In which there is a little bit of jiggery-pokery to squeeze this into the series
mp3: The Fall – Industrial Estate
The song was recorded for Live At The Witch Trials, the band’s debut album released in March 1979. It has a running time of just over two minutes.
But when it came to including it on the compilation album 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong, which was issued in June 2004, the last twenty seconds of the song were shaved off.
I have no shame!
The Affectionate Punch were introduced to TVV by strangeways back in June 2019.
“So DIY in spirit that their songs should be sold by B&Q, The Affectionate Punch have been releasing music online since November 2018.
This is a Glasgow-based ‘thing’ – yes, they’re a band, but no, they don’t tour – and probably they’re best described, really, as ‘a project’.
Each TAP song is led by speed and momentum, with almost every number taken from spontaneous idea to completed, listenable take, artwork (and, often, an accompanying video) in just a few hours. The rush is an essential ingredient, and a few songs have been abandoned midway when it’s clear they’d require lengthy noodling.
TAP explores a few styles of music, in general, you’d find them in the Indie aisle, probably between the Twee and Shoegaze sections. Led by just one person in one room, lurking close by, and keenly watched by the not-obvious-at-all store detective, would be a gang of contributors: Paul McKeever, a singer/songwriter from Larbet, Scotland, Marshmallow Fortresses, a musician from the San Francisco Bay Area, USA and, most regularly, Amanda Sanderson, a singer from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As a non-musician myself, it is astonishing to me that this is largely a one-man band. Did I say band? I meant project. A one-man project, albeit one that welcomes these contributions.
The songs? They’re created for fun above all, and are led by guitars, keyboards, loops and samples – not to mention the odd peppering of toy orchestra lurking low in the mix.
And, yes, Associates fans: the project is named after the band’s debut LP. An Associates sample was being used on a previous project and this inspired the entire TAP idea. I love it when pop does stuff like that.”
If you visit this bandcamp page, you’ll find 24 different releases from TAP, all of them still freely available to download. There’s even a couple of tracks to which your humble scribe has contributed a spoken vocal. It really is a fabulous body of work, testament to the vision and talent of G, the incredibly creative force behind everything.
G has now added a physical release to the TAP collection, in the shape of a 7″ single. Just 25 copies were pressed. I’ve been very generously gifted one of them….as indeed have two other bloggers who over the years have sang the praises of TAP. The reason for the single is that G has decided to bow out of pop music involvement in 2026, and I’ll now quote from the note he included with the single
My bullish ego demanded that I mark the occasion. The idea of releasing a 7″ single was born.
It wasn’t easy choosing just the two songs for the 7″ – a 12″ mini-LP and full-LP were considered. However, I thought that could impact on the fun element of the project. Pop music has to be fun, surely?
G then signed off with:-
The Affectionate Punch was a one-man band that occasionally collaborated. I’ve chosen these two songs from the back catalogue as I think they sit well together. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact it took a few hours from the initial ideas to what you hear on this record. DIY to the core.
This 7″ is provided free and is a limited edition.
Enjoy!
Cheerio.
mp3: The Affectionate Punch – How To Write A Marshmallow Fortresses Song
mp3: The Affectionate Punch – Foolscap Heart
Both tracks were originally part of the Daydream Nostalgia EP, released on 23 March 2020.
I want to pay my own tribute to TAP, and have decided to repost the links to ICA #257, which was published on 6 July 2020 and which can be found by clicking here.
Thanks for everything G. You’ve been an inspiration to us all.
Happy retirement.
This isn’t a review of a new book. Indeed, it isn’t even a new review of an old book. But it is a book that I recently re-read again after a period of twelev years, and on picking it up, I wondered if I would have changed my mind about what I said about it back in the day.
This is an edited version of the review posted on the blog on 28 April 2014….a few overkill details about how and where I bought the book have been taken out as they are largely irrelevant, but it’s worth mentioning that, for one reason or another, I only got my hands on it a week or so after I had intended. I’ve also cut out a few more sentences in which I reflected on Glasgow in the 70s and 80s, as they aren’t really relevant to the actual book review.
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All three previous books on pop music written by Simon Goddard have been a delight to read and so I was bursting with excitement and anticipation approaching the release of his endeavours to tell the story of Postcard Records.
It pains me to say it, but Simply Thrilled : The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records was a bit of a let-down. I’m not saying it’s a badly written or boring book – far from it – but the sense of excitement and anticipation of the chase of getting my hands on a copy was far greater than what I felt as I turned its pages.
The fault lies with the way the author has gone about the task. The publicity material churned out by the publishers says:-
“This is the preposterous true story of Postcard Records, the renegade label which, with its mad DIY ethic, kickstarted the 1980s’ indie music revolution. From its riotous punk origins to the intertwining sagas of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and cult heroes Josef K, this is how they took on and triumphed over the London ‘music biz’ big boys, against all odds. Acclaimed music writer Simon Goddard has interviewed everyone involved in the making of the legend of Postcard Records. The result is a giddy farce involving backstabbing, ‘Arthur Atrocious’, gluttony, heartbreak, ‘Disco Harry’, cheap speed, ‘Janice Fuck’, disillusion, Victorian lunatics and knickerbocker glories. But it’s also the story of creating something beautiful from nothing, against all the odds.”
Simon Goddard has interviewed everyone and has seemingly taken everything they said at face value and published it. He himself knows such an approach is risky – in the foreword to the book he says what follows is a fairy-tale and not a documentary. He admits that many people’s recollections contradicted one another, while others were distorted for what could be any of a number of reasons.
So what we get is a book which feels too much of an in-joke in which the main protagonists tell the story as they want it to be remembered and which, understandably, puts them in the best possible light. This book isn’t really the story of Postcard Records – it’s more the like one of those projects in which people are asked to give their memories of a time and a place – in this instance Glasgow in the late 70s and early 80s – for a talented writer to record for posterity. I do admire the tenacity of the author in getting the notoriously reclusive Alan Horne, the brains behind the whole Postcard venture, to speak to him in such depth.
