THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER (12)

Chart dates 27 November – 3 December

Before I even pull up the charts for December 1983, I’m anticipating this being a post where not too many songs will feature as the record companies were almost certainly pushing hard forthe Christmas market through the perenials and novelty records. I’ll take a few deep breaths and dive in…..

mp3: Tears For Fears – The Way You Are (#40)

I had forgotten all about this one. Tears For Fears had enjoyed a very decent year, with three singles going Top 5 and debut album The Hurting reaching #1. As a new and young group, they would have been on the receiving end of ‘advice’ from the record label execs, which is why they came to write and record a new song for release in the period just before Christmas, with one eye on giving the album a little extra promotional boost.

As wiki records, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith have been uncompromising in their dislike for the song in the years following its release, Orzabal stating it was “the point we realized we had to change direction”, while Smith was even more direct in proclaiming it “the worst thing we’ve done”.

I agree that, at this point in time, it was their worst song. But future releases down the line would eclipse it.

Chart dates 4-10 December

First thing to mention is that Uptown Girl by Billy Joel had its five-week stay at #1 ended by the Flying Pickets a cappella take on Yazoo’s Only You, which itself would stay at the top of the charts for the next five weeks, gaining the coveted ‘#1 at Xmas ‘title.

Here’s who came into the charts this week with new entries.

#11: Culture Club – Victims
#22: Billy Joel – Tell Her About It
#36: Status Quo – Marguerita Time
#38: UB40 – Many Rivers To Cross
#40: Barry Manilow – Read ‘Em And Weep
#44: Adam Ant – Strip
#49: Kool and The Gang – Straight Ahead
#51: Chas and Dave – My Malancholy Baby
#58: Elton John – Cold As Christmas
#63: Santa Claus & The Christmas Trees – Singalong-a-Santa Again
#70: Rod Stewart – Sweet Surrender
#72: Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
#74: The Klaxons – The Clap Clap Sound
#75: Dayton – The Sound Of Music

I don’t think I ventured near a record store that week….or indeed the rest of the month.

Those of you who live outside the UK probably don’t fully get the horror of the singles charts in the months of December. That new entry at #63 is about as awful as it gets. It was a follow-up to a single from exactly 12 months previous, one which got as high as #19 and earned an appearance on Top of The Pops.

Feel free to stop right there and go find something better to do than read the rest of this rubbish.

Chart dates 11-17 December

A few record labels had been a bit slow in getting their novelty records into the shops and missed out on the bonanza of the first couple of weeks of the month. But it’s never too late to fleece the punters.

#48: The Jingle Bells – Christmas Spectre

I’ve just looked at Discogs. It was a 12″ only release on Passion Records. There’s 38 copies up for sale, ranging from 50p to £15, plus postage and packaging. It’s a medley of the following songs. Frosty The Snowman, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town and White Christmas. How can you resist?

#52: Dennis Waterman and George Cole – What Are We Gonna Get ‘Er Indoors

The following week, this would hit #26. As introduced on Top of The Pops by John Peel. His look of horror as he worries that it might make a late run for a spot on his show’s Festive 50.

#54: Paul McCartney – The Pipes Of Peace
#61: Frida and BA Robertson – Time
#63: David Essex – You’re In My Heart
#70: Malcolm McLaren – Duck For The Oyster

I wonder what John Lydon was thinking?

#71: Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly – True Love
#73: The Jets – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
#74: Bucks Fizz – Rules Of The Game

Chart dates 18-24 December

It still wasn’t to late to inflict pain:-

#34 : Frank Kelly – Christmas Countdown

I had to look this one up.

And yup, it was a hit single for the bloke who would later, and quite brilliantly, play the role of Father Jack in the 90s comedy series, Father Ted. I had no idea, and until now have never heard it. It eventually climbed to #26, and led to a rather surreal Top of the Pops appearance in the first week of January 1984.

But seriously, people bought this shit?????

There were other equally awful singles that crept into the charts this week and indeed the following week. But I’ve had enough, as I’m sure you have too. Just to mention in passing, that among all this nonsense, the following singles were still listed in the Top 75 of the final week of 1983.

Waterfront – Simple Minds
Oblivious – Aztec Camera
This Charming Man – The Smiths
Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood
The Sun and The Rain – Madness
The Love Cats – The Cure
A Solid Bond In Your Heart – The Style Council

Thanks for sticking with me through this series. It’ll be back next year, but this time will involve a 45-year look back at the 45s that were making all the noise in 1979 (but don’t worry, I won’t be looking at the full charts in any depth!)

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Eleven)

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A month after Kennedy had grabbed the indie-world by its lapels and given it the most almighty of shakes, the debut album via RCA was released.

Bizarro didn’t disappoint, other than perhaps it peaked at #22 in the charts, the exact same position as the Ukrainski Vistuip v Johna Peela mini-album. The end of the year came, and The Wedding Present and Bizarro were both high up in all the readers polls in the UK music papers.

