THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

VERSION GIRL

A few weeks ago, I have the privilege of seeing Rhoda Dakar play a live set in a medium-sized venue in Paisley (300 capacity), a town immediately adjacent to the south-west of Glasgow. I had taken up an invitation from Jan Burnett of Spare Snare to be his +1 as he was on the guest list courtesy of the legendary trumpeter/saxophonist Terry Edwards, who plays in Rhoda’s band. Terry’s connection with Jan is that he also played on the Spare Snare album, The Brutal, recorded in Edinburgh in late 2022 by the late Steve Albini.

I wasn’t sure what to expect other than probably a good time, not being all that familiar with Rhoda’s work beyond a few songs with The Bodysnatchers and her involvement with The Special AKA. I was pleasantly surprised to find the venue was packed, the audience largely made up of people of a certain vintage, almost to a man and woman dressed in Fred Perry t-shirts or other clothing associated with the ska movement. The atmosphere was brilliant, and the energy on show was a sight to behold.

It was more than matched by Rhoda and her band on stage. A 90-minute set, of which I probably recognised more than half the tunes, but this in part was down to the fact Rhoda played a number of unexpected (to me) cover versions. I hadn’t been aware that last year, Rhoda had released Version Girl, a 12-song LP of covers. In her own words:-

“I wanted to go a little left field for this. There seemed no point in covering songs which already had perfectly good Reggae versions. Both UB40 and Madness have already done a series of definitive covers albums. So, rather than hanging on their coat tails, I went for songs that had no previous definitive Reggae, Ska or Rocksteady versions, that we could find anyway. I think it also continues to demonstrate the amazing adaptability of these Jamaican genres!”

Having enjoyed the gig so much, I ordered a copy of the album a few days later, and it has proven to be one of the most surprisingly enjoyable purchases across the entire year. Here’s three of the tunes that were played in Paisley:-

mp3: Rhoda Dakar – Everyday Is Like Sunday
mp3: Rhoda Dakar – The Man Who Sold The World
mp3: Rhoda Dakar – (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding

The album is available in digital form, as well as on CD or vinyl from this bandcamp page. It really is very highly recommended.

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Parts Forty-Nine and Fifty)

The next single from The Wedding Present was released on 7 December 2018.

It was actually featured previously, and just a few weeks ago, as part of strangeway‘s fabulous series on Cinerama. Here’s a reminder of what he said:-

“Closing (almost) this Cinerama series is a cover, and another split single. On one side you’ll find Cinerama’s take on The Name of the Game. And, yes, it’s the ABBA song. It’s an OK listen, if kind of inoffensive.

mp3: Cinerama – The Name of The Game

The Name of the Game was released by Where It’s At Is Where You Are, a label whose seven-seven-inch-singles-a-year club, which launched in 2012, ended as planned in 2018, this release closing the project.

Of more interest is the flipside. There you’ll find a cover of the Clash’s White Riot. As fast and manic as the original, it’s not however by Cinerama. It’s by a band named The Wedding Present.

mp3: The Wedding Present – White Riot

The next release was for Record Store Day on 13 April 2019. Those of you who have been following the series closely will know that TWP had previous in this regard, with three 10″ EPs featuring songs song in languages other than English.

The 2019 release was a variation on this theme, as it was a 7″ single featuring two tracks that had been recorded for John Peel sessions back in 1987 and 1988.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Davni Chasy
mp3: The Wedding Present – Katrusya

Yup…..from the sessions when the band recorded songs in Ukranian.

JC

Bricolage

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #427: BRICOLAGE

Bricolage were the subject of a post back in September 2021, when I mentioned how much I was enjoying the benefits of a Patreon subscription to the Creeping Bent Organisation. I’m doing a cut’n paste on their history:-

Bricolage existed in a time period where Glasgow was recalibrating to the feel and vibrations of the Postcard Records label aesthetic, particularly Orange Juice. The scene was alive with groups for whom the art school was a second skin, groups like The 1990s, The Royal We, and Bricolage. The 1990s signed to Rough Trade, The Royal We signed to Domino, and Bricolage signed to Glasgow label The Creeping Bent Organisation.

Bricolage started playing live in some of Glasgow’s seamier environs at the tail-end of 2005, perfecting their louche and stylish uplifting pop prior to releasing their debut single ‘Footsteps’ on Creeping Bent early in 2006 on white vinyl 7”. The world was introduced to Graham Wann’s quivering vocals with ‘Footsteps’ selling 1,000 copies on the day of release before being deleted by Creeping Bent.

By this time the group were fending off offers from major and independent labels, but decided to release a second single, ‘Looting Takes The Waiting Out Of Wanting’, in the summer of 2006 on the Fantastic Plastic label. This was swiftly followed by Creeping Bent signing an agreement with Memphis Industries for an album, largely down to being fans of the label’s artists The Go Team and Field Music. Bricolage chose ex Altered Images guitarist Stephen Lironi to produce the album from which a debut single, ‘The Waltzers’, was released.

The release of ‘The Waltzers’ is where the drama unfolded when Wallace Meek left the group the day the single was released, which resulted in a crisis of confidence within Memphis Industries regarding releasing the album. A decision was taken by the group to continue, and the album was released by Creeping Bent in 2009 to serious critical acclaim.

Bricolage supported an array of artists; Franz Ferdinand, Fire Engines, 1990s, Long Blondes, and even Sun Ra’s Arkestra. The group had a collage-oriented aesthetic, mixing an early Roxy Music / Eno approach mixed with pop art mixed with Iggy’s Berlin period mixed with Postcard Records, resulting in a heady potion. A final single was released in 2009 (‘Turn U Over’), another Graham Wann song, before the group came to a natural full stop.

