March 2023 – Page 2 – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #335: THE REPLACEMENTS

A GUEST POSTING by HYBRID SOC. PROF

REP

The Replacements

They found it, whatever that miracle was, at least for a little while

In the 12 months from Jan 1, 1984 to Jan 1, 1985 (inclusive so I could get the Green on Red album in), the 15 unreasonably fun and variously life-changing records below were released and quickly ended up moving from my peach crates to the record player and back daily, weekly, monthly, depending on how busy I was. I spent the fall of ’84 living with my parents looking for full-time work – so there was a lot of time for music. Alphabetically:

The Cramps: Bad Music for Bad People
Depeche Mode: Some Great Reward
The Dream Syndicate: The Medicine Show
Echo & the Bunnymen: Ocean Rain
The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of…
Green on Red: Gas, Food, Lodging
Hüsker Dü: Zen Arcade
Jason & the Nashville Scorchers: Fervor (EP)
Los Lobos: How Will the World Survive?
The Lyres: On Fyre
Meat Puppets: II
The Minutemen: Double Nickels on a Dime
REM: Reckoning
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow

But the one that hit harder than any of these, harder than Purple Rain, or Stop Making Sense or Three of a Perfect Pair, was The Replacements’ masterpiece Let it Be. I don’t think the record ever made it back into the crate after I brought it home. For months, it had to be at the ready, leaning against the base of the console. You could bounce, you could sway, you could laugh, you could pray. Paul Westerberg. meant. every. single. word. he. sang/croaked/screamed/survived. And Bob Stinson’s guitar was, well, it was, you know, I mean, perfect. Drunk, but perfect. Out of tune, but perfect. Perfect, but beyond perfect. It was like Warren Zevon’s London werewolf, it could rip your heart out, Jim.

The best worst thing about the record was that the so-called hit, “I Will Dare” (not here) isn’t close to the best song on the disc. A sign of the absolute ridiculousness of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is they included “I Will Dare” among their top 500 most influential rock songs, as if “Androgynous,” (sadly, not here) “Unsatisfied,” (here) “Sixteen Blue” (here) and “Answering Machine” (brutal to leave out) weren’t orders of magnitude more transformative. And their version of the KISS song, “Black Diamond” (here)… let’s just say Paul Stanley should have handed over all royalties to Westerberg, Stinson, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars. (Stinson’s guitar on “Black Diamond” is nothing short of transcendent.) A ton of trite shit has been said about the greatness of the record and none of it sells the record short, it just sucks that those writers flail about so badly in their efforts. “Adolescent angst,” “midwestern teen rage,” “as classic as a rock album can be,” “a time piece of post-industrial youth in the Reagan era”… ughhh. Here’s my flail – in the long decade where everything from X to Run D.M.C.; Laurie Anderson to The Waterboys; Romeo Void to Metallica; Public Enemy to Pylon; Uncle Tupelo to Negativland; and The Mekons to The Lime Spiders – and a ton of the bands I’ve already prepped ICA’s for – all peaked, this is my favorite.

At the time, surely too influenced by some reviewers, I took a few listens to Hootenanny (1983), and it didn’t grab me, and then their first, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981), which I plain old didn’t like (and still don’t.) I figured it took a little while for Westerberg and the band to find their feet and was really excited when Tim (1985) was released. It’s a really really solid “second record.” And it’s a miraculously good “second record” for a band just signed off an independent, Twin/Tone, to a major label, Sire. I think “Kiss Me on the Bus” (not included) is better than “I Will Dare.” “Swinging Party” (not included) is really good, “Bastards of Young” (had to be here) just short of great great and “Here Comes a Regular” (no choice, here) has left me devastated, periodically in tears, since its release… But Tim isn’t, couldn’t be, Let it Be. It took me a while to let it be just Tim.

I remember the hype for Pleased to Meet Me (1987), and my disappointment. They have a song titled, “Alex Chilton,” (not included) which is super cool, “The Ledge” (totally here) is really good and I’ve included “Skyway” here as the perfect song for the slot that emerged as I built the flow of the imagined LP. But losing Bob Stinson – and, don’t get me wrong, I really like Slim Dunlap (check out his solo records The Old New Me and Times Like This, they are a ton of fun) who replaced him – felt to me like it set the soul of the band awobble. Maybe it was the influence of Sire and it’s producers, maybe it was Westerberg trying to grow up, maybe it was that the band was exhausted, maybe it was that the record came out too soon but, whatever it was, I didn’t ever have the record as part of a meaningful rotation…. But it sold better than anything they’d put out before… as did Don’t Tell a Soul (1989) – from which “We’ll Inherit the Earth – Mix 1” proved the right song to get me from “Willpower” to “Black Diamond” and “Rock and Roll Ghost” wraps things up – and then All Shook Down (1990) sold even more. But for me, excitement-wise, they were largely done.

I’ve added a bonus cut/hidden track to the ICA – Hootenanny’s “Mr. Whirly.” I guess this makes it a CD ICA rather than an LP, but what are you gonna do? As All Shook Down came out, Nirvana’s Nevermind was exactly a year away. When I was putting this together, I went back to Hootenanny, and found it far better than I remembered, almost as good as Tim, in fact. I know Kurt Cobain was intensely cognizant of his influences but, while I am in no way anything like a completist when it comes to Nirvana, I can’t recall ever having run into a Nirvana cover of a Replacements song. It kinda weirds me out. A friend who Googles random things on the internet told me all he can find about Westerberg and Cobain is that, once, they silently rode an elevator together. Contingent rather than comprehensive research but possibly indicative of something. Nevertheless, give “Mr. Whirly” a shot, I’m pretty sure it’d fit just fine on any of the four long players Curt, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic released, and maybe should have been in the Unplugged set.