David Gedge has since said that Brassneck, one of what he thought would be the key tracks on the album, hadn’t quite turned out as he’d hoped, certainly when compared to its power and intensity in the live setting. He had, for some time, wanted to work with American engineer Steve Albini, and so he floated the idea of recording an EP, with its lead track being a re-recording of Brassneck.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Brassneck

The new version was different in many ways. It was still recognisably TWP, but Albini had trimmed about 35 seconds from the song, and given it more of a harder-edge rock sound. And somehow, he seems to find a way in which the lyric’s full mixture of resentment, anger and regret come through. It did help that one word from the original was changed near the end of the song.

No, I sent you that letter to ask you if the end was worth the means
Was there really no in-between?
And I still don’t feel better
I just wondered if it could be like before and I think you just made me sure
But then that’s typically you
And I might have been a bit rude but I wrote it in a bad mood
I’m not being funny with you
But it’s hard to be engaging when the things you love keep changing

Brassneck
Brassneck.
I just decided I don’t trust you anymore
I just decided I don’t trust you anymore

The first time you came over, do you remember saying then you’d stay for good?
No I didn’t think you would
Well we couldn’t have been closer
But it was different then, and that’s all in the past,
There…I’ve said it now at last!
You grew up quicker than me
I kept so many old things; I never quite stopped hoping
I think I know what this means
It means I’ve got to grow up
It means you want to throw up

Brassneck
Brassneck.
I just decided I don’t trust you anymore
I just decided I don’t love you anymore

Oh, I know you weren’t listening, were you?
Oh, just go, whenever you’d prefer to
I said it means a lot, when you use an old phrase
But then so what?
We can’t have it both ways
I know you’re not bothered are you?
Even so, I’m not going to argue
He won’t object; keep writing to me
Just don’t forget you ever knew me

Released in early February 1990, this reached #24 in the charts and led to an appearance on Top Of The Pops….in which the group played along enthusiastically with the miming that was required, while the singer looked totally bored and uninterested. I don’t think it went down well with the folk at RCA, but once again it was the group’s way of showing that they were calling the shots.

As with Kennedy, this was issued on 7″, 12″, cassette and CD, with three other songs to pick up and enjoy.

mp3 : The Wedding Present – Gone
mp3 : The Wedding Present – Don’t Talk, Just Kiss
mp3 : The Wedding Present – Box Elder

Three absolute belters. Sounded great then and sound just as good now, almost 34 years later. In keeping up with what was now becoming a tradition, one of the songs on the 12″ was a cover. Box Elder was by an American band called Pavement who next to no-one had heard of. Indeed, the label for Brassneck had to give hints, with it saying

‘Box Elder’ : Written by Pavement from Stockton, CA.

It’s now known that Pavement had not long played their first live show (December 1989) and Box Elder had been one of the songs on their debut EP Slay Tracks. But with just 1,000 copies of the EP having been pressed, they were almost totally unknown. It seems that the song had initially been picked up by Keith Gregory, TWP’s bassist, with everyone else agreeing it would make for a great cover.

Before long, John Peel got interested, and having aired the TWP version, he actively sought a copy of the original and began giving it regular spins on his show. It was from there that Pavement took off in the UK and then further afield.

JC

Your Elders

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #386: YOUR ELDERS

Your Elders, as far as I could make out, only ever released two songs, appearing on two separate compilation albums issued by Glasgow-based Bubblegum Records back in 2009. There is absolute no info out there, so I issued an SOS to a couple of folk who were involved with the label….and they duly came up with the goods. It’s a wonderful little tale.

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Your Elders is a Glasgow-based one-man-band. And that one man is the affable Carter Anderson.

Two Your Elders numbers are found on releases from Bubblegum Records, a Glasgow label and a friend of this blog. Both these tracks are worthy of a bit of a spotlight. So here’s some quick info about Carter himself, the label he released on and, of course, the songs themselves.

A lover of comics and pop music, art and literature, professionally Carter found his niche in the advertising industry. It was a great fit, though hardly traditional. That’s because on the creative side of advertising, you’re generally either a words or pictures specialist – so that’s copywriting or artwork and its direction. But across his considerable time in the ad game, Carter was both.

Unusual also was a workmanlike and unpretentious demeanour – qualities that persisted even as he assumed a Glasgow agency’s top-banana role of Creative Director. So with personal peacocking and flash AWOL, panache and flamboyance manifested instead in the work. This was largely located in a pre-social media era – a time characterised mainly by TV and radio ads, press and print. AKA The Good Old Days. It’s no surprise that the energy and zap that typified Carter’s ad work also manifested in the two Your Elders track featured in this post.

Now, if all this sounds like a bit of an obituary, don’t fret. Carter’s disarming manner is today benefitting his charges via a new role as a teacher of English. And I can think of no person better equipped to make an engaging case for Shakespeare and all that other lot.

When introduced to the music for the first time, Bubblegum Records was taken by what it perceived as an intense Bowie/Roxy Music/Eno feel – glam without the sham, not forgetting those all-encompassing distorted guitars.

Your Elders appeared on two Bubblegum Records compilations Pop Vol. 1 and Pick ‘n’ Mix. Both compilations sought to highlight the international nature of independent pop music and that ‘indie’ didn’t have to sound ‘schmindie’ although there’s nowt wrong with a bit of ‘schmindie’.

Pop Vol. 1: (August, 2009).

