Category: Various

A smidgen under sixty minutes of music in one large file.

As I said last time around, I’m going to try and make a fresh one at the start of each month during 2022.

mp3: Various – It’s A Love Thing

Love Gets Dangerous (Peel Session) – Billy Bragg
Do You Love Me? (single version) – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Love Plus One – Haircut 100
The Greatness and Perfection of Love  – Julian Cope
Tattooed Love Boys – Pretenders
The Man Who Took On Love (and Won) – The Low Miffs & Malcolm Ross
Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) – Spiller
Bizzare Love Triangle (7″ version) – New Order
Love And A Molotov Cocktail – The Flys
The Magic Piper (Of Love) – Edwyn Collins
California Love – 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman
Love Detective – Arab Strap
White Love – One Dove
South of Love – Friends Again
Baby I Love You – Ramones
Only Love Can Break Your Heart – St. Etienne
You Say You Don’t Love Me – Buzzcocks

As always, if anyone out there wants to have a go, I’ll willingly make space for a guest posting.

JC

I’ve found an old posting from the deleted blog, and feel that in these environmentally aware times that it is worth of recycling.  Originally from November 2009:-

It’s been a wee while since I threw some interesting cover versions your way. So much so, I feel it needs to be a quartet today – all of them covers of classics:-

mp3 : British Sea Power – A Forest

This is such a difficult song to cover. I’ve always felt that with this 1980 single, The Cure created one of the all-time classic goth anthems. Almost 30 years on, the original hasn’t dated one bit – it still fills the floor of indie discos the world over. Just the other week, I saw trendy young things dressed head-to-toe in black at a Halloween event scream with delight when this was played. Alongside them on the dance floor there were blokes old enough to be their dads just as excited….and closing their eyes and imagining themselves to be three stones lighter, with full heads of hair and so on.

To be fair to British Sea Power, they make a good first of it, and they manage to make it sound like one of their own songs. But….given how much prominent the bass line is in the original, it seems strange to discover it is so relatively low in this mix. Anyone got strong views either way?

mp3 : Carter USM – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

Once again, a very difficult track to do justice to. But if you didn’t know the original, I reckon you’d think this was yet another a Carter USM classic lyric and tune. Jim-Bob and Fruitbat have done a very fine job….the vocal delivery isn’t a million miles away from that of Paul Weller…and they keep the classic chant-along “whoa-oh-oh-oh” refrain after the song title is sung. I love it…..

mp3 : The Divine Comedy – Party Fears Two

Now, I am very sure about this. The Divine Comedy have taken one of the best-loved songs ever released by a Scottish group and ruined it. Neil Hannon is not a bad singer by any means, but his half-arsed effort at this shows just how distinctive and unique a vocal talent we had in the late and lamented Billy Mackenzie. And don’t get me started on how a great pop tune in the hands of Alan Rankine has been turned into something that makes me want to throw rotten fruit in the direction of those with the musical instruments in their hands. Bloody awful. But feel free to disagree.

mp3 : Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs – I Got You Babe

Despite me being just 2 years old when Sonny & Cher took this to #1 in both the USA and UK in the late summer of 1965, it is a song of which I know every single word and note,  simply because it was a staple favourite of radio stations for at least a decade afterwards. These were the years when DJs relied heavily on requests from listeners, and inevitably it would be a couple’s anniversary and this was the song they fell in love to and/or it was the first song at their reception. Oh, and it was always one asked for by wives on the Armed Forces request show on Sunday mornings for their husbands serving their country, usually in Germany or Belize.

Aidan Moffat‘s version, which was made available on 7″ vinyl if you bought the deluxe version of his 2009 LP How To Get To Heaven From Scotland has turned into one of my favourite bits of music released over this past year. Aidan delivers it with enough sincerity to make us believe that he’s a big fan of the original, and yet thanks to that brilliantly distinctive Falkirk twang in his voice he could just as equally be accused of taking the piss, such is the lack of polish in its production. Personally, I think he really is delivering a heartfelt tribute….and the singing and playing are complementary to much of what was on his own material on the LP. But if you don’t get Aidan Moffat or think Arab Strap are hugely overrated, then I suspect this cover is not for you.

JC

A GUEST POSTING by MARTIN ELLIOT

(Our Swedish Correspondent)

Hi JC,

Martin

JC adds..…As I’ve said before, I always look forward to Martin’s end of year round-up as there’s inevitably something in there that grabs may attention, and this year is no different.

Sixty minutes of music in one large file.

I’m going to try and make a fresh one at the start of each month during 2022.  As always, if anyone out there wants to have a go, I’ll willingly step aside to make room for a guest posting.

mp3: Various – I’ve Come To Learn How To Dance

Fire – BooHooHoo
She’s Attracted To – The Young Knives
Scratchyard Lanyard – Dry Cleaning
5 O’clock World – Julian Cope
Honey, Baby – Grrrl Gang
Living Well Is The Best Revenge – R.E.M.
Here Comes Comus – Arab Strap
Chaise Longue – Wet Leg
Thou Shalt Always Kill – Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
In Bloom – Nirvana
Up The Bracket – The Libertines
Stay Free – The Clash
Basement Band Song – The Organ
Ritchie Sacramento (The O.T.Mix) – Mogwai
Attack of the Ghost Riders – The Raveonettes

Quick mention of the excellent Grrl Gang.  I’ve been meaning to write-up something substantial, but not yet got round to it.

My love of Say Say Me and Otokobe Beaver, both of whom are signed to Damnably Records, led to me to look at their labelmates.

Grrl Gang are from Indonesia.  The one girl/two boy trio of Angeeta Sentana (vocals & guitar), Edo Alventa (guitar) and Akbar Rumandung (bass) have been together since 2016.   The track on this particular compilation was issued as a 7″ single around twelve months ago, while there’s also a nine-track LP, Here To Stay!, dating from February 2020 which is packed with what I can only describe as essential pop-tunes of an indie-bent. You’ll not be surprised to learn that the trio are fans of the Bellshill scene and Sarah Records.

JC

An unplanned ICA.  One with a difference.  And in all honesty, one that doesn’t hang perfectly but it might spark off some ideas among all of you out there.

I was loading up Angel Interceptor for yesterday’s posting when I noticed that the hard drive contained many examples of songs called Angel.  There’s even more with the word Angel in the title, and if I was to extend it to that, I’d likely come up with a more than half-decent ICA.  But I’m being strict for today, even to the extent of not allowing the plural to qualify and thus ruling out Ballboy, David Byrne, Flight of The Conchords and The XX.

SIDE A

1. Angel – Massive Attack

The very obvious opener. It’s probably the best known of the ten songs on offer today, It’s also, in my opinion, by far and away the best.  It also works as the opener as it is the first track on the 1998 album, Mezzanine.

2. Angel – The Style Council

It’s time for some Smooth Radio tunes here on TVV.  From the 1987 album, The Cost Of Loving, it’s a cover of a song originally released four years previously by American soul singer, Anita Baker.

3. Angel – Long Fin Killie

Long Fin Killie were a Scottish group from the mid-90s, described on wiki as experimental rock/post-rock.  There were three albums and five EPs between 1994 and 1998 on the London-based Too Pure label, best known for the early work of PJ Harvey,  The band got some prominence in 1995 when Mark E Smith did some guest vocals, with the song Heads of Dead Surfers being voted in at #10 in the Peel Festive Fifty.

Angel is taken from the Hands and Hips EP, released in 1996.

4. Angel – Andre Salvador and The Von Kings

This is a band from Nashville whose debut album was recorded in Brooklyn and given a physical release on the Last Night From Glasgow label in August 2020.  The promotional blurb offers the following:-

“Built around the songs of Tim Cheplick, the album takes inspiration from the likes of Elliot Smith, Camper Van Beethoven and Big Star and delivers something fresh, new and yet altogether comfortable and reassuring.”

It’s an album that I’ve grown increasingly fond of, having been a bit unsure when I first played it. Click here for the bandcamp page where you can have a listen.

5. Angel – The The

Side A closes off with a b-side, from the 12″ release of The Beat(en) Generation back in 1989.  It’s a three-minute-long, piano based track with a spoken vocal in which it sounds as if a sermon of some sort is being delivered.

SIDE B

1. Angel – Happy Mondays

You can find this one on the 1992 album Yes Please, the one recorded at great expense in Barbados with Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club in the producers’ chair trying their very best to make sense of it all.   I say Barbados….that’s certainly true for the music.  Shawn Ryder was so addled throughout that he couldn’t contribute anything, and as such his vocals were added weeks later in a studio in Surrey.

2. Angel – Belly

The second track on Star, the debut album released by Belly in 1993.

