A good weekend working on the fanzine and the MacGuffins compilation! Exciting times indeed! And that’s not all, there’s some great music discoveries and news too!

The Church Grims: what a song is “Plaster Saint”. The Church Grims were fantastic. And Firestation Records will be releasing on CD and vinyl “Yankee Mags” a new compilation of all their tracks. This is great news as the Egg Records release is quite hard to find these days! I’ve tried to interview them in the past, and I really hope it happens soon!

Rorschach: and this band I have interviewed in the past! Firestation will be releasing on CD the compilation album “Beautiful Ignorance”. On Soundcloud they are sharing one of the tracks that will be included, “Gabriel”, which you’ll see is terrific. This one can’t be missed. It will be out on March 27!

The Orchids: Firestation seems to be on a roll! The Berlin label will be re-releasing the album “The Lost Star” by the amazing Glasgow band The Orchids. What a band! This album came some years ago on Pebble Records. Actually 10 years ago! Time flies. I remember this as if it was yesterday. Firestation’s release will be on vinyl only.

Even as We Speak: Shelflife is another label that is back with great stuff. The news this time is that they will be releasing the legendary Australian’s this June. It will be an album and it will be called “Adelphi”. It will be a co-release with the Spanish label Discos de Kirlian. If you want to have a taster they have shared the song “Forgiving”.

Lake Ruth: this New York band sounds amazing. For a reason or another I still haven’t seen them live. You can only blame me. But there is good news, the Augsburg label Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten, who as you know has great taste, released a few days ago a 10″ vinyl EP called “Crying Everyone Else’s Tears”. It is one not to be missed!

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When you think of records produced by John Rivers, you probably think of The Pastels, Close Lobsters, The Brilliant Corners, and more. Great C86 bands. I was checking other records John produced and found one by a band called Tell Tale Hearts that came out in 1986. I had no clue about it. But the year and the producer was indicating me that I should investigate. So, I did.

Then I find out that the three songs on the 12″ record were recorded at Woodbine Studios in Leamington Spa. That must be a good thing, right? Mighty Mighty recorded there, the Jazz Butcher too. And Leamington Spa, well, we all know these compilations called “The Sound of Leamington Spa”. I must be in the right track. I am going to like their music.

The three songs on the 12″ single were “The Eight Till Late” on the A side and “Falling Down” and “Jingly Jangly Sperm” on the B side. So far I’ve only found the last track, “Jingly Jangly Sperm”, which does sound very good! I need to order a copy of the record. Are the other two songs as good?

The record was released by Edens Doorbell (EDD1), which seems to have been the band’s own label. There are no other releases listed.

Discogs lists them on a tape compilation called “The Perfect Squash Vol.2” that Evermore Music (EMC 004), from Northampton, put out. It doesn’t say the year though. The band appears on the B side, the last song, which is “All Men Are B#####s”. The only other band I recognize from this compilation is the Deep Freeze Mice. I believe the band Tall Tale Hearts also hailed from Northampton as there is a contact address on this tape’s sleeve.

I believe too that the band appeared on another tape compilation called “The Holy Bible” that Heartache Records from Rugby released back in the day. On this 1986 tape the band appeared with the song “Jingly Jangly Sperm”. Other bands in it include The Wedding Present, The Jazz Butcher and Spacemen 3.

I mention Spacemen 3 for a reason. You see Tall Tale Hearts was formed by Ade Rhodes on bass and vocals, Mark Refoy and Tim Sansom on guitar and vocals. The connection is of course that Mark Refoy was in Spacemen 3. He was also on Freelovebabies, Slipstream, Spiritualized, Syndromes, The Tempest and This Parade. First he supported many gigs of Spacemen 3 with his own Tell Tale Hearts throughout 1985-1986. Then he would join Spacemen 3 and played his first gig with them on July 20th, 1989 at the Imperial Pub in Rugby. Actually I suggest anyone reading this piece to check out an article about the Rugby scene written by Graham Holliday for Medium. Lots of interesting details of that time in there!

The photo I’m using for the post comes from the fanzine Cradle to the Grave. I wonder if anyone has this zine. If it has any more information about the band.

Something that is pretty obvious too is that they took their name from the famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart”.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is relayed by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator’s sanity while simultaneously describing a murder they committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy “vulture-eye”, as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering and hiding the body under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator’s feelings of guilt, or a mental disturbance, result in hearing a thumping sound, which the narrator interprets as the dead man’s beating heart.

I believe they had other songs, at least ones called “Avalanche” and “Home and Dry”. There was also at least two demo tapes by the band.

The only other interesting bit I found was that the band disbanded in 1987.

Lots of course written about Spacemen 3. But about Tell Tale Hearts next to nothing. But at least I have some sort of idea now. Now it is just a matter of finding a copy of the record, and hopefully someone can fill in the blanks. I’m sure someone remembers them? Were there more songs? Why just the one record?!

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Listen
Tell Tale Hearts – Jingly Jangly Sperm

A short post for Friday. Weekend is ahead and will be able to work on thee art for MacGuffins retrospective (exciting!) and finishing the fanzine too. I think the fanzine should be out by mid-April. I’ll keep you updated with any news!

In the meantime find some good new music here!

Lawnchair: this Long Beach, California, band already surprised me with their music just a few weeks ago. Now they have released a new song called “Recess” which is really good. Lo-fi indiepoptasticness!

Bez: this must be the first time that I feature a band from Poznan, Poland! This dreampop psychedelic band released a CD album last July and it was called “Bańki mydlane”. It has 8 songs of swirling guitars with the great vocals by Siasia Wylzynska. The band is also formed by Sebastian Olko on guitar and synths, Mateusz Gawinecki on guitar, Mikolaj Meller on bass and Filip Skitek on drums.

Frio: “Idem” is a two song single released by the German label Entes Anomico. Frio is the name of the Argentinean band that have written these songs. There is very little information about this release. But I must say that the song “Drama” is really good. Will it get released in a 7″? a tape? Again, no info. All very cryptic here!

яблоня: this Russian band from Moscow has already graced the blog in the past. Now they are back with a new song called “еврокафе ” which is a strange mix of synthwave and indiepop!

The Empty Shell: do not confuse them with the great Irish 80s band Empty Shell. This Indonesian band from Bandung adds “The” to their name and their style is very different. The 3 tracks from their debut EP “Faint Light” are proper dreampop/shoegaze. The songs are being released by Ocean Records I suppose just in digital platforms for now but soon there will be a 3″CD.

