A LONG TIME READER HAS ASKED…

….’when are we getting Fruits Of Passion‘ in repect of the great Scottish singles series.

The fact that I’m writing about them on a Thursday might give you the answer……

I know that Son Of The Rock is not the only fan of this mid-80s combo, who if memory serves me correctly were from a town called Coatbridge which is just 10 miles or so east of Glasgow, as I’ve had a couple of e-mails over the years asking for postings.

The thing is, they never made that much of an impact on me at the time, and having got my hands not all that long ago on a second-hand copy of their only LP, I think it is a sound that hasn’t dated all that well, but hey, I’m happy to let others listen and make their own minds up.

1986 was the year you need to look at if you want to know more about Fruits Of Passion, who were Sharon Dunleavy (vocals), Glenn Gibbons (guitar), Davey Fullerton (rhythm guitar) and Stephen Alexander (bass). They released a 10-track album on Siren Records, which was a subsidiary of Virgin Records. Four of the tracks were released as singles, none of which troubled the charts:-

mp3 : Fruits Of Passion – Love’s Glory
mp3 : Fruits Of Passion – Kiss Me Now
mp3 : Fruits Of Passion – Everything (I Ever Wanted)
mp3 : Fruits Of Passion – No More Tears

There’s no denying that Sharon Dunleavy had a powerful voice – very reminscent at times of Maria McKee. But the tunes were a bit too polished and comfortable for my liking, although looking back maybe the band came along just a wee bit too soon to have made it. There’s a fair bit of the sort of sounds that would propel Deacon Blue and Texas to fame and fortune just a couple of years later….

Quick question.

The Scotsman newspaper has a sports writer called Glenn Gibbons. Is it the same Glenn Gibbons who was in FoP??

Here’s a promo for one of the singles….

Happy Listening.

 

SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE : EVEN MORE OF A TURN-ON THAN I COULD HAVE DREAMED OF

Up until a couple of weeks back, I had never spent £70 on a single bit of music. Indeed, up until a couple of months ago, I would never had dreamed of spending that amount of money on a single bit of music. But when I read that Chemikal Underground were putting together a box-set of Arab Strap material, then I knew that was all going to change.

The original intention had been to put an order in through the excellent Chemikal Underground website, but when I read that the label were accelerating the release of the boxset so that it would be in shops in time for Record Store Day on Saturday 17th April 2010, then I changed tack and decided to buy it over the counter.

As it turned out, by the time I got to my favourite wee indie shop in Glasgow, they had sold out of whatever copies they had got in for the day, but they reassured me more stock would be in within days. And they were right, and so on Wednesday 21st April, I handed over more money than I ever dreamed I would for a single bit of music.

Actually, I didn’t hand over money. I paid with a bit of plastic. And actually, it wasn’t for one piece of music when you look through the contents of the boxset.

OK, I already owned copies of the LPs The Week Never Starts Around Here and Philophobia. And I had a copy of the various singles etc released between 1997 and 1998 which were available on a specially compiled CD. But what I didn’t have previously were:-

- a copy of the first ever Arab Strap gig at King Tut’s in Glasgow in October 1996;
- a copy of the gig at T In The Park (aka Nedstock) in July 1998:
- ten demo songs, some of which never saw the light of day in the recording career;and
- seventeen other bits of music, made up of rare recordings, John Peel Sessions and an old unreleased track specially recorded in late 2009 for inclusion in the box set.

And on top of that, there are sleeve notes from Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton that are royally informative, enlightening, entertaining and very fucking funny (c’mon, its Arab Strap I’m writing about here….I can use an expletive).

Was it value for money? Well, I reckon so. I’ve often scoffed at people who bought all sorts of box sets and limited edition material released by well established musicians on major labels on the basis of them being fools for further lining the pockets of moguls. This purchase feels different – I know from talking to folk involved in Chemikal Underground how tight their margins have been over the years, and nobody involved in the label, owners and artistes alike, has become obscenely rich as a result. Furthermore, my purchase at a local record store helped play a small part in hopefully helping to a healthier than normal turnover in the middle of April.

There’s 43 new, live or different versions of songs that I now own from making this purchase. Maybe in the future when the boxset has sold out that Chemikal Underground will make some or all of them available to buy on digital form on an individual basis. I hope so…..but in the meantime, I hope that no-one minds if I offer up, for a limited period of time, two of the tracks.

The first is a different version of the band’s famous debut single that was re-recorded for a John Peel Session. To quote from Aidan’s sleevenotes:-

…..a new version of our debut single in which the lyrice were rewritten to document the most recent weekend and the trip down to London to do the session. Unfortunately, these new lyrics are shit. Also, for some reason – probably legal – they omit the highlight of the trip, an incident at our horrible hotel involving the cheapest cider we could find mixed with even cheaper cherryade, Malcolm’s head, a charity shop oil painting and some gaffer tape.

mp3 : Arab Strap – The First Big Peel Thing

And from a different Peel Session, an incredible version of one of the most amazing songs to open any album.

mp3 : Arab Strap – Packs Of Three

Yes, it is a slightly sanitized version so that it could go out on the radio, but again to quote Aidan’s notes:-

…we were a much more focused and sophisticated group – the difference between this Peel Session and the last is quite dramatic. I can’t imagine a better document of the 1998 four-piece Arab Strap sound than the tracks from this session and, if you may permit me a modicum of gentle hubris, I think they sound quite brilliant.

If there is one thing that disappointed me about the box-set, it was Aidan’s closing words after describing how well he and Malcolm had got on when they had turned an old instrumental into a new song in the Autumn of 2009 – he simply says ‘There are no plans to reform properly, in case you’re wondering.’

How sad. I harbour hopes that one day they will at least play one more gig.

I can’t recommend this boxset highly enough. I know its an awful lot of money to splash out, but I reckon its a luxury that should be indulged in. And even at £70, it’s still an awful lot cheaper than most of the hundreds of pairs of shoes and handbags that Mrs Villain stows away in various cupboards.

Happy Listening.

 

IT’S NOT ALL JINGLY-JANGLY POP YOU KNOW…

Ok, its probably 99% jingly-jangly pop that sits in the vinyl cupboard or on the CD shelves, but every now and again something catches my ear and demands purchase. Such as this, back in 2001:-

mp3 : Faithless – We Come 1 (Radio Edit)

An absolutely massive song in so many ways, it reached #3 in the UK singles chart which is the best position they have ever achieved. It was accompanied by a cracking video as well:-

Turns out that the CD I picked up is the one labelled CD2 and the mixes are not all that easy to find. So for anyone who might be interested:-

mp3 : Faithless – We Come 1 (Wookie Remix)
mp3 : Faithless – We Come 1 (Rocket vs Jeno Remix)

Happy Raving.

 

THIRD TIME LUCKY???

Both myself and Mrs Villain were pleased to learn the other week that The Young Knives have been busy in the recording studio and plans are underway for the third album to be released sometime in 2010.

I’m firmly of the view that this lot are a fine continuation of the line of great slightly eccentric Englsh pop groups that goes back many a year to the likes of The Kinks and XTC, and for a while before they went mega in the Britpop era, Blur. They have released two LPs full of great tunes and clever lyrics that have sadly not taken them much beyond cult status, and even then, it’s a rather small cult.

What must have been even more frustrating for both them and their record label was the fact that having had three singles get to the bottom end of the Top 40 back in 2006 as well as a debut LP that peaked at #21, the follow-up stuff in 2008 didn’t perform anything like as well, with the singles stalling just outside the Top 40 and the LP at #29.

It wasn’t as if the new songs weren’t as good as the old stuff – in fact there’s a strong case to be made for the songs on Superabundance (2008) to be a much more consistent and better quality collection than those on Voices of Animals and Men (2006). And it wasnt as if the band didn’t work hard with all sorts of gigs in all corners of the country.

If you don’t know much about The Young Knives, then I would like to recommend that you have a peek over at either their official website or myspace site to learn more. You’ll even get to hear some of their songs…..

