So from the last LA show, to a really early one...
Here's a little cracker. It's an ace soundboard from all the way from 1982. This show finds our hero in the three piece 'all girl' line-up, supporting some local band called R.E.M. Whatever happened to them?
This recording crops up on the net from time to time as 'Wee Three'. There's also the original mixes of 'Afoot' tacked on the end for good measure. Lovely stuff. It's great to see lots of love for Mitch on the Interweb...it almost restores my faith in human nature.
Time for some more live Ledz....here's a great show from the latterday LA lineup. My favourite version, in case you're interested. It's a great audience recording (or a third/forth gen soundboard) - give the treble a tweak and it sounds fantastic. A great setlist and an equally great ensemble performance. The choice of songs is pretty heavy on the 'Big Plans/Every Dog' era stuff and so rocks a little harder than previous. Throw a few tasty Who/Hendrix/Beatles covers into the mix and you've got yourself an essential download.
01 In little ways 02 Fell 03 Sweepstake winner 04 Get Free 05 Horizon 06 Still dark out 07 Too bad 08 Every dog has his day 09 Ms So and So 10 Bad machinery 11 Reflecting pool 12 Prey 13 All roads lead to Hell 14 Spanish castle magic 15 Ornamental 16 Badger 17 Orpheus in Hades Lounge 18 Rain 19 I cant reach you 20 Every word means no
Coming from Birmingham, you learn to take the knocks. We’re always going to be in the shadow of London, Manchester, Liverpool…you know…’famous’ places. And Brummies have ‘that accent’…the one that TV producers and Advertising executives always use when they want to imply that a character is an idiot. If you want to befriend a native of Birmingham instantly, simply do a cartoon version of ‘that accent’. We love that. Hearing someone casually belittle millions of people with a mouthful of tangled vowels and catch phrases learned from ultra lowbrow TV programmes is a source of pure joy to us Midlanders. We have more miles of canal in Birmingham than there are in Venice don’t you know?…that’s where we hide the bodies of the people who try and do ‘that accent’.
This snobbery even creeps into Music. I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve been told something along the lines of: ‘Your band’s great…it’s a shame you’re from Birmingham’. Why? I’ve seen dozens of great bands come and go, making barely a ripple in the shark infested waters of the Music Business, primarily because of an accident of geography. Bah humbug. We did have a (kind of) renaissance in the 80s with ‘The Stourbridge Sound’. (Stourbridge is about 12 miles from Birmingham - a small but crucial distance). We gifted the world with The Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. You’re welcome. Recently we’ve given you Jamelia (now, less a performer and more a talking head on game shows..) and The Editors. Annoyingly, that's the tip of the tip of the iceberg. High profile we ain’t. But we should be.
If it sounds like I’m bitter and cynical it’s because I am. Indulge me, please.
'Making Allowances For The Jargon' LP
One band that fell down the cracks that was particularly close to my heart was The Great Outdoors. Just as I was getting into alternative music (particularly the ‘Paisley Underground’) along they came. And they were from Birmingham, which meant I could see them live anytime I fancied. That plan was somewhat scuppered by their ‘revolving door’ policy to band members…in fact, one local wag insisted that the band’s full name was ‘The Great Outdoors Seek Bass Player’. Ha bloody ha. Only frontman/songwriter Martin Silvers lasted the course, helming the band through a short lived golden era (national ‘Radio One’ airplay thanks to Janice Long and …ulp…Mike Read), a split and a brief reformation. This album – ‘Making Allowances For The Jargon’ was as close as they got to The Big Time, which, in reality, wasn’t very close. It’s a solid debut album with a very big tip of the hat to IRS era REM and a nice Byrdsy jangle throughout.
('World At My Shoes')
Two singles were pulled from the album: the first being a bit of an undiscovered classic – ‘World At My Shoes’ got the airplay and a bunch of positive reviews, but the band couldn’t quite capitalize on it. This may have been to do with the fluctuating lineup. In fact one of the members listed on the sleeve of the album doesn’t actually play on it. He did look damn cool. Hell, they all did. ‘…Jargon’ has long been deleted, but a retrospective featuring demos and some unreleased stuff -‘Not Quite Cinderella’- emerged in 1994 and is still available through Amazon -just hit the link. A third album – ‘Water Cakes’ was recorded in 1997, but never officially released.
'Bird In The Hand' 45
There’s some great stuff on the record – occasionally the playing is a little stiff, but the tunes carry the performances through. For one, shining moment, it looked as if we had a contender here, but it wasn’t to be. At least one track on here, the aforementioned ‘World…’ is definitely worthy of reappraisal. This rip is from my vinyl copies of the album and singles – the album stuff is decent sound quality, but the singles…well anyone familiar with UK Indie pressings from the 80’s will know what I mean when I say they have a certain ‘crunchy’ quality… It shouldn’t deter from your listening pleasure.
I hope I’ve piqued your curiosity, gentle reader. Give it a whirl – it’ll cost you nada and it may enhance the quality of your life.
