It's Getting Hot In Here!

We had a lot to live up to after last week, we have already discussed when exactly we would jump the shark, but we aren't going to do it just yet. Tonight was another live music show, with Fighting Evil Is Cool (or three representatives) appearing in our very warm studio. It was so hot that we did our first outside photo. 9pm-10pm The Bee Gees 'Massachusetts' (once again I wondered if a cool and sexy alternative music show should play such a song. Once again I realised that the brothers Gibb are owed a huge debt by the music business, in addition to their own hits, they wrote for a whole wealth of singers. there are, according to one obituary, 6,500 cover versions of a Gibb composition published. Even I wouldn't be able to collect them all!)

Brian Fahey And His Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal'
Florrie Ford 'Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside' (summer being the theme this week)
Fuzzbox 'Pink Sunshine'
Gregory Issacs 'Love You In The Morning'
Jake Bugg 'Lightening Bolt'
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'Bruce Campbell'

I interviewed the band, and they performed acoustic versions of:

'Gangsterfish'
'The Hobo Song'
'Propane Nightmare' (Pendulum cover)
'Dog Meat'

The interview and live session can be heard as a stand-alone podcast here.

Meatloaf 'Bat Out Of Hell' (this week's 'dad rock classic')

10pm-11pm
Barbara Windsor 'Grin And Bare It'
Sex Pistols 'Holidays In The Sun'
Refused 'Summer Holiday vs Punk Routine'
UB40 featuring Pato Banton 'Baby Come Back' This version of the song was Penny's choice, I wanted to play the original version. We had an on air arm wrestle, and I lost.
Arrested Development 'Mr Wendall'
Little Richard 'Long Tall Sally'
Rolf Harris 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport'
Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel 'Here Comes The Sun'
The Who 'Summertime Blues'
Mungo Jerry 'In The Summertime'

LOUIE SMELLS LIKE ROCK AND ROLL:
The Sonics 'Louie Louie'
Bunny And Cloud 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Shocking Lipstick 'I Love Rock and Roll'

11pm-12am
PENNY'S BLUEGRASS JAMBOREE:
Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys 'Southern Flavour'
Edgar Meyer 'Here and Heaven'
Evil Jack 'Untitled Banjo'

The Puppini Sisters 'Panic' (I'm considering a feature on Smiths covers when the well eventually runs dry of Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll covers)
Blind Guardian 'Mr Sandman'
Willie Nelson 'Bring Me Sunshine'
The Frames 'Revelate'
Maximo Park 'Hips and Lips'
The Lemonheads 'Big Gay Heart'
Giorgio Moroder and Phil Oakley 'Together In Electric Dreams'
Regina Spektor 'Us'
Buena Vista Social Club 'Chan Chan'
Nina Simone 'My Baby Just Cares For Me'

No time for a mash-up this week!

Depression + Nervous Energy = Great Show

I came very close to not turning up tonight, having been going through one of my episodes of depression just lately. Plus I was tired from last night's Guns and Roses concert which I had been up until six o'clock this morning wring the review for. But I am very glad I did come in, as we took part in perhaps the best show ever. Not just mine and Penny's best show, but the best edition of The Sunday Alternative so far!

Last night, Penny went to a gig. Last night, I went to a concert. Regular listeners will know the difference between a gig and a concert, and even though I prefer gigs, this was a concert I couldn't turn down. Anyway, I invited Guns and Roses to come in for a live session, and Penny invited Practical Lovers in. Only one band turned up.

To be fair, Guns and Roses have a concert tonight in Liverpool.

9pm-10pm
Crowded House 'Don't Dream It's Over'
Donna Summer 'Dim All The Lights'
(I didn't know whether we should play Donna Summer on an alternative music show, but I reasoned that her influence on popular music should not go unrecognised)

Brian Fahay and his Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals' (introduction talk over music)
Gracie Fields 'The Lambeth Walk'
Davy Jones 'Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner'
Squeeze 'Up The Junction'
Julia 'The Very Best'
Carter USM 'Billy Smart's Circus'

Practical Lovers 'Put It Bluntly'

Penny interviewed the band, as she knows them personally so I figured she would be more comfortable with it than I would. They also performed two tracks in the studio, 'Textbook Romance' (the new single), and 'Falling Down'. The entire interview and performance can be heard separately as a stand-alone podcast here. The videos of the songs can be seen here, and here.

We didn't have time for 'dad rock classic' this week as we ran right up to the news.

10pm-11pm
20th Century Coyote 'I'm Evil'
Guns and Roses 'Dust and Bones'

Practical Lovers 'Long Flight' (this week's topic was cover versions that in your opinion beat the original, so Practical Lovers agreed to stay on and perform this Future Island song). Hear it here.

Nouvelle Vague 'Teenage Kicks'
Marilyn Manson 'Tainted Love'
Billy Bragg 'That's Entertainment'
Johnny Cash 'Hurt'
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes 'Rainbow Connection'
Operation Ivy 'These Boots Are Made For Walking'
Gary Jules 'Mad World'

(Above tunes relating to our 'cover versions' theme)

Soft Cell 'Sex Dwarf'
The Cure 'Boys Don't Cry'

LOUIE SMELLS LIKE ROCK and ROLL:
John Schroder 'Louie Louie'
Bruthal 6 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Dragon Ash 'I Love Hip Hop'

11pm-12am
PENNY'S BLUEGRASS JAMBOREE:
Old Crow Medicine Show 'Raise A Ruckus'
Earl Scruggs 'Fireball Mail'
Devil Makes Three 'Beneath The Piano'

Ozric Tentacles 'Space Out'
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'Ten Times More'
Obsessive Compulsive 'Man vs Machine'
Black Super Rainbow 'Sun Lips'
Wolfcrusher 'No Chance'
Redbear 'Forest Ambulance'
New York Dolls 'Personality Crisis'
Ladyhawke 'Back Of The Van'
Dick Venom And The Terrortones 'Terrortone Pheromone'
The Ramones 'Baby I Love You'
Rick Astley vs Nirvana 'Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up'

Getting The Hang Of It

I still find it confusing to pre-record the final hour and then go on to present a live show for two hours. The temptation to refer to 'later' in the recording, or refer to 'earlier' during the live part, is something of a head-fuck. But I'm getting there.

