This is the last post, even though there might be an interview or two published, before I leave to the UK on the 21st for a little vacation. I’ll be back on August 2nd. And hopefully that same day I’ll prepare a post about Indietracks or some adventure I had in the UK. So worry not of the lack of updates.

These coming days are dead busy at Cloudberry HQ. Today the new fanzine is out. And the Very Truly Yours records have just arrived home. I have to cut the 500 inserts during the weekend and hand-number them. I know the release date is July 31st, but the thing is that the records have to been in UK by next week, so my Chicago darlings can sell them in their gigs all around the UK, from London to Glasgow. Also have to send the records to mailorders before I leave to London. So I’m on a very tight deadline. On top of it all my Peru plays Colombia today at 3pm for Copa America quarterfinals and that will take half of my day probably.

At this point I’m not 100% sure that I will sell records at Indietracks. But leave me a note, or an email, and I could bring the records you’d like to the festival. I’m not sure what’s the deal this year for labels at the merch tent. But I don’t have much time to sit down and miss bands I’d love to see. I made some weeks ago a small schedule for what I’d like to see, it goes more or less like this:

Friday
Pocketbooks

Saturday
14:00 Remi Parson
15:00 Graeme Elston
16:00 The Garlands
16:40 Wendy Darlings
17:00 Next Time Passions
17:40 Butcher Boy
18:40 Help Stamp Out Loneliness
20:30 Milky Wimpshake.

Sunday
13:20 Proctors
16:00 Papa Topo
16:40 Sloppy Joe
17:40 Zipper
18:40 Very Truly Yours

Quite exciting!

So what did I listen this week on CD?
1. Chain Letter –  Théâtral Musical (Tulip House)
2. Various Artists – Good Thing Goin’ Pushbike Compilation Vol.4 (Pushbike)
3. BMX Bandits – Bee Stings (P-Vine)
4. Zoey Van Goey – Propeller vs. Wing (Chemikal Underground)

And now onto our obscure band of the week: Jane From Occupied Europe. I would have featured this band a long time ago. I was in touch with the bassist of the band, Dave Todd, some years ago and we agreed on an interview. Sadly I never heard back from him. Anyhow, let’s review this fantastic Salisbury band that had three releases, which I proudly only own 1 of them! I should start tracking the rest.

First stop, Wikipedia:

Jane from Occupied Europe were a band that originated from Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Band members had appeared previously in other local bands, most notably Bubblegum Splash [Subway Records] and a popular Wiltshire band, Mrs Taylor’s Mad. They were part of what was an interesting scene of music that stemmed from the area around the mid to late 80’s, including bands like The Badgeman (Paperhouse Records), The Mayfields, and Mad Cow Disease. Whilst their sound has been bracketed under the ‘Shoegazing’ mantle, their sound was based around a broad number of styles and influences including psychadaelia, punk, and garage. The band toured around England, supporting bands like Carter USM, Catherine Wheel, Mock Turtles, and the Seeds amongst numerous others.

The band was formed by Jim Harrison, vocals & guitar, Colin O’Keefe, guitar, Dave Todd, bass, David Ware, guitar, keyboards & vocals, and Phil Eason, drums & percussion. On an interview I did with Bubblegum Splash’s Nikki and Marty she told me that it was Jim and Dave who were in Bubblegum Splash and  after some googling I found out that David Ware was in Mrs. Taylor’s Mad. Wonder if Jane From Occupied Europe was the first band Colin, Dave and Phil were on?

So one would assume that they took their name from the second album by Swell Maps and that’s true. They once told the NME: “Swell Maps thought up some really great titles and, er… we just ripped it off.” But then I get curious, and I wonder if that name has any significance. I can’t think of Europe being occupied, or any particular Jane. Maybe it comes from a sci-fi book or something? Anyhow, maybe you know better and can tell me where this enigmatic name comes from. But now onto more about this fantastic band.

I fell in love with them since I bought in 2006 their 7″ “Ocean Runs Dry”, a mix of shoegaze and guitar pop released in 1989 on  7 Per Cent Records (catalog JANE 001). I believe the band run this record label. This record is not very hard to find, and I recommend anyone reading this to get it. I’ve seen it on Discogs for less than 5 bucks. You’ll thank me! The track swaggers with a distorted guitar, another guitar doing arpeggios, and c86 class vocals! On the flip side you find two more great tracks “Annabel Lee” and “Kingdom By The Sea”. So Oceans and seas? I guess Salisbury is not that far from the Atlantic, did they go to the beach often? And what about Annabel Lee? “Annabel Lee” is the last complete poem composed by Edgar Allan Poe.

Onto catalog JANE 002. That was the Little Valley Town 12″ EP, released in 1990. That record included 4 songs: “Little Valley Town”, “Parade”, “Walking Around” and “Horizons in Blue”. This release and the previous one can be downloaded from this blogspot page the band set up. Sadly their last release, JANE 003, their 1991 album “Colorsound”. is not available anymore for free download. But let me promise you that if you get your hands on it you won’t be disappointed. The quality is still there, and only one song is repeated on the album from previous releases: “Parade”. If you happen to find extra copies for these two releases let me know, I’d be interested!

There were two compilation appearances as far as I know and actually one of them was already discussed on this blog on an interview with Krischan! from Frischluft Records. The song ” Just like Holden Caulfield” was included in the compilation “Mit Sonnenschirmen fingen wir den Blütenzauber”. Krischan! remembers: ‘We were writing to the address on the Bubblegum Splash-single trying to obtain a song by them just to learn they were no more. The Bubblegum’s flavour may have been gone, but they didn’t throw it away (as Mighty Mighty once claimed) but re-put it into shape that was Jane From Occupied Europe.”

The second compilation appearance was on the first Heol tape. This is a “legendary” tape that was released in Francein 1991 and was put together by Anne Moyon. I believe she is married these days with the great Philippe Katerine. But that’s a story for another day. The track that Jane From Occupied Europe included in this compilation was just named “Untitled”.

According to the blogspot, after the split of the band, one of the members moved to Bristol and recorded some songs under the name 7% Solution. You should be able to download those from the page as well. I wonder which member was it. It doesn’t specify. Check them out, it has some sort of Spacemen 3 feeling, a bit more poppy maybe.

