18
Feb

This is the last post for February. I will be in the UK for the next two Mondays, so the next post on the blog will be on March 8th. In the meantime I’ll meet indiepop friends new and old. And also going to see The Man from Delmonte for the very first time. So excited!

See you soon all!

10 years ago Keith Morris was uploading the track “See Saw Misery” to Soundcloud. Only now, 2025, I am discovering it.

There is not much info about this track, other than it was recorded in 1996 by the band Dream Season.

Looking at some other uploads I find some more recordings by this same band. These include: “Going Nowhere” and “Why Wake Up When the Dream is Over” from 1996 and “Way She Walks” from 1997.

There are other songs on these account. We can see that Keith was also in bands like The Answer in the late 90s, Odd One and The Box Deluxe in the mid 2000s, Silence is Dead in the late 2000s, Jack of All in the early 2010s

I want to think the band hailed from Bristol as Keith Morris reposted some music from singer-songwriter Ben Warner who hails from that city. But it is a long-shot. Maybe. Maybe not.

Other than that there is no more information about this band. Just four nice songs. I especially recommend listening to “See Saw Misery” which is terrific.

Looking at his involvement with other bands I find out Keith hailed from Birmingham. Would assume Dream Season was based there then.

Anyone knows any other details about Dream Season?

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Listen
Dream Season – See Saw Misery

10
Feb

I’m exploring a Soundcloud account. One belonging to the username Muggerbass. A bassist obviously and from what I understand from Manchester, my next trip.

I believe the name of the person behind this account is Pete McGrath, currently bass player for WinterGreen. I also believe Michael Knowles, the guitarist of Wintergreen was in a band I had written before, The Catchmen. I had been in touch with Michael and interviewed him about that band.

He mentioned a little bit about Grifter when I asked him about Wintergreen: “An old friend of mine (Pete McGrath) with whom I played in a band post Catchmen (Grifter) saw I will still involved broadly in the Arts and got in touch and asked if I wanted to be in a band again. He is great in that he does the hard part of bands- organising etc so I can concentrate on the fun bit (though it is a very collaborative band). It’s a 3 piece band (the first time my guitar has been so prominent) largely because as you get older it’s a logistical nightmare to do anything larger. It was great that Ian from the Catchmen (who I have played off and off with over the year) added some keyboard to Whole (sent over the internet – wonders of technology)

At that time I wasn’t aware of songs being online for Grifter. That’s the reason it has taken me so many years to find about Grifter.

There is a photo of a Raleigh Grifter bicycle. Perhaps that’s where they took their name from? I wasn’t familiar with these bikes, they seem to be British according to Wikipedia: “The Raleigh Grifter is a children’s bicycle manufactured and marketed between 1976 and early 1983 by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. It was the “must have” bicycle of its time and bridged a gap between the Raleigh Chopper and the Raleigh Burner models. Its frame was very similar to the Raleigh Twenty Shopper bicycle, but with a front triangle which resembled an upside down Chopper frame. It was part of a range of age-specific bicycles and was positioned at the top of that range. The smallest in the range was the Raleigh Boxer with the Raleigh Strika in the middle.”

We also know two of the band members of the band. I suppose there was a drummer at least. What was his name? Was it a trio? or a four-piece?

A trio it seems. Kev Burke was the drummer.

We know the band was active between 1995 and 1997. Afterwards we know that at least Pete went to be in bands like Stretch Armstrong, 1000 Cuts and The Fraudsters.

On the Soundcloud account there are a few recordings: “To Kill a Sweet Song”, “Mexican Moon” and “That Perfect Reason”. All of these, possibly from a demo tape, were recorded in 1996 at Noisebox in Prestwich by Steve Lloyd.

And that’s it really. I should drop Michael a note. Would be great to find out more about this band. They seem to have some really nice tunes. Wonder if there are more!

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Listen
Grifter – That Perfect Reason

05
Feb

Thanks so much to Gerard Wood for this interview! I had written about his band Happyhouse which was active in Nottingham in the early 90s. I had found a bunch of their recordings on Soundcloud and wrote a piece about them months ago. Luckily Gerard got in touch and was willing to share more details about his music adventure! Enjoy!

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

I’m good, not involved with making music at all these days.

++ 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?

