As the late and great Sam Cooke so famously sang, ‘it’s been a long time coming’……and today is the day the UK will finally be able to vote out the Tories who have done so much damage these past 14 years.
I know that the incoming government hasn’t promised nearly enough in terms of policies and proposals to really tackle all the social and economic injustices faced by so many millions of people across the country, but it will be an improvement. Baby steps and all the rest of it.
Like many others, I expect to be up all night watching the results roll in. I expect to be a smiling a lot.
I’ve something lined up for tomorrow. A short and succinct post that I put together last Sunday. An e-mail from Middle Aged Man, which dropped in on Monday evening, really provides the perfect appetizer, as he reflects on the lyrics of a single released on Factory Records back in 1987.
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Six weeks ago I was feeling positive and upbeat, listening to a man standing in the rain can have that effect-it appears. A chance for a change, a chance for a brighter future where the majority benefited, not a tiny minority.
And for the first week I was engaged and beaming from ear to ear, but then the endless repetition set in. Clearly the PR/marketing profession was having an impact – if you tell the people the same thing time and time again it has impact and the message is heard ( I have worked in consumer marketing for far too many decades).
I won’t bother repeating what we have all heard every day for the last few weeks, but we didn’t need 6 weeks of the same with no variation. I am bored with it and just want it to be over.
And then this morning ‘Partyline’ by Stockholm Monsters came on shuffle. And whilst a lot of the lyrics struck home, it was the slow pace and the sheer weariness of the vocals that reflected how I feel.
Can you hear them Pleading to you Yes, I know, you’ve heard it all Before they say it All familiar Waiting for the partylineOh, it is I know it is That’s the way its meant to beAnd do you Do you think they work for you I just can’t now make my mind up Waiting for your promises
Just sit down and listen to me Why is it you do these things I just can’t now make my mind up Waiting for your promises Today
And for the politicians You always have smiling faces Did you see them Can you hear them Working for the partylineDo you trust them Don’t you think thеy Look like you Or think like me? That’s it I know That’s thе way they talk to me Today
This is one where information is quite hard to pull together for any sort of decent posting but I’ll do my best.
First up, the source of the songs is one of the Indietracks Compilation 2013, the official compilation of artists who played the Indietracks Festival on 26-28th July 2013. Like all the Indietrack compilations, it comes as a digital download, with all proceeds going to the Midland Railway Trust, which played host to the festival throughout its existence between 2007 and 2019.
mp3: The French Defence – If You Still Want Him
This really is indie-pop by numbers.
A fast-paced, upbeat tune driven along by what sounds like the classic four-piece band, with acoustic and electric guitars to the fore. A lovelorn lyric filled with hope and optimism. A vocal delivery that doesn’t always hold the notes. The sort of thing we’ve all listened to thousands of times with a smile on our faces, while our foot taps away in appreciation. There may even be a few out there who have danced to the song at an indie-disco in towns and cities the world over, when the DJ goes to that bit of their set-list marked ‘obscurities that people will ask about’.
The French Defence has/have an online presence of sorts. My lack of decision to go with the singular or otherwise is down to what is said there.
Leeds-based one-man (at the moment!) indie-pop goodness, dealing in the not-very-diverse themes of chocolate, love, sex and the Yorkshire weather.
The one-man is Owen Lloyd who I assume is the singer/songwriter. The musical influences listed are Trembling Blue Stars, Belle and Sebastian, R.E.M., Blueboy, The Lodger, The Research, Laura Veirs, good 90’s Britpop, Mazzy Star, The Wannadies, Ooberman, Saint Etienne, The Field Mice, Sarah Records and indie-pop far and wide, just about all of which can be detected in the song offered up today.
Over at Bandcamp, (from where the above photos has been lifted), there’s six releases available to explore further, albeit three of them are collections of out-takes and demos, while another is a single. The two main sets of songs are on the EP We Had Fun, Didn’t We, released on Anorak Records in 2007 and Sketches of The September Leaf, a digital release from 2013 which is, of course, the year the band played Indietracks.
The fact that the most recent release at Bandcamp dates from December 2014 is an indication that The French Defence is/are a long time removed from the indie-pop scene.
……I’ve created a mixtape of songs to be found as Track 7 on albums.
Despite the gimmickry, it flows quite well.
mp3: Various – And For The Seventh Month
The Libertines – Up The Bracket (from Up The Bracket) R.E.M. – Orange Crush (from Green) Teenage Fanclub – Metal Baby (from Bandwagonesque) The Sugracubes – Walkabout (from Stick Around For Joy) New Order – Sub-Culture (from Lowlife) The Close Lobsters -Foxheads (from Foxheads Stalk This Land) Wolf Alice – Play The Greatest Hits (from Blue Weekend) The La’s – Feelin’ (from The La’s) We Were Promised Jetpacks – Quiet Little Voices (from These Four Walls) Bar Italia – Yes I Have Eaten So Many Lemons Yes I Am So Bitte (from Tracey Denim) Beastie Boys – Intergalactic (from Hello Nasty) International Teachers of Pop – Age Of The Train (from International Teachers of Pop) Half Man Half Biscuit – Joy Division Oven Gloves (from Achtung Bono) PJ Harvey – Down By The Water (from To Bring You My Love) The Twilight Sad – And She Would Darken The Memory(from Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters) Edwyn Collins – Gorgeous George (from Gorgeous George) The Wedding Present – Shatner (from George Best) The Lucksmiths – There Is A Boy Who Never Goes Out (from Naturaliste)
Close Up: The Cinerama Singles #9 : The Post-Torino Singles (2)
We’re nearly there. The Cinerama singles spool is almost all unwound. But like many a decent film, there’s room for one more twist ending…
The Girl From the DDR (live) (2015, Come Play With Me)
We’re back to plain old black vinyl for a live take of The Girl From the DDR. This song occupied one half of a split seven-inch single with the artist Harkin – Katie Harkin – who contributes the song National Anthem of Nowhere.
It’s complicated. The Girl From the DDR is in fact a Wedding Present song – one of the best cuts from the 2008 Scopitones LP Valentina. So this Cinerama single is, I suppose, a cover version.
Connected with this song was Cinerama’s version of that entire Valentina LP. It was released by Scopitones in 2015 and became the fourth Cinerama album, albeit in a kind of technical sense. It is graced by a lovely sleeve and inlay from the illustrator Lee Thacker, a long-time Weddoes and Cinerama associate.
Anyway, this live cut of DDR was taken from a June 2015 Cinerama show. That gig saw the band accompanied, at the O2 Academy in Islington, by a significant amount of other musicians and instruments. The notes from the subsequent Cinerama Live 2015 concert CD reveal violin and viola. Cello and trumpet. Flute and triangle. This single then completely reinterprets the guitar-led original and delivers a shimmery, loungey version.
mp3: Cinerama – The Girl From The DDR (live)
This was released by Come Play With Me, a Leeds-based label that specialises in split seven-inch singles from its part of the world and beyond.