And, if you’re someone who lives in or around Manchester, Keele, Aldershot or Leicester then why not go along and catch them on stage this week:-

5 May – Moho Live, Manchester
6 May – University, Keele
7 May – The Palace, Aldershot
8 May – Music Cafe, Leicester

I’ve been lucky to see them play live on a handful of occasions across Scotland and they’ve never been a letdown. And you’ll be among the first to hear some of the new material as well…..

Sadly, the timing of the mini-tour is all wrong for the Villains to make an effort to get along as we will be setting off on holiday this coming Saturday (plans are in hand for a special couple of series at TVV to keep things ticking over). But with any luck, the band will get out on the road later on to promote the new record. And if there’s any justice in this cruel world, they will finally get the hits they are long overdue.

Here’s the songs from their second single, released back in February 2006. It reached #36 in the singles chart:-

mp3 : The Young Knives – Here Comes The Rumour Mill
mp3 : The Young Knives – We Are The Also Rans

Happy Listening.

 

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

A SMALL MATTER OF OPINION

Dear old JC got himself into a spot of bother the other week when he dared to suggest that the contributions made by David Bowie to the soundtrack of the film Absolute Beginners were not very good.

Now I happen to agree with many of the readers who left comments behind – the song Absolute Beginners is a very fine Bowie song, but it is far from the most important and timeless tracks he recorded in the 1980s.

It was a decade that began with the release of the LP Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) which is felt my many fans to be among his best work – it was an LP that one music paper in the UK awarded seven stars out of five. But I feel this was all just a precursor to what was to follow as Bowie single-handedly re-defined the genre of commercial and critically acclaimed pop star, with a particularly impressive run of chart success from 1981-1985.

There were three massive hits in 1983 – Let’s Dance, China Girl and Modern Love – all of which were either #1 or #2 in the UK singles charts. Indeed Let’s Dance went to #1 in something like 12 different countries and is probably his most famous song across the planet. And the tour of the LP from which these singles came from took outdoor rock gigs to brand new heights and in many ways provided the template for what was the singular most important musical event of the entire decade – Live Aid in July 1985.

I know that Bob Geldof and Midge Ure are the names most folk associate with the many millions of pounds that were raised by Band Aid/Live Aid and rightly so. But the contribution made by David Bowie can never be underestimated.

The momentum of Live Aid was maintained by what I reckon is the most important record David Bowie has ever recorded – and that was his duet with Mick Jagger when they did an amazing cover of Dancing In The Streets. Think about it…..Live Aid itself was a truly magnificent event, but the fundraising would have slowed to a trickle within days of the gig ending if it wasn’t for this single, and indeed that of Drive by The Cars, maintaining the momentum and keeping Live Aid so newsworthy.

Now I don’t want to risk poor JC being on the end of a dmca notice, so instead of an mp3, here is the video to remind you again of just how amazing this song was:-

Now the inspiration for this duet surely came from the fact that David Bowie had spent so much of the early part of the 80s linking up with diverse performers to record songs that have become the staple diet of so many radio stations across the globe .

1981 – Under Pressure (with Queen)
1982 – Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy (with Bing Crosby)
1985 – This Is Not America (with Pat Metheny Group)

Every single one of them a smash hit and evidence that Bowie had the ability to reach out beyond his own immediate fanbase.

As a long-standing fan of David Bowie I love and admire his work from the 70s. But when it comes to cementing his place in the pantheon of modern music, it’s his contribution to the biggest pop event of the 80s that does it for me.

The Ghost Of Troubled Joe, Sunday 2 May 2010

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES….A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS

UPWARDS AND ONWARDS (the 501st post on TVV – originally posted on 3rd August 2008)

Having started things off back in 2006 with a rare and hard-to-find song by James, I thought it would be worthwhile to do something similar with post # 501.

The band had created a bit of stir with the initial singles released on Factory Records, and mainstream success was anticipated with the move to Sire Records. The first release on the new label appeared in March 1986, and it was probably a bit of a disappointment to the label bosses, as it was as quirky and lo-fi as the Factory songs.

Confusingly for the record-buying public, it also came out in two different formats – a 7″ single called Chain Mail, and a 12″ single called Sit Down – Three Songs by James.

And as you can see from the sleeves, the artwork was different as well.

However, the only difference in terms of music was the appearance of a third song not available on the 7″. The two songs that appeared on the 7″ and 12″ had identical mixes…..

mp3 : James – Chain Mail
mp3 : James – Hup-Springs
mp3 : James – Uprising

The eagle-eyed cherries among you will have noticed that the 12″ release, despite its title, didn’t have any song on it called Sit Down…..in fact it is highly unlikely that the band had even written that particular song given it was still a number of years before it would take the UK by storm.

Chain Mail or whatever you want to call it was far from a commercial success, which is not all that surprising as it was clearly never designed for daytime radio. I would love to have been in the room when the label bosses had their first listen, just for the sight of the collective jaws hitting the floor.

All three tracks remain among my favourite of the entire James back catalogue.

Happy Listening.

Oh and a quick PS in response to an email from Ymir in Amsterdam:-

mp3 : The Planets – Lines

Glad to be of service.

 

IT’S FRIDAY, I’M IN LOVE….WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 23)

Can it really be 25 years since this somehow managed to body swerve the charts??

Sorry to say folks, but it is…….and when I unearth facts like that I realise that I am getting very old far too quickly for my liking.

mp3 : Win – You’ve Got The Power

Win were the band formed by Davey Henderson after the break-up of Fire Engines. They were part of the Swamplands label that Alan Horne founded on the mid 80s. They almost made it big, especially when You’ve Got The Power was used as the soundtrack for a particularly pishy type of lager:-

(and despite what the youtube poster has said, the ad dated from either 85 or 86 and not 89)

This is one of the singles that I have in both 7″ and 12″ versions, and thought it worth posting the extended version as well as the various b-sides:

mp3 : Win – You’ve Got The Power (US Dance Mix)
mp3 : Win – In Heaven (Lady In The Radiator Song)
mp3 : Win – Unamerican Broadcasting (7″ edit)

And yup, that’s a cover of the song written by David Lynch that featured in the movie Eraserhead. Many of you will probably know the version recorded by The Pixies.

Win never got any sort of meaningful chart success and broke up in 1989. Davey Henderson went on to form Nectarine No.9 but that’s a story for another day.

 

IT’S BROWSING ROUND SECOND HAND RECORD SHOPS WEEK…..(4 of 4)

Sometimes when I’m browsing through the bits of vinyl in the second-hand or charity stores, I’ll come across something that I’ll want to but just for the sake of it. This is what happened in the case of the Between The Wars EP released by Billy Bragg back in 1985.

I’ve no reason to but this bit of plastic. I’ve long been the owner of all four songs on CD and indeed I picked up additional copies when I bought Billy’s boxsets a few years back.

But this is a record sleeve and piece of vinyl that takes me back to a time when I was firmly establishing what has become a lifelong interest in politics – an interest that was to lead to some of the best and most happiest years of my working life.

Now I’ve never been a politician as such in as much as I’ve never sought any sort of public office. But I’ve worked alongside loads of them over many years – and I’ve admired much of what they have achieved, particularly in bringing about change for the good in my home city. I know that with the courage of their convictions they probably could have changed a lot more, but to do so would in all likelihood made many of them unelectable. I much prefer my politicians to be pragmatic than ideological.

One week from today, the electorate of the UK will go to the polls and choose a government for the next four or five years. And for the first time in over a decade, I’m fearful that the choice they collectively take will be the wrong one.

I bought this single as a reminder to myself that the 80s and much of the 90s was a truly horrible time for many people in working-class communities across the UK. And to give me an excuse to ask all of you with any sort of social conscience to cast your vote wisely next Thursday. And by that, I mean do all you can to keep the Tory toff away from Downing Street. He’s only interested in his own lot. His talk of change for all is just fucking bollocks.

mp3 : Billy Bragg – Between The Wars
mp3 : Billy Bragg – Which Side Are You On
mp3 : Billy Bragg – World Turned Upside Down
mp3 : Billy Bragg – It Says Here (Different Version)

Thank You for listening.

