Is this the song where the band proved themselves to even their harshest of critics?
mp3 : The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
The title track from the third LP, it remains an astonishing and unique six and a bit minutes of art almost 25 years on. A jingly-jangly indie-pop band whose fame was based on bedsit misery weren't supposed to be capable of making such a ferocious assault on your aural senses.
A vicious attack on Thatcherite Britain as well as a condemnation of the soap opera that is the British Royal family, it is one of the best lyrics ever penned. Please don't waste your time arguing. Even if you dont like The Smiths and detest everything that Morrissey stands for, you are being narrow-minded if you cant accept his lyric as the work of a genius.
And its a tune that not only rocks, but brings out the very best in the rhythm section of Joyce and Rourke, and on its own is enough in this fan's eyes to believe that Morrissey and Marr were wrong to pursue that infamous court case in which they more or less said the drummer and bass player were just hired hands. The Queen Is Dead is a song in which all four members are at the top of their game.
And if you never saw them live at the height of their powers:-
It's a tune that it is impossible to cover unless you do something quite radical. Which is exactly what TheBoo Radleys did ten years after the fact when they were one of a number of then well-known indie acts asked to be part of a tribute LP called The Smiths Is Dead. Turning their back on what they themselves were best known for, they unleashed some trip-hop on a very unsuspecting public:-
Just about anyone who is a something in the jingle-jangle world of pop music in the Greater Glasgow area has, at one time or another, either been a member of BMX Bandits or at least worked with or alongise Duglas T Stewart.
And yet they and he remain largely unknown to all but the most devoted of followers.
Formed in Bellshill in 1985 by the afore mentioned Duglas, together with Sean Dickson and Jim McCulloch (who would later be part of Soup Dragons), the band released a couple of singles on a label run by Stephen McRobbie of The Pastels.
As band members went on to do their own things, they were replaced by the likes of Nornam Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Eugene Kelly and Frances MacDonald (Vaselines), Sushil K. Dade (Soup Dragons and Future Pilot AKA) and David Scott (Pearlfishers) to name but a handful.
All the while however, Duglas remained central to the band - indeed without Duglas, it just wouldn't have been BMX Bandits.
I couldn't begin to tell you how many singles, EPs and albums have been released over the years as they have jumped around from lable to label, and no definitive collection has ever been put together, although Serious Drugs, a 24-track compilation of their work on Creation Records gathering together songs recorded and released between 1992 and 1998, does a reasonable job.
As it happens, the great Scottish single featured this week is from that period and can be found on the afore-maentioned compilation.
Released in July 1993, it is a song written by Gerry Love of Teenage Fanclub, although I'm not sure if, other than on a compilation tape given away by a UK music magazine, whether or not TFC ever actually recorded the song:-
mp3 : BMX Bandits - Kylie's Got A Crush On Us
The thing is, nobody involved with this song is actually all that proud of it. And if you're someone who takes your music ultra-seriously, then you'll probably think it is inane drivel.
But just like The Four Tops and Orange Juice, I can't help myself when it comes to this two-and-a-half minutes of fun. I think its a great bit of disposable pop and it always makes me smile. And of course it easily predates the world's complete infatuation with the aussie with the sexy bum.....
The other songs on the CD single were:-
mp3 : BMX Bandits - Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby mp3 : BMX Bandits - Hole In My Heart (demo) mp3 : BMX Bandits - My Generation
The cryptic title of today's posting can be the answer to the question, 'So what is your favourite 45 by James?'
According to wikipdia, the band have released 32 singles/EPs, dating back to 1983. I've most of them in the collection in some shape or form, whether on vinyl, CD or 'borrowed' mp3 form. I really do love the early stuff that brought them to the attention of Factory. I've loads of time for the singles that out them at odds with Blanco y Negro. The 45s they released just before they went massive at the time of Madchester remain very worthy. Not so sure about the hits from the LP Seven, but it wasn't long before a return to form with the LP Laid. And I'll even defend quite a few of their more recent product from 1997 onwards.
However, I really do struggle to narrow it down to a sole favourite. It was this very problem that prevented any of their singles appearing in the 45 45s at 45 series back in 2008 as I just wasn't able to pick out one for consideration. But whenever I hear this single from 1993, I find it hard to deny that this is the one:-
mp3 : James - Sometimes
I reckon it all comes down to one particular occasion when I heard it played live. It was at the Glasgow Barrowlands (on a tour that had an emerging Radiohead as the support act). The entire band strummed acoustic guitars in unison and provided backing vocals to a stunning Tim Booth performance as he whooped and hollered his way through the song in what seemed like a near-hypnotic trance. It was genuine hairs-on-the back of the neck stuff. It was the highlight of the gig and provided one of those occasions when I couldn't wait to get home and play the song just to keep the memory alive.
It was a performance not a million miles away from this, one of THE greatest ever appearances by anyone on Top Of The Pops:-
Even now just watching that again brings it all back.
And isn't the line 'Sometimes when I look in your eyes I can see your soul' just poetically beautiful?
Released on CD, the other two tracks on the single, which peaked at #18, aren't too shabby either:-
mp3 : James - America mp3 : James - Building A Charge
So what dear readers, is your favorite James single??????
Much as I love this song, I really do think it was a peculiar choice for a single. I can only guess that having enjoyed some bonafide chart success back in early 1991 with Sexuality, everyone associated with Billy Bragg, be it his record label and/or management, wanted to maintain the momentum.
The LP Don't Try This At Home contains a number of potential hit singles, but none of them had an input from what was then the biggest band in the world, and so the gamble taken was to go for a less-obvious track in the hope there would be some crossover into the R.E.M.fanbase.
You Woke Up My Neighbourhood was a flop, stalling at #53. Indeed, the next again single, a re-recorded version of Accident Waiting To Happen, did much better reaching #33.
Looking back it probably made a bit of sense at the time, but this great little piece of country/bluegrass pop should have simply been a great track on a great LP instead of a release that underminded Billy's self-belief in his ability to become a crossover popstar.
For those of you who don't know, in addition to Michael Stipe providing backing vocals, the talents of Peter Buck were deployed on acoustic guitar and mandolin. Indeed, the R.E.M. guitarist is the co-author of the song.....
Another great star of the alternative American music scene of the early 90s can also be found on the single, with Natalie Merchant being the co-author and lead vocalist on one of the three b-sides:-
mp3 : Billy Bragg - Bread and Circuses
The other two tracks consisted of a Billy Bragg original:-
mp3 : Billy Bragg - Ontario Quebec and Me
and a cover version of a song written by the aunt of Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright :-
mp3 : Billy Bragg - Heart Like A Wheel
Actually, that last sentence doesn't do justice at all to the lifetime of work by Anna McGarrigle, most of which was performed as part of a duo with her sister Kate McGarrgle who sadly passed away at the beginning of 2010. Read more here.
