Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 21 - The Sound of the Suburbs

I'm not totally sure but I would hazard a guess that bands don't get taught what it takes to have a hit record, if they did there would be loads of Singles that would have hit the big time but for one reason or another they seemed to fall short.

In a couple of days time it will be the 37th anniversary of the release of

The Members' 'The Sound of the Suburbs' which turned out to be their biggest hit reaching #12 on the UK Singles chart. They even got on Top of the Pops (which to some was an anathema but to others the sign that things could be going well for them).

For many who maybe heard it on the radio or who saw it on Top of the Pops they might easily have imagined that this brand new band The Members were pretty lucky getting a hit with their first single. But actually it wasn't their debut single at all, that first single was released in May 1978 and was quite unknown to the majority of people. Oh, and they were not really a "new band", as by time 'The Sound of the Suburbs' was released the band had already been together for more than two years (having formed in 1976).

The original line up of the band did not include any of the band who would eventually appear on their debut single in 1978 for Stiff apart from Lead Vocalist Nicky Tesco. These members, Chris Payne (Bass and Vocals), Adrian Lilywhite (Drums), JC Carroll (Guitar and Vocals), and Nigel Bennett (Guitar and Vocals) would be added and the full line up established after the band managed to get a song on a Compilation put out by Beggars Banquet called 'Streets' in 1977. The Members track was called 'Fear on the Streets' (it's track 2 on the above link).

Crafting their sound at various venues around London they got a deal with Stiff Records (I'm assuming it was a one off deal as the label on it says '1 OFF', will have to ask JC that) and that resulted in the Larry Wallis produced Tesco and Carroll's 'Solitary Confinement' backed by Chris Payne's 'Rat Up A Drain Pipe'.

The band were championed by John Peel, got a feature in one of the music papers and continually sought to up the ante through their live performances. They came to the attention of Virgin Records and were signed. The debut album, 'At the Chelsea Nightclub' was recorded between December 1978 and January 1979 with their major label Debut single arriving in stores on 23rd January.

Actually on the day of release of the single their first session for John Peel was broadcast. It featured four songs: Love In A Lift, Phone-In Show, At the Chelsea Nightclub and The Sound of the Suburbs. It had been recorded 6 days earlier (17th Jan) at the BBC Maida Vale Studio.

There's no great formula for a hit single but from the opening line of The Sound of the Suburbs you are hooked:

The Sound of the Suburbs

Carroll/Tesco

Same old boring Sunday morning
Old man's out washing the car
Mum's in the kitchen cooking Sunday dinner
Her best meal, moaning while it lasts
Johnny's upstairs in his bedroom sitting in the dark
Annoying the neighbours with his punk rock electric guitar

CHORUS
This is the sound
This is the sound of the suburbs
This is the sound of the suburbs

Every lousy Monday morning
Heathrow jets go crashing over our home
Ten o'clock Broadmoor siren
Driving me mad, won't leave me alone
The woman next door just sits and stares outside
She hasn't come out once ever since her husband died

CHORUS

Youth Club group used to want to be free
Now they want Anarchy
They play too fast, they play out of tune
Practise in the singer's bedroom
Drum's quite good, the bass is too loud
And I… can't hear the words

CHORUS

Saturday morning family shoppers
Crowding out the centre of town
Young blokes sitting on the benches
Shouting at the young girls walking around
Johnny stands there at his window looking at the night
I said, "Hey, what you listening to? There's nothing there"
That's right!

This is the sound of the suburbs
This is the sound of the suburbs

This is the sound. (x 8)

This is the sound of the suburbs. (x 4)

In its essence it's just a song about what goes on in your house, on your street, in your community, there's nothing that requires you to think too much, just open your eyes and observe and listen to what's going on around you.

When it was released it came out in Limited Edition Clear Vinyl (see picture below) and I can remember bunking off school with some friends and going to our local record shop (where I ended up spending a lot of time that particular year!) to make sure that we got this version. I can remember that Andy Ross (who actually knew Adrian the drummer) kept on playing it for us, A-Side and B-Side (what was with that instrumental by the way? - another question to ask JC at some point) until we were convinced to buy it (we would have bought it regardless of how many times he played it though!).

