THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

ONE-OFF PIECES OF VINYL (4)

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I used to have three singles by X-Ray Spex in my collection, but they were lost many years ago as part of the shambolic episode in Edinburgh that I’ve mentioned a few times over the years. I never got round to replacing them, mainly as they weren’t always the easiest to come across in second-hand shops, certainly in Glasgow.

A couple of years ago, a dear friend of this blog very generously gifted me a spare copy of Germfree Adolescents, the band’s debut album from 1978. I was thrilled to be on the end of such generosity, not least as it took its place as the only piece of vinyl by X-Ray Spex in the collection, and given the price of second-hand records by post-punk bands, it is likely to stay that way for quite some time.

It wasn’t an album I bought back in the day. I wanted to, but there was only so much vinyl that could be purchased from pocket money, the paper round and the notes placed inside birthday cards….besides, many of the tracks had already been issued as singles or b-sides.

At the time, I never quite appreciated just how young Poly Styrene was when her band became such an important part of the post-punk scene in the UK. She was barely 20-years of age, just six years older than me, but the difference between a 14-year-old and a 20-year-old is about as wide as it ever can be in any aspect of the age gap….I just saw her as another grown-up adult singing with a band and appearing on my TV screen on shows like Top of The Pops. It’s only as I look back at what I was like when I had just left my teens to see just how incredible an achievement it was for her to be up on those stages, even more so when the difficult upbringing she had experienced became more widely known many years later.

I’ve often wondered when listening to Germ Free Adolescents as to how Poly Styrene would have grown and evolved in the digital era rather than the late 70s. She would have surely very quickly become a role model for so many people, disaffected or otherwise, while the music she and her bandmates were making would have found a wider audience than was the case – the album didn’t get any higher than #30 while there was just the one single to make the Top 20. One thing for sure, is that she would easily have found a platform to express her views, thoughts and opinions and not had to rely on the whims of editors and reporters from the music papers with their own more narrow agendas and outlooks on life.

mp3: X-Ray Spex – Identity
mp3: X-Ray Spex – Art-I-Ficial
mp3: X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents
mp3: X-Ray Spex – I Am A Poseur

I am a poseur and I don’t care I like to make people stare I am a poseur and I don’t careI like to make people stare

Exhibition is the name Voyeurism is the game Stereoscopic is the show Viewing time makes it grow

As I was saying, Poly would have fitted in perfectly with the modern era, but back then the men who ran the music and entertainment industries didn’t know what to make of her.

JC

Ian McCulloch

THINKING BACK, HE WAS TAKING THE PISS, WASN’T HE?

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Ocean Rain, the fourth studio album by Echo and The Bunnymen, was released in May 1984. It reached #4 in the UK charts, while three of its nine tracks were released and became hit singles (The Killing Moon – #9, Silver – #30, and Seven Seas – #16).

The band’s profile was as high as it had ever been, but instead of building on any momentum there was something of a fall-out, with lead singer Ian McCulloch announcing he had plans to embark on a solo career.

I have to admit that I was quite excited by the prospect, not because I was sick and tired of the Bunnymen (far from it in actual fact), but as I really wanted to see what sort of music Mac was intending to make.

If memory serves me correctly, the Channel 4 music programme The Tube trailed that he would be on the show one Friday night and that the video for his debut solo single would receive its world premiere. I sat down to watch, inserting the VHS tape to capture his interview and the promo.

As Half Man Half Biscuit would say many year later in respect of the seaside resort of Westward Ho!……what a letdown. The song was a dirge. It was a cover version of a tune I knew nothing of, although Mac in his interview was very much talking up how much he was a fan of Kurt Weill, whose compositions between the 1920s and his death in 1950 were all the rage.

Being a fan, I still went out and bought it:-

mp3: Ian McCulloch – September Song

It still didn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t make head nor tale of the tune or the lyrics. Maybe Mac thought every Bunnymen fan would rush out to help it race into the charts, but he was wrong, as it stalled outside the Top 50.

It just didn’t appeal one iota to the 21-year old me, and the thing is, almost forty years on, I still have no time for it, but I am wondering if anyone out there had a different take on things.

Oh, and the reason for the title of this posting is really down to the b-side. I saw what it was called and thought, before I gave it a spin, that Mac surely hadn’t turned his attention to a ditty based on an Irish folk song, much beloved among music hall aficionados.

But he was……

mp3: Ian McCulloch – Cockles and Mussels

The muted reaction to the single clearly irked Mac as it would be another five years before he released his next solo material, by which time he had made a very public announcement that his days with the Bunnymen had come to an end.

JC

Terris

WHY I STOPPED BUYING THE NME : VOLUME 1

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Before I go any further, I better point out that this is a guest posting. It’s from SWC, and if you want to read what I was intending to put up here today, then you’ll have to navigate your way to No Badger Required.

It was SWC’s idea. His brilliant pitch was “Can we do a blogging exchange like two parents dropping off our sprog in a rundown motorway service station?”

How could I say no? Over to SWC:-

Why I stopped buying the NME Vol. 1

Fabricated Lunacy – Terris (2001, Blanco Y Negro Records, Taken from ‘Learning to Let Go’)

At the turn of the century, the NME was hanging on by its fingernails at the cutting edge of cool. Despite having several talented writers, who knew one side of a banger from the other, the once brilliant paper had become shallow and very much in the pockets of companies who promoted style over substance. Their once legendary awards shows became nothing more than a big advert for hair gel and styling mousse.

Desperate for an edge, the NME came up with a new concept, a series of front page covers featuring bands and acts that they considered to be ‘Stars of the New Millennium’. The first band to feature on the cover of the NME in the new millennium, were Terris.

The band that the biggest selling rock weekly decided would be the perfect band to herald in a new era and the next thousand years of music, were an indie pop band from South Wales, who had a singer called Gavin. Terris had played a few shows where singer Gavin Goodwin would spout bollocks from the stage, and the rest of the gig saw reviews featuring the words “Incendiary” and “irascible” aplenty. In that very issue the NME described Terris as, and I am typing this exactly as they put it just to really hammer home the point: –

“a 21st Century Joy Division, fronted by a young, totally wired, Welsh Tom Waits, strapped to the front of a speeding train with no brakes.”

In that one sentence, the NME broke music, almost beyond repair.

