When Mekons Met Marc

Today's selection is the 12" version of This House Is A House Of Trouble! by Sally Timms and The Drifting Cowgirls.

What's not clear until you flip over to the back sleeve is that the lead song is a duet with Marc Almond, who also wrote the song. There was a 7" single too, but I've only ever heard the extended version, seven minutes of relationship breakdown, peppered with the sound of broken crockery and barbed insults passing back and forth between the lost lovers in the song's final moments.

I found a fan made video on You Tube, which prompted me to dig out the 12" vinyl I bought secondhand from Replay Records in Bristol sometime around 1991-92, after I had been seduced by the brilliant Mekons Rock 'n'  Roll album. It was £1.90 well spent.

Released in 1987, this was the second 'solo' single by Sally, produced by fellow Mekon Jon Langford. On this record, The Drifting Cowgirls were Jon with Brendan Croker, Emma Bolland, Rory Allam and Steve Goulding.

Two songs on the B-side. According to the sleeve, Chained To The Anchor Of Love is backed by My Little Pony...according to the label, however, the latter songs is Heaven's Gates. Which one is it? Discogs seems to defer to the latter, I can't find either on YouTube and it's late at night writing this, so I'm going to have to wait to find out until tomorrow, when I can give the record a spin.

Somebody's Rocking My Dreamboat, the sole album by Sally Timms & The Drifting Cowgirls, came out in 1988. The only song from this EP to make it is Chained To The Anchor Of Love.

This House Is A House Of Trouble! is worth tracking down, whether you're a Mekons or Marc fan, or both, a hidden gem in their respective back catalogues.

Happily, both Sally and Marc are still actively recording and performing, and Mekons are touring the UK in May.

We Let The Devil In And It's Tearing Us Apart

I've been drawn back into the orbit of Eddie Chacon recently. 

The Dubhed selection focusing on Seahawks in the New Year included their excellent 2020 remix of Hurt from Eddie's debut album. His third album, Lay Low, was released on 31st January.

Since coming across that debut, Pleasure, Joy And Happiness, in late 2021 and discovering Charles' fascinating career - and life - left turns since his success thirty years previously as one half of Charles & Eddie, I've been a fan of his ongoing solo explorations.

After a second, equally brilliant album, Sundown, with John Carroll Kirby, Lay Low sees Eddie collaborate with Nick Hakim, the pair having first come together in 2020 when Nick remixed Above Below from the first album.

Lay Low is not a dramatic departure, but a further teasing out of the "low-key R&B" that Eddie has made his signature in the 21st Century. The touchstone for me is Why Can't We Live Together by Timmy Thomas, sharing the sparse, stripped back sound yet slowed down even further. The effect is to focus the mind on the words and the voice. And it works.

The economy extends to the album itself: eight songs, less than half an hour, but rewarding on so many levels that it feels like a complete, nourishing experience.

I've picked five songs from the Lay Low, a remix from each of the previous two albums and an extended segment from Later...With Jools Holland. The latter features an interview with Eddie, a clip of his 1993 debut on the show with Charles Pettigrew, performing Would I Lie To You?, and closing with Eddie, John Carroll Kirby and band performing Holy Hell.

What a way to start the week.

1) Empire (Official Video) (ft. John Carroll Kirby) (2024)

2) Good Sun (Official Visual) (2025)

3) Let You Go (Album Version) (2025)

4) If I Ever Let You Go (Album Version) (2025)

5) Let The Devil In (Official Visual) (2025)

6) Hurt (Seahawks Remix) (2020)

7) Holy Hell (Mndsgn Remix) (2022)

8) Interview / Would I Lie To You? (Charles & Eddie, 1993) / Holy Hell (Live On Later...With Jools Holland, BBC2 TV, 10th June 2023)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decadance I: 1991

Side 2 of a made up mixtape, focusing on the Nineties. Today we arrive in 1991. 

Guitars are beginning to creep back into the mix, but today's selection is still very much about getting on to the dancefloor, whether of the club or indie variety.

Looking at the best-selling UK singles of 1991, there was clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned. How else do you explain Bryan Adams spending four effing months at #1? Or The Simpsons also hitting the top spot and having the 5th best seller of the year? Is there any rational explanation for the existence of Color Me Badd?!!

I spent a large part of 1991 in Australia, whose singles charts were arguably just as bad, though I was at least spared The Stonk by comedians Hale & Pace. 

