Decadance IV: 1997

Side 2 of my sojourn through the 1990s, skidding to a halt in 1997.

The year that Labour ousted the Tories from government in a landslide general election result. The year that Princess Diana died in a car crash, attempting to escape the paparazzi. The year that The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered. The year that we got a glimpse of the comet Hale–Bopp passing by our tiny planet. The year that South Park debuted on TV.  

It was also the year of the mud, at least if you were at Glastonbury that summer.  If that wasn't disappointing enough, Neil Young pulled out of a headline slot, to be replaced by Kula Shaker. No refunds on your £75 ticket.

At a glance, 1997 may seem like a dire year for music. Candle In The Wind by Elton John was the year's biggest seller by a long chalk, released the weekend following Princess Diana's funeral. The rest of the Top 5 was made up of Aqua, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans, and the 'various artists' patchwork cover of Perfect Day by Lou Reed. Oh, and Teletubbies.  

Sadly, Bristol-born actor and comedian Dave Thompson couldn't enjoy the latter's #1 success in December 1997 as five months previously he'd been given the boot as Tinky Winky (the purple one, I had to look it up). Apparently, BBC bosses deemed that Dave's "interpretation of the role was not acceptable". 

No such comment from the BBC about Katrina & The Waves' performance at the Eurovision Song Contest, representing the United Kingdom. Surprisingly, they won it. Less surprisingly, 1997 remains the last time that the UK have won it. 

There was lots of great music in 1997 too, so don't despair. I've sifted through and found a dozen nuggets that haven't lost their shine in the last three decades.

Remember Indie Kylie? Kylie Minogue's sixth album Impossible Princess underwent a swift swap to an untitled/eponymous UK release in 1997, following Diana's death (the original title reinstated in 2003). 

Kylie co-wrote the album, mostly with Brothers In Rhythm, Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk. A couple of songs were written with Manic Street Preachers, including the rather fab Some Kind Of Bliss. These were the days when Kylie wasn't guaranteed a #1 with every single but even so, #22 was a bit harsh.  

I've surprised myself by upping 1996's brace of UK #1s with a hat-trick today. First up is You're Not Alone, originally a #42 hit for Olive in September 1996, then re-released and hitting the top spot in May 1997. Olive never really bettered this song. 

Likewise, White Town whose single Your Woman gained traction on Radio 1 thanks to Mark Radcliffe and became a global hit. Your Woman proved to be a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for Jyoti Mishra, and neither the B-sides, album or subsequent music could hope to match the inspired brilliance of this song. 

Block Rockin' Beats was The Chemical Brothers' second #1 and also proved to be their last, although Tom and Ed enjoyed a further ten Top 20 hits between 1997 and 2007. 

A second appearance for Suede, with the final single from third album Coming Up. Feeling sidelined and dismissed by the music press, who were lathering over Blur, Oasis and Pulp, Brett Anderson determined to "write a straightforward pop album. Just ten hits." And he was half right, in as much as Suede's label released five of the ten songs as singles in the UK, every one of them cracking the Top 10. 

When I first settled on the track listing for 1997 (from the usual shortlist of nearly 50 songs), I'd expected quite a few of them to have been minor hits, outside the Top 40 at least. I was surprised to find that only two fit that particular bill.

Today's Mandatory Andrew Weatherall song is Touch Me With Your Love by Beth Orton, which peaked at 60 in January 1997. Touch Me With Your Love was released as a standalone single and, according to the credits, reproduced rather than remixed by Weatherall and his fellow lone swordsman Keith Tenniswood. 

Death In Vegas, led by Richard Fearless, would go onto greater things in 2000s but I was a huge fan of debut album, Dead Elvis. Rocco only got to #51 but it's a cracking single, with it's sampled refrain of "Gonna die if sweetness should pass me by" inspiring the name of a mixtape I made for my brother.

Other first-timers which I happily discovered all made a dent in the Top 40 are My Life Story, Tindersticks and Monaco, the latest venture from Peter Hook. In What Do You Want From Me?, Hooky created one of the best New Order singles that New Order never made.

