GIG REVIEW : SONS & DAUGHTERS : CAPTAIN'S REST, GLASGOW : FRIDAY 27th AUGUST 2010

I've already hinted at how just great a night this was with the quick review of support band SHe'S HiT that I posted last Saturday.

Jacques the Kipper said something interesting about Sons & Daughters when I was speaking to him the day after the gig - and that is you could name 10 great Scottish bands of the moment and you might not come up with them. And yet, when any of their songs come on your i-pod you suddenly remember just how brilliant they are.

Where I differ from JtK is that I probably would put them in a current Top 10....but only if I was allowed to forget most of the songs that appeared on their 2008 LP This Gift. I'm sorry to say that while I love every single song on both Love The Cup and Repulsion Box from 2003 and 2005 respectively, the album that was supposed to propel them into the charts leaves me a bit cold. And for that, I've always put most of the blame on a strange production from Bernard Butler which seemed to strip out the energy and vibrancy from the band's live and previous studio sounds.

But I was really excited when I got the late news that the band were playing a 'secret' gig at the hot and sweaty Captain's Rest and that it was very much a turn-up-on-the-night if you want to get in policy. And with Comrade Colin also agreeing to go along, it was a night that promised perfect company even if the band disappointed. Which they didn't. Far from it. They excelled.

Taking to the stage to a rapturous but not riotous welcome, they made it clear that this was a night that was going to be consist of many news songs with a few old favourites thrown in for good measure. I don't know about the rest of you, but these are the sort of nights that fill me with a wee bit of fear. I always want the the new songs to be as good as my favourite old songs, and that's something quite difficult to achieve on a first listening especially in a live setting.

But Adele, Ailidh, David and Scott pulled it off with absolutely no problems at all. They opened with a brand new song which bounced along at a cracking pace. What I most noticed was that it was driven along in the main by Ailidh's cool banging of the bass and David's frenetically controlled drumming. Not that Scott was by any stretch of the imagination taking a back seat....but it did sound to me as if the first of the new songs was much more danceable and catchy than the 2008 efforts. In other words, a return to form and more like the band of old who blew away many a Morrissey fan when they supported the maestro on many of his UK dates in 2006.

Then something strange happened - they played The Nest from that 2008 LP that I'm not fond of. And it sounded quite astonishing. And simply confirmed for me that it was the former Suede guitarist to blame for making me turn my back on the band.....

Over the next hour or so, the pace never let up, whether it was a new song or an old favourite that was unleashed upon us - and I reckon I was particularly lucky as all of my particular favourites got an airing, including at least one I wasn't expecting. Being the sad fucker that I am, I grabbed the set list that had been at Adele's feet all night and can bring you exactly what was played:-

Mineral Sea
The Nest
Choked
Axed Actor
Taste The Last Girl
PiL
Gilt Complex
Rama Lama
Breaking Fun
Rose Red
La Lune
Johnny Cash
Dance Me In

On the back of the set-list, there were some lyrics for three of the new songs....along with the some lines of La Lune....one of the band's oldest songs and one that I certainly wasn't expecting last Friday night.

If I have one grumble, it is with the audience. Whether or not the late notice backfired a bit and folk came along simply because it was a great chance to see a well-known act in such a small venue I cant really say, but other than myself, Comrade Colin and one or two others around us near the front, nobody seemed to get too excited by the sheer energy of the band, particularly during the last few songs, all of which were the proverbial golden oldies. I think Adele got a wee bit frustrated as well, for she jumped into the crowd at the start of Dance Me In in an effort to get more folk moving, but alas to little effect. And disgracefully, the band got little more than polite applause instead of a rapturous reception when they left the stage.....almost as if 90% of the 110-strong crowd were expecting an encore of right.

Inevitably it never came. But I reckon the band would have played one if there had been enough demand. For one, the y left the stage a good 15 mins before the normal curfew at the Captain's Rest. For two, the set-list has a line under Dance Me In, and then ????? in black ink underneath - a sure-sign that something special was on the cards if the audience had gone as apeshit as the performance they had just seen had merited.

All in all. One of the gigs of 2010. And so unexpected given that I woke up on Friday morning expecting a very boring day at work followed by a lazy and quiet night at home. I got the boring day at work all right......but the tired limbs and slightly sore head of Saturday morning were worth it.

Cant wait for the new stuff to be released. Nor for a proper tour to be announced.

mp3 : Sons & Daughters - The Nest (live)
mp3 : Sons & Daughters - Dance Me In (single version)
mp3 : Sons & Daughters - La Lune

And a personal favourite:-



Happy Listening.

VICTIMS OF BRITPOP (Part 1)

Loads of bands got record deals in the middle of the Britpop assault on the charts in the mid 90s. Some would have got signed in any event, but many others ended up in recording studios because labels, scared of missing out on 'the next big thing' were happy to throw money at the most modest of acts in the hope that the 'kids' would latch on.

In what will be an occasional series, TVV will remind you of some bands that you might well have forgotten about, or indeed may not have heard of in the first place.

Sharkboy are a band that I couldn't find all that much about on t'internet. I first came across them when they were included on an Indie compilation CD back in 1994 - the sort of thing I was fond of buying at the time to see if there was anything new worth falling in love with, and a few weeks later came across the same single as was on the compilation going for just £1.99. And that is all I have of theirs in the collection:-

mp3 : Sharkboy - Razor
mp3 : Sharkboy - Bright Things Lie
mp3 : Sharkboy - Dear Gilda
mp3 : Sharkboy - Show Me Now

The info with the CD says all tracks written by Avy. It also advises the group consists of Avy (vocals), Alan (guitar), Adrian (bass, cello, keys, banjo, guitars) and Dil (drums, percussion). Oh and it was on Nude Records, best known as the home of Suede.

Just about the only wiki info you can gleam is from the page on Adrian Oxaal, who was with James for about six years at the turn of the century. Prior to that, we are informed that he was recruited to Sharkboy by his friend Avy, that the band supported Suede on their first big UK tour and that they released two LPs that were critically well received but poor sellers.

Now I was lucky enough to see Suede on their early tours, but for the life of me cannot recall a single thing about the support bands. Either it was one of those nights that I was late to the gig (unlikely) or the band were so mind-numbingly tedious that I've wiped them from the memory banks (quite possible).

It's been years since I listened to this singer and all these years on while I still think it is is reasonable enough, it does on reflection seem to be bit too reminiscent of a tribute singer to PJ Harvey covering a soft country tune. And if anything the poor person's Peej comparisons are even more vaild on the other three tracks.