And here, in all its glory and majesty, is that debut single

mp3: Bricolage – Footsteps

JC

Various

KICKING DOWN YOUR FRONT DOOR

mp3: Various – Kicking Down Your Front Door

The Clash – Guns Of Brixton
Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses
New Order – Dream Attack
Hamish Hawk – Nancy Dearest
Johnny Marr – Easy Money
The Smiths – How Soon Is Now
Pet Shop Boys – Left To My Own Devices
Caribou – Volume
The Wonder Stuff – Don’t Let Me Down, Gently
Stereolab – French Disko
The Cure – Inbetween Days
The Popguns – Indie Rock Goddess
The Sugarcubes – Walkabout
Josef K – Sorry For Laughing
The Fall – Oh! Brother
The Wedding Present – Ringway to Seatac
The Jam – Theme From Batman

I’ve a feeling most of these have featured on previous mixes, but given it’s now the time of year when it’s increasingly cold and dark and we all seek comfort from the things we most love, then I offer no apologies. The slow and very very very occasional return of Johnny Marr‘s first band continues. I can assure you that when I listen to them, I don’t sing along nor make any efforts to imagine I’m dancing.

JC

Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #073

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#073: Philip Boa & The Voodoo Club – ‘Ostrich (Love Is Not The Same)’ (Ja! Music ’85)

Hello friends,

I know I’ve said this before, but I really appreciate all of your comments, they mean a lot to me, each and everyone of them! There was one comment though, quite a while ago – and I forgot which single it concerned plus whom it was by, doesn’t matter much though – which said that he thoroughly enjoyed the song and he had never heard it before. Now, the majority of the records here are singalongs to you, known by heart – because I’m a boring old fart who’s living in the past. But sometimes, just sometimes, a song is new to someone and this person is quite fond of it – and when this happens, doing this here becomes worth the effort!

Today the chances are pretty good that the tune is not all too familiar with you, although the band it is by, despite being from Germany (interesting, isn’t it, how few German bands have been included up until now), has been very highly praised internationally for decades now: Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub.

Avant-garde pop, independent music for the ‘more sophisticated’, that’s how I remember them from the mid 80’s, when they started. Their second album ‘Philister’, from 1985, was seen as as quite a landmark at the time. Perhaps I should listen to it again in its entirety to see if it has aged well or not.

But the band gained much higher attention in the late 80’s/early 90’s – and if you ever heard something by them, most certainly it’s something from this era: ‘Container Love’ (’89) perhaps or ‘And Then She Kissed Her’ (’91) … there were dozens of wonderful records, singles and albums and the band is still soldiering on strongly today, with constantly sold-out concerts. Most certainly they don’t have to do it for the money, because today they still are the No. 1 German band when it comes to “Album & Single of the week” – rewards in the British music press (8 x “Single of the week” and 5 x “Album of the week” in NME, Melody Maker and Sounds). Wherever you saw a poll in the last 40 years for ‘influental German musicians”, it certainly included Phillip Boa.

Part of the truth is, it must be said, that if weren’t for the wonderful Pia Lund, as pictured above in all of her glory, perhaps The Voodooclub’s success would not have been that big, who knows …

I can see you don’t fully believe me, so let’s do a bit of name-dropping: The Voodooclub played live on stage together with bands or artists such as David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Public Image Ltd., Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Björk, The Fall, Residents, Gun Club, Iggy Pop and Manic Street Preachers. In their career they were produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie), John Leckie (Morrissey, New Order), Gareth Jones (Interpol, Depeche Mode), Gordon Raphael (Strokes), Ian Grimble (Manic Street Preachers, Bauhaus, Mumford and Sons), also they worked together with Aphex Twin, LFO, Schneider TM, The Notwist, Jaki Liebezeit (CAN) and Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, Violent Femmes, Nine Inch Nails).

So, all the work Boa did in the last 40 years certainly cannot be under-estimated, but – typically – I’m coming back to the debut single, which simply blew me away when it came out in 1985. And mind you, it still does today:

mp3: Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub: Ostrich (Love Is Not The Same)

Groundbreaking stuff back then, there weren’t all too many bands in Germany as innovative as The Voodooclub were with this record!

Please let me know what you think about it, alright? Any comments are most welcome, as usual.

Enjoy,

Dirk

Everything But The Girl

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (16): Everything But The Girl – Night and Day

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I’ve gone to the EBTG website for today’s intro:-

“Everything But The Girl was formed in 1982 by singer-songwriter-musicians Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt after the pair met as students, aged 19, at Hull University in October 1981. Coincidentally both were already separately signed as emerging artists to London independent record label, Cherry Red – Tracey with her lo-fi minimal girl group, Marine Girls, formed while still at school; Ben as a young guitarist and singer-songwriter. Their meeting had been suggested by Cherry Red A&R man, Mike Alway.

Intended as a one-off collaboration, their debut 7″ single – a stark and stripped-back cover version of Cole Porter’s Night and Day – was released in March 1982 on Cherry Red. The recording of Night and Day had been an afterthought, laid down in a spare fifteen minutes at the end of the session; the flipside cuts, Ben’s Feeling Dizzy and On My Mind (a Marine Girls song written by Tracey) were originally intended as the A and B side. Tracey’s unflashy autumnal voice over Ben’s jazz-folk chords stuck out in a year of punk-funk, and the release climbed to Number 6 on the UK Independent Singles Chart in June of the same year, staying on the chart for thirty weeks.”

mp3: Everything But The Girl – Night and Day
mp3: Everything But The Girl – Feeling Dizzy
mp3: Everything But The Girl – On My Mind

There really isn’t much to add, other than I can’t imagine that anyone listening at the time would ever have imagined Ben and Tracey going on to enjoy such successful and lengthy careers in the industry, constantly changing their sound and style with what always looks like great ease. They are genuine national treasures.