Continuing with the info on each single's peak (UK) chart placing and date throws up some interesting observations. As with yesterday's selection, 1991's dozen songs include eight UK Top 40 hits and four that, well, weren't.

Just the one #1 this time and that a cheeky piggy back on a re-release of Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash thanks to a jeans TV advert. Mick Jones had regrouped and relaunched Big Audio Dynamite II the previous year and included a reworked and renamed song from their debut album. Change Of Atmosphere became Rush and it gave Mick another hit single...though it made little if no difference to the chart fortunes of follow up album The Globe.

The selection opens with Intastella, a band I loved but for whom commercial success seemed elusive. Century, despite a 12" remix from Adamski, peaked at #70 and proved to be the second highest charting single of their career in the UK. A shame, as they had some cracking tunes, including this one.

Today's MAW (Mandatory Andrew Weatherall, not to be confused with Masters At Work, although he's equally deserving of the label) is a monumental remix of 101 by Finitribe. Even the 3:20 single edit is a masterclass, to the extent that this was the album version selected for An Unexpected Groovy Treat the following year. 

Released in July 1991, as far as I can tell 101 managed to scrape to #171 by the end of August and that was it's peak. As I said above,  clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned.

Apart from the aforementioned Big Audio Dynamite II stowaway, the only other song from 1991's Top 20 best sellers is Sunshine On A Rainy Day by Zoë. Quite an achievement given that the original 1990 version failed to make the same impression. All I will say is that returning to the UK and seeing the leather trousered, barefoot Zoë throwing all manner of shapes on Top Of The Pops made a lasting impression on me.

An unexpected delight whilst I was on the other side of the world was hearing Bristol-born boy done good Gary Clail cracking the Top 10 with Human Nature. I was already a fan of his work with Adrian Sherwood and On-U Sound System, but the additional boost of an in-vogue remix by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne made all the difference. Hearing Gary's Bristolian burr ("put their hands in their pockets") alongside the dulcet tones of the legendary Alan Pillay still makes me smile.

Poor If? though, they really did try. They had some great tunes, seemingly tapped into the zeitgeist with their lyrical subjects and had impeccable taste in remixers, including Leftfield and Justin Robertson. Sadly, people just didn't buy any of their records. They had three goes with Saturday's Angels between 1991 and 1992, the 2nd being the best, with a peak of #83. This radio-friendly remix by The Grid aka Dave Ball and Richard Norris didn't in fact feature on any of the three attempts, instead tucked away as a B-side on another undeservedly flop single from 1991, Open Up Your Head.

Unfinished Sympathy was Massive Attack's first big hit...except it wasn't. Following a frankly bizarre edict regarding band names that might be triggering due to the ongoing Gulf War, the BBC banned a load of songs during this period.

The list apparently included Atomic (Blondie), In The Army Now (Status Quo), I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen), State Of Independence (Donna Summer), Walk Like An Egyptian (Bangles) and When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going (Billy Ocean).

The record label dodged this potential issue by renaming Massive Attack as Massive for this one single, but it seemed to work, although I sure that there were some music lovers out there devastated this this wasn't in fact a belated follow up by Massivo ft. Tracy.

Intastella weren't the only young upstarts, however. Saint Etienne, Flowered Up and The Mock Turtles were all establishing themselves, though arguably I should have made some room here for James or Manic Street Preachers. 

 

However, there was another band who showed some early promise, by the name of Blur. I wonder what became of them?

Be here next Saturday for some 1992 action. I'll be as surprised as you to find out what makes the final twelve.

1) Century (7" Version By Chris Nagle & Mike 'Spike' Drake): Intastella
2) 101 (Sonic Shuffle Edit By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Finitribe
3) Nothing Can Stop Us (Album Version): Saint Etienne
4) Sunshine On A Rainy Day (7" Radio Mix 1991 By Youth & Mark 'Spike' Stent): Zoë
5) Do What You Feel (Dum Dum Vocal Edit By Dave Lee): Joey Negro ft. Debbie French

6) Human Nature (On The Mix Edit By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne): Gary Clail / On-U Sound System ft. Alan Pillay

7) Saturday's Angels (Elevator Heaven Mix By The Grid): If?

