Zippy T Doodar

You may remember back to a couple of weeks ago, when I mentioned about the death of Steve New from The Rich Kids, whose obituary I saw in The Independent accompanied by a picture of New in the band with Midge Ure and Glen Matlock. Now I was under the impression that The Guardian had not mentioned New’s death in their pages, but actually an appreciation of his life was featured in a Saturday edition, under the name of ‘Stella Nova’. Not only did I overlook the notice in The Guardian when I first looked in that edition, but I think I would have ‘bypassed’ the obituary in The Independent, if I had not recognised the other, more famous, members of The Rich Kids, in the photo first. Similarly, I have to say that I do not know who this person is, even though over the last few months I have bought a large number of albums by The Kinks and would probably regard myself as somebody who likes their music. To be honest, up until now, the only members I knew about were the brothers Davies and so, I do not think the obituary would have been something that I would have read, unless it featured some Kinks album covers or a very large photo of the group. Thank you for alerting me to this fact and hopefully I will remember to look in The Guardian when I get home to see if the obituary is in today’s issue. By the way, in regards to another recent obituary, I saw that The Telegraph actually had a ‘Frank Sidebottom’ obituary in their paper. This was unlike The Guardian and Independent, who had very formal obituaries of ‘his’ creator Chris Sievey, which was odd as I thought that it was more likely for The Telegraph to be the paper that was more ‘formal’ and ‘proper’. Loz

I cannot be sure, but think it was written with Christie in mind. I seem to remember that, during the 1990s, Christie was living in a state of semi-retirement, somewhere in Spain [maybe in Marbella] and so I would have expected that he would have been personally invited to sing that song. It is years since I have played the All Seeing I album ‘Picked Eggs And Sherbet’, but if I were to find that album again, I would expect that most collaborators will have come from Sheffield, as did Jarvis Cocker, Parrot and Phil Oakey [the singer on follow up single “1st Man In Space”]. I think they would have wanted a famous Sheffield crooner for “Walk Like A Panther”, but rather than Martin Fry, a singer who was popular in either the 60s or 70s [in addition to not being ‘old’ enough, maybe Martin Fry was too much of a famous Stopfordian to qualify]. By any chance, did you get to hear Christie’s album called 'Made In Sheffield' that was released a few years ago. I wanted to listen to it as he recorded it with Richard Hawley, who I have liked ever since his Longpigs days. It was supposed to be a very good album but unfortunately it did not chart, probably because he is regarded as a novelty singer now after that Number One with Peter Kay. 'Made In Sheffield' featured Christie covering songs by number of local bands and songwriters, including the song “Louise” by The Human League. That recording is supposed to be a much better version than the original, as all the usual synths on the track are replaced by a ‘striped-down’ acoustic recording, more in keeping with Rick Rubin’s productions for Johnny Cash. Loz

As a ‘replacement’ Number One has not actually been selected for Christie, may I suggest the Jarvis Cocker song “Walk Like A Panther”, of which Christie performed as guest vocalist of Sheffield’s All Seeing I [a dance act that I think originally included ‘Parrot’ and ‘Ping Pong’ from The Funky Worm, before evolving into I Monster]. Generally I would say that most people will regard Christie as a cheesy has-been from the horrible ‘Light Entertainment’ hell that was the 1970s, though I think this negative association actually helps “Walk Like A Panther” as it does sound like it is being performed by the ‘Star Turn’ at Batley Working Men’s Club. I think that “Walk Like A Panther” is a much better collaboration between artists ‘old and new’ than “Tom Jones International”, a record that only seemed to damage the reputation of producer Wyclef Jean. I do not know why Tom Jones is much more credible than Christie, as many of Christie’s songs [such as “Maria”] sound like Jones in the first place. Maybe it is because Jones is more likely to be associated, in people’s minds, with a glitzy Vegas show rather than a grim Northern Social Club, places which, unlike Las Vegas, will never be seen as being eternally cool. Loz

