50 years of tunes - 1979 - Stiff Little Fingers "Inflammable Material"

I feel like I've written about this album a lot. Rightly so though as it's undoubtedly one of my favourite albums and one that doesn't get mentioned as much as I think it deserves. Stiff Little Fingers are a fantastic live band and Jake Burns a great songwriter who found the perfect balance between pop catchiness and punk energy.

1979 - Stiff Little Fingers "Inflammable Material"

Released: February 1979
Label: Rough Trade
Producer: Geoff Travis, Mayo Thompson and Doug Bennett

Side one:
1. "Suspect Device"
2. "State of Emergency" (Burns)
3. "Here We Are Nowhere" (Henry Cluney)
4. "Wasted Life" (Burns)
5. "No More of That" (Cluney)
6. "Barbed Wire Love"
7. "White Noise"
8. "Breakout" (Burns)

Side two:
9. "Law and Order"
10. "Rough Trade"
11. "Johnny Was" (Bob Marley)
12. "Alternative Ulster"
13. "Closed Groove"

(All tracks composed by Jake Burns and Gordon Ogilvie except where indicated)



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Chop's Gigs - March 2015

Oops! Normally get these round up links to my gig blog done a little earlier in the month but I guess I got distracted by songs about weather. For some reason all the bands I saw this month had purple light shows.

Hookworms at The Oval Space on Saturday 21st March 2015 - I wasn't expecting a lively crowd, I had my specs on instead of my contacts, but I couldn't resist getting involved with the lively element of the crowd. I love a bouncy gig and once I was down the front I was set for the rest of the night. Radio Tokyo kicked in with an even quicker drum beat and things got really lively. It was a nice crowd though, no aggressive moshing just a bunch of kids (and an old bloke wearing specs) having some fun.

Sleater-Kinney at The Roundhouse on Monday 23rd March 2015 - With my impeccable sense of timing I didn't get into Sleater-Kinney until shortly after The Woods was released and shortly before they announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus. I loved The Woods and used the last 10 years to get the rest of their back catalogue. They were firmly established at the top of my list of bands I wanted to see live when out of the blue they released the Bury Our Friends single.

Bo Ningen at the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on Tuesday 31st March 2015 - Bo Ningen were amazing the last time I saw them and tonight is no different. It's a brilliant set, frantic and intense from the start, the band are so tight live they must be one of the very best bands currently touring.

50 years of tunes - 1978 - Wire "Chairs Missing"

I'm a fairly recent convert to Wire having decided I needed to explore deeper than a nineties compilation after hearing their excellent 2013 album Change Becomes Us. Their first three albums are superb but Chairs Missing, their second, is my favourite which built on the minimalist punk of their debut but wasn't quite as challenging as their later releases. Coincidentally, if all went to plan, I should have seen them live last week for the first time.

1978 - Wire "Chairs Missing"

Released: August 1978
Label: Harvest
Producer: Mike Thorne

Side one:
1. "Practice Makes Perfect" (Bruce Gilbert, Colin Newman)
2. "French Film Blurred" (Graham Lewis, Newman)
3. "Another the Letter" (Gilbert, Newman)
4. "Men 2nd" (Lewis)
5. "Marooned" (Gilbert, Lewis, Newman)
6. "Sand in My Joints" (Lewis)
7. "Being Sucked in Again" (Newman)
8. "Heartbeat" (Newman)

Side two:
9. "Mercy" (Lewis, Newman)
10. "Outdoor Miner" (Lewis, Newman)
11. "I Am the Fly" (Lewis, Newman)
12. "I Feel Mysterious Today" (Lewis, Newman)
13. "From the Nursery" (Lewis, Newman)
14. "Used To" (Gilbert, Lewis)
15. "Too Late" (Gilbert)




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Collaborative Top 5 - Songs About Weather - The Vote

The nominations are in and, flippin' heck, there's quite a few.

True to form I didn't really think this through very clearly so with a list that's just shy of 140 songs I'm not convinced I'm going to get a clear top five but let's give it a go.

Leave a comment on this post, or send me tweet via @Chops_Top_Fives with the following information;

Your top five songs ordered from 1 to 5 OR your top five songs unordered (I don't mind which as long as you let me know.

