I’ve just one song by Call To Mind. And it’s under two minutes long. As such, it is one that could have appeared on other ongoing series, but its natural place is this Saturday effort dealing with Scottish bands.
The band is described on their bandcamp page as ‘a collective from Ardersier, in the Highlands of Scotland’ Ardersier is a former fishing village on the Moray Firth located between Inverness and Nairn, with a population of just over 1,100. It was in Glasgow that the band members Martin Ross (piano/keys/vocals), Jamie Ross (guitar/vocals), Andrew Masson (bass/vocals), Joe Smillie (drums/percussions/vocals) and Steven Gribbin (guitar/vocals) made some headway back in 2013 when they signed to Olivegrove Records and released debut album The Winter Is White.
It is thanks to the inclusion of this song on the 2020 compilation album Get Into The Grove : 10 Years Of Olivegrove that I can bring the band to your attention today:-
mp3: Call To Mind – Recovery
As far as I can see, the band has not been active since the recording and release of the debut album.
#075: The Pooh Sticks – ‘Young People’ (Sweet Virginia ’91)
Hello friends,
back to sunny Wales we go, to Swansea, to be precise. After the embarrassing Helen Love-incident, (see # 34 in the series), I promise to be careful with my filthy tongue this time … I learn from my mistakes, although Mrs. Loser often says otherwise!
The Pooh Sticks it is, and the name is of course a common one. Somehow they have always been around, haven’t they, but in one form or another they also always managed to stay under the mainstream’s radar. The band may see this differently, of course, but as far as I am concerned: thank God they did!
Primarily recording between 1988 and 1995, they were notable for their jangly melodiousness and lyrics gently mocking the indie scene of the time, such as on “On Tape”, “Indiepop Ain’t Noise Pollution” and “I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who Knows Alan McGee Quite Well”.
The band changed direction on their 1991 U.S breakthrough ‘The Great White Wonder’, eschewing the twee British indie pop sound for a more American-styled power-pop sound. Nothing wrong with this, because as bad as this sounds, we are talking about flawless, perfect pop here!
You see, the Pooh Sticks had many great moments, and lifted many a great tune. However, for most listeners, ‘The Great White Wonder’ will always be their finest hour. If you ask me, this was the absolute majestic ‘Force Fed By Love’ , but what do I know, right? But that was never released on 7“, to my great dismay!
So, instead, from the album, we have the opener today (old DJ trick, by the way: when you’re back too late at the decks or you’re completely lost because you chatted with beautiful female guests again, Side A, Track 1 is always the safest choice!), certainly a highlight in the long run of Pooh Sticks-singles:
mp3: The Pooh Sticks – Young People
Of course I hope you enjoyed the tune, as usual. If, for some reason, you did not, let me quote from it: „Get into it! And if you can’t get into it, shine it on!“
An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.
Sounds From The Flightpath Estate (Vol 1) – Various
Maybe not the usual sort of thing you’d normally find around here, but this is a double-album that’s given me immense pleasure this calendar year. There’s people out there far better qualified than me to write about this album, so I’m going to lean heavily on them. This is the blurb over at Bandcamp:-
“The Flightpath Estate is a Facebook group dedicated to the music, art and work of Andrew Weatherall. It began life in 2013 and has become a virtual home to his fans, friends and family. It is also the host of the Weatherdrive – thousands of hours of recordings of Andrew Weatherall’s DJ sets, mixes and radio shows.
Sounds From The Flightpath Estate is a compilation celebrating people and places, the outlook, aesthetic and music Andrew Weatherall was known for, and the sense of community and love of music centered around The Golden Lion. (JC adds….a pub/live venue in Todmorden, West Yorkshire)
The sounds are forward thinking, created with a deep understanding of the music of the past but future facing, dance floor oriented and made with love.”
Adam, the genius behind Bagging Area and dear friend of this blog from the very earliest of days back in 2006, is part of The Flightpath Estate. He contributed the sleevenotes, and they alone make the whole thing utterly invaluable. I know he won’t mind if I pinch from his blog, written on 14 February, the day before the vinyl was made available:-
“Last summer while me, Martin and Dan were DJing at The Golden Lion we had a chat about a Flightpath Estate compilation album, the sort of chat which seemed like wishful thinking at the time but which sowed seeds with each of us. At first I was thinking of a compilation of already released tracks but that seem to be fraught with complications- licensing tracks from various other labels seemed complex and potentially costly. A compilation of artists who are members of the group and who were friends/ partners/ colleagues/ fans of Andrew’s but with previously unreleased music might be easier to pull off. I should point out that our experience of putting an album out was at that point extremely limited (of the five of us, Mark makes music as Rude Audio and has some experience releasing music but the rest of us- me, Dan, Martin and Baz- have close to zero).
The following week we discussed it further and drew up a list of names to approach. Our list included David Holmes, Timothy J. Fairplay, Sean Johnston, Richard Sen, Justin Robertson and Sons Of Slough (Ian Weatherall and Duncan Gray), plus Rude Audio, Jesse from 10: 40 and a few others. We divided them up between us and started making contact, via social media messaging and email. The first name in the list, a well known Belfast based DJ and producer who may have the initials DH but who has to appear pseudonymously due to him being signed to a record label, said yes immediately.
Once he was on board we felt we had a chance of getting this together. We contacted Waka and Matt at The Golden Lion, Todmorden, who not only run a pub/ live venue/ portal to another world, but also have a record label – Golden Lion Sounds. They were happy to put our at this point speculative album out. The other names on our list began to respond and say yes too. As summer turned into autumn we began to receive music: a track from the Belfast based DJ/ producer that he’d begun years earlier and now wanted to finish to give to us, a track that is seriously good; dubby music from Justin Robertson and Tim Fairplay, recorded specifically for the album; music from Richard Sen and from Hardway Bros (Sean sent us a track, then another version of it, then scrapped it and went back to the drawing board and sent us a Flightpath Estate theme tune); Sons Of Slough promised us a live track recorded at their gig at The Golden Lion last August; new music from 10: 40 and Rude Audio. All of it genuinely brilliant.
We discussed getting an Andrew Weatherall or Two Lone Swordsmen track. Martin is one of the few people who owns a copy of Still My World, a promo CD released in Japan in 2003 tied into a clothing range and we all loved the ambient track The Crescents. He contacted Andrew’s manager Pete Lawton and former Swordsman Keith Tenniswood, and we got their approval and blessing to use it, pending discovery of the master. Ian Weatherall gave us his approval, as did Lizzie, Andrew’s partner.
I contacted Andy Bell (of Ride and GLOK) and asked if he was interested. He replied to say he had a cover of Smokebelch that he started the day Andrew died but hadn’t finished but to keep in touch. Then he went on tour to the USA with Ride. Our deadline for music was approaching (we were keen to have the tracks in our hands, compiled, and ready for mastering for vinyl by November ’23 in an attempt to get the album out spring 2024). I emailed Andy on the off chance and the following day he replied to say I’d given him the nudge he needed, and he sent me his now completed, stunning cover of Smokebelch.
