I was checking something up in the Simon Goddard book when my eye was drawn to something he’s included in one of the appendices, ‘Related Releases – A Selection of supplementary titles recorded during the years Postcard was active’
It was his reference to a single by a band whose name vaguely rang a bell.
ARTICLE 58 – ‘Event To Come’ b/w ‘Echoes’/’Lost & Found’ (1981)
Bouncy single by Hamilton band released on Josef K manager Allan Campbell’s label. The only non-Postcard release to credit Alan Horne, here ‘co-producer’ with Malcolm Ross. Recorded at Emblem Sound, Strathaven (B-side ‘Echoes; recorded by Wilf Smarties). Article 58’s drummer was Steve Lironi*, later to join Altered Images
*and later to break my heart by marrying Clare Grogan.
Anyways, as I said Article 58 rang a bell and it turns out that I actually have a copy of the song that was the a-side, courtesy of its inclusion on a compilation album issued some 15 years ago by German based Marina Records. It’s my mistake in not picking up they were Scottish as they would have featured many moons ago on a Saturday.
mp3 : Article 58 – Event To Come
A fast and frantic sounding piece of music with great guitar work from the emerging Douglas MacIntyre who, almost 40 years later remains a mainstay of the Glasgow music scene thanks to his playing with many bands and his running of Creeping Bent Records. He’s been responsible for one of my favourite records of 2018
Going back to Article 58, the a-side of the single certainly gives a nod to Josef K……
The back of the sleeve provides a fair bit of detail.
Event To Come and Lost & Found were recorded at the same session with Ross and Horne given credit for production. The band consisted of Gerry McLaughlin (vocals), Douglas McIntyre (guitar), Ewan McLennan (bass) and Stephen Lironi (drums), although Robert McCormack is credited as the drummer on Echoes, which presumably was an earlier demo track recorded at the Edinburgh studio of Wilf Smarties (who himself would go on to have a very successful career in writing and production in later years)
It got my interest piqued and after a bit of effort, I’ve tracked down the b-sides:-
mp3 : Article 58 – Echoes
mp3 : Article 58 – Lost & Found
Both well worth a listen, with a touch of the guitar sounds of PiL/Magazine in there; once again it’s an example of a band forming for one single before dissolving, although in this instance two of its members would go onto achieve much elsewhere.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 