Day 234

Stephen’s Shore: our Stockholm friends will be back with a wonderful 7″ on January 22nd. This new 7″ EP will be titled “Brisbane Radio” and will be released by the great Meritorio Records from Spain! There will be 4 songs, one of which we can preview right now, the opening track on the A side, “Brisbane Radio”. Other songs in the record are “Midvert”, “Skogen” and “Up to No Good”. Essential!

Boy with Apple: I don’t know anything about this Gothenburg based band only that their new song “Iceage” sounds really good to me. It is on their label’s Bandcamp, Varø. I should keep an eye on them.

Cassie: the Isle of Wight band which I interviewed not too long ago, and who re-released their classic 7″ earlier this year on Reminder Records, is going to be back with “The Light Shines On” LP! This LP that includes many of there great songs that never got to see the light of day is available now to pre-order on Reminder Records site. There are also 4 songs there to preview, “Falling”, “Boys will be Boys”, “Keep in Touch” and “She’s a Flirt”

Talking Bloom: here is a Windsor, Ontario, Canada, band that have just released a new song called “Bloom”. They make swirling shoegaze/dreampop and they do it well! The band is formed by Nate Blackton, Jill Goyeau, Jay Turnbull and Jeremy Brousseau.

Rilev: and one more. And yes, more shoegaze. This time from Mexico City where the band Rilev released their album “FADE” just today. It is a short one, 7-songs, but it is quite dreamy and moody that sounds good for this very gray Lima day.

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So I did write about the Glasgow trio Christine’s Cat and I mentioned that I had to write about The Besotted as Robert Smith had been in both bands as well as The Golden Dawn. Today I am making that promise true.

I doubt there’s much to find about The Besotted on the web but I will try of course. I know them thanks to a 7″ that Blam-A-Bit from Germany released in 1992. This was the “Kaleidoscope” 7″ (BLAM 014) that I do own but I can’t seem to remember where I bought it. I feel it was through an obscure German mailorder many years ago, but it could as well have been eBay. In any case it was a 7″ that I really enjoyed playing a lot when it got home. It has some great noisy songs.

These songs were four, two on each side. The A side has “Kaleidoscope” and “Mooncrash” while the B side has “Everyday” and “Dolls House”. Something cool about the vinyl is that it has some etchings on the runout. The A side says “Scratch it out!” while the B side “What’s Your Perversion? – Phone 06257-86248”. Who’s phone was that?

The 7″ itself has no more information.

We do know though that the band contributed songs to a few compilation starting in 1990 with “Sugarpuff” to the compilation “And they Call it Pop” released by Fragrant in the UK and on the 1990 tape compilation “Heol Daou” from France they had the song “Every Day”.

The song “Sugarpuff” would appear too on the “Around the World” (ER-016) tape comp released by Elefant in 1992 and on the “Firefly 2” cassette that came along the US fanzine “Burning the Midnight Firefly” that Keith D’Arcy made.

In 1992 the band would contribute “Kaleidoscope” to the “Around the World Again” tape released by Elefant (ER020) and  the song “Mooncrash” would appear in the “Everlasting Happiness” compilation released by our friend Andreas from Germany.

And that’s it when it comes to releases and songs it seems. We know too that Robert Smith went to be in the band Meth O.D. during the 90s.

Our Madrid friend Alex wrote about this single in his blog 7iete Pulgadas back in 2016! In this blog post he mentions that he can’t find any information and even Cloudberry Cake Proselytism hasn’t written anything about them! Oh dear! He was counting on the blog and we disappointed. Hopefully we can make up for it now.

Of course one thing we need to find out is who was the female vocalist. That is something I am curious about. I suppose it was just Robert and her. Was she in other bands perhaps? Another interesting thing would be to know if there are more songs. We know at least of 5 songs.

Who would know more about them? Any information will be appreciated!

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Listen
The Besotted – Kaleidoscope

Thanks so much to Colin Brown for the interview!! I wrote about the Liverpool band Personal Column some time ago in the blog! Happily Colin got in touch and was keen in answering all my questions about his great 80s band! Oh and they also have a website, so check it out!

++ Hi Colin! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

How am I ?  I am fine, recently retired and loving it.  I stopped playing completely when Personal Column split though I have never stopped writing lyrics. I have recently started playing again, purely for enjoyment.

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

My first musical memories are watching Ready Steady Go and Top Of The Pops on TV.

The first single I ever bought was You Were Made For Me by Freddie And The Dreamers and my first LP was A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles.

My first instrument was an upright piano I had at home, as well as an electric guitar.  The first keyboard I played in PC was a Casio which in those days was state of the art.

While growing up I listened to 60’s and 70’s pop, then went onto groups like Yes, Jethro Tull, and still my favourites to this day, Peter Gabriel era Genesis.

++ Had you been in other bands before Personal Column? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

I was never in a group before PC and never thought I would be.  I was a lyricist who ended up playing in the band because we couldn’t find a keyboard player.

++ Where were you from originally?

I was born in Liverpool, as were everyone in PC.

++ How was Liverpool at the time of Personal Column? 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?

Liverpool, when PC were active, was like most working class areas cured by unemployment, the miner’s strike and Margaret Thatcher.

Our favourite record shop to get the more obscure music we like, was Probe Records, which had a

good selection of punk and reggae and is well known because Pete Burns, the singer from Dead Or Alive, worked behind the counter there.

There were not many venues for bands to play in Liverpool.  The best and most well knows was a

pub called The Masonic, which had bands on 7 nights a week and anyone who was anyone played there.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

The band started when I put an advert in a music magazine for someone to put my lyrics to music and Marc got in touch because he only lived half a mile away.

We wrote songs for a couple of years and then decided to put a band together.  Mike knew a bass

player, Mike Hayes who knew a drummer called Mike McCarroll and they both joined.

Just before the two Mike’s joined we rehearsed with another bass player called Marc O’Toole who left because he had too much college work to do, though a couple of years later he found fame and fortune in a group you might have heard of, Frankie Goes To Hollywood ?

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

The creative Process?  I would give Marc a bunch of lyrics and he would look through then and pick the ones he liked and put music to them.  Then we would get the band together and work out.which songs would sound good live.

We rehearsed at the main rehearsal rooms in Liverpool, The Ministry, most of the gigging bands rehearsed there including Teardrop Explodes, Echo And The Bunnymen and Black.

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

We were looking for a band name and one night Marc and I were having a writing session and during a break we noticed his girlfriend was reading a newspaper and was reading the personal column and we both liked that and now we had a name 🙂

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

Influences on the band?  The Beatles, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Steely Dan etc.

++ Your first two releases came out on Contrast Records. I was wondering if this was your own label? Or who were behind it? How was the experience of Contrast Records?

Contrast Records was our own label, run by Marc and me and our manager Royce.  We started it because we couldn’t get any serious record company interest.

Contrast Records only released our first 2 singles and we didn’t release anything by any other bands.

++ Before releasing the first single, had you had any recording studio experience? Perhaps recording demo tapes?

Before recording and releasing our first single, Ignorance Is Bliss, we had a lot of experience in recording studios and recorded a lot of demos of various quality.  I have a lot of demo and rehearsal tapes which will never see the light of day.

++ The art for the “Ignorance is Bliss?” 7″ is very simple and quite different to your next two releases. Who came up with it? Did you usually design your sleeves?

To be perfectly honest the art, if you can call it art 🙂 for the first single was Marc and my idea, we were running out of time before it was printed, ran out of money, and must have been in a drunken moment thought of the design, I think it is terrible and probably one of the worse sleeves ever 🙂

We did design the sleeve for the second single but had learnt from the first and the second sleeve, in my opinion is far better.

++ The next release is the wonderful “The Same Old Situation” 7″. At this point there had been some lineup changes. What had happened?

The line up changes had been coming fr a while, we were not that happy with Mike’s drumming and sacked him which was not a nice thing to do as he was a lovely guy.

We got Terry Sterling in and rehearsed like mad and played a week after, Mike the drummer came along and after the gig said he could now understand why we did it, and he remained a good friend.

We also recruited Rob Boardman who was a very experienced guitarist who had played in a few Liverpool groups, notably “The Jazz Babies” who recorded a superb session for John Peel.