Was ‘Timperley TV’ only broadcast in the Yorkshire TV region or late at night? I do not seem to recall it being shown on Granada, even though Frank Sidebottom has been popping up on local TV [including ‘ultra-local Channel M] for many years. I would have expected it to have been shown on TV here in the North West, as they are all stars very much associated with ‘Granadaland’. Even though I cannot remember a show that featured both Frank Sidebottom and Mrs Merton, I do remember many of Caroline Ahern’s first appearances on TV. I first remember seeing Mrs Merton on a Saturday morning TV show on Granada that used to go out after The Chart Show at 12.30pm. I cannot remember the name of the show, but I remember that it was a regional version of the BBC 2 show No Limits [the UK version of Entertainment USA] and I seem to remember that instead of Jenny Powell as presenter, it had ‘Johnny Dangerously’ from the band I Am Kloot as host. On the show, Mrs Merton was the resident ‘agony aunt’ and used to answer people’s problems from either a ‘chippy’ or local café somewhere in the Greater Manchester region. I would guess that this filming would have actually taken place in a ‘Greasy Spoon’ establishment in Stockport, as in the early 1990s Ahern and Cash had late night shows on the town’s local KFM radio station. Originally KFM was a pirate radio station and in the early days of [legitimate] broadcasting, it was like an early 1990s version of 6Music. I did not listen to the station much in those days as I was usually listening to Gary Davies or Bruno Brookes on Radio 1, though I did get to meet The River City People at their studios, because KFM operated in the same building where a family friend worked. I do not know if many people remember The River City People for anything else than their Mamas & Papas cover, though some people may also remember the lead singer Siobhan Mayer from her time as a presenter on CBBC. I cannot remember too much about her show but it probably involved either Andy Crane or Mark Curry, as was the case for most shows that were broadcast from the North West. When it came to the summer Saturday Morning TV schedules, I would usually prefer to watch an ITV show such as ‘Get Fresh’ over any of the BBC Shows that came from studios in the North West [for example ‘UP2U’ or ‘The 8:15 From Manchester’]. This was because they would start at least an hour earlier than the corporation’s winter shows [for example ‘Going Live’ or ‘Saturday Superstore’] or any of the rival shows on ITV [9.25am], at a time when I would either be asleep or watching a TV-am show such as ‘The Wide Awake Club’ or ‘Saturday Mayhem’. I liked watching ‘Number 73’ and remember most of the original cast. In addition to Toskvig as Ethel, I remember that film director Andrea Arnold played Dawn and a guy, who I think was called Nick Stevenson, played Harry. In addition to these people there was a Scottish character called Alec who had a library in his toilet. I do not remember much about Alec as he left after one series and was replaced by various people from the ‘ZZZZap!’ comic show series, such as Neil Buchanan and Richard Waites [‘Cuthbert Lilly He’s Dead Silly’]. I think Number 73 [or 7T3 when it ‘relocated’ to a ‘Wild West’ theme park] ran every year that TVS in Maidstone had an ITV licence. Unfortunately, I remember that they lost their licence to Meridian, in about 1992, as the directors of TVS hugely overbid for the rights to run the Southern operational region and so it was thought by the IBA that TVS would just bankrupt themselves, in about a year, on these new terms [i think they bid about £75 million when it awarded to newcomers Meridian for a fraction of that cost]. I am not sure if the TVS studios in Maidstone still exist in 2010. I know TVS became The Family Channel for a few years, but I think that service was discontinued in the late 1990s. I think it is very likely that the studios would have been flattened to make way for housing now, so it is very possible that somebody is actually living at house number 73 on the same site of that famous TV house, which is something to think about. Loz

In regards to covers, I think it depends on whether it sounds just like an unimaginative ‘karaoke recording’ or whether the act have produced a more creative re-recorded version of the original song. Even though I do not know the original version by The Turtles, I would expect it would be very much in the style of “Happy Together” or “Elenore” rather than The Lightning Seeds, who would have slowed down the tempo to that kind of ‘Britpop-Triphop’ version that we all remember. As The Turtles were a recording act of the 1960s, when there was many songwriters placing their songs with a number of different acts [as mentioned in another post above], I doubt that they [‘Flo & Eddie’] would have written the tune in the first place. Therefore I guess that “You Showed Me” by The Lightning Seeds is actually a cover of a cover. I think it is also important to remember that the cover could be the most fondly remembered version of the song and therefore looked upon as the ‘definitive’ version. I think if many people were to name a Soft Cell song, then a large percentage of people would name “Tainted Love” rather than “Say Hello Wave Goodbye”, a song by the duo which, in regards to the thread, I think should have got to Number One instead. Marc Almond has recorded a number of ‘covers’ albums and in fact, he has stated that his current album will be the last of original composed material. I have not got around to listening to my copy of ‘Stardom Road’ yet, but I remember that ‘Jacques’ was a good album as it introduced me to the works of Brel, many years before I bought a similar album of recordings by Scott Walker. As these albums featured the songwriting of one man [though obviously other people translated the lyrics into English] these projects worked well as coherent album releases. This is actually saying something when considering Walker’s album, as ‘Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel’ was not actually intended as a covers album project, instead being a compilation of tracks from his solo albums. On the other hand, Duran Duran’s “Thank You” was a covers album project and seeing as the album is now infamous as one of the worst albums ever recorded, maybe it would have been better for another compilation of old material to have been issued instead. In regards to their older material, I was never a big fan of “The Reflex” as the bridge to the chorus [“Why-yi-yi”] always annoyed me. In addition to this, I am not a really a fan of ambiguous lyrics or vague metaphors, as I can never understand them and therefore I have a problem with the lyrics of “The Reflex”. I might be missing the point but lyrics such as “The Reflex is a lonely child that’s waiting by the port” seems like a load of rubbish to me. “The Reflex” is from the album ‘Seven and The Ragged Tiger’, which now includes former ‘one-off’ single and chart topper “Is There Something I Should Know?” on one of the bonus discs. In regards to their two Number Ones, I prefer this tune over “The Reflex”, though as it was a record that was on all those ‘Worst Lyrics of the 1980s’ lists [for the line “you're about as easy as a nuclear war"] alongside “The Lebanon” by The Human League, I do not think it could also regarded as their best single either. I suppose in light of these facts, I think it would have been better for Duran Duran to have their two Number Ones taken from other songs on their albums [apart from any of the tracks on ‘Thank You’, though if you think “Perfect Day” would have been a better Number One by Duran than by the BBC, please say]. I can imagine many people who would also select “A View To A Kill”, “Save A Prayer”, “Rio” or “Ordinary World” as a great Number One single replacement, though I would like to nominate “The Chauffeur” and “Election Day” instead. Even though “Election Day” is credited to Arcadia, the song does feature three members of Duran from the 1980s [though only the duo of Le Bon and Rhodes appear in the promotional videos, something I did not know about, until I watched the ‘So Red The Rose’ DVD last week], which is one more 80s member than Duran Duran had in 1999, as well as Grace Jones, who deserves a Number One in her own right. Loz

