THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 6)

Boxers appeared in January 1995, some 10 months after the release of Vauxhall And I, but seven months prior to the issue of Southpaw Grammar. Thankfully, from this listeners’ perspective, it is a song that fits in more with the former than the latter.

The sleeve on the top is the UK release, and the cover star is an American fighter called Billy Conn of the 1930s and 40s, who at one-time was the Light-Heavyweight champion of the world (in an era when just one man held the title at a particular weight, unlike today with its myriad of ‘champs’ recognised by different governing bodies). Apart from appearing on a Morrissey record sleeve, Billy Conn has had several brushes with the performing arts, including appearances on TV and in movies. He was also name-checked in the famous film On The Waterfront

The sleeve underneath is the US version, and shows Morrissey outside an old London training gym. The two b-sides, along with the single itself, would all later find their way onto the compilation LP, World Of Morrissey.

Boxers is one of the stronger Morrissey songs from the era, as is Have-A-Go- Merchant, the b-side on the 7″ single. But the additional track on the 12″ and CD single suffers from really bad saxophone playing from Boz Boorer which has often led me to skip past it when it comes round on the i-pod.

mp3 : Morrissey – Boxers
mp3 : Morrissey – Have-A-Go Merchant
mp3 : Morrissey – Whatever Happens, I Love You

The single peaked at a disappointing, but atypical for the period, #23.

Oh and legend has it that the title of the 7″ b-side was inspired by what Morrissey thought was this tame cover version:-

mp3 : 10,000 Maniacs – Everyday Is Like Sunday

Enjoy.

Paul Quinn & The Independent Group

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 89)

Over the first two years of my blogging exploits, no-one featured more in the various postings than the mighty Quinn. He’s been a regular ever since and although I’ve now featured everything possible and had countless repeat postings, I still look forward to writing about him and hoping that every post brings him a new admirer.

His is the great lost voice of a generation. It is a tragedy that he was struck down by a truly debilitating disease that has left him unable to perform. His legacy isn’t substantial in volume, but quality wise, it’s hard to beat.

Alan Horne resurrected Postcard Records in 1992, partly to release some old stuff by Orange Juice, but also to give a home to Paul Quinn & The Independent Group.

This truly was a legendary Glasgow ‘supergroup’ – James Kirk (ex Orange Juice), Campbell Owens (ex Aztec Camera), Blair Cowan (ex Lloyd Cole & The Commotions) and Robert Hodgens (ex Bluebells) were just some of the members, as was Alan Horne himself.

Two albums and a couple of singles was all it amounted to. I once read someone else trying to describe Paul’s voice and they said, add up David Bowie, Bryan Ferry and Edwyn Collins, then divide by three and you get Paul Quinn, with Paul being a better conventional singer than any of them. I couldn’t put it any better….

This was not a band that appeared live too often, but there was a truly unforgettable night at the Glasgow Film Theatre in 1994 when they gave a spellbinding performance to a backdrop of weird and wonderful movie clips by the likes of Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel. One of my favourite concerts/events of all time, it is a tragedy that no-one thought to film it. My old mate Jacques the Kipper was with me, and as he has since said, there are few nights he would ever want to re-live but the GFT gig is one – simply because it could never be repeated. Not close.

mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Stupid Thing
mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Passing Thought
mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Superstar

The last of these three tracks, taken from a CD single (Postcard DUBH 933) from 1992 is a cover of a song by The Carpenters. Around the same time, and by coincidence, Sonic Youth also covered Superstar and the press raved about them, all the while more or less ignoring Paul Quinn and his mates.

Sometimes I just don’t get it….

Simple Minds

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Dear VV

1. My last post was on the letter G

2. Using a photo of my backside in a thong.

3. Er thats it.

Jules

From Julian’s Electrical Gramophone

Who would have reckoned that S-WC‘s contribution from earlier this week would have caused such outrage….

Jules‘ tongue is of course very firmly in his cheek. But it does turn out that his most recent posting over at Music From Magazines was solely related to the letter G. Don’t be afraid to pay him a visit….there’s no picture of his hairy arse in a thong. Click here

It did get me thinking about the first time that the old blog got a copyright infringement notice. It was actually quite polite and it came from the good folk who look after Brett Anderson. I’d just bought a copy of his new single Love Is Dead and how shoved it up for folk to have a listen but with a link to where they could purchase it. An e-mail arrived a day or so later which said thanks for buying the record but would I please remove the download links as I was breaching copyright. Naturally, I obliged….after all, I had a disclaimer on the blog saying that if a copyright owner got in touch I would remove any links immediately.

That was back in 2007 and the early days of the blog and at the time that I was quite flattered to have come up on the radar of his record label and/or management – as far as I knew there were not that many folk dropping in on TVV on a regular basis.

Moving forward a couple of years and TVV had achieved a little bit more exposure. I always knew, from the bitter experiences of many other great bloggers around at the time that the nasty dmca folk would one day come knocking on my door. When they did, what hurt most of all was the google/blogger policy at the time which was to remove not just the links to the mp3s but also the words which accompanied them. Later on, the policy was amended so that an ‘offending’ post was re-set to draft allowing the author, having removed the links, to re-post the words. But of course google/blogger would only allow this to happen so often and after repeated offences then close down the blog altogether as they did with TVV in July 2013. Looking back, the mistake I made was inviting all sorts of guest posts without considering that many of them were featuring singers or bands or labels who were fond of doing the dmca thing.

I haven’t had nearly as many problems since switching to wordpress, but then again the number of daily hits is probably around half of what it was at the peak of TVV, so to some extent I’m back under the radar. And what I’ve also noticed is that rather than bring any offences to the attention of wordpress , the dmca notices are served on my file host which is box.net whose policy is to remove the offending file and inform me by e-mail. The result of all that means if someone clicks on the link they will find it’s not there….but the words will be. And if by chance there’s a handful of songs related to the posting but only one of the songs has caused offence then it’s likely the non-offensive numbers will still be there for a reader’s enjoyment.

