Because You Demanded More, The Return Of Versions Galore!

Side 2 of a cassette compilation of cover versions, recorded 26th November 1999.

When I posted Side 1 in July 2024, I remarked "Who would have thought a quarter of a century on, many of these artists would still be recording and touring?"

The more sobering realisation is how many artists are sadly no longer with us since I originally recorded the mixtape at the end of the last century: Brian Wilson, Marc Moreland, Tony Ogden, Charlie Watts, Cathal Coughlan, Rod McKuen...and that's just in the first four songs of Side 2 alone.

The other thing that struck me was the 1993 was clearly a good year for cover versions, as demonstrated here by Spell aka Boyd Rice and Rose McDowall, Barry Adamson and Louise Ness, One Dove (Dot sings Dolly!) and Slowdive all turning in versions that hold up well against the originals.

And despite Frente! having the greater commercial success with their cover of a cover, it's the earlier acoustic driven version of Bizarre Love Triangle by Devine & Statton aka Ian Pinchcombe and Alison Statton that wins hands down every time. 

1) Do It Again (Album Version): Wall Of Voodoo vs. The Beach Boys (1987)

2) She's A Rainbow (Left Hand Blue Mix By Fluke): World Of Twist vs. The Rolling Stones (1991)

3) Shiny Happy People: The Fatima Mansions vs. R.E.M. (1991)

4) Seasons In The Sun: Spell vs. Rod McKuen (1993)

5) Jolene (Edit By Khayem): One Dove vs. Dolly Parton (1993)

6) Some Velvet Morning: Slowdive vs. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood (1993)

7) Broken English (7" Extended) (Remix By Sunscreem & Phil Bodger): Sunscreem vs. Marianne Faithfull (1992)

8) White Rabbit: The Shower Scene From Psycho vs. The Great Society with Grace Slick (1985)

9) Purple Haze: Soft Cell vs. The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1983)

10) "Heroes": Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie vs. David Bowie (1990)

11) Bizarre Love Triangle: Devine & Statton vs. New Order (1989)

12) Je T'Aime ... Moi Non Plus: Barry Adamson & Louise Ness vs. Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin (1993)

1983: Soul Inside EP: 9

1985: White Rabbit/Cinnamon Girl EP: 8

1987: Happy Planet: 1

1989: Bizarre Love Triangle EP: 11

1990: Love Child EP: 10

1991: Bertie's Brochures: 3

1991: She's A Rainbow EP: 2

1992: Broken English EP: 7

1993: Seasons In The Sun: 4

1993: The Negro Inside Me EP: 12

1993: Volume Seven: 6

1993: Why Don't You Take Me EP: 5

Side Two (46:15) (GD) (M)

Side One here

In September 2022, I posted another all-covers compilation, Hokey Karaoke (Volume One), which repeats some of the tracks from Versions Galore, and can be found here

#SpookyTunesSeason, Volume Two

Clinging onto the Hallowe'en bandwagon, here's the second half of a month-long Twitter challenge, covering the past fortnight and up to today's final tweet.

 

As with Volume One, this has been done on the fly, so you will find zig zags from lo-fi indie to lush alt. country to German disco to reggae to revisionist pop history.

Once more, the 'sleevenotes' are a direct lift from my tweets, which provide little insight other than I clearly need more caffeine in the morning!

 

Spider To The Fly: Isobel Campbell

From Isobel's current album Bow To Love, which is so good that she also recorded and released the entire album in French as Place à l'Amour. Fantasmagorique!

 

Frankenstein Conquers The World: Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston

...or Frankenstein vs. The World, if you got the expanded UK/Europe reissue in 1993, renaming the original self-titled album as - what else? - It's Spooky.

 

Pretty Little Graves: Baby Bird

Tucked away on the B-side of the Cornershop single, uptempo rhythms belying Stephen Jones' downbeat lyrics.

 

Where The Creepyboyz Sing: John Cale

This turned up as a Japan-only bonus track on the Hobo Sapiens album, less than 1k views on You Tube. Deserves to be heard!

