An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.
On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System – The Bug Club
In which I have to say a huge thank you to The Robster. It was his guest posting back in June of ICA #368 which first alerted me to the very existence of The Bug Club.
He referred to them as being one of his and Mrs Robster’s favourite local bands, helpfully explaining that they had acquired a large cult following over the few short years of their existence, gained coveted airplay and live sessions on BBC radio, had released 10 singles, two albums (one of them an ambitious double), two EPs, three things nobody knew how to describe, and a live album of exclusive material under a different band name, all since 2021, and while playing 200+ gigs a year.
The ICA proved to be a great listen and a mental note was taken to keep an eye on things. A couple of months later, I’m browsing in one of the indie record shops in Glasgow city centre when I spot an album by The Bug Club. Turns out it was the new one The Robster had referred to in the closing sentence on the ICA, with the band having signed to Sub Pop. The debit card was fished out, and I went home with what is described as ‘The Loser Edition’ of On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System on orange marble vinyl.
It looked great as I placed it on the turntable. How did it sound? Well, I couldn’t say as that was when I discovered my amp had suddenly developed a fault which meant whatever was being played through the turntable, CD player or indeed the DAB radio couldn’t be heard above a dreadful buzzing noise. It took a few weeks to get it all fixed, and it wasn’t until early October that I finally got to hear the record, albeit I had dipped in and out of a few tracks via YouTube. (I don’t have any streaming services at all).
I sent an email back to The Robster the next day, the summary of which was:-
“It.
Is.
Superb.
Hints of so many acts I’ve loved over the decades. Violent Femmes. Jonathan Richman. Lovely Eggs. HMHB.”
As with Viva Hinds, this is another short record, with eleven songs coming in at just under half-an-hour. It’s not quite in Otoboke Beaver territory, but Sam Wilmett (vocals/guitar) and Tilly Harris (vocals/bass) don’t hang around. Once again, I’m delighted to say, there is never any feeling that the listener is being short-changed.
The Robster did finish off his ICA with a link to the advance single for the album.
Lyrically, it doesn’t get much simpler than that. I imagined that most of the album would have been along similar lines, but that was far from the case. They can get quite surreal when they put their minds to it
mp3: The Bug Club – Actual Pain
Anarchy and sympathy entwined in mediocrity. I never liked the way you move. Those conifers are louder than my ten gallon hat. That’s crazy but it’s true. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain and it don’t tickle like the handbook said. Illwill never killed the meaning of the word. I never heard you scream. Magnolia, alpine white or somewhere in-between. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain and it don’t tickle like the handbook said. My life blood leaking on the heavy metal grass. I never stopped to ask your opinion. Sincerely your best friend and ever loving companion. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain. Baby I’m in actual pain and it don’t tickle like the handbook said
And if this one doesn’t put a smile on your face, then there really is no hope.
The Bug Club are coming to Glasgow in February. Tickets have been purchased. It’s the night before Hinds hit town. This 61-year-old is exhausted just thinking about that week, never mind trying to live it.
aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
#2: Docking The Pay by CVC
There are too many people in the UK who wish it was still the 1970s. You know, casual racism and homophobia, the Three-Day Week, terrible clothes, the birth of Thatcherism, the fucking Austin Allegro… Why? I mean really – WHY? I’ll tell you why – the music! Bowie. Punk. Reggae. The Ska revival. Abba. Yes, Abba. SHUT UP!
You see, us lot in Britain seem to have a perverse love of nostalgia. Everything was apparently better back in “our day”, whenever that was. My generation loves the 80, another really awful decade. But it’s the culture we hold dear, not real life. Wales wasn’t in a good place in the 70s, like the rest of the UK, yet musically we seem to be finding guidance in the decade that fashion forgot, despite the fact that many of those forging this trend weren’t even close to being born back then. CVC, for instance, look and sound like an episode of Life On Mars. Yet, for some reason – probably because the best bands in Wales have traditionally been rooted in psych-rock – they sound so NOW.
Hailing from Church Village – a tiny town on the southern edge of the Rhondda Valley, halfway between Llantrisant and Pontypridd – CVC (Church Village Collective) released their debut album ‘Get Real’ in 2023, catapulting themselves into the national spotlight thanks to BBC 6 Music going absolutely ga-ga for them. It probably doesn’t hurt that their guitarists are also related to Welsh music royalty (I’ll give you a clue – their names are David Bassey and Elliot Bradfield…) so there’s more than few good genes kicking about in there.