An honorable mention to Blue Boy aka Lex Blackmore. Like You're Not Alone, Remember Me was released as a single the year before, but a remix by Sure Is Pure in 1997 rocketed the song to #8. Like Olive, Blue Boy are pretty much only remembered for Remember Me (see what I did there?). Trivia fans may be thrilled to know that this is Lex Blackmore's second appearance in the Decadance series. Way back in 1990, Lex accompanied The Shamen on Make It Mine as one half of rap duo Rhyme & Reason.

Last but not least, Daft Punk with a catchy little tune called Da Funk. The song first came out in 1995 and I first heard it on Annie Nightingale's late night Radio 1 show sometime in 1996. Da Funk was edited and packaged as a double A-side with Musique, giving the French robots a #7 hit in February 1997. The rest is history. Well, of course it is!

Next weekend sees the final two installments of the Decadance series, as I take a long hard look at 1998 and 1999, trying to decide whether to party like Prince or try to back up all my computer files ahead of the inevitable crash caused by the Millennium Bug, dragging society as we know it back into The Dark Ages.

1) Some Kind Of Bliss (Radio Edit): Kylie Minogue 

2) Filmstar (Original Demo): Suede 

3) Strumpet (Album Version): My Life Story 

4) What Do You Want From Me? (Edit): Monaco 

5) Remember Me (Sure Is Pure 7” Edit): Blue Boy ft. Marlena Shaw 

6) Touch Me With Your Love (Radio Edit): Beth Orton 

7) Bathtime (Single Remix): Tindersticks 

8) You're Not Alone (Radio Edit): Olive 

9) Rocco (DRVRSLZ Edit): Death In Vegas 

10) Block Rockin' Beats (Radio Edit): The Chemical Brothers ft. Schoolly D 

11) Da Funk (Radio Edit): Daft Punk 

12) Your Woman (Album Version): White Town 

19th January 1997: Women In Technology (#1): 12 

26th January 1997: Touch Me With Your Love EP (#60): 6 

9th February 1997: Remember Me EP (#8): 5 

16th February 1997: Da Funk/Musique EP (#7): 11 

9th March 1997: What Do You Want From Me? (#11): 4 

30th March 1997: Block Rockin' Beats EP (#1): 10 

11th May 1997: The Golden Mile (#27): 3 

11th May 1997: You're Not Alone EP (#1): 8 

1st June 1997: Bathtime EP (#38): 7 

17th August 1997: Filmstar EP (#9): 2 

14th September 1997: Some Kind Of Bliss EP  (#22): 1 

26th October 1997: Rocco EP  (#51): 9 

Side Two (46:09) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here

How Are You Feeling? It's A Beautiful Morning!

Keeping with yesterday's uplifting vibes, today's selection is a clutch of songs (mostly) from the early 1990s, packed into an open top car and taken on a remix road trip. Feel the sunshine.

Any such compilation and Andrew Weatherall is almost certain to be found. Here he, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns pop up twice as Sabres Of Paradise. First up is their masterful collaboration with One Dove on Transient Truth, seven minutes of sonic sweetness underpinning Dot Allison's voice. 

Secondly, all double bass funk and squelchy synths, is Red Snapper's classic Hot Flush from 1995. The music couldn't be more different from One Dove, yet Andrew, Jagz and Gary lend both an emotional heft that just can't be described in words. Well, not be me, anyway. This track originally featured on the EP of the same name, collected the same year on the Reeled And Skinned compilation which is an essential introduction to Red Snapper.

Either side of these tracks are a couple of groovy numbers. In reverse order, Fortran 5 are rinsed good and proper by Alex Paterson and Kris 'Thrash' Weston of The Orb. I loved the original album version but The Herbal Supper Mix is a feast of heavy bass, SFX and samples ("one spliff a day keeps the evil away") with Shola Phillips' sweet vocals weaving through. 