There is some more info on the a page called Birdpoo. There you’ll be able to find a review of their first 7″, a review of a gig in the Powerhaus (seems every band I like have played here!), and an article that appeared on the NME in 1990. This page is really worth checking out as it also has lots of info in some other worthy bands of the period! Wish it was updated though!

Anyhow, that’s more or less all you need to know about this great but sadly underrated and forgotten band. If you want to add anything, share stories, or fill in some gaps, please get in touch! Now enjoy the super fantastic “Ocean Run Dry”.

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Jane From Occupied Europe – Ocean Run Dry

Back from Chicago and then a short work week. Can’t complain. Yesterday Peru beat Mexico in Copa America and that made this week even better. Now I’ll rest and take care of the pile of stuff I have to finish before leaving to the UK on the 21st. Also been thinking of flying to Seattle for Labour Day weekend, not sure if I can afford it, but I feel I should try to get the best out of each long weekend now that I’m kind of young. You only live once they say. Anyhow, train tickets are booked for UK and I’ll be joining Very Truly Yours at their gigs in Glasgow on the 25th and Manchester on the 26th. There are also some great gigs to attend while in London like the free show at ROTA on the 23rd where I’ll finally see Amor de Días and then later that same day the return of The Jasmine Minks with their original lineup! Isn’t that fabulous? Next day, the 24th, it’s time to see Comet Gain!! It’s going to be a very busy week in UK, I can see it already!

On Cloudberry side of things, the artwork for Youngfuck is finished (you can preview it on our Facebook page) and we are just missing some guitar re-recordings for the “Black Tulips” track, then we are set and off to the pressing plant. After it, if everything goes right the Nixon 7″ will be out finally! And yeah, next Friday the new fanzine will be out! You can’t miss it! This weekend I’ve been cutting and pasting together the CD sleeves for the “There’s Peace on the Surging Prow” EP that comes with it. Also got the inserts for the Very Truly Yours single, this week I must finish cutting and hand-numbering them. So lots of work, not many news. But wait until next month, I’m sure August will bring lots!

So what did I listen this week on CD?
1. Nixon – Anorak Christmas (Anorak Records)
2. Various Artists – Spring 2011 Sampler (Pebble Records)
3. Sambassadeur – Final Say (Labrador)
4. The Wild Swans – The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years (Occultation)
5. The Wild Swans – Tracks in Snow (Occultation)

Now onto our obscure band of the week. Let’s go all the way to the Sound of Young Scotland. Kidding. Let’s go to 1985 actually, but this band may as well have been part of that Glasgow scene of the early 80s. Maybe I’m trying to give the credit Edwyn Collins deserves in inspiring bands with a fresh sound during the 80s, I want to be excited of his gig at Indietracks. I’m not really looking forward to it though, not that I dislike him, I like Orange Juice a lot, but I’m a bit doubtful of what kind of show he can put at the main stage. Friends have told me he is excellent. I really hope so. I’m skeptical. Anyhow, let’s get back into track. 1985, and I guess Northampton. That’s when and where Rumpo Records released the one and only 12″ by Love Ambassadeux (catalog 12002).

A black and white sleeve that doesn’t say much but it’s very elegant welcomes us. The sleeve was designed by Simon Andrews. I have never seen it in real life mind you, it’s one of those records that are impossible to find. It seems it showed up once on eBay according to Popsike, and went for over 100 bucks. If anyone have an spare copy and wants to give it to me, I won’t say no. Of course not! Anyhow, how come this record is so rare? How many copies had been pressed? God knows. Rumpo Records released  a couple of records, at least two 12″ compilations and a 12″ by a band called This Parade. The three of them are quite expensive on Discogs. Are they all guitar pop? I wonder…

The Love Ambassadeux were Roger “Carlos” Nisbett on guitar, Steve Harshaw on bass, Steve Beswick on drums, Dave Howard on keyboards, Russ Cooper on percussion, and Bruce Marcus on vocals. Trisha Wiktorska did backing vocals and the engineer for this record was Alec Price. Among other details on the back cover of the sleeve we see that the front photograph was taken by Jon Barnes, and the producer was no other than The Jazz Butcher!! Isn’t that cool? Wonder if they were his protegés.

Some other details are found on the etchings. on the A side it says “YOU HAVE AN ALMIGHTY HAND – USE IT” and on the B side “I LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE MORNING”.

The first time I heard about them was through my friend Jessels great mixes that he used to post on Myspace. I remember he wrote that the drummer Steve Beswick was playing for The Wild Swans. Checking on my new Wild Swans album, for which I paid 30 dollars including postage (ouch!), I can confirm this is true! Wonder if The Love Ambassadeux opened for the Wild Swans at some gig during the 80s…

The 12″ included 3 songs: “Black Mischief”, “Driftwood” and “Oyster Syndrome”. “Black Mischief” on the sleeve is dedicated to the band’s mothers. Not sure why. I do find that “Black Mischief” was Evelyn Waugh’s third novel, published in 1932. The novel chronicles the efforts of the English-educated Emperor Seth, assisted by a fellow Oxford graduate, Basil Seal, to modernize his Empire, the fictional African island of Azania, located in the Indian Ocean off of the eastern coast of Africa. This has been understood as a reference to Abyssinia and Haile Selassie, though the author himself denied the connection. Do you see any mother connection there?

I find curious the name of the B side song “Oyster Syndrome”. From what I gather:

Writers of all descriptions and levels of experience, sooner or later, develop what can be called “The Oyster Syndrome.” Writers, bloggers included, are always trying to improve their work. Constantly honing their craft, expert and novice alike, tolerate in themselves a measure of “artistic dissatisfaction” that drives them to modify, edit and endlessly revise whatever they are working on. This is “The Oyster Syndrome”: A creative compulsion leading to the relentless pursuit of perfection, which, like the oyster’s reaction to an irritating, sharp grain of sand, produces—a pearl; in the writer’s case (hopefully) a polished “pearl” of prose good enough to enlighten the curious, inspire the discouraged, entertain the bored, and amuse the life-hardened cynic.

Searching around I found also a very interesting article that appeared on The Northampton Chronicle on Monday 20 September 2004. I’ll copy/paste the most interesting parts here:

A RECORD made by a Northampton rock band nearly 20 years ago has cropped up on the most-wanted list of a music website…in Croatia Love Ambassadeux, who were a regular fixture on the Northamptonshire live music scene in the early 1980s, are listed for their 12-inch vinyl EP Black Mischief.

