THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

BOOK OF THE MONTH : AUGUST 2025 : ‘YOU AND ME AGAINST THE WORLD : 2 WOMEN, 5 BANDS, ’80s EDINBURGH by SASKIA HOLLING

I don’t have too many regrets in life. I’ve been incredibly lucky with every big decision I’ve ever had to make, personally and professionally, and as I move disgracefully into my 60s, I grow increasingly grateful for everything with each passing day. But, as I turned the pages of this wonderfully written newly published book about the growth, development and the death of the indie-music scene in Edinburgh in the 80s, I did get the occasional pang of ‘what if?’

Please allow me to explain. I moved to Edinburgh to live and work, at the age of 22, in the summer of 1985, eventually moving back to Glasgow in early 1990. I arrived in the capital with a love of music that had been with me all my life, but really ignited by the arrival of post-punk and further nurtured by meeting like-minded souls throughout my university years. I was convinced that Glasgow was still the place to be for music, particularly the live scene, and I spent many weekends travelling back west doing my best to keep up with things, but before too long, I got tired of this and looked around Edinburgh for things to get involved in.

In due course, I hooked up with some lovely people who were hoping to make a name for themselves in the creative arts through acting, dancing and stand-up comedy, and soon found myself immersed in the world of community theatre. It was great fun, and I can look back with pride on some of the shows I was involved, including being part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and ‘acting’ alongside people who would in due course make a name for themselves in film, TV and professional theatre.

No regrets at all about how I spent my leisure time in my adopted city, but as You and Me Against The World details across more than 400 hugely enjoyable pages, my short time as a luvvie coincided with Edinburgh experiencing a vibrant music scene of the type that was really up my street, if only I’d been paying attention. The ‘what if’ stems from wondering what might have happened if I’d met up socially with the musicians rather than the actors?

I’ve actually long been aware of what I missed out on, thanks in part to a friendship with Jacques the Kipper who, not long after we met in 1989, began to fill me in on what I’d been missing across the indie-scene in Scotland and further afield. Gaps in my music collection were gradually filled in, but have been accelerated greatly in recent years from the release of a number of compilation albums and box-sets whose liner notes offer some excellent background. The growth of the internet, and in particular blogs and fan-based sites, has also been a godsend.

There’s loads of info out there, and Saskia Holling has done a remarkable job in knitting this particular story together, and the book goes way beyond what it is suggested via its title. I make no apologies now for pinching a few paras from Saskia’s introduction. as there’s no better way to explain her achievement:-

“So, here he have the story of five bands whose fates were reliant on each other: Rote Kapelle, the Shop Assistants, Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes, The Fizzbombs and The Motorcycle Boy. The story is told through Margarita Vazquez Porte and the late Alex Taylor, whose voice I have attempted to make heard via extracts from music papers and other media interviews. These two women were musically involved, sometimes only briefly, with four out of these five bands. Both dealt with the experiences that involvement brought in different ways.

“This book is also the story of Margarita and Alex’s bandmates: Ian Binns, Chris Henman, David Keegan, Malcolm Kergan, Michael Kerr, Katy Lironi, Angus McPake, Johnny Muir, Fran Schoppler and Andrew Tully, along with Janie Nicholl and Allison Young of another Edinburgh-based band alive for a short burst in the 80s, The Vultures. These stories take us on a journey from school days to post-punk teenage years, to people meeting and making music in a small local independent scene. Along the way, we uncover the ‘shambling’, ‘anorak’, ‘cutie’ and ‘blonde’ representations of the national DIY independent music scene in the UK press and how that played into each band’s story”

The extent of Saskia’s research can be measured by her ‘References section’ with more than 100 articles from the contemporary music press quoted in some shape or form, and a further fifty online sources, including print, audio and visual, being sourced along the way. Oh, and on top of that, there’s the extensive interviews she did with many of the protagonists.

The thing that comes across more than anything, certainly for me, is that across a discography of more than 30 singles or albums released during the decade, you could count on the fingers of one hand the number which were commercially successful. All the bands at some point in their careers had their champions in the music press, albeit the same publications would, as happens with all singers and bands who are around for any length of time, come to disown or dismiss them as irrelevant, often on a whim. The sinister thing that comes through, however, is how sexism and misogyny, particularly within the UK music press of the era, played a significant and horrific part in things; even worse, but unsurprisingly, is that record label moguls were equally guilty of such behaviours.

You and Me Against The World really did give me a great deal to think about, but at the same time, it made me want to put aside all other music playing here in Villain Towers and listen again to the bands and musicians whose stories are so well told. I’m not going to claim that every record was wonderful and should be in the collections of anyone serious about indie music, but there’s more than enough to warrant the sort of Imaginary Compilation Album with which this blog has been associated with for many years. But maybe for another day. In the meantime, here’s a few singles:-

mp3: Rote Keppelle – These Animals Are Dangeroos (In Tape Records, 1986)
Andrew Tully (vocals), Margarita Vasquez-Ponte (vocals), Chris Henman (guitar), Ian Binns (keyboards), Malcolm Kergan (bass), Jonathan Muir (drums)

mp3: Shop Assistants – Safety Net (53rd & 3rd Records, 1987)
Alex Taylor (vocal), David Keegan (guitar), Sarah Kneale (bass), Ann Donald (drums), Laura McPhail (drums)

mp3: Jesse Garon & The Desperados – The Rain Fell Down (Narodnik Records, 1987)
Fran Schoppler (vocal), Andrew Tully (guitar/vocal), Kevin McMahon (guitar), Stuart Clarke (guitar), Angus McPake (bass), Margarita Vasquez-Ponte (drums)

mp3: The Fizzbombs – Sign On The Line (Narodnik Records, 1987)
Katy Lironi (vocal), Margarita Vasquez-Ponte (guitar/backing vocals), Ann Donald (bass), Angus McPake (drums)

mp3: The Motorcycle Boy – Big Rock Candy Mountain (Rough Trade, 1987)
Alex Taylor (vocals), Michael Kerr (guitar), Dave Scott (guitar), Eddie Connelly (bass), Paul McDermott (drums)

The book is available direct from Spinout Publications for £17.99 plus P&P. Click here to do so. Trust me, you’ll have a fine time, not just reading all that Saskia has to offer, but going down the inevitable rabbit holes listening to the music.