Much like any young kid growing up in 1970s Britain, “Top Of The Pops” on TV was the main way of actually seeing bands.  The first record my mum bought for me was “Gonna Make You A Star” by David Essex, which was 1974, so I obviously started young ☺

I had a go at violin and then cello at school (pre-teenage), but never persevered with them.  I bought a cheap sky blue Strat copy in about 1987, and learning consisted of a “Book 1” on How To Play Guitar and the Billy Bragg “Back To Basics” songbook + “Audio Aid” which was far more useful.  After that, everything was learnt by ear (and was often approximate at best…)

I listened to all sorts whilst growing up in the early 1980s.  Dexys & The Jam would mix with Queen, Springsteen & Dire Straits, along with pop fun like Haircut 100, OMD and (to start with) The Cure.  I didn’t really notice “indie” music until about 1986 – the Mary Chain and The Fall, then I started listening to John Peel earnestly and it all changed.

++ Had you been in other bands before Happyhouse? What about the other band members? Are there any songs recorded by these bands?

Yes, I was in a band whilst still at school in Northampton, with the horrendous name of Brilliant Failure. Gian Sammarco, who played Adrian Mole on UK TV at the time, was our singer.  Despite being fairly clueless, we did manage to write a few original songs (well, original-ish).  We played at The Old Black Lion in Northampton in early summer 1989 to a fairly large crowd (helps having a national TV star as your frontman), also the main band on had some connection to Spacemen 3 if I recall, who played/recorded in the town a bit in the second half of the 1980s.

At the same time, I was creating the demos for what would eventually become the first happyhouse songs, although I had no intention of actually doing anything with them.  I bought a cheap 4-track and drum machine in June ‘89 and off I went.  Fairly obvious I was obsessed with The Cure at the time ☺  Everything was fairly long and fairly grim!

++ Where were you from originally?

Northampton – see above!  Virtually no music scene to speak of, the main venue (The Roadmender) was shut far more than it was open.  The one moment of joy was in 1988 when Pixies and My Bloody Valentine came to town – that was probably a bit of a life-changer too, the first local gig I’d been to with my mates.

++ How was Nottingham at the time of Happyhouse? 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?

Nottingham was great, the total opposite of Northampton – venues, loads of touring bands, so I was at gigs every week from the moment I arrived in for university in October 1989 – Trent Polytechnic (now a university) was the best at the time. I met Chris, the band’s bassist, in the queue to see The Wedding Present (I think) a few weeks later and it turned out we lived in the same hall of residence at the university.

Nottingham had Selectadisc, a cracking independent record shop (or shops, it had three different ones on the same street – one for singles, one for LPs, one for 2nd hand).

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

I’ve got to admit, I didn’t follow the local scene at all.  Apart from the bands that friends played in, I wouldn’t have a clue!

++ How did the band start? How was the recruiting process?

As mentioned above, I met Chris the bassist late in 1989 before there was any thought of a band.  Kris was a drummer on the same uni course as Chris, and was already playing in lots of bands by Feb 1990 when he joined us and we actually started practicing in a practice room.  Jon arrived later in the year – not sure how he came to join us!  We may have put an ad up in the Student Union?  Can’t remember.

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

Me (Gerard Wood) – guitar + vocals
Chris Griggs – bass
Jon Bridgett – guitar
Kris Daryanani – drums

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

The songs were pretty much written before we all came together and started practicing in 1990, so I think I just handed out tape copies of the demos.  We practised pretty regularly in the ‘BandSoc’ practice room at the university – which was basically a basement cellar with terrible acoustics. The songs got a bit of gradual rearrangement to add a bit more energy to them!

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? You were saying it was after a Chinese takeaway?

Yes, in 1990 Chris & I moved to a house in Radford, Nottingham, and the Chinese around the corner was called “Happy House”.  I guess due to our sound and the Siouxsie song of the same name, it seemed like a good idea at the time!

++ And about Happyhouse Chinese restaurant around your corner, were you a fan of their food at all? Or was it mainly a joke?

I think it was just a takeaway, not sure there was any sitting down in there.  I probably never went in – it was just the name that struck me.

++ First things first, how come there were no releases by the band?

No-one asked us! I didn’t have the first clue about how to get gigs, let alone get anything recorded, and it was still pretty early days anyway.  We didn’t last long enough to get to the ‘proper recording’ stage.

++ On Soundcloud there is a collection of 14 demos. They seem to be from different periods of the band. The first four tracks are not from Happysad. They date from 1989. Can you tell me a bit about these 4 songs, where they were recorded? Was it just yourself? Did these songs eventually end up being part of Happyhouse repertoire?

