I know, I know, I said I was going to announce a new release this week! It is all ready but just waiting for the mastering of the songs. I want to share a song at least when I announce the album, right? So that’s what is keeping me. I am crossing my fingers I get something over the weekend so I can share and announce this. On the other hand I have already contacted 20 bands (hoping all of them say yes) to be part of the first volume of the Australian indiepop compilations I hope to start releasing this year. I am aiming for summer, no later than that, for the first release. I am very excited about this and I hope it works out well!

Now, what have I found lately?

Corduroy: this was a very cool surprise! I wasn’t aware that Paul from Expert Alterations had a new band until I got an invite on Facebook to like this band’s page. Then I listened and I immediately fell in love with this TVPs ramshackle pop influenced band from Baltimore, Maryland. THe band has released a demo back in May 2018 and their latest is the “Corduroy EP” that came out a week or so ago. It is a 6 song EP and it is available on tape. Of course I’m hoping a vinyl record or a CD in the near future, but in the meantime I’m enjoying these top songs!

She Sir: this very good band that had released previously in Japan and the US seems to have signed to Austin Town Hall Records to release their latest effort, a 6 song EP titled “Ways a Season”. It will be available on March 22nd on 12″ vinyl and so far we can only preview one of the songs, “OK Tono Omepo”.

Funeral Advantage: I’ve been a fan of this Boston band for a while. This year the band is releasing a limited cassette mini-album called “Nectarine” which is coming out on February 22nd. Only one of the songs is available to preview now and it is called “Black Horse” and it sounds great!

Dream, Ivory: Christian Baello and Louie Baello are Dream, Ivory, a band who has just released a tape on the San Francisco label Blind Love Tapes. Their self-titled 8 song mini-album sounds terrific. Dreamy, jangly, blissful, evocative. The interesting thing is that these 8 songs seem to have been originally released in 2016. I didn’t hear them then. I don’t really know where or how they were released at that time. But I’m glad all these songs are available one more time even if it is on tape.

Elna Rae: and of course I decided to explore more releases on this label which is new to me. And I found Elna Rae who have released a lathe cut that is limited to 20 copies! So hurry up I suppose? Because it is pretty good, 4 lovely guitar pop tracks, “Ultra Lord”, “Marmalade” “Turkish Silvers” and “Sonic” make up the “Dexter EP”.

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I must say that the first song I ever heard by this Norwich early 80s band I really liked. It was poppy, fun, kind of a proto-Anorak Girls kind of song. Then I went to check out their other songs and I wasn’t that into them. They were darker, less poppy. I suppose that makes sense as the band is normally categorized as a synth-wave band. But still I thought recommending the one song I loved,”Life’s Not Worth It (yeah)”. I think it is a great slice of indiepop if I may say so.

At first I thought the song I liked was an earlier track. You know this happens a lot. The band is first quite poppy and then they develop a different sound. But it might not be the case this time as this song, “Life’s Not Worth it (Yeah)” was included in a 1984 compilation called “Reel Number 3″, whereas their first 7” came out in 1983. Or it could have been a song they had saved from their early days?

This compilation actually included two songs by them. The other song was “Bandwagon Tango (Edit)”. This song was actually the A side of their first single. I’ll get to that in a bit. But what else do we know about this compilation? Well it was released by Backs Records, the label and shop based in Norwich, and didn’t have a catalog number. There were some great bands on it like Vital Disorders, Mad About Sunday, Kamikaze Sex Pilots and The Farmer’s Boys among others.

As I said “Bandwagon Tango” was their first 7″ and came out also on Backs (NCH 004). The B side was “Unfamiliar Room“. Actually both of these songs have promo videos and I’ve linked to them. And you’ll notice that the sound is much different to “Life’s Not Worth It (yeah)”.

The 2nd and last 7″ was “Third Stroke” with “If Only If it Wasn’t”. Again the sound is heavier, and darker. Perhaps “Life’s Not Worth It (yeah)” was the only song of theirs in that style, with that pop sensibility. I wonder. This single also was released by Backs Records (NCH 010) and came out in 1984.

There are a few more songs by the band. There was one called “Damp Hands and Breathlessness” that appeared on the 1984 cassette comp “The Norwich Tapes Vol. 1” that was released by Nationsounds (STN 09). This same song also appeared with a remix version on a 1985 tape called “A Street Tape Named Desire” that was released by Venue One. Then the song “Blanket Expression (Peel Session Version)” was included in the 2013 tape “Pap Smear Tears – Cindy’s HitszTape” that was released by Grovl. It seems only 19 songs were made of this tape. Is it an official release?

Their B side “If Only if it Wasn’t” was also included in an unofficial CDR comp called “None Night of Flexipop Vol. 4”. Flexipop being a bootleg label from Germany.

Now we know a thing or two. And we know they did a Peel Session. When was that? What songs were recorded? The answer is easy to find. It was on December 18th 1982 and they played the songs “Bandwagon Tango”, “Blanket Expression”, “Ransom” and “Unfamiliar Room”. I find too the lineup of the band on the BBC site.
Sue Hope – vocals
Pete Roberts – synthesizer
John Hartwell – electric drums
Vince Rogers – organ

Keep looking. I find an article on the website Sofacom. Here it mentions that the band formed in 1981 and had recorded an early demo that was supported by Radio Norfolk. What songs were on that demo? The writer, who seems to be familiar with the “Testies”, describes the bands gigs as shambolic. I like that. That they had a very primitive drum machine and that they played gigs at places like The Big Apple in Great Yarmouth where they had some issues with the police! We also know the band supported OMD and SPK, and won a Battle of the Bands. Then the band was over.

The Battle of the Bands gig is actually on Youtube. The TDK Battle of the Bands Norwich, October 30th 1982 were the band played “Desire is My Downfall”, “Suburban Life”, “Blanket Expression”, Unfamiliar Room” and “Unfamiliar Room (Encore)”.

It also tells us a bit about the band members. Pete Roberts used to call himself Pete Casio. Vince Rogers after the demise of the band went on to Gee Mr. Tracy and at worked at the BBC in the Soutth East. Sue Hope seems to have been replaced by Angie Thornby Burt in July 1984 and later by a Rebecca Slater. John Hartwell is/was a technical guru at Norwich Arts Centre. The article mind you was written in 2004!

It is also safe to assume they took their name from the tuning signals test card that were broadcasted by the BBC. Test Card F seems to be the most famous one and even has its own Wikipedia article. It was the longest-running test card and it featured Carole Hersee and Bubbles the Clown.

Lastly the website Music from the East Zone – East Anglian Music Archive can give us in which other bands the members were involved with.
Vince Rodgers had been as mentioned earlier in Gee Mr Tracy but also in The Browning Version.
Susan Hope (also known as Susan Flynn) had been in Count Lorenzo and Funk Turkey.
Rebecca Slater had been in The Browning Version.
Angie Thornby Burt (also known as Angie Nee Dixon) had been in Egotism, The Kamikaze Pilots, Children of the Revolution and Garden of Delights.

And that’s about it. It is true that I’m not loving all of their songs. They are not what I normally listen to. But the one song I like, I think it is ace. I hope you like it too. Also if anyone know if they had more poppy songs like this, perhaps on their demos? Or if they have any other details about the band, please share!

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Listen
Testcard F – Life’s not Worth it (Yeah)

Thanks a lot to Angus and Richard for the great interview!! The Relationships hail from Oxford if you didn’t know them. Their band members have been in classic indiepop bands like the Razorcuts and The Anyways. They’ve been around since the 90s and have produced 4 top albums of jangle pop. They are still going and they have 4 new brand new songs on their Bandcamp. Now, if you want to learn more about them, which I think is a good idea, read this interview. Also make sure to visit their website!

++ The Relationships continue making music till this day. What is coming up in the future for the band? Is there a new release under way perhaps? Gigs?

Angus: Yes, if we’re spared! We’ve had so many interruptions and problems the last couple of years, with people being ill and parents dying. I’m not saying that we’re cursed or tragic, these are the sorts of issues everyone goes through when they get a bit older. But we still love playing and have so many great new songs to play you. Hopefully a new album and some gigs and festivals over the next year or so.

+ How much would you say has the band changed since the late 90s when the band was formed?

