I am back now from vacations in Spain. I am exhausted. So this will be a short post. I had prepared the lost band part before leaving but the discoveries are all from yesterday, looking for something worth sharing. Will share some of my trip memories later this week I hope!

The Moon and Back – One Small Step for Global Pop: this is the name of a compilation Jerv and his label WIAIWYA has released digitally and also on CD. It includes so many songs, by many great names. We see songs by The Popguns, Fever Dream, Jeanines, Pam Berry and more!

The Catherines: “Just a Matter of Time Until I Cringe” is the name of the latest song by the Hamburg popsters. They have released it as a digital single on Bandcamp and have the song “It’s Really Good!” as a B side. As always this is good stuff!

Mick Trouble: this is an album I need and it is called “Its the Mick Trouble LP”. And yes it seems it is only available on vinyl, no CD. It has 12 songs which are influenced by the TVPs. That’s a good thing. At the same time it sounds very original. And that is a good thing as well. I suggest ordering soon as the first copies will come with a limited flexi!

The Popguns: the classic Brighton band has a new EP titled “Carrying the Fire” with 5 brand new songs. The idea behind this record is a “Space Operetta” as the EP’s name come from the Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins autobiography. The EP is released digitally by Matinée on the 19th.

The BV’s: One of the best albums this year has been “Cartography” by our friends The BV’s. The duo, half English, half German, have just put together a video for a song included in that album, “Catapult” and of course I had to share it with everyone. Because the song is great! and the video too, with footage of many of their roadtrips!

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Back in 1998 a Swedish band from Malmö made a splash in the Swedish national radio with the song “I Cry Because of You, Argentina”. A play on words of the famous “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”. This band was Chocolate Barry. A mystery at the time, and a mystery now.

The band was formed by brothers John and Fredrik and Marco Manieri. We know a bit about Marco these days as he has produced many bands like The Ark, Melody Club, The Mo, Marit Bergman and has remixed big names as The Cardigans, The Corrs or even Roxette. In bands, aside from Chocolate Barry he was in Trig.  But what about John and Fredrik? John was the main force of the band, right?

I say that because in 2010 he resurrected the band and played just by himself a few gigs, starting with one at the “På Besök” club in February 27 of that year. I remember this club that was run by Krister, having had the luck to DJ once there. A small tour followed that gig and in 2011 the band stopped for good.  Among these gigs I found that he even played London alongside the great Mr. Wright at the Baby Honey club on April 9th, 2010. That same month, on the 30th, he supported Firefox AK at club Debaser in his city. He also opened for Momus in Malmö in early 2011

But back in the late 90s and early 2000s the band did release some records but never played live. That was the interesting part of this 2010 comeback, this time around there were no new records but played live. I wonder why the substantial change in approach for the band. Also it was just John then.

The first appearance by the band seems to have been “Belfast Boy” on a compilation called “The Red Album: A Mancunian Fantasy”. I doubt it was the same band as first it says it is a Manchester compilation and then on the credits we see the last names Harris, Colton and Smith. So probably not.

For me, the one that is for sure to be the band’s first appearance was the 1993 flexi “Swings Sweetly” that was released by Uppåtneråtvadsomhelst (002) that year in September. This label of course is the one responsible for the Cookie Noise Tower tape compilations. Two tracks recorded at Studio Revolver were included, “The Passion of Spain” and the most wonderful “I Cry Because of You Argentina”. On the insert included they kind of mention that they are the 90s answer to The Monochrome Set, the Beach Boys, Chris Montez, Simon Turner…

Then in 1994 the band appeared with the song “Everyday Bonaparte” on the compilation “Second Half” that the Swedish tape label Records from the Cookie Nose Tower (uppåtneråtvadsomhelst 003) released. This seems more likely that it was our band, it was a Swedish compilation in the end.

So, if it was the same Chocolate Barry as the first compilation I mentioned, then in 1995 they contributed a song to a Spanish compilation called “It’s Only Football ‘but I Like It” that came with the Zona de Obras magazine.  Then the band contributed the song “Georgie, The Belfast Boy”. But again, I have my doubts it is the same Chocolate Barry. I wonder if anyone could let me know if I’m right or wrong about this.

In 1995 the band would contribute a song to “Prego! 95 – The Menu of Trattoria Vol.2” (PSCR-5395). This I believe is our Swedish band as it is an indiepop label releasing them. Here the band contributes the song “World of Cakes” and they appear alongside top bands like Blueboy, Cloudberry Jam or Bridge.

In 1997 the band would appear on a terrific compilation album called “Tambourine Studios Volume Two” released by Vibrafon Records (VIBRCD39). Indeed the band recorded their songs at this studio, and on this top compilation where they appear alongside The Cardigans, Eggstone and Saint Etienne they contributed their classic “I Cry Because of You, Argentina”.

The year after, the San Francisco label Radio Khartoum who always loved these sort of sounds picked them up to contribute the song “Passion” to the compilation mini CD “The Flight of Everson K (19fps Vol.1)” (khz198). That same year the band was part of the “Mama, Take Me Home to Malmö” compilation that Vibrafon (VIBRCD48) released as a soundtrack for the movie “Blådårar”. Their song “München ’79” was included in it.

Then came Benno, the very fine label and fanzine. In 1999 they released a compilation 7″ called “Benno Presents Volume 2” that included their song “Gay Girl”. This was how I first listened to Chocolate Barry after finding a copy of this record in a store in Stockholm many years ago.

The Spanish labels Sinedin Music (SM-004) and Inane Records released in 1999 a compilation packed with amazing tracks and bands called “The Unheard Pleasures of Inane – Somewhere in Europe, 1972 Vol.1”. It is a terrific selection of bands and the artwork was done by our good friend Grego Soria from Annika Records. This CD came alongside, for free, the Factory (no.22) magazine. The band once again contributed their track “I Cry Because of You, Argentina”.

Radio Khartoum never forgot them. In the year 2000 the band was included with their song “Hell” in the compilation “The Stations of Abandoned Days (18fps Vol. 3)” (khz300). Benno as well repeated and included them in the CD comp “An Unfinished Retrospective” with the track “Gay Girl”.

In 2001 the band would sign to Mini Tenor Records from France. There they would release their debut album “Cucumber Trees and Ice Cold Lemonade” (lux05) which included 12 songs, “Gin and Tonic”, “Her Worldwide Search”, “Franckfurt-Firenze”, “Always Too Late (Springtime)”, “Popmusic Crazy”, “Gay Girl”, “I Got the Devil”, “The Passion of Spain”, “I Cry Because of You Argentina”, “Spacerock”, “Redirecting My Career” and “Munich ’79”.

Then a 7″ (lux11) was released too by the same label to promote the album. TheA side had “Popmusic Crazy” while the B side had “Prais-Roubaix (servais Knaven Remix)”.

Lastly, the label that was the most important to them, Mini Tenor Records, included their track “Popmusic Crazy” on the CD compilation “Have You Ever Loved?” in 2001.

There is another release listed on Discogs though, a CDR compilation called “Live at Taj Mahal” which seems to be demos and alternate versions of their songs. I would love to hear this album one day. They included 14 tracks on this and I wonder if this was sold perhaps at their 2010 tour? The songs being “Gin & Tonic”, “Worldwide”, “Frankfurt-Firenze”, “Springtime”, “Popmusic”, “Gay Girl”, “I Got the Devil”, “Passion of Spain”, “I Cry Because”, “Spacerock”, “Redirecting My Career”, “Munich ’79”, “Civediamo” and “Everyday Bonaparte”. It seems the song titles were hand written and because of that they appear shortened.

We know they hailed from the small suburb of Bunkeflostrand in Malmö. There is also a mention that they had a 22 track cassette compilation that was offered through the indiepop-list. That the label Riviera was supposed to release their “Greatest Hits Vol. 1” But for some reason it never happened. Mini Tenor came to release the album.

That’s all I could find so far. So I’m hoping my friends from Sweden, from Malmö which are not a few, will help me find out more about this great band! Who remembers them?

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Listen
Chocolate Barry – I Cry Because of You Argentina

Thanks so much to Chantelle from the lovely The Duglasettes! I wrote about them on the blog just before leaving on vacations and she was very kind to get in touch and answer all my questions! I was always very curious about The Duglasettes, who released only two songs and were a tribute band to the superb BMX Bandits! It is time them to unveil the mystery about them!

