What to do when you have some extra time in your hands? Work on what I love the most, music. That, for me, means the label and the blog as I have no skills whatsoever in making music.

This week I received two albums so I could listen before they are released, those of A Certain Smile and The BV’s. I’ve listened both a few times and I have enjoyed them. I must say I enjoyed The BV’s a bit better as their sound is closer to my heart, that of C86 sounding bands. A Certain Smile has different influences, pretty ones still, mostly from the 90s I would say. Their album also seem to have a much more polished production, much more quality in that sense. At many points I thought it sounded like the Fireflies. That was sweet. The BV’s are a bit rougher on the edges, there’s a bit more grit in their production. Also in the album they include many of the songs I’ve been listening for many months now like “Always” or “Ray”, modern indiepop hits in my book. In conclusion, even though it’s been a while since I review albums, both The BV’s “Speaking From a Distance” and the one that seems to be untitled of A Certain Smile are good albums. Now, people in A Certain Smile should be cautious supporting silly ideas that indiepop is misogynist, racist or full of  “faux tweeishness” on Facebook walls. That’s just plain stupid and I won’t support it. I can see the merits of the album, but I can’t support wrong political views about indiepop. Be smart.

Yesterday I also saw that on a Facebook group people were listing indiepop labels. At first I didn’t know that the intention was for bands to find a place where to send their demos. I thought it was just a way of refreshing the memory of which labels still support our beloved music. I say that because at some point I started seeing labels that have nothing to do with indiepop, or maybe they released one indiepop record in their 20 plus catalog. For me that doesn’t count as an indiepop label. I wonder if it does for you? When I pointed this out, mentioning that a London label that calls themselves a DIY label is definitely not an indiepop one, I got the classic answer, the most boring answer. That one that goes like “so what is indiepop anyways?”. It gets on my nerve. If my mum would ask me that I wouldn’t mind, she honestly wouldn’t have a clue. But someone involved in music definitely knows what indiepop is. But at the same time they know that  what fits in the borders of indiepop, in the margins, can be blurry, so they ask they ask this question to prove their point. Stating of course that indiepop can encompass a wide variety of music. Which of course it can. But not everything that one likes.

I can’t see a garage band as indiepop for example. The sound doesn’t fit. The politics are different and so on. But somehow labels that release garage bands are indiepop these days according to the view of many. How can that be?

I know a lot of people are getting bored by all these labeling of things. I understand. It gets in the way of music. You probably just want to listen to your favourite songs not caring what they are. I can respect that. But to create beautiful thing like Popfests for example, you do need this labeling. Without it, it wouldn’t exist. And that’s the thing about indiepop, its grassroots politics, the egalitarianism between fans, bands, fanzine writers, labels and so on, that could create a healthy scene (and then destroy it as well). Other genres don’t often achieve this sense of community. I remember having a long conversation with a friend organizing a post-punk festival. He would be jealous of the way indiepop could work and organize itself. Whereas in post-punk there’s careerism and competition, in indiepop there was a solidarity that would make easy to create important things, things that matter. That’s why I hold this music dear.

I know the situation now is a bit different. There was an article in the Guardian saying that indiepop is dead now that Fortuna Pop is gone. I find that ridiculous. Indiepop has been dying for a long time (to resuscitate in a few years from now according to my friend Matthew) and the only thing it has to do with Fortuna Pop is that the London label many times supported many things that didn’t help indiepop being alive. By supporting these things the lines got blurrier, no wonder mainstream music and DJs started appearing at indiepop festivals. As a friend said, what’s the point of that if we could just go to a pub to listen to this music? Would the pub punters be happy if we played them indiepop? No. And by all means I’m not saying Fortuna Pop is bad, they released so many amazing records, supported bands, did it all in a professional level that few labels could. Bands shined with Fortuna Pop. They also organized festivals and so on that were true successes. I celebrate that. But now that they are gone doesn’t mean the end of indiepop. There are still many bands and labels, struggling surely, that carry the flag until  perhaps there is a new coming of indiepop. Even if I’m not a fan of how they do their business, Elefant in Spain has been more consistent and have been around much longer, that you can’t really forget their importance in indiepop. England is not the center of the universe.

Well, that’s a bit of my ramble, I’ve been thinking about these things for days now. I find annoying the simplicity how many are dismissing indiepop as political. Calling it safe and conservative. It is hard to believe. People forget their McCarthys, their Wolfhounds, their Easter and the Totems, their Sarah manifestos, and more recently bands that carry their politics on their sleeve like The Felt Tips, Cats on Fire, Dorotea, Liechtenstein and so on.

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Today a band I would really like to get in touch with. I think maybe they could be a good release as part of the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen series. What do you think? I’m talking of Baby Lemonade out of Scotland.

I’m pretty sure most of you know them from the third Sha La La flexi (catalog Ba Ba Ba Ba 003) released in 1987. On it they appeared alongside The Bachelor Pad (who I already interviewed in the blog) and contributed the classic song “Jiffy Neckwear Creation”. This flexi came along the fanzines “Are You Scared to Get Happy? #4” and “Simply Thrilled #3”. Baby Lemonade’s song would be Single of the Week.

When I interviewed The Bachelor Pad many years ago they told me that their first gig, thanks to Jim Honey of Simply Thrilled was with Baby Lemonade and Jessie Garon and The Desperadoes. I wonder if that was also Baby Lemonade’s first gig?

The band would then sign to Narodnik Records. This was a label based in Edinburgh that was set up by Eddie Connelly from Meat Whiplash and the fabulous The Motorcycle Boy. On Narodnik he would release just quality music, Jesse Garon & the Desperadoes, The Fizzbombs, Baby Lemonade and The Vultures (also interviewed in the blog!).

They would release just one single with Narodnik in 1987. The catalog was NRK 004. The songs on it are two classic indiepop songs, on the A side “A Secret Goldfish” and on the B side “Real World”. Douglas Hart from the Jesus and Mary Chain would produce the record. The record was published by Cubic and engineered by Fergus.

An interesting bit is that the songs from the flexi and this 7″ would be re-released in 2003 by Egg Records as part of their Egg Restoration series. On a CD-R titled “45RPM” (catalog Eggrest 005) that for some reason I failed to get back in the day (I think this and The Hardy Boys one are the only Egg release I’m missing), the songs “Jiffy Neckwear Creation”, “Secret Goldfish” and “The Real World” were included plus two demos, “Secret Goldfish (demo)” and “The Real World (demo)”.

In 1988 the band was to release an album. Titled “One Thousand Secrets”, the album is a sublime indiepop record. Truly beautiful. It was released on DDT Records (catalog DISPLP 22) from Edinburgh. Only 8 songs appear on this album, on the A side “World of Mine”, “All Down To You”, “Summerhouse”, “Secret Goldfish” and on the B side “In My Head (At Night)”, “116 Days Adrift”, “Much Too Late”, “Ultimate Lie”.

Happily I do own this record. There is some information on the back sleeve. I find some credits there:
Joan – vocals, clarinet & cover design
Graham – bass & tambourine
Gary – guitars
Mark – guitars
Martin – drums, vocals

Tim Kane – all keyboards (also acoustic rhythm guitar on “Summerhouse”)
Ron McKinnon – flute on “World of Mine”

Produced and engineered by Jamie Watson
Recorded at Chamber Studio, Edinburgh

There is also an inner sleeve with lyrics for the songs and another black & white photo of the band.

My next stop is Twee.net. There is small biography there that is pretty interesting, sadly it is not signed by anyone.

I was a former band member i played the drums on the first single releases . started out in 85 Based in Kirkintilloch, Cumbernauld + Glasgow where we were low key in my front room of my parents house or in the house of the lead guitarist bedroom. soon we approached the studios in Charing Cross Glasgow city centre. In 1986 we made some copies of our music sent some samples to radio stations and from there we were slowly getting recognised. Such as John Peel whom loved it. Jiffy NeckWear Creation Feb 1987 on a flexi disc. Secret Goldfish, Real world. were our second release June 1987 with a double A side Band broke away in the later in the summer 1987 then reformed a few months later but i had gone traveling so i was no longer a member, a few more months after a Lp was released in 1988 which i have never heard. 

I wonder who this is. I’m assuming Martin replaced him.

I had been in Glasgow a few times. But never heard of Kirkintilloch or Cumbernauld. What about these places?

Kirkintilloch is a town and former royal burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal, about 8 miles (13 km) northeast of central Glasgow. Historically part of Dunbartonshire, the town is the administrative centre of the East Dunbartonshire council area, and its population in 2009 was estimated at 19,700.

Cumbernauld is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the ninth most populous locality in Scotland, despite only being designated as the site for a New Town on 9 December 1955. The area allocated was 4,150 acres lying between and incorporating the existing villages of Condorrat and Cumbernauld. The first new housing became available in 1958. An additional 3,638 acres (1,472 ha) was added to the designated town area on 19 March 1973 to accommodate a revised target population of 70,000. As of the UK census in 2011, the population of Cumbernauld was approximately 52,000.

On the compilation front it doesn’t seem they participated in any back in the day. Only in the past decades they would appear on “Souvenirs from Egg Records” (Egg Records 015) with the songs “Jiffy Neckwear Creation” and “Secret Goldfish” and on the C87 Boxset on Cherry Red with the song “Secret Goldfish”.

On Discogs there is another Baby Lemonade release listed, but it is clear that it is not the same band. This other one hails from California. The released I mentioned are the only ones that the band released. Though maybe, they had made demo tapes and sold them at gigs and so on?

It is a shame that the back sleeve doesn’t include the last names of the band members. It would be easier to track them. I can’t really find anything else from this fantastic Scottish band. I wonder if anyone out there remembers them? whereabouts in the UK they played gigs? If they recorded more songs?

I would really like to get in touch! Love this band!