JC

Fountains Of Wayne

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (25) : Fountains Of Wayne – Radiation Vibe

Most of the singles appearing as part of the CD Lucky Dip are from the mid-90s, with many of them being picked up long after the time of their release via bargain bins or as cheap second-hand offerings. My copy of the debut single from Fountains Of Wayne has a 99p sticker on the front, but not from any easily identifiable shop or store, which means it was likely one of those found in Missing Records, a vast second-hand emporium in Glasgow whose location has shifted around a few times over the decades. It’s a shop I used to love browsing in, but in recent years it has annoyed me more often than not thanks to its practice of charging silly money for a large part of its second-hand vinyl, taking advantage of the hipsters and younger consumers eager to get their hands on original copies of singles and albums.

But back in the late 90s, it was very much a shop stacked with CDs, a medium that has had far fewer examples of vastly inflated prices being attached to the stock, and it was good fun rifling through the shelves looking for things.

I remember seeing the video for Radiation Vibe on television one day, back when it had just been released in 1997. I’m sure it was on one of the early editions of Top of The Pops 2, which went out on BBC2 and featured a mix of old performances from days gone by along with some promo videos from new singers and bands who were tipped to have some upcoming commercial success. I remember quite liking the song, but not enough to rush out and buy it immediately for whatever silly price CD singles were going for in early 1997. Handing over 99p a few months later was quite sufficient.

mp3; Fountains of Wayne – Radiation Vibe

There were three other songs on the CD. I can say in all honesty that airing them in preparation for this post would be the first time they have been played in the best of 30 years and I had no idea what they would sound like:-

mp3 : Fountains of Wayne – Karpet King
mp3 : Fountains of Wayne – Janice’s Party
mp3 : Fountains of Wayne – Imperia

The first of them reminded me a bit of the mellow side of Teenage Fanclub in places. The others merely annoyed me.

JC

Super Furry Animals

SUPER FURRY SUNDAYS (aka The Singular Adventures of Super Furry Animals)

A guest series by The Robster

#23: The Man Don’t Give A Fuck – Live (2004, Epic, 675 304 6)

This week’s episode is short and sweet. Not because I’m getting bored, but because there’s not much to write about. The song in question was originally released in 1996 and thus has already been covered in this series back here, but here’s a version that was released as a single in September 2004:

MP3: The Man Don’t Give A Fuck [live at London’s Hammersmith Apollo]

I’m pretty sure that since 1995, there has not been a SFA live show where they haven’t performed this song. In fact, it became their de facto set closer. Essentially, the standard song would be played for around 5 minutes, before all but Cian would leave the stage. He would then continue the track in his own inimitable way with an extended electronic wig-out for as long as it took for the others to change into yeti costumes and bound back onto the stage to conclude the show for the final couple of minutes.

On this occasion at the Hammersmith Apollo (sorry, LONDON’s Hammersmith Apollo as it is stated on the sleeve, just to remind us what the most important musical city in the world is… Thanks BPI!), Cian’s solo part was extended even more than usual, the result being a version of The Man Don’t Give A Fuck lasting 20 minutes in length!

The original version set a chart record for the most number of f-bombs in a chart single. This was beaten a couple years later by Insane Clown Posse’s Fuck The World. The Furries’ title was reclaimed with this release, though I’m not sure how many times the word is used. Feel free to count them yourself and post in the comments if you have nowt better to do…

It was put out as a single to tie in with the impending release of ‘Super Furry Animals Songbook’, a compilation of the band’s singles a few weeks later. The studio version of The Man… was included on that album, not this live version, which itself was only produced in limited numbers. Only two formats were released in the UK, a 12” and a CD, both of which contained just the one track, no b-sides. Promo CDs, however, contained two edits – one with the swear words, and one, rather hilariously, without!

MP3: The Man Don’t Give A Fuck [live – edit]
MP3: The Man Don’t Give A Fuck [live – radio edit]

The lack of b-sides this week means I kind of feel like you’re being cheated, so I’ve dug out something from a bootleg I have. In 2004, Gruff and Bunf did some promotional performances while the band was on tour in the US. While in Denver, Colorado, they stopped by Twist & Shout Records to play an instore show. Included in their rather informal set was a song dating from the same period as The Man Don’t Give A Fuck, so I’ve decided to throw this one in today out of the kindness of my heart.

MP3: Gathering Moss [live in-store at Twist & Shout Records]

Next week, one of my faves.

The Robster

Father Sculptor

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #463: FATHER SCULPTOR

It really was careless of me to feature Father Sculptor just a few weeks ago, given that their turn to be part of the alphabetical run-through (second time around) of Scottish music on the hard drive happens to be today.

I won’t repeat what I said about this wonderful band who really should have been, and nor will I post any of the songs issued on their own physical release, the Faith & Violence EP. The band hailed from the SoundCloud era, and many of their earliest material was made available, in digital form, over there, including the two songs which made up the debut single:-

mp3: Father Sculptor – Ember
mp3: Father Sculptor – Blue

From 2012, if my memory serves me correctly.

I had forgotten just how wonderfully derivative Blue is. It’s so catchy and danceable.

JC

Various

LIFE IS TIMELESS, DAYS ARE LONG

One of my best mates turns 60 tomorrow. He occasionally hangs around this little corner of t’internet where he goes by the name of Jacques the Kipper. He isn’t one for having big celebrations… there was nowt for him turning 30, 40 or 50….he may have had an 18th or 21st, but as I didn’t get to know him until 1989, so I can’t say one way or the other, but I’ve a fair idea he had quiet ones.

I’ve decided, if you don’t mind, to have this month’s mix made up of songs that he is rather fond or perhaps are related to some of the shenanigans we’ve got up to over the years.. And as he likes to holiday in a certain European country and its various islands…….Feliz aniversário!

mp3: Various – Life Is Timeless, Days Are Long

Intro (8 seconds)
Buzzcocks – Sixteen Again
The Wedding Present – Shatner
Half Man Half Biscuit – Mr Cave’s A Window Cleaner Now
M.I.A. – Paper Planes
Prince – Raspberry Beret
Public Enemy – Fight The Power
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
The Pixies – Debaser
Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Stupid Thing
Edwyn Collins – Keep On Burning
Dum Dum Girls – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Mcsleazy – Don’t Call Me Blur
Pet Shop Boys – Domino Dancing
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine – Bloodsport For All
Jay Z ft Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
The Jam – When You’re Young

JC

Shuttleworth

ONE SONG ON THE HARD DRIVE (21)

One of the things I enjoy most about curating this blog is the fact that so many folk come forward with guest contributions, and it is from one of those back in 2017 that today’s song had been plucked.

