Month: November 2020

British Sea Power

SUCH AN UPBEAT TUNE, SUCH A SAD SENTIMENT

It is, of course, Remembrance Day.  If previous years are anything to go by, then Drew will post something very moving and appropriate over at his place.

I don’t ever really do anything to mark what today is all about, but I thought I’d post the second single released by British Sea Power, but their first on vinyl and their first for Rough Trade Records:-

mp3: British Sea Power – Remember Me

This dates from 2001. It’s the version that many fans have said they prefer in comparison to that re-recorded for the debut album two years later and which itself was released as a single and went to #30 in the charts.

It’s a rip-roaring, energetic and lively old tune, but it masks a sad lyric in that it is all about dementia.

Do you worry about your health
Do you watch it slowly change
And when you listen to yourself, does it feel like somebody else
And did you notice when you began to disappear
Was it slowly at first
Until there was nobody really there
Increment by increment
Increment by increment
Increment by increment

Oh remember me
Yeah remember me
Oh remember me

Yeah remember me
Oh remember me
Will you remember me?

Did half of you pass away
What about the other half
Yeah what about the other half
Whatever!
We’re all part of the same old bloody regime
With someone taking it out whilst you were putting it in
Increment by increment
Increment by increment
Increment by increment

Oh remember me
Yeah remember me
Oh remember me

Yeah remember me
Oh remember me
Will you remember me?

Oh remember me
Yeah remember me
Oh remember me

From the here and now to eternity
Will you remember me?

There was a more gentle sounding tune waiting to be found on the b-side:-

mp3: British Sea Power – A Lovely Day Tomorrow

It too would be re-recorded in later years, this time with the assistance of The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa, a shoegaze band from the Czech Republic, and released as a limited-edition single.

mp3: British Sea Power Allied With The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa – A Lovely Day Tomorrow

If you’re hearing the above track for the first-ever time, I envy you. It’s a real treat for the ears.

But here’s the thing…..it’s the song that really has significance for today. The subject matter is the Czech resistance against the Nazis during WWII,and in particular, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking German SS official and a main architect of the Holocaust, who was ambushed by a team of Czech and Slovak soldiers who had been sent by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile to kill the Reich-Protector; the team was trained by the British Special Operations Executive.

The twist in the tale was that the Nazis falsely linked the Czech and Slovak soldiers and resistance partisans to the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. Both villages were razed; all men and boys over the age of 16 were shot, and all but a handful of the women and children were deported and killed in Nazi concentration camps.

The BSP/Ecstasy of Saint Theresa single was a celebration of the entry of Czech Republic into the European Union, with a limited edition of 1,942 copies (the year the operation took place). Kateřina Winterová delivers an ever better rendition in her native tongue, on the b-side:-

mp3: British Sea Power Allied With The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa – Zítra Bude Krásný Den

Thanks for reading.

JC

Basement Jaxx

ROMEO….MAGNIFICENT IN ALL ITS MANIFESTATIONS

Basement Jaxx had ended the 20th century as one of the hottest and most popular new pop/dance acts in the UK, thanks to debut album Remedy, a Top 5 hit that had also spawned four massive singles including the infectious Red Alert which was used on film soundtracks as well as the music in an advert for Coca-Cola.

It took a couple of years for the duo of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe to emerge with new material, and when they did, it was with this instant classic:-

mp3: Basement Jaxx – Romeo

Released on 6 June 2001, it was met with enormous enthusiasm, helped immensely by a terrific video that paid homage to the Indian Bollywood films of the 70s.

Here’s a taste of the reaction from some of the media:-

It is groovy and luscious enough to be the next single from Destiny’s Child and can be likened to old school disco music. A bittersweet pop classic and will break your heart or make you dance in one frantic twitch, complete with a sassy disco-diva vocal, cornball lyrics, and cheesy new wave synths and background vocals that quickly establish the duo’s obsession with retro kitsch.

It’s also a frisky slip of spicy feminine pop perfectly tailored for maximum radio rotation (the lead vocal is delivered by UK R’n’B artist, Kele Le Rock).

