THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (23) : The Jesus and Mary Chain – Head On

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One of my all-time favourite sleeves, if nothing else for the fact I can look at it and recall having similar hairstyles at previous points in my life. I try not to get too sad looking in the mirror these days and wondering where all the hair went to (answer, most often down a sinkhole), and also when did grey overtake black as my main colour.

mp3: The Jesus and Mary Chain – Head On

My copy of this 45 is a second-hand one, and I didn’t know until doing that wee bit of research I sometimes do when pulling a piece together that Head On had been released in seven different formats, including four 7″ singles. – one 7″ single was released per week – all of which had different b-sides. It illustrates that some of what flimflamfan was saying the other day isn’t a new phenomenon

It turns out my copy was the first to be issued. This was the b-side:-

mp3: The Jesus and Mary Chain – In The Black

And my mood is black
And my eyes are black
And my life is black
And my love is black

But what about your hair, boys??

Despite all the multi-formatting, Head On only got to #57 in the UK charts. I would have thought the ruse of different 7″ singles over four successive weeks might have given it a bit of longevity at the expense of a high chart placing.

It didn’t. In at #57 on 18 November, down to #61 on 25 November, and gone completely out of the Top 75 by the time December rolled around.

JC

Adam & The Ants

VODKA AND RUSSCHIAN

A guest posting by Fraser Pettigrew

Ten days after my 16th birthday, in July 1979, I went to see Adam and the Ants at Clouds Ballroom in Edinburgh with a school friend. Skilful parental persuasion had been required to get there because it was a known fact that the gig would not finish until long after the last bus that would carry me the seven miles home from the centre of the city.

Following the debacle of my attendance at The Rezillos gig the previous summer, when my parents came to pick me up and had to wait over two hours for me to emerge after 1am, they were not minded to repeat the favour. I managed to convince them that it would be much easier for me to stay at my gig-going companion’s house in Colinton, which was served by night buses, or so I claimed. Colinton was itself a good four miles from Clouds and the bus route didn’t exactly pass Drew’s door. Still a bit of work to do, but the parents, probably ill-informed, said yes.

The Clouds gig was the Ants’ only Scottish date in their ‘nationwide’ tour coinciding with the release of their second single Zerox on the independent Do It Records label. It had taken them a long time to reach even this modest milestone. They had played their first gig in May 1977, but it took until the following year for their music to make it onto vinyl, firstly via two tracks, Deutscher Girls and Plastic Surgery, on the soundtrack album of Derek Jarman’s bonkers film Jubilee, and then on the one-off Decca single Young Parisians. Their music was otherwise known through a couple of sessions for John Peel, which is undoubtedly where I’d heard some songs, including the new single.

Despite this lack of output and relatively late formation, Adam and the Ants were almost as legendary amongst punk fans as Siouxsie and the Banshees, with whom they had toured widely. Adam (Stuart Goddard to his mum and dad) was someone who could truly claim to have been there at the birth of punk rock, having played bass in the pub-rock band Bazooka Joe, headliners at a gig at St Martin’s School of Art in London in November 1975 when The Sex Pistols made their first ever live appearance. Follow that.

The Ants acquired what is known as a ‘devoted cult following’. When Drew and I arrived at Clouds we felt as though we had been cast back in time to some notional nirvana of punk, circa the Bill Grundy incident, the Anarchy tour, the Roxy and the 100 Club, with more spiked peroxide hair, mohair jumpers, safety pin earrings and bondage trousers than had been seen for many a year. There was an apparent Soo Catwoman/Jordan lookalike competition going on, and even a lad with a swastika armband to complete the time-warp.

But this was the summer of 1979, not 1977, and the support band returned us to the present moment. They were already known to Drew as TV Art, but by the time they took the stage they had renamed themselves Josef K. Rather obviously studenty we would have thought if we’d been older, but we were 16, and we’d all read Metamorphosis and The Trial as if we were the first people to discover Kafka. This Josef K evoked suitable claustrophobic angst and alienation through their scratchy, abrasive guitars and pained vocals.

This was post-punk, though the term may not even have been uttered yet. But we were already travelling along this road, ushered ahead by Wire, Joy Division and Magazine, and Bob Last’s Edinburgh-based Fast Product whose early releases captured The Mekons, Scars and Gang of Four. Josef K were firmly in that here and now but were tolerantly received by the devoted cult following of the Antpeople, lack of bondage trousers notwithstanding.

I think both Drew and I knew that going to see Adam and the Ants was already a kind of retro joke, punk as kitsch. Adam’s sex and S&M obsession in songs like Whip in my Valise, Ligature, Physical and Beat My Guest was always a kind of knowing provocation of British mid-century prudishness, from the Monty Python and Kenny Everett stable of kinky cross-dressing judges and civil servants. Not that that was a bad thing, you understand, just that it was as much comedy as sincere perversion, more naughty spanking than hardcore Venus in Furs.

Nevertheless, as the Ants’ appearance was signalled by the dimming of house lights the atmosphere took an intense turn. The PA started booming with the sound of the Missa Luba, the recording of the Mass sung in Congolese which is played over and over by Malcolm McDowell’s character in Lindsay Anderson’s iconoclastic anti-establishment film If… From where we swayed in the stage-front crush we could see Adam just off stage doing standing press-ups against the speaker stack, in some pre-performance focus ritual, his face covered in what resembled camouflage make-up like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now (though not being released until that August it’s unlikely the film inspired it).

The Missa Luba faded out and Adam strode on, revealing an outfit of black shirt with black kilt worn over black leather trousers. Fetish gear, Scottish-stylee. Like a lot of pop bands, the Ants’ live sound was much heavier than how they came across on record. This was the band that went into the studio immediately after this tour to make Dirk Wears White Sox, and the debut album projects a lighter, more cartoonish version of Antmusic than filled Clouds that night. That’s not to ignore tracks like Physical, a slowed-down Stooges metal riff that was left off the album but finally given its moment of glory on the B-side of Dog Eat Dog a year later.

Far from being an anachronistic flashback to punk, as the Antpeople might have desired, Dirk Wears White Sox was an amusing slice of contemporary pop music. Not one for the children perhaps, but it marked Adam as an entertainer whose pivot to New Romantic dandyism on Kings of the Wild Frontier a few months hence didn’t seem as radical as it might have done, and I think the Antpeople realised that too, swapping the mohair and bondage trousers for frock coats and lace cuffs with equanimity.

The Antpeople were most satisfied by their idol’s performance, and so were we as we spilled out of the sweatbox club into the mild midsummer Edinburgh night. But for us the evening was far from over. We still had to get back to Drew’s, and it turned out that the night bus was not a prospect for some reason and thus we found ourselves schlepping westwards along Fountainbridge, trying to hail a taxi, all of which were either hired or going home for the night and didn’t want another fare. Eventually we took to waving a ten-pound note at every passing cab like some sort of bait, and after a few failures we finally hooked one.

“I like yer style, pal,” said the driver, who was heading home to Currie or Balerno and didn’t want to divert via Colinton but agreed to drop us off at the nearest suitable point. Drew chose the point somewhere on the Lanark Road and there we were in Spylaw in the small hours, still a mile or so the wrong side of the Water of Leith from Colinton. “I know a shortcut,” said Drew and led us down into the trees upstream from Colinton Dell. A perfectly legitimate route in daylight, this path took on a different aspect after dark. There were no streetlights because why the fuck would you be down there at night? The sound of the river cascading over a weir grew louder and louder, amplified by the pitch blackness as we made our way across a low bridge which Drew informed me had no parapet on either side, rendering the accuracy of our crossing a matter of some importance. We clung to each other as we shuffled across, very literally at that moment the blind leading the blind.

