Category: Win

I recently took ownership of a brand-new CD, something of a rarity these days as it tends to be vinyl and/or digital.

It was courtesy of Last Night From Glasgow, or to be more accurate, the spin-off label, Past Night From Glasgow.  The latter, as the name suggests, specialises in reissuing records which, in many instances, have been long out-of-print, but with the aim of ensuring that the singers and bands involved are fully financially rewarded as possible from the re-release.

Later this year, the album …Uh! Tears Baby, released on London Records by Win back in 1987, will be made available on vinyl.  In the meantime, a CD version of the album has been produced and distributed to the LNFG patrons and subscribers.  It’s proved to be quite popular, partly because the album was only given a very limited release on CD (which now has an asking price of over £100), but also as it includes eight bonus tracks, including a previously unavailable BBC session.

One of the bonus tracks is the 12″ remix of the band’s second ever 45.   I do have a copy of this on vinyl, but it was one I picked up second-hand, and it proved to be a bit crackly in places.  It’s a real joy to finally have a clean copy:-

mp3: Win – Shampoo Tears (remix)

OK. It does have a very 80s production, but that’s what really makes it for me.  It’s a magnificently crafted piece of pop, full of the sort of instrumentation that can only be from an era when style all too often triumphed over substance. It’s still a head scratcher that Win never dented the pop charts.

JC

They were on the blog just last week.  It hadn’t occurred to me that they were due up in this alphabetical run-through.

Here’s wiki;-

After the dissolution of The Fire Engines, Davy Henderson formed Win with Ian Stoddart (drums, keyboards), plus ex-Fire Engine member Russell Burn (keyboards). They were joined by Emmanuel “Mani” Shoniwa (guitar/bass/backing vox), Simon Smeeton (guitar/backing vox), Karl Mariner (keyboards/backing vox), then Willie Perry (keyboards). A more determinedly pop act than The Fire Engines, they were commercially successful in Scotland, partly due to their single “You’ve Got the Power” being used in a lager advertising campaign for Scottish brewers McEwan’s.”You’ve Got the Power” appeared in the UK Singles Chart at number 95,  but reportedly sold enough copies to be a hit, with Henderson stating that many copies of the record sold had been excluded from the chart data, as they (Gallup) thought the single was being illegally hyped in stores around Scotland, rather than recognising that McEwan’s was a local firm advertising in the region, with a song by a local band. However, they had another couple of hits in the UK charts with the single “Super Popoid Groove” reaching number 63 and album Uh! Tears Baby (a Trash Icon) getting to number 51 in 1987.

mp3: Win – Super Popoid Groove

Truly wonderful, if you don’t mind me saying.

JC

You’ve Got The Power, a single released by Win back in 1985, has previously had a couple of mentions on the blog.   It’s a tremendously upbeat, catchy and fun number, admittedly very much of its era in terms of production, but anytime I hear it, I’m taken back to dancing around at various house parties across Edinburgh, as everyone seemed to have a copy.

I was delighted to learn a few weeks back that …Uh Tears Baby, the debut album by Win, is going to be re-released on Past Night From Glasgow in the near future, with a bit of remastering work involved, and it may well also come with a few bonus items such as demo versions, b-sides and re-mixes that went out as 12″ releases.

I thought I had everything from the era, but it turned out there was a 12″ remix out there which wasn’t present and correct in Villain Towers.  Thankfully, it was available via Discogs for what I would describe as a bargain price.

mp3: Win – You’ve Got The Power (Chocolate Thrills Mix)

It’s the simple things that often make me the most happiest.

JC

Win featured on the blog last August thanks to me having a look at the 1987 single Super Popoid Groove which came in a 2-record gate fold sleeve featuring a copy of You’ve Got The Power, a previous and totally unjustified flop single dating back to June 1985.

Having reached Win in the alphabetical run through of Scottish singers/bands who have at least one single sitting in the cupboards or shelves here in Villain Towers, I thought I’d go back to the 1985 flop and the 12″ version of it.

It was after the break-up of The Fire Engines that Davy Henderson formed Win with Ian Stoddart (Bass), ex-Fire Engine Russell Burn (Drums/Keyboards), Emmanuel “Mani” Shoniwa (Guitar/Bass), Simon Smeeton (Guitar/Bass) and Willie Perry (Keyboards). This was a real effort to make more accessible pop music than his previous band and it remains a real mystery as to why their popularity never really extended much beyond the confines of Scotland, despite a handful of great singles and two albums which, while having dated largely because of their reliance on the 80s production trends, still have a smattering of excellent and catchy tunes.

My copy of You’ve Got The Power came with the bonus of a copy of the 12″ single Unamerican Broadcasting which had sold in miniscule numbers just a few months previously, and so here’s the full package of five songs in their full glory ripped straight from the vinyl:-

mp3 : Win – You’ve Got The Power (U.S. Dance Mix)
mp3 : Win – In Heaven (Lady In The Radiator Song)
mp3 : Win – Unamerican Broadcasting (7″ edit)
mp3 : Win – Unamerican Broadcasting (12″ Part 1)
mp3 : Win – Unamerican Broadcasting (12″ Part 2)

In Heaven is a cover of a song co-written by David Lynch and which featured in his 1977 horror classic Eraserhead.  Many of you will probably be more familiar with the version by The Pixies.

Oh and finally, for anyone interested, there is a tremendous fan site about Win, put together between 2006 and 2010. It’s well worth a few minutes of you time. Click here.

These would be coming up in the not too distant future as I make my alphabetical way through Great Scottish singles that have a place in the vinyl cupboard or on the CD shelves, but they’re just too good not to share with you right now. As I explained in April 2012:-

The majestic noise made by Win on the June 1985 single You’ve Got The Power didn’t generate any chart success. But it was a song that became more widely known months after its release thanks to it soundtracking a very peculiar advert for a rather vile brand of Scottish lager.

When Win moved across to London Records after Swamplands had come to an inglorious end, the powers that be at the label, having been left bemused by the failure of previous 45 Shampoo Tears to trouble the charts, decided that the follow-up 45 should have an enticement. And so when they got round to issuing Super Popoid Groove in March 1987, they decided it would be as a 2-record gate fold pack featuring copies of You’ve Got The Power, complete with Swamplands logo and catalogue number.

mp3 : Win – Super Popoid Groove
mp3 : Win – Baby Cutting
mp3 : Win – You’ve Got The Power
mp3 : Win – In Heaven (Lady In The Radiator Song)

It helped the single reach #63. I’m sure everyone was gutted. Super Popoid Groove itself was a single that deserved to get the band on Top of The Pops. It must have been painful to realise that you couldn’t even give away copies of the old 45.

Chewing gum baby for the ears.

Happy Listening.