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Listen
Baby Lemonade – World Of Mine

Thanks so much to Trevor Elliott for the interview! Whirl was a fantastic band from Brighton that released two 12″ EPs in the 1980s, on Playroom Discs and September Records. They also had a split flexi with Crocodile Ride (who I wrote about not so long ago). I found the Heaven Forbid EP some years ago while record hunting in London and I fell in love with their sound! So very lucky that Trevor could tell me the story behind the band now!

++ Thanks a lot for being up for the interview! How are you? 

Hi Roque, Thanks for asking us. We are all very well thank you.

++ Still based in Brighton? Are you all still making music today?

Alan lives in Saltdean on the outskirts and Caz who lives in Brighton. Rob lives in Worthing, just along the coast, and I’m in Earlswood, Surrey, mostly for work purposes. Karen lives in London.

I think Rob is the only one still playing regularly.

++ I know that aside from Whirl you had been in some other bands like Eusebio or Blow Up, but would love to know if there are more bands that you had been involved with?

I was in an early formation of what became Peter and the Test Tube Babies whilst still at school, then a few bands with school friends, during my college days I played in a band called Fear of Water before forming Whirl and then joined Blow Up as they were short of a bass player. After Whirl I played guitar in some other bands that never really did anything.

Alan Stirner was also in Blow up, and Sharkboy (after Whirl), and played on The Wolfhounds’ Blown Away LP.

Rob Colley was in The Ten Million Quintens (named after Quinten “Norman” Cook. Aka Fat Boy Slim), 14 Iced Bears, Arthur, and until recently The Murmurtrons.

Caz Adams, played in Eusebio, a great band that rose from the ashes of The Milk Sisters, but unfortunately were never signed.

Karen O’Keefe, played in Bill Prince’s The Wishing Stones and Basingstoke’s finest, The Rain.

++ What are your first music memories? What sort of music was played at home when growing up? What was your first instrument?

I grew up listening to my Mum and Dad’s record collection, they were old Mods so The Hollies, The Who, The Beatles, Wilson Picket, and lots of Motown and Northern Soul.

++ What inspired to make music? What would you say were your favourite bands at the time?

I first started playing Bass because I was given one.

In the 70’s I loved The Clash and The Jam. The early 80’s it was more Orange Juice and anything else on Postcard Records, Echo and the Bunnymen and Wah.

++ I read that at the beginning there were many changes within the band, that couple of people were kicked and others left. Who were these people? Were they in other bands? how many formations were there?

I’m not sure where you read that but yes that was the case. Alan and myself were always the core of the band we referred to ourselves as the Whirl Organisation, inspired by Edwards and Rogers, The Chic Organisation. Lol

In the early 80’s we started out as a five piece, with a singer called Matthew Glendinning, (son of Victoria Glendinning CBE biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist). Who fancied himself as a bit of a Morrissey. I was on rhythm guitar, autoharp and backing vocals.

Over the years there were many members including Mark Waterman who went on to music production. He produced many artist like Five Thirty, Elastica, Depeche Mode remixes, Swervedriver and Venus in Furs.

We also used to joke that we’d had more drummers than Spinal Tap, until Rob joined us. At one point in time we had Chris Window (The Milk Sisters and Blow Up) on drums. So Alan, Chris and myself would go from rehearsing with Whirl on day to rehearsing with Blow up the next.

We also had Dominic Minques, from the 14 Iced Bears and Blow Up on Bass for a while.

++ And how did the classic band formation come to be? What year was it?

Alan and I met Caz, in 86 I think, via her partner Mark Burletson (Eusebio and The Milk Sisters) she auditioned and was perfect, and I had known Rob since I was 19 and when the Quintens split up Rob Joined us also, he had been our stand in drummer up until then along with Chris Window.

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

I think Alan came up with it, we wanted just a one word name that reflected the music.

++ How was Brighton then? Were there like-minded bands that you liked? Did you feel part of a scene? What were the places, the venues or clubs where you used to hang out?

Brighton was fantastic back then and always has been. We had the Mods in the 60’s, a great punk scene in the 70’s and then the Mod revival, Indie and psychedelic scene in the 80’s. Brighton is so cosmopolitan with two Universities and an Art College, there’s always been all sorts of scenes, and also famous for it’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population. I consider myself to be very lucky to have grown up there. In the 70’s we all used to go to the Gay clubs, as they were the only one’s open, but then as Punk took off there were many more “venues” like the Crypt, (which was an old Crypt) The Alhambra, The Inn place, The Richmond and then later, The Electric Grape, Zap Club, The Big Twang and The Sunshine Playroom.

There were loads of likeminded folks and bands around so the competition was strong.

++ I’ve heard 9 songs from, I believe, from a demo tape and makes you wonder why songs like “You Are My Friend” or “In a Dream” were never properly released. But I don’t know much about this demo. When and where was it recorded and are there more unreleased songs like these?

A later recording of “In a Dream” was released on the Heaven Forbid EP, but I think that those were very early recordings circa 1985/86 from a rehearsal room in Hove that was run by Mark Waterman and Annie from Elastica used to hang out there.

++ I found out that two other songs, “Lost” and “Tell All Your Friends” appeared on a tape titled  “Goodnight Miffy” that was included with the Especially Yellow fanzine. Again, online it is so hard to find information about this fanzine or this tape. How did you end up contributing to this fanzine? And where do these songs come from? From a special recording session or another demo tape?

Again “Lost” and “Tell All Your Friends” were early demos released on the Especially Yellow cassette. The tape and the fanzine was the work of fellow Brightonian, music fan and Indie journalist legend Johnny Dee, before he went on to have songs written about him (“Ask Johnny Dee”- The Chesterfields) and work for the New Musical Express and the BBC.

++ In 1987 you released your first EP, the “Heaven Forbid EP” on Playroom Discs. They were also based in Brighton, I guess you were friends before signing with them? And how was your relationship with them?

Playroom Discs was run by Sean Sullivan and Gordon Kaye who used to run The Sunshine Playroom club on a Wednesday night in a pub opposite the pier in Brighton. We all became and remained very good friends with them to this day. Sean went on to form Arthur with Rob Colley and Gordon is still making a living from DJing all over the country.

++ This is a fantastic EP, I’m happy to own a copy, what do you remember from the recording sessions at Bloomsbury Studios?

Thank you, I’m pleased you like it and very surprised that you’d even heard of us let alone have a copy of the record.

I remember having a bad cold and having to do few takes on the vocals, but apart from that and a couple of guitar overdubs it was basically a live recording. It was really the only way to capture the energy of our live show. I also remember that it was engineered by a guy called Terry Popple who at the time was Van Morrisons drummer and in more recent times Graham Bonnett he also worked with the 14 Iced Bears and the Popguns.

++ The photos on the jacket of the EP, where were they taken?

They were actually taken by an art/photography student that lived in our Victorian house and were taken in Alan’s front room in the same house that I lived in. The sleeve pictures didn’t come out as well as the actual photographs that were taken which was disappointing.

++ A year later you released another 12″, the “Clear” EP, but this time with another label, September, a label that had released favourite bands of mine like McCarthy or The Wolfhounds, but I know so very little about this label. Who were they and how did you end up working with them?

September was run by Paul Sutton, who was involved with The Pink Label (https://www.twee.net/labels/pink.html). We had supported both The Wolfhounds and McCarthy many times in London and in Brighton and even though we weren’t as political as the other bands Paul was interested in putting out a record of us. We all got on on very well and Rob and I are still in touch with Dave and Andy from the Wolfhounds, their new album is fantastic by the way.

++ How different was recording this EP compared to the first one?

Caz had left the band a few months before so we had a new bass player Karen O’Keefe; a friend of Alan’s sister, who played in The Wishing Stones and The Rain, who had once interviewed Sonic Youth on TV, so slightly different dynamics but mostly still live. There were a few more guitar overdubs as Alan had just been introduced to a Rockman peddle by the engineer, who kept likening our sound to Split by the Groundhogs

++ Also I’m quite curious about the Japanese characters on the A side label, what do they say?

I really have no idea I’m afraid, I hope it’s nothing offensive.

++ One of the songs of the EP, “Your Heart’s As Big As The Whole Outdoors”, appeared on yet another tape compilation, the “Everlasting: A Tape Compilation” in 1988 on the Everlasting label. A very cool tape with lots of fab bands like The Orchids or TV Personalities.

Both Rob and I had no idea that this recording existed until I saw it on the Discogs website a few years ago. I’m assuming it’s a demo version from Bloomsbury Studios, I’ve not heard the tape.

++ Your last last release ended up being a split flexi shared with Crocodile Ride in 1989. About the label “The Sound of Spasm” I know next to nothing. Who were they? And did you know Crocodile Ride before releasing the flexi? Did you ever play gigs with them perhaps?

The Sound of Spasm was from a fanzine called Spasm run by a lady called Tish , who I bumped into for the first time since it came out, at a Wolfhounds gig just before Christmas last year. It was great to catch up. I don’t think I knew any of the Crocodile Ride members and I can’t remember playing gigs with them.

++ Last appearance as far as I know, you can correct me, was on a CD compilation titled “Staring at the Sun 2” with the song “You Almost Killed Me” in 1993. This was many years after the band had split, is that, right? How did this happen?

I didn’t know anything about this until I saw this question so I You Tubed it. It’s certainly not us but you can be forgiven for thinking it was us as it’s certainly got a similar sound. I quite like it actually. From what I can gather they’re from your side of the pond.

++ So yeah, when and why did the band split?

1989 I think, there was a few issues between Alan and myself and after a few difficult gigs and rehearsals, Karen called me to say that she couldn’t carry on in the band, and I decided it was time to move on also, after all it had been nearly 10 years playing with Alan in more than just one band, and our friendship was struggling and the fun was rapidly disappearing.

++ What did you all do after? And what are you doing today?

