On Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s brilliant breakfast show on BBC 6 Music, they have a feature called First, Last and Everything, where guests share the first record they ever bought or owned, the most recent one they’ve been enjoying and the record that means ‘everything’ to them. I am unlikely to get invited onto the show to reveal my First, Last and Everything so I am going to do it on here instead.
FIRST, LAST AND EVERYTHING
FIRST
I can’t remember the first record I ever owned. At a guess, it’s a toss up between She Loves You by The Beatles and Not Fade Away by The Rolling Stones. I’d have been about seven years old at the time, which just goes to show the levels of sophistication in my musical tastes, or maybe my mum just heard me singing the songs when they were on the radio and decided to buy the records. I’d ask her, but sadly she’s too dead these days.
If I can’t remember the first single I ever owned, I can certainly remember the first records I paid for with my own money. My first album was Taproot Manuscript by Neil Diamond, a staggeringly brilliant piece of work created by an artist who was gradually morphing from singer-songwriter to cabaret singer. Side One was mainstream Diamond, with five tracks including the classic Cracklin’ Rosie and one of my personal Diamond favourites Coldwater Morning. Side Two was mind-blowingly different, An African Trilogy. To quote Wikipedia (because it’s bang on): ‘The 19-minute suite saw African folk styles twined with blues and gospel elements to create what Diamond called ‘a folk ballet’. Basically World Music years before World Music was ‘invented’. If you haven’t heard it, I strongly suggest you do. It will change your view on Neil Diamond forever.
My first single was two minutes and 15 seconds of sheer magic, Ride A White Swan by T. Rex. Marc Bolan’s lyrics were little more than gobbledegook, with all manner of weird references to mythology, yet they somehow worked, in the case of this song, quite brilliantly. And not a drum to be heard. Not a bad first single, I reckon.
LAST
I can bore for England with my love for finding new music, but I’ll spare you that today. My latest musical love is MJ Lenderman, a member of the popular beat combo outfit, whom I had never heard of until I started Googling to find out who MJ Lenderman was. Anyway, his latest album, Boat Songs, which actually came out in 2022, is effing brilliant. Lenderman is described as ‘alt country’, which may be true (who cares?) and there is a remarkable resemblance to Neil Young.
Recently, I bought the album and the song I have chosen from it is You Have Bought Yourself A Boat. I am playing it pretty well on repeat at the moment. I hope we hear much more about him in the near future.
EVERYTHING
How the hell can you choose just one song that is your ‘everything’? Why even try? The answer to the first question, ‘you can’t’ and the second ‘because I can’. There’s no point in even offering forth a number of possibilities because there are so many. Recently, when I compiled a playlist of some of my favourite songs, I was up around 150 and nowhere near a point where I might have a complete playlist, so I gave up. But since I have to choose one song, then here goes.
My everything, my very favourite song ever, is Since I Left You by The Avalanches. And the weird thing is that it’s actually a mix of samples from 17 other songs, beautifully put together by a bunch of geniuses from Australia. Because there were so many samples, the royalties were widely shared out and the Avalanches didn’t make a penny out of it.
I would say the song washes all over you, a shimmering summer shower, and I am coming to the view it may have to be my outro song at my funeral when I go off to the oven.
So, that’s my First, Last And Everything. What’s yours? I’d love to know.