Fun fact.  This was the second song called Angel written and recorded by Tanya Donnelly.  The previous effort had been in 1989 on Hunkpapa, with her previous band Throwing Muses.  It was a rare occasion when a Throwing Muses song wasn’t composed by Kristin Hersh.

3. Angel – Everything But The Girl

I was in two minds about placing this here on the ICA or as the closing track given that it fulfilled that purpose on the album Love Not Money.  I’ve instead gone for the edited version, released as a 7″ single, but which barely dented the Top 100 when it was issued in that format in June 1985, but that was the fate which befell just about all of EBTG‘s early singles.

4. Angel – Kevin McDermott Orchestra

A Scottish musician who still does well around these parts on the rare occasions he releases new songs and/or plays live gigs.  He was part of The Suede Crocodiles whose sole single, Stop The Rain, is an absolute classic from 1983 as recalled in this post on the blog in March 2019.

The solo career never quite clicked with me, although I do own a copy of Mother Nature’s Kitchen, an album written and recorded in Glasgow in 1989, and released by the wonderfully named Kevin McDermott Orchestra, on which Robbie McIntosh of the Pretenders and Blair Cowan of Lloyd Cole & The Commotions were among the contributing musicians.

5. Angel – Rosa Mota

Formed in London in the early 90s, Rosa Mota would release two albums and a handful of singles on 13th Hour Recordings, a subsidiary of Mute Records.  As I’ve mentioned before, they came to my attention when Clare Grogan contributed a guest vocal to one of the songs on the second of these albums, Bionic, produced by Steve Albini and released in 1996.  Angel, a string-laden instrumental that also features clarinet, flute and basouki, just felt like the best way to finish off the ICA.

JC

About three weeks ago I was out running and as usual the iPod was my companion for that run. I was about halfway round my 5-mile loop, just before I get to this hill that I call James’ Hill. It’s called that because my mate James lives at the bottom of the hill. Anyway, it’s one of those hills that you can barely walk up, let alone run up, and every time I do this particular run I try and get a little bit closer to the top before I stop, wipe the sweat from my forehead, swear and walk the last bit (which is most of it).

So there I am puffing away, my run turning more into a stagger and then a walk and finally a complete stop, I’m about 100m or so from the top, closer than I expected to be honest. I stand there, catching my breath, my back is pointing up the hill and I look down and across the valley that I have just run through, it’s literally a breathtaking view.

About ten seconds later a song comes on the iPod. It was this in fact.

mp3: Working Mens Club – Valleys

Now…three years I would have sprinted all the way home and written a pithy little piece on my music blog about the amazing ability that iPods have to come up with the right song at the right time – but this time I just smiled and jogged home and thought about how brilliant the song was (and it is amazing by the way).

But…that itch was back.

The next day I was making some onion soup in the kitchen and the radio was idly playing away in the background and this came on

mp3: Teenage Fanclub – Norman 3

I stood there stirring gently, so not to spoil the onions too much, and that little lightbulb came on in my head. That’s two great songs by bands with ‘Club’ in their names that I have heard recently, there’s a series in this I’m sure I think, and there is – well until I get to this lot at least.

mp3: New Young Pony Club – Ice Cream

I reached for a pen and write the words “Club Music” down on the back of a school letter and then return to my onion soup.

That itch wasn’t going away.

The next day a mate messages me with a band recommendation, a band called Rome, who, if you are interested, sound a lot like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I’d post something by them but I don’t own anything by them (yet). I message him back, “Best Band with A City in their Name..?”

A few messages later – we haven’t decided but I have discovered how great this lot are

mp3: Vancouver Sleep Clinic – Collapse

The back of the school letter now has a list of two ideas and within twenty minutes it becomes a list of four with “Numberwang” and “Overrated” scrawled underneath the first two and then I stop and I draw a line through them all and feel a bit daft.

Enter Mrs SWC, she has I think been watching me from the lounge, with hawk like interest. I tell her I am thinking about blogging again, but it feels wrong without Tim helping me. It’s a bit like Jam Roly Poly without the custard, I tell her, largely because I am pretending to look at a recipe of Jam Roly Poly.

She looks at me and hands me her iPad it is showing a BBC item about Phil Collins and how he has reshot the photography on all his ‘classic’ solo albums – you know the ones – where just his face is visible against a plain backdrop.

“No Badger Required” she says….

No Badger Required goes live from 21st November, please check it out. There will be music, stories, and the occasional recipe (perhaps).

http://nobadgerrequired.wordpress.com/

Thanks for Reading

SWC

It’s not been easy supporting the Scotland team these past 20-odd years.  Growing up, I was accustomed to a limited amount of success in that we qualified for the finals of the World Cup in 1974, 1978, 1982, 1996, 1990 and 1998.  OK, once we got there, we never really acquitted ourselves and were always among the first teams to be knocked out at the initial group stages, but just being involved made for exciting summers.

We’ve not come close to getting to any Finals since 1998. Indeed, there have been a number of humiliations and far too many low points along the way ever since.

There was, when the qualifying draw was made for the 2022 World Cup, more hope than normal on account of us having improved under manager Steve Clarke and from being put in a group where we had a chance of at least finishing runners-up in.  But then, the football matches got under way and the hope evaporated.  The first fove games, played in March and September 2021 were very uninspiring.  We drew at home against Austria and away in Israel, our main rivals in the group, and while the defeat away to Denmark wasn’t unexpected, the manner of it – a 4-0 thrashing – was a horrible watch.  Yes, we had eked out home wins against the Faroe Islands and Moldova, the two minnows in our group, but we now had to more than likely win all remaining five matches to have any hope of realising the dream.

On 7 September 2021, we pulled off a surprise 1-0 win in Vienna, thanks to a goal from a penalty awarded after a debatable VAR review, seriously putting a dent in the hopes of the Austrians.

On 9 October 2021, we scored a goal in the fourth minute of added-on time at the end of the match to somehow snatch a 3-2 win at home to Israel.

On 12 October 2021, it almost came horribly unstuck, but a goal in the 86th minute saw us eke out a necessary three points in the Faroes.

The Danes were continuing to do us favours by winning their matches against Austria and Israel, and all of a sudden a path to qualification was open.

On 12 November 2021, we travelled to Moldova where a fine performance resulted in a 2-0 win, meaning we had secured second place in the group and a shot at glory.

Last night we played our final qualifying match against Denmark, a side that had breezed through its previous nine games, winning them all and indeed only conceding one goal along the way.  Anything other than a win would have meant our next step would be an away match, in March 2022, against one of the other runners-up with a better record than us, most likely against a side that was far higher than us in the world rankings.

Last night, Scotland beat Denmark by two goals to nil.  It’s undeniably our best and most important win in a generation.  Twelve teams will be involved in the next stage of the qualifying process, and last night’s win means we are guaranteed a home match, and unless we are terribly unlucky with the draw, we should be playing against a side who we can beat.  Do that, and we get down to the final six, with one more match to be won if we are to get to the finals.  The draw is next week……

There was a lot of post-match adrenalin, and I decided that it would best be served by pulling together, for the first time in a couple of years, a new one-take 60-minute mixtape.  I hope it meets with your approval.

mp3: Various Artists – Just Maybe…

TRACKLIST

Look At The Sky – Sons of the Descent
Ex Stasi Spy – Luke Haines
One Piece At A Time – Michelle Shocked
Fiery Jack – The Fall
Blues For Ceausescu – Fatima Mansions
Get Up – Sleater-Kinney
Firestarter – The Prodigy
Born Free – M.I.A.
Radio Free Europe – R.E.M.
I Sold My Soul On E-Bay – Swansea Sound
Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
Blue Boy – Orange Juice
Take The Skinheads Bowling – Camper Van Beethoven
Definitive Gaze – Magazine
Hey Heartbreaker – Dream Wife
Go Wild In The Country (12″ version) – Bow Wow Wow

Some you’ll know, while others may well be new to you. It’s well worth a listen, even if I say so myself.  And Taylor Swift straight into Orange Juice works perfectly.

Tune in tomorrow for some unexpected but welcome news.

JC

A GUEST POSTING by MARTIN ELLIOT

(our Swedish Correspondent)

Hi Jim,

The recent name-centered ICA’s gave me the idea of a Swedish Girls ICA – not in the sense the expression Swedish Girls was made world famous in the 50’s and 60’s but songs in Swedish named after girls.

I’ve kept to only songs in Swedish, my apologies for 10 songs with little meaning to the rest of the TVV community, but still. If for no other reason, it amused me putting this collection together, and it was an afternoon’s work rather than 3 months of constant changes.

Swedish Girls, a collection of names.