Mercifully we emerged into streetlight up the other bank and were soon ensconced in the granny-flat back room at Drew’s house where we could play music at discreet volume and get wired into the half-bottle of vodka that he produced from some hiding place. Rather than orange juice, the normal under-age mixer of choice, we were inexplicably compelled to mollify the neat alcohol with small bottles of Schweppes Russchian, probably the world’s most obscure and unpalatable soda water. Less ‘hints of berries, with hibiscus and carrot notes’ and more foosty old dried peaches with a hint of strychnine. Still, we necked it like it was lemonade and danced around the room, finally collapsing to The Stooges’ I Wanna Be Your Dog (more submission!) and We Will Fall, the drone of sitar-guitar and John Cale’s meandering viola as the sky lightened over Colinton.

I blame the Russchian as much as the vodka for the state of me when I woke up a few hours later. My head felt like a fucking wasps’ nest and my body was paralysed by a deathly fatigue for the remainder of the day. Somehow or other I got a lift home, where I crawled back onto my bed, insisting to my sceptically amused parents that no drink had been taken. By the miracle of youth I was fit as a fiddle the following day, and forevermore any mention of Schweppes Russchian would remind me not of my first leave-me-alone-I-want-to-die hangover, but of the midnight passage over the Water of Leith, of Adam and the Ants and Josef K, and the confluence and divergence of punk and post-punk under the sweaty lights at Clouds Ballroom.

* * *

To my considerable amazement there’s a (pretty terrible quality) bootleg recording of this whole gig on YooChoob. It opens with the DJ playing Gary Glitter and then the Missa Luba (at 3.08), with the gig proper kicking in about the 7.38 mark. To my equally considerable amazement the Ants didn’t play Physical that night.

The following are proper studio recordings however.

Adam and the Ants: Lady (B-Side of Young Parisians)

Adam and The Ants : Zerox

Adam and the Ants: Whip in My Valise

Adam and the Ants: Physical (single version, B-side of Dog Eat Dog)

Josef K: Romance (Absolute single version)

Josef K: Radio Drill Time

NB – the date of the gig was misprinted on the poster printed up to promote the gig and used at the head of today’s offering. The accurate date of 20 July 1979 can be found in the Zerox Tour Programme.

Fraser

Miscellaneous

IT AIN’T WHAT YOU DO, IT’S THE WAY THAT YOU DO IT….AND THAT’S WHAT GETS RESULTS

A GUEST POSTING by flimflamfan

In recent times, some artists have taken to social media to decry the ripping off of artists and fans by: record companies, venues streaming platforms and ticket agencies. It could be argued that this ‘outpouring’ is genuine in nature and it might well be (for some), but I can’t help but get the sense that it is little more that political (small p) posturing for the majority.

This stream of consciousness may get a little messy. I apologise in advance if it fizzles out, is contradictory, or makes little sense.

Artists who are, or define themselves as independent or DIY, can often seem like arch hypocrites, particularly if they have had a loyal following for some time before making it ‘big’ and then begin to milk fans.

I don’t begrudge any artist the hope and/or possibility of making money from their art. I’d actually say (of myself) that I encourage it as I want to hear more new music, or in days gone past – hear/see artists live.

That’s said, I’m becoming increasingly irked, at those that claim they are victims of the music industry while creating ‘victims’ of fans.

Of course, any fan can choose not to engage with a particular artist and its wares. A fan can decide to buy just the CD rather than the signed CD with postcard, or the LP, or the LP with signed postcard or limited-edition vinyl in every colour of the rainbow – each colour limited to just 500 copies, challenging the very notion of ‘limited’.

The thing is, in my experience (based on my listening and buying preferences) it’s not just the majors that are involved in this rather shady practice but so-called independent bands, labels and record shops.

In recent years, much has been made of the impact of vinyl on the environment. The latest wheeze – eco and bio vinyl editions to meet ‘demand’. These, of course, can carry a premium. Bundles too have become absurd. Bands I name here I do so for illustrative purposes only, mostly to use up-to-date info. And so it is that Franz Ferdinand is releasing 11 versions off its new LP, The Human Fear. From Direct Download (£7.99) to Deluxe Bundle (£85) and all that lies between. I fail to see the need for these overblown bundles? Franz Ferdinand fans may disagree and may buy all 11.

Vinyl, is of course, an easy target given its prominence in all things independent but the ‘limited edition’ releases of CDs, books etc., can be disingenuous at best. A recent book release re: independent scene was trailed with ‘limited’ and ‘signed’. It sold out. Miraculously, it re-emerged just as limited and signed days later. Copies were plentiful.

Confession… I’m not sure I’ve ever streamed a song. I’m not even sure of the terminology? Does Bandcamp stream? I’ve bought stuff from it, but I don’t listen to music on it. Bands have been extremely vocal about certain sites, most notably Spotify, and its hold over the market and their income. Some time ago, some artists removed some or all of their music from Spotify – most have since added their ‘content’ again. It seems to me to be a most unhealthy relationship and one in which if the artist was living in the same house as Spotify, I’d urge the artist to leave, as the harm one day could prove fatal. There are many reasons why someone may collude with their abuser (may need to collude), however, I’m not clear on the rationale of moaning inaction. What purpose does it serve?

And so, we move to venues. Pay to play has long strangled creativity in Glasgow. I assume it could be a similar story elsewhere? It’s not new, but it is largely accepted. Again, I appreciate a venue has overheads and needs to make a profit, but as a business it is risk by definition. Venues are closing in increasing number (so the news informs me) and on some occasions I say, “good!”. That may be too candid, but it is how I’ve felt when certain announcements have been made; the press release reading as if the business offered it services free of charge to the ‘community’ and that the business itself was akin to a charity. No doubt there are supportive venues out there. Venues that seek profit, but not at any cost. Venues that understand the basic principle of making money at the bar rather than from a band making its live debut.

Next. Tickets companies. As most of us will know from the recent reunion of a certain band, it’s apparent that the band/artist when selling tickets via a specific platform can have clauses that not only set the ticket price but protect that ticket price. Despite this fact, many well-known artists with influence took to social media to claim they had “no control” – e.g., step forward the Manchester singer. This is/was clearly bollocks. Not wanting responsibility is rather different to having no control. No artist is a victim in this charade. As with release bundles, tickets can now be sold as bundles and independent bands are very much into this sordid practice. They go by many names but seem to largely coalesce under the banner of VIP. Recent VIP tickets of seemingly ‘independent’ bands that may, or may not, have included: access to soundchecks, photos with the band, signed merch, meet and greet the band, access to after-show and disco. I find it a tad much for these ’independent’ bands to attempt to take the moral high ground against Ticketmaster when they’re fleecing fans with Bundle tickets to cover the cost of their after-show party!?

I’ve no idea why I awoke with all of the jumbled in my head this morning. I hope it’s a less jumbled read? My motto: a morality sold cannot be moaned (clearly, I just made that up right now).

Now. To clean that cupboard. A moany gits life is full to the brim with such workaday pleasures.

flimflamfan

JC adds………

As you all hopefully are aware, I encourage the submission of guest articles, reviews and postings on any subject under the sun, as long as there is a musical connection of some sort. FFF’s piece arrived last week, but it’s taken a few days for me to find the space to have it appear….and indeed, there’s a couple more guest offerings that have been submitted in recent times that have taken a while longer than is ideal to be readied for publication, but they will be here in due course.

FFF didn’t make any suggestion as to what song(s) should and will appear to accompany his piece. I have just the one song on the hard drive with the word ‘greedy’ in its title. Its title kind of feels appropriate today.

mp3: The Westfield Mining Disaster – Greedy Bastards, Save Your Souls!

Released in 2010 on the album Big Ideas From Small Places.

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Forty-Four)

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Hands up if you can remember back a couple of weeks to Part 42 of this series?

