The 12 tasks of Nilpferd? As your volunteer representative this week, I’ve agreed to take part in a 12- part tournament of tunes.
My first stop is a groovy scene filled with guys and gals. Wayne Fontana explains the rules and nudges me in the ribs. I reply that I’m happily married. There is a stony silence. I forfeit my turn and make off quickly down the road, where Kate Rusby is shuffling a deck of cards for a young couple. I sit in for a couple of hands and pocket the jack when they aren’t looking. It seems to be valuable.
I pass a shack where Blind Lemon Jefferson suggests a few rounds of rummy. That jack I’ve pocketed unfortunately robs my pockets of silver and gold. I knew I should have taken the ace.
Townes van Zandt beckons me in through the welcoming doors of a saloon to regale me with a long, rambling tale which has my mind spinning with aces and jacks once again, but at least I come out feeling more like Mr Gold than Mr Mudd.
To clear my mind of the treachery of playing cards I allow Booker T and the MG’s to talk me into a quick round of Chinese checkers, a game actually invented in Germany. The Wurlitzer zig-zags funkily across the board leaving me trailing in its wake.
Seeking a genuine Chinese game I turn to Wayne Shorter, who is setting up mahjong with his rhythm section. A mistake. Their rapid-fire rapport and the continual clatter of tiles ruins my concentration. My mind a blur of jazz drumming dragons, I stagger out into the sunlight in search of something a little simpler.
Jay and the Techniques have the perfect remedy, as kids scatter in all directions in a nearby park. “Ready or not, here I come”... I clamber up a nearby oak tree to wait. As the voices fade into the distance I notice a sad face looking out of a window on the street opposite. It’s REM’s wrong child, trapped indoors and wishing he could join in. I climb down and go inside, where we spend a happy hour attacking a fort made of sofa cushions.
I say happy but I suspect he would rather have a games console. So I go visit my man Del tha Funkee Homosapien who recommends Sega. And Playstation. And Nintendo. All the while I’m gettin’ calluses turnin’ over asteroids.
That nostalgia trip makes me yearn for a proper arcade game. I collect a fistful of coins at the counter and set myself up for a quiet afternoon of Space Invaders. Those rowdy Piranhas on the next machine seem to be having more fun, even if they are taking things a little too seriously.
Outside the arcade, the Restarts are shredding a game of Monopoly, so I join in. It’s quite cathartic ripping up all that money and watching it drift away on the breeze. We get moved on for disturbing the peace and I’m late for my last appointment in Berlin’s Studio Roma.
Finally the game of kings - chess. Manuel Göttsching starts in with a king’s pawn game - E2-E4. I’m holding my own initially but mangle my Ruy Lopez and can only admire as his guitar lopes, knight-like, around the board. Göttsching, however, neglects his endgame – he seems more interested in the intricate moves and counter moves of the figures gliding serenely across the grid.
It ends as a draw.
The playlist
Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders – The Game of Love
Kate Rusby – Game of all Fours
Blind Lemon Jefferson – Jack O’ Diamond Blues
Townes van Zandt – Mr Mudd and Mr Gold
Booker T & the MGs – Chinese Checkers
Wayne Shorter – Mahjong
Jay and the Techniques – Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie
REM – The Wrong Child
Del tha funkee Homosapien – Proto Culture
The Piranhas - Space Invaders
The Restarts – Square One
Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4
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