But the song itself went beyond that tailor-made for the charts, as can be heard in this stripped-backed version that highlights it also works as a defiant feminine anthem that wouldn’t sound out of place at a Las Vegas cabaret night or the sort of song that Marc Almond would make a great job of covering:-

mp3: Basement Jaxx – Romeo (acoustic)

And finally, it was put in the hands of the Dewaele brothers, part of the Belgian indie-band Soulwax but who had branched off as 2 Many DJs under which they would become one of the world’s most sought after remix production team. One of their specialties was the mash-up in which the vocals from one song were played over the tune of another. Somehow, they made this one work with The Clash:-

mp3: Basement Jaxx – Magnificent Romeo

Originally issued as a 2 Many DJs white-label single, it was later included on a bonus disc when Basement Jaxx released a ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation in 2005.

JC

Spiritualized

THE MONDAY MORNING HI-QUALITY VINYL RIP : Part Nine : ANYWAY THAT YOU WANT ME

A GUEST POSTING BY FLIMFLAMFAN

I’d like to suggest Spiritualized’s version of Anyway That You Want Me 12” extended mix.

mp3: Spiritualized – Anyway That You Want Me (12″ extended mix)

I don’t know why a decision was made, if one was made at all, to combine Any and Way as one word for this version? Prior to this version, my absolute version was by The Troggs. On hearing this version, however, The Troggs were knocked swiftly to the number 2 spot.

mp3: The Troggs – Any Way That You Want Me

One of my abiding, happy memories of the song, circa 1990, is going to work on the bus – I worked nights at the time and was (and remain) a stickler for arriving on time. There I was at the back of the downstairs, 41 bus, volume to max on my Walkman (or derivative thereof), and lost to the bustling Friday night world outside. So lost was I to Anyway That You Want Me that I missed my stop – Cathedral Street at John Street – and only realising my misjudgment when the bus pulled in at its terminus at the Odeon cinema some 4 stops ahead.

Despite being able to recollect running like hell through the throng of Friday night revellers, back towards John Street, I can’t recall if I was late or not?

It’s a moment I think of fondly; lost in a space where only I and the music seemed to exist – if even for a short time – a feeling that I doubt I could describe without seeming like an absolute arse.

I’m guessing that others may have had similar experiences with other songs on other modes of transport?

flimflamfan

Various

A LETTER FROM AMERICA

A GUEST ICA by JOHNNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER

Jim facetimed today to offer congratulations. He knew I’ve been out of my mind about the election, as has everyone in the States. I tried–and failed–to explain my mixed responses to the long process culminating in Biden’s victory: befuddlement, outrage, hopefulness, worry, elation, relief, exhaustion. Jim says, “If you want to write it all down you know where to send it.” Here you go, brother. (JC adds…..this arrived with an hour of the phone call!!)

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2020 – an ICA

Goldie the Friendly Psychologist and I discuss the debates, the barnstorming, the reports and analysis leading up to Tuesday, November 3rd. She’s all in for the fight but I can’t bear Electioneering.

Goldie and I bet on whose ballot will be received first: She mails hers with extra postage and I drop mine off at a neighborhood ballot box. I lose: she gets an email saying hers has been received and will be counted. I have to wait another day before I’ve Got Mine.

I am swayed by Goldie’s unrelenting optimism. The polls are looking really good. Our friend Aliceann is wary on the Monday but I’m projecting confidence. “Don’t Worry About The Government” I jokingly text her.

And then it’s the 3rd. Goldie is upbeat as always but I’m getting the uneasy feeling that Something’s Gone Wrong Again.

As the day progresses it’s clear that the lopsided polls were All Wrong, and I’m sick, depressed, and stunned. Not Goldie. “It’ll be fine when they count the mail-in votes. Don’t worry.”

Meanwhile, The Waiting is killing me. I am plagued by the twin thoughts that Voldemort will win a second term and that all the wisdom I can muster in opposition is a Tom Petty lyric.

Goldie is unperturbed late into the evening. “We’re going to win,” she says with peremptory authority. I am wondering whether to crack another bottle but She Goes to Bed.

Thursday the 5th things are looking a little brighter. Will Anything Happen? Apparently not. Biden is stuck on 253 electoral votes all day long and the next day, too.

