SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 103)

As with last week’s featured single, this one had a place in the 45 45s at 45 series so I’m lifting that very tale:-

Quite a few folk told me that I really would like Sons and Daughters long before I ever got round to hearing them. I did know that Adele Bethel was in the band, but having seen her previously perform live on stage with Arab Strap, I wasn’t convinced she was capable of fronting her own act. So despite there being a real buzz about the band in Glasgow, I remained quite blasé about things, and I never got round to finding the time to check them out.

One day, while pottering around the house (quite possibly yet again putting the CD and vinyl collections into the proper alphabetical order) I heard a great noise coming from my TV which was tuned into MTV2. I wandered into the living room and saw a video for a song that caught my ear partly because of a great guitar riff and partly because it was being sung in a broad Scottish accent. Then there was a chorus of sorts in which a vaguely familiar looking female came in on joint vocals, and then the video descended into chaos with a bar-room brawl. Fantastic stuff, but who the hell were these fabulous people??

Up came the caption, and at that point dear readers, I hung my head in shame. For it was of course this:-

mp3 : Sons and Daughters – Johnny Cash

So out I traipsed to Avalanche Records to purchase the LP Love The Cup. I felt as if everyone I the shop was laughing at me for being the last person in Glasgow to buy the album which had been on prominent display for ages. I took it home and played it. And then I immediately played it again. And again. And again.

Not long afterwards, the Villains were on one of their regular pilgrimages in search of the sun. We found ourselves one day on the French island of Martinique on a day-trip from our main base on St Lucia. Mrs V was trying on some clothes in a boutique, and there was a French-language radio station on in the background. Without warning, Johnny Cash came on – and it wasn’t the Man In Black.

I grooved….well, I was on holiday and unlikely ever to set foot in the shop again and didn’t care how ridiculous I looked. I may have been the last Glaswegian to pick up on the song, but I bet I was the first to hear it on a radio station in the middle of the West Indies.

The b-side of this single, as you’ll see from the sleeve is called Hunt, a an alternative version of which can be found on the follow-up LP, The Repulsion Box:-

mp3 : Sons and Daughters – Hunt (b-side version)
mp3 : Sons and Daughters – Hunt (LP version)

Enjoy

Cousteau

ANYONE REMEMBER THIS LOT?

Around the turn of the century, Cousteau briefly enjoyed a fair bit of media exposure with many comparing their sound to the likes of Scott Walker and Burt Bacharach. Such comparisons were the results of the song-writing and arrangement talents of multi-instrumentalist Davey Ray Moor (who had previously enjoyed a very successful career composing advertising jingles and TV soundtracks) and vocalist Liam McKahey whose delivery and style were a real throwback to the easy listening era some 40 years previously. Personally, I always thought he was more akin to Graeme Skinner who is best known for fronting 80s hit band Hipsway.

The band was given a lot of critical acclaim which never quite got them beyond cult status with the record buying public. They initially released two LPs and a smattering of singles between 1999 and 2002 before Moor decided he’d had enough. McKahey took on the task of songwriting and a third LP was released in 2005 before the band called it a day altogether.

I’ve a CD copy of the debut album on the shelf, picked up in a bargain bin for £2.99. It’s certainly more worthy than that albeit it’s a very long time since I listened to it all the way through. The album does have one genuine standout track that deserved to be a huge hit:-

mp3 : Cousteau – The Last Good Day Of The Year

My big book of indie discography informs me there were two other singles lifted from the debut LP and here, just for your aural pleasure, they are:-

mp3 : Cousteau – She Don’t Hear Your Prayer
mp3 : Cousteau – Wish You Were Her

Enjoy

Magazine

GET IT RIGHT UP YE!

(A repost from 8 April 2010)

For years, I thought that the Factory mogul was the brains behind the production of this, the third single from Magazine released on 17th November 1978.

Turns out it was a totally different Tony Wilson…one who for years worked at the BBC. Stupid me…..

For some artistic reason, Howard Devoto insisted that Give Me Everything be released without any marketing campaign and with no review copies to be sent to the music press. Almost as if he wanted it not to succeed. And almost as if he wanted to avoid dealing with any music journalists.

However, the review penned by Dave McCullough in Sounds showed that the strategy somewhat backfired:-

At last I have Howie and his chums sussed. They’re really The Muppets in disguise laughing their scraggy-heads off while the hundred thousand punks STILL take them seriously. This is dreadful – the lyrics proving more cringeworthy even than usual. ‘You’re so oblique and easy’. Look – Howie – you’re as much a poet as Len Fairclough is a poet – so why don’tcha sod off – you baldy little pain?

Or had it backfired?? Howard’s response was to send the journalist a cheque for £10 with the words:-

Your review of Give Me Everything was so unbelievably sympathetic, was so to the point that this £10 of my enthusiastic and shrieking money must go to you. You’re not so oblique but you’re so easy. You must have it. I hope you can see that. I’m sorry it couldn’t be more. Please cash it. Have a Christmas. Howard.

Which was of course printed in full in the following week’s edition of the paper…….an incident that helped inspire the later song Feed The Enemy.

mp3 : Magazine – Give Me Everything
mp3 : Magazine – I Love You You Big Dummy

The b-side is a cover of a Captain Beefheart song (now there’s something I never ever got….and as a consequence have nothing of his/theirs on vinyl or CD). It remains one of the most popular Magazine recording ever as evidenced by its inclusion in the sets of the comeback gigs in February 2009.

I wonder if the journo and Howard ever kissed and made up??

Oh and as a wee bonus, here’s yer Peel Sessions versions:-

mp3 : Magazine – Give Me Everything (Peel Session)
mp3 : Magazine – I Love You You Big Dummy (Peel Session)

Broadcast on 24 July 1978, some four months before the 7″ single was released.

Happy Listening.

Age Of Chance, Pete Shelley

FROM THE CRUMPSALL CORRESPONDENT

Again….huge thanks to David for his patience on this as he sent it up weeks ago when much of Britain was grabbed by the mania of the Tour de France 2014:-

Like Adam over at Bagging Area, I too was not going to let slip a chance to see the Tour de France as it hit the North. So we set off from Manchester Victoria early on Sunday morning on a train packed to the rafters to Mytholmroyd, just beyond Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.

Parking our camping chairs on a grass verge at the bottom of Cragg Vale – at five and a half miles, England’s longest continuous single gradient – we and thousands of others waited three hours or more in glorious sunshine for the peloton to pass. Preceded by the publicity caravan, and a host of police cars and motorbikes, half of them your actual French Gendarmerie, they were upon us and gone in a flash.

As a cycling fan who grew up watching Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon, initially on ITV’s World Of Sport, then on Channel 4’s early coverage, when it was on for a whole thirty minutes a day, I never thought I’d get the chance to see it so close to home. At one point they were a mere fifteen miles from our house.

