I don’t actually mind living in what feels like the state of constant night you get at this time of year, ’cause I find it quite cosy with all the Christmas lights, but I know that post-Epiphany I will really appreciate the days getting lighter again, so the solstice is definitely something to celebrate.
Quite an early post today as Geth and I have got our friend Pete coming round for boardgaming tonight. Looking forward to getting a good number of games of Pandemic Legacy Season 2 played.
OOTD: it’s quite mild here in Newcastle! Hoodie Sonar (2006), t-shirt Punk Masters (2018), jeans Zara (2018), boots Carefree (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews – Baby It’s Cold Outside
The Communards – Don’t Leave Me This Way
Cheryl – Love Made Me Do It
Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Spandau Ballet – True
Bit of a Thursday on acid today. In addition to my usual Slimming World and Pilates appointments, I also had a lot of Christmas prep to do in the afternoon (and had to waste a lot of time searching for my house keys…which for perfectly logical but unguessable reasons I had left on my dressing table), and then Geth and I were out seeing friends for pre-Christmas drinks in the evening. I had a lovely time and saw friends I hadn’t seen in ages!
Another hectic day tomorrow, and then I will be spending the weekend parked on the sofa getting home jobs done.
OOTD: yeah…still grabbing these last minute selfies. Jumper Carlo Colucci (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Blur – Parklife
Duran Duran – Hungry Like The Wolf Octopath Traveller soundtrack
The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me
Elton John – Step Into Christmas
Nirvana – Heart Shaped Box
Kelly Clarkson – Underneath The Tree
Shakin’ Stevens – Green Door
Bo Selecta – Proper Crimbo
Last bit of online shopping done, another novel series plotted out (to be fair, that was me procrastinating – the writing bug is strong at the moment), and all the Christmas cards written! On the whole, it’s been a productive day.
I’ve got a couple more busy days ahead before the weekend, when I will hopefully have a lot more time to relax.
OOTD: tired but cosy! Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), t-shirt Cyberdog (originally early 2000s, thrifted from Geth 2014), belt H&M (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You
Boris Gardner – I Wanna Wake Up With You
The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale Of New York
Geth and I travelled back to Newcastle today after a few days spent with his family in Lancashire. It’s really nice to be home again in our cosily decorated house, especially given that we arrived back to so many cards on the doormat!
I’m now enjoying Geth’s videogame music and getting on with all my writing projects. Looking forward to a productive day tomorrow.
OOTD: also looking forward to a day tomorrow where I’ll hopefully be organised enough to take a photo that’s not a sofa selfie! Jumper unknown brand (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Pinkfong – Baby Shark
Clean Bandit, Marina & The Diamonds and Luis Fonsi – Baby
Kylie Minogue – Every Day’s Like Christmas
Tom Lehrer – Christmas Carol
Panjabi MC – Mundian To Bach Ke
Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill
Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
Duran Duran – Ordinary World
I got the last of the decorations up today (apart from something I have to make…which I will only be doing if I have time, and that is unlikely). I also got a lot of admin done and a lot of stuff watched on the digibox. Gotta keep that digibox clear for recording Christmas TV.
It’s nice now that I’m settling into December and have more time to get stuff ticked off my to-do list before Christmas. Looking forward to another productive day tomorrow.
OOTD: feeling recovered enough to set up my proper camera again! T-shirt Cyberdog (originally early 2000s, thrifted from Geth 2014), belt H&M (2017), tights Primark (2017), boots Carefree (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Coldplay – Christmas Lights
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – Shallow
Pepsi & Shirlie – Heartache
Traditional – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
New Order – Temptation
I finally got the decorations up today. Only eight days later than I usually do it!
It gives off a comforting glow.
I’ve got one last room to do, but that can wait till tomorrow.
