Cinerama

CLOSE-UP : THE CINERAMA SINGLES (Part 2)

A GUEST SERIES by STRANGEWAYS

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Close Up: The Cinerama Singles #2

The Va Va Voom singles

Ready for your close up? After last time’s pre-credit sequence, our Cinerama retrospective begins for real here. It’s all about the singles, but the LPs have been of great use in providing a structure, a helpful timeline and some wider context. So they’ll pop up along the way and hopefully will be as useful to you too. First up…

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‘Lush’ was how I remember summing up this mysteriously named debut Cinerama release on Cooking Vinyl. Music-wise this was certainly a departure from the Wedding Present sound, with strings (of the non-guitar variety) prominent in the mix.

mp3: Cinerama – Kerry Kerry

At the time, and now so many years on, Kerry Kerry felt like a statement in that regard. As did the sleeves housing the CD and vinyl singles. On these appeared Gedge and bandmate Sally Murrell, albeit diffused and half-hiding amid the jazzy, highly stylised artwork. Going forward, most Cinerama releases would apply cover stars or artwork in the way Wedding Present releases always did, but these rare personal appearance on sleeves might have been designed to further discriminate between the two bands.

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If musically a whole new direction was apparent, where Kerry Kerry chimed with the Weddoes was in lyrical content and theme: the very well-trodden Gedge territory of rejection and betrayal. You bought him presents with my money. That makes me feel just great…

The song opens also with the singer delivering a few sung words in advance of the music, and so calls back to another debut: Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft, the opener to George Best. And the line in question: Well at least can’t you look at me when I’m talking to you? does that Wedding Present trick of locating us in the middle of a conversation. So it’s like we’re not listening; instead, we’re eavesdropping, which is a far more compelling proposition.

Your B-sides were split across a CD single and a couple of seven-inch singles.

On the CD was found Love, and this continued the new sound established by the A-side. The song also introduced Murrell’s softly delivered harmonising vocals: an effective contrast.

mp3: Cinerama – Love

For curious and worrying WP fans challenged by Cinerama’s loungey sound, second B-side Au Pair, despite its brass-filled coda, would have placed them nearer their comfort zone. Au Pair’s a corking song and probably the go-to track from this tranche of releases. Both these B-sides would pop up again, tagged onto the US and Japan release of the imminent debut, Va Va Voom.

mp3: Cinerama – Au Pair

As for the seven-inches: Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is fine, and its title reveals the singer’s fondness for James Bond (this would be evidenced again in short order, via the Va Va Voom track Honey Rider – perhaps deliberately mis-spelled against the Dr No character’s Ryder for legal reasons).

mp3: Cinerama – Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Somewhat confusingly, in 2020, Gedge got together with the back-together Sleeper for another shot at Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. But this was a cover of a song from the 1965 Bond film Thunderball. So: same title. Different song. Different band. Different film. And if it’s perplexing reading about this quirk, you should try writing about it.

Anyway, this new track formed part of a larger project – an LP of 20 Bond-related covers from The Wedding Present and Friends. Sold in aid of the mental-health initiative CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).

www.scopitones.co.uk/product/not-from-where-i-m-standing-lp

Curiously, James Bond will return in this series, but a bit further down the line…

Last up for the Kerry Kerry era though is the second seven-inch B-side 7X. Named after the top-secret formula for Coca Cola, and recounting the tale of an equally inscrutable partner, this is the better of the two vinyl flips.

mp3: Cinerama -7X

As an aside, debut Cinerama LP Va Va Voom had largely delivered on the promise of Kerry Kerry. The album’s swooning arrangements and its roll call of cellos and flutes, violins and trumpets successfully removed the band from typical guitar-bass-drum territory (even if the lyrical themes drifted not terribly far from those associated with The Wedding Present).

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Looking at Va Va Voom’s tracklisting now, Dance, Girl, Dance still stands up as the natural candidate for that tricky second single. There are better songs (particularly the Emma Pollock-guesting Ears and the knock-your-socks-off Hard, Fast and Beautiful) but the jaunty and joyous Dance, Girl, Dance had more of the single about it.

mp3: Cinerama – Dance Girl Dance

On the flip of the sole CD single was Model Spy (largely instrumental and sounding every bit like the 60s TV-show theme its title suggests).

mp3: Cinerama – Model Spy

But its fellow B was a different prospect altogether: the unusual and arresting Crusoe. This song samples the theme tune of the TV series The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, which Wikipedia tells me first aired in the UK in 1965.

mp3: Cinerama – Crusoe

This Cinerama track is a real beauty that seamlessly receives the show’s elegant theme and complements it with suitably heartbreaking lyrics. Crusoe is absolutely the song to seek out from this release. Perhaps acknowledging its worth, this track, along with Model Spy further supplemented the Japan issue of Va Va Voom.

So, with what we’ve gone and called the Va Va Voom singles pored over, next time we’ll be looking at the singles that popped up both prior to and around Disco Volante, Cinerama’s second LP, released in September 2000.

Four singles made it out of that release alive. But to avoid a post that goes on and on even longer than this one, here’s fun: we’ll next do the two releases that preceded Disco Volante. Then over a couple more post we’ll tackle the set of singles connected with that second LP – one that led Cinerama’s arguably quintessential and definitely highly prolific mid-period.

Thanks again to Jim, and to you for reading.

strangeways

Alan Smithee

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #404: ALAN SMITHEE

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This is at least the third time that I’ve featured a track from this particular compilation as part of the series – previous entries have been Pennycress and Youngstrrrr Joey.   Here’s some background:-

It was back in October 2015 that Song By Toad Records decided to issue a sixteen-track compilation album called David Cameron’s Eton Mess.  Almost all the singers and bands were, at the time, unknown with very little more than a few tracks available online or via a limited physical release, most often cheaply done on a cassette.  Label owner, Matthew Young, said at the time:-

“Most of the bands are friends and a lot of musicians feature on several of the album’s tracks, one of the reasons why we’ve put the compilation together. It feels like there’s this pool of really talented musicians bubbling away and all sorts of excellent music is starting to emerge from the mix. Bands are forming, breaking up, and starting again all the time. When you see a loose collection of bands connecting like this you never know what is going to happen. A few will disappear, some will do okay, some might pave the way for others, and a few of these bands could go on to do really well.”

I can’t find much about Alan Smithee, but given the name the performer has taken, that’s not really a surprise.

From wiki:-

Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined in 1968 and used until it was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) when directors, dissatisfied with the final product, proved to the satisfaction of a guild panel that they had not been able to exercise creative control over a film. The director was also required by guild rules not to discuss the circumstances leading to the movie or even to acknowledge being the project’s director.

I’m guessing, without any facts to back anything up, that this one is the work of someone who is perhaps reasonably well known and simply wanted to put something out under an assumed name.

mp3: Alan Smithee – The Almighty Alan Smithee Blues

There’s a really good review of the album, penned by Chad Murray for the Echoes and Dust website back in October 2015, in which he breaks it down song-by-song.  Here’s what he had to say about this one:-

The bluesy waves of reverberated guitar and chimes of hi-hat accompany the assumed Alan Smithee as he croons through each verse in a vocal so relaxed it’s almost spoken word. The most dissonant moments in the track become almost jazz-like with stabs of guitar and deserty blues-rock solos flying through with a similarly suppressed aggression to the tracks seen elsewhere on this compilation. I can easily picture Alansmithee as a support for QOTSA, Yuck or the more recent Arctic Monkeys; the track makes for nice cruising music or background music for the final hours of a party.

A lovely piece of writing that I’m happy to concur with.

There will be a few more from David Cameron’s Eton Mess in due course as part of this series.

JC

Spandau Ballet

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (15) : Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short

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Friday 10 May 2024.

