THE STORY OF SARAH (Issue 6)

'And she doesn't think about him anymore...'

"What do we do? We are a pop band. Always have been. We love what everyone else loves. We like things to be bright, shallow, ephemeral, mass produced. If you sense subversive tendencies, your senses have deceived you. You are projecting something other onto our benign and likeable product. We love you. All we want is that you love us too? Is that so difficult?"-

This week it's all about Sarah #37, 'Nothing Ever Happens', which was released in November 1990 by the wonderfully straight-talking Sydney band, Even As We Speak. The thing about this 7" single/EP is that everyone always talks about, and listens to, the cover of the New Order song 'Bizarre Love Triangle' (the first of three songs on the 'B' side). And that's fine, you know. It's a great cover of a fantastic song. But... what gets overlooked, to an extent, are all the other songs. Indeed, as good as the cover is, from the five songs on the 7" single this is my absolute favourite track, 'Blue Suburban Skies'. It's important to say, I suppose, that this song - and that cover - were originally released in 1987 as a 7" single by BHP Records in Australia but on a very limited release. So, it was nice to see the songs appear again with Sarah a few years later so more people, especially in the UK, could hear them. Anyway, 'Blue Suburban Skies', features a killer Hookesque bassline, as well as a rousing chorus ('And so her ship went sailing by / But her blue suburban skies / Make everything alright'), and this is Matthew Love at his songwriting best, telling a typical story of a girl getting over a boy who 'was never ever around'. Indeed. Sigh. Gulp. Still, this was just the beginning for Even As We Speak on Sarah Records - the band would go on to release another three singles with the label but this was their first and, arguably, the very best of the bunch. I'll save the fascinating story of the band for another time in this series but for now have a look here for a rundown of the how, the what and the why. Oh, and this is an essential purchase (Sarah #614). Love them... or else.

mp3 : Even as we speak - 'Blue suburban skies' (2.31)

Comrade Colin, Sunday 31 July 2011

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS (Part 47)

A reminder that I'm running my first ever caption contest with the prize of an original 12" of Girlfriend In A Coma going to whoever comes up with the best response to the above photo.

All entries to thevinylvillain@hotmail.co.uk.

Closing date is in one week today on Saturday 7 August. And you can enter from anywhere in the world..........Good luck.

So to today's song, the 47th in this long-running series

mp3 : The Smiths - Ask

This got to #14 in the singles chart back in October 1986.  Not one that I've ever really been fond of.  Best bit is probably the backing vocal contributed by Kirsty MacColl.  Not much I really want to add.......

Happy Listening

AMY WINEHOUSE - A TVV TRIBUTE

I was never really a fan.  I had an appreciation of her talent but it never quite got me the way it did others.  But no matter what else, there can be no arguement that dying at 27 is a total waste.  I do think however that much of the coverage over here in the UK over the past 7 days has been a touch OTT...especially on the BBC.....but then again Amy Winehouse was, once she became succesful all those years ago, immediately accepted to the bosom of the London media darlings and her passing will feel to many of them like one of the family.

I'm not the right person to post a tribute to someone I didnt know all that much about outwith what I picked up in newspapers and from the aforementioned BBC, but I know many readers were.  So here is an email sent over by Darren Stuart who wrote such an excellent piece about Billy Mackenzie just seven days ago:-

Evening Jim

M.I.A posted ‘27’ via Soundcloud within a day of Amy Winehouse dying. I found it to download through another site after NME picked up on it Sunday. I’ve listened to it a few times now, and read the lyrics. It’s a very sad piece, quite obviously, and I decided to add the scapula version of ‘Stronger Than Me’ at the end, after looping the final three instrumental bars of ‘27’ to fit in with the vocal of Amy, and with ‘phasing’ Amy’s vocals to try and give it some sort of ‘haunting’ feel’ to it. Surprised, as it seems to fit in, and it was my first attempt after a few beers on this Monday night, and it’s now 11.45.
Please post this, just as a tribute to Amy. Her passing at just 27, although not entirely surprising, has shocked me, more than I thought it would. Perhaps it’s the beers, or the fact that Monday is a bloody awful day of the week, I dunno. Doesn’t matter. We’ve lost Amy, a fantastic, emotional singer, an erratic, addictive person, a troubled soul, a friend to many. Forget the drugs. Forget the drinking. Hope she’s at peace now.


Darren

mp3 : M.I.A. vs Amy Winehouse - 27/Stronger Than Me
 
Thanks Darren

LINKING IN FROM YESTERDAY'S POSTING

I mentioned both R.E.M. and Iggy Pop in the posting about Lloyd Cole and The Commotions yesterday.  So here's something lifted from a b-side:-

mp3 : R.E.M. - The Passenger

It's a live rendition from a set performed for a special edition of Later With Jools Holland in October 1998 and was made available on the CD single At My Most Beautiful.   Sadly it's proof that even the best of bands can fuck up covers..........

To help make up for it, here's a few more relative rarities from the Athens, Georgia beat-combo (although some of you will hate them......):-

mp3 : R.E.M - Radio Song (Tower Of Luv Bug Mix)
mp3 : R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (Unplugged)
mp3 : R.E.M. - Finest Work Song (Lengthy Club Mix)
mp3 : R.E.M. - King Of Comedy (808 State Remix)

Happy Listening.

THE UNDERATED SECOND LP

Everyone I knew in the mid 80s.....and I mean everyone......adored Rattlesnakes, the debut LP from Lloyd Cole & The Commotions.  It's a record packed with great tunes that you can latch on to immediately while lyrically its as fine an album as any.  Poetry and prose set to music....

However, not so many folk seem so fond of the follow-up Easy Pieces, released in 1985 just 13 months after the debut.  While Rattlesnakes was commemorated with a 20th Anniversary Tour in 2004 (where the band played a blistering set at Glasgow Barrowlands only spoiled by the fact that a then unknown but cringingly appalling James Blunt was the support act), Easy Pieces is passed off with the words 'its ok....but nowhere near as good as the debut' - even by the band themselves.

I'm not going to sit here and argue that Easy Pieces is a better record than Rattlesnakes.....but I am prepared to say that it as a far far far better record than many give it credit for.

Lead-off single Brand New Friend is a near perfect piece of pop, brilliantly polished by the production skills of Langer and Winstanley. Trust me on this one....

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Brand New Friend

The follow-up single is one of the few bits of music written by bassist Lawrence Donegan who is now better know to thousands of readers as the Golf Correspondent of the Guardian newspaper.....(incidentally, each of Lawrence's books about being a golf caddy, a used car salesman in the USA, a journalist in rural Ireland and a steward at the Ryder Cup golf tournament are all worth a read).  Anyway, as I was saying the follow-up single is one of his bits of work and he has admitted since that it is based on the same chords and riff as The Passenger by Iggy Pop, which is no bad thing:-

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Lost Weekend

Incidentally, in reaching #17 in the charts, this was the band's most successful single.....a fact that surprised me somewhat.