Its fair to say that Terris divided opinion. The NME thought they were great, everyone else thought they were dogshite. Goodwin’s voice was an acquired taste, it was raw, gravelly, hence the Tom Waits comparison, but it was nowhere near as good as Tom Waits, and they sounded more like Bon Jovi than they did Joy Division. They made ridiculously over the top statements about other Welsh bands, the Manics were

“Shite plastic nobodies”, (Pot. Kettle.)

Catatonia were

“as embarrassing as Shirley Bassey after a bottle of wine” (ok, that is quite funny)

and as hard as Terris tried to be cool and appeal to the masses, they looked more like they were going to fix your washing machine than they did the future of rock music. Not one note of Terris’ music was going to set the establishment on fire, as the NME predicted it would. Terris were not even as good the 60ft Dolls, let alone the future of rock.

Happy Shopper – 60 Foot Dolls (1996, Indolent Records, Taken from ‘The Big 3’)

In 2001 the NME were still championing Terris, in a way that only a mother, whose child had just stabbed Santa Claus to death in front of an entire school, could. In a simpering review of their debut album ‘Learning to Let Go’ (of which ‘Fabricated Lunacy’ is the only real highlight), the NME wrote and I’m quoting exactly here again.

“Only one band want to make records that blow holes through the limits of what we currently meekly accept as sonically reasonable in the field of rock. Only one band can. And that’s Terris”.

‘Fabricated Lunacy’ reached the giddy heights of Number 42 in the UK, and then, after the release of ‘Learning to Let Go’, Terris vanished. Sonically reasonable acceptance remained hole free for another year.

Cannibal Kids – Terris (2000, Blanco Y Negro Records, Single)

SWC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : ROUND TWO OF THE KNOCKOUT STAGE (ii)

icaworldcup I thought away back when pulling this thing together that the really close contests might start to appear by the time we got to Round 2, with us being down to the last 32 standing. Were my instincts right?

The first 20 sets of votes (50% of the final total) had arrived by 2pm on Sunday afternoon, just nine hours after polling had opened. Three of the ties already looked done and dusted, while the other would have required a sizable comeback from the Edinburgh band to overcome the man born as James Osterberg Jr.

But here’s the thing…..the team from Edinburgh mounted that comeback, and by Wednesday night, the lead had been reduced to just one. It was turning into the game of the tournament.

Match A : Iggy Pop 19 Ballboy 18

Match B : Blondie 26 Stevie Wonder 13

Match C : Edwyn Collins 15 The Jam 22

Match D : Joy Division 29 Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry 10

Yup…..nobody came in with late votes this week – the last was cast at 11.11pm on Wednesday – and so Iggy was able to hold on and take his place in the last 16, the details of which are still a few weeks away.

Today’s quartet features the four who came through from the third and fourth weeks in Round 1. A reminder that the song up for consideration in Round 2 will always be the third track on Side A of the ICA in question.

Television (ICA 248) v Buddy Holly (ICA 285)

mp3: Television – Marquee Moon v mp3 : Buddy Holly – Peggy Sue Got Married

The Beatles (ICA 244) v John McGeoch (ICA 259)

mp3: Beatles – I Should Have Known Better v mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – Spellbound*

*ICA 259 was a compilation of tracks on which McGeoch played guitar

Ash (ICA 190) v Cocteau Twins (ICA 195)

mp3: Ash – A Life Less Ordinary v mp3: Cocteau Twins – Carolyn’s Fingers

Echo & The Bunnymen (ICA 225) v Cinerama (ICA 296)

mp3: Echo and The Bunnymen – Paint It Black (live) v mp3: Cinerama – Lollobrigida

As ever, thanks for taking part. Voting closes at midnight (UK time) next Friday, which is the 11th of November.

JC

Stuart Murdoch

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #331: STUART MURDOCH

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I don’t know if the frontman of Belle and Sebastian has released much under his own name, but I do have his contribution to Dark Is The Night, which in 2009 became the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organisation, the international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and Aids.

mp3: Stuart Murdoch – Another Saturday

A total of 31 tracks, across 2 x CDs, with exclusive recordings by a number of indie singers and bands, all overseen by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.

If the tune seems familiar, then that’s because it is essentially Wild Mountain Thyme, better known as Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go? that has been covered by many a folk singer over the years.

JC

Eels

THIRTY THREE YEARS OF TOUGH LUCK

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Mark Everett (aka ‘E’) never seemed to stand still when it came to writing, recording and playing music. His early stuff, brilliant as it often was, bordered occasionally on the whimsical and fey end of the musical spectrum, with highly personal lyrics from his own life experiences very much to the fore.

The fourth studio album, Souljacker, was a departure from the norm, almost nu-metal in nature, with the band beefed up by musicians whose rock credentials were impeccable, including John Parish, best known to UK audiences as a collaborator of PJ Harvey. The lyrics moved away from the personal and into the realms of storytelling based on fictional characters. The record company struggled with it, unable to issue anything as a single beyond the title track:-

mp3: Eels – Souljacker Part 1

With a riff that most run-of-the-mill rock bands would kill for, this 2001 single wouldn’t sound out of place on Kerrang TV. I like the song, but it’s one that I find disturbing for the reason that Johnny and Sally, the two main protagonists, seem to be unhinged and abused trailer-park dwellers who have an incestuous relationship…. the ending isn’t spelled out, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to anticipate it will be gory and not for the faint-hearted.

Souljacker Part 1 reached #30 in the UK singles chart in September 2001. The following month, the album was released, and it went in at #12 on its first week of release, an indication that Eels had a decent fanbase over here. The fact it dropped out of the Top 75 within two weeks would indicate that the album didn’t appeal much beyond said fan base.

The single came out on 7″ picture disc and 2 x CDs. Here’s the other tracks:-

mp3: Eels – I Write The B-Sides (7″ and CD1)
mp3: Eels – Can’t Help Falling In Love (CD1)
mp3: Eels – Jennifer Eccles (CD2)
mp3: Eels – My Beloved Monstrosity (CD2)

The middle two songs are cover versions (Elvis Presley and The Hollies) while the final track is a different take on one of Eels best-known compositions, thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack of the hit film, Shrek.

