TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20

1 Los Campesinos : The International Tweexcore Underground
2 Company She Keeps : What A Girl Wants
3 Manhattan Love Suicides : Keep It Coming
4 Poems : I Am A Believer
5 Those Dancing Days : Hitten
6 Hit Parade : Autobiography
7 Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring : A Question Of Trust
8 Indelicates : 16
9 Fischers : Down The Days
10 Alphabeat : Fascination
11 Indelicates : We Hate The Kids
12 Los Campesinos : Death To Los Campesinos
13 Scarlet Downs : Windows
14 Wallflowers : Thank You
15 Wave Pictures : We Dress Up Like Snowmen
16 Screen Gemz : I Don't Like Cars
17 Driscolls : If Only
18 Club Hoy : On And On
19 Sarah Goes Shopping : Summer Blues
20 Coral : Jacqueline

Green numbers indicate new entries.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 February 22

1 Los Campesinos : The International Tweexcore Underground
2 Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring : A Question Of Trust
3 Poems : I Am A Believer
4 Company She Keeps : What A Girl Wants
5 Screen Gemz : I Don't Like Cars
6 Those Dancing Days : Hitten
7 Wallflowers : Thank You
8 Manhattan Love Suicides : Keep It Coming
9 Scarlet Downs : Windows
10 Coral : Jacqueline
11 Hit Parade : Autobiography
12 Ebony Bones : We Know All About You
13 Indelicates : We Hate The Kids
14 Life Studies : Girl On Fire
15 Rumblefish : Mexico
16 Fischers : Down The Days
17 Indelicates : 16
18 Aston Hall : My Daily Sun
19 Sarah Goes Shopping : Summer Blues
20 Wave Pictures : We Dress Up Like Snowmen

Green numbers indicate new entries.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20

1 Poems : I Am A Believer
2 Los Campesinos : The International Tweexcore Underground
3 Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring : A Question Of Trust
4 Wallflowers : Thank You
5 Coral : Jacqueline
6 Screen Gemz : I Don't Like Cars
7 Company She Keeps : What A Girl Wants
8 Ebony Bones : We Know All About You
9 Those Dancing Days : Hitten
10 Rumblefish : Mexico
11 Scarlet Downs : Windows
12 Aston Hall : My Daily Sun
13 Life Studies : Girl On Fire
14 Manhattan Love Suicides : Keep It Coming
15 Sarah Goes Shopping : Summer Blues
16 Indelicates : We Hate The Kids
17 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
18 Irregulars : Against The Grain Of My Life
19 Hit Parade : Autoboigraphy
20 No Flags Etc. : Don't Bring Me Back

The green numbers indicate new entry.

I DON'T WANT TO GO TO GREENFORD

But I did anyway. Since the closing of the charity shop with the giant basement I have been reluctant to trawl through the unwanted detritus of Greenford. It's not a prepossessing place consisting as it does of little more than a tip and a busy crossroads; with the A40 obligingly placed within puking distance for rapid exit. The first charity shop has a vigorous stench, a sort of soaked-through old carpet odour. Poor old Penny McLean, her LP has been brutalized by some clumsy brute and appears quite unplayable. Soon though a BMX Bandits 12" is found and Greenford is pleading with me for redemption. A vast collection of horrific rock records reveal their mucky faces to me in the Cancer Research. I scuttle away. Fara delivers three CD LP's at a bargain £1: Little Ones : Sing Song; a Kill Rock Stars compilation called Mollie's Mix; Pram : Sargasso Sea. The strangest encounter was with 50 or so 78's that appear to have never been kissed by a stylus. They all came from the one shop, long since extinct, somewhere on the Uxbridge Road. The majority of them are all the same song except for Cocktails For Two by, um, I forget. My hapless memeory.

ANNIE AND THE AEROPLANES

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be interviewing the singer of this lost band. One infectious pop single and a few cassettes that seem to turn up in Vienna. Obscure but not too obscure to escape the attentions of Turntable Revolution.