As always these are the most representative songs that fit/flow together best – in my estimation – rather than a greatest hits collection. A greatest hits/favorite songs collection would be quite different as implied in parenthetical comments above. 

Side A

1. Willpower, Hootenanny (1983)

2. We’ll Inherit the Earth (Mix 1), Don’t Tell A Soul (1989)

3. Black Diamond, Let It Be (1984)

4. Bastards Of Young, Tim (1985)

5. The Ledge, Pleased To Meet Me (1987)

Side B

1. Sixteen Blue, Let It Be (1984)

2. Skyway, Pleased To Meet Me (1987)

3. Unsatisfied, Let It Be (1984)

4. Here Comes A Regular, Tim (1985)

5. Rock ‘N’ Roll Ghost, Don’t Tell a Soul (1989)

Hidden Track: Mr. Whirly, Hootenanny (1983)

HSP

Stockholm Monsters

FAC CVII

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The picture sleeve of a single released on Factory Records in 1984. Here’s the a-side:-

mp3: Stockholm Monsters – All At Once

This is the first time the song has featured on TVV, but the b-side was actually part of ICA 151 back in January 2018. The ICA in question was a compilation of Factory Records bands not called Joy Division, New Order, Electronic or Happy Mondays.

Here’s a cut’n’paste from that ICA.

“Finishing this side off with the b-side to a single. Stockholm Monsters weren’t, it seems to me, taken that seriously by anyone outside of Factory – the fact they had a stupid name for a band didn’t help matters; still, it could be worse, they could have called themselves Crispy Ambulance.

mp3: Stockholm Monsters – National Pastime (FAC 107)

This was actually a late addition to the ICA…it’s a song I’ve known since its 1984 release as it was played a lot by one of my flatmates who declared it a bona fide classic. He even managed to persuade the student union DJ to air it a few times on the ‘alternative disco’ Thursday nights. I’ve never owned a copy of the single, and it is an expensive one on the second hand market, but a while back Swiss Adam featured it over in the Bagging Area and I nicked it from there when he wasn’t looking! Feels right to let him say a few words…

Opening with clattering drums and a low slung bass, then a beautifully naive topline and a wonderful non-singer’s vocal. Produced by Peter Hook and lost by a record company who wouldn’t pay for pluggers and promotion because they believed the music would sell itself. If this was the only song they’d released, they’d still more than deserve a place in a version of mid-80s indie scene. A little slice of perfection.

Indeed.

JC

Pet Shop Boys

PET SHOP BOY SINGLES (Part Eight)

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And so we reach the 1990s. Pet Shop Boys had, in just five years, become one of the UK’s most popular groups, notching up twelve Top 20 hits (including four #1s) and three albums that had all gone Top 3.

This post covers the period September 1990 – October 1991 and will be one of the longest in this series. There were four singles lifted from the album Behaviour, itself released in October 1990

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So Hard was released on 24th September 1990. It is about “two people living together; they are totally unfaithful to each other but they both pretend they are faithful and then catch each other out”, which seems akin to David Gedge territory. Musically, it is very much of that late 80s/early 90s era – I certainly see it as a fairly close cousin to songs found on Technique, the 1989 masterpiece from New Order.

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – So Hard
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – It Must Be Obvious

The b-side is a love song. Less full on musically than most of the material from the 80s and tempo wise, more akin to what was going to unfold over the next decade and beyond. It’s not too cruel to say that it found its place as a b-side as the tune doesn’t really go anywhere.

I don’t normally want to get into the whole remix thing with singles, but given that the KLF did some work on So Hard……….

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – So Hard (The KLF versus Pet Shop Boys)

There’s a real nod to It’s Grim Up North as well as the choral aspect to Left To My Own Devices in the opening section of the track.

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Being Boring was released on 12th November 1990.

The duo’s fourth album, Behaviour had hit the shops a month previously. It had entered the charts at #2 in its first week, but unlike the previous three albums, it failed to sustain sales over any extended period. One of the reasons for this were some negative reviews that focussed on the downbeat nature of many of the tunes and lyrics.

This lack of sales extended to Being Boring which only reached #20, the first time since the re-release of Opportunities that a PSB single hadn’t gone Top 10. The version released as a single was a couple of minutes shorter than the album version, but was still ignored by daytime radio. Nor could anyone see the very stylish black & white promo video, which had been made by fashion photographer Bruce Weber, as it was subjected to a ban thanks to it containing some shots of full-frontal male nudity.

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Being Boring
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – We All Feel Better In The Dark

Does anyone else immediately think of Need You Tonight by INXS when hearing the opening notes of this b-side? And then it sounds like an early Human League number…..before going all creepy and soundtrack like. It’s one that Chris sings on and, as you’d expect, it’s more experimental and edgy than most other PSB songs.

Being Boring, despite its poor sales, has become a real anthem over the years and is never far from the top of any lists when PSB fans mention their favourites. It also has tended to close the live shows over the years.

Fun fact. I didn’t know this until doing a bit of research for this posting, but the music for Being Boring, along with a couple of other tunes, was written in Glasgow. The duo had so enjoyed the city when they played there on tour in 1989 that they later decamped to a small studio in the west end of the city to come up with some new material.

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The next single was released on 11th March 1991.

The plan was that How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously? would be the third single to be lifted from Behaviour. It was going to be a very different mix from the album version.

