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David Bryant

@23daves.bsky.social

950 followers 420 following 6.1K posts

Feel the music/ And you'll wonder/ Is he a Yankee?/ No I'm a London-aaargh The views expressed here are personal, not that of my employer. Owner of Everybody's Number 1 to Someone, a blog about NME Indie Chart toppers: https://indienumber1s.blogspot.com

indienumber1s.blogspot.com

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 4d

Blog update: Almost 40 years ago this week, "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" reached number one in the NME Indie Charts. As a factual record of Morrissey's career-based frustrations and woes, it's a record which has no right to sound as beautiful and gripping as it does.

68. The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (Rough Trade)

All the singles to top the NME Indie Charts since its launch in 1981, complete with an overview of the other music in the charts each week.

indienumber1s.blogspot.com

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 12m

At least two of these look as if they're cosplaying as middle-aged Tories in the eighties. The one on the left is obviously trying his hardest to be a Dennis Thatcher type, snuffling round the house before his morning commute trying to find out where Maggie has hidden his gin.

Tom Reagan’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 35m

New Wes Anderson characters just dropped

David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1h

I'm just doing that now Rob, with some stuff I haven't seen in 30 years. It's fascinating how little I recognise the 18 year old me, but by the time I'm 20 I start to see glimmers of my adult self; little turns of phrase or ideas which feel recognisable.
I'd worry if I thought any of it was amazing.

David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1h

I always hope I'll find a morsel of a half-good idea in there somewhere I can repurpose, but it never even comes to that.

My music journalism from that period is surprisingly OK-ish, though. Could have scraped into the bottom corner of the live review section of Melody Maker on a quiet week.

David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 2h

I've found lots of early writing from my early twenties these last few days. It's definitely the lack of self awareness that's the problem, both in my day-to-day life at that point, and my creative work. The waffling and the self-absorption.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 2h

He was genuinely shellshocked by the fact that someone who pointed his life in an interesting direction turned out to be such a shitbag.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 2h

I know someone who had Lawrence as his teacher, and claimed he was "inspiring and showed no signs of being a right-wing lunatic then".
He wrote him an email talking about how hurt and disillusioned he felt about his comedy and subsequent direction in life, but obviously got no reply.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 2h

If you're going to do something like that to begin with, you really need to "do a Noel Gallagher" and just shrug and laugh and mention the money if anyone asks. As much as I dislike Noel, it's infinitely more honest than hand-wringing comment pieces.

Reposted by David Bryant

josh (oldfriend99) @oldfriend99.bsky.social · 13h

"I was working in the lab late one night"

Let me stop you right there. I am not listening to a song about work

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Victoria Barlow @vickybarlow.bsky.social · 20h

My ex- neighbour had a sticker that said “Sadiq Khan is not my mayor “. And he was right because we lived in Kent.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 17h

Just reading an interview with Ian Levine in a 1986 copy of Record Mirror, principally to promote his record label. Still, though, he can't help but drift off-topic by talking about his least favourite - er, I mean favourite - TV show.
IAN, YOU'RE HERE TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC.

Quote: "I think the new series of Doctor Who is the biggest pile of shit ever put on TV. It's disgraceful. It needs a new doctor and a new producer, a new assistant and new title music. It's not Doctor Who anymore. It's scandalous. And such a travesty to have Bonnie Langford in it. I'd scrap the lot and start again."

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 19h

He's a massive loss. He'd certainly have been my answer to the "greatest living lyricist" question had I been asked it five years ago.
As things stand, I'm struggling a bit.

David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 19h

The songs I can think of where the lyrics can "stand alone" are few and far between and (interestingly) not well known or successful either - probably because melodically speaking not much is going on. This is a prime example for me.
youtu.be/WLEv92OMbNU?...

A Pack Of Lies

YouTube video by The Fatima Mansions - Topic

youtu.be

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 19h

Also just found - a copy of The Guardian I'd kept from 1992 because it commemorated Bill Clinton's presidential victory, and I obviously believed the USA was now going to change for the better. Oh the folly of youth.

David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 20h

Going through some of the contents of my parent's loft. Found an infant school exercise book where I write a lot about West Ham. I have no memory of supporting this team, or even giving them a moment's thought, and yet there's the evidence right before me. Strange. What else have I been WRONG about?

David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 19h

I think we easily forget that there was a period where social media was an astonishing resource for artists. When MySpace peaked, I didn't suddenly start getting double the number of gig offers because I was a better writer. It just enabled more people to find me.

David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 19h

Definitely. Particularly in the earliest days of social media, there were things of mine which would never had got the traction they did (or even any traction at all?) without it.
So many of the live poetry events I got offered were thanks to MySpace, then Facebook enabled me to plug those gigs.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 1d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 20h

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 1d

Happy belated 40th incidentally to Half Man Half Biscuit’s Back in the DHSS, and who could have imagined then how much better they were going to get.

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Reposted by David Bryant

Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 1d

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

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Gabby HC, but a ghost, hiding in a corner @scriblit.bsky.social · 1d

I feel like we're mentioning this about once a week as the gvt, shadow gvt & Unofficial Shadow Gvt all stick their fingers in their ears & go 'AH LA LA LA LA WE ARE A PROUD COUNTRY OF HOARY HANDED FISHERMEN, METAL BASHERS AND CYBER GUYS AND NOTHING ELSE'

Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 1d

feels like yet again time to mention that the *videogames* industry (that's a creative industry, which people do creative degrees in) brings in more than twice the amount to the British economy as the fishing and steel industries *combined*

Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 1d

I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?

It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?

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Paul Clarke @paulclarke.com · 3d

One of my favourite London street scenes. There's a lot going on here.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1d

I remember the Young Tories at university were a darkly cynical bunch - and I was there while Major was actually in power and they were the victors. While my Tory family members were all about the economy or "unions going mad in the 70s", the students, even then, were about some weird "PC agenda".

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1d

Now I come to think about it, this might have been my first exposure to a ridiculous conspiracy theory, albeit a very localised one.
I delivered newspapers to his house so even saw the damn things up close!

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1d

That our science teacher was so strict he had metal blinds attached to his home's windows to stop angry kids from smashing them in.
I lived round the corner and they were just heat efficiency blinds. I tried arguing this at the time, but other kids told me off for "believing his cover story".

The Fence @thefence.bsky.social · 1d

Fence #26 will be a special on all things print, and in tribute to the storied history of the UK gutter press, our letters page wants your GOSSIP & SCANDAL.

So, we're asking you all: what was the most scandalous (true or false) bit of gossip that dominated your school or neighbourhood growing up?

A photo of assembled paparazzi waiting to snap your shame for the scandal sheets.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1d

It's an astonishing series in general - I found it stood up really well to a rewatch recently.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1d

But when you're voting for members of a charity committee (for example) who may or may not be bad people, but you'll never know because in most cases, their internet history gives little away... what then? It's all a bit of a shot in the dark. I will vote, but I'll feel a bit nervous afterwards.