Inverarities

Okay, I've been a little lax recently, and I'm afraid all the promised later KLF uploads have failed to materialise (although, there are other places on-line to find most of 'em).

And this, I'm afraid, is goodbye. I can't really devote much time and energy into a semi-KLF blog. Sorry to dissappoint, particularly the guys at klf.de (if you haven't checked their blog yet, you really should!) but I'm moving on to other, less indoor-sy pursuits!

As a parting shot, however, let me leave you with a real rarity - the first, limited edition 1987 CD incarnation of Stephen Duffy's folk act The Lilac Time's eponynous debut. A thousand copies were made of vinyl, and a thousand of shiny new CD plastic - after that, nothing, zip, nyada. And it's never been reissued (the very cheap and very rewarding 2006 CD you can still pick up is actually a reissue of a subsequent remixed version).

You may know of Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy from the early eighties. I must admit, I hadn't - he was on one of the "Now" albums I never bought, and so totally passed me buy until very late 1994. By then his first two, or three, or four, pop incarnations had been and gone, and he had re-re-re-re-reinvented himself as a rocking, Britpoppy grand old man, fronting a band called (Welsh chanteuse fans browsing in second hand shops beware!) Duffy. I was a fan of Sleeper at the time (well, maybe not all of Sleeper, per se ... ) and through their mailing list I got a 7" promo for their new album. B-side of this promo was a track by this mysterious "Duffy", and from there I started moving forward (and particularly back) through his catalogue over the next ten years ...

But anyway. Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy. Had a hit with "Kiss Me", a moderately successful debut album, a slightly less so sophmore release, and finally an interesting if clunky excursion into Art of Noise-style dance pop under the pseudonym "Dr Calculus" (alongside one half of Pigpag and future Jimmy Cauty collaborator Guy Pratt). Suffice is to say, when he present Virgin/10 with a collection of folk demos as a proposed fourth album, they very quickly (in a pattern that would be echoed a fair bit through his slightly "why me?" artistic life) turned them down and he was dumped from the label.

These demos, recorded by Stephen, his brother Nick (check out Nick's own band Bait for some fantastic Penguin Cafe Orchestra meets Zappa instrumental work) and a few friends in a rural idyll, eventually appeared on a small independent Birmingham label called Swordfish, ran by the producer of that first Lilac Time album, Bob Lamb. It seemed that Duffy had at last found his true voice (he always claimed he was essentially a folkie with a keyboard) and relaxed quickly into his troubadour role (even The Lilac Time's name was taken from a song by Nick Drake, apparently inspired during an e-hazed reverie listening to "Five Leaves Left").

Six months later, in early 1988, after a moderate bidding war, the Lilac Time were signed to Fontana, and "The Lilac Time" CD/LP (by now sold out) was reworked and remixed slightly to give it more of a commercial sheen (all subsequent reissues have used this version, not the first). The Lilac Time were subject, for a while, to a large Fontana promotional push with Video CDs, promo items, (relatively) expensive videos and adverts. But by LP 2 ("Paradise Circus", again re-released in 2006, this time supplemented by a whole second album of Bait/Nick Duffy instrumentals) the money had dried up. The Lilac Time limped on with Fontana until 1990, with a third album of XTC-inflected pop, before finally flopping exhausted onto the shores Creation Records in 1991. A fourth album, the really rather wonderful "Astronauts", was a return to the form of the Lilac Time's earliest days (apart from a few failed attempts to shoe-horn in voguish dance beats and Apollo samples - thanks Mr Cauty!) It was a lush collection, with some fantastic songs ("In Iverna Garden" and its horrific Joni Mitchell crib notwithstanding), but sadly, by the time "Astronauts" actually appeared, the Lilac Time had split, and never toured with it or promoted it in any way.

In 1993, Stephen Duffy released an album with Nigel Kennedy (arguably, at the point where Kennedy was becoming either a figure of fun or just plain annoying to most of British public) before forming "Duffy" with REM-producer Mitch Easter and a member of Ride in late 1994. Since those Duffy Days (1994-1997, and an almost exact mirror of the highs and lows of Britpop in general), Stephen has reformed the Lilac Time for four subsequent albums, as well as (briefly) becoming the new Guy Chambers to Robbie Williams with the "Intensive Care" album.

However, as a solo artist (although still attached to the name The Lilac Time), Stephen is still very much active in the music industry, as Mark Lamaar used to say. His own website currently suggests a planned new scheme to release eight albums (demos, live, covers, solo) in the next two years, which would certainly suggest that Stephen Anthony James Duffy has lost none of his ambition.

It seems a real shame that Stephen is seen by some as the man who ruined Robbie Williams' career (although, personally, I think that act alone deserves a statue). The Williams/Duffy album of "Intensive Care" did not put the public off Williams as much as the newer album, "Rudebox", which Stephen had very little to do with, other than Williams covering "Kiss Me" on it. But the eighties inflections, the PSB collaborations and the songs about Madonna all seemed to point to Tin Tin's influence, and within some of the RW fanbase, and on some of the Robbie boards, Stephen was seen as to blame. Ironically, just as Williams' light was failing, his old-band mates (Gary, Mark, Other, Two) were experiencing an amazing renaissance on the back of an ITV documentary and reunion show (hosted by everyone's favourite, Peter Kay) followed by a well-received new album. "Beautiful World"'s final track was a folk-tinged number called "Wooden Boat", a rather Lilac Time-sy song not dissimilar to "Paper Boat", from The Lilac Time's third album, 1990's "And Love For All" (again re-released in 2006, etc). A crueler man than me might suggest Take That were mocking Williams with this. But let's just say it's by far the best song on that Take That album (apart from "Shine", of course).

So anyway - turn the years back 21 ... er, years ... and have a listen to "The Lilac Time" as originally released on Swordfish Records. Ripped at 320kps from the original CD.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=bb1f446fbc67008ed2db6fb9a8902bda

(Click on this absurdly long link, and it should take you to a site listing the file, then download it from there. It seems mediafire, like rapidshare, has changed these last couple of months).

No p/w, other than possible: "goodbye".

Goodbye. x

As Bill Drummond once said on his blog: "Who is Luke Haines?"

A similar artist to Mr D. in many ways, Haines has taken a (slightly) more conventional route through rock's malaise since the mid-1980s, but at the same time reflects Bill's irracibil(l)ity. Plus, he's been involved with some of the most amazing pop music ever made.

Very briefly, post-1990, Haines formed a band called the Auteurs - at one point, they were the anti-Suede, sharing column inches and magazine covers, and "Showgirl" became a fondly (if not particularly strongly) remembered single from the immediate pre-Britpop era. Coupled with "The Drowners" and tripled with "Razzamatazz", it acted as a clarion call that things were changing in British rock. But just as most of his contemporaries began to affect Estuary accents and pretend they never read books (or in Oasis' case, would throw books into an estuary), Haines took the Auteurs on a more dangerous road, producing four albums of increasingly dark and skewed indie-pop, even allowing Aphex Twin's old mate Mike Paradinas in to remix some of their tracks. Then (like Drummond) Haines went off on the Way of Pseudonyms - first with Baader Meinhof, his reworking of the Auteurs dark template into jet black, named after a German terrorist group; and then with the synthpop of the equally ghoulishly-named Black Box Recorder (a band featuring the haughtiest-girl-in-school vocals of Sarah Nix, with Haines taking a background, songwriter-and-svengali role).