Whether it was the fact that Being Boring hadn’t done so well, or that the album had, by the beginning of February 1991, dropped out of the Top 75 after less than four months, but there was a change of mind. The duo had recently recorded a HI-NRG, and very camp, cover of one of the biggest selling rock songs of the 80s for possible release later in the year, but this was brought forward to March 1991 with the decision that it be a double-A side with the remixed ‘Seriously’.

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?

I still think this is one of the best jokes ever played on the music industry. The title of the original PSB song on one side of vinyl while the other seems to poke a bit of fun at how serious U2, (and others like them) and their fans, were beginning to take themselves. The deadpan delivery of the vocal on ‘Streets’ is such a contrast to the way Bono had thrown his everything into his performance of the song back in 1987 when The Joshua Tree had sold across the world in tens of millions. And adding in the refrain of an easy-listening number from the 60s was just genius……

It was a timely reminder that music can and should often be about having fun.

The 12″ release had a new PSB composition included – I’m assuming it was meant to be the original b-side until the change of plan.

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Bet She’s Not Your Girlfriend

Another New Order-esque tune, but with a frantic and all-knowing manic lyric from Neil, makes this one of my favourite PSB b-sides. It wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the Electronic album which was just a few weeks away from being released…..

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On 28th May 1991, the fourth and final single from Behaviour was released. I’ve used the CD cover of Jealousy – the picture of Neil was used on the 7″, while the picture of Chris adorned the 12″ – with them coming together for the CD version.

This was the closing song on the album. As was becoming the norm, it wasn’t a straight lift for the 45. The remix this time is about thirty seconds shorter but utilises a real orchestra at the end instead of relying on a sampler.

7″

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Jealousy
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Losing My Mind

The b-side is the duo’s take on a song, written by Stephen Sondheim, for the 1971 musical Follies. It wasn’t their first involvement with the song, as back in 1989 they had played on and produced a version that had taken Liza Minelli back into the charts since the 70s. It’s still a staple of the PSB live shows.

I’ll finish things off with a little extra as a thanks for making it this far.

There was also a limited edition CD single issued in the UK.

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As well as the extended mix of Jealousy which had been released on the 12″ vinyl, there were two bonus tracks. One was a new mix of So Hard, the first single to be lifted from Behaviour, while the other was an extended version and fresh mix of one of the best tracks on Behaviour and which must at some point have been under consideration as a single.

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave (extended mix)

Pet Shop Boys spent the first half of 1991 on tour, It began in Japan on 11th March, and took in the USA, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Holland, the United Kingdom and ending in Ireland on 17th June.

The year ended with the release of a Greatest Hits compilation, including two new songs, both released as singles. That’s exactly where this series will be heading next week.

JC

Tourists

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #346: THE TOURISTS

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OK. Not strictly a Scottish band. But very much fronted by a singer from Scotland.

Here’s wiki.

The Tourists were a British rock and pop band. They achieved brief success in the late 1970s before the band split in 1980. Two of its members, singer Annie Lennox and guitarist Dave Stewart, went on to international success as Eurythmics.

Guitarists Peet Coombes and Dave Stewart were members of the folk rock band Longdancer which was on Elton John‘s Rocket Records label. They moved to London, where they met singer Annie Lennox, who had dropped out of a course at the Royal Academy of Music to pursue her ambitions in pop music.

Forming a band in 1976, the three of them initially called themselves The Catch. In 1977 the band released a single named “Borderline/Black Blood” on Logo Records. It was released in the UK, The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, but was not a commercial success.

By 1976, they had recruited bass guitarist Eddie Chin and drummer Jim Toomey, and renamed themselves The Tourists. This saw the beginning of a productive period for the band and they released three albums: The Tourists (1979), Reality Effect (1979) and Luminous Basement (1980), as well as half a dozen singles, including “Blind Among the Flowers” (1979), “The Loneliest Man in the World” (1979), “Don’t Say I Told You So” (1980) and two hits, the Dusty Springfield cover “I Only Want to Be with You” (1979) and “So Good to Be Back Home Again” (1980), both of which reached the top 10 in the UK.

“I Only Want to Be with You” was also a top 10 hit in Australia and reached number 83 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Coombes was the band’s main songwriter, although later releases saw the first compositions by Lennox and Stewart.

In 1980, the band signed to RCA Records They toured extensively in the UK and abroad, including as support for Roxy Music on their 1979 Manifesto Tour. The group disbanded in late 1980.

Here’s one of the hit singles:-

mp3 : The Tourists – So Good To Be Back Home Again

I’ve been known to air this at the football when Raith Rovers haven’t played at Stark’s Park for a few weeks.

JC

Bruce Springsteen

SOME SONGS MAKE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapter 62)

A GUEST POSTING by WALTER

http://afewgoodtimesinmylife.blogspot.com/

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Hi Jim

There is one song I came back a few days ago that accompanied me during the last decades. Bruce Springsteen was the big thing in the late 70’s before he was called the future of R’n’R. In 1978, he was nothing more or less the one who told me about the life in NYC with the bright and dark side. He filled the gap between rock music and a storyteller in this era. Incident on 57th Street was nothing more or less than a genre picture of what could happen on a Saturday night with all the feelings of very young persons that fell in love.

I bought this record almost 50 years ago and the music/lyrics still grab me.I found the beauty of the lyrics when I had to translate them in my long ago school days.

Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night
With bruised arms and broken rhythm
And a beat-up old Buick but dressed just like dynamite
He tried sellin’ his heart to the hard girls over on easy Street
But they said, Johnny, it falls apart so easy
And you know hearts these days are cheap
And the pimps swung their axes and said, Johnny, you’re a cheater
And the pimps swung their axes and said, Johnny, you’re a liar
And from out of the shadows came a young girl’s voice
Said, Johnny, don’t cry
Puerto Rican Jane, oh, won’t you tell me, what’s your name?
I want to drive you down to the other side of town
Where paradise ain’t so crowded
And there’ll be action goin’ down on Shanty Lane tonight
All the golden-heeled fairies in a real bitch-fight
Pull thirty-eight’s and kiss their girls goodnight

Oh, goodnight, it’s alright, Jane
Now let them black boys in to light the soul flame
We may find it out on the street tonight, baby
Or we may walk until the daylight, maybe

Well, like a cool Romeo he made his moves, oh, she looked so fine
Like a late Juliet, she knew she’d never be true but then, she really didn’t mind
Upstairs a band was playin’
And the singer was singin’ something about going home
She whispered, Spanish Johnny, you can leave me tonight
But just don’t leave me alone
And Johnny cried, Puerto Rican Jane
Word is down, the cops have found the vein
Oh, them barefoot boys left their homes for the woods
Them little barefoot street boys, they said their homes ain’t no good
They left the corners, threw away all of their switchblade knives
And kissed each other goodbye

Johnny was sittin’ on the fire escape, watchin’ the kids playin’ down the street
He called down, hey little heroes, summer’s long
But I guess it ain’t very sweet around here anymore
Janey sleeps in sheets damp with sweat
Johnny sits up alone and watches her dream on, dream on
And the sister prays for lost souls
Then breaks down in the chapel after everyone’s gone

Jane moves over to share her pillow
But opens her eyes to see Johnny up and putting his clothes on
She says, those romantic young boys (those romantic young boys)
All they ever want to do is fight
Those romantic young boys (those romantic young boys)
They’re callin’ through the window
Hey, Spanish Johnny, you want to make a little easy money tonight?

And Johnny whispered, goodnight, it’s all tight, Jane
I’ll meet you tomorrow night on lover’s lane
We may find it out on the street tonight, now, baby
Or we may walk until the daylight, maybe
Oh, goodnight, it’s alright, Jane
I’m gonna meet you tomorrow night on lover’s lane
Oh, we can find it out on the street tonight, baby
Or we may walk until the daylight, maybe

Ah, goodnight, it’s alright, Jane
I’ll meet you tomorrow night on lover’s lane
Oh, we may find it out on the street tonight, baby
Or we may have to walk until the daylight, maybe (goodnight it’s alright, Jane)

mp3: Bruce Springsteen – Incident on 57th Street

Walter

Bodysnatchers

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #009

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#009 – The Bodysnatchers – ‚Ruder Than You’ (Chrysalis Records, ’80)

Hello friends,

first of all I would like to thank you for all the comments on Blancmange and B-Movie in particular, but ultimately I am of course grateful for every comment that comes in – it shows me that this series isn’t completely useless. It’s interesting though, isn’t it, that especially the two last episodes have struck a chord with so many people. I mean, both featured rather ‘eupeptic’ music: which normally is nothing that the usual reader of this blog would fancy by and large.

But there you are, I’m happy of course. And if I were clever, I would not change this winning horse and continue in some similar reader-friendly vein. But no, today we are back with some Ska again. Or some Rocksteady, to be precise. ‘Oh no, not again!’, I hear you cry, but for those of you who never read the first post: the singles come in alphabetical order, there is no clever segue in one form or another. So I am contractually obliged to follow with this line, I’m afraid:

The Bodysnatchers often get a bit neglected when it comes to the ‘big’ names within 2 Tone. Everyone knows The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat and Madness. But who could name one of the four tunes The Bodysnatchers did back then? Not many of you, I’m sure. And this is a mistake, believe me!

The combo did indeed consist of seven girls, as the below sleeve (of my German pressing) suggests. Alas, they weren’t septuplets, as on the sleeve, now, that would have been awesome!!

The story, well, goes as it so often goes: Fruit seller Nicky Summers saw The Specials and was so hooked that she recruited a civil servant, a fashion designer, a lifeguard, a secretary, a freelance illustrator and a schoolgirl. Together they formed a band, the fact that some of them could barely play their instruments and others couldn’t play them at all didn’t hinder them in learning to play as they went along

Rhoda Dakar Vocals

Nicky Summers Bass

Stella Barker Rhythm Guitar

Sarah-Jane Owen Lead Guitar

Pennie Leyton Keyboards

Jane Summers * Drums

Miranda Joyce Saxophone

* later replaced by Judy Parsons

The Bodysnatchers got their first gigs in 1979 and started with covering some old Rocksteady tunes, ‘007’, ‘Monkey Spanner’ and ‘Let’s Do Rock Steady’, the Dandy Livingstone number. The latter then became the A-Side of their first single, issued on the Two-Tone Label in the following year. The B-Side though was an original Bodysnatchers-composition, and as brilliant the A-Side is, I always preferred the B-Side:

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mp3 : The Bodysnatchers – Ruder Than You

They had a second single in 1980, ‘Easy Life’ (a tune of theirs) with ‘Too Experienced’ (a Winston Francis cover) on the flipside. And that, much to my dismay, was the end: an album never saw the light of day, although I’m sure it would have been a massive corker. The Bodysnatchers disbanded in October of 1980, but their career in music was not over: Rhoda and Nicky had intended to work together after the split but the idea came to nothing while four other band members found some success in the form of The Belle Stars: Stella, Miranda, Sarah-Jane and Judy. Quite often they used old Bodysnatchers-numbers in their repertoire, so did Rhoda a bit later in her collaboration with Jerry Dammers under the Special AKA – moniker together with the original Specials’ leftovers.

