THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

THE GOLDEN AGE OF LONG-FORM MUSIC BLOGS (1)

The re-discovery of the Planet Mondo mixtape got me thinking about the past.

I don’t think many would argue that the 2000s and early part of the next decade was the golden age of longer-form music blogs, with many hundreds (and maybe thousands) of folk across the globe using their PCs and laptops to type out their thoughts, views and opinions, more often than not making mp3 files available for download.

I got going in late 2006, inspired by so much of what I was finding on the internet via random searches. I’ve paid tribute to him on many different occasions in the past, but I do need to single out Comrade Colin, whose work on the long-deleted Let’s Kiss and Make Up and the latterly on And Before The First Kiss (also long deleted), along with his advice on how to actually go about starting and maintaining a blog was fundamental to everything.

By early 2009, I found myself part of a wonderful community of like-minded people, very few of whom I’d ever met in person but who I felt and considered to be among my closest and best friends….the sort who help you out without question whenever you ask.

I was proud that TVV was a place where you would find a post every day, but was concerned that I’d be struggling in May 2009 when I was going away for a long-haul holiday, and so I asked, via the blog, if anyone fancied making a guest contribution. I hoped gor maybe five or six……what I got was forty!!!!

What will now follow via this re-occurring feature will be re-posts from what was a series called ‘The Merry Month Of May’ that ended up being extended into June!

I’m going to not only re-post the original, but add the comments that were left at the time as they were very much an essential part of what was going on in 2009 (and indeed, the comments offered nowadays are every bit as essential as any post itself).

Finally, there will be a Postscript, the aim of which will be to provide a bit of background to those bloggers/contributors who are no longer doing so, or to further celebrate those who are still going.

I really hope you’ll enjoy reading the series as much as I did when curating it. Trust me, there is some incredible writing about to be re-shared along with loads of cracking music, some of which may not have been heard much or even listened to over the past 17+ years.

Part One came courtesy, not of a blogger but someone who was a reader and occasional contributor via the comments section.

– – – – – –

Friday, May 01, 2009
THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY (Day 1) : ONCE UPON A TIME….

A guest posting from John East, of London

Something slightly different to start the merry month of May. What links Father Ted, Tomorrow’s World and The IT Crowd? Yes, easy – all have Divine Comedy written theme tunes. Aha! The Divine Comedy!

An old housemate of mine created a new musical category years ago – “Girlfriend Music” – the stuff that your girlfriend listens to try and impress you because she knows you’re into music. Sleeper were definitely Girlfriend Music, as were Cake. Current keepers of the flame of GFM might include Coldplay and any of those indie-by-numbers bands we’re currently plagued with. And that’s how I started off thinking about the Divine Comedy – GFM.

But no! Listen! Where else can you find songs about fish, hay fever, Goths, Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World, Mr Ben, Alfie, coach trips and of course some Songs of Love? All delivered with Neil Hannon’s wonderful voice and a big, often stringsy sound. They’ve slimmed down a bit, from a proper band to basically Neil Hannon and whoever’s around – but the quality is still there. Proper songs sung by someone with a proper voice. Not that I’m knocking improper songs.

And what do they mean to me? I first heard of them many years ago when I was trying to an impress a new girlfriend and, desperate to make an impression, looked up the gig of the week in Time Out. Divine Comedy? Never heard of them. We pottered along to Camden Town Hall (I’ve never been to a gig their before or since – quite pokey) and had a great time – which is a bit unusual as I didn’t know any of their stuff and don’t usually choose gigs like that. They were touring to promote Cassanova, their breakthrough album, and Neil was on top banter form – he even reluctantly removed his shades at one point after encouragement from the crowd. The song I remember best was The Frog Princess where Neil gets to show off his vocals a bit. Crowd pressure cajoled him into a live My Lovely Horse and they finished off with a speedy Tonight We Fly. My date for the night went out and bought Cassanova the very next day and taped it for me – with the track listing done in multi-coloured felt tip pens. GFM, I thought.

I’ve seen them a few times since then; probably the best was a double header with Ben Folds finishing with a version of Careless Whisper. Their output over the years has really got me into them. My old housemate turned out to be a complete arse and GFM one of those categories of music created to pour scorn on those who liked something a bit different – he was a budding DJ and carpet layer – I did listen to a Sleeper album last year and it wasn’t entirely bad. And I’ve come to love the Divine Comedy for their fun and singalongability and some dashed fine sings on the way too.

I hope you find yourself singing “could turn my frog into a cooooow!” at inopportune times today.

And that girl I was trying to impress? Today’s our 10th wedding anniversary. Hooray!

mp3 : The Divine Comedy – The Frog Princess

JOHN

13 comments were subsequently added…….

Ctelblog said…

Awwww…I love a happy ending. *sniff*

JC said…

Happy Anniversary Mr & Mrs East.

And thanks for kicking off the series in such a lovely way….

Simon said…

Nice story! Agreed, lovely start to the series. The Casanova album has a place in my lifestory, for me it’s one of those albums you listen to to when you’ve met somebody that you like. Will You Be My Girlfriend music, if you like!

Davy H said…

Marvellous! Start a blog, man!

Son of The Rock said…

I have been looking forward to this series since its conception and have made myself a promise to read and support all and attempt to leave comment each day. Today was easy john great story also a song I had forgotten about too well done. But what would you have done in my case when a previous wanted to see Rammstein and Sepeltura ! ICH BEIN.

coxon le woof said…

Coincidentally, I’ve found myself listening to The Divine Comedy a lot recently. Frog Princess was always a favourite.

And congrats on the anniversary!

Stevie said…

Frog Princess I bought after my girlfriend and I split..it reminded me of her…’you don’t really LOOOVe me!’ Neil sings as I downed another ale. Ah, fond memories. Speaking of great Hannon covers, I saw them tackle Mr Blue Sky with full orchestra at Royal Festival Hall back in 97/98. Priceless. Caught him again when back in London 2 yrs ago..Raspberry Beret that night. Lovely stuff. Great piece. Well done.

Planet Mondo said…

Your story would make a great Frank Capra style brit-flick (soundtracked by the Divines)

dickvandyke said…

Just the ticket old boy. Many thanks.

Herbal T said…

‘My lovely horse’ was once covered by Oasis. How’s that for trivia?

Mr P said…

Great post and a happy anniversary to you and Mrs East. It’s me and Mrs. P’s 10th anniversary also today. The Divine Comedy’s follow up to Casanova – A Short Album About Love – was excellent GFM back in those early days.

Ed said…

Great start!

Rol said…

I think TDC get better with every album. Unfortunately, they also seem to get less popular. But such is the madness of the record buying public. Nice post, John.
– – – – –

POSTSCRIPT

While it’s great to see a couple of familiar and contemporary names among those who commented in the shape of ctel and Rol, this will be a series that will have me thinking about what’s happened to many others who were such a big and important part of the blogging community.

It has been a long time, and I know that, sadly, there will be some who are no longer with us, as I know to be the case with Son of The Rock, a fine man who I would meet in due course partly through a love of music but also as he was another dedicated to a lower-league football team in Scotland, in his case Dumbarton FC. He passed away, suddenly, in his mid-50s, in January 2016. RIP.

I hope that somehow John East comes across this re-post. If so, I just want to say thanks.

Easterhouse

THE CULT CLASSICS :THE RE-RUNS (11)

16 February 2014. This came from Andrea Peviani, who, along with his amazing wife Ilaria from Lodi, Italy, I had the enormous pleasure of meeting a few years back when they came to Glasgow during a short holiday in Scotland, and then again a few months ago when myself and Rachel spent time in Italy and were given a great tour of Milan.

Andrea once had a blog called Conventional Records, but his last offering was January 2018.

– – – – –

In 1986, the Italian national radio aired a new show called Stereodrome, hosted by music critics keen on alternative rock. Out of the blue we had 3 hours of the best indie music from UK and USA (and Italy as well), every night Monday to Saturday, nine to midnight.

I was almost 19, the year of my Graduation Exam, and I will always associate that time of my life with this explosion of fantastic music from obscure bands that were impossible to discover before.