The All Time Indie Singles

To qualify for the list below the artists have to be British, the songs have to be on single format, must be on an indie label and failed to reach the top 75. This is a fluid list. My favourites change by the minute. Already I'm wondering why Lovelee Sweet Darlene is not in the top 20. Time span 1980-1999.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 70 INDIE RECORDS

1 Orange Juice : Falling And Laughing
2 Field Mice : When Morning Comes To Town
3 Orange Juice : Felicity
4 Smiths : Hand In Glove
5 McCarthy : Keep An Open Mind Or Else
6 Company She Keeps : The Men Responsible
7 Heavenly : Our Love Is Heavenly
8 Desert Wolves : Speak To Me Rochelle
9 Sea Urchins : Pristine Christine
10 Siddeleys : My Favourite Wet Wednesday Afternoon
11 Dentists : Charms And The Girl
12 Popguns : Waiting For The Winter
13 Field Mice : An Earlier Autumn
14 Orange Juice : Blue Boy
15 House Of Love : Destroy The Heart
16 McCarthy : The Well Of Loneliness
17 Beloved : This Means War
18 Heavenly : Hearts And Crosses
19 Talulah Gosh : Bringing Up Baby
20 McCarthy : This Nelson Rockefeller
21 Razorcuts : Big Pink Cake
22 1000 Violins : If I Were A Bullet
23 Sarah Goes Shopping : Summer Blues
24 Heavenly : Atta Girl
25 Marine Girls : On My Mind
26 Shop Assistants : Safety Net
27 Melons : Fast Lane
28 Razorcuts : I Heard You The First Time
29 My Bloody Valentine : Lovelee Sweet Darlene
30 Jeremiahs : Driving Into The Sun
31 Heavenly : So Little Deserve
32 No Flags Etc. : Don't Bring Me Back
33 Dolly Mixture : Remember This
34 Wolfhounds : The Anti-Midas Touch
35 Chairs : Size 10 Girlfriend
36 Train Set : She's Gone
37 Desert Wolves : Love Scattered Lives
38 Trash Can Sinatras : Obscurity Knocks
39 Grow-Up : Joanne
40 Heavenly : P.U.N.K Girl
41 Field Mice : Sensitive
42 County Fathers : You Think It's So Funny
43 Avo-8 : Fame
44 Siddeleys : Are You Still Evil When You're Sleeping?
45 Greenhouse : Mad As Love
46 A Chocolate Morning : If You Want Me
47 Huggy Bear : Her Jazz
48 Siddeleys : Sunshine Thuggery
49 Waltones : She Looks Right Through Me
50 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
51 Aztec Camera : Just Like Gold
52 Orchids : Tiny Words
53 Bob : Convenience
54 Friends : You'll Never See That Summertime Again
55 Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes : You'll Never Be That Young Again
56 Soup Dragons : Pleasantly Surprised
57 Blind Mice : It's Not Heaven
58 Close Lobsters : Firestation Towers
59 Company She Keeps : What A Girl Wants
60 Pale Saints : She Rides The Waves
61 Felt : Primitive Painters
62 Blueboy : Popkiss
63 Popinjays : Monster Mouth
64 Orange Juice : Lovesick
65 Bloody Marys : Stain
66 Harrison : There Is No Refrain
67 Clamheads : Crack On
68 Hit Parade : Autobiography
69 Bodines : Heard It All
70 Wild Indians : Love Of My Life

VANISHING VINYL

My favourite local charity shop is PDSA. It has presented me with several sought after nuggets over the years. So it is hard to relay this story without a tremble in my fingertips. In I went and hastened to the back of the shop where the vinyl ekes out an existence. I am a little confused, it seems the vinyl has wandered elsewhere. I spin wildly around the shop, I investigate nooks, I peep into crannies. In my despair I nearly hurl some absurd videos at the glass display behind the counter where one vinyl LP reclines majestically (I think it's some nonsense by Cliff Richard). I circuit the shop twice, flailing helplessly at skirts and kicking out at shoes. It's gone. All the vinyl has gone. This happened once before and it did come back. I hold this thought close to my heart and somehow don't collapse in a heap outside. There's always tomorrow, or next week, or next month............

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20

1 Poems : I Am A Believer
2 Coral : Jacqueline
3 Los Campesinos! : The International Tweexcore Underground
4 Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring : A Question Of Trust
5 Wallflowers : Thank You
6 Ebony Bones : We Know All About You
7 Rumblefish : Mexico
8 Aston Hall : My Daily Sun
9 Screen Gemz : I Don't Like Cars
10 Irregulars : Against The Grain Of My Life
11 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
12 Sarah Goes Shopping : Summer Blues
13 Features : She Makes Me Blue
14 Almost Charlotte : Sleep
15 Rasca Cocous : Vanity
16 No Flags Etc. : Don't Bring Me Back
17 Life Studies : Girl On Fire
18 Boy Friends : Boyfriend
19 Company She Keeps : What A Girl Wants
20 Joy Division : Warsaw

Green numbers indicate new entries.

WHAT I WON EBAY

I became a little disappointed with later releases on Sarah records. My devotion faltered around the Sarah 80 mark. Now I'm making up for my former reticence and attempting to obtain those missing numbers. Autobiography by the Hit Parade appears fairly regularly on ebay but it rarely sells for less than £12. I'm very pleased to win it for £8.50.

