THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 104)

From wiki:-

The Soup Dragons were a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children’s television show Clangers, the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones’ song “I’m Free.”

The Soup Dragons formed in Bellshill, a town near Glasgow, in 1985. The line up was Sean Dickson (vocals, lead guitar), Jim McCulloch (guitar, second voice) who replaced Ian Whitehall and Sushil K. Dade (bass). The original drummer, Ross A. Sinclair, left the group after the first proper album, This Is Our Art, to pursue a career in art, and was replaced by Paul Quinn. Most of their songs were written by Dickson, while some were co-written with McCulloch.

The band recorded their first demo tape, You Have Some Too, after playing a few local gigs, and this was followed by a flexi disc single “If You Were the Only Girl in the World”. Originally inspired by Buzzcocks and lumped in with the C86 movement, along with fellow members of the Bellshill Sound, such as the BMX Bandits and Teenage Fanclub, they went through a number of stylistic changes in their career.

The band signed to The Subway Organization in early 1986 and their first proper single (The Sun in the Sky EP) was Buzzcocks-inspired pop punk. The band’s big breakthrough came with their second single for Subway, “Whole Wide World”, which reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart in 1986. Dickson and McCulloch also moonlighted in BMX Bandits at this time.

The band were signed by former Wham! co-manager Jaz Summers’ label Raw TV with further indie hits (and minor UK Singles Chart hits) following during 1987 and 1988. Over the course of six singles (the first three collected in 1986 on a U.S. only compilation, Hang Ten), they gradually developed a more complex rock guitar sound, which culminated in their first album proper This Is Our Art, now signed to major label Sire Records. After one single from the album “Kingdom Chairs” failed to chart, the band were dropped by Sire and returned to Raw TV.

In the year following This Is Our Art their sound underwent a change from an indie rock sound, to the rock-dance crossover baggy sound, popular at the time with the release of the album Lovegod. This change mirrored that of fellow Scottish band Primal Scream, and can be attributed to the rise of the ecstasy-fueled acid house rave scene in the UK. In 1990, they released their most successful hit single in the UK, “I’m Free”, an up-tempo cover of a Rolling Stones song with an added toasting overdub by reggae star Junior Reid, which reached number five. This single featured on the Happy Daze compilation and in 2013 it appeared on the soundtrack to British science fiction comedy film The World’s End.

Subsequent albums continued the rock-dance crossover sound. In 1992 they enjoyed their biggest U.S. hit with “Divine Thing” which reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number three on the Modern Rock chart and its video was nominated by MTV as one of the year’s best, though beaten by Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.[6]

The Soup Dragons disbanded in 1995. Paul Quinn joined Teenage Fanclub and Sushil K. Dade formed the experimental post rock group Future Pilot A.K.A.. Sean Dickson formed The High Fidelity and currently deejays as HiFi Sean. Jim McCulloch joined Superstar, wrote and recorded music with Isobel Campbell, and formed the folk group Snowgoose.

I’ve a bundle of Soup Dragons 12″ singles in the collection, mostly picked up very cheaply in second hand stores. The lead track from this 1986 release is a particular favourite:-

mp3 : Soup Dragons – Hang Ten
mp3 : Soup Dragons – Just Mind Your Step Girl
mp3 : Soup Dragons – Slow Things Down
mp3 : Soup Dragons – Man About Town With Chairs

Enjoy

Uncategorized

A REVIEW STOLEN FROM A FRIEND ELECTRIC

I was standing next to Mike from Manic Pop Thrills all the way through this gig. I’m sure he wont mind that I’ve pinched his photos and all his text as this is an instance where I agree with every single word he has typed.

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Meursault / Plastic Animals – Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh – Wednesday 13th August 2014

So that’s it then. Meursault are done and dusted. And it’s no exaggeration to say that last night’s show at the Queen’s Hall marked the end of a significant chapter in recent Scottish music history.

