Blog

Listen to NPL 19

A tip of the hat and an elbow nudge to everyone who stopped by our final National Pop League Rewind on Saturday evening. It was the usual mix of great music, fond memories and drunken typos.

The playlist for NPL19 is now available on Spotify with those songs that are not currently coining it in on the streaming platform posted below.

Songs missing from Spotify

Song #1: Cranebuilders – Just Idleness


Song #9: The Go-Betweens – Hold Your Horses


Song #18: Ballboy – I’ve Got Pictures Of You In Your Underwear


Song #25: Max Buba – Hierba Verde


Song #34: Fire Engines – Candyskin


Song #37: Primal Scream – Crystal Crescent


Song #42: My Bloody Valentine – Slow

National Pop League 19: Online Rewind

By popular (mostly Iain Hamilton’s) demand, we’ll be rewinding one more National Pop League this coming Saturday, the 27th of June. Once again, jumping back to 2003 and NPL19, we’ll ask that you supply your own memories and drinks while we provide the soundtrack.

You know the drill: 8.45pm start; get sweaty and silly for the next five hours in the comfort and safety of your own home.

The virtual Woodside Social Club can be located on Mixlr, just off Great Western Road.

Read more about this online event on Facebook.

Reframing History, Reflecting on the Future

About a week ago, we teased an upcoming piece that would reflect on the complex subject of Morrissey/The Smiths and their influence on National Pop League, drawing on thoughts gathered from the oral histories we’ve conducted so far. In the interim, we have been thinking about what it means to be true to the archival record without seeming to promote hurtful ideas and words. This took on new urgency as we have witnessed a pivotal, sustained and overdue moment of protest against systemic injustice and the direct and structural violence of white supremacy. Part of the duty of archivists, as we see it, is to expand the record to preserve stories of traditionally marginalised people and groups. While that also means not shying from difficult subjects, it requires finding the best way to frame them.

As we’ve grappled with the legacy of Morrissey/The Smiths, and their place in the history of NPL, it has required self-examination and awareness of how public conversation has changed over the past twenty years, what we’re willing to tolerate from public figures, and supporting art that best embodies our values. This examination will continue for all of us who feel betrayed by an artist who once appeared to speak for the voiceless.

Right now, sharing a couple of relevant resources here is a beginning for thinking about the work we do and how best to do it. We hope you’ll take a look and share in our reflection.

Archivists Against History Repeating Itself

Decolonising The Archive

Listen to NPL 18

The playlist for National Pop League 18, its first Smiths special, is now available to stream on Spotify. It includes the top ten Smiths songs as voted for by users of the NPL Yahoo Group.

Songs missing from Spotify

Song #12: Groovy Little Numbers – Windy


Song #30: The Shop Assistants – Safety Net


Song #42: Cranebuilders – You’re Song


Song #58: My Bloody Valentine – You Made Me Realise


Song #62: The Go-Betweens – That Way

On This Day

In 2003: National Pop League 18 – Smiths Special

A founding goal of National Pop League–which was eventually reached, Golden Lights included!–was to play every Smiths song. In the month leading up to NPL18, a poll was taken for Pop Leaguers’ top three Smiths tunes. In the end, the top ten, played over the course of the night, were:

10. I Want the One I Can’t Have
9. William It Was Really Nothing
8. Still Ill
7. Cemetry Gates
6. The Queen Is Dead
5. You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby
4. Panic
3. Reel Around the Fountain
2. This Charming Man
1. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

The ethos of The Smiths, and by extension Morrissey, was central to NPL, but obviously the topic has taken on much more complexity in the intervening years. Please watch this space in the coming week for more thoughts on Morrissey and The Smiths, fandom, and tackling difficult subjects in the archives.

National Pop League 30: Online Rewind

“But if you could just see the beauty
These things I could never describe
These pleasures a wayward distraction
This is my one lucky prize
Isolation…”

Join us for the third instalment of our discos for the socially distanced as we travel back to May 2004, a strange time when Morrissey was lauded, Arsenal were invincible and countries were queueing up to join the European Union.

Our live rerun of National Pop League 30 begins at 8.45pm sharp, featuring five hours of affection, recollection and heavenly pop hits. So grab a drink, make yourself comfortable and join the chat.

The virtual Woodside Club can be located on Mixlr, just off Great Western Road, where you’ll also find our two previous NPL Rewinds.

Listen to NPL 17

We’re sending lots of lockdown love to everyone who joined us for our latest NPL Rewind on Saturday night, and a special mention goes to those who tuned in from New York, New Zealand and the new babies maternity unit of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. It was another fabulous evening of music and memories, and one that can still be heard in its entirety on our Mixlr showreel – as can the National Pop League 17 playlist on Spotify.

Songs missing from Spotify

Song #2: Sportique – The Kids Are Solid Gold


Song #7: Beachbuggy – Kickin’ Back


Song #8: The Would Be’s – I’m Hardly Ever Wrong


Song 11: The Go-Betweens – Caroline and I


Song #18: Prolapse – Killing The Bland


Song #21: All Girl Summer Fun Band – Dear Mr and Mrs Troublemaker


Song #41: Primal Scream – It Happens



Song #42: My Bloody Valentine – Thorn


Song #77: The Go-Betweens – Lee Remick

National Pop League 17: Online Rewind

We’re back with another disco for the socially distanced. A redux of last month’s rewind, the National Pop League Archive will be spinning the playlist from the 17th edition of Glasgow’s celebrated club night. It’ll be a live recreation of the evening of 25th April 2003, but without the bar queues and peeling wallpaper.

Once again, we’ll be presenting memories to match the music, and we’d love you to join in. There will be photos and videos, fanzines and badges, mailouts and message board posts, and, this month, we’ll be punctuating the music with clips from our oral history interview with NPL founder, John Hunt.

The virtual Woodside Social Club can be found on Mixlr.

National Pop League 16: Online Rewind

Lately we’ve been whiling away these enforced evenings in by reliving the nights out of the past, and so, this Saturday, we’ll be live streaming the playlist for NPL 16 in its entirety to commemorate the 17th anniversary.

We’ll be sharing that night’s music, fanzine and badge, plucked from the NPL Archive, and we’re inviting you to post your memories and photos, not just of March 28, 2003, but any and all Pop Leagues.

It begins at 8.45pm, so queue in the kitchen for a warm beer, squeeze into the hottest room of your house and join us online to party like you’re on the dancefloor of the Woodside Social Club.

Instructions for joining

Ahead of our NPL Rewind, attendees are required to sign up to Mixlr. This can be done via Facebook or email.

Once registered, head to our virtual Woodside Social Club.

Users can listen through their desktop browser, or on their phone or tablet through the Mixlr app.

Don’t forget to say hello to Carlo on your way in.