There's a marvellous selection of historical photos from the Oxford Street HMV store here: http://www.voicesofeastanglia.com/2011/11/more-from-hmv-oxford-street-st.... I could have picked almost any of them to illustrate this post, but I just love this 1953 shot of the record racks and listening station, a Stanley Kubrick/Clockwork Orange vision of what a record store should look like. Wonderful.

So, inspired by one of the recent TOTP 1976 threads, I thought I'd look up what old tracks are currently selling on iTunes (other download services are available) and came up with the following top 20:

1. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol [556]
2. With or Without You - U2 (Festivals) [174]
3. Fix You - Coldplay (Festivals) [124]
4. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence [82]
5. The Scientist - Coldplay (Festivals) [71]
6. Best of You - Foo Fighters (Festivals) [85]
7. Fast Car - Tracy Chapman (Britains Got Talent?) [633]
8. Naive - The Kooks [138]
9. Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield [249]
10. Push It - Salt-N-Pepa [0]
11. Common People - Pulp (Festivals)
12. Hold On - Wilson Phillips (featured heavily in the movie "Bridesmaids")
13. Somebody Told Me - The Killers
14. Zombie - The Cranberries
15. She Moves In Her Own Way - The Kooks
16. Town Called Malice - The Jam
17. Talkin' Bout a Revolution - Tracy Chapman
18. Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
19. The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
20. Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits

If I spotted a specific reason why a track is selling (plenty of festival exposure at the moment for instance), I've put it in brackets. I also looked up the last 30 days' radio play for the top 10 [in square brackets] at comparemyradio.com, but this doesn't seem to be much of a factor, Snow Patrol & Tracy Chapman aside.

So, a very AOR selection, but there's some interesting stuff in here - Dusty? Salt-N-Pepa? And why do The Kooks have 2 old tracks selling right now? If you know why a specific track is selling (is it in an advert, a movie, on TV?) please pop it in the comments. Should I be surprised there's nothing here from the TOTP repeats?

Enjoy - if there's some interest in this, I'll happily update in a few weeks, and see how different it might be...

A new sketch-comedy show, "Portlandia", has just finished its first season in the US, but has already been commissioned for a second. It's a very deadpan show and I loved it, spoofing the supposedly hipper-than-thou lifestyle of Portland, Oregon, "a city where young people go to retire." The cool guest list included Steve Buscemi, Kyle McLachlan, Colin Meloy (Decemberists), and in one very funny running gag, Aimee Mann as a cleaner who's employees suddenly realise she's, well, Aimee Mann. Lots of it is on YouTube, but here's the great sketch/song which opened the series:

So as you'll see, it's co-written by and co-stars Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein - who could have seen that career-progression coming? Well, its seems TV is now the go-to for ex-indie girls - Lauren Laverne is never off TV or radio, Brix Smith is Gok Wan's gal-pal in "Gok's Fashion Fix", and even Stiff Records' Akron mascot Rachel Sweet is now a TV producer, with sitcoms "Dharma & Greg" and new hit "Hot In Cleveland" on her CV. Are there any more out there? Is Miki Berenyi reading the news on some channel, or Tracy Tracy doing the weather...?

OK, I know Metacritic is more all-encompassing, but here's a quick & dirty "poll of polls" from (arguably) the big 4 non-specialist UK music mags that have annual album Top 50's - Mojo, NME, Q and Uncut. It's done by the industrial standard "1 point for a number 50 placing, 50 points for number 1" scoring system, and the 2010 top 10 (actually 11) albums turn out to be:

1 ARCADE FIRE - The Suburbs [by quite a margin]
2 PAUL WELLER - Wake Up The Nation
3= GRINDERMAN - Grinderman 2
3= JOHN GRANT - Queen Of Denmark
5 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - This Is Happening
6 MGMT - Congratulations
7 THE NATIONAL - High Violet
8 ROBERT PLANT - Band Of Joy
9 VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Contra
10= BLACK KEYS - Brothers
10= MANIC STREET PREACHERS - Postcards From A Young Man

JOHN GRANT's was the only album of these to make Word's year-end Top 10, and only ARCADE FIRE, PAUL WELLER, GRINDERMAN, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, MANIC STREET PREACHERS and (outside the top 10) JANELLE MONAE received votes from all 4 publications.