In 2017 Come Play With Me also put out the Wedding Present single Jump In, The Water’s Fine on seven-inch and on ten-inch picture disc too (featuring an image drawn by Darren Hayman of Hefner). Given the label’s name, it’s maybe not a surprise it is so entrenched in Weddoes fare – in fact it handled too The Wedding Present and Friends’ James Bond covers LP. This record was sold in aid of the Campaign Against Living Miserably. But c’mon they’ve had two plugs already in this series.
The Name of the Game (2018, Where It’s At Is Where You Are)
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
And isn’t that where this whole series started?
End credits
So that’s that. Cinerama continues to play gigs, though mostly for the annual At the Edge of the Sea Festival, where the Weddoes line-up, in the blink of an eye, becomes the other band.
The Torino-and-beyond singles – right up to I Wake Up Screaming/Unzip – are collected on the 2014 Scopitones compilation Seven Wonders of the World. Its title, just like previous anthologies This is Cinerama and Cinerama Holiday, is borrowed from a 1950s film shot and projected using the three-camera Cinerama process.
Pretty much everything the band has done can therefore be acquired via the albums, those three singles compilations and, if you’re game, the three John Peel sessions collections.
For deeper cuts, in addition to the Live 2015 CD/DVD, a couple more live CDs – Los Angeles and Belfast – were released by Scopitones, as well as a digital release of a gig from New York. Finally, a DVD, Get Up And Go, documented the group on tour in 2002.
For the sake of fastidiousness, worth a mention is a Cinerama release from February 2018 – a CD and ten-inch of a 2015 Marc Riley session.
It features just a couple of Cinerama takes (Cat Girl Tights and Wow) alongside two Wedding Present songs (You’re Dead and The Girl From the DDR) and is brought to you by Hatch Records.
mp3: Cinerama – Cat Girl Tights (Marc Riley session) mp3: Cinerama – Wow (Marc Riley Session) mp3: Cinerama – You’re Dead (Marc Riley Session) mp3: Cinerama – The Girl From The DDR (Marc Riley Session)
That label also collates the Wedding Present’s numerous sessions for the DJ’s programme in a similar way to Strange Fruit’s collection of Peel sessions.
Another line of thanks to JC for the space to write all of this stuff, and also to those who stayed with the series, or even read/scanned one or two posts.
Next, as a kind of post-credits scene, and to make the entries number an even ten, the final offering in this series will be a bit of fun. And curiously, it will feature no Cinerama singles at all…
Annie Booth is an Edinburgh-based singer, songwriter and instrumentalist. With a keen ear for melody and movingly bittersweet compositions, she is a unique and fiercely emotive voice in the Scottish music scene, her songs woven with a subtle but exciting patchwork of styles and sounds.
Writing stories and poems from a young age, Booth moved to Edinburgh in 2013 for university – it was there she met her long-time friends and current band members. In 2015 she also joined prolific dark-folk rockers Mt. Doubt after being approached by frontman Leo Bargery, following a turn on their single ‘Soak’; this led to appearances at festivals such as T in the Park and Belladrum.
Labels Last Night From Glasgow and Scottish Fiction collaborated on releasing Annie’s affecting debut album ‘An Unforgiving Light‘ in late 2017 to much critical acclaim. The rock, folk and pop-inflected record was lauded as Roddy Hart’s Record of Note (BBC Radio Scotland), was featured in Vic Galloway’s Best Albums of 2017 and received praise from and frequent rotation by Jim Gellatly and Amazing Radio.
Since then Booth has released her EP Spectral, recorded in late 2018. She then collaborated with Chris McCrory as the band Slow Weather and released the EP Clean Living in 2020. Most recently Booth released her second album Lazybody in 2021 which reached #5 Scottish Album Charts and #10 UK Vinyl Charts.
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Annie Booth has a very fine voice, one that I’ve grown increasingly fond of in recent years since hearing the Spectral EP back in 2019. This is taken from that release
The second-largest urban area in Cyprus with a population of just under 200,000, Limassol sits on the southern side of the island. The area has been inhabited since very ancient times, with graves found there dating back to 2000 BC. In modern times, it has become a well-developed tourist destination, boasting a hot and dry climate, although unlike other parts of the island, it is not a place renowned for beaches.
I’m guessing that either Paul Smith or Archis Tiku once holidayed in Limassol, as I can’t really think of any other reason as to why they would have been inspired to write this song for their band.
#060: The Members– ‘Solitary Confinement’ (Virgin Records ’79)
Good morning friends,
another trip into nostalgia, this time we accompany The Members. ‘Whom?’, you youngsters might be wondering – but fear not: it’s rather typical that you’ve not heard a great deal about them.
The Clash are generally cited when a debate comes up about who first blended Reggae with Punk. Sometimes The Ruts are being mentioned as well, but let’s be honest – that’s about it, isn’t it. Quite why nobody ever mentions the magnificent Members in this context has always remained a mystery to me. I mean, as much as I adore The Clash (and God knows I do): The Members certainly deserve to share the top of the Punk/Reggae-pedestal with them.
The Members came from Surrey, they formed in 1976 and released their first single on Stiff Records in 1978: ‘Solitary Confinement’. You might – or might not – know the follow-up to this, ‘The Sound Of The Suburbs’. To my understanding, the latter is the only tune people can think of when it comes to The Members. But this is not correct – their first album is a corker, it might not entirely have stood the test of time, but it is still great if you ask me. It also contains this single, but the album version is two minutes or so longer and thus a little bit boring. That should be one reason to click the link below: perhaps you’ve never heard the original version, who knows?
And finally: the eagle-eyed amongst you might be wondering why the title reads ‘Virgin Records’ and ‘1979’. Well, that’s an objective of cheap, really: I have the song on the backside of the band’s third single – they moved from Stiff to Virgin in ’78- and as far as I can tell there is no difference to the original first single, apart from the fact that it’s about five times cheaper than the original these days:
mp3: The Members – Solitary Confinement
Members of The Members dismembered The Members (sorry, couldn’t resist) in the early 80s because they fled to join other bands, Icehouse and King in fact. But don’t let this put you off: this one here is another killer tune, for your pleasure!
As previously mentioned, Steve McLean has been a long time friend of the blog, having contributed a few guest postings over the years, including his take on The Last Temptation of Elvis compilation album, ICAs on Chuck Mosley and Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs, appreciation of the Marc & Lard radio show, and a tribute to musical theatre.
A reminder that he makes a living (in part) from stand-up comedy, and, with the month of August coming around, he and many others will be making his way to Edinburgh in search of an audience. I’ve been to a couple of Steve’s previous shows and been thoroughly entertained, and, as becoming tradition, I’m giving the blog over to him for a day so that he can plus his new show…… so without further ado, I’ll pass the mic to him.
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Hello Internet-ians (that’s people of the internet, not people of the internet only called Ian). It’s that time of the year when I suddenly remember I like writing about music, you know when the Edinburgh fringe is coming up, and I have a show to plug? Seriously though, that whole Fringe thing is just a framing device, so I can spam you with my thoughts on songs I like.