Easterhouse’s Whistling In The Dark was maybe my favorite song of this season, at least until The Queen Is Dead came out. A powerful intro, rough guitars and a relentless rhythmic drive, halfway between London Calling and Motown; a soulful voice, that mixed some black intensity with the deepness of the New Wave style; a perfect balance between indie orthodoxy and anthemic Big Music on the trails of early U2.

I thought they would be the next band to face the transition from the happy few to huge audiences. Then the Contenders LP came out, and nothing happened. In the bunch of bands openly engaged in the political struggle against the Thatcher government, The Housemartins were the ones who went from indie charts to Top of the Pops: their smiling attitude towards communism was more connected to the 80’s evolution of music trends. Easterhouse only showed their seriously committed side, utter blackness inside and outside words, tunes, clothes and record covers.

I will never be tired of going back to this splendid, isolated album, feeling the urge and the rightfulness of “getting to the point, to the heart of it”. Bringing a little bit of that way we were in our disillusioned adult life.

mp3 : Easterhouse – Whistling In The Dark

Andrea

Heaven 17

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (41): Heaven 17 : (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang

Six years ago, on 3 November 2020, I posted this 12″ and its b-side with the heading “AMERICA……DO YOUR DUTY TODAY!!!”

I didn’t post it on 5 November 2024, and the evil, twisted sick fucker got in for a second-term, the damage of which will be felt for decades to come.

It’s the mid-term elections today. I’m hoping he’ll get a bit of comeuppance and his powers can perhaps be held in a check a bit, although with the way he and his cohorts treat the democratic processes, it may prove to be a forlorn wish.

Anyway, good people of America….please do your duty today.

mp3: Heaven 17 – (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (12″ version)
mp3: British Electric Foundation – Decline of The West

A quick reminder that the b-side is an atmospheric, instrumental offering with an explosive finish.

I spent a couple of hours starting to rebuild the archive from the old blog, and managed to repost everything for October 2006. Click here if you fancy reading through what was a very tentative start to things, with posts going up at random times of the day rather than the regular slot that I’d eventually adopt once I found out how to do that!!

And a huge apology to those of you who get email notifications anytime something fresh is posted on the blog. I hadn’t appreciated that, even though I’m post-dating everything, you get things sent as if they are totally fresh. Sorry to say there’s many more to come in due course whenever I get time, so I wouldn’t blame you if you turned off the e-mail notifications.

As I say……SORRY!!!!!

JC

Various

EXCUSE ME WHILE I GET MORE THAN A LITTLE EXCITED

WITH HUGE THANKS TO ADAM and MONDO

VERY LONG POST ALERT!!!! BUT I THINK IT’S WORTH READING ALL THE WAY THROUGH…………

This is a real feelgood story, and it’s the inspiration for a bit of work that will hopefully, and over an extended period, put the icing on the cake of this blog celebrating 20 years.

Just yesterday, Adam from Bagging Area posted an old mix over at his place.

“Rifling through a box of CDs recently which included a load of CDs I made back in the 00s and early 2010s (when I was in the habit of making compilation CDs of songs downloaded from music blogs and printing off pictures for front covers and handwriting or typing out the tracklists and putting them in plastic wallets) I found one with a C60 Agfa cassette on the cover and this title – Planet Mondo Side 1 Sound Of The Crowd/ Planet Mondo Side 2 Creatures Of The Night. I’m guessing it dates from the late 00s. The tracklist looked good and I had a dim memory of it so I took it to the car for playing while we were driving around this week.

Side 1 Sound Of The Crowd starts with a typically 80s Radio 1 style jingle – then Soft Cell’s drums kick in and over the top a robotic voice says,’You are about to experience a Planet Mondo mix for The Vinyl Villain’, as the sax starts wailing and Marc begins to sing. Which surprised me- I didn’t remember this being a Vinyl Villain tie in. Maybe either JC at The Vinyl Villain or Planet Mondo remember more than I do.”

Adam gave me a shout via Facebook to ask if I could shed any light, and in doing so he provided a ‘WOW!’ moment. It also set off a chain of events that will see me, hopefully, completely rebuild the blog from the very beginning through a series of backdated posts…..

As for this particular tape. it was a contribution to a series back in May/June 2009 when an incredible 40 guest postings were offered up to keep TVV ticking over while I was on holiday.

The post attached to the tape originally appeared on Tuesday 3 June 2009, but I’ve long thought it was one of many hundreds that were lost forever along with the actual music included on the mixtape. I had, as you’d expect, downloaded a copy of the tape, but it disappeared quite some time ago along with many other hundreds of files when my laptop crashed.

Adam’s decision to download AND transfer a copy to CD has endured that Mondo’s efforts were not lost forever, and as I said at the outset, he shared Side 1 with everyone over at his place yesterday.

He was all set to share side 2 next week, but through an exchange of emails/messages, he kindly suggested that I do so on this blog.

It led me to use The Wayback Machine, a digital archive, to dig really deep into the archives of the old blog. Until late last night and into the early hours of this morning, , I had long thought the posting from 3 June 2009 was gone forever. But I found a new way of retrieving things.

And so, here’s that very post as it appeared back in the day, but with the text updated in line with how I now lay things out on the current blog:-

Tuesday, June 02, 2009
THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY (Day 32) : LOST IN THE 80s

Lost In The Eighties – A Post Punk Mix Tape: a guest posting from Planet Mondo

Film, TV and Radio with their roll call of ready made stereotypes and lazy clichés – would have you believe that the early eighties music scene was a period populated almost exclusively by frilly shirted New Romantics, Flock Of Seagulls fright-wiggers or Brideshead Revisited meets Roxy Music pseudo-smoothies

If you were there at the time (and I’d imagine there’s a solid core of VV readers that were) you’ll know this of course a nonsense perpetuated through lazy off-the-peg imagery and pop culture compression. Compression where, retrospectively an era’s peaks and dynamics become condensed creating a composite of clichés and grotesques, leaving an approximation that lacks depth any of field, widescreen horizon or actual essence of the time as it was. It’s the very same process that’s led to the seventies routinely being Abbafied.

Getting back to the eighties though, the key period for me is the post-punk, pre-Live Aid years (Live Aid being the moment where any Rock dinosaurs who had weathered punk’s ice age could re-enter the mainstream arena). A time where musically and stylistically almost anything and everything was up for grabs. Several posts on my PM blog are based around a local club of the time Crocs – not that it was somewhere especially sensational, more that it was just somewhere so typical of that time.

A place where – scooter boys, psychobillies with (Carmel look-a-like girlfriends ), Numanoids in skinny ties, electrics in pegged trousers, wedges or raincoats, Bunnymen fans in macs, Ant fans in kilts, bovver-boy skinheads, Boys Town/Hi-NRG types, Mohican postcard punks, Proto-Goths in Bauhaus Tee’s, or suede tassel jacketed types – would bounce or flap around on the dance floor (obscured by clouds of dry ice) to a potential pick ‘n’ mix playlist that may have ranged from obscure electro 12″ mixes, Bowie or glam anthems to Nina Simone, Louis Jordan, The Stray Cats, Northern Soul stompers and even on occasion songs from The Jungle Book…

In attempt to rebalance the received eighties vision and retromania – I’ve rattled up a sixty minute mix of tunes from the time, into a virtual C-60 cassette pet (two sides of thirty minutes) that hopefully captures an underground sound of the crowd that seems to have been lost in the eighties…

Side 1 – Sound Of The Crowd

Soft Cell – Memorbilia
Simple Minds – I Travel (remix)
Pete Shelley – Homosapien
Divine – Love Reaction
Human League – Empire State Human
Cabaret Voltaire – Nag Nag Nag
Fad Gadget – Back To Nature

Click here for download

Side 2– Creatures Of The night

Gina X – No GDM
The Bollock Brothers – The Bunker
The Cramps – Human Fly
Bauhaus – Largartija Nick
Tuxedo Moon – No Tears
Siouxsie & the Banshees – Spellbound

Click here for download

– – – – – – – –

The post attracted 21 legitimate comments (along with two pieces of spam) over a 24-hour period. Some of those who commented are still involved in blogging to this very day while others still contribute to conversations some seventeen-and-a-half years later. I think it’s only right to share the entire comments section as it is a fantastic example of what was happening every day across many dozens of music blogs during what can only be regarded in as the golden age of the genre, long before we were all distracted by later forms of social media and the growth of the audio streaming services, both of which have been major factors in the decline of long-form blogs.