Well done if you do….but don’t be too concerned if you don’t as it featured 4 Chansons, a 10″ EP on clear vinyl for Record Store Day 2012, on which The Wedding Present played and David Gedge sang in French.

We are about to go on a similar journey today, (and will do so again in the not too distant future).

There were two worldwide releases for Record Store Day 2013. One was a 7″ single, released via This Will Be Our Summer, a label based in Athens, GA. The single was called 2 Chansons, and it comprised, you won’t be surprised to hear, two of the songs that had been included on 4 Chansons EP, a release that hadn’t made it across to the other side of the Atlantic.

The UK release for Record Store Day was another 10″ single, again on clear vinyl, and once more offering up four other language takes on tracks from the album Valentina. Given the title of 4 Lieder, these were sung in German.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Back A Bit…Stop (German Version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – The Girl From the DDR (German Version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – You Jane (German Version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – 524 Fidelio (German Version)

I sent away for a copy of this via Discogs, and to my surprise, it came back from the seller with David Gedge’s signature on it.

It’s a Ronseal Woodstain sort of release…….

JC

Boo Hoo Hoo

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #421: BOO HOO HOO

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From Discogs

“Boo Hoo Hoo: A three-piece band – Richardson, Reggie and Lizzie. Ewan Laing (drummer) was a fourth member for a time before leaving. Some session musicians were involved in their live shows at different times – Jack Fotheringham, Shaun Hood, Charlotte Printer. The band stopped functioning shortly after Reggie left in 2019.”

I saw them play live just the once, at a tiny venue in Glasgow called The Old Hairdresser’s. I’d love to tell you who they were opening for and when it actually was, but I just can’t remember.

I thought Boo Hoo Hoo, despite playing a fairly short set, were tremendous. The highlight was the rendition of a single that was released, in digital form only, via Last Night From Glasgow, back in 2017.

mp3: Boo Hoo Hoo – Fire

Previously featured on the blog as the opening track to the February 2022 mix tape.

JC

Oblivion Seekers

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #068

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#068: The Oblivion Seekers– ‘There’s No Depression In Heaven’ (Singles Only Label ’91)

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Hello friends,

‘The Oblivion Seekers’ is the name of a book which collects various stories and journal notes by Isabelle Eberhardt, a women who lived quite an adventurous and rather mystical life around 1900. Apparently she was so, let’s say, ‘modern’ in her lifetime that she became a cult figure for feminism in the 1970’s. Probably though, unlike me, you knew this all along, of course.

On a totally different note, I once visited the famous Guinness Brewery in Dublin in the 90’s and back then, after having completed the brewery tour, you would get a token for a pint, served in the basement. Now, my friend Anja tasted her pint, but she didn’t like it at all – so I sat there with two pints, hers and mine … nothing wrong with that, of course, until a fairly big group of middle-aged women got up from the table next to ours – and apparently the majority of them had a taste as bad as Anja, because one of them gave me nearly all of the group’s tokens and whispered with a sheepish grin: “drink your self into oblivion, love”.

Now, I cannot tell whether Mark Sten (bassist/vocalist-and sole constant throughout the band’s life) chose the band name from being present at the Guinness Brewery that afternoon and overhearing that women’s advice to me or whether he had read a bit of Isabelle Eberhardt – either way, “The Oblivion Seekers” is what he went for … and why not?!

Nothing much can be found about them, it must be said – as much as I’d like to give you at least some reliable information: there isn’t pretty much available, as it is so often the case with bands which I heard only once on one of John Peel’s BFBS shows. And this is not because The Seekers were ‘one hit wonders’ in an indie sense, no, in fact they have issued six albums within the 90’s/00’s, but I only know their self-titled debut from 1992.

I once read a comparison about them though which went: “(…) if I had to describe them using other bands, I’d describe them as X meets Roy Orbison”, which is not too far from the truth, as far as I’m concerned. A productive DIY roots act, with Mark Sten leading successive cohorts of younger punk musicians through a variety of older rock styles from the 1950s and early 1960s – rockabilly, girl group, early soul, late R&B, doo-wop and primitive black gospel. The underlying theory was to play rock as if the Beatles had never existed …

So there you are, that’s all I have – but, to be frank, that’s all you need to know in fact, I would think. This and today’s tune, of course, the only single they ever made – it preceded the debut album by a year and in my humble opinion it is a masterpiece: firing on all 8 cylinders, all the blades are sharpened, and there’s a bullet in the chamber. Oblivion Seekers: Portland Oregon’s finest gothabilly soul rock whatever ensemble, at your service

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mp3: Oblivion Seekers – There’s No Depression In Heaven

And in case you have been wondering whilst jumping around to this in sheer ecstasy whether this is all about ‘depression’ as in being in a morbid emotional state or ‘depression’ as in commercial crisis: well, it’s the latter, because the tune was originally recorded by The Carter Family in 1936 (in the middle of the Great Depression) – also we all know that back then no-one cared a great deal about people who preferred to be on their own most of the time, and if someone did, I suppose a full-frontal lobotomy would have been the cure of choice …

Enjoy, take care

Dirk

Razorcuts, Talulah Gosh

THE SHA LA LA FLEXI DISCS (002)

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Typing up all of this series in one sitting, and so I’ve no idea if there was any sort of reaction to part one. Tough luck if it doesn’t appeal to you, it’s here to stay until all eight Sha La La Records flexi discs have been featured!

The second disc was give the title ‘Who Needs The Bloody Cartel Anyway? EP‘ and given away with two different fanzines – Are You Scared to Get Happy? (Issue #3) and “Trout Fishing In Leytonstone (Issue #3). The eagle-eyed among you might have notice that the initial flexi disc was also given away with Issue 3 of Are You Scared to Get Happy?, which meant anyone parting with the 50p asking price really were picking up a musical bargain.

This one featured two bands from Oxford, neither of whom are strangers to this blog. Cut’n’paste alerts!!

mp3: Talulah Gosh – I Told You So

Talulah Gosh were a five-piece group from Oxford consisting originally of Amelia Fletcher (vocals, guitar) Mathew Fletcher (drums), Peter Momtchiloff (lead guitar), Rob Pursey (bass) and Elizabeth Price (vocals), although Pursey would depart after just three gigs to be replaced by Chris Scott. They signed to the Edinburgh-based 53rd & 3rd label, but their blend of the Velvet Underground and 60s style girl pop groups divided opinion. There were some who saw them as amateurishly pretentious while others thought this was a great leap forward for pop music with an indie bent. They broke up in 1988.

mp3: Razorcuts – Sad Kaleidoscope

Razorcuts formed in 1985 with the mainstays being Gregory Webster (vocals/guitar) and Tim Vass (bass) augmented at times by various drummers and other musicians who came and went. After a couple of singles on the Subway Organisation label and a one-off on Flying Nun Records, they ended up signing to Creation in 1988 for whom they would release two albums without setting the heather on fire. They split up in 1990.

JC

Half Man Half Biscuit

SONGS UNDER TWO MINUTES (4): ALEHOUSE FUTSAL

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Half Man Half Biscuit take their time when it comes to writing, recording and releasing new albums. Just the eight since the calendar flipped over into the 21st century.

It was always intriguing to slip the new release into the CD player to find out if it’s going to live up to expectations. Inevitably, it did.

Then, in 2018, I bought the new HMHB album on vinyl for the first time in more than 30 years. This time, I let the needle settle into the groove and grinned as the first song blared out through the speakers.

mp3: Half Man Half Biscuit – Alehouse Futsal

From the magnificently named No-One Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin’ Hedge Cut.

