Wedding Present

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

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Mention was made previously that the 1992 run of singles were recorded in batches of three, as can be evidenced by Chris Nagle being in the producer’s chair for #1-3 and Iain Broudie doing a similar job on #4-6.

But here’s where it becomes a bit of a head-scratcher.   The next three singles, including the b-sides, should have been handled by the veteran American-born producer, Jimmy Miller whose name had recently become fashionable again from working with Primal Scream.   I have no idea what went wrong, Miller was the producer for the next two singles, after which the duties were taken over by another American, Brian Paulson, who ended up doing the final four 45s

And to complicate things further, one of the two A-sides produced by Miller wasn’t included in later releases of Hit Parade 2 which brought together all the 12 tracks on the singles issued between July and December 92, with a different version, produced by Paulson replacing it.

All of the above only became known in the weeks and months afterwards.  On the surface things seemed to be going really well, with single #7, released on Monday 6 July, proving to be a good, if not brilliant, one:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Flying Saucer

Despite only entering the charts at #22, which was quite a few places below any of the most recent five singles, an invite came up for a fourth Top of The Pops appearance in 1992:-

It has to be said that this was the most surreal and funniest of the appearances.  It was also strange that the performance was restricted, being some two minutes shorter than the length of the actual single…..and the final two minutes in which there is a guitar outro that’s not too far from the Bizarro days is the best thing about the 45.

There was nothing to be gained from the group being on the Top of The Pops….anyone who tuned in and thought they liked it so much that they should rush out and buy the single the next day would be wasting their time, given it had already been deleted!  No invites were extended for any of the remaining five singles.

If you’re perhaps pondering where the idea was hatched for the outfits on Top of The Pops, then check out the promo video, directed by Jenny Aleksandrowicz:-

The b-side has its own outer space theme, which is probably why it was selected.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Rocket

The original dates from 1974 and was recorded by Mud, a sort of glam-rock/strange pop combo who were stupidly popular in the UK that year, with #1 hits in Tiger Feet and Lonely This Christmas and a #2 hit in Dyna- Mite (all of which drilled their way into my 10/11 year-old memory bank, never to vacate their place) and a #6 hit in Rocket, which I cannot for the life of me recall.  Anyways, this version is not The Weddoes finest moment (and that’s me being kind and polite).

Fast-forward four weeks to Monday 3 August.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Boing!

This is another of the singles that I never quite took to…..and yet it was one of the three that I picked up during the calendar year.  It starts out promisingly enough as a potential classic Weddoes break-up slow song, but then it seems to go all over the place with a really dreadful chorus. 

Here’s the video, as included on the compilation Dick York’s Wardrobe, a VHS collection that was released in early 1993 (with the voice-over being from none other than Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman).

There’s another video kicking around on t’internet.  It’s for a version of Boing! that’s about two minutes longer….and where the original take on things was quite moody with its black and white and serious looking group performance, this one has a more literal interpretation:-

This is the one which appears on The Weddoes official channel.    I have no idea what’s going on!!!

The b-side to Boing! was audacious. 

mp3: The Wedding Present – Theme From Shaft

The original dates for 1971, written, recorded and sung by Isaac Hayes. 

The wah-wah pedals had never been so heavily utilised before, or indeed since.  And just have a listen to the backing vocals.  A total one-off.

Today, I think it works……..but I reserve the right to change my mind if I’m feeling a bit more grumpy about life.

JC

Zones

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #394: ZONES

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The story of Zones is a tad complicated.

You need to go back to the early 70s, and the emergence of Slik, a band who enjoyed a #1 hit in February 1976 with Forever and Ever, a soft-rock effort very much of its era.  The band consisted of Midge Ure, Kenny Hyslop, Jim McGinlay and Billy McIssac.

McGinlay would leave about a year later, to be replaced by Russell Webb.  Slik failed to get any follow-up hits, did get one more minor hit afterwards (Requiem reached #24), but before 1977 was out, they had decided to re-invent themselves as PVC2, playing a blend of power-pop and punk.  (PVC2 will feature in this series at some point in the future).

The new incarnation spit after one single, when Midge Ure was lured away to join Rich Kids, the band started up by Glan Matlock, the former Sex Pistol.

The three who had been left behind brought in Willie Gardner, a cousin of rock legend Alex Harvey, to replace Ure and renamed themselves as Zones.

The band got the attention of John Peel who gave regular spins to their debut single Stuck With You.  This led to a deal with Arista Records and helped gain a support slot on a UK tour undertaken by Magazine.

Zones would release three singles and one album on Arista in 1978/9 before splitting up, albeit the members would move onto other things to varying degrees of success.

Here’s their third and what proved to be their final single for Arista:-

mp3: Zones – Mourning Star

Do you think Midge Ure was looking on from the sidelines and taking copious notes that he would later refer to when Ultravox needed some new songs?

JC

Various

MARCHING (MOSTLY) TO AN OLD BEAT

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It’s the first day of a new month.  You should know the drill by now.

mp3: Various – Marching Mostly To An Old Beat

Quite proud of this one, if only for the fact that, without any judicious or unnatural editing, it comes in at exactly sixty minutes and zero seconds.

Oh, and sweary words alert or whatever sort of advisory warning is de rigueur these says.

Enjoy.