If you put them in order your number 1 pick will receive more points and your number 5 less. If you choose unordered all songs will score equally.

If you already picked a top five and want to stick with those selections then that's fine too but take a look through the list. It's epic and there might be some great tunes you've forgotten.

Right, go - VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!

50 years of tunes - 1977 - Television "Marquee Moon"

An album that took me repeated attempts over a number of years to finally get to grips with. Worth the effort as when I finally fell for it's charms I fell hard and it still sounds fresh and new to me now.

1977 - Television "Marquee Moon"

Released: February 1977
Label: Elektra
Producer: Andy Johns, Tom Verlaine

Side one:
1. "See No Evil"
2. "Venus"
3. "Friction"
4. "Marquee Moon"

Side two:
5. "Elevation"
6. "Guiding Light" (Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd)
7. "Prove It"
8. "Torn Curtain"

(All songs written by Tom Verlaine except where stated)



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Collaborative Top Five - Songs About Weather

I've been writing this blog for almost eight years now but have slacked off a bit in the last year with actual Top Fives. I've got loads of topics I want to write but never quite enough time to do them justice. To reinvigorate things I thought I could try and get more people involved.

Interactive top fives are my plan. I used to participate in a monthly top five vote run by some people I knew at the PRS. That kind of kick started my obsession with top fives and I miss the interaction and the chance to see what other people chose for each topic. I'm not completely certain how successful this will be but figured I'd give it a try while my own top fives are thin on the ground.

The inaugural interactive topic is Top 5 Songs about Weather.

Send me your nominations, by next Friday 17th April, via the comments link below or on Twitter @Chops_Top_Fives or in the pub and I'll construct a massive list for us all to vote on.

It's gonna be fun.

50 years of tunes - 1976 - Ramones "Ramones"

I love the first four or five Ramones albums a lot but their debut remains my absolute favourite. It was the first I heard, has killer tunes from start to finish and set the template for a career blending Johnny's psycho guitar thrashing with Joey's love of great pop tunes. There are fourteen brilliant songs in under thirty minutes. I don't think rock'n'roll gets any better than this.

1976 - Ramones "Ramones"

Released: February 1976
Label: Sire
Producer: Craig Leon

Side one:
1. "Blitzkrieg Bop" (Tommy Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone)
2. "Beat on the Brat" (Joey Ramone)
3. "Judy Is a Punk" (Joey Ramone)
4. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (Tommy Ramone)
5. "Chain Saw" (Joey Ramone)
6. "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" (Dee Dee Ramone)
7. "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement" (Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone)

Side two:
8. "Loudmouth" (Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone)
9. "Havana Affair" (Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone)
10. "Listen to My Heart" (Dee Dee Ramone)
11. "53rd & 3rd" (Dee Dee Ramone)
12. "Let's Dance" (Jim Lee)
13. "I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You" (Dee Dee Ramone)
14. "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World" (Dee Dee Ramone)




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50 years of tunes - 1975 - Patti Smith "Horses"

Horses is still the only proper Patti Smith album I own, though since I did my 1975 list it has nicked top spot for the year ahead of Wish You Were Here. Patti's voice is urgent and powerful when she sings whilst her poetic roots are evident in the spoken word introductions to Birdland & Horses. The reworking of Gloria makes the Them original seem quite tame and the fabulous Break It Up, co-written with Tom Verlaine, wouldn't sound out of place on a Television album (no doubt partly due to Tom's cameo on Guitar).

1975 - Patti Smith "Horses"

Released: December 1975
Label: Arista
Producer: John Cale

Side one:
1. "Gloria"
Part I: "In Excelsis Deo" (Patti Smith)
Part II: "Gloria" (Van Morrison)
2. "Redondo Beach" (Smith, Richard Sohl, Lenny Kaye)
3. "Birdland" (Smith, Sohl, Kaye, Ivan Kral)
4. "Free Money" (Smith, Kaye)

Side two:
1. "Kimberly" (Smith, Allen Lanier, Kral)
2. "Break It Up" (Smith, Tom Verlaine)
3. "Land"
Part I: "Horses" (Smith)
Part II: "Land of a Thousand Dances" (Chris Kenner, Fats Domino)
Part III: "La Mer(de)" (Smith)
4. "Elegie" (Smith, Lanier)




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