Well the first night of the Antihoot was last night and (I apologise in advance for this) was indeed, as it says on the tin, a hoot (see).  I got to be for about 4am, and was fortunately entirely sober, otherwise I think most of today would have been a write-off.  Continuing to function during the day whilst frequently being out until the small hours of the morning is going to be what is technically known as ‘a fuck of a challenge’ over the next few weeks I think.  But looking around Edinburgh, I am clearly not alone.

Nevertheless, I am already looking forward to the Best of the Antihoot CD we’ll be releasing after the Festival.  There were a couple of artists there last night I’d happily have on the album, and this is of course only the beginning.

Also, we’re looking at trying to get some sort of frequent flyer scheme in place, so people who want to come a lot can do so without having to pay full price every time.  Things like the Antihoot thrive when people come back again and again, so whilst we haven’t got anything in place yet, I am hoping we can come up with something whereby people can turn up as often as they like without having to break the bank in order to do so.

So, minor technical navel-gazing aside, what the fuck else is going on with you people, eh?  The sun seems out – sort of – and the Milk Maid Session goes up tomorrow – sneak preview video below:

And finally, here are five dumb questions for you, so it’s time to delurk and say hello, and believe me the answers need be no more sensible or well thought out than the questions.

1. Last book you read.
2. Last film you saw.
3. Last album you bought.
4. Score each out of ten.
5. Next cultural puddle in which you will be dipping your toe.

The five songs are from a Summer Special mixtape put together by the excellent Dusty 7s blog, in something like 2008 I think.

The Shangri-La’s – The Train From Kansas City

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Johnny Osbourne & the Sensations – Come Back Darling

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The Seekers – Georgy Girl

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Judy Street – What

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Phyllis Dillon – Don’t Stay Away

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Hello, welcome to the Ruthcast.  Why the Ruthcast?  Because my friend Ruth who runs the Bowery with Jane came round to the house last week to thoroughly upstage me on my own podcast.

Last year Ruth was a guest on my Fresh Air radio show and completely and utterly upstaged me, and in this podcast we agreed that she would come on every week this year.  And that, frankly, sounds like a bloody good idea to me.

I mentioned on the Friday Five a couple of weeks ago that Ellie Greenwich had died, and as this is something which upset Ruth rather a lot, so the podcast is absolutely chock-full of Ellie Greenwich songs

Toadcast #85 – The Ruthcast

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01. The Ronettes – Baby I Love You (05.51)
02. Golden Ghost – If You Are in Love Then Why Are You Asleep? (13.36)
03. The Crystals – Then He Kissed Me (16.07)
04. Parenthetical Girls – A Song for Ellie Greenwich (23.25)
05. The Shangri-Las – Leader of the Pack (34.25)
06. Jeremy Jay – Beautiful Rebel (37.10)
07. The Blank Tapes – Listen to the One (41.41)
08. Dusty Springfield – What Good is I Love You (43.59)
09. Julie Doiron – Last Night (56.52)
10. Mount Eerie – Between Two Mysteries (69.06)