Now we had ten tracks, and a clear idea of which ones should open and close the album (Two Lone Swordsmen and Andy Bell respectively). Dan contacted Rusty, an artist and designer who goes by the name of Personality Crisis, about sleeve art (and getting that back plus the gatefold inner was another genuinely amazing moment). I wrote some sleeve notes. We did the legal stuff. GLS got it mastered. Last week, test pressings arrived at The Golden Lion. Now the sleeves are going to print and the records are going to press, and with any luck we’ll have them out in April (which happily will coincide with the AW61 celebrations at The Golden Lion).
At times while doing this, we’ve felt like a bunch of amateurs chancing our collective arm and making it up as we go along- but it turns out that things like this can actually happen. It’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been involved in. It still makes me shake my head in disbelief that in a couple of months it will be an actual physical record with this line up of artists, available to buy. The artists who have donated their music, the people who’ve helped us out along the way with advice and contacts, the team at The Golden Lion, the enthusiasm from a very select group of people who’ve known about this until last night – massive thanks to each and every one of you.”
JC adds…….
It was genuinely exciting to look on from afar and see all this come together. Adam is such a wonderful human being, someone who has worked hard at keeping the Weatherall flame burning – I’ve no doubt if he ever went on Mastermind, he’d score 100% on his specialist subject with no passes.
mp3: Hardway Bros – Theme For Flightpath Estate
My only regret in bringing this to your attention is that the album is nigh-on impossible to get a hold of without paying over the odds. Only 500 copies were pressed up, with no plans for a repress or a digital release.
You can, however, via Mixcloud, enjoy a 20-minute sampler of all its tracks. Click here.
aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
#3: Say This Twice by Half Happy
OK, before we start, full disclosure: I work with the dad of today’s band’s drummer. There. Any accusations of nepotism are therefore fully justified, but I don’t care! And I don’t care because, actually, Half Happy are pretty damn good. They are one of the youngest bands on Cardiff’s current scene but are showing a heck of a lot of promise. After a handful of singles across 2022 and 2023, they won the 2023 Welsh Music Prize’s Triskell Award for new artists. Then in October 2024 they released their debut EP ‘Conversation Killer’, described by vocalist Rosalie Miller thus:
“Each song almost feels like a different part of the day sonically. I feel like we imagine we’re in different locations; work, pub, town, back in your bedroom for each track. The EP is one big diary entry, one crazy day with lots of drama.”
‘Conversation Killer’ showcases Half Happy’s penchant for sparkling indie-pop tinged with sadness, frustration and defiance. But there’s more to them than that, with some songs lurching towards shoegaze, and others boasting a glaze of synths. You wouldn’t be far wrong if you made comparisons to the likes of Alvvays and Camera Obscura (they recently played a very well-received support slot with the latter) but I think Half Happy have given themselves a lot of room for movement in terms of their evolution. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here.
This week’s track is Say This Twice, a rather excellent single that pre-dates the EP.
MP3: Say This Twice – Half Happy (single, 2023)
And the video is for one of the EP tracks. Well Done Honey was written by Rosalie after a particularly bad day at work which left her “crying in the car”. It’s my fave of their repertoire to date and has drawn comparisons in some areas to The Sundays, which I know you’ll agree is no bad thing whatsoever!
But that’s not all folks. We also have an added bonus for you today. You see, not only do Half Happy make excellent music, they are also a lovely, generous bunch who have donated one of their t-shirts to a lucky t(n)vv reader* who can answer this simple question:
What is the title of the opening track on ‘Conversation Killer’?
Answers should be emailed to thevinylvillain@hotmail.co.uk with the subject line ‘Half Happy t-shirt’ and must be received by midnight GMT on Saturday 30 November.
Please also include the size of the t-shirt you would like sent to you, should you be the lucky winner who will be chosen at random by someone not in the slightest bit related to the band. He/she/they will be contacted directly and announced on another Welsh Wednesday in a couple of weeks.
*apologies in advance, but the competition is open only to folk living in the UK. The postage overseas is just a bit too expensive in this instance. The blame can be attached to the usual suspects…..
It’s a bonus post about last night’s gig by English Teacher given that a couple of folk who commented on yesterday’s post said they would like to read about it.
You’ll recall that I had some fears that the Queen Margaret Union at Glasgow University would prove to be less suitable than the surroundings of St Luke’s, a former church which a few years ago was converted to a lovely and quite intimate concert venue. I’m pleased to say that my fears were not realised.
English Teacher took to the stage at 8.45pm. The first thing I noticed was that the four band members were accompanied by two additional musicians, one of whom played additional guitar while the other was a cellist. I’ve since learned, from reading things overnight, that this is all part of their live sound, and indeed has been for quite some considerable time.
They went straight into fast and frantic mode with R’nB followed by I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying. It was, given the nature/mood/tempo of the songs on the debut album, and indeed previous EPs and singles, a pace that would be impossible to retain and there inevitably be would be a shift away from your bog-standard indie-pop night out. We didn’t have long to wait.
Having been out front on guitar for these two songs, vocalist Lily Fontaine retreated slightly to the back of the stage to play keyboards on Broken Biscuits, one of the many gentler-paced tracks on the album, but which in the live-setting generated a degree of energy and passion which really set the tone for the rest of the evening.
She came back to the front of the stage and for the first time addressed the audience to introduce Albatross, the opening song on the album, as being about a happening in her life when she had been 18 years of age when she had left home to head to college, the impetus for all that has happened in the years since. The cellist doubled up on keyboards, helping to make, again, a sound which surpassed the production on the record. Four songs in, and I’m having a wonderful night, as is my compadre, Aldo.
Three songs in a row – A55, Mental Maths and Polyawkward, all from an EP released in 2023, offer a reminder that English Teacher do indie-pop/rock with subtle lyrical and musical twists, as well as highlighting that the majority of the 900-strong audience in the sold-out venue are more than familiar with the songs not on the award-winning album. By now, I’m growing increasingly ridiculously impressed by the playing of Lewis Whiting on guitar, Nick Eden on bass and particularly by Douglas Frost on drums, whose appearance and style was bringing flashbacks of a young Pete de Freitas.
Fan favourite Not Everyone Gets To Go To Space is well received, and it is followed a run of songs, all of which provided moments that will stay with me for a very long time. Three ballads in a row – Mastermind Specialism, You Blister My Paint and This Could Be Texas – in which the sound was stripped back with Douglas leaving his drumkit for the keyboards. It was here that we could really appreciate just how great, and I mean great, a singer Lily Fontaine is. The beauty of her voice came over in a way that I don’t feel was really captured on the album. It was captivating. And equally enjoyable was the fact that the audience was silent, attentive and rapt throughout – no inane chattering or folk wandering over to the bars to buy drinks – you could have heard the proverbial pin drop in the gaps between notes.
