I've lifted the following info straight from the official Lightning Seeds website:-
In 1983, Ian Broudie teamed up with ex-Wild Swans singer Paul Simpson to form the duo Care. Care signed to the Arista label and released three singles, My Boyish Days, Flaming Sword and Whatever Possessed You. Ian still likes to perform Flaming Sword live, and it is also available as a b-side on the Sense single. Success did not amount to much. They spilt for a few reasons.
Broudie explains the split of Care: "Paul and myself had very different tastes. At the time, everything was synthesized but I was listening to a lot of 60s stuff and thought it would be a good to have flutes, bassoons and piccolos in our songs. Paul wrote me a letter saying he wasn't into the 60s stuff. He just dismissed me really."
It's a real pity the partnership didnt work out as the three singles were quite stunning:-
The debut:-
mp3 : Care - My Boyish Days (12" version)
mp3 : Care - An Evening In the Ray
mp3 : Care - Sad Day For England
The middle single:-
mp3 : Care - Flaming Sword (12" single)
mp3 : Care - Misericorde
mp3 : Care - On The White Cloud
These are both in the cupboard, but I cant for the life of me (or indeed Riley), find my copy of the third single:-
mp3 : Care - Whatever Possessed You
That particular rip is from the CD compilation Diamomds And Emeralds, released in 1997 to cash in on Broudie's fame, particularly on the back of him co-composing Three Lions in 1996.
To the best of my knowledge, Care only ever made one TV appearance on a BBC music programme called The Oxford Road Show (so called as it was broadcast from the Manchester studios located at that domain):-
After Pete Wylie failed to give WEA Records a single that was as epic and barnstorming as the 1982 hit The Story Of The Blues, the label dropped him and his band.
Not long afterwards, having penned a deal with Beggars Banquet, this single took The Mighty Wah! back into the charts in 1984:-
It was a single released on a number of different formats. The 12" version that sits in my cupboard has this as the lead, which combines and extends the title track with another, giving you 10 minutes worth of music:-
mp3 : The Mighty Wah! - Come Back (The Story Of The Reds) & The Devil In Miss Jones (combined and extended)
Flip the single over and you find a lyrically different version which is a far from veiled attack on his former paymasters:-
mp3 : The Mighty Wah! - Come Back! (The Return Of The Randy Scouse Git)
One of the funniest things about all of this is that the label says it is 'courtesy of WEA Records Ltd' which would seem to indicate that Pete presented it this bosses as a great big 'get it right up you' knowing full well he was on the verge of getting the bullet....giving them the epic tune they wanted but a lyric that was unnaceptable.
The third and final track is an instrumental version of the main song, which I reckon has something of a demo feel about it:-
mp3 : The Mighty Wah! - From Disco Dicko To A Kid In Care
The title of this could be a sideways swipe at his contemporaries Paul Simpson and/or Ian Broudie who had, by this time, indeed formed a very fine band called Care. But maybe I'm reading too much into things.....
Oh and today's posting is dedicated to John Greer, Sunday Correspondent extraordinaire who has long been a devotee of Pete Wylie.
One of the things my file host does is let me know how many times a particular track has been downloaded. This got in excess of 500 downloads when it was first loaded in November 2009:-
mp3 : The Maisonettes - Heartbreak Avenue
A #7 hit single in December 1982 and a memorable bit of pop music.
Thought I'd dig out some footage this time:-
Rolfrom the always entertaining Sunset Over Slawitleft a comment behind last time out advising that the singer had been part of an earlier band that had enjoyed this hit single:-
I do now remember this now that I've played it again.
A #8 hit in 1978. Hated it then. Hasn't grown a bit on me since.
Oh and here's the b-side of The Maisonettes number:-
Given that I'm not doing the usual Friday feature, I dont think I can say that I am.
A very big thank you to everyone who visited this past two weeks, especially those of you who helped out with the query about the record sleeve,
And of course an enormous thank you to Comrade Colin for his three pieces....I of course fucked up by not including the images he kindly provided. I've done so now and I'd ask all of you to be nice folk and scroll down and have a look at them.
Also...to any of you reading this who perhaps have sent an email over the past two few weeks....again my thanks and a request that you bear with me for a few more days before I get round to replying. I'm still busy catching up with work issues and some precious sleep just now....
One day soon I will explain why I had to suddenly depart for 10 days and head over to Florida. It wasn't a holiday as such that I was on....and I know I'm being cryptic....but there will be a better time to say a bit more.
So I'm hoping those of you who tune in for the regular stuff like the 5 tracks for Friday, the Saturday piece on The Smiths and the guest stuff by the Sunday Correspondents will cut me a wee bit more slack for a few more days and allow me to ease myself back in gently.
Here's a few songs that dont really need any words to say how wonderful they are:-
mp3 : Trembling Blue Stars - Abba On The Jukebox (7" version)
mp3 : Billy Bragg - The Saturday Boy
mp3 : Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Diamond Dew
Really should have been #1 if you don't mind me saying.
The record label had actually asked Pet Shop Boys to consider producing the track, but by the time they were available the marketing plans for the single were well in hand. As a result, it was a remix that PSB eventually worked on, and it found its way out as a b-side on To The End, released three months later:-
mp3 : Blur - Girls & Boys (7" remix)
mp3 : Blur - Girls & Boys (12" remix)
The remix, in the words of Chris Lowe,was much more electronic which replaced the original bassline with an electronic bass part and some sequencer lines.
Later that year, PSB performed the song live when they toured South America:-
mp3 : Pet Shops Boys - Girls & Boys (live in Rio)
Hopefully, normal service will resume tomorrow. Thanks for continuing to visit while I've been away.
4pm Update
Seems the links have gone down (see comment from swiss adam).
