Marco's Indie Disco

I've been dreading this birthday more than any (and I'm no fan of birthdays).  The first birthday without Marcus.  But rather than follow my instinct to hide, withdraw, mourn and cry, I want to encourage everyone to sing, dance and smile at our memories.  

So that's why I've pulled together this playlist, so that we can celebrate him with his very own Indie disco.  

This isn't meant to be a "best of Marcus" - that is a canon of work that will take me years to decipher and frankly, a whole lot of courage I don't currently have.  Instead, this is 6 songs that I can picture him jumping up and down to, singing at the top of his voice and dancing like an idiot (and I would be there right by his side).  They're not necessarily his favourites, they're not to be dissected, just find yourself 20 minutes to play them loudly and have a good old sing!  

Above all of the qualities that Marcus had, he was particularly special to me because he had a great ear for music.  Not only did he have great taste, he knew that music was electricity that powers the soul.  Consequently, he could immediately spot "authentic" music that conveyed emotion and feeling.  He obsessed about the good stuff and made no time for anything else.  They say life is too short to waste drinking cheap wine, Marcus was the same with music.  I'm going to finish with my "thoughts" here because they might never stop.

I need to make one statement about the final song on the list.  In the last 6 months, so many songs have hit a nerve as if they were talking about Marcus and me.  But REM's "It's The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" always comes to mind.  It was almost not on this list because it has so much of a link to him.  But that would be wrong.  It's an unbelievably awesome song packed full of power that is perfect for this moment.  If you think Michael Stipe is impressive singing it, it's nothing compared to the speed and energy with which Marcus could recite it.  

So, if you will please:

1) Find 20 minutes of free time (preferably with a good beer)

2) Locate internet connection and loud speakers 

3) Press "play" on this playlist 

4) Sing, dance, jump, cry, laugh, throw beer etc

Happy birthday chum.