There were tears in my eyes after the boys in Lycra had gone round the bend up the road.

It’s surprisingly easy to tie in the Tour with 80’s indie music. First of all, because the rather wonderful theme music to the Channel 4 coverage of the time was written by none other than Pete Shelley.

mp3 : Pete Shelley – Tour de France Channel 4 theme

Secondly, when cycling garb is now all the rage, in the 80’s it was only really worn by… cyclists. Except that is, for The Age of Chance.

Age of Chance formed in Leeds – which saw Saturday’s Grand Départ – in 1985, and were signed to Fon Records of Sheffield, where Sunday’s stage finished. They were darlings of the indie scene, often touted at the time as the band most likely to succeed, but they never really did.

They were more raucous than their C86 contemporaries, with a bit of funk thrown into their thrashy guitar sound. Working with Sheffield’s Designers’ Republic, they produced some striking cover art. The sleeve of “Don’t Get Mad … Get Even” was one of Q Magazine’s 100 Best Record Covers Of All Time, describing it as “too intricate to rightfully exist in the pre-desktop publishing age.”

Coupled with this, they were never seen out wearing anything else than kit of some of the biggest cycling teams of the time, notably Renault-Elf and Système-U. Because of their obvious love of design, they were sometimes unfairly derided for being more style over content, but they were a blistering live band who knew how to work a crowd.

Their greatest success was an Indie Number One with their cover of “Kiss” in 1986, at a time when few of us indie kids would dare admit to even listening to Prince. Two years before The Art of Noise did their own version, theirs is far superior, yet virtually forgotten.

Despite signing to Virgin in 1987, success always eluded them. They finally split in 1991.

Where they are now, I’ve no idea, but I bet they out at the roadside this weekend, cheering on the peloton through Yorkshire, getting envious glances at their vintage cycling gear.

Cheers,

David

JC adds……David’s words led me to dig out the 12″ copy of said song…..it contains a great remix and a more than half-decent b-side:-

mp3 : Age of Chance – Kiss
mp3 : Age of Chance – Kiss Collision Cut
mp3 : Age of Chance – Crash Conscious

Enjoy

Foo Fighters, Lizard Music, Skyscraper

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST CORRESPONDENT

With thanks to S-WC for being so patient………he sent this up to me weeks ago but has had to stand on the sidelines as I did the Friends Electric series:-

The Return of the Box (5)

Rock Special!!

Foo Fighters – For All The Cows

Lizard Music – Fashionably Lame – ‘Jacko’s Book’

Skyscraper – Never Again

I’m really not going to bang about the Foo Fighters, I think you all know who they are and know what records they have done and who is in them. What I will say is that at Reading 1995 I was at the first Foo Fighters Gig in the UK when about 50000 people tried to cram inside a tent that held 15000 to see Dave Grohl march around a stage singing songs about winnebagos. It was an incredible gig, one of the best I have ever seen, weird then that I never really got into the Foo Fighters after that, I own three of their singles (it was four, but I saw that the 7” of ‘This Is A Call’ was selling for daft money on Ebay so I flogged it), and this is one of them.

mp3 : Foo Fighters – For All The Cows

For All The Cows was the third release off their eponymous debut album and includes as a B Side a live version at that very show at Reading, which is probably why I bought it. It reached the lower regions of the Top 30 back in 1995. As a Foo Fighters song its not one of their best, but you know it’s the Foo Fighters, so its better than most of the rock that was on offer in 1995.

So let’s move on to Lizard Music, a band who will probably appear on my own blog When You Can’t Remember Anything soon as they have an animal in their name (this week is animal musician is Panda Bear – don’t miss that – shameless plug, sorry). I distinctly remember receiving this in the post as it came with two promotional presents, firstly a bottle of tequila, which was labelled ‘Lizard’s Breath’ and I drunk it with two Indian chaps I know outside a brothel in Dalston – I stress the outside bit on that sentence. Secondly it came with a lollipop and frozen or gelled inside that lollipop was a real dead lizard. Which I thought was gross at the time. In fact I still do. I remember very little about the album itself, so I’ve played it again and found my old notes – I said this back in 1995, listen to this album three times to fully get it – six out of ten. Stand out track ‘jacko’s Book’because of the funkier sound. Listening to it now it is exactly as I remember it, thireteen tracks of punky power pop with a rocky edge, not that bad, not that good either. One for the charity bin at the end of the road.

mp3 : Lizard Music – Jacko’s Book

Finally Skyscraper, back in 1993 a mate of mine Martin started a club night in Gillingham, Kent. He was 18 and wanted to break into the industry. The first night he booked a band, that band were Elastica and using a contact he had through his postman (seriously) he got the NME down to review it. The headline next week read ‘This Charmless Twang’ and history was made. The next club night was the most anticipated thing to happen in Gillingham since Barry from the Butchers Arms said he was having a Bingo Night. Martin booked Skyscraper. He booked them solely on the basis that they contained an ex member of Swervedriver and an ex member of long forgotten Camdenites Milk. They were also favourites of the NME and they promised to come down again to review the band. Musically they were basically a grunge band with what the press would have called an inventive edge. The night came and it was packed, I mean rammed beyond capacity. Martin stood there grinning. The owners of the bar, despite taking record profits that night banned the club night, and that was that. Gillingham reverted back to being a town full of knuckle dragging racists instead of a cool hip happening kind of place. Martin, well he works in the industry, of course he does.

mp3 : Skyscraper – Never Again

S-WC

Delgados

FRIENDS

The past few weeks have been a celebration of some of the best blogs and bloggers out there but I wanted to extend the concept by one more day in an effort to persuade someone to return to his keyboard.

This is the bloke who almost single-handedly got me started on this adventure all those years ago. I had just been removed from what was regarded by quite a few folk as a high-pressure and high-profile job – at the time I was incredibly bitter but looking back it was one of the best things to ever happen to me as it led to so many unexpected and new opportunities coming my way. One of the first was having a bit more free time and I found myself scouring the internet searching out what was at the time a huge explosion of music blogs.

One of these was the work of someone who lived and worked in Glasgow. It was called Let’s Kiss and Make Up and it was a combination of quality writing, photography and tunes. After a few weeks of stalking the author, I plucked up the courage to send him an e-mail asking for advice on how best to set up a blog. A few weeks later, as a bit of a thank you, I left a 12″ single for him at his place of work, but without warning him I was going to do so. The e-mail exchanges increased but then out of the blue his blog disappeared.

A few weeks later I got an e-mail saying that he had ‘killed’ the blog for personal reasons but was starting again, this time calling it And Before The First Kiss. We made tentative plans to hook up but before either of us knew it, I was off to Canada to work for a few months. This delayed us meeting in the flesh until January 2008, a full 15 months after we had first been in contact by e-mail. We hit it off immediately….to a level way beyond what either of us dare hoped for….and we are now the closest of friends having shared many a great night out at many a great venue in Glasgow.

