August 2024 – Page 2 – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

BONUS POST : AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA 2024 (DAY 1)

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Myself and Rachel headed down to Brighton last weekend to take in the annual At The Edge of The Sea festival (aka Gedgefest) at the Concorde 2 venue down on the eastern side of the beachfront.

Three acts on the Friday night and ten on Saturday afternoon/evening. We didn’t catch everyone on the Saturday – a mixture of having to take the occasional rest or getting ourselves into a prime spot inside the main indoor space (Le Bikini Stage) for the next scheduled act meant we didn’t always venture to the smaller outside space (the Swim stage).

While I could easily write 20,000 words on everything, I’ll do my best to keep things brief, but it still means splitting things into two pieces.

Friday night’s show had two support acts I knew nothing about beforehand. I could have sought out their music before going down south, but I felt that hearing things fresh on the night was a better way to go about it.

Taffy turn out to be a four-piece band from Japan. Much like Butcher Boy did last week at the Glasgow Weekender, they prove to be the perfect opening act for the festival, evoking memories of the very best of that decade between 1986 and 1996 when indie-music was very much in vogue. Three blokes fronted by a female singer who was also very adept on guitar. My mind was wandering off to the Britpop era, and recalling that while there may well have been too much indie landfill associated with the ‘movement’, there were loads of radio-friendly poptastic tunes that have more than stood the test of time.

mp3: Taffy – Tumbling

A mental note was made to seek out Taffy’s back catalogue (turns out there’s been six albums going back to 2012).

Projector are from Brighton, and are another four-piece band made up of three blokes and a female, but they prove to be quite different from Taffy, making more of a boisterous and noisy post-punk sound, with the set drawn from their debut album Now When We Talk It’s Violence that was released earlier this year. It was an okay show, which I don’t want to sound as if I’m damning it with faint praise because I did enjoy them, but Taffy were a tough act to follow.

Friday night at The Edge of The Sea always closes with a set by The Wedding Present, with the audience knowing that Saturday night closes with a totally separate set by the band. Friday was billed as them performing Watusi in full plus other songs across a 90-minute show.

I’ll cut to the chase – this turned out to be a show that, overall, felt a bit deflating for a few reasons. By bit deflating, I meant it only merited a 7/10 rating in my book.

The line-up of the band has changed almost beyond recognition from this time last year, with Jonathan Stewart (guitar), Melanie Howard (bass) and Nicholas Wellauer (drums) all departing rather suddenly without explanation, which I found really sad as I felt this particular unit was as good as TWP had sounded at any time since they had come back into being almost 20 years.

David Gedge now has, again, a completely new set of musicians comprising Rachael Wood (guitar), Paul Blackburn (bass) and Vince Lammi (drums). The band have been out on the road a fair bit since last November, with many of the shows being centred around the 30th anniversary of Watusi, which was given the deluxe re-issue treatment on vinyl earlier this year across 2x LPs with b-sides from the era and a few alternative mixes being made available. As such, they were more than ready to take things up a notch.

They opened with Brassneck. It was loud, boisterous and quite manic, but it certainly got the audience going. We Interrupt This Programme, one of the highlights of the 24 Songs project from a couple of years back was next, followed by what can only be described as a blistering take on Dare, the closing moments of felt very much like an unsaid tribute to the late Steve Albini with the guitars cranked up to full volume and the drums pounded to the point where the skins must have been close to breaking.

And then Watusi was played in full, from Track 1 to Track 12 in the same order as the album. The problem here is that Watusi is, and I’m being generous, a tad on the patchy side. Maybe inconsistent is a better description. Fair play to the band, the songs I’m not so keen on came across well in the live setting – with a special mention to Catwoman which was stretched out to its full seven-minute length at an ear-splitting volume that My Bloody Valentine would have given their approval to.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Catwoman

But there’s no doubt that the show lost all sorts of momentum, exemplified by what felt like a limp run-through of Hot Pants, the instrumental which closes the album. I suspect David Gedge was fully aware as he put the show together that he ran the risk of annoying a fair bit of the audience as there proved to be barely a half-second gap between the final note of Hot Pants and the opening and unmistakable riff of Kennedy, long-regarded by most TWP fans as their finest song.

The rest of the evening passed in a flurry of excitement and much moving of limbs in a moshpit of folk who really should be old enough to better, while the rest of us just swayed and moved a bit less energetically to Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft, Once More, Take Me! and Bewitched. Five closing songs that were just about all anyone could have asked for, although I still had a regret that this line-up didn’t quite do them justice in a way that Stewart, Howard and Wellauer would have.

Outside into the still warm but breezy August evening for the 30-minute walk back through the city centre to our hotel close to the railway station and discovering that our ears were ringing, such was the sonic assault of the evening.

Yes, it had been The Wedding Present, and while Rachel had thought it was a magnificent show (she has a penchant for loud music belying her years!!) , I couldn’t help but think I missed the old line-up. I suppose, like Mark E Smith once famously said “If it’s me and your granny on bongos, it’s the Fall”, it’ll always be The Wedding Present when David Gedge is on stage with three other musicians on guitar, bass and drums.

I was also already thinking ahead to the Saturday and wondering what sort of set would close the festival given what had been played on the Friday. OK, there would be nothing from Watusi which was a good thing, but four of the best from Bizzaro had been aired while just one song from the 21st century catalogue had been played. It was going to be intriguing.

Part 2 of the review will appear tomorrow, again as a bonus post later in the day.

JC

Siouxsie & The Banshees

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (13): Siouxsie & The Banshees – Cities In Dust

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Cities In Dust, a song inspired by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius which destroyed Pompeii in AD79, was the 17th single released by Siouxsie & The Banshees. It came out in October 1985 and would also be included on the album Tinderbox, released in April 1986.

