Month: November 2018

Honeymooners

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #137: THE HONEYMOONERS

If the perfect musical career is indeed, as some have claimed, simply to consist of getting together and releasing a one-off single before breaking up, then The Honeymooners, from Airdrie, a small town to the east of Glasgow on the old secondary road out to Edinburgh, managed it in style.

There’s very little out there about the band, but Discogs is at least able to give us full names and not just those used on the back of the sole 45, released in 1987, on Mr Ridiculous, a label which itself folded after the single. :-

Jean McClure (vocals & trumpet), Martin Connelly (guitar), David Russell (fretless bass), Stewart Reid (drums) and Keith Dunn (guitar)

It’s another song that I’ve picked up via blogging and my life is all the richer for it:-

mp3 : The Honeymooners – Another Fit of Laughter

The b-side, for which I had to search quite far to find, isn’t anything as good, being just a bit rough and unready:-

mp3 : The Honeymooners – …And There They Were

JC

PS : Seems apt somehow to be featuring The Honeymooners on the very day that I will be performing best man duties at a wedding ceremony in Salford……

Simply Thrilled, Teenage Fanclub

THREE WEEKS TONIGHT : A GUEST POSTING BY HUGH HAGGERTY

JC writes………I had intended to post something about the sorts of tunes that I might play at the next Simply Thrilled evening until I came across a wonderful piece of writing from Hugh Haggerty, one of the real driving forces behind the club. I told him that I intended to steal it and repost it….it’s his reflections on Teenage Fanclub, written in appreciation of them perform three entirely different sets on consecutive nights in Glasgow, drawing solely on the material from the years they were on Creation Records.

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“Every day I look in a different face”

Don’t we all? Looking in the mirror it reflects back all the new creases that my face seems to have picked up overnight, and I see the aggressive campaign that the grey in my hair is waging against the brown. (Spoiler: The grey hair is winning) I have to sigh and accept that I’m getting older, a fact that’s made all the more solid with the thought that popped into my head about the three nights of sheer guitar pop bliss I’m about to attend at the legendary Barras.

My first Teenage Fanclub gig at the Barrowlands was nearly thirty years ago.

Ten seems cheeky, twenty seems statesman like but thirty? That’s a lifetime. Could I ever have imagined as an awkward, skinny eighteen year old who babbled a lot of gibberish that I’d be right back at the same place but this time an awkward, fat forty-five year old babbling exactly the same gibberish but with the seasoned tone of man with aggressive grey hair.

Why have I come back? Well that’s obvious, Teenage Fanclub have been a hugely rewarding band to grow up with. The melodies have never left them, from those shambolic riffs and scattershot drums of ‘A Catholic Education’ to the pastoral multi-layered joy that is ‘Here’ and the constant beauty of all those glorious albums in-between, it’s a soundtrack for the musically eloquent who still have a sense of humour and dress well.

Since that freezing cold night in December 1991 (Why did Gerry want to assassinate December anyway, does he hate Christmas?) I’ve had the fortune to have met people that would become impossibly precious to me and I see some under the star strewn turquoise and cream ceiling each night. I shall spare their blushes and not name them but it doesn’t go without saying that each night of the band’s residency is made all the more special because of them.

Needless to say the gigs are an utter delight with so many highlights and here’s some of mine.

Brendan’s Back! I have a feeling of sorrow for those poor people who climbed aboard after Mr. O’Hare left the band, his Keith Moonesque tub-battery notwithstanding the high jinks and banter was solid gold entertainment. Never a dull moment with Brendan and it was no different for these gigs. My favourite moment being him walking onstage shrouded in a red cape only to drop it to shake the maracas for the intro to Sparky’s Dream. With perfect timing both musically and comedically.

‘Thirteen’ The album they were lambasted for getting it’s day in the sun. So much of this album has aged beautifully. Of course ‘Radio’ and ‘Norman 3’ still light the room up but ‘Fear of Flying’ (Given even more depth due to recent events), ‘Escher’, ‘Ret Liv Dead’ and the dreamy ‘Gene Clark’ all sounded magnificent. Extra credit for the always superb ‘Tears Are Cool’ and the utter joy of hearing ‘Get Funky’ live.

Norman and Raymond’s harmonies on ‘Say No’. A song that was merely ok in the past seems to come completely to life when live and the two voices lift it to a higher plain.

Gerry. Nuff said really, the man was born cool.

