THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

Mighty Lemon Drops, One Thousand Violins, Primitives, Weather Prophets

C86 : THE ULTIMATE SERIES (Parts 59, 60, 61, and 62 of 114)

The Primitives, from Coventry, were first active between 1984 and 1992, before reforming in 2009.

The initial singles/EPs, the first of which, Thru The Flowers, came out in early 1986, were released on their own label, Lazy Records. This would eventually change in late 1987, when they signed the label over to RCA Records, which released the band’s material from then until their split.

mp3: Lazy – The Primitives

Track 3, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

One of four songs that made up the debut EP. The most noticeable thing is that the lead vocal is not taken by Tracy Tracy, but is delivered by guitarist and main songwriter Paul Court. It’s one of those songs that I’m always tempted to play and ask folk to identify the band….I would think only the hardcore fans would get it right.

As the Primitives will return later in the series, I’ll leave the rest of their narrative until then.

Last time The Mighty Lemon Drops featured in this series, the narrative took us up to the point in October 1986 when their debut album, Happy Head was released by Blue Guitar/Chrysalis in the UK while Sire Records were looking after their interests in the USA

1987/88 saw three further singles and the release of a second studio album. 1989 saw two singles and an album, albeit these were solely on Chrysalis as the Blue Guitar imprint had been closed down. Nothing was selling well, and unsurprisingly the band was dropped after the third album. But Sire Records kept faith, and this led to two further albums and various supporting singles via that label being released in 1991 and 1992, with everything being made readily available in their home market; but still there was a severe lack of commercial success. In 1992, the towel was thrown-in, albeit there would be a live album released vis the Newcastle-based Overground Records in 1993, while in 1997 Chrysalis would issue Rollercoaster: The Best Of 1986 – 1989 on CD only, probably in the hope that fans who had all the old vinyl, but possibly nothing to play it on, would shell out.

And with that, we will now go back in time:-

mp3: Like An Angel – The Mighty Lemon Drops

Track 22, Disc 2 of CD86.

The debut single from 1985, released on Dreamworld Records. The one which began all the fuss. A fuss that in the end never delivered much, but I do wonder just how much money was spent on The Mighty Lemon Drops by various labels over the years.

The Weather Prophets, from London, were active between 1985 and 1988. They emerged after the break-up of The Loft (who will, I promise, feature eventually in this series), and were immediately signed by Creation Records. There were two singles for the label in 1986.

mp3: The Weather Prophets – Like Frankie Lymon

Track 15, Disc 1 of CD86.

Bob Stanley, who curated CD86, made something of a strange decision to go with a b-side from the 12″ release of the debut single. It’s probably a lot to do with his personal taste, but Like Frankie Lymon is not at all typical of the music that The Weather Prophets were best known for. It’s not that it’s a bad song, but it is far slower and more gentle than most of the band’s other tunes.

As with The Primitives, I’ll return to the extended story of the band when they make a second appearance later on.

One Thousand Violins, from Sheffield, were active between 1985 and 1989 during which time there were seven singles and three albums released across a number of different indie labels.

They were one of the first bands signed by Dan Treacy of The Television Personalities to his Dreamworld Records, with their debut single, Halcyon Days, on 12″ only, becoming just the second record to be issued by the label back in 1985.

mp3: One Thousand Violins – Like One Thousand Violins

Track 8, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

One of the band’s best known tracks, despite it being a b-side. It was, in fact, so popular that it got voted in at #49 in John Peel‘s Festive 50 at the end of 1985.

One Thousand Violins had some contractual flexibility with Dreamworld and a number of their early releases, including a mini-album in 1986, the splendidly named Please Don’t Sandblast My House! came out on Constrictor Records which was based in Dortmund in Germany. Throughout 1987, singles and albums would be released on both labels, and then in 1988 the band made a move to London-based Immaculate Records, for whom there would be two singles and one album before the band decided to break-up.

JC

2 Johnnies

SOME SONGS MAKE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapter 65)

So……myself and Aldo having had an unforgettable few days in Ireland, visiting and enjoying watering holes in Cork, Cobh, Galway, Westport, Newport and Kilmeena, find ourselves in Ballyhaunis where we are to catch the bus to Knock Airport for the Monday evening flight back to Edinburgh. We have a couple of hours to kill so we head to a very quiet pub down a side street….there’s only the barmaid and one other customer inside. The horse racing is on the television, but there’s also some audio courtesy of some sort of local radio station.

A very upbeat tune comes on. I listen in and think to myself…….’ sure that that would be a great one for the long dormant series on the blog of songs making great stories.’ Thankfully I have the Shazam app on the phone to tell me the name of the song and the group involved.

Here’s an edit from wiki……

The 2 Johnnies are an Irish comedy duo, consisting of Jonathon “Johnny Smacks” McMahon and John “Johnny B” O’Brien, from County Tipperary. They are known for their The 2 Johnnies podcast, YouTube channel, live shows and music.

Their podcast tops the Irish charts with listenership of over 500,000 listeners per week. They have performed live shows in the 3 Arena, the UK, US and Australia. The 2 Johnnies have approximately 500,000 followers on Instagram with comparable numbers on TikTok and Facebook.

Me? Never heard of them before sitting in the Ballyhaunis pub and listening to what turned out to be the opening track of Small Town Heroes, their debut album which went to #1 in Ireland on its release in May 2024.

mp3: The 2 Johnnies – The Gaa, The Ska, The ‘Ra

I met her above in college in Dublin
She was studying arts or history or something
I said ‘D’you wanna go for something to eat’
We’d a flake of pints on Camden Street

She was pure sound, gorgeous & curvy
She knew how to wear that fresher’s jersey
She sang The Rattlin Bog on the counter of the pub
And I knew right then, I’d fell in love

She said ‘I’ll tell you something ’bout me, don’t judge my family’
Sure, everyone’s people’s half mad
yours couldn’t be that bad

She likes the GAA, the ska, I think her Da’s in the ‘Ra
Cos he’s a big scary fucker from South Armagh
Ah boys, the scenes, the girl of my dreams
But I’m terrified of her family
2 out of 3 ain’t bad, the Gaa, the Ska & the ‘Ra

I met her father of a Friday evening, he was out in the garden washing diesel
In the shed there was a 12-foot Irish flag and about 12-thousand cartons of fags
‘So what are your intentions with my daughter? Ya better be taking her up that altar’
That night when I took off her bra, I couldn’t get the horn for thinking ‘bout her Da

She said ‘don’t mess with me boy, I’m from up the north,
I’ve heard all the lines, I’ve seen your sort’
Well, I can compromise if you can,
Wait till I tell her, we’re vegetarian!

