This post is a request.

A few days ago a German indiepop fan called Martin Beck reached out about a band called Don’t Mind Us. He had heard one song called “Easy on the Eyes” on the excellent Youtube channel that the enigmatic stoneeyedkiller runs.

As expected he was hoping to find more information about the band. I listened to the song and I thought it was great. So it seemed like a good challenge. What can we find about this obscure band?

The first thing I am able to find is a name. That is of Stephen Walsh. He was part of the band. He recently uploaded the track to his Soundcloud account. There he gives us two more details. The song was recorded around 1990 and it was on a cassette. Possibly part of a demo tape?

On this account I notice Stephen is currently in another band, one called Headless. He has uploaded a few songs dating from 2023. These are mostly covers.

To my surprise I will find that Headless actually started back in 1992 and was resurrected in 2014. The question is then, in 1992 was it also a cover band?

One interesting bit is that Headless hails from Edinburgh, Scotland. Does that mean that Don’t Mind Us was from the same city? It is very probable, though I believe Stephen is actually from Livingstone. Quite close.

I also think Stephen was the guitar player in Don’t Mind Us. But who were the other members? I think that’s where the challenge is.

This is all I could find. I suppose next step will be to get in touch with Stephen (or other band members) and find out the story behind the band. Did they play live? Did they record more songs? I’d definitely would like to know.

Any help will be appreciated.

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Don’t Mind Us – Easy on the Eyes

I continue going through French tapes. I am hoping to find information about bands that are clearly forgotten and no one mentions anymore. Bands that had perhaps one or a handful of songs released and their footprint on the internet is non-existent. Hoping that people that were in these bands would get in touch. Or people that knew them. What I want to know? Well, band members would be good. If they recorded more songs. That sort of thing.

The only detail I know is that they were French.

Maybe you can help me?

This time I want to find our more about a band called The Through Corners. The only thing I know is that they recorded a song called “Healthclubs Hyprocrisy” sometime in the early 90s. This song would end up on a compilation tape called “Teeny Poppers” (SHOUBIDOUWA 01) that came out on the Anorak Records label from Limoges, France.

I’ve written a bit about this tape in the past as I have featured many bands that appear in it. Bands that are more known of course like The Almanacs, The Penelopes, Budgie Jacket, Hope, The Kensingtons and more. In one interview I did in the past with Fabien from Anorak Records he did say the band hailed from France though.

As far as I know the tape didn’t include any information about the bands. So that’s not very helpful.

In any case the song is quite nice, upbeat, and makes me wonder if they had a demo tape recorded. I’d love to listen to it.

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The Through Corners – Healthclubs Hyprocrisy

Didier Orain was Monsieur de Forsaings. Sometimes writtenMonsieur De Forsaings, Mr De Foursaings, Monsieur de Foursaings, M. de Foursaings, Monsieur De Foursaing, Mr. De Foursaings, Mr. De Foursaing or Mr.De Forsang.

Mostly active in the 90s, the French project appeared on many compilations and released a few records. As I had been going through the 1990 “Heol Daou” (Katiho 02) tape compilation, checking all the bands, I find that Monsieur de Foursaings appears with “Mes Maris”. But let’s see what else, what other songs he released.

From what I see that was his first song released, maybe there were other demos on other tapes, but Discogs has that one as the earliest. Then came “Pourquoi Je Ne Plais Pas”, the track that appears on “Teeny Poppers” the superb comp tape that Fabien Garcia released on his Anorak Records (SHOUBIDOUWA 01) in 1992. That same year the song “Le Blue D’Annie” appeared on “Whoops!” a French tape comp released by Houpla where bands from around the world contributed songs including Even as We Speak, The Tables, Die Fünf Freunde or Secret Shine among others.