If you type Alehouse Futsal into Google, it suggests a link to Adam‘s place – Bagging Area – and a post from 2018 when he mentions the release of the new album. His description is perfect:-

It’s business as usual lyrically, that is, moments of laugh out loud genius punctuated with insight and references to popular culture and history…

There’s every possibility that HMHB will crop up again (and again!) during this series, given how many of their tunes clock in under the two-minute mark.

JC

Regina Spektor

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (22) : Regina Spektor – Fidelity

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This marks the first ever appearance of Regina Spektor on the blog.

Born in Russia in 1980 to musical parents, she moved with her family to New York City in 1989 during the period of Perestroika, when Soviet citizens were permitted to emigrate.

A classically trained pianist, she also developed a love for pop, rock and hip hop as a teenager, and in due course she emerged in her new home city just after the turn of the century through what has been described as the ‘anti-folk scene’

I heard her song Fidelty played on the radio when it was released as a single in early 2007. I had never heard of Regina Spektor before now, despite the fact she had already released three albums. That might not be 100% accurate, as I may have read about her in one music magazine or another, but I can’t recall her name, original sounding as it is, ever registering with me.

I thought Fidelity was really catchy, and when I saw a 7″ copy of on sale for £2 a few days later in Fopp Records, I bought it. I took it home, played it, and still thought it was catchy, albeit it was one of those I thought sounded much better on the radio than in Villain Towers.

A few months later, I bought a CD copy of the album Begin To Hope, one which was being talked about in glowing terms in the music mags and indeed in a couple of UK broadsheet newspapers. It seemed as if Regina Spektor’s time had come. But the positive press etc. didn’t really lead to any great commercial success, and the album stalled at #53.

The album I found to be a bit hit’n’miss, and although I tried to find my way into it, Begin To Hope was soon put on the shelves never to be touched again until the time came to digitise things for putting onto a PC hard drive as well as an i-pod. The shuffle function has offered a few random tracks occasionally over the years, none of which excite or perturb me.

mp3: Regina Spektor – Fidelity

The b-side wasn’t on the standard release of the parent album, but was included as part of what was described as a ‘deluxe edition’, just one of the many sneaky ways record companies have sought to squeeze more money out of fans.

mp3: Regina Spektor – Music Box

The reason for throwing the 7″ vinyl out there today is just in case there are TVV readers who are big fans and may want to make a case for her music, possibly via a guest ICA. As you know, no offers of guest postings are ever turned down.

JC

Daft Punk

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #378: DAFT PUNK (2)

A GUEST POST by KHAYEM

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JC writes…………………..

Sometimes I engage in some villainous behaviour to ensure this blog maintains its standards, whatever they actually are. Today is such an occasion.

I really appreciate the plethora of guest postings that come my way, especially when they are ICAs of bands/acts/groups I know relatively little about. Back in October 2015, a contributor called Aidan Baker came up with this superb effort on Daft Punk. I’ve long felt a second volume was overdue, even if it was the case that some of the songs overlapped.

Making a long-overdue visit to Khayem‘s always engaging, informative and highly entertaining Dubhed, I came across something he posted on 28 July 2024 which didn’t receive any comments. I decided to ‘appropriate’ said post, and in doing so have finally got Vol 2 of the Daft Punk ICA. Here’s K……..

Teachers, Television, Technology

I posted the first Dubhed selection dedicated to Guy Manuel De Homen-Cristo and Thomas Bangalter way, way back in February 2022. I confessed then that “I don’t own a single Daft Punk album – and I probably need to do something about that”. Suffice to say, I’ve since taken care of business.

I’ve stuck with roughly the same rules as before: keeping the selection to just under an hour, twelve rather than ten songs this time around, A greater focus on album versions this time around, though the occasional remix has slipped in.

What an incredible body of work this pair produced before calling it a day. When I saw Nile Rodgers & Chic in concert the other week, Nile admitted that he didn’t understand why they’d stepped away just as Daft Punk was enjoying its greatest success and in his view had so much more great music to give.

I think they did exactly what they needed to do, and their legacy will continue to speak for itself.

We’re going to celebrate one more time…

1) Rinzler (2010)
2) Television Rules The Nation (Album Version) (2005)
3) Teachers (Extended Mix) (1997)
4) The Brainwasher (Erol Alkan’s Horrorhouse Dub) (2006)
5) Da Funk (Album Version) (1996)
6) Give Life Back To Music (Album Version ft. Nile Rodgers) (2013)
7) Human After All (Sebastian Remix By Sebastian Akchoté) (2005)
8) One More Time (Album Version) (2001)
9) Lose Yourself To Dance (Album Version ft. Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers) (2013)
10) High Fidelity (1996)
11) Something About Us (Album Version) (2001)
12) Finale (2010)

khayem

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Forty-Three)

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The fact that this series is going off in all sorts of direction is down to my comrade-in-arms, strangeways.

I had all the things nicely set up in my head to get on with highlighting and bringing to you any singles and EPs by The Wedding Present that were widely available; strangeways really dug deep to bring you everything that was connected with Cinerama, both back when that group was going strong in the early 00s and the later, more occasional releases. I felt I was given no option but to look to do the same with TWP.

Which brings us to the 4 Songs EP, a release I had no idea whatsoever about until I was digging around on Discogs. It’s not even mentioned anywhere on the TWP/Cinerama website.

It is, and I quite from the notes over at Discogs:-

Available via download only through buying the book ‘Valentina – The Story of a Wedding Present Album’ (Scopitones, TONE BOOK 043). The book also provided downloads to all the tracks from the Valentia album, plus a 30 minute video documentary of the making of the album, which includes interviews with the band.

I have, by hook and by crook, managed to find copies of the songs on this EP, which I’m totally relieved about after last week’s debacle.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Journey Into Space
mp3: The Wedding Present – 1000 Fahrenheit
mp3: The Wedding Present – Pain Perdu
mp3: The Wedding Present – Can You Keep A Secret?

For such a low-key release, this is a very fine collection of songs….all of them, (in my opinion), would have improved the quality of Valentina if they had been included in its running order. The final track, at more than seven minutes in length, is one of the longest ever recorded in the band’s history.

JC

Blisters

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #420: THE BLISTERS

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An edited version of a tale previously told on this blog back in June 2020.

“So I glance at this single in a box in a shop in Glasgow. £2.50 for a split effort between a band called The Blisters and occasional TVV favourites Urusei Yatsura. Never heard of the main band and certainly not that sure if I’ve ever heard this particular track by Urusei Yatsura. Oh it’s on red vinyl…..but £2.50?? What if it’s a total dud??? Do I really want to waste my cash.

You’ll know that those last two sentences never even entered into my head when I saw this piece of vinyl. I’m a saddo for things like this….

This mysterious mob called The Blisters. On first listen…..it sounds awfully familiar…the spiky guitars and that voice…..awfully like one of the most successful bands to come out of Glasgow in the 21st Century. But this is from 1995, which is some eight years prior to the debut single from gthe band I’m thinking about, so it can’t possibly be. Let’s hit wiki…..

Fuck me.

Alex Kapranos (born Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley, 20 March 1972 in Almondsbury, Gloucestershire) is a UK based musician who is the lead singer and the guitarist of the Glasgow band Franz Ferdinand. From the early 1990s, he was a fixture of the Glasgow music scene, running live nights at the 13th Note, most notably The Kazoo Club. While working as a chef, bartender, lecturer in IT at the city’s Anniesland College, and other various jobs, he played in some of Glasgow’s popular bands, including The Blisters (later known as The Karelia), long-standing ska stalwarts The Amphetameanies, Quinn (now known as A Band Called Quinn) and The Yummy Fur. He is also known to have contributed to Urusei Yatsura and Lungleg recordings.

And sure enough this track was composed by A Huntley and The Blisters:-

mp3 : The Blisters – A Dull Thought In Itself

Now, I know it’s not a hugely valuable piece of plastic in itself, but the fact it’s one of the earliest recordings by someone who many years later became incredibly famous makes it well worth the £2.50 that I handed over…..

