Time to start another week, and little by little we are about to end this year! As you know I’m terrible with year end lists so would love to know what are your favourite releases of 2018! Comment below please. Maybe Ive missed something?
This past weekend I found some cool sounds, so I will share those with you:
Tullycraft: my dear… one of my favourite bands is back! Their newest song is called “Passing Observations” and it even has a video. This track will be included in their forthcoming album “The Railway Prince Hotel” that should be released next year. I’m very happy, even more so because in the song they mention the song “Lotsi Go Go Go” by Throw that Beat in the Garbagecan!, another favourite band!!
The New Fools: remember the band Plume that had a song on one of the Leamington Spa compilations? Nowadays their members are playing music under the guise of The New Fools. They have set up a Soundcloud page with a bunch of their recordings. Most of the songs are from acoustic sessions but there are also some superb songs that I’m enjoying lots like “The Big Wheel” or “The Boy You Met on Holiday”. This has made me think that a Plume interview could be cool for the blog, right?
Nah…: the latest from this German-Dutch duo is terrific! They are among the best two indiepop songs I’ve heard this year! “Road Trip” and “Everything” are now available to stream on Bandcamp and you can also order a limited CD single there. Really lovely songs, I have them on repeat!
La Casa de Emma: the Chilean band has released a tape on Junko Records from Temuco, Chile. This tape EP is called “Refugio Invernal” and it sounds ace. There are 5 twee songs in the vein of Funday Mornings, “Olvidar”, “Favorita”, “Viaje en Bicicleta”, “Plástica Felicidad” and “Skolniks”. Great stuff!
Tears Run Rings: their “Somewhere EP” was released back in October on Deep Space Recordings from North Carolina. I am only catching up now. There are 4 songs by this band formed by the people behind Shelflife Records, “Helios Heliadae”, “Someone Somewhere”, “Be Still” and “Daylight”, and all of them sound brilliant and dreamy. It is available on 10″ through the label.
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The band came together via the long, circuitous road of teen dream garage mayhem, street entertaining on the pathways of Europe, dangerous and unhealthy rehearsals in a church crypt to gigs in hard, unwholesome and unwelcoming Northern Industrial towns in front of audiences: one part disinterested, one part lynch mob. But, the band won them over and knew they had something special and good. In 1984 the Lilac Trumpets arrived in Liverpool with a suitcase full of songs, heads full of bohemia and balladeer visions of conquest, ready for business. Within weeks the band’s first recording session was noticed by the studio manager, Hambi Haralambous who immediately tracked down the band (as they had left without paying) and offered a recording deal with the newly formed independet label, “Pink Pop.” Created solely for the release of the Lilac Trumpets first single: “Someone Else’s World.” Released in March 1984 to much critical appreciation. – “At last: a band writing epic, melodious songs to rival anything by David Bowie.” Record Mirror. “Guitar pop/rock breathes again in the form of a Lilac Trumpet.” NME.
There followed tour dates with the Icicle Works, Ruby Turner and recording sessions with Mike Score (Flock of Seagulls) and Ian Broudie (Lightning Seeds) among others. The Lilac Trumpets looked in a good position; two great songwriters, a solid band, good management, an ideal location and a sound, long term plan. However, there was trouble at the record label and pressure from the London side of the management company for the band to change the adopted manifesto of real musicians, real instruments, a “one take” policy in the studio and a new direction in song writing. Amid the secret agenda’s, tacit agreements and manipulations of those outside the band the “Trumpets” were unaware of the unfolding fiasco. Eventually, the band went their separate ways amicably and the burgeoning “Pink Pop” scene quietly folded. Steve Coghlan moved to Europe and eventually settled in London as an academic, Ian Copesteak worked in music TV. Neill Senior stayed with the management and worked on a solo career as session musician, songwriter and live performer until 1989. John Patterson worked with all three of the remaining “Trumpets” on various projects and later founded “Loop Transperience” with Neill Senior. There followed more recordings and occasional gigs and busking trips around Europe. John currently based with Liverpool band “Munky Puzzel”. Steve Coghlan, guitar vocals, Neill Senior, guitar vocals, John Patterson, drums, Phil Gladman, bass.
