30
Dec

:: The Press Gang

author: Roque       category: recommended

Happy to new to all the indiepop fans out there.

I would love to do a recap for this year but it hasn’t been the most exciting to be honest.

It started quite great with the release of the Blind Terry 10″. But this also meant that Cloudberry was stopping. This was to be the last record by the label.

A bittersweet farewell, one I didn’t dwell much and didn’t make it a big deal. It was just an announcement for the few fans left out there.

I have continued the blog but with a slower rate of posts. Once a week, on Mondays, unless there was an interview.

How will 2025 go? I don’t know. I will try to continue the blog. Energy and time are two things I am lacking these days. But I try to continue being  in the loop with the indiepop scene. I am not too knowledgeable of the new things happening. My main event this year seems to be seeing The Man from Delmonte reform in Manchester in February. Other than that I have no plans at all. If any cool new band will come to NYC, I have no clue. Would be good to know though.

Yeah, that’s mainly it. I have lost touch with many people. I do think it has to do with indiepop interest waning around the world, the price of records and shipping, streaming platforms taking over physical records, and so on. Things are tough. And it is understandable.

But anyways, here is the last post of the year, see you in 2025!

When in 2018 Cherry Red released the 5 CD boxset compilation “Revolutionary Spirit: The Sound of Liverpool 1978-1988” (CRCDBOX 39) I discovered quite a few bands. One of them was The Press Club. They had contributed a superb track titled “James Where are You Now?” and of course caught my attention.

The band formed by the brothers Paul (vocals) and Alan Cunningham (guitar) plus Martin Wallace (bass) and Alan Murphy (drums) had released that track as a maxi single in 1985. It came out on The Admiralty Label (ADM 212) which I think may have been their own label, the releases are all The Press Gang’s.

With “James Where Are You Now?” on the A side and two tracks, “No Place Like Home” and “A Town by the Sea” on the B side, the band hoped to make a good impact. All three tracks had been recorded at Pink Studios in Liverpool on July 1985 with Gary Wilkinson as engineer and Eric Shark as producer.

It is also worth mentioning that on the record Dave Clark played fiddle and Bubble Hennigen guitar.

The art of the record has a photo of someone. Black and white. Is it James? I wonder if it is not a more important figure, it looks like it. But who could it be? Maybe British?

(EDIT Dec. 30, 11:29 a.m.) Just learned from our friend Cathal Peppard that “The James pictured on the artwork is James Connolly. He was a Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist from the early 20th century who moved to Dublin and was one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising and a signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. There is a statue of him outside Custom House and opposite Liberty Hall in Dublin.“

There are also interesting details on the runout grooves, we find there two messages etched, ‘Leave It! Theres Youngies Int.’ and ‘Give Em Plenty, One Each’.

But that was actually the band’s second release. The band had previously released another 12″ single that same year. This was the “You Know Falwell” single that had the title song on the A side and “51st State” and “Who Are You Trying to Kid?” on the B side (which here is the double A side). Engineered by Gary and produced by Eric, again recorded at Pink Studios but this time on January of 85.

This record was again put out by The Admiralty Label (PG001/12) and on the sleeve we find American motives, like a US flag covering the eyes of a man on the cover and stripes and starts on the back cover.

That was all the released output by this combo. Some of the band members were in other bands though, both Cunningham brothers were in the Glass Torpedoes in the late 70s while Alan Murphy was on The Last Poet and The Great Western Squares.

Anyone has any other details about them? Maybe there were more songs recorded? Would be great to know where are they now!

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Listen
The Press Gang – James Where Are You Now?

0
23
Dec

:: Quinton

author: Roque       category: recommended

“Quinton are a band that came into being after The Sex Chimps… the lead singer is Andrew Woodward, brother of David” were the words from my good friend Matthew Rimell. He had shared with me a video of the band performing the Ashton Court Festival in 1991 which immediately caught my attention.

How come I have never heard the band?

I would notice that there are actually three videos of that gig. Here is part 1, 2 and 3. The uploader shares with us some details which are greatly appreciated. We learn the band hailed from Bristol, that they were formed in the early 90s, and that this gig was happening at the Richer Sounds stage on a Sunday morning in 1991.

We also get to know the band lineup, quite a start lineup… Andy Woodward on vocals, Tom Adams from Beatnik Filmstars on drums, Hugo Morgan from the Heads and Steve Yabsley from Rorschach and nowadays a BBC presenter.

The songs that are played at this gig include “Hanging On”, “Love Shine Down on Me”, “Are You Awake?”, “Butterfly Storm”, “Personality Zero”, “Instrumental”, “Surrealing” and an unknown track.

The band did release an album. It was titled “Propeller” and came out in 1990 on Pop God Records (PGLP 001). This label would release another Bristol band, The Family, that same year as well as releases by Rorschach, The Moonflowers and more.

“Propeller” had 10 tracks, “The Rake”, “Rediscover Me”, “Operation Rise”, “Weird Emotional Scar”, “She”, “Surrealing”, “The End of a Good Idea”, “Flying Very Fast”, “Love Shine on Me” and “Propeller”. All of the songs were written by Steve Yabsley with the exception of “She” that was written by Andrew Woodward and “Propeller” which was written by Cris Warren (Rorschach) and Steve.

500 copies of the album were pressed. It was recorded at P.IJ. Studios in Bristol in September 1990. The producer was John Parrish. The photography for the sleeve was done by Laura Dalgleish.

In what other bands were the band members involved? Steve was in Rorschach, The Harpoons and Nearly. Tom was in Beatnik Filmstars, Forest Giants, Kyoko, Secret Shine, The Fauns and The Total Rejection. Hugo Morgan was in Gonga, Karen, Loop and The Heads.

And that’s it. I haven’t heard the record yet. I should try to find myself a copy. Issue is of course the crazy shipping prices I want to avoid. Maybe when I travel to the UK in February I can find a copy. That’d be nice.

In any case I am curious about the band. If they recorded more songs. Also about the band they were in before, The Sex Chimps, my friend Matthew has spoken highly of them. Wonder if there are any recordings.

Maybe someone remembers them and have more details… let me know!

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Listen
Quinton – Are You Awake? (live at Ashton Court Festival 1991)

0
17
Dec

:: Les Molies

author: Roque       category: interviews


Les Molies + Sun Plexus. Photography : Stéphanie Gaillard

Thanks so much to Renaud Sachet for the interview! I had written about Les Molies (and forgive me for spelling their name with two Ls then!) earlier this year. I was very curious about this band that featured people that were in important bands in France, and people that were very involved in the music scene like Renaud, running labels, blogging and more. Thanks to social media Renaud got in touch and was up for doing an interview and tell the story behind this amazing 90s Strasbourg band. Many great anecdotes and details here, I felt transported to that time period in France… I am sure you all will enjoy!

++ Hi Renaud! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?

Always, yes. After I retired from the Herzfeld label – which I co-founded and managed since 2002 – in 2011, I distanced myself a little from the music world. I needed to refocus on what I really wanted to do. Little by little, I began to enjoy listening to records again, and naturally I signed up for the new Section 26 webzine project (a site set up by ex-editors of the famous Magic magazine-, which welcomed me with open arms. At the same time, I relaunched a fanzine in paper form, Langue Pendue, focusing on French-language musical trends, a cassette label of the same name, and then another fanzine, Groupie. We’ll talk more about this later, but I also relaunched my first label, Antimatière, the label I ran before Herzfeld and which I had stopped, in particular to help a young band from my home town Strasbourg, Sinaïve. Last year, I open my own blog called l’Arrière-magasin (it means the back store).

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what your first instrument was? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?

