War! What Is It Good For? Two Sides Of A C60 Cassette!

Sides 1 and 2 of a C60 cassette, collating classic live compilation Urgh! A Music War, created 14th July 1992.

When I used to visit my brother's bedsit on the edge of St. Paul's in Bristol city centre, I would always try to get this album on the turntable. I was a little obsessed with it, to be honest. 

The sleeve itself was fascinating: text-heavy with a camouflage background and the illustration of a dodgy loooking character pulling a vinyl record from within his long overcoat.

My brother's copy also had, stamped firmly in embossed gold lettering, the notice that this was a promo, not for resale. For years, I mistakenly thought this meant that the album had never been officially released, let alone that it was the soundtrack to the 1981 film of the same name by Derek Burbidge.

Two slabs of vinyl squeezed into a slightly oversized sleeve (no gatefold), twenty-seven songs packed into the grooves, six on Side 1, seven on Sides 2, 3 and 4. As advertised, all previously unreleased live performances by bands that I knew and many that I didn't.

As my music obsession grew during my teens, so did my DIY cassette compilation, which continued through my twenties. I'd seize opportunities to rip my brother's vinyl to cassette and I nabbed Urgh! A Music War when circumstances meant that we were both back living with our parents, our music collections in adjoining rooms.

I'm pretty sure I could have fit most if not all of the album onto a C90 cassette, so I don't recall why I instead ended up with a cut down 17-track version on a C60 instead. Maybe there was only a limited window to get the album recorded and I didn't have a 90-min tape available. 

As such, today's selection is missing Au Pairs, The Cramps, Pere Ubu and Gang Of Four, although back in 1992 I would have been less bothered at leaving off Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, John Otway or Jools Holland.

Side 1 of the mixtape literally copies and pastes the entirety of the vinyl's first side, in order, finishing off with Side 4's opener and the closing song of Side 2.

The flip side of the C60 bounces from Side 3 to four straight songs from Side 2 to two from Side 4, before returning to Side 3 for the epic closer.

By the 2000s, and access to the internet, I had acquired not only a vinyl rip of the album - the source of today's selection - but also the ten 'bonus' performances from the film, lifted from its DVD release in the 1990s.

There are a few gems, with John Cooper Clarke, Dead Kennedys, Pere Ubu and UB40 with a great performance of Madam Medusa and, but I think the 1981 vinyl track list pretty much got it right first time.

Side One

1) Driven To Tears (Live @ The Frejus Amphitheater, Paris, 28 August 1980): The Police

2) Back In Flesh (Live @ The Santa Monica Civic, Santa Monica, 16 August 1980): Wall Of Voodoo

3) Dance (Live @ The ICA, London, 05 September 1980): Toyah

4) Enola Gay (Live @ Guild Hall, Portsmouth, 19 September 1980): O.M.D.

5) Ain't This The Life (Live @ The Whisky, Hollywood, California, 17 August 1980): Oingo Boingo

6) Respectable Street (Live @ The Frejus Amphitheater, Paris, 28 August 1980): XTC

7) Shadow-Line (Live @ CBGB's, New York, 21 August 1980): The Fleshtones

8) Ku Klux Klan (Live @ The Rainbow Theatre, London, 18 September 1980): Steel Pulse

Side Two

1) Uncontrollable Urge (Live @ The California Theater, San Diego, 20 August 1980): Devo

2) The Puppet (Live @ The Lyceum Ballroom, London, 07 September 1980): Echo & The Bunnymen

3) We Got The Beat (Live @ The Whisky, Hollywood, California, 17 August 1980): Go-Go's

4) Total Eclipse (Live @ The Ritz, New York, 22 August 1980): Klaus Nomi

5) Where's Captain Kirk (Live @ The Lyceum Ballroom, London, 17 September 1980): Athletico Spizz 80

6) Nothing Means Nothing Anymore (Live @ The Whisky, Hollywood, California, 17 August 1980): Alley Cats

7) Beyond And Back (Live @ The Santa Monica Civic, Santa Monica, 15 August 1980): X

8) Model Worker (Live @ The Santa Monica Civic, Santa Monica, 16 August 1980): Magazine

9) Down In The Park (Live @ The Hammersmith Odeon, London, 16 September 1980): Gary Numan

Side One (29:42) (GD) (M)

Side Two (30:06) (GD) (M)

If you have a couple of hours to spare, then treat yourself to the movie, available in full online. 

