THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (69)

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I think I’m reasonably well-versed in most things that come under the loose term of indie music, but the fact is that there’s always been so much out there, going back to the late 70s when my interest in buying and playing records began in my teenage years, that it really has always been an impossible task to keep up with everything.

This post is the third in a row as a result of listening again, for the first time in perhaps fifteen years, to the Indiepop compilation.

I had to look up Mary Lou Lord as I had no idea who she is. Here’s some bio as found on her website:-

Mary Lou Lord was born in Salem Massachusetts. She was a college D.J from the ages of 13-16.

Mary Lou attended Berklee College of music with a degree in Audio Production and Engineering. After Berklee , Mary Lou moved to London England to study at The School of Audio at Holloway Rd.

While living in London, Mary Lou began busking and thus her career as a musician was born. “I had never really thought about being a musician myself until I became a busker. It was great…I could play the same song over and over all night, and it really helped me out. The money was minimal, but it was better than being a waitress”.

Mary Lou moved back to the States and began discovering bands and artists like Daniel Johnston, Shawn Colvin, and Elliott Smith . Since many of these artists had no records out, Mary Lou would do covers of their songs to help bring attention to them as well as create a solid repertoire of songs deserving to be heard.

In the early 90’s, Mary Lou began to write her own songs and perform in the Subways and Streets of Boston and Cambridge. She attracted a very loyal following and built her fan base from the “under-ground” up. She continued finding songs and artists that were undiscovered, under-rated, and beloved by music geeks and real music fans. She often would choose songs by artists such as The Bevis Frond, Daniel Johnston, Big Star, and a then unknown band-Nirvana.

While busking one day in Harvard Square, Mary Lou met a young woman named Tinuviel Sampson. Tinuviel had started a label with a friend named Slim Moon in Olympia Washington called “Kill Rock Stars:. Mary Lou was invited by her new friend Tinuviel to go visit with her in Olympia which led to Kill Rock Stars putting one of Mary Lou’s songs (Camden Town Rain) on one of their compilation releases.

Mary Lou soon began recording for Kill Rock Stars which got attention from Major Labels who were then very interested in the Seattle/Olympia scene.

“I was in the right place at the right time-ALL the time back then. I had great ears, and my friends were true music fans. It just worked out that way.”

This turned out to be the debut 45, released on Kill Rock Stars in October 1993:-

mp3: Mary Lou Lord – Some Jingle Jangle Morning (When I’m Straight)

It’s rather lovely, dontcha think??

Mary Lou Lord continued to make music for more than twenty years, with her last album being the self-released Backstreet Angels, in 2015. Earlier this year, Fire Records issued She’d Be A Diamond, a double album on vinyl which compiles recordings originally issued between 1993 and 2004, along with some previously unavailable demos.

JC

Razorcuts

SOMETIMES YOU’VE JUST GOT TO HOLD YOUR HANDS UP

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The above photo is of Razorcuts, as found within an insert of their second single, Sorry To Embarrass You, released by the Subway Organisation in 1986.

My first exposure to Razorcuts wasn’t a good one. It came via the inclusion of a track on the Cherry Red Records compilation CD86. The track was I’ll Still Be There, the b-side of their debut single, originally released on Subway. I wrote about it in April 2015 as part of a series looking at the 48 tracks that made up CD86, and gave it a pasting on the basis that the dreadful sub-standard vocal performance bordered on the unlistenable.

I’ve since sort of apologised by posting, in July 2019, a very positive review of I Heard You The First Time, an EP from 1987 that was issued by Creation Records.

The second part of the apology comes today.

A long train journey a few weeks back led to me giving a listen to Indiepop, a 2 x CD compilation that came out through Rough Trade in 2004 – and the source of yesterday’s song from Beat Happening. There’s also a song from Razorcuts on said compilation, the aforementioned sophomore 45:-

mp3: Razorcuts – Sorry To Embarrass You

It’s a very solid, enjoyable and catchy piece of mid-80s indie pop, albeit the vocal does occasionally verge towards being very off-key, but I suppose that all becomes part of its charm.

Here’s your b-side, all 111 seconds of it:-

mp3: Razorcuts – Summer In Your Heart

JC

Beat Happening

INDIAN SUMMER

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I know next to nothing about Beat Happening other than they are the band most associated with Calvin Johnson, who is regraded as something of a god by many whose musical tastes verge towards the lo-fi end of indie pop music. He was also, of course, given more than a passing mention in the recent feature on Heavenly that was penned by The Three Musketeers.

Wiki tells me that the band formed in Olympia, Washington back in 1982 and that the other two members are Heather Lewis and Bret Lunsford. There were five albums, all released between 1985 and 1992 on Johnson’s K Records label, with the latter material also being backed by either Rough Trade or Sub Pop.

It’s the link up with Rough Trade that enables today’s quite whimsical offering:-

mp3: Beat Happening – Indian Summer

It’s a track on the 1988 album, Jamboree. But it was also included on Indiepop, a 2 x CD Rough Trade compilation released in 2004.

I’ve actually one other Beat Happening release in the collection, the Optic Nerve Records re-release of the 1987 EP, Crashing Through, which I bought on a whim last year. I’ll maybe get round to posting it up some day.

JC

R.E.M.

NOSTALGIA IN OCTOBER (2)

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This was the second of the three posts held over from the series which ran last month.

Some extracts from ICA 91.

IT’S CRAZY WHAT YOU COULD’VE HAD

Those of you who have taken the time to submit an ICA will know just how time-consuming an exercise it is, not just in getting your thoughts down on paper but having the pleasure of listening again to the back catalogue of a singer or band in the effort to find that perfect running order knowing fine well you’ll probably change your mind within a few minutes of hitting the send button.