Paul Quinn’s drum THUNDER! I always thought Quinny’s (As the crowd were chanting) drums were really efficient and tight but watching the man up close I realise when he hits a drum they feel it in Australia! The recordings don’t do the man justice, he really batters those tubs and his fills are raptor-like. Hats off to the drummer man.

Norman being the most charming bastard ever made. Effervescent and smiling throughout, he gives the impression of a man who loves his job. And as such you can’t help feeling warm and fuzzy too.

Raymond being a guitar hero. Again having the fortune to watch the man at work up close pulls into focus how much he’s doing at any one time. From scuzzy guitar freak-outs to squealing solos the man does it without breaking a sweat. A total professional. (The solo during ‘I Need Direction’ is like a robust hug from a dear friend you’ve not seen in years)

Francis’ backing vocals. Tucked away at the back sat behind a keyboard with no spotlight Francis joins his voice with the three songwriters at the front and it’s alchemy, never showy but crystal clear harmonising. Wonderful and ridiculously multi-talented. Playing everything from drums to guitar, keyboards and even setting up the metronome for ‘If I Never See You Again’ He even stopped it at the right time, what a guy.

Speaking of multi-talented what about Dave McGowan? With effortless grace he plays bloody everything whilst showing Brendan which button to press to make the whooshing noise on ‘Take The Long Way round’

The B-sides set. Every one of them belters! Two favourite moments were hearing ‘Long Hair’ which catapulted me back to being the aforementioned awkward teen but the stand out moment must be ‘Broken’ in which a hushed choir of perfectly formed voices sang ‘Your heart has been broken again, it’s broken’ over and over, even after the song finished. Shimmering and frankly stunning, it was a moment of beauty that could only come from the combination of Teenage Fanclub, their fans and Glasgow’s most beloved venue.

The sheer joy that this band give is one of the reasons we do Simply Thrilled. I walked away from the gigs right beside my brother in arms Robert and we were both deeply affected by the music and the way it was embraced. We want to capture a little of that magic, those voices, and many more, we want to light up people’s faces when their favourite Scottish song suddenly bursts from the speakers. We love this music, so should you.

HUGH

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mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – December
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Tears Are Cool
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Say No
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Start Again
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – I Need Direction
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Long Hair

Tickets are available from here.

JC

Orange Juice

THE POSTCARD SINGLE THAT NEVER WAS….

The above photo is the reverse of the sleeve for Chance Meeting, a single released by Josef K on Postcard Records in 1981 and given the catalogue number 81-5. If you look closely or indeed magnify it, you’ll see that the opportunity has been taken to list all the previous singles, along with their catalogue numbers, as well as the anticipated next release:-

81-6 : Orange Juice
Wan Light c/w You Old Eccentric

Only it never happened. It was meant to be a 45 with both sides devoted to James Kirk songs. The band sped off to Polydor before there was a chance to issue a fifth single for the Glasgow label; indeed there would be one further 45 ever released out of West Princes Street, Glasgow and that was 81-8 : Mattress Of Wire c/w Lost Outside The Tunnel by Aztec Camera just before they signed to Rough Trade.

Wan Light was later recorded for You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever, the debut album, but it’s likely that the Postcard single would have been more like the rough n ready demo version previously recorded or perhaps the version recorded for BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on the Richard Skinner Show in January 1991.

You Old Eccentric was later issued on the b-side of the 12″ version of Felicity, but again it’s likely that the Postcard version would be more similar to the version recorded for BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on the John Peel show in October 1980.

On that basis, and with thanks to Auntie Beeb, here is the Postcard single that never was, 81-6:-

mp3 : Orange Juice – Wan Light
mp3 : Orange Juice – You Old Eccentric

JC

Strokes

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (24)

I wrote some fawning stuff about The Strokes a couple of years back, and I think it’s fair to say that my regulars weren’t completely on my side. Indeed, some of the comments left behind contained two of the most scathing but wonderfully worded criticisms of anything that’s appeared on this blog all these years:-

“I never understood the fuss….it just sounded to me as they couldn’t be arsed. I thought they sounded like a low-rent Television’ : The Robster

“The Strokes always sounded like and came off as superficial to me. I’m grounded in a love of all things Downtown NYC since I was a teen – VU, Television, The Dolls, Talking Heads, Ramones having grown up with it. The Strokes were always like a fashion magazine update of the scene and lacked the gravitas” : Echorich

I’ll stand by my original views, namely that they were a very welcome breath of fresh air back in 2001. I was so sure I would never again get overly excited by thin young men and their electric guitars, but my first exposure to Hard To Explain changed all of that. It was, without question, a throwback to the post-punk/new wave era and it did pay its dues to NYC bands from that era, but it also managed to infuse something of the British pop ideals which made it immediately more accessible and radio-friendly than most. It wasn’t really their fault that they all looked as if they could have equally been at ease on a catwalk.