You see, every day is a school day, as they say. Then again I don’t care if you learned something today or not. For me, the only thing that counts is if you have enjoyed the song.

And by God, I do hope you did!!

Take care,

Dirk

Fall

THE INSANE COST OF SECOND HAND VINYL? (Issue #6)

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The reputation of Mark E Smith and The Fall seems to have grown in quite an extraordinary fashion since his death back in January 2018. Nobody seems to have a bad word to say about him, and there’s even been a bit of critical reassessment of some of the more awful and near-unlistenable albums to the extent that the cost of picking up any vinyl via the second-hand markets could well be edging towards silly money.

Looking at my own purchasing history on Discogs going back to 2008, I can find the following examples when it comes to The Fall:-

15 Ways – 10″ on clear vinyl : September 2013 – cost £2.75
Free Range – 12″ Ltd Edition, Numbered : October 2014 – cost £3
Totally Wired : The Rough Trade Anthology – 2 x CDs : July 2015 – cost £4
Hey! Luciani – 12″ : January 2019 – cost 5.80 euro (from Germany)
There’s A Ghost In My House – 7″ : July 2020 – cost £3.29
Oh! Brother – 12″ : October 2020 – cost £7.50
Hi Tension Line – 12″ : May 2022 – cost £9.10

None of these were ordered as stand-alone purchases – in other words, I’d have gone deep into whatever else the seller had on offer, and they would all end up in a package alongside as many as nine other records/CDs. The fact that the prices in October 2020 and May 2022 were much higher than the previous five purchases got me thinking that I was likely to find big increases if looking to buy today.

15 Ways – 10″ on clear vinyl : February 2023 asking price – 16 euro (from Spain)
Free Range – 12″ Ltd Edition, Numbered : February 2023 asking price – £8
Totally Wired : The Rough Trade Anthology – 2 x CDs : February 2023 asking price – £5
Hey! Luciani – 12″ : February 2023 asking price – 4.50 euro (from Germany)
There’s A Ghost In My House – 7″ : February 2023 asking price – £3.99
Oh! Brother – 12″ : February 2023 asking price – £11
Hi Tension Line – 12″ : February 2023 asking price – £10.50

Six out of the seven are more expensive today; the surprise was that buying a piece of vinyl from Germany would be marginally cheaper today, but any savings would be more than swallowed up by the huge rise associated with shipping costs in the post-Brexit era.

I paid approx £34.75 for the seven items between 2013 and 2022. To pick them up today, it would be approx £56.50. That’s an increase of 62.5%.

I’ll admit that I was expecting it to be more, but then again, except for the 10″ of 15 Ways, none of my purchases have been of things that are difficult to find, which probably means there are still some second-hand records by The Fall out there at prices which won’t break the bank.

The expensive ones are those that had limited releases on vinyl in the era when CD was dominant. For instance, Susan vs Youthclub can be had on CD for £2, but the asking price for the one copy of the 7″ version currently on sale is $60 (US).

There’s an obvious song for today’s posting

mp3: The Fall – F-oldin Money

Funny enough. One of the more expensive CD-only singles out there on the market at approx £8 a pop.

JC

Various

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #334: SQUEEZE

Squeeze have been around since time began. OK, not exactly, but it’s fast approaching 50 years.

The two principal songwriting guitarists, Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook, first worked together in 1974. Their debut EP came out in 1977 on an indie-label part-financed by Miles Copeland, and was produced by John Cale of Velvet Underground fame.

They were soon signed to A&M Records for whom they would record five albums between 1978 and 1982 as well as enjoying a dozen singles reaching the Top 50, of which three went Top 5.

After a short break up, during which time Difford and Tilbrook recorded and toured as a duo, Squeeze got back together in 1985 and stayed together until 1999, albeit band members came and went at regular intervals. There were seven studio albums in that period.

The early part of the 21st century saw the two principals embark on solo careers, all the while remaining close friends who would occasionally show up at one or the other’s shows and perform alongside one another.

Inevitably, Squeeze came back into being, reforming in 2007, since when there have been spells where they have toured as a full band and times when it’s been down to just Difford and Tilbrook. There have been just three new albums since the latest reformation.

All told, Squeeze can boast a discography of 15 studio albums and 49 singles/EPs, along with 4 live albums and 14 compilations. It’s a highly impressive body of work.

This ICA, however, is going to focus, with one exception, on the initial period from 1978 to 1982, simply as I’ve loads of material from that era and very little beyond, other than one studio album and a couple of ‘greatest hits’ type efforts. Oh, and it’s singles heavy…….

SIDE A

1. Take Me I’m Yours

The debut single which reached #19 in May 1978 and can be found on the eponymous debut album released the same year. It’s a fine introduction as the vocal talents of both Difford and Tilbrook are to the fore, as too are the keyboard skills of Jools Holland, whose look and sound were hugely important in making the band stand out that bit from many of their contemporaries.

2. Another Nail In My Heart

A #17 hit from March 1980. One of the main strengths of Difford and Tilbrook as songwriters was their ability to marry up catchy music with lyrics that told stories. In this instance, Tilbrook came up with the tune, making use of a moog synth all the way through as well as a classic ‘tennis racquet’ guitar solo straight after the first chorus, while Difford sings of a failed romance while putting all the blame on himself.

3. Cool For Cats

The first of the huge hits, reaching #2 in April 1979. This is one of the rare occasions when Tilbrook took lead vocal on a Squeeze single, but his voice is the one best suited to a tune which gives as good an indication as any of the band’s London and pub roots in the working-class south-east of the city.