Over the last few years there is no doubt that the band, led by Neil Pennycook, have been one of Scotland’s most innovative and restless bands. So over the years we got uncompromising recordings (‘All Creatures Make Merry’ in particular) and we got gigs loaded with new songs.

That meant that, occasionally, I admired some work a bit more than I liked it. But, as they evolved and changed at a rapid pace, Meursault were never anything less than intriguing and, much more frequently, rather wonderful.

The nature of the show though indicated that this really is a full stop. For a band that was always looking forward, it was significant that they played “the hits” (as Neil promised MPT (and itm?) last month). As a consequence the main set featured most of the band’s singles as well as select cuts from all three LPs.

That meant that we got to hear many songs for the first times in years and it proved a revelatory experience. Simply put, if that perpetual forward motion had been slowed to just a little extent, it’s not hard to imagine Meursault crossing over to a far wider audience. Not hard at all. And yet, then, they wouldn’t have been the Meursault that we knew and loved. (The past tense is still a bit of a wrench).

So songs like ‘Flitting’ and ‘Settling’, played by a tight band who were clearly having the times of their lives, just sounded massive whilst ‘William Henry Miller Part 1’ was simply joyous.

The SUPERMOON Comedy Club

Mid set the band were joined by guest backing vocalists for both William Henry Millers. First up was Bartholomew Owl (for Part 2) and, as Neil called him on stage, he clearly had no idea what Bart was wearing (a knee length harlequin onesy!). The look of sheer incredulity on his face when he saw Bart for the first time will stay with the audience for a long time.

The expanded band were then joined on stage by Dan Willson for ‘WHM Part 1’ with Dan apparently taking his cues from notes on a sheet of paper stuffed into his pint glass. One of which he fluffed!

Yet, even if the set was principally about the old stuff, two of the stand-outs were songs that Meursault never recorded. ‘I Will Kill Again’ was taken early on at almost Ramones speed whilst ‘New Boy’ (a song I first heard in the very same venue two years ago) sounded like the pinnacle of the ‘Something for the Weakened’ era of songs. Truly the hairs were standing up on the back of my neck for that one.

The encore illustrated both sides of the band’s nature. A heartbreaking ‘A Small Stretch of Land’ was delivered solo by Neil and his guitar before he was joined by the band for a scalding wig out of ‘Was Ist Das?’ which made the ‘Organ Grinder’ version look timid in comparison.

It’s a mark of how good the show was that, even at 90 minutes, it still felt too short. And I doubt that I’m alone in thinking that.

For a last ever gig, the amount of sadness on display was surprisingly limited. Perhaps the knowledge that Neil will continue to work with this band mitigates against grief as the predominant reaction. And that’s a good thing – this show simply didn’t need any mawkishness to make it a truly special event.

Interestingly the whole occasion seemed framed by the song lyrics – with “We moved away” from ‘Flittin’‘ bookending the main set and ‘I Will Kill Again’ a declaration of continued intent. It was entirely appropriate too that the first line on the last song “There was a time when all this felt right” wrapped things up – even if few in the audience would agree. But, given that this was the last original song on the last Meursault record, perhaps its significance was overlooked earlier in the year.

Listening back to the three albums side by side in the wake of the show, there are two things that jump out at me. Firstly, whilst the records all unquestionably have an indefinable Meursault-ness, to the untutored ear they must sound like they were recorded by entirely different bands. And secondly despite, no, BECAUSE of their range of approaches and membership deployed, you never got the full Meursault story unless you saw the live shows. In that context last night was the final, fitting piece in an impressively complex jigsaw.

Plastic Animals

A support slot at a show like this is something of a double edged sword. Whilst it offered Plastic Animals a decent sized audience, the truth is that it’s almost impossible for the support to make an impact in the face of the import of the occasion.

Yet Plastic Animals gave it a good shot and certainly registered with MPT. My uninformed impressions of what they sounded like beforehand (slightly messy rock band) were certainly off the mark. Instead they sounded very much like an early 90s guitar band in the Kitchens of Distinction vein. There’s something else familiar in there too but my synaptic database is refusing to make the correct connections.