The five-piece were made up of music fans in the Northampton area but according to guitarist Roger Nisbett, from Kingsthorpe, there is little chance of a reunion despite the renewed interest in their music. He said: “I couldn’t believe it when I stumbled across this website and saw us listed on there. “It is amazing to think that someone in Croatia knows about us, 20 years after we called it a day, and is trying to get their hands on Black Mischief. “I know a couple of the lads still live in the town and one has moved down to London but I don’t think we will be getting back together.”

The band was assisted by the Northampton Music Collective, which helped to promote local bands and release records. Roger, 43, who works as a computer systems analyst in Milton Keynes, added that he wasn’t tempted to send one of his copies off to Zagreb. “The memories are much more important than the cash so I’ll be keeping the box of records where they are,” he said. “We had a good few years in the band playing at pubs and places like The Roadmender but unfortunately it was not to be.” The group split up in 1985 shortly after Black Mischief was released.

And that’s about all the information there is about this fantastic and sadly forgotten band. If anyone out there knows anything else about them, if they recorded more songs (they must have!), if they are still music, or just if you have any memories of a gig you attended, please share. I’d love to learn more about this band and their one fantastic record.

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Love Ambassadeux – Black Mischief

I’m writing this post some time ahead. When this gets published I should have already arrived to O’Hare airport in Chicago. Just read that it was named after Edward O’Hare, the U.S. Navy’s first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. Interesting. Sadly it seems I will be missing the first game of Peru in the Copa America, against Uruguay, on the 4th. That troubles me a bit. I’m not used to miss football games I want to watch, especially the ones of my national team. I hope they get a good result, but seems hard as our top stars are all injured and will miss the tournament. But you never know, football is a game of surprises, that’s the beauty of it. I’m crossing my fingers.

I’d like to add a new sort of section to the weekly obscure band post. I’d like to recommend and share the albums I’ve been listening during the week. This week what’s been on ration at Cloudberry hq has been:
1 The Darling Buds – Crawdaddy
2. Various Artists – Unnecessary Niceness
3. The Gymslips – Rockin’ with the Renees
4. Acid House Kings – Music Sounds Better With You
5. Aquadays – Electric Songs

So now onto our obscure band. Let’s go back to the UK after trips to Scotland and Japan. Let’s move to Slough, West London. The first thing that comes to my mind is the Nine Steps to Ugly’s song “Eddie Lopez lives in Slough”. I do know there are very negative connotations with this town. Reading a bit I learn that this borough I learn that Slough has a relatively high crime rate, with figures for all crime statistic categories above the English average and figures for several categories more than double the English average. According to British Crime Survey statistics, Slough has the worst rate of crime amongst the 15 most comparable other areas, and Slough is the least safe Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area in the whole of the Thames Valley and South East England. Slough has the highest level of reported anti-social behaviour in the Thames Valley Police area. Slough the rough, huh?

It was in Slough that Ala Pana Fuzo was formed in 1985. The original band members and song writers, Ian Miller (guitar/vocals) and Graham Pedder (guitar/vocals) had played together with various line-ups and under the name “Spish” before forming Ala Pana Fuzo. I wonder if there were any recordings of Spish. I had many questions about this band, like what does their strange name mean, and was in touch with Ian Miller actually back in 2009. He was so kind to send me a copy of the 7″. We agreed on doing an interview for the blog. Sadly I never heard back from him after sending the questions. Guess life got in the way.

There’s an interesting bio on last.fm written by Ian Miller himself. Among the many interesting facts written, he mentions that they often played on the same bill with Peter Brickley, from the Telephone Boxes and the more known Wallflowers as he was also from Slough. They were also very close to signing to a major label but it didn’t happen.

The band members of Ala Pana Fuzo were Ian Miller (guitar, vocals), Graham Pedder (guitar, vocals), Steve Sculpher (bass), Ricci Hodgson (keyboards), Terry Bailey (trumpet) and Brian Green (drums). Terry Bailey would later record with Sade and Culture Club and can be heard on the albums Diamond Life and Promise by Sade and Kissing to be Clever and Colour by Numbers by Culture Club.

There was only one release and it was a 7″ in 1986. It included on the A side the great “Friend” and on the B side the slower “Remember Me Now”. The song “Friend” will appear in The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 7. Hopefully that will be out soon! I can’t wait any longer. The 7″ was released on their own Dear Old Blighty Records.

In 1986 they released the 7” single “Friend”. The B side was entitled “Remember Me Now”. The record was released on the independent label Dear Old Blighty Records. For the curious, during World War I, “Dear Old Blighty” was a common sentimental reference, suggesting a longing for home by soldiers in the trenches. The term was particularly used by World War I poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. During that war, a Blighty wound — a wound serious enough to require recuperation away from the trenches but not serious enough to kill or maim the victim—was hoped for by many, and sometimes self-inflicted. Wonder if that was the reason to name the band?

I know that Ian Miller was later in a band Wildcard, but never had the chance to hear it. Wonder if it sounded anything like Ala Pana Fuzo. But more importantly, I wonder if Ala Pana Fuzo recorded any more songs. Would be great to learn more. So as always if anyone has more information, please share!

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Ala Pana Fuzo – Friend

I’m thinking I should leave a post ready for next week. What do you say? I’m kind of enjoying posting some news plus an obscure band every weekend. Next weekend I’ll be out of town, in Chicago. Going on a ghost tour on Saturday. Never done that though I don’t expect to see anything supernatural. But should be fun, ghost stories are great.  Everything is all sorted as Kristine has already made a schedule for the weekend. Which reminds me I have to start buying train tickets for my UK trip at the end of July before the prices are higher.

Today has been a good day on eBay even though I lost my attention for a second and lost two great records in the last seconds. I don’t know what I was thinking. Among the great findings that I won today there was a 12″ by The Wilderness Children and a 7″ by The Sedgwicks that I was missing. Happy Friday. Today I also finished the fanzine. Added a new interview to Sarasota darlings Cassolette. Can’t complain. It’s been productive.