Some vaguely interesting "gap analysis" (artists conspicuous by their absence in some lists, strangely high in others) indicate that:
- MOJO especially liked PHOSPHORESCENT, but don't rate THE NATIONAL
- NME especially liked SALEM, but don't rate JOHN GRANT
- Q especially liked TAKE THAT, but don't rate ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
- UNCUT especially liked DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, but don't rate MGMT

Not sure if it's a good, bad or indifferent sign that 4 of these 11 have been plying their trade for over 20 years in one form or another...

So, "i" is here, the mini-me Independent, "the first quality daily paper to be launched in Britain for almost 25 years" yada yada... but is it any good?

The 20p price is great and unarguably good value, but I can't help feeling it's a toe-in-the-water before going free at some point... and though it's clearly designed to compete with the freesheets, I think it might not be the zero cost, but the sheer convenience of not having to queue up to buy them that might mean the freebies stay ahead, but time will tell.

The look is somewhere between freesheet, G2/Times2-style supplement, and children's version. Not unpleasant, but possibly trying too hard to not look like a broadsheet.

Content-wise I'm actually impressed - notwithstanding that short articles will always suffer in depth compared to long ones, it doesn't feel dumbed-down to me, just, well, shorter, though I could do without the "Matrix" sections, which probably sounded great in the brainstorming session, but come across more as "for people who really can't be bothered to read".

So, one issue in, and it feels like a good try to me, though with room for improvement... but for how long are we going to want newspapers anyway...? Anyone else browsed through this over their cuppa?

Members of The Massive of a certain age will be delighted that the classic 70's BBC drama "Colditz" begins a long-awaited repeat run on the Yesterday channel (Freeview 12) at 10.00 pm tonight and each weeknight thereafter (and it's repeated 3 times each day after in case you forget!)

Unseen for many years, it's come up here before in the "Why isn't that on DVD?" threads, and one presumes some rights issues have suddenly disappeared, because it's also coming out on DVD on 15th November.

It was certainly required viewing when I was at school and I'm looking forward to seeing these again, though I'm bracing myself for mild disappointment... anyone else tuning in?

Just back from a long weekend in Paris, and a highlight was the exhibition by "Beat Takeshi" Kitano at Fondation Cartier running until 12th September, after which it will apparently tour, though no specific countries or cities have been mentioned.

If you're unaware of Kitano, he's best known in the west for his movies, most of which he writes, directs and stars in, including Sonatine, Kikujiro and Zatoichi. They're often very violent and filled with arresting imagery and off-centre humour. In Japan however, he's also a household name stand-up comedian and slapstick comedy TV host, as well as a newspaper columnist and poet, and there's really no-one else I can think of who straddles high and low culture the way he does - imagine Harry Hill also directing Trainspotting, or Mike Leigh presenting Hole In The Wall...

This is his first art exhibition, and is refreshingly designed primarily for children, who seemed to love it (there were a few school trips in progress when I visited), though adults will enjoy the sly jokes and absurdism of much of his work, like the "recently discovered" Japanese WWII plans to graft weapons onto animals (such as an aircraft carrier platform onto the back of a whale), his theories on why dinosaurs became extinct (e.g. in games of Rock-Paper-Scissors they could only ever do Scissors), and the world's most inefficient sewing machine... there's also a hysterical 20-minute compilation from his various TV series, and you can even buy "Buddha Waffles" from the stall outside!

Cheap (€7.50) and cheerful - highly recommended if you're in the neighbourhood over the next month. Details at http://fondation.cartier.com/

"It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for... Live Aid!"

So, 13th July 1985 - can it really be 25 years? Good grief...