He’s someone who claims he is only capable of writing at his best when he is unhappy or troubled….and as he sets very high standards and is currently very happy with his lot, then you’ll understand why his own blog has been on an extended vacation since June 2013. But he has very kindly penned something for this blog, and I’m delighted to again offer the opportunity to enjoy the words and thoughts of Comrade Colin:-

“When our mutual friend asked me to come out of retirement, for a brief moment, and scribble a few words over at his place he said I had a ‘blank page’. Oh how he cruelly mocks me. You see, I used to keep a music blog (of sorts) but have been rather distant for some time now (I note that, indeed, June 2013 was the last update. Oh dear.). It’s the usual excuses of life, work and family; too many distractions and other things to attend to. It’s a familiar story. Also, I suppose, the 140 character ‘thing’ happened and I just got a bit lazy. For me, a post would always usually begin with a photograph I’d taken. At other times, it might be something I’d read in the newspaper, a conversation I’d had with a friend or an ‘encounter’ on public transport. Not usually the music, oddly enough. The words would come out of the ether and sometimes reflect upon what the photograph was presenting (to my mind, at least) or what the song was about, but not always. I wasn’t entirely sure to be honest. But, I enjoyed the challenge and made time for it. I built ‘blogging’ into my routine and would always be thinking ‘what comes next?’ Anyway, that was then. I don’t really have much else to say right now. I mean, the bottom line is I used to write a music blog but now I don’t. Motivation and enthusiasm are vital in keeping you going and I was found severely lacking. I lost the habit too easily, too quickly, with a few false endings and bumpy starts along the way. This is why the heroic day-to-day efforts of JC are to be applauded. It’s a tough gig, for sure. That’s what The Rolling Stones say at least.

This photograph was taken on February 11th, 2007 at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. It was a writing day for me. Back then, the Mitchell was one of my regular haunts (working, but away from the office). I noticed this adorable couple (or are they brother and sister?) and I was struck by how comfortable they seemed with each other, within themselves; cups of sweet tea and good books surrounding them. As soon as I took the photograph I immediately thought of this song. To this day I’m still not sure why but there you go. But one thing I do know: I miss The Delgados an awful lot.”

—

The Delgados – ‘Reasons for Silence (Ed’s Song)’

—

Thanks Comrade. I hope you’re inspired enough to either get things going again over at your own place or else become a regular contributor here.

This post is dedicated to another dear mate of mine…..one who just never ever ‘got’ the type of music I enjoy so much….he was so mainstream it was scary. RC would have been 50 years old today if leukaemia hadn’t cruelly claimed him a few years back….there’s rarely a day goes by that I don’t think of him.

Morrissey, Morrissey & Siouxsie

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 21)

It was back in August 1994 that the world got to listen to the fruits of the union between Morrissey and Siouxsie Sioux. It was a track that had been recorded at least nine months before release during the sessions for Vauxhall And I, an LP which had hit the shelves in March 1994.

The song is a cover originally recorded by Timi Yuro. If like me, you don’t know anything about the lady, then this obituary from The Guardian newspaper back in 2004 might assist.

The lack of a b-side on this CD single didn’t help sales, and it only reached #25 in the UK charts, a position that was, at the time, very consistent with that of most solo offerings from the two protagonists – which makes me think either every Morrissey fan in 1994 bought Siouxsie & The Banshees singles (and vice-versa), or it was a single that many fans missed out on because they weren’t aware of its existence. The latter is possible given that there was absolutely no promotional work done on the single at all – no video or TV appearances – and it got next to no airplay on radio.

Personally, I think it is quite lovely:-

mp3 : Morrissey & Siouxsie – Interlude
mp3 : Morrissey & Siouxsie – Interlude (extended)
mp3 : Morrissey & Siouxsie – Interlude (instrumental)

The sleeve from a snap taken in 1957 by Roger Mayne, and is entitled Girl Jiving In Southam Street. Southam Street is in the North Kensington district of London, and as far as I know, the girl in question has never been identified (but to my eyes has the look of Kirsten Dunst)

Happy Listening

Skids

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 102)

This week’s single was #22 in my 45 45s at 45 series back in 2008. I thought I’d do a re-posting…

My love for this bit of plastic is very much down to two things.

Firstly, The Skids were the first Scottish band to really make a big impact on the punk/new wave scene. And by that, I mean they were probably the first to get themselves onto Top Of The Pops.

Given how little exposure bands got on TV back in the 70s, getting your face on TOTP was an incredibly important arena to be seen on. And the debut performance from Richard Jobson et al will stay etched firmly in the minds of everyone who saw it. As well as in the minds of their parents.

This truly was the first time I heard my dad say something completely negative about something on TOTP. He was 43 years of age when this came out…..his taste was a little bit of Johnny Cash, a little bit of Neil Diamond, a little bit of Supertramp and a little bit of Status Quo. He knew that music was important to me, and never did he slag off anything that I brought into the house or that I professed to loving when watching TOTP.

Then he saw and heard The Skids.

I don’t think he swore as at that time, he wouldn’t do so in front of any of his three young sons. But he laughed out loud at Richard’s efforts at dancing and singing, which truly were like nothing else on the planet. I didn’t realise it at the time, but this was the generation gap finally showing through.

Of course I went out and bought the record a few days later with that week’s money from the paper round. Of course I played it louder than anything else I owned at the time. Of course I tried, behind the privacy of a closed bedroom door, to dance the way I had seen Richard dance (remember kids, no VHS tapes in those days, you saw something once and you had to commit it to memory).

There must have been thousands doing the same as me because the single continued to rise up the charts. TOTP had a policy of not having bands on two weeks in a row (unless they were at #1), so it was a fortnight before the band got back onto the show. This time my dad went into the kitchen and made a cup of tea as he was thoroughly sick to his back teeth with the song by now. I was a teenage rebel……at last.

Oh and the second reason why I love this song? One of the best b-sides ever. No arguments.

mp3 : The Skids – Into The Valley
mp3 : The Skids – TV Stars (live at The Marquee, London)

The TOTP performance is now widely available thanks to youtube . As is the promo video. As is a hugely clever advert featuring the song, which I’m sure must have made my dad laugh many years later.

Happy days.

Uncategorized

FOR TOMORROW

I’ll be there for most of this…………..

Meursault

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (22)

Today’s friend electric probably doesn’t need much of an introduction as I’m guessing most of you will be familiar with his work.

Drew is the very substantial talent who sits Across The Kitchen Table. You never know until you pay a visit just what musical offerings will be on the menu as Drew has the most wide-ranging taste of anyone that I know. The tunes alone are an excuse enough to make you want to be a regular visitor but the sprinkling of fairy dust comes courtesy of the writing which is a combination of social commentary, personal diary, critical analysis and the occasional delve into the memory bank.