Thirty Seven years on from its release and the song has appeared on stacks of Compilation albums and is one of the those songs I consider a bit of a landmark in my life because I can recall a lot of the stuff we were going through quite vividly, and remember my old friends (one of whom I recently had a chat with on facebook for the first time in 35 years!).

For The Members this year sees three of the line-up that featured on The Sound of the Suburbs single, JC Carroll, Nigel Bennett and Chris Payne release a brand new album at the end of the month called One Law.* They are still playing live, aided by Nick Cash on Drums, and as this is the 40th Year of The Members they would like it to be known that they are still Annoying the neighbours with their punk rock electric guitars!

*Keep an eye out for more posts about The Members in the next few weeks.

A-Side: The Sound of the Suburbs

B-Side: Handling the Big Jets

Virgin Records

Produced by Steve Lilywhite

UK Chart #12

Released 23rd January 1979

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Night 2 - Chicago 19th January 2016 - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

A three hour and fifteen minute set in Chicago at the United Center last on the second night of The River Tour 2016.

Not many links around at the moment but I'll keep checking throughout the day and add any I find.

41mins of Highlights

 Setlist:
Meet Me in the City
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River (Incomplete)
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I'm a Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck on the Highway
Night
No Surrender
Cover Me
She's The One
Human Touch
The Rising
Thunder Road
* * *
Take It Easy (Tribute to Glenn Frey) - Solo Acoustic
Born To Run
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Shout

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 20 - XTC Beginning and End

Today I thought we'd take a brief look at the start and the end of the recording career of a much loved band from the UK, XTC. There's quite a few links to the music of XTC so click on them to indulge yourselves.

Beginning

In 1977 XTC, a band from Swindon signed to Virgin Records and released their Debut 3D EP. You'd never have guessed that this band would carve out a 30 year career as whilst their Debut album charted their singles were not doing so well (their first singles chart placing was actually in Australia in September 1978 #86). They ended up releasing 40 Singles (only 9 of them made it into the Top 50!). Their second single, Statue of Liberty (here's the Old Grey Whistle Test Performance) got banned by the BBC who took objection to the line, "In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt". A re-recorded version of This is Pop (Here's a live performance on Revolver from 1978) also didn't go anywhere either. I love the lyrics on it:

This is Pop
Andy Partridge
In a milk bar and feeling lost
Drinking sodas as cold as frost
Someone leans in my direction
Quizzing on my juke-box selection

What do you call that noise
That you put on?
This is pop, yeah, yeah
This is

On a walkway and moving fast
All I get is transistor blast
Someone leans in my direction
Quizzing on my station selection

What do you call that noise
That you put on?
This is pop, yeah, yeah
This is

We come the wrong way
We come the long way
We play the songs much too loud

This is pop, yeah yeah

"What do you call that noise?" XTC were one of those bands that you could not really confine to a specific genre. For their first EP they kind of got lumped in with the Punks, but they were not Punks at all, and then they got classed as New Wave (which in itself is a very broad church!) but they didn't necessarily fit there either. Despite their quirkiness they did have some moments of Pop brilliance: Life Begins At The Hop, Making Plans For Nigel, Generals and Majors, Towers of London, Sgt Rock (Is Going to Help Me), Senses Working Overtime, Love On A Farm Boy's Wages and Dear God.

Up until 1982 they were band that toured on a regular basis but on 18th March that year Andy Partridge suffered a mental breakdown at a Paris concert and it the tour they were on in Europe was cut short. A month later in Los Angeles the band pulled out of a show due to illness which was later revealed to be Partridge's ongoing battle with stage fright. The following day (3rd April) they played one last concert but did not continue with the tour. Their only live work would be 7 years later performing acoustic sets on the Radio. Between 1982-98 they were primarlily a Studio band releasing albums and singles under the XTC banner and also The Dukes of Stratosphear but the absence of touring soured the sales on many of these releases and eventually their relationship with Virgin Records.

