U2 – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

Big Country, Bronski Beat, David Bowie, Giorgio Moroder and Phil Oakey, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Prince & The Revolution, Specials, U2, XTC

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (September)

2-8 September

The month of August 1984 did offer up some gems, including what I have long held to be the greatest 12″ release of all time, William It Was Really Nothing/Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want/ How Soon Is Now?, issued on Rough Trade Records and which, in the first week of September 1984, peaked at #17 in the UK singles charts. Turned out it would be another two years before The Smiths experienced another Top 20 single.

So here’s a few other things that were happening forty-one years ago.

The highest new entry was a re-release, and one that wasn’t all that old. We Are Family by Sister Sledge had been a #8 hit in May 1979, and here it was, just five years later, coming back in at #32, and before the month was over it would peak at #4. It does seem the 1984 edition of the song was different from the original in that it was a remix by Nile Rogers.

The second and third-highest new entries at #39 and #43 are again examples of songs I genuinely cannot remember a single not of. Torture by The Jacksons and Heaven’s On Fire by Kiss. There’s actually only two new entries in the Top 74 worth posting here, and even then, the first of them, as far as I’m concerned, is far from this particular synth-pop duo’s finest 45s

mp3: OMD – Tesla Girls (#48)

The second, and I think I’m right in saying this, was the only hit single on which keyboardist and main songwriter, Jerry Dammers, took the lead vocal, and he does so with a falsetto.

mp3: Special AKA – What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend (#72)

The former would reach #21 and give OMD a ninth Top 30 hit in four years. The latter, in reaching #51, was the last single released on 2 Tone to reach the charts.

9-15 September

Dare I post the highest new entry this week, knowing that it’ll be met mostly by sneers and snorts of derision? Mind you, my young brother likes it, and he pops his head in almost every day

mp3: U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love) (#9)

The lead-off single from the soon-to-be released album The Unforgettable Fire. This, more than any of their songs, was the one which suggested their future lay in arena-rock. It would, in due course, reach #3, and remain their biggest hit single through till 1988 when Desire became their first #1.

The rest of the new entries really are like a roll-call of Smooth Radio computer generated playlists. It was painful enough being reminded of them again without actually typing them out.

16-22 September

David Bowie’s new single was the highest new entry this week.

mp3: David Bowie – Blue Jean (#17)

1983 had been Bowie’s best year ever, in terms of the actual sales/success of hit singles with Let’s Dance (#1), China Girl (#2) and Modern Love (#2). There had also been Serious Moonlight, a hugely successful world tour of arenas and stadia which brought on board millions of new fans, but had left fans of old wondering why their hero had sold out to the shiny pop world. This brand-new song won’t have done too much to put smiles on the faces of the older fans, while the newer ones might have been less than impressed, as it was nowhere near as immediate as the offerings from the previous year. Time hasn’t been kind to Blue Jean, or indeed the parent album Tonight. Blue Jean would climb to #6 the following week before experiencing a rapid tumble out of the charts.

Queen had the next highest new entry at #22 with Hammer To Fall, another song from 1984 that I can’t recall. Unlike the song coming in at #22:-

mp3: Bronski Beat – Why?

An absolute floor-filler at the student discos, and quite possibly the discos where the girls in white stilettos danced around their handbags, but I wouldn’t know as I never went near such places. Too many pounds, shillings and pence were required to gain entry, while the drinks were way more expensive than any student union. Smalltown Boy had only just fallen out of the Top 75 after a 13-week stay, so it was great that Why? kept Bronski Beat’s name prominently featured on the radio and TV stations of our nation. It would eventually reach #6 around the same time as debut album Age of Consent entered the charts at #4.

Another interesting song came in at #25.

mp3: Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain

Not one of my favourites, but loved by so many others. This single, its parent album and the film of the same name truly made a superstar out of Prince. This would also, like Why?, peak at #6.

I mentioned up above that Queen had a new entry at #22. The band’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, saw his first ever solo single also chart this week. Love Kills came in at #27. Two weeks later, it peaked at #10 which meant it had outsold and outperformed the band’s new 45. I wonder if any tension was created from such an outcome.