Anyone else out there shed any more light??

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS....IN ASSOCATION WITH A GLASGOW RECORD LABEL

Given that recent Sunday postings have run into trouble with the authorities, either through a dmca notice or someone getting in touch with my file provider and demanding a link to an mp3 be removed (I still can't get over something that was given away free with a Sunday newspaper being forced off...), I thought I'd try something a bit more safe.

So here's the latest news and info as supplied in a email a few days ago by Chemikal Underground, my favourite Glasgow based record label:-

The Phantom Band release their long-await new LP, The Wants, on 18th October. It contains nine tracks:-

A Glamour
O
Everybody Knows It's True
The None Of One
Mr. Natural
Come Away In The Dark
Walls
Into The Corn
Goodnight Arrow

Personally, I'm still not 1005 sure about this lot. They are hugely impressive on stage but some of their music leaves me a wee bit cold. Having said that, they're still heads and shoulders above most of the acts posing around the pages of the NME these days. Here's an old single to enjoy:-



True to their word, the label are now making available much of the material they included in the truly stunning Arab Strap boxset, Scenes of A Sexual Nature. They have re-issued on CD the band's first two LPs - The Weekend Never Starts Here and Philophobia (the latter being possibly my favourite Scottish LP of all time.). The re-issue of Weekend offers a bonus disc of 4 songs recorded for a John Peel Session as well as the BBC recording of 10 songs from their first ever live gig at King Tut's in Glasgow many many moons ago. The re-issue of Philophobia has 4 other songs recorded for John Peel and a BBC recording of 6 songs from a T in the Park gig a few moons later, but still a long while ago.

mp3 : Arab Strap - Gilded (live at King Tuts, 1996)

You can order them for just £10 direct from the label.

But as the Chemikal folk say themselves, while online pre-ordering is all well and good, nothing beats grabbing a copy at your local independent record shop, find links to your local emporium at this site.

Oh and someone has finally gone public on the heartache he's suffering from Arab Strap being no more:-



Now for something quite new....

Brand new signings on Chemikal Underground are Panico - a band who are idolised in their homeland of Chile, who currently live in Paris and who have recorded their new LP in the Govan area of Glasgow.....

Entitled Kick, it comes out on Chemikal on 11th October (except in Benelux and Switzerland where it is on the Tigersushi label. Tracklisting:-

Illumination
Bright Lights
Icon
Reverberation Mambo
Algodon
Waka Chiki
Guadalupe
Uptown Boy
I Wanna Be Your Needle
Distant Shore

Some of you might already know something of the band as they toured with Franz Ferdinand a few years back. Here's a video for a cracking bit of music:-



Oh I forgot to mention earlier that Aidan Moffat, when he's not weeping and wailing about his old band, has been in the studio recently and has recorded a new LP entitled 10 Short Songs For Modern Lovers. I'm guessing they will be ultra-short as the LP fits snugly on a 7" piece of vinyl......you can never accuse the man of doing the same thing year after year after year. No date has been fixed for its release, but Chemikal think it might be sometime in October.

If you haven't had the chance to experience The Unwinding Hours live on stage at a venue and you live in Glasgow, Utrecht or one of five different German towns, well you will get your chance come October with this mini-tour:-

17th Oct - Oran Mor (Glasgow)
24th Oct - Ekko (Utrecht, Holland)
25th Oct - Lagerhaus (Bremen, Germany)
26th Oct - Forum (Bielefeld, Germany)
27th Oct - Club Schocken (Stuttgart, Germany)
28th Oct - Hafen 2 (Offenbach, Germany)
29th Oct - FZW (Dortmund, Germany)

I've been lucky enough to catch this lot a few times, and I'm certainly planning to get along to the Glasgow gig to see if they are as sonically stunning as previous times:-



The non-video and audio content of the above has all been lifted from a cracking email from the label that arrived in my inbox the other day. There's plenty more info as well - news about an audiobook called The Year Of Open Doors, updates on Ricky Erickson & Okkervil River and even a plug for the LP by The Burns Unit which isn't even a Chemikal release......

Oh and there were three free downloads as well, all of which have been added to one of the best free download resources any label ever offers. Over recent years there have been things like these:-

mp3 : Lord Cut Glass - Look After Your Wife (acoustic version)
mp3 : The Unwinding Hours - Knut

And here's how the label describe the three latest additions:-

The first one is, well...rather special, in that it's a world exclusive preview of The Phantom Band's new album. Yes, that's right: because it's you and because you take the time to wait for these rather erratic mailouts, we wanted you to be the first to hear any audio from their new album 'The Wants'.

So upfront are we, that this may even end up being edited as a single but we thought it would be nice to let you hear (some of) the full album track first. So the first freebie this month is an excerpt from 'The Wants' opening track...

mp3 : The Phantom Band - A Glamour (Excerpt)

The second track is a remix of 'Reverberation Mambo' by Panico. This remix is by Joakim from Tigersushi Records and is a propulsive taster for what you can expect from Panico's new album 'Kick', due out on Oct 11th...

mp3 : Panico - Reverberation Mambo (Joakim Remix)

And last but by no means least, the third freebie this month is an abridged version of Aidan Moffat's 'Year of Open Doors' short story, 'The Donaldson Boy'.

mp3 : Aidan Moffat - The Donaldson Boy

And that ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls is the your extensive lot for today. It's as if you've had one of those posh Sunday papers with loads of supplements and magazines shoved through your letterbox. Hopefully there's at least one thing among it all that you will enjoy.

Do yourself a favour...........http://www.chemikal.co.uk/mailinglist.htm

WOW...AT LAST....A NEW BAND THAT HAS GOT ME ALL EXCITED

At lunchtime yesterday, an e-mail arrived letting me know that Sons & Daughters were playing a 'secret' gig at the tiny venue of the Captain's Rest in Glasgow. There were no advance tickets on sale..simply turn up at the door and pay your £7 on a first-come-first admitted basis until the venue reached it capacity of 110......

Suffice to say, it was a truly memorable gig, and I will do a full review early next week.

But I just wanted to do an extra Saturday posting to rave about SHe'S HiT, one of the support bands that played last night. Dear Readers, this is the first time in a very long while that a band I've never heard of have blown me away at first time of hearing....

This gang made a truly amazing noise. I cant say that they're truly original - after 30+ years of going to gigs I don't think I'll ever discover anything completely new - but by christ this lot are fantastic at what they do.

