ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 5 (Part 4)

As ever, we’ll start things off with the result of last week’s tie. The winners established an early 5 point lead which was then wiped out come Tuesday morning.  The winners, however, found a second wind as the week went on and held on despite a late onslaught from the Scousers.

Echo & The Bunnymen 19 The Clash 22

Three down; one to go..  Here’s jimdoes with this week’s tie.

THE JAM v LLOYD COLE & THE COMMOTIONS

Man In The Corner Shop v My Bag

I’ve never had any friends who were big fans of The Jam – and as a youngster, very much like The Clash, they passed me by. My only recollections of them are ads for Jam shoes and Jam ties in the back of Smash Hits – and seeing the video for Funeral Pyre on Top Of The Pops. It wasn’t enough to turn my 12-year-old self into a mod – I was busy listening to Adam and The Ants and arguing with friends that they were better than Madness. I’m almost 50 and I’ve mellowed slightly but I still like a ‘heated debate’ about X band being better than Y – I do try and base my opinions on actually listening to said bands these days which is definitely a change from when I’d slag off bands based on whatever was written in the music press. I even take this as far as to listening to the godawful rap that my teenage son listens to – and I sometimes catch myself sounding just like my dad “That’s not music etc etc”. None of which particularly relates to The Jam – I’ve seen Weller a few times at festivals and generally enjoyed his music but I don’t hold him in the same light as Joe Strummer or Mick Jones, he’s not my hero.

Lost Weekend on Top Of The Pops was where it began. I still know all the lyrics and it’s still a song that I’ll occasionally play when I DJ in my local pub. I was late to Lloyd Cole – it seems like a recurring theme – I guess it was in my teens before I discovered the delights of the NME and Melody Maker. I bought Easy Pieces and played it to death – and it means more to me than Rattlesnakes. That’s not so say that when I discovered Rattlesnakes I didn’t love it, but I guess I loved my first infatuation that little bit more. Anyway, I only discovered Rattlesnakes thanks to the Sandie Shaw version of Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken – a shocking admission! My younger sister was a big Lloyd Cole fan – especially Mainstream – and she came with me when they played Wembley Arena – a band very much in the wrong venue – their songs sounded lost in such an echoey hanger and convinced me that smaller venues were better – and to this day I try and avoid the big arena tours – most bands are lost to me once they get that big.

jimdoes

Monochrome Set

A SYMPHONY OF HORRORS

The second ever single released by The Monochrome Set was entitled Eine Symphonie des Grauens, which translates as ‘A Symphony of Horrors’. It must be one of the few, if indeed perhaps the only, indie-pop classic that’s written from the perspective of a vampire falling head over heels for the beautiful young thing he is about to seek his fangs into:-

I’m dead and dank and rotten
My arms are wrapped in cotton
My corpse loves you, let’s marry

Get smart, once – Every night at sleepy time
Get smart, twice – I hang my skin out on the line
Get smart, sing – Oh, darling, would you be, be mine

I’m in love, I think I’m in love
I’m in love, I think I’m in love
I’m in love, I think I’m in love, oh ho-ho-ho

I’m caught in a mesh of veins
My fingers and flesh and brains
My skull gives head, so let’s wed

Get smart, once – Every night when all alone
Get smart, twice – I drape my flesh around the phone
Get smart, pray – Oh, darling, would you be my own

I’m in love, I think I’m in love
I’m in love, I think I’m in love
I’m in love, I think I’m in love, oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Don’t cry, beautiful, it’s just a phase
To the father and the son and the holy ghost
I chant and I pray, I love
You know, God works in mysterious ways
To the father and the son and the holy ghost
I sing and I pray, I love

I’m soft and slightly stinking
My arms are small and shrinking
My lips kiss dirt, oh, let’s flirt

Get smart, once – Every night at half-past-one
Get smart, twice – There’s a little taste of things in come
Get smart, chant – Oh, darling, can I be your son?

I’m in love, I think I’m in love
I’m in love, I think I’m in love
I’m in love, I think I’m in love, oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Don’t scream, baby, it’s just a coma
To the father and the son and the holy ghost
I chant and I pray, I love
You go to heaven, I go to Roma
To the father and the son and the holy ghost
I sing and I pray, I love

mp3 : The Monochrome Set – Eine Symphonie des Grauens

The song title, and indeed its entire premise, is based on Nosferatu, a silent horror film released as long ago as 1922. Widely regarded as a masterpiece, the film had the full title of Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, and was the first ever adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel, Dracula, that had been published 25 years earlier. The only problem for the filmmaker F.W. Murnau was that his work was unauthorised and led to Stoker’s widow successfully suing him and the production company with part of the court ruling being that all copies had to be destroyed. It didn’t quite materialise and indeed an existing copy made its way to the USA where it was released to much acclaim in 1929.

But enough of the cinematic stuff….this is a music blog after all.

Eine Symphonie…..is an absolute belter of a single, coming with an infectiously catchy sing-a-long chorus riding its way along a tune that just screams to be danced to. I’d love to say that I picked up on it when it was released on Rough Trade in 1979 but this was a band I didn’t really begin to listen to until they were brought to my attention by a flatmate. The late 70s saw many amazing and often unheralded bands forming in the immediate aftermath of the punk/new wave explosion and this London-based combo slipped well under my radar. I think it would have been a different story if I had lived in that part of the country instead of Glasgow….

Here’s yer jaunty instrumental track that was on the b-side:-

mp3 : The Monichrome Set – Lester Leaps In

JC

Kitchenware Records

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #172 : KITCHENWARE RECORDS

A GUEST POSTING by DAVID ASHLEY

JC writes  …………..ignore the pish that I wrote last week about having no more guest ICAs in the pipeline – there were two that had been received some time ago and filed in wrong places…..there’s also been a couple more submissions in the past few days and I’ve even got my own arse in gear and put one together.  So things are looking good on the ICA front for a while yet.  Time now to hand you over to David.

——————————————

A while back there was some discussion in the comments about an ICA for record labels following the excellent Factory one so thought I would give one a go. I’ve chosen Kitchenware and specifically the early period in Kitchenware’s life. Modelled on Postcard and started in Newcastle in 1982 by the 21 yr old Keith Armstrong , then manager of the city centre HMV (for a while the label was run in shop’s basement). From the start the labels aim was to have chart hits with early releases and live shows set up to get licencing deals with the majors. The golden period for me is when the had their own fab 4 , The Kane Gang , Hurrah!, The Daintees and Prefab Sprout. All 4 bands would go on to make better records but there is something about these early releases all from when i was 16 / 17 years old that have stayed with me.

The label had other acts come and go later on including the wonderful Fatima Mansions and had a bit of renaissance with Editors but the romance had gone and they stopped being an essential ‘buy every release’ label. Kitchenware is, sadly, no more , another victim of the endless march to digital and streaming.

I’ve slightly cheated with a 12 track ICA, 3 tracks from each band…..

Side 1

Gun Law by The Kane Gang

Lead off track from The Kane Gang’s first LP, this hasn’t dated that well. I love the fact the ambition for a big sound kind of out strips the production, evoking the wild west of the north east if that isn’t a contradiction in terms. The Kane Gang were a 3 piece and much more soul than jangly guitar based. Unfortunately the band got most airplay from being responsible for the awful “oohh Gary Davies” jingle on radio one. If this means nothing to you then you are truly blessed.

Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone) by Prefab Sprout

Featured before on VV but this less than 3 mins bit of magic is worth another spin. Initially released on the band’s Candle Records , the band came to Kitchenware’s attention when Martin McAloon (band’s bass player) wandered into HMV and asked Keith Armstrong if he would stock the single. Inspired by Paddy’s then girlfriend leaving for Limoges in France. There is something in “The rumours have started that we are both young” that chimed with a 15 year living in the Flatlands. Still one of the best things they have done.

Hip Hip by Hurrah! (the ! is important)

Another slogan just made for growing up to “Are you scared to get happy?” became a bit of a rallying cry for the label as a whole. This was the band’s second single and they reached their peak with the Boxed compilation that pulls all the tracks from their first four singles together. After that if was Leather Jackets , named producers and tours supporting U2.

Look Down Look Down by Martin Stephenson and the Daintees

Signed to the label after busking outside of hmv in Newcastle , the band released a couple of singles before the debut Boat to Bolivia came out. I bought this purely on the basis that it was on Kitchenware. The personal autobiographical lyrics and the hotch potch of styles all shone through a pop lens meant it is still one of my all time favourites. This tale of teenage suicide truly comes to life when played live but the album version is non too shabby as well.

Closest Thing to Heaven by the Kane Gang

This gave the label its first chart hit , even if it did need the might of a major behind it to make it happen. I think this has dated okay.

Cruel by Prefab Sprout.

The first Prefab Sprout LP came out in 1984 by which time the band had been playing live for over 5 years and Paddy had already got a large collection of songs written. For Swoon they decided to record the songs that they found too difficult to play live with the off tempo changes and sudden shifts in direction that Paddy favoured in his writing. As a result when I heard it Swoon felt very different to both the first 2 singles and any thing else around at that time. Cruel is a great example and also backs up a universal truth that every Prefab Sprout song. has at least one line to die for. “the world should be free but don’t you go following suit”. If you hunt around on You tube there is a version covered by Elvis Costello

Side 2

The Sun Shines Here by Hurrah!

First single by Hurrah! And sounds like it was recorded in a biscuit tin , but boy do I love this. With these early releases Hurrah! were seen as the ones most likely to but it never really happened as the jangle was replaced with a bit of Rock that horrified me at the time. Remember sending away for this and getting a copy in the post from the label. I thought it was the future of music. Listening back I can’t really judge it as I am immediately taken back to a time of fanzines and singles arriving in the post, pouring over lyrics and planning our own bands (The Insistent Porpoises were doomed before they began)

Trouble Town (83 version) by Martin Stephenson and the Daintees

A different version was released as a single (much more sparkling and shiny version complete with jarring backing vocals) I kind of like this earlier jazzier version though . “Its such a mundane way of life , I can hardly breathe” captures the claustrophobia of growing up in a small town in the fens

Crease in His Hat by the Kane Gang

Another track from the Bad and Lowdown World of The Kane Gang. I still love this it has the ache that a lot of my favourite songs have. The band went on the make a much more polished LP in Miracle which got some success in the US and in Motortown has at least one fantastic song on (if you like your pop without the crunchy bits). I think the band suffered from being a bit well characterless , the shared vocal meant there wasnt really a lead man as a focus. Nowadays they would probably be writing songs for Adele or someone.

Walk On by Prefab Sprout

B side of 2nd single The Devil has all the Best Tunes. Even with the simplest of tunes , there are still unexpected pauses and strange time patterns, “ and in the morning you are as certain as the light”

This Boy by Hurrah!

Listening back to this I can hear that they were really a rock band at heart, trapped in bedroom, however those harmonies and chiming guitars are pure summery pop.

Crocodile Cryer by Martin Stephenson and the Daintees

When Kitchenware eventually moved to some offices they used the top floor as rehearsal space leading to quite a bit of cross band working. This song inspired by Martin Stephenson’s grandmother’s funeral is at its best on the debut LP , but this is an earlier version produced by Paddy McAloon. As with all the best lyrics , the beauty is in the details , the fact that it is Elton John records playing upstairs somehow fits perfectly.

If you are interested here is a couple of links to a special by The Tube on the 4 bands featured. Looking at the Kane Gang clip , they really were the uncoolest looking band going

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZHd0ljFDw – Kane Gang and Hurrah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iM2Zv-VoTk – Daintees and Prefab Sprout

DAVID

Twilight Sad

THERE’S NO LOVE TOO SMALL

I recently mentioned that myself and Aldo were heading off to Leeds to catch The Twilight Sad play their first UK show in 18 months and their first headline show since December 2015. I wasn’t sure beforehand if I was going to say anything after the event, but as you can surmise from the fact these words are appearing in a post on the blog, I’m now entirely sure that, unlike Rod the Mod and Everything But The Girl, I do want to talk about it.

First up, some thoughts on the city of Leeds. It’s a place I hadn’t been to for the best part of 20 years and the last time around I wasn’t all that impressed – but then again I had gone down to watch a day of cricket with a group of mates and we didn’t venture too far from the hotel bar or the ground at Headingley. The railway station, which had been the arrival point, was a dark and depressing place, reliant on unpleasant smelling underpasses to get you from one part to another and the city centre seemed equally unappealing with the pubs not offering much of a welcome to non-regulars.

The Leeds of 2018 has been transformed way beyond recognition. It’s not a city which seems to be incredibly dependent on tourism in that there’s none of these ‘hop-on, hop-off’ buses which are so common in such hotspots, but there has been a remarkable growth in the number and quality of hotels in the centre, with all sorts of new accompanying commercial and retail developments. There’s been an explosion of new bars but at the same time, many of the older traditional places have clearly upped their game, offering all sorts of real ales/craft beers and high-end vodkas, gins, whiskys etc. for the most discerning of tastes.

In short, the city proved to be well worth a visit and would be one I wouldn’t hesitate to return to if the opportunity arose, which it might well do given that the Brudenell Social Club has jumped straight to the higher echelons of my all-time favourite gig venues.

As I said last week, it was one of two long sitting on the bucket list and I had knocked off the other last year with a trip to Hebden Bridge Trades Club, again in the company of Aldo, when we had enjoyed Jens Lekman followed by a memorable afternoon and evening in Manchester in the company of the man in charge of the bagging area. The Brudenell, however, proved to be something else again.

The Twilight Sad have a long association with the venue, but even this was a first for them in that they were making their debut in the Community Room, a new part of the building which opened just last year. It’s a superb space, just perfect for gigs with its width, low-roof and raised stage offering great views no matter where you choose to stand. It also has the very best in acoustics and thanks to it being designed in a way that the bar area is separated and largely buffered from the main auditorium, it reduces the likelihood of the yakkity-yak nonsense which often spoils a good night out at a live music event.

Mind you, having had a look at the Function Room where the majority of gigs have previously taken place, I’d love to catch an act in there sometime of an evening as it had the look, feel and vibe of a very special place where an audience and singer/band would bond brilliantly; last Saturday is was busy with folk watching Croatia v Nigeria in the 2018 World Cup – I can’t imagine how rammed it would be if England and/or one of the big teams were involved.

So….with all this in mind, given that the city and the venue hadn’t disappointed, the onus was on the band to ensure the feel-good factor remained intact.

They took to the stage at 9.15pm and they ended a 14-song set at 10.30. They opened with a classic and they closed with something that was awe-inspiring, moving, powerful and as sensational 7 or 8 minutes as I’ve ever experienced in what is now almost 40 years of watching live music. In between, we got some familiar and often aired favourite songs from the back catalogue and were also treated to three as yet unreleased numbers. They sounded pitch perfect thanks to the afore-mentioned sound system and acoustics…..and while they are very much a five-piece band, especially in the live setting, there has to be special mention of frontman James Graham who is, without any question, the most mesmerising of performers whose vocal delivery and accompanying movements surely leave him on the brink of complete physical and mental exhaustion every single time.

