Route Publishing have been responsible for some of the best music books of the past decade, particularly those with some connection or other to The Fall. I was therefore really excited last year to receive an e-mail advising that plans were in place to publish what would be the first book looking in some detail at Half Man Half Biscuit. The email came with an invitation to pre-order the book, which would be stamped/numbered as a first edition hardback, signed by the author and posted out just ahead of it reaching the shops.
This was something I’d done previously done with ‘You Must Get Them All : The Fall On Record’, a wonderfully pulled together 650+page book written by Steve Pringle, and published in 2022, that proved to be as enjoyably entertaining as it was informative, and so I’d no hesitation in signing up for the HMHB offering.
Steve Hill is a freelance writer and author whose name was familiar to me from articles he’s had published on football, and having also googled his name, I found an excellent article he’s written on the band for The Guardian back in 2022, so it seemed as if he was the ideal person for the task.
The publishers have provided this premise for the book:-
“Half Man Half Biscuit occupy a unique place in British culture. Existing largely outside the music business, this idiosyncratic Birkenhead band has flown under the radar for over four decades. Without embarking on anything that could realistically be described as a tour, they have nevertheless garnered an army of adoring followers. This is one fan’s story.
“Biscuit concerts are supremely joyous occasions, with disparate devotees often travelling huge distances to far-flung locations. United by their love of the band, some of the hardcore never miss a show. Following the enforced pandemic hiatus, author Steve Hill made the life changing decision to join these Ultras and go full-time.
“Round Britain in a Dukla Prague away kit – from Somerset to Scotland and all points in between – Friday Night Fever is a raucous road trip: one man, one band, 25 gigs. But beyond the jocularity and Joy Division oven gloves, there is a poignant exploration of the lives touched by this most beloved national treasure.”
The book is a mixture of road trip and gig-going experiences. The gigs, which were mostly held on Friday nights, started and ended in Holmfirth, from 12 November 2021 through to 21 June 2024. Along the way, we get introduced to what can best be described as the HMHB ultras, those who traverse the country following the band, always wearing band t-shirts or turning up in outfits celebrating song titles or incidents and locations within the lyrics. These folk, and they are mostly men, are fanatics in the truest sense of the word, so fair play to Steve Hill for throwing himself in.
However, and I say this with a very heavy heart as I was keen in advance to be incredibly positive about the book, I found much of it to be a bit of a chore.
Each gig has its own chapter, but they soon felt quite predictable in nature, with descriptions of motorway journeys, crap/cheap hotel rooms, getting drunk pre-gigs and eating all sorts of takeaway foods to help soak up the booze, followed by the gigs themselves. It’s true that a cast of many dozens are introduced as the journeys unfold, and some of these fans do indeed have tales that are worth hearing about, but overall I found myself wishing there was just something more substantial to the adventure.
Nigel Blackwell, the singer and lead songwriter in the band, features a fair bit through his interactions with the author, either by e-mail or in conversation. Nigel is famously reticent about ever revealing too much about himself, and while there are a few snippets of info that are more than worthwhile, I didn’t think that anyone reading the book would consider they ever got inside the cult of the band, although it is very fair to say that you do end up with an understanding of why some people, many of whom are, shall we say, advanced in their ages, are prepared to devote so much time, energy and finance to ensure they never miss a gig, no matter where and when it takes place.
Welcome to a post connected with a tragic story, but one that seeks to celebrate, via a pop song, a young life. In writing this piece, where there was opportunity for some levity, it has been taken.
It’s useful to begin by stating I’m a fan of true crime media: books and documentaries, dramas and films. As you’ll know, the quality of these outputs varies wildly and is dictated, I’d suggest, by factors including budgets and production values, platforms and publishers, the distance, or otherwise, of time, and the intent of the creator(s).
True crime stories and events are also of course ripe for exploitation. Many a book or broadcast has aimed low, either frequently leaping across the line between information and entertainment, or simply not considering it at all.
Happily, a documentary I found on the BBC’s iPlayer documents a case in the most respectful and informative way. It is called Body on the Beach: What Happened to Annie? and is led by the journalist Hazel Martin, a tenacious investigator and engaging presenter.
The subject of the four episodes in the series is the December 2005 death of a thirty-year-old Swedish woman Annie Börjesson, from Tibro, in the west of that nation. Annie’s body was discovered on the beach at Prestwick, a town – like many a location in proximity to a larger neighbour – forever doomed to an unofficial renaming: in this case ‘Prestwick Near Glasgow’.
That said, here in Scotland, even if you’re not from Prestwick, it’s quite likely that you’ll know a couple of things about the place that it can truly claim as its own:
#1. Most thrillingly, Prestwick enjoys the fact that it is the only undisputed UK location visited by Elvis Presley. This curious event occurred on March 2nd 1960 – a Wednesday – when the then Sergeant Presley’s military aeroplane – a Douglas DC-7 – took a refuelling breather at the town’s airport. Despite the facility operating as a US military base at that time, the King was subsequently mobbed, on the tarmac, by in-the-know fans: an invasion the Americans wisely and uncharacteristically declined to involve themselves in defusing.
Now, and since that day in March 1960, any Scot, anywhere in the UK, can staple onto any civic argument or dispute this tale, and win the day: “You’re correct of course. London has the world’s oldest underground transport system. However, Elvis Presley did not visit the capital, electing instead to land in Prestwick Near Glasgow, South Ayrshire.”
#2. Although somewhat spoiled by the fact above, the second commonly known thing is that Prestwick boasts its own airport. And no, it isn’t named Prestwick Elvis Presley, but is named Glasgow Prestwick. I like to think its IATA identifier – PIK – stands for Presley Is King.
Of further note is that for a time in the mid-2000s the airport’s slogan was ‘Pure dead brilliant’ – an exclamation/phrase attributed to the west of Scotland, yet a thing no native or visitor has ever actually heard anyone express authentically or unironically. Its use did though add further to PIK’s place in history, marking it as the world’s only airport comfortable with prominently and frequently employing the word ‘dead’ in its branding and marketing communications.
Back to the documentary though – and its appearance on this music blog. Across the programmes Hazel Martin, via both her own research and vox pops from Annie’s family and friends, is careful to reveal Annie the person as opposed to, exclusively, Annie the victim.
She, Annie, loved Scotland and held a job in Edinburgh at the city’s Scotch Whisky Experience attraction. She liked rugby and clubbing, and owned a mean-looking Harley Davidson motorbike. A passion for travel is revealed too, and for dancing, and singing and music. Connected to these, the opening of each of the documentary’s episodes is soundtracked by a song that clicked immediately with me. Next, after no small amount of detective work, I discovered that the tune is called Ticke-Tacke, that the singing voice belonged to Annie herself, and that it was played by her own band: Annie and the Wolves.
Information on the group is patchy at best, and I was really lucky to even locate – and pinch – a recording of Ticke-Tacke (from what I gather the title translates as ‘Tick-Tock’ – as in the sound a clock makes).
I think blog readers who like a bit of twee pop might appreciate Annie’s delivery – it has a kind of really appealing bratty nature. Added to this, the song itself benefits from a delicious melody and little harmonica parts that for some might conjure up splats of The Smiths and The Housemartins. Maybe some of you will enjoy it as much as I do.
To finish up, today the cause of Annie’s death remains disputed. What Police Scotland insists is the story opposes the views of Annie’s family and friends, as well as experienced medical practitioners who have been consulted.
This blog post, celebrating a fine song, is not the place for speculation or debate though. The case details have been purposefully omitted. And besides, interested parties can watch the documentary – it examines the tragedy respectfully and in detail, and with the ultimate aim of revealing what happened to Annie. Instead, this piece has been written with respect and – to be honest – to lend exposure to what I think is a terrific wee tune that deserves to be heard.
Thanks, as ever, to Jim for the space, and to you for reading, and of course to Annie and her Wolves for the song.
It was the follow-up to Velouria, which in July 1990 had given Pixies their first ever Top 30 hit in the UK. It was the second single lifted from the album Bossanova which itself had gone Top 3 in August 1990.
Rather strangely, given the band were at the height of their commercial success in the UK, Dig For Fire stalled at #62 when it was released in November 1990. I suspect many fans chose not to buy the single as they’d already shelled out on the parent album – I’ll hold my hand up as being that type of fan at a time when money was a bit tight.
What I didn’t know, and indeed didn’t find out until decades later when I picked up a second-hand copy, was that the version issued as a single was a very different remix from that found on the album. I’m not sure if it’s ever been made available elsewhere – certainly the version to be found on the Death to The Pixies compilation that was released in 1997 contains the album version, and judging by the timings provided on Discogs for the 2004 compilation Best of Pixies (Wave of Mutilation), it again appears to contain the album version. But then again, I’ve never bought any of the re-releases in recent years, and it might well have popped up somewhere.
I’m kind of kicking myself that it’s taken so long to post this version. It was probably about 15 years ago that I picked up my copy and I remember playing it and going ‘oh!!!!’. But I don’t appear to have ever converted it to any sort of mp3, and that was probably as much to already having the other three songs via my copy of the Complete B-sides CD that had come out in 2001.
As Frank Black explains in the notes that came with the 2001 b-sides compilation, the title Velvety (Instrumental Version) implies that there was a version with lyrics, but there never was, and he thinks he wrote it when he was about 15. Winterlong was always one of his favourite Neil Young songs, and was probably recorded at 5am, like most Pixies b-sides. As for Santo, this was a track, among a handful of others, recorded at a little studio in the basement of a hairdresser shop, presumably in Boston.
The Light Pours Out Of Me/The Anti Hero (OMNI-RSB1) : Released May 2022 on 7″
Anti-Wire would go on to issue two more bits of vinyl for Record Store Day 2016 and Record Store Day 2017.
The first of these, a 12″ release, made available on 16 April 2016, was called Once@The Academy, and consisted of five songs – The Light Pours Out Of Me, Permafrost, Twenty Years Ago, Definitive Gaze and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) – as recorded at the two shows Magazine played at the Manchester Academy on 14 and 17 February 2009.
