Thanks so much to Keith for the interview! I wrote about The Honeymooners time ago, and happily he got in touch with me to tell me the story of this great Scottish band! I have only heard 3 of their songs and was amazed to know there are more, albeit, still looking for them! Would be great if anyone could help us track those demos. The band was active during the heyday of indiepop and released one 7″. It is good time to discover them of course, and if you already heard them, I think you’ll love this interview. Oh! And the photo up there was taken by Ross Donald.

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

Hi Roque – I’m good, thanks, and it’s a pleasure. I’m just doing stuff for myself these days. Over the years since the band went its separate ways I’ve learned to play bass, drums and a bit of keyboards and I’ve been doing home recording since the 90s. I’m just starting to get good now, ha ha.

++ 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 memories are probably my dad playing the piano at home, and a specific memory of being in an empty church with him when I would have been four while he practised playing the piano for my cousin’s wedding. I remember him playing ‘Wedding Day at Troldhaugen’ by Grieg, which is a bit of a banger in its own modest way, and probably the first piece of music I was conscious of liking. The first single I bought, aged about 9, was Crazy Horses by the Osmonds, and the first LP was Aladdin Sane. First gig was Queen at the Glasgow Apollo in 1977.

I got a nylon-strung acoustic guitar on my 15th birthday. I learned to play from a book, then from listening to records and periodically buying/borrowing books of chords or sheet music. I’ve still got the sheet music for Another Music in a Different Kitchen.

++ Had you been in other bands before The Honeymooners? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?

My first band was called Sound Diagrams. We were a Postcard-influenced guitar band and played Skids, Joy Division and Buzzcocks covers. We played two gigs in 1981, both birthday parties, and recorded one demo/cassette EP the same year. I don’t have any copies of this, or indeed any of the Honeymooners’ demos.

++ What about the other members?

I think you wrote about End Result in your blog piece – the same line-up eventually became a poppier guitar band called Yeah! Yeah! I joined them as second guitarist in 1982 and when Joe, the singer/guitarist, left in 1984 we regrouped as the Honeymooners with Jean singing.

++ Where were you from originally?

I was born in London and grew up in Stockton-on-Tees, moving to Helensburgh, a town to the west of Glasgow, when I was twelve. I think David lived in Manchester at some point before he lived in Airdrie and Stewart and Jean were from Airdrie and Coatbridge respectively.

++ How was Glasgow at the time of The Honeymooners? 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?

The most exciting time for me was probably 1979-1981 when I lived in Helensburgh but could get up to Glasgow on the train to see bands. I saw the Skids, the Undertones, the Specials and the Buzzcocks (supported by Joy Division!) at the Glasgow Apollo, and the Cramps at Strathclyde University Union. In 1981 alone I saw The Fall supported by the Scars at Eglinton Toll Plaza (and one of New Order’s first gigs at the same venue around the same time), the Gang of Four, Pere Ubu and the Delta 5 on the same bill at Tiffany’s, and Orange Juice and the Fire Engines at the Roseland Ballroom. Graham, who was the other singer/guitarist in Sound Diagrams, bought Blue Boy and The Only Fun in Town, and that’s how I first heard them and got into Postcard.

By 1984 the Scars and Fire Engines had split, the Orange Juice line-up had changed, and I remember going to see bands who were tipped for big things but never made it – the Fruits of Passion, His Latest Flame, Sunset Gun. I think 1984 is also the time that the first of those cod-American bands – Love and Money, Hipsway and the like – appeared.

I do remember that things seemed to be picking up indie-wise in 1985 – I was quite enthused by a benefit gig for Youth CND at the Kelvin Hall where Duglas’s pre-BMX Bandits group shared a bill with the Pastels and pre-fame Wet Wet Wet. Then the Splash One club started, and they seemed to be into a lot of the same things we were, and I personally was – both the iconography (Warhol, The Prisoner…) and some of the music (The Loft, Felt, Julian Cope), although we were never a part of that scene other than going most weeks, and I don’t think they thought much of us as a band.

The best record shops were Listen and Bloggs, which I think were both in Renfield Street/Union Street (and possibly ‘Wee Bloggs’, which was in St Vincent Street). I remember going up to Glasgow for a university open day and slipping away to visit the record shops. Listen sold badges in its basement and I bought Buzzcocks and Josef K badges there.

++ During your time there were many great Scottish bands, so I wonder if you have any recommendations for obscure bands that didn’t get a chance to make it?

One band that I think should have been bigger is a post-punk funk band from Aberdeen way called APB who we all saw a couple of times in the mid-1980s.

I didn’t find many of the local bands that made up the Splash One scene musically interesting, and I’m quite surprised at the careers some of them went on to have. I did like the floppy-fringe, ‘sha-la-la’ version of Primal Scream, and the Mackenzies.

++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

In 1982 I had moved up to Glasgow and was living in a student residence next to the Botanic Gardens. I put an advert up in McCormack’s music shop (which was where all the local musicians advertised). I think I mentioned Postcard and Josef K. I received two phone calls, one from an individual, and one that turned out to be from a band called Yeah! Yeah! I met Stewart and Joe in the Rock Garden pub in Queen Street and then joined them for a rehearsal the following Sunday in Joe’s house, which was in the countryside outside Airdrie.

I began contributing songs and at some point Joe didn’t want to be in the band any more, I think because the songs I was contributing were taking the band in a poppier direction, and we regrouped with Jean as singer. As the Honeymooners, we carried on with just me playing guitar for a while, which I did on the first two demos, then Gudgie (Gordon Keen) joined us as a temporary guitarist and finally we met Martin, again in response to an advert, I think.

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

I was unemployed for a year after graduating and had a lot of time to sit and noodle on a guitar. Every so often I’d stumble on a ‘good’ chord sequence and top-line melody, and very often another one would quickly follow that seemed to fit with the first, so that was my verse and chorus sorted. I was borrowing a lot of jazz records from Hillhead Library, and trying to learn to play that kind of fast, fluid jazz guitar with all the treble rolled off, by playing along with records by Django Reinhardt or Charlie Christian. I used to borrow books of tricky chords from the library and whenever I learned an interesting new chord or voicing I usually got a song out of it.

The jazzier songs came out of learning to play a bar chord based on A major 7. I remember writing Pulsebeat, which is almost all barred major sevenths, at my grandad’s house in Edinburgh, where I was staying the summer after I graduated. The part of Another Fit… that I think of (with great cultural insensitivity) as ‘the Spanish-sounding bit’ is based on the Amaj7 shape.

The first Honeymooners practices were at a studio/rehearsal space called the Hellfire Club, and after that we rehearsed at Berkeley Street studios.

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

I think we would have been looking for something vaguely kitschy and 1960s-referencing. I think we considered The Avengers, which at the time in the UK only meant the 60s TV series. The Honeymooners came from a book called ‘The Patrick McGoohan Screenography’, and was the title of an episode of ‘Danger Man’. None of us were aware of the US sitcom of the same name, which is practically all you get if you google ‘The Honeymooners’.

