Top 5 Sub Pop singles

I recently read Keith Cameron's excellent biography of Mudhoney (The Sound & The Fury From Seattle) which also detailed a lot of Sub Pop's early history. If you're not familiar with the name, Sub Pop is a record label that was founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. The label achieved fame in the late 1980s for signing Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney, becoming synonymous with the rise of Grunge and champions of the Seattle music scene.

The late eighties & early nineties were a very exciting time for me and became a turning point in my musical tastes. I was firmly into Heavy Metal at the time but Mudhoney & Nirvana helped bridge the gap from Metal and open my mind to many new bands and genres. Sub-pop felt different to other labels, they survived on a shoestring, even after having some major success, and the sub-pop singles club became something of an institution, a great way to find new bands in the days before the Internet. The singles below are the tunes I think best represent the early style of Sub Pop.

1. “Touch Me I’m Sick” Mudhoney – Mudhoney's debut single and the perfect encapsulation of everything the band were about. A real grungy blast with a fabulously dirty guitar sound that's become one of my favourite tunes.

2. “Love Buzz” Nirvana – Hot on Mudhoney's heals came Nirvana’s first single. A cover of a song from Dutch rock band Shocking Blue's second album. Nope, I'd never heard of them either. Kurt Cobain wrote some decent songs in his time but his record collection was pretty impressive too and he indirectly introduced me to a lot of great bands.

3. “Shove” L7 – This single came a little later than the rest of the entries (1990) but it's a song with real attitude and remains my favourite L7 track.

4. “Hunted Down” Soundgarden – I was never a big fan of Soundgarden but this tune manages to squeeze all the good things about them into two minutes forty two seconds.

5. “Ritual Device” Tad – Tad didn't go on to the same level of success as many of their contemporaries but they played a significant part in the success of the label featuring on the three band touring line-up (alongside Nirvana & Mudhoney) that did a lot to spread the word about Sub Pop outside of Seattle.

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Six Songs of Me

Something a little different this week as I discovered The Guardian's Six Songs of Me series. You can check out my Six Songs playlist here, I thought it was a pretty cool way to pick some songs that mean a lot to me. Another step towards maybe writing my top five songs of all time.

1. First Song - "Going Down Town Tonight" by Status Quo - A fairly horrible attempt to "modernise" the Quo sound during a period when Mr Rossi was exercising his love of country-pop and attempting to get away from the typical Quo sound. I was not a fan of chart music and Quo offered me an alternative that eventually lead to classic rock, heavy metal and beyond.



This was the first record I bought for myself (though I'd previously been given records for Christmas including the seminal "Showaddywaddy" by Showaddywaddy and "Chas'n'Dave's Christmas Jamboree Bag"). I remember cycling into Kingston specifically to get the 7" from W.H.Smiths, I bought all my early music in either Smiths or Woolworths, then cycling back with it clicked onto my bike rack. Within 6 months I had most of their early 70s output too (mainly because Pye had re-released them in cheap tape editions).



That video is hilarious, I don't think it's the official one but an interesting juxtaposition of Quo against a backdrop of snow and flame.

2. Gets You Dancing - "Love Shack" by The B52's - Mrs Top Five is not a big fan of dancing whereas ply me with a few drinks and you'll struggle to stop me. This is one of a handful of songs we both enjoy a bit of a bop to. I also derive enormous pleasure from joining in with the "Rusted! Tin roof!" shouty bit.



3. Takes You Back - "Ticket To Ride" by The Beatles/The Carpenters - Mum and Dad weren't huge record buyers but there was enough 60s & 70s pop to stir my interest in music at an early stage. I had to pick The Carpenters version as the SixSongs website didn't have a legit copy of the Beatles to select from but both bands were big favourites while I was growing up.



The Beatles always soundtracked long journies in the car and remind me of holidays in Eastbourne. We had the Red & Blue Beatles compilations on Vinyl and I was fascinated by the covers and the genius of the photographer to get the group in the same location several years apart.



4. Love Song - "We Have All The Time In The World" by Louis Armstrong - A magical song that cheers me up whenever I hear it. This was the last song the DJ played at our wedding reception.



I would have discovered it initially thanks to "on Her Majesties Secret Service", the Bond film for which it was written by the combined genius of Hal David and John Barry. There it is used to great effect to suggest a happy ending for Bond before things take a sad and unexpected turn. It was also the last song Louis Armstrong ever recorded.



5. Funeral Song - "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash - If you can't pick the songs played at your funeral then when can you? No pun intended with the title, I just really like it. It's Cash at his best and that horn section is amazing.



6. Encore - "Debaser" by Pixies - They're my favourite band and, though it's difficult to pin down, I reckon this is my favourite Pixies tune.



It has everything that makes them great, a thumping Kim Deal bassline, some solid David Lovering drumming, disconcerting lyrics from Frank Black and blistering guitar from Joey Santiago.



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Top 5 British Punk Singles

I wouldn't say I had a sheltered upbringing but growing up in a small village in the heart of the Surrey commuter belt was never going to make me into a street wise trend setter. The only knowledge I had of popular culture came from the TV and in particular Top Of The Pops. This is why I spent several months believing Pink Floyd were one of those Punk Rock bands I kept hearing about. By the time I knew what Punk was about it was all over.

1. Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the UK" (1976) - The Sex Pistols were almost certainly the first punk band I ever heard and have defined my idea of what punk should sound like. I remember someone bringing a single into school and playing it on a small portable record player over lunch. It might not have had an instant affect on my musical tastes (which up to that point were rooted in The Beatles & The Carpenters) but there was a definite frisson of excitement in hearing a "banned" song played. "Anarchy" is the band's debut single and one of a handful of cracking tunes the Pistols managed to release before imploding in a style completely appropriate for the genre. I spent a good 20 years mishearing the lyric "I want to destroy the passer-by" as "I want to destroy, possibly" which puts an entirely different perspective on John Lydon's rage.

2. The Damned "New Rose" (1976) - I have only recently got into The Damned having previously been more aware of their mid-eighties Goth period. Their first few albums were proper punk though and "New Rose" became the first punk single released in the UK beating the Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the UK" by a month and a few days.

3. Stiff Little Fingers "Suspect Device" (1978) - One of my favourite bands. Whilst they've never veered too far from their original style, they have written some brilliant tunes. Jake Burns lyrics, born out of living in Belfast during the height of the Troubles, set them apart from other bands of the time. I discovered them thanks to a 1981 episode of the BBC's Play For Today series. Jake Burns made his acting debut as Ducksey in "Iris In The Traffic, Ruby In The Rain" which also saw the rest of the band playing themselves and a SLF heavy soundtrack.

4. Buzzcocks "Orgasm Addict" (1977) - I spent far too long only knowing Buzzcocks for the (admittedly excellent) "Ever Fallen in Love". "Orgasm Addict" was released as a 7" shortly after Howard Devoto had left the band to form Magazine and filled the gap between the seminal "Spiral Scratch EP" and their debut full length album "Another Music in a Different Kitchen".

5. Alternative TV "Action Time Vision" (1978) - Alternative TV were formed by Mark Perry, the founding editor of the influential punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue. I think the best Punk records blur the distinction between trashy D.I.Y. rock and perfect Pop and this gets that combination spot on.

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