It was fascinating to look around the audience when the lights went up. Given it was such a rare show, it had sold out quickly and of interest to fans from all over – you could certainly pick out a fair number of Scottish accents in the bar area beforehand – and so was always going to be one in which there were very few, if any, folk who were experiencing the band live for the first time. Most seemed to be, like myself and Aldo, quite speechless, coming to grips with what had just been witnessed; there were some in tears, understandably overcome by the intensity and emotion of the final few minutes. I’m sure if there had been an exit poll, the option of ‘best show they’ve ever played’ would have won a landslide victory.

The band have always been prolific in their use of social media. The following morning, as we sat down to a lovely and value-for-money breakfast in an old café which was defying the surrounding regeneration and partial gentrification of the canal area, Aldo read out what had just been posted on the official Facebook page:

“I’ll never forget last night. A room full of beautiful people. Brudenell Social Club is part of our history and will be part of us as we try to move forward. There’s no love too small x.”

Indeed.

Setlist

That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy
Don’t Move
Dennis Hopper (new song)
Last January
I Became A Prostitute
It Was Never The Same
VTR (new song)
Reflection of The Television
The Wrong Car
Arbor (new song)
There’s A Girl In The Corner
Cold Days From The Birdhouse
And She Would Darken The Memory
Keep Yourself Warm (cover version)

mp3 : The Twilight Sad – Last January
mp3 : Frightened Rabbit – Keep Yourself Warm

JC

PS :   Typing this up at 6pm on Tuesday night at which point The Clash are hoilding a narrow lead over Echo & The Bunnymen in the ICA World Cup quarter-final. There’s still time to cast your vote if you haven’t done so already – do you prefer Clampdown or Never Stop?

Fatboy Slim

DANCE MOTHERFUCKER DANCE

There are some pieces of music which I can’t ever listen to without recalling an image or images from a live TV performance going through my head. Some examples include:-

– The Police performing Can’t Stand Losing You on The Old Grey Whistle Test when Sting twitched his way through the song as the sweat from his forehead went into his eyes which had already been inflamed from an exploding can of hairspray (which is why he was wearing large and hideous sunglasses)

– The Associates not taking Top of The Pops seriously as Alan Rankine broke off bits of a full-size chocolate guitar and gave it away to members of the audience as Billy Mackenzie tried not to corpse as he mimed to 18 Carat Love Affair

– The Redskins introducing a striking miner live on The Tube as they played the intro to Keep On Keepin’ On, not realising that, by some strange quirk of fate the mic that the miner was speaking into wasn’t working and the millions of viewers didn’t hear a word

– The Smiths on Top of The Pops for William It Was Really Nothing – Johnny had Elvis Costello‘s guitar and the frontman stripped off mid-song.

– The Smiths (again) on Whistle Test, making a return to our screens after a long absence and unveiling Bigmouth Strikes Again

– Radiohead on Later offering up the first ever rendition of Paranoid Android

There are also some songs which I can’t listen to without picturing the promo video, with this being a prime example:-

mp3 : Fatboy Slim – Praise You

It’s frightening to realise we are fast approaching the 20th anniversary of this wonderful piece of film making.

And to think that it sort of came about by accident.

Norman Cook had wanted Spike Jonze to come up with a concept and direct a video for The Rockafeller Skank but the filmmaker hadn’t been able to find the time. As a way of saying sorry, Jonze sent Cook a video of him goofing around to Skank which led to them hatching the idea for the follow-up single.

The fictional Torrance Community Dance Group, led by Jonze, turned up without any permission at all with the intention of performing an outlandish dance to Praise You outside a cinema in Los Angeles as patrons queued up to get in, with the whole thing captured on film. It was an era when flash-mobbing events of this type were incredibly rare and part of the fun comes from watching the bemused and befuddled reaction of the cinema goers. It’s also worth recalling that nobody in the queue would have known anything about the song as it hadn’t yet been released when the promo was shot.

By the time the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards came around the song had reached #1 in the UK and provided a breakthrough for Fatboy Slim in the USA. The video took home three prizes – Breakthrough Video, Best Direction and Best Choreography, every one of them fully deserved.

Here’s the two other tracks which came with the single:-

mp3 : Fatboy Slim – Sho Nuff
mp3 : Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank (Mulder’s Urban Takeover Mix)

And here’s the song which was sampled for the single:-

mp3 : Camile Yarbrough – Take Yo’Praise

JC

Various

55 MINUTES FOR 55 YEARS

I thought a mixtape would work well today.

mp3 : Various – 55 minutes for 55 years

Track Listing

What Time Is Love? (Live at Transcentral) – The KLF
I Want You – Inspiral Carpets/Mark E Smith
Kandy Pop – Bis
American Guitars – The Auteurs
Hounds of Love – Kate Bush
Pigs – Dead Hope
Higher Grounds – Cats On Fire
When It All Comes Down – Miaow
Hayfever – The Trashcan Sinatras
Definitive Gaze – Magazine
Safe European Home – The Clash
Heatwave – Martha & The Vandellas
Be Less Rude – Frightened Rabbit
Transmission – Joy Division
Another Girl, Another Planet – The Only Ones
Roadrunner – Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

JC

Bauhaus

A RE-POST TO BUY MORE TIME (10)

ON REFLECTION…A RATHER UNUSUAL RELEASE
(Originally posted on 23 February 2013)

1982.

Bauhaus had been kicking around for a few years without ever troubling the chart-compilers. The record label then hit on the wheeze of releasing, as their eighth single, a cover version of one of the most famous songs written and recorded by David Bowie. This was at a time when Bowie was being accused on selling out, what with hitting the charts with duets with firstly Queen and then Bing Crosby (!!) and rumours flying around the music industry that his next LP was going to be a real crossover pop/dance effort.

So in a sense, this very faithful interpretation of Ziggy Stardust was a reminder to us kids that Bowie had made some great music a decade or so earlier and why he was regarded as such a huge influence to many:-

mp3 : Bauhaus – Ziggy Stardust

All the label on the 12″ single says is ‘released by arrangement with BBC Records’. It was years later, thanks to a CD compilation of all their BBC sessions, that it could be revealed it dated from a July 1982 session recorded for the David ‘Kid’ Jensen Show on Radio 1.

The track got to #15 in the UK charts and proved to be the band’s only Top 20 hit.

I came across it while cleaning out the record cupboard the other week having long forgotten that I owned a copy. Gave the b-sides a spin for the first time in decades – found them to be a a right strange bag:-

mp3 : Bauhaus – Party of the First Part
mp3 : Bauhaus – Third Uncle
mp3 : Bauhaus – Waiting For The Man

The first of these was turns out to be from a John Peel Session in March 1982. This must have bemused long-time fans of the band. It’s a sort of lounge-jazz piece of music with sampled dialogue from what sounds like some sort of horror movie. Turns out that the band are really having a laugh at their own alleged demonic/goth roots as the sample is from The Devil and Daniel Mouse – a 1978 cartoon with this plot line:-

Finding their audience drying up in favour of rock music, two young mouse folk singers find themselves with a bleak future. Desperate for a better career and life, the female vows that she would do anything to become a rock star. Instantly, the Devil arises to take advantage of that and offers to make her a star in exchange for her soul. She agrees and she quickly becomes the star she’s dreamed of while her boyfriend, Daniel Mouse, is left behind. On the night of her greatest triumph, the devil comes to collect on her soul. In desperation, she turns to Daniel who must attempt the impossible task of trying to find an escape loophole for his girl’s release.