OOTD: very nearly recovered from cold! Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), hoodie unknown brand (2009), t-shirt Gildan for Stranger Things (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Robbie Williams – Dream A Little Dream
Duran Duran – A View To A Kill
Duran Duran – White Lines
Hardy Caprio and One Acen – Best Life
Spandau Ballet – True
Wings – Mull Of Kintyre
Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill
On Wednesday, as I mentioned, I was up in Edinburgh decorating Mum and Dad’s house for Christmas. My favourite part of doing Christmas decorations is always the tree, and Mum and Dad’s tree is extra especially awesome because the decorations are so old. I love old things!
Seventy years in the making.
It is beyond argument that I get my hoarding tendencies from Dad’s side of the family. Mum actually chucks things out. Thankfully for this post, Christmas tree decorations are an exception, and so we have an entire family collection going back to the 1940s. This means that, barring unforeseen circumstances, when I’m in my sixties I will own an entire century’s worth of Christmas tree decorations! I feel slightly giddy at the prospect.
Let’s go through some of the collection!
1940s
These pretty baubles with the indents were on Granny and Grandad MacLeod’s tree for Mum’s first Christmas in 1949. We have three of them. We did have four, but I ate one in 1986. I will tell you the fantastic story of this tasty, tasty bauble another time!
1950s
Our tree topper is a bride doll called Myra, which Mum received as a fourth birthday present in 1953. Her bouquet is a cake decoration, her veil is a handkerchief, and her hair is a bit of Granny MacLeod’s old hairnet! She’s not looking too shabby considering her age.
Most of the decorated glass baubles on the tree date from Mum’s childhood in the 1950s. The decoration on them is really gorgeous and intricate in a way that’s not really done anymore, and there are some really interesting shapes.
1960s
These two large baubles were bought by Granny MacLeod when Mum was a teenager. I always hang them on the top branches ’cause they balance out the sparser bit of the tree nicely.
1970s
These silver and red glitterball baubles were a later addition to Granny MacLeod’s collection.
These cellophane baubles were bought by Dad when he moved into his first flat in Edinburgh in 1978. Most of them are a bit worse for wear, because when we had our cat, José, I used to put them at the bottom of the tree so he’d have ornaments to rip down that weren’t the precious mid-century glass baubles. Cats and Christmas trees aren’t the greatest of mixtures.
1980s
We’ve had these cloth octagons with angels on since probably the early ’80s, since I don’t remember a Christmas without them. They’re not much to look at, but they’re perfumed, and the perfume is absolutely DIVINE – it’s the ultimate smell of Christmas for me, really primal, as it’s been a scent associated with our Christmas tree since I was born. Dad doesn’t like them, so I always put them round the back of the tree where I know I can go have a sniff whenever I like!
This wooden teddy bear was a gift from Sheila and Jim next door for my first Christmas in 1985.
Every year in the late ’80s, my Cooke grandparents, Grandad and Anne, would bring a homemade decoration each for me and my brother Malcolm, either knitted or embroidered by Anne. I always still put these on the ‘correct’ side of the tree – we each had a side of the tree that was our own when we were little!
Mum’s friend Judy sent this gorgeous metal decoration in 1989.
1990s
We’ve had a bit of a Canadian theme going with our tree decorations since long before we acquired my Canadian sister-in-law Steff. This teddy bear decoration was one we bought on a trip to New Brunswick in 1994. It was the first time any of us had ever seen an all-year-round Christmas shop, so we had to go in and buy a decoration!
My step-auntie Elaine gave us this pretty delicate gold ornament from Turkey some time in the ’90s. There’s also a rectangular one in the same material with a heart pattern.
This globe bauble – another nice big bauble for near the top of the tree – was a gift from Grandad and Anne. I can’t remember exactly where in the world it came from though!
I bought this glitterball bauble in Jenners in Princes Street in 1999 for the small artificial tree in my bedroom, which was all silver that year for the Y2K theme. One of the many endearing things about the 20th century was that silver = the future. When I think of 1999, I just remember all my makeup being silver and plum and ice blue, and every piece of clothing I bought that year being shiny and metallic and in similarly cool colours.