Hazy Sour Cherry: the London label Damnably will be releasing the album “Tour de Tokyo” on vinyl sometime this year. The band formed by Tsuzumi, Jun, Karin and Poppo Professor hail from Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. They are a fun effervescent pop combo. The 11 songs on the album are worth playing!

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Moon Boot is a snow boot brand first created as après-ski wear in the early 1970s by manufacturer Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello in Italy. They became a popular fad in the years following the Apollo 11 moon landing, and resurfaced as a retrofuturistic fashion trend in the early 2000s. They received additional exposure through the nerdy protagonist of the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite.[

A rush of ringing and chiming guitars and French vocals is what I got when I stumbled upon the track “J’aurais Préferé” by Les Moonboots. But who were they?

The song is a bit odd. It clocks 1:43 minutes, and around the minute mark, that beautiful rush of jangly guitars stop and comes a different guitar style. Mysterious indeed.

This song I found on Youtube, on my friend Heinz’s account. I would find that this song was included in a tape called “Quatre-quarts”, a compilation released by Le Tatou Colérique (C94) in 1994. I had previously talked a bit about this comp, as the band Les Fleurs were also showcased on it. But I couldn’t say much as there really is not much information about it, nor about the label. We do know though that Les Moonboots contributed 3 other songs to it, “Un Mauvais Moment”, “Je Suis Combié” and “Le Piongeoir”. 4 in total then. And aside from them, as I said Les Fleurs were on it but also Caramba Encore Raté and The Village.

According to Discogs this is the only compilation the band appeared on. Sadly there seems to be no other information about them. It’d be great to find who were behind this band, but that seems to be impossible. I guess I will need my French friends to help me with that! So yeah, any details please share them with me!

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Listen
Les Moonboots – J’aurais préféré

Quite busy days but managed some new indiepop finds from around the world!

Laveda: from Albany, the capital of the state of New York, comes this shoegaze girl/boy duo. The band will be releasing their debut album “What Happens After” on April 24. It will be available on vinyl and at this moment we can preview four tracks out of the 10 that will be in the album. These are “Ghost”, “Better Now”, “Dream. Sleep” and “if Only (You Said No)”.

Away Forward: now a dreampop band from Toronto. They also have an album and it is out now digitally. This album is called “Catching the Sun” and consists of 9 songs. And all are very nice! The fuzzy and sweet vocals come courtesy of Lisa Nighswander, Greg Chambers plays bass, Andrew McAllister guitar and Paul Boddum drums. Good stuff!

Smith Gardens: “Hugh’s Muse EP” is the latest release from this indiepop combo from Washington D.C. The band formed by Hunter on bass & keys, Niko on drums and Blake on vocals and guitar have been going since 2016 and I believe this is the first time I am listening to them! This new EP has four tracks of classic indiepop, 90s flavoured, and it is very enjoyable!

Girlatones: Meritorio Records from Madrid are picking up many great Australian bands. It is no surprise then that they’ve got Girlatones now in their roster. They will  be releasing a new album called “Horn if You’re Honky” on March 20th. it will have 10 poppy songs. How do I know that? Well, there are 3 songs we can preview on Bandcamp, “Respond to Love”, “Get to the End” and “Pop Stars”!

Go Get Mum: as I was saying, many Aussie bands are finding a home in Madrid’s Meritorio Records. Alvaro’s label is releasing a 12″ mini-album (or EP if you want), of 6 songs for this Adelaide band. We can preview 2 songs out of six, “Moving Day” and “Freeman”, both terrific!

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The term “billycart” originates from the Australian billygoat-pulled cart of the 1880s. Originally, a simple platform with four wheels and a moveable front steering column, the billycart was adapted to become a self-powered vehicle which children would race; the challenge being, to travel as fast and/or far as possible with the least initial momentum.

Two songs on the Candle Records compilation “Clippings” (CAN2501) from 1998 were the introduction to the lovely-sounding band Billycart. And I want to listen to more by them of course.

“Cherish” and “Mrs Kelly” appear on this CD alongside bands that are not that well known like Bowl-A-Rama, The Foots or Falcon 500. True, The Lucksmiths appear in it too, but they might be the only “household” name on this record. Both songs are credited to Patrick Woodward. Though he wasn’t alone in the band. The band was formed by Patrick and Kellie Sutherland. They were both recorded by Angus Kinston who had worked in other Candle Records compilations.

We also know that on “Cherish” Patrick Woodward got the help from Darren Hanlon and Ryan James. Darren Hanlon of course had been in The Simpletons who also appear on this compilation. He is more famous through his solo work I believe, releasing many records in this century. Ryan James in the other hand was also on The Simpletons but also in The Mabels, another band that appears on this record. It seems it was a small scene where everyone was playing in each other band.

Kellie Sutherland. She would later be much more known through the band Architecture in Helsinki. According to an article on the website The Age, Billycart was based in Sydney, and one weekend in 1997, the band went to play to Melbourne. She loved the city. Then she started going back all the time, and eventually, thanks to knowing clarinet, an instrument she taught herself by duplicating the parts on a record by the indiepop band Kissing Book from Portland, she ended up joining Architecture in Helsinki. I suppose Billycart was over then.

I couldn’t find out what happened to Patrick Woodward. Did he continue making music in other bands? Would be great to know. In any case I’d love to find out more about Billycart. If they by any chance recorded more songs. What I’ve heard, I really liked!

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Listen
Billycart – Cherish

This weekend I put the final touches to the fanzine. I should be printing it the next week!

Music finds too of course. Sharing them with you now!

Cold Beat: we know them as one of the best bands in the US and so it is great to see them back again with a new album. It is called “Mother” and it will be released on CD and vinyl on February 28th! It sounds as you can expect from them, great melodies, pop sensibilities mixed with post punk attitude. 10 songs which you can preview already on Bandcamp!

Fragile Animals: this shoegaze band from Brisbane has just released a new digital single called “Only Until It’s Over”. It is a very nice dreamy song with girl vocals. The lyrics are posted on the Bandcamp for singing along!

Pop at Summer: I love this Bandung, Indonesia, band. They make shiny sunny pop! I once worked with them in the past, including them in a compilation. Many years ago. I can’t help to be happy to see that they have just released a new song called “Sunny Day Parade”. Play it on repeat!

