Three joys

Three unexpected musical joys in the space of 24 hours ain't bad.

Maximo Park 'Like I Love You'

The lads have recorded J Timberlake's 'Like I Love You' for a covers album celebrating 40 years of Radio 1. Now, I've never heard the original, but I lurve this cover! The lads do "r'n'b" to a tee and I have to wonder whether Paul's taking the piss when he does the white-boy r'n'b squeal thing - y'know, when they screw up their faces and say things like 'o baybee' in a high-pitched voice as a demonstration of their strength of feeling, y'know what I mean? I love it!

I can't help but grin when Paul does the talky thing at the end of the track when he says something like, "I used to dream about this when I was a kid, growing up in Billingham, and used to put on me mam's records, and my favourite moment was when that bloke went 'Ch-Chaka Khan'..." with a big echo.

Brenda Holloway 'You're Walking Out With My Heart'

I got the new 'A Cellarful of Motown Vol 3' this evening and disc one opens with a drum roll followed by Brenda in full mid-60s swinging mode with one of her up-tempo specials, and wonderful it is too! And, for good measure, there's another Brenda track on disc two plus the bonus of a Brenda and The Supremes track - yes, Brenda backed by The Supremes in 1966! There's some heavy irony in there.

Brenda has a double anthology and half a dozen or so tracks on other compilations so, at some point, someone should actually search the Hitsville vaults properly and pull them all together on a lavish boxset with lots of photos and a full biography. Yum.

Sex Pistols 'Pretty Vacant (Guitar Hero Version)'

I bought the original 'Pretty Vacant' 30 years ago and I've bought this version to celebrate the anniversary. It's a great version too, manic guitar, pounding drums and John's leering vocal - 30 years later and they still give it some heavy welly. I love the sound of John's voice shouting out '... and we don't care!' - that's a rallying cry if ever there was one.

I remember the first time I heard that song. I was sitting at the kitchen table having a breakfast bowl of Cornflakes absently listening to the Saturday morning Kid Jensen show on Radio 1 when I heard that opening guitar riff followed by the drums and this angry voice calling out to me through the radio. I was entranced. I finished my breakfast and got the next bus into Newcastle to track that single down, I had to have it and I had to have it now. That was the first song I ever heard by the Pistols and I was an instant convert.

It still sounds angry and powerful. I am *so* looking forward to seeing them in November. I'm seeing them once for every decade since I got the bus on that Saturday morning...