4. When The Hangover Strikes

A flop single from 1982 and a track on the album Sweets From A Stranger. It’s an album which sold well enough to the fanbase to reach the Top 20 on its week of release, but which was panned by the critics on the basis that it sounded nothing like the Squeeze whom everyone had a soft spot for. Tilbrook has said he was inspired the 50s albums from Frank Sinatra when he came up with the tune, while Difford remains, rightly, proud of a lyric that captures that morning-after feeling rather perfectly.

5. Piccadilly

From the 1981 album, East Side Story, which was mostly produced by Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian. Lyrically, it’s a sort of throw back to some of the earlier material, telling the tale of a date night in the posh west end of London, but the music had advanced a great deal in a short period of time.

SIDE B

1. I Think I’m Go Go

An album track from 1981’s Argybargy. One in which both Difford and Tilbrook take turns on lead vocal. It’s a personal favourite as it just sounded so different and unusual from anything else they had written to this point. The songwriters have since revealed it’s about the rigours and unpleasant nature of constantly being on tour to promote your new record.

2. Up The Junction

Here’s what I said about this song back in 2014.

“A soap opera story in just over three minutes. The boy about town gets caught out with his trousers down. He can’t cope with the fact that he has to grow up and take responsibility. The woman of his dreams soon moves on and all he has left are bittersweet memories.

1979. A massive hit and one of my favourite songs of all time, albeit as a 16-year-old I didn’t quite understand the full nuances. But now I’m 51 and I’ve seen it this story play out in real life far too often over the years.

Tears and saying sorry are just not enough. But the male side of the species just never learn.”

Other than the fact I’n now nearly 60, every word from 2014 is just as relevant today.

3. Last Time Forever

The band broke up after Sweets From A Stranger. They got back together in 1985, with the surprising news that Jools Holland, who had left the band in 1980 after the third album, Argybargy, was back in the fold having decided he could combine his television work with recording and touring. This was the comeback single, one that is as close to an epic as anything they have ever recorded, with the full length version coming in at six-and-half- minutes, complete with sampled dialogue from the film, ‘The Shining’.

4. Labelled With Love

Two years after Up The Junction came another ‘some songs make great short stories’ effort, with a tune Tammy Wynette and George Jones would have been proud of. Sad songs say so much…….

5. Pulling Mussels (From A Shell)

A tribute to the joys of holiday sex only reached #44 in the UK Charts back in May 1980. It’s long been one of their most popular and enduring songs, cheered to the rafters whenever it gets aired in the live setting. I can only imagine that the folk at the BBC weren’t fooled by the song’s subject matter and more or less banned it from the airwaves on Radio 1, which perhaps explains why it sold so poorly.

As with most of the ICAs I come up with, this doesn’t consist of the ‘best’ ten songs that Squeeze recorded in the period concerned, but it’s my effort at pulling together a cohesive album that makes for a consistent and interesting listen.

JC

Suzanne Vega

A GUEST CONTRIBUTOR RECALLS HIS ENGAGEMENT

A GUEST POSTING by STEVE McLEAN

SuzannE

Ahoy McLeanites,I missed you. I was supposed to go to Suzanne Vega at the Royal Festival Hall the other evening but Covid had other ideas. Sucks, eh?

You probably don’t know that I got engaged to Suzanne in 1987. I wrote her a letter asking her to marry me and she never said no in a reply so I’m guessing it’s still on. I addressed it Suzanne Vega, Second Floor,Thomas’s Diner, New York, America. I know the US postal service is reliable so she’s probably in the planning stages (she takes ages to do things as 9 albums in 41 years will confirm)

Aside from the economical output, Suzanne’s career has been amazing. A shining light of the 80s folk revivalists and the flip side of Lou Reed to the great city of New York. She’s one of those acts that are so much more than her Greatest Hits might suggest. But then I would say that, being her fiancé.

So here’s four Suzanne Vega crackers that you might have missed because the radio only ever plays Marlene on the Wall or the one about Tom having his dinner.

It Makes Me Wonder (2001) Songs of Red and Grey

All of Vega’s best songs can be read as poetry. I think that’s intended and possibly how they’re written. This one seems to be personal and about someone in particular. That someone sounds like a bit of a dick. It feels like it’s both a sex song and a regretting sex song. I dunno, you gotta be careful reading too much into songs that are about an actual person, because we all inflate the smallest of moments. That said the image she paints does seem to conjure up a rogue but on the nasty end of the word, rather than the Han Solo type.

New York Is a Woman (2007) Beauty and Crime

The title sells this song, New York is a town without pity but also one that you can’t help but adore. I’ve only ever visited the post-2000 Disney sanitised NYC. I never had the fear on the subway or a Times Square mugging, but I couldn’t help but feel the biography of the place in the old buildings. ‘Her steam and steel’ on the sidewalks leaking out and hinting at the truth behind that paint. This song sums up the history of the town and could be set in any decade from the early 1900s onward.

I did get punched in a bar near the Meatpacking district but to be fair, I was being a bellend.

Laying on of Hands (2014) Tales From The Realm of the Queen of Pentacles

This song (like the record it comes from) sounds like a plea or a fuck you. Like a kitchen sink drama with a mystical or religious underside. Either way, as with most of her songs, the narration again feels very personal; ‘I don’t know about happiness, but virtue is overrated.’ Ultimately there aren’t many who can pen a number asking you to consider that Mother Theresa spent her whole life never once getting booffed. Frankly if you can’t appreciate the song, appreciate the niche subject.

Harper Lee (2016) Lover, Beloved

It’s hard to write about authors. Have you heard Lou Reed’s Edgar Allen Poe song? It’s shit. Somehow he manages to rhyme ‘Edgar Allen Poe’ with ‘The boy next door’ I mean I love a drawl but not one that’s so phoned in that it has reversed the charges.

