March 2023 – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

(BONUS POST) : ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #012

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#012– Camper Van Beethoven – ‚Take The Skinheads Bowling’ (Rough Trade Records, ’86)

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Hello friends,

the first single from a band starting with a ‘C’ … and all the way to America we go, too!

Let’s be honest, not very many of us know a lot more songs by Camper Van Beethoven than ‘Take The Skinheads Bowling’ – their signature tune, I think it’s fair to say. When trying to find out more about the band, I learnt that their output was quite massive, and I made a note to myself to start a more profound search within their back catalogue soon.

Camper Van Beethoven hail from Santa Cruz, California, and if you – like me – ever wondered why it is that they called themselves Camper Van Beethoven and not something more easy, like, say ‘The Beatles’, here’s yer explanation:

“The band’s name was coined by McDaniel (on guitar ’83 – ’84): according to (David) Lowery (lead singer) “McDaniel was into this stuff that would sound like it made sense, but really it didn’t… He’d watch a lot of TV, accept all this mass-media stuff and spit it out all chopped up.”

And not only the band’s name is strange, the title of today’s tune is strange as well. But of course David Lowery has an explanation for that as well:

“We regarded ‘Take The Skinheads Bowling’ as just a weird non-sensical song. The lyrics were purposely structured so that it would be devoid of meaning. Each subsequent line would undermine any sort of meaning established by the last line. It was the early 80′s and all our peers were writing songs that were full of meaning. It was our way of rebelling. BTW this is the most important fact about this song. We wanted the words to lack any coherent meaning. There is no story or deeper insight that I can give you about this song.”

So there you are, two lifetime mysteries solved, as easy as that! I really don’t know how often I must have listened to this song since it came out in 1986. But each and every time I did, I thought to myself “next time you are late for work because you had a few too much to drink the evening before (and look appropriately hangoverish), just look your boss firmly in the eye and say to him: ‘Sorry for being late, boss, but last night there were skinheads on my lawn!’” … so far I never remembered to do it, but one of these days I will, for sure!

And finally, this is the first record of quite a few from the nice people of Optic Nerve Records in the UK, a label who re-releases old gems for rather fair prices. They stick to the original artwork, but include some extras, like little posters and/or postcards. This comes in shimmering orange vinyl, rather nice in fact:

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mp3: Camper Van Beethoven – Take The Skinheads Bowling

See you soon, take care

Dirk

Sons & Daughters

60 ALBUMS @ 60 : #58

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Love The Cup – Sons and Daughters (2004)

This is one of the increasing number of postings which me think time is passing far too quickly. It can’t really be 20 years now since Sons and Daughters burst on to the Glasgow scene and got lots of people very excited.

In those pre-blogging days, I wasn’t nearly as switched on as I should have been to what was happening in and around my home city. A couple of work colleagues and associates, knowing my taste in music, had mentioned that I should check out Sons and Daughters as they were quiet the live act. I was aware that they had two lead vocalists – one of who was Adele Bethel whom I’d seen on stage with Arab Strap. But in some ways this was one of the reasons I never pursued things to begin with, as I didn’t think she was capable of having the voice or personality to be centre-stage.

A video on MTV2 was my first introduction to the band. It was the guitar riff and broad Scottish accent that grabbed my attention – the video had already gone past the bit where the info about the song and band had been on-screen, so I looked on in total ignorance. The video itself, which had by now descended into a bar-room brawl, was also something to enjoy. Just as the song ended, the info came up, and I was formally introduced to the pleasures of Sons and Daughters and their debut single:-

I was hooked. The single was bought the following morning, followed soon after by the debut mini-album Love The Cup.

mp3: Sons and Daughters – Fight

They were a great live act. No gig ever fell into chaos, and with the vocal duties being spilt between Adele and Scott Paterson, there was never any desire or requirement to focus attention mainly on the one person on the stage. Many of the songs had great instrumental breaks, which only highlighted the talent and tightness of the rhythm section of David Gow and Ailidh Lennon.

I never fell out of love with the band, catching them live on many an occasion whether as headliners or support acts, including at the cavernous Alexandra Palace in London when they opened for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in 2005, just after the release of the first full-length album, The Repulsion Box (which was under serious consideration for this rundown).

It was a sad day when they split in 2012, their full potential having never been realised. One of the many ‘should have been massive’ bands I’ve seen over the years.

JC

Billy Bragg

60 ALBUMS @ 60 : #59

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Talking With The Taxman About Poetry – Billy Bragg (1986)

The so-called ‘difficult’ third album.

Billy Bragg had very quickly become a hero of mine. He had been a big part of the soundtrack to my political development at University, and it’s not much of an exaggeration to suggest that I hung on to his every word.

As mentioned yesterday, I had moved to Edinburgh to work in July 1985. I don’t think I’ve given the details before, but my first job was as a committee administrator with a Tory-led council, one that involved me working directly with a number of folk whose political views were at odds with my own – not that I ever uttered anything in public as it could have led to me being fired! To be fair, and looking back on it, these particular Tories, with maybe a couple of exceptions, were far from Thatcherites and very much to the centre of their party – back in the mid 80s, the Tories weren’t comprised completely of right-wing nutters.

Billy Bragg’s first two albums were a godsend. If I’d had a bad day at the office, they could be my go-to records – along with those from Paul Weller and The Clash. The third album was eagerly awaited. It had been trailed by the release of a new single, Levi Stubbs’ Tears, whose promo video had been recorded onto VHS tape after it had been shown on Whistle Test on BBC2. The promo was a single-track shot of Billy playing guitar and singing live until the point that the trumpet solo comes in to end the song. I thought it was astounding.

I bought the album on cassette for the simple reason that I was going to be heading back and forth to Glasgow a couple of times over a short spell and thought it would be perfect for shoving into the Walkman.

My instincts were right. It made for a wonderful listen. It was a totally different type of album than his previous efforts, thanks in part to the contributions made by other musicians such as Johnny Marr, Kirsty MacColl, Hang Wangford, Bobby Valentino and Dave Woodhead. It’s the album which took Billy beyond any one-dimensional caricature of a protest singer and really laid the foundations for a career that is still going strong today.

mp3: Billy Bragg – Greetings To The New Brunette

Given that I’ve seen Billy Bragg play live more than anyone else in all my near 60 years on the planet, it was inevitable that one of his albums would make the longlist. It was a hard choice between all the early albums and a couple of the later ones. In the end, I went with the one that I can honestly say was the first to be on constant rotation, if indeed that’s a description you can give a cassette.

