8track: David O'Doherty

Picture the scene: you've just stepped out of the Hercules Moments DeLorean and you find yourself in the 90s. MC Hammer pants and Walkmen are all the rage. Deciding to ignore the fashion of the day, you pick up a Walkman and head home to 2012...

Over the past few months, we've been getting in touch with bands, celebrities and more to ask them to create eight-song-long mixtapes for YOU. So crack out your Walkman and enjoy...

David O'Doherty is an award-winning comedian, flâneur and 1990 East Leinster under 14 triple jump bronze medallist. He also plays the keyboard.  You might recognise him from one of his fantastic Edinburgh Fringe shows, or appearances on TV in things like Never Mind the Buzzcocks. David's other exploits include writing a book called 100 Facts About Pandas.

The Alan Parsons Project - Sirius
The Chicago Bulls used to come out of the dressing room to this. Two time signatures! And that guitar solo. Like barrel making and MySpace spamming, I’m not sure anyone can remember how to play those solos any more. Good to lay down marker early doors on a mixtape. This marker says “LEGENDS ONLY”.

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The Bad Plus - Never Stop

A jazz piano trio playing a not-at-all jazzy tune. I like the thing going on between the kick-drum and the bass. My band would sound like this. If I wasn’t so terrible at playing the piano.

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Steely Dan - Fire in the Hole

From the first Steely Dan album.  A brave choice. I bloody love Steely Dan and so many people hate them. I know exactly why. Somebody once said punk happened mainly because of Steely Dan. That person I now kick in the pipe. Vic Feldman who normally played vibraphone, here playing piano. I once tried to learn how to play this, and after half an hour was 3 seconds in. And he normally played the vibraphone.

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The Whitest Boy Alive - 1517

I think I saw a YouTube clip of them playing this out the front window of a record shop in Berlin before I heard the album version. Not sure which I prefer but it’s terribly cheering, both of them. YouTube is great that way sometimes.

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Swing Out Sister - Breakout

Live drums with four or five synth tracks over it. And that sweet horn arrangement. This has been in my head since I heard it as kid. Think I may have had the early horn for the lead singer too. The early horn arrangement.

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Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle

Another incredible drum track. Also he inhaled helium before he sang in the Eurovision a few years ago. I much prefer the album version of this song. It’s much longer and has a nice instrumental intro. It’s got a Goal of the Season vibe to it. I play it before most of my shows these days. I guess I’m trying to be like Goal of the Season.

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Jape - Phil Lynott

Amazing Irish musician and producer. I could have picked any one of ten of his songs. But I think this fits as we have a nice contemplative thing going on in this mix. This guy is a huge inspiration to me. This song has a kind-of Jeffrey Lewis quality to it. I love Jeffrey Lewis too.

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The Yoots - Hoki Mai

Came across this in New Zealand. It’s from an album of afro-beat versions of Pacific folksongs. The record label is called Economy Records. They record each album they release in a single night, and sell them for really cheap. They’re on Bandcamp. Definitely my favourite record label. Here's an article about them. 

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Find out more about David O'Doherty at his website and download his comedy albums on Bandcamp.