It’s quite clear that Simon and Alan spent countless hours together, and there can be no argument that the mogul has a treasure-chest of wonderful anecdotes, many of which are embellished throughout the book. But such is the size of the shadow cast by Alan Horne that I can’t help but feel that the story would have been better told as an authorized biography of his life and times, rather than having others come in and say completely contradictory things and so confuse matters.
In terms of the music, the main focus is on Orange Juice and Josef K which is fair enough given that between them, they accounted for around three-quarters of the material released on the label. And while the chapter on the Go-Betweens is one of the most enjoyable in the book – Glasgow must have seemed like a strange and alien planet to Grant McLennan and Robert Foster – the dearth of material on Aztec Camera is a bitter disappointment. They don’t feature until well into the book and there’s not actually all that much said about them.
It’s almost as if this version of the story of Postcard comes to a crashing halt at the time Orange Juice decamped to a major label and Josef K called it quits in the aftermath of one disastrous gig too many in a Glasgow discotheque in August 1981. It certainly reads to me that Roddy Frame was signed to the label only because it allowed it to boast of having a 16-year-old wunderkid on the books, rather than the label owner actually liking his music. As such, it is no real surprise that Alan Horne makes no real effort to make a star out of Roddy.
Simon Goddard admits he has written a preposterous tale, which means he hasn’t been able to come up with the definitive story of Postcard Records. And therein lies my disappointment in his latest book. In saying all of this, I am glad I bought Simply Thrilled. It has a number of very funny and outrageous tales although whether they are true or not is another matter. It ends at the point in time when Alan Horne gets the opportunity to set up Swamplands as part of the London Records empire. How that came about is one of the best and loveliest stories in the entire book….but to say anything more would be to spoil things.
————-
So, have I changed my opinion much?
In some ways, no, as I still think the book was a missed opportunity, but I will temper that by acknowledging my expectations were probably way too high. Actually, there’s no probably about it.
But eleven years on, I re-read the book from a slightly different perspective, based on what I think is my having a better understanding as to why Alan Horne would want to seek to keep as much control of the narrative as possible, and in achieving this, it becomes inevitable that his personality gets stamped all over its contents.
I compared my thought process on this book with how I felt, and still feel, about Tony Wilson‘s 24 Hour Party People, which was published in 2002.
Tony’s take on the Factory Records story is a wonderful read, but much of its contents have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, all the more so after reading the memoirs of so many others who were part of the scene. I knew back in 2002 that Tony’s book wasn’t to be taken as the definitive tale of the times – indeed, he even said as much when I went along to a book reading/signing event in Glasgow when it was published – so I really should have, a few years later, taken the same approach with Simon Goddard’s book….or should I say Simon Goddard and Alan Horne’s book, as I’m now convinced it was a joint effort, but one of the authors would rather not have his name attached to it.
I’m sure all of us, as music fans, have dismissed albums on listening to them on their release, only to come back after a period of time and reassess things. I’m happy enough to do likewise with this book. It’s not as much of a let-down as I felt all those years ago, and I was glad to give it a fresh read. But I still don’t think it would find a place in my rundown of the best 100 books sitting on the shelves here in Villain Towers.
mp3 : Orange Juice – Poor Old Soul
Back with a vengeance much in vogue
My friend, the harlequin, the rogue
Befriending the meek
His tongue tucked firmly in his cheek
The band’s final single on Postcard….and, allegedly, written about Alan Horne.
Biff Bang Pow!, from London, were active between 1983 and 1991 during which time there were six singles and six albums released on Creation Records with one further release on the Caff Corporation. The amount of activity on Creation is very much down to the involvement of Alan McGee who was the singer and guitarist with Biff Bang Pow!. And yes, you are remembering correctly, McGee, as a performer, was mentioned in an earlier part of this series when Revolving Paint Dream were featured, another of the bands on Creation.
The Creation singles were released in February ’84, June ’84, March ’86, November ’86, February ’87 and February ’88, while the Caff Corporation release, which was a split single with The Times, was released in November 1990. The debut album was 1985, followed by two in 1987, and one in each of 1988, 1990 and 1991.
mp3: Love’s Going Out Of Fashion – Biff Bang Pow!
Track 12, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
It was originally recorded for the band’s second album, The Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel, which came out in 1987.
The Brilliant Corners, from Bristol, were active between 1984 and 1993 during which time there were nine singles, two EPs/mini-albums and five albums, all but one of which were released either on SS20 Records (up to 1987) or McQueen Records (1998 onwards), both of which were owned by the band.
mp3: Meet Me On Tuesdays – The Brilliant Corners
Track 12, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
This was the lead track on the Fruit Machine EP, released on SS20 in 1986.
The Brilliant Corners were a band I only discovered very belatedly thanks to their songs being included on a number of compilations I’ve brought over the years. It all led to me picking up a copy of Heart On Your Sleeve (A Decade In Pop 1983-1993), a 2CD release on Cherry Red Records back in 2013 which compiles 48 of the band’s very best recordings, and it’s an absolute gem.
The previous appearance from Pop Will Eat Itself involved the recollection of Black Country Chainsaw Massacre, a track from their debut EP as included on the CD86 release. It actually turns out that the track included on the C86 boxset predates the debut EP:-
mp3: Mesmerized – Pop Will Eat Itself
Track 8, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.
This was one of five tunes on Poppies Say Grrr!, an EP/single which was self-released, and according to wiki, was made available for sale at Martin Newsagents in Stourbridge High Street as well as from the home of one of the band. It’s all of 88 seconds long.
That Petrol Emotion may have been based in London, but they were a band formed by musicians from Northern Ireland with a vocalist from Seattle in the USA. They would release sixteen singles and five albums between 1985 and 1994 on a variety of indie labels, as well as major labels in the shape of Polydor and Virgin. Oh, and six of the singles did breach the Top 75 while their most successful album reached #30.
