Sunday 31 May 2009

Somfay



I have been listening to a lot of electronic music over the past couple of months as most of the indie/guitar stuff with the exception of the Wave Pictures new album and the Meursault ep I have heard recently at best can be described as boring. Somebody prove me wrong.

I keep coming back to a track by Somfay called Fricative White (From A Whisper To A Scream). The track is quite a curiosity as there are no discernible instruments and really no tune. It is basically made up from layers of noise building upon layers of noise to produce a hypnotic track which echoes around your head long after the track has finished.

At 27 : 47 mins long, it does ask for a bit of commitment, however once you get into it, it is really hard to believe that it is that long, as the sounds totally suck you in and you are soon lost in the music/noise.

I usually have it on just as soon as I can after take of on a plane, as it calms me right down, which is no mean feat as anybody who has ever flown with me will testify; flying scares the shit out of me.

I hope that the length and mention of noise hasn't put you off, give it a try. It is a strangely haunting and beautiful collage of sound (how fucking pretentious does that sound?)

Go on give it a listen!

Somefay - Fricative White (From A Whisper To A Scream)

Saturday 30 May 2009

While The Sun Shines.



Get yourself an ice cold can of Irn Bru, roll a fat one and listen to this in the garden in the glorious sunshine.

Smith & Mighty - Walk On (Long version)

Friday 29 May 2009

How Good Are ?



Absolutely bloody brilliant.

The Wave Pictures - If You Leave It Alone

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I don't know why but I've been listening to a lot of stuff from 1987 recently, probably nostalgia. I have came to the conclusion that it was a very good year for House and Hip Hop.

Today's posting is by Eric B and Rakim, the duo who released my favorite hip-hop album Paid In Full.

I Know You Got Soul was the second single from the album and was originally released in 1987. The track features so many couplets which would be sampled or repeated in future hip-hop and dance tracks from the opening line "it's bin a long time/I shouldna left you" to the final words "Rakim a say Peace" but possibly the best known and most sampled is "pump up the volume". The orignal tune is an updating of Bobby Byrd's 'I Know You Got Soul' with Rakim's unmistakable rapping over Eric B's beats.

The version posted is the 1988 remix, which I think was released on the back of the success of the seminal Coldcut remix of Paid in Full. Instead of Coldcut, the remixers here were Double Trouble alias Danny D and one Norman Cook on his first foray into dance music after the Housemartins split up. The remix was done without the knowledge of Eric B and Rakim and was basically put together by Cook using the a capella from the b-side of the original single over the top of a rather famous break and piling on the samples, as he didn't have access to the masters of the original. I don't think that they would get away with that these days, definitely not on a dance off shoot of a major as a bootleg white label maybe.

Eric B & Rakim - I Know You Got Soul (Six Minutes of Soul, Double Trouble remix)

Tuesday 26 May 2009

Imelda May



I'm off to see Imelda May again tonight. Last time it was like going back in time to the late 50's, more quiffs than a Smiths convention.

Imelda May - Wild About My Lovin'

Blue Harlem - Drown In My Own Tears

The Blue Harlem track is from when Imelda May was the singer with them, their sound is more jazz and blues than the more rockabilly feel of her solo stuff.

Sister Sneaker Sister Soul



This was the first thing that I heard from My Latest Novel, a 5 piece band from Greenock. As befits a band from the dreich Clyde coast their music is quite melancholic at times but not depressingly so. Sister Sneaker Sister Soul was their first single and can be found on the excellent debut Wolves.

They have just released their second album Deaths and Entrances last week, which I haven't got round to listening to yet.

My Latest Novel - Sister Sneaker Sister Soul

Sunday 24 May 2009

What the fuck was that?



Those were the exact words I uttered on my introduction to Upside Down by the Jesus and Mary Chain.

A lot of people go on about the first time that they heard the Smiths and the effect that ultimate indie band had on them but I didn't really get it. I am not here to slag off the Smiths, I really like some of the band's output, however I never really got into that sensitive, Oscar Wilde quoting, 60's kitchen sink drama side of them that some of the fanboys I knew did and as for the celibacy thing that was incongruous to a hormonally charged 15 year old.

What I'm trying to get at here is that I hadn't had that Damascean moment that a lot of my friends had and I was beginning to wonder why not? I liked a lot of different music from Hendrix to The Clash and SLF but there was nothing that I was fanatical about, nothing that was mine.

