Month: June 2018

James

A RE-POST TO BUY MORE TIME (9)

3 February 2009 saw the 700th post over at the old blog….it felt like a landmark occasion and so I did something a bit unusual.

BACK TO BASICS WEEK : TUESDAY

The 700th posting.

And for only the second ever time in all of them, a complete album is available to listen to.

One Man Clapping is a live album, released in March 1989. It had been recorded over two nights the previous November in Bath. So what?

Well, the fact is that James at the time were in dire financial difficulties, so much so that without this record they would in all likelihood have broken-up. The move away from from Factory Records some five years earlier onto the major label with Sire had been an unmitigated disaster.

The debut album hadn’t sold well, largely because the label thought it uncommercial and refused to give it any meaningful promotional budget. The band decided to swallow their pride and make a more radio-friendly second LP, only to find to their horror that the record label more or less rejected it – it was given a release more than a year later, again with next to no promotion. It was fair to say the relationship had broken down, and James manufactured their escape.

But that left them with no record deal and no incentive for touring, although their fan base remained loyal. The boys were reduced to taking part in medical experiments at a Manchester hospital to pay the rent, when they come up with the idea of recording a low-cost live album which would not only make them some money, but also showcase their new songs to other labels. But how could they get the money to pay for the recording of such an album?

Believe it or not, it was a bank manager who came to their rescue – one Colin Cook of the St. Anne’s Square, Manchester branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland – with a loan of £12,000. He did so after he’d gone along to see the band play live after they had put in the request for the loan.

The LP was a critical success, and its aims of making some money and getting the band back in the spotlight were achieved.

Only around 10,000 copies of One Man Clapping were made available. The cassette and vinyl versions have 12 songs on them, but the CD version has 13 songs; in 1989, vinyl was still way more popular than CDs, so in all likelihood, the extra track was included in the hope that the more loyal fans would buy both versions. Indeed, the CD version is a rare beast and changes hands for decent sums nowadays.

I’ve only the vinyl version, but it’s one that has a proud place on the shelf. I picked it up second hand some two years ago not long after starting the blog, and I always wanted to make it available on some sort of special occasion.

And today seems to be as good as any.

mp3 : James – Chain Mail
mp3 : James – Sandman (Hup-Springs)
mp3 : James – Whoops
mp3 : James – Riders
mp3 : James – Leaking
mp3 : James – Why So Close
mp3 : James – Johnny Yen
mp3 : James – Scarecrow
mp3 : James – Are You Ready
mp3 : James – Really Hard
mp3 : James – Burned
mp3 : James – Stutter

One Man Clapping was released on One Man Records, which in effect was an imprint of Rough Trade – the sleeve notes give a very big thank you to Geoff Travis.

Indeed, Travis went even further in terms of saving the band by giving them a contract with his indie label which had really made its fame and fortune a few years earlier with The Smiths – only to see James walk away after a couple of singles so they could have another stab at stardom with a major, in this case Fontana.

The rest, as they say, is history.

There’s quite a few who say James were at their very best in the era of One Man Clapping, but I think that’s a bit of indie-snobbery talking. Some of their very best songs lay ahead of them, and while the rise to stardom did result in some hugely over-produced stuff that changed dramatically the way the band sounded within a handful of years, I don’t think anyone who watched just how much of a struggle those first 6 or 7 years were for all concerned could begrudge them the success. If you can’t be bothered to listen to all of this album and want a recommendation for just one song, then how about I steal some words from Stuart Maconie and his book Folklore : The Official History of James:-

The album’s highlight is its least well-known track, Burned, a new song written in the aftermath of the Sire debacle. The lyric is a defiant denunciation of the music business.

“If you don’t look cool, they won’t look at you
But if your image is strong, any song will do
They think that the wrapping’s the gift….

All we want is an empty throne
I feel I’ve been burned
But I won’t let it show

My beliefs are all shaken
I’m lost in the grief at the state I’m in
Seen too much goodness chewed up by money men
If God exists she should make us king…”

And God it seemed was listening and yes, she was planning to make them, if not king, then certainly minor archdukes of the business they were so bitter about.

JC

ICA WORLD CUP

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

Memo to self……..if going out for what you know is going to be a long and drunken Friday evening….switch ICA deadline so you don’t fuck things up with the scheduled posting.

My head hurts.  This, by my muddled reckoning, was the final result from last week….