Fluke serve up Groovy Feeling, the 1993 single offering half a dozen remixes all named after ice cream varieties. The version here retains the vocal licks and bubbling beats that characterise the Fluke sound.

They pop up again later in the selection with a sublime remix of Beautiful Morning by Sensation, one of my favourites of theirs. The original song was a lovely indie-pop number but Fluke transform it into an energising, irresistible uptempo anthem that has me involuntarily shouting "yeah!" along with singer Johnny Male pretty much every time. Which can be embarrassing if I'm wearing headphones in a public space.

Also feeling the groove are Finitribe, who were so impressed with Justin Robertson's remix of their single Ace Love Deuce that it was the definitive version used on 1992 album An Unexpected Groovy Treat. The additional treat is that the album version is a minute or so longer than the one found on the 12" and CD single. If you're a fan of Justin Robertson's work from the early 1990s, you will not be disappointed.

Underworld come in towards the end of this mix and in such style. I can't remember which came first but their remixes of Water From A Vine Leaf (included here) and Human Behaviour by Björk just blew me away when I first heard them. Twelve minutes of beautifully structured electronic music that was built for the dancefloor yet for me has always worked as songs in their own right, away from the club environment. In both cases, the addition of a unique female vocal is that little push over the edge. In this case, it's Beth Orton (though I think I can hear Karl Hyde in there somewhere too, deep in the mix) joining William Orbit on an epic journey.

Sticking with William Orbit and taking a slight step back into the last year of the 1980s with a mix that pointed to the future. Balearic beats before I had a clue what that even was. Les Negresses Vertes were a Parisian band that I'd seen pop up on TV (the last gasps of The Tube, I guess) but I didn't know much about. I got this remix of 1989 single Zobi La Mouche on a secondhand copy of Beat This! a compilation of dance label Rhythm King originally given away as a cover-mounted CD with Sky Magazine in 1990. William Orbit is joined by fellow Torch Song collaborator Rico Conning, all acoustic strums and rousing calls that scream 'party!' I feel like I've glugged a bottle of red wine and jumped up on the table to dance just listening to it...

 

1) Transient Truth (Album Version By One Dove & Sabres Of Paradise): One Dove (1993)

2) Groovy Feeling (Nutty Chip Cornet): Fluke (1993)

3) Hot Flush (Sabres Of Paradise Remix): Red Snapper (1995)

4) Groove (The Herbal Supper Mix By The Orb): Fortran 5 ft. Shola Phillips (1991)

5) Ace Love Deuce (Justin Robertson Mix) (Album Version): Finitribe (1992)

6) Beautiful Morning (Fluke's Magimix): Sensation (1993)

7) Water From A Vine Leaf (Underwater Mix Part 1) (Remix By Underworld): William Orbit ft. Beth Orton (1993)

8) Zobi La Mouche (The Fly) (Club Mix By William Orbit & Rico Conning): Les Negresses Vertes (1989)

 

1989: Zobi La Mouche EP: 8

1991: Groove EP: 4

1992: An Unexpected Groovy Treat: 5 

1993: Beautiful Morning EP / Welcome To The Future²: 6

1993: Groovy Feeling EP: 2

1993: Morning Dove White: 1 

1993: Water From A Vine Leaf EP: 7

1995: Hot Flush EP / Reeled And Skinned: 3

How Are You Feeling? It's A Beautiful Morning! (57:27) (KF) (Mega)

Dripping Onto My Tongue

Side 1 of a mixtape compiled 11th January 2003. Back to the old school - well, early 1990s at least - for today's selection of end-of-week bangers.

Bolting from the gate is Apollo 440 with Liquid Cool, which came with a plethora of mixes, including The Future Sound Of London and Jah Wobble and several from French duo Deep Forest. I wasn't a huge fan of the latter's music at the time but they turned out some pretty satisfying if safe remixes of this standout from the Millennium Fever album.