This whole album is about Carson McCullers (it was a stage show and currently being made into a film. If there’s one person who knows what cinema needs, it’s Suzanne). McCullers’ The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter’ is one of the best books you’ll read on isolation. At least that’s what the cover says, I haven’t read it but I have seen the film with Alan Arkin, it’s ace.

The song name checks Carson’s author rivalries and hints at her bitterness, but in a self depreciating way that does much to endure you to her. She had a proper indie haircut too.

Right then, that’s it for now. Don’t tell Suzanne but I was also engaged to Natalie Merchant so I might write something about her in the future. I feel I’m more her type as she has a bit time for hard luck cases.

Steve McLean

Pet Shop Boys

PET SHOP BOYS SINGLES (Part Seven)

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It’s Alright was released on 26th June 1989. It was the third single to be lifted from Introspective.

The timing of this release always seemed strange. It had been seven months since the previous single. The album from which it was taken had dropped out of the charts a month previously. Was there really any demand for it as a 45?

It turned out there was, as it went straight in at #5. It managed to hold its position in the Top 10 for a few weeks thanks in part to the marketing campaign which had involved the initial 26th June release being on six formats – 7″, 7″ limited edition sleeve, 12″, 12″ limited edition sleeve, compact disc and cassette single – that was followed up by a 10″ version on 3rd July and a 12″ remix on 10th July.

All told, including the remixes, there were six versions of It’s Alright across the various singles, none of which were identical to the version that could be found on Introspective. No wonder the people in charge of compiling the charts soon put restrictions on the multi-format method of boosting sales. I’m not entirely sure how much involvement Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe had with all of this, or whether it was down entirely to the label bosses.

It’s Alright was a cover song, although it very much sounded like a PSB original. It was originally written and recorded in 1987 by Sterling Void & Paris Brightledge, the former being one of the prominent DJs within the ever-increasing and influential scene associated with Chicago house music. The first version that PSB recorded was more than nine minutes long and closed off Introspective. The 7″ version was remixed and had the addition of an additional verse that addressed environmental concerns, but was edited right down to a little over four minutes in length.

7″ Limited Edition

mp3: Pet Shop Boys – It’s Alright
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – One Of The Crowd
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Your Funny Uncle

The standard edition of the 7″ didn’t include Your Funny Uncle.

The two b-sides are a total contrast.

One Of The Crowd has, unusually, Chris on lead vocal, albeit he uses a vocoder as a partial disguise. The tune has always reminded a bit of one of those big hits from Adamski.

Your Funny Uncle is a piano-led ballad and a bit of a tear-jerker based on a true story. Neil wrote the lyric after attending the funeral of a friend who had died from AIDS. It’s not the usual b-side, but it is one of their loveliest numbers.

“All the details are true: the cars in slow formation, and so on. He did have an uncle, who had been in the army all of his life and suddenly found himself at the funeral of his evidently gay nephew who’d died of Aids. I think it must have been quite a difficult situation for him, but he was really nice and dignified and spoke to all of his nephew’s friends. I had to give a reading, and the bit I read was from the book of Revelations…at the end it says there’s somewhere where there’s no pain or fear, and I found it a really moving piece of prose, and attached it to the end of the song.”

The success of It’s Alright returned Introspective to the Top 40 of the album charts after a couple of months outside the listings. The album’s highest placing was #2, the third time in a row a PSB album had just come up short in attempts to dislodge an 80s mega-seller (Brothers In Arms – Dire Straits; Bad – Michael Jackson; Rattle and Hum – U2). Would the luck change as a new decade dawned?

JC

Thrum

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #345: THRUM

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The idea when I started off this series was to use Saturdays a sort of off-day by just cutting and pasting from elsewhere. It hasn’t always worked out that way, but today’s words come fully from wiki:-

Thrum was formed in 1992 by Johnny Smillie (guitar, vocals), Dave McGowan (bass guitar, vocals), Gary Johnston (drums), and Monica Queen (vocals, guitar). Smillie had met Queen while she was singing in a youth theatre performance of Godspell, and she had previously sung in a Christian rock band. Smillie was strongly influenced by Neil Young while Queen cited Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette as influences.

They signed to Fire Records at the start of 1993, and Fire issued their début self-titled EP in April 1993. Singles “So Glad” (which they performed on The Word) and “Here I Am” were critically well-received, and they recorded their début album Rifferama in San Francisco.“Purify” was taken from the album as the band’s final single;

They split up in 1995. Queen went on to provide guest vocals on Belle & Sebastian’s “Lazy Line Painter Jane” single in 1997, recorded duets with The Jayhawks, Grant Lee Buffalo and Shane MacGowan, and performed with Snow Patrol in Glasgow (June 2010). In addition to her guest vocal work, Queen signed to Creeping Bent and spent the 2000s as a solo artist (with Smillie still on guitar), releasing an EP in 2000 and albums in 2001 and 2004.

The band reformed after a 16-year hiatus in 2011, and released a new album, Elettrorama, and making a live appearance at that year’s T in the Park festival. Ian Greher replaced McGowan on bass guitar, following the latter’s decision not to take part in the reunion. In May 2013, with Rory McGregor now on bass, Thrum released a two track single All Over Again on new label Mecca Holding Co, and the band continue sporadic live appearances, concurrent to Queen’s solo activities.

Here’s the debut single:-

mp3 : Thrum – So Glad

JC

UNKLE

MY FAVOURITE IAN BROWN VOCAL

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I’ve never really thought that much of Ian Brown‘s singing prowess. The relative lack of Stone Roses postings over the years should be something of a giveaway.