A new song, Billboards was then played – it was akin to the tunes from the Polyawkward EP – before Lily mentioned that the families of the band were all in the audience tonight, and they were determined to make the show that bit more special. It’ll come as no surprise that album highlight, The Best Tears of Your Life, almost brought the house down at its conclusion.
The band then found a whole new gear as the show headed towards its climax. Lily took off her jacket and told us she’s been practising her dance moves as three uptempo numbers – Song About Love, Nearly Daffodils and The World’s Biggest Paving Slab – were unleashed on an audience who by now were very much entirely in the palm of the singer’s hand. We danced and clapped along as instructed, and the venue was bouncing.
But for me, the true magic came with what happened next. Most bands would have been ready to take their leave at that point, no doubt coming back for an encore given the energy in the room. Instead, Lily said they had one more song to play, and it would be the one written about her home town.
It was like flicking a switch. To go immediately from the manic levels of the three previous songs to playing the majestic and moving Albert Road was a brave but ultimately rewarding move. It would have made for a perfect ending to a perfect evening, except that we did also get a cherry on top of the icing on the cake, with a very quick return to the stage to play Good Grief, another of the tracks from the earlier EP.
And with that, the show came to an end after 75 minutes. Aldo and myself took our leave into the bitterly cold November evening, marvelling at what we’d enjoyed. And judging by the big smiles of contentment on the faces of the many many many people who accompanied us back into Glasgow city centre on the Subway system, we weren’t alone in feeling that way.
Lily promised that English Teacher would make a return to Glasgow before too long. I’m hoping that they will take to the Barrowlands stage next year rather than be part of the line-up at one of our outdoor festivals.
You know the script by now. I delve into my big bumper book of Indie Songs (The Great Indie Discography by Martin Strong, originally published in 1999, with a second edition in 2003), to find who were top of the flops in November 1979.
mp3: The B52s – Planet Claire
The search by Island Records for the elusive second chart hit for the band from Athens, Georgia continued this month with the release of a song that had done well in the USA and Australia. Part of the marketing campaign saw it released on picture disc. I bought a copy. Not too many other people did. If you’re reading this and thinking that you were sure Planet Claire was a hit single in the UK, then you’re right, as it reached #12 when given a re-release as a double-A single with Rock Lobster.
mp3: Cult Hero – I’m A Cult Hero
From wiki:-
“I’m a Cult Hero is a single released by an extended line-up of The Cure under the name Cult Hero. The single was conceived by Robert Smith (singer/guitarist of the Cure) and Simon Gallup (then bassist of the Magspies) as a way to test their musical compatibility. Smith was considering Gallup as a prospective replacement for Michael Dempsey (the Cure’s bassist at the time).
The songs were written for, and feature on vocals, local Horley postman Frank Bell, who is also depicted on the single’s artwork. They also feature Malice/Easy Cure guitarist Porl Thompson and Magspies keyboardist Matthieu Hartley amongst an extended line-up of friends and family, including Robert’s sisters Janet and Margaret and local band the Obtainers.”
It came out on Fiction Records. Copies are available for silly money over on Discogs.
mp3: Essential Logic – Popcorn Boy
This is actually an ‘oops!’ moment as Popcorn Boy should have featured last month as it was released in October 1979. You’ll hopefully recall from a previous flop single featured back in May that Lara Logic had been the saxophonist with X-Ray Spex, but left the band after the debut single Oh Bondage Up Yours. She then formed Essential Logic, for whom she also provided lead vocals. Having seen that first single on Virgin Records fail to trouble the charts, the band was let go and signed to Rough Trade for whom this was the debut offering.
mp3: The Only Ones – Trouble In The World
I couldn’t recall this from back in the day, but when I gave it a listen, I thought it sounded like Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes on lead vocals. It’s nowhere near the class and genius of Another Girl, Another Planet, but then again what is?
mp3: The Ruts – Jah War
The Ruts had enjoyed two Top 3o hit singles with Babylon’s Burning and Something That I Said. The debut album, The Crack, had gone Top 20 on its release in October 1979. The band decided, with the support of Virgin Records, that the next single should be an edited version of the 7-minute-long album track Jah War, written as a response to police violence and brutality when dealing with protestors demonstrating against a far-right campaign meeting in London. A protestor died from head injuries after being struck twice by a police truncheon.
Jah War was banned by the BBC on the grounds that the song was too political. A number of the larger record stores refuse to stock the single. It’s no surprise it didn’t chart.
mp3: Squeeze – Christmas Day
The band had enjoyed a productive and successful year, and decided to round it off with a stab at making a festive hit. It proved to be just a bit too strange to get any airplay, and let’s be honest. It’s rather awful.
I can’t possibly bow out with that, so how about a cult classic from back in the day
mp3: Suicide – Dream Baby Dream
The duo of Alan Vega and Martin Rev never achieved any commercial success whatsoever, but Suicide has long been a hip band name to drop into any conversation. I never knew about them back in 1979, and indeed only picked up on them when Paul Haig later covered their song Ghost Rider. This flop 45, released on Island Records, may be a bit on the repetitive side of things, but it’s bloody brilliant!
An occasional feature between now and mid-December, hopefully giving you time to put some records on your list to Santa. It’s not a rundown by any stretch of the imagination, but simply a chance for me to mention a few albums that have brought me immense pleasure thanks to them being released in 2024.
This Could Be Texas – English Teacher
This is the one on the list where ‘immense pleasure’ may be a breach of the Trades Description Act.
It’s an album I bought on a whim, based on a few things I’d read across blogs and within the on-line pages of a few mainstream publications. There was also the fact that I had a lot of time for one of their songs previously included in the best of No Badger Required back in 2022 plus one of their singles from 2023 was something of a favourite:-
But the first listen of the full album left me a bit bemused. It was much the same with the next two or three listens over the following days as I tried to work out if I’d bought a dud or not. The constant shift between genres, combined with there seeming to be a lot of noodling from the musicians, was messing around with my head. It wasn’t an easy or comfortable listen, with ‘Paving Slab’ being very much the most commercial of their songs. There was one other track that I took an instant liking to, one that was a re-recording of an early single from back in 2021:-
mp3; English Teacher – R&B
I then gave it a listen as I was travelling on a train to the football. Maybe it was the fact I had no other distractions, or maybe it just sounded better coming through the headphones, but I had a bit of a light-bulb moment and a lot of what English Teacher were about now made sense.
The album has been greeted with near universal acclaim, and indeed won the 2024 Mercury Music Prize here in the UK. I’ve become more appreciative of it over the past six months, and in particular its closing song:-
A ballad in which singer Lilly Fontaine, unflinchingly but movingly, recalls how difficult it had been to deal with growing up as a mixed-race child in a tight-knit, small working-class town. It’s one of THE songs of 2024, and that, dear readers, is very much why This Could Be Texas makes the end-of-year list.
