Month: March 2018

New Order

THE NEW ORDER SINGLES (Part 24)

The b-side to True Faith, the 14th single by New Order which was released in July 1987, was 1963. It was, and remains a magnificent b-side – a pop song with a lyric that wasn’t mundane and was also open to a number of interpretations – with both tracks being composed specifically for inclusion on the Substance compilation which, more than 30 years on is the album I’d recommend most to anyone who was new to the band and looking for a decent introduction.

All that was back in the Factory days when the release of a new single really was something to look forward to, even if on occasion the contents were a wee bit of a letdown. London Records had already shown how cynical they were prepared to be by lifting four 45s from Republic in 1993, but worse was to come when the label realised the band weren’t intending to get back in the studio anytime soon.

In November 1994, (the best of) NewOrder was put into the shops just in time for the Xmas market. A ridiculously lazy effort, it was mostly the 7″ versions of singles from 1985 onwards with four tracks given the remix treatment. I’ve already featured the abysmal True Faith 94 and it was released as a companion single to promote the ‘best of’ album. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the post-Xmas effort came via the release of another single….

mp3 : New Order – 1963-95

The thing is…..this was different from the mix that had been put on the ‘best of’ compilation. The new single was a remix by Arthur Baker and in itself was a really decent effort in that the song was stripped back a fair bit and was reminiscent in many ways of Regret. But it all seemed so pointless and greedy, especially when anyone wanting to get the full set would need to buy a least 2 x Cd singles and a the 12″ vinyl.

CD1 came with a slightly edited version of the Baker mix, together with the really appalling version that had been put on the ‘best of’ LP

mp3 : New Order – 1963-94

and two further mixes that really had fuck all to do with the original song:-

mp3 : New Order – 1963 (Lionrock Full Throttle Mix)
mp3 : New Order – 1963 (Joe T. Vanelli Dubby Mix)

CD 2 offered the full length Baker remix, a vocal version of Let’s Go (which had originally appeared as an instrumental on the soundtrack to a long forgotten movie called Salvation, released in 1987), another pointless remix of Spooky and another outing for the Shep Pettibone remix of True Faith.

The 12″ single consisted of four mixes of 1963, these being the two non-Baker efforts on CD1 and two further variations on them.

All of which sold in sufficient numbers to take the single to #21 in the UK charts.

This is where I really began to get disenchanted with New Order.  I did, and still do, have time for what Arthur Baker did to 1963, but the other mixes were a disgrace.  Years later, I did get one of the other b-sides courtesy of its inclusion in the Retro boxset.

mp3 : New Order – Let’s Go

What happened next almost beggared belief.  With still no material coming from the foursome, London decided that a further compilation was required and in August 1995, the tills bulged as fans parted cash for (the rest of New Order)…..here’s wiki:-

…the compilers brought together a selection of older remixes alongside new specially-commissioned remixes. The remixes of “Blue Monday”, “Confusion”, “Touched by the Hand of God”, “Bizarre Love Triangle”, “Age of Consent”, “Temptation” and “Everything’s Gone Green” were all new radical reinterpretations. The four singles from Republic are represented with remixes that had previously appeared as B-sides. The oldest mix included was Shep Pettibone’s take on “True Faith” from 1987.

The compilation was released on Compact Disc, cassette and double LP. Each version has a different track listing. Cassette editions include an additional mix of “Temptation”, while limited editions of the CD and cassette came with an additional bonus disc/cassette of “Blue Monday” remixes. To promote the album, “Blue Monday” was once again re-released. The single was backed with remixes that appear on the bonus disc of the limited edition CD. The version of “Blue Monday” released was the Hardfloor Mix, dubbed “Blue Monday-95”, and reached #17 in the UK

It was all beyond a joke now…

JC

ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 2 (Part 5)

You voted but not as heavily as previous weeks.  But then again, these ties were all pretty much done and dusted within the first few hours.

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions 28 Arab Strap 7
British Sea Power 10 Orange Juice 25
Lambchop 3 Pulp 32
Pavement 26  Clyde McPhatter 8

My favourite match report came from Bill albeit he backed a loser.

“You want me to vote for a lanky art school chancer trying to get a leg over with a naive foreign student. That may be ok in the 90s but definitely not on nowadays. My vote goes to Sharee Lewis little friend Lambchop. Simpler times”

Here’s how the numbers are shaping up for the next round

1. The Fall
2. Talking Heads
3. Edwyn Collins
4. Velvet Underground
5. New Order
6. The Charlatans
7. Lightning Seeds
8. St Etienne
9. The Jam
10. Half Man Half Biscuit
11. Pete Wylie
12. The Wedding Present
13. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
14. Orange Juice
15. Pulp
16. Pavement

Another 16 still to come.

This week’s match-ups have two of the big guns on display but not up against each other.  It also has a couple of very intriguing ties while some cults take to the field.

