Just Fine

The café gig went just fine, too. The club was called Bara Fint and it was an afternoon gig. G.O.O.F. supported us and Henrik helped him out by playing some drums and keyboard. He turned in a short set that was brilliant as usual. He played one new song that I hadn't heard and covers of Cat's Miaow's "Third Floor Fire Escape View" and Don Lennon's "He Created a Monster". He also played a Budgies song, with Kajsa singing of course. You're not allowed to take pictures at Glassfabriken, so you'll have to make do with this pic of a gig poster! We played the same set as in Lund, but with "Holding Hands" thrown in too. We couldn't have played that at the noisy Indigo club, but it fitted in perfectly there. It was a bit nervous, with parents attending and all, but I think we pulled it off without too many mistakes.

Sad Kaleidoscope On My Mind

Came back from Sweden only yesterday, so that's why there was no radio programme. (Next one is on Monday!) Both A Smile and a Ribbon shows went really well, I have to say. And it was an honour and a pleasure to see Days playing before us in Lund. They did a fairly short set, but a few new songs we hadn't heard before. Looking forward to the cd that Lavender is releasing soon! Here's a picture (Johan, standing to the right, is missing):

The crowd in Lund was great, at least the people standing up front (who were the only ones I could see). Some people recognised the songs and were really enthusiastic. I think you could say Lund is where we most fans, even though most of us live in Malmo now. Here's what it must have looked like (not a very good picture either as you can't see our drummer Svante or Martin who sings a bit and plays lead guitar...):

Our setlist was, I think: The Boy I Wish I Never Met, Book Cover, One-Night Wonder, Pebbles, A Little Late to Be Polite, My Bunny's Back, Then I Felt Your Cheek and Dream Lover (a Bobby Darin cover). An encore was requested but we didn't have any more songs rehearsed. In fact I missed the rehearsal because of snow holding up the trains from Gothenburg on Thursday. The weather was actually quite bad, and it felt weird coming from Glasgow where it's virtually spring! But it was nice to be there all the same. I was playing records too, so there were lots of friends there I felt I didn't have time to talk to... Me and Lisa played these records, more or less:

Bulldozer Crash – Sarah Said
Camera Obscura – I Don't Do Crowds
The Choo Choo Train – Wishing On a Star
Hunky Dory – We're Through
The Dovers – She's Not Just Anybody
The Wake – Of the Matter
Biff, Bang, Pow! – If I Die
Cats On Fire – Higher Grounds
The Revolving Paint Dream – (Burn This House) Down to the Ground
Au Revoir Simone – The Disco Song
Majestic – Bub
The Primitives – You Are the Way
Slipslide – The World Can Wait
McCarthy – Now's the Time For an Iron Hand
Brighter – Next Summer
The Carousel – Handmedown Green
The Primitives – Laughing Up My Sleeve
East Village – Strawberry Window
Love Parade – Life
Pipas – Book Launch
Denim – Bubblehead
Saint Etienne – Mario's Café
Aberdeen – Emma's House
The Field Mice – You're Kidding Aren't You?
St. Christopher – Even the Sky Seems Blue
The Flatmates – Trust Me
The Smiths – Jeane
Cats On Fire – Draw In the Reins
Bob Relf – Blowing My Mind to Pieces
The Primitves – Spacehead
The Hoods – You Keep On Lyin'
Manhattan Love Suicides – Indian Summer
The Rainyard – Town I Won't Recall
The Wolfhounds – Feeling So Strange Again
Reserve – The Sun Slid Down Behind the Tower
Eux Autres – The Other Girls
Primal Scream – Crystal Crescent (Peel Session)
The Darling Buds – Pretty Girl
The Wild Swans – Crowning Glory
The Sea Urchins – Summershine
Felt – Don't Die On My Doorstep
Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken
They Go Boom!! – Body
The Boy Least Likely To – Be Gentle With Me
Liechtenstein – Stalking Skills
Cats On Fire – I Am the White-Mantled King
Kicker – Since You Left
Saturday Looks Good to Me – Hiding
Belle & Sebastian – Your Secrets
The Flatmates – Shimmer
Math & Physics Club – April Showers
Altered Images – Happy Birthday
St. Christopher – Say Yes to Everything
Butcher Boy – Girls Make Me Sick
Another Sunny Day – Can't You Tell It's True?
Diane Lewis – Keep a Hold On Me
Saint Etienne – He's On the Phone
BMX Bandits – I Wanna Fall In Love
The Popguns – Still a World Away
1000 Violins – Start Digging My Grave Sugar
Bubblegum Lemonade – Tyler
The Suede Crocodiles – Stop the Rain
The Cure – Just Like Heaven
14 Iced Bears – Balloon Song
Friends – You'll Never See That Summertime Again
The Angels – My Boyfriend's Back
Girls At Our Best! – Pleasure
Sid Barnes – You'll Always Be In Style
The Field Mice – If You Need Someone
The Poets – There Are Some
Fat Tulips – Clumsy
Tullycraft – Twee
Strawberry Switchblade – Let Her Go
The Parcels – I Could Be a Dinosaur
Saturday Looks Good to Me – Lift Me Up
The Lucksmiths – Adolescent Song of Mindless Devotion
Tiger Trap – My Broken Heart
The Man From Delmonte – Sun Serious
This Poison! – Question Mark
The Chesterf!elds – Twintown
The Brilliant Corners – Arlington Villas (session)
The Field Mice – The End of the Affair

