The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B♭ (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most often used by players in professional orchestras and bands, although the descant and triple horn have become increasingly popular. A musician who plays a horn is known as a horn player or hornist.

A few days ago I got a request to look into the Florida early 2000s band The French Horns. And of course, I said yes.

This band featured Jeremy from the Gold-Bears at some point. So I was familiar with them. Josh Ney from Crush 22 and Brittle Stars was also in the band. Maybe I should have contacted them first to get a first-hand account, but at the same time I enjoy doing the investigative work.

I guess it won’t be that difficult to find information about the Gainesville based band. There’s a website and a Soundcloud. But let’s see what interesting details we can find.

The band didn’t release many songs. There was a CDR from 2003, self-released, that was called “Measurably Sweeter”. This CD had songs by The French Songs but also by other projects even though on the sleeve it only says The French Horns.

The French Horns had 6 songs, “Sundays Wasted”, “She May Turn Around” (this one was written by Karen Paris and originally performed by her band The Innocence Mission), “Amy L”, “Starting to Be It”, “Forty Five” and “Begin”. Then there’s a an “Untitled” song listed to no artist. Afterwards we find five songs by MrClay, “Everything That We Could Need”, “Rachel”, “Plans for Tomorrow”, “Run Away” and “Untitled”. And lastly a version of “Amy L” by The Gun Show.

MrClay was the 1996-1998 solo project of Steve Clay, one of the members of The French Horns. The Gun Show? I believe it was another member of the band, Dan Francke.

The French Horns songs in this record were performed by Dan Francke, Jefff Wood, Josh Ney and Steve Clay. They were recorded in July 2003 at 307 House of Fun and Excitement. What was this place? Maybe their own house?

A little other interesting tidbit that I find is that originally 100 copies were made of this CDR: “100 of these were frantically duplicated and packaged (hand-crafted envelopes with beautiful red stitching by Tanya) the day before a trip to San Francisco. We planned to give them all out at the 2003 Pop Holiday music festival, but ended up saving most of them for friends.”

More copies, not sure how many more, would be made, and these would feature two stickers and no stitching.

The band would contribute songs to four compilations. In 2004 their song “45” would appear on “Clouds and Balloons, Vol. 1 – The Search for Skull Island” a CDR comp released by Asaurus Records (ASA035). The next year their song “Starting to Be It” would fly to Spain to appear on Rafa Skam’s CDR compilation “El Planeta Amarillo #7 Marte”. 2005 would also see “Brighter Now” on “Notes from Claire”, a CD compilation released by the Florida label Clairerecords (FERN 050).

Lastly in 2008 they would have “Think of Rain” on the compilation 7″ “Gainesville Pop Mayhem”. I wrote about this comp when I wrote about Citra Super. This record was released for the first edition of this festival that happened on May 7 to the 11th of 2008. “Think of Rain” was actually a cover of Margo Guryan.

Another important thing to mention is the bands the members had been involved with. Steve Clay had been in Brittle Stars and also in three solo-projects, Handclaps & Fingersnaps, I Love You and MrClay. Joshua Ney was in Brittle Stars, Crush 22 and Nervous Systems. Jefff Wood was in Lame Drivers and Get Him Eat Him.

The French Horns were active between 2003 and 2005. Other band members that were in the band were Dan McCoy, Juliet Sy, Brian Lee, Jesse Long and Jeremy Underwood. Seems the lineup changed quite a bit.

On the website there’s a lot of interesting bits. For example that Dan left the band in 2003 when he moved to Philadelphia. They were supposed to play the New England Popfest in 2005 but it seems there was some band drama and it didn’t happen.

But, there is a whole list of shows the band played. Venues they played include Common Grounds, Wayward Council. Civic Media Center, The Atlantic, Faces, The Shamrock, The Beta Bar in Tallahassee and Little Kins in Athens, Georgia (for the 2005 Athens Popfest). They shared the bill with many bands including Nervous Systems, The Beat Buttons, Human Television, Kill Spiders. Tracy Shedd, Men’s Shoes, Zumm Zumm, Elf Power, Duck Church, The Boy and The Knife, Lyndon, Laura Minor, Scum of the Earth, Liger, The Soft Targets, Sarah Tobing, Langry and Pet Monument.