The date when this blog’s chief steward dug deep into the 7″ singles and more than likely lost hundreds of previously faithful regular readers.

mp3 : Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short
mp3 : Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short (version)

Feel free to mock.  I’m strong enough to withstand the brickbats.  I think this is a great single. Not their best, but a splendid way with which to introduce yourselves to the watching world. Released on 31 October 1980….it reached #5.

You can pick this up on Discogs for 10p…..plus P&P……but you don’t get the picture sleeve!

JC

Steve Albini, Various

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #366: STEVE ALBINI

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Yesterday’s news of the death of Steve Albini has led to a change of plan on the blog.  This was meant to be the slot for Dirk‘s latest guest offering, but that has been put back till early next week.

In terms of Albini’s career as a musician, I can’t really offer all that much up.  I have a handful of Big Black tracks, all downloaded from other blogs over the years, but across almost 50,000 tracks on the hard drive of the laptop, there’s nothing by Rapeman or Shellac.  The very name of the former is off-putting enough to have them permanently on ignore, while the couple of times I have listened to the latter didn’t lead to any detailed exploration.

I have a fair number of albums in which Albini’s engineering/production skills were utilised, and it’s from those that I’ve very quickly pulled together an ICA as a way of paying tribute. Most of what was written in the hours after the news broke went heavy on the well known and successful bands he worked alongside, but what I think really stands out is his involvement with loads of acts who were more ‘under the radar’, and how he seemed to have an uncanny ability to bring out the very best in all the musicians he worked with (albeit this ICA leans very heavily on the better-known names).

SIDE A

1. Bone Machine – Pixies (from Surfer Rosa, 1988)

The opening track of the debut album by Pixies seems as good a place to start as any. A record that has sold around 1 million copies worldwide since its release, but like anything Albini ever worked on, he received no royalties, thanks to his lifelong practice of charging a flat fee for his involvement.  I believe his stance on this was that looking to take any future royalties would be insulting to the band.

2. Have A Go – Spare Snare (from The Brutal, 2023)

Albini came to Edinburgh in late 2022 and worked with Spare Snare in a studio owned and managed by Rod Jones of Idlewild.  It was a big thing for Spare Snare as the record marked their 30th Anniversary and the end product turned out to be one of their best and best-received albums.  Both parties enjoyed the experience so much that the possibility of having Spare Snare, later this year or early next, head to Albini’s studio in Chicago for further sessions, was being explored.  Sadly, it wasn’t to be.

3. Fuck Treasure Island – Scout Niblett (from Kidnapped By Neptune, 2005)

Scout Niblett is an English-born singer-songwriter who has lived and worked in the USA since 2003, basing herself in Portland, Oregon.   I became aware of her in 2007 when I caught her live at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, the first gig I went to during my six-month work placement in the city that summer.   She was the support act, and I’d never heard of her.  In fact, all I knew of the main act, an up-and-coming female singer who went by the name of St Vincent, was that she had previously been in The Polyphonic Spree.  I went home that night with three CDs – the debut St Vincent album and two Albini-produced CDs from earlier in the career of Scout Niblett.

4. Heather – The Wedding Present  (from Seamonsters, 1991)

I’ve self-imposed a rule of just one song from any band.  Otherwise, The Wedding Present would have been all over this ICA.  Albini worked extensively over the years with the band,  but is probably most loved by fans for Seamonsters, a truly outstanding record in so many ways.

5. Wait In The Car – The Breeders (single, 2017)

The Breeders enjoyed most success with Last Splash in 1993, which just happens to be the only album of the five they have released not to have involved Steve Albini….go figure!!!  Wait In The Car was released as a single in October 2017, the band’s first new piece of music in eight years.  It really was a superb return to form, leaning heavily on the music that had won then so many fans back in the 90s, and it laid the table perfectly for the later release of the album All Nerve in March 2018.

SIDE B

1. Homewrecker! – Jarvis Cocker (from Further Complications, 2009)

Further Complications was a radical departure from Jarvis‘s eponymous debut album from three years earlier, and it caught out a few people, including myself.   It’s one of those albums that I only fell for many years later, when I gave it a second chance while lying on a beach on holiday.  Maybe it needed the warm Caribbean sunshine rather than the Scottish wind and rain to make some sense.   There’s loads happening on Homewrecker!, with the vocals not kicking in until well over a minute into the song.  Dig those horns!!!

2. Buddha – The Auteurs (from After Murder Park, 1996)

Luke Haines was astonished when his record label agreed to his suggestion of having Albini engineer/produce the band’s third (and what proved to be last) studio album.  It was all done and dusted in the space of two weeks in March 1995 – Albini never wanted to spend anything more than that amount of time on any one record.   It didn’t see the light of day for almost a year, as it was as far removed as could be imagined from the Britpop sound that was all the rage at the time.  The album has been described, with great affection, by one critic as a ‘monsterpiece’.

3. Rid Of Me – PJ Harvey (from Rid Of Me, 1993)

All that Luke Haines’ bosses had to do was listen and compare PJ Harvey‘s first two studio albums.  It would soon dawn on them that polished pop wasn’t Albini’s calling card, and that more often than not, the end product could best be described as raw and aggressive.  Rid Of Me has a huge amount of angry lyrics, a number of which Polly Jean has since admitted were autobiographical, and the genius of Albini is that his work makes the music sound every bit as psychotic and unhinged as the words.

4. Let’s Pretend – Cinerama (from Disco Volante,2000)

Forgive me if I don’t say too much at this juncture as Strangeways will, over the next couple of months, go into a lot of detail about Cinerama within his guest postings on Sundays;  I’ve avoided including any of the band’s singles from this era on the ICA, and instead gone with an album track that is one of David Gedge’s very best break-up songs. It also demonstrates that Albini was no one-trick pony in the studio.

5. All Apologies – Nirvana  (1993)

Even more quickly than I had envisaged Bone Machine as being the perfect ICA opener,  I had decided that this was going to end the ICA.  In typical Albini fashion, the recording of Nirvana‘s third studio album was completed in just two weeks in February 1993.   The record label bosses weren’t all that happy with the end product, and this led to Scott Litt, best known for his work with R.E.M., to be brought on board to remix the songs that were best reckoned as being suitable singles.  All Apologies was one of those.  It took until 2013, and a 20th anniversary reissue of the album which included bonus discs, for the original version to finally be given an official release.

If I had taken a bit more time, I might have come up with a different track listing.  This one has a lot of gut instinct.  But I really wanted the ICA to be timely, and I hope it’s one that you’ll appreciate and perhaps enjoy.

JC

Supergrass

AROUND THE WORLD : ST. PETERSBURG

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The second-largest city in Russia, with a population of 5.6 million, St Petersburg was  founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter.

It was the historical capital of the  Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1713 to 1918, but after the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow.  The city’s name had changed to Petrograd in 1914 and again in 1924 to Leningrad before a city-wide referendum in 1990 returned it to its original name.

It has always been renowned as a bastion of high culture, thanks to its museums and its long tradition of opera and ballet productions. The first jazz club in Russia was founded in the city in the 1920s, and it has also been home to many of the Russian rock and pop bands who were in due course grudgingly accepted by the old authorities in the 70s and 80s.  Not that today’s featured band had anything to do with that period of time.

mp3: Supergrass – St.Petersburg

The first single to be taken from their fifth album, Road to Rouen (2005), reached #22 in August 2005.  It was the first release a year after the singles-heavy compilation album Supergrass is 10, and laid down a marker for what proved to be a significant change in direction to a far more downbeat and sedate sound, one which saw a drop in sales in comparison to the previous four albums.

It’s a move I welcomed at the time, and I still am happy to give Road to Rouen a spin on the CD player.