Also today the pressing plant sent me an email saying that the test pressings for the Very Truly Yours 7″ single are on the way. They should arrive home on Monday. Perfect. We are on schedule. Now it’s safe to say the record will be released July 31st, the day they play Indietracks! Though of course, the single will be available before if you happen to be at any of their shows during their UK tour.

So let’s talk about some ghosts of the past. Let’s go this time to Ireland. To Dublin. I’m sure that somewhere in that city, someone must have it. On tape probably. If we are lucky on a DAT tape. Someone must have Guernica’s elusive unreleased album.

Not so sure where to start digging on this ghost tour. Usually my first stop is Discogs, see if someone has listed the band’s records there. In this case we are lucky. There’s even a small bio about the band:

Guernica took a heavy New Order/Joy Division influence and mixed it with indie/C86/jangle-pop sounds. They also incorporated lighter, rockabilly touches to fantastic effect. After a debut single on Solid, they signed to Idol Records in London and released one acclaimed single(orange an red – 12″). They appeared on TV several times including MT USA (“Americano”), TV Ga Ga (“Americano”), Anything Goes (“New Boy”), Borderline (“Deep Sea Diving”) and Megamix (“Homing”).

Most importantly there’s a band lineup: Joe Rooney (vocals), Derek Turner (guitar), Ray McCarthy (keyboards), Derek Lee (bass) and Dara Broe (drums). Doing some more digging I found out that the lead vocalist, Joe Rooney is one of Ireland’s top comic actors and one of the Dereks runs the Spirit Store in Dundalk and manages the Flaws.

On that same discogs page there is a broken link that should have taken you here. This page is part of the Irish Punk and New Wave Discography.  I find there the same text that Discogs has as a biography. Also more information that I would copy paste but it seems these Irish guys are very zealous about their information as they have added some javascript scripts to disallow right clicking or selecting the content.  I don’t understand that. I’ve seen many of the stuff here being copy/pasted in several pages, even in Youtube. No big deal. Anyhow, the stuff they have compiled is really interesting, especially the Spain part:

“We were a New Order type band that ended up going rockabilly. We were a depressing soul-searching rockabilly band, if you can imagine that. We came up with a new type of music in fact, but we broke up after that. The keyboard player found God and he started playing keyboards at a Born Again Christian church. The bass player joined the band Sack and then he left us. Another guy has a studio near Dundalk and the drummer just got loads of girls pregnant!”–Joe Rooney, from a 2004 interview in the Galway Observer

Guernica’s records are particularly popular in Spain, where “Red And Orange” has been included on a number of Spanish compilation CDs. Here is Hugo’s explanation for the band’s popularity in Spain:

“During the mid 80’s there was a Belgian DJ called Frank Lenaers that lived in Valencia and played at a very famous club called Spook. He made Orange and Red “very popular” (considering that was a reduced circle of people). He was a true legend on the decks, he developed an unique style of mixing using early EBM’s, electro, house and industrial minimal tunes as a base for Indie pop, brit pop & rock songs like Guernica’s. Those years of good music, memories & “unhealty life” -the explosion of mescalin and xtc- are still present for some of us…”

There have also been Spanish, Italian and Japanese bands named Guernica, the source of some confusion perhaps.

Note there is NO LINK to the late ’90s pop group named Guernica from Buncrana, Co. Donegal who formed in 1997 and released two CD singles (“Surf Buddy” and 1998’s “Sights Are Cool”) before disbanding, the core duo continuing as Palomino.

Joe Rooney is a now a well known TV actor (“Father Ted”) and standup comedian. Derek Lee later in Sack (see Lord John White). Derek Turner (ex Ifter the Shifter) later formed the excellent Honey Thieves.

But of course the connection with Spain is bigger than that. The band’s name probably comes either from the Basque town Guernica or most probably from the Picasso painting of the name. This famous painting was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Republican government commissioned Picasso to create a large mural for the Spanish display at the Paris International Exposition at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world’s attention.

But let’s not get carried away. What about the releases of the band?

The first release was the 7″ single “Deep Sea Diving” / “New Boy” released on Solid Records (ROK 707) in 1987. This record has a fantastic sleeve, one that I would have loved to released, where this white and brown dog is jumping over a monotone blue lake. Both songs on this record are great, this by far my favourite release by them. It’s just fantastic guitar pop, no wonder all of their records are so expensive and rare!

Second release is perhaps their most known record. It includes the hit-in-Spain “Orange and Red”, which in an ideal world would have been a hit in the whole world! On the flip side there are another two great slices of pop “The Queen of Our County” and “Missionary”. The odd thing about this record is that it was recorded in December 1985 and August 1986 but only released in March 1987. The record was recorded at Slane Studios and they crossed the  North Channel  to sign for Idol Records (home of the great Last Party) in London and release it as a 12″ Maxi single. Catalog number is 12ID2.

Their third release was again a 12″, this time an EP on a label I’ve never heard before “Miss Pedestal”. I would guess it was self-released but I can’t confirm it. It was catalog 001 and was released in July 1988. On the A side we find “Humming of the Engine” and on the B side “Summerville” and “Veil of Tears”. This may be my least favourite release, as it’s the least poppy one. On the B side you can find the rockabilly that is mentioned on their bio; whereas on the A side, well, that song is quite dark!

They appeared on a couple of compilations:
–  Contraseña  – with the song Orange and Red. This is an Spanish compilation.
–  Remember Collection – again with Orange and Red and released in Spain.
–  Unknown name – with Queen of our Country on Eden Music Records.
– Solid Citizens – a tape on Solid Records where they included Deep Sea Divers

Among other bits and bobs of information I’ve gathered, I found out that they toured with the more known A House (their first ever tour), as a double header bill, through all Ireland, and that Derek Turner had previously been in the band The Handsome Devils. No clue if they had any releases. The Honey Thieves did, but I guess that’s another story. And that’s about it.

The post came out much longer than I thought! That’s good, lots to read! Anyways, if anyone has anything else to add, if anyone has that unreleased album or any unreleased tracks, if anyone have spares of these records, if anyone just wants to share some memories of Guernica, please leave a comment or get in touch. It’s hard to get in touch with a celebrity like Joe Rooney for an interview, but if anyone knows how to get in touch with any band member, please let me know! Would love to learn more about Guernica.