A four track EP that takes us from Israel to the USA, to Scotland, then back to the USA with Your Elders offering an eponymous track.

Your Elders – Your Elders

Pick ‘n’ Mix: (December, 2009).

Your Elders’ next appearance was on the truly international 27 track, double CD, Pick ’n’ Mix which spanned five continents of DIY talent. Your Elders provided the CD closer, The Ghost In The Machine.

Your Elders – The Ghost From The Machine

Released in time for Christmas, the double CD was given away free to those that attended the Bubblegum Winter event, with an additional fifty lucky people receiving the double CD and all five previous releases in their goody bag.

Pick ‘n’ Mix marked a significant achievement as far as the label was concerned. From serious musicians recording in studios to solo artists experimenting in bedrooms, the compilation illustrated not only the DIY nature of some of the bands/artists, but also the label itself.

Carter created the majority of the art work for the label, capturing both its spirit and irreverence.

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So….I was right about there only ever being two songs. But they are more than decent songs to listen to and enjoy. The eponymous track is a pop number which seems to pay homage to all sorts of influences from across the decades, while The Ghost From The Machine is a more gentle offering. What strikes me is that both sound as if they are the work of a band rather than an individual, and it does seem remarkable that they are the work of someone who was very much interested in making music as a ‘hobby’ with no intention of seemingly ever giving up the day job. A couple of hidden gems for you…..

JC

Jasmine Minks

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #041

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#041– The Jasmine Minks – ‘Cold Heart’ (Creation Records ’86)

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Hello friends,

let’s be honest: we all loved Creation Records, didn’t we? I mean, come on: The Jesus & Mary Chain, Oasis, Primal Scream …. all the big names, ey? But you have to be a) really old or b) a real nerd or c) both in order to remember Creation’s beginnings – and the handful of bands the label started with: Biff Bang Pow!, The Legend, Revolving Paint Dream, The Pastels (which Creation bought from Rough Trade) … and a Jam-influenced four piece from Aberdeen: The Jasmine Minks.

The Jasmine Minks released their first single (‘Think!’) and also their first mini album in 1984, the album being only the third one for Creation to put out, in fact. Only shortly before that just 700 singles had been pressed for The Legend, Primal Scream and The Jasmine Minks, quite a contrast to 1995, when 15 million copies of Oasis’ ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory’ were issued.

Alan McGee, Creation’s boss, once said that those beginnings set the scene for Oasis’ success. Obviously this has to be taken with a pinch of salt, but nevertheless The Jasmine Minks’ importance should not be under-estimated, I think: after all The Jesus & Mary Chain borrowed The Minks’ equipment for recording their debut single, ‘Upside Down’ … so let’s just imagine a world without The Mary Chain in case The Jasmine Minks hadn’t been so generous back then.

In October 1984, the band went on tour with The Jesus and Mary Chain and Biff Bang Pow!, and they must have had heavy nights by all accounts, due to The Jesus & Mary Chain being, well, The Jesus & Mary Chain: “when the Jasmines went on (stage)’, relates Adam Sanderson, one of their two frontmen, ‘Jim [Shepherd] and I kept turning our backs to the audience during instrumental parts, in a synchronized way like the anti-Shadows.’ This was no dance routine. Sanderson had a claw hammer in his back pocket, Shepherd a steel pipe, and they wanted the crowd to know it.

Still, to be honest though, as you might have gathered, The Mary Chain stole the show, by and large. It is hard to say whether The Jasmine Minks already disappeared from people’s radar that early, or whether this came a bit later. The thing is, you see: they always were true to themselves and their style (60-s influenced, but most of the time rough as fuck) – but alas it was a style which didn’t meet with the approval of all too many. This certainly came to light when their second (self-titled/’proper’) album was released in 1986, one could argue that they already were a year or so out of date at that time.

The album isn’t ‘bad’, you see – if you find it somewhere for a reasonable price you should get it, that’s my recommendation. Then again all you need to have is this, the only single from the album, and what a bloody masterpiece it is, and always has been for the last 37 years – at least in our house – I cannot find the right words to say how much I love this single:

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mp3: The Jasmine Minks – Cold Heart

Now, whatever became of Creation Records, you might all be wondering? Well, McGee ceased operations in 1999, only to create the Poptones Label one year later. When its shares were listed on the Alternative Investment Market that summer, Poptones was valued as high as 17 million British Pounds. Among those hurrying to acquire a GBP 50.000 stake in McGee’s multimedia future was the Queen of England.

Nine months later, the acts on Poptones’ roster included a 40-year-old former rhythm guitarist in the Undertones, an Elvis Presley impersonator from Los Angeles … and the Jasmine Minks. So there you are.

Take good care,

Dirk

JC ADDS…….

The Jasmine Minks have just released a brand-new album on the Last Night From Glasgow label. Click here for info.

Front 242, Loop, My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, Sonic Youth

BACK TO BACK

A guest posting by flimflamfan

back

This is a rather random post. I was sat on a train heading West to East (Central Scotland). As usual my earbuds were in – some gentle tunes to ease the journey, not that the journey is in any way arduous. Music tends to enhance most things, I find.