Lots of unwholesome requests as usual (Arctic Monkeys, Libertines etc) but it was heart-warming to hear Oscar asking for Remember Fun. Too bad I didn't bring "Apple of My Eye". And one guy actually came up say we were great!

DROP 35

I just watched Cathy Come Home at the Film Department's Resources Room, partly because I'm doing an essay on it. Though I admit I was first attracted to it because of this song by The Twilights from a 1967 single (it's on Nuggets II, so you might already have it). The film itself is a very very good docudrama (not to with confused with dramadoc, I've learned) from the 60's. It was directed by Ken Loach, before he started making films for cinema (he's credited as Kenneth Loach - that's how old it is!) and was shown on BBC in 1966 on the regular Wednesday Play slot (later changed into Play For Today). It must have had a big impact on the whole TV audience, not just on The Twilights who were from Australia after all. (Apparently The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home", also from 1967, is 'Cathy-inflected' too.) It's a very sad tale about young Cathy who leaves her rural birthplace, hitchhikes to the City, gets married and has three children - during which time the family's circumstances get worse and worse. She eventually ends up homeless and the film was meant to alert public opinion to the vast housing problems in Britain at that time. It was hard to watch it all through to the end without crying. Cathy is just such a lovable character and she reminded my of someone I know. It's completely fictional but emulates a documentary style and has voice-overs from several people not in the film. I don't know if you can get it anywhere, but you really should watch it!

DROP 35

The Twilights - Cathy, Come Home

The Kelly Affair vs The Carrie Nation

Oh, I forgot to tell you about Central City Soul. Well, there's not really much to say. If you want to see what an empty Woodside looks like look above, or go to their next night on March 31st. No, that's not fair... But it WAS completely empty when I got there a bit after 11 pm last Friday. I don't know if it's an old club or new, but at least it wasn't listed in The List - a safe way to make sure no turns up. It seemed like only their friends were there and maybe five or six other people including me. There wasn't really any dancing to talk about, but I enjoyed it anyway. It was good to just have a beer and sit down and listen to the music. Because the music was fabulous! After all it came from the collections of four different northern soul djs. I've never heard so many great songs at a northern club before!

And I've managed to see both The Valley of the Dolls and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, also thanks to the TFTS dvd collection! I saw Beyond the Valley of the Dolls first, which might have been a mistake because I expected the first one to be mad too. But I knew they had nothing to do with each other, so that's why I didn't care. Beyond... is a film by the notorious Russ Meyers from 1970. It seems to be set a few years earlier though and follows the story of an all-girl three-piece called The Kelly Affair and their manager (and lead singer's boyfriend). They're later renamed The Carrie Nation and goes on to nation-wide fame in the hands of a new manager that sort of 'hijacks' the band. It's about as close to an epitome of kitsch you can get, and it's very American. Also famous for showing Strawberry Alarm Clock performing at a house party!