I still have the cassette, but I’ve also got this album on CD and vinyl, while it also, in extended form, forms part of a Billy Bragg boxset. I won’t, however, be shelling out for Billy’s 14-CD Super Deluxe Box Set (RRP £120) that’s being issued this coming October to commemorate his 40th Anniversary as a performer. Kind of feels like he’s taking the piss……

JC

Klark Kent, Police, Stewart Copeland

(BONUS POST): AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #337: STEWART COPELAND

A GUEST POSTING by JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER

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Stewart Copeland with The Police: an ICA

Most of the Police’s great big hits (and duds) were written by Sting. Stewart Copeland also wrote a number of songs for the Cops, but his contributions are few and far between. Kinda like how Paul Weller let Bruce Foxton squeak a tune onto a Jam album once in a while. Definitely not like the great Colin Moulding, XTC’s auxiliary songwriter, who didn’t get in as many tracks as Andy Partridge but still had his share of singles (see ICA #26). I got to wondering if Copeland wrote enough Police songs for an ICA. Turns out there are exactly 10, so here they are, in alphabetical order.

1. A Sermon

B-side of the UK single “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.” The chorus sounds like a Sting song, the verses are a little stilted. A respectable choice for a b-side. Better than the A-side anyway.

2. Bombs Away

Album track from Zenyatta Mondatta. One of the band’s best songs. Lovely middle-eastern sounding solo (“phrygian mode,” says my lead guitarist) by Andy Summers.

3. Contact

Album track from Reggatta de Blanc. Hmm…I’d call this filler. It’s got the band’s trademark sound, but doesn’t do anything special. Next.

4. Darkness

Album track from Ghost in the Machine. Here’s a good one. Unrushed and moody, fits really well with the rest of the band’s fourth album, which I always thought didn’t get the recognition it deserves. Well, it did, sales-wise, but I like it more than their other ones.

5. Does Everyone Stare

Album track from Reggatta de Blanc. The drummer got three solo credits on their second album, as well as three tunes co-written with his bandmates. This one’s my favorite. Police tunes don’t feature a lot of keyboards, and I like what Copeland does here on piano.

6. Fall Out

The band’s debut single on Illegal Records, before Andy Summers joined the band. Wiki says original guitarist Henri Padovani was too nervous in the studio to play anything but the solo, so Copeland played the rest of the guitar parts. This non-album track was the only Police A-side Copeland ever got.

7. Miss Gradenko

Album track from Synchronicity. Great melody. Summers does some beautiful finger-picking before peeling off another stellar lead. Summers actually wrote a few tunes for the band, too, but they’re pretty weak. Can’t touch his guitar playing, though.

8. Nothing Achieving

B-side to Fall Out. Co-written with big brother Ian. Copeland’s playing the guitar parts again with Padovani on the solo, such as it is. Meh.

9. On Any Other Day

Album track from Reggatta de Blanc. Copeland starts with the spoken words, “You want something corny? You got it!” Then the lyric is about the day of a hapless idiot, which I guess was meant to be funny. Or corny. Not sure—is ‘corny’ a word in the UK? Does it excuse the homophobic dis in the chorus? Probably not. Maybe that’s why Sting didn’t sing lead on it. Despite its daft lyrics, I love this song because it’s got such a great bass line. Sting is noted as a songwriter and singer and heartthrob and actor and lutist. But no one ever talks about his bass playing, which is outstanding. He always plays an interesting line that serves the song. He doesn’t get fancy unless he has to.

10. The Other Way of Stopping

Album track from Reggatta de Blanc. On my bass forum there was a poll recently asking if you could play with any drummer who would it be? Lots of folks picked Copeland and you can hear why on this instrumental. His timekeeping is perfect. His fills are fast and unpredictable. He has great touch—he can smack away or brush gently. Love or hate the Police, you can’t deny they were all awesome musicians.

Bonus Track. Don’t Care

Released under the pseudonym Klark Kent on Kryptone Records back in 1977. I guess Sting was more interested in trying to nail down the Police sound so Copeland put it out himself. It’s a great little new wave tune with Copeland singing and playing all the instruments.

Copeland made a hell of a lot of music after the Police. Film and TV soundtracks, collaborations, solo projects, and as a member of Oysterhead—a supergroup including Les Claypool (Primus) on bass and Trey Anastasio (Phish) on guitar. You can always tell it’s him drumming. I’d be curious if anyone’s familiar enough to do a separate ICA drawn from his lengthy post-Police career.

JTFL

Propaganda

60 ALBUMS @ 60 : #60

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A Secret Wish – Propaganda (1985)

This is one of those albums thay belatedly and perhaps unexpectedly sneaked its way into the Top 60. It’s also fair to say that if the list had been compiled a few months back, it wouldn’t have made it.

It’s an album I played a great deal when it was released. It had been preceded by two fabulous singles – Dr Mabuse and Duel. I recall buying it with some of the money left over from my first ever salary at the end of July 1985, having just moved to Edinburgh to live and work. I had a very small and inexpensive stereo system at the time, so I certainly didn’t get the full effect of its OTT production for a few more years. It was one of those albums I had a habit of playing when I had come in from the pub but was too tired/pissed to have a dance around the room…..this was one for lying on the bed, trying to avoid the sensation of the room spinning out of control, and waving my hands around as if I was some kind of crazy German conductor.

A few years later, I ended up buying the CD version, which had a different running order from the vinyl, as well as having a couple of extended versions of the songs, and so it became the version more commonly played.

Indeed, it was only a couple of months back that I dug out the vinyl copy again after what will be more than 30 years, and that was to play it immediately after giving a spin to my newly acquired copy of the excellent The Heart Is Strange, the album released last year by X-Propaganda, the group formed by Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag.

It’s fair to say that my passion for A Secret Wish has been smouldering rather than burning brightly for a long time. But it’s been on a healthy rotation in 2023, and as I said earlier, has unexpectedly crept into this rundown.

mp3: Propaganda – The Murder Of Love

Worth mentioning that the bass slapping on this one is courtesy of Derek Forbes, once of Simple Minds before they went all stadium rock on us.*

*Correction. While Derek Forbes played live with Propaganda in 1985, and would be part of the group on later records, he didn’t actually contribute the bass parts on the debut. With thanks to Post Punk Monk for the info……see comments section for more details.

JC

Radiohead

NOT JUST ANY OLD RUNDOWN…..

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On Sunday 18 June 2023, I turn 60 years of age.

On that day, I’ll reveal what I’ve decided is my favourite album of all time. It probably won’t be too big a surprise. Between now and then, I’m going to have an almost daily rundown of my 60 favourite albums as compiled at the end of February 2023. I reckon that if the list had been compiled a month or so previously, there may have been a few variations.

In fact, I know it would have been different, as all sorts of factors and distractions played their part as I worked tirelessly to get things down to a final 60.

There were rules set in advance, There have to be, otherwise anarchy would prevail.

No singer or band would be allowed more than one entry. But, in saying that, an individual may appear on more than one occasion. I’m not saying anyone actually does, but the longlist saw Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton all came into consideration, as did Edwyn Collins/Orange Juice, Roddy Frame/Aztec Camera and Bjork/Sugarcubes to offer a few illustrations.

All of the albums had to have been bought at or around the time of their original release, either on vinyl or CD, which meant any record I belatedly discovered and fell heavily for more than a couple of years after the event was ruled out prior to any longlist.

