Brahms and List

Songwriters, the poor diddums, often try to convince us lesser folks that penning lyrics is hard. Phoey says we. Firstly, if it's so hard how do you explain the genius of 2 Unlimited (exhibit 1: "Techno! Techno! Techno! Techno!"') or the silliness of Toto ("I know that I must do what's right as sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti")? 

What's more, the songs played on Centrelinked this week proved that as long as you have a decent tune you can just write yourself a list of random stuff, sing along and a hit record can be yours. Here's what got played, with a bit of a summary of what their lists were about.     

   

• Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley (things you can do instead of standing on shoes)
• Kiss Off - the Violent Femmes (numbered things, with ten being EVERYTHING) 
• Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3) - Ian Dury and the Blockheads (see title)
• 52 Girls - B-52s (names of girls. guess how many.)
• Run DNA - The Avalanches (things that fit in backpacks)
• Choose Life - PF Project featuring Ewan McGregor (icons of middle-class death)
• It's Grim Up North - The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (Northern towns)
• Vogue - Madonna (Hollywood stars)
• My Favourite Things - Julie Andrews (raindrops, roses, whiskers on kittens etc)
• Far Out - Blur (celestial bodies)
• Palaces of Montezuma - Grinderman (things Nick Cave would give his lady)
• The Referee's Alphabet - Half Man Half Biscuit (things football referees observe)
• Rappin' in Plastic - The Lovely Eggs (Twin Peaks characters)
• It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - REM (stuff)

Some others that didn't quite make the list list:

• We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel (things Baby Boomers remember)
• Kinky Boots - Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee (boots and boot appreciators)
• Hey Matthew - Karel Fialka (80s children's TV programs and professions)
• Song for Whoever - Beautiful South (girls names exploited by songwriters)
• Collarbone - Fujiya and Miyagi (body parts)
• What Did the Hippie Have in His Bag - Cornershop (hippie shit)

 Your tuppenceworth's are welcome as always. 


Fancy listening? Centrelinked is on from 11am (AEST) on Saturday mornings from 11am thanks to 98.9 North West FM. 

All That Glitters

So you might have noticed that there's going to be some large scale competitive sports thingy going on next week. Whilst Centrelinked hates any kind of bandwagon jumping and would never try to make any self-serving connection with 'the Games' that hadn't been authorised personally by Lord Sebastian of Coe himself and signed in his own blue blood, we thought what the hell and had a golden theme. Tunes were:  

• Fools Gold – Stone Roses
• The Golden Age – TV On the Radio
• Gold Soundz – Pavement
• LES Artists - Santogold
• Gold – XTC
• Band of Gold - Freda Payne
• I am the Black Gold of the Sun – Nu-Yorican Soul
• All That Glitters – Death in Vegas
• What’s Golden – Jurassic 5
• Gold and Silver – Toots and the Maytals
• I’ve Got a Golden Ticket - Charlie and (lazy) Grandpa Joe
• Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow - Felt
• The Golden Age of Aviation – the Lucksmiths
• The Golden Age of Nicotine – Custard
• Heart of Gold – Neil Young
• Golden Earrings – Peggy Lee
• Golden Slumbers – the Beatles
• Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey
• The Man with the Golden Gun - Lulu
• Gold Digger - Kanye West and Jamie Foxx
• Golden Years – David Bowie
• The Golden Path – the Chemical Brothers and Wayne Coyne
• Oh La La - Goldfrapp
• Gold – Spandau Ballet
• Theme from the Golden Girls (Thank You for Being a Friend)

There are so many others that could have been played but for reasons of length (like James' rather mental 7 minutes of Goldmother) and highly restricted availability (Gruff Rhys' 2012 Record Store Day limited 7" Gold Medal Winner) we had to leave it there. Feel free to leave your own personal golden nuggets in the comments below...


Centrelinked - Saturday's 11am on 98.9 North West FM (www.northwestfm.org) 

Ecoutez et Repetez

Something slightly different on Centrelinked this week as we celebrated Bastille Day with a few French tunes to get folks in the right frame of mind. I was never going to be able to cover a century of chanson in 45 minutes so it was a case of playing a few personal French favourites. And Joe le Taxi. 


This is what went to air (with some reasons why if you like that kind of thing)...


Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher - Eileen: French versions of English songs were all the rage in the 1960s (with some coming the other way such as My Way/Comme d'habitude) and Eileen's take on These Boots are Made for Walkin' is still one of the better Franglais floor fillers from 'les Années Ye-Ye.'