Massive Attack  – Angel
Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
Arab Strap – Here We Go
Martha Wainwright – Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole
Tindersticks – Her (original version)
Echo & The Bunnymen – With A Hip
Care – Whatever Possessed You (12″ version)
Bjork – Army of Me
The Fall – New Big Prinz
SPRINTS – Up and Comer
Hamish Hawk – Desperately
Idlewild – Little Discourage
Butcher Boy – You’re Only Crying For Yourself
Coach Party – Weird Me Out
Pulp – Razzmatazz
The Velvet Underground – Sunday Morning

JC

Billy Bragg

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE TUNE ON LEAP YEAR THURSDAY

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mp3 : Billy Bragg – Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
mp3 : Billy Bragg – Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards (live at the Barbican)

I know it’s a lazy posting, but I’m only contracted to provide a blog post 365 days per year. Consider yourselves fortunate.

And yes, this is the same posting as 29 February 2016.  Except that I’m adding in the rarely seen promo video!

I never tire of this song.  I really don’t.

JC

Laurel Aitken and The Ruts

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #048

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#048: Laurel Aitken & The Ruts – ‘Rudi Got Married’ (Peel Session ’80)

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Hello friends,

yes, it’s Ska-time again, I know you’ve all been waiting too long, right? And today’s pick is well worth listening to, believe me, even if Ska is not your preferred dish on the menu. Why is this, you ask? Well, because Laurel Aitken isn’t called “The Godfather Of Ska” for nothing, that’s why! In his lifetime (1927 – 2005) he has made numerous fantastic records, played together with numerous bands and, perhaps most importantly, has been an inspiration to numerous new bands interested in the genre. This chap was a pioneer, period!

He was born in Cuba, moved to Jamaica as a kid, and then to London in 1960. In fact, many of the original first wave Ska-artists moved from Jamaica to the UK in order to enjoy the benefits of their growing popularity. But contrary to many of those, Laurel Aitken did not only record in the UK, but also in Jamaica throughout the 1960s. This cemented his position as one of ska’s leading artists and gained a loyal following not only among the West Indian community, but also among mods, skinheads and other ska fans. He had hit records in the 1950s through to the 1970s on labels such as Blue Beat, Pama, Trojan, Rio, Dr. Bird, Nu-Beat, Ska-Beat, and Dice.

In the mid-1970’s Aitken thought about retiring from the business, and he moved to Leicester with this wife. But then the 2-Tone ska revival kicked in, thanks to bands like The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat etc. Aitken, then in his 50s, found himself hailed as the elder statesman of ska. During the 2-Tone era, Aitken’s career was rejuvenated and like other first wave artists (Prince Buster or Desmond Dekker) he aligned himself with 2-Tone, mod and punk bands to help increase his audience. He performed with quite a lot of bands, mainly pure Ska-bands, but also with Secret Affair, a mod-outfit, which released records on their own I-Spy label. And it was I-Spy who created one of the most interesting pairings of old and new blood: punk/reggae band The Ruts backing Aitken on a single “Rudi Got Married” b/w “Honey Come Back To Me”, which was released in May 1980 under the moniker “Laurel Aitken and The Unitone” (a play on 2-Tone).

The Ruts are a familiar name, of course – everyone should know at least a few of their singles, ‘In A Rut’, ‘Babylon’s Burning’ or ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’, for example. If the vocalist, Malcolm Owen, hadn’t died so young, they probably would have become big big big … who knows? But anyway, one month before the single for I-Spy, Aitken and The Ruts were offered a BBC Session from Peel (the first one for Laurel and the fourth for the Ruts), which ended up in being one of the very finest Peel Session ever, at least as far as I’m concerned. You see, the I-Spy single is mighty fine, but this version here is a real belter!!

‘Big Fat Man’ (which could well be my signature tune currently, I’m afraid) is pretty faithful to the terrific studio recording, but also the B-Side is packed with gems: ’Jesse James’ is an extraordinary dubby version of Aitken’s 1969 single whereas the wonderful mash-up of B.B. King’s ‘Rock Me Baby’ and Louis Jordan’s 1945 ‘Caledonia’ even comes with the horn riff of Henry Mancini’s ‘Peter Gunn’ as an opener.

But the highlight for me is this, another song that tells us a story, and what a story it is, friends:

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mp3:  Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Rudi Got Married

Perfectly brilliant stuff – and if this didn’t get you dancing, nothing will. I have never been a fan of bootlegs, mainly because of the missing sound quality (nothing at all to complain about this here) – but I am so happy that some true fans made the effort to issue this 7”, it surely is a most treasured item! They even shamelessly stole the Strange Fruit Records design, as well for the sleeve as for the label. Do I care? No, not the slightest!

Also, I’ve told you before about this before, I think, but a mate of mine was into Ska-management in the 80’s and as I was always skint, I often worked for him. On one occasion in 1989 I was responsible for the backstage for a Ska-allnighter, and I’m a bit proud to tell you that one of the artists I had to take care of was the Godfather himself, Laurel Aitken: what a nice fellow, to be sure!

As usual, please let me know what you think, okay?

Enjoy,

Dirk

JC adds…….

This one was completely new to me, and I loved hearing it.  I was also inspired by Dirk’s obvious passion for the entire session that I went digging for the other three tunes so that I could, without our dear friend from Germany knowing, add them as a small bonus.

mp3: Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Big Fat Man
mp3: Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Jesse James
mp3: Laurel Aitken and The Ruts – Rock Me Baby/Caledonia

As the great man himself would say…..Enjoy!!!!!!

Soft Cell

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (11)

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It was last November when Part 10 of this irregular series appeared.  I hope some of you are happy to see it return as, along with its companion pieces – the 12″ Lucky Dip and the CD Single Lucky Dip – there’s going to be a lot of such postings going forward.  If nothing else, it saves me trying to come up with some sort of smart-ass title most days.