Looking back on things, 1985 was a transitional year in my life, leaving university and moving to Edinburgh for my first job. It wasn’t a well-paid job, being at the entry level for graduates and by the time the rent and bills were paid, there wasn’t much left to spend on music. Nor was there much room in a shared flat to keep anything!

I’d only have heard Cities In Dust on the radio or whenever S&TB appeared on the telly….I recall watching it played live on BBC2’s Whistle Test, with Siouxsie confined to a chair after she had injured herself when falling over during a gig a few weeks previously.

I first ended up with a copy of the song at the end of 1992 when Santa Claus brought me the Twice Upon A Time CD which compiled the singles from over a ten-year period between ’82 and ’92.

I did, however, pick up the 12″ version many years later, again via a second-hand purchase in a shop when vinyl was still available for decent prices. I’m not sure if it was in a three for £5 deal, but if not, it would have been no more than £3. This version proved to be two-and-a-half minutes longer than I was used to, and I came to the view (which I still hold) that it’s one of those occasions where the extended takeon the song ruins things somewhat. It was something that seemed to happen a fair bit in the 80s:-

mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – Cities In Dust (Extended Eruption Mix)

The reason I mention the price above is that I wouldn’t be paying so little for it nowadays. It turned out that there were two pressings of the single, with the undernoted illustration on the label being altered on the later version to be a little bit less risqué:-

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It appears there are less of the first pressing kicking around, and the going rate on Discogs is around the £20 mark.

Two otherwise unavailable tracks made up the b-side. Neither are particularly remarkable:-

mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – An Execution
mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – Quarterdrawing Of The Dog

The first is experimental in nature and makes for a tough listen in places. The latter is an instrumental which, if it were to appear on a mixtape with no name/credits/info, might have you making a few wrong guesses before you shout out ‘Banshees!!!!’

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Thirty-Seven)

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El Rey was released at the end of May 2008. It contained 11 tracks, but rather annoyingly, there was a 12th track made available but only through a download via the ITunes store.

The CD was purchased. And for the first time since The Wedding Present had ‘reconvened’, I found myself rather underwhelmed. Looking back, my expectations were far too high, thinking that El Rey, with the involvement of Steve Albini, was going to be Seamonsters Mark 2. It does have a number of more than very decent moments, but overall it doesn’t quite have the consistency of most other albums.

As mentioned last week, the album was preceded by a digital release of The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend. I was certainly anticipating a physical release for any future singles to be taken from the album, but that’s not how it turned out. I genuinely can’t recall if there was a digital download made available for this one, but there was a promo video put out for fans to enjoy

mp3: The Wedding Present – Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk

Track 8 on El Rey, and one that was co-written by guitarist Chris McConville who had joined back in 2006 but was soon to leave again after the promotional activities around touring El Rey were completed at the end of 2009. It’s the sort of song you could imagine Cinerama writing and recording, not least for all the references to Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the song title being akin to a line spoken in that film by Holly Golightly, played memorably by Audrey Hepburn.

Later in the year, a box set called How The West Was Won was issued by Vibrant Records. If you want to buy a second-hand copy via Discogs, it is listed under the singles section of music by The Wedding Present. If you head to the band’s website, it is listed under the albums section. No wonder it is proving awkward to keep track of what should be curated as a single for this particular series.

My rule of thumb is that EPs should be included. How The West Was Won contained four separate CDS, each being called as EP, and each with four tracks. The first of them saw the first physical non-promotional release of the ‘Girlfriend’ EP, while the second was called the Don’t Take Me Home Till I’m Drunk EP.

In addition to the album version of the song, there was an acoustic take and a remix, which was the work of the song’s co-writer, Chris McConville:-

mp3: The Wedding Present -Don’t Take Me Home Till I’m Drunk (acoustic version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Don’t Take Me Home Till I’m Drunk (Team Wah Wah remix)

The former is, again, what you’d fully expect from its description. The latter has all sort of instrumentation and technical gadgetry thrown at it. It’s certainly different, but it really acts as a reminder that TWP songs don’t really benefit from any sort of radical type of remix.

The EP contained one entirely new song.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Pinch, Twist, Pull, Release

There’s no production credits given within the box set, so I’m not sure if this was one that was worked up in the Chicago studio with Steve Albini or at a separate session – the band had been in a couple of studios prior to making the trip to Chicago. It’s kind of TWP by numbers, but I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. It’s a slow, brooding and sad number, with quiet and loud moments throughout, with the protagonist trying hard to explain why this particular relationship has come to an end. It wouldn’t have been out of place on many an album, and feels as if it was kind of wasted by being tucked away on this EP.

I’ll return again to How The West Was Won next Sunday.

JC

Baby Lemonade

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #416: BABY LEMONADE

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The one previous occasion when Baby Lemonade got a mention on this little corner of t’internet was in August 2017 as part of an occasional series looking at tunes to be found on C87, a 3xCD boxset released in 2016 by Cherry Red Records. A reminder of what was said:-

Glasgow-based Baby Lemonade formed in 1985, rehearsing in front rooms before progessing to making demos, one of which impressed early fan John Peel. Heavenly female vocals and buzzsaw, often feedback-laced guitars lay at the centre of the band’s extraordinary sound. A Sha La La flexi disc, “Jiffy Netwear Creation” was Sounds magazine’s Single-of-the-Week. It was followed by thie one and only proper single (“Secret Goldfish”), produced by Douglas Hart (bassist with Jesus & Mary Chain), which reached No.9 in the indie charts. Various line-up changes ensued before the band’s only album, One Thousand Secrets, appeared in 1988.