I’m guessing being a family cartoon young Daniel finds a way…..but I’m still quite tickled at the band showing such a cracking sense of humour.

Over on the flip-side the track Third Uncle is also taken from the same Jensen session as Ziggy. It’s a cover of a Brian Eno composition, originally released in 1974. I’ve never heard the original, but I’m happy to make a blind bet that the Bauhaus version is wildly different. Oh and I’m happy that having just played it for the first time in nearly 30 years, it has been added to the i-pod list cos I like it….

The final track was much anticipated. Recorded live at Fagins in Manchester and featuring Nico from The Velvet Underground on co-vocals, this very disappointingly sounds like two drunk patrons being backed by a wedding band. Total letdown.

JC

ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 5(Part 3)

If the score from last week’s result appears underneath, then I was thankfully able to update this draft using my phone while in a hotel room in Leeds.

The Housemartins 16 Pulp 20

That’s two off your semi-finalists sorted out.  Here’s jimdoes with this week’s tie.  It’s the pick of the bunch…..

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN v THE CLASH

Never Stop (Discotheque) v Clampdown

Written in biro on a desk at school. That was the first time I heard of Echo and The Bunnymen. All the cool kids at school were in to them – and I most certainly wasn’t one of the cool kids – I was only just looking beyond Top of the Pops to discover new music on my own. Maybe that’s why they’ve never been a favourite of mine – I like them but they were always too cool for me. I know the songs and I’ve seen them at festivals a few times but I never loved them. Having said all that – out of all the bands left in the ICA World Cup, they are the band that I listen to more than any other – only because Seven Seas is one of my favourite songs ever so I play it all the time.

(JC adds….just to provide some more words so that it is similar in length to the second contribution….here’s what Echorich said when I posted the 12″ version of Never Stop as the stand alone post “LAY DOWN THY RAINCOAT AND GROOOOOOVE…” back in October 2013…

A Pete De Frietas Tour De Force! The percussion, multilayered over a driving motorik beat, mixed with the strings was the first warning shot of what would come to full fruition by Ocean Rain.

Back to jimdoes……

I was too young for The Clash. And not having an older sibling to point me in the right direction, they kind of passed me by. In my house the 70s meant Joan Baez, The Manhattan Transfer and Terry Wogan’s Floral Dance. Punk certainly never happened for me. But I do remember seeing my first punks – on my way to my cousins in Romford around the time of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee – they seemed impossibly exotic and otherworldly to my young eyes. The first I knew of Mick Jones was E=MC2 – which I loved. By the time I went to art college I was a proper indie kid – The Wedding Present, The Smiths, Pixies, The Cure, and The Primitives were my band t-shirts of choice (in fact I’ve never owned a Clash t-shirt). This is where I met Julyan and Tristan – we’d go to the pub – they’d put The Clash on the jukebox; we’d carry on drinking at home – they’d play their battered Clash records; we’d go to parties – Julyan would always have a Clash tape on him (for emergencies) – it would be his favourite Clash songs but he’d re-record it almost weekly. I quickly knew all the words and acquired my own copies of the albums. None of us ever saw The Clash (They aren’t even the band I’d go back in time to see – that’s Prince and The Revolution on the Purple Rain tour) but we went to countless BAD shows and saw Joe Strummer a few times. I still listen to London Calling about once a month, so they are very much a part of me.

jimdoes

PS : That leaves the final quarter final as Lloyd Cole & The Commotions v The Jam.  You’ll need to wait seven days for the songs though…….

Twilight Sad

THE LONG-OVERDUE AND WELCOME RETURN OF THE TWILIGHT SAD

It’s been two and a half years since the last time I saw The Twilight Sad when they played a triumphant pre-Christmas show at The Barrowlands in Glasgow. They spent most of 2016 travelling the world a the support act to The Cure while last year they took some time out to recuperate during which lead singer James Graham ventured into a side project called Out Lines, working with Kathryn Joseph (winner of the Scottish Album of the Year in 2016) and Marcus Mackay.

Tomorrow night they are playing at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, a venue that has long been on mine and Aldo‘s bucket list and so we are off down south to take it in where we will hopefully be joined by Comrade Colin.

I’ve been excited about this one for months, counting down the weeks impatiently. And yet, I was nearly in a position of not being able to go as the death of a close friend last week threatened to put things on hold – if the funeral had been tomorrow, then there would have been a very tough decision to make. As it is, Aldo will head down as planned later this morning and I’ll delay my departure for a few hours and join him this evening.

The gig promises to be special. They have a new drummer following the unexpected but amicable departure of Mark Devine which was announced a few months back. They also are likely to include a Frightened Rabbit number in the set as a tribute to the late Scott Hutchison – I’ll do well to stay in control of myself if that happens.

Here’s a reminder of why this band are, and have been for a while, my favourites:-

mp3 : The Twilight Sad – That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisble Boy (from Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, 2007)
mp3 : The Twilight Sad – The Room (from Forget the Night Ahead, 2009)
mp3 : The Twilight Sad – The Wrong Car (frm The Wrong Car EP, 2010)
mp3 : The Twilight Sad – Sick (from No One Can Ever Know, 2012)
mp3 : The Twilight Sad – It Was Never The Same (from Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, 2014)

JC

Colourbox

THERE COULD ONLY BE ONE TRACK TODAY

I don’t care if it’s a re-post of a re-post of a guest post from back in 2008. This will always be one of my favourite bits of writing and it just has to appear today.  A piece of music which still sounds superb 32 years on.

DANCE MUSIC FOR INDIE KIDS (PT 3)
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ctel (aka ACID TED)
ON 10 NOVEMBER 2008

Today Mrs CTel discusses sport and dance for indie kids, through the medium of Colourbox.

Colourbox was one of the legendary 4AD label’s earliest and most under-recognized acts. It was among the first artists outside hip-hop to rely heavily on sampling techniques; ultimately, their arty blue-eyed soul reached its commercial and creative peak through their work with AR Kane on M/A/R/R/S‘ seminal “Pump Up the Volume” project, a reflection of the group’s long-standing interest in the burgeoning underground dance music scene of the 1980s. Colourbox was primarily the work of London-based brothers Martyn and Steven Young. In 1986 they released “The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme” (relating to the World Cup in Mexico in 86).

Mrs CTel says:

This is to do with Football. Music and sport in an official or unofficial capacity shouldn’t mix. It’s not cool – even New Order only just scraped a place on the line dividing kitsch from credibility. But this track’s massive saving grace it that except for the title (whisper it if you must) it doesn’t have ANY reference to the F word. Blissfully free of lyrics, it delivers a wonderful performance quite out sync with England’s woeful international efforts, except perhaps in its own lack of chart success. But hey, that IS cool in music terms. It starts off hard and keeps up a great momentum all the way through. Trust me on this one.

mp3 : Colourbox – The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme 7″ Mix

 

Fall

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #171 : THE FALL (5)

ALL HERE IS ACE: The Fall’s First Decade (1977-1986)

A guest posting by JONDER

I started this ICA before Mark E. Smith‘s death, but found it hard to reduce The Fall‘s first and greatest decade to ten songs. It was a period of boundless creativity, as the group moved from strength to strength with an astonishing series of singles and albums.

