THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

THE RETURN OF A LONG-LOST FRIEND

Once upon a time, many many many years ago during that short-lived period when long-form blogs such as the one you’re visiting today were all the rage, there was a fabulous place called Pretending Life Is Like A Song. Named after a line in a tune by The Wannadies, it was wonderfully curated by Adam F (not to be confused with Adam T aka Swiss Adam, whose Bagging Area continues to delight, inform, move and entertain in so many ways each and every single day.

Adam F called a halt to his blogging activities quite some time ago – probably around 2012 or early 2013 as I’m sure he stopped prior to the original Vinyl Villain site being unceremoniously destroyed by blogger in July 2013. Out of the blue, he dropped me an e-mail last week:-

“Hi guys – I’m guessing this is JC on the email but looking at the blog you never can tell.
I was trying to find something I once upon a time wrote for Matthew at SongByToad, browsing through the wayback machine and failing, but when I tried to find it more directly I found your new place instead.

I have been quietly playing with myself in the corner since Christmas, if you see what I mean…

(I read Garry Mulholland’s books again at christmas and just thought ‘youknow, I’d quite like to do that again’ – I thought I’d try to write about a hundred songs with a url called ‘century’ but then wordpress gave me ‘century199’ as a url so it became 199 songs. I honestly don’t know what I’ll do when I get there – I thought i’d be finished and gone within a week.)

Anyway. Hi.

take care

Adam

x”

Adam was one of many early inspirations for, and supporter of, The Vinyl Villain, and it really is great to see he’s writing again. The blog is called 199 Songs and here’s what you’ll find if you click on the about section:-

“I don’t know how I’m going to do this – I don’t know how often, or if there’s any kind of order, or how many might be throwaway and how many might be core. I had an idea to write about a hundred songs without any plan about what those hundred songs might be but WordPress has given me a URL numbered ‘199’ so… we’ll see.”

He started things off on 25 December 2024 with She Loves You by The Beatles. He’s been prolific, and is just about halfway to through the task he set himself. It’s proving to be a very eclectic choice of songs, and without any question, there truly is something for everyone. Adam’s style of writing is rather lovely, and I’m incredibly jealous of his wonderful self-discipline which enables him to summarise things so deftly and so eloquently.

There’s a link going up in the sidebar of TVV. In the meantime, click on http://www.century199.wordpress.com and immerse yourself in some wonderful writing.

mp3: The Wannadies – Might Be Stars

For old times sake.

JC

S-Chords

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #087

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#087: S-Chords – ‘Voran! Voran!’ (Smarten-Up! Records ’89)

Hello friends,

and yes, back to Germany we go today, to sunny Düsseldorf! Who does not love it (apart from the people of Cologne, of course), capital of North Rine-Westphalia, home of a million Japanese and of terrible beer!

But Düsseldorf has also always been Germany’s musical capital, I think it’s fair to say. There are so many people I know who love at least one band from Düsseldorf, sometimes they even love a few: I know that Adam from the wonderful and constantly inspirational Bagging Area has a huge faible for all things kosmische: Kraftwerk, La Düsseldorf, Neu! – they all came from Düsseldorf, of course!

Our friend Walter from A Few Good Times In My Life will surely approve of the above as well, but knowing him, he’ll also like Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Family 5, Fehlfarben, Male, Charley’s Girls/Mittagspause, Der Plan, Rheingold … as I said, this city had a lot to offer!

My neighbour Klaus played bass for Shades Of Dawn in fact, whereas his wife Silke may well be more fond of Liaisons Dangereuses or, probably, Asmodi Bizarr.

My wife totally adores everything Die Toten Hosen ever did – me, I stopped listening to them after their second single from 1982, because as far as I’m concerned after this they became just goddamn awful. Nevertheless they are one of Germany’s biggest bands, partly because of still pretending to be original anti-establishment-punks in 2025 … whilst making squadrillions of Euros by issuing their pretentious rubbish incl. coffee mugs etc. on Warner Records.

Also, I once told their singer to bugger off when he tried to get in front of me at the bar at an early Green Day gig. So this band’s output (and my behaviour) remain a controversial issue within our marriage, believe me, but for 21 years I have stood my ground and I have no plans to change this!

So what about me, my Düsseldorf favourites, you’re asking? Well, I will not say today’s song is by Germany’s best band, that would be unfair. But unless someone comes up with a better 7“ from Germany, this has to be it:

mp3: S-Chords – ‘Voran! Voran!’

Now, The S-Chords have remained fairly unknown alas. Upon the strength of this song alone this is a mystery to me, as usual – but there you are. Then again all the names above are so big, perhaps this was one reason they did not make it at the time. ‘Voran! Voran!’ (‘Forward! Forward!’, should you be wondering) was first released on a cassette in ’85, then on 12“ one year later and finally as a limited promo 7“ with ‘Weg Von Hier’ on the A-Side in ’89.

There isn’t much I can tell you about the band, I’m afraid. The S-Chords were led by the Schiffers-brothers, Peter (g, v) and Thomas (g, bv), and accompanied by Sugar (b) and Enzo (d, v).

Peter played with Stunde X for a while, but apparently has stopped making music altogether, as far as I know. Whatever became of the other three, I have no idea at all …

But anyway, in my humble opinion: if you view this 7“ alone as their legacy in life, they have achived a great deal more than I will ever achieve! A stunning tale of not giving up, not just looking behind/living in the past, of always being aware of the new chances life may offer to you: what more can you ask for in a song?

Enjoy,

Dirk

JC adds

Given how many acts have been listed in this, as ever, wonderful offering, surely I’m not alone in asking Dirk if he’d be able to find time to offer up a Düsseldorf ICA…….

Teardrop Explodes

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (18) : Teardrop Explodes – Serious Danger

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Most of the time, the versions of songs released as singles are edited down from the album versions, usually to make them more radio-friendly, either in terms of production and/or running time. Not in this instance……

mp3: The Teardrop Explodes – Serious Danger

At 4:23 in length, it’s fully 50 seconds longer than the album version.

Now, if Serious Danger is a song you’re not familiar with, then don’t worry….you probably won’t be alone.

It was written and recorded in September 1982 for what was intended to be the band’s third album. This was a few months after the version of The Teardrop Explodes which had recorded and toured Wilder had imploded, and were now down to a trio comprising Julian Cope, Gary Dwyer and David Balfe.