The Smiths 12 Billy Bragg 26

That’s the first of your semi-finalists sorted out.  Here’s jimdoes with this week’s tie.

THE HOUSEMARTINS v PULP

Flag Day v Do You Remember The First Time?

 

Amanda never liked The Housemartins. So I’m fairly sure I’ve never kissed a girl while Flag Day has been playing. I probably first heard of The Housemartins when they played the video on The Chart Show – one of the rare weeks where they did the indie rundown. My best friend Nick’s mum worked with Norman Cook’s mum so she got our records signed by the band (My signed Happy Hour 12″ was in the box that I lost in a house move years ago). Nick and I went to see them when they played Brixton – you can see my ticket here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHu-z1dA8be/?taken-by=i__was__there_ We bumped into Amanda in the street before we got on the train and we had a bit of a row – she wasn’t impressed by the purple shirt I was wearing (hey I was at art school). It was probably the first gig where I was down the front in the moshpit for the whole show – the shirt got ruined but I had a fantastic time. I loved both Housemartins albums but they are another band that I haven’t listened to in years – I’ve seen Fatboy Slim a few times which is always fun, but I was never a fan of The Beautiful South.

The first time for me was the early 90s – queuing up to get in to Camden Underworld, given a flyer with Pulp’s name on. Shortly after I was backpacking around the world for a year – my friends having given me cassettes of essential music to listen to whilst away. Nicks tape had Babies on it (and a lot of Beastie Boys) – I listened to it over and over – it will always remind me of sitting in the back of pick up trucks driving around Zimbabwe – probably not what Jarvis had in mind. Amanda was long gone by now – but I hope she likes Pulp – maybe it’s an indication of who I hang around with, but I haven’t met a single girl that doesn’t like Pulp. They are a band that whenever I DJ, I can pretty much play any song by them and guarantee people dancing with abandon.

jimdoes

Bodines

A POST ABOUT THE BODINES THAT DOESN’T FEATURE ‘THERESE’

If you click on ‘Bodines’ on the index part of this blog over on the right-hand side, you will find there have been three postings, all of which have featured debut single Therese.

Understandably so, as it is one of the great 45s of the C86 era – as I mentioned previously, it is a song that feels as if Julian Cope is fronting an energetic and lively Orange Juice which, and I won’t have any arguments, is a recipe for unadulterated magnificence.

The follow-up single was always likely going to be a bit of a letdown in comparison, which sadly proved to be the case:-

mp3 : The Bodines – Heard It All

It’s a decent enough song but there’s nothing to make it stand out from the crowd, although listening again it does seem that my Julian Cope observation for Therese was misplaced as lead singer Mike Ryan seems to be channelling someone else from that era and scene….and indeed if you flip the 45 over to the b-side, you’ll get to hear the whole band paying tribute to Echo & The Bunnymen with a tune that wouldn’t have been out-of-place on the Crocodile-era material.

mp3 : The Bodines – Clear

Bloody good innit???

JC

Arctic Monkeys, Specials

SOME SONGS ARE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen)

I’m placing these two songs together in one posting as  I reckon they are very close cousins. Both tell the story of being out on the town and the immediate consequences thereafter.

mp3 : The Specials – Friday Night, Saturday Morning

In which Terry Hall wonderfully narrates the tale of someone who has gone out and had a predictably awful and all too common end to his night.

Out of bed at eight am
Out my head by half past ten
Out with mates and dates and friends
That’s what I do at weekends

I can’t talk and I can’t walk
But I know where I’m going to go
I’m going watch my money go
At the Locarno, no

When my feet go through the door
I know what my right arm is for
Buy a drink and pull a chair
Up to the edge of the dance floor

Bouncers bouncing through the night
Trying to stop or start a fight
I sit and watch the flashing lights
Moving legs in footless tights

I go out on Friday night
and I come home on Saturday morning

I like to venture into town
I like to get a few drinks down
The floor gets packed the bar gets full
I don’t like life when things get dull

The hen party have saved the night
And freed themselves from drunken stags
Having fun and dancing in
A circle round their leather bags

But two o’clock has come again
It’s time to leave this paradise
Hope the chip shop isn’t closed
Cos’ their pies are really nice

I’ll eat in the taxi queue
Standing in someone else’s spew
Wish I had lipstick on my shirt
Instead of piss stains on my shoes

I go out on Friday night
and I come home on Saturday morning

Back in 1981, most towns and cities in the UK had a limited choice for young people looking for a decent night out. The pubs, for the most part, catered for all ages and you stood a good chance of bumping into older folk who were on more than nodding terms with one or more of your family. The choice of booze was limited depending on the brewery to which the landlord or ale-house was attached. Males would be in the bar area and females would be in the lounge….the idea of both sexes mingling in a pub was fairly alien. Which is one of the reasons almost everyone aged 16-25 went to the equivalent of Terry’s Locarno as that was the only place you could engage with someone of the opposite sex; such places were referred to most often as cattle markets.