Well, we got married in a church in Ardee
There was a few dodgy heads at the ceremony
Now I help her father chopping sticks,
We just don’t talk about politics

I think it’s fair to say that the American pop-punk of the late 90s/early 00’s so beloved by teens made its way across the Atlantic……

JC

#edwyncollins45s

THE TESTIMONIAL TOUR OF 45s (aka The Singular Adventures of Edwyn Collins)

#41: It’s All About You : Edwyn Collins b/w Sometimes Always Never : Edwyn Collins & Sean Reed (AED Records, AEDEC27, 2019)

And now to a piece of vinyl that, until pulling this series together, I never even knew existed.

Last week’s offering mentioned that Outside, as a one-song promo CD, had been the track used to promote the ninth studio album, Badbea. Turns out that another of its tracks was later made available on 7″ vinyl:-

mp3: Edwyn Collins – It’s All About You

The opening song on Badbea, and one that has since become a staple of the live shows since 2019. It was a double-A side, but the other track wasn’t one I was aware of:-

mp3: Edwyn Collins & Sean Reed – Sometimes Always Never

From wiki:-

Sometimes Always Never is a 2018 British comedy-drama film directed by Carl Hunter and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, starring Bill Nighy, Sam Riley, and Jenny Agutter.

I’m not much of a film fan, and this is one that completely passed me by. The soundtrack was written by Sean and Edwyn, and was released on AED Records in 2019 as a 22-track album, with, as would be expected, the vast majority being instrumental offerings.

Edwyn has since recorded and released a tenth studio album, Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation, released to great critical acclaim in March 2025, and the final part of this particular series next Sunday will look at a few of its songs.

JC

Montjuic

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #514: MONTJUIC

Montjuic, aside from being a well-trodden part of the tourist trail in Barcelona, is the name adopted by two veterans of the Glasgow music scene for a collaboration that resulted in a debut album appearing in late 2025.

James Hackett is the lead singer of The Orchids, an indie-guitar band who first came to prominence in the mid-late 80s, with their initial singles and albums being on the legendary label, Sarah Records.

Ian Carmichael is a producer of note, who worked with The Orchids from near enough the outset, before building and opening his own studio in Glasgow in the late 80s and then branching out as a writer and performer with One Dove, whose sole album Morning White Dove went Top 30 in 1993 and spawned a fabulous single, White Love, that has been featured a few times on the blog. He would also become a friend of Andrew Weatherall, with who he would often collaborate.

James and Ian have, obviously, known each other and worked closely together for decades, but was only during the COVID lockdown that they began to work on the idea of being a duo, deciding to name themselves after the hill in Barcelona, writing and recording remotely.

mp3: Montjuic – Let’s Change

Taken from Things Must Change, a 14-track album, was released on Last Night From Glasgow Records last September.

JC

Communards

THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (37): Communards – You Are My World

My introduction to The Communards came via seeing them perform on the TV show The Tube, which went out on Friday evenings on Channel 4 between 5.30 and 7pm. This would have been November 1985, a few months just after I’d left university and moved to live in Edinburgh, where I’d started working in July 1985. It wasn’t a great paying job, and while the flat I was living in was shared with two others, the rent I was paying didn’t leave too much to live off, and I hadn’t bought the NME or any other music papers for a while. As such, I’d missed that Jimmy Somerville had now formed a new band, one in which he would be signing with the music coming from the classically trained Richard Coles.

The debut single, You Are My World, may well have been getting played on the radio, but I certainly never heard it any evening I had it switched on. The live performance on the telly was a helluva way to learn about the duo and the song.

I’ve always been a sucker for strings on pop songs, so this was right up my street. Jimmy’s falsetto has long been one of the wonders of the 80s pop scene, and to hear him hit, and maintain, many of those notes was joyous. If nothing else, got to 3:29 of the clip and watch the next ten seconds – the smile that breaks out over Jimmy’s face as he realises he’s nailed the performance is a fabulous TV moment.

I went out and bought the single the next day from HMV on Princes Street in Edinburgh, which is where I learned it was already in the charts, as the shop had the ‘top’ singles laid out in racks in accordance with the chart position in any particular week. Looking up the chart history, You Are My World would have been sitting at #30, which is where, criminally, it peaked.

mp3: The Communards – You Are My World

There were two tracks on the b-side. The first was a bitter-sweet ballad bemoaning what Thatcher and her cronies were doing to the country:-

mp3: The Communards – Breadline Britain

The other was a cover, a big band song from the 1940s on which Doris Day had first performed the lead vocal, while a version from Ella Fitzgerald would follow a couple of years later:-

mp3: The Communards – Sentimental Journey

The Communards would, in due course, become ridiculously successful for a short time, when their take on Don’t Leave Me This Way spent four weeks at #1 in September 1986.

JC

Various

THE RESPLENDENT RETURN OF LITTLE LOSER’S LOTTERY : #11

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

‘GIGS FROM YESTERYEAR, WHEN I WAS YOUNG + PRETTY AS A PICTURE’

#11 Bizarre Festival, Alsdorfer Weiher (June 1992)

Dear friends,

1984 didn’t start nicely for me. I was 15 ½ and I thought The Clash were the best thing since sliced bread (still do in a way, but less said about that the better). No internet, of course, all you had were UK music papers you’d get at the station in town (the town being 40 kilometres away from where I lived) plus a German one, Spex, a bit easier available. Now, rumour had it, presumably in one of those papers, that The Clash would play the Philipshalle in Düsseldorf (100 kilometers away) in February and understandably my mate Arthur and me were electrified – little did we know about Mick Jones having been sacked and The Clash MK II being by and large a different cup of tea in comparison to their previous output which we had in our record collection.