Tensions in the studio were high, driven the fact that Cope and Balfe were at loggerheads about how the record should sound, the former wanting to write ballads and quirky pop song while the latter was determined to record synth-based music.

Julian Cope, who many folk regarded as being The Teardrop Explodes, quit the sessions. Mercury Records tried to salvage things by issuing an EP, You Disappear From View, in February 1983, and to all intent and purposes, that was that.

However, after Julian had some success as a solo artist, the record label, in April 1990, decided to issue Everybody Wants To Shag….The Teardrop Explodes. It was marketed as a Teardrop Explodes album, and while technically that night be the case, it is very much the work of David Balfe with the occasional vocal contribution from Julian Cope and some drum work from Gary Dwyer. Serious Danger was chosen as a lead-off single….and it really is quite unlike any previous 45 by the band.

The two extra songs on the CD came from the first two Teardrop Explodes albums.

mp3: The Teardrop Explodes – Sleeping Gas (from Kilimanjaro)
mp3: The Teardrop Explodes – Seven Views Of Jerusalem (from Wilder)

It really was a strange release. An early 80s synth-album coming out at a time when baggy was at its height. It’s no surprise the single and album sunk without trace, albeit I reckon Serious Danger has some merit……but that’s me listening to it at some distance and placing it in the early 80s – I really hated it back in 1990!

JC

Book Reviews

BOOK OF THE MONTH : MARCH 2025 : ‘TAX, DRUGS AND ROCK’n’ROLL’ by DAMIAN CORLESS

A good friend of mine spent time last year touring much of the coast of Ireland in a camper van. He drove from Scotland to Cork to get things underway, and while in the city he picked up the book, Tax, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll to accompany him on the journey, having come across it in a store and reading the back page blurb:-

“How did an influx of British pop stars in the early 1980s kick-start a cultural transformation in Ireland? The stars hadn’t come for the atmosphere or the creature comforts. They’d come for the tax breaks, to endure a ho-hum year of exile beyond the grasp of the UK taxman. What they found exceeded their expectations.”

Having read the book during the three-and-a-bit weeks he was on the road, my friend passed the book to me, saying that he’d be interested to hear what I thought of it. Crucially, he didn’t say whether or not he had liked its contents…..

The author is Damian Corless, a Dublin-born music journalist, author, part-time bass player in bands and occasional writer of comedy sketches for TV programmes in Ireland and the UK. He begins the book with a prologue dating back to February 1981 when a newly emerging star of the Irish scene called Bono crashed his car into a telegraph pole outside the Corless family home, a random accident which changed the course of Damien’s life, and just four years later he landed a job on Hot Press, a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin. There is no question that he’s very well-placed and connected to tell this story.

The book doesn’t just look at the musicians who came for the tax breaks in the 80s. Indeed, its early chapters go back in time to John Lennon buying an island off the coast of Mayo in 1967, and the reasons why actors such as Peter Sellers and Robert Shaw set up home in Ireland in the 70s, before spending many pages describing how live music and culture was organised across Ireland, with constant reminders of how very rural and underdeveloped the country was for much of the 20th century. In due course, we reached the point in time where the stories of how Phil Lynott and The Boomtown Rats came to be well-known are told, before a diversion into the tale of John Lydon ending up in jail after a fight in a Dublin pub in 1980.

It was all interesting stuff, but a long way removed from what the premise of the book was meant to be, but I suppose the scene had to be set and the context for what happened in the 80s had to be laid out, but it did feel like I was reading it under false pretences.

It took until Chapter 6 before we reached the part the blurb had promised. A chapter called ‘Frances Rossi: The Rocker Who Set The Ball Rolling’. It turned out that the Status Quo frontman, having intended to spend a year in Dublin in 1979 to reduce his UK tax bill, ended up falling for the city and staying there for a number of years. The chapter was based on lengthy interviews with Rossi, and I have to say that I found it a bit of a chore, as I found his stories and anecdotes to be dull. It was also a sobering reminder that the remainder of the book was going to celebrate rich tax-dodgers……..

Sting and Andy Summers of The Police soon followed Frances Rossi’s move to the Emerald Isle, but unlike the pony-tailed rocker, they never settled and moved away almost as soon as the time had come when there was no longer any tax gains to be had. Members of Spandau Ballet, The Thompson Twins, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Def Leppard were among those who arrived in later years, and while some of the anecdotes recounted in the book did bring the occasional smile (Holly Johnson accidentally finding himself as a shopkeeper for day in a small village shop primarily selling pottery), it was all just a tad self-indulgent.

Having said that, by Chapter 10 and Page 131, it was back to telling the story of how Ireland itself was beginning to change. The remainder of the book looks at politics, censorship, the opening of a swanky Dublin nightclub (complete with VIP section for musicians and actors), the rise of U2, the successes of the Irish football team under an English manager, the decreasing influence of the Catholic Church in Irish society, the emergence of a new breed of Irish comedians and the vast physical regeneratuion of much of Dublin city centre.

The author brings his book to an end in 1995 when a peace process with the north of the country begins to become a reality. The closing chapter brings together the various strands that had been explored, and makes the very valid point that Ireland had, over the course of less than two decades, undergone something of a cultural and social revolution. But I have to say, that I found very little evidence that any of it was kick-started by UK musicians seeking tax breaks.

All in all, a frustrating read as it wasn’t the book I imagined it to be based on the back page blurb, with the British pop stars taking up a very small part of its overall contents. And while it proved to be a worthy read for its wider context, it is not really a book about music or musicians.

mp3: A House – Here Come The Good Times

And yes, today was deliberately chosen to offer up this review.

JC

Super Furry Animals

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

A guest series by The Robster

#3: Hometown Unicorn (1996, Creation Records, CRE222)

Just a few months after signing a deal with one of the most feted independent record labels in the UK, Super Furry Animals put out their first new music of the partnership.

mp3: Hometown Unicorn

A curious choice as the first single from the forthcoming debut album. It’s not as energetic as some of their previous efforts, but certainly boasts that lovely woozy psychedelic feel we’d all adore from them over the next decade-plus. Plus, of course, the subject matter was typically odd, being about a French teenager called Franck Fontaine who went missing, but subsequently turned up a week later claiming to have been abducted by aliens.