I picked up a copy of this 12" single by Blondie a few weeks back while raking around the bowels of one of my favourite vinyl places in Glasgow. Even though I've a copy of the actual single on a Greatest Hits CD, it's the sort of thing I do a lot of nowadays - get a hold of the original vinyl with a view to shoving a post about it up here.
The thing was, it's been quite a long while since I last listened to (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear. I remember quite liking it when it was released back in mid-1978, but I wasn't as fond of it as the previous single Denis. In later times, I would fall big time for the charms of all the songs on the band's 1979 LP Parallel Lines, and so it would be fair to say that IATBYPD is a song that I've largely forgotten about.
Now perhaps it was the sense of placing it on the turntable and slipping the needle into the groove, or perhaps it was just the fact I was hearing it in isolation away from all the other songs on the Greatest Hits CD. But I reckon that this is in fact one of their most endearing and timeless songs. A genuinely great bit of pop music with a great lyric.
It hadn't struck me until I was putting this piece together that this was Blondie's first bona-fide UK hit single of their own - Denis had been a cover version. It also hit me that it was a single written by someone who was no longer in the band by the time it became a hit......
IATBYPD was the work of Gary Valentine, a founder member of the band in 1975 but who had left in 1977 prior to them ever getting round to recording the song. There can't be too many instances in pop history of a band enjoying success on the fruits of a former member.
The single was a#10 hit in the UK, and indeed performed better in the charts than Picture This, the lead-off single from the afore-mentioned Parallel Lines, which stalled at #12.
Here's yer b-sides which were the work of existing band members:-
mp3 : Blondie - Poets Problem mp3 : Blondie - Detroit 442
And here's a live performance of the single from The Old Grey Whistle Test:-
They weren't the greatest live act in the world.....but then again no-one had a lead singer quite like Debbie Harry.
I've never hidden my admiration for The Police. They were the first band I ever saw play live -May 1979 at the Glasgow Apollo, with two support acts in Bobby Henry and The Cramps and the tickets cost £2.
The problem is that it is nearly impossible to admit your love for a band when the frontman has been such an insufferable and pretentious prick over much of the past 30 years and has been involved in projects that just make you cringe with embarrassment.
But hey.....there's loads out there who are happy enough to continue to declare that The Beatles were the greatest of all time and not give a toss about some of the solo stuff Sir Paul of Macca has foisted upon us (The Frog Chorus?????) or indeed the emotional claptrap of Double Fantasy that was the last LP recorded by John Lennon before his body was riddled with bullets.
And that being the case, I will happily argue that some of the best post-punk pop singles ever to be released were the work of Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers.
I've written before about the merits of Cant Stand Losing You when I placed it at #20 in my all time list of favourite singles. As I mentioned in that piece, not too many other bands were singing about prostitutes in 1979. These were the days when even the use of the word ‘damn’ was liable to get your song banned from the airwaves. The Police were actually regarded as a group that was a bit daring, cutting edge and subversive.
I happened to listen accidentally to Roxanne again the other day when it came up via shuffle on the old i-pod and it really hit home what a tremendous 45 it truly was. From the white-reggae instrumental opening complete with madman's cackling laughter that suddenly stops. Then that memorable opening line :-
Roxanne. You don't have to put on the red light.
Quarter of a century later, the line would be mimicked by Arctic Monkeys in When The Sun Goes Down, their classic tale of a down-on-her-luck prostitute and he nasty pimp:-
And I've seen him with with girls of the night And he told Roxanne to put on her red light
Roxanne is a genuinely classic pop song. One that has more than stood the test of time. Listen without prejudice:-
mp3 : The Police -Roxanne
Cant say all that much positive mind you about the b-side. A track that can also be found on the band's debut LP Outlandosd'Amour. Play it once and then discard it.
mp3 : The Police - Peanuts
Incidentally, if you ever want proof of the cleverness and astuteness of Brett and Jermaine from Flight Of The Conchords, then have a look at this clip from one of the episodes in series 2 which is a wonderful parody of and indeed tribute to Roxanne/The Police:-
I was a teenage Goth. I’ve told you this before, I know. But it’s time to get it out of my system once and for all.
I didn’t mean to turn Goth. Sure, I had a penchant in the early 1980s for gloom-ridden songs, but I was also a devotee of Cherry Red, Postcard, ABC and much much more. I think the problem really began with Echo and The Bunnymen. Or more specifically Ian McCulloch. I’d worn my fringe like Roger McGuinn for a while and, to be honest, it was getting on my nerves. Well, to be honestly honest, I couldn’t bloody see. I needed a change and something based on McCulloch’s spikey barnet of the time seemed a better bet. The die was cast.
Being a bit thrawn, and wanting to avoid accusations of merely copying the (his own definition) “great” man, I began with basic spiking of my fringe, the rest remaining combed down. I soon got bored of that and the spikes spread back to my crown. In those days my hair was pretty thick so fairly quickly it grew into something that would test the bravest of any Disney prince seeking out his Sleeping Beauty within.
Meantime I had moved to the Big City. These were impressionable days and, even sporting a fairly standard spikey top, I was considered pretty weird on my accountancy course. To be fair, on that course, if you’d ever had (in fact, if you’d ever thought about) sex, then you were considered weird. The only vital statistics my fellow students cared about related to their balance sheets. And, just for the record, I don’t know why I was there as I’d never touched an accountancy book before – come to think of it, I don’t think I did during the “year” I was on the course. The only redeeming factor was it was many miles from Home Town and I got a grant for not attending any classes.
Instead I spent the time perfecting the art of backcombing, frequenting pubs, taking in gigs of all shapes and sizes, and meeting a whole range of people who didn’t want to be accountants.
Time passed, the Uni got wise and booted me out, and, but for the odd (sometimes very odd) self inflicted hacking, the hair got longer, the black tight jeans became the only jeans, the long black coat affixed itself permanently to my shoulders, eye liner became essential, lipstick a requirement for going out and, at a time of mass unemployment and conservatism among the masses, I became unemployed and unemployable – one of Maggie’s millions.
We were lucky though – we had a city centre tenement flat, previously frequented by a certain Mr Paul Haig, that was cheap as chips and housing benefit to pay it. Other benefits from the “Buroo” weren’t great but enough, with a bit of blagging and being known about town, to survive on. Fully signed up to the Goth Convention, we even spent most of the day asleep. My flat mate, and this is true, put a wardrobe on the floor and slept in it. We even shared a room for a while – me on a mattress on the floor, he in his wardrobe. A real talking point when either or, worse, both of us brought a woman home.
Early evening we utilised the long thin zigzag corridor for epic games of indoor football. Stopping only when a prolonged flurry of close range tackling ended in our hair becoming interlocked. (In many ways, I think we were fore-runners of the bizarre hairstyles of today’s professional game.) Later evening we would head out, seeking out free access and (very) cheap drink.
