Category: Brilliant Corners

Brilliant Corners, Dali's Car, Devo, Fall, Hurrah!, Pastels, The Men They Couldn't Hang, Yeah Yeah Noh

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (October Pt 2)

October 1984.  As we have previously seen, a seriously underwhelming month in respect of decent songs making the Top 75 of the UK singles chart.  Hopefully, the indie labels offered up a few things that were more palatable.

mp3: The Brilliant Corners – My Baby’s In Black

The third single of the year from one of Bristol’s finest ever combos.  Commercial success would evade them throughout their career, which lasted until 1993.  Lead singer and principal songwriter Davey Woodward is still very much on the go today, and his latest album Mumbo In The Jumbo, which is a very fine collection of tunes, was released earlier this year on Last Night From Glasgow.  Click here for more info.

mp3: Dali’s Car – The Judgement Is The Mirror

This should have actually appeared in the chart show edition of this series, as it had come in at #69 in the final week of October before peaking at #66.  Big things were expected of Dali’s Car, whose three members were Pete Murphy, Mick Karn and Paul Vincent Lawford, with the first two named having been in Bauhaus and Japan, respectively.  But they split after this, their only single, as well as subsequent album The Waking hour, sold poorly.

mp3: Devo – Are You Experienced?

In which the American new-wavers offer their take on a 1967 song written and recorded by Jimi Hendrix.  And here was me thinking that their earlier 1977 take on Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones offered a different take on the original….

mp3: The Fall – No Bulbs 3

The Fall again defy convention by insisting that the record label, Beggars Banquet, issue a new album along with a new single.  But not just in any bog-standard way, as the new single was to come out on 12″ vinyl, accompanied by a free 7″ single.  The new album was called The Wonderful and Frightening World Of….and it contained nine tracks with a running time of just over 40 minutes.

The 12″ goes by the title Call For Escape Route, and contains three songs – Draygo’s Guilt, No Bulbs and Clear Off!.  The bonus 7″ contains No Bulbs 3 and Slang King.  I could happily have selected any of the five songs, but in the end No Bulbs 3 won out in what was a lucky draw.  The full version of No Bulbs extends to a few seconds short of eight minutes while the edited down version, given the title of No Bulbs 3, is around four-and-a-half minutes long.

mp3: Hurrah! – Who’d Have Thought

One of the first bands to sign to Kitchenware Records, this was their third single for the label, and it made it to #7 in the Indie Chart.  It’s kind of indie-by-numbers and quite different from their better known label mates Prefab Sprout, The Daintees and The Kane Gang.  I saw them a few times back in the day, and while I really wanted to fall for their charms as I loved the label they were on, they never quite ticked all my boxes.

mp3: The Men They Couldn’t Hang – The Green Fields of France

A folk/punk band who kind of emerged from the busking scene.  They were initially closely aligned with The Pogues, playing gigs alongside them, with bassist Shanne Bradley having been in The Nipple Erectors alongside Shane McGowan. There’s also the possibility that the group name The Men They Couldn’t Hang emerged from one of McGowan’s early ideas for what eventually became The Pogues.

The Green Fields of France was the debut single, a song written by Eric Bogle, whose And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda had earlier in the year been covered by The Pogues.  It was a version much championed by John Peel, and despite being released quite late on in the year, it still gained enough votes to make #3 in the Festive Fifty of 1984, just behind How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths and Pearly Dewdrops Drop by the Cocteau Twins.

mp3: The Pastels – Million Tears

The band’s second 45 for Creation Records is a fabulous jingly-jangly number. It was released on 12″ vinyl, and copies fetch a decent price on the second-hand market these days.  I don’t have a copy, sadly.  Million Tears is one of two songs on the A-side of the 12″.  The best-known track, at least nowadays, was tucked away on the b-side.

mp3: The Pastels – Baby Honey

Running to almost 7 minutes in length, it’s a song that has featured on quite a few indie compilations over the subsequent years.  An absolute gem of a track.

mp3: Yeah Yeah Noh – Beware The Weakling Lines

A band who featured on the September one-hour mix thanks to the guest posting on In Tape Records from Leon MacDuff.  As Leon said, “Yeah Yeah Noh really ought to have a post to themselves at some point. Leicester’s finest musical export of the era (well OK, maybe tied with The Deep Freeze Mice), their time as an active group was brief but mighty: In Tape issued a string of EPs and a full album of their witty, lyrical lo-fi “unpop”, and their self-deprecating “Bias Binding” (“Yeah Yeah Noh, so full of ourselves / Not a real band, done no video elpee”) made JP’s Festive Fifty. They were ace.”