Matches 17-20 of Round 2

Rod Stewart v The Jesus & Mary Chain

Rod Stewart is perhaps one of the more surprising names to appear in Round 2, but only in as much that he drawn against Johnny Marr last time out; as some observant commentators said, the fact that the grisly veteran dug deep into his catalogue with a track from the highly regarded Gasoline Alley album from 1970 showed how serious he was taking it while the finest indie guitarist of our era decided to rely on a fairly weak track by Girls Aloud.  It proved to be quite a one-sided affair.   The Jesus and Mary Chain also enjoyed a comfortable passage against The Wondermints last time out and the Reids are bound to be licking their lips again this time round with Rod deciding to rely on how folk feel about his interpretation of a track made famous by a different pair of brothers.  Having said that, JAMC are relying on a sweary lesser-known number lasting a little over 90 seconds

Cigarettes and Alcohol (from When We Were The Rude Boys, 1998) v Boyfriend’s Dead (b-side, 1987)

XTC (2) v Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

This really has the potential to be a fascinating contest.  XTC had too much in their locker last time out for Friends Again but will, in all likelihood have to up the ante a bit to take on Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds who had to field a live rendition of The Mercy Seat to ensure they came through an epic encounter last time out against Teenage Fanclub in one of just two ties that ended in a draw with the Bellshill boys going out agonisingly on an actual coin toss.  I’m sure the Aussies were hoping for something a bit kinder than the Swindonites this time round as the reward for such endeavours.  One of those ones where the song choice will be absolutely crucial…..turns out to Jonny the Friendly Lawyer‘s favourite ever song by one of his favourite ever bands against a live rendition of a track which The Robster describes as being as good as any ever written by Cave.

Earn Enough For Us (from Skylarking, 1986) v Jubilee Street (live at the Sydney Opera House, 2014)990)

The Smiths (2) v Husker Du

A mid 80s classic here. The away side came through in an emotional All-American match-up against Grandaddy in which the final 26-10 score didn’t reflect how close the call had been for many folk.  The home side flexed their muscles from the outset, racking up 41 points as they made mincemeat of Mission of Burma.  While the initial thought may be that they have been given another fairly kind draw, it could be a banana skin.  Here come the songs……oh well, I’ve a feeling this one could be a foregone conclusion (although I have been wrong before).

I Know It’s Over (from The Queen Is Dead, 1986) v Keep Hanging On (from Flip Your Wig, 1985)

The Durutti Column v Paul Quinn

One for the connoisseurs in which the guitar goes up directly against the voice.  Both ICAs were well received and this is going to be very difficult one to call.  Reilly broke some Scottish hearts in Round 1 with a narrow and hard fought win over The Beta Band, and hopes to do similar this time;  Quinn, whose contribution last time round was with The Independent Group, did enough to hold on against a late onslaught from The Feelies back in the very first week of the competition in early January.  Will this extended break from competitive action count against him?

Contra–Indications (from Obey The Time, 1990) v Change of Attitude by Bourgie Bourgie (12″ b-side, 1984)

Please have your votes in by midnight on Thursday 15 March

I’ve had to bring things forward 24 hours as I’m out next Friday night, nowhere near a laptop or PC, and so need to tally the scores a bit earlier; it shouldn’t make too much difference as most of you do vote early on.

Tune in next Saturday for the results and the line-ups for matches 20-23, which, if I’m being honest are fairly similar in feel to this week.  The real fireworks will be held over till matches 24-27 which will be written up by jimdoes.

JC

 

Cure

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #157 : THE CURE

A GUEST POSTING by TIM BADGER

JC writes……..

I know that many of you who appreciate the work of Tim and his erstwhile colleagues SWC and KT get a particular enjoyment from the fact they bring their stories alive with people from their past histories.  ‘Our Price Girl’ has been a real favourite but I’ve a feeling she has a new rival given yesterday and today’s musings.

Here’s Tim….

Where do you start when writing an Imaginary Compilation Album on a band who have roughly twenty albums worth of material to choose from? There are studio albums, live albums, singles albums, B sides albums, remix albums and countless live albums worth of stuff, all of which are worthy of consideration.

For instance there is somewhere in existence a bootleg release of The Cure’s MTV Unplugged Show in which one of the band plays a toy piano throughout ‘Close To Me’ – it is far better than any version of that song that has ever been commercially released and yet can I find it on the Internet, no I can’t. I know that the Lovely Angela had a version of it because I remember listening to it in her bedroom whilst she made me a Vodka Collins.

An hour before I sat down to write this I had narrowed it down to 43 songs which is nowhere near short enough. Then my wife comes in and asks how I was getting on – me having shut myself away for a few hours to do it and so I told her.

She sighs, and tells me and I wrote this down word for word – “If you stop your silly Goth boy reminiscing over ‘the Lovely Angela’ (she included the finger quote thing) and actually thought about it you would realise that you only actually need to own six cure albums – ‘Seventeen Seconds’, ‘Japanese Whispers’, ‘The Head On The door’, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’, ‘Disintegration’ and ‘Wish’. There’s a cup of tea on the table there for you“ and with that she turns around and walks back out of the room.

Now, after a number of years of marriage I have learnt not to argue with Mrs Badger, particularly where ‘the Lovely Angela’ is concerned, so I reflect on her statement and I immediately stop the silly Goth Boy Reminiscing and then I focus and I remove all the tracks on my list that are not from one of the six albums she mentioned and unbelievably I am left with 12 tracks, and losing two is pretty easy.

So with no further ado, here at last is the compilation on The Cure.

Side One

Just Like Heaven (from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me)

Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me was the sixth Cure album and is if you had to list them probably their second greatest album. This was the Cure in the pomp, comedy lipstick, massive hair and it slowly took them into a world of arenas and festival headlights. I am duty bound to include this what with it being played at my wedding, but also it has to be included because it is simply a delight and one of the greatest singles of all time.