It'll always remind me of my girlfriend of the time - it was the first time we'd been left alone at her parents' house, as they went to the beach for the day to let us watch the event, and I'll just say that we became somewhat "distracted" at various junctures...

Any memories of the day from The Massive, those who were there, or even (most of us) just watching on TV?

A random comment over the weekend made a song pop into my head I probably haven't heard for 25 years, but naturally I can't remember the artist or title... so if anyone can help identify it, it'll be The Massive!

It's a very catchy pop/funk tune, but wasn't a hit - in my head it has the same vibe as The Waitresses' "Xmas Rapping", probably from around 1981-83, though it could be as late as 1986. I might be being swayed by The Waitresses comparison, but I seem to remember it being on Ze Records, though Googling their discography didn't help. It was probably a one-off single, as at the time I'm sure the artist never released an album, and I also vaguely remember it being a band rather than a soloist.

The lyrics were very eco-friendly/anti-war/anti-nuclear, and there's a rap in the middle with a different voice doing each line in a different language, including the phrases "ghetto nuclear" (pronounced as in French), and "Sayonara Tokyo" (I've tried Googling these to no effect.)

All help appreciated - thanks!

So I’m listening to a Terry Hall compilation, “Through The Years”, on the commute to work this morning. Now some of the track choices might be questionable (“Really Saying Something” over “T’Ain’t What You Do”, the studio version of “Too Much Too Young” rather than the live number 1 hit?), but it’s a perfectly decent single CD overview of the man and his surprisingly many musical guises (Specials, Fun Boy Three, Colour Field, solo work, even Terry, Blair & Anouschka.)

However, what’s this nestling at track number 7? Why, it’s The Special AKA’s “Free Nelson Mandela”, a fine track to be sure, but one in which Mr. Hall was, I might suggest, not even in the same hemisphere when it was recorded. I’m far from the world’s biggest Specials or Terry Hall fan, but surely anyone with even the remotest knowledge of the band would know about this, so how come the clown who compiled this album got the job in the first place?

Any other evidence that record companies don’t know their artists from a hole in the ground, or howlers from people who just ought to know better…?

First of all, I don’t want to make this sound more serious than it is – it’s actually rather trivial in the great scheme of things, but I’m starting to worry about it, hence this post, and sorry if this is off our usual beat, but I thought if anyone can give me some sensible advice, it’ll be The Massive!

Last Summer I had a minor car accident – someone rear-ended me at a busy junction, no-one hurt, just body damage to both cars. As far as I’m concerned it was the other guy’s fault, he was going too fast and couldn’t slow down in time when the traffic stopped, he even apologised at the scene. Once it got to the insurance stage however, he’s blamed me for stopping short - it’s been dragging out for 9 months, and I’ve now been asked to provide a new statement as solicitors are getting involved, something that always gives me the willies.

My policy is fully comprehensive, so my question is basically, what’s my worst-case scenario here? Is this just the insurance companies arguing over which of them will be stumping up? Am I going to be liable for anything over my excess? How do these kinds of “he said/he said” scenarios pan out? Would it even go to court? ‘Til this I had a fairly perfect driving record, a no-claims bonus as long as your arm, so I’ve not been through anything like this before, and any advice will be welcome – cheers!

I think it’s fair to say that when talk turns to music here, it tends to veer towards the obscure end of the spectrum – lost talents, lesser known artists (old and new), b-sides, obscure album tracks, bootlegs and so on. Well let’s explore the other end – those tracks and artists that are so well-known and so ingrained in our DNA that we think we know them inside-out, maybe even to the point of skipping them when they come up on our music-players…

I thought of this last week because I had an iPod disaster (since sorted, thanks for asking) and was forced into borrowing the FPO’s iPod shuffle for an imminent journey without time to check or amend the track selection, and 2 songs in particular unexpectedly struck me during the trip, that for some reason suddenly felt fresh as paint…

Donna Summer – I Feel Love: what a record – brutally minimalist techno that invented the “soul singer over an electro backing track” template still in use today, and sounds as relevant next to Cabaret Voltaire as it does to Chic (a good trick if you can do it.) If this was released today it would just be too weird to chart, that’s how good it is.

