bIG fLAME – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

bIG fLAME, Blue Aeroplanes, Pooh Sticks, The Turncoats

C86 : THE ULTIMATE SERIES (Parts 67, 68, 69, and 70 of 114)

Big Flame, or to be more precise bIG* fLAME, were from Manchester, active from 1983 to 1986 during which there were five singles/EPs, the debut on their own Laughing Gun Records in 1984 with the remainder being on Ron Johnson Records during 1985 and 1986. They were also invited to contribute to the C86 cassette:-

mp3: New Way (Quick Wash And Brush Up With Liberation Theology) – biG*fLAME

Track 7 on side 2 of the C86 cassette; Track 18, Disc One of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.

This 1 minutes and 38 seconds of mayhem wasn’t made available elsewhere, but was included on a post-career compilation, Rigour 1983-1986, released in 1996 by an American label, Drag City

The very title of the song should give you a hint that bIG* fLAME were quite different from everyone else on C86. Named after a revolutionary socialist feminist grouping, they were more punk than indie, with an uncompromising sound and attitude. I have suggested they are an acquired taste, but there are times when their music just perfectly matches my mood.

After bIG* fLAME, we go to another extreme of indie music, and possibly the most jangly indie band to ever take the piss out of the jangly indie scene while still making great music.

The Pooh Sticks are from Swansea in South Wales, initially being together between 1987 and 1995, before reforming in 2010. Their first five singles were released in 1988, all on the locally-based Fierce Recordings, and all being single-sided on 7″ in limited numbers. Among the titles were I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who Knows Alan McGee Quite Well and Indiepop Ain’t Noise Pollution, but perhaps their greatest two minutes and forty seconds came via this:-

mp3: On Tape – The Pooh Sticks

Track 18, Disc 2 of CD86.

I’ll stand by my words from a few years back:-

“On Tape is a brilliant record on so many different levels. It sounds as shambolic and cheaply recorded as most of the C86 tracks were, it pays homage to the humble cassette which, after all, was the medium under which C86 thrived and above all else the lyrics gently mock the trainspotter obsessiveness of so many music fans (myself included!!) with lyrics such as “I’ve got Falling and Laughing – the original Postcard version” and “I sent for the Soup Dragons single, mail-order only; £1.30 to Martin Whitehead, but it never came!”

They would later sign to labels in America, and by 1991 had changed direction to a more power pop sound, through to the 1995 break-up. There hasn’t been much in the way of new material since the 2010 comeback, which in essence was to play at the Indietracks Festival that year, and there have been just a handful of appearances since. Having said that, main man Hue Williams is very much part of the very active group Swansea Sound alongside many other indie alumni.

mp3: One Breath – The Turncoats

Track 22, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.

This has proved among the most difficult to get info on. The Turncoats had just one release, and it was the Motor Ball Meltbeat EP on Noiseannoys Records in 1986, which was the label That Petrol Emotion had briefly set up and which saw the release of the single V2 in 1985. If the info on Discogs is correct, then V2 and Motor Ball Meltbeat were the only two released on Noiseannoys. I’ve also found that The Turncoats supported TPE a few times in the mid 80s.

The band members were Nick Brown, Roger Hellier, James Murray and Chris Teckkam. I’ve since established that Roger Hellier and Chris Teckkam were later part of an early 90s band called Swimmer.

And that’s it……………………………………

The Blue Aeroplanes are a band from Bristol who have been on the go since 1983 with thirteen albums and countless singles to their name. Their debut release was an album rather than a single. Bop Art came out in 1984 on their own Party Records. One of its tracks was later included on the expanded C86 release:-

mp3: Outback Jazz – The Blue Aeroplanes

Track 13, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.

It is genuinely impossible to summarise the band in a few paragraphs. Back in 2017, the comedian and writer Stewart Lee, described The Blue Aeroplanes a being “like Philip Larkin fronting Television”. Why? Well, the band has long fused poetry and guitar-led melodies, while throwing in elements of folk. They have also been subject to almost as many changes in membership as The Fall, with some 50 different musicians/performers having at one time or other being in the band. And in Wojtek Dmochowski, they have engaged a dancer as part of their live shows since the very beginning.