The LP I was listening to finished and for reasons unknown the following popped into my head like a bolt of nonsense-lightning… “If I was DJ-ing the two songs from that LP I’d play back to back would be Never Understand followed by You Trip Me Up”.

A stream of bands and associated songs popped into my head – joyful memory jolts…

Teen Age Riot v Kool Thing (Sonic Youth)
Levitate Me v Gigantic (Pixies)
Arc-Lite (Sonar) v Collision (Loop)
Headhunter v Welcome To Paradise (Front 242)

I then wondered if anyone had ever set up a club night that consisted of the DJ playing two songs back to back, from different bands, all night? I suspect my own epiphany is nothing new to music blogs, forums etc. over the years, but it kept me amused, for a time.

It was time for me to depart the train and catch my connection. My mind wandered to more mundane matters.

While waiting on the platform, bam!

Feed Me With Your Kiss v You Made Me Realise (My Bloody Valentine).

Of course! An absolute must in this situation. I was a little disappointed that it had taken me so long to think of what must be one of the most obvious of choices.

I appreciate that the songs above are old-school indie. Songs, in some respects, for nostalgia buffs, although they are as vibrant today as they ever were.

I then asked myself the question “would I go to a club night like that now if someone were to host one?” The answer? “No.” Would my younger self attend? “With bells on… indie bells, obviously”.

My younger self has fortunately danced his little legs off to all of the above songs – some might say with gay abandon? I’m intrigued to know what my next random musical thought might be.

I hope you’re now thinking of back to back songs that you dance your legs off to, or at the very least, would tap your toes lightly to.

flimflamfan

Ride

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #356: RIDE (2)

A GUEST POSTING by ERIC from OAKLAND

RIDE “b-sides and album tracks” ICA

I’ve been digging through my RIDE collection lately and thought about doing an ICA, so I went back to read RIDE ICA 004 (004!) and realized that it’s already pretty damn great. When I think of RIDE there are some tracks that simply cannot be left out (Leave Them, Chrome Waves, Vapour Trail, Dreams Burn Down) and they are all there.

So in the spirit of my Weddoes ICA (ICA 339) I decided to do a kind of RIDE alt-ICA, if you will. None of these tracks were the A1 of a single, or radio play favorites (at least not on college and modern rock radio out in California). So that means none of the usual suspects, and no Chelsea Girl, Daydream, Unfamiliar… you get the idea. I also tried not to overlap the 1st ICA so they can complement each other (spoiler alert, I failed, twice). It’s a chance to showcase just how deep the bench was on all their records.

SIDE A

Drive Blind (Chelsea Girl EP)

Dance with the one that brought ya. It was this track off their debut single that hooked me. An obvious highlight of all live shows, I wonder if this couldn’t have been the lead track on the EP. It certainly feels more in keeping with what came after.

Sennen (Unfamiliar EP)

It’s tempting to include 3 Today Forever b-sides. The TF EP exposes the thinness of this concept. How can you consider the other 3 tracks on this EP “B-sides” when it’s as close to a perfect 4 song EP as you are gonna get.

Mouse Trap (Going Blank Again)

Ride dip their toe in math rock territory and blow the roof off. I often wonder what would have happened if they pursued this direction over the classic rock feel of their remaining 90s work.

Nowhere (Dreams Burn Down EP)

Big song with a big concept that pays off big time.

Polar Bear (Nowhere Album)

Epic. Great for singing along to in the car at ungodly levels.

SIDE B

Home is a Feeling (Weather Diaries)

Gorgeous track off Weather Diaries. Clearly the band had more to say. Almost 30yrs after their debut they released a fantastic album.

Stampede (Twisterella EP)

This one starts off pretty unassuming. I wonder if that’s why it didn’t make the album. However as it progresses it grows into something with a lot more complexity. The chorus is a great sing-along that sticks in my head.

Close My Eyes (Chelsea Girl EP)

We’ve all been there…

Cool Your Boots (Going Blank Again)

Even a stopped clock…There’s a wistfulness to this track that gets me every time. And then at the end when they start playing with dropping beats, it just kills me.

Today (Unfamiliar EP)

I was reminded of the genius of this tune at the reunion shows. There’s just something elegant about the construction: a simple concept that is worked to the point of perfection.

You will notice some records aren’t represented. There’s nothing from the 3rd or 4th records, or the most recent. The only reason for that is simply that I don’t have them on vinyl (yet). Also, nothing from the Like a Daydream EP. It’s not that they aren’t great, I just don’t get that ‘above the rest’ feels.

I thought about being cheeky and including Grasshopper. I remember back in the day fans would yell out “Freebird!” at shows to try to get them to play it (ask your dad). I only remember it happening once. At the time it seemed like such an over the top move of self indulgence, but as I get older, I find myself returning to it quite a bit. It’s the space and patience of the track that get me now.

Here’s a mix of the ICA: RIDE Imaginary Compilation Album

Eric from Oakland

Raveonettes

OH MY, CHECK OUT THE GUEST STARS ON THIS ONE

From the often neglected area where a relatively small number of 10″ singles are stored.