JC

Nas

ONE-OFF PIECES OF VINYL (3)

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Illmatic came out in 1994. I got round to buying a copy in 2020 on the back of watching a mini-series on the history of rap and hip-hop.

I’ll confess to not knowing a huge amount about Nas prior to watching the episode in which he featured, but I was quite taken by him, both in terms of the music and the things he had to say many years after the album, which was very much a product of his upbringing in Queensbridge, the largest public housing project not only in New York but anywhere in the United States.

Illmatic wasn’t a huge success on its release, and indeed it took two years before it was certified as a gold disc in the USA and a full seven years before it was deemed to have sold 1,000,000 copies and eligible for platinum status.

There’s been millions of words written about the album over the years, the vast majority of which are incredibly complimentary. Some critics and fans have deemed it to be the best/greatest hip hop album of all time. I’m nowhere near qualified enough to say whether or not that’s a fair statement, but I am able to add my view that it’s an album which has a great deal going for it and that it stands up to repeated listens. It certainly doesn’t sound like an album, written and recorded by someone who was barely out of his teens. It’s a cinematic-like piece of work, or more accurately perhaps a series of one-off but linked documentaries reflecting on an upbringing amidst urban poverty with no likelihood of an easy way out.

I can’t quite put my finger on why I get so much out of listening to Illmatic – I hesitate to use the word ‘enjoy’ as it could come to represent a form of being a ghetto or poverty tourist – but there feels as if there’s a lot of Gil Scott Heron in the record, and as such, I was listening to someone who was really more than capable of having his voice make a difference.

This is the album’s closing track:-

mp3: Nas – It Ain’t Hard To Tell

There’s so much going on….it’s one of those tracks that I found myself picking up on different things with each and every listen. Much like all the other nine pieces of music on the album.

JC

Lush

THE DICTIONARY DEFINITION

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hypocrite : noun

1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
3. a tremendous near-hit single released on 30 May 1994

mp3: Lush – Hypocrite

4AD was a great home for Lush as neither the label nor the band cared about convention, but I occasionally wonder what possessed both of them to decide to more or less thrown away its chances of being a hit by deciding to release two new EPs on the very same day

Yup, 30 May 1994 also saw this released as the lead-track on a separate EP:-

mp3: Lush – Desire Lines

Hypocrite entered at #52 and Desire Lines at #60. The latter, at almost eight-minutes in length, was hardly radio-friendly.

I’ve tracked down all the other tracks issued on the EPs:-

Hypocrite

mp3: Lush – Love At First Sight
mp3: Lush – Cat’s Chorus
mp3: Lush – Undertow (Spooky Remix)

Desire Lines

mp3: Lush – White Wood
mp3: Lush – Girl’s World
mp3: Lush – Lovelife (Suga Bullit Remix)

I think it’s fair to say that one listen to the music on the two EPs nails the myth that Lush were ever a one-dimensional shoe-gaze band, a myth that would be totally blown away a couple of years later when songs like Ladykillers, Shake Baby Shake, and Single Girl brought them chart hits.

JC

Various

ETCETERA, ETCETERA

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New month…..regular readers will know what inevitably follows.

This time round, there is a sort of theme, namely that the songs are in the same running sequence as they originally appeared on their parent LPs/CDs.

mp3: Various – Etcetera, Etcetera

00. The Vinyl Villain Theme – AC Eales (Home Recording, 2018)
01. Trip Out The Rider – Paul Haig (Relieve, 2009)
02. Bodega Birth – Bodega (Endless Scroll, 2019)
03. A-Punk – Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend, 2008)
04. Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie (Scary Monsters, 1980)
05. Philadelphia – Magazine (The Correct Use Of Soap, 1980)
06. Fix Up, Look Sharp – Dizzee Rascal (Boy In Da Corner, 2003)
07. Ya Ho – James (Strip-Mine, 1988)
08. Start A War – The National (Boxer, 2007)
09. Fait Accompli – Curve (Doppelganger, 1992)
10. 22: The Death Of All Romance – The Dears (No Cities Left, 2003)
11. Paper Planes – M.I.A. (Kala, 2007)
12. New Face In Hell (Peel Session) – The Fall (The Complete Peel Sessions 1978 – 2004)
13. Council Meetin’ – The Style Council (Cafe Bleu, 1984)
14. Electrolite – R.E.M. (New Adventures In Hi Fi, 1996)
15. The Perfect Girl – The Cure (Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, 1987)
16. Sweet and Tender Hooligan – Nouvelle Vague (Band A Parte, 2006)
17. Draw In The Reins – Cats On Fire (Dealing In Antiques, 2010)

It all lasts about twelve seconds beyond an hour.

JC

Teenage Fanclub

JUST THE ONE BIG CHART HIT

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I was thinking it was about time again to write up something about Teenage Fanclub. I thought I’d focus in on one of their singles, preferably one not featured before on the blog.

All told, there’s more than thirty to choose from, going back to Everything Flows in 1990, to the most recent which was the digitally released I Left A Light On from earlier this year. So I thought to myself, why not go with the one which provided their highest chart placing, while not knowing what single that would have been. I was almost certain it would be Sparky’s Dream, failing which Radio, or perhaps I Don’t Want Control Of You.

I was so wrong.

Teenage Fanclub only ever cracked the Top 20 of the UK singles chart on one occasion, and that was in July 1997 when their first new song in more than two years crashed in at #17:-

mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Ain’t That Enough

The following week, the single dropped to #47 and then the next week it was #72. The good news for the band was that the new album, Songs From Northern Britain, immediately entered at #3, the highest ever chart entry in their career.

This period was certainly the band’s commercial peak, as no single since has made the Top 40, while the next again album, Howdy, their first after leaving Creation Records, stalled at a very disappointing #33 in 2000.

Ain’t That Enough came out on 7″ vinyl and 2 x CD formats. Here’s all you b-sides:-

mp3: Teenage Fanclub – Kickabout (7″ and CD1)
mp3: Teenage Fanclub – Broken (CD1)
mp3: Teenage Fanclub – Femme Fatale (CD2)
mp3: Teenage Fanclub – Jesus Christ (CD2)

Kickabout had originally been written and recorded for inclusion on The Beautiful Game, a compilation CD released to commemorate the Euro 96 football tournament, which was played in England (and for which Scotland had qualified). It’s based around a sample of Everybody by American Spring, a 1970s duo consisting of siblings Diane Rovell and Marilyn Wilson. The latter was, at the time the song was originally released, married to Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.