So we did our utmost to convince our parents to get permission to attend said gig. We would have gone there by bicycle, even bloody walked there, so desperate were we to see The Clash – we would literally have done everything! We were not in the best of positions to argue, it must be said, because both of us had to stay down this year in school – so all beggary was in vain, our parents just laughed and told us to bugger off, basically.

And that’s it – I did not see The Clash then, and from a semi-psychological point of view this might be one reason why I became the frustrated old fart that I am now, perhaps.

But either way, here comes the link to Little Loser’s choice of today: information-wise nothing much had changed in the eight years which had passed, still no internet, still the same music papers. And another rumour: apparently The Pogues’ Shane McGowan has finally completely lost his head, so much so that The Pogues had recruited Joe Strummer to take over his vocal duties. And who were to play this year’s Bizarre Festival? Right, The Pogues were … so I desperately tried to strum up a friend to come along with me. Bizarre had re-located the venue in 1992 and Alsdorf was just 40 kilometres away, which of course was convenient. Entry was not convenient though: 53,- Deutschmarks, which was a bit steep, even in those days. But hey, it was The Clash, at least a quarter of them, so off we went!

Also, in order to tell the whole truth: not only Joe Strummer was supposed to be there, The Ramones were as well – but more importantly also a stunning young girl I had a total crush on back then, Celia. Certain looks had already been exchanged in the local pub between her and me previously and when having been in conversation with her, I always had the feeling that she fancied me as well.

Right, convincing my mate to come along with me plus getting hold of sufficient cash took quite some time, means we only got there early in the afternoon. So we missed some of the ‘earlier’ bands, if memory serves correctly I saw Blur, but for the life of me I cannot remember whether I saw Kirsty MacColl or not. A shame if I didn’t, of course, in hindsight. I definitely saw Carter USM (excellent) and The Ramones (don’t ask me why they weren’t even mentioned on the ticket) – I remember that some pogoing idiots destroyed parts of the stage whilst they played. I think their set was brutally brief because of this (six tunes only plus C.J. injured), but detailed memory has left me there

This, friends, might have something to do with the fact that it hadn’t taken me long to find Celia in the crowd and, believe it or not, my assumption was correct: she liked me as well, it turned out. A lot, in fact. So maybe I cannot tell too much about the bands and their sets because I spent too much time on kissing & caressing … it certainly distracted me from the music, that’s for sure!

Fun fact: Alsdorf is just 5 minutes away from where I now live and the venue, which was a hilly park near to a big pond, had been transmogrified into a petting zoo in the late 90s. So when Little Loser was little, we went there quite often – and whenever he would caress a goat or whatever, I stood there and smiled sheepishly whilst recalling my own caressing actions at the very same place some 20 years before …

So, to cut a long story short: today – with the benefit of hindsight – we all know now that Joe Strummer handled lead vocals for the Pogues’ 1992 tours across Australia, Japan, and North America. But by the spring of 1992, he left the band. Longtime tin-whistle player and founding member Spider Stacy then took over as the permanent lead vocalist. The Bizarre Festival, let me remind you, took place in June …

So shamefully I never got to see any member of The Clash in all of my life. On the plus side, Celia and me left the festival as a couple and were together for nearly a year, so there you are … not too much of a shabby day altogether, right?

Here’s some music, tracks specifically chosen to fit the dead romantic atmosphere:

Carter USM – ‘Lean On Me I Won’t Fall Over’ (live @ Reading ’94)
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – ‘Happy’ (live JB’s, Dudley ’02)
Blur – ‘It Could Be You’ (live Budokan, Tokyo ’95)
Slowdive – ‘Celia’s Dream’ (’91)
Ramones – ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ (live Roxy, Hollywood ’76)

I could of course have killed two birds with a stone and go for the well-known version of ‘Fairytale’, “the Christmas one”, if you like – featuring Kirsty. But no, instead:

Kirsty McColl – ‘There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis’ (’81)
Pogues – ‘Fairytale Of New York’ (early version (from ’86), with Cait O’Riordan on vocals and different lyrics: absolutely ace!)

Enjoy,

Dirk

Various

I’M EVERY WOMAN MIXTAPE

A guest posting by Mopyfop

mp3: Various – I’m Every Woman (mix tape)

Janet Jackson – Control
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) – Whitney Houston
Just Be Good To Me – S.O.S. Band
Somebody Else’s Guy – Jocelyn Brown
I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down – Anne Peebles
California Soul – Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell
Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don’t Tease Me) – Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells
Tyrone (live) – Erykah Badu
You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette
Shitlist – L7
Celebrity Skin – Hole
Hollywood (French Soller remix) – Marina and The Diamonds
Videogames (Omid 16B remix) – Lana Del Ray
I Wish I Didn’t Miss You – Angie Stone
This Used To Be My Playground – Madonna
No Regrets – Randy Crawford with Joe Sample

Mobyfop

Soup Dragons

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE? (87)

The debut EP that really isn’t?

It was Pages 121-122 of Grant McPhee‘s hugely enjoyable book Postcards From Scotland : Scottish Independent Music 1983-1995 when I fully learned the story behind the debut EP by The Soup Dragons.

On 7 December 1985, the band recorded their first 7″ single, and it was to be for the Bristol-based Subway Organisation. The band went into an Edinburgh studio and recorded three songs, with a fourth added later on in Glasgow. Here’s what Sean Dickson, the lead singer with the band, told Grant McPhee:-

“We did a four-track EP called The Sun Is In The Sky, and it shows you how naive we were because you don’t know things like that, on a 7″ record…..if you have a certain amount of time on a 7” inch single it deteriorates the quality….so basically the EP didn’t sound that great, it sounded awful when it got pressed.