Its chorus is undeniably catchy, another SFA trait, and it was voted Single Of The Week by NME. Released on 26th February 1996, it became the band’s first Top 50 hit, reaching the somewhat mountainous number 47. It came out on three formats. The 7” and dreaded cassette format featured this b-side:

mp3: Don’t Be A Fool, Billy

This is a delight, and certainly one of the band’s strongest early b-sides. It really shows another super furry strength – the vocal harmonies. They’d make good use of these over the years, and I think this is the first example of them coming to the fore.

The CD contained a third track.

mp3: Lazy Life (Of No Fixed Identity)

The subtitle of this one might sound familiar. That’s because, if you cast your mind back, in part one of the series I featured the first recording the band ever laid down, from 1993 when they were still fronted by Rhys Ifans. It was called Of No Fixed Identity. To my knowledge, Lazy Life is an entirely different song with no link to it’s nearly-namesake. And to be fair, listening to them both, if there was any similarity between them, you’d be hard-pressed to find it. Lazy Life is an altogether faster and more energetic kettle of fish. An OK song, but not one I’d put on a b-sides highlights playlist.

This week’s bonus track is another track from the demos the band made the previous year in preparation for the recording of their first album.

mp3: Hometown Unicorn [demo]

While they were moving forward, the band would look back for their next single. It would, however, provide their Top 40 breakthrough.

The Robster

Countess Of Fife

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #443: COUNTESS OF FIFE

From bandcamp:-

“The Countess of Fife began in 2016 by Fay Fife – best known as lead singer with Scots punk/post punk bands The Rezilllos / Revillos. The Countess began as a writing project – rooted in Fay’s love of alt country and boring need to express her self more fully as a songwriter. The Countess has released the critically acclaimed album Star of The Sea album – available on vinyl from Scottish label Last Night From Glasgow.”

And with me being a long-time subscriber to LNFG, I have a copy of said album in my collection, and this is what I think is the best track

mp3: Countess of Fife – Wandering Star

The members of the band are Allan McDowall, Brian McFie, Chris Agnew, Fay Fife, Kirsten Adamson and Willie Molleson

Kirsten is the daughter of the late Stuart Adamson.

JC

The Room

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #086

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#086: The Room – ‘Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl’ (Red Flame Records ’82)

Good morrning friends,

according to various sources on the internet, “The Room are a melodic rock band with prog influences from London and the south of the UK. The band members bring together a rich musical background. Their broad influences and experience shape the bands unique sound, delivered with great musicianship, catchy hooks and intriguing lyrics.”

Well, feel free to become their latest fanboy: me, I’ll stick with The ‘real’ Room, the original one from Liverpool! Founded in 1979, indie favourites, championed by Peel, destined for bright stardom – which, in other words, means that they got nowhere, by and large, until they disbanded in 1985. But before this happened, they recorded quite some masterpieces, in my humble opinion. It’s hard to describe really, but if I had to break early 80s post punk down to just two “sections”, the easiest way to do this would probably be a) rather noisy stuff, b) more quiet and thoughtful tunes.

The Room were always in team b), and – staying with this poor football comparison – although they never made it into the premier league, they did a damn good job within the second division, a division which had numerous contenders back then … not all too present in people’s minds these days, but nevertheless awesome. The Wild Swans come to mind, for example …

If you don’t know The Room, and the below song meets with your approval, I highly recommend to spend half an hour on Spotify. Basically the first three albums are all great throughout, ‘Indoor Fireworks’ (’82), ‘Clear’ (’83) and ‘In Evil Hour’ (’85), the latter probably being the most accessible one … listen to ‘A Shirt On Fire’ and ‘Jackpot Jack’ at the very least: outstanding stuff!

Dave Jackson, the singer, and Becky Stringer, the bassist, formed Benny Profane in 1986 – and again this is a combo you should pay closer attention to, their ‘Trapdoor Swing’ album from 1989 is a gem, believe me!

But today (again, I’m afraid) I have one of the band’s early works from you, the single they released off ‘Indoor Fireworks’ in 1982:

mp3: The Room – Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl

And whilst surfing around, checking some of the release dates for the above records, I learnt that apparently The Room have reformed: an album was issued last year, ‘The Telling’.

Now, there is something for me to listen to this evening, to be sure!

Enjoy,

Dirk

Fall

ON THIS DAY : THE FALL’S PEEL SESSIONS #23 & #16

A series for 2025 in which this blog will dedicate a day to each of the twenty-four of the sessions The Fall recorded for the John Peel Show between 1978 and 2004.

It was inevitable that, at some point, a day would dawn when more than one session was broadcast on a particular date across different years. And it happened more than once as you will see in due course!!

Session #23 was broadcast on this day, 13 March 2003, having been recorded on 19 February 2003.

And, the longest period between Peel Sessions reflected the turbulence within the group in this era (it had been four-and-a-half years since Session #22). However, the session represents an incredible rebirth. The recording is detailed in the Smith/Middles book, ‘The Fall’, reporting Smith continually railing against band complacency and BBC-supplied material from the forthcoming ‘Country On The Click’ album. ‘Contraflow’ is here with its false ending, and after a snatch of Mr. Bloe’s No.2 1970 hit ‘Groovin’ with Mr. Bloe’, there’s an appropriately relaxed version of ‘Green-Eyed Loco Man’, with its refrain of ‘say goodbye to Glastonbury’. ‘Mere Pseud Mag. Ed’ makes a surprise reappearance given it was 21 years old at the time, and given Smith’s mistrust of the look back bores. “He thought he was a mster of double-entendre, Carry On etc” replaces long obsolete critical references to Not The Nine O’Clock News. Middles himself is rewarded by adding his ‘fevered and reptilian’ vocals to the Greek World-Cup victory-predicting ‘Theme From Sparta F.C.’, one of the finest, punchiest Fall songs of recent years.

DARYL EASLEA, 2005

mp3: The Fall – Theme From Sparta F.C. (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Contraflow (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe – Green-Eyed Loco Man (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Mere Pseud Mag. Ed (Peel Session)

Produced details unknown

Mark E Smith – vocals; Ben Pritchard – guitar, backing vocals; Jim Watts – bass, backing vocals; Dave Milner – drums, backing vocals; Eleanor Poulou – keyboards, backing vocals

Session #16 was broadcast on this day, 13 March 1993, having been recorded on 28 February 1993.

