May 2016 – Page 2 – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (12)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THURSDAY 8 MAY 2008

Another entry where few words are really needed.

I’ve loads of Tracey Thorn records, dating back to her time with The Marine Girls, as a solo artist and of course with Everything But The Girl.

But she has never sounded better than on this:-

mp3 : Massive Attack – Protection (LP version)

No point in me repeating what I’ve said previously about dance acts/dance music and how I’m not well-enough qualified to comment with much conviction.

But somehow I’ve never really regarded Massive Attack as a dance-band – particularly when thinking about their best singles. If the one song per artist rule in this chart didn’t exist, then Teardrop would be in here. Both songs are equally gorgeous, haunting, unique and unforgettable. But in my mind, Tracey shades it over Elizabeth Fraser.

Why?

I think its because Protection is one of the best lyrics ever recorded by a female artist – its full of conviction, passion, love and strength without ever falling into the trap of being soppy or maudlin.

There was also a brilliant and imaginative video made for Protection.

Incidentally, strictly rockers would have had no idea that this was due up next in this rundown; it is one of life’s great coincidences that it follows on so soon after his ICA double-header.

They Might Be Giants

BONUS POSTING : THE £20 CHALLENGE (Week Four)

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Tim Badger writes…..

Readers of our blog ‘When You Can’t Remember Anything’ will know that SWC and I have spent a week in Newbury for work purposes. We were called their late on Saturday night and told to drive there for a 10am briefing on the Sunday Morning. It has been a fairly hectic week, with things not really calming down until Thursday. On the Thursday SWC nipped out to buy this week CD from a charity shop, he played it safe choosing an Oxfam store about ten minutes’ walk from where we are working this week.

I’m going to drop the CD surprise early this week, as it becomes relevant to the story below. The CD he chose was ‘Flood’ by They Might Be Giants. It cost £2.50 (SWC blames South East/London Bastard Inflation for ignoring the £2 rule – but we are actually in credit still so I ignore it). Meaning we know have £13.00 in the kitty – its an envelope we haven’t stuffed the money inside a cat or anything.

They Might Be Giants are band I have heard of but never really been into. Weirdly in one of those strange events, SWC and I both saw They Might Be Giants in concert at the same time back in 1994 – at the Reading Festival I was waiting for Echobelly to come on I think – he was probably down the front. I can probably name two of their songs and perhaps hum one or two more.

There is obviously ‘Birdhouse in Your Soul’ but then again I think everyone probably could name that one.

mp3 : They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in your Soul

Birdhouse in Your Soul is the story of a nighlight that is in the shape of a blue canary and is a wonderful song – telling the story of the nightlight and painting a picture of the room its in – talking about its ancestor the lighthouse. Its brilliantly surreal.

SWC gives me the CD after a night out in Newbury with some of our hosts for the week. – a decent Italian meal followed by several beers in a Wetherspoons pub. Football is the main topic of conversation. I keep quiet that I am a Spurs fan, fearing the derision and laughter at Leicester’s recent success.

SWC is in top form though, telling anyone who will listen that he is a Stranraer fan and regularly travels there from Devon to watch ‘The Blue Brazil’ (he is aware that this actually what they call Cowdenbeath but I don’t think he cares). That’s the thing with SWC sometimes I can’t tell if he is winding people up or being serious. Its 449 miles from his house to Stranraer’s ground – yet people are convinced he makes a 1000 mile round trip there every two weeks

The following morning we are going home and SWC asks to put the new CD on – as he wants to listen to it. He then tells me this: –

“This album was once featured in a Steven Spielburg cartoon series. It features Plucky Duck and Hampton Pig playing along in a music video style cartoon to songs off the album. Plucky and Hampton were the offspring of Daffy and Porky if remember the series correctly, I think the songs chosen were…..”

mp3 : They Might Be Giants – Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

and

mp3 : They Might Be Giants – Particle Man

“The second one was about wrestling I think”

I immediately laugh and think he is winding me up and say that its ok, we not in the pub anymore. ‘True Story’ he says. I laugh again. Last night he told me that ciabatta was only invented in 1976. He said this whilst the waiters brought us some ciabattas in the Italian restaurant we were sat at. I think people believed him until he added the ‘In a back room of a dentists just outside Croydon’ bit. Then he laughed. I remind him of this and tell him to stop winding me up. A small argument ensues and for the first time in ages SWC looks generally cross with me.

We listen to the album and I agree with him that it is very good. His mood lightens.

I get home and dump my bags in the lounge and start to sort out my washing, Mrs Badger wanders into the room and see the CD. “Where did you get that?” she say holding it and adding “I used to love this album…”.

I tell her the story of the CD and she says three things: –

“Can I buy SWC the next CD?” – definitely is my answer (he doesn’t know that bit yet).

“I got into They Might Be Giants through Jason, my gay ex boyfriend – they were the first band I ever saw live – well – the second if you count the support band (yes you do, so the first band my wife saw live was indie no hopers Family Gotown, ha ha ha ha ha – sorry where was I). It was at a theatre in London and we went with a chap called Nick, who turned out to be a massive racist and actually stood for election for the BNP. The idiot.”

mp3 : They Might Be Giants – Your Racist Friend

“I once saw an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures which featured two tracks from this album recreated as cartoons, one was about wrestling. It was brilliant.”

“What?” I say – meaning the bit about the cartoons, I had been listening. “You mean it was true – SWC told me that in the car and I thought he was winding me up. Then again he also told me that ciabatta was invented in Croydon in 1976, so you can’t blame me.”

“Its definitely true” she says and after a few clicks on here computer I can actually watch the cartoon, its brilliantly mental, totally bonkers. Sorry SWC.

“Oh” she says and you better read this “Ciabatta is Italian bread invented in 1976 by a baker from Verona in response to the sudden popularity of French baguettes…” ah crap.

The Skinny

Bought – Oxfam Newbury

Price £2.50

Left £13.00

The wife is off on Saturday to buy SWC the next CD. I can barely wait.

mp3 : They Might Be Giants – Lucky Ball and Chain

Tim

JC adds……….Apologies for the lateness of this popular feature. It arrived very late on Thursday night and by the time I picked it up, the Kirsty MacColl post was already up.

Oh and I have this album on vinyl. Always meant to rip the tracks and feature it but never got round to it. Cheers Tim.

Kirsty MacColl

THE BOY DONE GOOD…THE GIRL DONE BETTER

There’s a couple of reasons why I still adore this single more than 30 years after it was released (I know, I was staggered and left speechless by that fact too!!), For one, crashing into the Top 10 took Kirsty McColl away from ever having the stigma of ‘one-hit wonder’ given her lack of chart success since the 1981 success of There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis. Secondly, it helped raise the profile of Billy Bragg and showed the world there was an awful lot more to his song-writing talents than rabble-rousing anthems for left-wingers.

I remember paying a few shillings extra to buy the 12″ version of this single at the time – a move I have never regretted. Yes, the song is more than double the length of the version played on the radio, but there’s not a single second wasted on what is a superb production by Kirsty’s then husband, Steve Lillywhite uber-producer of the 80s who was rich and famous from his collaborations with U2.