++ How was the experience of working with Steve Power and at Pink Studios? What was a recording day like? Beer and pizza?

To be honest I cannot remember working at Pink Studios, although I know we did.  Steve power was a lovely guy but I cannot remember that session at all sorry 🙁

Roque, of course, just remembered we recorded our second single with Steve Power in Pink but I just cannot remember anything about that session.

++ Lastly you would end up signing to Stiff Records to release your last single. How did they approach you? Were there any other labels interested in you? And how was working with them? Did it make a big difference for distribution and promotion?

Stiff Records boss Dave Robinson heard a Peel session, got in touch with out manager, we went down to see them about signing to them although no contract was offered.

Somehow we got railroaded into agreeing to record an album for Stiff in Coventry.

The day before we were due to start recording Royce got a phone call from the MD of CBS records, saying they wanted to sign us and offering us double anything that Stiff were offering.

We foolishly turned CBS down, which turned out to be our worse decision ever I think.

We recorded the album, which turned out to be terrible, the production was so bad, we refused to let them release the album.

They still said they wanted to sign us and put out the single Strictly Confidential which we were proud of but sadly became the first Stiff release not to get into the UK top 200 singles, for to number 205 I think.

Then our manager went to meet Stiff to sort out the contract and they had changed everything about it, so that was the end of them.

I guess their distribution was good, but not in our case  their promotion was terrible, really I think they had lost interest in us, the only thig they did was get us on the German version of Top Of The Pops, “Formal Eins” which was a wonderful experience.

They had only pressed 10,000 copies of the single in Germany, which sold out in the week after our TV appearance but Stiff refused to press and more so that was the end of that 🙁

++ This last single was released in 7″ and 12″ formats. Was wondering what format do you normally prefer for singles? And how exciting was it to get international releases for this record in Spain, Netherlands and Germany? Did you end up going to these countries?

To be honest we didn’t even know that there had been 12” versions of Strictly Confidential released until many years later but apart from a promo copy of “Strictly Dancewise” I have never managed to track one down.  I know the Spanish one had 4 versions on, 2 of which I have never heard.

++ The 12″ version was exclusive to Spain and it included a dub version and a long mix versions. Who made these and what was your take on them? Was that where your music was going?

Since I wrote the above I haver managed to buy a copy of the Spanish 12” which is great and have also bought a copy of an Australian 7” and I know there is a Dutch release and I am sure many more I don’t know about?

++ You recorded your first Peel Session in 1982. That must have been amazing. Who did you work with on the recording? How long did it take? Did you meet John Peel!?

Doing the first Peel session was great.  I cannot remember which session it was but Dale Griffin, the ex drummer from Mott The Hoople produced one of our Peel sessions and he was a lovely guy and a great Producer. Recording the session started at 1pm and you had to record and mix the 4 tracks that day so it was pressurised but the results are great.

++ Then there was a second Peel Session and a Kid Jenssen Session. Which was your favourite session then? and why?

My favourite session was the first Peel one.  We all went to our managers house on the night it was first broadcast and it was a magical night. Hearing John Peel say how much he loved our songs was magical, we never thought he would like our music because it was too poppy, luckily he did.

We met John Peel a few times and he was a genuinely lovely man.  We did an interview for his show and I have a tape of it which I treasure.

++ I read that you signed a publishing deal with ATV music. Does this mean your songs were owned by Michael Jackson?!

Yes, our songs are now, or were, owned by Michael Jackson, so now I guess his estate owns them?

++ There was an album recorded for Stiff Records too, right? What happened to it? Why was it never released?

We did record an album for Stiff Records, we recorded it in Coventry but the results where terrible, the production was so bad we refused to have it released.  With hindsight maybe it would have been better to let it be released, at least it would have raised our profile.

++ From what I’ve read there are more recordings by the band. Are there plans to release them?

We have very many recordings and there are no plans to release them, I honestly do not think there would be any interest in them, we are not exactly well known.

++ Have you ever thought of putting them together in a retrospective release?

Again we have never thought of putting them together in a retrospective release because there would not be enough interest in them.

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

“The Same Old Situation” was inspired by the political unrest in the UK in the 80’s, with Thatcher as prime minister closing all the mines and destroying the unions. The same thing has happened to ordinary people since time begun have been exploited and used by the bosses/upper classes and the same old situation repeats endlessly and sadly always will.  That is what inspired the song.

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

If I had to choose a favourite song it would have to be “Strictly Confidential” because Stiff flew us over to Munich to record a video for the German version of Top Of The Pops called Formal Eins and that was a highlight of our career. I also loved “A Woman’s Place” because a girl we knew said we could not write a song from a woman’s point of view and we wrote the song the next day.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? 

We played a lot of gigs in Liverpool and played quite a few Universities and Colleges around the country.  We also played a lot of benefits for “Rock Against Racism.”

We also played at a festival in Switzerland, once in Zurich and once in Basle.

The Basle gig was one of the worse we ever played because when we got to the club we were playing in and were waiting to play there were a couple of men in there wearing full SS uniforms and with us having a black singer it was not a nice atmosphere, as soon as we had finished playing we got out of there as soon as we could.

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

In 1985, when the Live Aid concert was held at Wembley Stadium, There was a concert help at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool called Liver Aid which we played in.  It was then the biggest venue in Liverpool and anyone who has ever acted or played in a band wanted to play there and it was an amazing experience.  The highlight was when, as an encore, all the performers went on stage and sand Imagine.  One of the best moments of my life.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Sure there were bad gigs, The Basle one was the worse but we had gigs, like one in Portsmouth University, which was a five hour drive from Liverpool.  When we got there the promoters told us it was half term and we ended up playing in a massive hall to about 10 people which was no fun.

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

Personal Column broke up because we were fed up of banging our heads against a wall and getting nowhere but releasing 3 singles and recording an album was an achievement and with hindsight we should have kept going but Marc and I had just lost our Publishing deal and we were deep in debt and couldn’t see any way forward.

To be honest our first couple of years were the best, when we signed our publishing deal with ATV Music we were put under a lot of pressure to write less political material and to my eternal shame we did try but really our, well certainly my, heart was not in it.

I kept on writing with Marc and he signed with Elektra Records and recorded an album, Too True, which sank without trace. An example of how stupid records companies are,  the album was recorded at a cost of $500,000, and that is in 1985 but when the first single Let Them Stare was released a plugger said he could get it into the US top 20 for $10,000 and Elektra refused to pay saying they had spend enough.  Madness.

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

The rest of the band continued playing in bands but none of note.

++ Has there been any Personal Column reunion?

Never been a Personal Column reunion, never really thought about it and to be realistic there would not be a great demand for one though Marc plays solo gigs these days and when he plays Personal Column songs they go down a storm.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

We did get a lot of radio plays.  Strictly Confidential got into the BBC top 10 for radio plays but sadly that did not translate into sales.

++ On TV you appeared on Granada’s Exchange Flags. How was that? Did you appear in any other TV programmes?

The Granada Exchange Flags appearance came about when we got a call from Granada asking if we wanted to appear and of course we said yes.  It went out live so it was a nerve wracking but enjoyable experience.  After we finished I went into my local pub for a pint and as I walked in the whole pub applauded which was highly embarrassing.

We appeared on local TV a few times and of course on German TV.

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

We got a lot of gig and single reviews in local papers and in the NME and Melody Maker, we even got mentioned in Elvis Costello’s column in the Daily Mail, he said how much he loved our band which was great.

++ What about from fanzines?

There were 3 main fanzines in Liverpool in the early 80’s, One called “Breakout” another called “The End” which was written by members of a local group called “The Farm” and another called “The Garden Party”. We were regulars in all of them and I have copies, somewhere, of all of them.

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

Looking back it is hard to pick a highlight but if I could pick 3 they would be :
1 Releasing our first single, everyone who ever plays in a group wants to do that.
2 Playing at The Empire for “LiverAid”.
3 When Strictly Confidential was released, signing on for unemployment benefit on the Monday, flying first class to Munich on the Tuesday and staying at the Munich Hilton Hotel. Then on Wed going to a film studio on the black forest and recording the video for Strictly Confiderntial and then flying back to Liverpool in to get my unemployment benefit, now that was surreal.