Our kitchen floor became a legendary stopping place for a range of fellow punks and Goths we happened to bump into of an evening. I can think of Falkirk, Dunfermline, Grangemouth, Cumbernauld and East Kilbride to name but a few towns who sent pioneers to the Big City, with no means of return after midnight. We would happen to meet them in a bar, a club, or even in a couple of cases the street, and invite them back for the night. A student friend, who stayed with us for a short while, used to talk of getting up early for uni, and wandering into the kitchen, always wondering what mass of hair and flesh might await. More often than not he’d tiptoe through the variously studded bodies, belts, bracelets and buckles, make his coffee and be off without anyone stirring.
But, you ask, did I embrace the musical darkside? Well, yes and no. Student indie discos were seen by the hard-core as too mainstream. We enjoyed (some might say with the benefit of hindsight, endured) club nights where the combination of limited lighting, dry ice, alcoves and most folk dressed in black with long hair meant when you hit the floor for a bop to Einstürzende Neubauten, you couldn’t find your friends again.
Yes, of course, I went to see the Sisters of Mercy, and in their pomp they were fantastic live. They were king for me at the time, but let’s not forget the likes of Xmal Deutschland, Alien Sex Fiend, Flesh for Lulu, And Also the Trees, The Danse Society, Sex Gang Children, Skeletal Family and, of course, my wardrobe mate’s faves – Virgin Prunes.
The (Southern) (Death) Cult didn’t really count but I have to acknowledge that live they were the Guns ‘n’ Roses of their day, and always entertaining. We even got on their guest list due to support band Balaam and the Angel ending up on our floor one night. But all that didn’t stop me at the time also seeing among others TheSmiths, Billy Bragg, Daintees, James and even the likes of Bronski Beat.
I’m not claiming for a second that all of those black acts listed above are, or indeed were at the time, any good. Just, that they were part of my Gothhood. In fact, given my financial position at the time, I bought few records. So perhaps thankfully there is little legacy in my collection.
But being a Goth was great and I don’t regret a minute. At its crowning glory my hair was over a foot long and, when backcombed, which it pretty much always was, no doubt a bizarre sight. I’m not sure what it would take in this modern age to get the same level of reaction that we used to suffer.
There were bad bits. I was banned from pubs I’d never been in, including one or two where I was due to meet people (lesson one: in a time before mobiles, meet outside). I was threatened several times and, notably, beaten up only three hours after arriving in Rural Fife Town – how to make an impression on your already doubting new girlfriend’s parents- “Er….have you got anything in the freezer I can put on my eye?” I was spat on. I was stoned by wee kids in the Other Big City – they’re probably playing for Celtic now – and many people crossed the road to avoid me. I never made it to the Batcave. I never met a real vampire, though I knew one or two who thought they were. And, when it rained……disaster!
But there were many more good bits.
The camaraderie among fellow Goths (I’m deliberately forgetting the cliqueishness and hair-envy here), especially when you met counterparts in other towns.
Getting your photo taken by tourists (what did they say when that slide came up back in Canada?) - I was even painted twice.
Being the last person anyone would sit next to on the bus or train. (Note, though the other side of this is that, invariably, that last person is either a complete psycho, hopelessly drunk, or both. Some day I’ll tell you about the Hells Angels, the bottle of Smirnoff and the shotgun.)
Being known as Eraserhead.
Being offered various roles in various bands despite a complete lack of singing and musical ability.
Being on first name terms with punk legend Wattie, albeit he called me Mac and I called him, er, Wattie.
Sitting next to a woman with a toddler on her knee on the bus from Dunfermline, the toddler grinning and calling me “Daddy”, me smiling back, the woman clearly fearing I might eat her child at any time.
The Punks Picnic – how funny to see Goths sunbathing.
Introducing a friend to his future wife at a Cult gig.
The banter on the football terraces terraces (remember them?) in a time before satellite tv (remember then?) – “Hey, pal, can you get Channel 4 on that?”.
Dancing in the dark.
There were many misconceptions about our tribe. Depending on who you asked, and being frank, most folk didn’t need to be asked, we were any or all of weird, thick, lay-about, junkies, gay or scary. Of course, in some cases that was true, but no more so than any other group of young folk dressing to impress. A lesson learned when I look at the youth of today in their various guises.
Of course, I couldn’t live the dream forever. I could no longer afford the Boots hairspray for one thing. I moved away from the Big City and gradually I found the self inflicted chopping was removing more and more hair. The final cut came at a barbers in the Oily City. The woman asked me twice before removing the final few inches. When she stood back from the mirror and I could once more see myself I was nearly in tears. Not because I could no longer kid myself I was still a Goth, but because, despite what I’d said, she’d taken off far too much and I now looked like a US Marine.
While I made many friends, we drifted apart and few remain from that time. There must though be one or two fellow ex-Goths that I bought a cider and blackcurrant for, who nowadays walk the same corridors of power and attend the same parents nights that I do. Sadly we’ll never recognise one another as the spray, crimpers and in some cases cheap dye have taken their toll and we’ve all lost our hair and cut back on the eye liner. Shame.
But you’re really here for the music. Clearly that’s a problem as I know you’d hate most of the above so I thought I’d just focus on some memories of the time. At least give them one listen and if you want more info then I’ve checked – they’re all on Wikipedia.
mp3 : Exploited – Dead Cities
This reached no 31 in the real charts. Members may have changed but Wattie and the boys still keep up the good fight against fascism and racism. You have to admire 30 years of anarchy and chaos. And for good measure, here's the b-sides:-
mp3 : Exploited - Hitler's In The Charts Again mp3 : Exploited - Class War
Another band surprisingly still with us, though I confess to having no knowledge of their oeuvre post 1985, are this lot:-
mp3 : Alien Sex Fiend - Ignore The Machine
And finally, a real favourite of mine at the time, though I confess it’s only while writing this that I’ve dug out the old stuff. Jim Thirlwell as in your face as ever. A true innovator and inspiration for many of the noiseniks that crossed into the mainstream in the late 80s/early90s.
mp3 : You've Got Foetus On Your Breath - Wash It All Off mp3 : You've Got Foetus On Your Breath - Today I Started Slogging Again
And, here’s the link to VV fact fans, Jim T was a latter day pseudonymous member of Orange Juice. Look him out on Rip It Up on TOTP and consider that poppy jangle alongside this. ****
And if you really want to know what I looked like at the time, check out US cult band, The Naked and the Dead on Wikipedia. I may not actually be in the picture but I sure could have been.
Jacques The Kipper, Sunday 25 July 2010
**** JtK is not joking. Frank Want was one of the many other names by which Jim Thirwell was known.
Frank Want was a member of the live line-up of Orange Juice in 83/84 when the band were essentially down to Edwyn Collins and Zeke Manyika for studio purposes.