Depending on when this piece is published, CVC may have a new album out, or it may still be pending. Docking The Pay features on the debut though.
MP3: Docking The Pay – CVC (from ‘Get Real’, 2023)
An album of off-cuts called ‘B-Real’ also snuck out last year, and from it, you can listen to this cover of a song by the best Welsh psych-rock band ever. Yes, EVER!
MP3: Juxtaposed With You – CVC (from ‘B-Real’, 2023)
An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.
Viva Hinds – Hinds
Back in February, I wrote about Hinds playing a basement venue in Glasgow to a packed and enthusiastic audience, including myself and Aldo. We were ecstatic that it turned out to be a triumphant return after a period of change and uncertainty, and it was an evening in which the two remaining members of the original four-piece line-up, Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote became almost overwhelmed by the reception given to them by the audience. There were a handful of new songs aired during the set, all of which were as enthusiastically received as the old material, which really bode well for the next album.
Viva Hinds, their fourth studio album, was released in September 2024, but was preceded by a number of singles/music videos, which meant I was quite familiar with much of the material by the time the vinyl was delivered to Villain Towers – this was one ordered directly from the band to try and ensure as much of the money ended up with them, an important factor as there have been very trying circumstances for all concerned in the four years since the release of The Prettiest Curse back in 2020.
Given all that has happened to the band – it wasn’t just the departure of their original drummer and bassist, but they also lost their management team and record label – it might be anticipated that the comeback album would prove to be bitter and resentful. The Glasgow show back in February, however, gave more than a few hints that it wouldn’t turn out that way. I knew that Viva Hands was going to be a joy to listen to, and it also managed to offer up a few pleasant surprises, not least how polished it felt given that the main recordings took place in pop-up studios in rural France, albeit some work, including some backing and co-vocal contributions from well-known guests, took place in more conventional surroundings.
It might be a short album, with its ten songs stretching out to 32 minutes or thereabouts, but there’s no sense of ever feeling short-changed. The songs, mostly, bounce along with that comforting blend of pop/post-punk on which the band has built its reputation since first getting together back in 2011.
That’s one of the aforementioned guest contributions. Here’s the other:-
mp3: Hinds – Stranger (feat. Grian Chatten)
It’s also the first album in which they sing in their native language:-
But for me, the standout song is the one written by Carlotta and Anna as a riposte to those who abandoned them.
“’Superstar’ talks about the disappointment and the pain you feel when someone you love deeply, disappears with no explanation; you feel worthless, you start thinking you never really knew that person, and you question your shared past, and if what you remember really happened. It’s hard to let people go, but writing this song helped. People need closure, and this song is ours.”
Defiant. Anthemic. Joyous.
Hinds are back in Glasgow this coming February. It’s likely to be one of the highlights of the year.
#074: Pixies – ‘Here Comes Your Man’ (4AD Records ’89)
yes, I know: „uh, the sissy has gone for the hit single again – what a pillock!“. And of course you’re right, in all of Pixies‘ back catalogue, ‘Here Comes Your Man’ certainly is the hit single, probably even the most accessible of all of their numbers.
But le me explain why it is that I chose it nevertheless: to me, there were three choices, the first three singles in fact: ‘Gigantic’ from the year before, ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’, also from 1989, and today’s offering. There were more singles, of course, some of them quite excellent, but let’s be honest: diminishing it down to those three was the obvious thing to do, right?
So why did I go for ‘Here Comes Your Man’ and not for one of the other two singles, despite of their brilliance and despite of ‘Here Comes Your Man’ being so, let’s say – „radio-friendly“? Well, amongst some of the rather weird theories I have developed in my life, I also came up with this one: once you have witnessed a band ‘growing up’ from their earliest days on, then you have the natural right to think whatever you want to think about this band and to say whatever you want to say to anyone who did not witness said band’s birth or at least their heydays. And no, all you 16-year-old chicks with your skinny jeans and your Ramones– and/or Nirvana-T-shirts who are reading this: I am neither ‘just an old fart’ nor ‘an overweight smart aleck’ – it is NOT my fault that you are so easily offended when your outfit is being questioned by me!!