1. piddy77 said…

“Just excellent!…can’t really say anymore…it took me back to the heady days of dj’ing, poppers on the dance floor, catching your hands in a wannabe siouxsie hairdo whilst flinging around wildly, sticky night club floors and dry ice machines that choked all the punters ….*sighs*”

2. swissadam said…

“Great stuff- looking forward to listening to this tonight.”

3. drew said…

“brilliant tunes Mondo. Agfa tapes – a lifespan of about 2 weeks or a dozen plays.”

4. Ishouldbeworking said…

“This is a treasure trove, Mondo. I love it. And you’re so right, the Eighties was a vibrant, creative, exciting time for music – right up until Live Aid re-established the dinosaurs and set the clock back. Most of the really good stuff has been buried beneath endless predictable footage of Lady Di and Black Lace (though the legendary clips of her singing Agadoo have been placed in a vault under Buckingham Palace).”

5. Planetmondo said…

“Piddy : ‘poppers on the dancefloor’ forgotten all about that (wait for the headache) and the sort of dancing that would’ve led to even more holes in your string-vest style mohair jumper (jumpers at clubs – why??)

“Thanks, Adam why not get some of your original 80s clobber to really get in the mood

“Drew – and what about those TDK C 120s the Russian Roulette of portable music – how long until it snaps or snarls up in the tape heads..

“ISBW – That’s exactly it; the guff (power ballads, mullets, brat pack anthems) get remembered in favour of the good stuff (Bauhaus, Soft Cell, early Human League). Bit of Crocs comp isn’t it. Did you ever go to The Castle pun in Brentwood?”

6. Simon said…

“Those agfa tapes – why did the labels always fade? Great mix matey. I always thought the 80s finished with Live Aid. Acid house was the 80s and I loved it, but somehow it seems like another decade.”

7. Planetmondo said…

Live Aid is the demarcation line between alt.80s and awful 80s Simon

8. The Warden said…

Terrific idea, superbly executed.

9. dickvandykesaid…

Ahh, PM.

The slightly aging, yet thoroughbred lothario. The team stalwart. The Mr Versatile libero who can still get from box to box, act as sweeper, or come on as an impact player from the bench. His talents know no bounds.

Pint of cold pear cider please PM.

10. swissadam said…

Am now listening to this dressed as instructed by Mondo. Have gone for black polo neck, with open paisley shirt, 501s with turn-ups and dm shoes. Am sweating cobs. Thanks.

11. Jaques The Kipper said…

I absolutely share PM’s views on the pre-Live Aid 80s and suffered a worrying flashback as I read his words. Up here in Scotchland at the time you could add to any ‘alternative’ discolist The Waterboys “A Girl Called Johnny” and Simple Minds “The American”. Staples.

And did you ever see Divine “live” then ? – ouch.

But, but, but …. to dismiss the post-Live Aid 80s so easily can’t be left to lie. There was some great stuff in the later 80s and I might just beg of JC the opportunity to try to prove it at some future date. And we’re not just speaking The Roses here. Great as they were at the time.

To end can I ask if anyone else tried poppers and Live Aid? Now that was a sore head.

12. Planet Mondo said…

DVD – should they ever revive ‘The Good Old Days’ (and it’s the only bloody thing left to revive) you really must audition for the Leonard Sachs MC role.

Swiss Adam – that is the ‘Camden Lock’ look from the anywhere in the 1980s.

JTK – I managed to avoid Divine live (although do have more 12″s than I should), but did see an early doors Dead or Alive, down on their luck Damned, Lords of The New Church – and even gigged (support only though) with Danielle Dax, Zodiac Mindwarp, Dr and The Medics, Ghostdance and Flesh For Lulu what a role call of goth ‘n’ roll monsters.

13. dickvandyke said…

Well PM dahling – now that dear, dear Danny La Rue has sadly shuffled off Mother Kelly’s doorstep down Paradise Road, I feel that there may be a gap in the market for an experienced showbiz all-rounder such as your good-self.

14. JC said…

JtK has only said that to out me…..he knows fine well that I saw Divine play live at Level 8, Strathclyde Yooni Students Union circa 84/85.

15. Davy H said...

Just to say I’ve still got two Agfa tapes from 1979 and they work fine. We luvs ya Mondo x

16. Planet Mondo said…

Bless the lot of you – and you’re all on the invited over to my first ever Disco post this Friday.

Divine won’t be on the playlist though – no, not my 12″ of Twisting The Night Away or Walk Like A Man.

Are BASF still going? And Pete Murphy advertising Maxell – how 80s?

17. Dirk said…

Actually I used to tape John Peel’s Music on BFBS on BASF – cassettes mainly … some 120’s as well: all of the ~ 300 I have still work fine .. after nearly 25 years: amazing, isn’t it?

18. Jacques The Kipper said…

Danielle Dax – sigh….. ZM – not half as good as he liked to think. D&tM – so bad I thought they might be good live – I was wrong. FfL – happy times. Ghost Dance – I don’t recall ever seeing (unless they were a support somewhere down the line).

I got offered the role of singer in a goth band once. I could have supported Indians in Moscow if I’d said yes. And could sing. Or even talk deeply. Don’t think I’ve revealed that to the Villain before. We don’t tend to talk about the goth years.

19. JC said…

No Jtk….you havent. But having seen some old pics, I can see why the offer was made

20. Planet Mondo said…

Oh and Skeletal Family too. JC – any chance of blogging those pics and an associated tune from the time?

21. JC said…

I’ve seen the photos…sadly I dont own them…..I would share them with you if I could…

– – – – –

All of the above is an effort to illustrate just why I was so angry/upset when the old blog was removed. So many great words from so many people, some of whom may well no longer be with us. I do often wonder what became of Mondo. His blog was a genuinely wonderful place to visit – he started out in May 2007 and he was particularly active through to 2013, after which it began to taper off with just a handful of posts each year, with the most recent one being in December 2024.

Everything can still be accessed. Please click here

As I mentioned above, all of this digging has led to me finding a way to fully rebuild the archives tight back to September 2007. As and when I do add old posts and comments, I’ll provide links alongside whatever appears on any given day.

PS : Tested it to see if it worked. And yup, you can now click here and read the really flimsy first ever post on the blog. It was a very low-key launch. No surpise that it didn’t attract a single comment!

JC

Blur

THE SINGULAR ADVENTURES OF BLUR (Part 3)

“I think, with the benefit of hindsight, that Blur, as musicians, weren’t really quite sure of which direction they wanted to head in, albeit the record label bosses very much wanted them to stay hooked to the baggy bandwagon as will be seen with the next single.”

That’s how I ended last week’s post. Three months after the Top 10 success of There’s No Other Way, this was released as the next single:-

mp3: Blur – Bang

It’s one that has more or less been totally disowned by the band, seemingly written in a hurry when the label bosses listened to the tunes recorded for the upcoming debut album and reckoning there was nothing Radio 1 would be interested in.

It was issued on 7″, 12″, CD and cassette, and sold enough copies to enter the charts at #26 in August 1991, peaking the following week at #24. Worth mentioning that when it came time to release a compilation of singles in 2000, Bang was left off.

The extended version on the 12″ is even more tortuous – and I have a copy here in Villain Towers picked up very cheap in a charity shop the best part of 20 years ago.

mp3: Blur – Bang (extended version)

Here’s the various b-sides:-

mp3: Blur – Luminous (issued on the 7″, 12″, CD and cassette)
mp3: Blur – Explain (issued on the 12″ and CD)
mp3: Blur – Uncle Love (issued on the 12″)
mp3: Blur – Berserk (issued on the CD)

I came to all these songs long after I bought a copy of debut album Leisure which, it has to be said, didn’t sound too good at the time nor has time been kind to it. None of Luminous, Explain or Uncle Love are particularly memorable – although Explain is one that would certainly have improved the flow and tempo of the debut album. Perhaps all can be seen as reactions to being asked to write tunes like Bang.

