Month: August 2022

A TWO-PART GUEST POSTING BY POST PUNK MONK

It’s always incredibly satisfying when the comments section goes into overdrive, which it is doing just now with the ICA World Cup.  I’ve always valued the community aspect of TVV, both the old and new versions, and that is why I really enjoy when a guest posting is offered up, all of which are published without prejudice or favour at the earliest possible time after anything drops into the inbox.

I’m cheating a little bit today, however, with the first of what will be a two-part series in that Post Punk Monk didn’t actually offer up a guest posting.  He did leave behind a very lengthy comment when I put up the latest ‘mixtapes’ (or whatever modern term anyone wants to apply to such efforts), that is being recycled today and again next week to provide two new posts. I’ve no qualms about doing so, especially as PPM does state that it was something he’d pulled together for a blog which no longer exists, and I really feel something this well-thought-out and written deserves some sort of fresh profile.  Here’s PPM:-

“Great B-sides are a religion unto themselves! Here’s a list I compiled for a friend’s blog [now deceased] and I still stand by this one.

20 best non-LP b-sides of all time [according to PPM]

1. Ultravox – Paths + Angles

B-side to “The Voice.” Fascinating blend of Warren Cann’s recited verses with Chris Cross singing the chorus. Midge Ure was not around the day the other three recorded this one. Killer melodic hooks are mated with typically compulsive rhythms.

2. Ultravox – I Never Wanted To Begin

“The Thin Wall” B-side. This track is jam packed with insanely compulsive rhythm programming! Once you hear this it will lodge itself in your skull for hours. The 12″ version is extended!

3. Adam & The Ants – Beat My Guest

The B-side to “Stand & Deliver.” Just our luck to have one of Adam’s best singles mated with an even better B-side! As emphasized by Marco Pirroni’s lewd guitar licks, this frolicsome ode to S & M manages to actually sound cheerful.

4. Spandau Ballet – Glow

B-side to “Musclebound.” The band invent new forms of Latinesque synth funk with this killer B-side that telegraphed their first big stylistic shift. Never better than in its 12″ version!

5. Simple Minds – New Warm Skin

B-side of “I Travel.” Another act that mated their best single with an evenly matched B-side! The rhythm track on this chilling song about plastic surgery is an example of Brian McGee at his finest. Mike McNeil’s keyboards mesh perfectly with the jarring stabs of Charlie Burchill, back when he avoided guitar clichés like the plague.

6. Japan – European Son

B-side of Japanese “I Second That Emotion” single. Quite frankly, this is my favorite Japan song of all time! It is the acme of the band’s Moroder-influenced “autobahn music.” It thoroughly smokes the actual single the band recorded with Moroder. Which was great!

7. China Crisis – This Occupation [ext. ver.]

B-side of Wishful Thinking” 12.” The 7″ version of this track is good, but the extended mix is mystical! This sounds nothing like the China Crisis we know and love. It sounds even better! Quite frankly, this resembles mid period Cabaret Voltaire, sigh!

8. Visage – Frequency 7

“Tar” B-side. I was over familiar with the not so interesting extended version of this track that turned up everywhere back in the day. It took years of having this single before I finally played the 7″ version and was blown away by the superiority of this mix. It’s night and day compared to the tedium of the 12″ mix. For starters, it’s an actual song with vocals, and some killer synth rock.

9. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Just A Memory

B-side to “New Amsterdam.” quite possibly my favorite Elvis Costello track ever, this heart-wrenching ballad was originally written for Dusty Springfield, who ultimately did record it.

10. Swing Out Sister – Fever

“Fooled By A Smile” B-side. Yet another face rave B-side by a group that normally sounds nothing like Cabaret Voltaire, yet manages to channel them brilliantly on a B-side.

POST PUNK MONK

JC adds……the remainder of this wonderful rundown will be with you next week.

Group D.   It’s possible that D was short for ‘Death’ given a lot of the bigger names and pre-tournament favourites were featured, along with some cult acts who could prove to be potential dark horses.  In such circumstances, some of the minnows, primarily singers/bands whose appearances have more or less been restricted to the ICA, were on a hiding to nothing.

35 sets of votes had been cast by Monday evening, and it was already clear that Muse, Pink Cross and The Wave Pictures had next to no chance of getting through.

