Thanks for a great write up on the gorgeous Paolo Nutini. You are absolutely right, those two songs that you mentioned are awesome, but then the whole album is! I have a lot of his LIVE materials, including the ones that are not included in the album, this guy can rock any covers, and his originals are just as awesome as the ones that made it to "These Streets." Let me know if you feel like listening to the songs that I have. Peace!

It's alright to like Supertramp. I do, and haven't gotten crap for it yet.

Plus, it gives you the added bonus of playing Breakfast in America and confusing people who think they're going to hear Gym Class Heroes.

Hey, Sadi,
Good to see you back. I've just gotten back home after two weeks house-sitting, feeling relaxed and rested.

Re. your List, I'm only familiar with two songs on it ("Last Request" & "Take the Long Way Home", the former I have on a compilation, I've been debating on getting a Supertramp 'best of' for some time, but haven't gotten round to it yet), though I do know of EBTG, Weller and The Colourfield, of course (we've discussed those before).

As far as the latter group goes, I wonder if you may be thinking of the lead singer's former band Fun Boy Three (who were instrumental in getting Bananarama started, guesting on the Nana's first two singles together).

The others you have mentioned before (except for Flesh For Lulu I think, who I've heard of, but don't know any of their songs).

On another topic, re. your Scottish roots, do you still have your Scottish accent, Sadi??

Hi Claire - I'd love to hear what you have. I have "These Streets" and adore it. But live or whatever you have would be great. You can get to me through the contact link at my site.... go to

contact srp and email me! would be super!

cheers!

hey Chris - i'm really liking Supertramp and getting unapologetic about it... i think they had a great sound - The Long Way Home is a terrific song, albeit a really popular song, but Give a Little Bit of Your Love (is that the right title?) but that song is super also... i think perhaps superior in many ways, tho different... Breakfast in America is a great album. I vividly recall that cover. I ought join the fan-club.....

hi Steve - let me upload Flesh for Lulu for you so you can take a listen and then i'll post the link back here for you - because i think you'd like it. Fun Boy Three - wow. I forgot about them.

Who was that group, The Fall - What was their big hit?

The group i'm thinking of, BlancMange, had a big hit, but i can't remember the name of it - i think it was "I Should Have Ran You Down" - it was a very funny song; tongue in cheek (one hopes) but very funny.

Accent: i grew up with my brogue and then my cockney grandfather, so i had a cockney brogue if you can imagine such a thing, then came to the united states, so i wound up with this odd mix of mid-atlantic.

It really depends on how relaxed i am. If i'm very relaxed, then it tends to come out more, esp around family, naturally (of course) or around others, as with you i would imagine, then i would naturally slip right back into it - which is just natural, as one speaks another, foreign language.... right?

But yes, the short answer; so at home, with my husband, with good friends, then i sound more like "me". With others, it's harder because i want to "fit in" more and more, to be understood, and i often found i had trouble just being understood, so adopted enough of an American accent to be understood.... But that is not really me. It's sort of the reverse of someone adopting a British accent, lol.... except i did it for good reason. But no - i have a mid Atlantic accent.....

You'd like Flesh for Lulu i think.... see if you can find them. If not, tell me and i'll upload for you....

What song did Fun Boy Three do that was good? I know i knew them but can't recall...

I'm really into Paolo Nutini (thank you!) and i've rediscovered The Flying Picketts...

Re. The Fall, the only UK Top 40 hits they had were -
- "There's A Ghost In My House" (#30, 1987)
- "Victoria" (#35, 1988)
- "Free Range" (#40, 1992).

Blancmange's only UK Top Ten hits were -
- "Living On The Ceiling" (#7, 1982)
- "Don't Tell Me" (#8, 1984).

Fun Boy Three's UK Top Tens were -
- "It Ain't What You Do..." (#4, 1982) &
- "Really Saying Somethin'" (#5, 1982), both with Bananarama...
- "The Tunnel Of Love" (#10, 1983)
- "Our Lips Are Sealed" (#7, 1983)...yes, originally done by the Go-Go's!.

I hope the above jogs some memories for you, it sure does me!

Re. accents, I was curious because of my own experience...I'm totally Canadian-sounding now, though I had a pretty strong brogue when I lived in Scotland...I suspect it would take me 2 or 3 days to relearn it again.