Those of you who recall The Fall ICA from August 2015 (#29) will know that I restricted myself to selecting only from singles released in the UK. Today, I’m restricting myself to album tracks that weren’t released in the UK as a 45…..and they had to come from an album on which Bill Berry featured………which in turn meant 10 studio LPs released between 1983 and 1986……….which led me to go with one from each of them (with one exception). Believe me, without these bye-laws for this ICA I’d still have been writing the piece come this time next year. So here is what I’ve called It’s Crazy What You Could Have Had.*

*three extracts instead of the full ten

Begin The Begin (from Lifes Rich Pageant, 1986)

This ICA opens with the opening track from the band’s fourth studio LP which, looking back, can be seen as taking the first serious steps away from being a cult indie/college band towards world domination within five years. The album tackled a range of political and ecological issues and its release seemed to coincide with Michael Stipe finally getting comfortable with the idea of the frontman being seen by so many, fans and media alike, as the spokesperson albeit he was often singing lyrics penned by one of the other members – such was the joy of having all compositions attributed to Berry-Buck-Mills-Stipe.

Begin The Begin has always been a band favourite, being played extensively at gigs and long after most of the other songs from the IRS years had been dropped to accommodate the ones the arena and stadium audiences had paid good money to hear – y’know, the 19 singles lifted from the first four albums from the 90s which have come to define the band in the eyes and to the ears of so many. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – and indeed if I hadn’t imposed bye-laws for the ICA many of those 19 singles (and indeed a number of the earlier 45s) would have made the cut. But I would still, no matter what, have opened up the ICA with what Stipe has described as an act of ‘personal, political activism’. It was the right note to strike at exactly the right time in history.

Country Feedback (from Out Of Time, 1991)

The LP which spent 109 weeks on American album charts, including two separate spells at #1 spot; it also was part of the UK album charts for 183 weeks (that’s nearly 3 ½ years FFS!!) with just a single week at #1.

It has many outstanding tracks, including this, named simply to describe its music – country rock (with pedal-steel guitar) with some feedback thrown in. It’s a rambling, slighty insane lyric that has since been claimed as coming from a single-take in the studio in which Stipe had only some prompt words written down on a piece of paper, with much of it being improvised. If this is the case, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, it is simply as extraordinary a song as has ever been written and recorded.

World Leader Pretend (from Green, 1988)

For highly personal reasons, this is up there among my all-time favourite songs by anyone, far less by R.E.M.

Let’s just say that it gave me inner strength and self-belief at a time when I was going through a lot of turmoil, not really sure if I had the ability to break out of a relationship in which I found myself trapped. There’s also an amazing live performance captured on Tourfilm in which the song’s opening is amended to name check a song by Gang of Four. (see bonus footage below)

JC

Various

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

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Last week’s games were closer than most of the other ties thus far in Round 2, and indeed the match up between Caerphilly and Cincinatti swung one way and the another before the eventual winners picked up six successive late votes to prevent any penalty shoot-out.

Match 21 : Suede 25 Scritti Politti 14

Match 22 : Manic Street Preachers 18 The National 23

Match 23 : Siouxsie & The Banshees 23 Amelia Fletcher 14

Match 24: Lloyd Cole 25 v The Delgados 16

If I had been involved in voting last week, I’d have suffered three disappointments. But hey, it’s a democracy…..for the time being!

I reckon if the bookmakers were to take a look at this week’s match-ups that some teams would be installed as odds-on favourites…….but who knows?

The Sweet (1st in Group F) v Chumbawamba (8th in Group E)

mp3: The Sweet – Ballroom Blitz v mp3 : Chumbawamba – Love Can Knock You Over

The Triffids (4th in Group H) v Soft Cell (5th in Group G)

mp3: The Triffids – Beautiful Waste v mp3 : Soft Cell – Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?

Orange Juice (2nd in Group G) v Bauhaus (7th in Group F)

mp3: Orange Juice – Holiday Hymn v mp3: Bauhaus – Kick In The Eye

Comsat Angels (3rd in Group E) v The Breeders (6th in Group H)

mp3: Comsat Angels – You Move Me v mp3: The Breeders – Safari

As ever, thanks for taking part. Voting closes at midnight (UK time) next Friday, which is the 21st of October.

PS :

For anyone wanting a break from all things World Cup-related, please feel free to take a trip to No Badger Required, where I’ve penned a guest posting for SWC offering up a nostalgic assessment of Easy Pieces, the 1985 album from Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. Just click here.

JC

Strawberry Switchblade

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #328: STRAWBERRY SWITCHBLADE

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It’s been over eight years since Strawberry Switchblade first appeared on TVV and there’s only been one appearance since, so I have no qualms about again, as I did in 2014, leaning on wiki for the back story:-

Strawberry Switchblade was a female pop rock/new wave band formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall.

The punk movement expanded rapidly in the United Kingdom in 1976. At the time, Rose McDowall and Jill Bryson were classic Glasgow punks. As the punk rock scene electrified Glasgow in the late ’70s, they were a part of the bohemian art scene who adored the New York Dolls and who followed Scottish punk band Nu-Sonics during their career, with McDowall playing and recording with Paisley punk band The Poems.

Bryson studied for four years at the Glasgow School of Art where she achieved a BA honours degree in mixed media.

As friends, McDowall and Bryson socialised in Glasgow pubs, catching many local bands at the time. One of these bands was Orange Juice, fronted by Edwyn Collins. Members of New Pop and Orange Juice had recorded a live version of “Felicity” as a flexi-disc and intended to release it. A fanzine, to be titled Strawberry Switchblade after a James Kirk song, was planned to promote the flexi-disc but never materialised. The “Felicity” flexi-disc was eventually released in conjunction with the debut Orange Juice single, “Falling and Laughing”. McDowall and Bryson adopted the fanzine title as their band name.