 

IT’S BROWSING ROUND SECOND HAND RECORD SHOPS WEEK…..(3 of 4)

More trashy jingly-jangly pop-trash stuff from one of Scotland’s many long-lost and mostly forgotten bands.

I can’t help myself. I really do like Hey! Elastica, and up until about three weeks ago, I had three out of their four singles as well as their sole LP sitting in the cupboard full of vinyl. And now at long last, 26 and a half years after it was issued to a total indifference, I’ve finally got my hands on the missing bit of plastic:-

mp3 : Hey! Elastica – Party Games
mp3 : Hey! Elastica – Elastican Chant No2

Virgin Records seemingly paid this lot an absolute fortune when they signed them in 1982. They got absolutely no return on that investment. Now I know they’re not everyone’s favourite cup of tea, but let’s be honest for a minute……an awful lot worse acts have enjoyed chart stardom.

Oh and here’s the slightly extended version lifted from the LP In On The Off Beat.

mp3 : Hey! Elastica – Party Games

Happy Listening.

 

IT’S BROWSING ROUND SECOND HAND RECORD SHOPS WEEK…..(2 of 4)

This was a lot that I only ever knew from one of their songs being included on a compilation tape put together for me by Jacques the Kipper back in the early 90s. I bought the single the other week cos I thought both it and the b-side had cracking titles:-

mp3 : Mambo Taxi – Do You Always Dress Like That In Front Of Other People’s Boyfriends?
mp3 : Mambo Taxi – I Want To Marry A Serial Killer

Top stuff. The b-side is like one of those mad instrumentals that Blur used to throw at us on their early LPs……

Mambo Taxi weren’t with us for very long, releasing just three singles and one LP in 1993/94. Wikipedia describes their sound as a mix of garage, punk and pop which on the basis of these two tracks seems accurate enough.

They were lumped in with other female-led bands of the era as part of a movement known as Riot Grrrl, although in retrospect, it appears that this was more an effort by the London-based music media to try and manufacture something out of not much more than nothing.

And here’s the video of the song that JtK put on the tape for all those years ago:-

OK, so it’s not terribly tuneful, but there’s something quite alluring about it all. I don’t expect many of you to agree though…..

 

IT’S BROWSING ROUND SECOND HAND RECORD SHOPS WEEK…..(1 of 4)

Four quick posts in succession, all written at the one time, appearing Monday – Friday in celebration of the joys of finding vinyl records for reasonably cheap prices in second hand record shops. Or charity shops.

Bauhaus are one of the many bands of the early 80s era who could lay claim to having a say in the ‘invention’ of goth rock. It’s fair to say that most folk will recall the name of only one member of the four-piece, that of singer Peter Murphy. And yet, the fact is he only became part of the band when the others approached him, not because of his vocal talents, but simply because he had the right look.

And recalling what Jacques the Kipper wrote about a few weeks ago, Murphy was one of those blokes who it was impossible for even the most hetro and red-blooded male to deny was good looking. Certainly, there were plenty of us who tried hard to capture the image, be it the impeccably prepared hair, the sharp as a razor cheekbones, or the piercing eyes made all the more memorable by the clever application of make-up.

Bauhaus never quite made it the way so many expected them to. I was surprised to find out that of the 11 singles and 4 EPs released at their peak between 1980 and 1983, only two of them actually cracked the Top 40, and one of these was a cover of Ziggy Stardust (indeed, this was their biggest success hitting #15 in 1982).

My favourite song of theirs is the stunning Bela Lugosi’s Dead which I featured quite some time back on TVV. But not far behind is the lead track on the Searching For Satori EP from the very same year.

Kick In The Eye had in fact been released as a single in 1981, but stalled at #59. On the back of the Ziggy success, the record label gave the single a re-release. But still the public wouldn’t bite and the EP stalled at at a disappointing #45. And I could have sworn it was a huge hit…it was one of those songs that inevitably filled the floor of any student disco I was at…..it was also one of the many hundreds of 7″ records that I stupidly lost more than 25 years ago. So it was great to pick a copy up the other week and listen to all three tracks one more time:-

mp3 : Bauhaus – Kick In the Eye (Searching For Satori)
mp3 : Bauhaus – Harry
mp3 : Bauhaus – Earwax

The b-sides by turn are surprising (ie not the sort of song you’d associate with miserable goths) and weird (ie unlistenable shite…..but feel free to differ)

And here’s a performance from an 80s TV show – cant remember which one – could very well have been Oxford Road Show which aired on BBC2 and was named after the location of the BBC TV Manchester studios:-

I bet you had all forgotten just how great this song is…….

 

TVV RECOMMENDS…….

Unlike me, other bloggers get out there and do things that are truly special. Some start up record labels, some get involved in writing for magazines, some put on club nights while others promote live gigs.

Jim from the fabulously named Aye Tunes and Lloyd from the wonderfully informative Peenko have put together a great line-up at the Captain’s Rest in Glasgow on the evening of Friday 30 April. I fully intend to be there. Why not come along and join in the fun?

Doors open at 8pm. And close again at midnight.

 

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

AND ON THE SIXTH DAY, GOD CREATED MANCHESTER

If there’s a city outside Scotland whose impact is recurrently felt on The Vinyl Villain, it must be Manchester with its Magazine, Morrissey, New Order…

I lived there as a student in the late 80s and early 90s, a period when Manchester gained its reputation for being the centre of the music world.

I was certainly enthralled by the musical heritage. My all-time favourite bands were Buzzcocks and The Fall. Joy Division/New Order too – though I eschewed The Smiths. And I was intoxicated by the contemporary scene: a huge Happy Mondays fan, I followed the Inspiral Carpets for a while, though wasn’t arsed about the Stone Roses…

But you can hear all those bands any time, so here are some others that I loved around that time – bands that deserve to be glorified not forgotten. As behoves a VV Sunday Correspondent, let me turn once more to ye olde vinyl…

The Bodines made glorious, glimmering pop music, the pinnacle of 80s indie before syncopated funky-drummer beats took over. There’s a good case to be made for Therese (1987) as the greatest single ever. Certainly it should be on heavy rotation on all music radio.

mp3 : The Bodines – Therese

Laugh‘s funky swagger jumps out of this fantastic single from 1988. It drags you onto the dancefloor and shouts in your ear. They missed the Madchester bus, until they regrouped in time for the second wave as Intastella.

mp3 : Laugh – Time To Lose It

A forgotten music of the time is that loose agglomeration of ugly noiseniks that pointed sharpened sticks at earnest ears. I thought Dub Sex were Manchester’s best, though I wonder if anybody else did…

mp3 : Dub Sex – Swerve

As the Madchester phenomenon peaked, bands were chewed up and spat out as the media trendsetters moved on – to grunge or whatever the next big thing was. But of these second-wave bands, the New Fast Automatic Daffodils meant the world to me, and Big might be my most loved record of the time. As far as I was concerned it was indie-dance crossover on a par with Loaded or Fools Gold.

mp3 : New Fast Automatic Daffodils – Big

To my eternal chagrin I never saw The World Of Twist, though their concerts have become the stuff of legend. I just never imagined it’d be over so quickly – a couple of miraculous singles, a disappointing album, then nothing (and their frontman Tony Ogden died far too young in 2006).

mp3 : World Of Twist – Sons Of The Stage

Oh and while I’m in this mood, we’d better have some Mondays after all…

mp3 : Happy Mondays – Freaky Dancin’ (live)

Don’t sit down……

**Cullen Skink, Sunday 25th April 2010

** (erroneously credited to The Sense Collective for the past 16 hours says a very sheepish JC, 10.22pm, 25th April)

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES….A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS

I should explain, that the undernoted post went up at the end of the 2007 Easter break…..I also wanted to include all the comments received as it highlights just how much these so often contribute to making TVV a better place…..

GOOD MORNING MA’AM, I’VE COME TO READ YOUR GAS METER

It’s Monday and there’s a load of people who are returning to work today after a two-week break who are bound to be feeling lousy.

This is intended to cheer you up a bit:-

mp3 : Half Man, Half Biscuit – Architecture And Morality, Ted And Alice

Available to buy on the extended version of Back In The DHSS right here.