This most likely means
(a) someone has been in touch with my file hosts to claim copyright and that inevitably the post itself will disappear as well with blogger being hit with a DMCA: or
(b) there is a general problem with the file host .
I will try and resolve things ASAP.
JC
4.15pm Update
It was (b). And I've now resolved it. Had forgot to update credit card details for payment purposes!!!
But I reckon it will still be a day or two before my brain and body get back in sync after the trip back from Florida. Wish me luck coping back at work today.
This is a very appropriate song for the way I'm feeling:-
mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep
The title track of his magnificent LP of 2010, it was also released as a single.
Here's yer b-side.
mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep (instrumental)
Cracking video as well:-
And I'm cheating, by reproducing in its entirety, a posting from September 2009, with Part 32 of the long-running series that featured all the Morrissey solo singles.
My only pathetic excuse for being so lazy is that it does offer newer readers the opportunity to listen to some of the rarer b-sides.
But please......Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before.....
"When I started out on this quest to review ever single released by Morrissey, I didn't have all of them in the collection - some 95% of them perhaps, but not all of them. I thought it would be a simple enough task to track down those that were missing.
Wrong.
This one proved a bit awkward unless I was prepared to pay over £40 for a copy.
Although I'm a fan of I Just Want To See The Boy Happy (trombone playing on a Morrissey record??? Hurrah!!!) , it was the fourth single lifted from Ringleader of The Tormentors and as far as I was aware, the b-sides only had live versions of old songs. It also was released not long before Xmas 2006 and I'm no different from anyone else in wanting to having other priorities for my pennies and pounds at that time of year. It was sheer stupidity that caused me to overlook the fact that a previously unreleased song was on the CD single...here was me only looking at the two versions of the vinyl.
The three different formats, combined with the new song, and a couple of the best live recordings he's shoved out, helped generate enough sales to take the single to a more than respectable #16 in the UK charts. But in January 2007, the record label made one final effort to get in some cash with a 12" picture disc, limited to 1,000 copies, with all the tracks on the different formats brought together. And when I began this series, I was determined to track down an affordable copy of the single, which I did thanks to a seller from Germany.
mp3 : Morrissey - I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
mp3 : Morrissey - Sweetie-Pie
mp3 : Morrissey - I Want The One I Can't Have (live)
mp3 : Morrissey - Speedway (live)
mp3 : Morrissey - Late Night, Maudlin Street (live)
The previously unreleased song, Sweetie-Pie, is a rather strange-sounding but entrancing track which I reckon should have been included on the LP just because it is so different from the majority of songs he was releasing at the time.
I really do like this version of Speedway, which I reckon is one of the best songs he's recorded at any point in his career, solo or with his old band, while the performance of Late Night, Maudlin Street is also more than passable (and non-fans can take heart from the fact its a couple of minutes shorter than the original studio version).
I will not pass comment however, on the cover of the song by The Smiths.
All three live tracks were lifted from shows at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2002. These were at a time when he was without any sort of record contract and are reckoned by many to be among some of the best he's ever played as he was determined to show the London media luvvies that he was still worth writing and talking about......it worked as he was back with a venegance less than a year later.
As with so many of the other releases at this time, the sleeve photos were taken by celebrated Italian fashion photographer Fabio Lovino.
It can't really be 28 years since this was a #8 hit.....
mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - The Cutter
Love it. Really do love it. When the opening notes come out over the speakers, you just cant mistake it for any other song ever recorded. But more than that, I adore the noise that Will Sergeant coaxes out his guitar after Mac sings 'Spare us The Cutter".
Add check out the video to see how young they all looked. I used to have hair like Mac's......sigh.
The 12" had two fantastic tracks on the b-side, one of which saw Mac introduce the song with the immortal words, "We're Echo & The Burundi Men"
mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - Way Out And Up We Go
mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - Zimbo (live)
The latter is an extraordinary performance of the song All My Colours recorded at the WOMAD Festival in 1982 and featuring the mighty talents of the Royal Burundi Drummers
Happy Listening. No really, it is.....
Bonus track time:-
mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - The Cutter (alternative version)
This is a 'hidden' track on Disc 4 of the Crystal Days 1979-1999 boxset. And shouldn't be confused with the track The Original Cutter - A Drop In The Ocean which appeared on the b-side of the 12" of Never Stop.
THE SHOW IS WELL AND TRULY OVER, AND IT HAS BEEN FOR A WEE WHILE NOW
As JC knows well, I had fallen out of love many, many years before New Order arrived in a dark, damp and drizzly Glasgow in October 2006 to play a couple of ‘Sold Out’ shows at the Academy. I’m still not sure why I went, although misplaced loyalty and foolish nostalgia probably had a hand in it. It was certainly not the cheap tickets that made me venture out, that’s for sure. Hooky must have had a new fridge to pay off or something.
Indeed, nostalgia was the root cause for my attendance, most likely, for their show at the Dundee Caird Hall, supported by the astoundingly nervous The Wake, in 1986, was one of the first ‘I will never ever forget this night’ gigs I attended. It was just spectacular, from Bernard, as ever, fluffing a few chords and swearing at himself, and us, to the crowd, stripped to the waist, punching the fuck out of each other. The energy and mood was dynamic that night, a determination and pride existed to just ‘go for it’, punters and musicians alike. Anyway, that was ‘then’. The ‘now’ is a bit different.
JC and I disagree on little, in terms of the music that hits our interesting spots, but one of the friendly and slightly tongue-in-cheek debates we’ve had over a few ales is where we stand on New Order. I argue, with the low-slung bassline of truth on my side, that the last thing they ever got right, as an album, was Low-Life, with perhaps a footnote to recognise that Fine Time was an ok ‘spirit of the times’ single. For JC it’s a bit different. He argues some of the later work is as good as what came before it.