The second was also a 12″ release, made available on 22 April 2017. It was called Old World Charm (BBC Electric Proms), and consisted of six songs – Shot By Both Sides, Rhythm of Cruelty, A Song From Under The Floorboards, Sweetheart Contract and I Love You You Big Dummy – as recorded on 22 October 2009 when Magazine played the BBC Electric Proms at the Roundhouse in London.
And then, in May 2022, there came a bit of an unusual release.
The Light Pours Out Of Me – The Authorised Biography of John McGeoch, written by Rory Sullivan-Burke, was published in May 2022 by Omnibus Books. It’s a superb read, and it’s been a bit of an oversight on my part not to have reviewed it on TVV.
A 7″ single was pressed to be part of a limited and signed slipcase edition of the book, consisting of these two tracks:-
I didn’t buy the slipcase edition of the book, but to my astonishment and delight, while pulling this series together back in July, I found a copy for sale on Discogs direct from Anti-Wire, seemingly one that was part of a very small stock overrun back in 2022. And the asking price was very reasonable.
The Magazine track is from the same show that supplied the live tracks that came with the extra 7″ single with Sweetheart Contract back in 1980 (see Part 8 of the series), and The Anti-Hero is one I referred to last week, being the track Dave Formula put together for his 2007 solo album, Satellite Sweetheart, on which he used John McGeoch’s voice from a previously unreleased track from their time together in Visage to create a new song.
And that brings to an end what was a short(ish) series of 11 parts plus an interlude, but which featured singles releases between 1978 and 2022. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
The initial members were Gordon Kilgour (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Kilgour (vocals/guitar), Katrina Dixon (drums) and John Harrington (bass). Their first two singles in 94/95 came out on the then very underground and largely unknown Domino Records, after which they recorded for Creeping Bent Records, with two split-singles emerging in 1997 and 1998. The band would also record a Peel Session in 1997, by which time Yvonne Slaven (keyboards) had joined, while Katrina Dixon had departed and been replaced as drummer by Scott Hall.
They then signed to American label, Fantastic Records, for who there was one single in late 1998 before they split up.
This is the second of the split 45s for Creeping Bent, released in June 1998. It had previously been recorded for the above-mentioned Peel Session, which was broadcast on 31 July 1997.
I’m still trying to get back up the same levels of energy and enthusiasm associated with pulling together the 800 songs series. So, if you don’t mind, here’s a repeat of the words used in the Squeeze ICA (#334), back in March 2023:-
One of the main strengths of Glenn Difford and Chris Tilbrook as songwriters was their ability to marry up catchy music with lyrics that told stories. In this instance, Tilbrook came up with the tune, making use of a moog synth all the way through as well as a classic ‘tennis racquet’ guitar solo straight after the first chorus, while Difford sings of a failed romance while putting all the blame on himself.
It reached #17 in March 1980, and history will show that only four other Squeeze 45s performed better – Cool For Cats (#2), Up The Junction (#2), Labelled With Love (#4) and Hourglass (#16). If this had been the subject of a quiz question, I’ll admit I’d never have come up with the fourth song on that list.
The b-side is one that, from its opening notes, can be identified immediately as a Jools Holland composition. And that’s before he croons some ten seconds in:-
16 February 2014. This came from Craig Neale, getting in touch all the way from New Zealand.
– – – – –
Great idea for a series JC, hope you get some more contributions.
I’ve agonised over it for ages – (would’ve done ‘Revolutionary Spirit’ if you hadn’t – great choice) thought of some classic songs but found they weren’t released as singles, or weren’t the a-side, thought of others but couldn’t think of anything to write, so have gone with ‘Son of Mustang Ford’ by Swervedriver.
I really love this band, and this, their first single put out in 1990 is one of my ‘wow!’ songs… yes, I have a playlist on my ipod labelled ‘wow songs’, which as the name suggests are all songs that i thought “wow!” when i first heard them – my variation on the ‘desert island discs’-type lists people make… not necessarily my favourite songs of all time, or even my favourite track by that artist (i restricted it to one song per band) they just all knocked my socks off!
Anyway, the first time I heard this song was the classic cliche – browsing in a record shop, it came on (very loud), I ran up to the desk asking who is this? what’s it called, I’ll buy it, what else have they done? (which unfortunately at the time was nothing, but this kept me going till their next one ‘Rave Down’, which was also a ripper, came out) raced home to listen to it again and was rapt to find the b-sides were awesome too. these guys were doing exactly what my band at the time were trying to do (only much, much better) – they seemed to be a perfect blend of most of the influences we were trying to incorporate into our sound: my bloody valentine/sonic youth/dinosaur jr/cyberpunk/J G Ballard novels/road movies etc … great stuff!
Hailing from Oxford, they released 4 albums and various ep’s/singles (another of those bands noted for the quality of their b-sides), split up in 1999 and did solo/side projects, then reformed in 2008 and are still playing. a really good live band, I saw them with a friend who was only familiar with their first album ‘Raise’.
They played ‘Son of Mustang Ford’ as an encore, after which my friend said “How do they top that!”. They then launched into a scorching version of ‘Kill the Superheroes’, after which i said “That’s how!!!”
I’ve pulled this one off the shelf partly to add my own very belated tribute to the late Dolly Parton.
There were countless words across all forms of media in the days and weeks after the country superstar passed away on 25 August, but I don’t think I read anything better than that pulled together by Jez over at A History of Dubious Taste.
I can’t claim to be an expert on the songs written and/or performed by Dolly Parton, and I certainly don’t own any of her singles or albums. I do have a couple of covers of Jolene, one being on vinyl courtesy of the 7″ cover version back in 1985 by Strawberry Switchblade, while the other is an additional track on the very last single released by One Dove in the final week of 1993.
One Dove are one of those bands whose reputation and legacy seems to grow with the passing of time, with many looking back with huge fondness to 1993. There was just the one album, Morning White Dove, containing eleven tracks, but just eight different songs as three of the tracks were remixes. Five of the songs were released as singles. The most revered, and timeless, has proved to be White Love, and such is the way it is written and talked about more than 30 years on that it is kind of hard to equate it with the fact that it spent just three weeks in the singles chart, peaking at #43 in August 1993, with the parent album reaching #30 during at two-week stay the following month.
A lot of the end of the year write-ups praised the album, so it was no real surprise that, between Christmas and New Year, Why Don’t You Take Me was released as a single ,and it made its way into the charts in January 1994, reaching #30.
There was one slight difference with this release in that the original trio in the band – Dot Allison, Ian Carmichael and Jim McKinven – were joined by two new members, Colin McIlroy and Ed Higgins, both of whom played on Jolene and the other tracks on the single:-
Bogshed, from Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, were active between 1984 and 1988, during which they released four singles/EPs and two albums. There were also five John Peel sessions, such was the late DJs fondness for their idiosyncratic musical style. The band’s lead singer, Phil Bryson, once explained their approach to songwriting – “We start out being totally out of order and out of key, and we turn things like that into a pop song. Most people try to do it the other way round.”
The first EP, Let Them Eat Bogshed, was issued on John Robb‘s Vinyl Drip Records in 1985 and reached #8 on the Indie Chart. They then established their own label, Shelfish Records, and all five of their later recordings would come out via that imprint.
Track 8, Side 1 of the C86 cassette and Track 8, Disc one of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
Yup. Bogshed were part of the original cassette, while being as far removed from the jangly sounds of pop as can be imagined. Run To The Temple was later released on Bogshed’s debut album, a record that got to #4 on the Indie Chart in late 1986.
Razorcuts, as mentioned before, formed in London in 1984. They would break up in 1990, leaving a legacy of two flexidiscs, four singles and two albums. The third single, I Heard You First Time, released on the short-lived London label Flying Nun UK in 1987, is the one that I have more time for than most of the other songs of theirs that I know of. Sadly, it wasn’t included on either the CD86 release in 2006 or the 3CD extended take on C86 that came out in 2014. This, however, was:-
This was actually the band’s first ever release, courtesy of being on one half of a flexidisc given away with Issue 5 of The Legend! fanzine in 1986.
The story of Shop Assistants was told last time out within Part 54 of this series.
Their third single, in 1986, was the first ever release on what was a newly-established Edinburgh label, 53rd & 3rd. It had the catalogue number of AGARR 1. AGARR was short for ‘As Good As Ramones Records’
It sounds just as marvellous today as it did all those years ago. It proved to be their only recording for 53rd & 3rd as Shop Assistants were grabbed by Geoff Travis and signed to the Blue Guitar/Chrysalis two-headed monster. 53rd & 3rd Records would continue through to 1992, with BMX Bandits, The Vaselines, Talulah Gosh, Beat Happening, The Pooh Sticks and The Boy Hairdressers being among the bands involved.
Track 22, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
There’s actually a bit of a feelgood story to this one.
The Auctioneers, from Southend, were active from 1985-88, but never managed to have anything released in that period. Demo tapes were worked on, live gigs, particularly across the smaller venues in London, were frequent, some of which attracted decent reviews in the music papers. There was one ‘close, but no cigar’ involvement with the record industry in 1988, but when it finally did amount to nothing, the band called it a day.
Their manager, Darrall Knight, kept copies of all the various recordings, and in 2011 he put a few up on YouTube and wrote a few blog posts about the band. In 2013, having heard that Cherry Red were looking for extra songs for what would become C86 The Deluxe Edition, and he sent some over to the label, of which Scoop was chosen to be slotted in.
On the back of this, Darrall contacted Firestation Records in Berlin and was delighted to hear back from the label that The Auctioneers had been on their list of bands they had been looking for more info on, having heard and liked a demo tape a few years previously.
In January 2015, Firestation Records proudly released a new CD, Before Lost and Found a 22-song collection of studio recordings, home demos, and live tracks recorded 1985–1988, with one new and final recording from 2014. At long last, The Auctioneers had made it.
‘GIGS FROM YESTERYEAR, WHEN I WAS YOUNG + PRETTY AS A PICTURE’
# 13 The Hotknives & The Quicksteps, AZ Aachen (April 1996)
Right friends, back to business after a joyful month of glorious tunes all chosen by JC – and what fun it was, to be sure!