Alan went on to play in Sharkboy and I believe he works in a Bicycle shop now. Rob still plays in bands and works as a Plumber, Caz played in Eusebio, had two lovely boys who now have their own bands and now works as a sign language interpreter, Karen was working for Local government, and is now a planning consultant. I am a Horticulturalist and build Gardens for the Chelsea Flower Show.

++ How come you didn’t get to release more records, perhaps an album?

There is an acoustic demo for an album somewhere I’ve got a recording of about 4 songs for it, but we split before it was complete.

++ Was there any interest from big labels at any point?

Not really, we had a sniff from London Records and Pinnacle and then Tambourine records were interested for a while following several support gigs with The Dentists but then September stepped in.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? Are there any in particular that you remember with fondness? Were there any that weren’t good at all? Any anecdotes you could share?

We played loads and loads of gigs supporting people like Edwin Collins, Julian Cope, Primal Scream, The Weather Prophets, and That Petrol Emotion. One night we turned up to headline a gig in Camden and were told that the support band were called Stone Roses, however they didn’t turn up and then the next week they were all over the music press, the rest as they say is history. On a similar note we had Lush as one of our support bands once and a couple of weeks later they were signed by 4AD.

++ Did you get much attention from the music papers? Or radio?

We had a few very flattering live reviews’ and magazine features’ although the second single wasn’t as liked as much as the first by the press. Steve Lamacq and Janice Long played us a few times on the BBC radio evening shows. We actually topped the chart of our local BBC station Radio Sussex.

++ And what would you say, looking back in time, would be the highlight for Whirl?

The highlight for me was supporting Edwin and Julian, two of my all-time hero’s and they were such nice people, and I was a bit star struck. Also we appeared on a local TV programme called “The Pier” which was a local (South East region) gig guide programme.

++ Today, aside from music, what other hobbies do you enjoy?

I’m involved in a local conservation group for Earlswood Common and do small gardening jobs for friends, and I also enjoy cooking.

++ And how is Brighton now? Has it changed much compared to the days of Whirl? Are there any bands that you like there?

Brighton has changed loads there are now more venues to play in
There’s a great young band called the Grasshoppers that I saw support Grant Heart a couple of years ago. Also a friends sons band The Ferns are ones to watch out for.

++ If there’s anyone visiting your town, what would you say one shouldn’t miss?

Record shops and niche stores in the North Lanes, there’s also some fantastic architecture including Brighton Pavillion built as a seaside pleasure palace for King George IV. And football (Soccer) fans should go to the Amex Community Stadium to watch Brighton and Hove F.C. If we keep playing like we have been this season we should be in the Premiership League next season

++ Thanks so much for answering all the questions in this extensive interview! Anything else you’d like to add?

Cherry Red records are releasing a follow up to the C86 cassette, called C88 and “Clear” will be featuring on that, I think that will be out later this year.

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Listen
Whirl – Heaven Forbid

Halfway through March now. I’m going to be 33 in a few days. I find it funny that during March I see so many friends’ birthdays on my Facebook. It must be that Pisces is the most “indiepop” zodiac sign in the horoscope. Or not?

Some Other Day releases arrived and started shipping. Some mailorders will have them pretty soon. I know Jigsaw already does as well as Blue Very Disques in Japan. I believe Rough Trade and Disk Union should have them as well. As I speak about Some Other Day I remember that I’m already working on the next release in the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen series: The Potting Sheds! I’m very excited about it and will tell you more about it in the coming weeks.

On the 7″ front it is just a matter of patience. The Pale Spectres 7″ has been in the pressing plant for a month already so I hope I will have some news on it soon. It is definitely the release that took the longest in the Cloudberry catalog but I’m sure the wait will be worth for all of you! As soon as this is released I’ll be announcing the next 7″! Yes, Cloudberry is a bit slower compared to our early years but we still have a surprise or two.

On the indiepop news front, what is coming up? I’ve heard some rumours about a Popfest. I hope it happens. I hope I can attend. But for now I can’t say more.

When it comes to news it seems Firestation Records doesn’t disappoint. They’ll be releasing a retrospective for the band Keen on both CD and LP format on April 7th. The compilation is titled “Waiting” and don’t know the tracklist yet. I did interview Keen some time ago in the blog if you want to find out more about this awesome band.

Also Indiefjord, the cool festival in Norway that I’ve never been have booked two fantastic indiepop bands, Tinsel Heart and Pale Lights. To those two you have to add The Electric Pop Group and it looks like a nice time to be there. The festival is already selling early bird tickets on their website. The festival will be happening on the 15th and 16th of July in Bjørke, a little village by the Hjørundfjord, western Norway.

Oh! And I did see the Radio Dept. last Thursday at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. They were really great, fantastic. There was a bit of a shitty crowd in front of me sadly, people that were friends and were part of the opening band called Germans. They were obnoxious. A shame. That would be my only disappointment on the show, so I hope Radio Dept. didn’t have anything to do in choosing their opening band. That aside, the evening was precious, the band played almost all their new album, which I’m really liking a lot, and a few classics. It was dreamy and dancey. Such a good time. I even got the setlist at the end of the gig, lucky me, and bought me a $25 dollar t-shirt (not cheap at all, but well… I liked the message on it).

And last but not least don’t forget that we are currently having an offer on our website for 10 random 7″s for a very cheap price! This offer is only through March.

The Three Little Pigs is a fable/fairy tale featuring anthropomorphic pigs who build three houses of different materials. A big bad wolf blows down the first two pigs’ houses, made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig’s house, made of bricks. Printed versions date back to the 1840s, but the story itself is thought to be much older. The phrases used in the story, and the various morals drawn from it, have become embedded in Western culture.

There are many 7″s I want. So many really. But there is one that I feel during the past few years that I want the most, I don’t know why. That is the 7″ Three Little Piggies put out in 1989.

I have had no luck tracking it. I haven’t been able to find it. For years I thought it didn’t even exist. Of course then Discogs was born and I found a little more information about it. I only knew that the A side was titled “Clark’s Commandos”. I had seen on Myspace a video of the band performing it. I would learn then that there were two more songs on the B side, “Ain’t He Happy” and “Uncle Chris”.

The record was released by Mrs Slocombe Discs (catalog MSD2). This must have been a record label set up by the band. The first release in the catalog was the “Frivolous Frolics” 12″ also by Three Little Piggies (catalog SRT8KL 1409). It came out the year before, in 1988. The songs on it were, “Press Eject” and “What Happened to Eric” on the A side and “Borgia Gintz”, “The Strangest of Men” and “Ain’t He Happy” on the B side. Discogs mentions that the record was recorded live at Portsmouth Art College on the 17th of December 1987. I feel only the last song was recorded live. there must be a mistake, though don’t take my word, I’ve never listened to any of the songs on this record.

Back to “Clarks Commandos”, these were a popular type for shoes for children in the 1970s & 1980s by the brand Clarks. It seems you can still find some of them on eBay listings.

For this 7″, we could find some images of the back cover and learn that it was produced at Recluse Studios by Rob Aubrey. “Ain’t He Happy”, the third song on the record was produced at DAN by Chris Sutton. there is also a contact address in Fareham. Did they come from there?

Fareham is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in the south east of Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the borough that comprises the town and its surrounding area. It was historically an important manufacturer of bricks (notably used to build the Royal Albert Hall, London) and a grower of strawberries. 

I went looking again for the Three Little Piggies “Clarks Commandos” video I saw once on Myspace. Sadly it seems it doesn’t stream anymore. It is credited to a Vivian Gregson. I remember it being lots of fun.

I keep looking. I find a very old looking website for the Battle of the Bands 1989 in Portsmouth. Organiser Barry Hedges had released details of the 64 bands from almost 400 entries – that have been selected to compete for a share in the £18,000 worth of prizes during the next six months. One of those bands is Three Little Piggies. They seem to have won the Fifteenth Heat, the Semifinal, then another time on 16th October 1989, but not being able to win the whole competition, the winners were a band called Yellow Cab Company.

And I play “Clark’s Commandos” once again, and I have so much fun with the trumpets and that contagious chorus. So catchy! I wish I wore Clarks Commandos when I was a kid haha! So good. A true indiepop classic in my book!

That was all the information I could find. I was once in Portsmouth, but never to Fareham. I hear there is a castle there. Maybe I could visit one day. But who knows anything else about the Three Little Piggies? Did they play in your town? Did they have more releases? Any compilation appearances? Do you happen to have a spare copy of their releases? Would love to listen to the songs on the 12″. Anyways, I would love to know more about them!

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Listen
Three Little Piggies – Clark’s Commandos

The most important news last week was that of the first announcements for the Indietracks festival. I was crossing my fingers for a dreamlike lineup, but that didn’t happen. I won’t be going then to the UK around those days in the summer, and that is a shame, would have loved to be surrounded by indiepop and friends BUT there might be a slight chance then that I could visit London during the first weekend of September. We’ll see.

On Facebook there was an interesting discussion on my personal page about the news of Indietracks. First off we all agreed that it is a good, honest thing, to say that they are a DIY festival. If you remember it always said on the logo “Indiepop Festival”. As things have been changing for the festival, catering probably to a different crowd, the taste of the new organizers being different, I think it is fair not to promote the festival as an indiepop one as it isn’t anymore. That’s clear.

There are still a few indiepop bands in the announced lineup. All of them seem to be repeats though and that is kind of sad, defeats the purpose a bit. Not that enticing for regular festival goers I think. We have among the few indiepop bands left The Wedding Present, The Orchids, Cola Jet Set, Milky Wimpshake, The Perfect English Weather, Evripidis and his Tragedies, Joanna Gruesome and Chorusgirl.

The rest of the lineup, sadly for me and for the rest of popkids, is mostly dominated for folkie, punk, garage and even some rock n’ roll sounding bands. Nothing really interesting. I went through the whole list of bands playing, checking their Bandcamps or Soundclouds and found no new important discoveries.