The most famous members of the band were brothers John and Damien O’Neill who had been in The Undertones. Their debut single, Keen, came out on The Pink Label in July 1985 and this was followed up in September 1985 by V2 which came out on their own Noiseannoys label. They were then signed by London-based Demon Records and 1986 saw the release of two singles and a debut album.
mp3: Mine – That Petrol Emotion
Track 21, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
It had originally been a b-side on the 12″ release of It’s A Good Thing, their debut effort for Demon, released in April 1986.
The stay with Demon was a short one, and they were signed to Polydor come 1987 which was when the album Babble went to #30 in May. It was after this that John O’Neill left the band, but it didn’t stop Virgin Records wanting to sign them to a longer deal, and TPE were with that label from 1988-91 which saw two albums and seven singles. After being dropped by Virgin, the band again set up a label of its own, Koogat, on which two albums and an album were released in 1993 before the band decided to call it a day.
I wouldn’t blame you if you started asking for refunds from this place as once again I’m going down the lazy route and delivering a repeat. This time from 22 December 2016.
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Nobody paid all that much attention to the three solo albums released by Graham Coxon between 1998 and 2001 while he was still part of Blur. To be fair, none of the records were remotely commercial or all that accessible and could easily be dismissed as vanity projects to while away the time in between recording and touring with his ‘mates’.
After he unexpectedly and rather messily left the band in 2002 he seemed to make more of an effort to write and record material that would be more easily enjoyed as exemplified by the release of Happiness In Magazines in May 2004.
The album was preceded by the release of two excellent singles – Freakin’ Out and Bittersweet Bundle of Misery. The former, with its guitar work eerily reminiscent of the late Stuart Adamson mixed in with a touch of J Mascis, actually made a little bit of history as it charted solely on the basis of sales of a limited 7″ release (just 5000 copies were pressed) in an era when single sales were predominantly via CDs. The latter was more Blur-like than any of his ‘mates’ had been churning out – it was almost as if he’d taken the formula that had made Coffee And TV such a hit and decided to replicate it – and it took him to the giddy heights of #22 in the singles chart.
The album’s release was met largely with positive reviews – many made the point that him reuniting with producer Stephen Street had clearly paid dividends in that the record was a return to stylish and classy guitar music full of catchy and occasionally ambitious tunes. It was an album that would lead to him being named as Best Solo Artist in 2005 by NME.
Freakin’ Out was proving to be the most popular song on the album and was being best received during the live shows which accompanied its promotion and so the decision was taken to re-issue it as a single in October 2004, this time across a multitude of formats and as a double-A release with All Over Me, a ballad from the LP that brought to mind many of his Britpop contemporaries and highlighted that it wasn’t just Damon Albarn who could pen the tear-jerkers. This time round the single hit #19 and gave him his highest ever chart placing.
mp3 : Graham Coxan – Freakin’ Out
mp3 : Graham Coxon – All Over Me
The bonus track on the CD was a previously unreleased track and while it has some great guitar work, it does kind of highlight Graham’s limited vocal abilities.
mp3 : Graham Coxon – Singing In The Morning
But listen closely to one of the verses that is repeated a few times during the song, and you’ll hear a magnificent two fingers to the other members of Blur for more or less giving him the sack a couple of years previously:-
Get rid of me
And they’re kicking my arse
But they gotta because
They suck
Enjoy.
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#42: Knowledge : Edwyn Collins
The way the music industry has changed so much in recent times can be exemplified by the way Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation, the tenth studio album to be released by Edwyn Collins, was promoted.
There was an advance single:-
mp3: Edwyn Collins – Knowledge
It never came out in any physical format but was posted to various digital and streaming platforms on 15 January 2025, while a beautiful and rather moving video was made available via Edwyn’s YouTube page. The video was also used by a number of on-line publications to highlight that a new album was forthcoming.
The album came out on AED Records on 14 March. Sales wise, both in terms of the number of physical copies sold on vinyl/CD or downloads via the usual places out there, it didn’t trouble too many charts, although it was listed at #7 in the UK Independent Albums Chart and #8 in the Scottish Albums Chart. The handful of reviews were unanimously in praise of the songs and music, with this, from Phil Mondegrien in The Guardian, being atypical.
Recorded at his home studio in Helmsdale in north Scotland with musicians including his son, William, there is a sense that Edwyn Collins’s 10th solo album – and his fifth since two life-changing strokes in 2005 – is about homecoming, coming full circle, marking the end of a journey. Quite apart from the explicit references to the village in which he lives on The Bridge Hotel, he sings elsewhere of “winding my way back home”.
There’s also a sense of reckoning. The title track alludes to the speech problems caused by his ill health: “Back when the words came easily/ I had the answer to everything”, something also touched upon on Knowledge. Indeed, his lyrics are equally thoughtful and thought-provoking throughout, the musicianship sensitive and never seizing the spotlight from his still distinctive baritone. Paper Planes and It Must Be Real are particularly beautifully realised; the rousing The Heart Is a Foolish Little Thing conceals rueful and tender sentiments. Collins has just announced a farewell tour for the autumn. One has to hope this compassionate, empathetic record is not his farewell album too.
I’ve a feeling that Edwyn is going to ease his way into retirement – he is after all just a month short of his 67th birthday. But then again, he’s always had a huge work ethic, and I’m quite sure he still retains a creative spark, so who can say?
There were two further videos made for songs on this album
And with that, this series comes to an end.
It’s one I’ve particularly enjoyed writing given that the songs featured harked back initially to my teenage years, before following me through my student days and then decades of gainful employment, and finally into an age when I now look forward to all-seated gigs above all else.
Thanks for all your comments and supportive words.
Moonsoup have been part of the DIY indie-scene in Glasgow for quite a number of years, initially as a three-piece back in 2018 with Niamh Baker on guitar and vocals, Melissa Brisbane on drums and Craig Ferrie on bass.
Over the years, there have been a few additions and departures, and at times Niamh has used the name when writing, recording and performing as a solo artist. I don’t know all that much about them, although I’m sure I did see them play live at least once in the pre-COVID era. According to their social media activities, they were still very much on the go, in terms of performing, in the summer of 2025.
mp3: Moonsoup – Indecisive Slut Bitch
The title might suggest otherwise, but this is a delightful piece of indie-pop. It was released back in 2019 as part of a five-song EP by the much missed Olive Grove Records.