Joe le Taxi - Vanessa Paradis: not strictly one of my favourite French songs but included because it represents the first time I was ever encouraged to listen to pop music by a school teacher. Without Mlle Paradis I might never have taken the time to listen to other French music so she deserves some kudos for that (although not for the terrible dancing in the film clip). 


Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi - Jacques Dutronc: One half of the most beautiful couple in French pop, Jacques Dutronc is so ace he's even included in the lyrics for Brimful of Asha. Other notable hits include Les Cactus and the Spencer Davis-esque Le Responsable but it's Et Moi's... kooky commentary on Parisian existentialism ("50 million Vietnamese, and me and me and me... I think about it then I forget about it") that I come back to most.  


Comment Te Dire Adieu - Francoise Hardy: although more famous than her husband, Mrs Dutronc is as much known for her unquestionable beauty as she is for her music. The gentle Tous les Garcons et les Filles was her biggest hit but Comment te Dire Adieu is a slightly jauntier affair. It's actually another French language adaptation - Serge Gainsbourg creating new lyrics for It Hurts to Say Goodbye. The favour was returned by a solo Jimmy Somerville who covered the French version in 1989.


Noir et Blanc - Brigitte Bardot: if you can get past the eccentric old racist she became there is always something genuinely thrilling about seeing BB in action. It's like watching a James Dean or Marilyn Monroe film instead of just seeing them on airbrushed posters in IKEA, with Bardot every bit as iconic in French culture as Monroe and Dean are to the USA. She can sing and dance a bit too as I found out watching Divine BB, an anthology of her music from 50s show tunes to psychedlic collaborations with Serge Gainsbourg. The black and white clips are a revelation, with Noir et Blanc starting as Carry On-like call and response about getting attention from men but morphing into a cautionary tale of BB's blackened soul in less than 2 minutes.


7 heures du Matin - Jacqueline Taieb: I discovered this tale of French teenage life in the Sixties from a great compilation called Pop a Paris which gives a good representation of Ye-Ye music. I especially like it for her singing along to English and American bands (notable Elvis and the Who), her lustful thoughts about Paul McCartney and the important discussion about toothbrushes...


Le Poinconneur des Lilas - Serge Gainsbourg: always one of my favourite Serge songs, it was given new life when I discovered this 1958 film clip, complete with full lyrics in English. Please watch it. You'll be glad you did. If I'm ever asked to present Rage this will be first up.  


Favourite Song - Vincent Delerm (avec Neil Hannon): a disarmingly sweet take on cross-channel relations which sees Delerm and the Divine Comedy's frontman singing in each other's language about listening to foreign language pop songs as teens and not understanding a word. Sandwiched here because of Hannon's pleading "Un poinconneur des lilas? What does that mean?" (see above).


Requiem pour un Con - Serge Gainsbourg: even playing two songs doesn't do Gainsbourg's legacy justice, but between Poinconneur and Requiem (1968) you at least get an idea of the musical journey he made in less than a decade. From arch Camus-infused chanson traditionelle to nasty proto-hip hop beats in the blink of an eye, it's not unreasonable to view Serge as an equal peer of the Beatles at this time. His Frog Chorus moments were to come but by then his mark was well and truly made.   

Goutes mes Frites - Valerie Lemercier: back in 1995 Lemercier was most famous for being the rather shrill woman in the time travel movie Les Visiteurs who hollers "Hugggggg" to great comic effect. I'm not sure what led her to record an album of songs but this tale of sisterly support over a bowl of chips has remained a favourite of mine ever since. 


Non Non Non Non (Je Ne Suis Plus Saoul) - Miossec: another one from the school of '95 Christophe Miossec exploded into the consciousness of French music fans with Boire, an album of short, simple, grown up songs played with an raw intensity. Think Lloyd Cole played by Arcade Fire with some gallic instrumentation and you're partway there. 'No No No No (I'm Not Drunk Anymore)' is one of the lighter numbers on Boire. It's that good.


Vous - Camille: despite a sizable audience for French film in Australia, Camille Dalmais is one of the few French language artists to have broken through into Australian popular culture. Her album Le Fil was a standout in 2005 with Ta Douleur even making the JJJ Hottest 100. That doesn't happen with many non-English language songs, never mind ones with such unique instrumentation as these. I picked Vous because I had 45 minutes and it is short, but it is a neat example of the album as a whole. 