Ooops, forgot about the Flying Pickets, I must say, as my musical tastes diversify as I get older, I do wish I had a 'Best Of' by them now, very talented, if you like acapella!!

i love Blancmange - or i did - i still do and am trying to find this song, but if i do, it will make the list - it's a great song... very funny.

The Flying Picketts are good - they're sort of nice, i think. I like their sound - you know them, then - which is great. Not so many remember them, i think, or even knew them at the time!

Fun Boy Three i'm not really into - I was thinking of Gang of Four - they are fun. At least, what little, i know of them..... ; )

steve - yeah, accents are strange because they are malleable - mine is sometimes stronger, but again, if i'm really talking to an American then i think i sound more American, unless again, it's someone i'm really close to.... that changes things... it's just a comfort level.

i'm sure if like you, i went to Scotland, it comes right back. When i do go home, it comes right back, so that's that. same as when i'm in Paris i speak fluent French with an accent - there's little difference (by accent, i mean French accent). I think that's just normal.....

i don't know Canadian accents very well - i think they sound more Northern, from what i know, but that's it. I met a guy from Canada and he sounded almost Northern English....but i don't know where he was from exactly...

Hmm, Sadi, not familiar with the Gang Of Four. I have a Blancmange 'best of', not sure which song you're looking for.

Re. accents, I have heard Americans say they can tell the difference between Canadian and American, I think Americans just have a bit more of a 'twang', as it were. Of course, in Scotland, when I spoke Canadian originally, they all assumed I was a Yank, which I had to correct them about lol.

Though it must be said, Canadian East Coasters have some more Celtic in their accent than the rest of Canada, I would say.

neither one of you have much gang of four? (they're probably the most influential group in the whole recent post-punk revival thing.)

gang of four are rock solid. go get any of their first three albums, or just get the best of. if you go to elbo.ws, there is a shitload of their stuff. i'd suggest (going on what's available there) "not great men," "to hell with poverty" and "what we all want (live)."

as far as post-punk goes, only p.i.l., new order, birthday party and the fall reached so high with such great results.

"I have heard Americans say they can tell the difference between Canadian and American, I think Americans just have a bit more of a 'twang', as it were."

uh. yeah... i live in seattle, so i visit vancouver quite a bit, and many british columbians come down here for concerts and decent beer, etc. canadian accents are all in the vowels. sometimes it hurts a bit. it's not a lazy thing, like the southern drawl... so i would say that the "twang" is on the northern side of the fence. of course, depending on where you are from... east coast canadians probably sound positively normal compared to new england accents. and in the midwest, it might be harder to tell who's who.

Ah, zing, you say the Gang Of Four are a punk band?? That explains why I haven't heard of them...I hated punk when it first came out in the 70's and my opinion of it hasn't changed much since.

Punk is the reason why I didn't get really into music until the early 80's (seeing my peers 'pogoing' around was totally embarrassing) and why I lost interest in music for a while in the early 90's when metal and punk collided to form grunge.

I can maybe tolerate one electric guitar in at least some songs, but when two or more get going, I just have to switch it off I'm afraid. I guess I just prefer synths to guitars, what can I say?

I have liked some of New Order's stuff of the last 20 years (e.g "True Faith", "Regret" and some others whose titles escape me at the moment, though I view that as their synth period, rather than punk per se), and a couple of PIL's songs that had either hilarious social commentary lyrics ("Don't Ask Me"), or something approaching a melody ("Rise"), but other than that...

Well, zing, I've never been to BC, or Oregon for that matter, so I can't really comment on that. I can't say I could tell any difference between BC and Southern Ontario folks on the TV but anyway...

"Ah, zing, you say the Gang Of Four are a punk band?? That explains why I haven't heard of them...I hated punk when it first came out in the 70's and my opinion of it hasn't changed much since."

post-punk, steve. different thing. it took all of the d.i.y. stuff, some of the french and italian philosophy and all of the energy of punk, but then remembered that there is something called ambition.

sometimes i think punk itself was more important for what it wasn't then what it was. post-punk, however, is a golden age of rock music. england, from 1978-1983 or so, was a fucking hotspot for strange theories and philosophies behind some very ambitious music.

"I can maybe tolerate one electric guitar in at least some songs, but when two or more get going, I just have to switch it off I'm afraid. I guess I just prefer synths to guitars, what can I say?"

fair enough. i've been through similar periods. i remember selling back my bloody valentine's "loveless" because i couldn't believe they refused to list synths in their instrumental line-up. of course, they didn't use synths, but i didn't know it at the time.

if you like synths so much, go check out one of gang of four's later albums, like "songs of the free." they got into disco (chic specifically), and made some rather ridiculous dance hits. "i love a man in a uniform" is one such song.