I’ve been lucky enough to have hooked up with Drew on a number of occasions, mainly through us being in the audience at gigs over the years. But we’ve also made specific arrangements to meet up outwith said gigs and I’m in the privileged position of having actually sat at the very kitchen table which is pictured at the head of his blog. I can vouch that the boy makes a mean bowl of pasta and also knows exactly the right sort of wines to accompany the food…..

So I’m very proud to say that Drew is more than a Friend Electric but, like many other bloggers that I’ve been lucky enough to have met in the flesh over the past 8 years, a true friend. He is generous to a fault and great company no matter the location, be it a large city centre concert venue or the snug of a small lounge in the small town in which he lives with his wonderful family…his kids are going to grow up with great taste in music and inherit a very fine and quite valuable record/CD collection.

Here’s something I’ve stolen from him, penned back on 7 February 2012:-

VINYL TIME

Picture the scene, it’s Saturday just before noon, the breakfast dishes are done and the kitchen cleared up. Number one son is away with the better half fucking up packing some poor unfortunate’s shopping in the aid of school funds. Leo is sitting at the “pooter” watching Remembrance Of The Daleks which will keep him engrossed for as long as I let him sit in front of the thing.

So, I find myself at a loose end with nothing to do. Well there is the washing machine to load, the hoovering to be done and a few other things that I could be doing but nothing urgent.

During these rare occasions I retreat to the dinning room and put on something that I have not got round to listening to or something that I haven’t listened to in ages. It will always be on vinyl, as well, it just feels right that when I’ve got the time I sit down and give an album the attention it deserves moving only the once to flip over the vinyl. After which I will go back to whatever mundane tasks need to be done happy in the knowledge that I have just listened to something the way it was intended to be listened to, no skipping, shuffling or repeating.

On Saturday I found myself in a quandry. I had the urge to hear Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues but that would mean playing a cd and this was ‘Vinyl Time’. I decided that as I could not think of anything else I wanted to hear more, I would break the rules this once. I did toy with the idea of playing All Creatures Will Make Merry as this was re-released on lovely red vinyl last year but no, Pissing On Bonfires it had to be.

And for the next thirty eight and a bit minutes I sat on my chair and immersed myself in what is still an amazing listen even after being heard by these ears tons of times. It feels as fresh now as it did when I first purchased it on a whim and waited ages for it to come.

If there are any of you out there that don’t own a copy of this absolute gem get yourself over to Song By Toad pronto and purchase it and as much of the label’s back catalogue as you can afford. Then mibbe one day they will be able to afford to do for Meursault’s debut what they did for the follow up and release it on vinyl which would spare me the dilema of breaking the rules of ‘Vinyl Time’.

mp3 : Meursault – A Small Stretch Of Land

—————————————————–

The rather sad news emerged the other week that Meursault will soon be no more as Neil Pennycook, the main man in the band and possessor of the finest voice in all of Scotland, wants to branch out into new things and work with other musicians. The band play their final ever gig in Edinburgh later this month. I intend to be there…

Human League

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (21)

It’s now coming up to 8 years since I started up TVV during which time many very fine bloggers have come and gone, many of whom now concentrate their efforts on podcasts or other more instant forms of social media.

It has become increasingly rare to find new kids on the blogging block – particularly those who decide to focus in on that punk/new wave era which was so exciting – and so you can imagine how delighted I was to find my way onto For Malcontents Only, particularly given that it is a place which looks back at the scene in and around Glasgow.

This excellent blog kicked off back just 12 months ago. Judging by some of the postings, I’m hazarding a guess that Jamie (I’ve only just learned his name thanks to his e-mail address!) is maybe a couple of years older than me given that he is able to reminisce about gigs in pubs at a time when I was dreaming of being able to shave on a regular basis… or maybe unlike me he didn’t have a baby face and a great fear of knock-backs from bouncers.

As you’d imagine, it’s a place heavy with nostalgia but there’s also a tremendous selection of posts concentrating on the here and now. One of the most unique aspects of FMO is that it features interviews with some of the lesser-known artists who were part of the punk/new wave scene and brings their stories bang up to date. In short, it is the sort of blog that I had dreams TVV would look like when I set out all those years ago!!

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about from May when Jamie looked back at a single released on a small Scottish label:-

The Human League: Being Boiled (1978) Fast Product

In a Melody Maker interview back in February 1979, Martyn Ware of The Human League mentioned that the band were more influenced by films than by they were rock, claiming he’d rather see a good film than a good rock band. In the cinema, ‘You’re part of the experience. Whereas, watching a rock band, it’s just some guys up on a stage.’
When a tour (due to take in Edinburgh and Aberdeen) was later announced supporting Talking Heads, it became apparent that The Human League didn’t see themselves as your standard guys up on a stage kinda band.

Their idea for the show was a multimedia extravaganza, utilizing their new synchronization units that meant they could operate slides in sync with each song. The problem with the plan as far as Talking Heads (not exactly backwards looking dinosaurs themselves) were concerned was the fact that while each member of The Human League would be at the gig, rather than being the centre of attention, they would supposedly be in the audience, hopefully discussing the automated events on stage and signing autographs.

The idea got the band dropped from the tour although they wanted to press ahead with the concept and even expand it.

As their manager Bob Last explained to NME: ‘It’s cost us a lot of money to set up and now we have audio-visuals, tape memory banks – in fact, the whole gist of the show – just sitting in boxes and waiting to go.’

Last outlined the potential of the show and spoke of creating a version for discos rather than rock concerts. ‘There are various other avenues to be explored. For example, I think it would be the ideal support for Alien, or a film of that nature.’

After the comparative failure of second album Travelogue, tensions within the band increased; eventually singer Phil Oakey decided that he wanted to sack Ware, Ian Craig Marsh wasn’t keen on the idea and the pair quit and teamed up on a new project to be known as the British Electric Foundation (BEF).

Remaining members Oakey and Philip Adrian Wright retained The Human League name, although they had to be convinced by Bob Last to do so. The music press didn’t see much of a future for a band with only a singer and director of visuals (even if Wright had started playing incidental keyboards). And you could hardly blame them.

Oakey, though, came up with a possible solution to enable a forthcoming European tour to still go ahead. His plan to fill in the gap left by Marsh and Ware revolved largely around the recruitment of two schoolgirls, Suzanne Sulley (17) and Joanne Catherall (18), who he’d spotted on the dancefloor at the Crazy Daisy’s ‘Futurist’ night in Sheffield although he also additionally employed a professional keyboard player, Ian Burden.

Neither girl had any kind of remarkable singing voice and neither was that great at dancing either. If the pair had time-travelled thirty odd years forward and showed up at an X-Factor audition, they would likely be dismissed as no-hopers.