Friday night and still no announcements. The vote counts are turning the battleground States blue. Goldie takes it as a certain victory but I’m at my limit: “Just Tell Me When It’s Over.”

We wake up Saturday and Pennsylvania has declared for Biden, followed shortly by Nevada. JC rings and we muse about possible criminal convictions of the *President*. Whatever happens to him, at long last we can say Clowntime Is Over.

“I knew it all along,” says the beautiful Goldie, and goes off to walk the dog,

Songs linked to above:

Radiohead
UB40
Talking Heads
Buzzcocks
Morphine
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Jason Falkner
Blondie
The Dream Syndicate
Elvis Costello (of course)

JTFL

JC adds……this has been an unexpected and essential late change to plans.  The R.E.M. series will return next Sunday.

Park Attack

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #236: PARK ATTACK

One in Four is a compilation CD that was released by the Scottish Association for Mental Health in 2004. It contains 14 exclusive and previously unheard tracks recorded by artists who had previously been involved in events run by the charity.

Among the better-known names you will find Teenage Fanclub, Snow Patrol, The Delgados, Mogwai, Arab Strap and Belle & Sebastian. The CD also included the one track I have in the collection by Park Attack, a band that I had to turn to Amazon to find detail as you can still pick up a digital copy of Half-Past Human, their sole CD:-

Park Attack are the new noise. Driven and intense, the band’s music is an explosion of feedbacking power and wild-throated melody. Founded by the trio of guitarist Rob Churm, drummer Lorna Gilfedder and keyboardist Tom Straughan, Park Attack have been the best-kept secret of the Glasgow music scene for years.

After releasing their debut EP in 2005 (the stunning 16-minute Last Drop At Hideout, on French label Tigersushi and Club Optimo’s O.S.C.A.R.R. imprint in the UK) the group headed to France to record their first full-length. A wild mix of stomp rock, slop punk and no wave intensity, Half-Past Human recalls the tribal arrhythmic sounds of DNA, the blaring energy of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and the noise-guitar hell of early Sonic Youth. The synth-heavy sound does little to smooth the roughly sewn corners, which sets electronics against grumbling guitar and wailing vocals. The recent addition of a fourth member, Jamie Grier, on electronics, synth, and bass has further intensified the band’s sound. Live, they are a severe, stomping force of nature and with a host of US dates planned for 2006, the noise will finally be heard.

mp3: Park Attack – Boo Hoo!

This would have been an unreleased track back in 2004 when the SAMH CD was distributed, but it would later appear on the debut album, although I’m unable to say whether it was in the same form or was re-recorded. I wasn’t tempted by this taster to explore any further.

JC

Squeeze

EAST SIDE STORY

I made the promise a while back, when featuring Labelled With Love as an example of a song being a great short story, that I’d offer up some thoughts on its parent album, East Side Story.

As an adolescent teenage lad, I enjoyed listening to Squeeze as there really was something mischievous about them, with many of their lyrics dealing with various aspects of sex, especially on the sophomore album, Cool For Cats, released in 1979 which happened to be the first of theirs that I bought.

Slap and Tickle, Touching Me Touching You, It’s So Dirty, and Cool for Cats are packed with lyrics that are a mixture of being right there in your face, hidden with double-entendres or disguised with local slang. It’s an album that I never really could totally fathom as some of the music left me a tad cold – I knew the band had its roots in pub rock in the south-east of London and some of the songs certainly displayed that particular lineage which jarred with my love for faster, edgier new wave/post-punk songs.

Having said all that, the album also contained Up The Junction, the very reason I had gone out and made the purchase. It was, and remains, one of my favourite 45s of all-time, a tale of working-class bliss gone awry set to an ear-worm of a tune. This was the side of Squeeze that I was desperate for.

The band’s third album, Argybargy, released in 1980 delivered more of what I was after. There was still the occasional take on sex, with the imperious Pulling Mussels (From A Shell) being the best example, but with songs such as Another Nail In My Heart, I Think I’m Go Go, Here Comes That Feeling, and If I Didn’t Love You made this a more satisfying listen, albeit there were still a couple of pub-type tunes that had me reaching for the needle and moving it swiftly over.