JC

Super Furry Animals

SONGS UNDER TWO MINUTES (7): DO OR DIE

The-2-Minute-Rule

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone for continuing to drop by these past few weeks and improving the quality of the blog via the comments section, particularly around the John Peel guest post from Webbie which, unsurprisingly, did lead to quite a diverse range of views and opinions.

I am as frustrated as the rest of you with the issues that have emerged in recent months around the poor functionality of the comments section, whereby it is often cumbersome to leave your name alongside your contribution(s), but rest assured that I will always get around to changing ‘anonymous’ to your own name at some point in time. I’ve just spent about 20 minutes or so sorting things out from the past three weeks, and apologies to those whose identities remain anonymous….but then again, maybe some contributors prefer that!

And with that, let’s get back to the business of the day, with as short an actual post as I’ve ever come up with in the 18-plus years of churning out this nonsense on a daily basis.

Do or Die was the eleventh single by Super Furry Animals. It was the third and final 45 to be lifted from the Guerrilla album and turned out to be the band’s last release for Creation Records. It reached #20 in the January 2000.

mp3: Super Furry Animals – Do Or Die

This just makes it into the series as it lasts 1 minute and 59 seconds. It’s great fun to listen to.

JC

Magic Shop, Visitors

THE SHA LA LA FLEXI DISCS (008)

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And so we reach the last of the Sha La La flexi discs series with a couple of bands that are making their debut on this blog. It’s also a flexi disc that featured in an overseas fanzine, which was a first for the label.

The two bands are The Magic Shop and The Visitors. Four fanzines gave it away – Make It In Ongar (Issue Unspecified), Simply Thrilled (Issue Unspecified), Hedgehogs & Porcupines” (Issue # 8) and 5,000 Miles From George Square (issue #2), with the last of these being with which the disc was distributed in Japan.

mp3: The Magic Shop – It’s True

The Magic Shop were a 1980s UK indie-pop band. That’s all it says on Discogs and I can’t find any mention of the band elsewhere on t’internet.

It’s a tad under three minutes long. It’s one in which the singer, like so many in the indie-pop scene, struggles to hit all the notes. It’s a lovelorn lyric…much more direct than many of the others songs in the genre. And there’s less emphasis on guitars than many others from the era. It’s decent enough without being ground-breaking.

mp3: The Visitors – Goldmining

The Visitors were from Devon in south-west England. ‘Obscure’ is the word used to describe them on Discogs. The members of the band were Christian Jones, David Griffiths, John Cleary, Paul Hooper, Stuart Troop, and Tim Hopkins. There were no other releases other than on this flexi disc until many years later when Matinée Recordings, in 2000, issued a CD called Miss consisting of eleven of the band’s songs, including Goldmining.

Sorry to say, this one doesn’t do much for me…..but overall, there’s been marginally more hits than misses across the 18 songs in the series.

JC

Anna Ternheim

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #380: ANNA TERNHEIM

A GUEST POST by MARTIN ELLIOT

I’ve finally got my act together and finalized this Anna Ternheim ICA, which has been floating around my mind for at least a year now. As Anna just released her very first own songs in Swedish, I thought this is the moment to complete an ICA covering her career so far – all sung in English.

Anna is a Swedish singer-songwriter in an indie/folky kind of way, and (potentially) of course she has dabbled a bit with country influences as well, even if that will not be very evident from this collection. Anna has grown a solid fan base here in her home country and she has with her often a bit gloomy lyrics been able to get a grip of also the toughest guys around – I will never forget the two tattooed guys in hockey shirts on the row in front of me crying during her concert together with the Swedish National Radio symphonic orchestra…

Anna released her first album, Somebody Outside, in 2004 and the day I finally hit the send button is actually exactly the 20 years mark of the release. Since then, she has released six full length studio albums, two live recordings plus a bunch of EPs and album singles. Her last effort was A Space For Lost Time in 2019, I’ve included tracks from all her studio albums showcasing her slightly introvert, subtle but yet very emotional songs ranging from slightly more bombastic songs to piano ballads. Anna’s main instruments are the acoustic guitar and piano, the latter taking a much more prominent role in her soundscape.

Hadn’t T(n)VV dedicated Sundays to singles, I would say Anna Ternheim is a great fit for a Sunday ICA. (JC adds……which is why I’ve given the TWP series a day off!)

So here we go, “All The Way From Stockholm” – an Anna Ternheim ICA.

Side A.

1. To Be Gone (Somebody Outside 2004) From her debut, this was her second single, somewhat of a breakthrough and a natural starting point.

2. What Have I Done (Leaving On A Mayday 2008) Her, ehrm, rockiest album starting with What Have I Done, in my eyes her best song (so far) potentially because it was released at the time I met a woman I maybe shouldn’t have met, and the lyrics were spot on. A driving beat, her voice and strings to accentuate. What not to enjoy?