(Contrary to what you might think, Helene is far from the most common female name in Sweden, it’s Alice and has been so for many years.)

A1 Ebba Grön – Mona Tumbas slim club

Ebba Grön was one of the first Swedish punk bands, and the one that grew biggest. Mona Tumba was the wife of hockey pro, and later golf pro, Sven Tumba and she started her own fitness studio complete with a range of products and video courses. Our version of Jane Fonda. According to Ebba Grön we don’t need her slim club…

A2 Kent – Bianca

Kent, probably the biggest (indie) rock band we had within our borders. They also had quite a following in our Nordic neighbours, especially Norway, but by and large they were a Swedish concern. Lyrics often cryptic and hard to decipher, sometimes labelled emo – I would go for dark.

A3 Reeperbahn – Sång till Helene

Reeperbahn was one of the most important “new wave” bands that surfaced in the wave of music post punk-era. This is an early single, released 1979.

A4 Olle Ljungström – Alice

Olle Ljungström was the singer in Reeperbahn, after the band disbanded he had sorts of a solo career and in the 90’s he released a handful of brilliant records, but then disappeared in drugs, illness and isolation. He had almost recovered, was clean, when he died 2016 with a come-back album almost finished. It was posthumously finalized and released in 2017, so almost 40 years after the previous track here now is Alice, also sung by Olle.

A5 Thåström – Linnea

Joachim Thåström was the singer of Ebba Grön and has since then been in Imperiet (basically an evolution of Ebba Grön) and noise outfit Peace & Love & Pitbulls. Solo I would say he’s our Nick Cave, moving between rock and almost crooning, reading his lyrics more than singing. Always dark, moody. One of the greatest Swedish artists in modern time.

B1 Magnus Carlsson – Elin

Magnus Carlsson is the lead singer of Weeping Willows, band known for making middle aged men cry at their concerts with their 60’s-drenched pop with lyrics brim-full of lonely men and broken hearts. Solo Magnus leans more towards Northern Soul, and I had to include this since as at the time I had just met a woman named Elin – the chorus goes “Elin, you are, you are mine” – I played the song frequently. (She is now Mrs.)

B2 Tant Strul – Rosa

Tant Strul was the female version of Ebba Grön and singer Kajsa Grytt our version of Siouxsie, albeit blond. Apart from their debut album I wouldn’t say their music was punk, but they had the punk DIY attitude and at the time as an all female rock band they likely had to fight a mountain of stupidity from the recording business. Among the best we had at the time, and singer Kajsa is still active as a (very good) solo artist.

B3 Commando M Pigg – L Marlene

New Wave band from Stockholm, started out as Commando Musse Pigg (Commando Mickey Mouse) but the big American movie company didn’t appreciate the connection and they shortened their name to Commando M Pigg, and later just to Commando. Excellent band live, probably my best live experience.

B4 Webstrarna – För guds skull Helene

From their self-released rather quirky debut album. Webstrarna polished their sound moving on but became the band a bit inbetween – too pop for the indie kids and too strange (“left field”?) for the pop kids. They were big fans of Reeperbahn (see track A3).

B5 Anna Järvinen – Lilla Anna

Part Swedish, part Finish, but since she lives and works in Sweden I count her in. Dreamlike, fluffy like white clouds, her music is light, with room for less. Somewhat a lyricist I guess she can be harder to appreciate when you don’t understand the language, but I thought this pretty little piece would make a nice album closer. For the album this is lifted off she also made a cover of Cocteau Twins‘ Footzepoletic, but the week the album was released the band changed their mind and withdrew their approval of the song so the album got withdrawn – I was lucky to buy it early, so I have the original LP.

I salute those who cared to read this far, and if you even took the step to listen to some of the tracks I hope there were some Swedish Girls to your liking!

Tack och hej,

Martin

Strangeways said yesterday afternoon, in respect of the Jims, Jimmys and James’ICA:-

“A very fine idea for an ICA – and a lovely post. I wonder which female name could make up a companion piece?”

SIDE 1:

CATH – The Bluebells

This ICA was hurriedly put together after seeing the comment from my good friend Strangeways, which I took as a challenge, although he’s such a nice bloke that he certainly didn’t throw it down as one.  Warning, it may well lead you up the garden path (woah-woah).

KATHLEEN – Tindersticks

As featured not too long ago on the blog. Tindersticks have made a few live versions available over the years, this is taken from the CD single Bathtime and was recorded at the London Institute for Contemporary Arts (ICA) in November 1996.

KATE – Johnny Cash

Written by Marty Robbins, this version was released in March 1972 as the third single from Johnny Cash‘s album A Thing Called Love. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. (a thing I never knew existed until putting this ICA together). It was originally recorded by Rex Allen in 1961 with  the title “You Put Me Here (Sure as Your Name’s Kate)” issued as a single on San Antonio-based Hacienda Records. Which sort of provides a link to the next track….

I LIVE AT CATHY’S NOW – Graham Fellows

From 1985 and the album Love At The Hacienda. He used to be Jilted John, and later in life he became John Suttleworth.

KATY – The Boy Who Trapped The Sun

I’ve got this on the hard drive courtesy of Jacques The Kipper shoving a home-made compilation CD my way back in 2011. The Boy Who Trapped The Sun was the stage name of Colin MacLeod, who is from the rather remote Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. He was discovered, in just his early 20s, singing and playing in a bar in Aberdeen and offered a recording contract by Polydor/Geffen Records. He made one album, Fireplace (2010), but when the hoped for sales didn’t materialise, he was dropped soon after. It appears that Colin has sporadically released singles and albums under his own name over the past few years, with the latest Hold Fast, being released in June 2021. He clearly still has a lot of famous admirers, as none other than Sheryl Crow sings alongside him on two of its songs.

SIDE 2:

KATE MOSS – Arab Strap

“Don’t try and tell me Kate Moss ain’t pretty. Don’t try and make me believe. Don’t try to force me into letting you boss me. When I’m pretending to leave. I knew that you could ruin my good mood. That’s exactly what you’ve done. We sat there silent and you got violent. Going out with you used to be fun. You’re getting colder. No doubt you’ve told her I’ve just become a pest. Does she know maybe, you’re having a baby? I think it’s about time you did that test. You know I’ll miss you, when I can’t kiss you. You know I don’t want us to split. Now I must say, it’s going that way. You’re always bored and full of shit.”

Originally on the debut album, The Week Never Starts Here (released all of 25 years ago), this is taken from the band’s first ever live show at King Tut’s in October 1996.

CATHERINE 1956 – PAWS

The opening track from Cokefloat, the debut album by PAWS, released on Fat Cat Records in 2013. A remarkably upbeat tune given that it’s about the death of singer and frontman Phillip Taylor’s mother, but then again it really is a celebration of her life and the way she wanted him to pursue his dream of making it in the music industry.

COMPLAINTE POUR STE. CATHERINE – Kirsty MacColl

From wiki:-

“Complainte pour Ste. Catherine” is a song written by Canadians Philippe Tatartcheff and Anna McGarrigle. It was originally used as a B-side to another single,”Hommage à Henri Richard”, which was written by McGarrigle and Richard Baker, and released in April 1974. It was intended to coincide with the Montreal Canadiens entry into the 1974 NHL playoffs, but failed to succeed commercially after the Canadiens lost to the New York Rangers.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle then reused it for their eponymous debut album in December 1975.  Kirsty MacColl put it on as the extra b-side on the 12″ version of her single from 1990, Don’t Come The Cowboy With Me, Sunny Jim (which could, of course, have fitted in yesterday).

A few years later, in 2001, I would have the pleasure of seeing Kate & Anna McGarrigle on stage in Glasgow, when they brought their vocal talents to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, initially on the album No More Shall We Part, and then during the world tour which followed.

Which leads to another natural link…..

KATHY’S KISSES – The Birthday Party

Back in the days before Nick Cave got all sophisticated and became a darling of the chattering classes. From 1981. It’s everything you’d expect from something that was originally released as the bonus track of a 12″ single and until the CD re-release of the album Prayers on Fire in 1990 had been all but forgotten. Unlikely to be aired at a gig with a £100 ticket price in the near or indeed distant future.

CATH CARROL – Unrest

Unrest was an indie band from Washington DC. Some of their later material was issued by 4AD Records, including the 1993 album Perfect Teeth from which this tribute to the music writer turned performer is taken. Worth mentioning that the album cover was a photograph of Cath Carroll, as taken by the late Robert Mapplethorpe, so she was clearly happy with it all.

ICA 293.  Bashed out in an hour.  The things that can be achieved when there’s no longer a need to work for a living.

ICA 294 will return to its roots, being devoted to one singer or band.  And it’s going to be a guest posting.