The Valley of the Dolls is a much more restrained and traditional film by British director Mark Robson from 1967 (I mentioned it earlier because it was screened at the Divine! club). It's about a woman called Anne Welles who leaves New England for New York. It is similar to the other film in that is circles about the fates of a few people and their trouble with showbiz, fame and drugs. But I think I liked this one best.

DROP 34

Here's another song I thought of in conjunction with the él programme, and something to hurry the spring along. Before, Three Berry Icecream was just a band that had shared a split-7" with The Fairways to me. But now I've actually heard them! They're from Japan where the legacy of él records has always been more important than in Europe. (It might have something to do with Momus moving there in the 80's...) It was a big influence for the emergence of j-pop and the creation of artists like Kahimi Karie. The band is essentially Mayumi Ikemizu, who was formerly in Bridge. This song is from a cdep called Apricot from 2000. There's also a song called "A Sunny Spring Day" on it, but this one has vocals too!

DROP 34
Three Berry Icecream - A Towering Cloud In the Summer

I'll Take Him to the Place Where He'll Be Kissing Me

Language of Flowers' "Botanic Gardens" probably isn't about the botanics in Glasgow, but it is a good place to take someone you love nevertheless. I put on Songs About You for the first time in ages today and I remebered that is still one of the best albums made. And I remebered how nice it was to meet Tara, Colm, Marc, Ben and Ashton last year! Anyway, I went up to the Botanic Gardens today with the Boy With the Arab Strap album in my ear-phones... because it's spring (and because I talked about the gardens with a course-mate earlier today). I suddenly got that very special 'spring feeling' you know? I can't remember feeling that in years, not since I was in school. And certainly not here in Glasgow. You know, when it feels warm outside, even though it's quite chilly? I can see where the inspiration for songs like "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" comes now. I also went there to check out the recently restored Kibble Palace (big white glass house they've been working on for years I think). It had lots of plants in it. This is what it looks like from the inside, reflected on the surface of the fish pond (and turned upside down).

SPLASH 14

This is a programme about sophisticated pop, or whatever you want to call it. Naturally, it is more or less about él Records run by Mark Alway in the late eighties. "Blue Roofs of Isaphan (The él Theme)" was written by Louis Philippe, one of the label's main artists. You can hear him performing as The Arcadians on the show. For a fuller account of él records, you can read Alway's own story on the Cherry Red site. Still, you have to click here to hear the first minutes. The end of the last song is not in the file either, sorry about that.

The Arcadians – Write Your Letter
The Postmarks – Know Which Way the Wind Blows
Aztec Camera – The Bugle Sounds Again
Wall of Orchids – Come Back to Me
The Action – Wasn't It You?
The Majestics – (I Love Her So Much) It Hurts Me
Majestic – Say Dee La
Eggstone – Dreamer
Marden Hill – Oh Constance
Would-Be-Goods – Whitsun Bride
The Monochrome Set – Cast a Long Shadow
Always – Dreams of Leaving
Rosemary's Children – Southern Fields
Bad Dream Fancy Dress – The Supremes
Anthony Adverse – Imperial Violets
The French Impressionists - Castles In the Air

SPLASH 14
Blue Roofs of Isaphan

DROP 33

This little ditty was made for an e-card The Postmarks did for Valentine's Day, and it's absolutely gorgeous! It's not on the recently released album (on Unfiltered), but I found it on the sounds page on their website. There's also an even shorter one called "Winter Wonderland". The album is definitely the best released so far this year, and a future classic I'm sure. The band has got a lot of attention lately, so they won't be 'our little secret' anymore. We'll have to share them with Rolling Stone readers now - but when the music's this good I could care less.

DROP 33

The Postmarks - My Little Heart

Don't Die On My Doorstep

For everyone living Sweden; here's some good news! If you haven't heard already, A Smile and a Ribbon will be playing two shows next weekend - one in Lund and one in Malmo. In Lund it'll be a real Shelflife party and a double-bill with the amazing Days from Gothenburg. I'm going to Sweden on Thursday to practise because I'll be playing at both shows. In Lund I will also be spinning records before and after the gigs, together with my good friend Lisa (also from Gothenburg these days)! ...As you can see from the poster design above. The picture is of kids queuing to get into the Odeon cinema in Glasgow in the 50's. I just liked it because the name of the film screened is The End of the Affair - like the Field Mice song, you know! And you can expect to hear "Don't Die On My Doorstep" by Felt on the dancefloor, naturally. In addition, Daniel from Popscene and You Can't Hide Your Love Forever will be playing records together with Linn in the cellar. Here are the essentials:

Feb 23th A Smile and a Ribbon + Days @ Indigo, Lund.
Doors open at 10 pm as usual. Student card required, entry is usually around 70 SEK, or less for members.