At the other end of the table, Echo and The Bunnymen seemed to be getting ticked by almost everyone, picking up a remarkable 31 votes from the first 35 selections, thus ensuring, very early on, a smooth passage to the knock-out stages.  Fellow Liverpudlians, The Beatles also looked to have done enough by Monday night with 24 votes, with each of Cinerama, Edwyn Collins and The Ramones also looking comfortable while John McGeoch, after a sluggish start, were beginning to feature prominently.

There was, however, a fair old battle going on for the remaining two spots. By Monday evening (when I did a quick check on things) just five points separated 7th place down to 14th with Ballboy, Blancmange, The Blue Nile, Gregory Isaacs, Jens Lekman, Pop Will Eat Itself, Pylon and Sons & Daughters all being in with a shout of getting through.

Only a further eleven sets of votes were cast over the remainder of the week, resulting in the final top half of the table looking like this:-

1. Echo & The Bunnymen 40
2. The Beatles 30* (penalty-shoot out winners for 2nd place)
3. Edwyn Collins 30
4. The Ramones 28
5. John McGeoch 26
6. Cinerama 24
7. Ballboy 22
8. Pop Will Eat Itself 20

It was Ballboy in particular who picked up a lot of support in the final few days to clinch a spot in the knock-out phases, while PWEI also fared well late on to clinch the final spot.  The Blue Nile got 17 votes, just ahead of each of Gregory Issacs, Pylon and Sons & Daughters who all got 16 votes while.  Blancmange and Jens Lekman didn’t pick up much more support after Monday, finishing with 14 and 12 respectively; indeed there was a late burst from Muse to eventually gain 11 votes while neither Pink Cross or The Wave Pictures reached double figures.

Worth mentioning that 87% of the participants cast a vote for Echo & The Bunnymen, which is thus far the best performance in the group stages.

That’s 32 of the 64 who will participate in the knock-out stages sorted out.  And the way I’ve worked it out, all the teams in the top half of the draw (Groups A-D) will be up against one another, so you can have a look back at what’s happened already to see that some tasty match-ups are guaranteed come September when that phase of the ICA World Cup gets underway.

As ever, a song from an ICA we’ve had to say farewell to.

mp3: Blancmange – Waves (12″ mix)

JC

I reckon you’ll all know the script by now.  If not, just scroll back to all five of the Sunday postings from last month.

This week, seventeen songs are competing for your votes, with eight of them set to qualify for the knock-out stages.  As ever, all the songs, are #1 from all the relevant ICAs, and they now follow in alphabetical order of the singer or group involved.

Arctic Monkeys – Chun Li’s Spinning Bird Kick (ICA 193)

The Auteurs – The Rubettes (ICA 178)

Beastie Boys – Ch-Check It Out (ICA 240)

The Brilliant Corners – Rambling Rose (ICA 163)

Cats On Fire – Horoscope (ICA 314)

Chumbawamba – Give The Anarchist A Cigarette (ICA 273)

Comsat Angels – Missing In Action (ICA 252)

Amelia Fletcher – Talulah Gosh* (ICA 309)

The Go-Betweens – Lee Remick (ICA 200)

Davy Henderson – Candyskin** (ICA 306)

Hinds – Chili Town (ICA 286)

Manic Street Preachers – A Design For Life (ICA 182)

Kylie Minogue – The Loco-motion (ICA 260)

Smog – The Well (ICA 192)

The Style Council – Mick’s Blessings (ICA 217)

The Who – My Generation (ICA 208)

Wilco – Box Full Of Letters (ICA 238)

*a song by Talulah Gosh – ICA 309 was a compilation of tracks on which Amelia Fletcher was involved

*a song by The Fire Engines – ICA 306 was a compilation of tracks on which Davy Henderson sang and played

This is the sort of group I was hoping that the draw would deliver.  Loads of big names, some of whom had their ICAs open up with lesser-known or weaker tracks, which perhaps makes them vulnerable when you come to cast your votes.  Once again, you can nominate up to eight singers or band to progress, but no more than that.

As usual, voting closes at midnight (UK time) next Saturday, which is the 13th of August.

JC

It’s the first free day, blog wise, of a new month.