And here’s a rare little number from a slightly more famous band:-

mp3 : R.E.M. – Why Not Smile (Oxford American Version)

Taken from the b-side of the Daysleeper single.

Posted by JC at 7:51 AM, Monday 16th April 2007

7 comments:

Tacim said…

Why Not Smile! Fantastic. Up is utterly wonderful, one of the year’s best records and their career. Michael Stipe is great songwriter. I’ll always have a place in my heart for R.E.M.

12:38 PM, April 16, 2007

The Sound Collector said…

JC

Great songs, I’d never heard either before.

Sound Collector

PS- That is an electric meter!!

7:13 PM, April 16, 2007

Ed said…

As one of them -thank you very much!!

I survived but feel cream `crackered. Hope you’re well, Ed

9:01 PM, April 16, 2007

Matthew said…

G’Day JC – after the title of the post I was sure you were going to post Bogus Official actually, although it’s not as good a song.

Liking the REM – never even heard of that version before.

9:58 AM, April 17, 2007

ally. said…

i sat next to stipe at breakfast on my last holiday and he was writing on his shoes the silly sod. we were still far too excited but not as excited as the next day when dennis hopper was there. dennis bleedin hopper,just over there. it was ace.
sorry to go on.
x

10:54 AM, April 18, 2007

JC said…

TSC

Well, whoever took the photo and posted it at flickr.com said it was a ruddy gas meter. At least he could smoke a fag as he snapped away…..

Ally

So where in the blazes do you go on holiday?? Any room for a star-struck straggler who wouldn’t be ashamed to ask for autographs/photographs???

7:29 PM, April 18, 2007

ally. said…

LA darling,and dennis is the only one allowed a camera
x

9:22 AM, April 19, 2007

Happy Memories. And it’s stirred them enough to add a bonus HMHB song:-

mp3 : Half Man Half Biscuit – Joy Division Oven Gloves

Taken from the wonderfully named Achtung Bono, which can be bought here.

 

IT’S FRIDAY, I’M IN LOVE….WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 23)

I can hear a lot of folk shouting ‘ABOUT BLOODY TIME JC’ as Teenage Fanclub make their belated debut in this long-running series.

Bu the problems here was that while I had a copy of the song Everything Flows, I didn’t actually have a copy of the actual single until I came across it in the CD section of a second hand store just last week.

This was the band’s debut single, originally released on 7″ vinyl in June 1990 on Paperhouse Records. The following year, the band moved to Creation Records and as their profile began to increase, and just in advance of their new product coming out on their new label, Paperhouse re-released this on CD with an extra track – a cover of a Neil Young song (it really does amaze me just how many bands have turned to his back catalogue and recorded a cover version – many of them pretty exceptional efforts).

Those of you with long memories will perhaps recall that I have featured Everything Flows before. It was posted on Xmas Eve 2008. The post was entitled ‘Pure Unadulterated Joy’. I said that if you hadn’t heard the song before you should consider it an early Xmas present. Well,, we’re miles from Xmas, but if this is still a song you’re not familiar with, then give it a listen It really is rather wonderful:-

mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Everything Flows
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Primary Education
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Speeeder
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub – Don’t Cry No Tears

Are you dancing round the room yet?? Don’t frighten the children……..

wee bonus. another b-side cover of said Neil Young song

mp3 : The Wedding Present – Don’t Cry No Tears

Happy Listening.

 

NO WONDER BILL AND JIMMY WERE ANNOYED…

I mentioned yesterday that back in 1989 Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty had been unsuccesful in getting enough funding to complete their film The White Room. It must have been particularly galling to look around at the money that had been wasted on other musical projects not all that long before, and in particular the turkey that was Absolute Beginners.

Released in 1986, it was a musical adaptation of the Colin MacInnes book of the same name about life in late 1950s London. It was directed by Julian Temple who up until then was best known for his work on The Great Rock’n'Roll Swindle with Malcolm McLaren and some of the Sex Pistols, although he was more of a music video director than anything else.

Absolute Beginners was one of the most expensive films in British history, and the fact that it was a critical and more crucially, a commercial flop, meant at least one major studio being declared bankrupt. The main criticism at the time, and to be fair it is not one that anyone could argue with, is that being a musical adaptation instead of a faithful interpretation provides no real narrative and it has the look and feel of a series of badly linked but admittedly stylish looking music videos.

It was also criticised for much of the soundtrack being rooted in the 80s, and yet more than 20 years on, it is parts of the soundtrack which are about the only things worth rescuing from the ill-fated project.

At the time, I bought the LP for the sole reason that it included an otherwise unavailable track (as then) by The Style Council. As it turned out, it was actually a re-working of the track With Everything To Lose that had appeared on the LP Our Favourite Shop. I really did get the feeling I was being cheated:-

mp3 : The Style Council – With Everything To Lose
mp3 : The Style Council – Have You Ever Had It Blue?

But to be fair, I did eventually get over my bad mood and realised that there were some other songs on the soundtrack worth listening to. I always thought that the song from Sade seemed to be the sort of thing that Paul Weller was trying to write for DC Lee:-

mp3 : Sade – Killer Blow

But the less said about the two contributions by David Bowie and that of Eighth Wonder featuring Patsy Kensit the better.

Oh and if you want an idea of how bad the film is, have a look at this clip of a track that is also available on the soundtrack:-

Criminal.

 

FOLLOWING ON NICELY FROM YESTERDAY’S POSTING

Back in 1989, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty thought they had a surefire #1 hit on their hands with this, something which sounded like the love child of SAW and PSB:-

mp3 : The KLF – Kylie Said To Jason
mp3 : The KLF – Pure Trance

The idea was to try and make some money to complete The White Room, a road movie and soundtrack album that had been kick-started with the proceeds of the #1 single Doctorin’ the Tardis. Unfortunately, the idea failed – and in the end neither the film nor its soundtrack would be formally released. But you can get an idea of some of its contents from the promo

Of course, a few years later, a completely different body of work also entitled The White Room would propel The KLF to fame, fortune and noteriety. I wonder if that would have been the case if the world had fallen for the charms of Kylie Said To Jason……

mp3 : The KLF – Kylie Said To Jason (full-length version)

Happy Listening.

 

SKELETONS IN MY CLOSET (Part 10)

Kylie Minogue is a world-wide phenomena.

There can’t be any long-time indie-disco kid who hasn’t fallen for her charms over the years. If nothing else, nobody can deny that Can’t Get You Out Of My Head is a stunning pop record that is a very close cousin to so many of the great electronica records of the 80s.

But as my dear friend Jacques the Kipper will hopefully testify, I have long been an advocate of the talent of probably the most famous Australian on the planet. So much so, that back in the early 1990s when a music magazine (I think it may well have been the long-defunct Select) printed a photo of Kylie cavorting on a bed with Bobby Gillespie, JtK got a t-shirt made with my head superimposed on the body on Mr G, with the words ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ printed underneath…..

Now I’m not going to sit here and argue that among the countless hit records dating back to 1987 there haven’t been a few that are unlistenable. But overall, the magnificent easily outnumber the mundane, while there have been more sublime 45s than shite 45s. Oh and she was also single-handedly responsible for getting Nick Cave onto Top Of The Pops.

And among all the great acts that I’ve seen live over the year, I’ve rarely been so well entertained as when Mrs V took me along as a surprise to catch Kylie perform in March 2005 at the SECC in Glasgow.

I could have gone with any one of a number of singles and held my head up high, but given that last week I picked up a 12″ promo copy of some dance mixes disc for £1, then I can say in all honesty that by ripping them from vinyl that I’m sticking to my principles:-

mp3 : Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me (Master Mix)
mp3 : Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me (The Truth Mix)
mp3 : Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me (Big Brothers Mix)

And here’s the promo that should get many a red-blooded man all trembly at the knees.

 

A SAD LAMENT (2)

Everything has a shelf life. Some great things come and go in what seems like the blink of an eye, while some really evil things hang around for centuries doing untold damage to society. And I know that one day, TVV will be no more. I’m not sure when exactly that will be, but when I do stop shoving up badly spelt words, sentences and paragraphs that more often than not make little sense to anyone other than your humble scribe, I hope it will be a dignified exit completely in my own control.