In the end it seems the festival will be losing its international crowd. Fewer non-UK people seem excited to spend much money to get to the festival. The bands seem to be catered to the local taste. And maybe that’s understandable, not taking risks.

This change towards a festival that is more diverse seem to be championed by UK goers. I don’t agree with this, I think that within indiepop you can be very varied.

Now that Fortuna Pop is no more, there is no leading indiepop label in the UK. Indietracks the past few years gravitated and seemed to have been influenced by this label to book bands. Today things seem different. Who will Indietracks gravitate too? It all seems to point to Oddbox Records and its mixed bag of all sort of genres in its catalogue.

I’m disappointed, I won’t lie. Every year one hoped things will get better. I think by now all hope is gone. I don’t think I will attend Indietracks again until a new generation of organizers take it over. There is still Madrid Popfest which seem to have been a success this past weekend. Maybe smaller festivals will spring out of nowhere all around the world. And I will make an effort to go. I remember the days when in the UK that there was Indietracks AND London Popfest. There  was excitement then. The people behind these festivals curated such beautiful lineups. Those days are gone. It is difficult to understand how people can say that NOW is better.

I know people in the UK reading this might feel uncomfortable. From experience a lot of British people don’t like criticism and opinions different to theirs. They take it personal. But this is just what a popkid feels, that’s all. I had the best times ever and I feel sad to see such a fantastic indiepop festival crumble before my eyes.

Maybe for you these are the best bands ever. That you know by heart the songs of Gracie petrie or The Hearing. Well, have fun. Just bear in mind that there are many festivals and opportunities for these sort of bands. Indiepop though have no space anywhere and these changes will definitely continue to affect our tiny scene.

Remember the days when the organizers would ask Elefant or Slumberland to help curate the festival? Or when classic bands would reform just to play the festival? There was an intention to support and celebrate indiepop. That’s gone, so gone. Now it is anything but an indiepop festival.

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Finally tracked The Felicitys /The Family split flexi. I know it is not that rare but I never got around buying it.

I don’t know much about the bands on it. I do remember listening to The Felicitys on classic tape compilations and liking their Shop Assistants influenced songs. So I had to have it. And now that I do I want to know more about this band. Who were they? Where are they? Let’s see if I can find anything about them in the world wide web.

The Felicitys at least released one demo tape according to Discogs. There are four songs on it, “Half a Man”, “Queen of Art”, “Mrs Smith” and “Paul”. I have listened to the four songs and they are fantastic. They remind me a lot of another favourite band of mine, The Wilderness Children. Such great pop songs!! How come they didn’t release many more singles, an album? Life can be so unfair.

In 1990 they released the flexi, shared with the band The Family. The Felicitys have the first on on the flexi and it is the perfectly poppy “Irresistible”. And it is of course irresistible, what’s not to like? The flexi was released by Fabulous Records (catalog FAB002). This label had already released in 1989 a 7″ by the band The Becketts. The Family appear on the flexi with the song “Polanskis Dream”.

We know some stuff about The Felicitys from the back cover of the flexi. The song was written and performed by The Felicitys in 1990. There was going to be a 12″ to be released in November 1990 by Fabulous Records. Whatever happened to that record? I guess it never was released. Maybe the band split before, or the label went bust.

There is contact information for a Jon Mates in Somerset. If you wanted to book a gig with The Felicitys he was your man. With this name in hand I could start digging a bit more. First stop, my blog (!). Yes to the Tony Head Experience post. This is what I got:
The Tony Head Experience were formed in Street, Somerset in early 1991 by Elisa Young. Within days she had roped in her ex-Felicitys band mates Nik Dalgarno, James Merry and Rob Buckley to record a four song demo at Nik’s Giant Recording Studios in Compton Dundon. Along for the ride and to produce this meisterwork came Jon Mates (Basinger/ex-Felicitys) and Nick Osbourne (The Becketts) who also helped out on guitar and tambourine respectively. Recorded in a day and featuring the songs ‘Lighthouse’, ‘Sleeper’, ‘Let Her Drive’ and ‘Go’ the recording was deemed a triumph in low-fi barn recording and hi-fi lager drinking.

Now I wonder why I didn’t get to do an interview with The Tony Head Experience. I see Jon Mates commented on my blog post. He says that the band was going to start playing again. Did they? He also mentioned that they were going to release an anthology. I think that never happened, no? I should try to contact him, learn about his two bands now, not only The Tony Head Experience but about The Felicitys!

There’s on that post of mine a trove of information about what happened after The Tony Head Experience. Sadly there’s not much about their time before they were involved with that band, the time when they were in The Felicitys!

Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel, its coastline facing southeastern Wales. Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset’s county town is Taunton. Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills such as the Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Paleolithic times, and of subsequent settlement in the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, and later in the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. The city of Bath is famous for its substantial Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Also, where in Somerset where they based?

I do know though that they appeared on at least two tape compilations in that golden age of indiepop. On the legendary “Corrupt Postman” released by Windmill Records in 1988 they contributed “Irresistible (live)” and then in 1990, on Dolphin Records’ classic “Positively Teenage” they contributed the song “Why Don’t You Come Round”.

That was it. All in all 3 songs released, one of them them a live version of the other. Then 4 songs on the demo tape. And that was it. I’m very sure they had more songs, if they had a 12″ planned. They must have.

I hope to find out more about them, I really like The Felicitys, they have the sort of sound that I go nuts for, girl fronted upbeat indiepop, jangly and fuzz guitars thrown in the mix, hook after hook, and a lo-fi down to earth sound. Just perfection!

EDIT: Paul from The Haywains just pointed me out some details about The Felicitys:
– Jon Mates used to put a regular club night called “The Terribly Good Club” at the Glastonbury Football Club where he would book not only local bands but also bands from the other end of the country as well.
– The Felicitys hailed from Street which is a large village and civil parish in the county of Somerset, England. The 2011 census recorded the parish as having a population of 11,805. It is situated on a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, 3.2 km south-west of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation. Much of the history of the village is dominated by Glastonbury Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and indeed its name comes from a 12th-century causeway from Glastonbury which was built to transport local Blue Lias stone from what is now Street to rebuild the Abbey, although it had previously been known as Lantokay and Lega.

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Listen
The Felicitys – Half a Man

Thanks so much to Stephen Lawson for the interview! I wrote about Blue Nose B before in the blog and he was kind enough to get in touch and tell me the whole story behind his band! I really loved their song “My Diary” after I discovered the band through the connection with Waving at Trains. And I was wondering how come Blue Nose B wasn’t more known! Happily here Stephen gives a better perspective of the band and the period.

++ Hi Stephen! Thanks a lot for being up for this interview. First things first, is it Bluenose B or Blue Nose B?

It’s Blue Nose B. It’s different on many of our records mainly because we were very drunk for most of our early years.

++ You were telling me that Blue Nose B is mainly you, but what would you say was the classic lineup for the band? How did you know each other? And when did the band start?

The classic line up was David Billows (vocals), John Briody (guitar), Michael Lawson (drums) and myself. David Billows is my cousin, Michael my older brother and John was one of my best friends from school.

++ You named the band after being fans of Everton FC, is that right? Do you go to the games? What would be your best Everton FC memory by the way?

People think we were named after Everton fans but we were actually named after the lines of men waiting to collect their unemployment benefit. They stood in the cold with their bluenoses. They were very political times. We were all Liverpool FC fans and the best game was the 1981 Liverpool v Real Madrid champions league final at Parc Des Princes in Paris. We won the game 1 0.

++ You were formed in Liverpool. Those early 80s in Liverpool must have been exciting, lots of great bands. Did you like that period in time? What were your favourite bands and why?

They were the best times. They were so exciting. We used to drink with Echo and the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, The Mighty Wah and China Crisis. It was the most vibrant of times. My favourite band was Echo and the Bunnymen. They were perfect. Ian McCulloch was brilliantly moody and Will Sergeant on guitar was stunning.

++ Though I read that you come exactly from Aintree, is that right? How is that town?

David Billows came from Aintree, Michael, John and myself came from Seaforth. A seaside town on the edge of Liverpool. Lots of poverty, lots of laughter, lots of music. “In Liverpool we sing”. Singing and laughing were are antidotes to poverty. Wish I could go back.

++ And how would you say Liverpool influenced your music? How was the city back then? What were your favourite places, your favourite venues to go check out music?

In Liverpool every youngster wanted to be either a footballer or in a band. There were hundreds of bands. We would all lend each other’s equipment. One night a guy called John “spud” Murphy came and lent my bass amp because his Dad had pawned his. There were at least 20 great venues. My favourites were the Firehouse, Pickwicks and the Bier Keller. The quality of music was excellent. Unfortunately so many great bands such as Politburo and Hey Marsha never received the success they should have.

++ On Discogs your first release is a demo released in 1984. The demo included 6 songs: “The Loneliest Dogs”, “Physically Satisfied”, “Escape”, “The Dream”, “Summer Girl”, “When I Love”. Was this your first ever recordings? How were these tapes sold?

Summer Girl and When I Love were our first two demos. Ultra pop songs. Summer Girl is a jangly sweet song about being young, happy and alive in a beautiful city in the summertime. Summer Girl was voted “song of the year” by Billy Mann the editor of the sound magazine.

++ None of these songs were to appear in your proper vinyl releases. Why is that?

They never went out on vinyl because Probe (our record company) didn’t have the money. Things were tight.

++ Your first release was a 12″ single with the songs “Forever Passing Trains”, “Burning Up” and “Maybe”. This record came out on Blues Records. Was it your own label? Or who ran Blues Records?

Blues Records was our own label because probe had no money. We had to do something to get our music heard and so we lent as much as we could to achieve it. That single was played a lot on BBC Radio 1.

++ You even produced this record. Did you have any experience producing records already? How was that experience?

