I’ll go straight to the point with 5 new finds on the web. For the time being, while there are no news on the label side, I’ll just share with you some new finds straight away. I’m quite tired and busy to give much attention to the blog. Well, still it is not terrible, right? It’s much more than what you would find elsewhere on the web, right? Anyways…

Botschaft: oh wow wow wow! When Ronny from the Kleine Untergrund label told me a new 7″ was coming out by this brilliant band I couldn’t wait to see how it sounded like. I loved their previous effort so I knew I was going to like “Sozialisiert in der BRD”, the A side of of their new record. But more than liked it, I loved it. It is terrific! The record  was released last Friday, and it includes a B side of course and it is called “Daseinsweck”. But that is not all. No way. I’m even happier to share the promo video for “Sozialisiert in der BRD“, with footage of West Germany in the  90s. I need this record in my hand. It is only limited to 200 copies, so my sound advice is to get it fast.

Cosmo K: some lovely acoustic pop from this Madrid band. There are 7 very short songs to stream on Bandcamp and also available on 7″ vinyl which is co-released by Discos de Kirlian, Aplasta tus Gafas de Pasta and the band. I am really enjoying it, the smart lyrics and easy to sing along melodies. I hope I can get a copy of it. The band is formed by Ángela, Álvaro y Maria and it seems only 10 records are left. Damn. Everything feels so limited these days.

Señalada: still checking out the new releases by Discos de Kirlian, and I find a band I have never heard before, Señalada from Zaragoza, Spain. They have a 10″ out now called “Mejores Amigos” which sounds great. 8 songs, 200 copies of the record, and 4 people form the band: Alba González, Alberto Cano, Tito Andrés y Pedro Señalada. Looks like the Barcelona label is on a roll, finding superb up and coming Spanish pop bands. Definitely worth checking now and then what the label has to offer as they are very prolific!

Taneli Lucis: found this Peruvian duo through the Latin American Twee Facebook page. Luz and Daniel form the band and they seem to be influenced by Slowdive, The Radio Dept and Pia Fraus. Last year, in March 2017, they uploaded 6 songs to Youtube, and this might be their debut EP, I don’t really know. What I do know is that they sound pretty good. I hope to hear new songs by them in the near future.

Tropical Fuzz: Brazilian Guitars 1988-2018: lastly I want to recommend this comprehensive compilation done by the Brazilian label Midsummer Madness. I do believe the title is wrong, it should be 1998, but who knows. I don’t know which band is from 1988 in the tracklist. Maybe someone can tell me. Anyhow, it is true that some important bands from Brazil are missing, like Pale Sunday or Brincando de Deus, but it is definitely a good introduction to Brazilian guitar pop. Check it out.

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Personal Column were a Liverpool band, functioning from 1980-1986, based around the songwriting of Marc Vormawah and Colin Brown. Big favourites of John Peel, they did three sessions for his show, as well as sessions for Kid Jenson and Simon Bates.

That’s how Discogs introduces Personal Column. It is the first time I’m listening to their music. I was brought here thanks to the chiming guitars of “Same Old Situation”, a song I immediately dubbed as a long lost indiepop classic, even if it dates from 1983, years before C86 or similar terms were coined.

Listening now to some of their other songs I can tell they were more of a new wave band than a classic guitar pop band. Nonetheless there are terrific guitar pop moments in their songs, and their more new wavey tracks are still very enjoyable. So don’t doubt checking them out on Youtube where a trove of songs have been uploaded, including a video for their last single “Strictly Confidential” and a live performance at Exchange Flags in 1982 of their first single “Ignorance is Bliss?“.

I have a good feeling about them. I think I will find quite a lot of information and details about them, unlike many bands I feature here.

As I said earlier their first single was “Ignorance is Bliss?” with the B side “Dreamer in Babylon”. It was released in 1982 by Contrast Records (CON 001) which I’m assuming it was their own label as the only two records listed by it are theirs. The sleeve gives us our first clues about the band: their members. They were Mike Hayes on bass, Mike McCarrol on drums, Colin Brown on keyboards and Marc Vormawah on vocals and guitars. Thanks to these names we know that Mark Hayes had also been in a band called Salvation (which Cherry Red put out a retrospective collection in 2005)  and Mark Vormawah had played in John Jenkins and That Sure Thing and also released a solo album called “Too True” as Marc V. on Elektra.

The next year, 1983, their 2nd single would see the light. It is the superb “The Same Old Situation” that had “Terminal Suspicion” on the B side. It was released on Contrast Records (CON 002) and was recorded at The Pink studios in Liverpool in May of 83. It was engineered by Steve Power.  For this record the band lineup had changed too. We see now that Rob Boardman is also playing guitar and Terry Sterling has replaced Mike McCarrol on drums. Terry would later play with a band called Two’s A Crowd.

Lastly their last single “Strictly Confidential” was released in 1984 on the well known Stiff Records (BUY 202). It was released in both 7″ and 12″ formats and also there were international versions for this record in Spain, Netherlands and Germany. The 7″ single had the song “Here’s Looking at You” on the B side and we see that the A side, “Strictly Confidential” was mixed by Julian Mendelsohn and recorded by the band and Pete Coleman.

The 12″ version was available in Spain and included three different versions of “Strictly Confidential”. On the A side was the Radio Version and the Dub version, while on the B side there was the Long Mix. I wonder how this record do in the different countries it was licensed…

A good find with information about the band is an old website. It seems that all the data in it dates from 2006. The first thing that we see is a paragraph or two by Phil Hargreaves were he mentions that there was many tapes with recordings by the band. But was Phil in the band? It seems he joined at a later point as a saxophonist.

There is a biography by the band written by John Jenkins. He mentions that he was a keyboard player in a band called Come in Tokyo. This is the same John Jenkins Mark would play with later on in John Jenkins and That Sure Thing. It was at a venue called The Warehouse. He liked them, especially the songs “Friction”, “Here’s Looking at Your”, “Liverpool 8 999” and “Struck By Lightning”. Then he mentions a demo tape with 8 songs that included “A Women’s Place”, “His Master’s Voice”, “Jury Service”, “Personal Column” and “World in Action”. What other songs were in it?

Then he mentions that the first single was recorded at Alan Peters studio in Liverpool’s city centre and the band self-financed this record. Thanks to this the band got to appear on television playing both “Ignorance is Bliss?” and the song “Institutions” at Granada’s Exchange Flags programme. That’s where the Youtube video I linked earlier comes from.

Afterwards the band started performing new songs at gigs like “Same Old Situation”, “Astrology”, “The Nature of Things”, “Dangerous Places”, “Points of No Return”, “Cosmetic Surgery” and “Terminal Suspicion”. Were all of these recorded?

Then John says that he was asked to be the band’s manager, but because he was busy with Come in Tokyo he had to decline the offer. Even though he declined he went with the band to the recording of the 1st Peel Session of Personal Column. They recorded that day “Dangerous Places”, “Red”, “Same Old Situation” and “Friction”. This was recorded in 1982. Oh! I wish I could listen to it!

There was another Peel Session and also a Kid Jenssen Session. Then the band signed a publishing deal with ATV music. That would mean that Personal Column’s songs are (were?) owned by Michael Jackson?

Lastly he mentions a few other songs the band had like “Waiting for the Axe to Fall”, “Hook Line” or “Sink Without a Trace”. Then the band ended without getting a good offer to release an album.

Jenkins mentions he has a lot of Personal Column gigs on tape. Would be great if someday they see the light of day, maybe on Bandcamp or Youtube.

From pictures on the website we know the band played gigs at the Left Bank Bistro supporting Phil Battle & the Sensible Shoes, Magic in the Desert and Andy Pike, at the Masonic, the Everyman Bistro, The Venue, The Zigzag Club in London, and in Switzerland as part of a festival of Liverpool bands in that country. Something that is also interesting from these pictures is that Mark Moraghan, the television actor, ex Holby City, was at some point part of the band as a backing singer and percussionist.

On the BBC website, looking for Peel Sessions I find the tracklist for the other sessions the band did. The one from 1983, with Dale Griffin as producer, had the usual four songs, “Strictly Confidential”, “Sleight of Hand”, “Ignorance is Bliss” and “Crusade”. Lastly the 1984 session with Paul Smith as a producer had “World in Action”, “British Style”, “Cosmetic Surgery” and “The Price You Pay”. For this session the drummer was Tom Fenner.

Thanks to this website I find out that Mike Hayes and Robbie Boardman once did a European tour with Afraid of Mice. That Marc, Tony and Phil were once part of 16 Tambourines. That Mike Hayes was running Boho Records in the South Coast. And Phil Hargreaves was running his own label Whi Music.

Lastly the Music tab offers 17 songs to listen and download! Fantastic! There is even a cover art to download and print if you’d like to make your own CD.  Then a sort of discography that I think I will just copy and paste here:
1981: Recording at Open Eye studio, Liverpool (British Style, His Master’s Voice)
1982: ‘Ignorance is Bliss/Dreamer in Babylon’, single on Contrast records, recorded SOS studios, Liverpool. Marc Vormawah: voice, guitar; Mike Hayes: bass, backing vocal; Colin Brown: keyboards; Robbie Boardman: guitar; Terry Sterling: drums; phil hargreaves: sax on Point of No Return
1982: Peel Session one (Red)
1983: ‘The Same Old Situation/ Terminal Suspicion’, single on Contrast records, recorded at Pink studios, Liverpool.
1983: Session for Simon Bates (Dangerous Places)
1983: Session for Kid Jensen (Point of No Return)
1983: Peel Session two (Sleight of Hand, Crusade)
1984: Album recorded for Stiff, ultimately unreleased (Institutions) 1984: Gig at ICA, recorded for Radio Kent (A Woman’s Place)
1984: ‘Strictly Confidential/Here’s Looking at You’, single on Stiff
1984: Peel Session Three Marc Vormawah: vocal, guitar; Shaun McLoughlin: bass; Tony McGuigan: drums; Colin Brown: keyboards
1984: demo in Amazon Studios, Kirkby (New Victorian Age)

I keep looking for more information and see that Mark Vormawah had been playing gigs as late as last year. I noticed for example he played at the Folk on the Dock on August 26 2017. And has even released an album this year called “Goodbye to Yesterday” which is available to stream on his Soundcloud.

I also find out that Ed Shelflife had written about them many years ago. Maybe that’s why I had this sort of memory of having heard them in the past? My memory is not how it used to be.