(Trainspotters may also like to know that it’s a Pat Collier production).
It was a Tuesday morning. Sometime in April, I think. I'd just joined a band - a band who worshipped at the altar of another, not quite famous band. In an attempt to keep up and show a bit of willingness, I'd purchased one of the not quite famous bands records...just for research purposes and to see if there were any Basslines I could steal. I picked the cheapest one, not wishing to throw money away on a dud. I played it once and it sounded alright...a bit low key and sadly lacking in the shredding Guitar solos that I loved so much. The cover was a bit murky too... some sort of bridge thing covered in weeds and pictures of four freshly scrubbed college students. "Don't these jerks know anything about packaging?" I thought as I looked longingly at David Lee Roth arching backwards on the rear cover of the first Van Halen album. I played it again. It sounded...better. What was the singer going on about? Nice Bass lines...good harmonies too. I put the headphones down and went to sleep. The next morning - Tuesday morning - I awoke and before breakfast, before brushing my teeth, before getting dressed I had to do one thing -play that record again. I've played it no less than once a fortnight since April 1986. I'm playing it now and it still sounds like nothing else.
'Murmur' changed my life. How fucking Hollywood is that? But it did - at a stroke, the REO Speedwagon and Sammy Hagar records scattered around my bedroom looked vaguely ridiculous. I couldn't bear to look at them after a while and those 'Pre REM' LPs that didn't get binned were placed on a high shelf...REM was all I needed now. I sought out everything by them- every record they mentioned in inteviews, every record that sounded like them, every record by bands which came from where they came from. It was all so vital and thrilling and new... like drinking spring water after a lifetime of no-brand diet Cola.
They could do no wrong. They said they'd never mime in videos and they didn't (until MUCH later). They said Big Star were great and they were. Their live shows were chaotic, passionate and ever-changing. When they played 'Radio Free Europe' at the Hammersmith Odeon on September 12th 1987, I leaped out of my chair so hard I cut my shin.
Mike Mills became my hero. I ripped off his playing so much, I considered sending him a royalty cheque.
REM were my gateway into a new world and a new way of thinking...from music to dress sense to politics to Greenpeace to almost everything.
And now, they've split. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy that they aren't grinding on making patchy records that sound like other people, but sad that they aren't -well - a presence, I guess. A fixed point of reference. I'd have liked to have seen them once more, knowing it was the last time I was over going to hear some of those songs that altered the course of my life. The last time I saw them at some cattleshed sized venue in the UK, I was so bored I could barely concentrate...until I heard an echo of the music that made me wake up - just for a moment.
They've won countless awards and sold equally countless records. That doesn't matter. My story is not unique...I've met so many people in bands who started playing when they heard 'Murmur' or 'Reckoning' or any of those dazzling 80s albums. They inspired people. Me included. I'll miss them.
Hey hey! Hang out the streamers and all that Jazz - this is post #100!
Yep, 'Big Plans...' started in early Jan this year and is still going strong. I know some Blogs can knock out 100 posts in a month or two, but the wheels grind slightly slower here at BPFE towers. For me, it's a bit of a milestone for many reasons....
- I'm a great 'starter' - ie I'm full of enthusiasm for a brief moment and then another shiny object catches my eye and I'm off again, so to keep this up for nearly nine months is MASSIVE for me.
- I've corresponded with so many cool people over the year - a big HI! to Don V and the ASH types, Adelle, Ralph D, Sal at Burning Wood...the list goes on. Stout fellows all.
- I've been turned on to a bunch of great music (and a TON of stuff by my fave bands that I didn't know existed). Thank Jeebus for Broadband and MegaUploads reasonable subscription rates.
There are no words to describe how much I want that Bass...I already have the trousers...
- I've found out that there are at least 10 people who like Hugo Largo. Who knew?
- I've had a (semi) legitimate excuse to write cack about music on a regular basis and have a bunch of people read it and..ulp...enjoy it. Ta everso.
Right, before I get all 'group hug-gy' about this whole thing, lets get to the meat of this post. As a treat for your persistence, here's a mother-lovin' ultra gem of a post. Yep, it's demos, rough mixes and out-takes from Let's Active's magnificent 'Big Plans For Everybody' sessions. It couldn't really be anything else, could it? Decent sound quality, amazing tunes and your chance to play 'spot the difference' with the finished version, which I assume is on heavy rotation on your HiFi, right? It had better be.
('Writing The Book Of Last Pages' from OGWT 1986)
(Side note - I think I pulled this off Dimeadozen back in the day, but I see that the magnificent 'Wilfully Obscure' blog posted this stuff last year, too. Another thing I've learned is that whatever I want to post or write about, WO have done it first, better and with more grammatical accuracy than I could ever hope to do. Damn you!! - only joking, I love you guys...)
You don't need me to tell you that Mitch Easter is God, now, do you?
Thanks for the century Big Planners - you've made a sad old Music geek feel like he has a purpose.