As the new decade dawned, Haines proclaimed "I'm back, and I'm solo" on the fantastic album 'The Oliver Twist Manifesto'. Now, one of the few other rock mavericks to bang on about Oliver Twist has been Malcolm McLaren, so the ex-Pistols manager was an obvious touchstone for the album. But Bill Drummond fans too will see many echos of "The Man" (both the album, and Bill himself), including Haines' obsession over the vacuity of the current arts scene ("The Death of Sarah Lucas"); his constant obsessing over reaching that rock'n'roll age of 33 1/3 ("the time that Christ spent on earth"); and his insistence that he was going to turn his back on "showbiz". It could be argued that the sublime "Oliver Twist Manifesto" is a brilliant sum of fantastic parts.

Interestingly, in the week running up to his debut solo release, Haines went on the radio proclaiming that there should be a "pop strike". Now, you could argue that for someone who hadn't bothered even the lower reaches of the pop charts for six years, this was pretty rich! But it gave him some publicity (result!) and the album (plus its "sister" record, the soundtrack to "Christie Malry's Own Double Entry") were released to good reviews (if not good sales).

Now, fast forward five years, and one of Bill Drummond's entries on his not-really-a-blog-but-actually-yes-a-blog blog: http://www.the17.org/words/48.htm. Now, I reckon Bill is being slightly sniffy about old Luke, and also possibly disingenious in claiming he's never heard of him. As a young guitarist, Luke had worked (through David Westlake) with members of the Triffids in 1987, and released an album on Creation within a few months of Drummond's "The Man", which again featured members of the Triffids. Haines also appeared solo on "4 Scott", the Scott Piering tribute live album from 2002, which also included a "new" mix of "Justified and Ancient" (actually, just the single mix with added sampled crowd noise) and a reworking of the Orb's "A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain", too.

So, I would imagine Bill had possibly, maybe, might have heard of him ...

Anyway, you can find links to most of the Auteurs material, along with Black Box Recorder, readily on the internet (or buy it, it's usually quite cheap). Although, if anyone knows of links to the Baader Meinhof album or the "Luke Haines is Dead" set, I'd appreciate it.

Sorry, I know I said brief; but we now come to the nub ...

Pre-1990, in fact pre-1985, Haines was a student at a music college in London. Hoping to go there and meet a John Cale avant guarde type, by the time he reached the scary prospect of a 20th birthday, Haines was worried that his chances of musical expression were slipping away. So, in early 1986, he answered an advert and joined a group called "The Servants", fronted by a grossly-overlooked genius called David Westlake. The Servants had previously released several singles, and done a Peel Session (all of which were collected on a still-available 2006 CD called "Reserved"), but Westlake was on the verge of splitting them up. Briefly signed to Creation, he and his new recruit Haines recorded a six track mini EP, simply called "Westlake", marketed as a solo project rather than a Servants album. It featured the rhythm section of the Triffids as session men. Creation sat on the album for six months before releasing it in 1987, and it bombed.

Here is a link to the long-deleted "Westlake" album on Creation: http://rapidshare.com/files/104545216/Westlake.rar which was taken from the sterling Triffids blog: http://triffidsbeach.blogspot.com

In 1988, a battered Westlake decided to reform the Servants, again with Luke Haines on guitar, and briefly featuring Hugh Whittaker of the Housemartins on drums. This line-up produced one further single (again, available on the "Reserved" compilation) before again disbanding. In 1989, with no record contract and no hope of success, yet another line up of the Servants went back into the studio to record their one and only proper album. This was the ironically-titled "Distinterest", a beautiful collection of 12 songs which aped many of Westlake and Haines' heroes, particularly the Go-Betweens, and was eventually released on Paperhouse records (PAP005CD) in 1990. As you might expect, the album sank without trace - and is so obscure that Windows Media Player doesn't even recognise it when you put the CD on to play!

Deleted for nearly twenty years, I've recently re-dug this album out, and in the midst of my current unashamed Hainesmania, I've been listening to it a lot over the last couple of days. It really is so brilliant that I had come out of semi blogging retirement to share it with people. Apologies for the great preamble beforehand, though!

Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/150804658/_1990__Disinterest.rar.html

Now - soon, hopefully, I shall get around to those Blue Pearl uploads ...

http://www.protectlinks.com/119404

And with a bang, "Space" has landed ... or something. Thanks you all who helped find this 320kps upload ripped from the long-deleted CD (SPACECD1), which I found of the "KLF Collectors Zone" (which has all gone quiet for the moment with a "happy holidays" message - has it really stopped since Christmas?)

Anyway, "Space", Jimmy Cauty's solo ambient album from summer 1990 ...

When Bill and Jimmy initially set up KLF Communications (following the short-lived "Sound of Mu(sic)" in mid-1987) there was a plan that the label would release records by acts other than Drummond and Cauty themselves. Duly, three 12" singles by Disco 2000 were released, the post-punk Bananarama duo featuring the then Mrs. Jimmy Cauty, Cressida, and "Mo" (possibly June Montana, the Brilliant vocalist). I'll maybe upload them at some point (the third single, a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight", was issued as a CD single in Belgium on the Benelux label) - and you can find the Disco(tec) 2000 track "Feel This" on the "Eternity Project One" CD upload, as well as some earlier D2000 tracks on the "Shag Times" CD. But really, Disco 2000 aren't terribly good - so I might not bother. Other than the Drummond and Cauty production duties (where the KLF first learned dancefloor savvy, arguably) there's not much to recommend them.

The next (however speculatively) proposed band to release records on KLF Communications are a good deal more interesting: the Orb. I'll try and be brief here, as I'm hoping to have a fuller Orb post (or even a few) later on. Founded through Cauty and Alex Patterson's friendship, and their incredibly mellow DJing sessions at the Land of Oz club, in Oakenfold's Spectrum in early to mid 1989, the Orb (named after the sex ball in Woody Allen's wonderful 1973 movie "Sleeper") released a couple of songs on "Eternity Project One" before releasing their first single, "Kiss", an atypical juddering acid squelch of a record, recorded at Trancentral in tribute to the New York radio station, in summer 1989, as a limited edition on Wau Mr Modo. Several months later, the Orb returned with a second single, one which came to define their sound and attitude (jokey title and ludicrous length and all), and filled the gap between "The What Time is Love Story" and "Chill Out" in both Cauty's release schedule and in musical sensibility. And it was called "A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain That Controls From the Centre of the Ultraworld (Loving U)". Unveiled to the public first as a promo 12" (complete with original Minnie Ripperton samples, later replaced by a soundalike), then as a John Peel session, and finally as a full-blown 12" remix and CD and CD remix release pack. All of these recordings again came out on Wau Mr Modo.