Strawberry Switchblade played at a John Peel gig in Scotland, and he invited them to record a session for his BBC Radio 1 show in October 1982.They also recorded a session for David Jensen’s Radio 1 show three days later. On both sessions the band were augmented by James Kirk from Orange Juice on bass and Shahid Sarwar from The Recognitions on drums.

The sessions were heard by Bill Drummond (a Scottish musician who went on to form The KLF) and David Balfe, respectively manager and keyboard player with the recently defunct The Teardrop Explodes, who became the group’s managers.

The band’s first single, “Trees and Flowers”, was released in July 1983 through 92 Happy Customers, an independent record label run by Will Sergeant from Echo & The Bunnymen,and sold over 10,000 copies. It was featured at number 47 in John Peel’s 1983 Festive 50. “Trees and Flowers” was written by Bryson about her medical condition agoraphobia.

Drummond signed the band to Warner Music Group subsidiary Korova in 1983. They got a full backing band with whom they toured and began recording an album with producer Robin Millar. However, at the record company’s behest, they reverted to the duo of Bryson and McDowall and for production duties they hired David Motion, who would soon go on to produce hits for Red Box.

In late 1984 their second single, “Since Yesterday”, was released. Having been given a large marketing push over the festive period, it became a UK top ten hit in early 1985, peaking at number 5, and also met with success in Europe and Japan.

The track’s opening fanfare came from Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5, which had also featured prominently in the coda section of the earlier hit “Beach Baby” by The First Class. The band’s’ strikingly contrasting black and white wardrobe, including the polka dot rah-rah skirts worn for the sleeve of “Since Yesterday”, attracted coverage at the time. Their somewhat ‘gothic’ appearance was also of note.

In March 1985 they released their next single, “Let Her Go”, a tune in a similar vein to “Since Yesterday”.

Following the release of their eponymous album in April, in May 1985 they released a further single, the ballad “Who Knows What Love Is”, one of two tracks on the album produced by Phil Thornally of The Cure.

Their fifth single, an electro-pop cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, was issued in September 1985 in the UK and Japan.

Although their commercial success had waned in the UK they remained popular in Japan and two later singles, “Ecstasy (Apple of My Eye)” and “I Can Feel”, were only issued in that country. The second of these only featured McDowall as by this time the partnership had irreparably fractured. By early 1986, the group had disbanded.

In December 2005, Warner Bros. Platinum Records released a career retrospective of the band, made up of sixteen different tracks from various recordings on one compact disc.

I’ve previously featured the first two singles but the collection lining the shelves at Villain Towers also includes two of the later singles:-

mp3: Strawberry Switchblade – Let Her Go
mp3: Strawberry Switchblade – Jolene

Despite the fact that the entire discography of Strawberry Switchblade consists of just one studio album, two compilation albums, EP, seven singles, and thirteen b-sides, there is a possibility that I might offer up an ICA at some future point.

JC

Ramones

THEIR BIGGEST UK HIT

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I felt sorry that The Ramones departed the ICA World Cup on penalties in Round 1, losing out to Stevie Wonder after a 24-24 draw.

The Ramones ICA was the work of the much-missed Dirk, aka Sexy Loser. I’ve been in touch, by e-mail, with our German friend who tells me that things at work and home are such that he’s not had the time, energy or inclination to get his blog moving again. I am hopeful, however, that he might be able to offer up an occasional guest posting here at TVV.

Dirk’s ICA didn’t include The Ramones biggest hit single, which reached #8 in mid-February 1980, during a nine-week stay in the Top 75.

mp3: The Ramones – Baby I Love You

It was also on the album End Of The Century, from which Dirk selected Danny Says for his ICA. He had this to say about the album:-

“The album was produced by Phil Spector, famous through his work with The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, The Beatles and John Lennon, among others.

During the studio work, Spector’s recording methods were different from those the Ramones were accustomed to from their four previous studio albums. The band recorded their earlier compositions in the shortest time possible for the lowest feasible budget, with a relatively low production value. With End of the Century, the band experienced Spector’s infamous perfectionism, and a budget of $200,000 to fully record and produce the album.

This method of recording caused conflicts to arise. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone wrote of Spector’s obsessive techniques: “Phil would sit in the control room and would listen through the headphones to Marky hit one note on the drum, hour after hour, after hour, after hour.” During the recording of “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”, Johnny was forced by Spector to repeat his part hundreds of times over the course of several hours. Sire Records owner Seymour Stein relates: “To Johnny, this must have been like the Chinese water torture.”

As for the decision to record Baby I Love You, it is alleged that Spector held the band at gunpoint to ensure they would cover the song, although the tale has since been suggested as an urban myth. Although not that well-received by the critics, it proved to be popular across radio stations, with all sorts of airings throughout the day, and subsequently bought by many tens of thousands of record buyers in the UK. The fact it was a Top Ten hit hasn’t changed many folks opinions – a retrospective review of End of The Century for Pitchfork had Evan Minsker writing that “even with a full understanding of End of the Century’s context, “Baby, I Love You” is jarring” and “is a museum piece—a pound-for-pound attempt to relive Spector’s golden years”

The b-side to the single was the final track on the b-side of End of The Century:-

mp3: The Ramones – High Risk Insurance

As the back of the picture sleeve reveals, Baby I Love You was climbing the charts while the band were on an extensive UK tour.

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I wonder if anyone actually went along to any of the gigs expecting to see a band playing with a full-blown orchestra……..

JC

Devo

WILL DEVO EVER BE HIP AGAIN?

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The title of today’s posting was a throwaway remark included in the information sheet pulled together for FAC 9 on 13 September 1979 (see yesterday’s blog post for more info).