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Purely from my point of view, I can hear a lot of our sound, and my guitar style, in Josef K’s cover of ‘Apple Bush’ from the John Peel session. We all liked the Monochrome Set and before we did a bit of a pivot towards jazz, a lot of my guitar work was very twangy and Lester Square influenced. I also assimilated some of the jazzier lead guitar on their second LP, ‘Love Zombies’. Another big influence on my guitar playing at the time was ‘early’ Go-Betweens (i.e. the first three LPs), both the nervy, scratchy guitar of ‘Send Me a Lullaby’, which I think of as being Robert Forster, and that lovely, warm, twisty, melodic guitar (Grant McLennan?) like in the solo on their song Unkind and Unwise. I also attribute the awkward time signatures/extra bars in some of my songs to the Go-Betweens’ use of the same.

I think my interest in a jazzy sound starts around 1982 with Night and Day by Everything but the Girl, The View from her Room by Weekend, and, less obviously, Portrait by Five or Six, which is on Pillows and Prayers.

We all really liked the Laughing Clowns. Stewart sent a fan letter to the drummer, Jeffrey Wegener, and got a reply. I also loved the first few Blow Monkeys singles (Atomic Lullaby, Wildflower, The Man from Russia) and their first LP, which has the brass and fretless bass of the Laughing Clowns, but is much sweeter and poppier.

++ I read that as early as 1984 you were releasing demo tapes. There’s one demo tape from that year including “Fate”, “Wild Woman” and “Fun Machine”. I was wondering if through the years you put out more demo tapes? Can we do a demography?

Demo 1 (1984) Recorded at Park Lane studio, Glasgow

Fate, Wild Woman, Fun Machine

Demo 2 (1985) Recorded at Berkeley Street studio, Glasgow

Apple of your Eye, Pulsebeat, What Pleasure, What She Says…

Demo 3 (1986) Recorded at Berkeley Street studio, Glasgow

Taste of Good Things, Untitled, Change of Heart, Pulsebeat (Live in the studio)

Demo 4 (1987?) Recorded at a studio in Edinburgh

I think we recorded this one twice because there was some kind of major falling out with the engineers and the owner ended up giving us another day in the studio. I can’t remember any titles, although I think we might have got round to recording a song with the working title ‘A Wee Gem’. There was also a very good song of Martin’s.

++ You only released one record, the wonderful “Another Fit of Laughter” 7″ in 1987. I was wondering how easy it was to pick these songs from your repertoire for the record? Were there any other songs that were possible singles?

Looking back, I think we knew our best songs were Taste of Good Things, What Pleasure, Pulsebeat and ‘A Wee Gem’. What She Says… is a lovely moody ballad with an outro a bit like the arpeggios in ‘I Want Her (She’s so Heavy’).

I think we chose the two songs on the single as they were relatively new and fresh and we had the idea that Taste of Good Things would be the second single, after we’d been snapped up by a ‘proper’ indie label. So we were kind of throwing forward to that with the message in the run-off groove.

++ Where were the songs recorded? You produced them, right? How was that experience?

They were recorded over a weekend at Ca Va in Glasgow, a recording studio in a former church. No-one produced it as such, and I feel that shows! I couldn’t listen to it for a long time as it just sounded tinny. I remember the response from some friends of the band being, “It sounds like a demo”.

The reason for that was that we wanted the recording to be as live as possible, and even went to the trouble of taking a rehearsal recording of the two songs to the studio beforehand and explaining what we were looking for. I think getting a rough, ‘live’ sound with minimal overdubs was a ‘thing’ at the time, maybe a reaction against slick 1980s production values.

I think the record would have benefitted sound-wise from having a producer, a sympathetic ‘grown-up’ who knew our songs and had the authority or the people skills to overrule us on certain choices. There’s enough ‘live’ feel from the bass and drums to have been able to overdub some of the guitars, say a fatter lead guitar, and maybe double some parts. The arrangement of the A side is pretty good, though – the way it quietens down to acoustic guitar/side stick, then builds to the end with the sax and trumpet stabs. I didn’t really have anything to do with those ideas, and don’t know if they were planned out by the others or just done in the heat of the moment.

++ Was it your first experience at a recording studio? Any anecdotes you can share about the recording sessions?

We’d done quite a few demos by that time and Stewart and David had had the End Result songs released on record.  On the first day, we blasted through the songs together and got them down on tape and then at some point the engineer said, OK let’s overdub the guitars now, and we said, “no, that’s them done – we explained to you we wanted to do it this way”. We pretty much fell out with the engineer at that point.

I think by that time we’d got the impression that engineers were just there to say ‘no’, to explain to you why you couldn’t get the sound that you wanted. I remember this particular guy moaning to us that the guitars and Jean’s voice were all bunched up in the same frequency range and there was a big hole in the mid-range. He was right, but he should have spent more time on recording the guitars during the live take. Martin overdubbed that nice acoustic guitar on the A side, but I don’t think any of the electric guitars on the record were overdubbed in the end. The studio/engineer aren’t credited on the sleeve – I think they might even have asked us specifically not to mention them, as it would reflect badly on them, but somehow that doesn’t sound plausible. I think some magic was worked at the mastering stage with compression and the like to give it a bit more oomph.

++ The 7″ came out on Mr. Ridiculous Records. Who were they? Was it yourselves?

It was indeed ourselves. The recording, pressing etc. was self-financed. I think Stewart’s dad contributed as he’s thanked on the sleeve, and we got help with the printing of sleeves/labels from (friend of the band) Martin Muir’s dad (also thanked). Mr Ridiculous is a song by the Laughing Clowns, and a great name for the label, I think, even down to that RID 001 catalogue number. We did 1000 copies, and I think it was distributed by Fast Forward and The Cartel. I remember there being boxes and boxes of singles, maybe in David’s garage.

++ The sleeve had a photo of Jean on the cover. You were telling me it is a photo from a video. Where was it taken? And where are these videos of the band? I’d love to see them!

I think that still came from a video of a gig. I think the video camera belonged to Stewart and Jean, and I think Martin Muir would have filmed us. I don’t have any video material myself, although I’ve got quite a few photos.

David did the sleeve, using a ‘Tipp-Ex’ correction pen on black card. I did the labels using technical pens and Letratone from my job as a draughtsman. Looking at how well the sleeve turned out I should have let David do the labels to match.

++ “Taste of Good Things” was supposed to be the second 7″ single by the band. But it never came out. Was it recorded? Why wasn’t it released?

The short answer is that we split up not long after the first single was released. What little interest we received as a result of the single and the write-up in the NME didn’t translate into anything, and I don’t think we would have been interested in self-financing another single. We did record Taste of Good Things for our third demo the previous year, but I remember hearing it again in the 2000s after not having heard it for 15-20 years, and it just sounded comically fast.