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

What other hobbies do I have ? Well, all my life up to now and I guess forever music has been my obsession and first love.
I also love football and support 2 teams Everton FC and Tamworth FC.
I also play online chess a lot, I am not very good but I enjoy it.
I love reading as well, mainly books and magazines about music.

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Listen
Personal Column – Same Old Situation

Day 232.

So this post finds me in Lima, Peru, for family reasons.I should stay for 10 days, so no orders will be posted during this time. It has been one of the most stressful trips I’ve ever made. The preparations, all the paperwork needed, all the health affidavits to clear, the PCR test, it just so complicated. When returning to NYC it won’t be as difficult but there is a mandatory 14 day quarantine. So yeah, I honestly hope this nightmare is over soon.

The Slow Summits: wow, a new wonderful song by the Linköping, Sweden, combo. It is called “Not the One” and it sounds terrific with the string arrangements. I contacted the band some time ago and they told me that they are looking to release an album. I hope that happens soon. The songs they have so far are so good.

Beverly Kills: another Swedish band that sounds amazing is this Gothenburg combo. I am so glad that great bands are appearing now in Sweden. I was missing that. The band has a new song called “Trophy Hunt” that is a very fine single. I need to track down their previous releases for sure.

The Blue Herons: another new song, this time from Lucerne, Switzerland, from a band we have featured in the past, The Blue Herons! This new song is called “In the Skies” and it is a wonderful jingle jangle song. Andy Jossl makes the songs as usual and this time Gretchen DeVault sang and wrote the song!

Spunsugar: more from Sweden, now from Malmö! It seems it is all about Sweden today. The shoegazy band has releasde their album “Drive-Through Chapel” on Adrian Recordings and there are some superb dreampop tracks here. The album consists of 11 songs and is now available on vinyl.

U.S. Highball: lastly we check out this duo from Glasgow who will be releasing their album “Up to High Doh” on November 20th. It is coming out on vinyl and there will be a US version and a Rest of the World one. Right now we can preview the opening track, “New Neighbour”, which is a very Scottish pop sounding track. And yes, that is a good thing.

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Another fantastic Irish band I discover thanks to the Fanning Sessions blog! Wow really wow!

So who were behind The Riordans? Pat Clafferty on vocals and acoustic guitar, Jill Hahn on guitar, Damien Byrne on bass and Milo Maden on drums. Jill and Pat would go to form Mexican Pets, and later Pat was in Wheel.

Did they release anything? I think not. The story says that Mother Records approached them to record a single. The band actually end up recording it at Windmill Lane Studios, but it doesn’t say which songs or how many. In the end nothing was released.

Did they record a Fanning Session? Yes, that they did. At least three songs were recorded, “Lay Down Your Burden”, “Whistle”, “Which Road to Go” and “Glee”. What year was the session recorded? It doesn’t say…

The same blog posted another song later on on a different post.  It is called “Blue Blue Blue”. The post says that in the recording session for this song the band also recorded “Which Road to Go?” and “Dustbowl Dress”.

The third and last post about The Riordans was not long ago, this past April. Here they shared a song called “Greener Elsewhere” that dates from 1988. There is also a photo of Pat and Jill taken in Eustace St.

And that’s it really. I feel kind of stealing all the info from the Dave Fanning blog, but honestly I would add more but there’s no more to add. There’s nothing on the web about them. So yeah, maybe I’ll get lucky and learn more about them through the Comments section? Crossing fingers!

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Listen
The Riordans – Greener Elsewhere

Day 230.

The Crystal Furs: the great Portland trio are back with two songs on a digital split EP titled “Emptiness So Near” with New Charms, also from Portland. The songs seem to be Halloween themed and sound really ace! The Chrystal Furs tracks are “Werewolf of Love” and “Haunted Space”. Very very good!

Axolotes Mexicanos: the Madrid by way of Asturias, Spanish band have a new video for their song “Cara de Idiota”! This song should be included in the band’s new album that will be released next year on Elefant Records.

The Midnight Greetings: here is a lovely song called “Youth” from the bedroom project The Midnight Greetings from Manila, Philippines. The song has been put out by Lilystars Records and it sounds soothing, sweet, and melancholic. The person behind this song is Kurt Kyle Maraton. Good work!

The Legendary House Cats: the ex-Aberdeen, John Girgus, has a new track called “A Hollow Room”. It is a dreamy pop song, with electronic touches, that feels classic as well as modern.

Corduroy: lastly a new band from Norrköping in Sweden. They do have a sound I really like. And they have two songs, “Blomster” and “Blasé”. Would they make a nice 7″? I think so. The songs are very good and from some photos I found online, they seem to be 3 guys and a girl who like a beer or two. They also consider themselves Sweden’s handsomest band. Super.

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Elephant Noise appeared on the “Still Mad At Me? (15 Years Firestation Records 1998-2013)” 4CD compilation released by Firestation Records in 2013 (FST 100). Of course they were on the CD titled “The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 7”. On it they contributed the song “New Town Tom”. And that’s how I discovered them.

The booklet had some info about them. And I was very grateful for that.
Elephant Noise wanted to change the world. When singer/songwriter Neil Barber met bass player Neil Tayler in Edinburgh Scotland’s capital in the mid eighties they were drawn together through a love of seventies art-rock bands like Roxy Music. Neil Tayler, a seasoned rocker from Guernsey in the channel islands had moved to Scotland to form a serious band. Neil Barber had a classical musical background and had been playing Scottish folk music for several years. It was onky when they met flamboyant lead guitarist Stuart Allardyce (a school friend of drummer Crum Hall) that the romantic guitar band Elephant Noise was born. Stuart’s mastery of feedback and inventive post-modern guitar style combined with Neil’s achingly melodic writing made up  a sound that was huge on the Scottish music scene for almost a decade. All with university degrees in philosophy and English, the band, critically acclaimed by a national music scene weary of Stock Aitken and Waterman was very popular on the student circuit. Neil’s lyrics celebrated a visionary atheist spirituality and melodies were both light and dark.
There are few bands where each member is uniquely individually talented and though they had three drummers over the course of their career, Elephant Noise were a happy band with a good musical rapport and all founding members are still close friends to this day. Some fans like the band’s earlier more experimental if rougher sound. Others prefer their later more crafted song writing. Although they were one of Scotland’s most influential bands at the time enjoying a cult following and airplay on local and national radio, Elephant Noise never quite made the really big time. Maybe they were too brave, too fragile, too earnest, but they changed the world just a little bit.

During their time the band only would release a record, the “Elephant Noise” EP. It was released in 1991 on RUB Records (RUB001). This is the only release listed by this label so I would assume that it was a self-release. It included 4 songs, two on each side.

The A side had “This Song is Our Friend” and “Halloween Day” while the B side had “Remember the Big Time” and “Cactus Talk”. They were recorded at Pier House Studios in Edinburgh. The producers were Pete Haigh, Neil Tayler and also the band. The cover art was created by Carolyn Burchell. Neil Barber wrote the songs, played rhythm guitar, violin and sang. Neil Tayler played bass, Stuart Allardyce lead guitar, Tom Heaney played drums and keyboards and Dave Patrick played keyboards on the B side. Raymond Albeson is credited for the photos of the band members on the back cover.

The only other info that Discogs has is that Stuart Allardyce played on a few records by Rosie Nimmo in the 2000s. We know one of the drummers that was in Elephant Noise was John Gurney, he would play in the band Nectar 3 in the 90s. But about the rest of the band members, we don’t know much more.

Firestation would continue their relationship with the band and would release in 2017 a compilation album called “Remember the Big Time”. This compilation would have 13 songs. Are they everything they recorded? I don’t know, but this is a great comp. It had the following tracklist: “This Song is Our Friend”, “in Secret Dreaming”, “Remember the Big Time”, “Hearsay”, “In my Room”, “Halloween Day”, “Cactus Talk”, “The Motorway Song”, “Lost to the World”, “Wallpaper Tour”, “New Town Tom”, “Indian Summer” and “She’s an Aeroplane”. Sadly the compilation’s liner notes are the same as the Leamington Spa compilation so we can’t learn any more details through it. It does have lots of great photos of the band though!