The French Horns EP is on Soundcloud, but there are many more songs there too. For example “Surest Thing (with Slavagoh)“. This was a 2005 demo Steve put together. You can read the story behind this track here.

Other songs include “I Miss Monograph“, “Modem it to Me“, “Whistle“, “20140118 152305“, “Andy Oh Andy“, “Bad Library“, a cover of Moose’s “This River Never Will Run Dry“, “Junk“, “Plissken Love Theme“, “A Little Time Alone” (where Steve sampled from Meters and piano from Petula Clark), “123 Waltz“, “Scale Exercise in D“, “Scrappy demo“, “Ken Burns“, “Bedazzled (Mancini-ed)” (where he reworks the song “Bedazzled” from the 1967 movie), “Waltz for Ben“, “Sludge“, “Shing“, “Synthpop Lullaby (instrumental)” (this demo would turn to be “Plissken Love Theme”), “Modem it to Me (demo 1)“, a cover of “Come On” by the Lilys, “Engineer“, “Brighter Now“, “Work in Progress: ‘C7’“, “For Stevie“, “Big Chandelier Took My Baby“, “70s SF Cop Show Theme“, “The Saloon Sleeps“, “The American Sixth“, “July 4 Starter Theme”, “Tensions in B“, “RPT2“, “April 24 2012 Scratch Demo” and “Everything That We could Need“.

The quality and the stage of being finished of these songs vary a lot. Many are instrumentals too. But it is interesting to have a listen. To see this as a work in progress, a scrapbook of ideas and demo songs.

There were also live recordings, short clips, of the band playing “Brighter NBow” and “Surest Thing” at The Atlantic in November 2004.

Also their last gig which happened on September 2, 2005 at The Shamrock in Gainesville has been uploaded to Youtube. That night they played the following songs, “Plastic Guitars”, “Engineer”, “Brighter Now”, “Surest Things”, “She May Turn Around”, “Sundays Wasted”, “Think of Rain”, “Amy L” and “Starting to Be it”.

I don’t find much more info about them. It seems El Planeta Amarillo used to have an interview with the band but I can’t access it. Seems their website has been hacked.

It does feel that the Gainesville scene revolved around a few people that made wonderful music in the early 2000s. Would be good to get back into documenting that. I have only done an interview with Crush 22 but I think it’d be good to be able to find out more info straight from the source for many of the other bands.

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The French Horns – Amy L

Another Soundcloud find!

This one hailing from Liverpool, UK, and active during the 90s. They were called Mothership and let’s see what we can find out.

All of the songs were uploaded about a year ago by Max de Salis. I suppose he was one of the band members.

The first thing I notice is that there’s a photo of two band members. The first song I listen is called “Ascension” and is not exactly indiepop. But I find that the band was active between 1990 and 1998. This song in particular was recorded sometime between 91 and 92.

The next song I listen is “Funky Thing (live 1994)“. A live recording from 96 where the band includes a rendition to Grandmaster Flash. Still not indiepop.

“Wonderful Life (live 1994)” is also another funky track. Not exactly what I was looking for.

And then a string of recordings from 1991. These are the ones I like! It seems they were part of a tape titled “Good Times on the Mothership”. These songs sound influenced by Madchester for sure. They are “Beginning to End“, “Love This Way“, “Stride On“, “I’ve Got the Habit” and “Walk On Me“.

I guess that sound didn’t last long, in 1992 the band was recording R&B and soul tracks, “Funky Hell“, “Funking on Through“, “Ascension“, “Original Sin” and “Tribute“.

Also there are two sets of recordings at Crash Studios in Liverpool from 1996 and 1997.

I wonder why their sound changed so much. Were they trying to fit in a scene? Or they just loved all sort of music? Were they trying to get a record deal? I am a bit confused. For me the best tracks are the early ones, especially the song “Love this Way”.

Then one thing that confuses me. I find a professional bio for Dr Max de Salis. He is the director at the PDA Group since 2004.. He works in acoustic consulting and he has done this work, as well as research in the UK and Australia. He is actually a member of the Australian Acoustic Society and of thee UK Institute of Acoustics. Is he originally Australian? Did he move there in the 90s? I am curious about it. Sadly there is no mention of his music on this bio.