JC

Blondie, Clash, Earth Wind and Fire with The Emotions, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, McFadden and Whitehead, Simple Minds, Squeeze, Tubeway Army, XTC

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (May)

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The top end of the first new chart of May 1979 didn’t unearth as many gems as recent weeks, but there was the appearance of a bona-fide disco classic to get the limbs all movin’ and a shakin’

mp3: Earth Wind and Fire with The Emotions – Boogie Wonderland

This proved to be one of the sounds of the summer.  It came into the charts at #30 on 6 May and didn’t leave the Top 75 for 13 weeks, including seven in a row inside the Top 10.  It even pulled off that rare achievement of looking as if it was going to start dropping out of the charts when it slipped from #4 to #5 after 7 weeks, only to go back to #4 in Week 8 of its stay.

Two other new entries worth giving a mention to are songs whose titles have a word in common and provided Swindon’s finest troubadours and one of Glasgow’s greatest exports with their first entries into the singles chart:-

mp3 : XTC – Life Begins At The Hop
mp3 : Simple Minds – Life In A Day

The former was a minor hit – in at #62 and peaking at #54.  XTC‘s breakthrough was still a few months off.  The latter came in at #67 and peaked at #62.  Simple Minds would have to wait a further three years before they ever went Top 20.

Oliver’s Army had been one of the most surprising huge songs of early 1979, and just 7 days after had it finally dropped out of the Top 75 after 12 weeks, the follow-up entered at #71

mp3: Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Accidents Will Happen

An almost under-the-radar sort of hit in that it would spend 8 weeks in the Top 75, but never get any higher than #28.

A different type of new wave was the highest new entry in the chart of 13 May:-

mp3: Blondie – Sunday Girl

The fourth single to be lifted from Parallel Lines came in at #10.  Seven days later, it was up at #1, bringing an end to the six-week-long occupation of the top spot by Art Garfunkel.  It was helped by a brilliant piece of marketing from Chrysalis Records with the inclusion of a French language version of the song on the 12″ release, one that I reckon was bought by just about every teenager and young adult who was infatuated with Debbie Harry.

One of my own favourites from all of 1979 entered the charts in the second week of May:-

mp3: The Clash – I Fought The Law

It was hard to believe this was a cover version, given how it captured The Clash at their post-punk finest.  The lead track from The Cost of Living EP came in at #35 and then went up to #23 before falling back down to #32.  But then, gravity was somehow defied as it went back up again over the next three weeks to #24, #23 and #22.  Just imagine how big this would have been if The Clash had actually broken the habit of a lifetime and played Top of The Pops.

Coming in at #51 is one I have always considered as a bit of a classic:-

mp3: McFadden and Whitehead – Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now

The one and only song with which the Philadephia-based R&B duo of Gene McFadden and John Whitehead ever tasted success in the UK.  The song, and later re-recorded/remixed versions, is reputed to have sold 8 million copies the world over. Both men would later die at young ages in the 00s. Whitehead was 55 when he was fatally shot outside his home studio in May 2004 – the perpetrators were never caught.  McFadden passed away from liver and lung cancer in January 2006, aged 56.

Those of you who pay attention to the companion pieces to this series might recall that back in March, I looked at a flop single called Down In The Park.

“They had started out as a guitar-based new wave band, Mean Street, but the dawn of 1978 saw a change of name to Tubeway Army, albeit the new wave element was still to the fore (they supported The Skids at gigs in the summer of ’78).  By the end of the year, a debut album had been released, with the lead singer changing his name from Gary Webb to Gary Numan, and looking to incorporate synths into the group.  The album sold modestly, but there was enough interest at Beggars Banquet to fund a follow-up for planned release in mid-1979, and Down In The Park was seen as being the advance single.  It didn’t sell very well, but things were about to change…”

The bottom end of the chart of 13 May 1979 was the first indication of said change:-

mp3: Tubeway Army – Are Friends Electric?

This is another one that I’ll always associate with the summer of 79.  In at #71……it took until its 7th week in the charts to reach #1 where it would enjoy a 4-week stay, not finally dropping out of the Top 75 until September had come around.   Turned out to be Tubeway Army‘s last single before breaking up, so it would be accurate to describe them as a one-hit wonder, albeit Gary Numan would enjoy solo success.

Looking now at the chart of 20 May, and the arrival of this tune made sure ‘one-hit wonders’ couldn’t be a label to attach to the doyens of Dunfermline:-

mp3: The Skids – Masquerade

This came in at #29 and peaked at #14. Not quite as successful as Into The Valley, but it would prove to be the second-highest position The Skids would reach in their career, despite the fact that later singles would prove, in my opinion, to be better and more enduring.

Masquerade was one of 13 songs to enter the Top 75 in this particular chart, but none of the others are fondly recalled in any shape or form.  Which takes us to the chart straddling the final week of May and the first few days of the month when I turned sweet sixteen.

mp3: Squeeze – Up The Junction

It’s now one of my favourite songs of all time, but it didn’t really ‘speak’ to me when I was a teenager.  As I’ve written before when featuring Up The Junction on the blog:-

“A soap opera story in just over three minutes.

The boy about town gets caught out with his trousers down. He can’t cope with the fact that he has to grow up and take responsibility. The woman of his dreams soon moves on and all he has left are bittersweet memories.

A massive hit and one of my favourite songs of all time, albeit as a 16-year old I didn’t quite understand the full nuances. But now I’m 51 nearly 61 and I’ve seen it this story play out in real life far too often over the years.

Tears and saying sorry are just not enough.”

It came in at #50, and in an 11-week stay in the Top 75, would peak at #2…denied the top spot by Tubeway Army.

JC

Interpol

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (6) : Interpol – C’Mere

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Here’s a re-post from May 2015.

Interpol are a very successful band from New York City, but there is a little-known Glasgow connection that helped set them on their way….

They formed in 1997 with an original line-up consisting of Paul Banks (vocals/guitar), Daniel Kessler (guitar/vocals), Carlos Dengler (bass guitar/keyboards) and Greg Drudy (drums/percussion). This version of the band only released one EP, which was entitled FukdID#3. It was released in 2000 with just 1000 copies pressed on Chemikal Underground Records which had just a few years previously been set up in Glasgow by the members of The Delgados. If you want to get your hands on that rare piece of plastic, expect to pay at least £50 for the CD and a lot more for the vinyl.

Drudy left the band shortly after the Chem EP and was replaced by Sam Fogarino. This particular four-piece proved to be one of the outstanding new bands in the first decade of the new millennium, with four critically acclaimed albums as well as countless sold-out shows on both sides of the Atlantic.

Carlos Denglar was regarded by many as being central to the band’s success in terms of his look, appearance and his bass playing, so it was a shock to when his departure was announced in 2010 shortly after the completion of work on the band’s fourth album. While the record itself was well received, the live shows on the tour at which it was being promoted came in for a bit of stick, and it was no surprise that the remaining band members decided to call a time-out on Interpol and pursue a range of alternative and solo projects.

The two-year rest certainly worked a treat as the band got working together again in 2014 and released their first new album in more than four years to huge acclaim.

I don’t own everything by Interpol, but what I do have I remain very appreciative of, including this #19 single from April 2005:-

mp3 : Interpol – C’mere
mp3 : Interpol – Public Pervert (Carlos D remix)
mp3 : Interpol – Fog vs Mould for The Length Of Love

The first of the b-sides is Dengler’s distinctive remix of a track from the LP Antics while the latter is a remix, again of a track from Antics, by Fogarino ably assisted by Bob Mould.

I’ve since learned that C’Mere was also release on 2 x 7″ singles as well as this CD version, with b-sides which were remixes of two other tracks from Antics.

JC

Cinerama, Wedding Present

CLOSE-UP : THE CINERAMA SINGLES (Part 1)

A GUEST SERIES by STRANGEWAYS

Untitled

Don’t touch that dial. We interrupt your regular Sunday Wedding Present singles series with…

Close Up: The Cinerama Singles #1

It all begins with a different pop group.