By September 1979, Devo, from Cleveland, Ohio, had been together for six years, with their back catalogue consisting of a handful of singles (the first of which was released in 1977) and two studio albums. Prior to releasing any music, they had found some underground fame (and become hip) for the fact that their music was released via films and videos rather than on vinyl, but this was really down to the fact that many in the industry regarded them as a joke band and no record deals were on offer.

I don’t know if Devo were ever hip once they became a conventional act, but a little over a year after FAC 9 had posed the question, they were bona fide chart stars in their home country:-

mp3 : Devo – Whip It

From wiki:-

“Whip It” debuted at number eighty-five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on August 30, 1980.It spent twenty-five weeks on the chart, peaked at number fourteen on November 15, 1980, and finished the year at number ninety-four on the Billboard Year-End singles chart for 1981.In the U.S., the song also reached number thirteen on the Cash Box Top 100, number eight on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, and number seventeen on the Record World Singles chart. “Whip It” found international success, peaking at number seventy-seven on the Australian Kent Music Report, number eleven on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart, number eleven on the Official New Zealand Music Chart, and number fifty-one on the UK Singles Chart.

Here’s the b-side to the hit 45:-

mp3 : Devo – Snowball

As it turned out, Devo, despite a recording career that encompassed 25 releases, never bothered the US or UK singles charts again. Nor did any of their studio albums from the late 80s onwards sell in any great numbers, but they have continued to generate a lot of positive press and sell out decent sized venues whenever they tour.

JC

Joy Division

FAC 9 : THE FACTORY FLICK

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I haven’t forgotten about this planned short series on the contents of the Use Hearing Protection : Factory Records 1978-79 box set, albeit there hasn’t been a posting since 29 July. It’s the fact that Joy Division are so heavily involved in what would be the final two parts, and are still in the ICA World Cup, that has made me hold things back.

FAC 9 was a film/event on 13 September 1979 at Scala Cinema in the King’s Cross area of London. A Factory information sheet at the time provided this info:-

FAC 9; Matrix number for films made on factory records money; the first three are by Charles Salem, accomplished and super ‘8’ stock, and featuring minimalist tendencies as far as the budget is concerned, and celluloid nod in the direction of the aesthetics of ’75. The normal budget for a three-minute film will be in the region of ten pounds; normal equipment being a cheap camera and a cassette player to furnish the desired soundtrack; sync being achieved by careful synchronous pressing of buttons. To cope with the new commodity relations defined by this ‘you only have to know three chords’ approach to Hollywood, the Scala have installed for today an 8mm projector. These films are offered in the hope that other people will begin squirting off 8mm as visual refractions of their favourite music or other obsessions, and further arenas will invest in (cheap) 8mm projectors. Super.

FILM 1; “Red Dress” LUDUS

Animations to accompany track by Ludus, a Manchester four-piece band who work out of the New Hormones stable. Vocals by Linder, lady responsible for ‘The Secret Public’ and Orgasm addict ironing/nude.

FILM 2; “Factory flick” JOY DIVISION/CITY FUN

Amplification of article by Liz Naylor in the Manchester fanzine, ‘City Fun’, entitled ‘No City Fun’. Music is by the last thing to come out of Manchester that got its pic on the front of N.M.E., Joy Division, three tracks being taken from their “Unknown Pleasures” album. FACT 10. c.f. Londoners; if you don’t know who the last gentleman in the film is………….. you SOON will.

FILM 3: “All Night Party” A CERTAIN RATIO

Visuals for a classic modern single which sold shit, but no accounting for the assholes in the press FAC 5. ‘Being in love means never having to say sorry to Claude Lelouch.’

Films 1 to 3 were made by Charles Salem for Factory, Film one being also done under the aegis of New Horwones; you see they have this lawyer……….

FILM 4: “Joy Division” JOY DIVISION

This film by Malcolm Whitehead was also made on super 8, but this time with stripe sound put on via his projector, syncing it took him seven months. For those with a geographical turn of mind, the concert footage was shot in the Bowden Vale youth club, Altrincham. A film made cause he liked the band/more than anything else, and likes cameras; he is more surprised that it’s being shown in this flash London cinema than you are.

ALSO SHOWING: Wonderful promotional films (what were the above???)

P.S. Will Devo ever be hip again?

AND IN THE BAR:

A small home videotape of a variety of modern music items screened by Granada Television in the North-West (yes, Manchester, like) in 1976 and 1977. Many of the items were only shown in the North West, and act here (as a disincentive to leave the bar as deep background ; the kind of TV stuff that young Mancunians were watching back in the days when anarchy really meant anarchy.. T?shirts. Since these are home taped videos shown for collectors interest as opposed to gain of any sort, it is emphasized that any writers/critics/hacks chancing upon them should not mention having seen them; and that in general they should be taken in the spirit they are intended; homage to the already golden age………..

Love, the Factory.

The Use Hearing Protection box set included a DVD copy of the No City Fun film as detailed above. It’s a fascinating artefact of the era when cars were (relatively) fewer on the streets, when most folk rented their televisions, and when magazines or publications took a minimalist approach to graphic design. It was an age of brutalist architecture, of orange and white double-decker buses, and developers had yet to get their hands on every spare piece of vacant or derelict land.

mp3: Joy Division – Disorder

It was never a secret but as has been indicated above, FAC 10, which will be the final part of this short series, is Unknown Pleasures….but that’s for another day.

JC

Stitched-Back Foot Airman

‘S’ IS FOR…….

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…….Stitched-Back Foot Airman.

I mentioned in last Saturday’s post about Stopstarts that I had found myself looking up unknown (to me) singers and bands whose names began with the letter ‘S’, which is how I came across today’s indie-combo, of whom I have just one song thanks to its inclusion on the C87 box set, comprising seventy-four tracks, issued a few years ago by Cherry Red Records.