But prior to that, Frank Want had been the saxophone player in this TOTP appearance:-
And to think, I wasn't entirely convinced when I first played it:-
mp3 : The Smiths - William, It Was Really Nothing
The band's fifth single. At the time, I thought it was a bit disappointing. It wasn't anywhere near the class of Hand In Glove or This Charming Man. It lacked the hook and catchiness of What Difference Does It Make and it wasn't as derivative as Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now.
Now......it is one of my all-time favourite records by The Smiths.
One of the reasons I struggled with it initially was that it seemed to be over just far too quickly at a shade over two minutes. Another reasons was that the two songs on the b-side of the 12" - How Soon Is Now and Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want - seemed vastly superior.
But then one evening, I saw the band on Top Of The Pops perform the single, and I then realised that it was a work of genius.
Johnny Marr with his guitar gifted to him by Elvis Costello;
Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke doing their bit to keep things ticking along;
But above all else, Morrissey at his most alluring, charismatic and mischievous as he tore open his shirt to reveal his skinny torso and in doing so, demonstrated that it was possible to be sexy and indie at the same time.
While it was that performance that got me listening again to William, I quickly realised that in fact its true majesty was in Johnny's guitar playing. This was totally different from anything he had written before now, and to think he was only not long out of his teens at the time....
And it is a lyric that has probably been discussed and analysed as much as anything else Morrissey has ever penned. He himself has said it was to address marriage from a male standpoint as opposed to pop's traditionally female perspective, saying that it was 'about time a male voice spoke directly t0 another male saying marriage was a waste of time'. Others have said suggested this was a smokescreen for a lyric written directly to Billy Mackenzie with whom Morrissey was friends.......
None of these scurrilous rumours were helped by Billy eventually writing his own response in 1993, but I'm of the view it was just his wicked sense of humour very much to the fore. You'll also note that Billy has gone for a different spelling of Morrissey's christian name:-
I didn't realise until I put a list together the other week of all the singles featured so far that I hadn't included anything by Josef K.
While Orange Juice and Aztec Camera went on to enjoy commercial success after the demise of Postcard Records, this wasn't the case with the third great Scottish band to record for the label. Indeed, there wasn't all that much ever released by the band on anything other than Postcard.
I was tempted to bring you the first single they recorded for the label - Radio Drill Time - which was released in August 1980 (jayzooz.....that's nearly 30 years ago to the month!!!). It's a record that is similar in style to the sort of music being produced by the pre-fame Talking Heads. A spiky and piercing sort of sound heavily reliant on the rhythm section of bass player David Wendell and drummer Ronnie Torrance, but underpinned by a twin guitar assault from Malcolm Ross and Paul Haig. But there's two reasons for going with something different.
Firstly, Crazy To Exist, the b-side to Radio Drill Time, is, in my humble opinion, a far better song and one that has stood the test of time far better than the actual single.
Secondly, the follow-up single, released in December 1980 and given the catalogue number of Postcard 80-5, is both my favourite and was the first Josef K song I ever can recall hearing.
mp3 : Josef K - It's Kinda Funny
It's the nearest thing to a ballad that was ever released on Postcard. And you can hear just influential it was on some of the great songs Edwyn Collins would compose as his career went on its rollercoaster ride over a three-decade period.
Truly gorgeous. And I envy you if you're about to hear it for the first time in your life.
And when you flip it over to the b-side, you can hear something that the boys from Franz Ferdinand must have played a few times when they were looking for inspiration:-
I played this the other week at Blog Rocking Beats 2. And silently dedicated it to the wonderful Greer from A Sweet Unrest (who on no account should be confused with John Greer!!).
Greer is awfully fond of a lot of music made by Scottish bands - and she has a bit of a crush on Roddy Frame (but don't we all??) and she has recently written about the Trash Can Sinatras in glowing terms after seeing them play live over in her native California. Click Here.
mp3 : The Trash Can Sinatras - Only Tongue Can Tell
Released back in 1990, a single that should have been massive but which flopped. I've still got the sticker on the sleeve that tells me I paid £1.99 for the 12".
I've always been a big fan of Frank Reader's lyrics. Here's an example why:-
Once upon a sign I read a warning and it said 'When in Rome don't feed the lions' What is meant I can't hazard a guess
But now I've learnt my lesson I'm a better person I'm filled up with high hopes and I'm fed up with soft soaps
Long in the tooth and short on wisdom Up to here with the ache of it
And if the matchmaker calls hand in hand With a catch of the day I'll rise to the bait But it'll still be more than a heart can take More than feeling great More than a tongue can tell
I'd need to take leave of my senses to get a moment's rest Following in footsteps Footsure in fancy dress
Head in my hands I'm making plans Hoovering up for the day
When the matchmaker calls hand in hand With the catch of the day I'll raise to the bait But it'll still be more then a heart can take More than feeling great More than a tongue can tell
And the itch to get rich quick Has never been so hard to reach With my hands tied behind my back Shin deep in cement and sand
Just like the anchor-man I broke loose And crashed to the sea bed Clutching the shortest straw
And if you threw me a line that's as smart as you think It wouldn't stop me sinking down to cry On what flashed before my eyes
There's a great site dedicated to the band called Five Hungry Joes (it is named after an EP released in 1995). I'll soon provide a permanent link to the site when I do a slight revamp of TVV, but in the meantime, please click here for more.
And here's the two other tracks that were on the flip side of Only Tongue Can Tell:-
mp3 : The Trash Can Sinatras - Useless mp3 : The Trash Can Sinatras - Tonight You Belong To Me
Lots of songs have, over the years, been described as 'epic'.
In truth very few of them are.
But this truly is:-
mp3 : Wah! - The Story Of The Blues (Parts One and Two)
Loved by millions in the UK back in 1982 where it reached #3 in the singles chart. And although much of its majesty is down to the backing vocals, the info on the back of the sleeve simply says
Played by Pete Wylie, Washington and Some Girls. Written and Arranged by Pete Wylie. Produced by Pete Hedges
The record label didn't believe it would be a hit, so there wasn't a promo video made. But here's an appearance from Top Of the Pops
I was so impressed with this that I rushed put and bought an imitation white silk scarf which I wore for weeks......
And here's yer b-side, a version of an earlier flop single released in 1980:-
mp3 : Wah! - Seven Minutes To Midnight (liveish)
This posting goes out to my dear friend and Sunday Correspondent John Greer who has always maintained that Pete Wylie was a musical genius.
This was what I expected to be writing about last week instead of some emotional outpourings about the sudden death of a brother.
And just because I'm writing about it today doesn't mean I've gotten over everything. Far from it.
It does seem very strange and surreal that it was only just over a week ago that myself and ANCB got together and tried to entertain some unsuspecting folk. It feels as if it was all in the dim and distant past.