2000s
Our family friend Billy brought us this souvenir from the Empire State Building in the early ’00s.
We have oodles of these felt things – they were an advent calendar gift from Mum’s friend Elisabet in 2006. There were so many that Mum gave some to me for my own tree and so I’ll be putting them up in Newcastle this weekend!
I bought this ‘gift’ for José in the late ’00s. It didn’t have catnip in it, so he wasn’t that interested. There’s also a ‘Special Dad’ one for Dad that matches it!
We have quite a lot of wooden ornaments from more recent times. This one was bought by Mum and Dad in the Munich Christmas market in 2009.
2010s
Continuing with the Canadian theme, Geth brought this maple leaf back from Toronto in 2010.
Geth and I brought this Guinness bauble back from a trip to Dublin in 2012. It has its own fancy box! It’s another one that I hang at the top of the tree.
Mum and Dad bought this pretty wooden snowman ornament in Liverpool in 2014.
Also in 2014, Anne gave Steff this owl ornament (Steff likes owls). Steff keeps it in Edinburgh as her ‘Edinburgh owl’.
In 2017, Dad, who has really got into Scandi stuff in the last few years, bought this ‘tomten’ in Sweden – apparently it’s a traditional Christmas decoration there.
Also in 2017, Steff’s parents Mike and Antoniette gave us a couple of silver decorations, including this pretty treble clef.
There are so many more, but this is a good selection of highlights! If the family acquires any more during Christmas 2018, I’ll make sure to tell you about them.
If you’re lucky, there’s something special about the song that was number one when you were born. Maybe it symbolises something about your life, or your interests, or the person that you ended up growing up to be. Maybe it’s just a really awesome song.
If you’re unlucky, you end up like Geth and get Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) (UK number one from 25th May 1980 to 14th June 1980, fact fans!) as your birthday number one. It’s not bad as TV theme tunes go, but it’s not special to Geth – he didn’t grow up to be a soldier, or an expert on the Korean War, or even much of a M*A*S*H fan, really.
I was lucky, and my birthday number one is special to me. I love it as a Christmas baby, as an ’80s throwback, as a chart geek, and as a lover of music in general. It’s an extremely well-known Christmas song – one of those tracks you hear constantly from the middle of November until early January. It held the record for the best-selling single in UK chart history for more than twelve years, only ever being overtaken by Elton John’s Candle In The Wind ’97 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in September 1997.
My birthday number one is Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?, one of the most famous recordings in music history.
I was born on 3rd January 1985, the twenty-sixth day of the thirty-five day period (9th December 1984 to 12th January 1985) that Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? spent at number one in the UK. From the 1984-1985 UK birthrates available online, I estimate that I share my birthday number one with approximately 71,000 other Band Aid babies, including Georgia Moffett, Lewis Hamilton, and Newton Faulkner. (I would love to be able to work out the exact number, but the internet is not forthcoming at the moment!)
Due to the ubiquity of the song, I grew up with it, and it became my favourite Christmas song long before I realised that it was my birthday number one. I pored over the upside-down answers to Smash Hits quizzes that challenged readers to name all the artists involved in the song, and memorised names that were unfamiliar to me in the context of the early ’90s pop music landscape. I dutifully learnt to sing the song with my primary school class in preparation for our Christmas performance at the local old folks’ community centre. I waited excitedly for it to come on as soon as my brother and I were allowed to play the family’s Christmas compilation CD (That’s Christmas) on the 1st of December every year. It’s one of those songs that you hear hundreds of times every year, and so it never really goes out of your mind. That’s not something you can say about Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless).
The finer points of Bob Geldof’s project to put together a charity supergroup and the song’s recording on 25th November 1984 are well known, detailed in a hundred different BBC4 documentaries and summarised fairly well on Wikipedia (though I highly recommend the Smash Hits coverage of the recording day included in the collection book The Best Of Smash Hits: The ’80s for a bit of period flavour – it has a great group photo of all the artists involved except for Boy George, who infamously didn’t show up till six o’clock in the evening due to oversleeping in New York and having to get on a Concorde back to London).