The next single lifted from the LP was Cut Me Down which in some ways was a strange choice as it isn't the most commercial of songs but I suppose when six months have passed since the LP was released and the promotional tour is over then the third and final single isn't really all that important in the grand scheme of things.  I still think they missed a trick not issuing this as a 45:-

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Why I Love Country Music

Two other songs on the LP are also personal favourites - opening track Rich which is one that seems tailor-made for radio and is very reminiscent of REM and closer Perfect Blue with its wonderful harmonica and acoustic guitar opening that screams out Americana Road Movie..........

mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Rich
mp3 : Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Perfect Blue

So there you have it.  Five of the ten songs from the LP.  Everyone a gem. And the other five aren't too shabby either......

Happy Listening

THREE GREAT VERSIONS OF ONE GREAT SONG.....

This is the story of the song Roadrunner.  It's a bit confusing but stay with me.

Roadrunner was first recorded in April 1972. The producer was John Cale of  The Velvet Underground fame.  However the song did not see light of day until its release as a single in the USA in 1975.  But before its release, it had been re-recorded with Matthew King Kaufman in the producer's chair, and this new version, which was first made available on a budget compilation album, was released around the same time as the Cale-produced original first saw light of day.

Then in 1976, the Cale-produced version appeared on a much delayed debut LP while the Kaufman produced was released as a single, first of all in the USA and then later on in the UK, where it's b-side was..........the Cale version as recorded in 1972!!  To confuse things further, the UK single saw the Kaufman version given the title Roadrunner (Once) and attributed to a solo Jonathan Richman while the Cale version was given the title Roadrunner (Twice) and attributed to The Modern Lovers despite the latter being the original by a few tears.....

You following all this???  Good....cos I'm about to confuse things further.

For in 1978, a completely different version saw light of day as a live b-side - and it was given the title Roadrunner (Thrice) .......and attributed to Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers!!

Now for years I had the Thrice version on a cassette tape - it came from me getting a copy of the song from a friend's older brother who was the first serious muso I ever knew.  My copy of 'thrice' snapped years ago and I thought my chances of hearing it ever again were minimal given the single was, to the best of my knowledge, only ever released in the USA and didn't sell in any huge numbers, so I reckoned the chances of anyone owning a copy and then making it available on line were remote.  But a few days ago I found one on youtube, and while it is a bit crackly, I've managed to use the converter tool to make an mp3 and thus am very proud, once, twice and thrice to bring you:-

mp3 : Jonathan Richman - Roadrunner (Once)
mp3 : The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (Twice)
mp3 : Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (Thrice) (Live)

Every one of these versions are quite wonderful dontcha think??

Oh and in a 2003 re-issue of the debut LP, yet another version of Roadrunner was made available.  This had been recorded later in 1972 with Kim Fowley in the producer's chair.....seemingly the band weren't sure at the time whether to go with Cale or Fowley as the producer of the debut.......(I don't have a copy of this version otherwise I would have included it in this posting).

And a rare live outing from 1998:-



This post is dedicated to Bitter Andrew of the superb blog Armagideon Time.  He a Massachusetts man and rightly proud of it!!!

BUTCHER BOY - HELPING HANDS

Nearly 12 months after the band finished recording the songs in a Glasgow studio, the much anticipated third LP from Butcher Boy is released by Damaged Goods on Monday 29 August. 

The previous two albums - Profit In Your Poetry and React Or Die - had been released by How Does It Feel To Be Loved, but that has become much more of a vehicle for club nights and events rather than releasing and promoting records.  As a result, Butcher Boy, having paid for the recording themselves, with a bit of support from the agency Creative Scotland, were able to look around and find a home where they felt comfortable and one which would give the right amount of support to a band who, after all, are comprised of highly talented musicians who hold down day jobs in other, and often demanding, professions.  They are far from being a full-time musical combo.....

The first thing that strikes you about Helping Hands is that it comes exquisitely packaged in comparison to its predecessors, with a 16-page illustrated booklet complete with lyrics. You can sense the band's ambition has risen manifestly before you even put the disc into the player. 

And as you listen, you very quickly realise it is way different from the previous releases....where those were for the most part guitar-focused indie-pop records with added strings, Helping Hands has loads of surprises.  There's a lot more prominence given to the cello of Maya Burnam-Roy and the piano and keys of Alison Eales.  There's a bit of electronica as well with synths and drum machines. 

Those of us lucky enough to have seen the band live over the past couple of years will be familiar with quite a few of the tracks - there's 12 in total of which three are instrumentals and first came to prominence when the main songwriter John Blain Hunt scored three silent black and white movies from the 1950s that had been made by Enricco Cocozza at a special show at the Glasgow Film Theatre in June 2009. 

One of those instrumentals  - J is For Jamie opens the album and fulfills the purpose of providing you with an entertaining and upbeat short overture as you settle down into your seat. 

The next four songs - The Day Our Voices Broke, Helping Hands, Imperial and Bluebells are among the best things the band has ever done.  Two of them (Voices and Imperal) are great indie-pop tunes that will have you dancing while the other two are beautiful love songs which provide enormous evidence of the quantum leap made by Butcher Boy in 2010 and 2011. 

Helping Hands begins as a piano-led ballad which shows off  John's excellent vocal talents. Gradually more and more instruments join the fray. There's an orchestral interlude about halfway through and then the ballad recommences but you can sense it is building up to something special.  Something special which comes in the closing section as the tempo changes and the instrumentation kicks in to full effect.  I've listened to the closing section of Helping Hands time and time and time again this past 24 hours.  It just gets me right there (I'm punching my heart as I type this...) with a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.  It is quite simply, one of the most gorgeous bits of music ever recorded by anyone....if I've one grumble is that I'd have loved the track to have lasted about another minute or so longer......

I didn't fully appreciate Bluebells the first time I heard it.  It is one of the songs that wasn't aired in the run of live shows at the tail end of 2010 so I'm not as familiar with it as I am with many of the others.  I initially thought it was just a bit run-of-the mill certainly in comparison to the songs immediately preceding it.  Then I listened closely and realised it's damn near perfect thanks to Basil Pieroni's easy-going guitar playing....dare I say it, there's a fair bit of it reminds me of The Go-Betweens when they used to slow things down.....and I can give no higher praise.  The first half of the LP is then closed with the short and lovely instrumental T Is For Tommy.

There's more welcome surprises in the second half with Parliament Hill having a folk-tinge to it and I Am The Butcher being as uptempo as anything they've ever recorded.  Whistle And I Will Come To You is another slowy......and believe it or not musically it reminds me of Kate Bush......it really is totally different from anything else Butcher Boy have ever done.  And it is stunning.

Tracks 10 and 11  - Russian Dolls and Your Cousins And I  - are again among those that weren't been played at the live shows last year which is a shame as they are two marvellously uptempo tracks that will be of particular appeal to anyone who loved the first two LPs.....with the rhythm section of Fraser Ford, Findlay Mackinnon and Robert Spark very much to the fore (as they always are in the live shows)

The whole thing is closed off with a bit of music that has been kicking around for a fair bit of time now, first being made available via You Tube back in December 2009.  Every Other Saturday is proof that John Blain Hunt could make a tremendous film composer if he turned his hand to it......