This was their second single of 1984, with the catalogue number of IT 010.  And given I missed out back in June with their debut, and it’s catalogue number of IT 008, I’ll take this opportunity to rectify matters:-

mp3: Yeah Yeah Noh – Cottage Industry

And that, my friends, wraps things up for this month.  It wasn’t too shabby, was it?

 

JC

Biff Bang Pow!, Brilliant Corners, East Bay Ray, Fall, Hit Parade, June Brides, Microdisney, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, R.E.M., Red Guitars, Section 25, Stockholm Monsters, Violent Femmes

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (June Pt 2)

The post featuring the new chart hits from June 1984 was a bit of a mixed bag.  Thankfully, top of the flops proved to be a bit better.

mp3 : Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – In The Ghetto

Yup….it’s now 41 years since the debut single of the band that had emerged from the implosion of The Birthday Party.  This 45 had in fact been preceded by an album, From Her To Eternity, that can best be described as post-punk goth. It was less abrasive than the Birthday Party material, but it was still a long way from being what could be called commercially accessible. None of the seven songs on the album were thought of as being suitable for a single release, and so the band’s take on the Elvis Presley #1 hit from 1969 was put on sale in the shops, with a video made to help boost sales:-

It’s a mighty long way from the Nick Cave of 2025 who is such a darling of the chattering classes.

mp3: East Bay Ray – Trouble In Town

This is one I heard for the first time maybe seven or eight years ago, and it was via a blog or music aggregator site.  East Bay Ray‘s guitar work was very much at the heart of what, musically, defined Dead Kennedys.  This solo single from 1984, is a long way removed from that sound, It’s akin to the soundtrack of a cowboy movie and great fun to listen to.  The lead vocal is courtesy of the frontman of Steve One & The Shades, a San Francisco-based power pop band back in the 80s.

mp3: The Fall – Oh! Brother

The band’s 13th single, but the first for new label Beggars Banquet and the first of what we can now define as the Brix-era.  As I wrote when looking at this single in detail back in September 2021, it was The Fall, but not as we, or indeed anyone, knew them.  It was a pop song, one which would have sat easily alongside those that were being released on a regular basis by Rough Trade. I’m sure that Geoff Travis would have been scratching his head and wondering just what he had ever done to upset MES to the extent that the thrawn bastard continuously refused to contemplate anything akin to radio friendly songs, while he was on his label, only for him to come up with this absolute monster once he’d moved to a major label.

mp3: The Brilliant Corners – Big Hip

The second 45 from Davey Woodward & co.  Still leaning a bit on the rockabilly sound that had been at the heart of January 1984 debut She’s Got Fever rather than the indie-pop C86 sounds that they would swerve into a few years later, but more than listenable across its two minutes duration.

mp3: Microdisney – Dolly

The band’s move from Cork to London eventually led to a deal with Rough Trade, with the album Everybody Is Fantastic being released in May 1984 to not a lot of fanfare beyond those who had long been championing the band in Ireland.  The following month saw the release of Dolly, a lovely acoustic-led track from the album, became their debut 45 on the label.

mp3: The Hit Parade – Forever

This features on the 5xCD box set, Scared To Get Happy: A Story of Indie-Pop 1980-1989.  Here’s the blurb from the booklet:-

In 2011, The Guardian’s Alex Petridis interviewed Julian Henry about his dual life as a successful PR executive by day and his twilight world as guitarist and singer in an indie band.  Back in the 80s, Henry had created The Hit Parade with Matthew Moffat and Raymond Watts, issuing beautifully crafted and overtly 60s-styled singles on their own JSH Records.  It began with ‘Forever’, a Bacharach & David homage sans guitars in 1984…..