And the b-sides, both penned by Kirsty, aren’t bad efforts either:-

mp3 : Kirsty MacColl – A New England (12″ version)
mp3 : Kirsty MacColl – Patrick
mp3 : Kirsty MacColl – I’m Going Out With An Eighty Year Old Millionaire

Enjoy

Massive Attack

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #76 : MASSIVE ATTACK

a guest posting from strictly rockers

Girl

You’re A Boy… And I’m A Girl’:

A Massive Attack Imaginary Compilation Album In Two Parts

Part Two: ‘… And I’m A Girl’

01) Safe From Harm w/ Shara Nelson (From Blue Lines, 1991)

Spine-tingling. With opening atmospherics reminiscent of The Special’s ‘Ghost Town’, that bassline from Billy Cobham’s ‘Stratus’ and stunning vocal from Shara, this track fuels Richard King’s journey through Bristol in his excellent ‘Original Rockers’ book. ‘I was lookin’ back to see if you were looking’ back at me to see me looking’ back at you’

02) Paradise Circus w/ Hope Sandoval (From Heligoland, 2010)

A majestic vocal from the Mazzy Star vocalist. Once again, neither party met each other until after the recording. It features a drum sample from Nina Simone’s ‘See Line Woman’ and was used as the theme to BBC1’s ‘Luther’. Also available in excellent Gui Boratto and super-extended Burial mixes.

03) Three w/ Nicolette (From Protection, 1994)

Great vocals from the singer described as ‘Billie Holiday on acid’. Almost tempted to include Mad Professor’s bubbling’ ‘Trinity Dub’ version.

04) Better Things w/ Tracey Thorn (From Protection, 1994)

In my mind, far superior to ‘Protection’. ‘You say the magic’s gone. Well i’m not a magician. You say the spark’s gone. Well get an electrician’ Just genius!

05) Group Four w/ Elizabeth Fraser (From Mezzanine, 1998)

Equal to, if not better than ‘Teardrop’ from Massive Attack’s most successful album. Often stretched out live as a storming set-closer.

06) Babel w/ Martina Topley-Bird (From Heligoland, 2010)

A ‘teenage love song’ from Tricky’s Mercury Prize nominated Maxinquaye muse.

07) What Yr Soul Sings w/ Sinead O’Connor (From 100th Window, 2003)

Soaring. Heavenly. One of three Sinead tracks on 100th Window. I could have picked any of ’em.

08) Endtrack (Dissolved Girl) w/ Sara Jay (Download, 1997)

Featuring a previously unknown singer from Sheffield who toured with MA. This is an early demo version of ‘Dissolved Girl’ as heard as part of ‘The Jackal’ soundtrack. Later re-recorded as part of Mezzanine.

09) Aftersun w/ Dot Allison (Download, 2005)

Former One Dove singer and MA live vocalist on this powerful song tucked away as the credits roll on ‘Danny The Dog’. Shamefully omitted from the soundtrack album and only available as digital release from dotallison.com.

10) Unfinished Sympathy w/ Shara Nelson (Single, 1991)

Just magnificent. Officially voted the 63rd greatest song of all time in NME poll! The second appearance of Shara Nelson in this compilation with that sweeping orchestration arranged by Will Malone and recorded at Abbey Road. Mrs Rockers says, that if forced, she would pick this as ‘our tune’. Sweet eh? (We’ll just gloss over the atrocious Tina Turner cover from 1996)

(Big Name Bonus) I Want You w/ Madonna (From Something To Remember, 1995)

Huge-sounding production as Madonna & Massive Attack take on the mighty Marvin. Vocals recorded in New York with 3D before returning to Bristol. She was so impressed with the results that it became the lead single from her ‘Something To Remember’ album. Rumour has it that the backing tracks were originally intended for Chaka Khan.

BONUS………………………Boys vs Girls EP

Massive Attack Remixes, Remixed & Covered

1) Protection (Eno Mix) Massive Attack (Single, 1994)

I couldn’t NOT include this, the song that gives this ICA it’s title. Mr Ambient does what he does best and stretches this atmospheric beauty to over 9 minutes.

2) Teardrop (Mad Professor Mazaruni Dub) Massive Attack (Single, 1998)

The Prof’s laid back dub somehow makes the vocal even more powerful by reducing it to its most basic elements.

3) Musst Musst (Massive Attack Duck Pond Dub) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Single, 1990)

As featured on Daddy G’s excellent DJ Kicks mix. He called it ‘the most enjoyable remix we’ve ever done.’

4) Manchild (Massive Attack Remix) Neneh Cherry (Remix 12″, 1989)

Stripped-down, minimal mix of the single co-written by 3D. ‘Remix… Massive Attack’

5) Live With Me Twilight Singers (From A Stitch In Time EP, 2006)

Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan take the original to a much darker place.

6) Unfinished Sympathy Maxene Cyrin (From Modern Rhapsodies, 2005)

Simple, effective & delicate. Reduces the original to a bare minimum. Just beautiful.

JC adds……

I’ll sign off with the TVV word of the week.

Wow.

Massive Attack

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #75 : MASSIVE ATTACK

A guest posting from strictly rockers

Boy

Can I just start by saying how grateful I am to JC for letting me impose once again on his amazing blog. Having now done a handful of these ICAs, I have renewed admiration for him as he continually produces quality content daily, without fail. It’s hard enough getting the material together for one every few months, let alone every day! So, please raise a mug of whatever in gratitude to JC. I only hope this bulky what has been split into a two-parter lives up to T(n)VV’s high standard.

Massive Attack were formed from the ashes of The Wild Bunch sound system, a loose collective name-checked by Neneh Cherry on ‘Buffalo Stance’ (‘Looking good, hanging with the Wild Bunch. Looking good in a Buffalo Stance’). They recorded a couple of 12″s, including one that contained a cover of Bacharach & David‘s ‘The Look Of Love’ sung by a young singer called Shara Nelson (introduced to them by On-U Sound’s Adrian Sherwood). They split in the late eighties forming Soul II Soul in London and Massive Attack in Bristol.

With money, encouragement and studio space donated by Neneh Cherry and husband Cameron McVey (Booga Bear) work began on what would become ‘Blue Lines’ using singers from the Wild Bunch days (Tony Bryan, Shara Nelson & Tricky) and veteran reggae legend, Horace Andy. The original trio of 3D, Daddy G & Mushroom dispersed leaving only 3D trading as Massive Attack with a floating collective during the ‘100th Window’ sessions although Daddy G has since returned to both touring and studio work.

Their successful collaborative blueprint has been adopted by groups such as UNKLE & Gorillaz, both of which have strong links back to Massive Attack. 3D providing the artwork for the seminal Mo’Wax ‘Headz’ compilation (1994) and vocals on UNKLE’s ‘War Stories‘. Damon Albarn sings in character as 2D (an obvious nod to his friend) and has appeared on both ‘100th Window’ & ‘Heligoland‘.

Growing up in Bristol in the 1980s, I revelled in the city’s rich musical heritage and soaked up the reggae, soul, hip-hop and new wave played during my lunchtime browsing sessions in Revolver Records (incidentally, the workplace of one Grantley Marshall AKA Daddy G).

Mark Stewart, The Pop Group & Pigbag, The Blue Aeroplanes & Maximum Joy, The Brilliant Corners & The Flatmates, Talisman, Restriction & Black Roots. To my young, music-hungry ears, it was just great music. No genres, no labels. It could be a ‘Bristol thing’ but there seems to me to be a similar open-house music policy in Massive Attack.