I’m so in love today with “Deep Sea Diving” that I have just made everyone bounce their heads on the turntable.fm thingie. It’s just fabulous!

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Guernica – Deep Sea Diving

Another week goes by and Indietracks gets closer. And even though I have to admit I’m not excited at all about the lineup this year, I look forward to what Indietracks really is. An indiepop amusement park! Being with friends, riding the train, dancing, meeting new people, and just the great atmosphere in the middle of Derby. I’m thinking that on the weekend before Indietracks, I’d like to go to Canterbury and Brighton, each for a day trip. Any recommendations in these cities?? Then I’ll be joining Very Truly Yours on their tour. I believe I’ll be joining them for their gigs in Glasgow and Manchester. That I look forward a lot!

Also next week in Miami Beach there are some good indiepop news as Sarasota darlings’ Cassolette are coming to play! Just a couple of blocks away from my place. They released “Not Just Anyone” on the Cloudberry compilation CD “Do You Think it Will Snow Tonight?”. A superb track. Nowadays we are working towards a 7″ that hopefully will be out in the near future. It’s really exciting to see Ciera again, I think it’s been a year or maybe two since she was down here. She has had some really cool bands before, Que Possum for example released a fantastic split 7″ with Boyracer, and Sugarbears had a delicious slice of synth-pop on the “Where are the Supremes Tonight?” CD compilation. So something to really look forward next Saturday. Here is the event if anyone wants to join: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=228464947165949

Cloudberry-wise I’m finishing the fanzine this weekend as I got the last interview on the mail at last! I have the CDs ready. I will update the website with the song information as well. Sorry it has taken a bit of time. It will be worth it. Don’t you all want a zine with Christine Garlands on the cover? On other news I got drafts for the artwork from Becca Stadtlander for the coming Youngfuck 7″, it’s looking really great! Isn’t she great?

But now onto serious matter: the weekly obscure band. This week I’d like to feature Future World Moves, from Livingston, Scotland. I was actually in touch some years ago with them through myspace, I even sent them interview questions, but never heard back from them sadly. I guess life came in the way.  They only released one record, one that I’ve been trying to find a copy for myself without luck for a long time, so if you happen to have a spare one, please let me know. Don’t overprice it 🙂

As far as I can tell the name of the band comes from a song by the same name of theirs. There is a bunch of recordings posted on their own Youtube account. Some songs are really lo-fi, but there are many interesting jangle pop slices there as well. The other important fact of information was that the band was comprised by Phil Paterson, Gerry McCart and Alex McTaggart and as I said they were based in Livingston. I’ve been to Scotland this year for the first time, in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I had never heard of Livingston though, though is it possible I passed it on the train in between the other two cities? The name sounds very familiar. I read a bit of Livingston right now:

Livingston (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Dhùn Lèibhe) is a new town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is located approximately 15 miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and 30 miles (50 km) east of Glasgow. Livingston is also the second largest settlement in the Lothians after Edinburgh. Until 1963 the area surrounding the ancient village of Livingston was open farm land and the ancient village is now called Livingston Village. The name was taken from this village which dates back to 12th Century when a Flemish entrepreneur called De Leving was granted land in the area. He built a fortified tower which is long since gone and the settlement that grew up around it became known as Levingstoun, Layingston and eventually Livingston.

If you still live there, or you visit, I hear that the 3 guys in Future World Moves still make music, well kind of, they still play live in a covers band called “We’re Not Iguanas”. Not sure if their whole set is my cup of tea, but they do play some Buzzcocks and Undertones and that I do like! I’m sure they secretly still make original music though, you can’t just stop!

Anyhow, back to that one record they released. It was a self-released 12″ minilp. Catalog number being FWM001.  Black and white cover, with a band photo in the middle, the same promo photo I posted in this entry. As I have never had the record, or even seen it, I cant assure you, but I believe it had 6 songs. I know that A1 was “Voice of Autumn”, B1 was “Particular Day” and B2 was “Roar of Thunder”. I can hear influences by The Chameleons throughout the tracks. Great 80s guitar pop overall!

The information about them online is very scarce, really a  shame, as they did release a record. So, as always, any info about them will be very welcome. Where are they now? Are there more recordings? Why is their one and only record so hard to find? How many copies were pressed? Would like to know more!

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Listen
Future World Moves – This Particular Day

Not many news this week. It’s been a very quiet one. At least I could finish answering all emails that I had piling and bought a plane ticket to Chicago for the 4th of July weekend. It will be my first time in the Windy City. For sure I’ll visit the Millenium Park and the Art Institute. Would like to see Adler Planetarium and the Navy Pier as well. And it seems I will go onto a ghost tour as well. That sounds quite exciting!

This week I’ve been listening to the new-ish BMX Bandits reissue on Rev-Ola/Poppydisc, the “C86+Star Wars” CD. By doing this on last.fm the Banditos are my top band ever. What would McCarthy say to this! It’s interesting though that Rev-Ola is not part of Cherry Red anymore, I wonder why. Other albums that were on rotation were Vitesse’s “Chelsea 27099”, The Big Dish’s “Swimmer” and Johnny Rasheed’s “Inspiration”. Today was a day for listening to an indiepop compilation called “Working Titles”. This CD that comes in a DVD case has been a great surprise as there are no fillers in it, it’s just good from start to finish. Also it comes with a great booklet, with interviews to every band that appears on the compilation. This was released in Philippines in 2002. Also this week I’ve got the chance to listen all the recordings done by Feverfew, a bunch of rare and unreleased Man of Delmonte tracks and some unreleased Tender Engines.

But now onto the obscure band recommendation for this week: The Philips. As I’ve never done a Japanese lost band, I thought it was time to do so. And I’m quite curious about them as there is absolutely no information about them. There was one release though, a split flexi shared with The Ammonites. So let’s talk about that.

The 7″ flexi was a co-release between A Rare Breed Records and The Boshi Label. I don’t know much about the first label, aside that their first release was another flexi, the Hopscotch flexi by my beloved PO! The Boshi Label on the other hand was Akiko’s first “label” before the much more known Sugarfrost Records. On the Boshi Label there were 5 fanzines,  1 t-shirt, 2 cassette tapes, and 2 flexis. This one, the Ammonites/Philips flexi, was the first of the two, it was released in 1990 and was catalog number RODDY 007. Big fan of Aztec Camera huh?