Dutch DJ/producer Patrick Prins was the brains behind Subliminal Cuts, originally releasing Le Voie Le Soleil in 1994. It was re-released in 1996 with further remixes, including this one by obvious fans of The Simpsons, Itchy & Scratchy. A duo of Seb Fontaine and Julian Peake, the latter had further chart success as Jules Vern, one half of Stretch & Vern.

 

Volcano were a trio of Norwegian DJs/producers, Ole Mjøs, Bjørn Torske and Rune Lindbæk, who teamed up with Sam Cartwright for a few singles on the Deconstruction label. Only Bjørn Torske and Rune Lindbæk are familiar to me from their later output. If you're into re-edits of 1980s classics, Rune Lindbæk offered up a 50-track smorgasbord including Thomas Dolby, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Amanda Lear and Toto. The whole collection is available as a name your price download from Bandcamp. 

 

Edinburgh meets Glasgow on the next track, Botany 5 representing the former, the legendary Slam the latter. Love Bomb is a match made in heaven, well, Scotland but what's the difference really? Botany 5 sadly didn't get beyond a debut album and handful of singles but it would be an understatement to say that Slam have done pretty well since then. 

 

Speaking of which, William Orbit was already well on the way to global domination when Water From A Vine Leaf was released in 1993. Featuring Beth Orton on vocals (although not noticeable here) and a stunning remix from Underworld (one of two), both of whom had even greater things ahead of them. This remix comes in at just under 12 minutes and really, just isn't long enough.

 

Keeping it short and sweet for the closer then is 808 State, with a scuzzy mix of Open Your Mind, a double A-side with Lift which just about cracked the UK Top 40 (#38) in August 1991, continuing their on/off relationship with singles-buying public. I bought this on CD single for pennies a couple of years later from a music stall in the Eagle Shopping Centre in Derby. Great times...!

 

1) Liquid Cool (Deep Forest Trans-Afrique Life Extension Express) (Remix By Eric Mouquet & Michel Sanchez): Apollo 440 (1994)

2) Le Voie Le Soleil (Itchy & Scratchy Mix By Julian Peake & Seb Fontaine): Subliminal Cuts (1996)

3) More To Love (K-Klass Pharmacy Dub): Volcano (1994)

4) Love Bomb (The Slam Production) (Remix By Stuart McMillan & Orde Meikle): Botany 5 (1990)

5) Water From A Vine Leaf (Underwater Mix Part 2 By Underworld): William Orbit ft. Beth Orton (1993)

6) Open Your Mind (Sound Garden Mix): 808 State (1991)

Side One (46:11) (KF) (Mega)

The One You Won't Regret

Today's selection started out with the intention of being a relaxed, laidback affair, triggered by a week revisiting Baby Ford's brilliant 1992 album Bford 9. I think somewhere along the line it morphed into a late night/headphones kind of vibe...

The nine tracks are all drawn from albums I've been listening to this week, several purchased last year, some having been in my possession for many years and one picked up one of two compulsory Sahel Sounds purchases last Bandcamp Friday. An eclectic bunch, it has to be said, but I think they make good partners.

I'll revisit Bford 9 again in the future but suffice to say my previous preconceptions about Baby Ford were completely upended by this album. I bought it on spec for £7.99 from a record shop in Yate (#45 in 2003's Top 50 Crap Towns) a couple of years after it's release and it's remained one of my favourite electronica/dance albums. There's a vocal version of 20, Park Drive; I've opted for the instrumental version to open this selection, to set the (languid) pace.

Happy Ending by Hifi Sean and David McAlmont was officially released in February this year. To say I love it is an understatement. In fact, I love it so much that when I got the double vinyl last December as a Last Night From Glasgow subscriber, I made it my 2022 album of the year. Transatlantic is a beautiful, downtempo moment, sweeping strings and shiver-inducing vocals.

Electribe 101's contribution dates from 1992 though didn't see an official release for three decades due to the record label dropping them midway through recording their second album. I wrote about it last January in anticipation of the album's long awaited release (thanks to Billie Ray Martin) and it didn't disappoint. Conquering Tomorrow is a bonus track on the CD, a brief instrumental that segues neatly into the next song on this selection.