JC

Clouds, Mighty Mighty

THE SHA LA LA FLEXI DISCS (001)

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Two recent Saturdays in the extremely long-running Scottish Songs series ( which is now up to 418 and counting!!!) saw mention of a flexi disc issued in 1987 by Sha La La Records. I thought it would be worthwhile to try and pull together a short series on all eight of said flexi discs, albeit I’ll miss out #3 as the songs by Baby Lemonade and The Bachelor Party featured very recently.

The first of them was named ‘The Bring Back Throwaway Pop EP’. The flexi disc was given away with three different fanzines – Baby Honey (issue #3), Simply Thrilled (issue #2) and Are You Scared to Get Happy? (Issue #3). It featured a band from Glasgow and a band from Birmingham. Neither band are strangers to this blog. Cut’n’paste alerts!!

mp3: The Clouds – Jenny Nowhere

The Clouds were formed in Glasgow in 1986 by brothers John and Bill Charnley. The response to the song on the flexi disc led, in due course, to them signing up to The Subway Organisation whom they recorded a one-off single, Tranquil, in January 1988 before seemingly quitting the music scene for good.

mp3: Mighty Mighty – Throwaway

Mighty Mighty consisted of Hugh Harkin (vocals), Mick Geoghegan (guitar), Peter Geoghegan (keys), Russell Burton (bass, vocals) and David Hennessey (drums), making their debut with two 45s that came out on their own Girlie label in March 1986. Before long, they were on the established indie outfit Chapter 22, for whom they recorded and released a handful of singles and an LP called Sharks which was issued in February 1988. Fame and fortune eluded the boys, with Top 10 placings in the indie charts being the height of it. Less than nine months after their LP hit the shops, the band had disbanded.

They reformed briefly in 2009/10 to play at Indietracks in the UK and at Popfest in Berlin. In 2012, Cherry Red Records issued a compilation double CD which captured everything they had recorded, including material that had been intended for a sophomore album.

I’m sorry to say that the version of Throwaway might not be the same as was on the flexi. What I have is the 7″ single version that had been released the previous year by Chapter 22. I hope it’ll make do. I think it’s rather splendid…..

JC

Various

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #377: STARTED BUT NOT FINISHED (Vol 1)

A GUEST POSTING by SWC

Incomplete

Rather fittingly I told JC that I would send him this ICA on (Checks emails) August 14th but like nearly everything I do in life these days, I got delayed. Last week, it took me three hours to nip to the shops to buy a pint of milk. The shop is a fifteen-minute walk away. I wish I was joking about that. Anyway, I’ve hastily added this paragraph at the start as way of a personal apology to JC for my ramshackle tardiness. What follows, is a piece I started writing in June, June! and finished on the first Thursday in September just after San Marino beat Lichtenstein at football.

I love an ICA, I love that sometimes they are of acts that I have never heard of, and I dive into them and bask in some wonderful new music. I also love the fact that sometimes they are of a band that I hate, and I shake my head in amazement that someone has found one song that they think someone might want to listen to, let alone ten. Sometimes I fume for DAYS that some idiot has written an ICA on a band that I love and hasn’t included a track that I would have put at track two on side one, sometimes I agree with the track listing but get angry about the order. About once a month I start an ICA, spend hours listening to music by that act, furiously scribble down notes on them, start to write about it and then leave it unfinished, unloved on the computer. So, in an act of soul cleansing here follows an ICA compiled of ten tracks by ten different acts, each of which I have started an ICA on but never finished.

Side One

1. Venom – Little Simz (2019, Age 101 Music)

I started my ICA on Little Simz in February this year after a four-hour Top Boy binging session. I banged on about getting mugged in a South London by Rotherhithe’s equivalent of the ZT gang and then brought it back to Little Simz (who of course plays Shelley in the series). ‘Venom’ opened that ICA and this is what I wrote about it – “‘Venom’ has lightning fast rapping laced with razor sharp barbs that vent angrily about the patriarchy”. Which I stand by, ‘Venom’ is ace and Little Simz is tremendous and if you don’t listen to her music, you probably should.

2. How Was It For You? – James (1991, Fontana Records)

During lockdown, I did a lot of running around the Devon countryside, one Sunday to spice things up I decided to write an ICA on whatever band was playing when I reached the start of the third mile of my run. On this occasion that was James, and it was ‘How Was It For You?’. My ICA of James currently has fourteen tracks and despite writing a really good first paragraph that talked about how much I hated Andy Diagram and his sodding trumpet, I never whittled the ICA down to a final ten. ‘How Was It For You?’ would have made the final ten though regardless.

3. Leave Home – Chemical Brothers (1995, Virgin Records)

This one started with a story about a bloke my dad knew called ‘Eggy’ who my dad once won a chest freezer off playing cards. It went from there to me and my dad getting a chest freezer in the back of a Sierra Sapphire and him not batting an eyelid about the damage it was doing to the suspension, and then went I went to University he moaned about the weight of my record collection. From there I somehow brought it round to the Chemical Brothers. The ten tracks have been decided, but I only wrote about six of them. Track Three is ‘Leave Home’.

4. Analogue Bubblebath – Aphex Twin (1992, Warp Records)

I still mean to finish this one, after all I only started it in 2018, so it’s early doors to be honest. Alongside Spiritualized and Primal Scream (see side two), the Aphex Twin is the act that I have started an ICA on the most only to delete all the words and start it again because I’d forgotten to include something from the ‘Donkey Rhubarb EP’ or because I’d decided that there was too much drill and bass on it and not enough classical piano. Regardless of what that ICA eventually looks like, it will contain ‘Analogue Bubblebath’.

5. Neighbourhood #1 – Arcade Fire (2004, Merge Records)

Sometimes you write an ICA and sit back and review it and think well its very album one heavy. Welcome then to my thoughts on my unfinished ICA on the Arcade Fire, of which six of the first eight tracks were from ‘Funeral’, which prompted me to realise that I love the debut album by Arcade Fire but remain somewhat nonplussed by the rest of their output. Still, an ICA made up of just the tracks from ‘Funeral’ would still be pretty amazing.

Side Two

1. Feel So Sad (Rhapsodies) – Spiritualized (1992, Dedicated Records)

Nine times I have tried to write a Spiritualized ICA and if you check the comments in the VERY FIRST ICA EVER, you will see me saying “Can I do one on Spiritualized?”. So I’ve been trying to write one since the dinosaurs walked the earth. But it’s just so hard to do. I just can’t do it and leave out this track or that track – and yeah I hear you, I could just do a second volume, but volume one has taken me ten years to decide on four maybe five tracks.

2. The Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel (1964, Columbia Records)

My ICA on Simon & Garfunkel starts with me wittering on about ‘The Boxer’ coming on the radio at about three in the morning as I drove to Heathrow Airport to catch a flight and how the bored sounding radio presenter on BBC Three Counties Radio (or whichever it was) ruined it by talking over the last minute or so of it about the fact that there was no traffic on the roads of Berkshire. The ICA currently has seven tracks on it, most of them singles. I doubt I’ll finish it.

3. Swastika Eyes (Chemical Brothers Mix) – Primal Scream (2000, Creation Records)

I began my ICA on Primal Scream in May 2018. The first attempt was too ‘Screamadelica’ heavy (like six tracks or something). The second one had too little from ‘Screamadelica’. The third one had nothing from ‘Vanishing Point’ on it. The fourth one somehow managed to find room for ‘2013’ and was rubbish. The fifth one was also rubbish, and the sixth one was entirely free of tracks from ‘Screamadelica’ because I was in a grump with Bobby Gillespie in the wake of Martin Duffy’s death. Still am.