That Soundcloud blurb is a bit misleading, it’s certainly inaccurate ☺

I wrote and recorded lots of stuff on my own in June-August 1989 in Northampton after buying a 4-track and a drum machine. I put together a 60 minute demo (10 songs) of the ‘best’ of these in September which I took with me when I started Nottingham Uni.  The first three songs on Soundcloud are on the tape, only the first two (‘Drifting In Your Heart’ and ‘Just Like This’) are from the original demo – happyhouse played these two at every gig. There is another song on this tape that isn’t on Soundcloud that the band regularly played – ‘Believe In You’.

++ Then in 1990 C. Griggs joined as a bassist. Was this already Happyhouse or not yet? The two of you record three tracks as far as I know influenced by The Wedding Present’s “Brassneck” EP. They were recorded in Northampton. Do you remember where? And how come you didn’t find a full band for these recordings?

Chris & I were uni mates, and he was a bass player.  There was no band to start with. New faster songs were written (along with a few more of my epics) and we recorded them over a week in March 1990 in Northampton.  Kris the drummer joined for some practises around this time, but we weren’t a band yet, hence just the two of us and the drum machine.

++ I also wonder about these demos. Were they released in some form? Maybe as demo tapes? And if so, did you use to sell them or to get gigs, or send to radio shows and fanzines? Or were they just recordings for yourselves?

The first tape from 1989 was a ‘this is what I do’ thing in the hope of interesting someone.  Later ones were mainly just for the rest of the band to learn the songs.  I never gave any away otherwise, they weren’t exactly great audio quality!

++ Afterwards in 1991 you recorded two new tracks in Radford, Nottingham. That same year you recorded two songs with a full-band. Why the different approach this year with the recordings? Was the band not available yet for the songs recorded in Radford? Also I did notice a change in the sound on the two songs with the full-band, how come?

I think you mean 1990… to be fair, I think there was a steady procession of stuff for about a year.

There were more songs and more demos in the Summer of 1990 – similar in vein the Spring ones. By the autumn we had a full band, we’d found someone who was willing to promote us a bit (since we weren’t exactly great at that), so we practiced a bit more earnestly, ready for the live debut.  So we self-recorded the band – playing live in the practice room. It didn’t sound that great!

++ In mid-1991 there were also four songs that were influenced by the sound of Slowdive. It feels the sound of the band was constantly evolving. Also one of the songs in this new set, “I Wish I Knew Why”, is said to be a rip-off of Galaxy 500. Clearly you wore your influences on your sleeve. So what would you say were your main influences?

The 1991 recordings were really me playing with an effects box.  There was the odd acoustic guitar song too.  They were more about the instrument sounds than being proper songs, really – I had no interest in lyrics at all.

Bear in mind I was only a teenager for most of the writing period, so I guess I was just reflecting what I was hearing on the records I bought.

++ There was also a cover of “Calling” by Haircut 100. Did you record/play any other covers?

That’s an original of mine from the Spring 1990 demo.  I recorded a cover of “Surprise Me Again” in 1991, on my own on a wet Wednesday afternoon, the whole thing probably took less than 2 hours.

I recorded a few solo covers at various times, just for fun (doesn’t everyone?)  The band didn’t play covers as a rule – the exception being “Vapour Trail” by Ride, which we hammered out plenty of times in practice. It might have had one live airing, can’t remember.

++ Was there any interest from any labels at any point?

Sarah Records claimed they lost the tape I sent them ☺  Clare was very nice about it though – still got the letter somewhere.

++ And are there more songs recorded by the band? Unreleased ones?

The band just had one go at recording as a whole, that was it.  We had no plans to send demos out at this point, really.

There were LOADS more songs that I recorded, though.  Chris would have appeared on a number of the later ones.

I lost ALL of my 4-track masters in a ‘heating accident’ in the late 1990s, so a lot of songs have been lost forever.   All that was left were 4 demo tapes I’d mixed.

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

It was inspired by the need for shorter, faster songs ☺  It was one of the clutch of songs written early in 1990 that Chris and recorded.  Very quickly!

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

“Just Like This”.  I didn’t write that many bassline-driven songs, and this one seemed to work. Probably the first song I wrote that I was at least marginally happy with ☺

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

Nope ☺ We had a few cancellations and postponements along the way.  My diary says we had something planned as early as June 1990, but we never actually made it onto the stage until Feb 1991. We played 3 gigs in 4 weeks, had a break for exams (possibly), and played an all-day festival in June.  That was about it, I think!

