View It From Here

On Thursday 28th January 1982, Associates released Party Fears Two.

Wait...what? Forty four years ago?!

Party Fears Two was the tenth Associates single and none of the previous nine had troubled the mainstream UK charts in any way, although they'd enjoyed some success in the indie singles chart.

Party Fears Two was the game changer for the band, a four minute poperetta showcasing Billy MacKennzie and Alan Rankine at the peak of their powers.

I wasn't alone in being completely captivated by Associates' debut performance on Top Of The Pops and Party Fears Two eventually peaked at #9 in the UK Top 40 the week of 21st to 27th March 1982.

Party Fears Two proved to be Associates' sole Top 10 hit; likewise parent album Sulk, which followed in May 1982, and it remains as powerful now as it did then, despite my having heard it thousands of times by now.

Party Fears Two is a song that only the brave or foolhardy have attempted to cover since. Fewer still - The Divine Comedy and Heaven 17 to name two - have had the balls to commit to taking their version into the studio.

I've included live performances by both, and a few more that I've discovered. None can surpass the original, but I think they've all managed to give a personal and affecting spin.

1) Party Fears Two: The Divine Comedy (Live @ The Barbican, London, 3rd September 2022) *

2) Party Fears Two: Heaven 17 (Live @ O2 Academy, Bristol, 1st December 2010)

3) Party Fears Two: Jess Brett (Live @ The Flapper, Birmingham, 12th March 2022) (buy on Bandcamp)

4) Party Fears Two: James Grant (Live @ Tannahill Centre, Paisley, 3rd June 2022)

5) Party Fears Two: Øivind Hånes (Live @ Portåsen, Mjøndalen, Norway, 12th November 2020)

6) Party Fears Two: King Creosote & Session A9 (Live @ Celtic Connections, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 16th January 2010)

 

 

 

 

 

* There's another clip on YouTube which better captures the majestic 11-piece band accompanying Neil on stage, though be warned, it ends abruptly mid-song!

These Things That Stir Me Will Not Deter Me

Another highlight of last week's Bandcamp Friday purchases was a new song by Jo Bartlett. 

 

Drawing A Line (ghost tape no.2) is a lovely burbling, bass-heavy number replete with cassette hiss percussion, occasional jangly guitar and Jo's vocals floating and weaving through. As the sub-title suggests, it's a track from Jo's forthcoming album Ghost Tapes 1-9, due out on 26th April. 

 

Jo also has a band, Kodiak Island, who debuted with the Play To Your Strengths EP in 2022 and followed up with a new song, Innocence, late last year.

 

Back in December, I was 'introduced' to Jo's solo music via the Hardway Bros remix of her song Camden, released earlier in 2023 and a track which immediately secured a place in my end of year Imperfect List. 

 

Jo is no stranger to the remix, however. Polaris, a track by her former group The Yellow Moon Band got The Time & Space Machine treatment from Richard Norris way back in 2009.

It was a casual click onto Jo's music site Indie Through The Looking Glass and the 'About Jo B' page that provided the forehead slapping moment when I realised that Jo's been here all along and I hadn't made the connection. 

 

Case in point: It's Jo And Danny, whose folky pop I greatly enjoyed in the early 2000s.

Not afraid of the rework and reinvention even then, Let It Happen was remixed in 2003 by King Creosote.

 

Oh and Jo Bartlett and Danny Hagan also founded the Green Man Festival. Wow. And wow.

 

If you've got free time, I'd recommend a visit to Indie Through The Looking Glass, it's a fascinating - at times frustrating, at times heartbreaking - read of Jo's journey through music. Inspiring stuff.

 

And after you're done reading, then straight back to Bandcamp. A large chunk of Jo Bartlett's back catalogue, including It's Jo And Danny, The Yellow Moon Band and C86 contenders Bluetrain, is available. Absolutely make a beeline for her material from the last 18 months and work your way back.