We didn’t have any experience producing but we knew how to play and have a laugh, so we went in full of humour and hope and came out with a pretty good recording.

++ How did the creative process work for the band? Did you get much input from the rest of musicians in Blue Nose B?

I’d write the songs At home in Seaforth. I’d play them to my brother Michael. He’d either say yes or no and then we would start working on them. As he was the drummer and I was the bass player we would get the back end right before we’d play the song to David and John. We practiced in Michaels bedroom. All the neighbours would come out into their gardens and dance.

++ I assume that the art on this record is a drawing of Blue Nose B? Who made it?

David Billows did the art work. He was a budding Michael Angelo without the skill.

++ You also appeared on some compilations like “Modesty Kills” and “Desperation”. Both these compilations were released by the Audio Visual Records label. Who were they and how did you end up there?

The song Fine Rain was played by Michael, David and myself. Paul Gill (waving at trains) and John Murphy (toy taboo, lotus eaters and Thomas Lang) also played on the track.  It was picked up by audio visual records and we went on to record a significant amount of material for that label. We had an album with Audio Visual on cassette but they sold out and I don’t have a copy.

++ I also found out on your Bandcamp that you had set up a 9 song retrospective titled “The Sinking of Liverpool: A Retrospective 1983-1989”. Was this ever released physically? I couldn’t find any information on the label Modern Polymath either.

The sinking of Liverpool was developed by Michael Lawson, it is a collection of our best recordings from our post punk period. It was never physically released however we are in discussion to put it out on vinyl as it has received a lot of interest. Modern Polymath is a new record company who wishes to release much of our old and new material. We are currently re recording Summer Girl for May this year.

++ On your Soundcloud there’s even many more songs, some much newer, not from the 80s. So first, I want to ask if there are still more unreleased 80s songs waiting to be heard? And second, from what time do the other batch of newer songs come from?

All the songs that have been put on there were written in the 80s and 90s. I have a back catalogue of over 100 songs. You will see two vinyl 12 inches and an album before the end of the year.

++ Was there any interest from other labels for your music? Maybe a big label?

In 1984 a label (Ryker Records) offered us £40,000 for when I love and Summer Girl. We turned them down. Probably a bad decision. Sony also made and offer, once again we made another bad decision.

++ So you still use the name Blue Nose B for your music. Did the band ever split? Was there a hiatus at all?

We split on many occasions and reformed with new musicians. We have worked with Henry Priestman (the christians), Pete Wylie (The Mighty Wah), Ian McNabb (The Icicle Works), Dave Hughes (Dalek I love you) and John “spud” Murphy (The Lotus Eaters). John wrote the music to the film a “Letter to Brezhnev’ and is a big Hollywood music producer now. Our album was produced by the genius Ken Nelson who has won 3 mercury prizes. 2 with Cold Play.

++ Blue Nose B were featured in many magazines, Sounds, NME, Melody Maker, you name it. Did you get many favourable reviews? Was it easy to get their attention?

We had loads of attention. We regularly played in front of a thousand people in Dingwalls in Camden Lock London. We were right on the edge of making it. We also toured with the Mighty Wah which was great fun.

++ What about radio? Did you get much coverage and plays?

We were played regularly by John Peel, Janice Long and Pete Powell on Radio one. Also local radio played us a lot.

++ I read that some of the members had been in a band called Indadais. How did this band sound? Any similarities to Blue Nose B?

Indadais consisted of Micheal Lawson, John Briody and David Billows. The musical leanings were derived from the 1916 Dada movement. Too Artistic for me. I was a pure pop man.

++ And of course, after so many band changes, how do you think that affected the band? Do you see it as a positive or a negative thing?

I don’t know if the band changes affected anything. All I know is I have enjoyed every minute of playing live. It is an honour to see people dancing to your music and I hope this year to be in a position to play live again. Maybe in New York with a bit of luck.

++ Aside from music, and football, what other hobbies do you have?

My hobby is my work. I’m a mental health nurse with my own business. I help people come out of long term hospital provision to community living. A bigger buzz than playing live.

++ So far what would you say has been the biggest highlight for the band?

Playing in front of a 1000 people in Liverpool, on top form with a great reaction. I cannot put into words how good it feels to become so involved with the music that you exceed the limits of your talent. Superb.

++ Thanks so much for the interview! One last question, hope you don’t mind. Hope I go to Liverpool one day, never been there, but was wondering what would you recommend checking out? And if there’s any traditional food or drinks that I shouldn’t miss?

Come to Liverpool, drink Lager, eat Scouse, laugh, sing and dance. Liverpool people are the most generous and welcoming people in the world. You can stay with me and I’ll buy your drinks. You’ll have the time of life.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for the interview and I hope you can review the new 12 inch single. Summer Girl and Marianne (beneath the sheet).

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Listen
Bluenose B – My Diary

So I got the UPS tracking number for the Some Other Day CDs. They are arriving this Wednesday and will start shipping on Thursday! Very very excited to have this release out. A release that actually happened thanks to the blog. It was through a post I wrote years ago that I could get in touch with the band, interview them and eventually release this album as part of the Cake Kitchen series. This is the 8th release and don’t worry, as I’m writing these lines I am already working on the 9th release. It is very exciting times and can’t wait to receive all the boxes, open them and find the beautiful CDs. I’ll take a photo for you all (on the Facebook page) as soon as I can! So don’t forget to order the CD if you want to have a listen to some gorgeous songs that you probably have never heard before!

On indiepop news around the world my friends of Linda Guilala, from Vigo, Spain, have a new video for the song “Abstinencia.” This song appeared on their last album, “Psiconáutica”, and it is a cracker! I haven’t seen Iván and Eva for some years now, but it makes me very happy to at least see them on video! How I wish to visit them someday soon!

Shelflife’s favourites The Holiday Crowd have a new video out as well. The song comes from their self-titled album, “Cheer Up“. Another album that no one should have missed. I’ve played it lots but on the turntable. Shame there is no CD version for it, it doesn’t get recorded on my Last.fm plays.  But well, I’m probably the only one making that complaint! haha. Such a fab band; I saw them once at NYC Popfest, I can only hope for them to come back someday… Toronto being not that far away!

I’m not much of a fan of The Proper Ornaments (I do own some of their stuff, they haven’t won me over) but they have a split 7″ with a French band named Beat Mark. I’m listening to the song by them titled “Flowers” and it is really good!  It seems there are only 50 copies remaining of this record on the Bandcamp page for the label Requiem Pour Un Twister. Beat Mark seems like a very cool new discovery and followed them to their Soundcloud were I could find more songs. In all honesty only the two latest songs on Soundcloud, “Flowers” and “Neverending Fun” sound as if they have a better quality. The rest seem to be badly recorded or something.

Firestation Records also has news. “Pep Sounds” by Peppermint Parlour will be released in March. I wrote about this band time ago and mentioned that “Pep Sounds” was listed in places as a CD with 19 songs. I don’t know if this release will be exactly the same as that CD. You can read a bit more about Peppermint Parlour on that post. We’ll just wait for more news about it.

The other release Firestation seems to be working on is a retrospective by the band Asia Fields. We do know that this one will be available on both vinyl and CD. The album is titled “Goodbye Frank” and it will contain the bands two singles plus a bunch of unreleased songs. This one will be released on April 7th.

And last but not least, one of the most amazing surprises so far this year is that Pretty Olivia Records, Javi’s label, is reissuing the “Swimming in the Heart of Jane” 12″ EP by Treebound Story! Oh dear! This is one of the most beautiful records ever released. I can’t wait to get my hands on this record!! Pure pop bliss indeed!

That’s what I’ve seen going on this past week. Am I missing anything?

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Some months ago a reader of the blog, Jasper, asked me about a band that is as obscure as it gets: Storm House. I didn’t know anything about them, and I haven’t heard any of their songs either. The only clue there is was a song, “Inside”, that appeared on a compilation titled “I Might Walk Home Alone”, released by Wilde Club Records in 1992.

I’ve been meaning to get this compilation for a long time. It is not too expensive but not cheap either, so I have kind of been leaving this purchase for a later day. You have to understand that on this compilation, two Cloudberry related bands appear, Shine! and The Suncharms. So how come I haven’t got round to buying it?

The catalog for this CD release was WILDE 10. The girl who appears on the black and white photo of the artwork is Madge Kennedy from the movie “The Service Star” (1918).  Storm House contributes the penultimate song on the tracklist. It is the 14th song on the CD.

This is pretty shoegaze, not that far away from The Suncharms. And from the booklet of the CD we know that there were plans for the band to release a 12″ EP. Don’t know if on Wilde Club or on some other label. The song “Inside” was recorded at Purple Rain Studios in Great Yarmouth. A lot of the songs on this compilation seem to have been recorded in this place. It also seems that this place doesn’t exist anymore.

I keep googling. I try different combinations of keywords but I have no luck. I don’t know any of the bands members names. I would guess they hailed from Norwich or somewhere in Norfolk, but I can’t be 100% sure. Most of the Wilde Club bands were from that area.

There seems to be different well known Storm Houses in the world. I could find one in Copenhagen which is listed as a historical house in Denmark, and another one in Oklahoma in the US which is also listed as historical. Maybe their name also came from one of these houses.

Do you know what happened to Storm House? Did they ever release that 12″? What happened to their members? Would be interesting to know more about this very obscure band!

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Listen
Storm House – Inside

Thanks so much to Frida for the interview! I wrote some time ago about Inside Riot on the blog and was lucky to get in touch with Frida after that. I had been a fan for a long time, not only a fan of Inside Riot but also a fan of her other bands like Rough Bunnies or The Flame. So it was quite an honour to be in touch with Frida! Luckily she was happy to answer all my questions and here I’m crossing fingers she’ll like to do an interview about Rough Bunnies and The Flame sometime soon!

