THE FICKLE FINGER OF FAME...

The bloke pictured on the right had side of the sleeve has been a musician for over 30 years releasing probably more material than any other recoding artist in that period, and yet he is not all that well known outside of music aficionados.

The woman on the left of the sleeve has also been a musician with varying success since the early 80s but in recent times has become a well-known figure on British television thanks to her appearances on this show.

Most of us will probably believe that Mark E Smith who should be the more instantly recognisable of the two. Instead, to millions of Brits its Laura Elise Sellinger aka Brix Smith aka Brix Smith-Start who has the fame and the fortune.

Today's posting was partly inspired by yesterday's guest piece in which John East wrote about the two songs that best summed up his native land but also by the comment left behind by Dick Van Dyke in which he provided a superbly eclectic list of songs that made him lie back and think of England.

I don't think there's been a more quintessential English band than The Kinks. They really did capture a country in an era when it was last worthy of really being considered a world power. And one of my favourite songs of theirs is one with a lyric that harks back to an allegedly even more glorious era....and catches Ray Davies at his satirical best:-

Long ago life was clean
Sex was bad and obscene
And the rich were so mean
Stately homes for the Lords
Croquet lawns, village greens
Victoria was my queen
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria

I was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I am poor, I am free
When I grow I shall fight
For this land I shall die
Let her sun never set
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, toria

Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria

Canada to India
Australia to Cornwall
Singapore to Hong Kong
From the West to the East
From the rich to the poor
Victoria loved them all
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria

And a cover version in 1988 took The Fall into the Top 40 for only the second time (the previous occasion was also courtesy of a cover - There's A Ghost In My House)

mp3 : The Fall - Victoria

There's three other tracks on the 12" single:-

mp3 : The Fall - Guest Informant
mp3 : The Fall - Tuff Life Booogie
mp3 : The Fall - Twister

I particularly love Guest Informant - It also reminds me of the wonderful Where's Me Jumper by The Sultans of Ping.

Oh and I haven't made a spelling mistake in the title of the middle song of the three. There is an extra o in the booogie MES rants about.

Hilarious promo as well:-



Happy Listening

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

Today's guest posting is from a new Sunday Correspondent....but someone who has posted before.

Readers from way back will hopefully recall that all of May 2009 and part of June 2009 was handed over to 40 different contributors from all parts of the globe. The series was kicked off on 1 May 2009 with this lovely bit of writing which was partly a 10th Anniversary present from a bloke to his missus. Nearly two years later, John East has returned:-

ENGLAND MY COUNTRY..........

Last Sunday's post of Summertime by The Sundays took me right back to the late eighties, I was an all round indie kid with the long, floppy hair and embarrassing shirts (why does James May wear those shirts? you can buy them in the shops, y'know, but the missus gives me the evil eye if i stray too close to them) and this lovely song appeared.

mp3 : The Sundays - Can't Be Sure

Now I know JC has featured it before but it's always worth a listen and on the rare occasions it pops up on 6music or absolute 80's (i'll swear blind I heard it on there once) it always brings a sigh and a wistful look to my eyes. I love everything about it - the drummy intro, twangly guitar, achingly clear vocals and lazy lazy climax.

But for me it's always been really strongly linked with another song and band. Not Cocteau Twins, though I'm sure that's worth a post. It's the whimsical, nostalgic England that comes through Harriet's singing that links Can't Be Sure to Lonesome For A Place I Know by Everything But The Girl - light jazz tinged popsters turned overexposed dance music coffee tablers. Surely everybody knows their rags to riches to rags to riches and illness story.

I picked up a tape of their 1988 album Idlewild in a Woolworths clearout sale - where I seemed to get a lot of stuff back in the day. (Tapes? Woolworths? Will younger viewers understand any of this?). I loved it to bits and broke it many years later through overplay even though it didn't really fit in with the strange Goth/Rock hybrid University had turned me into. Both these songs have a real nostalgic longing, even though they know that England's a bit crap they know they're stuck with it.

Cut and paste a few of the lyrics and you get instant Betjeman. Indie whimsie.

England my country the home of the free, such miserable weather
but England's as happy as England can be
why cry

-----------------------------------------------

Oh but Florence you tempt me here to stay
Amidst your hills to while my years away
But your roots in soil lie mine in paving stone
And I hate what it's become but in my bones

So why does England call?
The hedgerows and the town halls
After all there'll soon be nothin' left at all

mp3 : Everything But The Girl - Lonesome For A Place I Know

So that's England for me in two songs - how would you do Scotland? Would Big Country be too obvious? What about Wales? The Alarm????

John East, Sunday 30 January 2011

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SATURDAY SERIES (Part 28)

One of THE great early songs by The Smiths was tucked away as a b-side on a 12" single. The indie-kids very own version of Don't Worry, Be Happy:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Accept Yourself

Its an infectiously catchy and hugely danceable number - but I don't actually ever recall shaking my ass to it on a dance floor until a few months ago when it was part of the playlist at one of the National Pop League nights. Having said that, I have moved around a bit to it at parties over the years.

At this point in time, other than the stuff taped off the radio, The Smiths had released just two songs, one of which was a live recording. The four songs that made up the 7" and 12" copies of This Charming Man just took the band to new heights. Yes, some bands at the time did release some cracking b-sides, but this just seemed to be very special. If this was the sort of stuff they were prepared to in a sense just throw away, well no wonder the sense of anticipation around the debut LP was so huge.

It's the combination of a killer tune and a hugely enjoyable and uplifting lyric that makes it so special. You might be sick, dull, plain, hate your life and have issues about your footwear.....but it doesn't really matter all that much. Shove this on the next time someone labels the band as the arch-miserablists and prove them so wrong.

If anything, the version that was recorded for a Radio One session in August 1983 is superior....ever so slightly slower in pace, the guitar playing is as jingly-jangly as it gets while the vocal is just so much sharper and clearer:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Accept Yourself (Jensen session)

Sadly, it was a song never played live after the end of 1983 meaning only those fortunate enough to have been at the very earliest of shows got to her it live (it was never ever played in Scotland!!)

From the show in Leicester that is advertised in the photo that accompanies today's post:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Accept Yourself (live)

Happy Listening.

