Back in early January, I headed over to The Big Blue, aka the headquarters of the label Last Night From Glasgow (LNFG), to pick up a whole load of vinyl that was part of my long-standing membership/subscription, consisting of albums released on the label in the latter months of 2024. As ever, there were a few things I knew very little about, and such was the amount of vinyl I had gathered over the festive period, these tended to be put towards the bottom of the pile for listening purposes.
One of those albums was When Lord God Almighty Reads The News, the third album on the label from Billy Reeves.
If the name seems familiar, but you can’t quite fully recall, Billy Reeves formed Theaudience in the mid-90s, a London-based indie-band who enjoyed a couple of minor hit singles but who later became better known for being the first band of singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. When Theaudience broke up, Billy moved on to a number of other projects, including performing, producing and running a club in London.
In 2001, he was almost killed when his car was hit at high speed by joyriders, with the accident leaving him in a coma, followed by a number of operations over an extended period in hospital. After recovering, he chose to go into writing, broadcasting and radio production, including award-winning shows on BBC London. His love for Brentford FC has led to him commentating on the club’s matches for their in-house social media channels as well as writing articles for the match day programme. (something that he and I have in common as I fulfil both those roles for Raith Rovers!!)
In due course, he made a return to writing and performing, initially through various bands, and eventually in 2022, releasing his first solo album, Nostalgia For the Future on LNFG, followed two years later by Steve, again on LNFG. I’ve copies of these albums, and while both provided some good moments, they were, by my reckoning, the sort which get 3-star reviews and with so much vinyl here in Villain Towers, weren’t given too much attention beyond the initial couple of listens.
I thought it would be much the same with this third album, especially with it landing just a few months after his previous effort, but I’m delighted to report that When Lord God Almighty Reads The News is a fine listen, and indeed contains a song which has easily nudged its way into my list of favourites that were released in 2024, for the simple fact that in today’s increasingly polarised political environment, Billy has come up with an electro-pop anthem with an important message.
mp3: Billy Reeves – Never Cross
In saying that, Never Cross isn’t my favourite track on the album. There’s the fun and joy of the sweary one.
mp3: Billy Reeves – Bstrds!
Copies of the album can be ordered online from LNFG, but it’s also likely to be available in your local indie record store.
A guest posting by Fraser Pettigrew (aka our New Zealand correspondent)
There’s a social media meme knocking about that says, succinctly, “If you’ve ever wondered what you would have done in Germany in the 1930s… you’re doing it now.” It’s a brutally accurate summary of our impotent inactivity in the face of 21st century fascists taking over the most powerful nation on the planet. Opportunities to resist seem absent.
Was it otherwise before? It may not qualify as much more than the equivalent of modern-day liberal hand-wringing, but in the late 1970s in the UK there was a thing called Rock Against Racism. It did what it said on the tin, got people out to enjoy some music while making their intolerance of racism loud and clear. RAR was formed in response to Eric Clapton’s obnoxious onstage racist outburst in 1976, and alongside the rise of the white-supremacist National Front in English politics.
RAR developed a strong connection with the Anti-Nazi League when the latter was formed early in 1977. Essentially a front organisation for the Socialist Workers Party, the ANL pulled together trade unions and community organisations to mobilise against the National Front, mounting counter-demonstrations that occasionally resulted in the actual shit being kicked out of actual fascists.
Given the typically self-satisfied and apolitical torpor of the musical old guard and the sometimes highly political new wave, it’s little wonder that RAR gigs were a roll-call of punk bands as well as the best in UK reggae. In April 1978 the RAR/ANL Carnival Against Racism in London saw over 100,000 march from Trafalgar Square, led by Misty in Roots on the back of a lorry, to Victoria Park in Hackney where The Clash, Steel Pulse, Tom Robinson Band and X-Ray Spex performed.
In July, a similar event took place in Manchester, and in August, Edinburgh’s branch of the Anti-Nazi League decided to ride the wave while Scotland’s elusive summer was still notionally operative, with a march and free gig at Craigmillar to be headlined by The Clash and primo reggae group Aswad, supported by various local bands. I was then a spotty 15-year old with one gig under my belt (The Boomtown Rats) and the opportunity to see The Clash (for free!) was an irresistible lure. The politics were fine too, but the name of The Clash on the bill was what Rock Against Racism was all about, using the power of the music to get people out and pogo round the anti-fascist rallying post.
When Saturday 5th of August arrived it was a Scottish meteorological miracle – a fine, warm day! Before heading into town I had to make some adjustments to my embarrassingly flared jeans. I plundered my Mum’s sewing box for every safety pin I could find, turned my Wrangler loons inside out, pinned up the inside leg seam and turned the jeans back out again – voila! Instant drainpipes! An old waistcoat of my Dad’s was adorned with my meagre collection of punk button badges and off I went. The crowd outside the Scottish Trades Union Congress offices on Hillside Crescent was not of London or Manchester proportions, a few hundred rather than thousands. There were a couple of big trade union banners and a small forest of SWP-standard blocky red and black printed placards saying down with that sort of thing and all the rest of it.
The shortest and most obvious route to Craigmillar was down the Bridges and Dalkeith Road but the police had other ideas, and we were routed around the far side of Arthur’s Seat, thus avoiding any chance of being seen by all but a tiny minority of Edinburgh’s population. Can’t have the good burghers exposed to filthy communistic propaganda such as ‘don’t be racist’ or ‘no nazis here’. They might take it personally.
It was a long walk on a hot day through mysterious parts of the city including the Craigmillar housing scheme, a notorious zone of poverty and social exclusion, or thugs and vandals to Edinburgh’s bourgeoisie. Residents spectated curiously as organisers with megaphones tried to get the crowd chanting lefty slogans as we neared our destination.
