(In fact, sociably reclusive or reclusively sociable)

As usual, the playlist below is available to listen to as a show on 60 North Radio (Fridays, 7-8pm) and on Mixcloud (link follows).

The choice of songs this week has a sneaky tip of the hat to one Bruce Springsteen, who performed in Edinburgh to 50,000 or maybe 60,000 people at Murrayfield. To universal acclaim. Life-changing, some said.

I saw him in 1985 at St James’s Park in Newcastle, and that did change my life. It was phenomenal. However, these days have absolutely no desire to stand, or even sit for four hours in a stadium wondering where the nearest toilets are. Also, I hate the fact that this erstwhile man of the people embraced so-called ‘surge’ pricing on tickets for these shows – though I admit that only some were affected, and latterly you could pick up reasonably priced briefs online.

To tell the truth, I don’t really like gigs anymore. I don’t want to go out. I want to stay home. Get things done…now who said that? Records rather than gigs. And there’s the money. It would have cost Susan and me upwards of £1200 to get off the island and go that Murrayfield gig. 

 I’d rather spend the cash on, I don’t know, a motorbike. A(nother) good guitar. Forget I said that, Susan. OK, £25 on that fourth vinyl copy of Darkness on the Edge of Town (the other three having been worn out through constant playing). And spend the time remembering when Bruce was limber enough to slide (the late Clarence Clemons doing so from the opposite side) on his knees along a Slipperened stage, in perfect time to the music of Candy’s Room to kiss Clarence on the lips.

Anyway, this show has one of the earliest cover versions of a Springsteen song, and magnificent it is too – Greg Kihn doing Rendezvous.

The show begins with the Left Banke and their original version of Walk Away Renée, a song so colossally powerful it made Marshall Crenshaw talk about it with musicianly awe. Other highlights in this very jangly hour include the wonderful and tragic Gin Blossoms and Robbie Fulk’s regretted redneck anthem Let’s Kill Saturday Night. Transcends sarcasm magnificently.

The Left Banke — Walk Away Renee

Jason and the Scorchers — Absolutely Sweet Marie

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit — Save the World

Dawes — Just My Luck

Warren Zevon — Trouble Waiting to Happen

REM — Don’t Go Back to Rockville

Lemonheads — The Outdoor Type

Matthew Sweet — I’ve Been Waiting

Greg Kihn Band — Rendezvous

Robert Palmer — Sneaking Sally through the Alley

Frankie Miller — Bridgeton

XTC — Mayor of simpleton

Gin Blossoms —Allison Road

Fountains of Wayne — Bright future in Sales

Robbie Fulks — Let’s Kill Saturday Night

The Hold Steady — Sequestered in Memphis