Play For Today (From Seventeen Seconds)

In the very early eighties, The Cure went a bit weird and after drinking too much they sort of invented Gothic Rock or rather they sort of redefined Gothic Rock. They did this by recording an album in a cupboard on a shoestring budget. This result was this spooky, minimalist masterpiece and ‘Play For Today’ is epitome of that stark, elegant and probably best listened to in front of a smoke machine whilst dressed in black.

Doing The Unstuck (from ‘Wish’)

I love ‘Wish’, I think between say 1987 and 1995 the Cure did very little wrong. They sashayed between being mopey doom mongers to being gloriously playful pop superstars and ‘Wish’ gets that spot on. There is a bit on ‘Doing The Unstuck’ in which Bob sings “Its Never too late to get up and GO!” the ‘Go’ bit is almost shouted. For millions around the world, when Bob Smith was happy, pretty much all was well in the world.

Let’s Go To Bed (from ‘Japanese Whispers’)

After three gloomy goth albums, the Cure resurfaced in late 1982 with ‘Let’s Go To Bed’ a terrifically upbeat single in which they appeared to have abandoned the doom and bought a trumpet. The result was outstanding. Lovecats soon followed and The Cure cemented themselves as rocks biggest bunch of teasers.

The Same Deep Water As You (from ‘Disintegration’)

‘Disintegration’ is of course, the Cure’s best album. It is a Goth masterpiece. There is more relentess imagery of death and drama here than anywhere else. It is full of eight minute songs (or ten in this case) about drowning and at times it is unbearably sad. But push that to one side (gently, it’s fragile) and it is an album of such beauty and emotion that you really cannot ignore it. ‘The Same Deep Water As You’ is I think the stand out track hypnotic, sad, shimmering and beautiful.

Side Two

Open (from ‘Wish’)

‘Wish’ is the last truly outstanding Cure album. ‘Open’ is the first track off that and kind of sets the scene for the rest of the album. The songs here are big and designed for the arenas that they were easily filling by now. This song is a reflective look back at drinking and in it Smith’s vocals just get wilder and wilder.

Pictures of You (from ‘Disintegration’)

The story goes according to my wife that shortly before The Cure recorded ‘Disintegration’ a fire broke out at Smith’s house. In the damage he came across a collection of photos of his wife and that inspired this song.

For me I love it because of these lyrics

“Remembering you standing quiet in the rain, As I ran to your heart to be near/And we kissed as the sky fell in/Holding you close/How I always held close in your fear.”

Well it’s just beautiful isn’t it.

In Between Days (from ‘The Head On The Door’)

Another track that is truly wonderful and for years and years was the ring tone on my phone for whenever Mrs Badger phoned me. It’s just one of those songs that I will never tire of hearing.

Shiver and Shake (from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me)

Another reason why Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me is so glorious is the way it fluctuates from being wonderfully happy to being dramatically sad before at the (near) end, you get this the angriest, bitterest, most shouty song that The Cure ever recorded. Also in the really angry bits Bob sounds a little bit like Kermit the Frog and that is worth hearing.

Sinking (from ‘The Head On the Door’)

Let’s end on a happy note, or rather lets end with a lush murmuring sigh. A song that lives up to its name, it kinds of descends with every note, and that break near the end, its just beautiful.

So there we have it. An ICA on The Cure, eventually and if that doesn’t win the next ICA World Cup then something is wrong with the world.

TIM

Various

AN INTRODUCTION TO AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM

A GUEST POSTING by TIM BADGER

Quite a while ago, my blogging buddy SWC and I went to the cricket, and as usual we decided to do one of our ‘Mucking Around ICAs’ each, when the 11th song came on the iPod. My 11th song was The Cure (SWC’s was Blur by the way and he has so far refused to write it). So I contacted JC and said I would write him an ICA on The Cure. Then I went to Australia so it got parked.

Last week I decided to write it. However I started this story as an introduction and realised that it was quite a long story in its own right, so I decided to send this in on its own and the ICA could follow.

A very very long time ago, I had a jumper. It was old, battered, baggy and black. It was an almost exact replica of a jumper that Bob Smith from The Cure wore. I loved that jumper. Girls loved that jumper. I am not ashamed to say that I called that jumper ‘Bob’, after the aforementioned lipstick smudged singer from The Cure.

One night I went to a pub in Leeds called Churchills, it was a big pub frequented by the alternative crowd, largely because around ten pm the upstairs part of the bar would be transformed into a nightclub and an indie disco would take place and occasionally a band would turn up and play. I would wear Bob over the top of a band TShirt alongside a pair of black drainpipes and a pair of Doc Martens and try and look cool in the corner. I would then wait for the DJ to play The Cure or the Pixies or New Order or if I was feeling daring Ministry and then I would launch myself on to the dancefloor, Bob’s sleeves causally pulled down over my hands in order to give myself a bit more mystique.