Hard To Explain was a killer debut 45. The follow-ups which also featured on the debut album – Last Nite and Someday – were every bit as good. It was that very rare instance of a new act being loved by the critics and selling the product to millions of fans.  Oh and the b-side wasn’t too shabby either.

mp3 : The Strokes – Hard To Explain
mp3 : The Strokes – New York City Cops

JC

Grinderman

THE GRINDERMAN SINGLES (3)

The self-titled Grinderman debut album had been really well received by most folk, with many of the songs being a variation of one sort or the other on Get It On and No Pussy Blues.

There was, however,one song which could just about have got played on daytime radio, being as near to a pop record as Grinderman would ever get, including a sing-a-long chorus. Rather surprisingly, it was selected in April 20007 as the band’s third 45, and like the debut, in a single-sided limited edition 7″ vinyl format, perhaps in the hope of generating some radio exposure and further sales for the album:-

mp3 : Grinderman – (I Don’t Need You To) Set Me Free

Around this time, the members of Grinderman went into the studio along with the other Bad Seeds and quickly recorded what subsequently be the latter band’s fourteenth album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! which was issued in early 2008.

Grinderman came out of the studio and onto the stage, making some live appearances in the UK before opening some high-profile US shows as the special guests of The White Stripes and then undertaking a theatre tour of Australia, opening for a Nick Cave ‘solo’ set, which consisted of the same band members.

And that was assumed to be that…a one-off 12 month project that had been fun for all concerned. How wrong we all were….

JC

Various

FIVE TO REMEMBER ON THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

Turns out that I’ve five songs on the hard drive with an apt title for today. Can’t say that I’m proud of that fact when you see what some of them are:-

mp3 : Embrace – Fireworks
mp3 : Ette – Fireworks
mp3 : Moby – Fireworks
mp3 : Pele – Fireworks
mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – Fireworks

Please make sure your pets are safe and secure tonight and do all you can to minimise the impact on their poor nerves.  In other words, don’t subject them to the Embrace song…..

JC

Paul Haig

THE SINGULAR ADVENTURES OF PAUL HAIG (Part 5)

The fact that Heaven Sent had flopped didn’t deter Island Records from having another stab at the pop charts a few weeks later, with a ridiculously upbeat and uptempo pop song which had been subject to all sorts of sounds, bells and drum effects from Alex Sadkin in the producer’s chair. The purists hated it….this fan loved it!!

mp3 : Paul Haig – Never Give Up (Party, Party)

I never actually bought the 7″ version and the above mp3 is ripped from the album Rhythm of Life. I still have my 12″ copy from all those years ago:-

mp3 : Paul Haig – Never Give Up (Party, Party)(12 inch mix)

It’s two minutes longer, primarily as a result of a marimba solo in the middle. And unlike the 12″ version of Heaven Sent, I really like the way this has been extended out, albeit it is naff and 80s in places!

The b-side is, sad to say, six and half minutes of torture, with the a-side mixed up and strangled by a remixer called Groucho Smykle. Don’t say I didn’t warn you:-

mp3 : Paul Haig – Heartache (party mix)

JC

Honeyblood

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #136 : HONEYBLOOD

Lazy effort from me this week. Relying on all music for the text:-

Glaswegian noise pop duo Honeyblood consists of Stina Tweeddale on guitar and vocals and Cat Myers on drums.

Taking inspiration from dark and cloudy ’90s indie rock luminaries like PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, and Throwing Muses, Tweeddale formed the band in early 2012 with original drummer Shona McVicar. Their gorgeously murky home-recorded two-song demo cassette quickly caught the attention of FatCat Records, which signed Honeyblood in 2013 and issued their first single, Bud, later that year.

The duo’s self-titled album, which was produced by Peter Katis, arrived in July 2014 and delivered a more polished version of Tweeddale and McVicar’s crunch-pop. Shortly after Honeyblood’s release, McVicar left and was replaced by Cat Myers. After touring with the likes of the Foo Fighters and Wolf Alice in 2015, Honeyblood returned to the studio with producer James Dring, who also worked with Jamie T and Gorillaz. The band’s fiery second album, Babes Never Die, arrived in late 2016.

I much prefer the material from the era of the first album, and while the image above is of Stina and Cat, this dates from when Shona was banging the drums:-

mp3 : Honeyblood – Bud

One of my favourite 45s from recent years.