SHe'S HiT hail from Glasgow and consist of Div Wilson, Cammy Wilson, Mike Hanson, and Philip McLellan, four extremely young lads from Glasgow. But they took to the stage as a five-piece last night.....with Scott Paterson from the headline act now seemingly part of the band.....although he did spend most of the show over in the darkest corner of the stage away from whatever lights there were.

Wearing black jeans and stripey t-shirts beneath black leather jackets, the immediate visual image is that of a re-born Jesus And Mary Chain. And when the opening notes of their first song blast out, it almost feels as if they are no more than a tribute band.....

But it's a feeling that lasts for about 20 seconds as the noise that comes from the stage takes me back even further in time.....was that a blast of The Cramps?? And yes, now I get it....these guys love really early Nick Cave....THAT'S where the band name comes from....of course!! It's a 'song' by The Birthday Party (those who are familiar with their work will understand the use of the '' around the word song.

And it is bloody brilliant.

Over the course of a set that lasted maybe 35-40 mins, they delivered stuff that at times had me thinking of My Bloody Valentine, The Stooges, Sonic Youth Velvet Underground, The Raveonettes and The Pixies as well as the afore-mentioned JAMC, Bad Seeds and The Cramps.

I really didnt think bands like this existed any more.

I grabbed a very quick word at the end with the drummer (I think he's Cammy Wilson - I've learned the singer is Div Wilson and the drummer is the one who looks most like him). I was gutted to learn that they had nothing for sale after the gig....I was desperate to get my hands on anything that was available. So I just had to make do with having grabbed the set-list after they had gone off:-

Stare At The Sun
Black Transporter
Shimmer
Young Love Dead
Part 1
Miriam (Pails)
Re: Peater
Teenage ??? (the sweat from Div's brow has faded the second word...)

Of course, like any band of note nowadays, SHe'S HiT had a my space site which allows you to listen to four of the above tracks as well as watch this:-



And while looking around you tube, I came across this:-




Thanks guys. You took years off me last night. Hope you don't mind that this old codger is singing your praises......

Visit here for more dear readers.....

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SATURDAY SERIES (Part 8)

Ask any non-fan of The Smiths aged in their mid 40s to name one track by the band, and chances are they will say this:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Once again, Simon Goddard nails it. No other song by the band is more responsible for their detractors misconstrued cliches and lazy criticisms of their music being miserable.

It was their fourth single, from May 1984 and in reaching #10, was the biggest hit prior to any of their re-releases post break-up. And yet, if you look at the lyric, you'll see that it there is a lot of humour contained within with its mention of Caligula (this movie was particularly notorious in the UK at the time The Smiths came into being) and even a wee bit of politics as Morrissey declared that simply coming off the unemployment register wasn't a panacea to life's problems.

The story behind its composition is an interesting one. The band arrived in New York in December 1983 to play a New Year's Eve gig that turned out to be a bit of a disaster. On 1 January 1984, Morrissey and Marr tried to get over things by writing a new song in their hotel room before flying home......the result was a song that had a punning title on Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now, a 1969 hit for Sandie Shaw who would of course later on feature on a fresh recording of Hand In Glove.

It was also a single that the band promoted heavily on TV programmes, something they had to do in the absence of a promo video. This was one such appearance on a Channel 4 programme called Earsay - listen closely and you'll hear it has a slightly different production (the drums at around 1min 30secs are the give away).



Thought it would be worth sharing a couple of covers:-

mp3 : Tim Booth - Heaven Know I'm Miserable Now
mp3 : Act - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

The former was part of a rather ambitious but hit-and-miss passion play in which the lead singer of James plays Judas Iscariot.

The latter were a band from the late 80s featuring the wonderful Claudia Brucken on lead vocals.

Happy Listening

IT'S FRIDAY....I'M IN LOVE WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 37)

For those of you familiar only with the sort of music that comprised the hit singles Soup Dragons enjoyed circa 1990, then the sort of music they made at the outset of their career might leave you pleasantly surprised.

Formed in 1985 in Bellshill, (the same home town of Teenage Fanclub), they comprised Sean Dickson (vocals & guitars), Jim McCulloch (guitar & vocals), Ross Sinclair (drums) and Sushil K. Dade (bass), they released an EP and a single on Subway Records in early 1986 to some critical acclaim with some comparing their power-pop to that of Buzzcocks and The Undertones from the late 70s.

They then signed to Raw TV Products which was a label associated with the ex-manager of pop sensation Wham! and over the next 18 months they released another five singles, including this EP in September 1986:-

mp3 : Soup Dragons - Hang Ten!
mp3 : Soup Dragons - Slow Things Down
mp3 : Soup Dragons - Just Mind Your Step Girl
mp3 : Soup Dragons - Man About Town With Chairs

A cracking four short sharp tracks - combined they last for less than 8 minutes - it didn't do anything in the mainstream charts, but it was a big hit in student unions up and down the country.....

Soup Dragons continued to tour constantly and give regular interviews to the music press and in early 1988 they got their wish of signing to a major label in the shape of Sire Records. But the move didn't bring any success, and they ended up back on Raw TV where they changed their sound to appeal to the baggy brigade I mentioned the other week in the posting about Northside, and thanks to a cover version got a Top 5 hit:-



Decent enough. But not a patch on Hang Ten!

Happy Listening.

THIS CAME FROM A LAND DOWN UNDER

Postcard Records briefly made a comeback between 1992 and 1997, featuring new singles, EPs and LPs by Paul Quinn & The Independent Group, Vic Godard, Nectarine No.9 and Jock Scot, together with previously unreleased versions of early Orange Juice material.

Over in Australia, they licensed a four-track compilation EP entitled D'un Echantillon de Marchandises to the Summershine label.

Lovely artwork of the Postcard logo over a map of the land of kangaroos, koala bears and Shane Warne, it featured these four very different tracks:-

mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group - Punk Rock Hotel
mp3 : The Nectarine No.9 - The Holes of Corpus Christie
mp3 : Orange Juice - Louise Louise
mp3 : Vic Godard - The End Of The Surrey People

Regular readers will need no introduction at all to three of the above, but some of you may be wondering a bit about Vic Goddard. By pure coincidence, just after I had finished the first draft of this posting I got an email from Mark at Sturdy Records who now does some blog work that promotes Vic and I'm happy to reproduce the bio he provided:-

Vic Godard is the kind of person the term 'cult hero' was invented for. His band Subway Sect debuted in 1976 at the 100 Club Punk Festival alongside the Clash, Pistols and Banshees, and since then he has had by far the most unpredictable and wide-ranging career of any of his punk contemporaries - and arguably the most interesting.

