When I posted the first side of this mixtape in November last year, I mentioned that I hadn't heard several of these songs in over a decade. It's been a bit less of a gap for most of the songs on this side but even so, I'd forgotten what a great compilation this is. More of The Wedding Present and The Field Mice and a couple by The Jam at their finest.
I had thought
about swapping out the Manchester racist for another song by a different
artist, but I've decided to leave the sequence as originally intended.
The song plays from approx. 19:44 to 23:27 if you want to skip it.
I realised as I was recreating this side that several of the artists have recently been featured over at The Vinyl Villain: Kirsty MacColl, The Field Mice and Fade Into You by Mazzy Star; completely coincidental, I'd only really plumped for posting this side today because it featured The Sundays. Yes, that's really as sophisticated as my planning gets sometimes...
1) A Small Slice Of Heaven: Lightning Seeds (1992)
2) Tread Lightly: Kirsty MacColl (1989)
3) The Great Depression (Single Version): The Jam (1982)
4) Divine Hammer (Album Version): The Breeders (1992)
5) Sorrow (Album Version) (Cover of The McCoys): David Bowie (1973)
6) Think Of These Things: The Field Mice (1991)
7) Spring-Heeled Jim (Album Version): Morrissey (1994)
8) My Favourite Dress (Single Version): The Wedding Present (1987)
9) But I'm Different Now (Album Version): The Jam (1980)
10) Slide Away (Album Version): The Verve (1993)
11) Fade Into You (Album Version): Mazzy Star (1993)
12) You're Not The Only One I Know (Album Version): The Sundays (1990)
13) Beyond Belief: Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1982)
Side One here
I saw what was to become The Sundays at The Cricketers in London in early 1988 - Harriet Wheeler, David Gavurin, a bass player and a drum machine. The headliners were Jim Jiminee who they were mates with and had found them a spot on the bill. They went down well enough to be asked for an encore but they couldn't do one because it would have involved resetting the drum machine.
ReplyDeleteWe were there mainly to see the other support act, the great John Shuttleworth (it was an odd line-up), and we weren't much bothered by this jangly airy fairy nonsense.
I enjoyed your anecdote more than my post, Ernie! The Sundays on a Sunday was about as witty as I could manage on this occasion.
DeleteI was not a big fan of The Sundays and didn't really get the whole non-image of dressing like Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal from The Good Life. However, I will admit that I gained an appreciation for jangly (and The Sundays) that just was pretty much non-existent before this relationship.
I'd have been there only for John Shuttleworth back in early 1988 though.
Brilliant comment from Ernie!
ReplyDeleteGotta love a bit of jangly - your cover artwork, as ever, is brilliant too.
Thanks, C. If nothing else, I gained an appreciation for jangly in general, The Wedding Present most definitely and, in my mind even better than The Field Mice, Trembling Blue Stars.
DeleteThat cover art makes me cringe, to be honest - definitely a quick knock-off job with some watercolour pencils and a Pilot fine nib pen! As you've probably gathered, I couldn't bear having the generic cassette sleeves but I did put a bit more effort into some of the others (and always for compilation tapes for friends).
That's a cracking mix. So your girlfriend recorded the tape for you, but you did the inlay?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Martin. Yes, that's right. I don't think that there even was a proper inlay with the original tape. We used to reuse and recycle cassettes a fair bit, recording over old albums and DIY compilations. I think there was possibly a bit of 'guess what's on it' at play as well.
DeleteI was a mini-cottage industry of self-made inlays - the retentive in me - although having a proper track listing came in handy, post-relationship. I'd have had trouble identifying the Bedflowers song on Side 1 without it!
I used to make collages for inlay cards, on occasion. Okay, to impress the female recipient of the tape...
DeleteI did the same, Martin. It's fair to say that there were occasions where I was probably perceived as a cheapskate, offering up my DIY cassettes with hand-written and heartfelt dedications, when perhaps flowers or another gift might have been better received...
DeleteThat's a beautiful inlay card. I never had the patience for artwork myself. Always had to move onto the next tape!
ReplyDeleteClearly I had too much time on my hands, Rol!
DeleteMissed this last week. What they all said. Love the inlay card, used to enjoy making them them too. The Sundays story Ernie tells is brilliant- I always thought they had some good tunes if never quite going the full music press full hog gushing. When I arrived at Liverpool uni in Sept 88 all, and I mean ALL, the girls dancing in the indie disco looked like Harriet.
ReplyDeleteI can confidently say that it was the same at college in Bristol, Adam, apart from the Goth contingent. I'll be honest, I was gravitating towards the latter at that point in time and just didn't get the appeal of The Sundays at all. I had changed my mind by the time of "...Jangly"!
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