mp3: The June Brides – In The Rain
mp3: The June Brides – Sunday To Saturday

Another debut single, this time on the newly established Pink Records, from a band who would eventually be lumped in with the C86 movement but whose best songs long pre-dated that genre.  Indeed, by 1986, The June Brides had more or less imploded.  They are a band I knew nothing of back in 1984, but when, a few years later, I finally came across them, it was instant love, primarily as they had an unusual and distinctive sound, making use of viola and trumpet as well as the standard guitars, bass and drums, and in Phil Wilson they had a very talented songwriter albeit his vocal delivery was a bit of an acquired taste.  It was a real thrill to finally see them play live at the Glas-Goes-Pop festival of 2022.

mp3: Biff Bang Pow! – There Must Be A Better Life

Back in February, I mentioned this lot’s debut single, 50 Years Of Fun, the third 45 to be issued by Creation Records, which was part-owned and run by the group’s vocalist and guitarist, Alan McGee.  This was their second offering, and there’s more than a nod to the 60s mod-era.

mp3: Red Guitars – Steeltown

So much was expected of Red Guitars in 1984.  Debut single, Good Technology (one of Dirk’s 111 selections) was, and remains, a bona-fide classic.  A tour a support to The Smiths had raised their profile, and the press coverage in the UK music papers was almost universally positive. But they never clicked with the record-buying public, and this, their second single, was a flop.

mp3: R.E.M – (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville

The fourth single from the beat-combo out of Athens, Georgia. They didn’t, over their extensive career, really make too many songs that sounded as ‘countrified’ as this.  It’s not to everyone’s taste, but it’s long been one of my favourites of theirs, and it inspired a train ride out to the town when I was over in Washington D.C. attending a conference back in the early 00s.

mp3: Section 25 – Looking From A Hilltop (restructure)

One of the lesser acclaimed acts on Factory Records, the band had been formed by brothers Vincent and Larry Cassidy. Their debut single for the label had been back in July 1980, and while there was a degree of critical acclaim for their post-punk sound, there was rarely much in the way of sales.  By 1984, they had been through a few changes in personnel, and by now the brothers had been joined by two female vocalists and keyboardists, Jenny Ross and Angela Flowers, (Jenny was Larry’s wife, while Angela was their sister).  The band’s third album, From The Hip, saw a shift in direction, being very much aimed at the dance floor. Produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order, it was released in March 1984, and the best received of its tracks, was remixed and issued as a 12″ single (FAC 108) a few months later.

mp3: The Stockholm Monsters – All At Once
mp3: The Stockholm Monsters – National Pastime  (link fixed)

My big book of indie music tells a different story from wikipedia.  The latter states that Stockholm Monsters formed in 1981 in Burnage, a suburb of Manchester. My big book suggests (and I have no every reason to doubt it thanks to a clarification from Swiss Adam) that the four-piece of Tony France, Karl France, John Rhodes and Shan Hira were from New York and only moved to Manchester after being ‘discovered’ by Factory Records supremo, Tony Wilson.  A debut single for the label emerged in 1981 and there were further singles in each of 1982 and 1983, prior to debut album Alma Mater, produced by Peter Hook of New Order, was released in March 1984.  The album, like all the three previous singles, was ignored by the record-buying public. Undeterred, and still championed by Wilson, two more tracks were issued as a single in Jun 1984 (FAC 107) and which was the subject of this post on the blog back in March 2023.

mp3: Violent Femmes – Gone Daddy Gone

A re-release of the band’s debut single came out on 12″ in June 1984, accompanied by Add It Up, another of the tracks to be found on the rather wonderful eponymous debut album, along with Jesus Walking On The Water, a track that would be found on the forthcoming second album, Hallowed Ground.  It kind of says a lot that instead of issuing the new song as the lead track on a single, it was relegated to a b-side, with the record labels in the USA and UK trying hard to get the world to take notice of the brilliance of Gone Daddy Gone.

So there you have it.  June 1984’s flop singles, many of which were far better than the ones which charted.