As a result of the piece in NME we were contacted by a guy called, improbably, Paul Rump, but I think he liked us less the more he heard of our stuff! He was interested in Jean as a solo artiste for a while.

As well as the sense of ‘too little, too late’, in hindsight we were all growing apart in quite a natural way, given that we were in our early to mid-twenties and starting to devote our energies elsewhere, getting ‘proper’ day jobs, starting families and the like. I don’t think any of us were very enthused by the way ‘indie’ music was going – C86 and all that.

++ . Are there more recordings by the band? Unreleased tracks?

Just the demos mentioned above and the track on the Leamington Spa CD, which was taken from the third demo, and which I found out about via TweeNet. I’ve no idea how the compilers got in touch with Jean/Martin, and it seems unlikely that they would have the original reel-to-reel master, so I can only imagine it was mastered from a cassette. I went to live in Japan in the late 1990s and again in the 2000s, which involved putting all my stuff in storage twice, and a lot of possessions disappeared in that time, including all my demo cassettes.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Untitled”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

The lyrics are Jean’s. I wrote the tune in the manner I described above by arriving at a set of chords plus top-line melody, then quickly finding another part – in this case, I think it was the introduction/chorus followed by the verse. They both include diminished chords, and seem to go well together. I was trying to remember what inspired the little riff played on the single string in between the chords in the intro/chorus and I realised it’s Up the Hill and down the Slope by the Loft. The overdubbed diminished chords on the last verse sound like me trying to invoke Josef K.

When we recorded it, the engineer put my guitar through an Eventide Harmoniser, and I quite liked the result, but after we got out the studio somebody decided they didn’t like it and the studio was instructed to run off another version with ‘clean’ guitars.

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

Taste of Good Things. It’s my best top line melody/chords, I like my lead guitar melody and the ‘Pearl and Dean’ ending. I think that song perfectly balances sweetness, which I think verged on cloying on some of our later songs, with astringency.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We played a lot of gigs, mostly in Glasgow and the surrounding towns (Wishaw, Cumbernauld, East Kilbride…), one or two in Inverclyde (Gourock or Greenock), a couple over in Edinburgh, including one at a venue called the Onion Cellar where I think we played with World Domination Enterprises and the (pre-acid house) Shamen, and a ‘mini tour’ where we played Arbroath, Aberdeen and Inverness. We played a couple of times at 46 West George Street, where the Splash One nights were held. I think we might have been allowed to play a Splash One (maybe The June Brides & The Soup Dragons), but only very grudgingly, at the bottom of the bill and not appearing on the flyers.

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

It’s pretty anecdote-free, I’m afraid. I remember playing a gig in Glasgow in 1987 and being pleased that some people in the crowd were familiar with the single. I also enjoyed supporting bands I liked (the first line-up of James, the June Brides, the Monochrome Set). I also liked playing new songs live for the first time. Thinking about it now, I never owned a working guitar amp the whole time I was in the band, so I don’t know how I always had something to plug in to when we played.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Nothing terrible – mostly just the misery of travelling in the back of a van and having to dismantle and load your own gear up at the end of the night when you just wanted to be home in bed. The flyer for the Mayfair gig says ‘Doors Open 10p.m.’ – that’s practically bedtime! We played one Saturday night gig in Edinburgh without having organised a place to stay and had to kill the time until the first bus went back at something like 5 o’clock the next morning – that was miserable. Our Arbroath date was a midweek one in a pub, playing to what clearly wasn’t an ‘indie’ crowd. It’s the only time I’ve ever played to absolutely no applause at all.

++ When and why did The Honeymooners stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

I think it would have been mid-1987, not very long after the single came out. I remember a couple of pretty awful, tense demo recording sessions, my own sense that the new songs weren’t as good as the ones on the first two demos, my own getting fed up with playing to what I felt were fairly indifferent audiences.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

We all carried on playing to an extent. I played guitar in a few bands, sometimes with Stewart on drums, but didn’t contribute any songs.

++ Has there been any The Honeymooners reunions?

Not as such – I was still in touch with Stewart and Jean on and off until the mid-90s, but then I went off to Japan, then Germany, and didn’t return to Glasgow.

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

Janice Long played the single on Radio 1, maybe twice.

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

The single got reviewed in most of the weekly music papers (NME, Melody Maker, The Cut (a Scottish music paper), The List (a sort of Scottish ‘Time Out’) and a couple of independent music trade magazines, including one called Underground. The reviews were generally favourable. My favourite one was by Richard Cook in the NME, who called it “an honourable mess, straggly with bits of trumpet and saxophone, with the saving grace of a few ideas that are actually in motion’’. We also got a small write-up at the front of NME by The Legend! (his exclamation mark).

++ What about fanzines?

The first demo got a fairly lukewarm review in a Scottish fanzine called ‘Deadbeat’. Joe gave us a glowing write-up in his fanzine, ‘Know your Product’, and there was a great appreciation in ‘Searching for the Young Soul Rebels’ which I think I only read after we’d split up, and which went a long way to making up for what I felt had been general indifference while we were active.

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

For me at the time it was playing a good new song live for the first time, supporting those bands I mentioned, hearing Another Fit… on Janice Long, and the Richard Cook review in NME. Oh, and the fact that the single was mastered by George ‘Porky’ Peckham. Post-split, it was that ‘Young Soul Rebels’ piece, and then a long time later stumbling on a handful of incredibly perceptive and articulate pieces about the band/the single online, starting with Tim Hopkins on TweeNet, then the appreciations on Backed With and The New Vinyl Villain and most recently your article.

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

Drawing, painting and printmaking.

++ Been to Glasgow twice, and really liked it but I would ask a native about it, what are your recommendations. I want to know what would doing here, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

I haven’t lived there since 1997, but on the odd occasion I’ve been back I’m struck by how much great stuff there was on my doorstep when I lived in the west end – Kelvingrove Art Gallery, the Hunterian Museum, Kelvingrove Park, the Botanics, Byres Road and Ashton Lane. As for food and drink, there were always really good Indian restaurants and Italian cafés.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for writing about the band. I’m really pleased that you find things to like about stuff we did 35 years ago. Looking back from 2021 I think we had a lot of good ideas and we weren’t afraid to plough our own furrow.

A couple of interesting videos that you might not have seen (just for context, we’re not in them):

The Hellfire Club, The Tube, 1982, from a larger feature about the Glasgow music scene

https://youtu.be/wIzMgARjyCo?t=1103

Footage of a Splash One ‘Happening’

https://youtu.be/dJX2LeYalS4

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Listen
The Honeymooners – Untitled

Fidel came up with the idea. He found a picture like that on the internet and we wanted something similar. Yes naked – his former girlfriend.

++ You also covered some of his songs for a tribute album. Were these your favourite Jazz Butcher songs? Or do you have other favourites?

My favourite Fishy songs are „Big Old Wind“ and „Still And All“. But I love „Sister Death“ as well.