Angus: That’s a good question. Maybe I could say that we’ve come to sound more and more like ourselves! I don’t think you could tell in which year our more recent stuff was recorded. Richard’s songwriting has created a mythical Surrey of the 60s and early 70s.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Angus: My first rock memory was seeing David Bowie doing Starman on the TV show Top of the Pops – the one where Mick Ronson puts his head on Bowie’s shoulder. So many people have this as their first musical impression! I was just too young to have been a hippy or prog fan and so was just starting to find out about that music when punk happened, which made for an interesting mix. Then I was really into new wave and post punk, and early indie like Orange Juice and Postcard records. At the same time I was going back and finding out about the 60s, the Byrds, people like that, which of course led naturally into the C86 indie thing. That was one of the few times when my tastes coincided with what was going on at the time!

Richard: Beatles on the radio. First instrument: keyboards. 60s pop, psychedelia and early prog

++ Prior to The Relationships you had been in the Razorcuts. What were the highlights for your time in the Razorcuts and how would you compare both bands?

Angus: I was so excited to join Razorcuts and it was wonderful meeting all the other bands of the time like Primal Scream, Felt, and Hurrah, playing some pretty good gigs, being interviewed in NME, and of course doing proper recording for the first time. It was what I wanted to do and I’m so glad I got the chance. But really I don’t think Razorcuts were a very good band when I was with them. They had some decent songs but we never practised and everything was always done in a rush.

++ And what would have been your first band? And what other bands had you been involved with other than the Razorcuts and The Relationships?

Angus: Before Razorcuts I was in Here Comes Everybody with Richard, original R’ships member Pete Lock and also Pete Momtchiloff, who formed Talulah Gosh and then Heavenly, the Would-Be-Goods, and many others. Richard and Pete Lock then became The Anyways who were together for a few years and were kind of local heroes. Here Comes Everybody were one of the first indie bands in town, I think – there had been a punk scene but Oxford was mainly just blues and covers bands by then. Since then the scene has exploded and of course all the bands like Ride, Radiohead, and Supergrass have appeared.

++ Were there any lineup changes at all?

Angus: Me and Richard are the ever presents. We’ve had two drummers and a few exploding bass players, but current bass player Andy is the new boy and he’s been a member since about 2001! Our drummer Tim is an original punk but is also a top sound engineer who loves Frank Zappa. Andy was in a band called The Bigger the God that did two albums in the 90s.

++ What’s the story behind the name The Relationships?

Richard: Shorter than The Meaningful Relationships (original, not entirely serious suggestion)

+ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Richard: Beatles, Byrds, Love, Syd Barrett, Yes, Stranglers, Kevin Ayers, Caravan

++ Your first releases didn’t come out in the UK but in the US on the Twee Kitten label. How did this connection happen? Did you ever meet the people behind the label?

Angus: We didn’t meet them. I think I just sent a tape out, actually. It was great to have a release out on a label from California!

++ After your album “Trend”, also on Twee Kitten, “Scene” came out. This was released by Trailer Star Records. Who were they?

Angus: a mad beatnik poet we knew, who had done cover art for the Weather Prophets. Great guy but sadly not really a businessman or promoter!

++ Afterwards your next two album, “Space” and “Phase” were released by Big Red Sky, I am guessing this is your own label? Or who were behind it?

Angus: Big Red Sky is a guy we know in Oxford, he’s a great musician and engineer who has put out quite a few local releases and does a lot of promoting and recording in town. We’ve not had much luck with the more established indie labels, maybe because we don’t have a sound that is easy to categorize – it’s not the classic Sarah or C86 sound. At one point we were going to sign to Vinyl Japan but then the main guy came to see us and was put off by how loud and raucous we were!

++ I start to notice that you like album titles that are just one-word, is that right? Why is that?

Angus: At first it wasn’t deliberate but then we noticed it and decided to stick with it! They’re all one-syllable words with five letters. I guess we were maybe influenced by the way the Go-Betweens’ album titles always had a double ‘l’.

++ I read someone describing your music in this album (though I think it can be said of all of your records) as a mix of sixties and c86 inspired pop nuggets. You think that’s a good way of putting it?

Angus: Yes, those are among our influences, but we also have post punk and early prog threads! C86, not really so much – we listen to some of the same stuff as the C86-ers such as the Byrds and Love, but don’t really do the ‘twee’ thing. We’re mature men and Tim is the loudest drummer in town, and covered in tattoos! We feel we have stuff in common with people like XTC and Robyn Hitchcock, which people don’t generally pick up on. Richard went to the school that Robyn had been at and we once supported him.

++ On the “Scene” album you can find “Mediaeval Day” a song I’ve always been curious of as I love all sorts medieval I must say. I am wondering what inspired you to write this song?

Richard: A walk on Port Meadow, cathedral bells, swifts

++ One of the songs from “Space” got a promo video for the song “Space Race”. It was made by Jon Spira. Where was it made? Was it your first promo video that you made? How was that experience?

Richard: Yes, first and to date only R-ships promo. Various band members had featured in Jon’s Oxford music scene film, Anyone Can Play Guitar. He offered to do a vid for us.

++ I got “Phase” just a few days ago and it sounds gorgeous. So many good songs in it. How was recording this album? Did it take long? Where was it recorded? Any anecdotes you could share of these sessions?

Richard: Thanks! Glad you like. We did it at Evolution Studios, which was new at the time. (We were the first band in!) . It’s run by Nick Moorbath who’s been in a million bands and sometimes plays keyboards live with Ride. One day we ran out of studio snacks!

++ I found on Discogs a few compilation appearances, on the “Eine Kleine Nightshiftmusik” tape, “Pop Goes the Weasel Vol. 2”, “Popular World” and “I Am a Victim of this Song” CDs. Are there any missing that you can remember?

Angus: You probably know more about these than we do! Eine Kleine Nightshiftmusik was an Oxford thing, there’s a music magazine called Nightshift that put this together. The others were random and worldwide! Japan, France, maybe more. I think people heard us because we were on Twee Kitten. We’ve always had more appreciation from outside the UK, for some reason, which is odd since people often say we are so ‘English’.

++ And what about these four songs that are available to stream on Bandcamp? Care telling me a bit about each of them?

Angus: Yeah these are our latest recordings. They are getting deeper into Richard’s childhood and the mythical world of old Surrey, where guitar heroes like Robin Trower and Gordon Giltrap play golf with each other. Soundwise maybe they’re simpler, more direct than some of our earlier stuff, but at the same time quirkier, more individual. Someone once said we were ‘tweedy psychedelia’ and we like that. Also we like the chord of ‘M’ which Richard discovered, or maybe invented. Or perhaps Edwyn Collins or Arthur Lee could have first constructed that. For me personally I am very happy to play the twelve string guitar which is very jangly and not something you hear enough of. I hope these songs will be the basis for our next album which would be number five.

Richard: Mike Oldfield is about an unnamed (but real) band recording at The Manor studios near Oxford in 1973 [this was the first Virgin studio, owned by Richard Branson – before our time!]. Angus invented some new notes for the instrumental of this one.

Fairgrounding is set at St Giles’ Fair, which happens every September in Oxford

Guitar Heroes at the BBC takes its title from a long-running music clips series on BBC4, and lists various favourite guitarists from the 1970s who might have appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Strange Archaeology involves a stretch of Surrey countryside which was dug up for the North Sea Gas pipeline during Richard’s childhood

++ If you were to choose your favourite The Relationships song, which one would that be and why?

Angus: I like Well, from the first album, and English Blues from the second. Also Medieval Day is up there.

Richard: Clockwork Toy and Victorian Séance from Space, Ghost Child from Phase… plus the four Bandcamp ones (newest recordings!)

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over England?

Angus: Not enough! Mainly just around Oxford

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have? Do you follow any football team?

Angus: yes, Oxford United, they’re a sort of ‘indie’ team who never get too mainstream or successful. I go with original R’ships bassist Ian.

++ I’ve never been to Oxford, so I’m hoping to hear from a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Angus: just take a walk around the centre, the ancient university buildings are all around you. Then head up north to the historic Jericho Tavern where the Relationships and so many bands started, have a traditional English pie and a pint, then go for a walk on the wide open spaces of Port Meadow.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Angus: thanks very much for having us!

Richard: Yes, thanks and take care!

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Listen
The Relationships – Mediaeval Day

Back from 9 days in Peru. Not re-energized to be honest, quite tired!  But that doesn’t mean I won’t be updating the blog… you know I just did yesterday with an interview! And today I have a new post and tomorrow a new interview as well. There were no indiepop news in Peru, but I did have the time yesterday to find some good new music!