White Music - XTC

Virgin Records

Produced by John Leckie

Released 20th January 1978

UK Chart #38

Personnel
    Andy Partridge - guitar, vocals
    Colin Moulding - bass, vocals
    Barry Andrews - steam piano, clapped out organs
    Terry Chambers - drums

 White Music (2001 Remastered CD Version with Bonus Tracks)

Singles from White Music

Statue of Liberty / Hang On To The Night

January 1978

This is Pop*/ Heatwave

April 1978

* Different Recording to the Album version.

End

After a lengthy battle to get released from their Virgin contract the band set up their own label Idea Records and set about putting together a new album of material that they had written during the Virgin dispute. Apple Venus Volume 1 appeared in 1999 but at the expense of the departure of Dave Gregory after 20 years service (he had originally replaced Barry Andrews after the release of Go 2, the second XTC Album in 1978). He would rejoin the Dukes of Stratosphear in 2003 but not XTC. 

The second volume of Apple Venus, Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) arrived in 2000. This would be the last new XTC music until 2005's Apple Box that included two Download only tracks, Spiral by Andy Partridge and Say It written by Colin Moulding and in December there was a Download only single Where Did The Ordinary People Go?

By November 2006 it was being reported that Andy Partridge had said that Colin Moulding no longer had any interest in writing, performing or even listening to music and that XTC would no longer continue without him. As if to make the point clear he even wrote in for the Swindon Advertiser in 2008:

"Yes I believe my musical partnership with Colin Moulding has come to an end. For reasons too personal and varied to go into here, but we had a good run as they say and produced some real good work. No, I won't be working with him in the future."

By the end of 2008 Moulding had resurfaced and was interviewed on a radio show confirming his disillusionment with muic but he was thinking of doing some solo work. He also spoke of how he and Partridge were once again communicating with each other via Email. 

I guess that was a vital thing to happen as work began on Reissuing albums, though few have seen the light of day as yet. In 2011 a Vinyl version of Skylarking was issued by Andy Partridge, and a APE Records remastered CD followed in 2014, Drums and Wires (not the 2014 mix but the 2001 remaster) was released in October 2014. Reissues on Vinyl and CD of English Settlement and Oranges & Lemons have not, as far as I'm aware, seen the light of day.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Music is the Doctor 2016 #3 The Third One!

We kick off the Third Music is the Doctor of 2016 with the sad news of the passing of Dale Griffin (Drummer of Mott the Hoople and Music Producer), Glenn Frey (Songwriter and Vocalist for the Eagles and Solo artist as well) and also one not known to many Rob McAllister of Long Island, New York who fronted Punk band Iron Chic. Add to that the death of David Bowie and it's already been a pretty sad month for losses in the music community.

The Playlist includes tracks from each of them and also a couple of recent Bowie tributes and one for Lemmy Kilmister.

The rest is some tunes that were released in January between 1977 and 1985.

On The Playlist

All The Way From Memphis - Mott the Hoople.

Time Keeps On Slipping Into the (Cosmic) Future - Iron Chic.

The Last Resort - Eagles.

Heroes (Live) - Willie Nile.

Rebel Rebel (Live) - Bruce Springsteen.

Ace of Spades (Live) Slash and The Conspirators.

Back To Mystery City (Live) - Hanoi Rocks.

Stop Your Sobbing - Pretenders.

Last Rockers - Vice Squad.

 Shake Some Action - Drinking Electricity.

Reward (Old Grey Whistle Test) - Teardrop Explodes.

Sound of the Suburbs - The Members.

I Got You Babe - Holly Beth Vincent and Joey Ramone.

Dancing With Myself - Gen X.

In A Rut (Live) - Ruts.

Times Up - Buzzcocks.

(Get A) Grip (On Yourelf) - The Stranglers.

Sister Europe - Psychedelic Furs.

Weekend - The Boys.

A Town Called Malice - The Jam.

How Soon Is Now (Live) - The Smiths.

 

Glenn Frey Checks Out! 6th November 1948 - 18th January 2016

Woke up this morning to the news that Glenn Frey passed away yesterday. He was 67 years old and died after complications from a recent surgery.

