The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

“Your teeth, are starting to go
Five nights a week is starting to show
Dark rings around your eyes
Are fashionable ’til somebody dies
This pace a little too fast
You’re a space cadet
Dressed in fiberglass- You’re gonna shatter
. . . it’s not too late to undo
For the fiddle down the taming of the shrew”

In a long line of hotly anticipated releases to start 2010, we finally get to see the promotional film for You Overdid It Doll, the first single from The Courteeners’ forthcoming second record Falcon. The song itself is nothing short of brilliant. The Courteeners with help from producer Ed Buller appear to be making the transition into a well-oiled radio-friendly songwriting machine.

As much I loved St. Jude, I’m confident in saying that the first two songs we’ve gotten to hear are light years ahead of anything taken from the debut. The band sounds more confident and the new sound fits them like a glove. Personally, I hear a lot of The Secret Life Of Arabia by David Bowie in this one as far as the vibe goes which only serves to add to my overall swooning over this track. The Courteeners are on their way to blowing up huge. Hopefully America is ready to receive them with open arms.

“You Overdid It Doll” by The Courteeners, taken from the forthcoming Polydor release, “Falcon”

“hello to you hello to me
yeah i really care
i’ll see you all around sometime
i hope that i’m not there
today’s news is yesterday’s news
you don’t remember you forget
that’s the way the stories all go”

Here I am sitting at my desk thinking about what to pontificate about when it dawned on me. Since I listen to music just about every chance I can (which seems to be all the time), I should talk about a song that’s got me all doe-eyed at the present time. Right now, that song would be Goodbye by the one and only Psychedelic Furs. Easily one of my top five favourite songs from an all-time great band.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is about this song that makes me swoon. The saxophone? The perfect unison between Tim Butler’s bass and Vince Ely’s drumming? Richard Butler’s Bowie/Rotten lovechild-esque vocals are always a given so that element doesn’t count. Maybe it’s simply the way simply comes together to form an underrated new wave classic. What’s more Goodbye follows the seminal 80s classic Love My Way on what is my favourite Furs record, the Todd Rundgren-produced Forever Now. What better way to follow up such a timeless single than with an absolute stomper such as this?

I think I’m going to listen to this again…

“Goodbye” by The Psychedelic Furs, taken from the Columbia release, “Forever Now”

It stands to reason that David Bowie needs no introduction in terms of his importance to popular music. That said, unless you’ve been in a bomb shelter the last 40 years or your name is Avril Lavigne then you realize that the Thin White Duke has had his finger in infiltrating the hearts and minds of millions of young starmen and women and made it cool for young boys to rock mullets and make-up.

When you’re an icon like Bowie who’s enjoyed the fortunes of a staggering legacy, it is indeed cause for celebration when a classic record like the incomparable Space Oddity gets the reissue treatment. Yes, I know, there was already the Ryko and the Virgin reissues done. Forget all that! We now have the 40th Anniversary Edition to behold and cherish!  It’s out in October and is a 2-disc set including the original version of the record as initially released back in 1969.

CD 1:
01 – Space Oddity (5.14)
02 – Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (inc. Don’t Sit Down) (6.51)
03 – Letter To Hermione (2.32)
04 – Cygnet Committee (9.31)
05 – Janine (3.21)
06 – An Occasional Dream (2.54)
07 – Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (4.46)
08 – God Knows I’m Good (3.17)
09 – Memory Of A Free Festival (7.09)

CD 2:
01 – Space Oddity (demo) (5.10) *
02 – An Occasional Dream (demo) (2.49) *
03 – Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (single B-side with spoken intro) (4.56)
04 – Brian Matthew interviews David/Let Me Sleep Beside You (BBC Radio session D.L.T. Show) (4.45)
05 – Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (BBC Radio session D.L.T. Show) (3.54) *
06 – Janine (BBC Radio session: D.L.T. Show) (3.02)
07 – London Bye Ta-Ta (stereo version) (3.12)
08 – Prettiest Star (stereo version) (3.12)
09 – Conversation Piece (stereo version) (3.06) *
10 – Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 1) (single A-side) (4.01)
11 – Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 2) (single B-side) (3.30)
12 – Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (alternate album mix) (4.45) *
13 – Memory Of A Free Festival (alternate album mix) (9.22) *
14 – London Bye Ta-Ta (alternate stereo mix) (2.34) *
15 – Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola (full length stereo version) (5.14) *

“Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud”, by David Bowie, taken from the Mercury release, “Space Oddity”