The post came from Jonder, and was the first of what proved to be a number of ICAs by The Fall that he would submit in due course. ICA#137, published in September 2017, had the title ‘Elena’s The Fall’, and focussed on the ten-year period between 2007 and 2017, and was pulled together to acknowledge the contribution to the band by Elena Poulou, who had married Mark E. Smith and joined the band prior to 2003’s “The Real New Fall LP”, and then departed when the marriage fell apart.

The post included this bonus song:-

mp3: Shuttleworth – England’s Heartbeat (Brazilian Ambush)

Here’s what Jonder had to say:-

A 2010 World Cup song created by ex-Fall member Ed Blaney, Mark E. Smith and Jenny Shuttleworth. Blaney has remained on good terms with Smith, a feat unmatched among the scores of former Fall members. He and Mark made several records credited to “Smith And Blaney”, and Smith appears on Blaney’s 2016 album “Urban Nature”

Fancy a look at the low-budget video?

Great fun!

Oh, and I’ll just mention in passing that England got through the group stage but were then hammered 4-1 by Germany in the first knock-out round. At least they made it to South Africa…..Scotland fans were sitting at home and watching on television.

JC

Elvis Costello

FOUR TRACK MIND : A RANDOM SERIES OF EXTENDED PLAY SINGLES

A guest series by Fraser Pettigrew (aka our New Zealand correspondent)

#4: New Amsterdam – Elvis Costello (1980)

New Amsterdam was technically the third single taken from Elvis Costello’s fourth album, Get Happy! (1980) but with the inclusion of three other non-album songs the EP feels as though it inhabits its own little space in the Costello canon, separate from what came before and after. Stylistically, none of the songs, including New Amsterdam, have much in common with the rest of Get Happy! and they don’t signal a shift towards either the expansive sophistication of Trust or the country and western detour of Almost Blue that appeared the following year.

At the time Get Happy! came out, the story went around (and was subsequently confirmed) that Costello had written most of the material in a compositional binge assisted by a crate of old Stax and Atlantic soul singles that he had bought in bulk from a couple of London record shops. Song after song was absorbed, analysed, deconstructed and reassembled into original material, distilling the hooks and hit factory tricks into new songs. As well as the obviously soul-styled songs like Love For Tender, High Fidelity, 5ive Gears in Reverse and Beaten to the Punch, there are two cover versions, I Stand Accused and the lead single I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down, all of which imbue the album with a 1960s r’n’b vibe. A further cover of Van McCoy’s Getting Mighty Crowded appears on the B-side of second album single High Fidelity to amplify the effect.

Get Happy! is much more than an edition of Soul Train, however. There are several songs that flaunt different roots, such as the ska-styled B-Movie and Human Touch, torch-song crooner Motel Matches and the closer Riot Act, which could have been written and arranged in the same session as Party Girl from Armed Forces. New Amsterdam is likewise of a different kind.

For a start it’s in 3/4 time. This wasn’t entirely new for Costello – Little Triggers from This Year’s Model and Sunday’s Best on Armed Forces both employ waltz rhythms. Sunday’s Best also fades out with a musical quotation from the 1950s Danny Kaye hit Wonderful Copenhagen, betraying Costello’s familiarity with old-time schmaltz, no doubt inherited from his band-leader father. To my mind, Costello employed the crate-of-singles deconstruction method for New Amsterdam, but rather than some old soul banger, the inspiration came from the unlikely source of Tulips From Amsterdam, a big hit in 1958 for Max Bygraves. A double A-side in fact, with You Need Hands. Maybe a copy got mixed up in a Sam and Dave sleeve by mistake.

Tulips From Amsterdam was originally a German song written in the ‘schlager’ or ‘hit song’ tradition, a particularly Germanic style of cheesey, simplistic, sentimental pop born out of folk tunes and operetta. The English lyrics were provided in 1957 by Marcel Stellman, a Belgian-Scottish producer and lyricist, and Max Bygraves never looked back. Listening to Costello’s New Amsterdam it’s not difficult to hear a slight tonal shift that would produce an altogether more naïve version, oom-pahed out to an audience of swaying grannies and children before the tubas and accordions segue slickly into The Birdie Song.

Costello’s lyrics wouldn’t work in that schlager version though. Apart from the wilful perversity of using Rotherhithe as a rhyme, and the difficulty of ever working out exactly what he’s talking about, the song finds its composer overwhelmed and disappointed by the city of New York (New Amsterdam prior to 1667) and closes with a withering judgement on the “transparent people who live on the other side / Living a life that is almost like suicide.” Not quite the stuff to get the grannies rocking in their seats.

Another thing that sets the New Amsterdam EP aside is that none of the tracks are credited to Costello and the Attractions. It was released under Costello’s name alone because he provides almost all the accompaniment himself, except for Pete Thomas adding drums to Dr Luther’s Assistant and Steve Nieve the keys on Just a Memory. New Amsterdam itself was played and recorded entirely by Costello some time in 1979 in a “fifteen-quid an hour demo studio” in London using the drums, fretless bass, vibes and “a very nasty synth” that he found there. Another version was attempted with The Attractions, but ultimately rejected in favour of the original demo. The group version eventually appeared on the 2003 reissue of Get Happy!

Dr Luther’s Assistant is a song left over from the writing of This Year’s Model in 1977-78 and it’s easy to see why it was left off that album. Not because it’s bad, but because it just doesn’t fit. It’s a sordid tale of an imaginary but all too believable sexual creep, voyeur and pornographer, set to a slightly plodding Paul McCartney-esque arrangement and a verse melody that somehow puts me in mind of The Beatles’ She’s Leaving Home.

Ghost Train is one of those Costello songs that sit almost entirely within quite traditional genres and could just about pass for an old standard were it not for the rather bleak portrayal of social and romantic relationships. Maureen and Stan are a couple of aspiring performers (“She plays the queen of the fleapit / He plays a Spanish guitar”) thwarted by their lack of good looks (“Step right up and show your face / We only want the pretty ones”). The failure of their careers is soon mirrored in their personal relationship: “While they make believe it’s just another holiday / They turn on each other when they hear that joker say… / Roll up for the ghost train …” The style is 50s/60s cocktail bar jazz-pop, a few years before The Style Council and Everything But The Girl got with it. Young Marble Giants were about the only other people in 1980 getting away with this kind of cool.