I had intended not to include any compilation/best of efforts, but in the end there were some that just were too good and played far too often not to be included.

The initial long list had 198 releases for consideration. The first cull took this down to a more manageable 96. Some of those who missed out at that stage included some that I thought had actually stood a great chance of making the Top 60 – The Auteurs, British Sea Power, The Cure, David Bowie, Everything But The Girl, Franz Ferdinand, Gorillaz, Happy Mondays, Iggy Pop, Joe Jackson, Kirsty MacColl, Leonard Cohen, M.I.A., Neil Young, The Organ, PJ Harvey, Roxy Music, The Specials, Talking Heads, The Vaselines. Wire and Yazoo is almost an A-Z set of omissions on their own (but don’t automatically think any singer or bands with Q, U, X or Z are shoo-ins!).

There will be one album per day on Mondays – Fridays, with the final two being on the weekend of 17/18 June. Don’t worry…..there will be all sorts of additional postings appearing over the period in question, such as ICAs, Dirk’s regular contributions, and the look back at 1983, as well as anything else that might come in via guest contributions, or I feel I want to say. Indeed, the next ICA is scheduled for tomorrow, later on in the day after the #60 in the rundown is revealed.

In the meantime, here’s something from one of the albums that made the initial cut down to 96 but didn’t make the Top 60. I’m not saying it was #61 as I stopped when I got to #60, but let’s just say it would have come in somewhere between 61 and 96.

mp3: The Bends – Radiohead

The title track from the 1995 album, the second in what has proven to be a long and highly successful career for Radiohead. It’s the album which changed everything for the band. No longer would they be in any danger of being labelled one-hit wonders. It did lead to a lot of poor imitation angst-ridden alt.rock acts in the UK in the immediate years, which is perhaps Radiohead, after the even bigger success of OK Computer (1997), were always striving to do something different.

A few years ago, The Bends would easily have made it quite high up into any albums listing I might have happened to pull together, but it’s placing outside the Top 60 in 2023 reflects that I am listening to them a lot less than I used to, and unlike other bands who will feature over the coming weeks, they do not have the same sort of emotional pull.

JC

Altered Images, Bananarama, Big Country, Blancmange, David Bowie, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Duran Duran, Jo Boxers, New Order, Orange Juice, Style Council, Wah!

DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER (3)

Y’all ready for this?

From the UK singles Top 10 of the last week of March 1993.

mp3: The Style Council – Speak Like A Child (#4)
mp3: Altered Images – Don’t Talk To Me About Love (#7)
mp3: Orange Juice – Rip It Up (#8)

Oh, and Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurythmics was at #5, well on its way to what would be six weeks in the Top 10.

There were also some other great pop tunes at the higher end of the charts….not all of which will be to everyone’s taste, but can offer an illustration that we were truly enjoying a golden age of memorable 45s:-

mp3: Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know (#1)
mp3: David Bowie – Let’s Dance (#2)
mp3: Jo Boxers – Boxerbeat (#6)
mp3: Bananarama – Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye (#9)

The other two places in the Top 10 were taken up by Bonnie Tyler and Forrest (no, me neither!!!)

Do you fancy looking a bit further down the Top 40?

mp3: Big Country – Fields Of Fire (400 Miles) (#13)
mp3: New Order – Blue Monday (#17)
mp3: Blancmange – Waves (#25)
mp3: Dexy’s Midnight Runners – The Celtic Soul Brothers (#36)
mp3: Wah! – Hope (I Wish You’d Believe Me) (#37)

Some facts and stats.

The debut single by The Style Council was the first of what would be four chart hits in 1983.

Altered Images and Orange Juice had both appeared on Top of The Pops the previous week on a show presented by John Peel and David ‘Kid’ Jensen, with both singles going up in the charts immediately after.

Is There Something I Should Know? was the first ever #1 for Duran Duran. It had entered the charts at that position the previous week.

David Bowie would, the following week, supplant Duran Duran from the #1 spot, and Let’s Dance would spend three weeks at the top.

The debut single by Jo Boxers would eventually climb to #3. It was the first of three chart singles for the group in 1983. They never troubled the charts in any other year.

Bananarama‘s single would reach #5 the following week. The group would, all told, enjoy 25 hit singles in their career.

Fields of Fire had been at #31 when Big Country had appeared on the same TOTP show presented by Peel and Jensen. A rise of 18 places in one week after appearing on the television was impressive.

Blue Monday was in the third week of what proved to be an incredible 38-week unbroken stay in the Top 100. It initially peaked at #12 in mid-April and eventually fell to #82 in mid-July, at which point it was discovered for the first time by large numbers of holidaymakers descending on the clubs in sunnier climes. By mid-October, it had climbed all the way back up to #9.

Blancmange were enjoying a second successive hit after Living On The Ceiling had gone top 10 in late 1982. Waves would spend a couple of weeks in the Top 20, peaking at #19.

The success of The Celtic Soul Brothers was a cash-in from the record company. It had touched the outer fringes of the charts in March 1982, but its follow-up, Come On Eileen, had captured the hearts of the UK record-buying public. It was re-released in March 1983, going on to spend five weeks in the charts and reaching #20.

Hope (I Wish You’d Believe Me) was the follow-up to Story Of The Blues. It wasn’t anything like as successful and spent just one week inside the Top 40.

JC

Pet Shop Boys

PET SHOP BOYS SINGLES (Part Ten)

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1992 had been very quiet in the world of the Pet Shop Boys. 1993 started very quietly. It took until the month of June before they popped their heads up above the parapet again. The wait was worth it.

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1 June 1993. The first new material since the release of the Discography collection back in November 1991. It was the longest they had been out of the spotlight since West End Girls had propelled them to superstardom.

Can You Forgive Her? proved to be a tremendous return to form. There is absolutely no messing around with this one. The first note is bombastic, and it never really relents. It’s the sort of tune that lends itself to a full orchestra, but somehow Chris Lowe manages, thanks to his keyboard wizardry and arrangement skills, to do it all by himself. At just short of the forty-second mark, Neil Tennant joins in as the narrator of what turns out to be a desperately sad tale.

A man can’t sleep because he’s angry/upset that his girlfriend/wife has made a fool of him in public. His mind then turns to the other humiliations he’s experienced at her hands, including the taunts about his sexual inadequacy. Finally, the reasons behind it all are revealed, in that the man is, and has been since his school days, gay but is unwilling to face up to the fact. His wife/girlfriend clearly knows the truth and piles on the misery by saying she will cheat on him and his mind turns to revenge…..except that he’s clearly too weak/cowardly to actually do anything.

It might be a really sad and tragic set of circumstances, but it’s set to an absolute barnstormer of a tune. One that went to #7 in the charts.

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Can You Forgive Her?
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Hey, Headmaster

It’s a hugely enjoyable b-side. It’s another sad tale, but this time it has the sad sounding tune to match. I’ve often wondered if it was a close cousin to the A-side in that the headmaster in question was repressing his sexuality in order to maintain his position. But then again, it might well be the tale of someone who is just fed up with his lot and is past the stage of caring about the school and the pupils who attend it. All in all, this really is one of those occasions when a listener shouldn’t try to read too much into a song and simply enjoy the music and vocal delivery for what they are.

