R.E.M.

TRUE CONFESSIONS : EVERYBODY HURTS

A GUEST POSTING by THE GREAT GOG

I don’t generally like being negative about things, other than the usual racist, sexist type stuff that would offend any right-minded individual. So, True Confessions is a tricky one. Having read and confirmed my understanding of the series’ premise with JC, I do still feel the need to unburden myself about a song that anyone who knows me will be amazed to find that I’m not all that keen on. So, my motivation is that by putting this in writing, it’ll help me understand why I don’t like the song, because on the face of it there’s no rational reason why I wouldn’t like it.

It’s fair to say I like R.E.M. Indeed I like R.E.M a lot. I have all the studio albums and various other recordings too – not the insanely expensive stuff, but enough that anyone perusing the shelves Chez Gog would be in no doubt that I’m a fan. I’ve even listened to Around The Sun in its entirety within the last six months. I was also the first person to play the band on the student radio station I frequented back in the mid-80s – “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”, not that you were asking. So why would I have a dislike of one of their songs, and which one is it?

Ah! R.E.M., you say. Here we go. Why he doesn’t like “Shiny Happy People”. Er, no. I’m OK with that one, their first Top 10 hit in the UK. It is in fact their second UK Top 10 hit, a couple of years later, that I really struggle with – “Everybody Hurts”.

After I’d decided to write this piece, I had a chat with a mate with whom I regularly discuss matters musical. His take on it was that I’d got fed up with it being the soundtrack to heartstring-tugging film footage on various charity appeals on the television – you know, with the “please text your donation” message scrolling at the foot of the screen. I disagreed. There is far more chance of me donating on hearing Michael Stipe singing (even if it’s a song I don’t like) than there would be from watching a video with dancing weather forecasters and singing newsreaders – I’d probably just go and brew up if I had to witness that.

The other reason for disagreeing was that when I first heard “Automatic For The People”, it was the one song that I identified as “filler”. Shows what I know! True, it’s quite dirge-like and I’m certainly one for more upbeat songs, but there are other downbeat tunes on the album and I don’t have any real issue with those; in fact I’ve just played “Nightswimming” twice whilst typing this to confirm that point.

If I’ve got to put it down to anything (and I’m still not convinced), it’s the orchestration…

mp3 : R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts

As I wrote that last sentence, I had a lightbulb moment – surely the live version that I’ve spent years skipping on the CD, surely that is string-free (apart from guitar and bass obviously). Having sat and listened to it for six minutes and fifty seconds, I am now convinced. This particular live version is great, even with the crowd singing. Strange really, because I wouldn’t normally have any sort of issue with a bit of orchestral backing, but for me the song is enhanced by its absence here.

mp3 : R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts (live in Dublin)

So, mission accomplished. I have achieved my objective in understanding what it is about “Everybody Hurts” that makes me dislike it – the studio version anyway. I have also discovered that there is a version out there for me and I’ve owned it for a number of years and just haven’t bothered with it. I genuinely had no idea where this was going when I first started typing and have to admit at being quite surprised where the last hour and a bit has taken me. Thanks, JC – and take this as evidence that a supposedly negative series can have a positive outcome.

THE GREAT GOG

Fall

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #147 : THE FALL (4)

Another guest ICA from Jonder

THE FALL’S GONE MAD: DECADE TWO (1987-1996)

The mid-80’s were a peak of commercial success and artistic invention for The Fall.

Mark E. Smith‘s play “Hey Luciani” made its debut in 1986, followed two years later by the ballet “I Am Kurious Oranj”. The Fall hit the charts in 1987 with There’s A Ghost In My House and Hit The North, followed in 1988 by Victoria.

1. Jerusalem (live) – Smith contrasts William Blake‘s anthemic vision of England with a complainant from the 20th century nanny state (“it was the fault of the government”.) The album “I Am Kurious Oranj” is a mixed bag highlighted by Big New Prinz, a dramatic revision of 1982’s Hip Priest. In the stage production of “Kurious Oranj” (inspired by the life of William of Orange), The Fall provided musical accompaniment for Michael Clark‘s dance troupe.

2. Bremen Nacht (Alternative) – The 1998 LP “The Frenz Experiment” took a step sideways from the path of chart success. “We had had two Top 40 singles. So everybody expected a commercial album, and that was the last thing I wanted to do,” Mark later said. Bremen Nacht is a strict lesson in The Three R’s (repetition, repetition, repetition), demonstrating that The Fall had not lost sight of its core principles.

3. Dead Beat Descendant – Brix left in the summer of 1989. A few unreleased studio tracks were combined with a live set to fulfill the Beggars Banquet contract with the album “Seminal Live”. From the first live Fall album (“Totale’s Turns”) through “The Twenty Seven Points”, “2G+2”, and “Live Uurop VII-XII”, studio recordings have been scattered among live Fall performances. Dead Beat Descendant is a hidden gem.

4. Black Monk Theme Part 1 – 1990’s “Extricate” is an astonishing and essential Fall album. Martin Bramah, a founding Fall member, returned on guitar. Kenny Brady joined on fiddle, and The Fall expanded to a septet. It’s hard to avoid hearing “Extricate” as a divorce album, but the songs aren’t necessarily about Brix: Mark had married and divorced a second time before “Extricate” was released.

5. The Mixer – Martin Bramah left The Fall again before 1991’s “Shift-Work” album, leaving Craig Scanlon as the sole guitarist. Kenny Brady remained on fiddle, and with his help The Mixer became one of the loveliest melodies in The Fall’s repertoire. Dave Bush programmed electronic rhythms on this and the next few albums. “Shift-Work” was mostly tame, with the notable exception of Idiot Joy Showland, a virulent critique of Madchester bands.

6. Free Range (7″ Version) – this single from 1992’s slight “Code: Selfish” album is an example of what Smith and his fans claim to be his psychic or “pre-cog” abilities. The lyrics may refer to the history of Balkanization, or they might presage the coming Bosnian War. Smith seemed to predict the 1996 Manchester City Center bombing in the song Powder Keg, and Terry Waite Sez preceded Waite’s kidnapping.

7. A Past Gone Mad – this track from 1993’s “The Infotainment Scan” contains the unforgettable declaration, “If I ever end up like U2, slit my throat with a garden vegetable.” “Infotainment” was another strong Fall album. Brix contacted Mark to compliment him on it, and he responded by inviting her to rejoin The Fall.

8. City Dweller – “Middle Class Revolt” (1994) marked the return of the two drummer lineup (steadfast Simon Wolstencroft and the peripatetic Karl Burns). Behind The Counter was this middling album’s single. In City Dweller, Salford’s native son proclaims, “Get out of my city, you mediocre pseuds.”

9. Don’t Call Me Darling – Brix came back, cowriting and duetting with her ex. There’s not a lot of love among Fall fans for this 1995 LP (“Cerebral Caustic”), but it’s full of playful humor. Darling contains one of my favorite MES lines: “People hate beauty/ I cannot fathom it.” Mark fired Craig Scanlon after this record. Scanlon had played guitar with The Fall since 1979.

