THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

HERE I AM, I’M YOUR FAN

I'm_Your_Fan

From wiki:-

I’m Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1991, produced by the French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles. The album features Cohen’s songs interpreted by some of the most respected rock acts of the time. Its name is a play on the title of Cohen’s album I’m Your Man.

For the album’s American release on Atlantic Records, R.E.M.’s rendition of “First We Take Manhattan” and House of Love’s “Who by Fire” (the lead tracks on each side of the vinyl and cassette versions) were swapped so that R.E.M., one of the most popular American rock bands of the era, led the album. In all other countries where the album was released, however, the R.E.M. track appears on Side Two. In the United Kingdom, the album was distributed by record label EastWest Records, in France by Sony Music.

The album includes two different covers of “Tower of Song”, one by Robert Forster and another by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The latter version is a radical deconstruction of the song, edited from an hour-long jam session held by the band.

Tracklisting:–

“Who by Fire” – The House of Love
“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” – Ian McCulloch
“I Can’t Forget” – Pixies
“Stories of the Street” – That Petrol Emotion
“Bird on the Wire” – The Lilac Time
“Suzanne” – Geoffrey Oryema
“So Long, Marianne” – James
“Avalanche IV” – Jean-Louis Murat
“Don’t Go Home with Your Hard-On” – David McComb & Adam Peters
“Who by Fire” – The House of Love
“First We Take Manhattan” – R.E.M.
“Chelsea Hotel” – Lloyd Cole
“Tower of Song” – Robert Forster
“Take This Longing” – Peter Astor
“True Love Leaves No Traces” – Dead Famous People
“I’m Your Man” – Bill Pritchard
“A Singer Must Die” – The Fatima Mansions
“Tower of Song” – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
“Hallelujah” – John Cale

JC says…….

Like most albums of this nature, the cover version can be a hit and miss although in this instance there’s far more of the former than the latter. In many cases, the singer or band actually make it sound as if the song is one of their own, perhaps as much because it is nigh on impossible to mimic Leonard Cohen without sounding faintly ridiculous.

In the spirit of recent postings from Dave Glickman, I’ve decided to offer up a taster 5-track EP from the album for you.

Side A

James – So Long Marianne
David McComb & Adam Peters – Don’t Go Home With Your Hard-On

Track 1 is mid-era stadium rock James demonstrating that they still had the ability to surprise folk. The simple guitar ballad is given a big production treatment, led in particular by some sprightly trumpet playing from Andy Diagram while the bass of Jim Glennie and drums of David Paynton-Power make for a great listen..

Track 2 is courtesy of a collaboration between the late frontman/guitarist of The Triffids and an arranger who worked with, among others, Echo & The Bunnymen being responsible for much of the sound on Ocean Rain. Leonard Cohen is known to have said that he loves this version and considers it a big improvement on his own recording which can be found on the Phil Spector-produced Death Of A Ladies’ Man. Incidentally, the guitarist on this recording is none other than Will Sergeant….while Martin P Casey of The Bad Seeds and Grinderman contributes on bass

Side B

The House Of Love – Who By Fire?
Lloyd Cole – Chelsea Hotel #2
John Cale – Hallelujah

Track 1 is rather lovely and shows a lesser known ballad-side to The House Of Love with Guy Chadwick in fine voice.

Track 2 is kind of Lloyd Cole by numbers but quite frankly that’s good enough for me on most occasions.

Track 3 is a rendition of a song which is now very well-known thanks to it being taken on for rendition by some non-entity or other in TV ‘talent’ shows but back in 1991 it was still a bit of a secret. John Cale delivers a fragile but outstanding take with just himself on vocals and piano. It’s as live…

Enjoy

Blancmange

SYNTH-POP DUOS

Quickfire question.

Name five 80s famous UK synth bands who were comprised of a duo?

Got your answer? Great stuff.

I suspect that the majority of the lists would contain the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Soft Cell, OMD, Yazoo, Erasure and Eurythmics. Maybe Tears for Fears would get the occasional shout (see what I did just there??).

But how many of you would have said Blancmange?

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They seemed to emerge in the wake of the overnight success of Soft Cell. But while Marc Almond always had something sinister and shady about his persona and Dave Ball looked sort of seedy and weird, Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe were always seemingly clean-cut and good-living.

For a brief period between late 1982 and the summer of 84 they were vaguely famous in that they had six singles on the spin reach the Top 40. But prior to their commercial success they were seen by some as cutting edge, so much so there was a session recorded for John Peel which was broadcast in February 1982.

They first came to general attention via a song that just missed being a hit:-

mp3 : Blancmange – Feel Me

Just two months later however, they hit payola with a catchy as fuck ditty which blended synth pop with the music of the sub-continent thanks to the prominent use of sitar and tabla:-

mp3 : Blancmange – Living On The Ceiling

This #7 smash spent almost four months on the chart and when it eventually dropped out altogether, the record bosses cashed in by releasing a re-recorded version of the big ballad from the debut album:-

mp3 : Blancmange – Waves (12″ single version)

All of the above featured on Happy Families, the aforementioned debut album released in September 1982. The sophomore effort, Mange Tout, appeared in May 1984 and included hit singles which were by now a year and six months old respectively, but that didn’t stop fans shelling out and the Top 10 album went ‘Gold’ with more than 100,000 sales in the UK.

But all of a sudden, the bubble burst. The third album, Believe You Me released in late 1985, together with its three singles, proved to be a flop and the duo called it a day not long after. However, like many others from the era, they came back to take advantage of the nostalgia industry around 80s pop but to their credit they went back into the studio in 2011 and recorded and released a brand new album more than quarter of a century on.

And that’s your potted history of a band, who as I say, are more often forgotten about than recalled. Oh and given it was pulling out the Waves single which prompted this piece, here’s its more experimental b-sides for your enjoyment:-

mp3 : Blancmange – Business Steps
mp3 : Blancmange – The Game Above My Head

The latter has a Paul Haig feel to it, certainly from his early 80s post Josef K era.

Cinerama

THE CINERAMA SINGLES (11)

I mentioned last time round that you could do worse than track down a second-hand copy of Torino, the third studio LP from Cinerama that was released back in 2002. Here’s further evidence of how good a record it is, with this the third and final flop single lifted from it:-

mp3 : Cinerama – Careless

This was a low-key release which is no real surprise given that the world continued to more or less ignore Cinerama. David Gedge must have been pulling his hair out at the fact that bands whose four or five members had less collective talents than he had in his pinky finger were making fortunes while he was now playing venues that he could have filled three and four times over a decade earlier with his old band. The two new songs were seemingly cut around the same time as those that had made it on to Torino:-

mp3 : Cinerama – This Isn’t What It Looks Like
mp3 : Cinerama – Sparkle Lipstick

The fact was, Cinerama in a five-year period, had now released 3 albums and 11 singles of a very high standard to absolutely no avail. The fact too that the band, when playing live, were now sneaking the odd TWP number into the sets perhaps gave an inkling that David was mulling over what to do next……

Belle & Sebastian

B&S ON SUNDAYS (5)

From wiki:-

“Legal Man” is a single released by Belle & Sebastian on Jeepster Records in 2000. The title track also features Jonny Quinn (on congas), Rozanne Suarez (on vocals) and The Maisonettes (on vocals). The cover features band members Stevie Jackson and Isobel Campbell along with Adrienne Payne and Rozanne Suarez. All three tracks from the single were later collected on the Push Barman to Open Old Wounds compilation. The track became their highest charting single up to that point, reaching #15 in the UK singles chart. They also made their debut on Top of the Pops to perform this song.