The venue was a small park, then known as Peffermill School sports ground, where the stage sat with a scruffy scaffold and tarpaulin roof on it, fronted with a big ANL banner. The park was about the size of two or three football pitches, a couple of food vans parked at the edge. Glastonbury it was not.
At this point people began breaking out of the march to nip through the numerous holes in the vandalised fence, rather than carry on via the gate which was acting as a bottle-neck and slowing everyone to a standstill. The SWP marshals tried to get everyone to stick together as one impressive column of anti-fascist determination. “Stay on the road! Solidarity comrades!” shouted one of them through his megaphone as the Clash fans flooded past him. Fuck solidarity, this is rock’n’roll, mate…
I was more concerned about rehydrating after the long march (nobody carried water bottles in those days), so I may have been queuing at one of the skanky food vans when the first band, Deleted, came on. I have no recollection of them, though I have discovered that in 1979 they changed name and became rather better known as The Visitors. At any rate, I was fully present for second act, The Freeze. I remember being impressed, the lead singer’s striking mop of blond curls cutting a distinctive figure, the music an intriguing step ahead from standard punk thrash, hinting at something more sophisticated and moody.
I never saw them live again, although I realise now that I was at another event they played the following summer in Ironmills Park in Dalkeith, with a bunch of local bands on the back of a single flat-bed trailer. Apparently The Freeze was one of them, but I must have run off home for my tea before they came on.
It was JC’s recent post on what became of that mop-haired singer that dredged up memories of this whole event. Until I read about Cindytalk I had no idea that The Freeze had any kind of afterlife. I found a download of one of their Peel sessions a while ago, but I always assumed they were amongst the multitude of musicians that simply had their brief moment and then went back to the day job.
I was thoroughly enjoying the next band too, more edgy, angular, post-punk strangeness. The singer was dressed all in pink and was even more provocatively weird than The Freeze.
This was Scars, and they were too provocative for the troglodyte hardcore punks who just wanted to skip straight to The Clash. Projectiles started flying towards the stage, full cans of juice and beer forcing some evasive action and bringing the MC onto the stage to call for calm. They tried to start again, barely three or four songs into their set. The bombing continued and regretfully they decided to depart. The drunken mob was not to be messed with.
Sadly, I never saw Scars again either, despite much gig-going in subsequent student years in Edinburgh. They were followed on stage by The Monos (from London) and then The Valves, both sufficiently robust and trad-punk in a pub-rock power-pop sort of way for The Clash fans. There was still some light-hearted projectile-throwing, but only filled rolls, one of which was deftly caught by the lead singer of The Monos who promptly munched into it. “Yum, cheese and onion, my favourite!” he quipped.
An uncomfortable, restive atmosphere persisted. I don’t know why, but there was a feeling that something was up. After The Valves, the MC came on stage and announced that a couple of members of The Clash had been arrested in London the previous day, had been unable to travel and therefore the band would not now be playing. As you can imagine, the response was not good. Missiles flew again. The MC braved the bombardment, tried to blame it all on the ‘fascist pigs’ and urged everyone to give it up for the next band. The punks were having none of it and steamed for the exit as briskly as they’d rushed through the fence a few hours earlier.
I wonder now if the timing of the announcement was cleverly tactical. The next band was Aswad, and perhaps the organisers feared for their treatment by the punks as the hour of The Clash neared. Spilling the beans meant they all pissed off and left the rest of us to enjoy a brilliant performance by the reggae stars. They must have wondered what the hell they were doing in the middle of such a shit-show, but they were utter professionals and we loved them.
For years afterwards I conflated in my mind the Clash’s non-appearance with the infamous pigeon shooting ‘guns on the roof’ episode, stupidly ignorant of the fact that the latter event took place months earlier. All the same, I wasn’t surprised when I finally learned that the whole story of an arrest and last-minute let-down was a complete load of bollocks made up by the organisers before the festival even happened. The Clash were never going to be there, and may never even have been invited. Their name was shamelessly appended to the bill just to get people to come on the march, to make a big show of support for the Anti-Nazi League and get a few more members signed up for the SWP.
It was an idiotic ploy, but perhaps in the end it served its purpose. Like all of RAR and ANL’s activity, it made people feel they were actively opposing racism and fascism and the visibility of the events bolstered the sense of a wide popular groundswell against the National Front. For all that the SWP were largely a bunch of dogmatic saddos, with the Anti-Nazi League they can at least be credited with building and driving a genuine surge against the far right. Undoubtedly that’s something we could sorely do with right now.
mp3: The Freeze – Psychodalek Nightmares mp3: Scars – Adult-ery mp3: Valves – For Adolfs Only mp3: Aswad – Back To Africa
The 1992 run of monthly singles included Flying Saucer and The Queen of Outer Space. It kind of felt inevitable that some sort of sci-fi title would find its way into the 2022 series, and so it proved for the November release:-
mp3: The Wedding Present – Science Fiction (7″ version)
A break-up song. It’s also a ballad, of sorts, in that it begins very slow and quietly, but it then builds over the next few minutes in pace and noise. It’s rather beguiling, partly from the rather lovely backing vocal provided in places by Melanie Howard. It’s one of the tracks from the 2022 project that I enjoyed from the get-go, and indeed have grown increasingly fond of over the past six or so months, and that’s got a lot to do with a very enjoyable live rendition at last year’s Edge of The Sea festival, where it more than survived Melanie not being on stage to sing her part. The fact it was placed in the set list immediately after Corduroy and prior to My Favourite Dress towards the tail end of the gig, demonstrates just how much David Gedge thinks of it, and the fact it maintained the momentum of the show just highlights that it is a good tune.
The disappointing aspect of the 7″ version is that it fades out when there really was no need for it. The full-length version included on the later 24 Songs album/box set is just 18 seconds longer, and comes to a perfect halt, and so I’m kind of bemused as to why an edited version was issued.