Berserk is plain weird, and possibly a reaction to being asked specifically to write songs such as Bang. It is seven minutes of instrumental psychedelia. It may well find favour with some of you out there, but I’ve only ever played it once and didn’t revisit it when putting this piece together.

Next week features the very first Blur single that I ever bought….and as I’ve written about it before on the blog, it’s going to be a repost.

JC

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #418: ‘THE BAD SEEDS 92-96’

There were five studios albums released by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in the 90s, the decade I’ve long regarded as their golden era. So, rather self-indulgently, I’m proposing an ICA covering that particular time in history, but to be even more self-indulgent I’m restricting it to the three albums released between 1992 and 1996. Hear me out….

The Good Son, released in April 1990, has been put to one side for the reason that it was recorded in 1989. And when it came to The Boatman’s Call, recorded in the summer of 1996 and released in March 1997, I felt that it was too akin to a Nick Cave solo album, with quite a minimal involvement from his bandmates, and so it has been left alone.

What now follows are songs from Henry’s Dream (recorded in late 1991 and released in April 1992), Let Love In (recorded in late 1993 and released in April 1994) and Murder Ballads (recorded in stages over a two-year period between 1993 and 1995 and released in February 1996).

As I said earlier, I regard this as the golden era of the band. The music, for the most part, was loud and aggressive, and the storytelling via Cave’s lyrics often bordered on the extraordinary. It was also an era when the band’s membership fully stabilised, which I’m sure was a major factor in the consistent quality of these three albums. It hasn’t been the easiest task to narrow things down from the twenty-nine available – and it might have been even harder if I’d leaned into the b-sides from the singles – and indeed, as with many of my ICAs, the end product isn’t necessarily my favourite songs, but something which I think hangs well together over two imaginary sides of vinyl.

Side 1

1. Red Right Hand (from Let Love In)

Given the explosion in Nick Cave’s popularity over the past decade or so, it makes sense to open proceedings with the song, nay let’s elevate that to anthem, that he’s probably best-known for thanks to its use as the theme to the hit TV series Peaky Blinders.

It is incredibly difficult nowadays to hear Red Right Hand and not think of the character Tommy Shelby, particularly if anyone is relatively new to the band. But I always, in my head, go back to a television performance from just a matter of weeks after the album had been released. I’ve long said that mid-90s Bad Seeds were the greatest live act of the time. I’d call on this footage as my first piece of evidence. Sparse and hypnotic.

2. Jack The Ripper (from Henry’s Dream)

In which I offer a poser to the TVV cognoscenti………

Is this a straightforward lyric in which the male protagonist is on the receiving end of domestic abuse within an unhealthy and toxic relationship?

Or….has Nick Cave’s imagination run riot and the tale is actually that of the infamous Jack the Ripper who, in trying to commit his latest atrocity is shocked that his latest victim is hitting back at him having realised what is actually happening?

I thought of the latter a year or so ago, after going on a guided walking tour of the east end of London where all the murders took place, where the aim of was not to glorify the killer, or indeed try to offer up any suggestion as to who he might have been, but instead to focus on the victims and the social/economic realities that led them to put themselves in dangerous situations.

‘She screams I’m Jack The Ripper every time I try to give that girl a kiss’.

It was the use of ‘that’ in such an impersonal way which made me think there was more to this one than I’d ever previously considered over the decades….there’s also the fact that the lyric is sung in such a menacing fashion rather than by someone who spends their time cowering in fear.

Either way, it’s a helluva tune.

3. I Let Love In (from Let Love In)

I devour rock biographies/autobiographies, and there is always, without fail, a part of the book where the author mulls over the pain and anguish, not forgetting huge amounts of time, it can take to come up with a song. This was far from the case for the title track of the 1994 album, with Mick Harvey later revealing how it came close to not being included:-

“Nick wrote this in five minutes, but he didn’t feel any relationship with it, like it wasn’t important to him because he hadn’t had to struggle with it or something. It was the Bad Seeds who insisted we record it.”

It’s not the most complicated song ever penned, but it is quite hard to imagine the album without it. Also makes for a nice change in tempo and mood on this ICA.

4. Henry Lee (from Murder Ballads)

The CD copy of Murder Ballads came with an illustrated booklet with accompanying lyrics. It was intriguing to learn that the words of this haunting balled were attributed to ‘Traditional/Cave’ and the music to ‘Cave’, and in a pre-internet age, it was nigh on impossible to find out much more.

Nick Cave, a few years later said “This song is an old Scottish murder ballad that I read in a book somewhere and played around with. It’s, um, a story about the fury of a scorned woman.” The old ballad was Young Hunting, an 18th century folk song, with the name of the original composer being long ago lost in the midst of time.

One of the interesting things in Cave’s take on it is we never learn the fate of the female who kills Henry Lee and disposes of his body down a deep well. The original folk song has her confess to the crime after the body is discovered, not in a well but in a river, and she is then burned at the stake.

5. The Curse Of Millhaven (from Murder Ballads)

There’s no doubt that Henry Lee is a ballad, and that it deal with a singular death. The Curse of Millhaven, long held up by Mrs Villain (aka Rachel) as her all-time favourite Bad Seeds song, is an entirely different kettle of fish.

A frantic, polka-style tune set in a town whose residents feel is cursed thanks to all sorts of tragedies and unsolved deaths that had befallen it. Turns out that it’s not actually a curse at the heart of the matter, but the behaviour of green-eyed, yellow-haired 15-year-old girl by the name of Loretta (although she prefers to be referred to as Lottie). She is only found out after causing what was at least 24 deaths in her home town, and the second half of the song, in which she celebrates her ‘achievements’ and her confinement to a mental hospital with real glee, is packed with dark humour and laugh out loud lyrics.

Oh, and while Lottie accepted her fate quite willingly, she was at great pains to point out that she wasn’t guilty of everything she had been accused of. She was no dog-killer…that was the work of ‘two junior high school psychos’.

Bonkers and brilliant in equal measures. The live rendition of the song at Glasgow Barrowlands as the second encore back in May 2001 will always be one of mine and Rachel’s greatest collective musical memories.

Side 2

1. Papa Won’t Leave You Henry (from Henry’s Dream)

By all accounts, this one was partly inspired by Nick Cave becoming a father for the first time in 1991. The lyrics of the chorus might think you’re in for a lovely lullaby:

Papa won’t leave you, Henry
Papa won’t leave you, Boy
Papa won’t leave you, Henry
Papa won’t leave you, Boy
Well, the road is long
And the road is hard
And many fall by the side
But Papa won’t leave you, Henry
So there ain’t no need to cry

Think again. The verses are straight out of a horror story…another that’s the stuff of nightmares rather than being rooted in any sort of reality. Were you aware that Nick Cave took a lot of drugs back in the day?

2. I Had A Dream, Joe (from Henry’s Dream)

A dream populated by foaming mouths, shadowy god-like creatures, needles piercing skin and menacing threats. If this is the stuff of Nick Cave’s dreams, I’d hate to imagine his nightmares.

This one’s rollicking punk-like tune would more or less be brought back for Thirsty Dog on Let Love In.

3. O’Malley’s Bar (from Murder Ballads)

The previous album may have seen Nick happy enough to let love in, but the tall, handsome and wholly narcistic individual who narrates this song should most certainly not have been allowed to cross the threshold of the public house owned by Mr O’Malley. Fourteen plus minutes of mayhem during which the bar owner, his wife and daughter, along with every customer, are mowed down in cold blood before the cops arrive to take the assailant away. And as with Lottie over in Millhaven, no remorse is shown.

4. Lay Me Low (from Let Love In)

Murder Ballads was an album a long time in the making, and indeed some of its songs had been written and worked on while Henry’s Dream and Let Love In were being realised, so I guess the concept of such an album was in Nick Cave’s head for quite a while.