My first musical memory? Perhaps the sound that came out of the radio that my father constantly listened to in our kitchen, on Europe n°1 station. I used to pirate hit parades with a tape recorder and make my own compilations. These are tapes I’ve lost, and I’d love to listen to them again, but it’s no longer possible. When a song would start, I’d switch on the recording, but I’d always miss the beginning and the end of the song would be covered by the DJ’s voice! I’d also listen to the records playing in my older brother’s room. He bought records every week. The whole history of rock, reggae, funk, chanson française… As for instruments, I think the first time I touched a guitar was my cousin’s, a first-rate electric guitar.

++ Had you been in other bands before Les Molies? What about the other band members? Did these bands release anything?

Yes, I was still in Belfort, my hometown, and with some friends from high school, we formed a band called the Steeds (from The Avengers british series). We recorded half a dozen songs on a tape recorder in the music classroom of the school where my father and mother worked as teachers. I wrote the songs in French and my friends played their instruments. I didn’t know that we had to play in rhythm, I didn’t know that we had to tune our instruments. It was funny because I didn’t want to be provocative, to scream, I wanted us to be very pop, but our incompetence made us sound very strange, it was art brut. Then in 1989, in Strasbourg where I moved, I met some guys in University and put a band together, Boys In The Radiator, with a lot of noisy pop influences. We even had been to London and gave Creation headquarters a demo tape – spoiler : they didn’t sign us ! I quit to focus on Les Molies.

++ Where were you from originally?

Belfort, East of France. Then I moved to Strasbourg to study History.

++ How was Strasbourg at the time of Molies? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

To tell the truth, in the beginning I didn’t go out much, I didn’t go to bars or concert halls. We were young, so there was a strong (fragile) gang feeling. We used to rehearse at a friend’s house in a village near Strasbourg. We kept to ourselves. For other reasons, I was connected to other people who made music, like Sun Plexus, KG, le Plus Simple Appareil. They played a very different kind of music from the Molies, but the connections were made and we experienced a lot of things together in a very happy way. They were the groups I felt close to in Strasbourg, even if there were plenty of others.

++ Were there any other good bands in your area?

In Strasbourg, there was an important group called Kat Onoma (Rodolphe Burger and Philippe Poirier’s band). When I arrived in Strasbourg, I saw them in concert on Place Kléber for the Fête de la Musique. They were the kings of the town, and well known outside. But we didn’t really have any role models in the city; we were mostly obsessed with England and the United States. For the record, later on with Herzfeld, we worked with Roméo Poirier, Philippe Poirier’s son, and then with Philippe himself, from whom we released a very fine album.

++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process?

For the Molies, we met in a record store and later at concerts. We kept running into each other and became friends. We were mostly music fans and record buyers whose hobby was to make music, to look like our favorite bands. There was a sort of illusion that we were musicians, even though none of us really wanted to make a living out of it. We rehearsed once a week, a little more when we had a gig. We also made fanzines and exchanged letters with other bands like us in France.

++ Was there any lineup changes?

Not really. The band was pretty stable and didn’t last long anyway. Just enough time to record an album and play a dozen concerts. Anyway, Jacques Speyser (our drummer) soon moved to Nice. We recorded a second album, which wasn’t released immediately after the first. And the band stopped after a concert with Laurent (Sun Plexus) on drums, Emilie (Casino, a young band we like a lot at that time) on keyboards and Rodolphe on guitars.

++ One question I have about the lineup is about the Yoesslé sisters. How did they join the band? And how was playing with a couple of sisters?

Régine and Jacqueline were among our group of friends. I really wanted to play with them, Régine played a bit of guitar and Jacqueline sang. I really saw the band as an extension of our friendship, and it was natural to welcome everyone, whatever their skills. It was the chemistry of the group that was important, not selecting the “best musicians”. Otherwise, I’d never have played in a band myself ! An amused friend of mine used to say: “The Molies is a band made up of musicians who play instruments they know nothing about”. I used to spend all my time with Jacqueline and Régine, and I didn’t see why any activity should have taken place without them. Quite simply.

++ What instruments did each of you play in the band?

There was Franck Marxer on bass and Jacques Speyser on drums (they played in Stephen’s Library at the time, and later formed the core of the band Original Folks and Marxer). Régine played rhythm guitar and Jacqueline sang. I played rhythm guitar and sang.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

It was very simple: during the week, in my room, I’d find a series of chords, sing a melody, write lyrics in elementary school English, and roughly structure the song. On Saturdays, we’d meet at Jacques’ place and I’d play my songs alone, and the others would decide whether or not to do the song. Then we’d play the song together, and each of us would imagine their parts.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? Why sometimes with one L and other times with two Ls?

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Pastels. The Molies come from the song Holy Moly. As for the number of Ls, it’s a mixture of indecision on our part and mistakes on the part of our interlocutors! The hesitation also came from the fact that I also really liked Molly Ringwald in the film Breakfast Club, so that’s where our name came from too.

++ And who would you say were the influences of the band?

Great question! I think I simply wanted to sound like the Jesus & Mary Chain, the Pastels, the BMX Bandits… I wanted us to sound like all the bands I listened to. Afterwards, between fantasy and reality, there is a gulf. We mostly sounded like friends who play together once a week, we lived in our imagination. Looking back, I think the important thing was that we were doing something together. That was my reason, to be with my friends, all the time and to do something together that was related to our passion.

++ The band released an album in 1994 on Cornflakes Zoo. It was called “Kumcat” I suppose a play on words on Kumquat?

Yes, a democratic problem, if I dare say. I wanted the record to be called Kung Fu, but the others found the title too strange. So they thought of Kumquat, and I don’t remember why, it became Kumcat. We weren’t very good at language!

++ How did you end up working with Cornflakes Zoo? How was your relationship with the label?

The Cornflakes Zoo label, set up by Stéphane Teynié in Bordeaux, had released the 45 rpm of Stephen’s Library. As Jacques and Franck were in the Molies, Stéphane offered us an album. It was very courageous of him, for a band that never played in concert. We had good relations, but as said, the history of the band is so short… We were also far away, there was no internet, relationships were fragmented, episodic, but always friendly. The record had little feedback, I think Stéphane didn’t sell many, he must have been disappointed by our involvement especially.

++ Was there interest from any other labels? Perhaps a big one at some point?

Ahaha no. It was clear that we were not a band that could inspire confidence in the industry! We were a totally amateur band.

++ The album was recorded at Downtown Studio by Didier Houbre. How was that experience? Did it take a long time to record? What did Didier bring to your music? Did you record during the day or night? Beer and pizza diet?

I don’t remember much about the recording. Except that the place smelt of soup (it was in a former Knorr factory) and we had a good laugh. We also met Rodolphe who used to play in a hardcore band, but who came along to our recordings out of curiosity. He played guitars on stage with us and on the recordings for the second album. I remember a really nice moment too, at the end of the second recording session when the others drove off to their villages and I was waiting for the bus back to the centre of Strasbourg. Everything was quiet, and the snow started to fall just as I found myself alone. Like in a movie, really. Looking back, we had no experience, no real idea of how we wanted to sound, and if we gave ideas, Didier Houbre, who had experience, told us it wasn’t right. But he was older than us and had influences that weren’t ours. I think we should have recorded ourselves on a 4-track. I’m in awe of a band from that era, a band of Toulouse I discovered very late in life, Daisy Age. They had the sound I had in mind at the time, they sang in French, that’s how I would have liked us to sound, like the group Daisy Age on their song Hier.

++ Another interesting bit about the record is that the artwork was made by Philippe Roure, a well-known designer. How did this collaboration happen?