It's a thrill to see O.M.D., Echo & The Bunnymen, XTC, Steel Pulse and Magazine. The sight of Gary Numan tootling about on stage in his precursor to the Sinclair C5 is perhaps unintentionally amusing in 2026, whilst Klaus Nomi is a fantastical being that perhaps would only be imagined via CGI these days. Tragically, Klaus died barely two years after the release of Urgh! A Music War, one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS.

If you've never seen Urgh! A Music War, or haven't for a long while, give it a go. I suspect that there's nothing better on TV this Sunday (especially if you're in the UK)>

Upon A Mouse #2: Echo Of Past Glories

Another dip into my contributions to The 20 Greatest Eponymous Albums Of All Time series, which recently concluded at No Badger Required. 

From a shortlist of 43 candidates - itself from a longlist of suggestions offered by the Musical Jury - I voted for and commented on my personal Top 20 submissions, some of which made to the published 20 Greatest Eponymous Albums Of All Time, some didn't. 

Whilst Junior's mama used to say lots of useful things like,

"Take your time young man"

"Don't you rush to get old"

"Take it in your stride" and 

"Live your life"

Momma K's mantra was "Waste not, want not". So, here are a selection of my picks with expanded comments, a few video clips and a completely random header photo, snapped off the telly during a bored moment and having no connection whatsoever to the record or artist in question.

Today's eponymous album scraping in at #19, with a mere two points, is by Echo & The Bunnymen.

 

To be honest, I really grappled with scoring and ranking this record. Compared to other releases in 1987, it’s a great album. Compared to the Echo & The Bunnymen albums that preceded this self-titled collection, they had done so much better. 

Laurie Latham’s production on EATB comes in for a lot of stick, and admittedly other producers - especially Ian Broudie’s approach - unlocked something in the band that isn’t quite realised here, but there are some very, very good songs to be found.

I prefer the version of Bedbugs And Ballyhoo on the B-side of Bring On The Dancing Horses, which came out in 1985, but it remains one of the finest songs they ever recorded. And Lips Like Sugar should have been a far bigger hit than it was, spending a mere 4 weeks in the UK chart at #57, then #37, then #36, then #53 before disappearing altogether.

I really, really like Blue Blue Ocean, but is it better than Ocean Rain? No. All My Life is a decent song, but is it a better album closer than Ocean Rain? No.

I was a latecomer to Echo & The Bunnymen's album, coming in via The Songs To Learn & Sing singles compilation, then filling in the gaps later, so I probably don't have the same reaction to listening to their 1987 effort that longer term fans will have had at the time. 

However, it's impossible to deny that the album as a whole is lacking, because Echo & The Bunnymen set the bar so high with their previous releases.

 

 

Today's cover star is Rose Ayling-Ellis, actor and Strictly Come Dancing winner, in a scene from 2025 ITVX drama Code Of Silence. 

Despite the interesting premise - deaf civilian volunteers to help the police with lip reading, gets caught up in a life-threatening situation - I found it a bit underwhelming and not the best use of Rose's acting skills. I'm clearly in the minority as a second series is currently in production. 

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1

A 90 minute master class in the art of the remix, courtesy of François Kevorkian. 

Monsieur K is now his sixth decade (!) as a remixer, producer and DJ and although his work rate is proportionately smaller than in preceding years, if you collected his credited work alone, you would have a pretty large music collection.

It would harder to list the artists that François hasn't worked with, than the other way around and, particularly in the 1980s, it seemed that no 12" single was complete without a Kevorkian remix.

So, where to start with a Dubhed selection? I've picked a dozen remixes, spanning 1982 to 2021, taking in Yazoo and Depeche Mode, Arthur Baker and Arthur Russell (as Dinosaur L), GusGus and Underworld, The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, Kraftwerk and Coldplay, Perry Farrell and Jimmy Cliff.