The Raveonettes, hailing from Copenhagen, had gained a bit of a following in the UK back in 2002/03 thanks to a handful of excellent singles that were accompanied by fairly memorable promo videos – but let’s face it, the visual thing was quite easy to pull off when the two main members of the band, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, had such striking looks. The debut album, Chain Gang Of Love, was a moderate success in terms of sales, but there was a feeling that firm foundations had been laid to take them to the next level.

It helped that the band was signed to Columbia Records, meaning that recording and promotional budgets weren’t too much of an issue. The second album, Pretty In Black, was recorded in two studios in New York City in 2004, which made it rather easy for a couple of genuine superstars to drop by and add their touches to what was the selected as the lead-off single:-

mp3: The Raveonettes – Ode To L.A.

The drums are courtesy of Mo Tucker of The Velvet Underground who seemingly came to the studio on her 60th birthday. The backing/co- vocals are from Ronnie Spector. The results are kind of like putting all the different parts of a jigsaw together to make for a very satisfactory outcome. Sadly, nobody paid too much attention to the single, and it limped its way to #78 in the UK singles charts, but then again, it was only actually made available on 10″ vinyl, other than a handful of promotional CDs. My second-hand copy was picked up many years later, and it wasn’t expensive. Even today, you can find it on Discogs for £3.

Here’s the b-side:-

mp3: The Raveonettes – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Yup….the old Hank Williams country classic, done in a very straightforward way with just an acoustic guitar with Sune Rose on lead vocal, but joined in harmony by Sharin. It’s quite a contrast to the sort of production with which the band had made its name, but it’s a take on things that I quite like.

JC

Delmonas

COMIN’ HOME BABY (Vol 1)

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The lead track of this 1984 EP came to my attention thanks to it being included on the 90-track boxset compilation, Make More Noise! : Women in UK Independent Music 1977-1987, released a few years back by Cherry Red Records.

Here’s the backstory (with thanks to the website of Damaged Goods Records).

“When punk rock group the Pop Rivets broke up in 1980, Billy Childish joined forces with Mickey Hampshire, a Pop Rivets roadie who had been performing in a group called Mickey and the Milkshakes with his cohort Banana Bertie. The two began writing songs together and the group released their first LP, Talking ’bout Milkshakes! in 1981.

With Childish and Hampshire sharing guitar and vocal duties, Bruce Brand on drums, and Bertie on bass (later replaced by Russ Wilkins then John Agnew), the Milkshakes’ sound was a primitive blend of British beat groups, like the early Kinks at their toughest, and hard-rocking American guitar instrumentalists like Link Wray. This sound came to be known as the “Medway sound” and the core members have been playing a variation on it throughout their whole careers.

The Milkshakes were a very prolific group, recording nine records in their four years together, and the band was very much a blend of Childish’s primitive songwriting and Hampshire’s more melodic leanings. The group also masterminded and backed a Medway girl group, the Delmonas.

The Delmonas were a trio whose members went only by their surnames of Sarah, Hilary and Louise. This EP was the first of their own releases:-

mp3: The Delmonas – Comin’ Home Baby
mp3: The Delmonas – Chains
mp3: The Delmonas – Woa’ Now
mp3: The Delmonas – He Tells Me He Loves Me

The first two songs were covers, while the latter two were penned by Billy Childish and Mickey Hampshire, and The Milkshakes provided the musical accompaniment.

The Delmonas would, over a four-year spell, go on to record and release a handful of EPs/singles along with three albums of material, all of which, in the words of the Damaged Goods webiste, ‘ mixed cover versions from the ’50s and ’60s with original compositions that sounded as if they came from that era — upbeat ravers in the spirit of the Shangri-Las, Lesley Gore, Nancy Sinatra, and other tough-but-tender girl acts. If they didn’t quite have the vocal range of those artists, they made up for it in attitude and enthusiasm.”

Make of these four tracks what you will. The title track is to celebrate that Should be back in the UK today.

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Ten)

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The next 45 from The Wedding Present has proved to be the most popular of them all among the fan base. But before we get to there, there’s a few more bits of the backstory needing to be told.

With the series focussing on the singles, I omitted to mention last week that a further album had come out on Reception Records in July 1988. Tommy was a 12-track compilation of the early singles, b-sides and material from radio sessions. It’s easy to forget that much of the early material was only ever pressed in relatively small numbers, so this was a good way of ensuring the ever-increasing number of fans wouldn’t feel left out. Tommy reached #42 in the album charts, some five places higher than George Best had achieved.

Something from even further back also needs to be mentioned.

The band’s second John Peel session, recorded in October 1986, included a short instrumental called Hopak. This was a traditional song from Ukraine, the country of birth of the father of the band’s guitarist Pete Solowka, and often played as part of pre-gig tune-ups while touring.

From this, an idea emerged that they should return for further Peel sessions, in which the sets would consist solely of their versions of Ukrainian folk songs. These duly took place in June 1987 and March 1988, with both sessions being so popular with listeners that they were each repeated on four occasions within short periods of time. These sessions were augmented by two guest musicians – Len Liggins (violin/vocals) and Roman Remeynes (mandolin), with David Gedge more than willing to step back and concentrate on playing rhythm guitar.