Incidentally, myself and Aldo are off to see English Teacher tonight. The gig has already been moved from the quite wonderful St Luke’s (a converted church close to the Barrowlands) to the rather more mundane surroundings of the Queen Margaret Union building at Glasgow University. It’ll be interesting to see how the quieter and more intense songs are received.
2020. The year of the COVID lockdown restrictions. David Gedge turned his hands to providing fans with an online presence that turned out to include live streams and home recordings. The Edge of The Sea Festival was planned and delivered as an online event. The Wedding Present then actually managed to deliver an online gig in October, thanks to cameras being set up in each of the individual houses of the band members.
The purchase of vinyl and CDs also had to be done differently. Record shops being closed meant that owners had to enable customers to order online, with arrange for everything being to be delivered in due course. Record Store Day in 2020 was adapted to deal with the unusual circumstances. Instead of stock coming into shops on one day and potentially causing so much chaos that systems would collapse, it involved what were described as ‘drops’ over three Saturdays in August, September and October.
The Wedding Present’s contribution was issued on 26 September. It was a 7″ EP, on blue vinyl, released on Hatch Records, a Leeds-based label. It consisted of the three songs the band had recorded on 5 August 2019 for the Shaun Keaveny Show, broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music. It’s a fine reminder of how tight the band were at that point in time, with Danielle Wadey on guitars and backing vocals, Melanie Howard on bass and backing vocals and Charles Layton on drums.
mp3: The Wedding Present – Don’t Ask Me (Shaun Keaveny Session) mp3: The Wedding Present – Panama (Shaun Keaveny Session) mp3: The Wedding Present – No (Shaun Keaveny Session)
The first song was a new one. Its title would change in due course, and it would be released in 2022…..and that’s something I’ll get to in the not too distant future. The middle song was relatively new, having been the b-side of the 2019 Record Store Day release, and which featured in this series just seven days ago. The third track is a fresh and slightly less frantic take on one of the songs to be found on the 1989 album, Bizzarro.
All in all, a decent enough release to help the band and fans get through what was proving to be a difficult and challenging time.
From the Last Night From Glasgow website:-
Brontës are a five-piece from Glasgow formed in 2021. The group take inspiration from the likes of Foals, Talking Heads and Mazzy Star – blending a classic indie sound with lush vocals and a funky edge.In 2022, they released their debut single, a AA 7″ featuring tracks First Hand Arrogance and Groove, that prompted praise from press and listeners alike. They’ve built up a steady buzz in Scotland. Known for their smooth performances; from playing a sold-out headline gig at the iconic King Tuts, to bagging various festival slots and filling out rooms with secret sets. They released two new singles in 2023 – Down To You which was featured as Single Of The Week on BBC Radio Scotland’s Afternoon Show and He’s Not Racist.Brontës released new EP Element of Revival with accompanying compilation CD in April 2024.
They are yet another excellent young band to emerge from these parts. I’m lucky enough to have a copy of the debut single, their only release to date on vinyl, as the 2023 releases were digital.
mp3: Brontës – First Hand Arrogance
Hope it meets with your approval. If you do like it, please give consideration to visiting LNFG and ordering the Element of Revival CD given that it is one of its seven tracks.
Sorry. The CD is sold out. But you can get a high-quality digital copy of the debut single. Click here.
Fair play to Arctic Monkeys who indicated well in advance of any new material that they weren’t going to be content with simply regurgitating the sound of their 2006 debut album and the various hit singles it had spawned.
But I don’t think anyone was fully prepared for the lead-off single for the second album.
mp3: Arctic Monkeys – Brianstorm
Loud, fast, energetic and much harder than the vast majority of the indie-style material with which they had made their name. It didn’t put anyone off, as can be evidenced by it reaching #2 in April 2007.
The b-side was also quite different
mp3: Arctic Monkeys – Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend
Lyrically, it’s akin to many of the songs on the debut, but it boasts a rap contribution from Dizzee Rascal which takes it to a wholly different level.
It’s a thumbs-up from all concerned here in Villain Towers.
An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.
On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System – The Bug Club
In which I have to say a huge thank you to The Robster. It was his guest posting back in June of ICA #368 which first alerted me to the very existence of The Bug Club.
He referred to them as being one of his and Mrs Robster’s favourite local bands, helpfully explaining that they had acquired a large cult following over the few short years of their existence, gained coveted airplay and live sessions on BBC radio, had released 10 singles, two albums (one of them an ambitious double), two EPs, three things nobody knew how to describe, and a live album of exclusive material under a different band name, all since 2021, and while playing 200+ gigs a year.
The ICA proved to be a great listen and a mental note was taken to keep an eye on things. A couple of months later, I’m browsing in one of the indie record shops in Glasgow city centre when I spot an album by The Bug Club. Turns out it was the new one The Robster had referred to in the closing sentence on the ICA, with the band having signed to Sub Pop. The debit card was fished out, and I went home with what is described as ‘The Loser Edition’ of On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System on orange marble vinyl.
It looked great as I placed it on the turntable. How did it sound? Well, I couldn’t say as that was when I discovered my amp had suddenly developed a fault which meant whatever was being played through the turntable, CD player or indeed the DAB radio couldn’t be heard above a dreadful buzzing noise. It took a few weeks to get it all fixed, and it wasn’t until early October that I finally got to hear the record, albeit I had dipped in and out of a few tracks via YouTube. (I don’t have any streaming services at all).
I sent an email back to The Robster the next day, the summary of which was:-
“It.
Is.
Superb.
Hints of so many acts I’ve loved over the decades. Violent Femmes. Jonathan Richman. Lovely Eggs. HMHB.”
As with Viva Hinds, this is another short record, with eleven songs coming in at just under half-an-hour. It’s not quite in Otoboke Beaver territory, but Sam Wilmett (vocals/guitar) and Tilly Harris (vocals/bass) don’t hang around. Once again, I’m delighted to say, there is never any feeling that the listener is being short-changed.
The Robster did finish off his ICA with a link to the advance single for the album.
Lyrically, it doesn’t get much simpler than that. I imagined that most of the album would have been along similar lines, but that was far from the case. They can get quite surreal when they put their minds to it
mp3: The Bug Club – Actual Pain
Anarchy and sympathy entwined in mediocrity. I never liked the way you move. Those conifers are louder than my ten gallon hat. That’s crazy but it’s true. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain and it don’t tickle like the handbook said. Illwill never killed the meaning of the word. I never heard you scream. Magnolia, alpine white or somewhere in-between. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain and it don’t tickle like the handbook said. My life blood leaking on the heavy metal grass. I never stopped to ask your opinion. Sincerely your best friend and ever loving companion. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain and it don’t tickle like the handbook said
And if this one doesn’t put a smile on your face, then there really is no hope.