As I said at the outset, this record has been just about ready for release for the best part of a year now.  The wait has however, been more than worth it.    Butcher Boy just keep getting better and better and better.  Helping Hands is as good as anything I have in my collection, which translates as it being one of the best records of the past 35 years since I first started buying vinyl.  But as Morrissey might say, Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself by clicking here and ordering Helping Hands for the ridiculously low price of £8.99 direct from Damaged Goods.

Oh and any of you lucky enough to be attending the Indietracks Festival this coming weekend (29-31 July), do yourselves an enormous favour and catch Butcher Boy's live performance.  I wish I could be there with you................

mp3 : Butcher Boy - Imperial

Alison, Fraser, John, Findlay, Basil, Maya and Robert - the 21st Century equivalent of The Magnificent 7....

Happy Listening

THE STORY OF SARAH (Issue 5)

When Smith and Forte led the way....

Rewind! Sarah #13. Wow. It was a lovely 5" flexi-disc (with only one-track on it, of course) released in summer 1989 by Robert Smith (no, not that one) and Kenny Forte and the name of the band was Christine's Cat. It only lasted for this one wee burst of noise - 'Your love is...' - but what a noise it was! Oh, Robert and Kenny used to play with Glasgow-based band The Golden Dawn who were also on Sarah and released two singles with the label (just don't ask about the third single that never actually was, weep!). More to come on The Golden Dawn at a later time though. Meanwhile, as ever, play this 128 seconds of jangle-noise-pop really fucking loudly and a special prize to anyone who can make out any of the lyrics. A packet of haribo or something, perhaps. Miaow.


mp3 : Christine's Cat - Your Love Is... (2:08)
 
Comrade Colin, Sunday 24 July 2011

STOP PRESS.......

A wee taster for some of the new Butcher Boy material which is being released next month on 29 August on Damaged Goods.

The footage was filmed by the dad of bassist Robert Spark.  The song is a snippet of Helping Hands, the song after which the album is named.  And it is quite stunning................

You can get a taster of all the new tracks here.

And here's some more lovely music accompanied by film shot back in the days by Mr Spark.  Some of it shows the area around where I now work.....it is much changed.



Happy viewing

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS (Part 46)

Elvis meets Morrissey and Marr at a Manchester funfair:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Rusholme Ruffians

Neither of them ever denied it was something that stole/borrowed from (Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame - indeed when it came to live performances, the intro was from the rockabilly hit.

But for something that is not entirely original, it remains one of the best songs in the entire back catalogue, thanks in the main to the lyrical soap opera.

A very early version of Rusholme Ruffians was recorded for a John Peel session in August 1984 and many years later released as a b-side:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Rusholme Ruffians (Peel Session)

And here's the inspiration.......



Happy Listening.

5 GREAT TRACKS (ALBUM AND OTHERWISE) FOR FRIDAY (Part 23)

A few weeks ago, I posted the 12" version of Club Country and in response got this terrific email :-

Hello!!!
I’ve attached my MP3 of the extended version of Club Country, as yours has a very slight ‘jump’ at 1.48. And me, being very fussy about my music just wanted you to have the full version to enjoy.
Whilst I’m at it, I just wanted to add some other comments about Billy. When ‘Party Fears two’ came out, and was played on Radio 1 (in the days of mono), I couldn’t believe just how soaring Billy’s voice was, and the vastness of the production by Mike Hedges. 29 years later, both songs, and the whole of ‘Sulk’ are ranked as classics of song writing, and production. The bass guitar sound, and drums, have never been bettered on any album since, in my opinion. When Billy decided to ‘call it a day’, I was shocked, moved, and saddened, as I believed then that we had lost one of the greatest voices to come from Scotland, and still believe this now. I would also say that ‘Perhaps’ does have its faults, production-wise, but ‘Those First Impressions’, and ‘Breakfast’ reflect Billy’s’ progress as a lyric writer. ‘The Associates’ suffered with the departure of Rankin, as Billy was unable to write music (he had to hum the music he wanted to the musicians), his future output was aided by other music writers on his solo output. Sometimes this worked, not always, but he always managed to keep my interest, and continues today. He was able to add vocal texture to Yello’s ‘One Second’ album, to which Dieter, I believe, was very grateful.


I could go on about Billy, and the influence he had on many, many singers over the last 30 years, but I’m not a musician, nor a singer, just a very grateful music lover. My original 12” copy of ‘Club Country remains one of my favourites, in almost pristine condition. And if you ever come across the original vinyl album version of it, post that. I made the mistake of flogging my vinyl version a few years ago, and never converted it into MP3 format …big, BIG mistake.

It’s late on a Monday, so I’d better go. Keep posting this great music, and thank you very much.

Darren Stuart, from Brighton

In return I was able to send Darren the mp3 of the album version as I've still got my vinyl copy of Sulk, and in doing so, I asked him if he fancied having a go at doing 5 tracks featuring Billy Mackenzie for the Friday series as I was having real trouble narrowing it down.  To my great delight, Darren said yes, and here's his offering:-



It’s Tuesday 12 July, just turned 10pm, and have just finished watching QI on Dave. I was going to type this up an hour or so ago, but my wife needed to look at stuff on the Next website. Fair enough. I need shorts for the Summer, so why get in the way of internet shopping? Anyway, dunno why I’m telling you this. Probably because I’ve been meaning to do this for a few days, and days blur into one it seems at the moment. Right…to the matter in hand…

Billy MacKenzie’s finest moments. I’ve been catching up and reminding myself of his back catalogue with The Associates, his solo stuff, and his collaborations. He worked with many different artists, over many genres. After hearing ‘Party Fears Two’ in 1982 on (mono) Radio 1, I went to Rounder Records here in Brighton (where Fatboy Slim once worked, as did the Midfield General, before they founded Skint), and brought the 12” of it. I played both sides of that over and over (I was 14 at the time), and took that to a party at one of the seaside hotels to impress the invited guests (along with my Kraftwerk 12” of ‘The Model’/’Computer Love’, and after too, too many glasses of something shocking, threw up over the cover of ‘Party Fears Two’, and after cleaning it up a few days later…passed it onto my best mate. As far as I know, he still has it. Therefore, for that sad little story, I’ll nominate ‘Party…’ as choice one.

mp3 : Associates - Party Fears Two (12" version)

The fact that the whole of the ‘Sulk’ album is as close to a perfect rock/pop/alternative/call-it-what-you-like 40 minutes of vinyl to any music lover makes whittling down to just five tracks, quite tricky. And the fact that I’m also stone-cold sober whilst I’m doing this doesn’t help either. I’ve got my Bose headphones on, and have gone through ‘Boys Keep Swinging’, ‘The Best Of You’ (with Eddi Reader’s co-vocals, and now ‘Breakfast’, so I’ll throw in ‘Boys…’ as they had the sheer cheek of recording it just weeks after Bowie released it. RCA heard about this, and tried to stop it being released. Bowie found out, and found the whole thing rather funny, and let them go ahead. Nice little story, and I still have my 7” vinyl copy of it on MCA, with ‘Mona Property Girl’ on the flip.

