The Observer: Book Review: "31 Songs" by Nick Hornby

[Tom Roche]

http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,6121,900872,00.html

REVIEW : "31 Songs" by Nick Hornby
Viking £12.99, pp208

That's the great thing about lists. You just can't help arguing with 
them. John Peel runs a connoisseur's eye over Nick Hornby's 31 Songs





Wot? No Gene Vincent?

By John Peel
Sunday February 23, 2003
The Observer


This is the first Nick Hornby book I've read. Shocking, but true. 
Surely, people have said, you must have read Fever Pitch. 'But it's 
about Arsenal,' I have replied, remembering the pain of the 1950 Cup 
Final, when they beat Liverpool 2-0. Happily, 31 Songs is not about 
Arsenal. And, of course, it is a list.

Men, it is often asserted, like lists, but speaking as a man I'm not 
sure this is true. Doing a little quiet but important research at a 
birthday party recently, I asked a number of men present whether they 
cared, in any special sort of way, for lists. It seemed they did not 
particularly, although they were quite interested in a) loft 
insulation and b) restoring vintage cars.

There was a time, about 15 years ago, when I wrote on popular music 
for this paper. For five years, I crisscrossed the country (at my own 
expense, I want you to know) reviewing everything from Bob Dylan at 
Wembley (awful) to post-punk bands with silly names I've forgotten in 
venues without a single one of the emergency exits required by law 
(often rather good).

The one thing I learnt from this - and it is something Hornby 
acknowledges early in his book - is that it is much easier to write 
about things you don't like than things you do. So this, being as it 
is a list - with extensive explanations that, on occasion, read like 
apologies - of the author's favourite records, must have been a 
bugger to write.

Hornby further acknowledges the frustration the music-lover can feel 
when people he or she is attempting to interest in the best bits of 
records simply won't listen. Only last week, fired by a positive 
review of yet another compilation of the early works of Gene Vincent, 
a review that majored on the astonishing guitar playing of 
'Galloping' Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps, I attempted to interest a 
Radio 1 co-worker in Gene's 'Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back'. (There are 
no Gene Vincent records in Nick Hornby's Hot 31.)

'Why,' I marvelled, 'does Cliff start his solo from there and how, in 
a matter of seconds, does he get back to there?' But, despite the 
fact that 'Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back' is less than two minutes 
long, my colleague had lost interest and was talking about tops with 
someone else.

The feted author of High Fidelity and About a Boy is unusual, I 
think, in considering all of a song lyric rather than fragments. This 
is due, in part at least, to what he describes as his need to 'solve' 
songs; to, as it were, wrestle them to the ground, consider them in 
detail, extract from them their core meanings and by so doing achieve 
some sort of completion.

I'm not with him on this. Not at all. Two of the records that would 
be under consideration for a place on any comparable list I might 
make would be the Golinski Brothers' 'Bloody' and Roy Buchanan's 
version of 'Lonesome Fugitive', but I've never seriously attempted 
in-depth analysis of these songs as songs.

For me, it is enough that the Golinski Brothers' obscure but, trust 
me, unforgettable record includes the lines: 'Still you gotta have a 
laugh [pause] ha ha ha ha' and: 'Send my Giro to Cairo', and 
'Fugitive' the couplet: 'I raised a lotta cane back in my younger 
days. My momma used to pray my crops would fail.' I mean, come on. 
Beat that.

And there's a bit in another Gene Vincent song, 'Gonna Back Up Baby', 
which is completely unintelligible, yet I love it. It sounds as 
though Gene is singing: 'Well, I'm gonna cuckmer cuckmunter you 
gahdin.' When I was younger and, frankly, a little crazy, I would 
play this bizarre extract to acquaintances and offer them my entire 
record collection if they could, without consultation, decipher the 
words. No one took me seriously and, of course, when I played them 
the track, they started talking about tops and other leisurewear 
within seconds of its starting anyway. I don't think 'Gonna Back Up 
Baby' lends itself to being 'solved', at least not by anyone outside 
protective custody.