The Bug Club are coming to Glasgow in February. Tickets have been purchased. It’s the night before Hinds hit town. This 61-year-old is exhausted just thinking about that week, never mind trying to live it.
aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
#2: Docking The Pay by CVC
There are too many people in the UK who wish it was still the 1970s. You know, casual racism and homophobia, the Three-Day Week, terrible clothes, the birth of Thatcherism, the fucking Austin Allegro… Why? I mean really – WHY? I’ll tell you why – the music! Bowie. Punk. Reggae. The Ska revival. Abba. Yes, Abba. SHUT UP!
You see, us lot in Britain seem to have a perverse love of nostalgia. Everything was apparently better back in “our day”, whenever that was. My generation loves the 80, another really awful decade. But it’s the culture we hold dear, not real life. Wales wasn’t in a good place in the 70s, like the rest of the UK, yet musically we seem to be finding guidance in the decade that fashion forgot, despite the fact that many of those forging this trend weren’t even close to being born back then. CVC, for instance, look and sound like an episode of Life On Mars. Yet, for some reason – probably because the best bands in Wales have traditionally been rooted in psych-rock – they sound so NOW.
Hailing from Church Village – a tiny town on the southern edge of the Rhondda Valley, halfway between Llantrisant and Pontypridd – CVC (Church Village Collective) released their debut album ‘Get Real’ in 2023, catapulting themselves into the national spotlight thanks to BBC 6 Music going absolutely ga-ga for them. It probably doesn’t hurt that their guitarists are also related to Welsh music royalty (I’ll give you a clue – their names are David Bassey and Elliot Bradfield…) so there’s more than few good genes kicking about in there.
Depending on when this piece is published, CVC may have a new album out, or it may still be pending. Docking The Pay features on the debut though.
MP3: Docking The Pay – CVC (from ‘Get Real’, 2023)
An album of off-cuts called ‘B-Real’ also snuck out last year, and from it, you can listen to this cover of a song by the best Welsh psych-rock band ever. Yes, EVER!
MP3: Juxtaposed With You – CVC (from ‘B-Real’, 2023)
An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.
Viva Hinds – Hinds
Back in February, I wrote about Hinds playing a basement venue in Glasgow to a packed and enthusiastic audience, including myself and Aldo. We were ecstatic that it turned out to be a triumphant return after a period of change and uncertainty, and it was an evening in which the two remaining members of the original four-piece line-up, Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote became almost overwhelmed by the reception given to them by the audience. There were a handful of new songs aired during the set, all of which were as enthusiastically received as the old material, which really bode well for the next album.
Viva Hinds, their fourth studio album, was released in September 2024, but was preceded by a number of singles/music videos, which meant I was quite familiar with much of the material by the time the vinyl was delivered to Villain Towers – this was one ordered directly from the band to try and ensure as much of the money ended up with them, an important factor as there have been very trying circumstances for all concerned in the four years since the release of The Prettiest Curse back in 2020.
Given all that has happened to the band – it wasn’t just the departure of their original drummer and bassist, but they also lost their management team and record label – it might be anticipated that the comeback album would prove to be bitter and resentful. The Glasgow show back in February, however, gave more than a few hints that it wouldn’t turn out that way. I knew that Viva Hands was going to be a joy to listen to, and it also managed to offer up a few pleasant surprises, not least how polished it felt given that the main recordings took place in pop-up studios in rural France, albeit some work, including some backing and co-vocal contributions from well-known guests, took place in more conventional surroundings.
It might be a short album, with its ten songs stretching out to 32 minutes or thereabouts, but there’s no sense of ever feeling short-changed. The songs, mostly, bounce along with that comforting blend of pop/post-punk on which the band has built its reputation since first getting together back in 2011.
That’s one of the aforementioned guest contributions. Here’s the other:-
mp3: Hinds – Stranger (feat. Grian Chatten)
It’s also the first album in which they sing in their native language:-
But for me, the standout song is the one written by Carlotta and Anna as a riposte to those who abandoned them.
“’Superstar’ talks about the disappointment and the pain you feel when someone you love deeply, disappears with no explanation; you feel worthless, you start thinking you never really knew that person, and you question your shared past, and if what you remember really happened. It’s hard to let people go, but writing this song helped. People need closure, and this song is ours.”
Defiant. Anthemic. Joyous.
Hinds are back in Glasgow this coming February. It’s likely to be one of the highlights of the year.
#074: Pixies – ‘Here Comes Your Man’ (4AD Records ’89)
yes, I know: „uh, the sissy has gone for the hit single again – what a pillock!“. And of course you’re right, in all of Pixies‘ back catalogue, ‘Here Comes Your Man’ certainly is the hit single, probably even the most accessible of all of their numbers.
But le me explain why it is that I chose it nevertheless: to me, there were three choices, the first three singles in fact: ‘Gigantic’ from the year before, ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’, also from 1989, and today’s offering. There were more singles, of course, some of them quite excellent, but let’s be honest: diminishing it down to those three was the obvious thing to do, right?
So why did I go for ‘Here Comes Your Man’ and not for one of the other two singles, despite of their brilliance and despite of ‘Here Comes Your Man’ being so, let’s say – „radio-friendly“? Well, amongst some of the rather weird theories I have developed in my life, I also came up with this one: once you have witnessed a band ‘growing up’ from their earliest days on, then you have the natural right to think whatever you want to think about this band and to say whatever you want to say to anyone who did not witness said band’s birth or at least their heydays. And no, all you 16-year-old chicks with your skinny jeans and your Ramones– and/or Nirvana-T-shirts who are reading this: I am neither ‘just an old fart’ nor ‘an overweight smart aleck’ – it is NOT my fault that you are so easily offended when your outfit is being questioned by me!!
(JC adds…….don’t worry Dirk, I’m 99.9999% sure that no 16-year old chicks read this blog!)
Back to Pixies and ‘Here Comes Your Man’. I bought ‘Come On Pilgrim’ when it came out and spent hundreds of Deutschmarks on their later output as well. So, to come to a point with all of this, taking this fact into consideration when it comes to my wonderful theory: if I think that ‘Here Comes Your Man’ is the right single of choice for me, then so it shall be!
I mean, come on: it is rather pop, rather commercial, yes, but bloody hell: it’s excellent throughout! Also, what you might not have known up until now is that Black Francis had written it when he was about 15. To my understanding, the band did not like it pretty much (apparently they referred to it as “the Tom Petty song“), and the same was true for the label – so much so that 4AD did not want it to appear on ‘Come On Pilgrim’ in 1987.
Still, and it’s clear that it’s one of those records you know by heart obviously – to me it hasn’t lost an inch of its greatness, I still could listen to it on a daily basis:
The Wedding Present were in a good place when 2019 rolled around. The line-up was really settled with Charles Layton now a ten-year veteran on the drums, Danielle Wadey proving to be a great foil on guitar having initially joined the band as bassist in 2016, while the new bassist, Melanie Howard, was bringing youth and a fresh energy to the live shows, of which there had been plenty across the UK between March and June as part of a 30th anniversary tour of Bizarro, which then moved on to Japan, China and Thailand in July.