This year I am doing a fucking great show (or it will be great when it’s written, at the moment it’s just a really good idea and even then the word ‘good’ is subjective). I’m presenting the A to Z of 80’s hair rock (not the crap loser stuff like Jane’s Addiction or The Cult but the uber-cool stuff like Warrant and Faster Pussycat).
I grew up in a small, insular place, I was spotty, not very well liked and I absolutely repelled women. BUT! Then I discovered the majestic genius that was Joe Perry and all of that changed. I wore make up, a bandana and ripped jeans. I didn’t repel women anymore! I repelled everyone.
While the dorks were sat on their beds in the dark listening to The Smiths or The Wedding Present, I was rocking out with my headphones on, pretending to be C.C. Deville of Poison. Fucking cool, right?
I’ve often thought that indie music and hair metal have more in common than people realise. Both genres seem to me to be mainly songs about unattainable women sang by people with bad hair that you’d cross the street to avoid. Don’t believe me? Go get your guitar and change the badly played chuggy riffs to badly played feeble strums. QED.
So in the name of building bridges and uniting music communities that probably don’t exist anymore, I present to you an Indie-ish guide to hair metal and pomp rock.
(CONTRACTUAL SMALL PRINT I’m being pretty broadwith my definition of the term Indie. Don’t send me messages saying ‘actuallllly they were on a major label’ or “Aztec Camera were a pop band, not an indie band’ because I’ll just print them out, hang them in the toilet next to the Cease and Desist order I’ve got from Morrissey and laugh when I’m having a dump).
mp3: Luna – Sweet Child Of Mine (Guns’n’Fuck’n’Roses)
Ian Watson of the seminal indie club How Does It Feel To Be Loved introduced me to this. It’s corking, right? I don’t know much about Luna but everything about this song tells me they spent a lot of time at school being relieved of their dinner money during the morning break.
Guns’n’Fuck’n’Roses were once proclaimed to be the most dangerous band in the world, which is weird because their backstage rider contained fresh cottage cheese, organic honey and the catering tables had to be dressed with linen table cloths, NOT PAPER! Nothing says danger like soft cheese and soft cotton. Just like Satan himself would demand.
mp3: Manic Street Preachers – Under My Wheels (Alice Cooper)
Early Manics got lumped in with a lot of late 80’s hair metal. They got a lot of press in RAW and Kerrang! magazines. It was the eyeliner and the Johnny Thunders’ look. They pissed on those chips pretty soon though, going down an NME road that ultimately led to Britpop. Fucking losers.
This is a great Alice Cooper song. Two facts about Alice Cooper that might surprise you – He’s a Republican voter. Imagine the guy who sang a song called Cold Ethyl which is about fucking a dead body, then voting for the so called family values of the GOP. Although the more we find out about Rudy Giullani, that’s probably always been on brand. In the name of political balance I should point out that Jill Biden also has sex with a lifeless body.
Second Alice Cooper Fact (and thanks to swc for the prompt!). He was best friends with Ronnie Corbett.
mp3: Dandy Warhols – Hell’s Bells (ACDC)
This is an ACDC classic (and much loved by Ally McCoist) that’s been given the slacker once-over. The Dandy’s were the kings of art rock cool for about 20 minutes in the late 90s until The Strokes turned up and stole their thunder. You bastards, how could you do that to them? To be fair, they didn’t help themselves with the Vodafone advert.
They also covered Ted Nugent’s Free For All which is a great song lost to history because, well, it’s by Ted Nugent and no one who isn’t regularly molesting farm animals will ever listen to him again. If you’re ever thinking ‘Sure, Ted’s a shitty racist with creepy sex pest overtones but c’mon, he’s a hippy from the 60s and 70s, so his mind is probably strung out on smack, acid and Jack Daniels’ ….Well let me tell, he’s been sober since 1967. So there’s no twisted mind-altering substance that made him who he is, he’s just a cunt.
mp3: Aztec Camera – Jump (Van Halen)
This is fucking amazing song. You know how I know it’s an amazing song? It’s a hair rock pomp tune being played by melodic pop act and it still sounds cracking. Did you know that it has also been covered by Mary Lou Lord and Paul Anka? The reason why it works so well is that it’s not played for laughs, Roddy Frame entirely commits to and it’s lush as fuck.
Van Halen have had an interesting revolving door of singers. Eddie Van Halen fell out with David Lee Roth so hired Sammy Hagar. He than fell out with Hagar so hired Gary Cherone of Extreme (Cherone was just pleased to be there since he now didn’t have to sing More Than Fucking Words every night) He then re-hired Roth, then re-hired Hagar, then re-hired Roth again and fired the bass player Michael Anthony. Basically what I’m saying is ‘Imagine being in a band with David Lee Roth and David Lee Roth turns out not to be the biggest bell-end’.
mp3: The Breeders – Lord Of The Thighs (Aerosmith)
I couldn’t decide between this and REM’s cover of Toys in the Attic to represent America’s Greatest Ever Rock Band (TM), I chose this, really because the more that comes out about Steve Tyler’s frankly fucking awful behavior, the more teenage me wants the songs to be rescued. The uncomfortable-1970s-lyrics-when-listened-through-2024-ears are given a 90s feminist kick in the dick, The song is saved as it becomes a queer sex anthem and everyone forgets about Steven Tyler what he did, and I don’t have to get rid of my Aerosmith records.
There’s a couple of others that didn’t make the final list including the Lemonheads covering Kiss and another Manics shout (It’s So Easy by Guns’N’Fuck’N’Roses). You know I’m really surprised that the Wedding Present haven’t done a cover of I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing, it feels right up their B-Side / Session street. If you’re reading this, Gedge, buck up.
Belle and Sebastian should have made this list too with something like Legs by ZZ Top. What can I say? I’m an ideas man. Although, a hair metal tribute to C86 seems the next logical step in this.
If you’re at the Edinburgh Fringe then please come to my show. It’s every day (except Tuesdays) at 2.45pm at the Slow Progress cafe (it’s free, although I’ll ask you for a donation at the end. It’s basically indoor busking.
STEVE
JC adds….
As I mentioned earlier, Steve’s shows are always good fun, albeit you better be on your guard for audience participation. As he says above, it’s part of the Free Fringe and so there’s no stupidly priced admission (+ booking fee!!), and in typical tradition of the buskers, you can just put some money into a hat at the end of the show.
