped being a predominantly boys only topic (in general) on the playground. Suddenly many more female classmates got in on the act too. And about time too, one might say.

It didn’t stop at school either. On the terraces of Brighton’s old Goldstone Ground (RIP), and over the next few years, the boom of women and children, nay FAMILIES, was evident, and thankfully this powerful new movement attracted people who had never had an interest in the game before. Football literally became fashionable overnight, and ripped itself away from the hooligan elements of society that were prevalent in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

I digress though.

So what actually springs to mind from Italia ‘90?

From an England point of view alone we had Bobby Robson’s finest hour, Lineker’s goals, Platt’s volley...

Gazza’s tears,Waddle and Pearce’s penalty agonies…

Not forgetting what the other nations provided us with > Cameroon’s Roger Milla (the oldest swinger in town), Scotland just missing out on the second round again, Argentina’s fortuitous route to a second consecutive final, spit-gate between West Germany and Holland. Not forgetting the Republic of Ireland punching well above their weight to reach the quarter finals, only to be knocked out by a solitary goal from the host nation’s golden boy Toto Schillaci.

As stated in the title though, for this blog I’m going to steer clear of the actual football and look at aspects relating to another poignant memory jerker of this tournament, when love had the World in Motion.

As football songs go, World in Motion was an immense improvement on what had been on offer before… so whilst not a definitive list, here is a bit of a look at some England tournament songs from down the years:

England World Cup Squad (1970): Back Home

Traditionalists will always say that originals are the best. 

As simple pop songs go, it’s quite catchy so I can see why it got to number one in the charts – which in 1970 was no mean feat in what was a strong era for singles sales.

In fact, when it got to number one, other artists in the 30 included stellar artists such as Elvis, Tom Jones, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5 and Simon & Garfunkel, so all things considered, Back Home did rather well! It does sound dated now though...

England World Cup Squad (1982): This Time (We'll Get It Right) / England We'll Fly The Flag

There's a quality to this one that conjures up images of an oil tanker. It sort of plods away and feels laboured – much like England’s on field campaign in España ’82.

What’s noteworthy? Well this double A side (look it up kids) was part of a collection of numerous songs on a whole football themed album, which contained other audible gems like future England managers Glenn Hoddle (singing We Are The Champions) and Kevin Keegan (singing Head Over Heels)… and who could forget the theme from Grandstand as performed by The Leyland Vehicles Brass Band?

And sorry Glenn; you were my favourite player of all time, but this isn’t a patch on Diamond Lights!

Quirky, but not memorable!

England World Cup Squad (1986): We’ve Got The Whole World At Our Feet

Being 10 years old at the time of Mexico ’86, I was just getting into buying my own music. But that still doesn’t excuse why I bought the accompanying album which included this song. Frankly all songs are hilarious, and include medleys incorporating stuff like ‘There’ll Always be an England’ and ‘The Happy Wanderer’ – bizarre and fun, but not particularly good.

SAW & England (1988): All The Way

The England team had the best qualifying record of all the teams in Euro ’88. The same probably can’t be said for the promo record though. It’s dripping with the 80’s Stock, Aitken and Waterman effect (which isn’t a bad sound in my opinion) but never really caught the attention of the buying public. Besides, we didn’t go anywhere near ‘All The Way’ either. What with the illness of Gary Lineker and the luck of the Irish never being truer than when they beat us 1-0, we crashed out of the tournament with nil pois / keine punkte.

England/New Order (1990): World In Motion

Now we’re cooking.

‘World in Motion’ was huge as football songs go, bigger and better than any England football songs that had gone before, and (maybe along with one or two others) better than what we’ve had since. It was a true representation of the sound of it’s time too.

I’m not sure exactly why it was so well received – maybe because of the association with New Order? Maybe because of the iconic John Barnes rap? Or maybe because the writers recognised in the lyrics that football really IS a love affair.

Thankfully it’s been wheeled out at every tournament since 1990 to remind us all how good it was. When that happens, without fail I get the goose bumps kicking in as I’m transported back to that fantastic footballing month and all that it evoked.

As an oddity, listen out for the keyboard lick just before John Barnes does his rap. I might be totally making this up in my ears, but I’m convinced it’s 90% identical to a piece of music in ‘Vogue’ by Madonna which was released just a few weeks earlier.