Feb 25th A Smile and a Ribbon + G.O.O.F. @ Cafe Glassfabriken, Malmo.
Open all day, but be there around 4 pm to get a seat. No entry!

I have to say I'm not absolutely certain about Goof supporting us, but he's agreed to do it earlier. I just hope Glassfabriken asked him! See you soon.

DROP 32

Here's a northern soul single for you today, as a recently went to a club called Central City Soul at the Woodside (you'll get to hear more about that soon). The picture with Audrey Hepburn above has nothing to do with it, it's just something a found while searching for images. It's apparently done by an artist from Hamburg - I found it on her site. I couldn't find out which year the song is from, all I know is that it was released on a label called USA. And you can expect to hear it on a dance floor near you soon!

DROP 32
Amanda Humphrey - Power of Love

Four Ugly Guys Called... The Battles?

I recently bought the Suede Crocodiles comp on eBay and I thought I'd write down the text on the back of the cover, because I think it could be of interest. If you're not already experts on this obscure Glasgow band? Well, it's written by Nick Low (i.e. not Nick Lowe) of Nostrings Records.

Why change the name from POPGUN to The Suede Crocodiles?
-"Because we've got a single coming out and The Suede Crocodiles is cool!"

The fact was that Popgun fitted Popgun and The Suede Crocodiles fitted The Suede Crocodiles - do you get my drift? Let me explain...

When I first came across Popgun they were playing the legendary Glasgow club called "The Venue" in 1982. It was packed, the band were cookin' and one fan jumped on stage after a storming version of "Happiness Sound" screaming "If four ugly guys frae Liverpool called The Battles or something can make it, then these guys can". That was it, the band consisting of Kevin McDermott (vocals/guitar), Roddy Johnson (vocals/guitar), Ross Drummond (bass/vocals) and David McCormick (drums), were on their way.

There was a buzz about music in Glasgow at that time, Postcard Records had opened some doors for Scottish bands like Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, and Nostrings was about to launch some new groups onto the scene. Popgun were pure pop, but The Suede Crocodiles were pop with an edge. The 'Crocs' core featured the songwriting talents of Kevin McDermott and Roddy Johnson, batting riffs and harmonies back and forth across the stage. The reaction to The Suede Crocodiles was instant and their Nostrings Recods release "Stop the Rain/Pleasant Dreamer" followed the label's first release del Amitri's "Sense Sickness/The Difference Is" onto radio playlists across the UK,

In 1983 one of the band's biggest admirers, ex-Haircut 100 frontman, Nick Heyward invited them to support him on his UK tour. The band gathered new fans wherever they went and after the second sellout gig at the London Dominion Theatre the audience erupted when The Crocs encored with "Stop the Rain", this version is featured on this album. The band were now being mobbed by fans and they loved it!

The following year David McCormick was replaced by Alan Cruickshank on drums and the band went into the studio to record "Paint Yourself a Rainbow", "Walking In the Light", "Perhaps Maybe (The Indecisive Song)", and the epic "Great Expectations". A second single "Paint Yourself a Rainbow" was planned but never released as the band split up due to internal tensions. The result was two bands, both called The Suede Crocodiles which continued for a few months, confusing or what! Roddy Johnson and Russ Drummond eventually formed 'The Fourth Room' named after that place one arrives at during a drug fuelled trip. Unfortunately for them they never got out of that Fourth Room and disappeared,

Kevin McDermott went solo and explored the world as an acoustic troubadour, releasing the much sought after "Suffocation Blues" LP, also for Nostrings. Then he formed the Kevin McDermott Orchestra releasing five albums to date, the latest "For Those In Peril From the Sea" available on TULA RECORDS in Scotland. A reworking of The Suede Crocodiles' "Walking In the Light" turned up on the 1991 album Glasgow.