Johnny Rep - Mickey 3D: Johnny Rep was a gangly Dutch footballer who played in the famous Holland teams of the 1970s, as well as alongside superstars like Michel Platini at Saint Etienne. He shares a similar kind of cult place in European footballing culture as George Best and Robin Friday but without the drink and drugs. I mention this to explain why this indie strummer by (the terribly-named band) Mickey 3D breaks into football commentary over a piano accordion riff half way through. Still, you don't need to speak French to know it's a great song.   


L'Empire du Cote Obscure - I AM: there is a long and wonderful tradition of French language hip hop which has given a voice to generations of French youth in ways traditional French music never could. Sadly I don't know anything about it, apart from people love MC Solaar. However, I can tell you that if you stick samples from Star Wars to a huge bass line and your rhymes is dope [(c) "the kidz"] then I'll lap it up in spades. I AM's tune also offers a cute linguistic lesson; references to 'Dark Vador' a reminder that French people don't do "th" sounds. Que la Force soit avec toi...


Rue St Vincent - Yves Montand: what better way to conclude than with France's very own Frank Sinatra? Montand was already a world famous crooner and actor when I first saw him as the despicable Cesar in Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources. He reminded me of my Grandpa, but a mean version. Who knew then that a man behind such a performance of bastardry could produce one of the most perfect songs of love ever recorded. It was another film - Wes Anderson's Rushmore - that brought this song to me and I'm glad I can now reconcile the two sides of Yves in my head. Rue St Vincent's simple beauty is only rivaled by Donovan's Sunny Goodge Street  in my affections. Lush.    


Here's a couple more that I love just as much but just didn't have time for: 


Ondule - Mathieu Boogaerts: real time videos are a bit two a penny now but this one from 1995 has always stayed with me, with Monsieur Boogaerts launching his career with a well timed hair cut and close shave. Imagine if it had gone wrong. But it doesn't. Great little lo-fi tune too. 


Le Deserteur / J'suis Snob - Boris Vian: Le Deserteur was played to us at school by our French teacher Mr Hargreaves as a listening exercise. This is probably because Vian enunciates his reasons for declining an offer to join the army with such clarity that even us with our basic French could understand every word he said. Still, it's always stayed with me and it led me to other Vian numbers like the gauche J'suis Snob which is a far better song but probably not the best for impressionable Yorkshire teenagers.


Des Attractions Desastres - Etienne Daho: in the UK Daho is mostly known for his gimmicky collaboration with Pete, Bob and Sarah on He's On the Phone as 'Saint Etienne Daho' but he was a star in his own right in France, especially after the success of the album Paris Ailleurs, from which this is the opening track. Comme Un Igloo from the same album is equally ace. It's grown up pop music, which I guess is what attracted the Saints to work with him in the first place. 


Mathilde - Jacques Brel: another staple of gallic cool, inspiring Gainsbourg, Scott Walker, Marc Almond, Jarvis Cocker and especially Neil Hannon, Brel is an icon of French chanson. My own introduction to Brel came courtesy of a young lady called (yes) Mathilde, who was horrified that I had no Brel in my collection and bought me a Best Of for my birthday. Listen when you need a bit of thunderously paced high drama in your day.  


C'est Le Vent, Betty - Gabriel Yared: I was a little young for the Betty Blue phenomenon that affected many (mostly male) students in the late 1980s but I will admit to a healthy interest in the famous movie poster, a copy of which was to be found in my best friend's brothers room when we were growing up. I suspect I'm not the only person who can visualise Beatrice Dalle's lips on request without hesitation. When I was old enough to watch the film itself (known as 37.2 Degrees le Matin in France) it wasn't just Mlle Dalle that stuck in the memory thanks to Gabriel Yared's haunting soundtrack. Rolling piano refrains and reverb heavy electric guitar can sound a little dated now, but it still transports me back to the world of Betty and Zorg and their little beach hut. Just before Betty burns it to the ground. 

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The astute amongst you will have noticed a distinct lack of French dance music in this list. These duties were ably fulfilled by Mrs Custard on her show immediately after mine with more Air, Daft Punk, Cassius, Bob Sinclair and Stereolab than you can shake a baguette at. Just goes to show why you need to tune in to 98.8 North West FM on Saturday mornings. 