OLD R.E.M. 12" SINGLES ON VINYL (Part 2)

At the end of November 2010, I went through a lazy period of putting up music without saying too much within the posting. One such effort was the 12" version of Stand by R.E.M.

I did hint that there I might shove up a few other 12" singles by the best-known band from Athens, GA but it has taken me until now to do so.

The third and last single lifted from Document, this reached #50 in the UK singles chart in April 1988. But the version released as a single was quite different from that recorded for the LP, featuring a horn section.

mp3 : R.E.M. - Finest Worksong (Lengthy Club Mix)
mp3 : R.E.M. - Finest Worksong (Other Mix)
mp3 : R.E.M. - Time After Time etc (live)

I played this last year at one of the Blog Rocking Beats nights and someone came up and asked who it was. They refused to believe it was Stipey & Co until I showed them the sleeve.....

The live track is an 8 minute medley of two R.E.M. songs - Time After Time and So. Central Rain, with a snippet of the Peter Gabriel track Red Rain.

The single also turned out to be the last thing the band released on the IRS label, moving upwards and onwards to world domination with Warners the following year.

I've found a demo version kicking out there:-

mp3 : R.E.M. - Finest Worksong (demo)

Happy Listening. (and apologies for anyone who particularly likes the '5 of' series. It will return next week when I've a bit more time)

I'D LOVE TO HAVE SEEN THIS PERFORMED ON TOP OF THE POPS....

I recently embarked on a clean-up of the i-tunes on the hard-drive, trying to create a wee bit more space before it fills up. I didn't get very far as it took me hours to do the letter A....

I was astonished to discover that I have 172 different Arab Strap songs on the drive, which would take me nearly 13 hours to listen to all told. OK, its not 172 different songs....in fact there's nowhere near that number of different songs with quite a few of the tracks having three or more different versions such as demos or live or extended mixes. Now I know that the five versions of The Shy Retirer aren't really all essential, but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of any of them.

There's the version which opens up the LP Monday At The Hug And Pint, there's the radio edit that gets rid of their words 'cunted circus', there's a remix version, an acoustic version released on limited edition vinyl and a live acoustic version that I downloaded from someone a while back. All just a wee bit different enough to be kept.....

The radio edit was released back in 2003 as part of an EP that also contained two rather bizarre cover versions of rock songs by Van Halen and AC/DC that Aidan and Malcolm had adored as teenagers.

mp3 : Arab Strap - The Shy Retirer (radio edit)
mp3 : Arab Strap - Why Can't This Be Love
mp3 : Arab Strap - The Good Part
mp3 : Arab Strap - The New Saturday
mp3 : Arab Strap - You Shook Me All Night Long
mp3 : Arab Strap - The Shy Retirer (remixed by Dirty Hospital)

OK, I'll admit as an EP it doesn't quite hang together. The two 'new' tracks are inferior to much of what was on the LP and the cover versions are an acquired taste. But the title track is one of the great long-lost Scottish singles that should have got the boys on what was the UK's longest running weekly music show. That really would have been something to see....

MIXING POP AND POLITICS

The opening sentence in the wikipedia entry for one of the most famous figures in contemporary Scotland has changed in recent weeks. It now reads:-

Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1964, Glasgow) is a Scottish socialist politician and convicted perjurer.

For anyone not familiar with the tale, here’s a brief snapshot.

Tommy Sheridan (pictured above in the white jacket) came to public notice in the late 1980s as leading left-wing figure in a mass campaign against the poll tax, a new and unpopular form of local taxation brought in by the right-wing UK government. He was so prepared to stand by his principles that he was sent to jail on two occasions. During the first of these in 1992, he stood as a candidate in the UK General Election and came second in the poll. A short while later, he stood for office as a councillor in Glasgow and romped to victory. It was the start of a political career that would last 15 years……

His profile was very much ‘a man of the people’ prepared to fight for every day basic rights. He was an incredibly skilled orator and debater as well as being hugely charismatic. By the late 90s, he was the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), a new organisation he had been instrumental in forming. He was well liked by the media – particularly the broadsheet newspapers in Scotland – and was admired for his great ability to articulate an argument without falling into political jargon. The SSP soon became a small but loud force in Scottish politics gaining seats in council chambers and Town Halls but more importantly, within the Scottish Parliament with Tommy Sheridan as its leader. Such was his popularity that in the main he was referred to only by his Christian name…..

There was a period in my life when I worked for Glasgow Council alongside politicians who were in power and had to argue their case against points made by Tommy and it wasn’t easy for them. His politics were of the street and the community and much of what he said was what they believed – but it was impossible to deliver either because it was illegal or impractical as it would lead to the city bankrupting itself. It was the pragmatists vs the fantasists. And its never easy to be pragmatic when someone like Tommy had the perfect soundbite to hand to make you sound like Scrooge.

I recall one veteran politician telling me in 2003 that some sort of internal strife would one day destroy the SSP – he didn’t have any inside knowledge but was basing his prediction on political history. However, the fact that it would be a sex scandal that would trigger the demise seemed beyond belief.

In 2004, Tommy resigned as Convener of the SSP on the grounds of him soon to become a father and not having enough time to do the job properly. Not long after, a tabloid paper ran a series of articles which had a number of lurid claims about his personal life. Tommy decided to sue for libel.

In 2006, after a lengthy and bruising court-case, during which Tommy sacked his legal team and represented himself, a jury, by a vote of 7-4 found in his favour and awarded damages of £200,000. The bruising aspect was that many of his SSP colleagues, including his Parliamentary colleagues, said that Tommy has admitted that most of the tabloid claims were true. In other words, a jury had found in Tommy’s favour and in doing so felt that a number of Members of the Scottish Parliament had lied in court.

The newspaper appealed the verdict. At the same time, a police investigation was launched into perjury allegations.

The SSP splintered into two groups with Tommy leading a new party called Solidarity. The council and parliamentary elections in 2007 were a disaster with every single member losing their seats. The prediction from the veteran politician back in 2003 had come to pass.