And that’s what I could find really. No information at all about the other band member. Who knows who he was? And yeah, did they had a following in Liverpool? Played much live?

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Mothership – Love this Way

A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairies.

Another discovery thanks to stoneeyedkiller and his superb Youtube channel where he/she discovers tons of obscure pop bands.

He had uploaded the song “Harbour Town” by the British band The Changelings. The song dating from 1989. That’s all the information he gives us. But is there more? Let’s try to find out.

There is a Soundcloud account. There’s a name too, Tony Howell. Was he part of the band?

Then I find that “Harbour Town” was actually a bedroom recording. Not recorded at a studio. There are a few more of the same quality and from the same year. Probably the same home. These songs are “This is the Place” and “Take a Walk Outside“.

The band seems to have hailed from Bristol. Or close to Bristol. They played the legendary Tropic Club in Bristol on April 12 of 1990. There is a recording of their song “Mad” that night.

“It’s Al Up to Me” is another live recording. This time at a place called Moles in Bath. That’s sort of close to Bristol, right? The date of this recording is July 2, 1991.

There is also one more recording here, “Rainbows“. This one was recorded in 1989 at the BBC. Was it what? From a radio show? I don’t think it was a session, right?

All songs sound fantastic. It makes me wonder why they didn’t release any records. The good thing, I think, is that I have a few readers from the Bristol area that might remember them.

From my different searches I think there might be a recording of the band playing at “First Cut” in 1990. At least it looks something like that existed on Youtube in the past. Was this a TV programme perhaps?

The entirety of the songs on Soundcloud were uploaded 12 years ago. And then silence. Would be good to find out what are they up to now. And of course if there are more recordings! I’d love to hear more by The Changelings.

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The Changelings – Harbour Town

Another Spanish band on the blog. But this time I know there won’t be information about this group.

I think Cyber Ye-Ye is more of a rarity. They released one 7″ called “Internet” in 1999 on Elefant Records (ER-203). I don’t know if at the time there were plans for them to release more records or not. Truth is the 3 songs on the 7″ are all we know about them.

“Internet”, “El Teléfono Corté” and “Fan Da-Da” were the three songs on this obscure record. A curiosity. That’s what I would call this release. The song “Internet” has lyrics that today sound very dated. The Internet was a different thing back in 1999 obviously.

“El Tel´éfono Corté” is actually a cover of Françoise Hardy’s “J’ai Coupé le Téléphone.”

Elefant Records has a bio on their website, but the bio is a bit of a joke. Doesn’t say much. Says that the band was formed by an interstellar duo that is lost in space since 1969. This is very unhelpful. I hate these bios. Siesta Records also used to do the same thing. Why! Is it a Spanish thing? I don’t think this is a trend anymore though.

Then I find a promo video for the song “Internet” created by David Farran de Mora. I don’t know if this was an official video. But it does give me two interesting details. David wrote the lyrics. Also it mentions that the music was by Luis del Campo. Now we have the band members names. Also was the vocalist Paco Clavel? The same video, but a version that was uploaded earlier, by David seems to say that. Clavel, for those who don’t know, is an artist well known since the early 80s when he was part of the Movida Madrileña underground scene.

It seems David is a writer, journalist and artist. He has written for GQ, Vanity, Traveler and more. It seems he works in New York and Madrid.

Luis del Campo seems hard to track down. I wonder where he is.

The thing is, I can’t seem to find more music by them. Again, I think this rec cord was a curiosity, a fun project, that lasted what it had to last and was lucky to get their songs released by Elefant. But what if I’m wrong? What if they had more recordings, played gigs, and so on? Who would know?

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Cyber Ye-Ye – Internet

A long time ago I interviewed Andrew Withycombe about Hydroplane. I did this interview through Bart Cummings, who sent him my questions and then shared with me the answers. So yeah, I’m not really in touch with Andrew. So I don’t know much about The Hanshalf Trio, a band he was involved before being in Hydroplane. I just thought I should look into it now, as it picked my curiosity once again.

