The Essential Weekly Playlist of: Sean Hocking

THE ESSENTIAL WEEKLY PLAYLIST

Based in Hong Kong, Sean Hocking is the founder and owner of Metal Postcard Records. An avid listener of John Peel from the late 1970s onwards, Sean discovered, between the hours of 10pm and midnight when Peel’s show was aired, the true breadth of music available. Inspired by Peel (as well as impressario and label owner Tony Wilson), Metal Postcard Records follows the philosophy of, “play it, release it, and don’t worry about other people’s opinions too much; they all come around eventually.”

Metal Postcard Records 1

“My first DJ experience aged 15 was being asked by older schoolboy Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins/Bella Union) to play a six form dance in the dim distant days of Dexy’s Midnight Runners and a three-piece Cure. Since then I have played Sydney warehouses, West Sussex fields, Brooklyn Bars, Cambodian restaurants, Vietnamese Riverbanks, Hong Kong rooftops and too many empty houses with dodgy fuse boxes to mention.”

We asked Sean to give us his Essential playlist – well, actually, we asked him to narrow down his playlist to just ten songs – and this is what he came up with.

We should also point out that it’s David Bowie’s 68th birthday today – as well as what would have been Elvis Presley’s 81st – so it’s only fitting that both should receive a mention.

Siouxsie & The Banshees – ‘Metal Postcard’

So good I named a label after it. It’s punk, it’s post punk , it’s about a German anti-fascist artist and collagist who angered the Nazis so much he had to escape to England in the mid 1930s. It’s sounds as good sung in German as it does in English and by the band who defined my teenage years.

YouTube player

Eddie Cochran – ‘Summertime Blues’

In the early 70s when I was but a young boy, teenagers all seemed to have long hair, silly flared jeans and wore make up. I saw pictures of young Eddie Cochran and Elvis Presley then I heard them. Short sharp songs about cool stuff by people who just looked so cool compared to anything I saw around me. Too good for words.

Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues

The Triffids – ‘Wide Open Road’

I went to Australia as a 17 year old in the early 1980s and spent a lot of time bussing around the country. Days and days out in the desert. They released this song a couple of years later and it just says everything about my travels and my life at the time – it was all a wide open road.

The Triffids - Wide Open Road (1986)

The Dodgems – ‘Lord Lucan Is Missing’

The Dodgems were a band from Brighton in the late 70’s. I grew up in Chichester just down the road. Nothing cool ever came from the south coast it was always London, Manchester Liverpool. The song subject was so English, the sound was English and John Peel loved it. He played it a number of times and I really believed it to be his and my little secret.

The Dodgems - Lord Lucan Is Missing (Peel Session)

The Doors – ‘Soul Kitchen’

The ultimate sixties song. Have listened to it a million times and could happily listen to it a million more.

The Doors Soul Kitchen Live at Hollywood 'Aquarius Theatre' Early Show 21 July 1969(no audio)

New Order – ‘Blue Monday’

The best dancefloor song ever. Sounded good then sounds as good now. And it always suits any dance floor anywhere on the planet.

New Order - Blue Monday 88 (Official Music Video)

David Bowie – ‘Station to Station’

It’s rock, it’s funk. it Berlin, It’s Philadelphia, it’s Bromley , It’s David Bowie…it’s perfect.

YouTube player

The Small Faces – ‘Lazy Sunday Afternoon’

Quite simply the best rock band ever. Everybody else copied them. Each one of their songs is another band’s whole career.

The Small Faces - Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Smokey Robinson – ‘Tears of a Clown’

Not called that for no reason at all. I cry with joy on the inside every time i hear this song.

Smokey Robinson - The Tears of A Clown - LIVE1971

Augustus Pablo – ‘King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown’

Nowadays you hear dub in almost everything to do with pop music. But back in the late 70s you’d hardly hear it at all. This was another one discovered via the John Peel show and that sound coming through the radio at 10.45 pm on a September night was beyond exotic…it was almost as though it came from the funkiest beach in outer space…and then when he said, “that was Augustus Pablo – King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” the immediate reaction was I haven’t got a clue who that is but they sound so cool i have to buy it.

Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown

Check out Metal Postcard Records on their website, Twitter, Facebook, Bandcamp, Youtube, and Soundcloud. Sean is also a DJ on Dandelion Radio – check out the schedule here to find out when you can listen to him.

About the author

There’s a lot of music out there - good music. At Essentially Pop our remit is that we cover music that deserves to be heard, with a particular focus on independent artists. That doesn't mean we won't cover your old favourites - rather we hope to give you some new favourites as well.

We no longer accept unpaid PR agency work. We believe the creative arts have value, and this includes writing. As always, we will write about artists who contact us - or who we contact - for free - but we can no longer work free of charge for PR agencies. We work hard, we put in a lot of hours writing, and we ask that you respect that. Contact us for our very reasonable rates.

Follow us on: Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Myspace, Facebook, Spotify, Youtube. Drop us an email on hello@essesntiallypop.com

Leave a Reply