This is the song written and recorded jointly by Edwyn Collins and two members of Franz Ferdinand, and released as a single in 2011.
The album Losing Sleep (2010) was Edwyn’s seventh solo studio LP, but his first on which work got underway after the illness and complications that had put him at death’s door in 2005. Much of the music industry rallied round Edwyn once it became clear that, while never likely to overcome everything that had befallen him, he was more than capable of writing and making music, albeit his ability to play guitar was now lost. Friends such as Johnny Marr and Roddy Frame were more than happy to come into the studio and work on things, while there were offers from newer bands such as The Cribs and The Drums to co-write and perform material. Alex Kopranos and Nick McCarthy also volunteered their services, and Heavenly Records delivered a contract to enable it to be funded, recorded and released.
It was a triumphant comeback, with the album peaking just outside the Top 50 and being his bestseller since Gorgeous George back in 1994, an album whose sales were propelled by the worldwide success of A Girl Like You.
Three singles were lifted from the album – the title track, Do It Again and In Your Eyes. All were released on 7″ vinyl with simple but incredibly effective artwork, with the sleeves being old-fashioned brown cardboard in which was placed the single, with a common design for each label, with the difference being the colour. Losing Sleep was yellow, Do It Again was green and In Your Eyes was blue.
mp3: Edwyn Collins – Do It Again
mp3: Edwyn Collins – You’re Gonna Love This One
The b-side was an exclusive track. Written solely by Edwyn, it is one of his real hidden treasures. It’s a fairly lengthy number, coming in at well over five minutes, and the music has that sound and mood of a piece of music that would fit perfectly on some sort of film or TV programme soundtrack. I’m not entirely sure, but it may well be a song that was written and recorded some years previously, before Edwyn was struck down, as his voice sounds much stronger than on the Losing Sleep tracks, and the impressive, almost Bond-theme-esque guitar work is very familiar to those of us who had been keeping up with his career at all times.
The above video for Do It Again is worth watching, partly for the 70s porn star moustache above Alex’s top lip, and also for the fact that Paul Cook, at the age of 54 (as he was at the time) looked great and sharp in his suit as he pounded the drums.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 