My sideways step into the world of New York indie pop trio Au Revoir Simone came via their appearance on Paris by Friendly Fires. I picked up a few freebie sample songs via the now-defunct RCRD LBL website and then bought 2009 album Still Night, Still Light, followed by 2010 remix companion Night Light. The version of Take Me As I Am featured here is from the latter, London-based DJ Max Cooper delivering a shimmering version with hushed vocals coming in quite late.

 

Telefís was an inspired meeting of minds between Cathal Coughlan and Garret 'Jacknife' Lee. Debut album a hAon was released in 2022 and whilst the equally excellent follow up a Dó came in October the same year, it sadly proved to be a posthumous release, due to Cathal's untimely passing in May. Picadors is taken from a hAon and an example of a duo at the top of their game, lyrically and sonically. A tragic loss.

I featured a System 7 selection at the end of April and they've continued to be on my playlist since. The Abyss is the penultimate track on 2001 album Seventh Wave, seven and a half minutes of ambient waves which Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy do so well.

 

From there and another of my favourite albums of 2022, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood. Another spine-tinglingly beautiful vocal, this isn't really ambient at all, more 1970s West Coast vibe yet it was an obvious next step from the System 7 song. The build towards the end is just wonderful.

 

Whilst I have a few Wau Wau Collectif songs from previous Sahel Sounds compilations, Friday saw my first purchase of a full length album by them, their second as it transpires. The Senegalese musicians collaborate again with Sweden’s Karl Jonas Winqvist, a name I only recognise from his work with James Yorkston & The Secondhand Orchestra. Again, Mariage Forcé is not a song that would be described as 'chill out' but I was struck by the tone of the two-second intro nearly matching that of the closing seconds of the Weyes Blood song, which made for a serendipitous pairing.

On more familiar territory for the closer, with William Orbit. Strange Cargo was the title of his second album in 1987, with volumes II and III following in the 1990s. The next volume in 1995 was confusingly credited to Strange Cargo and titled Hinterland. Business as usual belatedly resumed (and reverted to a William Orbit release) in 2014 with Strange Cargo 5. Kiss Of The Bee appears on the standalone Strange Cargo release in 1995, featuring Beth Orton and Christine Leach. Beth was about to release her second solo album, to great acclaim, whilst Christine fronted Baby Fox, who were unfairly lumped in with the mid-90s trip hop set.

 

1) 20, Park Drive (Inst): Baby Ford (1992)

2) Transatlantic: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2022)

3) Conquering Tomorrow: Electribe 101 (1992)

4) Take Me As I Am (Max Cooper Remix): Au Revoir Simone (2010)

5) Picadors (Album Version): Telefís (2022)

6) The Abyss: System 7 (2001)

7) God Turn Me Into A Flower: Weyes Blood (2022)

8) Mariage Forcé: Wau Wau Collectif (2022)

9) Kiss Of The Bee: Strange Cargo ft. Beth Orton & Christine Leach (1995) 

 

1992: Bford 9: 1

1995: Hinterland: 9

2001: Seventh Wave: 6

2010: Night Light: 4

2022: a hAon: 5 

2022: And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow: 7

2022: Electribal Soul: 3

2022: Happy Ending: 2 

2022: Mariage: 8

 

The One You Won't Regret (47:34) (Box) (Mega) 

Still Be Real

Happy birthday, Beth Orton. 

 

Beth and I were born three days and roughly two hundred miles apart. Beth released her eighth studio solo album, Weather Alive, in September 2022. My attempts at singing have mercifully remained unrecorded and unreleased.

It was almost certainly Water From A Vine Leaf by William Orbit that introduced me to Beth's voice and from there her own work, albeit exclusively via singles and remixes. I'm pretty sure third album Central Reservation was the first album I bought, though I've since gone back to the previous two and have intermittently picked up subsequent releases. I haven't yet heard Weather Alive in full, but it is represented here with a song featured on Mojo magazine's recent Best Of 2022 sampler CD.

