Tell The Internet

If you’ve read my other blog (Because Midway Still Aren’t Coming Back…) you’ll know I bloody love flexi disks; those weird promo records that were popular until they were killed off by CDs and mp3s, so you can imagine how excited I was to discover a flexi disk called “Noel Edmonds asks the questions about Barclays Bank” amongst a load of old 7″s I inherited recently.

Well, I say excited. I was certainly interested to find out what seering and insightful questions the tidy-bearded one could ask of a major bank in, well, I don’t even know what year. According to Discogs, the Lyntone label produced flexi disks from before 1964 to possibly after 1982; and this recording LYN2931 seems to drop in somewhere between David Bowie (sometime in the early 70s possibly) and The Karibs (1974).

So, what does household name Noel have to say? I’ve no idea unfortunately. My magic machine that copies these things just can’t get a decent copy. You can hear Noel in his smuggest voice talking about something and there’s mention of a restaurant, but that’s it. I was hoping for some sort of awful rant that I could use to blackmail him, but no, it’s just a bit of plastic.

I might just stick it in the post to him for his collection. Does he still live at Crinkley Bottom?

While rummaging through the cupboard I came across some old tapes, one of them was this - Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, recorded by Radio 1 (or 1FM as Mark Goodier seems to be contractually obliged to call it) and broadcast at some point in April that year.

As this link will tell you, Sound City was a music industry thing that aimed to highlight new bands:

“From arriving at Norwich station to be greeted by the sound of bands playing in the concourse, music was omnipresent. In the centre of town, busker-populated streets led to the market place where an open-air stage saw over45 daytime performances by mainly local bands throughout the week.

Seemingly countless night-time performances at pubs and clubs in the town were capped by the live broadcasts from the Waterfront encompassing all styles of music oft he moment. From name bands such as Carter USM and Brand New Heavies to the new contenders such as Jacob’s Mouse and Catherine Wheel.”

Enough of that, the tracklisting is:

Only Living Boy in New Cross

24 Hours from Tulse Hill

Rubbish

Do Re Me

Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere

Prince in a Pauper’s Grave

While You Were Out

After the Watershed

Sheriff Fatman

Bloodsport for All

I’m sure this is all illegal to put up on the internet but there you go, I’ll take it down if anyone complains.

Carter USM, Live at Norwich Sound City, 1992 (Right click and download to save, sorry I can’t stream it, it’s all in one and about 65 meg!).

So, it’s ‘odd punk tape find of the day’ time again with this: “The Frogs of War - The Gunpowder Plot Noodle”

While I was rummaging about for more Because Midway Still… stuff I came across this old tape (brilliantly it’s a C30) of a band from Huddersfield that I saw play live on numerous occasions as a lad and presumably bought this tape at one of their gigs. It’s from 1990, the quality is ropey and having listened to it I now know why my hearing is so shot to pieces; if this is what I listened to live at The Wharf and Top Spot on a Monday night in my youth, it’s no wonder I’m going deaf!

As you’ll be unlikely to have a copy of this here you go, tracks in order are (The live second half was recorded at The Wharf pub in Huddersfield on 29 January 1990. Blimey, that makes me feel old):

1. Eyes of the Free

2. Colder

3. That Perfect Day

4. Home Away from Home

5. Washing Your Car (Live)

6. Eyes of the Free Blues (Live)

7. Up Someones Ass (Live)

8. Short Cut (Live)

9. Citizen (Live)

10. Transmit the Message (Live)

And the whole lot as a massive zip file “The Frogs of War - The Gunpowder Plot Noodle” (which is 43 meg, so go easy!) and the cassette insert is here Side 1 and here side 2.

I realise that this is probably breaking all kinds of copyright laws so will take it down if needs be.

An odd side effect of writing my blog about old indie music - Because Midway Still Aren’t Coming Back - is that record promoters and pimpers email me and send me music to listen to in the vain hope of getting it featured on the blog. This is probably unlikely to happen for two reasons: one, none of it is a vinyl copy of a song from 1991 in the indie/C86/twee/Sarah Records genre and two, most of it is shit.

However, in an attempt to get the feel of writing about someone’s music that’s not a classic bit of twee, I thought I’d stick down a few notes about a CD I went out (well, emailed and paypalled) and bought with my own hard-earned cash. And it’s the one pictured above. It’s called “Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez” and it’s from MJ Hibbett and the Validators, a band I’m a huge fan of.

MJ Hibbett is the man who brought us (in conjunction with Rob Manuel from B3ta) Hey Hey 16k, a lovely tribute to the old fashioned computers we had as kids, he’s also the only other person that’s featured on ‘Because Midway Still…’ thanks to Do the Indie Kid, a marvellous tale that we can all relate to.

Anyway, “Regardez…” is a proper album that that feature Indie Kid and 12 other lovely tracks. From the story of a chap who used to be in a famous indie band and is suddenly thrust back on stage in Japan (another of the side effects of ‘Because Midway Still…’ is having a long list of bands that never made it in the UK, but were big in Japan; which, along with having a lady singer, is pretty much the indiest thing you can do) and the lovely loves songs like “It only works because you’re here” - which will speak to anyone who’s ever been silently in love with a work colleague. Each of the songs is a snippet of life in the Half Man Half Biscuit mould, and each one is as good as the last.

I’m no NME reviewer, I’ll leave that to the professionals, but if you’ve got a tenner to spend on a cracking CD from a cracking band who know their way about pop, you can, and should, buy it from the band’s website, and avail yourself of the other offerings. I have, they’re great. The album is full of singalong numbers, helped by the fantastic innovation of it coming with a little booklet with all the words and chords in! Bloody ‘Girls Aloud’ wouldn’t be that kind to us.

I was thinking about doing this blog more often, and the two previous Telegraph-baiting posts sparked a bit of life in me.

I regularly blog about music over at Because Midway Still Aren’t Coming Back and get more than few hits there; which is nice. I get a load of stuff emailed to me because of that, so maybe some music reviews wouldn’t go amiss.

I digress. I was talking about things that made you feel old the other day and that made me go and hunt for things that had made me the man I am when I was a lad. Now, being 35, “when I was a lad” is quite a long time ago anyway, but when you learn that something you hold dear and still rely on on a regular basis is 20 years old, well it brings home just how ancient you are!

When I was I in my formative years, I had a group of friends (most of whom I still talk to on and off) and part of their prized posessions was also a copy of The Pixies’ Doolittle album (plus a load of ‘punk’ records) and we had a developing urge to go and see bands play live in Huddersfield, our nearest big town. Again, I’m not sure of the timing of that, I suspect I was late to the party and they’d been doing it for ages, but bloody hell did it spark something in me.

Doolittle is still rightly regarded as one of the most important albums of recent times and if I hear one of the tracks it reminds me of just how good it was to be young and stupid. So, happy birthday Doolittle, thank you for helping me be the old and stupid bastard I am.

Full scans of the covers are in the zip files. The quality is a bit dodgy, but you’ll get the idea.

Careful! It’s a 48Meg zip file.

And another 48Meg zip file…

At the risk of turning this into a ukulele-only page, which I might still do, I’ve just been put onto a cracking ukulele-based singer/songwriter called Micky P Kerr. His Myspace page is here, I first heard Puppy Eyes on Gideon Coe on 6music - the greatest radio show in the world.

So, this is “I Like Drinking”, an ode to the wonders of a pint or two. Ukulele? Check! Drinking? Check! Smoking? Check!