As eclectic as it sounds, what binds the music together is the man at the controls, a master at work, quality running through like writing in a stick of rock.

And yes, "Volume 1"...

1) Jumbo (Rob Rives & François Kevorkian Main Dish): Underworld (1999)

2) Lips Like Sugar (12" Mix By François Kevorkian & Michael Hutchinson): Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

3) Enjoy The Silence (Bass Line) (Remix By François Kevorkian): Depeche Mode (1990)

4) On A Mission (FK 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Arthur Baker & Rockers Revenge (2018)

5) Hot Hot Hot!!! (Extended Remix By François Kevorkian & Ron St. Germain): The Cure (1988)

6) Tour De France (Remix By François Kevorkian): Kraftwerk (1983)

7) #5 Go Bang! (Mixed By François Kevorkian): Dinosaur L (1982)

8) Roots Radical (12" Version By François Kevorkian): Jimmy Cliff (1983)

9) Very Important People (François K Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian & Rob Rives) (Full Length): GusGus (1999)

10) Talk (François Kevorkian Remix): Coldplay (2006)

11) The Solutionists (François K Brave Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian): Perry Farrell's Satellite Party (2021)

12) Situation (U.S. 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Yazoo (1982)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1 (1:30:06) (GD) (M)

Decade III: 1985

Side 2 of a misplaced mixtape, compiled circa March 1990, wrecked or abandoned some years later, resurrected and repurposed 18th August 2024.

 

In stark contrast, the hits don't keep coming in this selection, the number of singles that failed to chart in the UK (4) outnumbering those reaching the Top 20 (2). 

 

I could have easily filled the 45 minutes with bonafide hits from a-ha, China Crisis, Fine Young Cannibals, Kate Bush, Level 42, Pet Shop Boys, Simple Minds, Thompson Twins and The Waterboys without finding myself in the dire straits of having to include, er, Dire Straits. However, I think this recreation is a pretty fair representation of where this nascent goth was in 1985.

To acknowledge the elephant in the room, I've fallen foul of the record label info again and included Godstar, Psychic TV's tribute to Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, as a release in 1985. The Official Chart Company insists that the single didn't begin to trouble the charts until the end of March 1986, peaking at a dizzying #67 in its fifth week. 

 

In my defence, I can't confirm the single's official release date but promos were circulating in late 1985 and the record sleeve states that Godstar "is the theme song from the forthcoming feature film of the same name about the Life and Times of Brian Jones which begins shooting on February 28th 1986". So, it's staying put in 1985 as far as I'm concerned!

Continuing the ropey Six Degrees Of Separation theme that I failed to extend beyond three songs yesterday, there is a further connection between sides 1 and 2 of this cassette. Godstar is co-credited to The Angels Of Light, including Rose McDowall, who featured yesterday with Strawberry Switchblade. 

There's a further connection between Since Yesterday by Strawberry Switchblade and track 2, You've Got The Power by Win, in that both were David Motion. You can't make this stuff up, you know.

Fire In The Twilight by Wang Chung didn't trouble the Top 100 here, but is forever etched in my mind for its inclusion in John Hughes' film The Breakfast Club, sound tracking the scene where the tearaway teens are racing to get back to their desks ahead of scumbag teacher Vernon. It's an unfeasibly enormous school, based on this scene.

Bring On The Dancing Horses was the first 12" single that I bought by Echo & The Bunnymen, along with their Songs To Learn & Sing greatest hits compilation. Late to the party I may have been, but both have been enduring favourites. 

How Soon Is Now? was the first 12" single I owned by The Smiths, but I've gone for my second purchase, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, rescued from the ex-chart bargain bin at my local WH Smiths (in the days when there were enough WH Smiths to have a local one). 

The Dream Academy couldn't even quite match Psychic TV's peak, The Love Parade entering the charts at #96 on this day in 1985 and reaching a disappointing #68 a couple of weeks later. A far cry from their previous high of #15 with Life in A Northern Town. They tried again later in the year with a cover of The Smiths' Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want. The record buying public clearly misinterpreted this request as "another flop single", as it limped to #83. Still, at least the inclusion of the instrumental version in another John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, guaranteed immortality.

