The backstory of McCarthy was told a short time ago in the post that covered Parts 15-17 of the series, thanks to Celestial City being part of the C86 cassette.
I mentioned how their earliest recordings were on The Pink Label.
Track 21, Disc 2 of CD 86
This, in March 1987, was the band’s second and final single for The Pink Label, and it reached #4 on the Indie Singles Chart. It had the catalogue number of PINKY 17. There would only be two further releases on the label before owner Simon Down closed it down, with spend having far outweighed income.
Yup….Cherry Red Records managed to get a Happy Mondays track licensed for inclusion on the 2014 boxset.
mp3: Freaky Dancin’ – Happy Mondays
Track 11, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.
The band, of course, shot to fame via what was known to all and sundry as Madchester, but just a few years previously, they had been regarded as a good fit for the C86 scene, particularly the shambolic element.
Signed to Factory Records in 1985, Freaky Dancin’/The Egg was their second single for the label, hitting the shops in June 1986. The catalogue number was FAC 142. It sold in such dismal numbers that it didn’t even make the Top 30 of the Indie Singles Chart. Even today, second-hand copies of both the 7″ and 12″ releases can be had for reasonable amounts.
The backstory of Age of Chance was told a short time ago in the post that covered Parts 7-10 of the series, thanks to Bible of The Beats being included on the CD86 release compiled and curated by Bob Stanley in 2006. I did, in that previous post, mention that the band were one of those who had contributed to the C86 cassette:-
mp3: From Now On, This Will Be Your God – Age of Chance
Track 11 on side 1 of the C86 cassette; Track 11, Disc One of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.
As far as I’m aware, not released on any of the band’s subsequent singles or studio albums.
The Clouds, from Glasgow, were a short-lived band whose recording legacy was just one half of a flexidisc and three songs on a single issued by the Bristol-based The Subway Organisation in January 1988.
mp3: Get Out Of My Dream – The Clouds
Track 9, Disc 1 of CD 86
It’s actually one of the two songs on the b-side, with the a-side being Tranquil. Released in February 1984, it was also just the second single to be released by Subway, a label that would continue through to 1990. Four of the compilation albums/boxsets I have covering this period/or the indie genre contain Get Out Of My Dream.
St. Christopher are from York, an historical Cathedral City in the north of England. They formed in 1984, with their first three singles coming out on their own Bluegrass label:-
mp3 : Go Ahead Cry – St. Christopher
Track 16, Disc Three of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.
This was their third single, and came out in 1986. The band would later sign with Sarah Records, releasing the 7″ singles You Deserve More Than A Maybe (SARAH 15) and All Of A Tremble (SARAH 20) in 1989, followed by the 7″ single Antoinette (SARAH 34) and the 10″ mini-EP, Bacharach (SARAH 403) in 1990, and finally the 7″ single Say Yes To Everything (SARAH 46) in 1991.
They would later record for a number of other famous indie-labels including Slumberland, Cloudberry, Vinyl Japan and Elefant.
The most recent album, Of Angels and Kings, was self-released in 2021. Like almost all bands who have been active for such a long time, the membership has changed a few times, but the one constant has been singer and main songwriter, Glenn Melia.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 