Broken is a long number at over five minutes in length, with Norman’s vocal not kicking in until almost the three-minute mark. It still manages to be a song that many other bands would have loved as an a-side.

The two bonus tracks on CD2 are covers, of songs by The Velvet Underground and Big Star, respectively. The latter could be accurately described as a Christmas number.

JC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : ROUND TWO OF THE KNOCKOUT STAGE (i)

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The final set of matches from the first knockout round proved to be something of an anticlimax in that one side in each of the four ties established a dominant lead early from the outset that they never looked like relinquishing

Match 29 : Elvis Costello 36 The Who 3

Match 30 : David Bowie 27 Carter USM 14

Match 31: Davy Henderson 7 v Terry Hall 33

Match 32: The Cure 33 v The Chameleons 8

The last Sunday in October and we’ve finally reached Round 2, with 32 teams left standing. It’ll take four weeks to work our way through this stage.

Today’s quartet features those who got through from the first and second weeks in Round 1, with the songs up for consideration in this round now being the third tracks on Side A of the ICA in question.

Iggy Pop (ICA 183) v Ballboy (ICA 175)

mp3: Iggy Pop – I Need More v mp3 : Ballboy -Songs For Kylie

Blondie (ICA 198) v Stevie Wonder (ICA 233)

mp3: Blondie – In The Flesh v mp3 : Stevie Wonder – You Haven’t Done Nothin’

Edwyn Collins (ICA 298) v The Jam (ICA 152)

mp3: Edwyn Collins – Losing Sleep v mp3: The Jam – Away From The Numbers

Joy Division (ICA 160) v Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry (ICA 250)

mp3: Joy Division – Atmosphere v mp3: Brian Ferry – A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

As ever, thanks for taking part. Voting closes at midnight (UK time) next Friday, which is the 4th of November.

PS : If anyone wants something other than World Cup stuff to deal with just now, then you could maybe take a trip over to No Badger Required where I’ve penned a piece on Songs to Remember, the debut album from Scritti Politti, released back in 1982. Just click here.

JC

Strike The Colours

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #330: STRIKE THE COLOURS

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It’s something of a failing on my part that I don’t own any records by Strike The Colours. The band was formed back in 2006 by Jenny Reeve, a musician I have long admired from her work with Arab Strap, not to mention both of Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton on albums they have released outside of their band.

Jenny’s prime instrument is the violin, but she’s also a very fine singer and accomplished guitarist. Strike The Colours have released three albums – The Face That Sunk A Thousand Ships (2007), Seven Roads (2009) and Flock (2018). The other musicians who have been part of the band over the years are also a sort of who’s who in Scottish alt/indie/folk music, having worked in or with the likes of Emma Pollock, The Vaselines, Idlewild, The Phantom Band, Sons & Daughters, and The Unwinding Hours to name but a few.

And yet……I haven’t forked out the cash. Sorry guys…..

All I have is one track, thanks to its inclusion on the Ballads of The Book compilation, issued by Chemikal Underground in 2007, for a Scottish Arts Council-backed project in which musicians and poets came together to write new songs:-

mp3: Strike The Colours and Rody Gorman – Message In A Bottle

Rody Gorman was born in Dublin in 1960, but has lived most of his life in Scotland, specialising in Gaelic writing.

JC

Mark Lanegan

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #321: MARK LANEGAN (2)

A GUEST POSTING by HSP

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RIP, Mark Lanegan – You Cover Song Genius and Collaborative Giant

Apologies for the long time away, it’s been an adventure these last few years… far less music in it than there should have been.

I haven’t sorted the Screaming Trees ICA I’d like to do but it was always a toss-up whether I loved the Connor brothers’ psychedelic metal tendencies or Mark Lanegan’s voice more. If you remember back to the Son Volt ICA, it was Jay Farrar‘s voice that was the reason behind my choice of them over Wilco and it’s the kind of thing that matters a great deal to me, whether I like a singers’ voice. E.g., I don’t know why I want to strangle Geddy Lee, but love Tom Verlaine, but there it is… why listening to Jon Anderson is like fingernails on the chalkboard but Vic Chesnutt gave me goosebumps… why Perry Farrell should never ever have been handed a mic but I’ll listen to Mark E. Smith until the cows come home.

In any event, I first heard Lanegan fronting the Trees in the between-bands music in a small Monterey, California, venue after the Dharma Bums (why I went, from Portland, OR) had played and before The Posies (who were OK, if a bit twee for me) performed. I’m pretty sure the place just played Uncle Anesthesia all the way through, probably on CD but for all I know they could easily have had a turntable working. I was smitten by the time the title tune played and then “Caught in Between”… it was like hearing the lysergic world of the early Pebbles collections for the first time, for a second time. The music was great but the singer’s voice was broken and gnarled and knew things beyond my ken.

I went through the back catalog and bought Sweet Oblivion and Dusk but the band was never meant for a major label and those albums implied that there was tension within the band, between the band and producers, between band, producers and the label and… well the scene out from which they came was dying and major labels responded to MP3s and Napster by clearing their rosters of great second tier sellers… how to kill a band in one easy lesson.

Lanegan had a solo record or two out by the time the Trees broke up but they hadn’t grabbed me. Retrospectively, and I haven’t read any interviews or accounts of what was going on, it felt like he was searching for another voice, or a set of other voices… or maybe it was the drugs. He’d seemed to have found it on “Pendulum” from Whiskey for the Holy Ghost and in the two drug songs, “Hospital Roll Call” and “Waiting on a Train,” from Scraps at Midnight, but it wasn’t consistent and I couldn’t be sure he’d ever find it and hold on to it.

As far as I can tell, and I was getting married, experiencing tragedy, fighting/failing to earn tenure, and we had two sons… so what do I know, but playing with Queens of the Stone Age and making other peoples’ songs his own seemed to get him over a hump… or maybe it was temporarily beating the drugs. When I heard his version of the Leaving Trains’ “Creeping Coastline of Lights” I was somewhere between flabbergasted, gobsmacked and giddy. (Check it out, and the original, neither are here, both are on youtube.) And the rest of I’ll Take Care of You is SO SO good… Field Songs was an improvement, Bubblegum was a lot of fun, but the covers and collaborations he did, I don’t know it was like he was a jazz singer perfecting a standard repertoire of non-standard tunes.