I’ve always been a great admirer of Ska in all its “waves”, as some people like to style it: be it original Jamaican Ska from the 50’s/60’s, the second wave from around 1980 (The Specials, The Selecter et al), but also the third wave, which, to my understanding came even later.
The Hotknives from Horsham in Susssex came together in 1982, but their first output was a mini album which was recorded live at The Boatman in London in the April of 1988 … which makes them “third wave” for me, not that these details matter anyway.
Thing is, you see, this mini album is so awesome, all eight tracks on it! I am by no means a dancing man, believe me – normally you will only see me on the dancefloor when I’m crossing it on my way to the bar – but what The Hotknives managed to record here is so outstanding, one simply HAS to move his or her feet.
I was so taken aback when I first heard it, I took every chance to a) witness the band live and b) to eagerly wait for a follow-up record. As for b) there was no problem, another live album was issued one year later, an ’89 show from the Hurst Road Youth Club in Horsham. ‘Live & Skankin’ the LP was called and it’s not one iota worse than the debut.
But what made The Hotknives so special? In my eyes the reason was that originally there were eight members: Gary Marshall (vocals/guitar), Mick Clare (vocals), Mick Matthews (sax/vocals), Dave Clifton (guitar), Jim Mills (keyboards), Mick Merritt (bass), Nigel Clements (drums) and Kev Clements (trumpet). And each one was great in his role, as simple as that. Probably though it’s fair to say that Gary Marshall and Mick Clare were the key elements in the band, mainly because most songwriting credits are theirs. But ALL of them were great blokes – and I can tell because (coming back to a)) I did see them quite often, got to know – and drink – with them and even stayed with Gary Marshall and his (then) girlfriend Jan at his home in Brighton for one or two nights.
Well, the original line-up existed until 1993, and it went a bit downhill from then, as these things tend to do. There were four more albums until 2010, but they did not come close to the both mentioned above. One reason, for sure, is that it were all studio albums, another one was that the band more and more diminished itself. Understandably so, I mean the third ska wave was long drained away in the dunes by then. Nevertheless, they are still going and if you have the chance to see them, do so. As far as I know none of the founding members are left, but I’m sure the new lads will play some of the old tunes. And those are nothing less than excellent, especially in the versions recorded live:
As I mentioned, I have seen them so often, I cannot remember details of the specific gig Little Loser chose. I think it may well have been The Quicksteps‘ first ever gig, they were an Aachen band which included two chums of mine. They, too, are still going, all these years later. Quite impressive, I must admit!
Hello Mr Curtis (With Apologies)/Holy Dotage (Wired 17) : Released 10 December 2011 on 10″
The death of John McGeoch, aged 48, in 2004 made me think that I’d forever lost the chance to see Magazine play live. I had always hoped, despite the fact that Howard Devoto had seemingly totally withdrawn from the music business, that somehow a promotor would persuade the band members that there was no shame in jumping on the nostalgia bandwagon, particularly given that their influence and legacy seemed to grow with each passing year (as long as we quietly ignored the fourth and final studio album).
In 2007, Dave Formula began work on a low-key solo album called Satellite Sweetheart. It featured over 30 guest musicians including those who had been in Magazine. He was also also able to use John McGeoch’s voice from a previously unreleased track from their time together in Visage to create a new song called The Anti-Hero, which meant that, across the solo album, for the first time since 1980, the contributions of Formula, Adamson, Doyle, McGeoch and Devoto could be found on the same recording (it was only ever issued on CD).
This gave a little bit of momentum to a Manchester-based promotor to talk to the remaining four members and progress was made to the extent that by late 2008 there was a firm proposal on the table for shows in Manchester, London and Glasgow for February 2009. The auditions for a guitarist to play the shows were left in the hands of Dave Formula, John Doyle and Barry Adamson, and they settled on Noko, a Manchester-based guitarist who had worked with Howard Devoto in the late 80s as Luxuria, releasing two albums.
The tour proved to be a triumph, with critics and fans, old and new alike, united in awe at the performances. More shows, including festival performances, followed in 2009.
In January 2010, Noko officially joined the band and it was announced that they were writing new material. Later in 2010, Barry Adamson decided to leave to concentrate on his film work and solo recordings. In his place came Jon “Stan” White, who made his live debut in June 2011, during which a number of new songs were aired.
On 24 October 2011, the fifth Magazine studio album, No Thyself, was released on Dave Formula’s label Wire-Sound. The reviews were universally positive. Dave Simpson, in the review for The Guardian wrote:-
No Thyself could be the fourth album they should have made instead of 1981’s Magic, Murder and the Weather, which badly missed departed John McGeoch. Here, guitarist Noko and bassist John “Stan” White (replacing Barry Adamson, who had film commitments) help recapture the sonic blueprint laid down on the first three classic albums”
On 10 December 2011, Wire-Sound issued a 10″ single for Record Store Day, consisting of two of the best-received tracks on No Thyself:-
By this time, Magazine had played nine shows to support the promotion of their new album, ending at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on 10 November.
The only activity since has been a couple more Record Store Day releases along with limited edition 7″ single to coincide with the publication of a book….and I’ll cover those next week in the final part of this series.
Just last week, I referenced the recently issued, by Cherry Red Records, the 3 CD boxset Something For The Longing (Scottish Independent Pop 1985 – 1999), as having given me a few more names to help keep this series running a wee bit longer!!
The Poison Sisters are another who can be found on SFTL. In their own words:-
Since they first landed on this here planet, The Poison Sisters have built up a reputation for gob-smacking their audiences with their own unique mixture of bone-crunching rock’n’roll, punk bravado, jazz sneakiness, wilful experimentalism, pop sensibilities and tales of murder,lust, loss and lurid duplicity.
Their origins date back to 1989 in the small village of Tighnabruaich (population less than 700) located on the Cowal Peninsula, along the Kyles of Bute some 2 hours from Glasgow via a winding and spectacular road, with the music being courtesy of brothers Sandy and Peter Black with the aid of a drum machine. They are still very much on the go, with their most recent release being a digital single just eight months ago. The band has been based in Glasgow since 1992, and given the length of time involved, it’s hardly a surprise that musicians have come and gone, but the current trio is Sandy Black (Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards), James A. Davidson (Bass/Backing Vocals) and Gordon Brady (Drums and Percussion).
They’ve not exactly been prolific, with just four 7″ singles, five albums and a handful of digital-only releases to their name.
a guest series, courtesy of a very friendly lawyer
HARRISON SELECTS
JC SAYS…..
I’m incredibly grateful that my most regular correspondents, JTFL (aka fiktiv) and Dirk were happy to take a short break from things to enable the 800 series to proceed smoothly across the month of September.
On the eve of the final two parts of that series, the latest missive from Santa Monica dropped into the inbox, where I greeted it with a huge ‘WOW!!!!!’ given that it is, in effect, a guest mixtape from one of the world’s most in-demand young DJs/musician/producer/mixers. Now, it might well be that the old fogies who tend to frequent this place might find it a tad noisy for their sensitive ears, but trust me, getting this sent over is a huge deal.
Here’s Jonny to tell you more……
Fabulous Jane‘s boyfriend Harrison DJ’s, writes, records, produces, and performs music as The Dare. I’ve seen him in concert a couple of times, but I’ve never been to a DJ gig. We were all vacationing recently, so I asked him to list 10 songs that are likely to find their way into a set when he’s behind the CDJ’s. Here’s what he came up with, and why:
What You Need – Tiga The huge theatrical sub drop at the beginning resets the energy of the room every time. Then it cranks it up to 11.
Canned Heat – Jamiroquai Funny, sexy, and sensuous. Always good to work in if things are getting a little too serious and minimal. Or if one is in London.
Bellhead – Liquid Liquid Acoustic percussion and vocals only. Really fun to blend into more electronic tracks and does so much with so little.
Sandwiches – Detroit Grand Pubahs Classic Detroit Techno with an irresistibly funny lyric. “You can be the bun, and I can be the burger, girl”
Guess – Charli XCX A song that started as a remix I made specifically to DJ, which became the official version of the song. No better outcome!
Firebreak – Confidence Man Has sort of a ridiculous Loveparade / soccer-anthem vibe to it. Even if people haven’t heard it, it still connects immediately.
Wake Up – Les Pelit Pilous The most boneheaded French electro group out there. Not a single chord change to be found here, just huge risers and sirens.
JC adds….double bonus. Here’s all ten songs as an attempted continuous mix across approx 41 minutes….it’s my work and not that of Harrison. It’s the effort of a well-intended amateur!!
I’ve Been Waitin’ For Tomorrow (All Of My Life) – The The
It’s The New Thing – The Fall
Panic Room – Jim Bob
Accident Waiting To Happen – Billy Bragg
Divine Hammer – The Breeders
You’re Gonna Need A Little Music – Yard Act
Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? – The Cramps
I Found That Essence Rare (Peel Session) – Gang of Four
Them’s The Vagaries – Half Man Half Biscuit
The Village – New Order
I’m Gonna Love You Too – Blondie
Statuette on the Console – Bodega
Escort Crash on Marston Street – Heavenly
I Made A Work of Art – Swansea Sound
All Day Long – Shop Assistants
I Wanna Be Sedated – Ramones
U.F.O. – The Wedding Present
My Little Tony – Bar Italia
R&B – English Teacher
Three Girl Rhumba – Wire
I’m not one for using streaming platforms, but SWC suggested that it might be worthwhile pulling together the TVV 800 into one playlist.
I’ve done my best over at Spotify. Not all the 800 songs (or the versions I included) were available, so there’s a fair few substitute songs (40 all told). Apologies if your favourite is missing.
open.spotify.com/playlist/4Q14jcHQp3fRe4eRxr9Jc4
#58: Bagged Out Ken by Julian Cope has been replaced with East Easy Rider
#81: Shot-Down You Summer Wannabees by Adam Stafford has been replaced with Vanishing Tanks
#88: Safety Net by The Shop Assistants has been replaced with All Day Long
#135: Don’t Ever Go Away Again by Basil Pieroni has been replaced with English Lady by Jonny (one of six tracks Basil highlighted in a Desert Islands Disc style feature back in 2011.