To be honest, I don’t really like this cover, it’s awful.  I mean, the basic idea, I can’t remember who’s responsible for that (me ? ahaha). But I had a set of black and white photos I’d taken when I was a kid (the living room you see) on the cover with the TV, that’s my parents’ living room. These photos are great, we should have used them as they are. The astronaut, the horrible logo, the lousy typography, you can see that it was the beginning of Photoshop or whatever. We should have done something much simpler, like our music, like the Sarah Records covers, simple forms, b/w photos, that would have suited us better.

++ Prior to this record you had appeared on a few compilations. You were, for example, on the legendary “Heol Daou”. I believe you were part of the fanzine people at the time. How did this system of compilations and fanzines in France work? Was it a tight-knit scene?

Yes, that was brilliant! Can you believe it, ending up on the same cassette as Katerine and Dominique A! Yes, we were part of the small French pop world. Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Paris, Strasbourg… It was Jacques who got in touch with Anne Moyon, Katerine’s sweetheart at the time. She was very active. She produced these cassettes. We wrote to each other and exchanged demo tapes. It was great, very amateur, without ambition, but generous. I think we were all a bit alike, not very organised, a bit of a dilettante. It’s a shame, for example, we couldn’t manage to put together small tours when, with a bit of hard work, we could have. But it was a very nice spirit, for example, someone had organised a football tournament near Nantes, with a party afterwards. I think the Katerine and Little Rabbits team won easily. At this moment we also met the genius Monsieur de Foursaings who visited us at the camping in his old car. This person was kind, seems to come from a Nouvelle Vague movie. What a beautiful souvenir. The great thing is that we’ve kept in touch even now, with Martial who runs a record shop in Bordeaux (Total Heaven), with Fred who also runs a record shop in Paris (Pop Culture), with the people in Limoges (Anorak), with Alban who lives in Paris (he was in Les Garçons Ordinaires)…

++ On the “Ces Chères Têtes Blondes” you included a cover of Melody Dog’s “Cha Cha Charlie”. How did you end up picking a song by that not that well-known band? Were there any other options you considered at the time?

So it’s not a Melody Dog cover, but a musical setting of a poem by Pat Laureate of Melody Dog. This poem was in the fanzine Pastelism. On the Molies’ second album, I also set to music another poem by Pat Laureate, Car Boot Sales. I feel a bit like a thief now because I didn’t ask her opinion, her permission even. I apologise to you, Pat, if I’ve damaged your poems a bit with my rather lame chords. Read these wonderful and funny poems instead of listening to Molies songs!

+ Another cover you did is “J’en ferais bien mon 4 heures” by Les Calamités. I love that band! Would you say they were the best French 80s indiepop band or is there anyone that could beat them?

Yes, I always liked Les Calamités. I’m a little ashamed to have butchered this song there too. I never let Isabelle from Les Calamités listen to it when I had the chance to meet her a few years ago when I wrote the liner notes for the reissue of the complete Calamités for the Born Bad label. It’s a wonderful memory, I loved writing about their story during months and talking with almost everyone involved in their story. I thank Isabelle, Odile and Born Bad for this adventure.

++ And speaking of covers you did a version of “Jesus Sucks” by The Jesus and Mary Chain for a tribute compilation. I suppose you were big fans of the band. I wonder if you record or play live any other covers?

Jesus Suck wasn’t a very good cover either ! Given my level of incompetence, the covers were more like bottles in the sea. On stage, we also covered Diabologum, their song with Dominique A. There is a cover that I like that I did with Rémy from KG who was a real musician, Retiens la nuit by Johnny Hallyday (actually a song by Aznavour I think). I listen to this one again with pleasure.

++ You continue to put out songs on compilations up to 1997 but no other records get released. Why was that?

It’s just that the band didn’t play anymore after 1997. I think our last show was opening for Diabologum on their #3 tour. I might as well tell you that I understood that times were changing and that it wasn’t a bad idea to stop. Their concert was incredible. The songs on the compilations were just old stuff.

++ But of course, you were actually recording a second album with Rémy Bux aka KG. These recordings are now on Bandcamp as “Super Slow Mo”. Was the album titled that way back then? Was there going to be more songs recorded or was it always 7 tracks? I guess in a nutshell, how complete is the album that got released on tape by Scum Yr Earth?

So what appeared on ScumYrEarth are the last songs that we recorded one summer at Shotgun Gallery. In 1996 or 1995 I think. There too we were not serious, it was very hot, we were playing with waterguns all day long. Rémy (KG, Sun Plexus) who was recording us lost his patience sometimes. He was right. We invited everyone who came to the studio to play guitar and synth parts. It was a bit of a constant party. Here too, by listening, we can realize that we did not have a global vision or direction. I wanted a Galaxie 500 song, a Pavement song, a Stereolab song, well they sounded like that in my head, but not really in reality. But I still really like these recordings. Our first album should have been recorded this way. I love Mexico-Toronto and this coda with the Farfisa, I wanted this loop to last 10 minutes, but the others didn’t want it! I’m super happy that the record was released on Michel Wisniewski’s label. It’s completely incongruous since he only releases super experimental things, but in a way we were very expérimental ! The last song (Everybody’s Looking Good Today) was recorded in 2005-2006 for a reunion concert with the original line-up, Franck, Jacques, Jacqueline and Régine. It was for a Herzfeld party (Herzfeld was a new collective label I was involved in). We rehearsed as before, it was a good moment, a way of coming full circle.

++ And yeah, what sparked you to release these songs after so many years?

It was just a proposal from Michel, I jumped at it, found this title « Super Slo-mo » (or did Michel, I don’t rememeber) without telling anyone, I really wanted these songs to be published, it happened like a dream, he told me about it, a week later he had the songs, the cassette was released a month later with a beautiful cover by his friend artist.

++ One of the songs caught my attention, “Mexico-Toronto” where you even mention Acapulco. I do wonder, if you ever did this trip, from Mexico to Toronto, or what inspired this track?

It’s just my imagination. I don’t remember where it came from. No more memories. I know that I was talking about extraterrestrial life, I was under X-Files influences !

++ Are there more songs recorded by the band? Unreleased ones?

Nothing anymore !

++ My favourite song of yours is “It’s Playtime”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

It is the second song by Les Molies, after Cha Cha Charlie. It’s Valérie who sings. She was my girlfriend at the time. The song is a children’s song. We were obsessed with childhood at that time, Truffaut’s 400 Coups, and this writer who was also a clown, I forgot his name, he wrote taking the place of a child. It was our influences. We were obsessed also with short songs, one-minute song like Over My Shoulder from The Pastels. It was just before we split with Valérie and before the Molies became a real band. Jacques recorded it on his 4-tracks.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Les Molies song, which one would that be and why?

Mexico Toronto is my favourite one. I like the way Jacques is drumming, the great bass line by Franck, the Farfisa part by a friend of us, Franceso Rees (who is a jazz drummer), my singing is cool, Jacqueline’s one too, even the lyrics are weird in a cool way, it’s nonsense but cool nonsense !

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

I’d say that wasn’t our primary concern. We weren’t looking to play, we were waiting to be called up. When we were called, 2 or 3 times a year, we thought about it for 1 week before saying yes! I don’t think I really liked that. I was stressed for days beforehand. I didn’t really enjoy playing in front of an audience, but that may have happened once or twice. But once it was over, it was a relief. That’s one of the reasons I told myself I wasn’t a real musician. Not a musician at all.