Maybe it’s best I refer you to this ICA, penned for the blog by Mike Melville, a long-time fan of the band and whose own website/blog, Manic Pop Thrills, is always a fascinating read.

One final overall thought…..the foursome making up this latest edition of the series have very little in common, and as Josef K might have put it, it’s kinda funny that they all ended on up on releases associated with the C86 genre.

JC

bIG fLAME, Blue Nile, Bourgie Bourgie, Farmer's Boys, Husker Du, Red Guitars

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (April Pt 2)

A bumper fifteen songs were featured in the chart edition of this series a week or so ago. Time now to look at the 45s that weren’t commercial hits.

Let’s start with some noise

mp3 : bIG*fLAME – Sink

Named after a revolutionary socialist feminist grouping that had formed in 1970, this Manchester-based trio were incredibly different from most. Their debut EP was released in April 1984 on their own Laughing Gun label, after which they became part of Ron Johnson Records (you’ll note that I didn’t use the word signed as I don’t think that would have been part of the band’s manifesto). There would be just the four 7″ singles, one 10″ EP and one 12″ compilation issued between 1985 and 1987 before the end of biG*FlaME.

mp3: The Blue Nile – Stay

Cards on table. I’m not a fan of The Blue Nile, but I’m aware that a few readers/visitors to this little corner of t’internet are. There had been a single back in 1981 just after they had formed, but it was really their signing to an unusual record contract with Linn, a Scottish-based and emerging top-end manufacturer of hi-fi products, which got them on the map. This was the first ever 45 issued on Linn Records.

mp3: The Farmer’s Boys – Apparently

The subject of a guest co-ICA back in January 2016, courtesy of Strictly Rockers; the ICA was The Sound of Young Norwich and also featured The Higsons. As it turned out, The Farmer’s Boys would, later in 1984, enjoy a chart hit (and I’ll get there in due course) but April saw the release of Apparently, described in the ICA by SR as The highly polished sound of the major label FB’s with their own horn section and ‘real’ drummer. Reached a staggering #98 in the charts!

mp3: Husker Du – Eight Miles High

More cards on table. I’m not a fan of Husker Du, but I’m aware that a few readers/visitors to this little corner of t’internet are. Indeed, they were the subject of a much-commented guest ICA, composed by Swiss Adam of Bagging Area, back in August 2016. He included this one on his ICA with a very strong recommendation.

“….a cover of 60s group The Byrds, this is essential Husker Du. A searing acid-punk guitar tour de force, Bob (Mould) tears ferociously through the chords and vocals, Greg (Norton) and Grant (Hart) blasting their way through the rhythm. The breakdown section alone is worth the price of entry. This is the cover version against which all other covers must be judged.”

mp3: Bourgie Bourgie – Careless

As mentioned earlier in the series, debut single Breaking Point had been a minor hit, and hopes were high for the follow-up, along with what would be a subsequent debut album. Sadly, after just one session recording said debut album, lead singer Paul Quinn quit and the band subsequently split up. Quinn was soon working again, signed by Alan Horne (ex Postcard Records) to his newly formed Swamplands label, and recording alongside his old pal Edwyn Collins, whose band Orange Juice were in the process of breaking up.

mp3: Red Guitars – Good Technology

As recently featured here in Dirk‘s long-running and outstanding 111 singles series.

Happy listening.

JC

bIG fLAME

NEXT YEAR’S NOSTALGIA FEST (Part 35 of 48)

Now I might have been surprised at Age of Chance being part of CD86 (see Part 34 for details) but I’m bemused as to the inclusion of biG*fLaME although the reason is probably the same as last week in that they were part of the original C86 cassette – although this most likely had more to do with office politics at the NME than the music.

Named after a revolutionary socialist feminist grouping that had formed in 1970, this Manchester-based trio, consisting of Alan Brown (bass, vocals), Greg Keeffe (guitar) and Dil Green (drums), were incredibly different from most. They were more punk than indie with an uncompromising sound and attitude.