Freed from the constraints of major label Phonogram, The Fall recorded some of their best-ever music for their debut Permanent album. ‘The Infotainment Scan’. With Dave Bush now fully established on keyboards and machines, the band performed some of their strongest material for years. Bush was able to incorporate modern dancefloor techniques (is that a sample from ‘Stakker Humanoid’ at the end of ‘Paranoia Man?) into the group’s material without it in any way sounding gauche. The performances on ‘Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room’, the then-latest chronicle of Smith’s ageing process, are watertight. ‘Service’ continues this melancholy over slowed down Italio-house keys. However, The Fall’s garage punk roots have not been abandoned with the stomping cover of The Sonics’ ‘Strychnine’.

DARYL EASLEA, 2005

mp3: The Fall – Ladybird (Green Grass) (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Strychnine (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Service (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Paranoia Man In Cheap Shit Room (Peel Session)

Produced by Mike Robinson, engineered by James Birtwistle

Mark E Smith – vocals; Craig Scanlon – guitar; Steve Hanley – bass; Dave Bush – keyboards; Simon Wolstencroft – drums

JC

Adult Net

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (20): The Adult Net – Waking Up In The Sun

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The great thing about the period in time when vinyl was on the cusp of becoming fashionable again was that second-hand records could be picked up cheaply, as I mentioned previously, with Fight The Power being one of three 12″ singles bundled up for £5.

With those sorts of prices, I was happy to take the occasional risk on something I wasn’t familiar with and, as a consequence, the cupboard has quite a few pieces of vinyl that were bought on a whim, played once and then quietly forgotten about. Such as this:-

mp3: The Adult Net – Waking Up In The Sun

The credits on the sleeve on this 1986 release offer some hope. It’s Brix Smith, erstwhile member of The Fall, branching out on her own, (but supported by other members of the band), while the masterful Ian Broudie is on production.

Sadly, it’s really dull and forgettable.

Having said that, it’s at least listenable in comparison to the b-side:-

mp3: The Adult Net – (Remember) Walking In The Sand

An utterly pointless cover of the 1964 hit single by The Shangri-Las.

But, as I said, with it costing 12″ single costing the equivalent of £1.66, I didn’t get too upset about it.

JC

Bluebells, Julian Cope, Simple Minds, Siouxsie & The Banshees

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (March – Pt 2)

Following on from yesterday’s witterings………

18 – 24 March

The first two weeks of this chart hadn’t seen any spectacularly high new entries. Nothing changed this week, although It’s A Miracle by Culture Club did arrive at #14 en route to its eventual peak at #4.

I’ll mention in passing that Depeche Mode, another of the big 80s bands who I’ve never managed to really take a liking to (certainly in the post Vince Clarke era), would enjoy a tenth successive success with People Are People coming in at #29. It would eventually reach #4, which incidentally is the highest position any Depeche Mode single would ever reach – they would achieve similar with Barrel Of A Gun in 1997 and Precious in 2005. I reckon that would make for a good question in a pub quiz….

mp3: Siouxsie & The Banshees – Swimming Horses (#33)

Another of the chart regulars throughout the 80s. This was the 14th successive single to reach the Top 75, but only three of which had gone Top 20 – Hong Kong Garden, Happy House and Dear Prudence. (Later singles This Wheel’s On Fire and Peek-A-Boo would do likewise – some facts to form another decent pub quiz question?).

Swimming Horses is not among my favourites from Siouxsie et al, and its experimental non-commercial nature set the tone for what would emerge on their sixth studio album, Hyæna, which would emerge in June 1984.

mp3: Simple Minds – Upon The Catwalk (#36)

It was a long way removed from the sounds that had first attracted me to Simple Minds a few years previously. It was the third and final single to be lifted from their sixth album Sparkle In The Rain, which had entered the charts at #1 the previous month. An album which helped propel the band to arenas and stadia the world over. It wasn’t for me….as evidenced by the fact that ICA 72, penned in May 2016, was drawn exclusively from the band’s first five albums.

mp3: The Bluebells – I’m Falling (#65)

I don’t think anyone would have imagined The Bluebells would still be going strong 40 years after I’m Falling became their first ever ‘big’ hit, eventually reaching #11. But they are, with recent (2023), and critically acclaimed material emerging on Last Night From Glasgow along with a series of sell-out gigs in their home city here in Glasgow. They remain very good value in the world of indie-pop.

25 – 31 March

As with last week’s, the highest new entry was courtesy of an 80s chart staple with You Take Me Up by The Thompson Twins coming in at #13 en route to peaking at #2 (a victim of Lionel Ritchie’s seemingly never-ending stay at the top).

Michael Jackson released a fifth single from the nine songs which had made up his 1982 album Thriller, but such was the demand and desire for his material that P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing) entered the singles chart at #20; this was a full 69 weeks after it had first been heard on the album.

Having said that, Can’t Buy Me Love by The Beatles entered this particular chart at #53….a full ~~1,500 weeks (30 years)~~ 1,000 weeks (20 years) after it had been a #1 hit.

Another act associated with Liverpool (albeit he’s not from that city) sneaked in at #75

mp3: Julian Cope – The Greatness and Perfection Of Love

The second and final single lifted from his debut solo album, World Shut Your Mouth, which had peaked at #40 when issued at the end of February 1984. It’s long been one of my favourite 45s of his.

I think it’s fair to say that the singles chart of 1984, on the whole, is proving to be a lot more mundane and bland than 1979. And I fear it’s going to get even more dull, but I hope you’ll stick with the series for the occasional gem such as that from St Julien.

JC

Afrika Bambaattaa and The Soul Sonic Force, China Crisis, General Public, Icicle Works, Propaganda, Questions, Scritti Politti, Specials

WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (March)

The 1979 series was planned with the knowledge of just how great that calendar year had been in terms of chart singles. In going for 1984 as the follow-up, I was really leaning on the idea of the book, and also the artwork from the film, as inspiration, quite unsure of how good or bad the charts had been. January and February have proven to be more than OK, but then again I’ve got to acknowledge that many of the chart hits across both months had a lot to do with being part of albums from 1983 rather than new material in a new year. Heading now into early spring as the month of March comes around, I’m curious to see if there was any sort of shift.