++ And what were the best gigs that you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Perhaps the concert that touched me the most was the one we did as support act for Les Pastels in Colmar. I don’t need to say why, but we were lucky enough to play on their equipment, because the organisers didn’t really want us to play, I think it was Stephen who asked us to do it. The organisers said: “OK, you can play but you can’t do the sound check, we’ll do it during the first song”. When I think back on it, it’s funny because that night I said to myself: “Blimey, we’re playing in front of people who speak English, they’re going to realise that my lyrics are so rubbish”. What’s more, it was the Pastels! We also played in Paris, we opened for David Kilgour at Théâtre Dunois, thanks to Morvan Boury who was an important person in music underground (he is now one of a heads of Sony, something like that !). Our album just came out, and that same evening we found out that our album had been reviewed in Les Inrockuptibles, and we even met a journalist from the paper. But he didn’t dare tell us too much, but we understood that the review was bad. I was really depressed. The next day, we bought the paper and it was the case. One of our first concerts was one in the basement of Babouin 1er, a record shop in Strasbourg. The place was great, Jacqueline and Régine had put aluminum foil on the walls and there were about thirty people there. And then our reformation concert in 2006, no stress, just the pleasure of playing the old songs again, without any pressure. I just loved it, maybe for the first time !

++ And were there any bad ones?

I don’t think we ever had any good concerts. We were such amateurs, we didn’t rehearse much. It was always like a first concert.

++ When and why did Les Molies stop making music? Were any of you involved in any other projects afterwards? I know some of you were in Buggy and Herzfeld Orchestra, how would you compare them to Les Molies?

We stopped playing together around 1997. Jacques, our drummer, moved to Nice, and Franck, our bassist, was doing his military service. I had embarked on the adventure of a label, Antimatière. And in 2000, I started another band, Buggy, with Jacques and Franck who had moved back to Strasbourg and Rodolphe and Stephan (now known as Solaris Great Confusion). Then Jacques and Franck dropped Buggy to form Original Folks and the three of us continued with Rodolphe and Stephan. In fact, right from the start I didn’t really want to make music, but I was going through a difficult time in my life. One thing led to another and I started writing songs again, some of them from the Molies days, some of them new, and then I started learning new chords and playing guitar more. We recorded an album which was released on Herzfeld, a label I co-founded. Then another, but with a completely different line-up, notably with Cécile Aubriet, a friend from Belfort with whom I’d played in my very first band, the Steeds! It all came full circle! I was also doing side projects, one called Wong Rest. which was a sort of new inspiration, one called the Herzfeld Orchestra which brought together all the musicians from the label (I only appeared on the first album) and another called Luneville, with only toy/electronic instruments. That was my last musical venture in 2011.

++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV?

Not really!

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

It was simple, our friends who were doing fanzines sometimes interviewed us, otherwise we were happy when we talked about our demos in Les Inrocks and Magic.

++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Playing with Les Pastels, opening for Diabologum, that was already a lot for us. Maybe I can tell you a funny story : with Sun Plexus, we came up with the idea of playing together on the same stage, but not one after the other. We wanted something that would blend our two worlds, and get away from a kind of competition. So one evening we shared a stage at La Laiterie in Strasbourg: we played at the same time, each group at one end of the stage. Les Molies played 3 songs, then Sun Plexus 3 songs, then we had to play a cover of the other band. Then we’d play a song and a passage from that song would be played by the other group, then we’d have to play one of our songs BUT on the other group’s instruments, and so on, lots of games like that between the two bands. We finished with a song on one chord by the two bands together, played until the audience had completely left (it lasted 2h40!!). We did the same thing again, but with 3 groups, Le Plus Simple Appareil and us surrounding the audience, we formed a triangle. In short, it was great fun. For the anecdote: Sun Plexus did this experiment again with the group Drey, one of whose members joined the group Electric Electric. Strangely enough, Electric Electric created a concert with 4 groups surrounding the audience with 3 other groups, Pneu, Papier Tigre and Marvin. They now give concerts under the name of La Colonie de Vacances, and are very popular in France. We always wonder where the idea came from !

++ One thing that caught my attention from the liner notes on Bandcamp for “Super Slow Mo” is that it says you collect all sorts of things. That you have a big collection of tapes and CDRs. Even vintage toys and zines. I want to pick your brain and ask about any obscure French bands that were amazing that for a reason or another remain in total obscurity?

Yes, I’m not that big a collector, and I change my obsession every 6 months, so it’s all over the place! But it’s true that my cellar is a veritable Ali Baba’s cave. As I get older, I start emptying it little by little!

For an obscure band that I rediscovered when I was doing my fanzine Anorak pop et noisy pop en France 1990-1994, it’s Daisy Age with the song Hier. I think I’d give everything we did with the Molies for just one song like that, beautiful, great sound, noisy lo fi, perfect French lyrics.

++ That is not all. You also run a label, a blog and write for the Section 26 webzine. Where do you get time? Tell me a bit about your writings, what are the differences from the Section 26 collabs and your own blog? What can people find in them?

As I said above, I relaunched Antimatière in 2023 to release an EP by Sinaïve, a group of young people from Strasbourg whom I adore. I also have a cassette label which is more a sort of contemporary French-language archive of all the styles I like. My universe has obviously opened up with age. The label is called Langue Pendue. Right now I’m going to be releasing a compilation cassette of bands from the French label Another Record. I’ve also released a cassette of dance hall from Martinique, a cassette of the legendary journalist Everett True aka The Legend! who does covers in French, young LGBT people from La Réunion, one of the best band in France Paris Banlieue, a trio of 3 young girls… It’s a « Spanish inn », Langue Pendue! For Section 26, I also write about the French scene, and my blog is an in-depth look at the subject, I try to be regular, always with the aim of writing a contemporary history, I’m a failed history student, I’m trying to get my revenge!

++ And your label has been releasing quality bands including the wonderful Sinaïve. What is coming up next for the label?

Yes, it’s a bit pretentious, but Sinaïve and Paris Banlieue are really genius, with them I’ve released my two favourite French bands of the last 10 years. It’s no coincidence that both bands were spotted by Japanese shop Big Love in Tokyo. Paris Banlieue were supported by Monorail in Glasgow and Stephen Pastel. And the Sinaïve album we’ve just released has garnered rave reviews in all the French press: Libération, les Inrocks, Rock&Folk, Magic…, it’s rare to get such unanimous praise. I don’t really know for the future releases.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have? Maybe follow a football team?

My musical activity is important and public. I keep a few other hobbies to myself, it’s my « jardin secret » !

++ I’ve never been to Strasbourg, I’d love to go, it looks amazing, so I want to ask a local. What do you suggest checking out in your town, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Strasbourg is a beautiful city, very green with lots of cycle paths. It’s also a reasonable size, and you can stroll around for hours. It’s the place to do that. On Friday night, Sinaïve played at the Perle beer factory for Pop Moderne‘s release party, and it’s a really good beer. And like all French cities, you have to try its culinary heritage, the sauerkraut, the baekhof…

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Merci beaucoup pour l’intérêt que tu portes à ma « carrière » !

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Listen
Les Mollies – It’s Playtime

0
16
Dec

:: Evry 5 Minits

author: Roque       category: recommended

A Soundcloud account from the UK by someone under the nickname Lunar Jukebox has quite a few treasures.

Listening to the songs I find some quite interesting. The one band that catches my attention immediately is one that seems to be called Evry 5 Minits. That’s how it shows up. Or E5M. Is that their name really? Misspelled like that? I wonder…

I suppose that’s the one name we got, so we’ll use it. There doesn’t seem to be any other information about the band. We can hear the superb guitars and female vocals, a bit like The Primitives? Darling Buds? That style. Yes!

There are 5 tracks uploaded by this band. Possibly all hailing from the same demo tape. The songs are “Seal of Approval”, “Lucky Day”, “Get it Right”, “I’m Into You” and “Unobtainable”.