#174: Splashing Along by Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes has been replaced with I’m Up Here
#181: Burn The Bastards by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu Has been replaced with It’s Grim Up North
#199: Sister by TeenCanteen has been replaced with You’re Still Mine
#261: Won’t Turn Back by Vic Godard has been replaced with Stop That Girl
#264: I Believe in Rock & Roll by Bill Drummond has been replaced with Bill Drummond Said by Julian Cope
#265: Shout To The Top (feat Loleatta Holloway) by Fire Island has been replaced with Love Sensation by Loleatta Holloway
#266: Don’t Worry Babe, You’re Not The Only One Awake has been replaced with This Arsehole’s Been Burned Too Many Times Before
#279: Joe by Sophisticated Boom Boom has been replaced with America Blue by His Latest Flame
#309: I’m Not Your Slave (US Remix) by Revenge has been replaced with 7 Reasons – Demo
#311: The Theme by Sabres of Paradise has been replaced with Tow Truck
#349: Suicide Girl by Baby’s Got A Gun has been replaced with Living In Hell by The Primevals
#350: Theme for Flightpath Estate by Hardway Brothers has been replaced with The Best of Stealth by Two Lone Swordsmen
#351: Stop Your Crying by Chin-Chin has been replaced with Dark Days
#393: Reverse The Hearse by Dumb Instrument has been replaced with Suffering From Scottishness
#429: Scars VI by The Affectionate Punch has been replaced with The Affectionate Punch by Associates
#436: Somebody’s Gonna Get Hurt by His Latest Flame has been replaced with Take It In Your Stride
#446: I Sold My Soul On E-Bay by Swansea Sound has been replaced with Corporate Indie Band
#453: The Church of John Coltrane by Saint Jude’s Infirmary has been replaced with When We Were Wolves by My Latest Novel
#483: Do You Always Dress Like That….by Mambo Taxi has been replaced with Mr Spaceman
#486: Foxtrot Vandals by Zoey Van Goey has been replaced with Sweethearts In Disguise
#522: Gotta Keep Truckin’ by The Ponderosa Aces has been replaced with Honky Tonkin’ My Life Away
#523: U.S.A. by Chronic Citizens has been replaced with I’m So Bored With The U.S.A. by The Clash
#569: Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone) by Prefab Sprout has been replaced with Don’t Sing
#579: With Handclaps by Y’All Is Fantasy Island has been replaced with Atheist Money by Adam Stafford
#603: Razor by Sharkboy has been replaced with Spell
#624: When I Grow Up by Michelle Shocked has been replaced with Marlene On The Wall by Suzanne Vega
#633: Maybe by The Wild Indians has been replaced with Penniless
#651: On Tape by The Pooh Sticks has been replaced with The World Is Turning On
#663: Human Nature by Gary Clail has been replaced with Bad Natured
#722: Man Without Qualities II (Peel Session) by New Fast Automatic Daffodils has been replaced with Big
#748: Jumper Clown by Marc Riley & The Creepers has been replaced with Jumper Clown by The Wedding Present
#757: Alex Discord by Port Sulphur has been replaced with The Faith Healer
#765: Strawberry Letter 23 by Pop Wallpaper has been replaced with Over Your Shoulder
#775: When No-One Is Around by Barn Owl has been replaced with Chlorine Dream by Spirea X
#776: Please Don’t Play A Rainy Night In Georgia by Twa Toots has been replaced with Hold Me by Trixie’s Big Red Motorbike
#796: My Baby Loves The Secret Agent by The Detroit Cobras has been replaced with Right Around The Corner
That thing I said last time out about the Pet Shop Boys and how the song of theirs in the rundown would change from day-to-day depending on my mood. It’s time for a touch of deja-vu.
‘ ‘Cruiser’s Creek’ is brilliant. It’s also bonkers. Mark E Smith, in a contemporary interview with one of the music weeklies, said ‘it’s a party lyric with a party twist’. I’m thinking he was referring to the utter danceability of the song, with a pacey riff and sing-along-chorus, albeit so many of the words in the verses are hard to pick out or fathom. Reading them written down many years later and there’s confirmation that MES is having a sly dig at two of the year’s biggest happenings in the music world in 1985 – Red Wedge and ZTT Records.
If you’re not careful, it’s possible to have a John Peel moment with the 7″ single as it spins at 33.33rpm and not the traditional 45. In other words, that’s me confessing I got caught out the first time I put it on the turntable. The reason for using the slower speed is that the song actually extends to more than six minutes, as opposed to the album version’s running time of a bit more than four minutes. It reached #96 in the hit parade.’ (23 December 2020)
In November 1977, Buzzcocks were touring the UK. Before a gig at the Clouds (also known as the Cavendish Ballroom) in Edinburgh, they stayed the night. Pete Shelley later recalled:
“We were in the Blenheim Guest House with pints of beer, sitting in the TV room half-watching Guys and Dolls. One of the characters, Adelaide, is saying to Marlon Brando’s character, ‘Wait till you fall in love with someone you shouldn’t have.’ “I thought, ‘fallen in love with someone you shouldn’t have?’ Hmm, that’s good.”
The following day he wrote the lyrics of the song, in a van outside the main post office on nearby Waterloo Place. The music followed soon after. It’s a song that particularly appealed to my teenage sensations, when the girl(s) of my dreams were way out of my league, preferring the company of lads a couple years older or those who weren’t total bookworms. Not sure that my tastes in music helped much. But as the years have passed and relationships have come and gone, it’s very clear the song can apply at any time in your life and needn’t be about unrequited adolescent relationships that lead to severe bouts of self-pity.
‘Aidan Moffat is probably the most unique songwriter to come out of Scotland in my lifetime. The characters in his songs are more often than not angst-ridden, lacking in self-belief, riddled with doubts and always in fear of failure. Almost all of his songs could be filmed as a short story. And when you dig a little bit below the surface, you will often find some fantastic examples of humour in his writing.
What makes the band so special however is that Malcolm Middleton was able to take these brilliant bits of narrative and set them to music that was equally as ground-breaking and imaginative.
(And before anyone pulls me up about how I’ve suggested the labour in the band was divided, I’m well aware that sometimes Aidan wrote music as well, and that Malcolm did contribute some lyrics.)
I’m sure we’ve all been in this place at some point in our lives – sitting or standing looking at the other half of your relationship and wondering just what it is that has led to the two of you temporarily hating the sight of one another….’(1 May 2008 and 22 May 2015)
From one of the ICA’s I penned. #37 on 15 September 2015.
‘If anyone ever mentions that they don’t like Billy cos he is a one-trick pony only capable of singing protest songs then this is my way of coming back at them. A stunning tale of love and rejection. And a reminder of what exactly la la la la la la la la la la means when used in a song (most of the time anyway).’
It is baffling that Friends Again endured a career of such poor record sales and never got beyond headlining the student circuit in the UK. But theirs is an all-too familiar story of a label interfering and seeking to control the artistic and performance sides of things, with bosses insisting on certain production values that diluted rather than strengthened how the band’s sound came across on record.
In short, they were stifled at every turn, including for a rare and important live TV appearance where somebody came up with idea of adding two female vocalists despite the band never having worked with any backing singers at any point in their career in the studio or on stage. Utter madness. And when success didn’t come with the first LP and the record label asked questions the band did the sensible thing and broke up, leaving the individual members to go off and do their own thing.
The reunion show in Glasgow last January remains a live highlight of 2026.
This was written back in 2008. It’s dated a wee bit!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
“When I was the new wave kid on the block, I used to snigger behind the backs of the guys at school who were fans of bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Yes. (I didn’t do it to their faces as they were bigger than me and would have giving me a right good kicking).
“I did so because, unlike them, I got to hear the songs that I liked getting played on the radio, and sometimes I even got to see the bands that were my favourites appearing on the telly. I was of a very impressionable age, and my attitude was that you were a nobody if you didn’t get played on Radio 1 or Radio Clyde this side of midnight. And an even bigger nobody if Noel Edmonds, Jimmy Saville, Tony Blackburn or Dave Lee Travis didn’t read out your name in a rundown during Top Of The Pops.
“In my wee world, it wasn’t relevant that the sorts of bands – the ones that so excited the guys with long hair, the combat jackets and the patchouli oil – could sell LPs in their millions and play concerts that recreated perfectly all the albums note-for-note in shows lasting three hours in length – mainstream recognition was the be-all and end-all.
“So, it’s just as well that as I’ve got older my attitude has softened –for I would never have found a place in my heart and mind for the greatest act to ever come out of Australia.
“In a career that now goes back more than 30 years, Nick Cave, whether with The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds or Grinderman has had one commercial hit that got him on TOTP. And even then, that was because fans of Kylie Minogue bought the single….
“His fame and career is now so similar to the dinosaurs of the 70s in being based entirely on critical acclaim album sales and live performances that leave you panting for more without ever troubling the compilers of the singles charts.
“All this means is that an awful lot of folk who have an interest in music, but no real depth of passion or soul for it (i.e. they’ll maybe buy what they hear on the radio but never take risks) are missing out on his genius and talent. I suppose that’s good in one way as it means Nick Cave will never get so big and famous that his live shows move to arenas and stadia. But overall, don’t you agree that his music should be in every household?” (25 April 2008)
‘ ‘Sulk’, released in 1982, was the third album from Associates in as many years, albeit one of the previous LPs had simply brought together singles and b-sides. It was, however, the first to bring them commercial success to match the critical acclaim of the earlier releases. It can often be the case that the inclusion of one or two truly stunning songs can overshadow the rest on an LP and make everything else seem tame or even mediocre in comparison. But there’s no chance of hit singles ‘Party Fears Two’ or ‘Club Country’ having that impact or effect on Sulk, as all ten tracks really are something very special. (16 June 2023)
This blog started out back in 2006 just as Frightened Rabbit were beginning to get noticed, initially here in Scotland. I got on board with them very quickly and watched them go from playing the tiniest and cramped of venues to becoming a band with devoted fans the world over. So many songs that I could reflect on and tell a story related to TVV, but in the end I’ve gone for the one that was the defiant opening on the day T(N)VV was launched, just 24 hours after blogger/google nuked the original. (24 July 2013) (and this happens to be post #5003)
Me and The The go back a long long way, not quite to the very beginning of the band but certainly to 1982 and the singles which pre-dated the release of ‘Soul Mining’ the following year.