Chestnut Bakery: one of my favourite Chinese indiepop bands is back with a wonderful 7″ on the superb Boring Productions label. Well, it was also available on tape, but it seems the tape is already sold out. The band formed by Rye, Leo and Sango presents us two new fine songs here, “Dust” and “To Sylvie”. Check it out!

Dayflower: one of the best guitar pop bands for some time have put up a new album on their Bandcamp. Titled “Honeyspun”, the 9 song album, is a treat to all indiepop fans. I only wonder why it is not released on a physical format. From jangly guitars to dreamy wall of guitars, there’s a little surprise here for everyone.

The Reds, Pinks and Purples: again and again this lovely band fronted by Glenn Donaldson gives us jangly demos that I can’t stop wondering when will the album be released. Or something else. Anything at all. Why not put 4 of them on a 7″ EP for example? I think it would be fantastic. “Dead End Days (demo)” is his latest song. And once more I’m liking it a lot!

Dreams of Empire: this duo formed by Andrea and Jane, who met in the 90s indie band Luminous, are based in Brighton. They plan to release a series of singles and an album in 2019. So far two songs are on their Bandcamp, “Skinny Dipping” and “Drive On”. Let’s keep an eye on them.

Kings and Queens of the Do It Now!: this is the name of a wonderful compilation the Arizona based label Emotional Response has put out as a sampler of releases that are due in 2019! There are tracks by favourites Mick Trouble, Boyracer, The Ocean Party and more!

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While writing the Ronnie Can You Hear Me? post I was wondering about many of the related bands I mentioned. I had no clue about them. And because they were all, most probably, in the same scene as the Farmers Boys, I thought that they must be good. Poppy at least. So I decided to investigate.

I started with Terminal Fun. Why? Because I knew it had Carole Bush, the vocalist of Ronnie Can You Hear Me? That was important of course because I like female vocals a lot. Why not, right? So, I found out that they did have one release, a 7″ released in 1982. I tracked it down and just ordered it from Discogs. Not too cheap, but it has been a while since I bought myself an obscure record like this.

The 7″ that included “Great Moments” on the A side and “Twist and Survive” on the B side, was released by two labels, Projected Image (PRIM 4) and Backs Records (same catalogue number). I suppose Projected Image was just created for this record as it is the only record listed on this label. Or maybe not? About Backs Records we know much more. We know they were from the same area of the band, Norwich, and was actually a shop too (which closed in the early 90s).

The 7″ was engineered and recorded at Spaceward Sudios in July 1982. These studios were not in Norwich, but actually in Cambridge. The songs were produced by Joe Bull who also produced “Whatever is He Like?” by the Farmers Boys.

The back sleeve gave us that information and more. We know the band members too:
Paul Rayner – bass
Pete Sparrow – drums, synthesizer, vocals
Paul Day – guitar, vocals
Carole Bush – vocals

Something interesting about the back sleeve is that it has ads. Yes. Like stores where Terminal Fun shop at. For example Quality Shoe Repair, Cookes band instruments, Audiotime (Anglia) and Urry Video from Norwich, and Benkson personal stereo radio and cassette players from London. They thank these sponsors for helping get the record funded. Each of these stores have some illustrations which are credited to Pete Siree.

Looking at the same website that gave me lots of information the other day, the Music from the Eastzone, East Anglian Music Archive, I notice they list other band members that doesn’t appear on the record, Jacqui Brown and Steve Smith. Who were they? At what time were they in the band? Also now we know that the band was active between 1981 and 1982.

Let’s check what other bands were they involved with:
Carole Bush: we already knew she had been in Ronnie Can You Hear Me?
Paul Day: he was also in Cultural Collapse
Peter Sparrow: was in Running Dogs
Steve Smith: he was a drummer and he had been in The Funk Police, Giant II, The Fire Thieves, Cultural Collapse, La Host and Pendragon
Jacqui Brown: was a vocalist and only seems to have been involved in Terminal Fun

I look for more information about them on the web and I stumble upon a website called Futures and Past which is run by Erika Elizabeth. On a post dating from January 23rd, 2018, she posts a column she wrote for a the Maximum Rock’n Roll magazine in their December 2017 issue where she reviews the 7″ by Terminal Fun. Thanks to it I find out that there are another 3 songs the band recorded in 1983 for a scrapped EP! I need to find them!

So I end up on Paul Day’s website Luv Music. I start reading his biography. On the biography I learn that Jacqui and Steve were actually part of an earlier incarnation of the band, from a time they were not yet named Terminal Fun. I also confirm that Paul Day was the main songwriter. They got a manager called Steve Jackson who had been a radio DJ in London. Then something odd. He mentions that the songs were recorded at Spacewood Studios in Suffolk. But the sleeve has Spaceward. Maybe there was a typo? Which one was it?

Other interesting details was that the Projected Image name of the label was actually called like that because of a Paul Day song of the same name. It got a bad review in the NME by Danny Baker. And John Peel played it several times. The band played gigs throughout East Anglia supporting Screen 3, The Farmers Boys and more. The 3 songs that were supposed to be released in the scrapped EP were called “Lucifer”, “Something Must Break” and “The Sun is Cold”. You can listen to this song plus many more recordings by Terminal Fun on his website. The other songs the band recorded were: “Growing Inside”, “Shine”, “Demise”, “Hello”, “Shout!”, “I’m Different to You”, “Tear Down the Barricades”, “The Things We Said”, “Running From the Dogs” and “Who are You?”.

And that’s all I could find about the band on the web. Not little for sure. Especially as I could find audio bits on Paul Day’s site. It’d be great if we could get in touch and do an interview and fill in the blanks the story of Terminal Fun. But maybe you can help too, any of my Norwich area readers remember them?

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Listen
Terminal Fun – Great Moments

Thanks to Dan so much for the interview! After writing about the Japanese band Peatmos, who released a 7″ on his label, Dan got in touch with me. I didn’t know much about the label aside from the few releases they put out in the 90s, mostly featuring Japanese bands, so I thought it was a great opportunity to learn more about his label and his love for pop music. Was very lucky indeed that he was up to answer all my questions!

++ Hi Dan! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! We got in touch through the Peatmos post and the Pop Jingu releases but there’s a lot of questions I have!  But let’s start with “today”. Are you involved in any music projects at the moment?

I haven’t been involved in any music projects since the Sonorama Records label wound down in late 1997.

++ You were active in the mid 90s with Sonorama Records. I wonder though how did you get into music, into indiepop in the first place?

In the late 80’s, I did a radio show for four years at KCSB, the college radio station at UC Santa Barbara.  It was probably in late 1987 that I was introduced to the C86 compilation and all the music that was later known as indiepop.  Unfortunately, there was only so much we had available in the stacks of records at the station and available in L.A. record shops.  So when I ended up in London for a week in the Summer of 1988, I had a great time stocking up on so much great music on labels such as Sarah, Creation, Subway Organisation, 53rd and 3rd, etc. Among my favorite bands at the time were McCarthy, Pop Will Eat Itself, Close Lobsters, This Poison!, Sea Urchins, Groovy Little Numbers, etc.  

++ Were you ever in a band?

No — I’ve never had any musical talent whatsoever!

++ Your first release was a 7″ by the band Kactus. I don’t know much about this band, so was hoping you could tell me who were they and how did this relationship start?

My friend Rich, who I knew from my time in college radio, was living in Japan at the time and was part of Kactus.  Masato, the drummer for Kactus (and guitarist for Peatmos), ran Clover Records.  So when I decided to start the label, I asked Rich to send along a Kactus demo tape.  He sent me a handful of cassette releases from Clover, which included earlier versions of some of the tracks included on both the Kactus and Peatmos 7”s.   

++ What inspired you to start a label? Would you say there were any other labels influence in Sonorama?

1995 was a great year for me, very successful with my IT consulting company I had started the year before. Despite all that, during that time, I had a handful of friends doing work that looked more exciting than mine, one running a small label and a fanzine, another working at a larger indie label, etc. In early 1996, when I had more free time available between consulting jobs, I thought I could to that, too, and it would be something more exciting than my real job.

++ Something that strikes me when seeing the records you put out is that it seems you had a lot of interest on what was going in Japan. Why was that? How did that interest come about?

A year or so before I started label, I knew almost nothing about music in Japan. I was into indiepop and a lot of the lo-fi music that was happening at the time. I probably became aware that there were some interesting Japanese indiepop bands after hearing releases I picked up on the Sugarfrost and Por Supuesto labels. I also had a few friends who were really into the whole Shibuya-kei scene in Japan, so I learned a lot about Flipper’s Guitar Cornelius, Pizzicato Five, etc. from them.