I used to have a great time at Churchills, it was one of the few places left in the city that served snakebite and black, a legendary if not slightly lethal drink adored by the alternative and big haired crowd. Basically cider, lager and blackcurrant – which gave it a purpleish hue, Goths loved it obviously. Now that night in question I drunk a little bit too much snakebite and black (let’s be honest two pints was enough for anyone – if the ridiculously strong cider didn’t get you the sickly sweet Ribena substitute would). I knew I was drunk because I danced to a New Model Army track and no one danced to New Model Army and still expected to be considered cool at the end of the night. About two am I left Churchills, I’d like to say I left on the arm of a beautiful girl called Angela (who as it happens was a dead ringer for the singer from The Cranes but this being 1990 she didn’t know that yet), but I know I left alone but manage to share a cab home with a bloke called Gavin – I know this because he vomited on the pavement outside my house and the stain was there for about a month afterwards.

I woke up in the morning and felt like death. My head pounded, I was all shaky and clammy, about midday I started to feel a bit more human and I realised that I was cold, so I turned to my go to warmth (I was a student, heating was too expensive) – Bob – I mean it would have stunk of cigarettes (back in the days when you could smoke in a pub) but it kept me warm. So I went to the chair in my bedroom where clothes would have been slung last night.

Bob wasn’t there.

I had a vague recollection of taking Bob off when dancing to The Stone Roses. I’d popped it in the corner where I was sitting, just by where the lovely Angela normally sat with her mate Gemma. Oh God, Bob.

Now, I know what you are thinking, “Man up Badger it’s only a jumper”, and you are right, but that jumper was unique, sort of. Well ok, it wasn’t, it cost me a £2 from a charity shop, but I loved it, apart from my copy of ‘Substance’ on double vinyl, it was probably my favourite thing in the entire world – it was certainly the warmest thing I owned.

I sort of hoped the lovely Angela had taken it home with her and next week (After she’d finished cuddling it for a week) she would come up to me and smile her sweet smile and hand me the jumper and take me by the hand and we would walk into the moonlight, bangles jangling – but in reality I knew that I had left it on the long seat thing in the corner.

So ladies and gentlemen, I got the bus back to town. I sat there sulkily (still hungover) with my Walkmen attached to my ears. I think for some inexplicable reason I had ‘Babble’ by annoying Derry punk popsters That Petrol Emotion on the stereo, this didn’t improve my mood.

I got to Churchills around 2pm. It was open, thankfully, but the upstairs bit wasn’t. So I meekly asked the nice lady behind the bar if she could check if my jumper was up there, in the corner by the long seat, she reluctantly agreed. So I sat there at the bar for what seemed like a decade, cradling a lemonade, the sugar helped quite a lot to be honest, and then she returned.

She was holding Bob and I could have hugged her.

She handed Bob to me and then she said “Me Grandads got one just like that” and crushed what was left of my cool. I mumbled a ‘Thanks’ and walked out of the pub. I got roughly twenty foot around the corner before I stopped and popped Bob over my head.

Five minutes later, as I approached the bus stop, I saw a familiar face, the lovely Angela, sat forlornly at the bus stop, looking bored.

“Hi” I said. Slyly pulling the sleeves of Bob over my hands.

She definitely smiled……

The Upstairs Room – The Cure

Gigantic – The Pixies

Everything’s Gone Green – New Order

Big Decision – That Petrol Emotion

TIM BADGER

Uncategorized

BONUS POST : STOP PRESS

The times, they really are a-changin’

From The Guardian:-

The NME is to cease publication in print after 66 years, the weekly music title joining a growing list of once mighty magazine brands that now only exist online.

The NME.com website will continue, replacing the print edition’s cover star interview with a new weekly digital franchise, The Big Read.

The NME will continue to keep a sporadic presence in print with special issues such as its paid-for series NME Gold, to cater for music stars’ appetite for appearing in a printed product.

In 2015, the magazine stopped being a paid title after a decade of sales declines saw its circulation drop to just 15,000. It relaunched as an ad-funded, free title with a circulation of 300,000 in a last throw of the strategic dice for the print edition.

“Our move to free print has helped propel the brand to its biggest ever audience on NME.com,” said Paul Cheal, the UK group managing director, music, at NME publisher Time Inc. “We have also faced increasing production costs and a very tough print advertising market. It is in the digital space where effort and investment will focus to secure a strong future for this famous brand.”

Time Inc UK is consulting with the NME’s 23 editorial and commercial staff about possible redundancies.

NME, which has been printed weekly since 1952, managed to make money as a brand overall through spin-off activities such as awards and events.

“NME will also be exploring other opportunities to bring its best-in-class music journalism to market in print,” Time Inc UK said.

The closure of the weekly comes a week after Time Inc UK, which also publishes titles including Marie Claire and Country Life, was sold to private equity group Epiris in a £130m deal.

Epiris had been expected to sell or restructure a number of titles – the company said it wanted to bring “clarity and simplicity” to the magazine portfolio – with the print edition of NME known to have been loss-making for a number of years.

“Our global digital audience has almost doubled over the past two years,” said Keith Walker, the digital director of NME. “By making the digital platforms our core focus we can accelerate the amazing growth we’ve seen and reach more people than ever before on the devices they’re most naturally using.”

In October, Condé Nast, the publisher of Glamour magazine, shocked the market announcing that the UK’s 10th biggest magazine would stop printing monthly. Instead, it is focussing on a digital-first strategy with a print edition just twice a year.