But nowadays, I’m less and less sure if that will be the case.

I’ve previously highlighted the fact that a number of music blogs have been removed without any advance warning as a result of increasing pressure surrounding the dmca notifications. Indeed it was the sudden removal of a long-loved blog that was one of the prime driving forces behind my determination to make a success of Paul Haig Day II. Coxon Le Woof was one of the real inspirations behind me starting up TVV back in late September 2006, and I know that I’m not the only one who really misses To Die By Your Side, a blog that not only featured some incredibly well-written and informative posts, but featured some very rare and impossible to find versions of songs that were often taken from exclusive radio sessions. The disappearance of Coxon’s work, and indeed those of a few others, was highlighted in a report in The Guardian newspaper – and although I have referred to that piece before, I am not ashamed at all to do so again. Click here for more.

But something else has happened in the past couple of weeks that has angered me more than any other incident since the dmca battles began, and that was the removal of the blog Acid Ted that was a work of art created by ctel.

I know that many of you will be familiar with Acid Ted. Ctel maintained a blog that was truly outstanding in its field – an A-Z of the dance genre. An incredible 1300 posts in exactly two years, during which time he also made himself available to do some guest postings at TVV. Not only that, he saved the blog itself when he stepped in at very short notice to take over for a week when some nasty gremlins forced my PC to crash with the loss of all music files. I did pay tribute back in February when ctel called it a day….

But less than two months later, ctel came out of retirement for one day only – 6th April 2010 – specifically to take part in Paul Haig Day II and also to put up a final posting about his own hero, Andrew Weatherall, whose birthday was the same day.

Two days later he switched on his PC and discovered that Acid Ted had been removed. He had received no advance warning about any offending tracks. I know that it was nothing at all to do with any of the Paul Haig material. It wasn’t likely to have been the Andrew Weatherall material either as this was far from the first time ctel had featured his music and I don’t recall any problems over the previous two years. It was also bizarre as other than the tracks on 6th April, no other mp3s were widely available as ctel, like the rest of us, removes his mp3s after a period of time.

The tragic thing is that having stopped doing the blog on a regular basis, ctel didn’t bother having anything backed up, and so when blogger pulled the plug, it had gone forever. All of the hundreds of thousands of words that went with those 1300 postings, not to mention the thoughts and views of those who took the time to leave comments behind, thrown onto a cyber-bonfire.

And one day, the very same fate might befall TVV. OK, so I do back up the blog and could resuscitate it elsewhere reasonably easily, but I just think I’d be so hurt and upset about its removal from here that I’d rather pack it all in and become, as I was before I started all this, an avid reader of other folk’s efforts. Hopefully it will never come to that…..

One other thing that angered me about the removal of Acid Ted was that ctel had a button which you could press and make a donation to a couple of charities that were very near to his heart after the sad and tragic loss of his very young son after a very brave battle against cancer. That was ctel’s way of looking to do some good out of his blogging – asking people that if they enjoyed listening to the mp3s he offered that they would consider giving a thank you to charity.

And following on from ctel’s example, I’m going to now do the same. I’ve been proud to have the badge that TVV is an ad-free zone, and while that will continue to be the case, I am going to offer readers the opportunity to make the occasional donation to charity in lieu of the free downloads. I’m hoping ctel himself will choose the charity for me, and as soon as I’ve got all the arrangements and permissions in place, you’ll spot a wee change up at the top right hand side of the blog.

Here’s a random choice of tunes that I feel like playing today:-

mp3 : LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
mp3 : The Teardrop Explodes – Culture Bunker (Peel Session)
mp3 : R.E.M. – New Test Leper

Happy Listening.

LUNCHTIME UPDATE

If you read the comments you will see that Coxon has brought back To Die By Your Side. Only he’s now thrown away his alias and tells us that is Richard who is the author.

In any event, I’ve changed the link over on the right-hand side and hope you’ll all head across and give him a rousing welcome back to blogland.

 

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

KP CUTS

TVV is no stranger to showcasing Scottish music. So last time out, I picked some music from a selection of female, Scottish singers. This week I’ve changed it around completely. I’ve decided to choose a solitary, female, Scottish singer.

Last time I advised you to ignore the words and listen to the voices, however this time, I don’t care whether you like the voice or not, I want you to concentrate on the words. Luckily, it is a very good voice, but word-craft and song-smithery are the reasons I’ve chosen to feature this artist.

I first saw Karine Polwart performing for free in front of a few dozen people at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival in 1999. Every year, the Exhibition Hall of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall hosts an event for new or unsigned artists for every single one of the 18 days of the festival. There are around five performers each day, and from the 80 to 90 acts showcased, five winners are picked. These are known as the ‘Danny Awards’ – named after Danny Kyle, the old school folk musician who compared the show in the first year of the festival. Sadly, Danny died before the festival even reached its first birthday and the awards were dedicated to his name. The prize for each winner is to play a support slot for one of the bigger names at the following year’s festival.

On that first sighting in January 1999, Polwart was the singer in a traditional outfit known as Malinky (who are still going strong today) and it was no surprise to me when they went on to win one of the Danny’s that year. I caught them again the following year fulfilling that support slot to Horse. However, my next brush with the band wasn’t until April 2003 when I spotted them queuing alongside us at Glasgow airport.

We were kilted up and on our way to Lithuania for the Scottish football team’s latest European Championship Qualifying disaster. Malinky were (and I guess still are) a small band at that stage and I’m still not sure why I didn’t go over for a chat. I’m pretty sure I would have been the only person there to have recognized them and suspect they would have been delighted to have been recognized. It would certainly have made for a much better anecdote. In my imagination they were coming to Lithuania too and would go on to rouse the troops with a killer set in a wee Vilnius bar. Alas, in my imagination was where they stayed and we had to make do with one of our own on the guitar on that trip.

It wasn’t too long after that airport encounter, that Polwart would be catapulted into Folk Superstardom (if such a thing exists). However, whilst still with Malinky, she released her first solo LP Faultlines in 2003, but it wasn’t till she won a plethora of gongs at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in February 2005 that her career took off, prompting the album to be re-released.This track from it was voted Best Original Song at the awards.

mp3 : Karine Polwart – The Sun’s Comin’ Over The Hill

At that event, she was also awarded Best Album for Faultlines and The Horizon Award for Best Newcomer. She was even nominated for Best Singer. It was that same month however, that Polwart left Malinky to pursue her burgeoning solo career, and her second album, Scribbled In Chalk, was subsequently released in Spring 2006. Her developing quality as a song writer can clearly be seen on this album and I found it extremely difficult to know what to pick from it as it is jam packed with top quality songs. The uplifting, I’m Gonna Do It All, was even adopted in 2008 by a couple of Scottish schools as their anthem!

In February 2007, she won Best Original Song again at the Folk Awards for this track:-.

mp3 : Karine Polwart – Daisy

And here’s another of my favourites from the album. It’ll help you along if I tell you that it’s told from the point of view of young woman who has been brought to this country via the dark world of sex-trafficking:

mp3 : Karine Polwart – Maybe There’s A Road

Her third album, The Fairest Floo’er was released in 2007, and is a collection of traditional songs, recorded during the time she was pregnant with her first child. She was also writing her fourth album, This Earthly Spell, at this time. It was eventually released in 2008 and the quality remained high. The Good Years was originally recorded for the CD Ballads Of The Book, a collaborative venture thought up by Roddy Woomble of Idlewild and poet Edwin Morgan and released by Chemikal Underground records in 2007. Firethief was written for The Enemy That Lives Within, a documentary about living with HIV and AIDs, one of the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Radio Ballads. However, the final track I’ve picked is, Better Things. Here’s what she says about this track in her own words from the CD ‘liner’ notes:

“I wrote this for the “Bin The Bomb” campaign in protest at the UK Government’s decision to recommission the Trident generation of nuclear weapons. I just think maybe there are a few imaginative and constructive ways to spend £30 billion or so that don’t involve weapons of mass destruction.”

mp3 : Karine Polwart – Better Things

But let’s finish on a positive note. Karine’s 2nd child Rosa was born 17 days ago (on April 1st). Congratulations!

