"I was a very annoying
little brother."
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
I was a very annoying little brother. I remember badgering my brother for weeks for a copy of his Soul II Soul album. Finally to get me to leave him alone he agreed and handed me a tape. On one side was Soul II Soul and on the other was The Stone Roses. His response to my request to have Soul II Soul on both sides was short and definitely ended in “off”.
For those who never used tapes, if you wanted to listen to the same side you had to rewind the tape before you could do it. Being a lazy teenager, I soon got bored of this and listened to the other side. From the opening of I Wanna Be Adored my music taste was changed for good (this did lead to an argument with a mate who was convinced it was 'I Want To Be A Dog'). I have a similar story of being at a Goldie Looking Chain gig and overhearing someone say how much he liked 'Guns Don't Kill People, Rabbits do'.
I am the Resurrection, She Bangs the Drums, Waterfall, just a brilliant collection of songs and Jazzie B was a distant memory. This album opened me up to a whole bunch of new music: The Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets, Ride, Happy Mondays, Carter and even some early Blur (sorry northern friends).
Actually, in a wierd coincidence, my brother, who is a Millwall season ticket holder, sits next to Jazzie B at the Den. Jazzie's son is Mahlon Romeo, a current Millwall player.
De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising
I was introduced to this album in Majorca on a family holiday. I made friends with a group that played it all the time. I knew some of the main songs like 3 is the Magic Number, Me Myself and I, and Eye Know but this was one of those albums where the lesser known songs where better. Songs like Jennifa, Plug Tunin, Potholes in my lawn and the awesome Buddy (Featuring the Jungle Brothers and Qtip from a Tribe Called Quest) although to be honest I didn't really understand what was going on.
There's a game show theme playing through the album as well as some great short tracks like a Little bit of Soap and Take it Off. Although when De La Orgy was coming on I was very quick to turn it down if someone else was within earshot. I was naive but not a complete dweeb.
Me and my mate, Chris, must have listened to this about 5 times a day. It's an album I've not listened to for a while but if you play any of the songs I'll know most of the words from muscle memory.
"I was naive but not
a complete dweeb."
Pearl Jam – Ten
As is probably clear from this list, I've never exactly been on the cutting edge of new music. Pearl Jam is the one exception. I was lucky enough to go to an early gig at the London ULU. Only about 500 people in the crowd. A really great gig that even had the highlight of a stage diver jumping of a large speaker into the crowd. Unfortunately the crowd decided to part and the guy fell straight on the floor. He was fine by the way, but decided to take himself to the bar at that point. "That never happens on MTV, does it?" was lead singer Eddie Vedder's unsympathetic response.
I bought the album as soon as I could and played it pretty much constantly throughout my college years. I did have a wierd experience one day when, after a night in the pub, I came home and turned on the TV and saw the video to Even Flow. That place looks like the ULU where I saw them, I thought. I then thought, I'm sure that's what the band were wearing (although it was 90's grunge wearwear so didn't prove a lot). Then during the song, the singer starts climbing round the building which reminded me that I was underneath him when he jumped into the crowd. That was when I saw my silly face shouting up at him. Claim to fame sorted.
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Sitting around with my (now) wife one night watching some new music on TV, a new band called Arctic Monkeys came on with a song called I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor. We were living in London and I think my wife was missing hearing a northern accent (or probably just sick of the southerners) and was immediately a fan. This album soon became a staple for our car journeys along with the Fratellis and Shed Seven. If it is possible to wear out a CD then this must've come close.
Sultans of Ping FC - Casual Sex in the Cineplex
Most of the clubs around when I was growing up mosly only played either club classics or pop tunes. There was one club called The Venue, in New Cross, that had a top floor that played Rock and Indie tunes. I used to sneak away from my mates during the night to throw myself around to bands like Nirvana, Carter, Inspiral Carpets etc. My favourite was always Where's Me Jumper from Sultas of Ping FC. Loved listening to the album too, especially U Talk 2 Much and Veronica. Special mention for Give Him a Ball (And A Yard Of Grass) which quoted legendary football manager Brian Clough.
“John Robertson was a very unattractive young man. If one day I was feeling a bit off colour, I would sit next to him. I was bloody Errol Flynn compared to him. But give him a yard of grass and he was an artist. The Picasso of our game.”
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers headlined the first festival I ever went to. The Reading festival. This album always reminds me of that. Had a briliant time, the lineup included The Jesus Lizard, Senser and The Rollins band but the show was stolen by the Chilli Peppers. A fantastic set with the likes of Under the Bridge, Give it Away, Suck my Kiss. All on this album. Instantly a massive fan. The album is full of cracking songs and a few that you just need to hear to fully appreciate, 'Sir Psycho Sexy' anyone?
Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight
I think everyone tries to pass good music on to their children. I'm sure the results are similar for everyone, mostly it gets ignored or massively resented in the future. I think I'm on pretty safe ground with the Foo Fighters mind. Hopefully they'll stand the test of time. I'd got them into songs like Pretender, Best of you and Everlong. Then one Fathers Day they'd bought me Medicine at Midnight. This is a good album, maybe not as strong as their earlier stuff but it'll always mean a massive amount to me that my kids love this album and we can share it together.
On one long car journey, we had listened to the album on repeat. It was just about to loop for the third time so I put on the radio. My youngest immediately shouted 'What do you think you are doing?'. I realised I'd better put it back on.
"I'm genuinely shaking my
head as I type this"
Cat Stevens - Cat Stevens – Best Of
This one probably has a good chance of being pretty divisive. This is an album that I probably wouldn't have listened to if not for my wife. It's one that we disagree on quite a lot and have had some entertaining discussions about. To me it has a massive swing in quality. At its lowest point it is as bad as the worst that Andrew Lloyd Webber has to offer, like Matthew and Son and Lady D'Arbanville. I'm genuinely shaking my head as I type this. Some bang average like Can't Keep It In, Moonshadow, I Love My Dog. There are also some pretty good songs like Wild World, Another Saturday Night and Hard Headed Woman. Then there are the brilliant songs like First Cut is the Deepest and Father and Son. After hearing Father and Son you may hear me say things like, “I've just got something in my eye”, or “It must be my hay-fever playing up”. Honest.
I know there will be disagreement and some people think everything he's done is great, including rhyming ‘Simplicity’ with ‘Warm toast for Tea’. One of the great things about music is that we all have our own tastes. Some people like things that I think are terrible, how else can you explain Bon Jovi's success. So, I'll end it there with an album that brings me closer to my wife and that is why it means a lot to me.
Bio
Dave Sinnott is a 47 year old from London who moved to Sale with his wife and two children. An average software engineer who turned out to be much better at bossing better software engineers around. Spends his time driving his children to parties and football and dreaming that Arsenal will one day be a force again.