The enigmatic yet charismatic Matt Johnson has always fascinated and impressed me, releasing distinctive music that seemed to be perfectly in tune with my own feelings and views at different stages in my life. He has always surrounded himself with the very best of musicians, initially in the studio and then on the road in the 90s. He is highly regarded and respected by just about every other fellow musician, not least Johnny Marr whose membership of The The was actually longer than his time in The Smiths. Having said that, Luke Haines isn’t a fan, having had a huge bust-up when The Auteurs were the support act on a UK tour…….
This particular song is the one that I most associate with my first flat.
‘Well you didn’t wake up this morning cos you didn’t go to bed’ – as an opening line seemed to capture what every weekend was designed for.
‘This is the day your life will surely change’ – as a chorus seemed to capture what the hope of every Friday and Saturday night was going to be about as I set out in the (forlorn) hope of finding a true soul mate. (26 September 2018 and 12 June 2008)
‘For highly personal reasons, this is up there among my all-time favourite songs by anyone, far less by R.E.M.
Let’s just say that it gave me inner strength and self-belief at a time when I was going through a lot of turmoil, not really sure if I had the ability to break out of a relationship in which I found myself trapped. There’s also an amazing live performance captured on Tourfilm in which the song’s opening is amended to name check a song by Gang of Four.’ (20 September 2016)
‘Kennedy’ will never lose its place as my favourite TWP song, but I thought it would be too predictable to have it in this rundown….a sentiment that is going to apply as we get closer to the #1.
‘Dalliance’ is quite extraordinary. A woman is walking away from an affair, deciding that her life is going to best spent with the person she is married to. Her now jilted lover is, understandably, distraught about it. He recalls incidents from their time together, and in particular how she used to always bin his gifts and presents, because she was scared what her husband would say or do, and as he finally realises that her two relationships were built on tissues of lies and at least one of them was doomed from the outset.
Then, the kicker comes.
You told him what he wants to hear and so you got another chance But I was yours for seven years Is that what you call a dalliance?
Seven years?? For fuck’s sake, that’s a helluva time for things to have been going on. I can say that with some personal knowledge….the affair between myself and Rachel – we were both married at the time – was so intense that it all came to a head after four months, and we knew decisions had to be made one way or another. Both marriages were soon over, and we’ve been together since February 1990. There is no way either of us could have tried to keep things secret for seven years………..
A band with just two singles to their name from back in 1984 really shouldn’t be bothering the higher echelons of any rundown. But then again…..
It’s not just the stunning vocal performance that makes this such an outstanding record – listen to the fantastic production that sees some great guitar and keyboards work beefed-up by a cello and strings that aren’t a million miles away from the sound that would appear years later on ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’. And wouldn’t you know that ‘Breaking Point’ was a Kingbird Production…..one of the names used by the soon to be famous Ian Broudie……
From one of the ICA’s I penned. #160 on 6 April 2018.
‘A guest posting from Dave Glickmann in August 2017 described ‘Transmission’ as the first true kickass JD track; my own thoughts were articulated at length when I placed it at #6 on my 45 45s at 45 rundown back in 2008 – Hooky’s basslines grab you in, Stephen’s drumming sets a beat that makes you want to jump out of your seat while Barney’s guitar work reminds you of the punk ethos when anyone could pick up an instrument and play. But it’s THAT voice which makes the song so very special. It’s the sound of someone reaching deep inside his own soul and then straining it through every nerve in his body before hitting the listener in the chest with its power and authority. And just as you think he can hit you no more, he screams…..
‘And we can Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaance’
‘Sublimely beautiful. The single version is some 20 seconds shorter than the version on the LP ‘Before Hollywood’. Nowadays, when I hear the song, it is with some sadness as it reminds me of Grant’s sudden and very unexpected death, but against that, it is one that I associate with some of my happiest days, weeks and months on Planet Earth when I fell properly in love for the first time a long time ago.
Fun facts : It was written as a recollection of childhood in a London flat in an effort to combat homesickness with the band as far away as can be from their native Australia, cold and skint and fearing they’ll never succeed. It was written using the acoustic guitar belonging to the owner of the flat while he lay comatose from drug abuse. The guitar belonged to Nick Cave.’ (23 November 2016)
From one of the ICA’s I penned. #35. 7 September 2015.
‘It’s the opening track on the debut LP (and opening song on ICA#35). It was a great way to introduce yourself to the album buying public. It was co-written by Howard Devoto and John McGeoch , respectively one of the greatest post-punk lyricists and one of the most underrated musicians these lands have ever produced. John’s work elsewhere outside of Magazine resulted in the best songs of other bands ever recorded by bands such as Siouxsie & the Banshees and PiL and yet on this track it is the keyboard playing of Dave Formula and the bass notes of Barry Adamson that really make this tune so memorable. It’s a perfect example of how Magazine, while made up of amazing individuals, really were the sum of those talents.’
‘Released in September 1980, on the same day as Josef K‘s ‘Radio Drill Time’, which was just as well as the two singles shared doubled up picture sleeves. These were black and white, with the plan being to have them hand-coloured individually, using pencils. The members of Josef K were meticulous in their approach, carefully adding relevant colours to a pair of shoes and a pot plant.
Orange Juice did things a bit differently. The band, and a few of their friends held a ‘colouring-in party’ at 185 West Princes Street in Glasgow, home of Alan Horne and the de facto HQ of Postcard Records at which, having discovered that doing things carefully and properly would take an incredibly long time, they all just scribbled lines, shapes and the occasional words randomly, meaning that no two sleeves were the same.
‘Falling and Laughing’ may have been the debut but ‘Blue Boy’ has proven to be the most enduring and enjoyable single from the Postcard era. And surely the greatest song to ever make use of the word ‘gabardine’. The unexpected appearance of an organ just short of two minutes in adds to the charm of this otherwise noisy and frantic guitar frenzy.’ (5 October 2025 and 27 January 2016)
As with ‘Kennedy, so with ‘White Man (In Hammersmith Palais)’
Famously written in the aftermath of disturbances at the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1976, it couldn’t be any further removed from being about a call for some sort of race war, which incredibly was what some media commentators claimed was its subject matter when it was released. It is of course, a demand/plea/call-to-arms aimed at disaffected white youth in the UK, of which there was an ever-increasing number, to take note of the fact that the black community wasn’t afraid to take direct action to get their viewpoint across.
As a debut it was incendiary, raw and quite unlike anything most of us had heard before. The single version differs from the US album version in that it opens with a police siren instead of Mick Jones counting the band in.
From one of the ICA’s I penned. #150. 21 December 2017
‘To me, the great single that never was. There are some critics out there who feel the tune is let down by a trite and simplistic lyric. Maybe it was one that Morrissey wasn’t completely convinced by and so it ended up as the extra track on the 12” release of ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’. It was one of the first of the second batch of songs that fans got to enjoy (i.e. it wasn’t on the debut album nor had it been aired on a BBC radio session) and to those of us who liked to throw ourselves all over the student union dance floor, it was deemed an instant classic. It’s still one that I love to air whenever I’m lucky enough to be putting together playlists for club nights. The lengthy instrumental introduction set a standard for indie music that very few, if any, matched over the remainder of the decade.’
‘There are days when I think this may well be the greatest record of all time, especially with each passing year. An incredible tune with an incredible lyric which, to a 15-year-old who hadn’t yet set foot in London, was genuinely terrifying. Not only did I never want to bump into the muggers but please don’t ever let me cross the path of the atheist nutter who sprays ‘Jesus Saves’ onto walls. My first trip on the London Underground came in 1983. It happened to be on the Piccadilly line at King’s Cross, and I was genuinely intrigued at how deep down I had to go to get to the platform.
All the way down on the escalators I was quietly singing this song to myself, and to my amazement when I finally reached the end of the escalator ride down into the bowels of the city, I found I could indeed make out the distant echo of faraway voices boarding faraway trains.
Thankfully, I never met the atheist nutter, not knowingly at least.’ (21 March 2025)
‘Temptation’ won’t ever lose its place as the greatest 45 of all time, and ‘Age of Consent’ will always be my favourite piece of music by New Order. But this rundown has seen me in a very reflective mood over the many all-consuming weeks it has taken to pull together.
“The songwriting credits indicated that this was a Joy Division song and eventually we would later get to hear their take on things with an Ian Curtis vocal via its inclusion in the ‘Heart and Soul’ box set released in 1997. But back in 1981, it was an indication that New Order were determined to carry on as best they could, and even though it was clear that Barney wasn’t anything like as good a singer as Ian the powerful delivery of the music more than made up for it. I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat when I first listened to this record and whenever I have heard it in a live setting ever since it has had the same impact. ‘ (26 June 2015 as part of ICA #20)
And with that, the 20th anniversary celebrations are over, 20 years to the day that the very first post appeared over on the old blog. It’s now 5,003 posts here at the new blog since 24 July 2013, and with the what I reckon were 2,292 posts over at the old place between 30 September 2006 and 23 July 2013, that’s 7,295 efforts at engaging with folk out there!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing this series, although I’ll admit that it did drive me a bit insane at times trying to narrow down the song choices. I did spend a lot of time reading through the archives, and I reckon there’s a huge amount that we, the TVV community, should be collectively proud of. The guest contributions are, without question, what helps keep this blog afloat.
Rachel asked me how many words have been typed up, and of course there’s no way of finding that out, not least because quite a number of posts over at the old blog can no longer be accessed, but I did a rough count for the 20th Anniversary series and it added up to around 68,000 which is probably enough to count as a small book.
It’s been difficult to do all this and keep up with all the other blogs that I love to read, but as of late yesterday, I did finally complete the task of reading what everyone has posted at their own places these past few months. I promise not to fall behind as badly ever again.
The final thing I want to say, again is ‘THANK YOU’, and that’s directed at everyone out there for being part of something that has brought me so much happiness. The fantastic responsse to each and every posting on this series have offered constant reminders as to why I keep going, even on the days when it can feel like a bit of a chore.