As 3D has said: ‘We all grew up listening to punk & funk and those attitudes sort of snuck into our music. That sort of brought people from different circles together…’ Through them I have discovered, and come to appreciate many artists that I wouldn’t normally have encountered. Billy Cobham, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, William DeVaughan, Wally Badarou, Isaac Hayes, the list goes on.

Another key ingredient in the success of Massive Attack is their inspired use of vocalists, be it relatively unknowns (Tricky, Shara, Nicolette) or established voices benefiting from being moved from their usual musical world (Tracey Thorn, Elizabeth Fraser, Horace Andy, Terry Callier).

This ICA is all about those collaborators, the individuals that enrich the Massive Attack melting pot. Please enjoy responsibly.

‘You’re A Boy… And I’m A Girl’:

A Massive Attack Imaginary Compilation Album In Two Parts

Part One: ‘You’re A Boy…’

01) Any Love w/ Carlton (Single, 1988)

Massive Attack’s debut as a production trio in 1988. A cover of the Chaka Khan song with falsetto-voiced singer-songwriter Carlton McCarthy, co-produced by Bristol legends Smith & Mighty. Pointlessly re-recorded for the Massive Attack EP (1991) with vocals by Tony Bryan.

02) Be Thankful for What You’ve Got w/ Tony Bryan (From Blue Lines, 1991)

Speaking of whom… this brilliant cover of the classic William DeVaughan track from Blue Lines was also available in pitched-up ‘funky’ form for the US market.

03) Karmacoma w/ Tricky (Portishead Experience) (Single, 1995)

A mighty ‘Bristol scene’ supergroup with Massive, Tricky & Portishead (+ a large dose of Serge Gainsbourg). Just excellent. So good, in fact, that Tricky recycled the lyrics for his own ‘Overcome’

04) I Against I w/ Mos Def (Single, 2002)

MA’s music has always had a widescreen feel, so it seemed natural to move into film soundtracks. This slamming collaboration was a free download from massiveattack.com and featured in ‘Blade 2’.

05) Calling Mumia w/ Snoop Dogg (Download, 2007)

Officially credited to 100 Suns (3D with producer Neil Davidge) this was featured in the film ‘In Prison My Whole Life’ (which also features Mos Def) and, like ‘I Against I’, was composed with no direct contact between the two parties.

06) Man Next Door w/ Horace Andy (Single, 1999)

Brooding cover of the John Holt classic by the legend that is Horace Andy. Great samples of both The Cure’s ’10:15 Saturday Night’ & Led Zep’s ‘When The Levee Breaks’. Famously used at the 2000 Tory party conference heralding the entrance of William Hague. What were they thinking?

07) Saturday Come Slow w/ Damon Albarn (From Heligoland, 2009)

From the collaborator-rich ‘Heligoland’. A beautiful, pastoral slice of electronic folk about the ‘limestone caves of the south-west land’. Featuring Adrian Utley of Portishead on guitar. Ironically, the accompanying video explores the use of music as torture.

08) Live With Me w/ Terry Callier (Single, 2006)

Initially planned for inclusion on a soundtrack project that never materialised. A haunting love song with vocals from the late, great soul singer Terry Callier. Recalling the early MA sound, according to 3D: ‘It shuts those up who believe we can’t replicate our first album.’

09) Dead Editors w/ Roots Manuva (From Ritual Spirit EP, 2016)

Featuring a sample of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Watermelon Man’, Roots Manuva fits perfectly into the Massive Attack universe. The EP also sees the return of Tricky on a Massive Attack record for the first time in 22 years (How old does that make you feel?).

10) Five Man Army w/ Willie Wee, 3D, Tricky, Daddy G & Horace Andy (From Blue Lines, 1991)

Starting with a sample from ‘I’m Glad You’re Mine’ by Al Green, this recalls their early sound-system days, with former Wild Bunch members freestyling over the Dillinger/Trinity classic ‘Five Man Dub’. Horace Andy fades out the jam by singing the titles of his hits… ‘Cuss Cuss’, ‘Money Money’ & ‘Skylarking’.

(Big-Name Bonus) Nature Boy w/ Bowie (From Moulin Rouge OST, 2001)

‘One more tune…’ Keen to have both Massive Attack and Bowie connected with his film, Baz Luhrmann made this collaboration possible although the two parties never actually met. The vocals were recorded in New York and sent to Bristol with all correspondence by email. Bowie was apparently ‘totally pleased’ with the results.

JC adds……

the mp3s can be listened to by clicking on the song titles above. Come back tomorrow for Part 2.

Kate Bush

WOW (the natural follow-on to yesterday’s post)

Kate-Bush-Wow-42617

Is there any bloke out there, born in the first half of the early 60s, who didn’t fall in love or lust immediately with Kate Bush?

In 1978, her single Wuthering Heights, topped the singles charts for four weeks. This meant Kate became the first woman to reach #1 with a self-written song. What made the feat truly astonishing was that it was her debut, and she was just 19 years of age.

This was a singer who was quite unlike any other in the late 70s. Very few women were involved in punk or new wave, although that was to change quite quickly. If you heard a woman singing on the radio, is was usually on a disco track or some sort of sugary ballad. OK , I’m generalising as there were also some reggae-style singles that had female vocals, but like punk/new wave, these were few and far between.

Kate Bush had a vocal style all of her own – and it was one that divided the nation. I loved the fact that you couldn’t always make out the lyrics unless you really listened closely (or bought the albums in which case you got a lyric sheet). I loved how the records sounded – it was, thinking back, the first time that I appreciated how records had to be produced and arranged rather than just someone shouting into a microphone while strumming a guitar.

And most of all, for these things were important to a hormonally-charged teenager, I loved the way she looked. But I’m not that shallow folks…..if the music had been awful, I wouldnt have given her any attention. Honest.

Its hard to imagine nowadays when so many artists seems to take ages from one album to the next, but Kate Bush released two LPs in 1978. The Kick Inside was her debut, and it hit the shops in February. By late-October, Lionheart had been issued. This was all down to the fact that her label, EMI Records, knowing that Kate had already written over 50 songs that were in demo form, put pressure on her to quickly follow up the initial success.

The first single from the LP also came out in 1978, but Hammer Horror was a flop, failing to reach the Top 40. In a rare show of sense, EMI waited a few months and allowed Kate herself to have a big say in what would be the follow-up, and in March 1979, this began to be heard regularly on daytime radio:-

mp3 : Kate Bush – Wow

It was quite a daring single for its time. In an era when ‘pain in the ass’ was a lyric that wasn’t allowed on radio, Kate got away with ‘he’s too busy hitting the vaseline’ as part of a song that was sympathetic to homosexual actors unable to get the lead roles as they weren’t macho enough. There wasn’t much made of the subject matter at the time, but I’m guessing that if a 21st century female singer-songwriters was to do something similar, you can bet that one of her myriad of publicists would have the fact running in every tabloid in the land in the hope of creating a hype….

Here’s yer b-side too:-

mp3 : Kate Bush – Fullhouse

Enjoy.

