….SO PREPARE FOR A THRILLING RETURN!

Heavenly are back.

Sort of.

That’s because all of the band’s four LPs are to be re-released on Skep Wax, the label run by two of the group’s founding members Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey.

https://www.skepwax.com/

It’s great news, and will make these difficult-to-locate records – Heavenly Vs. Satan; Le Jardin de Heavenly; The Decline and Fall of Heavenly; and Operation Heavenly – easily available on vinyl and download.

First up is Heavenly Vs. Satan. It kicks off a staggered, two-year release schedule and is available from 11 November.

https://heavenlyindie.bandcamp.com/

The original wiry eight-song record has become a twelve-track beefcake more than capable of kicking sand in the faces of weedier albums. That’s because, in a blatant raspberry-blow to Sarah Records’ no-singles-on-albums policy, Heavenly’s first and second 7” releases have been pulled into this reissue. So look out for I Fell in Love Last Night/Over and Over and Our Love is Heavenly/Wrap My Arms Around Him.

And all this in the month that one of us, in a huff at no sign at all of a long-hoped-for box set, at last began creating their own bootleg collection. A venture mulled over for a hopeless number of years. Well it’s too far down the line to abandon Heavenly Have Plenty of Fun now. Blank CDs have been bought and everything. And a box has been located.

But these new releases will be purchased. Such is the logic-free world of even a curious-level collector of records. Plus, inside each sleeve will be found a 7” booklet. A glance at the one accompanying Heavenly Vs. Satan confirms a comforting cut ‘n’ paste design. It recalls the typical aesthetics that characterised the chopped-type, Pritt-Sticked fanzines of the day. These would be legitimately belched out by print shops and, possibly more often, college photocopiers or the after-hours workplace device.

So, new Heavenly treats are – officially – on the way. That’s the cake.

And here’s the cherry:

The band were to play a one-off gig in west London – at Bush Hall. It’s the first for 28 years, sold out within two days, and happens next year, on May 20. That’s clearly a red-letter date for pioneering Amelias, as Wikipedia tells us that on that day in 1932 another fun Amelia – Earhart – commenced a world-first for a female pilot: a solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. However, a new date has been added, May 19th. Tickets are on sale now…..

But back on terra firma, regular visitors will know that all things Amelia (Fletcher) have been celebrated a good few times on this blog. On offer most recently was this ICA. It collected tracks from the assorted projects both Amelia and Rob have been milling since way back in 1986: the days of the mighty Talulah Gosh. Next up would be Heavenly, of course. Then Marine Research, Tender Trap and Catenary Wires followed. And most recently it’s been Swansea Sound (to say nothing of numerous side projects). Not bad for someone who claims that “I was never cut out to be a proper pop star anyway.”

This incoming Heavenly activity follows the pair of lavish double-pack 7” singles of the group’s two Peel Sessions, recorded in 1991 and 94. Those emerged this year, courtesy of the Precious label, and added an official and recommended couple of releases to the discography.

(This incarnation of Heavenly was fortified with the addition of vocalist and keyboard player Cathy Rogers (far left) who, from the 1993 P.U.N.K. Girl single, joined Amelia Fletcher, Peter Momtchlioff, Rob Pursey, and Mathew Fletcher.)

Now, with the LPs stepping out once more, we have a super reason to give props to a band that was so often dismissed as twee and fey, cute and saccharin. But even a cursory listen to Heavenly Vs. Satan would reveal half an album’s worth of musings on disappointment and duplicity, cruelty and callousness: Boyfriend Stays the Same for starters, alongside Shallow, Wish Me Gone and It’s You.

Amelia makes the point well in the notes that form part of the release’s accompanying booklet:

“Listening back now, I had forgotten how many of my lyrics involve girls falling for boys who treat them badly. This was well before Riot Grrrl and the tone is gently descriptive rather than angry, but I remember feeling it was important to tell these stories.”

And Rob comments that:

“Heavenly were a ‘female-fronted’ band, which set up an additional tension with the audience, some of whom had expectations of what that ought to mean. We tried to undermine those expectations too. It annoyed some people, but they were probably the right people to annoy.”