++ Hi Frida, thanks so much for getting in touch and being up for this interview. I’ve been a fan for long of your bands so this means a lot! Definitely the band that I know less about is Inside Riot, your first band, so let’s talk about that. When and where did the band start?

Hi there Roque. Inside riot has existed in different versions as long as we have been able to play instruments good enough. Anna and I played music together as children. We used to play guitar, and violin in the basement of my parents’ house. Anders (Anna’s brother) And Anna used to play with Anders friends Mattias and Martin and when I was Old enough I joined them.

++ Originally was it you and Anna only? When did Anders, Mattias and Martin join the band and how did you know them?

No, or yes. Originally, as we grew up together, we also naturally played together. But only in our basement. I was the last one to join the band which we later named inside riot.

++ So before Inside Riot you weren’t in any bands, right? But what are your first musical memories? What instruments do you play and what do you think inspired you to make music?

No, not any bands with actual names. My brothers and I also played music in our basement though. We can all play just a little bit Of everything but none of us is an expert in any instrument. We wrote songs because we wanted to impress guys we liked. Then it became more like writing a diary, together.

++ And had the other members being in other bands before or after Inside Riot?

Martin, the drummer, he was in a really good grunge band before he joined.

++ Who came up with the name of the band, Inside Riot, and what’s the story behind it?

The name is from one of the first songs I wrote. We needed a band name and the song was crap but the title was ok, so we used it for the band instead.

++ It’s said that Inside Riot used to record in Berlin and that you were in Malmö. Whereabouts are you these days? And what are your favourite things about these two cities?

We all decided to live in the same apartment in Berlin for half a year in 2002, to be able to play gigs and record. We are back in Sweden now, inhabiting the cities. Most of us live in Malmö.

++ And what do you remember about the recording sessions in Berlin? How was the creative process for Inside Riot?

Anna and I wrote songs and presented them to the band. It was always the same process. No drumming on the yellow metallic stuff, no funky guitar rhythms but otherwise the band was (almost) free to do anything.

++ Your releases came out on CDR mostly and during those early 2000s there were many bands releasing CDRs. How helpful was this format to spread your music and why do you think no one is releasing CDRs anymore being a cheap format for fans and labels?

We released CDRs due to its availability and that downloading mp3-songs was pretty slow at that time. Not that many people have CD players anymore. Now its easier to put all the songs into a homepage for free downloading, which is just as good.

++ There’s little information about your first releases, “The First Record (Eskimo)” and “Hi, What’s Your Name?” on the web. Was wondering if you could give me some background info about them? Like what year they were released? What songs were on it? If they were put out by any label?

I don’t remember exactly when those albums were recorded. Alan McGee promised to release an album on Poptones, but then they had an economical crisis and we never really sent the recordings to any other label.

++ I’m mostly familiar with the later releases, the posthumous releases, on Bedroom Records, like “1999-2002” and “Berlin Recordings + Mini EP” and they are brilliant. But I’m wondering, aside from all these releases, are there still any unreleased Inside Riot songs?

No, we released all of the good songs and also the crappy songs we rehearsed. There are of course songs that we did not rehearse and some of these songs were released by rough bunnies and some of the songs are forgotten.

++ And what made you release the compilation “1999-2002” a couple of years after the band had already split?

We met Jonas from bedroom records when we were playing as rough bunnies and we told him to also release the inside riot songs. He was very flexible when it came to our wishes.

++ I have so many favourite songs by Inside Riot, but maybe “World of Love” is my fave. If you don’t mind, what’s the story behind this song?

That song is about my first love, Guldtackan, and also about the first heartbreak.

++ And what would be your favourite song and why?

My personal favourite is ‘more lost than alive’ on berlin recordings, only because of the dreamy parts in the song.

++ How did it work releasing with Bedroom Records?

It worked fine, but in the end it would have been better to release everything by ourselves. They couldn’t produce as many cd-rs as we needed.

++ There is this mystery about five songs that are listed on the CDR “RB for Beginners”. It is said five songs that are listed don’t appear on the CDR, “How Did He Know I Had a Dick?”, “Riding in Cars”, “ESK-83”, “Human Industry”, “Teenage Obsession” and “I Say Goodbye”, what happened?

Haha, I drew the CD-r cover before I checked how many songs that actually fitted on the CD-r. I just left them out when I realised that I had to remove some songs.

++ Inside Riot (and Rough Bunnies) were covered by The Fine Arts Showcase. What do you think of these versions?

I think they are perfect Gustaf-versions. He had heard all the songs with only song and acoustic guitar as we used to live together, so the arrangements are his ideas of the correct sound.

++ Why were no other releases by Inside Riot at the time? Was there any interest by any labels?

We talked to both Fred and Calvin after playing gigs at the same clubs. They could release old stuff but we wanted to release new songs, so rough bunnies released a new record on Ypsilanti with Fred.

++ You told me that you mostly played in basements and only occasionally in clubs, I assume in Germany and Sweden? What are the gigs you remember the most and why? Any anecdotes you could share?

My favourite is when we played for maybe 150 13year olds and EVERYBODY left the room to do other activities. That was in Malmö.

++ Did you get any attention from press, radio, fanzines or blogs at the time?

Yes, pretty much. The reviewers and people playing in other bands used to love us but we never had a fan base of real people.

++ And when and why did the band split? What did the Inside Riot members do after?

Anna and I wanted to do our own thing. We were much too bossy for the others to cope with. They got serious and started to study. Anna learned belly dancing and we started rough bunnies and the flame.

++ Looking back, for you, what was the biggest highlight of being in Inside Riot?

It is so nice to play music together once a week. The song writing is the best part, tightly followed by the time in the rehearsal cave.

++ I know there’s much more to talk, like you were in bands like Rough Bunnies or The Flame and would love to do interviews about them too if you like, but let’s start wrapping this interview. Was wondering if you are still making music today?

No, but my kiddo is. She has super interesting lyrics.

++ What other hobbies do you have?

We like to hike in the forrest and walk long distances.

++ And what about Malmö, I was there many years ago and I had a good time. What are your favourite places to hang out? What are the sights not to miss and what are some traditional dishes one has to try?

There is a good place to eat Somalian food at Persborg. And the falafel in Malmö is good. And for activities…it’s nice to fly kites by the beach in the summer. And you should always explore Malmö by bike.

++ Thanks a lot Frida, it has been a pleasure. Anything else you’d like to add?

Not really, you had a ton of questions,haha! Thank you Roque.

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Listen
Inside Riot – World of Love

Whereas indiepop is agonizing in the US we get news that in China there will be a brand new indiepop festival soon. During two days, May 20th and 21st, the festival “Up a Tree” will be happening in Shanghai of all places. A city I visited just a few years ago and couldn’t see any indications that indiepop was going to be a thing there at all!

It came as a total surprise when late last week I saw this news. There are bands from China and Japan participating as well as DJs. They will also have a flea market, they will sell fanzines and they seem very excited about having a lot of booze as well.

The organizers are Puppy Fat Records. I don’t know who they are and could only find a Tumblr with little information.  Maybe it is just a name for the occasion.

The announced DJs are:
陳振超 ( The White Tulips)
小吉 (Die! ChiwawaDie!)
Shiyu (植物園zine)
一盒 (Fish Tank Radio)

I’m definitely familiar with Shiyu who makes the very cool Botanic Garden fanzine. The rest, I don’t know. Will they play proper indiepop? I’ve always questioned DJs at indiepop fests. I hope they do.

On the other hand I wanted to discover some of the bands playing. The lineup for the festival has:
Pictured Resort (Japan)
Gatsby in A Daze
Wallflower (Japan)
Atta Girl
The Cheers Cheers
Chimo 赤莓 (ex. 蘑菇紅）

There is no venue announced yet it seems or any schedule for the bands. It is still early, but looks promising. Let’s check the bands that I haven’t talked yet on the blog, which means everyone of them but the superb Wallflower who I’ve been a fan for like forever and I covered them when they came to play NYC Popfest.

Pictured Resort: this band I already know and I like them lots! I have their releases on Miles Apart Records but I don’t own their last release, their album! I have been living under a rock? Well, they released a new album last August and I believe is on CD and LP. It is titled “All Vacation Long” and was released by Sailyard Records in Japan. Don’t know if it is available anywhere else. The band is formed by Yuki, Mari, Yutaro, Yushi and the great Koji Takagi. Definitely a band to keep an eye.

Gatsby in a Daze: a band from Hangzhou, China. I see they have 6 songs on their Bandcamp and they are described as a lo-fi jangly psych rock band that hits the sweet spot. Sadly for me it didn’t hit the spot, I’m not much of a fan of their music.

Atta Girl: I’m familiar with this band thanks to the great labour of love of the Chinese label Boring Productions that I’ve covered before in the blog. The band has a new release that I still haven’t got it (what’s happening with me?). It is titled “Everyone Loves You When You Were Still a Kid” and is available on CD and cassette. There are 10 songs on this album and they sound great (even though on a small blurb on the Bandcamp it says they are lame on stage). I should write to Jovi about getting this release! So good!

The Cheers Cheers: I think I’m missing this band’s sole release, “Carinae”  as well. Also on Boring Productions it was released on CD/Cassette with 6 songs. Very nice introspective indiepop solo project by WangXiaoYu from Shenzhen, China.

Chimo: from Shanghai, the local band for the festival. I find two “releases” on Bandcamp. In reality they are just two songs that feel more like sketches. These two bedroom recordings have no vocals. And you know, instrumental songs and me we don’t get along. I wasn’t hooked here.

All in all pretty promising, at least 4 bands I would definitely want to see. And I think the dance parties should be pretty good too, don’t know Chinese indiepop fans but I’m assuming, as this will be the first time for the festival, that people will go with all the energy, in the perfect mood for having fun! Wish I could be there!

