2009 01 20 - 0868 - Odenton - MARC Station

A few nice nice cars for girls images I found:

2009 01 20 – 0868 – Odenton – MARC Station


Image by thisisbossi
[for the full Inauguration story, visit my blog]

My MARC ride back to Odenton was quite a bit more busy than the ride in – indeed, not a seat left. I took a window seat beside a volunteer who got a placement within the Capitol, and during the ceremony he was right behind the podium. A fine spot! He had some amazing photos, both of the dignitaries and other celebrities as well as of the crowd on the Mall… the latter being the most impressive. He works in the Senate, which helps explain how he got such a nice placement. I could tell he was extremely excited to have taken part in this event, and proud to have had the opportunity to assist. Two girls sitting behind me were also chatting about travel in Europe… so that kept me pretty well occupied between the Bowie State station and my stop at Odenton.

My car was still in its front-row spot upon my return, and traffic getting back to Russett was just as easy as it was in the morning. Total walk distance: about 10 miles. My feet were a bit sore, but moreso just from nearly 20 miles of walking in a three-day span. They didn't hurt; rather, they were just getting tired. Being an engineer, living in suburbia, and the excuse that it's winter & I don't like gyms… that definitely doesn't afford the greatest of opportunities for exercise. Sitting down for a bit to type this all up, though, I feel great now: I almost want to go out and walk some more… indeed, my legs feel like the need more movement; not less.

Overall, I'd summarize the entire Inauguration in almost the same way I did in an email to my dad…
– There were a lot of people;
– There were even more people than a lot;
– People (citizenry & officials alike) were in amazingly great spirits;
– My legs have gotten a hefty workout;
– It’s nice to be in a warm(ish) place again!

Compilation “dance education” tape inlay from 1990 (@6musicmornings)


Image by unloveablesteve
It was mid-1990, and I was still sporting the double denim look, having fallen for The Smiths and Morrissey in a big way (I think I heard my first Smiths record the day after they split – perfect timing). Because I’d failed to get the grades for university the previous summer, I was in the middle of a year out. Where most people would’ve tried Inter-railing around baroque European capitals, I rejected such exotica in favour of an admin position at a haulage company in the spare office of British Gas in Preston.

Having also missed out on Spike Island and the second summer of love, I realised I was already past it at 18. Everyone else was wearing baggy kecks, had curtains for hair and waved glo-sticks in fields near Warrington at the weekend. It was time for me to learn about this thing they called "dance music". (Would you believe it? Music that you were supposed to dance to! I was used to nightclubs like Raiders, where boys dived headfirst into a post-punk thrash-punch melee the second someone played Buzzcocks, or kohl-eyed girls with crimped hair swayed mysteriously in mourning for The Sisters Of Mercy.)

So I asked one of the girls at my local vinyl-pile, Action Records on Church St, to whip me up a tape of salvation/education. A friend of a friend, Jacky (who, for some reason, preferred to be called Jessie, and was a big fan of Disney cartoons) thankfully took pity on me and did the honours. Not all of it was her choice. I asked for Hippychick (which famously sampled How Soon Is Now) as a sop to my indie heritage, though swiftly it became my least favourite of the tracks. (I hate hearing it even now, ‘cos it lulls you into thinking some unwitting idiot has playlisted The Smiths on radio by mistake.)

No, I never did end up taking the train to the Bank Quay for late night raves. I didn’t even really grow my hair. But I did add this to my list of Walkman-friendly cassettes for the rest of that summer. I went to university a year late. It’s actually quite easy to get a place when you already know what your results are.

So, what did I learn from my "dance education"? Dunno. I spent most of my first year at uni playing George Formby songs at top volume and drinking. Let’s look at that tracklisting:

1. World In Motion by EnglandNewOrder
It was 1990! Gazza’s tears! E for England. John Barnes raps. Keith Allen makes a fool of himself in the video. Even I spotted that this was a rip-off of the Reportage theme that "the other two" did for Def II. Still the best England World Cup theme, though. I probably asked for this one to be on the tape.

2. Expression by Salt ‘n’ Pepa
Two years before it broke the top 40! Still the kind of story-telling, make-a-point rap that reminds me of The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, unfortunately, though I became a fan from the Very Necessary album onwards. And there’s something about that Queens "nu yoik" accent that’s very sexy.

3. Starfish & Coffee by Prince
A classic "list of random stuff" track in the mould of The Beatles’ I Am The Walrus, as told by Dr Seuss. I did buy the single Sign O’ The Times but Prince has never really grabbed me. My mate Stewart Tavener, who I was in a guitar band with at the time, loved this song.

4. Hippychick by SoHo
Probably the only non-Billy Bragg top ten song ever to namecheck the 1984-5 miners’ strike. Subtle Soul II Soul backbeat, of course, as well as *that* sample.