The plan was then to release both sessions in mid-1988 on an EP via Reception Records, which you will recall was the label owned and run by the band. However, the distribution company Red Rhino, on whom Reception and many other small labels relied, unexpectedly went bust. Having weighed up all the options, including shifting to a new distribution set-up, The Wedding Present chose instead to close down their label and take up the offer that had been put to them by RCA Records, one of the world’s biggest major labels.

Cue the cries of ‘sell-out’ from the indie purists and music critics. The band said publicly, and on more than one occasion, that they would be the ones dictating things to the label, with them having the final say on what would be released.

And, as if to prove this was the case, the first release via RCA Records, in April 1989, was a mini-album, on 10″ vinyl, called Ukrainski Vistuip v Johna Peela, consisting of the eight songs recorded over the two Peel Sessions. This entered the charts at #22, proving just how more effective the major labels were with marketing, sales and distribution into the shops.

All of which takes us up to May 1988. Another Peel Session is recorded, but this time it consists of four new and original TWP songs. The excitement around the first releases under the RCA banner was really growing, with the previous sell-out shouts being largely forgotten.

It was late September when this hit the shops:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Kennedy

I’ve said before, but this is the point in time when I finally ‘discovered’ the band, after hearing this played on the radio during the Top 40 rundown. I was hooked…….

Last year, a new book about TWP songs was published, in which fans contributed their stories as to why one was a particular favourite. There’s hundreds of different tales on offer, but the song which was most nominated and featured was Kennedy.

And rightly so. It’s the song that made me a convert to the church of David Gedge, and I’ve been a faithful member ever since. I’m a regular attendee at the places of worship (ie gigs), and I’ll also contribute as and when required to the coffers (ie records, t-shirts, videos, CDs, etc). It’s just such a tremendous tune, and the chorus (as such) is bonkersly brilliant…..too much apple pie indeed.

Released on 7″, 12″, cassette and CD, there were three other songs to pick up and enjoy.

mp3 : The Wedding Present – Unfaithful
mp3 : The Wedding Present – One Day All This Will All Be Yours
mp3 : The Wedding Present – It’s Not Unusual *

Yes….the Tom Jones song! The cover versions were becoming increasingly inspired.

Oh, and a special shout-out for Unfaithful. A song that really deserved to be given a much higher profile than a b-side. It could have, and arguably should have, been a single – one that would have demonstrated a slower and more melodic side to the band than they were known for at this point in time.

Apologies for the length of this post, but hopefully you’ll understand why it turned out that way.

Brevity will be the buzzword from now on in.

JC

Youngsterrr Joey

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #385: YOUNGSTRRR JOEY

In October 2015, Edinburgh-based Song, By Toad Records released a compilation album called David Cameron’s Eton Mess. The label proclaimed it to be ‘a collection of the very finest lo-fi, slacker, outsider pop tunes Scotland has to offer.’

Very few of the acts would ever do much beyond being featured on the compilation, and information on many of them is hard to come by. The alphabetical run-down of Scottish bands on the hard drive has reached one such act:-

mp3: Youngsterrr Joey – Michael

The fact that Youngsterr Joey would later enjoy a cassette-only mini-album on Song, By Toad, for which there was a little bit of info put out, enables me to state that it is the recording name taken by Cal Donnelly for his solo material.

Cal is someone who has (and maybe still is?) been part of a few cult Scottish acts such as Breakfast Muff, Spinning Coin and KAPPUTT. It’s hard to know, with so many not continuing to perform/record after the disruption caused by the COVID lockdowns, who might still be on the go.

It’s obviously getting to the stage where the letter ‘Z’ will soon feature, but I just want to say that it won’t be the end of the series.

For one thing….the artistes whose name begins with a number come on the hard drive after ‘Z’.

Secondly, I began this odyssey back in February 2015 with A.C. Acoustics. I’ve continued to buy new music since then, and a few additional singers and bands from Scotland have ended up being added to the hard drive well after their alphabetical turn had already come and gone….so it will be a few more months during which I’ll pick up anyone who has been missed out before it all comes to a natural end.

Tough luck if it’s not a feature which captures your imagination!

JC

Various

HOLIDAY HYMNS (7)

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Sippin’ on the dock of the bay?

mp3: Various – Holiday Hymns (7)

I Am A Poseur – X-Ray Spex
Pigs – Brenda
Heaven Help You Now (12″) – Paul Haig
My Doorbell – The White Stripes
Mo’Pop – Dot Allison
Wrote For Luck – Happy Mondays
Sabotage – Beastie Boys
Heads Will Roll – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Love Is Short – Otoboke Beaver
Up Up And Away (Happy Sexy Mix) – The Beloved
My Delirium – Ladyhawke
Abba & The Bunnymen – Go-Home Productions
Well Done Sonny – The Weather Prophets
Last Nite – The Strokes
Grand Final Day – Ducks Ltd.