Until that dark grey day at the beginning of 1985, a couple of months after the single's release, when a friend gave me a compilation tape that his elder brother had made. I rewound the tape and played Upside Down over and over again which was quite painfully through the earphones of my red Sony Walkman. I just couldn't get enough of the track. I had found my band, I thought. The track had everything, primal drumming, vicious feedback an underlying feeling of malevolence but beneath it all was a really catchy song.

I eagerly awaited the next single Never Understand, which didn't disappoint and the glorious debut that was Psychocandy the merits of which I could bang on about all day.

My love affair with the Mary Chain dissolved with the third album Automatic which to this day I have trouble playing. I did, however continue to buy everything they released and the odd glimmer of genius is apparent on all of their subsequent releases just not in abundance as on the first 2 albums.

From the Jesus and Mary Chain I found the Velvet Underground and Can who, eventually, with the help of a certain Radio 1 DJ led me to The Fall .

Jesus And Mary Chain - Upside Down

Just what is needed on a Sunday morning to blow the cobwebs away.

I remember watching the band's first appearance on the Whistle Test and looking on in awe until my mate, S broke the spell, saying "if that was John Lydon, the mic stand would have went over on the first attempt, they're playing at it" which sparked a highly charged discussion.

Saturday 23 May 2009

Everybody Loves A Cover . . . Right?



A couple of mellow, relaxing covers for you today.

First up is Mechanical Bride with a cover of Rihanna's Umbrella. The song has been covered a ton of times to varying degrees of success from The manic Street Preachers to Tegan and Sara. This version by Lauren Doss is by far the best, excluding the original, she turns it into a melancholic thing of beauty. Umbrella in it's original form was my song of 2007, I can't think of a single tune from that year that I enjoyed more than it, it would have been perfect if it was not for Jay - Z pointless piss poor rap at the start.

Mechanical Bride - Umbrella

Next is a cover of Pressure Drop originally by Toots & The Maytals, covered here by Irish singer/songwriter David Kitt. Pressure Drop is another track which has been covered a fair few times, most notably by the Clash but also by Robert Palmer and The Specials.

David Kitt - Pressure Drop

Friday 22 May 2009

Just Because



Not your usual, angsty, twee indie sound from Trembling Blue Stars. But a beguiling piece of ambience to watch the sun set while having a G&T.

Have a good weekend

This is also for Simon over at The Songs That People Sing whose wife gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, Alfie yesterday.

Trembling Blue Stars - One Wish Granted

Its Friday . . . Let's Dance



Today it's the turn of 2 big hitters in the world of soul. One each from 2 of the most influential labels of the 60's, Stax and Motown.

First up is a track from my all time favorite soul album Otis Blue. This album was released in 1965 and was Otis' third album most of the tracks on the album are down tempo tunes, however with Shake, Otis turns an already good dance tune by Sam Cooke into an absolute stormer that you just can't help but move to.

Otis Redding - Shake

The next track is an unreleased track from Motown by Gladys Knight & The Pips - If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love. Like a lot of stuff from the Motown archives, when this came to light it became an in demand track on the Northern Soul Scene, even though the pressings were crackly copies from poor master tapes. It never ceases to amaze me the quality of the stuff that Gordy either never got around to releasing or deemed not good enough.

Glady Knight & The Pips - If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love

Thursday 21 May 2009

A Fucking Duck House!


Now they're just taking the piss.

There are no words that could possibly convey my contempt.

Crass - Do They Owe Us A Living?

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Go Now



Does anybody remember a short series of films on BBC 2 in 1995 called Love Bites, I think?

I think there were three of them. They were all either music related or had great soundtracks, at least the two I remember did.

One was called Loved Up and concerned the lives of 2 pilled up ravers. I bought the double album soundtrack of this , for what reason I don't know as I already had all of the tracks bar a couple on 12".

The better film by far, Go Now, starred Robert Carlyle, Juliet Aubrey and Jimmy Nesbitt before he became famous. The story revolved round a couple and their attempts to come to terms with one of them being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The story was both touching and extremely funny at times, especially the banter between Carlyle and his Sunday League football team mates. The film was set in Bristol and Tricky had a cameo in it.

I taped all of these films and had an urge to watch Go Now last night, until I remembered that a few months ago in a moment of stupidity I decided to clear out the glory hole where all the junk is stored and take the contents to the cowp (refuse yard in English). This included all of the videos we owned, reasoning that as we no longer had a video recorder, there was no need to keep the videos. Bugger! Thank god I didn't use this reasoning with the boxes of tapes.

