This week here in the UK is the final week of the contest to decide who will be the leader of the Conservative party and therefore, for now, our next Prime Minister, until it all goes tits up. It isn’t much of a choice – we either get the tax dodging millionaire or the cheese queen bimbo – and the electorate is probably the least representative of the country as a whole, as the vote is only for party members, who average around 120 years old and are either retired colonels or blue-rinsed dowager duchesses. You know the type: those who think the country should be like it was seventy years ago, though I’m pretty sure that many of them believe that it still is, so feeble is their grasp on reality. As they make their choice, it seemed a good week for me to mark this with my theme, which is: decisions. Only one of the songs actually has the word in its title but they are all in some way about decisions we have to make, the kind that could change our lives. Most are decisions about love, rather than politics, but they make for a good set of tunes, two of which are by acts making their debut in this series.

Let’s get going, shall we. It comes from a band I’ve always liked, and not just because I went to school with one of them:

If you’re wondering which of them I knew, that video won’t be much help, I’m afraid. I was at school with Nick Headon (aka Topper) who was their drummer for four albums, but had been kicked out of the band for his heroin and cocaine habit by the time of this video, though he did play on the album. The Clash released Should I Stay Or Should I Go on their fifth album, Combat Rock, in May 1982. It got to #2 in the UK, equalling their best chart placing, and peaked at #7 in the US, by a distance their best over there. This was the third single taken from the album: it came out in September of that year, and got to #17 in the UK and #45 in the US. Nick has come through, I’m happy to say: despite a series of health problems he is still with us.

This next one is about someone laying down his ground rules, and determining how he wants to lead his life:

Bon Jovi included It’s My Life on their seventh album, Crush, in June 2000. It was their first record in five years, and whilst it only got to #9 in the US it topped the charts in eight countries, including here in the UK. This track actually came out a month earlier as the lead single for the album: it only reached #33 in the US but got to #3 here. I bought the album when it came out and have always enjoyed it, though I’ll admit that some of their earlier stuff – especially Slippery When Wet – was probably better.

I’m going back to the Sixties for this next one. It was the classic schoolboy dilemma distilled into a great two minute song:

Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind was originally a track on the Lovin’ Spoonful’s first album, Do You Believe In Magic, released in November 1965. The album reached #32 in the US but wasn’t a chart hit in the UK. This track was the second single taken from the album, in April 1966, and it got to #2 in the US. Here in the UK it was the lead song on a four track EP released in June 1966, which got to #3 in our singles chart. I loved the band and had a compilation album with all of their best songs on it – it got played a lot!

I recently played a Del Amitri song which seemed to be well-received, so I thought I’d do it again. Justin Currie, the band’s lead vocalist and songwriter, has a real knack for summing up the things that can exercise our minds. This is another little gem, about being caught up in a relationship and not being sure about how to either take it forward or end it:

I’ve been advised that this video doesn’t work in the US, even though it is the official one! Hopefully this unofficial link to a live performance will work for you:

Driving With The Brakes On was a track on Del Amitri’s fourth album, Twisted, which was released in February 1995 and reached #3 in the UK. It also squeaked into the US albums chart at #170. In April of that year it became the second single from the album, peaking at #18 in the UK but not making the US chart. I’ve been a fan of the band since they first started and have all of their albums, which are a great set of pop-rock songs, beautifully crafted and performed. The imagery in the title of this one, and in the line “swimming with your boots on” really sums up how we can feel, I think.

This next one is about finding the time to decide where our lives might be going, and recognising the influences at work on us when we are taking important decisions:

This track was released in November 1988 on Green, the sixth of R.E.M’s fifteen studio albums, which reached #12 in the US and #27 in the UK, and has sold more than 3m copies worldwide. Stand was the second single taken from it, in January 1989, getting to #6 in the US but only #48 in the UK. The lyrics are about considering the various life directions that might be available to us, and why we might not have taken them yet. I’ve always thought this one was a little underrated, as it contains a good deal of wisdom and common sense.