Sean O’Neal observed in the AVClub.com, “Most Fall fans don’t have something as pedestrian as favorite albums or songs, but rather favorite eras and lineups.” For me, nothing surpasses the bass-driven, double drummer sound of these years, topped with trebly guitars and Mark’s distinctive delivery. The lyrics bristle with dark wit and undisguised contempt for the scene, the press, record labels, musicians, the city of London, and even the audience.

SIDE A

1. Crap Rap/Like To Blow – Smith introduces the group as Northern outsiders. The Fall’s 1979 debut album, Live At The Witch Trials, features Yvonne Pawlett‘s cheap keyboard and the metallic sheen of Martin Bramah‘s guitar, both soon to disappear from the lineup.

2. Before The Moon Falls – by the end of ’79, only Smith and Marc Riley remained from the first LP. The tenure of bassist Steve Hanley and guitarist Craig Scanlon begins on Dragnet. The production recoils from the bright clarity of Witch Trials. Smith paraphrases William Blake: “I must create a new regime or live by another man’s.” An ex-Fall member is quoted on the album’s back cover: “I bet you’re laughing your head off at this, aren’t you Smith?”

3. C & C’s Mithering – An epic travelogue and a tirade against the music industry, from 1980’s Grotesque. An odyssey that spans two continents and three months, set to two chords and three beats.

4. The Container Drivers – The Fall could be funny. This is from the third of The Fall’s 24 Peel Sessions. It is a portrait of truckers on speed, with observations culled from Mark’s job on the docks. One moment that always makes me smile is around 1:45, when Paul Hanley fires off an overlong drum roll.

5. Winter – 1982’s Hex Enduction Hour is often named as The Fall’s finest album. This song is the first half of a ghost story: you flipped the LP over when it ended to hear the conclusion of the tale. Storytelling was a significant part of Smith’s writing in the 1980’s (cf. Wings, Spectre Vs. Rector, The NWRA and New Face In Hell). There were fewer narrative songs in the decades to follow.

SIDE B

6. Room To Live – The Room To Live album was something of a disappointment. How could it not be, just six months after the spellbinding Hex? Some of the songs seem morose, but the title track is a high-spirited Country & Northern romp.

7. I Feel Voxish – Marc Riley cowrote this song, but was fired before it was recorded. Smith plays with assonance in the phrases “pillbox crisp” and “feel voxish”. Perverted By Language (1983) was The Fall’s last album for Rough Trade, and the first to feature Brix Smith.

8. Slang King – “This is Mr. and Mrs. Smith to whom you are speaking.” Mark was a slang king, a perverter of language, and an inventor of words like “corporatulent”. Here he explores alliteration and onomatopoeia: whip wire, swoop swoop. 1984’s Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall was the group’s first LP for Beggar’s Banquet.

9. L.A. – The lyrics to this tune are few, outnumbered by Mark’s wordless falsetto and percussive vocalizations. L.A. is a showcase for Brix as a guitarist, and a tribute to her birthplace. Near the end she quotes from the movie Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls: “This is my happening, and it freaks me out!” LCD Soundsystem recently used the same line. (This Nation’s Saving Grace, 1985)

10. US 80’s-90’s – A critique of modern American Puritanism from 1986’s Bend Sinister. Smoking bans and the “Just Say No to Drugs” campaign of the Reagan era signified a sociopolitical shift since The Fall’s first US visit. This song and L.A. foreshadow the synthesizer friendly Fall Sound of the 90’s. There’s also a reference back to the first track of this ICA, as Smith calls himself “the big shot original rapper” but adds that “it’s time for me to get off this crapper.”

Mark E. Smith was a vocalist, songwriter and bandleader unlike any other. The Fall seemed to expect more from their listeners, and to give up their secrets less readily. I was a suburban American teen when I first heard The Fall. I couldn’t completely grasp what they were doing. Still I was enchanted, and soon obsessed. The music was uniquely compelling, and for me it remains so.

JONDER

JC adds…..huge thanks to Jonder for being so patient….this ICA landed in the Inbox months ago.  That’s the last of the backlog cleared, so if anyone else wants to a go, then feel free to drop me a line…I promise you shouldn’t have long to wait to see your work appear in print!

Nada Surf

CHARGED PARTICLES (V2) : Part 2

Nada Surf – If I Had A Hi-Fi

I absolutely love NYC band Nada Surf. They’re consistently excellent. Their songs are just the right mix of melody, melancholy and musicianship. They’re a great live act, too. I’ve been thinking about a Nada Surf ICA for ages but I love so many of their songs I’m having trouble shortening the shortlist. This set is easy, though, because it consists only of songs from their covers album, If I Had A Hi-Fi (which is a palindrome, btw). Other bands whose songs were covered include Depeche Mode, Spoon and The Go-Betweens. I’ll get to that ICA one of these days.

Electrocution – originally by Cleveland musician Bill Fox
Question – originally by The Moody Blues
Evolution – originally by Spanish Band Mercromina

JTFL

BOB

BOB

The decision by Cherry Red Records to compile and release C86, C87 and C88 triple-disc boxsets as 30th anniversary celebrations has brought much joy and happiness to Villain Towers. I’ve finally picked up on many bands that I vaguely recall reading about in one or other of the UK’s weekly music papers but in whom I didn’t invest any of my meagre earnings on their vinyl – but then again I didn’t actually buy much music in the final few years of that particular decade.

I’m sort of making up for things now and doing my best to pick up second-hand 45s and LPs but only if the price is right. Only a decade ago, I could make multiple purchases for not much more than the packaging and posting but many sellers are now taking advantage of the increased interest in vinyl and have inflated prices to the point where I refuse to bite. I did, however, go out of my way to get my hands on an EP from 1987 thanks to really enjoying this track on one of the afore-mentioned Cherry Red releases:-

mp3 : BOB – What A Performance

As with so many of the bands who gained a following back in those days, the London-based BOB owed much to the late John Peel. The three founding members – Richard Blackborow (vocals, keyboard and guitar), Simon Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Jem Morris (bass) had recorded and issued a three-track flexi disc in 1986 which they managed to get into the hands of the influential DJ. He played it a few times on his night-time show and in due course offered them a session. The band had now expanded, by 1987, into a four-piece with Gary Connors coming in to replace a previously utilised drum machine.

A five track EP on the newly formed Sombrero Records was the first release from this expanded line-up. It’s an exceptionally catchy number, certainly of its time and place, which remains more than capable of bringing a smile to the face of the most casual of listeners. The EP contained three other very enjoyable numbers as well as an extended and slightly over-ambitious mix of the lead track:-

mp3 : BOB – Deary Me
mp3 : BOB – Piggery
mp3 : BOB – Memory of A Free Lunch
mp3 : BOB – Worra Performance

This turned out to be the only contribution from the new drummer as he was replaced by Dean Legget who had been part of the newly disbanded Jamie Wednesday (whose other members would go on to become Carter USM). This line-up was together for a couple of years and while their subsequent releases continued to be championed by Peel, who also offered a further two sessions, they never became anything more than cult heroes. A new drummer, Stephen Hersom, replaced Legget in late 1990 and was involved in the LP Leave The Straight Life Behind, which was released on their own House of Teeth label. Sadly, the collapse of the Rough Trade distribution arm created huge problems for BOB who were particularly vulnerable given the smallness of their label and substantial losses were incurred. It was no real surprise that the band called it a day soon after.