Soft Cell came to prominence in August 1981, thanks to a cover of an obscure Northern Soul song.   Their final single from that original era of recording appeared in February 1984, just two-and-half years later, and it too was a cover of an obscure Northern Soul single

mp3: Soft Cell – Down In The Subway

The time period between the two is important, as it highlights the brevity of the period of domination enjoyed by Marc Almond and Dave Ball.  Nine hit singles and three hit albums was some achievement, particularly as they never really got a fair press for much of it….their rise to fame made them fair game for the UK tabloids, while the music papers were still very suspicious of synth-music, not deeming the groups to be authentic as they relied on machinery to make so many of their sounds, particularly in live settings.

The duo had already announced they were dissolving Soft Cell by the time the third album, This Last Night In Sodom, was released.  There was no enthusiasm for any sort of promotional activities, and neither Marc nor David seemed too fussed that the reviews ranged from lukewarm to hostile.  They probably anticipated as much.  It’s far removed from the synth-pop with which they made their name, and leans in places towards the industrial grime of the sort of acts that the music papers fawned over and whom the tabloids had no inkling.  It’s not an easy listen, but it proved to be a great two-fingers departure to the pop industry, with it being a full 18 years before the next studio album, and a further 20 years again to the one after that.

Down In The Subway was the cover version included on This Last Night…. It dated from 1968, and was written by Jack Hammer.   Their take on it didn’t have too much in the way of synths on it, and I don’t think many folk imagined it would be a single.  But to be fair, many of the subject matters of the songs on the album made them almost impossible to issue on 7″ vinyl.

Rather unusually, the single version is longer than the album version, thanks to a much longer outro.  It reached #24 in the charts, which was actually one place higher than the double-A side effort Numbers/Barriers had achieved some 12 months earlier.

The b-side was an otherwise unavailable Almond/Ball composition

mp3: Soft Cell – Disease and Desire

It’s everything that the duo were looking to do at this point in their career.  It’s not a sing-a-long effort, and it’s not one that would fill the dance floors.    It was the exclamation point after the final word of the last sentence on their letter of resignation to the pop industry.

Enjoy??!!

JC

Various

POWER CORRUPTION & LIES COVERED

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The giveaway with MOJO Magazine in February 2012 was an interesting one.

The magazine’s cover stars were New Order.  The free CD consisted of a bunch of New Order cover versions, consisting of all eight tracks on Power, Corruption and Lies (the band’s 1983 album), with a further five songs covering A and B-sides of singles from the same(ish) period.

As with all of this sort of thing, the compilation was a bit hit-and-miss, but in a way that fans of New Order would no doubt disagree on which versions were decent and which bordered on the unlistenable.

I’ll offer up all 13 and leave things in the capable hands of the TVV cognoscenti to have their say via the comments section, should you wish.  Some info on each act is lifted from the Discogs summary on each of them.

mp3: Age Of Consent – The Golden Filter

The Golden Filter : American/Australian electronic music duo from New York City, formed in 2008, now based in London.

mp3: We All Stand – Tarwater

Tarwater : German electronic/rock duo founded 1995 in Berlin.

mp3: The Village – Errors

Errors : an electronic/indie/post-rock band from Glasgow, Scotland.

mp3: 5-8-6 – S.C.U.M.

S.C.U.M. : British post-punk/art rock band founded in 2008 in London.

mp3: Your Silent Face – Fujiya & Miyagi

Fujiya & Miyagi: Indie rock band from Brighton, England formed in 2000 with heavy Krautrock and Italo-Disco influences.

mp3: Ultraviolence – Seekae

Seekae: Australian electronic music group based in Sydney.

mp3: Ecstacy – Walls

Walls : from London, UK

mp3: Leave Me Alone – Destroyer

Destroyer : Canadian indie rock band from Vancouver formed in 1995 and fronted by singer-songwriter Dan Bejar.

mp3: Blue Monday – Biosphere

Biosphere: the main recording name of Geir Jenssen (born 1962), a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his “ambient techno” and “arctic ambient” styles, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources.

mp3: The Beach – Zombie Zombie

Zombie Zombie : French electro-pop trio.

mp3: Cries and Whispers – Lonelady

Lonelady:  Singer, songwriter, and producer from Manchester, England, spanning influences such as post punk, electronic, and pop.

mp3: Lonesome Tonight – Another’s Blood

Anothers Blood : Richard Frenneaux

mp3: Murder – K-X-P

K-X-P : Experimental electronic/alternative/space rock group from Helsinki, Finland, founded in 2006.

Enjoy the treasure hunt!!!

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Parts Nineteen and Twenty)

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The next two in the series are Ian Broudie productions and are well removed, sonically, from the Seamonsters era.   It turned out that #5, released on Monday 4 May, was one that I did get my hands on as I wasn’t at work that day and found myself up bright and early and into one of the HMV stores in Glasgow to get my hands on one of the 10,000 copies in shops across the UK.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Come Play With Me

It’s something of a song of two halves.   The first part, of about two-and-a-half minutes duration, is fairly acoustic in nature, with a few loud electric guitar flourishes, with a mid-paced tempo. The final two minutes are much faster and slightly louder as David Gedge pleads that his old relationship is over, and he’s now ready, nay make that desperate, for a roll in the hay.      It’s all rather brilliant, if slightly unorthodox.  When played live nowadays, there’s always a huge sense of anticipation as the song nears the tempo change.

This one reached #10 – an indication that not too many new singles were released in the first week of May 1992, but at long last The Weddoes could boast of having a big hit, if such things are defined by chart placings.  It proved to be their only Top 10.