And finally from this week’s chart, a prime example of a slow burner

mp3: Giorgio Moroder and Phil Oakey – Together In Electric Dreams (#74)

There is a very interesting and telling background to this one, as recalled by the director of the film Electric Dreams, for which this was written as the theme song:-

“Giorgio Moroder was hired as composer and played me a demo track he thought would be good for the movie. It was the tune of “Together in Electric Dreams” but with some temporary lyrics sung by someone who sounded like a cheesy version of Neil Diamond. Giorgio was insisting the song could be a hit, so I thought I’d suggest someone to sing who would be as far from a cheesy Neil Diamond as one could possibly go. Phil Oakey. We then got Phil in who wrote some new lyrics on the back of a fag packet on the way to the recording studio and did two takes which Giorgio was well pleased with and everybody went home happy”

The song would spend 13 weeks on the chart, taking six of them to reach its peak of #3, all of which made it feel as if the song had been around forever, and even worse, was never going to go away

23-29 September

Big Country had been one of the UK’s breakthrough bands in 1983, and the band’s willingness to be seemingly constantly out on the road was a huge factor in how their fan base continued to grow. There had been one ‘stopgap’ single, Wonderland, earlier in the year which had provided a third Top 10 hit, and hopes were very high for the lead off 45 from what was soon to their sophomore album:-

mp3; Big Country – East Of Eden (#27)

To the consternation of the band and the record label, East of Eden would stall at #17, which was maybe an indication that the new material was less radio-friendly and a tad more rock-orientated than had come before. The big consolation was that the album, Steeltown, would enter the charts at #1 in early October.

And finally, in what it has to be said, really is something of an underwhelming month in this series:-

mp3: XTC – All You Pretty Girls (#69)

XTC released loads of great singles over the years. This, I’m afraid to say, wasn’t one of them. It would peak at #55.

The good news is that Part 2 of this feature will have a bundle of non-hit singles that have proven to be absolute classics.

JC

THE MONDAY MORNING HI-QUALITY VINYL RIP : Part Fifty-four: THE FLY

A while back, I briefly had a series of posts looking at singers/bands who, in my opinion, had at one time had it, only to lose it. I dropped the series after maybe two or three editions as it was causing more grief and hassle than it was worth, with folk coming in via the comments section and getting tetchy and/or angry. Differences of opinion are all fine and well across the TVV community, but I’m never comfortable when hostilities break out.

In saying all that, I run the risk of flak with today’s offering. It’s not the first time the song has been featured on this or the old blog, but it is the first time since I decided to splash out on the 30th Anniversary vinyl edition of Achtung Baby, which hit the shops in November 2021.

I really liked early U2, getting along to see them play live in front of packed and enthusiastic audiences in medium-sized venues in Glasgow – one night at the long-closed Tiffany’s on Sauchiehall Street will live long in the memory just for the fact it remains one of the hottest and sweatiest shows I’ve ever attended. I didn’t like late 80s-era U2, with The Joshua Tree being everything I detested about middle-aged rock music, seemingly being made by a band that had grown old before its time.

I first heard The Fly on the radio. It would have been a week or so before it was released as a single in October 1991, when it was played one evening on Radio 1. I was quite stunned by it as it was, to coin the cliché, a million miles away from what I had been expecting. Bono has since said that the song was the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree, such was the extent of the departure from the album which had won them millions of fans the world over. I bought the single on CD and a few weeks later, I went out and bought the album, again on CD. My thoughts were, and they remain the same today, that the album wasn’t perfect as it still had a couple of dodgy MOR moments, but for the most part it was a fine return to form.

The fact I bought the vinyl some 30 years later is a sad indictment of the reality that, despite what I think are my best efforts, I am very susceptible to the sales pitches of the music industry.

No matter that I accepted I didn’t play Achtung Baby all that much, and when I did I’d skip through some of the tracks, I really ‘needed’ to take home the vinyl records and hear The Fly in all its remastered glory via the needle hitting the groove.

I’m glad I did as it sounded great. Made me feel as if I was again in my late 20s…..those were the days.

mp3: U2 – The Fly

Feel free to disagree. I won’t mind.

JC

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (30)

I’m serious.

The earliest music and indeed live shows by U2 are a world-removed from the bombastic style over substance era which began, arguably, with their appearance at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in July 1985.

They certainly had come a long way in just six years, with their initial release being a 3-track EP on 12” vinyl, in a cheap record label sleeve, with a pressing limited to 1,000 copies, available only in Ireland (and for the most part, only in Dublin). The band were making a great impression on the local scene but struggling to be heard above everything that has happening in the UK in 1979 as post-punk/new wave became the flavour of the day for the industry bosses, albeit only as a way of trying to gain some critical credibility as the big monies were still being made from MOR chart fodder and disco (it’s worth remembering that CBS was the home to Abba as well as The Clash).