"I have liked some of New Order's stuff of the last 20 years (e.g "True Faith", "Regret" and some others whose titles escape me at the moment, though I view that as their synth period..."

ahh, new order. you should check out "the perfect kiss," which is one of the most ridiculous synthpop songs ever. if synthpop had a pink floyd, it was new order on 12" vinyl. (and i hate pink floyd, but it is an apt comparison. long songs, convoluted structures, long instrumental passages, lots of ambition, vague lyrics, all that.) if you are a synth freak, definitely check out anything new order did from 1982-1984 or so. anything. they used synths throughout their career (they wanted to meld disco technology and punk energy,) but their early career was when they were at the forefront of the entire music world, in my opinion.

Re. New Order, zing, I do have their 1987 compilations "Substance" and "Substance Sides" (though only on cassette, I need to do something about that!) and 1989's "Technique".

Re. their 1982-1984 period, although I loved the music of "Blue Monday", the vocals were not my fave on their earliest stuff, but did improve some on later recordings IMHO but some of the early stuff was just plain wierd.

1985's "Perfect Kiss" just missed the top 40 in the UK, so I always have trouble remembering how that one goes as it didn't receive much airplay there at the time.

I really should dig out the tapes and give them a listen, it has been a long time since I listened to anything pre-1986 of theirs, other than "Blue Monday", because it's all on cassette.

substance is a good place to start. and "weird" is wonderful!

dig out that tape. it's all of their 12" mixes up to 1987. mmm, "temptation," "perfect kiss," "bizarre love triangle..." all fucking wonderful stuff.

technique is one of their best albums. although, you might only like half of it.

for some excellent (albiet weird,) early 80s stuff, you should also check out two comps, called "cool as ice" and "twice as nice," which have tons of new order-produced stuff. interesting sounds.

yeah, zing, think I'll dig out those tapes tonight, after supper...maybe I should add them to my computer...hmmm...

yeah Steve - that's right - he sounded more Celtic.... it was odd. More familiar to me... anyway.... ; )

hey Zing - i love New Order - so i'm with you there - i don't know Gang of Four anymore. I did. i knew them really well, but i lost touch. But New Order i still know really well, and i liked the earlier darker Joy Division. Lately i've gotten into a group called Neutral Milk Hotel - have you heard of them? Interesting stuff.... i can send you to my site if you want to take a listen.... let me know....

oh zing zing - you just named three of my favorite New Order songs - Bizarre Love Triangle has to be one of the best songs --- i love that song... i listen to it waaaaaayyyyy to much. I think that and The Cure, It's Friday, I'm in Love, are too often on my Playlist.... eeks!

Steve, i'll put them on the site and build the link in for you.... give me a few mins and i'll put the link here...

"Lately i've gotten into a group called Neutral Milk Hotel - have you heard of them? Interesting stuff.... i can send you to my site if you want to take a listen.... let me know...."

in an aeroplane over the sea... one of those albums that is blaringly obvious in its greatness, and then you find all the subtle layers too. such a great album to enjoy. there are rumours that he is making a new album. we'll see. he's the kevin shields of american indie rock. i'll believe a new album is out when it's sitting in my hands.

OK, Sadi, thanks alot.

Re. NMH, the name rings a vague bell, but I'm not familiar with their music.

Finally got my entire New Order collection on computer now (a best of, a 'b' sides, "Technique" album and Blue Monday 1988 cassingle). Some good tunes!!

That The Cure tune you mentioned in comment #22 is one of my faves of theirs too, Sadi.

Re. Joy Division in comment #21, Sadi, I have a cover version of their "Love Will Tear Us Apart" song by Paul Young from 1983's "No Parlez" album and by Simple Minds from 2001's "Neon Lights" covers album. Both worth checking out.

Hay, Sadi,
Any idea when the next List will be?

Sadi,
Just wondering if you have heard the latest re-recording of the Bob Dylan tune "You Go Your Way (I'll Go Mine)" by producer Mark Ronson (of Amy Winehouse fame among others). He apparently turns what was a folk tune, into a soul tune. Due out Oct. 1st, it can be found on a site bearing Dylan's name so I assume you know it already (don't know how to do links so I would rather not spell it out here!!).

Let me know what you think when you find it!