10. Cheetham Hill – another duet, this one with producer Mike Bennett, from the 1996 album “The Light User Syndrome”. Brix would leave The Fall again after the tour to promote this LP. She’s in top form as a guitarist here, and Julia Nagle‘s keyboards are equal parts melody and noise. It’s a wonderfully aggressive sounding album, a fine end to the second tenure of Brix and The Fall’s second decade.

BONUS TRACK – I Want You – despite what Mark E. Smith said about Madchester, he regarded The Inspiral Carpets well enough to lend an impassioned guest vocal to their 1994 single. Mark also made a live appearance with The Clint Boon Experience. A decade later, ex-Fall members Steve and Paul Hanley joined Inspiral Carpets’ Tom Hingley in his group The Lovers.

JONDER

Sons Of The Descent

2017 : SOME HIGHLIGHTS : SONS OF THE DESCENT

It was back on 30 May 2017 that Jacques the Kipper took over this little corner of the internet to compose a glowing review of the debut album from Sons Of The Descent in which he offered as short commentary on all 11 of its tracks.

You won’t be too surprised that I picked up the album on the basis of his review and I also accompanied him along to see the band’s live debut when they were the main support to The Wendys at a gig in Glasgow back in September.

I’m delighted to say that the album more than lives up to the praise heaped on it by my sparring partner while the duo of Hugh Duggie (ex Foil) and Ian White (ex Wendys) brought all their considerable experience to bear to deliver great live renditions of the standout tracks.

I’m sure you won’t mind if I do simply reproduce much of what JtK said back in May, along with a few other cut’n’ pastes of other reviews:-

“What do you expect when a member of best-known-in-the-90s indie band, The Wendys teams up with a former member of late-90s noiseniks, Foil, to make music? Probably not an album that contains more hooks than Vinnie Jones’s rucksack on a wild fishing weekend. But that is indeed what has happened on Lazy Glamour, the first album by Sons of the Descent, a self-produced masterpiece of electronica and guitars.” (The New Vinyl Villain)

“Edinburgh’s Sons Of The Descent have released their brilliant debut album, Lazy Glamour. With influences on the album as diverse as David Bowie, Happy Mondays and Wire you will not be disappointed with this monster groove cauldron of an album.” (Louder Than War)

“Old pop groups may fade away, but what of those who never quite became ‘stars’? Plenty of acts remain independent and making music for, well, the love of it, we assume. This duo were, respectively, signed to mega-indies Factory and Mute, and their 10 tracks follow in those footsteps – mixing the introspective (some might say doominess) of the Manc mega label with shades of electronic pop that spawned the likes of Depeche Mode. In truth we’ve no idea where they’ve been since the 1980s, but they’re welcome back any time.” (Is This Music?)

“Hugh Duggie and Ian White are the waggish brains behind this low-key smorgasbord of quietly crafted off-kilter pop gems. The effect of such pick-and-mix diversity is akin to turning the pages of a collection of fictional miniatures culled from a twilight zone occupied by Hogarthian pub bores and other animals. A textured subtlety peppers every song, some laced with a sly, dry-as-bone wit to offset the darkness.” (Product Magazine)

Again, the album is available via bandcamp, as a digital release for £8 or as a CD for £10, sums of money you won’t regret spending. You can also listen to all ten tracks to try before you buy. Click here

This is the album opener

mp3 : Sons Of The Descent – Look At The Sky

“If you enjoy a bit of Mark E Smith style vocalising over the first of those hooks I talked about, then I reckon you’ll like Hugh imploring you to “Look At The Sky”. Notable also for the first use of “Englandshire” in a song – that I’m aware of anyway. Also the source of the album title.” (Jacques the Kipper)

JC

New Order

THE NEW ORDER SINGLES (Part 9)

Only a band as perverse as New Order would choose to release a new single and new alum on the same day – but that’s exactly what happened in May 1985 with The Perfect Kiss and Low-Life.

Having enjoyed chart success with each of Temptation, Blue Monday, Confusion and Thieves Like Us, there was perhaps a sense of supreme confidence that fans would buy both releases. It turned out to be a bit misplaced, perhaps as it was the first time the band had ever included a 45 on an LP, a move that got a bit of press criticism at the time.

The Perfect Kiss is one of their most defining and timeless moments and it certainly should have done a lot better than stick at #46 in the singles chart. It is part of a truly outstanding album, one which went to #7.

I’m going to be lazy today and lift from the Discogs site:-

New Order’s 9th single. Released 13 May 1985 as 7″ promo and 12″. It is the first New Order single to be included on a studio album at the same time. The song has some famous musical elements, e.g. frogs croaking and, at the end of the track, some bleating of (synthesized) sheeps.

Lasting nearly 9 minutes, the 12″ single version only appears on the vinyl and cassette editions of Substance, while the CD omit 44 seconds of the climatic finale. The full version was eventually released unedited on the 2-disc deluxe edition of Low-Life, marking its first appearance on CD.

The versions on the album Low-Life and all post-Substance compilations are 4:48 edit, omitting the third verse (the one that mentions the song’s title) and fading out before the climax. Most 7″s have on their A-side another version,  further edited down without the percussion introduction.

Jonathan Demme directed “The Perfect Kiss” video, set in the band’s rehearsal room. It shows the band playing the song live from beginning to end. The video got cat# Fac 321.

And so, to try and wrap up all of the above :-

mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Kiss (12″ version)

The two b-sides:-

mp3 : New Order – Kiss Of Death
mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Pit

mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Kiss (album version)
mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Kiss (7″ version)

JC

FOUND

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #103 : FOUND

I’m quite surprised that this is the first time FOUND have featured on these pages. They’ve been around a while and have a fair number of fans, particularly here in Scotland. Here’s wiki with a very full backstory:-

FOUND are an experimental pop band and arts collective from Edinburgh, Scotland. The founding members, Ziggy Campbell, Tommy Perman and Kevin Sim met while studying fine art at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. They began working on sound art installations together whilst in their final year at college in 2001. Each project they do is given a catalogue number and documented on their website.

In 2005 they formed a band in order to play live music at the openings of their Stop Look Listen exhibition tour (which toured from Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen to The Meffan, Forfar and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh).

They recruited the keyboardist Gavin Sutherland in 2005, and then Alan Stockdale joined on drums and percussion at the beginning of 2006.

In 2006, FOUND released their debut single, “Mullokian” (SP4502), and album, Found Can Move (SPCD01), on Tommy Perman’s label Surface Pressure Records. They released two more singles from that album: “Static 68” on the Scottish label Creeping Bent and “Synth Like Minds” on the Hamburg based label, Aufgeladen Und Bereit.

In October 2006, FOUND took part in the inaugural BBC Electric Proms with an unusual collaboration with multimedia comedians, (nobleandsilver).

