Month: November 2025

Art of Noise, Big Country, Bronski Beat, Dead Or Alive, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Human League, Kane Gang, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Redskins, Scritti Politti, Strawberry Switchblade, Tears For Fears

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (November)

4-10 November

The highest new entry on the singles chart back in the first week in November 1986 belonged to Depeche Mode, a favourite of many TVV regulars but a band that your humble scribe has never taken to.  Which is why there’s no link today to Blasphemous Rumours or Somebody, a double-A sided single which came in at #29 en route to becoming their 11th successive chart single going back to Dreaming Of Me in early 1981, (of which five had gone Top 10)

I’ve had to go all the way down to #54 to find a new entry worth offering a listen to:-

mp3: The Kane Gang – Respect Yourself

The trio’s third hit of the year, thanks to a cover of 1971 R&B/gospel number originally written and recorded by the Chicago-based Staple Singers.  One of the highlights of the debut album The Bad and Lowdown World of The Kane Gang, which would reach #21 on its eventual release in March 1985.

Just two places further down the singles chart this week was another gang who often inhabited a bad and lowdown world, certainly in the eyes of the tabloid media:-

mp3: The Redskins – Keep On Keepin’ On (#56)

A real favourite in the student union discos among us who were of a left-wing persuasion.  The Redskins delivered a fine mix of pop, soul, blues, folk, punk and politics, who, if it hadn’t been for the fact that collectively the idea of a career in pop music was not their idea of fun, would surely have enjoyed a run of great albums beyond their sole offering, Neither Washington Nor Moscow, which would eventually appear in early 1986. Keep On Keepin’ On would eventually reach #46, and the offering today is the 12″ version as that’s a bit of vinyl I proudly still have all these years later.

mp3: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Never Turn Away (#70)

Probably the least-remembered of the twenty-two singles released by OMD during the 80s, it was also the one which performed the worst as #70 in the first week in November 84 was as good as it got.  It’s one of those rare 45s on which Paul Humphreys rather than Andy McCluskey delivered the lead vocal.

11-17 November

The highest new entry on the singles chart back in the second week in November 1986 belonged to The Riddle by Nik Kershaw, someone who has his admirers among fans of 80s synth-pop.  I always felt he was synth-pop with a soft rock edge, and while he may perhaps feature via guest postings, he’s not showing up today. This one came in at #17 and would peak at #3. It was his fourth smash hit of the year, and his success would continue throughout the following year.

mp3: The Human League – Louise (#36)

I think it’s worth lifting some stuff about this one from wiki:-

The lyrical story telling of “Louise” superficially seems to be a story about a chance encounter between a man and a woman on a bus who seem to be on the verge of a lover’s reconciliation. But like much of Phil Oakey’s songwriting, what seems ‘sugary sweet’ on the surface actually has a much darker subtext. Oakey points out that the story is actually about the original protagonists from “Don’t You Want Me” meeting up 4 years later. In “Louise” the man sees his lost love again and still cannot deal with reality. The anger that drove the earlier song has dissipated, and is replaced with a hopeful fantasy that his ex-lover is drawn to him all over again. So “Louise” is really about self-deception, delusion and eternal sadness. Oakey says about “Louise” in interview:

It’s about men thinking they can manipulate women when they can’t, even conning themselves that they have when they haven’t.

However, like the less savoury premise of “Don’t You Want Me”, the darker side of the “Louise” story went over the heads of the record buying public, who misinterpreted the lyrics as “sweet and upbeat”.

Louise would eventually reach #13 and still features in the band’s setlists to this day.

mp3: Strawberry Switchblade – Since Yesterday (#63)

I can’t claim I came up with this description, but it is so accurate:-

“From the ominous shadows of Goth suddenly appeared two young girls in polka-dot dresses, flaming red lipstick, and hair ribbons. Looking like the brides of Robert Smith, Strawberry Switchblade made a brief splash on the U.K. charts and then abruptly vanished in the mid ’80s, leaving their fans with a handful of collectible singles and one LP of deceptively sweet-sounding dance pop.”

Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall were very well-known figures in Glasgow in the early 80s.  The look they had for their pop success was how they walked the streets of my homw city – everyone, while not knowing exactly who they were, certainly recognised them.  Since Yesterday is a very 80s sounding song, and there’s an argument could be made that it hasn’t dated brilliantly thanks to its rather lightweight production.  But I’ll always a have a soft spot for it….it’s just one of those songs which sound tracked the festive period of 84/85, eventually peaking at #5 in late January and spending an incredible 17 weeks in the Top 75.

mp3: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – Rattlesnakes (#65)

The third and last single to be lifted from the debut album.  Maybe it was all down to all the band’s fans having bought the album the previous month that this single, a genuinely outstanding song, stalled at #65.

mp3: Scritti Politti – Hypnotize (#67)

The third hit single of the year for Green Gartside & co, but #67 was as high as it got, coming nowhere near the success of Wood Beez (#10) and Absolute (#17).  The band would bounce back in great style in 1985, with The Word Girl delivering a #6 hit and the album Cupid & Psyche ’85 going Top 5.

18-24 November

It was probably inevitable that after such a fine run of new singles the previous two weeks, the well would just about dry up completely this week.  You could tell the Xmas marketing campaign was getting into full swing as the novelty records began to make showings – yup, this was the week We All Stand Together by Paul McCartney and The Frog Chorus came into the charts at #50, going on to reach #3 and particularly annoy the hell out of me for the many months it was never off the bleedin’ radio.

Having said that, there’s probably many fans of the lovable mop top who would have got annoyed with this one:-

mp3: The Art Of Noise – Close (To The Edit) (#62)

The ZTT collective’s music hadn’t struck a chord with the record-buying public.  Debut single Beatbox had failed to chart in Aril 1984 and debut album Who’s Afraid Of The Art Of Noise had languished at the very lower end of the chart.  But for whatever reason, and I think a lot had to do with the imaginative video(s), Close (To The Edit) found favour. It was also released in a ridiculous amount of formats – standard and picture disc 7-inch versions, five 12-inch singles (one a picture disc) and a cassette single – and would enjoy a 20-week residency in the Top 75 right through to the end of March 1985, peaking at #8. It did lead to a Top of the Pops appearance that they wasn’t taken too seriously while illustrating the actual size of the synths that were required back in those days:-

Anne Dudley would later say:-

Top of the Pops was one of the worst experiences of my life. We’d done so many edits of the single I wasn’t even sure what its final structure was. We just stood there behind three keyboards. The director saved our bacon by cutting away to the animated video the record company had commissioned – they hadn’t liked the original one made by Zbigniew Rybczyński, featuring a punkette girl and three blokes in tails dismantling musical instruments with a chainsaw. It was the polar opposite of Duran Duran on a luxury yacht.

25 November – 1 December

The Art of Noise might not have been making much money for ZTT but this lot were:-

mp3: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love (#3)

The Xmas single – not an obvious one but the nativity-themed video, which was being aired everywhere, even on news programmes, made it clear what the marketing campaign was. It was all set to spend umpteen weeks at #1 and confirm the band’s total dominantion of the singles charts on the back of Relax and Two Tribes.  It did reach #1 the following week, but then Band Aid came along………

Fun fact…..The Power Of Love was re-released just before Xmas 1993 and again went Top 10.

mp3: Big Country – Where The Rose Is Sown (#35)

The second single to be lifted from the #1 album Steeltown.  Kind of feels strange that the record label pushed out a new 45 at this particular time of year. It certainly didn’t do anything to lift the album back up the charts and in reaching just #29, became the poorest-performing 45 of what was ‘peak’ Big Country.

mp3: Tears For Fears – Shout (#45)

I may have mentioned previously in this series that I couldn’t for the life of me recall Mother’s Talk which had charted in August 1984.  But I certainly can’t say the same about Shout, which thanks to its boombastic chorus easily lodged into my brain.  I recall being very disappointed with this.  I had so much love and time for Tears for Fears when they emerged, and I still think the debut album The Hurting is a masterpiece.  But Shout felt like synth pop with a stadium-rock edge and not for me, but loads of others loved it and took it to #4 in January 1985.

mp3: Bronski Beat – It Ain’t Necessarily So (#53)

A lot different from the previous two hit singles of Smalltown Boy and Why?, this inventive cover of a song written in 1935 by George Gershwin for the opera Porgy and Bess would spend 12 weeks in the chart, reaching #16.  It helped further establish Bronski Beat as one of the best new arrivals in the UK music scene in 1984.

mp3: Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) (#55)

I hadn’t, until now, appreciated that Pete Burns‘ biggest hit single actually dated from 1984.   Turns out it came into the chart at the end of November 1984 and then spent another 11 weeks stuck in the lower regions of the Top 75 before bursting into the Top 20 and eventually reaching #1 in early March 1985.  Say what you like about manufactured pop music and be as critical as you want to be, but this makes for a majestic, magnificent and memorable single. I will not tolerate any dissent!!!!  Wylie, Cope and McCulloch must have been looking on in bewilderment.