I found that on The List, on its March 13, 1992, edition, they featured the band. Here they describe the band as a mad clash between The Monkees, The Smiths and King Crimson. We know through The List that the band played ad Music Box and the Pelican in Edinburgh,

And that’s it really. Then they disappear into obscurity.

I would love to know more about these Scottish band and its members. Any other details to add, please use the comments section!

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Listen
Elephant Noise – New Town Tom

Day 227.

The B-Team: this is fantastic! here is an 8 song album called “Window Shopping” by the classic mod pop band The B-Team that were interviewed on the blog not so long ago! These 8 songs come from a 1985 and 1986 at various gigs!

Aiko el Grupo: a new song by this Spanish band that will soon be releasing a 10″ mini-lp on Elefant Records that will be titled “Va Totalmente en Serio…”. This new song is called “Quiero Conocer (Por tu Actitud)” and it also has a promo video for it!

Star Party: a new band from Washington State, with a 4 song demo available now on tape. And they also sell t-shirts. That’s cool, no? What’s even cooler is that they make a very fine cover of the Shop Assistants classic “Something to Do”!

Beach Vacation: another Washington State band that has a new release is Beach Vacation from Seattle. They are releasing on November 13 a tape with Z Tapes from Slovakia. This tape is actually a 9 song album and is titled “I Fell Apart”. We can preview two songs now, “Break the Ice” and “Our Night is Falling”.

Fine.: one of my favourite new bands as of late is this Boston, UK, band. Now and then they release a song that is just precious. Their latest is no exception. It is called “Little Voices” and again, it is very good.

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Let’s take a trip to France. Let’s talk about the Yachines.

I have wondered for a long time where did the name Yachines comes from. My theory is that it comes from Lev Yashin. The great Soviet goalkeeper. The “Black Spider” For many the best goalkeeper of history. I’ve seen his name written in French as Lev Yachine. So could it be?

I am still on the lookout of the records they put out. This French band actually came to my attention around 10 or so years ago, thanks to the Neo-Acoustic Guide, that great book the Japanese indiepop fans put together. They were known in Japan, perhaps thanks to a compilation put together by the fine Quince Records in 1998. This compilation was called “Yachines” (QRCP-9007) and included 20 songs in total. The first 14 songs were from the band’s first album “Fancy Kane”, the next 3 from the mini-album “My Love is a Star” and the last 3 were unreleased. The running tracklist is as follows” “Smashing Days”, “Yachines Town”, “I Believe”, “Les Nuits Magnétiques”, “Joséphine”, “Peppermint Drops”, “Superstar”, “Promesses”, “Just in Time”, “Fancy”, “Kane’s Dream”, “Paul”, “Here Today”, “Mr. Tambourine”, “My Love is a Star”, “One Love”, “Do You”, “Veronica”, “All Around the World” and “Le Reve Americain”.

The first release by the band was the mini-album “My Love is a Star” released by Pop Life United (94001) in 1994. This labels seems to be tha band’s own, but I can’t be sure 100%. The only two releases listed on Discogs by this label are Yachines releases. The mini-album songs were “My Love is a Star”, “One Love”, “Monday Man”, “Colors”, “Do You” and “Les Promesses”.

Two years later, 1996, the album “Fancy Kane” was released also  on Pop Life United (CDLPU 96002). 14 songs were included and these were: “Smashing Days”, “Yachines Town”, “I Believe”, “Les Nuits Magnétiques”, “Joséphine”, “Peppermint Drops”, “Superstar”, “Promesses”, “Just in Time”, “Fancy”, “Kane’s Dream”, “Paul”, “Here Today” and “Mr. Tambourine”.

So the band. Yes. It was formed by Olivier Brion on guitar and vocals, Stéphane Bienne on drums and backing vocals, Nicolas Brion on bass and backing vocals. Miss Lever added backing vocals to “Les Promesses” and also on a cover song of “A Felicidade”, original by Antonio Carlos Jobim, which was included in the “A Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim” released in 1997 by XIII Bis Records (177192) in France, Gut Records (GUT-0046) in Taiwan and Quattro (QTCY-2112) in Japan. Worth mentioning that this compilation includes terrific bands including Cloudberry Jam, Ray Wonder or even Louis Philippe.

The only other compilation appearance I am aware by Yachines is on the “Fair 97” CD compilation released in 1997. This was a promno compilation and the band included the song “Les Promesses”.

The band members were in other bands too after the band called it a day. All three band members were in the band Discover in the early 2000s. Olivier also released a solo album called “Hôtel D’Angleterre” in 2007. And this year he released the single “Jekyll & Hyde”.

In 2013 the band did a reunion gig, a 20th anniversary reunion gig. They played in Paris on February 8th of that year. There’s a video with live footage of that gig!

I find a 1994 review of the mini-album on Les Inrockuptibles. Here it does say that the band named themselves after the legendary goalkeeper. It also mentions that Olivier Brion used to be in a band called Dorian Gray. Would be nice to find recordings by this band!

Then I do find Olivier Brion playing acoustic solo at the Bistropolitain in Paris on September 21st, 2018! How cool. At this gig he played a few songs and among them he played the Yachines song “My Love is a Star“.

I find the song “My Love is a Star” on Youtube. There it says that there was going to be a 25th anniversary edition of this song to be released on vinyl. Not sure if that happened. There seems to have been a website for Olivier Brion in 2018 when this was posted. But there is none. What a song this is. I hope someday it gets re-released of course.

Not too long ago our friends Toshiko and Fabien dedicated a post to them in their Anorak Crumble blog. And not much more for Yachines. I see a few more posts about Discover, the band that came after. But I am curious now about Yachines, his jangly indiepop band.

Who remembers them? Did they record more songs? Appear on more compilations? Would love to find out more about them. Such a great sounding band!

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Listen
Yachines – Yachines Town

Day 225.

Astragal: the Houston shoegazers have uploaded a short EP to their Bancamp. It is actually a live EP, one where they play at the Satellite Bar. It is just three songs, but for many of us who have never had the chance to catch them live this is a nice surprise. All proceeds of this EP will go towards keeping the Satellite Bar open.

Dog Dept: this is an older song, from 2018, but just discovered it now. It is called “Fools” and it is by this band from Palembang, Indonesia, called Dog Dept. It sounds really nice and I wonder how come I didn’t stumble upon it before. It is also the only song up on Bandcamp by this band but they do have a Soundcloud with two more songs. Indonesian friends, who are Dog Dept?

Grazer: a new song by this Melbourne combo formed by Matt, Mollie, Nic and Adie. And what a song it is! “In Sight” is dreamy, powerful, mysterious even. The guitars sound great as well as the vocals. It is a moody track, and I really enjoy it! Keep them coming!

The Wellington: this is for me the best news this week so far, the album by The Wellington! Wow! Guerrilla Records form Jakarta is releasing it digitally but I really want a physical copy! I Want to play this at home all the time! Wow! 9 songs of perfect indiepop. Definitely a true favourite for this year. Beauty, I needed music like this.

Still Dreams: on my last post I recommended the Japanese band Still Dreams who were releasing a digital single on Elefant. Well good news now is that the song “Ultra Doomed” is getting video treatment and here it is!

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And now to Brazil! To find out more about the band Brilhantines!

My first stop is promising. A Facebook page. There is a link to a band website but that doesn’t seem to be working. But there is a link to a Soundcloud and that is really helpful!

We learn then that the band hailed from the municipality of Cerquilho in the state of Sao Paulo.

But let me tell you how I found about this band. It was through their song “Amanhã” that was included in a compilation called “People are required for People, People’s Love is Absolutely Required for People” that was released by Plan de Sens in Japan. This compilation featured  Brazilian indiepop bands from at least 7 different. Brazilian states and was curated by the Brazilian label Midsummer Madness. I suppose this compilation that I just got not too long ago could be interesting to explore Brazilian indie, which I know very little! I only know a few of the bands included, Luisa Mandou um Beijo, Multisofá and Pelves. The rest are all unknown to me!