The two B-side tracks are notable for their historical significance; “Judy Is a Dick Slap” is the first instrumental released by the band, while “Winter Wooskie” is the third and final lead vocal from former bass player Stuart David, who left the band in 2000. Initially a demo, the track was completed by the other members after David’s departure as a farewell gesture.

The review from all music:-

I must admit that I have no idea what a “Legal Man” is-a pimp, a policeman, a meter maid? I’m clueless. This knowledge, however, is not necessary to enjoying this single. “Legal Man” find Belle and Sebastian picking up on the 60’s pop sound of “Lazy Line Painter Jane” complete with backing female vocalists The Maisonettes and, strangely, a sitar. An odd combination, but it works. The second track “Judy is a Dick Slap,” is perhaps the funniest B&S song ever. Mainly because of it’s rather, er, attention getting title, but subsequent lack of vocals. This, the first instrumental song by the band, is also an excellent joke. The final song, “Winter Wooskie” is a slower more tear-jerking ballad, but humorous as well-the object of the singers’ affection nearly sleeping though his ode. This record shows the band going forward, albeit in many different directions at once. Clearly there is some “growing” going on here, but it all seems a welcome step for the band.

mp3 : Belle and Sebastian – Legal Man
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian – Judy Is A Dick Slap
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian – Winter Wooskie

Legal Man was released in May 2000, some 18 months after This Is Just A Modern Rock Song. In the interim, Belle and Sebastian had picked up best new act at the 1999 Brit Awards, a result that had left many establishment figures in the music industry speechless. What had happened was the vote for this award was open fully to the public with the winners fully anticipated to be Steps who had enjoyed a run of hit singles and massive media exposure; however, it was the first real used of internet voting and the B&S fanbase, many of them using their personal and student e-mail addresses, voted en masse and got the award. The reaction of the tabloid press in the UK was hilarious – how dare a band who nobody had ever heard of it take such a prestigious award?

The new single was a dramatic shift in sound for the band. It was aimed full-on at radio stations and it did get daytime play. For many people, it was the first time they had bought a B&S record/CD. I’m sure many of them would the following month go out and buy the new LP Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant and been bamboozled by the fact that none of the songs sounded anything like Legal Man!

Various

BONUS POSTING : 53…..AND COUNTING

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mp3 : Various – 53….and counting

Please enjoy

Scot & Sagar – Barcelona
The Servants – The Sun A Small Star
The Go-Betweens – A Head Full Of Steam
Honeyblood – Bud
Lush – Ladykillers
Modest Mouse – Float On
Memphis – You Supply The Roses
Arab Strap – The Shy Retirer
Tracey Thorn – Hands Up To The Ceiling
Bjork/David Arnold – Play Dead
Butcher Boy – Profit In Your Poetry
Pulp – Lipgloss
Sons & Daughters – Dance Me In (single mix)
Cats On Fire – My Friend In A Comfortable Chair
The Pastels – Baby Honey
The Smiths – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
John Cooper Clarke – I Married A Monster From Outer Space

53:36. 17 seconds short of nailing it!!

New Order

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (1)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON WEDNESDAY 18 JUNE 2008
(and again on 8 November 2013)

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I’m not sure how many singles are released in the UK every week. Let’s guesstimate at 200.

If so, this would mean that since 1 April 1982, there have more than 250,000 bits of product originally designed to rotate on a turntable at 45rpm made available to the great British public. And not one of them has been as majestic as the work of art and genius that is Temptation by New Order.

Yup, that’s the song I consider to be my all time favourite 45 on the very day that I turn 45. And given it has held down the position for 26 years, 2 months and 18 days, its likely to hold the coveted slot for quite a while yet. At least till I’m 78 I reckon….

I’ve loads of great memories associated with this song.

My then closest friend called me up one day to say that he’d gotten his hands on the latest New Order single. He said that it wasn’t like any of the previous two releases – Ceremony and Procession – but it was something that had to be heard to be believed. I immediately got on my bike and cycled the couple of miles to his house for a listen. My mate handed me the single and invited me to place it on the turntable. He then left the room and said he’d be back in a minute or two but I was to give him my initial impression.

I thought it was appalling. There was something just not quite right about it, and who was this new vocalist that had been drafted in with his helium-like voice? My mate came back in and asked me what I thought. I looked him in the eye and asked him if he’d gone off his head as it was dreadful. It was then he burst out laughing and let-on that the single was to be played, not at 45rpm, but at 33 and 1/3 rpm….

Which I did…..and immediately fell in love with the hypnotic and robotic rhythm pulsating from the cheap speakers. This was the New Order that Tony Wilson and Rob Gretton had been been promising us for so long – and the song that finally got them to emerge from the shadows of Joy Division and stand on their own eight feet.

I don’t know how many times we played that record back-to-back that night, but a few hours later, I was back on my bike on the way home singing different snatches of the song, a cassette recording in my pocket and looking forward to buying my very own copy the following day after I’d borrowed some money from my mum.

I was lucky enough to go into a record shop which had an assistant who asked ‘Do you want the 7” or 12” version?”, and my choice of the 12” turned out be inspired.

It was quite unlike the 7” which was by now so familiar to me. The sleeve was slightly different, it had a different introduction and it rotated on the turntable at 45 rpm. It also sounded, to my ears at least, a perfect recording whereas the 7″ seemed now to be something spliced up to come in at under 5 minutes for radio play….

Now it was my turn to phone my mate and get him on his bike down to my house, where he grudgingly accepted that the 12” version was superior.

It was all a bit disappointing that Temptation didn’t make the band instant superstars – I was a bit worried that having made such a masterpiece that did next-to-nothing, New Order would soon either choose to break-up or maybe just fade into obscurity..

Instead, the band just got bigger and better in so many ways over the next 10 years or so.

And with the inclusion of a new version of Temptation on the phenomenally-successful soundtrack to the film Trainspotting, the song finally got some long-overdue recognition and acknowledgment.

Which brings me to another story (if you’ll indulge me…)

I’d like to think that this series has highlighted how important my time at University was in terms of really developing a passion for music. Most of my weekends between late-1981 and mid-1985 were spent in various parts of the Students Union at Strathclyde University – be it Level 8 for gigs and the ‘popular’ indie-disco, or the smaller downstairs converted dining-room for the more obscure stuff mixed in with the Goths.

Upon graduating, I moved to Edinburgh to live and work and I reckoned that I’d never set foot in the building again. Which I didn’t……

………until 12 years later when I accompanied a local dignitary who I worked for as he had the task of giving a welcome speech as part of an event for the fresh intake of students in September 1997. The location was the newly furbished Level 8 of the very building that I had spent so many happy nights. I was a bit unsure of myself as I got into the lift to go up the 8 floors of the building where maybe 300 or so students were patiently waiting for the formalities to begin. As I stepped into the space, my jaw visibly dropped at how different it all looked….the makeover had changed the old haunt beyond recognition……but the real shock was to hear that the song coming over the speakers was Temptation. I was a bit spooked to say the least…

It turned out that the CD to the Trainspotting soundtrack was what was being played, but to have arrived at that moment as Barney was singing about grey eyes, green eyes and blue eyes was really disconcerting…

But it’s not just the stories and memories that makes this song so very special.