Between bios posted on Last FM and Soundcloud, as well as the info on Discogs, I’ve been able to cobble this together:-

Stitched-Back Foot Airman started in the early eighties as a side project to the Southampton-based band Games to Avoid led by guitarist and singer Simon Vincent. “Stitched” was initially an “occasional” band Simon formed with his younger brother Robin Vincent and Mike Farmer and film maker/visual artist Crimp Beringer.

The name was taken from a headline in the Southern Evening Echo relating to a small plane pilot who had crashed and had his foot re-attached to his leg, the full headline was “Stitched-back Foot Airman on the mend”.

The three-piece toured regularly during the mid-eighties and dazzled audiences by swapping instruments for virtually every song. This was borne out of their songwriting process, with all three members writing and creating music, riffs and instrumentals through swapping instruments and improvisation.

Two EPs were released in 1986 on their own Very Mouth Records which led to airtime from John Peel and support slots for many of the key bands of the era such as Stump, A Witness, The Mekons, The Shop Assistants, and Primal Scream.

Manchester-based In Tape Records signed the band in 1987 and there would be two more 12″ singles before they seemingly called it a day, as it seems they never actually formally split up, and still get together on the odd occasion to record music.

This is the song on the C87 box set:-

mp3: Stitched-Back Foot Airman – Tears In The Gutter

This scratchy, psychedelic and occasionally inventive effort was actually one of the b-sides on the Shake Up single. I’ve tracked the rest down:-

mp3: Stitched-Back Foot Airman – Shake Up
mp3: Stitched-Back Foot Airman – Tip The Wink
mp3: Stitched-Back Foot Airman – Keep Away

It’s fair to say that they had a sound which made it difficult to pigeon-hole them.

JC

Various

FUN, FUN, FUN

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The above pictured man with the flag is, arguably, the most (in)famous Assistant Referee in world football.

His name is Douglas Ross. He’s been doing the job in Scotland for around ten years. Most folk who run the lines barely get a second glance, but it’s there is the fact that he is also a Member of Parliament at Westminster, having been elected in 2017 after previously being a local councillor and then member of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Oh, and since August 2020, he has been leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, a position in which he gets a media platform to pontificate on all sorts of issues.

The Tories are not popular in Scotland. Indeed, in recent months, as the antics of ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnston and the policies of the new incumbent, Liz Truss have demonstrated, they are increasingly unpopular across the UK.

Now you might be wondering to yourself what all this has to do with a music blog. I’m getting there….I just felt I had to set the scene for overseas readers.

Some of you may know that I have a Saturday job, which sometimes extends to Tuesday or Wednesday nights. I am a volunteer at Raith Rovers FC and my role is to be in the Matchday Announcer’s Box, doing things like reading out the teams, mentioning match sponsors, shouting out goalscorers as the game progresses and so on. It also involves me selecting and playing the music pre-match and at half-time.

My method involves choosing a set of tunes and preloading them as a playlist to an iPod which is then plugged into the system at the stadium. There’s always about 50 minutes worth of music involved. For last Saturday’s match, I decided in advance to include a few tunes that contained subtle digs at the way the Tories are running the country – You Don’t Care About Us by Placebo and Five Get Over Excited by The Housemartins, while also adding Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag by Pigbag as some football crowds elsewhere have taken to chanting ‘Fuck The Tories’ as part of its refrain (not that I was expecting our small band of supporters to do likewise, but I was hoping perhaps that a few might mumble along).

I got handed the team sheets at around 2.15pm, which is when I see that Douglas Ross is running the line. We rarely get him at Stark’s Park as he tends to get higher profile games, but everyone, I suppose, has to do their turn. The playlist has already got underway. Prefab Sprout, Stereolab and Julian Cope have already been aired, and the players of both sides are going through their warm-ups oblivious to the fact that some of their moves make them look as if they are gyrating in sync to LCD Soundsystem.

Around ten minutes later, the referee and his assistants come out to do their warm-up. The timing couldn’t have been better. Douglas Ross is soon running around the pitch as Paul Heaton sings:-

Feigning concern, a Conservative pastime
Makes you feel doubtful right from the start
The expression she pulls is exactly like last time
You’ve got to conclude she just hasn’t a heart

Now, I know that Douglas Ross wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to the music and had no idea about what was going on. I also doubt he even knows who The Housemartins are, never mind the sentiments in the song. But it made me laugh out loud….thankfully I had my microphone switched off. Oh, and for the record, the Placebo song was next up, and he was still running around the pitch.

mp3: The Housemartins – Five Get Over Excited
mp3: Placebo – You Don’t Care About Us
mp3: Pigbag – Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag

At half-time, just behind the players who were heading up the tunnel just below where the matchday announcer’s box is, the referee and his assistants get together ready to do likewise. I haven’t yet cued up any music for the half-time break, so there is a bit of silence as the applause for the first half performance dies down. The voice of what sounds like a middle-aged man bellows out.

“Ross. Just fuck off you fat Tory Bastard. And take the rest of your greedy and useless Tory pals with you.”

There is a loud cheer from maybe 30 or so fans nearby. Douglas Ross looks down at his feet and walks slowly up the tunnel. I decide it’s time, again, for The Housemartins.

Oh, and for the record. Raith Rovers won 3-0. It was a good way to spend an autumnal Saturday afternoon.

JC

Various

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

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As usual, we will begin with the results from last week:-

Match 17 : Go-Betweens 25 It’s Immaterial 9

Match 18 : Human League 30 The Twilight Sad 9

Match 19 : Stereolab 14 Neil Young 21

Match 20: Bananarama 14 Beastie Boys 20

For a short time, the final match was competitive, but the NYC crew eventually proved too strong. Neil Young held off something of a comeback from Stereolab, but as you can see from the final result, he scored a few late on. Personally, I’m disappointed, having championed The Twilight Sad so many times on the blog over the years, that they picked up so few votes. If VAR was part of the process, I might have found a way to remove most of the goals scored by the Human League.

