Personal Picks Episode Twenty One - Don Your Gay Apparel

I've already shared this one on GCN but, seeing as I'm obsessive compulsive in many ways, I'm gonna share it here as well. It's my third Christmas playlist but this one is a little different as every song features an LGBTQ artist.

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1) Ho! Ho! Ho! (Who’d Be A Turkey At Christmas) - Elton John

2) Thank God It's Christmas - Queen

3) Last Christmas - Wham

4) It Doesn't Often Show At Christmas - Pet Shop Boys

5) Little Drummer Boy - Ronan Keating ft Stephen Gately

6) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Sam Smith

7) Happy X-mas (War Is Over) - Miley Cyrus ft Sean Ono Lennon

8) Thank You - Pentatonix

9) O Holy Night - Kat Kunning

10) Glittery - Kacey Musgraves and Troye Sivan.

Personal Picks Episode Twenty - Bob In The Basement (1967)

 

Welcome to a long overdue new episode of Personal Picks. As with episode ten, this is going to be Bob Dylan centric but we're focusing on one album, the Basement Tapes, which was released in 1975 but was recorded largely in 1967 in Bob's basement. As with my last episode, we'll have five songs from Bob and five people covering him. To make it a bit more fun, I've taken five covers that Bob did for his selections.

The Songs

As I mentioned Bob's songs are all covers and really show his musical interests with folk ballads from around the world and some other interesting picks. For the covers, I looked up a few of my favourite Basement Tape songs and ended up getting a version of Wheels On Fire by Kylie Minogue! There are a few selections from the excellent soundtrack of I'm Not There. I also discovered an entire album of covers of Basement Tape songs from, a previously unknown to me, band called Famous Horses. 

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1) Big River - Take 2 - Bob Dylan, The Band

2) Apple Suckling Tree - Famous Horses

3) The Auld Triangle - Bob Dylan, The Band

4) Goin' To Acapulco - Jim James, Clexico

5) Four Strong Winds - Bob Dylan, The Band

6) This Wheels On Fire - Kylie Minogue

7) The French Girl - Take 2 - Bob Dylan, The Band

8) You Ain't Going Nowhere - Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová

9) A Fool Such As I - Bob Dylan, The Band 

10) I'm Not There - Sonic Youth

Personal Picks Episode Nineteen - Selection Box

So the last playlist is basically a bunch of different songs that I like that I will probably not be able to find a subject to fit into. As it is the festive season and your house may still have some, I'm calling it "Selection Box". For the topic I'm going to go for my 2021 picks in a few different areas.

Theme: 2021 Selections

TV: I'm going to have to go with It's A Sin. It took me several months to work up to watching it. I knew it was going to be a tear jerker and it was. Great acting and an important reminder about a terrible time in history that needs to be remembered. Also:

• Doctor Who: The Flux

• Special Season 2

• Doom Patrol Season 3

• Squid Game

Movies: From pure emotional reaction, I'm gonna have to go with Spider-man: No Way Home. No spoilers. It just hit my geek buttons.

• The Suicide Squad

• Shame // Less

• No Straight Lines

• The French Dispatch

Comics: The one series that really impacted my brain was Crossover. I'll say this: comic book fans will get so much out of it.

• Someone Robbed My Private Parts 
• Strange Adventures
• Marauders
• Doctor Who

The Songs

We start off with an Indy group from Dublin that you probably haven't heard of (they are no longer together but check out their stuff on Spotify and the music video for this song on YouTube). I picked a Dusty Springfield tune from the era where she was working with the Pet Shop Boys. I believe it was used for a TV show. The Amy Winehouse song feels like the cover of an older song. That's why I like it. I picked my favourite Arcade Fire song. One of my favourite Gorillaz songs is next. My favourite one is not on Spotify. In fact, the entire album is missing. They made it while they were on tour. An 80s band I somehow missed in the 80s is Alphaville. (Superfan and superfriend of mine, Michael Carroll, introduced me to their music) I picked my favourite of theirs. My Dylan favourite changes a lot but Abandoned Love is usually up there. In typical Dylan fashion, this gem was left off Desire so never appeared on a proper album. It appears on the excellent Side Tracks collection. A sad one next. One of Stephen Gately's last contributions to Boyzone (the video is quite emotional). The lyrics are quite poignant. I'm a big fan of soundtracks and the Scott Pilgrim movie so had to pick a song from that. I'm gonna cheat and add another Dylan song. One of his great longer songs. It is influenced by the movie The Gunfighter. Appropriately enough, the star Gregory Peck presented Dylan with an award years later and referenced the song.