I’m quite bummed after seeing on Discogs that the flexi came with a picture sleeve. The copy I have has no sleeve. Kind of annoying. I did pay 1 pound for it so I shouldn’t complain much, but still. The Philips song on the flexi is called “Young Love Be Your Monkey Tonight”. The Ammonites one is called “Jennifer”. I do wonder what does the name of the Philips song means. In any case, the song is a really fun one, with a catchy chorus and great melodies. I’d say it sounds like a stripped down Flipper’s Guitar’s tune!

And after listening one more time “Young Love Be Your Monkey Tonight”, I wonder if did they only record 1 song? That doesn’t sound right to me. I’m sure they had more stuff recorded. Was this their only release? Whatever happened to them? I feel there was a great scene in Japan in the early 90s, but it hasn’t been documented properly. Maybe it’s time to do so! So if you have any other information about the band, please share!

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Listen
The Philips – Young Love Be Your Monkey Tonight

At least it didn’t take two weeks this time to update the blog, just one. Not that bad. Maybe four posts a month is not an awful rate, though I wish I had more time to write more often. I think it’s just a matter of adjusting my time and my sleeping patterns. I haven’t told many but I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. My work hours are different now and I’m still getting used to it. It’s quite hard. I wonder how come it’s so easy when I travel to Europe and I feel no sort of jet-lag. But now that I have two wake up three hours before than normal I’m really having a rough time. Everyday it feels as if a truck has ran me over when I wake up. Anyhow, as I said, it will be a matter of adjusting and eventually after work I’ll have the energy to write on the blog as I used to and not having to wait until every Saturday afternoon. It’s just a new, small beginning.

News this week? Not many. There’s a new Nixon compilation CD out on Anorak Records titled “Anorak Christmas” and it includes many of his most known songs. It’s a great thing as many fans have been longing to finally have in their hands his songs on a physical record as his previous records have been sold out for such a long time. I was happy to participate in this CD writing the liner notes.

On Cloudberry news, I’ve just answered an  interview about the label for a Japanese fanzine called Weekend Never Dies that runs the lovely Sayuri Arai, who I met in New York City. She was accompanying Caucus and Smilove. It’s a very nice interview as she asks me very interesting questions, not just the same old “why did you start a label” or “what is in store for the future”. I look forward to see the printed zine. Also by now all the regular mailorders should have the latest releases (Caucus & Persian Rugs) in stock. I just posted the last batch to the great Pebble Records in UK.

Let’s go to our weekly featured obscure band then. On my last blog post I wrote:

I do know that Daniel Bates and Graham Jordan before being in June Recruits were part of a band called Natural Instinct, who I will be covering on the next blog post. Promise. They had some great tunes!

So, here we are, trying to uncover a bit the mysterious halo of Natural Instinct.  Of course the information is very scarce. There is a small text written by someone called Steve Fox on the page I’ve been dissecting lately: Wymondham College Remembered. It says:

“Natural Instinct was the original line-up of the June Recruits before things went a bit pear shaped – I’m not sure how one band led to the other but the tape was entitled ‘Small Beginnings’ and the insert was interestingly made from black and white photographic paper. All these guys were in my year – 1981 to 1986 and – although my memories are a bit sketchy – were Robert Wylie (New Hall) and ‘Gaz’ (New; can’t remember his surname) on vocals, Dan “DOB” Bates (Kett) on lead, Graham Jordan (New) on Bass, Marvin George (Kett) on keyboard and Jim Cook (Kett) on drums. The photowork was done by Andrew Carey (New).”

“Dan Bates was called DOB because they were his initials, which was small comfort for the five years of sniggering he had to endure every time a letter arrived addressed to ‘Master Bates’ – a nice bloke though and I don’t recall a time I ever saw him without a smile. As for Marv George, he was an extremely talented guy who could play a keyboard with incredible skill; I remember being extremely envious listening to him on his synth and he once lent me a keyboard which had a ‘teach yourself’ function where the keys would light up when you were supposed to press them as it played a cheesy backing version of ‘Morningtown Ride.’ I was RUBBISH!”

First thing that attracts my attention is those words in paragraph, Kett & New Hall. I wonder if this is important at all, but perhaps for fellow students of the college it was. These are the names of the Houses were these guys were into. I’m familiar with the house system as I studied in a British school when I was a kid, but for you who don’t know, the house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in ex-British colonies. Historically it was associated with established public schools, where a ‘house’ refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school. In the case of a day school, however, the word ‘house’ refers only to a grouping of pupils, rather than to a particular building.  Pupils are likely to be divided into a number of houses, which are often named after saints, famous historical alumni or notable regional landmarks (at international schools, for example, houses may be named after famous local people). Other more arbitrary names – animal names or colours, for example – may be used where the house system is adopted by a primary school.

In the case of Wymondham College, a house system was first established in 1953, with house names North, South, East and West. As the College expanded and brick-built accommodation came into use in the early 1960s, the system was revised and the Houses were given names of Cathedral towns and cities:

• Boys: York, Gloucester, Canterbury, Norwich, Durham, Salisbury
• Girls: Wells, Westminster, Worcester, Winchester (with Wakefield and Washington added later)

Later in the early 1970s mixed Houses were introduced and the cathedral House names were scrapped and the Houses adopted the names of the Halls themselves. Lincoln and Peel Halls were converted to Sixth Form boarding houses in 1978, Peel Hall being further converted into a boarding house for Year Sevens in 1995.

The house system is now as follows:

• Year Seven: Peel
• Years Eight to Eleven: Fry, Cavell, Kett, Or New
• Years Twelve to Thirteen: Lincoln

So first mystery of Natural Instinct is solved, they were in between the Years Eight and Eleven. But wouldn’t it have been more “musically cool” if they were in Year Seven and being in “John” Peel House? 😉

Then there was one tape released at least as attested by Steve Fox. This one tape had the songs “Small Beginnings” and “That’s All” but may have had as well more songs. I can’t confirm this. I can’t either say if this was their only demo tape released or not. I wish it wasn’t. It’d like to listen more by them. About the year when these tracks were recorded I would have a wild guess of 1987 a year prior the June Recruits formation.