In 1993 we see the same song, “Le Blue D’Annie”, appear on a CD comp by the French label Rosebud called “The Great Collection V°2”. And again, in 93, the same song, now titled “Annie”, appears on the cassette compilation “Ces Chères Têtes Blondes” released by Cindie (CIN 01). This tape came with a 32 page booklet that I’d love to see one day. Many bands here to discover too. And looking at this release on Discogs I am surprised that this website hides the cover art, thinking it is 18 years and older material! Odd!

In 1994 the band finally releases its first record. It is a 7″ on Ad Libitum Pop!? (Ad Lib 5). It is called “Souvenir de Ma Soeur” and included 3 tracks, “Dolly Parton” and “La Plage est Vide” on the A side and “Ces Heures de Loire” on the B side. On this record we see that the great Phillippe Katerine played bass and guitar, Anthony Ka drums and Anne Blanchard did vocals, same as Mr. de Foursaings. The engineer for the recordings was Pascal Douillard.

1996 sees the band start its collaboration with Escalator Records from Japan. First with the song “Ma Demoiselle Habile” on the CD compilation “New One” (ESCD001). And then the next year with a split 7″ with Fugu. This 7″ (ESINGLE006) would have Mr. de Foursaings song “(Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain”, which is such a great track!

Quattro Records from Japan would do an Escalator Records compilation called “Escalator Records Presents Premier CD for Nagoya Parco South” (QTCN-1105) in 1998. On this compilation the band appears with the track “Les Couples Modernes”.

This same year, 1998, the band releases its first and only album, “Voulez-Vous Me Faire la Cour?” on Escalator Records (ESCD005). On this CD, recorded at the Garage Hermétique in the suburb of Rezé, in Nantes,  Mr. de Foursaings collaborates with many musicians: Gaëtan Chataignier on bass, Jérôme Marchand on cello, Olivier Angebeault on trumpet, Phillippe Allaire on grand piano, Etienne Tabourier on viola and violin, Gaëlle Claquin on violin, Nicolas Moreau on synths, Anne Blanchard again on vocals, Anthony Ka again on drums, Stéphane Louvain from the Little Rabits (and many other bands like La Secte Humaine or French Cowboy) on guitar, Stéphanie Hugli on vibraphone and organ, Simon Mary on contrabass, Jean-Marc Gestin on drums, Philippe Eveno on electric guitar and Stanislas Gielara on percussion. Nicolas Moreau was the person who recorded the tracks too.

The album had 15 songs. these were: “Prélude de la Mariée”, “Annie”, “L’Automne D’Alice”, “Faut-il Mentir?”, “Around Alice”, “Chanson À S”, “La Mariée, Même”, “Voulez-vous Me Faire La Cour ?”, “Les Rendez-vous Manqués”, “Les Couples Modernes”, “Noël À Campbon”, “Ces Heures de Loire”, “(Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain” and “Final du Marié”.

It is also worth mentioning that the Monsieur played many instruments too including the horn, bells, celesta, organ, piano, vibraphone as well as singing.

“Faut-il Mentir” would be selected to appear on the Polydor Japan compilation “Allo La France?… Moshi Moshi? – Une Sélection Par Katerine” (POCP 1702) in 1999.

The next year, 2000, the track “(Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain” appears on “Escalator Collection”, a new CD comp released by Escalator (ESCD013).

There is an undated 3″ CD compilation called “New New No” that Escalator released (ESC 008). This one had a live version of “Mademoireselle Habile (Live)”. I wonder if that was a misspelling?

Some years after, possibly after the project was no more, the song “T’épouser” appears on the CD “Chantier N°7 Slow” that came out on Travaux Publics (TP00007).  It is also worth noting that some mixes were released in 2005. The DJ “Masashi Naka” remixed the song “Around Alice” for the compilation “We are Escalator Records Part 5” (ESCD048) and the DJ TGMX would do the same for the song “Les Couples Modernes” for “We are Escalator Records Part 6” (ESCD053).

When you search for Monsieur de Foursaings you mostly get results in Japanese. But there is barely any info on the band. But searching for Didier I see he is a visual artist now, and his art looks really good to me. Wish I own one of his paintings!