Luckily the pop buying masses of 1981 didn’t require performers with touching ‘backstories’ on Saturday night TV, neither did they require anyone to have been coached by professionals to perform pointless vocal gymnastics or to display a look that had been (supposedly) ‘styled’ to perfection by somebody with no sense of originality or indeed style.

Having seen the new look League on Top of the Pops miming to Sound of the Crowd, the pop buying masses decided they actually liked the caked-on mascara, beauty spots and lippy and the slightly awkward and un-coordinated dance routines. Generally, girls identified with them while boys fancied them.

Joanne and Suzanne soon became the poster girls for synth-pop but Bob Last, in particular, judged the band could be improved further by the addition of one final and vital ingredient, another professional musician, after Ian Burden temporarily left post-tour.

It might have appeared that the ex-guitarist of the retro obsessed Rezillos and the futuristic Human League had little in common bar sharing the same manager but in April 1981, Jo Callis was invited to become a permanent member, the idea being even stranger if you bear in mind Callis’ confession that he had never been near a keyboard in his life.

The first Human League album with the new line-up, Dare was released in October, 1981 and quickly made its way to the top of the UK album charts. By Christmas it had gone platinum in Britain, its number one status equalled by a single that Phil Oakey hadn’t wanted released, Don’t You Want Me – he only agreed finally on the condition that a large colour poster accompanied the 45, otherwise, he felt, fans would feel ripped off by the ‘substandard’ single alone.

Co-written by Callis, Oakey and Wright, the ‘substandard’ single went on to become one of the UK’s biggest ever selling songs*, the British Christmas number one of 1981 and also later an American #1 too and a worldwide smash.

And here I finally get round to the Scottish independent labels part of the post. Due to the success of Don’t You Want Me, the first ever Human League single, Being Boiled, which had been originally released during the summer of 1978 on Bob Last’s Edinburgh based Fast Product label, was made available again and this time entered the top ten of the singles charts, where it should have been first time around. For me it’s a much better record than Don’t You Want Me. See what you think:

mp3 : Human League – Being Boiled

And if anybody is wondering, this is only the first of a number of entries in this series looking at Fast Product, so I will get round to writing more on the actual label in the future. Honestly.

* It even re-entered the charts here a couple of months ago after being taken up by Aberdeen fans in the run up to their team winning the Scottish League Cup.

———————————————-

I’ve never met Jamie…not knowingly anyway…..but there’s no doubt that over the past 35 years, we have been in the same place at the same time on many an occasion…we might even have nodded to one another in passing and noot realised!!

The last of this particular Friends Electric series will be tomorrow. TVV should, all being well, begin to return to normal next week.

Carter USM

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (20)

If yesterday’s friend electric can provide 500 reasons why the 80s didn’t suck, then today’s featured blogger extraordinaire can give you 500,000 reasons why club music is the dog’s bollocks…

Ctel, the brains and driving force behind the legendary blog Acid Ted is one of the real inspirations for what I do. There’s a whole load of reasons for that, and those of you who have been on this journey with me since back in September 2006 will know many of those reasons why.

Back in February 2010, when it looked as if Ctel he was giving up on blogging I typed:-

“Now I can’t claim to be a huge lover of the dance genre that was championed over at Acid Ted, but I made sure I went in on a very regular basis and read all that was said if only to learn a lot more about acts and music that was often alien to me.

It was actually almost impossible to keep up with ctel’s prodigious output – sometimes he could produce six postings over a 24 hour period. He began his A-Z of the genre on Thursday 14th February 2008. Two years to the day afterwards, he completed his epic task and laid down his keyboard.

Ctel is a long time friend of TVV. He has posted here on a reasonably regular basis and not just when I’ve been away on holiday and given him the run of the place – I will always be in his debt for him stepping in to keep the blog going during a spell when I ran into some difficulties with my hardware crashing at home, all the while keeping Acid Ted ticking over as well.”

Little did I know that within a few months, I was to experience a personal and sudden tragedy when my young brother died in a car crash…without any prompting, Ctel again took over my blog for an extended period and elicited some astonishing pieces from many people as my internet friends rallied round in my hours of need. I can never thank him enough for that incredible gesture….and its the loss of those particular postings when google pulled the plug on the original blog just over a year ago that really angered and upset me.

I was lucky enough to meet the great man in the flesh a few years back when we shared brunch in London one Sunday morning when I was down there for a weekend break. He was tremendous company and we spent the time dissecting music, politics, sport and life in general; if anyone passing by looked across or listened in they must have thought we had been mates for decades and that the brunch was some sort of ritual we carried out on a regular basis such was the flow of chat and the sheer joy we took being in each other’s company. I’m hoping to be down in the capital for a few days later in the year and fingers crossed we will again meet up.

I had planned to feature some dance music to go with the post but instead I’m turning to another band who meant so much to both of us when we were of that age when going along to gigs was the be-all and end-all.

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine came out of seemingly nowhere to become bona fide chart stars in the early 90s. Much of their meteoric rise can be attributed to the energy and vibrancy of their live shows, all of which got off to the most perfect of starts thanks to the deployment of an MC called Jon’Fat’ Beast.

Sadly, Jon Beast passed away a few days ago, but the extent to which he was an essential part of Carter USM, as well as wider the role he played in the music scene in London, can be seen from this piece in one of the major UK newspapers:-

“Tributes were paid today to Jon “Fat” Beast, the music promoter who was best known as the warm-up act for indie pop band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine.

Fans and friends pledged nearly £5,000 to an internet appeal to raise money for his family following his death aged 51.

Carter lead singer Jim Bob, told The Independent that the former MC had been ill for some time and was understood to have been suffering from septicaemia.

“He didn’t have any money and he had been in and out of hospital for the past few years. We got a message a couple of days ago that he was quite seriously ill then pretty much a day later we found out he had died,” he said.

Beast was a much loved feature at Carter gigs before which he would strip to his underpants and take to the stage with a slogan scrawled on his bare chest whilst fans shouted “you fat bastard” at him and he traded insults back.

But before that he had run the highly influential Timebox club at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town, north London.

In the mid-1980s it was one of the most important venues of the then thriving indie live scene celebrated as a place that would give unsigned or even unheard acts the opportunity to perform in London.

Among those that played there were Voice of the Beehive, Half Man Half Biscuit, Jesus Jones, Pop Will Eat Itself and Carter USM.

“We met him when we played there, and he was doing the lights as well as running the club. For some reason he had his own microphone and he used to heckle us from the stage,” recalled the singer, now an author whose latest novel, The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81, is written under the name J.B Morrison.

“He was a very lovable character,” he said. “He asked us to come on tour but we said no and he just turned up. The audiences really liked him,” he added. “When we reformed in 2007 he came back for those shows. He was a handful. He was so enthusiastic about everything all of the time but he was genuinely lovely,” he added.