4 – 10 March

The highest new entry came from Lionel Richie, with the excruciating ballad, Hello. In at #25, it would get to #1 before the month was out, spend six weeks at the top and going on to be the 7th best-selling single across the entire year.

For the purposes of this series, there’s a handful of new entries worth highlighting:-

mp3: Afrika Bambaattaa and The Soul Sonic Force – Renegades of Funk (#39)

This is another which dates from 1983 but seems t0 have taken a long time to become a commercial hit in the UK. It came in at #39, and the following week reached #30, which was as high as it got. Seventeen year later, the song would be re-interpreted by Rage Against The Machine, giving rise to the title of their fourth and final studio album, Renegades, which itself consisted of 12 cover versions.

mp3: Scritti Politti – Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) (#50)

I’ve often said that Songs To Remember, the 1982 debut album from Scritti Politti, will always be among my all-time favourites. I’ve blogged before about its eventual follow-up, Cupid and Psyche ’85, and am more than happy to offer up this cut’n’paste:-

“It’s an album that would likely have bankrupted Rough Trade if Scritti Politti hadn’t been allowed to take up the offer dangled in front of them by Virgin Records. It’s an album that most certainly was aimed at the mass-market rather than bedsit land. It’s an album of pop at its purest and its finest…..but it was hard for this particular fan to admit a pure love for at the time of release. In saying that, hearing the first new song post-Songs To Remember was a real joy.

Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) still sounds astonishingly good all these years later. Released in February 1984, it was accompanied by a stunning and glossy video featuring Michael Clark, the new superstar of modern ballet who had previously worked with The Fall. It sounded immense coming out of crackly radios and beyond belief when played over the sound system in the student union. It deservedly went Top 10 and enabled Green Gartside, with his new haircut that seemed to pay equal tribute to George Michael and Princess Diana, onto Top of The Pops.”

Yup….12 weeks in the Top 75, peaking at #10.

mp3: The Questions – Tuesday Sunshine (#53)

A band from Edinburgh who caught the eye of Paul Weller, firstly being invited to support The Jam and then to sign to the singer’s own label, Respond Records. The first of their singles had been released in 1978, but it took until mid-1983 that they finally had a Top 75 hit with Price You Pay. The plan from Respond seemed to have been to launch the band with a series of singles in 83 with a view to an album in 84. The problem was that the sales didn’t match the hopes of all concerned, and indeed when the album failed to breach the Top 100, the band called it a day shortly afterwards. Tuesday Sunshine proved to be their biggest hit, reaching #46. Bassist and vocalist Paul Barry would eventually find fame and fortune many years later, after moving to America, as a songwriter of some note, including #1 hit singles for Cher and Enrique Iglesias.

mp3: China Crisis – Hanna Hanna (#63)

The follow-up to Top 10 hit Wishful Thinking didn’t quite do so well, eventually peaking at #44. The band would, however, enjoy two Top 20 hit singles in 1985.

mp3: Icicle Works – Birds Fly (A Whisper To A Scream) (#64)

The fact this is the first ever appearance from Icicle Works on this blog after more than 18 years is an indication that I never quite took to them, but I’m guessing a few of the regular visitors to this corner of t’internet will be fans. This was a re-release of a flop single from July 1983, to capitalise on the success of Love Is A Wonderful Colour, which hit the charts in late 83 and actually peaked at #15 in mid-January 1984….maybe I should have mentioned that in the first part of this particular series. No apology is offered!

mp3: General Public – General Public (#66)

The Beat had broken up in late 1983. Two of its members, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, decided they wanted to continue working together and persuaded keyboardist Mickey Billingham (Dexys Midnight Runners), bassist Horace Panter (the Specials) and drummer Stoker (Dexys Midnight Runners) plus one other to form a new ‘super-group’. The one other was guitarist Mick Jones (the Clash) but he left during the recording process of their debut album, although he listed and credited with playing on some its tracks.

This eponymous 45 was the first that the general public got to hear of the band. It’s one that I really liked and still do. Not too many folk were on the same wave length as me as it got no higher than #60. The band would release a total of nine singles between 1984 and 1986, all of which flopped. Neither of the band’s two albums reached the Top 100…..

11-17 March

An unusual chart this week in that 39 of last week’s Top 40 were still in this week’s Top 40. The highest new entry was at #41, and it was UB40 with Cherry Oh Baby, the fourth single to be lifted from the 1983 album Labour of Love, which itself was an LP of cover versions. I know UB40 were well-liked back in the day, emerging in 1980 and enjoying a great deal of chart success over a 25-year period, but I never took to them.

Madonna with Lucky Star was the next highest new entry at #47, and thus quickly proving that she wouldn’t be a one-hit wonder after the success of debut single, Holiday.

Just as I was beginning to despair of this latest chart offering up nothing…….

mp3: Propaganda – Dr Mabuse (#66)
mp3: The Special AKA – Nelson Mandela (#68)

The former is one of THE great debut 45s, and the latest assault on the senses from the ZTT label. It’s been mentioned a few times on the blog before, including as part of the ‘It Really Was A Cracking Debut Single’ series back in November 2021. Echorich, as he so often did when he was a regular visitor here, absolutely nailed it:-

Propaganda was, in my mind, the greatest achievement of ZTT. Dr. Mabuse is a single that, more than any other, exemplifies the label’s mission statement. It was a crystal production, had literary influence and strove to be post modern pop. A Secret Wish would build on this in an explosive way. Nothing else ZTT released ever had the same impact on me as this single and debut album.

The latter? I’m not sure just how many people knew of the life and struggles of Nelson Mandela prior to Jerry Dammers penning this single. I was a politically-active student in the early 80s, and a fully-fledged member of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (among many other things), and taking part in protest matches and demos, while worthy in themselves, didn’t seem to be making a real impact in terms of raising awareness. This song, being aired on Radio 1 with live performances on TV shows such as The Tube, really helped…and the fact it was so fantastically catchy with a chorus taken from a slogan long chanted at demos, saw enough people buy it in the shops that it would reach #9 about a month later.

It would take a further six years, until 11 February 1990, before the great man was given his long overdue freedom.

I think to write anything else within this particular post would be trite. I’ll deal with the last two weeks of the March 1984 singles charts in a separate post.