And that brings me to the construction of this ICA. I think what grabbed me from the start with Lanegan was that his voice couldn’t fail but broadcast an interpretation, whatever lyrics he or someone else wrote. What came out of him contained part of him, raw, DIY-over-professional, and true… it’s like the labour theory of value only really different. So, this is a collection organized from quieter to louder – because that’s how I liked to structure the radio shows I used to program – and it’s all covers and collaborations.

War Memorial (Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood) from Black Pudding
Constant Waiting (Jeffrey Lee Pierce) from We Are Only Riders tribute album
The Man In The Long Black Coat (Bob Dylan) from I’m Not There soundtrack
All Night Long (Junior Kimbrough) from Sunday Night tribute album
You Will Miss Me When I Burn (Bonny Prince Billy), Soulsavers from Broken
The Lonely Night Moby from The Lonely Night (Jan. 14 Remix)
I’Il Take Care of You (Brook Benton) from I’ll Take Care of You
Where We Part Ways, Domkraft from Slow Fidelity EP
God Is On the Radio, Queens of the Stone Age from Songs for the Deaf
Crawl Like A Dog, Creature With The Atom Brain from Creature With The Atom Brain

I’m sure there are tons I don’t know that might should have landed here but, please, tell me about them below.

Yours, as always, and again,

HSP

Boomtown Rats

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #320: THE BOOMTOWN RATS

It’s been a long while since I wrote a completely new or original ICA – 31 May to be precise – so I thought I’d best get my finger out for what is post #3000 since the blog was resurrected, thanks to WordPress.

The late and great Tony Wilson really detested The Boomtown Rats, always happy to boast that he had never once come close to having them feature on any of the punk or post-punk TV shows he fronted on Granada TV in the late 70s. He thought they were imposters, nothing more than a glorified pub band from Dublin.

It could be argued that Bob Geldof, thanks to his work with Band Aid/Live Aid in the mid 80s, became the best-known of all the musicians to emerge from that post-punk scene, although his band by then had become something of a footnote, having had no hits to speak of since 1981. It also could be argued that, with two #1 hit singles in the late 70s, Boomtown Rats were, for a brief spell, as commercially successful as just about any band from the era. Nevertheless, most folk seem to have a similar opinion as Tony Wilson as they are rarely recalled with much fondness, although I think that’s to do with the fact that those two #1s – Rat Trap (1978) and I Don’t Like Mondays (1979) – were so far removed from the typical post-punk sound that it became very easy, and fashionable, to disown them.

I’m not going to spend time arguing that Boomtown Rats were an exceptional band, but I’m prepared to say that there’s enough tunes on their first three studio albums from which to compile a more than decent ICA. As I will now attempt to prove, and with the absence of those #1 hits.

SIDE A

1. Looking After No.1 (from The Boomtown Rats, 1977)

The rabble-rousing debut single, which reached #11 in the UK charts (and #2 in their native Ireland) and also the first track on the debut album. The opening few lines reflected the impatience of the new young bands that were trying to push the rock dinosaurs to one side:-

The world owes me a livingI’ve waited in this dole queue too longI’ve been standin’ in the rain for fifteen minutesThat’s a quarter of an hour too long.

2. Don’t Believe What You Read (Tonic For The Troops, 1978)

A neat reminder that ‘Fake News’ and the disillusionment with what is written and printed in the press every day is not purely a by-product of the mass media of the 21st Century.

3. Someone’s Looking At You (The Fine Art Of Surfacing, 1979)

One that I’ve often thought, substance wise, had a touch of the Howard Devoto about it, even down to the way Geldof delivers the vocal, expressing his fears and worries that those in charge are spying on all our comings and goings. A #4 hit when released as a single in February 1980.

4. Diamond Smiles (The Fine Art of Surfacing, 1979)

I saw Boomtown Rats in October 1979 at the Glasgow Apollo when they toured in support of The Fine Art of Surfacing. It was only a few months after my own debut gig at the same venue (The Police – May 79) and a time when I revelled in every live show I went to. I primarily went along to this one as a favour to a mate, but came away impressed.

This one was introduced as a song about a rich person’s suicide, which got a loud cheer….a week or so later, there was an article in a local paper in which staff from a Glasgow psychiatric hospital were quoted as saying Diamond Smiles was an obscenity that should be banned as it sought to make commercial gain from a real-life tragedy; indeed the staff had petitioned the BBC to ban the song. I can only assume someone working at the hospital had mentioned the reaction to its introduction at the recent live show.

5. Kicks (The Boomtown Rats, 1977)

Musically, a lot of the teen-angst songs from the post-punk era haven’t aged spectacularly well, and Kicks, the closing track on the debut album, is no exception. Lyrically, this one seems to have stood up well, in that it’s still the case that sixteen-year-old boys really do believe that having a girlfriend at that point in their life is the be-all-and-end-all.

SIDE B

1. She’s So Modern (Tonic For The Troops, 1978)

As my favourite three minutes ever from the band, this should have opened the ICA, but it somehow made sense to go instead with the debut single, so this’ll need to do for Side B. Opening with a manic but nonsensical chant of ‘ga-ga-ga-ga’, it goes straight into the 200mph call and response chorus that is guaranteed to get the arms, legs and all accompanying parts of the body flailing helplessly across the dance floor. It’s impossible not to join in. Reached #10 in the singles chart.

2. How Do You Do? (b-side, 1978)

I reckoned it would be a good idea to keep the frantic pace up, so I’m reaching deep for the b-side to Like Clockwork. Quite reminiscent of many of their earlier tracks, the band were already trying to move to a different style and pace, which probably explains why the decision was taken to exclude it from Tonic For The Troops

3. Having My Picture Taken (The Fine Art of Surfacing, 1979)

One of the things I most liked about Boomtown Rats was their ability to not take things too seriously. They never cared much about miming in time when they were on Top of The Pops, and indeed Geldof famously used all sorts of props for the saxophone break in the middle of Rat Trap. This was a song that went down well at the Apollo show mentioned earlier, probably because in the live setting, it was quite fast, guitar-orientated and sneering as if the band really hated being famous. The album version is a tad more polished but still good fun, and gave the first hints of the sound the band would start embracing with fourth album, Mondo Bongo.

