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Playlist of the month: New Year

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A screenshot of the New Year's Day playlist on Spotify

So it’s time for a playlist of the month for December. I did my best Christmas songs last year, and whilst I considered doing a ‘worst Christmas songs’ playlist this time, I decided that no-one really wants that. Anyway, as it’s a new year in a few days’ time, here’s a New Year’s Day playlist. I cannot confirm or deny that these are the first 10 songs that I liked when searching for ‘new year’ on Spotify.

  • New Year’s Day by U2. I know this better as the 2003 remix, New Year’s Dub, but here’s the 1983 original. Yes, you’re old.
  • Happy New Year by Abba. I’m not a big Abba fan, and this was released before I was born. It’s a typical Abba song.
  • No Tears for New Years by Katy Perry. After a couple of older songs, here’s a brand new one from Perry’s latest album.
  • New Year’s Day by Taylor Swift. This is actually the first time I’ve included a Taylor Swift song in my playlists of the month. It’s from her sixth album Reputation, so, at the time of writing, there’s no (Taylor’s version).
  • New Year by Sugababes. The second single from their first album, and was released before any of their numerous line-up changes. I suppose you can consider it both a Christmas and New Year song.
  • New Year’s Revolution by NOFX. Start the new year with a bit of pop punk. Although “Next year is gonna be bad, The next one even worse” maybe isn’t the most upbeat way.
  • Is It New Year’s Yet? by Sabrina Carpenter. Another relatively new song, having been released last year.
  • New Year’s Resolution by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. And now for a much, much older song; this one is from 1967. A bit of a slow jam this one.
  • What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? by Ella Fitzgerald. Staying in the 1960s, Ella Fitzgerald is well known for her classic versions of Frosty the Snowman and Sleigh Ride, but she also did this New Year’s song too.
  • New Year’s Day by Rob Thomas. You may know Rob Thomas as the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty, or the guest vocalist on Carlos Santana’s song ‘Smooth’. This is another slow piano track.

Playlist of the month: Musicals

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Screenshot of the musicals playlist

Now I’m not saying that it’s mandatory for queer men like myself to like musical theatre – but, let’s face it, lots of us do, and I’m no exception. Both my wife and previous girlfriend were involved in a musical theatre society at university (same university but not at the same time), and I’ve seen a number of shows, both locally and in the West End in London. And, seeing as Wicked is now a film, it’s a good theme with which to base a playlist on. So, here are my favourite songs from musicals. As ever, you can listen to it on Spotify.

  • “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, by Kerry Ellis. This isn’t the version on either the stage or film soundtrack, but a belting cover version by Kerry Ellis. Although, to be fair, Ellis played Elphaba for a time during its West End run. This is one of my morale boosting songs.
  • “The Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman. Friends fear that he’s been listening to the Greatest Showman soundtrack and has just found another excuse to include this in a playlist. Yes, I included it in July’s ‘duets’ playlist too.
  • “You Can’t Stop The Beat” from Hairspray. It’s not quite the finale but it’s the big number where the audience is usually encouraged to join in. Back before Netflix was available in the UK, I rented the DVD of Hairspray, not realising it was the (non-musical) 1980s original with Ricki Lake, and not the then new (musical) film version.
  • “I Wanna Be A Producer” from The Producers. This is one of those songs that I randomly break out into. I enjoyed the film adaptation and have also seen a good amateur production in Bradford.
  • “Just Around The Corner” from The Addams Family. I don’t think enough people know that there’s an Addams Family musical, especially after Wednesday came out a couple of years ago. It’s about Wednesday coming of age, and this song is a solo by Morticia.
  • “Unfortunate” from Unfortunate. We went to see this very camp Little Mermaid spin-off earlier this year, and I would strongly recommend it. It’s refreshing to hear new music on stage, and a break from the seemingly endless jukebox musicals.
  • “When I Grow Up” from Matilda. We managed to see the Matilda musical in the West End shortly before it won loads of awards, and it was excellent. This song manages to be both fun and heartbreaking at the same time. Also, it’s the only one of these that I’ve performed in a show before.
  • “Let It Go” from Frozen. Oh come on, just because this song has been massively over-played, doesn’t mean it’s not good. How many kids songs manage to include words like ‘fractals’?
  • “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. I haven’t actually watched Moana all the way through in one go, but I’ve probably seen all of it collectively as our eight-year-old has watched it multiple times on Disney+. Whilst it’s not made it to the stage yet, this is a good song. I imagine we’ll be watching the sequel at some point soon.
  • “Ex-Wives” from Six. Six is a musical that I really want to see, but haven’t managed to yet. I’ve listened to and enjoyed the soundtrack a few times though.