And the cover, the Letraset had slipped as it went to the printer so the cover was just a complete dog’s dinner.

And I remember us all sitting there nearly crying, you know, put it on, it sounded like shit and the cover looked like shit and so we were ‘Shit, what do we do? So we pulled it, much to the hatred of Martin (Whitehead) that ran the Subway Organisation, but you know, a lot of gratitude to him that they actually did agree to it then.”

The EP, while never officially being released, did make it into a few shops, which is how you can still come across copies on the second-hand market today.

mp3: The Soup Dragons – Quite Content
mp3: The Soup Dragons – Swirling Round The Garden With You
mp3: The Soup Dragons – Fair’s Fair
mp3: The Soup Dragons – Not For Humbert

A short while later, the Whole Wide World EP would be recorded and in due course be accepted more widely as the debut, one which went to #2 in the UK indie charts and sold more than enough copies to make up the costs involved with the withdrawn single.

JC

Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (48) : Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls – Dream Sequences

R-1640902-1486424749-8143

This is a direct copy of a post dating back to May 2015, one which attracted a fair bit of positive dialogue in the comments section.

Today I’m featuring a single that I picked up a few years ago in a charity shop for the princely sum of 25p.

mp3 : Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls – Dream Sequence I
mp3 : Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls – Dream Sequence II

Pauline Murray was one of the first girls to come out of the punk movement. She was just 18 years of age when she came to prominence as lead singer with Penetration, whose debut single from November 1977 is a true landmark effort:-

mp3 : Penetration – Don’t Dictate

Sorry, I couldn’t resist including that – a rare example of a single from punk era that has just not lost any of its appeal the best part of 40 almost 50 years on.

Penetration split up in 1980 after just two albums and five singles. Pauline was just 22 years of age at the time, and her next project was with the aforementioned The Invisible Girls who were in fact the backing band for the Salford poet John Cooper Clarke. The new combo released a self-titled album in 1980, a piece of work that was critically acclaimed but didn’t sell all that well.

It was a record that came out on Illusive Records which was a subsidiary of RSO Records which, if memory was the biggest label in the world at the end of the 70s as it was home to The Bee Gees as well as being the label for the soundtrack to Grease.

But it would have been perfectly at home, and indeed a better fit, if it had been on Factory Records as it had production from Martin Hannett (who also played on the record) and a sleeve by Peter Saville, both of whom of course are central characters in the rise and fall of the best label to ever come out of Manchester. Oh and the drummer was John Maher of Buzzcocks….

I was delighted to grab a copy of the single as I used to have a copy of the subsequent self-titled Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls debut album but as I’ve not seen it in the cupboard for years so I can only assume that I loaned it to someone and forgot to ask for it back. What I do remember is that it was a record slightly ahead of its time, relying on the then largely unfamiliar sound of synthesisers with Pauline’s vocals often being well back in the mix as if they were an instrument. It really is one of the great lost albums of the era (literally in my case…..).

I do see that last year (2014) the album was re-released with a bonus disc of Peel Sessions, remixes and live versions. I might well go and track it down….or I might go to the online second-hand market for a copy of the vinyl. Either way, it’s on a list of things to do.

JC

PS – I did later track down the 2014 re-release……but not on vinyl!

#edwyncollins45s

THE TESTIMONIAL TOUR OF 45s (aka The Singular Adventures of Edwyn Collins)

#40: Outside : Edwyn Collins (AED Records, AEDEC26, 2019)

There was a six-year gap between the eighth and ninth studio albums, with Badbea being released in March 2019.

As was mentioned last week, Edwyn had devoted a great deal of time and energy to the documentary film The Possibilities Are Endless, as well as its accompanying soundtrack album. There was also the not insignificant step of Edwyn and his family making a move out of London and to the village of Helmsdale in the far north of Scotland, a move that would also involve Edwyn building a brand-new studio.

Badbea was the first record to be made in the new facility at Helmsdale. In an era when going making the effort to physically produce an actual single on vinyl was really more bother than it was worth, then it can be no surprise that the album was trailed only by a promo CD containing one song

mp3: Edwyn Collins – Outside

A real throwback. A new-wave song sound and texture that comes in at under two minutes in length. It was 1977 all over again. A truly wonderful surprise that has proven to be one of my favourites of all his singles.

Was it a precursor to an entirely new direction via this entirely new album? Well….yes and no.

Badbea contained 12 songs, but only Outside was a punk thrash. Many of the other songs were a continuation of the sounds on Losing Sleep back in 2010 and Understated in 2013, but there were also some songs that were wholly nostalgic in nature, with perhaps the new surroundings stirring up memories that at one point in time had probably been totally forgotten in the wake of his illnesses. Some of these were ballads, but on the autobiographical ‘Glasgow to London’ we find a song that is a synth-led mid-tempo dance track that’s just the perfect tempo for those of us on the cusp of (or indeed, already in receipt of) our bus passes.

mp3: Edwyn Collins – Glasgow to London

Long ago back in Glasgow
Ambition drove my life
Now I note I must admit
I couldn’t give a fuck

I’m on that train
Glasgow to London
I’m on that train
Glasgow to London

It’s in the past

On the streets the couple blames
The fruit play fetch, the market stalls
In the 80’s, wild and free
Herring round the town

I’m on that train
Glasgow to London
I’m on that train
Glasgow to London

It’s in the past

Back to reality
Back to the grind
Look at the state of me
But I don’t mind
I don’t mind

I really thought it would have made for the next ‘single’ to push the album, but I was wrong.

JC

Michael M

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #512: MICHAEL M

I hope you can cast your minds back to June 2025 when I put forward You’re Doing It Wrong by Michael M as book of the month.

And if you were paying close attention, you’ll have spotted that one of Michael M’s songs featured in the Scorchio! mix tape just a few days ago.