3. Only Those Who Love (For The Young 2015) Very much typical Anna, pretty straightforward, slightly upbeat and behold, we get a bit of guitar…

4. Bow Your Head (The Night Visitor 2011) The Night Visitor is Anna’s country album, recorded in Nashville mostly with local musicians. This is maybe the least country-ish track on the album, a track building up and breaking down a couple of times. Almost a touch of blues sprinkled over it.

5. Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely (RSD 10″ Gift Of Changes 2016) Anna has never shied away from covers, and yes this the Backstreet Boys track. Stripped and slowed down, Anna’s very heartfelt and honest voice transforms a cliché hit list pop song to an earnest meant question, What IS the meaning of being lonely?

Side B.

1. All The Way To Rio (All The Way To Rio 2017) An unusually positive and happy vibe about leaving something behind and starting over again in this little pearl of a pop song.

2. Girl Laying Down (Separation Road 2006) Another career defining song, Girl Lying Down has maybe become her most well known song for a broader audience in Sweden. A piano driven song about being different. As with many of her songs there are drums partly at the forefront, strings, piano and her voice.

3. This Is The One (A Space For Lost Time 2019) A sweet little love song, kind of a sequel to All The Way To Rio. I guess.

4. Black Sunday Afternoon (Leaving On A Mayday 2008) A rather sad story about an accident, someone being hit by a car. Moody bassline leads the melody, could almost go as a (very) light version of Nick Cave.

5. Shoreline (Somebody Outside 2004) Another cover, Shoreline is a true indie classic in Sweden, originally by Broder Daniel, and to shout (or wave a cardboard piece saying) “Play Shoreline” has become standard at virtually every (indie) concert in Sweden – I’ve seen such signs shown to Bruce Springsteen too…

Where Broder Daniel were youthfully desperate, Anna is the grown-up, earnest, intimate one reflecting on times past. She has truly made this her own song.

I hope you have enjoyed this selection of more quiet songs than maybe normally here at The Vinyl Villain.

Martin (all the way from Stockholm)

Brenda

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #426: BRENDA

Brenda received a passing mention earlier this year, with the inclusion of this song on the February mix tape:-

fiktiv was quite taken by the song, and wanted to know more. Here goes…..from their Bandcamp page

BRENDA is Apsi, Litty, Flore_ Drums, guitar, synth_ Tunes_ Glasgow_ post-punk_ dream-pop_ agit-noise_ party music_BRENDA is every woman you’ve ever seen, met, smelled, heard, enjoyed, feared, laughed at, fancied, ran towards, tasted, thought about, taken money from, written to, texted, ignored, followed, drank with, watched from afar, wished you knew, regretted falling out with.

The full names of the three members are Litty Hughes (guitar, bass, synth, lead and backing vocals), Apsi Witana (drums, lead and backing vocals) and Flore de Hoog ( synths, lead and backing vocals). They are from the DIY end of things, making a name for themselves primarily through a reputation for being a great and fun act to watch, as they played every small sized venue imaginable across Glasgow. Last Night From Glasgow made an offer to record and issue their debut album, which was recorded in less than a week and released in July 2023. They decided to call it Brenda.

It’s a great listen. Eight songs with a running time of less than 24 minutes. Think Riot Grrrl with pop hooks and synths.

mp3: Brenda – Pigs

I’m hoping there will be new music from them soon.

JC

Keeping It Peel

KEEPING IT PEEL FOR ONE LAST TIME

A GUEST POSTING by WEBBIE

It will be the last time I will commemorate the passing of Peelie with the thing I created all those years ago – #keepingitpeel. A day to remember Peel and to play that artist you discovered when he played their music on his programme.

It was a couple of years after the BBC commemorations for John Peel day that I noticed there wasn’t one planned for that year. The mentions and memories about him were slowly disappearing and as a listener, wanted to make sure we remembered the impact he had on our musical lives. If the BBC were going to do nothing, we would. Thus the hashtag (remember when Twitter was the place to be back then) #keepingitpeel emerged and on the 25th of October we posted on our blogs (remember when everybody used to…etc), on Twitter and everywhere else with our favourite music first played on the John Peel show.

It was 7 years after his passing that it really peaked. As well as everyone joining in by posting online, there were a few articles in the press, I was interviewed on Irish radio and most importantly – there were promoters in various venues who put on new bands under the John Peel day banner. And a few years later, there was even a night in Aberdeen for local unsigned bands that took place on 25th October 2014. I have a copy of the promo poster. (JC adds……see above!!)

But now it is time to raise a glass for one last time.

Please mention your favourite music that you discovered via Peelie in the comments below. I want to just mention one – a song which wasn’t actually played on his show but was scheduled to be part of a Peel Session, aired in memoriam.

mp3: Shellac – The End Of Radio (live at Maida Vale) – 2nd December 2004

Webbie – Keeping It Peel

JC adds………

Webbie is someone who dates back to what many of us refer to as ‘the golden age’ of blogging. By that, I mean it was a time, dating from the mid-2000s for about a period of a decade or so, prior to the increasing use of podcasts and the growth of streaming services, when enthusiastic music fans were kind of omnipresent and offering up thoughts, views and opinions on music to what was a decent sized community of like-minded enthusiasts. There aren’t anything like the same number of us as before, and certainly the ‘audience numbers’ are much smaller (not that this matters, as none of us do this to earn any money from our efforts), but I’d like to think the quality has remained high.