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Sad Song - Junah

2. In Private - Dusty Springfield

3. Love Is A Losing Game - Amy Winehouse

4. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire

5. To Binge - Gorillaz, Little Dragon

6. Sounds Like A Melody - Alphaville

7. Abandoned Love - Bob Dylan

8. Gave It All Away - Boyzone

9. It's Getting Boring By The Sea - Blood Red Shoes

10. Brownsville Girl - Bob Dylan

Bonus: My favourite Gorillaz tune

Personal Picks Episode Eighteen - Just One More Thing

Columbo with his dog. Art by Bill Sienkiewicz.

 

Another playlist so soon?! I know. I thought I'd fit one between the Chrimbo one and a new New Year's one I'm working on now. As in all honesty, I've had some of these playlists created ages ago and have just been too lazy to work up a post. Also, as I said in my previous post, I wanted there to be more to the posts.

The Theme: Questions

Some of you might have noticed that the playlist name references an oft used phrase of Lieutenant Columbo . I chose that because the playlist are songs that all have a question for a title (inspired, as I often am, by an episode of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour) and who asks a lot of questions? 

So I thought I'd give you my top 5 TV detectives as my discussion for this playlist. 

The definitive Miss Marple (Joan Hickson) meets the definitive Poirot (David Suchet)

1) Hercule Poirot (David Suchet)

There's a lot to like about Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989 - 2013) but it all centres around David Suchet's wonderful performance as the Belgian detective. The series ended up adapting all the major literary works, ending with an adaptation of Curtain, the final Poirot novel.

2) Lieutenant Frank Columbo (Peter Falk)

The unique storytelling structure (seeing the crime and the perpetrator at the beginning) is a unique selling point but Peter Falk's Columbo often irritating the offender and playing the buffoon before hitting them with a "Just One More Thing" is what entertains me. It actually reminds more of Crime and Punishment, a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. The offenders aren't racked with guilt so much as worried they'll get caught. He's outsmarted famous folk from Leonard Nimoy to Billy Connolly. 

3) Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury)

Probably the one I've watched the most. Angela Lansbury is a wonderful actress from Academy Award nominated roles in The Manchurian Candidate (she was robbed) to Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast. She will probably be most remembered for Murder, She Wrote. The crime writer turned detective comes across as an amiable older relative but is razor sharp and is a tough cookie to boot. Another one where you'll spot some stars including likes of the future Captain Janeway, Kate Mulgrew, and Leslie Nielson. Not just as the villains though.

4) Jane Marple (Joan Hickson)

From 1984 to 1992, the BBC adapted all the original Agatha Christie novels with Joan Hickson in the title role. She is seen by many, myself included, as the definitive Marple. Indeed, Agatha Christie, having seen her perform in one of her plays in 1940, wrote her a note saying "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple"

5) Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths)

I watched a lot of these detective shows with my mum. Another thing we used to watch was cooking shows. Pie In The Sky mixes these two together a bit. All DI Henry Crabbe wants to do is retire to cook in his restaurant but his superior wants to keep him around to make him look good. Richard Griffiths plays another likeable detective who tries to fit some cooking in and the food looks wonderful. 

The Songs

I used the Google machine to find question songs to help the "little grey cells" remember some favourites. The playlist features some personal favourite artists. Pet Shop Boys are joined by Dusty Springfield on a song that helped revive her career. Former Beautiful South members Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott reunite and remind you of the old days. R.E.M.'s song with a title inspired by someone beating up journalist Dan Rather. ABBA 's song appeared in the Mamma Mia movie sequel so I may have picked that up from there. An 80s classic from Culture Club is included. The remainder are ones that are mostly tunes that I discovered through my life that I enjoy. One is from a gas advert featuring a dog, a cat and a mouse. See if you recall that after listening. Speaking of mice, there's a little bit of cheese included. 