So who copied who?

Baddiel/Skinner/Lightning Seeds (96/98/10): Three Lions / 3 Lions 98 / Three Lions 2010

So good, they did it thrice.

Comparable in many ways to the quality and impact of World in Motion, it’s a tough call to say which is best.

On the back of the hugely successful Fantasy Football League TV programme, the hosts of said show David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, joined forces with the Lightning Seeds for Three Lions, and together they rode on the crest of the BritPop wave at the time to produce the most incredible anthem to Euro ’96.

The song captured the imagination of the public even more so due to the tournament being held in England and in no small way this was helped by the structure of the song. The ‘It’s Coming Home’ refrain was an instant success as a terrace hit (much like World In Motion’s ’En-ger-land), whereas not many had married this bridge between song and chant so well previously.

Rewritten lyrics sent the song to number one AGAIN two years later for the World Cup in France ’98, beating off other strong contenders in their wake.

And seemingly just for fun, Russell Brand and Robbie Williams chipped in for a rehash of the original version ahead of South Africa ’10. The latter version didn’t do so well, but has enough little interesting alterations that continue to do the song justice.

England United (1998): (How Does It Feel To Be) On Top Of The World

This was the ‘official’ song for France ’98, but it really didn’t do as well as hoped (much like England on the field). Personally I think that’s a shame as I quite liked it, and still do.

I almost feel that it didn’t get loved as much, just BECAUSE it wasn’t Three Lions, which had been SO huge two years previously, but as mentioned above, was taking on all comers for a second consecutive tournament – and winning! Maybe the public had had their fill of the featured Spice Girls by then? Not me though, as I felt Melanie Chisholm’s vocals added superbly to the song – so who knows!? For whatever reason, it just didn’t catch on with the masses.

Fat Les (1998): Vindaloo

Yet another France ’98 contender – it was truly a boom year for football songs!

Lead effectively by Keith Allen (who co-wrote World in Motion) and Alex James (Blur), Fat Les produced not only another song that could be belted out from the terraces, but also a fantastic video (with cameos galore) which gently mocked The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony – which itself has also been associated with football coverage over the years.

Guaranteed to get any decent crowd going, and for me only just falls into second place of all time great football songs behind World in Motion and Three Lions.

Fat Les (2000): Jerusalem

Yep Fat Les again.

On the back of the success of the rousing Vindaloo, the band was this time commissioned with delivering the official FA song for Euro 2000, and they went with the song that is often regarded as the unofficial national anthem of the UK: Jerusalem

It seems like it was an attempt to make an even more rousing effort than they’d created before (if that’s possible), but it somehow didn’t command the respect of its predecessors. Plus England were very poor at this tournament, which never helps the ‘build’ of a football song’s chart run. That said, we did achieve an all too rare victory over the Germans. I’m pretty sure there’s still a part of my body that’s wet from the beers that went flying in the pub when we won that game.

So there you go – just a few songs to jerk the memory. Apologies to Ant & Dec for ignoring their 2002 effort of We’re On The Ball, but this blog is already too long without opining on that one!

However, it would be remiss of me to leave this blog without mentioning my favourite two non-England related football tournament tunes.

So a special nod to the BBC for a couple of particularly good official tournament coverage themes:

The Heads (1986): Aztec Lightning

Luciano Pavarotti (1990): Nessun Dorma

Click and Listen!

Madonna – Thirteen Not Out

She’s back. Not that Madonna ever really goes away.

Much was made before Christmas about the leaking of several tracks from the upcoming thirteenth studio album from the Queen of Pop. Leaking, or ‘artistry theft’, of music is not a new thing, and indeed many of Madonna’s near-peer superstar artists have suffered similar experiences, but rarely has an artist (and her army of fans) been quite so publicly outraged about it.

In a recent interview with The Guardian journo Alexis Petridis, Madonna expressed the leaking of her latest creations as:

“Someone comes into your house and steals a painting off your wall: that's also a violation, but your work, as an artist, that's devastating. I'm sorry if words alarm people, but that's what it felt like. It was not a consensual agreement. I did not say 'hey, here's my music, and it's finished.' It was theft.”

Musical artistry is possibly hard to understand if – put simply – you are not artistic in your nature. But those who appreciate the effort more than the casual listener (and there’s nothing wrong with that stance by the way) would find it hard to blame her feeling as frustrated as she clearly does.