JC

A GUEST POSTING by jimdoes

Hey JC

Hope all is well with you – this one has been a long time coming, but I finally put a bit of time aside to finish it.

Here’s another sort of random ICA – Jim, I’m sure you will approve! And I hope I haven’t missed a Jim song that is one of your favourites – and I hope there’s a couple you’ve not heard before. We’re lucky – there’s loads of songs with Jims, Jimmys and James’s in their titles – i’m not sure if it would be possible to do an ICA with any other names. Perhaps someone else could try?

I’ve kept it to five tracks per side but added in a little interlude that isn’t really a song but is great nonetheless (and a bonus track because why not?) – so without further ado:

HOW WAS IT FOR YOU? – AN ICA OF JIMS, JIMMYS AND JAMES’

SIDE 1:

JIMMY JAMES – BEASTIE BOYS (From LP Check Your Head)

THIS NEXT ONE IS THE FIRST SONG ETC ETC….

Apparently a tribute to Jimi Hendrix – but who cares about that? Opening track on my favourite Beastie Boys album – and if I was ever to get round to doing an opening track ICA, this would be in contention. And it doesn’t even say Jimmy, James or anything like that – yet as a bonus the title features both names!

JIMMY THE EXPLODER – WHITE STRIPES (From LP The White Stripes)

Track one on their first album – I’m not cool enough to say it was the first White Stripes song I ever heard – like a lot of people, that would be Hotel Yorba. But when I discovered them I bought everything I could and was blown away by this track – it remains one of my favourite White Stripes songs. I always used to put it first on compilations I’d do, as it’s such a good opener – you can’t help whooping along. But saying that, it’s relegated to track two on this ICA!!

JIMMY JIMMY – THE UNDERTONES (From LP The Undertones)

I can’t even begin to count the amount of times I’ve had Jimmy Jimmy shouted at me in bars/clubs etc – one of those songs I guess.

JIMMY JAZZ – THE CLASH (From LP London Calling)

There can’t be many readers of TVV that don’t know this song. If I was to have a favourite Jim song it would probably be this (or it is when I write this, tomorrow might be a different Jim song). I never heard this till I went to college aged 19 (I was late to The Clash) – my two best friends were huge Clash fans and they always called me Jimmy Jazz – which they still do to this day. Anyway, it has a certain wasted quality to it that I love.

HEAR ME JAMES – THE WOODENTOPS

So many Jimmy/James songs to choose from. This one is from my in between Smiths/Wedding Present stage – and was probably a taster to dancing a bit more in indie discos. Breathless. Sums up being young and giddy perfectly.

Interlude:

BIG JIM – IVOR CUTLER (From LP Jammy Smears)

HELP! I’m not sure that Ivor Cutler has ever been included on an ICA but here’s a tale of a drowning man. It’s weird and perfect in his choice of words – no matter how many times I’ve heard it, I can’t suppress a smile. John Peel was a big Ivor Cutler fan, recording 22 sessions for his show – only The Fall recorded more, apparently.

SIDE 2:

MY ONE AND ONLY JIMMY BOY – THE GIRLFRIENDS (Single)

I’d never have listened to this song if I’d not seen the title, but I love it – it makes you want to hug a Jimmy right? Or just dance with one at least! Released in 1964 this song is a bit of a lost gem – it reached no 49 on the US charts and was the only song The Girlfriends ever released.

JAMES AND THE COLD GUN – KATE BUSH (From LP The Kick Inside)

Who could resist Kate Bush singing and screaming their name? This isn’t about any James in particular but “James was the right name” apparently. The record company wanted this to be her debut single but Kate Bush wisely insisted on it being Wuthering Heights – this would’ve sounded equally striking and out of time for 1977 – but her career might’ve been different if she hadn’t got her own way. The live version from The Tour of Life is equally great – and the video is worth checking out on YouTube – what a performance – prowling around with rifles and handguns!

JAMES – BANGLES (From LP All Over The Place)

Aren’t the Bangles great? Poppy, dancey, Jamesy. Obviously I’m biased, but this is a great pop record – although if it was called Dave I’d still love it (but not quite as much).

JAMES – LLOYD COLE & THE COMMOTIONS (From LP Easy Pieces)

It’s strange how two songs with the same title can have such different atmosphere’s – from an uplifting James to a more downbeat James. I’ve only included this because it was the first song I was aware of with my name in its title. Not the best Lloyd Cole song, and certainly not the best song with James in its title. I never liked it as a youngster, and it’s a song I never listen to now, only digging it out to listen to for this ICA and my opinion of it hasn’t changed. You can’t help thinking any song with your name in the title is sort of about you, and it annoyed me (as a teenager) that the James of this song has so many negative traits. I’m glad that I’ve since discovered many other great songs with my name in the title! Anyway, compared to much of the upbeat nature of Easy Pieces, this song seems a bit miserable and maudlin – especially as it follows Lost Weekend on the tracklisting.

BROTHER JAMES – SONIC YOUTH (From EP Kill Yr Idols)

Guitar freak out where they sound like they are playing with drumsticks? CHECK. Kim Gordon screaming unintelligible lyrics? CHECK. Sonic Youth perfection.

Bonus track:

FIRE SO CLOSE – JAMES (Single)

And we even get the bonus of a band called James who have made one or two great records(!) It might be cheating to include them – hence it’s a hidden bonus track!

jimdoes

A DEBUT GUEST POSTING by FRASER PETTIGREW

There’s an archive clip in the unmissable new Sparks Brothers documentary that captures a moment of pure 1970s pop culture. During a live Sparks performance, sometime in 1974, the stage is being gradually invaded by the crowd, with security overwhelmed and unable to stem the tide. The band gamely strive to play on and at one point Russell Mael, with trademark energy, strides buoyantly across the stage belting out ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For the Both of Us’ only to be completely floored as he runs straight into an advancing phalanx of teenage girls.

YES! I thought, this is EXACTLY what gigs were like when I started going in the late 1970s! Pure uncontrolled mayhem! Hysteria and misbehaviour! Mob rule!

At some point many years later in my gig-going life I recall seeing kids literally queuing by the side of the stage during a performance, waiting to be ushered up and fed delicately onto the outstretched hands of the crowd, thence to ‘surf’ gently to the back, where they were deposited onto the floor like five year-olds on a boogie-board washing up in the shallows. Where, I asked myself, had it all gone wrong?

One of the first gigs I ever went to was The Clash at Edinburgh’s Odeon cinema in November 1978. From a balcony seat at my first gig, The Boomtown Rats a few months earlier, I had learned straight away that the place to be was down in the stalls, where a boiling mass of teenage ferment was seemingly connected by direct current to the frantic charge of ‘Looking After Number One’ and ‘Mary of the 4th Form’.

Accordingly for The Clash gig, my friends and I queued before the box office opened and secured stalls seats, quite far back, but wisely located on the aisle. When The Clash took the stage on the night we were well placed to bomb down the aisle into the explosion of human energy at the front just as the stage lights blazed and the band smashed into ‘Safe European Home’.

As I duly boiled in the teenage ferment I became aware that the row of seats into which I had insinuated myself was no longer fully attached to the floor and was moving back and forth with the surging crowd. Between me and the stage the fans were gleefully pogoing up and down on top of the remnants of the first half dozen rows of stalls, which must have succumbed within seconds to the rampaging punks.

Pretty soon my row of seats resigned itself to fate and capsized gracefully into the sea of legs in front of me. I was compressed in a bouncing, sweaty fug as The Clash continued their breakneck set. Had there been any rows left I would have been about three or four from the front, close enough to see the idiots who still seemed to think that gobbing was punk style in late 1978. Strummer was splattered by a steady stream of saliva that slithered down the body of his guitar, a translucent slime of pure stupidity.

During the encore The Clash attempted to play ‘White Riot’ but, Sparks-like, the stage quickly filled with fans, dodging the bouncers with side-steps worthy of a Welsh stand-off. Most of the song was smothered as people crowded around Strummer and Jones, making it impossible for them to play their guitars. Paul Simonon managed to escape onto the drum podium from where he and Topper Headon kept the bassline and rhythm going to guide the massed chorus of ‘White riot, I wanna riot, white riot, wanna riot of my own’, yelled tunelessly into the mikes by everyone on the stage. I saw someone grab a stand and inadvertently whack Strummer in the mouth with the mike. I wondered if that was the origin of his famously cracked incisor or if it had always been like that.

Bouncers vainly tried to throw people back into the crowd and intercept new interlopers. In the midst of it all Viv Albertine and Ari Up of support band The Slits skipped merrily from one side of the stage to the other, after the fashion of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.