As Edwyn Collins once sang ‘upwards and onwards’, but in saying that, I do have to say I doubt that it’ll last another 20 years given I’m already in my early 60s.
And I really will need to come up with a solution to what will, one day, become a genuine problem when I’m truly old and decrepit….what to do with the vinyl and CDs taking up so much space here in Villain Towers.
‘Nobody anticipated the sounds which Björk would bring to the party with her first solo material after The Sugarcubes had called it a day. There was a fair chance that it would be a touch different from the music she had made over the years with her band, but surely it was still going to be indie-schmindie with the emphasis still being on a traditional line-up of a guitar, bass and drum, with a flavouring of keyboards……so it was something of a shock to the system to hear the debut offering.’ (29 November 2019)
From one of the ICA’s I penned. #205 on 7 February 2019.
‘A five-minute version of ‘Feel Every Beat’ closes the debut album and tempting as it was to use that here, I have to bow to the remixing skills of Stephen Hague who chops about a minute off the original and helps deliver something which captures perfectly what Jonny and Bernard wanted Electronic to sound like and what they wanted a band to be….”we don’t need to argue, we just need each other” ‘
Jim Glennie, the bassist, once said that “this is the one James song that he would want to survive if all but one were accidentally erased”. That would be my wish as well, although I strongly suggest to everyone reading this to have a closer look into James back catalogue until, let’s say, 1993: if you’re not familiar with what they issued then, you may have missed a treat.
I’ll happily admit that this has jumped a few places in the rundown, thanks to me being given the opportunity to firstly chat to, and then a few weeks later meet, Jon King at the time of the paperback launch of his autobiography.
‘Gang Of Four had wowed the critics with the albums ‘Entertainment’ in 1979 and ‘Solid Gold’ in 1981 without ever really translating the column inches into sales and familiarity with the general public. Things weren’t helped by a hard-headed and uncompromising attitude towards their art, with one example being them eschewing the opportunity to appear on Top of The Pops after the show’s producer asked that the word ‘rubbers’ be replaced by ‘rubbish’.
The third album, ‘Songs of The Free’, was released in 1982. It was preceded by an absolute belter of a single, one which could be said to be the perfect hybrid of post-punk and disco. The song stood every chance of hitting the charts and this time there wouldn’t be a word which would be of concern to the TOTP censors…..and then Argentina and the UK went to war over the Falkland Islands and a large number of songs, old and new alike, were banned from radio play for fear of causing offence. ‘I Love A Man In A Uniform’ had no chance of surviving that cull.’ (31 January 2019)
Originally formed in 1979 as TV Art, this Edinburgh four-piece then decided to name their band after protagonist of Franz Kafka’s novel ‘The Trial’. A ten-track demo brought them to the attention of a few labels, but it was on Absolute Records, founded by Orange Juice drummer Steven Daly, that the debut 45 was released. This then led to Josef K receiving and accepting an offer from Alan Horne at Postcard for whom there would be three singles and an album. One of the singles was a totally different (and better) version of the debut on Absolute Records.
‘The lyrical genius of Cathal Coughlan reflecting on how a popular uprising in Romania brought down a dictator yet closer to home in the UK and Ireland nothing changes……..
Someone on Discogs described this 1990 single as hearing the voice of an avenging angel having a bad day and guitar chords like a firing squad. The only reason this never made my 45 45s at 45 countdown all those years ago is that I missed out on it when it was originally released. My first exposure came via an end of the year round-up on some late evening show on Radio 1. I bought the CD single the next time I was in a shop and paid almost £5 for the privilege. I’ve since picked it up on vinyl and it was for a lot less than a fiver.’ (2 October 2013)
‘The closing track on the 1983 album ‘Head Over Heels’, and still my all-time favourite Cocteau Twins song, by the proverbial country mile.
My first exposure to the LP was thanks to a flatmate who not only had an enviable record collection but an expensive stereo system. When I bought my own copy a few days later and played it on my cheap stereo, it sounded good, but not as majestic as it did on the equipment sitting in the bedroom through the wall. It was then that I vowed to save to get myself a bigger, better and more powerful set-up, which I achieved some nine months later, thanks to the generosity of my parents on the occasion of my 21st birthday….and I’ve always made sure, ever since, that my equipment, whether for vinyl and/or CDs, has been decent but affordable.’ (8 May 2023)
First time this has featured on the blog, other than in the middle of a mixtape.
I’m tempted to say it does exactly what it says on the tin, but it deserves an explanation, just in case nobody knows the backstory.
Mike Garry, a Manchester-born poet, wrote the text shortly after Tony Wilson passed away in 2008, and began performing it in his live shows.
Joe Duddell, a Manchester-born composer and arranger, was moved to put the words to music, based on ‘Your Silent Face’ by New Order. It was released as a single in August 2015, including a Weatherall remix which took it to even greater heights. All the proceeds went to charity. And in case you haven’t see the video…..it’a a film which always chokes me up.
A track from the newest album, ‘This Could Us, You, Or Anybody Else’ released in April 2026. In what I feel is the greatest thing to happen as a result of this blog, I’ve become friends with frontman David MacGregor, and when he learned that it was my thus-far unfulfilled ambition to appear, somehow, on a vinyl record, he arranged for me to come to the Chenikal Underground studio and record some handclaps for possible use. The thunderclap that comes in behind the drums at the six-second mark (and a few times thereafter) is all me, as produced by the legendary Paul Savage (ex Delgados). And I’m given a mention in the credits…..
ICA #41 was composed at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet initially above the Atlantic Ocean and latterly over the north-east corner of Canada as the plane headed ever closer to the city of Toronto. The headphones were plugged into the i-phone and as I went through the songs I typed the words into its ‘Notes’ function from which I later did a cut’n’paste and edit.
‘Critics of the band feel they got a long way on the back of one tune and one groove. But the thing is, when the tune and the groove is this divine why quibble? Yes, you might initially think this is ridiculously close to bring just a speeded up version of the track (‘A Promise’) which closed the other side of this imaginary album but wait till you hit the two-minute mark and get blown away by the psychedelic instrumental break…it’s still incredible to think that much of the album ‘Porcupine’ was written and recorded at a time when the band weren’t really on speaking terms.’ (6 October 2015)
‘The irregular indie-discos hosted by John Hunt of Butcher Boy always finish with an absolute gem of a song, and quite often it was this. And if wasn’t the closer, then it was one of the songs aired during the final 15-20 minutes. Given how popular a song it has become, especially given that it was only ever an album track on the 1999 eponymous offering, then I’m assuming loads of other indie-discos aired it too. But I like to think of John as the pioneer.’ (5 May 2022)
PS : AND A LATE ADDITION TO THIS POST.
This is such a difficult song to cover, but SPRINTS (who featured in the rundown a few days ago at #287) made a great stab at it earlier this year. I only found out about it last Saturday when I was catching up with posts over at No Badger Required. mp3: SPRINTS – Deceptacon
Rol of ‘My Top Ten’ fame. Another ridiculously talented writer that I’m lucky to have as an occasional contributor. This comes from ICA #178 on 15 August 2018.
Back to the beginning then, and the opening track from the debut Auteurs album, New Wave. Released in 1993, when Britpop was but a twitch in Brett Anderson’s underpants, it immediately established Haines as one of the most entertaining lyricists of his era – like a less romantic Jarvis, or a Morrissey who doesn’t both hate and love himself*.
*I suppose I should explain that remark, especially here in the Former Republic of Morrissey Fandom, now renamed isntheatwatland. Morrissey has clearly made a career out of a curious mix of self-love and self-loathing. Haines combines the wit and cynicism we all loved about pre-Brexit Moz with a healthy dose of iconoclasm… but you never get the feeling that he’s a nasty man. In fact, he seems like quite a jolly chap in person…
A song cited by so many as an influence, yet in peaked at #60 in the UK charts in March 1989. I’ve a personal tale to tell.
I got married in July 1988 after a whirlwind romance to someone whose interest in music was virtually non-existent…..but I felt the change was what I wanted and more importantly, needed. It was time to put the toys and distractions of my youth away forever.
Within a matter of months, I was bored rigid. I missed my old mates and my old lifestyle. I missed going to gigs and listening to Radio 1 after 8pm of an evening. It was all soap operas and detective shows in my household. I was in danger of growing old before my time.
I wasn’t reading music papers, and I wasn’t buying anything. All my own music had been put under the stairs.
One day, instead of waiting at the stop for 20 minutes for the next bus home, I popped into a well known Edinburgh city centre record shop. The second, or maybe third song that was played was unlike anything I had ever heard before. A great guitar riff, big powerful drumming and a whiny vocal that was part-spoken, part-sung and part-screamed. And was that some cellos there at the end? Surely not…
The song needed to be bought. So, it was up to the counter to ask the bloke behind the counter who and what was that? The answer, of course, was ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’ by the Pixies.
I had no idea who he was talking about. But I bought the single. The first bit of vinyl in at least 9 months since my wedding day. And then went home and pulled out the turntable and amp and record collection from under the stairs. Within a year, I had moved out of the marital home. A few months later I was back living in Glasgow with a woman called Rachel, who became my second wife – you may have seen her referred to here and there as Mrs Villain. Crucially, Rachel liked a lot of the music that I loved and was all for going out to gigs rather than get hooked on Eastenders and Taggart. She’s still like that all these years later. Oh, it was Rachel who, in September 2006, bought me an mp3 turntable and encouraged me to start writing a blog instead of just reading them. I’ll never really be able to thank her enough.
I’ve loads of Tracey Thorn records, dating back to her time with The Marine Girls, as a solo artist and of course with Everything But The Girl. But she has never sounded better than on this collaboration. No point in me repeating what I’ve said previously about dance acts/dance music and how I’m not well-enough qualified to comment with much conviction.
But somehow I’ve never really regarded Massive Attack as a dance-band – particularly when thinking about their best singles. It was a close run thing to include this instead of ‘Teardrop’. Both songs are equally gorgeous, haunting, unique and unforgettable. But in my mind, Tracey shades it over Elizabeth Fraser.
Why?