No Top of The Pops appearance this month.   But here’s the promo. Directed by Jeremy Hibbard, it’s one of the best of the 12 from across the year:-

The cover?

mp3: The Wedding Present – Pleasant Valley Sunday

Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, this had been a Top 3 hit for The Monkees back in 1967, and was well known by everyone of a certain age in the UK thanks to endless, but welcome repeats, on BBC, of The Monkees TV series throughout the 70s and into the 80s.  It’s another fairly faithful take on the original, right down to the extended outro with reverb and echo.  I love it.

8 June 1992 was the date of the release of the sixth single.   Of equal importance, it was the same date when Hit Parade 1 was issued.   Looking back on it, the idea of just 10,000 vinyl singles per month, with all the expense involved, was never going to wash with RCA, so there must have been a plan from the outset to issue compilation CDs.   Hit Parade 1 brought together all 12 tracks that had been issued between January and June 1982, including the newest of them:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – California

The fact that more than 30 years later, this is still often used to open live shows, demonstrates just how much David Gedge thinks of it and, of course, it is one much beloved by fans of all ages and from all eras of discovering the group.  It is one of the most sing-along of all their tunes, and its acoustic(ish) nature again exposes the myth that all the songs sound the same.

It went in at #16.  It led to another Top of The Pops appearance, one in which David poked some fun at a certain t-shirt that was all the rage among the indie crowd that summer.

This month’s promo was directed by Tim Riley.

For the sixth of the covers, The Weddoes turned to one of their peers from the C86 era. 

Close Lobsters were quite often referred to as the Scottish equivalent of The Wedding Present.  They had formed in 1985, been part of the NME C86 compilation, had signed to an indie label and enjoyed a degree of cult status.  But where Gedge & co had made the shift to a major label, Close Lobsters called it a day in 1989 after two albums and seven singles of very decent quality.  They have since reformed – it was in 2012 to perform at a couple of overseas pop festivals as well as a gig in Glasgow – since when there has been some new material in the shape of EPs and an album.  They are on the bill to perform at the Edge of The Sea Festival this coming August. 

mp3: The Wedding Present – Let’s Make Some Plans

The cover has helped make this the most popular and well-loved of all Close Lobsters songs.  It was originally released as a single in 1987, and got to #17 in the Indie Charts.  The TWP version is a bit harder-edged and louder than the original which, by any sort of measurement, is an indie-pop classic.

Worth mentioning that Hit Parade 1, which was also issued on vinyl, reached #22 in the album charts in June 1992. 

JC

Zoey Van Goey

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #393: ZOEY VAN GOEY

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A Glasgow-band without anyone being from Scotland, never mind its biggest and best city.  Is such a thing possible?

Of course, it is!!  Zoey Van Goey were very much part of the fabric of the musical smorgasbord in the city and country between 2007 and 2012, releasing two albums and a handful of 45s and EPs, as well as playing numerous gigs, all of which (certainly the ones I attended) were very enjoyable.

They were initially a trio consisting of Matt Brennan, Michael John McCarthy and Kim Moore, all Glasgow-based but originally from Canada, Ireland and England respectively.   They got off to the most wonderful of starts in 2007 with their debut single, Foxtrot Vandals, released on the Glasgow-based Say Dirty Records, being produced by Stuart Murdoch.   Further pop royalty got involved the following year, with Paul Savage producing the follow-up 45, Sweethearts In Disguise, again on Say Dirty.

In 2009, the debut album, The Cage Was Unlocked All Along, was released to a lot of critical acclaim in Scotland.  It was a self-funded and self-released effort that wasn’t always easy to find in the shops, and before the year was out, they had signed with Chemikal Underground with the album given a re-release.

A fourth member, Adam Scott, joined the fray – yet another who was not from round these parts.  They continued to work hard at their craft, recording and gigging when the opportunity enabled, and 2011 saw them release their second album, Propeller Versus Wings, again on Chemikal Underground.

And then…..silence.   A band that had been very active on the live front seemed to suddenly stop playing.  There was never any official announcement that they had called it a day, but it was soon clear that the lack of activity meant it was all over.

The individual members are still part of the Glasgow and wider music scene, but in different ways.

Matt Brennan is a Professor of Popular Music at the University of Glasgow, and a well-kent face at gigs of all shapes and sizes across the city.

Michael John McCarthy has become a celebrated composer for stage and screen, including commissions from the National Theatre of Scotland.  In 2022, he returned to ‘popular’ music, thanks to being one of the main members of Album Club, a collective whose debut album was one of the best records to be released in 2022.  Adam Scott was another part of that collective.

Kim Moore has also become a composer, best-known for the creation of dark ambient soundscapes that have been used in film, theatre and dance productions.

I think it is fair to say that Zoey Van Goey was just a stepping stone for what the band members would go onto achieve, and while what they do is all rather different from the indie-pop days, I hope they all retain a love and affection for their songs.  This was the debut:-

mp3: Zoey Van Goey – Foxtrot Vandals

When I started out this Saturday series away back in February 2015, I always imagined Zoey Van Goey would be the last to feature.  But nope, there’s a few singers and bands whose songs have only come my way in recent years. There’s at least one more ‘Z’ to feature and then, and I’ll be running back through the alphabet again to pick anyone I’ve not featured before….oh, and I also forgot about those whose names are associated with numbers.  They’re on the list for the next few weeks.