He had graduated in plastic arts from the University of Haute Bretagne in Rennes and has been a painter and also a designer, working with acrylic, ink and on surfaces like wood and cardboard. You can see his pieces here.

For those who read French there is a very nice article from 2021 by Renaud Sachet on Section 26 where he talks a bit about Monsieur de Foursaings. There are not many important details here, but still it is a very nice read.

That’s really all I could find. Wondering about gigs for example. Did he play many? Or none at all? Were there demo tapes recorded? Was it a proper band at any time? He was part of the Nantes scene, right?

Anyways, any information readers can share would be great!

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Monsieur de Foursaings – (Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain

Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli; 3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. She appeared with Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon, Richard Harris, Terence Stamp, and Dirk Bogarde. On her death, Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini called her “the Queen of Italian cinema”. Vitti won five David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress, seven Italian Golden Globes for Best Actress, the Career Golden Globe, and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award.

Monica Vitti, she was on Modesty Blaise on her first English-speaking film. There has been songs, even a band named after this movie. But I was quite surprised when I discovered a song dedicated to  her, by a little known band called Catty Smell.

I would think a catty smell is not a good smell for sure, so I wonder why this band called themselves like that. What I can understand is why they named their only released song “Monica Vitti’s Dark Eyes”, they must have been totally taken by them.

The song appeared on the legendary “Heol Daou” cassette compilation released by Katiho (catalog number 02) in France. This compilation have been mentioned a few times on the blog, when I’ve written about more known bands like The Besotted, Die Blinzelbeeren, Non-Stop Kazoo Organization, Stephen’s Library or Des Garçons Ordinaires, all of whom contributed songs to this tape.

Catty Smell appears at the end of side A, as the 11th song out of 12.

Sadly there is no information about the band anywhere. I’ve googled quite a lot about them. The name doesn’t help much. I could guess that the band might have been French, as the compilation tape, but I might be wrong.

Who would know? I’d love to learn more, and find out if there were more songs of course. If you recorded one track, you probably recorded more. But again, all of this is a mystery to me. Any help would be great!

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Catty Smell – Monica Vitti’s Dark Eyes

I saw the Swansea Sound on Saturday. At some point during the gig Hue Williams, the frontman, ex-Pooh Sticks, introduced the rest of the band. First he started with the drummer, Ian Button from Death in Vegas and Thrashing Doves. Then he mentions Rob Pursey from Heavenly, Tender Trap, Marine Research and The Five Year Plan. Then Amelia Fletcher from Talulah Gosh, all the bands Rob has been (sans The Five Year Plan) and all the indie bands everyone knows. Then Bob Collins from The Dentists. But he didn’t introduce himself! What other bands was Hue on?

Aside from the amazing Pooh Sticks, I know he was in Huegenius who released a 7″ on Damaged Goods (probably needs a post on the blog!) and the Dumb Angels. But am I missing any other bands? I don’t know. These are the ones I have records from. And the Dumb Angels was the last one I got, many years back, so I thought, why not revisit on the blog?

There is the one song on the 7″, that appears on both sides. It is a cover of Brian Wilson’s “Love and Mercy”. The 7″ was released in 1988 by Fierce Recordings (Fright033), was limited to 500 copies and came in a red sleeve printed with black ink with photos of Brian, including the one on the cover with the firefighter helmet. The sleeve is credited to Potential Graphics who did a few Pooh Sticks releases.

On the back we see the people involved in the Dumb Angels. As mention Hue from the Pooh Sticks on vocals, Saucerman – Heavy Dude on vocals, Nuggles Burrito from Ten Foot Boneless on bass, Trudi from the Pooh Sticks on vocals, Johny Scuzznuts from Saucerband on guitar, Voice of God on pretentious verse and Che Duvalier on drums.