To wrap up, here’s a (new) Vinyl Villain tribute: Heavenly Go Adventuring Again – an imaginary EP with a track taken from each of the group’s four albums….as imagined by The Three Masketeers

1. Stop Before You Say It (Heavenly Vs. Satan, Sarah Records, 1991)

The last track on the first album is largely a rush about a crush. Only at the end does it take a breather, and a gentle coda provides the perfect nightlighty closer. (Kathy Kane)

2. C is the Heavenly Option (Le Jardin de Heavenly, Sarah Records, 1992)

As indie pop classics go this has to be up with the very best of them.

As well as a link to the studio version of the song we decided to add a little more joy to your life with the wonderfully chaotic live, acoustic version filmed in 2019. I dare you not to smile as you Rob, Amelia and Calvin Johnson enjoy being in each other’s company as musicians, as friends. (Don Diego de la Vega, Eustache Duager and Kathy Kane)

3. Sacramento (The Decline and Fall of Heavenly, Sarah Records, 1994)

A surf-infused instrumental wig-out that further illustrates that Heavenly were adept writers and musicians. I’ve never been to Sacramento but if I did go, and it didn’t sound like this, I’d be sorely disappointed. I’ve often thought that as the lights went up at the end of an indie-disco this is the song that revellers should stagger out the door to and the run back in again for one last shimmy. (Don Diego de la Vega)

4. Ben Sherman (Operation Heavenly, Wiiija, 1996)

The unexpected use of the word ‘fuck’ early on in the lyric is an indication that this isn’t your typical Heavenly number. The highly infectious and toe-tapping tune disguises the fact that the female protagonist is far from happy. Indeed, she’s at her wit’s end, all thanks to having a shallow boyfriend making suggestions about a change of hairstyle so that she more resembles the Hollywood actress he fancies and fantasises about.

The good news is that, by the end of the song, the listener is left in no doubt the boyfriend is soon to be an ex, and our heroine will move on to a better and more fulfilling life…. complete with the sort of haircut she’s most happy with. (Eustache Duager)

If you’ve read this far, first of all: congratulations. Secondly, and more soberly, you’ll probably know that Heavenly chose not to carry on after the passing, in 1996, of the band’s drummer Mathew Fletcher. We think you’d all agree that widening access now to the songs of Mathew and his bandmates is a wholly appropriate tribute to, and celebration of, his memory.

On Heavenly Vs. Satan, the band comprised:

Amelia Fletcher (vocals and guitar)

Mathew Fletcher (drums)

Peter Momtchiloff (guitar)

Rob Pursey (bass)

And on the track Our Love is Heavenly, the group was ably assisted by the Catherines of Arrogance (ex-Talulahs Eithne Farry and Elizabeth Price).

Don Diego de la Vega, Eustache Duager and Kathy Kane

 

Heavenly emerged, in 1989, from the rubble of the disintegration of Talulah Gosh, a band that has very much come to represent all that folk love/loath about the genre referred to as twee-pop. To begin with, there wasn’t much to distinguish between Heavenly and Talulah Gosh, which is no great surprise given that four of the musicians were common to both line-ups and there was less than a year between the last single from one band and the first single from the other.

There was a gradual, if slight, shift in the music made by Heavenly during the first half of the 90s. The tunes remained very upbeat and perfect for much airing at the indie-disco, but the subject matters were less innocent or far from flimsy. The band members were aging gracefully and their growing confidence, both on stage and inside the recording studio, looked like putting them on the ladder to a wider commercial success, especially as the UK music press was in the middle of its Britpop frenzy period and were talking up all sorts of bands, many of whose collective charms and talents were minuscule in comparison. The fourth studio album was in the can and there were a number of songs that had ‘likely hit’ stamped all over them.

Tragically, the group’s drummer Matthew Fletcher took his own life in June 1996 shortly after the recording of the album was complete. It was devastating for all concerned, none more so than his sister, Amelia, the lead vocalist and in the eyes of many, the main focus of the band. The album, Operation: Heavenly, was released in October 1996. It was an absolute classic of its kind, cutting the ties almost entirely with twee and packed with tunes that were tailor-made for the daytime radio of the times. Understandably, the band members didn’t/couldn’t do much to promote it and it faded away into obscurity, other than having one 45 issued to help things along:-

mp3: Heavenly – Space Manatee

It took a while to get over the loss but the remaining came back together some 18 months later as Marine Research, by which time the Britpop era was over and very few executives were interested in four-piece bands who relied on catchy pop tunes.