JC

Magazine, Only Ones, Swell Maps

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (February, part two)

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This is the part of the series where I consult one of my reference books and find some 45s which didn’t sell in great numbers in February 1979.   Only a small number this time around.

mp3:  Magazine – Rhythm of Cruelty (single version)

Magazine‘s first new piece of music in 1979 was their fourth single on Virgin Records. It was released just a few weeks ahead of their sophomore album, Secondhand Daylight.  The single didn’t dent the charts, and the album would only come in at a rather modest #38.

mp3: The Only Ones – You’ve Got To Pay

I wasn’t aware of this back in 1979.   Indeed, if wasn’t for the sheer magnificence of Another Girl, Another Planet, then I probably wouldn’t have given a passing thought to The Only Ones all these years later.  The band was on CBS Records, and while  AGAP hadn’t charted in 1978, there was so much written about it and the band that hopes were probably high among the execs that the follow-up material would do the business.  As with Magazine, this was the lead-off single from a second studio album.  As with Magazine, the single flopped.  As with Magazine, the subsequent album, Even Serpents Shine, experienced disappointing sales, reaching just #42, but at least this was a higher placing than the previous year’s debut.

mp3: Swell Maps – Dresden Style

Again, I have to own up that, at the age of 15, I wasn’t all that aware of Swell Maps.  I possibly had at some point heard this, their second single (but their first on Rough Trade) when it was released in February 1979, but at the time I would very much have dismissed it as tuneless rubbish.  Nowadays, without ever getting to ever fully fall for the ‘charms’ of the band, I’ll admit to quite enjoying this one, which I picked up via someone else’s blog quite a few years ago.

I’ll mention in passing that there were a couple of other flop singles released in February 1979 that would later in the year be re-released and enter the charts.  I’ll come to them as and when later in the series.

JC

Mick Harvey, Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo

AS RECOMMENDED BY SOME FAMILIAR NAMES

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I was lucky enough, last September, to get a shout from my friend Mike, the brains and energy behind the long-established Manic Pop Thrills blog, to join him at a gig in Glasgow.

The main attraction for both of us was the presence on stage of Mick Harvey, the highly-talented Australian musician probably best known from his many years working alongside Nick Cave or perhaps his work with PJ Harvey (no relation!!).

I did, in due course, make mention of how special the gig proved to be, but my words were tucked away as part of a piece looking at the album Invisible You by J.P. Shilo, and may therefore have been missed by some regulars.   The gig was, ostensibly, to promote Mick’s latest album, Phantasmagoria in Blue, which he had recorded alongside Mexican singer Amanda Acevedo, but the publicity poster promised a show by an ensemble called The Invisible Blue Unicorns, so neither myself nor Mike quite knew what to expect.

It proved to be a memorable gig, with seven musicians coming and going throughout the night, and a set-list consisting of songs that had been released on records by Sometimes With Others (a Berlin-based band), J.P. Shilo as well as those from Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo’s new album.  All three acts shared equal billing, and indeed, Mick Harvey seemed to be at his happiest when he wasn’t the centre of attention.

The opportunity at the end of the night to chat to all concerned, while spending money at the merch stall, was too good to pass up.  I ended up with two albums and two singles, all on vinyl.  One of the singles was a 12″ release, with just 500 copies having been pressed.  It contained two tracks from Phantasmagoria in Blue (both of which happened to be covers) along with a solo track from Mick Harvey that had been released as a digital single in early 2023.

This digital single was also a cover, and Khayem wrote about it at length just last week over at Dubhead when he referred to it about to be included on Mick’s forthcoming album, Five Ways To Say Goodbye, which is scheduled for release this coming May.   Rol, of My Top Ten fame, and Adam from Bagging Area, were among those who left comments, with both indicating that, on the basis of the digital single, the album was going to be ordered.

As Khayem outlined, the new album will follow the norm of most Mick Harvey releases, with one-third of its 12 tracks being original songs, and two-thirds cover versions.

The 500 copies of the 12″ single are long gone, and I’m very pleased with myself that I bought one. (It’s #193 of the 500).  Here are the two tracks that can also be found on Phantasmagoria in Blue:-

mp3: Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo – Milk & Honey
mp3: Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo – Love Is A Battlefield

The former is a track by the late and tragic American folk singer, Jackson C Frank, whose recording career consisted of just one eponymous album, recorded and produced by Paul Simon in 1965.  The latter is a cover of the song which gave Pat Benatar a global-hit in 1983.

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The above image is of the reverse of the sleeve.  As Khayem helpfully explained last week over at his place,  this is a cover of Ich Hab’ Noch Einen Koffer In Berlin, originally recorded by Bully Buhlan in 1951 but more famous in its 1955 version by Marlene Dietrich. Mick translated the song into English:-

mp3: Mick Harvey – A Suitcase In Berlin

This one obviously comes highly recommended by a number of the blogging community.  It’s a thing of great depth and beauty, and I trust that those of you not previously au fait with it, will be giving your approval.

JC

King Short Shirt

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #047

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#047– King Short Shirt – ‘Nobody Go Run Me’ (Weed Beat Records ’76)

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Hello friends,

you can thank me later, but today I invite you all to a day in the Caribbean – to Antigua we go, and isn’t that nice? And if this weren’t enough, the music is completely different as well, compared to what you had to endure up until now. Yes, it has rhythm, friends, or, to quote John Peel, for a change not a record made by sulky Belgian art students dying of tuberculosis.

Yes, in fact, believe it or not, it’s Calypso time! And before you start shaking your head and skip this wonderful essay: just wait, will you? This tune is well worth listening to, I swear!

King Short Shirt’s real name is MacLean Emanuel, he’s 82 now and after converting to Christianity he changed from Calypso to Gospel by and large. But before this happened, this guy was the absolute king of Calypso in all of the Caribbean! He won numerous Calypso competitions (those are a big deal in all of the Caribbean apparently, not only locally in Antigua) from the 60’s onwards. The last one he attended was in 2013, when he was 71, where he withdrew before the quarter-finals to “give the other guys a chance”.