++ Before you started Sonorama, had you had any experience working in a label? Or perhaps putting out any releases?

I had a couple internships, each lasting a couple months, one at a major label and another at a larger indie label.

++ And yeah, why the name of the label?

Here’s the answer that I had on the Sonorama website back in 1997:

…the name Sonorama was lifted from Esquivel, the brilliant lounge bandleader from the 50’s and 60’s. It was Esquivel that Stereolab was paying homage to when they named their 1993 ep “Space Age Batchelor Pad Music”. Sonorama was the term he used to describe his own music and some of his records were released as “Juan Garcia Esquivel and His Sonorama Orchestra.”

++ What about the infrastructure for the label? Was there perhaps an office? A deposit? Or was it a bedroom label? How many copies did you use to press more or less?

It was definitely a bedroom label.

For the 7”s I pressed 500 and for the CD’s I pressed 1000. I think I recall pressing an additional 2500 for distribution of the Pop Jingu CD in Japan.

++ Where in the US were you based? California? How was it back then in the mid nineties? Were there any good bands you liked in town? What about record stores?

Los Angeles. I wasn’t so focused on local bands at the time, though Aberdeen, who were on Sarah, were from L.A. At the time, we had some great record stores that I spent far too much time at: No Life Records, Rhino Records, Aron’s Records and Tower Records on Sunset.

++ And how come no American bands in your catalog?

There were a lot of labels doing American indiepop and doing it very well. In fact, when I envisioned the Japanese pop compilation that later became Pop Jingu, I was thinking I wanted to do a Japanese version of “Pop American Style,” which had recently been released on March Records.

++ What about the artwork for the label? Did you take care of that part as well?

For the Kactus 7” and the Jordans CD, the artwork was handled by the bands. For the Peatmos 7” and Pop Jingu CD, I was sent the photos and I handled the rest, including liner notes.

The Sonorama label art was based on the design from some really thick 80rpm (not 78!) records from the 1920’s on the Edison Records label I found at a thrift shop.

++ And was it easy to distribute your records?

No, that was one of the downfalls of the label. Distributors would pick up 5 or 10 copies, which never seemed to move.

++ Did the label get much support from the press or radio?

Yes, somewhat. I mailed the releases out to college radio and also to numerous magazines and fanzines and there were a number of reviews both online and in print. I would say I was somewhat successful, with Pop Jingu charting on the CMJ Top 200 as high as 96 in July 1997, which, for me as a former college-radio DJ, was pretty exciting and an accomplishment since I was running the whole label out of my apartment.

++ Your second release was a 7″ by Peatmos. You were telling me the band had to change their name to Pervenche for some legal reasons. What happened?

I won’t mention the individual’s name or record label here, but in December 1997, I received a call one evening from someone who ran a label and claimed he was completing a major label distribution deal for the American band Peatmoss.

He threatened me with a lawsuit if I continued to advertise for the Peatmos 7” or continued to include them on the website.

By the time this happened, I had already decided not to continue with the label, so it was easiest just to pull them off the website and not risk a lawsuit over a 7” that cost a few hundred dollars to produce. In the end, the bulk of the remaining 7”s were shipped off to Japan, which is why, when you look for people selling used copies, they are all outside the U.S.

In 1998, the band began using the name Pervenche. By 2002, when Pervenche released their “Subtle Song” CD, most of the band members had changed since the releases on Sonorama. Subtle Song is worth checking out, it includes updated versions of a number of songs that were released earlier as Peatmos and a nice cover of the Field Mice’s “September’s Not So Far Away.”

++ Afterwards you put out the fantastic Australian band The Jordans, who I have actually interviewed in the past. I believe he sent you some songs hoping to put out a 7″ and then you wanted all of them and ended up putting out an album! How did this contact with a rather obscure Australian band happened in the pre-internet days?

Well, it wasn’t pre-Internet days for me and for a lot of people I knew, but then again, my day job at the time was building corporate email systems. I subscribed to the Indiepop mailing list in October 1994, soon after it started up. I knew about Adam from the Sugargliders “Trumpet Play” single on Sarah and also the first Steinbeck’s album, both of which were among my favorites at the time. So when Adam posted on the Indiepop list in 1996 about having some songs he recorded as The Jordans, I asked him to send me a tape.

I loved the music and couldn’t decide on 2 or 3 songs for a 7”, so after he recorded a few more songs, they were released as a CD from The Jordans, katydid.

++ Then the “Pop Jingu Volume 1” compilation was released in 1997. This was a co-release between you and Clover Records, right? What relationship did you have with Clover and what was the deal? Was it as simple as you got the US and they Japan?

I recall it at least starting off primarily as a Sonorama release (with a lot of help from Clover) and I sent each band 5 copies of the CD and additional copies were sent to Clover Records that they could sell to record shops and at gigs. Just a couple months after the initial release, it became more of a co-release since Clover was able to secure distribution by a company associated with Sony in Japan and the CD made it into stores like Tower Records in Japan.

++ And are the Japanese CDs and American CDs the same?

Yes, all the copies of Pop Jingu Volume 1 were produced by Sonorama in the U.S. The ones with a Japanese wrapper were printed in the U.S. without a cellophane wrapper and sent to Japan so they could finish the packaging.

After Sonorama Records shut down, Clover Records continued with volumes 2 and 3 of Pop Jingu, both of which are worth checking out.

++ On the credits I see that the record was compiled by Masato, Rich and you. How was the process to compile these bands? Were there any bands that you would have wanted and didn’t end up in it?

It was pretty straightforward. Masato and Rich got the word out to the bands. Due to language issues, they handled most of the coordination, though a few bands that had members who felt comfortable communicating in English coordinated via email directly with me. The tapes were sent over to me and I coordinated everything else.

Bands that didn’t end up on it? My absolute favorite album that year was Cornelius’ 69/96 album. I remember asking a bit how we could get in touch with the band, but I had no clue where to start and knew the chances would be slim. Forget that the sound wouldn’t have necessarily fit with the rest of the CD.

++ So as far as I know these were the only four releases on the label. Why didn’t you continue putting out records? Were there any plans for other releases?

Bands from Sweden and Japan were in contact with me, there was some great music, but the talk was always around US-only album releases. In one situation, I was asked to provide a hefty outlay of money to fund the recording, which a real label would have had no problems with, but I still viewed Sonorama as a fun hobby. With the exception of the scene in Japan, much of the excitement around Sonorama was with people on the Indiepop mailing list (who were scattered all over the globe). US distribution being as challenging as it was, it didn’t make sense to do US-only releases.

I could have fallen back and just done a bunch of 7”s, but with the amount of money I was spending and not being very successful with distribution, I was increasingly asking myself “why am I doing this?” At that point, in late 1997, I was making a lot of changes in my life and it made sense to end it at those 4 releases.

++ You have recently added all songs of your catalog to Youtube. And that’s not all, you have also transferred from VHS live footage by many Japanese bands like Kactus, Drum Solo, Lucy Van Pelt and Peatmos! How cool! Where do these recordings come from? Did you record them? Will there be more of these in the future?

The live recordings were on VHS tapes I had been sent while the label was active. Everything that I have is now out there.

++ Looking back now, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the label?

The biggest highlight was easily when I visited Japan a few weeks after the Kactus 7” was released. I was at the club where the Kactus, Peatmos and Drum Solo sets were filmed in the September 1996 video clips that are now up on YouTube. The gig started after midnight Saturday night and went until 5am, when the trains started running again. It was a small club and the crowd was tiny since a typhoon rolled in during the evening. Fortunately, I had gotten into Japan a couple days earlier and my body was still on L.A. time, so midnight to 5am felt like daytime to me!

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Bike rides to the beach, trail running up in the mountains, skateboarding along the beach bike paths.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for your interest in Sonorama, it’s been a long time since anyone has asked me about it and it’s also reminded me how much fun some parts of running the label were.

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Listen
Peatmos – D’yer Wanna Dance With Kids?

Well, later tonight I’m heading to Lima, Peru, for a week. I’ll be back to blogging, not next Wednesday but the following. During this time you can catch up with the blog. Also any orders placed during this time that I will be out of town will be shipped on that same Wednesday, January 23rd. I promise to come with lots of news then!