++ . Are there more recordings by the band? Unreleased tracks?

Sure – but they will stay unreleased… Some not even digitised.

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Listen
The Purelove – Little Devil

Thanks so much to Dave Fennessy for the interview! I wrote about the band Soundhouse a few months ago not knowing at all who were behind the one song I had heard by them. Luckily Dave got in touch and it turned out it was the same Dave that run the legendary indiepop club The Fountain in the early 90s! So I had to ask questions about that too! So this is a 2×1 interview, with lots of great anecdotes, one no indiepop fan should miss!

++ And of course I have to ask, why did you choose to do songs in English instead of Swedish?

We were used to listening to music with English lyrics, and it felt less boring to write in English. Ylva and I recorded more songs in Swedish, but they have not been released.

++ Your first release was the “Dreamland” 7″ promo in 1987. How come this was a promo release? How was it used to promote the band?

The album was called promo because then we simply did not have to pay extra money when we pressed it. I sent it to all possible and impossible places. Mainly venues and newspapers in Sweden, but also to a couple of newspapers in other countries. I thought it would be a little more exclusive to get a 7 ” than a cassette tape. We got good reviews and the best was the American magazine Option Magazine which thought it was 1987’s best 7 ”. I was told in some strange way that they wrote a review, but it was impossible to find the newspaper in Sweden, so I called them and there was chaos on the phone because they were so happy that I called. They then said that they thought it was the best 7” of the year, ”and everyone in the editorial staff loved it. When I got the magazine sent to me, I saw that we had better rewievs than Soundgarden´s first EP. This caused another magazine “Rockpool” to write to us and they wanted to distribute the record to all their college stations. We only had 171 of the 7” and they were all gone, so nothing happened. We would have pushed up more, but there was no money and no one wanted to spend it.

++ Then, in 1989, came the “I Walk Alone” 7″ that used the same artwork of the promo 7″. In general I’d say you had some cool art for your records. Who was in charge of that?

Fun you think so. We’ve always been in close contact with different artists, so that’s probably why. I have also done some layout on the records. A little anecdote. The cover of “Sad Songs on a Happy Day” is hand-printed so each cover is unique. Much as we did with releases was what we today call DIY.

++ This 7″ came out on Joker Records. Who were Joker Records and how did you end up working with them?

Joker Records was a small independent company that had received money to release a collection of CDs with interesting bands from Sweden. We were on that record with a demo recording of “I Walk Alone”. Since I worked with TV, I had met a photographer who wanted to make a video with us. It turned out so well that it would be shown on Swedish TV at Christmas time, and then we thought it would be good if there was a single to follow up with, but there was no record company that was interested, so me and the photographer went up to Joker and presented how we thought, and he thought it was OK, even though he was not a fan of the song, but it was a free production that he just needed to release without any financial outlay. The video went on Swedish television and MTV Europe and the single came out and we got to play at the most prestigious festivals in Sweden. Why there was nothing more on Joker was simply because he was not interested in us as a band.

++ One thing that caught my attention was that on some records your name appears as Lindhgren with an H. What is the correct spelling?

Anders Lindgren is a fairly common name in Sweden, and some are engaged in aesthetic activities, so I wanted to be a little unique and break myself, so I added an H but it often went wrong anyway so it should be Lindgren without h. At discogs I am Anders Lindgren 2 and at IMBD I am Anders Lindgren 7 (VII).

++ “(Take Me To) Wonderland” came out in 1991. Now a new label too, “Exercises in Style”. Care telling me a bit about them as I am not familiar with this record label?

Exercises in Style was a company from Uppsala that mainly had Uppsala bands, but since we played so often there, they probably saw us as an Uppsala band.

++ “Sad Songs on a Happy Day” from 1992 comes out on Gullö Gram. Again a new label I don’t know about! That’s the same case of Hawk Records who released your next release. Any info would be appreciated.

Gullö Gram was another small indie company that released their own records and ours. Since we did not have a record company that thought they wanted to release us, we had to do it ourselves. J-O who had the company, I had worked on several projects so it was an easy way to release our songs. If there was interest from other companies, it was no problem to license the songs if they were interested. By this time we had become quite refined when it came to record company contracts. So the album became like a CD demo. Hawk Records was a slightly larger company that thought Happy Revolution was great, but they wanted their own stamp on it. So they paid for the recording of the CD, but I was the one who produced the songs as usual. Hawk Records included the song on a record that presented hit songs from Sweden to present at the MIDEM fair in Cannes.

++ Having worked with so many labels, was there a favourite one that you liked working with best?

I see no major difference between the companies. They were all small indie companies and I ended up producing the songs most of the time.

++ “Sad Songs on a Happy Day” and the 1994 single “Happy Revolution” both came out on CD. It was the 90s of course. But I do wonder what’s your take, do you prefer vinyl over CDs? Or what’s your favourite format?

I like vinyl records  of course. This is how music should be listened to. Good length of music and just the right number of songs.

++ You worked a bit with Jan Olov Gullö, on his label, as well as producting your records. How important was he for the success of the band?

J-O meant a lot to us as a band because he did not care about internal conflicts, but made the best of what we had for song material. Furthermore, he helped us work in good studios. He came from a different background and was my total opposite. I’m confused with ideas. He is rational and educated at the Academy of Music. He steered up in a good way and helped us to highlight our sound and was careful with the design of the text. 

++ In 2016 there’s an mp3 album that I was curious about called “Different Colours of a Stone”. Were these new songs? Recordings from the band’s heyday? And how come there was no physical release?

“Different Colors of a Stone” were recordings that would be released on another company. Everything was finished recorded and mixed, when the record company’s owner became responsible for part of a big record company´s releases so he was not allowed to work with competing activities as it was called. I had the master mixes and thought I could give out the material. Nobody was interested in it today, so I released the material and added Dreamland to the digital edition. It was the first time Dreamland was released since the first 7 ”. Better late than never. 

++ When it comes to compilations you appeared on an Alex Chilton Tribute compilation called “Not the Singer but the Songs” released by Munster Records in Spain. How did this Spanish connection happen? Did you ever play any other countries other than Sweden?

Two nights in pubs in Madrid was the reason why we were on that record. We had had contact with Inigo at Munster rec. before, so he knew us and liked us. Yes, we played around a bit in the Nordics and would play in some other European countries, but things came in between. 

++ Are there still more unreleased songs by the band?

Yes, there are, but many of the recordings are gone.

I would probably choose two songs. 

– “I Walk Alone” – the fragility, the melody and what I think is a fantastic carillon. Very Velvet inspired. 

– “Annie c / o Loneliness” – My absolute best music production. Likes the lyrics and the harmonics construction. Depressingly positive. 