The b-side is quite different in sound and tempo.
mp3: The Wedding Present – Plot Twist
There’s a catchy riff at the heart of the tune. Even after all this time, I can’t make my mind up if it is inspired or irritating. It’s a song which is unmistakably The Wedding Present with the sort of wry lyric about the end of a relationship that David Gedge has delivered on countless occasions over the decades.
But for once, he’s not at the centre of the tale….he’s very much an interested observer. There’s a couple of lines at the 2:15 mark, just after an instrumental break, which are guaranteed to bring a smile to one’s face.
They used to send each other Fall songs She tried to teach him Spanish But then he waited for much too long She just seemed to vanish
We’ve all, at some point in our lives, sent mixtapes or the likes to someone we’ve been trying to impress in the would-be-love stakes. It wouldn’t really have occurred to me to include too many Mark E Smith compositions – he wasn’t really renowned for his romantic streak.
Next week will see the 64th and final part of the series. I hope you’ll tune in.
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 #15 was broadcast on this day, 15 February 1992, having been recorded on 19 January 1992.
Although not one of their greatest sessions, imminent single ‘Free Range’ is tight and focussed; and the group’s version of The Creators’ ‘Kimble'(a not-too-distant relative of the following year’s ‘Why Are People Grudgeful?’) is both rich and amusing. Smith covering Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry has got to be worth the price of admission, two great music eccentrics, etc. ‘Immortality’ and a low-key ‘Return’ round off what was a barren period in the group’s existence
DARYL EASLEA, 2005
mp3: The Fall – Free Range (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Kimble (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Immortality (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Return (Peel Session)
Produced by Dale Griffin, engineered by Mike Engles & James Birtwistle
Mark E Smith – vocals; Craig Scanlon – guitar; Steve Hanley – bass; Dave Bush – keyboards; Simon Wolstencroft – drums
#083: Red Guitars – ‘Good Technology’ (Self Drive Records ’84)
Dear friends,
the 111 singles box mostly contains of records which I have in my possession for a long time indeed, if I had to guess, I’d reckon this is true for about 60% or so. Then there are quite a few songs which I always loved, but never really had the chance to spend money on. This changed when I quit smoking, I mean: basically you could well say about this box that Lucky Strike’s loss now is your profit, folks!
And then, when the series was already alive, there were a few singles which I chose to replace in favor of other ones, like „hold on, this MUST be included!“. But this became more difficult the deeper I dived into the alphabet, because obviously I could not let those go that had already featured here.
So, to cut a long – and boring – story short, today’s single might probably be the last one that came so late to the party, I mean, we are into the „R’s“ by now, and the chances that I wake up tomorrow in order to (spoiler alert!) replace my song of choice by Leeds’ finest band starting with a „W“ by, say, Ziggy Marley are pretty remote.
So, Red Guitars. The name was always vaguely familiar to me in the early 80s and I think I remember them having had something to do with this Billy Bragg/Paul Weller ‘Red Wedge’ thingy back in 1985. But I don’t know whether they were pro or contra ( I remember The Redskins were contra), and perhaps my memory fails me and they weren’t involved at all, who knows? Those ‘bloody Reds’ were everywhere these days, you really had to be careful – it was all rather confusing!
Either way, it must have been around this time when today’s record came to my attention: their second single and by then already two years old. It’s one of those songs that are always with you, I’d say, always somewhere deep down in the back of your mind, but never really too present – hard to describe, really.
Perhaps this is because the tune is so simple: three chords, a kick drum and a bass unchanging throughout the whole song. Nothing all too spectacular, not really comparable to, for example, „Anarchy In The UK“ really. But, then there are the lyrics, and boy, what lyrics! It’s all there: the power of the internet and social media, environmental catastrophe, reality TV, the fast food industry and an ever more grotesque arms industry:
mp3: Red Guitars – Good Technology
And it was written in 1981, although not released before 1983, when there were a mere 100 McDonald’s in the UK. The new technology promised a brighter future for all. Life would be easier. Culture Club were at number one.
Now, 44 years on, and the promise, like many countries, is broken. Public services have been hollowed out to the barest shells. Levels of poverty are unprecedented since Victorian times, people who are working minimum wage jobs are struggling to survive Europe-wide.
Today there are more food banks in the UK than McDonald’s.
I’m a week late with these birthday greetings as it was Thursday 6 February when Chemikal Underground Records turned 30 years of age. The celebration was low-key, just these few lines via social media.
Thirty years ago today copies of ‘Monica Webster’ started to fly out of a small kitchen on Cartside Street in Glasgow, Scotland. This was the debut single of a fresh-faced new band, The Delgados, and the maiden release of Chemikal Underground, a brand new independent record label. Three decades, many seminal LPs, and a multitude of hangovers later, it seems only right to mark this landmark milestone with a few bits and bobs over the next 12 months. Keep your eyes peeled (sign up to our mailing list) for announcements over the coming weeks…
Those of you who have been following this blog over the years will be well aware that I’m of the view the label is the singular most important thing to have happened to the Scottish music scene in my lifetime. Things have slowed down a little bit in recent years, but the release of excellent albums from Broken Chanter and Chrysanths during 2024 illustrates their ongoing commitment to working with talented artists.
The recording studio, Chem 19, located on an unassuming industrial estate in Blantyre, a small town some 15 miles south-east of Glasgow, has been the location where some of the best and best-selling music to come out of Scotland in the 21st Century has been and continues to be made. There are still many chapters to be written in the Chemikal Underground in the years to come.
If you do want to take up the suggestion of signing to the mailing list, the best way would be to head over to the website. Click here.
In the meantime, I’ve pulled together my own small tribute, with a mix of songs that have been released on the label over the 30 years. It’s just under an hour long, but if you hang on till exactly the hour mark, you will come across a hidden track.