Cristina Quesada: one of my very good friends is back with a new 7″ on Elefant Records. Four brand new songs, “Hero”, “Mona Lisa”, “Think I Heard A Rumour” and “Into You” will be on it! To promote this record a promo video has been made for the first track, and that’s what I’m linking to here because it is awesome. You’ll notice that Cristina’s music has changed a bit here! It is an electronic song, in the vein of St. Etienne! And I must say I do like this new direction!

Axolotes Mexicanos: looking at other Elefant news I notice this punky song called “Nacida para Sufrir” which is included in their album “Salu2” which I don’t have it yet! I guess I need to hurry up because this track has taken me back in time, it is like Juniper Moon are back! And that’s a good thing in my book!

Parsnip/The Shifters: there is a new 12″ split on the French label Future Folklore Records. It includes the Melbourne band Parsnip which I recommended some time ago and The Shifters, also from Melbourne. Each band contributes 3 songs. On the label’s Bandcamp you can preview 1 song each, Parsnip’s “Counterfeit” and The Shifters’ “Photo Op”. I will say that I really like Parsnip’s song which is superb and catchy, but I couldn’t listen to more than 10 seconds of the second song.

The Crystal Furs: is my memory wrong? I thought the Crystal Furs were from Texas. I see now on Bandcamp that they list Portland, Oregon, as their hometown. They have a new album which will be released on January  28th and is called “Pseudosweet”. Two songs are available to preview, the title track “Pseudosweet” and “Dysfunctional Mythology”. I wasn’t liking much the first track sadly, but the second is pretty good! So I’m hoping the record includes more sweet and jangly songs like this instead of the rockier style of “Pseudosweet”.

Estudiantes: lastly this new release on the very prolific Mexican label Stupid Decisions. Estudiantes are putting out their self-titled EP which is also available on very limited cassette on January 25th. There are 5 songs in it and you can preview three of these lo-fi shoegazy tracks “Mejor No”, “Es Verdad” and “Es Tarde”. There are more new releases on the label, so I’ll be keeping an eye on what to recommend.

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An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Indian summers are common in North America and Asia. The US National Weather Service defines this as weather conditions that are sunny and clear with above average temperatures, occurring September to November. It is usually described as occurring after a killing frost.

Arno Kammermeier, Claus Brandenburger and Walter Merziger were Indian Summer. They were German. Released two records, which I’ve listened but don’t own. And then, it seems, were kind of forgotten. Knowing very little about them, and thinking they could be included in the German version of the sound of Leamington Spa, it is time for me to dig out any details I can find about this late 80s band.

Both their records came out on Blue Cue Records. This label was as sub-label of Blue Clue Musikverlag that released some big names in Germany like Culture Club for example. They must have money?

The first release was a 7″ with two songs, “Faceless” on the A side and “Golden City” on the B side. Catalog number BC 78801. The front sleeve mentions that the record includes the hit “Golden City”. Was it a big song in Germany at some point? Something interesting is that for each song the band lists the beats per minute. “Faceless” is 132bpm and “Golden City” a slower 120bpm. Both songs were produed by Peter Hayo. They were recorded and mixed at Blue Cue Studio in Bexbach. The guitars on “Faceless” were played by Thomas Blug while the art is credited to Axel Tams. Then there’s an address for Arno Kammermeier, an address in Hamburg.

Ok, so that would mean that the band was based in this beautiful city. A city I’ve visited many times and which I’m missing these days. I need to return to Germany sometime soon. It’s been like 3 or more years since the last time! But what about the label? Bexbach? Where’s that? Never heard about this town.

Bexbach is a municipality in the Saarpfalz district, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies, approximatively 6 km east of Neunkirchen, and 25 km northeast of Saarbrücken. The Saarland Mining Museum is located in the town.

That is quite far from Hamburg!

Their second record was “Wonderland” which was released on 7″ and 12″ formats. IT came out on Blue Cue Records with the catalog number BC 78807. The 7″ had “Wonderland” on the A side and “How Many Times” on the B side. We see that the record was edited by Peter Hayo and Stefan Mayer. Hayo also produced it. The writing credits are for Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger. Keyboards were played by the three band members, percussion by Arno and Claus while the guitar was played by Walter Merziger. Additional guitar on “Wonderland” by Thomas Blug. The photo on the front was taken by Bernd Merziger.

The 12″ version was a bit different. The A side had “Wonderland (Edit the Wonder)” and “How Many Times (Fourtyfive Mix)”. The B side had “Electric Kiss (Pure & Simple Mix)” and “Wonderland (Acoustic)”.

Something interesting is that there are no compilation appearances listed. On the other hand I do find that the band members were involved in more than a few bands.

Arno Kammermeier was on among others Avenue, Planet Claire, Parade, Sitara, Subtopia, Temple of Light, Lanyx, Tony Travolta, etc. etc.

Claus Brandenburger was involved in Avenue who released a 7″ in Blue Cue Records in 1989.

Walter Merziger was in Planet Claire, Booka Shade, Temple of Light, Trashbox, Sugar Sisters, Mos Eisley, etc, etc.

There is a very good find I stumbled upon on Youtube. It is a life performance of the band in Hermeskeil sometime in 1990. The band is playing the song “The Horror You Sent Me“.

Not much more about Indian Summer on the web but there is an interview on Youtube (Part 1 and Part 2) with Arno and Walter by Face Culture from the Netherlands. On it the band mostly discusses about their current band Booka Shade but also about their other bands Planet Claire and briefly about Indian Summer.

From this interview I know that “Golden City” reached the charts in Germany. Oddly that song is not available on Youtube. It seems the band members gained popularity when they were in Planet Claire. But about Indian Summer very little is known. Were they really from Hamburg? Did they record any other songs? Why did they split? Many questions, nothing written, at least on the web.

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Listen
Indian Summer – Wonderland

Wednesday! Two more days and I’m off once again, this time to Lima, Peru. Please do let me know if you’d like me to bring any records to Peru. I will gladly do so so you can save on postage.

Not much news today (but do come back in two weeks exactly for new releases announcements) so I will go ahead and recommend 5 new bits of music I’ve found out on the web!

Love Dance: very excited about this news! Our friends at Kocliko are releasing the “Cul-de-sac” EP by Love Dance that I believe was available digitally in the past. As I love physical releases this is fantastic! Especially by this band that I saw live at Indietracks once and thought they were wonderful, whose discography I do own at home, and who I would have loved to work together too! There are 5 songs here that are just PERFECT. I do hope there will be new songs by them in the near future! Do run, this release is very limited!

Tullycraft: two more songs by the band, not new as they are from recording session of their previous album, “Lost in Light Rotation” but still new to my ears! “Touch Me, I’m Sick (over you)”, “Bad Connection” and “Lost in Light Rotation (demo)” are now available to stream on their Bandcamp. As a big fan of Tullycraft any new music by them makes me terribly happy!

Bridal Shower: the Scottish label Common Records are putting out a 6 song tape of this band. The EP is titled “Documentary Footage” and I’ve only been able to preview one of the tracks, “Mirror Maze”, a top lo-fi shoegaze track. This is their second ever release after their album “Negatives” on Gold Mold Records.

Castlebeat: “VHS” is the name of the album this New Yorker put out last March. I’ve only discovered them now. The record is available on vinyl, CD and even tape. There are 10 songs in total, 9 of which you can preview on Bandcamp. Jangly and chiming songs here that are quite a surprise to me. Does he play live? I’d love to go see him play.

En mi Mente: time for 8 songs (only 4 available to preview) by this Mexican shoegaze band. This digital mini-album is in the prolific label Stupid Decisions that in the last year has surprised us with many quality releases. If only they would come in physical format! Good stuff.

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Just found out about this 80s UK band on the Messthetics CDs that I got some months ago and also what I’ve heard online was really good. How come I’ve never heard them before?

Maybe they are pretty obscure. Or maybe indiepop fans haven’t really noticed them. Discogs lists them as a new wave band. Could that be it? They are listed with two records in the 80s. So why don’t you join me in finding out more details about them?

Their first 7″ dates from early in the 80s, from 1981. It was a 7″ with 2 songs, “No Next Time” on the A side and “Removal” on the B side. It was released by My Death Telephone Records (TEL 001). This might have been the band’s own label. Probably it was a self-release too. Both songs were recorded at RMS Studios in London. The recording was coordinated by David Trevor-Jones and engineered by Andy Le Vien. The art is credited to Ryan Baptiste and it came out as a fold-out sleeve that came in a plastic bag with sticker.

