A Wednesday Night In Oxford
Nov. 21st, 2002 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coalescentYesterday evening, I went to Oxford for two reasons. One, Brian Aldiss was talking to OUSFG; and two, Tom and I were scheduled to DJ at Panic.
The biggest shock of the evening, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tinyjo has already pointed out, was discovering that the much-repeated OUSFG creation myth is, in fact, true in all essential details. OUSFG really was founded by Brian Aldiss, and he really did throw them out on their ear (from a house in the street I lived on last year, no less) to fend for themselves. The rest of the talk was almost as interesting, however, ranging as it did over the perceptions and marketing of SF to the state of the genre, what makes an SF story, the history of fandom and much else. Accompanying Brian was Judy Blish, widow of the late James Blish, which was almost like getting two authors for the price of one.
I'm a sucker for 'SF community' stuff. I love the sense of history and continuity that goes with being a fan, the traditions and institutions that have been established. It's trivially easy to argue that fandom just isn't like that any more, what with the proliferation of fans and communications media, and it may be for the best; but I can still get wrapped up in stories of SF's past, when everyone knew each other.
Some time later, Tom and I returned to his flat to sort out our set list; tradition demands that this is as last-minute an affair as possible. After much (well, some) debate, the running order was established as:
- The Rock Of Travolta - 'Giant Robo'
- Ash - 'Jack Names The Planets'
- Idlewild - 'A Modern Way Of Letting Go'
- The Music - 'The Truth Is No Words'
- Primal Scream - 'Kill All Hippies'
- The Stone Roses - 'I Am The Resurrection'
- Damon Albarn - 'Closet Romantic'
(That last track, incidentally, has to be heard to be believed, consisting as it does of two minutes of strumming and ambient noise, and one minute of strumming, ambient noise, and Damon Albarn reciting the names of James Bond films in a monotone. A better song for persuading punters it is time to have leave you have never heard.)
When the time came, however, things changed somewhat. The guy in the slot before us was, not to put too fine a point on it, awful; playing obscure, undanceable music with a willful peversity. Yes, that's a time-honoured part of the Panic tradition, but the key is moderation. The end result was that as Tom and I approached the DJ booth, a harrased-looking IMsoc president implored us to 'go mainstream.'
This was an event not unlike the occurrence ten minutes or so before the end of the West Wing episode 'Game On'. I'm not going to be any more specific, since I know at least one person reading this (a) hasn't seen it and (b) cares about spoilers.
The next half hour is something of a blur in my memory; I remember rummaging frantically through the Panic record collection, searching for suitable songs, whilst resisting requests for Rage Against The Machine and assorted Nu-Metal bands. I also had a promo copy of The Rock Of Travolta's new album thrust into my hands, with instructions to 'play track three.' I negotiated, and was told I could keep the CD if we played it. In the end, we didn't play it and someone took back the CD whilst I wasn't looking.
In short, the running order was constructed entirely on the fly, changing as new songs were unearthed. In the end, the set looked something like this:
- Ash - 'Burn Baby Burn'
- Idlewild - 'You Held The World In Your Arms'
- Blur - 'Song 2'
- The Dandy Warhols - 'Get Off'
- Soulwax - 'Much Against Everyone's Advice'
- The Hives - 'Main Offender'
- The Wannadies - 'You And Me Song'
- Green Day - 'Basket Case'
- Queens Of The Stone Age - 'Feelgood Hit Of The Summer'
- Bis - 'Eurodisco'
- Damon Albarn - 'Closet Romantic' (half of)
The result? A triumph! Congratulations from all quarters, dancers and IMsoc committee members, and promises of a better slot for Tom and myself next time.
Job done, I think. And we didn't even have to sacrifice our integrity. Well, not much of our integrity.