Carter are due to play their last ever shows in November which sold out in a matter of minutes. These are now expected to include a tribute to the former warm-up man.”

These are for ctel and all Carter fans:-

mp3 : Carter USM – Surfin USM
mp3 : Carter USM – Rent
mp3 : Carter USM – After The Watershed (Early Learning the Hard Way)
mp3 : Carter USM – Bloodsport For All

More Friends Electric tomorrow

Squeeze

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (19)

Today’s Friend Electric is Uncle E. His blog is a real labour of love. It’s called 500 Reasons Why The 80s Didn’t Suck. He set out on this expedition back in September 2012:-

“Let’s for a moment forget about the poofy hair, Reagan and Thatcher and the threat of nuclear annihilation, parachute pants and Eddie Murphy movies. This blog will concern itself with the music of the decade, much of which was wonderful and groundbreaking, as opposed to popular thought which has skewed opinion to remember the 80’s as the worst decade EVER of popular music.

This blog will focus on dispelling that notion by highlighting 500 musical reasons why the ‘80’s categorically did not suck. I lived through the ‘80’s so I should know, and although I made some pretty terrible choices a good majority of the bands and albums remain relevant and enjoyable even today. I didn’t listen to top 40 radio then and I don’t now, so a lot of the stuff that was played back then on that medium won’t be a focus here. No, I’d like to attempt to point you in the direction left of the dial; those albums and bands that were played at underground clubs, the forgotten gems that took research and word of mouth to discover. Trial and error baby, trial and error. These were the days before the internet, kiddies, and when you found a cool band or an album back then you owned it and shared it with your peers. You poured over the latest issues of the NME and Melody Maker (imports for me, of course) and more often that not went by the style of the LP cover or gut impulse, or sometimes both.

The music I focused on back then was new wave, post punk and punk, genres that are really now just considered ‘alternative’. I remember making wildly weird and off-kilter mix tapes up the yin-yang, an art form that has sadly died out with the advent of file sharing and MP3’s. Gang Of Four sat comfortably next to New Order and The Cure, which segued into the Dead Kennedys, NOMEANSNO and Black Flag, followed by OMD, the Psychedelic Furs and early Simple Minds. The bands back then, the early ‘80’s, were trying everything out as there was no template. The Pistols and the Ramones and The Clash blew the old blueprint up a few years prior and these new upstarts, inspired by the DIY ethics of the former, created something totally fresh, totally weird and totally cool in the wake.

So.

I reckon there are at least 500 reasons I can give here why the music of the 1980’s didn’t suck, and I’ll be counting down from that number with the next post. It’s time to dispel the horribly misguided notion that the music from the 1980’s was the worst ever. I’m not quite sure it was the best, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. I hope you all chime in from time to time and give me your feedback. And while I consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the music of the ‘80’s I am certainly not arrogant enough to think I know it all. If there is a band or an album that you think I should know about, let me know in the comments section. If I can turn a few of you on to something then all the better.

Thanks for reading. We’re gonna have some fun! Also, as a side note: any of you who want to contribute via a guest post, I’d welcome it in a heartbeat. Just email me or leave a comment you’d like to do so and we’ll make it happen.”

The above words will, I’m sure, chime with many TVV readers – especially those sentences about mix tapes. Happy memories of spending at least 10 hours at a time trying to out the perfect 90 minutes together to help me get through the sheer awfulness and tedium of the daily Glasgow – Edinburgh commute.

Uncle E has counted down to reason 353. Most of his reasons are very sound although there will be a few which raise eyebrows with, for example, reason 421 featuring an LP by Queen. What is especially enjoyable is the succinct style on offer – just a few short sharp sentences to define what he believes makes a great record. Another bonus is the layout and indexing system so that if, for example, you click on New Order you will find they are responsible for reasons 492, 398, 394 and 371

Alongside the various reasons you will also enjoy some very well argued posts offering his thoughts, views and opinions on various aspects of music and musicians. Those of you who aren’t fond of U2 might enjoy his critique of the band. Just click here.

I agree with a lot but not all of the reasons outlined so far by Uncle E. I was looking for an excuse to feature this lot….so here’s reason #461 Why the 80s didn’t suck:-

“Holy crap, was there a better pure pop band in the 1980′s than Squeeze? Me thinks not. I love everything they did up to East Side Story. Even the debut had it’s moments, and everything after fell apart. In the middle you have this little masterpiece, Squeeze’s strongest and most catchiest songs conveniently compiled on one little piece of plastic. Pulling Mussels, Another Nail In My Heart, If I Didn’t Love You, Vicky Verky, the list just goes on, man! If you track it down the ‘deluxe edition’ is really quite worth it for the concert alone, and the b-sides and other stuff is pretty essential as well. If all you have is the single disk “Singles” (which is fantastic, by the way), you’re cheating yourself out of some terrific tunes. Overall, the best album by Squeeze, no contest.”

mp3 : Squeeze – Pulling Mussels (From A Shell)
mp3 : Squeeze – Another Nail In My Heart
mp3 : Squeeze – If I Didn’t Love You
mp3 : Squeeze – Vicky Verky

Enjoy.

Stereolab

IT’S ALL CAUGHT UP WITH ME

I didn’t build in any time over the weekend to catch up with the blog. Big bundle of emails needing dealt with as well as postings to keep things going this next few days. Will try and get back on track by tomorrow.

In the meantime feel free to listen and dance to this classic:-

mp3 : Stereolab – French Disko

Enjoy!

Here’s something special happening in Glasgow this coming Saturday:-

I’ll be there all day from about 2pm after taking part in a golf tournament (how very rock’n’roll).

Bradford, Morrissey, T Rex

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 20)

A bit of a historical moment this July 1991 single as it marked the first release featuring the then relatively unknown Boz Boorer – the one consistent member of the Morrissey entourage over the past 23 years.

The song was a new one that hadn’t featured on Kill Uncle or any of the singles taken from that LP released just four months earlier. But it was one that had been written in conjunction with Mark Nevin who had been so heavily involved in the LP…

It’s a single that I was very impressed with on its release. It was a more than passable move to a rockabilly sound completely different from anything Morrissey had done before. My only grumble is that over the next few years, the rockabilly sound proved to be just about the only way this band could play live and too many of the gigs and tours in the early part of the 90s were a letdown….

But I digress…for this series is really only about looking at the single, and as I mentioned above, it was one I liked on release and one that I still have a soft spot for even now all these years later.

The other tracks on the CD single (for it was in that format I originally bought the single although I now also have a 12″ copy as well) were a strange mix of a cover, a live cover and a live version of a song that had previously been a b-side…..

mp3 : Morrissey – Pregnant For The Last Time
mp3 : Morrissey – Skin Storm
mp3 : Morrissey – Cosmic Dancer (live)
mp3 : Morrissey – Disappointed (live)

The single only reached #25 in the charts, marginally higher than the two efforts taken from Kill Uncle, but a bit of a let down given it was a new song altogether.