The name was a dead giveaway. While those around him were nailing their aspirations to the mast by dubbing themselves Rotten, Vicious or, gosh, even a Strummer, the 18-year-old Victor Napper's new moniker was a nod to the legendary French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. The band's lyrics, extraordinarily literate from day one, reflect the circumstances in which the members first bonded: not in an art college lunch break or over a couple of lines of speed at the Roxy, but acting out Moliere plays in Godard's bedroom.

The time it took Subway Sect to make two of the classic punk singles, Nobody's Scared and Ambition, was also the time it took for Godard to outgrow the genre altogether. By 1978 the original band was no more, and 1980's debut album 'What's the Matter Boy?' cloaked Godard's richly melodic and intelligent songs in a singular pot-pourri that straddled northern soul, early rock'n'roll and even folk rock, inspiring everyone who heard it - amongst them Felt, Primal Scream and the Postcard Records stable, with Orange Juice's Edwyn Collins describing Godard as "the finest songwriter of his generation".

By 1982's 'Songs for Sale' and the follow-up 'T.R.O.U.B.L.E.', Godard had abandoned rock altogether, instead styling himself as a swinging, Tony Bennett-style crooner. The sound and style of the records was influenced by Cole Porter, and as a writer in that genre Godard was arguably his equal. And then he was gone - increasingly adrift in, and disillusioned by, the glossy, grasping '80s, Vic Godard simply walked away from it all. Taking a job as a postman (which he still holds to this day), he dropped off the radar and didn't perform or record again till 1992.

Coaxed out of retirement by Rough Trade's Geoff Travis, Godard's 1993 comeback album 'The End of the Surrey People' was produced by Edwyn Collins and showed that he had lost nothing, and gained plenty, in the intervening years. The soulful yet biting indie-rock formula of that record was developed on 1998's 'Long Term Side Effect' and a brace of collaborations with, amongst others, The Bitter Springs, Long Decline and Irvine Welsh.

Godard's last couple of releases have found him as contradictory as ever: 2003's 'Sansend' was a stew of breakbeats and blues that many hailed as his best ever work, and last year's '1978 Now' was, of all things, a reconstruction of the great lost album from the start of his career: a record at last of Subway Sect's unrecorded punk-era repertoire that was dropped, perhaps a little too hastily, 30 years before. Since then he's been touring with a mix of classics and unheard new material destined for an imminent new studio record. ‘We Come as Aliens’ will be released on Overground Records in October 2010.

Mark has also very kindly allowed me to share this with you:-

mp3: Vic Godard - Blackpool

It is the lead-track from an EP featuring four songs from a project entitled Blackpool - The Musical, and is a collaboration between Vic and the author of Trainspotting (among other works)Irvine Welsh.

1. Blackpool
2. Hand Jobs
3. The Sewer Song featuring the legendary Jock Scot
4. The Working Class Song featuring the vocal talents of Simon Rivers

All songs performed by Vic and Bitter Springs

It is obtainable for just £5 plus P&P from Mr Goddard himself. Just contact thegnu@hotmail.co.uk or see www.myspace.com/vicgodard.

And here's one of those classic 1978 singles:-



Happy Listening.

BRING ON THE BRICKBATS

I was never completely convinced by Kate Bush when she first emerged in January 1978. The early singles sold in their millions but as a mid-teens boy with a love for post-punk bands with all their loud guitars and even louder shouty lyrics, the talents of the singer-songwriter at the piano with her squeaky voice just didn't register.

Oh and she was ancient as well at 18 and a bit years of age........

But as I got older and realised that there was a wee bit to music than spotty oiks in sweaty venues, I fell for the charms of Ms Bush and started to listen to her much more closely. Oh and some brilliant promotional photos on giant billboards also had something about grabbing my hormonally-charged attention.....

I've a few Kate Bush LPs sitting in the vinyl cupboard, but its been years since I played them. The only tracks that ever come up on the i-pod shuffle are those that formed part of a Greatest Hits CD that was released in 1986 that I picked up cheap a few years later. I didn't pay any attention to the comeback record in 2005 although a few folk have said I'm missing out on something quite decent.

The thing is, while browsing in a second hand vinyl emporium a wee while back, I came across a copy of a 1979 EP, and given it was going for £2, I thought it worth giving a listen again all these years later.

It has four live tracks, all recorded at a London gig in May 1979. This turned out to be the only time that Kate Bush ever toured in her entire career, although over the years there would be sporadic live appearances, either solo or as alongside a whole range of other performers, suggesting that it wasn't a fear of playing live that she suffered from.

The four songs all originally featured on The Kick Inside or Lionheart, her first two LPs:-

mp3 : Kate Bush - Them Heavy People (live)
mp3 : Kate Bush - Don't Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake (live)
mp3 : Kate Bush - James And The Cold Gun (live)
mp3 : Kate Bush - L'Amour Looks Something Like You (live)

So as its spinning round the USB Turntable and doing whatever thing it is gadgetry wise to turn the tracks into instant mp3s, I'm thinking to myself.......this is shite.

It just feels as if it is music played by top-notch session players incapable of hitting a bum note but who are just as incapable of adding any meaning or feeling to a song. It's got wanky solos all the way through as well and the sort of music that punk/new wave/post-punk was determined to banish forever (not that they ever had a chance of succeeding).

I've recently read reviews of that six-week tour that Kate Bush undertook in 1979 and by just about every account, it seems to have been an event that was ahead of its time with its use of theatre and dance and multi-median innovations including the use of a head-mic. But tucked away in the middle of such reviews you cotton-on to the fact that the musicians were drilled to the Nth degree with no room at all for improvisation. It sounds as if it was more akin to going along to a musical than a gig.......and I reckon that's what comes across on the tracks on the EP. They lack any real depth or soul......but I bet they were astonishing if witnessed in the flesh.

Oh well. I've said it.

Bring on the brickbats.

THE ORANGE JUICE BOXSET

Domino Records have announced that the long-awaired Orange Juice boxset will be released in Europe on 7th November and in North America the following day.

Entitled Coals To Newcastle, it will consist of six audio discs and a DVD. These will contain the band's complete discography and other studio recordings, a collection of their BBC sessions, promotional videos, live TV appearances and the re-issue of the concert fearured on the VHS video Dada With (The) Juice. All told, there will be 16 previously unreleased tracks and another 23 tracks previously unavailable digitally.