4. Blockbuster Night Part One – Run The Jewels (2014, RTJ Records)

You can blame Jeremy Corbyn for this one. Well sort of. I started this ICA after Corbyn lost the 2019 election to Boris. My opening line was “If Jeremy Corbyn had ended his speech on the Other Stage at Glastonbury 2017 by saying “Please welcome Run the Motherfucking Jewels” instead of saying “Vote Labour” or whatever it was he said, he would have walked the election”. Which wouldn’t have aged well knowing what we know now.

5. Sing About me, I’m Dying of Thirst – Kendrick Lamar (2012, Interscope Records)

“I’d love you to do an ICA on Kendrick Lamar” said JC in 2021. Ok, said I. Well, three years later I can tell you that my ICA on Kendrick Lamar ends with ‘Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst’, from his second album. I can’t tell you much more about it than that. Other than the fact that ‘Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst’ should end any Kendrick Lamar ICA.

So there we go – that’s volume one of the unfinished ICA collection. Volume Two will follow in December 2036.

Much Love

swc

Nomads

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #067

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#067: The Nomads– ‘She Pays The Rent’ (Wire Records ’85)

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Hello friends,

to Sweden we go today, and why not? I mean it’s still summertime, 19° in Stockholm, which is alright, I’d think. If it’s warmer wherever you are today, well, you shouldn’t miss the trip anyway, because we’re going to visit The Nomads – and they are a) a bloody institution in Swedish garage-rock’n’roll, believe me, and b) they are still going, some 43 years after they got together!

The band plays music influenced by The MC5, The Stooges, Roky Erickson, The Cramps, The Ramones, New York Dolls, and other early garage rock and punk bands. The Nomads have been an influential band in the Scandinavian garage rock and punk scenes, inspiring bands such as The Hives, Hellacopters, “Demons”, Gluecifer, and many others.

Of course there have been numerous garage rock revivalists over the decades, but The Nomads certainly have stood out because of the intensity of their performances and the wide range of their influences, which extend beyond the usual ’60s bands to encompass ’70s punk, heavy metal, rockabilly, and blues. The Nomads have not managed to gain more than rather a small cult following alas; this may be because they have recorded only a limited number of original songs. Nonetheless, they have managed to create some genuinely exciting, if not particularly innovative, music: their first release was a crude remake of the Sonics‘ “Psycho” (500 copies only) in 1981, they followed this with another single, a blistering rendition of “Night Time” by the Strangeloves, and received wider recognition with their first mini-album, “Where The Wolf Bane Blooms”.

Another example of their innovative capacity was using horns on today’s single, their fifth in fact, a recording of Jeff Conolly‘s “She Pays The Rent” – released on Amigo, but also in parallel in the UK by Wire, in the USA by Homestead (as a three song 12”), and in France by Closer: I have the UK version. The flipside “Nitroglycerine Shrieks” is The Nomads’ first self-penned 7” song – an excursion into the center of noise.

The A-Side though caused quite some stir back then, because it’s a version of a song written by Jeff “Monoman” Conolly, allegedly during his time with DMZ. Despite this, “She Pays The Rent“ appeared for the first time officially on Conolly’s subsequent band Lyres’ 12” EP (1985) sometime after The Nomads released their version. Another version is found on Lyres’ second album, “Lyres Lyres”, (1986). However, a rough and unofficial version of “She Pays The Rent” circulated before 1985.

Hans Östlund (second from the left in the picture above) once said about the record:

“before this single we had a very good relationship with Jeff Conolly and The Lyres. We played a few shows together in the Netherlands before the French tour, the Pandora’s Box festival in Rotterdam and a show at Melkweg in Amsterdam, which both went down fantastic. Nix (Vahlberg, founding and current member) knew about “She Pays The Rent” from a live cassette and when Jeff said it wasn’t part of Lyres’ set anymore, we agreed that we would record a version of it. Jeff mailed the lyrics to Ulf Lindqvist and we decided to make it our next single.

Things then turned a bit sour as Jeff wasn’t aware of the fact that there would be a US release and then reacted badly to the fact that certain US fanzines deemed The Nomads’ version superior to Lyres’. Jeff is a sensitive person and this would be a cause of animosity for quite some time – but luckily we’re all friends again now. We got the idea to use a horn section from The Saints’ “Know Your Product“ (1978) – a mix of rhythm’n’blues and punk rock, which we think is a very worthwhile combination. We are not sure if we succeeded to the same extent as The Saints, though. Anyway, it was fun to try something new.”

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mp3: The Nomads – She Pays The Rent

As old as this is nowadays, I haven’t gotten tired to listening to it – hope this goes for you as well. And if you haven’t heard it before, well, let me know what your feelings are, will you?

As always: enjoy!

Dirk

Kate Bush, Quads, Rainbow

GOT TO KEEP THE CUSTOMERS SATISFIED (3)

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A very quick follow-up to some of the comments offered up in respect of yesterday’s edition of Shakedown, 1979.

Flimflamfan. It really did surprise me that Rainbow were responsible for your favourite new 45 back in September 1979. It’s not one that I care much for, and I certainly have never owned a copy, physically or digitally, but given that you are such a wonderful supporter and contributor to the blog, how could I not find a way of getting my hands on this.

mp3: Rainbow – Since You’ve Been Gone

It’s also dedicated to WinterInMayPark who considers the song to be ‘perfect pop rock’.

One of the anonymous contributors offered up this intriguing comment:-

“Hitting the charts at number 66 in September 1979 was what John Peel described as his “single of the decade”: ‘There must be thousands’ by the Quads. Sadly, it never threatened the top 40 despite plenty of airplay.”

I have to be honest and say that I can’t recall the song whatsoever. It had a two-week stay in the charts, coming in at #75 on the week of 16-22 September, and reaching the afore-mentioned giddy heights of #66 the following week. It was the only time the band had a hit single:-

mp3: The Quads – There Must Be Thousands

I’ve turned to wiki for the skinny.

“The Quads were a new wave band from Birmingham, England, active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The band was formed in Birmingham by three brothers, Josh Jones, Colin “Jack” Jones and Terry “Johnny” Jones, plus bassist Jim Doherty.

Their 1979 debut single There Must Be Thousands was a favourite of the BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who selected it as his “single of the decade!” Josh Jones later described the recording of “There Must Be Thousands”:

“It was a grass roots protest and two fingers to the corporate record company stranglehold on the industry. We recorded our ‘hit single’ in the cellar of a house for 30 quid and then a ‘proper’ studio to get a decent vocal sound, taking the total cost to a heady 130 pounds.”

Despite receiving considerable airplay on the main BBC Radio 1 daytime programmes, “There Must Be Thousands” only reached No. 66 in the UK singles chart, but in 2001 John Peel still listed it as one of his all-time favourite records. Then, in 2013, to coincide with its use on a promotional video by natural skincare company JooMo, the track was re-released by Big Bear Records.

The band released further singles, including Gotta Getta Job, which they performed during the People’s March for Jobs in 1981, a march in which they took part. They continued to perform until the mid-1980s, when Doherty left. They reformed in the 1990s and made further recordings but they were not released.

Josh Jones later moved to Auckland, New Zealand and became an Anglican priest, while still creating and recording new music”

Can’t say that I agree with John Peel’s take on it………

And as I’m doing my best to keep readers happy, I’ll offer up some Kate Bush tunes from the On Stage EP, which came into the chart of 9-15 September at #35, eventually peaking at #10 during a nine-week stay in the Top 75.

mp3 : Kate Bush – Them Heavy People (live)
mp3 : Kate Bush – Don’t Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake (live)
mp3 : Kate Bush – James And The Cold Gun (live)
mp3 : Kate Bush – L’Amour Looks Something Like You (live)

The price, however, is to court controversy by re-posting something that was originally featured on the old blog in August 2010 and on the current blog in January 2017.

