Ben In the Basement

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It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy Throw your arms around the world because WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE. But before then, here's an hour of weird and wonderful Christmas tunes, jokes, dumb sketches and vaguely humourous noises designed to provide an hour of calm among the madness of ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING EVER. There's music from The Wedding Present, Eux Autres, Garry Abbott, Zombina and the Skeletones, The Plimptons, Tracey Thorn, Los Campesinos!, Tony Robinson, The Beatles and more. Plus: the lost cut of "Its A Wonderful Life", the least requested video game tie-in of all time, elephant impressions, going up the top of the Telecom Tower and the inevitable lame "A Christmas Carol" parody. Merry Christmas. See you next year! Still bored? Buy my new Christmas TV book here: https://linktr.ee/BenBakerBooks Songs played: The Wedding Present - "Step Into Christmas" Eux Autres - "Teenage Christmas" The Greedies - "A Merry Jingle"  The Cornshed Sisters - "Have A Good Christmas Time" Tiny Tim - "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" Garry Abbott – “Be With Me This Christmas” Zombina & The Skeletones - "A Chainsaw For Christmas" The Plimptons - "Christmas In Motherwell"  Tony Robinson and the Angel Voices - "Christmas Wrapping" Los Campesinos! - "A Doe To A Deer"  The Sonics - "Don't Believe In Christmas"  Colin's Godson - "Another Beatles Xmas Flexi"  The Beatles - "Christmas Time Is Here Again"  Paul Abbott - "Ben Baker's Christmas Box"  Tracey Thorn - "Sister Winter"  Belle and Sebastian - "The Twelve Days of Christmas (Live)" 

It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for. Mostly with stupid jokes and some fantastic music. Sail this ship with me to another meeting with The Beatle Brothers, a session from the Reverse Beautiful South, some obscene phone calls, a wow over Wembley, the latest in meditation techniques, only a minor breakdown and songs by Eskimo Fandango, Cathy Davey, Kraftwerk, Fight Like Apes, The Fatima Mansions, Jilted John and flipping loads more.  That was series two. Will there be a series three? Let me know what you think on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/BenBasement You can always link music to me there too that might get played if this loser bus ever gets back on the road.  Find full tracklists and links to where you can buy the music played on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement Thank you to everyone who listened, shared and said kind things throughout the run.  And you can buy Ben's books for Kindle or print on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B079KSMVXK And there's a complete as possible playlist of songs I've played on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IT11vbC1OJXksTQod6T3s?si=79c290f7c4c547a9

Time for best bits, some new bits and possibly even Schnorbitz as Ben Baker revisits the Keighley Olympics, school stupidity, lost tapes, Alan Bennett updated for 2021, the wonder of Yorkshire and lots more, alongside music from Sparks, the Pound Shop Boys, Luke Hirst, Shampoo, The Pooh Sticks, Pixies, The Freshies, Fightmilk, The Plimptons, Tony Hatch and more. Find full tracklists and links to where you can buy the music played on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement or the Twitter feed where you can submit your own music for the forthcoming series three: https://twitter.com/BenBasement And you can buy Ben's books for Kindle or print on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B079KSMVXK And there's a complete as possible playlist of songs I've played on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IT11vbC1OJXksTQod6T3s?si=79c290f7c4c547a9

Its your own so very own Ben In The Basement All Request Special! Yes, every track has been chosen by you - the beautiful audience at home. As for Ben...well, he's in two minds. Find out what all of that means alongside music from Pylon, The Wedding Present, Sky Larkin, Cud, Terrorvision, Robert Palmer, Elephantstopper and Smokie featuring the famous rude comedian Ian "Obese" Umber. Plus loads more! Get your council bans in now kids!  Find full tracklists and links to where you can buy the music on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement or the Twitter feed where you can submit your own music too: https://twitter.com/BenBasement And you can buy Ben's books for Kindle or print on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B079KSMVXK

Ring the bell, school's back in! Unless you're a forty year old man in which case call the damned police. With it being time for the kids to return to their alma maters in mind and body, if not soul. So grab your protractor, steal a weaker child's dinner money and listen along to an hour of comedy and music from Jim Bob, Smiley Culture, Streetlight Manifesto, Sleeper, Nirvana, James Brown, Neil Innes and (school bike)shed loads more!  Find full tracklists and links to where you can buy the music on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement or the Twitter feed where you can submit your own music too: https://twitter.com/BenBasement And for a limited time only you can get 15% off Ben's books using the code BOOKSTORE15 before September 8th here: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/benbakerpresents 