I’m following that with a classic of the type of song about competing for someone’s heart, from a position of weakness, and imploring the object of your affections to make the right decision, and choose you despite the consequences:

I’ve always liked this one, and in a week in which my theme was prompted by political events the band has a suitable name, I think! Two Princes was a track on the Spin Doctors’ debut album, Pocket Full Of Kryptonite, which was released in August 1991. It originally sold in modest numbers, but really took off in 1993 after two of its tracks had been hit singles. The first of those was Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong (October 1992, US #17, UK #23) and this one. It was released in January 1993, and peaked at #7 in the US and #3 in the UK. The album then surged up the charts, finally reaching #3 in the US and #2 in the UK. I bought it back then and played it a lot – it was loads of fun and the band’s sense of humour was very much to the fore. And on an utterly irrelevant and unrelated side note, the band’s lead singer, Chris Barron, follows me on Twitter, proving what good taste he has!

Looking at the other side of that coin, you can always do something to help that unattainable person realise what they are missing:

Just the 1.3bn views for that one! I’ve remarked before that Taylor Swift has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, going all the way back to her first album when she was seen as a country singer, right through to her two most recent releases, folklore and evermore. She also has a new album scheduled for October, and I’m hoping that it will contain more of her excellent songwriting, which has always been good but attained a new maturity in those two albums. You Belong With Me goes back to her earlier days, having been a track on her second album, Fearless, released in November 2008. The album made #1 in the US, Canada and New Zealand, #2 in Australia and #5 in the UK, and has to date sold more than 12m copies worldwide. This track was the third single from it, in April 2009, making #2 in the US but for some reason only getting to #30 in the UK, though it has sold upwards of 600k copies here, as part of a worldwide total of more than 8m. The album was re-recorded as part of the ongoing ‘Taylor’s version’ series, in which she is remaking her early albums to take back control of her music from her former record company. The new version was released in April 2021 and made #1 in both the US and the UK. The re-recorded single made #75 in the US and #52 in the UK. I’ve played her songs a lot over the years, and this video is typical of the humour she brings to them. The actor playing her love interest is Lucas Till, from the Hannah Montana series and many other things. They did actually date after making this video: it lasted all of two months!

Today’s final tune is the one which actually has decision in its title, albeit in plural form. I simply had to include this, in anticipation of what is about to happen here. Let’s face it, if you have two completely unsuitable choices, what kind of decision are you likely to make:

Bastille are a British band, formed in London in 2010 out of a solo project by Dan Smith, their lead vocalist, who writes all of their songs. Bad Decisions was a track on Doom Days, the third of the four albums they have made to date. The album came out in June 2019, and got to #5 in the US. Back in their homeland this album ranks for them as an abject failure, as it ‘only’ reached #4, while their others have all been #1 here. Not a bad overall track record, though! This song wasn’t released as a single though the fact that they made a video for it suggests to me that it might have been planned as a single at some point: album tracks don’t usually get a video. I really like the band and can recommend all of their albums. Dan Smith’s songwriting is like their videos: quirky, humorous and intelligent, and adding in some great choruses is never a bad idea.

So there you have it. Today’s front page headline on my paper is ‘Truss: Wait until I’m PM for cost of living plan’ and they go on to say that she can’t tell us any more just yet as she ‘hasn’t had data from the Treasury.’ I don’t know about you, but if I were running to be Prime Minister and making new promises every day I’d want to be sure by now that the country could afford them. If you thought Boris Johnson was bad, wait till this idiot takes over! This does all reinforce my view that choosing decision as my theme for this week’s tunes was well-timed and appropriate, though. I have a favourite among the ones I played for you today – can you guess which one? And please do tell me which ones you enjoyed – I could say that this might impact on the selections I make in future posts, but there is no guarantee of that! I’ll see you again next Tuesday for some more tunes: by then, our new PM will be in place so don’t count out me choosing ‘despair’ as my theme! I will of course be here again on Sunday, and there is another post lurking for the days before then, too. Have a good week, and I’ll see you soon 😊