It looks as if the band didn’t release a record, at least according to Discogs. It doesn’t even include the compilation I just mentioned. There is another one from 2005 called “Ainda Somos Inúteis” released by Migué Records (048) where the band appears with the song “A Festa”.

The other compilation listed is the one that came with the Cooke Scene Magazine issue 33rd. On this October 2003 compilatiojn the band appeared with the song “Amanhã”. Speaking of that song it is worth mentioning that the band made a video for the song “Amanhã“.

Back then to the Soundcloud. Here are tons of songs. And looks as if there was a self-titled mini-album. This mini-album is called “Das Lições Apreendidas na Infância na Idade Adulta” and dates from 2011. It has the songs “Supernova”, “Sub Rosa”, “A Nova”, “Correndo Assustado”, “Amanda”, “Tanto Faz” and “Dolores”. It is said that it was released by Pisces Records but couldn’t find a website.

From Facebook I learn that there were two EPs, one called “Cançonetas Pra ti Entoadas” from 2001 and another “Tucatacá do Burum Burum” from 2004.

The first one, “Cançonetas Pra ti Entoadas” had the songs “Burum”, “Amanhã”, “Dramática”, “Esplendor”, “Meus Dias”, “Canção de Amor”, “Por Teu Amor” and “Desabafo”. The second one had “Se Você”, “Tucatacá”, “A Espera de Primavera”, “Eu Não Sou Mau para Amar Você”, “Horas e Horas”, “Foi Teu Beijo”, “Meu Caminho” and “Doce Valentina”.

On Soundcloud there is one extra song that doesn’t seem to be part of any of the releases, “Agora Que a Vida Faz Sentido”.

I keep looking for info, at least who are the band members. I find that the band played the Rock Fwstival in Rio Preto in 2006 and the Sonic Flower Festival in Maringá in 2007.

And then finally! I hit the bullseye.

The band is formed by Dadá Costa on drums, Neto Nunes on guitar and vocals, Nilton Denardi on bass and Yuri Colaiacovo on guitar. I know too that Neto also played in a band called Old Suit.

And that’s it really. Not much more on the web. But I am sure some of you remember them. Any info will be appreciated!

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Listen
Brilhantines – Amanhã

Day 223.

Still Dreams: is a duo from Japan formed by Maaya and Ryuta and are releasing a digital single now with two songs, “Ultra Doomed” and “Envy”. But the good news is that they are working on a 10″ mini LP to be released on Elefant Records!

Soft Blue Shimmer: this LA trio formed by Charlie, Kenzo and Meredith, make some terrific dreampop! They are going to be releasing on November 27 an album called “Heaven Inches Away” on vinyl LP. Right now we can preview one of the 9 tracks that will be included, “Cherry-Cola Abyss”.

The Color Waves: finally one of the albums I awaited the most this year is out! The self-titled album by The Color Waves, 10 songs of perfect pop, is available to listen on the band’s Bandcamp. Remembering of course that a few years back we released the “Chirology” 7″ (copies still available) which we think is a gem of a record. Precious guitars. Precious songs. Pop perfection.

Kindsight: a new song by the Copenhagen band we featured not too long ago. They are just giving us one song at a time. That’s ok if they continue being so good! This new song is called “Terminal Daze” and I am very much into it. Really like the vocals.

Grids and Dots: lastly another new song, this time by these Sydney popsters! The song is called “Hazy Jane” and it is quite nice. I look with envy that they have planned a gig on January 28. I wonder, will I go to gigs again? I really hope so. Will I be able to go to Australia someday? Makes me a bit nostalgic of good times. And this song works well, this cover of Nick Drake, which will be included in the band’s forthcoming debut EP.

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A Glasgow trio that released a 5″ flexi-disc on Sarah. A flexi that only had one song, the ramshackle noisy beauty that is “Your Love Is…”. A song that is not a favourite among Sarah fans, but I think it is great.

Of course I don’t own this release as it is very hard to come by many Sarah releases. This one as it is an early one, SARAH 13, it proves to be a bit hard. And that’s not all, alongside this flexi two fanzines came with it, the “Lemonade: a Fanzine” (SARAH 14a) and “Cold: a Lie” (Sarah 14aa), both of 16 pages. So getting the whole bundle these days should be quite difficult. Or maybe some of you are lucky. I don’t know. It’s been a while since I had the drive to be a Sarah completist.

But for sure I’d love to have this song in my collection.

Robert Smith was on guitar and vocals, Kenny Forte was on guitar and Christine Grant was on vocals. That was the trio’s lineup. Robert Smith would later be in some great bands like The Golden Dawn and Besotted. Yeah, I owe Besotted a post. Maybe that’s my next post.

When it comes to Christine’s Cat there is barely anything written on the web. Aside from the flexi they were featured on the boxset “C89” released by Cherry Red in 2018. It included the one song we know.

That’s it really. I would be very curious to know if Christine and Kenny were involved in any other bands, and if Christine’s Cat recorded more songs. Who knows the answer?

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Listen
Christine’s Cat – Your Love Is…

Day 220

Soulbird: Last Tuesday I interviewed Peter Green from the great Hearts On Fire. As mentioned on the interview he has been making music as Soulbird and actually just released an album called “Sparkledust”. It is up on Bandcamp now and it sounds really good! 14 top songs.

Hamburger: out on December 11 on Specialist Subject Records is the 6 song EP by this terrific Bristol band. The EP will be released on vinyl and you can check out one of the songs to be included, “Supersad”. There’s also a tote bag for sale and that’s nice. It’s been a while since I’ve bought one.

Flying Fish Cove: I enjoyed a lot the record this Seattle band put out on Jigsaw Records. Now the band is back with a 4-song EP called “Viridian”. A few things about it, 50% of the sales will go to Mutual Aid South King County.  And also very important is that there’s a song called “Xuxa”.

Rosehip Teahouse: now back to this Cardiff band that have been a favourite on the blog this year. They will be releasing a 12″ EP titled “Fine”. It will have 5 songs in total and we can preview two of them, “I Meant What I Said” and “A Million Times”.

The No-Yeahs: From Vallejo, California, here are 5 songs of lo-fi bedroom pop, which takes us back to the days of soulseek and CDR burning and mix CDs and blogspot, and all those things, the time when many of us fell in love with indiepop. This sounds like that. Proper DIY in this “Homily for a Gloomy Day” EP. Very nice.

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We all know Alison’s Halo, right? The great Tempe, Arizona, shoegaze band  that featured Catherine Cooper on vocals and guitar, Adam Cooper on guitar and Lynn Anderson on bass. But are you all aware of the EP Adam and Catherine released as The Pastry Heros?

After the demise of Alison’s Halo in the late 90s, Adam and Catherine relocated to Chicago. But before this relocation, just in between they would record a different sort of record, more chamber-pop sound than dreampop, and self-release it. It would be a five song EP called “Horn Rim Fury”. It was to be released on their own Submersible Records in 1998.

The story says that in 1999 they would change names again, this time to Insta, and then re-release the EP on Sunday Records.

But let me go back to the original release on Submersible (SBM001). It had 5 songs as I said. These were “Sydney”, “Nite-Lite”, “Sparkle”, “Jazzed Up!” and “A View from Space”. They were recorded to analog tape at Jetpack Studios between August 1997 and March 1998. Then they were mastered at Sonic Fish Studios by Ken Mari.

Aside from Adam and Catherine other people that were involved in the record were David Rogers (Alison’s Halo, Half String, Insta, Kitten Factor) on bass, Ken Mari (from Soul Shock Remedy, Arizona Dry Heat Rescue and Insta) on drums and Ben Currier (Air Miami, Eggs) on drums on “A View from Space”.

Aside from this release the band had their song “Sydney” on a compilation called “The Unheard Pleasures of Inane – Somewhere in Europe, 1972 Vol. 1” released by Sinedín Music (SM004) and Inane Records in Spain. This CD came alongside the magazine Factory on its 22nd issue. It featured lots of great indiepop bands like Eggstone, The Cherry Orchard or Club 8. A cool detail, our friend Gregorio Soria did the artwork for this compilation!