8) Unfinished Sympathy (Nellee Hooper 7" Mix): Massive Attack ft. Shara Nelson

9) Take It (Album Version): Flowered Up

10) Rush (Edit): Big Audio Dynamite II

11) Can You Dig It? (Extended Mix By Martin Coogan, Pete Smith & Karl Madert): The Mock Turtles

12) There's No Other Way (Album Version By Stephen Street): Blur

20th Jan 1991: Saturday's Angels EP (#83): 7

3rd Mar 1991: Should I Stay Or Should I Go EP (#1): 10

10th Mar 1991: Unfinished Sympathy EP (#13): 8

14th Apr 1991: Can You Dig It? EP (#18): 11

21st Apr 1991: Human Nature EP (#10): 6

12th May 1991: Foxbase Alpha (#54): 3

12th May 1991: A Life With Brian (#34): 9

12th May 1991: There's No Other Way (#8): 12

25th Aug 1991: 101 EP (#171): 2

8th Sep 1991: Sunshine On A Rainy Day EP (#4): 4

17th Nov 1991: Century EP (#70): 1

17th Nov 1991: Do What You Feel EP (#36): 5

Side Two (47:18) (KF) (Mega) 

Decadance I: 1990

Side 1 of a mock cassette compilation, kicking off a new series of mixtapes that never were, and a sequel of sorts to one that I posted last August and September.

As 1989 turned into 1990 I had the idea of creating a themed series of cassette compilations, looking back at the previous decade and inspiringly titled Decade. Five C90s, one year per side, 12 songs apiece. 

I recorded the first volume on 3rd February 1990. Thirty five years later, I've finally got around to the follow up.

Decadance (sic) was originally the title of a planned companion to the Decade series, featuring selected 12" versions of 80s songs. I've appropriated it for this series instead, intentional misspelling and all, starting obviously with 1990.

The next five weekends will feature each year of the 90s, sticking with the same format of a dozen songs that dip into my record collection, which grew exponentially during the decade as I got a regular wage and a increasing addiction to music.

This was a bloody tough one to begin with. My 'shortlist' ran to over 50 songs. I decided quite early on that 1990 was going to be limited to more dance-oriented music. Although I still buying lots of guitar-based and indie records, the songs here are more reflective of what I was leaning into and hearing when I was out and about.

So, that immediately relegated Pixies, Lush, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Mazzy Star, Inspiral Carpets and, reluctantly, World Of Twist. Being in the list of 1990s biggest sellers was no guarantee either, as Sinéad O'Connor, Maria McKee, Madonna found out to their cost. 

And Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer and especially Turtle Power by Partners In Kryme were proof if needed that being in the Top 15 best-selling singles of 1990 does not mean that the record buying public was right. Although I agonised longer than perhaps I should have about whether to include Infinity (1990's...Time For The Guru) by Guru Josh (RIP).

That said, two-thirds of today's selection were Top 40, and I've even managed to include two #1's with Beats International and Adamski (who naughtily didn't co-headline with Seal) although I would have sworn that there were three.

In fact, Groove Is In The Heart by Deee-Lite didn't hit the top spot. It was kept at #2 for two weeks by the re-release of The Joker by The Steve Miller Band, before Maria McKee came in with Show Me Heaven and ruined it for both of them.

Before I'd picked any of the other songs, I knew 1990 would begin with Renegade Soundwave, simply because I loved their singles and debut album, Soundclash.  Andrew Weatherall's game changing overhaul of Primal Scream with Loaded was a strong contender but inevitably was the only way to end the selection.

In between, there are perhaps some obvious choices, with The KLF, EMF and The Beloved but hopefully a few pleasant surprises too. 

Of the singles that stalled outside the Top 50, The Fall's inspired collaboration with Coldcut was huge for me, as was The Shamen's game changing album En-Tact. The single version of Make It MIne is a different mix, but the version with the rap by Rhyme & Reason that was so cheesy it was cool is the definitive in my opinion.

As well as samples aplenty, a couple of used another song as the entire foundation of their own, to startling effect. Beats International's cover of Just Be Good To Me by The S.O.S. Band laid Lindy Layton's vocals over the rhythm of Guns Of Brixton by The Clash, with a re-recorded verse lifted from Johnny Dynell & New York 88's Jam Hot was just inspired. 

As was A Tribe Called Quest's debut Top 50 hit, Bonita Applebum, whose pairing with Carly Simon & Chic 1982 hit Why? elevated both songs to another level entirely.

Although never in the same league as Andrew Weatherall, I liked Paul Oakenfold's remixes and whilst he's represented here, you may be scratching your heads wondering why I've left off his frankly brilliant remix of Step On by Happy Mondays (#5 in April 1990) for his arguably lesser known remix of Nothing by Frazier Chorus (#51 in August 1990).

