Day 50. Friday. Not much to add.

New finds.

Grokes: very nice song and video by this new band from the UK. I guess I stumbled upon it as I was told this was Miki Berenyi’s daughter in it. I was curious. But the song, “Lightning”, is very nice and doesn’t need that sort of connection to be good. It is good as it is. It kind of reminds me of Pipas a bit, doesn’t it? I hope it gets released on a physical record soon!

Happypills: the Fukuoka, Japan, band is back with just one song and it is terrific. It is called “Monsoon” and it is a sweet indiepop single! Not much more info about it, but hey, it is good!

Letters to Annika: I’ve been a fan of the great For Tracy Hyde. One of its members, Azusa Suga (also on AprilBlue) has just started this project and has released this new song called “Tidal”. This is also its official video. And that is not all, there is also the news that there will be a self-titled EP this May! Let’s keep an eye on that!

AprilBlue: and I had to admit I knew Azusa’s involvement in For Tracy Hyde. AprilBlue was also a nice surprise when I found their Bandcamp. Their latest song dates from February 29th and is called “Alright”. Well in Japanese it is “オールライト ” and it is also very very good!

Misterfireflies: Lisle, the brain behind Fireflies, and also band member of Tiny Fireflies and Very Truly Yours, has added two new tracks to his Soundcloud. These are “Paper Crane” and a cover of The Field Mice’s “Willow”. Now based in Portland, Lisle, has always had a precious way of making popsongs and this time there is no exception. Lovely.

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There are two songs by the Maghull, Liverpool, band South Parade on Youtube: “I Knew a Girl” and “I See No Ships”. It is a pretty interesting discovery I have to say!

The band was part of the great Liverpool music scene of the early 80s, from 1983 to 85 specifically. They were formed by Ian “Copey” Copestake on vocals and guitar, as well as songwriter, John Hamlin on keyboards, Ian Wadkins on bass, Phil Culshaw on drums, Delia Winstanley on saxophone and clarinet and Andy Marr on rhythm guitar.

We know that the song “I See No Ships” was recorded at Amazon Studios between the 15 and 16 of August in 1984 after winning The Cavern’s band of the month competition. At this point this song had already become a fan favourite at their gigs and also at Radio Meseyside Street Life where presenter Con McConville played it all the time. The song was actually voted number 14 in the Radio Merseyside Festive 15 on December 23rd of 1984. The interesting thing is that this was the only song that wasn’t available on record.

Link2Wales has some more information about them. It seems the band was originally called Rich Get Richer. Then I find that Ian Copestake was the same one that was in Lilac Trumpets. I wrote about Lilac Trumpets in the past but then I always saw his name as Ian Copesteak. So that was tricky. They also mentions that the band reformed in 1991 in London featuring Andy Marr, Terry Jones (bass, ex Blue Forest, Third Man), Phil Culshaw and Justin Welch (drums, later in Elastica). But this reunion didn’t last long. After a few gigs in London, including one at the Falcon, Justin left to join Spitfire and they all called it a day.

All this information takes me to Discogs were I find a demo tape from 1987! Okay, this is interesting. So the band had called it quits in Liverpool in 1985 and reformed in London in 1991. Where were they in 1987?!

This tape included 12 songs. They were on the A side: “What (On Earth) Are You Doing to Me?”. “I’m Not in Love With You”, “You Don’t Get Me”, “December”, “7:30 Riser” and “Down the Line”. While the B side had “Heaven & Hell”, “Would You Ever”, “Maybe Next Time”, “Venetian Blinds”, “Aliens” and”Ellydelic”. All songs were written by Ian but “Maybe Next Time” which was written by Dave Browniee. Who was he? Was he part of the band then? They were all recorded on a portable 4-track studio.

Will we be able, someday, to listen to these songs? And what about earlier demos? Something interesting was that the other song on Youtube, “I Knew a Girl” was actually recorded for a 12″ single intended to promote the band to record companies. But the band split before it could be pressed. What a shame really. So no releases, just tapes.

Edit (May 3rd, 2020): There is a trove of South Parade songs now on Youtube! Check them out: “Raynne“, “Stick It (Where the Sun Don’t Shine)“, “When it Rains“, “Nessie“, “Sad to Go (Two Points to Tonka Remix)“, “You Don’t Get Me“, “December“, “Ellydellic (It Ain’t Right)“, “Will I Hear“, “Out of My Mind“, “This Girl” and “Venetian Blinds“.

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Listen
South Parade – I Knew a Girl