And while we had a few technical hitches which caused us a few problems over the course of the evening, particularly with regard to inconsistent sound levels, we scrambled our way through offering an alternative diversion to folks who had come along to see the live bands in the venue through the wall. ANCB was eclectic in his selections as Drew had been the previous month. Me? I stuck with the tried and tested for the most part, but amazingly managed not to repeat any songs I had selected last time out (although I did go with one Drew had previously spun):-
ANCB
Primal Scream – Higher Than The Sun (American Spring Mix) NERD – Provider (Zero 7 Mix) A Man Called Adam – Barefoot In the Head D Note – The Garden Of Earthly Delights (Original Mix) Kate Bush – Running Up The Hill (Ashley Beedle Re-Edit) DJ Food – Peace Part 1 (Harvey’s Persuasion Mix) Rae & Christian – Spellbound 808 State feat James Dean Bradfield – Lopez (Propellerheads Mix)
JC
Public Image – Public Image Happy Mondays – Wrote For Luck The Smiths – THe Headmaster Ritual Elvis Costello – The Ugly Things Orange Juice – Love Sick Arab Strap – Speed Date The Clash – The Magnificent Seven Frightened Rabbit – Be Less Rude Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Come Saturday The Wedding Present – It’s A Gas The Fall – Mr Pharmacist Friends Again – South Of Love Cats On Fire – Tears In Your Cup James – What For BourgieBourgie – Careless
ANCB
Love Unlimited Orchestra – Strange Games & Things The O’Jays – For The Love Of Money Barkays – You Cant Run Away 4 Hero – Les Fleur Lee Dorsey – Night People Gladys Knight & The Pips- BourgieBourgie Rare Earth – I Just Want to Celebrate (Mocean Worker Mix) Temptations – Just My Imagination (DJ Jazzy Jeff & Pete Kuzma Remix) KRS I – Sound Of Da Police Primal Scream – Come Together (BBG Remix)
JC
Chemical Bros – Block Rocking Beats David Bowie – Boys Keep Swinging Echo & the Bunnymen – Never Stop KirstyMacColl – A New England Sons & Daughters – Dance Me In REM – Finest Worksong (Lengthy Club Mix) Teenage Fanclub – Sparky’s Dream Iggy Pop – The Passenger Butcher Boy – Profit In Your Poetry Meursault – A Few Kind Words The Clash – Bankrobber
ANCB
Primal Scream – Dont Fight It , Feel It (Whistling Mix) Ella Fitzgerald – Sunshine Of Your Love (Rockers Hi-Fi Mix) A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray (GW Edit) Adamski – One Of The People (Ashley Beedle Mix Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug (GW Edit) Sister Sledge – Lost In Music (12″ Mix) Stevie Wonder – Masterblaster (Jammin) (12″ Disco Mix)
JC/ANCB
Orange Juice – I Can’t Help Myself (12″ mix) The Smiths – This Charming Man (New York Remix) Fire Engines – Candyskin Sugardaddy – Love Honey (GW Edit) Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Wonderful (GW Edit) Associates – Party Fears Two The Trash Can Sinatras – Only Tongue Can Tell Soup Dragons – Lovegod Dub Red Guitars – Marimba Jive The Third Degree – Mercy The Charlatans – North Country Boy James – Hymn From A Village Kid Canaveral – Smash Hits The Jam – Beat Surrender Louis Armstrong – Wonderful World
I'd like to thank everyone who came along and made the night so enjoyable. Having gotten a taste for it, I'm all for trying to do it on a regular basis, so if anyone cares to make an offer....
Johnny Marr and Matt Johnson have each gone on record as saying that their time working, recording and touring together were among the happiest experiences in their musical careers, and proof can be found on the album, Dusk, which contains some of the best songs Matt has ever penned, both musically and lyrically.
Released in 1993, it criminally failed to spawn any huge hit singles, but was a LP that received all sorts of critical acclaim in the popular and specialist music press, and was the biggest-selling in the career of The The. And in this single, written by Matt as a way of helping himself to get over the tragic loss of his brother, you’ll find what I think is the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful song ever recorded.
mp3 : The The - Love Is Stronger Than Death
Here's the b-sides, all part of a live radio broadcast from New York on 6th May 1993:-
mp3 : The The - Infected (new version) mp3 : The The - Soul Mining (new version) mp3 : The The - Armageddon Days Are Here Again (new version)
And to round things off, a live version of the single as performed on Later With Jools Holland away back in 1993:-
I really want to begin by thanking everyone who passed on their condolences over the past few days, whether by leaving a comment behind and/or sending or an email. That my family was in the thoughts of so many was a big comfort.
And to ctel......I really can't thank you enough for your posting. I read over your words shortly before the funeral service itself on Wednesday night and they were a big help.
It is hard to really believe that it was only seven days ago when I got the news that my brother David had died in a car crash on a quiet country road not far from where he lived in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland. So much seems to have happened since.
A friend who was born and raised in Cork once told me that nobody does funerals quite like the Irish. And having spent a few days putting a loved one to rest in what is still a largely traditional area, I can see exactly where my friend was coming from.
I hope you don't mind me sharing just some of the experiences of the past 7 days.
Within hours of the news being broken to us by police officers from the local station near my parents home in Glasgow, my mum had decided that the arrangements should see my brother's funeral take place in Ireland and that his body should not be brought back to Scotland. At this point in time, I knew the phone numbers of just two people in Westport - one being the landlord of the pub/B&B establishment above which my brother had been staying for much of the time since he moved to the town two and a half years ago, and the other was the phone number of the workplace of my brother's best friend.
All it took was one call to said landlord and things fell swiftly into place.
To the whole family's astonishment and relief, a post-mortem was held within a matter of hours which allowed the body to be released into the care of a funeral director later the same day. By Sunday evening, some 18 hours after the accident, almost all the arrangements were provisionally in place - all we were waiting for was that one of the small number of crematoria in Ireland (it is very much a country for traditional burials) to be contacted when it opened on Monday morning.
One of the reasons we were able to act so quickly was that David, despite a string of girlfriends over the years, including at least two fiances, had never married and had no kids of his own
On Tuesday morning, my mum, dad, myself, Mrs Villain, a nephew and two family friends from way back were on a plane to Dublin where we would meet my other brother Stevie who had flown in overnight from Florida having made his travel plans within hours of getting the sad news.
From Dublin, we took a train some 150 plus miles across the country to Westport, arriving there at 4pm on Tuesday afternoon. We were all guests of David's landlord who had taken charge of everything. Within a few hours, the family, together with David's best friend from Westport, had paid our respects by visiting the funeral parlour where the body had been taken from the hospital by a local undertaker who had been a drinking friend of my brother. But the undertaker wasn't the last drinking friend we would meet......
This was without doubt the hardest and most painful part of the past seven days. Seeing my brother's body lying in a coffin was heartbreaking for everyone. He looked as if he was asleep.
Despite his death coming in a car crash, there wasn't a mark on his face. I later discovered that he hadn't been wearing a seatbelt and that when the car left the road having seemingly aquaplaned in appalling conditions and dropped twenty feet over a cliff at the side of the road, David had been thrown from the car and it was his impact with the ground that killed him instantly. He suffered no pain.