Despite Step On coming out earlier in the year, I actually bought the 12" singles of Cloud 8 and Nothing first. Both featured Oakenfold remixes (I'd also recommend the limited edition Chad Jackson reworks of Nothing) and both were a surprising and pleasing departure for Frazier Chorus. Not that it helped them in the commercial sense, unfortunately,  but look what success did to Happy Mondays...

As an added bonus, this time around, I've included info at the end on when each single's peak (UK) chart placing and date, and the respective EP or album the featured version is lifted from. Well, it keeps me occupied and off the streets.

It will come as no surprise that Sunday will take a look at 1991. 

The Top 10 best selling singles of that year included Bryan Adams, Queen, The Simpsons, Chesney Hawkes and Color Me Badd. You may be relieved to know that none of them will be showing up here.

1) Probably A Robbery (7" Remix By Daniel Miller & Rico Conning): Renegade Soundwave
2) Telephone Thing (Album Version By Coldcut): The Fall
3) Unbelievable (Album Version By Ralph Jezzard): EMF
4) Make It Mine (V2.5) (Remix By The Shamen & 'Evil' Eddie Richards): The Shamen ft. Rhyme & Reason
5) Hello (Album Version By Martyn Phillips): The Beloved
6) What Time Is Love? (Live At Trancentral) (7" Version): The KLF ft. MC Bello & The Children Of The Revolution

7) Dub Be Good To Me (Album Version By Norman Cook): Beats International ft. Lindy Layton

8) Bonita Applebum (7" Why? Edit By CJ Mackintosh & Robin Hancock): A Tribe Called Quest

9) Groove Is In The Heart (LP Version By Deee-Lite & Mike Rogers): Deee-Lite ft. Bootsy Collins & Q-Tip

10) Nothing (7" Edit By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne): Frazier Chorus

11) Killer (Edit By Adamski & Mike 'Spike' Drake): Adamski ft. Seal

12) Loaded (Andrew Weatherall Mix) (7" Version): Primal Scream

27th Jan 1990: Extricate (#58): 2

11th Feb 1990: Happiness (#19): 5

18th Feb 1990: Probably A Robbery EP (#38): 1

25th Feb 1990: Dub Be Good To Me EP (#1): 7

18th Mar 1990: Loaded EP (#16): 12

6th May 1990: Killer EP (#1): 11

12th Aug 1990: Bonita Applebum EP (#47): 8

26th Aug 1990: Nothing EP (#51): 10

9th Sep 1990: World Clique (#2): 9

9th Sep 1990: What Time Is Love? EP (#5): 6

22nd Sep 1990: En-Tact (#42): 4

25th Nov 1990: Schubert Dip (#3): 3

Side One (47:24) (KF) (Mega)

How To Fall From Grace And Slide With Elegance From A Pedestal

Celebrating Marianne Faithfull, 29th December 1946 to 30th January 2025.

I was talking to Mrs. K, when Marianne's passing was announced on BBC News, so I was admittedly only half-listening as the prepared obituary was delivered, but the snippets I caught made me increasingly upset.

I know obituaries by their very nature frequently celebrate and devalue a life in a few paragraphs or minutes. Even so, the fragments that penetrated my consciousness seemed to focus on Marianne's achievements in the 1960s, living in the shadow of men (including several Rolling Stones) and the drugs. Of course, the drugs.

What I wasn't picking up was Marianne's incredible achievements beyond the 1970s and 1980s and well into the 21st Century, in the face of prejudice, preconception, misogyny, debilitating and near-fatal health challenges (not least COVID) and inevitably the ravages of time from life lived increasingly on her own terms.

I don't have a huge amount of Marianne's music in my collection, but it charts an incredible journey and a fearless confrontation and defiance of convention. Not just as a singer, but a songwriter (for Grace Jones), a collaborator (Bowie, Sly & Robbie, Patrick Wolf) and an interpreter of other's songs (everyone from Sonny & Cher to The Decemberists). 

Marianne released a single written by Serge Gainsbourg in 1967; forty years later, she revisited another of his songs to celebrate his life. Both are very special interpretations by a unique artist.

I've included a version of As Tears Go By, transmitted as part of a David Bowie special on US TV in 1973. The Rolling Stones regretted passing on the song when Marianne had a hit and belatedly recorded their own version. It's good, but not as good.

