And so we reach the last of the Sha La La flexi discs series with a couple of bands that are making their debut on this blog. It’s also a flexi disc that featured in an overseas fanzine, which was a first for the label.
The two bands are The Magic Shop and The Visitors. Four fanzines gave it away – Make It In Ongar (Issue Unspecified), Simply Thrilled (Issue Unspecified), Hedgehogs & Porcupines” (Issue # 8) and 5,000 Miles From George Square (issue #2), with the last of these being with which the disc was distributed in Japan.
mp3: The Magic Shop – It’s True
The Magic Shop were a 1980s UK indie-pop band. That’s all it says on Discogs and I can’t find any mention of the band elsewhere on t’internet.
It’s a tad under three minutes long. It’s one in which the singer, like so many in the indie-pop scene, struggles to hit all the notes. It’s a lovelorn lyric…much more direct than many of the others songs in the genre. And there’s less emphasis on guitars than many others from the era. It’s decent enough without being ground-breaking.
mp3: The Visitors – Goldmining
The Visitors were from Devon in south-west England. ‘Obscure’ is the word used to describe them on Discogs. The members of the band were Christian Jones, David Griffiths, John Cleary, Paul Hooper, Stuart Troop, and Tim Hopkins. There were no other releases other than on this flexi disc until many years later when Matinée Recordings, in 2000, issued a CD called Miss consisting of eleven of the band’s songs, including Goldmining.
Sorry to say, this one doesn’t do much for me…..but overall, there’s been marginally more hits than misses across the 18 songs in the series.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 