I believe that the Insta re-release of the EP that came out on Sunday Records (SUNDAY 940) in 2002 is the same. There is different artwork and instead of coming in a slim jewel case the CD came in a cardsleeve. I am curious why they changed names. And why re-release it?

We know that both Catherine and Adam continued making music in other projects. We know of Insta of course but also of Kitten Factor.

Not much more about The Pastry Heros. Much more on Insta. But I like doing things in order. I want to know what happened during The Pastry Heros days. Did they play gigs? Why the change of style of pop? Why a new change of name? And a re-release? Many questions, that I hope I get answers someday! Do you remember them?

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Listen
The Pastry Heros – Nite Lite

Day 218

The Jack Rubies: wow! this is exciting! I should try to get in touch with the classic band now that they are on Bandcamp! Yeah, the London band (though now they have Brooklyn listed on Bandcamp) has appeared on Bandcamp with two remastered releases, the classic “Foolish Boy” 7″ with extra tracks and “Witch-Hunt in Lotusland”! It would be cool to interview them, right?

The Sound of Young Sumatera: a fantastic compilation featuring 12 bands from the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It is being released and curated by the great Shiny Happy Records and it features bands like Lajur, Lazy Eye or Beetleflux.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: two more from Glenn Donaldson, “Saw You at the Record Shop Today” and “Don’t Come Home Too Soon”. As usual they are really good.

Coloring Book: another wow! Another band I’d love to interview of course. The New York band that existed between 1992 and 1998 that featured Hamish Kilgour on drums, Jon Chaikin on vocals and guitar, Jen Matson on vocals and Tony O’Blaney on bass is now on Bandcamp. The debut single by the band that included amazing 4 songs is up now. Classic and timeless!

Fandor: the Bordeaux musician is back with a new jingle jangly song called “Plus Rien à Craindre”. This song will be included in the upcoming album “En Quatrième Vitesse” to be released by Nemo Records on CD!

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Big Love. From London. What do we know about them?

According to Discogs they were the brainchild of “Big” Russ Clayton who wrote all the songs and put the band together. It also mentions that the band was fronted by the extremely beautiful Julie Rogers. I am intrigued already!

So Russ Clayton played guitars, as well as writing the songs of course. Julie sang. Then Ben Bartlett played bass and Andrew Maltman the drums. This lineup released a 12″ in 1980 on their own Big Love Records (BL001) and I think we should start there!

The 12″ EP had three songs, “Excuse Me” on the A side and “Wonder’s Never Cease” and “Nothing’s Sacred” on the B side. The cover art doesn’t say much, though it does look like the record came with a band photo as well as an insert. The insert is pretty interesting as it sheds some light about the band.

Here they mention some gigs coming in up for the band in 1990. On Tuesday March 27 they were to play at the Opera on the Green in Shepherd’s Bush. Then on April 14 at the Pop Club at the legendary Bull and Gate in Kentish Town and lastly on Wednesday May 2nd at the Cricketeers in Kenington Oval.

We know too that after the demise of Big Love, Russ would be in a band called The Direction which would release a 7″ and 12″ in the early 90s.

And that’s it really. I immediately face a wall. Not much more info about them. A single that I don’t own, three songs, a few gigs, and not much more. What happened to Big Love? Did they record more songs? Where are their band members now? Still making music?

Edit: a demo tape has appeared on Youtube with two songs, “Career in the Cold” and “Crestfallen”!

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Listen
Big Love – Wonders Never Cease

Thanks so much to Peter Green for the interview! Thanks too to my friend Jörg who after I wrote about about Hearts on Fire helped Peter and me connect! Hearts on Fire released an album and two EPs on the Midnight Music label back in the 80s and they are terrific jangly records. For some reason or another the band has became an obscure band, but that shouldn’t be the case! Let’s all rediscover their wonderful songs and learn a bit about the band with this great interview!

++ Hi Peter! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? I see you are still making music with Bluebird Blue and as Soulbird! Can you tell us a bit about this band? Any releases you have out? Where can one listen to the music?

SOULBIRD is pretty much a studio collaboration between my and terrific producer dan Cooper – I write the songs, he makes them sound good. We’ve had (and hope to have again) guest vocals from classically trained theatre singer David Watters and songwriter Georgie Cooper. The plan for the next record is to have guest musicians record contributions on guitar, sitar, flute, whatever I can ask a friend to do and more and make it more collaborative as a response to the pandemic.

SOULBIRD has a new album out right now -October 2020 – which you can get from Bandcamp; https://soulbirdpetergreen.bandcamp.com/releases

the album before that was ‘Flypast’ and it was a compilation of some songs from a few years ago remixed to sound like the 60s and given away to people who went to the Fruits de Mer records pop-psychedelic weekend festival in summer 2019.  https://music.apple.com/us/album/flypast/1465189154

There are 3 Soulbird Albums you can  hear on Apple Music, I Tunes, etc.

• https://music.apple.com/us/album/raven-kings/1407320937
• https://music.apple.com/us/album/soulbird-feat-david-watters/1119192294
• https://music.apple.com/us/album/soul-trader/1262530089

Bluebird Blue was a one -off – I have access to a big Gretsch guitar and wanted to try and make an English version of an Americana album.  I might do that again… https://music.apple.com/us/album/bulebird-blue/1321875703

I never throw anything away, so I could probably put together a CD for you of ‘Soulbird’ recordings of my songs I wanted on the second Hearts on Fire LP…

++ And if you were to compare Soulbird and Hearts on Fire, what would you say are similarities between both bands? What about differences?

Hearts on Fire was the first real band I’d ever been in and we all really believed in that Monkees thing that you should all live in the same house and dress like a gang. We also felt like no-one else in the world liked the music we liked, so we had that bond. Also, as a writer hearing someone who could really sing and really play bringing their own power to these songs was wonderful for me. We got together with the idea of being a live band because that’s what you did then… play gigs and hope to get discovered.

With Soulbird I know we have to use the studio to get the sounds together, so it’s always aimed at making a recording, so there isn’t the barrier of ‘could we do this live?’ (no) and we listen harder for textures. There’s also the way that you can now se;f-release records instead of needing a record company to like you, that you can reach people all over the world, you don’t feel who have to write songs that suit someone else. The similarities are that at the centre of both there’s my weird self-taught churning rhythm guitar style, and odd songs about good or bad love.

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

I grew up with two older sisters listening to Hollywood Musicals – West side story, Carmen Jones, the King and I, Oklahoma, THOSE songs. The Beatles came along when we got a TV and that was it for me. I know at first I thought Paul was the lead guitarist because he played it the other way round. I also thought that for the guitar to be in tune all; the tuning pegs had to tbe in the same position. I could probably have been quite avant garde if I hadn’t learned that was wrong.  There was no-one to tech me, we didn’t have music lessons at school, I think hearing Creedence and Dave Edmunds and T-Rex talking about 50s rock’n’roll made me realise that you could go back and hear older music and it could be just as great as the very newest thing to come out. I finally persuaded my Mum and Dad that I wouldn’t just put it to one side and never learn to play (obviously that was a lie, but I didn’t THINK it was) and they agreed to let me spend birthday money and pocket money I’d saved up on a Futurama II in a junk shop in our local town – 12 miles away. My memory is that it was £15 although seems like a lot of money for a junkshop guitar, but it was red and every schoolboy’s dream – looked like sstratocaster (not that I knew that) I tried to learn from a book. When I went to college I bought a 30-quidder (entry level)  telecaster thinline copy (not that I knew that’s what it was) and met Steve who wanted someone to play rhythm guitar while he improvised solos, so he taught me about chords and rhythm. In the pic attached he’s playing my guitar and I’m playing some kind of Woolworth’s Top Twenty or Zenta guitar that must have been borrowed from the bass player. From the way we look I’m guessing glam was over and punk hadn’t started so maybe 1976, as best as I can recall we would have done songs like the Byrds ‘so you wanna be a rock ‘n’ roll star’, the Monkees ‘I’m not Your Steppin’ Stone’ and the Yardbirds ‘For Your Love’ which Nils Lofgren had just revived. God I hope there’s no evidence of it. It was very much playing whatever we could, no guiding principle.

++ Had you been in other bands before Hearts on Fire? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings? 