They are all acts that I am very fond of, with my knowledge of Depeche Mode dating back, almost 30 years, to the beginning of the 1980s. I do not think Depeche will be too bothered about getting a Brits Award, as they will probably still remember all the years when to win a Brit was very ‘uncool thing’ to achieve, though after the Pet Shop Boys won the outstanding achievement award, I think that it is about time that Erasure were selected as well [perhaps a joint award for Vince also acknowledging his work with Yazoo and Depeche]. In regards to Talk Talk, I own all the EMI albums and Hits VHS but never got to own ‘Laughing Stock’ or ‘Mark Hollis’ as I was buying a lot of indie records at the time those records were released. Out of all the albums I own by the band, I think I would like to listen to “Spirit Of Eden” again but as my copy is on cassette in a box somewhere at home, this will be no time soon. As all the ‘regular’ EMI albums were re-issued and remastered recently, I think I should be able to find “Spirit Of Eden” quite cheaply in Fopp when they next do a sale of EMI stock. However, as Hollis sued EMI in 1991 for putting out a remix album, I think that EMI are not allowed to release any more compilation albums, which is a shame as I would like to upscale my old VHS to a proper DVD with a ‘Sight+Sound’ release. In addition, it was a shame that the Palm Pictures Director’s Label gave up on their DVD series before getting onto Tim Pope, though thankfully I already own many of the videos that he created for Talk Talk and The Cure already on other formats. ‘Hats’ by The Blue Nile is another favourite CD of mine and one of the very few albums that I have as a whole on my iPod [it is great to put on late at night]. I would like to buy a remastered version of ‘Hats’ too, as the recording from my 20 year old CD is not at the same levels as all the downloaded material and therefore quite quiet in comparison. I do not think the tracklisting of ‘Hats’ should be extended any further than the seven perfectly formed tracks that feature on the original album, though if it is the case where EMI will only re-issue albums with a bonus disc, then a DVD with videos and live performances would be for the best [up till now I have only got “Tinseltown In The Rain” on VHS. I think it comes after David Sylvian’s “Red Guitar” on the tracklisting of my ‘Now 3’ video]. Loz

By any chance, were you a student in either London or the West Midlands in the early 1990s, as I seem to remember that, here in ‘Granadaland’, a lot of ‘indie kids’ were still in flares, waiting for the second coming of The Stone Roses. Apart from the first two bands that you mention and Nirvana, I do not think I would have known who most of these acts were in the early 1990s and in fact, the name Firehose means nothing to me now. I think these acts were the kinds of alternative rock bands that you would find covered more in Melody Maker or Sounds than in the NME, which I remember being slightly more ‘mainstream’ than the other two publications. I would not know who most of those acts were as my magazines of choice would be the NME, Q and Record Mirror [though Sounds and RM ended publication a couple of years into the 1990s]. I was actually reading something at the weekend about Pearl Jam’s upcoming tour [though it could have been in an issue of the Guardian Guide from a few weeks ago] and I thought that it was very true what the reviewer said in regards to the general criticisms, that the band has received over the last 20 years, from the wider rock media. The criticism, put bluntly, is that they are not Nirvana and even after 20 years they are viewed negatively by the press as they are still not Nirvana. Therefore they have always been viewed with suspicion, at least in this country, as most people think they are ‘Corporate Rock Monsters’ of the worst kind. Even though when I was at University, this is what I would have also believed to be true, I think this criticism is slightly unfair, especially as in the last 15 years, the Foo Fighters have been licensed to a number of major labels, one of which is Sony, the same multinational corporation that both Pearl Jam and Bolton were signed to, back in 1992. Loz

With “3 Lions” back in the UK Top 10 again after many years, I wonder if anybody on here has an opinion about The Lightning Seeds having two Number Ones with [almost] the same song. Even though it is an achievement that I think is unique, I think that it is a pity that The Lightning Seeds never got into the Top Ten with one of their own songs, as their only Top Ten hit was a cover of an old hit by The Turtles. Before The Lightning Seeds had many well deserved hits in the 1990s, I think Ian Broudie was even in the running for a place on the ‘No Hit Wonders’ list as I do not think that either Big In Japan or Care charted, though “Flaming Sword” may have come close to the Top 40 sometime in the mid 1980s. Loz