Right, many strange names there. Che Duvalier wasn’t that complicated to track down, it is Andrew Griffiths from the band Shame that hailed from Swansea and released the magnificent 7″ “Real Tears” on Fierce Recordings. I’ve written about his band and I would love to interview him and find more about them.

Saucerman was in the bands Longjaw and Knucklehead and also released some solo stuff on Fierce Recordings.

Discogs lists two compilation appearances for the Dumb Angels. One is unofficial of course, it is a CDR released in 2009 by the radio station WFMU from New Jersey. The “Cherries Jubileeee” was put together by DJ Terre T for the Marathon Premium of 2009. I am not familiar with most of the bands on the compilation, the Dumb Angels appear with “Love and Mercy” as the 5th song.

The other compilation hails from Germany and I am not 100% sure if it is the same Dumb Angels as the one I am writing about. It may be a different one. The compilation is called “The Kittenblood Compilation Vol. 2” and dates from 1999. It was released by Thunderwoman (THW 024). The song included is called “Crazy Baby”. But again take it with a pinch of salt. I can’t confirm this is the Hue-fronted Dumb Angels.

There is absolutely no other details about the band online. It seems it may have been just formed for the recording of this 7″. Even for just the one song (that would explain why both sides have the same track). A Swansea supergroup. Did they collaborate in any other forms through the years? Did they ever play live? Why did they decide to record this cover? Why not an original track?

Many questions could be asked about this band. Maybe we’ll get to know more details in the future!

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Dumb Angels  – Love and Mercy

I am curious about this mid-90s band. I discovered quite a few songs on Youtube, on an account by someone called John Fields, and they’ve left me quite excited.

It seems that there was an EP released called “Opposite Fates” in 1993. But I can’t find any information about it. Three songs seem to come from this record, “Opposite Fates“, “Unexpected Encounters” and “Disenchanted“.

Then we get the detail that the band was active between 1993 and 1996. Did they hail from the UK? Who were the other members?

Those questions will have to wait. There are two other recordings uploaded. A demo of “Clifton Avenue” (with lyrics by Bill Pritchard) and “Cold Stars“. The first one dating from 1995 and the second from 1996.

And that seems to be it.  I look for more info on Google, search for The Waning Poets, but find nothing.

I see that he has uploaded songs by a band called Davis. The timeline shows this band came next. I start to see many names in French, pictures and some comments. May The Waning Poets be French perhaps? Again this band seems to have released an EP and album but can’t find on Discogs. I am hitting a wall.

I wonder then who were behind this band. The songs are amazing, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a reissue of these songs, I would buy them. They are really good!

Anyone knows more details about them?

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The Waning Poets – Clifton Avenue (demo version)

What about Liverpool in the early 90s? How was that scene?

I just discovered a band called Coma Ray thanks to Soundcloud. Almost a decade ago they uploaded a trove of recordings which I am slowly listening one by one.

The band, self-described as sonic noise terrorists channeling My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Sonic Youth and Pixies, was formed by Paul Tudhope on vocals and guitar, Mark Docherty on guitar and backing vocals, Dan Booth on bass and Chris Ashcroft on drums. Chris would later be replaced by Damian Cruikshank on drums.

Here on Soundcloud there is a live gig, a rare gig, of them playing at the Wigan Undergraound. No date is given but we know it was 1992. The songs from these gig are: “Arial”, “White”, “Blue Blue”, “Asha”, “Sunsong”, “Spike” and “Fluffy”. The quality of this live recording is really good.

Then I find Dan Booth’s website. It mentions he was born in Bury and that he spend most of his younger years in Liverpool where he studied English Literature.

His first band was Coma Ray, then later he would be in Crush. This band sounds good I think. I should check it out afterward.

And that’s it. No releases. And perhaps no proper studio recordings. In any case, as mentioned, the live gig sounds good, and it is quite an enjoyable listen! Anyone saw them live? Who did they use to support? Would be good to find out more about Coma Ray!