By 1985, Frank Tovey had shed his Fad Gadget persona and was arguably aiming for a slightly more commercial sound, ably demonstrated by the single Luxury. Personally, I liked the new direction. It wasn't a hit, of course, and Tovey ploughed a different, darker, folkier furrow with subsequent albums.

No G.D.M. (Dedicated To Quentin Crisp) by Gina X was first released in 1979, again in 1982 and then re-mixed and re-released by original producer and collaborator Zeus B. Held in 1985. It didn't trouble the UK charts on any of these occasions, which understates its impact and brilliance. I guess Radio 1 playlists - and our sensitive ears - remained unprepared for a song about lesbians, transvestites and "red haired queers". Philistines!

What I Wouldn't Give by Pink Industry is one of the greatest singles of the 1980s. Seriously. I read a review of it in Smash Hits, of all places, where Chris Heath described it as "A very strange record, but a good one" which says it all really, though he had a word count to deliver so does go on a bit more. What I Wouldn't Give contains the brilliant verse,

 

There's my Smiths tapes you never wanted to hear

Throw them away, Morrissey in the bin

If that would bring you back again

A similar fate befell Mozzer's collection in households across the UK years later, when he devolved into a complete prick.

Some loud guitars from either end of the spectrum, first off with The Jesus & Mary Chain, followed by The Cult. I bought the latter, along with The Smiths, O.M.D. and, er, Animal Nightlife with a bunch of other 12" singles whilst holidaying with the family in a caravan in (I think) Bournemouth in the summer of 1985. 

It was a while longer before I owned a record by The Jesus & Mary Chain (not counting their appearance on The Hit Red Hot EP), though my love for their continuing recordings has outlasted that of The Cult by some distance. 

ZTT scored a coup by signing Grace Jones. Slave To The Rhythm was originally written and intended as a follow up to Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Relax and their demo finally saw the light of day a few years ago. It's good though I don't think anyone will argue that gifting it to Grace was the right move. For this selection, I've re-edited sections from the 7" and 12" 'Blooded' remix, including Ian McShane's introduction, to create a - for me, at least - more satisfying composite version. Heeeeere's Grace!

Normal service resumes next weekend, as I revisit the Decade cassette that I recorded in 1990, covering 1986 and 1987. Expect the unexpected. Well, a little.

 

1) Godstar (7" Version): Psychic TV ft. The Angels Of Light

2) You've Got The Power (7" Version): Win

3) Fire In The Twilight (Specially Remixed Version): Wang Chung

4) Bring On The Dancing Horses (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen

5) The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (Album Version): The Smiths

6) The Love Parade (7"): The Dream Academy

7) Luxury (Album Version): Frank Tovey

8) No G.D.M. (7 Inch): Gina X

9) What I Wouldn't Give (Album Version): Pink Industry

10) Never Understand (Album Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain

11) She Sells Sanctuary (Album Version): The Cult

12) Slave To The Rhythm (Cold Blooded Edit By Khayem): Grace Jones

3rd March 1985: Psychocandy (#47): 10

20th April 1985: Fire In The Twilight EP (# n/a): 3

?? May 1985: No G.D.M. EP (# n/a): 8

?? June 1985: You've Got The Power EP (#95): 2 *

?? July 1985: New Beginnings (# n/a): 9

28th July 1985: Love (#15): 11

?? August 1985: Snakes & Ladders (# n/a): 7

8th September 1985: The Love Parade EP (#68): 6

6th October 1985: The Queen Is Dead (#23): 5

20th October 1985: Slave To The Rhythm EP (#20): 12

27th October 1985: Bring On The Dancing Horses EP (#21): 4

20th April 1986: Godstar EP (#67): 1 **

 

Side Two (45:35) (GD) (M)

* You've Got The Power was originally released in June 1985 then twice more, the third time proving lucky - kind of - when it got to #95 the week of 16th March 1986.