Tommy was charged in December 2007 with perjury, as was his wife Gail. The trial however, didn’t take place until October 2010. In between times, Tommy stood as a candidate in a number of elections but was resoundly beaten. He also took part in Celebrity Big Brother in early 2010, although I think it is fair to say that other that political anoraks and people living in Scotland he wouldn’t be seen as any sort of celebrity…..

In December 2010, Tommy was, as the wiki entry indicates, was found guilty of perjury. The charges against Gail Sheridan were dropped.

It was a majority verdict and came at the end of an even more bruising trial where Tommy had again sacked his legal team and represented himself in an effort to have history repeat itself. Its fair to say the verdict has caused huge debate.

Today the sentence will be handed down. A lengthy spell in jail is expected……

I know this is a music blog....and I'm honestly not trying to make any political points.....I just think its a tragedy that it is going to end this way for him. His vanity and inability to face up to the fact he wasnt as perfect as he liked to portray himself has led to him going back to jail and become in the eyes of many, a figure of ridicule. History will not recall him as anything other than just another politician prepared to lie through his teeth to save his skin....

Over the years, Tommy has been supported by many in the music world from the Glasgow area. Indeed, back in 2001 he himself provided vocals for a single Daddy Dog by The Jasmine Minks which was released on the Poptones label. Sadly, its not in the collection. But this is:-

mp3 : James Kirk – Get On Board

From the LP, You Can Make It If You Boogie, it’s a track which in part commemorates a series of anti-nuclear weapons protests at Faslane Naval Base in the West of Scotland. Tommy was arrested at a number of these over the years and again was prepared to go to jail for his beliefs. I dont think James Kirk or indeed anyone who has been proud of their association with the causes championed by Tommy Sheridan thought this particular nightmare would unfold.

Thanks for listening.

A LOOK BACK AT OLD RADIOHEAD (Part 5)

It's been quite a while (9 months!!!!) since I featured this series which aims to give you the opportunity to listen to old Radiohead hits and the other tracks released on various CD singles. Past efforts have featured No Surprises, Paranoid Android, High and Dry and Knives Out.

I'm going to lazily re-start the series by doing a cut'n'psate job from a posting back in May 2007 when I revealed that Fake Plastic Trees was the #25 'hit' in the Top 45 of 45s on my 45th birthday......

May 2007

I was very very lucky to see Radiohead at the outset of their career on two occasions – the first when they were complete unknowns in September 1992 as the support act to The Frank and Walters at The Venue in Edinburgh. Just over a year later, having had success in the USA with Creep, they were given the support slot with James and this time it was Glasgow Barrowlands just before Xmas 1993.

I’d be a liar if I said that on the basis of those two gigs I could have predicted that world domination would soon be theirs. In fact, I’d go as far to say that having bought debut album Pablo Honey on the back of the 1992 gig and been a bit disappointed with it, I wasn’t all that looking forward to seeing them support James. But that night, they gave a pretty decent performance, and a bit of hope that they were going to be more than one-hit wonders.

Problem was, the band seemed to disappear from view thereafter as the UK went barmy for Britpop. As we now know, it was in fact to begin the long and drawn-out process to write and record songs for their second LP, on which work began in early 1994 but which wasn’t released until May 1995.

And its my considered opinion that The Bends might just be the best LP of all time…..its certainly the one I’ve listened to more than any other over the past 13 years. Yup, I much prefer it to the more-critically lauded OK Computer.

Part of this is down to the existence of the song that has made #25.

You can scour the internet and see that the song is pretty special to a lot of people, but there’s a bit of argument as to what exactly it is about. What can’t be denied is that Thom Yorke delivers an incredibly intense and moving vocal while the boys in the band deliver a haunting and memorable tune and melody.

It is clearly about something that is far from natural – the constant use of words like rubber, plastic and polystyrene only help emphasise that point. But is it about an artificial feeling of love that the protagonist has for someone, or does it have a deeper meaning? Is it indeed the template for Radiohead’s manifesto for the future in which their disgust about the way the planet is being treated would come to dominate how their songs sounded as well as the band's philosophy and outlook on things?

I’m not entirely sure, and I’ve said previously, I tend not to delve too deep into the meaning of lyrics. They are important, but no more so than the music.

I know that many of you will disagree that this in fact the finest single ever released by Radiohead. While I had a bit of a debate with myself about which song to select for certain bands, this one was, as the cliché goes, a no-brainer. This is a song that can provoke so many emotions in me, depending on my mood and state of mind, and there’s not many others that I can say that about.

mp3 : Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
mp3 : Radiohead - India Rubber
mp3 : Radiohead - How Can You Be Sure?

Surprisingly, the single only reached #20 in the UK charts, and it was later single Street Spirit (Fade Out) that was the big seller.

January 2011 update

I've since got my hands on the second CD which features three acoustic songs recorded at Eve's Club in London:-

mp3 : Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees (acoustic)
mp3 : Radiohead - Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was (acoustic)
mp3 : Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out) (acoustic)

Happy Listening.

OH AND JOHNNY MARR PLAYED HARMONICA

The decade that was the 80s is one that divides opinion on whether it was a good era for music. On the one hand, there were some really appalling things inflicted upon us.....Jive Bunny, Shakin Stevens, Joe Dolce, The Birdie Song, Cliff Richard being #1 every Xmas, Bucks Fizz, T'Pau, Bowie & Jagger destroying Dancing In The Streets, Agafuckingdoo, Phil Collins, Billy Joel and soap stars becoming pop stars (Kylie Minogue excepted!!)

But on the other.....well, there's been loads of great and often long-forgotten bands featured here on TVV which hopefully more than make up for the monstrosities listed above (many of which remain staple diets of loads of 'classic' radio and video stations).

The track featured today came up on random shuffle on the i-pod the other day. It's one that sums up a lot of the 80s for me....new emerging bands that made intelligent pop records that were jaunty and upbeat...the soundtrack to the seemingly continuous demonstrations against the bomb, nuclear power, the ideologically-driven attacks against the coal industry, the apartheid regime, homophobia, racism and Thatcher/Reagan. Every other weekend in 1984 I seemed to be off somewhere or other determined to make my voice heard...

mp3 : Everything But The Girl - Native Land
mp3 : Everything But The Girl - Riverbed Dry

The line-up on this single was an indie supergroup with Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt being joined by Phil Moxham of Young Marble Giants fame on bass and June Miles Kingston who was part of Fun Boy Three and later on was with The Communards playing drums. Oh and Johnny Marr played harmonica.....