Clearly he is wrong, clearly, but what I will say is that as I stood there in the coalshed that is the Academy that very depressing night, hearing Bernard screech his way through some of Ian’s best songs, his most poetic words, is that Your Silent Face saved the night. And it was only this song that saved the night, for me at least (if only because the fucking screeching mostly stopped, for a wee while anyway).
And, whilst we are at it, I would politely suggest that Your Silent Face is one of the very best songs New Order have ever recorded (in the Top 5, certainly) from probably the second best album they ever recorded, Power Corruption and Lies. This live version taken from one of the nights in Glasgow, illustrates the fact that genius can exist, for a moment, in even the most worn out of bands.
mp3 : New Order – Your Silent Face (live, Glasgow) (5.52)
I could be wrong but I think it was John Spears, in his book on the American slave trade, who wondered (in a rhetorical way, clearly) if there was anything new to be said about great historical events, such as the slave trade, where so much ink and paper had already been usefully employed. He pondered this question in the preface to a book that was nearly 300 pages long. His answer was in the writing, I guess. There is always something more to be said, even if it is just about a certain reinterpretation of already well-established facts. In that spirit, and obviously not to compare the horrors of slave trade to a simple song by The Smiths, you do wonder what more can be said about The Headmaster Ritual that hasn’t already been said, apart from wondering why JC hasn’t featured it yet in this particular series? To be sure, lots of ink (and tears, doubtless) has been spilt waxing lyrical about, yes, The Greatest Lyrics He Ever Wrote. Where do you even begin - with those belligerent ghouls and their cemented minds, the kids with bruises bigger than dinner plates? And all taking place down the nape of HIS neck. Sigh. It was a case of a few well-chosen phrases from Moz capturing the absolute essence of being amongst the downtrodden junior ranks in an oppressive school institution. Grange Hill it was not. It was also a sight to behold, this played live, Morrissey machine-gunning the audience in time to Mike Joyce’s pitter-patter-pitter-patter quickshot drumming. All those da-da-da’s as well... Need more be said? Well, you know, the track kicked-off Side A of, arguably, the second-best album The Smiths ever made. It was just under five minutes long, and science has now long proven that this is the very best amount of time that a modern pop/rock song should last. I suppose the only problem was that on the album, Meat is Murder, another song had to follow it... and that was of course Rusholme Ruffians, quite the stroke of genius, actually. This version of ‘The Headmaster Ritual’ is taken from a live show in Barcelona, captured for TV. It is stupidly good and demands repeated plays at high volume. I am sure JC would not wish for anything less. Now, all together, da-da-da....
mp3 : The Smiths – The Headmaster Ritual (live, Barcelona) (4.16) Note From JC
The reason I havent featured this stupendous song before was that I always hoped the best blog writer in the world, and the bloke who inspired me to start this thing all those years ago, would share his thoughts on it with us.
Thanks Comrade Colin. More power to your fingertips.
And as a favour dear readers, coule I ask that you pay him a proper visit by clicking here....
mp3 : The Smiths - The Headmaster Ritual
PS : Happy Birthday to my wee brother Stevie - I know you eventually came round to agreeing with me that The Smiths were an exceptionally talented band. I'm glad you did get to see them play live before their break-up. One of the best gigs you've ever been to me I'm sure.....
Another week in which your scribe gives himself sleepless nights trying to work out which five to select.
The really good news this week is that Malcolm Middleton has consistently released his best songs as singles, and so they don't qualify for inclusion today. That means for fans of Loneliness Shines, Break My Heart, A Brighter Beat, Beep Beep I Love You, Fight Like The Night, We're All Going To Die, Blue Plastic Bags, Red Travelling Socks and Zero, I apologise. But as fans you'll love and adore those songs anyway (although when it comes to fans of Fight Like The Night, I think the taste police might pay you a visit one day.....)
That means I've only around 50 songs to choose from. And its been bloody difficult. The good thing is that by going with Malky this week, I've had a great excuse to listen to his work in its entirety all week while going back and forth from work.
The final five chosen today probably wouldn't be the five I would choose next week. I really cant decide from about 20 of his album tracks which ones I prefer over others...much of this is down to the fact that I've seen him play gigs so often and in different settings that the memorable live renditions are a big influence...
But I'm going to give it a go.
There's two tracks from his second LP Into The Woods, which was released in 2005 and really did make a lot of people sit up and realise that here was someone who was equally as talented a songwriter as Aidan Moffat, the other half of Arab Strap. It's a consistently excellent record, and I've gone for these:-
The former is an amazing song about the joy, happiness, worry and misery of having a relationship....and must be the only song that name checks McCoy's crisps. It was also one that Malky played when I asked for it at a record-shop appearance years ago...so it will always have a special place in my heart.
The latter was the first song that featured the violin of Jenny Reeve who would become a mainstay of his touring band for the next four or so years as well as a central part of the sound of later albums. In some ways it is a typical Middleton song featuring a downbeat self-deprecating lyric over an upbeat tune!! Someone a few days ago asked which songs vest represent Scotland - this is one I'd likely have on my list.
In 2007, he released A Brighter Beat, his first record since the break-up of Arab Strap. It was another strong record featuring some very catchy and hummable tunes. Just a pity that with a chorus of Fuck It I Love You, the most catchy of these was never destined for daytime radio, while the substitution of Beep Beep for Fuck It somehow diminished the song's impact.
mp3 : Malcolm Middleton - Superhero Songwriters
An epic tune that is almost seven minutes in length with loads of changes in tempo and volume, it's one that was a highlight of the live shows that year. And the one where I punched some arsehole at the Classic Grand in Glasgow for talking very loudly all the way through it, particularly the really quiet bit about three and a half minutes in.....