Lastly I found out that Mark Vormawah had been in Upsets, Rob Boardman in Jass Babies, Visual Aids and Clique, Mike Carroll in Sebastian’s Men, Shaun McLaughlin (bassist in 1985) in Acheans and Afraid of Mic and Toni Guigan (drums in 1985) in Indangerous Rhythm. There seems to have been a session for Simon Bates and that the original lineup had recorded a session with John Hall in 1982 under another name, Inside Information.

According to a WIKI, the Kid Jensen included three songs, “Strictly Confidential”, “Influence is Bliss” and “Slight of Hand”. Is that right?

About Inside Information or John Hall I couldn’t find anything nor about the Simon Bates session. But I think in the end I did find a trove of information, even 17 songs to listen. Nothing to complain. Now, I need to get copies of the records!

Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
Personal Column – Same Old Situation

Still with very little time in my hands to write full-fledged posts, but I’m sure at some point soon I’ll be able to do so. In the meantime have a good weekend listening to:

Chorusgirl: one of my favourite London bands is this one. I’ve seen them only once, at New York Popfest, and they were brilliant. I wish I had put something out by them. Maybe it is not too late? Definitely they are busy these days with their new album “Shimmer and Spin” that will be out on November 2018 on the Reckless Yes label. To give us a taster of what to expect on their second album they have shared on SoundCloud the song “No Goodbye”, which is not “No Moon”, but it is still pretty good!

Toy Tambourine: a new song alert by this great Bandung band that often surprises us with some superb tracks on their Bandcamp. This new song is called “Sparks” and it seems to be a demo. Will it be properly recorded in the near future? Maybe for an album? I guess we just need to keep an eye and see what happens!

The Sweetest Touch: another Indonesian band, but this time one that has got a release out. And actually in a different country than their own. Their 5 song EP “Crystal Shades” is out now on Mellotron Recordings from Greece. The limited edition CD is already sold out, but the regular version is available to pre-order. The release is slated for October 1st. If you like Sarah-influenced popsongs, if you are into Field Mice and Brighter, this might be something for you. Very nice indeed!

Vamping: earlier in March I was recommending this band on the blog. Now comes October and the band will be releasing also on October 1st and again on Mellotron Recordings from Greece a new CD EP. In the same fashion as Sweetest Touch, there’s a regular CD and a limited special version which has sold out to. The EP is titled “Caves and Voodoos” and the one song available to stream, “Divination”, sounds lovely.

Plant Cell: and to finish this roundup I found this shoegazy band from Japan that was formed in 2015 by Eriko, Masaki, Nao and Sino. They have uploaded a bunch of digital singles to their Bandcamp but I’m mostly listening to what looks like an album called “Flowergaze? (Rebuild)” which sounds excellent. It dates from 2017, but for me this is brand new, so it counts! Did you know them already?

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Solace: comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.

Been a while since I had a French band on the blog. I do have mixed feelings with them. I have got in touch with many, sent them questions for an interview, and never heard back. It is not the best. I wish they told me they are not into it, or lazy, or something. Maybe that it is hard to answer in English. I can understand that. Of course, this happens too with UK bands, and bands from all over. I write questions, and then I never hear back. But with the French it happens more often. Why?!

I hope if I ever get in touch with Solace and they are keen to answer my questions, I hope to get them. I would really love to hear their story. And share it with everyone. That’s the whole point of the blog. Finding out about all of these bands whose story is not on the web. Whose story matters to the big story of indiepop. Now that some books are being written about indiepop, it matters, as most bands on these books are the bigger names. But indiepop was also about the small names. It is important to acknowledge that.

Solace was a small band. A small band that eventually their two members went to be in a bigger band. A more renown band. I believe the story goes like this: A brother/duo from Rennes wanted to write a perfect love song. One that was touching and funny. About a perfect boy. Who could be that perfect boy? No other than Bobby Gillespie. The brother and sister wrote “My Brightest Star”, they produced it too. And from what I’ve read on the web it was kind of a small underground hit in France. Is that true?

This song was to be published on a label called Glam Records in 1991. It had the catalog (GLAM 001). It was released on a flexidisc. No other song on it. Just this one. Glam Records was to release a few more flexis afterwards by Smiley Post or Des Garçons Ordinaires. But this was the first one by them. The label was also based in Rennes. Who run this label?

The simple artwork for the single, printed in blue, black and pink stars, doesn’t give us any other information about the band. We do know though that the brother and sister duo were Chafik and Yasmine Mohammedi that would later form the band Lighthouse who were to release albums in labels like Rosebud and Tricatel, as well as on Glam Records (I suspect the siblings might be involved in this label in some way?). Yasmine had also been part of the band Novela and had helped a band called Octet.

Of course there is nothing else about the band on the web. You can find quite a good amount of information about Lighthouse. But I’m more interested now in the humble beginning. In their indiepop influences. In them singing about Bobby Gillespie. That period. If they had more recordings then. Why they didn’t release any other records. When did they stopped Solace and started Lighthouse. How was that evolution. I want to know that part of the story. It does seem Rennes had a great pop scene in the early 90s from what I’ve been finding out through the blog. Were they part of that scene? Did they play many gigs or they were more of a bedroom project? So many questions, and only the one song.

Who remembers them?

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Listen
Solace – My Brightest Star

These first few days at my new job have been hectic. Haven’t had much time for music-related things. I’m writing this on an evening, but I have not much energy. Nonetheless here are a few cool finds for your listening pleasure:

Las Infrarrojas: listening to these two brand new songs by this Alicante, Spain, band that have just been released on vinyl as a 7″ by the Madrid based label Hurrah! Musica, and I think, no surprise, the Spanish language song, meaning the B side, is the better one. It is a really nice tune. That doesn’t mean the A side is bad, but I am picking the B side over it. The A side is sung in English and is called “Can’t Have it All”, while the B side is titled “Infrarrojas”.

Manon Meurt: if you want to be transported back to the mid and late 90s, this Czech band from Rakovnik has the music for that. Their self-titled six song mini-album on Bandcamp mixes dreampop, shoegaze and more spacey sounds in a good way. It is quite a surprise to listen a band from this small town that lies in between Prague and Plzen. For sure it is the first time I listen to a band from there. They are formed by Katerina, Vojtech, Dave and Jiri.

Sugar Pond: hailing not too far from where I am at. From upstate New York, from the town of Hastings of Houston, this band’s latest effort is a 3 song digital single called “Triple You” with the songs “What End?”, “Wings” and “Wit’s End”.

Owls of Now: time for a London band. I was missing bands from the UK, I feel I’m not finding that many these days. Anyhow, this band has just put out a 4 song tape with the label For the Sake of Tapes. The band is formed by Caz, J Bell, Kate and Becky and I think some of them are based in Glasgow? I don’t have that part very clear. The superb “Lead Singer” opens the tape and then we find “Powers”, “Creature” and “Peg (We Rise From the Lake)”. Some nice pop tunes here. Definitely worth checking them out!

Enids: three Fat Tulips influenced demos? That’s what I found on this Copenhagen based Bandcamp! That is a great find if you ask me. Check out “Forget You”, “Scenekid of Misery” and “Springtime” by the trio formed by Louise, Julia and Charlotte. Hopefully these songs get recorded properly and they find a physical release!

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Here is another very obscure band that I will need help with. I don’t really have many ideas where to look. I stumbled upon wall after wall. Every path has been taken on the web and no information was found. The only real information that exists is that Splendour in the Grass put out one song called “Twist Me” on a split flexi in 1988.

It was 1988 when Penetration Records put out a flexi shared by 14 Iced Bears and Splendour in the Grass with the catalog number 001. It seems this was the only release by this label. It is definitely not the first split record that I feature on the blog with 14 Iced Bears on it. Not too long ago I was writing about Crocodile Ride and before that The Hermit Crabs who shared a split with the Brighton band.

Does this mean, maybe, that Splendour in the Grass also hailed from Brighton? Probably not. You see, on the sleeve of the flexi there’s an address for the band. It has Croydon in it. A bit north of Brighton.

The sleeve also gives us some little details about the band members.
Nic – vocals
Christopher – bass
Tim – drums
James – guitars

But there are no last names. So it is pretty hard to track them down with just first names. We know also that the band thanks Laurence for the gear, Dave for engineering and Robert Black for living.

There is no more information on the web. I can’t seem to find anything else. Maybe some of you, south of London, remember them? Were they involved in any other bands perhaps? What can you tell me?

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Listen
Splendour in the Grass – Twist Me

Thanks so much to Terry Banks for yet another interview! Some years ago I got in touch and we talked about the fan-favourite Tree Fort Angst and later about his current band Dot Dash (which by the way have just released a terrific album). Today we talk about his late 90s and early 2000s Washington DC band The Saturday People who released an album, a mini-album and a string of singles. A band that you could also say was an all-star lineup!

++ Hi Terry! It’s been some time since last time we spoke but you have continued making music all these years with Dot Dash. I think it was in 2011 when we did the interview for the blog! I suppose a lot has happened since those days?

Yeah, that was around the time our first album, spark>flame>ember>ash, had come out. Since then we’ve just kept playing lots of gigs and had five more albums come out, all released by The Beautiful Music: Winter Garden Light in 2012, Half-Remembered Dream in 2013, Earthquakes & Tidal Waves in 2015, Searchlights in 2016 and, last month, Proto Retro.

++ “Proto Retro” sounds terrific! I’m really enjoying it. How do you think the band has evolved since the first album? What can people expect from this new record? Where can one get it?

Thanks! The new album is available as a digipak CD direct from The Beautiful Music and as a download from Bandcamp and iTunes. I’m not sure how we’ve evolved – all the records kind of have their own character but Proto Retro is my favorite and certainly the poppiest thing we’ve done. One evolution within the band is that about a year and half ago (at the beginning of 2017), we slimmed down to a guitar-bass-drums trio. It’s been really good.

++ And are you touring perhaps? What are the future plans for the band?

We usually play about 12 to 15 gigs a year but we’ve never toured. The closest we’ve got so far was a little three-show run we did with Tommy Keene a couple years back. But we get out of town every now and then. We’ve played in NYC five or six times, we’ve played in New Jersey a couple times, played in Baltimore a few times, but everything else has been in or around D.C. Who knows, maybe someone cool will tap us to hit the road with them. That’d be good.

++ Today we are going to talk about one of your many bands, one that is surely missed, The Saturday People! I want to start by asking what similarities, if any, are there between the Saturday People and Dot Dash?

To be honest, I don’t think there are many similarities between the two bands. I like both, but they feel pretty different.

++ I’m trying to picture a timeline. So after Tree Fort Angst stopped making music, was The Saturday People your next project? Or was there something in between?