I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my life, including a lot of concerts by artists who were big in the ’80s due to it being my favourite music era and favourite era in general. But the other day, it occurred to me that I had never gone to see a single one of the thirty-seven artists who performed on my birthday number one. I had never even seen any of the additional seven artists who couldn’t make it to the recording and so sent recorded Christmas messages to be used on the B-side of the single.
This is the part of the post where I get to the point.
I will never get to see every single one of the artists involved in my birthday number one. Sadly, two of the musicians who contributed to the song (George Michael and Rick Parfitt) and two who recorded B-side messages (Stuart Adamson and David Bowie) have since passed away. But I have decided that I will make a concerted effort to see as many of the rest of them as possible. After all, I have more opportunity than some. My brother’s birthday number one is Ben E King’s Stand By Me (a re-entry at UK number one between 15th February 1987 and 7th March 1987), which means that since King’s death in 2015 he has no longer had the possibility of seeing his birthday number one artist. People who were born between 14th December 1980 and 20th December 1980, when (Just Like) Starting Over was number one following John Lennon’s assassination, have never had the chance to see their birthday number one artist.
Enter the Band Aid bucket list!
For most of my bucket lists, I reckon that if I’m lucky enough, I’ve got another fifty or sixty years left to get them completed. Time is not so much on my side for this particular list, given that all the artists on it are now in their fifties and sixties and won’t be performing or alive forever. As such, rather similarly to the huge hoard of ’80s vintage clothing I’m collecting while it’s still cheap and plentiful, I aim to get the bulk of this project achieved while I’m still in my thirties, and so I’m targeting >50% list completion by my fortieth birthday on 3rd January 2025. That gives me six years, one month and fourteen days as of this post to see as many of the following artists as possible. I’d better get a wiggle on.
Jon Moss (Culture Club) – not performing with Culture Club on 2018 UK tour (which I was really annoyed about when I saw them on 17th November 2018!) – may have to track down separately
Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet) – still performing with Spandau Ballet
Rick Parfitt (Status Quo) – sadly passed away on 24th December 2016, just a few hours before George Michael 🙁
Dennis Thomas (Kool & The Gang) – still performing with Kool & The Gang, and the only person on this list who doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry, strangely!
Current progress: song artists 12/37 (32.4%); message artists 2/7 (28.6%); total artists 14/44 (31.8%).
I have arranged to find out about future performances by all of these artists using the extremely lazy 21st century method of following them all on Twitter!
I’ll keep updating this post as I see more artists. I’m looking forward to this project!
I’ve been back at the physio the last couple of weeks, due to a stiff neck caused by my less-than-optimal desk setup during my busy work period. Ellie, my physio, has been using a heat pack on my neck, and suggested that I do the same in the evenings to help reduce the stiffness.
What this meant was that tonight I had to go digging through the Christmas decorations, ’cause the only heat pack I own is this wee guy:
Santa baby, just get rid of that muscle knot for me kthxbye.
I am pretty sure that the only other time I’ve actually microwaved the wheat bag inside and used him as a heat pack was also not at Christmas. When it is Christmas, he’s just an extra decoration.
Day 2, and today’s collection was released on 26th March 1984. I briefly just now considered adding a daily ‘fun fact’ to this feature about what was going on in the news at the time, but frankly that would probably be so depressing that I doubt I’d still be functioning by July, so let’s make it a contemporary picture from the ol’ family album instead.
This was the way the world looked in March 1984, with Grundig TVs and vinyl collections and houseplants everywhere! My dad is still into building harps and other folk instruments, proving that some things don’t change.
Right, on with the music!
Track 1: Queen – Radio Ga Ga
I love Queen and their shamelessly anthemic rock, and this chanty, clappy track is no exception. Sing along!
