Keith Seatman talks us through the first and last records he bought, and one he couldn’t do without
FIRST
Sparks
‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough…’
(Island, 1974)
“This was the first record I bought with my own money. I remember sitting down to watch ‘Top Of The Pops’ with my sister, and Ron and Russ Mael appeared. After a brief keyboard intro, the song foot stomped into life and from then on it was relentless. I listened to it again recently and it still is a ferocious sounding song.”
LAST
The Top Of The Poppers
‘Top Of The Pops Volume 45’
(Hallmark, 1975)
“I picked this up recently because it has a rather superb version of Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ on it. The series producer Bruce Baxter put this version together and it really is very good, gloriously clunky. If you haven’t heard it, a visit to YouTube is recommended. I should mention that the rest of the album is pretty grim.”
ALWAYS
Wire
‘154’
(Harvest, 1979)
“From opener ‘I Should Have Known Better’, to the mighty freak-out noise ending of ‘A Touching Display’, ‘154’ always seems spot on. The Barrett/Floyd charm of ‘A Mutual Friend’, or the pure pop of ‘Map Ref’, it’s my return-to album. [Producer] Mike Thorne’s Yamaha CS-80 contributes to the overall feel, but never dominates. Post-punk? Punk? Psych? It’s ‘154’.”
