Jim from Dubai has been a regular visitor to this blog for some years now. I've always welcomed his comments, and the fact that he boosted my international readership beyond Portugal and the USA. Recently, Jim was one of a few people who helped me track down a copy of the song Obvious by Dean Owens' band Smile for the biggest edition of Namesakes to date. As part of our ensuing conversation, I asked him if he fancied a guest post, wondering if he might tell us a little more about the life of British music fan in Dubai. Well, Jim delivered, and I'm privileged to offer his guest post below, along with a selection of tunes of his choice...
Checking in on blogs like yours, The Vinyl Villain, and another few have kept me interested in music during my time in Dubai.
Before I moved here I grew up in Glasgow and used to go to regular gigs and was always listening to and buying music, but since I moved here in 2000, you can probably guess, the music scene here is very poor.
To be honest, I was always a bit of a homeboy, I loved Glasgow and the music scene back in the late 90s / early 2000s and it never crossed my mind I would work in another country. Then right out the blue one of my colleagues who I had worked with who had moved to Dubai with the same company called me to ask if I fancied a move to Dubai. Back then Dubai was not the metropolis it is now, I had hardly heard of it. I was single at the time and spoke to my family and friends and everyone said to me I may regret it in the future if I didn't take this chance so I gave it a go and almost 24 years later I am still here. I am now 30 years with the company, a large US communications company who supply cables and communications products for data centres and stuff like that.
One of my reservations for leaving to come to Dubai was I would miss the music scene, hearing music, and buying records. Remember, back then there wasn't YouTube, streaming or accessible music to listen to, so I knew I was giving that up.
Unfortunately, the music scene in Dubai at the moment is pretty poor. There are no regular decent music nights and not really any bars that play good music (well, music that I like anyway). There are some really great bars and there are new bars opening nearly every week, however most of them play a similar type of music which is generally bland dance / DJ type music, R&B, Hip Hop. Many will have bands that play regular overplayed rock music... also the cost of a beer is generally between £10-£13!!
During the 24 years I have been here, there have been some great music nights and I have met some folks who have a similar taste in music so there are some of us here.
When I first arrived in Dubai, I didn't really know anyone and I was staying in a hotel for the first few weeks. I was not one for going out to a bar by myself but when you are in a new country and it is the weekend you either stay in or you make the effort and go out for a few beers. Luckily, the first year or so I was here, there was a pop music quiz in one of the bars and one thing I love is a music quiz.
I went by myself and stood at the bar. There were a lot of teams, mainly British folks, but even though I missed the first round as I got delayed and arrived a bit late, I still won the quiz. I went back again the next week, again stood at the bar by myself and again won the quiz. When I went back the third week, a couple of lads came up and spoke to me, British lads who liked their music, and I ended up joining their team. One of the lads, Steve, is still my best mate in Dubai and another real music obsessive. He is still in Dubai. We have been to many gigs here over the years and we still burn CDs to each other with whatever music we have been listening to. I remember one time, we were all up at Steve's house before going into town, and he played this. I had never heard of The Strokes at this time, but I loved this song and it started my love of all things Strokes.
Myself, Steve and another lad, Calum, liked our quizzes and our music, we quickly found that we all had a love of The Associates and the song Party Fears Two, so when we went to other quizzes as the 3 of us, our quiz team name became Party Fears 3, and 24 years later I still use that name for any quiz nights we go to. If there are 4 of us, we are Party Fears 4; 5, Party Fears 5, etc. Everyone here just knows us as Party Fears, but almost no ones knows the meaning of it.
The first big music night here that really appealed to me was an Indie night that ran for about 5 years from about 2003 to 2008. It was called Twisted Melons and was the last Friday of the month. It started with about a dozen people, but once it got running there were normally over 100 people there. Great night, great music, as you can probably guess, the likes of Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, New Order and the like, but the for first hour or so they played some unusual stuff we had not heard of, so this was also a good way for me to hear some decent new music.
My favourite memory of Twisted Melons is Young Folk by Peter, Bjorn and John. I remember hearing this for the first time there and loving it. I spoke to the DJ to ask what it was and I have loved it ever since.
As Dubai is such a transient city, people come and go with their jobs and unfortunately the DJs left Dubai and Twisted Melons finished.