It’s been a very long while since I was really interested in what the NME was saying, but there’s no denying it had a huge influence on the development and expansion of my listening habits in my formative and later years..

mp3 : Thee Headcoates – (We Hate the Fuckin’) NME

JC

Go-Betweens

THE THIRD POST FEATURING EXTRACTS FROM ‘GRANT & I’

 

Now that The Go-Betweens have been knocked out of the ICA World Cup, I can safely turn my attention to the third in this very occasional series in which I’ll tell the story of the band’s musical history through the pages of the excellent memoir from Robert Forster.

The first two parts dealt with the release of singles in Australia and took us to up to November 1979 when the duo decided to take their chances in London.

“A few things were immediately clear.  We bought the NME on the day it came out, and that shrinking of time and senses of being at the centre of the action was thrilling.  It was also what made one thing spectacularly apparent – The Go-Betweens were going to get nowhere in London.  The scene was too big, the walls too high, and we knew no one in the music business.  We’d travelled sixteen thousand kilometres to advance the career of the band without bringing one telephone number.”

The duo went to a gigs, seeing Gang of Four, The Raincoats and Scritti Politti on one bill, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and A Certain Ratio together on another, while also on other occasions catching The Cramps, The Fall, The Cure and The Pretenders.  As their savings ran out, and after a brief interlude in Paris for Robert and Greece for Grant they picked up menial jobs to get by.  In due course, via a fellow Australian who worked in the Rough Trade record store, they got to meet Geoff Travis and let him hear Lee Remick but he dismissed it as being too poppy although he was willing to put the single on display in the store.

Two months later, Edwyn Collins, David McClymont and Alan Horne turned up at the same shop trying to get the owners to take the first ever Postcard single off their hands.  All three had previously taken notice of Lee Remick when it had been played on the John Peel show and Alan Horne was intrigued enough to ask the Australian working in the shop how a copy had made it way to London from Brisbane.  Having heard that Grant and Robert were in London, he put together a package and asked if it could be delivered to them.  The package consisted of a single, some promo photos of Orange Juice and a handwritten letter inviting them to come to Glasgow and record a single for Postcard Records.

It would be fair to say that neither Grant nor Robert knew what to make of Falling and Laughing as it was unlike anything else they had heard during their time in London.  But with nothing else happening, they pursued the offer and on 1 April 1980. they took the train to Glasgow.  Their first impressions was that ‘it immediately felt right.’

They would spend six weeks in Scotland, playing gigs at which Steven Daly of Orange Juice would drum for them, on bills alongside that band and Josef K.  Grant was put up in a spare room in Edwyn Collins’ flat while Robert was accommodated by two art school friends of David.

Watching Orange Juice on stage opened up their eyes to what was possible.

“There was a Beatles ’62 thing about them.  Own humour. Own dress style. Own songs and sound in the heart of a city. Immediately obvious was their superiority to the bands we’d seen in London, drowning as many of them were in reverb and effects.  Orange Juice had clarity, which made their stinging songs and each member’s contribution all the more powerful. ‘Falling and Laughing’ sounded much better live – like a classic, in fact, but they had at least half a dozen of them. Grant and I, five metres back from the stage, were counting.”

They ended up in a studio just outside of Edinburgh where they cut the two sides of the 45 for Postcard.  They were team-tagged in the studio with Orange Juice and looked on as they recorded Blue Boy and Lovesick.

“It was clear that something special was happening.  It was whiplash pop, miles removed from the doom of the Joy Division imitators or the rumble of The Fall.  Orange Juice had cut a major record that, give any kind of chance, would break the band and all those who sailed in it along with them.

Which makes our decision to leave in late May all the harder to explain. Why go when we had a single recorded for a fast-rising label and were living in a city we dug?  I was missing Lindy – that was the nub of it.  First love had bitten hard. It was six months since I’d seen her, and six months seemed to be the length of time I could endure without her.”

Robert therefore put his personal life before that of the band. It wasn’t easy – he was left to make his way back to Australia alone, with his air fare paid by his parents.  Grant went to New York but agreed to talk about things when he himself eventually got back home.   Neither of them hung around long enough for the Postcard single to be pressed up and copies taken back to Brisbane, although Robert did have a cassette copy, along with a battered Nu-sonic guitar that had been gifted to him by James Kirk.

mp3 : Go-Betweens – I Need Two Heads
mp3 : Go-Betweens – Stop Before You Say It

 

JC

 

ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS POST : HALF TIME SCORES

All four games looked like foregone conclusions as early as Saturday evening thanks to a very clear and distinct pattern of voting emerging. The television bosses (and Dirk) have already their disappointment with the lack of excitement but should be consoling themselves that the last 32 is shaping up very nicely indeed.

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions 23 v Arab Strap 5
British Sea Power 8 v Orange Juice 20
Lambchop 0 v Pulp 28
Pavement 21 v Clyde McPhatter 6

If they were boxing matches, I reckon we would be calling a halt to each of them. None of the losing acts deserve continued punishment.

This week’s half-time, as per the newly adopted practice, comes from the ICA of a singer or band knocked out in the last round by one of the above eight sides.  This one, selected by jimdoes before voting started, seem very apt:-

mp3 : Tilly and The Wall – Nights of the Living Dead

JC

 

Beatles, Billy Bragg

SOME SONGS ARE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapter Eleven)

A GUEST POSTING by JULIAN BADENOCH

Hi Jim Something to annoy your readers and bait the DMCA guys.