In 1996, The Wedding Present was as busy as any band in all indiedom. Late January: Mini, a six-track, predominantly motorcar-themed EP had zoomed out from Cooking Vinyl of Newcastle.

The record had been backed by a short UK tour which saw several cities – Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham – each treated to a couple of consecutive nights. And that spring, a North America trip followed, all prior to assorted summer shows across the mainland UK and in northern Europe.

In September, Saturnalia, the band’s fifth LP was released. The excellent almost-forty-year career-spanning concertography over at the Weddoes’ website confirms a sizeable tour in support of that record too. Once again, this happened across the UK, Europe and North American territories: welcoming locations hard-earned by years of past visits. In all, ninety-eight gigs are listed for 1996. Even by my dodgy arithmetic, this works out at a pretty punishing rate of better-than-one concert every four days.

https://www.scopitones.co.uk/concertography

Saturnalia is a fine record. At one time it was, and perhaps still is, Wedding Present main man David Gedge’s favourite of the band’s LPs. Opener Venus is as heavy and fast and thrilling as you’d like. And Montreal, the second single from the album, is one of the group’s most downright lovely moments. It was an era also that finally saw Where Everybody Knows Your Name (the theme from Cheers), which had previously been a live-only affair, given a proper studio take and released on the B-side of one of the two Montreal 7-inch singles.

Despite these tracks and others, it’s a fair assumption to say that Gedge, if he does rank Saturnalia in pole position, is probably in a minority here. For the band’s fans one from the holy trinity of George Best (1987), Bizarro (1989) and Seamonsters (1991) would surely occupy top spot.

Why Saturnalia, and its quality is relevant to this short Cinerama series – (short when compared to its inspiration: the recent and stellar Singular Adventures of R.E.M.posts) – is that due to the new band’s formation it was the last Weddoes LP for more than eight years. A glance at that concertography reveals just three WP shows for the whole of 1997, and all in mid-January – anathema to a group committed since day one to regular gigs and those lengthy globetrotting tours. The band, to use a euphemism appropriate for a pop group fixated on the trajectory of relationships, went on a break.

But it wasn’t us. The LP was well-received by the sizeable constituency of people who just automatically buy and enjoy each release. The tour too would have been as well-attended as those of the past.

It was them. As discussed in Saturnalia’s 2014 epic four-disc re-release on Edsel Records, there emerged the need to take a breather. And compounding this was the desire of Gedge to create largely alone, and to exploit increasingly easier-to-use kit like samplers and sequencers. Also, there was the opportunity to indulge in a passion for what in his Sleevenotes book he termed filmic music and classic pop records. Three Cinerama tracks are present in David Gedge’s stab at Sleevenotes (published by Pomona in 2019) – the series of books that sees musicians providing self-penned insight into key tracks from their careers.

So, with fans jilted and rather hacked off for the whole of 1997, a post-Weddoes era was characterised by this and that: the fast-fading smell and swirly embers of Britpop. The need to never again hear Three Lions. The realisation that sometimes even lemon Hooch can’t cheer you up. And pointing and laughing at the Tories: finally grinned to death by a typically rubbish, British-made version of Jack and Jacqueline.

Then, in 1998, David Gedge conceived a new band. Cinerama. And, thanks in part to those studio gadgets that had caught his eyes and ears, a new sound too. For a while, at least.

So, context over and done with, for the sake of chronology Jim has paused his Wedding Present singles series and allowed Cinerama to step in. Don’t worry, though: when this ten-part interloper is over, he’ll ping you back to 2005, and resume the second half of his posts.

This opening effort has already gone on a bit, so let’s call it a prequel and begin properly next week. Meantime, here are a couple of Saturnalia songs – examples of the last Wedding Present material heard for several long years.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Venus

The album’s first track is breezy and bright, and a pleasing little xylophone section contrasts with the distortion.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Kansas

Kind of twitchy, graced with bassist Jayne Lockey’s backing vocals and, if all that weren’t enough, Wizard of Oz references too.

Thanks to Jim, and to those who made it this far.

strangeways

Air In The Lungs

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #403: AIR IN THE LUNGS

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Being a patron of Last Night From Glasgow means that I receive albums made by musicians who are normally a long way out of my comfort zone.

One such example was the debut record from Air In The Lungs, released in April 2023.  Here’s the bio:-

“Air In The Lungs is the new project from Edinburgh-based musician Deborah Arnott.

The album is an atmospheric exploration into bereavement and nostalgia, covering subjects such as worker’s rights, adversity and hope. Upbeat, downbeat, with swelling synths, jagged guitars and atmospheric percussion, it is unafraid to be stark and bare, yet vivid and uplifting.

Deborah recorded the album with multi-instrumentalist Pat McGarvey (Southern Tenant, Coal Porters, The Arlenes) leading percussionist Rich Kass (Trio HLK, Evelyn Glennie) and Davey McAulay (Mogwai, King Creosote and Emma Pollock). It was produced by Paul Savage (The Delgados, Mogwai, The Twilight Sad) at Chem19 studios and funded by Creative Scotland.

Deborah is also known for her enchanting vocals and musicianship in well-loved and critically-acclaimed band Blueflint.”

Bluefint was another name that meant nothing to me, but here’s the bio from the band’s website:-

“Blueflint began in 2003 as a duo based around the close harmonies of Deborah Arnott and Clare Neilson whose voices, both ethereal and warm, interweave through raw, honest and beautifully-crafted songs. In 2008 they extended the band to incorporate fiddle, double-bass and drums in a line-up that deftly captures the atmospheric Blueflint sound.

Their critically acclaimed third album, ‘Stories from Home‘ released in 2015, sees the duo songwriters naturally evolving towards an alt folk flavour, incorporating electric guitar and keyboard into their acoustic sound. Stories of relationships, parenthood and life in a home town form the thread running through this eclectic yet captivating album, with Paul Savage (King Creosote, From Scotland with Love, Mogwai) in the producer’s chair.

After a successful spring album launch tour and recent live performances at ‘The BBC Quay Sessions with Edith Bowman,’ and BBC Radio 2’s ‘Drivetime with Simon Mayo’, Blueflint will be touring again this autumn.

In previous years Blueflint supported The Proclaimers on their ‘Like Comedy’ UK tour, and proved themselves to be a formidable live act whose evocative performances have gained them a strong reputation and following throughout the UK.

Selected as part of the ‘Made in Scotland 2013‘ Showcase, the band played to sell-out Edinburgh Fringe performances and have gone from strength to strength as a singular and unique act on the UK musical scene, playing prestigious venues and festivals such as Celtic Connections and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party.

Previously released albums ‘High Bright Morning’ (2009) and ‘Maudy Tree’ (2011) gained the band plaudits throughout the music press and national radio play.

Their debut single ‘Take your shoes off’ gained radio play on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Ulster and many other local and national radio shows.

Blueflint are Deborah Arnott [vocals; bluegrass banjo; ukulele]; Clare Neilson [vocals; clawhammer banjo]; Jo Jeffries [fiddle]; Hugh Kelly [double bass], and Ruairidh Saunders [drums].”

In all honesty, these are not the sort of bios that would have me rushing out to explore, but I’m more than happy to support the concept behind Last Night From Glasgow, whereby the membership investment is spent on recording, mixing, mastering, manufacturing and promoting music of the artists on the label, in the full knowledge and understanding that sometimes I’ll end up with a record that will do not much more than gather dust after an initial listen.  There will be other examples over the coming weeks and months of this long-running series, but for the most part, LNFG has provided more hits than misses over the years.

I say all that from a personal perspective.  Some of you may really enjoy today’s offering.

mp3: Air In The Lungs – Sweet Is The Dream

Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 played this one and described it as ‘a lovely gentle thing.’