In 2007, FOUND were commissioned to create a major sound installation to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. They produced a piece called Etiquette, which was funded by the PRSFoundation’s award for new music and uses some of the technology developed by Reactable. Etiquette was displayed at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop’s Magazine 07 exhibition, during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Newhaven, Edinburgh.

In 2009, together with Simon Kirby from the University of Edinburgh, FOUND created Cybraphon, an “autonomous emotional robot band” in a wardrobe, for which they won a BAFTA.

FOUND’s second album, This Mess We Keep Reshaping (FNC-085), was released on Fence Records.

The group released their third album Factorycraft on Chemikal Underground in March 2011. After some line-up changes, the group, now a duo of Campbell and Sim released their fourth album CLONING in November 2015. The group released their fifth studio album Terra Nova on the 1st July 2016.

With so much to choose from, I’ve plumped for one of their more accessible and hugely enjoyable numbers.  It’s a single that was lifted from their third album on Chem:-

mp3 : FOUND – Machine Age Dancing

JC

Mark Lanegan Band

LOOKING BACK AT 2007 : A GUEST CONTRIBUTION

Huge thanks to Walter

(A Few Good Times In My Life blog)

Hi Jim,

It is a long time ago since I announced a contribution to your request for looking back in music for this year. Since then I often thought what about to write. Should I name all the great records that was released in 2017 or should I write about the newest trends in music?

I couldn’t make a decision for myself and almost struggled typing a few words for this contribution. Then I wrote down the albums that impressed me much this year, remembered the gigs I went and some other highlights that happened to me. And once I found an accordance. Remembering the days of our gathering in Glasgow I recalled the Saturday morning when we met at Mono cafe-bar. Drew bought a copy of Mark Lanegan‘s latest album and we shortly talked about the greatness of this record. Mark Lanegan is one of those artists I follow since his first days with Screaming Trees over Queens of the Stone Age and many collaborations such as Isobel Campbell and Mike Watt.

Gargoyle was one of those albums that stood the test of time and many times I returned to this record. This is one of his best records he released during the last years. Filled with dark and sinister songs he made them great by singing with his terrific baritone that makes him play in the same league like Lee Hazlewood. In July I was lucky enough to watch him live presenting the album in Stuttgart. I saw a man who doesn’t make many movements on stage. Just standing in front of the microphone and saying less more than ‘thank you’. After all it was an amazing concert filled with the best of his current album and a short retrospective of his career. A highlight was he gave as a bonus a very special version of Love will tear us apart. Truly one of the best records of this year.

mp3 : Mark Lanegan Band – Death’s Head Tattoo
mp3 : Mark Lanegan Band – Emperor
mp3 : Mark Lanegan Band – Goodbye To Beauty

Hope everything is well in Glasgow.

Take care.

Walter

 

Dead Hope

2017 : SOME HIGHLIGHTS : DEAD HOPE

It was back in August 2015 that I gave a plug to Dead Hope, a new act to emerge out of Glasgow.

In doing so, I went against my practice of drawing attention to new and often unsigned bands, and it was very much on the basis that they had been recommended by Basil Pieroni of Butcher Boy who was friends with the three blokes who comprised Dead Hope. As I said at the time, Basil knows me well enoug, however, to realise that I don’t just put things on the blog as a favour to someone and so when he handed over a CD with the two tracks that made up the debut single, he did say it wouldn’t matter if I had a listen and filed it away.

It turned out that I really enjoyed the songs as they brought back memories of that warm noisy fuzzbox sound that was very fashionable for a period back in the 80s while there’s a hint of wonderful and much missed Urusei Yatsura about them too.

Two years later, in September 2017, Dead Hope got round to releasing a debut album, entitled Songs From The Second Floor. It contains ten tracks and takes about 34 minutes from start to end. In some ways, the songs are a mild variation on the one tune, but in all honesty, it’s a belter of a tune that stands up to repeated listening.

Dead Hope make music that hasn’t ever really gone out of fashion during my time in listening to and appreciating music. It’s that blend of new wave and rock with the occasional hint of a catchy pop riff that worms its way into your brain. I’ve mostly listened to the album on the daily commute as it’s the perfect length to take in stepping out of the door to walking into the office via two short train journeys across a 4-mile distance, and without fail, I’m tapping my feet and nodding along to songs that are guaranteed to lift any gloomy mood. As with most debut albums, some songs are most instant or memorable than others, but such is their brevity that the next one is along before you know it.

I haven’t had the chance to see the band play live yet, but on the basis of the album, I can see the drummer bathed in sweat from his exertions while bassist and guitarist will most likely having bleeding fingers from playing so hard and fast. The singer would surely be unable to talk for days without it sounding as if sandpaper had been applied to the back of his throat. It’s akin to the punk rock championed by the likes of Black Flag that was later refined for radio consumption by the likes of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.

It’s pleasing to read that Dead Hope have received some airplay on BBC Radio 6 as well as being championed by a number of DJs on community stations in and around Glasgow, and I hope that a few more pick up the songs in their end of year reviews.

The album is available via bandcamp, as a digital release for £4.50 or as a CD for £5, which strikes me as a bit of a bargain. You can also listen to all ten tracks to try before you buy. Click here.

Here’s a reminder of the debut single

mp3 : Dead Hope – Truth Be Told

Play Loud

JC

Various - 2017

TEN REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

A GUEST POSTING by JIM CHAMBERS

Hey JC

As requested! Hopefully you get loads of your readers doing this – I genuinely love your blog and hope you discover some new music to get you over blog fatigue.

Here’s my ten reasons to be cheerful – it’s been a good year for music – and there’s plenty of stuff to look forward to in 2018. In strange sort of way I’ve found my listening habits now are shaped by what my teenage daughter listens to – when i hear new music i often think she’ll like it and play it to her – so i’m sort of listening to stuff with teenagers ears if that makes sense. She sometimes says to me ‘Have you heard this?’ and it’s generally something that is brand new to her but is music from my youth – most recently The Cocteau Twins and The House of Love. Anyway, here’s ten songs – in no particular order – hopefully there’s some stuff here you’ve never heard of!

1. Confidence Man – Boyfriend (repeat)

One of the highlights of my summer was me, my wife and my daughter going bananas to this song in a packed tent. If this song doesn’t make you want to dance then I don’t know what would – it’s so good. They are the first band we saw at Glastonbury this year – in a small tent on the Friday morning – we got there super early and we were front and centre. I think it was the sweatiest I got all weekend – the whole tent was going crazy by the end and everyone left smiling. I guess FUN is a good way to describe them. I’m really looking forward to their album which will be out some time next year and I desperately want them to play in Brighton before they get too big. Honourable mention goes to another of their songs Bubblegum which is also great.

2. Waxahatchee – Recite Remorse

Now a band that my daughter doesn’t like. But it’s my favourite track off possibly my favourite album of the year. A change of pace from Confidence Man. It’s the song that they opened her show with when I saw them in Brighton earlier this year and I must have listened to it about 50 times in the next week. I guess I like it so much because it’s got a touch of Throwing Muses about it.