4. Mary Of The Fourth Form (The Boomtown Rats, 1977)

Musically, it’s not a million miles away from Status Quo riffs, so maybe Tony Wilson had a point. But the idea of releasing a ‘punk’ single about a modern-day Lolita somehow seemed quite funny at the time, as there were a couple of girls in our school who talked openly about what they would love to do with certain teachers (and in particular, one who taught French). And besides, it’s a million times better than Don’t Stand So Close To Me.

5. Like Clockwork (Tonic For The Troops, 1978)

A #6 hit in the summer of 1978. There’s an awful lot going on in this one – the pulsing bass line that drives it along at a frantic place; the piano pieces that wouldn’t have sounded out of place if Steve Nieve was playing them on the new Elvis Costello number; the guitar breaks in the chorus that you might only pick up after repeated listens which have a touch of the Robert Fripp about them. Not forgetting a Devo-style lyric/chorus that worms its way into your brain. If ever a song was to be fitted into the category ‘new wave’, then this is it.

So there you have it. I’ve resisted using anything from 1980’s Mondo Bongo, which I know will disappoint Post Punk Monk as he’s a fan of that record, but in doing so, I’ve condensed the ICA into records from a particular decade. It’s not one that stands any chance of winning any future World Cup, but if the draw lands lucky, then they could reach the later rounds.

JC

Clash

NOSTALGIA IN OCTOBER (3)

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Three extracts from ICA 12 which is the third and last of the posts that were originally scheduled for last month.

The Clash evolved and diversified like no other band that I’ve ever known in my lifetime and so the idea of dipping into their extensive catalogue and suggesting ten songs as the definitive collection – and putting them in a semblance of order that makes for great listening – is a task which, when complete, will inevitably lead to very legitimate questions about those that have been left off.

Complete Control

You’ve got to open any imaginary compilation album with a killer tune…something of an anthem which epitomizes the band or singer being featured….and I can’t think of anything better than this. One of punk rock’s greatest songs, written and recorded in frustration as the penny dropped for the band, and in particular Joe Strummer, that being a fully fledged, ideologically driven punk at the same time as being a core part of the mainstream music industry was an uncomfortable and some would say impossible position. Anger as an energy…..

White Man In Hammersmith Palais

Another song fuelled by disappointment and anger. The song title may have been derived from being let down at the dearth of talent performing at an all-night reggae gig, but the most meaningful attacks come later on as Joe delivers his very own state-of-the-nation address and in doing so outlines what was so wrong with the UK at that time. Little did he or any of us know that social disorder, racial disharmony, unfair distribution of wealth and the increasing lurch to the right-wing of the political spectrum by all mainstream parties would get a lot worse over the next decade.

This is my favourite Clash song of all time. It is one of those once-in-a-lifetime tunes that comes along and embeds itself permanently in your subconscious with a lyric that educates and raises your social and political awareness. I turned 15 years of age the day after this 45 was released….it struck a chord with me then and given that, almost 37 years on*, I still hold many of those values that forged my outlook on life, this song hasn’t dated….nor will it ever.

Stay Free

The second album is considered by many to be a weak record, but here am I going with a second successive track from it (NB – the ICA at this point was preceded by Safe European Home) and there’s no sign of the two cracking 45s that were lifted from it. It just demonstrates that Give ‘Em Enough Rope had plenty of moments to be declared as a decent and solid record rather than weak.

At 15 years of age, I was gravitating to the lyricists who were telling stories via the songs – Paul Weller was already a huge favourite and the tale of Down In The Tube Station At Midnight was, in my young mind, the greatest song lyric of all time. But not far behind was Mick Jones‘ heartfelt tribute to his best mate, who had gone spectacularly off the rails while Mick was working tirelessly to make it as a musician. This has more than stood the test of time as a great love song….

*the post was originally published on 1 May 2015. It’s now 44 years since the songs appeared, and I like to think, that even now I’m an old fogey who is retired from working life, I still hold the same values. Oh, and what I’d give for a Joe Strummer for the modern age.

JC

PS : I was sure that The Clash would have been victorious in the first edition of the ICA World Cup, but were beaten 22-18 in the semi-final by The Jam. The songs up against one another were Capital Radio 2 and Man In The Corner Shop.

Pulp

RAZZMATAZZ

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The last of the Pulp singles that failed to chart, just prior to the British public sitting up and taking notice of what had been happening totally out of sight for the previous ten years.

Yup, it turned out to be more than a full decade before eventually becoming an overnight success and the first real steps on the road to Jarvis Cocker becoming a national treasure. The debut single had been My Lighthouse in 1983. Razzmatazz was the band’s eleventh single, and their third for Gift Records, released in February 1993. A lot of critics had thought the previous single, Babies, would have provided the breakthrough, but in the end, it didn’t really get near the charts, peaking at #80

Perhaps more importantly, was the fact that Razzmatazz was named ‘Single of The Week’ by Melody Maker leading to some increased media coverage, while there was also a promo video that actually got aired more than once during the Indie Chart segment of the Saturday morning Chart Show on ITV which got a few more folk talking about the geeky singer who was taking centre stage.

But, above all else, Gift Records had been happy to have Island Records on board to assist with the marketing push for the band, and Pulp were ready to make the jump away from indie-labels as soon as the contractual obligations had been fulfilled. In a sense, Razzmattazz was a trial run for what was to come with the music the band would record for the albums His’n’Hers (1994) and Different Class (1995).

I always found it strange that Razzmatazz wasn’t ever re-released when Pulp crossed over into the mainstream in the same way as Babies ended up as the lead track on a later EP. It’s a tremendous song, a bitter take on the ending of a relationship in which the protagonist, having been dumped for being too boring, takes great delight in seeing his ex go to waste while he begins to taste the fruits of success; and yes, Jarvis has long admitted there is more than a degree of the autobiographical about the tale.