The next bit is a bit dubious, and based entirely on hearsay - but here goes. Over the winter of 1989 into 1990, Cauty and Patterson worked on the debut Orb album, provisionally titled "Space", modelled on a journey through the eponymous medium. There used to be an old discography on-line which actually featured a tracklisting, including various songtitles not featured on any later KLF or Orb release, but sadly I've lost the link, and double sadly no bootleg of these original recordings have ever appeared. Cauty and Patterson had a major disagreement, however, over the album's release. Cauty wanted it to come out on KLF Communications, whereas Patterson preferred their old label Wau Mr Modo (which he had links with as an A&R man). Afraid that the Orb would only be seen as a KLF off-shoot, Patterson dissolved the partnership in April 1990 with (according to legend) Cauty taking away his half of the recordings, and Patterson taking away his. If you follow this logic, Patterson's half went on to become the travels-through-space Orb debut "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" and Cauty's half became the travels-through-space Space debut "Space".

"Space" (both band and title) was released on KLF Communications, appropriately enough as SPACECD1/LP1, in July 1990, a dark swirling, Tangerine Dream-like 38 minute suite of music named after eight of the nine planets (like Holst, Cauty leaves out "Earth" - although a track called "Earth" appeared on the Orb debut later on the same year). To confuse the issue of the album's recording further, Cauty claimed at the time that - far from being a remixed collection of Orb off-cuts - "Space" had actually been recording at Trancentral in five days, starting on the Monday, and with everything done and dusted by the Friday afternoon. Cauty's previous ambient album had been, of course, "Chill Out" (see previous post), which he and Drummond had recorded "live" in 45 minutes, halting the recording several times when mistakes had been made, and starting the "live jam" again from scratch. "Space" is a less immediate, and more imbedded album musically, than its predecessor - presumably down to its more structured recording time.

The album came housed in a very handsome, Cauty-designed sleeve, featuring a montage of images including photographs of Neptune, recently taken by the NASA spacecraft Voyage II, and the Earth with an astronaut (possibly Bruce McCandless, who did the first unaided spacewalk from the Space Shuttle in 1985) superimposed upon it. Also, in an echo of Jimmy Cauty's current art projects, the painting "The Raft of the Medusa" (also seen on the cover of the Pogues' "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash") is featured in the bottom left corner, with all the unfortunate victims now wearing KLF t-shirts.

Like "The What Time is Love Story", "Space" is a KLF Communications release which was never licenced out or re-released in other countries on other labels, and is therefore a highly sought-after rarity. Musical echoes of its dark ambient undertones can be heard in a few comtemporaneous KLF releases, including their remix of "It Must Be Obvious" by the Pet Shop Boys, along with the soundtracks to "Waiting" and "The Rites of Mu" and the "Virtual Reality Mix" of "What Time is Love?" (the only ambient reworking of the tune, and the only 1990-era remix to never appear officially on CD). But the album itself stands alone as Jimmy Cauty's only solo outing.

Not surprisingly, "Space" has been heavily bootlegged over the years. If you are interested, there are various ways to spot an original - on vinyl and CD the sleeve should feature the phrase "Made in England" (the bootleg doesn't), and of course the vinyl should have a "hand-written" groove rather than a printed one. Most interestingly, with the CD, if you lift up the black holding tray you will see, underneath, the "SPACE" word in its logo typography printed into the plastic in an eerie, reversed, ghost-like image (this only works, of course, if you have the original packaging).

The first "Space" bootleg was released on CD in 1993, and is apparently very accurate, even though I've never seen one other than photos on Ebay (many sellers try to pass off bootlegs as originals, so beware). Other than the missing "Made in England" message, its big error is the CD itself - which has black writing or a red background, rather than the original's red writing on a black background (see the top photo). Cassette and CD bootlegs from 1994 and 1995 were also pressed, only this time housed alongside "Chill Out" (see the "Chill Out" post for more information). In 2000, "Space" was featured - if that's the right word - in the mass reissue/bootlegging vinyl KLF campaign that seemed to originate in the Netherlands (alongside SPACELP1, JAMSLP1, JAMSLP3, JAMSLP5 and KLF8R all miraculously reappeared, with slightly wonky art work, in legitimate record shops just after the turn of the millennium). "Space" was the only one of the five to also be bootlegged also on CD in 2000, famously sold for £20 a pop through Sister Ray Records in London. This time, rather than a black-on-red CD, the colouring was corrected. However, the "Made in England" message is still missing above the barcode, and any difference in the cover are instantly recognisable if you compare it to an original CD for a decade earlier. The biggest error in the disc is, again, the CD itself - this time, the "SPACE" logo is the right colour, but is stretched awkwardly and does not resemble to usual KLF font. Also, the disc is (obviously) not a PDO disc, since PDO stopped producing CDs at some point in 1994. It has a pronounced and obvious bump or groove in the CD, circular around the central hole, which really gives the game away!

"Space" has not been bootlegged again since (probably due to the album appearing on-line in a usually easily-grabbable format). However, in 2005, an Orb compilation of off-cuts and rarities appeared called "Orbsessions Volume 1", which featured, as the last track "Pluto Calling": http://www.protectlinks.com/120027 This slightly reworked version of "Space"'s last few minutes was creditted (of course) to the Orb, and is thought by many to be an excerpt from the original Orb-recorded "Space". It certainly features Jimmy Cauty, as does the first track on "Orbsessions Volume 1", the remarkable "Mummie Don't", which for all the world sounds like an early demo of "3 AM Eternal (Orbital Blue Danube Mix)" with its childrens' samples pointing the way to both "Charley Says" by the Prodigy or even "Music Has the Right to Children" by Boards of Canada. This view was bourne out in 2006 when "Orbsessions Volume 1" was re-released without "Mummie Don't" on it - apparently because Cauty objected to its inclusion because it wasn't "really" an Orb track, and was more the KLF. See what you think:

http://www.protectlinks.com/120026

Finally, in 2006, the Orb released a Podcast through their website which featured not only the KLF's "Madrugada Eterna" with added Orb whistles and bells, but as track tantalisingly called "Space (1989 Unreleased Version)" which sure enough featured a fair chunk of the "Space" album, again with added Orb whistles and bells. Rumours than began to circulate that "Orbsessions Volume 2" was going to be a full release of that debut Drummond and Cauty album, as originally planned for KLF Communications, but sadly it has yet to appear. Maybe the Orb's twentieth anniversary (technically, probably due in only a few months time) may bring about a re-release (or even an internet link) of the original "Space" tapes!

In the meantime, and to end this longest "brief" post in the history of blogs, here are those two tracks from the podcast:

http://www.protectlinks.com/120027

("Space (The Unreleased 1989 Mix)")

http://www.protectlinks.com/120029

("Madrugada Eterna" by the KLF - 2006 Orb Podcast mix)

The sequel to "Sit Down", and one of the most famous Madchester dance hits of the early 1990s. Originally created, like more or less all James songs, in an improvisational jam session (apparently, in an attempt to use the same chord structure as "Sit Down" and then deviate from it), "Come Home" shares something with its more famous predecessor - a less well-known "original" version, recorded and released on Rough Trade in late 1989.