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

They were all good fun, as I remember.   It snowed a fair bit on the day of our debut gig, so we quite surprised to get a good audience.  We played one gig where our drummer had to run off (literally, I think!) to another bar and play a second gig with another band straight away.  Another, we were the only band left on the bill, we were a guitarist short, and we had to fill about 2 hours.  A few songs got their only live airing that night!

++ And were there any bad ones?

No, they were all good fun.

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

The university calendar probably didn’t help – straight after out last gig, it was the summer vacation and we went our separate ways for a bit.  When we returned, I decided we should try to get a female vocalist.  There was one audition, it didn’t work out, and things basically fizzled out after that. I don’t think I even recorded any solo demos after 1991.

As mentioned before, Kris played in loads of bands, I think he worked as a session drummer, he certainly filled in as a touring drummer for a few bands who DID make records (Ludicrous Lollipops I remember, Midway Still perhaps? All a fog now).

Late in 1995, Chris & I formed a very short-lived band, Roobarb with a drummer who lived next door to us (Stuart Saunderson), for the sole purpose of playing a pub gig for someone’s birthday in January 1996. Practices were held, and we ended up playing a second ‘proper’ gig a few days later at the Filly & Firkin in the city (probably supporting Stuart’s main band, Figgis, at a guess).  No original stuff here!  The band had a definite end-date as I moved to Abingdon (Oxford) the following week for a new job.

Stuart later played with David Cronenberg’s Wife, who released lots of records ☺

Chris has also played in a few bands in the Manchester area from the 2010s.

++ Also after the band split you were a music photographer for an Oxford magazine. What magazine was that? What did the job consist of? And did you photograph big bands? indie bands?

Yes, Oxford was a bit of a change, there seemed to be music everywhere. I spent a year or so going to the ‘bigger’ indie gigs, much like I’d have done in Nottingham, and then gradually to more local band gigs, where I got to know some of the people involved in the music paper (Nightshift, still going – nightshiftmag.co.uk), the promoters and the bands.  If I could have been in this position in 1990, maybe happyhouse would have had a different life ☺  I didn’t fancy starting up or playing in a band, so I started taking photos of the gigs, and by early 1998 they started appearing in the paper (and also my own website). As this got me into gigs for free, I started going more and more, so at times there was hardly a night when I wasn’t covering something.  Not great for the day job!  I also went to London quite a bit, and got the odd photo in other papers and magazines (NME, Time Out).   That put me in touch with more indie labels – I took quite a few for Fortuna Pop! – Sean ‘paid’ me in records ☺  Also managed to get a photography credit on the Marine Research CD – photos were taken at a Candyskins gig!

As for photographing the ‘big’ bands, I generally managed to avoid them, either by accident or design.  I was at a tiny Coldplay gig with my camera in early 2000 in Oxford, had a quick look, decided against, and returned to the bar.  Well done me, they’d have been worth a few quid now.  I did cover Snow Patrol at around the same time, I suppose they were the ‘biggest’, and also the earlier incarnations of Foals.  But I focussed on the smaller indie bands/ local bands.  Prolapse were definitely the best!

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

Er, no ☺

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

The first gig was reviewed (with photo!) in the Nottingham Uni newspaper.  I was interviewed after our last gig by someone from the Sheffield Uni newspaper (at least think that’s what he said).

++ What about fanzines?

No.  We didn’t play enough, not at all in the city centre.  I don’t even remember any local fanzines – I’m sure they must have existed.  The Fat Tulips were around at the time in Nottingham, their Heaven Records label was running at the time, I bought quite a few of the singles they released.  I’ve still got FT tapes that I was given at the time, obviously not proper releases, so I must have known someone.

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

The first gig, as it was a long time in the planning! (Here’s a clipping of a review of this first gig!)

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

At age 19, it was pretty much music, music, music and beer, although I was a very conscientious maths student too!

++ Never been to Musbury or Devon, but have been in Nottingham. So I want to ask you, as 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?

Moving to Devon was well after the band’s existence, and I left Nottingham nearly 30 years ago, so I don’t think I’d be the best person to ask!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

The above is all making a very small band who only played live over a 4 month period and only really existed for a year or so sound far more important than we actually were ☺

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Listen
Happyhouse – You Know

03
Feb

A Soundcloud account by someone called David Ian. About 12 years ago he started uploading tracks, and the ones I am interested in are a set titled “PretendFriends“. I am guessing that was the name of the band?