But let's look now at Nick Hornby's 31. (By the way, I've forgotten 
why he picked 31 rather than the more conventional 20 or 40 or even 
100. I think he just did.) His reasons for choosing each record are 
laid out at some length, otherwise there'd be no book, and if you 
don't like the songs yourself then his sophistries are not going to 
persuade you that you should.

I'm going to have to step out of the closet here and confess that 
there are 11 records listed that I simply don't know at all, and at 
least three I don't like. It would be a bit fatuous to list these, 
especially as one is by Bruce Springsteen and it seems to be Hornby's 
absolute all-time favourite and he has harsh things to say about 
people who don't like Springsteen (we're smart people who are dumb, 
it seems). Then there is, by a pretty coincidence, one artist and 
song listed - Rufus Wainwright and 'One Man Guy' - that I'd replace 
with the artist's father, Loudon, and 'Father and Son'. This song I 
always imagine to be about me and my son William, because the words 
fit so well.

But there are four tracks here that would at least make the Final 
Eliminators of any comparable list I might make. These are by Richard 
and Linda Thompson, OV Wright, Jackson Browne and, finally, the 
Velvettes. The last named is probably the only one that would be in 
my final 31. I think Nick Hornby and I would agree that you should 
hear it as soon as you possibly can. Trust us. And don't talk while 
it's playing.









Nick Hornby's 31 songs

1. Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
2. Teenage Fanclub - Your Love is the Place That I Come From
3. Nelly Furtado - I'm Like a Bird
4. Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker
5. Rufus Wainwright - One Man Guy
6. Santana - Samba Pa Ti
7. Rod Stewart - Mama Been on My Mind
8. Bob Dylan - Can You Please Crawl Out of Your Window?
9. The Beatles - Rain
10. Ani DiFranco - You Had Time
11. Aimee Mann - I've Had It
12. Paul Westerberg - Born For Me
13. Suicide - Frankie Teardrop
14. Teenage Fanclub - Ain't That Enough
15. J. Geils Band - First I Look at the Purse
16. Ben Folds Five - Smoke
17. Badly Drawn Boy - A Minor Incident
18. The Bible - Glorybound
19. Van Morrison -Caravan
20. Butch Hancock & Marce LaCouture - So I'll Run
21. Gregory Isaacs - Puff the Magic Dragon
22. Ian Dury & the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3
23. Richard and Linda Thompson - The Calvary Cross
24. Jackson Brownee - Late For the Sky
25. Mark Mulcahy - Hey Self-Defeater
26. The Velvelettes - Needle in a Haystack
27. O.V. Wright - Let's Straighten it Out
28. Royksopp - Royksopp's Night Out
29. The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
30. Soulwax - No Fun/Push It
31. Patti Smith Group - Pissing in a River




  	The Guardian	 
Front page
Story index

	31 songs that changed my life

In a new collection of essays writer Nick Hornby reveals the 31 songs 
that have provided a soundtrack to his life. So we asked 31 music 
fans, including authors, musicians and artists what song is 
guaranteed to make their spine tingle

Kirsty de Garis
Sunday January 19, 2003
The Observer

1. J.G. BALLARD - novelist
The Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy
When I was a young child in Shanghai, during the Thirties, I was 
given a gramophone and that one record. I loathed it until I was 
about 50. Now I could listen to it forever. The song holds all the 
mystery and magic of childhood, and I can't get enough of it!

2. PAUL MORLEY - rock journalist
Being Boiled by the Human League
I remember hearing 'Being Boiled' by the Human League about a quarter 
of a century ago - a mix up of glam Sheffield steel, Dali melt, 
Fausty distortion, Meek DIY sound effects, dinky Kraftwerk 
electronics and the deadest of pans (it advocated a ban on the cruel 
abuse of silk worms) and Johnny Rotten dismissed the group as 'trendy 
hippies'. I felt that this was the sound of the future, and hoped 
that by, say, the year 2003, songs like this were filling the charts. 
In some ways that prediction might be coming true.

