Blog: THE VINYL VILLAIN

I've mentioned before that for a short while from around late 1985 for maybe around 18 months that music took a bit of a back-seat in my life. I had just graduated from university, gotten my first job and moved to Edinburgh to live. I got a bit entrenched for a while in the world of community theatre and even a bit of stand-up comedy.....writing stuff for others not performing. So there's a bit of a hole in the collection from around this era. I'm aware of a fair bit of the stuff thanks in [...]

Originally posted on 6 October 2009 Picture the scene. Student Flat, August 1984. It was back in the days of student grants and not loans, and the months of July and August could be as laid-back as you wanted them to be (assuming you had no re-sits). One flat mate comes in late one night with a 7" copy of the new single by The Smiths - the band whose debut LP and first four singles had been the sound [...]

This isn't a single I own. I went into buy it at the local indie store back in 2005 but they didn't have it. I bought the LP instead. It's not great, but I still think this is a cracking bit of pop music that deserved to be a monster smash. Much bigger than the #38 position it crawled to It's tailor made for morning and day-time radio. mp3 : I Am Kloot - Over My Shoulder Happy Listening

After the demise of Elevation Records in late 1987, it would be almost two years before the world heard again from Edwyn Collins . By now he had signed to Demon Records , a label that had been partly founded by Jake Riviera who will always be associated with the post-punk rise of Stiff Records [...]

This is a truly wonderful free exhibition of photos on display in Glasgow until 27 February. From the accompanying website:- Harry began his photographic career in his Glasgow home town, standing outside the Apollo, flogging gig-goers newly-developed shots from bands' Edinburgh shows the night before. Harry's impulse to guerilla lensmanship swiftly drew him to London: from 1979 to 1984 he was a staff photographer for the music weekly Sounds, providing countless front covers. During those five years, Harry's photographs covered the post-punk waterfront, from Blondie to David Bowie; the Associates [...]

Back in the summer of 2007 I ended up working in Toronto for four months. It was a fantastic experience and I've loads of great memories inclduding musical highlights thanks to great live gigs. I of course took the i-pod with me on the adventure but I also threw about 20 CDs into the suitcase to keep me going as well, including the debut from a littkle-known but critically acclaimed band from Scotland called The Twilight Sad . Fourteen Autumns and [...]

From wiki:- The Big Dish are a Scottish pop/rock band formed in Airdrie, Scotland in 1983. The band initially comprised Steven Lindsay (vocals/guitar), Mark Ryce (guitar) and John Harper (keyboards). The trio was subsequently augmented on stage by Raymond Docherty (bass) and Keith Burns (drums). As well as releasing three studio albums, the band performed live as support to Lloyd Cole and Big Country. [...]

I asked Santa to bring me this as it had received quite a number of excellent reviews towards the end of 2011. I'm pleased I did. Nile Rodgers is best known as one of the founding fathers of disco thanks in part to the songs he wrote and recorded with Chic and the songs he wrote and recorded with others acts such as Sister Sledge and [...]

REVIEW OF BONNIE PRINCE BILLY - OLD FRUITMARKET, GLASGOW - SUNDAY 29 JANUARY The phone went around 5pm on Sunday night. Basil Butcherboy lets me know there's a spare ticket to go catch Bonnie Prince Billy who is in town as part of Celtic Connections. I said yes...and discovered then there was a whole crowd going along including Robert Butcherboy and other musician friends of theirs whose depth of knowledge and love of all forms of music leave me looking [...]

REVIEW OF RICK REDBEARD/FOUND/MALCOLM MIDDLETON : BREL, GLASGOW : TUESDAY 24 JANUARY Howdy folks, it's my turn this week to bring you the review of this week's gig in JC and Aldo's 52 Gig in a Year series. Last Tuesday saw myself, and JC (almost recovered from his weekend in London) head out to the West End to Brel for an evening of music from the Glasgow label Chemikal Underground , part of the Celtic Connections festival currently taking place in [...]

