Day 22.

I’ve been out of touch when it comes to DIY. I ordered by mistake the regular CDs instead of mini CDs. Now they don’t want to accept my return. A newbie, silly, mistake. Money lost.

I don’t burn CDs much anymore, so it doesn’t make much sense to have them. So I’ve thought of an idea.

I am thinking maybe doing a sort of mix CD with some favourite songs from the Cloudberry blog or maybe from the label. Maybe I can do that. Give them away with the fanzine. What do you think? Do you like this idea? If I have time I would even personalize the mix. Now with the quarantine maybe it is possible?

Well, now for what you came for, new music.

Jetstream Pony: are releasing their self-titled album on May 22nd! It will be released on both CD and vinyl and will be a co-release between Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten and Shelflife. This is great news as I love this band. They are putting 11 songs on the record and we can preview the opening track of the album, “It’s Fine”.

Motorama: the Russians are back with a new single! Wow! Great news too. The song is called “The New Era” and so far it seems like a digital only release. The song was recorded this year in their native Rostov-on-Don and I really hope this means they will put out a record this year!

The Black Watch: another band that is back is this California combo that has been going on for quite some time! They will be releasing a new jangly record on April 3rd called “Brilliant Failures”. The album consists of 13 songs and will be released on the great German label A Turntable Friend Records. All songs are available to preview on Bandcamp.

Thud: it is been a while since I had a Hong Kong band on the blog! This is cool! This band makes dreamy pop and it sounds great. Their latest is a song called “North Acton” which was also released as a USB drive with the mp3, wav file and a bonus video!

The Stroppies: I like many songs by them, and there are others that I am not sure. The one they’ve made a new video for, “Burning Bright”, is one of the ones I really like. So that’s great! The Australian band will be releasing their new album “Look Alive” on June 5th and this is a very good single to promote it!

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So now a band that wrote a song with the word “Wednesday” in it. This one is quite easy I think! The Candidates wrote a fantastic tune called “Wednesday’s Child”. So yeah, it is the time of The Candidates on the blog!

When opening Discogs my surprise is huge. The one CD the band put out in 1994, a compilation called “Came to Cry” is at an exorbitant price. I remember ordering this CD directly from the band many years ago. How many I can’t remember. But I didn’t know it was that rare now. Maybe it is time for a reissue? I wonder. But it wasn’t through this CD that I discover them. As many of the obscure bands I love I discovered this band through the wonderful work of Uwe at Firestation Records. You see, this classic Manchester band was included in “The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 3” (FST 050). This was released in 2003 and the song that was included was “Sound of Summer”. What a song!

Thankfully the booklet included some information about the band:
The greatest songwriters and composers in the world are people who spend hours, days, weeks, months and years dedicating themselves to perfecting their art. Andy Goddard is one such great composer, a songwriter of great stature who has been creating dynamic tunes and melodies since the early 1980s.
Resident in Manchester, England, The Candidates’ principal singer and songwriter Andy Goddard has survived the Madchester and Dancechester years to shout out loud the message that great songs are timeless. Indeed, whilst Andy’s newest projects appear to be of a more solo nature, the great songs that he and his band have in their pop catalogue require no fashion statements, no fickle imagery, no date stamp. These are powerful, well produced anthems and ballads that have both an edge and a great beauty.
Those who wish to find comparisons can find influences here courtesy of artistes such as Deacon Blue, Squeeze and Crowded House, whilst Andy’s mastering of the piano draws added comparisons with the classic works of Del Amitri, Elton John, and Paul McCartney. In addition to “The Sound of Summer”, the album “Came to Cry”, produced one of the classic pop songs of it’s time in “Wednesday’s Child”, a classic tale of youthful exuberance, the desire to drive at speed, spend money just as quickly and live fast for the weekend.

Then there was a link to Andy Goddard’s website. The website doesn’t exist anymore. And also there was a Candidates website. That’s where I bought the CD. It used to be 7 pounds plus postage and shipping. Via Paypal. That is no more.

What else do we know? Well the band, according to Discogs, was formed by:
Matt Brookes – drums
Andy Goddard – vocals
Paul Green – keyboards
Andy Lane – bass
Jayne Moores – vocals
Andy Whyatt – guitar

And it is also very important to mention that they appeared on a legendary compilation, “This is Manchester (14 Songs from the North West)” (ESS CD 133). On this Essential and Castle Communications co-release from 1990 they contributed the song “Wednesday’s Child”. I have written about this comp in the past as I have featured bands from it like Capital Hill, Sandalwoods or The Paperboys.

The “Came to Cry” CD was released in 1994 on AB-FAB Records (CTOCD 001). This most probably was a self-release. It included 11 songs, “Came to Cry”, “Looking for You”, “Jody”, “Wednesday’s Child”, “Closer”, “Torn Apart”, “Storming the City”, “Let it all Go”, “The Sound of Summer”, “You Won’t Let Summer Go” and “Saddest Season”.

In the booklet I would see other people credited for music I must say. For example Shane Bramley played bass on “Torn Apart” or Stuart Howell played guitar on “The Sound of Summer”, “Let it All Go”, “Storming the City”, “Wednesday’s Child”, “Closer” and “Torn Apart”. The art for the CD is credited to Wayne Brierley from The Infinite Design Company.

At some point in the mid or late 2000s I know that Andy Goddard joined the band roomthirteen. With them they released the album “Easterlinparadox”.

But what about the rest of the band members? Did they join any other bands? There is really no information on the web. It is a shame that there is no website for Andy Goddard anymore. Can’t find any info anymore. But I really hope some of you remember them and will tell me why they didn’t release any singles? Or what other bands was Andy in the 80s? Are there more recordings? Would be great to find out!

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Listen
The Candidates – The Sound of Summer