Football and Music is Webbie’s unique creation, and it’s quite unlike any other blogs. It was through the blog that he came up with the idea of keeping the legacy of John Peel at the forefront of people’s minds, and for that I think many of us owe him a huge thanks. He is asking today that we use the comments to mention our favourite music that we discovered through John Peel. I am taking that a stage further.

mp3: The Smiths – What Difference Does It Make? (Peel Session)
mp3: The Smiths – Handsome Devil (Peel Session)
mp3: The Smiths – Miserable Lie (Peel Session)
mp3: The Smiths – Reel Around The Fountain (Peel Session)

Recorded on 18 May 1983 and first broadcast on 1 June 1983. It was so popular it was repeated just three weeks later and then again on 24 August and 29 December. The requests continued to come in, and it was repeated further on 28 May 1984, 27 May 1985 and 3 November 1986.

I had a cassette copy of the session, taped from the first repeat on 21 June 1983. The quality wasn’t great, but that was irrelevant. It was the only way to hear the band’s songs, as all that had been released at this point in time was the debut 7″ single.

The Smiths used to feature on this blog a great deal, but not in recent times. I stopped knowingly listening to the band a long time ago, but there have been occasions when a song has come on when I’ve been somewhere else, and I’ve found myself enjoying it.

I couldn’t deny that I missed them, but I remained determined not to put any records on the turntable, far less on the blog. The thing that has changed my mind?? It’s all down to enjoying the fact the that increasing numbers of people have recognised Johnny Marr as being the true creative genius. The music of The Smiths is very much part of Johnny’s legacy and doesn’t deserve to be ignored.

The decision to go with this particular session was also inspired by some words Webbie wrote in the email which accompanied this guest posting. But I’m keeping that to myself, if you don’t mind.

Pete Best Beatles

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #072

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#072: Pete Best Beatles – ‘Alamein Train’ (Strine Music ’84)

Hello friends,

I often thought that if there’s one chap who once a week drives a nail through his foot to remind himself of the stupidity of not performing better when he had the chance to do, it must be Pete Best. ‘Who?!’, the younger readers of this blog may be asking … well, let me explain:

The Beatles (now, this is a name you should have heard before, at least I hope you did) invited Best to join the band in August 1960, but unfortunately, in August 1962, in circumstances still clouded in mystery, he was dismissed from the group by the other members he had played with for two years – just to be replaced by Ringo Starr. The real reason was never given to Pete, but I mean, come on: he either was a total bore or he didn’t shower often enough … or his drumming wasn’t good enough for the others. Perhaps all of this is true, who possibly knows? Either way, as so often, it goes to show: always give your best – or you may lose eventually, and sometimes you even lose big time!!

On the plus side: over 30 years later, Best received some monetary payout for his work with the Beatles after the release of their 1995 compilation of their early recordings on ‘Anthology 1’, Best played the drums on ten of the album’s tracks.

And because of this tragic story, I always thought the “Pete Best Beatles” was just a grand name for a band – and apparently some Melbourne youngsters had the same feeling some 40 years ago. Which brings us to a genre which, shamefully enough, has been heavily underrated so far on The Vinyl Villain: Australian Cabaret!

I must admit I’ve never heard anything else about Australian Cabaret, I only ever did in conjunction with the Pete Best Beatles – and I can’t quite see the context, to be frank. Yes, today’s song is on a 7” EP called “Sounds For The Sophisticated Cabaret Music Lover” – but that’s about it, as far as I’m concerned. The tune below is just brilliant, to me it has nothing to do with cabaret whatsoever (not that I’m an expert on cabaret by any means). Occasionally the Pete Best Beatles were referred to as an “eccentric Melbourne pub rock comedy act”, which might be a bit more closer to the truth, they certainly managed to creatively blend humour and satire.

In the UK there was The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, the U.S had Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention and Melbourne had the Pete Best Beatles, “the purple princes of Cabaret”. Leading the pack of musical humour surrealists, they specialized in riotous live shows in the mid-Eighties, and apparently an album which captures those show exists as well – something I should try to get my hands on, that’s for sure!

But until this has been achieved, I only know the four songs from the 7”, this one, by quite some distance, is the best of the lot:

mp3: Pete Best Beatles – Alamein Train

There’s a version of this on youtube, which gives you a glimpse of how great the Pete Best Beatles were live – and I only wish I had been there to witness one of those shows back then … marvellous!

Enjoy – and, as always, let me know what you think, please!

Dirk

Emily, Remember Fun

THE SHA LA LA FLEXI DISCS (007)

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The James Bond of the Sha La La flexi discs series with a couple of bands that are making their debut on this blog.

The two bands are Remember Fun and Emily. Two fanzines were involved in this giveaway, Are You Scared to Get Happy? and 373 miles is a very long way. Discogs indicates these would have been Issue 6 and Issue 1 respectively, but I’m not sure that’s the case.

mp3: Remember Fun – Hey Hey Hate

Remember Fun have a song within the C88 box set, a 3 x CD compilation issued by Cherry Red Records in 2017. I hadn’t realised they were from Glasgow, otherwise they would have been a previous part of the alphabetic run through singers and bands over at the Saturday’s Scottish Songs series, but I’ll pick them up for that series in due course.

The band members were Andrew Smith, John Eslick, Mark Kane, Raymond MacDonald and Steven Dunbar.

Here’s what the blurb in the box set offers up:-

This Glasgow five-piece could be described as the archetypal mid-80s indie combo, blending pure pop with combustible and wittily-observed lyrics (courtesy Andrew Smith) that drew comparisons with The Close Lobsters, The June Brides (minus the brass), The Smiths and even Billy Bragg. Sadly, they left behind a tiny musical legacy. The cool, irreverent Hey Hey Hate graced a Sha La La flexi in 1987 and various tracks troubled compilations. A four-track EP, Train Journeys, finally surfaced in 2001.