But, as David Byrne would come to sing, ‘How Did We Get Here?’

The abbreviated version is that they formed in 1976 while all still at school, going through a few personnel and name changes in the early years. They began life as a covers band, gradually incorporating more new wave/post-punk songs into their sets. In March 1978, they became a four-piece and took the name U2 and around the same time won a talent contest for which the prize was £500 and studio time to record a demo. They began to be hyped by Hot Press, a new fortnightly-published Irish music magazine and then approached by a 27-year old named Paul McGuinness who offered to be their full-time manager with the promise of booking gigs and studio time.

The band members were just 16-18 year old at the time and there is absolutely no doubt that without these developments, they would likely have sunk without much of a trace beyond the Dublin scene. Word of mouth that they were a great live act, with an energy not unlike many of the new UK bands who were making waves, ensured the youth of Dublin turned out in ever-increasing numbers. By August 1979 they were largely performing their own numbers and felt confident enough to return to the studio, determined that the mistakes made after the initial effort on the back of the talent contest the following year wouldn’t be repeated.

The said demo was three tracks and it was enough for CBS Ireland to show some interest. They offered to issue it on 12” vinyl but hedged their bets somewhat by making it a cheap release with just a generic sleeve and a run of 1,000 copies.

mp3 : U2 – Out Of Control
mp3 : U2 – Stories For Boys
mp3 : U2 – Boy-Girl

The initial 1,000 copies sold out quickly, and in due course the 12” would be re-pressed on at least seven occasions as well as appearing in 7” format, this time in a picture sleeve

Known as U2-3, it sold enough copies to go Top 20 in Ireland, leading to interest in the UK, with a London show in December 1979 being their first performance outside of Ireland. That particular show didn’t go well and so it was back to Ireland to think things over. The manager suggested a second single, which CBS Ireland were OK about releasing but without any further long-term commitment, as well as a tour which would culminate in a 2,000 capacity show in Dublin, one which would subsequently go down in local legend as one of the all-time great Dublin gigs.

Island Records swooped in as CBS continued to hum-and-haw. The rest, via a one-off single recorded in May 1980 with Martin Hannett, is history:-

mp3 : U2 – 11 O’Clock Tick Tock

The debut album, Boy, was released in October 1980. It included newly recorded versions of two of the songs that had appeared on the first release.

There is something about the early U2 releases which hinted they had something of a future, but I imagined at the time it would have been akin to so many other of the bands which emerged in the late 70s, namely a bright beginning followed by a fizzling away after a few albums. I had them down as being the Irish equivalent of The Skids…..

JC

Bjork, Dylan Rhymes, Jesus & Mary Chain, One Dove, Two Gallants, U2

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST CORRESPONDENT..WHAT’S IN YOUR BOX (32)

index

The Shoebox of Delights – #4a and 4b
The JBO Perspective 1988-1998/Two Gallants – What The Toll Tells

This week, I have cheated slightly, normally I just select the CD at the top of the pile – the order of the pile, incidentally changes on a daily basis, as my daughter likes to ‘look at the CD’s’ – by ‘look at’ she means throw around the room and use as plates for her teddies various tea parties.

I then try and somehow crow bar in a story from my past and tenuously (really tenuously) connect it to the CD. Top of the pile this week was ‘What the Toll Tells’ by country rock duo Two Gallants – now much as I love them and this CD, the (only) story I can connect to it makes me angry, to the point where if I talk about it too much I’ll be in a bad mood all day…….

I was given that CD by a bloke called Gareth outside Derby County’s football stadium in March 2006. I used to be good mates with Gareth but one night in 2011 he got drunk on a night out in Exeter – later than evening as we returned to my house (he was staying in the spare room as he lived some distance away) and we all retired for the night. About 2am – Gareth walked into the marital suite of the house and asked me and the wife if we fancied a threesome. He was stark bollock naked and he then vomited on the carpet. Before that moment I was interested.

I’m joking.