The recklessness of punk crowds was legendary in those days, matched only by the ferocity of bouncers. Some other friends who went through to Glasgow’s Apollo Theatre to see Siouxsie and the Banshees told me they saw one bouncer literally punch a fan in the face, knocking them right off the (rather high) stage. Had it not been for the packed crowd onto which they fell it might have ended more tragically, but then it wouldn’t have been the first time at a rock gig that the security turned out to be the biggest threat to people’s safety.

From subsequent gigs by The Jam and even Elvis Costello I realised that the seat-trashing thing was pretty much standard procedure. The theatres must have been creaming in so much profit that they could factor in the repairs to their break-even calculations, otherwise why the hell did they ever book bands?

And therein, my friends, lies the clue to the present age of sanitised, stage-managed, emasculated rock and roll. It’s a business – no shit Sherlock, it always was – but like every other sphere of business since the 1980s it’s been modernised, commodified and globalised until it’s just as much a part of everyday life as a Big Mac, an alco-pop, an iPhone and a pair of dropped-crotch jobby-catchers. ‘They got brand new suits – huh, you think it’s funny, turning rebellion into money,’ sang Joe Strummer that night in 1978. We thought it was a challenge, not a prophecy.

Which is not to say I’m pining for the days of uncontrolled violence at gigs. I know that if I was a parent now I’d be absolutely shitting myself at the thought of my kids going to events like that. My parents, coming from the generation before rock’n’roll, were blissfully ignorant of what I was up to, despite the media’s moral panic over punk rock.

The worst it got was when they picked me up after seeing The Rezillos at Clouds Ballroom in August 1978. Living out of town as we did, I could make a late bus home after a gig at the Odeon, but I knew shows at Clouds were a different matter. My parents agreed to pick me up when I told them disingenuously that it would likely finish ‘about 11 or 11.30’. When I finally emerged at 1.30am they were far from amused, not least from having sat for two hours watching the human debris floating around Tollcross at that time of night and the state of Edinburgh’s punk proletariat disgorging from the ballroom alongside me.

Thankfully the gig was well worth it. The memory of a wee boy, no more than 10, extricated from the molten crush at the front, riding piggy-back on lead singer Fay Fife while squirting the crowd with a water pistol will never be erased, least of all for that kid, I hope.

At a couple of points in The Sparks Brothers film, reference to the Mael’s early captivation by rock’n’roll is visualised by the same black and white footage of wrecked theatre chairs being aggressively thrown into a pile at some 1950s Jerry Lee Lewis gig. The Killer pounds his piano while lines of nightstick-wielding police officers try to protect the stage from the riotous assembly before them. It’s a stock image of rock’n’roll carnage, its threat to order, its dangerous ability to induce frenzy in the young. The intention is ironic in Sparks’ case, but still, you get my point. Those chairs.

From its emergence as a truly mass popular music genre, rock’n’roll was barely much more than 20 years old by the time I started going to gigs, and the punk revolution had reinvigorated its disruptive, rebellious character for my generation. Looking back now, more than 40 years after I trampled the Odeon’s seats underfoot, it almost seems as though that time was already rock’n’roll’s last fling as a spontaneous transformative force in cultural and social norms.

You might think I’m about to deliver some piercing cultural insight about rock’n’roll, globalised capitalism, social and cultural revolution, and the pivotal role of theatre seats in it all. Or maybe I’m just another old Gen-Xer, rolling out the nostalgia for the liberating moments of our adolescence. Wonderful in young life. It was a glorious experience. Kids today will never know, etc. And neither they will, but maybe they’ll know things we never can and music will change their lives in different ways to how our music changed us.

The truth is that between 1955 and 1985 our social world changed more than in almost any other 30 year period in peacetime history. Rock’n’roll was as much a symptom of that change as a cause, and we kid ourselves if we think it was the other way round. The mayhem of music’s performative rituals during those three decades was like the ground cracking and buckling in an earthquake. Social and intergenerational relations were being remade and it was a rough ride for a while.

But since the 1990s there has been little remaking to be done. Now the parents of teenagers are people who have grown up through those social changes themselves. They’re not the monolithic conservative and conformist generation born before the war, before rock’n’roll. They accept the end of deference, the notion of social mobility, the reality of sexual liberation. They don’t really care whether people are gay, or unmarried mothers, or wear their hair long, or smoke a bit of dope now and then. Those things don’t threaten anything in their lives anymore. They’re people like me, who went to Clash gigs when they were 15.

The revolution is over. It’s been televised, and you can watch it all again on those decade nostalgia programmes produced by Tom Hanks. There is no wild rock’n’roll mayhem anymore because there’s no need. There are still revolutions to be had, but they’re not of the kind that pitted kids against their parents. Rock’n’roll is just music now. So you can stop, flip down the cinema seat and sit quietly watching for the rest of your life, and if you live long enough the ground will start to shake again.

FRASER P

JC adds…….

First of all, a huge thanks to Fraser for a wonderfully written debut piece for the blog.   I really hope it’s the first of many, and again I realise just how lucky I am to have so many talented folk out there so willing to give freely of their time.

Secondly…..I’ll echo Fraser’s words on the Sparks documentary.  I had prepared a review of it, having gone along to see it on 30 July when it was followed by a Q&A with the Brothers Mael, hosted by Pete Paphides, but I pulled it when I saw that Fraser had opened up his piece with a reference to it.  If it is still playing in a cinema near you, then I’d recommend you get yourself along.

Thirdly…the incident at the Glasgow Apollo mentioned by Fraser was quite rare, for the simple fact that the stage there was at least 15 feet, which meant you couldn’t clamber up from the stalls and it would take a death-defying leap from the balcony to reach your idols….but it did, occasionally happen, most likely thanks to a combination of booze and speed making the bloke (and it was always a bloke) thinking he was Superman.

Fourthly….I couldn’t find a good or clear photo of any invasions at punk gigs, and the one use above is from the Specials playing in Brighton in 1979.  It’s maybe a bit more friendly and less confrontational than the punk invasions of the era, but it certainly captures the chaos.

Finally….Fraser didn’t offer up any music to go with his words, so I’ve picked out a few based on what he’s written:-

mp3: Sparks – This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us
mp3: Boomtown Rats – Mary of The 4th Form
mp3: The Clash – White Riot

Again, huge thanks to you, Fraser. Keep ’em coming.

I’ve always said that this place would be far poorer if it wasn’t for the views, thoughts, contributions and postings from others,  Here’s some evidence from back on 19 February 2014:-

In recent weeks, in response to what has been posted on T(n)VV, a number of readers have made suggestions about tracking down some songs. Here’s what I mean:-

“Heard CHVRCHES version of Bela Lugosi?” : from London Lee on 5 February

“On the other hand, Lightspeed Champion has made some pretty good records. I loved ‘Madame Van Damme’.” : from The Robster on 31 January

“Last year, Kylie sang vocals on a track called ‘Whistle’ by Icelandic electronica meisters Múm. It’s probably my favourite thing she’s ever done, even topping that Nick Cave duet and her Dr Who appearance. I very strongly urge you to check it out.” : from The Robster on 29 January

“The Flaming Lips have a pretty good version of I Can’t Get You Out of My Head” : from Brian on 29 January

“Frank Sidebottom did a tremendous Kylie tribute track which is worth tracking down” : from Charity Chic on 29 January

So as The Chemical Brothers once chanted on a hit single of theirs (but, as pointed out to me by acid ted, who is my oldest non-Glasgow based blogging mate, it was originally on “The Roof is on Fire” by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three)……..

……HERE WE GO!!!!!

mp3 : CHVRCHES – Bela Lugosi’s Dead
mp3 : Lightspeed Champion – Madame Van Damme
mp3 : Mum – Whistle
mp3 : Flaming Lips – I Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
mp3 : Frank Sidebottom – I Should Be So Lucky

Thanks again everyone for keeping the faith this week (he types optimistically before seeing the responses these past few days).  I’m hoping normal service will be resumed next week.

JC

Elaine Paige Can Get to France : (A cool AF tribute to Musical Theatre)

ACT TWO of the guest posting by STEVE McLEAN

I Got Life – Nina Simone (from the musical Hair)

Hair. Again! It’s awesome. The show is a pretty well intended attempt at a counter culture, anti-war musical that got out of control. I believe it was written as it evolved on stage which brings it closest to the high art end of the theatre spectrum.

I’m not gonna take the piss here. This song is out-and-out boss. Another Hair classic that has had the stageyness stripped away to reveal a marvel of the number. Plus she sings ”boobies” out loud in place of the ‘tits’ from the show and for that alone it’s a dream. I only like words for breasts if they can be spelled on a calculator turned upside down.