++ Hi Chantelle! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

Hello there! Thank you for still remembering The Duglasettes and interviewing me. I’m superfine thank you. I hope you are too.

No music making for me at the moment.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

My first musical memory is singing along to the Boney M song ‘Daddy Cool’ in the garden when I was three years old. The 70s were a great time musically, and most of my early childhood memories have an amazing 70s pop soundtrack, just all the stuff that was on the radio at the time. I always liked dancing and singing.  I was also (and still am) obsessed with TV theme tunes, Hong Kong Phooey being a favourite, it’s fan-riffic!

I never really had the patience to learn an instrument (still don’t). I can just about smash out a few chords on a guitar under duress.

Growing up, my dad loved Jim Reeves and the more easy listening end of country and western music as well as the immaculate doo-wop of the Platters; my mum liked rock ‘n’ roll (Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino), so I was educated in that sort of stuff early on. I was lucky enough to be the youngest of five, so all my siblings started buying records before me, and I learned early on what I liked. My sister bought You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever by Orange Juice on cassette when I was 9 and I liked the dolphins on the cover, so I started listening to it and was hooked on that jangly indie-pop sound from then on really. I was obsessed with pop music in all its forms though and would spend breaks at school making up dance routines to songs and pretending I was George Michael (Wham!) or Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode). Thinking about it, I had a distinct lack of female role models in those early years.

++ Had you been in other bands before The Duglasettes? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

I had an imaginary band at school, but not a proper one. Despite my love of music, I’m the least musically talented person in the world, ever. Tim Owen, who played on the first Duglasette song, was uber talented and like Roy Castle seemed to be able to pick up any instrument and play it. He played in a band called Graham’s Crayon with his brother Jof (now of the Boy Least Likely To and Legends of Country). Graham’s Crayon were superb. I’m pretty certain there’ll still be a tape somewhere of their stuff. Funny, melodic, eclectic and wonderful. Jof is a natural songwriter. Buy all his records!

I had the honour of making the second Duglasette song with the legendary Will Bourton of Cee Bee Beaumont fame, another super talented guy. Buy his records also.

I don’t think Linda White was in any other bands, but I may be wrong.

++ Where were you from originally?

That’s always complicated to answer as my dad was in the army and we moved around a lot. I met Tim Owen when I was at school in brutalist dream town Aylesbury. I met Will Bourton and Linda White when I moved to London after I left school.

++ How was your town at the time of The Duglasettes? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Apart from Graham’s Crayon, I didn’t know any other local bands and I was too young to go to the pub at the time. However, Aylesbury had the most magical record shop, Oven Ready Records, that saved my life. I spent a lot of time in there talking to teenage crush and super lovely guy Mark Bradley. And dicking around listening to and buying records.

When I moved to London (aged 17), I was flung in at the deep end gig going wise. It was heaven!

++ When and how did the band start? What inspired you to start a tribute band of the BMX Bandits?

Like most things in my life, it started as a daydream and me being jammy enough to know the loveliest people. In this case the adorable Richard Coulthard and the wonderful Colin Babb of seminal fanzine Waaaah!. They told me they were putting out a compilation CD and said if I could provide a song they’d include it on it. And that’s how Bellshill’s Son came about. I was a BMX Bandits superfan (still am) and had made up the song already, I just contacted genius Tim as I knew he had instruments and a 4 track that we could record the song on, and it was as simple as that.

++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Me and Tim met at school, we were both into good music and we made each other laugh.

Me, Linda and Will met through going to gigs in London and mutual friends.

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

No creative process really, just me dicking about. I just made up different lyrics to another band’s tune and then sent the lyrics and a recording of the other band’s tune to either Tim or Will and said ‘I want it to sound like this’ and they just knocked out amazing music that I sang over. No practice required.

++ Even if it is obvious, what’s the story behind the band’s name?

I had a massive crush on heart throb Duglas T Stewart of the BMX Bandits and our original song was about him (and the tune plagiarised from his band), I also loved 60s girl bands like the Ronettes so it made sense to call us the duglasettes.

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

BMX Bandits and other twee indie-pop stuff for the first tune. Napalm death, Riot Grrrl and Beastie Boys for the second song.

++ If you were to choose your favourite BMX Bandits album and songs, or a top five, what would they be?

My favourite BMX Bandits LP is definitely BMX Bandits Forever. I still can’t stop listening to it 2 years on. Favourite songs are:

1. It’s Time
2. Saveoursmiles
3. Love Me ‘Til My Heart Stops
4. But Tonight
5. All Around The World

++ And I have to ask, what did Duglas think of the band? And how many times have you seen the BMX Bandits?

I think he liked us.

When I lived in London I saw the BMX Bandits every time they played, which was quite a lot – I lost count of how many. I’ve not seen them in years now though and it’s certainly a big bucket list item of mine to see them again.

++ The two songs you released were on Bring on Bull Records. How did you end up working with this label? 

I was lucky enough to be friends with Richard and Colin of Waaaah! / Bring on Bull. They were great people and ace times.

++ The only release was a split flexi with the BMX Bandits. I was wondering about the art for this record. Who took care of that part?

I think that was Richard Coulthard. He was the mastermind behind everything really. An unsung genius of a man.

++ The song on this flexi is “Love Machine” and is quite a punkier song than the other song I know of yours. Why the difference of styles?

It kind of reflected the extremes of my personality when I was younger really. I was either full on ROAR! LOOK AT ME! or timid, quiet and shy. There was no in between. I’ve calmed down a bit now and the two extremes have melded a bit. But I still have eclectic tastes, especially in music.

++ The other song being of course “Belshill’s Son” which appeared on the compilation “The Waaaaaah! CD”. This CD features so many great bands from the period. I was wondering that if you felt part of a scene then?

Yes, absolutely. I moved to London when I was 17 and it could have so easily been a disaster, but I was lucky enough to be part of the tiny indiepop scene of the time, which was very friendly and supportive. You’d see all the same people at gigs and we all got to know each other. Waaaaah! Even organised picnics and coach trips. We had some very good times.

++ Aside from these two songs, are there any other recordings by the band?

No. The two songs were recorded to order. There were no rehearsals or other recordings or anything.

++ I really like the song “Belshill’s Son”, if it is not much to ask, what’s the story behind this song? 

There’s not much of a story really. Just me having a teenage crush making up songs and daydreaming.

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

That’s like asking a mother to choose her favourite child! I like them both. But at a push I prefer love machine because it still amuses me.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? 

No, we were supposed to support the Suncharms in Luton or somewhere at one point but it kind of fell through because I had no band, no songs, no instruments and no means of transport to get there. We were probably the crappiest band in the world.

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

As a gig goer it’s hard to beat a BMX Bandit gig. And for the real die hard duglasette fans out there you can spot me in the BMX Bandits video of Kylie’s Got a Crush On Us (1:03) stagediving at a gig.

++ And were there any bad ones?

No, none. No gig is bad when there are friends there.

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

I moved away from London and the cheeky, jubilant joie de vivre I had when I was younger left me for a bit. I lost interest in most things for a while to be honest. So no more music and no more bands. I’ve rediscovered my joie de vivre now though, so never say never!

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

Yes, Tim plays on some of the Legends of Country songs. And Will is one of those super talented people who’s in loads off bands – Blood Sausage, Cee Bee Beaumont, the McTells to name but a few.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

You writing about us has provoked much joyous joking about it. So who knows?

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

I think we were mentioned in a BMX Bandits interview once.

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

We had a review in the NME which said ‘The Duglasettes amuse no one but themselves’. I took this as a massive compliment.

++ What about from fanzines?

I was pleasantly surprised at how well our jokey exploits were received. And how many people remember us. Thank you everyone.

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

Being on a split flexi with the BMX Bandits of course!

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

I’m obsessed with circuit training, weight lifting and dogs.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for reading this interview.

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Listen
The Duglasettes – Belshill’s Son

Last post for about two weeks! I will be back to posting on July 17th. Also all orders placed between today and the 16th won’t be mailed until the 17th. Sorry about that! The thing is I will be on holidays in Spain! Very very excited! Not much indiepop though in this trip as I haven’t seen any good concerts while I am there but I am really excited to see many friends!

Den Baron: aside from the 7″ that we have just released that no one should miss, the German project has a bunch of new songs to stream. 11 of them! They are collected together as the album “The Story So Far…” and the good news, other than they sound fantastic, is that this album will be released on CD by the Indonesian label Shiny Happy Records! One not to miss!

