Those of you who have followed the blog for many years will be more than familiar with this one, but given it’s now eight years since I last mentioned it, I reckon enough time has passed to dust it down one more time.
April Showers were a short-lived Glaswegian pop duo comprising Jonathan Bernstein and Beatrice Colin who had met and formed the group while at Glasgow University . They released just one single on Big Star, a subsidiary of Chrysalis, in 1984. And it’s a tremendous, timeless piece of pop, thanks in part to a wonderful production from Anne Dudley of the Art of Noise.
I never got round to buying a copy, happy enough to have put it onto a C90 tape courtesy of one of my flatmates back in the day. In my defence, money was a tad tight on a student grant and as much as I would love to have been able to hoover up everything I wanted from the many visits to the many record shops, some tough decisions had to be made.
More fool me in this instance as the 7″ version of the single goes on Discogs for £100 while the 12″ can fetch over £300. Worth noting that when I wrote about this eight years ago, the asking price for the 12″ was £50, which only goes to illustrate just how out-of-hand the second vinyl market is increasingly becoming.
My copy of the song comes courtesy of its inclusion on the compilation album 10 Years Of Marina Records.
mp3 : April Showers – Abandon Ship
I’ve also, thanks to folk out there in blogland, been gifted mp3s of the b-side and the instrumental version that appeared on the 12″:-
mp3 : April Showers – Everytime We Say Goodbye
mp3 : April Showers – Abandon Ship (instrumental)
Both songs were written by Jonathan Bernstein who has forged a career for himself in recent years over in America as an author and screenwriter.
Beatrice Colin, I’m sad to say, passed away from cancer in 2019 at the age of 55. She had led a full life in the creative arts, working in radio production and then journalism, before becoming an award-winning author and playwright, as well as a lecturer in creative writing at my alma mater, the University of Strathclyde. There’s a very full and appreciative obituary available to read online right here.
Looking back on things from a gap of almost 40 years, I acknowledge that while there’s a lot to love and admire about the single, it is very much of its time and era. But, in the same way that those who were around in the 60s say that you really had to be there to fully understand what it all really meant, it is exactly the same for those of us lucky enough to be living and learning in Glasgow in the early-mid 80s.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
As the repetitive story goes… I heard this on an early morning (midnight to 3am) radio show – a radio show that many in the Greater Glasgow area will be familiar with.
I loved this song. I bought the 12”, which I still have.
It was unadulterated pop and Scottish bands were doing this rather well at the time – see Endgames, Waiting For Another Chance or Leisure Process, A Way You’ll Never Be (each band offering up several great pop songs between them).
I wish I knew why (such things interest me) but I was, and remain strongly connected to, Abandon Ship. As C86 rolled into view a few new friends, who had never heard of the band, or the song, came to enjoy the song too and then it was back to me just enjoying my copy and often adding it to compilation ‘tapes’.
Two decades on from C86 Indiepop was making its presence felt and I heard murmurs from Indiepop folk that this record was much enjoyed and much sought after. Postcard fans, Sarah fans, Indie fans C86 fans, Twee fans – it seemed 25 years after it’s release it had become an international ‘hit’ with fans worldwide.
From this blog and some others I became aware of the value of the record and wondered if I should still play it, eventually concluding “fuck it”. I bought the single because I enjoyed it and I’ll continue to enjoy it.
A wee while back I was tempted to sell some rare vinyl and I did. Abandon Ship was to be sold too… but I couldn’t. £300, or happiness that’s impossible to convey. I chose the latter.
I like to think I have a few pop nuggets but this is definitely one of them.
I did a bit of delving into Jonathan Bernstein’s subsequent musical career as well. Turns out it wasn’t his last collaboration with Anne Dudley – the two of them co-wrote a few songs for other acts, nothing very memorable though. Probably the best one is “Strike Me Pink” for Debbie Harry, though even that feels like a pastiche of Pet Shop Boys ballads (a bit of “King’s Cross”, a bit of “Jealousy”).
Dear FFF.
Should you ever be tempted in the future to sell the 12″……I’ll very willingly take a private message!
It is a wonderful piece of music, one which, as I said, brings back some incredibly happy memories about people I have long lost touch with.
I remember first hearing Abandon Ship thanks to you, JC. It’s just as magical as I listen to it this morning as the many times I played it years ago.
@JC: I’ll be holding onto it for a while yet but, should the day ever dawn…
I do love a fretless bass. And the singer is charming in a Harriet Wheeler kind of way.