Nevertheless if the maximum that can be accomplished in such a slot is to get noticed then Plastic Animals achieved that to my satisfaction.

Meursault played:

1. Flittin’(solo/piano) 2. I Will Kill Again 3. The Dirt and the Roots 4. Salt Part 2 5. Settling 6. What You Don’t Have 7. William Henry Miller (Part 2) 8. William Henry Miller (Part 1) 9. Dearly Distracted 10. Crank Resolutions 11. New Boy 12. Song for Martin Kippenberg 13. Flittin’ (band)

Encore
14. A Small Stretch of Land (solo/guitar) 15. Was Ist Das?

(Think that’s about right – had slight problems with my notes at one point!)

P.S. Given the constant references to how hard it was for people to get the Meursault name correct, I’m not sure if the spelling of “Meursalt” on the ticket was an ironic joke or simply a mistake on the part of the venue!

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I did feature Mike as part of the Friends Electric series the other week and this is a great example of the high standard of writing (and photos) that he brings to his little corner of the internet.

Much more available at www.manicpopthrills.wordpress.com

Oasis

A SPIRITED (and spirit-influenced) DEFENCE OF OASIS

Sitting in a pub recently with about a dozen workmates of both sexes, ages ranging from early 20s to late 50s. A good variety of music has been playing along in the background providing a nice setting for what is a celebration of one of the collective’s 50th birthday. I’m without doubt the biggest music snob in the room and there’s been a few songs which have gone down well that have set my teeth on edge but I’ve not wanted to break into a rant and spoil things. Then the song Whatever by Oasis starts up which leads to one of my colleagues, who up until now I had never heard express any opinion about music, really puts the boot into what he describes as ‘Beatles-apologists and rip-off merchants’. Next thing I know, a couple more folk are agreeing with him. I think however, I surprised everyone by taking them to task and putting up a spirited defence of the band.

All of which got me to come back and dig out this posting from the old place back in 2008.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m of the opinion that Oasis have been treated dreadfully by the media.

‘His talent and attractiveness, which had worked so well for him was becoming a burden.’
‘He was dealing more and more with the terrible scrutiny that came with superfame and the concurrent loss of privacy, the inability to make mistakes’
‘His slightest flaws were now magnified for the rest of the world….this tabloid machine was powerful, it was predatory and it had to be fed every day.’
‘Whom the tabloids first inflate, they eventually attempt to destroy, or at least try to diminish.’
‘The scrutiny of his life had become brutal and unforgiving.’

The previous five statements were lifted from a biography of basketball player Michael Jordan, but they could very easily apply to either of the Gallagher brothers when the commentators decided to kill off the movement that had been labelled Britpop.

In some ways, it is kind of difficult to comprehend just how meteoric the rise of Oasis was back in the early 90s. In May 1993, they were blagging their way onto a bill at King Tut’s in Glasgow. Within 12 months, their debut single reached #31. A succession of great releases, always without fail accompanied by at least one and usually two outstanding tracks on the CD single came at regular intervals, and it was their fifth release, Some Might Say, that hit #1 in April 1995.

Furthermore, they were a band who provided a great live experience.

The first hint of fallibility came in August 1995 when a frenzied battle played out in the full glare of the media saw Roll With It fail in the battle for supremacy with Country House by Blur. In truth, both were pretty ordinary singles, way below the standards that either band had been producing over the previous 18 months.

What happened next couldn’t have been predicted by anyone. On 30th October 1995, the single Wonderwall was released. And I can honestly say, that in my near 45 years on this planet, I can’t ever recall a single that so seemed to be loved by anyone and everyone with a genuine interest in music.

Amazingly, it peaked at #2 – kept off the top spot by Coolio and Gangster’s Paradise.

There was nearly a total travesty of justice when an easy listening version of the song by Mike Flower Pops almost hit #1 a couple of months later, but it too stalled at #2. The demand for Oasis was so large that tribute bands began to pop up all over the place, including No Way Sis who themselves had a Top 40 hit in early 1996.