At long last, the alphabetical run-through of Scottish singers and bands (second-time around) has landed on Michael M.

mp3: Michael M – Morality Maths

From his second studio album, Glasgow Moths, released in 2022.

JC

Fictive Fridays, Various

FICTIVE FRIDAYS : #19

a guest series, courtesy of a very friendly lawyer

OH, THE DIVORCES

Being in a band really is like being in a marriage. Relationships between band members are key and, when they get strained, they can kill it off. It’s hard enough keeping it together when you’re just a group of like-minded friends. I have no idea how married couples can function as bandmates without driving each other nuts, so maybe these folks can tell us:

Cities in Dust – Banshees (Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie, 1991 – 2007). Ms. Ballion and Mr. Clarke connected in the middle of the Banshees’ run and kept it together as The Creatures after the first band dissolved.

I Give Up – Quasi (Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes, 1990 – 1995). Divorce didn’t get in Quasi’s way—they’re still a going concern after 23 years. A lot of fun in concert, too, if you get a chance to see them.

Hotel Yorba – White Stripes (Jack and Meg White,1996 – 2000). When I first saw them at the Troubadour Jack and Meg were still pretending to be siblings, although their marriage was already over by that point. All their albums were released after the split, and they kept the band going for another 11 years.

Disappearer – Sonic Youth (Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore,1984 – 2011). They had a 30-year run, but Thurston’s affair ended it.

Intervention – Arcade Fire (Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, 2003 – 2025). Mr. Butler’s infidelities also tanked his marriage, although the band did release an album after the split. It’s a recent development, so it remains to be seen if the lead couple can keep the act together.

Walking in L.A. – Missing Persons (Dale and Terry Bozzio, 1979 – 1986). Dale and Terry met while recording Joe’s Garage with Frank Zappa. They released a couple of successful records but, when Color In Your Life flopped, the tensions were too much to keep the band going. Warren Cuccurullo went on to replace Andy Taylor in Duran Duran for a few albums. Terry played with high profile legends like Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck. Dale reformed Missing Persons a couple of years ago, with The Knack’s Prescott Niles on bass.

True Love – X (Exene and John Doe, 1980 – 1985). X’s two singers were married when the band released their first four (and best) albums. The fifth record, Ain’t Love Grand!, wasn’t the success they hoped for and it led to guitarist Billy Zoom quitting. Exene married Viggo Mortensen for a while, but X soldiered on. After a few fits and starts with Tony Gilkyson as guitarist, Zoom returned, and the band are still recording and performing shows.

Seems So – The Apples in Stereo (Robert Schneider and Hilarie Sidney, 1994 – 2004). The Elephant 6 Collective’s principal act had a married couple for most of its tenure. Hilarie drummed on the first eight records, including two after the divorce. The band is theoretically still active, despite Robert’s academic career in mathematics and countless musical side projects, but they haven’t released a record since 2010’s Travellers in Space and Time.

Gronlandic Edit – Of Montreal (Kevin Barnes and Nina Grøttland, 2003 – 2013). Frontman/songwriter/bandleader Barnes is the man behind this Athens, Georgia art-rock experience and used to record everything himself. But their live performances are a real spectacle, with costumes and stage sets, and the non-musical dance group the Sneakies. Nina played bass for a bit and had a daughter with Barnes. That ended a while ago and Barnes has since come out as non-binary genderqueer, which may or may not have had something to do with the marriage’s end.

Velvet Ring – Big Thief (Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek, 2015 – 2018). I read a recent interview with the band, in which Adrienne and Buck described themselves as best friends. Although the marriage didn’t last, it was sweet that the pair “couldn’t imagine” not making music together.

Bonus Track: Oh, The Divorces – Tracy Thorn. After 28 years as a couple, Tracy married Ben Watt. That was 17 years ago for the members of Everything But The Girl, who took some time off for side projects and to raise their three kids, then regrouped for another couple of albums. They’re the poster children for bands with couples that manage to remain married, but that’s a different post for another day.

Jonny

Bachelor Pad, Close Lobsters, June Brides, Mighty Mighty

C86 : THE ULTIMATE SERIES (Parts 55, 56, 57, and 58 of 114)

The Bachelor Pad, a five-piece band from Glasgow, released six singles/EPs and one album during the years they recorded music between 1987 and 1991.

They first came to notice via a flexidisc that was given away with two fanzines which led to an offer to sign to what was to be a brand-new indie label, as yet unnamed! The band happened to sign on the day Andy Warhol died, and in tribute the founder and owner, Mike Stout, then and there decided the label should be called Warholasound. The Bachelor Pad’s debut, The Albums Of Jack, was released in 7″ and 12″ version in the spring of 1987:-

mp3: Jack and Julian – The Bachelor Pad

Track 17, Disc 2 of CD86.

This was on the b-side of the 7″ and one of five songs on the 12″. Before the year was over, there would be two further singles for Warholasound after which they switched to Glasgow-based Egg Records for whom there would be three singles, while Imaginary Records, based in north-west England, would be responsible for issuing Tales of Hoffman, their sole album, released in early 1990.

The June Brides, from London, were initially active between 1983 and 1996, before reforming in 2012. They’ve long been a favourite of mine, and I’ve always been a bit bemused that they are associated with the C86 movement, given that they had broken up in advance of the genre becoming a thing.

The band’s first two singles (one of which will come up later in this alphabetical series) were issued by The Pink Label, as was the mini-album There Are Eight Million Stories, which went to #1 in the Indie Charts just after its release in September 1985. Shortly afterwards, they switched to In Tape Records on which two singles would appear in November 1985 and May 1986. The June Brides were seemingly asked to contribute a track to C86 but turned the request down. Before the year was out, the band split and frontman Phil Wilson embarked on a solo career after being snapped up by Creation Records.

In 2012, the band reformed for some live gigs followed afterwards by two new singles on Slumberland Records.

mp3: Just The Same – The June Brides

Track 1, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

One of the three tracks on the This Town EP, released on In Tape in May 1986.