Anyway, joyeux 14 Juillet to you all. Hope you had a great one, wherever you are. Normal Centrelinked service will resume next week with an Olympic inspired show about GOLD!

Hot Dogs

"I'm taking the advice of Theodore Roosevelt: speak softly and carry a beagle"

Miss Sally Brown (sister of Charlie Brown), Peanuts, 1974

Who let the dogs out? Who? Who? Centrelinked that's who, as we paid tribute to canine companions in song. There are more songs about dogs than things that our dog will eat (he'll eat anything) so we only dipped our paw in the water bowl of pooch paeans, but they were all good boys rather than bad dogs. These were the numbers that set tails a-wagging...

- I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges

- I Want a Dog - Pet Shop Boys

- Walking the Dog - the Rolling Stones

- Hey Bulldog - the Beatles

- Golden Retriever - Super Furry Animals

- Poodle Rockin' - Gorkys Zygotic Mynci

- Hound Dog - Betty Everett

- Dog Eat Dog - Adam and the Ants

- Do the Dog - the Specials

- Dogs are the Best People - the Fauves

- Black Eyed Dog - Nick Drake

- Dogwood Blossom - Fionn Regan

We hosted to our very first studio invasion as Max, an 11 year old Jack Russell terrier came into the studio with his owner Colin who happened to be listening nearby. Time devoted to Max meant we didn't get to play any Snoop Dogg or any of these splendid numbers:

- Can Your Pussy do the Dog - the Cramps

- Jenny and the Ess-Dog - Stephen Malkmus

- Dog's Got a Bone - the Beta Band

- Black Dog - Led Zeppelin

- Essex Dogs - Blur

- Dogs are Everywhere - Pulp

- Diamond Dogs - David Bowie

- Dog Without  Wings - Kathryn Williams

- Black Dog on My Shoulder - Manic Street Preachers

A special mention for the backing music this week which came courtesy of Cat Stevens (oh, the irony) and his ridiculously ahead of its time 1977 electronic number Was Dog a Doughnut?  Yes, it really is Cat Stevens. 

And finally big thanks to @oilyshoes for suggesting Pink Floyd's Seamus and to @hevidutihamma for suggestions of Florence and the Machine's Dog Days are Over and 2Pac's Wonder Why They Call U Bitch which clearly would have been too potty mouthed for Centrelinked but hey, the kids are the kids...

Centrelinked is on your wireless at 98.9 North West FM every Saturday morning here in Melbourne. Listen from wherever you are by visiting www.northwestfm.org or listen on Tune In (www.TuneIn.com).

Remember you can play along during the week on Tw*tter via @mintcustard or #centrelinked or add your comments after each show below. Tata. 

Under Pressure

Nervous tension is an unseen enemy of the human mind.
Nervous tension can cause you to lack confidence in yourself,
To lose your powers of concentration and to be inefficient in your work.
Nervous tension can prevent you from relaxing, can spoil your leisure hours,
And rob you of the sleep you need at night.
The mind remains tense when it is restlessly turning over personal problems,
Worrying about financial matters, or the conflicts of daytime employment, or
Fretting over the troubles of the world.
Lemon Jelly - Nervous Tension (1998)

“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!”

Dr Peter Venkman, a Ghostbuster

As Rudyard Kipling once noted, the ability to keep your head when all around you are losing theirs is not a bad one to have. Yet it seems that leaders at every level around the world have lost their respective plots.  With Venkman-esque predictions about the imminent collapse of western civilisation reported on a daily basis no wonder we’re all feeling a little frazzled and put upon in 2012. Consequently this week Centrelinked was here to offer the stressed a shoulder to sob on, and the pressured time to unwind. Remember, you’re not alone (because they’re always watching you...)  

Here’s what got played:       

- Paranoid – Black Sabbath

- First Day – the Futureheads

- The Sound of Fear - Eels

- Anxious – the Housemartins

- Panic – the Smiths

- Nervous Tension – Lemon Jelly

- Pressure on Julian – Blur

- Under Pressure – David Bowie and Queen

- Panic Plants – the Lovely Eggs

- Fitter Happier - Radiohead

- The Fear – Pulp

- The Fear – Lily Allen

- Don’t You Worry About a Thing – Stevie Wonder

And what we didn’t have time for because our bosses were working us too hard and we got scared and had to go home sick

- Nervous Breakdance – Custard

- Stressed Out – A Tribe Called Quest

- 19th Nervous Breakdown – The Rolling Stones

Centrelinked is on your radio thanks to 98.9 North West FM every Saturday morning here in Melbourne. Listen where’er you may wander via www.northwestfm.org or those good folks at www.TuneIn.com

Play along during the week on Tw*tter via @mintcustard or #centrelinked.  

