HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOUNG 'UN

The photo above was taken exactly two years ago. So those of you who are not mathematically challenged will have worked out that the bloke has today turned 42 years of age.

The bloke is in fact my wee brother. His name is Stevie. I don't see him that often as he lives in Florida with his wife and two kids (indeed, it is his youngest who is the Face of The Vinyl Villain on these very pages). In fact, it was his 40th Birthday Weekend that I last saw him, although with a bit of luck, we should get together sometime later this year.

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a bit of vinyl in a second-hand shop that was always going to be posted here at some point, and given my brother is now indeed a fully-fledged citizen of the Land Of The Free, it seems somehow appropriate (oh, and also because Charlie Burchill's granny and grandad live next door to our mum and dad in Glasgow):-

mp3 : Simple Minds - The American (12" version)

I asked Stevie, as he is a regular reader, if he wanted any songs posted in TVV to mark his birthday. At first he was reluctant - he feels he has a narrow and safe taste in music that would be deemed boring in these pages. And he rarely listens to new stuff nowadays, other than what he might pick up in the blog.

Anyway, Stevie eventually sent over a list of five tunes and while they wouldn't be the type that you would neccessarily expect to normally find here, I bet there's plenty who will enjoy them:-

mp3 : Deacon Blue - Loaded
mp3 : Del Amitri - Always The Last To Know
mp3 : Hothouse Flowers - I Can See Clearly Now
mp3 : The Proclaimers - Sunshine On Leith

Stevie's fifth selection was his favourite song of all time. I thought I'd post a rare version of it for him:-

mp3 : Automatic Baby - One (live)

Automatic Baby consisted of Mike Mills, Michael Stipe, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton. The band's only performance was an acoustic version of One during an MTV concert for President Bill Clinton.

Now...should Hilary C get into the White House, what supergroup would form, and what would they perform?