The Sense Collective – 18th April 2010

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES….A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS

From February 20th, 2008

MORE MUSIC IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Back in 1986, The Wedding Present were in a BBC studio about to record a Peel Sesson when guitarist Peter Solowka began playing a traditional Ukrainian melody and the others joined in. Out of such jamming do strange and rather great things begin….

Peter Solowka’s parents emigrated from Ukraine to England at the end of World War II, and naturally their son grew up with some appreciation of his roots – particularly the traditional folk music. Initially, nothing came of that 1986 jam, but some 12 months later, at another Peel Session, the band drafted in a specialist musician for the balalaika, flute and violin parts, and they recorded four songs with full Ukrainian vocals.

Before long, bootleg tapes of the session began to circulate widely, but it would be fair to say that fans of the Weddoes had a mixed reaction – some loved it, many were appalled.

In 1989, another Peel Session saw yet another output of Ukrainian music. By now, more fans had grown accustomed to what was happening, and the band and their label brought together all the sessions and released a 10-inch mini-LP called Ukrainski Vistupi V Johna Peela. It was a record that sold almost 30,000 copies and reached number 22 in the charts….

And from that LP, comes this rather recognisable tune:-

mp3 : The Wedding Present – Davni Chasy

In 1991, after the recording of Seamonsters (which I reckon is the best LP the band ever made), Peter Solowka left The Wedding Present. Within months, he had formed a band called The Ukrainians, who are still bounding along 17 years later.

The Ukrainians play music which is a mix of contemporary Western and traditional Ukrainian styles, reflecting the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of their members, using electric guitars, mandolins, accordions, violin, electric bass guitar and drums – and singing in Ukrainian.

Now I have to be honest and say that I don’t own any original stuff by the band, but a few months back, I did find, at the excellent Plain, Or Pan? blog, four rather incredible tracks which I listened to…..which I listened to repeatedly because they left me lost for words with their magnificence.

If I tell you that the songs came out in 1993, on an EP entitled The Pisni Iz The Smiths, you might work out why:-

mp3 : The Ukrainians – Batyar
mp3 : The Ukrainians – Koroleva Ne Polerma

Enjoy. And thanks to Mark Hodkinson’s great little book The Wedding Present – Thank Yer, Very Glad published back in 1990 for the info on the genesis of the Weddoes involvement with folk music from Eastern Europe. Oh and I will be ordering something soon direct from The Ukrainians as payment for these long-deleted songs appearing here.**

** which I did. You can do the same. Click here.

 

IT’S FRIDAY, I’M IN LOVE….WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 22)

Exactly two weeks ago, I went along, in the company of Mrs Villain and Comrade Colin, to catch The Twilight Sad play at the ABC in Glasgow, by far the band’s biggest ever headlining gig.

None of the three of us had seen the band play live before, and indeed all of us had different knowledge of their stuff beforehand. I was the big fan, Comrade C was the casual but interested observer keen to see if the live experience was as good as it was hyped up to be, while Mrs V knew absolutely nothing about them.

All three of us came away afterwards with a huge respect for the band – Mrs V saying she was keen to listen to more, Comrade C saying it was an excellent gig (helped along by a fantastic support in The Unwinding Hours) and me thinking it was one of the most sensational live experiences I’ve ever had in 30+ years of gigs.

It’s not all that often I agree word for word with critical reviews, but Jonathan Geddes writing in The Herald says it far more eloquently than I ever could:-

The Twilight Sad’s live shows have never been genteel affairs, so adding an extra PA to increase the volume could easily have been an unnecessary gimmick.

Instead, it gave the band an extra boost, on a night that confirmed just what a magnificent band the Kilsyth group have become.

They were bathed in a host of different lights throughout, as if acknowledging their step up to bigger venues, and towards the end it became a true audio-visual assault on the senses. Fancy tricks haven’t changed the band and they still brood with intensity, thanks to the hulking figure of vocalist James Graham, while shaven-headed guitarist Andy MacFarlane simply piled on distortion in increasingly imaginative ways.

And what noise it was. Heavily distorted music can often be a shortcut for a band to disguise their shortcomings, but that is not the case with The Twilight Sad. Sweet melodies still slid out, as on the folksier stylings of That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy, and there was a fantastic, bruised pop song underneath the feedback of Made To Disappear.

At times, it could be dizzying, and Graham’s gloom-infested vocals were occasionally buried beneath the torrent of noise. That salvo of sound is certainly an acquired taste, but the methodical dread that pervaded The Room made full use of the added PA to roll noise around the venue superbly, while a epic Cold Days From The Birdhouse highlighted a sensational closing run of songs that would provide a fitting soundtrack for Armageddon, such was their ringing force.

One of Graham’s few acknowledgements to the crowd was to ask why everyone was there. A fantastic gig was the answer.

Star rating: *****

There haven’t been all that many 45s from The Twilight Sad since they first started recording in 2006. Indeed the release of The Room earlier this week was just their fifth ever single. Contrast that with the two original LPs, one compilation/live LP and two EPs over the same period.

And while I reckon the best is yet to come from the band, I thought it would be worth featuring the debut as it is a single long out of print, albeit the A-side can still be gotten hold of via the LP Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters.

mp3 : The Twilight Sad – That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy
mp3 : The Twilight Sad – Watching The Chair Painted Yellow

Clearly, the repeated use of the c-word in the single didn’t exactly help with airplay, but full credit to Fatcat Records for issuing what must be one of the most distinctive debut singles ever to emerge from a Scottish band.

Oh and I also thoroughly recommend new single The Room, which is on the LP Forget The Night Ahead. Why not visit the record label website and order a copy?

 

A REALLY LAZY POSTING…BUT LOTS OF SONGS TO MAKE UP FOR IT

It’s a slightly edited lift from wikipedia:-

“Brimful of Asha is a single by the British alternative rock band Cornershop, which originally reached number 60 in the UK Singles Chart in 1997. A remix by Fatboy Slim became a hit in 1998 on the US and UK charts, reaching #1 in the UK. The lyrics are a tribute to Asha Bhosle, one of the most famous pop singers/film-score vocalists of India.

This song is based upon the history of film culture in India. Since their introduction, Indian films have relied heavily on song-and-dance numbers. Almost always, the singing was performed by background singers while the actors and actresses lip-sync. Asha Bhosle is one of these playback singers who has sung over 12,000 songs. Playback singers Lata Mangeshkar (Bhosle’s sister) and Mohammad Rafi (one of the top male playback singers of the mid-century) are also mentioned in the song.

It has also been suggested that the song has several symbolic meanings.

Asha is Sanskrit/Hindi for Hope. It has been suggested that the lyrics mean that everyone has a brimful of Hope, that the song is a message of how the Indian media provide the impoverished with hope for a better life, and that the lyrics “Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow” actually is a skewed translation of the saying “Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on.”

This would seem to be supported by the full verse “Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow; mine’s on the 45″, where Channel 45 is the popular channel for Indian television.

More likely though, this is a reference to records being played back at 45 revolutions per minute, and how he would listen to music (possibly Indian) as his comfort. This is both denoted by the picture of the girl listening to a record player and the last time he says this lyric he changes the words to “mine’s on the RPM.”

The lyrics of the song’s bridge contain a number of references to non-Indian music, including Georges Brassens‘ song Bancs Publics, Jacques Dutronc, Marc Bolan, Argo Records and Trojan Records. “

Anyway, I bought the single first time round as I thought it was wonderful and every so slightly reminiscent of a tune by Jonathan Richman. I also bought the remix a few months later as I loved the fact you could dance to it. Here’s all the tracks that appeared on each of the 3xCD singles:-

mp3 : Cornershop – Brimful Of Asha (short version)
mp3 : Cornershop – Easy Winners (Part 1)
mp3 : Cornershop – Rehoused
mp3 : Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (Sofa Surfer’s Solid State Radio Mix)

mp3 : Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (album version)
mp3 : Cornershop – Easy Winners (Part 2)
mp3 : Cornershop – Counteraction
mp3 : Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (Mucho Macho Bolan Boogie Mix)

mp3 : Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix Single Version)
mp3 : Cornershop – u47s
mp3 : Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix extended version)

And here’s a live performance to round things off:-

Happy Listening.

