Birthday Bashing: A Week Of Culture

As Griff explained in his Blog last Saturday, we recently celebrated the ~Streetlamp~'s second birthday/anniversary, and so all three of set about marking this event by indulging in a plethora of various art, music and cultural experiences.
Here's a more in-depth look at how we got on, who we met, and what we did....

We kicked things off in the West End of Glasgow(the Govan end) with a visit to Bellahouston Park. Our intention was to see a film work by the artist Henry Combes called "I Am The Architect, This Is Not Happening, This Is Unacceptable". However, as we approached the building it was to be shown in, the film-maker's secretary rushed out of a nearby car to tell us that the event had been postponed due to fault with the sound system. Although this was slightly disappointing, on the upside we did bump into our female doppelgangers....we're guessing that somewhere out there a femme-centric version of the ~Streetlamp~ is being run by three women!
We had a quick scout around the park; having a look round the gardens and checking out the last Art Deco building left from the Empire Exhibition of 1938.

Then it was off to the East End....

Walking past a life-style inflatable Stonehenge (no, really!!) we found ourselves right slap-bang in the very heart of the Barras where there exists one of the coolest art centres in Scotland....The Pipe Factory. You have to go searching for this place amongst the back streets of one of Glasgow's roughest areas. The place was locked up when we got there, but after persistently banging on the door and ringing the bell, we were greeted by the cheery, amiable presence of Alex Storey Gordon. Alex is the co-creator of the art installation that was taking place that afternoon; an event called Projector Director which he co-authored with his partner Kari Robertson. This was a collection of images displayed by old (and sometimes broken) slide projectors which allow the viewer to deconstruct the projected image, or to reduce a powerful image such as arch Capitalist Milton Friedman into a series of almost comical snapshots, thus rendering such a hate figure in a humorous light.

Alex took time to chat with us and to explain his work in some detail, something which goes against the more po-faced attitudes of some artists. We were equally impressed by the strange roughshod nature of the setting....here in the depths of Glasgow's East End, we were within a wrecked old building in which the sunlight shone through cracks in the brickwork casting an odd, fractured light throughout. One imagines that as the light changes outside, the ambiance of the art changes inside!

After lunch in the 13th Note (which Griff has already described as 'my dream pub') we headed up to Hillhead, to the University end of Glasgow. Here amongst some of the most spectacular architecture in all of Glasgow, we decide to visit the Hunterian Museum. Amidst the sarcophaguses(sarcophagi??) and body-parts-in-formaldehyde came the unusual occurrence of a Jazz quintet fronted by a gentleman with an impenetrable accent performing an accompaniment to an exhibition detailing a piece of wood that 'may' have come from the tree under which David Livingstone's heart was buried!! Confused? We certainly were!
Walking around the splendid grounds and the incredible buildings that make up Glasgow University, I felt pangs of sadness that I hadn't stuck in more at school and hadn't waylaid an education for the sake of Pop Music....

So that was Saturday!
On the Monday, Ray and I want to the Bo'ness Hippodrome to take in a rare showing of Otto Preminger's Noir whodunnit 'Laura'. Despite plot holes you could drive a bus through, and the fact that two of the main characters were inexplicably played as being a little light on their loafers, this was a superb, stylish, dreamlike thriller that, as someone in the crowd remarked at lights up, "they don't make  like that anymore".
Unfortunately Griff couldn't make it to this event which was a pity as it starred his favourite actress (and four tissue fantasy) Gene Tierney.