Many thanks

JC

Super Furry Animals

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

A guest series by The Robster

#2: Moog Droog (1995, Ankst Records, ANKST062)

Not ones to rest on their laurels, Super Furry Animals spent the summer of 1995 either gigging to promote their debut EP or in the studio. Just four months after that absurdly-titled initial offering, another 7” EP was unleashed into the wilds of record store land.

As would become a common theme, the title was a play on words, incorporating both Welsh and English. Wikipedia explains it rather well:

‘Moog Droog’ is an ironic anglicised spelling of the Welsh phrase mwg drwg (“bad smoke”), slang for marijuana, making a pun on the Moog synthesizer (and/or its inventor) and the slang word “droog” (based on the Russian for “friend”) from A Clockwork Orange. The letter w can be a vowel in Welsh, and in phrase mwg drwg it is pronounced approximately like the English oo in “zoo” or “too” (although the name Moog is more correctly pronounced /ˈmoʊɡ/, rhyming with vogue).

mp3: pamV? (trans: Why Me?)
mp3: God! Show Me Magic
mp3: Sali Mali
mp3: Focus Pocus/Debiel

Opening track pamV has always been one I’ve loved, yet it has always been overlooked by the band on their numerous compilations in favour of the closer. I don’t really get why, but who am I to argue. The title is another example of the band’s love of word play. The phrase ‘pam fi’ means ‘why me’, the Welsh for ‘me’ being ‘fi’ – the letter v doesn’t exist in Welsh, instead a single f is pronounced like an English v.

Track two is the first recorded example of the band singing in English. They had increasingly been performing English language songs in their set, much to the derision of the Welsh-language media. The band didn’t care – they wanted to increase their fan base, and they could only do that by venturing across the border and allowing new audiences into their lyrical world. From Wiki again:

After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee. The band have said that having watched their gig, McGee asked them if they could sing in English rather than Welsh in future shows. In fact, by this stage they were singing in English, but McGee did not realise because their Welsh accents were so strong. Super Furry Animals received some criticism in the Welsh media for singing in English, something which the band felt “completely pissed” about. According to drummer Dafydd Ieuan: “It all started when we played this festival in West Wales, and for some reason the Welsh media started foaming at the mouth because we were singing songs in Welsh and English. But they get The Dubliners playing, and they do not sing in Irish. It’s ridiculous.”

God! Show Me Magic was re-recorded the following year as the opener on the debut album.

Sali Mali is a character in a series of children’s books, later made into a TV show. Many Welsh-speaking children learned to read through Sali Mali books. The song showed a different side to the Furries, being slower and more melodic than much of their previous material.

The final track is intriguing. It has two distinct sections – the first, a chaotic punkish blast with a flute solo in the middle. The second a more laid-back, keyboard-led coda, ending as it does with repeated la-la-las. In terms of its titles – I’m not entirely sure about this, but Focus Pocus appears to be a reference to Dutch prog band Focus and their massive #1 hit Hocus Pocus, while Debiel is Dutch for moron. Interestingly, moron is the Welsh word for carrot…

Moog Droog was released in October 1995 on 7” and CD. Its artwork was a variation of the same picture used on the Llanfair… EP. Also, curiously, it lists the band members on the back alongside pictures of gorillas. Only four members are listed – Cian is missing, which is odd as I was certain he had joined the band before the first EP. Maybe he just didn’t want to be shown as an ape… Like its predecessor, Moog Droog was re-issued on both formats a couple of years later with new artwork. On one of those two occasions, it zoomed up the charts to number 163.

Before the year was out, the band recorded two sets of demos. The first, back in June, with the second around the time of Moog Droog’s release. Many of the songs recorded in these sessions would appear fully formed on the debut album ‘Fuzzy Logic’ the following year. They also signed for the aforementioned Creation label who, in December 1995, and probably keen to start letting the media know about their new acquisition, issued a one-sided promo 12” featuring one of those demos.

mp3: Frisbee [demo]

All those demos were released as part of the 3xCD 20th Anniversary deluxe edition of ‘Fuzzy Logic’ in 2016. I’ll return to them over the next few weeks.

Britpop was beginning to suffer under the weight of its own obnoxiousness and excess. Did we really need another new band in 1997? Hell yeah, we did, and as we’ll find out in the coming weeks, Super Furry Animals were the perfect antidote.

The Robster

Colin Steele Quartet

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #442: COLIN STEELE QUARTET

Over the years I’ve purchased a number of compilation CDs, and as is usually the case with such things, there will be songs that meant nothing to me when the purchase was made. Sometimes, I’ll grow to enjoy such tracks, but there are just as many instances when the song fails to grow on me at all.

Given that the Colin Steele Quartet is a jazz combo, it’s maybe no surprise that today’s latest offering in the alphabetical tun through of songs by Scottish singers/bands/performers for this series is one that I don’t listen to.

mp3: Colin Steele Quartet – You’ll Never Steal My Spirit

From wiki:-

Colin Steele is a jazz trumpeter who played with Hue and Cry during the 1980s. After two years in France he studied jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before returning to Scotland. He has been known for influences from Latin music and funk and has recorded several well-regarded albums. He has been increasingly influenced by Scottish folk music, an influence carried into the additional instrumentation in his group Colin Steele’s Stramash, as well as playing in Ceilidh Minogue’s horn section.

The song I have on the hard drive comes from Goosebumps – 25 Years of Marina Records, the compilation released in 2018 in celebration of the German-based label which has long had a very close connection with independent artists from Scotland, driven in the main by Douglas McIntyre of Creeping Bent Records. The track was originally released in 2017 on the album Diving For Pearls (Jazz Interpretations Of The Pearlfishers Songbook).

The Pearlfishers were featured as #241 in this series back in December 2020.

Veronica Falls

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (30) : Veronica Falls – Teenage

In which I’m more than happy to re-produce the PR blurb, from back in the day when this was released on 7″ vinyl as the lead-off single from Veronica Falls’ second LP, Waiting For Something To Happen, as I agree with its every word.

“You may have had them tagged as goth-tinged pop fantasists, but with their much anticipated sophomore album Waiting For Something To Happen, Veronica Falls easily shrug off any notions of a difficult second album to create something that is easily more polished, more affecting, and more enduring than their peers could dream of making, and stake their claim as one of the most gloriously unpredictable and invaluable bands on the scene right now.