Finally, Just A Memory is a tender tragedy of love lost, a relationship falling victim to incompatibility, his inability to see what’s important to her. Brief and to the point in two verses, Costello pulling a poignant melody over Steve Nieve’s piano. It’s the kind of musical and lyrical material that Costello would frequently overwork in years to come, striving for that big Burt Bacharach complexity, but here he keeps it simple, and the result is a sparkling little teardrop of a song. As postpunkmonk has detailed (The Great B-Sides: Elvis Costello – Just A Memory | Post-Punk Monk ) the song was originally written for and eventually recorded by Dusty Springfield.

The whole package is housed in a beautiful laminated sleeve designed by Barney Bubbles to look a bit like a classic 50s or 60s jazz record with a very mid-century painting credited as “Jazz City Opus 1958 by Sal Forlenza” on the front, tying in with the New York theme of the title track. Sal Forlenza was a pseudonym used by Barney Bubbles, also to be found on the cover art for Imperial Bedroom.

New Amsterdam

Dr Luther’s Assistant

Ghost Train

Just a Memory

Fraser

Felt, Go-Betweens, Jazz Butcher, Shreikback, Sunset Gun, Woodentops

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (July Pt 2)

Congratulations to those of you who tolerated the chart offerings from July 1984 via the post from a couple of weeks back. Surely those 45s issued via the indie labels and who distribution methods/lack of daytime airplay were the biggest factors in them not hitting the Top 75 would prove to be a bit more palatable. Surely……..

In June 1983, Lawrence Hayward (aka Felt) had released Penelope Tree, a gloriously catchy piece of indie-pop which, if the world was a fair and just place, would have been a huge hit. The opening lines of Penelope Tree were:-

I didn’t want the world to know
That sunlight bathed the golden glow

Just over a year later, the new single from Felt opened with these lines:-

You’re trying to fool somebody
But you end up fooling yourself

Methinks Lawrence was, despite his claims of never really wanting to be a pop star, was getting a tad frustrated:-

mp3: Felt – Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow

Moving along quickly to another song which takes me back to that particular summer

mp3: The Go-Betweens – Part Company

Having, the previous year, come to the attention of the UK indie cognoscenti via Rough Trade Records, our wizards from Oz were signed by Sire Records and thanks to the snippets of news via the music papers, we learned they had headed off to France to record what would be their third studio album, Spring Hill Fair, from which Part Company was the lead single. It’s one on which Robert Forster takes the lead vocal, and musically there is a hint of the slower numbers that Johnny Marr was writing for The Smiths. Another that should’ve been a hit, but like every other 45 released by the band, it failed to trouble the charts.

mp3: The Jazz Butcher – Roadrunner

I’ll confess not to knowing that this rather frantic and fabulous cover version had been released in July 1984….it was many many many years later (via a blog in the 21st century) did I learn that Pat Fish et al. had taken Jonathan Richman‘s signature tune and made into something that sounded like one of their own.

mp3: Shriekback – Hand On My Heart

The mid 80s was a time when white-boy funk was a bit of a ‘thing’ (and Glasgow had more than its fair share of would-be bands). Shriekback had formed in 1982, with Barry Andrews (ex XTC) and Dave Allen (ex Gang of Four) being joined on vocals by Carl Marsh. By 1984, they were signed to a major label – Arista Records – and given a bit of a makeover with the addition of female backing vocals in an attempt to create a really radio-friendly sound. Debut single for the label, Hand on My Heart flopped. As indeed would the subsequent singles and two albums, Mercy Dash (Sep 84) and Oil and Gold (June 85).

It wasn’t just white-boy funk, mind you:-

mp3: Sunset Gun – Be Thankful For What You’ve Got

As mentioned previously on the blog, Sunset Gun were a Glasgow trio, made of up sisters Dee and Louise Rutkowski, and Ross Campbell. The Rutkowski sisters were a huge part of the Glasgow music scene in the early 80s, having been part of Jazzateers, the group that would in due course evolve into Bourgie Bourgie.

The demos recorded by Sunset Gun created a bit of a buzz, with a number of labels looking to sign the group, and in the end it was CBS that won the bidding war. The trio went into a studio with Alan Rankine (ex Associates) in the producer’s chair, and the debut single was a cover of the 1974 hit written and recorded by William DeVaughn, a song later covered by Massive Attack and included on their subsequent debut album in 1991.

Continuing with the theme of debut singles…..

mp3: The Woodentops – Plenty

A band who would influence and delight many in subsequent years without ever getting the sort of commercial success that their fans in the media believed should have been theirs. I’ve always associated The Woodentops with Rough Trade Records, but this particular 45 was released on the then very new Food Records that had been set up by Dave Balfe, formerly of the Teardrop Explodes. What a glorious and enduring debut!!!!

JC

Toy Dolls

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #102

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

# 102: Toy Dolls – ‘Olga … I Cannot!’ (Volume Records ’85)

Dear friends,

for those of you sitting there right now, scratching their heads and thinking: “so now he has gone completely bonkers”: just wait, will you?

As mentioned before, I am not a great fan of labelling bands into certain genres. That’s unless a band has invented (or at least co-invented a genre), something which Toy Dolls certainly have done: punk pathetique, or, for our (two) German readers: fun punk.

Now, you could argue that there were other bands around in 1980 who were not as dead serious as their ’77 punk colleagues, Splodgenessabounds come to mind, so do The Golinski Brothers and of course Peter & The Test Tube Babies. But apart from the latter, who became shite very soon, those were just one-hit-wonders. So at least to me, Toy Dolls were always way ahead of the game and, furthermore, they remained true to themselves.

They started in Sunderland in 1979, had a few member changes, but soon Michael ‘Olga’ Algar ended up on singing duties – and still does so, as freshly as ever! The thing is with this band, you see, they are always numbered down to just one song, which isn’t that good compared to very many of their other tunes: ‘Nellie The Elephant’. A classic children’s song which went to # 1 (Indie Charts) in ’82 and to # 4 (UK Singles Charts) in ’84 as a re-issue. It’s therefore somehow understandable that people remember nothing else by the band, but still it is a shame!

For example just listen to their debut single, ‘Tommy Kowey’s Car’ from April 1980, which is just fantastic, but due to the fact that there never was a repress of the initial 1000 copies, one of those go for a median of € 423,- on discogs currently. You see, I love you, I really do – but I’m afraid I’m having to give you something else today! There are many other Toy Dolls – songs which, if you only know ‘Nellie’, I urge you to listen to, ‘I’ve Got Asthma’, which is a must – and basically everything from the debut album from ’83, and, for that matter, the same is true for the follow-up-album from ’85: great stuff throughout!

