The first Factory Records 12" single to find its way into my collection was Fac 11, the powerful 'English Black Boys' by Manchester reggae band X-O-Dus. It took the legendary Dennis 'Blackbeard' Bovell (who wrote and produced 'Silly Games' for Janet Kay, a hit at the time) a full six months to complete a satisfactory mix of the track, but the result was worth every second of his efforts.
In the summer of 1980, following the release of their third LP 'Way & Bar', John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett headed out on 'The Tent Tour'. The gimmick was that admittance to the gigs was by the purchase of the album's second single, 'DK 50/80', only. So, with no actual door money coming in, John & Wild Willy pitched a tent in a campsite near each evening's venue and spent the night under canvas, before moving on to the next town the following morning.
By the time Siouxsie & the Banshees' 'Join Hands' tour rolled into Ipswich on October 9th 1979 (39 years ago today), two of their number, Kenny Morris and John McKay, had already jumped ship, walking out on the band in Scotland a couple of weeks previously. Budgie from The Slits was quickly drafted in to fill the drum stool while The Cure's Robert Smith suddenly found himself doing a double shift every evening, first fronting support band The Cure, then handling guitar duties for the Banshees. Unsurprisingly, given the volatile circumstances, the band were on explosive form in Ipswich, so much so that two nights later I took myself off to Chelmsford to witness it all over again. Emotions in the Banshees camp were obviously still running high the following month, when they taped a couple of blistering performances for the BBCTV programme Something Else.
Swedish five piece Zugspitze formed in 2014, playing regularly, recording sporadically and finally, in May of this year, releasing their debut album 'Kalejdofoni'. The LP is in a hand-numbered limited edition of 300. On the actual day of release, the band played a launch concert for 'Kalejdofoni' in their home town of Växjö - immediately after which they split up. More detailed information on Zugspitze is tricky to come by, a situation not helped by the fact that the group share their name with the highest mountain in Germany, which kinda dominates the Google hits. Their record label's website doesn't help, containing no mention of the band whatsoever. So, for the moment at least, all we have is the music.
Whilst loitering around in the comments section over at Brian's place last week, I happened to drop Swedish garage legends The Nomads into the conversation, specifically their incendiary rendition of the classic Standells tune, 'Sometimes the Good Guys Don't Wear White'. A little later, Dirk put out the call for someone to post it - so here you go Dirk! I've got the song on the terrific 1984 LP 'Outburst', where it rubs shoulders with equally rockin' covers of songs by The Kinks, Alex Chilton, The Third Bardo and Sleepy John Estes, not to mention a clutch of stompin' originals. Hold tight!
There we were, Dad and I, wandering around a school fete in Leytonstone forty nine years ago, when I spotted the Hackney Speedway stall tucked away in the corner of the playground. It was a tanner a go to sit on a bike and pretend for a moment to be a speedway rider. I joined the queue and waited my turn. A few minutes later as I sat in the saddle, oblivious to the hubbub around me, twisting the throttle and dreaming my dreams, a shutter clicked and, before I knew it, I was on the front page of the local newspaper. What can I say? It was a slow news week.
A year ago tomorrow, I finally got off my arse. After 30 years at the coalface of customer service, 28 of those in some form of management position, I walked away in 2011 and spent the next 6 years clicking about online, trying unsuccessfully to make a living. The break was only ever meant to be a stopgap to allow me to get over Mum's death and de-stress, but time drifted by. Last Summer, I bagged a temporary position at our local supermarket. Four 4 hour shifts per week, just about enough to cover the monthly bills. My first day was August 25th. The job is very straightforward and was immediately enjoyable. I replenish stock, handle reductions & waste and generally assist customers. Within weeks my hours were substantially increased and my contact was amended to a permanent position. Now I not only cover bills, but also chip away at a few debts and can afford the odd treat - usually in the form of music or artisan coffee. Crucially, I have no responsibilities. I go in, work bloody hard for 8 or 9 hours, then go home. It's bliss. My boss's boss approached me a couple of months ago to commend my work ethic and gauge my long term ambitions within the company. 'I'm 58' I replied. 'I'm working with nice people and doing a job I genuinely enjoy. At this point in my life, what more is there?'