I also mentioned that they shouldn’t be mixed up with 90s combo from Los Angeles who recorded under their own moniker as well as acting as the touring and recording band for late-era Arthur Lee.

The band were, unsurprisingly, part of the sprawling and essential box set Big Gold Dreams : A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989 (Cherry Red Records, 2019), which features contributions from 115 different bands or singers

mp3: Baby Lemonade – Jiffy Neckware Collection

This was the band’s debut, and, as mentioned in the blurb last time around, it was via a flexi disc given away with the pre-Sarah Records fanzine Are You Scared To Be Happy?

Sha La La Records issued eight such flexi discs in 1987, and today’s track could be found on one side of the third release.

JC

Working Men's Club

TODAY, YOU’LL FIND ME HANGING OUT ELSEWHERE….CELEBRATORY DRINK IN HAND

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Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that a fellow blogger had pulled me out of something akin to a tailspin by requesting a guest posting? Well, today is the day it finds itself published.

The 1,000th post over at No Badger Required. And right in the middle of the series on the Olympics.

I was thrilled and honoured to have been asked. And rather than have you wasting time in here today, I’d love for you all to head over there, say hello and raise a toast to SWC aka Barry Stubbs. He does a grand job, day after day after day.

Click here

And here’s a tune by a group, to which my introduction was courtesy of SWC.

mp3: Working Men’s Club – Be My Guest

From their eponymous debut album released in 2020.

JC

Motorcycle Boy, Motorcycle Ride, Ride

MOTORCYCLE RIDE

A GUEST POSTING by LEON MACDUFF

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Had this collaboration never happened, I very much doubt it would be high on anyone’s list of “what ifs”. I mean, I like Oxford effect-pedal enthusiasts Ride, and I like short-lived Edinburgh indie power-poppers The Motorcycle Boy, but it would never occur to me to put them together. Nevertheless, on 1 December 1989 ex-Shop Assistants frontwoman Alex Taylor, at that point plying her trade with The Motorcycle Boy, joined Ride in the studio to lay down a pair of Blondie covers. I would like to tell you how this came about but sorry, your guess is as good as mine.

At this point you could say that the two parties were heading in opposite directions. The Motorcycle Boy were still a going concern, but they had just been dropped by Chrysalis after their singles sales failed to live up to expectations, their debut (and only) album Scarlet left in limbo. It eventually came out thirty years later, but Taylor didn’t live to see it. In contrast, Ride were very much on the up, having recently signed to Creation and about to release their debut EP, in the process giving Alan McGee’s previously cult-ish label its first proper chart action.

So Ride at least had something to celebrate when they played a hometown gig at Oxford Jericho Tavern on 22 December 1989. They then stayed on for a private party at which Taylor joined them for a covers set, and from which guests were sent home with a tape of their collaboration under the name of (what else?) Motorcycle Ride. In 1993, Fierce Recordings issued the songs on 7″ and as you can tell from the minor surface noise, it’s via that release that you get to hear them today.

And are they any good? Well… not especially, but who cares, it’s Alex Taylor and Ride doing a Blondie… um, tribute? I would never have put them together, I don’t know how it happened, and the result is a pair of covers that could obviously never live up to the originals… but I’m glad they did it.

mp3: Motorcycle Ride – Union City Blue
mp3: Motorcycle Ride – Atomic

LEON

B-52s, Buzzcocks, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Jam, Joe Jackson, Madness, Merton Parkas, Rezillos, Roxy Music, Sister Sledge, Stranglers

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (August)

The summer job lasted six weeks and all too soon I was back at school, entering 5th Year, but with the consolation that lunchtimes and other short breaks could be spent sitting in a common room instead of outside in the inevitably pouring rain crowded underneath whatever shelter could be found. Music was allowed in the common room….usually through listening to BBC Radio 1, although as the weeks and months passed and after someone had brought in a spare machine, home-made cassettes became the order of the day.

My introduction to many of the songs which entered the charts in August 1979 will straddle the last couple of weeks at Halford’s and the first couple of weeks spent learning and gearing up for the inevitable exams that would, hopefully, lead to being deemed smart enough to go the uni in due course. Kind of makes this one appropriate

mp3: Ian Dury & The Blockheads – Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)

A new entry, at #45, into the chart of 29 July – 4 August 1979. In some ways this demonstrates the differences in how differently music and musicians were marketed back then. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick had gone to #1 in January 1979 but Stiff Records didn’t seek an immediate cash-in, waiting the best parts of six months to release the follow-up. Nowadays, it’s more likely to be a gap of six days. Reasons To Be Cheerful was great fun to listen to, and to try and decipher the lyrics. I imagine it was difficult enough if you were from Ian Dury‘s neck of the woods, but it was near impossible a few hundred miles to the north.

I’m guessing this had something of a low-key release given it only came in at #45, but at the same time I think it’s fair to surmise there were all sorts of promotional activities happening as it charted, possibly involving TV appearances, as it jumped up all the way to #6 the following week, eventually peaking at #3. Not that any of us knew it, but it was the last time the band would make it into the Top 20.

