Electric Dreams day 2

I had expected to be able to chill out for a bit on Saturday morning, but Electric Dreams isn’t like Resistanz or Infest where the bands don’t start for the day until four o’clock in the afternoon!  There’s an afternoon music session starting at about half past twelve on the Saturday and Sunday, so by the time we’d gone and had our breakfast, it was pretty much time to get going again.  When we walked into the Skyline Pavilion, they were doing a silent disco showing of Live Aid from 1985, which was a nice touch!

Live Aid showing at Electric Dreams
That is Live Aid up there on the screen, but I’m not familiar enough with the concert to tell you who’s playing. I would have quite liked to go watch this, but we just didn’t have time!

Bands I didn’t see on day 2: Altered Images and Hue & Cry, who were apparently turning the Reds bar into a wee piece of Scotland for the evening.  Under any other circumstances, I would have liked to go see both of these bands (especially seeing as Hue & Cry were on Now! #10 – no, I’m not starting another bucket list, but I do like to see those songs live when I have the chance!).  Unfortunately, because the Centre Stage arena was very popular on the Saturday night due to Marc Almond playing – it took us twenty minutes to get through the queue when the arena first opened – I wasn’t going to risk dashing between venues and not being able to get back in again.

Bands I did see on day 2:

Hazell Dean

Some artists who were big in the ’80s are so opposed to being seen as retro ’80s acts that they wouldn’t touch ’80s revival festivals with a barge pole.  Some artists embrace the whole thing to the extent that they show up on stage wearing the same ridiculous ’80s ‘costume’ as half the people in the crowd.  Hazell Dean is…one of the latter.  The set opened with a cover of Shalamar’s A Night To Remember, which pretty much set the tone.

What I did really appreciate, as a music geek, was that Hazell kept coming out with fun facts about all the songs she was singing.  I was surprised that she played Wherever I Go (Whatever I Do) second, as I’d always thought of that as her biggest hit, but apparently both that one and Who’s Leaving Who (played third) got to number four in the charts!  I also didn’t know that Turn It Into Love was her last Top of the Pops appearance, or that Searchin’ was her first hit.  It was a highly educational set in that respect.  She also did some Abba covers, which went down well with the crowd.

What I’ve found this weekend is that the stage managers at Electric Dreams don’t really know how to deal with bands trying to do encores.  Hazell Dean’s was great though, as when she was told she could go on for an encore, she announced over the microphone, ‘okay, press the button’.  Geth and I had been taking the piss out of the karaoke-style ‘sing along to a backing track’ performance up until then, but we did appreciate the complete lack of bones being made about it at that point!

The Art Of Noise

The Art Of Noise were advertised as doing a DJ set, but as Geth and I are used to industrial performances (which often involve dudes standing still and doing nothing except pressing buttons on laptops), it seemed more like a live performance to us.  The band (collective?) have had fingers in many pies since the ’70s, and so the set included a mishmash of pretty much all the most famous tracks in which they’ve been involved.  Highlights for me included Close To The Edit, the footage of Max Headroom (one of the many awesome visuals that accompanied the music), Owner Of A Lonely Heart, Video Killed The Radio Star, and the mashup of the Prince and Tom Jones versions of Kiss.

Johnny Hates Jazz

Johnny Hates Jazz apparently released a new album in 2013, and so they were mostly playing stuff off that, which was actually really good!  One of those albums I need to check out at some point.  They did do the hits as well, though, and I especially loved I Don’t Want To Be A Hero (another Now! #10 classic!) and Shattered Dreams, which was the closing song.

There was then a break between the afternoon session and the evening session, so we were able to go get some food and investigate what was going on with the DJ sets in Bar Rosso (answer: not much worth listening to).

OOTD 1st December 2018
Saturday OOTD: still ill (although the Lemsip pills are really helping), still rocking the jeans ‘n’ t-shirt uniform. Jacket unknown brand (estimated vintage 1990s, bought at vintage shop 2003), t-shirt Gildan for Infest (2018), necklace Claire’s Accessories (2003), jeans Zara (2018), boots Primark (2017).

Blancmange

Blancmange were the first band of the evening session, and they were great – brilliant energy, really enjoyed it.  Don’t Tell Me and Living On The Ceiling were predictably the highlights, but I also enjoyed Feel Me, which included interpolations of Pull Up To The Bumper and Pop Musik.  Awesome set.