 

JC

Alien Sex Fiend, Brilliant Corners, Dolly Mixture, Hey! Elastica, Pale Fountains

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (January Pt 2)

It’s now time to look at some of the 45s released in January 1984 that didn’t make enough impact with the record buying public to leave a dent in the singles charts but have proven to be of enough cultural significance to be recalled here in Villain Towers.  By cultural significance, I mean I either bought a copy or danced to it to at the student disco….or perhaps actually discovered it many months/years later and kicked myself for being late to the party.  Or it might well be that I think its inclusion in this piece will be of interest to someone out there who drops by this blog on the odd occasion.

1984 was a year when the goths really came to the fore, but as it was a genre that I didn’t really take to, I won’t really be able to do it justice throughout the year.  A reminder that back in July 2021, flimflamfan came up with this wonderful ICA on many things goth, while the following month saw complementary offerings from Middle Aged Man (click here) and Echorich (click here).

None of those three superbly written ICAs made space for a band, formed in London in 1982, and whose third single was released in January 1984:-

mp3: Alien Sex Fiend – R.I.P.(Blue Crumb Truck)

It might not be goth in the purest sense of the word, but I think it’s great fun.

mp3: The Brilliant Corners – She’s Got Fever

It took me until 2016 to discover The Brilliant Corners, thanks to one of their songs being included on the C87 box set released by Cherry Red Records.  After mentioning them on the blog a couple of years later, Eric from Oakland came up with this terrific ICA, which led to me then purchasing a two-disc compilation, Heart on Your Sleeve, that offered up 48 tracks drawn from the ten singles and five albums the band released between 1984 and 1993.  She’s Got Fever was the debut single, and I feel it’s a bit rawer and less polished than some of the later offerings; it also comes in at just over 90 seconds in length.   More rockabilly than indie.

mp3: Hey! Elastica – This Town

1983 should have been the year that Edinburgh’s Hey! Elastica made it big.  Signed to Virgin Records and given a decent budget to record the debut album, they did their best, but it just didn’t happen.  They could have been, and I reckon, should have been, the Scottish B52’s.  The first three singles had flopped, and the folk at the record label, all too aware that this was a signing that hadn’t worked out, were just going through the motions when the calendar moved onto 1984. January saw a fourth and final single, while the album was issued with no fanfare in March.   I get all nostalgic whenever I listen to them.

mp3: Dolly Mixture – Remember This

Best known for being the backing vocalists when Captain Sensible enjoyed some very unexpected chart success as a solo artist in 1982, Dolly Mixture had their own parallel career which had begun back in 1978 as a trio of teenagers, and included significant support tours with The Undertones and Bad Manners, signing a record deal with Paul Weller‘s label, Respond Records, and in due course setting up their own label.  Remember This was a single on Dead Good Dolly Platters, but with no success coming their way, they chose to split-up just a few months later.

And finally for this month:-

mp3: The Pale Fountains – Unless

Consisting of Mick Head (vocalist/guitar), Chris McCaffery (bass), Thomas Whelan (drums), Andy Diagram (horns) and Ken Moss (guitar), this Liverpool-based band had a wide range of influences such as Love, Burt Bacharach and the Beatles. They were critically feted on the back of their 1982 debut single (There’s Always) Something on My Mind issued by the Belgian-based Les Disques du Crépuscule and this then led to a big deal with Virgin Records for whom there had been two well-received 45s in 1983, one of which, Thank You, had made the Top 50.  Hopes were high for 1984, and Unless was the lead single from what would be the debut album, Pacific Street, scheduled for release in late February 1984.  Sadly, the critical acclaim didn’t cross over to widespread radio play or commercial success.

JC

Brilliant Corners

ALL YOU CAN DO IS STEP (FURTHER) BACK IN TIME

January 2018 was when I posted Delilah Sands by The Brilliant Corners. It was my introduction to the band and at the end of the piece I made a plea for an ICA on account of how much I had enjoyed this initial exposure.