The Slow Progress Cafe is on Blackfriars Street, very handily located just off the Royal Mile in the very centre of the city. If you’re in Edinburgh during August, you don’t have any excuses to miss out…
The chart hit single in June had some quality, but not much in the way of quantity. What about the 45s that didn’t make it as far as the Top 75?
mp3: Adam and The Ants – Zerox
Prior to becoming a pop icon in the early 80s, Adam Ant had been part of the punk scene in London. He had a role in Derek Jarman‘s 1978 film Jubilee, while Adam and the Ants were filmed performing the Plastic Surgery (the song, that is….not the procedure!!). This led to a deal for a one-off single with Decca Records, but Young Parisians failed to gain traction. London-based Do It Records signed the band, and Zerox was the first offering. It did well enough in the Independent Chart, but didn’t sell enough copies to trouble the Official Chart, at least not in June 1979. It was re-released in January 1981 on the back of the initial burst of Ant-mania and made it to #45.
mp3: The Adverts – My Place
The Adverts had been one of the first of the punk bands to enjoy chart success, with Gary Gilmore’s Eyes hitting #118 in September 1977. By the following year, they were on RCA Records and began making music that had more of a pop feel to them. Critically, they were still being championed in some music papers, but none of the three singles nor the one album they made while at RCA made the charts – and, of course, they weren’t eligible for the indie charts.
mp3: Cabaret Voltaire – Nag Nag Nag
Having turned down an offer from Factory Records, the Sheffield-based Cabaret Voltaire signed with Rough Trade, with their debut EP being released in late 1978. The first actual 45 was released in June 1979, and has since been acknowledged as one of the most pioneering 45s of the era, but back then it was largely dismissed as being too arty and weird.
mp3: The Cramps – Human Fly
London-based Illegal Records, founded by Miles Copeland III, issued Gravest Hits, a 12″ EP bringing together tracks that had featured on the first two singles released by The Cramps back in 1978. The other songs on the EP were The Way I Walk, Domino, Surfin’Bird, and Lonesome Town. It would take a further 11 years before The Cramps ever made it into the UK singles chart, by which time Miles Copeland III was enjoying the riches from the success of his next label, I.R.S. Records, home to early R.E.M. among others (including, for a short time, The Cramps).
mp3: Devo – The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise
The men from Akron, Ohio continued their run of failure. Come Back Jonee had flopped back in January, and while the album Duty Now For The Future did chart at #49, its lead-off single did nothing
mp3: Simple Minds – Chelsea Girl
There were really high hopes among the band for the follow-up to Life In A Day which had sneaked into the lower echelons of the chart. Such hopes were dashed…..the harpsichord-like sound produced by Mick MacNeil on keyboards failed to capture the attention of the radio pluggers, and the 45 disappeared without a trace.
mp3: Swell Maps – Real Shocks
The second single from Swell Maps issued by Rough Trade in 1979. I didn’t know about this back when I was 16 years of age. If I had, I’d most likely have bought it and driven my parents crazy.
mp3: Talking Heads – Take Me To The River
Talking Heads were, pardon the pun, much talked about in 1979. The previous year, they had enjoyed a hit album with More Songs About Buildings and Food, and there was near universal acclaim for their live shows. Fellow New Yorkers Blondie were flying high, and it really only seemed a matter of time before The Heads were equally popular. As we know, they did eventually become a household name, but in June 1979 the record label was reduced to releasing a single from the previous album as their way of trying to get a cash-in on a prestigious gig that month in London. The cover of the Al Green number was issued as a 2 x 7″ release (for the price of a standard 7″) along with art work in the shape of a Talking Heads family tree as designed and drawn by Pete Frame. It didn’t chart.
mp3: Wire – A Question Of Degree
The story of how Outdoor Miner had been a minor hit, but should have been a major hit, was told a few months back. Harvest Records, keen to atone for the errors made with the previous single, threw their weight behind another track lifted from the 1978 album Chairs Missing, but nobody was interested…which is a shame, as It’s a belter of a single
mp3: Toyah – Victims Of The Riddle
This piece started with a member of the punk scene who appeared in Jubilee, and now finds itself ending the same way. Toyah Wilcox‘s first foray into the performing arts was as an actor, but with a number of her early parts involving singing, it led to her wanting to have a parallel career in music. She ended up fronting a five-piece band – all the other musicians were male – with everyone content that it take its name from the lead singer, given how unusual it was. London-based Safari Records signed the band, and Victims of The Riddle was the debut. The band would remain with Safari over the next six years, going on to enjoy more than a fair degree of chart success.
YOU HAD ME GOING FOR A MINUTE THERE
The Big Moon an imaginary compilation for the (new) vinyl villain
Compared to my last ICA, this one is going to be short, simple and much more to the point. The Big Moon are a four-piece from London who formed 10 years ago. They’ve toured with the likes of the Maccabees, the Vaccines and Pixies. They’ve also been Marika Hackman’s backing band and Record Store Day ambassadors.
More importantly, they’ve released three excellent albums and are increasingly becoming one of the most talked about bands in the UK. Seriously good musicians fronted by a brilliant songwriter (Juliette Jackson) – what more could you ask for? The Big Moon are one of my ‘happy’ bands, but in a different way to, say, The Bug Club, or Super Furry Animals. They just sound warm and comforting.
I’ve pulled together three songs from each album plus a fun extra track for those of you who are, unfortunately, still unfamiliar with the Big Moon. I compiled it last spring and rediscovered it when I did the Bug Club ICA, but I haven’t changed any of the songs I chose back then as I reckon it still does a pretty good job.
SIDE ONE
1. Your Light [2019, from ‘Walking Like You Do’]
I would argue this is The Big Moon’s best track. It was the first single off the band’s second album and displayed a more mature sound to their earlier work. It was the best pop song of 2019 to my ears.
2. Sucker [2017, from ‘Love in The 4th Dimension’]
This is the album version of the band’s first proper single and remains a highlight. Those indie/alternative influences shine through loud and proud on this one.
3. Trouble [2022, from ‘Here is Everything’]
Third album ‘Here is Everything’ was written amid Juliette Jackson’s pregnancy and subsequent childbirth. It wasn’t the gushing mush so many songwriters fall foul of after having children, it was a celebration of life, albeit one that is changed forever. It became their first UK Top 10 record. This track, the album’s second single, is another of my personal faves.
4. Waves [2020, from ‘Walking Like You Do’]
The ICA’s title track. Those backing vocals just make this song for me. A proper ‘wow!’ moment, almost brings tears to my eyes.
5. Praise You [2020, BBC Radio One Live Lounge session]
I’m going to let you judge this one for yourselves, but you ought to love it really…
SIDE TWO
1. Wide Eyes [2022, from ‘Here is Everything’]
The first track released from the band’s third album came accompanied with a wonderful, heart-warming video which shows how close these guys are as friends. Maybe I’m just getting soppy in my old age…
2. Cupid [2017, from ‘Love in The 4th Dimension’]
Another early single, it remains a crowd favourite. According to Juliette, it’s about “when you really, really want something or someone and you launch yourself into getting it, convincing yourself that you’re ready for it and you bravely throw yourself into a new situation, only to find that despite all that careful planning your nerves can still get the better of you.”