Yeah, The Saturday People followed Tree Fort Angst, but between those two things, I spent a couple of years living and working in Australia. The Saturday People got going after that, in the latter part of 1998.

++ I think I didn’t ask you about this in the past, so 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?

I didn’t play an instrument as a child. That came later. I picked up guitar around the age of 20, in college. A friend showed me some chords and I just started trying to write songs. As a little kid, the music remember hearing most was by an organist named Walter Wanderley, who, in retrospect, I came to realize sounded sort of like Felt or maybe an el Records band.

++ I kind of know which other bands you’ve been thanks to previous interviews, but what about the rest of The Saturday People, what other bands were they involved with?

Greg Pavlovcak had been in The Ropers. Dan Searing had been in glo-worm with me and Pam Berry (we had an album released by the K label.) Ara Hacopian had been in a high school band named Cold Coffee Chaser. Later, when Archie Moore joined the band, he had been in Velocity Girl and Black Tambourine. I’m probably forgetting some other bands they were in, but those are the main ones, I think.

++ Were you all originally from the D.C. area? Or how did you end up there?

I grew up about 10 miles north of Baltimore. Greg is from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Dan, Archie and Ara are all from the D.C area.

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

Well, the band had three line-ups, albeit all comprising the same set of people. For the first year, roughly late 1998 to late 1999, the line-up was me: guitar/vocals; Greg: guitar/vocals; Ara: bass, and Dan: drums. Then, about a year into the band or a little under that, Ara left to go travelling overseas. Archie then joined as our new bassist. Then, at some point down the road, Ara returned and rejoined (this time as keyboardist), so we became a five-piece at that point.

The way The Saturday People started is that Dan, Greg and Ara had been in a band called The Castaway Stones, which had Pam Berry as singer. When Pam left D.C. to move to London, those guys asked me if I wanted to start a new band with them. We all just sort of knew each other from around town. I met Dan and Archie right after I moved to D.C. in the early 90s.

++ Why the name the The Saturday People?

Dan, Greg, Ara and I convened in the Pharmacy Bar on 18th Street (which later became a sort of informal Saturday People HQ) to concoct a band name. I wanted to call the band The Saturday Forever, which had a sort of trippy vibe and made me think of The Three O’Clock for some reason, but Dan didn’t like the “forever” part, so I came up with The Saturday People, which everyone seemed to like. The name doesn’t mean anything. It just sounded good.

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

I wrote the songs that I sang and Greg wrote the songs he sang and everyone just made up their own parts. We practiced in Dan’s basement in a hallowed house in Columbia Heights known as The Pines.

++ There was a good indiepop scene during those years, and we’ve talked about that in the past. But wondering if by the time of The Saturday People the scene was as healthy as in the mid 90s?

I would say it was pretty much the same as it had been. Not too many changes.

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

Hmmm… around the time of The Saturday People, I was really inspired by early Beatles, and probably the Velvet Underground, and I guess Postcard label stuff. Greg was quite into Love and I think Felt. Ara was big on The Television Personalities. Dan was very interested in the soft-rock thing, like Free Design and those kinds of groups. Archie joined later and I remember he was into groups like The Millennium and Sagittarius.

++ Your first release was a 7″ on Brittle Stars Records. Who were they? How did you get to release with them? What can you tell me about the songs on the record?

Brittle Stars was Will Eastman’s label. He had seen us play and offered to put a record out. The two songs were ‘Twilight Story’ and ‘The Castle.’ Greg and I just each picked what we thought was our best song and we recorded them with Trevor/hollAnd.

++ After this release you’d join Slumberland Records with whom you’d release most of your recorded output. The first was a 7″ with “Slipping Through Your Fingertips”. One thing about this record that caught my attention is the photograph on the sleeve? Who is that?

It’s a photo of Candice Bergen, taken at the Monterey Pop Festival.

++ And how did you end up signing with Slumberland?

There was no signing of anything, per se. Mike Schulman just offered to put the records out and we said yes.

++ Then your self-titled album came out. I feel this might be your most well-known release. Am I right? What do you remember about the recording sessions? Did it take long? I wonder as there are 15 songs total in it, quite a lot for an indiepop album!

Yeah, the Slumberland album was the best thing we did. Archie, who recorded us and mixed the record, worked in a big pro studio called Omega and we were able to record there during down time, so we were able to make the record basically for free. We recorded mostly in the big room, which seemed like it was the size of a gymnasium, but maybe my memory is exaggerated. As far as the 15 songs, we liked all the stuff and thought including it would make for a broader, more varied record.

++ I always thought “Upside-Down Girl” should have been a single. Such a great song. Was wondering if you could tell me what’s the story behind that song?

Thank you, I liked that song, too. The title came from my daughter, who was a toddler then, and used to do a sort of aborted somersault and stop halfway through and look at you, upside down. The song starts off with the “mystery chord” lifted from the opening of ‘A Hard Day’s Night.’ Archie added a vibraphone part in the studio and it sounded great.

++ On the first 7″ and also on the album, I can see your name written in a typography that nods of the 60s, to mods. I was wondering if that was your intention? And if you felt more of a 60s influenced band than a classic indiepop band then?

I got that typography by photocopying the letters off a Beatles LP sleeve and messing around with scissors, a black marker, and whiteout. That typeface also reminded me of The Undertones’ sleeve for ‘Wednesday Week,’ so that was good. But you’re right, I was very into a 60s thing at that time. The Saturday People’s music was very much indiepop, I just liked 60s iconography.

++ In 2001 you got to share a split 7″ with The Clientele. Did you get to meet them? Perhaps play a gig with them? Were you fans of the band at the time by the way?

They were incredible. We played three, maybe four gigs with them around 1999-2000, at least two in NYC (including a great one in a big space at NYU) and one or two in D.C. They were cool guys and a singularly great band.

++ Then 3 years after you put out a mini-album on Foxyboy. It was also self-titled. Was it hard to come with album names? 🙂 But seriously, why the wait of three years?

I think we had just sort of wound down by then. The Saturday People really only existed as a gigging band for the years 1999 and 2000, maybe a little bit into 2001. The first two 7”s were out while we were still gigging, but everything else – i.e., the Slumberland album, and the third 7”, and the mini-album — were all sort of “posthumous.” That said, after the Slumberland album came out, in late 2001, we got back together in early 2002 for two shows, one in NYC at Brownies and one in D.C. So we sort of came back for a little bit and the stuff on the mini-album might’ve been recorded after that, later in 2002. I can’t quite remember!

++ And how did the record come out with Foxyboy and not with Slumberland? How did you know the label?

Well, that label was Ara’s thing. He put out a lot of stuff in a short period of time. I think there were like 10 releases in about a year and a half. There was The Saturday People mini-album, a 30-track Tree Fort Angst comp called Last Page in The Book of Love, a Boyracer record, a couple of EPs by The Sounds of Kaleidoscope, a bunch of stuff. He was quite prolific.

++ This mini-album has a bunch of songs that are not listed on the regular tracklist. What was that about?!

Those were weird mixes and little sonic experiments that Archie did. I think that record actually has 14 tracks, although only about half of them are listed on the sleeve.

++ Also for this CD the aesthetic of the band was very different on the artwork. Now there was a photo of yourselves, something that you didn’t see in any previous releases. I’m quite curious where was the front cover photo taken? And was it cold that day?

The photos were taken in Malcolm X Park adjacent to D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood. Yes, it was pretty cold that day. The psychobabble quote on the back of the sleeve was lifted from an Electric Prunes album.

++ I believe you also appeared on a Stills, Crosby and Nash CD but there is not much information about this CD, I just know that a live version of you covering “Cinnamon Girl” was in it. What was this one about?

I didn’t know such a CD was released. That was a one-off gig we did – it was me and Greg (from The Saturday People) and Doug and Alex from The Ropers (although maybe they were called The Still by then.) It was a multi-band bill, we only played two songs: “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young and “Why” by The Byrds. I think Doug sang both, although Greg may’ve sung The Byrds song. I had forgot about that show.

++ For the OMD tribute album that Shelflife put out you changed your name to The Saturday People Front. Why? And why did you choose to cover “She’s Leaving”?

That was Greg and Archie. It was for a benefit CD for a food bank.

++ Are there any other songs recorded by the band that remain unreleased?

I don’t think so. Dan made a few live recordings of shows, but I don’t think there were any studio outtakes or leftovers, at least that I recall.

++ And of all your repertoire, what would you say is your favorite Saturday People song and why?

Of my songs, I think I like ‘Slipping Through Your Fingertips’ and ‘Twilight Story’ best – they’re both really light, but rocking, which is kind of a hard balance to strike. My favorite of Greg’s songs was the version of “Grace” on the third 7” (the split single with The Clientele) where, right before the rave-up outro, he intones “Alright Saturday People, one more time for The Clientele!” I also really liked “The Man Without Qualities, Part II” from the album, which he also wrote. That was great.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? What was the farthest you played from DC?

We played about 25 shows total, almost all of them in 1999 and 2000. We played in NYC a few times, and Philadelphia once, and all the rest were all in D.C.

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

In addition to The Clientele, some of the other bands we played with were The Ladybug Transistor, The Posies, Cinerama, Sportique, The Hang Ups, Lilys, The Lucksmiths, Marine Research, Barcelona, Tahiti 80, and a bunch of others. We were supposed to play with Beachwood Sparks once, but they showed up late (we had already played, stretching our set as long as we could — for us, playing for 45 or 50 minutes, instead of 25 or 30, was like doing a three-hour Led Zeppelin tour de force.) When they finally showed up, the club told them to take a hike. They sat in their van looking dejected.

++ When and why did The Saturday People stop making music?

I’m pretty sure we winded down in early 2001 but then got back together in 2002 for a short time. That’s how I remember it, anyway. Greg had moved to Philadelphia. Maybe that was the reason we stopped.

++ What did the rest of the band do afterwards?

I didn’t do any music for five or six years after The Saturday People, but played in Julie Ocean for about a year, circa 2007-08 (we had one album, called Long Gone and Nearly There, come out.) These days, I play in Dot Dash. Greg was in a band called The Last Wave and is still doing music in Philadelphia. Ara lives in Berlin and recently did gigs with Boyracer in the UK. Dan and Archie are in D.C., keeping it real.

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

Yes, we did a reunion show in 2014 at The Bell House in Brooklyn. The Clientele headlined.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio or press?

The City Paper, in D.C., did a two-page feature on us once, which, for us, was kind of big time. And we got some college radio airplay and various reviews, here and there. Nothing too grand.

++ What about from fanzines?