The single should have been a big hit. But it only reached #73 and it would take another four years and a cover version for EBTG to enjoy real success.



I got a wee tear in my eye watching that video. It really did take me back to times, places and events I had not thought of for a long while.

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

There's a lack of material just now. Maybe my crack team of Sunday Correspondents have all been caught up in phone-tapping allegations.

So in their absence, here's four great songs with the word Sunday in their title, including the obligatory Weddoes cover version:-

mp3 : June Brides - Sunday To Saturday
mp3 : Butcher Boy - Sunday Bells
mp3 : The Wedding Present - Pleasant Valley Sunday
mp3 : Joe Jackson - Sunday Papers

And a gorgeous song by a band called The Sundays:-

mp3 : The Sundays - Summertime

This always makes me sigh out loud it is so luvverly and romantic. Nice colourful video as well.




Happy Listening.

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SATURDAY SERIES (Part 27)

I haven't got the space or capacity to include the sleeve for The Best Of Vol 1....

The record company moguls really have cashed in big style in recent years.

The Best of The Smiths was released in August 1992. It had 14 tracks on it.

The Best of The Smiths Vol 2 was released in November 1992. It had 14 tracks on it.

The Singles was released in February 1995. It had 18 tracks on it. 17 of them had previously featured on one or other of the Best of efforts from 1992

The Very Best Of The Smiths was released in June 2001. It has 23 tracks on it. 22 of these had been on one or other of The Best of efforts from 1992 or The Singles from 1995.

The Sounds Of The Smiths was released as a single and double CD in November 2008. The single CD had 23 tracks on it.....just 2 of which hadn't appeared on the earlier post-band compilations. The double CD had a further 22 tracks on it....and it has to be pointed out that most of these hadn't been on any of the previous compilations.....but then again none of the songs had ever previously been unavailable as album tracks, live recordings or b-sides.

The Smiths Singles Box from December 2008 is exactly what it says on the tin....except now you have the chance to own the classics on vinyl!!

I don't think anyone can argue we've been ripped off somewhat. Funny thing is, the record company has never saw fit to include this track on any of the compilations. Cant think why.....

mp3 : The Smiths - Paint A Vulgar Picture

Happy Listening.

5 GREAT ALBUM TRACKS FOR FRIDAY (Part 11)

Normally I torture myself trying to narrow down loads of tracks from numerous LPs to find five for a Friday. But I'm taking an easier route this week....with a look at the one LP released by Friends Again.

Trapped and Unwrapped saw light of day in October 1984 by which time disillusionment had set in big time. Great singles had been ignored by the record buying public and fans of old were concerned that the record label and its insistence on a particular style of studio production had sucked the soul out of the band.

The tour to promote the LP saw the band return to some venues that were smaller than they had played some six months earlier when they were being hotly tipped. The Friends Again train was, sad to say, freewheeling right into the buffers.

The LP isn't flawless. It is over-produced and is a bit clunky in places. It doesn't come near to capturing just good the band were in the live setting and the wonderful harmony between the voice of Chris Thompson and the cultured playing of the band members, particularly James Grant on guitar. But it is all that remains of the band 27 years on other than the singles.

The LP contained 12 tracks - five of which were singles or new versions of the singles, while a further track was a re-working of an old b-side. If you do the math, that leaves six previously unreleased songs, and since it would be unfair to leave one sitting there on the shelf, all six tracks are offered up for your enjoyment today:-

mp3 : Friends Again - Vaguely Yours
mp3 : Friends Again - Skip The Goldrush
mp3 : Friends Again - Tomboy
mp3 : Friends Again - Swallows In the Rain
mp3 : Friends Again - Old Flame
mp3 : Friends Again - Moon 3

Happy Listening.

BIGGER AND LONGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER

Sometimes, the 12" mix or version of a song ends up ruining it. Like here:-

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - My Bag (Dancing Mix)

The first single lifted from the 1987 LP Mainstream, the single stalled at a surprisingly low #46 in the UK singles charts and was an early indication perhaps that the band's big moments of glory were now in the past.

The dancing mix has dated appallingly. The drum sound particularly grates. and burying the guitar work in the chorus is another big mistake. The unaltered version was way superior and much better to dance to rather than the mix on the 12":-



But that was nothing compared to the crime perpetrated on the band's debut single with this b-side of the My Bag 12"

mp3 : Commotions Meet The Irresistible Force - Perfect Skin

I'm sure everyone who was out of their faces on drugs at the time thought it was a great idea but it really is beyond description. Fucking appalling. the guilty partner was Mixmaster Morris who has no doubt done released some great bits of music in his time.....but this isn't one of them.

Can the third and otherwise unreleased track in the 12" single save the day??:-

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Jesus Said

Sadly, the answer is no. I'm just grateful I only paid 50p for this in a charity shop a while back. Even then, I feel ripped off.

FROM THE VHS TAPES UNDER THE BED....(Part 1)

I'm every bit as proud of the 100 plus VHS tapes of music that are gathering dust under a bed as I am of the vinyl and CD collection. They contain loads of live clips, promo videos and appearances on TV shows such as Top Of the Pops and provide fine visual memories of some great music.

And I'm increasingly chuffed that more and more of these clips are turning up on youtube and the like, thanks to other music fans taking the time to convert their own copies. And now, thanks to a great wee gadget, I can also convert the music from the clips into mp3 form (not always the greatest of quality or sound but I can live with it).