Anyway, here is the theme tune to Go Now in it's original form belted out by Bessie Banks. No matter how many times I hear this the hairs still stand up on the back of my neck and my heart skips a beat, an absolutely beautiful record.

Bessie Banks - Go Now

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Snooker Loopy



Who else but the genuis that is Mark E Smith would write a song about snooker?

Chas n who?

Not very interesting fact - Eminem sampled Chas n Dave on My Name Is. It's amazing what you can learn from Radio 4.

Von Sudenfed - Slow Down Ronnie

Monday 18 May 2009

Monday , . . then it's the Mudd Club!



We're back in student disco land, 22 years ago (christ almighty, is it really that long ago) with this post.

As I've mentioned before my time of penury and starvation, better known as student life started in Aberdeen in 1987 where I spent my first year, running up a debt that the bosses of HBOS or RBS would have been proud of, dancing and drinking the week away and attending the odd lecture or even more infrequently a tutorial or two.

Monday night was one of the best nights out in the city, well for students at least. The Mudd club held in the local Ritzy was where you went to hear all the latest indie stuff, have a good dance, meet and try to cop off and drink increadibly cheap Furstenberg, which for some reason was always on promotion. As a result the Tuesday was more often than not written off as a bad idea, happy days.

Here are two tracks I remember hearing a lot at the Mudd Club and subsequently purchasing from One Up records in it's original location on Diamond Street.

That Petrol Emotion - Big Decision

Pop Will Eat Itself - Beaver Patrol

Sunday 17 May 2009

Is Nothing Sacred?



I don't know how I missed this up until now. While perusing the Sundays this morning my attention was drawn to a quite tacky advert for Quadrophenia. Not another dvd release I thought to myself but on closer inspection no, a stage adaptation . . . a fucking stage adaptation!

Growing up during the mod revival, having mates who to this day are still mods at heart, and with the invention of the VCR, I must have seen Quadrophenia at least once a month for about 6 years. So even as a non mod (I was always a bit too scruffy, too much of a punk and couldn't get my head around the modernist tag when effectively they were following the fashions from 2 decades previously) I have a soft spot for Jimmy, Chalky, Ferdy and the others.

Just how the hell do they intend to translate this cult film of my youth to stage? Take the opening scene for example Jimmy travelling along the streets of the big smoke at night on his LI. Just how are they going to convey the buzz that he is on in a theatre? Simple, they aren't. I know that stage adaptations happen all the time and are mostly successful but I just can't for the life of me see how this is going to work. What about the music are they just going to play the cd over the PA, or are they going to get some second rate Who tribute band to perform the soundtrack?

The stage production is sponsored by Lambretta for fuck's sake!

If anybody is seriously thinking of going to see this, do yourself a favour log on to Amazon, Ebay or similar buy the double cd, the original not the soundtrack and the DVD and watch Quadrophenia the way Townshend intended.

What will be next Easy Rider the musical?

The Who - I've Had Enough

Make Me Sad



While scouring the internet a couple of months ago for something a bit different, as is my want and much to L's consternation I came across a review for a split 7" single by 2 Scottish bands Wake The President and The Kingfishers neither of whom I had heard before.

On streaming the Wake The President track it became apparent that the band had been listening to a lot of post punk and Postcard in particular, not a bad thing.

The real find for me was the track on the other side, Make Me Sad. On listening to this I was transported back to the mid 80's, it reminded me of Friends Again, especially Honey At The Core for some reason, although it sounds absolutely nothing like it. On further investigation it turns out that the song is a cover of a Vic Goddard song. Goddard's band Subway Sect being a major influence on the Postcard bands. I played the track about 5 or 6 times and decided that the single had to be purchased.

This is when things start to get interesting. The single is on Aufgeladen und Bereit a German label out of Hamburg which seems to specialise in Scottish Indiepop with bands such as Found, Future Pilot AKA amongst others and is also Vic Goddard's label. If Scottish indiepop is your bag then you should check the label out. There is a particularly good compilation album called Get While The Getting's Good (another reference to Scottish pop as the title has been borrowed from the title of a track on The Orange Juice album) 19 tracks which cover everything from the afore mentioned indiepop to modern folk. I can vouch for the service as I got my 7" within 4 days of ordering it, quicker than orders from down south at times.