This set has 8 tracks, the wonderful “Juliet Smiles” opens it and many great tracks follow, “Under the Union Jack”, “Bob”, “Six of One”, “Alice and Me (horribly hissy mix)”, “Forget to Breathe”, “Not a Girl” and “AGAOG Guide Track V5”. Clearly the last song’s name is not its name, right? I believe the name of this track is actually “As Good as Ordinary Gets”. There is another version of that song here.

There is not much info about the tracks. We know they were recorded between 1994 and 1995. There is also a little note saying that David apologises for the guitar solos in the tracks “Why is it Always Me?” and “Under the Union Jack”. He says that those solos are due to him listening to a lot of Dire Straits while at school.

I do notice that “Why is it Always Me?” is not one of the tracks in this set. Maybe it was at some point? In any case would be good to find this track.

There is also a demo version of “Forget to Breathe” that is not part of the set. There is another track that may be from the same band but I can’t be sure, but the sound is very similar. This track is “King of Saturday Night“. Let me know what you think.

Not much more info about this band. Safe to think they hailed from the UK as they had a song about the Union Jack.

Wonder whereabouts they were from. Doesn’t say. Did they play live at all? No releases I suppose.

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Listen
Pretend Friends – Juliet Smiles

27
Jan

Some jangly perfection from the early 90s. That is what the British band The Rainhorns were. Do you remember them?

“Facefull of Tears” was their only release. And it was a rare tape. Who knows how many copies were made. Maybe not too many. Was it perhaps a demo tape with 12 songs? Or was it really sold as an album?

It was 1991 when Farm Records (FARM 4) released this tape. The label appears on Discogs but has nothing else listed other than this tape. Was it the band’s own label? Did the label put out FARM 1, 2 or 3? Maybe they were other demo tapes from The Rainhorns? Many questions, no answers.

The album with “facefull” misspelled had a black and white photocopy style sleeve. Who is the person on the sleeve? An actor/actress maybe?

What we do know is the tracklist though, “Fifteen”, “Fairground”, “Keep Me in Mind”, “Miderable Town”, “How Can I”, “Hillside Heroin”, “Swirl”, “Waiting for the Sun”, “Shine Right Through Me” on the A side and “The Summer’s Come”, “Kitchen” and “Marrygoaround” on the B side.

I hope to find who were behind this band. If they were in any other bands. Where were they from. Anyone could help me with details?

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Listen
The Rainhorns – How Can I

20
Jan

Japan and all their bands that still remain obscure to me.

Clare being one of them. I have just discovered some of their songs on Youtube, mainly from their second album, the cassette tape “Womb Fantasy” released by the Italian label Best Kept Secret (LIE 046) in 2003.

Prior to that release they had put out a CD album titled “One Night 2001” (CAR 002) on the label Chocolat Art Returns which I have never heard before even though they had released an Orange Cake Mix album. This first album had 16 tracks, “Angel-Something Will Start-“, “Shining Star, Shining Sun”, “Stargazing”, “My Being”, “Yesterday and Today”, “One Night 2000”, “L/M/M”, “Kitten K”, “Nothing Makes Me Afraid”, “Not Here but Somewhere”, “A Boy Inside You”, “What Heaven Gives”, “Hand in Hand”, “Leave You To Me”, “SA-YO-NA-RA” and “Vaguness in Love”.

The album comes with some details about the band. Here we know that Kazu Ohno was on guitar, keyboards and programming, Yoko Takashima on vocals and keyboards and Isao Watanabe on guitar. The album art was created by Shigeki Komori and the album was recorded and produced by Room 203.

If you read the blog you’ll notice that the name Kazu Ohno is not unfamiliar. I have written about another of his projects, Tip Top Planets, before. He has also been on Room203, The Fruits Basket, Jenka and The Sun Never Sets.

After this album came “Womb Fantasy in 2003”. This time the album was recorded in 1999 at Studio K which seems to be Kazu’s own home-recording studio. The engineer for this record was Touru Isii and again the producer is Room 203 which clearly was Kazu. I suppose because of the time it took for this to release, these songs may have been demos or outtakes from the first album.

The album includes a guest guitarist, Yasuyuki Hatake.