Much to my surprise, the band that seems to give me more problems than any these days is Belle & Sebastian. I’ve mentioned this in passing before and it would seem it is probably, in the main, the actions of their US label and operations rather than the folk over here. Tempting as it is to stick two fingers up to the man, I’m in a good mood as it is the start of a holiday weekend and I’m not at work today or next Monday. So instead, I will post the 7″ single which got me the first nasty dmca notice:-

mp3 : Simple Minds – Chelsea Girl
mp3 : Simple Minds – Garden of Hate

Dating all the way back to 1979 and released on Zoom Records, a subsidiary of Arista. For those of you who only know and dislike Simple Minds from their stadium-rock era and chart hits from the mid 80s onwards should give it a listen. You’ll be very surprised at how good they were back in the days…..but that’s a story for a future detailed posting.

I really like the cover of this particular single. It’s by an artist called Thomas Roland Rathmell.

Enjoy

James

THE JAMES SINGLES (9)

In late 1989, James moved to Fontana Records which became their fourth home in just six years.

They took with them loads of newly recorded material that would fill an album and provide plenty of b-sides if the demand was there. The timing was perfect as Madchester really was all the rage and all of the papers and magazines covering the explosive growth of the movement were convinced James were worthy of attention.

Fontana sniffed money from the association with James but left the band in no doubt that things had to be done differently from the debacle at Sire a few years earlier. How Was It For You? was identified as having the potential to be a huge hit but the label insisted on the caveat of a more commercial mix than had been brought over from the sessions originally recorded for Rough Trade and that it be released in as many formats as possible to help propel it up the charts.

All of this was done, probably through gritted teeth for most of the band, who over the years had done their best to provide great value for money to their loyal fan base. Five formats were issued in April 1990 – a 7″ in a blue sleeve with gold writing, a 12″ in a red sleeve with green writing, a 12″ remix in a silver sleeve with blue writing, a CD in a sandy colour with purple writing and a cassette version. There was even a promotional box of condoms issued….

It all worked to an extent as the single did reach the Top 40, peaking at #32. It could have been better if the label hadn’t committed the basic error of filming a promo that was deemed unsuitable for daytime audiences – the incriminating footage was Tim singing underwater!

I’ve got the 7″ and both 12″ versions in the collection which means I can offer up all the tracks that came with this particular release:-

mp3 : James – How Was It For You? (7″ version)
mp3 : James – Whoops (live)
mp3 : James – How Was It For You? (12″ version)
mp3 : James – Hymn From A Village (live)
mp3 : James – Lazy
mp3 : James – How Was It For You? (band mix)
mp3 : James – Undertaker

The two live tracks are taken from a gig at the Manchester Apollo in December 1989 and were two of the most popular of the back catalogue at the time (still are IMHO). Lazy and Undertaker were part of the previous summer’s recordings, and the fact that neither were deemed good enough to make the cut for the forthcoming LP really raised expectations among fans.

Enjoy.

Lloyd Cole & The Negatives

THE LESSER KNOWN “LLOYD COLE & THE …” BAND

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions broke up in 1989 after releasing three LPs and something in the region of a dozen singles, many of which were chart hits. Since then, Lloyd has pursued a solo career which has had more critical than commercial acclaim which is a real shame as much of the output he has released over the past 25 years is every bit as good as his better known stuff with his band mates.

But back in 2000, Lloyd teamed up with some younger musicians from New York to form The Negatives. The other musicians in The Negatives were Dave Derby (lead singer and bassist of 90′s Boston-based Dambuilders, a band once decreed by Spin Magazine to be the best “indie band in America.”), Mike Kotch (guitarist with 90s New York band Eve’s Plum), Rafa Maciejak (drummer with 90s New York band Ivy, who in their time toured with Oasis, Edwyn Collins and The Divine Comedy among others) and Jill Sobule (highly regarded and talented singer-songwriter from Denver who I once saw support Billy Bragg at a gig in Edinburgh).

Other contributors on some of the songs included ex-Commotion Neil Clark and Adam Schlesinger of the Fountains Of Wayne, while production duties were largely (but not exclusively) handled by Stephen Street.

Anyways…..it’s clear that was no bunch of rookie or session musicians, and I reckon the results produced, at the time, Lloyd’s most consistent record in terms of quality since Rattlesnakes back in 1984. Its a great collection of songs and the talents of the other musicians more than complement Lloyd’s vocal delivery. I was just sorry that the project proved to be a one-off and also by the fact that it was a very low-key tour that supported the release of the LP (although in saying that, I was lucky enough to be in Dublin one night when The Negatives were in town and managed to blag a ticket).

What I most like about the record is the mixture of styles deployed throughout. There’s some acoustic type stuff that Lloyd would further develop on his solo albums throughout the subsequent decade, there’s some radio-friendly pop classics that should have been chart hits and there’s even some songs where the band go for a full-out rock assault.

And of course Lloyd’s great lyrics……

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Negatives – Past Imperfect
mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Negatives – What’s Wrong With This Picture?
mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Negatives – Too Much E

Enjoy.

PS : I drafted this post weeks ago. In the interim period I’ve actually had the incredibly good fortune to bump into Lloyd Cole and be introduced to him. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I’ve been a huge fan for years….I still do get star-struck.