Skin Storm had originally been recorded by Bradford, a band much-lauded by Morrissey, who had in fact been the support act at the (in) famous Wolverhampton gig in December 1988. Despite the great man’s endorsement, the band never really amounted to much beyond a cult. Here’s the original version:-

mp3 : Bradford – Skin Storm

The live cover version is of a song that, courtesy of Mrs Villain, can be found inside the cupboard in its original release on vinyl from away back in 1971 when she was a teenager with a big crush on Marc Bolan and Mickey Finn and bought all their records at the time…..and here’s a rip from that LP, Electric Warrior:-

mp3 : T Rex – Cosmic Dancer

She clearly took great care of her records……

Incidentally it says on the back of the sleeve of Electric Warrior:-

“This stereo record can be played on mono reproducers provided either a compatible or stereo cartridge wired for mono is fitted. Recent equipment may already be fitted with a suitable cartridge. If in doubt, consult your dealer.”

A reminder that in those days, you tended to buy records from specialist music shops, most of which existed primarily to sell electrical luxuries such as record players, transistor radios and stereograms with vinyl being just a small section over in the corner with a separate counter.

Happy Listening.

Simple Minds

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 101)

You might scoff at what Simple Minds evolved into come the mid 80s, but this 7″ single from January 1980 is very worthy of your attention:-

mp3 : Simple Minds – Changeling
mp3 : Simple Minds – Premonition (live, Hurrah Club in New York, Oct 79)

This noise was coming out of Glasgow at the fag-end of the 70s and was well ahead of its time. If the band had broken up there and then or maybe 2/3 years later on, then I’ve no doubt they would be getting hailed today as one of the most distinctive and influential bands ever to set foot in a recording studio. Instead, their defining legacy to most is that they, together with U2, were at the forefront of the drift back into stadium rock in the wake of Live Aid.

Oh and that b-side is how it is on vinyl…a dreadful edit with the final notes of the previous song followed by applause and then the intro to Premonition…all very sloppy.

Enjoy.

Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (18)

The above image has nothing at all whatsoever with today’s friend electric other than it is same as the name of the site.

Manic Pop Thrills (MPT) is the place where you will find the musings of Mike Melville, a man with who I have much in common, not least our obsessions with alternative music with Raith Rovers Football Club.

MPT is very fine blend of music, book and gig reviews. I used to post gig reviews on TVV but I stopped as I found myself not able to enjoy what I was seeing and listening to as I was too busy trying to frame the proposed review in my head. And then when it came to trying to capture the moment on-line the following day I found that the reviews were far too lengthy to be of any interest other than to those who were there. Mike however, has a great knack for it as demonstrated by this piece :-

I’ve Fallen For A Monster

Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat / R.M. Hubbert – Twa Tams, Perth – Friday 23rd November 2012

I’ve actually seen Bill and Aidan perform several times before but never as a headline act in their own right. So, last night’s show was something to look forward to.

I’d only been to the Twa Tams once before but I quite liked it’s layout. The gigs seem all to be free but there’s only about a third of the pub given over to the venue with the room with the main PA accommodating only about 100 people (although there’s a screen and secondary PA in the main room). Of course this set-up guarantees that there’s going to be people in the pub who aren’t there for the gig.

Which threatened to be a problem for R.M. Hubbert. Indeed when he started it was difficult to hear him over the chatter from the next room and I briefly worried that the whole evening might have been spoiled. But stepping closer to the speakers helped and the distraction quickly disappeared.

I’d not heard much of him before and even the descriptions of his music, to be honest, didn’t sound too enticing. Yet I actually found his guitar playing quite hypnotic and soothing and, structurally, the handful of pieces he played seemed almost post-rock with an almost drone-like approach. His half hour was over far more quickly than I thought it should have been, which was undoubtedly a good sign.

Fortunately Bill and Aidan didn’t suffer from distractions from next door as a) there were more people to hear them, and b) their set-up was actually a fair bit louder.

For some reason, every time I’ve seen them perform, it’s been in the stripped back 3 piece with Bill and Aidan enhanced by Robert on trumpet. It’s an approach which suits the tunes but this time out Aidan also played percussion throughout which changed the basic dynamic somewhat – in a good way.

The set was essentially based on the award winning LP with a B-side, a cover and, for the encore, no fewer than 3 new songs. Yet there was no feeling of over-familiarity and, despite the melancholic nature of some of the tunes, I found myself feeling quite elated by the whole show.

Maybe because they’re operating some distance away from the MPT motherload, I think I underestimate them sometimes but it’s nice to be reminder that actually the songs ARE fantastic and that seeing them played in person is a rewarding experience.

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Mike makes this live review lark look so very easy but I know from bitter experience that it’s not.

He didn’t post any songs with the review, so that allows me to take advantage and include an early version of one of the standout track from the award-winning Everything’s Getting Older LP – a version only made available via the luxury boxset

mp3 : Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat – The Copper Top (Take 1)

Ever since Google took down the original TVV blog this time last year, I’ve tried not to link to any videos on YouTube, but I really do have to draw your attention to the promo made to accompany the final version of The Copper Top. One of the best and most memorable ever made.

More Friends electric after the weekend regulars.

Carlos Luz, Isley Brothers, Rhythm All Stars, Texabilly Rockets

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (17)

Bloggers have all sorts of strange reasons for coining he title of their own wee corner of t’internet. In a sense, it’s a bit like trying to come up with a decent name for a band or superhero….

Back in 2006, I came up with the idea of ‘The Vinyl Villain’ as an identity to hide behind as the idea of posting and sharing mp3s may well have been a technical breach of the law but the scale I was intending to operate on was miniscule. It was only some time afterwards that a friend pointed out TVV was very close to name of a second-hand record shop in Edinburgh (Vinyl Villains) – a shop I had totally forgotten about – but by then I was too comfortable to switch back to one of the other names I had been considering. I did however, use one of the other names – The Ghost of Troubled Joe – as a non de plume for a few joke pieces on the old blog.

All of which leads me to today’s friend electric. His name is George and the blog has the tremendous title of Jim McLean’s Rabbit for the reason that “My father helped Jim McLean rescue his pet rabbit ca. 1972. Jim very kindly gave him an autograph book of the Dundee United squad of that era. I hope my brother still has it…….”

It helps to know a little bit about the history of Scottish Football to understand the reference to Jim McLean. Click here for help………

George doesn’t keep an archive on the blog, so heading back to find old posts isn’t the easiest. Like so many of us, he has some regular features interspersed with random ramblings about life all accompanied by the most eclectic of music collections. He’s also got a great habit of throwing in a track every day to commemorate someone’s birthday…..