 

Today's selection goes from Beth's most recent album all the way back to her solo debut, Superpinkymandy, produced by William Orbit and released nearly 30 years ago. Some truly wonderful moments from an impressive body of work.

 

Have a good one, Beth.

1) Central Reservation (William Orbit Remix) (1999)

2) Pedestal (Single Version By Brian O'Shaughnessy) (1997)

3) Thinking About Tomorrow (Ben Watt Radio Mix ft. The Wrecking Crew Orchestra) (2003)

4) I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine (Album Version By Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood) (1996)

5) Stolen Car (Radio Edit By Victor Van Vugt & Mark 'Spike' Stent) (1999)

6) Friday Night (Album Version By Beth Orton & Craig Silvey) (2022)

7) Roll The Dice (Album Version By William Orbit) (1993)

8) That Summer Feeling (Cover of Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers) (2012)

9) Concrete Sky (Album Version By Victor Van Vugt & Ben Watt) (2002)

10) Someone's Daughter (Single Version By Ian Grimble) (1997)

1993: Superpinkymandy: 7

1996: Trailer Park: 4

1997: Someone's Daughter EP: 10

1997: Touch Me With Your Love EP: 2

1999: Central Reservation EP: 1

1999: Stolen Car EP: 5 

2002: Daybreaker: 9

2003: Thinking About Tomorrow EP: 3

2012: Sugaring Season: 8

2022: Weather Alive: 6

Still Be Real (45:40) (Box) (Mega)

Always Asking Questions?

Why are the weekends so short? This and other pressing questions below, with absolutely no answers whatsoever.

 

1) How Does It Feel? (Cover of Spacemen 3): Piano Magic (1998)

2) Is That You Mo-Dean? (Interdimension Mix By Moby) (New Edit 2002): The B-52's (2002)

3) Why Theory? (Re-Recorded Version): Gang Of Four (2005)

4) What Was Her Name? (Original): Dave Clarke ft. Chicks On Speed (2004)

5) How Many Six Packs Does It Take To Screw In A Light?: American Music Club (1994)

6) Whatever Happened To?: Buzzcocks (1977)

7) Why Can't I Be You? (Album Version): The Cure (1987)

8) Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken? (Demo): Lloyd Cole & The Commotions (1983)

9) Where Do You Go? (Album Version By William Orbit): Beth Orton (1993)

10) Where Is My Mind? (Live @ Les Eurockéennes Festival, Belfort, France, 03 July 2004): Pixies (2004)

11) “Is it art or anti-art?”: The Times (1991)

Always Asking Questions? (36:41)

A Mix In Two Halves

Andrew Weatherall is much missed but never forgotten and a constant in my playlists. This is not intended as a 'best of', simply 10 songs that currently happen to be on my iPod playlist, either created, produced or remixed by Lord Sabre, compiled to make an album of sorts.

 

This one's for Swiss Adam, over at Bagging Area - happy birthday!

 

Side One (21:03)

1) Theme (Album Version): The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

2) Running On Empty (Andrew Weatherall Vox Mix): Honkeyfinger (2009)

3) Open Up (I Hate Pink Floyd Mix By The Sabres Of Paradise): Leftfield / Lydon (1993)

4) Tiny Reminder No. 3 (Album Version): Two Lone Swordsmen (2000)

5) Swords (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix) (Full Length): Leftfield ft. Nicole Willis (2000) 

Side Two (22:10) 

1) Bubble And Slide (Album Version): The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

2) Sex Beat (Remix): Two Lone Swordsmen (2004)

3) Anywhere (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix Vocal): Beth Orton (2002) 

4) Gods And Monsters (Two Lone Swordsmen Vocal Remix): I Am Kloot (2005)

5) Come Together (Remix By Andrew Weatherall) (7" Version): Primal Scream (1990)

 

Side One (21:03) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (22:10) (KF) (Mega)