Would Sylvian own most of the rights to Japan’s recordings as well, these days or would the rights still be split between EMI and Sony [who will own most of the 1980s back catalogue to Virgin and Arista/BMG Eurodisc respectively]? I only ask because I have been buying many of EMI’s ‘Sight+Sound’ CD/DVD compilations [for example, OMD; Blondie; Kajagoogoo; Heaven 17 and Ultravox] and would very much like to have a Japan ‘Sight+Sound’ compilation as well to add to my collection. Do you know if one exists? I have looked online at a couple of stores but the only compilation that seems to be listed is the old ‘Exorcising Ghosts’ CD from the early 1980s. As the Ultravox collection only had the Midge Ure hits recorded for Chrysalis [EMI] and not the recordings made with John Foxx [universal-Island], I would expect that EMI would not bother with a ‘Sight+Sound’ singles compilation for Japan as they would probably only have “Night Porter”, “Ghosts” and a couple of other singles to use. Not including the ‘Rain Tree Crow’ album in 1991, I think Japan only recorded a couple of albums for the label, one of which I already own [‘Tin Drum’]. On the other hand, I suppose EMI could issue a live Sight+Sound CD/DVD using the material recorded for Japan’s last album, though I would like to have the videos on disc, especially if they are as great as Sylvian’s “Red Guitar”. In relation to re-issued albums, I do not know what the market would be for a deluxe version of ‘Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters’, but with the recent news, I think EMI should do the decent thing and put it out again as a better package [the CD cover that I saw looked like it had been photocopied]. Even though the CD that I saw for sale looked like it had been knocking around the HMV warehouse since the early 1990s, I think that if I see the album again today, whilst I am on my lunch break, I may go and buy it, especially since I have found out that hmv.com has it as a recommendation for people who like ‘The Colour Of Spring’ [by Talk Talk], an album that I have been found of, for over 20 years. In other Midge Ure related sad news, I do not know if anybody else here has seen the obituary of Steve New from The Rich Kids, that is listed in The Independent today. Personally I do not know too much about New, as The Rich Kids charted a bit before I got to know about Ultravox, though I am aware of the act, due to other recordings by Midge Ure, Rusty Egan and Glen Matlock. Loz

No Sweat was a name that had crossed my mind, but as I got a ‘mental picture’ of Thunder in my mind [the band not the weather] I thought that it could not be that, as I seem to remember that No Sweat were a rock band from the late 1980s [well I think they released records around the time that The Quireboys, Thunder and Little Angels were all charting with hits]. I cannot remember much about the show, though I think it was like a toned down version of ‘The Inbetweeners’ with added music. For all I know, I think a couple of the band could actually be in the ‘The Inbetweeners’ now, as I only remember the green-haired guy with the glasses, who looked like a punk version of Beaker from The Muppets, and the lead singer, who looked like a squashed ‘mini-me’ version of either Nathan Moore or Daniel Amalm from Home & Away [Jack]. In addition to North & South, does anybody else remember ‘Byker Grooove’? Originally they were a pop trio featuring Donna Air, Jayni Hoy and another girl from the show. They were supposed to become the female answer to ‘PJ & Duncan’ but failed at this, even when they [Air & Hoy] got rebranded as a duo, under a different name. I think at this point, the band was called Jellyhead and they had a song called “Crush”, though it could be the other way around. Another musical show you may remember from the 1990s is Minty, the ‘Australian Hannah Montana’. I think the format would have been very similar to that of Hannah Montana, though I think it was supposed to be an English girl pretending to be a Kylie Minogue type of ‘actress, singer, whatever’ from ‘down-under’ [rather than just wearing a different wig]. I think the actor who was playing Minty was Australian, though I do not think that she ever did anything else, which is strange as you would have thought that she would have also turned up playing a role in Neighbours or Round The Twist. Loz

Suede were my favourite band when I was in the later years of school [i think I would have been in the 6th form when they arrived on the scene] and I think I was the first person in my year to get into them as most people were still obsessed with Northern ‘Baggy’ music at the time. I think Brett & Bernard set a very high standard with their first few releases, a standard that Suede never eclipsed. I would not say their mid-period singles are bad, in a way that many of the ‘wannabe’ Britpop bands were [the ones who came in the ‘second wave’ of Britpop around 1997 and after appearing once on The Chart Show, have now been largely forgotten] or as mediocre as some of the songs from ‘A New Morning’, singles of which I cannot actually remember. Like The Pet Shop Boys, Suede are also an act whose songs [at least in the early days] are such a high standard that even their B-sides should have been released as singles. I wish I had bought their B-sides collection ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’, which like the ‘Alternative’ Pet Shop Boys album, does not seem to have been stocked in the shops that I go to, anytime in the last decade. If all the tracks on ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’ were as good as the additional tracks on my random collection of Suede singles, then surely it should have been one of the ‘greatest indie albums of all time’ as well as their ‘regular’ albums. Another act that I think produced a high standard in bonus tracks was Pulp, a band which replaced Suede as my favourite act during the Britpop era. If you had asked me, during these years, who were the biggest British indie acts, the kind of acts you would have as headliners to a massive festival, then I would have said “Blur; Oasis and Pulp”, whilst a few years earlier, Suede would have been in a league of their own [though at a push, I might have said James as well]. After Suede, Bernard Butler had a few solo hits and recorded “Yes” with David McAlmont, a singer who is currently collaborating with Michael Nyman on an album called ‘The Glare’. Even though he has released collaborations with these people, and others like David Arnold, I do not think he has had any solo hits in his own right. I might be wrong, but if that is a fact, then I think that McAlmont should go on the list. On the other hand, if there is a small chart hit that I have forgotten about, then his early 1990s duo Thieves should be nominated as a ‘non hit wonder’. I would recommend the act to anybody who liked McAlmont when he recorded with Butler and who would be a big fan of the Cocteau Twins as well. I would like to recommend an album as well but unfortunately the pair [David & Saul] fell out with each other and split up before this could be released. However most of the songs for the proposed album can be found on an album just entitled ‘McAlmont’, though I would expect that you would need to find it online or in the second hand shop these days [though by now, it may have been re-issued by Cherry Red, as everything else seems to be]. Loz [Please also note: If you want the book by Alex James, then it is on sale in HMV for £3. I have bought it but not read it yet]