I do wonder whether, if enough songs of quality had been written, Lay Me Low could have been held back and closed Murder Ballads. In saying that , the cover of Death Is Not The End does make for a fine ending, and uniquely for that album, it is a song where no murders actually take place. If it had been Lay Me Low, the justification could be that the man being entombed was a killer.

Just a thought.

So there you have it, nine songs, three from each album. But with one of them being more than fourteen minutes long, then I don’t think anyone has been shortchanged.

Happy Halloween.

JC

Fictive Fridays, Various

FICTIVE FRIDAYS : #25a

a guest series, courtesy of a very friendly lawyer

THE UNHEARD MUSIC

Thanks to everyone who responded to FF25 by suggesting a song or two of their own favorite unheard music. Below is the complete list of what was proposed and by whom.

Since I don’t know any of these tunes I have nothing to say about them. If you submitted one (or if you really like one) feel free to discuss it in the comments.

Chaval: Hopper – Ridiculous Day
JiveLad: Tony Martin – Barriers
SWC: Mr Ray’s Wigworld – Faster Kittykat
Dr Dave: Jackdaw 4 – Frobisher’s Last Stand
Dr Dave: Blood Rush Hour – No One’s There At All
Dr Dave: The Nines – Marigold
Dr Dave: Ross Rice – Miss July
Thepopman: The Veins – Speed of the City
Thepopman: Johnny Curious & the Strangers – Road to Cheltenham
Thepopman: The Lines – White Night
Thepopman: Those Naughty Lumps – Iggy Pop’s Jacket
Good Proofs: Niza – El Muchacho De Los Ojos Tristes
Harrison: Richard X – Into U
Swiss Adam: Genelab – Anorak Lou
Swiss Adam: AC Marias – One of Our Girls Has Gone Missing
FlimFlamFan: Delicate Vomit – Machine
FlimFlamFan: Chia Pet – Hey Baby
JC: BooHooHoo – Fire
Strangeways: Your Elders – Your Elders
Strangeways: Leaving Morning Crescent – Seventeen
Strangeways: Coulter – Aim Your Guns at Washington
Brian: Dream Boys – Sometimes

…and no less than 11 songs submitted by my favorite son, Sam, who’s apparently experimenting with languages again:

Pipa De Ma$$a – Papagaia Loiro
Whu Else – Hey Fever
Alanis Yuki – Sasuke
Oidopuua Vladimir Oiun – How the Shadow is Clear
Ulfuls – バンザイ〜好きでよかった〜
Wei Zhongle – Paralyzed
Gobby – Anti-meme
Triad God – Babe Don’t Go
Dur-Dur Band – Gorof (elixir)
Brittle Brian – Down to the River
Polvo – Light, Raking

Jonny

Kenickie

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (39) : Kenickie – Punka

The one and only time Kenickie featured on the blog back in January 2022, I offered up seven songs with the idea to be providing a reminder of how much fun they were to listen to or perhaps to offer an introduction to anyone who wasn’t familiar with them given that their star hadn’t shone for too long a period and their biggest chart success, singles wise, was a #24 hit.

I was really pleased that a number of folk added their comments to welcome the appearance of the band. So, I’m hopeful at least a few folk will be cheered by today’s post, not least steveforthedeaf who wrote “The perfect band. I hold the opinion Punka is the most perfect trashy pop single of the 1990’s.”

Without going over too much old ground, the band formed in Sunderland in the north-east of England in 1994. Laura Gofton, Emma Jackson and Marie Nixon had become friends during their schooldays, but it was when Gofton was at City of Sunderland College that she suggested the three of them, along with her older brother Peter, form a band. The girls were all aged sixteen and Peter was eighteen. All of them took stage names – Lauren Laverne, Emmy-Kate Montrose, Marie du Santiago and Johnny X. The name of their band was taken from a character in the film Grease.

There would be two albums and nine singles/EPs before calling it a day in 1998, all before any of the female members had reached the age of 21. It was an amicable split, with everyone individually and collectively tired of the demands being placed on them by an industry not known for its patience towards female singers and musicians whose sales don’t meet expectations. I also get the feeling that the band took no shit from those higher up the chain which wouldn’t have served them well.

Punka was their third single, but their first for a major label, It was released in May 1996 and came it #43 before falling to #68.

mp3 : Kenickie – Punka
mp3 : Kenickie – Drag Race
mp3 : Kenickie – Walrus
mp3 : Kenickie – Cowboy

The band would enjoy a couple of Top 30 hits in the first half of 1997 with In Your Car (#24) and Nightlife (#27), while debut album At The Club came in at #9 in its first week of release in May 97. They were all over the festival circuit that summer, which prompted the record label to re-release Punka in July 97, which seemed a bit pointless given it had also been included on the album. Nevertheless, with four previously unreleased songs on the 2 x CDs and 7″ vinyl, it sold enough copies to reach #38 second time around.

JC

Chesterfields, June Brides, Laugh, Talulah Gosh

C86 : THE ULTIMATE SERIES (Parts 95, 96, 97, and 98 of 114)

The second appearance from The June Brides, and this time around it’s one half of their double-A sided debut single on The Pink Label that was released in June 1984.

mp3: Sunday to Saturday – The June Brides

Track 16, Disc 1 of CD86

I mentioned last time out that the band had reformed in 2012 for some live gigs and subsequently released two new singles in 2012 and 2014. I should have also mentioned that there were only a handful of gigs spread out over a number of years, and no sort of organised tour. The last show was on 5 August 2022 when the band played at the Glas-Goes Pop festival. It was my first time seeing them, and they didn’t disappoint. I’ve been told that Phil Wilson, during the set, did say it would be the last time they ever played, but I can’t recall it…..I was so wrapped up in hearing some favourites in a live setting.

But it does seem to be the case, and I do feel quite privileged to have been there.

The second appearance from The Chesterfields whose story was told away back in Part 6 of this series back in January:-

mp3: Sweet Revenge – The Chesterfields

Track 1, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

This was the lead track on their debut EP, released in 1986 on The Subway Organisation….and it was just the third ever piece of vinyl issued by the label. It’s a rather jaunty number, one that suggest offers more than a hint of the songs The Housemartins were taking into the charts at that point in time.

The second appearance from Laugh:-

mp3: Take Your Time, Yeah (flexi version) – Laugh

Track 1, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

I did mention last time out that the entire recording history of Laugh can be found on one flexidisc, four singles and an album, all released between 1986 and 1988.

The flexidisc was given away with Issue 9 of the Debris fanzine, and contained the song Take Your Time, Yeah. This would later be re-recorded and released as the lead song on the band’s debut 12″ single.

The second appearance from Talulah Gosh:-

mp3 : Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh

Track 20, Disc 1 of CD86.

Their fourth ever single, released on 53rd & 3rd in 1987.

I just checked the hard drive on my laptop. I’ve ripped six copies of this song!

One each from:-

The 12″ vinyl release (53rd & 3rd Records, 1987)
CD86 (Sanctuary Records, 2004)
Rough Trade Shops: Indiepop 1 (Mute Records, 2004)
Was It Just A Dream? (Damaged Good, 2013)
C87 (Cherry Red Records, 2016)
Sensitive : An Indie Pop Anthology (Needle Mythology, 2025)

It’s such a derivative but wonderful tune, isn’t it???

The compilation, Was Just It A Dream?, also contains the John Peel session version of the song…..and which I happened to include on one of my mixtapes earlier this year.

JC

Various

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #417 : ‘EUROPE’

For a while now, I’ve found it difficult to come up with fresh Imaginary Compilation Albums, and have been relying increasingly on guest contributions to help out.

I do sometimes get inspiration from other folk, even when they don’t realise just how helpful they’ve been. In this instance, it’s a ‘chapeau’ to Rol, of My Top Ten fame, as one of his posts back in early August, mentioned the National Media Museum in Bradford and the Eurovision Song Contest, and contained a list of almost 20 songs with the word ‘Europe’, ‘European’ or ‘Euro’ in their title, all of which delivered a light bulb above my head moment.