Enjoy!!!
mp3: Various – Happy 30th Birthday C.U.
Human Don’t Be Angry – H.D.B.A. Theme
Zoey Van Goey – Foxtrot Vandala
De Rosa – All Saints Day
Miaoux Miaoux – It’s The Quick
The Phantom Band – Throwing Bones
Mother and The Addicts – Oh Yeah, You Look Quite Nice
Arab Strap – The Shy Retirer
Emma Pollock – Parks and Recreation
Cha Cha Cohen – A=A
Malcolm Middleton – Loneliness Shines
Lord Cut-Glass – Look After Your Wife
Aidan Moffat and The Best-Ofs – Big Blonde
RM Hubbert – Buckstacy
The Delgados – Everybody Come Down
Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat – The Copper Top
Broken Chanter – So Much For The End Of History (I’m Still Here)
January 1984, with thirteen chart hits, got this series off to a handy enough start. Would February prove to be just as interesting, or was it all a false dawn? The first chart is actually spread across two calendar months, covering the period 28 January–4 February.
There were ten new entries into the Top 75. The list is rather depressing…….
Queen – Radio Ga Ga (#4) Duran Duran – New Moon On Monday (#12) The Thompson Twins – Doctor Doctor (#18) Swans Way – Soul Train (#41) Rockwell – Someone’s Watching Me (#52) Slade – Run Runaway (#54) Nena – 99 Red Ballons (#58) Hot Chocolate – I Gave You My Heart (Didn’t I) (#59) Van Halen – Jump (#60) Truth – No Stone Unturned (#73)
I’m not averse to offering up the likes of Duran Duran or The Thompson Twins, but neither of those particular 45s hold much appeal, certainly in Villain Towers. Best if we fast-forward to 5-11 February.
The highest new entry this week was from a band enjoying a hit single for the 18th successive time, going back to 1979.
mp3: Madness – Michael Caine (#26)
It was the lead single from what would be their fifth studio album, Keep Moving. It was quite a departure from many of the previous 45s, being a slower number with a very serious subject-matter, telling the tale of an informant living in Northern Ireland, with the lyrics suggest a state of paranoia and mental disintegration. It was written partly by Carl Smyth, who took the lead on the song, with Suggs happy enough to do the backing vocals. The vocal samples from Michael Caine himself were recorded for the song, and being a repetition of him introducing himself by name, is based on his role in the 1965 film The Ipcress File, in which his character, Harry Palmer, repeats his name while trying to stay sane under torture.
It didn’t do quite as well as most previous Madness singles, peaking at #11 and becoming just the third of the eighteen not to reach the Top 10. Despite this, I think it is one of their finest 45s.
One of the UK’s pioneering synth bands, Ultravox, came into the charts this week at #37 with One Small Day. I genuinely couldn’t recall this song and looked up the video on YouTube. The tune was awful, sounding nothing like the band, with a dreadful guitar lick all the way through.
The various other new entries were just as annoying – with a special mention to Genesis and Illegal Alien in which Phil Collins adopted a faux-Spanish accent throughout. The video is beyond belief…….
The chart, however, was saved by this bona fide classic coming in at #74:-
mp3: Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel – White Lines (Don’t Do It)
This would prove to be one of the most incredible stories of the singles chart in 1984. In at #74 on 5 February, it would take 21 weeks to climb its way gradually into the Top 10, eventually peaking at #7 in the chart of 22-28 July (and staying there the following week). It took until 28 October before it fell out of the Top 75, meaning it had enjoyed a stay of 37 weeks, and was placed at #13 in the end-of year chart in terms of total sales.
Moving on now to 12-18 February, 19-25 February and 26 February- 3 March.
mp3: The Style Council – My Ever Changing Moods (#8 on 12 Feb)
mp3: Soft Cell – Down In The Subway (#38 on 19 Feb)
mp3: Sade – Your Love Is King (#59 on 19 Feb)
mp3: Orange Juice – Bridge (#67 on 19 Feb)
mp3: Tracey Ullman – My Guy (#46 on 26 Feb)
mp3: Bananarama – Robert De Niro’s Waiting (#48 on 26 Feb)
mp3: Bourgie Bourgie – Breaking Point (#64 on 26 Feb)
A right mix of tunes!! I can’t deny that I really liked that Sade single, albeit its jazz-tinged nature is the sort of stuff I’d usually run a long way from, but it was reflective of a lot that was going on in early 1984, and given that I was listening to The Style Council and Everything But The Girl a fair bit (amongst others) then it’s impossible to deny Sade.
Tracey Ullman gets a mention for changing the sex of the song and taking a Madness number back into the charts – it would eventually peak at #23, not quite as good as My Girl which had reached #3 in 1980.
Bananarama appealed to the pop side of my nature, and I can’t deny that I would dance to this (while wearing my Bunnymen raincoat at the Student Union disco thinking I was being really ironic when in fact I probably looked like an idiot!!).
And what a joy to be reminded that Bourgie Bourgie‘s debut single (and one of THE greatest 45s of all time), did actually have an impact on the charts, eventually reaching #48 during the month of March……but it really deserved much more. Paul Quinn on Top of The Pops would have been a sight to behold.
I noticed a couple of comments left earlier today consisted of a single letter, which I found incredibly unusual.
Looking at the IP addresses associated with the comments, I noticed they were from a couple of people who regularly leave comments – flimflamfan and chaval – and this bemused me.
I sent FFF an e-mail who replied that ‘the box opened up to allow a comment to be typed, but there was no text to be seen. I did try to leave it again, but no luck on either phone or laptop.’
I’ve been in touch with the helpful folk at WordPress to ask for some assistance in sorting it all out. A few attempts were made at their end, and I eventually received this reply:-
“This looks like a wider issue affecting multiple sites. I am reporting this to our developers. The developer reports are typically addressed on severity. As these issues can be somewhat complex, investigating will take some time. We appreciate your patience and understanding in the meantime.”
