Happy Jolly Tape Thing

Side 1 of a mixtape, recorded sometime in 1992.

 

I've been avoiding the obvious and posting a mixtape opening with Sunday morning on a Sunday morning for a while. However, as this selection also features April Skies and it's April, not to mention a couple of mentions of an impending summer (of love), what can I do? 

I compiled this for my girlfriend, in what I'm guessing were the early weeks and months of our relationship. Her birthday's in September so I'm assuming from the song themes that it was prior to this, in the spring/summer. We'd met at college, studying A-Levels and with a shared love of art, and it was a very happy time, as the mixtape title suggests.

 

I have an unconditional love for all of these songs, they're each associated with good memories, not just this relationship but other happy times and events in my life. I've seen five of the artists live in concert - The Psychedelic Furs, The The, Julian Cope, The Jesus & Mary Chain and Blondie - six if you count Ian McNabb's solo gig at The Phoenix Festival, and they were all brilliantly memorable gigs.

 

Summer Of Love and Poised On The Edge Of Forever only made it as B-sides in the UK, whilst Forever Now and Four Flights Up are album cuts that really should have been singles. 

 

As for the singles themselves, it's all killer, no filler in my not-very-humble opinion. Just hearing This Is The Day followed by Eve's Volcano followed by April Skies struck a real chord when I heard it again.

 

Benchtop is the possible anomaly here, as it was only released in Australia in December 1990 as the lead song from the Resisting Calm EP. I was living and working there at the time and Benchtop was heavily played by radio station Triple J. I was hooked, ended up tracking down a copy on 12" vinyl and shipping it back to the UK. It remains one of my most treasured EPs. Melanie Oxley and Chris Abrahams were previously in a band together, Sparklers; Abrahams is perhaps better known these days as part of experimental jazz trio The Necks.

I hope you're having a good weekend, whether you're observing Easter or just taking a brief respite from the crazy world we're living in. Hopefully the sun's shining wherever you are and today's selection will put a big smile on your face.

Love to you all and thanks for visiting!

1) Sunday Morning (Album Version): The Velvet Underground (1967) 

2) Forever Now (Album Version By Todd Rundgren): The Psychedelic Furs (1982)

3) Summer Of Love (Single Edit By Shep Pettibone): The B-52's (1986)

4) Poised On The Edge Of Forever (Single Version): The Dream Academy (1985)

5) Oblivious (Single Version): Aztec Camera (1983)

6) This Is The Day (Extended Version): The The (1983)

7) Eve's Volcano 'Covered In Sin' (Single Remix By Tom Lord-Alge): Julian Cope (1987)

8) April Skies (Single Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain (1987)

9) All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House) (Long Version): The Icicle Works (1985)

10) Here Comes The Summer (Single Version): The Undertones (1979)

11) Denis (Album Version) (Cover of 'Denise' by Randy & The Rainbows): Blondie (1977)

12) Benchtop (Single Version): Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams (1990)

13) Four Flights Up (Album Version): Lloyd Cole & The Commotions (1984)

Side One (46:02) (Box) (Mega)

Watching, Not Wanting

Side 2 of a mixtape, compiled 8th August 1998.

 

Some dirty, downtempo beats for you today, with a selection of tracks from the 1996-1998 period. Goodness knows how I managed to squeeze this onto a C90 cassette side, but...

Starting off with a superior demo of Blue Mug by GusGus, which subsequently appeared on their 1999 album This Is Normal and ending with a swampy remix of Massive Attack's Teardrop by Primal Scream, featuring the superlative vocals of Liz Fraser. In between, you get a couple of early 90s rappers - Justin Warfield and MC Tunes - in their respective new groups, One Inch Punch and Dust Junkys. 

 

Solex vs. The Hitmeister was one of my favourite albums of 1998 and Solex aka Elisabeth Esselink was a great live act, as was Laika, both of whom I saw at the time, to undeservedly modest audiences.