(JC adds…….don’t worry Dirk, I’m 99.9999% sure that no 16-year old chicks read this blog!)
Back to Pixies and ‘Here Comes Your Man’. I bought ‘Come On Pilgrim’ when it came out and spent hundreds of Deutschmarks on their later output as well. So, to come to a point with all of this, taking this fact into consideration when it comes to my wonderful theory: if I think that ‘Here Comes Your Man’ is the right single of choice for me, then so it shall be!
I mean, come on: it is rather pop, rather commercial, yes, but bloody hell: it’s excellent throughout! Also, what you might not have known up until now is that Black Francis had written it when he was about 15. To my understanding, the band did not like it pretty much (apparently they referred to it as “the Tom Petty song“), and the same was true for the label – so much so that 4AD did not want it to appear on ‘Come On Pilgrim’ in 1987.
Still, and it’s clear that it’s one of those records you know by heart obviously – to me it hasn’t lost an inch of its greatness, I still could listen to it on a daily basis:
The Wedding Present were in a good place when 2019 rolled around. The line-up was really settled with Charles Layton now a ten-year veteran on the drums, Danielle Wadey proving to be a great foil on guitar having initially joined the band as bassist in 2016, while the new bassist, Melanie Howard, was bringing youth and a fresh energy to the live shows, of which there had been plenty across the UK between March and June as part of a 30th anniversary tour of Bizarro, which then moved on to Japan, China and Thailand in July.
A new single, issued on the Leeds-based label Come Play With Me Records, and released on 2 August, broke some new ground for the band in that one version of it was their first ever picture disc.
mp3: The Wedding Present – Jump In, The Water’s Fine mp3: The Wedding Present – Panama
Two new songs, available on standard 7″ or 10″ picture disc.
It’s one of the more unusual and hard to categorise singles in the band’s history. It starts off as if it’s going to be a rock number with loud guitars, before easing off to a more gentle-pace with the chorus relying heavily on the backing vocals offered up by Melanie Howard, something that had been a feature of the live shows throughout the year.
The b-side begins with handclaps and a prominent bass line, courtesy of Terry de Castro, with had come back, as a one-off, to play on the single. Again, it’s just a tad different from the norm, and yet it sounded exactly as you’d expect. It’s one that I’ve long felt was wasted as a b-side – it’s certainly a better and more instant song than Jump In…
The band would then perform at the 2019 edition of The Edge of The Sea Festival, and spend much of the rest of the year on the road in the UK and Europe, with 41 shows all told. I caught the show in Glasgow in late October, and it was proved to be incredibly enjoyable, with the musicians clearly having a fantastic chemistry, aided by the fact that so much of the set was made up of songs from Bizarro. Oh, and the fact that the unexpected cover on the evening was A Song From Under The Floorboards, originally recorded by Magazine.
But the last 14 dates, involving shows in Germany, Holland, Belgium and England, by necessity featured a changed line-up. Danielle had toured while pregnant, but there had to come a time when common sense prevailed, and her last show was on 16 November. Her partner, and father of her child, is none other than Charles Layton and so, after more than a decade of being the band’s drummer, he also took his leave. In their place came Jon Stewart, formerly of Sleeper on guitar, and Chris Hardwick, formerly of My Life Story on drums. This would be the new line-up, anticipated to head into a studio sometime in 2020, as well as going out and playing live.
This is far from the first time that Broken Chanter has featured on TVV, but the band wasn’t in existence back in September 2016 when the initial alphabetical run through of singers and bands with at least one song on the hard drive of the Villain Towers laptop had reached ‘Br….’
At that point in time, David MacGregor was still very much involved with Kid Canaveral, a rather delightful five-piece Scottish-indie band who had just released their third studio album, Faulty Inner Dialogue, on Lost Map Records. The band did make great records, but their true strength was when they got up on stage, thanks in the main to an excellent chemistry and the talents of the two vocalists, the afore mentioned Mr MacGregor and Kate Lanza. By this point in time, Kid Canaveral had been together for 12 years, having formed when they all met as students back in 2004.