JC

 

 

Simply Thrilled

FOUR WEEKS TONIGHT

Simply Thrilled is on its way back, once again at The Admiral Bar in Glasgow, on the evening of Friday 30 November, And you’ll see from the publicity poster, there’s a couple of guest DJs, one being a well-kent face and the other one of his best mates.

This blogging malarkey over the past 12 years has enabled a ridiculous number of incredible experiences, far too many to list and to risk mentioning as inevitably I’ll have missed something or someone out. Being able to share a stage (as such) with the nearest thing Scotland has to a living national bard is up there.

You’ll hopefully recall how much fun we all had at the debut Simply Thrilled event. It was never the plan to wait so long to get it all going again, but a few logistical and availability issues caused a bit of a delay. It’s somehow fitting that a club night dedicated to music, new and old, from singers and bands from Scotland will coincide with the feast day of our national saint, thus providing an opportunity for the tagline of a St Andrew’s Night Shindig.

Robert, Hugh and Carlo will, as ever, put together a genius plan to make the evening go with a swing, with some free stuff to hand out to the first 100 or so revellers who come through the door (nothing too fancy, it’ll be a one-off badge or the likes), while Ash is already putting his mind to some suitable and appropriate artwork, visuals and graphics for display on the walls of the basement venue. Me? As I said in the aftermath of the launch night, I’ll pull together a set list for my allocated time in charge of the laptop and hope there’s a similarly warm response as I try to take patrons of a certain age back to the days of 80s student unions and the like.

The really positive reactions to certain songs took us all by surprise last time out. A number of tunes, some which were huge hits and others which were loved locally but didn’t travel well outside of West-Central Scotland, got loud cheers from the outset. Others had folk, mostly blokes, cosying up to the booth and asking to be reminded what a particular song was and saying it was amazing to hear something again for the first time in decades. I’ll very happily take the same result again.

This one filled the floor:-

mp3 : Danny Wilson – Mary’s Prayer

The temptation is to try to play a completely different set next time around, but in the same way that bands can’t get away without playing the songs that the fans have come along to hear, those of us charged with trying to ensure the floor fills up and stays that way must air the popular tunes and requested tunes. I suspect the big hit for Danny Wilson will be aired at some point in the evening, but there should still be room for some more recent stuff such as this:-

mp3 : The Twilight Sad – I Could Give You All That You Don’t Want
mp3 : Mogwai – Party In The Dark

To my surprise, neither of these two outstanding pieces of music have been posted before.

Tickets for the St Andrew’s Night Shindig, priced just £5, are available from here.

PS : As it all this wasn’t simply thrilling enough, my dear old friend Walter from A Few Good Times In My Life is flying in from Germany to come along.  Can’t wait.

JC

Joy Division

LWTUA

Hard to believe, but I’ve never had a post dedicated to Love Will Tear Us Apart. Plenty of Joy Division stuff, including an ICA in which the song was featured, but never any sort of in-depth look or attempt at discussion.

Let’s get some of the basic facts out-of-the-way.

The song was written around August 1979 and was quickly included in the band’s live sets. It was recorded on 26 November 1979 for a session for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1 which was broadcast on 10 December 2017. The producer was Tony Wilson…..but not the bloke who ran Factory Records….this particular Tony Wilson was almost part of the furniture at the BBC, heavily involved in all sorts of radio sessions and live events from the 60s to the 90s.

mp3 : Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (Peel Session)

The band would make its first effort to record the song on 8 January 1980, with the location being Pennine Studios, in Oldham, a town some 7 miles north-east of Manchester, with a view to it being a stand-alone single. Indeed, the intended b-side, These Days, was also recorded that same day.

mp3 : Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (Pennine version)
mp3 : Joy Division – These Days

Martin Hannett was on production duties that day, and while the recording was in the vein of how the band had been performing the song in the live sets, the perfectionist in him meant he was far from satisfied with the outcome. As it turned out, Ian Curtis too was unhappy with the recording and was quick to agree that everyone should reconvene and try again.