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Coma Ray – Sunsong (live at Wigan Underground 1992)

Time for the early 90s.

I find a Souncloud account by a musician called Marc Sparrow. He is based in London. Last update, 4 years ago, he uploaded a song called “Coronavirus Shake”.

I am more interested in other tracks. Ones that were recorded more than 30 years ago by a band of his called Rapture. There are a few of them.

One thing I learn was that this band was formed by Carl Wells on vocals and bass, Marc Sparrow on guitar and backing vocals and Marcus Galley on drums.

The songs I find by Rapture were recorded at Coach House Studios in Lichfield. Was the band based in this town in Staffordshire? Would be good to find out.

Lichfield is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated 18 miles (29 km) south-east of Stafford, 9 miles (14 km) north-east of Walsall, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Tamworth and 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Burton Upon Trent. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population was 34,738 and the population of the wider Lichfield District was 106,400.

Notable for its three-spired medieval cathedral, Lichfield was the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. The city’s recorded history began when Chad of Mercia arrived to establish his Bishopric in 669 AD and the settlement grew as the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. In 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork, was found 4 mi (6.4 km) south-west of Lichfield.

The first song I listen is called “Wish“. Then there’s “Vulnerable” and “Sensory“. These are the tree recordings attributed to Rapture and that were recorded at the Lichfield studio. Would it make sense to think these were part of a demo tape?

I look for more info. I see that a drummer called Marcus Galley was part of the band of Carina Round. Would it be the same Marcus?

Not much more on the web about them. Perhaps I need more details to find more information about the band. In any case, I hope this post helps us getting some information from fans, people that remember them, and why not, band members!

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Rapture – Vulnerable

We are heading to Norwich today. To discover a little known shoegaze band called Spellbound.

The band was active in the early 90s where they supported Catherine Wheel and Stereolab among others. The band would put out records on their own and also an EP on Noisebox Records.

Spellbound was rejected by a few labels including 4AD, Decoy and Cherry Red. But they also were played and supported by John Peel, Mark Radcliffe and Janice Long.

They had good moments and not so good moments it seems.

I would assume that the release of “The Dark Days EP” (NBX005) in 94 must have been their highlight. The record came out on both CD and tape with an interesting sleeve design by Nick Stone (who had done tons of records by The Cranberries, Ivy and Magoo) with photographs by Darren Nicholas. It had four songs, “Shine”, “On High”, “Persuasion” and “Miss Holly Golightly”, the first three recorded by Phil Darke and the last one by Phil Watts. Darke recorded the tracks at Darkeside Studios in Royston, while Watts did at Fordham House Studios in Newmarket.

It is very important to highlight the support of Pete Morgan from Noisebox Records. He was the champion of the band and the band seems were very thankful for it. Noisebox Records was an early 90s label that was actually an offshoot of Noisebox Rehearsal and Recording Studios in Norwich.

On Discogs there is another release by the band, a 1994 tape titled “Live in the Studio”. The 6 songs on this cassette were recording at the Noisebox Rehearsal and Recording Studios on October of that year by Pete Morgan. These tracks were “Moonstone”, “Encore”, “My Sweet Rose”, “Persuasion”, “Gaslight” and “Persuasion (Reprise)”. First three on the A side, the rest on the B side.

This tape credits the band. Now we know that the band was formed by Lydia Woollard on vocals and guitar, Ian Gallacher on guitar (there is an Ian Gallacher credited for photos on the great Wolfhounds album “Unseen Ripples from a Pebble”, is it the same Ian?) and Clifford Woollard on bass.

The band would also appear on a few compilations. In 1993 the band contributed “Miss Holly Golightly” to “Backwater One” a 12″ compilation put out by Noisebox (NSB002) alongside Steerpike, Ivy and The Lemon Growers.

Then in 1994 the band had “Encore” on a cassette comp called “Under Wild East Anglian Skies 2” that came out on Vigilante Publications. This was put out by a local magazine of the same name.