I honestly can’t recall them at all which, given the description applied above, seems a damn shame (on me!!).

mp3: Emily – The Old Stone Bridge

It turns out that Emily were also contributors to the same C88 box set (along with the C87 boxset via Cherry Red) as well as appearing on Creation Records compilations. Here’s the blurb from the same C88 booklet:-

Built around the talents of singer/songwriter Ollie Jackson, Emily released just three singles and one album on four different labels and incorporated flute into their otherwise treble-laden guitar sound. They announce themselves with the shared Sha La La flexi ‘The Old Stone Bridge’, a slow-burning ode delivered on Jackson’s deep vocals, also issued as their own flexi via Mmm….No Idea! fanzine. Emily then joined Creation for 1988’s four-track EP, the indie hit ‘Irony’ which opened with ‘Mad Dogs.’ Following a move to Kevin Pearce’s Esurient label, signature track ‘Stumble’ appeared before 1990’s ‘Rub Al Khali’ album (on Everlasting). A long-overdue 29-track compilation, ‘A Retrospective; appeared on Firestation Records in 2016.

It might have been long overdue to some, but based on The Old Stone Bridge, I’m happy to give it a miss.

Just one more to go in the series……and it’ll be appearing next week.

JC

Spare Snare

MIX-UP by SPARE SNARE

JC writes………………………

I’m not one for normally using the blog as a promotional vehicle for new music, but I will make an exception when it comes to the work and efforts of personal friends.

Jan Burnett, the lead singer of Spare Snare is someone I’ve got to know in recent years, after a chance encounter at an event organised by Last Night From Glasgow. He is, without question, one of the nicest and most unassuming persons on the planet, as well as being extremely gifted, talented and charismatic, a statement that would, I’m sure, be backed up by anyone who was the 2024 edition of the At The Edge of The Sea festival in Brighton where he and the band stole the show thanks to an outstanding set and performance.

There’s a new album coming out soon, on CD and digital. It’s something a bit different for the Snare, albeit it’s the sort of thing quite a few other singers and bands have done with a degree of success over the years. Here’s Jan to tell you a bit more:-

Jan writes…………………………………….

“I’m not sure too many people who follow The Snare know the initial dabbling of releases lent a little to sampling a few rhythms or guitar at a with a maximum of a couple of seconds… the most my little £30 Yamaha sampler toy(ish) keyboard could manage.

Nor that I’m a collector of 12” singles of a certain period. I’m a sucker for a ‘Super Sound’ Extended 12″ from the 80s.

So a Spare Snare remix album actually isn’t too much of a surprise, in fact we’ve had the odd remix done previously as a bit of an experiment and because people asked to do them.

This time we have a standalone album, MIX UP, which features remixes of our last album, The Brutal, recorded in Leith by Steve Albini.

It took a little while to work out the running order, I’m describing it as a ‘remix oddity odyssey’, but once I knew the beginning, middle point and end, the rest fell in to place. A perfect 50+ minute headphone journey.

Alan and Adam from the band did a few, while big hitters like Hifi Sean and bis dropping there takes into the inbox were a delight.

I’m so chuffed to have friends and comrades like White Label, Scanner, The Leaf Library, Raz Ullah and Pete Silvers involved too, cutting, chopping, and re imagining to their individual agendas.

A really variable take on an album that’s reached out to an extended audience so far. These remixes won’t disappoint any fans of The Brutal, it just gives the listener a different view through the prism, a new glimpse through the frosted glass.

All the remixers were given the original stems recorded by Albini to do what they wanted with, no guidelines. I find that the best way, free reign. So what came back was part pop, part dancefloor, part progressive, part dub and part psyche, and strangely… putting all those parts back together again is probably the original Spare Snare.

It’s released November 1st, and can be pre-ordered now.

Digital only available direct from the band. The strictly limited 300 CDs, initially signed, will be available direct from the band and couple of choice stores.”

JC writes (again)…………………………

A taster for the album was made available a short while ago through the release of some very limited edition 7″ singles which, you won’t be surprised to hear, I’ve picked up. The Hifi Sean remix on vinyl is the ‘radio edit’ and comes in at a little over two minutes in length.

mp3: Spare Snare – I Have You (HiFi Sean echoplex) radio edit

The full version on Mix Up runs to over five minutes, and is one of a number that you can listen to over at the Spare Snare bandcamp page, where you can put your order in. https://sparesnare.bandcamp.com/album/mix-up

It really is highly recommended.

And just so that you can appreciate how much work has gone into the remixes, here’s the original as recorded by the late Steve Albini

mp3: Spare Snare – I Have You

Enjoy!

Cure, Dead Kennedys, John Cooper Clarke, Joy Division, Martha & The Muffins, Passage, Pere Ubu, Talking Heads, The Pop Group, Wire

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (October, part two)

As with last month, I’ve given this one a bit of a build-up, one that I am sure will live fully up to its billing. It’s a bumper edition, with ten tracks in all, beginning with the single that I listed at #6 in my 45 45s @ 45 series back in 2008 over at the old blog.

mp3: Joy Division – Transmission

Released on 7 October 1979. The first time that many of us had heard it would have been a few weeks previously on the BBC2 programme, Something Else. It would be the only time the band appeared on a TV programme that was broadcast across the entire nation – everything else was via Granada TV and only available in north-west England.

mp3: John Cooper Clarke – Twat!