A few years later, in one of the small pubs in the old part of the city, one of my friends started a Northern Soul night which was great. A small pub venue with around 50 odd people all generally British folks between 40 to 60 who loved the music. I admit I was not the biggest Northern Soul fan, my wife Jude had a lot of old Kent label albums on vinyl and loved this music. I got to like it more over the years. The one song that gets me immediately on to the dance floor would be The Night by Frankie Valli.
A bit of talcum powder on the floor and everyone having a wee boogie, great while it lasted, but again the DJ moved on and that night stopped.
There was a band we used to go and watch who played one of the pubs once a month. They were called The 1990s. They played mainly Brit Poppy type music, Oasis, Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, also things like the The Kinks, Stones, the Jam and stuff. This was always a great night but due to Covid, many of the lads lost their jobs or moved on, so again it finished.
Over the past year, the Dubai Vespa and Lambretta Club have had some good music related brunches, normally on a Saturday afternoon from 12.30pm till around 5-6pm. It starts off with Northern Soul but soon moves onto late 70's / early 80's stuff like The Jam, Specials, Clash, Madness, Bad Manners and the likes, which gets the place going, then moves onto Indie / Brit pop with the likes of Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Primal Scream and stuff. Unfortunately, there were only three of these days in the past year, they really need to have more of these days / nights. There's one song that gets everyone on the dancefloor once we're all suitably lubricated...
There have been a quite a few bands who have played here over the years but these are mainly older acts such as:
The Stranglers (without Hugh Cornwell), then Hugh Cornwell playing solo, so we have seen the Original Stranglers line up just not on the same night or stage.
The Human League, a few times.
Madness
Bryan Ferry
The Wonderstuff
Simple Minds, a few times.
Billy Ocean
James
The Stone Roses
Suede
The Lightning Seeds
Neil Finn (doing a mixture of Crowded House and Split Enz)
80's Rewind Festivals (with the likes of ABC, Midge Ure, From The Jam, Nick Heyward, Marc Almond, Tony Hadley, Altered Images)
Ska Night (Neville Staples doing The Specials stuff, Pauline Black doing The Selector stuff and Ranking Roger doing The Beat). Jude got her photo taken with Ranking Roger. She was really heartbroken when he passed away a few years ago.
About 10 years ago they also had a mini Indie type festival called Sound City. It was over three days and we had the likes of Happy Mondays, The Farm, The Doves, Human League, Super Furry Animals and many more.
Here in Dubai, we end up going to see bands or artists we may not have gone to see in the UK as we don't get many decent people coming here so we end up going with friends to see anyone half decent.
I met my wife Jude here in Dubai, she is from Birmingham and loves music, she grew up on a diet of Ska and the likes of The Specials, The Beat etc. back in the late 70's early 80's.
Dubai is a tough city to meet someone as it is such a transient city, around 85% of the population is expatriate and most people tend to be here for a short period of time, job permitting, so I was very lucky to meet Jude and especially as she is a big music fan too.
We got married in 2015 in the UK and went to the Indietracks festival near Derby for our honeymoon (before going to Italy), with my mate Steve and his wife Kat from Dubai, he was my best man. We went to Indietracks twice - the first time, two of my favourite Indie Pop bands, Helen Love and BIS, were playing so that was the main reason we went.
I was speaking to one of the guys on the stalls selling records and told him we came from Dubai specially to see Helen Love and BIS and he arranged for me to meet Sheena from Helen Love before they went onto the stage. She was very nice, very nervous and it was great to have a chat with her. They put on an amazing show, was one of the highlights of the weekend.
We have also been to a few places on our travels to see some bands:
Budapest, to see Placebo. Jude is a big Placebo fan, so when I saw they were touring Europe and specifically Budapest on her birthday, we went for a few days. Budapest is a great city and the Placebo gig was great. This was the highlight...
Hamburg, to see Sparks. I have always loved Sparks, the fact that Ron and Russell are still releasing albums and touring well into their 70s is incredible, I have every Sparks studio album, well over 20 of them, some hit and miss but overall a great body of work.
The thing we loved about this gig was the venue which was Mojo's.