All I can do for now is wait, and apologise that nobody is seemingly able to come on to the blog to offer their views, thoughts and opinions.
It’s yet another repost. But given it’s from 31 October 2014, I reckon a few of you might not have read it, or won’t recall it.
From 1994 in which a lead vocal, a backing vocal, an acoustic guitar and a cello combine to stunning effect:-
mp3 : Kristin Hersh – Your Ghost
It was the debut solo single from the Throwing Muses main protagonist and she called in a favour from her dear friend Michael Stipe whose band were probably just about the biggest selling on the planet at that particular time. It’s a song that caught a lot of people by surprise – aficionados of Throwing Muses were astonished at the stripped-back beauty and simplicity of the track while R.E.M.’s newest batch of fans were left scratching their heads and wondering why Stipe would feature so prominently on a recording by a musician more or less unknown in commercial or mainstream circles.
I was thrilled to pick up a mint copy of the 12″ single in a second-hand store the other week for just £2. I actually reckon that the person who bought it did so on the basis of the backing vocal in the hope (in vain as it turned out) that Stipe would feature on the other songs. It certainly appears to be a more or less unplayed piece of plastic.
Three other songs make up this lovely release, one of them being a rather startling cover of a Led Zeppelin track (and as someone who is not a fan of the rock giants I’m prepared to say that Kristin’s version is waaaaay superior!!)
mp3 : Kristin Hersh – The Key
mp3 : Kristin Hersh – Uncle June and Aunt Kiyoti
mp3 : Kristin Hersh – When The Levee Breaks
Oh, and the lyrics of the middle song of these three refers geographically to Canada, and it was wonderful to hear the province of Nova Scotia being referred to as New Scotland. I often forget just how many people from my wee country made their way to the rugged east coast of Canada to try to carve out a new life for themselves.
Finally…anyone who enjoys autobiographies of any sort really should track down a copy of Paradoxical Undressing, Kristin’s brilliantly-written and very frank, moving, often disturbing and occasionally laugh-out-loud-at-the ridiculousness-of-it-all memoir of a period in her life when she was suffering from a debilitating mental illness.
Back to the Indietracks compilations for today’s offering, this time from a band who played the festival in 2013.
mp3: Big Wave – Only You
Last FM offers the following info:-
“A five piece indie pop band from Torquay, Devon described as “tropical, surf, female fronted 5 piece with luscious coastal melodies, disco beats and watery synth lines”
There’s a bandcamp page (from where the photo is sourced) that simply says ‘Hey! we’re Big Wave a Little band from Torquay, Devon ‘ along with details of five products, the last of which dates from 2013, which maybe indicates the band called it a day not long after the performance at Indietracks.
Spotting that Only You was released on 7″ vinyl in November 2012, I headed to Discogs. Sadly, there’s no info under the credits section, other than it was produced, mixed and mastered by James Bragg.
I think this one will go down well with many of you, albeit there’s nothing earth-shattering about it. File under catchy but derivative.
I’ve mentioned previously how tough an ask it is to release 12 singles across a calendar year while maintaining quality control. The challenge in 2022, as opposed to 1992 when The Wedding Present had first taken on the task, was that the earlier effort had seen twelve new songs and twelve covers, while the latest take had seen just one cover issued as a b-side.
Yes, some of the songs did date back to maybe 2018/19 when the band had a slightly different line-up, but there must have been real stresses, strains and tensions as the year progressed for David Gedge, Jon Stewart, Melanie Howard and Nicholas Wellauer, especially given that it was a year when they also went out two long tours – the UK in April/May and Germany/Netherlands/Denmark/France in September, as well as a number of one-off shows in the UK as well as their own Edge of The Sea Festival in Brighton in August.
As such, I’m prepared to cut some slack for some of what I’d call the rather underwhelming releases as part of 24 Songs. Having been very thrilled and happy with both sides of the September release, the single which arrived at Villain Towers in October proved to be one that was quickly consigned to its place on the shelf:-
mp3: The Wedding Present – Astronomic
OK, it picks up a bit after the opening very dreary minute-and-a-half, but not to the extent that it becomes a song that’s worthy of repeated playings.
The b-side is a ballad. It also contains some of the most bitter break-up lyrics that David Gedge has ever penned:-
So, let me ask you, let me ask you, let me ask you how you thought you get away with doing something like that Well, it transpires you’re a liar and I think it’s time to call it a day And, darling, that’s where we’re at
Because you have stolen something from me that I can never replace and you have caused catastrophe You’re a complete disgrace
It was back in 2010, over at the original and long-lost blog, when a guest posting from Mr John Greer recalled him seeing The Freeze, a duo formed in the late 70s, and consisting of Gordon Sharp and David Clancy whose music was a mix of glam, punk and art rock with small dollop of Goth.
They were from Linlithgow, which is some 20 minutes west of Edinburgh and is very much a commuter town thanks to it being on the main Glasgow – Edinburgh railway line and close to the M9 motorway which links Edinburgh with Stirling. As Mr Greer recalled, Gordon more often than not performed in women’s clothing and provoked all sorts of audience reactions, particularly at the gigs played across what constituted Scotland’s pub circuit, with many of the venues being located in some of the roughest blue-collar communities of the country, in an era when there was a huge amount of tolerance of anything that wasn’t regarded as ‘normal’.
The Freeze broke up in 1982, with a legacy of two 7″ singles and loads of memories for those who were lucky enough to see them play live. The duo, however, continued to work together, forming Cindytalk and relocating to London. What now follows is lifted from a bio penned by Paul Simpson over at allmusic and info on the wiki page devoted to Cindytalk.