This original mix, a rawer sound, featuring the distinctive klaxon wail of the the two-note keyboard-and-trumpet coda of the track, has been deleted now for 18 years, and was (as noted below) left off the "Fresh as a Daisy" CD set of James singles released in 2007.

A CD single, 7" and 12" was released, along with (like the earlier "Sit Down") a 7" in Australia. Housed in a Central Station sleeve (the Mancunian design duo who were busy making all the distinctive Happy Mondays artwork of the era), again like the original "Sit Down", it's baggy beat and day-glo artwork firmly brought James into the fold of Madchester (even though they were very much elder statesmen). The 12" (RT245) can even be glimpsed in a Stone Roses video (the second version of "Sally Cinnamon") alongside other singles of the time (including Electronic's "Getting Away With It") displayed in the window of Eastern Bloc Records.

The single's release in December 1989 coincided with the burgeoning of indie dance (both the Mondays and the Roses famously appearing on an episode of "Top of the Pops" the month before) - and for the first time, James' music gave a nod to dance culture. The b-side, "Slow Right Down" (sometimes referred to as a "Demo", even though no other version was ever released) was produced by Graham Massey of 808 State. The track itself is in no way dance or acid - in fact it's a semi-acoustic bounce-along with a glorious guitar and violin solo. But Massey's inclusion can be seen as the final piece of the puzzle - as much as anyone in late 1989, James were from Manchester.

Here is the full CD single mastered at 128kps: http://www.protectlinks.com/118147

The other b-side, "Promised Land", is one of James's most overt political songs - far more so than the "Sit Down" b-side "Sky is Falling" from six months before, which briefly touches on environmental issues. Here, Margaret Thatcher (who, unbeknownst to anyone, was actually starting her last year in 10 Downing Street) is name-checked in a vicious, and very specific, attack on the Conversative government. 1988 and 1989 had seen the UK rocked by several large-scale disasters - including the Piper Alpha explosion, the Lockerbie plane crash, and the sinking of the Marshioness pleasure boat in the Thames; Mrs Thatcher was becoming noted for her habit of visiting the emergency services and victims after these disasters and "shaking hands".

Originally, "Promised Land" was unveiled in a two-song GLR radio session from summer 1989, which can be found here: http://www.protectlinks.com/118137

Sadly, unlike many of the other Madchester/Manchester singles released at the dawn of the new decade, "Come Home" failed to chart almost as miserably as "Sit Down". Famously, James' label boss, Geoff Travis of Rough Trade, was of the opinion that the band could easily "sell records to 20,000 people" but no more.

It is not surprising then that James' next album, the milestone "Gold Mother", which they had been recording with Rough Trade's money during the second half of 1989, came out several months later, not on Rough Trade, but on the major label Fontana, who had just signed James - and were determined to promote them in a heavy way.

Following the relatively minor success of their baggy-ish "How Was It For You?" (the first single on Fontana - distinctive not only for the first appearance of the James flower logo (actually the Strip Mine-era logo with petals drawn round the dot of the lower case "j") as well as a return to the old style of single numbered (this single became JIM5, following on from 1986's "Some Many Ways", which had been JIM4), "Gold Mother" itself was released in spring 1990.

Now, there have been at least three different versions of "Gold Mother". The original CD included ten tracks, of which three became rarities - "Hang On", "Crescendo" and "Come Home". The first two were subsequently removed from the 1991 version of "Gold Mother" (unceremoniously dumped for an edit of "Lose Control" and the hit version of "Sit Down") and then reappeared some time later - first as the b-sides to 1998 single "Runaground", before appearing finally as extra tracks on the 2001 expanded reissue of "Gold Mother".

"Come Home" on the original "Gold Mother" is actually a slightly cut version of the 12" mix from the Rough Trade version (note, though, that the Rough Trade version of "Sit Down" does NOT appear on any released of "Gold Mother"). In 1991, it was replaced by the edit of the "Flood Mix" (of which more in a second), and even on the 2001 reissue it was not included on the disc. Strangely enough, though, all versions of "Gold Mother" include the Rough Trade version's lyrics ("you can throw him out, you can spit on him ... " etc) which can cause some confusion!

To backtrack, then, in spring 1990 Fontana decided to re-release "Come Home". To that end, producers and DJs were invited in to help rework the track, including Andy Weatherall (whose was also remixing Primal Scream, St Etienne and My Bloody Valentine at around the same time - and would later work with James again in 1994), Mark Ellis (aka Flood - erstwhile U2 producer) and Martin Glover (aka Youth, see previous posts on Brilliant, KLF, the Orb and Jimmy Cauty).

The chuntering, dancefloor savvy Flood Mix, in ordinary and extended mixes, was released as a CD single (JIMCD6) in summer 1990, and became James' first big hit. Some 12" promos were made available also, featuring the reworkings of Weatherall, Youth, Flood and Warp (not sure if this is one bloke or in some way connected to Aphex Twin's label) as well as a "Live Mix" of "Come Home" recorded by the band (which I don't have, so if anyone can up it, I would be grateful ... )

Below is all the tracks from the CD single, as well as the subsequent remixes released on various CDs and reissues:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118155

The CD single of "Sound" (JIMCD9) features the "Youth Pressure Dub" mix of "Come Home"
The CD single of "Ring the Bells" (JIMCD11) features the "Skunk Weed Skank Mix" - aka the nine minute Weatherall Remix (spot the sample from "Skullduggery", the first track from the first James LP back in 1986). It also features the similar "Hugo Live Dub Challenge", in which long-time Weatherall collaborator and Primal Scream producer Hugo Nicholson smoothes out some of the wrinkles.
The "Weatherall" remix also reappeared on one of the CD singles of "She's a Star" and on a Canadian 2-CD set for "Tomorrow", as well as being compiled on a Japanese import CD from 1991 just called "James".
The US edition of "Gold Mother" (the one with the blue cover, which again is just called "James") features the extended Flood Mix rather than the more usual edit.

To add a sad final coda to this remixing frenzy, in early 1995, on the relatively respected UK dance label Hooj Choons, a dance act called Libido released as track called "Second Coming" (complete with an image of Jesus from the Turin shroud on the cover). Despite not mentioning Booth or Gott or Glennie anywhere on the sleeve (especially not anywhere near the writers' credits), the song is clearly a rip-off of "Come Home", complete with that familiar two note klakon, a "Come"-referencing title, and in some of the later remixes, a keyboard part actually playing, instrumentally, "Come Home"'s chorus.

Anyway, here's the "Second Coming" CD single from 1996: http://www.protectlinks.com/119394

See what you think!