Gene Wilder, Girls, Glasvegas, Gravenhurst

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST CORRESPONDENT…NOTHING BUT A ‘G’ THANG

Yesterday I bought the little one a new toy. It’s a puzzle thing based around the alphabet. The idea is you put the pictures with the letter that they begin with, so the monkey sits in the space next to M etc. It’s really difficult as you can imagine. However, me being me, decided to add an element of fun in it for me. So this morning I said to myself which ever picture she pulls out first, I will write about three songs by bands beginning with the same letter. So after the cornflakes were wiped off the floor and the spilt milk had been cried over (must stop doing that) we tried it out.

Please don’t pull out the Xylophone I thought to myself, having not really thought this idea through.

She looked at the box, she picked up her toy dog and then….She picked up the picture of the grapes. So, if you haven’t already guessed by the title, three songs by bands beginning with G. I should add, I set a couple of rules, they are the song or the band can’t have been written about by me recently, that’s it simple. I have songs by 29 bands or artists who begin with G and luckily none of them are by Guns and Roses.

Before I start, one of the little ones favourite songs in the world (right now) is Pure Imagination by Gene Wilder (she’s also massively into Fuck Buttons). I’m going to post that, its not one of the three, but I like to think that she is a genius and that she understood exactly what I was asking her to do, and Gene begins with a G. And if you don’t absolutely love this song then you have a no soul and a heart made of concrete. Anyway…I digress, as usual.

mp3 : Gene Wilder – Pure Imagination

For a song about the rape and murder of a girl, Diane by Gravenhurst is pretty lovely. It is of course a cover version of song first recorded by Husker Du, it was also covered by Therapy? as well in the 90s but you should if you value your ears ignore the Therapy? version as much as you would if Richard Madeley offered to buy you a pint.

Gravenhurst is essentially a vehicle for the singer songwriter and multi-talented musician Nick Talbot who originates from Bristol. He started out as a solo artist but expanded the band for live shows and then started recording as a band. Their first album The Flashlight Sessions (which is remarkable people by the way) sounded quite folky and sat somewhere between Simon and Garfunkel and Bright Eyes (see what I did there, completely unintentionally?). When Talbot beefed the band up for the next couple of albums, they come across a bit psychedelic with a perhaps a sly nod to the shoegazing scene. They are quite a dark band, the lyrics are atmospheric and a bit moody. ‘Diane’ comes from the second album Black Holes in Sand which was released in 2004 on Warp records. The fact they signed to Warp records, home of ear shredding techno, still makes me chuckle.

As I said earlier, the song is about the abduction and killing of a child, but Gravenhurst and its quite a sinister song. The fourth line goes ‘I think I’ll just rape you and kill you instead’, but it the way that its sung, you are not supposed to like it, its not supposed to be lovely but it kind of is. I’ve said before that a cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart was my favourite cover version. In the last eight minutes I’ve changed my mind to this song. It is all about the voice. It sounds friendly not viscious and nasty and that is what makes it so brilliant.

mp3 : Gravenhurst – Diane

Staying on the cover version theme, I will move briefly onto to Glasvegas. I have avoided the big songs we all know (and love?) by Glasvegas and I’m not going to go on about them because we all know enough about them by now. I downloaded a single of theirs a few months back called If which was taken from their excellent third album – the album is a return to form by the way and you should check it out. The third track on this single was a cover version of the PJ Harvey single The Words That Maketh Murder. At first I was sceptical, I mean the song was only a few years old at the time and I’m pretty sure that the ninth rule of music states ‘Thou must not cover PJ’ had Glasvegas stepped over the line, again? I’d be intrigued to hear what people have to say about it. Me, I think they just about pull it off. They should probably never do it again though.

mp3 : Glasvegas – The Words That Maketh Murder

Finally not a cover version, but my favourite song by a band beginning with G and a band who are sadly no longer making records. A few years back, a band called Girls emerged out of San Francisco, the singer Christopher Owens claimed to have been raised into the fundamentalist cult Children of God but absconded at the age of 16 and discovered punk rock and nihilism. At 25 he formed a band with Aerial Pink called Holy Shit, who were probably not as good as their name. Their first album called Album was released in 2009 to a hail of deserved critical acclaim. It is a wonderful mix of lofi, surf rock, pop and punk.

In July 2011 the band returned with Vomit the first track from second album Father Son and Holy Ghost they gave it away as a free download. They should have released it as a single because its wonderful. It is a completely amazing record which to me showed signs that Girls were on the verge of being something incredible. To me it is a very honest song, very open. Owens sounds like he is speaking directly to you in it, and the varied styles of music continue in it to devastating effect, there is a little bit of gospel, some jittery new wave stuff, the hushed vocal, the acid rock guitar solo and then the bloody organ kicks in, when you hear the chorus going ‘Come into my heart, my love’ you understand why it has so many styles. In clocks in at six and bit minutes but all of it is wonderful.

mp3 : Girls – Vomit

Then after the release of the album (which you should buy the minute you stop reading my waffling on) Owens split the band up to go solo. His first solo album Lysandre was a folksy ballad kind of affair and was pretty rubbish. The bastard.

So that is G done. I’m going to be brave here and say – please someone suggest the next letter. But let’s not make it X or Z my library is thin where they are concerned.

S-WC

Electronic, New Order, Other Two, Revenge

THE NEW ORDER SPIN-OFFS

The period after the release of Technique in 1989 was a strange time for New Order. Factory Records and the Hacienda had major financial problems that unsettled the band. Barney was enjoying himself far more alongside Johnny Marr in Electronic, while Hooky was living his dreams of all-out leather-clad rock-star in Revenge. Gillian & Steven would even go onto record stuff on their own as the tongue-in cheek named The Other Two.