The 12” version of this song is so joyously infectious that you can’t help but sing along. Its so incredibly catchy that you can’t stop yourself dancing. Its also a track that has often been a live tour-de-force at New Order gigs. The early 90s documentary ‘New Order Story’ has got an especially incredible version recorded live at Montreux in Switzerland…

I don’t know how many times I’ve played Temptation. It was a near staple inclusion on all the compilation tapes I used to make, and I still include one version or another of it on many of the playlists compiled for the I-pod. I have never ever grown bored by it, and know that I never will.

And…..as I mentioned above, there’s also the fact that it did so much to establish New Order as an act in their own image, and not just three seemingly non-descript blokes and a shy girl looking to carry on where Joy Division had left off.

I’ve never seen anyone quite like you before. No I’ve never heard anyone quite like you before.

mp3 : New Order – Temptation (12 inch version)
mp3 : New Order – Hurt (12 inch version)

PS :

Bonus Birthday mix-tape for you all…..see above!!

Arbor Labor Union, Goon Sax, Kanye West

THE £20 CHALLENGE (Week Eight)

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JC writes…..

With apologies for the non-appearance last Friday of this deservedly popular feature. It was down to ‘technical difficulties’. Over now to Tim……………

It was quite late when SWC turned up at my house to give me this weeks CD. He had been to the gym first – he is in training for a half marathon in October – the last time he run one he pulled a ligament in his groin and couldn’t walk for six days (seriously he couldn’t even lift his leg to pull up his trousers) – saying that he still finished it in less than one and a half hours – which is about thirty minutes quicker than I could run it without a knackered groin. Anyway, he was popping by to drop off the CD and some files I needed for work the next day. He looked a bit flustered.

“What’s Up?” I asked him.

“Well” he said, “after I’d finished at the gym, I went and got showered and all that – and as I was getting out of the shower, I saw a man”.

Now there is nothing unusual in this, it’s a gym, its full of men. Then he continued, I realised he was just sipping his cuppa, he was probably just using what writers call ‘dramatic effect’. “He was naked – and stood in front of the mirror”. Another sip of tea. More ‘dramatic effect’.

“Then I realised he was hairdrying his balls”.

Ok the dramatic effect was worthwhile.

“Its unsettled me slightly, I mean why would you do that – he was proper going for it as well – leg on the little block thing, tackle out, full power, I didn’t know what to do, whether to look, laugh or cringe, so I kind of did all three”. Another bigger sip of tea.

“I wouldn’t mind, but it’s the second bit of strange behaviour I’ve seen from a naked man today”. Another sip.

“Go on” I say, feeling a bit like Sigmund Freud.

“Well at lunchtime, I went out for a walk to get a sandwich and I wandered down to the river to sit and eat it – and there was a guy swimming naked in the river – he just turned up, on a bike, stripped off and jumped in. There was a party of hikers wandering around too.”

“Well naked swimming is pretty popular in the countryside” I offer as consolation. Also this is true, if you are ever in Dartington, South Devon pop down to Dartington Estate and go down to the river around 2pm you will find its full of naked old guys swimming. You’ve be warned.

“Yes, but when he’d finished, he wandered over and asked me if I knew the way to bus station. Bold as Brass. Stark Bollock Naked – I mean usually I don’t give directions to naked people. I mean why he couldn’t put some pants on first, I have no idea. Got any biscuits?”

Luckily SWC was fully clothed when he asked me this. I tend not to share my biscuits with naked people. Well naked men at the very least.

I changed the subject and talked about the memory stick full of music that he gave me last week. Which as usual contained a load of music by a load of bands that I have never heard of.

In the last six weeks I have received music from bands such as Demob Happy, Hippo Campus, Vancouver Sleep Clinic, Wall, Whitney, The Goon Sax and Arbor Labor Union. All of which are brilliant, and are bands I would have never had listened to unless he had not offered them up to me. Suffice to say they all come highly recommended. Particularly the last two.

mp3 : Arbor Labor Union – Mr Birdsong.

mp3 : The Goon Sax –Sometimes Accidentally

These two bands have quietly released two of the finest records of the year – and I would have missed them. The first is according to SWC ‘Playful, psychedelic, joyful, slightly bonkers rock and roll’. The second – ‘the best thing to come out of Australia since Kylie”. He is right, of course about both.

Oh incidentally, The Goon Sax feature on vocals, the son of one of the Go Betweens (Robert Forster) and let’s just say the song writing gene is very strong.

SWC gave me this weeks CD – and it was ‘Late Registration’ by your friend and mine Kanye West.

Sometime earlier in the year, SWC wrote an ICA for this blog under a pseudonym on Kanye West and in doing so he completely changed my opinion on Kanye West. Not only was the music on it incredible but it was way in which he convinced me that he is worth a second, third and fourth listen. For what its worth those who claim Kanye’s antics hinder his work are missing the point. His self-importance is obvious, the arrogance is pre –prepared and that is what makes him the most interesting hip hop figure in recent year. That’s the reason why its him heading Glastonbury and not Nelly or 50 Cent (remember him?). Its soul, not sales.

I’ve come late to the Kanye party – this is officially the only Kanye album I now own – but what an album. I couldn’t tell you a thing about hip hop and as 48 and a half year old, white middle class man I have no intention of even trying, but you should own this album regardless of well anything.

‘Late Registration’ was his second album and it is a bleeding masterpiece. Seriously. Incredible. Its buoyant, enthusiastic, visionary, expansive and everything that a hip hop album (probably) should be.

“I got it from the Animals In Distress Charity Shop in Dawlish for 50p”. He said. “Better than a pair of hairdried bollocks that”.

Quite. Here’s some tunes

Touch The Sky

Gold Digger

Diamonds From Sierra Leone

Crack Music

The Skinny

Bought From Animals In Distress – Dawlish

Price – 50p

Money Left £6.50

Weeks Left – 2

And because we have £6.50 left we have raised the price of the last CD to £3.

TIM

Arab Strap, Belle & Sebastian, Robert Forster

BONUS POSTING : HAPPY TALK

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I went on Facebook last night and posted something. It’s not normally something that I do…I tend to use the place as a way of throwing out pithy one-liners in response to what others have said; indeed, I only joined up in the first place as it was the way to keep on top of certain announcements around events and ticket availability. But such was the magnitude of the happening that I felt I had to share my thoughts with my cybernet mates:-

They say good things tend to come in threes. Here’s some evidence….

I recently had the good fortune to catch incredible live performances, at small intimate venues, from two of my all-time favourites in the shape of Robert Forster and Belle & Sebastian.

Not too many things could top that. But the announcement that Aidan and Malcolm are reforming for three live shows this coming October does exactly that.

2016 started off real shit for music fans with far too many sad and untimely deaths. The summer has so far been an awful lot better…..

A wee bit of explanation.

Robert Forster is a total legend. But his visits to these parts are, naturally, few and far between and so the fact he was coming to Glasgow and playing, of all places, the wonderful space that is King Tut’s made it a ‘must see’. However, I was nagged by the fact that someone as talented and revered as him wasn’t playing a larger venue given the legacy of his time as a Go-Between and not forgetting last year’s Songs To Play was such a wonderful listen. I was concerned too that I’d go along and end up annoyed with folk who were only there for the old stuff and would show a lack of respect by talking their way through the material they either didn’t know or were less fond of. And in a venue with a 300 capacity, all it would take is a handful of such idiots to ruin the occasion.