This week’s intriguing(?) set of games…..

Suede (3rd in Group G) v Scritti Politti (6th in Group F)

mp3: Suede – Stay Together (long version) v mp3 : Scritti Politti – Tinseltown To The Boogiedown (Album Version ft. Mos Def & Lee Majors)

Manic Street Preachers (2nd in Group E) v The National (7th in Group H)

mp3: Manic Street Preachers – Patrick Bateman v mp3 : The National – Blank Slate

Siouxsie & The Banshees (4th in Group F) v Amelia Fletcher (5th in Group E)

mp3: Siouxsie & The Banshees – Helter Skelter v mp3: The Catenary Wires – Mirrorball

(Amelia Fletcher’s ICA was a compilation of songs by various bands she has been part of)

Lloyd Cole (1st in Group H) v The Delgados (8th in Group G)

mp3: Lloyd Cole – Like Lovers Do (Stephen Street Mix) v mp3: The Delgados – Pull The Wires From The Wall

As ever, thanks for taking part. Voting closes at midnight (UK time) next Friday, which is the 14th of October.

JC

Stopstarts

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #327: STOPSTARTS

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It was sometime back in the mid-noughties, in the era when myspace was king and queen of the musical world, that I stumbled across a CD sampler called Grace Records – The First Five Singles.

Five bands I’d never heard of – Fury of the Headteachers, Stopstarts, Orphan Boy, Linear, and The Homewreckers Club. I took it home and found there was some merit to the music, but none of it was really groundbreaking.

I don’t really know anything much about the label or any of the bands, as there were no bios or the likes offered. There may well have been all sorts of stuff put up on myspace, but that’s pretty much extinct nowadays. Discogs shows up that Grace Records was in existence between 2006-2007, with a total of thirteen singles as its complete output.

I had got round to checking out, on-line, a few of the unknown singers/bands on the hard drive that appear after Steve Mason, who was #325 in the series, when I stumbled across a couple of lines on Stopstarts advising they were from Glasgow and indeed one of our local papers had informed its readers of an upcoming gig in February 2007. But of the names of the musicians, there’s nothing.

mp3 : Stopstarts – My Watch Is Digital

This was the second single released on Grace Records. There’s mint copies going for sale on Discogs for £1 plus postage, so although each single had a limited run of just a few hundred, very few seemed to be sold to the general public and there’s been no increase in value whatsoever.*

mp3 : Stopstarts – Metronome

That’s your b-side.

*I hope I didn’t come across as sneering with that comment. The fact is that those behind Grace Records enabled a number of groups to leave behind a physical legacy of the time they spent together, even if the music failed to make any headway critically or commercially…..and I’m always in awe of those who make such things happen.

JC

Alvvays

A LONG OVERDUE DEBUT APPEARANCE ON TVV

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Regular readers will know that I’m most often accompanied to gigs by Aldo, a great friend of many years standing whose relative youth (he’s not long into his 40s!) means he is far better at keeping up with new things in music than I am.

A long while back, he suggested that I’d enjoy Alvvays if I gave them a listen.

For those who aren’t aware, the band are from Canada, forming in 2011 on Prince Edward Island, one of the most eastern parts of that vast and beautiful country. Molly Rankin (vocals, guitar), Kerri MacLellan (keyboards), Alec O’Hanley (lead guitar), Phil McIssac (drums) and Brian Murphy (bass) collectively moved the 1,000 miles (by road) to Toronto as this opened up more opportunities. They came to the attention of the music business thanks to a series of support slots for different indie bands and positive on-line reactions to their demo material.

A self-titled debut album appeared in the summer of 2014, with the follow-up Antisocialites being issued three years later. The band has long been compared to many that have come out of Scotland, most notably Camera Obscura, along with the likes of Magnetic Fields – and it’s no surprise that both of these acts are also among Aldo’s favourites.

I did heed what my friend had to say, and picked up digital copies of the two albums, thoroughly enjoying what I was hearing, particularly the debut album.

mp3: Alvvays – Adult Diversion (Alvvays 2014)
mp3: Alvvays – Party Police (Alvvays 2014)
mp3: Alvvays – In Undertow (Antisocialites, 2017)
mp3: Alvvays – Not My Baby (Antisocialites, 2017)

I had assumed that the period of inactivity since 2017, coinciding with the onset of the COVID pandemic, had resulted in the band calling it a day, but I was very wrong.

An email from the good people at Monorail Records not only advised that a new LP was imminent, but that the shop was helping to promote a Glasgow date on an upcoming UK tour. The album and tickets were duly ordered, all of which led to myself and Aldo getting along to see Alvvays last Sunday, where we found ourselves among a few other old friends, not least Comrade Colin. It proved to be an excellent night out, albeit I thought the band was a bit more rock-orientated than I’d anticipated from the two albums, although perhaps that’s an indication of the direction the new record is taking. I’ll soon find out, as Blue Rev comes out today.

The original rhythm section of the band are no longer involved. Sheridan Riley came in on drums in 2017 while Abbey Blackwell arrived as the new bassist just last year. Having not seen any previous incarnation of Alvvays, I can’t say if the new line-up made for a better live experience than before, but I can say that they sounded note-perfect and deservedly got a huge ovation from the 500 fans who made up the capacity audience.

The band have a 24-date tour of the USA, starting in Chicago on 14 October and ending on 18 November in Boston. They are well worth seeing.

JC

Wedding Present

NOSTALGIA IN OCTOBER (1)

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This was one of three posts scheduled for last month that had to be held back. Some extracts from ICA 7.

It’s What You Want That Matters

A song that had first been aired two years previously on the Peel show when it was known as What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?

