Do you remember the French band Fantastic!?

I remember their 7″ single on Siesta. The “Montgomery Clift EP” (SIESTA 63) form 1997. That one that was named after the American actor…

Edward Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of “moody, sensitive young men”, according to The New York Times. He is best remembered for his roles in Howard Hawks’s Red River (1948), George Stevens’s A Place in the Sun (1951), Fred Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity (1953), Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and John Huston’s The Misfits (1961).

That EP had four songs, “Starfield” and “Tracey Thorn” on the A side and “Colourbox” and “Smile” on the B side. Yes, how cool to dedicate a song to Tracey from the Marine Girls and Everything But the Girl.

We know from that record who were behind this band. That’s always helpful. We know that Nicolas Baudard was on vocals, Vincent Cconnetable on guitar, Mathieu Bournazel on guitar and backing vocals, Matthieu Leyssallee on drums (called on the sleeve as Swedish Beat), Michel Caillard on piano, guitar and backing vocals and Joel Leyssalle on trombone. Also Jérome Hatif played bass on “Colourbox”.

I suppose that the Leysalle were brothers, Mathieu and Joel. Right?

We know that “Starfield” and “Colourbox” were recorded and mixed in March 1996 at Lutecia Gordon Studio. On the scan from Discogs of the back of the sleeve is hard to read who the producer was. Jean François… and can’t figure out his last name. Yea, I don’t own this record sadly.

The other two songs were recorded in December 1996 at T. Yard Studio by Jean Yves… and again can’t figure out the last name.

I click on Discogs on the band members. I see Vincent has been involvevd in a project called Redondance as of late.

Mathieu and Nicolas have been in a band called Purple Submarine Orchestra.

The band released another record in 2000 that is not as well known. It was a CD EP on the French label Les Disques Aquatic. This EP was titled “Sun: What a Wonderful World” (BUL 02). It included 5 songs, “Fragments”, “Sun: What a Wonderful World!”, “Brian Wilson”, “Supernova” and “Beauty Queen”.

This last song was actually the first song I heard by the band. It was included in the 7″ compilation “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” that the Japanese label Motorway (MOTOR 045) released in 2000. On this compilation they shared the A side with Kosmonaut while on the B side we find The Tyde and Brittle Stars.

The band would also appear on two compilations. On the “Expreso – Otra Recopilación de Canciones de Siesta” 10″ from 1997 (SIESTA 60), the band contributed the song “Smile”. Then in 1999 the band had their song “Brian Wilson” on “Sombrero – La Tercera Recopilación de Canciones de Siesta” (SIESTA 80) that was released on CD and vinyl LP.

The song “Fragments” would be released on the Bordeaux based label Les Disques Aquatic in 1999. It was on a CD called “Soiree Cocktail – An International Collection of Bossa Nova Tunes” (BUL 01). This CD would be re-released in 2001 by L’Appareil-Photo Bis (BIS 09).

Lastly the song “Colourbox” was included on “Blanco y Negro Music for Siesta” released in 2002 by the Japanese label Rambling Records (RBCS-2024).

Then a good find, bot EPs by the band can be streamed on Soundcloud.

What else can I find? Well there’s a Purple Submarine Orchestra Facebook page and there the band has shared some good bits of info about their previous band. First thing we learn is that the band was around 1995 to 2000.

We know too that Les Irockuptibles reviewed their 2nd EP. Also our friend Chris reviewed it on his Indiepages. Both would compare it to The Pale Fountains.

Then we find out that the band was originally called Smile. They had a demo tape in 1995 and was reviewed in the Paris based magazine Magic! We know that the demo tape was called “Montgomery Clift” (the artwork for the tape had a photo of the actor) and included “Colourbox”, “Starfield” and “Vegetable My Superdrug”. It seems that afterwards the band find out there was another band called Smile so they changed their name to Fantastic!

The Parisian band plays the “Le Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats” festival. They open for Tahiti 80.

We know too that before being Fantastic! (or Smile), some band members were in a band called Paperhouse. Are there recordings by them? Would be good to find out!

And that’s what I know about this cool sounding combo! I am sure many of my French friends remember them, so yes, any details you want to share would be great!

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Listen
Fantastic! – Beauty Queen

As I continue to struggle to find time to write blog posts, I still enjoy finding new obscure songs and bands.