(Oh, and this is the end of my James diversion. From now on, the only James' I'll be concentrating on - at least for a while - will be James Cauty. In the meantime, try this blog: http://only-good-music.blogspot.com/ or http://adventuresbeyond.blogspot.com/ which would appear to be rather useful motherlodes!)

It is a strange fact about James, that their most famous song (and arguably one of the most famous songs of the whole nineties) originally appeared as a radically different, twice-as-long, rinky-dink indie release in 1989, two years before its far more well-known re-recording soared to number two in the UK charts.

"Sit Down", in its 1991 form, joined a long-ish and honourable tradition of commercially underachieving indie hits of the 80s, that were suddenly picked up, re-recorded or remixed, and became hits in the early 1990s (other examples include "There She Goes" by the La's, "Shine On" by the House of Love, "Can You Dig It?" by the Mock Turtles, and even "Wrote for Luck" by the Happy Mondays).

The other strange fact about "Sit Down" is that, unlike all these other reissued indie anthems, its original version has been deleted for nearly two decades. It has never been re-compiled, reissued or reassessed. "Sit Down (1989 Rough Trade Version)" remains one of the great overlooked gems of James' back catalogue.

Originally created in 1988, "Sit Down" - according to legend - sprang spontaneously from a jam session. The song was picked out, and the band played it (with Tim singing lyrics equally inspired by Doris Lessing and Patti Smith, apparently) until they all fell about laughing at the ridiculous commerciality of the melody. The song was then unveiled initially as a session track on the Andy Kershaw Radio Show in late 1988, before becoming a regular part of the "Ya Ho" tour. James were always aware of the song's commercial potential, and were reluctant to release it on such an unforgiving label as Sire.

However, following the departure of drummer Gavan Whelan, and the band's departure to Rough Trade distribution and the "One Man Clapping" album, James returned to the studio to record "Sit Down" for the first time. New members were rapidly drafted in, including David Bayton-Power installed on drums and Mark Hunter on keyboards (replacing long-time partial James member, his friend Mick Armistead). It was possibly this new five piece James who went into the studio to record "Sit Down" in spring 1989 (there is no run-down of personnel on the sleeve). Hunter certainly claimed his "audition piece" had been the piano outro of the track - although whether the drumming is Bayton-Power or a drum machine is debatable. Saul Davies and Andy Diagram joined James (forming the famous seven-man line up) in summer 1989, following the release of "Sit Down".

The original version of the track is remarkable in a few ways. Firstly, it sounds like it could have fitted reasonably comfortably on "Strip Mine" - but not on "Gold Mother". It's a sprightly WOMAD-inflected anthem, half of which has the same structure as the hit version from 1991. And the other half an elongated break-down, complete with echoey sampled vocals, a thudding bassline, and one of James' roadies singing in a high-pitched voice the words "Lester Piggott" (who may, or may not, appear on the sleeve) as a coda at the end.

Issued by Rough Trade Records in June 1989 (to which they were signed, possibly, in the hope that the "new Smiths" of 1985 might also prove to be the "new Smiths" of 1990), "Sit Down" was available as a 7", 12" and a 3" CD. This last, rather bizarre format was briefly fashionable in the late 1980s, presumably under the premise that just as vinyl singles were smaller in circumference to vinyl albums, CD singles would be correspondingly smaller than CD albums (by 2 inches rather than 5). The CD single of "Sit Down" (RTCD225, upped below at 320kps) rather undermines this item, be featuring all four tracks from the 12" single, but not the 7". A truncated version of "Sit Down" (with the familiar lyrics re-arranged to the point of indesipherability) was issued only on the 7" and as a promo video, featuring Booth Gott and Glennie dancing round chairs and with sheep.

This rarer version, mastered from video, can also be found in the below rar file.

http://www.protectlinks.com/118136

And that, for me at least, is the end of the story. Quite simply, there is NO better version than the original. The hundreds of thousands of more people who bought the 1991 mix are just wrong - or, more likely, have never had a chance to hear the lightness of touch of the original mix. But in its own way, the re-release and its ascendency to number two (kept off the top spot by Chesney Hawkes, of course) was a testament to the slow-burn appeal of the original, as more and more rapturous gigs in 1989 and 1990 brought the song an amazing cult appeal, with (as Stuart Maconie once pointed out) the only sedentary dance craze in the history of pop music other than "Oops Upside Your Head".

The 1991 version is frankly far too common to upload here - plus, if you can't find it to download within about five seconds of this site, then you really shouldn't be allowed on the Internet. Produced by Pixies cohort Gil Norton, its a far denser mix, replacing the folky, male backing vocals of Glennie and Gott with an almost Philadelphia feel with Martine McDonagh's female vocals. And, of course, it was a masssive, massive hit.

"Sit Down" was re-visited one final time, in 1998, with a new, almost Glitterbeat remix by Apollo 440 (aka the Stealth Sonic Orchestra, fresh from their own chart visits with tracks like the theme to the 1997 movie "Lost In Space"). This strange, bouncy remix rose to number 7 in the charts - and was promoted with a "Top of the Pops" appearance which featured Robbie Williams as a (temporary) member of the band.

A promo CD, which is actually reasonable easy to find on collecting sites or Ebay, was released (SIT1CD) which featured two further versions of the track - another, otherwise unreleased mix by "The Boilerhouse Boys" and a subtly different version of the 1991 mix with an extended intro and less reverb on the vocals. These mixes can be found here:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118138

And finally, here's the (so far) only commercially-available cover of "Sit Down", recorded live by Voice of the Beehive in 1991, and released on the CD single "Perfect Place":

http://www.protectlinks.com/118668

James started their career in the early 1980s, rapidly coalescing around three young Mancunians - Jim Glennie, Paul Gilbertson and Gavan Whelan. Gilbertson's lyrics (and singing) left something to be desired, and their regular Bez-style dancer Tim Booth (a Shrewsbury-educated ex-public school boy studying drama at Manchester University alongside Sophie Aldred and Ben Elton, whom the Manc boys met when they spilled his pint at a student disco) was elevated to singer and lyricist. His first work, a reworking of "Hymn From a Village", suggested promise and style.

http://www.mediafire.com/?e2nlecrd23c (1)

Gilbertson was the early driving force within the band (he even named them "James", not after bass-player Glennie, but after James Kirk, guitarist in one of Paul's favourite groups and biggest influences - Orange Juice) and James became a regular four-piece, he suggested that they forumulized their playing by visiting a guitar instructor. The slightly older Larry Gott, an ex-heavy metal fan, became their teacher, briefly, in an old Scout hut in Manchester.