He’s no longer living in Scotland having, just over a year ago he took leave of his job in teaching, thought about alternatives and ended up moving with his other half (Jo) to Portugal. There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t admire what he’s done and there’s plenty of times, especially in the winter, when I wish I had the courage to do something similar. But deep down (actually not all that deeply buried) I know that a failure to speak anything other than English and the addiction of wanting to go and watch bands in small venues in Glasgow will keep me here for many years to come.

Here’s a posting from Jim McLean’s Rabbit that will hopefully make you smile:-

(Almost)Friend of the (Almost) Famous

7 March 2014

In my first teaching job, as well as teaching the son of a founder member of Wizzard (and how good is that???) I also taught the daughter of the man who………………INVENTED THE CURLY WURLY!!!

For those of you not familiar with the Curly Wurly, well, it was a chocolate-covered toffee sweet, which when I was about 12 years old, seemed to be about a foot long (30cm), but in reality I suspect it was considerably shorter. But what a belting sweetie. Chewy, very sweet, great tasting. I have no idea if they are still available. But remember, I TAUGHT THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE CURLY-WURLY!

And whilst I’m on about Claims-to-Fame, today we have some music made by the brother of Jo’s friend in town. Two, yes two, tangential claims to fame today. And I’ll throw in a third one. Not tangential at all, though. I met the Queen of Great Britain in 2002.

So here’s some Portuguese accordion music by Carlos Luz (brother of Jo’s friend Carmen).

mp3 : Carlos Luz – Perico do Segovie

I suppose someone will ask me what it means. I do not know what it means.

And here are two more tracks from that great Portuguese rock and roll compilation I featured here a few weeks ago. From the cracking album Rockin’ Around Portugal

are tracks by the Rhythm All Stars and by a band with a great name, the Texabilly Rockets. The album has 22 rock and roll/rockabilly songs. Get it.

mp3 : Rhythm All Stars – My mountain

mp3 : Texabilly Rockets – The leaves keep a fallin

The Ryhthm All Stars might also be known as Carl and The Rhythm All Stars, and have been together for 12 years. The Texabilly Rockets have been on the go since 1993. I am trying to find out if either or both are playing anywhere near here soon. Or anytime.

And finally….

on this day in 1952 Ernest “Ernie” Isley was born, And yes he was one of the Isley Brothers, and he co-wrote this splendid song:

mp3 : Isley Brothers – Who’s that lady

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More Friends Electric tomorrow

Arab Strap, Billy Bragg, Cinerama, Delgados, Half Man Half Biscuit, Madness, Smiths, T Rex, Urusei Yatsura, Wire

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (16)

JUST BECAUSE……

http://keepingitpeel.wordpress.com/

and in particular:-

http://keepingitpeel.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/john-peel-10-years-gone/

mp3 : Arab Strap – The First Big Peel Thing (Peel Session)
mp3 : Billy Bragg – Lover’s Town (Peel Session)
mp3 : Cinerama – Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) (Peel Session)
mp3 : The Delgados – No Danger (Peel Session)
mp3 : Half Man Half Biscuit – Mr Cave’s A Window Cleaner Now (Peel Session)
mp3 : Madness _ Bed & Breakfast Man (Peel Session)
mp3 : The Smiths – Rusholme Ruffians (Peel Session)
mp3 : T.Rex – Ride A White Swan (Peel Session)
mp3 : Urusei Yatsura – Hello Tiger (Peel Session)
mp3 : Wire – I Am The Fly (Peel Session)

Jam

MY FRIENDS ELECTRIC (15)

With a tremendous title, lifted from a line in Jilted John, today’s friend electric is one of the longest-running out there, dating back to December 2006.

Crying All The Way to the Chip Shop delivers ‘the sentimental musings of an ageing expat in words, music, and pictures’ and in a way that is incredibly stylish, wonderfully laid-out and as easy to navigate your way around as the London Underground map. But then again, given that London Lee (LL) is a graphic designer by profession it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.

It’s all very well for a blog or website to look great, but LL also pulls off the trick of coming up with the content to match. Here’s a gem from January 2010:-

The First Time I Felt Old

It was 7:15 in the evening on Friday the 3rd of December, 1982. I know because I still have the ticket.

I was at one the The Jam’s farewell shows at Wembley Arena and even though I was only 20 myself at the time I felt like one of the oldest people there as the hall seemed to be full of 14-year-old boys wearing cheap Parkas that looked like their Mum had bought them in Millets. It was like being in the audience for Crackerjack or an England Schoolboys football game, and for the first time in my life the words “bloody kids” came into my head and I had that awful feeling of smug superiority that I had been a Jam fan from way, way, way back, long before they were stadium-playing superstars – four years at least! Where were all these spotty little bandwagon-jumpers then, huh? Mucking about with their Tonka Toys probably. I had to fight the urge to grab one of them by the Parka and say “Of course, they were so much better at The Rainbow in ’78. I was there, you know” as if I was some grizzled old hippie droning on about Woodstock.

Several massive hit singles and a Mod revival had happened since that last gig and my mate and I both came to the the rather snotty conclusion that we understood why Weller was breaking up the group if this was their audience now — and selling out Wembley five nights in a row wasn’t very “punk” was it? — which is exactly the sort of condescending attitude you’d expect from a 20-year-old who thinks he knows it all (don’t they all?) But looking back now I feel bad for those kids, they were at the age when they were starting to get into music seriously and I can imagine how important The Jam were to them because I remember that feeling well myself. Paul Weller was your hero and you would hang on his every word for tips on what to wear, what to read, what old records to buy, even how to vote. And then — maybe in the same week you bought a George Orwell novel because Paul mentioned him in an NME interview — the bastard went and broke the band up. Who did that leave you with? Secret Affair??? That’s like losing a pound and finding a penny — well, 50p maybe.

I don’t remember much about the actual gig itself apart from Weller smashing up his guitar Pete Townsend-style after he tripped over his guitar lead and Bruce hanging around on the stage waving to the crowd at the end long after Paul had buggered off. But I do have a bootleg of the concert from the night before at Wembley which is about as close as I’ll ever get to recreating that magical night when I became an old git.

Download: Precious – The Jam (mp3)
Download: Move On Up – The Jam (mp3)
Download: Boy About Town – The Jam (mp3)
(Live at Wembley, December 2nd, 1982)

Another reason why I had no right to feel superior to those kids: When I was their age I was into ELO.

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Sadly, I don’t have the songs from the bootleg so instead I will offer versions from my own collection of music from the trio who, more than any other, turned me into a music obsessive:-

mp3 : The Jam – Precious (demo)
mp3 : The Jam – Move On Up (live on’The Tube’)
mp3 : The Jam – Boy About Town (flexidisc version)

LL has also taken some of his best postings and turned them into two volumes of books. Click here for more details. I’ve just placed an order for both of them….

More Friends Electric tomorrow