Fetch a towel, its a Basement Bank Holiday Farewell To Summer Special Spectacular sort of thing with music from Silver Sun, The Kinks, Helen Love, The Pogues, Elvis Costello, Tuung, A, Town Bike, Françoise Hardy, The Lemonheads and lots more with the regular waffling in-between.  Find full tracklists and links to where you can buy the music on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement or the Twitter feed where you can submit your own music too: https://twitter.com/BenBasement And for a limited time only you can get 10% off Ben's books (including the newly re-released music compendium "Death By Stereo") using the code PURCHASE10 before September 3rd here: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/benbakerpresents 

It's been a rough week so time for a much more relaxed episode of the Basement in full self-care mode. What interest do we have in ancient fisticuffs, riding the wind, terrible gigs, when drummers sing or the modernised works of Alan Bennett? All we need are our pumping hearts and the sweet sounds of Aphex Twin, Plot 32, Teenage Fanclub, Frenzal Rhomb, Big Joanie, Good Grief, The Walker Brothers and their sweet, satisfying ilk!  So trousers down, teeth in and brave heart for another trip to the Basement. Bring a cloth.  Find full tracklists and links to where you can buy the music on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement or the Twitter feed where you can submit your own music too: https://twitter.com/BenBasement And for a limited time only you can get 15% off Ben's books (including the newly re-released music compendium "Death By Stereo") using the code TEXTBOOK15 before August 28th here: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/benbakerpresents

The Basement is open again for new music, old music, strange music, sketches, news, daft jokes and rock history. Plus: 'Wish You Were Here?' takes a trip to Keighley, classic animation outtakes, Yorkshire's first rock festival goes badly wrong and there's an interview with singer songwriter Luke Hirst about scratching a musical itch without playing live or selling records and what the genre "Bradford Primitive" might actually consist of. There's also music from The Specials, Flyying Colours, Joe Tilston, The Peach Fuzz, Fairport Convention, Lewis Morse, The Goodies and more.  Find full tracklists and links to where you can buy the music on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement or the Twitter feed where you can submit your own music too: https://twitter.com/BenBasement And Ben's book about music "Death By Stereo" is back in print with a new cover here: https://www.lulu.com/en/gb/shop/ben-baker/death-by-stereo/paperback/product-1569y4mw.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Its festival time....sort of. So don your finest rubbered footwear, snort a line of berocca and come stomp to some fantastic music from The Wonder Stuff, Kurtis Blow, Elastica, Brand New Analogues, Broadcast, Girls at Our Best! and more alongside robot jocks, finding the sweet spot between 41 years and 19 days, riling Radiohead, a history of weirdness at Wembley and an exclusive session from The Reverse Beautiful South.  if you've enjoyed any of the music on this show please do support the acts played. The full links are on the Ben In The Basement Facebook page as well as the new Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/BenBasement. 

Its Yorkshire Boxing Day! So grab a colouring book, lose your tapes, work out some wrestling puns and punch a Morrissey in the eye. There are pop records from Box Jellys, China Drum, Feeder, Jellyfish, The Negatives, Sparks, Cud and everyone's favourite bipolar bird watchist Bill Oddie amongst others, plus an interview with Garreth Hirons about post-lockdown gigging, The Flair Witch Project 2021 and lots more grapplin' daftness. if you've enjoyed any of the music on this show please do support the acts played. The full links are on the Ben In The Basement Facebook page as well as the new Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/BenBasement - which it would be just dandy if you could give a follow to /at / up. By'eck! Whippets! And an elaborate song and dance number about sperm! Etc! 

This week the Keighley 'Lympics have begun, there's hot uncle chat, egg speciality, Kubrick funnies and we meet the Beatle Brothers. Plus music from Cake, Felka, The Monkees, Wonk Unit, Foxes Faux, Super Furry Animals, Hundred Reasons, Madness and many more. With thanks to the wonderful Paul Abbott.  if you've enjoyed any of the music on this show please do support the acts played. The full links are on the Ben In The Basement Facebook page as well as the new Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/BenBasement. 

Presenting the most GODDAMN FREEDOM LOVIN' show in town. Also: is going nowhere near town.  Another fine mess of daft jokes, panic attacks, black and white radio and top music from the likes of Malcolm Middleton, Random Hand, The Housemartins, Biz Markie, The Lovely Eggs, Millie Manders, The Smiths and far too many people called Bruce. As not heard on Radio. Follow my new Twitter feed here: https://twitter.com/BenBasement or join the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement (Apologies if you've got this show in your feed twice. Few sound issues. This is the one you need!)