Side 1

Johnny Marr – European Me

I came across an article recently which pointed out Johnny Marr, with the release of his new album, The Age of Everything, has now made more solo LPs than he ever made with The Smiths. I’m not going to claim that all his solo material makes for essential listening, but the good tunes more than outnumber the duds. This is from the first of those solo efforts, The Messenger, which dates back to 2013.

Massive Attack – Euro Euro Zero

Massive Attack recorded and released Eurochild for their second studio album, Protection, back in 1994. Fast-forward four years, and the song was revisited and remixed as one of the extra tracks on the CD single of Teardrop. I didn’t think they could better the original, but they did.

The Clash – Safe European Home

Track 1 of Album 2, released in 1978 with a heavier, more rock-orientated sound than the debut.

Safe European Home might be a fast, vibrant and noisy song, but its lyric recalls one of the saddest events in Joe Strummer and Mick Jones time together in The Clash. They had travelled to Jamaica in late 1977 with the aim of writing sings that would be inspired by the reggae and dub scene they so much adored. Instead, they found themselves stunned by the level of poverty and crime in the community, and, to their dismay and shock, they were unable to assimilate into the local culture. They ended up spending almost all their time stuck in their expensive hotel just waiting for the day to arrive when they could fly back to where they would feel safe.

The Indelicates – Europe

As someone else once sang, ‘life is a cabaret old chum, so come to the cabaret.’

The opening track on the band’s second album, Songs For Swinging Lovers, released in 2010. It might seem like David and Julia are savaging the entire continent, but it really is just them celebrating the demise of the decadent era.

The Stranglers – European Female

January 1983 saw The Stranglers release a new single, the first from what would be their seventh studio album, Feline. It was about as far removed as could be imagined from the loud, raucous and often offensive songs with which they had made their name in the latter part of the 70’s. Jean-Jacques Burnel, the band’s bassist was English-born to French parents, and he wrote European Female to celebrate his identity and his love, not just for France, but the wider continent. Oh, and he happened to be dating a French ballerina at the time. It really is a classy and timeless piece of music.

Side 2

Denim – Here Is My Song For Europe

Side two kicks off with a bit of glam(ish) rock with a track from Denim‘s debut album, Back In Denim, released in 1992. Until I saw Rol’s post, I had no idea that Lawrence et al. had mimed this on Popadoodledandy.

And if you’re wondering what Popadoodledandy is….it was a pop music show written and devised by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, for which one pilot show was recorded in 1992, following which Channel 4 were prepared to go ahead with a series back in the day, but the comedy duo chose to sign a new exclusive contract with BBC TV. The pilot was eventually broadcast in 2012, and even then it went out at some ungodly hour. You can easily find the clip on YouTube, complete with post-performance ‘interview’ with Lawrence.

R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe

It was a flip of the coin to go with the original Hib-Tone single from 1981 or the re-recorded version that appeared on debut album Murmur in 1983. You’ll just have to listen to find out.

bis – Eurodisco

A 1998 dancey single from the Scottish popsters that was released on Wiiija records in the UK and on Grand Royale, the label owned by the Beastie Boys, in the USA. The lead vocal is, unusually, taken by the band’s guitarist Sci-Fi Steven, and not Manda Rin. Oh, and it was produced by Andy Gill, the late guitarist/vocalist in Gang of Four

The Delgados – Big Business In Europe

More Scottish posters, this time with a punky sounding effort from the 1996 debut album Domestiques.

It’s just hit me that this side of the ICA has been full of pace and energy. In which case, of all the many songs still on the long list for inclusion, there is one clear and obvious choice to close things out.

The Fall – Australians In Europe (Peel Session)

Recorded on 25 April 1987 and broadcast on 19 May 1987, this sees The Fall doing a full-tilt rock number for the best part of six minutes. It’s impossible not to tap your feet to this one. The marginally less frantic studio version would emerge in mid-October 1987 as the b-side on the 12″ release of Hit The North.

Thanks again to Rol for the inspiration.

JC

Clash

SONGS UNDER TWO MINUTES (28): KOKA KOLA

mp3: The Clash – Koka Kola

Side 3, Track 3 of London Calling, the third studio album from The Clash, released in December 1979.

Satirical and humorous. Not sure if any radio stations actually played it back in the day. On the one hand, there were the drug references, while there was also a restriction that didn’t allow songs mentioning brand names – which is why Ray Davies had previously had to change part of the lyric on Lola to get round a BBC ban.

The opening yell of ‘Elevator, Going Up!’ on Koka Kola was later sampled by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine on Shoppers’ Paradise, one of the best tracks on their outstanding 1991 album, 30 Something.

JC

Blur

THE SINGULAR ADVENTURES OF BLUR (Part 2)

23 November 1989. The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays (with Kirsty MacColl) appear on Top of the Pops, thanks to them having new entries on the singles chart. Fool’s Gold had come in at #13 while the Manchester Rave On EP, with Hallelujah as the lead track was at #30.

There was a movement brewing in the north-west of England. What else could a new and emerging band do but jump aboard the bandwagon?

I suggested last week that I Know, one half of Blur‘s debut single was perhaps the most Madchester song ever to come out of London, some twelve months after the Roses and Mondays and many other others had grabbed and kept the attention of the youth of the nation. Well, they kind of kept the tune while changing the lyrics for their second single, released in April 1991

mp3: Blur – There’s No Other Way (7″)

A-listed by Radio 1, the single entered the charts at #20 and then inched its way upwards over the next three weeks to peak at #8. Possibly aided by the reaction to their debut appearance on Top of The Pops.

Legend/rumour has it that Damon Albarn and Alex James took ecstasy prior to the performance.

I don’t think the song has aged all that well, but there’s no question that Graham Coxon‘s guitar playing and Dave Rowntree‘s drumming did suggest they were perhaps worth keeping an eye on.

It was released on 7″, 12″, CD and cassette, while a remix 12″ was also issued by Food Records. I didn’t buy anything at the time, so it would be many many years before I got to hear the various b-sides.

mp3: Blur – Inertia (issued on the 7″, 12″, CD and cassette)
mp3: Blur – Mr Briggs (issued on the 12″ and CD)
mp3: Blur – I’m All Over (issued on the 12″ and CD)
mp3: Blur – There’s No Other Way (extended version) (issued on the 12″)

Inertia is one which goes some way to illustrate that the band weren’t a one-trick pony; Mr Briggs suffers badly from a second-rate lyric and just a bit too much noodling on the guitar. I’m All Over is all done and dusted in two minutes and while of its time, it’s one which kind of offers a template for Blur’s future fast songs on the early albums.

I’m not sure how many folk actually went out and bought the 12″ remix of There’s No Other Way, but I’m guessing most would have been wanting to hear the baggy side of things. It actually turns out to be a bit of a non-event:-

mp3: Blur – There’s No Other Way (12″ remix)

Far more interesting and quite different are its b-sides.

mp3: Blur – Won’t Do It (issued on the 12″ remix)
mp3: Blur – Day Upon Day (live) (issued on the 12″ remix)

I think, with the benefit of hindsight, that Blur, as musicians, weren’t really quite sure of which direction they wanted to head in, albeit the record label bosses very much wanted them to stay hooked to the baggy bandwagon as will be seen with the next single.

JC

Poster Paints

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #529: POSTER PAINTS

Poster Paints, courtesy of debut single Number 1, featured in the recent 800 songs rundown.

The band emerged in 2021 after two Glasgow musicians – Simon Liddell (ex- Frightened Rabbit) and Carla J Easton (ex-TeenCanteen) began to collaborate by e-mail during that awful period when we were in lockdown from the COVID virus. The initial single would be followed by an eponymous album, released in October 2022, which was promoted by a handful of live shows, after which they went off to do other things.

mp3: Poster Paints – Never Saw It Coming

This was actually their second single, released in advance of the album, but, as with Number 1, included within its ten tracks.