The first time I ever heard the Eagles when I was a kid (maybe about 9 or 10 years old) it was the voice of Glenn Frey singing Take It Easy (a song that he co-wrote with Jackson Browne).

Vocal duties of course were shared with Don Henley (and other members of the band but mainly Don) and together with Frey they penned some of the finest tracks the band recorded, here's just a few of them: Tequila Sunrise, Desperado, On the Border (also Bernie Leadon contributed), James Dean (with Jackson Browne and J.D. Souther contributing), Best of My Love (with Souther), One of These Nights, Lyin' Eyes, Take It To The Limit (with Randy Meisner), After The Thrill Is Gone, Hotel California (with Don Felder contributing), New Kid In Town (with Souther contributing), Life In The Fast Lane (with Joe Walsh contributing), Wasted Time, Victim of Love (with Felder and Souther contributing), The Last Resort, The Long Run, Heartache Tonight (with Bob Seger and Souther contributing), Get Over It, Busy Being Fabulous, and a stack of other tunes from Long Road Out to Eden (the last Eagles album).

I was never a fan of a lot of his solo material.

It was not condisered a sign of coolness to like the Eagles, especially when Punk came along but I always had a soft spot for them and am unashamed of it.

So that's another one gone from the ranks and January has not even ended yet!

Rest in Peace Glenn Frey.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 19 - American Girl

"Well she was an American girl
Raised on promises
She couldn't help thinkin' that there
Was a little more to life
Somewhere else
After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to"

- American Girl - Tom Petty

When I sat down to think about what to write about today I noticed that it was the 36th Anniversary of the release of The Pretenders debut album...and then my mind drifted to the opening words from Tom Petty's song American girl and I thought, "well that could perfectly sum up Chrissie Hynde". Of course, Tom Petty was probably not thinking about Chrissie Hynde when he wrote it but nevertheless it kind of fits with her story (which I won't go into too much depth on as she's written a perfectly successful biography Reckless: My Life as a Pretender, where she tells it herself).

The long and short of it is that Chrisse Hynde turned up in London (firstly in 1973 and then again in 1976). The girl had some dreams and in her second visit to the Capital her dream was being in a band. She hung out with the Pistols and answered ads in the Melody Maker but it wasn't until a session at Anchor Records as a three piece with Mal Hart on Bass and Phil Taylor of  Motörhead on Drums that things began coming together for her. Although the session was a bit rough, Dave Hill saw some star potential in her and encouraged her to form a more permanent band with whom he could work. With the band summoned they made a demo that included a cover of The Kinks tune 'Stop Your Sobbing', a three track demo was passed onto Nick Lowe and thus came the debut single, that cover of The Kinks! Oddly for Nick Lowe he abandoned the group as he felt they "were not going anywhere"! I wonder if he regrets that now? The single made it into the Top 40 (and they even got onto Top of the Pops!). 'Kid' followed it into the Charts but it was their third single, 'Brass in Pocket' that really set their world on fire. In the second week of January 1980 it hit the #1 spot (spending two weeks there) and the debut album would follow it all the way to the top. It went straight in at #1 and stayed top of the pile for four weeks.

All of that kick started a career that would eventually see the release 9 studio albums, 3 Live Albums, 4 major Compilations, 1 EP and 33 singles (many of which would be hits in the UK and in other countries around the world).

Going nowhere Nick?

Pretenders - The Pretenders

Real (UK)/Sire (US)

Produced by Chris Thomas (except Stop Your Sobbing which was Nick Lowe)

Released 19th January 1980

UK Chart #1

US Chart #9

Singles from Pretenders

Stop Your Sobbing / The Wait

1979 UK Chart #34

Kid / Tattooed Love Boys

1979 UK Chart #33

Brass In Pocket / Swinging London/Nervous But Shy

1979 UK Chart #1

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Dale "Buffin" Griffin - 24th October 1948 - 17th January 2016

It was with deep sadness that I heard the news today of the passing of Dale Griffin, aged 67. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimers Disease at aged 58 and it was that which eventually led to his passing yesterday. 