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The next single was released on 6 September 1993.

It wasn’t until doing a bit of research for this single did I learn the full backstory.

As we’ve seen, 1992 was a quiet year for PSB. However, on 13 May, they had accepted the invitation from filmmaker Derek Jarman to participate in an AIDS charity event at The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester. The duo decided that Go West would be the song of choice.

Neil and Chris later went into the studio with the intention of recording it as a stand-alone single, but having listened to the results, the idea was put on the back-burner. It was revisited during the sessions for the next album, where it was decided that what was really needed was an all-male Broadway choir to get the message of the song across more fully.

It was an audacious move. One that rode a very fine line between producing something that was genius or ridiculous. Me? I’m very much of the view it was genius – a sentiment shared by many others as the single reached #2 in the charts

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Go West
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Shameless

This b-side is one of their very best. An upbeat and very danceable number where the duo have their tongues very firmly in their cheeks:-

We’re shameless, we will do anything
to get our fifteen minutes of fame
We have no integrity, we’re ready to crawl
To obtain celebrity we’ll do anything at all

It really is hard to fathom why Shameless was thrown away as a b-side. Not only would it have been a great track on any album, but there’s a real sense that it could have been lifted as a future single.

I bought Go West on the week of release. Listening to it, and its b-side, and recalling the quality of both sides of the previous single, had me thinking that the upcoming new studio album, their fifth but first in three years, was going to be an absolute belter.

Very was released on 27 September 1993. It did something no other PSB album had ever done in that it went to #1. And the next part of this series will look at its later singles.

I’ll finish off today with a bit of footage that might bring back memories for some UK members of the TVV community and maybe put a smile on the faces of those who are seeing it for the first time. It’s what I reckon is the definitive performance of Go West at the Brit Awards on 14 February 1994:-

Neil and Chris are in suspiciously clean overalls, while the backing vocals come courtesy of a Welsh male voice choir, all dressed as miners. And given how many mining communities right across the UK had been decimated over the previous decade, it was a very poignant, powerful and moving sight.

JC

Trashcan Sinatras

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #348: TRASHCAN SINATRAS

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Here’s the basics. For all the information you want, I can make no better suggestion than recommending Five Hungry Joes, a wonderfully curated and maintained fan website.

Trashcan Sinatras came together in 1986 in Irvine, a town on the Ayrshire coast, some 30 miles south-west of Glasgow. Still very much on the go today, with four of its members, Frank Reader (vocals), John Douglas (guitar), Paul Livingston (guitar), and Stephen Douglas (drums) having been part of things from the beginning.

Signed to Go! Discs for whom three albums were recorded – Cake (1990), I’ve Seen Everything (1993) and A Happy Pocket (1996). There’s since been three more albums – Weightlifting (2004), In The Music (2009) and Wild Pendulum (2016).

They have been consistently excellent their entire career. I’ve long intended to come up with an ICA of my own as a companion piece to #24 in the series, which was pulled together by rhetor.

mp3: Trashcan Sinatras – Stainless Stephen

A b-side. Some of their best songs only ever appeared as b-sides, and that was because they cared about what was added to the singles on the basis that many of their own favourite bands across the years had done similar.

Inspired by Stephen Milligan, a Tory MP who met, shall we say, rather an unfortunate end. Click here for more.

JC

Buzzcocks

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #011

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#011 – Buzzcocks – ‚Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)’ (United Artists Records, ’78)

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Hello friends,

congratulations, you have nearly made it all the way through with bands starting with a ‘B’ … unless there is a great combo whose first letters are ‘Bw…’, ‘Bx…’ or ‘Bz…’. Or unless I come to the conclusion that The Byrds are better than sliced bread …. you wait and see until the next episode comes in!

Strange though, but I find it rather hard to find something interesting to write about a band which is as well known as The Buzzcocks are. I mean, basically everything has already been said about them, hasn’t it? At least there isn’t pretty much that I could add, I found.

So let’s concentrate on the song, shall we? When googling around a bit, I learnt that Pete Shelley was bisexual, and he had written the tune in late 1977 about a guy called Francis, apparently someone he lived together with for 7 years.

Obviously, not being bisexual myself, I always had women from my past in mind when listening to the song. Quite a lot of them, in fact. When I was younger, you see, I used to fall in love rather easily, and consequently I was easily disappointed when things didn’t turn out the way I had imagined them to turn out. I won’t try to tell you that I always dreamt about marriage whilst having something that ended up in being just a one-night stand. Or a two night stand, if such a term exists. But either way, I usually had high hopes and wanted more. A relationship, to be precise. But there were women who – I think the correct collocation is – ‘just wanted my body’ apparently. Not that I ever had much of a body, mind you, which might or might not show you how desperate these girls might have been.

So back then I often listened to today’s tune and thought to myself, when being in despair again: ‘Oh, he’s sooooo right, our Pete, I should not have fallen in love with (insert typical German female forename here)”. But the funny thing is: today, after decades of distance, I would do it all again, I think: there are no real regrets by and large … perhaps it is just because back then the fun ruled out the sorrow and the feeling of being rather unrequited afterwards. Who knows …

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mp3: Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)

So, in conclusion: no, I’ve never fallen in love with someone I shouldn’t’ve … at least not yet!

But did you?

Take good care,

Dirk

JC adds…….

I’ve written about this song on a number of occasions over the years. I slotted it in at #23 in the 45 45s @ 45 rundown back in 2008, and wondered out loud if there really were 22 singles better than it. Its most recent appearance was in October 2020. Here’s some of my thoughts from then as an addendum to Dirk’s musings.

“One of Pete Shelley’s greatest attributes as a songwriter was the ability to write about situations that could be taken by every listener as being completely applicable to their own lives. There can’t be any of us out there who could give the answer of ‘No’ to the question. It particularly appealed to my teenage sensations, when the girl(s) of my dreams were way out of my league, preferring the company of those a couple years older or those who weren’t total bookworms. It didn’t help that my tastes in music weren’t universal…..

But as the years have passed and relationships have come and gone, it’s very clear the song can apply at any time in your life and needn’t be about unrequited adolescent relationships that lead to severe bouts of self-pity. “

So, while Dirk might say No…..I have to say my answer is Yes.

Snapdragons

FROM THE C88 ERA : THE SNAPDRAGONS

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The Snapdragons haven’t featured previously round these parts. All I’ve got on the hard drive is a song included on the C88 box set issued a few years ago by Cherry Red Records.