Los Bonsáis: what a pretty pretty video. The band from Asturias (yes the same place I will be visiting starting Friday) have just released a video for their song “No Es Para Tanto”. This song is part of “Hinoki” the latest album by the duo based in the city of Gijón. Lovely song too!

Las Densas: this band from Neuquen, Argentina, has a mini-album called “N ♡ T” out now in digital format only I believe. Mostly influenced by punk pop we find half of the songs to be quite poppish, and even jangly, and the other half much slower and with heavier guitars. You know which ones I like best of course.

Violentenne: this 80s shoegazy band from Ottawa, Canada’s capital, sounds really good! Their latest will be a 5 song EP called “Phantom Youth” which will be released on August 30th. We can preview the opening track, “Frozen Heart” which is hauntingly beautiful, with shimmering guitars and female vocals!

Jetstream Pony: and lastly one of my favourite contemporary bands, Brighton’s finest Jetstream Pony! They have a new song, in demo format, and it sounds ace! It is titled “Mitte” and it brings memories of my travels to Berlin of course. Now, when will this be released properly? Soon I hope! It deserves a 7″ of course!
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From Oslo, Norway, I’ll tell you a bit today about the obscure 90s band The Release Party. The bit I can find on the web, hoping of course that later on someone will be able to fill in the blanks!

Tona Gulpinar on guitar and vocals, Line Susann Berg on bass, Steinar Buholm on drums, Pål Lind on guitar and the legendary Tøre Sorensen aka. Bartleby of The Tables on guitar formed the band. They would release two 7″s and one album during their time.

The first 7″ came out in 1991 on the best label from Norway, Perfect Pop Records (POP 3). Their debut had two songs, “Don’t Say it Again” on the A side and “Pink Bubblegum” on the B side. The first written by Tona while the second by Line. Both songs were recorded at Endless Studios in Oslo, produced and engineer by Eystein Hopland (who had been in Bio-Logic, Ex Lex, Sister Rain among other bands). The jacket photo on the cover was taken by Maya Glaser and the one on the inserts was taken by Paal A. The record came with a postcard in various colours with credits, lyrics and contact info. It also came with an actual pink bubblegum that came inside the polybag.

Two years after the band was to release their self-titled debut album on Perfect Pop (POP10) and also on the German label Little Teddy Recordings (BiTe005). Perfect Pop released the CD while the German label released it on vinyl LP. The tracklist was the same on both records, 13 songs that on the vinyl version was divided like this. The A side had “Post Party”, “Done by Mirrors”, “In Her Brand New Shoes”, “Lovely”, “Turn Away” and “He’ll Be Daydreaming”. The B side had “Land of the Fog”, “Poor, Little You”, “Watch Me Capture You”, “My Only Song”, “Too Young to Be a Bitch”, “Parachute Song” and “Don’t Say it Again”. The vinyl version was first limited to 300 copies on black vinyl and stencil hand sprayed cover. After these 300 copies were sold Little Teddy repressed 200 more copies.

The art as mentioned was different on both CD and vinyl. The CD has a very cool art, with illustrations of the headshots of the band members in red and black colours. It was designed by Tone Lise Skomsvold. Again the tracks were recorded in Endless Sound and I noticed that the drummer was now Johnny instead of Steinar who actually is credited for photography in the record. Then I see that Bartleby is not listed anymore on guitar. Instead I see Geir Holtbakk (who was in The Time Lodgers). The songs were mixed by Ulv Knudsen (from Betong Hysteria, Feel, Sister Rain, and many more bands).

Lasty in 1996 the band released the “Right Here Right Now” (POP23) single. This 7″. with its sleeve of a blue flower had the title song on the A side and “Follow Me” on the B side.

The band appeared on more than a few compilations. The first dating from 1992 on Mermaid Records’ “He Didn’t Even Draw a Fish on My Shower Curtain” CD (MIRABELL 001). On this comp the band had the song “Parachute Jumping From the Sky”. This compilation was a fake tribute album to the Hungarian “beat poetess” named Eleine D. Jezús.

That same year the band contributed the song “Why Aren’t You Mine?” on the “Nova 92” CD comp released by Radio Nova Records (003). This was a compilation of live recordings from the NOVA Festival that was held on the 8th and 9th of May, 1992, at Kampen Verksted in Oslo, Norway. I found out that this song was actually a cover of The Chills’ “Wet Blanket”.

The German label Mermaid Records was to include them again on a compilation in 1992. The CD comp “Mermaid Employee of the Month: Gustav Sackmüller” (MIRABELL 685) had the song “Parachute Jumping From the Sky”. Yes, the same song as the previous Mermaid comp. Odd no? Well, no. This release was a boxset that included the previous compilation plus a 6 track tape with extra songs, a test pressing and a bootleg. This boxset is quite rare. Only 50 copies were made.

The Norwegian label Rock Furore released “Rock Furore” (RFCD7) a compilation that had the song “Lovely” by The Release Party. This 1993 compilation also included The Wedding Present.

In 1995 they would appear on “A Perfect Pop Compilation 1991-1994” (POP20) with three songs, “Don’t Say it Again”, “Done by Mirrors” and “The Return of the King Bees”. This last one, written by Geir Holtbakk, was previously unreleased. In 2001, Perfect Pop would include their song “Right Here Right Now” on the compilation “Bestrummed! Perfect Pop 1995-2001” (POP40).

I look at the band members on Discogs. I find that Line Susann Berg was originally from the town of Bodø. Bodø is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland county). The municipality of Bodø is located just north of the Arctic Circle and the town of Bodø is the largest urban area and town in Nordland county, and the second-largest town in North Norway.

Then we know that Pål Lind was on groups like Peder Pung & De Kåte and Politisk Hjærnesvikt A/S. Steinar Buholm, also known as Birdeye, was in The Tables, The Time Lodgers, Sister Rain and Monsters of Doom who I have featured on the blog before. Tona doesn’t seem to have been involved in other bands but did backing vocals in the Astroburger “Stand On It” album

I google a lot but can’t find much. I do find an Archive.org bio of the band. I think it comes from a page called Cryptic Times, but I’m not 100% sure. It mentions here that the band played their first show just four days after forming, doing covers of The Pastels and The Chills.

Not much more information about them on the web. Happily I do own their album which I’ve played many times. I think it is great. I wonder though if I’ll get to find more information about them. I don’t think I’ve interviewed a Norwegian band before? If they get in touch could this be the first time?

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Listen
The Release Party – Don’t Say It Again

Thanks so much to Chris Munday for the interview! I wrote about the West London band Accent on the blog some time ago and Chris got in touch and was willing to tell me a bit more about the great band he was in in the early 80s! If you have never heard about them, it is time to discover them!

++ Hi Chris! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

My pleasure thank you for asking me to do this interview, I’m doing ok thank you still doing a little bit of songwriting with a friend from my last ever band Salad not the band of the same name that stole our name that featured a certain MTV presenter lol, just ideas.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

My first music memories my Mum and Dad had a band in the 60s no one famous and I remember seeing them play and really growing up in that environment so music was always playing, I’m self taught started playing drums around 16, I always remember hearing on the radio the song “Woodstock” and “Killing Me Softly” sticks in my mind bands like 10cc and just general chart stuff early 70s then I got into Rock then the punk bands Stiff Little Fingers, The Motors, The Damned.

++ Had you been in other bands before Accent? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

My first band I was in were called Mayhem really fast punk band around 1979,then Les Verbal Screamers,Then Fear we used to be The Meteors regular support act in London,not sure what bands the other guys were in before Accent and there is a live Fear recording from 1981 as a support act to the Meteors at the 100 club in Oxford street but I don’t have a copy sadly although its out there somewhere.

++ Where were you from originally, West London?

Yes I was born in Paddington lived in Notting Hill gate through the 60s then the 70s in Harrow North West London.

++ How was your town at the time of Accent? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Harrow and surrounding area has produced quite a few artist over the years Elton John was from Pinner, Simon Le Bon Duran Duran, Iain Baker Jesus Jones and Jamie Stewart, The Cult bass player, went to the same school as me. There was a venue called the Roxborough pub many punk bands played there including Gothic punk band Ritual. Jamie Stewart’s first band before he joined Deathcult then The Cult. Record shop called Sellenby in South Harrow still going but in Ruislip now was my local.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process? Is it true you joined the band through an advert in a music paper?