3. JOSEPH O'CONNOR - novelist
Big Brother Theme Music by Oakenfold and Grey
I'd prefer if I actually liked the song that had the deepest effect 
on me because, objectively, I can't stand it. But Big Brother began 
on the night my son was born, and somehow the tune got mixed up in my 
consciousness with the happiness of becoming a father. I really wish 
this bit of my soundtrack was by Elvis Costello or Bessie Smith. But 
when I hear those grimly portentous synthesiser chords, I can't help 
but feel an ache of helpless love.

4. GURINDER CHADHA - director, Bend it like Beckham
Gangsters by The Special AKA
I saw the Specials on the first two tone tour and they and their 
music blew me away. It was a time when second-generation Asian and 
black kids were not putting up with what their parents had, but at 
the same time the NF and BNP were rising steadily and this idea of 
black and white singing together drawing from old ska sounds, reggae 
and punk was liberating as a soundtrack to my political awakenings at 
that time.

5. JONATHAN WILKES - star of The Rocky Horror Show
Angels by Robbie Williams
My most memorable song is also my favourite song and is by my best 
mate. My memory of it is the feeling I got standing backstage and 
watching 125,000 people singing back to him; it just sent shivers 
down my spine. Every time I see him on tour and he sings it the 
reaction is always amazing.

6. MARK WALLINGER - artist
Madame George by Van Morrison
The sense of desire and loss expressed in this song is so sad because 
it dares one to try to hear it again as if for the first time. It 
describes our exile from our past. Radical, allusive, heartbreaking, 
and the ultimate three-chord trick.

7. NEIL SPENCER - writer
What's So Good About Goodbye? by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
When Bob Dylan dubbed Smokey Robinson 'America's greatest living 
poet' he was only half fooling. Robinson's lyrical dexterity equalled 
that of a previous generation's maestros such as Cole Porter, and 
framed romance in less knowing, more idealistic terms. The Beatles, 
Stones and Costello were among many who covered and took inspiration 
from songs like this heart-acher and its dazzling falsetto vocals.

8. JEAN PIERRE - cashier at Tower Records, Piccadilly Circus
Imagine by John Lennon
I know it's a cliché, but I love this song simply for Lennon's vision 
of the world: What he thought the world should be like. As soon as I 
heard it, it had an enormous effect on me. It's one I never tire of 
listening to. And I listen to music absolutely all day!

9. GEOFF TRAVIS - founder of Rough Trade
This Charming Man by The Smiths
I was fortunate enough to be in the studio when this track was 
recorded. It's one of the most sublime songs. A great thing about it 
is there is a stop in the record: I love that. It shows supreme 
confidence to have silence in the middle of a song, and it increases 
the drama of the track. This song slides down your sensibilities. And 
the first line is a wonderful Oscar Wilde moment.

10. TOBY LITT - novelist
Whispering Pines by The Band
Sitting in a tiny white Lancia, surrounded by fog, in the car park at 
Calais, having just missed our ferry, 18 hours after setting out from 
the South of France, at least four very-near-death incidents behind 
us, my best friend, J, put on 'Whispering Pines' by The Band.

11. JAMIE BYNG - publisher, Canongate Books
We People (Who are Darker then Blue) by Curtis Mayfield
Depends when and where, but a record that never fails to knock me 
sideways physically and emotionally is this one. Recorded live in 
1970 this combines sublime vocals, searching lyrics and many melodic 
moods. Same could be said of Stevie Wonder's 'As'. Both anthems. Two 
geniuses.