And the tracklist was as follow, “Daze”, “Distorted Moon”, “Winged Angel” and “As You Think” on the A side and “Edge of the Top”, “Take Your Time”, “Here I Am” and “Fill My Room With Flowers” on the B side.

Two years later, in 2005, another album was released. Again on Best Kept Secret. The cassette album was titled “Easy” (LIE 098) and was recorded in 2004 again by Room 203. The songs were “Words Foil”, “Wanna Be Alone”, “Tears” and “This Life” on the A side and “Does That Answer Your Question?”, “Far Away”, “Itchy and Fidgety” and “If” on the B side.

The band would also contribute to a few compilations.

On the 2000 CD comp “Captain Circus! Chocolat Art Returns Compilation” released by the label Chocolat Art Returns (CAR 001) the band had the song “Friendship Makes the World Go Round”. A year later, 2001, the band would have songs on two compilations. First on “Prspctv” a CD comp released by the classic magazine Beikoku-Ongaku (BDBO-E0019) with the song “Something Will Start Part 2” and then on the “Bubblegum Factory” CD that Chocolat Art Returns (CAR-004) released with the track “Tears (Short version)”.

And that’s what I have. Not much background info, mostly the releases.

Where from Japan where they? Did they play many gigs? Were the other members involved in other bands? Who would know?

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Listen
Clare – As You Think

13
Jan

Anyone knows who were behind June Evenings? There is the one song I am aware of, just one… called “I Wasted All My Wishes On You” and as you might notice it is really great.

Problem is that even though it rings a bell to me, I can’t remember anything about them. My thinking is that it is not an old song. Not older than 15 years at least. Has to be from the 2000s. Maybe it was from one of those MP3 compilations that sometimes blogs would put together. Maybe?

The boy/girl vocals, the clear Sarah influences (think Field Mice, Brighter), and lo-fi recording make this a delicious slice of indiepop. But did they record anything else? Did they go to be in other bands?

Were they named after Air France’s song “June Evenings” perhaps? Where were they from?

The questions are many. I am just hoping someone remembers them and can give me a few details about this band.

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Listen
June Evenings – I Wasted All My Wishes On You

06
Jan

Dum spiro spero, which translates to “While I breathe, I hope”, is a Latin phrase of indeterminate origin. It is the motto of various places and organisations, including the U.S. state of South Carolina.

Next year I am going back to Manchester, I am very excited. I am going to see The Man from Delmonte at Band on the Wall on February 25. Will just be for a short time but I am hoping this time to see some of the sights. Last time I barely saw anything, it was too quick. Hope to see some friends too.

So far I am traveling solo, it seems not many indiepop kids from my generation are going to this gig. It seems the big crowd will be fans from the band’s heyday.

But today I want to talk about another band I’ve just discovered that hailed from the Manchester area.

Probably from Stockport, there was an 80s band with the name Dum Spiro Spero. They were formed by Simon Wroe on vocals and guitar, Isabel Keyes on vocals, James Michael on bass and Nick Berry on drums. To my surprise they released a 7″ in 1985 which makes them not as obscure as I thought they would be!

The “England Does Not Exist” 7″ came out on a label called Lizard Literature Records (LL 1). Probably it was their own, right? No other releases are listed for this label. Aside from the title song on the A side the record came with another track, the B side “The Hunter & The Hunted”.

The black and white sleeve shows headshots of all four members on the front, and on the back we find lyrics for the two tracks. We also find some credits, the band members names which I’ve shared and also that the record was engineered by Paul Machiavelli at Drone Studios in Manchester. The record is dedicated to Stephen Berry, and all songs are credited to Simon Wroe.

But then there’s the find… the tracks are online. They are on Isabel Keyes Soundcloud account. You can find both tracks from the 7″, “England Does Not Exist” and “The Hunter & the Hunted” as well as two other songs, “Tell Me” and “Looking for the First Time“.

One immediately wonders if these two extra tracks were a possible second single? Or maybe they were recorded as demos? Or even recorded at the same recording session of the 7” tracks?

There are no details.

What there is though are some other tracks from bands Isabel had been involved like two 80s bands The Blue Dolphins (the track “Secret” is very good) and Tortoise.

And that’s what I could find about them.

Maybe some of you have more details about this band who are categorized as a goth rock band on Discogs, but I didn’t think that was the case. But you tell me.

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Listen
Dum Spero Spiro – England Does Not Exist

30
Dec

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?

23
Dec

“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)