Here’s the booklet:-

Singer/songwriter James Taylor fronted this Leeds band, assisted by John Sullivan on guitar, Spike Mullings on guitar and Pel Biccardi (later of Utah Saints) on drums. Signing with Native, the band released two classy and thoughtful singles of pure pop – 1988’s ‘The Things You Want’ and 1989’s ‘Eternal In A Moment’, the title of the latter used for a 1990 retrospective compilation. Their promising debut album, ‘Dawn Raids On Morality’, was produced by Pat Collier, but follow-up ‘Mass’ became mired in legal issues, leading to the demise of the band. However, 12″ EP ‘Dole Boys On Futons’ is surely a contender for title of the decade.

There’s a wiki page which doesn’t add all that much to the above other than state there were a couple of Radio 1 sessions, including one for John Peel, and they toured the UK in support of The Darling Buds and Richard Hawley‘s debut band, Treebound Story.

Here’s the track included on C88:-

mp3 : The Snapdragons – The Things You Want

It’s a jaunty little number, and at under two-and-a-half minutes in length, can never be accused of overstaying its welcome. It sounds similar to a lot of the indie music that was emerging around the same time, and while it maybe doesn’t have anything to make it particularly stand out in any way, it’s certainly not one to put in a drawer marked ‘best forgotten’. A great deal many worse records delivered chart success to some of their contemporaries.

Here’s one of the other tracks referred to in the C88 booklet:-

mp3 : The Snapdragons – Dole Boys On Foutons

This one, I’m sorry to say, is very much indie by numbers.

JC

Uncategorized

BONUS POST : GIG REVIEW : ROBERT FORSTER : HEBDEN BRIDGE TRADES CLUB

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The fact that I’ve had no laptop for more than a week is the reason it has taken so long to pull this review together….and it’s a nice postscript to the earlier posting on The Go-Betweens vinyl.

It was last October when Robert Forster announced he’d be playing a few gigs in the UK to support the release of a forthcoming EP. The tour was opening in Strathaven, a village not too far from Glasgow, with all the arrangements coming under the auspices of Douglas Macintyre of Creeping Bent Records, as part of his regular FRETS concerts.

It seemed perfect….except it was going to take place on Saturday 11 March, which was a date I long had an evening commitment with Raith Rovers. The next night, Robert was playing in Edinburgh, but there was the strong possibility that 12 March would be a date on which I had other plans.

Determined not to miss out, I sorted out tickets for the show at Hebden Bridge Trades Club for Wednesday 15 March, and at the same time sorted out a hotel and train tickets while persuading Rachel she would enjoy the show. Hebden Bridge is about 220 miles south of Glasgow, located on the train line linking Manchester and Leeds.

As the date drew closer, it became clear that our travel plans would be affected by a combination of engineering works (going down) and industrial action (coming back up) meaning it would be more convenient to travel by bus, albeit the journey times would be considerably longer. We still went ahead, but decided to add an extra overnight stay in Manchester on the Tuesday so that we could best enjoy the show.

There’s loads that could and should be written about the journeys and everything we packed into the busy days away, but this is already a bonus posting, so I best crack on.

The Trades Club is one of my favourite venues. The town it sits in is not large, and yet it attracts ridiculously stacked line-ups for the simple reason that singers and bands love playing there. There’s probably all sorts of reasons for this, including the fact that the town is home to all sorts of creative individuals whose love for the arts in all forms is very apparent. Such folk probably make up the majority of audiences at the venue, while the rest comprised folk who have made something of a major effort to be there. It all adds up to the room being packed with equal amounts of respect and anticipation.

Robert’s new album is The Candle and The Flame. It has turned out to be one of his best and most consistent. Many of its songs were written as love letters to his wife, Karin Baumler, whom he met back in 1990. Karen has been a major part of most of his solo albums (this is his 8th), contributing across a range of instruments and on backing vocals. She has also been a regular member of his touring band.

After the songs were written, but before they could be recorded, Karin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She has made a recovery, one which has been slow and painful, and while she did contribute to the album, there was no way she could go out on tour.

Which is why it is Robert as a solo artist, with one backing musician – Louis Foster, his 24-year-old son who came to prominence as one-third of The Goon Sax, whose three albums of sparkling and magical indie-pop have been real highlights of recent years.

In some ways, it’s a strange show. Robert, who is usually so eloquent and talkative when on stage, keeps the chat to a minimum. Louis spends his time seated, switching between lead and bass guitar, but never contributing anything in the way of a backing vocal. It’s almost as if the stories associated with the new songs are still too raw to talk about openly, and so instead there is a quiet and steely determination to let them speak for themselves.

There’s probably also the realisation that Robert’s fanbase tend to devour all that is written, either by himself (he is very active across all forms of social media), or the near-universal positive reviews that have accompanied the album’s release, and so there is no need to drive home any point.

I’ve used the word ‘strange’, to describe the show, but at the same time, it never at any point dipped below ‘exceptional’.

Robert was in great form while Louis showed that he’s developed into a really exceptional musician no matter the type of guitar in his hands. The pacing of the set was perfect, opening with four songs from the new album. A small number of songs from the Go-Betweens days are dotted through the main set, which comes to an end after an hour or so, but with the promise from Robert that he’ll be back in a few minutes, after he’s had a drink of water and taken off his jumper.

He’s as good as his word, and he returns completely solo to play a couple of old Go-Betweens songs, only one of which is really well known. Louis comes back on stage for the final three numbers, the last of which he encourages and receives some gentle but fun backing vocals from the audience.

And then it all comes to an end. It’s been a joy from start to finish, with perhaps the one slight disappointment factor being Robert’s decision, in advance of the tour and which he communicated at the time through social media, to seek to minimise any health risks, and so would be breaking his habit of hanging around any venues after the shows to chat, pose for photos or sign albums/CDs/posters etc. Disappointing, but understandable.

Set List

It’s Only Poison (from The Candle and The Flame, 2023)
Always (from The Candle and The Flame, 2023)
When I Was A Young Man (from The Candle and The Flame, 2023)
She’s A Fighter (from The Candle and The Flame, 2023)
One Bird In The Sky (from Inferno, 2019)
Spring Rain* (from Liberty Belle & The Black Diamond Express, 1986)
Learn To Burn (from Songs To Play, 2015)
Danger In The Past (from Danger In The Past, 1990)
Did She Overtake You? (from The Evangelist, 2008)
The Roads (from The Candle and The Flame, 2023)
Rock and Roll Friend* (b-side of Was There Anything I Could Do?, 1988)
Inferno (Brisbane In Summer) (from Inferno, 2019)
Tender Years (from The Candle and The Flame, 2023)
Here Comes A City* (from Oceans Apart, 2005)

Encore

Spirit* (from The Friends Of Rachel Worth, 2000)
Head Full Of Steam* (from Liberty Belle & The Black Diamond Express, 1986)
Boundary Rider* (from Oceans Apart, 2005)
There’s A Reason To Live (from The Candle and The Flame, 2023)
Surfing Magazines* (from The Friends Of Rachel Worth, 2000)

The second of the Go-Betweens numbers from the main set list was later re-recorded, in an organ-heavy style, by Robert for his solo album Warm Nights, in 1996, an album on which Edwyn Collins was the producer.

mp3: Robert Forster – Rock’N’Roll Friend

It’s really poignant these days, even though it is coming up to 17 years since Grant McLennan suddenly and unexpectedly passed away

JC

Various

THE INSANE COST OF SECOND HAND VINYL? (Issue #8)

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The last, for now, of this mini-series as next week will see the unveiling of a new feature that is set to dominate these pages for a period of time.