“Yes.” I Walk Alone ” the video were sent on Swedish Television and on MTV Europe. The video “Happy Revolution” aired on MTV Asia and on ZTV in Sweden. The radio in Sweden played both “I Walk Alone” and “Take Me to Wonderland”. We were interviewed and played on Finnish radio YLE, at college stations in the USA, on local radio channels and student radio channels in Sweden. Hard to know where and when it was played. That we were played was evident in the Copyright payouts. One person told me he was walking and looking in a store in New York, and heard “I Walk Alone” in the store’s speakers. Fun.

The video for “I Walk Alone” has been on Youtube before, I know because I have seen it. 

Thanks so much to John McMahon for the interview! I wrote about the Walkinstown, Ireland, band The Kendalls on the blog not that long ago. I was of course looking for more information as the details about them were nowhere to be find on the web! Lucky I was that John got in touch and was keen to answer any questions I might have. And even better he answer all my questions quickly, so I didn’t have to be curious for too long. So yeah, join me in learning a bit more about The Kendalls!

++ Hi John! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you?

I’m fine thank you, I’ve had a turbulent year. I’ve changed my job, we have two grandchildren aged 8 and 4 living with myself and my wife, Annemarie.

I’ve also had two major health scares which turned out okay in the end, so it was a good year rather than bad. Ever the optimist!

++ Are you still involved with music?

++ 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 musical memories are the sounds of the ’60’s – great pop songs, listening to the music my aunts were playing: The Small Faces, the Monkees, The Kinks, The Byrds, Dylan all that stuff. Then in late ’78 it was almost an epiphany hearing ‘Janie Jones’ the opener on the Clash’s first album. Wow!! That was really the genesis of the band – that was the ‘big bang’ though it did take a while to get instruments and start playing.
I bought a crappy Hondo Strat copy and I bought myself a chord book and started picking up bits and pieces from there and the rest is . . . obscurity. 

++ Had you been in other bands before The Kendalls? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?

The Kendalls can be traced right back to the first line-up, Paul Barrett (another Clash fan) played Bass, Gabriel Bruton, a very aggressive drummer joined shortly after. (Many years later, Myself and Gabriel worked together in the Newspaper Industry and the first thing he did was throw a pen at me, but not with the same violent intent that he used to throw his drumsticks at me during practice. He’s one of the greats.) The sound would be ‘garage band’, that wasn’t typically garage. We NEVER played covers. And all through the time we were all together, we never even attempted a cover. This went against the ethos, we wanted to keep it pure. If there are copies of the early stuff – feel free to blackmail me!

++ What about the other members?

I mentioned Paul and Gabriel, next in was Ben Rawlins. Ben was playing guitar in a heavier rock band with Paul’s next door neighbour Pat (Huggy) Murphy R.I.P. There was an incident where drink had been taken and an altercation with the local police force and Ben took off to London as many of our peers did at the time, to get work or just hang out in the summer. Ben came back about three months later, with a short, punky haircut, heard what we were trying to do and signed up. When Ben arrived, things started moving, he was technically more proficient than us and he knew we needed lots of practice not lots of gigs. Gabriel got impatient – he really wanted to gig – it wasn’t happening, so he called it a day.
The band petered out without a drummer and that was the end of the original line-up. That would have been ’86.
Next to join was Alan Biggs (Biggsy), our second drummer, he lived down the road from me and was a friend of my younger brother. His older brother was a drummer and I knew he was playing too, so I was keeping tabs on him.
George Murphy (R.I.P.) arrived not too long afterwards and that was the ‘classic’ line-up completed.

++ Where were you from originally?

Myself, Ben, Alan and Paul were from Walkinstown, Gabriel was from nearby Drimnagh and George was from Crumlin, so we all grew up within no more than a mile of each other.

++ How was Walkinstown/Dublin at the time of The Kendalls? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Walkinstown is a pretty quiet suburb. In Dublin there were two alternative record shops at the time, Freebird and the Sound Cellar. Venues were scarce, the main place was ‘The Underground’ which was an Alt Mecca. Stepping up, there was ‘McGonagles’ which sporadically featured bands and nowhere else of note.

++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

We all knew each other from growing up in the area, Paul was a big Clash fan, Gabriel was his classmate, Ben grew up around the corner from me and we played football (soccer) against each other a few times. (He was quick and quite skilful – but he’ll deny this). Biggsy was approached when the time was right and George turned up with his best mate John Daly after he heard we were looking for a guitar player on the grapevine. Morgan (Moro) Hughes replaced George much later, I went out with his older sister for a while. 

We always recruited in our local bar, the Submarine. If we asked you for a beer – you were in!

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

At the start, I was writing all the songs, but Ben came in and he was coming up with really good ideas too, so that was a big gamechanger. Until he arrived, I’d bring a song in or part of one and jam it with Gabriel and Paul and then I’d finish it afterwards or dump it. 

As time passed, he wrote all the music and I wrote the lyrics, which probably didn’t help the dynamic of the band – I really should have kept knocking out the tunes.
We were practicing in a ramshackle place called Furlongs – most poverty-stricken bands started there.
We moved to Litton Lane later on and we shared a room with ‘The Icon Trial’ much later on.

++ Who were the members and what instruments did each of you play?

First line-up: Me (guitar, vocals), Paul (Bass), Gabriel (Drums).
Classic line-up: Me (Bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Ben (Guitar), George (Bass) and Alan on Drums. 

Moro replaced George much later.

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

Ben picked the name ‘The Kendalls’ – I have always hated it – there I said it! (lol).

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Definitely The Byrds, The Clash, garage band stuff, we were trying so many different things, I think we couldn’t pinpoint much more than that!

++ And what about Irish bands? Which are your favourite bands from your country? And if there are any that you would recommend to me as obscure bands that deserve my attention?

The original line-up of Guernica would have been up there. We knew them from having a few beers around the town, nice guys, Ciaran the Bass player was a really thoughtful, melodic player.  I don’t know whether Ben remembers, but we saw ‘Whipping Boy’ in 1989/90 and though they were all over the place, they had a couple of songs that had class written all over them.
When I was 16/17, I was into S.L.F., the Outcasts, Rudi, Ruefrex all the Northern scene, which is weird, because we’re living in Belfast now.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “A Place in the Sun”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

I wrote that song long before it appeared on the second demo, it was only with the arrival of Ben, Alan and George that we had the proficiency to play it well. I wrote the song when I was 19, I was just leaving behind my morose teenage years (listening to too much Joy Division) and the theme of the song was of the realisation that the journey was the important part not the materialism that surrounds us (very profound, eh?).

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

Too many to choose, but I’ll pick ‘Love shouldn’t be like this’ because it’s a great song and it was the song that Kevin (Sully) O’Sullivan R.I.P. always raved about, he really got it. Sully was the bad influence on us he got us into some hairy scrapes – he was the accelerant!

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We played quite a few gigs but we never pushed on to headlining, which really pisses me off to this day.
I felt we were more than ready and we were as good as, if not better than the vast majority of our peers.