Zoo Gazer: the Xuzhou, China, band has just released a new 5 song EP titled “Hiding in your Room”. I have heard this cool band that loves classy and elegant pop before. The five-piece have crafted here a very good record, but sadly is only available digitally. Maybe some of the very good indiepop labels in China will pick them up?!

Un Día Soleado: this is a very interesting cover of Another Sunny Day’s (the band is actually named after the classic Sarah band) “I’m in Love With a Girl Who Doesn’t Know I Exist”. It comes all the way from Argentina and is a true mystery. The band is based in Viedma, Río Negro, and they are on the Hikikomori Discos label!

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You know that lately I’ve been checking out a bunch of Japanese indiepop bands. I love them. It is also true that I don’t own many of their records, which is a shame. I should try to catch up. For example, the album and 7″ Dizzy Joghurt released would be great. I’d love them to be part of my collection. Not only that. I’d love to find more information about them. Possibly interview them. Their music was fantastic and I belive they deserve to get some attention. Not that I think my blog is read by millions of people, but still some do!

Oddly enough the first release by this Japanese indiepop combo was their album. It was titled “Inside Out Upside Down” and was released by the fine K.O.G.A. Records (K.O.G.A. 042). It was released on both vinyl LP and CD and included 14 top tracks: “Nonsense is Good”, “Maria”, “All the Way”, “Not All Are Need”, “Sunday Girl”, “Get Back to Smile”, “Weekend”, “Do As You Like”, “Wake Up”, “Plastic Drop”, “He Versus My Mind”, “Here Come all the Shine”, “Terminal” and “Anorak Co-La Mix-Version”.

The next year, 1999, they would release the “Dizzy Joghurt Theme” EP. It came out on 7″ vinyl and also as a CDEP. It was released by K.O.G.A. as well (K.O.G.A. 070). For those that have the 7″, you’d know that it came with three songs “Dizzy Joghurt Theme”, “Over Again” and “Rainy Sunday is Over”. The first was on the A side while the other two were on the B side.

The CDEP version had a different tracklist. So, yes, “Dizzy Joghurt Theme” was first, but then we find “How Do You Do It?” and “In My Eyelid”, and then in reverse order there’s “Rainy Sunday Is Over” and “Over Again”.

There’s a scan on Discogs of the 7″. It is very low-res but I think I can figure out the band members. They were
Hitomi & Kanako – vocals guitar, tambourine and keyboard
Makoto Otsuru – bass, backing vocals
Hirokazu Ohashi – drums, percussion
Mikoto Akutsu – guitar

“Dizzy Joghurt Theme” and “Over Again” are credited to Hitomi & Kanako while “Rainy Sunday is Over” to Hirokazu Ohashi. We know the band produced these three songs. Then I find a scan on Amazon (of all places!) of the CDEP back sleeve. Thanks to this I know that “In My Eyelid” was penned by Hitomi & Kanako, but most importantly that “How Do You Do it?” is actually a cover of The Impossible’s original! Wow! I wrote about The Impossibles on the blog a year or so ago I believe!

All songs on the EP were recorded and mixed at Rinky Dink Studio in February 1999. They were produced by the band and they were engineered and mixed by Tsutomu Oikawa. They were mastered at AST studio by Hikari Mitsufuji. The art for the sleeve is credited to Akiko Ito and the design to Kanako Matsuzawa.

Happily the band recorded more songs and they lie scattered among various compilations.

The first one dates from 1996 and it was a 7″ compilation called “Anorak Must! 2”, what a great title! This record was released by 15 MINS P.F. (FIFII-005). The band contributed the song “You’ll See, Take Your Time”. That same year the band contributed one of their best songs, “Anorak Co-la” to the “Anorak Must! 3” flexi compilation! This was also released by 15 MINS P.F. (FIFII-006).

In 1997 they had their song “You’ll See, Take Your Time” on the compilation “Dave Parasite Presents… Japan Punk Kills You!” which was released on CD by the American Pop Project (AmPop 201CD). Then again on the 4th of the Anorak Must series, “Anorak Must! 4”, which was now released on tape by 15 MINS P.F. (FIF2-008). They had the song “Not All Are Need” on this one.

Then in 1998 the band had their song “Here Comes All the Shine” on a CD comp that accompanied the well-known Indies Magazine on it’s 16th issue. The CD was just named like that, “Indies Magazine Vol. 16”. This was released by Rittor Music (ICB-016). That same year their song “Nonsense is Good” appears on the American compilation “Pure Spun Sugar” released by Candy Floss (CF-017) and the American Pop Project (AmPop 201).

Lastly in 2003 the band contributed two songs to a very good compilation called “Good Girls Don’t! (K.O.G.A. Records 10th Anniversary Compilation Album Vol. 1)”. (KOGA 159). To this CD comp the band contributed two songs, “Nonsense is Good” and “Dizzy Joghurt Theme”. There are many great bands on this record, I hope to cover many of them in the future.

Interestingly it seems Hitomi & Kanako did solo recordings later on, appearing on compilations like “Ring Her Bell!!!”, “Indies Magazine Vol. 44” and “Flowers Are Go! Vol.4 – Under Flower Records Sampler”. Not sure about the other members. Were they involved in other bands?

Not much more information about them. I wonder why they spelled Joghurt that way. Why they didn’t release more records. What are the band members doing now. From where in Japan were they from. And many more questions I’d love to ask them. So I ask you all, help me! Would be great to know more about them!

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Listen
Dizzy Joghurt – Anorak Co-La

Last post for the week! Here are some great new finds!

Pale Lights: “You and I” is the newest song by the Brooklyn band and it sounds amazing! This song will be included in a 7″ that is part of the Slumberland 30 anniversary Singles Series. The other song that will be included is called “Say You’ll be the One”. This is sounding great. I wonder why there hasn’t been a Pale Lights 7″ on Cloudberry!

Odd Hope: another new song Slumberland has unveiled is “All the Things” by this Oakland, California, one-man band. This one will also be part of the singles series and on the flipside we’ll find “What’s Your Part of It?”. As with Pale Lights we can only listen to the A side for now.

The Leave Me Alones: another Oakland band to have in our radar! The band has a new EP out called “Race to the Bottom” which has 5 songs. It seems to be digital only for now though there looks to be art for a cassette. Who’d know! The songs are short and punchy, punky pop with girl vocals. Terrific!