9pm-10am

Everett Lilly And The Mountaineers 'Speed At The Sound Of Loneliness'
Sam and Dave 'Hold On, I'm Coming'
{The above pre-openers played in tribute to Everett Lilly, and to Donald 'Duck' Dunn}

Brian Fahey and His Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals'
Harry Fragson 'Hello, Hello, Who's Your Lady Friend?'
Bowling For Soup 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want'
Reel Big Fish 'Beer'
The Stooges 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine 'The Only Living Boy In New Cross'
Billy Bragg 'A13 Trunk Road To The Sea'
Ben Folds Five 'Underground'
Broken Links 'Elektrik'
The Starland Vocal Band 'Afternoon Delight'*
The J. Geils Band 'Centrefold'* {This week's Dad Rock Classic}


10pm-11pm

Rambling Syd Rumpo 'The Ballad Of The Woggler's Moulie'
The Rocking Vickers 'It's Alright'
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band 'Delilah'*
John Otway 'The Green Green Grass Of Home'*
Lou Reed 'Perfect Day'*
The Kinks 'Lola'*
The Vapours 'Turning Japanese'*
Frigid Pink 'House Of The Rising Sun'*

*This week's listener topic was about songs that you didn't get the meaning of straight away.

The Pixies 'Where Is My Mind'
Dresden Dolls 'Girl Anachronism'
The Hellset Orchestra 'Come Into My Lab'

Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll:
The Beach Boys 'Louie Louie'
The Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Miley Cyrus 'I Love Rock and Roll'

11pm-12am

New Feature to start the final hour...
Penny's Bluegrass Jamboree:
CW Stoneking 'Jungle Blues'
Curtis Eller's American Circus 'Sugar In My Coffin'
Union Station 'Dust Bowl Children'

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine 'Panic'
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'Ten Times More'
Bernard Sumner 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'
Practical Lovers 'Textbook Romance'
Jenny Lewis 'Black Sand'
Melissa Auf Der Maur 'Followed The Waves'
The Toy Dolls 'Yul Bryner Was A Skinhead'

Mash up ending:
Amy Winehouse vs Queen 'Crazy Little Thing Called Rehab'

We Do The End At The Beginning

There wasn't a great response to this week's listener topic, which was about gigs or concerts that you were taken to as a child. We 'did' the subject after the ten o'clock news, which is probably going to be the regular time for it.

We did our first full three hour show together, (I did the final hour alone last week), and everything went swimmingly. The only problem with pre-recording the final hour before doing the first two hours live is remembering the continuity. If in the third, (which is our first) hour we refer to a song we played 'earlier', then we need to remember to actually play it. There was one incident where we ignored that rule, fortunately nobody seems to have noticed but the perfectionist in me finds that sort of thing a little annoying.


9pm-10am

The Skatelites - Guns of Naverone {Played in tribute to Lloyd Brevett and
The Beastie Boys - She's On It Adam Yauch, who both died this week}

Brian Fahey and his Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal'
Max Miller 'I Never Thought That She'd Do That To Me'
Blur 'Let's All Go The Strand' (a music hall double whammy this week, with Blur's version of the popular song)

Pearl Jam 'The Kids Are Alright'
Pop Will Eat Itself 'Bulletproof'
Gary Numan 'Haunted'
The SkaDaddiez 'Hotel California'
Carolina Chocolate Drops 'Cornbread and Butterbeans'
Radiohead 'Fake Plastic Trees'
Neil Young 'My My Hey Hey' (this week's Dad Rock Classic)


10pm-11pm

Bruce Forsyth 'I'm In Charge'
Nine Inch Nail 'Something I Can Never Have'
Taco 'Putting On The Ritz'
Freddie and the Dreamers 'You Were Made For Me'*
The Shadows 'Foot Tapper'*
The Detroit Cobras 'He Did It'
The Wedding Present 'A Million Miles'
Hallouminati 'Sing For The Unknown'
Richard Hawley 'Leave Your Body Behind You'
Neatral Milk Hotel 'Naomi'

*Played for our feature of gigs and concerts you were taken to as a child.

Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll:
Jeff And The RFS 'Louie Louie'
The Bad Plus 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Hayseed Dixie 'I Love Rock and Roll'


11pm-12am

The Austin Francis Connection 'Drop That Beat'
Baby Godzilla 'Braille For The Axeman'
Cantaloupe 'Horse'
Goodnight Astronaut 'Getaway'
Babes In Toyland 'We Are Fammily'
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'Gangsterfish'
The Given Motion 'Watching You Drown'
Choking Susan 'Smeared Lipstick'
Billy Idol 'Dancing With Myself'
David Bowie 'Pictures of Lily'

And ending the final hour with a 'mash-up' in future:
MC Hammer vs Eurythmics 'You Can't Touch Sweet Dreams'

We just need to think of a feature to begin the third hour.