3. Hercules and Love Affair – Controller

Every time I play this in the car my daughter asks me if it’s Hot Chip – which is no bad thing in my (or her) book. Another song to dance to off another great album – it’s got Faris Badwan from The Horrors singing on it and although their new album isn’t bad, there’s nothing on it as good as this.

4. Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination

Here’s a musician that my daughter introduced me to – she wanted to go and see the support act LIFE on Nadine Shah‘s last tour so thought she might as well buy the album by the headline act to get the most out of the show – and I’m so glad she did.

5. Wolf Alice – Don’t Delete The Kisses

I saw them at Latitude a couple of years ago and immediately thought that they were a band my daughter would love. And boy, does she love them – she’s seen them live 3 times already this year including an in store gig where she met them. Anyway this song is wonderful – one of the things I like about Wolf Alice is their youth – this song perfectly captures that sense of uncertainty of falling in love for the first time. It’s full of hope and joy. And I’m really looking forward to shouting the lyrics to this whilst stood next to her when we see them in Brighton at the end of the month (as long as it’s not too uncool being at a gig with dad).

6. LCD Soundsystem – Call The Police

I was worried about this record. What if they messed it up? What if they should have stayed away and not spoiled their legacy? But they’ve made the best song of the year – it’s up their with All Our Friends – sheer joy. My daughter loves it too, obviously!

7. St Vincent – New York

A worthy addition to songs about New York. And it’s got a really good swear in it.

8. Future Islands – Day Glow Fire

A band I never get tired of – I’ve been a fan for years (I always feel I have to say that – I’d seen them a couple of times touring the albums before things went a bit silly after they played Letterman). This was my favourite new song when I saw them in Brighton earlier this year – but I was disappointed that they didn’t play it at Glastonbury. This is one of the albums that my daughter always grabs from my collection to play.

9. Les Amazones D’Afrique – Dombolo

No idea what this songs about. It’s great though. All I know about them is that they are a West African supergroup of women musicians. The album has a great sleeve and this song just makes me want to move.

10. Noga Erez – Off The Radar

Another one that I heard and I immediately knew my daughter would love. She’s still in a fury that the Brighton show on Noga Erez‘s tour was over 18s only. She’s got that MIA vibe about her – taking influences from all kinds of music and making something really fresh sounding.

Bubbling under my ten – Bicep, Sleaford Mods, Mac De Marco, Girl Ray, Jane Weaver, Jen Cloher, Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, This Is The Kit – all great but I listen to them as whole albums and haven’t got a favourite track off any of them.

Anyway

enjoy

xxxjim

Just Joans

2017 : SOME HIGHLIGHTS : THE JUST JOANS

A wee change of plan…..originally I had intended to go with a full week of guest postings reflecting on 2017, but I’m going to intersperse those that I’ve received with posts of my own as well as other guest contributions that aren’t necessarily about this past 12 months.

All of my own contributions will have one thing in common, namely that they will feature a singer or band from around these parts that I feel have provided something special in 2017.

The Just Joans are well-known to many aficionados of indie-pop; I’ve only featured them once previously within these pages, back in January 2016, when I posted a review of a live gig. As I said at the time, they have long been a very firm favourite of my dear mate and gig-going companion Aldo who fell for their charms at one of the Indietracks festivals at which the band first played as far back as 2008. I described them in my review as ‘shindie’ with the first two letters being short for shambling…..but I wasn’t using the word in any derogatory way as every one of the six members of The Just Joans is a talented musician in their own rights.

Between 2007 and 2016, they released a bunch of EPs and one album packed with knowing songs that reflect on everyday life, evoking ancient and recent memories on what makes us all laugh, cry or shake our heads in bewilderment. They are fronted vocally by the brother/sister combo of David and Katie Pope, with he being the main songwriter. They are a band who pride themselves on singing in their local dialect with many of the songs namechecking and referencing local landmarks; but somehow, while everywhere else in the world celebrates pop performers who sing in strong, local dialects, here in Scotland it is often the case that they are labelled as having  some sort of lack of talent or ability, which is something that has been thrown every now and then at the Just Joans. I’ve always thought it ridiculous that lazy journalists and writers proclaim them as a novelty band, refusing point-blank to consider them as not worthy as the likes of Altered Images, BMX Bandits, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, Pulp and The Vaselines with whom some of the most obvious musical and lyrical comparisons can be drawn.

One thing, however, that I’ve always felt about the band is that they haven’t quite ever put out something that you can point to as being a definitive example of what they are all about. Every EP, and the debut album, have songs that are memorable classics in one form or other but they also all contain material that I’ve felt would have been better left behind at the demo stage rather than making it all the way onto a physical release…but their philosophy, and it is an admirable one, is that the songs, once worked into some sort of shape deserve to be shared with the public at large.

In short, they are the classic definition of a cult group who aren’t that bothered about fame and fortune, happy enough to be appreciated by a discerning but loyal fan base.

This year saw the release of their sophomore album, You Might Be Smiling Now; I was lucky enough to be handed an advance copy of the songs and so gave them a few listens while I was away on holiday last month in Lanzarote which allowed me to be more familiar with them in advance of the gig to mark the album launch back in Glasgow on 2nd December. And while I found myself thinking a couple of the songs seemed sort of unfinished, the overall impression was that this was, by far, their most mature, ambitious and worthy release thanks to a more expansive sound encompassing extensive keyboards and what sounded like the occasional use of strings and horns, while the lyrics went deeper and further into some new areas that I hadn’t previously thought they were capable of.

In short, this turned out to be the most surprising release of 2017 that has catapulted The Just Joans way up the list of enjoyable and must listen to acts to have come out of Scotland in my lifetime.

Oh, and it’s also worth saying that the album launch gig, promoted in a typically understated and low-key fashion in the upstairs part of an old-fashioned pub on the south side of Glasgow with a capacity of probably now more than 60, was an absolute stormer of an event, with the set drawing on the best of the new and older material. It also provided a huge treat with the main support act turning out to be the aforementioned BMX Bandits, albeit they had to draft in a temporary backing acoustic guitarist to help them on the night….someone by the name of Norman Blake….he showed a fair bit of talent  and so I’m suggesting you keep an eye out for him in the future….

The new album is available from here.

This is one of my favourite songs from it:-

mp3 : The Just Joans – No Longer Young Enough

Tune in again on Thursday for another 2017 recommendation from myself, but before then, there’s a great guest offering coming along tomorrow.

JC

Holiday Crowd

THE HOLIDAY CROWD

A GUEST POSTING by DOUG McLAREN

Dear VV

I have long been inspired by your daily blog posts, and turn to them of an evening for some refreshing diversion from the news of the day and for some intriguing insights into the past and present of good, independent music, especially the jangly guitar and melodic pop tastes we (all) seem to share. You may recall that I have contributed a few small pieces in the past, under the secret code name “rhetor”, for your ICA series, and this has only served to help me realize what an impressive and profound service you render the great blogosphere by putting metaphorical pen to paper on a daily basis.