So there you have it.  November 1984.  A month in which the singles chart, certainly at the lower end of things, was worth recalling in some detail.  Keep an eye out later on for Part 2 looking at the new indie singles from the era.

 

JC

#edwyncollins45s

THE TESTIMONIAL TOUR OF 45s (aka The Singular Adventures of Edwyn Collins)

#7:Two Hearts Together/Hokoyo : Orange Juice (Polydor, POSP 470, 1982)

I really don’t want to spend any more time than I need to on this one as it’s quite simply the worst 45 ever released by Orange Juice, and quite possibly the worst ever by Edwyn Collins including his solo career.

Malcolm Ross had joined the band and after a number of auditions, Zeke Manyika, a Zimbabwean who had lived in the UK for most of his life, was recruited as the new drummer.  Edwyn, in press interviews, was indicating that the band would be moving in a different direction, and that all four members, including David McClymont, would be involved in the songwriting process.

In April 1982, fans and the wider listening public were given the opportunity to hear this new brand of Orange Juice, with four songs debuted in a BBC Radio 1 session for the mid-evening David ‘Kid’ Jensen show.  One of the new songs was this:-

mp3: Orange Juice – In Spite Of It All

Fast-forward four months and the release of the band’s seventh single, their third on Polydor and their first without James Kirk or Steven Daly.

mp3: Orange Juice – Two Hearts Together

Turns out, In Spite Of It All had undergone a name change between the Jensen session and its recording as what turned out to be a stand-alone single as it was subsequently left off the sophomore album.   The photo of Edwyn and David, with Malcolm and Zeke in shadow, on the front of the sleeve, is perhaps as good an indication as any that this was very much aimed at the pop market and not the indie kids who had been the band’s mainstay up until now.  Indeed, it was very much a sign of the band jumping on the bandwagon of what would, in time, be called ‘sophisti-pop’ which was all the rage.

I hated it. Really, really hated it.  And feared that Orange Juice were a busted flush.  Turns out that Edwyn also accepts it was a misstep:-

“Two Hearts Together’ is the worst thing we’ve ever done. I really regret that now. We thought we were missing out on all this New Pop, we’d better get in on this.  It was staying in the same hotels as a lot of other rock groups like ABC.  You get to thinking, ‘well, maybe Orange Juice are reactionary old has-beens. We ought to get hip.’ So you start trying to do something that’s really current. I regret that.”

There were enough sales to take it into the UK charts at #60.

The double-A side on this occasion was a track written by all four members of the band, along with Zop Cormorant (someone whose name would later be credited as drumming on one of Edwyn’s solo albums but of whom I know nothing!).

mp3: Orange Juice – Hokoyo

If Two Hearts Together was in the vein of sophisti-pop, Hokoyo is bang in the middle of a world music track, with Zeke taking the lead vocal in his native Shona language prior to Edwyn joining in a bit later on.  It was very unexpected.  I’ll leave it at that.

The single was released on 7″ and 10″ vinyl, with both songs being extended a bit on the larger format.

mp3: Orange Juice – Two Hearts Together (10″ version)
mp3: Orange Juice – Hokoyo (10″ version)

Next week sees the lead-off single for the second album.

JC

Green Peppers

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #478: GREEN PEPPERS

Jim McCulloch is very much part of the ‘Bellshill scene’ which made such important contributions to music, not just in Scotland, from the late 80s onwards. He was (and remains) the guitarist in the Soup Dragons, and for a while he was also involved in BMX Bandits. After the Soup Dragons initially disbanded in 1995 he joined Superstar (another of the Bellshill bands) and later, in 2004, he would embark on a solo career, recording and touring under the name of Green Peppers.

There would be three albums between 2004 and 2008, all of which featured guest musicians, with the cast more or less being a who’s who of the Scottish indie scene.  I’ve only one song on the hard drive, courtesy of its inclusion on the Ave Marina: 10 Years of Marina Records compilation, released in 2004.

mp3: Green Peppers – I Get It

It’s a track from the debut album, Joni’s Garden, also from 2004 and which has been described by one critic as ‘a stunningly beautiful assortment of vibrant acoustic guitars, haunting pianos and superbly crafted songwriting that echo classic artists such as Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen as well as contemporary artists like Damien Rice and Tom Baxter.’