5. Eye Know by De La Soul
Now you’re talking! Something I had actually heard from out of the actual charts! And, because we were still in the midst of a Levi-flogging Stax soul revival in 1990, I was more than familiar with the source of the Otis Redding sample. Even *I* wasn’t stupid enough to say things like "it’s just talking over someone else’s song", though. I bought my first Levi’s in 1994, fact fans.

6. Heart by Neneh Cherry
Not "Hearts" as listed. My favourite bit of Neneh Cherry is her faux-Cockney accent on Buffalo Stance which, in turn, inspired a devotion for Betty Boo (I think that Doin’ The Do was the first pop-rap 12" I bought). Note the number of "strong wimmin" artists on this tape. Girls, eh?

7. Fools Gold by Stone Roses
I was there! I was watching! I was in the audience! When Ian Brown shouted "Amateurs!" at Tracey MacLeod on The Late Show. For ages, I thought the line "Marquis De Sade never made no boots like these" was "My kemo sabe never made no boots like these". Tonto, you have lots to answer for.

8. Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Saint Etienne
Pre-Cracknell Ets. This was the track that probably got the most play from this tape. Love the haunting reggae feel reminiscent of The Specials’ Ghost Town. I was presenting a radio show in 1994 so was able to select this to represent their "best of" collection. I also liked Cola Boy, so nyer.

9. Heaven by The Chimes
Whoomp! There it is! The Incredible Bongo Band’s famous Apache drum loop gets its first outing. Can’t forgive The Chimes for their U2 cover, though, sorry. When I was a littl’un, I used to listen to Radiophonic Workshop albums. I couldn’t work out why people thought "electronic" music was new in the ’90s.

10. Get A Life by Soul II Soul
Back when I was in college, I used to car-share: Pete Flowers driving, the above mentioned Stewart Tavener in shotgun and me sharing the back seat with a girl who was well into her dance music. She leant me an album called Breaks & Beats, literally just two sides of drum loops and "scratch" noises. The "stab" sample (of Pleasure’s Celebrate The Good Things) used here was on it. I’ve still got the album. Sorry!

11. Shake Your Thang by Salt ‘N’ Pepa
The Isley Brothers via James Brown. You have to remember, in the charts of 1990, this stuff would’ve rubbed shoulders with New Kids On The Block, Londonbeat and the shuffling carcass of the Stock Aitken Waterman hit zombie. It was hard to spot good stuff. Also, Dee-lite’s Groove Is In The Heart wasn’t released until August, so you needed these mash-ups to pave the way.

12. Natural Thing by Innocence
It’s got a whole chunk of Shine On You Crazy Diamond in the middle! That’s the closest we got to "chillout" in 1990, you know. Except for the night I took magic mushrooms at a party and went to Avenham Park at midnight. It was very misty. I convinced myself I’d gone to hell. It was not nice.

13. Stepping Stone by The Farm
"There’s always been a dance element to our music." Oh, okay, that was The Soup Dragons. The Farm were never fashionable, but as an Evertonian I have to forgive them because of All Together Now. Peter Hooton looked like your dad and couldn’t dance or sing. Madchester made stars of them all. How ironic.

14. Fairplay by Soul II Soul
The dubplate classic that got ‘em signed in the first place. Not featured on this collection thankfully is Back To Life, which used to irritate me, in part through overplaying and the New Jack Swing movement, but also as it featured on an ’80s compilation album my mum had that she would always play loudly on Saturday mornings. Ride On Time was the first track and she thought it was hilarious ‘cos it opened with the lines "Gotta get up, gotta get up…"

15. Buffalo Stance – Neneh Cherry
Jacky lived with my friend Sarah. They both worked in record shops, which I thought was the Best Job Ever in the ’80s and early ’90s. They were supercool, had a massive Marilyn Monroe Chanel No 5 poster in their living room and lived on rum and coke. I drafted Sarah into my shortlived band with Stewart Tavener (The Innocent Piglets – oh yes, we rocked the C86 fey indie vibe, my friends!) whose favourite track at the time was this one. I love the six note counter-melody that comes in at about 4’30".

16. Me Myself And I by De La Soul
Comedy! Witty wordplay! Social commentary! I’ve always listened to the words in songs and it always seems bizarre to me that so few lyric writers try to convey a clear, coherent message. As you might note by the inlay decoration (especially the other side), Jacky bought into all the "daisy age" guff. By contrast, in 1994, I was buying gangsta rap. Your fault, Jacky. Your fault.

17. Got To Have Your Love by Mantronix.
So good it could even survive a cover by Liberty X. In case you were wondering, and despite the hearts and flowers adorning this tape, there was never a "thing" between me and Jacky. I was nowhere near cool or confident enough, for a start. I did buy her a silver brooch thing once, and she looked STUNNING in a short purple sequin dancin’ dress, but the relationship remained one of teacher and pupil.

Tags:0868, 2009, Marc, Odenton, station