As with so many from the era, there has been a 21st century comeback with the album being re-released in an expanded form in 2014 complete with the Peel Sessions and other tracks. The following year the band got back together again for some live shows, including an indie festival in Manchester.

JC

James

A RE-POST TO BUY MORE TIME (9)

3 February 2009 saw the 700th post over at the old blog….it felt like a landmark occasion and so I did something a bit unusual.

BACK TO BASICS WEEK : TUESDAY

The 700th posting.

And for only the second ever time in all of them, a complete album is available to listen to.

One Man Clapping is a live album, released in March 1989. It had been recorded over two nights the previous November in Bath. So what?

Well, the fact is that James at the time were in dire financial difficulties, so much so that without this record they would in all likelihood have broken-up. The move away from from Factory Records some five years earlier onto the major label with Sire had been an unmitigated disaster.

The debut album hadn’t sold well, largely because the label thought it uncommercial and refused to give it any meaningful promotional budget. The band decided to swallow their pride and make a more radio-friendly second LP, only to find to their horror that the record label more or less rejected it – it was given a release more than a year later, again with next to no promotion. It was fair to say the relationship had broken down, and James manufactured their escape.

But that left them with no record deal and no incentive for touring, although their fan base remained loyal. The boys were reduced to taking part in medical experiments at a Manchester hospital to pay the rent, when they come up with the idea of recording a low-cost live album which would not only make them some money, but also showcase their new songs to other labels. But how could they get the money to pay for the recording of such an album?

Believe it or not, it was a bank manager who came to their rescue – one Colin Cook of the St. Anne’s Square, Manchester branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland – with a loan of £12,000. He did so after he’d gone along to see the band play live after they had put in the request for the loan.

The LP was a critical success, and its aims of making some money and getting the band back in the spotlight were achieved.

Only around 10,000 copies of One Man Clapping were made available. The cassette and vinyl versions have 12 songs on them, but the CD version has 13 songs; in 1989, vinyl was still way more popular than CDs, so in all likelihood, the extra track was included in the hope that the more loyal fans would buy both versions. Indeed, the CD version is a rare beast and changes hands for decent sums nowadays.

I’ve only the vinyl version, but it’s one that has a proud place on the shelf. I picked it up second hand some two years ago not long after starting the blog, and I always wanted to make it available on some sort of special occasion.

And today seems to be as good as any.

mp3 : James – Chain Mail
mp3 : James – Sandman (Hup-Springs)
mp3 : James – Whoops
mp3 : James – Riders
mp3 : James – Leaking
mp3 : James – Why So Close
mp3 : James – Johnny Yen
mp3 : James – Scarecrow
mp3 : James – Are You Ready
mp3 : James – Really Hard
mp3 : James – Burned
mp3 : James – Stutter

One Man Clapping was released on One Man Records, which in effect was an imprint of Rough Trade – the sleeve notes give a very big thank you to Geoff Travis.

Indeed, Travis went even further in terms of saving the band by giving them a contract with his indie label which had really made its fame and fortune a few years earlier with The Smiths – only to see James walk away after a couple of singles so they could have another stab at stardom with a major, in this case Fontana.

The rest, as they say, is history.

There’s quite a few who say James were at their very best in the era of One Man Clapping, but I think that’s a bit of indie-snobbery talking. Some of their very best songs lay ahead of them, and while the rise to stardom did result in some hugely over-produced stuff that changed dramatically the way the band sounded within a handful of years, I don’t think anyone who watched just how much of a struggle those first 6 or 7 years were for all concerned could begrudge them the success. If you can’t be bothered to listen to all of this album and want a recommendation for just one song, then how about I steal some words from Stuart Maconie and his book Folklore : The Official History of James:-

The album’s highlight is its least well-known track, Burned, a new song written in the aftermath of the Sire debacle. The lyric is a defiant denunciation of the music business.

“If you don’t look cool, they won’t look at you
But if your image is strong, any song will do
They think that the wrapping’s the gift….

All we want is an empty throne
I feel I’ve been burned
But I won’t let it show

My beliefs are all shaken
I’m lost in the grief at the state I’m in
Seen too much goodness chewed up by money men
If God exists she should make us king…”

And God it seemed was listening and yes, she was planning to make them, if not king, then certainly minor archdukes of the business they were so bitter about.

JC

ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 5 (Part 2)

Memo to self……..if going out for what you know is going to be a long and drunken Friday evening….switch ICA deadline so you don’t fuck things up with the scheduled posting.

My head hurts.  This, by my muddled reckoning, was the final result from last week….

The Smiths 12 Billy Bragg 26

That’s the first of your semi-finalists sorted out.  Here’s jimdoes with this week’s tie.

THE HOUSEMARTINS v PULP

Flag Day v Do You Remember The First Time?

 

Amanda never liked The Housemartins. So I’m fairly sure I’ve never kissed a girl while Flag Day has been playing. I probably first heard of The Housemartins when they played the video on The Chart Show – one of the rare weeks where they did the indie rundown. My best friend Nick’s mum worked with Norman Cook’s mum so she got our records signed by the band (My signed Happy Hour 12″ was in the box that I lost in a house move years ago). Nick and I went to see them when they played Brixton – you can see my ticket here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHu-z1dA8be/?taken-by=i__was__there_ We bumped into Amanda in the street before we got on the train and we had a bit of a row – she wasn’t impressed by the purple shirt I was wearing (hey I was at art school). It was probably the first gig where I was down the front in the moshpit for the whole show – the shirt got ruined but I had a fantastic time. I loved both Housemartins albums but they are another band that I haven’t listened to in years – I’ve seen Fatboy Slim a few times which is always fun, but I was never a fan of The Beautiful South.

The first time for me was the early 90s – queuing up to get in to Camden Underworld, given a flyer with Pulp’s name on. Shortly after I was backpacking around the world for a year – my friends having given me cassettes of essential music to listen to whilst away. Nicks tape had Babies on it (and a lot of Beastie Boys) – I listened to it over and over – it will always remind me of sitting in the back of pick up trucks driving around Zimbabwe – probably not what Jarvis had in mind. Amanda was long gone by now – but I hope she likes Pulp – maybe it’s an indication of who I hang around with, but I haven’t met a single girl that doesn’t like Pulp. They are a band that whenever I DJ, I can pretty much play any song by them and guarantee people dancing with abandon.

jimdoes

Bodines

A POST ABOUT THE BODINES THAT DOESN’T FEATURE ‘THERESE’

If you click on ‘Bodines’ on the index part of this blog over on the right-hand side, you will find there have been three postings, all of which have featured debut single Therese.

Understandably so, as it is one of the great 45s of the C86 era – as I mentioned previously, it is a song that feels as if Julian Cope is fronting an energetic and lively Orange Juice which, and I won’t have any arguments, is a recipe for unadulterated magnificence.

The follow-up single was always likely going to be a bit of a letdown in comparison, which sadly proved to be the case:-

mp3 : The Bodines – Heard It All

It’s a decent enough song but there’s nothing to make it stand out from the crowd, although listening again it does seem that my Julian Cope observation for Therese was misplaced as lead singer Mike Ryan seems to be channelling someone else from that era and scene….and indeed if you flip the 45 over to the b-side, you’ll get to hear the whole band paying tribute to Echo & The Bunnymen with a tune that wouldn’t have been out-of-place on the Crocodile-era material.

mp3 : The Bodines – Clear

Bloody good innit???