JC

 

Fictive Fridays, Various

FICTIVE FRIDAYS : #3

a guest series, courtesy of a very friendly lawyer

I read JC’s post the other day about Trump smashing up the White House, and it occurred to me: America’s fucked all the way up. Maybe I should start thinking about other options. Where to go? No idea, really, so instead I did what I usually do–make a list of songs. Let’s get out the Atlas and see what’s on offer around the globe!

Cuban Slide. Not sure why this banger was an unused out take from The Pretenders‘ debut. Thankfully, it showed up a couple of years later on the US-released Extended Play and in the UK as the b-side to the ‘Talk of the Town’ single.

Spanish Bombs. As the years go by, London Calling just gets better. Here our man is evoking images of the Spanish Civil War, brought to mind during the recording of the album when Joe Strummer heard a radio report about ETA terror bombings along the Costa Brava.

Mexican Radio. A college radio staple from back in 1982. If I’m honest, I can’t think of any other songs by Wall of Voodoo, and I wonder if this tune got any airplay outside the States. I just remember that when this song came on at parties everyone would shout “What does he say?” at the appropriate moment.

Chinese Rocks. Right up there with ‘Waiting for the Man‘ as the best song about scoring heroin in Manhattan. Written by Dee Dee Ramone and recorded by Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers for the classic L.A.M.F. I guess it doesn’t have too much to do with China. Unless I develop a habit.

Italian Horror. Kasabian never cracked the US, perhaps due to the questionable decision to name themselves after a Manson Family spree murderer. But they’ve been at it for a while and this track, from 2024’s Happenings, is a good snapshot of what they’re like.

Swedish Fish. From Luna‘s 2002 collection, Romantica. Crap, now I have to make a playlist with husband and wife band members.

Japanese Cowboy. Ween are like an alt-rock Frank Zappa: brilliant musicianship, complex songwriting, juvenile and often offensive lyrics. From 1996’s 12 Golden Country Greats (which had 10 songs on it).

French Navy. I don’t know too much about Glasgow’s Camera Obscura, but it looks like they’ve been a going concern for nearly 30 years. This is from their fourth LP, My Maudlin Career. Maybe our host can enlighten us as to whether diving into the band’s catalog is a good idea.

Aldo says: I’d suggest Camera Obscura are well worth exploring further, and to that end has given me fresh impetus to deliver a long promised ICA which will hopefully act as an enticing taster for the uninitiated. Spoiler alert, French Navy hasn’t made the shortlist!

English Roundabout. Kind of a tough one, this, having to bypass the Stranglers‘ ‘English Towns’, the Jam‘s ‘English Rose‘, Fleet Foxes‘ ‘English House‘ and others. But the boys from Swindon get the nod with this guitar workout because it’s from the stellar English Settlement.

Haitian Divorce. I can’t remember ever seeing Steely Dan mentioned here at the Villain’s place. That makes sense, they were a mainstream American radio act dating back to the early 70’s and so don’t really fit in here. But I chose this track for a simple reason: Dean Park‘s talkbox solo at the 2:43 mark is just FILTHY and I never get tired of listening to it.

Best Wishes from The Divided States!

Jonny

Bonus tracks:

Belgian Friends by The Durutti Column
Lebanese Blonde by Thievery Corporation

 

 

Book Reviews

BOOK OF THE MONTH : NOVEMBER 2025 : ‘LE FREAK : AN UPSIDE DOWN STORY OF FAMILY, DISCO AND DESTINY’ by NILE RODGERS

Book reviews were an occasional part of the old blog, the original Vinyl Villain, hosted by blogger between 30 September 2006 and 24 July 2013.  I have been known to dive into what’s left of the vaults and re-post some things that kind of feel timeless but until now, have refrained from doing so with any of the book reviews.

Until today.

It’s partly to do with that I’ve been a tad busy in recent weeks and while I’ve managed to keep up with some reading, I haven’t been able to make the time to sit down and type up my thoughts about any music bio.  So, in order to keep the monthly series going, I’m reaching back to Friday 3 February 2012.  What follows is the review posted at that time, but augmented with a couple of additional sentences/snippets that emerged from the comments section (my thanks to Swiss Adam and Craig McAllister), which also influenced the mp3s and the video footage.