Some of the results of the spin-off projects would not have been out-of-place in any New Order discography. Well, maybe not too much of the Revenge output – but this, taken from the appallingly named Gun World Porn EP was better than OK.

mp3 : Revenge – Cloud Nine

I know from reading other blogs over the years that Electronic has long divided fans of New Order and The Smiths alike. For what it’s worth, I thought the early singles and 1st album were magnificent and that some of the later stuff was more than reasonable, if a bit patchy. Electronic might not have toured very much, but I’m happy to say that I did get to see them at the Glasgow Barrowlands in late 1991 and it is a concert that remains a very happy memory. To be able to watch two of my favourite musicians perform on stage together at close quarters was a real treat. I also think that Johnny’s influence led to Barney becoming a more outgoing performer in the 90s with New Order…..but then again, other influences (ahem) may have also played a part.

A particular favourite track of mine is an instrumental which in places reminds me of the Low Life era and also makes me wonder just what direction Johnny would have tried to taken his original band had they either not split up or indeed Morrissey had come crawling back asking them to reform (which wasn’t entirely out of the question on the early 90s)/ I don’t think however, that Morrissey would have come up with any decent lyrics for the funk/disco style his former best pal was turning out.

mp3 : Electronic – Freewill

But of all the records the band members released in other guises, there is one almost flawless piece of electronic pop that should have been snapped up by all New Order fans:-

mp3 : The Other Two – Tasty Fish (12″)

Sadly, this stalled at #41 in the UK charts and denied them what would I’m sure would have been a great appearance on Top of The Pops.

Enjoy

Morrissey

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 5)

Today’s offering goes back to 1997 and was the second single to be taken off the LP Maladjusted.

Unusually for a Morrissey single, he’s nowhere to be seen on the cover – instead its a 1950s photo in a London street (I have to be honest when I bought the CD single that it thought the photo had been taken in the 1970s in my own home city…..)

But there is a snap of the great man himself inside, looking as handsome as ever in a grey checked jacket and white shirt, leaning against an old juke-box.

The reason I’m saying so much about the sleeve is that I really don’t have all that much to offer about the actual single which I reckon is one of the poorest and dullest he’s ever released. No tune to speak off and a completely lame lyric which relies totally on a pun. In fact, given there’s no promo video for the song, I’m guessing there was more enthusiasm from the record company than Morrissey himself.

I can just imagine some executive thinking….’maybe all those Manchester United fans will think it’s about one of their players….’

mp3 : Morrissey – Roy’s Keen
mp3 : Morrissey – Lost
mp3 : Morrissey – The Edges Are No Longer Parallel

I know there’s quite a few fans love the song Lost, but I think its nothing more than OK – although it hints at the sort of production that would dominate on You Are The Quarry some 7 years hence…

Enjoy (but I doubt it).

Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 88)

Pale Blue Eyes was released back in 1969 by The Velvet Underground. It very quickly became a favourite of buskers and would-be-rock-stars the world over and has since been given the cover treatment by countless bands and artists. If you don’t believe me, google in the words ‘Pale Blue Eyes – cover versions’ and see the results for yourself.

Just about all of the versions I’ve ever heard more or less stick faithfully to the tone and delivery of that of the original – but no doubt there is a drum’n’bass or house style out there somewhere just to prove me wrong.

In August 1984 Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins released their version as the first release on a label called Swamplands, the boss of which was none other than Alan Horne, the genius behind Postcard Records. The label was funded entirely as a subsidiary of London Records which itself was part of the multi-national Decca Records.

Here’s the 7″ and 12″ versions as well as the b-sides:-

mp3 : Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins – Pale Blue Eyes (7″)
mp3 : Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins – Pale Blue Eyes (12″)
mp3 : Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins – Burro
mp3 : Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins – Pale Blue Eyes (Western Version)

Alan Horne had huge hopes for this record, believing it would catapult Swamplands and ll its acts to fame and fortune. It got no higher than #72 in the UK charts.

In the end, just six singles were released on the label, none of which sold well, before London pulled the plug on the venture.

SWP1 : Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins – Pale Blue Eyes
SWP3 : James King & The Lonewolves – The Angels Know
SWP4 : Memphis – You Supply The Roses
SWP5 : Win – Unamerican Broadcasting
SWP6 : Paul Quinn – Ain’t That Always The Way
SWP8 : Win – You’ve Got The Power

Only Win would remain on the parent label….but that’s a story for another day.

Big Country, Bronski Beat, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

A NOVEL WAY TO CELEBRATE YOUR 45th BIRTHDAY

A guest posting from long-time reader Jim Chambers

So… the vinyl villain inspired me – he didn’t know it but I can’t thank him enough for planting this particular seed in my mind and he is indirectly reaponsible for my hangover a few weeks ago. It was his 45 45s series that got me thinking…

I’ve just celebrated my 45th birthday so I’m of the generation when a 7″ single really meant something. I threw a party – the first house party since I was a student I think. (You know the way you get slightly precious about the carpet and all that.)

I invited 45 people to my house. The only condition was they had to bring their favourite 7″ single. I hired decks, a smoke machine and strobes (it was a package – honest I didn’t get carried away)…

Everyone got into the spirit of it, bringing along some absolute classics. And everyone is a secret DJ – given the chance. Even if they want to play Remember You’re A Womble. My mates spoke about what they were going to play in their ‘set’ as if they were headlining the dance tent at Glastonbury, which was all quite amusing. The night got a little hazy after the third round of sambucas but I can remember a good friend of mine and me dancing away and shouting all the words to Lost Weekend at each other much to the astonishment of everyone else. If only I’d remembered my schoolwork as well as I could remember lyrics…

There was serious drinking, dancing, grown men hugging each other and much laughter.

And obviously when you get to ‘a certain age’ it’s unusual to see so many of your friends in the same room – it’s normally reserved for weddings etc so personally the night was a sheer delight. It wasn’t without its moments… The occasional row etc but nothing too serious. The carpet didn’t get ruined, nothing got damaged and the neighbours didn’t complain so all in all a great, memorable night.