King Short Shirt had many hits in his long career, and many good albums. ‘Ghetto Vibes’ in particular is highly recommendable. It also includes today’s single, which, as far as I’m concerned, is one of the best examples of what made the King so special – and so important: clever lyrics combined with a great rhythm, a political credo as firm as Billy Bragg’s and – perhaps most importantly – a true love for his homeland:

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mp3:  King Short Shirt – Nobody Go Run Me

And also, like John Cooper Clarke, featured here a few weeks ago, the King was conferred with the degree of ‘Doctor of Letters Degree honoris causa’ from the University of the West Indies last year. Now, is this a new trend in this series …. ‘Sirs only’? Aah, you wait and see … perhaps it’s Paul McCartney next – who can possibly tell?

Either way – take care and enjoy,

Dirk

Sundays

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (4)

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I didn’t buy this one at the time of its release back in September 1992.   The fact that I was living in a small flat at the time, combined with what was an increasing move towards CD purchases only, means it must have been some 15 years later, when I was starting off the blog and re-igniting a love for vinyl, that I’ve picked up a second-hand copy.

I know that I hoovered up plenty of old 7″ and 12″ singles for next to nothing around this time, being quite fortunate in my timing as it was slightly in advance of the boom that followed and the beginning of the increase in prices, particularly for releases that are long out-of-print and have become increasingly sought after.

The asking price on Discogs for any vinyl by The Sundays is eye-watering.  Upwards of £50 for the debut album Reading, Writing and Arithmetic (of which I have a copy which was definitely bought back in 1990).  The follow-up, Blind, fetches £200 or more, while the third and final album, Static and Silence is marginally more expensive.  I’ve both on CD, and while I’d love to have the vinyl, I’m not prepared to pay those sorts of prices.

The band only ever released five singles in the UK, and not all of them came out on vinyl. The debut Can’t be Sure can be had for about £6, but Goodbye, which was the advance 45 issued a couple of weeks prior to Blind, has an asking price of £40, which is very considerably more than I paid for it!

There’s three tracks on this one.  The version of Goodbye is identical to that on the album,  along with a cover version and otherwise unavailable original on the b-side.

mp3: The Sundays – Goodbye
mp3: The Sundays – Wild Horses
mp3: The Sundays – Noise

The cover is of the Rolling Stones song, originally found on the 1971 album, Sticky Fingers.

Goodbye reached #27 in the UK singles chart.

JC

Billy Bragg

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (77)

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I’ve never actually seen a copy of the debut single by Billy Bragg, but then again, it’s never been the easiest to come across.

Debut album Life’s A Riot With Spy vs Spy had been released on Utility (an imprint of Chrysalis Records)  in May 1983.  It contained seven songs, it rotated at 45rpm, and it had the words ‘Pay no more than £2.99 for this 7 track album’ printed on the front of the sleeve.

The follow-up, Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, came out on Go! Discs in November 1984,  The sleeve stated that the album was ‘A Puckish Satire On Contemporary Mores’ and that the asking price was no more than £3.99.

Billy was quite adamant that no singles should be lifted from either album.   Record companies being what they are, weren’t all that enamoured by such an attitude. They tried to be clever by pressing up a 45 in Germany, as a combined release by Chrysalis and Go!Discs, featuring one track from both albums, with the front and reverse of the sleeve looking like the album covers.  The hope that fans would be determined enough to buy enough copies on import to enable a UK chart position.

mp3 : Billy Bragg – St Swithin’s Day
mp3 : Billy Bragg – A New England

The plan failed dismally.  The single didn’t chart and with no great demand, meaning there was never any repress, with the outcome being in 2024 that anyone wanting a copy will have to pay a bit more than they would for other Billy Bragg singles or albums from the era – you’re looking at £35-£40.

Fair play to Billy for being so dogmatic about things, but what a great double-A side 45 it proved to be…..

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Parts Seventeen and Eighteen)

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I didn’t even try to pick up singles #3 and #4 on the first Mondays in March and April 1992.  But as mentioned a couple of weeks back, I’ve got them here at Villain Towers, thanks to the eventual growth in buying second-hand vinyl online a few decades later.  And neither were all that expensive.

I might have thought Go-Go Dancer was a rare misfire, but the run of 45s over the next few months turned out to be a glorious one.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Three

It was ingenious to have the song title match the third 45 in the series match, although I remember saying at the time that the next one better not be about a stray golf shot….

Three has long been one of the most popular songs among the fanbase.   In anyone else’s hands, this could have come out just sleazy and sick-inducing as some sort of anthem for swingers.  Instead, there’s a dark humour about the desperation of the protagonist wanting to get something just a bit kinky and different to spice up their sex life.  And as he had done so on countless previous occasions, David Gedge needed to explain that not all of his songs were written out of personal experiences and circumstances, and indeed, most came from his vivid imagination.

The cover version this time was quite inspired

mp3: The Wedding Present – Think That It Might

It’s a great take on what is really quite an obscure album track by Altered Images that was on the 1982 album Pinky Blue.  It wasn’t the first time they had covered one of their songs with Happy Birthday being part of a Peel Session back in 1988 but in this instance they have taken something and made it sound as if it was a TWP original.

Three went in at #14, and it secured another Top of The Pops appearance, one which many years later was part of a repeat show on BBC Four in high definition:-

And here’s the promo, directed by Andy Wilson.

The following month saw the release of this as the 45:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Silver Shorts

With an intro that harked back to the beloved earlier material, Silver Shorts was a bit different from the sort of sounds of the past 18 months or so. More pop than rock, with David trying a bit of a falsetto vocal.  There was a change of producer on this one, with it being handled by Ian Broudie, which is perhaps one of the main reasons why this one, and indeed the other two singles he would be involved in, were more radio-friendly than normal.