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. What Have I Done To Deserve This? - Pet Shop Boys, Dusty Springfield 

2. What Have We Become - Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott

3. What's The Frequency, Kenneth? - R.E.M.

4. What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted - Jimmy Ruffin

5. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles

6. Where Did Our Love Go - The Supremes

7. Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) - Peter Sarstedt

8. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me - Culture Club

9. What's Up? - 4 Non Blondes

10. Why Did It Have To Be Me? - ABBA

Recommendations:

Maybe a nice detective show or House. I count House as a detective show of sorts.

Personal Picks Episode Seventeen - We Need A Little Christmas

 

It's been quite a while since I posted one of these playlists. The reason being was I wanted to put more into them by adding a theme to discuss and going into the song choices a bit more. I'm hoping to get back into the rhythm as I really enjoyed putting this together. 

The Theme: Christmas

As for the theme, it is around the 14th December when I post this and this is my family's official date for starting the festive season (it's my sister's birthday). I was just going to post the link to last year's playlist but then felt like challenging myself to find new songs and not ones that are played on the radio often (if at all).  

The Songs

The list starts off mellow and then moves into the cheesey area so the song order is deliberate. I picked Sarah McLachlan and Kacey Musgraves because I like their voices and the songs are good. Musgraves I discovered through her collaboration with Troye Sivan so gave the song a listen when I saw her name. As I mentioned, one overall idea was picking covers / different versions of songs so as to be different from the usual radio picks. I like the songs Mistletoe and Wine and Stay Another Day (Stay Another Day only qualifies as it is a Christmas Number One but there isn't anything Christmasy about it). Anyway, I just looked to see if other artists had covered them. Delighted that Kylie had covered Stay Another Day (as part of a special edition of her Kylie Christmas album). I really like the songs Hard Candy Christmas and We Need A Little Christmas. I discovered both from creating last year's playlist so similarly looked to see if they were covered by other people. Happily, they were covered by two artists I enjoy, Cyndi Lauper and Sufjan Stevens. Both artists are back from last year. Stevens' song is from a different Christmas album than I picked from last year (Silver & Gold). Yes he's done more than one. Do You Hear What I Hear? appears as it was in the first Gremlins movie, which is unquestionably a Christmas movie. Moving to the cheese portion. Buck Owens' tune from my All Across America playlist was a lot of fun so I looked to see if he had any Christmas ones. He also has an entire album (Christmas With Buck Owens). I picked the one that was the most fun. Last year, I discovered Hanson, of MMMBop fame, also had a Christmas album, Snowed In, but I couldn't fit them in so I picked my favourite tune off of it for this year. Finally, Must Be Santa. Kinda funny family thing. My mum likes Bryan Adams and my dad likes Bob Dylan so here is Bryan doing a song that Bob did. (Bryan has a Christmas EP called Christmas EP and Dylan has an album called Christmas In The Heart). How may people have Christmas albums now? There must be money in it.

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Wintersong - Sarah McLachlan 

2. Christmas Makes Me Cry - Kacey Musgraves

3. Mistletoe and Wine - Michael Ball, Alfie Boe

4. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Johnny Mathis

5. Stay Another Day - Kylie Minogue

6. Hard Candy Christmas - Cyndi Lauper, Alison Krauss

7. We Need A Little Christmas - Sufjan Stevens 

8. Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy (Daddy Looked A Lot Like Him) - Buck Owens

9. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Hanson

10. Must Be Santa - Bryan Adams

Recommendations:

Gremlins.

Personal Picks Episode Sixteen - New Year's Resolutions

 

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. 2020 has been something so let's give it the middle finger and focus on 2021. This week's Personal Picks offer some resolutions via song. See if you figure out what each song is telling you to do. Some are far more obvious than other.

1. Take This Job And Shove It - Johnny Paycheck 

2. She Never Spoke Spanish To Me - Texas Tornados

3. Ode To My Family - The Cranberries

4. Peaches - The Presidents Of The United States

5. Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood

6. Learning To Fly - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

7. Parachute - Something Happens

8. On The Road Again - Bob Dylan

9. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush

10. Change The World - Eric Clapton

Recommended viewing: Office Space

Here's the Office Space version of the first song:

Personal Picks Episode Fifteen - Night

 

Shadows are falling.

Beware of darkness.