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So I expected to find at least some proper information about The Magic Shop when I started digging the web. I thought that if they had been on Sha La La, at least the band members names will be available somewhere. But no. Even though their one and only release might be thought as a classic one, the band has left nothing behind it seems.

As most of you know Sha La La was the precursor label to Sarah Records. It was run by Matt Haynes and it released a string of flexi discs, most of them shared by two bands. That was the case of The Magic Shop who were to share a flexi with The Visitors. It also happens that this was the last release, the last flexi, on Sha La La. This was 1987 and Sarah was about to be born.

The flexi came along many fanzines. It was common at the time that sort of system. You were to release a flexi and a good way to sell it was through other people’s fanzines. This flexi in particular (catalog Ba Ba Ba 008) accompanied the following fanzines, “Make it In Ongar”, “Simply Thrilled (#4)”, “Hedgehogs and Porcupines (#8)” and “5,000 miles from George Square (#2)”.

The Magic Shop contributed one song, “It’s True”, and The Visitors contributed their classic “Goldmining”. I tried long ago interviewing The Visitors, sent the questions and all, but never heard back. Maybe they could have shed some light about the band they shared the flexi with.

4 60s girls dancing on the cover of The Magic Shop side of the sleeve. No information whatsoever. The Visitors instead have a photo and a contact name and names of  towns, I’m assuming where they were from. Why the difference? Why didn’t The Magic Shop wanted to be contacted or leave any information? Why such a secret?

I have no clue where to look. Whereabouts in the UK they came from? Were they involved in any other bands? Did they play any gigs? I can’t recall seeing their name on fanzines, I have really no idea where to find anything else about them. That’s why I’m asking you, maybe you remember them from the time. Did they record any other songs? “It’s True” is a gem, but there must have been more from where that came from, no? Maybe the one and only demo tape they released? Who knows?

Edit: Sam on Facebook pointed me that the three girls from the cover come from another record: Bill Haley And His Comets’ “Bill Haley’s Greatest Hits!”.

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Listen
The Magic Shop – It’s True

This week, as it is quiet in indiepopnews, I have a long review of many bands I’ve heard for the first time in the past weeks. Hope you like some of them.

Astragal: they released a tape (yet another release I won’t get because of the format, shame) on Banana Tapes out of Nashville, TN, last September. I arrived to their Bandcamp thanks to the CD16 compilation. For that comp the band had contributed probably the best song out of the 3 on their tape EP, “Notations”. A lovely jangly and dreamy song. My second favourite song being the closing one, “Scenery”. The band is formed by Sam, David and Jimmy and they hail from Houston.

Traveling with Monika: yet another band I discovered thanks to the CD16 compilation. Now this one is quite a surprise as they hail from Bangkok! I haven’t heard of Thai indiepop bands in ages, in more than a decade. I was in Bangkok just some months ago, if only I had known, maybe I could have seen them live. They have 3 songs out and they are really nice. The band is formed by Nisarat, Thanapat and Samart. I think my favourite thing about the band are the vocals especially on the song “Traveling With Me”. Really cool!

The Whistling Possum: Only one song on their Bandcamp, the same as the one that they contributed to CD16: “Some Popkids are Even Worse”. In any case this is a very cool song coming all the way from Jakarta, Indonesia. The band is formed by Adi, Kaneko, Tio and Yenezkiel and they also seem to have a blog but I can’t understand a thing!

The Newsletters: from Melbourne comes this cool band that had a 7″ single out in 2015 and a three track digital single in March last year. I’m really enjoying the songs from this last digital effort. On CD16 the A side from the 7″ single, “Lucky Country”, was the one that was included. This 7″ was released by Butter Cup Records and seems to be still available.

Horsebeach: they have now “Beauty & Sadness”, the song that gives title to their new album streaming on Bandcamp. Sounds fantastic as everything they have put out. You can now pre-order the digipak album.

The Cottons: I think Kaneko and Yenezkiel from The Whistling Possum are involved in this band. I found two of their songs, “Yesterday’s Gone” and “It’s Only a Day” on the Dismantled label Bandcamp. They sound really promising! Lots of superb-sounding bands still coming from Indonesia!

Her’s: two digital singles for this band that will be debuting in Madrid Popfest very soon. The band is based in Liverpool and it is just a duo, Audun and Stephen. My favourite song being “Dorothy” out of their first single.

Pan Total: a fantastic discovery thanks to Madrid Popfest booking them. I feel very sad to have missed their limited edition CD that included 9 fab songs. I don’t know much about this band. They hail from Logroño and they seem to have been around at least since 2012! Where was I? How come I’ve only heard about them just a few days ago? It is embarrassing! Hopefully they re-release it? One can only hope.

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Was very surprised when I saw the song “Closer” opening the 4th CD in the “Still in a Dream: A Story of Shoegaze: 1988-1985” released by Cherry Red last year. I don’t know how obscure the band was back in the day, but these days it is not a band that I feel everyone remembers. There is very little on the internet about them. I wonder if the label got in touch with the band, the small bio on the booklet says very little, almost uninteresting information:
“This Tynemouth band were initially touted as Newcastle’s answer to the Stone Roses. Their first release “Bubble Bus”. shared a Whoosh flexi free with fanzine Two Pint Take Home. Further singles followed on Sympathy For the Record Industry (“Teenage Death”) and Tea Time (“Daydream”) before they settled in 1991 on Clawfist for “It’s Only Everything” and “Closer”, an anthemic, swirling guitar-fest produced by That Petrol Emotion’s Steve Mack. Their final release was a split single that coupled up The Sunflowers version of Smashing Orange’s “Collide” with Smashing Orange’s rendition of The Sunflowers “Something You Said.”

Nothing new there. Of course it gets a bit on my nerve the misspelling of Woosh Records.

But yes, they did release their first song “Bubble Bus” on Woosh’s eight release (catalog WOOSH 008), a flexi they shared with St. James Infirmary (a band I’ve written about here before and waiting now for their interview to be completed). The Sunflowers song was the second song on this fold-over paper picture sleeve, with a photo of two eyes printed in green and blue. The flexi was not only available with the Two Pint Take Home (vol. 4 by the way) but also with the Waterbomb vol. 4 fanzine.

Their second single, from 1990, came out on Sympathy For The Record Industry (catalog SFTRI 64). This is quite interesting for me as this label was based in Olympia, Washington in the US. It wasn’t that common for these sort of British bands to end up on American labels. It seems the label had high hopes for the band, releasing the 7″ in a variety of different colour vinyl records: yellow, tangerine, orange transparent, dark blue and turquoise. The songs included were “Teenage Death” (a favourite of mine) on the A side, and “Twenty Fifteen (live)” on the B side. The A side was recorded in Chamber Studios in Edinburgh on February 1990. The B side was recorded live at Newcastle Riverside on January 31, 1990.  The photography on this record is credited to J.R. Hughes. He is also credited for recording the B side.

Their third single was to come out that same year, 1990, on the very well-regarded indiepop label Tea Time Records. “Daydream” (catalog TEA 08) was actually the B side even though it was the song giving the single its name. “Twenty Fifteen” was the A side. Artwork for this record is credited to P. Mann. Photography to  J.R. Hughes again. The producer for this record was Jamie Watson who was the one that set up Chamber Studios in Edinburgh in 1986. It is no surprise then that the band recorded this single there.

Then they were to move to Clawfist Records. It was 1991 and they released the “Closer” 7″. On the B side we got “Day Into Day”. This was the fifth Clawfist release (HUNKA 005). This label was set up by the Vinyl Solution record shop on Portobello Road in London. The record was mastered at The Exchange, a Camden based mastering studio. Other credits on the sleeve include Design by Jocky, Mastered by Mike, Photography by J.R. Hughes and Produced by Steve Mack.

The same label was to release another single the same year. On Clawfist’s 7th release (catalog HUNKA 007) The Sunflowers put out “It’s Only Everything” on the A side and “Too Far to Fall” on the B side. Credits are similar as the previous record, Design by Jocky, Photography by J.R. Hughes and Steve Mack as producer.

Their last release was part of the Clawfist Singles Club (this was number 18). As mentioned before The Sunflowers covered “Collide”, original by Smashing Orange, whereas “Smashing Orange was to cover “Something You Said”, a Sunflowers original. I wonder if The Sunflowers released anywhere “Something You Said”.

They were to appear on a legendary compilation in 1990. On the Positively Teenage tape they contributed two songs, “Sunflower Babies” and “Sunflowers Mum”. About this tape I believe I’ve covered many bands that appeared on it on the blog like The Lavender Faction, Love Parade, The Penny Candles or The Mayfields.

“Bubble Bus” also appeared two years ago, 2014, on the “Ten Little Records: The Woosh Collection” that Jigsaw Records put out that included most of the Woosh flexis.

Time to leave Discogs and 45cat. Time to dig online for more information. I reach the Cud website. The Sunflowers are mentioned on their gig diary, for October 6th 1992:
Newcastle University.Pals, the Sunflowers turn up to quaff all our rider. The gig’s a sell-out but we’re put in the smaller hall with a precarious stage where we fear the lights may topple onto Steve. The Dunphy clan turn up and we put on our best show so far.

Perhaps the best find on the web is this one, live footage of The Sunflowers. Here I could find them performing “Closer” at Newcastle’s The Broken Doll sometime in 1990. From this video’s small description we know The Sunflowers played high-profile supports with acts like That Petrol Emotion, Pale Saints and Slowdive. This is truly amazing! Wish I had been there! The music soars!

I read the video comments, maybe someone remembers anything about them. Someone named Mark Wilson says that the band fell out with their bassist and they never got over it. Was that the reason the band split?