We knew the venue was at the top of the Reeperbahn, so we went to check it out on the day we arrived, just so we knew where it was. Using Google maps, we were standing exactly where the venue should have been, but we couldn't see any sign of it. After a while we noticed what looked like a huge drain on the pavement, and it had a kind of "M" shape embossed on it, so we thought maybe it might be underground. We came back the night of the gig and right enough, the pavement had opened up and there was a stairway leading underground. We were amazed, it was a great night and one of the best venues I have been to.
As much as I love This Town Ain't Big Enough and The Number One Song in Heaven, which they played on the night, I have plumped for a song which unfortunately they did not play...
New York, to see Silversun Pickups. Jude retired last year. She is a huge Elvis fan, so I promised I would take her to Graceland once she retired. We spent two weeks in the US, a few days in New York, Memphis with Gracelands, Sun Studios and the amazing Stax Studios which we spent hours in and we finished off in New Orleans spending our nights in the various soul bars there.
While in New York, we saw that The Silversun Pickups were playing at The Webster Theatre and managed to get tickets. I only really knew a couple of their songs but we were happy to get to a gig whilst there. We have since bought their albums and really like them. The stand out track and another one of my favourite songs is Lazy Eye, from the opening riff as it builds up until it explodes, top tune.
And in August last year, we went to Bangkok to see The Strokes (and also The Bangkok Beatles, who are brilliant).
I hope there will be more in the future.
Overall, Dubai is a great, vibrant city to live in, with sunshine most days of the year. However, for five months of the year, it is too hot and humid, 40-50 degrees most days. During this period it's too humid to be outdoors, especially in the evenings.
You asked if I ever get homesick. Sometimes I do, especially missing my family and friends, but I have been here for so long now and met many good friends and that helps a lot, I have also had family and friends visit over the years. It's a nice place to visit, especially during the UK winter months.
The one thing I do miss is when I see gigs or bands advertised playing in the UK and I am out here and realize I am missing so many great nights, that's the one thing I miss.
PS: I know you said you previously worked in Radio. My minor claim to fame was back in 1997, my boss entered me for Music Brain on Radio 1. It was a music quiz by Mark Goodier that ran the whole year and I was lucky enough to win it. I was on it three times during the year and the final was just before Christmas. I was delighted to win it as I love a good music quiz. It was a kinda precursor to Pop Master I suppose, as it was a year before Pop Master started and only ran for one year.
I can't thank Jim enough for this post. When I asked him if he fancied doing a guest post, I had no idea he'd put so much into it. I'm sure you'll agree it makes for a fascinating insight into the adventures of a British music fan abroad, with a great selection of tunes to go along with it. Thanks again, Jim - you're a star!
I wrote a particularly self-loathing screed the other day
about how, even after almost 16 years on the blogosphere, I still don’t feel
like I fit in. I scrapped it in the end because such posts always end up sounding like desperate comment-bait, like I’m begging people to say, “Don’t be silly, Rol, your blog
is great!” or some such, which really wasn’t the point of writing it.
When you’re a teenager, not fitting in is just part of life.
High school movies always teach us that the kids who do fit in (the
cheerleaders, the jocks) are actually evil and will go on to become either
high-flying scumbags or faded losers. See Biff Tannen in the Back To The Future
movies – he becomes both. The cool kids, the ones with real potential to make a
positive difference and change the world, they’re the outcasts, the freaks and
the geeks. I wonder if that’s because the majority of high school movies are
written by one-time social lepers who have since blossomed into successful
butterflies, albeit butterflies with baggage: chips on shoulders, ghosts to
exorcise, point to prove.
But what about when you’re 50 and you still feel like you
don’t fit in? Some caterpillars go past the point of metamorphosis and just
have to learn to live with being caterpillars.
Gee, if this is the post I wrote instead of the one I
scrapped, just imagine what a pity party that one was!
Paul Collins recently featured in Namesakes where his band
The Beat was roundly trounced by the bathroom vanity guys. No wonder he feels
like he doesn’t fit in…
It doesn’t matter what town I’m in
I’m always on the outside, lookin’ in
Oh what, someday everything’s gonna change?
Well, I wanna know when
Last week, we had three J. Andersons to choose from. With my vote counted, it was a dead heat between the "Country Bumpkin" (as CC put it) and the bloke from Yes. It was a No to the bloke from Charlie though.
