The Chords - So Far Away

 December proved to be a good month for shortening my ever growing vinyl wants list. One of the records I was very pleased to unearth 'out in the wild' was the debut (and only) studio album by The Chords, So Far Away, released on Polydor records in 1980. I'd bid on Ebay copies in the past but they always seemed to go for more than I wanted to pay, so was more than happy to find this copy for £10. It doesn't have the free 7" that was included with initial copies, but there's always the chance that I'll find that separately another time.

I'd had most of The Chords 7" singles for a while, although 'One More Minute' still alludes me, but this was the first time I'd ever owned the album, and what a treat it is. Labelled as a mod revival band, they also take their influence from the UK punk and new wave scenes, sounding, in places, not to dissimilar to The Jam circa 1978/1979. The album kicks off with probably their most recognisable track, 'Maybe Tomorrow', which was released as a single in 1980, troubling the Top 40 at number 40. When their other singles charted, if at all, they were all just outside the Top 40. Side two of the album also kicks off with another of their singles, 'Something's Missing'.

The majority of the tracks on the album were written by lead guitarist Chris Pope, one co-written with Billy Hassett, and one attributed to Billy on his own. There are also a couple of great cover versions: 'Hold On I'm Coming' and the Beatles 'She Said, She Said'.

The Chords remain yet another band who 'could have been', or more likely 'should have been'. Their career however was blighted by a series of incidents, some self-inflicted, but many inflicted upon them. After a couple of John Peel sessions, a couple of Top of the Pops appearances, supporting The Jam and The Undertones, a solitary studio album, and a handful of modestly placed singles, they decided to call it a day in 1981.

Other items associated with the mod revival which may be of interest:

 Eddie Piller presents The Mod Revival

Millions Like Us, The Story of the Mod Revival, 1977 - 1989

Cover versions

 In today's blog post I thought I'd share a few of my favourite versions of tracks covered by artists in the punk, post-punk and new wave genre. In no particular order

Let's start with Generation X and their cover version of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates Shakin' All Over which appeared on the b-side of 1979's Valley of the Dolls single. A simply great cover version, showing Generation X's rock roots rather than their punk sensibilities. Their first two albums still get regular airtime at mine, with the self-titled 1978 debut just pipping the 1979 Ian Hunter produced Valley of the Dolls album.

I was aware of Captain Beefheart, from John Peel I'm guessing, but I never really listened to him until relatively recently, and certainly no more than 10 years ago. I was delighted to find however that the post-punk band, Magazine, formed by Howard Devoto after leaving the Buzzcocks, had covered his I Love You You Big Dummy on the b-side of their 1978 single Give Me Everything.

I struggled to choose just one Clash cover version, so have listed a few of them. From the reggae of Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves from the Clash's 1977 debut album, Toots and the Maytal's Pressure Drop released as the b-side of English Civil War and Eddie Grant's Police on My Back, which appeared on 1980's triple album Sandinista, to the rockier covers of Vince Taylor's Brand New Cadillac, from the 1979 double album London Calling and Sonny Curtis' I Fought the Law, they are all, to my mind anyway, simply wonderful. But ah, I almost forgot the cover / interpretations of Willie William's masterpiece Armagideon Time, which appeared as the b-side of the London Calling single, which is another gem in the Clash's cover repertoire.

And finally, for a bit of fun, I've chosen the Dickies cover version of Banana Splits (The Tra La La Song), mainly because as a kid I loved the Banana Splits TV show, but also because The Dickies do a mean cover version.

Other worthy contenders would be

The Jam - So Sad About Us (originally by The Who)

The Damned - Looking At You (originally by MC5)

A Certain Ratio - Shack Up

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Helter Skelter (originally by The Beatles)

Skids - All The Young Dudes (originally by David Bowie, and then Mott The Hoople)

Check out my previous blog post about my short(ish) love affair with Manchester's Factory records label and my regret in having sold some of them many years ago for less than a pint of beer.

I'm in love with The Factory

 When Richard Butler (aka Butler Rep) of The Psychedelic Furs wrote "I'm in love with the factory" in their 1979 single We Love You I'd always assumed it related to Andy Warhol's Factory, but it may of course have been referring to Manchester's enigmatic Factory Records. As a teenager at the time, and a disciple of the post-punk era, I had amassed a fair few records on the Factory label. Sadly I sold many of these for less than the price of a pint of beer, but more about that later.

More recently, much more recently in fact, I bought a copy of Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album as a little treat for myself. It's really quite a wonderful book for anyone interested in Factory records, not just for the music but perhaps more specifically the artwork and overall concept of the label, and if nothing else it reignited my interest.