And so to Wednesday....
Despite almost being May, it was a cold and wet afternoon as we headed back into the heart of Glasgow. The rain was like sheets of icy razors and the perpetual grey of the skyline created a perturbing backdrop as we drove deep into the belly of the beast. Our search was for the SW3G art workshops, hidden away in the kind of gloomy backstreets you'd expect to see Jack Nance walking through, on his way back to feed 'the baby'.
Parking under an archway over which traffic rumbled ominously we found ourselves inside the cold, airy workshops. In the main part of the building was an installation by the artists Max Prus, José Eduardo Yaque Llorente & Diego Chamy.
After viewing this we headed upstairs to catch some of the noise-music performance by Australian composer/artist Marco Fusinato. Like being hit by a force of nature, it was almost impossible to believe that this wall of cacophony was being created by one man with a guitar and an effects box. Coming across like Hijokaidan without the ear-shredding dentist drill treble; Einsturzende Neubauten without the industrial machinery; or Boyd Rice/NON without the offensive political stance, this was quite something to behold. Kudos must be given to the young Buddhist who was using the noise to meditate to, and to the sound engineer who had been there for four hours by the time we arrived.

Going further upstairs we stumbled upon the beautiful bird/rodent hybrid creations of Jamie Fitzpatrick. Jamie was there and allowed us to film and photograph his incredible work, whilst telling us how he mixed sculpture, roadkill and taxidermy to create his artistry. I think it was safe to say this was one of the highlights of our week.

Heading out of the main building and over to one of the adjoining studios, we caught a glimpse of '#Unravel', a musical installation collaboration between Aidan Moffatt of Arab Strap, and the Edinburgh experimental art/Pop music collective FOUND. Using ten 7" vinyl singles, the viewer/listener participates in unravelling the Narrator's story which, depending on which records you choose and how they in turn will prompt different music, could play out in over 160 variations. We won't spoil any of the story or how the project works, we'll just advise you to check it out. It runs until the 7th of May.

Heading across the M8, we decided to drop into the Scotland Street School Museum where there was an exhibition of Young Scottish Socialism through the 20th Century. We were quite surprised to learn that for most of the last century there had been Socialist Sunday Schools where the teachings of Christ were imparted in a Marxist/Anarchist way, rather than that of any religious denomination. It's pretty eye-opening stuff to see just how deep the Socialist ideology ran through Glasgow at the time of the two World Wars and up as far the early 70s, and it also saddened us that this pure Socialist view is no longer taken by the Labour Party whom we expected to carry it forward. I think the word 'Judas' may have been said a few times that afternoon. Ironically. Or not, as the case may be.

The school (now a museum) itself is quite a thing of beauty to behold, and it's never-to-be-seen-again architecture coupled with its history of Scottish school days makes it a fantastic place to visit.

Once school was out, we headed over to the East End of Glasgow where we we visited the rather wonderful Monorail Music. A shoe-in for best Record Shop in Glasgow, the shop is run by Scottish music legend Stephen Pastel, and Mr Pastel himself was behind the counter upon our visit. I should point out that Monorail is much more than a record shop; it is also a cafe with a selection of vegan and vegetarian foods, and there is also an art and printing studio within. There was a an exhibition of fake 12" record sleeves by the Obstacle Group arts project which gave us some of the best laughs of the day. The project is called Record Store and again runs until the 7th of May.
The shop itself was recovering from the previous Saturday's Record Store Day(at which Edwyn Collins had played a live set), so there were many vinyl rarities and bargains on offer. We were especially smitten by the lo-fi dreampop of Glasgow's own Golden Grrrls whose superb 'New Pop' is an early contender for my song of the year.

And there was also the dreamy, sun dappled music of Lightships whose music and video for their song 'Sweetness In Her Spark' captures perfectly everything I've tried to elucidate about love and the way it affects the light and the skyscape when your heart is full to bursting. The way a girl's silhouette or a streetlamp's glow against a bruised Summer sky can capture a moment that makes your heart beat in a different rhythm. Lightships are the new musical project of Teenage Fanclub's Gerard Love, but for us this is better than any of his principal band's oeuvre....

After all this art, we decided on a long dinner to chill out. This comprised of yet another visit to our favourite haunt, the 13th Note, where we enjoyed three veggie burgers, spicy fries, onion rings and a bowl of olives (bet you're glad you weren't in the car with us afterwards), all washed down with some staggeringly (and unexpectedly) expensive Chardonnay.
Then it was time to head round to the Britania Panopticon Music Hall, located up some back street in the Trongate area.