I was quite pleased to learn that piano player Jools Holland had decided to leave the band after Argybargy as I had the view that it was his musical tastes, and style of playing that most jarred with me. I really did just want the pure pop of the singers/writers, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook.

Having said that, I was a bit concerned that they had drafted in Paul Carrack as the replacement – someone I only knew as the singer with Ace who had enjoyed a massive hit with How Long, an MOR-ballad that I hated, back in 1975.

The first of the new songs came in the shape of a lead-off single, one that didn’t actually do all that well, stalling at #35 in early may 1981:-

mp3: Squeeze – Is That Love?

A fast-paced guitar-focused pop song that sounded like Squeeze but with some something added to the sound. A lot of critics at the time mentioned Beatles comparisons in terms of the tune and the use of the harmonies, but I thought there was more than a touch of Elvis Costello in the mix, which is no surprise given he was co-producer and occasional contributor of backing vocals.

It was two weeks later that the album arrived in the shops.  I was working as the Saturday Boy in Woolworths at the time and I used my staff discount to pick up a copy of the album when I got to work a few days after it had come out.  Robert, the store manager and an ancient bloke in his mid-20s from Belfast, told me that he had been listening to the album at least once a day and that in his view it was a really strange offering, packed with all sorts of different tunes, few of which sounded like the earlier hit singles.  I asked him if he liked it and he said he wasn’t sure.  Now, given that this bloke had fairly decent taste in music (he owned loads of punk and new wave records and was a huge fan of Joy Division), this was a bit of a concern.

I took the record home that night.  I don’t think I would have played it that night as I would have been round at the house of the new-found girlfriend and then the next day would have been devoted to playing football.  Sunday evenings was time set aside to listen to the new singles chart rundown, and so it would have been a couple more days before I’d have played the album in full – I wasn’t at school much at this point in time, only going in for exams but secure in the knowledge that I already had enough from the previous year’s diet to have secured a place at uni. Isn’t it funny how some long-forgotten memories from almost 40 years ago are dredged up when you look at the sleeve of an album and give it another listen?

I’ll be honest.  The first listen to East Side Story confused me.  I probably had given too much credence to Robert’s opinion and was failing to listen without prejudice.  There was an absence of hit singles as far as I was concerned, and horror of horrors, there was a straight-up country and western song. There were songs that sounded like the sort of stuff some my mates’ big brothers listened to (psychedelia); there were a couple of songs that still sounded as if Jools Holland was involved in the studio; there was at least one when Chris Difford sounded as if he was deliberately singing out of key above a tune that bordered on the painful to listen to;  and then there was this piece of white-soul, Doobie Brothers-style, on which Paul Carrack had taken lead vocal – it was too close a cousin to What A Fool Believes for my tastes.

And then, the summer arrived.  School’s Out for ever….and loads of time on my hands as most of my mates have gone into a job or an apprenticeship, failing which some sort of slave-wage scheme that the Thatcher government had insisted young folk signed up to or there would be no welfare benefits.  East Side Story found itself on heavy rotation  – I had this feeling at the back of my mind that if I could begin to get my head around it then it would be a sign of my tastes maturing, which I probably had to do if I was going to meet and get friendly with all sorts of new and clever folk at uni….

Slowly but surely, the tunes on the album began to resonate with me.  This was the sort of album that ‘grown-ups’ listened to.  Fourteen songs that covered all sorts of musical genres, never settling into any obvious pattern.

The great trick was to open with In Quintessence, the one track that could easily have passed for a Squeeze 45 as it reminded me of Another Nail…but after that it veered all over the place packed with amazing tunes, packed with  lyrics that were at times humorous, at times clever, at times poignant, at times moving and at times thought-provoking.  It was an album that was proving to be increasingly rewarding with each listen…..and I even found myself almost warming to the Paul Carrack vocal (on a song written by Difford/Tilbrook) on the basis that there wasn’t a second helping on the LP.