Moving on to the mini LP Sleight Of Heart released in early 2008, this was the first album in which Malcolm listened to those folk who had been telling him he was a talented lyricist and that he should include them with the records.
mp3 : Malcolm Middleton - Love Comes In Waves
Another terrific number about the up and down nature of relationships. I'm particularly fond of this as it contains the line 'Love is raining in Glasgow' which can be interpreted in so many ways.....
And finally, given that he has said he will continue to record but in different ways this is from what may or not be the very final Malcolm Middleton solo release Waxing Gibbous which hit the shops in 2009 :-
mp3 : Malcolm Middleton - Shadows
See....he can do great pop songs as well!!! Just dance as Lady Gaga might instruct.....
I know I haven't included anything from the 2002 debut LP 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine, but I thought I'd make up for it with a promo for one of the standout but admittedly rather depressing tracks:-
Honestly. If you don't have any Malcolm Middleton material, please do something about it. A great place to start is his double live CD which can be bought at this place.
With more bands than ever name-checking Joy Division as a key influence, then it surely goes without saying that this, one of the last things they wrote as a band is timeless:-
mp3 : New Order - Ceremony
Ceremony was released on two occasions - March 1981 with the above pictured bronze sleeve on 7" and with a green sleeve as the 12", and then in September 1981 as a 12" with a cream and blue sleeve.
The second release sounded quite a bit different from the original. It was also the first recording Gillian Gibert made with the band - it was before she was announced as an official member - and she played guitar.
mp3 : New Order - Ceremony
Joy Division had incorporated the song into their sets, but had never got round to making a proper recording. A live version was made available on the posthumous LP Still in 1980, while Disc 3 of the box setHeart and Soul provided a rehearsal version, caught from studio time in Prestwich near Manchester:-
mp3 : Joy Division - Ceremony
As I said, more and more bands are admitting a debt to Joy Division, and one of the biggest and most popular in the world paid their own tribute a few years back:-
This email dropped into the TVV inbox a few days ago:-
Dear Villain - Longtime listener, first-time caller. At this morning's record swap in Pasadena (Los Angeles) California, I was lucky enough to find Kate Bush's "Wow," which I snapped up based on your recommendation almost exactly two years ago. Revisiting your review, I note that you lack a copy of the B-side Full House. Are you still in need? I could oblige...
And until just the other day, I didnt have a copy of the b-side.
mp3 : Kate Bush - Full House
Andrew advises that it is taken from a French 7" on Sonopresse and that the sleeve is similar to the UK one which appears above except it has the A-side title beneath her name, same font. The title on both the label and sleeve is "Full House" - two words. Credits are the same as the A-side: writer Kate Bush, prod. and arr. Andrew Powell, assisted by Kate Bush.
It is e-mails like this that remind me why I spend hours on the nonsense that is TVV. And for nostalgia's sake, as well as the fact that its a top tune, here's the a-side:-
mp3 : Kate Bush - Wow
Incidentally, Andrew has asked TVV readers to help him with something that is bugging him....
The 1969 Ken Loach film Kes has a distinctive poster image showing a boy holding up two fingers, apparently in defiance. The image struck him as instantly familiar from an 80's sleeve but he can't remember which one! He's thinkingUndertones or Echo and the Bunnymen, but neither of those seem exactly right... "see if it rings any bells, or if your readers can figure it out". Here's the DVD cover:
Now its not the sort of list that ranks everyone from 1-100, so whether the organisers of the Top 100 indie music blogs for students felt I was worthy of being near the top or I just scraped in at #99 (or lower!!), I will never know.
Pulp did release loads of great 45s, and Common People quite rightly will be at the top of most lists.
But this is one that I reckon is hugely underrated. One of the most beautiful lyrics of that whole Britpop era with a tune and arrangement that is so reminiscent of Tindersticks:-
mp3 : Pulp - Something Changed
Released in March 1996, it was the fourth single lifted from the LP Different Class, and like the other three it went Top 10. It really is quite remarkable to think back and realise just how massively popular Jarvis & Co were in the mid 90s. And rightly so.
The CD single had tow different sleeves, but the sametracks:-
mp3 : Pulp - Mile End
mp3 : Pulp - F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.E.D.L.O.V.E.(The Moloko Mix)
mp3 : Pulp - F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.E.D.L.O.V.E.(live from the Brixton Academy)
The first of these is the band's rather underwhelming contribution to the soundtrack of Trainspotting, while the others are versions of another of the tracks on Different Class - one that was . The Moloko Mix is one that would have bemused many....I remember it coming on one day on shuffle when I was sunbathing face down by a pool in a very warm climate. It felt just perfect for that moment.....
LOVE'S THE ONLY COUNTRY I KNOW Whilst JC is away over the water, I feel it is necessary to right a very grave wrong in terms of this wee villainous part of the blog landscape.
The big man has double-portion chips (salt n’ sauce, eh?) on his sizeable shoulders regarding one of the best bands to come from our much-loved and shared city, Glasgow.
Just mention The Blue Nile to him and he does this comical impression, Vic Reeves ‘club singer’ style, and croons in an exaggerated (and utterly hilarious) fashion ‘Doooo ah luv youuuuu, ayeee, ah pure dead luv youuuuuuse’. And this is all without having to consume eight or nine vodka and cranberry beverages.
Yeah, for sure, it’s an easy target that song. But it isn’t all about the tinsel, a town and being in the rain. To categorise a band, any band, by one song - especially their best known song – is unwise. Just ask The Rolling Stones (er, is that a bad example?). You need to look beneath the surface, into the back catalogue. And so it is with The Blue Nile. I just wish JC would give them a proper go and see that with the likes of Peace at Last (1996) and High (2004), especially, their sound evolved and became much warmer and lush, employing more acoustic guitars and non-electronic percussion instruments.