October 2014. All these arrived in one package.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark : Media and Sleeve graded as VG . Cost – £2.00
Associates – Perhaps : Media Graded as VG, Sleeve Graded as VG+. Cost – £1.00
The Fall – Free Range (12) ; Media and Sleeve graded as VG+. Cost – £3.00
The Go-Betweens – Spring Rain (12″); Media and Sleeve graded as VG+. Cost – £3.00
Everything But The Girl – Love Not Money; Media and sleeve graded VG+. Cost – £1.50
The Go-Betweens – Spring Hill Fair; Media and Sleeve graded as VG. Cost – £10.00

It’s a purchase I remember well as I had gone into the seller’s Discogs site on the basis of Spring Hill Fair, an album I had long owned but was now virtually unplayable as a result of the scratches, skips and jumps. I was a bit apprehensive about buying something graded only as VG as I had learned from bitter experience that what some sellers believed to be ‘VG’ turned out to be more akin to unlistenable as far as I was concerned. But as the feedback from other purchasers was that this particular seller was very conservative with his gradings, I gave it a whirl. And yes, I found the condition of the vinyl to be far better than described in the sales pitch.

As always, I couldn’t resist not browsing to see what else was on offer, and was really surprised at how low the prices were, which is why three more LPs and two 12″ singles were added. The cost of vinyl added up to £20.50, on top of which I was charged £5.00 for P&P.

I’m sure the seller was, for whatever reason, just getting rid of his vinyl. I recall, having been very satisfied with the condition of the records and the sleeve, going back a couple of months later to see if there was anything new listed only to find that the account had been closed.

It’s probably as good a bargain as I ever got on Discogs, and there’s no likelihood given the way that old vinyl is now traded, be it through that particular site, e-bay, second-hand shops or charity stores, I’ll ever get that lucky.

Here’s the going rate today, all based on UK sellers and the same condition.

OMD album : £4.50
Associates album : £3.00
The Fall 12″ : £8.00
The Go-Betweens 12″ : £10.00
EBTG album : £4.95
The Go-Betweens album : £44.99

It all comes to the grand total of £75.44. And there would need to be about £25 in P&P given there would be five different sellers.

Leaving aside the P&P, the rise in the cost of the vinyl is 342%.

mp3: Everything But The Girl – Ballad Of The Times

JC

Slow Readers Club

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #336: THE SLOW READERS CLUB

A GUEST POSTING by MIDDLE-AGED MAN

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I was a relatively late comer to The Slow Readers Club but within weeks of hearing their 3rd album ‘Build A Tower’ I had purchased the earlier ones, and they were the soundtrack to my washing up (the highest accolade) so much so that my wife commented on how long I was taking to wash up after tea and just checking that I hadn’t forgotten we had a dish-washing machine.

The Slow Readers Club come from Manchester (which is always a promising sign) and released their first album in 2011, and have released six to date with the most recent being at the end of last month, which whilst slow by the standards of the 70’s and 80’s is positively prolific by today’s standards.

In preparing this ICA I have struggled to describe their music so started to scour the internet for help and found these two which do the job far better than I could ‘Dark Euphoric pop band’ and ‘Anthemic electro-rock’ – I don’t know if electro-rock is a genuine genre, but it does describe the sound perfectly.

Side 1

Lunatic: Build A Tower

The first song on an album has to be both a great song and a clear indicator of the overall tone and feel of an album and this track, the opener on their 3rd album Build A Tower does the job expertly.

You Opened Up My Heart: Build A Tower

I don’t think I could be described as romantic and tend to view love songs are ‘soppy’, but this struck a chord with me, although over 30 years ago these lines brought back the vivid memories of my wedding proposal: Now I’m down on bended knee, Now I’m waiting for the heart attack, In my mind I’m seventeen.

Cavalcade: Cavalcade

The title track from the band’s second album, I’m always slightly wary of albums which are named after an individual song as they often can indicate that the album only has one strong track and the rest is filler, however, on this occasion Cavalcade wasn’t released as a single and was tucked away as track 7. Having said that, the song is strong enough to be a single and the album lead track. (I think I’m going round in circles here)

Forever In Your Debt: Cavalcade

Another track from Cavalcade, starting with a plaintive vocal which gradually becomes more forceful as the music becomes more powerful, the two building together before slowing down to a gentle conclusion. As I have put together this ICA I have come to realize that ‘The Readers’ are exquisite in structuring their songs, almost always following an intro, verse, chorus, end which, whilst traditional, never becomes too familiar as the tunes are always distinct.

Like I Wanted To: 91 Days In Isolation

To end side 1 a song from 91 days in Isolation released in Sept 2020- roughly 6 months into the pandemic- I’m guessing the album title refers to this- I like structure in life and part of that structure is that the last track on each side should be a slower more pensive song.

Side 2

On The TV: Build A Tower

I have two daughters, one almost has similar taste to me and has been to see ‘The Readers’ with me a few times and one who is in her mid-twenties and is a typical radio one/MTV listener who can tell me who is number one in the charts (do they still exist?) and has no interest in her dad’s music or anything involving guitars. Anyway, it must have been a couple of months after the album was released and I would always be playing the CD in my car. I was giving her a lift to the railway station, we were chatting away and she started to sing along to the chorus, I joined in and then she stopped and a look of absolute horror appeared on her face as she realised she had been singing along to one of dad’s bands. If that doesn’t tell you just how catchy this track is, nothing will.

One More Minute: The Slow Readers Club

Taken from their debut album, already the band’s style is established, which I would describe as upbeat cheerful tuneful largely guitar led music with deeper more subdued lyrics on top. (I’m never going to make it as a music journalist with these descriptive skills am I?!!)

Fool For Your Philosophy: Cavalcade

Thumping drums drive this one forward, not sure what it is about- just a great song with an ending which always catches me by surprise, as I want and expect it to continue for at least a couple more minutes.

All I Hear: Joy Of the Return

Opens with a nagging guitar refrain and the title being repeated at the end of each line of the verse before the chorus begins, I might be reading too much into the lyrics, but it makes me think of a manager/record label constantly on at a band/musician to change style. ‘No you can’t resist the change, There’s a choice already made, Been trying to catch a wave for so long, And the money that you make, It is making you a slave ‘

Everything I Own: 91 Days In Isolation

And to finish off, a deeper, darker song which still maintains the bounce of the earlier tracks.

The Slow Readers Club released a new album on the 24th February, I learnt of this back in November and thought it would be good to complete this ICA ahead of this – no problem I thought only 5 albums and 53 songs.