So when you asked (out of blog fatigue) for a few contributions from guests to be considered for the upcoming months, in order to give you a break, I felt I had to weigh in. Furthermore, your frequent mentions of Toronto as a city for which you have a particular affection have of course struck a chord with me, as this is my home city and indeed my place of birth, and I believe the music that this fine city is currently producing is second to none, though many around the world may not have heard of some of the fine talents we currently enjoy. One such (among many) that I think your readers would do well to give a good listen to would be The Holiday Crowd.

Of course, even a quick listen to a track or two of theirs will reveal more than a little of the influence of The Smiths, and I hope you feel as I do that they do it in fine style. It is early Smiths particularly that comes to mind with their first album dating from 2014, entitled Over The Bluffs. But it is not just homage to the great Mancunians as a form of hero-worship; they come by their influences honestly through a deep fondness for eighties post-punk and new wave, influences that are indeed many and varied.

As the promo material on their Bandcamp page puts it,

“With a name like theirs, it’s hardly a surprise that the band’s sound invokes scenes that feel quite distant from their home city of Toronto. If anything, the quartet sound as though they’d fit perfectly side by side with The Chills, Orange Juice, The Smiths, and other groups from the United Kingdom whose influence The Holiday Crowd wear proudly. Perhaps this could be partly attributed to the fact that half of them actually hail from the same place as these influential bands; bassist Alex Roberts is from the U.K. while John Coman, the group’s new drummer, calls Ireland home. As far as The Holiday Crowd’s North American half, guitarist Colin Bowers has reflected that he “can’t fully explain [his] love of English music,” but thankfully he doesn’t need to; the band’s sound speaks for itself…”

Their first album, Over the Bluffs, is a cracking debut and would be a fine accomplishment if they had produced no more. Perhaps as a visitor to Toronto yourself you encountered those impressive Scarborough Bluffs by the shore of Lake Ontario? As residents of Scarborough, I believe the band members had those same bluffs in mind, and the breezy landscape they evoke, when they were inspired to write the songs for this compact 7 track album. Take the light, repetitive melody and jangly guitar rhythms of the track “In My Arms”, and do you hear the wind, the waves crashing against sandy bluffs, the nostalgic yearning for more open waters, while standing one a shore one is destined never to leave? Perhaps that is a fanciful stretch, but I am sure you will admit that it is as much music “of a place” as indeed the vibe of Manchester imbued the songs of early Smiths oeuvres?

mp3 : The Holiday Crowd – In My Arms

In any case, the band’s lead singer himself, Imran Haniff, called their first album,

“an open love letter to Scarborough, Ontario, a notorious suburb of Toronto…The whole mood of the record has a Scarborough vibe to it and it only seemed fitting to name it with an honorary nod to our old stomping grounds. Scarborough has so much stacked against it; it almost seemed like The Holiday Crowd needed to stick up for it. There’s more material lyrically to write about a place that’s tangible and misunderstood than writing about Narnia or Mordor”.

But to take a quick look at another of the album’s tracks and a personal favourite, “While She Waits”, it is clear that their approach to songwriting does not limit them to love of places and a fondness for local colour, but more timeless subjects like love, loss, pain, and yearning for an ineffable better just off the horizon are handled with equal Smithsian deftness.

mp3 : The Holiday Crowd -While She Waits

I was fortunate to catch the band playing live in 2016, just as they were working on new material for their soon to be forthcoming self-titled sophomore album. It was in a very, very small pub in downtown Toronto, so small that if I stretched out my legs in the rickety folding chair I was given, I was just a little afraid I might trip up the guitar player Colin, or perhaps unplug his amp. Under these conditions, naturally, it was quite possible to strike up a conversation with the band, and after that evening, I have to say the guys in The Holiday Crowd are a fine collection of gents, really warm personalities and passionate fans of music as much as they are producers of it. The “chat” that began on that day continues to the present, in a sense, since, a little astoundingly, the lead singer friended me on Facebook thereafter, not just with the official band page but with his personal account too, and he is totally open and receptive to questions, comments, and the like. Moreover, his frequent posts linking to songs he loves has opened the eyes to more than one of the influences mentioned above.

Perhaps you may be wondering if the follow-up album, “the Holiday Crowd”, was equally enjoyable, or if it suffered from the “sophomore jinx” that so many bands with great potential fall prey to? Or, perhaps a more sophisticated question, “Were they able to grow beyond the strong influences of the first album and expand more musically, exploring their own voices and experimenting with different directions musically?”

The album is currently for sale, and as I believe the band makes their money from such mercenary things as album sales, I will leave you with just a song or two as suggestions, and encourage you to look into the album deeper on your own. For me, the answer is a clear yes, though, and I think if you give “Another Nite” and “After The Long Dash” a listen, though the Smiths fan in you will still be satiated, you can hear a band that is growing and maturing in sound with each new release. The latter, for example, begins with the ubiquitous but strangely impersonal “time signal” and makes of it something really quite lovely…

But if you really want to hear the spirit of Johnny Marr’s brilliant influence alive and at work, you will have to seek out “Rosy Lies” on your own and invest in the album. I believe you will agree it is worth it.

mp3 : The Holiday Crowd – Another Nite
mp3 : The Holiday Crowd – After The Long Dash

DOUG

JC adds……

Doug was the first to drop me a line after the request for December guest postings and I’m delighted to open up this month with his contribution.  I do indeed know Scarborough very well – it was where I actually lived and worked for a spell ten years ago – and I did visit the Bluffs which are quite spectacular to look at.

I really enjoyed these songs and Doug has described them perfectly.  Oh and I also thought that Another Nite was reminiscent of the much-missed Father Sculptor. I’m intending to put an order in for the albums as recommended.

New Order

THE NEW ORDER SINGLES (Parts 7 & 8)

I’m rolling up the next two releases into one post, primarily as the sleeves are connected, but also as the second of the 45s was only available on import from Factory Benelux and is really a companion piece to the first.

It was a bit of a shock to hear each of Thieves Like Us and Lonesome Tonight when they were released in April 1984, a full eight months after Confusion. A shock, but a very pleasant surprise as they were something of a throwback to earlier New Order with much less reliance on the New York club sound that Arthur Baker had brought to them.

It was a 12″ that divided the four New Order fans in the student flat I was living in at the time. Two of us loved it while the other two (no pun intended) felt it was a retrospective move and that the band should be aiming exclusively for the club scene rather than making great synth-pop in what they felt was an increasingly crowded market in which quantity was rapidly overpowering quality.

There were enough of us who loved the single enough to take it to #18 in the UK charts, another outstanding performance for a piece of vinyl that was only released in 12″ format:-

mp3 : New Order – Thieves Like Us
mp3 : New Order – Lonesome Tonight

The A-side is Hooky’s favourite New Order song, which I was surprised to learn as I’d have thought he would have veered towards the rather marvelous b-side which is driven along by one of his best bass lines, almost as if he’s challenging his band mates to play something that is as classy and as cool as the notes he’s hitting.