Lemonheads

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

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Many of you will know that my football team is Raith Rovers. We’re not the most fashionable or successful of clubs and indeed since 1988 when I first started going along (as a result of my best mate playing the first of what would be more than 300 games in nine years) the Rovers have spent only three seasons in the top flight of Scottish football. There’s also been cup wins in that period while the 95/96 season unbelievably saw us qualify for European football where, after beating teams from the Faroe Islands and Iceland, we came against the might of Bayern Munich and lost 4-1 over the two legs…but with the memory of talking a 1-0 lead into half time at the game over in the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Bayern, incidentally, went on to win the UEFA Cup that season with Rovers being the team that got the best aggregate score in any round.

But as any true football or indeed sports fan knows, winning isn’t the be all and end all. It’s about going along, enjoying a good day out with mates and cheering your team on through thick and thin, and hopefully seeing your team play well and giving you a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. There’s been loads of such times watching the Rovers all these years but as you can imagine there’s also been some really lousy, frustrating and boring days out too.

The season ended just 48 hours ago. The team lost a play-off match in their efforts to get back to the top league for the first time since 1997. I wasn’t at the game as I had a long-standing commitment to look after some friends from Ireland who were visiting Glasgow for the very first time – friends who have over the years done so much for me and my family in the wake of my brother’s death some six years ago. Some things are more important than football (but not many!!)

The fact we were in the play-offs was a huge surprise. In a ten-team league, we had probably the 8th biggest budget and so were expected to be fighting things at the bottom. Over 36 games, we put together a more than decent record which saw us rack up 18 wins and 8 draws and finish miles ahead of the teams in 5th place and below. The significance of that achievement was that it clinched a play-off place and a chance, over up to six games, to go up. As I said, that dream is over but what it did do was give all of us a chance to dream. It also provided some amazing memories that will last forever (especially as they can be relived nowadays on YouTube etc).

All this was done by a team that was largely put together over the course of a season by a manager/coach who only joined us this time last year. Ray McKinnon has done a great job and it’s no surprise that other clubs would be interested in having him at their helm. It just so happens that the club he grew up supporting, Dundee United, have had a miserable season having been relegated and their chairman sees Ray as the answer to their problems.

The news today is that Raith Rovers, despite wanting to keep our manager who is under contract, have agreed to given Ray permission to speak to Dundee United and indeed have already agreed a suitable compensation package. It’s only a matter of time before the Rovers are back looking for a new manager…..

It’s a sad feeling but one which one day, given the over-achievement of the past season, was likely to happen at some point or another. All of which gives me the opportunity to post up a wonderful pop song which, after all, is the supposed point of this blog:-

mp3 : The Lemonheads – It’s A Shame About Ray

Good luck in the new job gaffer. No doubt you’ll get a decent reception when you bring your team to Stark’s Park for two league games next season.

Cinerama

THE CINERAMA SINGLES (5)

wow

The next single, released in June 2000, was the subject of a previous post on this blog some two years ago. It’s cut’n’paste time, with no apologies!!

Between 1998 and 2004, David Gedge took a break from The Wedding Present and instead released music under the name of Cinerama.

In essence, it was a duo of the great man (on his releases he was known by his full name of David Lewis Gedge) and his then-girlfriend Sally Murrell, augmented by guest musicians. The initial songs were a long way removed from the guitar-driven indie-pop of TWP, and instead were often heavy on strings, keyboards and lush instrumentation. Lyrically however, they didn’t stray too far away from the subject matters that Gedge is such a master of – the joys of love, lust and romance, the misery of infidelities and heartbreak and the utter pleasure of revenge. Oh and there was also the occasional belter of a cover version.

Their fourth official single is an absolute masterpiece.

As you’ll hear, it is one of the songs about infidelity. What I love about this lyric is how the protagonist spends the first two and half minutes detailing all the nagging doubts about cheating on his girlfriend, even as he climbs the stairs to a bedroom. And then…….

…….he utters “But don’t close the door because I’m still not sure.”, after which there is a gap as he makes his mind up. A gap that is about two seconds in length…………….just long enough to let the listener know he’s feeling guilty but just short enough to let the listener know that lust has again triumphed over love.

Song writing of the raw and brutal variety.

mp3 : Cinerama – Wow

The CD single was released back in 2000, and thanks to the production involving Steve Albini, it’s not a million miles removed from the brilliance of Seamonsters, the classic 1991 LP by TWP. I reckon its one of the best songs David Gedge has ever penned. And the b-sides are rather good as well:-

mp3 : Cinerama – 10 Denier
mp3 : Cinerama – Gigolo

Later on, there was also a near seven-minutes-long extended version of the single made available on the LP Disco Volante on which the five-piece band were backed with additional musicians on flute, cello, violin, trumpet, french horn and accordion.

mp3 : Cinerama – Wow (extended version)

Magnifique.

Clash

THE CLASH ON SUNDAYS (18)

Disc 18 is Straight To Hell/Should I Stay Or Should I Go.

Released just three months after Rock The Casbah, a lot had changed for The Clash in the summer of 1982, not least the fact that they had ‘cracked’ America. Combat Rock was proving to be an enduring album, going on to spend almost six months successively in the UK charts which was well beyond the time expected of any album by the band. They were now determined to get their music across to as wide an audience as possible, hence the decision to accept the task of opening for The Who at a series of outdoor stadium gigs in October 1982, although it is worth recalling that the band continued to headline at much smaller venues in the States at the same time.

The days of standing up to record company wishes to milk albums dry were also over as seen by the fact that the release of a double A single meant that exactly one-third of Combat Rock had been put out on the 45rpm format. But in saying this, there’s no argument that it is one of the band’s finest 45s.

My own preference is for Straight To Hell. As I wrote when I included it in the ICA this time last year, my view is that it an extraordinary piece of music. The very idea that one of the world’s foremost punk bands would, within just five years of their explosive and noisy debut, end up recording and releasing a song that leaned heavily on a bossa nova drumbeat devised by Topper Headon and a haunting violin sound would have been laughable.

It has a stunning and thought-provoking lyric delivered by a resigned-sounding Joe Strummer who seems devastated by the fact that musicians cannot make the world’s problems disappear.

Radio stations and the general public however, preferred the charms of Should I Stay Or Should I Go. It has a great riff, a sing-a-long and infectiously catchy chorus and the most ridiculously yet charming backing vocals in some strange version of Spanish. What’s not to like???

It famously became a huge hit all over again some nine years later after it was used in an advert to promote Levi Jeans. It went to #1 in the UK as well as Top 5 in just about every singles chart in Europe.

mp3 : The Clash – Straight To Hell (edited version)
mp3 : The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO : Released 17 September 1982 : #17 in the UK singles chart; #1 on its re-release in 1991

My favourite Clash song is ‘Train In Vain’. My favourite of their singles is in that vein – ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’. I thought I’d heard it somewhere before (I’m not trying to be ironic). I had to buy all my Clash records until ‘Combat Rock’ which was produced by longtime Who producer Glyn Johns. I got a free one of those . It makes me feel like I’m 34 again and Spring is in the cocaine.

We had a junior manager called Chris Chappel who was a huge Clash fan. I invited them onto the US tour after Chris convinced our senior manager they would be good. By the end of the tour, they had broken the USA. We were playing huge stadiums on that tour and they really handled the shows well, and convinced the crowd they were real.