This time, in March 1980, they booked into one of Hannett’s favoured locations, the increasingly popular and sophisticated Strawberry Studios in Stockport, a place into which successful chart act 10cc had heavily invested in the hope and with the aim of providing a top studio in the Greater Manchester area so that they, and other local bands, wouldn’t have to head to London to work. It was a long and trying session as evidenced by drummer Stephen Morris being awakened by a 4am telephone call to his home with Hannett on the other end of the line demanding he drive back to Stockport as a fresh input on the snare drum was required.

mp3 : Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart

Everyone declared themselves happy with this version and plans were put in place for it to be released in June 1980 in advance of the release of the band’s second album. Peter Savile was again engaged to come up with appropriate artwork, with his brief in keeping with previous Joy Division 45s to have different sleeves for the 7” and 12” versions, although the contents on vinyl would be the same, with the two tracks recorded at Pennine to be the b-side and the Strawberry version being the a-side. The 12” version would not be differently mixed or extended in any shape or form.

Tony Wilson (yes, THAT one and not the bloke from the Beeb) loved what he was hearing and felt the band had come up with a song that was capable of crossing over into daytime radio and persuaded them that a first ever promo video should be made. Filming took place on 25 April 1980 at the TJ Davidson studio in Manchester, an old haunt of the band from the pre-Factory days.

It’s worth mentioning that while the video has Ian Curtis playing guitar, and indeed while he did strum some chords when it was aired live, the part in the studio was played entirely by Bernard Sumner.

Less than a month later, on 18 May 1980, Ian Curtis committed suicide. What no-one outside of those closest to the band knew was that he’d previously attempted to take his life shortly after the Strawberry Studios session and in advance of the shooting of the promo video.

It’s been well documented that none of his band mates or those at Factory at the time equated the mental state of Ian Curtis with the songs he was writing and recording. Nor did they give any consideration to deviating from the timetable agreed for the issuing of the single and subsequent album. Nor did they think that the coincidental art work was in any way controversial or problematic, and to be fair nobody else said much at the time either:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Will Tear Us Apart reached the shops in mid-June, entering into the charts on Sunday 29 June where it enjoyed a 16-week stay. Yes, some of the initial sales might have been driven by the suicide but the fact it climbed all the way to #13 proved that the man in charge of the label had been right all along and that it was a bona-fide radio friendly pop song.

Next year will see the 40th anniversary of the song. Unlike many from the era, it hasn’t dated in the slightest which would indicate that Hannett got the recording spot on. The opening chords have made it instantly recognisable to generation after generation of music fans which would indicate that it is a real earworm of a tune. It has been covered in many different guises over the years, many of the versions being ghastly to the point of unlistenable. It has received the ultimate popular recognition with the tune later being adopted by football fans at Manchester United with a lyric adjustment to pay homage to Ryan Giggs, one of the most famous players in their long and illustrious history.

It constantly appears in polls – NME in 2002 proclaimed it the best single of all time, while two years later Rolling Stone magazine had it as #179 in a list of the ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ which is some achievement for a track that wasn’t widely known or available in the USA until many years after its initial release.

Other musicians have lavished praise on it , none more so than Neil Tennant of the Pet Shops Boys – a man who has forgotten more about great pop music than many of the rest of us will ever know – who is on record as saying Love Will Tear Us Apart is his favourite ever pop song.

Me? I bought it immediately on its release, just a few days after my 17th Birthday. Loved it then, but didn’t think it was as good a record as Transmission. Nowadays, I can’t compare the two songs as they are so different sounding despite being released less than nine months apart.

Love Will Tear Us Apart is a song of great mystery, capable of so many interpretations. It sounds like no other Joy Division song. It is an upbeat and danceable number completely at odds with its lyric in which the protagonist is despairing of what life has become. Life with his loved one has gone sour – routine is biting hard, ambitions are running low, the atmosphere in the bedroom is icy cold and the complete breakdown in communication has led to a lack of respect on both sides. It really doesn’t get much more brutal and depressing than that does it?

The subsequent books and films have led to an acceptance that the song was an effort to provide an apology and explanation to Deborah Curtis over Ian’s affair with Annik Honore. But it could just as easily be interpreted as being for Annik as a way of Ian explaining that he was unable to completely give up on his wife and young daughter.

It’s also been held up as the song which drove the singer completely over the edge given its desperate nature. Again, this isn’t the recollection of those who were closest to him at the time and Ian seemed more troubled by his epilepsy than by his complicated love life.

One thing it most certainly can’t be labelled is ‘cult classic’ – it is far too well-known for that to be the case. It’s impossible to say with any certainty whether the subsequent chart success, with Ian Curtis remaining alive, would have led Joy Division to make more pop-orientated records or whether they would have retreated back into a shell to churn out the gothic and doomy anthems which found favour with the overcoat brigade. Love Will Tear Us Apart stands alone in the band’s canon, justifiably capable of being proclaimed as one of the most important and influential songs in musical history.

Who’s with me on this one?

JC