This single was actually released in April last year and unfortunately is now sold out.

The Kingfishers - Make Me Sad

Saturday 16 May 2009

Dogs



I had, to my shame, sort of forgotten all about this band until a mate asked me to play End Of An Era from the band's debut double a-side, which if you hadn't been lucky enough to get a copy when it first came out, would've set you back 40 to 50 quid on e-bay but now can be purchased for a fiver, ah the fickle minds of music fans.

My first experience of the band was when they supported The Raveonettes at the Wah Wah Hut. It was all loud, thrashy guitars and shouty, hoarse vocals. Absolutely magic.

The band have released 2 albums, the debut Turn Against This Land in 2005 and the follow-up Tall Stories From Under The Table in 2007 but nothing since. There is nothing revolutionary about their sound, however if you like loud guitars, shouty vocals, lyrics full of disdain for cokeheads and the odd Orwell reference then you should like this bunch. The name, however remains a terrible choice.

Dogs - Red

Dogs - Winston Smith

Friday 15 May 2009

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance.



A bit of acidy, progressive house today.

The track is by The Paingang an alias for Phil Perry who ran the Full Circle club and remixed loads of tracks in the early 90's, including nearly everything on Cowboy and was also responsible for a not too shabby mix of DeNiro by the Disco Evangelists. This single came out in 1993 on Skunk records and that's about all I know about it. The version posted is the b-side which has addded squelchy 303s.

Not the most illuminating of posts but the track is a good un.

The Paingang - Slider (Tweeky 303 mix)

Wednesday 13 May 2009

Lazy Line Painter Jane



The sun has been shining here for 3 whole days. It is amazing the difference a little sunshine has on people. Everybody seems a little less tense, a little more relaxed. Long may it continue.

I haven't been able to get this song out of my head all day. It's my favorite Belle and Sebastian tune. It was the 2nd ep by the band, was released in 1997 and got to number 41 in the charts. The female vocal is by Monica Queen once of the band Thrum and now a solo artist.

Belle & Sebastian - Lazy Line Painter Jane

The video below is from the day when the band and others including Camera Obscura and V Twin took over the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow during the West End festival. It was a gorgeous sunny Saturday in June 2004 and it just happened to be M's first concert, aged 8 months.

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Sponging Bastards



I was not going to comment on this latest debacle from the Palace of Westminster, however the constant stream of gits who are neither ashamed nor apologetic about what they have done has got my blood boiling.

These are the same people who are forever deriding people for benefit fraud and calling for harsher penalties for those who are caught abusing the welfare system. Should not the same rules apply to these chancers, apparently not. Now that they have been caught, they have the affront to say that they have done nothing illegal and everything is above board but they will give the money back. If it was not wrong then why the fuck are they giving the money back?

The argument that the MPs benefits are there to supplement their salaries which haven't kept up with similar positions in the private sector holds no water with me. I always believed that people went into politics due to conviction left, right or centre, not to make money, apart from the fact that £64 766 is quite a substantial figure that most people would probably be very happy with. Seemingly not if you want to be a politician, it seems that they truely believe that they are worth more than 3 times the national average salary. If their financial remuneration is the main reason for them entering politics or higher on their list of priorities than the welfare of their potential constituents then maybe they should mention this fact at selection interviews and if still successful on their campaign literature.

The thing that really angers me is that this lot have done more to harm democracy in this country than any right wing or extremist organisation could every dream of achieving. Just wait
and see if the BNP and UKIP don't see there share of the vote swell in the up coming European and Local Elections. Which will only mean that the you and me, the ordinary citizens of the UK will suffer as a result.

The Fall - Foldin' Money

The Arrogants - People Love Money More Than People.

Jamie T - If You've Got The Money

Monday 11 May 2009

Dick Gaughan



I'm feeling rather folky at the moment so here are a couple of covers from my favorite Scottish folk singer well known for his political songs.

First up is a cover of a Joe South song and the first track I ever heard by Gaughan.

Dick Gaughan - The Games People Play

The words to the second are by Hamish Henderson the finest poet to come out of Scotland bar none. The lyrics are concerned with the change a foot in Scotland at the time of it's writing and Henderson's hope for an all inclusive, just future. The tune behind the words is The Bloody Fields of Flanders. The story of this beautiful song can be found here.

