Buffy @ Retro Record Bag

What a funny old day I've had. An early visit to the diabeatnik doctor for more tests and more pills (I'm now on five different ones in varying amounts and frequencies each day), an appointment at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in mid-September for my back and more tests on Monday at St Georges's. This is >so< much fun!

Then thought I'd try seeing how easy it would be to get to work and regretted it, quite painful and took a while to subside after dosing up with tablets in the office. Still, cleared a lot of emails and discussed the way forward on few urgent bits of work.

I'd meant to do my 1975 set at the Retro Record Bag thingy tonight but, after this dire morning, decided to cheer myself (and the Retro punters) up with a Buffy Sainte-Marie set instead! So on my way out I grabbed five CDs. Most Buffy tracks wouldn't work at the Retro, being either too slow or too quiet for the noise of the bar, so I'd decided to open with 'Look at the Facts', a nice upbeat song to start with and close with 'I Been Down', again a nice upbeat song with some powwow singing, both tracks from 'Sweet America'. I get up to the DJ booth, open the CD case and it's empty - the CD is still in my stereo at home.... bugger!

Ever inventive, my Buffy setlist became:

Better to Find Out For Yourself (from 'Illuminations')
Sweet, Fast Hooker Blues (from 'Buffy')
Fallen Angels (Reggae Mix) (from the 'Fallen Angels' single)
Generation (from 'Buffy')
Native North American Child (from 'Native North American Child: An Odyssey')

I really wanted to play some Buffy powwow but at least I have another opportunity - 'Sweet America' was released in 1976 ... my next setlist but one.

I wasn't on top form this evening and my back wouldn't settle so I left not long after 10pm, regretting being out on the one hand but also pleased that I did - that's the first time in over two weeks that I've been more than a mile or so from my front door and it was nice seeing and chatting to my DJ compatriots (even if my set was, again, the best and most inventive of the evening). I'll sleep well tonight.

And then, returning and logging on to do this blog (and a version of it for the Buffy email list - they deserve to know that Buffy's been played in central London) and finding the glorious and long-awaited news about SLADE re-issues (see below).

Buffy and SLADE in one evening - my cup runneth over!