I've omitted Sister Morphine, the song Marianne subsequently co-wrote with and for the Stones. Likewise, I've not included the original version of Broken English, the title track of Marianne's 1979 album, opting instead for a remix and a cover version, both from the 2000s.

I bought a secondhand CD of Patrick Wolf's 2007 album The Magic Position (which is brilliant, by the way) and discovered halfway through the song Magpie, featuring a surprising and delightful appearance from Marianne. It's a highlight among highlights and just one example of her continuing relevance and inspiration to future generations of musicians.

Sliding Through Life On Charm, written with Jarvis Cocker, Mark Webber, Steve Mackey and Nick Banks from Pulp, is a semi-autobiographical rollercoaster and provides the title of today's post and tribute selection. To quote the full verse,

I wonder why the schools don't teach anything useful nowadays 

Like how to fall from grace 

and slide with elegance from a pedestal 

I never asked to be on in the first place

You can read much about Marianne, including much in her own words, but we'll never know the whole story, really know Marianne. But what a legacy she leaves.

Rest in power, Marianne.

1) Broken English (Baron Von Luxxury Light Touch Remix By Blake Robin) (Downtempo): Marianne Faithfull (2008)

2) I Got You Babe (Live @ The Marquee, London) (Cover of Sonny & Cher): David Bowie ft. Marianne Faithfull (1973)

3) I've Done It Again (Album Version): Grace Jones (1981)

4) The Crane Wife 3 (Cover of The Decemberists): Marianne Faithfull ft. Nick Cave (2008)

5) Guilt (Album Version): Marianne Faithfull (1979)

6) As Tears Go By (Live @ The Marquee, London): Marianne Faithfull (1973)

7) Hier Ou Demain: Marianne Faithfull (1967)

8) Lola R. For Ever (Lola Rastaquouère) (Cover of Serge Gainsbourg): Marianne Faithfull & Sly And Robbie (2006)

9) If I Never Get To Love You (Cover of Lou Johnson): Marianne Faithfull (1965)

10) Broken English (Cover of Marianne Faithfull): Claudia Brücken & Andrew Poppy (2004)

11) Magpie: Patrick Wolf ft. Marianne Faithfull (2007)

12) Sliding Through Life On Charm (Album Version): Marianne Faithfull (2007)

1965: Marianne Faithfull: 9

1979: Broken English: 5

1981: Nightclubbing: 3

2002: Kissin Time: 12

2004: Another Language: 10

2006: Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited: 8

2007: The Magic Position: 11

2008: Easy Come Easy Go: 4

2016: Love Hit Me! Decca Beat Girls 1962-1970: 7

2017: The 1980 Floorshow: 2, 6

2021: Luxxury Edits Vol. 3: 1

How To Fall From Grace And Slide With Elegance From A Pedestal (46:05) (KF) (Mega)

Better Do Better Than That

Back in my previous blogging life, I ran a series called Jukebox Juicebox, which randomly reviewed my music purchases at the time. Not to be confused with The Juicebox Jukebox, who apparently "create awesomely positive, fun, educational children's music, videos, and books"

The inclusion of Better Do Better (Wrongtom Wild Inna 81 Version) by Hard-Fi in last Sunday's Dubhed Selection reminded me that I'd reviewed the single back in the day, which led me to dig out the original post from May 2006.

I'm re-presenting the whole thing, which takes in contemporary releases by Tiga and King Biscuit Time (Steve Mason) too. No edits other than the links, as several of the originals are now defunct, and some formatting here and there. 

I've also added the official videos, which I probably last saw nearly twenty years ago. Wow.

Hard-Fi "Better Do Better”

The Hard-Fi phenomenon has pretty much passed me by, not helped by the rather crap name and uninspiring sleeve designs. Yes, I know, never judge a book by it’s cover and all that… 

Anyway, this single caught my attention and it’s melody has been nagging at the back of my mind ever since. A slower number than the snippets of their Stars Of CCTV album I’ve heard so far, the song focuses on the return of an adulterous ex-girlfriend. 

Richard Archer’s lyrics are refreshingly direct - ‘Can you see me again? / Yeah right, you’ve been kicked out / Do you think that I’m that stupid?’ - and emotionally frank - ‘I cried so much / My face has never been the same’ - as the narrator realises that the wounds are still open, but steels his resolve to reject the girl he once loved. 