Playlist of the month: Halloween Party

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Screenshot of the Halloween Party playlist on Spotify

When it comes to choosing a playlist of the month for October, it has to be Halloween-themed, doesn’t it? In the hope that I’ll have chance to do one again next year, I’m specifically focussing on party tunes for Halloween this time. Here’s the Spotify playlist.

  • Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr. As well as being the theme tune to a cult-classic film, this is a great catchy party song.
  • Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) by Backstreet Boys. Whilst the lyrics are not especially Halloween-themed, the music video and accompanying dance moves are. Also, any song which unironically opens with ‘Oh my god, we’re back again!’ is good to me.
  • She Wolf by Shakira. Not one of her most-played songs on Spotify (that honour goes to Hips Don’t Lie, with nearly 2 billion streams) but it fits the theme.
  • Time Warp by the Cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Can you have a Halloween party without people doing a jump to the left, and a little step to the right, while being driven insane by pelvic thrusts?
  • Things That Go Bump In The Night by allStars. I mentioned this song back in March, as it was one that was recently brought back onto digital platforms by Pop Music Activism. It’s now up to 5 million streams as I write this.
  • Witch Doctor by The Cartoons. The Cartoons were a late 90s novelty Danish pop band, and this cover version is much better than the original 1950s song by Ross Bagdasarian.
  • Scared of the Dark by Steps. Again, we can’t have a pop party without Steps. This is one of their more recent songs after a long hiatus, and, like many of their newer singles, is also one of their best.
  • Super Freak by Rick James. Possibly not the sort of song to play at a kid’s birthday party if you listen closely to the lyrics. It’s the song that was famously sampled by MC Hammer for Can’t Touch This.
  • Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers. Oh go on, let’s throw a classic in here. I think most people know the lyrics by now.
  • Disturbia by Rihanna. And finally another one with a catchy ‘bum-bum-be-dum-bum-bum-be-dim-bum’ in the lyrics.

Playlist of the month: 90s Summer

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A screenshot of the 90s Summer Songs playlist on Spotify

We’re getting to the end of another month, and so with just a few hours remaining in August, here’s this month’s playlist. I appreciate that the weather hasn’t been particularly summery this week (stormy more like) but this month’s theme is songs that remind me of the summer holidays of the 1990s. You can listen along on Spotify if you want.

  • ‘Steal my Sunshine’ by Len. This Canadian band ended up being something of a one-hit wonder with this upbeat song 25 years ago.
  • ‘Waiting for Tonight’ by Jennifer Lopez. Oooh, a JLo song for the second month running. I listened to a lot of Galaxy 105 (now known as Capital) during the school holidays and this was in regular rotation.
  • ‘Save Tonight’ by Eagle Eye Cherry. This was everywhere in the summer of 1998, from the half-brother of Neneh Cherry. Whilst a second single and an album did well, you may be surprised to know that a further five albums followed – I certainly was.
  • ‘Lovefeel (Tee’s Club Radio)’ by The Cardigans. The dance remix of that song from Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, courtesy of American DJ Todd Terry. It was some time later before I heard the slower original.
  • ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ by Dodgy. Dodgy had been around since the early 90s, and this song was originally released in 1994. Their 1996 single ‘Good Enough’ was what brought them fame, however.
  • ‘Cecilia’ by Suggs, Louchie Lou & Michie One. The original was by Simon & Garfunkel, but Suggs from the band Madness released this speeded up version with some additional reggae vocals in 1996.
  • ‘In The Summertime’ by Shaggy & Rayvon. We’re in 1995 now and another cover, this time of the Mungo Jerry classic with additional rapping from Shaggy.
  • ‘Twist and Shout’ by Chaka Demus & Pliers. Another cover! Reggae music was big in the mid-90s and I prefer this to the original.
  • ‘Wake Up Boo’ by The Boo Radleys. A mainstay of the student club nights that I went to in the early 2000s, but originally from 1995. They’re regarded very much as a ‘one hit wonder’ despite having released eight (!) studio albums, the most recent of which came out last year.
  • ‘Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)’ by Los Del Rio. And we’re back in remix territory. The original came out in 1993, but it was the 1995 remix by the Bayside Boys, and subsequent dance moves, that made this song so popular. Sorry, but I actually like this song.