I remember we did an interview with Chickfactor.

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

It was a band with a lot of humor, in-jokes, pseudonyms, and ongoing laughter – that was the best thing about it, rather than a specific gig or record.

++ Been a couple of times in D.C., but I think it is better if a local recommends and gives some suggestions? Like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

There’s lots of groovy bistros and hostelries around town. Every time I turn around, another one is opening up on this street corner or that. Too many to pick!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Nothing other than thanks for the interest. And, for anyone who cares, there appears to be a free MP3 of ‘Slipping Through Your Fingertips’ here:

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Listen
The Saturday People – Slipping Thru Your Fingertips

A short post this Monday. I prepared this over the weekend as today I’m starting a new job. Hoping it works out great.

There are a few good finds for me to share today:

Dot Dash: I was recommending their new album “Proto Retro” some days ago, today is a turn to show you an example of what you can find it. The Washington D.C. band has just published a video for their song “Unfair Weather” which is one of the best songs on the album, so it is a no brainer to click the link and check it out now. The album is now available on the Beautiful Music label.

Anemone: I’m checking out this brand new song by the Montreal, Canada, titled “Daffodils”. And it does sound great! The band is formed by Chloe Soldevila, Miles Dupire-Gagnon, Gabriel Lambert, Samuel Gemme and Zachary Irving and earlier this year they put out a tape and LP album called “Baby Only You & I” which also sounds great. I wonder why I am only stumbling upon them now?

The Radio Dept.: well, everyone knows how great The Radio Dept. is. I don’t have much to say. They don’t need an introduction. But this is just a reminder that a few days ago the band unveiled a new song: “Going Down Swinging”, so if you haven’t listened to it don’t wait any longer and head to the Bandcamp and sing along with the lyrics available there.

The Shining Hour: you can’t imagine how happy has made me to discover Mark Cohen is still making music. I lost touch after the release of the wonderful 3″ CD we did many years ago, around 10 years ago (!). To find on Bandcamp  the “Reflection” album, consisting of 14 brand new songs has really surprised me, thrilled me, excited me. I’m listening with a grin on my face the wonderful jangle that The Shining Hour has always made. The freshness, the class, the quality, are still there. Hopefully this will get a proper release somehow!

Odd Gesture: this release came out in February but it slipped under the cracks for me. Released by one of the best Jakarta labels, Dismantled Records, the 5 track debut EP by this poppunk combo formed by Fajar, Ruli, Mamet and Tyo is a rush of energy and upbeat happy tunes! I’m not sure if it is available on any physical formats but you can stream the songs “Sick Of You”, “Me Holding Hands”, “Saccharine”, “I H8 Sharesprings” and “You and I (Die Together)”.

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Today I want to share one of the biggest mysteries to me. One that for years I’ve tried to solve on my own with no luck. Maybe you can help me? It has to do with a Greek band. From where in Greece? I don’t know. Most possibly Athens. Their name? The Wish. Their releases? None.

What do I really know about then? Just a few things. I have a CD compilation called “Pop Secrets… From the Greek Underground Scene” that was released in 1997 by Voice (VOICE 001). This CD came accompanying the first issue of the Voice Magazine. This was a short lived magazine. Only 4 issues were put out. Each of them came with a CD. Definitely for us indiepop lovers is the first CD that interests us.

I only own the CD. It was given to me by a Greek fan many years ago after we did a trade. Must be more than 10 years ago. I didn’t get the magazine so I don’t know if there was any information about the bands that appear on the CD. In any case I would probably wouldn’t understand as I can’t read Greek.

The band I’m interested as I said was The Wish. They appear on the compilation with the song “All Over”. It is one of my favourite Greek indiepop songs ever. It is catchy as hell, dreamy, with great vocals and energy. So good that I have played it many times when I had the chance to DJ at different indiepop parties. Most of the songs on this compilation have a copyright, like many belong to This Happy Feeling, another to Lazy Dog and so on. The Wish doesn’t have any copyright, no ownership. It is like if the compilers had found this song from a secret box. There are no other compilations listed for the band. Nothing. We only know that the song was remastered at Morph Flow Sound Laboratories for the compilation. But who knows about the original recording?

We know the person that compiled the CD was Dimitris Argyropoulos. That’s really all.

I once uploaded the song to Youtube and I had the wrong photo. Someone called Maria Bati wrote that the photo has nothing to do with The Wish. That there are no photos from them. Maybe she knew them? Maybe she was part? I don’t know. I couldn’t find any connection between The Wish and her. I mean, for sure there was a woman in the band. Or more than one. But I can’t really figure out anything else. I don’t want to be guessing forever.

So today I make this plea. Hopefully my Greek readers know about this band. Who were they? Any details, even if it is small, would be appreciated!

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Listen
The Wish – All Over

Friday and I’m getting a little anxious. I start a new job on Monday, so don’t want to think much. I need to keep myself relaxed. I did go to see St. Etienne on Wednesday at the Bowery Ballroom as part of their tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Good Humour”.  And that was nice.

I felt there was more people than the last time I saw them. Or perhaps the venue was smaller this time. Oddly enough next to me was the head of HR of my previous workplace. I thought that was odd. Seeing her dancing to the songs.

Bob Stanley wasn’t on stage. I wonder why. I missed him. It is not the same as when the three members are part of the show. But of course seeing Sarah and Debsey dancing makes me happy.

Another thing that didn’t work out for the band was that the exclusive CDs that were going to be available for the US tour weren’t available. Seems the pressing plant didn’t provide them in time. So the band was taking money from whoever wanted them and were taking the address so they could mail them in around 3 to 4 weeks from now. I guess that’s fine. But I’m sure the band would have loved it to be differently. Now we just wait.

Oh, one complain. A t-shirt for $30 is a bit too much. Realistically $20 is ok. I wanted one, and could have paid that price, but thought it was unfair. So I didn’t.

The gig was very nice, what can I say. Even if I was not up front I loved hearing many songs that don’t get to be played at a regular Saint Etienne gig!

Future World Moves: many years ago I interviewed this fab 80s Scottish band. Well, this November 23rd the band is reuniting for a one-off gig at the Dreadnaught Bathgate venue. This is a reunion after 27 years of silence. It will be a very special night and I wish I could attend. So I urge anyone that will be around to make it. Should be great!

Comet Gain: so the superb Comet Gain have signed with the German label Tapete. To start this relationship the band will be releasing a 2-song 7″ on October 5th. Both songs are available to stream as snippets, though you can probably find them in full in some lucky blogs that get the chance to promote this record! Anyhow, they sound fantastic as always!! I dream of seeing them again live. It’s been a while!

Carbon Poppies: the latest on the New Adventures in Pop series by Elefant Records is this 7″ EP by a Louisiana, USA, trio formed by Allison Bohl DeHart, Jonny Campos and Peter DeHart. This seems to be a side-project by them. The Lost Bayou Ramblers, Kind Cousin and Brass Red are other of their projects. This 7″ will be released as a 300 limited edition and will include the songs “Rain On My face” (a cover of the Shape & Sizes original from 1966), “You and I”, “How Long” and “I’ll Meet You There”.

動物園釘子户 Zoo Gazer: some Chinese pop from this band from Xuzhou. A 7-song mini-album released on cassette by the Qii Snacks label form Guagzhou while the CD version was released by Shengjian Records from Shanghai. I don’t understand much (as expected), but there are some very pretty songs here like “Lakeside” or “Cube”. There’s some good stuff happening in China the last few years!

The Autumn Stones:  lastly for this week I have a Toronto band that have released a digital single a week or so ago with “The Bigger They Fail” as the main song and an acoustic version of it to accompany it. The band is formed by Ciaran Megahey, Dan Dervaitis, Gary Butler, Marcus Tamm and Ray Cara have a bunch of releases on their Bandcamp and this is their latest. I will check out their back catalogue in the days to come. But this seems to be a good introduction.

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Ade Moose and Walker were formed in 1984 in Watford, North London. They released two singles on Lost Moment Records: – “Peppermint Park/Lounge Around” and “Dance” in 84/85. Soon after the band split. Dave Williamson went on to play drums on “Blue Eyed Slide” by Brian Knight (also on Lost Moment) which also feat. Charlie Watts, Peter Green and Micky Moody. Shane Lamont re-located to Seattle U.S.A. and played in various bands

That’s how the Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 5 introduced to many of us the music and the band Ade Moose and Walker. They appeared on the classic compilation series released by Firestation Records with their song “Lounge Around”. I believe too that this is also the only compilation appearance by the band. But what about the singles?

I have to track them down. I haven’t yet. But on Discogs only one of them is listed. So that doesn’t help me at all. The “Lounge Around” 7″ was indeed released by Lost Moment Records in 1984 and had the catalog number LOM 008. I’ll be honest and say I’m not familiar with this label even though they had released another band I like, Jesus Couldn’t Drum. I don’t really know the rest of bands, maybe there are some poppy ones in there? Maybe some of you know? I do notice that a band called The Krewmen have most of the releases on this label. They were based in Hempstead, Hertsfordshire.

As said on the description, two songs appeared on the single, “Lounge Around” on the A side and “Peppermint Park” on the B side. So far “Lounge Around” is the only song I’ve listened. The green and pink sleeve of a mysterious man smoking against a lamp post has a few details on the back sleeve.

The band members were: Alan Culley on percussion, Dave Williamson on drums, Paul Burgess on bass, Shane Lamont on guitar, Tony Randall on vocals and Colin Smith on sax. Both songs on the 7″ are credited to Randall and Lamont.  They were recorded at the Pyramid studios in Luton during March and April 1984.  It was engineered by Ian Nichols and two producers are credited Steve Carter and Nick Miles. The art was created by Nick Peck.

So what about that second single? Are there any mentions on the web about it? I look and I find something that scares me, the “Lounge Around” 7″ is owned by Cherry Red these days. It is part of its licensing catalog. That doesn’t sound good to me. How much crazy money would they ask to re-release it? Or to include the songs on a compilation? I prefer not to think much about that. I hope the band gets something out of it if it ever happens.

Well, I looked and looked with no luck. The thing was that the bio wasn’t really explicit about what had really happened. They had changed names when they released “Dance”. Now they were called Ice Club! That’s why! This record was indeed released by Lost Moment Records. It included the song “Dance” and an instrumental of the song on the B side. I see that this record has been listed on eBay as Italo Disco. Is it safe then to assume they changed their sound and style? I couldn’t find audio for it anywhere on the web. I’m very curious!

It looks like all the band continued in this project but Allan Culley. Dave, Shane, Paul, Colin and Tony were in it. They added backing vocals from Lisa Sinclair and it says that they had Toyah as a special guest!

