Another sad news from 2022 was that Christine Wanless, vocalist in The Revolving Paint Dream (and also on many Biff Bang Pow! songs) passed away.

I also wanted to write about it when I learned the news last September. But again, I wasn’t in the right mindset, the right mood, to write about it. Especially as I didn’t know Christine. Not in person, not online. I hadn’t written before about her bands, I had not interviewed her bandmates either.

She was an important part of early Creation Records from what I’ve read. She was the label’s first female artist. She would also become press and then label manager.

Christine was also part of a mythical band, the Formica Tops. I have only known this band by name. I would love to know more about it. Were there any songs recorded? released? Who were the other members? I know Andrew Innes from The Revolving Paint Dream (and Primal Scream too) was one. I believe they were girlfriend and boyfriend at the time.

Were the Formica Tops predecessors of The Revolving Paint Dream? I have found just one mention on JC Brouchard’s website, where there’s a recording of “La Bulle Jaune” from 1987. This is a version of the song “Yellow Ball” by The Revolving Paint Dream”. Strangely on the band members for thisi recording Christine Wanless is not listed.

The band members listed on Discogs include Alan McGee, Andrew Innes, Frank Sweeney, Ken Popple and Luke Hayes. The only one I had been in touch with is Frank, who I interviewed many years ago about his superb band The Ringing.

The band’s legendary single “Flowers in the Sky” came out in 1984. It was the second release on Creation Records (CRE 002). The two songs on this record are indiepop classics, the title song on the A side and “In the Afternoon” on the B side. Well, not the B side. It was a double A single.

It featured top people on it like Ken Popple on drums, David Musker on keyboards and Joe Foster producing. This record is indeed a classic, so no surprise the German label Edition 59 reissued it as a 3″CDR in 2009 and Optic Nerve Recordings did the same as a 7″ in 2020. Worth mentioning too that on the 3″ version a longer version of “Flowers in the Sky” was included as a 3rd song.

In 1987 the band would release “Off to Heaven” (CRELP 018), their debut album. It is a short one of 8 songs, “Sun, Sea, Sand”, “Flowers in the Sky”, “Stop the World”, “My My, Hey Hey” on the A side and “7 Seconds”, “The Judges”, “Walter Valentine’s Dead” and “Yellow Ball (Take Me Away)” on the B side. The songs were recorded at The Acid Factory in London.

Yeah, the band was based in London. I forgot to mention.

In 1988 “Green Blue Sea” is released as a single. On the B side we find the album track “Sun, Sea, Sand”. On “Green Blue Sea” we see Robert Young of Primal Scream playing bass, Dave Morgan from Alternative TV, The Weather Prophets, and more, playing drums, K. Clinton and S. Pollock on saxophone and M. Wall on trumpet. On “Sun, Sea, Sand” J. Morris is credited for bass. The songs were produced by George & Phil (who are they?) at the Acid Factory and the Greenhouse studios. In 2011 this single was re-released by Edition 59, again limited to 59 copies as a 3″CDR.

In 1990 the band releases their second album, “Mother Watch Me Burn” (CRELP 039). 11 songs this time. “The Dune Buggy Attack Battalion”, “Green Blue Sea”, “Fever Mountain”, “(Burn this House) Down to the Ground” and “Mother Wash My Tears Away” on the A side while we find “Garbagebrain”, “Electra’s Crying Loaded in the Basement”, “Mandra Mandra”, “300 (Coda)” and “Reprise: Mandro Mandro” on the B side. The album also gets released in Japan by Victor Musical Industries (VDP-28069).

In 2006 there’s a Rev-Ola retrospective CD compilation titled “Flowers in the Sky: The Enigma of The Revolving Paint Dream”. Indeed, the band was always promoted and described as an enigma. There’s very few photos of the band. Also very little information.

I believe the compilation doesn’t include any unreleased tracks. Maybe “Untitled (Love Song)” is the only one? The 22 songs are in this order, “Flowers in the Sky (45 version)”, “In the Afternoon”, “Sun, Sea, Sand”, “Stop the World”, “My My, Hey Hey”, “7 Seconds”, “The Judges”, “Walter Valentine’s Dead”, “Yellow Ball (Take Me Away)”, “Green Blue Sea”, “Sun, Sea, Sand”, “Flowers in the Sky (Long Version)”, “The Dune Buggy Attack Battalion”, “Fever Mountain”, “(Burn this House) Down to the Ground”, “Mother Wash My Tears Away”, Garbagebrain”, “Electra’s Crying Loaded in the Basement”, “Mandra Mandra”, “Untitled (Love Song)”, “300 (Coda)” and “Reprise: Mandro Mandro”

The band appeared on many compilations. Discogs lists 25 of them. I don’t know if it is worth going one by one. But maybe better to pay attention on some. The one that I think is the one that picks my curiosity the most is the compilation “A Tribute to Tricky Ricky”. This cassette was released in 1985 by Rouska (RUSK 003) and included bands like The June Brides, The Shop Assistants or The Mixers. On this compilation THe Revolvint Paint Dream contributed two songs, “Sunny Days” and “Wheels on My Scooter”. You wonder why weren’t these included in the retrospective?