The King in Mirrors: the great Swindon band, the best Swindon band, is back with a 10 song album called “Wasting Precious Time”, The album is available now digitally and if you like jangly indiepop songs, this is definitely for you. Now I hope there is a physical version of this album! Great to see them back!

Turks & Caicos: the Indonesian dreampop band are getting a CD release of their EP “Bad Situation” on Jigsaw Records and that’s good news. Bedroom electronic pop, moody. Chris from Jigsaw describes them as a Nixon covering The Radio Dept. That sounds about right!

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Back in 1995 a tape called “The Taming of the Stew” was released by Does This Work? (DTW 16). It wasn’t the first nor the last tape they put out. They had been putting indiepop compilations for not long though. According to Discogds “Death of an Anorak”, the 2nd tape the label released, also came out in 1995. The 20th one, “Nine Month Summer”, came out in 1995 too. They were on a roll!

Of course I haven’t listened to these tapes. It would be great to do so. I think there are many superb bands in there to discover. Maybe little by little that’ll happen. People will be sharing some of these songs. Thanks to my friend Heinz, I ended up discovering That Man There, who appeared on “The Taming of the Stew” tape. And the one song I heard, “Gorgeous You”, have made me want to listen to more of their songs.

That is not the only song they contributed to this cassette, they had “Smile My Way Again” on the A side. “Gorgeous You” appeared on the B side. And it was not the only Does This Work? compilation they graced with their songs.

On “The DTW? Summer Showcase!” (DTW 05) they had 5 songs on the B side! They were “I Don’t Care”, “Dreaming”, “How Would You Feel?”, “Outside” and “Purity”. On this tape they appear alongside top names like The Rileys, The Haywains or Velodrome 2000. Then, that same year, 1995, they had the song “The Bubble” on the Does This Work? compilation “Go Go Flower Arrangers” (DTW09).

Lastly, their song “The Velvet Room” was included in the Italian compilation tape “A Glittering Christmas” that was released by Shiny Sunset (Shiny Sunset 10). This label was run by Marco Pagano in Creazzo, Italy.

And that’s really all the info available about them. No information about the band members or proper releases. The band name, “That Man There” doesn’t help either. So hopefully someone remembers them and can put me in the right direction, it’d be great to find out (and listen) more!

EDIT 18/8/2024

Kev from the DTW label shared with me a CD titled “The Great Disco Unknown” by That Man There that included the songs “Swinger”, “I Don’t Care” and “(Not So) Cosmic Alison)”. These three tracks were recorded on March 1998 at Angel Studio in Hull.  What is interesting is that there is an address for the band in Bradford and more importantly we get to know the band member names, Adam Cockburn on guitars, Anne Crawford on keyboards, Sarah Crawford on vocals, Rich Boldon on bass and Gareth Pugh on drums and additional guitars.

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Listen
That Man There – Gorgeous You

Some new music!

The Umbrella Puzzles: two new recordings by our friend Ryan Marquez. The first one is an acoustic track called “Dusty Pages” while the second one is an alternate mix of “Leave the City” which appeared on the band’s debut EP that was released last year. Perfect pop.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: and once again the San Francisco band graces the blog. They continue writing great pop songs, there’s no stopping them. Two new songs are up on their Bandcamp, “Don’t Ever Pray in the Church on my Street” and “I’d Rather Astral Project”, which I suggest checking them out, as they are pretty good!

The Crystal Furs: the Portland, Oregon, band is back with a digital single called “Too Kind to Be Cruel”. It comes in two versions, the standard stereo mix but also a mono mix of the song. The trio formed by Steph on guitar, Kara on keys and Rowan on bass, are in great form here! What a lovely song.

Bathe Alone: if the previous ones were familiar to me, this Atlanta project is totally new to me. Behind it there’s only one person, Bailey Crone, a talented multi-instrumentalist clearly! Her latest track is a luminous song called “Calm Down” that is catchy and dreamy at the same time!

Sissy Space Echo & the Invisible Collaborators / The Edible Eyes: this split 7″ released on Next Phase : Normal Records sounds terrific. Each band contribute one song, “Fill the Frame”a and “You’re Void” in that order. On top of that it seems that the first 100 copies will come with a bonus CD featuring both tracks from the single. Order now?

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1986 in the US. There was no C86 or anything similar. But there were some fine guitar pop bands. I just discovered one that I can call that, a fine guitar pop band. One from Booklyn, NY, actually, just the next borough to me. A few miles down south. And they were called The Few.

The band was formed by Jonathan Fogler, Clay Ketter, William Pescatore and JD Zeik. Not sure which instruments they each played, that is not listed on the back of the sleeve of their one and only release, a 12″ self-released record with catalog number FW 101. No label.

The record had two songs on each side. We find on the A side the tracks “Grownup” and “My Romance” while on the B side there’s “Where’s the Fire” and “Mrs. Charles”. The record was produced by the band and Robin Danar at the New Breed Studios in New York. The engineer was Robin Danar as well.

Other credits include horns on the song “Where’s the Fire” by The Urban Blight Horns and keyboards on “Grownup” by Dave Kumin and Jaime Carse. The design of the sleeve is credited to Marianne Geist while the photography on the back cover was taken by Wayne Geist. Their manager was Luciano Guerrero. Something to be aware too is that the record came with a lyric sheet.

I find some information about Clay Ketter. He seems to have moved to Sweden in the 80s. Good for him, I am jealous. He is these days a painter and photographer and has shown his work in many galleries. I believe he is originally from Brunswick, Maine, and is now based in Malmö. I found his website and it is cool to see that after The Few he kept playing music in Sweden with bands like Self Made Man, The Art Farmer and Gustafsson, Ketter and Lindsjö. He also lists a 2002 release on Criminal Records called “Will Fisher” by The Few. But I can’t find any info about it! What was on this? Was it some sort of retrospective of The Few songs?

JD Zeik. I find a screenwriter by that name, one who wrote the movies Ronin, Pistol Whipped and The Touch. Could it be the same as the one in The Few? I tend to think it might be, you see, he studied at SUNY, just like Clay Ketter. Maybe they met there. Maybe they started the band while they were there. Also age-wise it makes sense. It fits.