It is safe to assume though that there is a connection with the other bands in the Soundcloud account. These are Arch, Some Assault, Lunar Vibe, Moon Struck Too and The Attic.

I look for info about these other bands. Maybe I can find a connection.

I find a name that I think could be behind the Soundcloud account, Chris Finch.

And that’s where I hit a wall. I guess it may be a matter of talking to Chris and finding out more details about this band. If this was the right way to spell their name or maybe it was Every 5 Minutes or Every Five Minutes. Who knows.

In the meantime enjoy the songs, they are really nice!

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Listen
Every 5 Minits – Seal of Approval

0
09
Dec

:: Öderland

author: Roque       category: recommended

I believe Öderland would translate as barren land. Is that right?

I continue exploring some compilation tapes of obscure bands and I’ve been mostly focused on the “Frischer Morgentau” tape that Ulli Hahndorf put together in 1993 under his Steinpilz Tonträger (Stein 1) label.

I have written, at least, about a half of the bands in this cassette. But there are still a handful of bands I don’t know nothing about. I wonder if it will be possible to find details about them online. Maybe?

Öderland appears on the A side of the tape with the song “Was Du Mich Kannst”. It is a nice lo-fi pop song with clear British indiepop influences. According to the insert that came with the compilation the band was based in Hamburg and featured Christian Neumann as its sole member.

The insert also mentions the existence of a few more songs, “Du Hast Die Welt in Deinen Bett” and “Was Soll Ich Hier”, and also one about Blumfeld’s Jochen Distelmeyer but no song title is given for this one.

The two other songs we know about would eventually find a release. Under a reworked title “Welt = Bett” it appears on “Ha, Ha, Funny Feeling!” the compilation tape that Meller Welle Produkte (MEL 15) released in 1994. And then “Was Soll Ich in Dieaser Stadt”, again a reworked title, appears on “Caught By the Warmth” a compilation tape released by Meller Welle Produkte (MEL 17) in 1997.

But here comes the surprise. It is in this “Caught by the Warmth” tape that the song about Blumfeld’s leader also gets released. It is titled “Ich Weiß, Wo Jochen Distelmeyer Icht” and I would really love to listen to it. Anyone could help me with that? I’m very curious about it!

So now we know, 4 songs in total. Probably from a single demo tape? And you wonder what happened to Christian Neumann? Did he continue making music in any other way? There are few Christian Neumann’s in Germany related to the music industry… so seems a bit hard for me to figure out what happened to him.

In any case this is more than I expected. I know there were more songs than the one I knew. Now, I need to track them down.

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Listen
Öderland – Was Du Mich Kannst

0
02
Dec

:: Corazones Blindados

author: Roque       category: recommended

Can we translate their name as Armored Hearts? Or something like that?

Corazones Blindados was a Madrid band that was active between 1983 and 1985. They were formed by Danilo Peña on guitar and vocals, Santiago Agudo on bass and backing vocals and Alfonso Lantero on drums.

The band only released one record, a 7″ single that I highly recommend. This record came out on the label El Fantasma del Paraíso (FAN-010) in 1984. This label, founded by José Martínez Pujante, had started their run a year earlier, in 1983, releasing for example the legendary Spanish band Kaka de Luxe.

The 7″ single by Corazones Blindados had two songs, “El Parque Inglés” on the A side and “Tercer Conflicto” on the B side. The songs were recorded at Audiofilm studios in Madrid. The engineer for this record was Luis M. González while the producer was Roadrunner Jak and REDMAN (a team formed by Redi Hevia and German Torrellas).

Aside from this record the band also contributed their song “El Parque Inglés” to the compilation “El Fantastma del Paraíso” (FAN LP-2 / FAN CT-2), released by the same-name label that same year. This comp was released on both vinyl and cassette formats.

It is also worth mentioning that in 1984 the band play an important gig that celebrated the first anniversary of the fanzine “Escala Progresiva de Resistencia” in the mythical Rock-Ola, a venue where so many Spanish 80s legends played. At that gig they shared the bill with Alphaville and Esclarecidos.

Other gigs included one of them supporting Los Ilegales at the San Juan Evangelista school and also one where they played to more than 2,000 people at the Vistillas de Madrid. It is thanks to this last gig that they get approached by their label.

It is said that after the single the band was going to start recording an album. But looks like their was a problem with the band members. Danilo is sacked by Santiago and Alfonso. This seems odd as Danilo was the guitar player and composer, but that’s what I could find online. They replace him by Nacho Pérez Carles and Santiago becomes the vocalist. With this new lineup they record a demo that sadly the label didn’t like. On top of that the name of Corazones Blindados was owned by Danilo and he didn’t want to share it. So in the end there was no album. And the band splits.

It is also worth sharing the band’s promo video for the track “El Parque Inglés” (by the way the name of the songs translates to English garden). Cool to see them playing outside the Temple of Debod in Madrid.

The band members would also be involved in other bands. Alfonso had previously been in Rimmel and after the demise of Corazones Blindados, Santiago and Alfonso would immediately form a band called Dirigidos, and then Alfonso would join Ilegales. On the other hand Danilo, who had been in the amazing Zombies, would be in the band El Refugio. Worth also sharing this video of El Refugio playing live “El Parque Inglés“.

Maybe it would make sense to write about El Refugio at a later day too. The music is excellent.

Other bands Danilo was in include Sidecar and Escándalos.

Santiago would also continue making music after Dirigidos being part of bands like Ciudad Jardín, La Coartada and The Nativos.

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Listen
Corazones Blindados – El Parque Inglés

0
19
Nov

:: The Kennedy Pill

author: Roque       category: interviews

Thanks so much to Julian, Phil and Aggi for the interview! I had written about The Kennedy Pill many years ago. Suddenly about a month or so Julian got in touch, and I was quite surprised! I had to know more about this Leeds band that released just the one record on Native and whose sound was really great. I wanted to learn more details, what happened to them. Happily three of their members were keen in answering my questions, so here it is! Hope you all enjoy!

++ Hi all! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?

Julian: Hi Roque, Thanks I’m good – during the lockdowns I started to publish my music again just for fun – I have music on most platforms inc Spotify, iTunes and Bandcamp as 10 Jules.

Phil: I’m involved a bit. I’ve fairly recently got into using a computer to make music and I still play drums, occasionally recording something. It’s not my day job at the moment.

Aggi: Still play guitar but don’t produce anything, listen to lots like mixing and buying vinyl!

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what your first instrument was? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?

Julian: I remember my parents playing early Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, but as a kid it was glam rock on Top of the Pops, Sweet Slade,T Rex and David Bowie that got me excited  – until punk.

Phil: My parents were into opera and big bands like Glenn miller and Tommy Dorsey, the first music I liked for myself was punk really, partly introduced to me by my older sister and partly by cooler kids at school! I learnt to play the drums by listening to punk records and banging along on anything that was nearby!

Aggi: Parents had no influence but my brother got me listening to Deep Purple, ELO, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Japan, Teardrop explodes.  The first band I saw were at school, they were  terrible but the feeling of live music was amazing, First real band was Siouxsie and the Banshees at Gloucester Leisure Centre in 1983 (I think), loudest gig I’ve ever been to, louder than Motorhead at Leeds refectory! Then the Red Skins and Billy Bragg in Bristol, then watched live music every weekend in Bristol which was thriving but struggling to get out of jangle indie into drum and bass.  Spent my 15-18 in the Moon club in Bristol in St Paul’s  listening to sound system, reggae, ska obvious where the trip hop and drum and bass came from.