mp3 : Associates - Boys Keep Swinging

Billy’s work with other artists didn’t always bring out the best in him, and it’s quite clear that the split from Rankine left him in unchartered waters to a degree. After ‘Sulk’, and before the patchy ‘Perhaps’, he put out ‘Ice Cream Factory’. I’m looking at the 12” sleeve at the moment…’MacKenzie sings Orbidöig’. Who’s Orbidöig? I should ‘Google, but it’s now 10.31 and this is more important. So I’ve listened to my rip of that, and ‘Cream Of Ice Cream Factory’ over the last few days, so ‘Cream…’ is in.

mp3 : Mackenzie Sings Orbidoig - Ice Cream Factory

I’ve been a fan if Yello since 1983. Radio 1 rotated ‘I love you’ constantly, but it never managed to go Top 40. My mate Tigger brought the one-sided 3D picture disc of it, and I went to our local, tiny, Virgin in Queens Road, and brought ‘You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess’. I still have that vinyl LP (in almost immaculate condition), along with the rest of Yello’s output in either vinyl or CD. Billy worked with Yello for a time during the latter part of the ‘80’s, and the beginning of the ‘90’s, co-writing lyrics, and providing both lead, and backing vocals. ‘One Second’ was released during ’87, with Billy providing backing vocals and lyrics to ‘The Rhythm Divine’, and Dame Shirley Bassey singing lead. No Dieter to be heard. He was probably playing golf at the time. I won’t choose that, as I much prefer ‘Moon On Ice’ whereby Billy’s vocals glide gracefully over a gentle arrangement that Boris Blank is so good at.

mp3 : Yello (with Billy Mackenzie) - Moon On Ice

One to go. I feel the need to go back, prior to ‘Sulk’. I’m flicking through ‘The Affectionate Punch, and ‘Fourth Drawer Down’. I’ve always loved strange electronica on records, which is why the vast majority of my musical taste revolves around Kraftwerk, Blancmange, Ultravox, Talk Talk, Cocteau Twins, Colourbox, and so on and so on. ‘White Car In Germany’ is now playing through the headphones. There is an almost Germanic feel to it. Cold, almost oppressive. Even slightly claustrophobic. Not a tune you could warm to on a first play. Suits me fine, as I approach the 11th hour, and before I get myself into the kitchen to do the washing up, and before I settle down to more ‘Dave’ with a lager or two as a nightcap. ‘White Car…’ it is to finish this off.

mp3 : Associates - White Car In Germany

And you can bet your arse that as I fall back into bed, knackered after a really trying day, I’ll want to drop one from this small list, and add in…I dunno…’Those First Impressions’ 12” as an example. But not ‘Waiting For The Loveboat’, or something from the techno-tinged ‘Auchtermatic’, or ‘Give Me Time’ from ‘Beyond The Sun’. I have a problem with ‘Beyond…’, as whenever one of the tracks comes up on my Ipod, all I can think of is the way he decided to end it all.

Not only am I not a musician, or a singer, I’m not a writer. So I’ve written this as if I was speaking to a friend in a quiet pub, over the third of fourth pint of real ale, enthusing over great singers, great songs, and what music we’ve shared as we’ve grown older, away from Radio 1, and what 6Music could and should play on a perfect day. I’ve enjoyed putting this together, as ‘Beyond The Sun’ plays away through the headphones. Unfortunately, I have a sad image of Billy fixed in my mind. It’s time to stop. But I’m going to attach Heaven 17’s version of ‘Party Fears Two’ to this. Sadder than the original. And it was beautifully presented by them last year when they played The Corn Exchange. Glenn Gregory’s vocals were befitting to such a great tune. Not to be forgotten.

mp3 : Heaven 17 - Party Fears Two

Darren Stuart, Friday 22 July 2011


PS from JC:-

Don't know about the rest of you........but I reckon Darren does himself a disservice by saying he's not a writer.  What he supplied for today was perfect in every way for this little corner of the interwebbyblog thing.....

A 45 FROM BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS (Part 4)

In 1991, James achieved their biggest ever hit single when Sit Down reached #2.  It was the first time the band had cracked the UK Top 30 and it came after eight years of trying.

But of course, Sit Down was a re-recorded version of a previous flop, one that had come out on Rough Trade in 1989 and stalled at #77.  And I don't think I'm alone in believing the original version is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay superior to the one that brought them long-overdue fame and fortune.

Here is the full eight plus minutes worth of the 12" version:-

mp3 : James - Sit Down

It's also the version known by some as the original Lester Piggott song - as opposed to later single Sometimes (Lester Piggott) - for reasons that can only become clear if you listen carefully to the song in its entirety - i.e. after you think it has ended, hang on in there.

And here's you very hard to find three very fine tracks that can be found on the b-side:-

mp3 : James - Goin Away
mp3 : James - Sound Investment
mp3 : James - Sky Is Falling

And here's the promo from 1989......which gives you the 7" version of the song:-




Happy Listening

A 45 FROM BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS (Part 3)

Last year's Orange Juice boxset - Coals To Newcastle - is a beautiful work of art and a comprehensive seven-disc anthology containing 122 tracks in all from the Postcard days to the ending when only Edwyn Collins remained from the original line-up and the songs were more akin to a solo project.

And yet.....there's things missing from the boxset as is incredibly well related at this blogpost back in January.

And like Frankie. I'm loath to criticise Domino Records for what is missing.  But I'm still at a bit of a loss as to why the 12" of I Can't Help Myself was left off......

mp3 : Orange Juice - I Can't Help Myself (long version)

This was the song that so nearly broke the band but it stalled at #42 at the tail end of 1982.  A real pity as it is a far better song and single than Rip It Up which reached #8 a few months later, giving Orange Juice their one and only Top 40 hit (which in itself is a crime).

The b-sides are a bit on the bizarre and brilliant side and one of them gives you all a chance to again experience the vocal talents of the mighty Paul Quinn:-

mp3 : Orange Juice - Barbecue
mp3 : Orange Juice - Tongues Begin To Wag

I know.  This isn't the first time these have appeared on TVV. But after more than 4200 songs on TVV (according to my stats on Hype Machine) you better get used to more and more repeats coming your way.......

And given the song pays tribute to The Four Tops, how could I resist this???



Happy Listening

A 45 FROM BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS (Part 2)

The first four singles by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine sold next to bugger all.  But all the while their constant touring and blinding live shows were getting them more and more fans, and it was really only a matter of time before they hit the jackpot.