Sparks – This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us: is there anyone here over 40 who doesn’t remember Sparks’ debut TOTP performance as if it were yesterday? Luckily the record is worthy of every braincell devoted to that memory, it’s ridiculous, baroque, funny, and unlike anything else, skating perilously close the edge of being a novelty hit without quite tipping over – amazing.

This isn’t about “guilty pleasures”, and I wouldn’t remotely claim to have “rediscovered” these tracks, they were huge hits and are classics for a reason, but what other great tracks do we think are worthy of reappraisal with fresh ears, the ones that are so much part of the furniture that everyone takes them for granted? State your case, send us back to our iPods!

IPC has announced "plans to revive the Melody Maker name with a comprehensive online archive of the magazine - which ran from 1926 until it merged with the New Musical Express in 2000."

The full story implies that that IPC's hand was forced into doing something with the MM name to avoid the trademark being gazumped by a Spanish company, but this archive sounds like a nice idea.

MM never really had the cache of NME, but it was the first music paper I ever bought, in 1976 I think, on a particularly wet & miserable day on holiday in Scotland, so I have a soft spot for it.

More here: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=44920&c=...

... or should I say our night with PSB, seeing as Messrs. Hepworth & Ellen were also "in the house", or at least in the O2 complex. Though events conspired to prevent this happy subscriber saying hello, hope you enjoyed the evening gents!

The usual dreadful service on the underground means as we take our seats, support act Bad Lieutenant are already underway. Of course this is New Order sans Hooky, and refreshingly, Barney & Steve seem to have no illusions about themselves being anything than their own tribute act, and play more New Order than new material, including an excellent extended "Temptation" and a muscular "Crystal", though purists probably spluttered into their beers at the closing "Love Will Tear Us Apart." On their own terms, I enjoyed them immensely.

The PSB show is the same one they toured earlier in the year with a few minor setlist changes ("Love Comes Quickly" replaced by "What Have I Done To Deserve This", complete with Dusty on the video screen.) I fondly imagine the stage show to be an affectionate parody of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" gigs - big white blocks in myriad combinations being built up and knocked down, with various films and animations being projected onto them.

It's remarkably effective, and between this, Chris's illuminated keyboard cubicle and 4 energetic dancers, it's a terrific showcase for a virtual greatest hits performance, skewed very slightly towards latest album "Yes" as you'd expect, but a 60-70% capacity crowd enjoys a surprising number of tracks from debut album "Please", with lots of medleys, mashups and odd snippets of songs keeping everything rolling along. Neil's in good voice throughout, and for an act that spent their first 6 years of existance swearing they'd never play live, they've become very comfortable on stage.

Encores included a remarkably jolly version of Madness' "My Girl", and to finish, their new single (but old song) "It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas", complete with dancing Christmas Trees and fake snow, sending us out into some real snow and a 30-minute wait outside North Greenwich station, but don't get me started on that...

The show was filmed for DVD, so if you missed it, look out for "Pandemonium" next year. "Here today, built to last" indeed.(The PSB Christmas EP is at Spotify here, includes "My Girl" and their version of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" - http://open.spotify.com/album/4DZfMTDyBwnJQ0k1PaT6U4)

Just a quick pointer to the start of Season 3 of “The Big Bang Theory” on E4 tonight at 9.00pm (apologies to those without Freeview.)

I don’t want to oversell it, but it’s an excellent, good-natured (and funny) sitcom that’s getting next to no publicity here, despite being the most-watched (non-sport, -news or -reality) TV programme in the US right now (admittedly not a guarantee of quality, but it obviously has something going for it.)

The show’s secret weapon is Jim Parsons’ brilliant turn as supernerd Sheldon, a cult waiting to happen. Worth giving a try, just sayin’.