Whilst I do regret selling some of the vinyl I had, most noticeable the Stockholm Monsters, Tunnel Vision and ESG singles, there are others that I can happily live without. At the time however it was a bit of a mission, or a quest, to try and get as many as I could, although I never realistically expected to complete the collection. I've always been a bit of a completist, which has led me down some strange record and CD collecting paths, probably stemming from or linked to my earlier childhood hobby as a train spotter, so it made sense, at the time anyway, to try and get as many as I could. I went down a similar path much later in life with Pete Namlook's Fax label. I had pretty much completed the set but then realised that I didn't listen to most of them, so sold them off too. Not a decision I regret as I managed to sell those at the top of their small market and the cash came in handy at the time.

Anyway, back to Factory Records. Apart from Joy Division and New Order, who will need little or no introduction, there were some Factory artists with whom I've had a longer enjoyment. Probably the group at the top of that list, after Joy Division and early New Order, is A Certain Ratio, named after the Brian Eno Song "The True Wheel" from his 1974 Album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). Starting off with 1979's All Night Party, and fairly quickly followed by the 1980 releases of Flight, Do The Du, and the album To Each, Factory label manager Tony Wilson is quoted as saying they were "beginning to forge links between post-punk industrial and dance-floor funk". Their first few releases were certainly more on the post-punk side, whereas their later releases clearly were moving into more of a dance direction. This is probably best illustrated by their album The Old and the New, of which side 1, assuming you're listening on vinyl, is a collection of their earlier, darker post-punk material, although still a bit funky, and side 2 is more of a nod to their dance side. I was lucky enough to catch them at Rough Trade East, in Shoreditch, a couple of years ago, and again at this year's Latitude Festival where, although without the temporary absence of Jez Kerr, they still performed a wonderful set, showcasing tracks from across their repertoire. Fortunately I've managed to track down vinyl copies of the A Certain Ratio items I sold, well all apart from All Night Party that is, which seems to command quite a high price tag.

Other Factory records that I sold, I don't miss so much for the music, but more the artwork. One thing that Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album did bring home to me was that these were more relevant to be kept as an art collection, rather than a music collection.

Bram Tchaikovsky - Strange Man, Changed Man, c.1979

The next album I have chosen to review is a new wave / power pop masterpiece from way back in 1979. Following the demise of the Motors, Bram Tchaikovsky (aka Peter Bramall) set about creating his own band, confusingly also called Bram Tchaikovsky. I had heard a few of their songs, most likely on the John Peel radio show or something similar back in the late 1970's but never owned any of their records. This was all put right a few weeks ago when I was lucky enough to find a copy of Strange Man, Changed Man in a second hand record shop.

Bram Tchaikovsky - Strange Man, Changed Man

Side one opens with the title track, Strange Man, Changed Man, which opens with a beautiful, punky guitar riff, joined later by drums and bass, and then finally the vocals as the song builds into a fine example of later 1970's power pop. It merges almost seamlessly into Lonely Dancer which continues along the same lines. Track 3, Robber, is another strong track with tinges of the Beatles' Dr Robert, in fact you can almost replace Robber for Robert. The next track, Bloodline, starts with an almost heavy metal riff, but of course nothing wrong with that at all, and it's still overlaid with wonderful, power pop / new wave style vocals. The final track on side one, Turn on the Light, ends the side well although a little less power pop and more country rock oriented.

Side two kicks off with Girl of my Dreams. with the opening line of "Judy was an American girl". I'm not sure what it is about the use of the name Judy in songs but in me in conjures up a dream of America that I had growing up as a kid, long before I ever visited, that was also of course bolstered by a healthy does of US 1970's television programmes. I was also reminded of Judy is a Punk by The Ramones, and "Judy's in the bedroom, inventing situations" from Found a Job by Talking Heads, and Judy Says by The Vibrators, although the latter being British rather than American kind of spoils the thread here. Track two, Nobody Knows features a mean and dirty bass sound that would not be out of place on an early Stranglers track. Oddly, the next track Lady from the USA, did not actually evoke any teenage imaginings of the US for me, probably as it's more of a country rock ballad. It's not a bad song but seems a little out of place here. Track four is what I can only describe as a Status Quo cover version of I'm a Believer and sadly reduces a quite wonderful song to monotonous, repetitive chords. Track five, Sarah Smiles, returns with another perfect slice of power pop, before veering downhill again into the final track, Turn On the Light, which seems to be another Quo inspired riff.

Overall though, apart from a couple of blips on the second side, a fantastic album which would sit well in anyone's new wave, power pop collection.