A new group experienced their first taste of success, thanks to their debut single coming in at #58.

mp3: The Merton Parkas – You Need Wheels

A mod revival was just getting into full swing, and a number of groups with such leanings were snapped up by different labels keen to offer ways for impressionable teenagers to part with their pocket money. Beggars Banquet signed The Merton Parkas, a four-piece from South London, two of whose members were brothers, Danny Talbot (vocals/guitars) and Mick Talbot (keyboards). Their debut single did go on to reach #40, but none of its follow-ups nor their debut album bothered the chart compilers. The band would break up in 1980, but Mick Talbot, after taking a phone call from Paul Weller a few years later, would become one of the most successful and recognisable pop starts of the early-mid 80s.

mp3: Joe Jackson – Is She Really Going Out With Him (#66)

Joe Jackson‘s debut single in late 1978 had flopped, much to the disappointment of all concerned at A&M Records who were convinced they had signed someone who was on a par, musically and lyrically, with Elvis Costello. The debut album, released in March 1979, had stalled while a further two singles had flopped miserably. Everyone involved was probably gearing up to cut their losses…..except that over in America, a few DJs and writers began to play and talk up Joe Jackson and his band as being worthy members of this emerging scene that had been dubbed ‘new wave’. Back in those days, if America was bigging you up, then the UK media took a bit of notice and the musician’s profile began to grow. The record label cashed in and re-released the flop debut single which this time round did chart. It would eventually spend 13 weeks in the Top 75, peaking at #13, paving the way for Joe Jackson to enjoy a fruitful year in 1980 with his second album. As it turned out, he never did shine quite as brightly as Costello, but he has more than maintained a successful career in music and composing for what isn’t now too far off 50 years.

I hope that this series is demonstrating that 1979 was a fabulous year for chart singles, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that these competing and being outsold by a lot of dreadful singles. The top end of the charts in August was dominated by mainstays such Cliff Richard, Abba, Darts, Showaddydaddy and Boney M, which all too often got playted on Radio 1 – which is why the move to a cassette player in the 5th Year Common Room was inevitable.

Too much of the above and not enough of this new entry at #52:-

mp3 :The B52s – Rock Lobster

There was a small number of us in that common room who loved the sound of The B52s. There was one girl who adored their look and quietly began to incorporate some of it into her everyday dress without getting into bother for flouting rules around school uniforms. But given that the band, certainly for the early part of their career, rarely got above cult status, this was likely typical of how they were viewed across the country with very few people ‘getting’them. Rock Lobster eventually got to #37 in 1979. It was re-released in 1986 and reached #12.

A couple other new entries from the 5-11 August chart worth mentioning in passing.

mp3: Roxy Music – Angel Eyes (#32)

The Roxy Music of the early 70s was certainly no more. The glam/experimental nature of the early years was now being replaced by a more sophisticated disco-influenced sound, that it in turn would manifest into MOR. The music was now less of a ‘must have’ to the music snobs, but it was increasingly selling to the masses. Angel Eyes was one of eight Top 20 hits between 1979 and 1982, of which six went Top 10. Bryan Ferry had achieved his ambition of being a bona fide pop star.

mp3: Sister Sledge – Lost In Music (#58)

One of a number of disco classics from 1979 that made Sister Sledge one of the year’s most popular and successful acts – they were in the singles chart for a total of 31 weeks while their debut album We Are Family peaked at #7 and spent 39 weeks in the chart. Included in this feature as anyone suggesting that The Fall would one day record a cover version of Lost In Music would have been taken away and locked in a darkened room for their own safety.

The chart of 12-18 August wasn’t all that different from the one of the previous week in that nothing new came into the Top 75 any higher than #48. But at least it was a good tune.

mp3: The Stranglers – Duchess

I know The Stranglers divide opinion. They alwways have. Back in the late 70s, there were many critics who accused them of being talentless bandwagon jumpers who were no more than grubby old pub rockers who had taken advantage of the emergence of punk to reinvent themselves. They were rightly accused of being sexist and misogynist through many of their lyrics, while the use of strippers at live shows caused many an NME journalist to froth at the mouth. But they were more than capbable of churning out the occasional pop/new wave classic. Duchess is one of their finest moments, eventually reaching #14, one of the fifteen times they would crack the Top 30, maling them regulars on Top of The Pops well into the 80s.

I’ll mention in passing some of the other acts who entered the Top 75 this week, again to help illustrate the mediocre and mundane nature of most chart singles. The Crusaders (#54), Dollar (#59), Fat Larry’s Band (63) and Racey (#68). The new entry at #71 helped to make up for it

mp3: The Rezillos – I Can’t Stand My Baby

I’ll be honest and admit I had no idea that this, as part of a double-A side with a cover of I Wanna Be Your Man (a 19963 hit for The Rolling Stones that had been written by Lennon & McCartney), has sneaked into the chart for a 1-week stay in 1979. It was a re-release of the band’s debut single that had flopped back in 1977, but of course they had enjoyed a couple of subsequent hits with Top of The Pops (#17 in August 1978) and Destination Venus (#43 in November 1978).

Moving quickly along to the chart of 19-25 August.

The highest new entry this week coincided with my return to school. The perfect anthem for any 16-year old desperate to take on the world and make an impression

mp3: The Jam – When You’re Young (#25)

There was now absolutely no doubt that I had a favourite band whose music was really consuming me. Before the year was out, I’d get to see them at the Glasgow Apollo, the first of five such times at the famous old venue between 1979 and 1982. I’d also travel a couple of times over to Edinburgh, and for many years, The Jam were the band I could claim I’d seen more than any other. When You’re Young went onto reach #17. It would be a few more months before The Jam really first experienced superstardom in terms of chart singles.

The next highest new entry at #43 is another, like The Rezillos from the previous week, seeing this when doing the research caught me by surprise. It was none other than the Spiral Scratch EP, the debut effort by Buzzcocks that I’d long forgotten had been given a reissue and re-release in 1979, with a slighly different sleeve and label to differtiate it from the January 1977 version. The sleeve attributed the songs to Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto.

mp3: Buzzcocks – Boredom

I know this wasn’t the lead track on the EP, but it’s my favourite of the four. The re-release enjoyed a six-week stay in the charts, peaking at #31. Worth mentioning that Harmony In My Head was still in the singles chart that same week, sitting at #60 for what would be the last week of a six-week stay in the Top 75.