Thanks to this listing on Discogs I could find that a few of the members were involved in other bands. It seems Paul Burgess had been in a band called The Early Bathers. Dave Williamson in a band called Ugly as Sin. But who has been in more projects seems to be the saxophonist Colin Smith. He is listed as being part in Moses and Helicopter Girl and playing in many bands including favourites like Marden Hill. Now maybe not all of these are right, Colin Smith is not the rarest of names. But I want to think he has been involved in most of them.

I keep searching and find a Soundcloud for Tony Randall, the vocalist, now based in Dorchester. Here he mentions that he has been in many bands such as Intravenous, The Rubber Chex, The Reason Why, Some Say, Mr. Pitiful and Superfly. Also he has worked with many other musicians and is these days a novelist embarked in writing two novels. Having said all that, there are a bunch of songs, dating from 3 to 7 years ago to listen.

And that might be my best find of all about Ade Moose and Walker. I wonder of course about the band name. Who or what is Ade Moose? And Walker? Why the change of names? Did they record any more songs as a unit? Did they play all over the UK? Were they also based in Hampstead as their label? Why did Shane move to Seattle? And if anyone has a spare copy of the 7″? Many questions, little answers on the web. Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Ade Moose and Walker – Lounge Around

Later today I’m going to see St. Etienne once again. Pretty excited about it. As always. Still some quiet days for me and the label. I’m taking it easy this week as the next one I start a new job, so want to be relaxed and not anxious if you know what I mean. Also there are some footie games I want to check these coming days. Plus I’ve been playing a lot of PES 2019!

Alpaca Sports: sweetness, that’s what I thought when I heard “Eiffel Tower”, the latest song the band is sharing to promote their 2nd album “From Paris With Love”. The album which I’ve seen shared on different social networks is out now on Elefant Records.  It is one not to be missed.

Deerful: I end up listening Emma Winston’s last album “Tell Me I Can Fix This On My Own” thanks to some friends sharing the song “Sunset Drive” on Facebook. I thought the electronic pop song was really nice! Then I was reading at the blurb on her Bandcamp and I learn that she created this album by programming all songs on a music programming language called ixi lang. I have never heard of such a thing. So this is quite a novelty to me. I wonder how many indiepop bands are using it? If any?

Cloudgazing: by Weatnu Records: this Oklahoma label has put together a very nice compilation, with a bunch of dreampop tracks. It is odd to have the label name on the compilation title, but maybe that’s their style. Some of the best ones are the songs by Citrus Clouds, Fluffytails and Wake in June. Definitely worth a listen.

Bye Bye Pride, A Tribute to the Go-Betweens: another compilation but this time put together by a blog. The Sao Paulo, Brazil, based blog The Blog that Celebrates Itself has compiled 15 tracks of bands from different corners of the world covering the one and only Go-Betweens. Of course, I prefer the originals, but it is pretty interesting to see how the bands have reinterpreted these classics.

True Primitives: formed by Clint Sargent, John Mason IV, Tony Hilsmeier and Eric Rubalcava, the Portland based band are definitely a good surprise. They have just released their album on vinyl LP and CD and called it “Revolutions”. There are 8 songs of dreamy and fuzzy pop. Can’t say I know much about them, but I believe this is their debut record. I think my favourite track so far on it is “Real Love”.

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I do own many Japanese bands records. But my collection is quite small percentage wise when you think of the huge output of indiepop that has been produced in the island country of the rising sun. One thing that makes this matter complicated is that the price of their records normally is higher than usual. The shipping is not that bad though. Today I was looking into getting the discography of another band with numbers on their name, just like the previous I featured, Cyclon86. The band in question is called Pitcher56 and I have to say I have just discovered them and I liked what I heard. So would be nice to own their records and listen to all of their songs, not just the ones available on the web. Right?

As far as I know, thanks to Discogs, the band put out two CDs in the first decade of the 2000s. The first one being a mini-album consisting of 7 songs called “A Direction of the Ball She Hit”. The cover shows a girl with a baseball uniform with the name Pitcher 56. It is clear to me the band was big fan of baseball. The mini-album included the songs “Tears of the Banana”, “Chubby”, “175”, “My Special Sneakers”, “Splash!!!”, “Good Night in Dim Light” and “Green Cart”. Quite a strange name the one for the first song. But I really like that song! The album was released by the label Broccolo with the catalog number BRO 801 in 2003. This label was a sub-label of the more known abcdefg*record label. This parent label is a fine one, and here on the blog we’ve featured one of their bands as it is Pastelshot. Would be nice to get in touch with whoever run this label and find out more. An interview would be great.

The song “Splash!!!” which appears on this record also appears on a compilation called “Good Compi” (a-g010) released by abcdefg*record in 2002. I’m not familiar with this CD but it does look pretty interesting with Spaghetti Vabune! or Naivepop or Petitfool.

5 years later, in 2008, the band now signed to TKO New Music Corporation releases their first album called “Her Abiding Memory”(TKOK0003) with that lovely artwork of a blond cartoon girl. I don’t know much about this label but it is true that a few of their releases were compilations of bands and labels from abroad as it is the case of La Casa Azul’s “Cerca de Shibuya” compilation or Firestation Records’ “Firestation Pavilion” double CD.

This album is kind of short. It includes 9 songs: “1,2,3!”, “Humming Word”, “Dewy Roses”, “WOMAN”, “すじをえがく”, “Another Season”, “Jump Out From the Bed”, “Love Letter (Original Version)” and “サヨナラマタイツカ”. One of these songs, “Jump Out from the Bed” was to appear on the 2005 compilation “Guitar Pop Crazy! (Bluebadge Compilation Vol.3)” that was released by Bluebadge Label (BBCD-009). On this compilation of course they appear alongside a bunch of terrific bands like The Pancakes, Cyclon86, Melting Holidays or Hairsalon.

Thanks to this compilation, we find some credits. We know the lyrics, at least for “Jump out from the Bed”, were written by Yuki Nakano while the music was by Hiroyuki Morita.

I look for them. Hiroyuki Morita doesn’t seem involved with music these days. Instead it looks like he is a medical economic journalist and formed director of the Yubari municipal clinic. From the Japanese Wikipedia I could find out that all members are doctors, and at the time of their debut mini-album they were medical students.

Then I figure too that “Tears of the Banana” is actually a cover! The original was called “Banana no Namida” by Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi, a female Japanese pop music duo from the 80s.

Then a third member. Now I have the complete lineup and what each of them played.
Hiroyuki Morita played guitar, bass, drums and programming
Manabu Takano played acoustic guitar, guitar and sang
Yuki Nakano, vocals

Then there is even more interesting facts. The band also released a single called “すじをえがく” on the Way Escape Sound label (WES – 056). I look for it, and find that it was a CD single with 4 songs: “To Draw Squirrel”, “Humming Word”, “Love Letter” and “Hypocratical Waltz”.

There are also more compilations where the band appeared. Damn. Discogs is so incomplete! So…

2007 – “Vol.1 Headstart for Happiness” on the TKO Music corporation with the song “1,2,3!”
2007 – “Vol.2 Boys (& Girls) Wonder” on the TKO Music corporation with the song “Another Season”
2010 – “TOKYO Auto Reverse” on the Studio Rissen label with the song “My Revolution” which is another cover, this time a cover of the Misato Watanabe 1986 single
2012 – “TKO New Music Corporation” with the song “Camera full of Kisses”

And now I hit a wall. I need to find the records. And I would love to find out more about the band. Where were they based? Where were they students at? In Tokyo? Have I figured out their whole discography? Were they involved in any other bands? Did they play any other covers? My Japanese friends who have been very helfpul as of late, give me a hand! Would love to hear more about this superb band!

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Listen
Pitcher56 – Tears of the Banana

Thanks so much to Stephen for the interview! I wrote about The Belfast band The Donnelly Brothers some time ago on the blog and was very lucky that Stephen got in touch and was up for answering my questions! The band who released a flexi and recorded a Fanning Session back in the late 80s, was a mystery to me. They had put together a compilation CD that was long sold out on Bandcamp but there story was nowhere to be found on the web. I wanted to know more about them, so here it is, a brilliant interview with this great band! Hope you all enjoy it!

Hi Stephen! Thanks a lot for getting in touch! How are you doing? I notice that you are now based in Dublin and not in Belfast anymore? Is that so? Why the change?

Hi Roque! thank you for your interest in the Donnelly Brothers – and the opportunity for this interview, Martin is based in Dublin for career reasons and I am still in Belfast! – both cities are only 100 miles apart, Ireland is relatively small, so it isn’t really that far!

++ Are you still making music? I noticed that Martin still is under the name Martin Mackie and you even released an album titled “The Popgun Plot” on vinyl some years ago. I liked what I heard. Are the other band members continue making music?

Yes Martin is still making music, and I have recently, earlier in 2018 taken back to the guitar and making music with my old time collaborator Paul Turner from my Non Stop Yellow days

++ Let’s get back in time, when you were growing up. What are your first musical memories? What sort of music did you listen then? What was your first instrument?

Music – and having any interest in it started for me in the late 1970’s with the explosion of great Irish and English music acts of that time, I loved the Punk and Ska scenes of the late 70’s and early 80’s and I am still a fan to this day: The first songs that blew me away were;

Gangsters by The Specials
Alternative Ulster by Stiff Little Fingers
But Ultimately – The album The Clash by The Clash a seminal album – then and now!

My first musical instrument was a white copy of a Gibson Semi Acoustic Bass (real 1950’s style!)- it was beautiful but the feedback was horrendous! I bought it of Dee McDowell (singer in Cut the Bag, also on the First Things First album) for £4.00 (about $6.00) and 2 tins of beer!!! those were the days

++ Were you in any bands before being in The Donnelly Brothers? Were you also in Liar as Martin?

Yes I was the bass player and founding member of Liar 1982- 1984, we were a punk band who played covers, we were all very young, I was 15 when we started to practice. The name came from The Sex Pistols song ‘Liar’ and we thought it just looked good how it was written on the back of ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ album sleeve.