The Internet is a wonderful and horrendous platform in equal measure, but the concept of handling property online and the ownership of said property seems to be something that millions (or billions) around the world sometimes turn a blind eye to.

I’d be lying if I said I’d never heard a bootleg / leaked / pirated product on occasion in the past – who hasn’t? But as a matter of principle, I will wait until the full and formal release of Rebel Heart later this year. Completeness is preferable.

Dodgy leaks and artist anger aside, the question I’m looking to have answered is just how will 'Rebel Heart' compare with the previous twelve studio albums?

This blog isn’t a review, as I’d be here forever raving about True Blue alone, but I am rather partial to delivering the occasional executive summary here and there, as some of my previous blogs would attest to!

So I’ll wrap this blog with some #unapologetic comments on my favourite songs from MLVC’s earlier studio portfolio: (hyperlinks are to Madonna's official You Tube site)

Madonna (aka The First Album)

Borderline

The first Madonna song I liked. Probably the first I heard too. Reminds me of a school trip to northern France during the 80's, where we played The First Album incessantly. Also it’s the song I use on my phone as the alarm tone every morning!

Holiday

Could easily be a chart hit right now. Still sounds as fresh as ever.

                                                                                                   

Like A Virgin

Like a Virgin

One of the most iconic song intros of the 80’s – do I need to say any more?

Into the Groove

An absolute must on any party playlist. In my nightclubbing days, it was guaranteed I’d request (demand) the DJ got it on as soon as I got in the club, because “only when I’m dancing can I feel this free”

True Blue

True Blue is my favourite Madonna album period. I feel that nigh on the whole album was absolute pop perfection and very much of it’s time, and before I had my own copy I frequently borrowed a friend’s copy of the album on cassette during 1986 and 1987 and fell in love with all the songs.

La Isla Bonita is up there amongst the most beautiful songs of all time. In the accompanying music video, Madonna’s look as the un-made up, timid, austere and passive girl (contrasting with the red senorita) absolutely did it for me. I can’t think of a more stunning image of such a cosmetically unenhanced character. Just wow!

I digress.

So yes obviously this has stayed with me since forever ago – and the poor girl that I initially kept borrowing the cassette off eventually bought me a copy for my 12^th birthday! (Thanks EA x!)

If I HAVE to be pinned down to name a few other songs amongst this gem of an album that stand out, then I’m going with Open Your Heart, Papa Don’t Preach and Live To Tell.

Proof that even a twelve year old knows brilliance when he hears it.

And for good measure, when my daughter was born in 2012, the title track True Blue was playing on the radio in the background

Like a Prayer

Dear Jessie

Brilliant children’s record, though maybe that doesn’t do it enough justice. Always on my Christmas playlist as it evokes memories of the time of year it was released here in the UK.

Till Death Do Us Part

A hidden epic on the Like a Prayer album, it is a shame it wasn’t released in its own right.

Powerful, melodic and catchy song about the breakdown of a marriage.

Erotica

Waiting

I clearly recall to Erotica for the first time in it’s entirety on the day of its release in the summer of 1993. Talk about change of direction! The title track set the tone in its own ‘gotta listen to that again’ sort of way, but Waiting really struck me instantly. Brilliantly produced and after just one listen it immediately catapulted its way right into my all time favourite Madonna songs… ”Only love can hurt like this can”

Bedtime Stories

Take a Bow

Beautiful ballad, and I’ve found it to be a favourite of people who aren’t even Madonna fans. Has been well used elsewhere too, like in a couple of FRIENDS episodes.

Music

Nobody’s Perfect

Every time I play this for someone, they always ask ‘when did she do this then?’ – which is criminal! Again another track that didn’t get enough exposure. Love the vocoder effects – very much of its time.

...and maybe not technically studio albums, but personally I couldn’t do this without mentioning worthy gems on the following releases:

You Can Dance

I’ve already mentioned the original earlier, but the Into The Groove remix is spectacular here!