But today it’s none of the above, we are back to B-Sides again – to the B-Side of ‘James Bond Lives Down Our Street’ from ’85, to be precise. Today’s song has everything I need basically: a great story of unfulfilled love & romance, combined with a most sensitive humour and a Pavarotti-like voice:

mp3: Toy Dolls – Olga…I Cannot!

A masterpiece, I’m sure you agree! Then again that’s the way I was put together, sometimes things don’t need to be other than just simple. If you follow my advice above and listen to other Toy Dolls songs, you’ll find out that Olga is a class guitarist, once described as ‘a jaw-droppingly fast guitar picker’, perhaps that’s why Toy Dolls are the only punk band where guitar solos are a common thing.

I like Toy Dolls, mind you, ever did – hope I gained some new fan, who knows?

Either way, enjoy,

Dirk

Super Furry Animals

SUPER FURRY SUNDAYS (aka The Singular Adventures of Super Furry Animals)

A guest series by The Robster

#22: Slow Life EP (2004, Placid Casual, BBN045CD2)

At a couple of points throughout this series, I’ve mentioned how some records and periods of Super Furry Animals’ career are considered by some people to be their absolute peak. The Ice Hockey Hair EP is one, the ‘Rings Around The World’ album is another. For some fans, though, it’s Slow Life. In fairness, it really does stand up as one of the finest moments of their existence, so it’s hard to argue against it.

MP3: Slow Life

The closing track on ‘Phantom Power’ is like nothing the band had done before, yet weirdly, it’s also the quintessential Super Furry Animals track. It brings together all the constituent parts of what made them great into one, single, seven-minute epic. I’m going to lift some bits from the song’s Wikipedia entry as it explains everything more than well enough:

Slow Life was written in two stages. According to bassist Guto Pryce the “electronic part” was composed by keyboard player Cian Ciaran “quite a few years” before its eventual release. The band had tried to fit this early, purely electronic version on previous albums but had “never got ’round to it”. By the time the group came to record ‘Phantom Power’ they were anxious to release the song, however Cian was reluctant to leave it in its original form and encouraged the rest of the band to jam over his original track. According to Gruff Rhys the instrumentation was recorded “pretty much live” after which lyrics were written and the band’s 10-minute jam session was “chopped up and made into a composed song” with the electronic section intact. Strings were later added by Sean O’Hagan.

Some promotional copies of ‘Phantom Power’ featured Slow Life as the first track, although it eventually appeared as the last track on the officially released version of the album. Gruff has stated that the song had to go at either the beginning or the end of the record as it is the “most sonically impressive” track on the album. He has described his lyrics as “regurgitating what we hear on the news, recycled, vomiting them all back”.

For me, that insight into the song’s formation makes it particularly great. Just a live, 10-minute jam over an electronic backing and voila! Those strings do finish things off wonderfully, mind. Slow Life really was – and still is – one of the best tracks of the century. And you can quote me on that.

It was the third and final single from ‘Phantom Power’, but its release, in April 2004, was far from conventional. It, along with its two b-sides, was initially available digitally only from the website of Placid Casual, the band’s own independent record label, which suggests that Epic may have been reluctant to release it themselves, possibly due to its length. They did, however, put out a single-sided 12” promo. It then featured as a CD single in the special limited edition of the ‘Phantom Phorce’ remix album in its own slipcase sleeve (as shown above). Needless to say, it didn’t chart due to the nature of its release.

The b-sides? Well, the ‘Phantom Power’ era is a bit of an odd one because up to this point, the vast majority of b-sides on Super Furry Animals singles were largely excellent, with some real lost gems to be found amongst them. I never found this for any of the ‘Phantom Power’ singles though, and these don’t really improve things that much.

MP3: Motherfokker
MP3: Lost Control

The former features Newport’s finest Goldie Lookin’ Chain larking around, pretending to be aliens. It was panned by reviewers, but to be fair I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as it’s made out to be. The London-based press were no doubt just exercising their well-versed snobbery, mainly because they just didn’t get it. Motherfokker may not make a Top 10 SFA b-sides compilation, but it’s better than 95% of anything in the charts in April 2004. Plus, Graham The Bear of GLC is a mate of mine, and he’s a bloody good bloke (he also runs a record shop in Monmouth, should you ever be passing through…) As for Lost Control, well it’s basically an instrumental remix of the album track Out Of Control.

Yer bonus tracks for this week – well my complete inability to make tough decisions means I failed to come up with just two tracks for you – so you’re getting twice that many! There was no demo made for Slow Life, but I’ve pulled together some things from various sources, some of which have not been commercially released. So here’s a CD2 of the Slow Life EP.

MP3: Slow Life [radio edit]
MP3: Slow Life [Bench remix]
MP3: Slow Life [rough mix]
MP3: Motherfokker [street edit]

As an added bonus, here’s some links to my aforementioned mate Graham The Bear talking about the Super Furry Animals and their legacy. Part three contains a little tale about when his side project supported the Furries in London, involving Slow Life, 50 Cent’s microphone and a very rude phrase. Don’t go playing this in front of your boss, young children or Daily Mail readers…

This is typical of the sort of conversations I have with Graham whenever I see him. It’s why I like the guy! (In another video on the same YouTube channel, he also talks about drinking with the Manics in a Newport pub while still underage, if you’re interested in that sort of thing…)

The Robster

The Fakes

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #462: THE FAKES

It’s back again to the Big Gold Dreams box set for a song from 1979. And for a tune that was recorded at the legendary Cargo Studios in Rochdale, a place which was important to the development of Joy Division.

‘The Fakes are no real’ was the conceptual gag promoted by this Stirling-sired quartet founded by bassist James ‘Jamzy’ McDonald, singer Johnny Maguire and drummer Brian Kemp.

Originally The Cunts, then SK70, named after a silicon lubricant used with condoms, The Fakes made just one EP and a self-released cassette, joined by guitarist Mairi Ross.

A-side ‘Production’ was a pounding comment on dead-end factory jobs, while Sylvia Clarke was more catchy:-

mp3: The Fakes – Sylvia Clarke

The band fell apart following the death of Kemp in a motorcycle accident. McDonald reinvented himself as Mr Egg, overseeing a one-man acid techno revolution as the Can-referencing Ege Bam Yasi. More recently, McDonald and McGuire reformed The Fakes, with guitar whizz William Baird and Tango Rhums drummer Lee McPhail on board. Recent live shows sound as authentic as they’ve ever been.