Dick Gaughan - The Freedom Come-All-Ye

Saturday 9 May 2009

Does There Have To Be A Reason?



If there does, then, it's miserable up here, cold, wet and windy and this tune has just lifted my spirits. I haven't a clue what she is going on about but something this lovely can't be depressing can it?

Gal Costa - Baby

More Big Beat



Yesterday's post on Fatboy Slim resulted in a request from churlish dervish for Phatty's Lunchbox by Mekon on the Wall of Sound label mentioned in the post.

Mekon - Phatty's Lunchbox

I don't have much info on this release only that it came out in 1994 and was ( I hate to use labels) one of the prototype Big Beat records, with it's hip hop beats and sampled guitars. It was also only the second release on Wall of Sound, the label that would later release tunes by the Wiseguys, Ceasefire and more widely known the Propellerheads, amongst others.

While digging it out, I started to think of the records that I would play along with this at the time and pulled out a few more twelves that can be loosely termed "Big Beat", which I think I will be posting over the course of the weekend.

First up is a track which is technically not a track as it is comprised of a whole load of tracks and is not from a 12" single either, although it is from a vinyl album, Brassic Beats Volume 2. It's by the Bassbin Twins and is called 2 Turntables And A Crate Of Skint. It basically does what it says on the label, the Bassbin Twins get a load of Skint records and mix them together with the aid of 2 turntables.

The Bassbin Twins - 2 Turntables and A Crate Of Skint.

Second up is Monkey Mafia with their first single Blow The Whole Joint Up. Monkey Mafia was one of Jon Carter's aliases. The track has quite a recognisable guitar sample.

Monkey Mafia - Blow The Whole Joint Up.

Friday 8 May 2009

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



How about some Big Beat buffoonery to kick of the weekend.

Ctel, over at Acid Ted had a post last Saturday about Fatboy Slim which got me reminiscing.

When Everybody Loves a 303 came out and more leftfield sounds started to get noticed it was a breath of fresh air for me. Before Big Beat and Cook in particular put the fun back in dance music everything was getting either too dark or disappearing up it's own arse. Dj's were starting to believe the hype and sets became one long exercise in mixing and technique to the detriment of the original objective of having a good time. .

Then along came Skint, Wall of Sound and others with these totally over the top amphetamine driven tracks aimed directly at the dance floor and not taking themselves too seriously. It was brilliant for a time but like everything else in dance music it became a parody of itself as more and more less talented artists jumped on the bandwagon.

Here from 1995 is my favourite track from Fatboy Slim's first album, Better Living Through Chemistry.

Fatboy Slim - The Sound Of Milwaukee.

For more stuff like this check out the Skint Brassic Beats compilations or get your hands on The Chemical Brothers Live At The Social Volume 1 here , you'll love it.

Wednesday 6 May 2009



I had one of those strange moments today when you start to question whether your iPod has become a sentient being.

I had reason to be in the West End of Glasgow for work today and decided to visit the Oxfam music shop on Byres Rd during lunch, as you do. Just as I was turning into the car park above Somerfield, Dear John by Eugene Kelly came on the iPod.

For those of you not familiar with the song, it's subject matter is the disgust that Kelly feels about the transformation of Glasgow's best book shop (John Smith's on Byres Rd), into a corporate coffee house.

Eugene Kelly - Dear John

Before I was aware of this song I used to rant to L every time we were up the West End about, how the demise of John Smith's was a criminal act and that the weegies would soon rue the day they turned it into a coffee house, etc, etc, etc. John Smith's was not just the best book shop in Glasgow, the 2nd floor also had an extensive vinyl section.

On several occasions I was able to pick up limited editions when Fopp up the road (still an indie at the time with loads of vinyl) let me down, New Paths To Helicon 7" being one.

Mogwai - New Paths To Helicon

On another subject Mathew from Song By Toad sent me what is possibly the most beautiful bit of music I have heard so far this year, Nothing Broke by Meursault. It is an acoustic 5 track ep which is limited to 300 copies, so if I were you I would go here and order a copy immediately to avoid bitter disappointment and resentment later on, Mathew may even send you a lovely postcard along with the cd, mine's was of Gannets.

I haven't mentioned Meursault yet here and I'm not sure why not. I bought the album last year and flogged it to death for ages as it is one of the most original albums I have heard in ages. A possible reason is due to the fact that I haven't yet caught them live, every time I hear they are gigging I've got something else on. A case in point being tomorrow night, the 7th May when they will be at the Bowery in Edinburgh, bugger!