WHAT I LOST ON EBAY

I'm a victim of cowardice when it comes to bidding for the Model Mania single on the wonderfully named Boob records. I stall well short of its final sale price £101.

CHELTENHAM RECORD FAIR

The Scavenger rarely roams westward but after studying Record Collector in search of record fairs in new territory he and his scavenging sidekick opted for a root around Cheltenham. The record fair was the main attraction but Cheltenham has an excellent record shop close to the main part of town plus a few charity shops. The fair was mildly diverting. I found a single by Scarlet Downs which was a reasonable £5. One dealer showed me his punk wares and he impressed me with the utter belief he had in his ambitious pricing. They're Back Again, Here They Come by the Cigarettes was a staggering £80. I couldn't imagine the kind of nicotine high I'd have to be on to part with that much for what is admittedly one of the best singles of the punk era. It usually sells for around £50 on ebay. I knew he was unsound when I saw he'd priced Stupid Guy by the Paranoids at £15. I saw it with two other dealers and it never bruised double figures. I left with the one single, sidekick Kathryn left with three CD's: Early Morning Hush compilation; Luke Haines:Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop and Nara Leao:Nara 67. The charity shops yielded nothing for me but Kathryn found an LP featuring the Mike Sammes Singers called Sammes Session.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20

1 Trout : Sunrise Highway
2 Irregulars : Against The Grain Of My Life
3 Rumblefish : Mexico
4 Aston Hall : My Daily Sun
5 Almost Charlotte : Sleep
6 Coral : Jacqueline
7 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
8 Ebony Bones : We Know All About You
9 Poems : I Am A Believer
10 Sarah Goes Shopping : Summer Blues
11 Boy Friends : Boyfriend
12 Rasca Cocous : Vanity
13 Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring : A Question Of Trust
14 No Flags Etc. : Don't Bring Me Back
15 Features : She Makes Me Blue
16 Innocents : One Way Love
17 Joy Division : Warsaw
18 Screen Gemz : I Don't Like Cars
19 Gags : Sex Ist Schau
20 Los Campesinos ! : International Tweexcore Underground

The green numbers indicate new entries.

WHAT I FOUND IN WALTON

Cancer Research always has a sizeable stock of LP's and singles. Rarely anything startling turns up. Finding a Zoomiz single last year was greeted with moderate glee. I had it already but I bought it for launching into the ebay arena. Today I uncover a 12" by the Clay People. It's from 1987, is on Hectic records and mentions a chap called Ray Davis on the dull sleeve. Interest tweaked I part with 75p. This Ray Davis helped mix and produce it. I play it and it ponderously crawls from the speakers. An unobtrusive little morsel, not suitable for the gourmet palate. Wreaths And Seashells is the best track but that title promised so much more. Hectic Babble is neither hectic nor cannon-spat chatter. Mark E. Smith could have worked wonders with a title like that.

HOW DID THAT GET TO NO.1?

SPECIALS : GHOST TOWN

It was 1981. Britain was ablaze. Uprisings were afoot. The country was in the grip of a twisted Cromwellian vortex. Disaffected black youth took to the streets. Certain newspapers declared Enoch Powell a modern prophet and demanded his vindication. Thuggish police bullied communities. This of course didn't happen in East Sheen where I was reaching out from puberty to embrace the sophisticated adult world. I was itching to man the barricades, a Molotov cocktail in one hand and a copy of this single in the other. I remember the video, a car racing through dark streets, the Specials inside, cosying up to one another in a defensive paranoiac huddle. Jerry Dammers and co. zoomed into the zeitgeist and became, for a few weeks in July, the spokesmen for an eruptive generation.
I was working in a record shop in Clapham at the time and I remember this well dressed business woman walking in and asking for Ghost Town. She looked like she spent her evenings musing on the merits of Mahler whilst sipping wine and flicking through old opera programmes. She seemed a little affronted to have to purchase a record that span at a dizzying 45 rpm. Brazenly, in defiance of all her middle class reserve, she declared how remarkable Ghost Town was. I, a lowly scallywag who had recently touched a Dire Straits LP and forgot to wash my hands, nodded in agreement. I like to think that she lived in Brixton and was struck down by a flying bin.
This amazing record, this beautiful lament for a dying Britain, remained atop the chart rubble for a revolutionary three weeks. Why for those three glorious weeks was the British public suddenly struck down with such good taste? Hazardous audacity it may be but I think this is, and always will be, the greatest no.1 ever. World order was restored when MI5 installed Green Door by Shakin' Stevens at no.1 at Ghost Town's expense.