 

WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THIS LOT?

Looking closely at the chart positions of the five albums released by Suede, it is quite astonishing to see how suddenly they seemed to fall from favour:-

Their self-titled debut album went to #1 in 1993. Dog Man Star reached #3 in 1994, while Coming Up and Head Music from ’96 and ’99 respectively each hit the top spot. But A New Morning, released in 2002 stalled at #24.

Many of you will know that the band has reformed again after a 7-year hiatus. It was initially supposed to be for a one-off event as part of the 2010 Teenage Cancer Trust shows in London, but Brett Anderson hasn’t said one way or another that the band would continue. And now, with a festival gig in Denmark having been confirmed, it looks as if Suede could well be coming to a summer gig in a big field somewhere near you over the coming months.

The reformed line-up is actually Suede Mk2 in as much that it is the post-Bernard Butler line-up that has come together. But for those who say the band were never the same after the guitarist and song-writer left the ranks, it has to be pointed out that commercially they were at their biggest from 1996 – 1999, including a run of seven successive Top 10 singles.

I was lucky enough to catch the band not too far on in their career in April 1993 when they played the now demolished Plaza Ballroom in Glasgow. I had gone along expecting the hype to be greater than reality, but came away with an increased admiration for the band as they turned out to be a hugely exciting, energetic and entertaining live act. much of which was down to Butler’s playing. Disappointingly, by the time they came back to Glasgow some 18 months later, the gig at the Barrowlands sold out instantly and I never got my hands on a ticket.

And after that, while I was interested enough to but the occasional CD single, I never really followed the band in any great detail and certainly never looked to go and catch them live. But now I’m wondering what to do if Suede decide that some sort of tour would be in order. The reviews of the recent Royal Albert Hall gig, and those of the two warm-up events, have been almost universally positive. I’m swaying towards going along, even if it is an arena tour of the sort I try and avoid. However…..I’m also concerned that I’d then come away with an empty and hollow feeling having just seen something no different from the dinosaur tours of the types of bands so beloved by Hard Rock Cafe that I’ve been so dismissive of all my life.

Anyone else got views?

Anyway, I thought I’d dig out the band’s breakthrough single. I remember everyone being very disappointed when debut 45 The Drowners was a flop and it fleetingly looked as if Suede were going to be yet another band who promised much but commercially delivered nowt. But this reached #17 on its release in September 1992:-

mp3 : Suede – Metal Mickey
mp3 : Suede – Where The Pigs Don’t Fly
mp3 : Suede – He’s Dead

Happy Listening

 

POP AT ITS MOST PERFECT?

It certainly must be a candidate……………

mp3 : ABC – The Look Of Love (Part One)
mp3 : ABC – The Look Of Love (Part Two)
mp3 : ABC – The Look Of Love (Part Three)
mp3 : ABC – The Look Of Love (Part Four)

Pity about the duff promo video:-

 

47 YEARS OF HURT

Read this. It says it all.

mp3 : New Order – Blue Monday

Too depressed to say anything else.

 

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

THREE MINUTES IS LONG ENOUGH….

On the coat tails of the punk revolution of mid to late 1970’s came New Wave and Power Pop. Much has been written about New Wave but Power Pop seems to have disappeared under the radar.

It was Pete Townshend who first used the term “power pop” to describe the style of music played by The Who in their early days, as a mixture of the Small Faces guitar pop with the melodic sounds of the Beach Boys.

One of the new Power Pop bands that caught my ear and finally my eye were The Rubinoos. They were from California and stable mates of Jonathan Richman on the Beserkley record label.

The first track I ever bought of theirs was Rock ‘n’ Roll is Dead, an energetic blend of electric guitars and vocal harmonies; the single was less than three minutes long.

mp3 : The Rubinoos – Rock’n'Roll Is Dead

They also released a cover version of Tommy James and the Shondels single I Think We’re Alone Now. The Rubinoos version was never a hit in the UK when released in 1977 but it reached number 45 in the States. It was also covered by Tiffany 10 years later, with an absolutely shit version that went to number one the world over.

I managed to see The Rubinoos as they featured on two BBC television programmes, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Rock Goes to College, which was screened early evening on a Saturday simultaneously on BBC2 and Radio2 for stereo sound. RGtC featured some of foremost up and coming bands of the time from colleges or universities, Such as the Boomtown Rats, Joe Jackson, The Specials, the second band in this feature Rich Kids and The Stranglers, who famously, walked off, fifteen minutes into their set after five songs, smashing their equipment as they went and verbally abusing “their” student audience.

The Rubinoos also played many live shows in their home land, not least when they were support act to Elvis Costello on one of his early tours across the USA.

Years later I managed to buy a CD Home of the Hits… Best of Jonathan Richman which came with a bonus CD with the Definitive Beserkley Anthology, which featured The Rubinoos, Greg Kihn and Tyla Gang all who featured on that label, for £4.99.

Around the same time in London, another Power Pop band, the Rich Kids were formed by Glenn Matlock (after he was thrown out of the Sex Pistols for liking The Beatles) and Steve New, who was second guitarist in the Pistols for short time and Rusty Egan, as drummer.

The lead singer of this newly formed act however , seamed a strange choice . It was Midge Ure, who has previously enjoyed chart success as lead singer with teenybop Glaswegian band Slik. – an act who could probably be accurately desctibed as Glasgow’s own version of Edinburgh’s Bay City Rollers – indeed Slik’s sole number one hit was written by the same writers of all the Rollers hits.

Ure had been offered the lead singer role in The Sex Pistols in 1975 by Malcolm McLaren. (R.I.P.)

The Rich Kids made one album Ghosts of Princes in Towers which had two stand out singles. The self titled Rich Kids was the first release which reached Number 24 in the UK charts and came out on red vinyl. They were also another of the bands that featured on the afore-mentioned Rock Goes To College.

mp3 : Rich Kids – Rich Kids

The second single Ghosts of Princes in Towers which in my opinion was one of the great singles of its era. I think it stands the test of time.

mp3 : Rich Kids – Ghosts of Princes in Towers

The album was produced by Mick Ronson, who was David Bowie’s guitarist in the Spiders form Mars band.

After less than two years the Rich Kids split, Matlock and New toured as part of Iggy Pop’s band, Egan joined The Skids for a short spell and Ure joined Thin Lizzy for a tour of America and Japan.

Rusty Egan and Midge Ure re-united to form New Romantic outfit Visage. Ure went on to have a successful period with Ultravox; many feel he spoilt Ultravox after he replaced John Foxx as the main songwriter and singer.

Another Power Pop band that deserves a mention are Belfast’s Starjets, who at one time were known as the “Bay City Rollers of punk” because on their clean cut image.

Their one and only single to dent the British charts in 1979 was the wonderful War Stories another less than 3 minute’s piece of pop classic.

mp3 : Starjets – War Stories

After no commercial success they split but the main songwriters left Belfast for London and formed The Adventures who had a number 20 with the single Broken Land in 1988.

And there you have it…..a potted history of a fine musical genre that has been sadly neglected for 30 years and more. Any other fans out there?

John Greer, Sunday 11 April 2010

PS : I’m another who will be at the Dundee United v Raith Rovers semi-final today that JC mentioned yesterday. It’s a great feeling seeing your team reach this stage of a competition for the first time in 47 years.

 

IT’S FRIDAY, I’M IN LOVE…WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 21)

In 1984, there was a threat of a Postcard Records comeback of sorts thanks to Alan Horne inking a deal with London Records to record and release material on a new label known as Swamplands.

To the best of my knowledge, only six singles saw the light of day over the next two year period. Of these, two featured Win, two featured Paul Quinn (one with Edwyn Collins) and one by James King & The Lone Wolves.