We also find the names of the band members.
Ian Sturgess – bass
Mike Barnes – drums
David Parker – guitar
Colin Parker – organ
Malcolm Harris – vocals, guitar

Their second record is a 12″ that came out 6 years later, in 1987. It included 4 songs, “Despatches” and “Black Point” on the A side and “Taking Off Again” and “When a Stranger Calls” on the B side. It was released by Primitive Records (Prime Cat. 14), the same label that put out some stuff by Mega City Four and The Trudy. The engineer was Julie-Ann Jones.

Their song “If I Could Turn the Clock Back” appears on a few compilations: in 1981’s LP comp “We Couldn’t Agree on the Title” which was later remastered and re-released as CDR in 2004 and on the 2006 “Messthetics #102” compilation that Hyped to Death put out. They also appear on another Messthetics comp, on the “Messthetics Greatest Hits” from 2006, the band had “No Next Time”.

There are two other Messthetics comps that are not easy to come by anymore. On the “Unreleased Messthetics Vol.1”, which looks like a bootleg, and unofficial release, the band has “Last Telegram (Demo)”. And then on the “Messthetics #4 UK ’78-81 DIY Punk/Postpunk Bands V-to-Z” that was released as CDR the band has “No Next Time” and “Removal”.

Lastly on the tape compilation “Seven Tiny Heads” that Acid Tapes (TAB 030) put out in 1988, the band appears twice with “Somebody Told Me” and “There’s Still Time to Go”.

I look for information about the members. Mike Barnes seems to be these days a music journalist, a regular contributor to The Wire and Mojo. He has published too a book called “Captain Beefheart, The Biography” in 2000. He has also been involved in bands like Lemon Kittens and played drums for Paul Goodwin. Ian Sturgess has also been in Lemon Kittens, played on some recordings of the Jazz Butcher, and Danielle Dax.

Time to check out what the Messthetics comps! The Walking Floors took shape in the punk-deprived climes of Basingstoke –originally as The Brothers K. The five of them first played together rehearsing Malcolm Harris’ songs at the home of David (guitar) and Colin (organ) Parker in 1978. In August of 1980 Mike Barnes (drums) and Ian Sturgess (bass) helped out the Lemon Kittens on their Cake Beast EP, and in payment they got a day to record their own songs including: “If I Could Turn The Clock Back” Within a matter of weeks the ‘Floors had their own 45 out as well (“No Next Time”). “Last Telegram” is from a December ’81 demo (unreleased). After the Floors split, Ian recorded with Danielle Dax, The Jazz Butcher and others, Mike wrote Captain Beefheart, a biography (Quartet Books, 2004), and David became a premier chronicler of the life and times of the late Syd Barrett with his Chapter 24 fanzine and Random Precision (Cherry Red Books, 2001). Harris, Barnes and Sturgess now play together as The Swinging Signs, whose double album is Lime (2007).

Last.fm has some interesting details on their bio. It tells that it was when Ian Sturgess joined the band that The Brothers K changed their name to The Walking Floors. Or that the band  supported The Diagram Brothers and also supported The Lemon Kittens at Reading University in 1980. Malcolm Harris and Mike Barnes were lately recording as Lewis Lear and the Jets.

Something funny I found on the web is that The Walking Floors were heckled by U2 at their debut London gig in 1980. It seems there was an article written by Mike Barnes about it on Mojo but it seems that piece has been deleted or something. Can’t find it.

And that’s about all the information I could find. It is not little for sure. We know the names of the members, bands they’ve been involved with, where they came from, their releases, and more. But still would be great to get in touch, interview them, and fill in the blanks! Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
The Walking Floors – Despatches

Monday! This week we’ll have three posts at least, today, Wednesday and Friday. If by any chance we get some interviews, then on Tuesday and Thursday. The usual. Im just saying this because there won’t be any posts next week nor the following Monday. That is because I’m heading to Lima, Peru, for holidays. Having said that, if anyone in Lima wants any records from the label please let me know no later than Thursday so I can take the records with me and then we can meet up in Lima of course.

After this vacation I’ll be announcing new releases, so keep an eye on the blog!

Now, moving to what you came here for, new music:

Terry: yet another good band coming from Melbourne, Australia. I’m a bit late to the party as this band released their album “I’m Terry” back in late August 2018. Not sure if there were physical copies but the album is available to stream on Bandcamp. There are a total of 10 songs and I think, at first listen, that “Oh Helen” is my favourite song so far.

White Town: the classic band headed by Jyoti Mishra released “Deemab” on January 1st. It is a new album and he dedicates it to his father. 13 songs on it of all sorts of pop, quirky, electronic or guitar-driven. So far it looks as it is only available in digital format.

The Total Bettys: another album! So far no new singles! Interesting. This one is not that new, it came out just over a month ago, last November. It is called “This is Paradise” and it is also the first time I listen to this San Francisco band.  They are formed by Maggie Grabmeier, Reese Grey, Chloe Lee and Kayla Billos. An all girl summer fun band!

Wolf Circus: ok! now an EP. 6 songs on a digital EP titled “I Don’t Want to Go Back” by this Santa Clarita, California band. Two California bands today. What do we know about the band? Well that it is a combo led by Lesley Price who wrote 4 songs out of the 6 songs, the other two are by Yukihiro Takahashi from the Yellow Magic Orchestra and Brian Wilson from you know who.

Автоспорт: I think their name translates to Autsport. This Russian band just released a compilation tape of their fast-paced shoegazey sounds on Pow! Pop Kids Records from their home country. From what I understand these songs are all their recorded output. They date from 2017 and 2018. And even though I don’t understand a word they do sound superb.

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This 7″ has been on my wishlist for a long time. I wonder when I’ll get around getting a copy and have it in my collection. It is true that lately I’m buying less records, much less than what I used to. Not sure why. I guess it is become more expensive. Shipping costs from the UK are not friendly. And I don’t blame them. Shipping from the US is not nice either.

Ronnie Can You Hear Me?’s 7″ with “Vroom for Romance” on the A side and “Patrick’s Them” on the B side is a great single. Sadly of course there is barely any information about them on Discogs. I wonder if I’ll find any other details somewhere else. I’ll try.

Their 7″ was released by their own Ronnie Records (Spoon1) in 1984. The art for it has this cool cartoon printed in black over a yellow-green paper.

The only other recording listed on Discogs is the song “Chachi’s Theme” that appeared on a compilation called “Good Morning Mister Presley” that was released by Grunt Grunt A Go Go Records (GGAGG 1) in 1986. On this compilation they appear alongside top bands like Yeah Yeah Noh, Microdisney or The Fire Hydrant Men. It does tell that all recordings on this compilation were made in Norwich, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester and London. So, most probably our band hails from one of these cities.

I find out some important detail. So Ronnie Can You Hear Me? are actually an offshoot of the Norwich band The Farmers Boys! I also find out that the song “Vroom for Romance” actually had a promo video for it. Where is it? I would love to watch it!

According to Music from the East Zone. The band was formed by: Ian Thirkettle, Carole Bush, Tom Fenner, Mark Kingston and Paul Kingston.

Ian, a guitarist and keyboardist, had been in bands like Uncle Romeo, Uncle Rodeo, Heigham Sounds, Bluegrass Boys, The Ordinaires, Bang Goes My Stereo, The Farmers Boys, Dr Fondle and The Great Outdoors.

Mark, the bassist, was in The Great Outdoors, Uncle Romeo, Uncle Rodeo, Dissolute Youth, Heigham Sounds, The Ordinaires, Dr. Fondle, The Avons, The Farmers Boys, The Nivens and Blues Machine.

Paul Kingston, vocalist and guitarist, had been in Polish Corridor, Dissolute Youth and The Ordinaires.

Tom had been in The Monotones and Dr. Fondle.

Carole, the vocalist, had been in Terminal Fun too.

Well that’s a lot of band names. Many that I’m familiar but even more that I have no clue about!

Maybe this could start a couple of posts about related bands from the Norwich area? Could be interesting. In the meantime, anyone know anything else by them? Gigs? other songs? their promo video? Any information would be great!

Edit: My friend Jessel just pointed me out to a promo video for “Vroom for Romance“! How cool is that?!

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Listen
Ronnie Can You Hear Me? – Vroom for Romance

Back to blogging in 2019, back to finding new sounds, new music on the web. Not much news yet on the Cloudberry side though in a week I’ll be flying to Lima, Peru, for a week. That means that if you are in Lima and you’d like to order some records and save in shipping send me a message and we can figure it out.