The final chart of the month covers August 26 – September 1.

For the second week running, the highest new entry of them all was a belter of a tune.

mp3: Gary Numan – Cars (#20)

Technically, the follow-up to Are Friends Electric by the now disbanded Tubeway Army. This was Gary Numan‘s debut under his own name and would prove to be his most successful, going all the way to #1 during what was an 11-week stay in the Top 75. Say what you like about Gary Numan (and plenty of people have done so in a less than complimentary manner) but Cars still sounds fresh and invogorating 45 years after its initial hearing.

And finally for the month of August 1979. A song creeping in at the foot of the singles almost unnoticed at #74. It was the seven-piece band’s debut single. It’s b-side was a cover version and had the same title as the name of the band.

mp3 : Madness – The Prince

Along with The Specials whose own debut single had charted just a few weeks earlier (and was sitting at #6 this very week, Madness be at the forefront of a reinvigoration of ska music. Nobody could probably have imagined it at the time that the band would still be going strong 45 years on, maybe not quite getting the chart success of olden days, but they continue to be a top draw when it comes to live shows. National Treasures? I think it’s fair to suggest they are.

JC

Various

BONUS POST : AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #375: ‘SWIMMING’

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SWC/Barry Stubbs over at No Badger Required is currently in the middle of a series about the Olympics. As you might expect, the posts are very well crafted, packed with personal anecdotes that will inevitably crack a smile from even the most stone-faced person on the planet, always accompanied by a selection of interesting tunes taken from all sorts of genres.

His post about swimming got me thinking that I probably had more than enough tunes on the hard drive to come up with some sort of half-decent ICA. Feel free to dive in and enjoy, while noting some of them did feature on the post over at NBD.

SIDE A

1. Swim – Madder Rose

Madder Rose, from New York City, released four albums of decent enough indie-pop in the 90s and then, like so many of their peers, reformed a few decades later to take advantage of the fact that so many of their original fans had got to a stage in life when their circumstances meant they had a bit mote disposable income to spend on new music and going to see them play live again after such a long hiatus.

Swim, which was also released as a single in 1993, can be found on the debut album Bring It Down. I am a bit of a sucker for the way Mary Lorson delivers her vocal in such a dreamy and understated way, and is something of a perfect fit for the tune written by the band’s guitarist, Billy Coté

2. The Blue Line – Out of The Swim

A four-piece band from Falkirk, an industrial town located halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh with an uncanny ability to produce a ridiculous amount of talented musicians, writers and authors. This is the opening track from the album Rescue Therapy, released on Last Night From Glasgow in 2022.

3. Swim Until You Can’t See Land – Frightened Rabbit

Thought long and hard about this. Still find it occasionally difficult to listen to some of the Frightened Rabbit songs in the aftermath of singer Scott Hutchison‘s suicide back in 2018, with this one being down to the fact that having last been seen walking towards a road bridge spanning the Firth of Forth, his body was found on the banks of the river.

But then again, this is not a song about death/suicide. Scott, in an interview at the time of the release of the album The Winter of Mixed Drinks (2010) said it was inspired by a Ben Kingsley film, The Wackness.

“There’s a scene in it which Kingsley’s character goes down to the sea and starts swimming and swimming. I think he’s trying to kill himself, but he gets so far and realises he’d rather come back. ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ was the title I had in my mind before I even started writing the album; I was becoming more and more interested in the idea of a rejection of the habits and behaviour most people see as normal, and in turn embracing a certain madness. It’s about losing your mind in order to reset the mind and the body. Forget what’s gone before and wash it out. This is not necessarily a geographical journey, as the ‘swim’ can involve any activity in which you can lose yourself. It’s a good introduction to the record, as the theme unravels therein.”

4. Swimming Pools (Drank) – Kendrick Lamar

From the 2012 album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. As someone else has so eloquently said elsewhere on t’internet, ‘What sounds like a club anthem is actually an introspective take on the social pressure and self-defeating attitudes that drive people to drink.’

It’s an immense piece of music.

5. Nightswimming – R.E.M.

The beautiful and haunting piano-led one from the multi-multi-multi million selling Automatic For The People (1992).

It’s a lovely piece of music.

SIDE B

1. Swimming Pool, Movie Stars – The Wedding Present

I’m fully expecting to hear this played live this coming Friday night when myself and Rachel make our way down to Brighton to get ourselves along to the 2024 edition of ‘At The Edge Of The Sea’, the annual two-day festival curated by David Gedge at which both his bands will be performing. The Wedding Present live shows this year have been to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Watusi….thus the levels of expectation!

2. Let’s Go Swimming – Allo Darlin’

Soft-centred indie-pop of the finest type. From the band’s eponymous debut album, released back in 2010. They’ve been away for along while, but a new album has been recorded and with a bit of luck it’ll see the light of day before the year is out.

3. Sink Or Swim – The Delgados

Universal Audio was the fifth and final studio album to be released by The Delgados. It’s hard to believe that it was fully 20 years ago. I had hoped, when they reformed and played the live shows in 2022/23, that it might somehow lead to new material. But with two members of the band now immersed in making a living in occupations that have nothing to do with music, I have to accept it was always going to be a forlorn hope.

4. Cloudbusting Lovesong – Swimmer One

Swimmer One were an Edinburgh-based group, formed by Hamish Brown and Andrew Eaton-Lewis in 2002, with Laura Cameron Lewis joining the line-up in 2007, with their music really being an electronica take on indie. There were two albums and a handful of singles before they called it a day in 2013.