I don’t know if the band was actually a trio. I see many names involved in the project. I do think the main driving force was Michael Nichols who would later be in Blairmailer and Crabstick as well as releasing a couple of records on 555 Recordings in the late 90s.

The band mostly released records on the legendary label Toytown. This label was a cassette label from Melbourne that was active from 1988 to 1998. It was run by Wayne Davidson.

The first release by the band was “The Four Elephants” album in 1988. It was on tape and had catalogue number TOY 6. Mike Nichols was on guitar and vocals, Geoff Nees (Cinnamon Boots, Ruff Ruff) on cello and vocals, Kim Lester (The Ampersands)  on drums and vocals, Wayne Davidson (from Toytown label and also from 202 Abercrombies, Horselephant, Stinky Fire Engine, The Wash Daddles, Mary in the Trees, Sooty’s Disco Without Legs, Lolly Plop & The Fatty Egg) on piano and organ and Jo Barter on vocals. From the liner notes the trio was Kim, Geoff and Michael. A Sibil is credited for guitar on “Collage of Love” and a Jamie for his tambourine work.

The songs on this album were 10, 5 on each side: “As Seen Through a Tambourine”, “The Man Who Once Was a Clown”, “And He Wore…”, “Underpants”, “Collage of Love”, “Reany Geia”, “The Ballad of the Man Who Was Once a Clown”, “Shame!”, “Bring Flowers Part III” and “Anybody Here Want to Buy Some Cabbage?”.

In 1989 the band releases their second tape album, “Fashion Colours” TOY4. This is a bit confusing to me. Catalog number is lower than the 1988 release. Maybe the years are wrong on Discogs? Anyone would know?

In any case the band releases 10 songs, 5 on each side: “Andy’s Coat”, “The Story of the Girl…”, “Make Mine Mink”, “Madeleine”, “Patsi Song” (this song written by Ken Leftner), “Beautiful Strangers”, “Guardian Devil”, “Richmond’s Economy”, “Bring Flowers (Part II)”, “(1/2) Hours of Weakness”.

On this record we find some lineup changes. Daryl Conway is now the bassist, vocalist, guitarist. And of course Mike Nichols plays guitar, vocals and drums. They have some special guests too. Michelle Bennet on vocals on the eighth and tenth song as well as percussion throughout the record. Wayne Davidson on keyboards on the second and third. Paul Ghuan on raunchy guitar on the third track. Vic “The Tugboat” Hartfree played on the sixth and eight. Aroha Greenaway plays violin on the sixth as well as vocals on the opening track. Leonie Hutchinson played percussion on the record and Ken Leftner played drums and vocals. Wayne was the producer.

In 1992 the band releases a new tape album, “Serenading Clogs with Daniel”. This was released by Frock Productions (KAT 9). This label was based in Sydney and was run by the great David Nichols (from the Distant Violins fanzine, and tons of bands). On this record the band was Michael Nichols and, remember I mentioned him before, Andrew Withycombe. It is true though that Geoff Nees contributed again, this time with vocals on the song “Bring Flowers”.

The songs are nine on this tape: “Only Missing You” (a cover from Daniel Johnston), “Bring Flowers (Part 5)”, “It’s Funny”, “Swallow”, “Uncrushworthy” (a cover of Courtney Love – Lois Maffeo’s band), “‘The Place’ Revisited”, “End?”, “More Dead than Alive” (another Daniel Johnston cover) and “Clogs”. All the songs had been recorded on February 23, 1992, in Brunswick, by Andrew, but “Bring Flowers” which was recorded in January 1990 in Mentone.

In 1992 the band releases their first bit of plastic, a 7″ vinyl, on Little Teddy Recordings from Germany. “Cilla Black’s Farewell to the Nineties” EP (LiTe705) was the title of the record that again had Mike Nichols on guitar and vocals, Andrew Withycombe on bass and vocals and now Bart Cummings from The Cat’s Miaow on drums and vocals. On this record we find “The Organ Solo Song” and “I’m Sick of Being Burned (Parts I and II)” on the A side and “That’s What I’m For” and “Clogs” on the B side.