Other tracks on the album have also received a lot of praise from many quarters.  But, sorry to say, it isn’t for me.

JC

Suede

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (7) : Suede – The Drowners

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This is a repost from October 2019 when it featured in the still running and occasional series, ‘It Really Was A Cracking Debut Single’.  The difference being that in the intervening period, I’ve finally picked it up on vinyl as opposed to the CD version.

“The debut single by Suede was released in May 1992. It has long been viewed as one of their very best but, contrary to popular belief, it was something of a flop in commercial terms, barely scraping into the Top 50.

There have been lots of things written about The Drowners, some of which make more sense than others. I’m surely not alone in wondering what the hell the NME was on about when, having listed the song at #104 in its ‘Greatest of All Time’, said. “Brett and co sashayed onto the scene with this swooner and soon turned indie an androgynous shade of jaundiced yellow”

Most of what has been written over the past 30+ years has concentrated on the lyrics, with praise for Brett Anderson’s daring in penning a debut single that was charged with homoeroticism, with the protagonist singing of being kissed in rooms while popular tunes play in the background (maybe listening to a specially compiled mixtape?) while simultaneously enjoying having his spine caressed, manfully resisting, initially, to what is being asked for – ‘stop taking me over’ but by the end accepting the inevitable and enjoying it – ‘you’re taking me over’ which is repeated endlessly as the song fades out.

I’ve long been someone who places a high level of importance and/or significance of lyrics in terms of them being able to transform a good song into a great song, but I didn’t pay much attention to what Brett was singing back in 1992. For me, it was all about the tune which sparked off all sorts of long-locked memories of growing up in the early-mid 70s listening to fast-paced and catchy glam-rock tunes dominate the singles charts. It took the best of the music from that era but sprinkled it with indie-knowing that harked back to the mid-80s and added a little bit of special flavouring with a nod to the slightly heavier sound of such as Pixies.

Suede turned out to be one of the bands lassoed into the Britpop genre. Britpop itself is largely defined by the anthemic nature of the songs from the era. And while there can be no denying that The Drowners is an incredibly anthemic number, anyone suggesting it is classic Britpop ought to be taken outside, stripped naked, tarred and feathered and tied to a chair while forcefully made to listen to Cast. They will soon realise there’s a big difference.

mp3 : Suede – The Drowners

The thing is, this debut single came with two remarkable b-sides, containing songs that almost none of the other newly emerging band of the era would ever be capable of writing and recording.

mp3 : Suede – To The Birds
mp3 : Suede – My Insatiable One

I made reference in a previous posting, in March 2016, to the quality of the first five Suede singles at which my dear friend Jacques left behind a comment that I can only echo, richly:-

“As a whole, The Drowners is one of my favourite singles ever.”

I ended that October 2019 post with the question – “Anyone care to interpret the NME and its reference to it turning indie an androgynous shade of jaundiced yellow?”

SWC cared enough to offer a well-judged comment

“Well as someone who was at the time desperately trying to write for the NME. I can only say that at the time it was by and large completely staffed by total fuckwits. That probably explains the jaundice yellow comment.

Much love SWC”

There’s really nothing else to add, is there?

JC

Magazine

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #055

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#055: Magazine– ‘Rhythm of Cruelty’ (Virgin Records ’79)

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Hello friends,

this is how discogs introduce Magazine: “Magazine were an English post-punk band active from 1977 to 1981, then again from 2009 to 2011. The band was formed by Howard Devoto after leaving punk band Buzzcocks in early 1977. Devoto had decided to create a more progressive and less “traditional” rock band.”

Well, I think there is no arguing that – in hindsight – Magazine were, at least in comparison to, let’s settle for “Buzzcocks punk”, more progressive and less traditional. But the question is: how did you see this development back in 1978 or thereabouts? I mean, if memory serves correctly, Devoto was seen as a bit of a betrayer to punk when leaving Buzzcocks … just in order to front this strange modern New Wave combo. Comparisons were inevitable – and, as it turned out, they were inevitable for quite some years to come, which was nonsense from the beginning on, as far as I’m concerned.

What I am trying to say is: a lot of people rather wasted their time complaining about Devoto having left Buzzcocks and blaming Magazine for it than closely listening to early Magazine with an open mind. I am convinced that that would have helped everyone a lot, the buying public …. and Magazine as well.

Me, I never had such problems. Why? Well, because I was too young again – I missed both ‘Real Life’ and ‘Secondhand Daylight’ and Magazine only came to my attention via ‘Play’, the live album from 1980. And boy, it blew me away! The quality is awesome and so is the delivery. If you don’t know this album, get hold of it now! But I digress, singles it is in this series and singles it shall be!

There are five Magazine 7”s which are almost equally good, and if my own rules wouldn’t forbid it, they were all included in the 111 – box: ‘Shot by Both Sides’, ‘Give Me Everything’ (because of its B-Side, ‘I Love You You Big Dummy’), ‘A Song From Under The Floorboards’, the 2022 release of ‘The Light Pours Out Of Me’ … but no, this is the one, because it is a) marginally better than the other four and b) will meet with the approval of at least one overseas reader, one which probably would sue me unhesitatingly if I chose something else than this today, just because he can:

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mp3:  Magazine – Rhythm of Cruelty

Magazine’s fourth single, still a killer tune – for Jonny.

Take good care, you lot,

Dirk

Various

MAKE A CUP OF TEA……

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……and put this mixtape on.

mp3: Various – Make A Cup of Tea

Propaganda – Dr.Mabuse (A Paranoid Fantasy)
Arab Strap – The Turning Of Our Bones
Gang of Four – I Found That Essence Rare
Working Men’s Club – Valleys
Pet Shop Boys – Hell
Luke Haines – Smash The System
Yard Act – The Trench Coat Museum
Elastica – Waking Up
Blur – Barbaric
Spare Snare – Bleached (remix)
Alison Eales – Minuet
David Holmes ft. Raven Violet – It’s Over, If We Run Out Of Love
Bar Italia – Punkt
Coach Party – What’s The Point In Life
Pixies – Dig For Fire
Otoboke Beaver – Do You Want To Send Me A DM

If this is the sort of thing that you enjoy giving a listen to, then I could make no better recommendation than suggesting you drop over to A History of Dubious Taste, where you will find Jez‘s Friday Night Music Club, which is one of the best things out there across the entire internet.

JC

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #365: GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI

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This was meant to be the third and final chapter in the ChatGPT experiment, but having listened to what the people had to say,  the AI contribution has been binned.

I desperately wanted to do a Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci ICA, but only having three of their nine albums here at Villain Towers (along with nine singles/EPs), along with a few songs that have appeared on compilations, I wasn’t sure if I had all the necessary tools to do it justice.  So I asked Chat GPT to come up with ten songs.

The results kind of surprised me in that I was in possession of nine of the suggestions.  It made me think further about the Chat GPT function, namely that it really doesn’t do what it is supposed to.  The songs offered up have come from the best-known and best-selling albums, which will, of course, be the ones most written about across t’internet.  In other words, the Artificial Intelligence machines merely reflect the findings of popularity polls rather than undertaking any critical analysis….which I reckon makes it more dangerous than useful. Oh, and as I discovered when looking at some of the allegedly factual bits of the AI commentary, there were huge and glaring errors (shock, horror!!!!!)

So, I went  back to the drawing board and came up with my own ICA.  The irony of most of the songs below actually being suggested by AI is not lost on me, but what I take from that is that my favourite Gorky’s songs are the ones most often liked by others who have written about them online.

A brief intro…..

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci formed in Carmarthen, Wales in 1991, with its three initial members – Euros Childs, Richard James and John Lawrence – all being 16-year-old schoolfriends.  Before the year was out, they had self-released their first songs, via cassette, and by 1993 had been signed by the Cardiff-based indie label, Ankst.  The band had already expanded in numbers, and now included, among others, Megan Childs (sister of Euros) on violin.  Three albums were released on Ankst between 1993 and 1995, and the band were championed by John Peel.   It was around at the tail end of this period when I first heard them, thanks to their inclusion on an NME compilation CD rounding up the best singles of 1995.