I Can’t Help Loving That Man – Bjork/Trio Gu (from the musical Show Boat)

So the Show Boat version from the film(s) is much slower and less raunchy. Bjork gives us a rendition more akin to a ‘jazz club standard’. Show Boat the musical has been the subject of much debate over the use of what many feel are derogatory racial slurs in the original text.

It’s worth noting that most of these slurs were changed for the film versions of the 1930s and 1950s and for the stage revivals. Have you ever had an argument with a knuckle dragger who believes that the world is either ‘woke’ or ‘PC gone mad’? Did they mention that ‘you can’t say anything these days’ especially around Christmas about a certain Pogues song? Then you can tell them about the ever evolving Show Boat musical and how what they perceive to be political correctness is just being considerate to the feelings of others AND what they seem to think as ‘these days’ has been going on since at least the 1930s! That’s right the 1930s! So the lefty-woke-mafia haven’t in fact ‘taken over’ in almost 100 years. I digress.

This song may serve as a prototype for Bjork‘s take on Oh So Quiet. She over eggs the pudding slightly, but it does make you yearn for more. It’s time she packed away all the bleeps and boops and loops and did a six-month residency at Ronnie Scott‘s with a piano, drummer and double bass…

I Feel Pretty – Little Richard (from the musical West Side Story)

West Side Story hangs over musicals as template for the good guys / bad guys / bad guys who are good guys and finger clicking. It’s Romeo and Juliet but with the name changed (See! It used to happen all the time. If only The Only Fools and Horses musical had been called ‘We Need To Find A Way To Keep The Christmas Merchandise Deals Now John Sullivan Has Passed Away’…. Dream it and it will happen)

Little Richard was born to sing this song, he makes this into a stomper with his backing singers offering up a call and response. He recorded it for a West Side Story tribute album in 1996 from which he is clearly the stand out contributor. The other really notable song is “Gee Officer Krupke” – Salt N Pepa, Def Jef, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, The Jerky Boys & Paul Rodriguez... which surely could have had the acronym of SNPDJLLELTJBAPR. Beware though if you buy the album, the last track is by Phil Collins.

Did You Evah? – Debbie & Iggy (from the musical High Society)

High Society is an adaption of Philadelphia story, but the song first appeared in the musical Du Barry Was a Lady. The story goes that they had all but finished filming and the studio realised that the two stars didn’t have a duet, so Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were called back to add in this number. To be honest, it’s not a great story. You’d expect a story with Bing and the Chairman to have more martinis, some form of party and Deano ‘n’ Sammy stealing the show again. They can’t all be zingers I guess.

The updated version from Debbie and Iggy really hits the spot. You can tell they’re having a blast, and you can tell they’ve known each other for years. It’s SWELLEGENT!  The song was recorded from an HIV Awareness album called Red, Hot and Blue which took famous Cole Porter songs and reimagined them.  As with the West Side Story album mentioned above, it’s patchy. Sinead O’Connor‘s take on You Do Something to Me is worth your time but you can happily ignore the U2 and Lisa Stansfield contributions. Lisa Stansfield AND U2, can this get any more Chart Show?

Trust In Me – Belly (from the musical The Jungle Book)

The Disney adaption of the Jungle Book is pretty definitive, right? There’s nobody making a case for the straight to VHS versions or the various live action remakes?
This sultry number by Belly (and recently featured on a nifty RSD compilation of B-sides) is possibly the template for the Scarlet Johansson version in the live action remake. This is a pretty timeless take, and it has a swagger with elements of Peter Gunn style cool, yeah I can write the music-y words when I want. It does have a menacing lead guitar that you screams Joe Meek. Disney never sounded so raw (not true, the Black Hole soundtrack is fucking bleak).

Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In- 5th Dimension (From the musical Hair (again!)….

To round us off we’ve come full circle and gone back to Hair. Not just Hair but the song we started with. Let’s be brutally honest, this version of Aquarius is annoying as fuck. I love the 5th Dimension but Jesus this gets on my tits.

BUT!

Once you get over the hippy tedium…  well, to paraphrase Ian Watson of How Does It Feel To Be Loved ‘Let The Sunshine is the reward for getting through Aquarius…’ he was spot on too. That bass line! It’s so big! A psych soul hippy freakout. Play loud and try not to dance. You can’t, can you?

While I was digging around these I came across a load of others. Aside from the two tribute albums mentioned in above, there’s stuff like Siouxsie and The Banshees doing their own take on Trust in Me and Sparks did a great version of Do Ri Mi. There’s enough to do a second list.

But perhaps I’ll write about musical theatre stars who have recorded pop songs that you might not have expected. Did you know that John Barrowman covered Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic? Or that Tim Curry recorded a great version of Baby Love? Elaine Paige made a whole album of Queen Covers?

I know what you’re thinking ‘That sounds fucking shit’ and you’d be right. Seriously, go listen to her version of Radio Gaga and then cut out your short term memory….. But bless her for trying.

STEVE McLEAN

The weather, here in Glasgow, was very warm and sunny in the final couple of weeks in the month of June.  As such, I was disinclined to sit indoors at the keyboard churning out lengthy and analytical pieces with which to bore you rigid, and instead I came up with a look at some big hit singles which otherwise wouldn’t normally feature.  But then, over the weekend, two e-mails dropped in with stuff for guest postings and by good fortune offered the possibility of four pieces, which is why the remainder of this week will be a JC-free zone.  The big hit singles mini-series will likely be here this time next week.

Oh, and I’m typing this looking out to a sky that is more January than July.  One thing is always certain here in Glasgow and that’s that you can never predict the weather with any certainty.

Here’s my stand-up comedian friend to entertain you:-

Elaine Paige Can Get to France : (A cool AF tribute to Musical Theatre)

ACT ONE of a guest posting by STEVE McLEAN

I love musicals. Musicals are fun. They’re big, loud and pompous, and they’re very accessible for people who don’t usually go to the theatre. There’s one thing that musicals are not and never will be however, and that is cool. Not even the Rocky Horror Show can cut it as cool these days. The RHS is perhaps formerly cool, but the taboo 1970s subject matter has dulled somewhat and while it still maintains a cult status, so does Russ Meyer. Admit it, middle-aged men in ladies underwear is really just a search history that needs clearing.

There’s a naffness that goes hand in hand with show tunes, especially the versions the hit the charts. Artists of the 50s through to the 80s often visited the hit parade belting out something from Cats or Starlight or Spies like Us, The Musical (the last one I made up, but you know, dream it and it will happen). But why should Elaine Paige or Michael Crawford or Philip Schofield have all the drama school fun? You’d forgotten that The Schofe played Joseph and had a top 30 hit with Close Every Door, hadn’t you? I hadn’t. It plagues me to this day.

I’ve assembled a list here of great show tunes being played by acts so cool they’d make Sinatra look like Eugene from Grease….. Elaine Paige can get to France.

Let the Sunshine In – Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity (From the musical Hair)

Gonna start off big. Julie Driscoll, darling of the 1960s R&B Mod set teamed up with Brian Auger and The Trinity to produce one of the most needlessly wordy band names of the decade (no one is buying these records for The Trinity guys, you’re just lying to yourselves) However they also produced a tip-top version of Let The Sunshine In (from Hair). They stripped out all of the pomp to reveal that the song is still a belter without the teeth and tits. It’s a solid keyboard driven jazz psych rocker (I hate myself for that phrase). I’ll speak more about Hair later but for now just lose yourself in this song. It’s all tilted camera zooms, bead necklaces, miniskirts and kinky boots. The keyboard solo kicks backside and Driscoll sings circles around the song too. ‘Sealed with a righteous kiss”

I’ll Never Fall In Love Again – Deacon Blue (from the musical Promises, Promises)

I chose the Deacon Blue version as I feel we don’t hear enough of them these days. Dionne Warwick‘s version is probably my favourite but this works very well slowed down and delivered with the Ricky Ross singing whisper (listen up Stuart Murdoch, it was his first and best..)

A Bacharach & David standard, it was written for the musical Promises, Promises (Neil Simon) which was an adaption of Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. When people complain that ‘everything gets made into a musical these days’ remind them it has always happened but they at least had the decency to change the titles. If this was still in practice then the forthcoming Back to the Future musical might be called Time Traveling, Mum Shagging Teenager from Suburbia. (Dream it and it will happen).

I Got Rhythm – Brian Wilson (from the musical Girl Crazy)

Brian turns this finger clicker into a sweet surfing number and it really suits the song. The best version is probably Fozzie and Rolf from the Muppets but this is up there.