Oh, and you could just completely forget the any sort of above ground nightlife for anyone who wasn’t hetero….

Fast forward 35 years

mp3 : Arctic Monkeys – Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured

In which Alex Turner wonderfully narrates the tale of a group of lads who have gone out and had a predictably frantic and manic end to their night.

We’ll ask if we can have six in
If not we’ll have to have two
Well, you’re coming up our end, aren’t you?
So I’ll get one with you

Won’t he let us have six in?
Especially not with the food
He could have just told us no though
He didn’t have to be rude

You see her with the green dress?
She talked to me at the bar
Wait, how come it’s already two pound fifty?
We’ve only gone about a yard

Didn’t you see she were gorgeous
She were beyond belief
But this lad at her side drinking his Smirnoff Ice
Came and paid for her Tropical Reef

And I’m sitting going backwards
And I didn’t want to leave
I said, “It’s High Green, mate
Via Hillsborough, please”

Well, how funny were that sketch earlier
Up near that taxi rank?
Oh no, you would have missed it
Think it were when you went to the bank

These two lads squaring up proper shouting
‘Bout who were next in the queue
The kind of thing that’d seem so silly
But not when they’ve both had a few

Well calm down, temper, temper
You shouldn’t get so annoyed
Well, you’re acting like a silly little boy
And they wanted to be men
And do some fighting in the street
They said “no surrender
No chance of retreat”

And so why are they in the taxi?
‘Cause I didn’t want to leave
I said, “It’s High Green, mate
Via Hillsborough, please”

Drunken plots hatched to jump it
Ask around, “Are you sure?”
Went for it but the red light was showing
And red light indicates doors are secured

Things had changed greatly by the time the 21st Century beckoned. Towns and cities, for the most part, have pubs which cater specifically for young folk. The choice of drink is beyond the dreams and imaginations of those of us who did our growing up with The Specials, as indeed is the way it is now consumed. There’s still some element of groups of guys hanging around together but nowadays you’re just as likely to see as many groups of gals….who are more than capable of displaying every behavioural characteristic of the male species. There’s still the equivalent of The Locarno but there’s also loads of other clubs catering for all tastes…..and whisper it, there’s even tolerance (now and again) for people of the same sex to be walking the streets holding each other’s hands.

One other thing to note which is also reflective of how things have changed since the early 80s. Terry’s resigned sounding tune has the pace and temp which points to the night, to all intent and purposes, being over and done with now once you join a queue for the taxi home. Alex’s frantic and speedy number lets you know that the night is still young and there is still so much to enjoy and experience……

Oh and for the benefit of our overseas readers, here’s my translation of the Arctic Monkeys lyric:-

“Why wouldn’t that cab driver take all six passengers? It means we’ll have to get two taxis now to the Sheffield suburbs but mind and eat all of your kebab or fish’n’chips beforehand as the drivers don’t let you in if you’ve got food.

“Wasn’t that the most brilliant night? Was nearly perfect for me what with that stunner in the green dress chatting me up for ages. I was bitterly disappointed when that rich bloke came up and bought her a drink – I can’t afford to splash out on these bottles that the girls go for….money is tight. Talking of which, how come the taxi meter is showing it’s already £2.50 when we’ve hardly left the rank. Hang on a minute till I remind the cabbie that we’re going to mine at High Green but dropping you off at Hillsborough”

“Did you see the fight between those two daft lads? No, you wouldn’t have as you were up at the cash machine getting some more money. To be honest, it wasn’t really a fight more a shouting match but it could have escalated given they were both really drunk.

“Here mate, I’m not sure I really want to go home – it still feels as if there’s fun to be had down here in the town. Let’sopen the doors and jump out when he next comes to a halt at the traffic lights and we can run off without paying.

What do you mean it’s a taxi with doors that automatically locks when it’s sitting still? Is that what that red light down there means? Effin hell……..”