“Small Beginnings” is the best of the two tracks. It is a really catchy tune that reminds me of the Spinning Wheels or Windy Miller, with an upbeat drum machine that feels everything is falling apart. Really cool! It’s like ramshackle pop without the crashing guitars. There is also a cool keyboard on both songs that feels a bit like The Apple Moths. Very nice poppy atmospheres. It makes me long for more songs by this band. Whatever happened to them?

And this is were we stop. There’s absolutely no more information about the band or the members. For some reason while looking if any of the band members was in the famous ex-pupils I learned that the actor Mark Strong, the bad guy from Kick-Ass, studied here and his real name is actually Marco Giuseppe Salussolia. Not that it is important, but I found it interesting. Anyways, if you have any more information about Natural Instinct please get in touch! I’d love to listen more stuff from them!

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Listen
Natural Instinct – Small Beginnings

It’s been 2 weeks since the last update. A lot have happened in between. Last weekend I was in New York City for the Popfest that once again was a success thanks to Maz organizational skills and the great lineup he managed for this year. Highlights include Days, Go Sailor, The Motifs, Caucus and Persian Rugs, among the bands I haven’t seen before.  It was such a treat to have my two new 7″ releases being played lived. I was so thrilled. On top of that, the Caucus and Persian Rugs folks were as nice as I imagined them. Also it was great to see some familiar faces from Europe that came all the way to play at Popfest like The Felt Tips or The Sunny Street. They were charming.

On the American side of things, Tiny Fireflies were deliciously good. They should have played later I think, but I can understand that as it was their first gig ever they got the afternoon slot. But they were indeed a highlight. Kristine and Lisle are way too talented. Gold-Bears brought the nice and the photo booth to Popfest. They were just blazing through their set. Lots of energy, and attitude, something I haven’t seen since that one time I saw The Faintest Ideas live. Meeting friends was good too, seeing Jennifer again after just a couple of months, meeting Vernon who came all the way from Singapore, Ed from Shelflife, Scott from Summer Cats, Alex who never stopped dancing, Stephen who told me Cloudberry was the ‘music of the people’, and more that I’m probably forgetting. I hope at some point I can do a full review of the Popfest, but as I have promised reviewing each festival I attend, and seeing I have still lots to document from past events, I don’t see it happening soon. But bear with me.

Now on to Cloudberry updates. By now you should know that Persian Rugs and Caucus 7″s are out. And yesterday I sent to the pressing plant the masters for the Very Truly Yours single. Hopefully it will be ready for their UK tour in July. I plan joining them on their tour, probably to do their merch table or just carry instruments. Should be fun. I believe we are doing Manchester, Glasgow, and somewhere else. The single A side is called “Girls Tell You Secrets” and you can download it from the Cloudberry site. The B side is “Sleep with the Clouds” and is a precious slice of heartfelt pop!

The fanzine number 6 is almost ready. Finishing some articles for it this weekend and then proof reading. And also coming up is the Cloudberry Classics CD by The Deddingtons. It’s going to be fantastic! Oh! And there’s also another Cloudberry Classic release lined up, but I can’t tell you all yet! But trust me, it’s going to be really good. Quite obscure! And if we keep moving on, maybe around September/October, we’ll be looking into 7″s by Youngfuck and Nixon. Exciting times ahead!

This week’s recommended obscure band also comes from the same place as the last one: Wymondham College, in Norwich. They were called “June Recruits” and only released one 7″ on their own Mania Records (REC 1). The single included two tracks “Rape” and “And She Sells”, being the A side the true winner despite the “Rape” name. “And She Sells” is a rock song, so probably you won’t like it much, I don’t if I’m honest. But “Rape” is such a poptastic song that the single is worth just for that one song. But believe me, I’ve tried finding this record for a couple of years now, and only saw it once on Ebay. I lost the bid on the last second. I still have nightmares about that.

The band formed in the Spring Term of 1987 and was featured in the 1988 College Magazine.  Members were Antony Jones (vocals/rhythm guitar), Daniel Bates (lead guitar), Graham Jordan (bass guitar) and Jeremy Trett (drums).  They came second in the area finals of TSB Rock School and recorded several tracks that were sold on cassette and disc. Wonder what happened to these songs. Maybe there were more great pop gems like “Rape” among them?

As it is always the case, the information is scarce about the band. I do know that Daniel Bates and Graham Jordan before being in June Recruits were part of a band called Natural Instinct, who I will be covering on the next blog post. Promise. They had some great tunes!

The other piece of information I found comes from the Norwich Bands Wiki, it says:

Wymondham College band circa 1987 formed from the ashes of a sixth form band, Headed up by the larger than life character of Antony Jones, who could seriously belt out a song. They came second in the area finals of TSB Rockschool and produced one single on there own label, Mania Records on the prize money. They split around 1989, and formed The J.R. Hartleys

The J.R. Hartleys? Who is J.R. Hartley? Wikipedia to the rescue:

The fictional character appeared in television advertisements for British commercial telephone directory company Yellow Pages, first shown in 1983. The character was played by the actor Norman Lumsden.The advertisement shows an elderly man asking in several second-hand bookshops (which are recognisably real shops in London’s Cecil Court) for “Fly Fishing by J. R. Hartley”. Every attempt fails, and the next scene shows him at home looking dejected. His daughter, sympathising, hands him the Yellow Pages; in the next scene he looks delighted as his end of a telephone conversation reveals that a shop has a copy of the book. He asks them to keep it for him. He responds at dictation speed to a question: ‘My name? Oh, yes, it’s J. R. Hartley.’ The advertisement ends by promoting the Yellow Pages.

According to the Norwich Bands Wiki, The J.R. Hartleys released 2 demo tapes, both recorded at Purple Studios, and knocked out some fairly respectable Jangly Pop circa 1990, They split when Tony went to University to study something that involved going to Mongolia. Wow! Jangly Pop! I’d love to listen to these demo tapes if possible!

There is also a post by Jeremy Trett on the Wymondham College bands page where he expresses his wish to get back in touch with his former band-mates. It reads: “We were at College from 1986 to 1988. The other members were: Tony Jones, Dan Bates and Graham Jordan. I lost contact some 19 years ago!”. He left an email there as well. I wrote him maybe around a year ago but no response sadly.