Accent started in 1981 Brian and Mick formed the band, I joined in 1982 I took over from John Webb who was drummer at the time who was Gary Numan’s foster brother he left and played saxophone for a while in his touring band,we also had Guitarist Robin Yates who joined at the same time as me he played Keyboard on the single, I saw the advert in a music paper and went for the audition and got the job.

At the same time that I joined Accent in 1982, Robin Yates joined. Robin had taken over from a guitarist with the name Dave. Sorry I don’t remember his second name. And then Robin was replaced a few months before we recorded “We Are Lost” with Steve Flynn.

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

We used to rehearse at first in a School in Hounslow then at Survival studio in Acton West London Brian was the main guy for all the arrangement with Mick adding the music but we all threw in ideas.

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

Mainly The Jam and The Police various punk bands but the Jam were the main influence.

++ You only released one 7″ in 1984. It was on a label called Motion Records. Tell me a bit about the label. Who were behind it? Was it yourselves?

Yes Motion Records was a self financed label that Brian created to put the single out.

++ The 7″ had two songs, “We Are Lost” and “(Intro) Blue & Royal Line”. Both were recorded at Abbey Road Studios and were produced by Tony Clark. How was that experience? Was it the first time going to a proper studio?

It was an a real experience the studio and working with Tony Clark was amazing his knowledge of music is incredible he worked with The Beatles was engineer on 2 Paul Mcartney and Wings albums his work with John Lennon Stevie Wonder so working with Tony was brilliant.we had all been in studio before doing various bits.

++ What about before this 7″? Did you have any other recordings? Perhaps demo tapes?

There are demos from a studio in Euston and a live Albums worth of material we recorded in Manchester Square of which only Brian has a copy in fact i spoke to Tony 2 days ago and he wants to get that copy and put it out if he makes contact with Brian.

++ Were there any compilation appearances by the band?

No.

++ And are there many more unreleased tracks by the band? Have you ever thought of putting together some sort of retrospective?

No unreleased tracks.

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

Blue and Royal Line and Northern British Solders Son melodic tracks loved playing them and If only which was really catchy song.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? How was the gig at Stamford Bridge?

As a band we played 50 or so gigs, I never played Stamford Bridge I had 3 months out the band before returning this was for personal reasons a few months after we did “We Are Lost”.

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

Kings Head Casual beat club but my favorites was the Greyhound Fulham and Rock Garden.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Can’t remember bad gigs.

++ You also were involved with a club called the Casual Beat club. What was that about?

The Casual Beat Club was upstairs of the Kings Head, Fulham.

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

Can’t remember exactly I left then soon after band split not sure reason why, I went on to form Salad with Martin Collison and Mick Lewis and Mick and Brian started Turquoise Blue.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

Yes reunion was talked about but only if we ever found Brian and if Mick still was up for it I definitely would do in fact 3 years ago I was speaking through social media to Peter Hooton The Farm singer and he thought we had reformed and offered us a support at the O2 which would of been amazing if we had been back together I have talked with Tony Clark about this also it all depends on Mick and Brian the interest is definitely there.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

No radio play at all.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention? You were on the cover of Sounds once, right? How did that happen?

We got a press interest we got a 2 page spread in sounds just after we recorded We Are Lost which i done Mick has a copy still of us then a couple of months later during my 3 months out the front cover.through Garry Bushell editor of sounds.

++ Then not so long ago there was a documentary called “Casuals” were Accent was featured. Were you in this film? Have you seen it? What do you think?

The song was featured and Mick is in it and Garry Bushell I have not seen it but Cass Pennant did send me a copy a few years back.

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

Recording the single “We Are Lost”.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have? Are you a Chelsea fan?

Queens Park Rangers. Hobbies wise not really any but my family and Christian faith are my life now.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I enjoyed my 3 and a bit years less 3 months lol in Accent I was a bit gutted I must admit having done all the recordings and playing on the single to miss out on the cover shoot and most of the press photos have been of the band during my 3 months out of the band but that was then, my faith has replaced any disappointment I had then. Looking forward to that runion gig though if it ever happens.

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Listen
Accent – We Are Lost

This is a short week for the blog as there will be posts today and Wednesday. Then on Thursday I am going on holidays to Spain. I will be back on Tuesday the 16th, so Wednesday the 17th will be the day posts will resume.

This also means, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I can bring records to Spain if anyone is interested. Just let me know.

And secondly orders for Den Baron have already started shipping. The release date is June 30 as the insert in the 7″ has it, but as it is a Sunday we have agreed to “officially” say it is July 1st. Though it is a June release for sure.

Anyways, here are some new tracks from over the weekend.

Blush Response/Warm: there is this new digital split by the Adelaide, Australia, band Blush Response and the New Paltz, NY, band Warm on Bandcamp. This is catered to the shoegazing fans here. There are two songs by each band, Blush Response contributes “Weightless” and “Sweet Respite” (this one being the best of the split) and Warm has “Moonweed” and “OUTLAW69”.

LIPS: the Falmouth, UK, band is back with a summer song just in time to get prepared for their debut at Indietracks. How exciting! The song is aptly titled “In Summer” and it is pure indiepop bliss.

Miedo: the band from Madrid has just published a promo video for their song “Pánico Por Nada”. The video is very DIY, maybe even done by the band. Where was it filmed? Somewhere close to the Spanish capital? What I like the best is the song itself, it is just a sweet little song. Maybe I can find some record of theirs while I am Spain?

Marcos y Molduras: this is my first time listening to this Spanish band who has put together a promo video for their song “La de Parks” which sounds great! I wonder if the song is about the TV series “Parks and Recreation”? Could it be? In any case I hope this gets released in physical format. And when are they playing live? You know I’ll be in Madrid on the 13th, could be cool to catch a band that day.

The Buildings: here is a tape album called “Cell-O-Phane” from this band from the Philippines, I believe. I think this is a reissue, but I could be wrong. The album is being released by a Singapore record label called Middle Class Cigars who in the past released the very fine band Sobs. There are 12 songs that sound very nice, with female vocals, that remind me a lot of the bands Shelflife used to release back in the day. Cool!

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Here’s another record I’m after, Shame’s “Real Tears” 7″. I have to say -once again- that I know barely anything about it. I know I love the song “Real Tears” and should be enough for anyone, but I want to know more. I wonder if I’ll be able to find any interesting details. Googling for “shame” won’t be easy.

The 7″ was released in 1985 by the Welsh indie label Fierce Recordings, well known for putting out the Pooh Sticks. This label was based in Swansea and started releasing records that same year, 1985. That is interesting. Aside from a Charles Manson album and a couple of unofficial 7″s by The Jesus and Mary Chain, the only other band released that year was Shame, which was the third release on the label (FRIGHT 003), even though on the matrix it is etched “004”. Maybe it was a mistake at the pressing plant.

The songs were “Real Tears” as the A side and “40 Hanover Street” as the A2 side. Yes, it was single-sided. Discogs mentions that the record came with a small sample of “Dylan Sweat”. What does that mean? I believe it was a postcard but hopefully someone can confirm.

The back sleeve says that the songs were recorded on September 11th 1985 at The Bunker. The songs were produced and engineered by Michael Powles. We know that the band was formed by Patricia “Trish” Griffiths on bass and vocals, Andrew “Griff” Griffiths on drums and Stephen “Haggis” Harris on guitar and vocals. A temporary recruit called Dano played extra piano on the re-recorded “Real Tears”.

I say re-recorded because the band had recorded 3 songs in a Cardiff studio. One of them was “Real Tears”. This must have been sort of a demo to send to labels, I’m assuming. “40 Hanover Street” was recorded in this session. The re-recorded version of “Real Tears” was actually recorded in Swansea. Now it is pretty obvious they were from Wales. Where in Wales? That I couldn’t say. I thought perhaps “40 Hanover Street” was a clue, but I could only find that address in Liverpool. But no, I find out they hailed from Swansea.

After the release of the 7″ Stephen would leave the band to join Zodiac & Mindwarp. But then in 1987 the band would reappear with Andrew and Patricia (were they siblings?). Joining them would be Steve Mitchell from Fierce Recordings and also the Pooh Sticks and Paul Leigh. Not sure if this lineup recorded anything.

But that’s not all as it turns out the band appears on the compilation “The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 8” that Firestation Records (FST155) released last year, 2018. They contributed the song “Real Tears”. But the good thing here is that there is a small bio on the booklet! Great I’ll find out some more info about them?