JC

Minutemen

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #170 : MINUTEMEN

A GUEST POSTING by SWISS ADAM

http://baggingarea.blogspot.com/

This could well be the shortest ICA in the series, in terms of running time (unless someone puts together a Napalm Death one). It could comfortably fit on a 10” single. It would be the best 10” single ever made. It would be called Our Band Could Be Your Life, which is the line from a song that defines Minutemen, their relationship with their audience and their no stars, we’re just like you approach.

Minutemen were from San Pedro, a naval town in Southern California. Inspired by punk, they made some highly individual and inspiring music before the untimely death of frontman D. Boon in 1985. Formed by D. Boon and bassist Mike Watt, and then joined by drummer George Hurley, they took their childhood influences (60s and 70s rock mainly) and the thrust and directness of punk and started their own thing. As D. and Mike saw it, punk was about a) DIY and b) being an individual. They believed that a band had to bring their own thing to the punk scene- it was no good sounding like anybody (or everybody) else, being different from everybody else was the thing. They separated the sound of the group, guitars taking to treble and bass the low end. Too often D complained, the guitarist ‘bogarted the bass’.

Minutemen had sonic separation with each man king of his own kingdom. They married this to their philosophy of ‘we jam econo’, a do it yourself, thrifty approach to touring, playing and recording. They drove their own van, unloaded their own gear, set it up and then put it all back on the van afterwards. The songs were short and taut, rarely over two minutes, sometimes around one minute, taking in punk, funk, jazz and rock, but sounding like no one else except the Minutemen. All three men wrote tunes and words, each bringing different stances and approaches, D often being more direct, Mike more obtuse and artier, George bringing in songs from somewhere else. Between 1980 and 1985 they put out 4 albums and 6 eps, containing dozens of songs and criss-crossed the USA building up a network, an underground, an alternative to the mainstream sound and politics of the USA under Reagan.

D. Boon died when the band van crashed returning from a gig and with that they were over. Mike Watt went on to play with other groups, not least the reformed Stooges and Sonic Youth as well as his own projects but he still sees himself defined by his first band and his friendship with D. Boon. He once said ‘when people ask me what sort of bass player I am I say, ‘I’m D. Boon’s bassplayer’.

Side One

Corona

Fizzing with ideas and riffs and a social conscience D Boon writes this song on a beach in Mexico watching a woman pick up beer bottles to take back for the deposit, a song of sympathy for the locals trying to survive among the US holiday-makers. In this simple act he sees ‘the dirt, scarcity and emptiness of our south’, the price people pay for being poor and living in a greedy, unequal world. Ten lines of poetry set to blistering Tex-Mex post-punk. It is on their 1984 double album Double Nickels On the Dime, released by SST on the same day as Husker Du’s double opus Zen Arcade. D wrote I Felt Like A Gringo inspired by the same trip and events.

Little Man With A Gun In His Hand

At the end of their 1983 ep Buzz or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat comes this early shot at post-punk genius. Interweaving guitar and bass parts, flipped out dynamics, an almost crooned vocal building up to the climax- ‘all the things he couldn’t have, all the things he couldn’t see’…. ‘little man with a gun in his hand, LITTLE MAN WITH A GUN IN HIS HAND’.

Joe McCarthy’s Ghost

From their 1980 debut 7” single, a short, thumping, calling card. It probably took longer to type this sentence than it does for this song to play.

Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth?

It’s a good question.

Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing

Mike Watt write this song for Michael Jackson to sing. He thought that if the King of Pop sang it, everyone would know who the Minutemen were. He sent it to Jackson’s management. He didn’t hear anything in reply and as far as I know Jackson never recorded it.

Side Two

The Anchor

George wrote this one, about a dream, written half-awake in the early hours. I always thought the anchor referred to Watt’s bass, dragging behind, but that might just be my interpretation.

The Price Of Paradise

This song is on their attempt to make a mersh (commercial) record, Three Way Tie (For Last) in 1985, the group frustrated, trying to write pop songs and make some sales. Didn’t work obviously. A song about the Vietnam War, something they visited fairly often, something that made an impression on them through their TV screens as kids. Vietnam was big in the 80s, even over here, as those of us that as teens watched Apocalypse Now! and Platoon and Sounds Of The 60s can testify.

Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs

This one’s from their 1983 album, What Makes A Man Start Fires? which came complete with Raymond Pettibon drawing on the cover, an album they considered to be their first proper record (one night to record it, two nights to mix it and record a few overdubs). It is a tribute to Bob Dylan as well as a parody of his lyrics. There are 18 songs on What Makes A Man Start Fires? And honestly, I could have included any of them but this one, the album’s opener, always grabs me.

