Coincidences No.s 388, 389 & 390

No. 388 Smith & Cosgrove

Smith

I am sitting having dinner in Glasgow with my friend and former colleague Stuart Cosgrove. An alert comes up on his phone that Mark E. Smith of The Fall has died. Stuart interviewed Smith when he was at NME. This morning on the plane to Scotland I was reading Stuart’s book ‘Detroit 67: The Year That Changed Soul‘.  In the bit I was reading it mentioned the song ‘There’s a Ghost in My House’. It reminded me of an 80s cover version by The Yachts, a single I have but haven’t listened to or heard for years. As the plane taxied in I looked for that version on Spotify. Unusually couldn’t find it. The version that came up was by The Fall – Smith & co. would have known it from being in the Manchester-Wigan Northern Soul zone.

No. 389 Cosgrove & McCallum

Brown

I am waiting at City Airport when I bump into another old Channel 4 colleague, Neil McCallum, ex-Head of T4/Youth Entertainment & Music. He’s also on the 10.20 to Glasgow. When he was at C4 I used to call him “the hardest working man in showbiz” as he was always first in and last out of Horseferry Road. As I settle down to Stuart’s book on the plane, buffeted by Storm Georgina, the first sentence is about James Brown, using his “hardest working man in showbiz” tag, comparing his workrate to that of The Supremes (their’s was even harder, which Stuart shows lay to some degree behind their eventual split).

No. 390 Chopra & Chopra

Chopra

Last week Deepak Chopra, the American guru character, came up five times – once in Michael Woolf’s ‘Fire & Fury’ (which we are reading currently for our book group); once in relation to Princess Diana; once in the Finnair in-flight magazine; once in connection with an app his son is releasing. But the irony was receiving this text from my friend and colleague Professor Paul Moore at the University of Ulster about my interest in coincidences:

“Saw this with you came to mind…

Live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and you connect with the field of infinite possibilities. – Deepak Chopra

from Zen Moments”

A meta-coincidence of the most satisfying kind.

100 Greatest Songs

Ever wondered what the 100 greatest songs of all time are? Well trouble yourself no longer – here they are…

(only one song per artist/band; songs with words, not instrumental)

Hells Bells – AC/DC
The Stars We Are – Marc Almond
Uptown Top Ranking – Althea & Donna
Ventura Highway – America
The House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
Across the Universe – The Beatles
Harrow Road – Big Audio Dynamite
Hyperballad – Bjork
The Last Month of the Year – Blind Boys of Alabama
In the Sun – Blondie
Everything I Own – Ken Boothe
Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed – David Bowie
ESP – Buzzcocks
Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
White Man in Hammersmith Palais – The Clash
Do you really want to hurt me? – Culture Club
Ninety Nine and a Half – Dorothy Love Coates
Alison – Elvis Costello
Just Like Heaven – The Cure
Eloise – The Damned
Knowledge of Beauty – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Soolimon – Neil Diamond (from Hot August Night)
The End – The Doors
Fruit Tree – Nick Drake
Ballad of a Thin Man – Bob Dylan
That’s Alright Mama – Elvis
This is the house that Jack built – Aretha Franklin
Sometimes – Michael Franti & Spearhead
Inner City Blues – Marvin Gaye
My Sweet Lord – George Harrison
Hatikvah
Sonny – Bobby Hebb
The Wind Cries Mary – Jimi Hendrix
Winter in America – Gil Scott Heron
A Town Like Malice – The Jam
Jerusalem – hymn
Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
Atmosphere – Joy Division
Danny Boy – Brian Kennedy
Batonga – Angelique Kidjo
Waterloo Sunset – The Kinks
In My Time of Dying – Led Zeppelin
Oh Yoko – John Lennon
Freebird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Jealousy – Geraldine MacGowan [County Clare’s finest]
Fairytale of New York – Shane MacGowan & Kirsty MacColl
The Snake with Eyes of Garnet – Shane MacGowan & the Popes
The Prince – Madness
Like a Prayer – Madonna
Shot by Both Sides – Magazine
My Little Empire – Manic Street Preachers
Natty Dread – Bob Marley & the Wailers
Don’t Want to Know – John Martyn
Wandrin’ Star – Lee Marvin
Move On Up – Curtis Mayfield
Amazing – George Michael
Monkees theme – The Monkees
Moondance – Van Morrison
Police & Thieves – Junior Murvin
Jerusalem the Golden – Effi Netzer singers
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Raglan Road – Sinead O’Connor
West End Girls – Pet Shop Boys
Julia Dream – Pink Floyd
Public Image Limited – PIL
Fanciness – Shabba Ranks & Lady G
Try a Little Tenderness – Otis Redding
Cold Water – Damien Rice
Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
Chase the Devil – Max Romeo & the Upsetters
Street Life – Roxy Music
In a Rut – The Ruts
Anarchy in the UK – The Sex Pistols
If I Was a Bell – Jean Simmons (in Guys & Dolls movie)
One for my baby – Frank Sinatra
Icon – Siouxsie and the Banshees
Because the Night – Patti Smith
Ghost Town – The Specials
For What it’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
Atlantic City – Bruce Springsteen (MTV Plugged session 1992)
Down on Mississippi – Mavis Staples
Father & Son – Cat Stevens
Runaway Boy – The Stray Cats
You’re the Best Thing – The Style Council
Forbidden Colours – David Sylvian & Ruichi Sakamoto (from Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence)
No Scrubs – TLC
Listening Wind – Talking Heads
Fire & Rain – James Taylor
Treason – Teardrop Explodes
Ain’t Too Proud to Beg – The Temptations
The Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy
One – U2
Ivory Madonna – UB40
Mannish Boy – Muddy Waters
My Generation – The Who
Armagideon Time – Willie Williams
That Girl – Stevie Wonder
Old Man – Neil Young
Freedom Suite – The Young Disciples