– – – – – – – –

“I asked Santa to bring me this as it had received quite a number of excellent reviews towards the end of 2011. I’m pleased I did.

Nile Rodgers is best known as one of the founding fathers of disco, thanks in part to the songs he wrote and recorded with Chic and the songs he wrote and recorded with others acts such as Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. What I hadn’t realised until picking up this immensely satisfying 300 pages was his contribution to the careers of so many others, including David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran.

He was also a big influence on Johnny Marr, to the extent that he named his firstborn after him as well as ripping-off the Chic sound – hook, line and sinker-for the second verse of The Boy With The Thorn In His Side.

OK. Nile Rodgers’ musical career is not one your average indie-kid will confess an undying love for. And to be honest, outwith the Chic songs, I don’t have much else in either the vinyl or CD collections. And if this had been a book in which all Nile did was talk about music and musicians, I don’t think I’d have been impressed.

What makes this such a cracking read is the life he has lived…..particularly his childhood and formative years. For once, it is easier to just crib from the dust jacket.

Born into a mixed-race family of dope fiend bohemians, he learned – at a very early age – everything he needed to know about love, loss, fashion, art, music and the subversive power of underground culture. The stars of the scene were his glamorous teenage mum and heroin-addicted Jewish stepfather…..

His upbringing is a genuinely astonishing tale as he went from east coast to west coast and back again (more than once) living sometimes with mum, his grandparents, with hippies and members of the Black Panther organisation. The first third of the book is genuinely unputdownable.

The middle part is a bit less interesting – just a wee bit too ‘rags to riches to excess’ for my liking. Loads of sex, loads of drugs and loads of dancing and not too much humility. But to a large extent, given how wild an upbringing Nile Rodgers had experienced, it’s not hard to understand why he went off the rails so easily. To be fair, parts of the middle section of the book are a great read when he’s telling you about his family rather than tales of how great it was to work with the rock and pop gods of the 80s.

The final part of the book deals pretty quickly with the last 15 years. There’s a fair bit of death and tragedy in here, with the author acknowledging that but for the grace of god…and there are things you learn about what he’s now doing with his life and the fortune he has amassed.

I’m fairly sure that the story that Nile has set down is like a 7″ version of his life….and the extended 12″ version would be well worth getting your hands on. For instance, I’m sure he’s got loads more tales from his childhood – it really does seem as if that alone could have been a 500-page volume.

The positive reviews are merited. And you don’t need to be a disco king or dancing queen to get a lot of pleasure from this book.”

mp3 : Chic – Good Times
mp3 : The Smiths – The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

 

JC

Byrds

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #398 : THE BYRDS

A guest posting by Marc Goldstein

I’m too young to have experienced The Byrds in real time. I first heard them when I was 11 or 12, by which point they were already in the “oldies” category – but I loved the sound of those records; the harmonies and the 12-string Rickenbacker. And it soon became clear that lots of other people still loved them as well, including Tom Petty, REM, Robyn Hitchcock, Teenage Fanclub and a dozen other mainstays of my music library. The Byrds rival Fleetwood Mac or Deep Purple for the sheer number of line up changes they underwent – and I’m not even counting the ersatz post-1973 versions of the band that Steve McLean recently wrote about. And while the original line up is still my favorite, every edition of the group made some great music.

That original lineup included Jim (later known as Roger) McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke. The fact that they chose their drummer (Clarke) for his looks might cause you to roll your eyes, but the others were legit musicians and singers, who had played folk and bluegrass but fell in love with the Beatles and decided to turn to rock. Their first single (as The Beefeaters – ugh – before Hillman joined) didn’t do much, but when they changed their name and signed with Columbia, their first single as The Byrds hit number 1. That was of course Mr. Tambourine Man, the first of many Dylan songs they would cover. But Gene Clark contributed many fine songs as well,

mp3: The Byrds – I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better

mp3: The Byrds – She Don’t Care About Time

(The latter is sublime, and, OK, Clark had a little help from JS Bach on the latter.)

The story goes that when the other guys saw the Ferrari that Clark bought with his songwriting royalties, they were motivated to get serious about writing as well.

mp3: The Byrds – Eight Miles High

A McGuinn/Clark/Crosby co-write influenced by John Coltrane, was pretty cutting-edge for 1966. Some radio stations banned it, assuming it was about drugs, but while the group were no strangers to drugs, this song was about a flight to England and their experiences there. (I mean, was it ALSO about drugs? Maybe?) And after Clark left the band that year, due to his fear of flying, McGuinn and Hillman in particular stepped up with some classics. In fact, the group’s first post-Clark album, Younger Than Yesterday, is probably my favorite. Highlights include

mp3: The Byrds – So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n Roll Star

mp3: The Byrds – Have You Seen Her Face

(There’s one lowlight, however: Crosby’s Mind Gardens, which is pretty much unlistenable.)