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

We played McGonagles one Saturday afternoon, the place was packed out. This was a major buzz to be playing there, as it was hallowed ground. I’d seen Echo and the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, The Fall and many more there, so this was special. On both occasions we played there we were ace. I was a little anxious beforehand, I remember worrying if the big, wide stage would show us up, but when we kicked off we sounded great, George and Alan were so big and punchy behind me and Ben’s guitar was glistening across the top. We projected ourselves superbly and there was great interaction with a fairly young crowd who were loving it. 

 We were playing support to ‘A House’ in the Underground – it was a hot, summer evening and after the gig, we had a quick pint and decided to sneak off to a quiet bar to chill. By the time we got to the exit just to the right of the stage, A House’s lead singer Dave Couse was looking on with a horrific, hang-dog look on his face as the vast majority of the audience headed for the exit.  

We were coming back from a double-header with our pals ‘The Drinkwaters’. We had two busloads who travelled 40 miles to see both bands (over 120 souls). The gig was great but the bus driver didn’t want to to stop too often, so one of our friends, Sparks, a big guy opened the emergency door at the back of the bus and was holding our sozzled friends by their belts as they pissed out onto the motorway. I fairly shat myself thinking about that the next day. 

I’m afraid most of our anecdotes are either X-rated or may incriminate people we know.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Oh yeah . . . Our last ever gig in the Baggot Inn the Thursday before easter, 1990. The omens were not good, I found out the pick-up in my guitar wasn’t working and I had to wing it without a guitar. In hindsight, I should have just played with the guitar not plugged in. Anyway, I was bouncing around the stage in uncharted waters and I fell off. I remember getting up and George and Alan thought this was hilarious, I looked over at Ben and he was furious. There were some strong words after that one.

++ When and why did The Kendalls stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

We ceased to exist not too long after the Baggot incident above, at the time I thought it was directly associated with what happened there, but I don’t think that’s the case. Ben left briefly the year before and I kept the band together to push on. He rejoined, but I don’t think his heart was in it, as he was more into becoming a sound engineer. 

I wasn’t happy the way things worked out either, I felt at the time that I was kicked out of my own band that I’d put a lot of time and effort into. To be honest, I was heartbroken and it took be quite a long time to get over losing friends and the death of the band. That’s the way it felt, believe me.
In hindsight too, I handled it grudgingly, but I do regret a stand-up row I had with Alan our drummer.
I was way out of order – but we got in touch quite recently and it was like it was many years before, we talked and all was good. He’s a great guy and a thoughtful, superb drummer.
I haven’t spoken to Ben for over 25 years, we have had indirect communication but little else. It’s a shame really because a good friendship is hard to find.
George’s death rocked me personally, I couldn’t make it to his funeral but it’s such a shame. George was a really sound guy, he was very quiet, but a great musician.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Moro played on with other bands and George joined him in the ‘Songmonsters’ along with Paul Byrne an old pal of ours, playing covers until George’s death. Ben was playing with Sasso for a while there too.

++ Has there been any The Kendalls reunions?

There was one haphazard rehearsal a year after we split, but nothing came of it.

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

Yes and No!

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

We got bits and bobs in the papers, but again, we never really pushed hard enough.

++ What about fanzines?

I don’t think there were any fanzines around in our locality back then. (God I sound old!)

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

Playing live with a great band behind you, there’s nothing better. The sheer adrenaline rush of playing just did it for me. I remember sitting in a pub with some of our mates and we came on the radio, that was a rush, something small really, but it meant a lot to me. 

And the girls . . . it was mostly innocent fun and nobody got hurt. We lived through the time of the Aids epidemic, which would make Covid seem like a walk in the park.

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

Football! I loved playing it, love watching it, I met my wife while visiting Glasgow to watch Celtic.
Football filled that gap in my life after the band fell apart and the friendships made are still strong. 

I’m pretty active in the ‘Clash against the Right’ group. It’s an anti-racist, anti-fascist group and there are some truly great people involved. I’ve always been a lefty, I’ve loved the Clash for years so it’s a natural progression. We have an event coming up in London in October and hopefully, the year after, I’ll play it with or without a band with some new material.

++ I once went to Dublin and I really liked it. I hope I return. But I want to ask a local what would you suggest them doing there, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

As I haven’t lived in Dublin for over six years – a lot of my old haunts are gone or have changed hands, I would recommend the ‘Dublin by Locals’ website for a heads up on where to go and what to see.
We used ‘Paris by Locals’ when we visited there and it turned up some absolute gems and was very informative. 

If you are in Dublin – you have to try the Guinness. If you get a great Guinness – you will know it!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

This was almost like a therapy session for me, your questions have unleashed many ghosts in my psyche and I’ve tried to be as honest as I can. I’m sure the surviving members of the group will read this . . . so I send you all glad tidings from West Belfast.

As a parting shot . . . In the film ‘A Bronx Tale’ Chazz Palminteri’s character, gang boss Sonny gives the main character ‘C’ some advice about a man only having three great loves in his life.
If that’s true then mine are My wife Annemarie, Celtic FC and The Kendalls. (Though I’m sure my better half will dispute the order I have arranged them in!).

Thanks again Roque, I will try and get other material to you as soon as I can.

Your friend,
Johnny

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Listen
The Kendalls – A Place in the Sun

Thanks again to Ian Nixon for this interview! I had written about The Shrew Kings some time ago and it was a band that I had been curious about for so long. Some readers had also asked me to find out more about them. Ian was part of the band, but not since the start. But he was kind enough to share his memories of the time he was in The Shrew Kings. Previously Ian had talked with me about his other superb bands The Clamheads and Borgnine!

++ Hi Ian! Thanks so much for yet another interview! So we talked about The Clamheads and Borgnine. In the timeline of bands you’ve been where dos The Shrew Kings fit?

I was 25 when I joined the Shrew Kings, I’d been in a few groups prior to that but nothing notable.

++ The Shrew Kings wasn’t really your group according to what you told me. So how did you end up joining them? When did that happen?

With another group I’d played support gigs with the Shrew Kings in London, we got to know them a bit, they were looking for a bass player so I applied.

++ Was there any overlapping between The Shrew Kings and The Clamheads?

No

++ Were you part of all of the band’s releases? I know you were for sure on the “Sad But True” 12″. But not sure about the other releases?

No, Sad But True was the first, then the Green Eyed Kid single.

++ And of course I have to ask how different to The Clamheads were The Shrew Kings? Sound-wise I find them different, but what about the creative process for example?

Totally different. The Shrew Kings operated like a collective, anyone could and did contribute songs, there were no limits, we’d try anything. Which sounds great but results can be variable.

++ Where did you usually practice?

A rehearsal studio in South London.

++ The Shrew Kings were based in London like The Clamheads, but I was wondering if they moved in the same circle? Did you play the same venues, had the same sort of fans, played with the same kind of bands? Or was it different?

We both played the London circuit but the fanbase was very different.

++ Who were the other band members in The Shrew Kings? Had they been involved in other bands?