My fears came to nothing as this was one of the best audiences I’ve ever had the privilege of being part of. Robert and his band got a rousing reception and the cheers for his solo material were every bit as loud as those for the songs by his old band. He was on stage for the best part of two hours, struggling a bit with his voice as he had a dreadful cold, but where many would have been tempted to use that as an excuse to hold back in a performance he seemed to use it to push himself that bit harder. He played around 20 songs with half coming from the Go-Betweens back catalogue…and he had such a talented group of musicians with him that it felt as if the clock really had been rolled back more than 30 years. It was bliss. I didn’t think I’d enjoy myself so much at a gig in 2016.

And then, just two weeks later I find myself at the Debating Chamber of Glasgow University Union (capacity 500 – 250 standing and same again seated upstairs). I’ve been in this space quite a few times but never for a gig….and by my reckoning it will be about the 75th different Glasgow venue that I’ve paid to see live music performed (must do a posting o that sometime). Belle & Sebastian are due on stage for what will be the first of three nights to celebrate their own 20th Anniversary and the 21st Birthday of the West End Festival, a highly popular event held every summer in the most bohemian quarter of my home city. I’m not sure what to expect as my expectations of the band have been gradually diminishing in recent years with recent albums leaving me disappointed and then there was a farce of a gig at the Hydro (capacity 13,000) in which they failed dismally in their efforts to put on a show in keeping with that size of venue. It was full of gimmicks, stage-managed to the point of ridiculous and just not in keeping with the band so many of us had fallen head over heels with.

Another show just under two hours long, with most of the material drawn from the very early albums and EPs , and almost all the songs being aired in the live setting for the first time since I didn’t have any X’s in front of the L in the label of my indie-kid t-shirts. And it was joyous and a celebration of everything that not only makes the band special but brings out the best in folk from my home city who know instinctively when they are seeing and hearing something special and react accordingly. There was no talking in between songs, no attempts to sing-a-long and drown out the band, and there was hand-clapping when the band sought a bit of accompaniment at the right times. I smiled at the opening note of the first song and I was still grinning as myself and Aldo made our way home in time for the last train thanks to the venue being in an area where there is an early curfew – this would normally be a bone of contention but not on a Monday night when there’s a long week at work ahead!

Two days later though, all of that gets topped.

Arab Strap were together for ten years from 1996. Since then, Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton have carved out successful and critically acclaimed solo careers which has played a part in how revered their original band had become since they walked off stage for the last time in December 2006. They jokingly (or so it seemed) said at the time said they might reform in another ten years.

The internet stirred last weekend when the band’s website suddenly carried the teasing message ‘HELLO AGAIN’ imposed on top of a very early promo photo. A countdown to Monday lunchtime led to a message to listen in to Steve Lamacq’s show on BBC Radio 6 on Wednesday afternoon. That was where it was confirmed they were getting together for three shows in October in London, Manchester and Glasgow. Furthermore, a download single was being available – a Miaoux Miaoux remix of The First Big Weekend – which would be released 20 years to the day when the actual weekend in question took place. Which just happens to be today.

I’ve purchased and downloaded the song and it is fucking amazing. A musical highlight not just of 2016 but of the 21st Century.

A year that was threatening to be the worst ever has suddenly, and very unexpectedly, taken a huge turn for the better.

mp3 : Robert Forster – Rock’n’Roll Friend
mp3 : Belle & Sebastian -If You’re Feeling Sinister
mp3 : Arab Strap – I Saw You

Sigh.

Clash

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (2)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON TUESDAY 17 JUNE 2008

(and re-posted on 7 November 2013)

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(As mentioned when this was featured in The Clash singles back in February, I held back then to this anticipated appearance to give my own take on the 45……)

I’ve repeatedly said that I was never a punk, but just someone who loved an awful lot of the punk-sounding records. However, the early singles and debut LP by The Clash weren’t things that I was initially fond of – they were just too raw and raucous for my tastes, which at that time were still evolving.

As with most teenagers, I got some money from my mum and dad and aunties and uncles for my 15th birthday, and so I traipsed up the road to the record shop. I can’t actually remember everything that was bought…there’s every chance I bought a bundle of disco stuff as Saturday Night Fever was all the rage and all the girls wanted someone who danced like John Travolta.

I do distinctly remember buying my first ever single by The Clash with some of the money – it was on prominent display in the shop having just been released a couple of days previously. The reason I remember all this is down to a sort of hero-worship of a guy called Mick. Not only did he work in a record shop, he also had his own mobile disco with lights and everything….and Mick said that day that if I wanted to buy something special for my birthday then it should be this new single called (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais.

When I told him that I didn’t really like The Clash, he asked me if I had ever really listened to them. I had to admit that I hadn’t other than what I had sometimes heard on the radio. He then offered to play the single for me there and then. Of course in order to retain any degree of coolness, I was always going to say it was fantastic…..

So I took the record home, but I was nowhere near convinced. This certainly was nothing like love at first sight. But like all new records, it continued to get spins on the turntable all the time, and within a week or so, after a number of listens, I realised, in a sort of Road To Damascus conversion moment, the song was something really different and special. And with that I felt I could classify myself as a Clash fan – one of the best decisions I ever made as the band and their music became a sort of secret password for getting on so well with people in the years to come.

The first example of this was a year later when I took on my first ever summer job, over a period of six weeks or so, at the age of 16. It was in a city-centre store that sold car accessories. I was easily the youngest member of staff – the rest of them were dead old being at least 19, while the store manager was ancient at the age of 25. I wasn’t able to do the sort of things they did, such as go out to the pub after work on a Friday night. But one other worker was interested in the fact I bought Melody Maker every week – although his own preference was for the NME.

That’s when I learned his taste was for punk/new wave, his favourite being The Clash. The fact that I liked the band was a big factor in me being accepted in the workplace.

A few years later, the time had come to move out of the family home and into a student flat. It was a case of trying to find folk you would be compatible with, and the deal with the two lads who I was eventually to move in beside was sealed when we all said that White Man…was our favourite Clash single. So much so in my case, that by this time (1983) I had learned to play it note-for-note on a Casio keyboard which I demonstrated one evening in a drunken stupor while another of the flat mates played bass and the other sang. The girls we had back that night were far from impressed.

I always thought I was in a minority with my love for this single over all others by The Clash. I was certain that White Riot, London Calling or even the cover of I Fought The Law would win out in any popularity contest. But no, there was some sort of poll a few years back which revealed that the most popular and enduring song was the one released in June 1978:-

mp3 : The Clash – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
mp3 : The Clash – The Prisoner

It was unusually slow and melodic for a punk/new wave band. You could even make out a whole lot of the words without the need for a lyric sheet. It was also a song that lended itself to the use of your badminton racquet masquerading as your guitar….and it’s a song that has aged magnificently, sounding every bit as fresh, exciting and vibrant today as it did 30 years ago.

It’s hard to recall that all those years ago, the release of White Man… caused a bit of an uproar among the hardcore fans of the band. It was a radical departure from the short, sharp, loud and angry songs that had symbolised everything punk/new wave was supposed to be. It was, looking back, the earliest indication (notwithstanding Police & Thieves) that The Clash were no one-trick pony but in fact a quite extraordinary band capable of producing top-quality songs influenced by all sorts of genres.

I no longer have this single in the collection – another victim of the Edinburgh debacle of 1986, but by then it wasn’t a bit of vinyl that could have safely gone on the record player.