This is a one half of a double-A released in 2006 single – I don’t have said single, only discovering it years later via t’internet. It’s a very intriguing take on the Kate Bush song, which then segues into one by The Cure. Dating from 2006 means it was recorded prior to Laura joining the band, and the female vocal on this occasion is courtesy of Cora Bissett, who has been mentioned before, being the lead singer in Darlingheart and whose theatrical show What Girls Are Made Of was reviewed on the blog back in 2019.

5. Swim For Health – Ballboy

Side A of this ICA finished with a beautiful and haunting ballad…..and likewise Side B. If anything, this one is even more beautiful and haunting.

This was originally released on the Girls Are Better Than Boys EP in 2001, and later included on the album Club Anthems, released the same year.

JC

Nails

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #064

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#064: The Nails – ‘88 Lines About 44 Women’ (Rough Trade Records ’84)

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Good morning friends,

yes, it’s education time again in this singles-series, for two reasons basically. The first one is that – again – there isn’t pretty much I know about today’s band in the first place, apart from below track. So I have to tell you something educational about the song itself, but this might indeed be of interest – so you should perhaps not just skip all of this, but listen to the tune instead.

Why? Well, because obviously ’88 Lines’ is a total classic of course. It has featured on numerous compilations, and rightly so, because it is absolutely awesome. But the version you know, at least the chances for this are near to 100%, is a later one, not the original version. The original one is the one you’ll get below, but let’s start from scratch:

The Nails were founded in Colorado in 1976 as The Ravers and The Ravers’ roadie was Eric Boucher who later became Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys fame. The Ravers moved to New York in 1977 and there they recorded an EP, after that they changed their name to The Nails. And as The Nails it took them until 1981 before they released their first record, the ‘Hotel For Women’ – 12“ EP. Now, ‘Hotel For Women’ included the first version of ’88 Lines’, the one you’ll get below. Also, it was released as a 7“ one year later on Citybeat/Jimbocco.

The band went to RCA and had ’88 Lines’ re-recorded for the label, it then got included on their first full-length album, ‘Mood Swing’ from 1984 – and, to come to a point with all of this: this album version is the version you will all know by heart!

Obviously the question now is: which one is the superior version, the one commonly known or the old one, the one most probably new to you? Of course, I can only speak for myself, but very often I have severe difficulties in accepting a second version of a song which I have loved for decades in its first version. This might be the case here with you as well, nothing wrong with that.

Still, you should give the original version a chance, it certainly grew on me, at least it did after I listened to it for the third time or so:

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mp3: The Nails – 88 Lines About 44 Women

My single is one of those in the Rough Trade Singles Club – series, from 1992. As I said, it’s the original version Rough Trade went for, albeit unauthorized – but hey, why not?!

Either way, as I said before, a total classic, regardless of the version you prefer. And, mind you, there aren’t that many songs so popular despite a number of double entendres and lyrical references to sadomasochism and masturbation. Then again, perhaps it’s exactly this which made it so popular, who knows … ?

Take care/enjoy,

Dirk

Butcher Boy

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

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Butcher Boy tend not to do things in a hurry, particularly in recent years as many members of the Glasgow-based indie/chamber pop band have concentrated on their family lives and careers.

Their most recent studio album was Helping Hands, released in 2011. There has since been one EP, Bad Things Happen When It’s Quiet (2017) and a truly essential compilation album You Had A Kind Face, released in 2022 on Needle Mythology, the label owned and run by the acclaimed music writer, Pete Paphides. The real bonus for fans with this compilation was the inclusion of an additional 7″ single, onto which three brand-new songs were pressed.

The last live show was back in Glasgow in April 2017 to coincide with the release of the above-mentioned EP. I’m very fortunate in being friendly with a few of the band members, and I’ve no doubt they’ve had their patience tested with how often I asked ‘any new songs or live shows in the offing?’ fully aware that the sad look on their faces and the shake of their heads would provide an answer I didn’t want to receive.

But earlier this year, it was whispered into my ear that Butcher Boy had been asked personally by Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian to be on the bill of the first ever staging of ‘The Glasgow Weekender’, a two-day festival that he and his band were organising and curating over the first weekend in August at the SWG3 complex in the west end of the city.

Cue excitement.

Butcher Boy were given the honour of being the first band to play, opening proceedings on the Friday early evening on the larger outdoor stage. Stuart, as part of his overall welcoming remarks to the audience, did the introductions, adding that Butcher Boy were one of his favourites and how happy he was they were making their live comeback after such a long time. He wasn’t alone in feeling that way.

The clock had ticked round to 5.25pm, and to rapturous applause from several hundred people who had made it along to the early start, John (acoustic guitar and vocals), Alison (keyboards), Basil (guitar), Garry (bass), Findlay (drums), Cat (violin) and Maya (cello), took to the stage all looking a shade on the nervous side and maybe even a touch overawed.

A first show in seven years on the back of just a handful of recent rehearsals, as not everyone now lives in or close to Glasgow.

It was also in front of an audience who may have given them a great reception as they took to the stage, but would include a fair number who weren’t necessarily here to see them specifically, and indeed might not be fully familiar with their music.

Add in that it’s an outdoor gig for a band who have long specialised in playing intimate indoor venues best suited to their music, and so it’s no surprise that nerves are on show. I’ll own up, as a long-time fan, that I was shaking slightly, a mixture of excitement and anticipation alongside just wanting it to all go as well as possible.

Up above, the clouds are growing darker and more menacing. Even worse, the wind is increasing in strength, and a sudden gust catches the score that Maya has in front of her in the centre of the stage and threatens to scatter the sheets of paper in all directions. Cat comes to the rescue and disaster is averted.