 

New Forms by Roni Size Reprazent was ubiquitous in 1998, yet more than lived up to the hype around it. The same can be said for When I Was Born For The 7th Time, Cornershop's 'surprise' hit on the back of a number 1 single with Brimful Of Asha.

 

I only have this one single by Rare and undoubtedly bought it for the Justin Robertson remix, not included here, but quite liked the other versions on the CD. As an added bonus for fact fans, Rare was a short-lived band from Derry, Northern Ireland, featuring none other than John O'Neill (credited as Seán Ó'Néill), formerly of The Undertones and That Petrol Emotion. The following year, Rare disbanded, The Undertones reformed without Feargal Sharkey, and continue to this day.

 

1) Blue Mug (Demo Version): GusGus (1998)

2) Metaphysics (ft. Mannish): One Inch Punch (1996)

3) Watching Windows (Album Version): Roni Size Reprazent ft. Onallee (1997)

4) Looking For The Jackalope (Single Version): Laika (1997)

5) The Foundation (Album Version): Thievery Corporation (1996)

6) Your Selfish Ways (Album Version By Mark Van Hoen): Locust ft. Zoe Niblett (1997)

7) What Is Happening: Cornershop (1997)

8) Solex In A Slipshod Style: Solex (1998)

9) Mind My Make-Up (Dust Junkys Remix): Finitribe ft. Katy Morrison (1998)

10) Seems Like (Bang Bang Mix By Xavier Jamaux): Rare (1998)

11) Teardrop (Scream Team Remix): Massive Attack ft. Elizabeth Fraser (1998)
 

Side Two (46:56) (Box) (Mega)

Open Your Eyes, Open Your Mind

Side 1 of a Fluke mixtape, compiled 7th May 1997. To get it straight from the start, I love Fluke and their music, invariably chock full of rolling, pulsing beats and bubbling synths is guaranteed to take me to a happy place. I'm surprised it's taken me so long to feature Fluke in their own right, but what better way to see in a Good Friday?

 

This is the second volume of Fluke cassettes, confusingly titled (Singles), with the other being (Mixes). In truth, both are a bit of a hodge podge of single (re)mixes, album tracks and remixes for other artists. 

This was originally compiled a few short months before the album Risotto came out, so focuses mainly on the first three albums, skipping live mini-album Out (In Essence) and drawing on a trio of top notch remixes in the latter half of the selection. Only one single - Slid (a UK #59 hit in March 1993) - actually makes it onto this side.

Oh yeah!

1) Our Definition Of Jazz (John Peel Session, 25 November 1990): Fluke

2) Glorious: Fluke (1991)

3) Slid (Glid Edit): Fluke (1993)

4) Cut: Fluke (1995)

5) Ride On (Fight On) (Fluke Mid-Fi Surprise): Little Axe (1994)

6) Oh Yeah: Fluke (1993)

7) Celebrate (Moulimix By Fluke): Horse (1994)

8) Beautiful Morning (Fluke's Multipractic Mix): Sensation (1993)

1991: The Techno Rose Of Blighty: 2 

1993: Beautiful Morning EP: 8

1993: Six Wheels On My Wagon: 6

1993: Slid EP: 3

1994: Celebrate EP: 7

1994: The Peel Sessions EP: 1

1994: Right On (Fight On) EP: 5

1995: Oto: 4

Side One (45:59) (GD) (M)

They Wouldn't Know Freedom If You Salted It And Rubbed It In Their Eyes

One of the inevitable effects of a steady flow of good new music, as well as back catalogue reissues and rediscoveries through the blogosphere, is that it's very easy for great songs to be lost in the avalanche. Songs that I enjoyed but only played once or twice before the continuing influx of music pushed them further and further into the past.

Today's selection therefore rescues songs from the dim and distant past of 2012 (!) and brings them into the light again. A mix of original songs and cover versions, it's hard to believe that these songs are a decade old. The Jazz Butcher provide today's post title; sadly Pat Fish departed this life in October 2021. Another loss - Mark Hollis in 2019 - is celebrated with an affecting Talk Talk cover version by Duncan Sheik & Rachael Yamagata.