What an introduction! That’s how the booklet of The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 6 (Firestation Records FST 075) presents us the band Lilac Trumpets. Now that there is a new volume around the corner I thought revisiting some of the great songs by obscure bands that haven’t been featured on the blog. And thought about this band who I really know very little about. Well, now, re-reading the booklet, I feel I know much more. It is always good to have a refresher.
I don’t own any records by them. So I’m quite clueless about their output. Discogs seems to list 2 tapes and a 12″ record. Was that it? Probably yes for vinyl. Perhaps there was even more stuff for tapes. More demo tapes.
There is a 5-track demo tape that was released in 1984 that had the songs “Opposite Sides”, “When the Rains Came”, “Something’s Happening”, “Things We Say” and “Temporary Thing”. John Patterson on drums, Steve Coughlan on guitar and vocals and Neil Senior on vocals, bass and keyboards. There are no other details for it. I wonder how did these songs sound like.
That same year, 1984, another tape was available from the band. Was it sold at gigs? Through the mail? Would love to know. The songs on it were “Waiting for the Tide” and “A day in Gaza”.
Their 12″ came out in 1986, year 0 for indiepop (?). Three songs produced by Ian Broudie which were “Someone Else’s World”, “I Should Have Known” and “One of these Days”. The first one was the sole song on the A side and was written by Senior. The other two songs were written by Coughlan. So, in total we know 10 songs by the band. Why weren’t there more releases by them?
These three songs were recorded at The Pink Studio and was released by Pink Pop (POP 001). There are two other releases by this label listed, The Balcony and Amir. I’m not familiar with any of them, but a good guess would be that the studio was running a small record label.
Discogs also has both Neil Senior and Steve Coughlan as part of a band called The Precautions who released a demo tape in 1982 with the songs “Modesty Blaise”, “Safe Inside” and “Leeks on Mount Fuji”. I wonder how The Precautions sounded like. And why wasn’t this band mentioned on the booklet of Leamington Spa. Something else about The Precautions is the small bio that Link2Wales has. On it it mentions that this band also featured Ian Lewis who was later in Lilac Trumpets. He was a keyboardist. At what point was he in the Lilac Trumpets? Not during the time they recorded the 7″, right? Ian had also been part of Dream Legion and Alternative Radio.
Another related band to Lilac Trumpets seems to be Wandering Quatrains. It seems to have been a Chester band from the late 80s that featured Neil Senior and also Andie Rathbone, later in Mansun.
On Youtube I find some interesting anecdotes. For example someone Anthony Donovan mentions that he auditioned for the band in 1981 or 1982 at a rehearsal at The Ministry studios. He mentions that the band had a connection with Strawberry Studios. Then himself and another user mentions that Steve Coughlan lived on Catherine Street in Toxteth. But another user then says that Steve lived in St. Bride street in Liverpool. Maybe he moved?
Another interesting thing I found was that there was actually a 7″ promo version of the 12″ that included just two of the songs, “Someone Else’s World” and “I Should Have Known”. I suppose this is rare. And it doesn’t look as if it came with a picture sleeve.
I also wonder about their name. Of course lilac can be a colour (lilac is a color that is a pale violet tone representing the average color of most lilac flowers. It might also be described as dark mauve or light purple) and a flower (lilac a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills. This species is widely cultivated as an ornamental and has been naturalized in other parts of Europe). So probably trumpets that were lilac coloured.
As usual, when doing these sort of investigations I hit a wall. Not much more I was to find about them. I wonder if the Ian Copesteak named in the booklet is the same Ian Lewis. I feel it is. But why the change of name. Was it Coughlan or Coghlan as it appears on the booklet. What about that promo 7″? Who did they send it too? How many copies were there? Why weren’t there more releases? How did their other bands sound like? Many questions. And no answers.
Who remembers them?
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