Built in 1857, it is Britain's oldest standing music hall, and it is where Stan Laurel made his stage debut in 1906. And that is part of the reason we were there....the Laurel & Hardy society, The Sons Of The Desert were using the theatre to show some of Stan and Ollie's best work. It was the first time many of us had ever seen Laurel & Hardy with an audience, and it was safe to say that the duo had lost none of their magic.

The theatre itself, despite being cold and draughty, is a thing of great beauty to behold, and it literally was like stepping back in time. The staff were dressed in appropriate garb of the times, and the place is set to hold many more events based on recreating the past. The theatre relies on charitable support to maintain its upkeep, so we urge you, if you can, to check the place out if you have the opportunity.

So that was our birthday week of culture. Beautiful, surreal, edgy, politically fervent, and at times dreamlike (and that's just us three), this was quite some week. We must do it again some day.
Roll on next year!!

~Gordon~   

~Kitten Wine#30~: The Incident In The Smoking Carriage

One of the strange things about pop music is the way it attaches itself, limpet like, to specific memories; the way notes, lyrical phrases, or chord structures can trigger off all kinds of long dormant reminiscences. I suppose if, like me, you thrive on the romantic pull of music coupled with hazy rose tinted views of your own past, then the combination is often lethal. There are many songs, as you would imagine, that I cling to like a lifebuoy of nostalgia, and tonight we're going to look at one particular song, by The Pastels, and how I can simply NEVER listen to it without it causing flashbacks to the incident in the smoking compartment of the Glasgow to Aberdeen train, some 20 odd years ago.

So strap yourself in, it's going to be a bumpy ride.....
I was probably somewhere between 20 and 22 at the time, and it was during a period when I used to get every second Tuesday off work. I used these days to go up to Glasgow on the train, mostly to buy records, or sometimes books, comics, or shirts that screamed "Look at me! I'm pretentious!!".
So, on this particular Tuesday afternoon, I had gotten everything I was after pretty quickly so I was able to head back for the train that went to Aberdeen, which meant there was only one stop before Stirling and it only took about 35 minutes.
Back then I, rather embarrassingly, used to smoke and was going through a Gitanes phase, purely for no other reason than to be poncey! So, I got a seat in the smoking carriage (quite easily as this train was unusually quiet) and began sifting through the myriad purchases I had made. I sparked up a cigarette, put my coffee in it's Styrofoam cup on the table, and clicked on my Walkman.
And it was then that she walked into the carriage....

She was petite, quite mousy, and was wearing one of those Tweed jacket and skirt combos that women going to church, or bygone age schoolteachers used to wear. She looked mature, probably late 20s, or maybe even a coffin-dodging 30....but there was something about her!
The boy who followed her in I, at first, assumed was her son. He wasn't mousy....he was about 6' 2", looked like he was around 17-18 years old and had the whole James Dean thing going on; greased blonde quiff, black leather jacket, white tee-shirt, black 501s. And when they started kissing, it was obvious they weren't mother and son. The kisses were long, passionate and hungry, and I felt a little embarrassed by this graphic public show of affection. Except of course that it wasn't too public as there weren't all that many people in the carriage, and I appeared to be the only one who was facing them. I used the headrest of the seat in front of me to obscure any view that they might have of me, and found I couldn't stop looking at them, my eyes drawn to their obvious differences, and to the fire that was raging between them.
Side One of my cassette finished and the machine went into Autoreverse to begin playing Side Two. It was during the silence of the changeover that I heard the guard blow his whistle to alert all passengers that the train would be leaving any second now....