It was a record that had been played to within an inch of its life – it was worn out, full of scratches and jumps courtesy of it being shoved on more than once in a drunken stupor in which I bumped against the turntable. And because I imagine that’s how everyone who ever owned the single behaved with it, I’ve never pursued a copy via e-bay as the vinyl will be in a far from pristine condition. Instead, I’ve relied on an antiseptically clean copy that I have within the 3-CD box-set of Clash on Broadway.

And so next time round will finally reveal the choice at #1….

Orange Juice

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (3)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MONDAY 16 JUNE 2008

(and again on 6 November 2013)

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From January 1982.

It reached the giddy heights of #63 in the UK pop charts.

This is the sound of happiness. On a double A side 7″ single.

I really don’t think I need say anymore….

mp3 : Orange Juice – Felicity
mp3 : Orange Juice – In A Nutshell

The irony here is that my favourite Orange Juice single, while sung by Edwyn Collins was in fact written by fellow band-member James Kirk.

Hence the William Shatner reference in this cover version:-

mp3 : The Wedding Present – Felicity

Many years later, James did his own great version of the song:-

mp3 : James Kirk – Felicity

PPS

Little did I know, when I originally penned this post in 2008 that I would later be contacted by Domino Records and asked to fill in a few gaps as part of their background work as to what should and shouldn’t be included in the Coals To Newcastle boxset, the result of which I was one of a number of people thanked in the sleevenotes. That’s the most rock’n’roll thing that’ll ever likely happen in my life…….

Cinerama

THE CINERAMA SINGLES (10)

I know from the always welcomed and appreciated comments that a number of you are only discovering just how great a band Cinerama were in their own right and just as worthy of the sort of lavish praise and attention that had and has always been given to The Wedding Present.

The band’s tenth single came out in 2002 and is a shorter version of an outstanding pop song from the LP Torino, a record that you can pick up relatively cheaply out there on the second-hand market via the internet. It’s well worth it.

mp3 : Cinerama – Quick, Before It Melts (single version)

Ten singles in and still no hits. Worse than that, very little acknowledgement of how good the band is with too many still harking back to the era of TWP. Criminal.

Two b-sides this time round, but no vinyl release meaning we weren’t given any foreign language takes:-

mp3 : Cinerama – Ears (acoustic version)
mp3 : Cinerama – As If

The former is a re-recording of a track that had originally featured the lovely and talented Emma Pollock on co-vocal. Sally Murrell does a very good job on this version which makes very fine use of a cello and other string instruments. Yet another wonderful song about infidelity from the pen of the boy Gedge.

The latter is, for once, a little bit of a let-down. Strictly b-side material.

Bonus time. Here’s the original version of Ears together with the extended version of today’s single:-

mp3 : Cinerama – Ears
mp3 : Cinerama – Quick Before It Melts

Enjoy. I’ve no doubt you will.

The The

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (4)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THURSDAY 12 JUNE 2008

(and re-posted on 5 November 2013)

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It was back in 1983 that I plucked up the courage to move out of the family home into a student flat in time for my third year out of four at university. And aside from a couple of times when I’ve returned to mum and dad’s place to sleep on a spare couch, numerous flatmates (and two wives) have been the ones that have had to put up with my mood swings for quarter-of-a-century. They’ve also had to put up with my taste in music, although thankfully, just about everyone (bar wife numero uno) who ever lived under the same roof as me liked what I was playing.

This particular song is the one that I most associate with my first flat.

‘Well you didn’t wake up this morning cos you didn’t go to bed’ – as an opening line seemed to capture what every weekend was designed for.

‘This is the day your life will surely change’ – as a chorus seemed to capture what the hope of every Friday and Saturday night was going to be about as I set out in the hope of finding a true soul mate.

This particular song is the perfect companion piece to How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths, yet another great hymn of the 80s dealing with angst, loneliness and a desire to belong. And while the genius guitar work of Johnny Marr was at the heart of what made his band’s song so special, so the accordion work of someone simply called Wicks turns This Is The Day into an instant classic.

Matt Johnson is probably the most under-rated and unappreciated singer/songwriter of my generation. He started off using The The as just another name for his solo efforts augmented by hugely talented guest musicians, including Jools Holland (who contribute a memorable piano solo on the LP version of Uncertain Smile) and Zeke Manyika who gave the drums one hell of a pounding on most of the LP Soul Mining, in a style that was completely different from his work with Orange Juice.

Then Matt decided that The The needed to become a band, primarily for touring purposes – and lo and behold, he unveils Johnny Marr as his lead guitarist. Strange as it may seem, Johnny was actually a member of The The longer than he was in The Smiths….

From 1983-1992, The The released four LPs at regular intervals. Three of these – Soul Mining (1983), Infected (1986) and Dusk (1992) remain among my favourites by any band. And while Mind Bomb (1989) is a bit more patchy, it did spawn a couple of great singles, including the astonishing and controversial Armageddon Days Are Here Again, the first few seconds of which are a tribute to 70s glam rock band The Sweet, before turning into a fantastic tirade against those who use religion to justify war and violence.

Just when I thought The The could do no wrong, Matt dissolved the band as it was, and in 1995 unleashed Hanky Panky an LP consisting solely of covers of songs by Hank Williams. It’s pretty awful with few redeeming features……

It was another five years before the next The The LP – Naked Self – which was very much an understated production but a fabulous return to form. Since then, all of the old LPs have been remastered, remixed and re-issued, as well as the release of a ‘Best Of’ with very little in the way of new songs being available in the shops. However, Matt remains very active in the things that most interest him, and much of his energy is focused on a truly stunning website which can be found here. And that’s where you’ll be able to hear some new songs……

But returning back to This Is The Day……

I was sure this was a minor hit back in 1983 – I certainly recall seeing the promo on the telly as well as Matt making at least one appearance on a Channel 4 chatshow performing the song. And yet it barely scraped the Top 75. Maybe that’s why the song was given a radical makeover in 1994 as the main track of the Dis-Infected EP which did hit the Top 20 and saw the band appear on Top Of The Pops.

The 1983 single was yet another 7” single that was lost for many years, but now I have a copy back in the collection. The version I owned was a limited edition double-pack, and it’s that which I picked up (at some expense) on e-bay a couple of months back. And here are all the songs in their full glory…

mp3 : The The – This Is The Day (single version)
mp3 : The The – Mental Healing Process
mp3 : The The – Leap Into The Wind
mp3 : The The – Absolute Liberation

I bet the b-side and the other two tracks weren’t what you would have expected given the pop brilliance of the single……each of them were culled from an unreleased LP called The Pornography of Despair.

And as a bonus, here’s the 1994 version of the song:-

mp3 : The The – That Was The Day

Belle & Sebastian

B&S ON SUNDAYS (4)

From wiki:-

This Is Just a Modern Rock Song is Belle & Sebastian’s fourth EP, released in 1998 on Jeepster Records.

The front cover features Alan Horne, founder of Postcard Records. It is the only Belle & Sebastian release never to be issued in North America, although all four tracks from the EP were later collected on the Push Barman to Open Old Wounds compilation.

A chart ruling was put into place shortly before the EP was released stating singles or EPs must contain no more than three tracks and last no longer than 20 minutes in total to be eligible for the UK singles sales chart, and thus – with its four tracks and carefully crafted total running time – This Is Just a Modern Rock Song failed to chart.