I didn’t play again for 5 or more years after that because I was struggling to get a job for 2 years after getting my degree. Then I moved to London in 1981 or 2 and the music I heard was really exciting but I still didn’t know how to get a band together. And I thought no-one liked the same kind of music as me – We’d been through Punk and then synthpop and Two-Tone I hadn’t heard anything that made me go ‘Yes! That’s for me’ since discovering Big Star. I tried to get a duo together with a keyboard player through an advert he’s placed naming the Velvet Underground as an influence. Then I saw REM on TV playing a Rickenbacker ( I knew what different guitars looked like by then) and wanted to be in band playing jangly guitar again.

++ Where were you from originally?

I grew up in the South West, In the country, in Dorset but my parents were from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in the North so I didn’t really end up with either regional accent.

++ How was London at the time of Hearts on Fire? 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?

When I got to London I was living about 10 minutes walk from the Hope and Anchor which had got famous during ‘pub rock’ and still had up-and-coming bands on most nights – the kind who had maybe one song John Peel had played  and one review in the NME. I remember seeing the Barracudas there with Chris Wilson from the Flamin’ Groovies, and bands like the Associates before they got an album out. I also went there the night U2 played to about 5 people – I didn’t go down to the basement because it looked shut, so I missed them. There were gigs on Sundays at the Lyceum on Sunday nights with 3 or 4 bands on – I’m sure I saw Echo & the Bunnymen, the Teardop Explodes, The Thompson twins when there were still about 15 people in the band, the Only Ones. I was living in Islington so Camden Town was the next place over to see bigger bands at Dingwalls – like REM. IO can’t remember if the Rainbow in Finsury Park was still open by the 80s  but I saw Dexy’s at a theatre and Costello supported by the Stray Cats SOMEWHERE! And you’d also see Blues bands in pubs in Camden Town when you went to the market on the weekends, which was my introduction to hearing Stax songs for the first time . And there were some genius record shops there – one co-owned by one of the Undertones with a fantastic stock of 60s psych and Ali’s shop on the bridge where if he knew you were that way inclined he’d play you a killer track from new albums by the Church, the Rain Parade and other new guitar bands knowing you’d go home with a new album every week..

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Adverts in Melody Maker, how else! I think Mike and I both went to an audition where the word ‘Byrds’ loomed large, and didn’t get a call. Then he placed an ad. Where the first influence was Groovies, so we reconnected. There was a singer but when we clocked that we were carrying guitar cases and he was carrying a make-up box it was not destined to last. Mike knew Simon (Mitch) from their home town of Romford. Simon had been successful as a member of the Purple Hearts on the 1980 post-Jam mod revival scene but the band had broken up before making a second album. Finding Syn was another advert – we said we liked West Coast music and she’s from LA, so it seemed right and her cowgirl boots went well with my interest in the Burritos … everyone in London wore bootlace ties and collar tips at the time anyway. Simon had agreed to play drums to help out, but Mike knew he could contribute more on guitar, so back to Melody Maker. I think ‘about to record an album’ was the selling point that got Andrew Tolson on board.

++ I also would like to know why did you go by Billy Finn instead of your name? Did other also use pseudonyms?

I had a job, but no-one else was comfortable using their real names in case they got checked by the department for Employment. It just seemed more fun for me to have a ‘stage name’ as well. It was originally Billy Dolphin because I’d suggested there should be a style of (happy, slippery) music called ‘Dolphinabilly’. It’s also in the words of ‘Love on Trial’ – ‘my faith in things I don’t Billy Finn’.  Syn changed her name 3 or 4 times before settling on Cody. It was the 80s, reinvention was the zeitgeist. Also, as I’ve discovered more recently when putting out music under my own name, being called ‘Peter Green’ is a bit of an (ahem) Albatross – there’s at least 25 of us on facebook alone, but everyone thinks I’m him.

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

Mike was living in a rented house in Brixton with a band called the Aardvaarks (which I think was the band we’d met at the audition for) so we wrote songs and strummed up at the kitchen table. I don’t remember full band rehearsals, but there must have been some. Again, at the time there were damp unhygienic railway arches all over London, many of which had broken drum kits and unsafely wired amplifiers in them for bands to flirt with death in… These really were the first songs I’d written, and mainly because I found everyone else’s so hard to play.

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

First of all, it has nothing to do with the Dylan Film (that was years later) or the Gram Parsons song (it existed but I hadn’t heard it yet) . The band also didn’t have that name until the album was getting made. I can’t remember all the names we went through in those months – usually me wanting to be ‘The…’ something because in my mind that’s what Bands DID and other people wanting something that sounded more like ‘The Big Music’ – it was the era of Simple Minds, the Waterboys, huge, grand soundscapes and abstract ideas.. I think we signed a deal with Midnight as Action Painting (Yes, yes, referencing the Creation) and ditched it because we thought it was asking for someone to call us a ‘Load of Pollocks’.

My recollection of the final choice was it was Nick Ralphs  came up with it but later admitted he’d meant to say ‘Hearts in Exile’ – the title of a 1950s detective novel that I think was the first book in England to openly include gay characters – which is indeed a great band name, but ‘Hearts on fire’ chimed with our belief in being passionate and with the words of the songs ‘hidden heart’, ‘fire one’ ‘this sultry day’, ‘love on trial’ – hunks-a hunks-a burnin’ love there…

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band music-wise? 

Too many to mention! Mine were things I’d been introduced to at college – Dylan Stones, The Who, ‘Nuggets’, Fairport Convention,; Mike had been in bands playing 60s pop psych covers – Love, ‘Little Girl’, Jefferson Airplane; Simon was discovering everything with the freedom of not having to play Purple Hearts songs – but then when we got together there were these new cool bands appearing every week – the Icicle Works, The Pretenders, The Dream Syndicate, Green on Red – that made us think jangly guitars were still gorgeous…

++ All your releases came out on Midnight Music. Was wondering how did this relationship start? How did you meet? Did you send a demo? Was a there a contract to be signed?

This was Mike again – bass player as hustler! He’d moved to a room in a flat with the owner of a record shop called English Weather. This was Steve Burgess, who was co-owner of Midnight with Nick Raplhs as well as co-writers and owners of Dark Star magazine. Mike hustled the band to Steve who liked the idea of Midnight having a house band and was originally interested in producing us.  We made an 8-track demo which definitely had Camera and Seasons, the first time I’d ever heard either with proper lead guitar on!  Wish I had it now, I think both versions were more exciting than the Alaska ones – maybe because 8 tracks meant Simon could play drums and dubbed on lead guitar. Nick thought we made music that would record well and sell, as well as liking us. The contract meant they paid for all studio time with a professional recording engineer and to put the records out. I think they own the publishing and I know we agreed there’d be an even 5-way split on any songwriting royalties anyway – as I said, if it wasn’t for the ideas and contributions the 4 of them made, there wouldn’t BE any radio play or record sales.

++ And how was your relationship with the label? Was it all that you expected? Were there other labels that were interested in releasing your music?

I thought they did fine by us – they worked out a way to pay Syn for designing the album cover, they shifted their release dates around so we could have the catalogue number Midnight Chime 12, they got us on the support slot to Robyn Hitchcock, who was by far the biggest star the label had, touring colleges up and down the UK. The problem was they didn’t have any promotion budget so no-one ever got to hear the record. We definitely didn’t have any interest from major labels. I think at some point we had a meeting with the manager of one of those bands who were about to be the ’next big thing’ on London’s psychedelic scene, the Playn Jayn or the Mood Six, who actually said “I don’t hear a single”

++ Your first release came out in 1985, an EP called “You May Now Know” that was produced by David Ros. How was working with him? In which studio was this recorded? Was it your first experience at a professional recording studio?

This was in Alaska studios at Waterloo, owned by one of the Vibrators and a place where lots of great punk and post-punk music was made. The first thing he did was to get rid of the studio engineer who we were pretty uncomfortable with after some kind of sexist suggestions when we arrived and say he was going to engineer it himself. I don’t really remember how David was connected with Midnight, he was a member of loads of Camden bands. I really liked working with him – I think I was the only member of the band to be at every session. I’d never been in a studio before – I suppose Simon must have been in a few studios, having made records with the Purple Hearts – and I was interested in the process. I ended up playing David’s Les Paul signature on pretty much every song because he knew how to record it to get a good sound. But yeah, his approach was always ‘how do you want it’? not ‘On this one we want to make you sound like…’ and on the night where I just couldn’t stand to hear anything I was involved in any more and wanted to go for a walk in the night air for half an hour, that was OK.  He’s a musician, he knew what to do.