As the first song on Side Two began, the boy stood up.
The scuzzy, scratchy guitar intro of The Pastels' rather inappropriately titled 'Sit On It Mother' kicked in, lacerating itself like a knife wound across the inside of my head. As they kissed one final time, the Velvets style drumming pounded like a second heartbeat, and he walked out of the carriage. "I knew some girls from round my way// Burn me up with their evil stares". He stood outside the carriage and placed his hand against the window...."They're jokers but I'm not laughing// Only mention it in the passing"....she did the same, placing her hand against his, parted only by the glass...."I don't want in but open your gate// And let me get to the bottom of it"....rogue drum beats explode through the cavernous production....As the train slowly pulled away they held this pose, looking unflinchingly at each other, until it became impossible and he turned away with a wave...."Laura Lovett went in orbit// Just to get her an astronaut"....the woman turned back facing into the cabin, her hands by her sides; I studied the icy, quizzical yet contented look on her face...."She keeps her hand in her pocket// Saving up for a big blue rocket"....as I began to puzzle out the relationship whose brief extract I had just paid witness to (were they teacher and student, was the affair illicit and behind some husband's back, why was some young buck so clearly obsessed with such an older woman?), she suddenly looked straight at me...."She's always one planet ahead// Looks real cute in her pink spacesuit"....I felt like I had been shot! It was like an electric shock had ripped through my chest...."Hope she gets that astronaut!"....she looked, at that moment like the most beautiful woman in the world. She turned her gaze away from mine and looked forward into the carriage. I sucked in some Gitanes smoke to try and calm the pounding in my chest....."I know a girl from NYC// Walked on out on her baby"....I couldn't take my eyes off her, it was like she had become the sexiest, most desirable woman on the planet and I had fallen under her spell. I swigged some caffeine but all it did was pump my adrenal glands...."Hitched a ride with her lover// A shit-kickin' Momma, female trucker"....my mind was racing, wondering if she had this affect on all young men. The unnaturalness of the situation fuelled the suffocating feeling I was experiencing in my chest. It made me wonder if the boy she'd left back at Queen St station was just one of many conquests she enjoyed, or if she really was as demure and sweet natured as she appeared...."They're close like a pair of pros// And I don't need any more of those"....as the tape spooled on I was becoming self conscious that I was staring at her, even though I was partially hidden behind the headrest. As I tried looking out the window I was already fantasising about her suddenly coming over and sitting beside me, talking to me, luring me into her web of desire....a mad harmonica was filling my head with starry, blued-eyed wonder, "Trudi Bell from Rocky Springs// Has a certain way with things"....but, of course, she didn't. OF COURSE, SHE DIDN'T!!...."She's freewheeling, open dealing// S-s-say it once, and once with feeling"....when the train arrived at its first stop, Falkirk, she looked me straight in the eyes again, but probably only to see if I was one of those getting off at this stop...."Sit on it Mother, I ain't no witch// Working me up to a fever pitch"....as the train crawled, as it always did between Falkirk and Stirling, I looked at her again, knowing I was coming to the end of the road...."Now, some girls are quite obscure//And some boys don't get the truth"....as we arrived in Stirling I was surprised to see that she got up from her seat too. I waited until she'd left the carriage before making my own way out...."They see each smile as an emblem// A promise of sex on a sunny day"....as I stepped from the carriage I saw her small figure stroll confidently among the throng of people milling about on the platform. And then she was gone, vanished into the crowd, and I never saw her again...."I'm trying to make a connection// But don't look up when the sun comes down..."

The bus journey back home was spectacularly uneventful as you would imagine. And as I retreated to the solitude of my room with the intention of playing my newly acquired records, there was something niggling at the back of mind; a deep rooted desire to hear just one song in all of my collection. As I slipped the 7" single onto the Dansette, my head and heart were already clattering ahead of me....a scuzzy, scratchy guitar, Velvet's style drumming, "I knew some girls from round my way"....I could taste the Gitanes, I could feel the caffeine pounding through my bloodstream, and I could see into they eyes of a woman who had me completely under her spell, if even for less than half an hour, and I imagined her life with this inexplicably lucky teenage boy who I was now green-eyed to the point of madness with.
And then the record stopped....
And I laughed out loud at my own foolishness.

And that's what certain songs or records can mean to me; emotional and physical snapshots of a time, place, and state of mind where the music becomes an ever self-replicating canvass of memory. And some twenty odd years later that same song can still elicit carbon copies of all those long-savoured reminiscences.
But it's still only a song, right?


Hope she gets that astronaut!