And starting today, I'm going to feature some of those clips on TVV, complete with an mp3. And there's no better place to start than with my favourite live rendition of my all time favourite single. It's from The New Order Story, which I also have on DVD:-



mp3 : New Order - Temptation (live in Montreux 1993)

One of the things I also have is a copy of a gig played by Aztec Camera in December 1983 at Aston University in Birmingham. I'm sure my dad hadn't long bought the first VHS machine the family ever owned, and in those days, tapes cost a fortune. I remember buying a new tape specifically for this show and being allowed to command the machine and telly for its duration. Featuring an amazing twin acoustic guitar attack from Roddy Frame and Malcolm Ross, this is indie-pop at its purest:-



mp3 : Aztec Camera - Oblivious (live, Aston University 1983)

Those of you who only know PJ Harvey as a glammed-up, pouting bit of sex on legs, might be surprised by the early look. Personally, I thought she was every bit as stunning in those days. She certainly sounded like no-one else....and this is from a late night BBC arts show in 1992:-



mp3 : PJ Harvey - Dress (live on The Late Show)

And now, the rarely seen or heard six-piece version of The Smiths, from TV show The Tube in July 1986 (the kid is an unnamed child actor especially hired to join in on this performance)



mp3 : The Smiths - Panic (live, The Tube)

And finally - one that actually does come from one of my video tapes. One that I passed onto someone who loaded it up. Sadly, the tape was so fragile that it snapped after the upload. But at least the task was complete. Its from a local arts show that went out on telly in Scotland back in 1994:-



mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Gorgeous George (live and acoustic)

Keep your eyes peeled for more such-like nostalgia in the weeks ahead.

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF HEY! ELASTICA

I've featured Hey! Elastica a few times before on TVV and and indeed recently received a request from someone asking for a re-post of an old single.

I've decided however to gone one better - although that may only be a matter of opinion cos you may well detest the band - in that I'm going to post everything that I have in the vinyl cupboard, which more or less encompasses their entire output.

As I mentioned just before Xmas, they've been described as aggressive trashy-pop in some quarters while I thought they could have and should have been the Scottish B-52s.

It was late in 1982 when I first stumbled upon them, thanks to this brilliant debut single which was played regularly in the Level 8 disco in the student union at Strathclyde University...

mp3 : Hey! Elastica - Eat Your Heart Out (12" version)
mp3 : Hey! Elastica - Clay Hips

Intoxicatingly catchy, it was a real surprise that radio didn't pick up on it and make it a hit. Still, there's no way they'd miss out on the even more radio-friendly follow-up in March 1983:-

mp3 : Hey! Elastica - Suck A Little Honey (12" version)
mp3 : Hey! Elastica - Suck A Little More

Rather worryingly, having by now seen the band play live a few times (and these were fun shows if not the most technically proficient you'd ever capture), these two flops were among their strongest material. Undeterred, they went into the studio in the spring of 1983 to begin work on further singles and a debut LP. The next thing to emerge was what I reckon is one of the truly great 'lost' singles of the era:-

mp3 : Hey! Elastica - Party Games
mp3 : Hey! Elastica - Elastican Chant No.2

By now it was painfully clear that the band were never going to make it, and all enthusiasm quickly waned. Early in 1984, a fourth single was released, which to all intent and purposes was the last hurrah:-

mp3 : Hey! Elastica - This Town (12" version)
mp3 : Hey! Elastica - That Town
mp3 : Hey! Elastica - Twist That Town

Again, a monumental flop.

An album was released in the spring of 84 and sold very badly. The band broke up. Which is just as well because I'm sure Virgin Records would have dropped them anyway.

There were 10 tracks on In On The Off Beat. It's a disappointing album in many ways. Some of the weakest material they ever recorded is on it, while the decision not to include the first two singles, even with some sort of remix, is baffling.

Track 1 : This Town
Track 2 : Heaven (Should've Been Here)
Track 3 : Party Games **
Track 4 : Sex With Your Dancing Partner
Track 5 : Cafe Des Bruits
Track 6 : My Kinda Guy
Track 7 : Perfect Couple
Track 8 : Polaroid Picture Zoo
Track 9 : Barbarella
Track 10 : That Town

** LP version is about 20 seconds longer than the single version

Here's the visual stuff I've been able to track down:-





Go on....admit it.....some of it is infectiously catchy!!

NOT THE SOUND OF THE SUBURBS

The big hit single reached #12 in the UK charts in 1979. I suspect I wasn't alone in buying it and 'singing' along as it was played repeatedly at high volume. After all it did seem to capture everything that was so wrong in the world of a 16 year-old:-



The band surprised a lot of folk with the follow-up being very very different from the smash single, thanks to its infusion of reggae.

mp3 : The Members - Offshore Banking Business/Pennies In The Pound

Its the sort of thing that The Clash were lauded for and yet to my ears, this 12" version is as good as anything that came from the bigger and better-known group.

Offshore Banking Business went on to reach #31 in the UK singles charts but was the last time The Members would make a commercial impact.

The b-side is quite brilliant and perfectly encapsulates New Wave . And all credit to Stiff Records for allowing the band's by then deleted debut single to be made widely available on Virgin Records:-

mp3 : The Members - Solitary Confinement

Trivia time.

This single, like much of the band's other early output were among the first bits of work carried out by Steve Lillywhite who in time would become one of the biggest and most in-demand producers in the world. His involvement with The Members came about thanks to their drummer - his brother Adrian Lillywhite.

Happy Listening.

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS : THE LONG-AWAITED RETURN OF DICK VAN DYKE

So anyway JC, I note that the Sunday Correspondents are all away on a Creative Writing Course (residential) in Torquay. Consequently - if you don't mind, below is a very short piece based around, well, er, you. It follows my email to you on 1st Jan 11.

Perhaps you could forego any pink-cheeked embarrassment and slide it in sometime. (Not the first time you've had to do that I'm sure!)

Ditch it if ya want to, old lad. Twas just a thought as I escape 'Dancing On Fucking Ice' and 'Wild At Heart'.

Dick.

(Note from JC......as if I would say no. I never trusted Nancy Reagan)


PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES IN YOUR OLD PARANOID MIND

So we'd got to thinking about the doom and the gloom of early January in the UK. The darkness, the bone chilling cold, the mid-winter malaise and the difficulty in climbing aboard the ungritted treacherous treadmill for another year.

Work: That which fills the gap between waking up and going back to bed, tired.