Well, some interesting background information there. I am mostly curious now about that “Will Fisher” release listed on Clay’s website. What was it? Anyone remembers them? Maybe some fellow New Yorkers?

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Listen
The Few – Grownup

Thanks once again to Des for the interview! Just a week ago I interviewed him about This Certain Kind, a superb jangly band from Dublin who had just released a retrospective album on Firestation. But he was also in another terrific Irish band, The Cherry Brogues, about whom I wrote on the blog on the past. Now finally I get to know the story of the band through one of their members!

++ Hi Des! Thanks so much for being up for another interview! How are you? Are there any up and coming music news with you?

I’m fine thanks and thank you, its great to be asked to do another interview. Recently I’ve been busy in the studio going through all The Cherry Brogues recordings, sorting them out and cleaning them up ( audio upholstery). We have also been working hard on the 2nd of the 3 unrecorded songs that This Certain Kind found when we were sifting through our catalogue of Demo and session tapes as well so there might be an EP to follow our release. We shall see !!

++ Last time we talked about This Certain Kind. What would you say were the differences and similarities between both them and The Cherry Brogues?

The two bands were a bit different in how they went about writing songs if I remember. This Certain Kind had a more laid-back approach while The Cherry Brogues was a bit more intense, Either way the same result was achieved don’t get me wrong just the process was a little different. The two bands had very similar musical influences though which was great and that always managed to filter through in the music.

++ What about the rest of The Cherry Brogues members, had they been in other bands? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

No not really. The Cherry Brogues was the starting point. It was the first band that the lads were in. They formed in 1990 I’m told.

++ How was Clondalkin at the time of The Cherry Brogues? Had Dublin changed much from the time of The Cherry Brogues to This Certain Kind? Were there any bands that you liked at this time period? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

The Cherry Brogues always had great homegrown support in Clondalkin with pubs like The Lock and Key. The Laurels and The Steering Wheel all very happy to have the band play there.

Unlike This Certain Kind the band didn’t really play in The Dublin Underground as much but did bring a loyal local fanbase with them any time they played the larger venues like The Rock Garden or Whelans which were harder to fill and could look bad for you if you didn’t, The Cranberries were playing in The Rock Garden around the same time we were so that was nice to have seen them back then.

Keltic Posse, The Brilliant Trees,The Power of Dreams these were other top bands that were filling the place at the time.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

The band started in 1990. The four members from Clondalkin all knew each other from school and the area and pretty much grew up together. I had met the lead vocalist Ray Gilligan as he was doing DJ duties for a girlfriend of mine he said he had a band and they had released a single but that they were in the throws of auditioning for a second guitarist but weren’t having much luck and that I should give it a go and that was how I joined them at the start of ’93.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

The creative process was a bit strange for me to begin with as this was the first time to be in a band in which I didn’t really know anybody. Ray Murray (lead guitar) was a joy to work with as he had no problem sharing whatever guitar parts either of us wanted to play. The ego’s were dissolved and we just got on with it. The band worked very well together and we used to rehearse in a place called Ormond Studios. It was an old disused print factory that had been converted into a rehearsal studio.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? 

I’m told it came about when one day some of the members of the band were standing around wearing ox-blood colour Dr Martin shoes and a friend of theirs from the area who was passing by commented ” Dig The Cherry Brogues Lads” He may have got the shoe description wrong but that’s how the band chose the name !

++ And I have to ask, did any of you had cherry brogues shoes?

Funny you should ask but yes I did own a pair once with Dr Martin soles but that was years before I ever joined the band though !!

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

There were a good few: The Housemartins, The Jam, Squeeze, The Smiths, The Blades, Joe Jackson, The Buzzcocks. The band was described as having a New wave – Indie Rock sound with a bit of Jangle in there too !!

++ I remember The Cherry Brogues from the Myspace days and I remember there were many songs uploaded there that wasn’t included in the record you released. Where do these came from? Demo tapes?

Yes the songs you would have seen on there would have come from different studio recordings that were done over the four year life span of the band. Mainly Demos but we do have a few nice quality live recordings as well.

++ How many recording sessions did you do? Being in The Cherry Brogues, was it the first time you went to a recording studio ever? Or had you had experience before in the past?

I recorded on around (8 – 10) Cherry Brogues Studio Tracks. I think there is one or two in there that were re recordings of previous songs though that were fine anyway ..so maybe 8 is closer the mark!!
I had recorded a couple of times with This Certain Kind before that so I was at home in the studio it was cool.

++ What do you remember from the recording session for the single? Who produced the songs?

The single ” She Makes Me Nervous” was recorded in Slane Studios and was produced by a guy called John Dee. I wasn’t a part of The Cherry Brogues at that time so i cant really comment but I will say that I had recorded before
in that same studio a few times so that was a bit of a coincidence.

++ Your one and only release came out on C.G.B.G. Records. Who were behind this label? Does the acronym mean anything? And how was your relationship with them?

Hmmm don’t quote me on this but I’m told that the C.B.G.B has some religious reference to it and I think the initials were chosen for good luck. I’m told there is also a club in New York with a similar acronym / motto above their door. The Cherry Brogues were behind the label as it was an independent release and it reached Number 28 in the Irish Charts which was very good for debut single.

++ Tell me about the photo that appears on the record cover. Where was it taken do you know?

The photo was taken in a very popular tourist spot in Dublin City called Temple Bar. Its the same street and just a few doors down from The Rock Garden where we used to play. The two people on the cover are Tina Rodgers (the drummers sister) and Brian Murray (the guitarists brother).

++ And how come during your time didn’t you release any more records? Was there interest from labels to put your music out?

The answer to that would have to be money. It was so expensive to put your own record out at that time without any backing from any source. The band members were only first or second year apprentices so the wages were low and musical equipment was pricey too. Most of the labels were still out looking for the next U2 so that was never going to be us.

++ Aside from this release you had a song on a compilation called “Break Records Present…. 100% Irish ’93”. This was released by Break Records obviously. How did you end up on that CD?

We got asked to put a song on that album by way of IMRO which is the Irish Music Rights Organisation. We had worked along side them doing many showcase gigs and they were quite familiar with us. The album was made
in conjunction with them so I guess that’s how that happened. It got us some more airplay on the radio so that was great !!

++ There was a Fanning Session you recorded in 1992. Did you meet with Dave Fanning? How was that experience? And what were the songs that were recorded for this session?