The biggest shock of the evening, as
tinyjo has already pointed out, was discovering that the much-repeated OUSFG creation myth is, in fact, true in all essential details. OUSFG really was founded by Brian Aldiss, and he really did throw them out on their ear (from a house in the street I lived on last year, no less) to fend for themselves. The rest of the talk was almost as interesting, however, ranging as it did over the perceptions and marketing of SF to the state of the genre, what makes an SF story, the history of fandom and much else. Accompanying Brian was Judy Blish, widow of the late James Blish, which was almost like getting two authors for the price of one. I'm a sucker for 'SF community' stuff. I love the sense of history and continuity that goes with being a fan, the traditions and institutions that have been established. It's trivially easy to argue that fandom just isn't like that any more, what with the proliferation of fans and communications media, and it may be for the best; but I can still get wrapped up in stories of SF's past, when everyone knew each other.
Some time later, Tom and I returned to his flat to sort out our set list; tradition demands that this is as last-minute an affair as possible. After much (well, some) debate, the running order was established as:
- The Rock Of Travolta - 'Giant Robo'
- Ash - 'Jack Names The Planets'
- Idlewild - 'A Modern Way Of Letting Go'
- The Music - 'The Truth Is No Words'
- Primal Scream - 'Kill All Hippies'
- The Stone Roses - 'I Am The Resurrection'
- Damon Albarn - 'Closet Romantic'
(That last track, incidentally, has to be heard to be believed, consisting as it does of two minutes of strumming and ambient noise, and one minute of strumming, ambient noise, and Damon Albarn reciting the names of James Bond films in a monotone. A better song for persuading punters it is time to have leave you have never heard.)
When the time came, however, things changed somewhat. The guy in the slot before us was, not to put too fine a point on it, awful; playing obscure, undanceable music with a willful peversity. Yes, that's a time-honoured part of the Panic tradition, but the key is moderation. The end result was that as Tom and I approached the DJ booth, a harrased-looking IMsoc president implored us to 'go mainstream.'
This was an event not unlike the occurrence ten minutes or so before the end of the West Wing episode 'Game On'. I'm not going to be any more specific, since I know at least one person reading this (a) hasn't seen it and (b) cares about spoilers.
The next half hour is something of a blur in my memory; I remember rummaging frantically through the Panic record collection, searching for suitable songs, whilst resisting requests for Rage Against The Machine and assorted Nu-Metal bands. I also had a promo copy of The Rock Of Travolta's new album thrust into my hands, with instructions to 'play track three.' I negotiated, and was told I could keep the CD if we played it. In the end, we didn't play it and someone took back the CD whilst I wasn't looking.
In short, the running order was constructed entirely on the fly, changing as new songs were unearthed. In the end, the set looked something like this:
- Ash - 'Burn Baby Burn'
- Idlewild - 'You Held The World In Your Arms'
- Blur - 'Song 2'
- The Dandy Warhols - 'Get Off'
- Soulwax - 'Much Against Everyone's Advice'
- The Hives - 'Main Offender'
- The Wannadies - 'You And Me Song'
- Green Day - 'Basket Case'
- Queens Of The Stone Age - 'Feelgood Hit Of The Summer'
- Bis - 'Eurodisco'
- Damon Albarn - 'Closet Romantic' (half of)
The result? A triumph! Congratulations from all quarters, dancers and IMsoc committee members, and promises of a better slot for Tom and myself next time.
Job done, I think. And we didn't even have to sacrifice our integrity. Well, not much of our integrity.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Integrity remaining: 89%
Date: 2002-11-22 11:41 am (UTC)On the other hand, i was extremely pleased to discover that 'Feelgood hit of the summer' is one of those songs i really like but didn't know the name of, and that 'Eurodisco', as well as being fabulous and danceable, is very popular with the ladies.
no subject
Date: 2002-11-23 09:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-11-25 04:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-11-25 10:26 am (UTC)(Er...who are you, again?)
Re:
Date: 2002-11-26 01:21 am (UTC)You won't know me, don't worry - I'm at Oxford, in Magdalen, so live practically on top of Latinos. Nice to meet you.