12. STEVE SUTHERLAND - editorial director, NME
Mr Tambourine Man by The Byrds
I heard this on a transistor radio in 1965. I was nine. Even today 
when I hear the opening chords chime I'm instantly transported back 
to that place and I can see the sunlight pouring through the window. 
It sounded - and still sounds - like the language of handsome, golden 
gods. I didn't understand a word of it, and I still don't, but I knew 
that it meant there was another life out there beyond my parents' 
understanding, a luxurious, lawless life of glamorous freedom, and I 
knew I wanted a part of it. I still do.

13. NORMAN JAY - DJ
Living For the City by Stevie Wonder
I love the story this song tells about a small-town black kid in 
America, moving to the city, and all the trials and tribulations that 
go with it. I bought the single after hearing it on the radio. It's a 
truly harrowing tale, unforgettable, that is just as relevant today 
as it was in the early Seventies.

14. BARNEY HOSKYNS - editorial director www.rocksbackpages.com
That's the Way Love Turned Out For Me by James Carr
James Carr's soul ballad is one I return to again and again. I think 
he was the greatest soul singer of them all. The song is about 
harrowing loss, a deep resignation to suffering, and he uses 
wonderful metaphors throughout, about doors closing. It seems to work 
as a companion for one, when in a blue funk, pain and gloom. I can 
listen to this song and relive that perfect expression of 
hopelessness.

15. IAN RANKIN - crime writer
Midnight Rambler by The Rolling Stones
I have chosen this from my favourite Rolling Stones album: I'm 
obsessed with them, and have used many titles of their songs as 
titles for my short stories and novels. 'Midnight Rambler' was the 
first time I'd ever heard a rock group sing about a serial killer - 
it's about the Boston Strangler. It was the end of the Sixties, and 
when The Beatles were singing 'All you Need is Love', The Stones, who 
were a good, liberal, rock group, were a bit more realistic.

16. CARLOS ACOSTA - dancer
Te Doy Una Canción (I give you a song) by Silvio Rodríguez
It's a very romantic song that I grew up with in Cuba. Every time I 
hear it it reminds me of those years when I was a student in Pinar 
del Rio with a group of composers, musicians and painters, living 
together and playing football. Just guitar and voice, a very simple 
song. The language is great. He's a symbol in Latin America but it's 
all the memories that come with that song.

17. TREVOR BEATTIE - chairman TBWA Advertising
I've Been Loving You Too Long by Otis Redding
This is the sound of every heart that's ever been broken. Sung by the 
greatest soul voice the world has ever heard. Otis puts more naked 
emotion into the words 'I've been...' than Will Young could expend in 
a thousand lifetimes. And don't be fooled by the title. The man sings 
'I've been loving you too long... to stop now.' And one day I'll use 
this song to change my life forever.

18. JEREMY VINE - journalist and broadcaster
Lipstick Vogue by Elvis Costello
I love it because it harnesses musical, lyrical and emotional power: 
'You wanna throw me away, well I'm not broken...' The drumming is 
stratospheric. The album (This Year's Model) managed to take all the 
anger of punk but channel it through music that still sounds fresh 
today, and Elvis staked his claim to be the most important British 
songwriter since Lennon/McCartney. Amazing.

19. JOHNNY MARR - Smiths guitarist
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
This song is pretty much perfection. It's a beautiful mix of rhythm, 
sex and street poetry, with some of the coolest guitar ever caught on 
tape. Born of attitude, spirit and magic. Electric Voodoo.

20. WAYNE HEMINGWAY- designer
Sunshine by Roy Ayres
It makes me happy, it makes me think of sunshine, families, nice 
things. I first heard it when I went to see Roy Ayres live at 
Blackpool Mecca. I'd just passed my driving test and although the M56 
to Blackpool was officially closed because of snow, I was determined 
to get there. It was amazing when we arrived because there were about 
30 people in a venue meant for 2,500.

21. PAUL CROUGHTON - MTV VJ
Jump by Van Halen
Of course, I tried to think of a timeless track that people with 
imported Japanese jeans would nod sagely and agree with, but 
tragically I can't escape this one song. When I was 15 I stood at the 
back of Wembley Arena while 12,000 sheep dressed in tight denim and 
tassled leather - myself and all my mates included - leapt a foot up 
in the air everytime David Lee Roth screamed the word 'Jump'.