It’s an album that I can still happily listen to these days, more so than any of the other Squeeze records that I had purchased prior to this.  This was the album that Up The Junction had long-promised and was a million miles away from Touching Me, Touching You, which now sounded incredibly juvenile in my new found world where wandering through the students union into different bars and areas (including a Games Hall in which a group of hippies hogged the jukebox and provided, over a nine-month period, my long-overdue introduction to Neil Young).

East Side Story.   It’s the album in which I did my most growing up.

mp3: Squeeze – In Quintessence
mp3: Squeeze – Someone Else’s Heart
mp3: Squeeze – Woman’s World
mp3: Squeeze – F-Hole

It should be noted that F-Hole goes straight into Labelled With Love, a sequencing of tracks which always makes me smile.

JC

Verve

BURNING BADGERS VINYL (Part 7) : THE VERVE

Brilliant Songs, Brilliantly Remixed #1

# 1 Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve (Hut Records, 1997, HUTTR82)

Welcome to the Saturday night before my 22nd birthday. I have been to Camden Town, which at the time (1997) is Britpop central. In one night I have met three different blokes who all claim to be in Menswear (usually said to young girls in an attempt to impress them), one who claims to be the singer in long-forgotten indie-poppers Rialto (and to be fair he could have been) and another one who said he was ‘in Supergrass’ (he definitely wasn’t). I’ve also genuinely just spilled half a pint of lager onto the shoes of a lad who is definitely in the band Symposium. I know this because I have been drinking with Symposium all afternoon. I wonder what happened to Symposium?

(Well, to answer my own question, one of them is ‘sort of’ in Hot Chip, two of them are/were in Hell for Heroes and I’m unsure about the other two)

I am it has to be said, struggling to walk in a straight line, and I might have just tried to steal one of those boxes that contain copies of the Evening Standard from outside the Tube Station. It’s only half-past ten but Mrs SWC, who is nearly sober, despite drinking twice as much as me, has reminded me that we need to get back to Waterloo for half eleven. Sadly for Mrs SWC, I am demanding food and I am demanding that we enter Mehmet’s Mamaris Grill, which I am declaring to be, “the greatest restaurant in London” to get said food. It also appears that I have forgotten that I am a vegetarian because I have just ordered the world’s largest portion of sausage and chips. Mrs SWC calmly orders the veggie option and we will swap later in the tube station.

With one minute to spare we make it to the train which will take us back to the suburbs, and we flop into some seats as the train trundles away in the south London darkness. Just outside Deptford train station, the train comes to a shuddering and somewhat dramatic stop. I’m still quite drunk, and for a second I think I have fallen off the seat, I’ve certainly been half asleep. A guard comes running through the train and a few people (mostly drunk people) start to look a bit concerned. Mrs SWC, kicks me and tells me to ‘go and take a look’. Me being still quite drunk, decide that this is a great idea.

It turns out the train is on fire.

Something, which, fuelled by alcohol, I find hilarious and can barely stop laughing as I deliver the news to about fifteen people in the carriage. I’m not sure people believe me, despite my convincing delivery. That is until we see five young kids running for dear life down the handily placed ramp that leads to Deptford Train Station, chased by a couple of older guys.

Then the guard appears and tells us to get off the train, as its ‘ablaze’ not on fire.

‘Ablaze’.

He tells us to move quickly to the end carriage and go onto the platform, I immediately go the wrong way – and the guard looks at me as if I am simple and says ‘no the other end, son’. Mrs SWC sighs and grabs my hand; we make it home eventually in a shared cab which is playing reggae music so loudly that it makes my teeth rattle. This I am told is because I kept telling the driver to ‘turn up the bass.

All of which riddim and ting brings us to Britpop’s finest moment and a wonderful piece of vinyl from Badger’s Box.

mp3: The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony (James Lavelle Remix)

The James Lavelle Mix of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ is a bleeding masterpiece. It first circulated I think, on the original 12” of the single (which came out on my 22nd birthday, hence why I am talking about the events two days prior to my 22nd birthday), but I have never seen a copy of the 12″ so can’t confirm that.

mp3: The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony (Original)

It definitely featured on the CD single of the next single ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’, as I remember playing the mix before I’d played the lead track.

mp3: The Verve – The Drugs Don’t Work

Badger’s version, however, is another promo. Honestly, I don’t know where he got all these from. It is a beautiful thing. A plain white sleeve, with a lime green sticker, on the top of it, which tells us what it is. The mix is fairly laid back, stretching out the sampled string section and replacing most of the guitars with thick old beats. James Lavelle has unsurprisingly made this look, sound, and feel, like an UNKLE record, and I think I love this more than the original.