Billy Bragg’s only No. 1 single was on a double a side with Wet Wet Wet in 1988.
from a NME charity album for Childline “Sergeant Pepper Knew My Father”

Of course the original is best.

Jules

Wednesday morning at five o’clock
As the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more

She goes downstairs to the kitchen
Clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the backdoor key
Stepping outside, she is free

She(we gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (sacrificed most of our lives)
Home (we gave her everything money could buy)
She’s leaving home, after living alone, for so many years (bye bye)

Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that’s lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
“Daddy, our baby’s gone.
“Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly?
How could she do this to me?”

( note from Jules, this verse brilliantly sums up the lower middle class mores of the time, the use of daddy for husband and baby for grown up daughter is spot on )

She (we never thought of ourselves)
Is leaving (never a thought for ourselves)
Home (we struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She’s leaving home, after living alone, for so many years

Friday morning, at nine o’clock
She is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the Motortrade

She (what did we do that was wrong)
Is Having (we didn’t know it was wrong)
Fun (fun is the one thing that money can’t buy)

Something inside, that was always denied, for so many years
She’s leaving home, bye, bye

mp3 : The Beatles – She’s Leaving Home
mp3 : Billy Bragg – She’s Leaving Home

JULES

Patrick Doyle

A HEARTFELT TRIBUTE TO THE LATE PATRICK DOYLE

A GUEST POSTING by ALDO

As is often the case these days, my first knowledge of Patrick Doyle’s passing, at the age of 32, came via a post from a friend on social media yesterday morning, waking and seeing it in the early hours meant it didn’t properly register till later in the morning when news outlets began carrying the story.

I first would have first seen Patrick as part of The Royal We, at an all day event curated by Stephen Pastel at the CCA in Glasgow back in 2007. The Royal We were yet to release their debut (and only) album, but there was enough hype around them that I was very keen to see what all the fuss was about. I fell for them straight away, though little did I know that I’d be seeing them for the only time, as a short while later they disbanded just around the release of that aforementioned eponymous album.

A couple of years later a mate, who was an acquaintance of Patrick’s through being in a band himself, mentioned that a couple of the folks from The Royal We had formed a new group (the other member being Roxanne Clifford). Making a note to keep an eye out for them, it wasn’t long before that band, Veronica Falls were firm favourites. I went along to catch them live the first opportunity I could, and though I recognised Patrick I was slightly thrown by the fact he was now behind the drumkit, as opposed to on guitar as previously.

I was absolutely smitten with them for a while, and I was fortunate to catch them live a number of times. Two wonderful albums later it was announced that, although not splitting, the band would be going on a hiatus with members focussing on different side projects.

Patrick himself disappeared from my own radar for a couple of years until I learned he’d began recording under the Boys Forever name, and my next time catching him live would be at Indietracks festival in the summer of 2016. This time moving to lead, instead of being behind the drums. He continued to make the kind of sounds I adore. The last time I recall seeing Patrick performing was later that same year supporting the Goon Sax at Mono in Glasgow.

It’s perhaps unfortunate that it has taken news of his tragic death for me to really reflect on the work Patrick was involved in, and how much joy I’ve gotten personally from the music he helped in producing.

Thank you for the music Patrick, RIP

mp3 : The Royal We – All The Rage
mp3 : Veronica Falls – Bad Feeling
mp3 : Boys Forever – Voice In My Head

ALDO

JC adds……I also saw the news on social media yeaterday and my thoughts turned immediately to Aldo. He was kind enough to accept my invitation to pull together the above piece although I knew it was something he was totally unprepared for and indeed most likely had plans to fill in his Sunday afternoon and evening otherwise. Huge thanks mate for doing this.

This unexpected tragedy has meant that the post I had planned for today has been shifted…indeed I’m going to rethink things for the remainder of this week and move a few things around, possibly doubling up on a couple of days with bonus postings. I’ll see how I feel. Just to add that my thoughts too are with Patrick’s family and friends at this very difficult time. RIP.

New Order

THE NEW ORDER SINGLES (Parts 21-23)

For a band that had long taken pride in the quality of its 45s, from ensuring as few as possible were on LPs to the high quality designs of the sleeves to making more than decent and different b-sides, New Order really seemed to give up the ghost once they found themselves on London Records.

Regret had been well received and the reviews for parent album Republic were universally positive, so much so that it went in at #1 on the album charts. Job done for all concerned at the new label.

But it proved to be an album, for this long-time fan anyway, that seemed to offer little in the way of substance (pardon the pun) and it didn’t really stand up to repeat listens. The reviews were almost as if the critics were using up all the goodwill from previous years, delighted to see the band back after four years in the wilderness offering proof that, post-Factory, there was much to look forward to.

I’ve dug out a review from NME – one in which the critic awarded the album 8/10. With phrases like these, that mark is perhaps understandable:-

New Order return near-triumphant after four years in the superstar wilderness, still sculpting and creating music as dizzyingly pretty as an azure chemical sunset over Los Angeles. The oceanscapes, landscapes and cityscapes of the world might have changed almost beyond recognition in the interim, but this Mancunian quartet have managed to retain their poignant, indefinable essence while voyaging tentatively into new waters.