The band also contributed some songs to compilations. In 1989 they had the song “Renee Geyer” on the cassette compilation “Jiving in Ljublijana – le hits du Zeeeeen” released by You’re Standing on My Hula Hoop Productions (HOOPLA 13). I am not familiar with this label nor the compilation. I’m very curious as i don’t know most of the bands (the only familiar name is Stinky Fire Engine). Also worth mentioning that Renee Geyer aside from being the song title was an Australian singer that died earlier this year.

In 1993 the band has “Cold Hard World” on the 7″ compilation “A Tribute to Daniel Johnston Vol. 1” released by Little Teddy (LiTe707). They have the fourth and last song on the record after the TVPs, The Bartlebees and Wimp Factor 14.

On Toytown’s cassette comp “Yummy!” (TOY32) the band contributed the song “As Seen Through a Tambourine”. This sampler comp came out in 1994.

Lastly in 2001, Little Teddy includes them on “Woosh! Little Teddy Recordings 1991-2001” a CD compilation featuring the label’s bands. On it The Hanshalf Trio has the song “That’s What I’m For”.

Sadly I can’t find more information about this Australian band. Maybe, some of my friends from down under remember them. Could let me know if they played live often. What years were they active. Are there more releases. Unreleased songs? Any information would be great to have!

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The Hanshalf Trio – Bring Flowers Part III

Let’s head to Ottawa, Canada today. Here’s an 80s band that sounds just like you’d expect a jangly band of the 80s. They were called The Crowd Theory and 8 years ago they uploaded a handful of songs to Soundcloud.

The songs date from 1988 to 1989. There’s a photo of the band which is helpful. It was a trio formed by Chris Robinson, Chantelle Williams and Ahenk Ozakpinar. Two guys, one girl.

“Colour” and “Young-Adult Novel”, are two songs from 1989. Then there are two live recordings from 1988, “Greatest Passion Inside” and “Evergreen with Envy”. And lastly there’s “Beau Tie” which doesn’t have a date.

What else have I found. I know that Ahenk was also in another band called Moral Rage. He has also been playing bass on Comfortably Numb, a Pink Floyd tribute band. From what I understand he is originally from Istanbul, Turkey. I also believe he sometimes works as a soccer referee. Can someone confirm this last info?!

Other than that I couldn’t find more info about the band. I wonder if these songs were part of a demo tape. If they recorded more would be good to know more. No releases I guess.

Anyhow, maybe we get lucky and someone remembers them. You know what to do if you have info, share it in the comments section!

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The Crowd Theory – Colour

2010, Barcelona. That was the first time we heard of a band called ¡Pelea!

¡Pelea! which means “Fight!” was formed by Ignacio “El Ortiga” Estrada-Nora on drums and vocals, Txuso Fernández on bass and vocals, Marçal Forés on guitar and vocals, Xabel Ferreiro on guitar and vocals and Olatz Azcona on vocals and harmonica.

I am not sure when did they form. Was it that 2010? What we do now is that in that year they released a self-titled tape EP, a co-release by the labels the excellent Discos Walden (DW04) founded by Manu Moreno in Madrid and Comissio de Festes Menors.

The songs on the “¡Pelea!” cassette were recorded in February of 2010, in Barcelona, with the help of Jordi González (from Corte Moderno, Cotolengo, Kou Keri Kou, Los Tesoros, Germán Carrascosa y la Alegría del Barrio, Kana Kapoila, Brainf•ck, J.G.G.)  and Pablo Garrido Zújar, also known as Pablo Kapila as he had been in the band Kana Kapila (he was also part of Germán Carrascosa y la Alegría del Barrio and the superb Pacífico). Them two were also the producers.

The songs on this tape were “¡Pelea!”, “El Trabajo”, “Bombona y Farola” on the A side and “Disfraz de Cerdo”, “La Chica Más Guapa de Reus” and “Insoportable” on the B side. The tracks were recorded at the band’s rehearsal space in February of 2010.

