Love – Part One: We Are Ugly But We Have The Music

When I was but a boy I used to listen to Capital FM. Back then it was the glory days of "Doctor" (an honorary title I believe) Fox, Pat Sharpe and Mick Brown. Whilst they weren’t exactly cutting edge even then, they were a welcome alternative from a Radio 1 that was very much in the doldrums. Every year Capital would do their Top 500 Songs Of All Time and it was a must for a certain 15 year old and his tape recorder (that’s what we used to do to get free music before all this downloading stuff happened).

You see, back then I wasn’t really into "proper music"; that all started with The Beatles 67-70 compilation, REM and the purchase of a Lemonheads t-shirt before I’d heard any of their music whilst on a school trip to Derbyshire. My first two "gigs" were Michael Jackson at Wembley Stadium on the Dangerous Tour and Bryan Adams at Wembley Arena. I stand by both of these as they were pretty fantastic. Can you believe BA played for three and a half hours? Can you believe he even had that many songs?

Anyway, this penchant for pop and soft rock was very well catered for by Capital Radio. This was just before the Britpop years when REM and Nirvana were the only bands making it onto the charts that weren’t produced by Pete "The Old Grey" Waterman (imagine if he had got his magic hands on In Utero, it might actually be listenable...). Both bands would be represented in the Top 500, with Everybody Hurts generally featuring quite high up because The Great British Public, they adore their love songs you see. The top spot was generally a 3-way battle between Careless Whisper, Everything I Do (I Do it for You) and, the aberration, Bohemian Rhapsody which people think must be good because it’s long and they don’t understand it.

The love song also had a permanent home, or zone, on Capital in the form of The Love Zone, hosted I think by Charlie Jordan at the time, although I may be wrong there. A lot of my favourite songs still probably date back to that show and may hopefully explain my misguided affection for More Than Words by Extreme. Recently it came to mind that most of the bands I like nowadays can be a little shy of writing "direct" love songs. If they venture there at all it’s generally heavy with metaphor and almost certainly doesn’t feature the word 'love'. It seems almost impossible for the indie kids of today to put together a compilation expressing their love for their beau without mortally offending them. So I’ve decided to try to help them out.

First up is one that is quite personal to me and reminds me of a particular girl and that is First Day Of My Life by Bright Eyes. It’s the ultimate in the genre of "I’m a bit rubbish at this kind of thing but please stick with me because I love you", see also Woman by John Lennon for the Love Zone equivalent:

And so I thought I’d let you know
That these things take forever
I especially am slow
But I realize that I need you
And I wondered if I could come home



Bright Eyes – First Day Of My Life


If you like Bright Eyes then I’d say his best collection is Lifted. Get it from here.


Next up is My Winding Wheel by Ryan Adams. This is in the "I’m in love but it makes me a bit sad" category. It’s about being in love when you don’t have the self-confidence of a cartoon character or a Hip Hop star. Full of aching yearning and vulnerability and confusion and insecurity and…well, just loveliness. From the Love Zone think Just My Imagination by The Temptations.

So buy a pretty dress
And wear it out tonight
For all the boys you think could out do me
Or better still be my winding wheel



Ryan Adams – My Winding Wheel


Get Heartbreaker from here.


Next up we have My Wandering Days Are Over by Belle and Sebastian which is firmly in the genre of "I have found the answer and the answer is you". From the Love Zone think Queen’s You’re My Best Friend. Tell him/her to ignore the stuff about Circus Boys and Disenchanted Ponies...

You know my bip-bopping days are over
I hung my boots up and then retired from the disco floor
Now the centre of my so called being is
The space between your bed and wardrobe with the louvre doors



Belle and Sebastian – My Wandering Days Are Over


I’m sure everyone is already aware of the mighty B&S but if not then get the Push Bar Man To Open Old Wounds collection, then Tigermilk, then If You’re Feeling Sinister and have your life changed.


Finally we have If I Should Fall Behind by Bruce Springsteen. This is something that probably would have appeared on the Love Zone itself if they had been aware of it. My friends had this as their first dance at their wedding, so it’s that kind of thing, but The Boss style. I’m going to see him on 14th so fingers crossed he plays this! The sentiment is beautiful and I can’t think of any better way to describe wanting to be with someone for the rest of your life.

We said we’d walk together baby come what may
That come the twilight should we lose our way
If as we’re walkin a hand should slip free
Ill wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me



Bruce Springsteen – If I Should Fall Behind


It’s on Lucky Town, so get it from here.


So that’s to start you off. If you use them let me know how it goes. Tiny Dancing - the web-site that not only gives you great songs but also helps get you laid... that’s our new tag-line.

Coming soon – The Break Up Songs


Ricky Stardust


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