It’s from the Gershwin show Girl Crazy which in these modern times is probably both sexist and a mental health micro aggression but back on the 1930s it was mainly about working on a ranch that employed showgirls… showGIRLS working a ranch? That’s CRAZY! And boom!  We have a title.

The musical has been filmed a couple times with notable story changes. The most peculiar seems to be a version featuring Herman’s Hermits, Sam Sham and the Pharaohs and Liberace that was re-titled ‘When Boys Meets Girls’ which seems a lot less exciting.

Send in the Clowns – Grace Jones (from the musical A Little Night Music)

Just admit that you know this tune best from a Simpsons episode, you god damned fucking heathen. Seriously though Krusty the Klown makes a fine mockery of the 1970s US TV special that carried on until the 1990s before people realised it was just orchestra karaoke.

It’s from the show A Little Night Music which I’ve not seen but the best I can work out it’s a creepy story about some kind of Bill Wyman / Mandy Smith relationship.
There’s some side show with a jealous son and horny housekeeper. It sounds like a fucking Benny Hill episode.

This song itself sure is beautiful but let’s be honest, the Judy Collins or Sinatra or Streisand versions are dreary as fuck. Grace Jones kicks the song in the balls and sticks some cracking 80s synths on it. I don’t think Jones ever gets enough credit for how big her voice can be. The song is great showcase for her talents.

You’re The One That I Want – The Beautiful South (from the musical Grease)

Okay, I’m busting my cool remit here. Everyone loved the Housemartins but people had split opinions on the BS. There were those that felt they so-so and those that thought they were just okay.. This, however, is a welcome change from their 1995 One-Eff-Em fodder. It has a real sinister vibe to it. Maybe it’s just the strings but it just feels like one of them has the other in a basement chained to the wall….

The song is from Grease. I’m not going to talk about Grease, we all know it’s fucking awesome. Anyone who doesn’t think Grease is awesome is fucking liar. The whole shebang is cracking from the off. The Barry Gibb penned / Frankie Valli sung opening number, the greasy rockers, the awesome cars, Rizzo being the true star over Sandy and fan theories about it taking place in the afterlife. The ending is a bit creepy though with a terrible message to young girls to start smoking and dress in a catsuit of you want boys to like you.

Grease 2 is also awesome, some would say a far superior film. By some I mean me.

September Song – Lou Reed (from the musical Knickerbocker Holiday)

I can’t tell you much about this show but from wiki it seems like a disaster capitalist’s wet dream. The show makes a comparison of FDR’s New Deal policies to Fascism. Replace the FDR stuff with masks or vaccines or whatever some wankenstain on Twitter is banging on about and it could be right up to date. Seriously, is there anything that whack-jobs don’t equate to fascism….? Apart from actual fascism which they seem to love. This show sounds like the Daily Mail comments section set to music which has given me a great idea for my next Edinburgh Fringe show.  I digress….

It’s usually quite a slow number but Lou rocks it up and then talks over it (like he does with pretty much everything he recorded after 1978).

A much more faithful version of the tune was used as the theme tune to the sitcom May to December, which was yet again about a young woman in a relationship with an old man. At some point we have to start asking questions about these songs. One of the questions certainly isn’t ‘How can I get in on this?’ no siree bob.

END OF ACT ONE.

PATRONS ARE ASKED TO RETURN TO THEIR SEATS AFTER THE INTERVAL OF 48 HOURS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SHOW.

STEVE McLEAN

It’s strange how some things often happen to coincide in various walks of life.

Today is the 3,000th posting on The (New Vinyl Villain) which means it has lasted longer and offered up around 500 more posts than could have been found over at the original site.  My thanks to everyone who has been part of this community over the years, whether in the guise of guest contributors, commentators or simply happy to drop in occasionally for a peek.  A huge thanks……..it’s knowing that folk are interested that keeps me motivated to ensure a posting appears every day, even if some of them are repeats from days of old.

Today also happens to be my 58th birthday.  For once, I’ve no plans in place to do anything special – Mrs Villain is actually away this weekend with some friends to one of the Scottish islands, a trip that has been much postponed and the next few days were one of those rare occasions when diaries allowed everyone to hook up.  Besides, I would have been pleading my case to stay indoors anyway as tonight sees the much awaited England v Scotland match in the European Championships.

I’ve thought long and hard about which songs to post today, and I’ve changed my mind on umpteen occasions. In the end, I went for the SWC and Tim Badger approach. Pick up the i-phone, hit shuffle and pause it on the songs that come in at #58 on the next ten occasions thus creating a wholly random birthday ICA. Note…there were 45,000 songs on this particular i-pod, so the odds of landing lucky were quite high.

Side One

1. Bettie Serveert – Hell=Other People (alternative version)

Bettie Serveert are an indie band from The Netherlands. Hell=Other People (alternative version) is from their 2006 album, Bare Stripped Naked, and is a cross between the softer side of The Cardigans and Camera Obscura.

2. Client – Pornography

Electronic pop from England. There were five albums between 2003 and 2014. Client originally consisted of Kate Holmes (ex Frazier Chrous) and Sarah Blackwood (ex Dubstar), but performing as Client A and Client B, specialising in the visual elements of performing as much as the singing. It’s all a bit complicated, so click on this wiki page for more. Pornography was a single released in 2005, and features a guest vocal from Carl Barat (The Libertines). I’ve a 7″ copy of the single which, in reaching #22, was their biggest hit.

3. XTC -Grass

As featured here, previously back in August 2017, as Part 22 of the XTC singles series

4. Dead Kennedys -When Ya Get Drafted

From the debut album Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (1980).  Just 84 seconds long., so you best quickly get jumping around and working up that sweat.

5. Pet Shop Boys – Girls Don’t Cry

A more than decent b-side to I’m With Stupid, released in 2006 and which reached #8 in the UK charts.  I’m tempted, at some point, to have a Singular Adventures look at PSB….

Side Two

1. Aswad – It’s Not Our Wish (John Peel Session)

The lack of reggae on the blog over the years will give away the fact that I’m not the genre’s biggest connoisseur. Aswad, a London-based group, are the most successful reggae act to emerge from the UK, and are still have been on the go having formed in 1975. This was included on Movement, a 41-song compilation CD featuring John Peel Sessions between 1977 and 1979. It’s Not Our Wish was recorded on 10 October 1978 and broadcast on 18 December 1978.

2. Joe Jackson – One More Time

The opening track from the debut album Look Sharp (1979). A genuine classic of the post-punk/new wave genre that has been aired on many an occasion in Villain Towers and previous dwellings over the past 40+ years.

3. Sexy Boy – Franz Ferdinand

I’m not all that surprised that a cover came as one of the random songs given how many I have on the hard drive. This take on the breakthrough hit single (1998) by Air was recorded by the Glaswegian popsters as a b-side to the single Walk Away, which reached #13 in December 2005.

4. Something’s Got To Give – Beastie Boys

A wonderfully understated effort which is tucked away in the middle of the third album Check Your Head (1992). I’ve always pictured folk listening to this while they looked to unwind to this after a hard day at work (spliff is optional).

5. How Did This Happen?! – Bodega

The opening track on the critically acclaimed debut album Endless Scroll (2018). I wonder if Bodega will emerge unscathed from the COVID situation. They were making a real name for themselves much further afield than their native New York City, touring hard all across the globe, but their momentum was obviously halted and they might well find that everyone has moved on by the time they get back into the studio.

So there you have it. A sort of birthday ICA that is really more like a random jukebox, but hopefully there’s just about something for everyone, whatever your tastes.

JC

53rd & 3rd Records, named after a Ramones song, was founded  by David Keegan of the Shop Assistants and Stephen McRobbie of the Pastels, along with Sandy McLean who was working for Fast Forward, the Edinburgh-arm of The Cartel which was a record distribution set up by a number of small independent UK record labels to ensure product made its way into record shops.

The label was very active for less than three years, although there would be a small number of albums and compilation efforts a bit later on.  The best known bands were The Shop Assistants (although there was just one single for the label), BMX Bandits, Talulah Gosh and The Vaselines, all of whom have made telling contributions to the indie music scene. Here’s a wee ICA for you to enjoy or endure, depending on your taste:-

SIDE ONE

1.  The Shop Assistants – Safety Net

Where it all began, in February 1986, with the 7″ pressing of AGARR 1.   It was the Shop Assistants‘ third single and their third different label, and the one which really brought them to the attention of  major label Chrysalis, for whom they later signed to the Blue Guitar imprint, which itself was a short-lived effort that didn’t make it to the 90s.

AGARR stands for ‘As Good As Ramones Records’ which must just about be the coolest way any label has ever come up with to give its releases a catalogue number.