Look to the night sky.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. As it is Christmas Eve, it is all about the man in red tonight so I decided to go with the theme of "Night". I'm pretty happy with the selection and I think I'll have it on rotation for a while. One Direction's song in particular has become an ear worm but in a good way. Lots of my favourites made the list too. First up are my favourite super group singing about last night.

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Last Night - Traveling Wilburys

2. Not Dark Yet - Bob Dylan

3. Beware Of Darkness - George Harrison

4. Here Comes the Night Time - Arcade Fire

5. Dancing In The Dark - Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Von Smith

6. Nightswimming - R.E.M.

7. Because the Night - Bruce Springsteen

8. Night Fever - Bee Gees

9. Night Changes - One Direction

10. All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie

Recommended reading: 30 Days Of Night

Recommended viewing: Night Watch

Personal Picks Episode Fourteen - Irish Acts Through The Years

 

Oh me oh my!

I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

I don't have to let it linger though.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. We are in that nostalgic time of year so I decided to pick some Irish songs from throughout the years. It was nice to rediscover some of these songs and I'll probably revisit the Irish in a later round of picks. Anyway, enjoy the nostalgia. 

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. You're A Good Looking Woman - Joe Dolan

2. Wednesday Week - The Undertones

3. Banana Republic - The Boomtown Rats

4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2

5. This Is - Aslan

6. Orinoco Flow - Enya

7. Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinéad O'Connor

8. Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello (Petrol) - Something Happens

9. Linger - The Cranberries

10. Me And My Love - David Kitt

Recommended reading: At Swim Two Birds

Recommended viewing: Breakfast On Pluto, Handsome Devil

Personal Picks Episode Thirteen - Home

 

I've traveled that well worn track

I'm tired of the road.

I guess I'm going home.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. This time of year, a lot of us get nostalgic for home so that's where we are headed this week. I could have very easily found ten songs called "Home" but I wanted a little variety. I always try to find stuff by artists I enjoy and some songs I like. Luckily a lot of my favourites have songs that fit the bill so this one is a mix of favourites and songs I discovered when searching Spotify and doing some googling. I never thought that I'd have a One Direction song on one of my list but I enjoyed their particular Home. A happy rediscovery was the Dusty Springfield song, Goin' Back, that Irish people may remember was used in an advert around this time of the year. 

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Home - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

2. Home - David Byrne

3. Home - One Direction

4. Home - Westlife

5. Our House - Madness

6. My Hometown - Bruce Springsteen

7. Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel

8. Goin' Back - Dusty Springfield

9. Goin' Home - TOTO

10. N17 - The Saw Doctors

Recommended reading: We3

Recommended viewing: Homeward Bound 

Personal Picks Episode Twelve - Must Be Christmas

 

(Art by Ruairí Coleman) 

The nights are getting longer.

The Toy Show has been and gone.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to our festive edition of Personal Picks. I decided to do it this week to give people a chance to try the songs out. I think it is a nice mix of famous artists and novelty picks. I discovered that a lot of artists I enjoy have Christmas songs / albums. There's also some that feel quite random. Here's ten Christmas albums you may or may not know exist:

• Elvis' Christmas Album - Elvis Presley (1957)
• Christmas Album - Jackson 5 (1970)
• Once Upon A Christmas - Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers (1984)
• Happy Christmas - Boney M. (1991)
• Snowed In - Hanson (1997)
• Songs For Christmas - Sufjan Stevens (2006)
• Christmas In The Heart - Bob Dylan (2009)
• Imagene Peise - Atlas Eets Christmas - Flaming Lips (2014)
• Kylie Christmas - Kylie Minogue (2015)
• Happy Xmas - Eric Clapton (2018)

Dylan's album has been on my list for years but I have now have new favourite songs that include performances from Angela Lansbury, Dolly Parton and Cyndi Lauper. Well here's the songs I picked:

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time! - Sufjan Stevens

2. White Christmas - Eric Clapton

3. We Need A Little Christmas - Angela Lansbury, Donald Pippin, Frankie Michaels, Jane Connell, Sab Shimono

4. Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton

5. Little Drummer - The Jackson 5

6. A Christmas Duel - The Hives, Cyndi Lauper

7. Christmas In Heaven - Monty Python

8. Christmas Tree - Dustin

9. Merry Christmas Baby - Bruce Springsteen, The E Street Band

10. Must Be Santa - Bob Dylan

I'm off to eat something healthy ahead of my annual feast. Here's some festive flicks to watch.