JC

Green Day, Riverdales

THE RESPLENDENT RETURN OF LITTLE LOSER’S LOTTERY : #14

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

‘GIGS FROM YESTERYEAR, WHEN I WAS YOUNG + PRETTY AS A PICTURE’

# 14 Green Day + The Riverdales, Sporthalle Köln (1995)

Hello friends,

right, so Green Day it is. Well, to be honest, I don’t have the slightest clue why I went to Cologne to see them as I certainly have never been a fan of their output. So let’s try to solve this puzzle together, shall we?

I first heard of them via Peel of course, he played their “Best Thing In Town” in late 1990, a track from their third 7”, the debut one being released in the previous year, although the band already formed in 1987. The tune did not knock me off my chair, it must be said. And I’m afraid the same is true when it comes to what they do today, a mere 36 years later – although I should of course listen more closely to their recent records in order to have a firm opinion. But my money goes elsewhere, of course, though what I hear here and there isn’t all too convincing, to put it mildly.

Regardless of what I, narrow-minded as I am, may think: Green Day are of course zillionaires by now, 80 million records sold, opening Super Bowls, Hall/Walk of Fame plus playing huge stadiums every other week. Hard to believe nowadays that they earned their spurs in California’s Berkeley underground scene, like so many other bands had to back then.

In 1995 though they were riding high for the first time, very high indeed: their major label debut ‘Dookie’ from the year before had already sold ten million copies and it’s probably fair to say that they were the band of the hour worldwide. Obviously they weren’t the only ones turning punk into pop-punk at the time, but certainly the most successful ones. And they did that again, after having turned pop-punk into pop and failed with that big time. By then though I had long lost the bit of interest I had in them, disregarding ‘American Idiot’ in 2004 and everything that came after that.

So, why did I go to see them there – bearing in mind that the entry wasn’t that cheap after all (very cheap in comparison to today, but less said about that the better)? One solution could be that I tried to impress my (then) girlfriend, showing off a bit in proving what a dangerous punk rocker I still was at the age of 27. Or the ticket was a gift to me, maybe. Probably the truth lies somewhere in-between, who knows?

Another possibility (and this definitely would be the most cool one!) is that I went there, not in order to see bloody Green Day, but to witness their support band, the very excellent Riverdales! Now, The Riverdales were simply great, they rose from the ashes of the equally adorable Screeching Weasel, one of Chicago’s finest in the late 80s. Their sound was rather Ramones-influenced, and as you all know: there can be nothing wrong about that, to be sure!

I’m tempted to tell you that I left the Sporthalle immediately after having seen The Riverdales play, but my mother taught me not to lie to friends, so there you are. Still, although I cannot vouch for this, I might even have done so: we’ll never know, do we?

Anyway, here’s some early tunes – feel free to listen to the rest of Green Day’s (later) output on the radio any time you want to:

Green Day – 1000 Hours (the first single, ’89)
Green Day – Paper Lanterns (second single, ’90)
Green Day – Best Thing In Town ((from the) third single, ’90)
The Riverdales – Riverdale Stomp (’97)
The Riverdales – I Don’t Wanna Go To The Party (’97)
The Riverdales – She’s Gonna Break Your Heart (’95)
Screeching Weasel – Mad At The Paper Boy (’88)
Screeching Weasel – Cool Kids (’96)
Screeching Weasel – Judy Is A Punk (’93)

Enjoy and all the best,

Dirk

Adult Net

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE? (89)

April 1985. It’s two years since Brix Salenger had met Mark E Smith in Chicago, following which she’d move to the UK, marry him and join his band, The Fall. She had played on, and written songs for, two albums Perverted By Language and The Weird and Frightening World Of. But she had an itch that she wanted to scratch, and that was to make music that was more in keeping with the power-pop sensibilities that she had loved growing up in the States.

Beggars Banquet was a label which enjoyed having The Fall as part of its roster, feeling it brought a degree of kudos with the UK music press. The idea of Brix Smith having some sort of spin-off project was one which they were happy to support.

The debut single from The Adult Net was a cover of a song by American psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock, one that had reached #1 in the US back in 1967, but had flopped here in the UK.

mp3: The Adult Net – Incense and Peppermints

It’s a more than decent enough offering, one which may, in a parallel universe, have picked up some radio play, but maybe the connections with The Fall, who at this time had yet to enjoy a hit single, was enough to prevent it being listed in any meaningful way on Radio 1.

It’s a single on which The Fall, with the exception, all played under pseudonyms. Ottersley Kipling was bassist Simon Rogers, Silki Guth was Craig Scanlon on guitar, and Karl Burns on drums took the name of ‘Mask’ Aiechmann. One of the guest musicians was Marcia Schoefield, who would later join The Fall. Oh, and the producer, Swami Anand Nagara was actually John Leckie, another who had been and would continue to be involved with The Fall.

The b-side was also a cover

mp3: The Adult Now – Searching For The Now

Yup. A power-pop take on Rebellious Jukebox, one of the tracks on The Fall’s debut album, Live At The Witch Trials, that had been released back in 1979.

It’s all great fun and not to be taken too seriously. The Adult Net would, with a cast of revolving musicians, release one album, The Honey Tangle in 1989, while there would be six further singles between 1985 and 1989.

JC

Billy Bragg, Echo & The Bunnymen, Velvet Underground

SMALL SCREEN GEMS (9): Echo & The Bunnymen & Billy Bragg – BBC2 (1986)

Ever wondered what it would look and sound like if some musicians, having taken full advantage of the hospitality on offer at the TV studio for a few hours beforehand, finally got the green light to perform just after 3am?

Rock Around The Clock was a great idea, worth the price of a TV licence on its own. Once a year, beginning on a Saturday afternoon, the entire schedule of BBC 2 would, for 15 consecutive hours, be devoted to pop music in all its various guises. There would be live concerts from various locations (one year, Glasgow Barrowlands was the venue for an afternoon show by Aztec Camera and an evening performance by The Cure) interviews, feature films, videos (with the viewers being asked to call in and cast votes for their favourites from a long list) and studio performances, often of an unusual nature…..which is why the Bunnymen and Billy Bragg ended up performing a Velvet Underground song in the middle of the night when only the most deranged and craziest of fans were still wide awake and watching. Yup, I was one of them.

There’s a number of YouTube locations that have this clip…..you’ll have spotted I’ve pinched this one from the Bunnymen/McCulloch channel.

mp3 : The Velvet Underground – Run Run Run
mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen – Run Run Run (live in Gothenburg, 25 April 1985)

JC

Luggage

THE CULT CLASSICS :THE RE-RUNS (10)

24 February 2014. This came from Seamus Duggan, who once upon a time wrote a blog called Vapour Trails, but there’s only been two posts since April 2018.

– – – – –

I couldn’t resist your call for people to act as advocates for their favourite (commercial) flops.

There are so very many of these that I almost gave up trying to sift through them until I thought of the following track:

mp3 : Luggage – Show Me Around

“Show me around the streets you made your name in”

For a brief moment it seemed that Luggage might escape the gravitation field projected by the commercial failure of the Dublin rock scene of the mid nineties. A John Peel session, half page interview in the Irish Times, the stirrings of something. And we fans and members of other Dublin bands knew that they had the songs and the class to make it.

Singer Barry O’Mahoney had been a performance poet and had a knack for twisting simple phrases into new shapes. Guitarist Joe Fahey had been in an early incarnation of MBV and peeled off chords like Mark Bolan in slow motion. Bass player Rachel Tighe had been in Backwards Into Paradise, another Dublin band with a cultish reputation. Drummer Cathal O’Reilly held it all together. They were a band, and continued to play for many years after this, with at least one album recorded but never released. However, they did release two E.P.’s, on 7″ vinyl and cd.

I have to admit to having an involvement here. For a while I was the manager of Luggage and it inspired me to form a band myself. I remember seeing them for the first time, going along with the expectation of being disappointed but being blown away. Had I been uninvolved I would have been a fan anyway. And if they were to make it, they certainly required a more competent manager than I was, and I had moved on by the time this came out.

When I first heard this song I thought it would be their hit. When I heard the recording I was even more sure. There was even a video.

