There's a new interview with Tim Chipping, singer with Orlando, at Designer Magazine <a href="http://designermagazine.tripod.com/OrlandoINT1.html">here</a>.
Orlando was a band I was in some years ago. Tim and I are reforming in a couple of weeks' time, though not as a band. We have been invited as guest DJs at Simon Price's club, Stay Beautiful. It's the club's Christmas Party. Details <a href="http://www.staybeautifulclub.co.uk/news.htm">here</a>.
The idea is that we play one song each alternately, keeping the details secret from the other in advance. We shall be using our own specially made CDR compilations with personal mnemonics as the track listing just in case.
This will be my debut as a DJ. I have DJ-d one song on just one occasion before, though it doesn't really count. It was at Club Automatic years ago, one of the many London indie discos that the now famous Erol Alkan spun records for. Mr Alkan had to go to the toilet and asked me to cover for him, for one song only.
I played The Jam's "Beat Surrender".
It cleared the floor.
I won't be playing that one on Saturday December 14th, I promise.
I've already put together my set, filling up my CDR with plenty of alternatives if I change my mind on the night or if Tim plays something that negates one of mine, perhaps a song by the same artist, or even the same song, as it's not impossible.
Our set is only an hour long, which means a mere half an hour's worth for me, plus alternatives. So I had to devise a system of elimination.
I started out by listing all the many, many songs I'd like to dance to if I went to a club.
Then I took out all the songs that no one else would dance to.
Then I took out all the songs that only Simon Price would dance to, if he wasn't at the bar at the time.
Then I took out all the songs that only my friends would dance to, and only out of guilt. And as Mr Michael says, guilty feet have, it's true, got no rhythm.
Finally, I took out all the songs that didn't have a searingly personal relevance to my life so far, taking a leaf out of Proust.
That just about did it.
I'm looking forward to it immensely. Do come along if you can. We'll be "on" at about 10pm.