How did I get so jaded? A little out of touch, a little insane?

mp3 : Soul Asylum - Runaway Train

Like you JC, I'm lower than a snail's nuts on some days. Perhaps I expect too much from life and from people. As I get older, I just can't abide 'The Fuckwit Factor' - those useless bastards who pervade our waking life and make everything that much harder. We really should round them all up in a field .. and bomb the bastards!

Self pity is a fucking awful thing, and I try and keep things in perspective, I really do. I love to help deserving folk out, I'm just crap and taking my own advice. I attended the funeral of a 23 year old lad this week. I spent time with his lovely, but heartbroken ma. She'd cried her heart out, but laughed as I physically picked her up off the ground in one of my ridiculous, but sincere, bear hugs. (I do it when I don't quite know what else to do. It's inappropriate at times, but it often seems to help).

What your blog - and a choice few others - bring is just an opportunity to shout, whisper, moan, announce, proclaim, chunter, chirrup or just verbalise a thought - which folk like me find so very helpful and enjoyable. A musical bear hug.

(I suspect that you'd declare that it's not the first time that your inspirational organ has stimulated a response, and so much to chew on!)

How the feck you do it, day in day out, I don't know.

I don't want to sound all pink fluffy slippers, but you truly are an inspiration. The effort, energy, sparkle and all round chutpaz (which is a bit like a Jewish sausage) you consistently demonstrate is a benchmark at which an ADHD-suffering Dervish would feel exhausted.

(I trust that your School Report in 4G (fae oor wee Jimmy) at The Gorbals Comprehensive spotted that potential?)

I'm all brio and brassneck at times, but rest assured, any impudence I display as a commenter is built on a genuine respect.

My Mrs cracked her spine on the ice yesterday. A few hours in the Emergency Dept of a big city hospital around New Year is another perspective pricker innit? The choking babies, the meningitis toddler, the bumbling alcoholic who's lost his crutch ... and the broken hips aside the broken hearts. Anyway, the painkillers plinked in a large Corvoisier seem to help. I mean, I couldn't heard her moaning at all last night. Out like a bloody light I was!

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

Yep. Peace, love and understanding sounds a fair path to follow.

mp3 : Christy Moore - The Time Has Come

Dick Van Dyke, January 2011.

(2nd note from JC.....Its feckin great having the great man back. First of what I hope will be many pieces this year)

(3rd note from JC....apologies for my forgetfulness with the mp3s)

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SATURDAY SERIES (Part 26)

This is my one of my least favourite of any of the singles released by The Smiths:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Girlfriend In A Coma

Simon Goddard has described the single as 'audacious' going on to say it concentrated the pop genius of Morrissey and Marr in just two minutes and two seconds in which the singer delivers a rich melodrama of hospital waiting-room grief, fretting over an unconscious lover nearing death's door after an unspecified accident.

I thought at the time it was a bit of a lazy Smith-by-numbers tune with an awful lyric that was trying to be controversial just for the sake of it - and I haven't really altered my opinion too much over the intervening years.

Bring on the brickbats. I always seem to get them when I suggest that something touched by the hand of Moz isn't perfect......

5 GREAT ALBUMS TRACKS FOR FRIDAY (Part 10)

Regular readers will not be surprised to see Martin Stephenson & The Daintees make an appearance in this series given how much praise I've heaped on them in postings of old.

At their peak in the 80s/early 90s, the band released four LPs and after reforming a few years back, recorded another LP in 2007.

I'm going to cheat a bit this week. Instead of torturing myself trying to narrow it down to my favourite five non-singles, I'm instead going to feature one track from each of the studio LPs:-

mp3 : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees - Little Red Bottle

From the debut LP Boat To Bolivia released in 1986, this is a song which is tinged with irony.

Written as far back as 1981, its all about alcoholism. In fact it celebrates alcoholism and is the epitomy of the happy-go-lucky and carefree drunk. The fact that Martin would later have many a battle with the demon drink over the years is where the irony lies. It was a disease/illness that had a lot to do with the band failing to make a commercial breakthrough and their eventual break-up. He's been tee-total now for years....and his live shows nowadays are all the better for it. He still loves playing this song today.

mp3 : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees - Slaughterman

By the time sophomore LP Gladsome, Humour & Blue was released in 1988, there was a lot of buzz surrounding the band, thanks to the critical acclaim given to the debut and the fanbase that had built up with relentless gigging.

Looking back, I think the band, management and record label were bitterly disappointed that the LP failed to yield a hit single - there were high hopes in particular for the remixed version of Wholly Humble Heart but they were dashed.

Slaughterman wasn't an entirely new song when the LP was released having previously featured on a b-side. This remix was in a sense the work of the Kitchenware All-Stars, with Neil Conti of Prefab Sprout playing drums and David Brewis of The Kane Gang on keyboards.

mp3 : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees - Spoke In The Wheel

Salutation Road, released in 1990, is a fabulous record. In addition to the normal band, there were a number of hugely talented guest musicians on brass and strings, as well as a new full-time backing vocalist in Andrea Mackie. The tour for the album played the largest venues yet, many of them selling out very quickly. But it still wouldn't all quite click into place.

Maybe by this time, the drink and rigours of constant touring were taking their toll. Certainly at the Glasgow gig, at the 1500 capacity Pavilion Theatre, The band were forced to open the show without Martin for the simple reason that he was still in the pub next door as the show was due to commence. And when he came on stage, he was a mess....

It was almost as if having again experienced two more flop singles, including Left Us To Burn which is one of the great anti-Thatcher songs ever recorded, the soul was ripped out of Martin and the band. Which is why the fourth LP, The Boy's Heart, released in 1992, is a bit more hit and miss than the previous works. That's not to say its a poor record, far from it, but it wasn't as consistently excellent as the other LPs.

One cracking tune from it is this - featuring a vocal contribution from the mighty Cathal Coughlan - its a nostalgic look at the days of old when big radiograms were what brought sounds into your home:-

mp3 : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees - Sunday Halo

The band broke-up when the 1992 promotional tour was over. and didn't get back together until 2000 when a few low-key gigs in their native north-east of England were arranged.