A few weeks ago, I thought I’d try for a mix with songs released as b-sides.  The long list proved to be very substantial, with more than enough bits of music to bring you a box set.  I ended up making two volumes.  Hope you enjoy them.

mp3: Various – Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The B-Side (Volume 1)

Bagged Out Ken – Julian Cope
Intuition Told Me – Orange Juice
La Pastie De La Bourgeoisie – Belle and Sebastian
Situation – Yazoo
Rent – Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
First We Take Manhattan – R.E.M.
Do It Clean – Echo and The Bunnymen
I Kicked A Boy – The Sundays
The Highland League – I, Ludicrous
The Passenger – Iggy Pop
The Butterfly Collector – The Jam
Even In His Youth – Nirvana
Edam Anchorman – Super Furry Animals
Temptation Greets You Like A Naughty Friend – Arctic Monkeys feat. Dizzy Rascal
Unfaithful – The Wedding Present
Life’s A Gas – Teenage Fanclub
Mars Bar – The Undertones
My Insatiable One – Suede

mp3: Various – Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The B-Side (Volume 2)

Friday Night, Saturday Morning – The Specials
Erotic City (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive) – Prince & The Revolution
What’s The World – James
His Latest Flame – The Motorcycle Boy
Lipstick – Buzzcocks
I Love You, You Big Dummy – Magazine
Fantastic Life – The Fall
Shopping For Blood – Franz Ferdinand
10.15, Saturday Night – The Cure
Paninaro – Pet Shop Boys
Laugh You Out The House – Everything But The Girl
We Could Send Letters – Aztec Camera
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy – Sons and Daughters
Blank Slate – The National
1963 – New Order
This Girl, Black Girl – The Go-Betweens

Both come in just a few seconds short of sixty minutes.

JC

A GUEST POSTING by STEVE McLEAN

JC writes…..

Steve McLean has been a long time friend of the blog, having contributed a few guest postings over the years, including his take on The Last Temptation of Elvis compilation album, an ICA on Chuck Mosley, an appreciation of the Marc & Lard radio show and around this time last year, a two-part piece which paid tribute to musical theatre. Oh, and he’s also a huge fan of Butcher Boy.

He makes a living (in part) from stand-up comedy, and, with the month of August coming around, he and many others will be making his way to Edinburgh in search of an audience.  I’ve been to a couple of Steve’s previous shows and been thoroughly entertained, and was therefore more than happy to say ‘Hell, Yes’, when he asked if he could use TVV to give the show a plug.  Here he is…..

Sci fi and music go together. From 50s rockabilly in early B-movies to the cracking use of the guitar solo from November Rain in the latest Thor film. It you haven’t seen it, then it goes like this – Slow-motion Chris Hemsworth, a sackful of CGI, big riff from Slash and BOOM! A billion at the box office. Directing these days, eh? A Piece of piss. Anyone with a laptop can do it.

Sooooo, since my latest Edinburgh Fringe show is all about Sci-Fi and Fantasy and Barbie dolls (yeah I know, it’s gonna be a tough sell this year) I thought I’d scrape together a playlist of cool Sci-Fi songs. There’s a no Bowie rule as that would be too easy on account of him being an actual alien. There’s also no Dungeons and Dragons bullshit from the likes of Yes or King Crimson because it’s wank and you can pretty trace all incel culture back to it (I don’t know if that’s true, I just made it up on the spot but the more I think about it the more it seems plausible).

Magneto and Titanium Man – Paul McCartney and Wings. 

”Hey Stuart Murdoch, how did you come up with that great piano riff on The Boy With The Arab Strap?” He’ll never tell, the man is a genius. Unrelated to that listen to this great pub-rock keyboard work-out from McCartney. Paul is creating an MCU mash up years ahead of Kevin Feige but It’s a strange trio to choose to sing about. Magneto is, of course, a well-known big hitter among the fans but the other two geezers? You’d be forgiven for thinking they were just made up for the song, but both are bona fide comic book villains. They’ll probably get a Disney plus series made about them. Eventually everyone gets a Disney plus series made about them. Magneto famously got his name when writer Stan Lee was having an ice cream couldn’t chose between a Magnum and a Cornetto. He was originally going to be called Cornettnum (look it up). Can you believe this was a B-side? Stan Lee himself said the song was great. It is. Nice one Stuart MurCartney. 