Presenting the most GODDAMN FREE show in town. Also: is going nowhere near town.  Another fine mess of daft jokes, panic attacks and top music from the likes of Malcolm Middleton, Random Hand, The Housemartins, Biz Markie, The Lovely Eggs, Millie Manders, The Smiths and far too many people called Bruce. As not heard on Radio. Follow my new Twitter feed here: https://twitter.com/BenBasement or join the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement

Yes, it's back and it's not a repeat. Unless it is, in which case, sorry.  Series 2 of Ben In The Basement is here with great guests, ridiculous jokes and the best alternative music for ears from Code Break, Cheekface, The Vaselines, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Children of the Pope, Shampoo, Smol Data, Prefab Sprout, Ben Lee, Speed Dinosaurs, Brian Cant, Credit To The Nation and more. Plus jokes, events news, general anti-fascist rage, pop hooks and an interview with Bobbie from Kitsch In Sync.  It's the desperate gasping cheer we all need right now! Unless asthma in which case its ventolin... Tracks played: Waving at Dinosaurs - "Pop Hooks" https://wavingatdinosaurs.bandcamp.com Code Break - "On Hold" https://codebreak.bandcamp.com The Nerves - "Hanging On The Telephone" https://www.alive-records.com/artist/the-nerves Cheekface - "Listen To Your Heart" "No" https://cheekface.bandcamp.com/album/emphatically-no Children Of The Pope - "Street of Chance" childrenofthepope.bandcamp.com Smol Data - "Tinceltown" https://smoldata.bandcamp.com/album/inconvenience-store Shampoo - "Girl Power" https://open.spotify.com/artist/3wChfsJPsUnjVHXc79wRN1?autoplay=true Speed Dinosaurs - "Straight Edge With The Black Marker" https://www.facebook.com/SpeedDinosaurs Brian Cant - "Get Your Feet Off The Table Father" https://www.discogs.com/artist/841556-Brian-Cant The Vaselines - "Molly's Lips"  https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wWQkHhmUNlXvhbHRUSqZW Prefab Sprout - "Don't Sing" https://prefabsprout.tmstor.es Ben Lee - "Nothing Much Happens" https://www.ben-lee.com Graham Parker & The Rumour - "You Can't Be Too Strong" https://www.grahamparker.net Chumbawamba and Credit To The Nation - "Enough Is Enough"  https://www.birminghammusicarchive.com/credit-to-the-nation/

With everyone in the pub and the programme being recorded before the inevitable football, Ben Baker has put together an hour of summery songs and comedy to get you in the mood for when that yellow thing in the sky decides to play again. There's Foxes Faux, The Cure, They Might Be Giants, Joyrider, The Cardigans, Gruff Rhys, Jimmy Cliff, The Beat, Sesame Street, The Young Ones, Cannon and Ball and, frankly, bleedin' loads more. So get out your rubber ring, stand in the shallow end and hope the water doesn't go purple around you...

Time to tiptoe through the true bits as we remember great times gone by with John Cooper Temple-Clark, The Real Batman, Barry's Dog Bath Van, Ian Dependence, Jim Grotley, the Septuplets of Sponge, Josh Hartnett in Blow Dry, Sir Alan Potato MP, Sergeant Ian Line and Detective Inspector Of Duty. Plus music from Pulp, Loomer, Indigo Crow, Terrorvision, Brand New Analogues, Bangles, an exclusive first play of some new Eskimo Fandango and quite honestly a bit more.  Tracklist:  LOOMER - "PIPSQUEAK (LIVE)" (Live In The Scablands, 2017) https://loomeruk.bandcamp.com/ INDIGO CROW - "WHAT I'M INTO" (Riding Pillion EP, 2015) https://www.facebook.com/cavetownbythesea/ CHUMBAWAMBA - "THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK" (Un, 2004) http://www.chumba.com/ BRAND NEW ANALOGUES - "EVERYBODY KNOWS" (Lets Start Again, 2008) https://brandnewanalogues.bandcamp.com ELEPHANTSTOPPER - "GOODBYE ALBERT BRIDGE" (Cockadoodledoo! EP, 2016) https://soundcloud.com/elephantstopper TOMPAULIN - "MY LIFE AT THE MOVIES" (The Town And The City, 2001) https://www.discogs.com/artist/294310-Tompaulin TERRORVISION - "ENTERALTEREGO" (Regular Urban Survivors, 1996)  https://en-gb.facebook.com/terrorvisionofficial ZOUNDERKITE - "THE ATTACK OF THE ANTI BUREAUCRATIC PSEUDO PROLETARIAT" (Live, 2009) https://zounderkite.bandcamp.com ESKIMO FANDANGO - 834992 (WHO WAS RINGING YOU) (Basement Exclusive, 2021) https://eskimofandango.bandcamp.com BANGLES - "HERO TAKES A FALL" (All Over The Place, 1984)  http://www.thebangles.com PULP - "COCAINE SOCIALISM" (B-Side, 1998) https://pulpwiki.net/