The other interesting compilation is Biff Bang Pow!’s “A Better Life – A Complete Creations 1984-1991” that came out last year as a 6CD box set from Cherry Red. On it there’s an early version of “In the Afternoon” with Alan McGee’s vocals.

“In the Afternoon” is indeed the song that appears in most compilations. Perhaps it is the most well known, the beloved, song by fans.

It appears on “Wild Summer, Wow!” released by Creation (CRELP002) in 1984 on LP (later reissued on CD in 1990), “All for Art… and Art for All!” an LP comp released by Dan Treacy’s Whaam Records (BIG 8) in 1984 (also reissued on CD in 2008 by Vinyl Japan), on “Valium Orgasms – A Creation Compilation” a joint LP compilation put together by Rough Trade and Creation in 1986, on “I Love the Smell of Napalm – A Creation Compilation” another 1986 joint release by Rough Trade and Creation, on “Creation: Flowers in the Sky 1984-1987” a CD comp put out by Creation (CRELP 028) in 1988 (reissued that same year in Japan by Victor), on Vinyl Japan’s “Whaam! Bam! Thank You Dan – A Whaam! Records Compilation 1981-1984” (ASKCD43) CD comp from 1994, on the boxset “Scared to Get Happy (A Story of Indie-Pop 1980-1989” put out by Cherry Red in 2013 and on one more Cherry Red boxset, on 2021’s “The Sun Shines Here (The Roots of Indie-Pop 1980-1994”.

“In the Afternoon” appears too alongside “Flowers in the Sky” on the boxset “Creation Artifact 45 – The First Ten Singles (1983-1984)” that Cherry Red put out in 1985. It also appears, on “Creation Soup Volume One” (CRELP101) from 1991 with the same accompanying song and on “Creation Soup: Volumes One to Five”, a box set release that was Creation 100 on their catalog that same year. In 2011 the same two songs appear on the double CD compilation “Upside Down: The Creation Records Story”.

“Flowers in the Sky”  appears on “The Patron Saints of Teenage” a Japanese compilation CD from 1994r released by TriStar. That same song also gets featured on “Children of Nuggets – Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1996) released by Rhino in 2005. Then also in “CD86 – 48 Tracks fromt he Birth of Indie Pop” released by Castle and Sanctuary. And lastly on 2019’s “Big Gold Dreams – A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989”. Curious why it was on the Scottish music compilation… sure some members were Scottish, but it was a London band no?

Lastly “Sun, Sea, Sand” is on “C88” CD from 2017, “Green Sea Blue” on “C89” from 2018, “Garbagebrain” on “Just a Bad Dream: Sixty British Garage and Trash Nuggets 1981-89” from 2018, “The Dune Buggy Attack Bttalion” on “Various – Losing Touch with My Mind – Psychedelia in Britain 1986-1990” from 2019. All Cherry Red boxsets. They fit Revolving Paint Dream in different music genres for their boxsets.

Another interesting bit of information is that at some point there was a live band called The Revolving Brides which was a mix of Revolving Paint Dream members and June Brides members. How cool! I read that on February 21, 1988, this super group was supported by The Sea Urchins. Are there any recordings by this group? Live recordings at least? Did they play original songs?

I find then a post by JC Brouchard on his blog Vivonzeureux! JC was involved in Biff Bang Pow! and he remembers recording with her the song “If I Die”. He also remembers her from recording “Bébé Tchernobyl”. I didn’t know of this version! The original, as far as I know, was “Chernobyl Baby” the song that the mystery band Baby Amphetamine released on Creation in 1987. Another cool bit of info he mentions is that Christine played a gig with Biff Bang Pow! in Reims, France, on October 25, 1986! That must have been a special gig indeed!

It doesn’t seem Christine continued making music. These were the projects she was involved with.

As I said I don’t have any connection other than loving her songs, her music. Some of her songs will be forever indiepop hits, legendary songs that will be included on compilations of the genre. They are genre-defining indeed.

It is a shame that legends like this have left us. I just hope 2023 is a bit nicer to all of us. Better, nicer news is what I want to hear.

Because I didn’t have the opportunity before, and because this is my only column to the outside world, I just want to thank Christine. For the good times listening to her songs. I would have loved to be born 15 years earlier or so, and in London, so I could have attended one of their gigs. Would have been incredible. I would have been thrilled.

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Listen
The Revolving Paint Dream – In the Afternoon