Single #5 was a Bloodsport For All, a blistering attack on racism and bullying in the Armed Services.  If it hadnt been such a sensitive subject matter it would surely have gotten some daytime play on Radio 1, but it gained enough sales to nudge it to #48 in January 1990.  The next seven singles all went Top 30......

Their debut single came out on Big Cat Records back in October 1988.  It's a bit of plastic I've been after for a while - more than 20 years if the truth be told, so you can imagine mt delight when I saw a copy of it for sale on-line for a far from stupid price.  Ladies and Gentlemen I give you......

mp3 : Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine - Sheltered Life
mp3 : Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine - Is This The Only Way To Get Through To You?
mp3 : Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine - Granny Farming In The U.K.

A belter of a debut.  With great b-sides  - the first features one of the early examples of sampling from everyday media sounds and images  while the second is a damning indictment on one of the growth industries of the late 20th century.....(as well as a title that paid tribute to Sheep Farming In The Falklands, a track by Crass from 1982 that had caused a fair amount of controversy).

Happy Listening

A 45 FROM BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS (Part 1)

I'm digging deep into the cupboard this week and bringing out some very fine 45s that were released by singers or bands before they became better known.  First up, we go back to March 1986 and the second ever single released by The Housemartins, the fourth-best band in Hull:-

mp3 : The Housemartins - Sheep
mp3 : The Housemartins - Drop Down Dead

Released in March 1986 (fuck me......that's more than 25 years ago!!!!) this excellent and jaunty bit of music with its attack on those who just conform and never question why, stalled at #56 in the UK singles charts.  A couple of months later, the equally jaunty Happy Hour, with its attack on laddism and leeriness, climbed to #3 in the UK charts (thanks in part to an excellent animated promo video which was a bit ground-breaking at the time).

Sheep still sounds great all these years later, as does the b-side which as a tune reminds me in a way of a lighter and more jaunty Boys Dont Cry....(the word jaunty is perfect for The Housemartins).

I had this 7" single in the collection for a while but like many many others, it was lost in a disastrous moonlit flit from one flat to another in the late 80s.  Luckily, I picked up a mint copy of the 12" a few weeks back:-

mp3 : The Housemartins - I'll Be Your Shelter
mp3 : The Housemartins - Anxious
mp3 : The Housemartins - People Get Ready

The first of these is a piano and gospel choir driven cover of a song originally performed by Stax artist Luther Ingram (the sleeve gives credit to The Inspirational Marxist Choir of Grafton Street, East Yorkshire) while the second track is a Housemartins original that others would have been delighted to have as a single far less just an extra track on a 12".

The final song was something that at the time marked out the band as being different from most of their contemporaries - an acapella cover of one of the best known tracks by Curtis Mayfield that was recorded for a Radio 1 session.  Little did we realise that some six months later another accapella effort would give The Housemartins their only #1 hit.

Here's the promo for the single



And here's Luther Ingram and Curtis Mayfield:-





Happy Listening and viewing.

THE STORY OF SARAH (Issue 4)

'Another poor alternative, to something we should be...'


Oh, what a glorious song this is... never mind how fantastic the band name is (common opinion at the time, and indeed still, has it that if ever a band name summarised what Sarah were all about.... well, you can guess who takes first prize).

Sarah 47, released in the summer of 1991, was the third and last single that Swansea-based band The Sweetest Ache (sigh!) released for the Sarah label. The band started life in the late 1980's as The Spirals, with guitarist Stuart Vincent front-of-stage, but then when Simon Court signed on the dotted line, he took over on vocal duties, characterised by that high-pitched, reaching-for-the-right-note, nasal kind of tone. It worked really well with the songs they recorded, fitting the mood of the 'love-gone-wrong' lyrics being conveyed.

But, why the name change from The Spirals to The Sweetest Ache? Yes, well, there is a wild, interweb rumour that the name change was due, in part, to the success of then rising 'Madchester' stars The Inspiral Carpets - Simon even claiming in an interview for a local Swansea newspaper that he'd once been in the 'Cool As Fuck' band at one point! Whatever the truth of the matter, the one thing that is certain, sadly, is that the lifetime of the band was short and complex. Perhaps the way it should be for all the best bands?After this third single for Sarah, Simon left (for reasons that still seem to be unknown) and his replacement, Louise, only recorded one song with the band (debut album track, 'Briaris'). Things fizzled out quickly and, indeed, post-Sarah and with several band personnel changes, the material that emerged (on the Vinyl Japan label - see the 'Grass Roots' album) was a fairly radical move away from the typical Sarah jingle-jangle twee pop sound to a kind of American West Coast buzz. The transition didn't hold, it all fell apart.

Suffice to say, although brief, The Sweetest Ache were an important member of the Sarah family and the other two singles they released for Sarah (#36 and #39) will feature at some point in this series. Oh, and the selected track, although the title of the 7"single, is in fact on the B-side... that's sometimes how Sarah, and their bands, rolled... :)

mp3 : The Sweetest Ache - Sickening (3.15)

Comrade Colin, Sunday 17 July 2011

THE FIRST EVER TVV CAPTION CONTEST

aka 'One Song by The Smiths....A Series for Saturdays (Part 45)'

The picture and idea has been supplied by Ctel of Acid Ted fame.  And it is he who will select the winner.  The prize??  Well, it is related to today's song...

mp3 : The Smiths - I Keep Mine Well Hidden

This was the last song that Morrissey and Marr wrote and recorded together and therefore marks the official end of the band after 5 years.  To quote Simon Goddard:-

After five years of poetry, grandeur, melodrama and sublimity, their final bow wasn't some profoundly melancholic torch song but a jaunty one minute 57 seconds music-hall knees-up - Sheila Take A Bow in miniature with added whistling.

Morrissey finished his vocal for this song on 19 May 1987 and it was the last time he spoke to his songwriting partner for many years.  Marr stayed on in the studio working with the other band members trying to salvage something from what he considered was a sub-standard session that the singer hadn't cared much about.  After flying to the USA a week later for some promotional duties, the guitarist returned to England and waited for a phone call that never came.  Within a few weeks a press statement let the world know via the NME that Marr had left The Smiths......not that Marr knew much about the press statement until he was confronted with questions about it, but nevertheless he soon confirmed that he had indeed quit (although it now is known he hadn't when the original statement had been issued).

The song was made available on the b-side of the 12" of Girlfriend In A Coma.  And going through the cupboard the other day I discovered I have two copies of this particular piece of vinyl released in August 1987.

And I'm prepared to give one away to whoever comes up with the best caption to the above photo.

All entries to thevinylvillain@hotmail.co.uk  Closing date is in three weeks time on Saturday 7 August.  We will then probably take a wee while to sort out the winner who will then be sent a mint copy of the single.  And you can enter from anywhere in the world..........Good luck.

5 GREAT ALBUM TRACKS FOR FRIDAY (Part 22)

This week's Friday posting was inspired by my time on Westport, Co.Mayo last weekend where I was lucky enough to catch quite a few live performances in different pubs - some involving young singers performing a mix of traditional and modern tunes, and others where it was like the tourist's dream of an Irish pub where old men drank whisky while a folk band, all with the most amazing beard and woolly jumpers, played away in the corner oblivious to anyone but themselves.