By the beginning of February I’d whittled it down to 17 songs and was on track, and then I ground to a halt unable to drop the final 7. My pre-order of the new album arrived on the 24th, but I bravely made the decision not to listen to it until I completed the ICA- which I managed in 48 hours. I’m glad I did, as the new album is great and would have made the selection so much harder.

MIDDLE-AGED MAN

Wedding Present

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

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As you can see from the above picture, it’s nothing to do with R.E.M. and the opening track on New Adventures In Hi-Fi.

In November 2008, The Wedding Present released a mini-box set called How The West Was Won. It came on the back of the album El Rey, on which the band had worked with Steve Albini for the first time in 15 years. I had been a bit underwhelmed by the album, but this was more to do with my advance expectations being sky-high, not just from the fact Albini was involved, but also that Take Fountain, the previous ‘comeback’ album had been exceptional.

I wasn’t sure about shelling out for the box set. It contained 4 EPs, but very little in the way of new material. Three of the EPs were led-off by variations of what, admittedly, were the three best songs on El Rey, while the fourth was a Christmas-type release that had been given a digital release that I, and many fans, had already purchased. There really wasn’t much value for money.

EP 1. The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend – four versions of one song, but all different from the album version.

EP 2. Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk – three versions of one song (one of which was identical to the album version), plus a previously unreleased song.

EP 3. Santa Ana Winds – a slightly edited version of the album tracks along alongside three previously unreleased songs.

EP 4. Holly Jolly Hollywood – it had been billed as first ever Wedding Present Christmas EP and two versions of the title track along with two covers – one being the Bing Crosby classic White Christmas and the other being Back For Good. Yup, the hit song by Take That.

But for some daft reason, I shelled out for it for the box set. I can’t remember what I paid for, £15 or £20 comes to mind. It’s not an extravagantly packaged box set, indeed it’s quite minimal with four discs inside a standard sized box with a small CD sized leaflet with details of all the credits. I downloaded the tracks into the hard drive and put the EP on the shelf alongside the various other CDs by The Wedding Present.

Here’s a track from each of the EPs:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – The Best Thing I Like About Him Is His Girlfriend (Jet Age Remix)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk (Team Wah Wah Remix)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Santa Ana Winds (edit)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Holly Jolly Hollywood

The first remix is the work of Eric Tischler, a member of Jet Age, an American indie-rock band from Washington D.C.

The second is the work of Christopher McConville, one-time guitarist with TWP and who was the co-writer of the song – David Gedge is on record as saying Chris is one of the best musicians he’s worked with.

Santa Ana Winds actually opens EL Rey, and the version on the EP is approx. 40 seconds shorter, missing out, in the main, a morse-code type introduction. I’ve a feeling there’s a bit of regret it was never given a physical release as a single.

Finally, the Christmas song that opens EP4….tempting as it was to offer up one of the covers. The female vocal is courtesy of Simone White, an American singer-songwriter much of whose solo material has been released through the London-based Honest Jon’s label, renowned for its extremely eclectic roster of artists and releases.

JC

Pet Shop Boys

PET SHOP BOYS SINGLES (Part Nine)

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As mentioned last week, Pet Shop Boys spent much of the first half of 1991 on a world tour which saw shows in Japan, the USA, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Holland, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

All the while, there continued to be chart hits, so you wouldn’t have blamed Neil and Chris for wanting to take a break, but instead they worked on some new material to be part of a ‘Greatest Hits’ release that was scheduled for release in the run-up to the festive period.

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DJ Culture was released on 14 October 1991. It was well publicised that it was going to feature on the upcoming ‘Best Of’ compilation, so perhaps this was a factor in the relatively poor sales of the single – it entered the charts at #13, but disappeared out of the Top 75 within two more weeks.

It also suffered from a lack of radio exposure, certainly in comparison to earlier PSB singles. There’s no real ‘killer’ chorus, and the downbeat nature of the lyric was certainly never going to make it easy for radio DJs to work up any sort of on-air enthusiasm – much easier to whoop and holler when you’re pressing the play button on an ironic U2 cover or a tune that would fill a dance floor.

Me? Well, I was one of those who didn’t buy it at the time. I don’t recall even hearing it anywhere (although I surely must have), until I got my Xmas copy of Discography, the name applied to the new compilation. I need to also confess that I didn’t fall for its charms – it just seemed a touch too morose – but it’s one I’ve grown to appreciate in later years. Not sure, however, if I’d ever include it on any ICA (Volumes 1-3).

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – DJ Culture
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Music For Boys

It would be a very long time before I heard this instrumental b-side. It’s very much a house number with a few influences to the fore – I always think of The KLF when the crowd noises are in effect – but at the same time it was sort of ahead of its time as there’s bits of it that seem very similar to what the Chemical Brothers would do a few years later.

Discography was released on 4 November, three weeks after DJ Culture. It contained 18 songs – as it said on the sleeve, it was the complete singles collection. Surprisingly, it didn’t come in at #1, being kept off the top spot by a similar type of Greatest Hits package by Queen which had fallen to #2 to be replaced by Enya, whose new album Shepherd Moons went straight in at #1. I had no idea the Irish musician had been so successful back in the day – especially as this wasn’t the album which gave rise to the 1988 mega-hit single Orinoco Flow

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The above is the sleeve for Was It Worth It?, the 18th and final track on Discography that was released as a single on 8 December. It wouldn’t have been too much of a surprise to all concerned that its presence on Discography would affect sales, and it got no higher than #24, which made it the first PSB 45 not to crack the Top 20 since their commercial breakthrough.

Spoiler alert. There would be another twenty-two singles released in the UK before there was a similar failure. But that’s all for the future editions of this series.

Was It Worth It? gives more than a nod to the days when disco music ruled. It is a HI-NRG tune which wears its heart on its sleeve, a paean to love that must be roared from the rooftops. I’ve always found it to be a fun number, utterly joyous and camp, that is impossible not to try and dance to. In some ways, it’s a waste that it was thrown away, more or less, as an extra track on Discography.

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Was It Worth It?
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Miserablism

Miserablism will have its fans, but my own view is that it pales into insignificance when compared to some of the earlier b-sides.

It’s probably worth recalling that December 1991 was a time when the Pet Shop Boys were in real danger of going out of fashion. Guitar music was to the fore, while a number of critics weren’t slow to suggest that Neil Tennant’s best work in recent months had come courtesy of his involvement with Electronic alongside Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr.

As it turned out, the next twelve months (and slightly beyond) was a very fallow period for PSB. There were no high-profile activities other than Neil’s contribution to Disappointed, a new single released by Electronic in June 1992, before a new long-play video, Performance, was released in September, capturing the highlights of the world tour that had taken place back in the first half of 1991.

But what would 1993 hold in store?

JC

TPI

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #347: TPI

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Track 21 on Disc 1 of the Big Gold Dreams box set.

‘Band with A Difference’ went the legend on the promotional keyrings put out by this Edinburgh four-piece, whose acronym stood for Thick Pink Ink. TPI were originally fronted by a man known only as Curtis, who was resident DJ at Edinburgh New Town nightspot Tiffany’s which on Monday nights became the best gig venue in town.