The follow-up single Don’t Look Back In Anger merely kept up the momentum. It seemed that Blur were the real losers in the Britpop battle as their singles began to flop and there was a critical backlash to their LP The Great Escape – not withstanding its one true moment of brilliance in The Universal.

But while Blur bounced back with their next album and singles, Oasis lost it all almost overnight. There’s no argument that Be Here Now in 1997 was pretty awful, as was much, but not all of Standing On The Shoulders of Giants in 2000. But there was a return to a semblance of form with much to admire on Heathen Chemistry from 2002 and Don’t Believe The Truth from 2005. It will be very interesting to see how the next LP sounds.**

One thing that is often forgotten about Oasis is just how much money they brought in for Creation Records, and as a consequence, the label was able to bankroll some other great, critically-acclaimed but less commercially successful acts in the mid 90s, such as Teenage Fanclub, Super Furry Animals, Boo Radleys, My Bloody Valentine, The House of Love and Felt.

So maybe in retrospect we all owe Liam and Noel Gallagher a bit of a thank you.

I suppose like most folk, I probably got a bit sick and tired hearing Wonderwall when it was here, there and everywhere. I certainly got fed-up when it, and Don’t Look Back In Anger, became lager-fuelled anthems that were the staple of stag nights up and down the land. But it truly is a thing of beauty that is well worth listening to every now and then:-

mp3 : Oasis – Wonderwall
mp3 : Oasis – Round Are Way
mp3 : Oasis – The Swamp Song
mp3 : Oasis – The Master Plan

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** That of course was Dig Out Your Soul, released later on in 2008. It was a step backwards and it’s no real surprise that it proved to be the final LP the band would release. But I stand by my view that for a while at least, Oasis were very worthy of the critical praise heaped upon them by the media and music fans alike.

Undertones

GET OVER YOU

It was back in 1978 that The Undertones released their debut single and the best ever 45 of all time in the opinion of the late John Peel.

But it was in February 1979 that I reckon the band released their best ever single…..the flop-follow up to the debut.

Teenage Kicks was not an out-an-out chart success, reaching the relatively low position of #31 in the UK charts. Get Over You however, was a bit of a disaster as far as the band was concerned, hitting only #57.

In sleeve notes to a compilation CD released back in 1999, the band’s Michael Bradley said:-

“We were very disappointed by the chart position. We thought it was all over and our career was finished.”

They weren’t the only ones bitterly disappointed. I remember hearing this on Radio 1 one morning and making sure that on the way home from school later in the day that I bought the single. I also remember putting it on the turntable and being really disappointed in the first few seconds as I thought either my needle was damaged or my speaker was broken (it was still an old-fashioned Dansette record player in those days). Thankfully, it was just the opening riff that blasts away in the background before giving way to a short wolf-whistle clearly delivered by someone who had ambitions to get on a building site…..and then the opening riff comes in at full tilt. It’s Status Quo on speed……

mp3 : The Undertones – Get Over You

At this point in my life, I had yet to have my heartbroken by a member of the opposite sex…..but I instinctively knew, on hearing this record, that when that particular day came, as inevitably it had to, this was a song I would play, again and again and again until the pain went away.

There were two songs on the b-side, and they also dealt with girls:-

mp3 : The Undertones – Really Really
mp3 : The Undertones – She Can Only Say No

The latter of these is only around 40 seconds long, and the biggest tribute I can possibly pay it is that it’s the greatest song that Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks never wrote.

Happy Listening.

Edwyn Collins

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #2: EDWYN COLLINS

It was nearly two months back when I launched this new series. The idea is to take one of my favourite bands or singers and list what I think would make the idea ‘Best of’ album with a few words on why. The only proviso is that I’m going to do it as a proper old-fashioned LP…10 tracks in total with an A-side and a B-side and it’s got to hang together like a proper LP and not just a collection of greatest hits.

I started things off with The Smiths and this time round it’s the solo career of Edwyn Collins.