A second and much-welcomed (by me at least) appearance from Close Lobsters in this series.

mp3: Just Too Bloody Stupid – Close Lobsters

Track 11, Disc 2 of CD86.

Just Too Bloody Stupid was recorded and included on their 1987 debut album, Foxheads Stalk This Land. But the version on CD86 was a bit different. I posted both versions on the blog back in 2015 at which point our dear friend Brian, all the way from Seattle via his old blog Linear Track Lives provided a wonderful and perfect explanation:-

The cd86 version is a demo that came out as a 7″ on Caff Records in 1989. Makes sense since that was Bob Stanley’s label, and he was the one that assembled the CD86 comp. That 7″ goes for $60-$70 now. Like you, I prefer the more polished version, but it’s nice to have both. Stanley didn’t agree with us. He called the studio take the “bastardised” version. So it’s no wonder he used the demo on cd86.

Cheers Brian…you truly are a walking, talking encyclopaedia.

A second and much-welcomed (by me at least) appearance from Mighty Mighty in this series.

As mentioned last time out, the band’s first two singles were on their own Girlie Records before they made the switch to Chapter 22. I didn’t mention last time out, as I didn’t want to spoil this particular posting, that they also contributed to the original C86 cassette:-

mp3: Law – Mighty Mighty

Track 6 on side 1 of the C86 cassette; Track 6, Disc One of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

The band would re-record Law in 1987 as the b-side to One Way, their third and final single for Chapter 22. That’s the picture sleeve above.

JC

Various

SCORCHIO!

I’d never have imagined getting home from Barbados and finding the weather hotter and the humidity far more uncomfortable in Glasgow.

mp3: Various – Scorchio!

Heat Wave – The Jam
Well Done Sonny – The Weather Prophets
Mistaken For Strangers – The National
We Don’t Care – Audio Bullys
Munich – Editors
White Mice – The Mo-Dettes
Bluetooth Hell – Dancer
The Search For Cherry Red – Jonathan Fire*Eater
Ain’t That Always The Way – Paul Quinn
Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Mix) – Hi-Fi Sean & David McAlmont
Age Of Panic – Senser
Do People In America Wear Easterhouse T-Shirts? – Michael M
When It All Comes Down – Miaow
I Could Be In Heaven – The Flatmates
Mangetout – Wet Leg
Portland Town – Heavenly
Stupid Kid – Sultans of Ping F.C.
Blister In The Sun – Violent Femmes
Hidden track to take it to the hour mark

I’m off on my travels again today….Cork and Westport in Ireland…..I won’t have the laptop with me, so if anybody fires over emails/guest contributions etc, I apologise in advance that you won’t get any response for the best part of a week.

JC

Bananarama, Fun Boy Three

SMALL SCREEN GEMS (7): Fun Boy Three and Bananarama – ITV (1982)

Warning. This post features an overuse of brackets.

O.T.T. (short for Over The Top) as a very short-lived music/comedy programme of 12 episodes across 1 series that was broadcast between January and April 1982. It was a show aimed at adults but was a spin-off from the weekly children’s programme TISWAS (Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile) that ran for eight series between 1974 and 1982.

As far as I know, the programme featured the live TV debut of Fun Boy Three and Bananarama, performing the single that would peak at #4 in March 1982.

With huge thanks to ohnoitisnathan19 for posting the clip, which then cuts to comedian Lenny Henry is his then regular character Algernon Razzmattaz, a gentle send up of Rastafarian culture.

mp3 : The Fun Boy Three (with Bananarama) – T’Aint What You Do (It’s The Way That You Do It) (extended version)

A reminder that the song was written by jazz musicians Melvin “Sy” Oliver and James “Trummy” Young, and first recorded in 1939.

JC

Radiohead

THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (35) : Radiohead – Karma Police

This is another of those occasions when I think ‘how long ago???….you’re joking!!’

August 1997 was when Karma Police was released as the second single from the album OK Computer. It can’t really be just short of 30 years now……

It was released on two CD singles and a 12-inch vinyl single. Anyone who has a copy of the 12″ vinyl can flog it off nowadays for at least £50 on the second-hand market. Each of the CDs can be had for as little as £2. I don’t have the vinyl……

CD1

mp3: Radiohead – Karma Police
mp3: Radiohead – Meeting In The Aisle
mp3: Radiohead – Lull

The two additional tracks are otherwise unavailable.

Meeting In The Aisle is a relatively straightforward three-minute long instrumental that has a feeling of having been worked up for some sort of film or TV soundtrack…..or perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, an early indication of what would emerge in the tunes on Kid A and Amnesiac.

Lull is a fully worked song of just over a couple of minutes in length that perhaps was kept off OK Computer due to its slight similarity, through the use of a chiming guitar and glockenspiel, to No Surprises.

CD2

mp3: Radiohead – Climbing Up The Walls (Zero 7 Mix)
mp3: Radiohead – Climbing Up The Walls (Fila Brazillia Mix)

One of the most intense tracks on OK Computer is given a couple of remix treatments on CD2.

Zero 7 are an English duo made up of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker whose speciality is downbeat trip-hop and that’s very much what they bring to this particular party. It makes for a less abrasive and therefore easier listen than the album version. Worth mentioning that Binns and Hardaker were also involved in the recording of Meeting In The Aisle as found on CD1.

Fila Brazillia are another English electronica trip-hop duo, consisting of Steve Cobby and David McSherry. This one stretches out the track to over six minutes and has a more dubby feel in places, along with a fair bit of keyboard noodling, particularly over the final few minutes. Probably sounds superb if you’re stoned

Karma Police reached #8 in the single chart.

JC

#edwyncollins45s

THE TESTIMONIAL TOUR OF 45s (aka The Singular Adventures of Edwyn Collins)

#39: Too Right (It’s Christmas) : Frankie & The Heartstrings feat. Edwyn Collins (Wichita Recordings, Promo CD, 2015)

Last time out, we had reached July 2013 and the release/non-release of the single Too Bad (That’s Sad), one of the outstanding upbeat numbers on the album, Understated.