In early 2019, David revealed that he was going to release a solo album. He chose to use the moniker of Broken Chanter, emphasising that it would be a name that would apply whether it was just him on record or on stage as a solo performer or whether it was with a full band in similar circumstances. The self-titled debut album was a mix of the indie-pop we were accustomed to, alongside a number of gently-paced and lovely ballads, which helped to illustrate just how good a singer and songwriter he was. It was a record that truly delivered, and the shows in late 2019 to accompany its release were outstanding, with David’s charisma very much to the fore. The future looked very bright.
The big plans for 2020 had to be put on hold due to the COVID pandemic and all the restrictions that were in place and would remain so for some considerable time. When things began to get back to normal, we learned that Kid Canaveral had called it a day, but that Broken Chanter was intending to continue. It has resulted in two more superb albums – Catastrophe Hits (2021) and Chorus of Doubt (2024) – with the latter, released on Chemikal Underground, being shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year.
There’s more than enough great tunes out there to pull together a Broken Chanter ICA, and I’ll likely sit down and do that in the not too distant future. In the meantime, here’s a chance to listen to a single from the more folk-orientated debut album.
Yet another repost, but one I will make no apologies for. Besides, it dates from November 2013 and may well be of interest to some of the more new TVV regulars.
Released in November 1984 in the midst of what was the most bitter and confrontational industrial action in my lifetime, the Miners’ Strike.
My most abiding memory of the song, aside from dancing to it in the student union, was when The Redskins gave a live rendition one Friday tea-time on ‘The Tube’ . This was some eight months into the strike, and the positions on both sides were entrenched to the point of deadlock. The UK media was, without any question, very much on the side of the government and the coal industry management, and it was rare for anyone actually on strike to be given any sort of platform to put their case across.
Having just crashed their way through Hold On, lead singer Chris Dean (who also at the time wrote for the NME under the name of X Moore) introduced a temporary member of the band for Keep On Keepin On. A miner from Durham (which was the closest mining area to the Newcastle studios where The Tube was recorded) took to the stage and explain why he was on strike and to thank the public for their continued support. His words were met with applause from the studio audience, but they didn’t reach the ears of those of use sitting in our living rooms, as his words weren’t coming through.
There was uproar afterwards as Channel 4 was accused of deliberately sabotaging the performance. The TV station claimed it didn’t know in advance that the striking miner would take to the stage and had no idea that he would take to that particular mic, which they claimed had malfunctioned during the performance. I’ve got this footage on VHS tape, and I’ve watched it loads of time, and it cannot be denied that when Martin Hewes was singing backing vocals on Hold On he couldn’t be heard….but it really does seem to have been all too convenient and too much of a coincidence.
The resultant fall-out from the row helped get the single some publicity, and some radio airtime, which helped take Keep On Keepin On into the Top 50, but sadly not enough to ever lead to a Top of The Pops appearance.
Keep On Keepin On is a cracking record, as indeed is the LP Neither Washington Nor Moscow with its heady mix of pop, soul, blues, folk, punk and left-wing politics, and it’s very obvious that The Redskins were a hugely talented band who could have made and sold records for many years to come. But they didn’t…..
Where others such as Bragg and Weller could accept that there was more to the life of a musician than writing and recording agit-pop songs, it really was all-or-nothing for Chris Dean & co. They painted themselves into a corner with the interviews they gave to the music and mainstream press, and in due course the sad defeat for the miners and the ever-increasing shift to the right in UK politics meant they had nowhere to go and nothing meaningful to say. For a while The Redskins had stood firm, held tight and fought. But in the end they chose to die on their feet than to live on their knees. The break-up was swift and inevitable. But they left a fine legacy:-
mp3 : The Redskins – Keep On Keepin’ On (Die on Your Feet Mix)
mp3 : The Redskins – 16 Tons (Coal Not Dole)
mp3 : The Redskins – Reds Strike The Blues!
An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.
Cut To Black – Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson‘s career dates back to 1977 when he picked up the bass guitar so that he could answer Howard Devoto‘s call to join Magazine. He played on all five of the band’s albums (four studio and one live) and when they called it a day, he joined Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, prior to going solo in 1988. He very quickly made a name for himself as a performer and composer of note, with his work expanding into film soundtracks, real and imaginary, encompassing a wide range of genres. He’s never been one to chase any type of commercial success – Cut To Black was his tenth studio offering, on top of which there have been three soundtrack albums, four EPs and twelve singles, from which he has a collective three weeks worth of album chart success, thanks to Oedipus Schmoedipus (two weeks in 1996) and As Above So Below (one week in 1998).