True Faith is a 1987 track by New Order , produced by Stephen Hague . It was the first New Order single since their debut Ceremon y to be issued in the UK as two separate 12" singles. The second 12" single features two remixes of True Faith by Shep Pettibone . Both versions of the 12" (and also [...]

Edwyn's second single was released in November 1987 with the catalogue number ACID6 has the distinction of being the final ever release on Elevation Records :- mp3 : Edwyn Collins - My Beloved Girl mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Clouds (Fogging Up My Mind) The 12" has the catalogue number ACID6T, and in addition to the standard version of the single, has these:- mp3 : Edwyn Collins - My (Long Time) Beloved Girl mp3 : [...]

Review of Butcher Boy/Darren Hayman : Cecil Sharp House, London : Saturday 21 January (The subplot......24 hours after Easterhouse, JC was down in Camden, London to watch his beloved Butcher Boy - could it be better than the gig he himself promoted in Glasgow back in November??) The venue was the majestic and quaint Cecil Sharp House, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. It's a building that dates back to 1930, and other than some modern adaptations [...]

REVIEW OF CORNERSHOP/1990s at THE PLATFORM, GLASGOW : FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012 Celtic Connections is a long-standing annual festival of music held in Glasgow every January. It began as a celebration of folk and traditional music but has increasingly diversified into more contemporary stuff and many acts who now appear under it banner are about un-Celtic as a church of Scotland minister who has a season ticket for the football team that play at Ibrox Park. But this diversity is hugely welcome, for without it your humble scribe and his sidekick Aldo [...]

Lazy posting today...which somehow seems appropriate. Word lifted from wiki:- Ice Hockey Hair is an EP by the Welsh alternative rock band Super Furry Animals, released in 1998. The record contains four songs which the band felt did not fit in with either their previous album, 1997's Radiator, or its follow-up Guerrilla. The title track refers to an alternative name for the mullet hairstyle. [...]

Something came up on the i-pod shuffle the other day that got me thinking that it was perhaps the finest of the singles released by Siouxsie & the Banshees . Not more than 20 minutes later, another random single came on that made me think this was in fact their finest 45. All of which got me doing a wee bit of research... Between 1978 and 1995, the band released 30 singles. Of these, all but three sold enough copies to gain a place in the UK Top 50. [...]

From wiki:- Composed of Stuart Adamson (formerly of The Skids, vocals/guitar/keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar/mandolin/sitar/vocals) , Tony Butler (bass guitar/vocals) and Mark Brzezicki (drums/percussion/vocals) though a variety of other drummers have been in the band throughout their long career, including Simon Phillips and Aaron B. Prior to the recruitment of Butler and Brzezicki, an early incarnation of Big Country was a five-piece band and it featured Peter Wishart, later of Runrig and now an SNP MP, on keyboards, his brother Alan on bass, and Clive Parker, drummer from [...]

Recently, a reader requested a piece featuring Ultravox and Midge Ure . Your wish is our command. The first incarnation of Ultravox formed in 1974 as Tiger Lily . Vocalist and keyboard player Dennis Leigh and guitarist Steve Shears were joined by Canadian drummer [...]

Monday 9 January 1981. Sometime between 8pm and 10pm. On the Richard Skinner Show on BBC Radio 1. In the days when few TV stations and not many more radio stations would have meant a fairly good audience for the songs performed in session:- mp3 : Orange Juice - Upwards And Onwards (1981 session) mp3 : Orange Juice - Wan Light (1981 session) mp3 : Orange Juice - Felicity (1981 session) So much was expected of the boys at this point in time. Success [...]

A LIFE IN A YEAR OF GIGS : #2 : SWEDE SOUL MUSIC After the experience of the local hip-hop scene in week one, your humble scribe and his sidekick Aldo decided to get on more familiar ground in week two. And to avoid the possibility of us having to leave early and miss the headline act as had happened with Mackenzie and Swad , we decided to make it a Friday night out. There were two gigs vying for our attention – [...]