Now, what is new in the world of indiepop?

Milkmustache: well, this is a Christmas song, so maybe it is not what you wanted, but you could save the song for next Christmas? I mean, it is really pretty, the season shouldn’t matter. The new song by the Chinese band is called “Christmas Song for Christmas Night” and it is available on the Boring Productions Bandcamp.

Furry Loser: Rolf is from Costa Rica. He likes recording pop songs in his bedroom. He has put together an EP called “Loser Dance Party”. Only one of his songs is available to stream. It is called “Marco & Marty”. It is based on a web coming of the same name. It is bouncy, poppy and fun. Will the other three songs, “Don’t Like You Anymore”, “Tom (working title)”, “Loser Dance Party”, on the EP available to listen someday?

Golden Teardrops: our friends Ryan and Lei have re-released (and re-mastered) their song “A Summer Escape” and a demo version of “Pieces of Our Love”. As expected they are top songs. So give yourself 5 minutes and check them out!

In Space: this Singapore project by Juan Sawitt, a 19-year old “with a computer”, sounds really nice. Their latest is the song “Heartache” which he uploaded just before Christmas on his Bandcamp. Lyrics are available to sing along and there is also another song worth listening called “January” that dates from last March.

Pleasures Pale: the Dayton, OH, band that I interviewed just a bit ago have uploaded on Soundcloud a compilation of various live performance recordings from 1986. Two tracks come from a gig at the Canal Street Tavern and the two others are live rehearsals. The jangly guitars on the first track, “Muscleman”, are superb! And then you get “An Awkward Kind Thinks Twice”, “Life is But a Dream” and “Uneasy’s Disease”. All being great of course!

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So far, after searching and searching I could only find one interesting tidbit about the band Big House. They played a gig at the legendary Rock Garden on November 10th, 1985. As many of you know this was a venue in London, in the Covent Garden area, that among other feats The Smiths played their first London gig there. These days sadly it is an Apple store. The worst thing ever of course.

The problem is of course the band’s name. It is not original enough to search for them. I can get all sorts of results on Google and even worst the 7″ I know they released doesn’t even get listed on Discogs, 45cat or Rateyourmusic. It seems as it doesn’t exist.

I don’t even know what was on the B side. I only know, thanks to Youtube, that the A side was called “Real Eyes”. I know it is a superb song, with female vocals, catchy, fun, upbeat, all sorts of things I like. The guitar is bouncy, the drums rolls at the start of the song are ace. What more can I say? It is the sort of song that should be included in an obscure female fronted UK indie compilation. But how can one do that if you don’t even know who the members where?

On a Japanese blog I read that the label that put the record out was based in Cambridge. Sadly it doesn’t tell what was the name of the label. It also looks as if the record didn’t have a picture sleeve. The information is really scarce.

This band and single are a true indiepop mystery. We have two cities, London and Cambridge, as possible places where the band was from. Or maybe not even. We only know one date, 1985. And one song, “Real Eyes”. This time I will need any help I can get. Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Big House – Real Eyes

Thanks so much to Tim for the interview! A few weeks ago I wrote about Splendour in the Grass on the blog and happily Tim got in touch! So I didn’t miss out the chance to ask him a bunch of questions and learn more about his band who only got to release a shared flexi with the 14 Iced Bears back in the day!

++ Hi Tim! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you all still in touch? Still making music?

Hi there. It’s my pleasure! I’m all good thanks. I’m afraid that I’m not really in touch with any of the original band members. One of those things – we all sort of went our separate ways and kept in touch for a few years but then drifted. I do still pick up a guitar every now again, but I’m not writing music any more.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

My first musical memories…. ooooh, erm…. Probably my parents listening to jazz records and my older brother with his dub reggae record collection (not quite sure how this led me to indie music at the time, but it did!) My first instrument was actually the guitar. I taught myself back then, usually learning the chords of my favourite records in my bedroom. We were all heavily into the indie scene, apart from Christopher, who was more into heavy metal for some strange reason.

++ Was Splendour in the Grass your first band or had you been in other bands before that? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

Splendour In The Grass was my first band, and also for the other guys in the band too.

++ Where were you from originally, Croydon?

We were all from Croydon, yep.

++ How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Croydon was a strange place at the time. There were lots of small minority music scenes going on at the same time – indie, goth, rockabilly, and metal. Weirdly enough there were a few local venues around Central and West Croydon that used to put on bands, but to be honest we were more interested in seeing bands at the time in places like the Croydon Underground than putting on a gig ourselves back then. One thing that probably fuelled the vibrant music scene back then were that we had three really great record shops – H&R Cloakes and 101 Records – which catered for all of the indie record buying people back then, and also Beanos – which was the largest second hand record shop in England I think at the time. So were were kind of spoiled as to where to listen to and buy new music. I’m afraid that these have all closed now.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

The band started in 1987 when we were 15 years old. Me and James went to one school in Croydon, and Nic and Christopher went to another school, but we used to see each other when we’d get the bus and the train to London when we used to go to the same gigs most weeks up in London or Brighton. So we knew we liked the same sort of music, and then we started hanging out and from there it was natural for us to start our own band. Once we’d agreed to start the band, it was pretty easy to work out who was doing what – Christopher had a bass, James had a guitar, and I had drums and a guitar – so that we me and Nic sorted!

++ Were there any lineup changes at all?

This version of Splendour In The Grass kind of split up in 1988, but I did carry on the band with Nic and some new members – Dan, Chris, and sometimes Jonny – who strangely enough, we also used to see on the bus and train going from Croydon up to London to go to gigs. We didn’t release anything else, but we did a few gigs around Croydon and did record a rather good DAT in a studio around 1990, but as I say, we never released it.

++ What’s the story behind the name Splendour in the Grass?

The name came from the classic black and white film with Natalie Wood. It seemed to fit at the time, and the other guys in the band were happy to go along with it.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

In the beginning, we used to practice in Christopher’s parents garage at his house. I remember our first practice session and I was actually singing and playing the guitar – and I’m afraid to say that my singing wasn’t quite up to much, so we decided to let Nic have a go, so I took his place at the drums, and Nic started singing. Which kind of worked out for the best at the time really – Nic was a much better singer than me…! Up to that point, I was writing the songs (including Twist Me), but when I moved on to drums, Nic took over with the lyrics and the rest of us wrote the music.

++ You were around in the late 80s and in the UK there was a great explosion of guitar pop bands, why do you think that was? Did you feel part of a scene?

There really was – and that was the reason we wanted to be in a band! We all used to go to gigs up in London and Brighton when we were 15, and because the scene was so small and accessible, it was easy to get to know the bands that you loved! We never really gigged a great deal, so we were never really part of a scene in that sense.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

At the time, we all loved listening to The Velvet Underground, The Byrds and the Rolling Stones, but I would say that we more influenced by what was going on at Creation records, Subway records and early Sarah records releases.

++ As far as I know your only release was a flexi that was shared with the 14 Iced Bears. This was released by Penetration Records. Who were Penetration Records and how did you end up working on this flexi?

We actually set up the label Penetration Records ourselves! And the release with The Bears was actually the only release that Penetration put out. The idea behind the flexi came around through my friendship with Rob from 14 Iced Bears. I mentioned to him that we were looking to do a flexi and asked if he had a track he could let us have – and he gave me the tape for the different edit of Lie To Choose. Funnily enough, I seem to recall that when Christopher went up to the flexi plant to get the flexi pressed, he was asked what the label was called – which we hadn’t given any thought to – so he just made up the label name as Penetration Records on the spot.

++ And you were friends with the 14 Iced Bears, right? How did that relationship happen? Did you play many gigs together? With which other bands in town you had also a good relationship?

I was friends with Rob from 14 Iced Bears, yes. So firstly, I was a massive fan of their first two releases they’d had at the time and went to their gigs as much as a 15 year old could. Then one day I saw an ad for a drummer in the back of the NME (which back then was how bands recruited new members). Anyway, I called Rob and went down to Brighton to meet up. It didn’t work out with me joining the Bears, as I was still at school, and they had been used to better drummers than me in any case – my drum set up was just two drums (like Mo Tucker from the Velvets and Bobby Gillespie from the Mary Chain). Anyway, we stayed in touch and when we were thinking of putting out the flexi, I asked Rob if he had a song that we could use, and he gave us the version of Lie To Choose that you hear on the flexi. We were from Croydon, and so were Loop, so we got to know them a little bit – Robert Loop formed Main with our friend Scott. The indie scene was so small and welcoming, that you’d always end up chatting to bands at their gigs, and I also got to know The Field Mice as they were from Croydon too.