However, having said this, Hats (1989) is still the absolute masterpiece and cannot be beaten in terms of mood, atmosphere and sentiments. If ever there was an album for cold, late nights, sweet red wine and bitter regrets this is it. Whatever the album pick, under it all is Paul Buchanan’s rich, seductive voice and his lyrics which are, in essence, observational diaries of a city in movement, with all the living and loving that goes on each and every day within them. He has a way with words that stretch far beyond the few that JC chooses to tease me with.
Anyway, this live version of Body and Soul (recorded for the BBC Jools Holland TV show) will probably not make the auld fellow change his mind. I’m not quite sure anything would make him change his mind. It has been set in a game/match type of way since about 1984. But, no matter, I hope some of you, his loyal readership, might enjoy The Blue Nile and perhaps, in time, harass JC to admit it’s his big loss.
In closing, I’ll repeat what I said in a comment a wee while back - how someone can wax so lyrical about Paul Haig and not Paul Buchanan is beyond mah ken. You need to explain yourself, JC.... again!
mp3 : The Blue Nile – Body and Soul (live, Jools Holland) (6.29) Comrade Colin, Sunday 13 February 2011
When so many songs written and sung by men boast of sexual conquests, here was Morrisseyadmitting that he's had disasters....
It's a tale of a nightmare of a rendez-vous on the beach with a female desperate to have her wicked way with our poor hero who is so lacking in confidence and experience that he cannot consummate the relationship.
As a tune, it is rather typical of the early band with the jaunty jingly-jangly guitar to the fore. It really could have been a great single - and seemingly it wasMorrissey's wish that it be the follow-up to This Charming Man instead of What Difference Does It Make?.
And if anyone wants proof of how good a job producer John Porter did with the early material, compare and contrast the version that would have come out if the Troy Tate sessions had been unleashed on the world:-
mp3 : The Smiths - Pretty Girls Make Graves (Troy Tate version)
It has a totally different feel, and while I admit the cello at the back of the vocal during what could loosely be called the chorus is a bit of class, it is all just a bit too disjointed and strange for my overall liking. But I'm sure there will be some out there who prefer it. (It was released as the b-side on the 7" and 12" versions of second-to-last single I Started Something I Couldn't Finish in October 1987.
And here's a live version captured at the band's debut Scottish show in Glasgow in 1984:-
mp3 : The Smiths - Pretty Girls Make Graves (live)
Quite faithful to the LP version dontcha think??
Something very unexpected has cropped up and I'm now going to be out of the UK and over in Florida for the best part of two weeks. It's not a holiday as such, but it is a break away from the old routine. I'll explain a bit more at a more appropriate time.
Rather than close down TVV for the duration, I've called in some favours from Comrade Colin, shuffled today's intended Top 5 to next Friday and cobbled together, rather hurriedly, a short series of other posts some of which will feature fantastic singles from days gone which, in my very humble opinion, have more than stood the test of time. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy the blog in my absence.
The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) was not, I confess, a real favourite when it was released in September 1982. It was just all a bit too soppy for this adrenalin-driven 19 year-old dedicated follower of The Jam. But as I've grown older and my tastes have matured, I see it for what it is. One of the best things Weller has ever penned. Killer tune.
mp3 : The Jam - The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow)
I always loved the two tracks that made up the b-side, with its medley of an original and a cover
mp3 : The Jam - Pity Poor Alfie/Fever
The single reached #2 in the Uk singles charts on its release and #30 in 1997 when it was re-released by the record company moguls.
And from Disc 5 in the box set, Direction, Reaction, Creation, here's a couple of bonuses for you:-
mp3 : The Jam - The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) (First Version)
mp3 : The Jam - Pity Poor Alfie (Swing Version)
Happy Listening.
It reached #48 in the UK, although it did considerably better in the USA, reaching #46.
As a follow-up in their home country, the record label decided to release the opening track of the hugely popular Green LP:-
mp3 : R.E.M. - Pop Song '89
The record company desperately wanted another huge hit, so were keen that a suitable promo be made for heavy rotation on MTV. They were probably quite pleased when they learned singer Michael Stipe was going to direct it thinking it would give them another angle for press stories. The finished video got them press coverage, but not of the type they had originally hoped for.
It featured four dancers, one of whom was Stipe himself, stripped to the waist. And you could see their nipples.....oh the shock and horror. The censors went to work and superimposed black bars on the chests of all four dancers. Even today, I couldn't find a version on the notoriously ultra-conservative you tube. But I searched elsewhere:-
Long before the sad and sobering adverts for car insurance, James Osterberg Jr made some very important and very influential records. Particularly two LPs that were released in 1977 - The Idiot and Lust for Life - both written, produced and very heavily influenced by David Bowie.
It was the Bowie connection that led to Mrs V purchasing both albums at the time, and they take a proud place in among the many other bits of plastic that sit within the cupboard just yards from where I'm sitting typing these words.
Its quaint to read the words printed on the back of The Idiot:-
Stereo records give full stereo reproduction when played on a stereo record player. They can be played om most modern mono players fitted with a lightweight tone arm and pick-up head and the sound reproduction will be monoaural. If you have any doubts and wish to avoid damaging your equipment or records, consult your dealer.
Given the prodigious amounts of drugs that were consumed during the course of making these records, I've a feeling that Iggy Pop would have been consulting an altogether different type of dealer.
Lust For Life contains one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Fact.
mp3 : Iggy Pop - The Passenger
Hard to believe now that it was passed over as a single and instead relegated to the b-side of Success, which was the only 45 lifted from the LP at the time.