++ That same year your first and only album “Dreams of Leaving” was released. I really like this album and have enjoyed it quite a lot. I have heard also a lot about Alaska studios where it was recorded. But something that caught my attention is that for the record you got some guest musicians like The Midnight Rambler, Jeremy Hirsch or Louis Vause. Were you friends with them? Or was it the label that recruited them?

The Midnight Rambler is Nick Ralphs exercising his privilege as label boss to play on his artist’s record! The others were bandmates David Ros from his band the Trojans, I think. There WAS going to be a special guest star on the album but it didn’t happen:  some of the band got talking to Peter Buck from REM at a gig and he said yes to an invitation to come to the studio. We faded out the guitars at the end of ‘Sultry day’ to give him a space to [lay, but he didn’t show. Later I found out he’d played on the Dream Academy’s album that day.

++ Speaking of musician friends, were you tight with any other bands? Did you enjoy sharing bills with any bands in particular? I guess what I am asking is if you felt part of a scene at all?

I definitely didn’t, but I never have. I think we met a few people we liked and went to see them, but I don’t remember ever gigging with them.

++ Your last release was the EP “You Promised Me a Camera” that is great. I am curious though, why just three releases? Why weren’t there more?

By the time ‘camera’ came out on a single I wasn’t in the band any more (which is why I don’t own that record) and I think that meant a 4-piece band with no new songs to play and a songwriter with no band to perform or record with.

++ Are there more recordings by the band? Perhaps early demo tapes? Or any other songs that were recorded at the different recording sessions?

There’s the demo of ‘Camera and Seasons’ but I don’t have it. There’s definitely no outtakes either – 16 songs, that’s your lot.

++ One thing that was quite particular about you is the art for your records, they are pretty interesting and different. Who was in charge of that? And something I was curious about the sleeve of the album, is that a caravel or a different kind of vessel?

Syn designed the 3 sleeves, with a fairly democratic ‘that one!’ voice from the rest of us. She is a graphic designer by profession anyway, so it was good to have that talent available. I think all three of those covers have a kind of ‘time travel;’ vibe though, it felt consistent, Victoriana/psychedelic/found imagery. Sorry, can’t help you on what kind of craft it is –despite my interest in pirate ships (you’ll hear the a few times if you listen to Soulbird). It’s not my ship, it’s an engraving Syn saw and we liked. The background was a pretty elaborate process of cutting out different areas and printing that colour one at a time. I’m sure as soon as I saw I said ‘Oh we should call the album Dreams of leaving’…

++ One thing that I hope happens someday is that the songs get reissued, I find it it will be hard with Cherry Red owning Midnight Music catalogue these days. But I wonder if that’s has ever been in the band’s plans? 

Really can’t say – I’ve never had any contact from Cherry Red. I can’t imagine there’s any plan to reissue it – it didn’t sell, it wasn’t on radio (no-one to plug it I suppose) and it’s not like any of us went on to be famous and have roots to monetise. I’m sure if someone approached Cherry Red about it they may not even know it exists. I can’t really speak for the others in the band either. We live in different countries, we don’t very often communicate, I don’t think anyone would come to a 35th anniversary tour!

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

Can I first of all say it is not in any way connected with REM’s song ‘camera’ which I hadn’t heard when I wrote it. It’s ‘about’ someone I was in a relationship with who was a great promiser that things would be better and they wouldn’t do it again – but those happy smiling faces photographic days and red letter days on the calendar never came. Sad, but pretty. Absolutely transformed by Simon’s guitar intro and solo by the way.

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

Can I choose two? I’ve played ‘love on trial’ since then at open mike nights and with other bands and it always gets a good reaction – my favourite being on a phone video hearing someone say ‘Ow, that’s a catchy tune!’ as we end it. I think my favourite thing on the record is ‘Shall we be dancing’? because everyone said ‘you always play really pretty guitar, do something different’ and that backwards guitar is the result.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? 

Not by the standards of other working bands – we did a few in the famous rock’n’toll toilets (that’s a Robin Hitchcock song) of old London Town, then we were making the record, then we were playing the same songs on a tour of universities, then Tolson got an offer to join someone more successful.

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

There were a few good gigs on the Hitchcock Tour – one was when Simon’s brother came along and returned the 12 string guitar so we got to use it on more than one song each for the first time ever! The Marquee was bizarre – we met ‘jesus’ who was always in the audience there playing tambourine, and felt like a proper part of the London live music history We came on stage to ‘my friend jack’ by the Smoke. It was pretty much a home crowd for Robyn Hitchcock so he had a lot of friends in the audience and someone was throwing frozen prawns on stage during every chorus of ‘where are the prawns?’, making the stage dangerous at the end when we went on to get our amps…

++ And were there any bad ones?

There was one in Bournemouth – near enough my home town where we didn’t have a drummer. We had someone from the audience come up and try (uninvited) on a couple of songs, then did about 4 songs with tambourine as the rhythm section. It did include quite a nice cover of ‘Femme fatale’ though.

++ When and why did Hearts on Fire stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

This isn’t that happy a memory for me, and you probably ought to ask one or more of the others how they remember it. We only had those 16 songs. We’d played them before getting signed, we’d played them to make the record, we’d played them on tour. We knew we wanted more songs for a second album and the band fell apart disagreeing ‘how’ to get there. I had at least half an album’s worth of songs, there was a fantastic one 90% written by Syn ‘Nightwatchman’ that I’d still like to do – maybe next year, but some of the band wanted to ‘jam’ some numbers into being, which I felt that I wouldn’t be any good at and couldn’t think of any examples of music I liked that came out of ‘jamming’. I felt very hurt by that – like they didn’t want my songs, but expected me to help with theirs. So I quit. It also felt like Miidnight chose the band over me. For a bit I auditioned for C-86 and Creation type bands who’d all emerged with that same sound, but it didn’t happen. I think it was a good 10 years before I picked up a guitar again to play in a covers band at work. 10 years ago I discovered Dan and the studio

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

Simon left when there was an offer for The Purple Hearts to record and promote, and 2000-whatever’s mod revival revival meant reforming the Purple Hearts for live work. Simon also has his own band and plays in a Mod -supergroup with a Chord and a Long Tall Shorty, I think. Syn went to France and became a mother. I don’t know how long the March Violets lasted after being on the soundtrack of a John Hughes movie, but I know Andrew ended up back home in Canada where he now creates with a camera not a drum kit.  Mike has certainly given up music now, but I don’t know how long he went on with it after the Hearts folded.

++ Has there been any Hearts on Fire reunion?

It was a pretty bitter ending.

++ Was there any interest from radio? TV?

No. it seems odd in retrospect – we were an i mix of British/US, male/female, gay/straight, we could have been interesting.

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

There was in interview in Melody Maker that made us sound like a copy band – we mentioned people we thought of as inspirers and it sounded like we were comparing ourselves with them.

++ What about from fanzines?

Not as I recall. I think one or two of the student newspapers talked to us.

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

I can’t really speak for the Band, but I know actually getting a vinyl copy of the LP in its cover was – and still is- one of my favourite things to have happened: ‘We made this because we love music – and our music is loveable too!’

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

I still like shopping for clothes, I like Art galleries, I take the dog for walks in the woods and by the river and still notice the birds and butterflies as they go past – even more this year when that daily walk has been the only time out of the house we were allowed. I like movies and theatre.

++ Been to London many times, but would love to hear from a local for some recommendations by a local, like sights one shouldn’t miss? Food and drinks one should try?

I moved out of London about 10 years ago to the countryside – I think anything I told you would be horribly out of date!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Just top repeat my thanks for liking and writing up[ the LP, and I hope you find something in my solo stuff to like as much.

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Listen
Hearts on Fire – (You Promised Me A) Camera