Playlist of the month: Appalling Cheese

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A screenshot of my appalling cheese playlist on Spotify

Last month’s playlist was a Eurovision cheese fest, and this month I’m looking at the worst kind of cheese. The horribly sweet, overpowering kind, in a playlist I’ve called ‘Appalling Cheese’. It’s actually one I’ve been developing over time, although thankfully I’m limiting it to just 8 songs this month. Here’s a link to it on Spotify.

  • ‘Macahula Dance’ – Dr Macdoo. This is supposed to be Scottish-inspired Europop, except that the man behind Dr Macdoo is actually Danish. I’ve included this rather than his other guise, Dr Bombay, where he puts on a stereotypical Indian accent. Because as he’s a white person, it’s textbook cultural appropriation and I don’t want to encourage that.
  • ‘Chacarron’ – El Chombo. Allegedly the nonsensical vocals on this track were a placeholder to be used during production, but it was released anyway, probably as a joke.
  • ‘No Way No Way’ – Vanilla. This is another song with an urban legend attached, in that its producers deliberately set out to release the worse song possible as a bet.
  • ‘Cheeky Song’ – Cheeky Girls. Ah, the Cheeky Girls. They found fame on the show Popstars: The Rivals and were picked up by a record label keen to capitalise on their viral notoriety. Said record label went bust a couple of years later, but they’re still going.
  • ‘Them Girls Them Girls’ – Zig and Zag. Zig and Zag are still a thing, apparently, despite this song having been released around 30 years ago when they were on The Big Breakfast. Its similarity to ‘I Like To Move It’ by Reel 2 Real (made famous in the film Madagascar) is no accident as both were produced by Erick Morillo, although this is significantly more excruciating to listen to. 10 year old me bought this on cassette; 40 year old me knows better.
  • ‘Fast Food Song’ – Fast Food Rockers. Take a typical campfire song (McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hat), give it a kiddy pop beat, and then add some sexually suggestive lyrics for the dads, and you have this hot mess.
  • ‘Ding Dong Song’ – Günther. Speaking of sexually suggestive, this is another painful piece of Europop by Swedish act Günther.
  • ‘Mickey’ – Lolly. Toni Basil’s song was just fine as it was. This cover didn’t need to exist. I wish it didn’t

That’ll do for this month. And also, I’m sorry.

Playlist of the month: Eurovision hits

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Unlike last month, I’m actually publishing this month’s playlist mid-month. And seeing as it’s Eurovision week, these are all my favourite hits from previous Eurovision years. My verdicts on this year’s songs are here.

You can listen along to this playlist on Spotify if you wish.

  • “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” by Verka Serduchka. A memorable performance from Ukraine in 2007. Allegedly ‘Lasha Tumbai’ was changed from ‘Russia goodbye’, as Eurovision tries to be non-political (but invariably is). It came second, losing to Serbia. It’s one of those very silly songs that epitomises Eurovision.
  • “Euphoria” by Loreen. Currently holds the record for most votes for any song performed in a Eurovision final and rightly a winner for Sweden in 2012. Loreen went on to win Eurovision again for Sweden last year, although I’m not so keen on her 2023 song “Tattoo”.
  • “Ooh ahh… Just A Little Bit” by Gina G. The British entry from 1996, and an absolute gay anthem. It didn’t win, although it came seventh which is pretty good compared to recent British Eurovision performances (2022 excepted). Gina G is actually Australian, and now Australia competes in Eurovision. Please don’t think too hard about the geographical implications of this.
  • “Satellite” by Lena. A fun little song which won for Germany in 2010. Lena would represent Germany again in 2011 but wasn’t as successful.
  • “Je Me Casse” by Destiny. The Maltese entry in 2021. A friend described this as Lizzo meets Mr Saxobeat (an Alexandra Stan song) and I agree, but it works. It came seventh. 2021 was an unusual event as it was the first show since 2019 and had a significantly smaller audience. Also, four countries (including the UK) got nul points that year.
  • “Only Teardrops” by Emmelie de Forest. This was the 2013 winner for Denmark.
  • “Thing About Things” by Daði Freyr. The probable winner for the contest that never was. This was Iceland’s entry for the 2020 contest that was cancelled due to you know what. Daði Freyr came back with a new song for 2021 but didn’t win.
  • “Diva” by Dana International. This won in 1998 in Birmingham, following Britain’s most recent win in 1997. Dana International was the first openly transgender Eurovision contestant and won with a great song.
  • “Toy” by Netta. Israel’s win in 1998 was followed by another win 20 years later, with this unusual but catchy song.
  • “Glorious” by Cascada. Whilst Cascada’s lead singer is British, this was the German entry for 2013. It didn’t do so well, coming 21st overall.