It's when listening to records like 'Short Passing Game' by Davy Kehoe that I'm almost glad I don't run a record shop anymore. I mean, what section would I put the damn thing in? For starters, Kehoe's label, Wah Wah Wino, marketed the release as a 12" EP, this in spite of the fact that it contains six tracks and clocks in with a whopping 40 minutes playing time. Then there's the thorny question of genre. Musically 'Short Passing Game' veers from strict motorik inspired beats to sloshing experimental waves of sound, from funk to punk, from jazzy splurges to unsettling dubby explorations. I picked up a copy in the middle of last year based on one ecstatic review having not heard a single note and I've never regretted my hasty purchase. I bought it online of course. I wouldn't know where to begin to look for it in a record shop.
It's late Sunday evening. We've just arrived home, I'm impossibly tired and typing this in an effort to stay upright until a somewhat respectable hour. My return to work is less than 48 hours away following a break that didn't go according to plan at all, though was pretty darned hectic nonetheless. I had very little opportunity to check out record shops while on my travels and Lord knows I'm no Charity Chic when it comes to rooting out the bargains, but I was quietly ecstatic to unearth a physical copy of 'Bränna Tid' (translates as 'Burn Time') by Sweden's finest, Kungens Män. It's a limited edition CD-R (one of only 60 copies made!) released in early 2017 by the band as a stop gap between their 'Stockholm Maraton' and 'Dag & Nat' albums. 40 minutes of music across three extended psych-tastic workouts. When I saw it tucked in the middle of the reductions bin of a Bethnal Green second hand store last week, I had to stifle a squeal of delight. £2.99? Take my money!
Today is a milestone birthday for Mrs S. She sees it as a very big milestone, though of course from my aged perspective it's just a modest marker in her journey through life. Mrs S is in the middle of a busy series of art related projects at the moment and I've been putting in long hours at work for some months, but to celebrate the occasion, we've taken a brief hiatus from our respective hectic schedules and, as you read this, are in Cambridge, doing cultural stuff and hopefully recharging the batteries.
The Distractions came together in 1975, though it would be a further 4 years before the band committed any music to vinyl with the 'You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That' EP on Manchester indie label TJM Records. Side 1 track 1 of that release was the original version of 'It Doesn't Bother Me', a good song in search of a little extra oomph. Things get a bit hazy at this point as The Distractions simultaneously signed to Factory for a one-off single and also to Island Records for a more conventional and comprehensive deal. In the event Island was first out of the traps with a re-recorded, re-arranged stab at 'It Doesn't Bother Me' produced by Jon Astley. This time around the song ticked all the boxes - it's powerpop perfection.
There's a new multi-disc PIL retrospective doing the rounds, featuring hits, b-sides, rarities and out-takes from John Lydon's post-Pistols career. I'm pretty sure this won't be on it though. During the 'Flowers of Romance' sessions in 1980, Lydon and Keith Levene were actively involved in the production and recording of tracks by their friend, the journalist Vivien Goldman. The resulting 'Dirty Washing' 12" EP was issued in America and parts of Europe in April 1981, with a UK 7" release containing two of the three tunes (the third being a dub version) coming later in the Summer. These songs are a must for lovers of that particular strain of scratchy groove based post-punk that runs from The Slits, Raincoats and early PIL through to LoneLady and beyond.
I was surprised when the the postman knocked on the front door on Saturday morning and handed me my pre-ordered copy of 'Thuban', the third studio LP by Italy's Lay Llamas, as it's not actually scheduled for release until Friday 15th. Unfortunately Mrs S and I have a particularly packed schedule for the next fortnight, so the one quick spin through the record that I've managed so far is probably all that it's going to get until well beyond that official release date. I'll hopefully return to 'Thuban' in greater detail in due course, but for now if I said that it features guest appearances from the likes of Goat, Clinic and Mark Stewart of The Pop Group and is an exotic melting pot of afrobeat, psychedelia and krautrock, it might get you into the general vicinity of the noises you can expect to hear.