On-line review from allmusic:-

Belle & Sebastian still insist on making their single tracks all non-LP. They’re just about the last band left in England following this once-common practice. Compare their singles to the usual two-part LP single release designed only to fleece the faithful, and B&S look all the better, particularly since they insist on quality songs, not throwaways, remixes, or ambient doodling. Too bad their singles are all imports, as some Americans are missing out on more gold from the same vein as the last two LPs.

Perhaps this A-side would have made a better LP track; it’s a slowly developing, seven-minute epic, but it’s also an ever-building and comely track that gets more clever lyrically as it begins to bubble and grow brighter and louder. “This is just a modern rock song/This is just a sorry lament/We are four boys in our corduroys/We’re not terrific but we’re competent” is a sentiment belied by the beguiling textural base, an insistent acoustic in the background flanked by an even more obscured violin and muted trumpet in the further background. It swells and burbles until you don’t want it to end.

“I Know Where the Summer Goes” is more of the same fare, with the shadows filled this time with a mood organ, brushes on the drums, and an occasional tambourine. It’s lithe and rather sweetly, slowly catchy, with Stuart Murdoch’s up and down, nursery rhyme-like verse melody.

The Isobel Campbell-sung, more jaunty “The Gate” and the much better piano, cello, oboe, trombone, sax, and clipped-electric guitar backed “Slow Graffiti” both waft by with equal grace, and one regrets it when the 19 minutes are over.

This kind of unhurried, gentle, and friendly music is tailor-made for summertime. It’s fresh flowers on a morning walk, a breeze, and cloudless sky. It’s sublime.

I’m assuming the wiki entry meant to say ‘with its four tracks and despite its carefully crafted running time of 19:57…’ while I’ll sort of forgive the all music journalist for saying the band were from England. I’m surprised all these years on the review hasn’t been corrected.

This EP was released in December 1998, some three months after the LP The Boy With The Arab Strap had been lavished, quite rightly, with all sorts praise from all corners, and it is to the band and the label’s credit that they avoided the temptation of a lifting a single l to boost sales approaching the Xmas period, especially when so many of its tunes were tailor-made for radio play.

The title track is something of an epic, opening with as fragile and sad sounding a lyric as you can imagine and, as the all music review indicates, builds up majestically in sound and ambition while remaining totally in ballad time. It could very well be Tindersticks at their best…..

As for the other songs – I’m very fond of I Know Where The Summer Goes (another classic ballad) and The Gate, which has an upbeat country feel to the tune albeit it’s a reminder that Isobel Campbell‘s early vocal efforts were twee in the extreme. I’m not all that keen howver, on Slow Graffiti, but that’s as much to do with me feeling that it isn’t up to the quality of the tracks on The Boy….and this EP. It all feels a bit too much like a demo rather than a finished effort.

mp3 : Belle and Sebastian – This Is Just A Modern Rock Song
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian – I Know Where The Summer Goes
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian – The Gate
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian – Slow Graffiti

Little did we know that it would be almost 18 months till the next release….

Bourgie Bourgie

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (5)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON WEDNESDAY 11 JUNE 2008

(and again on 4 November 2013)

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And so to the second appearance for Paul Quinn on this particular chart, which is not bad going for someone who never troubled any chart when he was a recording artist.

I don’t want to bore regular readers with a blow-by-blow account (again) of the Paul Quinn story and repeat my oft-said opinion about him being the greatest pop singer ever to have come out of Scotland. So here’s the short version…

He was initially the lead singer with the first line-up of Jazzateers, but was relegated to backing vocals while his role was taken on by Graeme Skinner (later to find success with Hipsway) when the material was recorded and released. Then in 1984 came Bourgie Bourgie, an act signed to a major label in the shape of MCA Records and of whom great things were anticipated. Sadly, it only amounted to a couple of majestic singles – Breaking Point and Careless, while there are some tapes in circulation of stuff that was recorded in demo form for an unreleased LP

Around the same time, Paul recorded some vocals for Orange Juice, and his efforts can be heard on Tongues Begin To Wag, a b-side to the single I Can’t Help Myself as well as Mud In Your Eye, a track on the LP Rip It Up, as well as backing vocals to said hit single.

1985 was a bit of a prolific year for Paul.

There was a solo deal with Swamplands Records which produced two bits of magic. First there was a duet with Edwyn Collins covering Pale Blue Eyes. Paul sang while Edwyn strummed and plucked his guitar. It’s a song that has been covered by many an artist, but the Quinn/Collins effort is, in my opinion, the definitive version, including that of The Velvet Underground. Then there was a solo single called Ain’t That Always The Way, a song that was also recorded and released as a b-side by Edwyn…

Neither Swamplands single made the charts.

He also recorded One Day, which was a single with Vince Clarke, which was in effect the follow-up to the Top 3 single Never Never by The Assembly (which had featured Fergal Sharkey on vocals). Sadly, it flopped.

Next came the formation of Paul Quinn & The Independent Group on the reincarnated Postcard Records at the beginning of the 1990s. This was a Glasgow super-group of sorts (check out the #37 entry in this chart for more info). Again, there was next to no commercial success…

Aside from an appearance (on backing vocals and with a writing credit) on the 2001 LP You Can Make It If You Boogie by James Kirk, nothing has been heard from Paul in 10 years or so as his life became a battle against a particular severe case of Multiple Sclerosis.

I’m not sure why Bourgie Bourgie imploded after just two great singles – whether it was a case of the record company losing faith in the band, or the band just deciding they couldn’t continue, I really have no idea.

Of all the singles I lost in the infamous Edinburgh incident (see a previous story from this rundown if you’ve no I have no idea what I’m on about), the two by Bourgie Bourgie were missed more than most, and I had to rely on cassette copies for many years. But now, thanks to some burrowing around e-bay, I have both of them in 7” and 12” form. Of the two, Breaking Point remains my firm favourite, and as you can see from its position on this chart, is a song that I think is one of the best of all time – something that should be owned and cherished in millions of households the world over.

It’s not just the stunning vocal performance that makes this such an outstanding record – listen to the fantastic production that sees some great guitar and keyboards work beefed-up by a cello and strings that aren’t a million miles away from the sound that would appear years later on Monkey Gone To Heaven by The Pixies. And wouldn’t you know that Breaking Point was a Kingbird Production…..one of the names used by the soon to be famous Ian Broudie……

mp3 : Bourgie Bourgie – Breaking Point (Extended Version)
mp3 : Bourgie Bourgie – Apres Ski (Extended Version)

Oh and finally (as I could go on all day and night about this song, band and singer) Breaking Point was almost the name of this blog…….and I would have called myself The Ghost Of Trouble Joe when penning the pieces….

XTC

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #80 : XTC (2)

Absolutely chuffed that Johnny the Friendly Lawyer has again popped up with this particular contribution. It’s a follow-up to ICA 26…..

Greetings JC.

I suspect you’re probably inundated with proposed ICA’s these days, but this one was meant as a companion to the one posted about Colin Moulding’s XTC songs last year (ICA #26). On the one hand I was really happy to pay tribute to the under-acknowledged bassist–a true musical hero to me. On the other hand it was a bit cowardly to avoid an ICA drawn from all of XTC‘s material. So many great songs to choose from over so many years! In other words, I had a Clash problem on my hands. (It’s awesome, by the way, that ‘Clash problem’ has entered the ‘net vernacular.)

