Sinister: how it felt

[Ian Watson]

How Does It Feel To Be Loved?

The thing I remember the most clearly was Harvey coming up to me right after
I¹d started playing "Found A Little Baby" by Plush and telling me that while
he admired me for picking a song he rated as one of the most beautiful ever
recorded, he thought it was little foolhardy playing something that was
impossible to dance to and thus bound to clear the dancefloor completely.
   "Yeah, but the thing is I never expected anyone to dance anyway," I
explained, trying not to talk too loud over the drop dead "oooh-oooh" bits
that sound like they¹re lifted from Brian Wilson: The Melancholic, Wistful
And Achingly Beautiful Years. "So in that respect the whole thing¹s been a
complete disaster."
   I¹d convinced myself that no-one was going to come, so the plan was to
please myself. I was going to play my "Found A Little Baby" seven inch,
possibly both sides. I was going to play the version of "Wouldn¹t It Be
Nice" I have that¹s vocals only. I was going to play "Your Ghost" by Kristen
Hersh. I was going to play "Everything Flows". No would be there, no one
would dance, and I¹d have the time of my life.
   When a guy knocked on the door at nine pm precisely and asked when we
were opening I was practically dumbstruck. I didn¹t know him. He wasn¹t one
of a handful of pals who were kind-hearted enough to say they¹d come and
drink a few pints while I played my favourite late night records. He was a
complete stranger.
   "Er, eight o clock," I said, even though it was a good hour after that. I
thrust a flyer into his hand in a bid to hide my flusteredness. He was
coming already, he didn¹t need a flyer. What was I doing? He scanned the
printed names and said "Go-Betweens. Cool". I was secretly delighted but
kept my calm. 
   "Come back at nine o clock," I said.
   It was, by that point, about five past.
   Then Ben showed up. He was on his own (The first guy was with an off duty
Prom Queen. That¹s what you get for being punctual). We still hadn¹t opened
but it was ten past by then and that seemed like as good a time as any.
   "Want to hear Simon & Garfunkel?" I asked him.
   He did. Well, he said he did, probably out of politeness more than
anything else, although he was close enough to see the rising mania in my
eyes so self preservation probably played a part as well, and off I scurried
downstairs.
   Song one: "Keep The Customers Satisfied". My little joke.
   A few songs after that: "We Can Have A Party On Our Own". Still amusing
myself, all going well.
   I played the Go-Betweens before the punctual guy came back.
Over-enthusiasm plus stupidity equals irony. So now you know.
   In the space of half an hour, a lot of people turned up that I didn¹t
know and a lot of my friends did as well. I couldn¹t believe it. I was
doubly happy on two different levels. Ben said he came because of my
postings on the Sinister Mailing list and thought that quite a few others
turned up because of those. The off duty Prom Queen¹s mate said she came
along because of my postings on the Prom Night messageboard and that a few
of her mates did too. Ah, the wonder of the internet. I will never doubt its
potency ever again.
   If I had been forced to bet all of my money on which song would get
someone up dancing first, I would never ­ in a million long years of
studying form and going through mine and Angus¹ record collections with a
magnifying glass and a fine tooth comb ­ have picked "Therese" by The
Bodines. That is why I¹ve never won the lottery, one of those flats that the
Evening Standard give away, or "Parallel Lines" in a Smash Hits competition
(my brother won the last one, though, so I got to listen to his copy).
   But it did. 
   One guy, dancing on his own.
   Respect.
   The rest of the night is a bit of a blur. I drank enthusiastically, I
played records that I loved, it was a fine way to be. Songs by the following
artists were aired: Belle & Sebastian, The Temptations, The Razorcuts, The
Mills Brothers, Tom Jones, The Stone Roses, The House Of Love, The Field
Mice, Aretha Franklin, The Velvet Underground, The Four Tops. I didn¹t play
Kristen, "Everything Flows" (but I did chance "The Concept"), or the Beach
Boys a cappella (went for "Sloop John B" instead). I didn¹t have songs by
Television, Another Sunny Day, Suede and countless others.
   The last two songs were:
   "The End Of The Affair" (this is it, isn¹t it?)
   "Homeward Bound".
   We lasted til 2am when I thought we¹d be hard pushed to make it til
midnight. It was a great and it¹s taken me about a week and a half to get
over it and type up this account. Sorry for being so slack.
   That¹s it. I¹m just trying to sort out when the next date will be and
I¹ll post it up on the site when I¹ve got it sorted. Other than that, all
that remains to be said is: thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
   It wouldn¹t have been half as good without you.




   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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