We stayed in the parlour for a short time. There were loads of tears.
That night, we also met a great many of David's friends and work colleagues in the pub/B&B where we were all staying. It soon became very clear that a lot of people from Westport were hurting as much as any member of the family. David had clearly been much loved, respected and admired and his passing had brought a dark cloud above the entire community.
But as the night went on and we all got to know one another a bit better, the sadness began to dissipate, much of this being down to my mum who regaled everyone with happy tales of David's life in Glasgow, particularly as a child. By 1am when the last of the family had become so tired that they had to go to bed, the sad atmosphere had been replaced by one that was much lighter as everyone in the pub celebrated the fact that we had been lucky enough to know David and that he had touched our lives in different ways.
And so to Wednesday, the day of the funeral.
Determined to keep the mood as upbeat as possible, we spent most of the day doing our own thing while taking in some of the sights of the town of Westport and the surrounding area, discovering that it was a peaceful, beautiful and special area populated by amazingly friendly people. Again, all of this helped the family come to realise just how happy David during the last few years of his life.
At 6.30pm, we returned to the funeral parlour where, in the Irish tradition, people came to pay their respects by saying a quiet prayer in front of the body and offering their condolences to the immediate family. I have no idea how many hundreds of hands I shook over the next 45mins but there were loads.
At 7.15, the coffin was sealed and along with my brother, nephew and three of David's best friends from Westport, I carried it the short distance to the back of the hearse. Again, following Irish tradition, the hearse made its way from the parlour to the church through the town with mourners walking behind it.
But not all mourners.
The hearse was preceded by a Garda car, complete with blue flashing lights, driven by one of David's friends. And on either side of the hearse, there was an escort provided on one side by his work colleagues and on the other by members of the local golf club where David had spent many a happy day. And all the while the rain hammered down. All the pubs and shops en route closed their doors as a mark of respect. The centre of Westport quite literally had come to a complete halt. My mum whispered to me as we walked together that she had seen nothing like this since watching Diana's funeral on telly.
The funeral service was attended by around 600 people. David was not a religious person, so the priest didn't know him at all. But that didn't stop him from painting a very accurate picture of my brother to all and sundry during what was a very moving service. I had the honour at the end of the service of walking to the altar and delivering the final eulogy, - a few words about David but more a way of the family being able to tell the community of Westport how much we had appreciated all that they had done for my brother over what turned out to be the last few years of his life and also to thank them for the most incredible send-off you could ever hope to give anyone.
After some more hand-shaking and words in the street outside the church it was back to the pub/B&B for what was described as 'light refreshments'. Before long, I had accepted the challenge laid down by a regular of paying tribute to David by doing what he often did, and that is be last out of the pub.
Incidentally, we also discovered that more than half of those who knew my brother in Westport didn't know his surname. To them he was simply known as 'Scottish Dave', the bloke with the impenetrable accent who, like all the best characters in Cheers, had his own chair in his favourite pub that no-one else was allowed to sit in.
Anyway, I accepted the challenge and was there until 3.15am, during which time I must have toasted the life of Scottish Dave and the town of Westport on at least 20 occasions.
After a very short sleep, we all gathered at 8am for breakfast and made our way back to the church for the final part of the funeral service which involved a blessing of the coffin before we carried back to the hearse for its final journey - 150 plus miles back across country to Dublin to Mount Jerome Crematorium.
The family was immediately behind the hearse in a minibus, and there were two other cars with some friends from Westport also making the journey. Waiting for us in Dublin were friends and family members who had travelled over from Glasgow that very morning.
A short but simple service was held. Again, I rounded things off by saying a few short words of thanks. And then sat down for the final few moments....
Ever since we had been given the news, I had done my best to stay strong for everyone, especially my mum and dad. But as the lights dimmed and the opening notes of the music, chosen by the funeral director, started playing, I lost it. All the emotion and grief bottled up inside me came roaring out. I'm in tears again just thinking about it.
Here's what did it:-
I will never again be able to hear that song without ever filling up with tears.
Within hours, mum, dad, my missus, my nephew and myself were on our way back to Glasgow, while my brother stayed an extra night in Dublin before catching his flight back to Florida on Friday morning. The two family friends also stayed on the extra night in Dublin.
It has taken all of Friday and Saturday and now a fair bit of Sunday to finally be able to sit in front of the PC and share all this with you. It's still going to be a few more days before I can sit and write in any detail about music, but in the meantime I will dig out some old posts and regurgitate them.
Again dear friends, thank you so much for all you've said here and in the various emails.
And thank you again for allowing me to share all of this with you.
Rest In Peace wee man. Thousands are missing you and will never forget you.
You'll have read about JC's terrible news. Today's the day of the service and wake, so I thought it should be marked in some small way. Death comes in many forms, quickly and slowly, young and old. But always a shock for those left behind with memories and things undone and unsaid.
It was beautiful as long as it lasted, the short journey of my life. I have no regrets whatsoever, save the pain I’ll leave behind, and the dear ones who loved and cared. The strong arms that held me up, when my own strength let me down.
At every turning of my short life I came across good friends, friends who stood by me, even when time raced me by. Farewell, farewell my friends, I smile and bid you goodbye. Shed no tears as I need them not, all I need is your smile.
If you feel sad, do think of me, for that’s what I’ll like. For when you live in the hearts of those you love, remember then, you never die. by Rabinbdranaath Tagore
This was supposed to be a posting telling you all about Blog Rocking Beats 2 that took place last Saturday.
But within a few hours of returning home I got a phone call from my dad telling me that my brother David had been killed in a car crash on the N59 road just outside a village called Leenane in County Mayo, Ireland. He had died at the scene of the accident at just after 1am, which is probably about the time I had turned into bed after coming home from the club night.
David was 43 years of age.
He move to Westport in Ireland around two years ago. He was on his way home from a night out in Galway when his car left the road and hit a ditch. No one else was in the car with him and no other vehicle was involved. Just a tragic accident.
I've consoled myself all of Sunday by knowing that the last two years of his life were the happiest he's ever been.
I'm going to going over to Ireland tomorrow with my mum, dad and my missus, while my brother is flying into Dublin from Florida. A nephew and a couple of long-standing family friends are also making the journey from Glasgow.
We've decided to lay him to rest in Ireland and do things the traditional Irish way.
It's going to be an emotional few days with a service and wake on Wednesday night, followed by a cross-country drive the next morning as we take his body to Dublin to one of what is just a handful of crematoria in Ireland.
I've no idea when I'll be back in blog-land. Probably at least a week.
In the meantime, I hope you don't mind if I leave you with one of David's favourites songs from one of his favourite bands when he was just a kid.
mp3 : Marillion - Market Square Heroes
Rest In Peace Brother. You'll be missed more than you'd ever have dared to imagine.