It’s also, if you happen to have a vinyl copy of the single, worth a few bob as the 7″ is currently going for £100 on Discogs and the 12″, rather strangely, is slightly less (£40 and upwarads).

mp3: Pulp – Razzmatazz

The b-side of the single, whether on vinyl or CD, was identical as it consisted of a three-part suite of songs entitled Inside Susan – A Story In 3 Parts.

mp3: Pulp – Stacks
mp3: Pulp – Inside Susan
mp3: Pulp – 59 Lyndhurst Grove

The info on the back of the sleeve explains:-

….following Susan down from her Rotherham puberty through wild teen years in Sheffield to her eventual marriage and settling down somewhere on the outskirts of London. I played these songs to Susan the other day – she just laughed and said I was being spiteful because she wouldn’t sleep with me when we first met. She also said to tell you that she’s perfectly happy where she is at the moment, thank you very much.

I really should have kept all these for the short stories’ series……….

Lipgloss, was the next single, released in November 1993, on Island Records, and it reached #50. All the rest of Pulp’s subsequent twelve singles would comfortably get into the Top 40 and feature on the Top of The Pops rundowns.

JC

Eminem

SOME SONGS MAKE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapter 60)

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This, in effect, is a guest posting by SWC as I’m stealing it from the post he put up at No Badger Required in late August as part of his countdown of the best songs to consist of one-word titles.

I have thought a few times about posting Stan as part of this series, but never did, as it seemed such an obvious choice. But reading what SWC had to say about it led to a change of heart:-

“I find ‘Stan’ a difficult listen. It’s the backdrop of domestic abuse, drug abuse, mental health, murder and drink driving that does that. I know its just a song, but ‘Stan’ is so visual, be it the cinematic video, or the way that the lyrics paint such a vivid picture of mental health or the way that it even makes Dido sound wonderful. It’s still a difficult listen. If some songs make great short stories, then ‘Stan’ should be considered as a Whitbread Novel of the Year.

Of course, its brilliant, but it is also dark and creepy. It is also deliberately intentional, that is the point. The song revolves around the eponymous character ‘Stan’ who is just a tiny bit obsessed with a rapper (Eminem). He writes him letter after letter which get angrier the longer it takes Eminem to respond to them. Meanwhile, in the background, there is a sinister undertone of domestic abuse (and mental health caused by obsessional delusion, self-mutilation, sexual confusion and paranoia) lurking. By the third verse, which is brutally, uncomfortably graphic, Stan has drunk a bottle of vodka, consumed a bunch of downers, punched his pregnant wife (and possibly slit her throat), tied her up in the trunk of his car and driven away, he then drives off a bridge (whether this is by mistake or deliberate is not really known).

The fourth kicks in after all that has died down and we hear Eminem telling Stan (which, fact fans, has made it into the Oxford English Dictionary as slang for ‘Stalker Fan’) not to take his lyrics literally and pleads with him to get help and then talks about the ‘car over the bridge’ incident which he has seen on the news and the whole realisation hits him. The way that beats stops as ‘Eminem’ suddenly realises “….It was you…” is one of raps greatest moments. But you all know this, and if you have never heard ‘Stan’ then you probably live under a rock and are probably not reading this anyway.

According to some people ‘Stan’ is widely thought of being one of the first commercially successful tracks from the ‘Horrorcore’ genre – basically rap music that is inspired by horror films, the occult, death and all that. Eminem does state that when he was writing it he was listening to Gravediggaz hugely influential ‘6 Feet Deep’ album – which is considered by those in the know to be the ultimate horrorcore record. “

All of which is further evidence of how much of a talent SWC truly is. If you don’t already, you should spend time over at his place, as the writing is never less than top-notch.

mp3: Eminem – Stan

My tea’s gone cold, I’m wondering why I
Got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
And I can’t see at all
And even if I could it’d all be gray
But your picture on my wall
It reminds me that it’s not so bad, it’s not so bad

Dear Slim, I wrote you, but you still ain’t callin’
I left my cell, my pager and my home phone at the bottom
I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not’ve got ’em
There probably was a problem at the post office or somethin’
Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot ’em
But anyways, fuck it, what’s been up, man? How’s your daughter?
My girlfriend’s pregnant too, I’m ’bout to be a father
If I have a daughter, guess what I’ma call her?
I’ma name her Bonnie
I read about your Uncle Ronnie too, I’m sorry
I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn’t want him
I know you probably hear this every day, but I’m your biggest fan
I even got the underground shit that you did with Skam
I got a room full of your posters and your pictures, man
I like the shit you did with Rawkus too, that shit was phat
Anyways, I hope you get this, man, hit me back
Just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan, this is Stan

Dear Slim, you still ain’t called or wrote, I hope you have a chance
I ain’t mad, I just think it’s fucked up you don’t answer fans
If you didn’t want to talk to me outside your concert, you didn’t have to
But you coulda signed an autograph for Matthew
That’s my little brother, man, he’s only six years old
We waited in the blisterin’ cold
For you, for four hours, and you just said no
That’s pretty shitty, man, you’re like his fuckin’ idol
He wants to be just like you, man, he likes you more than I do
I ain’t that mad, though I just don’t like bein’ lied to
Remember when we met in Denver?
You said if I’d write you, you would write back
See, I’m just like you in a way: I never knew my father neither
He used to always cheat on my mom and beat her
I can relate to what you’re sayin’ in your songs
So when I have a shitty day, I drift away and put ’em on
‘Cause I don’t really got shit else
So that shit helps when I’m depressed
I even got a tattoo with your name across the chest
Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds
It’s like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me
See, everything you say is real, and I respect you ‘cause you tell it
My girlfriend’s jealous ’cause I talk about you 24/7
But she don’t know you like I know you, Slim, no one does
She don’t know what it was like for people like us growin’ up
You gotta call me, man, I’ll be the biggest fan you’ll ever lose
Sincerely yours, Stan—P.S. We should be together too

Dear Mr. I’m-Too-Good-to-Call-or-Write-My-Fans
This’ll be the last package I ever send your ass
It’s been six months, and still no word—I don’t deserve it?
I know you got my last two letters, I wrote the addresses on ’em perfect
So this is my cassette I’m sendin’ you, I hope you hear it
I’m in the car right now, I’m doin’ 90 on the freeway
Hey, Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka, you dare me to drive?
You know the song by Phil Collins, “In the Air of the Night”
About that guy who coulda saved that other guy from drownin’
But didn’t, then Phil saw it all, then at a show he found him?
That’s kinda how this is: you coulda rescued me from drownin’
Now it’s too late, I’m on a thousand downers now—I’m drowsy
And all I wanted was a lousy letter or a call
I hope you know I ripped all of your pictures off the wall
I loved you, Slim, we coulda been together—think about it!
You ruined it now, I hope you can’t sleep and you dream about it
And when you dream I hope you can’t sleep and you scream about it
I hope your conscience eats at you and you can’t breathe without me
See, Slim—shut up, bitch! I’m tryin’ to talk
Hey, Slim, that’s my girlfriend screamin’ in the trunk
But I didn’t slit her throat, I just tied her up—see? I ain’t like you
‘Cause if she suffocates she’ll suffer more and then she’ll die too
Well, gotta go, I’m almost at the bridge now
Oh, shit, I forgot—how am I supposed to send this shit out?!