** According to Discogs, and my personal copy of the 12" single, Godstar was released in 1985. The sleeve info also notes that Godstar is the theme to a Brian Jones biopic "which begins shooting on February 28th 1986". I've no recollection why the single didn't enter the charts until late March 1986 and the film never saw the light of day, if indeed filming ever began...

Decade I: 1980

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded 3rd February 1990.

 

In 2023, Toby Roberts dreamed of competing in the 2024 Olympics, qualifying in October and yesterday bringing home gold with an incredible boulder and lead performance, aged 19.

In 1990, 19-year old me dreamed of girls, music and getting away from the UK. As Meat Loaf once over emoted on vinyl, two out of three ain't bad. My love life was at least consistent: mostly short-lived or unrequited. But...I did eventually get away from the UK later that year, a life-changing solo experience in Australia. Gold Coast rather than a gold medal, but good enough for me.

And my relationship with music has sustained me through the years, never letting me down. Well, apart from that Simple Minds headline gig at the Ashton Court Festival in Bristol, but nothing's perfect, right?

So, as 1989 turned into 1990 I had the notion of doing a themed series of cassette compilations, looking back at the previous decade. Five C90s, one year per side, 12 songs apiece. 

I had a growing record collection by that time, mostly vinyl and cassettes, with a few CDs creeping in. I also had access to my brother's vinyl - he'd gone to uni in Bournemouth and left most of behind with my parents - and my friend Stuart's collection, to plug any gaps in my 'wants' list.

1980 is inevitably a cracking selection, if I say so myself, as there was so much good music to choose from. Pretty much all of these came from my own records, the only exceptions being Martha & The Muffins (my brother's copy of Metro Music) and Talking Heads and U2, borrowed from Stuart.

And yes, I accept that Once In A Lifetime wasn't released in the UK as a single until January 1981. However, in those pre-internet years, I went by the P&C year stated on the back sleeve and labels. Remain In Light said 1980, so that was good enough for me. I subsequently found that the info printed on records were often unreliable in this regard. in this case, I'm happy to confirm that Remain In Light came out in October 1980. Yippee, me.

A strong opener to the series, then. Could I sustain it? 

You won't have long to find out...

 

1) Messages (10" Version): O.M.D.

2) Fade To Grey (Dance Mix Edit): Visage

3) Echo Beach (Album Version): Martha & The Muffins

4) Once In A Lifetime (Album Version): Talking Heads

5) Call Me (Theme From American Gigolo) (Single Version): Blondie

6) Do It Clean (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen

7) Independence Day (Album Version): The Comsat Angels

8) Israel (Single Version): Siouxsie & The Banshees

9) Love Will Tear Us Apart (Album Version): Joy Division

10) My Perfect Cousin (Album Version): The Undertones

11) A Day Without Me (Album Version): U2

12) Being Boiled (Album Version): The Human League

23rd March 1980: Metro Music (#10): 3

20th April 1980: Call Me EP (#1): 5 

11th May 1980: Holiday 80 EP (#56): 12 *

11th May 1980: Hypnotised (#9): 10 

15th June 1980: Messages EP (#13): 1

13th July 1980: Waiting For A Miracle (# n/a): 7 **

20th July 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart EP (#13): 9

24th August 1980: Boy (# n/a): 11 

5th October 1980: The Puppet / Do It Clean EP (# n/a): 6

30th November 1980: Israel EP (#41): 8 

1st February 1981: Visage (#8): 2 ***

1st March 1981: Remain In Light (#14): 4 ****

Side One (46:12) (GD) (M)

 

* Being Boiled was re-released on the back of The Human League's chart success and peaked at #6 in January 1982.  

** Neither single nor album troubled the UK charts in 1980, but a re-recorded version of Independence Day made it to #71 in January 1984 

*** Fade To Grey first entered the UK singles chart on 14th December 1980

**** Remain In Light entered the UK album chart on 26th October 1980 and that, M'lud, is my sole defence!

#Colours Top 20 (Second Shade)

The second half of the (E)x-Twitter 'countdown' that I've participated in for the past 20 days, featuring songs, artists or lyrics featuring a colour.