The records I’ve chosen are all Scottish (in honour of JC) and all went down well on the night.

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & the Commotions – Lost Weekend
mp3 : Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy (12″ version)
mp3 : Big Country – In A Big Country (LP version)

So thanks JC for inspiring me and thanks for allowing me to share the story. My friends are now all looking forward to a 78s party which I expect will be a much more sedate affair.

JIM

Aztec Camera

A POINTLESS, MONEY-GRABBING EXERCISE

In 1993, the LP Dreamland was released by Aztec Camera. Three multi-format singles were lifted from it. Fans who bought the various formats hoping for new material that hadn’t made the cut for the LP were left sorely disappointed but there was some consolation prizes, initially at least.

First up was Spanish Horses. It came out in three formats and the b-sides consisted of 7 live versions of old songs appealing enough to fans to make it a worthwhile purchase. But it still only reached #52.

Next was Dream Sweet Dreams. It also came out in three formats and consisted of 6 live versions of old songs; again, these were of enough appeal that it reached #67.

The third and last single was Birds.

This was the opening track on the LP and seen by many as one of the best songs on a record that had received mixed reviews and hadn’t sold well. Being the third single off an LP was always going to be of limited appeal, so you’d think everyone concerned would do something special on the b-sides. Instead what we got was a pointless, money-grabbing exercise as the single was issued on 2 x CDs with the five tracks on the b-sides – Working In A Goldmine, Knife, Somewhere In My Heart, Oblivious and Good Morning Britain – all being the exact same versions of songs that had been released some years earlier. There was absolutely no incentive whatsoever to buy Birds other than for the sake of completeness.

You won’t be surprised to hear it didn’t dent the charts. In fact, I’d be surprised if sales reached four figures….

mp3 : Aztec Camera – Birds

File under rip-off.

Idlewild

B SIDES KILLERS AND FILLERS

Back in 2000, Idlewild released a hugely enjoyable LP called 100 Broken Windows.

Four singles were lifted from the LP, all of which charted – none higher than #23 and none lower than #38 when they were all deserving of a minimum of Top 10. It was an era when singles came out in multiple formats, which was usually 2 x CDs but sometimes you’d also have a 7″ single thrown in.

It’s no real surprise that many acts ended up putting remixes or different versions of previously released material to fill up all the required b-sides, while cover versions were also a popular way of doing similar.

CD2 of the third single lifted from 100 Broken Windows is a perfect example of what I mean as it featured an acoustic version of the most recent single and a cover of a track that was bound be well-known to and therefore be of appeal to most of the band’s fans:-

mp3 : Idlewild – These Wooden Ideas
mp3 : Idlewild – Actually It’s Darkness (acoustic version)
mp3 : Idlewild – Rescue

The acoustic version is quite lovely and rather fragile. Not only does it show how good a song it is but it helps display a softer and highly accomplished side of the band that is all too often neglected. The cover of the Echo & The Bunnymen track however, in the opinion of someone who is a fan of both band is rather pointless and bitterly disappointing. It just sounds like a pub covers band’s take on the song…

Enjoy…..in parts.

Randolph's Leap

CLUMSY KNOT by RANDOLPH’S LEAP

I’ve temporarily taken over S-WC’s spot this week as I want to draw your attention to what has a very strong chance of finishing 2014 as my favourite LP of the year.

Officially released yesterday, but launched at a gig last Saturday evening at a venue about a mile from Villain Towers, Clumsy Knot is the ‘proper’ debut LP by Randolph’s Leap. It has come out on a relatively new label, Lost Map, which is run by Johnny Lynch, (aka The Pictish Trail) a name which will be very familiar to fans of Fence Records, a venture which he was a huge part of until late 2013.

I was lucky enough to have been passed on an advance copy of Clumsy Knot about three weeks ago and it has been on heavy rotation ever since. While I’ve been well aware of the band for a while, not least for the fact that some of the best and most knowledgable Scottish music bloggers out there (and in particular Mike from Manic Pop Thrills and Lloyd from Peenko) have been raving about them, this was the first I had really sat down and given the music my close attention.

There are 13 tracks on the LP. Some of them are re-workings of songs previously available on a range of low-key and lo-fi recordings these past couple of years. Now I’m in the fortunate position of not having to compare the merits of the earlier home-made versions against what has now been released and so I’m coming to Clumsy Knot without any pre-conceived ideas. And I’m prepared to say that it is an exceedingly fine record with loads of moments that thrilled me in ways that are all too rare nowadays when I’m listening to new and emerging bands for the first time.

There are loads of bands out there, particularly here in Scotland, who are incredibly adept at blending folk, indie and pop in ways that are hugely enjoyable. But Randolph’s Leap have raised that particular bar just a bit higher.

It’s an album on which the talents of all eight performers can be appreciated, especially on the big-sounding, uptempo and impossible not to dance-to songs such as past single Hermit where the keyboards, violin, trumpet and trombone invoke marvellous memories of Dexy’s at the height of their powers but with lyrics that invoke the gentle humour and playfulness of Neil Hannon. On the other side of the coin, there’s a song like Weatherman, a gut-wrenching break-up song laced with a couple of wry and amusingly bitter one-liners, while Black & Blue is one which musically got me thinking about some of the acoustic material written back in the early years by Martin Stephenson.

And thinking about it further – just as Boat to Bolivia veered all over the place some thirty years ago in a way that has made it one of my favourite albums of all time, then Clumsy Knot is a record impossible to pigeon-hole given the wide range of styles employed throughout.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that, on the first couple of listens, I was also struck by a similarity that some of the songs had in sound to material written and recorded by Paulo Nutini. This observation was and remains based admittedly on a limited knowledge of the Paisley troubadours material, but given how his catchy and radio-friendly songs have earned him millions of pounds while keeping on the right side of the critics, then there’s surely enough room and interest to put the band and this new label firmly on the map.