The Pogues of course were a London band more than anything else. Formed originally in 1982 as Pogue Mahone (which in Gaelic means 'Kiss My Arse') in the early 80s, they made a very fine racket in the early days with a pink feel to folk music played largely on traditional Irish music....with part of the percussion involving one band member continually hitting himself over the head with a bar tray made from aluminium.....

I was lucky enough to capture them live at Strathclyde University in those days and while it is a bit of a hazy memory, I do recall it being just about the most boisterous and manic gig I'd attended up to that point. It was certainly among the most sweatiest....

I won't say I'm a huge fan of the band. I own a copy of the first three albums released between 1984 and 1988 when they began to enjoy a fair bit of mainstream success and their audience became a bit too unsavoury for me what between the politics and the hooligan factor. I don't listen to them all that often nowadays but I did give them a whirl on the i-pod on the train on the way back to Dublin from Westport as a sort of farewell. And these are the five non-singles I reckon are their best tracks:-

mp3 : The Pogues - Transmetropolitan
mp3 : The Pogues - I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day
mp3 : The Pogues - Bottle of Smoke
mp3 : The Pogues - Thousands Are Sailing
mp3 : The Pogues - The Broad Majestic Shannon

The five songs capture much of what the early band was about. The first is a song about modern London in the style of an Irish jig, the next is a traditional ballad about a male landowner (sung by the only female member of the band) and then you have a lunatic few minutes about the joy of backing a big outsider in a horse-race. But the final two songs are what really best sum up The Pogues for me.

Thousands Are Sailing is a heartbreaking tale of emigration from Ireland to the USA and how it isn't always the happy ending you always dream about while The Broad Majestic Shannon is as good an Irish song ever written by an Englishman......its the sort of tune I heard so often in those Westport (and yes it is uncannily close to parts of their big Xmas hit The Fairytale Of New York)

And finallly, from a great TV appearance:-



Happy Listening

THE THURSDAY CORRESPONDENT

Back in April this year the world of Scottish music lost one it’s unsung heroes to cancer.

David Band, who designed record sleeves for Altered Images, Aztec Camera and Spandau Ballet died aged 51.
All of the early singles by Altered Images including Dead Pop Stars, I Could Be Happy as well as the album cover for Happy Birthday all had David’s distinctive paintings on their sleeves. Clare Grogan recently described him as being the closest thing to a brother she ever had and a real member of the Altered Images family.

Roddy Frame asked Band to design the cover of Aztec Camera’s debut album High Land, Hard Rain.

Frame gave Band a demo tape of the album and a free hand to come up with an album cover, Frame wanted to shy away from the usual glossy cover that was common during that time.
He said, “David was a real music fan, who I knew would listen to the tracks and put his own interpretation into the artwork. If you look at the cover you can see the bugler from The Bugle Sounds Again and the train from Lost Outside The Tunnel”.

Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet asked David to design the covers for the album Parade and the single True and his bird symbol featured in the video for the successful Gold single. Band continued to produce artwork for the subsequent Spandau singles and album.
David studied at the Glasgow School of Art. His brother Keith was bassist for Bourgie Bourgie. He produced artwork for Bourgie Bourgie, including the iconic cover of the single Breaking Point.

He went on to set up an art collective and studio "The Cloth" with Fraser Taylor, who produced covers for Friends Again. It was during this period David Band designed T-Shirts for Paul Smith (incidentally a favourite in JC's wardrobe)
As an artist, he was described as having a keen sense of colour and form.

David Band’s paintings hung in galleries in Sydney, New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

On hearing of his death Lloyd Cole said, “I hope he is remembered as a vibrant artist and a key component in the Glasgow music scene”

David Band died on the 20th of April in Melbourne, Australia, where he lived with his partner and 7 year old son.


JOHN GREER, THURSDAY 14 JULY 2011


And in memory of David Band:-

mp3 : Altered Images - A Day's Wait
mp3 : Aztec Camera - Lost Outside The Tunnel
mp3 : Bourgie Bourgie - Careless




Thanks for the tribute John.....

MY FAVOURITE SONG OF 2010....PLEASE STAY AWAY THIS TIME DMCA CREEPS

My last post of 2010 reflected on what a strange year it had been with a lot of personal tragedy mixed in with some of the most amazing experiences I've ever had in my life, including DJing again after many many years absence, befriending members of Butcher Boy and getting a wholly unexpected 'thank you' within the booklet that came with the Orange Juice boxset

I put up mp3s of five songs that I had particularly enjoyed during that calendar year and nominated this as my personal favourite:-

mp3 : Stornoway - I Saw You Blink

As I said at the time, the choice may surprise regular readers but there was something about its simplicity and loveliness that gave me an inner peace in 2010.

Unfortunately, the DMCA police came after me within days and demanded the removal of I Saw You Blink.

But I thought, having finally got round to buying a copy of the actual single (until now it was just a version taken from the debut CD), I'd try again, this time with a vinyl rip.  I'll also offer up the rather lovely b-side:-

mp3 : Stornoway - Gondwanaland

I really do adore this 45.  I listened to it a lot last year and have continued to do so this year, the first half of which has also been fraught with difficulties which have been recorded on the blog.  I love the vocal delivery
and the instrumentation.  And while the rest of the debut CD doesn't quite live up to the standard of I Saw You Blink, the b-side of the 45 is tremendous.

Here's the promo:-



And a really incredible and beautifully played live unplugged version:-



Happy Listening.

RANDOM SHUFFLE COMES UP TRUMPS.......

You have your i-pod or whatever is your listening device of choice on random shuffle.  A song comes on that you love and as it moves towards its end, you wonder what your machine is going to through at you next.....you really want it to be something really good to keep up the flow of great music.

Now because it is your own selection of songs within the playlist, the chances are you won't be disappointed.  But the other day, these two tracks came on one after the other, and I thought that my machine had just been the perfect DJ.  A seamless transition and two songs that perfectly complemented one another.  The sort of thing that whenever I managed to come up with something so fitting back in the days when I made compilation tapes for mates, I was as chuffed as fuck for days on end.

mp3 : The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt1
mp3 : Meursault - A Few Kind Words

The former reached #18 in the UK singles charts back in 2003 (am I the only one surprised it was that big a hit?) while the latter can be found on the excellent 2008 LP Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues or as the b-side to the 7" single William Henry Miller Pt2 - both of which are available to buy direct from Matthew over at Song By Toad Records.  Just click here.

I'll probably have spent much of the past 5 days as I've made my way over to the west coast of Ireland and back again listening to lots of tunes on random shuffle.  Maybe something during the trip will inspire further postings......

ONE YEAR ON......