And I wonder how many readers are aware of a very strong Scottish connection with The Passenger.....
Well, the music was written by Ricky Gardiner who first came to prominence in the very early 70s as a founder member of Beggars Opera, a prog rock band from Glasgow (although Gardiner himself was from Edinburgh). They never achieved much as a band, but Gardiner was by the mid 70s part of Bowie's backing band and part of the entourage that hooked up with Iggy. And its his playing of the distinctive riff that has filled many a floor at an indie disco the world over.
One of the best tracks on The Idiot is this:-
mp3 : Iggy Pop - Nightclubbing
It is highly representative of the dark and raw sound that dominates the LP.
A few years later, Half Man Half Biscuit took the piss out of it somewhat:-
mp3 : Half Man Half Biscuit - Seal Clubbing
Sadly however, the The Idiot is an LP that for many has become synomomous with tragedy, thanks to the fact that it was the last record played by Ian Curtis on the night he hanged himself....whether or not it was actually playing as he took his last breath we will never know.
Pop Will Eat Itself (also known as PWEI or The Poppies) are an English alternative rock band, originally formed in Stourbridge in 1986, with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as Grebo gurus, their style changed to incorporate sample driven indie and industrial rock. Their highest charting single was 1993's Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!. After initially disbanding in 1996, and having a brief reformation in 2005, they issued their first release in over five years in 2010.
I don't own a lot of their material. Just six of their singles and a greatest hits compilation album released back in 1993. Nevertheless, I always enjoy when of their songs comes round on random play on the i-pod.
They actually notched up twelve Top 40 singles, but outwith the aforementioned Get The Girl....only two of the others got any higher than #23 indicating a very loyal not not enormous fan base.
This was a #32 hit from 1990:-
mp3 : Pop Will Eat Itself - Dance of The Mad... (Feet On Heat Mix)
mp3 : Pop Will Eat Itself - Dance Of The Mad... (7" version)
mp3 : Pop Will Eat Itself - Preaching To The Perverted (Remixed)
Cracking stuff.
Occasionally I will have a wee check at some stats relating to TVV and I always get a kick when I see that readers come from all corners of the globe. Now I'm guessing that most folk come by to have a listen to songs or bands they are well familiar with - maybe to grab a listen to a long-forgotten b-side or the like - but I'm hoping some are doing so on the basis of taking a chence on something a bit different.
I thought that today I'd dig something out from the cupboard that might be a bit less well-known, particularly outside of Scotland. I'm starting with one of my favourite 45s from back in 2006:-
mp3 : Popup - Lucy, What Are You Trying To Say?
mp3 : Popup - In Her Day (Chuck's -a-legend Mix)
Popup consist of Michael Cross, Damian Gilhooly, Adrienne Giudici and Nicholas Guidici. Lucy..... was their debut single and at the time I think at the time of its release, all of the band were students at various educational establishments in Glasgow. It took until 2008 before their debut LP, A Time And A Place, was released, thanks to financial support from The National Lottery and the Scottish Arts Council.
Since then, the band have been relatively quiet, but according to their myspace site work is progresing on demos fro a second LP while they've been confirmed as playing a couple of shows at the forthcoming SxSW festival in Austin, Texas. Hopefully they'll be out and about gigging in the Glasgow area again before too long. I'll easily be the oldest person in the room.......
Here's two promo videos for the single:-
I reckon this is as good a way to start any morning, never mind a particularly drab, dreich, dark and depressing one such as today.
Sundays are a day for quiet reflection. An oasis of tranquillity before a week of turbulence. Not last week.
Drew at Across The Kitchen Table had a teeth-grindingly awful post on MES on Sunday and if that weren't bad enough TVV compounds it by having a haigographic MES post on Monday. Enough is enough. TVV isn't a place for haters. Except this week.
What is it about MES that inspires such affection? That's rhetorical by the way. How can a man with a one note career inspire such affection and loyalty? That's also rhetorical.
Let us consider the evidence. The sainted John Peel had him for more sessions than any other. Proving that no-one's perfect. We all have our blind spots.
Doesn't MES' ever-changing band line up tell you that the man's a menace? Doesn't his treatment of Brix Smith show you the shallow nastiness of the man? Doesn't the regular no shows or short pissed sets show you how much he dismisses you, his fans.
MES has been recycling the same song for over 30 years. Album after album of twangy, shouty nonsense. And you buy it.
Make a stand. Say no. Don't buy. Don't write. Let him disappear into the vastness of history. Allow him to sink into the cesspit of his drinking, drug taking and all round nastiness.
Apologists will claim that tracks like Eat Yourself Fitter are suitable to be set alongside great acts like Joy Division. That his dedication to one type of ill-conceived and half-formed garage rock shows a dedication to ploughing his own furrow and a dedication to his art. It doesn't. Its because he knows no other chord. Making music for contemporary dance is no excuse either. It's luvvies getting off on each other.
Please let it end with this post. Let the blogosphere unite and not write.
Niceness will re-emerge next week.