Divorces are sad, for the most part, so there was an air of melancholy about FF19, which showcased bands with married members whose relationships ended. Let’s cheer up a bit with this next set, which features band members that managed to keep it together.
Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips (m. 2007). Luna formed in 1991 after the split of Galaxie 500, “the best band you’ve never heard of.” Britta joined in 1997 and married the frontman ten years later. Luna hasn’t released too much music lately, but the pair also record and perform as a duo, in addition to scoring soundtracks like The Squid and the Whale.
Erick Purkhiser picked up Kristy Wallace (m. 1972) while she was hitchhiking in Sacramento, where they were both attending college. He became Lux Interior and she Poison Ivy Rorschach, and they were married for 37 years until his sad passing in 2009.
Genius of Love – Tom Tom Club.
Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz (m. 1977) met David Byrne at RISD in the early 70’s. At the height of the CB’s legends’ career they formed the Tom Tom Club, with Tina’s sisters (the “Sweetbreaths”) singing back up. It’ll be fifty years for the rhythm section in 2027.
Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert (m. 1994). Gillian and her girlfriends saw Siouxsie and the Banshees on television and immediately formed the Inadequates, who rehearsed next door to Joy Division in Manchester. She sometimes filled in on guitar for Ian or Bernard during gigs, and so the boys knew who to call when they formed New Order. The pair released albums as The Other Two after Hooky and Barney released their own records.
Cut From the Cloth – The Evens.
Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina (m. 1990s?). What do you do when the seminal straight edge hardcore band you formed as a teenager and the seminal post-hardcore band you formed in your 20’s break up? You calm the fuck down and get married to another musician is what. In 2001, after Minor Threat and Fugazi ran their courses, Ian MacKaye formed The Evens with Amy Faria. That act has been a little quiet lately, but the pair are active in Coriky, including bassist Joe Lally.
Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel (m. 2001). After the first two of their three daughters were born, Gardner ran a blog called Band on the Diaper Run about touring life on the road with two little kids.
Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan (m. 1987). The indie-est of indie bands was formed in 1984 and has had the same lineup since James McNew joined on bass in 1991. Before McNew came aboard, YLT had no less than 13 bassists, including brief stints by Clint Conley (Mission of Burma), Chris Stamey (the dB’s), Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu), and Robert Vickers (Go-Betweens).
Here’s Where the Story Ends – Sundays.
Harriet Wheeler and David Gavurin (m. 1990s?) met at university in Bristol. They released three great albums as The Sundays, then packed it in after 1997’s Static and Silence. They reportedly continued to record music while they raised their kids, but nothing’s been released in almost 20 years.
The Only Living Boy In New York – Everything But The Girl.
Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt (m. 2009). EBTG’s couple have been together since meeting in 1982. They released a bunch of great albums, took a 20+ year hiatus to raise their family, and came back to release Fuse in 2023. Thorn’s memoir, Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be a Pop Star, recounts it all and is well worth a read.
Inept Apollo – Nation of Language.
Ian Richard Devaney and Aidan Noell (m. 2018). The story goes that Devaney was inspired to start a synthpop band after hearing ‘Electricity’ by OMD. Since forming in 2016, the group have released four impressive albums, including last year’s Dance Called Memory, from which this single was taken
Other bands with married couples to check out: The Handsome Family, Low, Sylvan Esso, Tennis, The Besnard Lakes, Flogging Molly, and probably others I forgot about or never learned of.
Bonus tracks:
19 January 2014. This came from The Robster, long-time and hugely appreciated friend of the blog who last year treated us to an impeccable series on the singles released by Super Furry Animals, and who occasionally posts over at his own place, Is This The Life?
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When I started getting into indie music back in the mid-late 80s, I bought some of those Indie Top 20 compilation albums. One of them included ‘Is This The Life’ by Cardiacs. It stood out as a highlight of that particular record and got me interested enough to buy their album.
I had no idea who they were, that they had been going for a decade, or that ‘Is This The Life’ had already been released twice before – on the cassette-only albums ‘Toy World’ and ‘The Seaside’. All I knew was that I loved their sound, and it was one of the coolest songs I’d heard with a sax in it!
The album intrigued me, and it was a fixture on my record deck for months. This was one very strange band, clearly touched by genius but far too odd to ever really gain any support or credibility from the media (as evidenced by the NME banning the very mention of their name).
‘Is This The Life’ was probably the most accessible track on that album; arguably it is one of the most accessible songs in their entire canon. It’s still a really bloody good track to this day, though I did have to wrestle between this one and ‘Dirty Boy’ (from their 1996 masterpiece ‘Sing To God’). ‘Is This The Life’ was the closest they ever came to a hit (it still didn’t make the top 75) and it was the one that introduced me to Tim Smith’s brilliantly bizarre mind.
Sadly, Tim’s illness (he suffered a heart attack and two strokes in 2008) probably means Cardiacs will never work again. At least they have a legacy though. Even if ‘Is This The Life’ had been the only record they ever cut, it would still have been worth it.
mp3 : The Cardiacs – Is This The Life (1981, from the ‘Toy World cassette’)
mp3 : The Cardiacs – Is This The Life (1988. single version)
mp3 : The Cardiacs – Is This The Life (1995. live version from ‘All That Glitters’)
Video available to view right here.
I’m sure most of you know that the bloke pictured above is the late Andrew Weatherall, described in a rather understated way by wiki as an English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. He was, as those who know and love his work will testify, much more than that.
Adam, over at Bagging Area, must be one of the world’s biggest experts on all things Weatherall. Let’s put it this way, if he went on the TV quiz show Mastermind, he’d more than likely achieve a perfect score with no passes.
Adam, thanks to the world of blogging, has become a very dear friend in recent years. We’ve met a few times in Manchester, and he was, of course, part of the never-to-be-forgotten Bloggers Weekend here in Glasgow back in May 2017 when a number of music fans from round these parts were joined by like-minded souls from America, Germany and England. And the reason I’m so really looking forward to the next few days is that Adam will once again be in Glasgow.