“Lenny Valentino” was my personal favourite and should have been a big Top Ten hit, especially when it was a better record than a lot of the Top Ten hits Suede had in the mid-to-late 1990s . By any chance would you have bought the book that Luke Haines has written? I have seen it for sale in HMV but not got around to buying yet. Loz [well, the name Lawrence is too long to keep typing every time and I dislike ‘Larry’ even more]

It is sad news as I do like Japan, though to be honest it is news that has been eclipsed by the deaths of two other artists, from the bands Londonbeat and the Stereophonics. In the case of the latter, the news really shocked me, as Mark Radcliffe announced it whilst talking about the 70th Birthday of Tom Jones. This was similar to the death of Alex Chilton which was mentioned by Radcliffe whilst discussing something else random on the radio, whilst Jimmy Helm’s death I noticed in Mojo, just like lead singer of OMC [“How Bizarre”]. I like Japan but I do not actually know too much about Karn, apart from the fact that I think he is the guy with no eyebrows. Even though I am not saying that he would be a 1980s equivalent to a ‘Sleeper-guy’ [which I mention as Louise Werner was on ‘Radcliffe & Maconie’ last night], I think as somebody who would probably say he was a fan of Japan, I should know more about him. I think my last points of reference for Karn [excluding Rain Tree Crow] would date back to the 1980s and would be remembered from seeing his entries in the ‘Hit Singles & Album’ book. I do not think that I knew about Japan until “Blackwater” was released in the early 1990s. At the time when Japan split up, I think I would have been listening to Kajagoogoo, while regarding Duran Duran as being too ‘old’ and ‘girly’ for me [even though I do not have any older siblings, I regarded Duran as being a band that were only suitable for ‘older sisters’. I did not bother with the band until they were a trio and generally liked Spandau Ballet instead]. About a year after “Too Shy” hit number one, “Red Guitar” by David Sylvian was featured on my 'Now That’s What I Call Music 3' cassette. However I do not think I paid too much attention to that record until a few years later, when I bought the accompanying 'Now 3' VHS, which featured the “Red Guitar” video as directed by Anton Corbijn. As I like Joy Divison, U2 and Depeche Mode, I think I would have come to a quick conclusion that Sylvian was ‘cool’ as well and so would have started buying his albums from that point. I own many recordings by David Sylvian [‘Secrets of the Beehive’ is the best even though it is quite depressing] and actually I was thinking of buying Karn’s album a few weeks ago. In the end I decided against it as I thought it might be like Sylvian at his most experimental and instrumental. I have never actually listened to these albums and in regards to these works of Sylvian, I think that Scott Walker’s ‘Tilt’ might be more accessible, as at least ‘Tilt’ seems to have a ‘normal’ track listing, comprising of ‘proper’ songs. I am not too sure, but I think that Karn could also be a member of Porcupine Tree now, though I might be getting mixed up with Sylvian’s brother. For many years I thought that Karn was in fact Sylvian’s brother, but I know now that his sibling in the band is actually Steve Jansen. Loz

In that case, I think I have missed out because I liked The Longpigs as well as Jellyfish back in the 1990s. Loz

I remember that show. I think it was called something like “No Surrender” or “No Limits” [though the latter title was in fact BBC Two’s British version of Entertainment USA, hosted by Jenny Powell in the days before DEF II]. I think the title song from the series was released as their third or forth single, though I can only remember the first two. From what I remember, the singles were not too bad as pop singles go, but I would not say were as good as others from the Watkins/Atomic stable like East 17, J-PAC or 2wo Third3 [especially when remembering “I Want To Be Alone (Greta G)” by the last act]. Loz