Recommended reading: Hmmm dig out a comic book annual

Recommended viewing: Home Alone, Miracle On 34th Street, Santa Claus: The Move

 

Personal Picks: By The Numbers

 

When I started doing the personal picks, I wondered how much my favourites would enter into the equation. Well I kept a count and I decided to share after last week's first leftovers episode. I think I'll probably do one of those every 10 shows or so for songs that don't quite fit or I just plain forgot. You know how these things pop into your head after you post these things.

Here's the top musical acts by appearance:

Bob is by no way a surprise considering I did a Bob centric show but he'd still be tying with the others without that one. I've seen him live 6 times. Arcade Fire, Gorillaz and R.E.M. are all favourites that I've seen in concert. Only once in their cases. a-ha fits the cheesey pop portion of my brain. Seu Jorge is there just for his Bowie covers. The only surprise is Richard O'Brien. He's there for 3 songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I've had 5 songs from that show in the picks and only 2 of those appeared in the musical episodes (the other two were performed by Tim Curry). 

Of course, several people appear in bands or acts so I kept track of that also. It is only for vocalists as keeping track of some band members would be a bigger task(<cough> Gorillaz <cough>). Here's their list with solo in the first column and group / duo in the secomd:

Bob gets another point as he was in The Traveling Wilburys, who have had one appearance. Damon Albarn is there for Gorillaz (I've included him as he's the lead vocalist and has done solo work and had Blur so he may appear for those). Paul Simon gets 2 points for Simon & Garfunkel and with his one solo appearance brings him to 3 (his partner logically is just below this on 2).

I am working away on future episodes. It is actually fun working on the playlists. Here's some upcoming playlists for the rest of 2020:

• Must Be Christmas - Obvious what this is about. It turns out a few of my favourites have Christmas albums. Find out who next week!
• Home - Songs about home and going home. (I thought people would be thinking about it).
• Irish Acts Through The Years - This is a nostalgic time so I thought I'd pick some Irish mainstream songs. Couple of Eurovision tunes of course.
• Night - Songs about the night
• New Year's Resolutions - Songs about different New Year's Resolutions people have

If you look up Personal Picks on spotify, you may find some upcoming playlists that I'm still working on.

Personal Picks Episode Eleven - Thanksgiving Leftovers

Starting the holidays in November.

Eating Turkey.

Those crazy Americans.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to a very special edition of Personal Picks where we look at the songs that didn't quite make it on the first ten shows. It's time for some leftovers.

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1) Ghost Town - The Specials ("Halloween")

2) Dare - Stan Bush ("Super People And People")

3) Moonage Daydream - David Bowie ("Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival)")

4) Music To Watch Space Girls By - Leonard Nimoy ("Science Fiction & Fantasy Features")

5) The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkel ("All Across America")

6) Can You Please Call Out Your Window? (BBC Sessions) - Jimi Hendrix ("Under The Covers")

7) Baby, Stop Crying - Bob Dylan ("Caring Not Scaring")

8) The Sun Always Shines on T.V. - a-ha ("Some Translation Required")

9) Under Attack - Lisa Stokke, Nightmare Chorus ("A Musical Interlude")

10) The Times They Are Changin' (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February/March 1978) - Bob Dylan ("Bob Dylan Rare & Remade (1960s)")

Ok. I'm heading off to work on another festive playlist. There's only on suggestion for today...

Personal Picks Episode Ten - Bob Dylan Rare & Remade (1960s)

 

 A performer blows his tambourine.

To clear out the halls.