 

I knew the closing song would be A Case For Vinyl by Tim Burgess before I'd had a proper sense of the selection's running order. A co-write with Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, I think it's one of Tim's finest songs, both solo and with The Charlatans.  

 

No spoilers, but tomorrow's selection will be a little more uptempo.

 

1) Freedom At 21: Jack White (single / Blunderbuss LP)

2) Goodbye Kiss (Cover of Kasabian): Lana Del Rey (God Bless America mixtape)

3) Grasshopper Clock: The Corner Laughers (Poppy Seeds LP)

4) Do I Wait (Cover of Ryan Adams): Juliana Hatfield (Juliana Hatfield LP)

5) On Borrowed Time (Take 5) (Remix By BRM & Waterson): Billie Ray Martin (Five Takes (A Song About Andy) EP)

6) Last Of The Gentleman Adventurers: The Jazz Butcher (Last Of The Gentleman Adventurers LP)

7) Life's What You Make It (Cover of Talk Talk): Duncan Sheik ft. Rachael Yamagata (Spirit Of Talk Talk compilation)

8) Half Gate: Grizzly Bear (Shields LP)

9) Save Me A Place (Cover of Fleetwood Mac): Marissa Nadler (July / Demos & Covers limited edition LP)

10) A Case For Vinyl: Tim Burgess (single / Oh No I Love You LP)

They Wouldn't Know Freedom If You Salted It And Rubbed It In Their Eyes (44:13)

Liars & Hypocrites

Sometimes the news headlines suggest the playlist...

 

If it's not galling enough that these lying, entitled scumbags are in government, their value on the consultancy and after-dinner speaking circuit has no doubt increased on the back of their increasing infamy.

 

Just stop pretending that you are representing "the people" and not the selfish, grubby interests of yourselves and your cronies. I did not vote for you and you do not represent me.

1) Devil Is A Liar: Kode9 & The Spaceape (2014)

2) Liar With Wings: Andrew Weatherall (2009) 

3) Hypocrite: Matumbi (1978)

4) Two Thieves And A Liar: Gary Clail / On-U Sound System ft. Bim Sherman (1989)

5) Liar, Liar (Cover of The Castaways): Deborah Harry (1988)

6) Burn The Liars: The Earlies (2007)

7) Reeling The Liars In (Cover of Swans): Cold Specks (2012)

8) Liar: Kelsey Lu (2016)

9) Liars A To E (Single Version): Dexy's Midnight Runners (1981)

10) Hypocrite: Lush (1994)

11) Fakes & Liars: The Wolfgang Press (1992)

12) Liar: Sex Pistols (1977)

1977: Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols: 12

1978: Seven Seals: 3

1981: Liars A To E EP: 9

1988: Married To The Mob OST: 5

1989: End Of The Century Party: 4

1992: Queer: 11

1994: Hypocrite EP: 10

2007: The Enemy Chorus: 6

2009: A Pox On The Pioneers: 2 

2012: Dancing Coins EP: 7

2014: Killing Season EP: 1

2016: Church: 8

Liars & Hypocrites (43:41)

All The Colours Talk To Me

I saw Lush live in concert (supported by Gallon Drunk, who I sadly don't recall at all) at the Bristol Bierkeller on 27th October 1991. I was a big fan of the first two releases by Lush, the mini-album Scar and follow up EP, Mad Love. The latter aptly titled, as I had a huge fanboy crush on Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson. I had the fold-out poster of the band's "infamous body paint photos" by Kevin Cummins in a 1990 edition of NME on my wall. I thought they were even more beautiful on stage.

Lush had a lot going for them: great songs with urgent rhythms; guitars that alternated between jangly and squalling, sometimes in the same song; harmonies that wouldn't cause The Beach Boys to lose any sleep but which worked beautifully with the melodic sounds they created. Given the heavy debt to Cocteau Twins, it was fitting that Lush were not only on the 4AD label (with the requisite gorgeous artwork) but also produced by Robin Guthrie on the Mad Love EP and debut album, Spooky.