The first song we learnt was Ready Steady Go by Generation X

Liar comprised of:

Myself – Bass
Peter Murchan – Vocals
Patrick O’Neill – Guitar
#1 Stephen Thompson – Drums
#2 Gerard Scott – Drums (Later to join Cut the Bag as a drummer)
#3 Martin Burns – Drums

Liar didn’t break up, we kind of morphed into a different band some members left and some new ones joined, at this time late 70’s style punk rock was emerging into the early 80’s (or second wave as its now lovingly called) as harder edged – heavier – thrashier sound, we were all played faster and louder, The Exploited, GBH and Blitz were leading the way now in the Punk Sounds. At this time we started to write our own songs/material, songs such as ‘There’s a liar on my TV’ (ironically about what we now call fake news!) and the Hilarious pastiche of the then ‘Spandax Rock Bands’ “Blood Guts Anguish Heaven and Hell” at this time Liar changed its name to the Napalm Kids 1984-1985.
The Napalm Kids comprised of:
Myself – Bass
Patrick O’Neill – Guitar
Bap McGreevy – Guitar
Buzz O’Brien – Vocals (Current vocalist and Sax player with Irish Ska Band ‘Boss Sounds Manifesto’)
Barney Carson –
As you can see at this time the nucleolus of what would become the Donnelly Brothers was taking shape

++ How did The Donnelly Brothers start as a band? How did you all know each other?

See above, but we all knew each other from one or more of the following reasons: we met in venues on the local music scene, we were neighbours and we attended the same schools as teenagers. And I’d like to clarify one point…. the Napalm Kids simply changed into The Donnelly Brothers, as Buzz left and Martin joined, at this time we were expanding our musical tastes and this is reflected in the completely different direction our music took – from thrash punk to indie pop!

++ You started as more of a post-punk band and then you’d turn into a different sound. I wonder, are there any recordings from that first period?

There is nothing from Liar, but there is a really rough tape recording of a Napalm Kids practice session from 1985, neither band made any visits to a professional recording studio.

++ There was some lineup changes, eventually you’d have someone with the Donnelly last name like Ali. That must have been a big coincidence, right? But he was just 14 year old! Was that a problem at all?

It was a brilliant coincidence – he was and still is a fantastic musician, as for the age those were different times, no one ever asked what age the band were when playing in bars/clubs/venues, we all played gigs underage! and he was already a live veteran gigging with ‘The Second Mary of Guise’ prior to joining The Donnelly Brothers

++ Why the name The Donnelly Brothers?

The name was taken from a a well known Irish car dealership, the name just looked right!

++What influences would you say you had when you were making music with The Donnelly Brothers?

Our influences were wide ranging and this showed in our songs, in that era our immediate past had been punk rock, but that’s not the whole story, member by member we had different tastes, and those tastes were changing by mid 1985

Myself I was into The new Indie rock/pop scene- Punk, Ska and heavy rock
Patrick O’Neill was into mainly heavy rock, and to a lesser extent punk and ska
Bap McGreevy was into the new Indie Rock/Pop scene – Rockabilly – Phyco Billy – Punk and Heavy Rock
Barney Carson was a Rocker
Martin Burns was into Indie Rock/Pop and new sounds and the old sounds!

Who were the influential bands/sounds, The Cure, The Cult, Bauhaus, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Monochrome Set, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground, Orange Juice and the Blow Monkeys to name but a few. In our early gigs we would play a few cover versions such as ‘The Passenger’ by Iggy Pop – ‘A Forest by The Cure Bella Lugosi is dead’ by Bauhaus and ‘Sweet Jane’ by the Velvet Underground.
Other bands were equally influential as the post punk era opened into a flow of new ‘Indie’ sounds

++ How was Belfast back then? Where there any other like minded bands that you liked? What were the places where you usually hang out? What were the venues to catch the good bands?

Belfast was a troubled city at that time, the ‘Troubles’ were at their height but we had all been born into it so we made the best of it, there was a lot of great like minded bands around Belfast at that time, and we all had a friendly rivalry we would all go to watch each others shows and generally hang out with each other, most of these bands made their way onto the First Things First album.

Some of the main places to play in Belfast were:

The Orpheus – The number one bar/club for original material bands; now the new Art University of Ulster
The Abercorn – now a fashion outlet
Laverys Bar – still Laverys Bar and a live band venue, we were the first band to play there!
The Limelight – still a principle Belfast venue (Martin has played here with the Pop Gun Plot )
Queens University Belfast: Students Union – Getting demolished in a few weeks, and a new building being erected

++ How did the creative process work in the band?

Generally it was a collaborative creative process within the band, someone would have a ‘Beat – or a Riff’ that we’d throw into a practice and work into a tune/song, Generally in between full band practices myself and Bap would have a few smaller practice sessions to ‘tighten’ the songs up, I guess its the same process for most bands the world over, Martin would have written all the lyrics, except for ‘Sleep All Day’ which as far I can remember was written by Bap

++ You released a flexi in 1986 that was sold in shops as well as given away for free with the Helden fanzine. Which songs were on this flexi? And how did it work with the fanzine? Was it self-released?

The Flexi was a popular ‘Give Away’ promotional affair of the era by music papers/magazines, it was a one sided 7″ single and had the song ‘Liberty and Honesty’ on it, we recorded the song as part of a demo recording of the time and Helden paid for the flexi pressing, unfortunately I do not – and im pretty sure none of the band members – have a copy of the single.

++ Your only other appearance on record while you were active was on a compilation titled “First Things First” released by One by One Records. How did you end up on this compilation?

Basically it was an attempt to showcase the best Irish bands of the day, and we were invited to take part and submit a song, we originally wanted ‘Liberty and Honesty’ the flexi single song, but the producer favoured the song ‘The Bread Winner’ so we re-recorded it for the album, its a lot ‘smoother’ on the album than we ever intended it to sound, and on our demos I thought it sounded far better, as a song it was a real crowd pleaser, live very danceable poppy and fun – live we also played what we laughingly referred to as the 12″ version where we played the song for around 5-6 minutes, ironically it was the first song the Donnelly Brothers ever wrote, so for that reason on reflection it was a perfect choice for the recording!

++ The song that you contributed is the brilliant “The Breadwinner”. In a few lines, what is the story behind this song?

The stories behind Martins lyrics would be better explained by him, but looking back now we were probably an escapist band – part fantasy – part fun – part tongue in cheek – not serious, those were dark and dangerous times in Belfast we tried to make a night out fun and let people dance and enjoy themselves.

The lyrics were light observations of everyday life and what young people were doing or could relate to at the time, we had songs about The Mystery Machine Scooby Doo and Shaggy!!!! lol

++ And how come there were no releases by The Donnelly Brothers? Was there any interest from labels?

We were unlucky – opportunities did arise but seemed to falter at the last moment, our biggest chance came around 1987 when Mother Records (owned by U2) took a massive interest in the band, (at the time U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jnr was a fan, and attended several of our gigs) and for a while a single deal , with possible further releases seemed imminent during this time we were managed by Fachtna O’Ceallaigh (Boomtown Rats & Sinead O’Connor) and everything seemed to be going in the right direction, however it came down to a straight simple record exec’s vote to run with either a band from Belfast – The Donnelly Brothers – or a band from Dublin – The Hot House Flowers….. and as they say the rest is history….

++ You did record a whole bunch of songs that later you would put together on a CDr compilation. 14 songs total. Where do these songs come from?

We did, and yes we do have a more extensive back catalogue than the 14 song CD suggests, these songs came from the 4 studio recording sessions we made during our career.

++ Sadly the CDr is sold out! How many copies did you make and how fast did it sell? Is there any plans to make more copies?

Martin completed this project himself, self financing and promoting it, I don’t know how many he made but I think that it was fantastic of him to do it and I am proud to have a copy, its a big part of who we all were and for that im delighted he made and released the CD. The artwork on the CD is brilliant and it is indicative of how our live gig posters looked back in the day, Martin had a great knack of producing great eye catching artwork!

Will there be any further releases? lol who knows….

++ Are there any other recordings that weren’t included in that CDr?

As I have said above yes there are recordings that are not on the CD

++ You recorded a Fanning Session on RTE. How was that experience? Did you meet Dave? What songs did you record?

Yes we met Dave, and the experience was great – and unexpectedly well paid! – the songs on that recording are the real essence of the band, it was a live recording and we nailed it!!!

++ One of them, “Mystery Machine”, is said that became well known, and that it was all about Scooby Doo. Was it played a lot on radio? Were you big cartoons fans?

It got a lot of air play – and was a real crowd pleaser – and popular among the band too! it was fun light and just an all round good song, I know im biased lol! I suppose we were raised as kids on cartoons like Scooby Doo, and our fans were too so it was just the pure fun of it we were putting across.

I heard years later, long after The Donnelly Brothers demise that a band in Belfast were covering the song… that is proof enough to me that the song was good!

++ And how important you’d say was Dave Fanning for Irish music?

Dave Fanning – and the Dave Fanning sessions are massively important and influential to Irish music, and also to the bigger next door neighbour marketplace England.

++ What about gigs? I read you supported The Wedding Present, The Charlatans and The Jazz Butcher. What other gigs do you remember? What were your best ones and why?

lol The best ones are the gigs you remember, you try to airbrush away the poor ones, the best gig I ever played was Belfast Art College 1988, 2500-3000 people – and we were on fire from the first to the last song, and the crowd were on fire too! what a combination.

We also played with the biggest Irish acts and peers of the time such as ‘A House’ ‘The Subterranean’s’ and The 4 of Us’, we played quite a few gigs and all over the country, and we got a lot of University gigs which was great.

++ Where was the farthest from home that you played? And was there any bad gigs?

Furthest Gig was Henrys in Cork – and yes bad gigs…. every band has them lol, and maybe don’t admit it!!

++ Did The Donnelly Brothers get much support from the press or the radio?

Yes we did we frequently had our music played on Radio Ulster (BBC) shows such as ‘Across the Line’ and were interviewed by the NME/Melody Maker and Sounds, all English based music press papers, we appeared in the local community newspapers and the Irish national press. With the release of the First Thing’s First album we were told we were getting frequent air play within the U.S. on the college radio network.

++ When and why did you split? What did you all do after? I know some went to Non-Stop Yellow and Bréag…

What made us split…. its never an easy question to answer…. it wasn’t explosive! and it wasn’t “musical differences” I suppose now looking back it was the passage of time – the lack of success (recording deals) – personnel line up changes – and just a general slow grind to a halt.

Ironically in 1989 when we did split (pretty late November I think) we were earmarked to do the ‘Inspiral Carpets UK Tour of early 1990, and further more we were to be in a tour of Irish bands going to Russia in 1990 as part of their softening to western cultures…Perestroika et al

I think the line up changes really ended the band – there was an erosion of enthusiasm…. and it was a quiet demise.

After that I took time out of music for a while – id been playing in bands for nearly 10 years solid by this time. In mid 1990 I visited Russia as a tourist as I was supposed to go as a musician with The Donnelly Brothers I thought I’ll go anyway.