Have the members of ¡Pelea! been in other bands? Asking as I’ve listed all the bands the producers were in…. well they have. Txuso was part of Son Bou. El Ortiga was in Corte Moderno, Cotolengo, Anticonceptivas, Germán Carrascosa y la Alegría del Barrio and also in Guay! Marçal was in Foés y Ferreiro but he is also known as a film director, especially thanks to the movies “Through My Window” and “Everlasting Love”. Xabel was on Kana Kapila, Corte Moderno, Germán Carrascosa y la Alegría del Barrio and Kou Keri Kou. Olatz was in Kou Keri Kou and Germán Carrascosa y la Alegría del Barrio. Right, a lot of the same bands. Clearly they’ve continued to being friends.

The song “Insportable” would be included in a CDR compilation called “Autoplacer” in 2010. It came with the Autoplacer fanzine.

2010 also sees the release of a split 7″ with the band Thelemáticos. ¡Pelea! contrributes two songs to the A side, “Bombona y Farola” and “El Trabajo”. Thelemáticos are on the B side with the song “El Hielo del Sur”. The release was put out by La Fonográfica General (LFG.45.0017). The songs were produced by Sergio Pérez García (who had been in tons of bands including Anticonceptivas, Thelemáticos, Pagasvs, Svper, Applied Asturias, and more. This was recorded at Maik Maier studios in Barcelona.

Cofradía de la Pirueta (CP 002), Gramaciones Grabofónicas (GRGR 014), Maravillosos Ruidos – Blizing Noize Records (BZNZ 009), three labels, would put together a self-titled ¡Pelea! 7″ EP in 2010. Four songs on this fine record, “¡Pelea!” and “En Madrid” on the A side and “El Americano” and “Dime Con Quién” on the B side. Again, recorded at Maik Maier.

The band then releases their album “¡Qué Éxito! / ¡Qué Felicidad!” in 2011. It is a co-release between Canada (CND005) and Gramaciones Grabofónicas (GRGR16). It is released as a vinyl only LP and includes 12 songs. “¡Qué Éxito!”, “Mi Disfraz de Cerdo”, “La Chica Más Guapa de Reus”, “Tirando Bombas sin Parar de Bailar”, “El Click-Clack” and “Insportable” on the A side and “¡Qué Felicidad!”, “Voy a Pudrirme en el Infierno”, “Lo Único que Quiero Ser en esta Vida es ser un Mono”, “El Mundo de las Ideas”, “La Cueva” and “¡Baila Con Pelea!” on the B side. The producer was, once again, Sergio Pérez García.

This record was recorded between the 6 and the 8th of March of 2011 at Maik Maier studios in Barcelona. It was mastered by Yves Roussel.

“Bombona y Farola” would also make an appearance on the soundtrack of the movie “Animals”. This soundtrack was released on vinyl (both black and yellow vinyl versions) in 2012 by Discos Walden (DW15), Gramaciones Grabofónicas (GRGR21), Maravillosos Ruidos, Glitter End and Cofradía de la Pirueta (CP09). Many labels! The soundtrack included other favourite bands of mine like Los Claveles, Los Ginkas, Bananas and Los Muebles.

The band has a Bandcamp with all of their recordings. There’s another release, another song. It is called “Cuanto Más Tenga”, and was included in a digital compilation ccalled “Doropaedia 9: Coleccionismo”.  This dates from 2010. The song was also recorded on April of that year in Maik Maier’s studio with Sergio García Pérez as the producer.

Their name is not very Google-friendly. Hard to track more information. But I do find a Flickr account for El Ortiga. There I find photos of the band as well as some flyers. We see that the band played the Sala Sidecar with the Thelemáticos and Diego García on April 9th of 2011 I think!

Another flyer shows that the band was going on a mini-tour with the band Arponera. And then another that mentions that the band had t-shirts for sale. Would have been nice to have one.

At Sala Apolo the band played along Hanoi Janes and Aias on June 19 of 2010. On January 30th of 2010 the band played with Los Claveles and Garrapateces at Heliogàbal.

I also find that they played in Madrid at the Sala Siroco supporting Los Claveles.

That’s what I could find out. I wonder why they stopped playing. I wonder why they didn’t release more records. Are there unreleased tracks? I know with Spanish bands is a bit trickier to get help as I’m writing this blog in English, but maybe, just maybe, someone remembers them?