The tune on offer today is very much of its time, but I feel it has some merit, thanks to the angular and slightly (to my ears) off-key guitars……

JC

Albert Hammond Jr

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (36) : Albert Hammond Jr. – 101

In late 2006, The Strokes announced they were going to take a break from recording and touring. There had already been three studio albums – Is This It (2001), Room On Fire (2003) and First Impressions Of Earth (2005) – while 2006 itself had seen them play almost 150 live shows between January and October, many of which had been at festivals and arenas. The proposed break was probably in everyone’s best interests.

Somehow, in among all this activity, the band’s rhythm guitarist Albert Hammond Jr found time to go into a studio and record his debut solo album. Yours To Keep was released in the UK by Rough Trade on 9 October 2006. It was a strangely low-key release, with no single issued in advance, and indeed the release date coincided with The Strokes finishing off a tour in the USA, meaning that Albert wasn’t around to do anything in the way of promotion.

The reviews were fine, but not gushing with praise, which I thought were a bit harsh. I had bought the album having heard it being played in a record shop as I browsed, without me actually knowing who it was. I certainly felt it was a more consistent and tuneful effort than the recent output of his band. But if the hope had been that many fans of the Strokes would shell out for Yours To Keep, then it proved to be a bit misguided, as it barely made a dent in the charts, coming in on its week of release at #74 before dropping out of the Top 100 altogether.

A month or so later, Albert brought a band came over to Europe for a short tour to further promote the album, including a Glasgow show at the 300-capacity ABC2. I was there along with Rachel, and to be fair, it proved to be a lot more enjoyable a night that we probably anticipated, probably as much to do with the fact he was genuinely enjoying playing such a small venue.

One of the tracks most mentioned positively in the reviews was given a belated release to coincide with the tour

mp3: Albert Hammond Jr – 101

It failed to really do anything, selling only enough copies to be logged at #76 in its first week.

The b-side was a cover

mp3: Albert Hammond Jr. – Postal Blowfish

The original was written and recorded by Guided By Voices in the 1990s. One of Albert’s favourite bands who were incredibly prolific throughout that decade, but I’m sorry to say I know nothing about them….I’ve one track of theirs in the collection, courtesy of it being included on a compilation CD given away by one of the monthly magazines.

JC

James

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (26): James – What For

Those of you who can recall when I had a chronological look at all the James 45s might well be familiar with the following few paragraphs as they date from February 2014.

One of my favourite early James singles and the least favourite of the sleeves.

The latter half of 86, all of 87 and early 88 was a strange time to be a James fan. It was also a frustrating time to be in the band, and I’m assuming even more frustrating to be part of the label to which the band had signed.

James were uncompromising in how they wanted to sound, while Sire Records had made it clear that if they didn’t release material that was more commercial or radio-friendly then nothing would ever see the light of day. In early 1987, a new album was recorded, but the label demanded a ‘better’ mix which just wasn’t forthcoming. It really did look for a while as if we had seen the last of the band.

The boys eventually relented and in return the label agreed that they would back a new single which was released in March 1988, a full 18 months after the previous release. It turned out to be a stunning record. Joyous, anthemic and completely radio-friendly. It was surely destined for the Top 10. It even had whistling on it!!

Except……….the record label felt it was still too indie-sounding to be deserving of a promotional push and so again it was left to the late night DJs to try and champion it….but the problem being that the band had been away for too long and nobody was really all that interested.

A crime for which lots of folk should be put in the dock and found guilty.

A 12″ copy of this single sits in the cupboard, so here we go:-

mp3 : James – What For (Climax Mix)
mp3 : James – Island Swing
mp3 : James – Not There

Once again, the b-sides are well worth your attention. Island Swing perhaps suffers from having a wee bit too much in the way of harmonica and the second half of the song doesn’t match the opening minute or so which is quite tremendous, but there can’t be many bands that have done something this jaunty as a dig at the British Empire and other forms of colonialism – while Not There is an alternative and better version of a song that would later appear on the LP Strip-Mine.

JC

Terry and Gerry

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #101

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

# 101: Terry & Gerry – ‘Wait Until You’re Older’ (Vindaloo Records ’84)

Dear friends,

today it’s one of these days again when I sit here and think to myself, ‘Jesus Christ, why can’t I just listen to „normal“ music, like The Beatles, for example?!“. Probably you will have the very same thought every week when my nonsense appears here, but that’s a different story.

Without looking it up, I don’t think there is a single Beatles-tune where I would not find thousands of essays about on the internet within a minute: get some facts, some inspiration perhaps, write a little something down, send it to JC, et voilà – back to bed!

Not so with today’s single by the most wonderful Terry & Gerry, a skiffle duo from Birmingham! I have to admit their Wikipedia entry is bigger than I first thought, but apart from this there isn’t anything I can find about them, regardless their brilliance.

They (Terry Lilley and Gerry Colvin) formed in the early 80s and unusually for the time the band was based on a skiffle sound, making use of a washboard for percussion instead of a drum kit. Terry plays double bass, and Gerry sings lead vocals and plays acoustic guitar. Below track is one of five tunes on their wonderful debut EP, ‘Butter’s On The Bread’ (a reference to the miners’ strike apparently), the sleeve of which tells me that the two chaps are backed by The Day-Glo’s, Andy Downer (guitar, singing) and Doreen Devine (washboard, singing).

I wish I had seen them live back then, they took their style from 1950’s pop artists – so much so that they wore black evening suits and ribbon ties at their gigs: great stuff!
You see, I know very well that songs like these don’t gain great applause generally. Therefore, even if there was more I could tell you, I should not take it too far – most of you would not bother anyway, I’m afraid. But hey, that’s my life story when it comes to obscurities like these: Peel liked them, so did I – but no one else did (and consequently isn’t interested) – and I liked them so much that on occasion they ended up in my singles box … end of the story, and no, I’m not complaining.

mp3: Terry & Gerry – Wait Until You’re Older

Another obscurity next week, so be prepared!

Until then, enjoy,

Dirk

Vines

SONGS UNDER TWO MINUTES (18): HIGHLY EVOLVED

Today’s offering was single of the week in March 2002 in the NME.