Their debut single was released in 1984 on their own Laughing Gun label after which they became part of Ron Johnson Records (you’ll note that I didn’t use the word signed as I don’t think that would have been part of the band’s manifesto). There would be just the four 7″ singles, one 10″ EP and one 12″ compilation issued between 1985 and 1987 before the end of biG*FlaME. but Browne and Keefe joined other Manchester bands with varying degrees of success.

It is fair to say they were an acquired taste but my good mate Jacques the Kipper has always been a fan. Here’s the track from CD86:-

mp3 : biG*fLaME – Why Popstars Can’t Dance

It was the third of the singles release on the Ron Johnson label back in 1986. There were two bits of music on the b-side:-

mp3 : biG*fLaME – Chanel Samba
mp3 : biG*fLaME – Breath Of A Nation

Enjoy

bIG fLAME

FOR DIEHARD FANS ONLY

fROM wIKI:-

Big Flame (often rendered bIG fLAME) were a post punk/Indie rock three piece band, based in Manchester, England and active from 1983 to 1986. The members were Alan Brown (bass, vocals), Greg Keeffe (guitar) and Dil Green (drums). After a debut single (Sink) on their own Laughing Gun label, they joined the Ron Johnson roster for a series of mid-eighties singles as well as an appearance on the NME’s C86 compilation.

On the reverse of the “Two Kan Guru” compilation, it was jokingly stated that Green and Brown played in the original line up of Wham! with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley; incredibly, this was accepted as fact by many people.In addition to releasing 5 singles and a compilation EP, Big Flame also recorded four sessions for the John Peel Show.

Big Flame were a major influence on Manic Street Preachers. In a 1991 interview, Richie Edwards stated “The 80s, for us, was the biggest non-event ever, like C86. All we had was Big Flame. Big Flame was the most perfect band. But we couldn’t play their records ‘cos they were too avant garde”.

The group also operated beyond the confines of the band itself. Keeffe and Green hosted a night at Manchester’s Man Alive club which they christened “The Wilde Club” providing a useful venue for groups other than their own. This spirit was also reflected in Ugly Noise Undercurrents which was a band-swap concept conceived by Alan to provide emerging groups with a facility for securing gigs in towns and cities beyond their home base. The Allez Ugly newsletter was the primary driver for this.

After the band split in 1986, Brown joined Ron Johnson labelmates A Witness on drums, touring the UK and Europe and appearing on several records (the 12″ EP ‘One Foot in the Groove’ and Strange Fruit Double Peel Sessions) and three sessions for BBC Radio One DJ John Peel. He left A Witness in 1988 to form solo project Great Leap Forward, while Keeffe joined Meatmouth (with Mark Whittam and Nicholas Blincoe) who released “Meatmouth is murder” on Factory Records, Fac196.

After a break from music, Alan Brown teamed up with Daren Garratt (of Pram) and Vince Hunt (of A Witness) in the band Marshall Smith, releasing an album ‘Colours’ in 2006 on the Euphonium label.

In 2007 Alan Brown joined Sarandon as bass player.

Greg Keeffe is now Professor of sustainable architecture at Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds.

Dil Green is now an architect based in London.

The thing is, up until a few weeks ago I never owned any bIG fLAME music other than a couple of tracks on compilation LPs. I’d always wanted to include them on the old blog mainly as a thank you to my mate Jacques the Kipper who was and remains, even after all these years, a huge fan of the band. I can just picture him back in the days with his giant hair atop his head, held together by at least one full can of hairspray, bodyslamming his way through the mayhem of a live gig.

But then I picked up a second hand copy of the Rigour EP from 1985:-

mp3 : bIG fLAME – Man Of Few Syllables

mp3 : bIG fLAME – Debra

mp3 : bIG fLAME – Sargasso

It’s all very noisy and screechy. For those who won’t like it – and I reckon that could well be about 99% of you – each song is over and down with in no more than 2 minutes.

Go on. Give it a try…….