This week, three bands called The Beat. Les is not a member.
THE BEAT #1
The Beat you’ll be most familiar with are the Brummie ska band
formed by Dave Wakeling and the late Ranking Roger in 1978 They released three
strong studio albums and a bunch of hit singles before parting ways in 1983.
Wakeling and Rogers would go on to form General Public, while other band
members continued on as The International Beat. Various versions of the band
have reformed and intermingled over the years, often known as The English Beat
when playing abroad, to avoid confusion with our second The Beat, as I'll try to explain below.
THE BEAT #2
Our second band called The Beat formed in L.A. in 1979 and
released an acclaimed debut album of power pop gems. Lead singer Paul Collins
originally fronted The Nerves, the band most famous for the original version of
Hanging On The Telephone (written by Jack Lee, made famous by Blondie).
Curiously, this version of The Beat soon after changed their name to Paul
Collins’ Beat to avoid confusion with The Beat #1. Regardless of this, their
record company threatened The Beat #1 with a lawsuit due to the fact that
Collins’ The Beat were the first to release an album in the US (even though The
Beat #1 got to the name first). Despite being later dropped by CBS, Collins has
continued to record and tour with the band through to the present day.
THE BEAT #3
Our third band appear to have formed in New Jersey in the
late 90s. Also known as The Beat Polka Band or Mike Costa & The Beat,
though they have released a couple of records purely as The Beat, most notably
the cheekily titled Meet The Beat.
On the strength of those first tune tunes, I think this may be the hardest choice I've offered you on this feature... and who doesn't like a bit of polka?
(I loved Chris's idea that "I'd avoid web" suggested this wasn't from Spiders-era Bowie. I wish I could claim to have been smart enough to come up with that myself.)
2. Dick & Spencer - 2 blokes in a Lambo.
Dick & Spencer Tracy are 2 blokes - a chap and a man.
Special mentions to Question Mark & The Mysterians, Slash, The Parenthetical Girls and !!! (which is a contender for worst band name ever: how do you even pronounce that?).
Ranking Roger loved his Full Stops from the very first Beat single, of which this was double-A side with their more-played version of Tears of a Clown. The final full stop comes right at the end of the song though...
In legal documents and religious texts, punctuation is all-important. Thea proves that here...
‘Cause you see, I’ve got this theory that it’s only punctuation That separates the list from you to me And you can have your little war of full stops and meritings But the real power’s in parentheses
The ghetto boys are catcalling me As I pull my keys from my pocket I wonder if this method of courtship Has ever been effective Has any girl in history said Sure, you seem so nice, let's get it on Still, I always shock them when I answer Hi my name's Amanda And I'm not gonna live my life on one side of an ampersand
Wonder what Neil Gaiman makes of that philosophy? (Let's not ask him, his answers tend to go on for years without end, like his stories.)
So the Oxford Comma, if you don't know, is the optional comma you may sometimes use before the 'and' at the end of a list. Used properly, it can avoid confusion and comedy...
Vampire Weekend though, they don't give an f-bomb about it. Philistines.
1. Dan Baird - I Love You, Period
Top single from the former Georgia Satellite in which Dan's affair with his English teacher is curtailed by bad punctuation...
That's the problem with English teachers.They let pedantry get in the way of romance.
Every Halloween, I like to post a horror-themed Top Ten. In recent years, I've done My Top Ten Frankenstein Songs, My Top Ten Vampire Songs, My Top Ten Haunted Songs and My Top Ten Zombie Songs (although for some reason, I didn't post that one at Halloween). I was going to do werewolves this year, but it turns out there's something much scarier out there at the moment... and I don't mean Donald Trump. Louise has even made us buy new curtains in case we glance out and see one of these stood in our garden. And so, as a special Halloween treat, I bring you My Top Ten Clown Songs. Let's be careful out there...
Special mention to the scariest clown you'll ever hear: Harpo's Rock 'n' Roll Clown. Now I wouldn't want to meet him on a dark night.
Second special mention to the weirdest threesome in rock history... Joni Mitchell, Tom Petty and... Billy Idol: Dancin' Clown.
Final special mention to Insane Clown Posse. They're supposed to be scary, but I think they're hilarious.
