Category: Pale Fountains

Crispy Ambulance, Danse Society, Felt, Jasmine Minks, Jazz Butcher, Lou Reed, Pale Fountains, Pastels, R.E.M., Wake

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (March Pt 3)

This would normally be Part 2 from March 1984, but I did of course, a few weeks back, spread the chart hits across two days worth of posts.

This is the usual half of the series looking at singles which failed to find much popularity with the record-purchasing public, but have proven to be of enough cultural significance to be recalled here on the blog.

mp3 : Crispy Ambulance – Sexus

A Manchester band who signed to Factory Records, albeit the two of their three singles and one album recorded and released between 1981 and 1984 came out on Factory Benelux, the Belgian imprint of the label.  Sexus was issued only on 12″ vinyl and is atypical of the band’s sound…..which many at the time (myself included) thought was too much like a cut-price early Joy Division in the days before Martin Hannett added his box of tricks to the sound. Indeed, lead singer Alan Hempsall stood in for Ian Curtis when he wasn’t well enough to perform the opening numbers of the set at what is now a very infamous gig in Bury on 8 April 1980, which ended in a riot among the audience and the band.

mp3: Danse Society – 2000 Light Years From Home

I’ve mentioned in earlier editions of this series that 1984 was a year in which goth, or variations of the genre, seemed to be everywhere.  Danse Society were from Barnsley, a blue-collar town in the north of England who formed in 1980 and by 1983 had signed with the major label, Arista Records.  The album Heaven Is Waiting, released in December 1983, had gone Top 40, but the subsequent release of this Rolling Stones cover, one which came with a touch of dance, made no impact on the singles chart.

mp3: Felt – Mexican Bandits

Felt may well have been a band, but to all intent and purposes it was the name under which the Birmingham-born Lawrence Hayward recorded and performed (albeit he never used his surname).  Signed to Cherry Red in 1981, there had already been two albums and four singles, all of which were critically acclaimed prior to Mexican Bandits which, like its predecessor 45s, would reach the indie chart but not come close to the mainstream chart.  But this really suited Lawrence who didn’t seem to want fame and all the hassle that comes with it.

mp3: Jasmine Minks – Think!

Originally from Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, the four-piece band relocated to London and signed to Creation Records, becoming a key part of that label’s early output and live scene centred around venues in central London.  Think! was the debut single, with the catalogue number of CRE 004, and it’s a belter.  In a previous mention of this 45, I said that I was waiting on either Edwyn Collins or James Kirk to start singing after that initial 20-second burst of energy.

mp3: Jazz Butcher – Marnie

The late Pat Fish (he passed away in October 2021 at the age of 63) was the one constant factor in the ever-changing line-up of Jazz Butcher.   The first single and album had come out in the Autumn of 1983, and Marnie, issued through the London-based indie Glass Records, was the first of the new material. For more on the life and times of Pat Fish, I’d like to refer you to the Friend of Rachel Worth’s wonderfully written guest ICA from back in March 2108.

mp3: The Pastels – Something Going On

Formed in Glasgow in 1982.  This was the band’s fourth single, but their first for Creation (it had the catalogue number of CRE 005).  Still very much on the go today, and while they have never had any meaningful commercial success, they have long been one of the most important and influential band to emerge from my home city given how much advice and support they have given to others who have come along in the subsequent decades.

mp3: Lou Reed – I Love You Suzanne

Don’t think any background info is required. The sole single issued in support of his thirteenth studio album, New Sensations.

mp3: R.E.M. – So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)

Don’t think any background info is required. The band’s third ever 45, and the advance single for their second album, Reckoning,   Still sounds immense 40 years on.

mp3: The Pale Fountains – (Don’t Let Your Love) Start A War

See the January edition (Part 2) of this series for the background on The Pale Fountains.   I hope you’ll agree, it’s turning out to be a great month for flop singles……

mp3: The Wake – Talk About The Past

A Glasgow-band who signed to Factory Records.  Probably best known for the fact that Bobby Gillespie was their bassist for a while, he had been involved in the debut album Harmony (1982) and the later single Something Outside (1983).  By the time Talk About The Past (FAC 88) was released, he’d been asked to leave.

Happy listening.

 

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