>“High Fidelity” was the starting point.

I watched it twice on the way back from Singapore and would have managed a third time if the IFE hadn’t stuffed up.

I watched it again. And again. And again.

No-one else I know likes it. Even if they’d seen it.

Well, Ed Marks would.

He’s my mate Gary’s stepson who turned up to stay pretty much unannounced in 1977 with a Eurail pass, a sleeping bag and an encyclopedic knowledge of trivia.

He’d dis- And re-) appear every couple of days and proudly unpack the stuff he’s picked up in Malmö or Glasgow or wherever.
The only solo LP by someone who was drummer in one of Mick Ronson’s bands. For example.
And he’d say stuff like “I should really have bought that LP by Spooky Tooth’s bass guitarist’s brother” and zip back to Helsinki to pick it up.

So he’d like “High Fidelity”

And he’d like “31 Songs”, too.

26 essays, 31 songs that are intensely personal as either pivotal experiences or good music that almost got away.

I had some of them already, got some more on the “31 Songs” CD (which only has 18 of them..) and tracked down some of the more obscure ones on eBay.
Some I liked. A lot. Some were OK. Some were fucking frightening. But it’s all good experience-widening stuff.

So here, you go – the first 5.

And buy the book

1. Teenage Fanclub – “Your Love is the Place Where I Come From“
2. Bruce Springsteen – “Thunder Road“
3. Nelly Furtado – “I’m Like a Bird“
4. Led Zeppelin – “Heartbreaker“
5. Rufus Wainwright – “One Man Guy“

More next week.