22. DAVID HOLMES - DJ and soundtrack composer
'Till I Die by The Beach Boys
Because it sums up what's going on inside the mind of a genius holed 
up in his bed for two years - complete despair, loneliness and 
frustration.This song should be at Brian Wilson's funeral. The 
sparseness and beauty in the instrumentation is stunning!

23. MAGGIE O'FARRELL - author
I Want You by Elvis Costello
I first heard this in a café. I was in love with a man I couldn't 
have and was sitting there wondering what to do about it when it 
started playing. It's beautifully dark and discordant, with the 
repeating refrain of the title. I went straight out to buy it.

24. SUZI QUATRO - singer
Half Heaven, Half Heartache by Gene Pitney
I was 11 or 12 and visiting my extremely rich girlfriend's house for 
a sleepover. I ended up in her basement kissing her older brother for 
seven hours - nothing else, honest, just kissing - and in the 
background, over and over again on repeat, was... yes, you guessed it 
, Gene Pitney. Years later I met Gene at a TV show, told him the 
story and his reply was: 'You wouldn't believe how many times I've 
heard that story.

25. MICHAEL MORRIS - co-director Artangel
Lust for Life by Iggy Pop
1977 was my first year out of school. Two contrasting tracks cut that 
year have never lost their impact. 'Lust for Life' straddled the 
Atlantic ocean and the worlds of glam, punk and metal whilst Holger 
Czukay's 'Persian Love' heralded what must have been the first use of 
sampling (an unidentified Arabic voice picked up on short-wave radio) 
in a world-music crossover that was 25 years ahead of its time.

26. JULIE BURCHILL - columnist
Free by Ultra Nate
I cannot hear the opening notes without starting to snivel. Both 
personally and politically it says it all for me. A few years ago it 
was used in a Wall's ice-cream jingle at cinemas and even then it 
made me blub.

27. ALAIN DE BOTTON - writer
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic by The Sundays
This transports me back to the early Nineties, when I left university 
and was having a terrible time romantically and professionally - 
getting rejected all around; and spending a lot of time in cafés in 
the sadder parts of London. The Sundays captured the spirit of those 
days for me: a particular kind of English pessimistic sensibility I'm 
drawn to.

28. SEAN O'HAGAN - journalist
Take Me (Just As I Am) by Lynn Collins and the JBs
I was torn between 'I See A Darkness' by Bonny Prince Billy because 
it could make a dead man cry, then I remembered To Be A Lover by 
George Faith and Lee Scratch Perry because it could make a dead man 
dance, then I remembered Take Me (Just As I Am) by Lynn Collins and 
the JBs because it could make a dead man come. Enough said.

29. VICKI BLUE - ex-bass player of the Runaways, filmmaker
48 Crash by Suzi Quatro
I must have been 13 or 14 and was at the record store when I saw a 
b&w cover of a chick wearing a leather motorcycle jacket. I bought 
the album, ran home, slammed the needle down on '48 Crash' and 
haven't been right ever since. Fast forward 30 years - I am now 
directing a film on the life of glam babe Suzi Quatro titled Naked 
Under Leather.

30. BENJAMIN PELL - aka Benji the Binman
Never Ever by All Saints (Nicole and Natalie Appleton, Melanie Blatt 
and Shaznay Lewis)
The record I liked so much, I decided to get the artists to sue me 
six months later.

31. KITTY EMPIRE - Observer pop critic
You Trip Me Up by The Jesus And Mary Chain
Underneath The Jesus & Mary Chain's heroic feedback lurked a perfect 
pop song. And the intoxicated, lovesick words seemed so resonant that 
I had some of them tattooed on my back as a teenager. They're covered 
over now, but the shivers remain.







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