Disc One: The Glasgow School

01. Falling And Laughing
02. Moscow
03. Moscow Olympics
04. Felicity (live)
05. Blue Boy
06. Lovesick
07. Simply Thrilled Honey
08. Breakfast Time
09. Poor Old Soul, Pt. 1
10. Poor Old Soul, Pt. 2
11. Louise Louise
12. Three Cheers for Our Side
13. (To Put It in A) Nutshell
14. Satellite City
15. Consolation Prize
16. Holiday Hymn
17. Intuition Told Me, Pt. 1
18. Intuition Told Me, Pt. 2
19. Wan Light
20. Dying Day
21. Texas Fever
22. Tender Object
23. Poor Old Soul (French version)
24. Poor Old Soul (instrumental version)
25. Simply Thrilled Honey (live)
26. Botswana (live)
27. Time to Develop (live)
28. Blue Boy (live)

-Tracks 1-3 originally released in February 1980 ( Postcard 7" 80-1).
-Track 4 included in some early editions of Postcard 7" 80-1 as a flexi-disc and also available in issue 5 of the Ten Commandments fanzine. The original master tape for this recording (which was a live cassette bootleg recorded by Malcolm Ross) was unable to be located, so a high-quality recording was taken from one of the original flexi-discs and has been included for anthropological purposes.
-Tracks 5, 6 originally released in August 1980 (Postcard 7" 80-2) .
-Tracks 7, 8 originally released in November 1980 (Postcard 7" 80-6).
-Track 9, 10 originally released in March 1981 (Postcard 7" 81-2) .
-Tracks 11-22 recorded in May 1981 and released in September 1992 as Ostrich Churchyard (DUBH 922)
-Tracks 23, 24 originally released in March 1993 (Postcard DUBH 934CD)
-Tracks 25-28 originally released on a limited bonus cassette included with some copies of the "Rip It Up" 7" single (POSP 547) in February 1983 as The Felicity Flexi Session: The Formative Years and come from the same show as track 4 on disc one.

Disc Two: You Can't Hide Your Love Forever

01. Falling And Laughing
02. Untitled Melody
03. Wan Light
04. Tender Object
05. Dying Day
06. L.O.V.E. Love
07. Intuition Told Me, Pt. 1
08. Upwards And Onwards
09. Satellite City
10. Three Cheers For Our Side
11. Consolation Prize
12. Felicity
13. In A Nutshell
14. Intuition Told Me, Pt. 2
15. Moscow
16. You Old Eccentric
17. Two Hearts Together (10" version)
18. I Can't Help Myself (7" version)
19. Tongues Begin to Wag
20. Barbeque

-Tracks 1-13 originally released in February 1982 as You Can't Hide Your Love Forever (POLS 1057)
-Tracks 14, 15 originally released in October 1981 as b-sides to the "L.O.V.E. Love" single (POSP 357).
-Track 16 originally released in January 1982 as a b-side to the "Felicity" single (POSP 386).
-Track 17 originally released in August 1982 (POSP 470).
-Tracks 18-20 originally released in October 1982 (POSP 522)

Disc Three: Rip It Up

01. Rip It Up
02. A Million Pleading Faces
03. Mud In Your Eye
04. Turn Away
05. Breakfast Time
06. I Can't Help Myself
07. Flesh Of My Flesh
08. Louise Louise
09. Hokoyo
10. Tenterhook
11. Rip It Up (12" version)
12. Snake Charmer
13. Lovesick
14. Flesh Of My Flesh (7" version)
15. Lord John White And The Bottleneck Train (12" version)
16. Flesh Of My Flesh (12" version)
17. All That Ever Mattered

-Tracks 1-10 originally released in November 1982 as Rip It Up (POLS 1076)
-Tracks 11-13 originally released in February 1983 (POSP 547).
-Tracks 14-16 originally released in May 1983 (OJ 4)

Disc Four: Texas Fever

01. Bridge
02. Craziest Feeling
03. Punch Drunk
04. The Day I Went Down To Texas
05. A Place In My Heart
06. A Sad Lament
07. Out For The Count
08. Bridge (Summer '83 version)
09. Poor Old Soul (new version)
10. Leaner Period
11. Move Yourself
12. The Day I Went To Texas (flexi version)
13. I Feel A Song Coming On [Craziest Feeling]
14. Bridge
15. The Day I Went To Texas
16. A Place In My Heart
17. Out For The Count
18. Chinese Eyes [Punch Drunk]

-Tracks 1-6 originally released in March 1984 as Texas Fever (OJMLP 1)
-Tracks 7, 8 originally released in February 1984 as b-sides to the "Bridge" single (OJ 5).
-Track 9 included in some copies of OJ 5 as a flexi-disc.
-Tracks 10, 11 originally released in March 1998 as part of the CD re-issue of Texas Fever (539 982)
-Track 12 was given away in March 1983 as a free flexi-disc included in copies of Melody Maker.
-Tracks 13-18 are previously unreleased mixes of tracks from the Texas Fever recording sessions.

Disc Five: The Orange Juice

01. Lean Period
02. I Guess I'm Just A Little Too Sensitive
03. Burning Desire
04. Scaremonger
05. The Artisans
06. What Presence?!
07. Out For The Count
08. Get While The Gettings Good
09. All That Ever Mattered
10. Salmon Fishing In New York
11. What Presence?! (12" version)
12. A Place In My Heart (12" dub version)
13. In A Nutshell (live)
14. Simply Thrilled Honey (live)
15. Dying Day (live)
16. Bury My Head In My Hands
17. Lean Period (12" dub version)
18. Rip It Up (live)
19. What Presence?! (live)
20. Burning Desire ("Alexis" mix)

-Tracks 1-10 originally released in November 1984 as The Orange Juice (OJHP 2)
-Tracks 11, 12 originally released in April 1984 (OJ 6).
-Tracks 13-15 included in some copies of OJ 6 as a limited edition cassette.
-Tracks 16,17 originally released in October 1984 b-sides to the "Lean Period" single (OJ 7).
-Tracks 18,19 included in some copies of OJ 7 as a limited edition flexi-disc

Disc Six: BBC Sessions

01. Poor Old Soul
02. You Old Eccentric
03. Falling And Laughing
04. Lovesick
05. Upwards And Onwards
06. Wan Light
07. Felicity
08. Dying Day
09. Holiday Hymn
10. Three Cheers For Our Side
11. Blokes on 45
12. Mud In Your Eye
13. I Can't Help Myself
14. In Spite Of It All [Two Hearts Together]
15. Turn Away
16. What Presence?!
17. Salmon Fishing In New York
18. Bridge
19. BBC interview part one
20. BBC interview part two

-Tracks 1-4 taken from the first session recorded for John Peel, October 1980.
-Tracks 5-7 taken from a session recorded for Mike Read, January 1981.
-Tracks 8-11 taken from the second session recorded for John Peel, August 1981.
-Tracks 12-15 taken from the first session recorded for Kid Jensen, April 1982.
-Tracks 16-18 taken from the second session recorded for Kid Jensen, February 1984.
-Tracks 19, 20 taken from an interview conducted by Richard Skinner at The BBC in February 1983.