History Lesson Pt 2

Let’s just about close with a moment of truth and beauty. History Lesson Pt II is the story of D. Boon and Mike Watt growing up, the effect punk rock had on their lives and how they saw the world. Over a gentle, circling guitar riff and spartan bass and drums D. Boon half sings, half speaks the words-

‘Our band could be your life/Real names be proof/Me and Mike Watt played for years/Punk rock changed our lives

We learned punk rock in Hollywood/Drove up from Pedro/We were fucking corn dogs/We’d go drink and pogo

Mr Narrator/This is Bob Dylan to me/My story could be his songs/I’m his soldier child

Our band is scientist rock/But I was E Bloom, Richard Hell, Joe Strummer and John Doe/Me and Mike Watt playing guitar’

Jesus and Tequila

To close. It just seemed to fit.

SWISS ADAM

Yazoo

TWO SUPERB SONGS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

Yazoo, the new synth-duo formed by keyboard genius Vince Clarke (ex-Depeche Mode) and the then unknown vocalist Alison Moyet, proved to be an immediate hit with the record-buying public. Debut single, the ballad-like Only You had climbed all the way to #2 in the spring of 1982. Clarke did advise that the debut wouldn’t be atypical of the band and much of the material he was writing was aimed firmly at the dance-floors of the new wave of disco nights that were sprouting up across the country in the wake of the explosion in synth-pop. He hinted that Situation, the uptempo flip side of Only You was more the direction he was keen to take.

The sophomore single proved that he was as good as his word. Don’t Go was an incredible blast of high-energy pop music that relied on the catchiest of riffs and a blistering and pleading vocal which demonstrated Moyet’s blues and soul influences.

mp3 : Yazoo – Don’t Go

At a shade just under three minutes, it has all the hallmarks of a bona fide classic pop record, which is exactly what it is.

The b-side is no less interesting for very different reasons. The interesting thing was that it was credited to Moyet alone, which was proof that this was indeed a band that relied on the talents of both its members. But was she someone who was also aiming at the dance floor?

mp3 : Yazoo – Winter Kills

Not in the slightest. Instead we got a torch song that is incredibly dark and atmospheric, thanks in no small measure to the piano playing.

The two songs highlighted a band that weren’t afraid to be bold, ambitious and different. In an era when image was all so important, this duo got on stage and reminded everyone that talent and ability was a better way to do it.

JC

PS :  Billy Bragg is leading The Smiths in the first of the ICA World Cup quarter-finals.

Voting closes on Friday at 10pm.  A reminder that the songs are Levi Stubbs’ Tears and Still  Ill.

Fall

CHARGED PARTICLES (V2) : Part 1

Let me take you back 12 months to this posting on 2 June 2017.

I don’t have a music blog of my own but I gather I have something in common with JC and the regular contributors that do: Like you lot I was always the guy people asked to make mix tapes (and, later, playlists) for parties, trips, birthdays, etc.

One of the categories that people liked very much was called Charged Particles. These consisted of songs with one word titles ending with ION. That was the only thing they had in common. Turns out there are tons of them; I’ve got nearly 200 in my iTunes library and they always seem to combine interestingly. I mentioned doing something with the list when I met JC in Manchester and he said, ‘Ask me, I won’t say no, how could I?’

My thinking was that he could plug in a charged particle post when he was away or busy or couldn’t be bothered that day to put up a new one. The posts would be short and sweet and let the music do the talking. JC liked the idea okay and correctly guessed the songs I had in mine for the first one.

And here it is. Remember the only guideline is a single word ending in ion. Can it end in ‘ionS’? No, so no ‘Complications’ by Killing Joke. Does it count if you cram a bunch of words together like ‘StationtoStation’? Nope. How about if the word is preceded or followed by a phrase in parentheses? No, not that either. (Unless I feel like it.) Hyphens? Sure, why not.

JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER

There were sixteen Friendly Particles features in 2017, appearing on a regular basis between June and October. They were great fun to do….not a lot of words were used but some great songs featured, linked in a way to others in ways that hadn’t seemed obvious, with the common factour being the all-important -ion ending in the title. And gthe series was illustrated with the handiwork of Sam, the Friendly Artist.