The challenge was taken up by Eric from Oakland. He began what was an outstanding effort with the following words:-

I really struggled between two concepts on this one. Career retrospective, or just my favorite songs? The first record I have is Growing Up Absurd, so I never really listened to the first 3 singles (She’s Got a Fever, Big Hip, and My Baby in Black) before this week. Then there is a clear point in 1989 when the sound changes considerably (most notably by the absence of trumpet). While there are some good post-trumpet songs, none of it would make it into my top 10. In the end I decided that this ICA would be the ICA of The Brilliant Corners as I remember them – ‘85-88′.

A while back, I found while browsing the second-hand record store a slightly tattered copy of one of the early singles that Eric hadn’t really listened to. It was the band’s sophomore effort, on their very own SS20 Records. The reverse of the sleeve makes for a fun read (although I have no idea what line three is referring to!!):-

Well here we are again, four red-eyed gookies with treats galore!
Here to speculate and emancipate (an unhappy pastime if ever there was)
Here to shake the coxa, bong the breeble, and go-go C.P
Trash it!!
BIG HIP hands helping (ho hum) ‘trust me’ he says.
Rasping, violent, beautiful, incoherent.
And for diversity a chocolate head Everly TANGLED UP IN BLUE.
Let lovers lie (dead) said the boy
But remember, if these grooves fail you,
take it and throw it at the fanatical diplomat,
and be sure we are happy!
Keep close to the pavement.

CHIEF IRONSIDE, April 1984

mp3 : The Brilliant Corners – Big Hip
mp3 : The Brilliant Corners – Tangled Up In Blue

The two tracks, between them, last a combined 4 mins and 21 seconds. which means a fraction just under a pound per minute for my tattered copy.  Still decent value if you want my opinion.

JC

Brilliant Corners

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #163 : THE BRILLIANT CORNERS

A GUEST POSTING by ERIC (from Oakland)

I really struggled between two concepts on this one. Career retrospective, or just my favorite songs? The first record I have is Growing Up Absurd, so I never really listened to the first 3 singles (She’s Got a Fever, Big Hip, and My Baby in Black) before this week. Then there is a clear point in 1989 when the sound changes considerably (most notably by the absence of trumpet). While there are some good post-trumpet songs, none of it would make it into my top 10. In the end I decided that this ICA would be the ICA of The Brilliant Corners as I remember them – ‘85-88′.

Rambling Rose

There were a few singles that preceded Growing Up Absurd, but there is good reason most comps start here. It’s here the BCs finally find the sound that will serve them well in the coming years. The guitar solo at the end is a nice intro to a classic BC trick, just slightly at odds with the rest of the band, but in a good way. It provides just enough tension to get your attention without killing the vibe.

A Girl Called Property

An introduction to a theme that will run throughout Davey Woodward’s work. Short simple and to the point. No mucking around.

Everything I Ever Wanted

Good morning, c86. From the opening guitar to the break and return and plenty of jingle jangle. The Fruit Machine EP finally brought everything together in to 4 glorious songs. No trumpet on this track but it’s on some of the others. Any of them could be on this comp, but I’m trying to keep it to 10 ;).

Brian Rix (Album version)

The song that put them on the map, and for good reason. The opening guitar work is worth the price of admission alone. I grew up on this version found on What’s in a Word. The production values on the single version are superior, but there’s a little string lic in the chorus that jars me every time and takes me out of the song. I’m sure there are others who feel an unspeakable emptiness in their gut when they get to that point on the album and the strings are missing. To each their own.

Delilah Sands

This is my favorite BC Song. I can’t get enough of it. There’s just something about the way it’s all put together, from the unusual bop ba da da bop cold start through to the brilliant trumpet line. This is my go-to whenever I need a little pickmeup. BC firing on all cylinders to be sure. It’s a toss up between this and “Why do you have to…” for my favorite BC record cover.

Teenage

Somebody Up There Likes Me is one of those records that I never get tired of. Every song is cracking and this lead single was no exception. Just enough production punch up to fill out the sound without wrecking the delicate balance.

She’s Dead

What a song. So simple but so devastating. I was obsessed with this song when it came out.