Disc Seven: Dada With (The) Juice

Rip It Up (music video)
What Presence?! (music video, directed by Derek Jarman)
Rip It Up (Old Grey Whistle Test, originally aired October 8th, 1982)
I Can't Help Myself (Old Grey Whistle Test, originally aired October 8th, 1982)
What Presence? (Old Grey Whistle Test, originally aired December 11th, 1984)
Out For The Count (Old Grey Whistle Test, originally aired December 11th, 1984)

Dada With (The) Juice:
Salmon Fishing In New York
Dying Day
Falling And Laughing
In A Nutshell
Simply Thrilled Honey
A Place In My Heart
Craziest Feeling
Bridge
Rip It Up
Poor Old Soul
What Presence?!
The Day I Went Down To Texas
All That Ever Mattered / Diana

The boxset will retail for £45.

Start saving.

CONTINUING ON THE BILL DRUMMOND THEME......

There's a brilliant line about today's band Big In Japan.

"They were a supergroup with a difference - its members only became super after they left".

It's a line found to a story about the band in a newspaper printed in their home city of Liverpool. And given that among the band's members you will find Bill Drummond, Holly Johnson, Jayne Casey, Ian Broudie, Budgie, Clive Langer and David Balfe it's also fair to say that it was a line that is pretty accurate.

They formed in 1977 and broke up in 1978. They had an approach and attitude to music that was quite different from all of their contemporaries, and members came and went on a fairly frequent basis. Legend has it that they were so despised in Liverpool that a petition demanding that they disband was put on display in the legendary record store Probe Records. The petition was seemingly instigated by Julian Cope.......

They didn't ever record or release all that many songs, the most prominent being this EP dating from late 1978:-

mp3 : Big In Japan - Nothing Special
mp3 : Big In Japan - Cindy and The Barbi Dolls
mp3 : Big In Japan - Suicide A Go Go
mp3 : Big In Japan - Taxi

Of course I don't have a vinyl copy of the EP which has been out of print for over 30 years. It was the first ever output of Zoo Records, and it's from a compilation CD that brings together all of the singles ever released on the label.

I dont think Bill thought at this point in his career he was bound for Mu Mu land in an ice cream van with Tammy Wynette.....

Happy Listening

JUST ANOTHER MANIC MONDAY

I've a pressure-filled day ahead of me at work. I'm in charge of ensuring that an important event goes off without a hitch.

I've planned well for every eventuality, but there's sure to be something unexpected and not previously considered that trips me up.

This song has nothing to do with the day ahead, I just think it's about the most manic tune I have in the collection:-

mp3 : The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Burn The Bastards

Originally released in March 1988. The Bastards in the title are copies of the bands debut LP 1987 (What The Fuck Is Going On?), the remaining copies of which Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty decidedto throw on a bonfire after losing a copyright dispute with the biggest pop act ever to emerge from Sweden.

The tune is of course based on Dance To the Music by Sly and The Family Stone, although one or two other samples can also be detected (the most obvious one can't be mentioned just in case the artiste's name leads to some sort of dmca nonsense).

If I had managed to get along to Blog Rocking Beats 3 the other week, it was a track I intended to air. Drummond's broad Scottish rap-delivery and insistence that all you need is a beat-box for people who only need the beat would have been the perfect opener to my set this time round.....

Oh and although I've featured it before, here's the track that caused the boys all the problems:-

mp3 : The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu - The Queen And I

Wonderful stuff dontcha think????

QUICK UPDATE...

The problems with file access this past 24 hours has now been resolved.

The fault was all mine.....not that of box net....nor was it any sinister conspiracy.

JC

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

The buggers are still on strike.

So what I've done this week is include some of the contents of a CD given away with a Sunday paper back in September 2002:-

mp3 : Elvis Costello - Watching The Detectives (previously unreleased live version)
mp3 : Elvis Costello - Man Out Of Time
mp3 : Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
mp3 : Elvis Costello - Accidents Will Happen (live at the Hollywood High) ***

As the blurb says

On this Sunday Times CD you will find Elvis Costelo classics, plus exclusive preview tracks from the special release of 'When I Was Cruel - Collector's Edition' released on September 23 2002.

Notwithstanding that some of the tracks should have given credit to The Attractions or The Imposters, you have to admit that as a giveaway it ain't too shabby.

The CD also provide some stuff that you could only access through your PC and not save to the likes of i-tunes, including tthree songs - 45, and previously unreleased live versions of Spooky Girlfriend and 15 Petals. Oh there was also the promo video for 45.

I'm very likely to have thrown away the paper without ever reading it.......as no doubt did loads of other EC fans.

*** Someone served a notice on my file server re copyright on this track, so it's not avaialble to download.

I've therefore played it safe an deleted links to all four. But if you're desperate to hear it, send me an e-mail...

Ironic really when the track was given away for free in the first place.....

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SATURDAY SERIES (Part 7)

One of the great things about the earliest 45s by The Smiths was the unrivalled consistent quality of the tracks they offered as b-sides. One of the most underrated of such tracks has to be this:-

mp3 : The Smiths - These Things Take Time

This can be found on the 12" version of the third single What Difference Does It Make?, and one of the main reasons it gets overlooked is that the other b-side was the stunning Back To The Old House.

But These Things Take Time has long been one of my favourite tracks recorded by the band. It dates from the really early days - indeed for a long while I thought it was one that would never be properly recorded as I had a cassette copy dating from mid 1983 from a Radio 1 session for the David 'Kid' Jensen show and it was a full seven months before it was issued as the b-side. It really is astonishing to think that a song of this quality could be left off the band's debut LP, and perhaps more astonishing to recall that the only way of getting your hands on a copy was to buy the 12" single.