A new single, issued on the Leeds-based label Come Play With Me Records, and released on 2 August, broke some new ground for the band in that one version of it was their first ever picture disc.
mp3: The Wedding Present – Jump In, The Water’s Fine mp3: The Wedding Present – Panama
Two new songs, available on standard 7″ or 10″ picture disc.
It’s one of the more unusual and hard to categorise singles in the band’s history. It starts off as if it’s going to be a rock number with loud guitars, before easing off to a more gentle-pace with the chorus relying heavily on the backing vocals offered up by Melanie Howard, something that had been a feature of the live shows throughout the year.
The b-side begins with handclaps and a prominent bass line, courtesy of Terry de Castro, with had come back, as a one-off, to play on the single. Again, it’s just a tad different from the norm, and yet it sounded exactly as you’d expect. It’s one that I’ve long felt was wasted as a b-side – it’s certainly a better and more instant song than Jump In…
The band would then perform at the 2019 edition of The Edge of The Sea Festival, and spend much of the rest of the year on the road in the UK and Europe, with 41 shows all told. I caught the show in Glasgow in late October, and it was proved to be incredibly enjoyable, with the musicians clearly having a fantastic chemistry, aided by the fact that so much of the set was made up of songs from Bizarro. Oh, and the fact that the unexpected cover on the evening was A Song From Under The Floorboards, originally recorded by Magazine.
But the last 14 dates, involving shows in Germany, Holland, Belgium and England, by necessity featured a changed line-up. Danielle had toured while pregnant, but there had to come a time when common sense prevailed, and her last show was on 16 November. Her partner, and father of her child, is none other than Charles Layton and so, after more than a decade of being the band’s drummer, he also took his leave. In their place came Jon Stewart, formerly of Sleeper on guitar, and Chris Hardwick, formerly of My Life Story on drums. This would be the new line-up, anticipated to head into a studio sometime in 2020, as well as going out and playing live.
This is far from the first time that Broken Chanter has featured on TVV, but the band wasn’t in existence back in September 2016 when the initial alphabetical run through of singers and bands with at least one song on the hard drive of the Villain Towers laptop had reached ‘Br….’
At that point in time, David MacGregor was still very much involved with Kid Canaveral, a rather delightful five-piece Scottish-indie band who had just released their third studio album, Faulty Inner Dialogue, on Lost Map Records. The band did make great records, but their true strength was when they got up on stage, thanks in the main to an excellent chemistry and the talents of the two vocalists, the afore mentioned Mr MacGregor and Kate Lanza. By this point in time, Kid Canaveral had been together for 12 years, having formed when they all met as students back in 2004.
In early 2019, David revealed that he was going to release a solo album. He chose to use the moniker of Broken Chanter, emphasising that it would be a name that would apply whether it was just him on record or on stage as a solo performer or whether it was with a full band in similar circumstances. The self-titled debut album was a mix of the indie-pop we were accustomed to, alongside a number of gently-paced and lovely ballads, which helped to illustrate just how good a singer and songwriter he was. It was a record that truly delivered, and the shows in late 2019 to accompany its release were outstanding, with David’s charisma very much to the fore. The future looked very bright.
The big plans for 2020 had to be put on hold due to the COVID pandemic and all the restrictions that were in place and would remain so for some considerable time. When things began to get back to normal, we learned that Kid Canaveral had called it a day, but that Broken Chanter was intending to continue. It has resulted in two more superb albums – Catastrophe Hits (2021) and Chorus of Doubt (2024) – with the latter, released on Chemikal Underground, being shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year.
There’s more than enough great tunes out there to pull together a Broken Chanter ICA, and I’ll likely sit down and do that in the not too distant future. In the meantime, here’s a chance to listen to a single from the more folk-orientated debut album.
Yet another repost, but one I will make no apologies for. Besides, it dates from November 2013 and may well be of interest to some of the more new TVV regulars.
Released in November 1984 in the midst of what was the most bitter and confrontational industrial action in my lifetime, the Miners’ Strike.
My most abiding memory of the song, aside from dancing to it in the student union, was when The Redskins gave a live rendition one Friday tea-time on ‘The Tube’ . This was some eight months into the strike, and the positions on both sides were entrenched to the point of deadlock. The UK media was, without any question, very much on the side of the government and the coal industry management, and it was rare for anyone actually on strike to be given any sort of platform to put their case across.
Having just crashed their way through Hold On, lead singer Chris Dean (who also at the time wrote for the NME under the name of X Moore) introduced a temporary member of the band for Keep On Keepin On. A miner from Durham (which was the closest mining area to the Newcastle studios where The Tube was recorded) took to the stage and explain why he was on strike and to thank the public for their continued support. His words were met with applause from the studio audience, but they didn’t reach the ears of those of use sitting in our living rooms, as his words weren’t coming through.
There was uproar afterwards as Channel 4 was accused of deliberately sabotaging the performance. The TV station claimed it didn’t know in advance that the striking miner would take to the stage and had no idea that he would take to that particular mic, which they claimed had malfunctioned during the performance. I’ve got this footage on VHS tape, and I’ve watched it loads of time, and it cannot be denied that when Martin Hewes was singing backing vocals on Hold On he couldn’t be heard….but it really does seem to have been all too convenient and too much of a coincidence.
The resultant fall-out from the row helped get the single some publicity, and some radio airtime, which helped take Keep On Keepin On into the Top 50, but sadly not enough to ever lead to a Top of The Pops appearance.
Keep On Keepin On is a cracking record, as indeed is the LP Neither Washington Nor Moscow with its heady mix of pop, soul, blues, folk, punk and left-wing politics, and it’s very obvious that The Redskins were a hugely talented band who could have made and sold records for many years to come. But they didn’t…..
Where others such as Bragg and Weller could accept that there was more to the life of a musician than writing and recording agit-pop songs, it really was all-or-nothing for Chris Dean & co. They painted themselves into a corner with the interviews they gave to the music and mainstream press, and in due course the sad defeat for the miners and the ever-increasing shift to the right in UK politics meant they had nowhere to go and nothing meaningful to say. For a while The Redskins had stood firm, held tight and fought. But in the end they chose to die on their feet than to live on their knees. The break-up was swift and inevitable. But they left a fine legacy:-
mp3 : The Redskins – Keep On Keepin’ On (Die on Your Feet Mix)
mp3 : The Redskins – 16 Tons (Coal Not Dole)
mp3 : The Redskins – Reds Strike The Blues!
An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.
Cut To Black – Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson‘s career dates back to 1977 when he picked up the bass guitar so that he could answer Howard Devoto‘s call to join Magazine. He played on all five of the band’s albums (four studio and one live) and when they called it a day, he joined Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, prior to going solo in 1988. He very quickly made a name for himself as a performer and composer of note, with his work expanding into film soundtracks, real and imaginary, encompassing a wide range of genres. He’s never been one to chase any type of commercial success – Cut To Black was his tenth studio offering, on top of which there have been three soundtrack albums, four EPs and twelve singles, from which he has a collective three weeks worth of album chart success, thanks to Oedipus Schmoedipus (two weeks in 1996) and As Above So Below (one week in 1998).