One of JCC‘s best-known and most-loved poems. Just in case anyone not from the UK doesn’t know, twat is vulgar slang for a vagina, as well as being the perfect word to describe a stupid, obnoxious and unpleasant person, for example D Trump or N Farage.

mp3: The Cure – Jumping Someone Else’s Train

Their third single of 1979 that failed to get anywhere other than the indie charts. The good news is that the next single, A Forest, released in March 1980, would reach the destination of the mainstream chart.

mp3: Dead Kennedys – California Uber Alles

The name of the band led to hostility from the outset, even over here in the UK. The music papers weren’t really sure how to handle them, and there was certainly no chance of the major labels offering them a deal. There were a few writers who mentioned, based on their debut single that had been released In America, on their own label, back in June 1979 that there was a bit of musical merit to pay attention to. Bob Last, the entrepreneur behind the Edinburgh-based Fast Product label, managed to secure the license for a UK pressing. I don’t ever remember hearing it on the radio back in 1979, but I do know a few of the independent record shops proudly had the distinctive sleeve on display.

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Eddie, the bona-fide punk in our school, of course bought a copy and brought a tape in so we would listen to it in the common room. Let’s say it divided opinion. I liked it, but I didn’t go out and buy it for fear that the name of the band might cause offence to my parents.

The song was re-recorded the following year for inclusion the band’s debut album Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables.

mp3: Martha & The Muffins – Insect Love

There’s a misconception that Echo Beach, the Top 10 single for the Canadian band, was the debut. It charted in March 1980, but their little-known debut single dated back to October 1979. One of the reasons it is forgotten about is that it was left off the debut album.

mp3: Talking Heads – Life During Wartime

The press may have been positive, particularly around how good they were as a live act, and the album Fear of Music, released in August 1979, may have gone into the charts at #33 the previous month, but the search for a hit 45 went on. And would continue to do so until February 1981.

mp3: Wire – Map Ref. 41˚N 93˚W

The third single from Wire in 1979. Lifted from the album 154, which had been released a few weeks previously, it proved to be their last involvement with the folk at Harvest Records, whose bungling back in March 1979 had caused the band to miss out on a Top of The Pops appearance when Outdoor Miner was on the threshold of becoming a Top 40 hit.

Finally, for this month, three cult bands whose names begin with the letter P.

mp3 : The Passage – 16 Hours

One of four tracks from the About Time EP, released on the Manchester-based indie, Object Records.

The Passage were from the city and at the time consisted of Dick Witts, Tony Friel and Lorraine Hilton. Witts was a multi-instrumentalist who spent time as a percussionist with a symphony orchestra, while Friel was the bassist with The Fall.

mp3: Pere Ubu – The Fabulous Sequel (Have Shoes Will Walk)

From Cleveland, Ohio. I own nothing by the band, and indeed they have always been an act that I don’t get the appeal of. They had already been on the go for some four years by this point in time and inked a deal with a major label, as this one came out on Chrysalis Records. But as you’ll have noticed last week, Dirk is very fond of an earlier single.

mp3: The Pop Group – We Are All Prostitutes

The Bristol-based post-punk group were much feted in the UK music papers back in the late 70s. Indeed, they have always been very revered with an article in The Guardian in 2015 declaring that “they – ahead of Gang of Four, PiL, A Certain Ratio and the rest – steered punk towards a radical, politicised mash-up of dub, funk, free jazz and the avant-garde.”

Rough Trade Records had signed them in the summer of 1979, and this 45, a critique of consumerism, was their first release for the label.

I think this edition of TVV has something that would meet the tastes of just about everyone who drops by today.

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Forty-Eight)

The Home Internationals EP, as featured last time around, had been released in May 2017. It was a full 18 months later that the next EP was put into shops. For those of us who perhaps had found our patience tested with Home Internationals, the new 10″, issued on Hatch Records, did feature four songs on which David Gedge did sing….and in English!!

The thing was, it wasn’t exactly something new that was on offer as the EP was a recording of songs that had been recorded for a BBC radio show back in 2006.

At the age of 17, Huw Stephens had become the youngest ever DJ to broadcast on BBC Radio 1, back in 1999, as part of what was a regional opt-out in Wales. In 2005, he gained a UK-wide slot when he became one of three replacements for the late John Peel as part of Radio 1’s One Music strand, which was intended to keep the spirit of Peel’s show.

His show on 19 July 2006 featured a session by The Wedding Present, recorded at the famous Maida Vale studios, the location of many of the Peel sessions previously recorded by the band. It featured four cover versions.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Step Inside Love
mp3: The Wedding Present – Lovin’ You
mp3: The Wedding Present – Our Lips Are Sealed
mp3: The Wedding Present – Back For Good

The DJ contributed notes to the release, and here’s what he had to say about each of the songs:-

“Listening to it now, it still sounds great. Maida Vale has a sound of its own.

Step Inside Love was written by Paul McCartney for the late Cilla Black‘s TV show of the same name. Just a throwaway TV theme tune that happens, of course, to be a classic.

Lovin’ You is one of my all time favourites. Minnie Ripperton‘s voice is exquisite on the original recording. David Gedge doesn’t quite the high notes on this version but the guitars do a good job in taking it somewhere else. And excellent use of the Maida Vale glockenspiel!

The Go-Gos Our Lips Are Sealed sounds brilliantly frantic. And Gary Barlow‘s Back For Good? It’s heartbreaking stuff.”

———

The session was recorded by musicians who had long taken their leave of TWP, with Terry de Castro on bass and backing vocals, Graeme Ramsay on drums and percussion and Chris McConville on guitar. They were joined by Catherine Kontz on keyboards and glockenspiel.