One Lump or Two?

My favourite part of this week’s Centrelinked came during our first community announcement break. On a sugar-themed show, and having just played the Archies’ most famous number a somber voice came on to warn North West FM listeners of the perils of diabetes. This was swiftly followed by the Four Tops’ Sugar Pie Honey Bunch which, when I was a kid was used in an advert for Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, one of the most sugary cereals on the market. You couldn’t make it up etc.

The other spoonfuls of sugar helping the Centrelinked medicine go down were…     

Brown Sugar – the Rolling Stones

Hit – the Sugarcubes

Spin Spin Sugar – Sneaker Pimps

Sugar Sugar – the Archies

I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) – the Four Tops

Rappers Delight – the Sugarhill Gang

Sugarman – Rodriguez

I Want Some Sugar in My Bowl – Nina Simone

If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar

Lips Like Sugar – Echo and the Bunnymen

Sugartown – Nancy Sinatra

Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leppard

Things I ran out of time for included Beth Orton’s Sugar Boy, Neil Young’s Sugar Mountain and something by the Sugababes. Thanks to whoever texted in for Def Leppard after 30 seconds. You and I are now related.

Fans of Rodriguez should keep an eye out for Searching for Sugar Man, a 2012 documentary film about two South Africans who go looking for the man who provided the background music to their youth during apartheid. It looks rather splendid. Check out Rodriguez’ website www.sugarman.org for more on the film and the man himself.

Centrelinked is on 98.9 North West FM every Saturday morning here in Melbourne. You can listen where’er you may be via www.northwestfm.org or via Tune In radio. 


Next week: anxiety attack!

Follicular Spectacular

"I don't advise a haircut, man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight." 

Danny the dealer, Withnail and I 

Hair. You've either got it or you haven't. This week on Centrelinked we spent 45 hirsute minutes whipping our hair back and forth across your radio dial in celebration of hair dos and don'ts. This is what got played...


Devils Haircut - Beck
Jesus Hairdo - the Charlatans
Greetings to the New Brunette - Billy Bragg
Bernice Bobs Her Hair - the Divine Comedy
Cut Your Hair - Pavement
Almost Cut My Hair - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Hair - the Cowsills
Ice Hockey Hair - Super Furry Animals
Diana's Hair - Let's Wrestle
Take the Skinheads Bowling - Campervan Beethoven
Wig in a Box - Hedwig and the Angry Inch


And here's some more songs about hair we didn't have time for:


Black Hair - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Let it Down - George Harrison
Hair - Finishing School
Hairdresser on Fire - Morrissey
La Jeune Fille aux Cheveux Blancs - Camille
Freda (with the Naturally Curly Hair) - Vince Guaraldi 
Oh! Mr Hairdresser - Vic Reeves 


and lest we forget the combined works of the Long Blondes, Blondie and the Hair Bear Bunch.  Not their total combined works obviously. That's a small Venn diagram.


Any additions then? Feel free to posit your tuppenceworth in the comments box. Ta.


Centrelinked, every Saturday from 11am on 98.9 North West FM (www.northwestm.org). Play along each week via @mintcustard and #centrelinked

Grinning Myself to Death

In news that has left me vulnerable to feather related knock-downs, Paul Heaton has announced that he will be touring Australia in October 2012 for what I think is the first ever time. 

I had long assumed our shared passion for not dying in aeroplanes ruled out any chance of me ever seeing Paul on these shores, and yet here we are. Clearly he has faith that his lucky pixie and Simon le Bon calling card (previously used as inflight lucky charms) are working well. Whatever the reason, it is ace news.

Anyone who has ever had a casual glance at these pages would know my appreciation for all things Heaton - the pop star against which all others should be judged. It's been 23 years since my first concert - a Christmas night out at Bridlington Spa with the Beautiful South. The newly formed band went to such lengths not to play Housemartins songs that they did You Keep It All In twice and offered covers of Pebbles' Girlfriend and the Bee Gees' You Should be Dancing. 