In some ways, Cut to Black isn’t that different from many of his previous releases, and yet it is possibly the most straightforward. It has a soundtrack feel, in that you could imagine all ten of its songs being picked up by directors/producers and inserted into key scenes; indeed, most of the songs feel as they themselves would make for a great short story, with at least one of them, the album opener, being based on a real-life and infamous incident.
The Last Words of Sam Cooke is very much among my favourite songs of this calendar year.
The album’s title track is equally memorable. There’s less singing and less foot stomping, and it’s one that Nick Cave himself would have been proud to have come up with:-
mp3: Barry Adamson – Cut To Black
And if you’re looking for a touch of the blues with a hint of Tom Waits, how about lending your ears to this?
“It’s not gospel, it’s not soul, it’s not blues and it ain’t rock’n’roll. It’s all of them,”are the words Barry Adamson used when he was asked to succinctly sum up the album. Nobody can possibly put it any better.
aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
JC WRITES……….
It’s the start of another new series, one which will have at least ten parts to it over the coming weeks, but I’m hopeful that the author will enjoy himself enough to become a regular contributor to this little corner of t’internet during 2025. He’s someone who shouldn’t need any introduction to many of you who are regular visitors. I won’t add too much as he tells the story in his own introductory paragraphs below. I simply want to not just thank him, but to give him a very warm welcome on his long-awaited return to blogging. And with that…….it’s over to him.
THE ROBSTER WRITES……
Once upon a time, there was a blog called Is This The Life? Alongside all kinds of self-indulgent nonsense, it celebrated the music and culture of the tremendous land of song known as Wales, or Cymru to certain natives. A song posted each Wednesday by a Welsh artist was both an innovative and thrilling concept, the likes of which no one had ever thought to do before, or indeed since. (Imagine if something like that existed for a country like, oh I don’t know, Scotland?) When the blog finally ceased to be, all hope of a revival of this highly celebrated and much revered series appeared to expire with it.
But…
One day, the host of Is This The Life? got bored, so dropped a line to the legendary creator of the greatest music blog in the world (no, not No Badger Required, but you’re on the right track) to ask if he would like to help bring the corpse of this mighty entity back to life. Much to his (my) surprise, Lord JC of Alba said “Aye”. And so, in the face of absolutely no demand whatsoever, Welsh Wednesday returns. Until one of us gets tired of it. All at once, the people of planet Earth can set their differences aside for a few short minutes a week and rejoice at the sounds of a tiny province that gets cruelly overlooked by so many (including the UK Government and media). Don’t worry, there won’t be loads of waffle, just a bit of background and some tunes. I will be aiming to post stuff by artists who never featured in the original series (or its lockdown-induced follow-up), but that’s not a promise. There’s room for everyone here, especially if they are the Super Furry Animals (or one of the umpteen acts their various members have played in).
Make yourself a cuppa tea, some cheese on toast and a Welsh cake and enjoy what will hopefully be a slightly better than average look at some of this fair little nation’s finest musical offerings of the past and present, while keeping an eye and ear on the future. Mwynhau!
#1: Sudd by Adwaith
We’re starting off with a band some of you may have heard of. Adwaith (trans. Reaction) are a three-piece hailing from Carmarthen. They formed in 2015, and by 2018 were releasing songs to much acclaim. Their debut album ‘Melyn’ followed later that same year and in 2019, it won the Welsh Music Prize. A few singles appeared between 2019 and 2020 before the follow-up album ‘Bato Mato’ was unleashed in 2022. It also won the Welsh Music Prize that year, making Adwaith the only act (to date) to win the award twice.
Adwaith are passionate about the Welsh language and have been a part of Welsh Language Music Day for a number of years. They are UK festival regulars and are already making themselves known further afield.
Sudd (trans. Juice) is taken from ‘Bato Mato’ and is one of my favourites from their catalogue. The MP3 is the album version, the video is a live version performed for BBC Wales at the Lleisiau Eraill (trans. Other Voices) festival in Aberteifi last year.
A slight deviation from the norm in that this instalment also happens to cover a few days from October 1979, with the first of the charts being recalled with much fondness today being that of 27 October – 3 November. The first glance is enough to give anyone with good taste a bit of the dry boak as the Top 3 places really are easy listening hell with Lena Martell, Dr. Hook and Sad Cafe stinking the place out. Thankfully, one of the year’s top songs did make its entry into the charts this week, coming in at #29.
mp3: The Jam – The Eton Rifles (7″ version)
The band’s third chart hit of 1979 following on from When You’re Young and Strange Town, both of which had been Top 20. The Eton Rifles would take The Jam to the giddy heights of #3 in mid-November, confirmation that, for a certain age-group across Britain, they were becoming the biggest and most important band of their time.
Moving quickly on to the chart of 4-10 November, and it was still AOR hell across much of the Top 40. I had to go a long way down to find something decent enough that was new this week:-
mp3: Madness – One Step Beyond
So, it’s now coming up for 45 years since those of us of a certain age, not only fell head-over heels for The Jam, but we all did the Chas Smash dance for the first time. The Prince had been great fun to listen and dance to, but the band’s second 45 was truly something else. In at #51, it would go on to enjoy a 14-week stay in the Top 75, not taking its leave until the end of February 1980. The first Top of The Pop appearance for this one was memorable…..the audience had no idea what to make of it!!!
Sneaking in almost unnoticed at #75 was this:-
mp3: The Tourists – I Only Want To Be With You
As with The Jam, this was The Tourists third chart hit of 1979, and it would prove to be their biggest in their short existence. A cover of a Dusty Springfield hit from 1964, this would spend 7 weeks in the Top 10 throughout December and into the first few weeks of January 1980, thus gaining loads of sales in that crucial Christmas period. It would peak at #4 which, coincidentally, was the same success that Dusty had enjoyed 15 years previously.
11-17 November was another that was short on quantity, but big on quality
mp3: Pretenders – Brass In Pocket (#57)
Another band enjoying a third chart hit of 1979, but where Stop Your Sobbing and Kid had barely dented the Top 40, Brass In Pocket was a different beast altogether. It’s one of those songs that gets lumped onto a fair number of ‘Alternative Hits of the 80s’ compilations, which is kind of understandable when you look at its chart trajectory. In at #57….four weeks later in mid-December, it had crept up to #30. Five weeks later, it reached #1 in mid-January, enjoying a two-week stay at the top, before eventually falling out of the Top 75 in March, a full 17 weeks after it had first come in. A brilliant pop song that has aged superbly.