With a Kiss

Somebody Up There Likes Me presented the hardest choices for this comp. In the end With A Kiss floated up just for being a straight up ripper. It’s the last song on the album, begging you to flip it and start over again.

Why Do You Have To Go Out With Him When You Could Go Out With Me?

Looking back now this really is as good as anything from this era, with a bonus appearance from one Amelia Fletcher. What’s not to like? For some reason whenever I stumble upon this today, a horrible review pops up accusing the BCs of taking things one step too far. Oh well. I still love it. And that record cover. Perfect.

Shangri La

This song knocked my socks off when I first heard it. The opening is so clean and classic and perfect BCs. Then toward the end the guitar comes in with a raucous squeal that builds to a glorious cacophony. It’s almost as if they had decided to drive a knife right in the heart of their twee c86 sound. Kill it dead right there. I don’t know if that’s what really happened, but it certainly has that affect, because after this single they were never quite the same…

After “Why Do You Have…” things really did change. I do remember feeling like they were making a conscious decision to shift their sound, and I remember being excited to see where it would go. And while the next few albums are good, I can’t say they are great. They aren’t the kind of thing that makes diehard fans remember the glory years, if you know what I mean.

I’m not sure what they were going for but it’s worth noting a number of heavier movements were emerging in the US around that time; The Pixies and Soundgarden were just starting to pick up steam. The BC sound definitely got thicker and of course the trumpet is totally gone. It feels like they were suddenly on the back foot, chasing the Americans to a more muscular sound, and didn’t quite catch up. Change is hard.

Still there are some good songs from the post trumpet era. You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are, White Gates, and The Pope The Monkey and The Queen were dangling on the end of this list before I settled on my final 10. Hooked really is a nice album, an improvement over the largely forgettable Joyride. Sadly it’s not on Spotify but if you really want to check it out I’m sure you can find it. I’ve never listened to their final album, A History of White Trash, so I cannot report back on that one. My experiences are really just from a teenager in California listening to what records made the journey out west. If you’re looking for more context and history and Bristol scene info, check out

http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands82/The_Brilliant_Corners.html

Eric from Oakland

PS: I also created a Spotify playlist for folks who like it like that.

One nice thing about the Spotify playlists – when you finish the songs Spotify starts playing things like The Go-Betweens and The Monochrome Set. I ended up listening for quite some time before realizing I had a job to do 🙂

Brilliant Corners

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (NOT A SMITHS POSTING!!)

A track came up the other day on random shuffle….it wasn’t one I was familiar with…but its blend of classic mid-80s guitar and Teardrop Explodes style trumpets and ba-ba-ba lyric quickly got my attention.

mp3 : The Brilliant Corners – Please Please Please

It’s one that ended upon the i-pod courtesy of its inclusion in the C87 box set which I’ve featured a few times in the past. Here’s the notes from the accompanying booklet.

Another bunch of Bristolians, who began in 1983, borrowing their name from a Thelonius Monk album and playing a rockabilly-tinged form of post-punk. In 1984, they set up their own label SS20 and began releasing records leading up to 1986’s What’s In A Word? (which graced the Indie Top 10), which slotted the band perfectly into the c86 era. Further indie hits ensued, including the EP Delilah Sands, which featured the hook-laden ‘Please Please Please’. The Brilliant Corners released five albums on new label McQueen, the last being 1991’s compilation Creamy Stuff : The Singles 84-90. Following 1993’s A History of White Trash (released on Cheesey Product), the band called it a day – although they reunited in 2013 at the Scared To Get Happy indie extravaganza.

Discovering this wonderful track on the compilation was a b-side, I set about tracking down the rest of the EP, I was rather stunned to find, a bit like The Smiths were wont to do, that Please Please Please was only available on the 12″ release which came housed in the splendid sleeve at the top of this posting. The 7″ looked like this:-

And here’s its two tracks:-

mp3 : The Brilliant Corners – Delilah Sands
mp3 : The Brilliant Corners – Is There Anybody Home?

Really enjoyed all three of these songs, but as I hinted at the start, there’s not a lot else I know about the band. Anyone care to do a guest posting/ICA? Please, Please Please……?

JC