The Cherry Brogues had won a battle of the bands in Dublin a few months before the Fanning Session and Dave was a Judge on that panel so he met the band and he was asked if he could help them get a recording session for his popular Radio show. So I guess he must have put in a good word or two with the producers 🙂

I joined the band a few months after so I cant comment on the experience of the day but I can tell you that an extra live secret track was also recorded called ” Hot for You”. Its a cover by a great Dublin band called The
Blades. The producer and sound engineer Ian Wilson asked the band if they would do it as it was in our set. Dave Fanning wasn’t in studio during the recording of the four songs which were – Just Like Saturday, Not Unlike Michigan and Options 1 2 3.

++ And are there more recordings by the band? Unreleased tracks?

There were lots of recordings done over the four years so at present I am trying to catalogue them and filter out the weaker quality ones .. of the tracks that were unreleased we have about 16 high quality so far that I
can see but there are still a few more to process..

++ Have you ever thought of putting them together in a retrospective release?

It would definitely be nice to do that .. but for now though its still a work in progress as they say!!

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Numbers in Your Heart”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

I’m told its about someone looking into another persons heart and instead of seeing emotion all they see is numbers in other words someone who is calculated and cold hearted.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Storsegel song, which one would that be and why?

My personal favourite is a track called “Hangover “. I like it because it has a rich flowing chord structure that really catches your ear and lyrics that are simple and very descriptive. This one was totally made for my Rickenbacker lol 🙂 It was written by the bass player and guitarist.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? 

We did lots of gigs. One of the things that stood out for me was how hard we worked. Between rehearsals / gigs and recording sessions, I don’t know how many we did but looking back it felt like we had a gig to do nearly
every other week. We had two managers Danny and Paul who’s job it was to set them up for us !!

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

This is an easy one for me really as I remember we did two gigs in one day but on either side of Ireland, one in Limerick City and then back to Dublin to do the 2nd one that night. It was tough going but it gave us a taste of what life on the road was like. The 2nd gig was the biggest we did. It was in The
Tivoli Theatre to over 1000 people. It was an IMRO best of the best showcase night and we were the headline act. I will always remember that one.
Thanks too to the roadie from the Keltic Posse who drove us there and back that day as we nearly didnt make it!!

++ And were there any bad ones?

I had one bad one when the head got smashed off my guitar in the Rock Garden… but look that’s rock and roll for ya ..! ))

++ When and why did The Cherry Brogues stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

The band stopped in late 1994 as our guitarist had to leave to pursue his career over in England. The band tried to carry on but the vibe just wasn’t the same so we eventually called it a day. I went back and regrouped
with a new line up from my previous band This Certain Kind and I hit the ground running again so to speak.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Ray Gilligan (lead vocals) went on to form The Joseoph’s. Phil Healy (bass) and Joe Rodgers (drums) together went on to form a band called Polyteen with my brother Steve. Joe also played in a few more bands after that, Puppy Love Bomb and The Ground will Shake being the more recent.

++ Has there been any The Cherry Brogues reunion? There was one in 2011, right?

We dusted ourselves off and we did a weekend of reunion gigs in the summer of 2011. We played in the Grand Social in Dublin City and then we played outdoors in The Laurels in Clondalkin. It was packed outside to see us again after all that time and the loyal Clondalkin crowd turning up to see us yet again. It was great !!

++ And prior to that in 2009 you all went to the recording studio in 2009. Did you make new songs? What happened then?

Yes that’s right we went back in the studio to record an alternative version of one of the songs called “Two Ten” it should be up on you tube somewhere or maybe on our Facebook page !!

++ Did you get much attention from the radio? TV?

Recently one of our songs was used during the closing credits on a TV music documentary that went out on national television. It was called “My Tribe” and our song “weekend Teen” is played at the end of episode ( 2 ) so
that was pretty cool.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

I think the press wrote a small piece or two about the band when the single went into the Irish charts.

++ What about from fanzines?

No not really but we did feature quite regularly in the pages of gig guides and some music magazines if that’s the same I’m not sure.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

I would say for me it would have to be playing to that packed audience of around 1000 people that night in the Tivoli Theatre. It made me think how nice it would be to play to that kind of a crowd every night !

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I’d Just like to say thanks to you and to your readers its been a joy doing these interconnected interviews about The Cherry Brogues and This Certain Kind. Cheers and many Thanks

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Listen
The Cherry Brogues – Numbers in Your Heart

Another week starts. This past weekend I put some of the final touches to the fanzine and also worked on the tracklist for the MacGuffins compilation. That is exciting. Right? So I am hoping to announce new releases soon!

I know you came for new music, so I’ll share some good finds of course!

Katya & Volki: this has to be the first band from the city of Taganrog, Russia, that I have heard. And it is quite a surprise. In their debut EP released digitally by Zooeycat Records we find a cool mix of dreamy and shiny indiepop. The EP is called “В прошлом” and has 4 tracks!

Typical Girls Volume 5: this is the new compilation on the very fine Emotional Response! It is available on white vinyl and also on black vinyl! There are 16 tracks, a mix of punkish stuff that I am not crazy about but then there are amazing songs by the likes of Latitude, Linda Guilala or Patsys Rats and more.

The Oilies: I think a week ago I was recommending a new song by Carly Putnam’s band. Well she has a new one that she recorded “in a bedroom near a boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California”. The song is called “The Part Where demo” and it is a very fine slice of lo-fi pop!

Spectres: we can preview two tracks of the upcoming album “Nostalgia” by this amazing Vancouver band and I am honestly hooked! The album will have 9 tracks and we can check out now “The Head and the Heart” and “Years of Lead”. Both are great, but the latter is a hit I think!The album will be released in vinyl and CD on March 13.

The Day: it has been a while since I found a cool sounding band from the Netherlands. But this time around I see this Utrecht duo covering the song “Tenderfoot” by The Lemonheads/Smudge. And it sounds really really good. Friends in Cologne, they will be playing in your city on March 6th.

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James King had been in a few bands before being in Fun Patrol. He had been in Fun 4 with Steven Daly who went to play with Orange Juice, in James King and the Lonewolves and also releasing a solo 7″. I am sure if I look for information about those bands I may find many more details. But today I wanted to check Fun Patrol, a band that he was in in the late 80s.