The inspiration from this was seeing him perform the other week, as pictured above, during the Glasgow Mix Tape event that was part of the Cultural Programme linked with the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

It was an absolutely foul day…rain of biblical proportions which at one point made me think the Noah & The Ark story in the Old Testament might not be too far-fetched. There were 2 stages in use – one was outdoors and the other was indoors. I had just watched a great set from Malcolm Middleton in the pouring rain and like many others, rushed across 200 yards to where Edwyn was due to take the stage in 15 minutes time. That’s when we discovered the venue was full….not so much from folk wanting to see the great man, but more everyone taking shelter from the elements…particularly those with young children.

I’m sort of ashamed of what I did next. Despite me knowing a few folk in the queue with whom I should have stood patiently while the one-in, one-out entry policy was enforced, I used what little influence I have and made a phone call to the event organisers and asked for help….which came in the shape of an access all areas pass for two. It meant me and the mate who had come along with me could get in but not the others. I really did feel bad, but there was no way I was missing it.

Edwyn Collins in concert is a real uplifting experience. His life-threatening illnesses have wreaked havoc with his systems and it takes all his effort to walk the short distance from backstage to take his place on a stool where the words to all the songs he is going to sing are in a book in front of him. Even though he forgets the name of his great friend who is accompanying him on acoustic guitar – James Walbourne – he makes light of it and launches into a 45 minute set comprising solo material mixed in with some Orange Juice classics, some of which worked a treat as acoustic numbers while others were a bit more shambolic….although as a veteran of Orange Juice gigs it was great to see that the great man after all these years still doesn’t take things so seriously that every note sung and every chord strummed has to be perfect.

In short….it was wonderful…..and as I say it has inspired me to make a stab at an ideal Edwyn Collins compilation album:-

Side A

1. A Girl Like You
2. The Beatle$
3. In Your Eyes
4. If You Could Love Me
5. Don’t Shilly Shally

Side B

1. Judas In Blue Jeans
2. Means To An End
3. Keep On Burning
4. 31 Years
5. Searching For The Truth (b-side version)

It’s taken about three hours of humming and hawing and numerous changes of mind before I settled on the above. There are loads of songs that I can’t believe didn’t make the final cut which may well invite ridicule from other fans. But the logic is:-

1. It’s not my favourite song by Edwyn. However, it is the one for which he is best known and its inclusion is inevitable, so putting it as the opening track serves two purposes – it gets this imaginary LP off to a great upbeat start and it means the elephant in the room has been dealt with…

2. Edwyn at his caustic, bitchy best as he delivers a swinging punch at the fag-end of Britpop.

3. Sometimes a song elevates itself through a live performance and this is such an instance. The first completely new LP after the illness saw loads of folk work alongside Edwyn to help create a wonderfully crafted pop record. This song was co-written and recorded with The Drums and the co-vocal with Jonathan Pierce is very enjoyable. But on tour, the singing duties were taken up by none other than Will Collins, son of the great man who, along with his mum, had done so much to nurture Edwyn back to health. I don’t think I have ever roared as loudly at the end of a song as I did that night at the Oran Mor in Glasgow…from where I was standing I could see Grace Maxwell standing at the side of the stage…I’m sure she was wiping away a few tears of joy and pride.

4. This is the solo song that found its way into my 45 45s at 45 list. It’s long been my view that if something this easy on the ear with such a heartfelt lyric had, at the time, been given to some well-known pop idol (e.g. Robbie Williams) to record, then we would have been looking at an instant crowd-pleasing #1……gorgeous stuff.

5. One of the earliest solo records and one of the most enduring. It still sounds fresh some 27 years after its initial release and rightly retains its place in the current setlists.

6. This was far too good a song to only be available as a b-side (it was the reverse of Coffee Table Song) and so I’m resurrecting it to give the b-side of my imaginary album a great beginning.

7. This was co-written with Paul Quinn who later on slowed down the tune, retained a chunk of the lyric and added his vocal talents to to create two majestic versions of the song A Passing Thought. Edwyn’s use of the tune may not quite be up there with the mighty Quinn but it’s more than worthy of its place on this imaginary LP.