It can’t be the easiest task in Christendom to sculpt an album that marries the machine-dreams of the purest Euro techno with Funk percussiveness and absolutely haywire melodies – these musical cul-de-sacs are usually mutually exclusive – and string wayward, frothy, accusing and tender poetry on top, but more often than not they’ve pulled it off.

But later on, the reviewer, Dele Fadele, points out something rather obvious about the record and why it was of huge bother to many fans:-

‘Republic’ has been produced and co-written with Stephen Hague with, for the most part, positive results. The only gnawing bone of contention is that he doesn’t seem to realise that Peter Hook’s melancholic, melodic bass-playing is the soul of New Order, the point from which all the other emotions start to make sense. Hook seems to have been confined to playing bit-parts on his own LP and the effect is that the tracks take some getting used to, such is their unfamiliarity, although when they finally sink in they just keep on growing. The single ‘Regret’ is not symptomatic of what follows, being classically hummable, guitar-led New Order, but at least you can hear Hooky.

If the reviewer really does think that Peter Hook’s bass was the soul of the band, how can you be so fawning over an album in which he seems to hardly feature?

Regret opened up Side A of Republic – it was followed in order by World, Ruined In Day and Spooky, all of which were released as 45s (but not in that particular sequence).

Ruined In A Day was released in June 1991 on 2 x CDs, 12″ vinyl and cassette. All told there were eight(!!!) mixes of the single. World, one of the other tracks on Republic (and a future single although we didn’t know it yet) was given a dub version on the 12″ while a new song, Vicious Circle, was released in two versions – the New Order Mix on the cassette and the Mike Haas mix on CD1. I thought it was the worst single they had ever released (up to this point) and I didn’t buy any of the versions…I wasn’t alone as it limped to #22 despite all the formats. I may not have bought it at the time and still don’t own a copy, but one of the remixes was given away on a compilation CD with a magazine around the same time:-

mp3 : New Order – Ruined In A Day (Reunited In A Day)

I’ve also done a bit of villainy for your previously unreleased track which is more like an Electronic outtake than anything else:-

mp3 : New Order – Vicious Circle (New Order Mix)

Moving on two months and the newly titled World (The Price of Love) became the third 45 to be lifted from the album. This time it was on 2 x CDs, 7″ and 12″ vinyl with, yet again, eight mixes of the single featuring the work of Paul Oakenfold/Steve Osborne, Brothers in Rhythm and K-Klass. There were no new songs on offer. It reached #13.

mp3 : New Order – World (Price of Love) (perfecto edit)

Finally, the dead horse was truly flogged in December 1993 when Spooky was issued as a single, To show you how ridiculous things were getting, I’m going to list all nine variations:-

CD #1
1. “Spooky” (Minimix) (Remixed by Fluke)
2. “Spooky” (Magimix) (Remixed by Fluke)
3. “Spooky” (Moulimix) (Remixed by Fluke)
4. “Spooky” (album version)

CD #2:
1. “Spooky” (Out of Order Mix) (Temixed by Paul van Dyk)
2. “Spooky” (Stadium Mix) (Remixed by Tony Garcia)
3. “Spooky” (New Order in Heaven) (Remixed by Paul van Dyk)
4. “Spooky” (Boo! Dub Mix) (Remixed by Tony Garcia)
5. “Spooky” (Stadium Instrumental) (Remixed by Tony Garcia)

There was also a 12″ single but it didn’t offer anything not available on the 2 x CDs.

mp3 : New Order – Spooky (Magimix)

Tune in next week to hear the bottom of the barrel really being scraped by the record company.

JC

ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 2 (Part 4)

As promised last week, jimdoes, whose concept it was to have an ICA World Cup, will take you through this week’s tasty match-ups, but before then, the final scores on the ties you’ve had to deliberate on these past seven days:-

The Jam 37 The Detroit Cobras 6
Half Man Half Biscuit 25 Trash Can Sinatras 17
Pete Wylie 27 PJ Harvey 17
Magazine 19 The Wedding Present 25

At one point I thought Magazine were set to pull off an historic victory as they closed what had been a substantial gap down to just two points some 24 hours before the close of voting, but the extra helping of apple pie on the final day saw TWP survive to fight another day.  Here’s some great comments in respect of each match:-

The Jam v Detroit Cobras : I love a plucky underdog, especially against a mighty top side (in recent weeks I’ve been cheering on Newport County (well, OK, most weeks I cheer for the County), Rochdale and Wigan!) So when I saw The Jam vs The Detroit Cobras, I was ready to cast my vote for Motor City’s finest R&B covers band. Until I saw Weller & Co had fielded Billy Hunt. From that moment on, there was only going to be one result…THE ROBSTER

Half Man Half Biscuit v Trash Can Sinatras : National Shite Day is our new national anthem so no contest. Overhead a rainbow appears. In black and white…..SWISS ADAM

Pete Wylie v PJ Harvey : Pete pips poor Polly, producing pristine, proto-pop pleaser…..MICKY

Magazine (“Oh, 10 points for them and they are very good indeed. 10 points by all accounts!”) v The Wedding Present (“And 11 points for them because I can understand the singer better!”). I said: “But you don’t speak English.”. “No”, he replied, “but he (Gedge) is a bit a slower and thus more comprehensible.”. So match ended 10:11…..DIRK & LITTLE LOSER.