++ I read some of you had been in a band called The Flying Hendersons before being in The Kennedy Pill. Did you release anything under that name? How long were you active? Are there any recordings online?

Julian: I was in a few bands with best friend Steve Whitfield. We’d set up in Leeds in 1983. We played as an electronic/guitar/drum machine duo called Filming For India. The Flying Hendersons were a project that we formed with two friends, Robert Mills (drums) and Graham Charles (vocals). Steve produced most of the KP tracks and did the live sound from time to time.

https://youtu.be/FqWfhvXg95U?si=tms5_RznvWZLs1Fl and The Flying Hendersons – Electric Hands (1987)

The FH’s had been trying to form a band but had no real experience, so we basically showed them how to do it!  We borrowed the drums from Phil who became the Kennedy Pill drummer. We made a couple for demos with Steve Whitfield playing bass and doing the recording and production, as he’d gone to music production school in Manchester.

(PHOTO: The Flying Hendersons in the cellar, that the Kennedy Pill also used in Leeds – Julian on guitar and Steve is on bass – He produced “Beside the Sea” and shot the cover photo.)

++ Aside from The Flying Hendersons and The Kennedy Pill, had you been in other bands before The Kennedy Pill? What about the other band members?

Julian: I’d been in bands in the North east with Steve, but the scene was challenging as the NME and Melody Maker had no interest in Teesside. It has a small indie scene,  but it wasn’t like Liverpool or Manchester,  so we had to move

Phil: I remember little of the Flying Hendersons, other than they were surprisingly good and they did a gig in Manchester that we all got a coach to(?) I may be remembering that bit wrongly. I was in bands in my hometown before I moved to Leeds, but we didn’t really trouble the charts or anything. We did once have a  review that described us as ‘Joy Division playing Duran Duran’s basement tapes’, which I liked the sound of…

Aggi: yeah it started snowing and the coach driver left to get back to Leeds without me and Louise (now Mrs Brown), we walked the streets of Manchester until 6am when we got the first train back!

++ Where were you from originally? 

Julian: Both Steve and I went to school in Saltburn by the Sea. I was born in Leeds and all my family grandparents and uncles and aunts were there, so it was very much my spiritual home. Steve did all the engineering and production work on the KP – he’s still very active having worked with the Cure, the Mission and Shed Seven.

Phil: Cardiff, home of musical luminaries, like Steve Strange, Green Gartside and the Demented Are Go! Also the Young Marble Giants. Cardiff’s proudest boast is that it is the home of The Oppressed, the founders of SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice)

Aggi: Bristol: home of trip hop, drum and bass and stabbing!  Had the highest incident of knife crime in the UK when I left 🙁

(PHOTO: From the same trip as the “Beside the Sea cover (think it was 1988!) We were on a trip back to Saltburn where Steve and Julian grew up and went to school.)

++ How was Leeds at the time of The Kennedy Pill? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Julian: What a great question!
So this was about 1987-1988 and Leeds was Goth central.  I grew up on the Cure, Killing Joke and Joy Division and a lot of the Goth scene had its roots in those bands.  At the time the big bands were the Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and then there was Southern Death Cult (to be the Cult)  and New Model army. I enjoyed those bands but was less interested in the rocky aspects of their sounds! I was into The Cocteau Twins, the Wonderstuff, Jesus and Mary Chain, but I liked some poppier stuff like It’s Immaterial from Liverpool and the Blue Nile from Glasgow.

There were some great places to hang out in Leeds at the time – in 86 it was the Fav (the Faversham pub) it was literally like a who’s who of goth in there. We had the Phono in the Merrion Centre as  a club as well as the Warehouse – Our local pubs were the Hyde park pub and the more grungier Royal Park pub – it was very much a student environment although I was on the dole until 86. That’s how I met the people that would become the Kennedy Pill.

Phil: Leeds was amazing! I first went there the year before I moved and saw Killing Joke on their Night Time tour and made up my mind to live there! It seemed like there were bands everywhere and all I’d ever wanted to do was play in a band so it felt like the place to go. There were loads of good bands, but it didn’t feel like there was  Leeds ‘sound’. There were lots of bands doing their own thing, definitely a strong goth contingent but there were also bands like CUD and Pink Peg Slax and The Three Johns who weren’t alike. Chumbawamba were around then as well so there was a real diversity.

Aggi: Warehouse, Rickys, Duchess of York were great small band venues, we played them all.  Really thriving scene with the Wedding Present, Cud, Pale Saints and Bridewell Taxis.  We did a Leeds compilation with most of them https://www.discogs.com/master/557347-Various-Knowing-Where-It-All-Leeds.  We used to practise in a studio in Holbeck run by Colin Dempsey, properly eccentric old goth that wore head scarf like a  turban!  He was good to us renting us gear for low cost and ferrying us and the gear around for beer.  Bastard were our practice room mates, they were louder than Siouxsie and the banshees! Wonder what happened to them?

++ Were there any other good bands in your area?

Julian: Well – the Sisters, the Mission, Age of chance were also getting some recognition at the time.

Aggi: loads see previous answers.

++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process?

Julian: So my memory of it might differ to Phil and Aggi. The Hendersons were borrowing Phil’s drums and he wanted them back because he was involved in setting up a band with Pete Gibson (vocals), Alastair (Aggi guitar) and Mike Gillan (guitar) but there was no bass player! I think we might have been sharing some amps as well. Anyway I offered to fill the bass player role until they found someone. However, at the first rehearsal it was clear to me that whilst they were better musicians than me, they had very little experience at running rehearsals, collaborating on songs  and general band organisation. I do remember though when we plugged everything in, things came together really quickly and I thought shit this is actually really fucking good – I am the bass player.

Aggi: Me and Pete started playing as we shared a house, got a few tunes together Mike replied to an add and Ju introduced as above.  Phil knew Pete I think so got roped in.

Phil: I can’t remember how I got involved. It was definitely Pete, Agg and Mike when I joined but I think it might have been because my girlfriend was mates with Agg’s. My impression to start with was they were good players and had some decent songs, so I think we clicked pretty quickly. We did go up a gear when Jules joined though.

++ Was there any lineup changes?

Julian: Yes! a painful one for me – I had to leave as my girlfriend was pregnant and the band atmosphere was not conducive to bringing up a baby (serious understatement 😉 . So I remember we did the Stone Roses support in Sheffield and a gig at Leeds Warehouse was my last – it was a painful decision but I’m still with Sarah!

Phil: I remember when I first met Tor, it was  at Mayville Ave, it was like trying to protect a child from a squat!

Aggi: I was gutted when Jules left. Ian was a great lad and a good player, but I felt like we really missed J’s input.

(PHOTO: Julian’s last gig with the Kennedy Pill at Leeds Warehouse 1989)

++ What instruments did each of you play in the band?

Pete Gibson – Vox
Phil Wakely – Drums
Alastair Brown – Guitar and van
Mike Gillan – Guitar
Julian Coultas – Bass

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

Julian: Well in the early days there were 2 methods. Pete would sometimes supply a whole song structure and lyrics and then we’d build our parts around it.  Or we’d jam riffs and build a song that Pete would then record on a crappy tape recorder and then take it away and work out lyrics and vocal melodies. I was always very impressed with Pete’s ability to build a hook line, I think he was really talented when it came to melody.

Initially, we rehearsed in Pete and Alastair’s student house cellar, but it was cramped and we were always getting grief from the neighbours. We quickly moved to a proper band rehearsal studio on the south side of the city. We could leave all our gear there,  but we were very poor, we had to walk and it took an age!

Phil: That’s pretty much how I remember it!

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? 