Cindytalk is a long-running experimental music project that formed in 1982. Since its inception, the sole constant member of the group has been Gordon Sharp, a transgender vocalist/poet/musician who also goes by the name Cinder. The group’s work has ranged from harsh, volatile post-punk and industrial to dark ambient and noisy drone, often laced with field recordings and constantly in a state of decay or fragmentation.
Initially appearing on British label Midnight Music during the 1980s, Cindytalk has released the bulk of its 21st century output on Peter Rehberg‘s acclaimed Editions Mego. While attending college during the mid-’70s, Sharp formed punk band the Freeze with fellow student David Clancy, releasing two singles and opening for many punk and new wave bands. After John Peel heard their music and wanted them to record a session for his radio show, Sharp and Clancy moved to London and began using the name Cindytalk. Sharp appeared on the Cocteau Twins‘ first Peel session, and 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell invited him to appear on the debut EP and full-length by This Mortal Coil.
John Byrne joined Cindytalk, and the group released the debut album Camouflage Heart in 1984, to some critical acclaim in the UK music press. Shortly after Camouflage Heart, David Clancy left the band and was replaced by brother/sister team Alex and Debbie Wright. The colossal In This World was recorded over the next three years: two albums of the same name released simultaneously, the first of which was a broken and noisy affair, while the second was an album of creaky ambience featuring Cinder’s improvised piano experiments.
I’ve one track by Cindytalk, courtesy of its inclusion on the Big Gold Dreams box set, and it’s from In This World, the 1988 release mentioned above. It’s a far from easy listen. It’s also almost seven minutes long…….
mp3: Cindytalk – The Beginning Of Wisdom
There have been 11 further albums since then, with the most recent being 2022’s Subterminal, released on the UK indie label, False Walls.
Back in 1989, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty thought they had a sure-fire #1 hit on their hands with this, something which sounded like the love child of Stock Aitken and Waterman and the Pet Shop Boys:-
mp3 : The KLF – Kylie Said To Jason
The idea was to try and make some money to complete The White Room, a road movie and soundtrack album that had been kick-started with the proceeds of the #1 single Doctorin’ the Tardis. Unfortunately, the idea failed – and in the end neither the film nor its soundtrack would be formally released. But you can get an idea of how it might have turned out based on the contents of the promo video of Kylie to Jason.
Here’s your b-side:-
mp3: The KLF – Pure Trance
Of course, a few years later, a completely different body of work also entitled The White Room would propel The KLF to fame, fortune and notoriety.
#082: Ramones – ‘Beat On The Brat’ (Sire Records ’77)
Good morrning friends,
you may or may not know that The Clash have always been my # 1 band. Mainly because of the musical variety combined with lyrics which I could sympathize with – there weren’t all too many styles or ideas Strummer and Jones came up with in their career which didn’t fully meet with my approval.
So it is hard to tell why it is that The Ramones have always come in for me a close second. I mean, they were completely different, weren’t they? A million songs, all the same by and large: loud, fast, brute – most of the time fragility or tranquilness has always been a no-go for the band.
Thinking of this, I still cannot come to an understandable conclusion, even after all those decades. Perhaps it has something to do with the real origins of Punk (UK? US?) – a question which is still being debated today, although a thousand books have been written on the subject. Perhaps just one single date is important: July 4th 1976, that’s when The Ramones started touring the UK, promoting their first album, produced for $ 6,400 and already played to New York fans dozens of times in CBGB’s and elsewhere. On that evening they played London’s Roundhouse, sold out with its capacity of 3.000, supporting labelmates The Flamin’ Groovies, whom they completely blew away by all accounts.
At the very same evening, 160 miles up north, The Clash played their very first concert in The Black Swan in Sheffield – in front of a handful of people.
At the end of the day it’s all meaningless, I suppose, but one thing is granted: The Ramones have surely been amongst the very first who tried to do things differently over there in New York, along with Blondie and The Dead Boys, and they had a very hard time in finding even a bit of approval. I mean, we are talking 1975/1976 here, with prog rock still being the ultimate ratio – and everyone in those days who had the guts to try to blow away those cobwebs deserves my admiration. And yours as well, I would think.
Bearing all this in mind, there is no question at all that some of the early stuff has to feature here today.
Basically almost everything they did in their career was great, but the first album is a milestone, of course. Therefore, it makes sense to play something from it, one of the brothers’ earliest songs, in fact, their take on New York’s Birchwood Towers kids:
mp3: Ramones – Beat On The Brat
This obviously is a single (all really early works, although not released before ’77) combining three fantastic tunes – I could have chosen each of them, easily. And if you think 2:30 minutes is too short for such brilliance, let me paraphrase Johnny Ramone here—“they’re not short songs, they’re long songs played quickly”.
There are quite some things that have given me enormous pleasure in my life. One of those things is that I had the chance to see The Ramones in concert on quite a lot of occasions: a most wonderful experience, each and every bloody time!
And at the third time of asking, the series finally delivers in the way it is supposed to.
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 #17 was broadcast on this day, 5 February 1994, having been recorded on 8 December 1993.