The band signed to Tony Wilson's famous Factory label in late 1983, and released their first single, "Jimone", a three-tracker featuring "What's the World", the extraordinary duet of "Folklore" and "Fire So Close" (later re-recorded for "Stutter" and "One Man Clapping" as "Why So Close"). Nearly 18 months elapsed before the release of "Jimtwo", though - as Tim Booth was hospitalized for a lot of that time, and Paul Gilbertson's drug-use became more noticeable. In a very small way emulating the late, great Syd Barrett, Gilbertson eventually became too unreliable and erratic, and after a gig playing alongside his old guitar instructor Larry Gott in 1984, Gilbertson left the band, to be replaced by Gott on guitar. "Jimtwo", featuring this new line-up, appeared in 1985, including James' first enduring anthem "Hymn From a Village".

http://www.mediafire.com/?duy7lzvving (2)

James were read to record their first album. However, rather than the indie cred of Factory Records (who they felt did not fit their own ethos completely) the band signed a six-album contract to Sire. This large American corporation, lead by the famous impressario Seymour Stein, was home to many new-wave acts (including the Ramones and Patti Smith) as well as British signed to UK indie labels but leased out to Sire in America (Primal Scream, the Happy Mondays, and later Belle and Sebastian).

Album sessions started in summer 1985, under the working title "Lost Innocence", working with producer Lenny Kaye, ex-partner of one of Tim Booth's hero's Patti Smith. Before the album (eventually called "Stutter") a 3-track EP was released in autumn 1986. Confusingly for later collectors, this EP was called "Sit Down" (after the cover drawing of a man on a bench done by John Carroll, an illustrator who would create visual images for James releases related to both the "Stutter" and "Laid" albums). It's lead track, "Chainmail", became one of James' most obscure, but rewarding, singles.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2jj29zmtj3b (3)

The album "Stutter" came out in the summer of 1986, lead by the single "So Many Ways". A dizzying punk-pop effort, touching (but not stealing) from the earlier works of Julian Cope and the Fire Engines, "Stutter" was almost a dry run for their sleek folk-punk work of 1993; Brian Eno (as well as Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy) had been in the running as album producer, but rejected. Nowadays, the album is probably best known for the inclusion of another James anthem - "Johnny Yen".

Very rapidly, the four-piece of Booth, Gott, Glennie and Whelan returned to the studio record their second album. They still had a large amount of songs originally written in their nebulous, first three or four years - and would augment it with new numbers such as "Bouncy Bouncy Bonjour" ("What For?") One thing that has never changed with James is their mode of writing - predominantly based on jamming together and improvisation, then jumping upon a tune-like construction which appears spontaneously within the noise and running with it - a sort of million-monkeys-writing-Shakespeare-approach.

1987 would turn out to be a bad year for James. They started, then aborted, album sessions for their sophomore effort "Strip Mine", they barely toured, and they only reminded the general public of their prescence with a couple of radio sessions. In late 1987, Sire released a promo CD in the US only called "Just Say Yes" (the first of several over the next few years) which included a new James track "Ya Ho", taken from (as the sleeve notes said) an upcoming album called "If Things Were Perfect". Excitingly, this suggests possibly that old Factory track had be reworked and re-recorded for their new album, but that recording has since been lost (only a studio version of "Stutter" has ever surfaced from these aborted studio sessions, along with the "Just Say Yes" version of "Ya Ho" - which would be re-recorded for "Strip Mine" and only appear in its original form on the single release in autumn 1988).

"Strip Mine", James' second album, was released alongside the "proto-Sit Down" single "What For" in summer 1988. Apparently, the recording does not differ that greatly from the sessions of 1987, with only an added commercial sheen - although the ramshackle "Ya Ho" would suggest an far different, and possibly more interesting album still hiding in the cans.

James were annoyed and angry at Sire's treatment of them. Their second album had languished for almost a year before release, and despite "What For's" obvious commercial thrust, Sire did not get behind them promotionally at all. The album's second single "Ya Ho" came out in the autumn on 1988, and was promoted by James themselves when they went on tour with the Happy Mondays. The band were actually in a very strange dichotomy - their records barely sold ("Strip Mine" did not reach the top 100 of the album chart) but their live gigs were always joyous, exciting affairs.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4w4u1yffdmj (4)

With that in mind, in November 1988, James organised two small gigs in front of the faithful at the Moles Club in Bath, and recorded for potential future release as a live album. Despite the recording's buoyancy and tight tunefulness, the band themselves were experiencing ructions. Drummer Gavan Whelan, always a loose cannon, had had a massive on-stage argument with Booth, and eventually left the band after the two Bath Moles shows. By Christmas 1988, James were stripped down to a threesome, still tied to a thankless Sire contract.

Happily, in early 1989, their manager and Booth's partner Martine McDonagh (heavily pregnant with their son Ben) managed to orchestrate a break from the Sire contract - it had been stipulated that the label had to contact the band within six months of a record release, and once that deadline was up, McDonagh simply phoned the label and said "bye bye".

In the interim, the Bath Moles recordings were prepared for release. Now called "One Man Clapping", James set up their own independent label - One Man Recordings - and, after getting a bank loan for £10,000 from the Clydesdale Bank, released "One Man Clapping" (an amalgam of both night's shows) on a limited edition of CDs and LPs in March 1989 (the CD featuring the extra live track "Ya Ho").

"One Man Clapping" is, twenty years later, the great James rarity - never re-released (annoyingly) and seemingly (according to Larry Gott just a couple of months ago) always destined for deleted oblivion. It is, says Gott, a "piece of history" - and should not be revisited. For James fans, though, it is always worth a visit. A handy compilation of some of their finest moments on Sire, the album also includes several tracks unavailable elsewhere - including one of the finest songs they've ever done: "Burned", a slow ballad so anthemic it manages to make "Sit Down" sound anaemic in comparison.

Here is the full album, ripped at 320kps from the CD:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118129
http://www.protectlinks.com/118130

Full tracklisting:

1. "Chain Mail" – 3:26
2. "Sandman (Hup-Springs)" – 3:43
3. "Whoops" – 3:26
4. "Riders" – 3:35
5. "Leaking" – 4:09
6. "Why So Close" – 4:10
7. "Ya Ho" – 4:45
8. "Johnny Yen" – 3:43
9. "Scarecrow" – 2:49
10. "Are You Ready" – 2:59
11. "Really Hard" – 4:23
12. "Burned" – 4:29
13. "Stutter" – 5:33

The only downside to "One Man Clapping" would be its slightly unrealsitic nature - it's an edited together suite of songs taken from two separate concerts, and sewn together with sampled (and sometimes unrealistic-sounding) applause.

To compare, here is a recording of James at the London Astoria, in October 1988 (about a month prior to the shows in Bath). It also contains a very early live version of James' next single - "Sit Down":

http://www.protectlinks.com/118132

(1) - A demo version of "Hymn From a Village", recorded in 1983.
(2) - "Stutter" recorded live at the Hacienda in 1982
(3) - Live version of "Sandman" (b-side to "Chainmail") recorded at the Futurama festival in 1989
(4) - "What For" recorded on the TV "Other Side of Midnight" in 1988

(Martine McDonagh, now an author, has a myspace which can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/martinemcdonagh)

James have always been one of my favourite bands, although there is a problem with them. You can (with judicious shopping and few handy discographies) collect pretty much everything they've done since 1990 without spending more than around £40. All their music released on Fontana is either still in print or sufficiently common to be a reasonable purchase on the collector's markets.