However, my praise for this particular record and the band is not simply down to a few weeks on the i-pod.

Readers of old will know that the music snob in me holds back from giving out fulsome praise until I’ve had the chance to see if the singer or band in question can cut the mustard in a live setting, and up until last Saturday, I had only seen Randolph’s Leap-lite – i.e either frontman Adam Ross on his own or with just some of his bandmates and never as the main attraction.

This time it was the full thing, and despite being handicapped by a venue that was less than ideal for sound (it’s part of 100-year old former school building with a lot of echo) as well as what seemed like a bit of an below-par PA, Randolph’s Leap turned in a mesmerising, energetic and captivating performance, roared on by 250-strong audience delighted to be part of what was such a special occasion. My roars were as loud as those who have been following the band from the beginning.

It was a gig I went home from with a big daft grin on my face. One that stayed with me all of Sunday as I went through to watch my football team compete in a cup final for the first time in 20 years. The daft grin just got wider as I watched my team defy the odds and pull off what many regarded as a shock win.

Today, I went back to work and again played the album one more time. The gig and the football match are now intertwined events in my mind and always will be.

Forget the ‘strong chance’ I gave Clumsy Knot for album of the year. It’s a shoo-in………….

mp3 : Randolph’s Leap – Hermit

Clumsy Knot is available to buy here. It can also, for a short time, be listened to here.

Enjoy

Colourfield

A GREAT UNACKNOWLEDGED LP

My posting on The Specials last week triggered off a search of the archives of the old blog for something I’d done on another of The bands that Terry Hall enjoyed success with. I’ve updated and modified it slightly, but this is more or less what I said back in October 2008.

My introduction to The Colourfield came via TV, and a video commissioned by The Tube for their debut single*. It was a totally different sound from that of Terry Hall‘s previous bands – lots of acoustic guitar with a very clean production – quintessential pop music with a hint of indie in many ways.

It came as such a shock to long-standing fans and many other music critics that one reviewer was led to write:-

‘This lot have absolutely nothing going for them. No sense of humour. No glamour. No good melodies. No danceable rhythms. No excitement. No controversy. No emotion. Nothing whatsoever. They are, in short, ruddy awful’

He was of course, quite wrong, and while the band didn’t have anything like the impact or success of The Specials or Fun Boy Three, the first set of singles and the debut LP were quite exquisite and exceptional.

The debut single itself reached #43 in January 1984. The follow-up single, Take, bombed at #70. But in January 1985, a bitter-sweet pop song, started to get a lot of airplay, and gradually it started to climb the charts. Thinking Of You eventually peaked at #12 in February 1985.

Virgins and Philistines hit the shops in April 1985, by which time the morose but beautiful Castles In the Air, a single that sounded as if had come straight from the mid-60s had failed. Unsurprisingly, given that just one of their 45s had sold in any numbers, the record-buying public shunned the LP. But its their loss.

This is a record that was ahead of its time. Just four years later, Paul Heaton formed The Beautiful South and released a bundle of hit singles and albums that aren’t a million miles away from that of The Colourfield. And just after that, Ian Broudie formed The Lightning Seeds to great acclaim, and again much of the sound of his band could be traced back to The Colourfield.

Ten tracks long, and just under 40 minutes long – it didn’t include the debut single but the three follow-ups were all there. It’s a gloriously mellow piece of work, sometimes low-key, but filled with gorgeous pop music throughout – hints of Spanish guitar, synth-produced strings, woodwind instruments and keyboards all appear at different times on different songs. And there’s even a protest song – the very catchy Cruel Circus which slates animal cruelty, and in particular those creatures who are born in and confined to research laboratories.

Thinking back, I think its fair to assume that the main reason no-one took it seriously was that Terry Hall had forged a reputation as a representative of disaffected youth and having been pigeon-holed in that fashion not too many were keen to allow him to carve a different and more lasting niche.

Virgins and Philistines is an album that for years had been long deleted, and indeed when I wrote the original post it had never been given a CD release in the UK, but that was rectified some 2 years later in 2010.

As such, when I ripped the vinyl to mp3 to accompany the post, it was the first time I had played the LP in its entirety for the best part of 20 years and it remains a real favourite re-discovery that I still flick to when I’m on a bus or train journey-

mp3 : The Colourfield – Thinking Of You
mp3 : The Colourfield – Cruel Circus
mp3 : The Colourfield – The Hammond Song

* I recently picked up a copy of the debut single. It was then I noticed that the song AND the band was called The Colour Field. Two separate words. An ‘oops’ on my part back in 2008. Here is the debut:-

mp3 : The Colour Field – The Colour Field

This b-side to the single was also included on the album, as the closing track. And no wonder. If, like me, you’re a bit of a sucker for the bitterly honest and straight from the heart break-up songs – the sorts that Elvis Costello and David Gedge have often specialised in over the years – then I hope you’ll agree that this is up there with the best of them:-

mp3 : The Colour Field – Sorry

Enjoy

Morrissey

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 4)

Until 2013’s low-key release of Satellite of Love, the chart performance of Hold On To Your Friends back in May 1994 held the distinction of being the lowest ever position of any Morrissey single when it peaked at #47. Matters were not helped by the fact that only one song was added to the various formats (7″, 12″ and CD single) in the shape of a rather pointless cover of a song that dated back to 1961:-

mp3 : Morrissey – Hold On To Your Friends
mp3 : Morrissey – Moonriver (extended version)

His version of the Henry Mancini song, which has been covered by dozens of other artists, including the likes or R.E.M., Strangelove and The Divine Comedy (as well as just about every easy-going MOR singer you care to think of) is very very ordinary to the point of dullness. And at 9mins 39 secs in length, it could have done with some serious paring-down.