In some ways, Cut to Black isn’t that different from many of his previous releases, and yet it is possibly the most straightforward. It has a soundtrack feel, in that you could imagine all ten of its songs being picked up by directors/producers and inserted into key scenes; indeed, most of the songs feel as they themselves would make for a great short story, with at least one of them, the album opener, being based on a real-life and infamous incident.
The Last Words of Sam Cooke is very much among my favourite songs of this calendar year.
The album’s title track is equally memorable. There’s less singing and less foot stomping, and it’s one that Nick Cave himself would have been proud to have come up with:-
mp3: Barry Adamson – Cut To Black
And if you’re looking for a touch of the blues with a hint of Tom Waits, how about lending your ears to this?
“It’s not gospel, it’s not soul, it’s not blues and it ain’t rock’n’roll. It’s all of them,”are the words Barry Adamson used when he was asked to succinctly sum up the album. Nobody can possibly put it any better.
aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
JC WRITES……….
It’s the start of another new series, one which will have at least ten parts to it over the coming weeks, but I’m hopeful that the author will enjoy himself enough to become a regular contributor to this little corner of t’internet during 2025. He’s someone who shouldn’t need any introduction to many of you who are regular visitors. I won’t add too much as he tells the story in his own introductory paragraphs below. I simply want to not just thank him, but to give him a very warm welcome on his long-awaited return to blogging. And with that…….it’s over to him.
THE ROBSTER WRITES……
Once upon a time, there was a blog called Is This The Life? Alongside all kinds of self-indulgent nonsense, it celebrated the music and culture of the tremendous land of song known as Wales, or Cymru to certain natives. A song posted each Wednesday by a Welsh artist was both an innovative and thrilling concept, the likes of which no one had ever thought to do before, or indeed since. (Imagine if something like that existed for a country like, oh I don’t know, Scotland?) When the blog finally ceased to be, all hope of a revival of this highly celebrated and much revered series appeared to expire with it.
But…
One day, the host of Is This The Life? got bored, so dropped a line to the legendary creator of the greatest music blog in the world (no, not No Badger Required, but you’re on the right track) to ask if he would like to help bring the corpse of this mighty entity back to life. Much to his (my) surprise, Lord JC of Alba said “Aye”. And so, in the face of absolutely no demand whatsoever, Welsh Wednesday returns. Until one of us gets tired of it. All at once, the people of planet Earth can set their differences aside for a few short minutes a week and rejoice at the sounds of a tiny province that gets cruelly overlooked by so many (including the UK Government and media). Don’t worry, there won’t be loads of waffle, just a bit of background and some tunes. I will be aiming to post stuff by artists who never featured in the original series (or its lockdown-induced follow-up), but that’s not a promise. There’s room for everyone here, especially if they are the Super Furry Animals (or one of the umpteen acts their various members have played in).
Make yourself a cuppa tea, some cheese on toast and a Welsh cake and enjoy what will hopefully be a slightly better than average look at some of this fair little nation’s finest musical offerings of the past and present, while keeping an eye and ear on the future. Mwynhau!
#1: Sudd by Adwaith
We’re starting off with a band some of you may have heard of. Adwaith (trans. Reaction) are a three-piece hailing from Carmarthen. They formed in 2015, and by 2018 were releasing songs to much acclaim. Their debut album ‘Melyn’ followed later that same year and in 2019, it won the Welsh Music Prize. A few singles appeared between 2019 and 2020 before the follow-up album ‘Bato Mato’ was unleashed in 2022. It also won the Welsh Music Prize that year, making Adwaith the only act (to date) to win the award twice.
Adwaith are passionate about the Welsh language and have been a part of Welsh Language Music Day for a number of years. They are UK festival regulars and are already making themselves known further afield.
Sudd (trans. Juice) is taken from ‘Bato Mato’ and is one of my favourites from their catalogue. The MP3 is the album version, the video is a live version performed for BBC Wales at the Lleisiau Eraill (trans. Other Voices) festival in Aberteifi last year.