A return visit has been on the cards for quite some time, but the stars, until now, never quite managed to fully align. But he’s getting on a train this morning and all being well, he’ll be here early in the afternoon for what will be something of a whirlwind 48 hours.
The blank canvas for the visit had to be filled in a wee bit after the results of the World Cup games last weekend, as tonight will see England play Argentina for a place in the final and there’s no way Adam could miss watching that. It does mean that the gathering of a slightly bigger group, including what hopefully will be a couple of old friends who have been inactive on the blogging front for a while, along with someone who missed out in 2017 but is determined to be here this time, will be hooking up tomorrow night, and in a pub where Mr Weatherall’s portrait proudly hangs. What’s not to like?
mp3: My Bloody Valentine – Soon (The Andrew Weatherall remix)
mp3: James – Come Home (Weatherall Remix)
mp3: Tracey Thorn (feat. Corinne Bailey Ray) – Sister (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
mp3: Steve Mason – Boys Outside (Andrew Weatherall Dub 1)
mp3: EnglandNewOrder – World In Motion (No Alla Violenza Mix)
The Primitives, from Coventry, were first active between 1984 and 1992, before reforming in 2009.
The initial singles/EPs, the first of which, Thru The Flowers, came out in early 1986, were released on their own label, Lazy Records. This would eventually change in late 1987, when they signed the label over to RCA Records, which released the band’s material from then until their split.
Track 3, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
One of four songs that made up the debut EP. The most noticeable thing is that the lead vocal is not taken by Tracy Tracy, but is delivered by guitarist and main songwriter Paul Court. It’s one of those songs that I’m always tempted to play and ask folk to identify the band….I would think only the hardcore fans would get it right.
As the Primitives will return later in the series, I’ll leave the rest of their narrative until then.
Last time The Mighty Lemon Drops featured in this series, the narrative took us up to the point in October 1986 when their debut album, Happy Head was released by Blue Guitar/Chrysalis in the UK while Sire Records were looking after their interests in the USA
1987/88 saw three further singles and the release of a second studio album. 1989 saw two singles and an album, albeit these were solely on Chrysalis as the Blue Guitar imprint had been closed down. Nothing was selling well, and unsurprisingly the band was dropped after the third album. But Sire Records kept faith, and this led to two further albums and various supporting singles via that label being released in 1991 and 1992, with everything being made readily available in their home market; but still there was a severe lack of commercial success. In 1992, the towel was thrown-in, albeit there would be a live album released vis the Newcastle-based Overground Records in 1993, while in 1997 Chrysalis would issue Rollercoaster: The Best Of 1986 – 1989 on CD only, probably in the hope that fans who had all the old vinyl, but possibly nothing to play it on, would shell out.
And with that, we will now go back in time:-
mp3: Like An Angel – The Mighty Lemon Drops
Track 22, Disc 2 of CD86.
The debut single from 1985, released on Dreamworld Records. The one which began all the fuss. A fuss that in the end never delivered much, but I do wonder just how much money was spent on The Mighty Lemon Drops by various labels over the years.
The Weather Prophets, from London, were active between 1985 and 1988. They emerged after the break-up of The Loft (who will, I promise, feature eventually in this series), and were immediately signed by Creation Records. There were two singles for the label in 1986.
mp3: The Weather Prophets – Like Frankie Lymon
Track 15, Disc 1 of CD86.
Bob Stanley, who curated CD86, made something of a strange decision to go with a b-side from the 12″ release of the debut single. It’s probably a lot to do with his personal taste, but Like Frankie Lymon is not at all typical of the music that The Weather Prophets were best known for. It’s not that it’s a bad song, but it is far slower and more gentle than most of the band’s other tunes.
As with The Primitives, I’ll return to the extended story of the band when they make a second appearance later on.
One Thousand Violins, from Sheffield, were active between 1985 and 1989 during which time there were seven singles and three albums released across a number of different indie labels.
They were one of the first bands signed by Dan Treacy of The Television Personalities to his Dreamworld Records, with their debut single, Halcyon Days, on 12″ only, becoming just the second record to be issued by the label back in 1985.
mp3: One Thousand Violins – Like One Thousand Violins
Track 8, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
One of the band’s best known tracks, despite it being a b-side. It was, in fact, so popular that it got voted in at #49 in John Peel‘s Festive 50 at the end of 1985.
One Thousand Violins had some contractual flexibility with Dreamworld and a number of their early releases, including a mini-album in 1986, the splendidly named Please Don’t Sandblast My House! came out on Constrictor Records which was based in Dortmund in Germany. Throughout 1987, singles and albums would be released on both labels, and then in 1988 the band made a move to London-based Immaculate Records, for whom there would be two singles and one album before the band decided to break-up.
So……myself and Aldo having had an unforgettable few days in Ireland, visiting and enjoying watering holes in Cork, Cobh, Galway, Westport, Newport and Kilmeena, find ourselves in Ballyhaunis where we are to catch the bus to Knock Airport for the Monday evening flight back to Edinburgh. We have a couple of hours to kill so we head to a very quiet pub down a side street….there’s only the barmaid and one other customer inside. The horse racing is on the television, but there’s also some audio courtesy of some sort of local radio station.
A very upbeat tune comes on. I listen in and think to myself…….’ sure that that would be a great one for the long dormant series on the blog of songs making great stories.’ Thankfully I have the Shazam app on the phone to tell me the name of the song and the group involved.
Here’s an edit from wiki……
The 2 Johnnies are an Irish comedy duo, consisting of Jonathon “Johnny Smacks” McMahon and John “Johnny B” O’Brien, from County Tipperary. They are known for their The 2 Johnnies podcast, YouTube channel, live shows and music.
Their podcast tops the Irish charts with listenership of over 500,000 listeners per week. They have performed live shows in the 3 Arena, the UK, US and Australia. The 2 Johnnies have approximately 500,000 followers on Instagram with comparable numbers on TikTok and Facebook.