The final submission this week, which came from themostdisagreeablefirst, did make me laugh out loud.  He/she typed the word ‘Magazine’ ten times and asked ‘does that help’?  Given that I actually wanted Shot By Both Sides to get through, it was tempting……but in the end, it only counted for one vote.

That’s enough for week 3.

Here’s jimdoes:-

First up, I want to thank JC for taking my crackpot scheme and turning it in to a brilliant series – and all the people who have voted and added brilliant comments about each tie.

Matches 13-16 of Round 2

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions v Arab Strap

A match that guarantees a Scottish team in the next round. If I knew anything about Scottish football I’d make a comparison between various teams and these two bands. But I don’t. So I won’t – as it would probably upset a lot of people. Anyway, last round both teams were expected to win their ties which they duly did, without any trouble – seeing off The Pipettes and A Certain Ratio respectively. I know who I’m voting for in this round but it’s a tie that I think is difficult to call.

Mister Malcontent (from Mainstream, 1987) v Packs Of Three (from Philophobia, 1998)

British Sea Power v Orange Juice

The magic of the cup. This is the televised round of the week – the broadcasters licking their lips at the prospect of two of the dark horses going head to head. British Sea Power are taking no chances even though they have home advantage and are playing a really strong team. Meanwhile, Edwyn Collins‘ team have foregone their usual Orange kit and have opted for their away colours – Blue Boys. BSP were also the televised match in the previous round, seeing off Beach House much to my relief. And Orange Juice ran up a cricket score against the unfortunate Tilly and The Wall, despite their fancy footwork.

Remember Me (from The Decline of British Sea Power, 2001) v Blue Boy (single 1980)

Lambchop v Pulp

In the previous round Lambchop beat Martha and The Muffins in a match that was end to end – it took a strong second half performance from Kurt Wagner‘s team to win. Pulp saw off a spirited display from Tindersticks to set up this tie. In an effort to appear neutral I’ll just say that Lambchop must be cursing their luck with this draw. Not only coming up against one of the tournament favourites but then having Pulp put out their ‘A’ team must be particularly hard to take. Still, everyone loves an underdog – could we see an upset here?

I’ve Been Lonely For So Long (from What Another Man Spills, 1998) v Common People (from Different Class, 1995)

Pavement v Clyde McPhatter

With his choice of song, has Clyde McPhatter already thrown in the towel in this tie? He’s been the underdog before and come through a closely fought match against Gene Loves Jezabel. Or will Pavement‘s slacker style count against them. On paper it doesn’t look like they are taking any chances, especially as they experienced a minor scare in the previous round against The Twilight Sad before running out eventual winners.

Cut Your Hair (from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, 1994) v Have Mercy Baby by Billy Ward & The Dominoes (single, 1951)

As ever, the deadline for voting is next Friday, 9 March, with a 10pm cut-off time in the UK.

JC will be back with next week’s four games by which point we will getting close to knowing the make-up of the last- standing 32 sides.

jimdoes

Stone Roses

TRUE CONFESSIONS : I WANNA BE ADORED

I think I’m laying myself open for a bit of a pounding today.

I don’t mind some of the songs that The Stone Roses have released over the years and indeed would go as far to say that I quite like one or two. One of them, however, is not I Wanna Be Adored.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m always intrigued by its opening segment – that collage of noise, droning bass and the most precise plucking of electric guitar strings. The gradual build-up does offer some excitement that what is unfolding and slowly unpeeling itself is going to be special and unforgettable. Just a pity it gets ruined with the vocal……………

I’m not the first to ever raise an issue over the singing abilities, or otherwise, of Ian Brown; and being honest, it’s not something I’m comfortable doing as some of my favourite moments in pop music, especially those of an indie-bent, have come through with an out-of-tune or flat vocal delivery. And yes, there are other moments in the band’s canon what he does makes a wonderful and possibly perfect addition to everything else that’s going on – She Bangs The Drums and I Am The Resurrection very much spring to mind – but I just can’t think otherwise that his contribution to ‘Adored’ makes it border on the unlistenable.

mp3 : The Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored

As ever, feel free to disagree.

PS…..I do love this cover version (which I pinched years ago from over at Drew’s place):-

mp3 : The Raveonettes – I Wanna Be Adored

JC

 

Bomb The Bass, Cornershop

30, 20, 10 (Part 11)

Last time out, the indie charts had a club hit at #1 on 1 February 1988.  The next three weeks saw Sugarcubes and Kylie Minogue reach the pinnacle before this began a four-week reign on top:-

1 March 1988 : mp3 : Bomb The Bass – Beat Dis

Bomb The Bass was a name adopted by producer Tim Simenon and this massive hit, which also reached #2 in the main singles chart, was another wonderful and mind-blowing example of a 45 consisting of samples including, among others, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Prince and Public Enemy along with snatches of dialogue from various films and TV programmes.

Jumping ahead ten years, and Oasis had been followed successively to the top by Aaron Carter and Backstreet Boys, but thankfully a song on Wiija Records, albeit a re-released remix, saves the day for us music fans:-

1 March 1998 : mp3 : Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)

This also provided Cornershop with a very unexpected #1 in the singles chat and brought the parent album When I Was Born For The 7th Time to a wider audience, the majority of whom would likely have been bemused (which is why you see it in loads of charity shops!!)

And finally, what were the indie-kids buying a decade ago? It was still Adele with Chasing Pavements coming to end of a five-week reign.

JC