On my return from Russia I teamed up with Barney Carson and Paul Turner and briefly Bap McGreevy to form ‘Non Stop Yellow’ a melodic rock band, writing all our own material, and gigging all over Ireland, we did get a single record deal with ‘Screw Records’ but we never got to release the material, as the band split just prior to the final release date.

I am back with Paul Turner writing material

Martin went onto do ‘The Pop Gun Plot’ along with Ali Donnelly

Bap McGreevy has had many musical encounters including playing the bagpipes, and an on off band called ‘The Mantelpiece Men’

Patrick O’Neill played for another short period and has joined up with Bap on some musical adventures

Nick Saddler is still playing in ‘Breag’

Martin Lenane is playing in a band called ‘ARSE’

++ Are you still in touch with the rest of The Donnelly Brothers? Are they making music still?

We see each other and our activities through Face Book these days – sharing and exchanging comments/laughs/likes….etc

++ What would you say was the biggest highlight of The Donnelly Brothers?

They were great times…. we had great songs, still to this day people will still say that…. the biggest highlight for any musician or band has to be the fact that absolute strangers enjoy what you have produced.

++ Apart from music, what other hobbies do you enjoy having?

Music is number one… always has been… and will be…… number two is soccer

++ Let’s wrap it here. Just one more question, as I’ve never been to Belfast or Dublin, nor anywhere in Northern Ireland or Ireland, what shouldn’t I miss to see, eat or drink when I visit?

Drink Guinness – Drink Belfast Gin – Eat an Ulster Fry – Visit the Giants Causeway – Visit the Carrick-a-reed Rope Bridge – Visit the Glens of Antrim – go to a gig in either Voodoo or the Limelight and check out the wall Murals in and around Belfast!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Yes id like to finish by saluting all of The Donnelly Brothers, and say thank you for a wonderful time:

Martin Burns Vocals
Ali Donnelly Drums
Patrick O’Neill Guitars
Barney Carson Drums
Nick Saddler Guitars
Bap (John) McGreevy Guitars
Martin Lenane Guitars
Kevin Dodd’s Guitars
Stephen McGreevy Bass

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Listen
The Donnelly Brothers – The Breadwinner

Not much to update on this US holiday for Labor Day. I’m just staying home and relaxing after visiting Yale University and it’s museums this weekend. Here are a few finds from last Friday. See you Wednesday!

Blushing: released back in January, the 5 song EP “Weak”, is a lovely record. It is only available on tape, sadly, and you know I’m no fan of tapes. Those who female fronted jangly bands, this is for you. It is a winner I think. The band formed by Christina Carmona, Michelle Soto, Noe Carmona and Jake Soto (are they two pairs of siblings?) are based in Austin, Texas. And as you know, I also love when I see more latino people in indiepop.

Gauche:  sounding a bit like The Modettes or our contemporaries Shopping, this DC band has a tape mini-album called “Get Away With…” where their fun and catchy post-punk is a very nice discovery for me. Especially as this tape was released back in 2015! As the time I write these lines only 1 copy of the tape is available direct from the band.

Hearts and Tigers: another band from some years ago. I guess I couldn’t find much new stuff this weekend! But at least these are all new for the blog (and for me). Their self-titled album might be my favourite find this weekend, an upbeat and catchy indiepop band, with brilliant songs like “Sunny the Bully”. Don’t know much about them, especially would like to know if they are still going. The band is formed by Anna Wallis, Graye Guidotti, Ian White, Sarah Cameron-Puttonen, Sawyer Simonson and Zachariah Shelley. They are from Portland.

Babyteeth: some noisy guitar pop from this girl band from St. Petersburg, Florida. Formed by Gigi La Roux, Zsa Zsa St. Maire and Bunny Von Doren, they have their debut EP on Bandcamp streaming now. There are 5 songs of punky pop quality. My favourite? “Timothy”.

Strawberry Generation: lastly just one song out of their “Losing Our Way” EP. It is called “Coffee” and sounds pretty good to me. This Providence, Rhode Island, band is formed by Luk Yeah, Valerie Zhu, Max Lowndes, Michelle Bazile and Alejandro Subiotto Marqués and I’m guessing that the record will be available in a physical format as they are only sharing one song instead of all 4 that comprise this EP. It is slated to release on October 12th.

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C-Saim were ‘born’ in Bedford in 1980 when Bryn Daniels, Andy Bennette and Steve Brown were brought together from different bands in the local area. The blend of humor and common goals held the band together for 3 years during which time they built a solid and loyal following across the UK. With influences drawn from many different sources from hard rock to jazz and punk, the songs produced by C-Saim were always very original and in some cases, downright quirky!
Although the band stopped performing in 1983 the three original members still work together occasionally on song writing projects. 

Those lines were my introduction to C-Saim on “The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 3” compilation. On that classic CD released in 2003 by Firestation Records, the band contributed “Give and Take” one of the the songs that appeared on their one and only 7″.

Many years would pass until I got a copy of the 7″. Maybe a decade or more. It was Ed from Shelflife Records who helped me find their 7″. I believe he was the first to write a proper blog post featuring C-Saim. Definitely a lot of information on this post will come from there.

Two songs were included in the record, “Night Air” and “Give and Take”. It was released in 1983 by Summit Records (SUM 3 T). This label is quite unknown to me, but I notice they released two records before C-Saim by the bands Rizz Wah Wah and Close to Tears. The credits tell us: Andy Bennette (on guitar, vocals, piano, whistle, and whoops), Bryn Daniels (on 8 & 4 string bass, whistle, and whoops), and Steve Brown (on drums, congas, additional perc, whoops, and whistles).

Discogs lists two compilation appearances by the band. The first in 1982 on a Vroom Records compilation called “Lend An Ear 1992?” (TRY 1) where the band contributed the songs “Only Yesterday” and “General Custer”. I don’t know any of the other bands on this vinyl LP. Their other compilation appearance was with the song “Night Air”. This song was included in the “Disco Mix Club – July 1983 – Tape 2”, a cassette that was available exclusively to the Disco Club members for use in their discotheques and bars and to radio programmers for their information and convenience. Not sure how the band ended up here alongside Aretha Franklin!

As Ed wrote on his blog post, there was a website for Night Air Music, Andy Bennette’s publishing company. It doesn’t exist anymore but one can access to its contents through the Web Archive. And that’s what I’m doing now.

The band started in 1980. Andy and Bryn were in a cover band with a drummer and a bassist. When the drummer left, Steve Brown joined them and Bryn went to play bass, with the old bassist quitting. That’s how C-Saim was formed. The band became very busy playing in their hometown of Bedford and also all around the UK. There is a list of all the gigs the bands played.

Bedford. By the way, I feel it is the first time I’m featuring a band from that town. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, England. The town has a population of around 80,000, whereas the Borough of Bedford had a population of 169,912 in mid 2017 together with Kempston. Bedford was founded at a ford on the River Great Ouse, and is thought to have been the burial place of Offa of Mercia. Bedford Castle was built by Henry I, although it was destroyed in 1224. Bedford was granted borough status in 1165 and has been represented in Parliament since 1265. It is well known for its large population of Italian descent. Bedford is on the Midland Main Line, with stopping services to London and Brighton operated by Thameslink, and express services to London and the East Midlands operated by East Midlands Trains. The name of the town is thought to derive from the name of a Saxon chief called Beda, and a ford crossing the River Great Ouse. Bedford was a market town for the surrounding agricultural region from the early Middle Ages

It seems they played quite a lot at The Crown Cellar Bar in Bedford. But they also played at Horse and Groom (Bedford), Blowins (Luton), The White Hart (Bletchley), The White Horse (Husborne Crawley – an open air festival), Blowins (Luton), Fosseway Hotel (Leicester), The Crawford Arms (Wolverton), Bedford Town F.C. (Bedford), The Barron of Beef (Luton), Silsoe College (Luton), Ye Olde White Swan (Milton Keynes), Kempston Rovers F.C. (Kempston), The Swan (Stevenage), Nags Head (Woolston), Gladstone Arms (Peterborough), Kings Head (Bicester), Shuttleworth College (Old Warden), The Griffin (Bury St Edmunds), Mander College (Bedford), The Corn Dolly (Oxford), Motorcycle Festival (Peterborough), The Windsor Castle (London), The Red Lion (Watford), Civic Theatre (Bedford), The Art College Basement (Brighton), The Target Club (Reading), The Nowhere Club (Bicester), The Bull and Dolphin (Peterborough), National Youthrama (Rushdan), The Olde Black Lion (Northampton), The Romany (Northampton), The Youth Club (Olney), Mad Hatter (Luton), Verulum Arms (Watford), Althorpe Community Centre (Bedford), The Crown (Leamington Spa), The Penny Farthing (Oxford), The Chequers (Wellingborough), The Queen Victoria Hotel (Rushden), City Hall (St Albans), The Mail Coach (Northampton), The Starlight Rooms (London), The Gemma (Watford), The Sportsman (Chorley Wood), Polhill College (Bedford), Goodyear (Wolverhampton), Compass Club (Bletchley), Technical College (Luton), The Moonlight Club (London), Xtreems (Brighton), Clapham School (Bedford), Woughton Leisure Centre (Milton Keynes), Drury Lane (London), Boys Club (Bedford) and The Fortune of War (Brighton).

They got support by many bands too, Junction 13, Tobruk, Dave Ellis Band, Trimmer and Jenkins, A Bigger Splash, Jaxs, Sly Device, Primitive Culture, Alan Norman (Magician), Graphyte, Reasonable Man, Zip Code, Psy-Kicks, Ballon Sculpter, Why?, Chinatown, Bone, Faded Secret, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Kulture Kamp, Gone Fission, Dave Pugh, Rubber Chex, Diving Club, PLE, Giraffe, Liquorice Allsorts, Gambit of Shame, Going Straight, Living Daylights, Terminal Spectators and Actors and Famous People. To be honest, I don’t know any of these bands.

This interesting event list also mentions an interview with Soundmaker and a live session recorded at MK Radio in Milton Keynes.

But what is most interesting is that they recorded a 1st demo at the Crypt Studios in Stevenage on September 5th 1980. Which songs were they recorded then? That same year, on December 1st, at the same studio, they recorded their 2nd demo. Would be great to find out what songs appeared on both of these demos.

The band also want to record at Leyland Farm Studios in 1981. In 1982 the band went to record more demos at Rocksnake Studios in Rushden. What was recorded there? And in April and May that year they headed to Vroom Studio and Woppalong Studio to record again. My guess here is that they recorded the 2 songs that appear on the compilation LP released by Vroom.