I adore The Clash, as I adored the Sex Pistols. Different, incompatible, not really comparable, they both felt to me like bands who (like The Jam a little later) had travelled a route laid by The Who more than any other band. The New York Dolls and the Ramones influenced British punk rock, of course, but it was our simultaneous exaltation of rock, and indifference to it, that both bands emulated, though they each had different reasons for using that particularly tortured formula. So, I have a personal pride in The Clash as I do in the Sex Pistols and The Jam.

I feel bad that I have outlived Joe Strummer, but delighted that Topper is alive, against the odds: he is an absolute sweetheart. I really admire Mick Jones and Paul Simonon too, for remaining true to their individual artistic theses. These guys made a troubled and druggy period of my life in the late 1970s and early 1980s so much happier. The Who just played at the Brighton Centre and all I could think of while we played was that I had once played with The Clash on the same stage in 1981.

Pete Townsend, The Who

Go-Betweens

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (13)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON WEDNESDAY 7 MAY 2008

(8 years ago to the day!!)

On many an occasion in this rundown, I’ve mentioned that I had major problems narrowing down which particular song should be chosen for a band. I reckon the biggest dilemma came with The Go-Betweens. How can I possibly ignore the merits of the genius, majesty and sheer beauty of Cattle and Cane – the track that is probably their best-known and best-loved song? Not to mention the gorgeous vocal delivery of the much-missed Grant McLennan.

The answer is that the follow-up single just means an awful lot more to me.

It was at the age of 20 that I finally moved out from underneath my parents’ protection and branched out to a place of my own. It was a student residency flat on campus in Glasgow City Centre. It was a two-bedroom job, complete with kitchen, toilet and shower. I had the single room, while my two flatmates shared a larger space. The rent for each of us was £510 – for a full year including the summer months.

I had a reasonable record collection, but one of my other flatmates had a collection that I reckon was probably only second to that of John Peel (for instance, he had every single that had come out on Postcard Records). It was a time when my musical tastes broadened more than ever before, thanks to hearing some old stuff for the first time, but also on account of new and emerging bands throughout the early and mid 80s. This was where I first learned about, among others, The Go-Betweens.

The location of the flat was incredible, a mere stone’s throw from the student union where we seemed to spend most of our free time. We’d spend hours every weekend getting ready to go out, taking turns to play some of our favourite songs, often dissecting the lyrics and melodies in a way that seemed very important and meaningful.

Every Friday and Saturday, the set-lists for going out would change, but there was one single from October 1983 that always seemed to get played – as indeed was the b-side:-

mp3 : The Go-Betweens – Man O’ Sand To Girl O’ Sea
mp3 : The Go-Betweens – This Girl, Black Girl

Robert Forster’s manic delivery of the line ‘I feel so sure about our love I’ve wrote a song about us breaking up’ is one of the finest moments in pop history. As is the chorus that isn’t a chorus – ‘I want you baaaaaack.’ And don’t get me started in the great backing vocals.

There’s also a little footnote to this particular single that also helped it clinch selection ahead of Cattle and Cane.

This was another 7” which was ‘lost’ in Edinburgh all those years ago, although I did still have copies of the songs on a double compilation LP called 1978-1990. However, by the early part of this century, it was all CDs or digital and I just couldn’t get my hands on a copy of the b-side.

But….there came a day when, after much humming and hawing, I plucked up the courage to ask a bloke called Colin who at the time had a great blog called Let’s Kiss And Make Up that had previously featured The Go-Betweens if he could post an mp3 of This Girl, Black Girl. He willingly obliged.

Colin also later replied to other e-mails from me in which I asked for advice in setting up my own blog – and without fail he was always courteous, charming, witty and hugely supportive, especially in the very early days when I was unsure of what I was doing and terrified that I was out of my depth, making a fool of myself and wasting my time.

So if there’s a song from this rundown that I’d like to dedicate to anyone, then its this particular track.

Thanks comrade. I’m proud to call you a mate. Real proud.

PS

How uncanny is it that, having more than six months ago set out to look back at this old series that the entry for The Go-Betweens would happen to fall just one day after the 10th anniversary of the sad and untimely passing of Grant McLennan……

New Order

BONUS POST : THE DAY I KNEW I’D NEVER BE A COMPLETIST

New Order had released a belter of a debut single in Ceremony. The follow-up hit the shops in September 1981:-

mp3 : New Order – Procession

It was quite similar to a number of the tracks on the debut LP Movement and it wasn’t a huge shift away from the Joy Division sound albeit it did highlight that with Bernard Sumner was a completely different sort of vocalist from Ian Curtis.

I bought the only copy of this single that my local record shop had and it came in a cardboard sleeve with a strange green design which I thought alluded to the title of the b-side. I soon discovered that it had been released in nine different coloured sleeves and while I wanted to own every single one of them, there was no way an 18-year-old student, who that month had just started university, was going to waste valuable vodka money on something as unworthy as a 7″ bit of plastic.

The b-side was a precursor to what New Order would become within a few months – a band of their own right delivering electronic dance-music.

mp3 : New Order – Everything’s Gone Green

This is ripped right from vinyl folks and is a bit shorter than the versions generally available on compilation LPs, so please forgive the fact that there’s also a wee skip and a jump about 3mins in…..

Oh and here’s the other eight sleeves in miniature:-

Catatonia

THE £20 CHALLENGE (Week Three)

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So after the Jimmy Nail incident – Badger has tried to get revenge on me. He hasn’t sent me song lyrics or anything like that but he did send me a picture of the shop that he purchased this week CD from. It is the Brainwave Charity Shop in Ashburton.

Ashburton for those of you who do not know is commonly known by Devonians as ‘Ashbucket’ largely because its sort of right, but also because the place is run down and a bit sad. It sits on the edge of Dartmoor and recently it has had a bit of face lift, artists are turning up in the town claiming inspiration from the wild and rugged beauty of Dartmoor. In reality, housing and rent is dirt cheap in Ashburton. There is one charity shop in the town.

A few months back I popped in that shop – I was working in the town and the shop is next to a decent sandwich shop – so whilst they made my Rocket, Applewood and marmalade chutney on rye bread – I browsed. It had nine CDs in it and box full of freebies from the Daily Mail. Of the nine on sale three of them were by Robbie Williams, two were by Gabrielle and the rest were of a similar vein. On a more positive note it did have a copy of ‘Porridge – The Scripts’ for £3. Which I bought, just so I could practice my Fulton Mackay impression.

So when the photo came through I wasn’t exactly hopeful. I sent a text back saying “I hope you’ve bought me ‘Rise’ by one eyed soul diva Gabrielle?”. His response – “Naturally, why does she wear an eye patch, does she genuinely have one eye and if so how did she lose it?”

(Apologies to anyone out there who doesn’t know who Gabrielle is)

(JC adds……links have been provided to Gabs here and to Fulton Mackay here. I was astonished to realise that he’s been dead for almost 30 years…it doesn’t seem that long)

What followed was roughly twenty texts offering reasons as to why she only had one eye. Now before I relay some of these texts – I should state, she has two eyes, one suffers from the fairly common disorder called ptosis (or lazy eyelid). I think she has reverted to wearing sunglasses now instead of looking like the world’s least convincing pirate. We mean no offence to any ptosis sufferers.

Anyway, we have updated Gabrielle’s Wikipedia page with the following helpful information (none of which are true)

Gabrielle lost her eye in the 1987 World Jousting Championships which were held in Hackney, London. She recovered to finish third in the Junior Competition just beating TVs Timmy Mallett to the Bronze medal.