(4th June 2021) Oh no he's got out! Yes, Ben has escaped the confines of his basement for a special...erm, special with some fantastic new music and several exclusives, plus some nice chat with Kurt Wood about his production on them all. Including music from Stuie J Blenkhorn, Thrash Talk, Life In Colour, Lissy Daisy, Lord Ryan and the Tops, Henry Parker, The Light Show, Theo. and more.  Recorded at Corner House Recording Studio - https://www.cornerhouserecordingstudio.com/ Stuie J Blenkhorn - "Hands Up"  www.facebook.com/stuiejb Thrash Talk - "Only Real Heroes Choke People Out" Life In Colour - "Fall Apart" Cheap Brass - "There's No Place Like Home" Lissy Daisy - "I Guess I'll Go" lissydaisy.bandcamp.com Lord Ryan and the Tops - "Dawson's Geek" www.lordryanandthetops.com Grandmammy - "Coming In From The Cold" onestepoutside.bandcamp.com/album/nightly-dread Henry Parker - "Silent Spring" henryparkermusic.co.uk/ The Light Show - "Round And Round" www.facebook.com/Thelightshowband/ Theo. - "Big Impression" Rob Lee - "Ghost Of The Smoke"

Anyone fancy some crime? Well there's loads of it this week in the latest retooling of the programme to be about something people are actually interested in. Plus a chat with the caped crusader, a rant about surnames and some quite rude words indeed. Music comes from Traits, Extinktion, The B-52s, Wilko Wilkes, TISM, Ohtis ft Stef Chura, Neil Innes, LaVern Baker, The Jam, Gil Scott-Heron, Roger Davies, My Life Story, Jake Thackray and more. Tracklist: TRAITS - "THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY" (Illuminate, 2018) https://traitsband.bandcamp.com EXTINKTION - "LOCKERS" (Single, 2021) https://extinktion.bandcamp.com THE B-52'S - "LEGAL TENDER" (Whammy, 1983) https://www.theb52s.com/ WILKO WILKES - "YOU CAN'T STOP TIME" (Single, 2021) https://wilkowilkes.com/ TISM - "(HE'LL NEVER BE AN) OLD MAN RIVER" (Machiavelli and The Four Seasons, 1995) https://www.facebook.com/tismforever OHTIS FT STEF CHURA - "SCHATZE" (Single, 2021) https://ohtis.bandcamp.com/album/schatze-b-w-failure NEIL INNES - "GOD IS LOVE" (Taking Off, 1977) https://neilinnes.media/ LAVERN BAKER - "BATMAN TO THE RESCUE" (Single, 1966) http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/LaVerne%20Baker.html THE JAM - "BATMAN THEME" (In The City, 1977) https://www.thejamofficial.com/ GIL SCOTT-HERON AND BRIAN JACKSON - "AINT SUCH THING AS SUPERMAN" (The First Minute of a New Day, 1975) https://open.spotify.com/artist/0kEfub5RzlZOB2zGomqVSU?  ROGER DAVIES - "BRIGHOUSE ON A SATURDAY NIGHT" (The Busker, 2009) https://rogerdaviesmusic.com/ MY LIFE STORY - "SPARKLE" (The Golden Mile, 1997) https://twitter.com/mylifestoryuk JAKE THACKRAY - "LAH-DI-DAH" (Unreleased Recording, 1967) https://www.jakethackray.com/ KYLIE MINOGUE - "YOUR DISCO NEEDS YOU" (Light Years, 2000) https://www.kylie.com/

The pubs are open! Celebrate by staying at home and listening to music from Mr Shiraz, The Teardrop Explodes, Hypnosister, New Order, Good Grief, Delia Derbyshire, Joe Tilston, The All Seeing I featuring Phil Oakey, Sleater-Kinney and quite a few more. Plus: pub chat, street language, the birth of the Hacienda, VHS "Collectors Editions", outsider music, chanting robots, the hottest new soap opera gossip, delicious heroin, sex code and Terrorvision do Eurovision, all washed down with three VK Watermelons for a fiver.   Get in touch or check the playlists via my new Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beninthebasement