Lyrically, it is one of Morrissey's finest among the early songs - a tale of fumbled, troubled and messy sexual shenanigans fuelled by cheap booze in venues such as disused railway lines and bedsit rooms. It was one which gave great succour to those of us who just didn't have the confidence to those of us who couldn't find the woman of our dreams no matter what student venue we dragged ourselves to. And there can be no doubting the quality of the tune given that it is a relatively close to perennial favourites such as Hand In Glove and Still Ill.

It's one that even today, whenever I play it, I want to do the early 80s Morrissey dance. The one where he shakes his maracas. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about......



Filmed at one of the band's earliest gigs at The Hacienda in July 1983.

And finally, the version I got to know so very well thanks to my C90:-

mp3 : The Smiths - These Things Take Time (Jensen Session)

Utterly brilliant.

Go on, I dare you to differ.

IT'S FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE....WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 36)

Danny Wilson - a band and not a solo act.

Formed in Dundee in the mid 80s, they consisted of brother Gary and Kit Clark along with Ged Grimes, they had a breakthrough hit with the single Mary's Prayer, firstly in the USA in mid 1987 and in the UK in March 1988.

They were a band that for the most part made nice and inoffensive records that came across well on the radio, but I have to confess they weren't really my cup of tea.

But having said that, I'm a huge fan of their #23 hit from June 1989 which was sideways swipe at the luvved-up generation busy losing their marbles in fields and sheds all across the country:-

mp3 : Danny Wilson - The Second Summer Of Love

Still sounds great 20 plus years on. Love the harmonica solo in particular.....

As ever in this series, I've included the b-sides, and these are taken from the 12" single. The simple act of them being available here does not mean they are endorsed as a quality product by anyone associated with TVV:-

mp3 : Danny Wilson - I'll Be Waiting
mp3 : Danny Wilson - Growing Emotional

A fine and very clever wee promo was made for the single:-



Happy Listening

RAVE ON THIS CRAZY FEELING

I made a passing reference to Madchester in yesterday's posting and my mind drifted back to this 12" single from 1990:-

mp3 : Northside - Shall We Take A Trip?
mp3 : Northside - Moody Places

This was the band's debut released on Factory Records in May 1990 with the catalogue number FAC 268. It was banned by the BBC thanks to the drugs references.

Northside were a Manchester band, and given what Factory was becoming famous for at the beginning of the 90s, it was a natural home for them. But they were another to suffer from the curse of the label's inability to get product out when it most mattered - this was something which affected even the likes of New Order and Happy Mondays.

There were three singles and one LP released before the label went bust and the band broke up.

This is the 12" version of their final single - a cracking bit of indie/baggy pop that should have been a massive hit, helped, as indeed were all their releases, by the usual marvellous job from producer Ian Broudie:-

mp3 : Northside - Take 5 (12" version)

Happy Listening. Hope it brings back some fine memories for lots of you who loved popping your Ecstasy tablets.....

ONE OF THE GREAT LOST, KIND OF FORGOTTEN ACTS OF THE 90s

Curve comprised of Toni Halliday and multi-instrumentalist Dean Garcia, and formed in Manchester in 1991. At a time when the Madchester sound (Happy Mondays/Stone Roses/James etc) was very much in full flow, Curve were something a bit different. The first few releases were EPs. The music press loved them, and they were championed by John Peel.

And yet they didn't ever quite turn the critical praise into popular acclaim and really meaningful sales, albeit the debut LP in 1992 , Doppelganger, reached Number 11, while the follow-up, Cuckoo, went Top 30.

I love an awful lot about Curve, but especially the sound of Toni Halliday's voice. In many places it reminds me of Elizabeth Fraser, and there's no doubt that Shirley Manson of Garbage owes a lot to Toni.

This was their fourth single/EP and by reaching #22 was the band's biggest success in the singles chart:-

mp3 : Curve - Fait Accompli (single version)
mp3 : Curve - Arms Out
mp3 : Curve - Sigh

Oh and the risk of sounding sexist.....Toni was a babe.

Here's the promo:-



And a live version from way back in 1992:-



Happy Listening.

FLYING SOLO

And a really fine job he did too.....

I'm guessing that most folk would have thought that the days of chart success for Graham Coxon were over when he took his leave of Blur in 2002. The fact is however, that seven times he has found himself a place inside the official UK Top 40 - and indeed one of his singles has managed the feat on two separate occasions.

In February 2004, Freakin' Out was released as a limited edition 7" single (5,000 copies in total) as a precursor to his fifth solo LP Happiness In Magazines. It reached #37 in the charts.

The LP turned out to be a critical and commercial hit, and futher singles lifted from it - Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery and Spectacular also enjoyed chart success. This led to the label deciding to re-release Freakin Out' for a second time in October 2004, this time as a Double-A side with All Over Me, another popular track on the LP. And it is my great pleasure to all offer three songs on that particular CD single for your aural pleasure:-

mp3 : Graham Coxon - Freakin' Out
mp3 : Graham Coxon - All Over Me
mp3 : Graham Coxon - Singing In The Morning

This reached #19 in the singles chart and is his biggest solo success to date.

And is it just me, or does the guitar plating on Freakin' Out remind anyone else of the great work of Stuart Adamson on some of the early singles by The Skids? And isn't the singing rather reminiscent of John Lydon??

Here's a cracking live performance:-



Bloody Marvellous.

FROM UNDER THE COVERS (Parts 67 and 68)

I hadn't realised that it was last December when the 'From Under The Covers' series last surfaced. Oops. That wasn't supposed to happen.

Anyway, quickly moving on, here's two covers that found their way onto the b-sides of the vinyl or extra tracks on the CD single of Major Leagues, released by Pavement in 1999.

mp3 : Pavement - The Killing Moon
mp3 : Pavement - The Classical

Both were recorded for BBC sessions, the Echo & The Bunnymen cover being broadcast on 27th February 1997 and The Fall cover being unleashed on an unsuspecting public on 21st August 1997.

And just in case there are any Pavement fans out there, here's the promo for the single:-



A lovely few minutes of pop that makes me think of long hot summer days.

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS.....

.......are perhaps on holiday or have gone on strike without telling me. Either way it has been left to me to crochet a few cliches to bring you a posting today.