Who’s That Girl

Love the title track Who’s That Girl, Causing a Commotion and The Look of Love – I always felt that WTG was like a True Blue bonus disc

I’m Breathless

Can’t beat a bit of one of the most iconic dance anthems of all time in Vogue, and Now I’m Following You (Part 2) is a real quirky feast containing one of the truest lyrics ever put to music:

“An unimagined life is not worth living”

I’m bound to have missed some belters– such is the vastness and quality of the back catalogue. And with Madonna, you know there’s always more to come.

Rebel Heart for starters. Watch this space…

My Favourite Things (well specifically Albums) Part 2

Okay so Part 1 can be found here.

As mentioned before, I might not get much interest in Part 2 given some of the choices in Part 1, but I bet a lot of the readers bought the same albums as I did in actuality, so I’ll say it again:

I really don’t care if any of the albums chosen get laughed at.

Music stays with us for many reasons, and people should never be ashamed of the music they like. Even Doop by Doop was liked by some people… (not yours truly!)

Note to self: Do a blog about annoying songs…

Anyways, I give you my top five, and again feel free to click on the hyperlinks…

05. The Great Escape – Blur

Me and a mate were on a trip in early 1995 when he persuaded me to listen to a few songs on some album called Parklife by Blur. I knew about the song Girls and Boys, but little else. Anyways I listened to a few songs and thought it was all reasonably good, but then we got to track 9.

Every so often when listening to a song, I get struck by a 'goose pimples' moment, in that I instantly fall in love with it. Some songs have genuinely made me feel that way - like I love them (yes I know I'm odd)...and track 9 To The End was one such song.

It set me up for listening to more Blur songs and when The Great Escape and Oasis' (What's the Story?) Morning Glory were released in the late summer of 1995, BritPop exploded and musically it became a way of life for a good couple of years… and it was great!

I remember going to see Blur in concert at Wembley Arena just before Christmas that year, and during stand out song (and my favourite) The Universal, I'd like to think that whilst singing, Damon Albarn really, really, really WAS pointing directly at me! #itreallyreallyreallycouldhappen

04. True Blue – Madonna

I wasn’t particularly fond of Madonna in the early part of her career, though this was probably more due to a lack of exposure to her material than anything else – besides which I was also very young.

In the mid 1980’s though, two things happened:

1. I learnt that girls liked Madonna (there’s a trend developing here…)

2. Just as I started to listen to chart music, I discovered Borderline (re-released in 1986) and soon after, I also heard Live to Tell.

To clarify point 1, I don’t particularly think I’m a Machiavellian type. I just wanted an ‘in’! The more salient reasons are in point 2. The girl could sing and I was hooked, and I still am to a degree, but the True Blue era was my favourite Madonna period and I feel that nigh on the whole album was absolute pop perfection and very much of it’s time. White Heat took some getting used to, but I liked it just as much as the others in the end.  I frequently borrowed a friend’s copy of the album on cassette during 1986 and 1987 and fell in love with all the songs.

Not least my favourite La Isla Bonita, which is up there amongst the most beautiful songs of all time. In the accompanying music video, Madonna’s look as the un-made up, timid, austere and passive girl (contrasting with the red senorita) absolutely did it for me. I can’t think of a more stunning image of such an apparently plain character. Just wow! > La Isla Bonita

I digress.

So yes obviously this has stayed with me since forever ago – and the poor girl that I initially kept borrowing the cassette off eventually bought me a copy for my 12^th birthday!
Oh and when my daughter was born in 2012, the title track was playing on the radio in the background!

03. Bad – Michael Jackson

"You can’t have two albums by the same artist dammit!" – Yes I can, it's my list!

Jackson's second biggest selling album (just the 40 million units sold) but definitely my favourite of his. For me it's every bit as good as the world record selling Thriller, and just a bit more 'zingy' to make it sound even better.

Much like True Blue above, this was released at an age (11-12ish) when as I was getting seriously into music from my own era (having largely listened to my parents music up to that point), and was now purposefully listening to the charts of a Sunday evening on BBC Radio One. I struggle to find fault with any song, and again like True Blue it's near enough pop perfection. Each song very much gives me a fond memory of the time, and even now they don’t sound dated at all

Favourite song: Man in the Mirror

02. Abbey Road – The Beatles

I could have filled this entire list with Beatles albums, but that would have just been a bit daft!