Couple of things I learned from Hooky’s book about this release. They had started on Thieves Like Us many months earlier in NYC but as it had taken so long to finish Confusion, they never got far with it, but there was enough of what had been put down in NYC in the later version that Arthur Baker gets a writing credit.

There’s a strange noise at the tail end of Lonesome Tonight which is actually Hooky hawking up phlegm into a handkerchief : “Barney….suggested we put it on at the end because the contrast between something so beautiful and something so awful might be interesting. He was absolutely right.”

A few weeks later, Murder began to filter into some shops; it was recognisable as a New Order release from the sleeve as was almost a negative version of that which had housed Thieves Like Us. I paid a lot of money for it, took it home, played it and felt really let down. It sounded like an Adam and the Ants outtake with a bit of Barney’s specialised one-finger guitar solo thrown in. It’s a bit of music that I’ve never really taken to, although many years later I did come to realise that it was an important part of the sounds they were developing and would subsequently lay down on the Low-Life LP. But even now, I still feel it was akin to shoving a demo out to make some money:-

mp3 : New Order – Murder

The two sleeves, as ever in those days, were by Peter Saville. They were based on what I would later learn was Metaphysical art, a unique style of painting developed by the Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico in the 1910s and 20s. The numbers around the side are totally random, which looking back was Saville having a bit of fun given that his sleeves for the various releases in 1983 could be worked out from codes and colours. We were all sure there was something in those numbers and spent a few drunken nights trying to work it all out….time was less precious in those days!

It’s b-side was a version of a familiar number:-

mp3 : New Order – Thieves Like Us (instrumental version)

A little while later, an edited version of this was made available on the 7″ reverse of Shellshock:-

mp3 : New Order – Thieves Like Us (instrumental edit)

Finally, a TOTP appearance for the single in which they played live and Hooky’s bass caused pandemonium in the households up and down the country:-

The single dropped down the charts the following week!

JC

Foil

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #102 : FOIL

This lot have been the subject of a rather splendid ICA courtesy of Jacques the Kipper back in August 2016. Here’s the summary version of the band, courtesy of an American website:-

Foil are a guitar-pop band from West Lothian, Scotland (near Edinburgh); their original lineup featured vocalist/guitarist Hugh Duggie, guitarist Colin McInally, bassist Shug Anderson, and drummer Jim Anderson. The group played its first gig at London’s Underworld in February 1996 and were immediately signed by 13th Hour, releasing the single “Reviver Gene” in July; however, the song did not really receive much airplay until its re-release in November 1997. The group’s debut album, Spread It All Around, was released in England in January 1998, appearing domestically two months later; in addition to Foil’s debut single, it also contained “Don’t Come Around” and “Are You Enemy?” Drummer Alan Lindlay has since replaced Anderson. In mid-2000, Foil issued Never Get Hip.

There were the 2 albums and a slew of excellent singles. Hugh Duggie is a talented musician who really deserves to be far more famous and successful than he is.

JtK did cover the best of them. Here’s one he didn’t squeeze in:-

mp3 : Foil – I’ll Take My Chances

From the 2000 sophomore album.

JC

Dizzee Rascal, Nina Simone

30, 20, 10 (Part 8)

The series that has come close to being halted with so halted with so many of the #1 indie hits, particularly, from the 90s, only reaching the pinnacle due to the exploitation of loopholes around record label ownership/distribution rules.  Can it survive today and make it into a new year.  There’s only one way to find out….

1 December 1987 : mp3 : Nina Simone : My Baby Just Cares For Me

I’ve written about this before, back at the start of this year. You’ll hopefully recall that My Baby Just Cares For Me had originally been recorded in 1958 for Nina’s debut LP Little Girl Blue but was really quite an obscure song until some marketing whizzkid decided it would make the perfect accompaniment to an advert for Chanel No. 5 perfume.

Such was the popularity of the ad that there was a demand for the song to be released as a single which happened in October 1987 on Charly Records, a small label specialising in reissuing obscurities and whose distribution arrangements meant its releases could qualify for the indie charts. It not only spent 5 weeks at the top of the indie charts but it went Top 5 in the mainstream charts.

1 December 1997 : Aaron Carter – Crush On You

I had to google the singer and the song. He was seemingly a 10-year old kid whose big brother was in Backstreet Boys. The song was his first single and it was a cover of an 80s pop hit by a band called The Jets (me neither!!). I have never heard it and have no wish to.

The series is now on red alert….and again it comes down to a decade later, and at a time of year when novelty records are in vogue. Things aren’t looking good are they?

1 December 2007 : mp3 : Dizzee Racal – Flex

Dylan Kwabena Mills saves the day!! The third and final single from his third album Maths + English, it reached #23 in the main singles chart but managed 2 weeks at the top of the indie chart thanks to it being on XL Records. Arctic Monkeys took over the following week before they were elbowed aside by Shaun the Sheep with a 45 aimed entirely at the Xmas market.

Worth mentioning that Flex was the last relative flop for Dizzee Rascal – four of his next six singles (some of which were collaborations) all went to #1.

See you next year for the next instalment.

Next week will see the start of some guest contributions looking back at 2017.

dEUS

IMPOSSIBLE TO CATEGORISE?

dEUS

Sometimes the free CDs/records/tapes that are given away with magazines work in that a listener might pick up an interest in a singer or band for the first time. Hasn’t happened to me all that often, but one such occasion was back in 1994.

It came courtesy of a tape entitled The Radio 1FM Sessions that came with the November 1994 edition of the now long-defunct VOX magazine. Among the 15 acts included was a Belgian band called dEUS, named after a song by an Icelandic band (Sugarcubes) with the track being a session version of a single that was also on their debut LP Worst Case Scenario which had come out on Island Records.

I was struck immediately by how unusual sounding the band were and made a mental note to keep an eye out for them. A few months later, I picked up second-hand copies of two singles and said debut album, all on CD, guessing that someone had taken an earlier chance on them but not found them to their taste. After playing the album I could see why as it was genuinely impossible to categorise them or indeed find a commonality among the songs  It was a perplexing album to listen to. I’ve found a review from back in the day which captures the way I felt back then:-

“This five-piece rock outfit from Belgium are destined either to become the trendiest toast of 1994 or forgotten by the year’s end as the naffest thing to come out of their homeland since Plastic Bertrand. With an erratic musical identity located somewhere between John Cale, Captain Beefheart and Sonic Youth and a 15-track debut album which veers effortlessly from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again, they have a truly unique appeal. That this appeal is often so powerful is thanks to a fresh, uninhibited approach to playing and arrangements, and a core of stunning songs ranging from the delicately acoustic, soul-twisting Right As Rain to the clattering, chaotically charismatic Suds & Soda. They get too way out weird occasionally, as on the erratic, art-rock meandering of Morticia’s Chair, but never go so far that they can’t be saved by a track like the album’s best, the mesmeric, alternately tense and soaring Hotel Lounge. And they sing in English too.”