As with the first ten, I've stuck with just song titles throughout, with my second round up coming in at one second under 40 minutes.

 

I also continued with my 'method' (I use the term loosely) of trying to make sure that the subsequent colour complemented the one that had preceded it. This limiting my choice of songs each time but hopefully provided for some interesting segues from, say, Cathal Coughlan to Peaches. 

 

I only did one swap throughout the entire run. My original pick for #17 was Coral Moon by John Cale from his 1973 album, Helen Of Troy. Realising that the pick would coincide with International Women's Day, I replaced it with A Coral Room by Kate Bush, which on reflection I think was a better choice and made for a good segue from Echo & The Bunnymen.

 

This late change also meant that I was able to find another (complementary) John Cale song and tweet it on the following day, which also happened to be his 82nd birthday. Win win, I'd say.

 

The final song of the 20 wouldn't have appeared at all had it not been for Ernie Goggins' end of year round up over at 27 Leggies back in December 2022, a reminder of how much music I discover thanks to you lovely people out there in the blogosphere. And in my opinion, it's a great way to wrap up what has been a fun series to participate in.

 

11) Into The White (Single Version): Pixies (1989)

12) Lime Tree Arbour (Album Version): Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (1997)

13) Tangerine: Cathal Coughlan (2022)

14) I Feel Cream (Album Version): Peaches (2009)

15) Silverblade (Single Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain (1990)

16) Turquoise Days: Echo & The Bunnymen (1981)

17) A Coral Room: Kate Bush (2005)

18) Bamboo Floor ("Slow Dazzle" Session Outtake): John Cale (1975)

19) Olive Avenue: Port Sulphur ft. Jay Stansfield (2018)

20) Golden Spoon Maroon: Yasus Afari (2021) 

 

1981: Heaven Up Here: 6

1989: Here Comes Your Man EP: 1 

1990: Rollercoaster EP: 5 

1996: The Island Years: 8

1997: The Boatman's Call: 2

2005: Aerial: 7

2009: I Feel Cream: 4 

2018: Paranoic Critical: 9

2022: E.P. Of Co-Aklan EP: 3

2022: Golden Spoon Maroon: 10

 

Second Shade (39:59) (KF) (Mega)

My Kingdom

My first Echo & The Bunnymen purchase was the Songs To Learn & Sing compilation, the limited edition vinyl with the lyric booklet and the free Zoo 7" of The Pictures On My Wall b/w Read It In Books.

 

I've no idea why I didn't get more deeply into the band as a teen as on paper, they ticked all my boxes. I loved Songs To Learn & Sing but even that wasn't a prompt to revisit their back catalogue.

 

So, it was roughly two decades later before I finally bought and properly listened to Ocean Rain (the 20th anniversary CD with bonus tracks) for a fiver at Fopp record shop in Bristol. 

 

It's also the first time I properly listened to the original album's penultimate song, My Kingdom (#9 of 17 on my CD), although I'm sure I must have heard the CD's penultimate track, a live version of My Kingdom broadcast on The Tube in May 1984.

 

It's a wonderful song, the opening few seconds reminiscent of Lunatic And Fire Pistol, a contemporary song released on Julian Cope's debut solo album. The song very quickly enters familiar Bunnymen territory, with Pete De Freitas' light brush fills coming in first, followed by Will Sargeant's guitar picks and Les Pattinson's bouncing bass. Finally, Ian McCulloch's unmistakeable voice and words,

I chop and I change and the mystery thickens
There's blood on my hands and you want me to listen
To brawn and to brain when the truth's in the middle
Born of the grain like all good riddles

By the time Will's guitar squall tears in after the first chorus, you're already halfway through the song and willing it not to end. A late discovery for me, but a song that grows in my affection with each listen. 

 

I've found a couple of live versions of My Kingdom on YouTube, themselves separated in time by two decades. The first is a performance for Spanish TV show La Edad do Oro ("The Golden Age") in 1984. Ignore the audio hiss and it's a riveting performance, Mac name checking manager Bill Drummond (lurking back stage) and coolly strumming his guitar. Pete, Will and Les are all in a line with Mac, front of stage, and looking completely in the moment and giving their all, even if the audience themselves seem strangely muted. A great performance.