SWC

Magazine

SOME SONGS ARE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapter 40)

Written and scheduled for publication before the USA election results are known.  Just seemed to be appropriate, no matter the outcome.

This man is at the door of Hell…somehow it seems to be his destination after a life of subtle stubbornness. He doesn’t expect to find himself waking up out of a dream…he doesn’t expect to pinch himself and wake up and that kind of thing…in fact, the thought of that happening makes him smile. He’s just mildly surprised to find himself there at the door of Hell.

To all accounts, the kindly old man who is the doorman (and who conceivably reminds him of his father) is sat reading a book…but he gets up smartly and without time for either of them to feel that they’re standing on ceremony says, “Hold my book for a minute, would you, while I get the door open!” (Presumably, you know, you need two hands to open the door.) For some reason, the old man doesn’t just put his book down on the chair.

It all happens quite quickly…he finds that he’s made a decision and is already holding the old man’s book…as just about anybody else would have, But it seems a bit curious because…in however small a way you like to consider it…it is as if he’s helping himself enter Hell…the path of least resistance. Of course, at the same time he suddenly thinks..Even as he finally grips the book…”This is my chance for a reprieve…the final test…the straw which will tip the good deeds over the bad.”

Next thing he knows, they have exchanged opinions on the book and he has handed it back to the old man and is being shown into Hell.

mp3: Magazine – The Book

A spoken number that was originally released in March 1980 as the b-side of Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), which itself was Magazine’s excellent, new-wave take on a Sly & The Family Stone number, which itself has an opening line referencing the Devil.

Oh, why not???

mp3: Magazine – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

JC

 

Heaven 17

AMERICA……DO YOUR DUTY TODAY!!!

(Everybody move to prove the groove)
(Everybody move to prove the groove)
(Everybody move to prove the groove)
(Everybody move to prove the groove)
(Everybody move to prove the groove)
(Everybody move to prove the groove)
(Everybody move to prove the groove)

Have you heard it on the news
About this fascist groove thang?
Evil men with racist views
Spreadin’ all across the land
Don’t just sit there on your ass
Unlock that funky chaindance
Brothers, sisters, shoot your best
We don’t need this fascist groove thang

Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang

History will repeat itself
Crisis point, we’re near the hour
Counterforce will do no good
Hot U.S. I feel your power
Hitler proves that funky stuff
It’s not for you and me, girl (no, no no)
Europe’s an unhappy land
They’ve had their fascist groove thang

Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang

Democrats are out of power
Across that great wide ocean
Reagan’s president elect
Fascist God in motion
Generals tell him what to do
Stop your good time dancing
Train their guns on me and you
Fascist thing advancing
Sisters, brothers lend a hand
Increase our population
Grab that groove thang by the throat
And throw it in the ocean
You’re real tonight, you move my soul
Let’s cruise out on the dance floor
Come out your house and dance your dance
Shake that fascist groove thang (shake it)

Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need that fascist groove thang
Brothers, sisters
We don’t need the fascist groove thang.

The song might be almost 40 years old now, but the general message is still relevant:-

mp3: Heaven 17 – (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (12″ version)

Here’s yer instrumental and atmospheric track on the b-side.  But bear in mind, it has an explosive finish:-

mp3: Heaven 17 – The Decline of The West (12″ version)

Jonny, Goldie, SC, Echorich, Brian…..I know from talking extensively to each of you in the past that you’ll be on board with these sentiments.  I have no doubt that just about every other reader or visitor to these parts from across the pond feels the same.

Good luck my friends.