He will be fondly remembered as the drummer and a founding member of Mott the Hoople but also as a Producer for a wide variety of bands like Hanoi Rocks, Department S, New Model Army (though I'm fairly certain that he produced them for The Janice Long Show Sessions on the BBC) and many others. Also for those of us who are were listeners to John Peel between 1981-1994 he produced Peel Sessions for the likes of  Bolt Thrower, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Pulp to name but a few.

When it was announced in 2009 that Mott the Hoople were to play a series of Reunion shows Dale had been too ill to play the whole show but did come out for the encores (Martin Chambers of The Pretenders stood in his stead)

The Soundtrack4Life Concert Series: Bouncing Souls/Hot Water Music/Dave Hause - Triple Header

A bit of a triple header from three bands/artists that I really have a fondness for. The first two are part of the Rockpalast series from Germany.

First up is Bouncing Souls, one of New Jersey's finest. I wonder what they put in the water in New Jersey as there's so many great bands/artists that spring from there!

Following is Hot Water Music, I do love Chuck Ragan's growl. It's a tremendous show from the Florida natives.

And lastly a show from Dave Hause filmed in Orlando. What I love about this show is that he spotlights a stack of songs from his magnificent Devour album. Warning there is some strong language at times throughout this show.

Bouncing Souls - Area4 Festival 2011

Hot Water Music - Dortmund, Germany 2012

Dave Hause - Orlando, Florida 2014 (I think)

Setlist

Damascus, Melanin, Autism Vaccine Blues, Heavy Heart, Time Will Tell, Same Disease, Father's Son, Resolutions, We Could Be Kings, Come On Kid, The Bridge, The Shine, Worry by Northcote, Prauge, Benediction.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 18 - Friends

Friends. We all like to have friends don't we? I like the statement I read about what a true friend is: "A True Friend is someone who accepts who you are, but also helps you to become who you should be".

There's a lot of songs about friendship that I quite like, here's a few:

We're Going Too Be Friends - White Stripes.

You've Got A Friend - The Housemartins.

Lean on Me - Bill Withers.

With a Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker.

I'll Stand By You - The Pretenders.

Best of Friends - Palma Violets.

My Friends Over You - New Found Glory.

Nothing Like A Friend - Richard Hawley.

Bobby Jean - Bruce Springsteen.

Stay Free - The Clash.

I just spent an hour with one of my best friends, who I don't see enough as both of us would like but there's always that connection as if we had just seen each other yesterday. And that's really precious.

Anyway, I had been thinking a little about friendship before he arrived and thought I'd post this today.The Bouncing Souls song True Believers is a fantastic spotlight on Friendship (and probably my favourite one on the subject). I love the line:

"I've got a few friends I'll love till I die
From all of these people I try to learn"

I have a few friends from down through the years to whom this lyric totally applies. These are the kind of friendships that matter the most to me.

True Believers

I've met some people along the way,
Some of them split some of them stay,
Some of them walk some walk on by,
I've got a few friends I'll love till I die
From all of these people I try to learn,
Some of them shine some of them burn,
Some of them rise some of them fall,
For good or bad I've known them all

We live our life in our own way,
Never really listened to what they say,
The kind of faith that doesn't fade away
We are the true believers
We are the true believers

Well you can fight or you can run,
Hide under a rock till the war is won,
Play it safe and don't make a sound,
But not us we won't back down
True believers all the way,
You and I...

We live our life in our own way,
Never really listened to what they say,
The kind of faith that doesn't fade away
We are the true believers
We are the true believers
True believers

True Believers (Studio Version)

True Believers (Live)

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

The Soundtrack4Life Concert Series: Willie Nile - Light of Day 2016

Oh yes, just stumbled on this, well worth sharing.

Willie Nile in action four days ago in New York.

 Light of Day 2016 at NYC, The Cutting Room. 13th Jan.2016
SETLIST
Hear Your Breathe
Life On The Bleecker Street
The Innocent Ones
Heaven HelpThe Lonely
All Come Together (new)
If I Ever See The Light
House Of Thousand Guitars (dedication to DAVID BOWIE)
Sweet Jane
One Guitar