Their fanbase may be small, but it is very loyal. Believe me, after you see them play live, you'll never want to miss another gig. And it was great to see them go back into the studio in and do something that very few bands mange to pull off and that's the trick of releasing new material years later, in this case 2008, and still making it is enjoyable and meaningful as the old material.

mp3 : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees - Western Eagle (Part 2)

The title track of a very lovely and perfectly understated LP. If anyone reading this is a fan of the 80s/90s LPs, then you should also get your hands on Western Eagle. You will not be disappointed. You can buy it direct from the label here.

So there you have it. 5 great and very different album tracks covering the career of one of my all-time favourite acts. I'm not saying they're the five best LP tracks they ever recorded, but they do help show off the diversity of material that is out there.

Happy Listening.

A BRILLIANT PIECE OF SOCIAL COMMENTARY

They were affectionately known as The Nutty Boys, but some of the songs written and recorded by Madness are memorable for other reasons.

The sleeve notes on the back of Complete Madness, a greatest hits LP from 1984, say it perfectly:-

Not written over cups of tea and dunkies, but in the sleepless hours of a drunken morning after hearing of my sister's pregnancy - by post, by phone, by words of mouth from a few relatives in all 8 corners of the world! I thought I'd write a song on the reactions I got from some folk towards young girls having half caste babies.

Those were penned by Lee Thompson, the saxophonist in Madness and perceived by many up to this point of being the least serious member of the band.

I think I might have featured this song and tale sometime in the past on TVV, but I make no apologies for doing so again. It is a great lyric matched by an equally great tune. And it sold by the barrow load, reaching #4 in the UK singles chart.

mp3 : Madness - Embarrassment

Also want to add that a few months back I eventually got myself a copy of The Liberty Of Norton Folgate, the LP released by Madness in 2009. It is every bit as good as many bloggers and critics say.....

mp3 : Madness - Forever Young

Dont worry, this time next year I'll be giving plugs to some album or other from 2010 that I've yet to pick up on......like the Paul Smith one I mentioned yeaterday!!!

SEEMS THE BOY DONE GOOD WITH HIS SOLO PROJECT

Readers of old will know that I have confessed to falling in and out of love with Maximo Park on a few occasions. It's partly been for the fact that much of the music has, to my ears, failed to live up to the early promise shown on debut LP A Certain Trigger released back in 2005.

But it's also that I've been driven demented every now and again by the antics of frontman Paul Smith, especially in the live setting.

However, having been lucky enough to see the band in a very small venue in Toronto back in 2007 (review here), I fell back in love one more time, although I have to confess that the affair hasn't been fully consummated as I didn't buy their 2009 LP Quicken The Heart, nor did I buy Margins, the solo LP released by Paul Smith last year.

Going by this very positive review by Comrade Colin, it seems I'm missing out, certainly as far as the solo LP goes, and it is a piece of work that I now intend to purchase over the next few weeks.

For now though, I want to offer up, straight from vinyl (limited to 4000 copies of each), the songs that featured on the outstanding second single lifted from the 2007 LP Our Earthly Pleasures:-

mp3 : Maximo Park - Books From Boxes
mp3 : Maximo Park - Obstinate Ideas
mp3 : Maximo Park - Books From Boxes (Original Demo Version)
mp3 : Maximo Park - Don McPhee

The single reached #16 in the UK charts.

Here's a great live acoustic version recorded especially for BBC telly:-



Happy Listening

I'M ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK, CHOPPING OFF MY STOPPING THOUGHTS

A mate of mine at University thought that the lyrics penned and sung by Ian McCulloch in mid 80s Echo & The Bunnymen were both hugely profound and philosophical to the point that he tried to incorporate whole chunks of them in various essays.

I wonder what he thinks of the 'poetry' nowadays:-

I'm on the chopping block
Chopping off my stopping thoughts
Self doubt and selfism
Were the cheapest things
I ever bought

When you say it's love
D'you mean the back of love
We`re taken advantage of
Breaking the back of love
We`re taking advantage of
Breaking the back of love

Easier said than done you said
But it`s more difficult to say
With eyes bigger than our bellies
We want to
But we can't look away
What were you thinking of
When you dreamt that up
What were you thinking of
When you dreamt that up

When you're surrounded by
a simple chain of events
Eventually
You'll shack those shackles off

We can't tell our left from right
But we know we love extremes
Getting to grips with the ups and downs
Because there's nothing in between
When you say that's love
D'you mean the back of love

When you say it's love
D'you mean the back of love?
We're taken advantage of
Breaking the back of love
We're taking advantage of
Breaking the back of love

What were you thinking of
When you dreamt that up

We're taking advantage of
We're breaking the back of love
Breaking the back of love

No matter the lyrical nonsense, there's no denying that it's a cracker of a tune that has proven quite timeless. Its still as fresh and dynamic today almost 29 years after it was first released.

mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - The Back Of Love

It gave the band their first mainstream chart success, reaching #19 in May 1982. Here's the two excellent songs that featured on the 12" version of the single:-

mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - The Subject
mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - Fuel

Incidentally, the painting on the sleeve is by the 19th Century British artist Henry Scott Tuke. The painting is called The Promise, which is not too dissimilar to that of the band's previous single.......

Here's footage of a very interesting appearance on Top Of The Pops:-



Shoulder-shaking on stilts......now that's impressive!!!

FROM FRIENDS ELECTRIC (Part 2011-1)

One of the things I want to do on TVV throughout 2011 is draw attention to articles written by other bloggers in the hope of bringing their contents to a wider audience.

I happened to be browsing through some places listed on the right hand side of this blog....I didn't get all the far going down them in alphabetical order when I found something at Armagideon Time that Bitter Andrew put together on 5th January.

Its a brilliantly articulated attack on the media's obsession with lists that was inspired by his reading of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Rock Songs published back in 2004 but updated for 2010. There's so much in his article that struck a chord with me.....and I couldn't helped being sucked in with his intro.....

Lists have become the format of choice in a world that’s hungry for content but unwilling to expend much effort on giving or receiving it. Depth and detailed exploration are passe; it’s far easier to dole out superficial data in easily digestible lumps that pander to humanity’s obsessive need to qualify and quantify subjective material in an psuedo-objective manner.