Jef Harvey (singer) had released a single with a group called the VDUs, and had also been in King Kurt. Not sure about the others, but they were Bill Tidnam (singer), Mike Hughes (guitar), Eoin Shannon (drums), Noel Byde (guitar), then a bit later Clive Jackson (guitar, trumpet, whatever he could lay his hands on). Clive was probably the most talented of all, a true artist, also a very funny guy, he made me laugh so much. 

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

Don’t know, that was before I joined. It’s a great name, I always liked it.

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Too diverse to say really, but let’s go with rockabilly, Bertolt Brecht, the Velvet Underground.

++ All of the band’s releases came out on Thin Sliced Records. Who were behind this label and how did you end up working with them?

A guy called Nick Corker ran the label. He was a friend from South London and had released the first King Kurt single which was quite successful, other releases less so.

++ Was there interest from any other labels?

Not that I remember.

++ Another thing that is quite unique about The Shrew Kings is their artwork. It has a very particular style. Who used to take care of that? Were some of you visual artists perhaps?

That was Jef, a very talented artist. I think art was as important as music to him.

++ One thing I notice is that the band released a few singles, a mini-album, a live-tape, but no album. Was there ever plans to do it? Are there more unreleased songs by the band?

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

Yes, a lot, almost all in London but also Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Bath, Bristol.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

Yes, a lot, almost all in London but also Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Bath, Bristol.

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

For a while we ran a club in the Piano Bar in Soho, central London, there were some brilliant nights. It was an after-hours gay bar, various celebs used to hang out there. We put on comedians, cabaret, etc. That was really the closest we got to the vision of what the group should be, a slightly sleazy multi-media cultural event.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Almost certainly but it’s a blur. Every gig was an event, I’ll say that much.

++ When and why did The Shrew Kings stop making music?

Towards the end of 1987 we just ran out of steam.

++ The band recorded a radio session for Radio One. Were you part of that? Do you remember anything about it, I couldn’t find any information!

That was before I joined, four tracks on the Janice Long show. I think they were Losing my Cool, Bird has Flown, Dr Love and Sitting Here.

++ I think Janice Long also had “Play Brecht” as record of the week. Did the radio pay good attention to the band you’d say?

Not that I’m aware but it was before I joined.

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

Yes we had a lot of good press, amazingly good really, probably better than we deserved if I’m honest.

++ What about fanzines?

There’s the interview in No Class, which is online. I don’t remember much else.

++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for your time in The Shrew Kings?

The club in Soho.

++ You are doing now a blog called “Every Gig I Ever Went To” where you remember every single gig you attended! That’s an amazing enterprise. What inspired you to do it? How much time do you dedicate to this project?

It’s a lockdown thing which got out of control. I started making a list of every gig I could remember, then my wife suggested I write a blog. I add to it every so often, when I have time. At the moment I’m still in 1977 so this could take a while!

++ Are you following the Euro 2020? how do you see England in the tournament?

Yes, enjoying it. England have a very talented young squad but so often it just doesn’t come together, very frustrating. Italy look good, great to see Wales doing well again.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I hadn’t thought about the Shrew Kings much in recent years but writing this I feel quite fond memories, it was a good time. I’ll see if any of the others would like to add something.

Sad to learn that Nick Page, who produced Sad But True, died recently. He was endlessly supportive, a great musician and a very nice man’ + a link to this obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/18/nick-page-obituary

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Listen
The Shrew Kings – Losing My Cool

Thanks once again to Ian for this interview!! Just a few weeks ago we did an interview about The Clamheads and we know that the band reformed in the mid-90s under the name Borgnine. So this is like a 2nd part of that interview, here we talk about this 2nd period of the band and it is great as there is so little info about this period, even less than the 1st period of the band! The band released an album on CD called “None the Wiser” that is worth tracking down!

++ Hi Ian! Thanks so much for being up for another interview! How are you? Any plans for this summer?

A week on the coast in Northumberland (north-east England), bleak and very beautiful. At the moment there’s not much point planning foreign travel.

++ We were talking about The Clamheads last time, which was almost the same band as Borgnine as I understand it. But there was a gap in between the two bands. You were telling your time then was mostly oriented to family. But what about the other band members, did they continue making music?

I don’t think they did. For a while I played guitar with an Oxford group called Arthur Turner’s Lovechild, who are local legends. They were formed by Mac who was an original Clamhead with Matt. Great group but it was Mac’s thing, not mine. I had two small children and very little money, it was quite a difficult time.

++ In 1995 you feel that you want to be in a band again and you all reconvene. And suddenly you see that there is another band in London called Clamhead. I still think The Clamheads is different to Clamhead, was it an easy decision to use a different name? Why not continue with the one you had?

Now I think we should have continued with The Clamheads, but I don’t remember discussing it much.

++ I haven’t listened to Clamhead at all, were they your cup of tea?

Never saw or heard them.

++ You choose to name yourselves Borgnine after the actor Ernest Borgnine. Were there any other options that you considered?

Lots of really terrible options. Finding a good group name is hard.

++ I feel in 4 years, what lasted the gap between The Clamheads and Borgnine, Oxford/London must have changed a lot. Also musically indiepop wasn’t fashionable at all in the mid 90s. What were the main differences for the band between the 1st period and the 2nd period? Were there less like-minded bands? Less places to play? Or did it change for the better perhaps?

Late 80s/early 90s the Manchester/Acid/Baggy groove was the thing, then when we reformed it was the Britpop era, but we never tried to ape any of those scenes. There weren’t many contemporary groups we liked, maybe Teenage Fanclub and the La’s.

++ Speaking of like-minded bands, were there any bands in London you were fans of then, or friends, bands that you would like to share gigs with?

No, we were quite secluded really, we didn’t feel any particular affinity with anyone. Probably not a good thing tbh.

++ Did the creative process change for you? Or was it the same as in The Clamheads? Where did you usually practice now?

Same as before, Matt or I would come up with a song and we’d try it, if it sounded good we’d keep it. We rehearsed in the basement room at Mike’s house in central London, that was great because it was so easy.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Everything You Need”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

That’s one of Matt’s, I’ll ask him.

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

I can’t be objective about my songs so I’ll say Things That Stop Me Sleeping, that’s one of Matt’s.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many in this 2nd period?

Yes quite a lot, mainly around Oxford. There was a good scene there at the time.

++ You played again in France, right?

Yes in 1996. The others don’t remember it but video evidence exists! I’ll get it digitised and put it on YouTube.

++ Did Borgnine get more radio or press attention compared to The Clamheads?

Yes, some good reviews in the Oxford music press.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for Borgnine?

Playing in France, for sure, I loved it every time.

++ You told me about some hobbies you have, and you were telling me you are learning Arabic. How is that going? Must be very difficult! What made you choose to learn that language?