Fun fact – Safety Net was #8 in the 1986 Peel Festive Fifty, outvoted only by four Smiths songs, and one each from The Fall, Primal Scream and Age of Chance.

2.  The Groovy Little Numbers – Happy Like Yesterday

Straight into the other end with AGARR 21 and what proved to be the final 45 released by the label in August 1988. As I mentioned in March 2018 when it was their turn to be featured in the Saturday’s Scottish Song series, Groovy Little Numbers were from Bellshill and consisted of
Joe McAlinden, who was (and still is) a multi-instrumentalist, Catherine Steven (vocals) and Gerard Love (bass, vocals), along with a brass section from the Motherwell Youth Orchestra comprising Colette Walsh (tenor saxophone), John McRorie (alto sax), Kevin McCarthy (baritone sax), Mairi Cameron (trumpet), and James Wood (trumpet).

Happy Like Yesterday is a great track – very upbeat and catchy. And danceable.

3. Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh

I’ll refer to the wonderful words of strangeways, from his impeccable ICA on Talulah Gosh back in January 2018

A group who pinched their name from a Clare Grogan NME interview (if the internet is to be believed, it seems Clare played a game of combining a favourite actor’s name – Tallulah (despite the double-l) Bankhead? – and a favourite word).

Slow verses. Quick choruses. Talulah’s self-referencing anthem is a corker and, as alluded to already, paints a picture of an elusive, unsolvable character. Just who is the phantom Talulah Gosh? A minor myth insists it’s a thank-you to the band-naming Clare Grogan herself. Let’s hope, though, that the mystery endures – like an indiepop yeti or Loch Ness Monster.

This was released in May 1987 and is AGARR 8.

4. The Beat Poets – Killer Bee Honey

See…..it’s not all twee on 53rd & 3rd.  The Beat Poets specialised in making instrumental music and were very heavily influenced by surf and rockabilly.  I’m told that on stage they looked the part too, wearing tartan teddy-boy jackets as they did their thing.

The Beat Poets released an EP, Glasgow Howard, Missouri, in May 1987 and a single, Rebel Surf, in July 1988.  Following the demise of the label, the band enjoyed a short deal with Imaginary Records, based in Heywood, Lancashire (and home of Cud, The Chameleons and The Mock Turtles, among others) with an album Totally Radio being issued in 1990.

Killer Bee Honey is the lead track on the May 87 EP and is AGARR 9.

5. BMX Bandits – Sad?

OK, I take it back, as this is as twee as it gets.  This is from July 1986 and is AGARR 3 (and about as far removed from The Ramones as you can get).

It’s one half of the double-A debut single by the BMX Bandits – the reverse is E102. Worth mentioning that those involved at the time would now constitute something of a supergroup as Duglas T Stewart had the aforementioned Joe McAlinden involved, as well as the soon-to-be-famous Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), together with Sean Dickson and Jim McCulloch of The Soup Dragons.

SIDE TWO

1. The Vaselines – Teenage Superstars

It could be argued that The Vaselines are the most famous act ever to be part of 53rd & 3rd, but it could equally be argued that their fame came long after their own and the label’s demise.

Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, the co-vocalists and guitarists, are the duo who make up The Vaselines, but augmented by other musicians on bass and drums. There were two singles, in 87 and 88, and eventually an album in 1990, two years after the label had released that final single by The Groovy Little Numbers. The band broke up just a few weeks after the album hit the shops.

The second of the singles had four tracks on the 12″ release, two of which were covered by Nirvana, with Kurt Cobain declaring his love and admiration for Eugene and Frances. The endorsement had folk chasing round trying to get hold of the few copies of the singles and albums which were still kicking around, and so the label revived itself in 1992, and in conjunction with Edinburgh-based indie-store Avalanche Records, compiled All The Stuff and More.. bringing together everything the Vaselines had recorded, nineteen tracks all told.

Fast forward to the summer of 2006. Eugene and Frances take to the stage together for the first time since 1990 to perform a set of Vaselines songs, as part of a joint tour to promote their individual solo albums. This would eventually lead to a formal reformation, with a second album Sex With an X being issued by Sub Pop in 2010 and then V for Vaselines, on the band’s own Rosary Music, in 2014.

Teenage Superstars is an absolute belter of a tune, a fabulous throw-back to the post-punk/new wave era of the late 70s. It is taken from Dying For It, AGARR 17, released in March 1988.

2. The Boy Hairdressers – Golden Shower

Released in late 1987, the single with the catalogue number AGARR 12 is one of the most sought-after 45s.  The Boy Hairdressers were a short-lived combo, and indeed the 12″ single is their sole recording, and the interest all boils down to the fact that most of its musicians would become Teenage Fanclub and the fact that all three of the songs on this recording were composed by Norman Blake.

Personally, I think it’s a bit of a dud, but it does have historical significance.

3. Talulah Gosh – Bringing Up Baby

Here’s strangeways again……

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Gosh: it’s a bouncing baby single. A really splendid song with an opening ten or so seconds that will rot your teeth at twenty yards. Maybe ‘Baby’, with its la-la-la-ing chorus and fizzy, bounding tune is the ultimate Talulah number.

This one was released in January 1988 and took the number AGARR 14

4. Chin Chin – Stop! Your Crying

It was only when realising how much, over the years, that I had enjoyed many of the bands on 53rd & 3rd, did I go and do a bit more digging.

I found that Chin Chin hadn’t ever released a single but that there had been an mini-LP with eight songs in August 1988, just as the label was preparing to call it a day.  I had never heard of Chin Chin, and couldn’t ever recall seeing their name in any of the reference books I have lining various shelves in Villain Towers. Thank goodness for t’internet….and for a detailed bio on the website of Slumberland Records of which these are the relevant parts:-

Chin Chin, an all-female group consisting of Karin (guitar/vocals), Esther (bass/vocals) and Marie-Anne (drums/vocals), was formed in 1982 in Biel, Switzerland. Musically the band had many influences: The Clash, The Ramones, X-Ray Spex, Blondie, Generation X, Siouxsie & The Banshees, David Bowie, Motown, 1960s girl groups and glam rock bands like T-Rex and Slade.

In 1985, Chin Chin’s album Sound Of The Westway was released on Farmer Records, containing 12 original compositions recorded and mixed in just 7 days. Sound Of The Westway caught the attention of NME journalist The Legend!, who published the first UK interview with the band. On the heels of this great press, Chin Chin were approached by the management of Scottish band The Shop Assistants with an offer to support them on their German tour. The tour was hugely successful, leading to the release of the “Stop Your Crying” EP on Scotland’s legendary 53rd and 3rd label…

All of this, and more, was written to support that Sound of The Westway was given a re-release by Slumerland Records back in 2010.

Stop! Your Crying was the lead track on their sole release for 53rd and 3rd.  The LP/EP had the catalogue number of AGAS 001.

5. The Shop Assistants – Somewhere In China

Just as I did with Kirsty MacColl and the Steve Lillywhite ICA last time out, I make no apologies for closing with a second track from the opening act of this ICA.

I managed to track down a mint copy of Safety Net on discogs during this recent lockdown period, delighted to find someone who wasn’t wanting really stupid money for it. It’s an important single for all sorts of reasons, not least being the first on 53rd & 3rd, but it took on added poignancy last year with the sad news emerging just that lead singer Alex Taylor had passed away as far back as 2005.  The news only emerged from the efforts associated with trying to track her down to celebrate the release of Scarlet, the shelved album from her later band, The Motorcycle Boy.

I love Alex’s voice and in particular the way she sounded on the haunting and lovely Somewhere In China, and I felt I really needed to get my hands on a vinyl copy.

I know this ICA is a bit of a niche, but then again, aren’t they all?

I think that’s what has helped make it one of the longest-running of the series I’ve introduced over the years….and, as ever, if anyone ever wants to submit an ICA of their own, even if it is by a singer or band previously featured, then I can guarantee it will appear.

Well, almost guarantee…..Morrissey is still barred!

JC (and strangeways)

I don’t do this every year, but I’m giving a birthday shout out to S.C. ,pictured above a few seconds after he’s read a posting by SWC (only kiddin’…… he’s a huge fan!)

My young brother turns 55 today, which is fast approaching the era of the bus pass, although I’m not sure if there is such a thing called public transport in the neighbourhood of Oviedo, Florida where he has resided for a few years now.

I think he’ll approve of these tunes.

mp3: U2 – Gloria
mp3: The Bluebells – Young At Heart
mp3: Simple Minds – Waterfront
mp3: Spear of Destiny – Liberator
mp3: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – Lost Weekend

Have a great day bro. Hopefully, I’ll see you at some point soon after all this COVID stuff blows over.

JC