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¡Pelea! – Mi Disfraz de Cerdo

Here is a superb find, a Bandcamp full of songs by this Chichester, UK, band that was active between 1990 and 1993.

There’s tons of great tracks here, inspired by the sound of The La’s or The Stone Roses. Let’s start in chronological order.

“…Give me the Happy +” is the title for a collection of 18 songs that were recorded between 1990 and 1991. These include “New Direction”, “Nightmare Ride”, “Bucket Bong Ant”, “Ribbons”, “Headstrong”, “Salvation (Version 1)”, “King Come Down”, “Light and Shade”, “Peggy Bottles”, “Blackberries”, “Banana”, “Breakdown”, “Fall”, “Drop of the Hat”, “Lately”, “The Rain (acoustic)”, “Parp Parp!” and “Salvation (Version 2)”. The release date says May 26, 1991.

From the photos available of the band it seems they were a five-piece. There are some names on Bandcamp, Si, Si, Greg & Gaz. They also mention Ted Tedman who passed away. Would these five be the ones behind The Violet Trade? We don’t get last names though. I do find a Twitter account by Peter Wood. That’s a different name. But he says that he was in The Violet Trade after being inspired by Andy Weatherall and Primal Scream.

The other name I find is that of Simon Parker. He must be one of the Si listed in Bandcamp. These days he lives in France and runs Vinyl Revolution, an online store and NAKED record club, the first eco-friendly vinyl record label. We also find that not only he was in The Violet Trade, he was also in the bands Fruit Machine, Colourburst, Lumina, Villareal and Lightning Dept. Even more interesting he released an autobiography in 2014 titled “Road to NowhereL Mishaps of an Indie Musician“. I can’t find a copy of it though, but would be nice to read it! The art for the book is really cool with lots of classic indiepop sleeves!

The 2nd collection encompasses the years 1992 to 1995. It is titled “Sold to the Man with no Ears +” and has 19 tracks: “Twelfth of Never”, “Heavenly Side”, “Shellcatcher”, “Velocity Street”, “Aqua Blur”, “String”, “Salvation (Flat Records Version)”, “Bad Day”, “Going Down the Shops”, “Velvet”, “All I Hear is Music”, “Girl Frenzy”, “Try to See Things My Way”, “Burning the Fields”, “Big Plum Tree”, “Things Will be Better in Summer”, “Undecided”, “Amoureuse (1995)” and “Bad Day (revisited 1995)”. This one has a release date, June 19, 1996. Was a version of this album released then?

Lastly there’s a live recordings album that has tracks from 1990 to 1993. It is titled “Doing the Upside Down” and has the following tracks: “Inspire (1990)”, “King Come Down (1990)”, “New Direction (1990)”, “Take the Skinheads Bowling (1990)”, “Cloud Sandwich (1990)”, “My Single Sock Collection (1992)”, “Meringue (1991)”, “String (1992)”, “Twelfth of Never (1992)”, “Fall (1990)”, “Another Love Song (1990)”, “Rabbit Stew (1990)”, “Ribbons (1990)”, “Breakdown (1990)”, “Bucket Bong Ant (1991)”, “Noah’s Ark (1990)”, “Banana (1992)”, “Something Put Somebody in My Drink (1990)”, “Limbo (1992)”, “…From Liverpool (1992)” and “The 1 I Love (1990)”. Tons of these songs seem to be only available live. Also I wonder why they say this collection is from 1990 to 1993 when none of the songs seems to have been recorded in 1993.

The only release the band has listed on Discogs is an appearance on a cassette compilation called “All Fun and Games” that was released by Asylum (CASS 001) in 1991. The songs the band contributed were “Pseudo” and “Elegy”. I notice I have investigated previously this tape as I’ve meant to write a post about The Losers who also appear on this tape. I wonder why I still haven’t written about them yet.

Would be good to find out if their songs were released in any form. Maybe as tape albums? Who would know?

What about playing live? Did they play many gigs?

I feel this band could have been signed to an indie label, or being a bit more known. Anyone remembers them?

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Listen
The Violet Trade – Nightmare Ride

Liam on vocals, Stuart Clarke on guitar, Den Brodie on bass and Dan Moody on drums. That was Genshi in the early 90s.