~Gordon~

~Kitten Wine~ #7: '60 Minutes In The Anorak City'

'60 Minutes In The Anorak City' - A dissection of a mix-tape.

The mix-tape!
So quickly did they become retro. Mix-Cds, i-pods and Online Playlists all rapidly eradicated the art of the mix-tape, an art so smugly and erroneously eulogised in Nick Hornby's 'High Fidelity'.
I used to love mix-tapes....not necessarily making them for friends or potential girlfriends, but really just for myself. Small, compact, contained snapshots of a time and place. Reminders of a Summer, or of a girl.....or both! Of all the myriad mix-tapes I've scattered across the land there is still one that I have and still cherish dearly, and still play every now and again. I made the tape in the late Summer of 1988 as a way capturing my state of mind following, what I felt at the time, had been the greatest Summer of my life so far.
The cassette was/is a BASF C-60 and I titled the compilation 'One Hour In The Anorak City', an ironic reference to Sarah Records who had just begun around this time. One of the reasons I still love the tape and dread the day I ever lose it is that it contains several songs that I've long since lost the hard copies of, either because I swapped the record, or I only had a loan of the record at the time, or because it was taped off the radio.

So, on a cold and windy night in Central Scotland, let's relive the Golden Summer Of 1988....the train's about to leave from Platform Twee...........

"60 Minutes In The Anorak City"

Side A:

1)The Golden Dawn: 'My Secret World'
The cassette begins with what I must have felt at the time would be a perfect little introductory song. The Golden Dawn were on Sarah Records but were pretty atypical of the overall 'Sarah' sound. Their songs were riddled with feedback and they had more in common with The Velvet Underground or The Jesus And Mary Chain, and like The JAMC, The Golden Dawn were from Glasgow. 'My Secret World' barely last two minutes but it is the perfect opener as it alludes to a world that the listener can lose themselves in, and I like to think that this cassette is a little world in it's own.


2)The Sea Urchins: 'Pristine Christine'
Phew! Where do you begin with 'Pristine Christine'? The Magna Carta of all Twee Pop! 'Pristine Christine' was, of course, Sarah One, Sarah's first ever release and it's a perfect start. A twangy guitar ushers us in, but when the drums, tambourine and vocals kick in it's such a rush it's like being pebble-dashed with barley sugar, like the oxygen has turned into candy floss, like you've wrapped the belt around your arm and mainlined pure cane sugar! It's a perfect pop song and it still makes me giddy listening to it. I've seen it for sale in Record Collector for well in excess of £100, but to me it's priceless and irreplaceable.


3)The Bachelor Pad: 'Jack And Julian'
Another band from Glasgow, another burst of feedback. This is an absolutely brilliant song, "Oh, one's called Jack and one's called Julian// One shares a flat and the other is a hooligan// Late at night, a pillow fight...." The song is an absolute mess, there's so much happening, so much distortion....but it all works beautifully. I only have two singles by them, this and 'Do It For Fun' but I treasure them both dearly. I wish they'd been much bigger.


4)14 Iced Bears : 'Sure To See'
On the sleeve of the cassette I have this listed as 'Come Get Me' and this is because of the weird way the songs are listed on the sleeve of the single. Another Sarah Record(Sarah Five if your spodding!) and a truly wondrous one at that. The guitars seem to hover around the track like a sweet tingly vapour, the drums have an almost louche jazzy feel to them, but it's the bass that propels the song forward; a very languid, melodic bass line that practically takes over the song. The vocals and lyrics have that dreamy wistful feel that would come to embody Sarah's output, and the "Don't you want me anymore" refrain is still very moving to me all these years later. A song that improved my life....no kidding!


5)The Primitives: 'Keep Me In Mind'
Okay, okay....so I've dismissed The Primitives a little in previous Blogs, but I really love this track, especially the John Peel Session version which is the version I have on the cassette. In the Summer of 1988 myself and three friends went on holiday to a caravan in Arbroath and one of them had several recent Peel sessions on a tape of his own including The Wedding Present, Big Black, The Cocteau Twins, James and The Primitives....and it's this track that forever reminds me of us all posing furiously amid the caves of Lunan Bay.