The flipside offers a dub by Wrongtom and The Stoneleigh Mountain Rockers, which strips both song and lyrics down to the basics – ‘You’re back, sitting on my doorstep / Your face makes me want to be sick / …it's a physical reaction...’ – making Better Do Better even more raw, in every sense of the word. 

All this, and gorgeous flourescent yellow seven-inch vinyl too. A great single that will undoubtedly repeat Hard-Fi’s success to date. 

Slow dance to this with your ex at the local disco and they'll get the message.

Tracklisting [7"]: 1. Better Do Better (Album Version) / 2. (Wrongtom Wild Inna 81 Version)

Visit the official Hard-Fi website

Jan 2025 update: I abviously didn't follow the UK singles chart at the time. Better Do Better crashed in at #14, providing the band with it's 5th Top 20 hit. However, byt the time I posted my review three weeks later, it had dropped to #46 and continued a slow but steady slide out of the Top 100. 

Tiga “(Far From) Home”

The Canadian retro-futurist pop star is back with another slice from his Sexor album, featuring the seemingly unstoppable Soulwax. 

The original version sounds like the Human League fronted by Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy, whilst veteran producer Dave Bascombe beefs up the rhythm and melody for the radio mix on the CD single. 

A clutch of remixes wisely retain the vocals, but take the song in wonderfully different directions. Chicken Lips deliver a downtempo but extremely funky take. French duo Digitalism kick off with an intro not unlike Toni Basil’s Mickey, but rapidly entering dancesloor-shredding Chemical Brothers/DFA territory. 

Speaking of the latter, The DFA provide a further trademark mix (which is no bad thing, of course). What really pushes this take over the edge is a keyboard hook that sounds naggingly like Abba’s Gimme Gimme Gimme, as recently used in Madonna’s Hung Up. Four words: It. Works. Better Here. 

A version of Move My Body, the original of which was an exclusive on Erol Alkan’s Bugged Out mix compilation, maintains the quality for the dancefloor, with vocodered vocals and a nagging electro rhythm. 

The 12” vinyl versions offer the full ten-minute DFA remix plus a further Sexor Reprise by Tiga himself. A catchy song, offered in a variety of tempting formats. What are you waiting for? Indulge yourself!

Tracklisting [7”]: 1. (Far From) Home (Album Version By Tiga & Soulwax) / 2. (Chicken Lips Mix)
[CD5]: 1. (Far From) Home (Bascombe Radio Mix) / 2. (Digitalism Remix) / 3. (DFA Remix (Joakim Edit)) / 4. Move My Body (Version 2)

Visit the official Tiga website

Jan 2025 update: Undoubtedly boosted by my buying both the single on both 7" and CD, (Far From) Home debuted at #65...then disappeared from the UK Top 100 the following week. All of the subsequent singles and album listings on the Officlal Charts listing for Tiga are actually for US rapper Tyga. Come on, OC!

King Biscuit Time "Kwangchow"

A quick Google search revealed that Kwangchow is “a city on the Zhu Jiangi delta in southern China; the capital of Guangdong province and a major deep-water port”. My knowledge of world geography and history is pretty poor, so I’m not really much the wiser. 

As King Biscuit Time is the solo project of former Beta Band frontman Steve Mason, I didn’t expect the lyrics to enlighten me either. Opening chorus ‘How do you find a head when you got no fluid? / How do you find your heart when you feel no love?’, confirmed that expection. 

It may sound like faint praise but, if you’re a fan of the Beta Band or The Flaming Lips, then you’ll love this unconditionally. For the unconvinced, it’s difficult to know how to sell Kwangchow – and bonus track Tears Dry – other than to say that Mason is producing a more concise, coherent and generally more enjoyable version of his former band’s sound. 

If you remain unconvinced, then check out the remixes. The Doctors Of Love (no, never heard of them either) beef up the drum, ‘teardrop’ keyboard and piano parts to create a song that Primal Scream would kill to inlcude on their forthcoming album. 

Meanwhile, the Suicide D.O.G.Z remix creates a naggingly familiar Eastern-sounding beat, frequently looping the vocals to hypnotic effect. An exclusive Suicide D.O.G.Z remix on the Poptones website cranks up the rhythm and dubs the vocals to birth a sweaty floorfiller. A promising taster for forthcoming King Biscuit Time album Black Gold and an introduction to a couple of remixers to watch.