Nick Low (Nostrings Records)

That's it. You can expect more from this record as soon as I've converted into digital format! Actually, as it turns out, Accident (who released the comp) is not a Japanese label. It's just that the Japanese are the only ones who cared about it! The guy I bought it from on eBay is the person who ran the label, so it's based in England. And also, he hasn't given up yet! He's planning some new releases, including a cd reissue of the Trixie's Big Red Motorbike comp. Can't read about it anywhere as of yet, but a MySpace page has been promised.

Keep an Open Mind Or Else

If you haven't already discovered the blog Side Room 7" Singles I suggest you head on over (there a link to your right). It's done by an Australian fellow who seemed to have hung out a lot in Waterfront's Sydney record shop. He's got a side room with a huge pile of seven-inches apparently, and the concept is he takes ten of 'em at a time and makes a podcast of them once a week. He's already got to #25, so if you don't hurry it will take you a while to catch up! One of his pals also had a blog called Poppen-Em that I had a link to for a while. It doesn't seem like there's much happening over there now, but head on over and check out the stuff he did put up. There are lots of great songs on both blogs, and the Sideroom guy also has a another blog called Humans Beware. There he's got podcasts of non-7" stuff and lots of Swedish pop (there's everything from Panda Bear to Tillmanns!).

DROP 31

The Parcels' only album is a tweepop classic. It's called Have a Go With the Parcels and came out in 2000. It's amazing to think that all this fantastic music was out there just waiting to be found. 2000... hm, I guess I was listening to Radiohead or something! I've been looking for this cd for a while, but now apparently Shelflife-Ed has found a box of them. And this post is to encourage you to buy up the last of them, which you can do from the Shelflife website. It's got one of the nicest covers I've seen! So nice, I decided to try out the scanner here in the Resource Room of the Theatre & Film Department. The scan above is the back of the inner sleeve, click on it to see it full-size. The song here is one of twelve hits on the cd, and that includes a cover of The Groovy Little Numbers cover "Windy". Only the lyric is new, and it's called "Jessica Pancakes". The whole album was recorded at Marlborough Farms - the Ladybug Transistor/Essesx Green hangout, which is probably why the sound is so snappy even though the instruments themselves sound really crap. What else is there to say...? The vocals are among the cutest you'll ever hear - the singer is not the cover girl by the way. Well, end of advert and time to start listening!

DROP 31
The Parcels - Lobster Kids

DROP 30

Here's the second Medium Cool mp3, this time from The Corn Dollies. "Be Small Again" was their first on the label, released on both 7" and 12". Strangely enough, the b-sides were different on the two formats. Marketing trick or just a matter of having too many songs? Who cares when the a-side is this good. The kid on the cover is in this funny picture too! This one also, is from 1987 - maybe we should start a 'c87' hype?

DROP 30

The Corn Dollies - Be Small Again

Tales From Ben Nevis

I'm glad I went to the Winchester Club yesterday. I was too tired to go to Revolver afterwards (the mod/northern night at the Admiral), but at least I made it down to the Woodside to see Zoey van Goey. Michael in the band is actually my seminar tutor for the Film & TV course. But playing before them was Wake the President, a band that I had not yet taken the time to check out. I didn't know they were playing too, so it was a happy surprise and I fell head-over-heels during their set. They're not actually Swedish as I thought, only of Swedish origin. Their music was a jangling pop noise, with hints of Orange Juice and well... Remember Fun. At least they had a song called that - a fact that I really love. Although they were too young to 'remember' them, as they claimed to do. Many of the songs were about people frequenting the Ben Nevis bar and the singer said their album ought be called that. The lead guitarist was really fun to watch, holding his Telecaster chest-high and looking intently at the fret-board. I guess that is what watching a guitarist in a shoegaze band would be like. Because they were looking at their fretboard too, not their feet, you know. And this guy knew what a guitar is supposed to sound like. The amp was sufficiently turned up to make the high notes warble in your ear. And I love singers with a slightly contemptuous stage persona! In addition, they were well dressed, well rehearsed and Honest.