Oh, and it’s a song that features Jimmy McCulloch, from Dumbarton. He was the greatest of The Wings. (Note from JC…..Steve, although London-based for many years, is from Dumbarton, a town some 25 minutes by train to the west of Glasgow, on the north bank of the River Clyde)

Freak Like Me – Sugababes 

This song isn’t about sex. It’s about being a Vampire. Watch the video and defend your virginity at all costs, except from Vampires they’re sexy as fuck and you’re only human (for now, at least). Sugababes had a habit of banging out amazing pop singles. No one out there was saying ‘oh I wonder what their new album is like’ but when it came to the top 40, regardless of their line up, they always seemed to nail it. Like a 2000s version of Supremes but with more WKD. The main sample in this is from Gary Numan‘s Are ”Friends” Electric, which is already pretty damn Sci-Fi. Numan is another one who might be an alien. The original is corking but this is so much better, even Gary thought so. Sci-Fi-tinged-vampire-sex-grit is a phrase you’d expect from something out of the demo section of the NME, not a manufactured girl group (Note for younger readers: The NME was a thing that nobody liked but were compelled to purchase until the internet came along and saved us 75p a week. To be honest most of us would still buy it if it was brought back on inky black and white sheets and featured an interview with Gedge every third issue). The Sugacubes were fucking boss. 

The Eagles – Journey of the Sorcerer

This song is one of the reasons that Bernie Leadon chose to leave the Eagles (the other being that working with cunts is really hard, just ask Stills, Nash and Young or John Deacon). You don’t get many bluegrass instrumental space odysseys and that’s probably a good thing. It goes a touch prog but not enough to get on your tits. Best known as the theme to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I’d say ‘I betcha didn’t know this was the Eagles’ but you probably did.

Clones – Alice Cooper 

The early 1980s were the ruin of many of a 1970s rocker. Heroin, pills and Jack Daniels had been replaced by cocaine, speed and Tequila Sunrises. The hairy dinosaurs had to find some way to survive until 1985 when hairspray and Bruce Fairbairn would save their careers. Led Zep fans be glad your boys didn’t make it or they’d have recorded their own Dude Looks Like A Lady (search your feelings, deep down you know it’s true).   

Alice was different though. He’d already navigated the trappings of the psych scene into solid 70s rockers with massive hits and then into a solo star. During his sober periods he wasn’t oblivious to the changes going on around him and realised he had to jump ship, at least for a short while. It’s a pity this wasn’t a bigger hit because I’d have loved to have seen more cyber-goth Cooper rather than the Rocky Horror tribute act he went on to become. 

While there’s a definite vibe of aping the electropop of the day, it’s done with love and you can tell Cooper is a fan of the genre. It’s engulfed in Orwell vibes but since the Coop was a bit of an 80s Reaganist, maybe he’s coming from another angle? ‘We destroyed the government, we’re destroying time, no more problems in our way’ Is he perhaps saying we need the enemies of society to rail against or we ourselves become the enemy? No. He’s not. It’s just a song and I’ve just put more thought into the lyrics than the writer David Carron did. Still a banger though.   

They Might Be Giants – See the Constellation

I always thought of TMBG as R.E.M.’s goofy but more fun little brother. They’ve got some proper Sci-Fi cred, if that’s not an oxymoron. Not only is this song from the album Apollo 18 released in 1992, the duo were also declared the official band of the International Space Year (International Women’s / Men’s Day is taking quite an ego bruising here. Space gets a whole year! FUCK YOU HUMANS). This song should have been a single, but they chose to release a version of the Lion Sleeps Tonight instead. The lion in that song is not in the jungle but in a spaceship. It’s on brand but it was still a fucking terrible choice when they had this riffing bad boy ready to go. They once released a version of Istanbul (Not Constantinople) as a single and no one told them to mark it, so what do you expect? Check out their kids album about science.