The good news is that Jonny’s back for another summer season. Here’s the first contribution:-

The Fall

No one’s over the loss of Mark E. Smith, and I don’t suspect we will be anytime soon. Flipping through my iTunes library I found these four, but with the Fall’s catalog there are doubtless many more. Feel free to remind me.

Mansion – from This Nation’s Saving Grace
Reformation! – from Reformation Post TLC
Dedication – from Wise Ol’ Man
Repetition – from Bingo-Master’s Break-Out!

JTFL

Heavenly

A RE-POST TO BUY MORE TIME (8)

It’s a real cheat this week….a re-post of a guest post of what proved to be an unfinished series.

From Sunday 3 July 2011…..and the words of my very dear friend, Comrade Colin.

THE STORY OF SARAH (Issue 2)

TO A SIGH, AND GOODBYE

‘Amelia Fletcher never meant anything to me…’

Los Campesinos! – ‘The International Tweexcore Underground’ (2007)

Well, fuck those Cardiff Uni kids, really. Even though, I am sure, tongues were firmly in cheeks and all that… but, no one says that about Amelia. Except Amelia. Ok, so, I did say last Sunday that I was going to jump around a bit in terms of the back catalogue, just to try and ensure this run through All Things Sarah was not completely boring or predictable. And so it is we fast forward a wee bit to Sarah 30.

This incredibly sweet two track 7″ single was released in 1990 by the Oxford band Heavenly (featuring the wonderful talents of the aforementioned Amelia Fletcher, on vocals and guitar). This single, the first of quite a few releases they had on the Sarah label, was, in terms of the ‘feel’ of the record and the jangly sounds that came from deep within the black grooves, a very similar affair to the previous band that had featured the collective talents of all of those in Heavenly: namely, Amelia, her wee brother Mathew (on drums, RIP…), Peter Momtchiloff (guitars) and Rob Pursey (bass) – and the name of that former band was, big drum-roll, Talulah Gosh! (who were so engulfed in a sugary haze that when you played them all your front teeth fell out – fact).

Heavenly, to my mind, were the perfect Sarah band, and not just because of their history as Talulah Gosh or the fact they clearly hearted The Pastels. They just seem to capture the essence of what Sarah was all about; the guitars, the lyrics, the look and the love for, well, love. And, yes, in the beginning, the Heavenly view of love was a wide-eyed and hopeful vision of love, for sure, but what’s wrong with that, exactly? Oh, also worth mentioning is the fact that the ‘A’ side is relatively epic for a Sarah single – over 5 minutes long – but it holds together brilliantly and has a great run-out in the closing few minutes, building and building into a crashing finale. Lovely stuff.

So, yes, if you ever get the chance to spin discs at an indie-disco, this would be a perfect inclusion in the playlist. It’s just a beautiful record, really, and you should play it loud for best effect. Sigh. I used to love it when records instructed you to ‘play it loud’, often in capital letters as well. MP3’s tend not to say anything much, except ‘remix the fuck out of me, please’.

mp3 : Heavenly – I fell in love last night (5.19)

Comrade Colin

ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 5 (Part 1)

The final two ties of the last round were good ones

The Wedding Present 16  Pulp 19
Lightning Seeds 13 Lloyd Cole & The Commotions 23

That’s us down to the final eight teams, and from now on it’s just one match up per week so that you can have as much time as you like, or need, to deliberate.  I’m also pleased to say that jimdoes is taking over responsibility for penning the quarter final ties over the next four Saturdays.  I’ve kind of exhausted my ideas on how to present the match-ups and he’s come up with something a bit different…..

Before jimdoes turns his attention to the first tie, I want to announce that The Smiths have been reinstated.  The original decision wasn’t an easy one and it was made with a heavy heart, thinking that the chances of Marr, Rourke and Joyce would be ruined by the absence of the singer.  Morrissey has been absent from the past two ties, and in most football tournaments, it is a two match ban which is applied for misedemeanours, and so it feels right that the Mancs have a full squad restored.  They are likely to need it….and with that comment I’m handing over to jimdoes to guide you through this week’s match-up.

 

I’m going to try something a little different with the quarter finals – JC has been great at sharing routes to the quarter finals, so we all know what perilously difficult journeys our teams have faced. I’m not even going to make any more tenacious links to football – most of the bands left are old favourites that I’m sure everyone likes and has history with in some way – and that’s what I’m going to talk about for each of the match ups – my history with each band.