Both bands could pride themselves in having their gigs labelled "seen by Stuart Murdoch". Like most of the crowd, he turned out to be there to see Zoey van Goey, because they were friends of his. As they came on people actually stood up and positioned themselves on the dance floor in front of the stage. The band, who are a three-piece, played a set that was much appreciated by the crowd, including me. They were very playful and were not afraid to be themselves on stage. Some of the instruments they used were acoustic and electric guitars, drums, violin and various small keyboards; and they all took turns singing. They even played some drum-guitar as you can see. Zoey van Goey have been playing live quite a lot lately so it wouldn't be too much of an effort for you to catch them live, which I recommend you do.

DROP 29

I got this demo from Andy Wake of Medium Cool, and its absolutely amazing. Properly recorded it could even have been sharper than "She Looks Right Through Me"! The guitar-picking in the background is more or less identical to that of a certain Happydeadmen song, can't remember which one at the moment. Anyone? There should be a Waltones compilation on Cherry Red sometime soon, called You've Gotta Hand It to 'Em. Here's what Andy says about this demo: "The version of Eddie on your CD is a demo from 1987 and was recorded at the same time as the She Looks Right Through Me single. There’s also an earlier demo of Eddie from 1986 although the 87 version is the best in my opinion." And this track won't be included on their Cherry Red compilation, so as exclusive as it gets!

DROP 29

The Waltones - Eddie (demo)

SPLASH 13

So this is indiepop at its noisiest! Make a Racket is the name of the show and it's packed with songs, as most of them are pretty short. The late start is still not fixed, but Subcity say they're working on it. Until then you'll have listen here to hear the first part of the show... Practise your back-hand to these tunes:

The Fire Engines – Hungry Beat
The Big Gun – Heard About Love
The Crabapples – London Belongs to Me (Pt. 2)
Black Tambourine – We Can't Be Friends
Bella Vista – Run and Hide
G.O.O.F. – Just Friends
The Haywains – Surfin' In My Sleep
The Groove Farm – Surfin’ Into Your Heart
The Hoodwinks – Josephine
Robby Lawson – Burning Sensation
Mickey & the Milkshakes – Please Don't Tell My Baby
Fun Patrol – No Concern of Mine
The Bedtime Stories – Cinderella's Boots
Second-Hand Furniture – This Town Is Killing Me
Go Sailor – Blue Sky
The Darling Buds – Burst
The Rosehips – Shouldn't Have to Say
Snowbirds – Day After Day
The Church Grims – Seen It All
The Faintest Ideas – Mountain of Tics
The Scars – Adult/ery
The Syndicats – Crawdaddy Simone

SPLASH 13
Make a Racket

DROP 28

I don't use last.fm, but if I did The Popguns would probably feature quite high on my profile. This post is connected to the Medium Cool radio from last week, in as much as they released the bands first single. But they are perhaps more associated with Midnight Music, who put out the twelve-inch that has my favourite Popguns tune on it. It's called "I'm Spoiling Everything" and I used that as a title for a mixtape I made last year. On the a-side is "Still a World Away", and it's from 1991.

DROP 28

The Popguns - I'm Spoiling Everything

How Would You Like Your Band, Sir?

"Medium cool, please." Medium cool is a perfect description of what indie has come to mean. There's a quote by Steven Wells from NME on a Love Parade flexi that reads "I can honestly say I've never even heard of The Love Parade". That's hilarious! I doubt they've heard of The Hermit Crabs either. Who cares? Here's a conversation I overheard:

- So there's a new band on Matinée huh?

- Aye, they're called The Hermit Crabs... but they're actually quite a friendly bunch.

- Are they any good?

- Do you have to ask? It's Matinée man...

- Have they been in the NME?

- No, they play guitars and sing songs about you and me... They're not That Kind of Band.

- Do they use pedals?

- No. But they might in the future, if they can find instructions on how to use them on the web.

- So they're not 'cool' then?

- Medium cool. They're more, like... important. The good thing about having a Matinée band in your city is that you can actually see them live every other month. I did. At Brel yesterday. They were really good, had a full band and all. You should see them too, I think they're playing at the RAFA club in April.

I couldn't agree more.

Or Isn't That What You Want to Hear?