 

The New Cobweb Summer (Album Version): Lambchop

Hard to believe that this song is over 20 years old. Here's a more recent, but equally lovely, live version from Pickathon 2019.

 

(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows (Moby Remix): Billy Idol

Moby takes Billy's 1983 album track, chews it up, spits it out 35 years later for a remix album project. Vital Idol Revitalised? Regurgitated, more like! I love it.

 

Spooky Rhodes: Laika

From the Sounds Of The Satellites album, which I was lucky enough to catch them touring in the UK. Here's a fan-made video, which seems to have no relation to the song...Not spooky, but odd.

 

Soul Dracula: Hot Blood

Ready for some German disco on Dutch TV? There was a follow up LP in 1977 called Dracula And Co, including Baby Frankie Stein, Dracula Goes Dreamy and, er, Sex Me.

 

Because You're Frightened (Album Version): Magazine

Magazine's reformation in 2009 for an album and tour was something I'd previously thought impossible. I was lucky enough to see them in Birmingham. An astonishing show.

 

My Boy Builds Coffins (Album Version): Florence + The Machine

A lovely interview & performance from 2008, when Flo' was 'one to watch'. She's done alright since, hasn't she?

 

As I Washed The Blood Off: The Fatima Mansions

From the much missed Cathal Coughlan. I'm endlessly fascinated by the songs that people choose to make DIY videos for and post on You Tube...

 

Nightmare: Bim Sherman

Nightmares? Here's the remedy.

 

Killer Inside Me (Killer Long Version): MC 900 Ft. Jesus

Mark Griffin deftly mixed rap, jazz and unsettling narratives in the early 90s before retiring from the biz. And his full name is supposed to be '900 foot' not 'featuring'...!

 

Trick Or Treat: Otis Redding

A co-write with Isaac Hayes, it's hard to believe that this remained unreleased until 1992. A monster tune!

 

Thriller (The Reflex 'Halloween Disco' Edit): Michael Jackson

An obvious pick, but possibly a version that some may not have heard before. Nicolas Laugier works his magic yet again.  

 

Whether you're celebrating or battening down the hatches this evening, you could do worse than give this a spin. Though possibly not much worse ;-)

1) Spider To The Fly: Isobel Campbell (2024)

2) Frankenstein vs. The World (Video Version): Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston (1989)

3) Pretty Little Graves: Baby Bird (1997)

4) Where The Creepyboyz Sing: John Cale (2003)

5) The New Cobweb Summer (Album Version): Lambchop (2002)

6) (Do Not) Stand In The Shadows (Moby Remix): Billy Idol (2018)

7) Spooky Rhodes: Laika (1997)

8) Soul Dracula: Hot Blood (1975)

9) Because You're Frightened (Album Version): Magazine (1980)

10) My Boy Builds Coffins (Album Version): Florence + The Machine (2009)

11) As I Washed The Blood Off: The Fatima Mansions (1994)

12) Nightmare: Bim Sherman (1990)

13) Killer Inside Me (Killer Long Version): MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1991)

14) Trick Or Treat: Otis Redding (1966)

15) Thriller (The Reflex 'Halloween Disco' Edit): Michael Jackson (2013)

Volume Two (1:06:16) (KF) (Mega)

Thousand

No prizes for guessing what post number this is. 

Here's an eclectic 90 minutes of songs, remixes or acts featuring either '1000' or 'thousand' in the name. What was a little surprising was just how many examples are bouncing around in my collection. Even my shortlist contained roughly twice as many songs as made the final selection. 

Something for everyone, although not necessarily all together or in the right order. Ride, Hoodoo Gurus, Dengue Fever, The Sugarcubes, Gram Parsons, Gonzales, Stereolab, the selection also hops around the world a fair bit. Speaking of which...

 

Those of you who follow the excellent 27 Leggies and in particular Ernie's African Odyssey will have been hugely disappointed by the difficult decision to exclude the mighty King Ayisoba from this week's stop off in Ghana, such was the embarrassment of musical riches emanating from the country. Rest assured, his majesty makes an appearance here, with one of the songs that Ernie originally posted and part of my introduction to the Ghanaian great.