 

Fast forward to 2008 and My Kingdom performed at The Albert Hall in London. I'm guessing from the visual edits that this is from a DVD release or a show that was broadcast on TV as there are lots of cuts and cross fades to the stage video backdrop featuring Pete De Freitas. The band are tight and Mac - in uniform shades and dark clothing - is in good voice, but perhaps inevitably it's the 1984 take that's the winner for me.

For the sake of completeness, here's the original album version from Ocean Rain, plus their recording for a John Peel session, the final of four songs transmitted on 24th October 1983. I had no idea of this last fact when My Kingdom popped up on a random shuffle and I originally drafted this post on Monday (23rd) but sometimes things just seem to fall into place, don't they?

#45sUnder3

I wouldn't say I put 100% into maintaining a presence on Twitter (or X or whatever Ego Musk is calling it these days, but I have participated in a couple of themed series, inviting people to share music. 

The first was a month-long celebration of 12" mixes from the 1980s and it was a lot of fun, sharing some old favourites and criminally forgotten or underrated tunes. This month (July), the theme has been singles that come in at 3 minutes or less. I didn't have a particular plan and was pretty much selecting a song at random on a daily basis. This in turn frequently informed many of my posts this month, more often than not leading me to get carried away with my "research" and deviating significantly from the song that prompted it.

Again, it's been good fun to see what other people would come up with each day. Needless to say, some stone cold classics have been well represented through the month: Boys Don't Cry by The Cure, Destroy The Heart by The House Of Love, Outdoor Miner by Wire, Monkey Gone To Heaven by Pixies, Reward by The Teardrop Explodes, Town Called Malice by The Jam, pretty much everything by Buzzcocks. Most genres have also been served well: reggae, soul, pop, punk, dance; not much prog, but to be fair 3 mins would be barely enough for the intro.

So, the series ends today and I chopped and changed my mind about what to include, mindful that I'd not yet included anything by Pixies, Julian Cope and dozens of other favourites. In the end, the choice was obvious: a band that has informed my love of music ever since I was a toddler, was a highlight of this year's Glastonbury (on TV) experience and who have released yet another brilliant album, up there in my 2023 'best of'. Oh, and with a great video to boot. Yes, of course, it's Sparks.

Despite being a daunting 31 song selection, the #45sUnder3 theme means that the entire thing comes in at under an hour and a half. The opening track is a bit of a red herring, but then where else would you heard Nine Inch Nails followed by Sub Sub featuring Melanie Williams?! The remaining selection is eclectic, jumping decades and genres with gleeful abandon and yet... I quite it. I hope you do too.

1) March Of The Pigs (Album Version): Nine Inch Nails (1994)

2) Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (Original Edit): Sub Sub ft. Melanie Williams (1993)

3) Sign Of The Times (Album Version): The Belle Stars (1983)

4) Nothing To Worry About (Album Version): Peter, Björn & John (2009)

5) Bizarre Love Triangle (Cover of New Order): Devine & Statton (1989)

6) The Pictures On My Wall (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen (1979)

7) Hyper Lust (Album Version): MOTOR ft. Billie Ray Martin (2012)

8) You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It!): The Undertones (1979)

9) Dusk Till Dawn (Album Version): Ladyhawke (2008)

10) Souleater: Clouds (1991)

11) Simply Thrilled Honey (Single Version): Orange Juice (1980)

12) D-Days (Single Mix): Hazel O'Connor (1981)

13) The Ugly Bug Ball: Burl Ives (1963)

14) Heart It Races (Album Version): Architecture In Helsinki (2007)

15) Action Time Vision: Alternative TV (1978)

16) Blue Boot (Single Version): Eric Donaldson (1972)

17) Hot Fun In The Summertime (Single Version): Sly & The Family Stone (1969)

18) Cybele's Reverie (Single Version): Stereolab (1996)

19) White Knuckle Ride (Single Version): Danielle Dax (1988)

20) I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape (Album Version): The Times (1982)

21) (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman: Aretha Franklin (1967)