Me? Never heard of them before sitting in the Ballyhaunis pub and listening to what turned out to be the opening track of Small Town Heroes, their debut album which went to #1 in Ireland on its release in May 2024.
mp3: The 2 Johnnies – The Gaa, The Ska, The ‘Ra
I met her above in college in Dublin
She was studying arts or history or something
I said ‘D’you wanna go for something to eat’
We’d a flake of pints on Camden Street
She was pure sound, gorgeous & curvy
She knew how to wear that fresher’s jersey
She sang The Rattlin Bog on the counter of the pub
And I knew right then, I’d fell in love
She said ‘I’ll tell you something ’bout me, don’t judge my family’
Sure, everyone’s people’s half mad
yours couldn’t be that bad
She likes the GAA, the ska, I think her Da’s in the ‘Ra
Cos he’s a big scary fucker from South Armagh
Ah boys, the scenes, the girl of my dreams
But I’m terrified of her family
2 out of 3 ain’t bad, the Gaa, the Ska & the ‘Ra
I met her father of a Friday evening, he was out in the garden washing diesel
In the shed there was a 12-foot Irish flag and about 12-thousand cartons of fags
‘So what are your intentions with my daughter? Ya better be taking her up that altar’
That night when I took off her bra, I couldn’t get the horn for thinking ‘bout her Da
She likes the GAA, the ska, I think her Da’s in the ‘Ra
Cos he’s a big scary fucker from South Armagh
Ah boys, the scenes, the girl of my dreams
But I’m terrified of her family
2 out of 3 ain’t bad, the Gaa, the Ska & the ‘Ra
She said ‘don’t mess with me boy, I’m from up the north,
I’ve heard all the lines, I’ve seen your sort’
Well, I can compromise if you can,
Wait till I tell her, we’re vegetarian!
Well, we got married in a church in Ardee
There was a few dodgy heads at the ceremony
Now I help her father chopping sticks,
We just don’t talk about politics
She likes the GAA, the ska, I think her Da’s in the ‘Ra
Cos he’s a big scary fucker from South Armagh
Ah boys, the scenes, the girl of my dreams
But I’m terrified of her family
2 out of 3 ain’t bad, the Gaa, the Ska & the ‘Ra
I think it’s fair to say that the American pop-punk of the late 90s/early 00’s so beloved by teens made its way across the Atlantic……
#41: It’s All About You : Edwyn Collins b/w Sometimes Always Never : Edwyn Collins & Sean Reed (AED Records, AEDEC27, 2019)
And now to a piece of vinyl that, until pulling this series together, I never even knew existed.
Last week’s offering mentioned that Outside, as a one-song promo CD, had been the track used to promote the ninth studio album, Badbea. Turns out that another of its tracks was later made available on 7″ vinyl:-
mp3: Edwyn Collins – It’s All About You
The opening song on Badbea, and one that has since become a staple of the live shows since 2019. It was a double-A side, but the other track wasn’t one I was aware of:-
mp3: Edwyn Collins & Sean Reed – Sometimes Always Never
From wiki:-
Sometimes Always Never is a 2018 British comedy-drama film directed by Carl Hunter and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, starring Bill Nighy, Sam Riley, and Jenny Agutter.
I’m not much of a film fan, and this is one that completely passed me by. The soundtrack was written by Sean and Edwyn, and was released on AED Records in 2019 as a 22-track album, with, as would be expected, the vast majority being instrumental offerings.
Edwyn has since recorded and released a tenth studio album, Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation, released to great critical acclaim in March 2025, and the final part of this particular series next Sunday will look at a few of its songs.
Montjuic, aside from being a well-trodden part of the tourist trail in Barcelona, is the name adopted by two veterans of the Glasgow music scene for a collaboration that resulted in a debut album appearing in late 2025.
James Hackett is the lead singer of The Orchids, an indie-guitar band who first came to prominence in the mid-late 80s, with their initial singles and albums being on the legendary label, Sarah Records.
Ian Carmichael is a producer of note, who worked with The Orchids from near enough the outset, before building and opening his own studio in Glasgow in the late 80s and then branching out as a writer and performer with One Dove, whose sole album Morning White Dove went Top 30 in 1993 and spawned a fabulous single, White Love, that has been featured a few times on the blog. He would also become a friend of Andrew Weatherall, with who he would often collaborate.
James and Ian have, obviously, known each other and worked closely together for decades, but was only during the COVID lockdown that they began to work on the idea of being a duo, deciding to name themselves after the hill in Barcelona, writing and recording remotely.
Taken from Things Must Change, a 14-track album, was released on Last Night From Glasgow Records last September.
My introduction to The Communards came via seeing them perform on the TV show The Tube, which went out on Friday evenings on Channel 4 between 5.30 and 7pm. This would have been November 1985, a few months just after I’d left university and moved to live in Edinburgh, where I’d started working in July 1985. It wasn’t a great paying job, and while the flat I was living in was shared with two others, the rent I was paying didn’t leave too much to live off, and I hadn’t bought the NME or any other music papers for a while. As such, I’d missed that Jimmy Somerville had now formed a new band, one in which he would be signing with the music coming from the classically trained Richard Coles.
The debut single, You Are My World, may well have been getting played on the radio, but I certainly never heard it any evening I had it switched on. The live performance on the telly was a helluva way to learn about the duo and the song.
I’ve always been a sucker for strings on pop songs, so this was right up my street. Jimmy’s falsetto has long been one of the wonders of the 80s pop scene, and to hear him hit, and maintain, many of those notes was joyous. If nothing else, got to 3:29 of the clip and watch the next ten seconds – the smile that breaks out over Jimmy’s face as he realises he’s nailed the performance is a fabulous TV moment.
