This one has been inspired by Revolutionary Spirit : A Post-Punk Exorcism, a book published in late 2023 by Jawbone Press, a London-based independent publisher which specialises in music and popular culture.
It was written by Paul Simpson. I’ll let the Jawbone Press folk say some things:-
“Part memoir, part social history, Revolutionary Spirit is the poignant, often hilarious story of a cult Liverpool musician’s scenic route to fame and artistic validation. If Morrissey was the Oscar Wilde of the 1980s indie scene, Paul Simpson was its William Blake, a self-destructive genius so lost in mystical visions of a new arcadia that he couldn’t meet the rent.
“Simpson’s career begins alongside fellow Liverpool luminaries Julian Cope, Ian McCulloch, Bill Drummond, Ian Broudie, Will Sergeant, Pete Wylie, Pete Burns, and Pete de Freitas at the infamous Eric’s club, where, in 1976, he finds himself at the birth of the city’s second great musical explosion. Along the way, he co-founds and christens the neo-psychedelic pop group The Teardrop Explodes, shares a flat with a teenage Courtney Love, and forms The Wild Swans, the indie band of choice for literary-minded teens in the early 1980s, who burn bright and brief, in the process recording one of the all-time great cult hit singles, ‘Revolutionary Spirit’.
“Marriage, fatherhood, and tropical illness follow, interspersed with artistic collaborations with Bill Drummond and members of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, among others. Following an onstage reunion with Cope at the Royal Festival Hall, Simpson discovers that seven thousand miles away, in the Philippines, he is considered a musical god. Presidential suites, armed guards, police escorts—you couldn’t make it up, and, incredibly, he doesn’t need to.
“Revolutionary Spirit marks the arrival of an original literary voice. It is the story of a musician driven by an unerring belief that artistic integrity will bring its own rewards—and an elliptical elegy to the ways it does.”
It really is a remarkable and engaging read. It is not your typical rock bio, and is very much all the better for it. The chapters on his childhood and upbringing are every bit as enjoyable as the years when he was such an integral part of the Liverpool ‘scene’, while the later years, which cover a long period when I was unaware that Paul Simpson was still involved in making music, are illuminating. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
The chapters on his time with Care make for rather sad reading. Without going into too much detail, he had been burned by the break-up of The Wild Swans and embittered by the success of The Lotus Eaters, who in effect were The Wild Swans with a different vocalist. He hooked up with Ian Broudie, then trying hard to make it as a performer rather than merely as a producer, and they signed to a major label in the shape of Arista Records. A debut single was recorded in the summer of 1983 with uber-producers Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley.
There was considerable airplay via the evening shows on Radio 1, which is where I heard it and fell heavily for its charms. But it didn’t make the A-list, and the single faded into obscurity.
The friends of the two musicians, and the book reveals there’s a huge cast who come into that category, suggested that maybe Ian Broudie should produce things from now on. He was at the helm of the follow-up single, Flaming Sword, which got to #48 in November 1983.
Work got underway on a third single as well as songs intended for a debut album. The third single, Whatever Possessed You, hit the shops in early 1984 at which point Paul Simpson got cold feet and walked out on Care.
Ian Broudie was stunned by this, but his ambitions weren’t derailed, which is why, a few years later, he in essence went solo but under the guise of Lightning Seeds. Paul Simpson went down a totally different path…..
Care really could have been and should have been contenders. But it’s quite clear, from Paul Simpson’s own recollections, that they were more or less doomed from the outset.
All the music by Care that was either fully produced or in the process of being finalised was collated on a 1997 CD, Diamonds & Emeralds, which really only saw the light of day as something of a cash-in on the success of Lightning Seeds. But let’s be grateful for small mercies.
Here’s the tracks from the 12″ version of the debut single, of which I’ve been a proud owner for 41 years!
mp3 : Care – My Boyish Days (Drink To Me)
mp3 : Care – An Evening In The Ray
mp3 : Care – Sad Day For England
The version that can be found on Diamonds & Emeralds is different in that it has a longer outro offering up an additional 40 seconds or so.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 