Happy Listening.

Paul Quinn

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 87)

I’ve reached a great part of the alphabetical rundown. The word Paul followed by the word Quinn.

Today it’s just those two words. The next three Saturdays have the word ‘and’ to follow. I make no apologies at all. All you need to know about this talent and genius can be found at the The Punk Rock Hotel

This single has already featured on T(n)VV back in October 2013. As I said at the time, it’s from 1985, it’s on Swampland Records and it is credited to Paul Quinn alone for the reason that the song’s composer, arranger and main instrumentalist had contractual issues preventing him being fully credited as a performer. Here’s the tracks from the 12″:-

mp3 : Paul Quinn – Ain’t That Always The Way
mp3 : Paul Quinn – Punk Rock Hotel (closing time)
mp3 : Paul Quinn – Corrina, Corrina

The middle track is an instrumental by Edwyn Collins & Paul Heard. Now…..the only info I can find on any musician called Paul Heard is that he was a keyboardist with M People. Does anyone know if it is the same bloke on this track?

Oh and Corrina Corinna is a song that dates back to 1928…it has a fascinating history.

Enjoy

Specials

A LOT OF THE FOLK PICTURED ON THIS SLEEVE WILL BE GRANDPARENTS NOW…

There are loads of stats that can be thrown about from today’s offering.

– in February 1981, this became just the second EP ever to reach #1 in the UK singles charts; the first had been back in 1976 when greek crooner Demis Roussous took his Phenomenon EP to the top of the hit parade

– Too Much Too Young became the first live track to reach #1 in more than 9 years; the previous occasion had been Chuck Berry with My-Ding-A-Ling

– at 2:04, the lead track was the shortest #1 throughout the 80s

– the five tracks on the EP had ten different composers

– Terry Hall‘s dad was in the audience for the Coventry gig at which the b-side was recorded; this was the first time he’s seen The Specials perform in concert

I’ve long hummed and hawed about whether to use this 45 on the blog for the simple reason that it is record in terrible condition with all sorts of hisses and crackles. But in the end…..

mp3 : The Specials – Too Much Too Young (live)
mp3 : The Specials – Guns Of Navarone (live)
mp3 : The Specials – Skinhead Symphony (live)*
* features Longshot Kick The Bucket, Liquidator and Skinhead Moonstomp

Enjoy. And hopefully you can track down versions with a far better sound quality.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

THEY CALL HER NATASHA WHEN SHE LOOKS LIKE ELSIE

Before I get started on the music…..I just want to say that if you want evidence of how far we’ve come in terms of interior design and decor then have a look at the sleeve above. That carpet and wallpaper was incredibly representative of just about everyone’s homes in the late 70s. Nowadays, you have to go to certain pubs in certain less salubrious parts of towns and cities to get the full effect. But I digress.

From 1978. A deserved Top 20 hit for Elvis Costello & The Attractions.

mp3 : Elvis Costello & The Attractions – (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea

Here’s a wonderfully penned review:-

“(I Don’t Want to Go To) Chelsea” is a brilliant ska-inflected rocker from Elvis Costello’s debut with crack backing band the Attractions on the excellent This Year’s Model LP. The track was inexplicably left off the original American CBS release in 1978, U.S. fans having to wait to hear this bristling jolt of pop until a collection of British B-sides, Taking Liberties, was issued in 1980.

“Chelsea” features the flashy yet powerful drumming of Pete Thomas and a taught bass line from (brother in name only) bassist Bruce Thomas locked in an impressively tight groove, providing the surging engine over which Steve Nieve adds some swirling organ. Costello makes economic use of his guitar, contributing a stinging quick riff and well-placed accent chords throughout. The lyrics rain down in a torrent, Costello blurting out accusatory lines with an embittered sneer, “Photographs of fancy tricks to get your kicks at 66/He thinks of all the girls that he’s going to fix/She gave a little flirt gave herself a little cuddle/But there’s no place here for the mini-skirt waddle/Capital punishment, she’s last year’s model/They call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie/I don’t want to go to Chelsea.”

The music modulates for the chorus dropping down as Costello continues his tirade against the shallow nature of vanity and fixations on beauty: “Oh no it does not move me/Even though I’ve seen the movie/I don’t want to check your pulse/I don’t want nobody else/I don’t want to go to Chelsea,” the band slamming to a quick stop on the last line.

An excellent live version can be heard on Live at El Mocambo, recorded in Toronto in 1978. The band plays up the ska quotient, adding a kind of shuffling dance beat, the song played at a furious tempo. Costello adds back slashing reggae accent guitar. The band stretches out making dramatic use of the song’s many breaks, at one point reducing the music to two pulsing notes, Costello expertly milking the vocals for dramatic effect, squeezing as much venom from the word as possible. The band powers through a brisk syncopated finish.

Those words got me to track down said live version:-

mp3 : Elvis Costello & The Attractions – (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea (live)

It is rather tasty if not quite living up to the powerful review. But it was well worth the 79p download from itunes.

Chelsea was a 45 long gone from the collection but I found a second-hand copy quite recently. Here’s the b-side:-

mp3 : Elvis Costello & The Attractions – You Belong To Me

A song with its roots in the pub rock sound that was very instrumental in paving the way for punk/new wave here in the UK. Only a b-side/album track, there’s a lot of bands of that era would have jumped all over it as a single if they had written it…

Enjoy.

Kirsty MacColl

A POP SONG THAT STAYS JUST ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF NOVELTY

I won’t insult anyone by recounting the life and times and ultimately the tragic and untimely death of Kirsty MacColl.