And that’s all I’ve been able to gather. Again if anyone knows the whereabouts of the band members, or has access to their several recordings, or even stuff from the J.R. Hartleys, please share! Let’s solve the mystery behind the June Recruits!

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June Recruits – Rape

Can’t believe it’s been 10 days since I last updated the blog. These have been very busy days and it doesn’t look as it’s getting less busy at all. Last weekend I was out of town in San Antonio, Texas, and the next week I’m off to NYC for the Popfest, for some days of indiepop fun with friends and to clear up my mind which I really need badly.

On the Cloudberry news side, this upcoming week, May 17th to be exact, I’ll have two new records out. One by Japan’s Caucus and the other by Canada’s Persian Rugs. Both are truly fantastic! I’m very proud to release them. Both bands will be playing at the NYC Popfest, so if you are around don’t miss them. We should have the singles for sale there too if you want to save postage.

And for the near future, I have some great things in store, today I got the masters for the Very Truly Yours 7″ (“Girls Tell You Secrets” and “Sleep in the Clouds”) and they sounding great! It should go to press next month so stay tuned to that! And if you were wondering when the next fanzine is out, it should be out in less than a month hopefully. I am just missing some interview answers and it should go to print in beautiful pink ink!

But, my few loyal readers, I know you come for some music recommendations as well, and after 10 days you may be feeling some heartache for having nothing to read. Just kidding. But seriously let’s try to rediscover a long lost, obscure band, that only recorded one fantastic 7″: Lawrence and the Comfortable Society.

The band was formed by Leigh Gracie on vocals and guitars, Nick Hardy on guitar, Jeff Powell on bass, Sara Dimmer on keyboards and Chris Wyatt on drums. All songs written by Gracie. I’m not sure from where exactly in the UK the band members were from but they definitely have ties with Norfolk as they attended Wymondham College, a state boarding school, that is a specialist Technology College (Mathematics, Science, ICT & DT) and also a Modern Foreign Languages college.

They only released that one 7″, with “Sleeper” on the A side and “Heartache” on the B side. My favourite is “Heartache”, which is such a great soulful indiepop tune! It has heartfelt lyrics, a great chiming guitar and a beautiful keyboard atmosphere. Such a song! Should be in the next Leamington Spa CD I say! The A side, “Sleeper”, is really nice as well, with it’s jazzy edge. Both songs were Overall a great single that is so rare to come by! And any information about them is also very hard to come by!

The only other information online that I could find comes from the “Remember Wymondham College” website and I’d like to copy here. Definitely check out their site as there are scans and MP3s for both songs on the 7″.

“Interesting that you should have a focus on Lawrence and the Comfortable Society this time around. I remember sitting in the audience of the Mair Cup watching them perform. They were electric and put on an event that showed that they had real magic about them. Lawrence was dynamic and a real entertainer that night. He certainly knew how to woo a crowd and demonstrated that he had the knack to go very far in the entertainment world…. well, I thought so at the time. The students enjoyed the event and I recall that I, as a member of staff, had to contain my enthusiasm for his performance so as to retain a dignified perspective…. but I wanted to rock with band.

It may be of interest to you that I still have the single that the group produced and I wondered if you would like borrow it so as it could be downloaded from the site. It that possible? It’s in vinyl form and I do not have the technology to convert it into a MP3 format. The A side is called ‘Sleeper’ and the B side is called ‘Heartache’. On the back cover it has the following credits:

On the label it says (c) Liegh Gracie (not my typo; that’s what it says) Producer: Howard T.”
Cliff Martin

Leigh Gracie is at present with Speedometer (http://www.speedometer-funk.co.uk/). We received this from an old friend of his:

“Leigh Gracie and myself renewed contact a couple of years ago, and on the back of this I came along to see his funk band Speedometer in London last autumn. A great band, but what transpired after they had played 3 or 4 tracks bears testament to the popularity of his earlier outfit – Lawrence & The Comfortable Society. Slowly – and initially almost inaudibly – you could hear people beginning to chant: “Lawrence, Lawrence, Lawrence”. Speedometer played on for a couple more songs, but in the end the chanting for Lawrence grew impossible to ignore. Leigh laughed and said “OK guys, let’s give them what they want!”, and the band proceeded to knock out a 50-minute set of old Lawrence & The Comfortable Society numbers! The place went crazy; I’ve never seen so many people dancing. Leigh admitted afterwards that he was surprised at the popularity of his old songs, but it had been exhilarating to play them again. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a full-blown reunion!” Mark Fox

So will that full-blown reunion happen some day? Were there any more recordings than just this two songs? Why didn’t they get to release more songs? Maybe they put something on compilations? Who was Lawrence? Who were the Comfortable Society? Did they gig a lot? So many questions and no one to answer. I wonder if anyone has more information! Would be great to get in touch with the members for an interview as well! Hope you enjoy!

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Lawrence and the Comfortable Society – Heartache

Ready for some basic grammar?

A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be the same thing that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The definite article in English is the.

Alright, that wasn’t that interesting. Hope I didn’t lose you there. This is a very short post as there is absolutely nothing at all about a band called The Definite Article. I only know this one song called “Six Foot Two and Real” that was also on this compilation Satomi from the Twee Grrrls club sent me. A compilation that has proven to be a box full of fantastic indiepop gems. Anyhow this song is great! A bit like Nine Steps to Ugly, or The Penny Candles, or The Snowbirds, you know the drill. So most probably, I’d guess, they were English. Worst case scenario they were British. This doesn’t sound American at all.

The sound of the mp3 is not the best but I think I can recognize the needle over vinyl. So perhaps this appeared on some sort of compilation LP? Or they had their own release? It’s quite a mystery to me!

A quick search on google to see who is or was six foot two tells me that that dear Holden Caulfield was that size. Well, six foot two and a half and not real. I wonder who they wrote this song for…

Enjoy the song, it’s GREAT! And if you have any information about The Definite Article please share.

EDIT: Uwe from Firestation Records has just told me: “They released a two track flexi-disc and appeared on the “Rund um die Welt” compilation tape. I believe that they put out some demotapes as well, although I only have one of them. The flexi disc contains “Bad as I am I’m better than you” and “Six foot two and real”, while the compilation tape has “Halfway Home”.

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The Definite Article – Six Foot Two and Real