6)Felt: 'Christopher Street'
A bit of a departure this one. Usually Felt would fit in perfectly with the songs here, but this track is from their atypical 'The Pictorial Jackson Review' album and has a bit of a Bob Dylan-'Positively 4th Street' feel to it. A very strident track with lots of swirly Hammond organ runs, it may seem a little out of place, but I'm glad it's on here.



7)The Sea Urchins: 'Sullen Eyes'
One of the B-side tracks from Sarah One, and more than a little similar to David Bowie's 'Sound And Vision'(albeit on a much smaller budget!). A really beautiful, emotion-tweaking song. Bizarrely the only song from Sarah One I didn't include on the tape, 'Everglades', is now my favourite Sea Urchins song. Sarah One may be worth a lot of money to collectors, but it's emotive sentimental value to me is off the scale.


8)Another Sunny Day: 'Anorak City'
It only lasts about 99 seconds and it comes on a 5" clear vinyl flexi-disc that was attached to a fanzine called 'Sarah Four'. It has a two-note guitar solo that breaks my heart every time I hear it, and it ends in a blast of feedback. It's SO good that I named the cassette after it. Anything else you need to know?


9)The Magic Shop: 'It's True'
Another flexi-disc. This came on the legendary Sha-la-la Records label and I probably got it with some now long discarded fanzine. This was the only track they ever released and, as I'm pretty sure the flexi-disc will by now be unplayable, it's inclusion on this cassette is all the more poignant and vital.

10)The Visitors: 'Goldmining'
This was on the other side of The Magic Shop's flexi-disc, and again this was the only track The Visitors ever released at the time. It's quite a bitter little anti-marriage song and I love it. A few years ago Matineé Records released the band's collected home recordings, so strong was interest in them. Again, it's inclusion on here is something I'm very thankful for.

11 Meat Whiplash: 'Don't Slip Up'
And so Side A comes to an end with a track I've already written about extensively enough in a previous Blog.

Side B:

1)The Vaselines: 'Rory Rides Me Raw'
"Galloping through the morning dew// There's only one thing that I wanna do to you// And it's true that we're gonna do it soon", a homoerotic paean to horseriding (yeah right!!) by Kurt Cobain's favourite band. In a paralell world this song would be Number One for weeks and get played at Lady Di's funeral.


2)The Dragsters: 'I'm Not An American'
From Greenock if I remember, although there's scant info on them on the Internet! Over a Marychain-esque buzzsaw attack comes a litany of American cliched naffness which I'm going to let speak for itself as I just love it: "Batman, The Shadow and the Silver Surfer// Another crummy lyric and a dumb pop tune// Only Manny, Moe & Jack are gonna know what I'm after// A ticker tape parade and a place on the moon// Drive-ins, vitamins, cable, Las Vegas// Cutting down a cherry tree and blaming a slave// Cosmetic surgery and medical trousers// There's no room for me in the home of the brave// Hip-hop and pinball and snow by the order// Beer drinking hippos and warm apple pie// Weird bearded gurus and tuxedoed dentists// A round of applause for the presidents who die// Empire State Building and the Grand Canyon// Building a home on Geronimo's face// Spray painting the subway and rapping your ears off// Without any legs I'll be last in the race// Ice cream and pool halls, the mob and the Klan// Bonnie & Clyde on the NBC news// Ding-dongs and folks songs, Star Wars and guns// America the beautiful, the home of the blues// Game shows for hobos, the Star Splattered Banner// French Fries and G.I.s in Budweiser shorts// 24 hours of 24 hours, the American dream in a foreigner's heart...."
I loved it then and I love it now!




3)The Bodines: 'God Bless'
The Bodines track 'Therese' was included on the NME's infamous C-86 compilation and is a pretty good song, but this was their debut single from a year before and came on Creation Records in the customary wraparound paper sleeve....and it's fantastic! "God bless everyone in this whole world but you!" Oh yes!!