In 1985 whilst aged 15, Gabrielle was hit in the eye by one of Jazzy B’s from Soul II Souls dreadlocks, causing irreparable damage. This sadly meant she was unable to become the professional Speedway Rider that she had spoken of since an early age. Damn you Jazzy B.

In 1992 whilst in the small Kent town of Tenterden, Gabrielle was visiting the Steam Railway when a small child threw an orange Smartie at her with such force that it lodged in her eye. Despite numerous operations, the Smartie is still there forcing Gabrielle to give up her career as an optician because no one wants an optician who stinks of Orange Smarties.

In 1991 Gabrielle got ripped to the tits on Green Mad Dog 20/20 and sold her right eye to a boggle eyed scientist for £3.50, which she spent on a litre bottle of Blue Mad Dog 20/20.

As a child, Gabrielle was a keen actress and was one of the first people to endorse ‘Method Acting’ – something she soon would regret when she was cast as King Harold in the St Bastards School 1978 production of ‘The Battle of Hastings”.

Erm….I should probably stop there. Suffice to say we didn’t get much worked done that afternoon. And I promise from now on there will be no more stupid conversations about early 90s popstars from the UK – it’s just that you do find a lot of their stuff in charity shops and most of them are ridiculously easy to take the piss out of.

It wasn’t Gabrielle of course it wasn’t. It was a copy of Catatonia’s debut album ‘Way Beyond Blue’ a record I had long since forgotten about.

In November 1997, at the London Astoria, whilst I was still a journalist, Mrs SWC and I got royally pissed with two of Catatonia (not Cerys Matthews) – I was supposed be interviewing them before they went on stage, but they found support band The Warm Jets rider and we decided to drink it. ‘Way Beyond Blue’ isn’t the most well-known Catatonia album (their breakout ‘International Velvet’ takes that honour), but it is my favourite.

It shows a band that are on the verge of greatness, but a band who are were prepared to take risks – take ‘Bleed’ – the chorus of that goes “Do you believe this bullshit?”. They would have got away with that post ‘Road Rage’.

mp3 : Catatonia – Bleed

Tracks like ‘You’ve Got A Lot To Answer For’ and ‘Sweet Catatonia’ showed the potential on offer. These tracks are as catchy as anything they released later that catapulted them to superstardom. But for me the best track by far is ‘For Tinkerbell’ – and make that best track Catatonia ever recorded – which starts as a twee little affair and then Cerys bursts into life and turns into a demented pixie.

mp3 : Catatonia – You’ve Got A Lot To Answer For
mp3 : Catatonia – Sweet Catatonia
mp3 : Catatonia – For Tinkerbell
mp3 : Catatonia – Lost Cat

So here is the Skinny

Bought For £2 – From Brainwave Charity Shop, Ashburton
Money Left £15.50
Here is some more information on Brainwave should you be interested – a great great charity as it happens.

S-WC

Cinerama

THE CINERAMA SINGLES (4)

The solution to the problems with record labels? Set up your own…….

And thus Scopitone Records was established in 2000 for the specific purpose of releasing records by Cinerama (actually, it was initially all CD based releases as that was the way the music industry had gone at the turn of the century).

First up was TONECD 001, released in February 2000:-

mp3 : Cinerama – Manhattan

Another epic and rich ballad from the prespective of a man caught between two loves. It was backed by two other songs:-

mp3 : Cinerama – London
mp3 : Cinerama – Film

His old band had of course been famed for tackling cover versions in ways that the songs sounded nothing like the original. And in 99% of the cases, he and TWP had pulled it off in style. Here’s the proof that he hadn’t lost that particular skill. London, for those of you who don’t know, is a fantastic take on a Smiths b-side. It is slowed down to a crawling pace where the original had been among the most frantic and energetic tunes that Johnny Marr had penned.

Film is another quality b-side in keeping with what we had been provided in the earlier singles on Cooking Vinyl.

Having said that, I prefer the version that had been recorded the previous year for a Peel Session:-

mp3 : Cinerama – Film (Peel Session)

Enjoy.

Captain Beefheart

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #74 : CAPTAIN BEEFHEART

A guest posting from George Forsyth

Captain-beefheart

ANY song that begins with a gruff male voice saying “A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast ‘n’ bulbous, got me?” will really grab your attention. And it would be churlish in the extreme not include that song on this compilation.

It’s taken from Captain Beefheart’s best known album, and the first album of his I heard. Utter shit, unlistenable, load of bollocks. These are some phrases that might occur to you, and certainly occurred to me at the time, if it’s the first Beefheart album you listen to. That album is Troutmask Replica. A few years later I heard Clear Spot and The Spotlight Kid, and these are much more accessible, two very fine rock albums, some great blues songs, even soul tracks, and a great introduction to one aspect of Captain Beefheart’s music.

I would then recommend Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), and make sure you get the 1978 release. And then you’re hooked, and you’ll pick up the rest, some of which are a bit patchy, and one is, well, bland, and that’s not something usually associated with Beefheart’s music.

One other thing that holds a great appeal are the song titles, no-one I don’t think comes close to writing such brilliant titles.

Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish.
My Human Gets Me Blues.
She’s Too Much for My Mirror.
I Wanna Find a Woman That’ll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have to Go.
My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains.
When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy.
Ice Cream For Crow.

By the way, none of them are included here.

So here’s ten tracks by Captain Beefheart, not representative of his output, just some tracks that I definitely like and that just possibly some of you might like. There’s blues, rock, pop, soul, jazz, prog, and weird. And not just all in one song, although one of them gets quite close.

1. Bat Chain Puller

Track 6 from Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller). If you don’t like this, stop here. Of course, that means your taste in music has gone badly, BADLY, awry, because this song is outstanding, a great vocal, a relentless, pumping, rhythm, some great musical flourishes and variations, but god-alone knows what the hell this song is about.

2. Blabber’n’smoke

From The Spotlight Kid.

3. Moonlight on Vermont

From Troutmask Replica.

4. Gimme Dat Harp Boy

From the 1968 album Strictly Personal. More blues with a Beefheart twist. As with quite a few of his records, there’s a tale of betrayal and dispute with this release, but it’s not as bad as some reviews have made out.

5. Woe is uh me bop

From Lick My Decals Off, Baby. I bought this in Swordfish Records, Birmingham, a shop owned by a Beefheart fanatic.

6. Plastic Factory

From the Safe as Milk album. More evidence that Beefheart was just a bluesman at heart? There used to be record shop in Birmingham called Plastic Factory; I’m certain this song is not about it.

7. Pachuco Cadaver

From Troutmask Replica.

8. Full Moon, Hot Sun

From Unconditionally Guaranteed. This was the album that Beefheart disowned, and that caused his band to walk out on him, because they felt it wasn’t challenging enough. Also they were, allegedly, getting paid in food stamps, which probably didn’t help. But it’s not a bad record, it’s straightforward(ish) pop/rock/blues

9. Making Love to A Vampire With a Monkey on my Knee

From Doc At The Radar Station. Come on, how could I not include a song with that title!