Like most of you who are aged 40 and upwards, I’m guessing the first time she would have appeared on your radar was when she took this into the charts back in the spring of 1981:-

mp3 : Kirsty MacColl – There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis

Released in an era when many refused to believe the ‘King of Rock’nRoll’ had really died four years earlier, this is a humourous pop song that just stays on the right side of novelty from the pen of someone who Johnny Marr has described as one of England’s greatest-ever lyricists….and from a man who has worked so closely with Morrissey and Matt Johnson, then that has to be seen as praise of the highest order.

It’s a single I picked up cheap quite recently and outside of maybe a couple of plays on radio I haven’t heard it much over the past 33 years. Sad to say, I found myself a bit underwhelmed by it – it was a lot duller and far more mainstream that I had ever remembered and I found it all a bit disappointing.

For a long time after ‘Chip Shop’ it looked as if Kirsty was going to go down as a one-hit wonder, but thanks to her cracking cover of a Billy Bragg song she was able to kick-start her career in 1984, and while she rarely made an impact on the higher echelons of the chart, all of her records were afforded critical acclaim and respectable sales.

There were two b-sides to ‘Chip Shop’, one of which is features an alternative take on the single:-

mp3 : Kirsty MacColl – Hard To Believe
mp3 : Kirsty MacColl – There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis (country version)

Again, I was left a little disappointed by these. They are certainly not as good as the later material she would release.

Enjoy.

Jesus & Mary Chain, Stone Roses

FROM THE HUNGARIAN CORRESPONDENT – A TALE FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Greetings to everyone, my name is Laslo Friop and I live in Budapest in the suburb of Erzsebetarvos and I would like to thank Mr JC for allowing me to compile todays piece for the Vinyl Villain.

I met JC on a trip to Glasgow a few years ago and he taught me all about its quality food and music. I have tried with limited success to get fish battered and chocolate that has been fried in Hungary it does not happen. Also the radio stations refuse to play Arab Strap or Mowgai, I did manage to get some Orange Juice though but it did not go down that well, it was too commercial and there was no gypsy punks. After just one hour with the JC I can now say that Glasgow is my sixth favourite city in Scotland after Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Cardiff, Dumbarton, and Stranraer. Since that afternoon at the train station I have followed this blog space with passion. I love to read about early 80s bands that for years were banned from Hungary for not being communist enough. Particularly Billy Bragg and The Redskins. They would have been very happy behind the Iron Curtain.

Anyway today I would like to talk you about revolution and the inspiration of a generation through music, in fact the inspiring of a generation by one band. For years in Hungary, music was terrible, under the Russians it was largely frowned upon to listen to anything Western, I think that the Beatles were not encouraged, and anyone caught listening to progressive rock from the 1970s usually disappeared to the Saltmines of Debrecen. They did this so that you could not grow your hair and say ‘Woah Man’ a lot.

Then as the West became more acceptable the Iron Grip loosened and the free republic commenced. It wasn’t all good but in one strange day back 1999 one band changed our lives for ever. It is a well known fact that David Hasslehoff singlehandedly brought the Berlin Wall to it knees.

Yet in Hungary on that day in 1999, a lesser known musical phenomenon occurred.

In September in what is now known as ‘Victory Square’ in Budapest the crowds had started to form to chant anti-government slogans and chants, the police had been heavy handed and we screamed at them ‘Ez mind össze képtelenség’ which roughly translated into Hungarian means ‘We will be free, we will win’. At that point the skies opened and the clouds burst and it rained. Those of you who have been to Budapest will know that this happens a lot, but at that moment we felt defeated, ruined by unemployment and now the weather. All we wanted was to have the same choices as our neighbours in Austria had, and not go the same way as other neighbours Romania had gone.

Now Western Radio and music has started to become relatively popular in Hungary around this time. We were massive fans of the reggae star Pato Banton and for many the arrival of Eminem was a crucial point in our history. Or ‘Nem ez nem volt’ as we like say when we discuss Eminem. So it was not unusual to hear Western songs on the radio or being churned out from the many cafes and shops. Now as the rain pelted down on our tear stained cheeks, one song, ‘Why Does It Always Rain on Me’ by the Scottish Band Travis came on. On hearing this Hungarians found solidarity and together we rose and defied the weather, we defied the police and we defied the government. After that day, Travis became the Number One band in all of Hungary, they were so popular they even had a brand of goulash named after them, people would go into restaurants and say ‘ez a teljes lószart’ and the workers would know that you were one of them. Their songs became synonymous with the protest movement in Hungary, ‘All I want to do is rock’ became the theme to our campaign to become more western, ‘Tied to the 90s’ became an ironic song about not returning to the days of communism with its cheeky ‘Remember the 80s…’ lyric and ‘Turn’ and ‘Sing’ remain anthems for the working parties in Hungary even today.

Travis are heroes in Hungary, their concerts here are sold out mega gigs and their singer Fran Healy has recently been awarded the highest ever accolade possible for a Non Hungarian the prestigious ‘Hatalmas Hazugság’. Very few people have been awarded this in Hungary.

I hope you enjoyed reading this piece, I hope my English has not been too crazy, I used Google Translate and hope that if you translate the Hungarian bits back to English you will get some idea what this band means to us. I would post their tracks but I think you will already own most of them. So instead I post tracks by two of my favourite bands, the Jesus and Mary Chain and The Stone Roses. Bands that I was lucky enough to see live in Austria at festivals. They have never played Hungary to the best of my knowledge.

mp3 : The Jesus and Mary Chain – April Skies
mp3 : The Stone Roses – Fools Gold

I bid you farewell I will leave you with a good luck phrase in Hungarian

‘Mindez igaz, hogy minden szemetet. Kérlek, bocsáss meg, a normál szolgáltatás folytatódik a jövő héten’

Laslo