“The thing is, while browsing in a second hand vinyl emporium a wee while back, I came across a copy of a 1979 EP, and given it was going for £2, I thought it worth giving a listen to again all these years later.

It has four live tracks, all recorded at a London gig in May 1979. This turned out to be the only time that Kate Bush ever toured in her entire career*, although over the years there would be sporadic live appearances, either solo or as alongside a whole range of other performers, suggesting that it wasn’t a fear of playing live that she suffered from.

The four songs all originally featured on The Kick Inside or Lionheart, her first two LP

So as it is spinning round the USB Turntable and doing whatever thing it is gadgetry wise to turn the tracks into instant mp3s, I’m thinking to myself…….this is shite.

It just feels as if it is music played by top-notch session players incapable of hitting a bum note, but who are just as incapable of adding any meaning or feeling to a song. It’s got wanky solos all the way through as well, and the sort of music that punk/new wave/post-punk was determined to banish forever (not that they ever had a chance of succeeding).

I’ve recently read reviews of that six-week tour that Kate Bush undertook in 1979 and by just about every account, it seems to have been an event that was ahead of its time with its use of theatre and dance and multi-median innovations including the use of a head-mic. But tucked away in the middle of such reviews, you cotton-on to the fact that the musicians were drilled to the Nth degree with no room at all for improvisation. It sounds as if it was more akin to going along to a musical than a gig…….and I reckon that’s what comes across on the tracks on the EP. They lack any real depth or soul……but I bet they were astonishing if witnessed in the flesh.

Oh well. I’ve said it.

Bring on the brickbats.

* written and published years before the London residency of 2015 which so many got really excited about.”

JC

Blondie, Buggles, Headboys, Jags, Michael Jackson, Police, Ramones, Ruts, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Skids, Squeeze, Stiff Little Fingers, Tourists, XTC

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (September)

I reckon you all know the drill by now.

I thought August 1979 had proven to be a bumper month for hit singles – and going by the comments last time around, many of you were in agreement. Will September hold up?

The Top 20 of the first chart of the new month was playing host to Gary Numan, Roxy Music, The Specials, The Stranglers, Joe Jackson, The Jam, and Ian Dury & The Blockheads, and here’s a handful of new entries quite a bit further down.

mp3: The Ruts – Something That I Said (#45)

The quickly-released follow-up to the hit single Babylon’s Burning was another belter of a number, and while it didn’t quite match the sucess of its predecessor in that it peaked at #29 and spent just five weeks in the chart, it helped build a strong foundation for the soon to be released debut album, The Crack, which went Top 20.

mp3: Squeeze – Slap and Tickle (#53)

Their third hit single in the space of six months, but it would come nowhere close to the Top 3 success of Cool For Cats and Up The Junction. It’s a bit of a strange one in that it’s reliant on synths, and Glen Tilbrook has cited Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder as influencing what he was trying to do, but it kind of sounds a bit primitive. It did eventually reach #24 which was a more than decent showing given it had been taken from an album released five months earlier.

mp3: The Jags – Back Of My Hand (#70)

A power-pop classic from a band formed in the costal town of Scarborough in north England. Tailor-made for radio, it sold in increasing numbers of a couple of months, eventually peaking at #17 in late October. It was The Jags one and only brush with fame in terms of chart success, and after some more flop singles and two albums that failed to dent the Top 100, they were dropped by Island Records after which they called it a day.

mp3: The Ramones – Rock ‘n Roll High School (#71)

A blink and you’ll miss it, minor hit. In at 71, up to 67 the next week, after which it disappeared.

mp3: The Tourists – The Loneliest Man In The World (#72)

As I mentioned back in June, The Tourists is where it all began for Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, who would conquer the planet in the mid-80s as the driving force behind Eurythmics. This was their second hit of the year, taken from their eponymous debut album that had been released in June 1979. It would go on to spend seven weeks in the chart, peaking at #29 in mid-October, by which point the band had already finished work on their second LP…..of which there will be further mention when November comes around.

The chart of 9-15 September 1979 had just two new entries in the Top 40, both of which were a bit on the unusual side as one was Since You’ve Been Gone, the first ever hit 45 by hard rockers Rainbow (who like many others in the genre normally ignored the singles market) with the other being a live EP from Kate Bush (live music was never aired on daytime radio back in the late 70s). In saying that about hard-rockers and chart singles, AC/DC were also in the Top 75 with Highway To Hell.

Coming in at #51 was a bona-fide disco classic from someone who was, at the time, just seen as perhaps the most-talented of his musical family, but not thought to be someone who would, in time, become arguably the most-famous pop star of his generation.

mp3: Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough

This would spend more than three months in the Top 75, peaking at #3. This is another example of how things were done differently back in 1979. ‘Dont Stop…’ had been released as a single in America back in July. It took until early September for it to be issued in that way in the UK, and even then it was merely a piece of marketing to highlight that Michael Jackson‘s solo album, Off The Wall, was due for release in mid-late September. Nobody, and I don’t care what anyone will say with the benefit of hindsight, anticipated it would sell 20 million copies worldwide, of which almost 2 million were in the UK, leading to an initial 61-week stay in the album charts, and an incredible 225 weeks all told over the subsequent years and decades.

There’s nothing else worth homing in on across the rest of the new entries, so I’ll quickly move on to 16-22 September.

Cars by Gary Numan went to #1, replacing Cliff Richard, whose We Don’t Talk Anymore had been holding down the top spot for the previous four weeks. Gary’s stay at the top only proved to be very brief. The song which landed at #8 this week would soon hit the top.

mp3: The Police – Message In A Bottle

It really was quite the remarkable turn-around. A year earlier, nobody in the UK had been interested in Sting, Stewart and Andy. Three flop singles and an album that was in the bargain bins by Xmas. But they did a bit better in America, and early-mid 1979 brought hits via re-releases. The question was whether the new material would sustain the interest. Message In A Bottle more than did that. As I said, in at #8 prior to a three-week stay at #1, while the album from which it was taken, Regatta de Blanc, came straight in at #1 in early October. It was the start of a genuinely remarkable run of success.

Nobody would have realised it at the time, but the single which would eventually replace Message In A Bottle at #1 also entered the charts this week

mp3: Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star (#57)

There’s really not much to write about this song that hasn’t already been written. It was slightly a slow-burner, in at 57 and taking four more weeks to reach #1 (where it stayed for just one week – I would have sworn it was at the top for a good deal longer). Maybe it was just down to it never seeming to be off the radio for about the next five years.

mp3: XTC – Making Plans For Nigel (#63)

Life Begins At The Hop had given XTC a minor hit a few months earlier. Making Plans for Nigel wasn’t a follow-up, but instead was issued to further support Drums and Wires, the band’s third studio album that had come in to the charts a few weeks earlier at #43. It proved to be an inspired move, raising the band’s profile immensely and taking them firmly out of cult status into bona fide pop stars. Not that it sat comfortably with them……

Nigel would, in due course reach #17, a position that band would better just twice in the coming years.

mp3: The Headboys – The Shape Of Things To Come (#68)

As featured in the long-running Scottish Songs on Saturdays series, away back in August 2018. I mentioned that the Edinburgh-based power-pop outfit had been signed by RSO Records, one of the biggest labels in the world at the time, primarily on the back of the success of Saturday Night Fever by The Bee Gees. Such connections got The Headboys a slot on Top of The Pops despite the single not being in the Top 40; indeed, it never got higher than #45 in a eight-week stay in the lower reaches of the chart and proved to be the only hit of any sort the band would enjoy.