Track 2: Nik Kershaw – Wouldn’t It Be Good
I prefer The Riddle, but this one’s still a great track, especially for the video with the dodgy ’80s special effect applied to Kershaw’s suit.
Track 3: Thompson Twins – Hold Me Now
It’s nice ’80s pop, but I don’t find this one particularly exciting.
Track 4: Matt Bianco – Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed
I wasn’t familiar with this one. Fairly typical for Matt Bianco, that ’50s rock ‘n’ roll style done on ’80s synths. Not playlist-worthy, but a good bouncy track.
Track 5: Carmel – More, More, More
Two mid-century throwback tracks in a row (this one has more of a ’60s lounge feel) are making me crave some straightforward ’80s synthpop. Come on, Now! compilers…
Track 6: Madness – Michael Caine
…and it’s Madness. That’ll do in a pinch! A little more sedate than most Madness tracks, but I love the tune.
Track 7: The Flying Pickets – Only You
The original version by Yazoo is my favourite song of all time (I walked down the aisle to it). I love this a cappella version too, though it has become a bit too associated with Christmas for this time of year due to its status as the UK Christmas number one for 1983.
Track 8: Nena – 99 Red Balloons
I always hear the original German-language version of this song, 99 Luftballons, in goth clubs, proving that goths will dance to anything if it’s in German. I do like this one, though.
Track 9: Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Slightly cheesy admission: I used to listen to this song every day after work in 2001 when I started my first job aged sixteen, purely due to the lyric ‘when the working day is done‘. I’m nothing if not literal. It was around then that I was first getting into ’80s nostalgia and had cultivated an appropriate ’80s playlist using Audiogalaxy (remember that?). This was a highlight, though I consider it a bit overplayed nowadays.
Scary time statistic: 2001 was the exact midpoint between 1984 and 2018. Ouch.
Track 10: Tracey Ullman – My Guy’s Mad At Me
I love this one mainly for the video featuring contemporary Labour leader Neil Kinnock. From my 2018 whimsical millennial viewpoint, I really like the fact that he used to do stuff like that, though I can understand why it resulted in the mid-’80s British populace not taking him seriously enough.
Politics aside, there is also a pleasing quantity of 20th century telephones in the video, and I am a huge geek for 20th century telephones.
Oh yeah, and there’s a song here too! It was originally a Madness song from 1979, and though I love Madness, I think I might actually prefer this version for the unexpectedly gentle intro.
Track 11: Matthew Wilder – Break My Stride
This one is often featured on BBC coverage of running events, so I’m quite fond of it for that reason. It’s probably a good thing that my clumsiness with constantly knocking headphones out means that I can’t listen to music while running, because my running playlist genuinely would be stuff like this, rather than properly hi-tempo ‘run faster’ music. Who wants to work out to boring modern trance when you can have Gassenhauer and the Chariots Of Fire theme tune?
Track 12: Julia & Company – Breaking Down
A bit disco for me, but a pleasant background track.
Track 13: Joe Fagin – That’s Livin’ Alright
It’s very dad-rock, not really my kind of thing.
Track 14: Hot Chocolate – I Gave You My Heart (Didn’t I)
There was a point a few weeks ago when Geth was complaining about Vintage TV always playing Hot Chocolate’s dafter tracks (the channel’s current favourite seems to be Girl Crazy) rather than their serious songs. I was like, ‘Geth, NO ONE listens to Hot Chocolate for their serious songs!’ I do stand by my point that they’re better at party tracks than ballads, but in recent weeks I have developed a liking for It Started With A Kiss, and this one’s all right too, what with its pleasantly lazy sax solo.
Track 15: Snowy White – Bird Of Paradise
A bit slow for me, but it’s a nice tune. I do like the epic guitar solo in the middle as well.
Track 16: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax
This one was actually a childhood favourite due to its re-release in 1993 (and subsequent inclusion on another compilation, The Greatest Hits Of 1993, which was the first album I ever bought for myself, on cassette). As an adult it’s one of those wedding DJ songs where I can’t resist dancing.