A slight deviation from the norm in that this instalment also happens to cover a few days from October 1979, with the first of the charts being recalled with much fondness today being that of 27 October – 3 November. The first glance is enough to give anyone with good taste a bit of the dry boak as the Top 3 places really are easy listening hell with Lena Martell, Dr. Hook and Sad Cafe stinking the place out. Thankfully, one of the year’s top songs did make its entry into the charts this week, coming in at #29.
mp3: The Jam – The Eton Rifles (7″ version)
The band’s third chart hit of 1979 following on from When You’re Young and Strange Town, both of which had been Top 20. The Eton Rifles would take The Jam to the giddy heights of #3 in mid-November, confirmation that, for a certain age-group across Britain, they were becoming the biggest and most important band of their time.
Moving quickly on to the chart of 4-10 November, and it was still AOR hell across much of the Top 40. I had to go a long way down to find something decent enough that was new this week:-
mp3: Madness – One Step Beyond
So, it’s now coming up for 45 years since those of us of a certain age, not only fell head-over heels for The Jam, but we all did the Chas Smash dance for the first time. The Prince had been great fun to listen and dance to, but the band’s second 45 was truly something else. In at #51, it would go on to enjoy a 14-week stay in the Top 75, not taking its leave until the end of February 1980. The first Top of The Pop appearance for this one was memorable…..the audience had no idea what to make of it!!!
Sneaking in almost unnoticed at #75 was this:-
mp3: The Tourists – I Only Want To Be With You
As with The Jam, this was The Tourists third chart hit of 1979, and it would prove to be their biggest in their short existence. A cover of a Dusty Springfield hit from 1964, this would spend 7 weeks in the Top 10 throughout December and into the first few weeks of January 1980, thus gaining loads of sales in that crucial Christmas period. It would peak at #4 which, coincidentally, was the same success that Dusty had enjoyed 15 years previously.
11-17 November was another that was short on quantity, but big on quality
mp3: Pretenders – Brass In Pocket (#57)
Another band enjoying a third chart hit of 1979, but where Stop Your Sobbing and Kid had barely dented the Top 40, Brass In Pocket was a different beast altogether. It’s one of those songs that gets lumped onto a fair number of ‘Alternative Hits of the 80s’ compilations, which is kind of understandable when you look at its chart trajectory. In at #57….four weeks later in mid-December, it had crept up to #30. Five weeks later, it reached #1 in mid-January, enjoying a two-week stay at the top, before eventually falling out of the Top 75 in March, a full 17 weeks after it had first come in. A brilliant pop song that has aged superbly.
It was also a chart that delivered a cash-in.
mp3: The Police – Fall Out (#70)
The past 18 months had delivered worldwide pop success for The Police, but here was a reminder of their new wave roots. The debut single, originally released in May 1977 on Illegal Records. It had been written by Stewart Copeland and the guitarist was Henry Padovani as Andy Summers had yet to join. Sting‘s role was just to look pretty and sing. Fall Out had flopped on its initial release, but the demand for product was such, and even though the band’s sound have move a long long way from new wave, that this would reach #47 in due course.
Moving swiftly on to 18-24 November, it proved to be a chart with some intriguing new entries.
Hands up if you can recall and then sing along to Gary Numan‘s follow-up single to Cars. I thought so….very few of you
mp3: Gary Numan – Complex (#15)
Where Are Friends Electric and Cars had been upbeat and jaunty numbers and very much on the synth-pop side of things, this one is slow, meandering, serious and of the type that has listeners stroking their chins. It takes almost 90 seconds, half the duration of the song, before the lyric begins. I’ve a feeling that if Gary Numan hadn’t been such a phenomena back in 1979 that this would not have had much airplay on daytime radio. It did, however, get A-listed and in due course would peak at #6 the following week.
I’ve mentioned a few bands for whom November 1979 brought a third chart hit across the calendar year. It’s time to give praise to a band that was having its fourth hit of the year
mp3: The Skids – Working For The Yankee Dollar
It had all started with Into The Valley in February, followed by Animation and Charade. There is no doubt that the band’s sound evolved and changed a huge deal across the year. The first hit was new wave personified but the final hit, with all sorts of keyboards has more than a hint of prog. What hadn’t changed, however, was the catchy sing-along nature of the verses and chorus, albeit it was till nigh-on impossible to get all the words right! Working For The Yankee Dollar came in at #34 and nine weeks later it reached its peak of #20 after an incredibly slow rise to that position, going 34, 32, 28, 27, 24, 24, 23, 21, 20.