John gives a reassuring glance to the string section and then offers what looks like a quiet smile to everyone else as he does a bit more tuning of his acoustic guitar and adjusts the height of his mic stand, both of which just give everyone a few extra seconds to further settle. He then takes one final look around, before giving a nod of the head to send a signal that it was showtime.

Alison plays the gentle notes of a song that so often had opened previous live shows in years gone by. Findlay, Basil and Garry quietly join in. John sings the opening lines while Cat and Maya gaze at their scores, preparing for the moment in the song where their contributions take it to a higher and more emotional level. It is utterly mesmerising, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I find myself getting a bit emotional, maybe even teary. Seven years have made this moment a long wait.

mp3: Butcher Boy – When I’m Asleep

The song ends and the audience erupts. The band go into their second song, an uptempo number from their debut album that was released back in 2007. There is dancing down at the front of the stage – possibly even further back, but I’m too busy being enchanted and mesmerised by the music to look behind me.

Before long, the heavens open and it is soon raining heavily. But that’s why festival goers in Glasgow always carry rain jackets, and those of us braving the elements simply add a layer of clothing and watch on in awe as the band deliver a set of what turns out to be just over 30 minutes in length, offering up all sorts of favourites from the back catalogue as well as giving a first ever performance of one of the new songs that had been made available with the Needle Mythology 7″ release:-

mp3: Butcher Boy – Dear John

The rain and wind intensifies further to the extent that Cat and Maya for the final two songs have to retreat a bit on the stage as their precious and expensive instruments are in danger of getting soaked. Alison laughs, and occasionally giggles, her way through the set, clearly having a whale of a time. Findlay likewise never stops smiling, and at one time in a short gap between songs, he gets up from behind his drum kit to photograph the audience. Garry and Basil are proving to be the ultimate professionals, occasionally giving waves to friends and family members they spot in the audience, none of whom have shifted away despite the elements. John is fully concentrating on his singing and playing to the extent that I’m convinced he hasn’t even noticed the rain is falling. His performance, like the rest of the band is proving to be note-perfect and awe-inspiring. The nerves, if indeed there really were any, are nowhere to be seen and we, lucky audience that we are, are being treated to a show for the ages.

The only regret is that it was all over far too quickly, but the short set was the contractual agreement, with the stage having to be readied for the next band to come on at 6.30pm.

When I’m Asleep
Profit In Your Poetry
Carve A Pattern
Sunday Bells
I Know Who You Could Be
Dear John
Days Like These Will Be The Death Of Me
Helping Hands
There Is No One Who Can Tell You Where You’ve Been

Word afterwards was that John has written quite a number of new songs and maybe, just maybe, there will be some studio activity in the hopefully not too distant future. If that does happen, the icing on the cake would be some live shows to help promote any new release.

Dreaming is free.

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Thirty-Six)

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Single #35 was Ringway to Seatac, released on CD in October 2005.

The information on the official website for The Wedding Present and Cinerama doesn’t have any entries for singles between then and 2012……and yet, Discogs, the most popular ‘market’ for picking up second-hand copies of vinyl and CDs lists has three releases for 2008. Here’s the opening part of why…….

2006 and 2007 were very busy years for the band in terms of going out on tour, firstly to further promote Take Fountain, while the following year saw shows which primarily celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of debut album George Best.

2008 began with everyone heading over to Chicago to the studio of Steve Albini to begin work on what was going to be the seventh studio album. Settling on the title of El Rey, the album was released in May 2008, initially in the USA on the LA-located indie Manifesto Records and a week or so later in the UK on a newly-established label, Vibrant Records, based in the south of England.

This was the era when digital, rather than physical, releases seemed to be all the rage. As such, the song issued as a precursor to the new album was a digital release only, albeit promo CDs were pressed up and sent out to radio stations. This was the info contained with the CDs:-

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The obvious confusion is that Track 1, which most radio station producers/DJs would assume is the one to be aired is a remix, while the album version is tucked away as Track 4. I’m not sure if it actually got much in the way of airplay – the label was incredibly small and certainly wouldn’t have had the resources in terms of finance and personnel to make strong and direct pushes – but if it did, I can only assume it was this version that was aired

mp3: The Wedding Present – The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend (Jet-Age Mix)

The unusual departure being that it’s of call and response number in places, while occasionally becoming a duet with Terry De Castro adding her fine vocal to that of David Gedge.

It’s a decent enough song without being truly outstanding. It’s actually a rather creepy lyric when you break it down, with David singing that he went to all sorts of boring things with his (male) friend in the hope that his mate’s girlfriend would be there too. For her part, Terry admits to having feelings in return, but states that her boyfriend would be devastated if she were to leave him for someone who is supposed to be a close friend.

I did buy a download, and was particularly keen, being a huge fan of the Seamonsters album, to hear the Albini version as I was excited that he was working with The Wedding Present again.

mp3: The Wedding Present – The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend (Santa Monica and La Brea version)

First thing to note…..it’s almost two minutes longer than the remix. It opens with a lengthy and initially downbeat instrumental section in which an automated voice repeats the word ‘WAIT’, before the Albini trademark of loud guitars break in after about a minute. These continue for the best part of another minute before the same automated voice goes into a countdown from 12 to 1, at which point the song lifts off. I immediately preferred this take to the remix, which got me quite excited about the forthcoming release of El Rey.

Here’s the two other versions made available via the download:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend (acoustic version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend (GR’s Man-Made Island Edition)

The former gets a nice touch from the inclusion of a quietly-played organ in the background, but otherwise is probably what you’d expect from its description. The latter is more experimental in nature and the production duties were undertaken by the band’s drummer Graeme Ramsay, who had joined in 2007 (and would, in later years, move to guitar). It’s one that I like a lot…..but that could probably be down to the fact I have an inherent bias to Graeme Ramsay’s work as he’s a Raith Rovers fan!