10. Circumstances

From Clear Spot. Another towering vocal, and a great blues track

In the last place I taught at, I must have wittered on about Beefheart to one class quite a bit, without ever playing them a tune (something I stopped doing many years ago, and didn’t start again until my last year in the job, and it was usually Welsh prog band Gong, or King Crimson).

Anyway, one young man had a word with me at the end of what was probably a thoroughly exciting calculus lesson, and said he’d bought a Beefheart album, and that him and his dad had played it in the car. “Not Troutmask Replica, not Troutmask Replica, not Troutmask Replica” I was thinking.

“Which one, Sam?” I asked, hoping for Clear Spot or The Spotlight Kid. You, dear reader, already know the answer. A lovely young man, he did not swear or use any even mildly risqué words when describing what him and his dad thought of it.

A final word about Troutmask Replica. To listen, sit yourself down in your music room, shut the door, and play in its entirety. It’s an arresting listen. I did so in preparation for this ICA and on several occasions I had to put down my Rebus book and just listen.

I then put on Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), turned up the volume more, by which point the doorbell in the room started flashing. (The music room is in the converted attic, and to save my partner walking up the two flights of stairs we bought one of those remote/wireless bells).

“A cup of tea” I thought.

No, just a polite reminder that it was “a bit loud, George”.

Mekons

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #73 : THE MEKONS

A GUEST POSTING FROM GEORGE FORSYTH

mekons2

JC writes…….

There’s a healthy dose of ICAs in the pipeline, courtesy of guest contributors. I’m really pleased that George has come on board – he was responsible for what was a very entertaining, informative and educational blog called Jim McLean’s Rabbit. He’s a Scotsman who not too long ago upped sticks for a new life in Portugal as a peanut farmer. Those of you who frequent Charity Chic’s place will know that George is very fond of leaving the occasional friendly and dry-witted comment there. This is the first of two back-to-back ICAs from him. Neither of his chosen acts are all that familiar to me, but that’s what makes this series such a joy.

There are twenty-one albums by The Mekons up here in the music room. Which is almost their entire output, bar one compilation album from a few years back (Heaven & Hell: The Very Best of the Mekons ) and the album Pussy, King of the Pirates they made with Kathy Acker in 1996, which I think I bought second hand from Polar Bear records in Birmingham many years ago, but I must have traded it in again.

So here’s ten tracks, and only one from their first incarnation, when they were punk (‘The Quality of Mercy is Not Strnen’), then post-punk (‘The Mekons aka Devils Rats and Piggies a Special Message from Godzilla’ and ‘The Mekons Story’), and the track here is the first from a double 7 inch EP, not from any of those three albums.

There was a radical change in direction in 1984, as Charity Chic mentioned a couple of weeks back, when The Mekons started making records with more than a hint of country, then ca. 1989 the music became more “indie/alternative” for a few years and latterly more folk-tinged. All of which may have you running for the hills, but that would be a catastrophic mistake, because The Mekons are a great band (apart from those early years).

This is not some sort of My Most Favourite Mekons tracks, it’s not meant to be representative of their output, it’s simply ten tracks that I particularly like. If I was to do this ICA next week I’d come up with ten different tracks. Because The Mekons are a great band (apart from those early years). I may have mentioned that already.

(Simply click on the Track Number to get the mp3s)

Track 1. Memphis Egypt

This is track 1 from the 1989 album The Mekons Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Not a bad track on the album. Has been, on occasion, One Of The Ten Best Albums Of All Time. The first album of their “indie/alternative” era.

Track 2. Alone and Forsaken

From the “country-punk” album Edge Of The World.

You really need to listen to the lyric on this one.

Track 3. Funeral

From the 1991 album The Curse Of The Mekons

Track 4. Dear Sausage

From 1993 album I ♥ Mekons

Track 5. Tourettes

From the 1998 album Me.

There are some rather rude words in this so in the name-of-the-sweet-lord do not play this when your granny’s in the room. But it’s a song that could very well make you laugh. Or not, if you’re a bit prudish.

Track 6. Teeth

From the 1980 7-inch EP.

When deciding what tracks to include I played The Mekons Story in its entirety and the 1980 album Devils Rats… and I thought, well, they were quite interesting but they won’t be getting played again anytime soon. Just like the Quality if Mercy album (the one with a photo of the Gang of Four on it, by mistake), which was the very first Mekons album I heard, in 1984, leant to me by a friend. And I thought “what’s this shit!”. It remains an album I’m not overly keen on. But “Teeth” is well worth a listen.

Track 7. Spinning Round in Flames

From the 1994 album Retreat From Memphis.

I have this on vinyl, there are two discs, one plays at 33 and1/3 and the other at 45. So not having listened to the 45rpm disc too often I put it on. Which involves, on my turntable, changing unscrewing one motor/belt-drive thingy and replacing it with the one for 45s, and re-attaching the belt. Which is a bit of a pain in the bum, it takes me longer to do this than the length of your average 1970s pop song.

So I played this portion of Retreat From Memphis, and it wasn’t that good. After all that faffing around. Just as well I’ve got nothing better to with my time. So I thought I’ll put on The Widowmaker EP (Butthole Surfers). Christ, that’s not too good either! To rectify my increasingly bad mood I put on Fox On The Run, which to this day remains one of the five finest “pop” songs ever made.

Anyway, track 7 here, Spinning Round in Flames is on side 2 of the 33 and 1/3 disc. Retreat From Memphis is not one of The Mekons albums you must own, but it certainly has some good songs. On the 33 and 1/3 disc. You know, they could have made the second disc a one-sided 33 amd 1/3. It would have made life a lot easier.

Track 8. Last Dance

The penultimate track from Fear And Whiskey, the first album The Mekons made after their hiatus, and I think one of the first alt-country albums. Some people refer to it as country punk. And an album you really should possess.

Track 9. Myth

From the Journey To The End Of The Night album.

Track 10. Revenge

From the live album New York, originally a cassette-only release, but now you can get it easily enough on cd.

So there you are. No “Ghost Of American Astronaut”, no “Empire Of The Senseless”, no “Where were you”.

One time I saw The Mekons live, in the Little Civic in Wolverhampton, in the late 1990s, there were 37 people in the audience. I thought the band (all 7 or 8 of them, from memory) might be a little disheartened, some of them live in the USA I think, so they all get together, put on some shows in the UK, and THIRTY-SEVEN people turn out. It’s enough to give you a strapadichtomy. Because, and I might have hinted at this already, The Mekons are a great band. Apart from those early years.

And here’s one of the best pop songs ever made:

George

Simple Minds

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #72 – SIMPLE MINDS

SimpleMinds-500x428

Resurrecting the piece for the 45 45s re-run just two days ago provided the inspiration. Suffice to say that this ICA is restricted to the selections from the following albums:-

Life In A Day – released March 1979
Real To Real Cacophony – released November 1979
Empires and Dance – released September 1980
Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call – September 1981
New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) – September 1982

I won’t include Love Song in the listing as it was featured just 48 hours ago. So without further delay…..but I will warn you that there’s a few singles featured today. They weren’t really for keeping their best material preserved for b-sides or just album tracks.

SIDE A

1. Theme For Great Cities (from Sister Feelings Call)

A curve-ball to start with, opening the ICA with an instrumental. I still recall hearing this for the first time and thinking it was as far removed as possible from the music anyone would ever associate with Glasgow. It’s an astonishing rich, textured, brilliantly structured piece of music which set me on the path to a better understanding and appreciation of electronic music.