B-52s – Planet Claire 

Peak Sci-Fi music. The 50s B-movie vibes I mentioned earlier, the Peter Gunn guitar, the boops, beeps and the beehives. Everything about this is stellar… interstellar!  The B-52s flirted with Sci-Fi throughout their career songs like 52 Miles West of Venus, There’s a Moon in the Sky or Cosmic Thing. The B-52s are the ultimate Sci-Fi party band, when the our robot overlords finally rise up and take over I feel they’ll go easy on the B-52s. Even robots like to party.   

Geoff Love and His Orchestra – Blake’s 7 Theme

What could be better than the Blake’s 7 theme? The Blake’s 7 theme in a Disco style! This is tune is GROOVIE AF! It tries to repeat the same trick that Meco had with their disco version of the Star Wars theme. The problem of course was the while Star Wars was watched by gazillions worldwide and captured the imagination of children everywhere, Blake’s 7 was watched by a few dozen and captured the imagination of the kids who had grown out of Doctor Who but weren’t quite old enough to smoke. Tough market to sell to. Add to this, disco music was well on its way to bankrupting the music industry (seriously, read this wiki entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco#Impact_on_music_industry) Could the disco version of Blake’s 7 have saved the genre? We’ll never know, but almost certainly yes. Battle of the Loves: Geoff > Mike.

My latest Edinburgh Fringe show is called Action Figure Archive, Volume 2, WTF! It’s on at 3pm every day in Roti on the South Bridge (except Tuesdays). It’s free so if you’re visiting the Fringe and need someone to get out of the rain then I’m your guy.

STEVE

JC adds….

As I mentioned earlier, Steve’s shows are a good laugh, albeit you better be prepared for audience participation.  It’s part of the Free Fringe and so there’s no stupidly priced admission (+ booking fee!!), and in typical tradition of the buskers, you can just put some money into a hat at the end of the show.

Here’s a link to all the details

And feel free when you put your money in the hat to tell Steve that you came along after reading about it on TVV.

Yes….that is a blurry photo (accessed from t’internet) of the time when Mark E Smith read out the football results on BBC Television. It was to do with the programme segment having long used Theme From Sparta F.C. #2 as the introductory music.

I reckon MES would have been enthralled at the way Group C panned out as the outcome, outside of the Top Two, was uncertain until the final few votes came in.  The Feelies and Television got their noses out in front early on and never relinquished their positions…it was just a case of which of the two would win the group.

Michael Hall, Rainer Ptaceck and The Schramms all offered up sterling efforts, but didn’t muster much in the way of support.

This left thirteen acts battling it out for the six remaining qualifying places and a spot in the knock-out stages.  It swung one way and then another and then swung back again….and then there were a few late surges from ICAs that hadn’t picked up many early votes.  Thankfully, the top eight all gained enough votes to avoid any elimination by the cruel coin-toss, but the process was needed a few times to sort out an order:-

1. Television 21
2. The Feelies 18
3. The Dream Syndicate 14
4. Chuck Prophet 14
5. Chris Isaak 14
6. Uncle Tupelo 13
7. Queens of the Stone Age 12
8. Vic Chesnutt 12

Black Angels and Morphine got 11 votes, just one ahead of Black Keys, Son Volt and Thin White Hope. Giant Sand gained 9 votes, while The Lyres picked up 8.

The best thing of all is that my e-mail to HSP, using his home address rather than his place of employment, did get picked up, and he used the comments section to let everyone know he was fine, and to explain why he’s been quiet for so long:-

“I will be back, I hope fairly soon. COVID had a lot to do with my backing away – it effectively doubled our workload which was then doubled again by fighting our nightmare administration and its constant efforts to undo all that is good about higher education (a union man through and through, I’m also on the Academic Senate, so La Luta Continue!).

That was also the time one son was starting University, from the basement, and the other, from the upstairs bedroom and my wife was working from home and… I got a book contract to go along with the Associate Editor work I do for a rising journal.

I was working on a “post-Hoboken” Luna/Wake Ooloo ICA around that time, as well as one I was less confident about for Killing Joke. I know there’s one to be made on Deer Tick, and I think I can do one on the Ass Ponys. Onwards and upwards, hope to be back soon.”

And if nothing else is achieved from the staging of the 2022 ICA World Cup, the return of HSP will have been worth it.

This one seems appropriate today, now that we know the answer.

mp3: The Schramms – Where Were You?

JC