SOME MORE WORDS ON MICRODISNEY

I was delighted with the positive response to the recent posting featuring Birthday Girl by Microdisney and so I thought it would be worth having an early(ish) return to them.

One of the comments left behind last time, was from Colin Milligan:-

“I saw Microdisney way-back-when at the Venue in Edinburgh. Great gig. Some good singles: Singer’s Hampstead Home, Loftholdingswood, and Gale Force Wind, as well as Birthday Girl. I suppose they all sound a bit ‘of their time’ now. Thanks for the reminder.”

I first came across Microdisney thanks to an appearance on Whistle Test, on a show that was broadcast partly live from the ICA in London in March 1985 and for which I had intended to tune in to catch sight of a new band from Manchester that I had heard so much about

It was a show that I had arranged for my flatmates to be tape in its entirety on a VHS tape as I couldn’t watch it when it went out. I had fully intended to just fast forward to the James piece, but the show opened with a very fine number from a band that I only knew by name and the fact they had previously released a fantastically named mini-album, at a time when anti-apartheid protests were many, called We Hate You South African Bastards:-

mp3: Microdisney – Loftholdingswood

I was really surprised that Loftholdingswood was such a tuneful pop number – in my head, I imagined they would be loud, shouty and angry men. Looking back, I am incredulous that I missed out on them but it was a period in which so much great pop music was being released, particularly from Glasgow and Scottish-based bands, that it was impossible to stay fully on top of things.

Loftholdingswood is still a very fine song – there’s more than a hint of the sort of great pop music that Paddy McAloon and Prefab Sprout were producing at this point in time. And given that nobody ever accuses them as ‘being of its time’, I’d argue that this is no different…..and if you’re reading this Colin, I would hope you’d agree.

The song appeared on a three-track EP called In The World. I’m happy to say that I recently picked up a second-hand copy in reasonably decent shape and here’s the other two tracks.

mp3: Microdisney – Teddy Dogs
mp3: Microdisney – 464

One thing is, from listening to the opening section of 464, you’d never mix up Paddy McAloon and Cathal Coughlan‘s styles of singing….and there’s a hint of the venom and anger that would come to the fore in Fatima Mansions and songs like Blues for Ceausescu.

JC