The other was by a band called Memphis that hit the shops in early 1985.

Memphis was the band formed by James Kirk who had previously been a member of Orange Juice. He, along with Stephen Daly, left the band in 1982 not long after the release of debut LP You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever.

Out of nowhere, he and Stephen got together to record and release one of the great all time ‘lost’ Scottish 45s in that it came, it saw and it completely failed to conquer.

mp3 : Memphis – You Supply The Roses
mp3 : Memphis – Apres Ski

And with that, James again disappeared from the music scene, resurfacing in the early 90s as part of the Independent Group that backed the afore-mentioned Paul Quinn.

Once again, he disappeared off the radar preferring to train as a chiropodist (and yes, there is a Mr J Kirk operating as such in a practice just outside of Glasgow). Luckily for us, he hasn’t completely turned his back on music, recording and releasing his debut solo LP in July 2003 entitled You Can Make It If You Boogie.

As I’ve confessed before on these pages, this was an LP that I missed out on entirely on its release, and only picked up it up in late 2006, and rarely a week has gone by since when I’ve not played one or more of the songs. It’s a classic of its kind – and its kind is a record full of twanging, jangly guitars, memorable tunes, fabulous lyrics and one of the best cover versions (of sorts) you’re ever likely to hear:-

mp3 : James Kirk – Felicity

Yup, the great man’s take on his own tune as originally sung by Edwyn back in the days.

If you fancy it, it can be gotten hold of it direct from the record company here. You know it makes sense………

 

GET IT RIGHT UP YE……..

For years, I thought that the Factory mogul was the brains behind the production of this, the third single from Magazine that was released on 17th November 1978.

Turns out it was a totally different Tony Wilson. Stupid me…..

For some artistic reason, Howard Devoto insisted that Give Me Everything be released without any marketing campaign and with no review copies to be sent to the music press. Almost as if he wanted it not to succeed. And almost as if he wanted to avoid dealing with any music journalists.

However, the review penned by Dave McCullough in Sounds showed that the strategy somewhat backfired:-

At last I have Howie and his chums sussed. They’re really The Muppets in disguise laughing their scraggy-heads off while the hundred thousand punks STILL take them seriously. This is dreadful – the lyrics proving more cringeworthy even than usual. ‘You’re so oblique and easy’. Look – Howie – you’re as much a poet as Len Fairclough is a poet – so why don’tcha sod off – you baldy little pain?

Or had it backfired?? Howard’s response was to send the journalist a cheque for £10 with the words:-

Your review of Give Me Everything was so unbelievably sympathetic, was so to the point that this £10 of ny enthusiastic and shrieking money must go to you. You’re not so oblique but you’re so easy. You must have it. I hope you can see that. I’m sorry it couldn’t be more. Please cash it. Have a Christmas. Howard.

Which was of course printed in full in the following week’s edition of the paper…….an incident that helped inspire the song Feed The Enemy.

mp3 : Magazine – Give Me Everything
mp3 : Magazine – I Love You You Big Dummy

The b-side is a cover of a Captain Beefheart song (now there’s something I never ever got….and as a consequence have nothing of his/theirs on vinyl or CD). It remains one of the most popular Magazine recording ever as evidenced by its inclusion in the sets of the comeback gigs in February 2009.

I wonder if the journo and Howard ever kissed and made up??

Oh and as a wee bonus, here’s yer Peel Sessions versions:-

mp3 : Magazine – Give Me Everything (Peel Session)
mp3 : Magazine – I Love You You Big Dummy (Peel Session)

Broadcast on 24 July 1978, some four months before the 7″ single was released.

Happy Listening.

 

PAUL HAIG DAY II – THE POSTSCRIPT

The planned posting for today has been shelved in favour of this……a few words of appreciation to everyone who got involved in Paul Haig Day II.

To Paul Haig himself for donating the remix of Trip Out The Rider.

To his manager Evan Henderson for all the support and encouragement he provided in the weeks leading up to the day.

To all the bloggers from all parts of the world – Australia, Poland, Germany, Spain, UK, USA, Canada and Argentina (with apologies if I’ve missed anywhere out) – for taking the time to write about Paul Haig, Josef K, dmca notices and solidarity in such brilliant and individual ways.

To Chris and everyone at Exit 97.7 WEXT for getting so solidly behind the event and featuring loads of Paul’s songs in their playlists.

To everyone who took a few minutes of their time to read any of the postings, listen to any of the songs and/or leave comments behind on any of the blogs or over at Paul’s official site.

To anyone who twittered about Paul Haig Day and helped create such a sense of excitement.

THANK YOU.

It’s only two small words, but it’s just about all I can manage after an absolutely incredible 24 hours.

But where do we go from here. Is it down to the lake I fear?? Aye Aye AyeAye AyeAye…..

Sorry, I got lost and distracted for a moment. Please forgive me.

There’s a couple of things I’d like to suggest.

Firstly, as Paul himself said in a comment yesterday, everyone should make an effort to keep in touch.

One of the best ways we could keep the informal network going is through signing up to the page that Paul Has set up on the ning social network. Some folk involved in today have done so already. It would be great if many others followed suit – not least as a way of saying a special thank you to Paul for his support, not just through the donation of the song, but for the fantastic stance he has taken to support music bloggers the world over at a time when many of his fellow musicians seem to be hardening their stance.

To sign up is really easy. Just pay a visit to http://paulhaig.ning.com/

Secondly, we’ve all enjoyed listening to Paul’s free remix of Trip Out The Rider, but we have to remember that he still has to make a living out of his music. So please think about buying some of his excellent CDs – even if you own them yourself you can always get copies for friends and family who you think will enjoy the music.

One way is through the shop at the official website. http://www.rolinc.co.uk/rolcds.html

The other, especially if you want to pick up some of the older material is through places like i-tunes, amazon or your local (preferably independent) local record shop. Or you can visit http://www.ltmrecordings.com/phaigcat.html and pick up a number of CDs including The Warp Of Pure Fun, Rhythm of Life, Conicidence vs Fate, or Then Again as well as a whole host of compilation LPs on which the great man makes an appearance.

The other suggestion for anyone who still buys vinyl is to register your interest in getting a hold of the limited edition 7″ of the Fred Deakin remix of Trip Out The Rider which will be available quite soon – likely to retail for around £4 plus postage (that’s not official -just my guess). You can do that by either subscribing on the ROL website home page for a regular newsletter, or alternatively by direct e-mail to Paul’s manager at Evan@ROLinc.co.uk

I make no apologies for this turning into a bit of a plug for Paul Haig product. And I can only appeal to all of your better natures to do your bit……

Will there be a Paul Haig Day III?? Most likely, as I don’t see the problems with dmca notices disappearing over the next 12 months.

I’m sure many of you were as dismayed as me when it emerged that To Die By Your Side was no more. Its author, Coxon Le Woof, was one of the real inspirations behind me starting up TVV, and it was a disgrace that he was one of five worldwide bloggers cruelly cut off in their prime as a result of dmca notices. I might even be next for such treatment myself…..you just never know when they will come after you. Read this for more on what happened to Coxon.

And even in the midst of Paul Haig Day II, one of our contributors – Swiss Adam – was receiving a dmca notice related to a track he had recently posted by The The. Read here for more info.

** in fact make that two of our contributors got hit by dmca notices – Friend Of Rachel Worth for something he posted on Prefab Sprout way back in November for which there wasn’t even an mp3 link!! Read here.

So yes, it is likely that there will be a third day in 2011. When I selected 6th April, it was totally random and I didn’t realise it clashed with the birthday of Andrew Weatherall which was also marked by a number of our collaborators. But Paul Haig Day on 6th April looks set to be here to stay…..and it will be a lot easier to organise if we all sign up, as suggested earlier, to the ning site.

Once again……………….thank you. It was the sort of day that makes all the time and effort that goes into keeping TVV coming at you on a daily basis very worthwhile.

mp3 : Paul Haig – Round And Round

Oh and as a bonus, here’s the other co-author’s version

mp3 : Malcolm Ross – Round And Round

Cheers amigos.