Rock ‘n Roll Star was coincidentally featured in the Financial Times’ Life of a Song column as I was compiling this ICA. Hillman was quoted as saying the song was written about the Monkees, but his co-writer McGuinn said he didn’t have anyone in particular in mind. Anyway, this is by no means a “diss track” – it’s a bemused look at the absurdity of the star maker machinery, but hardly a rejection of it.

Crosby was the next to depart, after the others basically got tired of his BS. (Like haranguing the audience at live shows.) The next album, Notorious Byrd Brothers, was a transition between their folk-rock past and country-rock future, and while it may not be their best-remembered record it did feature something rather lovely

mp3 : The Byrds – Wasn’t Born to Follow

Gram Parsons only spent a few months in the Byrds, but he had a major influence on their next album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, recorded with some of Nashville’s finest sidemen. (And in fact a major influence on the rest of their career, as they kept making country-influenced albums until their last record, which reunited the original members.) Parsons wrote the only two originals on Sweetheart, including this

mp3: The Byrds – Hickory Wind

Although neither country fans nor rock fans were ready for the album in 1968, it’s now regarded as a classic, and a big influence on countless Americana artists.

Hillman followed Parsons out the door and into the Flying Burrito Brothers, but not before bringing Clarence White into the group as a full member. Like Hillman, White had played in bluegrass bands before joining the Byrds, and as much as I love the sound of McGuinn’s 12-string, White was arguably the best musician the group ever had. His playing is featured on the final three tracks I’ve picked out for this ICA:-

mp3: The Byrds – Nashville West (from the Untitled album)

mp3: The Byrds – Tulsa County (alt version that was a bonus track on the reissued The Ballad of Easy Rider)

mp3: The Byrds – Black Mountain Rag (live version)

Sadly, White was killed in a senseless accident – hit by a drunk driver while he was loading gear into a car after a concert with his brother in 1973. Parsons died two months later. McGuinn, Clark, Hillman and obviously Crosby all continued to make records, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success, though to my mind none of them equalled what they did in the Byrds.

Bonus Track

mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Gene Clark

Marc

 

Fall

ON THIS DAY : THE FALL’S PEEL SESSIONS #22

A series for 2025 in which this blog will dedicate a day to each of the twenty-four of the sessions The Fall recorded for the John Peel Show between 1978 and 2004.

Session #22 was broadcast on this day, 4 November 1995, having been recorded on 18 October 1995.

Only Smith and Nagle here provide continuity from the last session, representing the largest alteration of personnel between recordings since the first and second session back in 1978. 

It was still a transitional time, bedding in the latest edition of the band, and this is reflected by the tentative performances, especially on ‘Antidotes’ which fails to pack the same Zep-driven punch as it does on its key position on ‘The Marshall Suite’. Julia Nagle’s jazz piano solo on the minor-key fade-out is of note. 

There are also two covers: The Audio Arts’ ‘Bound Soul One’ and a brief, skeletal run-through of The Saints’ ‘This Perfect Day’, which begins with Smith berating his roadies, reconnects the group with the garage. ‘Shake-Off’ however redeems; a broken guitar riff over insistent drums, electronics and a quick exit.  All this done in less than two minutes.  The 13 minutes in total for this session is only slightly more than the version of ‘Garden’ on its own from 1983.

DARYL EASLEA, 2005

mp3: The Fall – Bound Soul One (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Antidotes (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Shake-Off (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – This Perfect Day (Peel Session)

Produced by Mike Robinson

Mark E Smith – vocals; Julia Nagle – keyboards, guitar; Neville Wilding – guitar; Karen Letham – bass, keyboards; Tom Head – drums; Speth Hughes – special effects

JC

Various

THE FIRST MIDWEEK DAY OF A BRAND NEW MONTH….