So PBM had 2 obsessions – Laurel & Hardy … and death. He lived in the room opposite me. He was a good looking young man – a cross between Nick Kamen and ‘On The Waterfront’ Brando. He liked lifting weights and his floor was a deathtrap of loose dumbbells and lethal metal lumps … And piss-bottles. (Hence PBM for Piss Bottle Man). Old milk bottles full of stinking amber urine.
He was a Diplomat’s son. Mummy lived in an Embassy far away in somewhere like Sierra Leone or the South Pole. Rather like ‘Tomkinson’ in Ripping Yarns - Enslaved to the Prefects in the Public School fagging system, he tried to escape once, ‘But was 17 miles from Greybridge before he was caught by the School leopard’.
It’s unlikely that his horsey parents possessed anything but scant recognition of their insignificant colt.
Every morning, he’d take his cassette recorder to the communal bathroom where he’d replay Laurel and Hardy shows, which he’d taped from the TV. I’d often shave in the sink alongside whilst ‘The Trail of the Lonesome Pine’ broke the cold morning silence. (It was preferable to the Radio 1 Breakfast Show).
When all the other chaps in the barrack block left for weekends and Bank Holidays to far-flung points around the country, PBM would stay, alone.
Late one Bank Holiday Monday, I returned from my travels and found him in his room listening to Jimmy The Hoover.
mp3 : Jimmy The Hoover - Tantalise
He hadn’t left the building all weekend, yet he had a terrible burn mark from ear to ear and right across his throat. He was complaining of a sprained ankle and I looked down to see that he had clearly broken his lower leg. It transpired that he had attempted to hang himself from the landing above the stairs ‘just to see what it felt like’. He’d somehow managed to wrestle free and the rope snapped and he fell 20 feet onto the floor below!
It was a laugh a minute with PBM. Later that summer, a tragic accident occurred where 2 pilots died in a light aircraft. Ahead of the military funerals, PBM, 4 other airmen and me had to practice pall-bearing with a coffin weighted with rocks. This coffin was kept in a room in the Admin HQ overnight. Early one morning, PBM - the Duty Clerk for that week - was nowhere to be found as Eunice - the mousy middle-aged spinster from Accounts - came looking for her office keys as usual. As she walked into the small darkened room where the key cupboard was held, she saw the coffin on a table across the room. She momentarily froze as a body slowly began to sit up in the coffin. It was PBM - again ‘trying it out to see what it felt like’. She ran screaming from the building and required a week off work through stress.
Another time, the silly pillock had fallen asleep under a sunbed. He received serious and extensive 3rd degree burns which then turned black. The little green plastic goggles that had covered his eyes left bright white areas. For weeks, he looked like a crusty panda.
I was called as an escort to the accused. PBM had been officially charged with dropping his trousers at the local flea-pit cinema during the Saturday matinee. The usherette, a Queenie Clegg, had put in a complaint - to which the Station Commander was obliged to act upon in the ever vexed world of military / civilian public relations. An escort is mainly employed as a body guard for the officer hearing the charge. Should the accused launch himself across the desk, the escort was supposed to help restrain the miscreant.
We were marched into the orderly room in double quick time. ‘Left right, left right, left right. Halt. Left turn. The seated Squadron Leader proceeded to read old Queenie’s witness statement. ‘.. And having verbally abused Ada Snook the projectionist, he then proceeded to show me his winkle and his balls’.
Like the Roman Guards in Life Of Brian when confronted with Pontius Pilate and his speech impediment, we both sniggered - as did the 2 Junior Officers stood behind the CO holding the Manuals Of Air Force Law. Queenie’s damning evidence continued ... ‘He twiddled it around and around in his popcorn before waving it at me’. Shoulders were quivering and eyes were watering as snorting laughter was suppressed.
On completion of the witness statements, the dozy officer gave PMB the usual full ‘let yourself down, everybody down and everything down’ blast. He finally finished his tirade with, “Well, airman. What have you got to say for yourself?”
As centre of attention, PBM clearly saw this as an opportunity not to be missed. He slowly looked left, looked right, and then grasped his black tie with both hands. Flicking it through his waggling fingers, he smiled and slowly, in his finest Oliver Hardy voice declared,
“I have nothing .. to .. say!”
Our feet didn’t touch the ground as we were hurtled through the door with a screaming, ‘Left right, left right, you ‘orrible little man …”.
I remember him turning to me in the corridor asking, “What does admonished mean?” “Fucked if I know” I said.
PBM was given what’s called an ‘Admin Discharge’. I helped him carry his suitcase to the Station. As the train pulled away, he leant from the window and shouted, “Well, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten me into Stanley”
I was tempted to give another plug to Blog Rocking Beats, but that would have meant showing my hand in terms of which track by The Smiths I'm intending to play tonight (in fact, there might be more than one track depending on the mood I'm in and how I feel the night is unfolding).
So instead, it's one that definitely won't be getting aired, but not because it isn't a work of poetic genius, more that it's just a wee bit too sad for a night on which my main aim is to get folk thinking about dancing.
It's one of the band's earliest efforts and one that often features high up in lists that obsessives like me produce if ever asked to put all the songs in order of preference. And yet, it was never ever released commercially except on a compilation LP made up largely of BBC session versions.
mp3 : The Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Morrissey has since admitted that his lyric was an attempt at putting the entire plot of the play A Taste of Honey written by Shelagh Delaney and first performed in 1958. A dark, brooding disturbing and incredibly moving lyric that is perfectly matched by one of the most beautiful tunes that Johnny Marr ever composed - and he wasn't yet out of his teens.
It was recorded for a John Peel session that was broadcast in September 1983. For the best part of a year, the only way I was able to hear it was via a hissy cassette recording taken from the radio show, complete with a Peel introduction. And then in September 1984, it was made available as a track on the LP Hatful of Hollow (which itself has a fair claim to being the band's best ever LP). Bliss.
It turned out that just prior to this in July 1984, The Smiths had tried to re-record the song for use as a potential b-side but they felt it never captured the beauty or majesty of the BBC recording. And I've no doubt they were 100% correct in that view.
It's a song that was a live staple in the early days, and indeed was part of the set of their first ever Scottish gig at the Queen Margaret Union at Glasgow University. A couple of years back, Mike from Manic Pop Thrills unearthed an old cassette of that live show (it had been recorded by Radio Clyde the local commercial station) and kindly gave me a CD copy. And from that show is this live version:-
mp3 : The Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes (live)
And finally, the other version of the song that kept me going for ages before its appearance on Hatful of Hollow:-
Taken from a BBC recording of a gig at the Assembly Rooms in Derby. I'm guessing that this was the night that Johnny opened his eyes and decided he had to do something about his hair.......
This week's offering is a response to either an e-mail or comment from many many months ago. I think it was not long after I started this series that I threw out the idea of readers suggesting what would make good candidates for inclusion, and I'm ashamed to say that I ignored the small number that did come in.
Well, when I say ignored that doesn't mean I took no notice at all. It was more that I sort of forgot all about them as something else cropped up either in blogworld or real life that got me distracted.