The next few years Edwyn would keep busy with AED Records as well as being the subject of the documentary film The Possibilities Are Endless, which was released in November 2014. The film was the work of James Hall and Edward Lovelace and is described as ‘an immersive documentary’ about Edwyn’s recovery from his stroke. As one reviewer, in awarding the film 5-stars said:-

Hall and Lovelace have skirted the temptation to make a conventional documentary; instead they immerse us in the experience, as confusing and frightening as it is. They dig beauty out of tragedy without being too neat about it and have made a remarkable film.

It’s one I watched at the time and have since bought a copy on CD, and have to say that it is a really moving piece of work, but not the most comfortable of watches given how much viewers are asked to consider just how difficult the recovery process is….but at least, all along, we knew it would have a happy-ish ending.

The film was accompanied by the release of a soundtrack album, on AED Records, and credited to Edwyn, Carwyn Elllis and Sebastian Lewsley. There weren’t any singles lifted from the album, but I thought I’d share one of its songs:-

mp3: Don’t Shilly Shally (2014 Version)

The next actual single on which Edwyn featured was as the guest on the 2015 festive offering by an indie band from Sunderland in the north-east of England:-

mp3: Frankie and The Heartstrings feat. Edwyn Collins – Too Right (It’s Christmas)

The band had been around since 2009, initially self-releasing some singles before signing to London-based Wichita Recordings, for whom there would be three albums, Hunger (2011), The Days Run Away (2013) and Decency (2015), with the debut album, which had been produced by Edwyn at the West Heath Studios, proving to be the most successful, reaching #32 in the charts.

I’m sorry to say that this particular single isn’t worth much attention; Edwyn’s contribution is actually very limited, consisting of some spoken words just after the two-minute mark, and I did seriously consider not featuring it today, but for the sake of completeness……..

There will be a return to some sort of normality next week.

JC

Medicine Men

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #511: MEDICINE MEN

Medicine Men started out as a duo consisting of Ian MacKinnon (vocals/guitars) and Michael McGeough (keyboards) with debut album Into The Light being released in 2017. It was well received, certainly around the Glasgow area, with one reviewer excitedly declaring, ‘The musical diversity on this record is insane; in the grooves you can hear The Charlatans, the vocals scream Paul Weller and the instrumentation oozes the beautiful vibes of Tame Impala.

But in a crowded market, they didn’t penetrate much beyond a loyal fan base, which is probably why I never heard of them until four years later when I was handed a copy of the 2020 album A Different Port as part of my initial LNFG membership. It was one of a substantial number of records from acts that I knew nothing about, so there was a lot of catching up to do, as well as trying also to keep abreast of what was happening elsewhere which is probably why I never got round to mentioning them before now.

By 2020, the band was a four piece with Marc MacCallum (bass) and Stephen Forbes (drums) completing the line-up. The result was a solid, if unspectacular LP, which kind of defied description, as the songs demonstrated a range of influences – some relying on electronica/keyboards influences while others had guitar work that wouldn’t have been out of place on the sort of indie-rock compilations that sold in significant numbers back in the 90s.

mp3: Medicine Men – Back On Board

There’s been nothing since, which is perhaps an indication that this was another band whose progress was brought to an end by the onset of the restrictions placed on everyone with the onset of the COVID pandemic.

JC

Chills, Eg and Alice, Felt, Hurrah!

THE CULT CLASSICS :THE RE-RUNS (4)

12 January 2014. This came from the Friend of Rachel Worth, who many moons ago curated a wonderful blog called Cathedrals of Sound, with the last post being in May 2013.

– – – – –

Well this has caused some angst as most of my record collection consists of stuff that I’m convinced should have outsold thriller and be hailed as a work of Sgt Pepper type genius but sold diddly squat and disappeared to find a life only on long forgotten home made compilation tapes or in the darkest corners of the internet

I can’t choose just one so have had to go with 4 bands and 5 songs that should have been massive and played regularly in school assemblies

1. Ballad of the Band – Felt

First up is by surely the ultimate cult band….Felt. Led by Lawrence with a vision of 10 singles and 10 lps in 10 years and then split up. Feted by critics and many of his peers and living in an alternative world where he saw himself as a top pop star with Felt rubbing shoulders with Madonna at the top of the charts, it never really happened as Lawrence was convinced it would. Instrumental lps and songs with long strange titles meant that they never really made it past the indie chart (does such a thing still exist?) and the festive 50.

Their best known song is probably Primitive Painters with the Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser sharing vocals, however I’ve gone for a band divorce played out in a 3 min pop song. The departure of long time guitarist Maurice Deebank prompted Ballad of the Band with its lyrical riposte and the swirling Hammond organ turned up high in the mix as an added insult to the guitarist.

Where you been
Aint seen you for weeks
You’ve been hanging out with all those jesus freaks

Where were you
When I wanted to work
You were still in bed
You’re a total jerk

mp3 : Felt – Ballad of The Band

It also has a gorgeous cover.

2. Heavenly Pop Hit – The Chills

Another band built around a maverick, this time New Zealander Martin Phillipps. Not sure if they really count as they had success in their own country , but in the UK gloriously underachieved. The more culty song is probably early single Pink Frost about the death of former bandmate. It is a haunting tune with a bit of early Cure thrown in.

However, I love Heavenly Pop Hit which does exactly what it says on the tin .. except for the hit bit.