I went out and bought the single the next day from HMV on Princes Street in Edinburgh, which is where I learned it was already in the charts, as the shop had the ‘top’ singles laid out in racks in accordance with the chart position in any particular week. Looking up the chart history, You Are My World would have been sitting at #30, which is where, criminally, it peaked.
mp3: The Communards – You Are My World
There were two tracks on the b-side. The first was a bitter-sweet ballad bemoaning what Thatcher and her cronies were doing to the country:-
mp3: The Communards – Breadline Britain
The other was a cover, a big band song from the 1940s on which Doris Day had first performed the lead vocal, while a version from Ella Fitzgerald would follow a couple of years later:-
mp3: The Communards – Sentimental Journey
The Communards would, in due course, become ridiculously successful for a short time, when their take on Don’t Leave Me This Way spent four weeks at #1 in September 1986.
‘GIGS FROM YESTERYEAR, WHEN I WAS YOUNG + PRETTY AS A PICTURE’
Dear friends,
1984 didn’t start nicely for me. I was 15 ½ and I thought The Clash were the best thing since sliced bread (still do in a way, but less said about that the better). No internet, of course, all you had were UK music papers you’d get at the station in town (the town being 40 kilometres away from where I lived) plus a German one, Spex, a bit easier available. Now, rumour had it, presumably in one of those papers, that The Clash would play the Philipshalle in Düsseldorf (100 kilometers away) in February and understandably my mate Arthur and me were electrified – little did we know about Mick Jones having been sacked and The Clash MK II being by and large a different cup of tea in comparison to their previous output which we had in our record collection.
So we did our utmost to convince our parents to get permission to attend said gig. We would have gone there by bicycle, even bloody walked there, so desperate were we to see The Clash – we would literally have done everything! We were not in the best of positions to argue, it must be said, because both of us had to stay down this year in school – so all beggary was in vain, our parents just laughed and told us to bugger off, basically.
And that’s it – I did not see The Clash then, and from a semi-psychological point of view this might be one reason why I became the frustrated old fart that I am now, perhaps.
But either way, here comes the link to Little Loser’s choice of today: information-wise nothing much had changed in the eight years which had passed, still no internet, still the same music papers. And another rumour: apparently The Pogues’ Shane McGowan has finally completely lost his head, so much so that The Pogues had recruited Joe Strummer to take over his vocal duties. And who were to play this year’s Bizarre Festival? Right, The Pogues were … so I desperately tried to strum up a friend to come along with me. Bizarre had re-located the venue in 1992 and Alsdorf was just 40 kilometres away, which of course was convenient. Entry was not convenient though: 53,- Deutschmarks, which was a bit steep, even in those days. But hey, it was The Clash, at least a quarter of them, so off we went!
Also, in order to tell the whole truth: not only Joe Strummer was supposed to be there, The Ramones were as well – but more importantly also a stunning young girl I had a total crush on back then, Celia. Certain looks had already been exchanged in the local pub between her and me previously and when having been in conversation with her, I always had the feeling that she fancied me as well.
Right, convincing my mate to come along with me plus getting hold of sufficient cash took quite some time, means we only got there early in the afternoon. So we missed some of the ‘earlier’ bands, if memory serves correctly I saw Blur, but for the life of me I cannot remember whether I saw Kirsty MacColl or not. A shame if I didn’t, of course, in hindsight. I definitely saw Carter USM (excellent) and The Ramones (don’t ask me why they weren’t even mentioned on the ticket) – I remember that some pogoing idiots destroyed parts of the stage whilst they played. I think their set was brutally brief because of this (six tunes only plus C.J. injured), but detailed memory has left me there
This, friends, might have something to do with the fact that it hadn’t taken me long to find Celia in the crowd and, believe it or not, my assumption was correct: she liked me as well, it turned out. A lot, in fact. So maybe I cannot tell too much about the bands and their sets because I spent too much time on kissing & caressing … it certainly distracted me from the music, that’s for sure!
Fun fact: Alsdorf is just 5 minutes away from where I now live and the venue, which was a hilly park near to a big pond, had been transmogrified into a petting zoo in the late 90s. So when Little Loser was little, we went there quite often – and whenever he would caress a goat or whatever, I stood there and smiled sheepishly whilst recalling my own caressing actions at the very same place some 20 years before …
So, to cut a long story short: today – with the benefit of hindsight – we all know now that Joe Strummer handled lead vocals for the Pogues’ 1992 tours across Australia, Japan, and North America. But by the spring of 1992, he left the band. Longtime tin-whistle player and founding member Spider Stacy then took over as the permanent lead vocalist. The Bizarre Festival, let me remind you, took place in June …
So shamefully I never got to see any member of The Clash in all of my life. On the plus side, Celia and me left the festival as a couple and were together for nearly a year, so there you are … not too much of a shabby day altogether, right?
Here’s some music, tracks specifically chosen to fit the dead romantic atmosphere:
Carter USM – ‘Lean On Me I Won’t Fall Over’ (live @ Reading ’94)
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – ‘Happy’ (live JB’s, Dudley ’02)
Blur – ‘It Could Be You’ (live Budokan, Tokyo ’95)
Slowdive – ‘Celia’s Dream’ (’91)
Ramones – ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ (live Roxy, Hollywood ’76)
I could of course have killed two birds with a stone and go for the well-known version of ‘Fairytale’, “the Christmas one”, if you like – featuring Kirsty. But no, instead:
Kirsty McColl – ‘There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis’ (’81)
Pogues – ‘Fairytale Of New York’ (early version (from ’86), with Cait O’Riordan on vocals and different lyrics: absolutely ace!)
Enjoy,
mp3: Various – I’m Every Woman (mix tape)
Janet Jackson – Control
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) – Whitney Houston
Just Be Good To Me – S.O.S. Band
Somebody Else’s Guy – Jocelyn Brown
I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down – Anne Peebles
California Soul – Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell
Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don’t Tease Me) – Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells
Tyrone (live) – Erykah Badu
You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette
Shitlist – L7
Celebrity Skin – Hole
Hollywood (French Soller remix) – Marina and The Diamonds
Videogames (Omid 16B remix) – Lana Del Ray
I Wish I Didn’t Miss You – Angie Stone
This Used To Be My Playground – Madonna
No Regrets – Randy Crawford with Joe Sample
The debut EP that really isn’t?