3. Barcelona [2020, from ‘Walking Like You Do’]
Something of a nostalgia trip coupled with anxiety at getting older. I don’t want to cast aspersions, but I’m guessing many readers can relate to that…
4. Ladye Bay [2022, from ‘Here is Everything’]
My favourite track from album #3. Wasn’t released as a single, but should have been. Most Big Moon songs have big choruses, but this one is massive!
5. Silent Movie Suzie [2016, from ‘Love in The 4th Dimension’]
Another early single (perhaps even their best from the first album?) with a hilarious – if rather naughty – video, made a good few years before people started thinking dolls were cool again. The Barbie movie was never like this…
No news on a fourth record yet, but it can’t be too far away. I await with great eagerness.
Close Up: The Cinerama Singles #8 : The Post-Torino Singles (1)
As we near the end of this ten-part series, we’ve split the last four Cinerama singles in two. Bunching them together would have made, even for these contributions, an obnoxiously long post.
For now though, you’ve stuck with it this far – so, to recycle the gag that opened this series, whatever you do…
Don’t Touch That Dial (2003, Scopitones)
A big, brooding bruiser of a single, Don’t Touch That Dial was released in October 2003. Unless you really want to dive down rabbit holes – and admittedly we’ll peek inside them across this post – this would be the final Cinerama single (and certainly the last – so far – on the band’s own Scopitones label).
It was an epic ending – though more heartfelt-note-on-the-fridge than screaming row and swiftly packed suitcase. And in its huge and hurt manner, Don’t Touch That Dial provided a not-so-cryptic clue to the reassembling of The Wedding Present that would begin a short time later.
mp3: Cinerama – Don’t Touch That Dial
Don’t believe me? Look only to Take Fountain, the Weddoes LP that emerged just a couple of years after this single. Among its eleven tracks you’ll find Don’t Touch That Dial (Pacific Northwest version), that appendage reflecting Gedge’s home at the time: the Emerald City of Seattle, a location hardly a stranger to a distorted guitar or two.
Themed around the dying of a relationship, Don’t Touch That Dial turned a bit of a trick then: closing one era whilst contributing to the opening of another.
The One That Got Away is your first B-side. It’s a real doozy, relentless and dinky, and decorated with an Ennio Morricone-style break, its whistled construction calling out for tumbleweed and cacti.
mp3: Cinerama – The One That Got Away
Last B On/Off is a bit of a blast. It doesn’t hang around long and although it’s hardly the greatest Cinerama B-side it’s a fine listen that makes room for some scurrying organ.
mp3: Cinerama – On/Off
A notable feature of the Don’t Touch That Dial CD is the inclusion of a video for the preceding Cinerama single, Careless. The sleeve, meanwhile, a subtle, red-bathed shot of a woman’s legs and feet, could almost be grabbed from a 70s James Bond title sequence.
But as the end credits roll on the Scopitones releases, let’s get silly and look at the lesser-known Cinerama singles. At the time of writing there are four of these, all are on seven-inch vinyl and I’m actually looking forward to getting to know them a bit better myself.
It’s Not You, It’s Me (2004, Go Metric!)
Limited to 1,500 singles, It’s Not You, It’s Me was released in June 2004 on the short-lived Go Metric! label.
Barring compilations, the single, in a shade of yellow that flirts dangerously with being light-brown – a real gift for detractors – would be the last from the band for almost ten years.
mp3: Cinerama – It’s Not You It’s Me
It’s Not You, It’s Me is a decent, if gruff and lo-fi, affair. It’s kind of dialled-down and despite the band name on the sleeve – which features a line drawing of a lounging, clotheless woman caressing what might be a ukulele – is pitched closer certainly to The Wedding Present than Cinerama.
B-side was Erriner Dich, a cover of a track by the Cologne-based band Klee. This group would go on to create a very fine remix of a Wedding Present song: I’m From Further North Than You, from 2005’s Take Fountain LP.
mp3: Cinerama – Erriner Dich
Erriner Dich – a song I am very unfamiliar with, is a great surprise. It’s sung in its native German and a driving rhythm, home also to female backing vocals from Terry de Castro, plus keyboard parts, is maybe a bit reminiscent of Stereolab. The track’s title translates as Remember Yourself, and I should know because I just checked it on Google Translate.
Thanks to both that limited pressing and the imminent dissolution of the band, both songs were, I suppose, something of a rarity. There were no digital releases back in the day either. But in 2014 their inclusion on the elegantly-sleeved Seven Wonders Of The World compilation gifted them a wider release.
I Wake Up Screaming (2013, Artificial Head Records and Tapes)
Courtesy of Artificial Head Records and Tapes of Houston, Texas, I Wake Up Screaming is as bright as its almost day-glo pink vinyl. Five-hundred copies were pressed up and Discogs tells me that – in more trouble for completists – 100 of these were in a ‘mixed marble’ colour.
As for the A-side it’s a cracking quiet/loud number all about betrayal and a recurring, haunting dream, the content of which results in the song’s title. It’s well worth a listen.
mp3: Cinerama – I Wake Up Screaming
Either by accident or design, this is another track that shares its name with that of a film: this time a 1941 noir. Either that or it’s a homage to the 2011 Kid Creole and the Coconuts album of the same title (and itself named after the film).
Your B-side here was a live version of the slinky Disco Volante track Unzip. It’s taken from David Gedge’s annual-when-there’s-not-a-plague-on At the Edge of the Sea Festival held in Brighton.
mp3: Cinerama – Unzip (Live At The Edge of The Sea)
Sleeve-wise, a couple of portrait shots recall the majority of the covers from Cinerama’s heyday.
Thanks for reading this far. Next up we’ll be almost all done…
This should have been featured last Saturday, but I mistakenly had filed the post away as a draft rather than a completed effort.
The Amphetameanies are something of a legend in Glasgow. Despite this, this is their first specific mention on this or the old blog. I’ll try my best to explain.
The band formed away back in 1997 as ‘an 18-legged ska machine’. Let me pick up the story with this piece from a local paper marking their 10th Anniversary:-
The band originally formed for a one-off gig, a fundraiser for striking Liverpool dockers, at the (old) 13th Note. And it was indeed a bit of fun, some Specials and Damned cover versions in a set played by 8 people from bands such as The Stanleys, Pink Kross and The Karelia. Of course, the few songs they’d written especially for the show went down so well, the rest is history. Sell-out shows at King Tuts, opening T in the Park, touring Europe, and now, 10 years on, a new album, Now That’s What I Call The Amphetameanies.
The article explained that all the members had day jobs of all sorts, including a truck driver, a sales assistant in a lingerie store, and a librarian; it also informed readers that some members were full-time musicians, including members of Belle & Sebastian and bis, while a past member had to give up when Franz Ferdinand found fame and fortune as ‘his other commitments were making him late for our rehearsals’(a line that should be taken with the same humour as it was delivered).
