Molesworth Records? Newleaf Records? Does any of these names sound familiar? Not to me. But today I pulled out from my collection this fantastic 7″ by The Nightjars which is catalog HUNTS 06. So there must have been 5 previous releases on this label(s). At least I can tell that this 7″ shouldn’t be too hard to find on ebay or other online stores for a good price. Now what about the other records?
So the band took the name from Nightjars, which are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills. They are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is Caprimulgus). Some North American species are named as nighthawks. Nightjars usually nest on the ground. Sounds interesting?
Actually, yesterday I was visiting a friend that is a bird watcher. He goes every Saturday at 5am to the Everglades to photograph different birds. Even though there are no nightjars in this swampy, grass river, you can find a diversity hard to match with birds like ospreys, hawks, mockingbirds, etc. But for me it’s hard to go and wear those huge boots and be target of all the thousands of mosquitoes that live there. But on top of all, I couldn’t wake up that early to go there. Impossible! Oh! And if you are into alligators and crocodiles, this is the only place in the world were you can find both living close to each other.
But far away from here, in Wistow, Cambridgeshire, there were five guys that were The Nigthjars back in the early 90s (and maybe in the late 80s; I couldn’t tell, this 7″ is dated 1990). Don’t know if they were into bird watching or not, but they were John Lindsell (vocals), Michael Green (guitars), Tim Slater (guitars), David Wick (bass) and David Fletcher (drums). This 7″ includes on the A side the song “Acid in Your Face” and on the B side “Hang Me out to Dry”. Did they release any other records? No clue. Google doesn’t seem to know much about them. I did find out that it was an NME single of the week.
And this is no surprise as Acid in Your Face is a burst of C86 style pop, very much in the vein of The Soup Dragons first singles. Yes, if you like teenage, fiery and distorted guitars, this is for you. And why not, if nowadays you like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, this should be up your alley. Although, expect it to be more shambolic! The B side is quite different I think. It’s a bit slower and it’s haunting… the intertwining of the two guitars is brilliant! The vocals are a bit darker while the song is still poppy and catchy, like a mix again of the Soup Dragons and early Mighty Lemon Drops. I really, really, enjoy it!
On the liner notes:
Recorded at the Flightpath, Cambridge
Produced by Tim Harding and the Nightjars
All songs written, arranged and performed by the Nightjars.
All lyrics by John Lindsell.
That’s all the information there is. And of course, maybe you know more about them and you can share. I would love to get in touch with the band if possible, would love to know if there are more songs recorded or if there were any other releases.
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4 Responses to “:: The Nightjars”
Superb post however , I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Cheers!
Great live band, Katherine was an audience favourite [I’m sure I had this on a band demo] They played Huntingdon area and Cambridge. If I recall correctly, Drummer Dave Fletcher was bass player in The Charlottes, before returning to the drums in the Nightjars, previously most of the band had played together in a band called Red Over White. There were a few good bands around at the time. Molesworh label started out as New Leaf Records, to release school projects fo Sawtry Village College, under leadership of teacher Andrew Clifton, RIP, I understand that a school governor complained causing cesation of New Leaf, Andrew Clifton formed Molesworth records [named after Down With Skool author Nigel Molesworth]. Molesworth put out 7 releases, Darkness At Noon was first release on tape, I remember seeing them play The Waterloo pub in Huntingdon, but have never seen or heard tape, 2nd release was Falling Down by Peterborough’s The Pleasure Heads, a very fun indie band.The 3rd release was by Soham band Nutmeg, a 12″ ‘And In England They’re Going Mental, this is without doubt the best band I’ve seen live, there is some footage on youtube. 4th release was by The Flowershop, Ten Foot Tall, my least favorite of label releases, I think partly as it didn’t seem to give a true reflection of them live. Next up came The Charlottes, Are You Happy Now, Graham and Petra used to work i a small independant record shop in Huntingdon, so had my copy signed, another excellent live band that seemed to come to an abrupt, Petra left to form a band called Ether, I don’t think anything other than a demo tape exists, Simon went on to drum for Slowdive, Graham went on to form Barefoot Countessa. The Nightjars you know about, and finally The Blue Mist released It’s Only Make Believe / Elijah the release number HUNTS 890260 was the telephone number of local taxi firm that sponsored release. The Blue Mist released their first single Rozanna on the New Leaf label.
Hi Wombat!
Thanks a lot for the info, will have a look for the bands you mention, I havent heard most of them!
There’s some more info I got from the Nightjars here: http://www.cloudberryrecords.com/blog/?p=434
And I also wrote a bit about The Pleasureheads: http://www.cloudberryrecords.com/blog/?p=2977
Were you involved in any bands? What other related bands do you remember from that time?
Best,
R
Hi Rogue,
Just a music fan, in the era where it was easier for pubs and other venues to get a live license. There was a good scene in the 80s in the Cambridgeshire area, most of which didn’t seem to make to vinyl, but did make demo tapes
Children Of Some Tradition would be worth searching out, [demo tape] This Repica [had a single on Fenrock Label], Graham and The Mushrooms [contributed to a flexi disc for Underground magazine, these were a kind of psychedelic goth band and entertaining live]. I used to have so many demo tapes, that went astray during a move, hopefully one day, these will be digitalised and put on line by band members