The selection closes with a two-hander from XTC and The Coral and I don't think I could have picked two better songs to wrap up. 

Viel spaß mit meiner tausendsten beitragsauswahl, meine Freunde!

1) 1000 Miles: Ride (1994)

2) Rilly Groovy (S1000 Mix By Spencer Williams & Mike Koglin): Beautiful People ft. Jimi Hendrix (1992)

3) Furious Angels (Rollo's Thousand Volts Mix): Rob Dougan (1998)

4) 1000 Miles Away: Hoodoo Gurus ft. Vicki Peterson (1991)

5) One Thousand Miles An Hour: Stereolab (1995)

6) 1000 Faces: Gonzales (2002)

7) Through It Poured The Next Day, I Never Noticed The Rain (Single Version): One Thousand Violins (1986)

8) One Thousand Tears Of A Tarantula (Album Version): Dengue Fever (2005)

9) One Thousand Years: TUU (1993)

10) Swords Of A Thousand Men: Tenpole Tudor (1981)

11) 1000 Dollar Car: The Bottle Rockets (1994)

12) Son Of A Thousand Fathers: Prince Fatty & Mutant Hi-Fi (2011)

13) 1000 Miles: Dirty Three (1996)

14) Blue-Eyed Pop (S1000 Mix By Spencer Williams & Mike Koglin): The Sugarcubes (1992)

15) 1000 Can Die: King Ayisoba ft. M3nsa & Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2017)

16) $1000 Wedding: Gram Parsons ft. Emmylou Harris (1974)

17) A Girl Like You (1000 Times) (Remix By Howard Gray): The Wolfgang Press ft. Claudia Fontaine (1992)

18) 1000 Umbrellas: XTC (1986)

19) 1000 Years: The Coral (2010)

 

1974: $1000 Wedding: 16

1981: Eddie, Old Bob, Dick And Gary: 10

1986: Please Don't Sandblast My House EP: 7 

1986: Skylarking (2016 Steven Wilson Mix): 18

1991: Kinky: 4 

1992: A Girl Like You EP: 17

1992: It's-It: 14

1992: Rilly Groovy EP: 2 

1993: One Thousand Years: 9

1994: Carnival Of Light: 1 

1994: The Brooklyn Side: 11

1995: The In Sound EP: 5 

1996: Horse Stories: 13

1998: Furious Angels EP: 3

2002: Presidential Suite: 6

2005: Escape From Dragon House: 8

2010: Butterfly House: 19

2011: Return Of Gringo!: 12

2017: 1000 Can Die: 15

Thousand (1:29:08) (KF) (Mega)

And if that's not enough for you, there are thousands of others that could have made the cut. 

Contributing today's cover photo, I bought the 12" of I Feel It/Thousand by Moby in the 1990s. I remember reading in Mixmag or DJ magazine at the time that the song achieved a Guinness World Record for having the fastest BPM tempo of any released single, peaking at approximately 1,015 beats per minute. 

 

None of which means the song is any good, of course. Rather than subject you to the full version, here's two minutes of Moby "performing" Thousand at the Electric Daisy Carneval in (I think) 2015. Health warning: strobe lights, plus a bald, pasty-skinned man topless and puffing his chest out to the largely indifferent masses. The fireworks are lovely, though.

 

Someone else who's still rocking the hairspray and lippy like it's 1985 is Robert Smith of The Cure. Here's A Thousand Hours (and bonus At Night) performed last October in Los Angeles. The venue is the Smoothie King Center, presumably named after a US company/sponsor but was there ever a more appropriately named venue for ol' Bob?

Back to 1994 and The Fatima Mansions live on stage 1000%, again cutting away to some fairly blank faces. Phillistines! I saw Cathal Coughlan and crew at The Fleece in Bristol around the same time and it was one of the most blistering, incendiary gigs I've been to. A greatly missed creative genius. 

You get some strange stuff on You Tube, don't you? I love The Beloved and I really like the song 1000 Years From Today. One fan has taken this one step further and created their own video. Not the mental image I had when listening to the song previously.