Marc Almond

I took about ten pictures of this set, but they’re all so blurry you can’t actually tell it’s even a gig.  As such, I won’t post one.  I do have some standards.

There were a lot of bands I was really excited about seeing this weekend, but Marc Almond was probably the biggest draw.  He did a brilliant mixture of Soft Cell classics – Bedsitter and Torch both appeared early – and solo stuff (The Days Of Pearly Spencer and Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart were highlights for me, the latter partly because I love the Gene Pitney original so much and it’s a lovely tribute).  Towards the end, he got into the real crowd-pleasers like Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go? and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, before finishing with a cover of T.Rex’s Hot Love, which seems to be a bit of a theme at the moment.

Incidentally, a lot of the ‘I’m wearing an ’80s costume’ types showed up to this performance either carrying or wearing inflatable pink flamingoes.  I’m not sure how I feel about that, and I think I’ll probably end up doing a whole separate post on the subject.

Pat Sharp

When I was a little girl, I loved watching Fun House, which ran through the late ’80s and early ’90s and involved a lot of daft stuff like people chucking gunge at each other and other things that kids find hilarious.  It was presented by Pat Sharp, who at the time wore his hair in an infamously bad mullet, except that no-one called it a mullet back then.  Nowadays, he’s made a new career out of ’80s nostalgia, and is always presenting countdown shows on the classic music channels like Vintage TV and Now! ’80s.  As such, it’s not really a surprise that he showed up at Electric Dreams to do a DJ set.

At the start, he promised the crowd that although he’d mainly be playing electro stuff, he’d also be taking a few ‘sideswipes’.  Geth and I only managed about four songs of the set, partly because we were tired but mainly because Geth couldn’t stand it for very long, but it definitely seemed as though there were just as many ‘sideswipes’ as actual electro songs.  The first one was Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, which was terrible for three reasons:

  1. He could at least have chosen a Christmas song from the ’80s!  Last Christmas would have been a good shout, but there are so many options!
  2. They had cheesy fake snow coming down from the ceiling.
  3. As soon as the song finished, Pat restarted it again so that he had more time for taking selfies with the crowd.  Double Mariah!  Nobody needs that, not even at Christmas time!

I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as Geth was concerned, but then as we were leaving, out came Sweet Caroline.  Just dreadful.  Especially as it was absolutely pissing it down when we left, so we had to hurry through the pouring rain with no umbrellas or hoods and Sweet Caroline merrily earworming its way into our brains.  Not a great end to the day.

Day 3 review tomorrow!

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #12

Day 12 takes us to 11th July 1988.

July 1988
This is what the world looked like in July 1988, all pink and floral and foxglove-y. I gotta get some of those for the garden of my new house when I finally have time to plant some flowers out there.

Let’s have a listen to the summer hits of that year.

Now! That's What I Call Music #12
Track 1: Wet Wet Wet – With A Little Help From My Friends

Bit of a pointless ’80s cover for me, I’m afraid – other than some vocal stylings on the odd chorus, I’m not seeing what this adds to the Beatles original.

Track 2: Belinda Carlisle – Circle In The Sand

Really like this song – nice tuneful ballad with some epic vocals.

Track 3: Maxi Priest – Wild World

Love those reggae instrumentals, and the vocals are nice and soulful too.  Also, a great sax solo!  Really like this one.

Track 4: Aswad – Give A Little Love

Two reggae-tinged tracks in a row!  I officially feel summery.  This one’s a nice upbeat party song.

Track 5: Climie Fisher – Love Changes (Everything)

Much better than Rise To The Occasion from yesterday, but still a bit saccharine for my liking.

Track 6: Elton John – I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That

Really like the drums and piano in the intro, and the song is nice and upbeat.  Nodding along happily here.

Track 7: Scritti Politti – Oh Patti (Don’t Feel Sorry For Loverboy)

Great slow synth intrumentals, but the vocal is too cheesy for me.  (I note I’m saying similar about a lot of songs today – I’m clearly in a more ‘edgy’ mood.)

Track 8: Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight

I’ve no idea why this was back in the charts seven years after its original release, but I don’t care, ’cause this is hands down the best solo song Phil Collins ever did.  That ominous build and build and build until the drums finally kick in is just wonderful.