I think it’s because Protection is one of the best lyrics ever recorded by a female artist – its full of conviction, passion, love and strength without ever falling into the trap of being soppy or maudlin.
From one of the ICA’s I penned. #3 on 9 September 2014.
‘A track which in some ways is eerily reminiscent of ‘Maps’ by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, this is a strange and disturbing song told from the point of view of a very unhappy and disturbed teenager. It was my introduction to the band back in 2007. And yes, there is the occasional use of the dreaded c-word which is normally a bit of a taboo, but it is spat out by James in such a way that you can have no doubt that the person being sung about is truly loathed. They say you never forget your first time and in the case of The Twilight Sad I never will.’
More than 300 PSB songs to pick from…and I can guarantee that if I was typing this up tomorrow, or had done so yesterday, then it probably would have changed. This is the one most fitting my mood today. Here’s what was written as part of the PSB singles series a while back.
‘Perhaps already tiring of being pigeonholed as purely a synth band, the duo in March 1988 had decamped to Miami for some recording sessions. They chose to work with Latino producer Lewis A. Martinée, the results of which saw far more musicians play on a PSB track than ever before (at this point in time). The credits list two additional keyboard players, a guitarist, a four-piece brass section and a backing vocal group in the shape of The Voice Of Fashion.
The record-buying public didn’t really take to ‘Domino Dancing’ as it only reached #7, which was seen as a bit of a let-down after two consecutive #1s. The disco mix is the version released on 12″ vinyl and then on the album ‘Introspective’. It’s majestic.’ (19 February 2023)
Talking of majestic. Here’s the blurb from ICA #66, posted on 7 March 2016
‘Even if this had been the only song that the great man had ever been part of then his legendary status would have been sealed.
The opening and title track of the band’s second and final LP may extend to over nine minutes in length but there isn’t a single second of waste or excess. The Independent Group were ridiculously talented but then again what else would you expect when it was made up of some of the greatest musicians to ever have come out of Scotland at any time in our history, never mind that short period in the aftermath of punk and when a certain type of indie music gained a foothold. Add in lush orchestration and a contribution from one of our then leading opera singers and you have a recipe for something unique and unforgettable.’
This one happens to be another from 1979 in this rundown. I’ve written it or made reference to it as much as any other over the past 20 years, but I reckon the few sentences I knitted together for ICA #197 on 20 November 2018 does best for this rundown.
‘The 12” version of ‘Heart of Glass’ is one of the finest pieces of music in my lifetime. It goes on and on and on and on…..and there are days, especially when I’m lying on the beach under a blazing sun, when I feel it comes to a halt all too prematurely. Indeed, on such a day and when I’m in such a mood, I’d be happy to have a 25-minute version of Heart of Glass take up an entire side of an ICA. But such a thing, to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t exist.’
‘To lots of people, this will always be associated with events in 1981 which briefly threatened the very fabric of British society. To this humble scribe, it’s a great song, quite different from anything else that had thus far emerged from the ska movement. Oh, and it also had two equally memorable b-sides. (2 April 2016)
The fifth birthday of the blog was celebrated by a gig in Glasgow held belatedly on 19 November 2011, headlined by Butcher Boy with support from Adam Stafford. I lost a bit of money in putting the event on – very much the mistakes of a rookie promoter, but for a long long time, it remained the most exciting thing, musically, that I’d ever been part of. The events of that night were referenced in ICA #17, posted on 19 June 2015.
“A tune that is played more than any other within Villain Towers as I’ve taken its first thirty seconds and turned it into a customised ringtone for my mobile phone. All those influences that the early reviewers pinpointed (The Smiths, Tindersticks, Felt, Belle & Sebastian, R.E.M. and Go-Betweens) can be heard in its perfect two and a half minutes. It’s also evidence that John Hunt is a fine singer although he personally considers that he is merely OK….but what it does highlight is just how talented he is as a musical arranger.”
‘Kim Deal did a lot of great things with Pixies, not least her lead vocal and bass notes vocal on ‘Gigantic. But I still think ‘Cannonball’ is her finest ever moment.
It’s one of those songs which tips its hat in the directions of indie and grunge and has an unnerving ability to lodge itself into your brain. Go on…..give it a listen right now, and I bet you find yourself singing or humming snatches of the tune later in the day as you go about your business.’ (17 March 2023)
‘I’m no connoisseur of art and paintings. I’m not able to dissect a work of art, nor can I really look beyond the immediate visual images that meet the naked eye for something that is more deep and meaningful. And sometimes this happens in music.
I chanced upon a brilliant piece of writing on the LP ‘Songs To Remember’ by Scritti Politti. It highlights how the record, which on first listen appears to be a hotchpotch of soul, jazz, R&B and pop at its purest, is actually a very clever and subversive piece of work full of political sentiments that almost border on the anarchic. Now I’m not saying I was never aware of the fact that Green Gartside had a strong and almost extreme left-wing ideology, but I kind of let it drift away on the wind whenever I played what has long been one of my favourite LPs of all time.
There’s a lot to admire in the essay – for instance, I’d never have cottoned-on to the fact that the sleeves of the singles were a parody of the finer things in life such as cigars and Courvoisier. I also love the analysis that this was a record full of innovative acts of homage thanks to Green’s style and approach, but the use of soul would later be stolen by ‘the hideous mid-Eighties Live Aid Brigade with their own agenda’, with many of them believing ‘big hair and big volume equals soulfulness’.
This is all very well and true, but I just can’t help but proclaim my love for the songs is all down to finding something sounding classy in among all the guitar-dominated stuff that I was immersed in at the age of 18.’ (23 January 2016)
‘From the notes of the Head EP, released in 1991, and which got as high as #57.
A Ken doll from Miami leaves his home and flies to England “….looking for Feeling-Groovy Barbie”. He hears the Happy Mondays and, being a U.S. college student, digs the whole loose scene. N.B. The backing vocalists are singing the names of old ’60s Barbie outfits.
Quite barking, I’m sure you’ll agree. But quite brilliant with it is so many ways.’ (11 September 2015)
Martin of the New Amusements Blog. ICA #108. 15 February 2017. The self-imposed rule for this ICA was no more than one song from any album,
“A lullaby for the suicidal, perhaps. And yet one that somehow manages to be uplifting, even in the unsettling video in which Thom looks set to drown (spoiler – he doesn’t). You can draw a straight line through Asleep by The Smiths to this song, and then… where? The parent album was, for a time, often held up as not just the band’s best but the best ever, by anyone, frequently troubling the top of the “best N albums of all time” lists that were very popular around the millennium. It is great, but I think The Bends shades it.”
‘Santa Claus was very very good to me. Mrs Villain scoured e-bay for something unusual, and a box of 7″ singles by Altered Images/Edwyn Collins/Orange Juice ended up coming down the chimney in the old man’s sack. A total of 30 records going back to the Postcard era and containing a few rare gems such as flexidiscs and a Clare Grogan solo single. One of them was this, a very early solo single by Edwyn from 1987 produced by Robin Guthrie from Cocteau Twins. Like so many songs I end up posting on this blog, it should have been a hit…..but wasn’t.’ (6 January 2007)
(Addendum from a repost in January 2019) : ‘From recollection, the job lot was a little over £30, including postage. The mania from a vinyl revival was still a couple of years off…..you’d certainly be looking at £100 and upwards nowadays….there were three postcard singles in the bundle along with every 7″, in mint condition, along with every single ever released by Altered Images, including rare picture discs.’
SWC and Tim Badger with a joint ICA, #150. 19 November 2015.
This one took us about eight seconds to decide upon. In 1992 I went to see Carter with my friend Rob –it was his first ever gig. To this day I have never seen someone grin as much as he did when that Red Dwarf sample starts up, then the crowd start chanting ‘You Fat Bastard’ at the (starry eyed?) bollock naked guy on stage and then the guitars fire up. This was why we all loved Carter. The amazing lives shows and the sense of belonging you got at one of them.
‘Early summer of 1986. There was a very unusual opening to an edition of Whistle Test. No presenter telling us what was coming up on the show. Just a quick blast of the theme tune and straight into what turned out to be a stunning performance of a song which contains what must be one of the most vicious and vindictive lyrics ever penned. It’s really only when you see them written down on the page that you get the full extent of the bitterness contained in the lyric. All spat out over an incredibly catchy, infectious and jolly tune. One of my favourite tracks from ‘Blood & Chocolate’ which is my favourite EC album.’ (11 October 2023)
‘The Cure have released 41 singles going back to ‘Killing An Arab’ in 1978 right through to ‘The Perfect Boy’ exactly 30 years later. But I would never have guessed that ‘Lullaby’ was the one which performed the best in the UK singles chart when it crawled its way up to #5 in 1989.
So the highest chaarting 45 turns out to be the one about the creepy and haunting tale of an eight-legged creature which frightened Robert Smith in his nightmares as a youngster. Or, is in fact the song, as has been suggested in some places, really about drug addiction and dependency but written in such a way that it gets past the censors at the BBC for the all important airplay? Either way, I think it’s one of the most inventive arrangements to feature on any record by The Cure.’ (24 April 2015)
‘It was SWC who brought my attention to Kendrick Lamar. He put up a number of postings about the latest superstar of rap music that got me listening and thinking that there was something worth delving into. I can’t really explain why I missed out on all that was written at the time about ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’ (2012) and ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ (2015) other than I wasn’t paying attention. Maybe I had a sense of being too old and too white to look to pursue any further interest in the genre.
But I am very grateful to SWC. He didn’t go into any overdrive about Kendrick Lamar other than to point out that he had a lot to say about the social, political and economic injustices facing black communities in America, and that he was doing so through what was not a new form of rap but one which seemed to take things to a different level. My interest was piqued. ‘ (2 May 2023)
thinking about it, there might be four, five, six albums which, after all those decades, I would still consider to be good throughout. And with ‘good throughout’, I mean all songs: ‘no fillers, just killers’ as we, rather pathetically, used to say when we were younger. Well, I did, at least. ‘Psychocandy’ comes to mind, Billy Bragg’s debut as well as the first one by The Undertones, ‘Crazy Rhythms’, ‘London Calling’ of course, perhaps the first one by The Smiths – but also ‘Rattlesnakes’, the first album by one of the finest bands ever to emerge from Glasgow, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions.