It really is rather wonderful and well-deserving of its #14 placing, which matched that of Three, but, sadly, didn’t see them invited onto Top of The Pops. Here’s the promo:-

This one was directed by Judith Carter.

The b-side this month was a brave choice.  I’ll ‘fess up and say that it’s not one that I’ve much time for, but then again I was never a fan of the original, nor did I ever get into the TV programme for which it was the instrumental theme tune:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Falling

Julee Cruise had enjoyed a #7 hit with the original in late 1990.  A couple of later singles skirted the Top 60, but that was the extent of her success.   The Weddoes version is nearly six minutes in length, and fair play for doing something unexpected, but it’s not for me.

JC

Zoë Bestel

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #392: ZOEY BESTEL

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Adapted from t’internet:-

Zoë Bestel is a Scottish singer-songwriter, who describes her music as Nu-Folk. Born in Liverpool in 1997, she was aged 8 when she moved with her family to Wigtown, Scotland. Prior to taking up music professionally, she won awards for the piano, recorder, oboe and singing at the Galloway Music Festival. In 2011, aged 13, she started teaching herself the Ukulele.

The following year, her first EP ’35 Missed Calls’ was released by Distilled Records. It  was really well received, and soon the teenager was playing live at folk festivals across Scotland.

In 2014, she self-released the album ‘Sir Lucas & The Moon’, featuring entirely original songs, and again the reviews were positive.  In September 2014, she took part in a short of Scottish venues alongside other up-and-coming musicians, one of whom was Lewis Capaldi.

Zoë continued to play and perform over the next few years without ever becoming a household name.  In 2017, the label Last Night From Glasgow, which had not long been formed, announced that it would be releasing Transience, her sophomore album.

It came out in 2018 to a great deal of praise across the Scottish media.  The Herald newspaper included three tracks from the album in their ‘Top 100 Tunes from Scotland in 2018’, with this being placed at #6:-

mp3: Zoë Bestel – Eye For An Eye

Plans are in place for a third album which hopefully will see the light of day in 2024.

JC

Editors

AROUND THE WORLD : MUNICH

Munich

The third-largest city in Germany, with a population of approximately 1.6 million, the wider metropolitan region is home to some 6 million people. It is located on the River Isa, north of the Alps and not that far from the border with Austria.  It’s a young city as these things go, first mentioned as recently as 1158.  Given its proximity to Austria, it’s hardly a surprise that it has long had connections with classical music, but it is also renowned as a city where  Krautrock has long thrived and is home to studios where many of the established rock bands have recorded, such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen. Oh, and never let it be forgotten that the city was where Giorgio Moroder, the godfather of disco and electronic dance music, did so much of his early work, especially with Donna Summer.

mp3: Editors – Munich

From 2005, the second single to be released by the band from Birmingham, England (just in case anyone maybe thought they were from Alabama). Still going strong today, with their seventh studio album being released in 2022, all of which have gone Top 10 in the UK, although they haven’t had a song reach the singles charts since 2009….not that they seem bothered about it.  Munich hit the #10 spot, bettered only by Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors, which got to #7 in 2007.

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Was lucky enough, in the company of Jacques the Kipper to see them back in the day when they played at King Tut’s in Glasgow in August 2005, just a few days after the release of the debut album.  Would have been nice to have seen them in Munich itself….where they played at a venue called The Atomic Cafe on 11 November 2005.

JC

Wannadies

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (2)

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Might Be Stars, released in November 1995 was the third single to be lifted from Be A Girl, itself the third album by The Wannadies, without question the greatest pop band ever to emergr out of Sweden.  As you can see from the above image, the single was released across two different CDs – very much the standard practice of the day – which usually meant one of, or a combination of, three things.

1. Loads of different songs as b-sides across the 2 x CDs
2. Loads of different remixes of the single across at least one of the CDs
3. Live tracks to pad things out across one or both CDs

CD1 of Might Be Stars followed option 1.

mp3: The Wannadies – Might Be Stars (edited)
mp3: The Wannadies – Cherry Man
mp3: The Wannadies – Lee Remick
mp3: The Wannadies – Love Is Dead

The difference between the edited version of the song and the album version is barely noticeable, consisting of ten seconds of music at the start being seamlessly removed to enable the main vocal to lick in a bit earlier. The three other songs consist of two more than decent Wannadies songs and a cover of the debut single by The Go-Betweens.

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CD2of Might Be Stars also followed option 1.

mp3: The Wannadies – Might Be Stars
mp3: The Wannadies – New Life
mp3: The Wannadies – So Happy Now
mp3: The Wannadies – Things That I Would Love To Have Undone

The album version is offered up on CD2. The three other songs consist of two more than decent Wannadies songs and a cover of the first hit single by Depeche Mode.

Might Be Stars enjoyed a two-week stay in the singles chart, entering at #51 on 18 November 1995, dropping to #71 the following week before falling out altogether.

JC

Magazine

15 YEARS AGO? TIME FLIES……..

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I typed ‘Magazine 14 February, Manchester’ into Google the other day, and to my astonishment and delight in equal measures, I was guided to a post from the original blog, one that I had long presumed was lost forever.  No apologies are offered for delving back into the vaults for the second post of the day………

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I’m not sure if I can exactly recall what I’ve done with Mrs Villain on previous Valentine’s Nights. I know we’ve gone out to restaurants, taken in a movie, stayed in with a takeaway (and watched a movie!) and I’m sure there was one year we were both recovering from stinking colds and just shut out the entire world. But I couldn’t ever pin down any precise event in any precise year.

But neither of us will ever forget Valentine’s Night 2009.

