We've got some catching up to do

So summer came and went without anyone really noticing and it's time to update you with a few posts. Lets start off with a music festival of a different kind. Catfest was a great event held to celebrate the thirtieth birhtday of Cat, wife of 3WTM's (very) occasional contributor and good friend Dancing Bear. Tickets were distributed, wrist bands worn (it is Dancing Bears arm modelling the wrist band below, he is an actual bear) and tents erected for this event in Wales. The idea was we'd all turn up in her Mum and Dad's garden (they own an awesome B&B), pitch our tents and set up a mini festival, all without Cat's knowledge. Amazingly it worked, she had no idea despite there being 20 cars parked out front when she arrived.

I'm sure you're asking yourself at this point what has it go to do with this blog? Well it was my task to create a playlist for the event so I set about creating a mammoth 9 hour playlist. How do you start putting together a playlist that will last so long? Well of course there has to be rules and you have to hit your target audience. As I didn't know hardly any of the target audience I aimed the playlist at the party girl and, having looked at her CD collection today I was pretty spot on - I was staying over after a trip to see The Whip in London but that's another post, hopefully to come. The poster by the way created by a Taunton graphic designer friend - thanks Paolo.

So on to those rules (more like guidelines as a pirate would say), I tried to cover each year since Cat got in to music and as there would be a strong contingent there I thought we'd go for a Madchester theme at the start, perhaps just before Cat got in to music but nonetheless I thought that was a good start point. I also thought I'd try to avoid having more than one song from any single artist and I thought I'd try to keep it fairly mainstream in an attempt to keep my playlist on the stereo and avoid anyone skipping tracks.

There were a couple of exceptions (and mistakes) of course - 2 x Oasis tracks, a few tracks before the time stated e.g. the song that was number one when she was born (Tainted Love - thanks to Dancing Bear for that), Lovecats by The Cure for obvious reasons etc. I largely achieved what I set out to, a playlist covering the key years of Cat's music life and also tracks that defined those years. Below is the track listing and I could question some of my later choices and for the omission of  Kula Shaker but apart from that it's a cracking playlist. It got a few compliments on the day which was very nice, I'm not sure they realised how geeky I'd been about it.