This album for me was all about craft in the sound and structure of music. Side A of the album is very good in it’s own right, but I could listen to the B-side Abbey Road Medley jam session (which it wasn’t) till the Blue Meanies came home. During Michael Jackson’s Dangerous / Heal the World concert tour, Abbey Road would play over the PA systems at the stadiums he was performing in right before he went on stage (he was a huge fan of The Beatles.) Being in the crowd at Wembley in 1992 for one such concert, it helped pass the time for sure.

People often say The Beatles peaked in 1966 – 1967 with the Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt Pepper albums, but whilst all those albums are terrific, nothing tops the artistry of Abbey Road in my view. The album also contains my favourite lyric ever:

“In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make” from The End

Favourite song: You Never Give Me Your Money

01. Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys

Although I was aware of quite a few of the songs on Pet Sounds, and had heard people laud it, and had read reviews that continually praised it, I didn't actually take the time to listen to the album itself until probably 1994 or 1995. It should have been no chore at a mere 36 minutes long, but one sunny afternoon I decided to give it a go.

The word genius is often overused in culture, but Brian Wilson might just have nailed it with his production of what I had just listened to in fullness for the first time – and for me to get that excited about a mono production is pretty rare. In fact, purists will shudder when I say that I prefer the stereo version that was released in the late 90's, but that's just a preference rather than a criticism.

I believe the content of the album could encapsulate the love life of anyone aged 16-25. How did Wilson manage it? Who knows but it nearly drove him insane in the process searching for perfection.

Favourite song: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times

Paul McCartney once said "I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life – I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album"... 'nuff said.

And I’ll leave you with one final ‘nuff said:

GodOnly Knows

November 1993

Someone asked me recently if I missed going out on the lash and pubbing and clubbing. I honestly hadn’t given it much thought, having been so busy since the time when I guess you could say that I ‘stopped’ doing all that.

Giving it some reflection though and casting my mind back, I have to say that initially (i.e. the first three years worth of clubbing) I didn't really enjoy it at all.

I’d been drinking in pubs for years – my first time being half a Guinness that my dad bought for me at the St George Inn in Portslade when I was about 4 years old. I was sitting at his feet at the bar and he opted to hand me down a half of the black stuff rather than a coke for that particular round!

But in terms of clubbing, I first went in November 1993.

Most (though not all) of my friends used to go to The Event nightclub (now called Prizm) in West Street, Brighton but in truth I virtually had to force myself to go, as I really wasn’t fussed about going. I had glandular fever and anaemia around the ages of 17 to 19, so maybe that explains my nonchalance to it all! Not that the first night I went clubbing was uneventful though…

I remember that first walk down the stairs into the club and seeing a particular girl from school – a girl that virtually everyone fancied – walking towards me and my mates. Now I’ve never been keen on girls being too heavily made up with garish lipstick etc. and have always preferred a more natural look, but she looking stunning and it struck me that we were no longer kids in a playground.

I didn’t get drunk, but that was mainly because I hadn’t really found my tastes in alcohol yet. I’ve never really liked beer, and I hadn’t discovered spirits at that time, so I tended to just push and tolerate my way through a few bottles of Budweiser and peel the labels off just waiting till midnight when the ‘decent’ music started. This would be a forty five minute session of 80’s music or commercial chart songs. I was never into the heavy techno, trance or garage music that was played for most of the night. I was far happier listening and dancing to Michael Jackson, Madonna, Wham!, Madness, Dexy’s Midnight Runners etc. than the other stuff on offer. They even played Beatles and Stones songs on occasion.

Pretty much that became the pattern for a few years. Save money, go clubbing, drink poor beer, enjoy 45 minutes of music, eat takeaway chicken and taxi home.

Hardly exciting times, but just to add to my indifference on that first night, on the way home one of the lads in our cab was sick which meant the rest of us chipping in to pay the cabbie the ‘clean-up’ fee. Deep joy.

And if that wasn’t enough, when I got home I found I had great difficulties in taking out one of my contact lenses. I kept trying to get hold of it and pinching and missing before eventually being in tremendous pain. It turned out I must have been at least partially inebriated as I’d actually already got the lens out, and was in fact pinching my eye-ball. Eventually I went to a&e, and after a few hours and scans later, the doctor said I had three scratches across my eye and put a few drops over them to ease the pain… though I had to put up with triple vision for a few days.

