Skip to main content

The Collection - Dodgy


Year Released: 2004

Label: Spectrum

Year Bought: Can't remember

Dodgy were one of those bands kicking around in the 90s who weren't really going anywhere until Britpop took over, and then - bam. British? Play guitar? Sound a bit like the Beatles? Here you go lads, welcome to the Radio 1 A-List. 

Luckily, Dodgy did have a couple of cracking tunes, the most famous of which is 'Good Enough' - a tune that almost 30 years on is as bright, optimistic, and joyful as ever.

The three-piece always sounded like they played with smiles on their faces, with that sense of 'aren't we having a great time' as clear as a bell on songs like 'Staying Out For The Summer', 'Found You' and 'Summer Fayre'.

This 18-song release is not a singles collection, as there are omissions such as 'If You're Thinking Of Me' (the group's second-highest charting single), nor is it a best of. 

At least, I hope it's not a best of. If the Balaphon-A-Bing Bong Immigrant Mix of b-side 'The Elephant' is among the best 18 songs they ever did then that's pretty worrying. 

Same with a pointless note-for-note cover of 'Revolution'. Trust me lads, you didn't need to cover the Beatles. Pretty much every song on here sounds like the Beatles.  I was expecting a yellow submarine to sail out my speakers during the outro of 'Grand Old English Oak Tree'.

The big ballad on the record is 'Grassman' which gets the full kitchen-sink production treatment, complete with a female vocalist at the end delivering an indie version of 'The Great Gig In The Sky'.

At 18 songs, this is far too long, but there are some good songs on here I'd completely forgotten about. 'Water Under The Bridge' is a well-produced tune (thanks to Ian Broudie) with some great Who-style vocal harmonies.

'A Summer's Day in Mid January' is very Kinks/Small Faces, with wall-of-sound acoustic guitars and lyrics referencing the Norfolk Broads.

Not a brilliant collection, but if you're in the mood for some deep-dive 90s Britpop nostalgia, it's Good Enough. 

(Sorry about that.)

6/10




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Year Released: 2004 Label: Domino Year Bought: 2004 January 2004. I'd just quit uni. Was back at the family home in Bishop's Stortford. The place I'd been so desperate to get away from, and I was back and already bored.  And then things got a bit less boring. I remember this so clearly. I was having a shower and the radio was on, and on came 'Take Me Out'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At first I thought it must be an old tune that had passed me by, but no, it was announced as a new song by a band called Franz Ferdinand. It sounded glorious. It sounded interesting. After the staleness of the post-Britpop years, and beigeness of Coldplay, Travis et al, there was actually a British band doing something interesting. I loved it, and when the album came out the next month, I gobbled it up with glee. Listening back now, and I still love it. The hushed opening of 'Jacqueline', the sleaze of 'The Dark of the Matinee', the homoeroticism of 'M...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Bends - Radiohead

Year Released: 1995 Label: Parlophone Year Bought: 2000 Some records I'm going back to for the first time in a while. Others, like 'The Bends', are still in my regular rotation. What to say about this album? The crashing piano chords of opening track 'Planet Telex' give an immediate indication that this is not the same band that made 'Pablo Honey'. The album is a quantum leap from that record, which – while it has its fans, including me – is by-and-large the sound of just another guitar band. 'The Bends' is different. From the slowing-down-time intro of the title track, to the how-high-can-you-go guitars on 'Just', the album constantly delights. 'Fake Plastic Trees' is a magisterial effort, while 'Black Star' contains one of the great opening lines:  "I get home from work and you're still standing in your dressing gown, well, what am I to do?" The recording process for this record was inspired by seeing Jeff Buck...
Post a Comment
Read more

NME Awards 2004 - Various Artists

  Released: 2004 Label: NME When I bought: 2004 In ye olde days before streaming, and even YouTube, it wasn't possible to hear within a matter of moments pretty much every song ever released. Therefore, compilations like this by the NME actually had a degree of value. Take 'Paperbag Writer' by Radiohead, a b-side from 'There There', the lead single from 2003's Hail to the Thief. I bought the album but not the single, so I'd never heard this tune. It's a brilliant track, with its electronic shuffle beat and muffled vocals making it sound like a left over from Kid A, or the starting point for Thom Yorke's debut solo album which would be released the following year. Likewise, 'See You Soon' by Coldplay. A true delight from a 1999 EP, with delicate guitar playing, scarce production, and honest vocal delivery. It's a reminder that once upon a time Chris Martin et al were able to operate with that oft-neglected trait: restraint. As a snapshot o...
Post a Comment
Read more