Catfest
145 songs, 9:30:17 total time,
Name Time Album Artist
Tainted Love 2:44 The Best of Soft Cell Soft Cell
The Lovecats 3:40 Greatest Hits [UK] The Cure
There She Goes 2:42 The La's The La's
I Am The Resurection 3:46 The Complete Stone Roses The Stone Roses
Unbelievable 3:30 Unbelievable EMF
Groovy Train 4:07 Unbelievable The Farm
Kinky Afro 3:56 The Best Album in the World...Ever! Happy Mondays
Loaded 4:35 Dirty Hits Primal Scream
Smells Like Teen Spirit 5:01 Nevermind Nirvana
Losing My Religion 4:29 Out of Time R.E.M.
Jump Around 3:38 House of Pain House of Pain
Creep 3:56 Pablo Honey Radiohead
Two Princes 4:18 Nicked Songs Off S & N Spin Doctors
Everything About You 4:06 Planet Rock Ugly Kid Joe
Girls & Boys 4:51 Parklife Blur
Staying Out For The Summer 3:13 Homegrown Dodgy
A Girl Like You 3:59 Mixtape Riot Edwyn Collins
Connection 2:21 Elastica Elastica
Basket Case 3:02 International Superhits! Green Day
Saturn 5 3:58 Saturn 5 Inspiral Carpets
Laid 2:38 James: The best Of James
Digsy's Dinner 2:32 Definitely Maybe Oasis
Inside 4:25 The Best Rock Album In The World ... ... Stiltskin
Finetime 3:07 All Change Cast
Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out 4:19 Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out Freakpower
Stupid Girl 4:19 Garbage Garbage
Change 3:41 Like You Do... Best Of The Lightning S... The Lightning Seeds
Blue Monday 6:47 The Best Album in the World...Ever! New Order
Don't Look Back in Anger 4:48 (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Oasis
Broken Stones 3:18 Stanley Road Paul Weller
Common People 5:52 Different Class Pulp
Alright 3:03 10 Supergrass
Buddy Holly 2:39 Weezer Weezer
Lose Control 3:38 1977 Ash
You're Gorgeous 3:42 Ugly Beautiful Babybird
Spaceman 4:02 The Boy With The X-Rays Eyes Babylon Zoo
One To Another 4:30 Tellin' Stories The Charlatans
Breakfast At Tiffany's 4:17 Now: That's What I Call Music, Vol. 35 Deep Blue Something
Novocaine for the Soul 3:09 Beautiful Freak Eels
The Fun Lovin' Criminal 3:13 Bag Of Hits Fun Lovin' Criminals
She Said 4:25 The Sun Is Often Out Longpigs
The Riverboat Song 4:54 Moseley Shoals Ocean Colour Scene
How Bizarre 3:47 OMC
Love Rollacoaster 3:48 Whatever Red Hot Chili Peppers
Place Your Hands 3:39 Glow Reef
Children 4:02 Now: That's What I Call Music, Vol. 34 Robert Miles
Getting Better 4:12 A Maximum High Shed Seven
Female Of The Species (Radio Edit) 3:20 Female Of The Species Space
Something 4 The Weekend 2:53 Songbook Super Furry Animals
Born Slippy 4:20 Best Anthems... Ever! [2000] Disc 1 Underworld
Philosophy 4:37 Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five
Tubthumping 3:25 Best Anthems... Ever! [2000] Disc 1 Chumbawamba
Save Me 4:37 Fireworks (Singles 1997-2002) Embrace
What A Beautiful Day 4:05 The Best Of The Levellers The Levellers
Wide Open Space 4:31 Attack of the Grey Lantern Mansun
Nancy Boy 3:20 Once More With Feeling -Singles 199... Placebo
Firestarter 4:40 Fat Of The Land Prodigy
Smile 3:45 It Doesn't Matter Anymore Supernaturals
Bitter Sweet Symphony 5:59 Urban Hymns The Verve
Sexy Boy 4:59 Moon Safari [US/UK] Air
The Boy With The Arab Strap 5:14 The Boy With The Arab Strap Belle & Sebastian
If... 5:08 'The Singles' The Bluetones
My Favourite Game 3:39 Gran Turismo The Cardigans
Mulder And Scully 4:12 International velvet Catatonia
The Rockafella Skank 6:54 You've Come A Long Way Baby Fatboy Slim
Only The Strongest Will Survive (Radio... 4:31 Only the Strongest Will Survive [Import... hurricane #1
Corpses In Their Mouths 4:12 The Greatest Ian Brown
Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) 3:09 Greatest Hits The Offspring
Let Me Entertain You 4:21 The Ego Has Landed Robbie Williams
It's like That 4:10 Connected [UK] Disc 1 Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins
Red Alert 3:37 The Singles Basement Jaxx
The Bad Touch 4:21 Hooray For Boobies The Bloodhound Gang
Hey Boy Hey Girl 4:51 Singles 93-03 The Chemical Brothers