From the Feral interview I did many months ago, there is a Sunflowers mention from Arlo:
Not long after the Feral single we became a 3 piece briefly. We then recruited Ian Nagel from The Acrylic Tones on guitar. He was a real 60s aficionado and Feral took on a more psych / jangly sound for a year or so. We then disbanded for a few weeks, Ian continued with the Acrylic Tones, and we recruited Paul Schofield from The Sunflowers on vocals and renamed the band Camp Freddie. Camp Freddie was a good little band. We holed-up in a barn in Felix’s auntie’s house near Morpeth in Northumberland.

This is the first name associated to The Sunflowers I can find, Paul Schofield!

Another mention of The Sunflowers on the blog comes from The Lavender Faction interview. When I ask about Stephen from Woosh, I’m told:
I think he said he was living with his partner, the girl from out of the Sunflowers and they have a child or children, and he works as a full time guitar tech, touring, ect, with major acts although I know he used to roady for My Bloody Valentine. I don’t know if he toured with them when they recently reformed.

I couldn’t find more information about the band.

It seems that during the last few weeks I’ve covered a lot of bands of the Newcastle area, I hope someone there remembers The Sunflowers, what happened with them? Why they never released an album? Why did they split? If they continued making music? If they were involved in any other bands? If they had more recordings?

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Listen
The Sunflowers – Closer

NYC under a snowstorm. Perhaps the best moment to write blog posts even though I have little to say. I already posted this week and it is not too often that I make two blog posts a week (excepting the times when I post an interview). But I feel like researching some more indiepop. Digging deeper. Finding new records to buy, new songs to listen, new bands to add to my pantheon.

Detective novels and long rides on the subway now that I work  in the Financial District. Days go fast. A week of vacations might open for me the first week of September. Might go back to London. Or to The Netherlands. Or Iceland? Those seem to be the best choices. Was doing a little research of what new to see around London, a city I’ve visited so many times. Shamefully I still haven’t been into the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey, so those I’d visit for sure. But then I noticed this place, Royston Cave, in Herfordshire, that I can reach on the train, and I think I would love to visit that place. And then I’d need to add at least a castle visit. I’ve always wanted to go to Bodiam castle, but seems complicated to reach. Warwick then? Anyways, I’m only dreaming at the moment. I might not even go!

I should instead focus on my Finland trip the last week of May. I already have the plane tickets. What would my route look like? It all depends. There’s a chance we end up renting a car. If that was the case there’s the intention of driving all the way north to Rovaniemi and then crossing to Sweden, to Luleå. That’d be something! The only other extra places we’d visit if we rent a car would be Vaasa and maybe Oulu. Without the car the plan is to definitely go to Helsinki (obviously), Turku (there’s a castle!), Hämeenlinna (another castle!), Tampere (for Moomin museum), Savonlinna (probably the nicest castle in Finland, at least from the photos), and then Rovaniemi to get inside the Arctic circle. We’d probably do this in a mix of buses and trains. We still can’t book either anyways, so probably by March we could have a better idea. Very excited.

At the end of the year, for holidays, it seems the plan is to head to Mexico, but this time to Yucatan and the Riviera Maya. Checking out mostly pre-columbian sites as well as beautiful beaches. Escape the winter and have great food (cochinita pibil, yum!).

What scares me a bit about all this traveling is that there is absolutely no indiepop involved in it. Maybe if I go to London that would change, maybe there’s a gig or two. Or at least I could meet with indiepop friends. But then, this just may not happen.

I should try to go to more of the small gigs within NYC, those that are really not indiepop gigs but a mixed bag of bands where 1 happens to play nice indiepop and the rest crap. Tough. Paying to see 4 bands but only caring for 1. Hate that. But that’s how it usually is. Promoters usually don’t care.

Anyways, turning the page… here are some bands that I’ve discovered lately (thanks to CD16) and I think you should check them out:

Toilettes: I heard “Observatorio” on the CD16 and thought, where does this beautiful lo-fi racket comes from? They hail from Barcelona and they are two girls, Joana Mallol and Julieta Caprara. They have a tape out (I don’t know if it is still available) on Discos Walden/Discos Populares and it includes 8 songs, all which you can stream on their Soundcloud. This is really, really great. Pop that reminds of flexi girl-fronted indiepop bands like The Felicitys, The Definite Article, or even Talulah Gosh!

Lillet Blanc: quite the surprise. Their song “Foul Play” is gorgeous, but more surprising is that they hail from NYC! Damn. So close and I had no clue. Joel all the way in Peru could find them first. This means I should try to go see them whenever they play. They have three songs out on Bandcamp and it seems these songs were also released on tape. They seem to be formed by Sean Camargo, Andre Bellido and Emily Rawlings. A three-piece. That’s always a good number. And they seem to have some connection to Latin America because of their last names, so that makes me even happier. My only problem, as you know I hate tapes, is that I’m really sad these songs, and also the Toilettes ones are available in that format. Bring back CDR!

I Saw You Yesterday: the song they included was “Girlfriend” and has a great shoegazy sound. I look for them on the web. Surprise, surprise, they are Japanese and on the Ano(t)racks net label. I’ve checked this label before and it’s bands. But somehow I must have missed them. They have for download the “Malibu EP”. 4 songs that you can also stream. The band is formed by Hidemasa Shimoda, Kai Murakami, Kazushige Suzuki and Reiji Shibata. Not sure where from Japan they are from. I wish this label, with so many great releases, would put out some stuff in physical format. CDR?

Memory Drawers: seems the CD16 was pretty international. Memory Drawers contribute the song “Maybe” and they hail from the Philippines. It has been a while since I listen some great pinoy pop! So this is pretty exciting. On their Soundcloud I could find two more songs, “…For Any of This” and “Hart (?)”. There’s not much info about them, but they do have a Facebook page where I hope I can find more stuff about them in the future. So far they have been featured in a filipino newspaper. Maybe they’ll be big someday?

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Honey trapping is the private investigative practice of evaluating the fidelity of partners in marital and nonmarital romantic relationships. Investigators are employed by wives, husbands, and other partners usually when an illicit romantic affair is suspected of the “target”, or subject of the investigation. Occasionally the term may be used for the practice of creating an affair for the purpose of taking incriminating photos for use in blackmail. A honey trap is primarily used to get evidence. In a typical honey trap a private investigator will approach the spouse of a client and attempt to flirt with them.

Honey Trap or Honeytrap. I’ve seen the name written in both ways. But I’m going to go with Honeytrap. One word. I own a flexi by them and it is fantastic. I’ve heard some other songs and they are pretty good as well. I notice I know nothing else about them. Time for detective work then.

“Honeytrap were formed in 1988. Basically what happened was that I was first starting to do gigs I called myself “Sonny Rancher” then as I drafted in more members we changed the name at the same time. The complete and final line up just before we broke up in 1990 was as follows:
Phil Walton – vocals, guitar
John Peel – guitar
Jon Haslam – keyboards
Dave Haytack – bass
Jon Dickson – guitar
Tony Stewart – drums

All songs were written by myself and Jon Haslam.
Phil Walton (January 2003)”

This is what it says on the booklet of the Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 3 compilation where Honeytrap appeared contributing the song “Peace in a Picture”. There is a bit of a different story on Twee.net. That one says:
“All but John Peel and Tony Stewart worked at TRADECRAFT, a company that traded with third world countries and paid 1st world prices direct to producers, look it up . Whoosh fanzine started at around the same time, owner Steve Joyce also worked at Tradecraft. During a conversation regarding an imminent Whoosh Club which was due to be held upstairs in the Broken Doll public house featuring Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes, Phil Walton agreed to fill one of the support slots. Calling himself Sonny Ranchero, taking the name from a ditty he had recently penned he enlisted the services of John Peel. A small handful of gigs later and David Haytack joined, closely followed by Tony Stewart. At this point and still operating under the name of Sonny Ranchero, Phil Walton and Jon Haslam began discussing and exchanging song writing ideas. Jon joined the group which was promptly re-christened Honeytrap. One additional member was later added, John ‘Dicka’ Dickson (Guitar) before the band went their separate ways around 1991.”

From Twee.net we also know that Phil Walton and John Peel hailed from Washington, Tyne & Wear, David Haytack from Flint Hill near Consett, Tony Stewart from Gosforth, Newcastle and Jon Haslam from Jesmond, Newcastle.

Washington is a large town in the City of Sunderland local government district of Tyne and Wear, England, and part of historic County Durham. Washington is located geographically at an equal distance from the centres of Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland, hence it has close ties to all three cities.

The band is listed on Twee.net as hailing from Washington in England. A lot of information already and I haven’t had to do much digging.

They only had one proper release, a flexi with two songs on the Sublime label (catalog Sublime One). There are no other releases on this label so it is kind of safe to think that it was a self-release. The two sogs on this fold-over paper picture sleeved record  were “The Boy Who Wouldn’t be Beaten” and “Make Me Happy”. The flexi also included a lyrics insert and a postcard. It was released in 1989. As far as I know it is not difficult to find this record,  I see some on Discogs. If you are missing it, please get it, it is GREAT. Two classic indiepop songs of jingle jangly quality!

That same year, in 1989, the band were to contribute the song “England” to the “Turquoise Days” compilation released by Red Roses For Me. A classic compilation packed with so many great bands from the period, from The Popguns to The Penny Candles to Fat Tulips and more!!

The other only compilation appearance I could find was that on the legendary “You Can’t Be Loved Forever 2” tape. On it they appear with the song “A Slender Grip”.

A little more digging and I could find Phil Walton’s Youtube channel. It hasn’t been updated in 3 years but he has uploaded 4 out of the 5 songs I’ve mentioned before (missing “A Slender Grip”) for you to stream and listen. The cool thing is that he has included lyrics for them!

I couldn’t find much more about them. I wonder why their flexi didn’t come out on Woosh, seemed like the obvious choice. I wonder if they have more recorded and unreleased songs. What happened to them after? Were they involved with other bands? Did anyone of you reading this remember anything about them? Did you go to any of their gigs? Would be great to know more about this obscure English band!

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Listen
Honeytrap – Make Me Happy