I’ve admitted before that I was late to The Wedding Present. I hadn’t given them much attention in the early days simply as the music papers were saying this was the band to fill the Smiths-sized void in your life and I just didn’t think at the time that anyone could do such a thing. George Best had been out for the best part of three years when I first got a hold of a copy. This was the initial stand out track for me. And I still love it all this time later.

Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm

There’s some wording on the back of the sleeve of this single.

‘Additional vocals by Amelia’

This little touch gave the band a different dynamic as they brought in the indie goddess who was Amelia Fletcher from Talulah Gosh to add backing vocals to some new songs after the release of the debut LP. It was a short-lived partnership of no more than a few months, and it didn’t make it beyond minor contributions to the sophomore classic that was Bizarro. But it planted a seed for male/female vocals that came to the fore in the Cinerama era and thereafter in the 21st Century Weddoes. This is a cracking 45 which took the band into the Top 50 of the singles chart for the first time.

Brassneck (single version)

The production from Steve Albini on Seamonsters really helped the band break out of the indie-shell and a hint of what he would do can be found on the remix of the opening track from the Bizarro LP. Thirty seconds are trimmed from the original while the arrangement is tightened and beefed up. I love how the electric guitar gives way to the acoustic strumming about two-thirds of the way through before the ‘beached whale wailing’ beckons David back to microphone.

JC

Wake

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (68)

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I’m able to bring this to you today, thanks to it having been part of the latest series of re-releases by Optic Nerve Recordings, a label specialising in offering up vinyl copies of long-lost or difficult to find singles, of an indie-bent, from the 80s and 90s.

The Wake were formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Gerard McInulty (aka Caesar), on guitar and vocals, Steven Allen on drums and Joe Donnelly as bassist. Previously Caesar had played with Altered Images, and was responsible for the superb Dead Pop Stars, but he left prior to the band enjoying chart success with Happy Birthday.

To begin with, nobody paid much attention to The Wake which led to the trio deciding, in 1982, to record a self-financed debut single on their own label, Scan 45 for which they roped in a friend, Robert Gillespie, to play on keyboards.

mp3: The Wake – On Our Honeymoon

Shortly afterwards, Joe Donnelly decided to leave and the now Bobby Gillespie took on bass guitar duties, with Carolyn Allen (sister of Steven) joining as the keyboard player.

The debut single and a demo tape found it way to Rob Gretton, who got the band down to Strawberry Studios in Stockport to record some material for a possible release on Factory Records.

The result was a seven-track LP, Harmony, issued in October 1982 with the catalogue number of FAC 60. It was the following year when I first really became aware of The Wake, thanks to them supporting New Order on a short tour across Scotland, during which I got to three of the gigs. Later in the year, Bobby Gillespie would take his leave of the band, turning up next as drummer with Jesus and Mary Chain, being replaced by Alex McPherson.

The Wake would depart from Factory in 1988 and later releases would be on Sarah Records through to 1995, although the band was primarily now just Caesar and the Allen siblings, augmented on record by guest musicians.

The end of Sarah Records meant the end of The Wake, but they reformed in 2009 with new material emerging in 2012.

Going back to the debut single, it has long been out of print and copies tend to fetch £40-£60 on the second-hand market. The Optic Nerve version is on white vinyl, for less than a tenner (plus postage), and comes with a poster and postcard.

mp3: The Wake – Give Up

Two tracks of their time, but sort of timeless, if you know what I mean.

JC

Add N To (X)

ONE-OFF PIECES OF VINYL (1)

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Another new series, which will be of an occasional nature.

Some pieces of vinyl sitting now in various locations in the Towers are one-offs in that the single or album happens to be all I have by a particular singer or band. Such as this, from 2000:-

mp3: Add N To (X) – Plug Me In

I didn’t actually buy this in 2000 – indeed, that was a period when any new music was almost exclusively on CD. It was picked while I was browsing among the small selection of vinyl in a bric-a-brac shop on the south side of Glasgow just a few months ago. It’s a song that I recall hearing back in the day, and I’m sure I saw the promo video on television at some point, although the fact that wiki states said promo consists of porn actresses playing with sex toys means I’m surely much mistaken!

Anyways, the song turned out to be everything I remembered, a funky piece of electronica, although listening more closely to the lyrics than I must have done in 2000 reveals it very much on the risqué side.

Add N To (X) first started making music in 1996 and had made two albums, as well as going through some line-up changes prior to signing to Mute Records in 1999. The trio who made this single were Barry Smith, Ann Shenton and Steven Claydon, with Shenton the only one left from the original line-up. After three albums for Mute, they called it a day in 2003.

The b-side has a cracking title:-

mp3: Add N To (X) – The Vic Hallam System

I thought that it was a tribute to a footballer from the 1970s who had played for many clubs but is best recalled for his contribution to Sunderland’s FA Cup winning run of 1973….but it turns out his name is spelled Vic Halom.

Turns out it is named after the owner of the construction company which produced prefabricated timber-based, flat-roofed classrooms for schools in the 1950s. Known as the Derwent System, the method enabled authorities, at a time of shortages, to quickly and cheaply provide space for pupils. The method was also deployed to construct office buildings.

Not surprisingly, the use of such materials and the style in which they were built led to severe problems within not more than a decade, and very few examples of the buildings remain in situ.

JC

PS : A Public Service Announcement

5.30pm on Monday evening. Just back from accompanying Rachel to an afternoon showing of Moonage Daydream, the recently released documentary on the life of David Bowie.

I’m no great fan, so my instant reaction that the two-and-a-quarter hours felt like four is perhaps understandable. Rachel, on the other hand, is a lifelong fan (having seen the Ziggy Stardust tour as a 14-year old back in the day). She was scathing of the film, thinking it was all over the place and that it ignored far too many periods of his career; but the biggest failure was the lack of acknowledgement for the roles certain people played in his life – she singled out Angie Bowie and Iggy Pop.