2. Changeling (from Real to Real Cacophony)

Fans of PiL, Gang of Four, Wire and Magazine will surely appreciate this album version of a flop single from late 79. Jagged and edgy, it’s a fine fusion of the new wave guitars and the synth stuff that was beginning to take a grip of many an imagination and would lead to some of the best UK pop of the following decade.

3. Someone Somewhere In Summertime (from New Gold Dream)

This was the album that really broke the band. Its ten tracks contain three hit singles (two of which had charted before the LP hit the shops) and thus turned the band into a hot ticket almost overnight. This was the third of the 45s and the opening track of the album. Unlike the previous two tracks on the ICA, this one is very much of its time – it sounds like 1982 and has nothing to link it back to the band’s punk/new wave roots. It’s dreamy build up to the anthemic chorus was the first sign that the small and medium-sized halls would no longer be where you’d find the band ply its trade in future years.

4. Chelsea Girl (single version – originally from Life In A Day)

The band had, from the earliest of days, displayed a real ability to churn out a catchy pop tune, as evidenced by what was their second ever single. Every bit as anthemic as the later hits, it was let down by a bit of a stale and unimaginative production. But then again, everyone at the time was wondering how best to capture these new fangled sounds.

5. This Fear Of Gods (from Empires and Dance)

It was the band’s misfortune to be on Arista Records for this album as the label was unable to promote properly an album that was described on its release by Paul Morley as ‘authentic new torch music….an LP of terror-songs, vigilance and vanity‘. It was as dark and deep and wonderful as anything Joy Division were producing, but with a disco-beat….

SIDE B

1. I Travel (from Empires and Dance)

Also as wonderful as anything Joy Division were producing, but with Simple Minds around you had to take off your overcoat and get yourself on to that dance floor. It’s a song that has been re-produced and remixed on countless occasions, sometimes to great effect and often to its detriment. This is the original single version that really should have been a huge hit.

2. The American (from Sister Feelings Call)

As much as I love this song, I can’t help but wonder how it might have sounded if someone other than prog legend Steve Hillage had been in the producer’s chair. Someone with more new wave tendencies would have had altered the guitar and bass sounds to something more akin to John McGeough and Barry Adamson‘s work with Magazine and it would have come belting out of the speakers with a sense of menace rather than being perhaps a bit too polished.

3. Big Sleep (from New Gold Dream)

As mentioned earlier, this was the album that really broke the band. They had always been a cracking live act, but the commercial success seemed to bring out the best in them – I saw them three times in 1982 and Big Sleep was the track that got the hairs on the neck standing up, thanks to the combination of wonderfully understated guitar playing from Charlie Burchill, bass slapping with style from Derek Forbes and the catchy, repetitive keyboard contribution from Mick McNeill…..and to be fair to the much derided singing style of Jim Kerr, his delivery in this instance is first-rate.

4. Sweat In Bullet (12″ version – originally from Sons and Fascination)

Time to get yourself back on that dance floor again. Like every other act from the 80s, the singles were subjected to different mixes and extended versions for use on 12″ vinyl. This was one of the most effective but still failed to provide the breakthrough and crossover hit.

5. Premonition (Peel Session – original version on Real to Real Cacophony)

Designed to make you want to turn this imaginary piece of vinyl back over to Side A. Recorded in December 1979 and broadcast twice in January 1980. It was unimaginable back then that within five years they would be arena rock gods…..

mp3 : Simple Minds – Theme For Great Cities
mp3 : Simple Minds – Changeling
mp3 : Simple Minds – Someone Somewhere In Summertime
mp3 : Simple Minds – Chelsea Girl
mp3 : Simple Minds – This Fear Of Gods

mp3 : Simple Minds – I Travel
mp3 : Simple Minds – The American
mp3 : Simple Minds – Big Sleep
mp3 : Simple Minds – Sweat In Bullet
mp3 : Simple Minds – Premonition

Enjoy.

Clash

THE CLASH ON SUNDAYS (17)

Disc 12 is Rock The Casbah.

Combat Rock had not turned out to be a return to the punk origins as many had thought might be the case based on its lead off single. It was also clear that the record company were now, for whatever reason, calling more of the shots as Rock The Casbah was issued just seven weeks after Know Your Rights when there had previously been considerable gaps between the singles.

The move was as much a response to the reception given to the album, particularly in America. There is no doubt that Rock the Casbah was always going to be a single, as evidenced by the promo video being made. I’m not sure how many of you have noticed however, that the drummer in the video is none other than Terry Chimes and not Topper Headon….the irony of course being that we would later learn Rock The Casbah was mostly written by the now departed drummer who had left the band on the eve of the tour to promote the album, with exhaustion being cited.

This is a single like no other in the history of The Clash, at least during their time together as a band. It didn’t do all that brilliantly in the UK, stalling at #30 and perhaps providing evidence that long time fans were finding it hard to come to terms with the new sound. But elsewhere, where The Clash hadn’t really enjoyed huge success before, the single brought fame and fortune – Top 5 in both Australia and New Zealand, Top 20 across much of Europe and most crucially, Top 10 in the USA in both mainstream and dance charts.

It’s a song driven along in the main by the disco beat and piano playing, but there’s some decent contributions from Mick on guitar while Joe’s lyrics are among the catchiest he ever penned. It’s a terrific and enduring pop song that, if written and recorded in that style by any other band of the era, would equally have proven to be a hit. It’s the one song by The Clash that just about everyone aged 45-60 nowadays can easily recall.

It was released in the UK on 7″ and 12″ vinyl. The former contained a decent sounding and poppy b-side albeit it does on for maybe a minute too long) which we would later learn was written by Paul Simonon about issues he was having in a long-term relationship but unlike Guns Of Brixton the vocal was taken on by Joe. The latter had an instrumental remix of the a-side on offer:-

mp3 : The Clash – Rock The Casbah
mp3 : The Clash – Long Time Jerk
mp3 : The Clash – Mustapha Dance

ROCK THE CASBAH : Released 11 June 1982 : #30 in the UK singles chart (#15 on 1991 re-release)

I was aware of The Clash when punk happened because that was what started us going, although I don’t think Joy Division were punk like that. I think we were something else that came after that didn’t have a name.

‘Rock The Casbah’ is my favourite track. I heard it in New York when we first started going there in the early 80s after the demise of Joy Division. We were struggling a bit because Ian’s death meant we couldn’t go in that direction anymore, we’d peaked in that sound.

Clubs in NY were ‘new wave’ and the music was infinitely better than in England. For a start they were often in big warehouses. There was the Peppermint Lounge, Danceteria, Hurrah’s, AM-PM…tons of them. They weren’t playing commercial dance music, but club tracks by English groups…and the two absolute classics were ‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell and ‘Rock The Casbah.’

It broke form. I believe it was written by the drummer. It really cut it in a club and showed me you can make club music that’s not cheesy – like nightclub music was in England at the time. Here was a proper group, making proper music, but they were using traditional rock’n’roll instruments to make music that dominated a New York club scene. That was a massive inspiration for me.

The song has great rhythmic content and a great hookline. It’s The Clash at their best. OK, it’s not slashing guitars and a 190bpm tempo – but it’s a fucking great, really, really good song.

Bernard Sumner, Joy Division & New Order