The June Brides - There are Eight Million Stories, c.1985

I only ever owned one June Brides record, which I think was No Place Called Home, but alas that's long gone in what was a somewhat over enthusiastic clear out several years ago. I'm very pleased to say that I managed to pick up up a copy of their album There Are Eight Million Stories a couple of weeks ago whilst crate digging in a London record shop ... and what a delight it is to behold. It's quite a short album, and in fact probably qualifies as a mini-album, with just 8 tracks, but what great tracks they are.

Side one kicks off with The Instrumental which is a lovely, slightly lo-fi, indie pop tune, with guitar and trumpet, and vocals, so not instrumental as the title would suggest, and reminiscent of early Orange Juice and Josef K. Track two I Fall  and the third track on side one, Sunday to Saturday, are both near perfect, jangley, catchy, indie pop tunes. And finally on side one we have Sick, Tired and Drunk, which is quite the indie masterpiece with its fast strum guitars and once again the trumpet, reminding me just a little bit of The Teardrop Explodes.

Side two starts with Every Conversation which follows on from where side one left off. Track two, Comfort, has a rockier feel to it that the other tracks and reminds me a little of Tom Verlaine's Television. Track three Heard You Whisper returns back to the indie groove, with its infectious guitar riffs. The final track on this wonderful album is listed on the label but not on the sleeve. When it started playing I thought I recognised it, and sure enough it was a cover version of the Radiators From Space track Enemies, and a pretty darned good cover too.

The version of this wonderful album I found, of which I've shared a couple of pictures below, is the blue sleeve version. It was also released in a red sleeve.

The June Brides - There Are Eight Million Stories

The June Brides - There Are Eight Million Stories

Every track is a winner.

Cowboys International - The Original Sin, Virgin records, c.1979

I have neglected this blog for far too long. 2015 has seen me buy a brand new turntable, a Denon DP 200 USB, for anyone who's interested. Not the highest spec by a long way, but it does the job nicely and has reignited my passion for vinyl. Most of 2015 has seen me ferreting around in second hand record shops looking for records I used to have as a spotty teenager, along with ones I missed out on. A few have not stood the test of time very well, but many still sound wonderful today, and it's those ones that I plan to start writing mini reviews of in this blog.

So, to get things going I have decided to start with Cowboys International, or more precisely, their album The Original Sin. The version of this I picked up recently is the beautifully packaged, UK release on Virgin Records, from 1979, that came in a thin black inner sleeve with orange plastic outer sleeve, which when the inner was inserted into the outer, obscured the blue coloured lettering. The version of this on amazon.co.uk has a completely different cover to the one I picked up, which I've pasted in a few pictures of below, but the tracks are the same.

Cowboys International - The Original Sin, outer sleeve

Cowboys International - The Original Sin, inner sleeve

Side one opens up with Pointy Shoes. Featuring harmonica, guitar, drums and piano, this is probably the album's most new wave track. Something about it reminded me of another artist. I want to say Robyn Hitchcock, but not quite sure that's it. The next track is the very catchy Thrash, is more synth based and reminiscent of one of the early, new romantic bands, before they got famous, and is probably my favourite track on the album. Track 3, Part of Steel, mixes new wave and synth to great effect. Next up is Here Comes A Saturday which to my ears has shades of David Bowie, and yet again I'm hearing Robyn Hitchcock. Side one ends with the title track, The Original Sin, which is another catchy synth-pop track.

Side two opens up with Aftermath, which was the first of the band's two singles from the album, on orange vinyl, the other being Thrash, which appeared later with the non-album track, Nothing Doing, being released in between. I remember this one being played on various Radio One night time shows but remembered it as being slower. Track two is Hands which again has hints of David Bowie in Ken Lockie's vocals, layered on top of a guitar and piano backing track. Next up is the synth-laden M(emorie)62 which again fits more into the synth-pop arena that strictly new wave. Track four is another synth pop, catchy number, Lonely Boy. Nearing the end of the album now, track five, The No Tune, is more of a ballad, and if I'm honest doesn't really sit well on the album, spoiling the flow somewhat. Overall I'd say that side one is the stronger of the two sides, with the album petering out slightly towards the end, with a bit of a recovery in the final track Wish.

Obviously a bit of a cliche but definitely one of the groups that fits the "best band you've never heard of "category. Often cited as a supergroup as the band, amongst others, consisted of Public Image's Keith Levene, Terry Chimes formerly of The Clash, Marco Pironi from Adam and the Ants fame, and Jimmy Hughes from The Banned. Although they were short-lived, only running from 1979 to 1980, quite how this band were overlooked at the time is a mystery.

Stop Making Sense ... not sure I ever started

Oops! I just created a new blog post called Stop Making Sense, so you can probably guess what it's about, but for some reason I posted it on one of my other blogs instead of this one ... I blame the red wine and the man-flu.