BLOWS ME AWAY EVERY SINGLE TIME

Someone on Discogs described this 1990 single as having the voice of an avenging angel having a bad day and guitar chords like a firing squad.

I wish I could sum up songs as brilliantly as that.

The only reason this never made my 45 45s at 45 countdown all those years ago is that I missed out on it when it was originally released.  My first exposure came via an end of the year round-up on some late evening show on Radio 1.  I bought the CD single the next time I was in a shop and paid almost £5 for the privilege.

Since rekindling my love for vinyl I’ve got my grubby hands on bits of plastic both here and over in Canada.  This is a record that should be in every music fan’s collection:-

mp3 : Fatima Mansions – Blues For Ceausescu

That’s the version on the 7″ double A side Kitchenware Records single…..it’s lyrical genius with Cathal Coughlan reflecting on how a popular uprising in Romania brought down a dictator yet closer to home in the UK and Ireland nothing changes……..

Flip over to the other song on this double A side effort and you’re in for a laugh:-

mp3 : Fatima Mansions – 13th Century Boy

It is scarily reminiscent of the chart-topping sounds of Stock, Aitken and Waterman until the last 30 seconds or so when it goes weirdly out of tune.  I only wish that somehow Radio 1 had picked up on this as a potential chart-fodder, played it to death on daytime shows and propelled it into the higher echelons of the chart. Imagine the shock of all the kiddies and their mums and dads as they flipped over to hear what other poptastic stuff this new band were capable of and Ceausescu came blaring out of the speakers.

Here’s the even more bizarre offering that was on the 12″ single:-

mp3 : Fatima Mansions – On Suicide Bridge

In 2008 while browsing around a record store in Toronto, I came across a 12″ bit of vinyl on Radioactive Records that included this remix of the single, which isn’t all that great but one for the completists:- :-

mp3 : Fatima Mansions – Blues For Ceaucescu (Only Solution Mix)

Meanwhile, here’s an ever darker and rockier version recorded as a Peel Session – with amended lyrics (including no direct mention of the assassination of Lord Mountbatten at the request of the BBC):-

mp3 : Fatima Mansions – Blues For Ceaucescu (Peel Session)

Immense.