Neither of us understand why so many critics are fawning over it.

Various

OKTOBERFEST ’22

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I believe that today is actually the last day of the festival over there in Munich. First one in three years post-COVID breakout.

Saves me coming up with some sort of smart or smarmy name for the TVV monthly mix which has a few lesser known and new(ish) tracks to make your way through.

mp3: Various – Oktoberfest ’22

Happy Ending – Hi Fi Sean and David McAlmont
The Truck Driver and His Mate – Pet Shop Boys
Youth Knows No Pain – Lykke Li
Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) – De La Soul
Why Do You Only Call Me When You’re High? – Arctic Monkeys
Vanishing Point – New Order
Pure Shores – All Saints
Loose Fit – Happy Mondays
I Am God – Spare Snare
Atomic – Blondie
18 Cigarettes – Ducks Ltd.
Waiting For The Winter – The Popguns
First Hand Arrogance – Brontes
Go Go Go – The Wedding Present
Theme From Sparta F.C. #2 – The Fall

It all lasts about eight seconds under an hour.

JC

Various

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

icaworldcup

As usual, we will begin with a recap from last week.

The responses seemed to come in slower than usual, and by Wednesday it looked as if the total votes would be well down than on previous weeks. I was thinking that some folk might have looked at what had already come in and decided that as at least three of the outcomes were foregone conclusions, there was no point in bothering.

Or maybe it’s a bit like many a live gig. There’s excitement at the start of things and great anticipation for how it will all end, but there’s the stuff in the middle that doesn’t have your full attention.

Match 13 : Electronic 15 Ash 22

Match 14 : The Dream Syndicate 7 Cinerama 26

Match 15 : Cocteau Twins 34 Chris Isaak 3

Match 16: Echo and The Bunnymen 33 Fad Gadget 4

I’ve a feeling the next round for those that got through might bring closer results…….

The next four Sundays will see the return of those who came through from Groups E-H, with again the group winners up against a combo that finished 8th and so on…….

The Go-Betweens (1st in Group E) v It’s Immaterial (8th in Group F)

mp3: Go-Betweens – Don’t Let Him Come Back (new version) v mp3 : It’s Immaterial – How Can I Tell You? (album version)

Human League (4th in Group G) v The Twilight Sad (5th in Group H)

mp3: Human League – Mirror Man v mp3 : The Twilight Sad – I/m Not Here (missing face)

Sterelolab (2nd in Group F) v Neil Young (7th in Group G)

mp3: Stereolab – The Free Design v mp3: Neil Young – Too Far Gone

Bananarama (3rd in Group H) v Beastie Boys (6th in Group E)

mp3: Bananarama – I Heard A Rumour (Miami Remix) v mp3: Beastie Boys – Jimmy James

As ever, thanks for taking part. Voting closes at midnight (UK time) next Friday, which is the 7th of October.

JC

Steve Mason

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #326: STEVE MASON

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From all music:–

Scottish singer, songwriter, and producer Steve Mason rose to widespread critical acclaim in the late ’90s as a member of indie darlings the Beta Band. With their creative songscrap approach and maverick attitude, the Beta Band earned a somewhat notorious reputation among fans and the U.K. press during the post-Brit-pop era, thanks to releases like 1998’s The Three EP‘s and 2001’s Hot Shots II. During the Beta Band’s heyday and following their 2004 breakup, Mason also recorded as King Biscuit Time and later set out on a proper solo career with albums like 2013’s Monkey Minds in the Devil’s Time and 2019’s About the Light.

Mason initially formed the Beta Band as a duo in the mid-’90s with fellow Fife native Gordon Anderson (Lone Pigeon), although Anderson’s involvement proved to be short-lived. Following his departure, the group coalesced around Robin Jones on drums, John Maclean on keyboards, sampler, and turntables, and Richard Greentree on bass, with Mason serving as the group’s unofficial leader from that point onward. The Beta Band earned heaps of critical praise with an opening salvo of three EPs, all released on Regal and leading up to the release of their acclaimed debut album, 1999’s The Beta Band. The follow-up, Hot Shots II, earned greater praise, although shortly after their third release, 2004’s Heroes to Zeros, the band announced their breakup.

Mason had already debuted a solo project, King Biscuit Time, late in 1998, and during the 18 months that followed the Beta Band’s breakup, he released a pair of King Biscuit singles — including “C I AM 15,” which reached number 67 on the British charts — and a full album, 2006’s Black Gold. One year later, he launched an electronica project called Black Affair, and a techno-influenced LP titled Pleasure Pressure Point appeared on V2 in 2008. He subsequently returned to a Beta Band format for his first album under his own name, a late 2009 single titled “All Come Down.” The expected full-length album, Boys Outside, with production help from Richard X, appeared in 2010 on Double Six, distributed by Domino. Provided with polished production, Steve Mason’s poignant songwriting and powerful vocals were brought to the fore. The album was then given a dub reworking by Mason and Dennis Bovell. Ghosts Outside displayed the singer/songwriter’s effortless ability to span genres successfully, while remixing the likes of Django Django showed Mason’s hunger for creativity was not slowing down.

In early 2013, his third album under his own name arrived. Among its sprawling 20 tracks, Monkey Minds in the Devil’s Time explored depression, politics, and human nature, bringing together many genres to create a mesmerizing experience. His next record focused purely on himself, wringing out personal emotions and experiences for 2016’s Meet the Humans, bringing aboard Craig Potter (Elbow) to produce the album. With a number of solo tours under his belt, Mason wished to re-create the same live energy on record; the resulting album, 2019’s About the Light, featured a live band throughout the recording process to capture the feeling of his shows.

mp3: Steve Mason – Alive!

One of the many excellent tracks to be found on Meet The Humans, which made the final shortlist of ten for the Scottish Album of The Year for 2016.