Lately work has been really demanding with many big stories like the earthquake in Turkey, the high-altitude objects the U.S. shot down or the train derailment in Ohio. So yeah, I have barely time to have a breather. Writing this now at around 8pm after my little one is already asleep.

You must remember the classic Shelflife compilation “You Make Me Smile (A Shelflife Records Collection)” released on CD by the superb American label in 2000. Catalog number was LIFE 010. That compilation introduced me to many bands. Its been a while since I listened to it. But was checking it again. And a name popped up, The Palm Songwriters.

What do I know about them? Nothing really. Just this song, “Brenda Walsh”, that is great. But is there more to know? So I start digging.

I assume the song is dedicated to the TV character Brenda Walsh, that was portrayed by Shannen Doherty in Beverly Hills, 90210 for the first four seasons. Must be.

The song was released in 1998 as the A side for a 7″ single on the fine Japanese label K.O.G.A. Records (KOGA 059). And yes, that’s right, the band was Japanese. It was formed by Hiroshi Tsutsumida aand Seiji Fukuda. Oh that first name is familiar to me! I interviewed Hiroshi about The Korova Milk Bar and also about Johnny Dee in the past. And wrote about Johnny Johnny! I think with The Palm Songwriters I might have featured all the bands he was in? Would be cool to interview him about these less well known projects.

Seiji of course was also on The Korova Milk Bar and was in 101 Dalmatians who I have written about in the past. Super groups!

The band recorded another song. It was on the B side of the single I mentioned. It was called “Stop that Girl”. This was actually a cover of Vic Godard and The Subway Sect.

I don’t find much more info online. I wonder if they played live, and of course, if they recorded any more songs. Would be great to know more details about them! My Japanese friends remember The Palm Songwriters?

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Listen
The Palm Songwriters – Brenda Walsh

Soundcloud has become the place to go to discover obscure bands from the 80s. The latest find hails from Denver, Colorado, and were called The Presley Underground. A pun? I’m sure they liked the bands associated to the Paisley Underground scene.

What information will I be able to find? Probably little. I don’t have high hopes. But let’s have a look…

The first song the band recorded was titled “Trains“. It was recorded at Budget Studios in Denver over 3 days in October of 1988. The recording was done live on a 16 track Fostex deck with overdubs on guitar and vocals, some drums and bass. The music was written by Alan Stiles with lyrics by Rick Hyde. This song would be part of the band’s first demo.

The second song we find is the superb “Fall of Promises“. This song has a different story. It seems Rick Hyde was jamming with someone called Aaron at Fort Lewis College in the fall of 1986 and he would remember a bass line from that session. Years later when Rick showed this bassline to the guys in Presley Underground they all liked it and started playing it in 1988. Brian Sneider is on drums, Otto Wrecker is on bass and Rick on guitar. What about Alan Stiles? Did he leave the band? Was he not part of the band originally? The recording details about this song are the same as “Trains”.

From that same recording session of October 1988 we find a third song, “Set it Aside“.

There are other 3 songs on Rick Hyde’s Soundcloud, “Deep River”, “Killing Floor” and “Metal”. But it doesn’t say if they were by The Presley Underground. Someone has commented that they aren’t. Who would know? Maybe these were from the band Rick was after?

The only other mention of the band comes from a blog called King Concert. This is a page dedicated to live music by Colorado writer-photographer Tim Van Schmidt.

On his post he mentions a concert were The Presley Underground supported the Meat Puppets on December 2nd 1988 at the CSU Student Center North Ballroom. He describes the sound of the band as fuzzy, loud dissonant rock.

And that’s what I could find by them. A few songs and little more. Would be great if someone could give us some more details about them!

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Listen
The Presley Underground – Fall of Promises

Just found out about this British band from the Youtube channel by stoneeyedkiller. What’s surprising is that this band actually put a record out. And I was never aware of its existence.

Yeah, The Outsiders released a 7″ in 1989 according to Discogs. It came out on Redd Records which may have been the band’s own label, a self-release. The 7″ had two songs, “Handfuls of Nothing (Give me Lots & Lots of Money)” on the A side and “Love You to Death” on the B side.

The artwork on the sleeve shows photos of each of the four members of the band but sadly we don’t get the names of them.