Yes, that would be a very good example too. Soft Machine are one of those bands that still receive a lot of press in magazines such as Uncut and Mojo, not only because of Wyatt’s solo/band work but because of Kevin Ayers too. I think that Ayers has just had some compilations of his work released recently as I remember glancing over an article in one of those magazines, a few months back, which had caught my eye. I was thinking of buying one of the original albums, that Kevin Ayers first released back in the 1970s, as I saw a few copies in a CD sale a couple of weeks ago. In the end, I thought that a Be Bop Deluxe album might be a safer bet, as I had previously heard a record by Bill Nelson, thinking that Ayers might be too ‘progressively weird’ for my liking. I hope when talking about Ayers, I am not getting myself confused with that of Robyn Hitchcock and Kimberley Rew’s band The Soft Boys, as this was a problem that I used to have when first getting to know the work of Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians. I cannot remember who the other band members in The Soft Boys were, or if I got to know Hitchcock through REM [i had a copy of “Stand” in 1989] or due to “The Yip Song”, which was a favourite song of mine when it first released in the early 1990s. Looking at many of the previous responses to this thread and in particular the bands of the 1960s, I would expect that Hitchcock and Ayers would be the kind of acts that people here would be interested in. I do not actually know what those 1960s bands would sound like but I think it will not be too far away from that of Hitchcock and Ayers. I am guessing that these 1960s acts will be similar to The 13th Floor Elevators, a band I have heard of due to the current re-issue campaign and because I have heard tracks from the new Roky Erickson/Okkervil River album. I am surprised that so many bands from the 1960s have been mentioned. I thought that most people on here would be at an age where they would have grown up with all the Indie bands of the 1980s. Obviously there are loads of acts that people could mention [i suppose you could get a large list just from back catalogue of Sarah Records] though personally I am surprised that I have not seen Momus and Felt in the list yet. I would have thought that either one of those acts would have been one of the first to be mentioned by fans of ‘retro indie’ music. In fact I wanted to mention both earlier but I could not see how I could relate either of them to that of the recordings by soul singer Ephraim Lewis. I think I first came to attention of Momus at the end of the 1980s, when he would have appeared on BBC 2’s Snub TV show singing “Hairstyle Of The Devil”. In those days he was very much like a ‘synthpop Neil Hannon’ and I guess I would have got into his music as he would have reminded me of Marc Almond, especially in the days when he was in Soft Cell or when he recorded the works of Jacques Brel [at that time Snub TV was broadcast, Almond would have been working with Anne Hogan from Cactus Rain, releasing records like “The Stars We Are” which sounded more like Love than of the synthpop of the early 1980s] Back in the 1980 I think Lawrence from Felt would have definitely been another name to mention for those indie music fans who thought that Morrissey was too much of a ‘mainstream’ artist to be bothered with. I was a big fan of Morrissey at the time and so I have many more records by him [and The Smiths] than Lawrence, as my Felt collection only numbers a couple of releases. I think I bought my Felt albums in the early 1990s, as in the 1980s I would have only ever bought records when I was out shopping with my mother, from shops that would not normally stock Felt [Woolworths or my local newsagents], whilst I know it was before the Britpop era as Lawrence was in Denim by then [i was thinking of changing my log-in to ‘Lawrence in Denim’ but I thought it sounded like it should be in a ‘dodgy’ personal ad]. In the 1990s, I bought many records by Pulp, St. Etienne and The Auteurs, but never got around to buying anything by Denim. I do not know why as I liked the singles and their releases were not the most obscure of recordings, as Denim was signed to a major by then [i think it was either London or EMI]. I think Denim’s album was one of those ‘I’ll get that next week releases’, a record that you always planned to get, but in the end you never did because some other special edition ‘caught your eye’ first [for me, “Outernational” by Billy Mackenzie would be another album of this kind, as I have been wanting to buy it for about 18 years now, but have never got around to doing so]. Nevertheless, even though he did not have any big hits, it was good that there was quite a cool artist called Lawrence that I knew about, as when I was younger I hated the name and wanted to be called something else. I never liked the name Lawrence as a child because I never thought it was a very ‘Rockstar’ name. As a child I always thought of people like Sir Laurence Olivier [i suppose today it would be Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen], the kind of people who would be ‘lovey darlings’ and to this day, I cannot think of any other 1980s rock or pop star who would have the same name as me, whether spelt with a letter ‘U’ or ‘W’ [if you can think of any other example please suggest them]. Lawrence [who is not back in ‘Denim’, just in nice comfy work pants]

Looking at your likes and dislikes from your list, I think it might be for the best. I thought some of Eternal & Louise’s hits were alright but I never thought they were in the same league as someone like All Saints. Loz

I think it may be an interesting album for me to listen to these days, as I would probably be interested in most of the acts on the album now. I suppose if the album would have come out a few years earlier when I was in school I would have not ignored it, as at that point I did buy records by bands like Jellyfish, Pixies and Throwing Muses [i was generally interested in most 4AD artists at that point]. I think Redd Kross would be a band I would like to know more about. Back in the 1990s I never knew their songs but I remember their name. I think they are a power pop act and sound like Jellyfish or Big Star, though I cannot be sure because I cannot remember anything else about them. Loz

Nick Drake would have been a great one for the list, though he managed to have a couple of hits in about 2002, with some previously unreleased material which [i think] was found in Gabrielle Drake’s attic. I think the album and remastered boxset were released on the 30th anniversary of his death, with the boxset featuring a DVD that included a documentary of his life. I would have liked to buy this boxset but I thought it was too expensive and so just bought a sampler of the tracks instead. Even though I know Nick Drake has charted a Top 40 single, I am not too sure about Richard Thompson or John Martyn. I think Martyn may have had a Top 30 hit with Faithless, covering the old Beloved song “Deliver Me”, though I am not 100% sure about this fact as it could have been Robert Wyatt instead [who many of you will know from his hit “Shipbuilding”]. Nevertheless I would expect that Thompson and Martyn would have been the kind of ‘Whistle Test’ artists from the 1970s that would have been respected for the albums they released but never managed to chart a single chart hit. I think there will be many artists from the ‘Whistle Test’ show in the early 1970s that you will never see in the UK singles chart hits book. I guess that this would have been because most of the acts on that show would have been the kind of prog-rock act who would not want their tracks truncated into three minute ‘throw-away’ pop songs and so did not bother with releasing singles. I think the group with the most hit albums and no hit singles have been Tangerine Dream who I think have charted about 27 albums [Leonard Cohen would have also been a contender for this honour but received his first single hit when “Hallelujah” charted alongside Jeff Buckley and Alex Burke, the Christmas before last]. Loz