Julian: I think Phil came up with it? I liked it as I’m really into the Anglo American axis of underground music so it had a good vibe to me!

I was chatting to a mate in the pub in Cardiff and we were saying how a family near us, the Pill family were like Cardiff’s answer to the Kennedys (sort of like this high powered dynasty, not that repeatedly kept getting assassinated).  I liked the sound of Kennedy Pill…it sounded like a pill you could take to make you successful, but at a terrible cost…

++ You worked with Native Records from Sheffield. I was wondering how did this relationship start? Did you send them a demo? Maybe they discovered your music at a gig of yours?

 Aggi: Kevin started scouting at our gigs offered us a publishing deal, massively exciting times. 

++ And how was the relationship with Kevin Donoghue? Did you like your time at Native? And also wondering, as Sheffield is quite close to Leeds, did you make that trip often?

Aggi: Not often but remember Steve Whitfield, our engineer and producer driving us there in his dads citroen.  No one had a car back then!

++ Were there any other labels interested in your music? Perhaps big labels?

Aggi: Yeah we used to go to London with every demo and trawl them all.  Virgin we interested and welcomed us warmly, and took us seriously.  Stock Aitkin and Waterman were also very kind.  I have a file full of rejection letters, but that was they way.  Huge respect to Virgin and Pete Waterman for integrity and taking us seriously.

++ With Native you released the “Beside the Sea” 12″ in 1991. Were these brand new songs for the release or were they perhaps already part of demos you had recorded? 

Aggi: Too old cant remember, I think beside the sea was new, we pondered doing Lucy Jones which was already demoed but went for Beside the sea

++ Where was the single recorded? Did you work with a producer? Did it take many days to record? Or was it quick?

Aggi: KGM in Wakefield, Ken Giles was a massive star, let us have two days for £100, it was a 24 track with Neave desk and amazing acoustics, KGM were a studio supplier and this was their demo studio.  Writing this I’m realisng how many people helped and were wanting us to succeed.  Moving really.  Steve Whitfield produced and engineered.

++ Aside from the single the only other song that was released was “Fizz Pop” on a compilation called “Knowing Where it All Leeds”. This compilation came out as a CD and vinyl and was released by Stolen Records. Wondering who Stolen Records were. Care to tell me a bit about them and how you ended up in this record? 

Aggi: We used to get Demo’s copied by a reproduction studio in Armley, cant remember the bloke that ran it but he was connected to Stolen Records and liked what we did.

++ On this compilation you appear next to superb Leeds bands including The Wedding Present, The Pale Saints and more. Wondering how tight-knit the Leeds scene was. Were you friends with many bands on this compilation? Or there was really no such scene?

Aggi: We were loosely connect to the other bands, everyone knew everyone and you’d bump into them everywhere but there wasn’t any clique.  I used to know Cassandra Complex well through John Galvin, Steve was well connected wth Mick from the Sisters of Mercy,  I worked on local crew in leeds so knew the promoters.

++ I found the name of at least five more unreleased tracks, “Wednesday”, “Sian”, “Please Don’t Go”, “Timothy Leary” and “Me Me You”. Where do these songs come from? Demo tapes? If so, how many demo tapes did you record? Is it possible to do a demo-graphy?

Julian: These recordings came from the early period. Steve Whitfield was learning his trade at NYRA a music recording school in Manchester – so experimental things like backwards reverb on vocals and playing around with feedback were thing that we were spending hours on!

++ Also wondering about the track “Timothy Leary”. Why did you dedicate a song to him?

Julian: Pete would be best placed to answer this.

++ Why weren’t there more releases by the band?

Julian: I’d be interested to know this myself! 

Aggi: Lack of Cash! The disappointing  reality is that it costs to be in a signed band, I realised I had to get a job when we were sharing one tea bag between 4…. That’s no exaggeration, I sold the shares I inherited from my Dads death  to pay for the recording, we had no money but plenty of drive a little talent and a load of fun!

++ If you were to choose your favorite The Kennedy Pill song, which one would that be and why?

Aggi: Wednesday, Sian or maybe Timothy Leary.

Julian: Agree with Aggi’s choices and would add that I’d love to re-record ‘Always’ and go completely mental with it! In fact there’s a few songs I’d love to have another go at!

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

Aggi: Loads and loads and loads, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham, Huddersfield, more I cant remember.

Julian: It’s hard to remember but I’d add to the list one we did in Kentish Town, I think, (not sure of the venue), I believe it was with the Hollow Men (although they may not have been called that at the time)

++ You supported The Stone Roses. Was it once or many times? What do you remember from those gigs?

Julian: I think it was Ian Brown’s birthday and they were in a really good mood and open for chatting about music and footie – this was before the first album was launched. There were about 300 people in the Octagon when we went on and about 1000 when they went on. I was just blown away. We played really well and I remember them saying “ well done lads” and I was wondering what they were going to sound like. I’d not heard any music. My girlfriend was from Manchester and she said they were good, but they were on another level.  It was a sobering experience! They started with ”I wanna be adored” and I think it actually killed the Kennedy Pill, because we were in similar territory, but their sense of identity both sonically and visually was just so far ahead. The Madchester baggy thing kicked off and it was the end of the road for me in the band.

++ And what were the best gigs that you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Aggi: Best gig we played was at a little club in Leeds about 200 in low roof, Julian, can you remember, we went to the Duck and Drake first first, Andy Paynes lights. Russ’s PA and we sounded ace! Stone Roses was most memorable because of the headline.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Aggi: Of course, I don’t think we played badly but did play to one man and a dog, literally.

Julian: He’s not joking! I’m thinking that was somewhere like Wakefield, maybe…not that far from Leeds but just picked a bad night!

++ Tell me about your merch. I read you had red t-shirts with the band logo for sale. What other things did you make to sell to fans?

Aggi: Tie Die TShirts, Button Badges, tapes and vinyl

++ When and why did The Kennedy Pill stop making music? Were any of you involved in any other projects afterwards?

Aggi: After the line up with Ian (bass) stopped nothing got recorded.

++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV?

Aggi: We were on the James Whale show and John Peel and One of the morning Radio One DJ’s used to play us, Never any TV

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

Aggi: Yes Lots, I still have the cuttings!

++ What about fanzines?

++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Aggi: Getting about the country in a transit van with your mates having a grin!  For me the Stone Roses, Every recording and the Leeds gigs.

Julian: I’d agree with that Agg!

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have? Leeds United fans?

Julian: I still make music under 10 Jules and I’m a 5 a side football junky.

Aggi: Mike was a good club runner at the time.  Since the band I still play guitar lots and listen to alot of music, enjoy triathlon and more recently Brizialian Ju-Jitsu

++ I’ve never been to Leeds so I’d love to ask a local. What do you  suggest checking out in your town, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Julian: I was there at the weekend at Elland Road watching Leeds United.

Phil: The City is very different now, The Brudenell Social club is a great venue in the middle of LS6.  I like ”the Social” it’s a nice bar in town frequented by many of Leeds’ current music bands.

Aggi: Leeds is ace just go.  I live in Manchester now but my Daughter went to Leeds University and still lives there so I’ve been there lots in the last 10 years. 

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Listen
The Kennedy Pill – Beside the Sea

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18
Nov

:: Black Cream

author: Roque       category: recommended

In the past I’ve written about quite a few bands that have appeared in the classic German compilation tape “Frischer Morgentau” that was released by Steinpilz Tonträger (Stein 1) in 1993. I’ve written about Die Wurzelsepps, Les Chaplinn’s, Friends Ahoi, Die Busfahrer, Moosblüten, Die Kupferschmiede, Fluffy Pillows and more. But there are still quite a few bands on that tape that up to this day remain a mystery to me. One of them is Black Cream who appear last on the tape with the twelfth song on the B side.