JC

Various

HOLIDAY HYMNS (6)

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You can just about see the room that myself and Mrs Villain are currently occupying. During the daytime, we will likely be making use of those blue beach umbrellas

mp3: Various – Holiday Hymns (6)

Bodega Birth – Bodega
Just Step Sways – The Fall
Dreaming – Allo Darlin’
Dog-Eared August – Hamish Hawk
A Cloud In A Box – Pet Shop Boys
Chaise Longue – Wet Leg
Heads Will Roll (summer mix) – Echo and The Bunnymen
For You (single mix) – Electronic
Landslide – The Popguns
White Man (In Hammersmith Palais) – The Clash
Man o’ Sand to Girl o’ Sea (single version) – The Go-Betweens
Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) (Party Line Mix) – De La Soul
Each and Everyone – Everything But The Girl
Dennis and Lois – Happy Mondays
Carte Postale – George Pringle
Shampoo Tears – Win
Moscow Olympics – Orange Juice

JC

Various

ONE SIDE OF AN OLD C120 (PRECISELY) (Re-post)

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Last week, I shared one from August 2016 that had over-run by 20 seconds.

I made a better fist of things in December 2017. Well, I made it out as if I did. This one was almost a minute too long!!!

Blame it on the old habits of being a spin doctor working in the public sector.

mp3 : Various Artists – One side of an old C120 (Precisely)

If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar
Brimful of Asha (Fatboy Slim remix) – Cornershop
Seether – Veruca Salt
Speed-Date – Arab Strap
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House – LCD Soundsystem
Sub-Culture – New Order
Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
Wrote For Luck – Happy Mondays
Slave To The Rhythm – Grace Jones
To Lose My Life – White Lies
Totally Wired – The Fall
Satisfaction – Rolling Stones
Love Plus One – Haircut 100
Ever Fallen In Love…? – Buzzcocks
Blue Boy – Orange Juice
Kennedy – The Wedding Present
Roi (reprise) – The Breeders

JC

Various

HOLIDAY HYMNS (5)

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Volume 5 of the holiday mixes. Couple of neat changes in this one, if you don’t mind me saying…..

mp3: Various – Holiday Hymns (5)

Freeworld – Kirsty MacColl
Has It Come To This? – The Streets
Frozen – Curve
Black Lucia – Aztec Camera
Monday Morning – Pulp
Would You Fuck – The Lovely Eggs
Firestarter – The Prodigy
Sleepwalk – Ultravox
Funeral Pyre – The Jam
Reggie Song -PiL
Microscopic Baby – Brenda
Rotten To The Core – Friends Of The Family
Cannonball – The Breeders
Debaser – Pixies
Free Range – The Fall
Pristine Christine – The Sea Urchins
Upside Down – The Jesus and Mary Chain

JC

Various

HOLIDAY HYMNS (4)

Beach

Volume 4 of the holiday mixes. This has a wee bit of almost everything…..included a ten-minute epic to round it all off.

mp3: Various – Holiday Hymns (4)

Mirrorball – The Catenary Wires
If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You – Super Furry Animals
Deceptacon – Le Tigre
Lithium – Nirvana
The HOUSE oF ALL – The Magic Sound
Maniac – Cinerama
The Shy Retirer – Arab Strap
I’m Done With Drugs – Eugene Kelly
To Know Your Mission – Jens Lekman
Entschuldigung! – Pet Shop Boys
Open Your Heart – The Human League
Friday Night Saturday Morning – The Brilliant Corners
Marquee Moon – Television

JC

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Nine)

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Before 1988 came to an end, The Wedding Present once again hooked up with Strange Fruit, the commercial arm, musically, of the BBC, to release another 12″ single.

This time, it was from the Janice Long Show for a session recorded back on 20 April 1986 and broadcast on 15 May 1986. Three of the songs were TWP originals, with the other being a cover from a band much associated with Leeds.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft (Evening Show Session)
mp3: The Wedding Present – Shatner (Evening Show Session)
mp3: The Wedding Present – My Favourite Dress (Evening Show Session)
mp3: The Wedding Present – I Found That Essence Rare (Evening Show Session)

The last of these was written and recorded by Gang Of Four and included on their 1979 debut album, Entertainment! As covers go, I’ll suggest it’s just on the right side of OK, with the original angular guitar sound getting replaced by something just a bit faster, which means it’s all done and dusted in around 40 seconds less time.

mp3: Gang Of Four – I Found That Essence Rare

This was the sixteenth in what was known as the Nighttracks series, but was the first to be given both a vinyl and CD release. It didn’t chart, but then again it was really only aimed at hardcore fans and everyone seemed satisfied given that the versions of the TWP songs differed a bit from the studio versions, but I still can’t get used to there being no whistling on Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft.

What nobody knew at the time was that 1989 would take the band to a place of horror for many of their diehard and hardcore fans as they accepted an offer that was put to them by a major record label….

JC

Y'All Is Fantasy Island

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #384: Y’ALL IS FANTASY ISLAND

Y’All Is Fantasy Island were formed in Falkirk in 2001 by singer/songwriter Adam Stafford. After a couple of low-key releases, including 2002’s cassette only Wisconsin Death Trip mini album and 2005’s Skeletal Demos EP, Stafford recruited guitarist Tommy Blair (guitar) and drummer Jon McCall (drums). In 2006, the trio recorded the debut album In Faceless Towns Forever which was released by the Falkirk-based indie label Panic in Year Zero.