In 1983 it seems they recorded another demo at Rocksnake Studios and Wilbury Studios. But not sure which songs they were.

The old C-Saim website gives us more. It seems Bryn Daniels went to be in a band called Tough at the Top after the demise of C-Saim. Also we learn two song names from the demos, “Johny’s Stripey Jumper” and “Last Time”. Seems the band lost the original DAT tapes for these recordings sadly.

Then I stumble upon a C-Saim Facebook page. But there is not much info there aside from photos. It was last updated in 2015.

Lastly, my last find on the web, is quite sad news. It seems that in 2013, Steve Brown, the band’s drummer passed away.

That is all I could find on the web. Quite a load of information thanks to that list the band had put together back in the day. But it also made me very very curious. They had made many more recordings other than the 4 songs that were released. There are more. And I really would love to listen to them someday! Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
C-Saim – Give and Take

Just a few days ago I learned that the Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 9 is being pressed as I write these lines. That is quite fast if we think of it. Previously between volumes there were years! Now it is less than a year I think between Vol. 8 and 9.

From what I know the record will be released in double vinyl LP and CD. Again, against my liking, the vinyl version will have a bonus track. I don’t like this because I find it a bit gimmicky and forces me to buy both editions. I’m not a fan of these things. That is my only complain. The rest about these compilations I LOVE. I have always loved.

Some bands that will appear on it have been announced too like The Persuaders, Spish, The Flex, The Fontaines, Public Address, Chinese Gangster Element, Ten Million Quentins or Queue Dance. Some of them have been featured on the blog so maybe they are not that obscure anymore (?). It would be great to read the small bios about each of these bands. And discover new ones as Uwe has always had a talent for finding out superb obscure bands. I can’t wait for it!

Dot Dash: remember the Washington DC band I interviewed a while back? The band that features Terry from Tree Fort Angst? Well they continue making fabulous music. They have a new album out on the great The Beautiful Music from Ottawa, Canada, and it is titled “Proto Retro”. A good name, right? This is the sixth album by the band and it includs 12 new brilliant tracks, full of energy and catchyness. Terrific. It is available digitally and also on CD. I need a copy asap!

Cold Beat: I feel the San Francisco band has changed a bit their style. I remember them at NYC Popfest been much guitar based. Right? That doesn’t mean I’m not liking their new album “A Simple Reflection”, which is a collection of 7 Eurythmics covers. It is perhaps strange, but the story goes like this: Hannah Lew, vocalist of Cold Beat, stumbled across many 12″ of Annie Lenox’s band while buying records for her record shop Contact Records. She loved them and became obsessed. Now she is paying them a tribute of course.

The Hannah Barberas: the UK band is back! After their previous EP where we were introduced to the lovely music Damien, Lucy, Doug and Matthew are doing, they have three new treats for us. This digital EP called “Go Go Hannah Barberas!” includes “Slow Cooked”, “10 Free Tall” and “Go Go Pepper”. Three classic sounding indiepop tracks to enjoy!

Horrible/Adorable: this Oakland, California, girl duo has  anew split tape with the band Bearcats. I’m not much of a fan of the Bearcats shouty side, but the Horrible/Adorable track, “Surf, Rock, Beach, Party, UFO” is great. It is released by the label Yr First Crush which is based in the same city. Also be sure to check the band’s Bandcamp for some great pop tunes like “Merry Christmas, Baby”!

Zooey: it seems the tape for the album “Bottlerocket” is already sold out. At least we can stream the songs on Bandcamp. This shoegazy band, in the vein of The Swirlies, noisy and all, hail from Tallahassee and this is their debut album, released back in April 2017. 50 copies. I arrive late of course. There are 8 songs of fine lo-fi pop noise in here.

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If my memory serves me right I found out about this Finnish band through a great obscure indiepop collector, Joel from Portugal. He shared with me some mp3s of the first single of Bird in Bush, “I Fell Like Rome”. Weeks, or even days, after, I was happy to find a cheap copy of this single on Discogs.

There are a few more records by them, but I don’t own them. Yet. This single, “I Fell Like Rome”, was the first one they released. So let’s start there.

This 7″ was released by ABLoved (A-B-L-003) in 1990 and also included the song “French Resistance” on the B side. The sleeve doesn’t tell much, it doesn’t give us much information, just the lyrics for each song on each side of the jacket. There is also not much information about the label on Discogs. We do know though that another record was released the previous year, one by the Livin’ Drops. Looking on Finnmusic.net I could find out that the songs were produced by Jogi Kosonen who also played trumpet on the A side. The band at this point was formed by Tommi Viitamies on vocals and guitar, Micke Söderström on bass and Taito Palvanen on drums.

In 1992 the band released an LP album called “Swinging on the Edge of the Ridiculous” on Strawberry Records (SBLP-012). This label has been mentioned before on the blog when I wrote about The Kidneys. Again there is no information about this album on Discogs, just the tracklist. The A side had the songs “Something That Hits Me”, “Slur Like a Loose Mouth”, “The Twintown Affair”, “Pillars of the Past”, “Class Hatred” and “Keep it Up, Keep it Up, Keep it Up”. The B side had “A Few Real Slaps”, “Swinging on the Edge of the Ridiculous”, “Dad’s Little Slip”, “Mess With Me”, “The Bookkeeper’s Plight” and “I Fell Like Rome”.  Finnmusic.net gives us more details. The producer for this record was Gabi Hakanen with the exception of “I Fell Like Rome” which of course was Jogi Kosonen. Jogi also appears playing trumpet on this song and “The Bookkeeper’s Plight” and backing vocals on “Class Hatred” and “Pillars of the Past”. Gabi Hakanen did backing vocals on “A Few Real Slaps”.

One year later, in 1993, the band released another 7″ record on Strawberry Records (SBS-014) with the songs “I’ll Keep it Hidden” and “Love Speaks Out”.

In 1994 the band releases a CD album called “Young Immortals”. On this album the band adds Hannu Tornivuori on guitars. It was released on Strawberry Records (SBCD 021) and included 13 songs: “Central”, “Man Overboard”, “Department Store”, “Playing House”, “Groovy Engagement”, “Spokesman”, “Young Immortals”, “Man with a Memory”, “I’ll Keep it Hidden”, “Breaking Banks”, “Second Nature”, “Love Speaks Out” and “Unexpected Burst of Life”.

In 1998, after 5 years, the band releases a CD album called “Anyone for Heartaches?” on Lilith Records (LILCD 02). This label was really a cooperative society founded in 1997 by a group of Finnish artists including Maritta Kuula, A. W. Yrjänä, Kikke Heikkinen, Kauko Röyhkä, Martti Salminen and Mikael Söderström. The 13 songs on the album are “Little Women”, “Wasn’t Born to Swallow (a.k.a. The Rift)”, “Anyone for Heartaches?”, “Stand Up Comedian”, “To Get Things Done”, “Talk to Me”, “Goin’ Straight”, “Trigger Happy Girl”, “Down in the Canteen”, “Any Trouble Will Do”, “Popular Boy”, “Abandon” and “Talks to Me”.

Strangely enough it seems Micke Söderström only appears on this record doing some backing vocals on “Any Trouble Will Do”. It seems Mikko Tornivuori had replaced him by this point. Maybe he was brother with Hannu Tornivuori who was in the band in the previous album? Hannu had left too it seems and was replaced by Kim Mansnerus on guitar.

Other musicians that played in this album were Martti Salminen (from the bands Imatra Big Band and Stressi) on keyboards, Mikko Vilunki on theremin on “Little Women” and “Anyone For Heartaches?”, Mikko Mustonen played trombone on “Wasn’t Born to Swallow” and “Stand up Comedian”, Markus Jaatinen played percussion on “Anyone for Heartaches?”, “Stand up Comedian”, “Down in the Canteen” and “Popular Boy”, Assi Kartunen and Kaarina Kilpiö (from the band Little Mary Mixup) did backing vocals on “Any Trouble Will Do”, Jouni Lappalainen played banjo on “To Get Things Done”, Riitta Talasniemi (from Little Mary Mixup) sang on “To Get Things Done”, Toivo Kokko played saxophone on “Abandon”, Jogi Kosonen and Sussana Karkulehto did backing vocals on “Abandon” and Keijo Puumalainen played percussion on “Talks to Me”.

The album was recorded at Seawolf Studios in Helsinki and mastered by Pauli Saastamoinen at Finnvox. It was mixed by the band, Jogi Kosonen and Petri Majuri. The photography for the album was taken by Mia Söderström and Marjo Tynkkynen.

Lastly it seems a CD single was released that same year to promote the album. It included two songs that appeared on the album, “Anyone for Heartaches?” and “Popular Boy”. This was also released by Lilith Records (LISCD-03).

Something I did notice throughout all of their releses is that they always used the same typography for their band name on the cover of their records but on their first album “Swining on the Edge of the Ridiculous”.

There are a few compilation appearances listed on Discogs. On the “Reindeer Rock ’99” CD released by CD-Linja (Poropromo 99) released in 1999, the band contributed their song “Stand Up Comedian”. Then in 2005 their song “I Fell Like Rome” appears on the Poko Records 4 CD box set “Sivulliset – Valikoima Suomalaista Vaihtoehtorockia Vuosilta 1985-2000” (VALOSA 1). And lastly their song “Little Woman” appears on an undated CD compilation called “Rytmi-CD #1” released by Lilith (LISCD-06).

I look into what the band members are doing these days. I find out that Tommi Viitamies is today in charge of Helsinki City Library’s catalog of music. There is a good interview (in Finnish) about what his job consists of.  He is also today the managing director of the Lilith cooperative.

What about Taito Palvanen? He is still playing drums in a band called Martha ja Vankkurit which has a Bandcamp and a bunch of releases there. The last one being “Heikkaa”.

I must say it turns out to be quite a challenge to find information about the band in the Finnish language. I do get hits on google but not sure what to open. I do see a list someone in Rateyourmusic has put together of bands he has seen live. One of them is Bird in the Bush. So we do know that the band played at Botta, Club Berlin and Uusi Yo-Talo in Helsinki sometime in the 90s.

I think this time around I will need some Finnish friends to give me more details about the band. I also should try to track down their other records, see if in any case I can find sound files for these records. The few tracks I’ve heard, I’ve liked a lot! But there are so many questions to answer. Like if they were based in Helsinki? Did they get to play abroad? Was there ever any interest from big labels? Had they been in any other guitar pop bands?

Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Bird in the Bush – I Fell Like Rome