(JC adds……sadly, when you click on the link from the post back in 2014, it now states ‘This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.’

But what do I know? The general public ignored it and it disappeared. However, it remains a regular on my turntable, iPod, laptop and cd player.

I have played it to many people. It is the lead track on a four track e.p. called Comical Life on the Blunt / Independent Records labels. Enough have shared my enthusiasm for me to feel justified in considering it a lost, cult classic.

“Show me around the nightclubs you collapsed in”

Cheers,

Seamus Duggan

Episode Four, Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes, Miaow, Servants

C86 : THE ULTIMATE SERIES (Parts 91, 92, 93, and 94 of 114)

Last time out, via Sign On The Line by The Fizzbombs, I gave a glowing reference to Edinburgh-based ~~Nardonik~~ Narodnik Records. Well, here’s the very first single ever released by the label:-

mp3: Splashing Along – Jesse Garon and The Desperadoes

Track 4, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes were a big part of the Edinburgh music scene in the second half of the 80s, with almost all of their members being involved with other local bands at the same time. The debut appeared in 1986 and was followed in 1987 by two further singles for Nardonik before the label folded. The band decided to go DIY and set-up their own Velocity Records, on which there would be three singles in 1989, along with a compilation album, A Cabinet of Curiosities, which brought together all the songs thus far in one handy place.

A new Edinburgh label, Avalanche, which was connected to three independent record shops in the city, was established in 1990, and Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes gravitated towards it, releasing what turned out to be their final two singles and their sole album on the label in 1990 before deciding to split up.

I’ve long been fond of that rather wonderful jangly debut 45.

Miaow were from Manchester who released three singles between 1985 and 1987, and also recorded two sessions for John Peel. The debut, Belle Vue, on their own Venus Records, led to a couple of things:-

mp3: Sport Most Royal – Miaow

Track 3, Side 2 of the C86 cassette and Track 11, Disc one of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

The appearance on C86 further stirred up interest from Factory Records, although the irony being that if Miaow had been on the label prior to C86 being released, then it’s unlikely they would have made it onto the cassette given Factory’s reluctance to get involved.

Miaow signed to Factory in late 1986, but there would be just two singles – When It All Comes Down (FAC 179) in February 1987 and Break The Code (FAC 189) in October 1987. All the songs on the three singles, along with Sport Most Royal, the two Peel Sessions and two demo songs for an intended album, would be rounded up and released on the compilation, When It All Comes Down, released on the boutique label, LTM Recordings.

Lead singer Cath Carroll would embark on a solo career in the 90s, with her first two singles and debut album being released on Factory.

Part of what I found when I was researching this one took my breath away.

Episode Four were a very short-lived quartet from the market town of Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire, some 40 miles outside of London. There was one 12″ single, released in 1987, on their own label which they named Lenin And McCarthy Records. This was the lead track:-

mp3: Strike Up Matches – Episode Four

Track 7, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

Almost immediately after the release of the single, the band renamed themselves East Village, relocated to London and embarked on a career that would see five singles and an album released between 1988 and 1993.

The breathtaking moment? Seeing that the Episode Four 12″ single has an asking price of upwards of £300 on Discogs. Seemingly, there were just 500 copies pressed and it is much sought after.

And completing what I think have been four excellent songs today:-

mp3 : The Sun, A Small Star – The Servants

Track 2, Disc 1 of CD86.

The Servants, from Hayes, just outside of London, went through three different line-ups in the six years they were together between 1985 and 1991. The one constant was their singer, guitarist and principal songwriter, David Westlake.

They were picked up by Head Records, a new label in London, and debut single She’s Always Hiding was released in March 1986. An immediate invite came to contribute to the C86 cassette, and while the band, and in particular David Westlake wasn’t that keen, the label bosses were, particularly as it was such a new venture – The Servants debut 45 had also been the first release by the label. The compromise was that the b-side would be included on the cassette – so watch out for that in due course.

The band’s second single was The Sun, A Small Star, released in August 1986, and if you want my tuppence worth, it is one of the finest of the era.

Shortly afterwards, in December 1986, Luke Haines joined The Servants, and he would remain with the band until its eventual demise in 1991. He would play on two singles, It’s My Turn (1989) and Look Like A Girl (1990), and on the albums Disinterest (1990) and Small Time, recorded in 1991 but not released until 2012.

David Westlake would later release three solo albums in 1987, 2002 and 2022. I’m not quite sure what happened to Mr Haines…..

JC

Blur

THE SINGULAR ADVENTURES OF BLUR (Part 1)

Over many years, I’ve often used the Singular Adventures feature to fill a space on Sundays. It actually didn’t start out purely as a Sunday feature – the first lot I tried to cover were James, beginning in November 2013 and featuring sporadically through to May 2015 when I finished it off with what was then their 28th single, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up). Next up was Altered Images, again on different days of the week between May and July 2015. These were followed up with The Jam (July 2015 – November 2015) and The Style Council (December 2015 – March 2016), while Cinerama‘s 45s were initially posted between April and June 2016 before being given the deluxe treatment via a fantastic guest series by strangeways between May and July 2024.

The first actual Sundays only series was The Clash (10 January 2016 – 15 May 2016). Since then:-

Belle and Sebastian (22 May – 21 August 2016)
Buzzcocks (28 August – 20 November 2016)
The Undertones (27 November 2016 – 26 February 2017)
XTC (5 March – 29 October 2017)
New Order (5 November 2017 – 8 April 2018)
Paul Haig (7 October 2017- 17 March 2019)
Marc Almond (24 March – 16 June 2019)
‘Early’ Simple Minds (23 June – 1 August 2019)
The Auteurs/Luke Haines (8 August – 15 March 2020)
R.E.M. (a joint series with The Robster) (21 June 2020 – 6 June 2021)
The Fall (13 June 2021 – 26 June 2022)
Pet Shop Boys (22 January – 1 October 2023)
The Wedding Present (8 October 2023 – 23 February 2025)*
Super Furry Animals (a guest series by The Robster) (2 March – 21 September 2025)
Orange Juice/Edwyn Collins (28 September 2025 – 19 July 2026)
Magazine (26 July – 11 October 2026)

* series was interrupted by other regular features for Sundays

To the above list will now be added Blur.

It’ll be a wee bit of a cheat every now and again (including today!!) as a number of their singles have previously featured as stand-alone pieces. Indeed, this one was quite recent, back on 21 April this year.

Am I alone on often forgetting that Blur‘s first single came before There’s No Other Way took them into the Top 1o in May 1991?

The debut dates from October 1990, and while many have suggested it is a great example of shoegaze, I’ve often felt that much of its sound, particularly the way Graham Coxon plays the guitar, tips a hat to The Charlatans whose debut album Some Friendly had hit the shops just seven days earlier.

mp3: Blur – She’s So High

The song, even all these years later, long remained part of the band’s setlists, which is perhaps their way of saying that they consider it to have very much stood the test of time. They certainly seem more fond of it than There’s No Other Way, whose baggy sound hasn’t aged quite so well.

It is often forgotten that She’s So High was just one half of a double-A single on 7″ vinyl, along with this:-

mp3: Blur – I Know

Possibly the most Madchester sounding song ever to have come out of London.

Interestingly, a slightly extended version of She’s So High would be the opening track on debut album Leisure, which was released the best part of a year later in August 1991, but I Know was left off altogether.

It reached #48 in the UK singles chart.

JC

Pooches

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #528: THE POOCHES

The 800 song rundown last month featured an offering from U.S. Highball.

It’s two members are James Hindle and Calvin Halliday, who were previously part of Glasgow-based indie-pop (with the emphasis on pop) band The Pooches, alongside Andy Kelly and Gavin Cormack.

There were a handful of singles, EPs and albums released between 2015 and 2017, including this extremely rare lathe-cut 5″ single:-

mp3: The Pooches – Rats & Rats

Just 40 copies were pressed for the Super Fan 99 label in 2017. My copy of this rather pleasant and catchy song comes from its inclusion on the Indietracks Compilation of that same year.