8. It’s at this point I began panicking a bit as I realised I was down to my last three tracks and so many great things were going to be left off. I still find it very strange that so many of Edwyn’s wonderful singles failed to bother the charts. This tribute to Northern Soul is an absolute belter of a track which somehow didn’t make the playlists of the contemporary radio stations when released back in 1997. Get yourself on the dance floor and throw some shapes….

9. Edwyn’s own tribute to his life and his work. One of the highlights of the excellent Understated LP from 2013.

10. There’s a lovely, slightly longer version of this song which closes the LP Losing Sleep. But some 2 years earlier, a version had sneaked out as the b-side to the single Home Again. It was a short song, coming in at a shade under 1 minute and 50 seconds….but it provided proof that his illness may have changed his life forever, but it hadn’t taken away Edwyn’s ability to write songs. And just listen to the great guitar work from Roddy Frame who was such an important part of the backing band the first time Edwyn went back on the road in 2008. A perfect ending.

Edwyn turns 55 years of age in ten days time. Happy birthday when it comes…..

mp3 : Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – The Beatle$
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – In Your Eyes
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – If You Could Love Me
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Don’t Shilly Shally
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Judas In Blue Jeans
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Means To An End
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Keep On Burning
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – 31 Years
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Searching For The Truth (b-side version)

It’s of course the case that when you buy a vinyl LP nowadays you get a download code. I’ve decided that the code for this particular LP will contain a bonus track, a cover of a Vic Godard track that was stuck away on one of Edwyn’s b-sides:-

mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Won’t Turn Back

Enjoy

EMF, Jungle, Weezer

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST CORRESPONDENT….FOR THE FINAL TIME

It was with a mixture of sadness and happiness that I read this e-mail the other week:-

Hi Jim,

That will probably be my last ever SWC column – if you read my last ever WYCRA post (note from JC – it has since been deleted!!) you will understand why – I’m off to the jungle for a while. Its a job I volunteered for a while back – they have massive gang problems in Guyana as well as one of the highest homicide rates in the world and they need experienced intelligence workers to help out. So we are off to a UN compound or something in the capital. I have no idea what to expect…

I will have limited access to the internet there, to be honest I’ll be fairly busy as well.
So thanks, I owe you a lot, more than I think you will ever realise. VV was the major inspiration behind my blog, but I admire and respect your dedication to blogging, music and your audience. Thanks for putting up with my weekly diatribe of nonsense – although I have to say I really enjoyed writing them. I emptied the box the other day. The next disc I pulled out was ‘Cha Cha Cha’ by EMF followed by ‘Buddy Holly’ by Weezer. I’ve attached a track from the EMF album and the Weezer track. Just for old times sake….I haven’t written anything about them though. The EMF album was unexpectedly outstanding.

There were a few crackers left in that box you know – dEUS, The Lemonheads, Scheer, Lambchop and James to name but a few. Weirdly there was a copy of ‘Ok Computer’ in there, considering I have never owned a copy and nor has my sister, I have no idea who it belongs to…

Anyway…Keep on blogging, its outstanding, but I think you know that…

One day I’ll buy you a pint my friend.

S-WC

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I was sad as I always looked forward to S-WC’s e-mails…..I sort of pride myself on having the blog open to anyone who wants to contribute – although in the end, that was the downfall of the old blog as many of the contributions led to DMCA notices which triggered off Google’s automatic tearing down of TVV – but S-WC was the first to offer to write a weekly column even after taking the plunge and starting his own blog.

I really do wish him well in Guyana…I know from experience that moving overseas to work for a spell can be one of the best things to happen in anyone’s life…and I’m sure he will thrive in that environment.