National Express 5:06 A Secret Histroy -The Best of the Divin... The Divine Comedy
Muscle Museum 4:23 Showbiz Muse
Beautiful Ones 3:51 Coming Up Suede
Dancing In The Moonlight 3:55 Onka's Big Monka Toploader
All The Small Things 2:51 Greatest Hits Blink 182
Yellow 4:29 Parachutes Coldplay
Bohemian Like You 3:32 thirteen tales from urban bohemia The Dandy Warhols
Mr. E's Beautiful Blues 3:59 Road Trip Eels
Breakout 3:21 There Is Nothing Left To Lose Foo Fighters
Buck Rogers 3:13 Echo Park Feeder
Clint Eastwood (Mix) 3:40 Now, That's What I Call Music! Vol. 48 ... Gorillaz
Have A Nice Day 3:25 Just Enough Education to Perform Stereophonics
Hard to Explain 3:48 Is This It? [UK] The Strokes
Sing 3:49 The Invisible Band Travis
Dreaming Of You 2:21 The Coral The Coral
There Goes The Fear 6:54 The Last Broadcast Doves
Main Offender 2:33 Your New Favourite Band The Hives
You Held The World In Your Arms 3:22 The Remote Part Idlewild
Move Your Feet 3:03 Move Your Feet (EP) Junior Senior
Getaway 6:30 The Music The Music
No One Knows 4:39 Songs For The Deaf Queens Of The Stone Age
Danger High Voltage 3:37 Fire [UK] Electric Six
Don't Look Back Into The Sun 3:00 Don't Look Back Into The Sun -EP The Libertines
Hey Ya! [Radio Edit] 3:57 Hey Ya! OutKast
Silence Is Easy 3:40 Silence Is Easy [UK] Starsailor
Big Sur 3:07 So Much For The City The Thrills
Seven Nation Army 3:52 Elephant The White Stripes
Pin 2:00 Fever to Tell Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Take Me Out 3:57 Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
I Predict A Riot 3:56 I Predict A Riot (EP) Kaiser Chiefs
Club Foot 3:35 Kasabian Kasabian
Everybody's Changing 3:36 Hopes and Fears Keane
Mr Brightside 3:43 Hot Fuss The Killers
Stumble And Fall 3:02 Up All Night Razorlight
Chocolate 3:03 Final Straw Snow Patrol
Wake Up 5:35 Funeral Arcade Fire
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 2:54 Whatever People Say I Am, That's Wh... Arctic Monkeys
An Honest Mistake 3:41 The Bravery The Bravery
Tied Up Too Tight 4:49 Stars Of CCTV Hard-Fi
Gold Digger (feat. Jamie Foxx) 3:28 Late Registration Kanye West
She Moves In Her Own Way 2:49 Inside In / Inside Out The Kooks
Monster 3:46 Monster -Single The Automatic
Bang Bang You're Dead 3:33 Waterloo To Anywhere Dirty Pretty Things
Chelsea Dagger 3:37 Costello Music The Fratellis
Crazy (Single Version) 2:58 Crazy Gnarls Barkley
LDN 3:11 Alright, Still Lily Allen
Supermassive Black Hole 3:29 Black Holes & Revelations Muse
Nine2Five 3:08 Nine2Five -Single The Ordinary Boys vs. Lady Sovereign
Young Folks 4:36 Writer's Block Peter Bjorn And John
Steady As She Goes 3:38 Broken Boy Soldiers The Raconteurs
I Don't Feel Like Dancin' 4:11 I Don't Feel Like Dancin' -Single Scissor Sisters
Back To Black 4:01 Back to Black Amy Winehouse
Acceptable In The 80's 5:34 I Created Disco Calvin Harris
Standing In the Way of Control 4:18 Standing In The Way of Control The Gossip
Starz In Their Eyes 4:58 Starz In Their Eyes -Single Just Jack
It's Not Over Yet 3:37 Myths Of The Near Future Klaxons
Valerie 3:39 Version Mark Ronson
Grace Kelly 3:08 Life In Cartoon Motion Mika
Either Way 4:04 Either Way -Single The Twang
One Day Like This 6:34 The Seldom Seen Kid (Uni Recs) Elbow
The Beginning of the Twist 3:35 The Beginning of the Twist -Single The Futureheads
Sex On Fire 3:25 Sex On Fire -Single Kings of Leon
Paper Planes 3:25 Kala M.I.A.
Just For Tonight 4:19 Just For Tonight -Single One Night Only
Greatest Day 4:01 Greatest Day -Single Take That
Sweet Disposition 3:56 Sweet Disposition The Temper Trap
Dog Days Are Over 4:13 Lungs Florence & The Machine
The Cave 3:38 Sigh No More Mumford & Sons
Forget You 3:44 F**k You -EP Cee Lo Green
The Bike Song 4:23 The Bike Song (feat. Kyle Falconer & S... Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.
She Said 3:32 The Defamation Of Strickland Banks Plan B
Rolling In The Deep 3:48 Rolling In The Deep Adele

I hope some people arrived at this site looking to download all these tracks - we've all been there...