Swansea, Wales: Haggis (vocals/guitar) and Griff (drums) had fought the punk wars together as 13-year olds in local sensation The Autonomes, and both continued to be central to anything and everything happening on the post-punk scene. In 1985, with the addition of Trish (bass/vocals), they formed Shame. Immediately, the trio recorded three songs in Cardiff, though from that session only the instrumental “40 Hanover Street” survived to make it onto the single released later that year. The song intended as the A-side, “Real Tears”, subsequently re-recorded for the single in a basement studio in Swansea (with extra piano played by temporary recruit Dano), was a product of Haggis’ obsession with the movie “Christane F”: in his head, the song was a doomed version of heroin inBerlin, but the reality was surely more out of-control Gee’s Linctus in the doledrum that was Swansea’s bleak Portmead estate. The third song recorded by the group, “Emily Jayne’, is presumed lost. Shame effectively split by the end of the year when Haggis left Swansea for the an international A-list life in the rock’n’roll fast lane (look him up!); Griff and Trish played in a revised no-Haggis version of Shame which existed briefly in 1987. Since then, Trish has sadly died, but Griff continues to wear a tall, purple, mirrored pilgrim hat around town: if you see him ask him about those months when Prefab Sprout’s “Steve McQueen” and a blue powder-blu Hofner Verithin promised to be the key to everything.

And that’s all. I wonder if they had more recordings? I would also love to hear the third song, “Emily Jayne”, that was on that cassette demo. Who remembers them?

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Listen
Shame – Rea Tears

Friday! Today I start mailing Den Baron 7″s to everyone who has per-ordered! Remember that the official release date is July 1st! And also remember that I am heading to Spain next Thursday so if you want to save some postage I can definitely bring any records to you in Spain. I’ll be in Madrid, León, Gijón and Oviedo, but I can probably go to a post office too!

Now there is Copa America happening today and tomorrow. Probably will be busy with that. But here are some new pop finds for you to enjoy!

Destello Floral: “Vacío Temporal” is the newest song the Mexico City band has shared with us all. It is also the first single from their debut album “El Tiempo Lo Destruye Todo” which I hope gets released soon. I don’t know much about them but it seems there is just one man behind the music, Iván Flores. In the past he has done a wonderful song of the classic Julieta Venegas’ song “Lento” worth checking out!

Foliage: the San Bernardino project of Joseph Walker will be releasing a tape and vinyl on Z Tapes next September. This album will be called “Take” and as usual sounds gorgeous. We can preview on his Bandcamp three tracks, “Pattern”, “In Reference” and “Talk to Me”. They are lovely. The album will have in total 12 songs. Can’t wait to hear it all!

Holy Tunics: our friends from Meritorio Records in Spain have released the Brooklyn band’s new album called “Hit Parade Lemonade Supersonic Spree” on vinyl  just a few days ago. It contains 11 tracks of guitar pop influenced by the Paisley Underground scene. You can preview them all on Bandcamp. Something worth noting too is that the artwork for the sleeve looks great!

Peachier: some tweepunk from Portland, Oregon! This band formed by Rachael, Danny and Tom sound like lots of fun! So far they have a 5 song Ep titled “Life is Peachier” that is only available digitally so far.

Cristina Quesada: our friend Cristi has a new video out as she continues to promote her latest album “Think I Heard a Rumour” which is out now on Elefant Records. This time around she has a new video for the song “Love at Third Sight” which is a top dancey and disco pop track! Prepare to dance!

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Why not write today about an obscure flexi that was released in 1985 by the band The Big Sleep? I know nothing about it to be honest. I don’t own the record and have no clue where they were from.

I am sure they were British. But where from exactly? I do know that the flexi was released by Underground Records (STOP 1) and included two songs, “Saints and Scholars” and “Heaven Can Wait”. As of today I’ve only listened to the opening track, a superb guitar driven pop track.

The sleeve gives us some information. The band was formed by Stevy Baker on vocals and guitar, Raymond Robinson on bass and backing vocals and Darrin Robson on drums. The two songs were produced by Keith McCormick for 1×1 Productions. They were engineered by Hugh Matier who also played keyboards on the record. Both songs were recorded at Matrix Studios in July 1985.

Aside from this flexi the band appeared on the “Messthetics #6: UK ’78-82 “D.I.Y.” Bands A & B” CDR compilation that was released by Hyped to Death (H2D#49). I do own some of the Messthetics, but the proper CD compilations, not the CDRs. So I wonder if these CDRs came with any interesting information about the bands, if it had a booklet?

Rateyourmusic does give some further details about the band, one that is pretty interesting. The band hailed from Belfast! I wouldn’t have guessed. They formed in 1984 and disbanded in 1997. That’s a long time. And only a flexi released? That’s odd!

Thanks to this information I could find them on Irishrock.org. There it mentions that the band was around over this long period on and off and recorded many demos and played many gigs (among them the Guinness Festival Showcase in Dcember 1986 in Belfast – which maybe there is footage of it, anyone knows?). Raymond Robinson left the band after releasing the flexi and was replaced by a member of the band The Keep (it doesn’t say the name). Later on Robinson’s cousin Kenny Armstrong played bass in later incarnations of the band and Robinson also returned to The Big Sleep.

There was plans to release a record with the song “Saturday Blue” in the 90s, it was even financed by Terry Hooley, but it never came to be. Darrin Robson was later involved running the label called Fantastic Plastic, which was based in London and released some fine records like The Sultans of Ping, Television Personalities, Bearsuit, The Wannadies, The Blue Aeroplanes and more.

Something that surprised me here were the photos of the flexi. It seems it came in many colours, blue, green, black, yellow and orange. It mentions too that the flexi was financed by adverts of local businesses that were printed on the back sleeve!

Now what are they up to now? And is there any information about these other demos that were recorded by the band? I’d love to find out. And more especially, I would love to listen to them. There is barely any other details about the band on the web. So finding about that would be fantastic. Who remembers them?!

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Listen
The Big Sleep – Saints and Scholars

Remember that starting tomorrow I will be posting all Den Baron orders! The official release date is July 1st! Very exciting!! And remember too that not this Friday, but the next one, I’ll be in Spain, so if you need any records and you want to save shipping let me know! I will have a new 7″ to announce too after I return from my holidays. Good times at Cloudberry HQ right now!

Kinoue64: another band that I have featured in the past graces the blog. That is because the Japanese shoegazy band has a brand new EP of three songs called “風 ” which sounds really good. These are all instrumental tracks, but do check out the 3rd track which is really good. I wish they had vocals in them!

Earth Earth: another Japanese band! The shoegaze/dreampop scene in that country seems to be in a great moment. I keep discovering bands all the time. Earth Earth latest is the song “Story is Wrong” which they have paired on their Bandcamp with an early demo version of the same track.

Death of Heather: continuing in Asia, here is a cool sounding Bangkok band who have released, just a week ago, their song “Mind”. The band is composed by Tay, Nine, Thong and Non and it seems they’ve been going since last year when they released their first demo. Dreamy sounds!

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: I don’t want to lose this tradition of me posting about every single new song of this San Francisco band on here. That’s because Glenn Donaldson’s project is great and jangly. Just how I like my songs. His latest tracks are two demos, “Unrequited” and “Lonely Blvd” which I suggest listening right now!

Blue Jeans: out on the Spanish label Bobo Integral is the second album by the Michigan band! This band boasts Tim Sendra who was in the classic 90s bands Veronica Lake and Madison Electric (I did try to interview him once! but with no luck). In any case this is a very lovely album which is available on vinyl LP at the moment. It is really lovely, I wonder why it hasn’t got much attention yet. Maybe that will change soon? I hope so.

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I guess it is a good question to ask how many BMX Bandits tribute bands have existed. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few, I mean, the BMX Bandits is definitely one of the most important as well as beloved indiepop bands since the 80s. I’ve been very lucky to seen them more than a handful of times in both sides of the Atlantic.

The Duglasettes were fans of the BMX Bandits. They were a tribute band according to the Waaaaaah website too. They took their name from Duglas T. Steward, leader of the BMX Banditos. They released a split flexi which was shared with the BMX Bandits to boot. So they did what any tribute band would have loved to do, work closely with their heroes.