It’s very hard! I can just about recognise the alphabet now. French is my subject and there’s a substantial shared history between France and the Maghreb countries, and a significant population of North African origin in France, including some of my best friends. Also possibly because I can’t yet read it, I love the appearance of Arabic script, and the way it feeds into Islamic art which tends not to use representational imagery. Being able to read it might spoil the effect, beautiful script might just be saying something like ’no parking’!

++ You were telling me too you were a football fan! What team do you follow? Do you go to games often?

Oxford United, I’ve been a fan since I was 8 years old. You can’t change, it’s a life sentence! They’re not a famous team but I don’t care. I go to every home game with Angus Stevenson, guitarist in the Relationships, previously in the Razorcuts and legendary Oxford group Here Comes Everybody. Phil Selway from Radiohead and Mark Gardner from Ride are regular Oxford fans.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m very happy to see some interest in the Clamheads/Borgnine. I still love the album and think it’s one of the best things I ever did. I’ve written 100s of songs, most of them are rubbish – that’s a fact, not false modesty – and I’m glad they were never released. I get embarrassed even thinking about some of them. However I think None the Wiser is consistently good, it was a fantastic time and the guys were and are great friends. Je ne regrette rien!

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Listen
Borgnine – Everything You Need

Thanks again to Hiroshi for another interview! Not too long ago Hiroshi and me talked about his previous band, The Korova Milk Bar who has just released a new 10″ which you can order from the Blue-Very Label and Sweet Nuthin’ Records. It is a great record that we should all get!
After The Korova Milk Bar Hiroshi went to be in the fantastic Johnny Dee, who got much more attention and got to release many records in the 90s. They got inspiration by the best indiepop from the UK and it clearly shows in their songs, that have perfect taste and many should be considered indiepop classics! So yeah, so excited to do this interview!

++ Hi Hiroshi! Thanks so much for doing a second interview!  This time let’s talk about your most known project, Johnny Dee! My first question has to do with that, why do you think Johnny Dee got more attention compared to The Korova Milk Bar?

G’day, Roque-san! Nice to see you again.

I think that is because so called “Japanese Neo-Aco” stands for Neo Acoustic has penetrated in Japan 1990 onwards. When we were The Korova Milk Bar in late ‘80s, it had not penetrated and only limited space. Also, in case of Johnny Dee, because was able to release on vinyl.

++ How was your town at the time of Johnny Dee? Where there now more pop bands? Perhaps more places to play?

At that time, I lived in Fukuoka, the city in western Japan, and there were some such guitar bands and club scene. Besides us, Instant Cytron, etc. We also played several times in Fukuoka. Originally, since Fukuoka was popular for rock music and great rock bands, so was called “Liverpool in Japan” Therefore there are some places to play in this city.

Fukuoka’s band called “Mentai Rock”:  e.g., Sonhouse, Sheena & the Rokkets, The Roosters, The Rockers, The Mods

++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Most of us were ex-The Korova Milk Bar. After that, Tsuyoshi and Sho joined the band as new member. We met through music or friends.

++ What about the other members of Johnny Dee, had they been in other bands previously?

They belonged to other bands. I and guitar, Yusuke had been in the same bands.

Actually Asako Koide-san from Eikoku Ongaku(英国音楽) wrote our family tree in a liner notes inserted in the 10” vinyl of The Korova Milk Bar will be released the end of May in 2021. Please kindly refer to it if you possible!! (sorry, in Japanese though …)

++ What instruments did each of you play in your songs?

Members other than me were able to play most of instruments. I was in charge of the vocal melody and lyrics. When recording, the songs wrote themselves were played by themselves. Tsuyoshi and Yusuke were good at so called “Neo-Aco”. Seiji wrote some anorak songs.

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

Before the gig, we were in studio, but sadly we lived in different city, so couldn’t practice much.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? I suppose you liked Johnny Dee’s fanzines and The Chesterf!elds?

Exactly. Named after the writer of Melody Maker magazine. He’s sung by The Chesterfields, right?

++ Did you ever meet them?

Yes we did. We’ve done a gig with The Chesterfields and TV Personalities in Fukuoka in ‘90s. Then we played TVP’s “Part Time Punks”. Although I changed to the title “Part Time Mods”.  The Chesterfields members were so bright people and nice guys.

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

It’s a lot of bands. About Johnny Dee, The Smiths, Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens, Friends Again, Lotus Eaters, EBTG, Max Eider, Prefab Sprout Andy Pawlak, and The Hit Parade. Of course, we were influenced the other obscure UK bands.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Motorbike Loves You’”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

What I remember is that regarding guitar, maybe inspired by Johnny Mar, Rody Frame and Paddy McAloon. Bass sounds like obviously Andy Rourke. Girls chorus melody inspired by Tracy Thorn. About song title probably inspired by “The Girl on a Motorcycle”.

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

It’s ”Motorbike loves you” or “Hey, Gentle Girl” . We may not be able to make more than these two songs anymore.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

I think we’ve played about 5 times. Two of them, we did support acts for international bands.

e.g., Saturn V & Carousel, TV’s & The Chesterfields

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

Unfortunately, It’s nothing. We don’t have much fun memories because we were always so nervous.

++ When and why did Johnny Dee stop making music? Did you continue making music with other projects?

We were offered from two major labels, but it didn’t work well. After that, I formed The Palm Songwriters with Seiji (ex -Psycha-Go-Go). Tsuyoshi formed 101 Dalmatians.

I and Tsuyoshi also formed Johnny Johnny and released 12” by the Bananafish records.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Tsuyoshi, Sho and Seiji had been in some other bands.

++ And then there’s been some reunions, right?

In terms of Johnny Dee, had just one gig in Tokyo two years ago by Vinyl Japan.

++ Was there any interest from radio? What about TV appearances?

I’ve appeared on radio, but I was not keen on either.

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

There were some interview on magazines.

++ What about from fanzines?

We had some interviews from fanzines. In those days, there were many indie fanzines in Japan. Especially “Eikoku Ongaku” (英国音楽) in ‘80s was the most important fanzine in Japan. I believe, thanks to “Eikoku Ongaku”, Japanese NW indie scene has accelerated and transformed obviously.

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

That is the release of 1st single, “Motorbike Loves You”.

++ You were telling me that aside from music you like fashion. Was wondering if you ever considered or worked in that industry? And if you were, what sort of thing would you like to do?

I’ve never worked in the apparel industry. I’ve been working at international IT company.

I love the new wave fashion anyway, but I’ve never ever thought of working in the at Apparel industry. I think it’s just better as hobbies. Like we used to imitate Punk from Johnny Rotten, Mods from Paul Weller, Ska from Jerry Dammers, Goth from Robert Smith and ‘50s used fashion of Morrissey.

++ And one random question about Japanese culture, here in the West many people are fans of manga and anime. Are you too? Do you have any favourites?

Unfortunately I’m not interested in anime, but I’m keen on “Attack on Titan(Shingeki no Kyojin) and “Kingdom” nowadays. I absolutely recommend this two anime !

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Listen
Johnny Dee – Motorbike Loves You