Over the years, The Amphetameanies have released just three albums. I don’t have any of them. Nor do I have any of their singles. I have seen them live on at least three occasions, way less than the number of shows that their many hundreds of dedicated fans across the city and beyond have got along to. What I do have is one song, courtesy of its inclusion on a compilation CD issued by Bubblegum Records back in 2009 (but which I only picked up a few years ago – and yes, it’s the same CD from which I lifted the track by Asbo Kid a few days ago):-
mp3: The Amphetameanies – Nothing’s OK
This was initially released as the b-side to the 2009 single Good One Go, which came out on Flotsam & Jetsam Records. A video was made for the song:-
The fact I don’t have anything else by the group in the collection isn’t a sign that I don’t like them. I just never found the time or energy to explore in any great depth.
It’s taken me 30 years. 30 years is a wee bit of a cheat, as there were significant periods when my epic journey was not foremost in my mind. 30 is a headline grabber, so I’m going to stick with 30.
It all began with a tape (cassette). I was over at a pal’s and they said they had a compilation tape for me. It was 1994. The sharing of songs via a compilation (sorry copyright holders) is a practice I miss. To me, it was a somewhat intimate act – it was rare that a duplicate of a compilation was made, and it always seemed rather special to be the solo recipient. My own compilations often came with designed covers and titles – many of them (enjoyed for decades) recently lost, via an unfortunate episode.
The compilation in question came with artist and song titles scrawled (sorry, pal) with some songs titles missing. It included songs by Hole, Nirvana, Galaxie 500, Pussy Galore, Stereolab, San Francisco Beauty Queen, Lilliput. Mudhoney etc.… It was right up my street then. It’s right up my street now.
However, it’s the inclusion of songs by Cocteau Twins that rather catapulted this particular compilation to the top of all compilation tapes. My 30-year search for an answer began.
Not long after I was given the tape my pal moved to London. We stayed in touch by letter – remember those – for a while and that eventually petered out. I had always wanted to ask my question but for reasons that remain inexplicable, I never did. As we entered the internet age I began searching online – but couldn’t find the information I wanted given the infancy of modem internet. After a time, and mostly due to house moves, the tape was put in storage – always accessible – but stored.
Every now and then it would be taken out, I’d prepare myself, hit play. I accepted I had no emotional control and would just let the joyous mood take me where it wanted to go. I was a willing traveller. Whatever could be the reason for such an indecent outpouring of emotion? In a word, Bluebeard.
I mentioned earlier that Cocteau Twins were included on the tape. What I hadn’t clarified is that these were live versions. My pal was an avid listener of radio, and I was all but sure the songs derived from a radio session, but couldn’t ever find out which live radio session. I’ve listened to many of the live versions out there from the gigs of 1994 (I attended Glasgow Barrowlands) but none affect me in quite the same way as this particular version (not even on the occasion when I was in attendance).
As the internet became more informative, I was sure someone would post some detail, but no. Fan forums then were rather different to what passes for forums now, and they offered no clarity. Each time I listened to the tape coincided with an online attempt to find out more about the songs? When were they recorded (I’d guessed late 93/94 given the songs and tour setlist). Which radio station (probably BBC)? Which DJ? Which gig? Which city? Bootlegs of live performances uploaded online offered no clue. It had become an inconsistent obsession. It was only when I had an urge to hear Bluebeard that I was re-inclined to discover the information about the session.
When the release of Cocteau Twins BBC Sessions was announced, I was all but convinced it would include the four songs. I would have bet my house on it. I would have lost the house. The songs were not included on this supposed complete BBC sessions*. With no way now to contact my pal this itch to know needed to be scratched and vigorously.
The thing is as much as I loved the recorded version of Bluebeard (and oh how I love it) this version just takes me to a happier place. It lifts me up – much live a spiritual is claimed to do. That three-minute mark is anticipated. As Liz Fraser wails like a woman possessed, I cry. Every time.
mp3: Cocteau Twins – Bluebeard (live)
In May of 2024 I decided to ask my question in an online fan forum. I’m disinclined to involve myself with social media (where the fan pages are mostly located) and lo… within minutes of asking my question it was answered. I really can’t describe how happy the news made me. My thanks to the forum member. It gets better. Another forum member sent me digital copies of the ‘session’. Thanks also to that forum member.
Cocteau Twins : 9th Feb, 1994, Rock City, Nottingham : Marc Riley
And all four songs…
Bluebeard, Carolyn’s Finger, Summerhead and Aikea-Guinea
Technically, my question took 30 years to be answered. In reality, when asked, it took minutes.
The digital copy has been played lots. However, my version on tape, will continue to be played too. It just ‘feels’ different. No, I don’t know why either?
My quest has ended. I can no longer bore friends with my epic search – annoying with a 30th anniversary to celebrate. Instead, I will regale the long-suffering with the kindness of strangers on the internet and how they came to my aid.
* the songs were not included on BBC sessions as it wasn’t a BBC session, merely broadcast by the BBC.
I apologise for starting a second guest post with a reference to The Sparks Brothers documentary (it inspired the opening to my very first piece here), but in the roll call of tributes in the film from other bands acknowledging the formative influence of Sparks on their own work, one name seemed to me conspicuous by its absence – that of Switzerland’s finest musical export since the cuckoo clock, Yello.*
(* I have excluded Kleenex/Liliput from this evaluation for shameless rhetorical effect. Also, the cuckoo clock is not Swiss in origin. Orson Welles just made that up.)
The similarities seem so numerous. Despite the presence of Carlos Peron on their early albums, Yello, like Sparks, are quintessentially a duo. They frequently compose in musical genres that don’t conform to mainstream rock and pop. They delight in ironic humour and bizarre lyrical narratives. They share an evident obsession with the movies. Several fruitful collaborations with other musicians punctuate their careers. They were never as commercially successful as they were critically revered. One of them looks like your creepy uncle, the other is a dandy spiv. They cultivate an enigmatic and inscrutable public persona without taking themselves at all seriously. Unfashionable moustaches. Perhaps it’s precisely because the similarities leap out at you that Yello chose to avoid close comparison with Russ and Ron, for fear of looking derivative.
A further similarity between Sparks and Yello is their somewhat patchy output. Diehard fans of both groups may fulminate at the mere suggestion, but not everything they committed to record is of consistently high quality. If pushed to name their best work, you would likely home in on Kimono My House and Number One in Heaven for Sparks, plus perhaps some other favourites from their extensive catalogue, but for Yello you would point mainly at two albums: You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess and its follow-up Stella.
I remember the first time I saw Yello. It was 1983 and I was at someone’s house, half-watching late-night music show The Tube while an after-pub bottle of whisky vied for our attention. The corner of my alcoholically impaired vision tracked creepy uncle Dieter Meier as he stalked a glamorous woman around flashy but sterile city cocktail bars and plazas, and my ears pricked up at the electro film noir soundtrack over which Meier crooned in his weirdo Germanic accent.