JC

Automations & The Ons

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #415: AUTOMATONS AND THE ON’S

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This one shouldn’t have been missed out on the first alphabetic run-through of this series.

It comes from a compilation CD, Get While The Getting’s Good, that was released in 2006 by the German label, Aufgeladen Und Bereit.

Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub provided the promotional blurb:-

A & B have put together this lovely collection of songs and music by 19 diverse Scottish artists, showing just how rich and vibrant the contemporary Scottish music scene is. From classic “Glasgow Pop” to experimental folk. Chiming angular guitars to twisted country, it’s a fine illustration of why the music from this small northern european country has been, and continues to be so influential in the wider world!

I’d have bought it back in the day, partly from the title being inspired by an Edwyn Collins lyric, but also for the fact it wasn’t full price. I think I missed a few (but not all!!) of its tracks out first time around, so this won’t be the last time the compilation gets referred to.

Other than the CD sleeve indicating that the track on offer today was written and produced by Niall Young, I can’t tell you anything about it whatsoever.

Automations & The Ons have no other presence on Discogs. Niall Young does pop up as ‘an electronic dance music producer from Glasgow’, so you might have some idea of what to expect.

mp3 : Automations & The Ons – Pearl E14

It’s not the most obviously danceable piece of music I’ve ever come across. It’s almost six minutes long. I’ll be surprised in many of you get all the way through to the end before hitting the ‘off’ or ‘stop’ button. I certainly can’t!!!

File under bizarre.

JC

Chumbawamba, Michael Nyman Band

INSPIRED BY SWC

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SWC over at No Badger Required has a long-running series called ‘Near Perfect Albums’. #118 in the series appeared last month, and it looked at Anarachy by Chumbawamba, released in 1994 on One Little Indian Records.

His piece has actually provided me with a few of pieces of inspiration. Yesterday’s monthly mix included Give The Anarchist A Cigarette, the very first track to be found on the album.

He also made reference later in his piece to one of the gentler sounding tracks, on which the lead vocal was taken by the angelic-sounding Lou Watts.

mp3: Chumbawamba – Georgina

I remember on my first listen to the Chumbawamba record being totally enchanted by this one, partly as I picked up the references right away given the entire lyric is based on the story/plot of the 1989 film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.

The film is a visual and sonic tour de force thanks to the direction of Peter Greenaway and the score by Michael Nyman.

It is not for the faint of heart, with gore and violence very much to the fore, much of it perpetrated by ‘The Thief’, a man called Albert Spica who was played to perfection by Michael Gambon. There’s also a fair amount of sex and nudity, almost all of involving ‘His Wife’ (Georgina Spica, played by Helen Mirren) and ‘Her Lover’ (Michael, played by Alan Howard). Oh, and ‘The Cook’, (Richard Boarst, played by Richard Bohringer) plays a key role in how the plot develops and unfolds.

It was one of the first films that myself and Rachel went to see together. It wasn’t maybe the wisest of choices given we were in the throes of just embarking on an affair while we were both married to other people, and the film does not have anything like a happy ending for the lovers. But then again, given we are still together 35 years later, you could say we passed some sort of test with flying colours.

Incidentally, me mentioning the lack of happy ending shouldn’t really act as a spoiler alert given that the lyrics to the Chumbawamba song provide a full reveal.

Afterwards, both of us couldn’t stop talking about the score that had accompanied the film. Neither of us would claim to be all that knowledgable about classical music, particularly the work of 20th century composers. Michael Nyman’s name was known to us, mainly from his association with Greenaway, for whom he provided cinematic scores that were lavished with praise in the broadsheet newspapers.

A few days later, I bought a cassette copy of the soundtrack. It would have been difficult to explain to my then wife if I’d taken home a vinyl or a CD copy given that I couldn’t admit to having been at the film, far less why I was suddenly taking a liking to some classical music.

I still have that cassette. There’s just five pieces of music on it, but with a total running time of some 40 minutes. The opening track on side one is the one that stuck mostly with myself and Rachel when talking about it all afterwards. It is more than 12 minutes long.

mp3 : The Michael Nyman Band – Memorial

Nyman had actually written this piece of music some five years prior to the film being made.

It had been written as a much longer piece to commemorate the deaths of the 39 football fans at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, prior to the match between Liverpool and Juventus in the final of the European Cup. The piece in its entirety was performed just once, and what Nyman described as its fifth movement, was used as the centrepiece for the film soundtrack of The Cook etc…

I know this isn’t the normal sort of thing you find at this little corner of t’internet, but I hope you’ll allow me to indulge myself on this occasion.

JC

Various

HEY STEADY STEADY

Music-DJ-Training

It’s the first day of a new month.

mp3: Various – Hey Steady Steady

R.E.M – I’m Gonna DJ
The Strokes – Hard To Explain
Shop Assistants – Safety Net
The Lovely Eggs – Nothing/Everything
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Love
Tindersticks – City Sickness
The Style Council – Boy Who Cried Wolf
Malcolm Middleton – Monday Night Nothing
The Breeders – Drivin’ On 9
Allo’ Darlin – If Loneliness Was Art
Maximo Park – Girls Who Play Guitars
Sprints – I’m In A Band
English Teacher – The World’s Biggest Paving Slab
Yard Act – Dream Job
Chumbawamba – Give The Anarchist A Cigarette
Josef K – It’s Kinda Funny
The KLF presents The JAMs – Why Did You Throw Your Giro Away?

The last track is a throwaway inconsequential thing, of about 20 seconds, added on to take the whole thing closer to the hour mark.