Today's selection is taken from a mixtape, recorded 2nd July 1992. For regular readers' interest, the flipside was The Sugarcubes' mixtape, which I featured in February. At this time, it was just over eight months since the gig and about six since Spooky had been released. Yet, I still only had three Lush records: the aforementioned Scar and Mad Love, plus the For Love EP, which I'd bought with some other vinyl in the bargain bin at WH Smith with a Christmas or birthday present voucher. 

There had been another couple of singles in the meantime: 1990's Sweetness And Light, produced by Tim Friese-Greene, and the Black Spring EP, released in 1991 to promote the tour that I attended. My friend had the 12" of the former, so I was able to borrow it (along with his Sugarcubes albums) to cobble together a 45-minute compilation.

I didn't really follow Lush much after that, although I would dip into - and enjoy - what followed with the Desire Lines and Hypocrite EPs, though I was less of a fan of 500 (Shake Baby Shake) and Single Girl and their being lumped in with the Britpop bands in the mid-1990s.

The tragic death of drummer Chris Acland in 1996 brought the band to an end. They briefly reformed for live performances and the Blind Spot EP in 2016, which appears to have been the definitive final chapter for Lush. I didn't see Lush live in concert again, but here's a sparkling performance of Sweetness And Light from KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.

1) Sweetness And Light (1990)

2) Scarlet (1989)

3) Sunbathing (1990)

4) Breeze (1990)

5) Downer (1990)

6) Baby Talk (1989)

7) Bitter (1989)

8) For Love (Album Version) (1991)

9) Etheriel (1989)

10) Second Sight (1989)

11) Leaves Me Cold (1990)

12) Astronaut (1991)

13) De-Luxe (1990)

14) Outdoor Miner (Cover of Wire) (1991)

15) Thoughtforms (Re-Recorded Version) (1990)

 

1989: Scar: 2, 6, 7, 9, 10

1990: Mad Love EP: 5, 11, 13, 15

1990: Sweetness And Light EP: 1, 3, 4

1991: For Love EP: 8, 12, 14

 

All The Colours Talk To Me (45:20) (GD) (M)

Wise Up! Again

Side 1 of a mixtape, recorded between December 1991 and January 1992. When I posted Side 2 last August, I mentioned the use of a couple of tracks from Keeping The Faith: A Creation Dance Compilation and there's another here. I didn't buy either of the two 12" singles of Come Together by Primal Scream at the time, but the excellent Hypnotone remix opened Side 2 of Keeping The Faith and remains my second only to Andrew Weatherall's unassailable mix. 

 

The other reference point on this mixtape side is Renegade Soundwave's debut album Soundclash. Excellent though it is, I think the real reason two tracks appear here is that I had been lent a copy by my friend Stuart and ended up cramming songs onto various mixtapes before returning it. 

 

There's also a heavy Adrian Sherwood vibe on this side, with production and remix duties for Cabaret Voltaire, Gary Clail / On-U Sound System and Tackhead. The full length version of False Leader featured on the album The Emotional Hooligan, whilst this edit was a B-side of the Escape remix 12". The Tackhead remix of Dangerous Sex was edited to squeeze onto the cassette side, so I've done the same here to preserve the original running time.

 

A Certain Ratio's Martin Moscrop remixes opening instrumental Bendy, which initially appeared on the Intastella single People; my copy resurfaced on the limited edition "Intastella Meet Adamski" remix 12" of follow-up Century. This is my favourite version of the song.

 

Killing Joke's Youth remixes Pop Will Eat Itself, dropping the BPMs and stretching the song out to over five minutes. Again, this one has the edge as my preferred version and - no surprise - provides the mixtape with its title.