Anybody who lives a far distance from there family has a fear of THAT dreaded phone call. It's usually in the middle of the night or very early morning that someone informs you that someone you love and cherish has passed away. A year ago today, I received that phone call. It was from JC, but much to my horror, it wasn't to inform me that either our Mum or Dad had died but it was our younger brother David. He had been killed in a car crash in Co.Mayo Ireland.

To celebrate his life, I thought that I would share with you his musical tastes.

He loved what I would describe as soft rock , so I've put together a few songs that remind me of him.



Marillion was his band. He absolutely loved them when he was in his teens.



Whenever I hear New Sensation, I think of him singing this at the top of his lungs in our shared bedroom with his Sony Walkman.



I don't know if he loved The Cult but I do know this was one of his favourite songs.



This was a complete surprise to me that he liked White Flag. The last time that I saw him was 2 years ago at a cousins wedding and while we were having a beer in the hotel bar,this song came on and he told that for no particular reason he just really liked it.


On my way home from Ireland to Florida, I had a connection flight at JFK. While sitting at the bar waiting for my flight, a particular song came on and all the emotions of the previous week came flooding back. Anybody sitting in that bar must have thought, who is that nutcase drinking a beer and bawling his eyes out.

That said song was this:-

mp3 : Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

So here's to you wee man., David Clark, gone but never forgotten.

SC, Monday 11 July 2011

Note from JC - Big thanks to my surviving wee brother for doing this today.  I'll be at the above memorial today which was erected at the scene of the accident by the many great friends David made during his few years in Westport. There may well be tears......

THE STORY OF SARAH (Issue 3)

'A MATCH STRUCK AT MIDNIGHT MAKES OUR FACES GLOW'


Released in May 1992, Sarah 63 was a delightful three-track 7” single from Melbourne band The Sugargliders. This was their first effort for the label and another five 7” singles would follow in due course (all will be featured as part of this Sarah series, make no mistake about that one!). The band were essentially brothers Josh and Joel Meadows, with various other musicians accompanying them along the way such as Robert Cooper on bass, Marc Fulker on drums and Adam Dennis on trumpet/guitar. Prior to signing for the Sarah label in 1992, The Sugargliders had released three singles/EPs through the small independent label Summershine Records, started by Jason Reynolds in Melbourne back in 1989, as well as a solitary recording for UK label, Marineville.

However, it is probably fair to say their best work was recorded for Sarah. And, to be sure, it’s not a surprise for me to see that according to my last.fm charts, The Sugargliders are the band that are Top of the Pops for me right now (with 346 plays) and this particular song, ‘Letter from a lifeboat’, is my most repeated track (with 67 plays). Along with The Field Mice and Blueboy, The Sugargliders were one of my favourite bands releasing records on Sarah and yet, criminally, I never got to see them play live (to be fair though, they only ventured over to the UK to play shows a couple of times to my knowledge). However, thanks to the glories of YouTube, and VHS camera guru Dave Harris in particular, we can remember and imagine. Sigh!

As for this particular song, well, it has all the classic Sugargliders ingredients, which is why I’ve probably played it so many times; all intricate acoustic guitars, lush and sweeping harmonies, forlorn and well-imagined lyrics and pitter-patter brush-stroke drums. The fade out, in the last minute and half, is especially memorable with the repeated lament - ‘On a black, black sea’. It does feel like you are being swept away somewhere magical. A great beginning for the band on Sarah, and they had even more fantastic 7” singles to follow on from this start...

mp3 : The Sugargliders – Letter from a lifeboat (4.17)

PS, Oh, it’s worth mentioning that The Sugargliders came to a rather hasty demise in 1994 but were to reform, in a manner of speaking, as The Steinbecks just a little while later (it’s well worth checking out their material, if you are a fan of The Sugargliders).

Comrade Colin, Sunday 10 July 2011

ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS (Part 44)

There can't be many bands brave enough, or perhaps more realistically - confident enough - to take a live recording from what is only their third live show and place it on the b-side of the debut single:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Handsome Devil (live, Manchester Hacienda, February 1983)

The fact that it is such a stunning bit of music means it is well worthy of such a move, but the really bizarre thing is that the band never actually got round to recording and releasing a bona fide studio version on any future LP or b-side.

Handsome Devil could have been a single of its own accord. It's fast, frantic and incredibly catchy. And I can vouch from personal experience of waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy back in the days that it's fantastic to dance to. This was one of the very earliest Morrissey/Marr compositions and one of the most enduring. It was a real staple of the early live sets.......and of course it was a track that got the boys into trouble as the tabloids had a go at the BBC for polluting the airwaves with songs about underage buggery polluting the airwaves.....

Morrissey of course made it quite clear that the lyric was being misconstrued and that it had nothing to do with children - leaving it in the air that it was a tale about professors preying on college/university students.....and nor was the professor necessarily a male character.......but the damage had been done.

As a result, other than the Hand In Glove b-side we just have the version recorded for the John Peel session of May 1983 and a version from the scrapped Troy Tate sessions for the debut LP:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Handsome Devil (Peel Session)
mp3 : The Smiths - Handsome Devil (Troy Tate version)

Here's the first time I ever heard it in a live setting:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Handsome Devil (live, QMU, Glasgow)

And finally, some fantastic early footage:-



Happy Listening

5 GREAT ALBUM TRACKS FOR FRIDAY (Part 21b)

The first two LPs had firmly established Tindersticks, both critically and commercially.  OK, none of their records stormed to the top of the charts, but Tindersticks (II) from 1995 was a real slow-burner all over Europe and before long, it was easy enough for the band to undertake sell-out tours across venues that held thousands rather than hundreds.  Sometimes the shows would be just the band themselves, while other times they would play with an orchestra, as captured magnificently on their live album, Live At The Bloomsbury Theatre, recorded in March 1995.

But it was almost as if, having got this success based on a sound that was deep, intense and hugely atmospheric, they wanted to ditch it all and start again.

The reaction to the third album Curtains, released in 1997, might have had a lot to do with it.  Most folk said it wasn't a patch on the previous two LPs.  But given the quality of those particular releases, it was always going to be a difficult one to get an honest and fair critical reaction.  I'm actually a huge fan of Curtains - I reckon it has some of the best tracks that the band ever recorded.  There was even a tremendous single - Bathtime - which sneaked into the charts almost unnoticed one week at #38.  However, a bit of a backlash emerged with too many critics saying it was just more of the same deep depressing stuff that quite frankly didn't fit-in with the times  - it was all about raving to The Chemical Brothers, singing along to the Spice Girls and of course fawning over Oasis and the hype around their 1997 LP Be Here Now.

Tindersticks themselves anticipated it all - there's a track on Curtains called Ballad Of Tindersticks which chronicled just how fed up they were of the world they were now occupying and what they were becoming.  Essential listening for anyone who things a rock'n'roll lifestyle is worth giving everything up for.....