4)Slaughter Joe: 'She's So Out Of Touch'
Joe Foster was involved in the whole Whaam! Records/Television Personalities scene of the early 80s and, as such, when Alan McGee started Creation Records he had Joe on board with him. As Slaughter Joe, Foster released the very Mary Chain-alike 'I'll Follow You Down', a very rough and raucous record indeed. That he followed it with this, a quite remarkable track very akin to The Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning' or 'Stephanie Says' confounded everyone. A very beautiful piece of music indeed!


5)McCarthy: 'Antiamericancretin'
Ever wonder what would happen if you crossed The Smiths with Crass? Probably not....but the effect would probably resemble the music of McCarthy; strident jangly pop music with extreme left-wing political subject matter as lyrics. This is another anti-American track which suggests that I was in a bit of a Pinko phase at the time. "This is my melancholy// My Country is a colony// Our once proud nation bowed beneath a baseball bat// Beneath an ice cold Cola can// English men, rise again// Throw off the yolk of the shake and the Coke" goes the vitriolic lyric before a flurry of shimmering guitars and then, "Away shallow USA// Britons shall never be slaves// Cleansed of your bases and your trivial TV// We'll be all the things we used to be". Yay Stalinism! The track comes from their 'The Well Of Lonliness' 12" E.P. Definitely a band for rediscovery!

6)Baby Lemonade: 'Real World'
Once again I have the wrong song title written on the sleeve....I've written'Secret Goldfish' but the track is actually 'Real World'. Baby Lemonade only played a handful of gigs, virtually all in Scotland, and they were contemporaries of Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes, releasing this song on Narodnik Records and having it produced by Douglas Hart of the Jesus & Mary Chain. Again this is very reminiscent of The Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning' which can only be a good thing.






7)The House Of Love: 'Nothing To Me'
Everyone thought they were going to be huge!
I saw The House Of Love for the first time in the Autumn of 1988 and the buzz behind them was enormous. Seen as the obvious successors to The Smiths, front man Guy Chadwick had his very own Johnny Marr in bonkers guitar genius Terry Bickers. How did they fail? Perhaps releasing three albums all called 'The House Of Love' didn't help, and perhaps scoring a dreadful own-goal by releasing a pretty dull album(their first for major label Fontana) when they had the whole world's attention didn't help. But this was a track on one of their Creation 12" E.Ps and it remains my favourite song by them. They played it at that first gig and it was, for me, the highlight of a fantastic show.


8)The Fizzbombs: 'Sign On The Line'
The Fizzbombs were a kind of Scottish Indie Supergroup, formed from members of Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes, Rote Kapele and The Shop Assistants. This was another release on Narodnik Records. Guitarist Margarita Vasquez-Ponte was also the drummer in Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes and when my band supported them in 1987, I borrowed her hi-hat as mine was completely knackered. A nice claim to fame.


9)The Pastels: 'I Wonder Why'

10)The Revolving Paint Dream: 'In The Afternoon'


11)Razorcuts: 'First Day'

12)Meat Whiplash: 'Here It Comes'
And so we have a run of four songs, all of which I've written about in previous Journals here which I hope shows how important these songs are to me.

13)Reserve: 'The Sun Slid Down Behind The Tower'
You would get the feeling that I put this compilation together in a deliberate manner; beginning with a little introduction and ending with a song about the sun setting at the end of the day, but I don't really remember it being like that at all. Maybe it was all subconcious. Anyway, this is a track from another flexi-disc that while being on Sha-la-la records, featured two bands on Sombrero Records, Reserve and The Siddleys . While I really love this track, I wish I had put The Siddeleys track on it too so that they would have been scorched into my psyche like the rest of the bands here. Unfortunately I never heard anything by The Siddeleys again till many years later and thought they were fantastic....all those years I could have been listening to them. Oh well.

And that's it....a 60 minute snapshot of my life in the late Summer of 1988. I love all of these bands and I love this cassette, and I dread the day something happens to it and I can no longer play it.

Till then.....once more with feeling!

~Gordon~