With Fun Patrol only one record was released, a 3 song 12″. It came out in 1987 on Thrush Records (THRUSH 5), the same label that had released The McCluskey Brothers album “Aware of All”.

Fun Patrol’s 12″ catches one’s attention immediately, with that photo of a pink car that blends into another pink car (what sort of model of car is it?). It is a still from the 1967 movie “NY, NY” by Francis Thompson. The back of the sleeve has another photo, two guys and a car, this one taken by Paul Schutter. The sleeve was designed by Allan Campbell.

The A side had the track “The Right to be Wrong”, written by James King and Joe Sullivan. The same two people would write the B1, “No Concern of Mine”, while the 2nd track on the B side, “Meant to Fall” is only credited to King.

The band on the record was formed by James King on vocals and guitar, Mick Slaven on bass, Joe Sullivan on lead guitar, Ian Reid on guitar and harmonica and Steven Gray on drums. The producer on this record was the band and Ali MacKenzie (ex-Apes in Control!, Subs, The Alleged and The Cuban Heels). Kenny McDonald was the engineer. The songs were recorded at Park Lane Studios in Glasgow, the city the band was from.

James King wasn’t the only to have been in important bands. Michael Slaven had been in amazing bands like Bourgie Bourgie, Cowboy Mouth, Del Amitri, Jazzateers, Paul Quinn and the Independent Group and The Leopards, among others.

The band also appeared on a classic indiepop compilation of the 1980s. On the LP comp “On the Dotted Line… (There)” (EE 3531) released by EMI in 1987, the band appeared with the song “Same Old Game” alongside favourite bands of mine like North of Cornwallis, he Brilliant Corners or Episode Four! James King is credited for this song.

I keep looking and find a gig listing on the Edinburgh Archive. Here I find out that the band played on July 29th, 1987, at The Venue. Then another listing where it mentions the band played Town and Country Club alongside The Proclaimers and The La’s on November 1st of 1987. Another hit, The List, on its June 26, 1987, issue reviews the single and says: “The latest project at the legendary James King, alleged hard man at the Glasgow music scene, The Right To Be Wrong is good, hard, old-iasloned rock ’n’ roll with shades oi CGW. Fun Patrol could be Scottish Flamin’ Groovies, but the chorus has a rapturous hint oi The Undertones at their most disarming. Recommended”. An earlier List issue, this one dating from May 30, 1986, mentions Fun Patrol playing live in Glasgow Thursday, June 5 of that year.

Not much more on the web about them. Maybe they were short-lived. Who’d know? And were there more songs? Why weren’t there more releases?

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Fun Patrol – The Right to Be Wrong

Time for weekend! This was a busy week with posts every single day! Hope you enjoyed them. Here is some cool music to enjoy over the weekend!

Draag: what a sound from this Los Angeles shoegaze band! Their latest track is called “Alternative Privilege” and seems to be a digital single. They have posted the lyrics and we know the band is presenting themselves at The Echo, that great club, on February 24th.

Future Echoes: this one-man band is back with a three song EP titled “Cyan”.  The songs included are “Kaleidoscope”, “Silhoutte” and “Coalescence” and they are packed with great melodies and jangly guitars. This is the sort of band I used to release back in the day in 3″ CDs, pretty pretty!

The Sundries: this South East London band just released their first ever EP of catchy indiepop! The EP is called, believe it or not, “Magic Johnson”, and has 4 terrific tracks that remind me so much of the wonderful Pocketbooks!! I can see them playing Indietracks this year. They must.

Lisasinson: the Spanish band who surprised me last year with the superb “Barakaldo” are back with a new single with the songs “Atasco” and “Casamiento”. They have made a video for the opening track, “Atasco”, which I tell you not to miss! Sadly this is a digital single, no proper records by them as of yet.

Reamer: the last recommendation is this three-piece from Halifax, Canada, formed by Daniel Trainor-McKinnon, Danger McBarley and Connor Macleod. They put out a digital self-titled EP last October with three shoegazy fuzzy tracks!

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This is quite a discovery on the WokingSoundscene Soundcloud, a band that was clearly influenced by The Primitives and The Darling Buds! Poppy, punky, with female vocals, and catchy melodies, it does look like I need to know more about the Bubble-Eyed Dog Boys!

First question. Where does their name come from? Strange name isn’t it?

I do know the band hailed from the Epsom/Sutton in England and were managed by Mark Allison. They were around between 1990 and 1991 and were formed by:
Bev Abbot – vocals
Tony Ware – guitar
Anne Turner – bass
Ian Abbott – drums

Second question. Were Bev and Ian siblings? Yes they were. They actually had been together in a band previously, The Gotham City Wreckers. Before that Bev had been involved in Lost Cherrees, an anarcho-punk band. How did The Gotham City Wreckers sound like? Were they pop?

The band released a cassette EP called “Understand Nothing” which included three songs, “Understand Nothing”, “99 (Is Not Enough)” and “Turnaround”. These three songs were recorded at Greenhouse Studios in London, in May 1990, and were produced by Mike Jones and engineered by Paul Gadd.

They, as it is usual with all these bands that I have discovered through this great resource, the band appeared on the first volume of the Farnborough Groove tape series, “The Farnborough Groove Vol. 1” compilation with the track “Turnaround”.

Aside from that the band appeared on the tape that came accompanying the 3rd volume of the fanzine Big Muff. They contributed the song “99 (Is Not Enough.” They were interviewed on this fanzine, would be nice to see a scan of that!

They supported Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine along with the band Frantic at the West End Centre in Aldershot on June 9th 1990. They also supported Voice of the Beehive at the Marquee Club. Later on in 1991 we’d see the band supporting Thrilled Skinny with The Keatons at the Rumble Club in Tunbridge Wells. Another gig was the one they played on March 11th 1991 at the legendary Bull & Gate. They may also have played at the Farnborough Labour Club along The Senseless Things sometime in 1989. And they also supported The Popguns at the West End Centre on Friday August 2nd of 1991 alongside Phobia and Blue Velvet.

But that’s not all, I stumble upon a flyer of the band, of what seems a tour they did. I can’t tell which year it was, but maybe I can get some help here from you all. I am pretty sure it was 1991 though. It shows that the band played in all these places: Kent University in Canterbury, Pop Club in Kentish Town, After Dark in Reading, Technical College in Farnborough, Rumble Club in Tunbridge Wells, The Square in Harlow, Joiners Arms in Southampton, A Field and Anotehr Field in Shetlands, Drummonds in Aberdeen, University in Dundee, College in Galashiels, King Tuts in Glasgow and The Reaction in Wendover.