45cat lists another record by The Outsiders. Is it the same band? Timewise it could be. This second 7″ would be actually the first, released in 1988 on Mundane Music (MM 0004). Two songs are included in it, “The Northern Queen” on the A side and “The Great Depression” on the B side. On this record the songs are credited to Tom Martin who also produced both tracks.

If it is the same band, they would have hailed from Birmingham and we know they at least played gigst at The New Breedon Bar (July 31 1988) and also at the Junction Harbourne (Oct. 27 1988).

But these are not all the songs the band recorded. On Youtube there’s a bunch of them. Sadly there is no information about them. Also none of the 1988 songs are uploaded here so you see why I have my doubts.

The songs uploaded are “Boxing Clever”, “Rain”, “That Girl”, “Pocketful of Sorrow”, “Scarlet”, “Tinsel Town”, “Handfuls of Nothing”, “Bordello”, “Stephen”, “Satellite Evangelist”, “Burning Sun”, “Stone on Stone” and “Particularly”

Sadly that seems to be all the info I could find about them. They’ve put their music on many digital platforms but they haven’t added any details. Would be good to know at least who were the members, right?

So yeah, I hope you can give me a hand finding more info about The Outsiders!

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Listen
The Outsiders – Pocketful of Sorrow

First of all I want to say that I am going to London in May!! Will be a few days there and I will attend what will probably be my only gig this year, Heavenly at Sheperd’s Bush Hall on May 20th! So just heads up if you want to save on postage and want any of the releases on Cloudberry. Just send me a message and we’ll take it from there! So excited to see the legendary Sarah band as well as seeing many friends. And of course, visiting London after 10 long years, has me beyond excited…

Anyways…

West Runton is a village in North Norfolk, England, on the North Sea coast.

That’s where we are headed today.

Malcolm Birtwell on guitar and vocals, Dave Lewis on bass and Bill Allard were Green Beach, a jangle pop band from the mid-80s clearly influenced by The Smiths.

The band was formed in 1985. Not all of them hailed from West Runton. Only Malcolm did. Dave was from Sheringham and Bill from Southrepps and the band was part of a scene that was called the Cromerzone.

Malcolm has an account on Soundcloud where he has uploaded a bunch of his recordings from different projects. Included there is the debut 1986 cassette EP by Green Beach. This four-song EP was called “Annoying the Neighbours”. He says the EP’s songs were about his increasing frustration with the girlfriend he had at the time.

The songs on the tape were “Caution to the Wind”, “Green Beach (Le Linge)”, “Living Your Life as a Lie” and “Still Waiting”. The art for this tape shows a soldier in green ink.

There is a page with some more stuff about them on N1M. There a song called “Dry Your Tears” is mentioned. This song was written back in 1985 for Green Beach but was later recorded by another band Mal was in, U-Watt.

There is also a mention that in 2015 the band, Green Beach had reunited and was recording new material. Not sure what happened. They did put together a Facebook page.

Then I stumble a page on ReverbNation. There Malcolm tells us about his influences and that he is able to play bass and drums as well. There is another song I hadn’t heard before, “The Eyes Have It”. It sounds very different to Green Beach’s 1986 songs. Maybe this was a new one?

There are a few more to check, “Nightmare”, “I Ain’t Listening”, “Promises” and “Reflections”. Maybe these are from another cassette EP? Doesn’t say.

These days we know that Malcolm plays on a band called Halo’s Edge. Not sure what are the other members up to now.

And that’s all I could gather about this obscure band. Who remembers them? Anyone has any intel on this Cromerzone scene? Were there any other jangle pop bands involved?

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Listen
Green Beach – Living Your Life as a Lie

As mentioned on my previous post on Killing Time, members of this band went to be later in another one called The Real McCoy.

On the Soundcloud account by Westy50 there are actually two songs by The Real McCoy: “Hometown” and “Working Girl”. And they sound quite fine to me.

I assume The Real McCoy was also based in Muirhose, Motherwell, Scotland. About the members I know at least one of them was in both bands, Westy (who I don’t know his real name sadly). He was the bassist in The Killing Time so I am also guessing he was the bassist in The Real McCoy.

Their name clearly comes from the idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking world to mean “the real thing” or “the genuine article”, e.g. “he’s the real McCoy”. The phrase has been the subject of numerous false etymologies. 