JC

Arctic Monkeys, Specials

SOME SONGS ARE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen)

I’m placing these two songs together in one posting as  I reckon they are very close cousins. Both tell the story of being out on the town and the immediate consequences thereafter.

mp3 : The Specials – Friday Night, Saturday Morning

In which Terry Hall wonderfully narrates the tale of someone who has gone out and had a predictably awful and all too common end to his night.

Out of bed at eight am
Out my head by half past ten
Out with mates and dates and friends
That’s what I do at weekends

I can’t talk and I can’t walk
But I know where I’m going to go
I’m going watch my money go
At the Locarno, no

When my feet go through the door
I know what my right arm is for
Buy a drink and pull a chair
Up to the edge of the dance floor

Bouncers bouncing through the night
Trying to stop or start a fight
I sit and watch the flashing lights
Moving legs in footless tights

I go out on Friday night
and I come home on Saturday morning

I like to venture into town
I like to get a few drinks down
The floor gets packed the bar gets full
I don’t like life when things get dull

The hen party have saved the night
And freed themselves from drunken stags
Having fun and dancing in
A circle round their leather bags

But two o’clock has come again
It’s time to leave this paradise
Hope the chip shop isn’t closed
Cos’ their pies are really nice

I’ll eat in the taxi queue
Standing in someone else’s spew
Wish I had lipstick on my shirt
Instead of piss stains on my shoes

I go out on Friday night
and I come home on Saturday morning

Back in 1981, most towns and cities in the UK had a limited choice for young people looking for a decent night out. The pubs, for the most part, catered for all ages and you stood a good chance of bumping into older folk who were on more than nodding terms with one or more of your family. The choice of booze was limited depending on the brewery to which the landlord or ale-house was attached. Males would be in the bar area and females would be in the lounge….the idea of both sexes mingling in a pub was fairly alien. Which is one of the reasons almost everyone aged 16-25 went to the equivalent of Terry’s Locarno as that was the only place you could engage with someone of the opposite sex; such places were referred to most often as cattle markets.

Oh, and you could just completely forget the any sort of above ground nightlife for anyone who wasn’t hetero….

Fast forward 35 years

mp3 : Arctic Monkeys – Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured

In which Alex Turner wonderfully narrates the tale of a group of lads who have gone out and had a predictably frantic and manic end to their night.

We’ll ask if we can have six in
If not we’ll have to have two
Well, you’re coming up our end, aren’t you?
So I’ll get one with you

Won’t he let us have six in?
Especially not with the food
He could have just told us no though
He didn’t have to be rude

You see her with the green dress?
She talked to me at the bar
Wait, how come it’s already two pound fifty?
We’ve only gone about a yard

Didn’t you see she were gorgeous
She were beyond belief
But this lad at her side drinking his Smirnoff Ice
Came and paid for her Tropical Reef

And I’m sitting going backwards
And I didn’t want to leave
I said, “It’s High Green, mate
Via Hillsborough, please”

Well, how funny were that sketch earlier
Up near that taxi rank?
Oh no, you would have missed it
Think it were when you went to the bank

These two lads squaring up proper shouting
‘Bout who were next in the queue
The kind of thing that’d seem so silly
But not when they’ve both had a few

Well calm down, temper, temper
You shouldn’t get so annoyed
Well, you’re acting like a silly little boy
And they wanted to be men
And do some fighting in the street
They said “no surrender
No chance of retreat”

And so why are they in the taxi?
‘Cause I didn’t want to leave
I said, “It’s High Green, mate
Via Hillsborough, please”

Drunken plots hatched to jump it
Ask around, “Are you sure?”
Went for it but the red light was showing
And red light indicates doors are secured

Things had changed greatly by the time the 21st Century beckoned. Towns and cities, for the most part, have pubs which cater specifically for young folk. The choice of drink is beyond the dreams and imaginations of those of us who did our growing up with The Specials, as indeed is the way it is now consumed. There’s still some element of groups of guys hanging around together but nowadays you’re just as likely to see as many groups of gals….who are more than capable of displaying every behavioural characteristic of the male species. There’s still the equivalent of The Locarno but there’s also loads of other clubs catering for all tastes…..and whisper it, there’s even tolerance (now and again) for people of the same sex to be walking the streets holding each other’s hands.

One other thing to note which is also reflective of how things have changed since the early 80s. Terry’s resigned sounding tune has the pace and temp which points to the night, to all intent and purposes, being over and done with now once you join a queue for the taxi home. Alex’s frantic and speedy number lets you know that the night is still young and there is still so much to enjoy and experience……

Oh and for the benefit of our overseas readers, here’s my translation of the Arctic Monkeys lyric:-

“Why wouldn’t that cab driver take all six passengers? It means we’ll have to get two taxis now to the Sheffield suburbs but mind and eat all of your kebab or fish’n’chips beforehand as the drivers don’t let you in if you’ve got food.

“Wasn’t that the most brilliant night? Was nearly perfect for me what with that stunner in the green dress chatting me up for ages. I was bitterly disappointed when that rich bloke came up and bought her a drink – I can’t afford to splash out on these bottles that the girls go for….money is tight. Talking of which, how come the taxi meter is showing it’s already £2.50 when we’ve hardly left the rank. Hang on a minute till I remind the cabbie that we’re going to mine at High Green but dropping you off at Hillsborough”

“Did you see the fight between those two daft lads? No, you wouldn’t have as you were up at the cash machine getting some more money. To be honest, it wasn’t really a fight more a shouting match but it could have escalated given they were both really drunk.

“Here mate, I’m not sure I really want to go home – it still feels as if there’s fun to be had down here in the town. Let’sopen the doors and jump out when he next comes to a halt at the traffic lights and we can run off without paying.

What do you mean it’s a taxi with doors that automatically locks when it’s sitting still? Is that what that red light down there means? Effin hell……..”

JC

Minutemen

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #170 : MINUTEMEN

A GUEST POSTING by SWISS ADAM

http://baggingarea.blogspot.com/

This could well be the shortest ICA in the series, in terms of running time (unless someone puts together a Napalm Death one). It could comfortably fit on a 10” single. It would be the best 10” single ever made. It would be called Our Band Could Be Your Life, which is the line from a song that defines Minutemen, their relationship with their audience and their no stars, we’re just like you approach.

Minutemen were from San Pedro, a naval town in Southern California. Inspired by punk, they made some highly individual and inspiring music before the untimely death of frontman D. Boon in 1985. Formed by D. Boon and bassist Mike Watt, and then joined by drummer George Hurley, they took their childhood influences (60s and 70s rock mainly) and the thrust and directness of punk and started their own thing. As D. and Mike saw it, punk was about a) DIY and b) being an individual. They believed that a band had to bring their own thing to the punk scene- it was no good sounding like anybody (or everybody) else, being different from everybody else was the thing. They separated the sound of the group, guitars taking to treble and bass the low end. Too often D complained, the guitarist ‘bogarted the bass’.

Minutemen had sonic separation with each man king of his own kingdom. They married this to their philosophy of ‘we jam econo’, a do it yourself, thrifty approach to touring, playing and recording. They drove their own van, unloaded their own gear, set it up and then put it all back on the van afterwards. The songs were short and taut, rarely over two minutes, sometimes around one minute, taking in punk, funk, jazz and rock, but sounding like no one else except the Minutemen. All three men wrote tunes and words, each bringing different stances and approaches, D often being more direct, Mike more obtuse and artier, George bringing in songs from somewhere else. Between 1980 and 1985 they put out 4 albums and 6 eps, containing dozens of songs and criss-crossed the USA building up a network, an underground, an alternative to the mainstream sound and politics of the USA under Reagan.