Track 9: Hothouse Flowers – Don’t Go

This is what I consider a ‘pre-1990s’ song, otherwise known as an ominous reminder that the fun of the ’80s was nearly over and soon we would all be dressing in minimalist neutrals and plaid.  Not a fan of the instrumentals in general, though there’s a bit of sax solo that kind of saves it.

Track 10: Morrissey – Every Day Is Like Sunday

This is probably the only solo Morrissey track I like (other than First Of The Gang To Die, which I developed a soft spot for in 2005), largely because this one is so hilariously gloomy that it’s almost self-parodic.

Track 11: Danny Wilson – Mary’s Prayer

There’s a nice nostalgia factor with this one for me, ’cause our family had it on a Celtic Anthems compilation circa 2000, but I do find it a bit cheesy.

Track 12: Johnny Hates Jazz – Heart Of Gold

Nice interesting instrumentals, good tune.  Really like this one.

Track 13: Voice Of The Beehive – Don’t Call Me Baby

Another one that’s a bit ‘pre-1990s’.  Nice tune though.

Track 14: Iron Maiden – Can I Play With Madness

Am I the only one for whom that title triggers the mental image of Bruce Dickinson asking his mum if he can go round to Suggs’ for tea?  Please tell me I’m not.

Fairly standard rock metal, as you might expect from Iron Maiden – not one of their more exciting tracks.

Track 15: Heart – These Dreams

This softer ballad from Heart doesn’t really have enough edge for my liking, but it’s still a nice song.

Track 16: T’Pau – I Will Be With You

Nice tune, but there’s not much to elevate it above ‘dull slow ballad’ in my book.

Track 17: The Time Lords – Doctorin’ The TARDIS

‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).

I’m sure everyone knows this is actually the KLF under an alias.  Anyway, it’s a Doctor Who song, so obviously I love it.

Track 18: Sabrina – Boys (Summertime Love)

It’s a classic not-a-guilty-pleasure from my early ’00s ’80s playlist, ’cause I am absolutely shameless about loving this one (it’s the type of song I would traditionally blast on full volume at 3am when drinking alone.  It’s probably for the best I don’t drink alone anymore).

Track 19: Bananarama – I Want You Back

More solid pop from Bananarama.  I really ought to listen to that Wow! album more often.

Track 20: Tiffany – I Think We’re Alone Now

I’ve always found this one pretty annoying, I’m afraid.  Cheesy lyrics, irritating tune.

Track 21: Hazell Dean – Who’s Leaving Who

Great track – awesome epic atmosphere right from the start.

Track 22: The Communards – There’s More To Love (Than Boy Meets Girl)

Nice tune on this one, and some lovely instrumentals – another great track from the Communards.

Track 23: Jermaine Stewart – Get Lucky

‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).

Nice upbeat bit of pop, though the vocals are a bit dull.

Track 24: Glenn Medeiros – Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You

BLURGH.  Cheese on top of cheese on top of cheese.  Far too much for me, not my cup of tea at all.

Track 25: S-Express – Theme From S-Express

This was a hit again in 1998 for some reason, ’cause I had it on a compilation I bought around that time.  I’ve always found it a bit dull.

Track 26: Salt-N-Pepa – Push It

Love this one!  Great singalong party track.

Track 27: Derek B – Bad Young Brother

I usually quite like ’80s rap, but this one’s not really my thing.

Track 28: James Brown – The Payback [Part One]

An early ’70s track from James Brown re-entering the charts.  Not a super exciting song.

Track 29: Rose Royce – Car Wash

Another throwback track, this time from the late ’70s disco era.  Not sure what it’s doing back in the charts in 1988, but it’s a classic party song, and I’m going to make it today’s top wedding DJ dance track.

Track 30: Natalie Cole – Pink Cadillac

Nice funk bass on this track.  Vocals a bit mid-century retro for my liking though.

Track 31: Jellybean and Adele Bertei – Just A Mirage

‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).

I’ve not really enjoyed the Jellybean songs featured so far in the Now! compilations, but this epic party track is great!  Definitely one for the playlist.

Track 32: Will Downing – A Love Supreme

Nice long sax instrumental recurring throughout, which is always a good thing.  Nice tune too.