Andrew goes on to dissect all that is wrong with this sort of journalism that far too often nowadays fills what used to be enjoyable and informative music magazines. Now I know that music journalism has always been slanted towards opinions rather than facts, but it has got progressively worse in recent years. It wasn't that long ago that I would buy up to three music magazines a month....in 2010 I bought the grand total of one....and that was simply because I fancied the cover CD. It was reading the contents of the rundown of the '30 greatest songs ever recorded by Nick Cave' that I finally twigged how much of a charade it all is.

The list was nowhere near realistic. It had tracks from throughout his career encompassing early Birthday Party right through to something off Grinderman 2. It ticked all the boxes, or as Andrew puts it in terms of the Rolling Stone list...

(they) follow the standard script for this kind of affair. Reknowned classics? Check. Critical darlings? Check. Historically important stuff? Check. Recent favorites elevated out of a misguided need to stay “current?” Oh, yeah.

I know I did a list a few years back of my favourite 45 singles. But I'd like to think that sort of thing was a bit different from claiming these were the greatest songs of all time. As I tried to convey over the weeks of that rundown, these were songs that had a place in a personal chart based partly on my personal views and also the impact the songs may have had on me at a particular time in my life. Anyway, mini-rant over. I didn't expect to be typing a post tonight....and its delayed me reading what other great folk have written elsewhere in the past couple of weeks.

Do yourself a favour. Read Andrew's piece in its entirety.

Oh and here's the #327 and #437 songs in the Rolling Stone guide. But just how the FF boys got so far ahead of Mick, Joe, Topper and Paul is beyond belief.

mp3 : Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
mp3 : The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

Seemingly, there's nothing by The Smiths anywhere in the Top 500.....but Kelly Clarkson has made it. You won't be all that surprised to learn that the entire top ten from 2004 was the exact same in 2010. Within the top 100, the only new entry was Gnarls Barkley with Crazy ................. at number 100!!!

WAS SURE I HAD POSTED THIS BEFORE.....

But I can't find it via a quick search of the old stuff.

mp3 : Bernard & Edwyn - Message for Jojo

Bernard Butler and Edwyn Collins had worked together previous to the release of this single. Back in 1995, they co-wrote some material which made it onto b-sides of Edwyn singles and there was the fact that Bernard liked to use Edwyn's studios for much of his production work. They also appeared together on a few music shows but all I can find was them covering an old Python Lee Jackson number (which originally featured Rod Stewart on lead vocal):-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG4M1qAQDv4

Message for Jojo is a single released in 2001. It didn't get anywhere near the charts....not sure how many folk in addition to myself bought it (the sticker on the front of the CD case tells me I paid £2.99 from the long-closed Tower Records). It's a pleasant enough single without being ground-breaking.....the lead vocal is taken by Bernard when it undoubtedly would have been better handled by Edwyn. But believe me, it is a song that gets better with repeated listens.....and the chorus does become quite infectious after a while.

There were two other tracks on the CD single:-

mp3 : Bernard & Edwyn - Can't Do That (The Hoover)
mp3 : Bernard & Edwyn - Clean

The former is a very bizarre but immensely likeable five and a bit minutes. There's a hint of the sort of dance music played by Air about it. I reckon if it was played to you for the first time with no hint who was involved, you would have gotten long odds on guessing it was a collaboration between the former guitarist in Suede and the former frontman of Orange Juice.

The latter is a bit disappointing after what has gone before. It's a bit of a nondescript ballad if truth be told.....but you may have a different viewpoint. Again, I feel it might have benefited from Edwyn taking lead vocal.......

So there you have it....something a wee bit different from 10 years ago to hopefully brighten up your Monday morning.

TVV XMAS CONTEST

There was a fantastic response to the TVV Xmas Contest in which readers were offered the opportunity to win the entire back catalogue of Song By Toad Records.

Thirty seven of you correctly said that the first band signed to the record label was Meursault.

The entries did come from all over the world, but the winner came from a wee bit closer to home. It was Katie Ellis from Bruntsfield in Edinburgh. Congratulations to Katie and commiserations to everyone else. I now have to go out and busk for about two weeks to come up with enough money to pay Matthew for all the vinyl and CDs. At least I might be spared postage.....I've asked Katie if she wouldn't mind receiving the prize in person. If she agrees, I'll try and get a photo taken for historical purposes.

One of the bits of vinyl in the package will be this excellent b-side on a 7" single:-

mp3 : Meursault - A Few Kind Words

Drew and then myself played this at two of the Blog Rocking Beats nights last summer....it went down very well both times.

I SPEAK YOUR EVERY WORD

IN THE ABSENCE OF HAVING ANY NEW MATERIAL AVAILABLE FROM ANY OF THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS, I'VE DUG INTO THE TVV ARCHIVES TO REPRODUCE (BUT SLIGHTLY ADAPT) THIS PIECE FROM JANUARY 2007, WRITTEN WHEN THE BLOG WAS IN ITS INFANCY.......

The post-punk era in the late 70s and early 80s wasn't all about jumping about down the front.

The man pictured above is John Cooper Clarke. He is a poet.

You listened to what JCC had to say. He was often a support act for many acts - let's face it, all he needed was the bus/train fare and a microphone - and he had a fantastic stage presence that commanded attention.

Maybe it was the big hair; maybe it was the unmistakable Salford/Manchester accent; maybe it was because he had something meaningful to say, often in a very humorous way; maybe it was a combination of all of the above.

I saw him a few times in the 80s - most often at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the days when it was truly an underground sort of event rather than a vehicle for comics to come to town and make a fortune over a three-week period.

The mp3 offering might sound like a bit of a misogynist rant. But listen carefully and you'll hear that it is a brilliantly worded attack on bigots who can't bear to see mixed-race marriages.

mp3 : John Cooper Clarke - I Married A Monster From Outer Space

And here's something visual:-



Beasley Street is a track I consider his best piece of work. Written in 1980, and it's a sad reflection on society and its inability to deal with inequalities that there is almost certainly a Beasley Street not too far from where you live - especially if you live in a major city.

JCC is still on the go today. The original posting was inspired by an interview with him in the then current edition of Mojo magazine - an interview conducted by Alex Turner of The Arctic Monkeys.

Happy Listening.