The comment about the pint brought a wee lump to my throat. Y’see, a few months back, it really did look as if S-WC was going to be in Glasgow on business and we made provisional arrangements to meet up. As you may have gathered from the recent Friends Electric series, I’ve been lucky enough to have met a good number of the bloggers I most admire and I know that meeting S-WC in the flesh would not have been a letdown. Sadly, at the last minute, he was told he wasn’t needed in my neck of the woods and we agreed that we’d merely postpone that pint (albeit I would need to break the news to him when we hit the pub that I’m strictly a wine and spirits connoisseur!!)

But as he said…and I’m holding him to it…..one day.

Here’s the last songs S-WC is contributing for now

mp3 : EMF – Perfect Day
mp3 : Weezer – Buddy Holly

He also put this in the zip file….and it made me laugh,

mp3 : Jungle – Busy Earnin’

Safe trip my friend. And don’t be a stranger on those few occasions that you do get internet access

James

THE JAMES SINGLES (14)

James spent years in obscurity watching lesser talents become world-wide superstars but at least they could hold their collective heads high that they made music that was, in general. a class apart. Even when they did crack the charts and some fame and fortune landed at their feet, the band were doing so through songs which could be traced back to their indie and idiosyncratic roots. And then, in January 1992, they released this abomination of a single:-

mp3 : James – Born of Frustration

I hadn’t been all that fond of previous single Sound but this was positively the first single by the band that I took an instant dislike to. The demand for tickets for the live shows had taken the band into arenas and it was looking as if outdoor stadia were next….but did they really have to write and record singles that ticked every one of the boxes in the book of stadium rock cliches.

There’s just no denying it…..Born of Frustration is a lazy re-hash of the equally despised Don’t You Forget About Me which turned folk against Simple Minds some six or seven years previously….right down to the la-la-la-la singalong. If I was being kind I would describe it as epic. But I can’t do that…other than the opening 20 seconds which features a nice wee bit of acoustic guitar, it’s shit.

B-sides aren’t much better:-

mp3 : James – Be My Prayer
mp3 : James – Sound (Diceman Mix)

The single entered the charts at #13 which got the band an appearance on Top of The Pops. It fell down the charts the following week….not the greatest of signs for the parent LP which was imminent.

Morrissey

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 22)

I once observed, over on the old blog, Morrissey had never cracked the trick of releasing three great LPs in a row, and I was worried that having got the critics eating out of his hand with You Are The Quarry and Ringleader of The Tormentors, the next album, whenever it came out and whatever it was called, would receive a panning just because it was time to again turn on the great man.

Well, the charm offensive deployed by Morrissey with journalists at the time of the records’ release worked in some ways, because Years Of Refusal, while not being lavished with praise, hasn’t been slaughtered in too many places. But in the views of this long time fan, it is a bit of a disappointment, and in many ways this is demonstrated by the rather lacklustre first ‘new’ single taken from it (remembering that two other tracks were also singles but these were also featured on a previous Greatest Hits compilation from 2008).

I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris isn’t an awful song, but it isn’t all the good either. It’s all just a bit too mundane, and I don’t think a man of the stature of Morrissey should do mundane.

The new songs on the b-side are also fairly average – almost a case of ‘Morrissey By Numbers’ – but Shame Is The Name is worth a listen for the mere fact that it features a backing vocal from Chrissie Hynde.

And the live recording of one of the great old record by The Smiths from 17 October 2007 at the Genesse Theatre, Waukegan in Illinois is an sad illustration and example of the criticism often levelled at his band’s ability to destroy the subtlety, class and poise of the original…..

It only reached #21 on its week of release in the UK back in February 2009, despite the chance for something a great many Morrissey fans of both sexes to finally get their hands on something they had wanted for ages* – a naked image of the singer – thanks to the inner sleeve of the 7″ single.

mp3 : Morrissey – I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
mp3 : Morrissey – Because Of My Poor Education
mp3 : Morrissey – Shame Is The Name
mp3 : Morrissey – Death Of A Disco Dancer (live)

*Not this particular fan I should mention….but Mrs Villain was quite taken by it and wondered why, although he is older than me, Morrissey is skinnier than me. I reckon it’s a combination of photoshop and that he’s clearly holding his belly in….

Sons & Daughters

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.

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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