Lastly in 1995, that same song, “Encore”, was on “Now That’s What I Call Noisebox” (NBX018) a CD comp that featured many bands that were on this label.

But that is not all. The band has a Bandcamp. And you should head there to listen to the band’s music!

You’ll find “The Dark Days EP” but also a tape release called “April Love / Downfall”. This was a self-published release by the band that included these two songs which were recorded in the spring of 1992 in East Anglia in Fordham House Studios. In this Bandcamp version, they have expanded this release including two more tracks, “Forever Dear” and “The Star Painter”. These two songs were part of the “Downstairs at Alans” demo that was recorded in a photo shop next to the Rezz Club in Romford.

But that is not all. There is a collection of demos called “The Noisebox Sessions”. Here you’ll find the songs “Moonstone”, “Encore”, “My Sweet Rose”, “Persuasion”, “Gaslight”, “England Made Me (live)” and “Opening the Oyster (live)”.

Other info I have found in the band is that the band took their name from the Alfred Hitchcock classic film, that they used a drum machine, that Lydia was actually Payton before being Woollard, that they played at the Camden Falcon and The Bull & Gate and that Ian moved to Northern France while Cliff is a member of the band Parramatta.

Good find I think! Anyone remembers them?

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Spellbound – April Love

One more band discovered on Blue House Records. After discovering the bands As Is, World Service and Tender Lugers, this time around I started listening to a collection of recordings titled “South of Somewhere” by the band Gods Kitchen and I was happily impressed.

This is well done guitar pop, and through the 20 songs of the collection you start to discover many great tracks.

From what I understand this collection was put together to be released on CD back in 2012. I haven’t seen this CD ever but it is listed in Discogs.

From the small writeup on Bandcamp, written by James Partridge of Blue House Records, we learn that the band lasted for a long time. I see two dates, 1991 and 2001. I suppose the band was around 10 or more years then.

The band was formed by Shane Kirk, Stephen Dean and Gibbon. They were the mainstays. On some recordings I see the names of Steven Mears (tracks 1 thru 5), Stephen Constable and James Partridge on backing vocals (tracks 6 to 17) and Paul Read on backing vocals (track 17).

I should probably mention what tracks are these. The 20 tracks are in order “Still Sad About Us”, “Evangeline”, “Walk”, “Put Me Down”, “North of Nowhere”, “Stop that for a Start”, “Brilliant Blonde”, “The Boy Who Loved Aeroplanes”, “Black Rain”, “Muswell Hill”, “Here Come the Rain”, “Before You Go”, “Mine”, “A Long Weekend”, “The Right Party”, “Come Into My Room”, “Stretch Armstrong”, “Told Her at the Time”, “My Baby’s Street” and “Drugstore Truck Drivin’ Man”.

The first 5 songs date from 2001, then the next five from 1991. Tracks 11 to 17 date from 1992. Track 18, “Told Her at the Time”, is a live rehearsal while track 19, “My Baby’s Sweet” is another live rehearsal recording, this one from 1992. The last track, “Drugstore Truck Drivin’ Man”, is a cover of The Byrds.

From what I read all of these recordings come from tapes. I suppose these were live rehearsal tapes and also demo tapes. How many of the latter did they put together? I assume there are also more recordings that didn’t make this cut.

It is then worth noting that Shane Kirk was on two other bands who I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post, As Is and World Service. Th. I have written about them. The latest band he was in was called This Much Talent.

And this is quite a find, I didn’t find it previously when I wrote about Shane’s other bands. There is a Google Book called “Turn ’em all on, then turn ’em all down…“. I am not sure if Google shows the complete book, but it starts with writings from 2013. The book was published in 2020. So maybe it doesn’t cover the older bands? Would be good to know.

And that’s all I could find.

I’ve written 4 posts now about Blue House Records bands, I hope we get in touch with someone who knows them. Would be great to learn more.

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God’s Kitchen – Still Sad About Us