I’ve long had a copy of the final album on CD but I recently picked up a copy of that final single and was delighted to discover that its two b-sides were both cover versions:-

mp3: Heavenly – You Tore Me Down
mp3: Heavenly – Art School

The former was originally by The Flamin’ Groovies and is from their 1976 album, Shake Some Action. The latter is a homage to The Jam with a fairly faithful musical interpretation, short and sharp at under two minutes, of a track from In The City (1977).

JC

A GUEST POSTING by STRANGEWAYS

If there’s a heaven – and if entrants are welcomed in via song – surely the dreamy and delicate first twenty seconds or so of Heavenly’s Three Star Compartment would herald the arrival of those with an indiepop bent (even if the opening words unfasten a trapdoor to hell).

I’ve known this song for almost twenty-five years, but it was only the other day that it grabbed me in a way it never had previously. A good friend was visiting, and as he shares a love of Heavenly, I stuck the band’s LPs on as we chatted and drank tea. And when the track in question presented itself I realised I’d been overlooking it all this time.

So far, so standard. I imagine lots of unrequited gems eventually catch the ears of even the most seasoned listeners of any given group. But later that day, reading this number’s lyrics knocked my socks off. I remarked as such to my friend. A few days afterwards he suggested offering the song up for this series. I thank him for this idea. Even if you don’t.

In their time, Heavenly endured a heck of a lot of brickbats for ‘being Twee’. Three words: DIE, HEAVENLY, DIE was Melody Maker’s response to this song’s parent LP (1994’s The Decline and Fall of Heavenly). But it’s a fact that for every Lemonhead Boy and Orange Corduroy Dress, this band has form when it comes to tackling the odd heavy topic seldom visited by pop.

The point was made via this blog’s Talulah Gosh ICA, which contained a reference to Itchy Chin, a Heavenly track, also from the ‘94 album, that deals with the issue of manipulation within a relationship: She was taken in/She believed all the things you said were real/Never noticed she was feeling just as you meant her to feel…

Then there’s the Heavenly b-side Hearts and Crosses (1996). It’s a song about date rape and, via the sweetest tune and music, its disturbing words and content are smuggled in like contraband: He held her mouth when she tried to scream/It was all so different from in her dream/He never smiled, he never whispered/He bit her hard, but never kissed her…

On the twee column, admittedly, there’s a wreath-wearing kitten on Decline and Fall’s sleeve. On its reverse, too, the band has been photographed, by one ‘Alison Wonderland’, fooling around and playing a board game. But I don’t think these quite merit Melody Maker’s murderous desire, do you?

Anyway. To Three Star Compartment. This particular lyric concentrates on an ex-partner. Nothing original there, of course; that’s long been a pop music pillar. But where this track stands out is in its response to rejection as a badge to be worn: something that’s nurtured and cultivated by the afflicted party. This is best demonstrated in a line early in the chorus: When you’re kissing/But still missing me/It’s because you want to…

It’s a broad notion that Trophy Girlfriend, a blast of a Heavenly single that would emerge a couple of years down the line, took on too: Trying so hard to be what she wanted/Trying to look like she’s a loser…

Rather than relying on well-trodden pop (and indiepop) staples of The One, and of a love that burns both brightly and perpetually, Three Star Compartment faces down such ideas with a jaundiced eye: Can’t you see true romance is dead?/Dead always/So your heart’s broken?/You must be joking…

This is a great song. And it’s so plaintively sung. Also, the coda sounds not unlike Seamonsters-era Wedding Present. But is it a great short story? I think so. Sections of the lyric are conversational. That makes it easy to imagine being sat, amid the clank of cutlery on crockery, eavesdropping on this former couple and the tough love being administered to the half who’s wilfully occupying a space s/he must move on from.