But overall, I couldn’t really get myself immersed into the album, albeit, as the review indicated, the two singles I’d also picked up were among the highlights (and the latter is still mesmeric, tense, soaring and bloody brilliant):-

mp3 : dEUS – Suds and Soda (single version)
mp3 : dEUS – Hotellounge (Be The Death Of Me)

I’ve never bought anything else that the band have ever released. Indeed, I don’t even have a copy of the debut CD anymore and have no idea how it went missing. It could of course be in a storage box under the stairs by mistake and I’ll come across it again in years to come when it is finally time to move out of Villain Towers (been here since 1995 and unlikely to move until I’m physically incapable of climbing stairs); if I do it will seem like an ancient relic. And I probably still won’t quite get it.

dEUS are still going strong all these years later. There’s plenty info over at this wiki page.

Oh and the b-sides to these two singles are available on request.  Or if enough you demand it, as a bonus posting in due course.

JC

 

Vines

CURSED BY HEALTH ISSUES

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The Vines, for those of you who remember or care, made a really big impact in 2002-2004.  I thought that was their entire time in the sun but it turns out they are still going strong.

They are from Sydney in Australia, and while their commercial breakthrough happened just after the turn of the century they had first got together in 1994 as teenagers, consisting of Craig Nicholls (guitar and vocals), Patrick Matthews (bass) and David Olliffe (drums). They seemed to appear out of nowhere in 2001, having rarely been mentioned even by the Australian press, when a small UK indie label, Rex Records, put out a 7″ single featuring a demo version of a track called Factory. The single was given a huge write-up in the NME and in due course the paper began to champion the band which in turn got them a deal on Heavenly Records.

The next single, Highly Evolved, clocked in at just over 90 seconds and was an NME single of the week in March 2002 while the release of the debut LP with the same name was met with huge critical acclaim – one summary said “It’s rare for a band to channel the Velvet Underground, Nirvana, Dandy Warhols and the Beatles within the span of 45 minutes and sound unique, but the Vines have crept into that select category with Highly Evolved.” It was the Nirvana comparisons that got many excited thanks to the often raspy vocal delivery and erratic on-stage behaviour of the frontman.

Two years later, the follow-up LP Winning Ways was released. This time the reviews weren’t so kind despite, or perhaps because of,  it being similar sounding to the debut. Craig Nicholls wasn’t happy with things and his behaviour during promotional activities and on stage was of increasing concern – there was even one piece in a magazine which suggested he was going the same way as Kurt Cobain and his life was likely to end just as messily.

In November 2004, following his arrest after an incident in Sydney, he revealed during his court appearance that he had Asperger syndrome, a condition that was confirmed by medical specialists. His treatment and therapy took him out of the public eye for a while and it wasn’t until the release of the 2006 LP Vision Valley that he had to deal with the press to any great extent. Oh and by this time, his long-time friend Patrick Matthews had quit the band which was another difficult issue to deal with.

The new LP got a poor reception and the media didn’t really appear to be all that sympathetic to the singer’s problems. That was the beginning of the end in terms of the band having a worldwide profile, but they have continued to record and gig back home, albeit there have been a number of personnel changes over the years with Craig Nicholls the only constant.

His health has remained a serious issue – tours have been cut short or postponed altogether and then in 2012 he was arrested again on allegations that he had assaulted his parents and injured a responding police officer while resisting arrest.

The Vines have thus far six albums in total, the last being Wicked Nature back in 2014, but gigs in 2016 saw a fair bit of new material aired leading to speculation that a new record was in the pipeline but nothing has yet materialised. If and when it does, then it’s a near certainty that any efforts to promote it will be restricted to Australia.

It’s a shame that Asperger’s has caused all of this as a few of the early songs were more than decent:-

mp3 : The Vines – Highly Evolved
mp3 : The Vines – Get Free
mp3 : The Vines – Outtathaway!
mp3 : The Vines – Ride

JC

Specials

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (11)

Bernie Rhodes knows don’t argue

And with that, the first record issued by The Specials was unleashed on the listening public.

1979 was a fantastic year for music, certainly here in the UK. It was the year that many of the post-punk/new wave bands really came to prominence and it was the year that sparked the two-tone craze.

I was sixteen years of age and totally unaware of ska. Glasgow had always been a rock sort of town, although things were in the air that would see a gradual softening of the hard elements of the genre and a whole new sound associated with the city would become incredibly influential. But it was a city that was predominantly white in nature, albeit we had an increasing Asian population that had been migrating here in increasing numbers with next to no fuss in terms of assimilation. There was next to no Caribbean population and black people were really few and far between and as such there was little demand for local radio stations to ever feature a style of music that had originated in those communities. It was also a sound never played on BBC Radio 1 (as I’ll come to a bit later on).

Hearing bands like The Specials, Madness, The Selecter and The Beat was something entirely new and felt exciting because it was so different. And there’s no doubt too that the rude-boy look of the black and white clothing and pork-pie hat was something that was visually appealing to any mid-aged teen. And the stylish and unusual dancing that accompanied the songs whenever any of the acts appeared on Top of the Pops hit a chord with those who were slightly younger and made the whole thing seem fun.

1979/80 marked my first forays into DJing, if playing records on a single deck at a youth night in the school could be regarded as DJing. The senior pupils were encouraged to help the teachers at these nights, which were basically an effort to provide bored 12-15 year olds with something to do instead of hanging around street corners and picking up bad habits. There were three of us who brought along our own 45s to play while everyone ran around making lots of noise burning up all that excess energy. Very gradually over a matter of weeks, our little corner of the hall began to get a dedicated audience and it was all driven by the fact they loved to do the Madness dance(s). In two hours of music, you could bet that more than half came through records on the 2-Tone label or its offshoots. And these kids were of an age when playing the same song two or three times in a night didn’t matter.

Gangsters wasn’t aired as much as others, possibly because it wasn’t the easiest to sing-a-long to; nor did it have a nutty dance of its own. But all these years later, I think there’s many who agree it was the best of the early 2-Tone releases, possibly surpassed only later on by Ghost Town by which time the serious side of the various bands were making astute and pertinent political and social observations.

I had no idea that Gangsters was a re-working of Al Capone by Prince Buster, a song originally released in 1964. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Madness, I wouldn’t have had any idea who Prince Buster was. Ska music never featured on any BBC Radio shows that looked back in time at chart rundowns of years gone by. Tamla Motown and soul music was often aired but I genuinely cannot recall any ska – evidence that big-name DJs and their producers (with the exception of course of John Peel) were incredibly conservative with the music they chose to air.

The first 5,000 copies of this single, which came backed with a song by The Selector, came with a plain white sleeve stamped with the title. These sleeves weren’t the most robust and most of them have deteriorated very badly over the years. If you somehow managed to pick up a copy, all of which were distributed by Rough Trade to the smaller independent record shops, and you’ve managed to take good care of it, then you could probably flog it to a hipster for a few hundred quid.