Colin, Sunday 6 February 2011 Note from JC
Colin didn't select any mp3s to accompany his epistle. So I've done it for him. I hope he doesn't mind these:-
mp3 : The Jazz Butcher - Southern Mark Smith (Big Return)
mp3 : R.E.M. - Fall On Me (unplugged)
0600 : Accept kind offer of lift from Mrs V taking me from Villain Towers to Glasgow City Centre (3 Miles)
0630 : Train from Glasgow to Edinburgh (45 miles)
0720 : Arrive Edinburgh, meet Jacques the Kipper
0728: Train from Edinburgh to Aberdeen (130 miles)
0952 : Arrive Aberdeen, having washed down breakfast with vodka
1014 : Train from Aberdeen to Keith (42 miles) having enjoyed vodka with elevenses
1117 : Arrive Keith
1120 : Taxi from Keith to Buckie (15 miles)
1145 : Arrive Buckie. Go To Pub
1500 : Watch Buckie Thistle v Brechin City in last 16 tie of Scottish Cuo
1700 : Exit ground and Go To Pub while JtK goes and says hello to his folks in the house he grew up in
1820 : Bus from Buckie to Keith (15 miles)
1900 : Arrive Keith
1916 : Train from Keith to Aberdeen (42 miles) drain last of vodka
2030 : Arrive Aberdeen.
2042 : Train from Aberdeen to Glasgow (150 miles). Say farewell to JtK at Dundee as he catches connection to Edinburgh. Try not to fall asleep.
2315 : Arrive Glasgow and join long queue for taxi back to Villain Towers (3 miles)
2359 : Get to Bed and Sleep
So that’s an 18 hour day, of which around half will be spent either on trains or within railway stations, and 445 miles all told for a game of football lasting 90 minutes.
There’s only one song for today:-
mp3 : The Smiths - The Draize Train
An instrumental number first made available on the b-side of the 12” version of Panic and released in July 1986.
It was the only track in the band’s history that was credited solely to Johnny Marr. Seemingly, Morrissey was encouraged by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade to compose a lyric, with the record company boss believing it was the best bit of music the guitarist had written. Moz on the other hand thought it was the weakest thing he’d ever done and refused to get involved.
Speaking frankly, whether to Mr Shankly or a wider audience, it is neither the best nor the worst. But it does show off how skillful the band were as instrumentalists and was considered an important enough track to feature in quite a few live sets, particularly when the band were temporarily a five-piece with the addition of Craig Gannon. And of course a live version was made available of the posthumously released Rank LP:-
One of my favourite and I reckon one of the most under-appreciated bands in Scotland, Sons and Daughtershave been releasing records since late 2003. So far we've had one mini-LP and two full-length LPs of mostly excellent music.
It's been a while however, since we heard from them - three full years since the release of This Gift. It was a record that got a fair bit of hype at the time, and much was made of the fact that Bernard Butler was the producer.
At the time, I was very disappointed with the record, believing that it wasn't a patch on the previous releases - Love The Cup in 2003 and The Repulsion Box in 2005. I haven't changed my opinion all that much. It's actually the production rather than the songs themselves which gets on my nerves....which, given how much I've enjoyed some of Bernard's work with Edwyn Collins, is something I can't fathom.
If it hadn't been for this live show in Glasgow last year, I'd likely be convinced that the band had called it a day. The new material played that night provides a fair bit of hope for the next record, but sadly the official website doesn't give any indication if it is on its way.
I cant quite put my finger on what it is that I love about the band. On record they're hugely enjoyable, but it's the live environment that I most adore them. I've seen them headline a few shows, while I've also seen them open a few times on a Morrissey tour and in front of 9,000 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds fans at the Alexandra Palace a few years back.
Adele Bethel has a tremendous stage presence, and the chemistry with co-vocalist Scott Paterson is higely obvious. But at the same time , the rhythm section of Ailidh Lennon on bass and David Gow on drums is what really drives most of the songs on.
It wasn't easy narrowing it down to five songs for today. All five of their singles - Johnny Cash, Dance Me In, Taste The Last Girl, Gilt Complex and Darling - would have been contenders if all songs were eligible for inclusion. But their non-availability just made the final selection even tougher. But for what its worth:-
mp3 : Sons & Daughters - Fight
mp3 : Sons & Daughters - La Lune
mp3 : Sons & Daughters - Medicine
mp3 : Sons & Daughters - Rama Lama
mp3 : Sons & Daughters - Red Receiver
The first two date back to the debut mini-LP while the next three come from The Repulsion Box. And even as I type I'm not sure if these are the best 5 non-singles from those particular albums. You wont be all that surprised given what I wrote a few paras ago that none of the songs from This Gift force their way near the top of this personal chart.
Fight and La Lune both have some nifty mandolin work courtesy of Ailidh, an instrument she has been known to pluck away at on stage. It's a sound I do love hearing on a record - maybe its something subliminal from the famous TOTP clip with John Peel miming his playing of the instrument while Rod Stewart sang about Maggie May.
Medicine is a crazy, manic and breathless number which opens up The Repulsion Box. It somehow reminds me of an out-of-control ceilidh band at a Scottish wedding. Watch out for flying kilts.....
The other selected tracks are two magnificent tales set to incredible bits of music. The storyboards for the videos are there just waiting for the imaginative lighting and direction to be applied. Scottish film noir for the 21st Century.
The second EP was released in June 1997 and got to #41 in the UK charts. The title tracks features a guest vocal from Monica Queen and is, to this day, one of the band's most popular and enduring songs. It was one of the highlights of the recent live shows in late 2010:-
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian - Lazy Line Painter Jane
The other three tracks are a fine mix.
One is a lovely ballad in which Stuart's vocal delivery is fragile, seemingly teetering on the edge of breaking-up or going badly off-tune, and yet is the perfect accompaniment for a tune that has no single instrument ever dominating, whether it be the guitar, strings or percussion. And the last 15 seconds or so are just totally unexpected....a truly stunning and memorable bit of music when everything is considered.
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian - You Made Me Forget My Dreams
Another is one which could easily have been a single by any other band. It is classic indie-pop that blends twee and a sound that takes you back to the sort of things that used to come out of stereograms in the 60s and 70s. I dare you to avoid dancing as you listen - even if you are sitting down.