Tracklisting [CD5]: 1. Kwangchow (Album Version) / 2. Tears Dry / 3. (Doctors Of Love Remix) / 4. (Suicide D.O.G.Z - Faudels Hash Den Remix)

There is no official King Biscuit Time website, so go check out Steve Mason's instead.

Jan 2025 update: Very unlikely assisted by my CD single purchase and reach of my blog review, Kwangchow charted the following week at #84, the last time that King Biscuit Time - and Steve  Mason as a solo artist - cracked the UK Top 100 singles.. There is no justice in the (music) world.

In other diappointing news, the Poptones website is long gone and I seem to have lost the exclusive download-only Suicide D.O.G.Z remix along the way. Gutted!

Cain'd, Fried & Alive, '95-'05, Volume 1: 1995

Just over a week ago, I had the sobering revelation that it was twenty years since I saw Julian Cope at The Fleece (then The Fleece & Firkin) in Bristol on 20th January 2005.

This came with the equally shocking realisation that it was thirty years to the day since I saw Julian perform a benefit gig for the Big Issue at the Bierkeller in Bristol on 29th January 1995.

 

The balance between the years passed since a gig and the age I was when attending said gig is increasingly and unwantingly shifting in favour of the former. Or, roughly translated, how did I get so old so fast?!

By way of compensation/denial (delete as applicable), I'm revisiting these two gigs in a couple of posts via the medium of the Dubhed selection. Yes, in time honoured and slipshod fashion, you dear reader get to listen to the songs that were played that night in a way that bears no resemblance to Julian's actual live performance.

And yet...there's always something in (re)creathing these setlists that highlights how unusual - and great - these shows were, and 29th January 1995 is a great example.

This was a one-off gig, ahead of a longer UK tour (and return to Bristol, this time to the University's Anson Rooms) in autumn the same year, to promote twelfth album 20 Mothers. And yes, I was at both Bristol shows.

20 Mothers was released in August 1995, the Bierkeller gig served as a preview of the album to come, with five songs performed that evening including Try, Try, Try, six months before it came out as the sole single, providing Julian with his first UK Top 30 hit since World Shut Your Mouth in 1986.

The show was also a delight. not only in it's selection of deep cuts - Poet Is Priest from Jehovahkill (1992), Las Vegas Basement from Peggy Suicide (1991) and Jellypop Perky Jean from Droolian (1990) - but also it's size, 24 performances and well over two hours. Though, that's nothing compared to the Anson Rooms, which tipped three hours...

 

My memory of specifics on the night is hazy and this is one night that the usually dependable Setlist site couldn't help with. Thanks therefore to Steve Doughty, who has amassed a formidable collection of Julian Cope live recordings spanning 1979 to 2012, all available to trade, and including both 1995 gigs.

 

In recreating 29th January 1995, I have taken the usual step of trying to include live bootlegs, demos, radio sessions and rare alternative versions of songs, editing and splicing them together, sometimes ruthlessly, to create an immersive listening experience. 

 

So, you get a 2:43 edit of Try, Try, Try preceded by over seven minutes of Poet Is Priest, the third section of the full length 21+ minute version. There's the latter half of Upwards At 45 Degrees, demo'd for the 1992 tour, and a Teardrop Explodes-era demo of World Shut Your Mouth, as well as an alternative version of Jellypop Perky Jean from 1993, considered as a potential single release.

 

There are a few omissions, which are in italics in the track list below. Socrates Mine Enemy and 'Sting Poem' were spoken word performances. I have no recollection of whether Driving On The Fast Side Of Slow was the same, but as it's the first line of Archdrude's Roadtrip from 1994's Autogeddon, I've included the song. This was followed on the night by Open Up & Bleed, which is a song by The Stooges, but again I have no memory of this and I couldn't find any bootlegs on You Tube.

 

8th February will mark five years since the last time I saw Julian, at the Barbican in London and shortly before the UK went into lockdown. To date, it was the last time he's toured the UK but I'm hoping not the last. As he so eloquently puts it in Las Vegas Basement, Julian was born to entertain and it would be wonderful to see him on stage again.

 

In the meantime, enjoy this trip back in time. I'll be revisiting the 2005 gig soon.