So I sat on it. But now, with the popularity of the imaginary comp series and everyone finding reasonable justifications for their selections, I’m finally sending this one along. It’s not a representative survey of Andy Partridge‘s XTC songs or a chronology or anything like that. Nope, this is just a good old fashioned list of favorites. I’m sure a few tunes would be found in a lot of XTC fans’ top picks, but surely not all of them as half are album tracks. And, I skipped right by several LP’s without a backward glance (my apologies to everyone with favorites on White Music, Go 2, Mummer, The Big Express, Nonsuch and Wasp Star.). So, without any fanfare, here are my personal favorite XTC songs by Andy Partridge, in no particular order:

1. Respectable Street.

As good a lead-off track as any, this one from 1980’s Black Sea. Also released as the 4th single from that LP.

2. Real by Reel.

Album side off 1979’s Drums and Wires. I wrote in the Moulding comp that the band really came into their own on this album after two previous LPs. (That’s why this ICA doesn’t include earlier Partridge standouts like ‘Are you Receiving?‘ and ‘Statue of Liberty’). XTC were excellent musicians but the introduction of guitarist Dave Gregory game them a legit virtuoso. His brief solo on this song, at about the 2:30 mark, is just perfect.

1979 was a banner year for post-punk guitarists; the likes of Magazine’s John McGeoch, PiL’s Keith Levene and Gang of Four’s Andy Gill served up stellar work on Secondhand Daylight, Metal Box and Entertainment!, respectively. Gregory never got their level of recognition, but his fretwork was equally significant. ‘Real by Reel’ is also noteworthy in that Moulding played the bassline somewhere in between ska and reggae time, thereby inventing skeggae.

3. I’d Like That.

XTC released the sub par Nonsuch in 1992 and then went silent. For seven years. Then they returned with Apple Venus, a so-called ‘pastoral’ album that sounded (to me) as a sequel to Partridge’s 1986 masterpiece, ‘Skylarking’. Older, mellower, sophisticated and acoustic, the group still sounded relevant after more than 20 years on the job.

4. Season Cycle.

Speaking of Skylarking, here’s an album track from that LP. Producer Todd Rundgren gave Partridge a lot of stick for rhyming ‘cycle’ with ‘umbilical’, but it’s just the sort of silly, unusual couplet that I always found endearing rather than ridiculous.

5. Senses Working Overtime.

Sings for itself. One of best, if not the very best, of all XTC songs. Released as a single from 1982’s English Settlement LP. Unbelievably, it is the band’s only top 10 single (reaching number 10).

6. The Mayor of Simpleton.

Another single, this one from 1989’s Oranges and Lemons, perhaps the group’s last great LP. This one features terrific basslines from man of the match Mr. Moulding, who also provides solid backing vocals. As a rule, the songwriters usually sang lead on their songs, but Moulding’s voice was always present in the mix, much like how The Jam’s Bruce Foxton co-sang along with Paul Weller on the majority of that band’s songs. (Let’s add Foxton to the list of under-appreciated musicians from the era, while we’re at it.)

7. Yacht Dance.

More evidence of Dave Gregory’s talent. The modest guitarist had this to say about his beautiful nylon-string acoustic work: “It sounds difficult but it wasn’t. I just worked out these little phrases that sounded like what the song needed.” Simple as that! An album track from English Settlement.

8. No Thugs In Our House.

A rocker, as it were, with agitated lyrics snarled by Mr. Partridge. I wonder if Partridge’s unorthodox vocal delivery might have factored into XTC’s lack of success over here in the States? He’s often described as a ‘quirky’ singer, which can translate to ‘oddly irritating’. Not sure about that, but I do love this gem, another single and album track from English Settlement. Note the variety of the 3 songs on this ICA from that one LP.

9. Merely a Man.

An album side from Oranges and Lemons. Love the brass section competing with Gregory’s Hendrixish wah-wah soloing throughout.

10. Earn Enough For Us.

Saved the best for last. Another album side from Skylarking and my all-time favorite XTC song. If I could have written only one of their tunes, this is the one.

Amazing that most of these songs are well over 30 years old…

Bonus Tracks:

Partridge recorded (as Sir John Johns) in XTC’s psychedelic side-project The Dukes of Stratosphear. Two of his best tracks are found on 1987’s Psonic Psunspot LP:

Brainiac’s Daughter – Meant to sound like a Sgt. Pepper outtake.
Pale and Precious – Kind of a lost Beach Boys track, but from Swindon instead of LA–right down to the ‘Good Vibrations’ background vocals and theremin!

Enjoy!!!!

JTFL

Joy Division

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (6)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON TUESDAY 10 JUNE 2008

(and again on 1 November 2013)

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Joy Division, as a band, caused me huge problems. There I was, 16 years of age raving about them in the 5th Year Common Room when somebody threw an article from a music paper that declared the band and their followers to be Nazi/Fascists. How could this be so?

At that age, I wasn’t clever enough to argue my case….I just took it on the chin, and stopped admitting that I love the band. The records were hidden away in the style that other teenagers would hide porno mags – out of sight and only brought out when it was safe to do so. They were certainly never around when any mates came by.

Then one day, Ian Curtis hanged himself. The music papers were full of it. At school, it was suddenly OK to talk about the band again – they were now a chart success thanks to the posthumous release of Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Everyone rushed out and bought that single and then the LP Closer.

‘No wonder he killed himself if that’s the sort of music he was writing’ was the common consensus of the playground cognoscenti.

At the time I kind of believed it myself as nobody at that time, even within the confines of the group, really understood just how tortured he was trying to juggle his life, wife, child, mistress, illness and his music. I had the albums – and they were really dark and sometimes difficult to listen to. They were certainly no good for putting on at parties and hoping to ‘get off’ with a female classmate.

But everyone I knew adored LWTUA….it was something you could dance to. It was pop…it passed over quickly when you just absorbed its catchy chorus.

Was I the only one who realised that it was about pain and misery? The sort of pain and misery that hit you when, after spending what seemed like hours (but was probably only 10 minutes) trying to connect with the girl of your dreams at a party, only to later see her that evening ‘get off’ with someone else and then the news spread on Monday that she and the boy were ‘an item.’

Why didn’t I make a move?? Why didn’t I try to talk to her a bit about Joy Division and the other great records that no-one knew about – songs which were just so unlike anything else in yours or anybody’s record collection. Why hadn’t I made myself seem interesting???

LWTUA has always been a song to remind me of ‘what might have been’….

If I hadn’t been so quick to bow to peer pressure and ‘disown’ the band in public, would I have become the cool kid in class? Probably not…

If Ian Curtis had known how big this song was going to be, would he have taken his own life?? Sadly, I think he would have….

If this song hadn’t made so much money, what would have happened to Tony Wilson and Factory Records??? They probably wouldn’t have been solvent in 1982…

If Ian Curtis hadn’t written LWTUA, would some other tortured soul have come along a few years later and said the same thing??? Now that is a question of conjecture…..but I actually think someone would have. Who??? I have no idea….but someone, somewhere in time would have….David Gedge?

And yet….despite all of this, I still don’t think LWTUA is the best single that Barney, Hooky, Ian and Stephen (not forgetting Martin) released on an unsuspecting public. That honour belongs to this bit of plastic:-

mp3 : Joy Division – Transmission
mp3 : Joy Division – Novelty

Hooky’s basslines grab you in, Stephen’s drumming sets a beat that makes you want to jump out of your seat while Barney’s guitar work reminds you of the punk ethos when anyone could pick up an instrument and play.

