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Love The Reason

Love The Reason, originally uploaded by unpop.

The 1983 Love The Reason compilation from the Respond label has been spinning on my deck the past week. There are some precious gems on there and no mistake. My personal favourites today would be that Big Sound Authority cut and the gorgeous ‘Give It Some Emotion’ single by Tracie. Of course that particular number was penned by A Craze, whose Such Bliss compilation was recently brought to my attention by Kevin from the wonderful Your Heart Out and The London Nobody Sings blogs. Now Kevin will be the one to tell you the stories of the Respond records artistes with much greater authority than I ever could, but let’s just point out here that acts like A Craze and The Questions were ones poised at a perfect moment in time casting connections back into the punk and ‘new wave’ explosions yet also bringing in the influences of jazz, soul and ‘easy listening’ to such great effect.

There is a lovely interview with Robin Millar on the Strawberry Switchblade website that makes some of those connections, taking in the likes of Sade, Fine Young Cannibals, Everything But The Girl, Weekend, Working Week and Vic Godard. Millar makes a great point about some of those artists and records becoming ‘coffee table’ records after the fact. He suggests that had they sold in paltry numbers they would instead have been thought of as quirky and strange. It is so true.

But back to Love The Reason, and check out Weller’s ridiculously rousing sleevenotes that make marvellously skewed sense of the “teenarama myth”. Remember those days of the Cappuccino Kid? Weller possessed by a spirit of Colin Macinnes. Flicking back now they seem ridiculously stylised and stylishly ridiculous, but I have no problem with that for they were madly of their time. And as we know context is everything after all.

There is passion and madness in these recordings. The madness of being in the maelstrom of creation; the passion of youth and hope. Keep the faith, indeed.

The photobooth portrait looks reportage

icing on the cake posters, originally uploaded by unpop.

Part two in the ‘posters I used to have on my bedroom wall’ series is this one for Stephen Tintin Duffy’s ‘Icing On The Cake’ single release from 1985. The otherwise emptiness of the wall (still retaining the Habitat wallpaper from 1981) suggests to me that the recently oft-alluded to ‘everything’ I threw out in May ’84 may also have included any posters and Smash Hits clippings that had crowded the space until that point.

My favourite track on the single, incidentally, was this b-side. Two first lovers in a broken town. Delicious.

Stephen Tintin Duffy - Broken Home

Typical Boys

The Questions 'Price You Pay' 7", originally uploaded by unpop.

It occurs to me now that when I wrote “the day I threw out EVERYTHING” on the 31st of May 1984, one of the things that would have referred to would have been my extensive collection of personal top thirty Pop charts. Yes, just like a typical boy, I liked to keep charts and lists and would be fascinated by data. How times change.

Naturally those charts would to some extent mirror the ‘real’ Pop charts, but with my personal predilections coming through in the re-ordering of the tunes. Naturally too it goes without saying that there would have been no room for much of the novelty tat or rock rubbish. But then you may say that a China Crisis or a Duran Duran would have been novelty tat, but frankly you’d be wrong.

So yes, my 1983 charts would for sure have featured such as The Thompson Twins and Wham! (‘Young Guns’ still sounds rather fine to these ears) but let’s remember too the likes of Carmel (whose ‘Bad Day’ was a favourite back in the middle of August), Care (‘Flaming Sword’) and the musical source of this post, ‘Price You Pay’ by The Questions. Then there was also stuff kicking around like the Tom Tom Club, Rock Steady Crew and the West Street Mob. Great Pop records left right and centre. The ‘mainstream’ was never so thrilling.

Tomorrow

The Exeter monkey steals the show on the cover of Tomorrow. She guards my CD shelves normally, but enjoyed her morning at the photo-shoot. Do you like the racy 'off-the shoulder' look?

Dream about tomorrow here.

Tomorrow is My Turn - The Blades Of Grass
No More Tomorrows - The Liverpool Echo
Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled - The Growing Concern
Tomorrow - Sandy Salisbury
Tomorrow & Me - Michael Nesmith
With Tomorrow - Gene Clark
Why Think About Tomorrow - Orange Cake Mix
Tomorrow Never Comes - Dot Allison
We Have Tomorrow - Pnau
Tomorrow's Sky - Frausdots
Tomorrow Attacking - The Wolfhounds
When I Wake Tomorrow - East Village
This time tomorrow - The Chills
By Tomorrow - Black Tambourine
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? - Waitresses
Tomorrow - The Three O'Clock
Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Springfield Rifle
Tomorrow Night - LaVern Baker
Yours Until Tomorrow - Dee Dee Warwick
Dream About Tomorrow - Grant McLennan

what goes round... must get down!

what goes round... must get down!, originally uploaded by unpop.

So I mentioned the other day how difficult it seemed to be to find much evidence of the old Respond label artists on the interwebs, specifically some 1983 singles by The Questions or Tracie. Well it had somehow slipped my mind that a 7” copy of ‘The House That Jack Built’ actually nestled in an aluminium flight case in my Geek Lair. The thing is, technically it isn’t even my record, as the faint imprint of a felt-tipped name on the back of the sleeve reminds me. I wonder if Fiona was ever aware of the fact that it went missing from her collection, no doubt scooped up in a pile of vinyl after a party at Jon’s one night in the murky collective hangover that became 1984/85? Did she mourn its loss? Is she even now scouring eBay for a replacement or looking on blogs for an mp3 rip? Well, if you’re reading this Fiona, I have your record safe in my hands. It still sounds terrific. And here are those mp3’s you’ve been after.