And it's one inspired by an inquisitive e-mail receive during the week from a TVV reader which read:-

Greetings -

I'm an occasional reader/listener of you blog, and came across a song that's been driving me mad. Could you please tell me where the version of James' 'Out to Get You' that you posted back on Oct 30, 2008 (for some reason, I can still listen to this post through hypem - of which I am quite thankful)?

The version you posted sounds to have alternate/additional lyrics, a more prominent horn section than the album version, and a rearranged keyboard portion. It doesn't sound to be a live track, but I could be mistaken.

Many thanks for your help.

The thing is I posted the song all those months back when the first few dmca notices were served on me. In recent times, these have dried up a wee bit (I'm probably tempting fate with those words) but I was served another recently after John's excellent Sunday post about life at the Edinburgh Fringe. I assumed it was an objection to the use of a song by Reindeer Section, given that the lead vocals were supplied by the same bloke who does the same for Snow Patrol, so I took down the song and re-posted. A couple of days back, I got another dmca notice about the same post, so this time I took down tracks by Corky And The Juice Pigs and by Flight Of The Conchords. Oh and just in case, I also removed John's own montage that had been used as the picture on the posting in case someone was whinging about an unauthorised use of a photo....

Anyway...back to the original question posed by my reader.

The version of Out To Get You in question dates from 1990, and was the third track on the CD single that was Lose Control. It was produced by Flood and it is about a minute longer than the version produced by Brian Eno which is the opening song on the 1993 LP Laid.

I've still got the £1.99 sticker on the outside of the case of the CD single, and it seems that you'll pay somewhere in the region of £12-£15 for the privilege of owning this wee bit of shiny metal nowadays. Which is a nonsense.

mp3 : James - Lose Control (extended version)
mp3 : James - Sunday Morning
mp3 : James - Out To Get You

And yes, Sunday Morning is a cover of the track by The Velvet Underground. And IMHO, one of the best cover versions of any song by any band.

Happy Listening.

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS : A SATURDAY SERIES (Part 6)

Is there anyone out there who actually likes this??????

mp3 : The Smiths - Golden Lights

Released in October 1986, this was extra song released on the b-side of the 12" of Ask, the band's twelfth single which climbed to a more than respectable #14 in the singles charts.

It is noteworthy for being their first ever cover version recorded in the studio. It is notorious for being considered by many to be the worst thing they ever committed to vinyl.

And yet, if you believe the account of those non-band members present in the studio, it needn't have been like that.

Golden Lights was a hit back in 1965 for Twinkle, who also composed the song. It is a quaint little number dealing with the pain of being dumped by a boyfriend who finds overnight success as a pop star. It is also remarkable for the fact that the writer, real name Lynn Ripley, was just 16 years of age when she wrote and recorded it.

With a theme of lost love and a pleasant but simple tune it really should have made for yest another fine b-side on a single by The Smiths. Producer John Porter obtained a mix that had a standard vocal delivery from Morrissey, some acoustic guitar and mandolin from the then twin guitar duo of Johnny Marr and Craig Gannon and harmony backing vocals from Kirsty MacColl. But as it was being played back in the studio, Morrissey's body language clearly showed he hated it....

The singer took it to Stephen Street and demanded a remix with specific instructions as to how the vocal should sound and for all sorts of effects to be added to the instrumentation. There's a great line from Simon Goddard, the noted Morrissey/Smiths fan and writer, that the finished mix has Morrissey now sounding as if he were trying to sing while scoffing vast amounts of blancmange.

I know there will be some of you out there who think that is an improvement on most Mozza vocals, but keep those thoughts to yourself.

Here's yer original:-



Happy Listening.

BLOG ROCKING BEATS 3

I've been piss-poor this week on TVV. Most of the posts you have been reading were written in advance and because I've been busy most nights (and there's a fairly strict policy on internet usage at work) I haven't been topical enough.

So I haven't had time to publicise the third and final Blog Rocking Beats night taking place tomorrow, Saturday 14th, at the Flying Duck in Glasgow.

I reckon this will be the best one yet. Gareth from How Does That One Go Again makes a long-awaited debut, Drew from Across The Kitchen Table is back from holiday and ANCB from A North Country Boy will be building on the experience of last month's outing.

Oh and I won't be there at all.........

Sorry to say that I've a clash of diaries, and while Mrs V said it was OK to go to the Flying Duck and leave her to go on her own to a surprise party for one of her mates (don't worry, its a mate that doesn't read this). But Mrs V has been particularly wonderful this past month since the tragedy in Ireland, so it is only fit and proper that we go along as a couple.

But I will be there i spirit wishing The Three Musketeers all the very best as they entertain what I hope will be a healthy crowd.

While this is the last of Blog Rocking Beats for now, we are semi-hopeful of picking up another slot in the near future. Watch this space.

If I had been part of the gig, I would have been asking the others if we could close the set with this:-

mp3 : Billy Mackenzie - It's Over

Now that's what I call a song with which to end the night...

IT'S FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE....WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 35)

The Motorcycle Boy, named after the character played by Mickey Rourke in the 1983 film Rumble Fish, formed in East Kilbride in 1987.

They consisted of Alex Taylor (formerly of The Shop Assistants), together with Eddy Connolly, Michael Kerr and Paul McDermott who had all been in Meat Whiplash and with David "Scottie" Scott who hadn't been, to the best of my knowledge, in any previous band.

They were initially signed to Rough Trade, and their debut single Big Rock Candy Mountain was an indie hit in September 1987.

Convinced that the band were destined for greatness, Chrysalis Records snapped them up, and this was their very fine and worthy 12" debut for the label, released in June 1989:-

mp3 : The Motorcycle Boy - Trying To Be Kind (extended mix)
mp3 : The Motorcycle Boy - World Falls Into Place
mp3 : The Motorcycle Boy - Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
mp3 : The Motorcycle Boy - Trying To Be Kind (1,000cc version)

It flopped. As did follow-up You And Me Against The World (there's a 12" copy of that also sitting in the cupboard) and LP Scarlet. Not surprisingly in the fickle world of pop, the band were dropped soon after, although they soldiered on for a bit releasing two more singles on small indie labels.

According to wikipedia, The Motorcycle Boy made the cover of the NME on September 19, 1987 despite only having a brief half-page feature. This was because the entire contents of a themed issue on censorship (which would have had a painting used on the Dead Kennedys' album Frankenchrist, then the subject of an obscenity trial in the United States, on the cover) had themselves been censored and a new cover had to be designed at very short notice.

Happy Listening.