Track 17: Eurythmics – Here Comes The Rain Again
I love Eurythmics, especially their more melancholy numbers like this one. Synth line + Annie Lennox’s voice = instant win.
Track 18: Howard Jones – What Is Love?
Great song, more lovely synth, pretty video shot in Paris. 1984 in a nutshell.
Track 19: The Smiths – What Difference Does It Make?
The Smiths are one of my ‘soundtrack of 2003-2004’ bands, when I was busily acquainting myself with the entire back catalogues of every major goth and indie band from the ’80s. I always liked this one as it’s quite jaunty.
Track 20: Fiction Factory – (Feels Like) Heaven
Nice pleasant jingly track, fairly standard ’80s pop.
Track 21: Re-Flex – The Politics Of Dancing
Good head-nodder, but nothing special for me.
Track 22: Thomas Dolby – Hyperactive!
Great, unusual song for the time. Love that bassline, the high vocal on the chorus, the trumpets, the general bizarre atmosphere of the track.
Track 23: China Crisis – Wishful Thinking
Nice comforting synth, nice dreamlike vocal, generally nice background music. Not one I could dance to, but a lovely tune.
Track 24: David Bowie – Modern Love
I love Bowie, but this is on the duller side for me. Let’s Dance is the real stormer on that album in my view. I do like the ‘get me to the church on time‘ lyric, though.
Track 25: Culture Club – It’s A Miracle
I’ve always found Culture Club a bit hit and miss, and this one’s a miss in my book. There’s something kind of annoying about it, probably due to the overly-upbeat instrumentals and Boy George’s cheesy lyrics and…yeah, this one is too much even for me. Sorry.
Track 26: The Rolling Stones – Undercover Of The Night
It’s driving me nuts that the title isn’t written as Under Cover Of The Night. I realise it’s deliberate, in order to add to the sexual meaning of the song, but it’s still painful to read.
As for the song itself, it’s classic Rolling Stones with added ’80s guitar and funk bass. What’s not to like?
Track 27: Big Country – Wonderland
I have to be in the right mood for Big Country; a lot of the time (today included unfortunately) the guitar instrumentals drive me mad.
They’re emblematic of a sound that was very particular to Scottish pop-rock in the ’80s – it’s difficult to explain, but when I come across a Scottish pop-rock band from that era that I’m not familiar with, I can always tell they’re Scottish without looking it up (and it’s not an accent thing, they all sing with transatlantic accents). Some day I’ll work out what the exact musical reason is, but for now I’m just going to call it a superpower.
Track 28: Slade – Run Runaway
One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite bands (huge glam rock fan here)! Brilliant shout-along anthem.
Unfortunately, Slade have never got round to putting their music on Spotify (sort it out, record label that I can’t be bothered to look up right now!). This meant I had three options for reviewing this song: 1) wade into the dumping ground that is our study and open all the boxes in there trying to find my Slade CDs; 2) find the song on YouTube; or 3) just add a tribute version into the Spotify playlist instead. I went with the extremely lazy 3), just so I wouldn’t have to pause my playlist. Sometimes, I am just as terrible as everyone else in this wretched decade of convenience.
Track 29: Duran Duran – New Moon On Monday
Without looking ahead to the track listings on the next few Now! editions, I imagine the first few entries of this blog feature are all going to feature the words ‘I love Duran Duran’ somewhere. This one is no exception. I love Duran Duran, especially their first three albums with the classic lineup, and I love this song. Epic chorus, great instrumentals, daft video (especially the ridiculous 17-minute version). Brilliant ’80s fun.
Track 30: Paul McCartney – Pipes Of Peace
My eye is twitching at having to listen to an unabashedly Christmas song out of season (this one was featured on our family’s favourite Christmas compilation, That’s Christmas, which I grew up with in the ’90s, so it’s very associated with the festive season for me). Lovely song…when it’s December.