Whoever they were, I hope they worked it out and managed to stay good friends

Three Star Compartment

Don’t ever speak to me again
In that way
I couldn’t care less
If you loved me best
And don’t say that you can love just once
For always
Try to forget all
Storybook drivel
And don’t say you’ll never love again
It’s clichéd
And so deluded
Stop being stupid

‘True love will
Never die’
You don’t think that’s a lie?
When you’re kissing, but still missing me
It’s because you want to
When you’re flirting, but you’re hurting still
It’s because you try to
When you left her, and said I was why
It’s because you lie, so
Kill your dreams and kill your love
I’ve had enough

Don’t tell yourself that I’ll be back any day
Hey you’re just dreaming
I know that feeling And don’t keep on saying “let’s still be friends”
There’s no way
While you’re still hoping
We could be loving
Can’t you see true romance is dead?
Dead always
So your heart’s broken? You must be joking

You think love is
Ceaseless and enduring
Well if that’s so
It’s unceasingly boring

No more always
For ever and repetitious
For ever and repetitious
For ever and repetitious

Musicians:

Amelia Fletcher: Vocals and guitar and OBE
Matthew Fletcher: Drums
Peter Momtchiloff: Guitar
Rob Pursey: Bass
Cathy Rogers: Backing vocals and keyboards and Scrapheap Challenge

And I think the words are by Amelia.

mp3 : Heavenly – Three Star Compartment

Obligatory ‘overdoing it’ section:

Should anyone be interested, this song existed first as a Peel Session version (broadcast 07/05/94). At that point it was called Dumpster, and it offers a few lyrics that were themselves consigned to the dumpster by the time the band recorded the LP version.

After a lot of searching (did you know there’s also a French power-metal band called Heavenly? I sure do) I’ve just found it online – thanks to https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/John_Peel_Wiki – and lovingly extricated it from the entire show.

After hearing this version for the very first time: it’s a faster tempo, I think. Certainly, it’s scratchier. The vocals are delivered more shrilly and stridently too. It is, therefore, absolutely terrific. Unfortunately, I think a middle section is missing from the recording. And it’s in mono. But it’s well worth a listen. Peel himself agreed: “Sounding good, it must be said, actually.”

mp3 : Heavenly – Dumpster (Peel Session)

strangeways

It’s a real cheat this week….a re-post of a guest post of what proved to be an unfinished series.

From Sunday 3 July 2011…..and the words of my very dear friend, Comrade Colin.

THE STORY OF SARAH (Issue 2)

TO A SIGH, AND GOODBYE

‘Amelia Fletcher never meant anything to me…’

Los Campesinos! – ‘The International Tweexcore Underground’ (2007)

Well, fuck those Cardiff Uni kids, really. Even though, I am sure, tongues were firmly in cheeks and all that… but, no one says that about Amelia. Except Amelia. Ok, so, I did say last Sunday that I was going to jump around a bit in terms of the back catalogue, just to try and ensure this run through All Things Sarah was not completely boring or predictable. And so it is we fast forward a wee bit to Sarah 30.

This incredibly sweet two track 7″ single was released in 1990 by the Oxford band Heavenly (featuring the wonderful talents of the aforementioned Amelia Fletcher, on vocals and guitar). This single, the first of quite a few releases they had on the Sarah label, was, in terms of the ‘feel’ of the record and the jangly sounds that came from deep within the black grooves, a very similar affair to the previous band that had featured the collective talents of all of those in Heavenly: namely, Amelia, her wee brother Mathew (on drums, RIP…), Peter Momtchiloff (guitars) and Rob Pursey (bass) – and the name of that former band was, big drum-roll, Talulah Gosh! (who were so engulfed in a sugary haze that when you played them all your front teeth fell out – fact).

Heavenly, to my mind, were the perfect Sarah band, and not just because of their history as Talulah Gosh or the fact they clearly hearted The Pastels. They just seem to capture the essence of what Sarah was all about; the guitars, the lyrics, the look and the love for, well, love. And, yes, in the beginning, the Heavenly view of love was a wide-eyed and hopeful vision of love, for sure, but what’s wrong with that, exactly? Oh, also worth mentioning is the fact that the ‘A’ side is relatively epic for a Sarah single – over 5 minutes long – but it holds together brilliantly and has a great run-out in the closing few minutes, building and building into a crashing finale. Lovely stuff.

So, yes, if you ever get the chance to spin discs at an indie-disco, this would be a perfect inclusion in the playlist. It’s just a beautiful record, really, and you should play it loud for best effect. Sigh. I used to love it when records instructed you to ‘play it loud’, often in capital letters as well. MP3’s tend not to say anything much, except ‘remix the fuck out of me, please’.

mp3 : Heavenly – I fell in love last night (5.19)

Comrade Colin