But I am very fond of something he contributed to back in the late 90s.

From allmusic:-

Since its 1992 inception, UNKLE has been the primary musical outlet of James Lavelle. The co-founder of Mo’ Wax, one of the most consequential English independent labels of the ’90s, Lavelle has been joined by a carousel of primary collaborators and an ever-changing array of guest contributors who have helped him indulge in styles ranging from sample-based hip-hop to downcast stoner rock.

In the mid-late 90s, UNKLE consisted solely of Lavelle and DJ Shadow, but they came up with the concept of bring in a whole host of guest musicians and singers for the debut studio album. Recorded over a two-year period, Psyence Fiction appeared in August 1998, and across its twelve tracks you could enjoy the vocal talents of, among others, Richard Ashcroft, Badly Drawn Boy, Mike D (Beastie Boys) and Thom Yorke.

The album was well received and sold enough copies to reach #4 in the UK charts despite not containing any hit singles. Be There, released in February 1999, as a stand-alone single, was a remix of the album track Unreal with a new vocal, written and sung by Ian Brown.

mp3: UNKLE – Be There

It’s a wonderful piece of trip-hop and Brown’s understated delivery, keeping himself well within his range, is a perfect addition.

Be There was released on 2 x CD singles and on 12″ vinyl. The copy I have is CD1 and its two additional tracks consist of a remix and instrumental remix of the single:-

mp3 : UNKLE – Be There (Underdog Remix)
mp3 : UNKLE – Be There (Underdog Instrumental)

Underdog is the alias of Trevor Jackson, someone who is very active currently in design, art and fashion but in the 90s was responsible for remixing hundreds of songs across all sorts of genres.

This was the bonus track on CD2.

mp3: UNKLE – The Knock (On Effect)

The Knock (Drums Of Death Part 2) was a track on Psyence Fiction, and featured Mike D on vocal on a track he had co-written with DJ Shadow. The remix is very radical and is the work of Noel Gallagher who also contributed his guitar licks which were added to a sample of drums from a Led Zeppelin track. It’s a track that actually wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Beastie Boys album and is a bit of a hidden gem.

(and yes, the timing of this one is deliberate after yesterday’s posting)

JC

Seahorses

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (72) ??

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I’m sure there are some folk out there who reckon Love Is The Law is a cracking piece of music, and would argue that it certainly merits a place in this occasional series. Indeed, given that this debut 45 went all the way to #3 in the UK singles chart, there might be quite a lot of you think along those lines.

Don’t count me in.

Yes, I did buy a copy back in either late April or early May 1997. From recollection, it was part of a promotional offer in Virgin Records (or it might have been HMV) where you could get three chart singles for £5. Looking at the Top 30 rundown that week, I’m thinking the others in the bundle could well have been Lovefool by The Cardigans, and Where Are They Now? by Gene. I’d probably be lucky to get 5p if I put them on e-bay today.

I would have heard The Seahorses debut on the radio at some point as it was tailor-made for such a medium. It obviously registered enough with me to make it part of the bargain bundle, albeit I never had really taken to The Stone Roses. Everyone of a certain age was telling me that John Squire was the guitarist of his generation, and that his talents and musicianship would very much be at the forefront of his new band. What did I have to lose?

mp3: The Seahorses – Love Is The Law

As it turns out, I lost £1.67, the equivalent of one-third of a fiver.

I maybe played this three times all told. I realised on its first play that I hadn’t actually listened to it properly on the radio. The tune was AOR muck and the lyric was variety-hall of the George Formby era with its mentions of Strap-On Sally chasing boys down the alley…..

Having played the other two singles,I returned to The Seahorses, just in case I had maybe over-reacted. It was then immediately put onto the CD shelves, quickly forgotten.

The third would have been just a few weeks ago, as I pondered whether if it should perhaps be reassessed.

Nope. It is the very definition of landfill indie.

I may as well offer up the two other songs on the CD single.

mp3: The Seahorses – Dreamer
mp3: The Seahorses – Sale Of The Century

And to think, there were many music critics who were convinced this band was the future. No wonder indie-guitar music soon died so spectacularly on its arse soon after.

Feel free to differ. Or just move along quietly, and we can pretend this post never appeared on the blog.

JC

B-Movie

BONUS POST : THE PUBLIC GETS WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS

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Many of you were really taken by Dirk‘s latest offering. Given I’ve a copy of the later 12″, released in the UK on Some Bizarre, it really makes sense to offer it as bonus posting today, particularly for those who are less enamoured by the hour-long mixes.

mp3: B-Movie – Nowhere Girl (12″)

Here’s your b-side for good measure

mp3 : B- Movie – Scare Some Life Into Me

Always happy to be of service.

JC

Various

ON A NOSTALGIA TRIP

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Maybe not everything is better……you can make your own mind up.

All tunes included in this month’s mix comes from a bygone era.

mp3: Various – On A Nostalgia Trip

New Order – Thieves Like Us (instrumental version)
Justified Ancients of Mu Mu – Burn The Bastards
Orange Juice – I Can’t Help Myself (7″ version)
Everything But The Girl – Each and Every One
Elastica – Waking Up
Echo and The Bunnymen – All That Jazz
Pop Will Eat Itself – Touched By The Hand of Cicciolina
Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Stupid Thing
The Chesterfields – Ask Johnny Dee
Pixies – Wave of Mutilation
Echobelly – Bellyache
The Fall – The Man Whose Head Expanded
James Kirk – Felicity
The Popguns – Waiting For The Winter
The Cramps – Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?

I reckon it’s worth an hour of your time.