It was also a chart that delivered a cash-in.
mp3: The Police – Fall Out (#70)
The past 18 months had delivered worldwide pop success for The Police, but here was a reminder of their new wave roots. The debut single, originally released in May 1977 on Illegal Records. It had been written by Stewart Copeland and the guitarist was Henry Padovani as Andy Summers had yet to join. Sting‘s role was just to look pretty and sing. Fall Out had flopped on its initial release, but the demand for product was such, and even though the band’s sound have move a long long way from new wave, that this would reach #47 in due course.
Moving swiftly on to 18-24 November, it proved to be a chart with some intriguing new entries.
Hands up if you can recall and then sing along to Gary Numan‘s follow-up single to Cars. I thought so….very few of you
mp3: Gary Numan – Complex (#15)
Where Are Friends Electric and Cars had been upbeat and jaunty numbers and very much on the synth-pop side of things, this one is slow, meandering, serious and of the type that has listeners stroking their chins. It takes almost 90 seconds, half the duration of the song, before the lyric begins. I’ve a feeling that if Gary Numan hadn’t been such a phenomena back in 1979 that this would not have had much airplay on daytime radio. It did, however, get A-listed and in due course would peak at #6 the following week.
I’ve mentioned a few bands for whom November 1979 brought a third chart hit across the calendar year. It’s time to give praise to a band that was having its fourth hit of the year
mp3: The Skids – Working For The Yankee Dollar
It had all started with Into The Valley in February, followed by Animation and Charade. There is no doubt that the band’s sound evolved and changed a huge deal across the year. The first hit was new wave personified but the final hit, with all sorts of keyboards has more than a hint of prog. What hadn’t changed, however, was the catchy sing-along nature of the verses and chorus, albeit it was till nigh-on impossible to get all the words right! Working For The Yankee Dollar came in at #34 and nine weeks later it reached its peak of #20 after an incredibly slow rise to that position, going 34, 32, 28, 27, 24, 24, 23, 21, 20.
One place below The Skids in the new chart was a song from another band, enjoying a fourth hit single of the year
mp3: Blondie – Union City Blue
In at #35 and eventually peaking at #13. A relative flop given that Heart of Glass, Sunday Girl and Dreaming had been #1 or #2. A sign that the halcyon days of Blondie were over??? Don’t be silly……normal service would be resumed in February and April 1980 with two more #1s. Union City Blue did, however, prove that the band were more likely to have hits with pop or disco orientated songs rather than rock-type efforts.
Coming in at #55, was someone on the comeback trail.
mp3: Marianne Faithfull – The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan
Back in 1979, I only knew of Marianne Faithfull through her acting and the fact she had been romantically involved with Mick Jagger. I had no idea that she had enjoyed a number of Top 10 hit singles back in 1965 and then a minor hit in 1967. November 1979 had seen the release of an album, Broken English, with the music press and broadsheet newspapers in particular highlighting it was the work of someone coming back from a long period in the wilderness that had included periods of drug addiction, homelessness and anorexia, all of which had messed with her voice. It’s an album that gained great critical acclaim on its release, and has done so ever since. But sales wise, it didn’t initially do all that much, only reaching #57 in the UK, albeit it sold in better numbers across Europe.
In an effort to boost sales, a single was lifted from it. It was one of a number of covers recorded for the album, of a tune originally recorded back in 1974 by Dr Hook & The Medicine Show. I really have to share the review that was printed in Smash Hits magazine, none of whose targetted readership would have had a clue about Marianne’s past history:-
“The Debbie Harry of the sixties returns to vinyl with an honestly outstanding offering, a version of an old Doctor Hook number related over a swimming synthesiser. If you can handle this, it sounds like Dolly Parton produced by Brian Eno. Only better.”
Absolute genius!!!!!!!!!
With that, it’s time to move on to the chart of 24 November – 1 December. I wasn’t expecting much, given that this is when record company bosses put the emphasis on the festive or novelty songs that are likely to curry favour rather than promoting anything serious or worthwhile.
mp3: The Police – Walking On The Moon (7″)
A first in this series, with a band enjoying two new chart entries in the same month. A&M Records weren’t happy with the Illegal Records re-release of Fall Out, but given the band weren’t involved in any way with its promotion, and the fact that the next ‘proper’ single would come in at #5, before hitting the #1 spot, demonstrated that no damage to the brand had been done.
And here’s some more proof of why 1979 was, without any question, the best-ever in terms of delivering chart success for great/memorable/important singles.
mp3: Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
This would have been the first time I ever heard a rap song. I’d be fibbing if I said I took to it instantly. I did love the fact it made great use of Good Times by Chic, but the fast-flowing and difficult to decipher lyric was something I didn’t ‘get’. Looking back on things, I am happy to acknowledge, and not for the first time, that my tastes in music had yet to fully form at the age of 16. I had no immediate reference points for this type of music but over the next few years, thanks in part to The Clash and Blondie referencing rap music and incorporating it into their own songs, it began to make a great deal of sense. By the time Grandmaster Flash appeared on the scene in 1982 with The Message, I was more than ready to embrace things, albeit I would still only dip my toes into the water for a few more years before fully immersing myself.
Rapper’s Delight came in at #38. Within two weeks, it was at #3, and it wouldn’t leave the Top 75 until February 1980. It’s far from the greatest rap song ever written and recorded, but it must be one of the most important as it was a game-changer.
I should mention in passing that this was the chart in which Pink Floyd, to the chagrin of their fans who saw the band as being an albums-only outfit, saw a single, Another Brick In The Wall, come in at #26. It was their first Top 40 single since 1967 and would, in reaching #1 a couple of weeks later, become their best known song. I thought of it back then as a novelty hit. Still do.
It was also the chart in which Paul McCartney first got to tell us of his Wonderful Christmas Time, and he hasn’t stopped doing so since. It came in at #61, and eventually reached #6. It has subsequently featured in the Top 75 in 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015 and every year since 2017 since teh dawn of digital downloads counting towards chart positions.
Part 2 of this feature, with 45s from November 1979 that didn’t chart, will be with you in a couple of weeks.
I’ve just one song by Call To Mind. And it’s under two minutes long. As such, it is one that could have appeared on other ongoing series, but its natural place is this Saturday effort dealing with Scottish bands.
The band is described on their bandcamp page as ‘a collective from Ardersier, in the Highlands of Scotland’ Ardersier is a former fishing village on the Moray Firth located between Inverness and Nairn, with a population of just over 1,100. It was in Glasgow that the band members Martin Ross (piano/keys/vocals), Jamie Ross (guitar/vocals), Andrew Masson (bass/vocals), Joe Smillie (drums/percussions/vocals) and Steven Gribbin (guitar/vocals) made some headway back in 2013 when they signed to Olivegrove Records and released debut album The Winter Is White.
It is thanks to the inclusion of this song on the 2020 compilation album Get Into The Grove : 10 Years Of Olivegrove that I can bring the band to your attention today:-
mp3: Call To Mind – Recovery
As far as I can see, the band has not been active since the recording and release of the debut album.
From the 
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 