Then I end up learning some sad news, Mark Allison, their manager, passed away from pancreatic cancer back in 2016. The Daily Record dedicates an article to him.

What happened to the rest of the band members? Where are they now? Did they continue making music? I lost their track quite easily. And was it really just one tape? That’s all they released? Only 3 songs recorded? There must be more? Or not?

Any information will be appreciated!

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Bubble-Eyed Dog Boys – Turn Around

Thanks so much again to Jon for the interview! After The Word’s (who I interviewed last week) demise his next band was the great Poppy Factory who released four singles in the early 90s! If you have never heard them before, please make sure to discover them now!

++ Hi Jon! Thanks so much again for another interview! How are you doing? Are there any cool music plans coming up?

Hello Roque, good to hear from you again. This is becoming a habit!
I’m fine thanks and currently working on some new icecream4freaks tracks… I figure we have enough already for a first LP but no means of putting it out (other than band-camp, Soundcloud etc) so if anyone out there is interested…
Oh and look out for a new track “Oh What a Lovely War” going onto band-camp soon.

++ Last time we talked about The Word and today we’ll talk about Poppy Factory. Let’s get the chronology right then. When did Poppy Factory start, was it immediately after The Word? Was there any other projects in between or at the same time perhaps?

++ Compared to the time you were in The Word, had Bradford changed much? Were there any good bands that you were friends and liked to play with while in Poppy Factory?

We were quite insular at the time, almost working in secret…we didn’t mix much with other bands… I guess we wanted to have something to offer first.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? 

I had read a book about the First World War, called The Poppy Factory, and I liked the two words together… sort of “pop” and “industrial”…It seemed to work.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

++ Most of your records came out on Chrysalis Records, a sort of biggish label. How did you catch their attention? How was the experience working with them compared to working with an indie label?

++ I guess working with a bigger label meant that your releases came out in all sort of formats, CD, 12″, 7″, cassette. Just out of curiosity what would be your favourite format to release music and why?

Vinyl. It sounds better…

++ You were managed by Far North Music and personally managed by Gordon Roscoe. What did they bring to the table? How important were they to the story of Poppy Factory?

They got us signed after only a handful of gigs. I’m not sure they really understood the band dynamic though.

++ Your first release was the fantastic EP “Fabulous Beast”. I noticed you worked with two different producers for the tracks on it like John Williams and David Creffield. Did the label pick them for you? How were those recording sessions?

++ And in general, how were recording sessions for Poppy Factory different to the ones with The Word?

One big difference was the arrival of computers… everything had been analogue previously, now we had DAW. Technology opened up our horizons a lot, and we liked to experiment. Dave played a big part in that… also we didn’t have to worry about money as much.

++ All of your releases came out in 1991. You must have been terribly busy that year. So “7×7” single also came out then and this time around it included 2 mixes. I always wonder about mixes, like in my experience a lot of bands don’t like them but because of the times they had to go on with them as labels wanted to reach new audiences with them. What is your take on these remixes?

++ The song “7×7”, which is wonderful by the way, main refrain is “Call me Charlie Bubbles”. I am guessing it is a nod to the movie of the same name. Was this a favourite movie for you at the time? Did any other movies inspired you?

++ Then came the “Stars” single! It is yet another rush of pure pop. But what is a mystery to me is that on the back of the sleeve it says that the songs are taken from a forthcoming album called “Good Time”. As far as I know this album was never released! What happened? Did you record it? How many songs were on it? Will it ever see the light of day?

We recorded the LP and Chrysalis pulled it. They were being bought out/taken over by EMI at the time and all was chaos… we were downright unlucky… also they thought the sales of the singles were not good enough.
If they had promoted them a bit more, that would’ve helped.

++ Then there was a self-released 12″ with two different mixes for “Drug House” right? What happened with Chrysalis? Why did you decide to self-release? And how did that work out for you?

Those were released by Chrysalis but made to look like white labels for club DJs… they didn’t set the world alight ha ha.

++ When it comes to compilation I notice you were featured a couple of times on compilations given away by magazines like Lime Lizard or Vox. Did you read any of them? Or what was your music magazine of choice?

Lime Lizard interviewed us I recall, but we were too busy to worry about how we came across… our label and the management worried about that ha ha.

++ The compilation that caught my eye was one called “The Best of the Mark Goodier Radio 1 Sessions”. From what I understand the version of “Stars” that is included was recorded live at the BBC Radio 1 Studios. Was this the only song recorded at that time? Was it a proper BBC session?

++ Are there more songs that remain unreleased?

“Mosquito”and “Submarine” are the two songs missing (I really like them)… there are other tracks that weren’t going to be included and some demos.
I wanted “Mosquito” for the follow up to “7×7”, but I was out-voted.
By everyone including the janitor’s dog. I should put them online I guess.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Fabulous Beast”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

It’s Jock’s lyric about one of his heroes… Twiggy!

++ If you were to choose your favorite Poppy Factory song, which one would that be and why?

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? 

We did two British tours… the first doing some support slots for the likes of Cud, then headlining, I can’t remember too many details. Touring rots your brain. 

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

I do remember two underage girls coming to a gig in Wales. They spent all their money getting there and on merchandise.When we found out we gave them a lift home. Their parents would’ve been worried.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Yeah… one or two, but you tend to blank them out.

++ When and why did Poppy Factory stop making music?

I think we lost the plot. Jock and me had stopped speaking to each other. I nearly walked from the second tour… it was pretty grim. I was asked to leave eventually… I would have left anyway…

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Mick played with Cud and Embrace.

++ Has there been any Poppy Factory reunion?

No. I don’t think I would care to get into that!

++ Did you get much attention from the radio? TV?

We did some TV and a lot of radio.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

A fair amount. “7×7” got single of the week in The NME and Melody Maker. 

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Ok, well again, thanks for the interest.
There are videos for “7×7” and “Stars” on Youtube posted by various people I’ve never heard of…I’m the good-looking one with the keyboards!
If you liked Poppy Factory you may like icecream4freaks…
Regarding Poppy Factory… Thanks to all who bought the records and supported us.

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Listen
Poppy Factory – 7×7