The vast majority of the 45s were released in what would become the generic 2-Tone sleeve with the immediately identifiable logo, all of which were distributed via Chrysalis records to all stores across the UK and further afield.

Worth noting too that the single was credited to Special A.K.A. with the band then reverting to the much easier on the tongue The Specials for the string of hit singles and albums that would follow, although they did go back to the original name in 1982 after a number of members left to form Fun Boy Three.

mp3 : Special A.K.A. – Gangsters

Here’s the other side of the single; it’s an instrumental that was recorded prior to vocalist Pauline Black joining the band:-

mp3 : The Selecter – The Selecter

JC

Squeeze

PACKET OF THREE

There is a possibility, based on trying to respond positively to requests/suggestions from readers, that I will turn my attention to the singles released over the years by Squeeze. It’s not on the immediate horizon but then again, given that I’m increasingly finding it difficult to come up with fresh ideas, it might well be that the blog ends up with more than the current one singles series in a given week before too long.

Squeeze had come together as early as 1974 when a then 17-year old Chris Difford put an advert in the window of a local newsagent shop in Deptford in the working class and highly unfashionable south-east of London that was responded to by a local 20-year old named Glen Tilbrook. They bonded quickly, writing songs together, and soon they were seeking other musicians to in the hope and expectation of forming a performing and recording combo. Some musicians did initially come and go, but the line-up was eventually completed by Julian Holland (keyboards), Harry Kakoulli (bass) and Gilson Lavis (drums).

Like many other bands of that pre-punk era, Squeeze made their name and living via the pub circuit that dominated much of the music scene across the UK, particularly in the major cities. They were picked up by Miles Copeland III, a 30-year old American who had relocated to London with a determination to somehow to break into the music industry. Copeland had established an agency and label called BTM (British Talent Management) but it went bust in 1976 after a series of loss-making shows and festivals, leaving many of their acts, including Squeeze, high and dry but freely available.

The band cobbled together money to record an EP and release it in May 1977 on the Deptford City Label. It was produced by John Cale of The Velvet Underground whom Copeland had introduced to them. It’s fair to say that the outcome was quite basic, almost elementary in nature; it’s nowhere near good enough to include it as part of the ‘cracking debut’ regular feature on this blog:-

mp3 : Squeeze – Cat On A Wall
mp3 : Squeeze – Night Ride
mp3 : Squeeze – Back Track

Having said that, the Packet of Three EP, from July 1977, did pique enough interest in the group to generate some A&R follow-up, particularly in the live setting with the band seemingly an ever-present in the many small, noisy and smoky pubs of their local community and further afield across London, and they were still being championed by Copeland. In due course, Squeeze would be signed by A&M Records in 1978 for whom they would deliver a string of successful singles and albums over the next decade.

JC

New Order

THE NEW ORDER SINGLES (Part 6)

The collaboration that took everyone by surprise. New Order chose to follow up Blue Monday by heading over to New York and collaborating with DJ/mixer/producer Arthur Baker. The result was a 12″ single (Factory 93) containing four versions of the tune:-

mp3 : New Order – Confusion (8:13)
mp3 : New Order – Confused Beats (6:30)
mp3 : New Order – Confusion Instrumental (7:33)
mp3 : New Order – Confusion (Rough Mix) (8:04)

It reached #12 in the UK singles chart which was quite extraordinary given that the band were still very much a cult and the single had little daytime radio exposure. One of my abiding memories of it was that the promo was on what was then a new thing in the bar of the students union – a videobox as opposed to a jukebox. It was much more expensive and so some of us would club together to ensure, much to the annoyance of the beer-swilling rockers who studied engineering, that Confusion was on heavy rotation.

It’s perfectly of its time, and remains a huge influence on club/dance music almost 35 years on.

The song was completely revamped for inclusion on the Substance compilation :-

mp3 : New Order – Confusion 87 (4:43)

And then, in 1995, there was acid techno remix by Pump Panel, which was later used in 1998 as part of the soundtrack for the film Blade:-

mp3 : New Order – Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix) (10:11)

JC

Flowers

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #101 : THE FLOWERS

Today’s post has more than one song featured. That’s all down to my abject failure to previously fully recognise and acknowledge the contribution made by The Flowers to the post-punk music scene in Scotland. It was something I wasn’t fully aware of until I went along to see the world premiere of Big Gold Dream back in 2015.

Flowers formed in 1978, and were part of a strong Edinburgh scene which spawned bands such as Scars, Josef K and The Fire Engines. The line-up eventually settled around Hilary Morrison aka Hl Ray (vocals), Andy Copland (guitar), Fraser Sutherland (bass) and Simon Best (drums).

The band contributed two tracks to the first Earcom compilation released by Fast Product in 1979, and recorded two singles across 79/80 for the Pop Aural label. There was also a John Peel session.

Like many others who were initially inspired by punk, the band got a bit disillusioned after the first wave of euphoria had died off and they soon called it a day in the summer of 1980 shortly after the release of their second single.

Here’s a selection from what was, in the end, a catalogue of just six songs, albeit some were recorded more than once for different releases:-

mp3 : The Flowers – After Dark (Earcom compilation)
mp3 : The Flowers – Confessions (debut single)
mp3 : The Flowers – The Ballad of Miss Demeanour (second single)

It sounds like Joy Division and/or Gang of Four being fronted by a Scottish Lene Lovich. The song from the Earcom compilation is a genuine long-lost classic with its bitter lyric about a post-disco sexual encounter gone horribly wrong….

JC

 

Cure, Westlife & Mariah Carey

A TRUE TRUE CONFESSION

JC writes….

I received an e-mail from someone on the back of the True Confessions pieces last month. There followed an exchange of correspondence during which questions were asked and then answered as to whether the author did want the piece to appear. It’s an incredibly brave thing to offer for public consumption…..

Jim,

I have a True Confession to make, albeit the other way around – liking a song I shouldn’t. A guilty pleasure in a way, if you think it fits, feel free to post, if not just hit delete.

By the turn of the 20th century I met a woman, we were both married but not to each other, and we were drawn together – to start with somewhat unwillingly. Days and months passed by and in the end you might say we had an affair, rather innocent and profane maybe – but gravitation was strong…

In the end she didn’t dare to take that final step and she ended it. Heartbroken I wrote her a letter, sitting on a plane for the US, and in the speakers I could hear this song, a cover of a totally abominable Phil Collins track – but there and then, Mariah Carey singing “you coming back to me is against all odds, but it’s the chance I got to take” hit a very weak spot. I never sent that letter. I don’t own the song, but every time I hear it my heart stops for a second and that “what if?” flashes through my mind.

The song Out Of This World by The Cure, from Bloodflowers, is more the real me but my True Confession is I am attached to Against All Odds in the version by Westlife & Mariah Carey.

Forgive me my sins

mp3 : Westlife & Mariah Carey – Against All Odds
mp3 : The Cure – Out Of This World

A READER