It was Pages 121-122 of Grant McPhee‘s hugely enjoyable book Postcards From Scotland : Scottish Independent Music 1983-1995 when I fully learned the story behind the debut EP by The Soup Dragons.
On 7 December 1985, the band recorded their first 7″ single, and it was to be for the Bristol-based Subway Organisation. The band went into an Edinburgh studio and recorded three songs, with a fourth added later on in Glasgow. Here’s what Sean Dickson, the lead singer with the band, told Grant McPhee:-
“We did a four-track EP called The Sun Is In The Sky, and it shows you how naive we were because you don’t know things like that, on a 7″ record…..if you have a certain amount of time on a 7” inch single it deteriorates the quality….so basically the EP didn’t sound that great, it sounded awful when it got pressed.
And the cover, the Letraset had slipped as it went to the printer so the cover was just a complete dog’s dinner.
And I remember us all sitting there nearly crying, you know, put it on, it sounded like shit and the cover looked like shit and so we were ‘Shit, what do we do? So we pulled it, much to the hatred of Martin (Whitehead) that ran the Subway Organisation, but you know, a lot of gratitude to him that they actually did agree to it then.”
The EP, while never officially being released, did make it into a few shops, which is how you can still come across copies on the second-hand market today.
mp3: The Soup Dragons – Quite Content
mp3: The Soup Dragons – Swirling Round The Garden With You
mp3: The Soup Dragons – Fair’s Fair
mp3: The Soup Dragons – Not For Humbert
A short while later, the Whole Wide World EP would be recorded and in due course be accepted more widely as the debut, one which went to #2 in the UK indie charts and sold more than enough copies to make up the costs involved with the withdrawn single.
This is a direct copy of a post dating back to May 2015, one which attracted a fair bit of positive dialogue in the comments section.
Today I’m featuring a single that I picked up a few years ago in a charity shop for the princely sum of 25p.
mp3 : Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls – Dream Sequence I
mp3 : Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls – Dream Sequence II
Pauline Murray was one of the first girls to come out of the punk movement. She was just 18 years of age when she came to prominence as lead singer with Penetration, whose debut single from November 1977 is a true landmark effort:-
mp3 : Penetration – Don’t Dictate
Sorry, I couldn’t resist including that – a rare example of a single from punk era that has just not lost any of its appeal the best part of 40 almost 50 years on.
Penetration split up in 1980 after just two albums and five singles. Pauline was just 22 years of age at the time, and her next project was with the aforementioned The Invisible Girls who were in fact the backing band for the Salford poet John Cooper Clarke. The new combo released a self-titled album in 1980, a piece of work that was critically acclaimed but didn’t sell all that well.
It was a record that came out on Illusive Records which was a subsidiary of RSO Records which, if memory was the biggest label in the world at the end of the 70s as it was home to The Bee Gees as well as being the label for the soundtrack to Grease.
But it would have been perfectly at home, and indeed a better fit, if it had been on Factory Records as it had production from Martin Hannett (who also played on the record) and a sleeve by Peter Saville, both of whom of course are central characters in the rise and fall of the best label to ever come out of Manchester. Oh and the drummer was John Maher of Buzzcocks….
I was delighted to grab a copy of the single as I used to have a copy of the subsequent self-titled Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls debut album but as I’ve not seen it in the cupboard for years so I can only assume that I loaned it to someone and forgot to ask for it back. What I do remember is that it was a record slightly ahead of its time, relying on the then largely unfamiliar sound of synthesisers with Pauline’s vocals often being well back in the mix as if they were an instrument. It really is one of the great lost albums of the era (literally in my case…..).
I do see that last year (2014) the album was re-released with a bonus disc of Peel Sessions, remixes and live versions. I might well go and track it down….or I might go to the online second-hand market for a copy of the vinyl. Either way, it’s on a list of things to do.
PS – I did later track down the 2014 re-release……but not on vinyl!
#40: Outside : Edwyn Collins (AED Records, AEDEC26, 2019)
There was a six-year gap between the eighth and ninth studio albums, with Badbea being released in March 2019.
As was mentioned last week, Edwyn had devoted a great deal of time and energy to the documentary film The Possibilities Are Endless, as well as its accompanying soundtrack album. There was also the not insignificant step of Edwyn and his family making a move out of London and to the village of Helmsdale in the far north of Scotland, a move that would also involve Edwyn building a brand-new studio.
Badbea was the first record to be made in the new facility at Helmsdale. In an era when going making the effort to physically produce an actual single on vinyl was really more bother than it was worth, then it can be no surprise that the album was trailed only by a promo CD containing one song
A real throwback. A new-wave song sound and texture that comes in at under two minutes in length. It was 1977 all over again. A truly wonderful surprise that has proven to be one of my favourites of all his singles.
Was it a precursor to an entirely new direction via this entirely new album? Well….yes and no.
Badbea contained 12 songs, but only Outside was a punk thrash. Many of the other songs were a continuation of the sounds on Losing Sleep back in 2010 and Understated in 2013, but there were also some songs that were wholly nostalgic in nature, with perhaps the new surroundings stirring up memories that at one point in time had probably been totally forgotten in the wake of his illnesses. Some of these were ballads, but on the autobiographical ‘Glasgow to London’ we find a song that is a synth-led mid-tempo dance track that’s just the perfect tempo for those of us on the cusp of (or indeed, already in receipt of) our bus passes.
mp3: Edwyn Collins – Glasgow to London
Long ago back in Glasgow
Ambition drove my life
Now I note I must admit
I couldn’t give a fuck
I’m on that train
Glasgow to London
I’m on that train
Glasgow to London
It’s in the past
On the streets the couple blames
The fruit play fetch, the market stalls
In the 80’s, wild and free
Herring round the town
I’m on that train
Glasgow to London
I’m on that train
Glasgow to London
It’s in the past
Back to reality
Back to the grind
Look at the state of me
But I don’t mind
I don’t mind
I really thought it would have made for the next ‘single’ to push the album, but I was wrong.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 