And so, to the final week of September 1979.

mp3: Blondie – Dreaming (#7)

The album Plastic Letters had taken Blondie to the summit of the pop world, and all concerned were determined to remain there. Dreaming was the first new song in some 18 months, and it was given a rapturous welcome. This was an era when new singles entering anywhere in the Top 10 was seen as a triumph, and in many cases, it led to it hitting #1 the week after. Blondie’s previous two singles – Heart of Glass and Sunday Girl – had been #1s. Dreaming failed to match it, stalling at #2, unable to dislodge Message In A Bottle. It was perhaps a sign that the baton in the race to be the world’s most popular group was being handed over from America to England.

As if to illustrate how hard it was in those days to have a high new entry in the singles chart, the second highest of the week came in at #45

mp3: The Skids – Charade

The third hit of the year for The Skids. This one didn’t go Top 20 in the same fashion as Into The Valley and Masquerade, peaking at #31; remarkably, the band would enjoy a fourth hist single before the new decade dawned on us. Come back in November for more.

Here’s some more proof as to why 1979 is, in my opinion, the greatest year of all for chart singles

mp3: Siouxsie & The Banshees – Mittageisen (#58)

Metal Postcard (Mittageisen) was one of the standout tracks on the 1978 debut album The Scream. A year later, the album Join Hands had been issued, with its lead single Playground Twist charting at #28. Meanwhile, over in West Germany, Metal Postcard had been re-recorded with the lyrics sung in German, and had become a hit single. Polydor Records, noticing that fans were purchasing it on expensive import, decided to release it in the UK. It proved to be a short stay in the chart of just three weeks, and it peaked at #47, but it was previously unthinkable that a German-language new-wave song by an English group would remotely be a commercial success.

Those of you who read Part 2 of this monthly feature, in which I highlight singles that didn’t make the Top 75, may recall me that back in May I made reference to Gotta Getaway, a quite brilliant 45 by Stiff Little Fingers that had been issued on Rough Trade. A few months later, and after signing to Chrysalis, the boys from Belfast finally made the charts, coming in at #59.

mp3: Stiff Little Fingers – Straw Dogs

This move to a major would lead to more chart success in 1980 and help pave the way for the band to build up such a decent-sized fanbase that they are still very much a going concern in 2024

Talking of Part 2 of this series, I hope you’ll all drop in a few weeks time as there are some genuine classics, from really well-known groups, that have stood the test of time.

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Parts Forty-One and Forty-Two)

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Around the time that Valentina was released (March 2012), The Wedding Present issued a 7″ single on vinyl.

As mentioned last week, this was a time when I wasn’t paying much attention. I’ve now learned that this 7″ single was given out to the members of ‘Club 8’, so called as its members were those who had provided financial support for the recording of Valentina, the band’s eighth studio album.

500 copies were pressed up on clear vinyl, specifically for those loyal fans without whom etc. The folk who got the single are the type who (mostly) wouldn’t dream of parting with it. Just two copies have ever been sold via Discogs, with the last occasion being back in 2016. No copies are presently on offer. And just when I thought there was no chance of tracking anything down, our dear friend The Robster sent across a very helpful email with a couple of digital attachments:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Metal Men
mp3: The Wedding Present – Unthinking

A couple of songs that are better than quite a few on Valentina??? I certainly think so…..

Next up was a limited edition 10″ single on clear vinyl that was issued for Record Store Day on 21 April 2012.

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The 4 Chansons EP involved four songs being sung in French. The original versions of three of the songs had been recorded for Valentina, while the other was of Metal Men, one of the two tracks made available only to the members of Club 8.

This one was a bit more readily available on Discogs, albeit a bit pricey, but given that until The Robster stepped in to help out I thought I was going to miss out on two successive releases for this series, I did send off for it a couple of weeks back.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Deer Caught In The Headlight (French Version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – End Credits (French Version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Metal Men (French Version)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Mystery Date (French Version)

It’s the Wedding Present, and it’s David Gedge doing his stuff in French. Qu’y a-t-il à ne pas aimer ?

JC

Bee Bee Cee

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #420: BEE BEE CEE

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Yet another that come courtesy of its inclusion within the Big Gold Dreams box set, released on Cherry Red back in 2019. This one dates from November 1977.

mp3: Bee Bee Cee – You Gotta Know Girl

Here’s the blurb from the booklet:-

“With Britain’s state broadcasters chasing ratings on the back of punk’s shock value, enter Edinburgh’s five-piece Bee Bee Cee.

Led by vocalist Dave Gilhooley and guitarist Callum McNair, Bee Bee Cee made a sole vinyl offering which paired You Gotta Know Girl with the snottier We Ain’t Listening released on Radio Edinburgh Ltd.

Gilhooley and McNair later teamed up as Club of Rome, contributing to the Mint Sauce For The Masses Edinburgh compilation EP. McNair went on to Syndicate, then The Apples with ex-Win-ites Ian Stoddart and Willy Perry, and Captain Shifty with Stoddart before joining The Bathers, fronted by ex-Friends Again frontman Chris Thomson. McNair currently plays with Blondie tribute band Dirty Harry.”

Discogs has two copies of the Bee Bee Cee single on offer. The asking price is around the £170 mark. I’ll be honest and say that until the inclusion of this song on the box set, I had never heard of the band.

Given it was a one-off single, I set out to track down the b-side, but without forking out that sort of sum of cash.

mp3: Bee Bee Cee – We Ain’t Listening

Both tracks do have 1977 written all over them.

JC

Drugstore

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (13) : Drugstore – El President

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This is a re-post, of sorts, in that the lead song was featured back in 2019 as part of a short-lived series called ‘THE JOY OF (a mixed) SEX duet’.

mp3: Drugstore – El President

The duet is courtesy of Isabel Monteiro and Thom Yorke. The former is one of the two vocalists in Drugstore, while the latter is…..well I don’t think I need to spell it out.

Drugstore were around for much of the 90s, and were highly regarded and respected among their peers. They were the sort of band that more established acts loved to have as special guests while out on tour, which is why fans of the likes of Radiohead, Tindersticks, Jeff Buckley and The Jesus and Mary Chain would have had opportunities to catch them.

El President was the first single to be lifted from their second album, White Magic for Lovers, which came out in 1998. At this point in time, Drugstore consisted of the afore-mentioned Isabel Monteiro (bass and vocals), Daron Robinson (guitar and vocals), Mike Chylinski (drums) and Ian Burdge (cello). The song was written by Monteiro as a tribute to Salvador Allende, whose four decades of political involvement in Chilean politics had seen him become president in 1970 (elected in a run-off by Congress as none of the three candidates had won any overall majority) but just three years later he had committed suicide rather than give in to a military coup. It was a coup supported by the CIA, which in itself was no surprise given that Allende was a committed Marxist and the Cold War was being fought.

I’ll just mention in passing that he was succeeded by General Augusto Pinochet….unarguably one of the worst persecutors of his political opponents in the 20th Century.

There are two additional tracks on the CD single, both of which really are well worth a listen.

mp3: Drugstore – The Night The Devil Came To Me
mp3: Drugstore – Perfect Movie

The former is another that was written by Monteiro. I’m not sure if it is a genre, but I’d describe it as ‘gothic soundtrack’, and could pass easily for a brilliant cover of one of the slower songs of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. It’s one that I hadn’t listened to in well over 25 years since buying the single, and I’m kicking myself for not being more aware of its magnificence, as it would certainly have found its way onto a mixtape by now.

The latter was written by Mike Chylinski, the drummer in Drugstore, and yet it’s a song in which the drumming is very sparse to the extent of being almost non-existent. It’s another duet in that the opening verse is sung by Daron Robinson, with Isabel Monteiro coming in for verse two. It really is a lovely little ballad, one which deserved a better fate than being consigned to being an extra track on a single.

El President reached #20, and proved to be the only hit single Drugstore would ever enjoy.