I remember taking the record home, and it did not get off my turntable for weeks – every song a winner, as I said. I still cannot say what it was that attracted me so much back then. I mean: I can now, but in 1984/85 it was punk/New Wave only for me by and large, so how on earth a record as fragile and in parts even turgid as this managed to meet with my approval, I simply don’t know. Perhaps I just wanted to show off a bit, presenting my oh so clever Dylanesque side to those girls I couldn’t convince with my oh so dangerous Strummeresque side …. as you might already have gathered, none of it worked at the slightest, of course – but hey, I was 16 and desperate! But I loved these songs even when I listened to them on my own, so it wasn’t all about impressing the female population, I reckon.
As much as I do hate snakes, this is a mighty fine tune and for me, it hasn’t aged a bit. Then again I’m still a bit of a hopeless romantic poseur, so …Enjoy!!
‘Sheela Na Gig’ was PJ’s second single and also appeared on ‘Dry’, her debut LP. She sets her stall out early here, singing about ‘child bearing hips‘ and ‘ruby red lips’. Hearing this for the first time as a 21 year old, I had no idea what a Sheela Na Gig was (Google it), so I listened to this thinking “Oh! Aye!” I always had this faint idea from then on in that one day she’d go out with me, until she met that bastard Nick Cave. Oh well, her loss.
‘A magical and wondrous moment in pop music history. Said moment happens at the nineteen seconds mark when the strings so unexpectedly kick in.
I was completely unaware of ‘Candyskin’ till September 1983 when I finally moved out of the family home and into a student flat at the beginning of my third year at University. This noisy, abrasive and unconventional single was owned by a flatmate and it was one of his all-time favourites…….it didn’t take me long to understand and appreciate why.
From one of the ICA’s I penned. #48 on 6 November 2015.
‘This was initially released as a single in September 1993 just a couple of months prior to the debut double album. The single use of the f-word towards the end of the song would have stopped it getting any airplay, but then again I’m sure producers would also have been scared to suggest to their presenters that they play a 45 which tells the tale of a man masturbating to block out the memory of a failed relationship. The band’s unwillingness to compromise can be seen from the fact that they never recorded it for a Peel or Radcliffe session at the BBC as the rules of the day would have meant either a bleep-out or a word change.’
strangeways. ICA #411. 20 May 2026. Let’s face it when it came to The Sundays place in the rundown, I wasn’t going anywhere else.
Preceding what would become synonymous intricate guitar work, a few seconds of pitter-patter drums announced the Sundays’ arrival. This is a rasper of a debut single, and it caused – deservedly – quite the stir at the time.
So many years later, and even counting its screeds of memorable lines about weather (bad) and desire (even worse), it’s the let-it-all-go lift on the penultimate word ‘later’, the frantic scramble of guitar and the ‘yeaaaaahhh’ ending that remains the moment-and-a-half to experience.
”High Land, Hard Rain’ is packed with ridiculously catchy and memorable tunes and some wonderfully observant lyrics, many of which were written before Roddy Frame had reached his 18th birthday. He was also astute enough to recognise that the sublime ‘We Could Send Letters’ deserved a far better fate than to wither as a b-side on an obscure and hard-to-find 45 on Postcard Records, and in doing so he takes what was already a very special song and turns it into something as beautiful as the sun going down of a late June evening off the west coast of Scotland. The album version has a slightly slower tempo than the Postcard version thus enabling the song to breathe a little bit more, and at almost a minute longer in length, it accommodates a cracking guitar solo.’ (23 July 2019)
Jonny the Friendly Lawyer (aka fiktiv). ICA #26. 28 July 2015.
One of the band’s best known and loved songs, but what is it about, exactly? Parents planning their child’s future? A comment on English society’s emphasis on steady employment? Never been able to work that out, but I do love this number.
And later on, here’s what I typed out as part of the XTC singles series.
‘Colin Moulding has said it is semi-autobiographical in that his parents weren’t sure about his efforts to pursue a career as a musician and tried to persuade him to remain at school and get enough qualifications to go to university.
Lyrically, it was a brilliantly timed song. The British Steel Corporation (BSC), for so long a cornerstone of the UK economy at a national and many local levels, was now in deep financial trouble and making huge losses, largely from the fact that the more modern plants elsewhere in Europe and further afield could easily supply the products to manufacturers much more cheaply. Nigel, or indeed anyone, didn’t appear to have too much of a future,and indeed there soon followed a high number of plant closures in the early 80s that put tens of thousands of men out of work and with few prospects.
But having said all that, the tune is responsible for it becoming a hit. I think that has a lot to do with the sound of the drums which were quite unusual for the time in question as well as the nagging riff that once heard isn’t easy to forget….in a good way!!’ (9 April 2017)
‘To my ears at least, American music was really appalling in the early 80s. Maybe I was so accustomed to the punk/post-punk/new wave/indie stuff that I was wrapped up in my student flat that I missed some things. But America was, at time, all stadium anthems from the likes of Broooooce, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac and the like.
One day, a flatmate came in and demanded we all listen to a new album he had picked up. It was from an American band called Violent Femmes. Not expecting much, the other four of us gathered round the turntable and speakers …wow!! This was something truly different. Songs of unrequited love, misery and suicide but not like we had heard before. These tunes were upbeat…the lyrics were funny….you could even dance to them!! It was a truly innovative record – it was the first time that I realised a ‘punk’ record could be made with acoustic instruments.’ (15 March 2016)
The Mighty Wah! did appear in an earlier part of the rundown, but this is Wylie, kind of, as a solo artist.
Almost thirty years Forty years on and this still sounds amazing when it blasts out of the radio, which it still does, albeit rarely, on the nostalgia stations. It reached #13 but was worthy of at least Top 3 to match his biggest ever hit. It’s a tune and a half while lyrically it’s a fine commentary on the social injustices imposed on society by the Tories and Republicans in the first half of the ‘greed is good’ decade. (14 October 2015)
From one of the ICA’s I penned on 21 February 2020. In keeping with the spirit of the Beastie Boys, all the words used in the ICA were sampled (!)
‘No New Yorker was unaffected by the terrorist attacks of 2001, and the Beasties were no exception. Released in 2004, ‘To the 5 Boroughs’ was reflective, in part, but just as much a part of their challenge to the darkening mood was to get back to what they do best – revelling in rhyme and having fun with music and words, celebrating New York as the place where all these things became possible, and defending it by carrying on as before. ‘Triple Trouble’ went back to hip-hop’s early days, sampling the opening of ‘Rapper’s Delight’ while the trio traded gallumphing brags and outrageous boasts back and forth over the infectiously bouncing beat.’
‘It really is all too easy to forget how brave Jimmy Somerville and his bandmates were for being so open about their way of life and their views. Their records, and those of such as Pet Shop Boys and Frankie Goes To Hollywood took the celebration of queer culture into the mainstream, and made many people realise, probably for the first time, that homophobia was every bit as distasteful as racism and apartheid.
There’s just something about the early Bronski Beat records that make them sound so special. There’s a bit of the inventiveness of Giorgio Moroder in there, along with the pop-savvy touch of Human League and Heaven 17. There’s also the choir-boy falsetto vocals of Somerville that recalled, in some ways, Russell Mael from Sparks. Theirs were records which struck a chord with so many people, from the hard-core gay militants to the indie-kids and the disco-divas with their handbags and stiletto heels. ‘(7 September 2013)
Before we get down to business, this happens to be the 5,000th post on The (New) Vinyl Villain, going back to 24 July 2013.
About The Weather (VS 412) : Released May 1981 on 7″ and 12″
Robin Simon left Magazine after the North American and New Zealand/Australia tours of August/September 1980. It appears that while he was an adequate replacement for John McGeoch in the live setting, he wasn’t coming up with anything meaningful in rehearsing/recording demos that were intended to form the basis of a fourth studio album.
The search for suitable replacement wasn’t fruitful, and so Howard Devoto called on his friend, Ben Mendelson, to help out. With hindsight, it would probably have been better if the band had called it a day on the return from Australia and the release of the Play live album, but contractual obligations etc must have played a part.
It transpired that Devoto was in the depths of despair and a lot of the main tasks were falling on the shoulders of Mendelson, including working closely with Martin Hannett on the mixing of the album – Hannett hadn’t been the producer, but the efforts of John Brand had been thought of as being substandard when the songs were played back for the first time.
From the Helen Chase book referenced last week:-
Howard’s lack of inspiration even stretched to the naming of the album, and he says, “I was having problems with the sequencing and coming up with a title. I remember we were in my flat trying to come up with something, and we went round and round and round. Eventually, Barry said to me. ‘Well, what’s the album about, Howard?’ I said, ‘Magic, murder and the weather’ and he looked back at me quizzically, kind of with a raised eyebrow, as if to say, ‘Well, that’s the title then…’
On 1 May 1981, the new Magazine single was released on 7″
This wasn’t a track that Hannett was asked to work on, so I guess it was one which the band had given up on quite early, realising it was very much the musical equivalent of landfill.
On 8 May 1981, the 12″ version of the single was released,
Magic, Murder and the Weather followed about a month later. By then, Devoto had told the others that he wasn’t prepared to go back out on tour and to all intent and purposes was leaving the band. As was written in the sleeve notes when the album was reissued in 1981, Magazine decided to dissolve because they could not imagine a “post-Devoto” lineup.
It was, all in all, a lousy ending. Just as well there would be a reunion many decades later.
Pink Kross are probably unique in that they haven’t, until today, appeared in this, the longest running series on the blog, but they have been the subject of a tremendously entertaining and informative ICA.
It was the work of flimflamfan, and appeared in October 2021 (ICA#297). The 17 songs offered up were my introduction to a band that had been part of the scene in Glasgow in the second half of the 90s.
It was originally released on the Abomination EP in 1995, and was one of sixty-seven songs included on Something For The Longing (Scottish Independent Pop 1985 – 1999), a 3xCD box set issued earlier this year by Cherry Red Records. It’s a box set that’s given me some more names to keep this series running a wee bit longer!!