But it’s THAT voice that sets this track apart. It’s the sound of someone reaching deep inside his own soul and then straining it through every nerve in his body before hitting the listener hard in the chest with its power and authority. And just as you think he can hit you no more he screams…

‘And We Can Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaance’.

I did. As did many others.

Things were never the same ever again.

Ballboy

GREAT ALBUMS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT (1) : BALLBOY

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This may, or may not, become a regular feature. It’s also one in which there is much potential for guest contributions. A couple of years back there was a fine response to the idea of ‘Cult Classics’ where a largely unknown song would be brought to the attention of T(n)VV readers; this time I’m thinking about unknown LPs.

I’m kicking things off with a band to whom I was introduced by Jacques the Kipper.

Ballboy are pretty well-known in the UK as they were perennial favourites of John Peel but they never really made it beyond our shores. It’s also quite clear that they have a far bigger following in Scotland than anywhere else and I’d like to think this look at their proper debut studio album from 2002, A Guide For The Daylight Hours, will be its first exposure to a number of you.

The first thing that jumps out are the finest set of song titles since Moz was at the height of his pomp with The Smiths – You Can’t Spend Your Whole Life Hanging Around With Arseholes; I Wonder If You’re Drunk Enough To Sleep With Me Tonight; I Lost You, But I Found Country Music; Sex Is Boring; Meet Me At The Shooting Range.

The songs, as you’d imagine from the titles, involve a wry look at love and life – success and failures alike – which bring to mind the lyrical genius of a David Gedge, Jarvis Cocker or Paul Heaton. Or in one case, Nick Cave in his Murder Ballads phase.

The thing is though, the tunes are more than a match for the song titles…..being an great mix of jingly/indie guitar (or lovely acoustic guitar on the slower numbers) and fantastic sounding drums/bass guitar brilliantly underpinned by swooping organ or piano. Oh and there’s great use occasionally of a cello and a violin……

I won’t go into any detail on any of the songs and let them speak for themselves. Well, that was the intention but in recent times I’ve come to think about the opening track in a different way thanks to S-WC and his on/off relationship with Our Price Girl back in the day. If this had been written and recorded back then, I’m sure he would have adopted it as his theme song:-

mp3 : Ballboy – Avant Garde Music

It would have been great if The Badgers had covered it mind you……………………….

Here’s some more brilliance.

mp3 : Ballboy – You Can’t Spend Your Whole Life Hanging Around With Arseholes
mp3 : Ballboy – Something’s Going To Happen Soon
mp3 : Ballboy – I Wonder If You’re Drunk Enough To Sleep With Me Tonight
mp3 : Ballboy – Sex Is Boring
mp3 : Ballboy – Meet Me At The Shooting Range

The last of these closes the album. It’s as black and frightening a lyric as you’re likely to ever hear. And the cello never sounded sadder…………..

Hey! Elastica

BONUS POSTING : IN ON THE OFF BEAT

A few weeks back I posted the four singles released by Hey! Elastica and said that the album tracks were available if anyone so requested,

Yesterday, daz said this:-

“I’d love to get hold of the “in on the off beat” album again..please post it..thanks”

Happy to oblige:-

This Town
Heaven (Should’ve Been Here)
Party Games
Sex With Your Dancing Partner
Cafe Des Bruits
My Kinda Guy
Perfect Couple
Polaroid Picture Zoo
Barbarella
That Town

Enjoy daz.

Smiths

A LAZY STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE : 45 45s AT 45 (7)

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON TUESDAY 25 MARCH 2008

(and again on 31 October 2013)

r-452932-1169906375

The position of this song in the chart will come as a shock to many regular readers and to those who have known me for many years. There’s at least one mate who tipped it to be #1….

I was fortunate enough to be around when The Smiths first came to prominence. They remain my all-time favourite band, and I don’t think they will ever lose that particular mantle however long I manage to live.

I was present at their first ever gig in Scotland – at the Queen Margaret Union in Glasgow on Saturday 2nd March 1984. This was a truly astonishing night in a small student-venue that was packed to the rafters. It was very hot, sweaty and tightly-packed and it is probably the nearest I’ve ever came to passing-out at a concert.

The Smiths had not long cracked the Top 20 with their third single What Difference Does It Make?, while their recently-released debut LP had gone Top 10. So they were hardly a secret.

The venue was woefully inadequate for the demand for tickets, and there were dozens of folk outside pleading for the lucky few to sell for way over the cost (which I can’t recall, but was no more than £4 or £5). The level of expectancy was enormous, and the build-up to the band taking the stage bordered on insane hysteria. I’d never experienced anything like it beforehand, and never again since (although the first five minutes down the front of the Morrissey ‘comeback gig’ at the MEN Arena in 2003 came awfully close).

Steven, Johnny, Mike and Andy took to the stage to a crescendo of noise – I was worried that the crowd was so loud that we wouldn’t hear anything above it. The opening notes of Hand In Glove were struck – if anything this only cranked up the atmosphere. The one song that those of us who had been in from the start adored above all else – the song that had been the flop single with the controversial nude male on the sleeve – and the song that seemed more than anything to sum-up what was a truly unique relationship between the band and its fans.

And that is why Hand In Glove is my all time favourite single by my all time favourite band.

And because it is my favourite, I was prepared to pay a fair amount of money to pick up a mint copy of the single on e-bay as a replacement for the one lost all those years ago in Edinburgh. Let’s face it, the b-side, which to my knowledge has never appeared on any subsequent compilation, is every bit as amazing:-

mp3 : The Smiths – Hand In Glove
mp3 : The Smiths – Handsome Devil (live at The Hacienda)

As with The Wedding Present, there would have been multiple entries for The Smiths in this chart were it not for the one single per artist rule that I set. In fact as much as one-quarter of the chart could have been a Morrissey/Marr compilation.

I surprised myself when I identified six other 45s that were even more of a favourite than this.

You’ll soon learn what they are over the coming days, but I suspect that many of you will be beginning to narrow it down pretty accurately.

Cinerama

THE CINERAMA SINGLES (9)

The next single is arguably the most Cinerama-style release that the band ever came up with. The title track borders on the epic, taking over 90 seconds of music and sampled dialogue before a very sad, reflective and ultimately depressing vocal about how time and the ageing process impacts on relationships. And just as it took ages for the lyric to begin, there’s as equally a long process involved as the tune continues and stretches out post-vocal, again with the aid of sampled dialogue, right out to almost six and a half minutes.

mp3 : Cinerama – Health and Efficiency

There were two other songs on the CD single, one of which is an original and the other a cover. The original is one of those great long-lost numbers that for many other bands would have made a great 45 or at very least one of the highlights on a much-lauded album. But such was the quality of the output at the time that Cinerama were able to make available only as a b-side….and even then only on the CD single.

mp3 : Cinerama – Swim

The cover is David Gedge coming to accept that he was never going to get the call from the producers to come up with a new theme for the next movie and so he does a top take on one of the best-known Bond songs:-

mp3 : Cinerama – Diamonds Are Forever

The single also came out on 7″ vinyl, but as with the release of the previous Superman single, it offered up something quite different:-

mp3 : Cinerama – Health and Efficiency (version francaise)
mp3 : Cinerama – Lollobrigida (version francaise)

The french versions aren’t the most essential of tracks to have in your collection, but I’m guessing the band would have enjoyed performing them whenever they played in the likes of Paris. It also harked back to the early TWP days when a number of tracks were re-recorded with French lyrics.