That happened in 1994, when they released the shared flexi with the BMX Bandits on Bring On Bull Records (BULL 21-0) that came for free with the 4th issue of the WAAAAAAAAAAH! fanzine. The BMX Bandits appeared on the flexi first with the track “Islands in the Stream” while The Duglasettes had “Love Machine”. This song is very different to the other one I know by the band. This one is garagey and punkie while the other one is as twee as it can gets. The lyrics for the song appear on the back of the sleeve.

Maybe they evolved into a punkier band. I say that because “Bellshill’s Son” the über-twee song I mentioned earlier was included in “The Waaaaaah! CD” (BULL 3-0), a compilation released in 1991 that included so many great bands, from The Bedflowers to Strawberry Story. This song is of course about Duglas from the BMX Bandits. He hailed from Bellshill in Scotland.

Bellshill (pronounced “Bells hill”) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, 16 km south east of Glasgow city centre and 60 km west of Edinburgh. Other nearby towns are Motherwell (3 km), Hamilton (5 km) and Coatbridge (5 km). Since 1996, it has been situated in the Greater Glasgow metropolitan area. The town has a population of about 20,650.

This song sounds familiar, right? I believe it is a reworking of the BMX Bandits’ song “Heaven’s Daughter”, just with different lyrics. I do find some interesting information on the Anorak Forum to my surprise. It seems the lead vocalist was called Chantelle Campling and she was then (2010) living in Sheffield. On “Belshill’s Son” she had the help of Tim Owen, who is an illustrator and brother of Jof from the Boy Least Likely To. Tim did the illustrations for his brother’s records. Then on the flexi song, “Love Machine”, she got the help from Will from the band Cee Bee Beaumont and his girlfriend Linda.

My friend dedicated a post to the flexi on his 7iete Pulgadas blog but he didn’t find any other important details about the Duglasettes. Sadly this is where I hit a wall. I don’t know if there are any other recordings by the band. Or why the change of styles. If they ever played a gig alongside the BMX Bandits. I think finding out more about them would be interesting. And if anyone knows of any other BMX Bandits tribute bands, well, I’d like to listen to that too!

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Listen
The Duglasettes – Belshill’s Son

Thanks so much to David Rapp for the interview! I wrote about Shy Camp some time ago and he got in touch! Even better he was up to answer all my questions about his 90s band which was part of the same scene as Mad Planets and My Favorite in New York!

++ Hi David! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

Thank you! I’m very well, but I’m not still making music. The last time I wrote a song was about 20 years ago. It’s strange to think about it after all this time!

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

My parents were musicians, so there was always music playing. I remember playing an LP of the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour over and over as a kid, and in the late ’70s, I was a big fan of the band Kiss. I saw them live in concert around 1980 or so, and it’s still one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Guitar was my first instrument, and my stepfather taught me a few chords when I was young, but I didn’t really take it seriously until I was in college.

++ Had you been in other bands before Shy Camp?

The only serious band I was in before Shy Camp was called Bloomsday, in New York City. I wrote most of the music, and my good friend Adrian Bewley wrote the lyrics and vocal melodies. He still plays music as a solo act, I think. The bass player was a great guy named Matt Rettig, who ran for state assembly in New York last year. We self-released a couple of EPs and played a lot of shows locally. The music was jangly pop, influenced by bands like 10,000 Maniacs and early R.E.M.

++ How was your town at the time of Shy Camp? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

I was living in Stony Brook, New York, when I recorded most of the Shy Camp songs. This was in the mid-to-late ’90s, and there were some great bands there, including My Favorite and Mad Planets. I bought most of my records from the local Borders. I can’t remember the names of any local venues, though.

++ When and how did the band start? What made you go solo?

The “band” was always a solo project. On all the Harriet Records stuff, it’s just me and my four-track recorder—that’s me singing and playing all the instruments. I did like playing live shows every once in a while, though, when I could convince people I knew to play a set. Todd Karasik of My Favorite played drums for a couple live shows in Stony Brook and New York City.

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

I’d practice at home, generally starting with a chord progression, then adding a vocal melody. Sometimes I’d start with a title, but the lyrics would usually come last. They were never really the focus. I really just liked to play guitar.

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

A friend of mine suffered from extreme shyness when she was young, so her parents sent her to a summer camp for kids with social anxiety. She called it “shy camp.” I found the whole concept fascinating, and the term stuck with me. When Bloomsday released an EP, I started a short-lived label called Shy Camp Records to distribute it. “Shy Camp” just seemed like a logical name later on—especially given the solitary nature of the whole thing.

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

The Smiths were an extremely important band for me in the 1980s, and a bit later, I discovered the Jesus and Mary Chain and Galaxie 500. There’s a little JAMC influence in “Flowers Every Hour,” I think, and “Best Friend” is more or less an attempt at a Galaxie 500-type song.

The Primitives’ “Lovely” and the Darling Buds’ “Pop Said” were also huge influences on songs like “Alison Song #4” and “Call in Sick.” The Primitives’ song “Crash” is just amazing, and I still love the Darling Buds’ “Burst” and “She’s Not Crying.” I was also listening to Holiday’s “Ready, Steady, Go!” and Belle and Sebastian’s “If You’re Feeling Sinister” quite a bit.

++ I was thinking that during the mid and late 90s there were quite a few American indiepop labels and bands. Did you feel at all part of a scene? What were your favourite bands from that period?

I knew a few members of My Favorite and Mad Planets, and it did feel like we were all connected to something, but it might be a stretch to call it a “scene.” We all had our own interests. There’s one band that I adored around that time called the Binsey Poplars, whose music was very much in the vein of the Cocteau Twins. Their guitarist was an amazing musician named Kirk Douglas, who I knew slightly. I believe he was once in My Favorite. He’s now a member of the Roots, and he’s on the Tonight Show every night! It’s kind of crazy.

++ You only released one record, a 7″ in 1997. Why just one? Was there no other chances to release more records?

I would have released more, but Harriet ended not long after “Call in Sick” was released. I sent a few tapes to other labels, but nothing stuck.

++ This 7″ came out on Harriet Records. How did you end up working with them? How was your relationship with the label?

I sent several tapes of songs to Harriet’s Tim Alborn in late 1996 and early 1997. I was a big fan of Tullycraft and the Magnetic Fields, who’d put out 7-inches with Harriet. So had My Favorite and Mad Planets, so it seemed like a good fit. I think he first wanted to release “Alison Song #4” as a 7-inch, but then I sent him “Call in Sick,” which took its place. “Alison Song #4” was on Harriet’s Friendly Society compilation later on.

++ I am curious about the sleeve. That photo showing an envelope, what’s the story behind that?

I can’t remember the initial inspiration for it, to be honest. I do remember, though, that the address that I wrote on the envelope was “Leeds St.,” which was a direct reference to a lyric from the Smiths’ song “Panic”: “the Leeds side-streets that you slip down.” As that guy in The Doom Generation said: “He was really into the Smiths.”

++ Aside from this 7″ you appeared on two compilations on the Magic Eye Singles label. I believe these tapes used to come with a magazine called “Sex Sells”. I don’t know nothing about this label or magazine, I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about them?

Magic Eye released a tribute album to my father’s band, Pearls Before Swine, and I contributed two tracks to that. The band Flying Saucer Attack was on that album, too, which was cool as hell. Around the same time, Jeffrey Alexander, who ran Magic Eye, did a cassette compilation for his magazine, and I contributed “Lesson.” That’s a very early Shy Camp song—possibly the very first one I recorded, in 1996.

++ I read that you recorded many songs and you recorded some of them with Joel Thibodeau, Nate Shumaker and Mike Weiskopf. How was this collaboration? How did the recruitment process work? And where are these songs?!

In the late ’90s, I worked at the record label Rykodisc, where I met Nate Shumaker and Joel Thibodeau. They played a couple Shy Camp shows with me in Boston and Philadelphia. I also met Myke Weiskopf there, who helped me record 4 or 5 tracks with Nate and Joel, sometime in 1998, I think. They were all swell guys, and gifted musicians, as well. One of those tracks, “The Biggest Secret In the World,” appeared on a Japanese cassette compilation by Rover Records in 2000 called “Starring Nao.” Those songs are all on a DAT tape in my closet somewhere, and there are a few other unreleased tracks knocking around the same closet. (I’ve attached an MP3 of a very late, unreleased Shy Camp track, which I recorded in 1999, called “When the Revolution Comes.” I’m playing everything on that one.)