Pop Music Activism

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Screenshot of the Pop Music Activism web site

Have you ever been frustrated that some older music isn’t available on digital platforms like Spotify or iTunes? You’re not alone, and Pop Music Activism is trying to do something about it.

There are several reasons why music is missing from these platforms, and indeed there’s a list of the common ones. A lot of dance music from the 1990s and 2000s is missing, and this is often because songs were released by different labels in different countries. It wasn’t until the late 2000s that Spotify came along.

For some artists and bands, you may find their albums there, but not their singles. So remixes and b-sides are harder to come by. Or you may find that the song you want appears in a web search, but when you follow the link, it’s been geo-blocked.

This is where Pop Music Activism comes in. They track down who has the rights, and politely badger them to get the music online. And it works – the home page of the web site has hundreds of releases that are now available to legally stream and download. There have been some particular successes, such Things That Go Bump In The Night by *allStars, which after becoming available again appeared in lots of Hallowe’en playlists and has clocked up over 4 million streams on Spotify. Whilst Spotify pays a fraction of a penny per stream, it’s more than the nothing that these songs were earning before, due them not legally being available anywhere.

If you want to keep track of what ‘new’ old songs become available, you can follow them on Twitter/X. Usually, there’s something new each week on a Friday. It’s about the only reason I still occasionally log into Twitter nowadays. There’s also a monthly email list which I’m on, but can’t seem to find the subscribe link.

Playlist of the month: Alcohol

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Screenshot of the alcohol playlist on Spotify

Time for the fourth instalment of my Playlist of the Month, and this month, it’s all about alcohol and drinking seeing as Dry January is over. Unlike last month, this was a relatively easy topic to come up with.

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you want to listen along.

  • Drink – Alestorm. As you’d expect from a band called Alestorm, they’ve written a lot of songs about drinking over their seven (soon to be eight) albums. This was the first single from the fourth (and in my view best) album. Indeed it’s about 11 years ago since I saw them in Leeds.
  • Cigarettes and Alcohol – Oasis. I’m not a big Oasis fan but any playlist about alcohol would be remiss without this.
  • Vodka – Korpiklaani. This Finnish folk metal band has several songs about alcohol, with others including ‘Happy Little Boozer’ and ‘Bring Us Pints Of Beer’. ‘Vodka’ is probably their best.
  • Whiskey in the Jar – Metallica. It’s a traditional Irish folk song but this version by Metallica is probably its best known recording. A staple at any ceilidh.
  • Love Drunk – Boys Like Girls. You can be drunk, and indeed hungover, on love as well as alcohol, and this is one of my favourite songs in this genre.
  • Drinking in LA – Bran Van 3000. Quite the one-hit wonder from 1997.
  • Tequila – Terrorvision. A local band coming from just up the road from me in Keighley; this was probably their biggest hit thanks to a remix by Mint Royale.
  • Tubthumping – Chumbawumba. Another big song from the 1990s. Whilst Chumbawumba have released 16 albums to date, this is by far their most well-known song.
  • Drunken Lullabies – Flogging Molly. Another Irish-themed song; again, Flogging Molly have no shortage of songs about drinking but this is their most well-known song.
  • Beer – Reel Big Fish. And finally, a bit of ska to finish off.