It was described as “scorched, ragged and super heavy, taking ‘Bleach’-era Nirvana as its starting point and then proceeds to compress the whole of Kurt Cobain’s career into a blistering minute and a half. It’s a totally brilliant record”

A bit-OTT perhaps, but I think it’s fair to say it is an exciting listen

mp3: The Vines – Highly Evolved

It reached #32 in the UK singles charts. One subsequent single, Outtathaway would go Top 20 which is an indication that this Australian indie-rock combo never quite got the sales the critics had predicted. But then again, the debut album, also called Highly Evolved, did reach #3 and sold the best part of a million copies worldwide.

JC

Wedding Present

SHOULD’VE BEEN A SINGLE ?(7)

George Best, the debut album from the Wedding Present, was released in November 1987. Among its twelve tracks were two songs that had previously been released as singles – My Favourite Dress (February ’87) and Anyone Can Make A Mistake (October ’87) – although it must be pointed out that the album version of My Favourite Dress was a different recording.

The album was a relative success, reaching #47 in the charts, which wasn’t too shabby given it was issued on Reception Records, the band’s own label and there wasn’t a huge amount of money set aside for marketing and promotion beyond basic adverts in the UK music papers. Bands on major record labels would probably have found themselves being in the situation of being asked to lift another single from the album, maybe a month or six weeks after its initial release, as a way of giving sales a further shot in the arm.

This would have been counterproductive for TWP in that most, if not all their fan base, would have already likely purchased the album, while there was also the risk of the music press turning against the band with the accusation of ripping off said fans – at the very least there would have been missives from disgruntled punters printed in the letters section, regardless of whether such letters were genuine or the figment of the imaginations of journalists seeking to start a row.

It meant that Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm, the band’s next single, released in January 1988, was a previously unreleased song.

Which also means the world was denied this bona fide classic ever being made available as a stand-alone 45:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – A Million Miles

It’s that rare TWP thing from that era – a storyline in which the male protagonist gets the girl. It kind of is like a fairytale, given that for most of us, the scenario which plays out in How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths (so you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own) was surely far more common than catching the eye of someone who not only returns a smile but is soon happy to chat with you and to agree to your suggestion that you walk her home given the absence of the friend she had come along with.

And the middle verse of the protagonist excitedly calling a friend all about it, possibly the next morning…..genius!

It is a delightful song in every possible sense of the word, lyrically and musically. Almost forty years on, it remains one of the most popular TWP songs of them all, and is still aired to great effect in the live shows. It would have been a great single, but it wouldn’t have made the mainstream charts.

JC

Super Furry Animals

SUPER FURRY SUNDAYS (aka The Singular Adventures of Super Furry Animals)

A guest series by The Robster

#21: Hello Sunshine (2003, Epic, 674360 7)

Let’s start with a song this week, shall we? Have a listen to this.

MP3: By The Sea – Wendy & Bonnie

Isn’t that lovely? I’m sure many of you will recognise at least part of that track (from teenage sibling duo Wendy & Bonnie’s only album ‘Genesis’ from 1969) owing to its first 30-odd seconds being sampled by Super Furry Animals as the intro to Hello Sunshine, the opening track on ‘Phantom Power’. Four months after the album’s release, a version of Hello Sunshine, sadly shorn of that intro, was released as the album’s second single.

MP3: Hello Sunshine [radio edit]

It’s a hazy, lazy little summery number about emerging from a period of darkness in one’s life and finding some joy again. Odd, really, considering the single was released in November just as the long nights were drawing in… It’s not my favourite SFA single, to be honest, I find it a bit ordinary, but it does have some pedal steel in it, and it was nice to hear that on a chart single at the time.

It has become something of a favourite among fans and not-really-fans for its line “I’m a minger/You’re a minger too”. For our overseas friends, minger is a Scottish word and defined as thus:

minger
/ˈmɪŋə/
noun : derogatory – informal
an unattractive or unpleasant person or thing.
“Why can’t anyone see that Spencer is a complete minger?”

It’s always bellowed very loudly by the audience at a SFA concert. The band has far better couplets in its arsenal (as I’ve pointed out a few times in this series) but for some reason, this one has stuck.

It’s also a song the band could have made a lot of money from when they were approached to use it in a Coca-Cola ad. However, thankfully, the band has far more morals and ethics than most musicians and turned them down flat. Gruff explained:

“We have never been a big selling band, but when it came to the crunch, we felt we couldn’t justify endorsing a product that may have had a part in violently suppressing some of its workers. For a moment, I thought that we could have done the advert and donated the money for their campaign for justice. Yet the thought of having to hear our song used to sell anything that exploits anyone for the worse turns my stomach.”

Despite the commercial potential of Hello Sunshine, it failed to set the charts alight. Perhaps if it had been put out during the summer months, it might have climbed higher than its actual chart peak of #31. It means a lot of people missed out on the b-sides. All formats – 7” picture disc, CD and DVD – had this:

MP3: Cowbird

The CD and DVD also included a third track:

MP3: Sanitizzzed

The former is an instrumental that belongs on some movie soundtrack or something. In the right context, it might be amazing, but I fail to get much out of it. The latter sounds like something the band would have done a few years earlier. It has that classic psyche-infused SFA-of-old sound, with a good melody and lots of la-la-las. And a dog. It’s clear why neither of these tracks appeared on the album, they just wouldn’t have fit anywhere.

So onto the bonus tracks:

MP3: Hello Sunshine [demo]
MP3: Hello Sunshine [Weevil remix]

The demo is wonderful and is my favourite version of the song. It’s even more laid-back than the final studio version, and features an extended bridge with extra lyrics that were eventually discarded. I also love what the band is doing in that part too. This really was a highlight of the 20th anniversary edition of ‘Phantom Power’.

I have to admit to quite liking the remix as well. It’s obviously very different, but it has its own charm and hazy warmth about it that makes it well worth a listen. It also retains the pedal steel, so a big tick for that! It featured on the remix album ‘Phantom Phorce’ along with another remix of Hello Sunshine which isn’t worth the effort as there are no recognisable parts of the original song in it, so I object to it being called a remix of anything and it won’t be posted here!

Anyway, next week, the third and final instalment of the Phantom Power singles, and it’s another special bumper post!

The Robster

F.O. Machete

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #461: F.O.MACHETE

Here’s a duo that totally passed me by until earlier this year. F.O. Machete – previously known as Fuck Off Machete – and consisting of Natasha Noramly (bass, vocals) and Paul Mellon (guitar, vocals), formed in Glasgow back in 2003, and debut album My First Machete was released on Lost Dog Recordings the following year. There would be one further album and a couple of EPs before what is now described as a hiatus (not a break-up) from Natasha moving to the USA in 2011.