D. Boon died when the band van crashed returning from a gig and with that they were over. Mike Watt went on to play with other groups, not least the reformed Stooges and Sonic Youth as well as his own projects but he still sees himself defined by his first band and his friendship with D. Boon. He once said ‘when people ask me what sort of bass player I am I say, ‘I’m D. Boon’s bassplayer’.

Side One

Corona

Fizzing with ideas and riffs and a social conscience D Boon writes this song on a beach in Mexico watching a woman pick up beer bottles to take back for the deposit, a song of sympathy for the locals trying to survive among the US holiday-makers. In this simple act he sees ‘the dirt, scarcity and emptiness of our south’, the price people pay for being poor and living in a greedy, unequal world. Ten lines of poetry set to blistering Tex-Mex post-punk. It is on their 1984 double album Double Nickels On the Dime, released by SST on the same day as Husker Du’s double opus Zen Arcade. D wrote I Felt Like A Gringo inspired by the same trip and events.

Little Man With A Gun In His Hand

At the end of their 1983 ep Buzz or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat comes this early shot at post-punk genius. Interweaving guitar and bass parts, flipped out dynamics, an almost crooned vocal building up to the climax- ‘all the things he couldn’t have, all the things he couldn’t see’…. ‘little man with a gun in his hand, LITTLE MAN WITH A GUN IN HIS HAND’.

Joe McCarthy’s Ghost

From their 1980 debut 7” single, a short, thumping, calling card. It probably took longer to type this sentence than it does for this song to play.

Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth?

It’s a good question.

Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing

Mike Watt write this song for Michael Jackson to sing. He thought that if the King of Pop sang it, everyone would know who the Minutemen were. He sent it to Jackson’s management. He didn’t hear anything in reply and as far as I know Jackson never recorded it.

Side Two

The Anchor

George wrote this one, about a dream, written half-awake in the early hours. I always thought the anchor referred to Watt’s bass, dragging behind, but that might just be my interpretation.

The Price Of Paradise

This song is on their attempt to make a mersh (commercial) record, Three Way Tie (For Last) in 1985, the group frustrated, trying to write pop songs and make some sales. Didn’t work obviously. A song about the Vietnam War, something they visited fairly often, something that made an impression on them through their TV screens as kids. Vietnam was big in the 80s, even over here, as those of us that as teens watched Apocalypse Now! and Platoon and Sounds Of The 60s can testify.

Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs

This one’s from their 1983 album, What Makes A Man Start Fires? which came complete with Raymond Pettibon drawing on the cover, an album they considered to be their first proper record (one night to record it, two nights to mix it and record a few overdubs). It is a tribute to Bob Dylan as well as a parody of his lyrics. There are 18 songs on What Makes A Man Start Fires? And honestly, I could have included any of them but this one, the album’s opener, always grabs me.

History Lesson Pt 2

Let’s just about close with a moment of truth and beauty. History Lesson Pt II is the story of D. Boon and Mike Watt growing up, the effect punk rock had on their lives and how they saw the world. Over a gentle, circling guitar riff and spartan bass and drums D. Boon half sings, half speaks the words-

‘Our band could be your life/Real names be proof/Me and Mike Watt played for years/Punk rock changed our lives

We learned punk rock in Hollywood/Drove up from Pedro/We were fucking corn dogs/We’d go drink and pogo

Mr Narrator/This is Bob Dylan to me/My story could be his songs/I’m his soldier child

Our band is scientist rock/But I was E Bloom, Richard Hell, Joe Strummer and John Doe/Me and Mike Watt playing guitar’

Jesus and Tequila

To close. It just seemed to fit.

SWISS ADAM

Yazoo

TWO SUPERB SONGS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

Yazoo, the new synth-duo formed by keyboard genius Vince Clarke (ex-Depeche Mode) and the then unknown vocalist Alison Moyet, proved to be an immediate hit with the record-buying public. Debut single, the ballad-like Only You had climbed all the way to #2 in the spring of 1982. Clarke did advise that the debut wouldn’t be atypical of the band and much of the material he was writing was aimed firmly at the dance-floors of the new wave of disco nights that were sprouting up across the country in the wake of the explosion in synth-pop. He hinted that Situation, the uptempo flip side of Only You was more the direction he was keen to take.

The sophomore single proved that he was as good as his word. Don’t Go was an incredible blast of high-energy pop music that relied on the catchiest of riffs and a blistering and pleading vocal which demonstrated Moyet’s blues and soul influences.

mp3 : Yazoo – Don’t Go

At a shade just under three minutes, it has all the hallmarks of a bona fide classic pop record, which is exactly what it is.

The b-side is no less interesting for very different reasons. The interesting thing was that it was credited to Moyet alone, which was proof that this was indeed a band that relied on the talents of both its members. But was she someone who was also aiming at the dance floor?

mp3 : Yazoo – Winter Kills

Not in the slightest. Instead we got a torch song that is incredibly dark and atmospheric, thanks in no small measure to the piano playing.

The two songs highlighted a band that weren’t afraid to be bold, ambitious and different. In an era when image was all so important, this duo got on stage and reminded everyone that talent and ability was a better way to do it.

JC

PS :  Billy Bragg is leading The Smiths in the first of the ICA World Cup quarter-finals.

Voting closes on Friday at 10pm.  A reminder that the songs are Levi Stubbs’ Tears and Still  Ill.

Fall

CHARGED PARTICLES (V2) : Part 1

Let me take you back 12 months to this posting on 2 June 2017.

I don’t have a music blog of my own but I gather I have something in common with JC and the regular contributors that do: Like you lot I was always the guy people asked to make mix tapes (and, later, playlists) for parties, trips, birthdays, etc.

One of the categories that people liked very much was called Charged Particles. These consisted of songs with one word titles ending with ION. That was the only thing they had in common. Turns out there are tons of them; I’ve got nearly 200 in my iTunes library and they always seem to combine interestingly. I mentioned doing something with the list when I met JC in Manchester and he said, ‘Ask me, I won’t say no, how could I?’

My thinking was that he could plug in a charged particle post when he was away or busy or couldn’t be bothered that day to put up a new one. The posts would be short and sweet and let the music do the talking. JC liked the idea okay and correctly guessed the songs I had in mine for the first one.

And here it is. Remember the only guideline is a single word ending in ion. Can it end in ‘ionS’? No, so no ‘Complications’ by Killing Joke. Does it count if you cram a bunch of words together like ‘StationtoStation’? Nope. How about if the word is preceded or followed by a phrase in parentheses? No, not that either. (Unless I feel like it.) Hyphens? Sure, why not.

JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER

There were sixteen Friendly Particles features in 2017, appearing on a regular basis between June and October. They were great fun to do….not a lot of words were used but some great songs featured, linked in a way to others in ways that hadn’t seemed obvious, with the common factour being the all-important -ion ending in the title. And gthe series was illustrated with the handiwork of Sam, the Friendly Artist.

The good news is that Jonny’s back for another summer season. Here’s the first contribution:-

The Fall

No one’s over the loss of Mark E. Smith, and I don’t suspect we will be anytime soon. Flipping through my iTunes library I found these four, but with the Fall’s catalog there are doubtless many more. Feel free to remind me.

Mansion – from This Nation’s Saving Grace
Reformation! – from Reformation Post TLC
Dedication – from Wise Ol’ Man
Repetition – from Bingo-Master’s Break-Out!

JTFL