That song is called “Now, That I’m Gone” and it is really great. You wonder immediately where they were from. If German or maybe British. I can’t tell. I don’t have any other info about them. I know the cassette sleeve had some info about each band. And yes, up to this day I regret not getting a copy from Peter Hahndorf when I visited him in Breman ages ago. I didn’t like tapes then. Go figure. Peter, who is behind Twee.net, is the brother of Ulli Hahndorf who was behind the label Steinpilz Tonträger as well as compiling this tape.

Luckily Discogs has scans of all the tape booklet. There i find that the address for Black Cream is the same as for the label. Does it mean that this band was German? That it was Ulli behind this band? Ulli was also part of Moosblüten. It may as well be.

The little info that comes for Black Cream doesn’t reveals some interesting bits: “The song tells the story of someone leaving his lover from the point of view of the one walking away, instead of the typical perspective of the person who is left. The song was written 14 months ago after a concert of noise-pop band Resurface. Black Cream actually is no real band, it exists for this song only.”

So a one-off.

That’s sad. The song is great. At least I would love to find out if it was Ulli, or if it was someone else, behind this band.

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Listen
Black Cream – Now, That I’m Gone

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11
Nov

:: Les Molies

author: Roque       category: recommended

I wrote time ago about Stephen’s Library and The Non Stop Kazoo Organization, the fine French bands, who featured Jacques Speyser. I eventually got in touch with Jacques but sadly never heard back about an interview we planned to do. So didn’t get up learning the details that perhaps would be good for this post.

Why? Because Les Molies was another of his projects. In this project he collaborated with Renaud Sachet who produced the first Stephen’s Library record. Renaud was also part of the band Buggy and Herzfeld Orchestra (where Jacques was also part of).

But that was not all. There were more people involved including Franck Marxer who was part of The Non Stop Kazoo Organization, Original Folks and Herzfeld Orchestra.

And there was also Jaqueline Yoesslé and Régine Yoesslé too in the band. Were they sisters?

One thing to mention though, their name appears as Les Mollies but also as Les Molies. What was the right way to write it?

Les Molies translates in English as The Mollies. What are mollies? They seem to be fish?

Poecilia sphenops, called the short-finned molly or common molly, is a poeciliid fish inhabiting freshwater streams, coastal brackish, and marine waters from Mexico to Colombia. The wild-type fishes are dull, silvery in color. The molly can produce fertile hybrids with many Poecilia species, most importantly the sailfin molly. The male mollies generally tend to be mildly aggressive.

In any case, the band released an album in their day. In 1994 the band released “Kumcat” as a CD on Cornflakes Zoo (Zoo 12). The album included twelve songs “Lucky Star”, “Speed Queen” (Etienne Greib from Temple Temple and Superdrug plays guitar in this track), “Beat of Your Heart”, “La Nuit Des Etoiles Filantes”, “Escalator”, “Stars Above”, “Summerside”, “Belong to You”, “Away”, “Yoyo Sista”, “Tell Me” and “Lucky Stars”.

The songs were recorded between August of 1993 and February of 1994 at Downtown Studio in Strasbourg by Didier Houbre (he also plays guitar on “Escalator” and Jew’s harp on “Summerside”). The art for the album was put together by Philippe Roure, the well known French designer.

The first appearance of the band happened in 1990 though. It was on “Heol Daou”, the legendary compilation tape released by Katiho (02). On this record comp the band contributed “It’s Playtime”.

Two years later, 1992, the band contributes the track “Smile” to “Whoops!” a compilation tape, released in France by Houpla (HOUPLA1). This compilation tape came with a booklet, I’ve never seen it, but maybe there are good details?

In 1993 the band has the track “Cha Cha Charlie” on “Ces Chères Têtes Blondes” which was a tape released by Cindie (CIN 01). The track the band recorded was an original by Pat Laureate from Melody Dog.

Les Molies would then appear on a triple 7″ compilation titled “The Onion Most Dangerous Game” in 1994. On this cool compilation released by Aliénor Records (Alien λ), the band had the last song and it was called “Bye Bye”. That same year the band contributed a track to “A Tribute to The Jesus and Mary Chain”. Their choice was “Jesus Sucks”. The compilation tape was released by Candy Chérie (001).

1995 sees the band appear on “Cosmic Shop”. This time as Les Molies, just one L. On this tape released in France by Paperplane (SC-02) the band has the song “Car Boot Sales”. Then that same year on the compilation “Bedroom Palace” on Lo-Fi Recordings (High2), another French label, the band has the track “J’en Ferais Bien Mon Quatre Heures”.

Then in 1997 the band has a track on a Spanish label. The compilation CD is called “U.F.O.logy.” and was released by Green UFOs (OVNI 003). Here the band had the track “Speed Queen”.

Lastly there is a compilation called “L’Éventail” that we don’t know when it was released. It came probably with a fanzine. The label listed for this tape is called Le Fanzine (060672FS) and hailed from France. The song Les Molies are credited for is called “Stars Above”.

And that’s really all we could find about this band. Wonder if we’ll find out more details later on.

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Listen
Les Mollies – It’s Playtime

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04
Nov

:: The Latest

author: Roque       category: recommended

Following the trail of stoneeyedkiller, I discover the Salford/Manchester band The Latest. He had shared the track “I Close My Eyes” on his Youtube channel and I was blown away!

I easily find the Soundcloud of Brian Larkin who now lives in Fahan, County Donegal, in Ireland. There I learn that he was behind this project. He was the bassist. That he was born in Salford in 1965 but grew up in Manchester. In the early 80s he had a band with his friends John McCann (vocals), Wayne Price (drums) and Chris Britton (guitar). That was The Latest. Then in 1989 he would leave England for Ireland.

On his Soundloud you will notice that he has done new recordings of the tracks of The Latest. The latest (pardon the pun) is actually a 2024 version of “I Close My Eyes“. It is nice, but I have to say that the version from Pluto Studios from 1986 is my favourite! From that same session there is another track called “Burned Out” which is as excellent.

I also read that “I Close My Eyes” was written by Brian and John McCann on lead vocals. This track helped the band win the battle of the band hosted by Piccadilly Radio. Winning that prize gave the band the opportunity to record the song in a 24 track studio with a guy that had worked on The Smiths first album.

There are a few other demos from the band. There is “The Sound of Corporation” and “Sale” dating from 1986. Songs are not separate, they are part of the same audio file, so just sharing one link. There is also another track called “I Confess” and maybe one track called “Damaged” (?) but it may just be that the file is damaged. I don’t have it clear. The sounds for these group of tracks is a bit different to the one of the first two songs.

Then there is a full gig of the band playing at Cloud 9 in Manchester on November 7th 1985. Sadly there is no tracklist to know the names of the songs being played but it is definitely worth the listen. Would have loved to be at that gig!

But that’s not the only gig shared, there is also one from June 22 of 1986 at the legendary Manchester venue The Boardwalk. Again no tracklist, but this is top music! So have a listen. At this gig the band was on the same bill as All Fall Down and The Danny Boys.

One thing I learn too is that Chris and Brian were Manchester United fans while John and Wayne were City fans. You can read a little bit more about how important was football for the band on Brian’s substack,

And that’s it. That’s what I could find about the band. Seems that Brian has updated his Soundcloud not too long ago, so hopefully we’ll learn more about the band soon. I read that the band had been reviewed by the NME, I wonder if it was a demo or a gig… I wonder too why they didn’t get to release any records… I wonder if we’ll find out!

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Listen
The Latest – I Close My Eyes

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