JC

Wedding Present

THE MONDAY MORNING HI-QUALITY VINYL RIP : Part Eight : KENNEDY

Play loud and blow away those Monday morning cobwebs.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Kennedy

It entered the Top 40 at #34 on 7 October 1989.   One week later it had rocketed up to #33. It was the first time The Wedding Present cracked the higher(ish) end of the charts as the previous two singles, Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm and Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? had stalled in the 40s.

It was their first single on a major label and it probably did more than anything else up to this point in time to being the band to the attention of a wider audience.  It was certainly the first record of theirs that I ever bought.

In 2015, David Gedge, having been told by an on-line interviewer that Kennedy had been one of the defining songs of the decade, was asked if was dearth/death of the American Dream? Here’s his full answer:-

I’m not really one for explaining my lyrics. That’s usually because they’re so obvious but ‘Kennedy’ is different from my usual style. It’s a lot more vague, for one thing. I wrote it after reading about the Kennedy assassination and the theories about mafia and CIA involvement… so draw your own conclusions!

Three tracks on the b-side of the 12″ – these have also been ripped at 320kpbs.  The middle of them is particularly good, while the last of them is a cover, one of a substantial number that Gedge has recorded over the years, either with TWP or under the banner of Cinerama.

mp3: The Wedding Present – One Day This Will All Be Yours
mp3: The Wedding Present – Unfaithful
mp3: The Wedding Present – It’s Not Unusual

And remember, I’m more than happy to take requests and/or guest postings for this series.

JC

R.E.M.

THE SINGULAR ADVENTURES OF R.E.M. (Part 20)

The Robster writes…..

I’m going to come out right away and say it now. I cannot stand The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite. It is a bloody terrible song that should never have been allowed to see the light of day. There, I’ve said it.

‘Automatic For The People’ was undoubtedly a success beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. R.E.M. were now firmly entrenched in the mainstream. An obscure college indie band a decade before, they were now fast becoming an act that could (and would) sell out stadiums around the world. And what’s more, they were doing it on their own terms. But they still had the odd chink in their armour.

The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite was an oddity on AFTP, as Peter Buck explained: “We included this song on Automatic in order to break the prevailing mood of the album. Given that lyrically the record dealt with mortality, the passage of time, suicide and family, we felt that a light spot was needed. In retrospect, the consensus among the band is that this might be a little too lightweight.” He’s not kidding. Whereas there is an argument that the execrable Shiny Happy People had a valid place on ‘Out Of Time’ owing to its upbeat nature, the same cannot be said of Sidewinder. It’s one of those novelty songs that always seemed to be released as singles. Sadly, it’s also the one awful commercial radio stations insist on playing several times a day every day. I know. I’ve had to endure it whenever I’ve been in the office. Which is why I’m so enjoying working from home now!

mp3: R.E.M. – The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite

The song was based on The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which for some reason, the band paid for the rights to use. Mike Mills told Melody Maker in 1992 that the song was about: “somebody that doesn’t have a place to stay. Part of it is also about what man can do that machines can’t. The rest of it – I don’t have any idea what it’s about.” He later said: “Half of the song is about somebody trying to get in touch with someone who can sleep on his floor. The other half – you’re on your own.”

Stipe laughs while singing “or a reading from Dr. Seuss” as he always pronounced Seuss as “Zeus” despite several attempts.

Some other facts for you:

1) In 2010, a survey in the UK named Sidewinder the number one most misheard lyric. The line “Call me when you try to wake her up” is heard as “Calling Jamaica”.

2) The song reached number one in Iceland. NUMBER 1! In Iceland, where they usually have such impeccable music taste!

3) R.E.M. never played Sidewinder live. Thank goodness for small mercies…

I’m done with the facts. The song really isn’t worth this amount of space on such an esteemed blog. So let’s move onto the b-sides. As with the previous singles from Automatic, the b-side of the UK 7” and cassette was a track from ‘Green’. This time it was Get Up, an equally upbeat number but 100,000 times better than the a-side.

mp3: R.E.M. – Get Up

Again there were two CD singles. As part of the deal the band brokered to obtain the rights to The Lion Sleeps Tonight was a clause that they had to record a cover of the song. I suppose this was because Sidewinder was attributed to Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe as writers, so the authors of Lion may have felt entitled to a cut. Which I suppose is fair enough and the band obliged and put it on CD1. It’s not the best cover you’ll ever hear, but then it was never the best song you’ll ever hear. But it’s OK for curiosity value.