However, James had an earlier (and to my mind, far FAR better) career, before they became the seven-manned sub-Simple Minds of Manchester's fag end in 1992. But if you wish to explore and invest in their records from their glory days in the eighties, you will find - very rapidly - a snag: most of their output has been deleted for many, many years, and can sell for very high prices, owing to the scarcity of the early material. Unlike most bands of a similar fame and critical level, James have never been exploited by their old labels with a trawl through their back catalogue. Some might say "hooray", but the downside of this is that there has never been any rarities compilations, or radio session or live collections, as you would normally get with some of their (then) contemporaries (the Woodentops, say, or even the Smiths). An attempt to mop up some of this discrepancy was made last year, when their most recent best-of (there's been at least three) came as a limited 2-CD set, claiming to include "every single" James had ever released, from 1983 to 2007. Sadly, there were gaps in this collection - "Ya Ho" was the album mix, "Sit Down" and "Rough Trade" failed to appear in their 1989 Rough Trade incarnations, and many of the 1990s singles were again plucked from their albums rather than shorter or more vibrant CD single mixes. Certainly, "Fresh as a Daisy" had some plus points - particuarly the inclusion of all the tracks they recorded for Factory, and their very rare third single "Chainmail" - but in the end it was a dissapointing "singles collection".

James' fantastic eighties output, which included eight singles, two LPs and one live set, is currently represented by some compilation tracks, and the two "vanilla" studio albums on CD, with tracklistings unchanged since their first appearance on compact disc twenty years ago.

But ... briefly, in the summer on 2007, it seemed as if there may be a chance for an early James rarities compilation to see the light of day. A 3-CD (!) set by James titled "Lost Innocence" appeared as a future release on play.com, priced for the rather high price of £33.99. It seemed - just possibly - that this could be a genuine release. A previous attempt to bring about a James 1980s compilation (2002's "Strange Dancing") had been nothing more than a brief media glitch, and resulted in no actual CD - fans feverently hoped that "Lost Innocence" would not turn out to be another fools' errand.

Sadly, it did. Despite many positive pointers - the fact the band had recently reformed, that the CD was to be released on Reprise/Rhino (who had recently re-released other Sire archive recordings), and that "Lost Innocence" was the working title of James' 1986 debut album - the release date came and went without any sign of a CD. It seemed (possibly) that the financial collapse of Warners UK in June 2007 meant there were to be no more archive releases - and "Lost Innocence" dissappeared.

I was very, very dissappointed. But, uploaded below, is my tracklisting of what "Lost Innocence" MIGHT have been like. I envisaged it as a "Longshot For Your Love"-type collection (see the below post), a complement to the rather half-arsed "Fresh as a Daisy" CDs. I couldn't be bothered trying to make a 3-CD set (which seemed a little unlikely even to the most feverent fan), but my "Lost Innocence" contains b-sides, rare songs, unreleased tracks and radio sessions from James' career from 1983 to 1990. Of course, unlike a genuine release, a lot of these tracks are bootlegs of bootlegs, taped off the radio twenty years ago, or mastered from vinyl, so the sound quality as a whole is not fantastic (and bitrates range from 192kps to just 80kps). However, it fills a gap in James' career and, I think, offers a fascinating overview:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118157

You might want to use the above to make a CD cover. Or maybe it's too small. Anyway ...

A full tracklisting is here:

01 Vulture
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, featuring Tim Booth on vocals, Paul
Gilbertson on guitar, Jim Glennie on bass and Gavan Whelan on drums. Later
recorded for the 1988 album “Strip Mine”)
02 Discipline
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, unreleased on any format. A brief
snippet of James performing this song live at the Hacienda can be seen on
an early Factory video)
03 Chicken Wire (If Things Were Perfect)
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, later re-recorded for “Jim 2” in 1985)
04 Hymn From a Village
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, later re-recorded for “Jim 2” in 1985)
05 If Things Were Perfect
(Recorded at the ICA, London for the “Old Grey Whistle Test” in 1985. Now
featuring Larry Gott on guitar, replacing Paul Gilbertson)
06 Hup-Springs (Sandman)
(B-side of James’ third single, the “Sit Down EP” (JIM3T) released on Sire
Records in 1985, featuring “Chainmail” as the lead track. The EP title
referred to the John Carroll drawing on the front of a man on a bench – the
song “Sit Down” would not be written for another three year).
07 Uprising
(Extra track on the “Sit Down EP” 12” (JIM3T) released summer 1985)
08 Just Hipper
(B-side to “So Many Ways” (JIM4T), the only single released off the debut
James album “Stutter” in 1986. This song is a re-recording of “Just Hip”
on that album).
09 Stowaway
(Recorded for a 1987 Peel Session, and unreleased on any format)
10 What For?
(Recorded for a 1987 Peel Session and subsequently re-recorded as the lead
single from the “Strip Mine” album in summer 1988)
11 Island Swing
(B-side to the “What For” single NEG31, released on Sire Records in summer
1988)
12 Ya Ho
(Originally recorded in 1987 during the first aborted sessions of the
“Strip Mine” album, this single version was eventually released in autumn
1988 on the “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. This is the edited version from the 7”
and also the US-only promo CD album, Sire’s “Just Say Yes”.)
13 Mosquito
(B-side to “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. Released in autumn 1988)
14 Left Out Of Her Will
(Extra track to “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. Released in autumn 1988)
15 New Nature
(Extra track to “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. Released in autumn 1988)
(pto)
16 Sit Down
(Recorded for a 1988 Andy Kershaw session, this early unreleased version is
the only recorded mix to feature James’ original drummer Gavan Whelan, who
left the group soon after in autumn 1988. This song would go on to be
re-recorded and remixed three times. The original Steve Power production
came out in June 1989 (RT225) reaching number 79 in the charts. The Gil
Norton hit version appeared in April 1991 (JIM8), which reached number 2.
And then Apollo 440 remixed it in October 1998 (JIM21), when it went to no. 7).
17 Stripmining
(Recorded for a 1988 Andy Kershaw session, this track originally appeared
as the closing number – including Refrain – on the album “Strip Mine”.
This track was one of the more obscure ones to be performed by the band
during the 2007 reunion concerts)
18 Violent Rain
(Recorded for a 1990 Radio Europe session, and unreleased on any format.
This includes the “new” line-up with included David Bayton-Power on drums,
Mark Hunter on keyboards, Saul Davies on violin and Andy Diagram on
trumpet)
19 Sunday Morning
(Recorded for a 1990 Peel Session, this Velvet Underground cover was also
given the full studio treatment by James for the tribute album “Heaven &
Hell” and also appeared on the b-side to “Lose Control” (JIM7). A live
version can be heard of James’ 1991 live video “Come Home”)
20 How Was It For You
(Recorded for a 1990 Peel Session, How Was It For You? Was their first
single on Fontana (JIM5) and was their first to reach the top 40 in the
charts)
21 Come Home
(Recorded for a 1990 Peel Session, Come Home was originally released on
Rough Trade Records (RT245) in late 1989. Six months later, it was remixed
by several producers, including Andy Weatherall, Youth and Flood, with
Flood’s mix being released as a second version of the single (JIM6), which
reached the UK top 30 in summer 1990)
22 Weather Change
(Recorded for the flexi LINTONE1, which was made available through fanzines
and also on the summer 1990 Gold Mother tour. It has never been
re-released)
23 Stutter
(Recorded as part of the aborted 1987 sessions for “Strip Mine”, this is an
unreleased studio version of the track James have regularly used to end
concerts for over 25 years. A live version has been released on the Rough
Trade album “One Man Clapping” (ONEMAN1) and James can be seen performing
the song at the end of their live video “Come Home” in December 1990).