I remember thinking instantly how SLEAZY it felt, and demanded to know who they were for future investigation. Meier clearly didn’t look much like your average pop star. He was too old (nearly 40!), and the slick suit and bushy tache made him look more like he’d just stepped out of some bank’s boardroom, which funnily enough he pretty well had, having briefly followed in his banker father’s footsteps before ‘working’ as a professional gambler for a while. He then became a conceptual artist and singer for Yello, neither of which roles seemed to require a change of wardrobe. Boris Blank, the musical half of the duo, went for the pencil-moustached stereotypical Latino gangster look. The music was like a soundtrack for Double Indemnity scored by Soft Cell and DAF. The whiff of secret perversion pervaded everything.
I didn’t immediately rush out to buy, but in due course a friend taped his copy of Excess for me, and then added Stella in a further act of music industry murder. Home taping is killing music! Don’t do it, kids!
A year or two later music was strangely still alive when I bought both albums on vinyl at a record fair in Cambridge, and followed that up by acquiring the first two releases, Solid Pleasure and Claro Que Si from an actual record shop, thus funding the poor beleaguered music industry which was at that time busy milking its back-catalogues with badly remastered overpriced CD reissues.
The first two albums are not bad, but where Excess and Stella tap in to the early 80s alternative club vibe with a bigger and bolder soundstage, the early stuff comes across as a little tinny. There is scant use of the electronically lowered pitch treatments on Meier’s rather weedy tenor vocals, a trick that would be used to greater effect later. The remix collection 1980-1985: The New Mix in One Go highlights what might have been in its beefier versions of ‘Bostich’ and ‘The Evening’s Young’ and the epically reshaped ‘Pinball Cha-Cha’ with its massive Tito Puente-esque timbales solo. Still, the key elements are all there. The spoken intro of ‘She’s Got A Gun’ could be Yello’s musical manifesto: “This is tonight and it rains like in a French black and white movie of the fifties…” Boris Blank’s masterfully moody cinematic instrumentals stand out, plus the exotic pseudo-Moroccan tone poems, so good you can taste the harissa and preserved lemons.
Irritatingly, my copy of Excess is the 1988 Mercury reissue, which substitutes the first release’s version of ‘I Love You’ for an inferior mix that lacks the original’s punchiness. Nevertheless, it’s a classic disc with multiple moments of delight, from the roiling synth sound and plangent minor key of ‘Lost Again’ with its tragic lost love movie plot, to the hysterical jungle adventure of ‘Great Mission’ with the deafening echoey belch of Father Excess.
Every bit the equal of Excess, Stella might even be said to improve on it in certain respects – the assuredness of the arrangements and the pace of the collection overall, the filmic atmospherics, and the use for the first time of guest vocalists to expand on the range of Dieter Meier’s mad professor/private dick schtick. Less clubby, more accessibly poppy perhaps, but both songs and instrumentals show off Boris Blank’s talents at their peak. Memorable are the two opening tracks, ‘Desire’ and ‘Vicious Games’, with shades of Propaganda infused with Chris Isaak-style twangy guitar, and side two’s booming opener ‘Domingo’, the ironic apotheosis of a man who convinced humanity of the non-existence of God outside of their own minds.
Come 1987 and fifth album One Second appeared, further threatening the mainstream pop charts with the participation of Billy McKenzie and the unimpeachable diva credentials of Shirley Bassey. Their collaboration on the single ‘The Rhythm Divine’ is exquisite, in an overblown camp Bond-theme sort of way, but only made it to number 54 in the UK singles chart, despite an appearance on Top of the Pops. The album didn’t do much better, though it charted higher than its predecessors, and perhaps softened up the public to future possibilities. It doesn’t have the raunch of Stella or Excess, nor sufficient pervy weirdness to satisfy the club crowd, and is memorable mainly for a more sedate atmosphere and the continued exploration of Latin and North African music. Listeners who had picked up on ‘Oh Yeah’, the Stella track featured in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, may have been disappointed.
Thereafter, Yello’s creative genius entered a long decline in my opinion. Subsequent albums have their moments but it all feels like reploughing the same furrow with an increasingly blunt blade. I still have my copies of Flag and Baby that I bought on release and there is a handful of decent tracks between them. I also have a CD of Zebra, but it’s pretty near the top of the pile that might be moved on if I need the space. A couple of years ago I bought a vinyl copy of 2016’s Toy out of a bargain bin, but it wasn’t worth it at any price and I cashed it in not long afterwards.
There’s one final point of similarity with Sparks that I think is the key to both bands’ variable quality. You can listen to the entire output of Sparks and Yello and never will you hear a single moment of sincere emotional expression. Everything is wit, artifice, pastiche, the arch posing in fake movie scenes, the camp ballads, the pretendy sleaze, the jokey narratives of made-up lives. Humour in music is difficult to sustain for long and there’s a limit to how much you can take before you need a change of tune. Sparks and Yello are like the musical equivalent of a clever sketch show, in contrast to, say, Ian Dury‘s observational stand-up. Sparks and Yello are always in character, acting a scene. Dury was always himself, even when he was Billericay Dickie.
Yello have continued to collaborate with various vocalists that I’ve never heard of and have had the obligatory house/techno DJ remix treatment, but their later career seems less adventurous or wholehearted (and certainly less copious) than that of Sparks, whose combination with Franz Ferdinand seemed to reinvigorate them in an unexpected way. Sparks at least manage to keep producing new fictions, whereas with Yello the same stories keep coming round again, another film noir femme fatale, another song about driving…
All the same, Yello should be justly celebrated for that brief moment when it all came together, in the jungle of the Amazonas near Manaus full of piranhas, for the underground twist they gave to the early 80s club scene, the cinematic sweep, the pervy uncle vibe, the moustaches. Not many people have the balls and talent to carry that off for one second, and even fewer of them are from Switzerland.
JC has persuaded me to turn this piece into an ICA….so here’s the 10 tracks I’ve gone for.
I’ve a track by an act called Asbo Kid, courtesy of its inclusion on a compilation CD called Pick’n’Mix, issued on Bubblegum Records back in 2009.
Many of the acts on the compilation hail from Scotland, but I knew nothing about Asbo Kid, albeit I had worked out was they certainly weren’t the band of that name that had consisted of James Atkin (lead singer of EMF) and Justin Welch (drummer with Elastica).
I reached out to a friend who was involved in the running of the short-lived label, and was informed that Asbo Kid was the name used by a Köln-based musican called Andreas, who would go onto to release one album, Reality Barks, in 2011.
The reason for this bonus posting?
Well, it’s to acknowledge the fact that the European Football Championships are currently taking place over in Germany, with Scotland set to play their second match this evening in the city of Köln. It’s also the fact that it’s a lovely wee song that I wanted to share.
mp3: Asbo Kid – The Loop
Talking of the Euros, there’s a great series going on over at No Badger Required in which he’s using the staging of the tournament to offer a rundown of the continent’s greatest singers and bands, as chosen by the NBR Musical Jury. Click here for the fun’n’frolics.