There's a battle outside raging.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to a very special edition of Personal Picks where I let my Bob Dylan fandom fly. All today's picks were originally recorded in the 1960s. Half are songs that were left off studio albums or live versions, performed by the man himself. The other half are covers of his 1960s catalogue. To give you an idea of what I had to work with, here are his studio albums from that decade with some songs that appeared on them:

• Bob Dylan (1962) - House Of The Risin' Sun
• The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) - Blowin' In The Wind, Masters Of War, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
• The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964) - The Times They Are a-Changin'
• Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) - Chimes Of Freedom
• Bringing It All Back Home (1965) - Subterranean Homesick Blues, Maggie's Farm, Mr. Tambourine Man, Gates Of Eden, It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
• Highway 61 Revisited (1965) - Like A Rolling Stone, Ballad Of A Thin Man, Highway 61 Revisited, Desolation Row
• Blonde on Blonde (1966) - Visions Of Johanna, Just Like A Woman
• John Wesley Harding (1967) - All Along The Watchtower, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
• Nashville Skyline (1969) - Girl From The North Country (with Johnny Cash), Lay Lady Lay, Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

You might notice that I took a lot of Bob's performances from the album Side Tracks. This is one of my favourite albums and might not be known to non fans. I've also included a song from my favourite Dylan live album, Live At Budoken. For covers, it is mostly the soundtrack from I'm Not There. A strange movie with some great performances. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan's public personas: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger (his final film to be released during his lifetime), and Ben Whishaw.

Anyway, enjoy the picks

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1) Lay Down Your Weary Tune (Studio Outtake, 1963) - Bob Dylan

2) Moonshiner - Bob Forrest

3) Percy's Song (Studio Outtake, 1963) - Bob Dylan

4) Silver Dagger (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York, October 1964) - Joan Baez, Bob Dylan 

5) Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Live at Town Hall, New York, April 1963) - Bob Dylan

6) When the Ship Comes In - Marcus Carl Franklin

7) If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Or Else You Got to Stay All Night) (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York, October 1964) - Bob Dylan

8) Fourth Time Round - Yo La Tengo

9) Blowin' in the Wind (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February/March 1978) - Bob Dylan

10) The Times They Are a-Changin' (Live at Madison Square Garden, New York, October 1992) - Tracy Chapman

I'm gonna delve some more into Dylan's catalogue. While I'm busy, check out these rollin' reads and all the watches.

Recommended reading: Tarantula, Chronicles

Recommended viewing: Masked and Anonymous, No Direction Home, I'm Not There

Personal Picks Episode Nine - A Musical Interlude

 

The dancers begin to tap their feet.

The spotlight hits.

Someone breaks into song.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this week's edition of Personal Picks. We're celebrating theatrical types from the stars of stage to the stars of screen and back again. They've all got a song in their hearts and a chorus in their souls. First up, we are looking to find the meaning of it all. Just for a change.

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1) The Meaning Of Life - Monty Python (The Meaning Of Life)

2) Sweet Transvestite - Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

3) Springtime For Hitler - Mel Brooks, Various Artists, Patrick S. Brady (The Producers)

4) You're The One That I Want - Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta (Grease)

5) Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Catherine Zeta-Jones, Eddie Schwartz (Rock Of Ages)

6) Angel Of Music - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Phantom Of The Opera Original Cast (The Phantom Of The Opera)

7) Chim Chim Cher-ee - Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber (Mary Poppins)

8) The Day Before You Came - Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!)

9) You Give A Little Love - Paul Williams (Bugsy Malone)

10) I'm Going Home - Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Well I'm all tapped out. While I'm putting my feet up, check out these West End worthy watches.

Recommended viewing: Hairspray, Bugsy Malone, The Rock Horror Picture Show

Personal Picks Episode Eight - Some Translation Required

 

 A singer sings with a foreign accent.

The lyrics have a cheesy feel.

This almost a Eurovision show.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this week's edition of Personal Picks. This week we are looking at artists for whom English is a second language. There is something about English sung by certain nationalities and songs written in English by them. Most of these songs are in English but there is some translation needed. We start off with an Estonian duo who represented their country in the Eurovision with this song...

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1) Goodbye To Yesterday - Elina Born, Stig Rästa

2) Slipping Through My Fingers - ABBA

3) La vie en rose (English Version) - Edith Piaf

4) I Drink - Charles Aznavour

5) Sounds Like A Melody - Alphaville

6) Lovefool - The Cardigans

7) Dynamite - BTS

8) Fairytale - Alexander Rybak

9) Changes - Seu Jorge

10) Take On Me - aha

Well I think it is time I brushed up on some foreign languages. Meanwhile, check out this overseas reads and foreign flicks.