The onset of the COVID pandemic led to Natasha returning to Glasgow in 2020, and in the fullness of time she reconnected with Paul. A couple of years back, Last Night From Glasgow had made contact to seek out the possibility of releasing the back catalogue on vinyl (it had previously only been issued on CD). Those at the label were delighted to be told that Natasha and Paul had been working on new material, and so the plans for the reissue were put on the back burner and resources instead put towards recording and releasing the new songs.

The album Mother Of A Thousand came out back in February, and it is only down to the fact I knew they were due up in this long-running series that has stopped me mentioning it until now. There are a few reviews out there online, all of them fulsome in their praise for the album, and I make no apologies for quoting Neil Hodge (aka The Ginger Quiff), someone whose finger is always on the pulse of Scottish music, and who is one of our best writers:-

“That second album from the band with perhaps the most Glaswegian name ever is the triumphant Mother of a Thousand, featuring ten masterpieces of no wave alt-rock genius that scythe through the competition with their unique flair and preposterously addictive catchiness. The machete have taken the loud-quiet-loud blueprint that marked out the Pixies from their competition and have made it all their own, with songs that move from quiet almost whispered quirkiness all the way through a gamut of many textured sounds to some gargantuan fuck off riffs…..”

He has absolutely nailed it.

mp3: F.O.Machete – Confetti Clown

Hooks and riffs abound, and it is the sort of album which seems to throw up something fresh and different with each and every listen. I’m certain it’ll be one that will make a few end-of-the-year lists, and not just round these parts.

JC

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

THE LP LUCKY DIP (3) : THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART (2009)

In which I admit to falling for the tricks of the marketing folk…..

It was hearing some of their songs at the much-missed Little League nights during the 2010s that I first fell for the charms of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. My dancing partner-in-crime, Aldo, was way ahead of the curve, having cottoned onto them from the outset, being someone who loved getting out and about to various indie-festivals in the UK and further afield. His CD collection has always been packed with releases from all the legendary indie labels, with Slumberland Records being one of his favourites.

The self-titled debut was released in February 2009. I’m quite sure Aldo would have bought it at the time and raved about it to anyone who would listen. I was going through a period of enjoying what was a particularly fertile period for emerging Scottish-based bands, and so I wouldn’t have paid much attention to the idea that great music was coming out of Brooklyn. But as I said, it was hearing some songs while out at the middle-aged folks equivalent of the indie-disco that got my ears pricked.

Said album was eventually purchased on CD in maybe 2015 or 2016. My take on things from the outset that it was a very good but not wholly brilliant listen. The opening five songs – Contender, Come Saturday, Young Adult Friction, This Love Is Fucking Right! and The Tenure Itch – were particularly strong, but that’s no real surprise, as the catchy singles were all in there. What I was particularly liking was how they seemed to blend a range of indie-influences from both the US and the UK and somehow come up with something that sounded different. The melodies were great, the tunes were toe-tapping, and the whole thing bounced along at a fair pace.

But just as I was beginning to think it was a classic, things sagged in the middle. Don’t get me wrong, the tunes Stay Alive and Everything With You were decent enough, but where there had been killer choruses early on, these kind of felt indie-by-numbers. Would I have felt the same if I’d seen the band play live back in the day? Probably not, as there was a sense that they would have sounded bright and energetic when aired in the presence of an adoring and enthusiastic audience. And just as I was kind of being dragged back in by A Teenager In Love and Hey Paul, the album closer Gentle Sons left me shaking my head as dull and plodding – the very worst of their influences coming through as it sounded like a Mary Chain cast-off with an awful lead guitar part midway through.

And then, in early 2022, one of the monthly e-mails from the Monorail record shop excitedly announced that the album was being re-released on limited edition vinyl – white with pink and yellow splatter no less – and could be ordered via the website. The thing is, there’s plenty of albums (and indeed singles) I have on CD that I’d love to have on vinyl, but this wasn’t really one of them. But, just like the Four Tops (and Orange Juice), I can’t help myself. And the order was placed within seconds of the email arriving – I didn’t want to miss out!

So now, I have two copies of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Consumerism at its worst. But I could justify things to myself by the fact that I would now be able to place the vinyl on the turntable and lift it off without guilt at the end of Side 1.

mp3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Contender
mp3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Young Adult Friction

And if I want any of the Side 2 tracks, there’s always the digital versions on the laptop (although I’m no so shallow as to not put the needle into the groove of Side 2, but I always make sure it gets lifted again before the final track, which means it always closes with this:-

mp3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Hey Paul

Which I’ve just done as I listened again while typing out all of the above.

JC

Chemical Brothers

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (24) : Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar

R-48485-1233369052

I pulled this one down off the shelf for inclusion in this series. First thing I did was look at the credits and was stunned/horrified to see that the track dates back to 2001. It’s another of those that make me wonder about where the time has gone……I could have sworn this was a good ten years later.

mp3: The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar (edit)

This version is a couple of minutes shorter than the one included on the album Come With Us. Not being very good at describing what music sounds like, please permit me to quote a couple of professionals.

“a crisp post-disco work-out featuring bristling guitars and a Giorgio Moroder-style synth-bass.” – Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine

“a dreamy melody hatches from an array of Ritalin beats, is evidence of a band that is increasingly drawn to disorientingly lush tunes rather than to mere adrenaline anthems.” – Pat Blashall of Rolling Stone

Maybe Mr Blashall went to the same writing school as Graeme Thomson?

Fatboy Slim was asked if he fancied doing a remix of Star Guitar, but he declined on the basis that it couldn’t be improved.

I’m assuming that having received that particular rejection, Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands turned their attention to another music producer from Brighton, who was quite happy to get on board.

mp3: The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar (Pete Heller Expanded Mix)

It’s quite epic in some ways, speeding up and slowing down as it meanders along, and certainly has a ‘hands to the ceiling’ feel to it.

The CD single came with one other piece of music.

mp3: The Chemical Brothers – Base 6

This one seems to pay homage to an awful lot of different types of dance/club music. The ‘123456 Bass’ sample has been lifted from a 1992 track by a Miami-based club DJ known as Beat Dominator, although I can’t help but think of ‘Bass’ being taken from White Lines by Grandmaster Melle Mel.

Star Guitar reached #8 in the singles chart in January 2002. They’ve only once reached the Top 10 since then, and that was with Galvanize in January 2005. But I think it’s fair to say that much of their music has proved to be timeless, remaining highly popular with young clubbers/festival goers all these years later.