Dear Stan, I meant to write you sooner, but I just been busy
You said your girlfriend’s pregnant now, how far along is she?
Look, I’m really flattered you would call your daughter that
And here’s an autograph for your brother; I wrote it on a Starter cap
I’m sorry I didn’t see you at the show, I must’ve missed you
Don’t think I did that shit intentionally just to diss you
But what’s this shit you said about you like to cut your wrists too?
I say that shit just clownin’, dawg, come on, how fucked up is you?
You got some issues, Stan, I think you need some counselin’
To help your ass from bouncin’ off the walls when you get down some
And what’s this shit about us meant to be together?
That type of shit’ll make me not want us to meet each other
I really think you and your girlfriend need each other
Or maybe you just need to treat her better
I hope you get to read this letter, I just hope it reaches you in time
Before you hurt yourself, I think that you’ll be doin’ just fine
If you relax a little, I’m glad I inspire you, but Stan
Why are you so mad? Try to understand that I do want you as a fan
I just don’t want you to do some crazy shit
I seen this one shit on the news a couple weeks ago that made me sick
Some dude was drunk and drove his car over a bridge
And had his girlfriend in the trunk, and she was pregnant with his kid
And in the car they found a tape, but they didn’t say who it was to
Come to think about it, his name was—it was you
Damn…

JC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : ROUND ONE OF THE KNOCKOUT STAGE (viii)

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Last week’s preview suggested that the bookies would have had a few teams installed as odds-on favourites; in other words, it looked like there were some mismatches, which turned out to be the case with three games done and dusted before sunrise on Monday morning. The other game, however, did swing back and forth a bit for most of the week, and indeed for most of the time, there was never more than one ‘goal’ separating the teams.

In the end, it came down to Aldo, who was second-last to get involved this week, some six hours prior to the deadline. I know that he doesn’t look at the previous submissions, and so he wouldn’t have known that him typing the words ‘Orange Juice (disputed penalty sends them through)’ would prove to be so prophetic.

Match 25 : The Sweet 31 Chumbawamba 8

Match 26 : The Triffids 10 Soft Cell 31

Match 27: Orange Juice 20 Bauhaus 19

Match 28: Comsat Angels 12 The Breeders 27

And now, it’s the final four match-ups in Round 1.

Elvis Costello (2nd in Group H) v The Who (7th in Group E)

mp3: Elvis Costello – Veronica v mp3 : The Who – I’m One

David Bowie (3rd in Group F) v Carter USM (6th in Group G)

mp3: David Bowie – The Stars (Are Out Tonight) v mp3 : Carter USM – My Second To Last Will and Testament

Davy Henderson (4th in Group E) v Terry Hall (5th in Group F)

mp3: The Sexual Objects – Here Come The Rubber Cops v mp3: Dub Pistols – Rapture (radio edit)

(a match-up between two ICAs in which the featured artist was part of more than one act)

The Cure (1st in Group G) v The Chameleons (8th in Group H)

mp3: The Cure – Pictures Of You v mp3: The Chameleons – Second Skin

As ever, thanks for taking part. Voting closes at midnight (UK time) next Friday, which is the 28th of October.

JC

Stretchheads

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #329: STRETCHHEADS

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This will be a painful listen if you actually take the plunge and click on today’s mp3. I’ve this one, courtesy of it being Track 21 on Disc 5 of the Big Gold Dreams : A Story of Scotland’s Independent Music 1977 – 1989 boxset.

Here’s the accompanying text in the booklet:-

Calling their debut EP Bros Are Pish and leading with a cover of I Should Be So Lucky was quite a calling card for the Erskine-sired quartet of vocalist Phil Eaglesham (aka P6), guitarist Andy MacDonald (alias Dr. Technology), bassist Steven MacDougall (aka Mofungo Diggs) and drummer Richie Dempsey.

Sporting gas masks and balaclavas for live shows, The Stretchheads (they soon dropped the definitive article) took their moves from the American hardcore scene, and followed that debut EP with several records on Blast First.

Groin Death appeared on Pathological Compilation, the first release on the label founded by Kevin Martin, better known these days as The Bug. In due course, Stretchheads released the Pish In Your Sleazebag album and Barbed Anal Exciter 10″ before Eaglesham and Dempsey joined DeSalva, whose album, Mood Poisoner, was released on Mogwai’s Rock Action label.

mp3: Stretchheads – Groin Death

It does only last 80 seconds, but to some of you it will feel like an eternity.

JC

Franzie Boys

ONE-OFF PIECES OF VINYL (2)

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Grant J Robson is a Scottish composer of electronica and modern orchestral soundtracks and former music producer under the moniker ‘McSleazy’.

McSleazy was at the forefront of the short-lived bootleg/mash-ups genre, as well as being an in-demand remixer.

In 2004, a vinyl EP could be picked up, consisting of four mash-ups of tracks from Franz Ferdinand‘s self-titled debut album and To The 5 Boroughs by Beastie Boys.

mp3: Franzie Boys – Triple Take
mp3: Franzie Boys – This Matinee Letter
mp3: Franzie Boys – 40ft Word
mp3: Franzie Boys – Time To Cheat On Michael

I had great hopes for this when I found it a few years ago in a second-hand store. It wasn’t an expensive purchase, and even now it’s still widely available on Discogs for around a fiver. Sadly, the idea and concept just feel to be better than the actual execution, but this might well be down to the fact that I’m such a huge fan of the original versions of the songs.