“Lead-off single “Teenage” was was posted on Soundcloud in November 2012 and became an instant indiepop anthem. By popular demand we’re now making “Teenage” available as a limited edition 7″ single and digital download. It’s the ideal encapsulation of Veronica Falls; perfectly balancing joyous melodic pop with undercurrents of sadness and adolescent yearning. The vocal harmonies are pure heaven, and the economical playing and arranging showcase a band operating at a level of skill and craft not often found in today’s indiepop scene. Plainly put, “Teenage” is perfect pop and sure to be one of the finest singles of 2013″

mp3 : Veronica Falls – Teenage
mp3 : Veronica Falls – Talk About You

I don’t think I need to add anything else.

JC

Siouxsie & The Banshees

SONGS UNDER TWO MINUTES (11): 20th CENTURY BOY

The original version of 20th Century Boy by T.Rex was released in March 1973. It lasted 3 mins and 39 seconds.

There have been quite a number of cover versions over the year, but I would reckon this one from 1979 is probably the fastest take on things:-

mp3: Siouxsie & The Banshees – 20th Century Boy

The b-side of The Staircase (Mystery), the band’s second single, which got to #24 in the charts. Fast, frantic and fun…..and very much enlivened by Siousxie‘s big miaow before the guitars, bass and drums kick in.

JC

Les Rita Mitsouko

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #085

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#085: Les Rita Mitsouko – ‘C’est Comme Ça’ (Virgin Records ’86)

Dear friends,

if you’re lucky, this one will turn out to be rather a brief piece, because I don’t know all too much about today’s band, I must confess. Well, I know about their beginnings, but nothing about what they did after 1986.

Probably I should investigate further here, I mean, based on the strength of their first works, it could well be worthwhile to do so, I reckon.

But today we go back to the mid 80s (again). Les Rita Mitsouko (Catherine Ringer and Fred Chichin) came together in 1979, had two singles in 1982, but did not release their first album before 1984. They were still called Rita Mitsouko back then, but apparently people thought that it was a lady called Rita Mitsouko doing the singing bits, so they decided to add the ‘Les’ to their name. It was Rita because Catherine was very fond of Rita Hayworth, the actor, and ‘Mitsuko’ is a Japanese first name, which roughly means ‘mystique’.

So thinking about this all, I guess I better should have filed them under ‘L’ in the singles box (I always thought the ‘Les’ just meant ‘The’), but now that’s too late, obviously. Ah well, every day is a school day …

Anyway, if you don’t know their debut album, you will surely know one of the singles from it, ‘Marcia Baïla’ – this tune was their breakthrough, I think it’s fair to say. They moved to Cologne to have it produced by Conny Plank, him of Neu! – fame and this may or may not be one reason why they were quickly seen as t.h.e. Avantgarde cult band of the time.

Still, as ace as ‘Marcia Baïla’ is, it’s nothing compared to my favourite of theirs, ‘C’est Comme Ça’ from their second album from 1986, ‘The No Comprendo’. The whole album, produced by Tony Visconti, is neat, but this single is simply great! Obviously there are a lot of records from this era which haven’t aged particularly well. ‘C’est Comme Ça’, at least to these ears, sounds as fresh as ever – and the same goes for the absolutely fantastic video which accompanied it back then. Do yourself a real favour, watch it at immense volume at the earliest opportunity (and while you’re at it, watch the one for ‘Marcia Baïla’ too, it’s great as well)!!

mp3: Les Rita Mitsouko – C’est Comme Ça

Les Rita Mitsouko went on and worked with Sparks, Iggy Pop, Killing Joke, just to name a few. But then, sadly, Fred Chichin suddenly died of cancer in 2007, just 53 years of age. Unbeknownst to me, Catherine Ringer had continued with music, her latest album seems to be from 2020.

As I said at the start, perhaps I should try to explore the band’s back catalogue – or hers.

Enjoy,

Dirk

Various

NO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WAS USED

First midweek day of a new month. You should know what to expect by now.

mp3: Various – No Artificial Intelligence Was Used

The xx – Intro (long version)
The Passions – I’m In Love With A German Film Star
Cocteau Twins – Pearly Dewdrops’ Drop
The Cure – Primary (7″ mix)
Ladyhawke – Magic
Echo & The Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
The Nectarine No.9 – Don’t Worry Babe, You’re Not The Only One Awake
Fatboy Slim – Weapon Of Choice
Cornershop – Sleep On The Left Side
English Teacher – Nearly Daffodils
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Young Adult Friction
The Magic Numbers – Love Me Like You
M.I.A. – Born Free
Bodega – Margot
The Saints – This Perfect Day
Sons & Daughters – Medicine

JC

Fall

ON THIS DAY : THE FALL’S PEEL SESSIONS #21

A series for 2025 in which this blog will dedicate a day to each of the twenty-four of the sessions The Fall recorded for the John Peel Show between 1978 and 2004.

Session #21 was broadcast on this day, 3 March 1998, having been recorded on 3 February 1998.

The final recording of ‘the old Fall’, if you will, pre-the New York on stage disintegration. If anything, it demonstrates why the schism in the group was sorely needed. For the first time, the group actually sound jaded. Compare ‘Touch Sensitive’ here with the one that appeared on ‘The Marshall Suite’ over a year later, you know what I’m talking about. Tempos seem to be mired in sludge. The ‘Masquerade’ B-side, ‘Calendar’ fails to thrill, and only its flipside’s trickery comes near the album version. ‘Jungle Rock’ is actually, er, not very good. At all. The tape intro of ‘Masquerade’ deeming that ‘this is new, fresh’ sounds doubly ironic.

DARYL EASLEA, 2005

mp3: The Fall – Calendar (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Touch Sensitive (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Masquerade (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Jungle Rock (Peel Session)

Produced by Mike Robinson

Mark E Smith – vocals; Steve Hanley – bass; Julia Nagle – keyboards, guitar; Simon Wolstencroft – drums; John Rolleson – backing vocals

JC

Super Furry Animals

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

A new guest series by The Robster

It was St David’s Day yesterday. We should mark the occasion in a suitable fashion…

So let’s start at the beginning. Towards the last quarter of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, a myriad of Welsh bands came and went in the blink of an eye, barely noticed by anyone in the industry in this tiny province of ours, let alone the rest of the UK. Anyone remember a twee indie-pop group called Emily? No? Didn’t think so. Yet, their one-time drummer would go on to form a band with a former member of U Thant. Ring any bells yet? U Thant also spawned a guy who would team up with the drummer of punk legends Anhrefn to start a group called Catatonia. Yes – THEM.