 

Lastly, the song that introduced me to Colourbox. I picked up the Vertigo-Sampler from a record stall in St. Nicholas' Market in Bristol a few years previously, a Canadian import double vinyl compilation from 1985. If I'm honest, most of it is dispensable: late-period Boomtown Rats, Big Country, Dire Straits and - even more dire - Mark Knopfler solo, twice! However, there are a couple of sides of alternative and indie music: Cocteau Twins, Love And Rockets, This Mortal Coil and Colourbox, which made the price worth a punt. 

The Colourbox track is listed as Sex Gun (Instrumental Version) but is identical to the version (re)titled Just Give 'Em Whiskey on their eponymous debut album. The vocal version of Sex Gun made it onto the free extra album that came with limited quantities, though the one featured in today’s selection is far and away the best version out there, heavy with samples from Westworld and The Prisoner.

 

1) Bendy In The Disco (Remix By Martin Moscrop): Intastella (1991)

2) Biting My Nails (Album Version By Flood & RSW): Renegade Soundwave (1989)

3) Thank You America (Album Version By Cabaret Voltaire & Adrian Sherwood): Cabaret Voltaire (1987)

4) False Leader (Edit By Adrian Sherwood, Doug Wimbish & Skip McDonald): Gary Clail / On-U Sound System ft. Big Youth (1991)

5) Head Like A Hole (Album Version By Trent Reznor & Flood): Nine Inch Nails (1990)

6) Come Together (The HypnotoneBrainMachine Mix By Hypnotone): Primal Scream (1990)

7) Wise Up! Sucker (12" Version By Youth): Pop Will Eat Itself (1989)

8) Blue Eyed Boy (Album Version By Flood & RSW): Renegade Soundwave (1989)

9) Sex Gun (Instrumental Version) (aka Just Give 'Em Whiskey): Colourbox (1985)

10) Sex Overdubs (Remix By Adrian Sherwood, Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc & Skip McDonald) (Edit): Tackhead (1990)

 

Side One (45:59)

Side Two here

Hearsay & Heresy

Mixtape recorded 30th July 1997, featuring Gavin Friday on Side 1 and Björk on Side 2. 

 

I think the only Gavin Friday album I owned at this point was Shag Tobacco, so this selection is mostly drawn from CD singles, including the Man Of Misfortune EP, which included the two previous singles from Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves as B-sides.

 

Since then, I've collected the remaining albums, Adam 'n' Eve and Catholic, the latter unbelievably over a decade old now. I think Gavin Friday's solo material is hugely underrated and even the songs dispensed with as B-sides stand tall, as I think this selection attests. 

 
1) Rex Mortuus Est (1992)

2) Angel (Album Version By Tim Simenon) (1995)

3) Falling Off The Edge Of The World (Album Version By Hal Willner, Flood & Dave Bascombe): Gavin Friday ft. Maria McKee (1992)

4) Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (Album Version): Gavin Friday & The Man Seezer (1989)

5) A Thousand Years (1995)

6) Wake Up Screaming (1992)

7) You Take Away The Sun (Album Version): Gavin Friday & The Man Seezer (1989)

8) Sibyl Vane's Suicide (1992)

9) I Want To Live (Single Mix By Dave Bascombe): Gavin Friday ft. Maria McKee (1992)

10) Caruso (Album Version By Tim Simenon) (1995)

11) Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1991)

 

1989: Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves: 4, 7

1992: Falling Off The Edge Of The World EP: 3, 6, 8

1992: I Want To Live EP: 9, 11

1992: King Of Trash EP: 1

1995: Angel EP: 5

1995: Shag Tobacco: 2, 10

 

Hearsay & Heresy (46:15) (KF) (Mega)

Stranger Than Known

Time for The Byrds. Although certain of their songs were the staple of the "Golden Oldie" weekend afternoon slots on Radio 1 & 2, I can't say that I really listened to their music until the late 1990s. 

My then-girlfriend introduced me to a whole raft of jangly indie music and also had a clutch of music that formed the roots and inspiration for much of this. Amongst the CDs was The Byrds Collection, a late '80s, 24-track compilation on the budget price Castle Communications label.