……can only mean one thing round these parts.

mp3: Various – Baby It’s (Probably) Cold Outside

Edwyn Collins – Knowledge
The Nectarine No.9 – Don’t Worry Babe You’re Not The Only One Awake
Tindersticks (feat. Isabella Rossellini) – A Marriage Made In Heaven
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Peek-A-Boo
Wire – A Question Of Degree
Pavement – Shady Lane
Frightened Rabbit – Fast Blood
Bar Italia – Punkt
The Shop Assistants – Somewhere In China
Trembling Blue Stars – ABBA on the Jukebox
Say Sue Me – My Problem
The Television Personalities – Part-Time Punks
The Cure – Lullaby (extended version)
Broken Chanter – Allow Yourself
The Delgados – Everybody Come Down
The Wedding Present – Deer Caught In Headlights

 

JC

 

#edwyncollins45s

THE TESTIMONIAL TOUR OF 45s (aka The Singular Adventures of Edwyn Collins)

#6:Felicity/In A Nutshell : Orange Juice (Polydor, POSP 386, 1982)

Possibly the only man who had any involvement with Orange Juice who was really smiling when 1982 rolled out was Geoff Travis of Rough Trade.  He had been conned out of the band’s debut album when they had taken the tapes he had funded to a major label, only for half of the band  – James Kirk and Steven Daly – to then abruptly quit just as the first single on Polydor was released and the marketing plans for the album were beginning to get into full flow.

The live shows were turning into a shambles, with most of the songs on which James Kirk took lead vocal being left off the set lists. The release date for the album, to be called You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever, was announced as mid-February 1982.  A second Polydor single was chosen, and released some four weeks in advance of the album.  There’s no doubting that it made for a great 45, being one of the band’s best songs of all, but the fact it had been written by James Kirk, (albeit one sung by Edwyn Collins) makes it a bit of a strange decision, almost as if everyone was in denial.

mp3: Orange Juice – Felicity

In at #63, and that was as good as it got, sliding down to #68 and #73 over the next two weeks.  There must have been a sharp intake of breath as the debut album hit the shops, but it came in at #21, reflecting perhaps that fans were really keen after such a long time to finally have an album’s worth of material, and it probably helped that the band had re-recorded Falling and Laughing for inclusion as its opening track.

But back, briefly, to Felicity.

No images of the band were used on the sleeve…no real surprise, given the fact the Orange Juice of January 1982 was not the Orange Juice that had recorded the single.  It also meant that what what should have been the b-side, an Edwyn Collins song, was promoted to function as a double-A side:-

mp3: Orange Juice – In A Nutshell

The two different aspects of the band are very apparent.  Felicity, one of their very oldest songs, has the rougher new wave feeling and energy.  In A Nutshell is a more polished offering with backing singers very much to the fore. In later years, a demo version of In A Nutshell would emerge, and other than the use of the backing vocalists, it wasn’t too different, so perhaps there were early indications that Edwyn, if not necessarily the rest of the band, was prepared to smooth out any rough edges.

The 12″ came with an extra song.

mp3: Orange Juice – You Old Eccentric

Not just another of the James Kirk songs dating back to the old days (and seemingly a piss take of their manager Alan Horne), but it also has James on lead vocal. Totally wasted as a b-side……but for me, the definitve version dates back to December 1980 with this highly energetic take was recorded for a Peel Session.

mp3: Orange Juice – You Old Eccentric (Peel Session)

All of what I’ve written above is very much with the aid of hindsight and the emergence of what was going on behind the scenes.  The 18-year old me just simply thought Felicity was one of the best records I’d heard in my then young(ish) life, and it’s an opinion I hold to this day.

JC

Gracious Losers

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #477: THE GRACIOUS LOSERS

From the Last Night from Glasgow website:-

The Gracious Losers : Glasgow based 9-piece, lead by songwriter Jonathan Lilley, featuring members of Sister John, Thrum, God Help the Girl, The Parsonage, Sporting Hero and the Berie Big Band.

Their debut album ‘The Last Of The Gracious Losers‘ (2018) combines the soulful sensibilities of early 70’s Van Morrison with the interplay and prowess of Neil Young & Crazy Horse. The vinyl edition featured a gatefold sleeve, designed by none of other than graphics legend Sean Philips (Marvel, DC, 2000AD etc). 

The Losers released their new album “Six Road Ends” in March 2021 it features the singles “Loath To Leave” and “The Fire At The Bottom Of The Sea”

mp3: The Gracious Losers – I Can Never Read The Signs

The near 8-minute long closer to the debut album.  They are very much a band who will appeal to those whose tastes veer towards what is often defined as Americana.

JC