 

I have one song by Lia Ices aka Leah Kessel, courtesy of a Mojo magazine cover mount CD. A bit of an insult really, given that she's released four albums since 2008. Luckily for Lia, the one song is called Thousand Eyes so it gets a mention here. Not a fan-made video, although it's cut-and-paste job shamelessly stealing from Bollywood.

And for those of you who on seeing the post title and theme have been shouting "Where's Slough's finest, Thousand Yard Stare, for feck's sake?!" at the screen ever since, I think it's about time you got your comeuppance. 

 

No, I mean the song's called Comeuppance... 

 

Wait, come back....

 

...oh, now I've gone and done it.

The First One Began With A Kiss Kiss Kiss, The Last One Ended In A Pulverized Fist

A celebration of Cathal Coughlan, following yesterday's tragic news of his death at the age of 61. Whilst many of my college friends were going ape over Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, I bought Viva Dead Ponies by The Fatima Mansions in 1991 and went down a different path. 

I'd heard and loved Blues For Ceausescu which, in typically contrary fashion, only made it onto the UK issue of Viva Dead Ponies as a 14-second loop (the US got the full 12" version). 

 

In 1994, I was fortunate enough to see The Fatima Mansions at The Fleece in Bristol, promoting what would turn out to be their final album, Lost In The Former West. Cathal Coughlan was absolutely compelling from the start, running through a loud, paint-blistering set. I'd taken a friend who didn't really know them, apart from a hastily-compiled mixtape I'd shoved his way ahead of the night, and who left thinking it was one of the best gigs he'd ever been to.

 

Cathal Coughlan had a rich body of work pre- and post-The Fatima Mansions, with Microdisney in the 1980s and as a solo artist from the mid-1990s onwards, taking in collaborative projects such as Bubonique (with comedian Sean Hughes), The Dead Sea Scrolls (with Luke Haines) and Telefis, his latest project with Jacknife Lee. All worthy of a deeper dive, but The Fatima Mansions will always bring back happy memories of my errant and angry youth.

 

This selection unintentionally omits debut album Against Nature (also highly recommended) but includes three tracks from each of the other three albums. Whilst I also have the excellent 'Only Solution' remix and John Peel session version of Blues For Ceausescu, it's the definitive 12" version here. I've also included the title track of 1991's Hive EP, which also featured the excellent Chemical Cosh.

 

Coughlan was also known for his singular cover versions, notably Bryan Adam's Everything I Do (I Do It For You) and a bastardized take on R.E.M.'s Shiny Happy People. I've gone for a much straighter reading of Leonard Cohen's Paper Thin Hotel, from the 1000% single. 

 

I've left off numerous personal favourites but I hope this selection goes some way to giving a hint of The Fatima Mansions careering course from politics to pop, beauty to brutality, raw to rock and all the points in between.

Side One

1) Hive (1991)

2) Your World Customer (1994) 

3) A Pack Of Lies (1990)

4) Purple Window (1992)

5) Blues For Ceausescu (12" Version) (1990)

6) Chemical Cosh (Album Version) (1990)

Side Two

1) Humiliate Me (1994)

2) Breakfast With Bandog (1992)

3) The Door To Door Inspector (1990)

4) A Walk In The Woods (1994)

5) Paper Thin Hotel (Cover of Leonard Cohen) (1992)

6) Be Dead (1992)

1990: Blues For Ceausescu EP: A5

1990: Viva Dead Ponies: A3, A6, B3

1991: Hive EP: A1

1992: 1000% EP: B5

1992: Valhalla Avenue: A4, B2, B6

1994: Lost In The Former West: A2, B1, B4

Side One (21:54)

Side Two (22:20)

Eclectic Guitar

Side 2 of a mixtape, recorded 3rd October 1999. As the name suggests, an eclectic mix with lots of guitar and a slight pun on a song title by Talking Heads, who close proceedings with their debut single. 