More James soon ... Also, if anyone has any of the other radio sessions from the 1980s as mentioned on this page here: http://www.oneofthethree.co.uk/radiosessions8389.htm please get in touch!

Tim Booth and old pal Morrissey backstage in 1991, earnestly eyeing the shark they are both about to jump.

And then, after 12 years - a third one appeared:

Quite simply one of the most beautiful albums ever made, "Longshot For Your Love" is in fact nothing of the sort. Rather than being a studio album, it's a compilation, of rare singles, radio sessions, live tracks, and obscure off cuts, brought together by Marina Records in 1998.

For many Pale Fountains officianados, this is their definitive musical statement - a bouncy, lush, soaring collection of songs which taps into their sun-dappled sensibilities arguably a lot better than their expansive debut or their rickety-guitar follow-up.

For some strange reason, this album seems to float in and out of print, almost arbitarily. Five years ago, for example, the CD was regularly going for £25.00 on Ebay. I would advise, therefore, if you are at all interested in this beautiful music, and see either the CD or the (especially) the limited edition vinyl, then you buy it immediately. Every home should have one.

In the meantime, here's the CD ripped at 320 kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118127

Also - STOP PRESS - here is a live bootleg of the Paleys playing in Japan in 1985 I just found on another blog:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118135

I've not listened to it yet, so can't comment on its sound quality. Thanks to http://bubu-musicalementvotre.blogspot.com/ - the original uploader!

Below is the original vinyl released of the Paley's second and last album "... From Across the Kitchen Table", as re-released in Japan only in 2005 (the British CD features a strange mixture of album and single versions). Also included are the two singles "Jeans Not Happening" and "From Across the Kitchen Table", ripped from vinyl at 192kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/117460

"... From Across the Kitchen Table" may not attach itself to the "classic" tag quite as strongly as "Pacific Street" does, but it is a fascinating link between the Paleys and Mick Heads next, and more famous, development - the 20-year-long project of Shack. In early 1985, Andy Diagram announced he was leaving the group (although he does appear in a very much a supporting role in some of the tracks on "... Table") and the band lost a great deal of their fantastically airy, breezy quality. The new album was more conventionally "indie" in sound (even though that word would probably be more appropriate for Mick Head's many immitators rather than the man himself) but still contained the fantastic shimmer of "Jean's Not Happening" and the other single "From Across the Kitchen Table" (on this CD included in its original album version, rather than the UK CD which includes the Ian Broudie-produced single mix). The slow build of "These Are The Things" is also one of my favourites.

In 1986, the Paley's bass player Chris McCafferty died while still in his early 20s, and Mick decided that now was the time to split the band. The following year, alongside his brother John, Mick would reappear with his third LP, "Zilch", as Shack. Shack have a long and fascinating history, which I will go on to explore in a later post. Andy Diagram spent some time in the late 1980s as a session musician before joining James (another of my favourites) in the spring of 1989. He remained with the band for three years until their huge success with the "Seven" album, and all the stadium gigs, made him uncomfortable and he left before the recording of James' fifth album, the multi-million selling "Laid" from 1993.

Strangely, in 2007, Andy found himself back in the fold of both bands. After a stadium reunion tour in April, James welcomed Andy's trumpet back that summer, first for a series of small, secret gigs and festival appearances, and then to help record James' 2008 comeback LP "Hey Ma". Also, earlier this year, Andy joined the reformed Pale Fountains on stage for two gigs in Liverpool and London - their first reappearance on the live stage for over twenty years. It has been rumoured that Andy's trumpet will appear on the new Shack album - although things have been disturbingly quiet that next of the woods the last four months, with rumours suggesting that Shack have actually split up. Live DVDs of both Shack and the Pale Fountains are still no further forward, either.

Below, however, is a small collection of 2008 reunion-related tracks. A radio session from Radio Merseyside in January 2008, and live versions of "Reach" taken from the Liverpool and London gigs at the beginning of February:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118128

As shocking as Amy Winehouse not punching a fan at Glastonbury would have been, I've decided to take a break from the KLF - at least for this post - and focus on one of my other favourite bands: The Pale Fountains.

Formed in Kensington, Liverpool, in 1981 by teenager Mick Head, the "Paleys" rapidly developed a strong cult in the Merseyside area. Their love of Love, Baccarach and David and some of the pre-Raphaelite leanings of the recently closed Zoo Records (run by Bill Drummond, of course), rapidly became almost a cliche in the Liverpool area - echoing down twenty-five years of music to the Beefheart angular Britpop of the Coral, through the chiming glory of the La's.

Augmented by the bass work of Chris McCafferty and Thomas "Jock" Whelan on drums, the band really started to take off with the inclusion of Andy "Diagram" Diagram, a multi-instrumentalist and predominant trumpet player who added so much to their gentle, riverbank-y sound. Diagram had previously appeared with the Diagram Brothers (where he had changed his surname in a Ramones-esque act of anonymity; I've never found out what his real name is) and Dislocation Dance.

A first single, "Just a Girl"/"There's Always Something On My Mind" was released to much critical acclaim in late 1981, rapidly followed by a bidding war resulting in a contract with Virgin Records and their first - and only - top 50 hit, the extraordinarily Spectoresque "Thank You".

A gap of over a year then occurred in their release schedule, as they prepared to bring out their debut album: "Pacific Street", which eventually appeared in 1984. This wonderful album really is one of my favourites - but it has been sadly neglected over the years by Virgin and EMI in the UK. A 13-track UK CD was issued in 1989, and although it has never been deleted, it does little to represent the Pale Fountains "gap years" between their first independent single and their major label debut album. Thankfully, a Japanese 21-track CD was issued in 1999, which mopped up many of the outstanding tracks from the Paley's singles. This CD (like many expanded Japanese editions) has never been reissued or released indepedently in the UK - although owners of the British version may take some comfort from the fact that "Love's A Beautiful Place", one of the extra tracks on the UK Version, does not appear on the Japanese import. Of course, the downside of this is that if you want to own their entire discography on CD you have to buy both discs. If you like this album, I would recommend buying the UK CD as it's usually only around £5.00.

Here is the full Japanese CD, alongside the British-only extra track, from mediafire:

http://www.protectlinks.com/117172
http://www.protectlinks.com/117297

320kps from the CD.

More Pale Fountains soon ... or possibly next ...