Other fine clowns who were in the running include Elvis Costello (three times, actually), Neil Diamond, Admiral Fallow, Toby Keith, The Cocteau Twins, Jimmy Webb, Brett Anderson, Grand National, Status Quo and Manfred Mann... obviously. Yes, I could have done a Top 20, but I don't do those anymore.
Let's set the pace, shall we? In case you think this Top Ten's gonna be full of big shoes, cars with their wheels falling off and custard pies in the face. Here's Paul Westerberg's switchblade-carrying clown, angry that rumours keep spreading all over town...
This is the world we live in now, Turin Brakes. I picked up two of your albums (and one by Counting Crows), at 'three for a quid' in the local charity shop the other week. That said, I liked them enough that I might pay full price for the next one.
Last clown, drinking in a bar that's about to be closed down A hero, I was in people's plans I was shaking their hands I got lost in the world, slow motion walking and diatribe talking As bad as things be, I'm a natural survivor
By the time you reach the end of this list, you'll realise there's not one happy clown in sight. No wonder they all end up turning bad...
He used to honk his horn and everyone would laugh He used to honk his horn She doesn't think he's very funny anymore Footprints in the sawdust leading to the edge of town Something bad happened to a clown
Great track from last year's "comeback" album, Everything Ever Written.
The typical code of conduct At the international clown hall of fame Not to smile until you've painted on your smile You go looking for laughter Yeah, you could be another poet like
John Crowe Ransom, Whitman or Hart Crane All those words you leave behind Will fit together in time Like a clown You'll do anything for fame Tell me did you ever meet another clown Who said I'll be around for you now?
Dave Davies' only real solo hit (though I have featured one of his other, less successful, solo singles here before) is a resigned shrug towards the circus-like life of a touring rock star, co-written with Ray.
One of my favourites from Ron, although the live acoustic Ron-cam recreation above isn't as good as the album version. Great lyrics though...
Everything is alright for against the backdrop of ordinary life
It's the easy laugh that gets you through
Your working day and the hogwash
Sad but true, he's a clown in broad daylight
One of the saddest songs ever written. Hence it's been recorded by everybody from Frank Sinatra to Grace Jones, Lou Rawls to Madonna. I'm particularly fond of Mark Kozelek's latest version (not the one on youtube), but Judy's is the definitive recording. The song was written by Stephen Sondheim for the musical A Little Night Music, and he claims it's not literally about circus clowns: just fools like us.
1. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tears of a Clown
And this is why Smokey Robinson is a god. Just listen to these lyrics: in a chirpy pop song, for Smokey's sake!
Just like Pagliacci did I try to keep my surface hid Smiling in the crowd I try But in a lonely room I cry The tears of a clown
The music was written by Stevie Wonder who couldn't come up with a decent lyric so took it to the Motown Christmas party and played it to Smokey in the hope he'd come up with something. He did.
Tears of a Clown is also one of the only pop songs to feature a bassoon. More on that here.
There are those who will tell you that The Beat's version is better, but they are men of a certain age (i.e. about 5-10 years older than me) and though it's a fine opinion I respect greatly... I must disagree.
And you think your other half spends a long time in the bath! Imagine if you lived with Miles Hunt...
And now the time has come to share the joke
That the latch on the bathroom door is broke
And now it's time to let you know
That it's only the beat of my heart that is slow
Who's fault is this? I deny that it's mine
I been stuck in here since 1959
That's 30 good years in the bathroom baby
As part of the majestic opera that is Side 2 of Abbey Road, this is Lennon & McCartney at their most amazing. Doesn't really work outside that context though.
Only Neil Hannon could begin a song with a quote from the bible, followed by a lengthy string quartet intro, the lines "Rub-a-dub-dub, it's time for a scrub"... before going on to tell us of Ophelia's last day on earth. If you call that pretentious, you don't understand genius.
Ska classic. Great beat, don't try to make sense of the lyrics.
Can I take you to a restaurant That's got glass tables? You can watch yourself While you are eating
1. The Real Tuesday Weld - Bathtime In Clerkenwell
I think it's fair to say there's nothing else like this track on this Top Ten... or anywhere else in the known universe. No idea what it's about or where it came from, but it sounds like the best bathtime ever...