This may be the only place (today, at least) where you'll find INXS sandwiched by His Name Is Alive and the Fatima Mansions and Beck followed by The Pastels, with some wry slice of life observations from Jarvis Cocker and Ed Ball, alongside stone cold Seventies classics by Wire, Sparks, Blondie and the aforementioned Talking Heads. 

1) 59 Lyndhurst Grove (Inside Susan: "A Story In Three Songs...", Part 3) (Single Version): Pulp (1993)

2) Wish I Had A Wishing Ring (Album Version): His Name Is Alive (1998)

3) Heaven Sent (Album Version): INXS (1992) 

4) Something Bad: The Fatima Mansions (1992)

5) Hasta Mañana, Monsieur: Sparks (1974)

6) Primrose 0882: The Times (1993)

7) Outdoor Miner (Long Version): Wire (1978)

8) One Way Or Another (Album Version): Blondie (1978)

9) Deadweight (Edit): Beck (1997)

10) Love, It's Getting Better (Cover of The Groove): The Pastels (1995)

11) Chemicrazy (Revitalized): That Petrol Emotion (1990)

12) Love → Building On Fire: Talking Heads (1977)

 

1974: Kimono My House: 5 

1977: Love → Building On Fire EP: 12

1978: Parallel Lines: 8

1989: On Returning (1977-1979): 7

1990: Sensitize EP: 11

1992: Valhalla Avenue: 4

1992: Welcome To Wherever You Are: 3 

1993: Baby Girl EP: 6

1993: Razzmatazz EP: 1 

1995: Worlds Of Possibility EP: 10

1997: Deadweight EP: 9

1998: Ft. Lake: 2

Side Two (46:08) (KF) (Mega)

The Silence Won't Crack Though We Heave And Hack

Viva Dead Ponies has been back on frequent rotation again this week. I felt the urge to listen to some "angry" music - I wonder why - and The Fatima Mansions are more than up to the task. I bought this on CD from Kay's record shop in Yate, a place which holds the dubious pleasure of being the birthplace of J.K. Rowling and named 45th worst place to live in Britain in the 2003 book Crap Towns. Kay's is long, long gone now but at the time was arguably the only reason for a trip to Yate. It stocked all the usual chart and mainstream stuff but Simon the manager also had a knack for slipping in some unexpected gems. I remember buying this on spec for £7.99 in the early 1990s. It was a brand new CD but had clearly sat unloved and unsold for sometime, and may have been at a discounted price at this point. This was the 1990 first issue of the album with 19 tracks, before it was reissued and rejigged to include Blues For Ceausescu and Only Losers Take The Bus. I love both of these songs and have the singles, but the original album was perfect and the song Thursday didn't deserve to be a casualty of the 1991 revision. The production and some of the synth sounds place the album in time, but Cathal Coughlan's songwriting and performance is unbeatable. As a proper introduction to The Fatima Mansions, the album blew me away and still resonates today. I finally got to see The Fatima Mansions live in concert in 1994, in support of their - as it subsequently transpired - final album, Lost In The Former West. It was an incendiary performance.

1) Angel's Delight (Live at the Academy, New York, 18 November 1994)

2) Concrete Block (#1) (Album Version)

3) Mr. Baby (John Peel Session, 25 March 1990) 

4) The Door-To-Door Inspector (Demo, 1989)

5) Start The Week (Album Version)

6) You're A Rose (Video Version) 

7) Legoland 3 (Album Version) 

8) Thursday (Fan Video) 

9) Ceausescu Flashback (Album Version) 

10) Broken Radio No. 1 (John Peel Session, 25 March 1990) 

11) Concrete Block (#2) (Album Version) 

12) Look What I Stole For Us, Darling (Fan Video) 

13 & 14) Farewell Oratorio / The White Knuckle Express (Album Version) 

15) Chemical Cosh (Album Version) 

16) Timo Mansio Speaks (Album Version) 

17) A Pack Of Lies (Bleeped Version) (Live on The Late Show, BBC TV, 1991) 

18) Viva Dead Ponies (Live, 1991) 

19) More Smack, Vicar (Album Version)