Recorded a full five months before the 3rd May release of the album that was to house all four tracks, ‘Middle Class Revolt.’ Apart from a lacklustre ‘Behind The Curtain’, with a seemingly disinterested and on-off mic Smith, there’s a crunching reading of city paean ‘M5’. It also contained ‘Hey! Student’, which was a re-working of ‘Hey, Fascist’, heard by John Walters as that very first Fall gig he attended in Croydon, 15 years earlier. Possibly the ultimate Fall mancabilly, complete with album lyric ‘as you stare in your room at Shaun Ryder’s face’ becoming irresistibly ‘as you masturbate with your Shaun Ryder face’. This reference to Manchester peers Happy Mondays after they had peaked and before Black Grape, captured the out-of-date hipness of many students perfectly. ‘Reckoning’ may be the closest The Fall ever came to Steely Dan instrumentally (!?) and Smith at his most sloppily venomous and lucid with corkers such as ‘And you’re sleeping with some hippie half-wit who thinks he’s Mr. Mark Smith/Reckoning’
DARYL EASLEA, 2005
mp3: The Fall – M5 (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Behind The Counter (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Reckoning (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Hey! Student (Peel Session)
Produced by Tony Worthington
Mark E Smith – vocals; Craig Scanlon – guitar; Steve Hanley – bass; Dave Bush – keyboards; Simon Wolstencroft – drums
It’s often proposed that when life throws you lemons, the positive way forward is to make lemonade, from said lemons. In 2024 my partner and I were awash with oversized lemons and drowning in zingy-fresh lemonade until the only thing left to do was gasp (in utter disappointment and, of course) for air. It seems we were not alone in our lemon-fest; our small circle of friends wondered what they could do with their own unrelenting lemons.
I can therefore confirm that 2024 was a brutal, exhausting bastard. I’m content to be gazing at it in the rear-view mirror.
For the most part I found it difficult to find productive, enjoyable time to search out or listen to new music. That’s not to say I didn’t have any time – laziness and apathy played their parts too.
Perusing the New Vinyl Villain introduced me to new bands and also new-to-me bands. I even went as far as making some purchases based on these recommendations. Blimey!
However, it wasn’t until mid-2024 when, I’ll be honest, matters were shite, that I was introduced to Humdrum by a local pop-picker who indulges in using a shoe moniker.
From my perspective I think it fair to say that there was nothing ‘new’ being offered by the band – a knowledgeable pop person may be able to list each and every influence. I have no such knowledge. What I can say with some confidence is that each song, when played for the first time, felt like an old, cherished friend who’d bought some swanky new clothes and wanted everyone to feel the quality of this new, robust material.
This, for me, was indie pop by numbers – balanced, knowing and yet, naive. The LP Every Heaven went on repeat rotation. It played out 2024 and welcomed in 2025.
The familiarity. The comfort was exactly what I needed. It seems some of that familiarity may be borne from the fact that members of Humdrum had previously been in a band called Star Tropics – a band I’m almost certain I was introduced to via the same shoe-monikered fountain-of-pop knowledge.
Every Heaven is an LP I whole heartedly recommend. It can lift the most weighted of spirits
mp3: Humdrum – There And Back Again
An album that was a constant companion in 2024 was the twenty year old, sole LP by Language of Flowers, Songs About You (2004). A trip from Glasgow east to west by train accompanied by this LP and The Darling Buds Peel Sessions is one of my most pleasant memories of 2024. Imagine my delight when Daydream Records announced that Songs About You was to be released on vinyl for the first time (in a tiny run of 200) and that the running order of the LP would change to accommodate the reduced time available on the vinyl pressing. I ordered my copy from the specific limited edition of 25 and… paid more for postage than I did for the LP, only to learn many months later that Monorail (a rather wonderful record shop in Glasgow) would stock very limited quantities. It’s very likely one of the most expensive new LPs I have ever bought, and I look very much forward to receiving it – some 6 months, and counting, after it was supposed to arrive.
In other good news, Language of Flowers is recording new songs. Hurrah! If pop-bliss is your thing, then do seek them out.
mp3: Language Of Flowers – If It’s Not You
As if the above snippets of pop were not enough, there was one more nugget to feed my indie pop hunger. Heavenly, as you may or may not know, reformed for some shows in London in 2023. My tickets were bought immediately. Unfortunately, as is often the case these days, I failed to attend. It was, it has to be said, all very predictable, but still it smarted. When the band announced they would play Glasgow as part of GlasGoesPop (2024), a ticket was once again purchased – except it wasn’t, which is a whole other story in itself.
As the gig date approached, so did my pre-gig nerves. In swooped one that walks these halls to lessen my anxieties and, in fact, make the gig a reality.
As I stood in a corner watching Heavenly play so many familiar songs (except two I had heard snippets of from the London gigs) I was transported back to a time when I was younger. A time I had more confidence. A time when I’d most likely still be standing in a corner watching a band.
It was a superb night of music, with the band doing what it does so incredibly well – making it all look so darn effortless. Approx. ten years since my previous gig. It was more than worth stepping out for.
mp3: Heavenly – Cool Guitar Boy
You may be asking yourself ‘what on earth is the point of this post?’. I know I am.
I think the purpose is that there is often lemonade in our lives – we often can’t see it for the lemons (except when the lemons are drowning in vodka), obviously. Much of the positive ‘distractions’ I’ve needed have been found in these pages – either posts, or replies. There’s a real sense of positivity, and dare I say it, ‘community’? I guess this could be described as a thank you to JC and the many contributors. I guess it could. I guess it could?
flimflamfan
JC adds…….
Regular readers and visitors will know just how much FFF has contributed to this blog over many years; he hasn’t gone into any detail, but I know that the past twelve months were incredibly difficult for him for all sorts of reasons, but as he mentions in his piece, he’s aware that many others have had awful experiences in recent times.
I really hope that him finding precious time and having the energy to offer up a guest posting after such an extended absence is an indication that the coming weeks and months will prove to be better for him.
And it also allows me to again say to everyone that this little corner of t’internet is a place where, if you want to offer your views, thoughts and opinions on any subject matter under the sun, I can almost certainly guarantee it will be posted – the usual caveats about not being provocative/offensive will apply! The email address can be found on a sidebar or below the main body of the text, depending on which sort of device you use to access the blog.