All of this led to the band being courted by the majors, and their next two albums in 1997 and 1998, would be on subsidiaries of Universal Music  but with the truly commercial success not forthcoming they were dropped, and their next three albums in 1999, 2000 and 2001 came out on Mantra, a subsidiary of Beggars Banquet.

This was a period when many members of the band came and went, and saw the departure of one of the founding members, John Lawrence.  One final album would be released in 2003, courtesy of indie-label Sanctuary Records, and the band would eventually formally announce their split in 2006.

SIDE A

1. Patio Song (from Barafundle, 1997)

Back in December 2013, I posted that Gorky’s had, between 1996 and 1999,  released eight great singles on the bounce, all of which sold enough to reach the Top 75, but none of which sold enough to get a crucial placing in the Top 40. Many of said singles will make it onto this ICA….which opens with the one that agonisingly peaked at #41.

Patio Song captures everything I loved about Gorky’s.  In an era where the bombastic and sing-a-long elements of Britpop were to the fore, here was a band going against the grain, with more gentle, folk-like music tinged with an indie approach. A decade or so later, loads of Scottish bands would take a similar approach but with a little less psychedelia.

The opening half of the song is in English, and the second half, with a different tune altogether, is in Welsh.  It really is beguiling and charming in equal measures.

2. Fresher Than The Sweetness In Water (from The Blue Trees, 2001)

I bought this CD album somewhat on a whim as it was on offer in one of the indie-shops in Glasgow.   It turned out that it wasn’t really on offer as it had been released by Mantra as a mini-album, having just eight tracks on it. I quickly took to this song, not realising that it was in fact a cover.  The original dates from 1968 and was written and recorded by Honeybus, a psychedelic/baroque pop band from London who enjoyed one Top 10 hit with  I Can’t Let Maggie Go.

3. Miss Trudy  (from Bwyd Time, 1995)

From the last of the albums recorded for Ankst,this was the track included on the NME Singles of The Week 1995 compilation and my own introduction to the band.  It was such a surprise and a joy to come across something so different sounding – the CD had opened with songs by Oasis, Pulp, The Wannadies, Ash and The Charlatans, with this following on as the sixth song.  It really stopped me in my tracks and it was a song I kept returning to while some others were on the receiving end of the FF button.  I didn’t know anything about the band, but I made my mind up to keep an eye on things.

4. Diamond Dew (from Barafundle, 1997)

Barafundle was the first album recorded for Universal, and came out on Fontana Records, the same label with whom James had made the commercial breakthrough in the early 90s.  I mention this as there are moments on Barafundle that sound like the pre-Fontana era James, which strikes me as a tad on the ironic side.  Diamond Dew was the second single lifted from the album (Patio Song had been the advance single), and it stalled at #42.  A damn shame, with its catchy chorus totally made for daytime radio airings that never came….the band were very much consigned to the evening shows on Radio 1.

5. Spanish Dance Troupe (from Spanish Dance Troupe, 1999)

The lead-off single from the album of the same name.  Don’t ask me to try and explain this bonkers lyric in which the protagonist begins his week returning to school after a six-year absence before absconding to Spain three days later on the basis that wine, dance and music is the name of the game. Revel in its utter joy – and if this doesn’t put a smile on your face, then there is no hope for you.

SIDE B

1. Mow The Lawn (from Sleep/Holiday, 2003)

The final album isn’t one that I own, but I have a couple of its tracks on the hard drive after downloading them years back from other blogs.   I thought I’d open up Side B with a bit of a curve ball as Gorky’s make a move away from the pastoral/folky sort of sound that I’ve always associated them with.  Is it just me, or is there a hint of early 70s Bowie about Mow The Lawn…I’m reminded in places of Suffaragette City (which is a ploy to get you all to listen to at least one song on this ICA!)

2. Lucy’s Hamper (from Amber Gambler EP, 1996)

Gorky’s departed from Ankst Records with everyone’s good wishes.  The three albums had put the band and the label on the map and the farewell release was the Amber Gambler EP in June 1996.  It’s worth remembering that the principal band members, despite having been involved already in three albums, were just 20 years of age and the thought of going out into the big wide world must have been exciting and terrifying in equal measures.  I’ve come to regard Lucy’s Hamper, the lead track from the EP, as being the song which was written to reflect such a state of mind, although I’m probably wide of the mark.

3. Christina (from How I Long To Feel The Summer In My Heart, 2001)

This was the one track suggested by ChatGPT that I didn’t know, as it’s from an album that I don’t have, their final release for Mantra.  It’s a long song by the band’s usual standards, coming in at more than five minutes – here’s how the AI description went:-

“Christina” enchants listeners with its haunting melody and poignant lyrics. A standout from the album “Tatay,” this song’s melancholic beauty lingers long after the final notes fade away.

It really is worth noting that Christina is NOT on the Tatay album.  It may well be that the computer is getting it mixed up with the song O Caroline which is on Tatay (actually, there are two different songs called O Caroline on Tatay, but that’s a different story) I might not have known this one until quite recently, but it’s found its way onto the ICA by merit. Besides which, without Cristina, the whole ICA would have come in at well under 30 minutes in length!

4. Young Girls and Happy Endings (single, 1997)

The response to the singles from Barafundle that weren’t quite the hits everyone had hoped for.

You know young girls like happy endings…coz without all these happy endings, what would happen to my industry?

Mind you that’s nothing compared to the chorus

You know I wrote that hit to sell ya, sell ya
You know I never mean a word I tell ‘ya

The use of the Americanisation of ‘you’ seems very deliberate.  And for the first 75 seconds, this tune really does have ‘smash hit’ running through it.  And then Gorky’s do that thing that made them so wonderful and so different from almost all their mid-late 90s contemporaries, and destroy any chance of daytime radio play….before finishing with an ironic bang!  This tremendous single did reach #49, and fair play to Fontana Records for issuing it.

5. Let’s Get Together In Our Minds (from Gorky 5, 1998)

Later released as a single, this is taken from their second and final album for Universal, one that was issued on the Mercury imprint  – a previous home to Julian Cope/The Teardrop Explodes.   It begins as a tear-jerking ballad, the sort that folk attending a live gig in an arena or stadium would get out the lighters (or mobile phones being the modern equivalent), but then about a minute or so from the end it speeds up, and while not quite offering a fully-blown rock-out, does offer the opportunity to do a fist-pump.  It just seems like the perfect way to end the ICA…..

One final comment about the ChatGPT thing…..it said this about the closing track

“Let’s Get Together (In Our Minds)” captivates with its lush harmonies and introspective lyrics. A highlight from the album “Spanish Dance Troupe,” this song exemplifies Gorky’s ability to blend introspection with infectious melodies.

It is NOT from Spanish Dance Troupe……

The moral of the AI experiment?  Don’t believe everything it tells you.  Tread carefully, my friends.

If you fancy having a listen to the ICA in its entirety, please be my guest.

mp3: Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – The Antithesis of Beery Britpop* (30:14)

*a description applied written by Max Ashworth in a 2019 article for the Wales Art Review website.  I Hope he doesn’t mind me pinching it.