You’ll perhaps recall that a studio version of the Take That tune was released in 2008 as part of the Holly Jolly Hollywood EP. This radio session version predates it.

JC

Breakfast Muff

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #425: BREAKFAST MUFF

It was only a matter of weeks ago that I featured Breakfast Muff, as part of the ‘Songs under 2 Minutes’ series.

There’s not much to add to what was said previously. They were (and I’m using the past tense as there’s been nothing released since 2018) a hugely entertaining pop-punk trio from Glasgow consisting of Eilidh McMillan, Simone Wilson and Cal Donnelly.

Their sole album was called Eurgh!, released on the Amour Foo label in 2017. 13 bouncing and boisterous tracks across 25 minutes. This is my favourite:-

mp3: Breakfast Muff – R U A Feminist

A song about sexuality, feminism and feelings, delivered with an all-round giant dose of fun. I shamelessly stole that line from their Bandcamp site.

JC

Lou Reed

SONGS UNDER TWO MINUTES (6): NEW YORK TELEPHONE CONVERSATION

The-2-Minute-Rule

There’s a lot of love out there for Transformer, with many citing it as Lou Reed‘s finest solo record. Among its 11 tracks, you’ll find the likes of Walk On The Wild Side, Satellite of Love and Perfect Day, all of which are cited as bona fide classics that have more than stood the test of time in the 52 years since the LP was released.

It’s an album with what I’d classify as a novelty song in its midst. Side Two, Track Four. It’s one which dates from the Velvet Underground days, having been aired live in 1970, albeit never recorded in a studio. Like many novelty songs, it is catchy and annoying in equal measures. But I like it!!!

mp3: Lou Reed – New York Telephone Conversation

I’ve read somewhere that it was written as a send-up of Andy Warhol‘s diaries. If so, it was kind of careless of the artist to leave them lying about.

JC

Strokes

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (14) : The Strokes – Last Nite

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I’ve previously stated in past editions of this series that whenever I have CD singles in multiple formats, I’ll include both when I bring them to the blog.

But I’m not doing so today.

I do have both CD1 and CD2 of Last Nite, released in October 2001 and which provided The Strokes with their second Top 20 hit single in quick succession.

mp3: The Strokes – Last Nite

I still think this is a fine piece of music, albeit it was played to death back at the time and became slightly irritating. But the band had gained enough goodwill here in Villain Towers, particularly with Rachel, for them never to be too far away from the CD players. Here’s the additional song, described on a sticker plastered on the front of the case as a ‘brand new track’

mp3: The Strokes – When It Started

It’s ok, and has that angular sound we were all becoming very familiar with.

As it turned out, When It Started wouldn’t continue to be a relatively unfamiliar song for much longer. The American release of the debit album was meant to be on 25 September 2001. The terrorist attack on the Twin Towers just two weeks prior to this led to the band and record label quickly agreeing that the track New York City Cops should be removed and replaced with When It Started. It was relatively easy enough to do with the CD version (which was by far the biggest selling format at the time) but not with the vinyl, which was issued with the ‘offending’ track in situ. The CD version of the album was delayed until 9 October.

Returning to CD2 of Last Nite. It consisted of three ‘live’ tracks – Last Nite, Take It Or Leave It and Trying Your Luck. The reason for ‘live’ is that while that is how they are described on the CD, there was no gig involved. Instead, they are radio session versions, played and captured at the Village Recorder Studios in Los Angeles. They’re not different enough from the original versions to bother you with.

JC

Siddeleys

THE SHA LA LA FLEXI DISCS (006)

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Total cheat alert. This was previously featured back on 17 August 2021. I’ll confess that I’d forgotten all about it, but it’s impossible to remember, off the top of my head, everything I’ve written over the years. I’ll offer a silent prayer to the indexing system….

It was while scrolling through the hard drive the other week, sorting out the posting on Restricted Code for the Saturday series, that I gave another long-overdue listen to the one, rather excellent, song I have by Reserve, courtesy of it being part of the C88 boxset compiled by Cherry Red Records a few years ago:-

mp3: The Siddeleys – The Sun Slid Behind The Tower

As the notes in the accompanying booklet explain:-

The Tower in question is within All Saints Church, Notting Hill, just around the corner from the Rough Trade shop where singer/songwriter Torquil Macleod placed ads to form Reserve. He worked initially helping Jonny Johnson (The Siddeleys) on her songs before Reserve were born in autumn 1986.

Band members came (from Bob) and went (to James Dean Driving Experience) before the luminous ‘The Sun Slid Down Behind The Tower’ appeared on a Sha La La flexi in 1987 (shared with The Siddleys), given away with Trout Fishing in Leytonstone fanzine. It then appeared again on Reserve’s only stand-alone release, 1988’s Two Hearts Beat In A Hole EP.

Some of you will recall that last October (2020), there was a Siddeleys ICA, courtesy of Strangeways. He included the track which can be found on the flexi disc, offering this as his observation:-

It seems that back in the day The Siddeleys were dogged/blessed by comparisons with Talulah Gosh. Whilst, round these parts, this is pretty much the ultimate in accolades, it’s not really that accurate. This track could be the culprit. It does actually sound like Talulah. It’s a blast. But it’s not representative of the wider Siddeleys sound.

mp3: The Siddeleys – Wherever You Go

So there you are, a repeat for the two songs on the Sha La La Records flexi disc #6 which was originally given away with the fanzine Trout Fishing in Leytonstone (Issue #4).

Just two more to go in this series.