 

Match 1

The Smiths v Billy Bragg

Still Ill (from The Smiths, 1984) v Levi Stubbs’ Tears (from Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, 1986)

Her name was Amanda – she was the first person to ever play me the Smiths and she was the first girl I ever kissed. I was a little late coming to both if I’m honest but I was certainly enthusiastic. Anyway, The Queen Is Dead had just come out (I’d almost bought Hatful of Hollow a few years earlier but I got a signed (!) Thompson Twins album from HMV instead) – and we’d listen to it in her bedroom while I hoped that her parents wouldn’t come home. I guess it was Morrissey that told me that Some Girls are Bigger Than Others as I didn’t have anything to compare Amanda’s charms to. We went to see them live a couple of times as I came to grips with their back catalogue – the first time I heard Still Ill was at Brixton Academy. Amanda and I split up around the time that Strangeways came out and The Smiths split. The two events were unconnected – it was a fairly short-lived romance but my love for the Smiths continued. I wore my t-shirt with pride (the Shoplifters Elvis one) and my next two girlfriends were the result of conversations at parties while I was wearing it. At the time they were my favourite EVER band – but I haven’t listened to an album all the way through in years.

Amanda and I would also listen to Billy Bragg in her room – Talking To The Taxman About Poetry. It’s safe to say that Billy Bragg is no Barry White but it worked for us. I first heard Billy Bragg the year before when he appeared on Top Of The Pops singing live (which was unheard of at the time) – Between The Wars – it was such a contrast to my usual Top Of The Pops diet of chart hits from the mid 80s. I went out and bought the single (pay no more than one pound and twenty-five pence) and used to play it on the stereo in my living room to annoy my parents. I didn’t have my own record player till I was 18 so the only place I could listen to music was the living room, mostly on headphones – always competing with my sister and her Whitney Houston albums. Shortly after this I was besotted with Kirsty MacColl when I heard A New England – not realising at first that this was a cover version. Anyway, Billy Bragg has been one of those singers that’s always been there, someone to sing along to but not someone I listen to all that often now. I only got to see him for the first time a few years ago at Glastonbury and he didn’t let me down playing Levi Stubbs Tears during his set.

Happy deliberating.  Votes must be in by Friday 8 June at 10pm.

jimdoes

An April March

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #169 : AN APRIL MARCH

A GUEST POSTING by ALEX G

https://wewillhavesalad.wordpress.com/

Here’s an Imaginary Compilation Album for An April March, a 1990s alternative rock band from Kitchener, Ontario, who I suppose would fall roughly into the “dream pop” category. Their reviews tend to feature the words “ethereal” and “shoegaze” quite a bit, and there are certain songs here that remind me a lot of Mazzy Star, The Sundays, or early Cocteau Twins (you know, the gothic years). They really deserve a proper non-imaginary compilation, or better yet, for their original albums to get a reissue, but at the moment their entire catalogue remains out of print and not even available for legal download, so for now this is the best you’re going to get.

I’m afraid I can’t tell you much about the individual tracks as there simply isn’t a lot of information out there. What I do know is that the oldest song here, “Scarlett Bliss”, is recorded with original bassist Robert Lambke and temporary drummer Joel Walsh. Soon afterwards, the group settled down to a “power trio” format with singer Danella Hocevar and electronics operator Steve Perry also sharing bass and lead guitar duties between them, and drums pounded by Michael Klüg.

Also, The Roddy Frame Experience is apparently inspired by Hocevar (or was it Perry?) having a really transcendent time at an Aztec Camera gig, so I suppose that makes it the dreampop equivalent of Killing Me Softly With His Song.

Beyond that, I’ve got nothing. Except some out-of-print CDs! But enjoy the tunes / other musical elements.

Side One

1 Mandarin (from Instruments Of Lust And Fury, 1995)
2 Scarlett Bliss (Impatiens, 1993)
3 Juner (It Goes Without Saying, 1997)
4 Let Everyone Down (Adagio, 1996)
5 The Roddy Frame Experience (It Goes Without Saying, 1997)

Side Two

1 We Were Never Attached (Adagio, 1996)
2 You’ve Been Had (Lessons In Vengeance, 1995)
3 Smart Bird (Something Once True, Is Always True, 1999)
4 Stardust (It Goes Without Saying, 1997)
5 This Is… (It Goes Without Saying, 1997)

ALEX G

JC adds….I’ll wager that most of you, out of curiousity, will click first on Track 5 of Side One…….