Regular readers will know I’ve long been hopelessly devoted to Howard and the boys in Magazine. Along with Johnny Cash, they were the act I most regretted never taking the opportunity to go see live. And after almost 30 years since their break-up, I had long given up hope…..

And just like buses when you’ve been hanging around waiting impatiently for an eternity, two of the damn things come along together – in other words, having made all the arrangements to go to the hometown show in Manchester on Saturday 14th, I got an 11th hour opportunity to also go along to the Glasgow show on Monday 16th.

Both turned out to be quite special, although what I saw in Glasgow was an identical set-list and an almost identical set of spoken intros by Howard Devoto. If it hadn’t been for Dave Formula being hatless in Glasgow, the whole thing could have easily been a facsimilie. Soundwise, the Manchester show triumphed, but I reckon this was as much to do with the poor acoustics in The Glasgow Academy (I know from reading some initial reviews of the home town gig that some fans were critical of the acoustics at their Academy – believe me they are infinitely better than the similarly named venue 220 miles north….for one thing, I heard some great backing vocals in Manchester, last night they were totally lost)

Don’t get me wrong….I’m not saying the Glasgow gig was anything less than stunning…..I was the one who was spoiled by seeing them in a superior location in front of an ecstatic and adoring home crowd.

As I mentioned, it was identical set-lists in the same running order. Much of the set was as anticipated in advance in terms of fan favourites and songs that have appeared on various ‘Best Of’ collections released by a desperate record company over the past 25 years. But equally, there were some real unexpected gems and oddities drawn from obscure b-sides and long-forgotten LP tracks to keep the hardcore fans happy and the casual fans bewildered.

It was of course, just 4/5 of the classic Magazine line-up with Howard Devoto on lyrics, Barry Adamson on bass, Dave Formula on keyboards and John Doyle on drums. Taking the place of the late and great John McGeogh on guitar was Norman Fisher-Jones (aka Noko), formerly Howard’s sidekick in Luxuria. Praise has to be heaped on Noko, for he did a fantastic job when he really was on a hiding to nothing…..

The band were on tremendous form, playing with a passion and an energy that belies their years (the average age must be nearer 60 than 50….). Howard’s vocals were much better than any of us I think could dare have ever imagined….maybe the fact he hasn’t sung on stage that often in recent years has protected his throat and thus allowed him to sound so good. Barry’s bass playing was a joy to behold, especially on some of the real up-tempo numbers where, working in tandem with John, he drove the songs on at a frantic pace yet remaining cool and controlled and making it look effortless. Dave’s keyboard playing??? I think he might have hit a bum note….or maybe two….over the course of each night….but that was probably deliberate (or is it just my ears at my age?) Anyway, every Magazine fan knows how important his contribution to the sound has been over the years, and live, his playing was every bit as soulful, poppy and progressive as you would expect depending on the song.

If I had a grumble, it would be that a few of my own personal favourites didn’t make the set-list, but what was played more than made up for it:-

Intro – The Thin Air (taped..not live)
The Light Pours Out of Me
Model Worker
The Great Beautician/The Honeymoon Killers
Because You’re Frightened
You Never Knew Me
Rhythm of Cruelty
I Want To Burn Again
This Poison
A Song from Under the Floorboards
Permafrost
The Book
Twenty Years Ago/Definitive Gaze
Parade
Shot By Both Sides

ENCORE:
Thank You (Falentinme Be Mice Elf Again)
Motorcade

ENCORE 2
I Love You You Big Dummy

Too many highlights to mention, and not a dull moment in a 90-minute set. But the sheer joy of the opening drum-beats on Saturday as I realised after all these years I was really seeing the band in the flesh will live with me until I no longer have the required grey matter in my brain….and even then I still reckon I’ll get unexpected flashbacks.

On this basis, I have to advise any reader who might not be sure if the fact that one of their all-time favourite bands of old have recently reformed and hit the road for a final payday before its time to pull on the slippers and puff on the pipe that it’s well worth taking a gamble on going along.

Magazine didn’t disappoint – they surpassed every one of my hopes and expectations.

I am one very very happy chappy right now. I think you get the message.

mp3 : Magazine – Permafrost (live)*
mp3 : Magazine – A Song From Under The Floorboards (live)*

*Recorded at Melbourne Festival Hall, 6th September 1980.

Happy Listening.

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JC

T Rex

GOING WAAAAAAAAAY BACK IN TIME TODAY

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It’s Valentine’s Day.  And I thought I’d dedicate today’s first post* to my other half, Rachel.  She, more than anyone else, is responsible for the original blog getting going back in 2006 when she bought me a USB Turntable and encourage me to start writing about some of the old music that was sitting here in Villain Towers. 

And last year, for my 60th birthday, she paid for the mint-condition copy of the holy grail, the debut single by Orange Juice on Postcard Records.  I owe so much to her.

I’ve mentioned before that Rachel is a handful of years older than me (not that she looks anything at all like her age – she is a sort of female version of Dorian Gray).  As a teenager, she really had a crush on a few musicians, with the biggest of all being on Marc Bolan.

It was 53 years ago, almost to the day (12 February 1971) when Hot Love was released.  Just over a month later, it reached #1 in the UK singles chart, the first time ever for T. Rex.

mp3: T.Rex – Hot Love

The group would enjoy three further #1 hits over the two years – Get It On, Telegram Sam and Metal Guru, while three others would hit the Top 3 – Jeepster, Children of The Revolution and Sold Gold Easy Action.

Every one of those singles, along with quite a few other T.Rex songs from that golden era have proven to be timeless classics.  Glamorous rock at its very finest, although the first #1 was really quite pop-orientated.

JC

*second post of the day scheduled for a bit later on.