Far too old and unfit these days to hit any nightspots. But if I close my eyes, I can let my imagination run riot.
mp3: Various – You Have To Know When Something’s Right
Propaganda – P-Machinery
Paul Haig – Heaven Help You Now
New Order – The Perfect Kiss (UK 7″)
Spare Snare – I Have You (Hi-Fi Sean Echoplex Dub)
Yazoo – Don’t Go
Cabaret Voltaire – Sensoria
Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy, Hey Girl (Soulwax Remix Edit)
Simple Minds – Celebrate
Le Tigre – Deceptacon
Bronski Beat & The Knocks (feat. Perfumed Genius) – Smalltown Boy
James – Goldmother (remix)
Leftfield (feat. Toni Halliday) – Original
Soup Dragons – Mother Universe (12″)
Marina Unlimited Orchestra – Wow! (Love Theme From Marina)
16 September 2022 was the release date of the ninth of the 24 Songs singles, and this time it consisted of two very fresh songs as the writing credits are attribute to the four touring and recording members of that year – David Gedge (vocals, guitar), Jon Stewart (guitar), Melanie Howard (bass, keyboards and backing vocals) and Nicholas Wellauer (drums).
mp3: The Wedding Present – We All Came From The Sea
Bit of an unusual one in that it almost has a dance beat to it, with some great bass lines from Melanie driving it along while Jon throws out some excellent guitar licks. I recall it being a real highlight in the live setting on the one occasion I heard it played, which happened to be in Brighton in 2023 at the Edge of The Sea Festival.
mp3: The Wedding Present – We All Came From The Sea (live at Concorde 2)
Seems I wasn’t alone in thinking it could make for a more than decent dance number, as it subsequently became one of the very TWP songs to ever have been given the remix treatment:-
mp3: The Wedding Present – We All Came From The Sea (Utah Saints Remix)
As made available on one of the bonus CDs that came with the 24 Songs box set, released in 2023.
The b-side, and this is far from a criticism, is kind of TWP by numbers….indeed it’s one that I’ve a lot more time for than some of the songs released as A-sides during 2022.
mp3: The Wedding Present – Summer
Just three more to go and this particular series will come to an end.
From the booklet which came with the C88 box set, released by Cherry Red Records back in 2017.
“This Paisley band took their name from folklore and the spirits said to guard over churches. They were slow starters, forming in 1986 but not making it in to a recording studio proper until spring 1988 when they finally committed their jangly, arched sound to tape. A series of demos then found their way onto various compilation cassettes and a year later, ‘Mr Watt Said’ appeared on Egg’s compilation, ‘A Lighthouse In The Desert’. It wasn’t until 2003 that Egg issues ‘The Church Grims Basement Tapes 1987-88, featuring six tracks and one remix, that the work of Church Grims could be widely heard.”
I know that Brian over in Seattle is a big fan as he wrote about them over at his former blog, Linear Tracking Lives, in June 2017.
“This will be short and sweet because the Church Grims don’t have much history. That’s unfortunate, too, because when they did make it to wax (well, cassette, in most cases), each artifact turned out to be a perfect piece of indie pop. Like Remember Fun, the Paisley band was signed to Egg Records out of Glasgow, along with groups like the Prayers, Even as We Speak, the Hardy Boys, the Bachelor Pad, Baby Lemonade and several others. There was never an album during their five years together. In fact, the Church Grims’ officially released discography was only four songs, all on compilations. As you’ll hear in a moment, that’s a travesty.
The Church Grims may have been forgotten all together, but a resurgent interest in bands influenced by the ‘C86’ sound that began at the turn of the century prompted Egg founder Jim Kavanagh to dig up the long out of print music from his roster with the goal of getting it out there. In 2003, many years after the band called it a day, the Church Grims finally had a somewhat proper release with ‘Plaster Saints: The Church Grims Basement Tapes 1987-1988.’
“Mr. Watt Said” was the only song from the Church Grims that ever made it to vinyl. It appeared on the four-song Egg sampler “A Lighthouse in the Desert” in 1989. If you only hear one song by them, this should be the one. You know I’m a sucker for trumpet with my pop, and there is plenty of that here. Within seconds, you will think of the June Brides. I can’t give a better compliment.”
mp3: The Church Grims – Mr Watt Said
Things moved on in 2020, thanks to the German-based label, Firestation Records which released Yankee Mags on vinyl and CD, offering up everything that the Church Grims had recorded, including two later songs from 1991 that had been issued as a CD single but not included on the previous compilation, along with a series of demos from 1988 that had previously been unavailable.
Discogs reveals that the members of the band were Mick Smith (vocals/guitar), Tony Boyle (lead guitar/backing vocals), Bob Gregor (bass from 1986-89), Mick McKay (bass, 1991), McNabb (drums) and Greg Bolland (trumpet/backing vocals). Here’s the song that was included in the C88 box set:-
mp3: The Church Grims – Plaster Saint
They were also featured in the comprehensive Big Gold Dreams box set that I’ve referred to a few times during the course of this very long-running series. I also know that Greg Bolland is a member of The Muldoons, whose debut album Made For Each Other was released by Last Night From Glasgow and given a glowing mention on this very blog back in March 2021.
I did promise that Half Man Half Biscuit would feature prominently in this occasional series. This is a belter from their 2022 album, The Voltarol Years. A sing-a-long number which could easily have been a hit in the music-hall era.
mp3: Half Man Half Biscuit – When I Look At My Baby
No real cultural references in this one for fiktiv to concern himself with, other than ‘Silver Cross’ being a famous UK manufacturer of baby transport. Oh, and Garstang being a small market town in north-west England.
When I look at my baby All I see is Richie Stephens It’s got the same uneven eyebrows And the snidey little mouth And it reminds me of the evening When you said you’d been to Garstang You’d gone to see Amanda Warhurst About a Silver Cross pram
But there was never any Garstang And there’s no Amanda Warhurst You were in the Coach and Horses With that low-down, no-good Pig-thick waster Richie Stephens And his weird uneven eyebrows And his snidey little mouth which I’d like to see leave town
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 