He was a Derby County fan, and to misquote the esteemed journalist Martin Kelner, I wasn’t about to interrupt 35 years of unblemished heterosexuality. Also he was dog ugly, when the Lord gave out looks, poor Gareth was cleaning the toilet. He left the house about seven minutes later. I haven’t seen him since – I did get a Facebook Friend Request off him about two years ago, but I ignored it. That probably makes me a bad person.

mp3 : Two Gallants – Las Cruces Jail

Other than this esteemed blog, one of my favourite places on the Internet is over at Drew’s place ‘Across the Kitchen Table’.

I love his perspective on life (and his utter hatred of ‘fucking decorating’) and the selection of music is terrific. If you haven’t checked it out – you can follow the link from T(n)VV.

One of the best features of the blog has been the series ‘It’s Friday….Let’s Dance’ – where every Friday, Drew selects a piece of classic dance music accompanied by a picture of a nubile young lady (or more often ladies) grooving. When you get to a certain age, little things like this can make your day. I think I have downloaded nearly track this year from the ‘Its Friday’ series – they sit in my own iPod in a Playlist simply called ‘Friday…’

I hope I am right when I say that Drew is a fan of the Junior Boy’s Own label – recently his blog featured a series of posts about some 12” records released on Boys Own – and it was excellent and contained some wonderful music. The CD second from bottom of the pile today – is ‘JBO – A perspective 1988 – 1998’ so I have picked that CD largely so I can wax lyrical about how good it and the label itself is – but also as a nod in Drew’s direction. Hope that is ok?

The album is not only a comprehensive selection (over two hours worth!) of JBO releases, it’s also a definitive collection of what was best about the ’80s-90s so far as dance and electronic music goes. Some of the absolute classics included on the disc are New Order’s “Everything’s Gone Green,” My Bloody Valentine’s “Soon,” The Chemical Brothers’ “Song to the Siren”, “Loaded” by Primal Scream and Underworld’s “Moaner.” It also includes some forgotten treasures such as ‘Fallen’ by One Dove and ‘Naked and Ashamed’ by Dylan Rhymes –on the negative side it includes at least one track by Simply Red – but that my friends is what the skip button was invented for. JBO was the label that took a lot of risks when they first started out and ended up being right at the front of an entire musical movement.

Enjoy

mp3 : U2 – Salome (Zooromancer Mix)
mp3 : Dylan Rhymes – Naked and Ashamed
mp3 : Bjork – Human Behaviour (Underworld Mix)
mp3 : One Dove – Fallen

S-WC

JC adds…………..

(1) I’m delighted that S-WC is appreciative of Drew’s work. His blog is one of the best and most original out there and I’m delighted that over the years, given we have some common tastes in fine music, we have been able to hook up at gigs and over the occasional social pint. He’s a top bloke….and I can vouch that he makes a very fine pasta.

(2) I love how the titles of the four tracks picked out from the JBO compilation can be linked to the tale told above

(3) I’ll say it….cos I know some of you will be thinking it and wondering if you’d get away with asking the question…..what would the answer have been if it had been OPG making the offer and not Gareth…..

Spear of Destiny, U2

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAMME…..

…..to send birthday greetings to the above handsome fella.

That’s my young brother – SC – who lives in Florida (where he moved back in the mid 80s…probably to escape my obsession with strange pop music). SC turns 49 today and while he is for the most part, a responsible doting dad and dedicated husband, he still has it in his head when he is out with the boys that he has the stamina, staying power and dance moves of his 19 year old self.

I didn’t get round to popping a card into the post for him last week, so he will have to make do with receiving his birthday wishes via T(n)VV – he is a daily reader and he has been known to leave the occasional comment.

My favourite musical memory with SC is of taking him to the Students’ Union at Strathclyde University to see Spear of Destiny. For the early part of the gig he stood next to me towards the back of the hall and then said he was going to move a little bit closer to the action. The next time I saw him, the band had gone off after their third encore and the lights had come up – there was SC stripped to the waist, sweating like he never had in his life before having just enjoyed a lengthy session in the mosh pit. He was ecstatic and his next pint of lager never touched the sides. Here’s to happy memories young bro’

mp3 : Spear of Destiny – Flying Scotsman
mp3 : Spear of Destiny – Rainmaker

I’ll also throw in a couple of songs from what has long been his favourite band. I know they come in for a fair bit of stick within the blogging community but they have done some decent stuff over the years:-

mp3 : U2 – The Fly
mp3 : U2 – Desire (Hollywood Mix)

Enjoy