JC

Jilted John, Monochrome Set, Penetration, Raincoats

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (April, part two)

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Having already seen that April 1979 was an excellent month chart-wise for quality new wave/post punk 45s, it’s time to find out if it was a month when some equally brilliant singles found their way into the shops but didn’t persuade enough folk to part with their cash to threaten Top of the Pops. Starting off with someone who featured back in January.

mp3: Jilted John – The Birthday Kiss

A reminder that the eponymous debut single had gone Top 5 in August 1978, but its follow-up, True Love, had sunk without trace.  The accompanying album, True Love Stories hadn’t sold well.  The record label had one last go at resurrecting JJ’s career. It’s one that I previously considered for the ‘Some Songs Make Great Short Stories’ series…..but decided against it as it’s not very good (and that’s me being kind).  But I do like the line ‘Anyway, me Gran didn’t like you, she said you were dead common‘  which seems a fine  way to console yourself when you’ve been dumped.

mp3: The Monochrome Set – Eine Symphonie Des Grauens

It was the band’s second single and takes it name from the 1922 German silent film, Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens which translates as Nosferatu – A Symphony of Horror, a film which some consider to have provided a template for the horror film genre.  Despite all this, the single is a jaunty number, one that I didn’t discover until 1982/83 when it was included on Pillows and Prayers, a Cherry Red compilation budget album  that was priced at 99p.   I’d like to think the single would have been purchased in 1979 if I’d been aware of it.

mp3: Penetration – Danger Signs

Penetration were one of those band who generated a lot of very positive media that failed to translate into any meaningful commercial success.  Actually, that’s not strictly accurate.  There were five singles released between 1977 and 1979, none of which troubled the charts, but the two studio albums Moving Targets (1978) and Come Into The Open (1979) went Top 40, with the debut actually reaching #22.  Danger Signs was the first new material since the success of that album, and hopes were high, particularly at their label, Virgin Records.  Sadly, and undeservedly, they were unfulfilled.

mp3: The Raincoats – Fairytale In A Supermarket

An all-female band who were inspired by The Slits, and indeed by the time this, their debut single was issued by Rough Trade, Palmolive, who had drummed with The Slits was now part of The Raincoats.   It would be fair to say that they divided opinion.  John Lydon loved them and talked them up at every opportunity.  In later years, Kurt Cobain would reveal himself to be a huge fan, as would Kim Gordon.  The music was far from commercial, and most rock journalists across all four UK music weeklies at the time, were very dismissive.  Me?  I didn’t get it in any shape or form back in 1979, but I’ve grown to respect and indeed enjoy what they were doing.

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Thirty-Two)

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We’ve now reached 1997.   The Wedding Present had been on the go for almost 12 years.  1996 had been a frantic one, thanks to almost 100 live shows and the release of a new studio album, all while bedding-in a new guitarist.

January 1997 saw three dates in England In Portsmouth, London and Liverpool, a short burst of activity to support the release of a new 45:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Montreal

A quiet and reflective number lifted from Saturnalia.  It was one of the highlights of the album, and again offered evidence that not all TWP songs sound the same.

It was released across 2 x 7″ singles, along with a CD version, all of which offered up different b-sides.  This multi-format approach would have been a factor in helping the single reach #40, by far the best chart position since December 1992.

7″ single : FRY 053

mp3: The Wedding Present – Project Cenzo

Another of the tracks on which past-member Darren Belk is given a co-writing credit.  It’s one of the louder, rockier numbers in the entire TWP canon, during which David Gedge speaks a fair part of the vocal. 

The spoken part is in fact taken, word for word, from the opening narration of The Parallel, episode 11 of season 4 of the sci-fi series The Twilight Zone, originally broadcast on 14 March 1963.   It all makes for an unusual and intriguing song, one that I didn’t know anything about until I picked up, probably around 2006, a second-hand copy of Singles 1995-1997, a CD compilation released on Cooking Vinyl in 1999.

Cenzo?  Well, the band throughout 1996 had worked with Cenzo Townshend, one of the most prolific producers/engineers of the era, who has 800 credits to his name on Discogs.

7″ single: FRY 053X

mp3: The Wedding Present – Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Theme From Cheers)

The comedy series, which ran from 1982-1993, was very funny back in the day, but as with many TV and film comedy offerings, a lot of the humour hasn’t dated well. Maybe David Gedge was a fan – it’s the only treason I can think of as to why he went for this particular cover.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s a novelty that is thankfully all done and dusted in two minutes flat.    I know, however, that some regular readers of the blog don’t agree with my take on things.

CD single: FRYCD 053

mp3: The Wedding Present – Sports Car (acoustic version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – My Favourite Dress (live at Sound City, 1996)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Brassneck (live at Reading, 1996)

The first of these revisits one of the tracks from MIni, but in a clever way, changing the narrative somewhat thanks to the lead vocal being taken by Jayne Lockey.  Her delivery is really well suited to the acoustic take on the tune.  It also paved the way for what has become my favourite version of the song,  recorded for the Locked Down and Stripped Back album of 2001, on which the wonderful and now sadly departed bassist, Melanie Howard took the lead.

The two live recordings do exactly as they say on the tin.  The former is from the evening of 12 April in Leeds, while the latter was recorded on the afternoon of 25 August at the annual festival, and was one of the first live shows in which Simon Cleave had been involved.

And with that, we have reached the end of Phase 1 of the singles recorded and released by The Wedding Present….not that anyone knew that was the case back then.

David Gedge felt he needed a short break from band activities, initially thinking he would write some stuff on his own using samplers and sequencers.  He imagined it would be a short-lived thing.  As it turned out, The Wedding Present went on a hiatus until 2005, and it was under the name of Cinerama that the frontman would record for an eight-year period.

And starting next week, and for the next few months, this Sunday slot will be taken over by a guest contributor who will offer up some facts, info and opinions on all the 45s released by Cinerama.

JC

Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #402: AIDAN MOFFAT & RM HUBBERT

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The first recorded collaboration between Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert was Car Song, a track on Hubby’s solo album, Thirteen Lost and Found, released on Chemikal Underground back in 2012.

Fast-forward six years, and the duo got together again to record what turned out to be two albums and head out on a live tour.   The first release was Here Lies The Body on Rock Action Records in May 2018.   It’s a very fine piece of work – the blend of Hubby’s talents as a classical guitarist and Aidan’s masterful storytelling turned out to be irresistible. As one reviewer said, it was  ‘ a bittersweet masterclass in narrative songwriting’. 

The positivity of the reviews helped spur the duo onto another project later in the year, in December 2018 appropriately enough, with the release of Ghost Stories For Christmas, an album which is a real antidote to what is normally the standard fare of that time of the year.  Ten songs exploring and exposing the sadder and darker side of the festive season, including two ridiculously melancholic yet beguiling cover versions (Lonely This Christmas by Mud and Only You by Yazoo) while two other numbers involved Aidan’s reading of words originally penned by Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Dickens.

It’s further evidence of what I’ve long argued, namely that Aidan Moffat is the 20th/21st Century equivalent of a national bard here in Scotland.  He has an ability to make people laugh out loud and cry in almost equal measures, often in the same song.  RM Hubbert is an extraordinary talent on guitar, someone who has sort of gone AWOL in recent years.  His battles against mental illness over the years have been well-documented, and it is somewhat telling that he hasn’t released any music since 2019 shortly before COVID changed the way we had to live our lives. I hope we hear from him again soon.

In the meantime, here’s the single which came out just in advance of Here Lies The Body

mp3: Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbart – Cockcrow

It’s one to which Siobhan Wilson adds her not inconsiderable talents on co-vocal and cello, and it concerns the breakdown of a romantic entanglement; you know, the sort of thing that David Lewis Gedge is a master of writing about.

JC

Madder Rose

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #054

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#054: Madder Rose– ‘Madder Rose’ (Rockville Records ’92)

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Hello friends,

first of all: THANKS VERY MUCH for all the nice comments you leave: they mean a lot to me, and they are the reason why this series continues by and large. Also our host would come over and kick my ass if I stopped it, I suppose, and I don’t want this to happen, of course!