Around the same time, bassist/keyboardist Robbie Lesiuk came on board to help fill out their live sound, but the following year he, along with Jon McCall decided to leave the band. Their replacements were Steven Tosh on drums and Jamie Macleod on bass.

The new-look band recorded the next album, Rescue Weekend, which was issued on their own label, Wise Blood Industries in early 2008. It was around this time that they began to earn a well-deserved reputation for their live shows, and soon they were being asked to play on the same bills as many of the really-talked about Scottish acts such as Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, which is where they came into my orbit.

They were then asked to record for the Glasgow-based label, Winning Sperm Party, and they embarked on a remarkably prolific period in the later half of 2008, which saw With Handclaps, a new EP emerge in August, a new album of songs in the shape of No Ceremony, an album that many remarked was heavily influenced by Nirvana/Foo Fighters, being released in November, while the following month, a largely instrumental effort, Infanticidal Genuflector: Selected Film Soundtrack Work 06/07 was issued.

2009 saw loads of live shows, and the future looked really bright for the band, with all sorts of positive noises being made by the Scottish music press and the ever-increasing number of folk writing about music across the internet.

Tommy Blair decided, out of the blue, to quit in October 2009, which led to a bit of a reassessment. There were less live shows in 2010, although there was a short tour in support of Warpaint, but no music emerged. The band then called it a day in early 2011 after a few shows when Robbie Lesiuk returned to play guitar in place of Tommy Blair.

Adam Stafford subsequently embarked on a solo career, during which he was continued to work closely with Robbie Lesiuk, and to date has released ten albums, initially via Wise Blood Industries but later through the Edinburgh-based Song, By Toad Records. Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog will know that it’s a bit of an understatement to say that I’m a fan……

So many good tunes from the era with the original band to choose from. This one can be found on No Ceremony.

mp3: Y’All Is Fantasy Island – Punk Rock Disco

I really should do an ICA at some point. It won’t matter if it turns out that I’m the only one who enjoys it…..

JC

Various

HOLIDAY HYMNS (3)

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Volume 3 of the holiday mixes. Has songs spanning the early 8os through to this year. Oh, and the last two tunes do sound sort of similar…..

mp3: Various – Holiday Hymns (3)

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu – The Porpoise Song
Red Guitars – Good Technology
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – Patience
Blondie – Heart Of Glass
Japan – Life In Tokyo
Ian McCulloch – Lover Lover Lover
The Fall – Return (Peel Session)
Cocteau Twins– When Mama Was Moth
Modern English – Someone’s Calling
10,000 Maniacs – Like The Weather
Poster Paints – Number 1
International Teachers Of Pop – After Dark
Big Audio Dynamite– Hollywood Boulevard (club mix)
Hamish Hawk – Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion 1973
R.E.M. – What’s The Frequency Kenneth? (remix)
Wire – Feeling Called Love

JC

Various

THE CLASS OF 79 (Re-post)

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As mentioned at the end of last week, it’s that time of the year when I head off on holiday and will be unlikely to keep on top of all things TVV.

It’s going to be a bunch of hour-long mixes for much of the next two weeks, but the usual weekend features will be there to break things up. Just over half of the mixes will be new under the Holiday Hymns banner, but I’m also fishing out some golden oldies that haven’t been available to download for a few years.

This one dates from 28 August 2019.

It was my way of imagining I had DJ’s at Mrs Villain’s 21st Birthday Party, which would have been in 1979. It’s since hit me that even with a magic time-machine, it likely wouldn’t have worked as some of the songs were only released after 28 August 1979 and wouldn’t have been available to dance to at the 21st.

Still, it was the thought that counted!

mp3 : Various – The Class of ’79 (volume 1)

The Clash – I Fought The Law
Squeeze – Up The Junction
Blondie – Heart of Glass
The Specials – Gangsters
Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough
Joy Division – Transmission
The Jam – Strange Town
Wire – On Returning
The Pretenders – Brass In Pocket
David Bowie – Boys Keep Swinging
Gary Numan – Cars
OMD – Electricity
Joe Jackson – Is She Really Going Out With Him?
The B52’s – Rock Lobster
Gang Of Four – Damaged Goods
Earth, Wind & Fire – Boogie Wonderland
XTC – Making Plans For Nigel
The Undertones – Get Over You

JC

Various

HOLIDAY HYMNS (2)

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Volume 2 of the holiday mixes. Song titles come first this time. Just didn’t have room for 26 songs across one hour. Might try and achieve that another time.

mp3: Various – Holiday Hymns (2)

ABBA On The Jukebox – Trembling Blue Stars
Bouncing Babies – The Teardrop Explodes
California Uber Alles – The Delgados
Draw In The Reins – Cats On Fire
Electrified – Dressy Bessy
Find My Baby – Moby
Go Wild In The Country – Bow Wow Wow
Half A World Away – R.E.M.
In The City – The Jam
Jawbone And The Air Rifle (Peel Session) -The Fall
Kiss Me, Hold Me and Eat Me – Ballboy
Landslide – The Popguns
Memento Mori- The Wedding Present
NY Excuse – Soulwax
Obscurity Knocks – Trashcan Sinatras
Pure Morning (Les Rythmes Digitales Remix) – Placebo
Queen Bitch – David Bowie