For about a month this single and the lp it came from (submarine bells) were championed by Record Mirror but quickly dumped when they realised they had failed to back a winner … again (always much better than NME or Sounds at spotting a lost cause or backing the wrong horse)

It’s a joyous summer sound that you need a big breath to sing along to and ends with a simple offer

It’s a Heavenly Pop Hit
For those who still want it

The last line whispered / mumbled , a sad realisation of what pop would become in x factor wilderness

mp3 : The Chills – Heavenly Pop Hit

It, too, has a gorgeous cover

3. The Sun It Shines Here / I’ll be Your Surprise – Hurrah!

The exclamation mark is important! Hurrah! were one of the fantastic 4 (alongside The Kane Gang , The Dainties and Prefab Sprout) signed to Kitchenware records. They released a glorious set of jangly guitar singles (brought together in the lp Boxed) before being signed by a major and taking a step too close to rock (leather jackets and supporting U2 included) . The trio benefitted from the fact that all 3 were songwriters and could sing (the quality showed it wasn’t a case of letting Ringo have a go)

The first 4 singles were glorious and the debut double a side remains one of my favourite singles. It may sound like it has been recorded in a cardboard box with broken bass dial and the treble turned too high, but the guitars sparkle with a Byrds sound that at the time seemed fresh and the harmonies are spot on.

I’m not sure how on earth I got hold of a copy of the single (there was no way this made its way into Spalding Boots’ singles rack) so can only think I must have sent away for a copy. Released in 1982 (a year before Hand in Glove), at 15 they felt like my own private cult band

Later solo lps show a spiritual, religious side that has made me look back on some of the earlier lyrics, which at the time would have had me running for the hills (not that we had any hills in the fens), but for a period they seemed like the coolest band going

mp3 : Hurrah! – The Sun It Shines Here
mp3 : Hurrah! – I’ll Be Your Surprise

Fitting in with the style of other Kitchenware releases, it has a great cover.

4. Indian by Eg and Alice

From one extreme to the other . Take one ex member of Brother Beyond add an ex bmx champion and model, and you shouldn’t really have the makings of a cult single. This also breaks the indie label rule and is so smooth it sails close to the dinner party wind, the kind of soulless soul music that was all over the radio in the late 80s.

Somehow Indian rises above all this, it manages to be haunting and catchy at the same time, with enough going on to keep it out of the bland. It‘s got a strange kind of emotional punch that can creep up on me when I hear it. If it pops up unawares on shuffle it is one of those songs that sneaks its way into the foreground and means I stop whatever I’m doing to listen and start remembering

Its cult because it is one of those songs that just feel like a lost classic and those that like it love it with a passion. One of the joys of the internet is finding like-minded souls, and Indian is one of those acid test singles. When it comes up in conversation, if people like it (and most who have heard it do) then I’m feel pretty safe with anything they are going to recommend

If it hasn’t washed over you the lp it comes from, 24 Years of Hunger is well trying to get hold of.

Eg is now a songwriter for hire, often with people I can’t stand, however he has released 2 solo lps that are full of quirky diamonds

mp3 : Eg and Alice – Indian

The cover is pretty smart too

Apologies for being so greedy, I could go on and on !

Friend Of Rachel Worth

14 Iced Bears, Groove Farm, Jesus & Mary Chain, Shop Assistants

C86 : THE ULTIMATE SERIES (Parts 51, 52, 53, and 54 of 114)

The previous mention of the Brighton-based 14 Iced Bears in this ongoing (and to some, never-ending!!) series featured their sole single for Sarah Records, thanks to its inclusion on the 2006 release of CD48. But they really were too heavily involved not to have also been included on the 2014 C86 expanded release issued by Cherry Red Records

mp3: Inside – 14 Iced Bears

Track 15, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

This was their debut single, issued on Frank Records, a short-lived indie label based in Hertford, a town some 30 miles north of London.

Yup. The Jesus and Mary Chain, despite not being part of the original C86 tape have songs on both the later CD86 release and the 2016 expanded re-issue. I’ve a feeling that the compilers of the original tape would have wanted to include them, but they were perhaps turned down by Creation Records or the asking price was too high.

A reminder that the JAMC released their debut single in November 1984. The following year saw three more singles and a debut album. 1986 was a bit quieter, with just the one EP. As such, those compiling the later CD collections, who of course didn’t have to restrict themselves to songs released in 1986, had some leeway.

mp3: Inside Me – The Jesus and Mary Chain

Track 19, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

Originally released on the debut album Psycho Candy, a #31 hit in the UK charts on its release in November 1985

There was quite a relatively long post on The Groove Farm on their previous appearance in this series, so I’ll keep this brief.

A band from Bristol who were active and prolific between 1986 and 1990 across a number of labels. Their debut EP, Sore Heads and Happy Hearts, had been issued by Raving Pop Blast! Records, a local label, with the picture sleeve coming in four different colours

mp3: It Always Rains On Sundays – The Groove Farm

Track 3, Disc 2 of CD86.

Shop Assistants. What a detailed tale there is to tell if there was loads of time.

They formed as a four-piece in Edinburgh in 1984, initially as Buba and The Shop Assistants. Over the next seven years, there would be six singles/EPs and one album across five different labels. By the time they called it a day in 1990, eleven different musicians could count themselves as having been a member of some point or other, with just guitarist and main songwriter, David Keegan, having been on board for the entire journey.

The debut single had come out on the locally based and short-lived Villa21 Records. They next showed up on one half of a flexidisc, with the other half featuring The Chesterfields, that was included with two fanzines. They then, in 1985, accepted an invitation to record an EP for the Bristol-based The Subway Organisation. Their next single, Safety Net, came out on the Edinburgh-based 53rd & 3rd in 1986, a release that seemed to really capture everyone’s imagination. They next popped up on the C86 cassette:-

mp3: It’s Up To You – Shop Assistants

Track 1 on side 2 of the C86 cassette; Track 12, Disc One of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition

It was a re-recording of one of the tracks on the EP released on The Subway Organisation a few months previously.

Next up was a move to Blue Guitar, the label that was an offshoot of Chrysalis Records and was supposed to operate like an indie under the guidance of Geoff Travis of Rough Trade. There was a debut album and one single before 1986 was out, but the hoped for buzz, never mind sales, anticipated on the back of Safety Net never materialised. As few months later, in early 1987, lead singer Alex Taylor quit the band. It would take until 1990 before they re-emerged with two more singles on Edinburgh-based Avalanche Records. But the spark wasn’t quite there and before two long, the band members went their separate ways.