Rather a short essay today, you’ll be relieved to hear – mainly because my right arm hurts like hell when typing (probably a herniated disc, the orthopaedist says, but we have to await the MRT results – or, if you’d rather: await a date next month when a MRT examination is at all possible within the next 150 or so kilometres …. “oh, it’s painkillers until then, sorry Sir”), but also there isn’t pretty much I can tell you about Madder Rose in the first place.

Now, owning their first single from 1992 could lead me to bragging about how much ahead of the game I had been again back then, because the band did not gain any attention before 1993, when they released their first album, which included ‘Swim’ … you will remember this hypnotic tune if you remember nothing else by Madder Rose. But I’m an honest chap, so the truth is: I also only discovered them in ’93, but not via their debut, instead through the appearance of today’s pick on ‘Unnecessary Niceness’, a somewhat boring compilation on Beechwood Music.

Fast-forward to 1994 and the second album, ‘Panic On’, which included the fantastic ‘Car Song’. By then Madder Rose were indie darlings, compared to Velvet Underground, Mazzy Star, My Bloody Valentine. They played Reading and could have become big big big … but they went dub and sort of tried jumping the trip-hop train, much to the dismay of their fans and the record company. I must admit I didn’t really follow them up after that, perhaps they changed again, which knows?

But either way, all I need these days is the first single, which – without any question – still is an object of beauty. Mainly because of Mary Lorson’s vocals, admittedly, but hey – I always was fond of voices like hers … Hope Sandoval could tell you a tale or two about me, promised!

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mp3:  Madder Rose – Madder Rose

Enjoy,

Dirk

David Bowie

THE BLURRED LEGACY OF DAVID BOWIE

A GUEST POSTING by flimflamfan

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Be My Wife by David Bowie, was it the catalyst, the template for just about everything Blur achieved? It’s a thought…

Hardcore Blur fans will be aghast at the speculation and will no doubt have apparently reasoned arguments to foil mine. My argument is a simple one… listen to Be My Wife, m’lud.

mp3: David Bowie – Be My Wife

Apart from the lead guitar – which I’m not aware Blur have utilised in the same fashion – the jaunty piano, the vocal, the keyboard stabs it all adds up to a very convincing ‘cheeky-chappy-alright-geezers’ Blur.

Nay sayers, will nay say and that is their right.

It has long been discussed in my small circle that Blur did, in fact, pillage Bowie’s Anthony Newley period circa The World of David Bowie (quite the favourite of mine). Those discussions combined several songs to create an argument. An argument I agreed with. However, there is no need to combine songs when the singular Be My Wife presents its truth in such an obvious and powerful fashion.

I wonder how many songs out there cast a potential template for the musical direction of other bands? A song when you hear it you think “? based a career on that song?”

To Blur fans – the lineage is of pedigree quality.

To Bowie fans – you are now and have been unknowing Blur fans.

flimflamfan

Senser

STACKED UP

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This is a post written many months ago but has continually been shelved to make space for stuff from various guest contributors or to enable the continuation of various series on the blog.  It was inspired, quite a long while back, by SWC over at No Badger Required when he looked back at some of his favourite music from 1993 and made mention of Eject, a single by Senser.

There was a short period, maybe about twelve months in time, in which I really believed Senser were going to take the music industry by storm.  It was Jacques the Kipper who first drew this lot to my attention. I’ve lifted the next few paras from all music.

In the early ’90s, when the cross-pollination of rock, rap, and electronica swept through the popular music industry, Senser emerged as one of the more promising groups, garnering plenty of attention and hype before the London band’s line up splintered following only one album.

Began in South West London in the late ’80s, Senser boasted a large and diverse roster of musicians: Andy Clinton (DJ), Heitham Al-Sayed (vocals), Kerstin Haigh (vocals), James Barrett (bass), Nick Michaelson (guitar), John Morgan (drums), and Haggis (producer/engineer/programmer). These artists would integrate numerous styles — hip-hop, hard rock, dance, psychedelia, electronica, and more — into their music, drawing comparisons and affiliating themselves with other bands who took a similarly eclectic approach such as Ozric Tentacles. An appearance at the 1992 Glastonbury Festival was the culmination of Senser’s early gigs. Soon, the press began championing, or at least hyping, the band, and a record deal soon followed.

Senser’s first single, “Eject,” went straight to number one in the NME independent singles chart in early 1993 and went on to become the NME independent single of the year. Two more singles followed “Eject” — “The Key” and “Switch” — along with the band’s first full-length, Stacked Up, which entered the national charts at number four.

The band toured Europe behind the album, making a sincere effort to bring such issues as racism to the fore, expressing its sentiments with both the lyrics of frontman Heitham Al-Sayed and the band’s support of such organizations as the Anti-Nazi League. The band toured through 1993 and much of 1994 as well, following its high-profile appearance at the Reading Festival with another European tour, this time in support of the Rollins Band.

After so much touring, tension began to take its toll on Senser. There was a brief sabbatical from touring before Moby invited the band to support him in the U.S. and the band accepted the offer. This stateside visit proved to be the band’s breaking point, and several members — John Morgan, Heitham Al-Sayed, and Haggis– parted ways in August 1995.”

That covers the period I was interested in the band, but for the sake of completeness, Senser’s depleted line-up would record a second album in 1998 while the original line-up would get back together in 2004, since when there have been three further studio albums, but none since 2013.

The noise, intensity and energy of Stacked Up (purchased on CD) really appealed to me back in 1994.  Up until December of that year, I was commuting daily between Glasgow and Edinburgh and on many occasions I would drown out the noise of the other train passengers by playing the C90 tape that I’d used to record the Senser album, filling up the spare 25 minutes with some b-sides and different mixes from earlier singles (also bought on CD).

None of the singles ever cracked the Top 40, but the album went straight in at #4 on the week of its release, which maybe is an indication that I wasn’t alone in having a fair amount of love and hopes for the band.  Here’s some tracks from it:-

mp3: Senser – States Of Mind
mp3: Senser – Age of Panic
mp3: Senser – Switch
mp3: Senser – Worth

The b-side to the singles contained the occasional cover version:-

mp3: Senser – Channel Zero
mp3: Senser – Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun

The former is their take on a Public Enemy number, while the latter is a Beastie Boys original with which Senser closed their set at the Reading Festival in 1993.

JC

Paul Quinn & The Independent Group

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (14) : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Stupid Thing

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I beg to be indulged today.

The songs on offer have featured before as this single was #37 in my 45 45s @ 45 rundown back in 2008.  The post itself was repeated in November 2015, so I won’t go into the full details.

The one thing to note is that the eligibility for inclusion in that 2008 rundown was owning the CD version of the single from the date of its release back in 1992.

It’s now in the 7″ series, as I was given a copy of it last year as a gift.  It came from the person from whom Rachel bought the pristine copy of Falling and Laughing.   I mentioned to the seller that the Paul Quinn single was a piece of vinyl I was keen to get – he replied that as his copy wasn’t in prime condition, he’d be happy just to add it to the package with the delivery of the Orange Juice single.

mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Stupid Thing
mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Passing Thought
mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Superstar

A quick reminder of who played on this release.

James Kirk (Orange Juice), Campbell Owens (Aztec Camera), Blair Cowan (Lloyd Cole & The Commotions), Tony Soave (The Silencers)  and Robert Hodgens (The Bluebells) along with Postcard Records founder, Alan Horne.

It was produced by Edwyn Collins who, along with Paul Quinn and James Kirk, wrote Passing Thought  – it was actually a substantial update/remake of a song Edwyn had recorded for his 1990 album, Hellbent on Compromise:-

mp3: Edwyn Collins – Means To An End

The lead track, Stupid Thing, was attributed to Quinn/The Independent Group.   The third track was a cover of a song made famous by The Carpenters, and also at one point covered by Sonic Youth.

Despite its majestic nature, this one didn’t chart.  I don’t think it got any airplay outside of Scotland.

JC