On the song “Hometown” we get some details. It mentions that this track was recorded in a basement in Penicuik many years ago. They also say that their claim to fame was that they watched the World Cup final with Ricky Ross and supported Oasis before they were Oasis.

I wonder which World Cup would that be? 1990?

Someone called Stephen McGuire comments too. He says that he loves the song and he had made a version of the song with Kev on a casio drum machine. I want to guess Kev was part of the band, but don’t think Stephen was.

The second song, “Working Girl”, was recorded in 1991 at Coatbridge and was engineered by Ted Blakeway.

I will say again that I believe Westy was in the punk band External Menace later on as there are recordings of this band on his account. Other than that I don’t have any other info about them.

So again, any help will be appreciated!

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Listen
The Real McCoy – Hometown

Not to be confused with Killing Time who were English and I wrote about them in the blog. Today’s band, The Killing Time, hailed from Muirhouse, Motherwell, Scotland.

There’s a Soundcloud account by Westy50 that had uploaded one track by The Killing Time. That was 5 years ago and the song is really brilliant. The song is titled “Chance” and was recorded back in 1985 in Loanhead, Edinburgh.

We also got the names of the band members, which is great, Neil McPhail on guitar, Stephen Cogan on lead guitar and backing vocals, Johnny Mulhaul on drums, Westy on bass and Grant who I am not sure what he played (not clear for me, it says he played mouthy and general Bez things).

There’s a photo of the band there, where we see the 5 members. Well, 4, one of the members seems to have been cut off. It is the same photo I am using here in the blog.

I see then that Westy was also on another band called Real McCoy that sounds good. I should write about them next I think. In the meantime I need more info about The Killing Time. Another band uploaded to his account is External Menace. Was he involved in that band as well?

About their name, it is clear that they took it from the particular period of Scottish history with that same name…

The Killing Time was a period of conflict in Scottish history between the Presbyterian Covenanter movement, based largely in the south west of the country, and the government forces of Kings Charles II and James VII. The period, roughly from 1679 to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, was subsequently called The Killing Time by Robert Wodrow in his The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution, published in 1721–22. It is an important episode in the martyrology of the Church of Scotland.

But other than that I don’t seem to find any other info about them. I wonder if anyone remembers them and can share some info. I don’t think I have previously written about a Motherwell band, so hopefully I will also learn about their scene!

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Listen
The Killing Time – Chance

On my post about the band Eddie’s Brother I mentioned that Simon Kelly, member of said band, had uploaded the songs to Soundcloud was also in a band called The Owl Service.

The songs by The Owl Service have been uploaded much more recently, just a year ago. I searched high and low for info on Eddie’s Brother and couldn’t find anything. Will my luck be different now that I am searching for The Owl Service?

My first encounter is through the song “Real“. It sounds very much influenced by “George Best” era The Wedding Present. I love this sound. This is something I enjoy a lot. I learn that this demo was recorded in 1991 on a Tascam 244 portastudio.

The second song is “Heptonstall“. Recorded at the same time period and with the same equipment. Here it is mentioned that this song was a favourite of the “Echoplex years”. What does that mean? As far as I know it is a guitar delay pedal, right? The band was using this pedal a lot?

Heptonstall is of course a town in the UK.

Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack Top, is 1,448, increasing to 1,470 at the 2011 Census. The town of Hebden Bridge lies directly to the south-east. Although Heptonstall is part of Hebden Bridge as a post town, it is not within the Hebden Royd town boundaries.

Did the band hail from a place close by?

Third song is “I-Spy with the Angels“. Here Simon mentions that he hears shades of The Wedding Present in his song.

There’s more. “No Sunday Afternoon Joy” had the sound of his Rickenbacker 330. Sadly he mentions that 6 months later after recording the song it was stolen. The last song available is titled “And“.

Worth mentioning again that Simon was also in the band The Gunsmiths in the late 80s.

Now the name. Where does The Owl Service name comes from?

The Owl Service is a low fantasy novel for young adults by Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1967. Set in modern Wales, it is an adaptation of the story of the mythical Welsh woman Blodeuwedd, an “expression of the myth” in the author’s words.

Good to know. What else can we find?

Not much more to be honest. So again, will need your help with any more details so we can understand a bit better this cool sounding band!

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Listen
The Owl Service – Real