Day 502
Now 502 days since working from home. Really incredible. Never expected this. By now I have already adapted to it and I quite like working remotely. What about you all?
Grazer: been a fan of Matt and Mollie’s band Grazer for a while now. The band is releasing a double A-side single with the songs “Without You” and “Vision” though I dont see any information about a physical release. Maybe it’s a matter of waiting for it?
April June: a new song by the Spanish band! And it sounds amazing. It is titled “Summer Bruises” and it seems the band has signed to the label Spirit Goth. I don’t see the goth in this song but who knows. This is luminous pop!
Tani: here’s a very nice new release on Jigsaw Records! “Mew” is the name of the album of the Buenos Aires, Argentina, project Tani. It is a short one, 8 songs, where you get playful and upbeat electro pop a la Au Revoir Simone. A little treasure as Chris Jigsaw puts it.
Die Liga Der Gewöhnlichen Gentlemen: a new album by this German superband! The new album is titled “Gschichterln aus dem Park Cafe” and is out now on vinyl and CD thanks to Tapete Records. Fun pop by the Hamburg band which you can preview 3 of their songs on Bandcamp.
War College: and we end this Monday’s review of new finds on the web with this Athens, Georgia band. They have an album online called “Personality” that is really nice. The songs are a good mix of classic jangle pop, a little folk pop here and there and the enough dose of lo-fi, bedroom pop, we need.
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The Persuaders, one of the superb bands that released on Ceilidh Records, is the band I want to investigate today.
The band was formed after the demise of Dr Zoraks Vaxkabinett in the summer of 1986. I have never heard this band and I wonder if there are any recordings by them. Also which members of The Persuaders where in it? All of the first lineup?
Yeah, that first lineup. It lasted from 1986 to 1989. And it was Ola Hermanson on vocals and guitar, Torgny Karlsson on guitar and vocals, Jonas Lager on keyboards, Magnus Larsson on bass and Jörgen Olsson on drums.
On Ceilidh’s website there’s a biography of the band. A small one. There it mentions that due to the geographical distance between the members and the lack of a permanent drummer, the band ended up releasing just two singles. It seems the band was working on an album called “Tupperware Teens” but that never got released.
Speaking of the singles, there were two versions of their first 7″, “Neeedyounear’s Disease”. This one came out in 1987 and had the catalog number CEI 006 on Ceilidh Records. The songs on the record were “Needyounear’s Disease” on the A side and “Feet” on the B side. Both songs were written by Ola Hermanson and the songs were produced by the band. They were recorded at S&M Studios in Norrköping. Were they from there?
Anyhow, the first version of the 7″, the first 200 copies, came with a sleeve where the photo was the whole cover. The second version had a white sleeve with a smaller photo (the same photo), with the band’s name in red on the upper top left corner. They both came out in 1987, so not sure why the difference between the sleeves.
The band’s second 7″ was the “First Date 3P” single from 1989. This EP released also on Ceilidh (CEI 011) had three songs, “Her New Candy” on the A side and “(I Won’t Be) Happy (‘Till You’re Dead)” and “Boy Wonder” on the B side. This time the songs were recorded at Mistlur Studios in the fall of 1988. The songs were written again by Ola while the record was engineered by Thomas Pettersson and mixed by Micke Herrström.
In 1989 there were some lineup changes. Diana Gustafson joined on drums replacing Jörgen Olsson. This lineup would last until 1991. Then someone we know, Niklas Barwe, who we interviewed about his band The Cod Lovers, replaced Diana.
In 1991 we see the band’s last release. It was a song, “The Chop Chop Song”, that got released on a flexi that came with the Now & Then Magazine, no. 4. The other band on this split flexi was the fine Sonic Surf City.
The band did have more songs. Many of them appeared on various compilations. “Panic Station Girl” was included in “Ceilidh 005”, an LP compilation from 1987. Then in 1989 the band had “Dazed, Dirty and Drunk” on “Nordic Sounds Volume 2” a double CD comp released by Joker Records (JOKE 917), “Panic Station Girl” on the “Pet Sounds Vol. 1” cassette comp that came with the Pet Sounds fanzine, and the track “Her New Candy” on “Sinderella – The Swedish Stand 1989” another CD comp released by Sinderella (SIN 001).
Then we see them again in 1992, there’s a gap of two years. That year they appear with two songs on a compilation CD called “Sista Slaget I Peking” which was released by Studiefrämjandet (SFR 001). The songs here were “My Head is Larger Than Yours” and “Doo Wah Wah Ooh”. This compilation featured bands from the town of Norrköping. I think this confirms my suspicion where they were from.
In 1993 their song “Dig” appears on “Dogstew” a CD compilation released by Blind Dog (BDCD001). Lastly, in 1997, the song “Her New Candy” is includede in “Ceilidh 039 Singles & Vinyls” a CD compilation.
Looking at the band members I noticed that Magnus Larsson had been in the bands Texas Motherfuckers and Urga. Niklas Barwe, was of course in Cod Lovers and also in The Bukks. Ola Hermansson had beene in Sister James and Sonic Surf City. Torgny Karlsson was also on Sonic Surf City.
There’s not much more on the web by this project. One thing that is good to note is that “First Date 3P” was reviewed by Sound Affects, no. 4, in 1989 by John Byström as well as getting Single of the Week on Norrköpings Tidningar on April 1st of 1989. The “Needyounear’s Disease” 7″ also got reviewed by Norrköpings Tidningar on October 10th of 1987 also getting Single of the Week.
Good to remember this band. I should also try to get their records. I think I don’t have them in my collection! What about you? Do you remeember them?
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Listen
The Persuaders – (I Won’t Be) Happy (Til You’re Dead)