Thankfully Paul seems to have reconciled himself with his extensive back catalogue and the Australian gigs are promising a greatest hits set covering all of his career - Housemartins, the South and solo. I can hardly believe I'm typing those words.

Despite having turned 50 this month, Heaton is fresh from writing and performing The 8th (the longest pop song ever) at the Manchester International Festival and undertaking another of his cycling pub tours of the UK, so it sounds like we're going to see an energised and engaged PD. I can't help but feel it will have been worth every minute of the long wait.



• Wednesday 17 October – Jive Bar, Adelaide (http://www.jivevenue.com/)
• Thursday 18 October – Corner Hotel,Melbourne (http://cornerhotel.com/)
• Saturday 20 October – The Factory, Sydney (http://www.factorytheatre.com.au/)Sunday 21 October – Fly By Night, Perth (http://www.flybynight.org/)

So, Australian fans, let's get up off our knees and start compiling that dream set list... form an orderly queue in the comments section below. 

Douze Points

In case you hadn't noticed, it was Eurovision weekend. Whilst most people couldn't give nul points, in some corners of Australia (including this one) dedicated Eurovististas were turning off the internet, avoiding the news and trying to get through the day Likely Lads-style without hearing the result. 


To celebrate Centrelinked decided to go on a quick Contiki-style jaunt around Europe in our musical combi-van, cramming as many countries and cities into 45 minutes as we could. Here's where we went:


Berlin Chair - You Am I
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might be Giants
Do the Whirlwind - Architecture in Helsinki
Amsterdam - Peter, Bjorn and John
Barcelona - Giulia y los Tellarini
Roam - the B-52s
Young Parisians - Adam and the Ants
Ask - The Smiths
Vienna - Ultravox
Norwegian Wood - Cornershop
Dukla Prague Away Kit - Half Man Half Biscuit
Miss Sarajevo - Passengers


We ran out of time for the Reindeer Section's Budapest and the Beautiful South's Rotterdam which was a shame. Maybe next time. Thanks to my first caller too for ringing up and suggesting We're Going to Ibiza by the Vengaboys. You have no idea how happy your request for that terrible song made me. If I could pay for you to go to Ibiza just for ringing I would...  

Silent and Grey

Sunday Bloody Sunday. What a great song. It really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday, doesn't it? You wake up in the morning, you've got to read all the Sunday papers, the kids are running round, you've got to mow the lawn, wash the car, and you think "Sunday, bloody Sunday!"

Alan Partridge - I’m Alan Partridge – To Kill A Mocking Alan

According to Morrissey, everyday is like Sunday. This is just as well because this week Centrelinked chose to pay tribute to the week's sleepiest day 24 hours early with 90 minutes of songs about Sunday. There were Sundays lazy, bloody and blue and all these in-between...

• Lazy Sunday – Small Faces
• Sunday Girl – Blondie
• Better than Sunday – Ladyhawke
• Sunday’s Pretty Icons – Belle and Sebastian
• Sunday Morning – Aluminum Group
• Sunday Morning – James
• Grandma’s Hands – Bill Withers
• Sunday Kind of Love – Etta James
• Sunday Sun – Beck
• Blue Sunday – the Doors
• Sunday Sunday – Blur
• It Always Rains on Sunday – The Groove Farm
• Pleasant Valley Sunday – The Monkees
• Summertime – the Sundays
• Everyday is like Sunday – Morrissey
• A Sunday Smile – Beirut
• Sunday Bloody Sunday (live) – U2
• Field Day for the Sundays – Wire
• Sunday to Saturday – the June Brides
• Sunday Morning Coming Down – Johnny Cash
• Where Do I Begin? – Chemical Brothers with Beth Orton
• Sunday Morning – Velvet Underground
• Stars on Sunday – All Seeing Eye

As always feel free to add to the list using the comments below...  Centrelinked will be back on your wireless next Saturday from 11am on 98.9 North West FM 

Making Your Mind Up

As those Eurovision legends and fans of primary colours, Bucks Fizz once said, ‘don’t let your indecision take you from behind.’ Fair advice for the fence sitters out there – folks paralysed by fear of making a decision, happy to tinker round the edges without making a plunge. Yes I’m talking about you, politicians…

This week Centrelinked tried to help listeners to make their minds up with songs about indecision. This is what got played:

• Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash
• I Don’t Know What I Want us to Do – Peter, Bjorn and John
• I Don’t Know What to Do With My Life – The Buzzcocks
• I Can’t Decide – Scissor Sisters
• Making Your Mind Up – Bucks Fizz
• Rise – Public Image Limited
• I Changed My Mind - Quanuum
• I Don’t Know – Bill Withers
• I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself – Dusty Springfield
• Dawn Can’t Decide – the Lemonheads
• Just When You’re Thinking Things Over – The Charlatans
• Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) – Doris Day


Requested and Also Rans
• Possibly Maybe – Bjork
• Keep an Open Mind or Else – Mccarthy
• If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar
• Have You Made up Your Mind – Paul Weller
• Can’t Be Sure – the Sundays

Centrelinked - Saturday mornings from 11am on 98.9 North West FM Listen live on your wireless or stream at www.northwestfm.org

You can join in by texting the studio on 0 44 77 77 989 or on Twitter using @mintcustard or @northwestfmmelb and the hastag #centrelinked.

MCA RIP

'I Want To Say a Little Something That's Long Overdue
The Disrespect To Women Has Got To Be Through
To All The Mothers And The Sisters And The Wives And Friends
I Want To Offer My Love And Respect To The End'
The Beastie Boys - Sure Shot

Normal Centrelinked service was suspended this week as we learned about the sad passing of Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys about an hour before going on air. 

  
It seemed only right that we ditch our usual rubbish and use our time more wisely, paying tribute to the man better known as MCA by devoting the show to the genius of Brooklyn's finest. This was our kit bag, and this is what got played:


- The Biz v the Nuge (Check Your Head)
- Sabotage (Ill Communication) 
- Shadrach (Paul's Boutique)
- 3 MCs and 1 DJ (Hello Nasty)
- Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2) 
- Ch-Ch-Check It Out (To the Five Boroughs)
- Body Movin' (Fat Boy Slim Remix)
- Girls (Licenced to Ill)
- Sure Shot (Ill Communication)
- Song for the Man (Hello Nasty) 
- So Whatcha Want (feat Cypress Hill)


Vale, MCA. Love and respect to the end. 

Know Your Chicken

Centrelinked is typically a vegetarian affair (with the occasional fish finger sandwich thrown in as and when required) but that doesn't mean we close our minds. This week we decided to follow Cibo Matto's advice and get to Know Your Chicken. What we had therefore was 45 minutes of chicken tunes, interspersed with a pot pourri of poulet trivia.


These are the finger lickin' nuggets that went to air:

Chicken Payback - the Bees
Mansize Rooster - Supergrass
Chick Habit - April March
Choppers - Headless Chickens
Chicken with its Head Cut Off - Magnetic Fields
Chicken - the Cramps
Chicken Dog - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
5 Piece Chicken Dinner - The Beastie Boys
Do The Funky Chicken - Rufus Thomas
Chicken Strut - The Meters
Know Your Chicken - Cibo Matto
Chicken Hearted - Roy Orbison
The Chicken Song - Spitting Image
Take It Easy Chicken - Mansun


And these, for posterity, were those important chicken facts. Some of them were even true. 

• Chicken Little is Stewart Little's Dad
• In 2001 chicken tikka masala was voted the most popular restaurant meal in the UK 
• The latin term for chicken is gallus gallus domesticus, inspired by Boutros Boutros Ghali, the former secretary general of the United Nations 
• A chicken ran onto the pitch during the first ever game of football, tripping up a player - hence the word 'foul'
• Chickens are omnivores and in the wild will hunt seeds, insects and - when hunting in packs - they can take out a wolf
• More than 50 billion chickens are raised every year for meat and eggs. This is more than 7 eggs for every human on the planet. The chickens that understand these numbers are kept in cages by scared farmers.
• Chicken Run, the claymation movie about a group of hens who make an aeroplane from scrap furniture to escape being turned into pies is based on a true story about pigs  
• Although most chicken lay eggs, some can be trained to lay other things such as logs, bricks and the truth

Centrelinked is on your Melbourne wireless on 98.9 Northwest FM every Saturday morning from 11am. You can also stream live via www.northwestfm.org. If you want...

