January is a bit of a silly month for starting diets or trying to stay dry it turns out. I was going quite well with my alcohol free month but then Arsenal beat Manchester United and I was happy and in the mood to celebrate and… well I had done eighteen days dry, so to hell with it crack open a beer. January is actually far better suited to bunkering down away from the cold weather, eating too much comfort food and watching more TV than usual. Hence the cover image for this month’s playlist. Actor James Norton has been entertaining me all month with his deep, convincing portrayal of the psycho killer Tommy Lee Royce in the BBC’s ‘Happy Valley’ police drama series. I had generally avoided this kind of hyped series in the past thanks to an inbuilt and, it turns out, unjustified snobbery against such terrestrial offerings. My television viewing, limited as it is, was molded over the last two decades by classics such as The Sopranos, The Wire and Mad Men. These were all series with superb, slowly unfolding, deep storylines and fully developed, three dimensional characters that served to make TV viewing as rewarding as a fine cinematic experience. One change those series instigated was the style of episodic drama which, up to that point, always stuck to the formular of self-contained stories tied up in a single edition. Now, with HBO’s The Wire in particular, an episode was more like a chapter in a book, an installment in a larger story development unfolding at a realistic pace.

Consequently, whenever something like Happy Valley came around, I would not assume it to be of a similarly high standard, especially if it features an actress I associate with Coronation Street. But a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I have found this month that UK TV drama matches in quality those aforementioned US pioneers. Happy Valley is easily worthy of comparison, the whole cast are utterly convincing and James Norton’s performance as the lead villain especially should see his profile rise considerably, a future Bond perhaps if the internet comment rumours I just read are to be believed? I also watched a new documentary about the late comedian Tony Hancock and two colorized classic episodes to follow. It delighted me how funny I found them, I have always been a fan of Hancock but occasionally over the past decade, probably because I only chanced upon internet clips of his sad declining years, I had wondered if his comedy had dated too much. Returning to the lad himself at his peak it is a different story, proper belly laughs confirming he really was a pioneering comic master, I shall be returning to more of his vintage stuff over the coming weeks.

Other viewing I have indulged in has been closer to my regular music documentary diet. There was a strange one on Sky about a great lost Nina Simone album. Firstly, do not go to this for an abundance of Nina footage, it is not to be found. Secondly, be mindful that documentary makers can weave a film out of the thinnest of threads. There was no great lost Nina Simone album, but there were a couple of song writers in the late sixties who, for one brief moment, might have had some of their songs recorded by Nina. They only met the singer once for a short, terse introduction and it is unknown whether the artist ever really gave the songs any attention, or even liked them. Still, a contract was signed with Nina’s people so the claim in the title did have a speckle of legitimacy. The music industry must be littered with the debris of aspiring song writers whose compositions might have once been considered for recording by a big-name artist. Nevertheless, the film makers gather together some of Nina’s old band members to back Emile Sande with the intention of interpreting the music just as Nina would have. The scene where Emile receives the original sheet music manuscripts and pours over them in hushed reverence like she has uncovered some previously unknown literary work by Dickens is excruciatingly cringe, but the actual work of knocking the songs into shape and playing them live at a Ronnie Scotts date is executed with class. Emile could easily take her career in a jazz direction but the suspicion remains, maybe Nina Simone neglected to record these songs because they were not that great?

There was also a four parter about Phil Spector in which it quickly became apparent they had no rights to use any of his classic recordings. Yes, there was plenty of wall-of-sound-alike snippets, an interview with Teddy Bear Annette Kleinbard (now Carol Connors) who sang parts of ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’, various live clips including cool Ike & Tina Turner footage but no actual audio with a Phil Spector production credit on. Normally in music documentaries this is a massive omission that removes credibility and loses my interest but with Spector the story is just as much that of a convicted murderer as it is a music history. And given what follows, maybe the producers did not want to pay his estate an extortionate amount of money? I do not know, but if that is the case then fair enough. The story of his trial and conviction in tandem with the tragic story of his victim Lana Clarkson is horrific and hard to accept, especially as the impression emerges that this was a pathetic case of extreme ‘little man’ syndrome aside the possibility that Lana may have incurred his wrath by merely mocking his age, height or wig. Whatever instigated waving a gun in her face, it does seem like Spector had been an accident waiting to happen for decades, the recalled instances of him pointing guns at people are too numerous to ignore. In light of all this, it is a wonder that those indelible early sixties records have not been cancelled. What can be certain is this, from here on in they are far more likely to be referred to as Ronettes, Crystals, Darlene Love, Righteous Brothers or Ike & Tina Turner classics rather than belonging to Phil Spector, which is a kind of overdue artistic justice in a way.

The January playlist has fallen into a routine of selecting wholly from favourite tracks of the previous year that had not, up to this point, made it onto a Fruit Tree Records monthly set. As such, the January collection is always the only one of the years to feature music from just one year. My general rule when putting together these 75 tracks every month is to share sounds that have stimulated the senses, that have caused a stir of excitement or even a flush of nostalgia as something unheard for a few years re-emerges, but mainly the idea has always been to reflect the sounds and discs that featured in my life over the past four weeks. Because I do not just listen to new releases, I am also a constant crate digger and collector of records going back as far as music can be found in a physical format so that gives me a good hundred years to explore in, the lists almost always dive back and forth between the eras. Also, as my tastes cannot be limited to just one or two genres, I will always sail across multiple styles and movements although in recent years a thread has settled; it runs something like pop sounds through garage and psychedelia incorporating soul, r&b, country, folk, blues then ending with more extensive explorations in jazz, classical or progressive rock. That is the structure but for me, once the playlist is compiled, I like to put it on shuffle when I listen and get a wonderful surprise with every tune.

Over the years they have become an essential resource for me as well, because with so much music flying about and no bottomless pit of funds to find physical product (part of the reason for the album of the year lists is they help narrow down the most listened to releases that really merit ownership as a physical product and that superior vinyl sound) the playlists help chronicle and mark down all my discoveries. So, whilst putting this together it occurs, just as it seems to every year, that despite all the real-life shit tumbling our way, at least this has been a wonderful year for music again. If it were lean then finding seventy-five pieces of music from the year that I had not used in any other previous monthly playlist would be a challenge, but again it is as easy as making a cup of tea, the only dilemma being what not to include. Credit for whoever did the Sgt Pepper inspired sleeve art is absent because I found it on the internet uncredited, but it was such a striking image of those departed these past twelve months I had to use it. They may not all have been names especially connected to Fruit Tree Records, but it just feels very sobering as there are so many faces on there who just do not register as even being that old to me, let alone having now passed. So, it is with time hey? Who knows where that goes… happy new year