One place below The Skids in the new chart was a song from another band, enjoying a fourth hit single of the year
mp3: Blondie – Union City Blue
In at #35 and eventually peaking at #13. A relative flop given that Heart of Glass, Sunday Girl and Dreaming had been #1 or #2. A sign that the halcyon days of Blondie were over??? Don’t be silly……normal service would be resumed in February and April 1980 with two more #1s. Union City Blue did, however, prove that the band were more likely to have hits with pop or disco orientated songs rather than rock-type efforts.
Coming in at #55, was someone on the comeback trail.
mp3: Marianne Faithfull – The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan
Back in 1979, I only knew of Marianne Faithfull through her acting and the fact she had been romantically involved with Mick Jagger. I had no idea that she had enjoyed a number of Top 10 hit singles back in 1965 and then a minor hit in 1967. November 1979 had seen the release of an album, Broken English, with the music press and broadsheet newspapers in particular highlighting it was the work of someone coming back from a long period in the wilderness that had included periods of drug addiction, homelessness and anorexia, all of which had messed with her voice. It’s an album that gained great critical acclaim on its release, and has done so ever since. But sales wise, it didn’t initially do all that much, only reaching #57 in the UK, albeit it sold in better numbers across Europe.
In an effort to boost sales, a single was lifted from it. It was one of a number of covers recorded for the album, of a tune originally recorded back in 1974 by Dr Hook & The Medicine Show. I really have to share the review that was printed in Smash Hits magazine, none of whose targetted readership would have had a clue about Marianne’s past history:-
“The Debbie Harry of the sixties returns to vinyl with an honestly outstanding offering, a version of an old Doctor Hook number related over a swimming synthesiser. If you can handle this, it sounds like Dolly Parton produced by Brian Eno. Only better.”
Absolute genius!!!!!!!!!
With that, it’s time to move on to the chart of 24 November – 1 December. I wasn’t expecting much, given that this is when record company bosses put the emphasis on the festive or novelty songs that are likely to curry favour rather than promoting anything serious or worthwhile.
mp3: The Police – Walking On The Moon (7″)
A first in this series, with a band enjoying two new chart entries in the same month. A&M Records weren’t happy with the Illegal Records re-release of Fall Out, but given the band weren’t involved in any way with its promotion, and the fact that the next ‘proper’ single would come in at #5, before hitting the #1 spot, demonstrated that no damage to the brand had been done.
And here’s some more proof of why 1979 was, without any question, the best-ever in terms of delivering chart success for great/memorable/important singles.
mp3: Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
This would have been the first time I ever heard a rap song. I’d be fibbing if I said I took to it instantly. I did love the fact it made great use of Good Times by Chic, but the fast-flowing and difficult to decipher lyric was something I didn’t ‘get’. Looking back on things, I am happy to acknowledge, and not for the first time, that my tastes in music had yet to fully form at the age of 16. I had no immediate reference points for this type of music but over the next few years, thanks in part to The Clash and Blondie referencing rap music and incorporating it into their own songs, it began to make a great deal of sense. By the time Grandmaster Flash appeared on the scene in 1982 with The Message, I was more than ready to embrace things, albeit I would still only dip my toes into the water for a few more years before fully immersing myself.
Rapper’s Delight came in at #38. Within two weeks, it was at #3, and it wouldn’t leave the Top 75 until February 1980. It’s far from the greatest rap song ever written and recorded, but it must be one of the most important as it was a game-changer.
I should mention in passing that this was the chart in which Pink Floyd, to the chagrin of their fans who saw the band as being an albums-only outfit, saw a single, Another Brick In The Wall, come in at #26. It was their first Top 40 single since 1967 and would, in reaching #1 a couple of weeks later, become their best known song. I thought of it back then as a novelty hit. Still do.
It was also the chart in which Paul McCartney first got to tell us of his Wonderful Christmas Time, and he hasn’t stopped doing so since. It came in at #61, and eventually reached #6. It has subsequently featured in the Top 75 in 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015 and every year since 2017 since teh dawn of digital downloads counting towards chart positions.
Part 2 of this feature, with 45s from November 1979 that didn’t chart, will be with you in a couple of weeks.
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.
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.
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
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.
#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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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 isevery 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.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 