22) The Music (Single Version): Hifi Sean ft. Celeda (2018)

23) Mellow Doubt (Album Version): Teenage Fanclub (1995)

24) I Want Everything: The Godfathers (1986)

25) Thinking 'Bout You (Album Version): Dua Lipa (2017)

26) Lava (Album Version): Silver Sun (1996)

27) She’s A Fighter: Robert Forster (2023)

28) Triple Trouble (Album Version): Beastie Boys (2004)

29) Beak: HANN (2019)

30) Backwards Dog (Single Version): The Soup Dragons (1989)

31) The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte: Sparks (2023)

 

#45sUnder3 (1:23:12) (KF) (Mega)

Should Have Got It Right

Echo & The Bunnymen released their debut single The Pictures On My Wall in May 1979 on 7" vinyl, backed with Read It In Books. At the time of posting, there are three copies of the first pressing available for sale on Discogs, all outside the UK and starting at roughly £21.50 plus postage. 

My copy wasn't purchased as a switched-on 8-year old or a bargain-hunting twenty-something but as a teen in late 1985/early 1986. I bought the singles compilation Songs To Learn & Sing from my local WH Smith, a sticker on the front cover boldly proclaiming

 

"Includes bonus 7 inch

the Zoo version of

Pictures On My Wall

with Original Sleeve"

Copies are more readily available with an arguably more accessible starting price of £16.31 plus shipping, not bad for the thirteen songs in total, especially if the 12" 4-page lyric insert is still present and in good nick.

The significance of Zoo, or producers The Chameleons aka Bill Drummond and David Balfe, was lost on me at the time. I also paid little attention to co-writer "Cope" on B-side Read It In Books until the same song popped up on the Charlotte Anne EP by Julian Cope a few years later and I began to learn about the song's history and the legendary/mythical Crucial Three, comprising Ian McCulloch, Julian Cope and Pete Wylie.

The Pictures On My Wall was a cracking debut single and still hits the mark, decades later. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't a video for the single, either at the time or in retrospect. However, in my internet trawl, I came across an upload of a VHS from 1984 with the same title.

The Pictures On My Wall is an odds 'n' sods compilation of montages, videos, TV appearances and live performances up to and including then-current album Ocean Rain. With a running time of just over 43 minutes, it gets off to a weird start with the title track clumsily edited/cut with follow up single Rescue and a sequence of images 'introducing' the band, the sleeves of their releases to date and other random images. The first twenty minutes are (mostly) in studio, the final five songs live at the Albert Hall in 1983.

Given the source, the upload is inevitably a bit murky and muffled in terms of visuals and sound but it's an intriguing curio and a reminder of what record companies would cobble together to extract a few more pennies from music fans also wowed by the boom of video players at home.

For more gems like this, visit Manu Guinarte on YouTube.

Cut The Night

Twelve inches of indie(ish) pop pleasure for the weekend, with a selection of well-known and lesser known songs, spanning the upper and the nether regions of the UK singles chart. 

Troubling the Top 30 with their selected songs back in the day were Echo & The Bunnymen (#30), Gary Numan (#19) and The Beat (#9). Bringing up the rear were Kirsty MacColl (#80) and Win (#63). Having trouble getting the car started were Flesh For Lulu, Paul Haig and INXS, who didn't make the Top 100 and where's the justice in that?

 

As it's Friday, the forty-five minute/C90-friendly rule be damned, here's a full-fat, forty-eight minutes of goodies to usher in the weekend. 

1) Silver (Tidal Wave): Echo & The Bunnymen (1984)

2) Every Little Word (Remix): Flesh For Lulu (1989)

3) Big Blue World (12" Version): Paul Haig (1984)

4) Music For Chameleons (Album Version): Gary Numan (1982)

5) The One Thing (Extended Version): INXS (1983)

6) Hands Off... She's Mine (12" Version): The Beat (1980)

7) Innocence (The Guilt Mix): Kirsty MacColl (1989)

8) Super Popoid Groove (12 Inches For Love God): Win (1987)

 

Cut The Night (48:25) (Box) (Mega)