Playlist of the month: my favourite Christmas songs

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Screenshot of the cover of my favourite Christmas songs playlist on Spotify

Now that I’m blogging regularly again, I’ve decided to start a new monthly feature where I post a playlist of 10 songs, all around a theme. Last month was guitar heavy indie rock, and this month, because it’s December, I’ve chosen Christmas music.

If you want to listen along, here’s the Spotify playlist.

  • ‘Underneath the Tree’ by Kelly Clarkson. Probably the best new-ish Christmas pop song that I’ve heard of late, although it’s still a decade old.
  • ‘Fairytale of New York’ by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. We’ll disregard the gay slur in the lyrics, but it’s a good song with humour. If you prefer, this cover by Grace Petrie is good too. Sadly we lost The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan last month.
  • ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day’ by Wizzard. Probably my favourite classic Christmas pop song, although Wizzard’s lead singer Roy Wood is a bit racist nowadays.
  • ‘Stay Another Day’ by East 17. Is this a Christmas song? The lyrics are not explicitly about Christmas, but it was a Christmas number one in 1994 in the UK and the addition of bells make it sufficiently Christmassy for me.
  • ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’ by The Darkness. There’s room for more than one glam rock band to have a Christmas song, and this mid-2000s song by The Darkness is a better ‘new’ song.
  • ‘Christmas Truce’ by Sabaton. Sabaton are a Scandinavian metal band who sing historically accurate songs about war. This one is about the Christmas Truce from the First World War.
  • ‘Last Christmas’ by Carly Rae Jepson. Whamhalla is over for 2023 – I got out after just 36 hours this year. But if you were playing, then covers didn’t count, and this is my favourite cover version.
  • ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ by Our Last Night. This metal cover band pops up regularly in my Release Radar playlist on Spotify, as they release new songs regularly. This is their interpretation of this Christmas classic.
  • ‘Merry Axe-Mas’ by Nine Inch Nails. More metal, but not a cover this time.
  • ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ by Pentatonix. Paul McCartney’s original has always been just a bit too eighties for me. I prefer this a cappella version.

I’ll be back with another playlist sometime in January.

Playlist of the month: guitar-heavy indie rock

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Screenshot of the guitar heavy indie rock playlist on Spotify

Now that I’m blogging regularly again, I’ve decided to start a new monthly feature where I post a playlist of 10 songs, all around a theme. With a few hours to go until the end of the month, here’s this month’s playlist.

These songs are all indie rock songs with a big guitar riffs, and are some of my favourite songs. If you want to listen along, here’s the Spotify playlist.

  • ‘Steve McQueen’ by The Automatic. This was the first single from this band’s second album, ‘This Is A Fix’. It starts with thumping guitars, and never lets up. Whilst The Automatic are best known for their debut single, ‘Monster’, this is my favourite.
  • ‘When We Wake Up’ by Asylums. I can’t quite remember how I came across this song but it’s great, and only has around 60,000 streams on Spotify so far. There’s a catchy chorus and powerful guitar riffs all of the way through.
  • ‘Praise Be’ by The Plea. Another less well-known band who I found out about because they supported Ash on tour. I really like this song and it’s surprising that it’s not more well known.
  • ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ by Green Day. I’m sure people will argue whether this fits the theme, but I would argue that it’s one of their best songs from their best album.
  • ‘Ruby’ by Kaiser Chiefs. The first single from their second album, with strong guitars from the start and a catchy chorus.
  • ‘Nothing’ by A. Calling your band ‘A’ probably made sense in the days when people bought singles from high street record stores, but the move to digital platforms makes this song a little harder to find.
  • ‘Dirty Little Secret’ by The All-American Rejects. Another first single from a second album; whilst it’s not my favourite song by this band, it fits the theme.
  • ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ by Arctic Monkeys. Their debut single, and their best, in my view. I know it’s a controversial opinion but none of their subsequent singles have been as good as this.
  • ‘Orpheus’ by Ash. I mentioned Ash earlier, and as they’re the band I’ve seen the most (three times) I should include one of theirs.
  • ‘Just A Day’ by Feeder. Originally a B-side to ‘Seven Days In The Sun’, this ended up being a single for a later Greatest Hits album, and is arguably among their best songs.

I’ll do another playlist of 10 songs next month. With it being December, no prizes for guessing the theme.