Still with me? Now, the band formed by said ex-drummer of Emily and other bloke from U Thant were called Ffa Coffi Pawb. They soon became one of the most popular cult acts in Wales, spreading their upbeat, vaguely psychedelic sounds across the nation. After three albums, they split. A couple of them went on to form Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, who you have DEFINITELY heard of.

But seemingly by sheer fate, FCP’s vocalist Gruff Rhys and drummer Dafydd Ieuan (the moonlighting ex-Anhrefn drummer who was also still in Catatonia at the time) found themselves teaming up with two more ex-members of U Thant, Guto Pryce and Huw Bunford, along with an unknown, wannabe actor called Rhys Ifans and another musician, Dic Ben. They called themselves Super Furry Animals and started to make music together. It was largely rave-influenced to begin with, but then became more guitar-based. One or two recordings were made but not released. The very first of them was this:

mp3: Of No Fixed Identity – Super Furry Animals (1993)

Ifans quit when he realised he was a better actor than he was a singer. A good move, as it turns out – the lad’s not done bad for himself since. Gruff Rhys subsequently switched to vocals and at some point, Ben left and Daf recruited his techo-loving younger brother Cian Ciaran, who had been part of the electronic outfit Wwzz. Before long, more tracks were recorded, some of them deemed good enough to actually release to the public.

And so it was that the greatest band to ever emerge from the Land Of Our Fathers started their journey into the conscious (and often unconscious) minds of the music-loving consumer. Over the next 30 weeks (!), I will be guiding you through the thrills and spills of a curious and wonderful career. Every single released by Super Furry Animals, complete with b-sides, alternative versions and one or two little surprises to boot. We start with a record that to this day is in the Guinness Book Of Records for having the longest ever title for an EP:

#1: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space) (1995, Ankst Records, ANKST057)

As an opening salvo, this is as good an introduction to the early Furries sound as you could wish for. Quirky, upbeat, Welsh lyrics and a bit of weirdness. The EP title, in case you don’t know, is an amalgamation of the Welsh village with one of the longest names in the world, and the Welsh phrase for “in space”. Not sure why they felt the need to add the English translation at the end.

Released in June 1995, and comprising four songs pressed on a 7” playing at 33rpm on a local indie label, it was never going to be a big seller, although the meagre amount of copies pressed did sell out. What it showed was a band who knew a good tune, had a lot of energy, and didn’t sound like they were taking themselves too seriously. Listen to Gruff’s vocal on Crys Ti and tell me it doesn’t sound like Elvis on acid…

mp3: Organ Yn Dy Geg (trans: An Organ In Your Mouth)
mp3: Fix Idris
mp3: Crys Ti (trans: Your Shirt)
mp3: Blerwytirhwng¿ (trans: Interspersed? or Inbetween?)

Each side of the 7” had a locked runout groove, meaning tracks 2 and 4 could play infinitely if you let them. I’ve given you not-infinite versions: Fix Idris is from the ‘Out-Spaced’ b-sides album, and Blerwytirhwng¿ from the ‘Songbook’ singles collection, as the ‘Out Spaced’ version drags that end noise out for far longer than necessary…

The EP was later reissued on 7” and, for the first time, CD with different artwork, whereupon it reached the dizzy heights of number 151 in the UK charts. ‘Twas a more than decent debut, but there would be more to come before the year was out. Britpop was at its peak, but Cool Cymru was brewing, and its most interesting band was just getting started…

The Robster

Cloth

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #441: CLOTH

From all music:- “The project of Glaswegian twin siblings Rachael and Paul Swinton, Cloth makes hauntingly sparse songs that draw from dream pop, post-rock, and indie. The eloquent interplay between the duo’s hushed vocals and minimalist guitars — and the space around them — on 2019’s Cloth led to radio support in the U.K., but the Swintons’ music continued to evolve. Their first release for Rock Action, 2022’s Low Sun EP, boasted a fuller but still subtle sound that bloomed on the following year’s Secret Measure, an album that reflected the growing drama and complexity of Cloth’s music as well as its intimacy. Rachael Swinton (vocals, guitar) and her brother Paul (guitar) formed Cloth in 2016 and spent the next couple of years honing their sound. Equally inspired by Cocteau Twins‘ lush dream pop and the moody restraint of the xx, they wrote songs that began as notes on their phones and were ultimately recorded at Chem19 Recording Studio. Within weeks of posting their first track, “Demo Love,” Cloth signed with local indie Last Night from Glasgow which gave the song an official release in June 2018. Receiving airplay on various BBC stations and host-curated music programs, their second release, “Tripp,” was remixed by producer Wuh Oh (Peter Ferguson), and they made their BBC Radio 1 debut with late 2018’s “Old Bear.” That year, Cloth started playing live shows, including dates supporting Arab Strap. They went on to play the BBC Music Introducing stage at Latitude Festival in the middle of 2019 before returning to the studio to put the finishing touches on their full-length debut. Released in November of that year, Cloth was a critical success, making the shortlist for the Scottish Album of the Year Award and winning fans including Elbow‘s Guy Garvey. In 2020, “Old Bear” appeared in the hit television adaptation of Sally Rooney‘s novel Normal People. mp3: Cloth – Old Bear By the middle of 2022, Cloth had joined the roster of Mogwai‘s Rock Action label which issued their Low Sun EP that October. To make their second album, they decided to open up their creative process. For the first time, Cloth worked with an outside producer, recruiting Ali Chant and recording at Bristol’s Toybox Studio. A more layered and polished set of songs that emphasized the electronic underpinnings and direct songwriting of the duo’s music, Secret Measure appeared in May 2023.” JC adds…… I’ve plenty of songs/tunes from the LNFG era, but I haven’t got round to picking up anything from the Rock Action era. It’s really down to, having enjoyed the debut album, I was bored rigid when I saw them play live in support of Arab Strap and lost interest.