++ The song “Twist Me” was included in it, I was wondering if in a few sentences you could tell me the story behind that tune?

I think I wrote it about a girl who had just split up with me, but then kind of messed with my emotions afterwards – pretty much standard reference for songs back then!

++ Where was the song recorded?

The track was recorded at James’ bedroom – his dad was a vicar and he lived in a vicarage in Croydon. James basically had the biggest bedroom out of all of us.

++ I looked at the credits on the sleeve and I see that you thank a Laurence for the gear and Robert Black for living. I thought these were odd, or enigmatic thank you notes. I don’t know if you could tell me a bit about it?

Haha. Lawrence lent us some equipment, and perhaps something else that we used when we rehearsed…, and Robert L Black was just a friend that used to hang around with us.

++ Why didn’t you get to release any proper records?

I’m not sure really. We didn’t really gig enough or generally try very hard if I’m honest. It’s a shame looking back, as we certainly had the creativity. Later on, when it was me, Nic, Dan and Chris, I do believe that our music could have got released, but Chris went off University and we just carried on rehearsing with no real aims for a gig – we’d go to a rehearsal room and have a bit of a party instead of going to the pub.

++ Was there any interest by labels to put out your records?

Not for us, no. Like I say, unfortunately we were too lazy and didn’t do enough to push ourselves.

++ And did you appear on any compilations?

Again, I’m afraid not.

++ I suppose you must have many unreleased songs, is that so? Maybe in demo form or perhaps studio recordings?

We do have quite a few tracks – certainly a few as demos which are probably in a box in someones house somewhere. The DAT tape did contain the other studio recordings that we did – 4 songs from memory.

++ If you were to choose your favourite Splendour in the Grass song, which one would that be and why?

Apart from Twist Me, as it was the only release we ever made, I’ve always had a soft spot for the track we did called Razors Hutch – which was written about a friend we had back then.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over England?

We did play a few gigs, but these were only ever in the Croydon area.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

I do remember that at most of our gigs we liked to turn up the volume – so there was always this competition between band members about who could get the amp volume the highest – not the most professional I’m afraid, and usually with the venue threatening to pull the plug on us unless we turned the volume down…

++ And were there any bad ones?

At a very early school gig that me Dan and Jonny did, (when I was singing) I remember having to encourage Dan to come out from behind the curtain where he was playing – Dan was a bit shy back then!

++ When and why did Splendour in the Grass stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

As I said earlier, when Chris left for University, we carried on with the rehearsing, but it was generally just a bit of a party in the rehearsal room with our friends – with no real agenda to record anything else or play out live again. I did audition to be the Field Mice drummer a few years later, but the chose to stick with their drum machine…

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Im afraid not – we all kind wasted our opportunity and as far as I know, none of the others have been in any bands since.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

I am still friends with Dan, Chris and Jonny, and we did do an acoustic set to some friends a few years back. It was totally unplanned, and it was surprising how much we could remember of the old material.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

Afraid not. Again, we didn’t really push ourselves enough so the radio probably never even got to hear about us.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

Only really by the association with 14 Iced Bears. The Bears really should have got better recognition for their records – even though they had records out and did gig a lot, they were massively under appreciated for what they did.

++ What about from fanzines?

I don’t remember any fanzines showing an interest – but if they did, I’d imagine it was because we had the Bears on the flexi with us!

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Releasing the flexi – quite an achievement for a 15 year old to get a flexi out with their band on their own label, and also with an unreleased song by one of their favourite bands.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

I’ve always loved old campervans – and have just set up a business to rent out vintage VW campervans.

++ I’ve never been to Croydon, close though, to Brighton once, but it is always good to hear from a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Croydon is a bit of an odd place really. It’s all a bit non descript. Probably the same as a lot of other town centres I’d imagine. I know that there’s been a pretty decent underground dance scene going on there for a few years.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

No, just that it has been nice to answer your questions!

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Listen
Splendour in the Grass – Twist Me

Happy New Year! Happy 2019! I’m hoping this will be a better year for everyone and for indiepop too of course! Shipping prices are what hurts us the most these days. I dream of them being lowered in the future but I feel that might be just wishful thinking. They may just go up again and again. But that’s what I hope for. I think that would all of us involved in releasing, listening and collecting beautiful records.

As I mentioned in my previous post I was away on holidays. It was nice to disconnect for a while of course. There was no indiepop involved at all in this trip, it was just mostly relaxing in the Mexican Caribbean and visiting a couple of Mayan ruins.

Now I’m back since very early today and I haven’t had time to investigate and find new music on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Youtube, etc. But for Friday I promise you that. For tomorrow I have an interview to post too, so it will be a 3-post week, not bad to start this year.

Also keep an eye on the blog and the label Facebook because we have a few releases in the pipeline set to be released in 2019! It is going to be great!

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Nick Garrard, an English writer, designer, band manager, etc, started Upright Records in the mid-80s. Among the bands he released there are a few that interest me: The Doctor’s Children, Yeah Jazz and the Weeping Messerchmitts among others. I surely should feature them three at some point on the blog. But I’ll start with the Weeping Messerchmitts today!

They only released one record mind you. A 12″ maxi single with three songs, “Nothing Yet” on the A side” and “Say Goodbye” and “Panthera Parvos” on the B side. It was on Uptight Records of course (UPT 17) and came out in the year we all like, 1986.

All songs are credited to Alexander, Jeavons, Oliver and Webb on the labels. Aside from that there is really not any other worthy piece of information on the record. True, I don’t own it yet, I should try to track a nice copy for myself in the next couple of weeks. But little by little my friends, step by step.

There is something strange about this release. You know, in 1994 it was reissued. But not in the UK but in Spain by the label Old Gold (OLD GOLD-015-MX). I wonder how much interest there was on this band in Spain at the time. What I do know is that this label used to reissue cool records by bands like The Mighty Lemon Drops or The Raw Herbs.

Now, this Spanish label was a sublabel of a bigger one called Contraseña Records. This bigger label had, in 1997, included “Nothing Yet” by the Weeping Messerchmitts in a CD compilation called “Lo Mejor de los Ochenta” (CON 101 CD). The best of the 80s. Not sure if it was really the best of the 80s what was included in here, but I definitely like this song.

So, what was a Messerchmitt? It looks like it was a German aircraft manufacturing company, thus a messerchmitt was an airplane and they did come in various modles, BF 109, KR200, Me 262. etc.

Through Discogs I end up on Youtube. There is a promo video for “Panthera Parvos“. It was filmed by Martin Webb on location at the British Federal Tipton and JBs in Dudley. The song was written about Donald Neilson the notorious Black Panther who prowled the streets of Tipton and the Black Country during his infamous period striking fear into and terror into that community. Something odd though. The first screen of the video says The Railway Children “Panthera Parvos”. What?!

On Youtube I find another song, one not on the 12″. It is called “Will They Ever Believe Me“. Then another called “Just To Hold You“. And lastly one called “Fashionable Smile” that it is said to be the last written by the Alexander Jeavons and Oliver Webb partnership. I believe these songs were uploaded by David Webb, the vocalist of the band. Where does these songs come from? A demo? A live recording? There are few other live videos on this Youtube account. There’s one for “Your Heart” from their last gig at JB’s in Dudley in 1987. And then there’s “Say Goodbye” also live at JB’s, and probably from that same gig.

So yes, the band members full names. So we’ve mentioned that Dave Webb was the vocalist and guitarist. Then we know that Gary Oliver played guitar, Mark Alexander bass, Mark Jeavons guitar and Gary Odea played drums. Oh! And the band hailed from Wolverhampton!

A cool find, even though I’ve never been a fan of Terry Malts, is that they covered “Nothing Yet“. You can check their version on Soundcloud.

I try to look for the band members, what they are up to these days. There is a Mark Jeavons in the Midlands that works as a script writer. Could that be the same one? Then I find a Mark Alexander that is a writer and has a poet friend called Gary Oliver. It sounds like they might be the ones from the band, right? If that was the case, our Mark Alexander wrote a book called “Meandering & Muses” that was published last year, 2017.

Sadly there is not much more information about them, nor the band. No gigs listed. No other bands they might have been involved with. Why? Their 12″ sounds great, influenced by The Smiths and The Wild Swans. Why not more love to them? Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Weeping Messerschmitts – Nothing Yet