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian - Photo Jenny
The final track is quite bizarre. It's not so much a song as a short story narrated by then bassist Stuart David over a backing instrumental....but such was the popularity of said tune that it was later used again by the band on another early EP....but that's for another day:-
mp3 : Belle and Sebastian - A Century Of Elvis
The EP came with a great little short story printed on the back of the sleeve:-
Lazy Line Painter Jane prayed for an inspiration that would lift her above the mundanity of midday on a Thursday. She was in a hole, sat with egg and chips, watching buses through the plate glass and easy radio of some old cafe. She was too bashful to pray outright in the cafe, so she pretended to read her fortune at the bottom of her tea cup, and she got what she wanted that way.
The inspiration came along quite soon. It was lucky for her. It had seemed impossible, for her to feel ok, considering the trouble she was in. It seemed impossible, considering the gloominess of that lunchtime.
Jane had never managed to build Thursday into the weekend like some other people did. She didn’t look forward to the weekend anyway. The only good thing about the weekend was that it ushered in the following week. She was a slave to the working week. But she was unemployed.
She was doubtful whether she even deserved her Thursday gift. She had done a lot of swearing and shouting during her period. She almost felt guilty to take up the baton and run. But run she did. Straight to the cathedral graveyard. She took her idea straight through the cathedral graves and out, over the wall at the other end. She found herself in the East End of the city.
She took the inspiration and ran. It filled her like a playground balloon. Now she wasn’t treading on any toes. Jane’s agenda was clear. She just felt like running. To forget her joblessness and her hopelessness. Stripped of her present care, her skin was translucent, and she travelled fast and light over grass and stone precincts. She ran past lines of traffic into quiet streets where her breath and fast steps were the only sound she could hear. Stripped of her present care. And her guilt at being lazy.
Jane pretended she was making indie-rock videos as she tore through the East End. She thought herself quite magnificent, and caused only two minor disturbences as she went. She stopped running when she reached the river.
That was lovely. Reaching the river. A sudden wilderness of wasteland and trees. She may have been a bit worried if it wasn’t for the oxygen pumping in her head, acting like a drug. There was a path, dancing with industrial mayflys, constructed with an air of municipal grants. She followed it, ducking under flyovers, flying over traveller’s caravans. She ran past long curves of ash and alder. She ran until she flopped down in a bus shelter. The rain came on. She had run out of rock video fodder.
She waited in the bus shelter for a while. She had reached the main street of a town that was not part of the city at all. She had reached the provinces, and as such, the youth of the town flirted and taunted with an unaffected provincial air. Casuals drank QC. They put on a show for her, but they never challenged her directly. She was grateful they didn?t pick on her strangeness. Her inspiration had flagged, and she didn?t know how she could handle them by herself.
They went away, to be replaced by the town’s thinking girl’s talent. He smoked a regal cigarette, and paced around a little. Jane couldn’t decide if he was waiting for a bus, or if he had just come out because the rain had stopped. But she liked the sound his segs made on the wet pavement. And she admired him for his quiff. It was the biggest quiff that small town beatings would allow for. He sat down in the shelter. He obliged her by staring at her boots, and rubbing his forhead feverishly. He sat for the length of his cigarette and then went off, leaving Painter Jane alone.
She drank up the peace because she knew that she would be back in her house by fall of night. In the city, a dozen things would be vying for her attention simultaneously. She thought it was around six, but in fact it was nearer nine. She pulled her knees close to her chest. Her jogging bottoms smelled of pollen. She waited for the bus to take her back to the city. As she waited, she thought about how she had got her name, and what she was going to do about it.
Remember what I said about it being a highlight of the Barrowlands show?? I was probably about three rows back from the person who filmed this:-
As I said last time round I did this feature 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).
This particular series will feature some of those clips on TVV, complete with an mp3.
The Tube is fondly remembered as a ground-breaking telly programme from the 80s. What is less well remembered is Switch which the replacement that filled in over the summer months of when the first series of The Tube came to an end. There were some great clips from Switch. This is a live-ish rendition of one of the finest singles ever released by The Style Council. Its the full 12" take as well and almost 8 minutes in length:-
mp3 : The Style Council - Money Go Round (live on Switch)
Also from Switch, a clip of the man with greatest haircut in the history of pop music:-
mp3 : Paul Haig - Blue For You (live on Switch)
And I make no apologies for again featuring New Order, especially when when Hooky is driving this live performance of what I reckon is their greatest non-single:-
mp3 : New Order - Age Of Consent (live on Switch)
Happy listening and viewing.
The fifth single from New Order. And the one that propelled them to stardom.
No-one can argue that it is a classic. A song that was really quite like no other on its release. And the record sleeve is also one of the most recognisable of all time.
It is not known just how many copies of FAC 73 were sold from its release on 7 March 1983. It's reckoned to be over a million, but because Factory Records weren't part of the British Phonographic Industry, there are no reliable figures nor certifications or awards.
The story over the years is that the sleeve was so expensive that every copy sold actually cost the record label money. It is a great story but not true.
Yes, the initial editions with a die-cut cover and cut outs and silver inner sleeve were expensive to manufacture and package. However, as the single sold in increasing numbers and went back for further pressings, the sleeve got progressively progressively more simple and cheaper with each repressing.
There's three copies of Blue Monday in the cupboard full of vinyl - all have different sleeves ranging from the more expensive original to what is no more than a plain black cover with the colour coding on the right hand side. You needed to own a copy of the Power, Corruption & LiesLP to decipher the code - it actually spells out the song title on both sides of the vinyl, the name of the band and the catalogue number. And here, ripped direct from the vinyl, is the music:-
mp3 : New Order - Blue Monday
mp3 : New Order - The Beach
I've lifted the following info straight from the official Lightning Seeds website:-