I actually tracked down Dan Moody’s Youtube account where he has uploaded a bunch of their tracks just a few weeks ago.

The first demo had four songs, “Electricity“, “Inside My Head” and “Left Behind” and “Flying“. The second demo had the songs “Last Day“, “Mouse“, “Choke You” and “Delay“.

The band continued releasing demo tapes. Sadly I can’t find when they were released. The third demo had again four songs, “Wish Away“, “Out of Place“, “Mystery Girl” and “All too Late“.

Demo number four had the songs “Face is the Window“, “Collide“, “Burn” and “Relief“. These are the names of the songs in the description area but “Burn” appears as “Just Pretend” and “Relief” as “Belief”. Liam, the vocalist, was no more at this point, Stuart Clarke doing guitar and vocals now.

A fifth demo also exists. This one had “A Thought of Somewhere“, “A Chance Meeting“, “Soul Frequency” and “Sassy“. At this point I see a lineup change, just Dan Moody on drums and Den Brodie on bass from the original lineup and it mentions they had a female vocalist. No name given.

On demo six we have a female vocalist with a name now, Anna. Stuart Clarke as guitarist is again credited. Five songs: “Headstrong“, “Long Gone“, “Alibi“, “Tide” and “Kick“.

Demo number seven! So many! This one four songs again, “You Don’t Need“, “Blue“, “Branded” and “Wish Away (Acoustic)“.

Then we find some more songs, three untitled tracks by Genshi. Instead these are collaborations, probably from more recent times, between Dan, Den and Stuart.

We also know that the band hailed from Surrey. Whereabouts? Not sure. I think they may have hailed from Epsom as there is a Soundcloud account by Dan Moody saying he is located there (at least now). Sadly there are no songs by this 90s band. Also I am not 100% sure the band was named Down Spin.

I know too that Dan is these days involved with the band Glow. And there in the about section I see that the band actually hailed from Croydon. Great! That’s a win.

Now the big mystery is if they were called Genshi of course. What confuses me is that stoneeyedkiller has uploaded the track “Mystery Girl” and credits the song to a band called Down Spin or Downspin, maybe that was the name of the band came after.

That’s what I found. What else can you guys add to this? Would be good to know a bit more about this mysterious band!

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Listen
Genshi – Mystery Girl

I don’t know who Paul Dreczko is. He has a Soundcloud account with a bunch of songs and what caught my attention was that there were a couple that were dated, 1986.

As that’s a year we all are very interested in indiepop I thought I would check them out. The first song I heard was “Taking it All”. I thought it sounded alright, but the one song I really enjoyed was “Magic Man”.

Interestingly enough when you see the little info added for “Taking it All” it actually says it was recorded in 1985, not 1986. It also mentions that the band hailed from Guildford in the UK. Oh yes, and that they were called Kameleon (if you missed the blog post title that is!).

We see a photo of three guys and a girl. All of them are posing with guitars, acoustic and electric.

“Magic Man” was recorded in April 1986, that one is dated correctly. The song was recorded at Catch 42 Studios in Godalming.

Then there are many songs Paul has uploaded. We notice that in the early 90s he was in a folk group 4 What It’s Worth and also in a band Nightshift.

Then I find a song that is also from Kamaleon! A third one. Maybe all three songs were part of a demo? This third song is called “Nice Boys”. Sadly there’s no details here.

But it seems there is a connection with Soundscene. Even though their songs are not on the WokingSoundscene Soundcloud there is an entry on their Facebook!

Here we find that the band was around from 1986 to 1987. That the band was formed by Keith Davies on guitar, Alex Marler on vocals, Paul Dreczko on keyboards and Rob Selway on bass.

They recorded one demo, so maybe I was right! This demo caught the attention of CBS and that gave them 11 hours at Catch 44 Studios (where they recorded “Magic Man”). With that master tape they went to London and met with Lincoln Elias, the A&R guy for CBS, but he didn’t sign them, he wanted something more commercial.

And that’s what I found about Kameleon. Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Tableaux Vivants – Don’t Trust the Luck / Born to Love?