 

1) Julian H. Cope (Live @ Barrowland, Glasgow, 30th September 1995) 

2) Paranormal In The West Country (Part 1) (Album Version) (1994)  

3) Poet Is Priest ... (Full Length Version) (Part 3) (1992)

4) Try, Try, Try (Edit) (1995)

5) Stone Circles 'n' You (Album Version) (1995)

6) I'm Your Daddy (Live @ The Fleece, Bristol, 9th February 2020)

7) Pristeen (Album Version) (1991) 

8) The Great Dominions (Mike Read Session, 27th October 1980): The Teardrop Explodes

9) Wheelbarrow Man (Album Version) (1995)

10) Socrates Mine Enemy / Sting Poem 

11) The Greatness And Perfection Of Love (Radio Trent 301) (1982)

12) Upwards At 45 Degrees (Live Stage Tour Demo Version) (Edit) (1992)

13) Double Vegetation (Live @ Barrowland, Glasgow, 30th September 1995) 

14) Las Vegas Basement (Live @ Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park, Bracknell, 25th October 2011)

15) Sunspots (Live @ The Ritz, New York, 28th January 1987) 

16) World Shut Your Mouth (Instrumental Demo #1, Porta Studio, Liverpool, February 1981)

17) Love L.U.V. (Beautiful Love Version By Hugo Nicholson) (1991)

18) Jellypop Perky Jean (Alternative Version) (1993)

19) Land Of Fear (Single Version) (1984) 

20) Driving On The Fast Side Of Slow (aka Archdrude's Roadtrip) (1994)

21) Open Up & Bleed (Cover of The Stooges)

22) Soul Desert (Live @ The Fleece, Bristol, 9th February 2020) 

23) Robert Mitchum (Live @ Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park, Bracknell, 25th October 2011) 

24) Passionate Friend (Live @ Guildford Civic Hall, Guildford, 18 June 1981): The Teardrop Explodes

Volume 1: 1995 (1:23:36) (KF) (Mega)

Do You Believe In Westworld?

Westworld were a three piece hip-hop-a-rockabilly pop band that had a moment in 1987 when they appeared in the 'unsigned' slot on Channel 4 music show The Tube with Sonic Boom Boy.

Cue lots of major label interest, a signing, nearly but not cracking the UK Top 10 with Sonic Boom Boy (#11 in February 1987).

And then, that was kind of it. A debut album and three more singles failed to make a significant impression. 

I remember buying follow up single Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo (#37 in May) but it was more the novelty of a double pack 10" vinyl single that cannily included not one but two versions of Sonic Boom Boy, a US 12" mix and, more importantly, the original demo version that got them on The Tube.

My recollection, borne out by tracking down clips on YouTube, is that the singles pretty much felt like variations on a theme, that theme being Sonic Boom Boy, with unfortunately diminishing returns. Which is a shame as I quite liked the B-sides of the Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo single, Bubble Bo Diddley and Nasty 'n' Cheap showing another side and more potential.

Of the original line up (left to right), Elizabeth Westwood continued with Westworld and I believe is still taking an iteration of the band on the heritage 80s live circuit. Bob Derwood Andrews has recently recorded with Generation X. Nick Burton surprisingly pops up frequently in my music collection through his various collaborations with Alex Paterson/The Orb, Ben Watkins/Juno Reactor and Andrew Weatherall.

Here's half a dozen Westworld tunes for your entertainment, including a blink-and-you'll-miss-them cameo from Robert '3D' Del Naja and Goldie in the last selection. 

1) Sonic Boom Boy (The Tube, Channel 4, UK)

2) Where The Action Is (The Roxy, ITV, UK)

3) Silvermac (Official Video)

4) Psychotech (unknown UK TV)

5) Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo (Get Fresh, ITV)

6) Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo (Official Video)

 

 

 

 

 

The Sun May Fall But The Moon Will Rise

Posted on Friday, recorded on 1st November 2024, The The performed a 5-song set for KEXP in Seattle.

 

23 minutes of music, followed by an 18 minute interview with Matt Johnson by host Cheryl Walters, it's a joy from start to finish. 

 

The full band are in the studio: Matt with Barrie Cadogan (guitar), James Eller (bass), DC Collard (keyboards), Gillian Glover (backing vocals) and Chris Whitten (drums); the sound is tight and crystal clear.

 

Three songs from Ensoulment, plus some beautifully understated arrangements of Slow Emotion Replay and This Is The Day, the former particularly hitting the spot.

 

01:08   Some Days I Drink My Coffee By The Grave Of William Blake
05:35   Kissing The Ring Of POTUS 
09:24   Slow Emotion Replay 
14:19     Where Do We Go When We Die? 
18:54    This Is The Day

23:04   Interview