Recommended reading: Crime And Punishment, Monster, Assassination Classroom

Recommended viewing: La Vie En Rose, Parasite

Personal Picks Episode Seven - Caring Not Scaring

A clown hands a child a balloon.

Twin girls play on their tricycles.

A little boy wears his Sunday best.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this episode of Personal Picks. It is Halloween time but, instead of giving you a scare, we are going to show some care by sharing some uplifting tracks.

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

First up we have a track that always gets me in a dancing mood. Hail (hail). Come and get your love...

1) Come and Get Your Love - Redbone

2) DARE - Gorillaz

3) Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

4) I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty

5) Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles

6) Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House

7) The Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine

8) Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud) - The Beautiful South

9) Take On Me - a-ha

10) Wake Up - Arcade Fire

Well I think it's time to for me to make some comfort food. While I'm busy making an omlette, check out these reviving reads and lightening looks.

Personal Picks Episode Six - Under The Covers

 

Autumn is getting a winter chill.   

A woman sings a Bob Dylan song.

A child hides under their blanket.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks where we are going to hide from the winter chill by listening to some hot covers. 

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

First up we have the most covered artist of all time covering a song. From Self Portrait comes Blue Moon...

1) Blue Moon - Bob Dylan

2) Fare The Well (Dink's Song) - Oscar Isaac & Marcus Mumford

3) I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - The White Stripes

4) Lake Of Fire - Nirvana

5) Life On Mars? - Seu Jorge

6) Mind Games - Arcade Fire

7) Mad Word - Gary Jules (Feat. Micheal Andrews) 

8) Brothers in Arms - Joan Baez

9) Come una pietra scalciata (Like A Rolling Stone) - Articolo 31

10) Stand By Me - John Lennon

Well I think it's time to get up and maybe make a hot chocolate. While I'm busy, check out these riveting re-writes and rocking remakes.

Recommended reading: Batman: Year One, Marvels

Recommended viewing: Little Shop Of Horrors, The Birdcage 

Personal Picks Episode Five - All Across America

 

A Cadillac sits in front of the diner.  

A waitress pours another cup of coffee.

A man fumbles with a road map.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks where we are going to leave the top down and let the air hit our faces as we drive across America. Close your eyes and imagine the journey.

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

Before we get on the road, we'll need a hearty breakfast. I'm not really a fan of kippers myself.

1) Breakfast In America - Supertramp

2) America - Simon & Garfunkel

3) Leaving New York - R.E.M.

4) Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen

5) Graceland - Paul Simon

6) The Kansas City Song - Buck Owens

7) Chicago - Sufjan Stevens

8) San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie 

9) California Dreamin' - The Mamas And The Papas

10) Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips

BONUS (NOT ON SPOTIFY)

11) Amarillo - Gorillaz 

Well the train is rolling into the station and I need to figure out how to get back to where I started. While I'm busy hitching a ride, check out these rambling reads and wandering watches.

Recommended reading: Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72, Green Lantern and Green Arrow (1970s run beginning in Green Lantern #76)

Recommended viewing: Trains, Planes & Automobiles, Little Miss Sunshine, Logan

Personal Picks Episode Four - Science Fiction & Fantasy Features

A futuristic lawman patrols the streets.

A robot contemplates the First Law.

A giant pink octopus looms overhead.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome this edition of Personal Picks. Octocon is coming up this weekend so I thought we'd listen to some science fiction sounds and fantastically cheesy tunes.

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

"Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still

But he told us where we stand
And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear
Claude Rains was the invisible man
Then something went wrong for Faye Wray and King Kong
They got caught in a celluloid jam
Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space
And this is how the message ran

Science fiction (uh uh) double feature..."

1) Science Fiction / Double Feature - Richard O'Brien

2) Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips

3) Starman - Seu Jorge 

4) Mulder and Scully - Catatonia

5) Over The Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwoʻole

6) Dracula - Gorillaz

7) Never Ending Story - Limahl

8) Magic Dance - David Bowie

9) Liberi Fatali - Nobuo Uematsu

10) Science Fiction / Double Feature (Reprise) - Richard O'Brien

Well that time of the week where I have to go. I think I left something on the slab! While I go look, check out these science fiction stories and fantastical features.

Recommended reading: 2000AD, Saga, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Recommended viewing: X-Files, Better Than Us, Russian Doll