13 Comments

The regular use of "Born in the USA" as an uplifting pro-USA anthem is a complete misunderstanding of the song. It would make me laugh if it wasn't so egregious.

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Agreed. It's the textbook example of using a song in completely the opposite context of the its lyrics and intent - which by default, means using in complete opposition to the writer/artist's own political leanings.

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You're one of the people who, by mentioning Qobuz, inspired me to switch from Deezer to Qobuz last week. I am also enjoying the new Jon Hopkins

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I am glad to know I had that influence! Qobuz is not perfect, but its imperfections are more an issue of resources than the greed or disinterest or algorithmic nonsense propagated by the major platforms... And Ritual is a fantastic album, I've listened through about four times already which is rare in this age of TMI.

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I also find the one 2 Tone era album I still listen to consistently is Wha’appen! Probably because it had no big hits and isn’t overplayed, but mostly because it’s a sonically stunning album with great songs and a huge leap in maturity from the previous year!

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I think you just spared me a fuller post by summing Wha'appen up in one sentence! Then again, you might just spur me to listen to it, again. I interviewed a couple of the band, in their Birmingham office, just before its release. I am stunned to now learn than Ranking Roger was still only 17 even then.

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Amazing how young some of the artists of that era were. Weller was only 18 when In The City came out (and I’m seeing him tomorrow night in Brooklyn, 47 years later!)

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PS if you haven’t checked out Mdou Moctar, definitely look him up. Best show I’ve seen in years!

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If you remember Peter Aaron from this parish, he who still goes to almost every gig around, he considers Mdou Moctar the best show he's ever seen - several times over. Frustratingly, the show at the Bearsville on Oct 5 is a conflict; if I dare risk driving to Burlington ever again, he's playing there the next night.

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Specials self-titled, no contest.

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I listened to both SPecials albums in the last two weeks, and they are each just magnificent in their own, very different way.

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The Beat's Just Can't Stop It for me!

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See what I wrote in the message above to Boyd and substitute Beat for Specials!

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