#059: The Mekons– ‘Where Were You?’ (Fast Product ’78)
Good morning friends,
welcome to part 15.687 of my ever-ongoing series: „bands I missed in the first place“. I understand that young age is one reason for neglecting fine bands, but certainly another one is sheer stupidity – as it is the case here.
The Mekons were always around, fact. Another fact is that their name was a common one in the music papers I was able to read in the early/mid 80’s. Still, I never took the chance to delve deeper, to explore their background. Quite why I never did remains a mystery to me, as I said: they were always present and being mentioned in the papers, so there cannot have been a good reason for me not to care about them.
They first came to my attention with a track from their fourth album from 1984 (‘Fear & Whiskey’) and from then on I was always fond of what I heard from them, some tracks from all of the next albums, let’s say until 1989, were excellent!
But still it took me some more time to realize that their earlier singles were even better: it all started in 1978 with ‘Never Been In A Riot’, but the follow-up from the same year was the real must-have for me: ‘Where Were You?’
It simply is anthem-like for a song written with just two chords and one guitar riff. This and its lyrics about desperation and loneliness make it one of the most outstanding punk songs painting a melancholy picture of a delusional man in love – and there are many of those songs, mind you!
It starts rather emotional, vulnerable, and somewhat pathetic, but when the second verse hits, the sadness and pathos turns to suspicion as the speaker reveals his darker side.
These last lines are sweet, naïve, and devastating as the speaker has brought himself to a new level of dejection while the listener has figured out that this is not the story of star crossed lovers; it’s a one-sided obsession.
Quite magical, at least it is to me!
mp3: The Mekons – Where Were You?
I don’t have the original single, but a reissue from 2018 on Super Viaduct in yellow translucent vinyl … which, for me, is just as neat as the original is!
The calendar has turned another page and as far as today goes it means the number in brackets after my name has increased by another digit.
mp3: PJ Harvey – Highway 61 Revisited
This is, of course, a cover and quite a different take on the original…..which is also on offer today in glorious mono and lifted from a copy of the 1965 release which was gifted to me a few years back when someone was clearing out an old house.
mp3: Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
Given that I’m still not 100% health-wise (but most certainly improving), I reckon it’ll be a quiet one.
Other than the time of my birth, I had never, until last week, been overnight in a hospital ward. The fact that my admission was wholly unexpected meant it was all sort of sprung on me and that I wasn’t worrying about it in advance, which, on reflection, was a good thing.
To cut a long story short….last week saw me pass a kidney stone, and in doing so, it had caused a bit of collateral damage to the actual organ. I was required to stay in the hospital until such a time as the specialists were confident it wouldn’t escalate or lead to longer-term damage.
The timing was such that it meant the long-awaited trip to Santa Monica, where myself and Rachel were to spend 11 nights as the guests of Jonny the Friendly Lawyer and Goldie the Friendly Therapist, was, at best, delayed.
In the end, I spent two nights in the hospital. I was discharged on the basis that my health was improving, but that the recuperation would require more tests, under the auspices of my GP, a week down the line, which meant that the entire trip was now off.
The good news is that the airline will honour the flights for a further period of time, and we’ve already been looking at possible dates over the coming months.
I really cannot heap enough praise on the NHS staff, from my own GP for her prompt action, to everyone whose path I crossed during the three days/two nights at the hospital. The work rate, dedication and professionalism of every single one of them, was a joy to behold. The fact I was in a relatively new hospital (it opened in April 2015), meant the facilities were first-class, with my own room and living space on the 9th floor giving me relaxing views out over the actual city, and it all made for an experience that was far more bearable than I would have otherwise imagined.
So, it’ll be a few more days before I’ll know if I’m fully out of the woods, but the signs are good. I really want to thank all of you who offered your best wishes via the comments section last week…the hospital had free Wi-Fi, and I was able to read things via my phone (as well as make those last minute alterations to the post on The Adventure Babies).
I’ve a few things to catch up with in terms of guest postings that have come in over the past week and a bit, and the backlog will start to be sorted out over the rest of this week, starting on Wednesday.
In the meantime, these tunes seem appropriate……
mp3 : Wire – Kidney Bongos
mp3 : The Wedding Present – Getting Better
mp3 : The Modern Lovers – Hospital
Close Up: The Cinerama Singles #7 : The Torino singles (2)
It’s 2002 and new Cinerama LP Torino is in the can and ready to go. So perhaps it’s safe to call Quick, Before It Melts – and not 2001’s Health and Efficiency – the album’s official lead-off single.
mp3: Cinerama – Quick Before It Melts
Either way Quick, Before It Melts is a winner, performing a similar trick to the previous single in terms of balancing orchestrated strings with a big, distorted guitar sound. Perhaps appropriately for a song whose title may well nod to the challenges around male virility, an extended version is found on the album.
Flips were, firstly, an acoustic version of arguably the finest track on debut LP Va Va Voom: Ears. This take works really well here and benefits greatly from some fine string arrangements and even a smidgen of Spanishy-sounding guitar plucking.
mp3: Cinerama – Ears (acoustic version)
Second B-side As If is terrific and a personal favourite, not least because of its crunchy lead guitar parts and lengthy instrumental coda. Your lyrics are the kind of exchanges you’d hear, so I’m told, through a juice glass pinned towards your neighbours’ bedroom walls. And who in all of indiedom writes that kind of stuff better?
mp3: Cinerama – As If
This was a busy old time for the band: a squint at Cinerama’s concertography reveals a fairly extensive tour in support of Torino, with the UK, Ireland and USA visited in the early autumn of 2002.
mp3: Cinerama – Careless
With its recurring slower-then-faster tempo and powerful blast of chorus-accompanying guitar, Careless was fine single material and, really, the natural option from the Torino tracks on offer. This then was the release that brought an end to the songs taken from Cinerama’s final album of original material.
But it wasn’t the last hurrah, as our next post will testify.
Back to Careless for now though. Your B-sides here were This Isn’t What It Looks Like and Sparkle Lipstick.
The former’s pleading title locates it deep inside a platonic relationship and the inevitable suspicions it’s provoked from the third party. Despite its slow start, This Isn’t What It Looks Like quickly becomes a breezy number, and one that benefits from some pleasant, leaping strings.
mp3: Cinerama – This Isn’t What It Looks Like
Listening to it now, after a while away, second B-side Sparkle Lipstick is quite the production. Strings and brass (synthesised or not) are present, although the star of the show is a huge, fuzzy-guitar-driven chorus.
mp3: Cinerama – Sparkle Lipstick
If you’ve not heard them, and even if you have, both these Bs are worthy of your time.
Of note on all of these Careless tracks is the contribution, her last for the band, of Sally Murrell. Here, SM’s backing vocals and accompaniments, as they did across many Cinerama releases, added something special and in a big way helped to define the group’s sound.
Next up will be a post that details the final Cinerama single on Scopitones – an A-side that bridged the present with both the past and the future. Not bad going for a pop song. We’ll also sweep up the singles material that would emerge several years after what you might call the official canon.
Do I need to thank JC and readers again? Of course I do.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 