Saucerful of Secrets

This week Centrelinked encouraged listeners to unlock their diaries, share their log in details and enter the 98.9 North West FM confessional booth to share some songs about Secrets. This was the soundtrack to their unloading:

The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret - Queens of the Stone Age

No Secrets - The Angels

Little Secrets - Passion Pit

Do You Want To Know a Secret - the Beatles

Secret Kiss - The Coral

Secret - Madonna

Confide in Me - Kylie Minogue

Secret Vampires - Bis

Can U Keep a Secret - De La Soul

Secret Agent - Tony Allen

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry (though with more time this version by the Propellerheads might have made the cut too 

Secret for a Song - Mercury Rev

Secret Love - Doris Day

The Key, The Secret - Urban Cookie Collective

Of course the very best song about secrets is this one from 1973 but sadly we're not allowed to play it on the radio. Feel free to leave any dirty little secrets of your own using the comments below

Centrelinked - Saturday mornings from 10.30am on 98.9 North West FM (northwestfm.org)Next week's theme - Chicken! Feel free to join in using @mintcustard or @northwestfmmelb and #centrelinked. 

Rise of the Machines

This week Centrelinked picked up one of Mint Custard's biggest fears - the destruction of mankind by robots - and ran with it, albeit with an awkward clanky gait and certainly not up any stairs. 45 minutes of airtime were devoted to automated android propaganda. This is what they played:


Robot Rock - Daft Punk
Robot - Futureheads
Do The Robot - The Saints
Intergalactic - Beastie Boys
Robots (the Humans are Dead) - Flight of the Conchords
We're in Business - Andrew Thompson
Robot Song - Kenickie
One Robot - Rocket Science
Robot Man - the Aliens
I am a Robot - Rhys Muldoon
Astro Boy Theme
The Robots - Kraftwerk


Centrelinked - Saturday mornings from 11am (Melbourne time) on 98.9 North West FM (northwestfm.org)

Next week's theme - dirty little Secret - Feel free to join in using @mintcustard or @northwestfmmelb and #centrelinked

Daniel Kitson, Where Once was Wonder, Melbourne Arts Centre

From the opening seconds of Daniel Kitson’s latest show, Where Once Was Wonder, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that something has changed. Your senses are taking it in, but something just doesn’t seem right. This is a Daniel Kitson show isn’t it? So isn’t that… I mean is that… am I really… could that actually be … is that dance music? Why yes it is. Well, LCD Soundsystem’s Losing My Edge, anyway.



Gone, the gentle indie-tastic Candle Records musical backdrops that welcomed people to Kitson shows of yore, replaced by acerbic beats and James Murphy fretting about being overtaken by ‘better looking people with better ideas and more talent.’ Yet as a precursor of what’s to come it is a stroke of bleeping genius.


What follows is a blistering opening half hour from an unfamiliar looking Kitson – beardless and with his head shaved – which includes pompous attacks on the audience, comedy fans, his own fans and especially his fellow comedians. Swearing is unrestrained and outrageous statements start to stack up, with laughter accompanied by some uncomfortable fidgeting and sharp intakes of breath amongst the packed and noticeably varied crowd.


Given it’s written on the poster I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that the show is built around three unconnected stories, none of which are ever fully finished and one that involves the decapitation of a small pig. However, each deals in their own way with small unexpected twists of destiny that lead to the unlikely becoming not just possible, but utterly inevitable. It will come as no surprise to those who have seen him before that Kitson finds quixotic beauty in these tales, evoking the romance and even turning a self-administered haircut into a noble act.


It would be improper of me to say how this beauty impacts on the closing half hour of a 90 minute set, or how that relates to his vicious opening polemic. Still, it’s fair to say that it was a thrill to hear gentle isolated chuckles slowly snowballing into a roaring Playhouse as pennies dropped about another thrilling act of Kitson chutzpah.


A misguided and factually-lacking review in The Age this weekend suggested that of Where Once Was Wonder represented Kitson returning to the ‘conventional stand up he has spent years retreating from,’ dismissing the evening as ‘a strange combination of dick jokes and intellectual arrogance.’ I’ll admit that I’m a fan of his work*, but I hope nobody bases their decision to go and see this show on those words. There is little that is conventional about Daniel Kitson’s work; stand up or theatrical, which is why he remains the draw card at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival year after year. Losing his edge? Watching Where Once Was Wonder you get the feeling he’s only just started.

Daniel Kitson’s Where Once Was Wonder is on at the Playhouse at Melbourne Arts Centre until 15 April. Tickets $25.


* “then it became a wider thing about people who grip onto other people’s creations like they are their own” – James Murphy on LCD Soundsystem’s Losing My Edge.

Sorry about that.