Neil Diamond is an act, like The Carpenters, that I have I have never highly regarded. I have always thought of him as a cheesy American act and so, for many years, his output would have been regarded as ‘one of the most horrible things imaginable’, especially during my years as a Britpop loving student. If I was being truly honest I think you could categorise this as a case of British student snobbery, whereby references are picked up from the British media in regards to what is supposedly cool that week [shed Seven, Menswe@r, The Bluetones] and what is not [Michael Bolton, Phil Collins, most ‘non-urban’ American recording artists]. After reading and believing this music press ‘propaganda’, these views become firmly embedded in your subconscious and so you start to believe that the music that you listen to is one of the most important factors to your social standing, when really it is not, as the music you listen to should be there for ‘entertainment’ purposes only. I used to work in a local pub where they would have regular karaoke nights and looking back I think I enjoyed this ‘cheesy low brow’ form of entertainment more than some of the supposedly cool bands that I saw in the same period. On the downside, as it was a local pub, a lot the people singing tended to be regulars who would sing the same songs week after week and one of these songs was “Sweet Caroline”. Some might say that this is a good enough reason to dislike Neil Diamond, though I do not think I should judge a long-term recording artist on the basis of one or two songs. In addition to “Sweet Caroline”, the only other song that comes to mind when sung by Diamond is “Morning Has Broken”, which I think was a traditional hymn. I do know the covers of “Red Red Wine”, “Solitary Man” and “Girl, You Be A Woman Soon” [as recorded by Urge Overkill, a record which I have regarded as one of the best film soundtrack songs ever] but not the originals and in addition to these songs, I also know that Diamond wrote songs for The Monkees, an act that I used to love watching on holiday morning TV when I was younger. Therefore, even though I only know a couple of ‘cheesy’ recordings by Diamond, it would seem dumb not to regard him as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, a verdict that I doubt anyone would bestow on the singers of Menswe@r or Shed Seven [acts I liked back in the 1990s]. As with Diamond, I think I may have been equally unfair to The Carpenters, when viewing their career. I think my verdict may have not been based just upon their musical output but due to a general association with ‘cheesy’ 1970s American culture [the 70s seemed to be the main retro area of interest/ridicule/obsession back in the 1990s]. Actually, I think a lot of the records by The Carpenters were written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, a duo whose songs I generally like when recorded by people like Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick. I guess these days I am more likely to buy a compilation of The Carpenters, if it had a good enough track listing, than the latest album by The Bluetones [new album released this week in fact]. Loz

It is hard to say what would be a ‘No Hit Wonder’ because without looking at The Official Hit Singles Book I can not remember if certain records were ‘Official’ hits or just ones that turned up at the bottom of the Network Chart, as in the case of “Enjoy” by Solid Gold Easy Amex. I guess Solid Gold Easy Amex could be disqualified from the ‘No Hit Wonder’ list, not only because it is a record nobody will have remembered [i am having trouble with the tune too] but because the ‘group’ was essentially just Paul Oakenfold remixing an old Red Box tune, artists who have had a couple of Top Tens hits, each in their own right. If Solid Gold Easy Amex would be an artist who would be eligible then I think that Billy Mackenzie should definitely go on the list as a solo artist. I would nominate him for his 1990s recordings with Boris Blank and Thomas Fehlmann, such as “Baby”; “Colour Will Come” and “Opal Krush”. Obviously there are those people who could argue that the last three Associates albums were essentially solo records though the act is best known from their early 1980s hits when the band was a partnership between Mackenzie and Alan Rankine. If Billy Mackenzie is disqualified as a ‘No Hit Wonder’ because of this or the fact that he [posthumously] charted a solo album, then another tragic artist that I know for sure would be good for the list would be Ephraim Lewis. I was listening to “Skin”, the only album ever recorded by Lewis last week. I have not listed to the album for many years, but wanted to find it again in my collection, after noticing that he appeared in a recent ‘100 Cult Artists You Should Hear’ list, as produced by Spin Magazine. I was quite surprised to find him listed as it was an American magazine, he only recorded one album and because he never became one of those artists who, like Jeff Buckley and Eva Cassidy, became more popular after their death. I used to love his single “It Can't Be Forever” when it first came out and it is good to report that it has not dated in all these years. Actually, I think that the single would sound great on a compilation following on from Mackenzie’s “Colour Will Come”, as both singles have a similar feel to them [though I think that a ‘101 Dead People’ compilation is an album we will not be seeing any time soon, as it would be perceived as being in very poor taste]. Even though Lewis was a singer, who must have been signed due to the success of Seal, I think that it would be great if somebody like Robbie Williams could cover “It Can't Be Forever” as I think the songs of Lewis deserve to be wider known. Williams, of course, is known for having a Top 10 hit covering the song of another ‘Lewis’, one who could also be on the ‘No Hit Wonder’ list, the British singer Lewis Taylor. In the press I have noticed reviewers who state that Lewis Taylor is one of the best soul artists Britain has ever produced, though I am not too certain. I have only ever heard his “Lewis II” album and found his brand of psychedelic neo-soul quite hard to get into. I think it might be the case where I would have to listen to the album a few times again to really appreciate it, though I did like his version of Jeff Buckley’s “Everybody Here Wants You” to the extent where I would rather listen to Taylor’s version over the original. Loz