After a few years of trudging through boring nights out, things finally improved as I started to find other club nights, like 80’s nights and student nights (with music I liked played endlessly)…and the cheap spirits and mixers offers often helped!

It was mainly about the music for me, but once I worked out what drinks I genuinely liked (dark rum and coke / southern comfort and lemonade) I found my enjoyment of the nights out increased immensely.

And I believed I’d found the answer to clubbing enjoyment in one word:

Friday

Such a different group of people would go out in Brighton on a Friday night compared to a Saturday night. The atmosphere was so much more relaxed and you didn’t have to actively try and avoid the people who couldn’t handle their shandies.

My Friday nights between the ages 22 to 26 took on a life in itself. Work pending, I was out with a certain group of friends every other Friday. It possibly looks uninspiring looking back, and I didn’t travel the world and change lives etc…I just had a really enjoyable social life with my friends, with such a simple routine: 

1. Get ready between 4-5pm – music a-blaring throughout
2. 6pm: With a full wallet (£60) make way to friend’s house for a few alcoholic 'tasters'
3. Get to the Pull & Pump Pub at 7pm-ish and await the arrival of others in the crew
4. Move on to the Quadrant Pub for 8pm (cart wheeling through the Imperial Arcade on the way) - insist on the bar staff putting THIS on the jukebox and gently mocking the Bryan Ferry and Mark Owen look-alikes
5. Down to The Event (by 1015pm to avoid the queues)
6. Get hammered on cheap booze, do a circuit of the club to see who is about.
7. Dance ourselves sober
   
   
8. Get hammered again (do another circuit - week after week we would contrive to not pull a single girl- this is why >>>
   
9. Leave at about 130am to avoid the crying girls who invariably had lost their purses
10. Go to Hungry Years night club (RIP)...
    
    
    
    ...to meet with others in the crew
11. Head to Subway for a foot long double (quadruple) cheese, double bacon, single turkey, BBQ sauce and salt fest… served by a kid we called Andy. But that wasn't his real name… or was it? He might have been called Bob.
12. Walk as far as we could before we were just too knackered to go on... and hail a cab with whatever change we had left, and get dropped off wherever the money ran out
13. Leg it across Easthill Park kicking an imaginary football into the goalposts that were set up for the Saturday morning league games
14. Get home at around 3am and go on ICQ to talk again to the people I’d spent all night with
15. Start to eat Subway...fall asleep
16. Wake at 7am to finish Subway and down a glass of strawberry milkshake and rejoice at yet another night out with no hangover!

Happy days… the trend stopped during 2001, and after that I had children and priorities changed!

When I stopped going, I definitely missed it, but I think I’d had my time and in particular I thoroughly enjoyed the latter part of it. Many of my other mates who didn't come along used to give me tremendous stick for my habitual routine, but I couldn't care less… it was my music and my time and I loved it.

And tellingly, whenever they came with us, they tended to love it too.

I went many years before going clubbing again, but relived a few good nights nonetheless. When Michael Jackson died in 2009, during a period when I was going through something of a personal breakdown, I went to The Event (by then renamed Oceana) as where better to go to grieve on various levels than to somewhere that was celebrating his musical legacy. They didn’t let me down and literally every other song that night was a Jackson classic.

And this boy was last seen leaving a nightclub in August 2009, with Black or White playing in the background…

Update!

Rummaging around I came across the song list for that first night clubbing - the aforementioned '45 minutes of decent music':

Boom! Shake The Room - Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff

We Will Rock You - Queen

Right Here - SWV

Grease Megamix - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John

Summertime - Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff

Satisfaction - Rolling Stones

Out Of Space - The Prodigy

Leader Of The Gang - Discredited 70's artist

Baggy Trousers - Madness

Atomic - Blondie

Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners

People Everyday - Arrested Development

Moving On Up - M People

Informer - Snow

Jump Around - House Of Pain

Relight My Fire - Take That & Lulu

Just don't ask me why I still have that play list to hand!

Update 2016!!!

Remember the girl on the stairs at the Event near the start of this blog?

Well in August 2016, I bumped into her for the first time in years at a friend’s birthday party.

 

Many mutual friends from back in the day were there and as 40 year olds we drank, laughed and danced to 80’s / 90’s music galore, just like before. And for completeness I thought it might be nice to offer up this little soundbite that she told me:

“I miss nights like these…”