mp3: R.E.M. – The Lion Sleeps Tonight

It’s the third track on CD1 that is the real gem though. I referred to Fretless in my piece on Drive a couple weeks ago. It’s one of the songs the band recorded for Out Of Time but jettisoned. You have to ask yourself ‘Why?’ I don’t know a single R.E.M. fan who would argue against it being on OoT in place of, say, Endgame or Shiny Happy People. Certainly the band has rued that decision over the years. It would also have been a good fit on Automatic, but it ended up on a soundtrack – Until The End Of The World – where it would have languished in obscurity were it not for this single. Hey, did I just say something positive about Sidewinder? Anyway, it’s a beautiful song, probably the saddest Kate Pierson ever sang on too. This song would always make it onto an R.E.M. mixtape. Sidewinder wouldn’t.

mp3: R.E.M. – Fretless

CD2 had the de rigeur disposable instrumental. Organ Song was one of many demos the band made but never pursued. It’s played on a church organ (or a keyboard with a convincing church organ sound) and goes absolutely nowhere throughout its overly long 3½ minutes. One of the most pointless b-sides in the band’s catalogue, and there have been a few! The final track was a demo of Star Me Kitten which, well, sounds like a demo. Not sure why this was included either, as it doesn’t have much to offer that the album track doesn’t do much better. The version with William S. Burroughs that appeared on an X-Files inspired compilation some years later beats this one hands- down. Not the best of “Collectors’ Edition” releases, it has to be said.

mp3: R.E.M. – Organ Song
mp3: R.E.M. – Star Me Kitten (demo)

Let’s take Fretless with us and forget the rest ever happened, OK?

JC writes….

I’m very conscious of the fact that my piece last week re Man on The Moon was overly long and so I’ll do my best to keep this brief.

I like The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite.  Peter Buck gives the reasons as to why it was recorded and included before backtracking by saying it was a little too lightweight.  I feel it comes in at just the right spot on the album. We’ve had the intensity of Drive and the sadness the deathbed song that was Try Not To Breathe.  Coming up next is Everybody Hurts, an intensely sad song that will be looked at further next week as it is the next single.  The album would have just been too much to take without breaking things up a bit, and given the various snippets we have offered up via the instrumental b-sides which in effect were demos that weren’t progressed, I think it’s fair to say that the tune for Sidewinder beats them all.

It’s been turned into a novelty song by the attitude of the band since the release of Automatic and the critical reaction.  Let’s not kid ourselves, right up to the days before it went to press, R.E.M. could have vetoed the inclusion of Sidewinder but stayed quiet on it, obviously wanting something upbeat at that juncture of the album.

There’s also the fact that the promo video for Sidewinder was filmed on 21 September 1992 – a full two weeks before Automatic was released in the UK and USA, which is a clear indication of an agreement with Warner Bros that is was a likely single at some point in the future.  The backtracking started when some reviewers not only wrote that it jarred but questioned why R.E.M. would lower themselves to cover something so lightweight and frivolous.  It strikes me that the band members decided that rather than take on such viewpoints and defend what they did, the best course of action was to disown it.

Sidewinder is no better and no worse than songs like Stand or Pop Song 89 or Shiny Happy People or Underneath The Bunker (a disposable and fun number on Life’s Rich Pageant), and was a continuation of R.E.M.’s efforts on almost all albums to include a song that was out of the norm and not to be taken too seriously – which was obviously OK to do until the serious journos questioned the motives.

Anyway, since you made it this far, how about a bonus song?   Here’s the William S. Boroughs collaboration for the X-Files soundtrack mentioned in passing by The Robster.

mp3: R.E.M – Star Me Kitten (feat. William S Burroughs)

PS: It’s me next week with a look at Everybody Hurts.  It’ll be a short piece, you’ll be relieved to hear!

PPS: Robster is bang-on with his thoughts on Fretless.  It’s a hidden gem.

The Robster and JC