Once Curtis left, guitarist Billy Barker stepped up to front this sixties-tinged first-person study in being romantically out of one’s depth, produced by original Bay City Rollers vocalist Nobby Clark. The song’s prettified melodies and ringing guitars resembled the likes of The Flaming Groovies particular brand of power pop.

mp3: TPI – She’s Too Clever For Me

As far as I know, this was the only 45 ever released by TPI. I’ve tried, without success, to track down You Rool Me, the other side of the Double AA single.

JC

Breeders

CHECK-CHECK- CHECK, 1-2, 1-2

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Kim Deal did a lot of great things with Pixies, not least her lead vocal and bass notes vocal on Gigantic. But I still think this is her finest ever moment:-

mp3: The Breeders – Cannonball

Cannonball was released in early August 1993 just a few weeks ahead of the band’s second album, Last Splash. It remains the only time any of their singles was a chart hit here in the UK, and even then, it barely made it. One week at #40.

It’s one of those songs which tips its hat in the directions of indie and grunge, as evidenced by the fact that its Spike Jonze-directed promo was aired frequently back in the days of MTV2 and can still be seen nowadays when the rock-guitar obsessed channel Kerrang goes through a bout of nostalgia.

It’s one of those songs that has an unnerving ability to lodge itself into your brain. Go on…..give it a listen right now, and I bet you find yourself singing or humming snatches of the tune later in the day as you go about your business.

I’d love to say I have this one on vinyl, but it’s very much the CD single, although it does offer up the same three additional tracks.

mp3: The Breeders – Cro-Aloha
mp3: The Breeders – Lord Of The Thighs
mp3: The Breeders – 900

Cro-Aloha features a similar sort of distorted vocal as can be found on Cannonball. It’s only a shade over two-minutes in length, but it still pulls off the impressive feat of in places offering a reminder of Kim’s former band as well as being a head-banging classic for those whose tastes are along such lines. A different and much more commercial recording of the song, entitled No Aloha, would be included on Last Splash.

The band’s bassist, Josephine Wiggs, takes the lead vocal on the other two tracks.

Lord of The Thighs is a cover of an Aerosmith song. I love how Josephine’s seemingly disinterested delivery is at odds with the way the band are playing the tune. I dare anyone involved in Dry Cleaning to say that this wasn’t an influence on how they wrote and recorded their excellent debut album.

900 is the most experimental of the four songs. It’s a song written by Josephine, and given she was a trained cellist prior to becoming a rock musician, it’s no real surprise that there’s a place on it for that instrument as well as a violin. It’s probably best to just say that it works well as a b-side, but there may well be some of you who really enjoy it.

JC

Brigitte Bardot

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #010

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#010 – Brigitte Bardot – ‚Harley Davidson’ (Disc’Az, ’67)

Hello friends,

yes, yes, yes, I know what you all think: “now that he has realized that only a handful of people care about his stupid 111 singles nonsense, he’s pulling the old ‘if-everything-else-fails-big-tits-will-do’ – stunt”. Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong, you disbelievers! Alright, I admit Brigitte Bardot probably never was an ugly duckling, but that’s not what counts here and now. This lady has a spectacular voice and this record proves it, fact!

I can’t tell you all too much about its background, apart from the fact that the song was composed by Serge Gainsbourg, the old ladykiller. Also I can’t really tell you why it is that I like it so much – perhaps it is because the French language has always remained a bit of a mystery to me. I never had big problems with learning English in school, but French was a complete disaster, as well in secondary school as in commercial college. To be honest, I probably never got much further than ‘les haricots verts’ and ‘le premier étage’. Now, I think we all agree that this is not enough to enable me a decent retirement at some sunny French coast, but still I am really proud that I managed to add this to my superb knowledge:

“Je n’ai besoin de personne en Harley Davidson, je n’reconnais plus personne en Harley Davidson“.

These obviously are the first two lines of the song, the only ones I can remember. So every time I hear the tune, I sing those two lines perfectly faultless at the top of my lungs. But when it comes to the next bit, the one with the starter, I fail hopelessly, each and every time. So I let Brigitte do the job, hum along with her here and there and dream of riding a cool motorcycle myself (I don’t even have a driving license for these, but no matter). Feel free to do the same:

bb2

bb3

mp3: Brigitte Bardot – Harley Davidson

You’ll be relieved to hear that this may probably be the oldest record in the series (not that the others are much more contemporary, mind you). Speaking of age, I should add that my copy is a re-release from 1980, and albeit it reads ‘1968’ on the back sleeve, the original was released in 1967. Either way, I think it’s a fantastic tune which definitely has stood the test of time.

Consequently: enjoy!

Dirk

Joy Division

THE INSANE COST OF SECOND HAND VINYL? (Issue #7)

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I’m returning to the eBay purchases today.

Those of you who have long followed the blog will be aware, as I’ve mentioned it a few times previously, that I stupidly lost almost all the 7″ singles that I owned back in 1986. It involved a midnight flight out of a shared flat with whom there had been a lengthy dispute over the rent being charged and moving elsewhere to a new location, without leaving any indication of where that new location might be. It was only when I unpacked my possessions in the new shared flat that I discovered I had left behind a number of boxes of 7″ singles (it was all done in a hurry, and drink had been taken!) and of course, the keys to the old place had been put through the letterbox.

All of which explains why, when I first started using eBay in 2006 to pick up second-hand vinyl, that one of the first purchases was a 7″ copy of Love Will Tear Us Apart to sit alongside the 12″ copy that had long been in the collection.

The price I paid was £3.39. The vendor from back then still has an eBay presence as a long-time seller of vinyl, CDs and tapes. In a perfect world, the same vendor would today have another copy of Love Will Tear Us Apart to offer for a direct comparison. But, as we all know, it is a far from perfect world.

There are, as I type this, 29 results emerging for a search for ‘Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart 7″ Vinyl FAC 23‘

The thing with eBay is that it encourages bids over a period of time, and one seller has it on offer at 99p with around three days to go. Other sellers have a ‘Buy It Now’ option, with prices ranging from between £8 and £25.

Once you click on the actual product, you find that some of the lower prices are not offering the picture sleeve, or that the condition of the vinyl is not ideal, or that the single is a later pressing from 1983.

The closest match that I can find is from who appears to be from a private seller who is asking for £15.

Over at Discogs, there are something in the region of 60 copies for sale of the same 7″ as I have. Most sellers are from the UK. The asking prices range, in the main, from £8 to £30, which would seem to indicate that eBay sellers who aren’t connected to shops or stores are taking their cues from Discogs prices. There’s also similar caveats around picture sleeves, condition vinyl etc.

£15 appears to be the average price.

The rise since 2006 works out at 342%. It’s not quite as staggering as that of the Go-Betweens album highlighted last month, but it’s still substantial.

mp3: Joy Division – These Days