It was only when I was going through the bits of vinyl searching for some long-forgotten gems to take along to Part 2 Of Blog Rocking Beats tomorrow night that I recalled that I not too long ago got my hands on a copy of the debut single by Restricted Code.....and that my reason for doing so was that someone had said I should include them and the very next day I found one of their records in a second-hand store.
So whoever it was that made the request. Thank You. I'm just sorry it look so long to get round to it.
Anyway, I couldn't recall a thing about Restricted Code, but I've done my research and found out they were a Glasgow outfit formed in the late 70s and whose recorded output consisted of just two 45s on the Edinburgh -based Pop Aural label in 1981. The band consisted of Tom Canavan (vocals), Frank Quadrelli (guitar), Kenny Blythe (bass) and Rab McCormack (drums).
Have a listen, all the way through as the song does change somewhat after about a minute, and see what you think:-
mp3 : Restricted Code - First Night On
I'll say that it is a 45 that is reasonably worthy but not earth-shattering.
So why include it in this series which after all carries the grandiose title which says the author is in love with great singles from Scotland??
Well, I might think it is great, but someone out there does, and more importantly, it is the sort of long-lost song that I'd like to think is what TVV should ideally be about - at least one reader (but hopefully more) will recall it with fondness and perhaps in fact be getting to hear it for the first time in years - but for most of us it will be abut trying something 'new' albeit something that is 30 years old.
Here's yer b-side:-
mp3 : Restricted Code - From The Top
So that's 31 songs come and gone in this wee series ( I thought it was only 30 but I've sorted out the numbering once and for all), and here's a recap:-
Orange Juice - L.O.V.E, Love Friends Again - The Friends Again EP Belle & Sebastian - Legal Man Close Lobsters - What Is There To Smile About? One Dove - White Love Simple Minds - Love Song The Valves - It Don't Mean Nothing At All Associates - 18 Carat Love Affair Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You The Delgados - No Danger Captain America - Flame On Ballboy - All The Records On The Radio Are Shite Hey! Elastica - Eat Your Heart Out The Trash Can Sinatras - Hayfever Sons & Daughters - Taste The Last Girl Primal Scream - Star Altered Images - A Day's Wait Big Country - Harvest Home Foil - Reviver Gene St Jude's Infirmary - The Church Of John Coltrane Memphis - You Supply The Roses The Twilight Sad - That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows Win - You'e Got The Power Geneva - No One Speaks Frightened Rabbit - Fast Blood April Showers - Abandon Ship Cocteau Twins - Sugar Hiccup Jazzateers - Pressing On James Yorkston & The Athletes - St Patrick Restricted Code - First Night On
I've quite a few more up my sleeve to come in the weeks ahead, but given what I said about my views on what is great and the fact I'm not completely convinced by Restricted Code I would like to offer a slot on Fridays to anyone out there who is happy enough to write-up why they think a particular long-lost 45 is worthy of inclusion in the list of great Scottish singles. Oh and you'll probably have to also fire over an mp3 of the track, and hopefully the b-sides, as well. The e-mail address is on the right hand side of the blog.
In the meantime, Part 32 next Friday will be one that is a particular favourite of mine and one I was surprised I hadn't already included.
I'm quite hopeful that at least 75% of the songs I'm going to play this coming Saturday at the second Blog Rocking Beats night will be different from those played first time around. I know that I should try my best to actually come up with a completely different set list than what I've shoved down as the PS, but I just can't imagine not having this spinning just before the Flying Duck management insist we pack up our things and go:-
mp3 : Orange Juice - Blue Boy
There's also every likelihood that I'll play the other side of the single as well, but that will most probably be at the beginning of the night - so come early:-
mp3 : Orange Juice - Love Sick
Now I just need to work out which U2 number to take along with me.........
PS
Reminder of the last list:-
Drew
BMX Bandits – Serious Drugs Peter Parker – Swallow The Rockets Crystal Stilts – Love Is A Wave The Fall – Blindness The Kingfishers – Make Me Sad Jenny Lewis – Carpetbaggers Lone Justice – After The Flood Pavement – Summer Babe (Winter version) Bobby Cook – Gone So Far Dr Rubberfunk – Fantasy Funk Band The Staple Singers – I’ll Take You There Smith & Mighty – Walk On By Primal Scream – Uptown (Long After The Disco Is Over)
JC
The Clash – Radio Clash Teenage Fanclub - Life's a Gas Associates – 18 Carat Love Affair Fatima Mansions – Blues For Ceaucescu Electronic – Getting Away With It Blur – Popscene Orange Juice – L.O.V.E. Love Kirsty McColl – You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby The Smiths – Bigmouth Strikes Again Johnny Cash – Ring Of Fire Friends Again – Sunkissed Scritti Politti – Asylums In Jerusalem Paul Haig – Never Give Up (Party Party)
ANCB
The Clash – Bankrobber James – Come Home Cameo – Word Up Human League – Love Action The Cure – Love Cats The Jam – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
Drew
Squeeze – Up The Junction The Jags – Back Of My Hand Specials – Too Much Too Young (fucked and pulled off about 30 seconds in) Amy Winehouse – Monkey Man The Clash – White Man In Hammersmith Palais Battle – Demons Ida Maria – Stella Shout Out Louds – Very Loud Inspiral Carpets – I Want You Velvet Underground – White Light White Heat Pastels – Crawl Babies Airborne Toxic Event – Moving On Frightened Rabbit – Backwards Walk Meursault – A Few Kind Words
JC
Young Knives – Up All Night Magazine – A Song From Under The Floorboards Morrissey – Last Of The Famous International Playboys Bourgie Bourgie – Breaking Point The Style Council – Speak Like A Child Aztec Camera – Walk Out To Winter (single version) Pixies – Monkey Gone To Heaven REM – Don’t Go Back To Rockville Go Betweens – Streets Of Your Town Camper Van Beethoven – Take The Skinheads Bowling New Order – Age Of Consent Orange Juice - Felicity Teenage Fanclub – Everything Flows
Drew
The Pale Fountains – From Across The Kitchen Table Woodentops – Good Thing Human Beinz – Nobody But Me Jackie Wilson – Because Of You Johnny Boy – You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve Elvis Presley – Crawfish (Pilooski edit) The Cramps - Can Your Pussy Do The Dog Bang Bang Machine – Geek Love
JC/Drew
Aztec Camera – Oblivious Belle & Sebastian – Lazy Line Painter Jane The Bodines – Therese The Slow Club – Trophy Room The Smiths – Hand In Glove The Wedding Present – Kennedy The Jesus And Mary Chain – Upside Down Ballboy – All The Records On The Radio Are Shite Orange Juice – Blueboy Jonathan Richman And The Modern Loves – That Summer Feeling Bessie Banks – Go Now
Is this the song where the band proved themselves to even their harshest of critics?