Look Back In Anger is not only a song by the TVPs, it is also a play by John Osborne. But you already knew that. He was one of the Angry Young Men of 50's Britain. Anyway, I saw a production of the play at G12 recently. It was put on by a quite new company, which was great because the cast was actually the right age (mid twenties). It is a very affecting play and the acting was great. It was in the small performance studio so you could the the whole first row jumping back whenever the main character shouted in their direction. The most surprising insight was how mean and misogynist the intellectuals of the 50's probably were. The main character was NOT a very sympathetic young man.

On the film front I recently saw Une femme est une femme by Godard (1961), and I enjoyed it immensely. It's really funny you know. Thanks to the Film & TV Department I also got to see one of Michelangelo Antonioni's older Italian films. This one was called La Notte (also from 1961) was a sort of post neo-realist work starring Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni. That's not her in the picture though, but it is a still from that film. Like Look Back In Anger and Une femme est une femme it's about the problems of a heterosexual couple and the near breakdown of their relationship. Not very cheerful, that is. Quite similar to Blow-Up in it's virtual lack of plot, so if you liked that one I can recommend La Notte too.

DROP 27

Here's a song from Yeah Jazz' only album called Six Lane Ends, released by Cherry Red in 1988. It's out of print of course but you can find it on emusic if you search for Cherry Red. This is the opening track, called "Sharon". There's a rare Yeah Jazz song from a compilation LP at Lost and Found (see the links to your right), if you like this one.

DROP 27

Yeah Jazz - Sharon

SPLASH 12

It is a sad fact that there is something wrong with the 'listen again' recordings at Subcity.org - they seem to start at about 5.10 pm instead of 2.57 pm. This means that the first two and a half songs of this programme are not in the file below. To hear the beginning you will have to use this link to stream the previous show (called Diversion) and skip about 50 minutes into it. Similarly, if you want to hear the beginning of What Popstars Have For Tea, here's a link for you. Hopefully something will be done to fix this soon! Now, All About Strength is about a fine old label called Medium Cool, run by Andy Wake. But as you can see in the playlist there are also plenty of other bands in there. If you check back in the near future there will also be some Medium Cool DROPs here on the blog for you (anything to annoy Cherry Red!). Thanks to Andy for providing most of the material.

The Waltones – Special 20
The Corn Dollies – Forever Steven
East Village – Back Between Places
The Sinners – Barbed Wire Heart
The Enormous Room – I Don’t Need You
Johnny Johnson – What Went Wrong This Time?
The Popguns – All About Him (demo)
The Go-Betweens – A Bad Debt Follows You
Hurrah! – Who’d Have Thought
The Rain – These Feelings Will Pass
The Vipers – Cheated and Lied
Dee Irwin – I Only Get This Feeling
The Long Ryders – And She Rides
The Summer Suns – All Away
The Raw Herbs – Hopelessly
The Honeydrips – I Wouldn’t Know What to Do
Sister Rain – Burt Reynolds

Oh, and the extra one at the end (that IS included in the file) is "Kymri" by The Apple Moths.

SPLASH 12
All About Strength

DROP 26

The Close Lobsters' first album has been enough lauded elsewhere, and there's no question about the fact that it is still one of the most important indiepop albums released. It came out on Fire in 1987, and I'd like to bring you what is definitely the stand-out track, at least in my opinion: "In Spite of These Times". It is is probably the best example of the productional feats of John A. Rivers in the Royal Leamington Spa studio - along with Razorcuts' Creation catalogue.

DROP 26
The Close Lobsters - In Spite of These Times

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This song is on a bootleg comp called The Sound of Old Scotland (1977-1984), that you can buy from Mono. It includes ace songs by The Wake, The Delmontes, The Rezillos, The Laughing Apple, The Fire Engines, Scars, the Postcard bands... and a lot of punk. My favourite however was The Suede Crocodiles' 1983 single "Stop the Rain". According to the sleeve notes it was released by Glaswegian label No Strings, who had released a Del Amitri single just before it! It also says that leader Kevin McDermott is still an active musician and in fact he has a MySpace-page here! In 2001 Accident Records put out a compilation of their stuff, which became their last release. I haven't got it, but it's certainly a record I will look out for.

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The Suede Crocodiles - Stop the Rain