++ My favourite Shy Camp song is “Call in Sick”, was wondering if you could tell me what inspired this track?

I really just wanted to write a song about two people ditching work and having fun on a day off. I also love going to the movies in the daytime—I still do—and that idea made it into one of the verses. It also provided an excuse for me to record a long, jangly guitar break. I’m a sucker for those.

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

“Flowers Every Hour” was a lot of fun, because it came together so fast. I love the loud guitars and the big, dumb guitar solo on that one. It’s like an Oasis song or something. I’m not really sure where that came from, really.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

No, not many at all. Maybe 5 or 6, total.

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

I played a Harriet Records show in Boston with some other bands, including Tullycraft. That was pretty cool, as I used to occasionally play a cover version of their song “Josie.” It was also the only show where there were actual Shy Camp fans in the audience. After the show, one of them asked a question about a lyric, and I was amazed that anyone cared enough to ask about them. (I’m amazed that you care enough to ask about Shy Camp, if I’m being honest.)

++ And were there any bad ones?

There were so few shows that there were really no bad ones. The venues were always top-notch, and I always liked the guys I played with.

++ When and why did Shy Camp stop making music? 

Well, it probably has to do with the fact that I met my super-cool future wife, Kristen, at the end of 1999. I was a lot happier, so I didn’t really need to find my joy in music. When I was doing the Shy Camp stuff, I was often struggling with feelings of anxiety and loneliness, and music provided a nice distraction from all of that. And it was a good distraction! But when I was happy in my everyday life, I didn’t really need that outlet anymore, so the urge to write and record music just kind of faded away. My wife and I have been married for 18-and-a-half years now, which is mind-boggling, and I’m still just as happy, so there are no more Shy Camp songs on the horizon. But to me, that’s not such a bad thing!

++ Other than Shy Camp I know you had played guitar with your father Tom Rapp. How was that? That must be quite an experience?

Yes, I played guitar on a song on his 1999 album A Journal of the Plague Year, and on a cover of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” that he did for a compilation around the same time. It was a lot of fun to play music with him. Also, Galaxie 500’s Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang recorded it, which was pretty cool. They’re wonderful folks.

++ Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

In 2002, I did very briefly play guitar with a band called Noisy-Le-Grand for a few of their shows. But my wife was pregnant with my daughter, Trixie, at the time, so it didn’t last long. That’s it, though.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

Not much at all, that I know of. I did hear “Alison Song #4” on the college station WUSB in Stony Brook once, though. I remember the DJ thought that the song used a drum machine. it did not! I just keep very strict time, I guess.

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

There were a couple mentions here and there. I believe CMJ reviewed the Friendly Society compilation and said some nice things. I also did an interview with now-defunct Long Island Voice.

++ What about from fanzines?

Nope, none at all.

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

That’s a tough one, but the release of “Call in Sick” single was pretty damn great. It made it all seem real, somehow.

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

Hmmm. Is hanging out with my family a hobby?

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m truly glad to hear that people are still enjoying that music from all those years ago. Thanks again!

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Listen
Shy Camp – Call in Sick

Okay! Big news here! Our next 7″, Den Baron’s “Bonving”, will be released on July 1st! I will start shipping copies this Thursday and again, a reminder, if you are in Spain and want copies of any records let me know as I’ll be heading to your beautiful country next week.

I am very excited and happy with this 7″ by Den Baron. I think it came out great, 3 classic sounding indiepop tracks, and with great artwork for the jacket to boot. Do not miss this record. It is pretty pretty!

Remington Super 60: the Norwegian band is back after a bit with a wonderful and pretty song called “The Highway Again”. It is lovely. Fragile and sweet, with evocative vocals. I think this is my favourite song from my weekend!

Captain Scrunchie: Sarita, Shay, Zoe and Nate, a girl group from Richmond, Virginia, with artwork that resembles Beat Happening. Four new songs that make their demo simply titled “Demo”. The songs being “Tomorrow”, “True”, “Something Strange” and “Gift Horse”. They sound great.

Fresh: I have featured this London band on the blog before. And I am repeating because I like them of course. Now they have a new album called “Withdraw” that boasts 12 fun upbeat indiepop songs. The only problem is that if you wanted the vinyl version of it, only 5 copies are available! But there are CD copies too, so don’t despair!

The Caraway/Sweet Port: the two Japanese bands are part of a split cassette released by Kei’s label Disques Blue-Very. How cool! I had interviewed The Caraway before, but I was not familiar with Sweet Port. But hey, this sounds great. Three songs each, and they even cover Louis Philippe and Po! Great taste by the label and the bands!

Flying Fish Cove: Jigsaw Records just moved from Seattle to Portland and at the same time they are releasing new records! Impressive really. How productive is our friend Chris! This time around he is working again with the superb band from Seattle, releasing the “En Garde” EP. A 4 song CD that reminds us of bands from the 90s, like Twig or Heavenly. Good stuff!

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It has been a while since a Finnish band was featured on the blog, possibly since the wonderful Super. So today I wanted to talk about a classic indiepop band from Finland, Cessna, who I must say I don’t know much even though they are perhaps one of the most well-known bands that the country produced when it comes to indiepop!

The Cessna Aircraft Company was an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Best known for small, piston-powered aircraft, Cessna also produced business jets. For many years the company was one of the highest-volume producers of general aviation aircraft in the world. Founded in 1927, it was purchased by General Dynamics in 1985, then by Textron, Inc. in 1995. In March 2014, when Textron purchased the Beechcraft and Hawker Aircraft businesses, Cessna ceased operations as a subsidiary company and joined the others as one of the three distinct brands produced by Textron Aviation.

I have only just started trying to get all their records. It may take some time as they had quite a few singles plus many compilation appearances. But let’s see what I can find online for now, what do I need on my record collection.

The first release that Discogs lists dates from 1995. It is a tape called “Hobby-Like!” which was a self-released demo the band put together on September of that year. This must be pretty rare. It had 7 songs on it, “Utterly Alone”, “Cardamom Kiss”, “Reconcile”, “My Blue Anglia”, “Oh Grey”, “This Will End in Tears” and “Non-Stop”, and I wonder how many copies were made.

1997 seems to have been the year of their breakthrough as they put quite a few things out. The first was a 7″ on our friend Chris’s label Jigsaw Records (PZL006). It was a 7″ EP that included 1 of the songs from the demo tape, “Utterly Alone” and “Floating” on the A side and then “Garlic” and “Window Seat” on the B side. It originally was pressed on white vinyl and green sleeve and later repressed in April 1998 on white vinyl and yellow sleeve.

That year the band was to start working with Radio Khartoum. The Oakland based label was to be their biggest supporter. That year they released a double mini-CD album called “Bordeaux” (khz197). The first mini CD had the songs “Dreamt of You”, “Continental Dinner”, “Cardamom Kiss”, “Non-Stop” and “We Can Still Be Friends”. The second mini CD had “Birds”, “Skyscrapers”, “So Unreal”, “Explain to me Again”, “Sunday So Soon”, “Oh Grey”, “Rainy Season” and “Nikosia”. The song were recorded by Janne Jokinen, Aki Ala-Kakko and the band between January 1995 ad September 1996 and were mixed by Janne. The band was at this time Jani Tihinen, Kimmo Sääskilahti, Sami Rouhento and Tomi Takala, and on this record they had the help of Anna, Mikko and Saana. Also it is worth noting that the band hailed from the city of Tampere.

I visited Tampere when I was in Finland a few years back. It seemed a very quiet town. I didn’t check out any record stores and the Moomin museum hadn’t yet been inaugurated. I visited a museum that showed how people lived back in the day while working for the company Finlayson. I visited the area where this company, founded by a Scot, had their headquarters. I saw the river and its rapids. And their cathedral too that had this amazing frescoes by Hugo Simberg. I was there just for the morning as in the afternoon I headed to Hämeenlinna to check its castle.

The band contributed the song “It’s Time” to the compilation “This is Stereophonic Sunshine” (Castle-1) that the US label Sandcastle records released in 1997. Also, on this same year. the band had their song “Continental Dinner” on “Winter Rose” a compilation CD that came alongisde the 10th volume of the Beikoku-Ongaku magazine.