In 1999, I compiled a mixtape, with 16 songs culled from The Byrds Collection on one side, and David Bowie's 1960s songs on the other, again plucked from a bargain CD. I was tempted to recreate and post The Byrds collection here today but instead I've gone for a completely new 16 song selection, split into two sides for your listening pleasure. Only 4 songs appear on both track listings, so I may get around to posting my original mixtape in the future.

Listening back to this selection, I realise that I don't listen to The Byrds nearly enough. Forty five minutes in and I feel uplifted. I'm also pretty sure I cracked a smile of happiness once or twice. The power of music, eh?

Side One

1) Why (1967)

2) Jesus Is Just Alright (Cover of The Art Reynolds Singers) (1969)

3) Ballad Of Easy Rider (1969)

4) I See You (1966)

5) It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Alternate Mix) (Cover of Bob Dylan) (1969)

6) So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star (1967)

7) Hickory Wind (1968)

8) The Times They Are A-Changin' (Cover of Bob Dylan) (1965)

 

Side Two

1) Dolphins' Smile (1968)

2) Chimes Of Freedom (1965)

3) Mr. Spaceman (1966)

4) Renaissance Fair (1967)

5) The World Turns All Around Her (1966)

6) Eight Miles High (1966)

7) Mr. Tambourine Man (Cover of Bob Dylan) (1965)

8) Chestnut Mare (1970)

 

1965: Mr. Tambourine Man: B2, B7

1965: Turn! Turn! Turn!: A8, B5

1966: Fifth Dimension: A4, B3, B6

1967: Younger Than Yesterday: A1, A6, B4

1968: Sweetheart Of The Rodeo: A7

1968: The Notorious Byrd Brothers: B1

1969: Ballad Of Easy Rider: A2, A3 

1970: (Untitled): B8

2001: Sanctuary III: A5

 

Side One (22:16)

Side Two (23:11)

A Kick Up The Eighties

Side 1 of a mixtape, recorded 22nd January 1990, and an early Eighties retrospective, a few weeks into the new decade.

This side firmly focuses on 1980 to 1985, with half of the tracks from 1982, now unbelievably (to this listener, at least) four decades ago. It's mostly hits and perhaps obvious choices, with a few oddities from albums and B-sides. All personal favourites.

The title is a nod to the BBC2 TV comedy sketch show of the same name that ran for two series from 1981 to 1984, featuring Rik Mayall, Tracey Ullman, Miriam Margoyles and (from the second series) Robbie Coltrane. A full episode from the first series has been posted on YouTube and is worth a look, if only for the brilliant Rik Mayall as investigative reporter Kevin Turvey.

The cover photo is a even more obscure, a scene from 1987 sci-fi movie, Cherry 2000. You wouldn't know it, but the person precariously hanging on to the car is none other than Melanie Griffith. I've watched the film once, which was possibly one time too many, but the picture seemed a good fit with the title. 

Happy listening!

1) Visage (Album Version): Visage (1980)

2) Today (Single Version): Talk Talk (1982)

3) Europa And The Pirate Twins (Album Version): Thomas Dolby (1981)

4) The Chase (Album Version By Stephen Lipson & Trevor Horn): Propaganda (1985)

5) The Beach: New Order (1983)

6) Blind Vision (Album Version By John Luongo): Blancmange (1983)

7) Night Suit: John Foxx (1981)

8) We Take Mystery (To Bed) (Single Version): Gary Numan (1982)

9) Mad World (Album Version By Chris Hughes & Ross Cullum): Tears For Fears (1982)

10) The Ring: Fad Gadget (1984)

11) The Walk (Album Version): Eurythmics (1982)

1980: Visage: 1

1981: The Garden: 7

1982: The Golden Age Of Wireless: 3 

1982: The Hurting: 9

1982: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This): 11

1982: Today (7" single): 2

1982: We Take Mystery (To Bed) (7"): 8

1983: Blue Monday (12" single): 5 

1983: Mange Tout: 6

1984: Gag: 10

1985: A Secret Wish: 4 

Side One (45:27) (Box) (Mega)