Meursault - Red Candle Bulb

Stellastarr*



My first encounter with Stellastar came when they supported The Raveonettes at King Tut's back in 2003. I was not expecting anything great as the previous couple of times at the Wah Wah Hut the support acts had been abysmal. Young People being a prime example of New York hype over substance, absolute pish and if anyone ever hits a steel pot with a drum stick over the top of a microphone again I will be forced to resort to violence. So when Shawn Christensen and the rest of the band took to the stage, things did not bode well as they looked like painfully hip NY art school types and I expected some sub strokes type thing or even worse. What I got was a sound that reeled me in from the first chords until they left the stage nearly 30 minutes later.


There was something naggingly familiar about the vocals and especially the guitar which I couldn't put my finger on until later, the guitar playing was pure Stuart Adamson. Sure this was derivative of a lot of 80s indie but it was done well and the band looked as though they were enjoying themselves. Even my mate, possibly the most cynical person I know had to concede that they were good.


Since then I have seen Stellastarr twice, a further time at King Tut's and at the ABC 2. Both shows were during the tours to promote the albums Stellastarr and Harmonies For The Haunted. At the ABC gig the guy standing next to me said "That's the best tenner I have ever fucking spent", seemingly somebody had recommended the band to him and he had gone on the off chance having never heard them. I had to concur that they were great value for money and were better that time than on the previous 2 occassions.


Stellastarr are due to release their third album Civilized on the 7th of June and hopefully will be touring the UK later in the year. Details can be found here.




Monday 4 May 2009

Sunscreem


Before L and I got together we knew of each other as we had mutual friends and frequented the same pubs in our hometown, strangely however, very rarely were we in each others company, apart from me gate crashing the odd party at her house when out my face.

About 18 months before we started going out she asked me if I had this record and would I tape it for her. It was Sunscreem - Love U More, I did have it and said that I would record it and bring it to the pub the following week.

Sunscreem are described in Wikipedia as a "techno/house band", however I would describe them as a pop house group who employed some great remixers. I bought Love U More due to the fact that it was mixed by Boys Own (Farley/Heller) then bought the second twelve for the Slam mix.

So when L asked for me to tape the track she really didn't know what she was letting herself in for. I recorded all 9 of the mixes and filled the C90 up with similar stuff, Secret Life, Fire Island etc. How was I to know that L wasn't into dance music, just happened to like that song.
I eventually found out a few years later, when I asked her about the tape. It transpired that she didn't like the mixes that much and went out and bought the album on cd in order to have the correct version, now there is a novel way in which home taping made somebody buy an album.

I lost interest with Sunscreem after buying the 2nd single Perfect Motion for the Boys Own and Leftfield mixes.

Sunscreem - Love U More (album mix)

Sunscreem - Love U More (Slam mix)

Sunday 3 May 2009

All The Best Faither!

We are back from spending a couple of days away with the folks, my brother and his better half for my dad's birthday. He was 70 yesterday.

I haven't really got any music that my dad likes.

I can't recall my father ever talking about music when I was growing up, he was more likely to talk about golf and football. In fact, my abiding memories of my faither and music would be him shouting up the stairs "D, turn that bloody thing down or I'll throw it out the window" when I was a teenager or having to listen to Radio Clyde 2 when travelling to work with him after jacking in Uni. If you've never heard Clyde 2 count yourself fortunate as there are few more unsettling things than hearing Lena Martell belt out " One day at a time sweet Jesus" at 06:30 in the morning in the midst of a Scottish winter when you know that you have eight hours on a roof on a building site, with only the respite of half an hour at 1pm in a freezing portakabin to look forward to.

We haven't always gotten on and most of our views are polar opposites but on reflection I couldn't have done much better for a dad.

It's really strange but since becoming a father I find myself saying some of the things that he used to say to me such as "you'll have somebody's eye out with that" or "why can't you just keep it in one piece" and it makes me laugh. I just hope I don't have as many differences of opinion with my 2 as him and I have had over the years but then again that is probably inevitable.

Anyway, all the best Andy and here are a few songs that you probably wouldn't like.

Johnny Cash - Father And Son

Marvin Gaye - Stubborn Kind Of Fellow

The Pogues - I'm A Man You Don't Meet Everyday