Tracie - The House That Jack Built
Tracie - Dr. Love

Three members of Troon Velo in Tour Of Dundonald stage 1, 1983

troon velo 1983, originally uploaded by unpop.

More idiotic nostalgia. Here I rock the emaciated teenager in lycra look...

funtime pencils

funtime pencils, originally uploaded by unpop.

The next time any burnt out music execs (or anyone else for that matter) suggests that my choice of profession might be less than worthwhile, I shall remember this wee card...

1983 - it was a very good year

1983, originally uploaded by unpop.

The recent rediscovery of my 1984 diary led me into thinking about 1983. For really, the winter of 1982 into spring and summer of 1983 were the months that I woke from my slumber and become a teenager. Being typically stupidly late to the party, as it were, I inevitably lurched from horribly immature to irritatingly smug in the space of two years. I’m sure my poor parents must have wondered what on earth was going on. Not as much as I did, mind you...

One of the entries in that 1984 diary (Thursday May 31st) ends with the words ‘the day I threw out EVERYTHING’. I take this to mean lots of dreadful poetry, two ‘books’ I had written which were basically thinly disguised accounts of the exploits of a fledgling Troon Velo cycling team, all copies of the embarrassing ‘Been Teen’ fanzine, a number of drawings and sketchbooks, and my 1983 diary.

I certainly feel no remorse now at the loss of my bloody awful poetry, and the sketchbooks and drawings would have been embarrassing to look at now too, I am sure. The ‘books’, however, I admit I would love to see again. As I recall there was a lot of post-modern acknowledgement of the very act of writing a book (how terribly Edmund Crispin of me), though really I know that the main thrust of the damn things was to communicate my miserably unrequited obsessions over girls.

Most of all though I would kill to have that diary back. It was a small red pocket diary - no space to write anything but the most basic of notes, which is probably why even now in my minds eye it was crammed full of words in the tiniest script imaginable. I used to write with Rotring drawing pens in those days and would use 0.18 thickness nibs to scratch out my memoirs. There would have been names to conjure with in those pages, I am sure, and if the 1984 scribbles can now throw me ones which accompany less than hazy faces, the 1983 ones would I am sure be even more ghostly.

These thoughts then have had me scurrying back to the only vehicle through which I can commune with that past: Music. A trusty ’40 years of NME Charts’ book has been one source (the book purchased, I seem to recall, in the darkest days of single Tiverton living - and out of which has just tumbled a note scribbled on the back of a card insert for ’10 Funtime Coloured Pencils’. The note was obviously written by two former students and says simply ‘Sir, we miss you absolutely MILLIONS!’ Bless). iTunes, Amazon and the Interwebs the other. It’s been a fun journey, especially since most of my musical memories from that year would have been largely tied up in chart pop songs, many of which I have not listened to in a long time.

A couple of tracks, however, I have had trouble tracing. All were on Paul Weller’s Respond label, and include several singles by Tracie! and The Questions. I noticed on Tracie!’s MySpace page that she’s recently acquired the rights to her old recordings and that some reissue action might be in the offing. I can’t wait. Meanwhile, if anyone has some MP3s they’d like to share, please do let me know.

So there you go. 1983. To borrow a phrase from the Turtles, ‘it was a very good year’. I now have about five mixes in my iTunes library spanning the year. I’m not going to post them here (I can hear the collective sighs of relief at being spared Duran Duran and The Thompson Twins - though really it is your loss!), but one or two of you may be unlucky enough to find copies dropping through your letterboxes in the coming weeks. You have been warned.

Today

Today's cover star is an aging bunny. He's kept his looks well though. Wish I could say the same for myself.

Today knows it's here.

Song For Today - Pete And The Pirates
So Good Today - The Woodentops
Because You Came To See Me Today - The Critters
We Broke Up Today - The Exits
Not Today - Henry's Dress
Just For Today - The Pretty People
How Do I Feel TodayvTintern Abbey
Today Is Today - The Brothers
Guess Who I Saw Today - Julie London
This Can't Be Today - Rain Parade
I Feel Good (Today) - The dB's
A Saying For Today - The Action
Today's A Day - Harris, Shaun
Sunshine Today - The Millennium
The Time It Is Today - The Association
Today - Go Kart Mozart
Today Of All Days - Bis
Play It For Today - The Legends
Smile The Day After Today - Black Moth Super Rainbow
Today Knows - The Ladybug Transistor

Alex Chilton R.I.P.

This morning, I spent my subway ride listening to Big Star.  Lost in the beauty of 'Thirteen' - "Won't you tell your Dad get off my back / Tell him what we said about Paint It Black...Won't you tell me what you're thinking of /would you be an outlaw for my love".  Avoiding the gaze of other passengers, I found myself teary eyed at the loss of another friend. Never to be seen again sucks.  And then on came 'September Gurls', and I was a kid again. "September gurls do so much / December boys got it bad".  We were all kids again.  I smiled and walked off the fast train.

via godlis.blogspot.com

Lovely remembrance piece on Alex Chilton by the fabulous David Godlis.