The first time we flew in


It was cheap and cramped
The vodka running out half-way across the Atlantic
Even the steward screamed and joined in it
We didn't think we were going to make it


Now we're stretched out in wide, furry seats
Flicking through menus
A walk to the bar and there's as much screw-top champagne as we can drink
We're so easy


Taking turns having our photos taken
Sitting in front of small windows
Decanters of cheap whiskey in our hands
Drive into Manhattan on a date with a starlet who's just talent
That's what people pay the money to see
Who are we to argue?


Five hours now it's been going on
And still we're watching all of it
Can you really believe all this?
Can he really lie in bed at night and marvel at his own genius?
When do you lose the ability to step back
And get a sense of your own ridiculousness?
They're only songs


Midnight, and it's all over
Now it can really make us laugh
We're standing on our heads drinking sours of Crystal Schnapps
Now we're unable to step back or forward
Swallowing a swallow
Tasting it again, it's not so unpleasant
Perhaps it's an acquired taste
The first time, it makes you sick
Then, little by little, it becomes delicious


Showbiz people
Always there to be interested in what you say
We are artists; we are sensitive and important
We nod our heads earnestly
Already half-way down the champagne
On our way to leaving the place dry


A $2,000 bar bill
Showbiz picks up the tab
And we're on our way laughing
Laughing at what?


Los Angeles, eight days in
And our sense of irony's running pretty thin
All the friends we've made
It's 2 am, it's closing time at the Dresden
Marty and Layton play one last sleepy "Strangers in the Night"
And the last of the martinis dribble down our chins
We're sitting, chasing the conservation around the table


Jesus, how long have I been in this state?


The limousine's still waiting outside
Anything you want to do?
Anywhere you want to go?
We're on our way to the airport and a plane to Vegas
So many nights lying in bed shaking
Dreaming of pushing my daughter around the supermarket
The joy of seeing all those colours and shapes reflected in her wide eyes


My head leaning on the window
And we're driving through the empty L.A. streets
And everything seems silent and beautiful
A guy's face hits the floor
Police revolvers glistening in the streetlight
Onto Melrose and lurching through a sea of Halloween transvestites
The flight's cancelled, but it doesn't matter
We turn this corner to a way that takes us wherever


Up to Sunset
We creep up the drive to the Shattuck
The suite Belushi died in
Or the one Morrison hung out of the window
Oh, I'll go for Jim's
I would fancy a little window-hanging myself, tonight, man


Straight over to the mini-bar
Open the champagne -- one sip and it's left to wake up to
Anyone hungry?
A team of uniformed waiters lay out an elaborate table for all us to ignore
Oh, the irony
How we're used to living


Back in London on a cold Friday night
Do you want another drink?
Well, I could try
Perhaps we could make it to the Atlantic
600 yards, twenty minutes later
We're pushing through the waiting crowd, all fish eyes
An exclusive door policy
Exclusively for arseholes
And tonight? Well, a nod of our heads, and we're inside


Falling down the red, velvety stairs
Limbs flaying, hands searching for something to steady
Pick ourselves up, nothing broken
Just aches in the morning
No one seems to notice


I find a table, champagne arrives
I've been so drunk, I sit and look at you
We try and talk for the first time in a long time
Drunken confessions
You shiver, it made you feel sick
We use the rent money to pay the bill
Bumping shoulders, we stumble out into Soho
Slipping over the sleeping bags
Shouting for taxis

It was hardly a surprise therefore that come 1999 the release of Simple Pleasures was a sea-change in the sound of Tindersticks.  The strings were still in evidence on many of the songs as was a horn section.  But there was now some female backing vocalists.  And where the previous LPs had been epics that were over an hour in length, the new record had just 9 tracks and lasted a little over 40 minutes.  Oh and it was a totally different sound - very light on the ear, with hints of soul throughout, including a near lounge-bar version of the Odyssey hit single If You're Looking For A Way Out.  That it was an album fraught with difficulties is admitted by the band themselves as the sleeve notes inform that the songs were recorded over a six-day period in October 1998 but that as many as 25 takes were required before all were satisfied....

The songs on Simple Pleasures did throw the critics.  Where two years ago the band had been slated for not moving on with times, now they got brickbats for changing the sound that had made them so special and unique.  They really couldn't win......

Since then, we've had Can Our Love....in 2001 which was a continuation of Simple Pleasures, and then Waiting For The Moon in 2003 which harked back in some ways to the earlier material in it being a downbeat and melancholy sounding record.

And that appeared to be that as the band concentrated on solo projects and stopped touring.  Then out of the blue in 2008, there was a reformation of sorts with three out of the six members getting back together along with a number of guest musicians to release The Hungry Saw and then more musicians were added to the band on a more permanent basis to record and tour Falling Down A Mountain in 2010.

You can probably surmise from my lack of enthusiastic words above that I'm less fond of the the later albums.  They all have their merits but the depth of quality isn't there.  I'm also not so keen on the soulful stuff that dominated the 199-2001 era, but I never stopped going along to watch them live as they were always gave stunning performances.  Even the duller tracks on the albums sparked into life in the live setting, thanks to the ability of the musicians and of course the amazing voice that belongs to Stuart Staples.

The loss of Dickon Hinchcliffe (strings, keys and vocals), Al McCauley (drums and percussion) and Mark Colwill (bass) ripped the heart out of the band as a performing unit and it just hasn't been the same since.

I'm no longer first in line to get my ticket to a show.....indeed the last time they played Edinburgh I didn't go along (I had bought a ticket but the weather was lousy and I had a bad day at work and couldn't be arsed making the effort).  But I'll still maintain that Tindersticks have been one of the most impressive bands to emerge over the past 20 years - they've entertained me so many times in the live setting and I've loved so many of their songs that as this mini-series has demonstrated, it was impossible to select just five great non-singles from the LPs.  And here's my favourite five from the 1997-2010 era:-

mp3 : Tindersticks - Buried Bones
mp3 : Tindersticks - Let's Pretend
mp3 : Tindersticks - (Tonight) Are You Trying To Fall I Love Again?
mp3 : Tindersticks - CF GF
mp3 : Tindersticks - Until The Morning Comes

The first three are lifted from Curtains, while the others are from Simple Pleasures and Waiting For The Moon respectively (and Until The Morning Comes features a rare lead vocal from Dickon Hinchcliffe rather than Stuart Staples.....)

And that brings an end this mini series.  But there will be more Tindersticks stuff coming up in times ahead.....a wee look at the singles methinks!!

Happy Listening

MORE GLORIOUS NOISE

I liked this a lot when it was released back in 2009.  I still do:-

mp3 : The Horrors - Who Can Say

OK.  So they don't do anything us 40-somethings havent heard before, but they do it so well.

And if I was 30 years younger I wouldn't be ashamed to think The Horrors were the saviours of rock'n'roll. And I'd be angry that they are another who don't get the chart success they deserve.

The single was released in May 2009 just a week after the LP Primary Colours.  The single was a flop and the album peaked at #25.  Their new LP is out next week......Comrade Colin has said it's a belter and he's always a great judge when it comes to these things. 

Here's the b-side:-

mp3 : The Horrors - You Could Never Tell

And yer promo:-



Happy Listening