Over the weekend, I was listening to the radio, when “Superstar”, the Carpenters cover by Sonic Youth was played. It was for the first time in years that I have heard that particular record and for a moment I thought I was actually listening to a cover of a song written by Lee Hazlewood as I was reminded of the recording of the song “Summer Wine" by Ville Valo. Similar to “Vienna” from the NME’s ‘Ruby Trax’ album [which was discussed recently in another thread], “Superstar” was a song from a charity covers album, which featured many American acts of the mid 1990s re-recording songs that were previously done by The Carpenters. I think the album came out in 1995, but I cannot be sure as I would have been very much into my Britpop at the time and so would have tried my best to ignore that release when it originally came out. I only remember “Superstar” because it happened to be featured on one of my A&M/Island samplers where it was featured alongside new releases by acts such as Tricky, Tindersticks and Del Amitri. I used to enjoy collecting all those [not intended for commercial sale] samplers from the second hand shop, as I would be getting all the new single releases from A&M/Island for a few pounds and bizarre artwork too, that would make me laugh. All the CDs were packaged using the type of dreadful album artwork that used to be synonymous with charity shops, in the days before eBay alerted people to the fact that there might be a large collectors market ‘out there’ for these weird albums [in the exotica category]. On the other hand, I think you might be able to find that charity Carpenters covers album for a couple of pounds now in your local second hand shop alongside the discs of many old Britpop bands. Loz

Would you know of any interesting Number Ones from the NME, Chart Show or MRIB/Network charts, which failed to reach the top on the official Gallup chart? I remember a couple of records [such as “Enjoy” by Solid Gold Easy Amex featuring Red Box] that I used to see charted at the bottom of the Network chart, when it was featured in ‘No. 1’ magazine, but I cannot remember any differences between the chart compilers's Number One hits. Loz

I have got both the books by Boy George [“Take It Like a Man” and “Straight”] but I have never got around to reading them all yet. As with my Kenny Everett book I have just glanced through the chapters, though I did listen to the free CD that came with “Straight” the first time I got the book. I did make time to watch the show and I was also disappointed with what I saw. I thought the beginning was promising but ultimately the show did not hold my attention. After about 20 minutes I got bored with what I was watching and ended up reading the latest issue of The Word magazine instead. I kept the show on in the background just in case there was something interesting happening, glancing at various parts when new characters were introduced onto the screen. I think the main problem that I had with the show, was that it was hyped in the press as the story of Culture Club and particular the O’Dowd - Moss relationship. In reality, it seemed that the band were only in the last 10 minutes of the show with the character of Mikey Craig only turning up for a brief comic moment [an unfunny jazz-funk joke]. As the show seemed to be dealing mostly with the story of ‘The Blitz Kids’ I think it would have been better if the producers had just stuck to that era. I am guessing that, as a lot of this period would have been before David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” was released [as this would have been half-way through the show when ‘Bowie’ was ‘featured’], most of the events that were being portrayed here at ‘The Blitz’, would have happened in 1979. I suppose if the later Culture Club and solo parts had been completely dropped from the show, then the Radio Times may have got lots of complaints from pedants asking why the show was part of the ‘1980s season’, where in fact, most criticism was directed at the ‘Grumpy Guide’ instead. I did not think that the footage from within the walls of the singer’s Hampstead home had much relevance to the parts shown from within The Blitz Club, as the middle of the story that connected the two eras was missing [the famous ‘tea-drinking’ years of massive celebrity]. I suppose that most people on here will be old enough to know what happened in those missing years, but I think that these parts might be a bit ‘random’ for people who are just getting to know the story. I thought the lead actor managed to get across certain traits of George’s personality, but yes, the wit was missing. I think that it was good that he was not just portrayed as a camp character in drag, as his personality was never as ‘girly’ as some people may think. During the later years, in the mansion when George had short hair, I actually thought the actor playing him looked more like Adam Ant, a singer whose life may have suited a half hour biopic better than George [i suppose the early years of George’s life would have been better suited to a mini-series]. Another character who should have had a show of his own was Steve Strange. I thought his character in the show was funny, though this representation may have been wrong for this type of serious drama as some of the mannerisms ‘clashed’ with what else was going on. At times he was almost like a panto villain or like a character you should find in Royston Vasey. Now I have mentioned ‘The League Of Gentleman’, I would just like to say that I thought Mark Gatiss provided the best performance of the show [as Malcolm McLaren], though I would like to keep my attention focused on Strange for now, as I move back to the original question stated at the beginning of this thread. I do not know if we can select collaborations or former group links as the replacement Number Ones, though if this is possible, I think “Fade To Gray” by Visage would be a good selection. “Fade To Gray” is a better record than both of [Visage band member] Midge Ure’s official Number Ones [“If I Was” and “Forever & Ever”] and I personally think it is a better record than “Vienna” too. Actually, I remember that “Vienna” was a Number One hit as well on the NME chart [the ‘original’ singles chart that started in 1952, but was replaced by the forerunner to the Gallup chart] as in 1992 it was included on a covers album, of Number One hits, released by the NME to celebrate the anniversary of their chart [i think the album was called “Ruby Trax” and featured Vic Reeves singing “Vienna”] Loz

I thought that this would have been the kind of record that people would have not have liked on here, though my opinion is actually based upon the Allison Jordan version [she was the girl who won a That’s Life ‘Search For A Star’ competition in about 1992, though rather than being the new Sheena Easton, she actually became the lead singer of Cappella]. I am not too familiar with Darts but I think they would be similar to Showaddywaddy. There seemed to be a lot of acts that were 1950s ‘throwbacks’ around that time [late 1970s, early 1980s] and I think this was mainly due to “Grease”, but I just missed out on Darts and got Shakin’ Stevens instead [who I liked at the time]. Loz