In 1998 the band returned with a new 7″ on the lovely Fantastic Records (fan007). Three new songs were included in the record, the A side had “My Blue Anglia” while the B side had “Well I Guess I Don’t Mind” and “Sunday Afternoon”. That same year the band had “Explain Me Again” on the legendary “Seven Summers International Pop Volume 2” that TweeNet Communications and Kindercore put together. I’ve talked quite a bit about this record in the past I think!

In 1999, on a silkscreened blue felt jacket and blue vinyl the band released “Television Song”, a new 7″. It had the song “Sunflowers” as the B side and was released by the Japanese label Honeydew 45 (dewbeedew-one). This is the only release listed for this label! Our friend Shirley Beans included them too that year on the compilation “I Made it Out of Clay: a Hannukah Pop Compilation” with their song “Home for Holiday”.

The year 2000 saw the light of day another single, this time on mini CD, on Radio Khartoum (khz100). It was titled “The Loves, Longings and Regrets of Cessna)”. It had 7 songs, “Summer Boy, Winter Girl”, “Why Be Bashful?”, “Milan, Japan”, “East Rigolo Motorway”, “What You Don’t Know”, “Coffee and Tea” and “Go Easy Gavin”. There is a much longer list here of performers, Anna Rouhento, Jani Tihinen, Kimmo Sääskilahti, Mikko Ojanen, Sami Rouhento, Tomi Takala and Tuure Välimaa. The art is credited to Bügelfrei who was of course Alexander Bailey who runs the Radio Khartoum label.

Their song “Milan, Japan” was to be included in the Philippines-only CD compilation “I’d Spend My Day With You” that was releasde by Universal Records (UR-1). There was a CD and cassette for this release.

2003. Another single, this time on 12″. It was a remixes record called “Time Ticks Remixes” (lento 301) that the Finnish label Amuri Air put out. It included “Time Ticks Away (Nu Science Version)” (Mikko Ojanen who produced some of the band’s music was in Nu Science) and “Time Ticks in Kauttua (Handmade Version)” on the A side and “Dub Ticks Away (Sami Koivikko Remix)” on the B side.

2004 would see the release of their first and only proper album, “Terminus”.  It came out on Radio Khartoum (khz303) and was released on CD. There are 14 songs, all mastered by Jiri Novak and recorded and mixed by Mikko Ojanen: “Untitled”, “Encore Toujours”, “What You Wanna Say”, “Untitled”, “Book”, “Wide Awake”, “Time Ticks Away”, “This Will End in Tears”, “It’s About Time”, “Like I Love You”, “Passikiven-Kekkosentie”, “Kauttua”, “Moving On” and “-“. Now the performers listed shrunk a little, Jani Tihinen, Jari Hilden, Kimmo Sääskilahti, Sami Rouhento and Tomi Takala. Bear in mind too that the “Untitled” tracks are not listed on the sleeve.

In the past, when covering Finnish bands, I’ve mentioned the 4CD boxset called “Sivulliset – Valikoima Suomalaista Vaihtoehtorockia Vuosilta 1985-2000” by Poko Poko Records. Here Cessna also appears, this time with their classic track “My Blue Anglia”. Almost 10 years later another label was to include them in another compilation. Jigsaw Records was to have their track “Television Song” on the “Puzzle Pieces” (PZL050) 2014 compilation that celebrated 50 releases of this label.

Is that all? Well no. The band also appeared on a tape called “McBain” that was released in the US I suppose sometime in the 90s. There is no date listed for it though we do know that Yuan-Min Lu compiled this tape in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cessna contributed the song “My Blue Anglia” and they appear alongside other top 90s bands like Red Sleeping Beauty, The Cat’s Miaow, Moving Pictures and more.

After the demise of Cessna we know that Jani went to form Artisokka who released a fine album on Shelflife Records as well as the bands All Stars and Läski. Jari and Sami also were part of Artisokka, though Sami also played in Fuzzy Lights, Killa and Risto. Tomi was also part of The Villain.

I find some interesting details on a press sheet put together by Radio Khartoum for the “Terminus” album. There I notice that the band started in 1994. And that not only the band had a song remixed by Nu Science but that they actually collaborated with Nu Science on a single recording called “Maatamo” that was included in the 2001 soundtrack “The Soft Rains of Delta Cephel”. Ojanen, who I mentioned earlier was part of Nu Science, had contributed to every single release since a 1996 demo tape. Then I find out that Artisokka was going on as the same time as Cessna around the time that Hildén moved to Helsinki where he started that band.

I know there used to be a website for the band but it is long gone. So that’s about all I could find on the web.

Surely there are thousands of hits of the aeroplanes and so on of Cessna, but even finding photos of the band was tricky. So I would love to get some information about them. I noticed that Sam Rouhento was active on the Scandinavian mailing list in the 90s so I wonder what was their connection with other bands from the period. I would love to know what was on the 1996 demo tape that is mentioned to be the starting point for Ojanen’s collaboration with the band. If there are more recordings. And more importantly, what are they doing these days?

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Listen
Cessna – Milan, Japan

Friday and I can’t wait for the weekend. Especially as there is Copa America going on now, and as you know I support Peru, who will be playing Brazil tomorrow. That is overly complicated. A tie wouldn’t be bad. But we’ll see. Aside from that do remember that I am flying on July 4th to Spain, so if you are in Spain, in Asturias, or Madrid, and you want some records, let me know, I’ll happily bring them with me!

Mighty Mighty: so it seems the classic Birmingham band will be back with an album on Firestation Records pretty soon. That is terribly exciting! This news was announced when they shared this video for their song “Where Would I Be?” and one couldn’t help but notice that the band hasn’t lost it!

The Proctors: our other friends from Birmingham also have a new song and it is called “Silhouettes”. Not sure what will be the future of this song, if it will be released as a single or perhaps as part of an album. In any case I hope it gets released in some bona fide format because it deserves so!

Mind Wanders: this song and band I just discovered through Pierre from the Facebook group Twee Lovers Club. Mind Wavers hail from Thailand and they have a very sweet sound. “Time is Running Out” seems to be their latest digital single. It is pretty nice.

Orange & Lemons: I remember this band from the Philippines from many years ago. It seems they continue making music and they have a new song called “Pag-big Sa Tabing Dagat” on the Lilystars Records soundcloud. It is an interesting sound as it feels a bit of a mix of bossa nova and indiepop and also it mentions that it is influenced by “kundiman”, a traditional Filipino love song. Interesting!

Ocean Chimes: lastly a track from 3 months ago on the superb Indonesian label Shiny Happy Records. The song is called “Adios Amigos” and it seems it will be included in a new EP coming out sometime soon on this label! Good stuff.

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One of my favourite 7″s in my collection is the Collapsible Deckchairs’ “William Shakespeare” that was released in 1985 by the Mordent label. As I know very little about it why don’t you join me in finding out more about them?

The Mordent Music label. Who were they? It seems they released three singles in 1985 and that’s it. Aside from the Collapsible Deckchairs they released Baz Higgins and A to Z + the Girl Guides. But their first ever release was the Collapsible Deckchairs (dMOR1). This label was based in Cookridge, Leeds.

This 7″ with a portrait of Mr. Shakespeare on the cover art had the title song on the A side while “Ford Cortina” appears on the B side. This is quite interesting I must say, the Ford Cortina was a car that was built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom’s best-selling car of the 1970s. 

I don’t think I need to say who William Shakespeare was, right? What about Stuart Skinner? Okay, he appears on the sleeve because he produced both songs. Skinner also produced another classic indiepop record, The Darling Buds’ “Shame on You”. Both songs were recorded at Vibrasound in Sheffield.

The back of the sleeve gives us a little more information. We know that “William Shakespeare” was written by Higgins and Morrison while “Ford Cortina” by Morrison and Higgins. Then on “William Shakespeare” there are some guest musicians, Paddy Hogan sang, Paul Stinchcombe played sax and Oonagh Stephenson the violin.

On the From a Northern Place blog there is a scan where it mentions the names of the band members, from left to right, as there was also a photo included in the record. It says they were Paddy, Baz and Simon Masters. Then I find that Mordent was run by Baz Higgins, which makes me guess that Paddy was Patrick Morrison. This also of course means that the second release on Mordent Music was Baz’s. And of course Baz was also part of A to Z + the Girl Guides!

Lastly, the only other thing I could find was a Spin magazine issue from September 1985 where there is a small review of the single. Incredible really as this was a US magazine.

Now, I hope someone can help me find out any more information about them!

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Listen
Collapsible Deckchairs – William Shakespeare