Blog: THE VINYL VILLAIN

There are many many more people out there way more qualified to talk about The Lilac Time than me. Here's the wiki article if you need further info just now. They've been going, on and off, since 1987. They werent a band I ever picked up on until Jacques the Kipper included this fabulous bit of pop music from 1989 on one of the many compilation tapes he put together for me:- mp3 : [...]

I asked for, and received, a lot of books from Santa and already I'm getting through them at a fair rate thanks in part, at long last, to me accepting at 48 and a half years of age, I need assistance when it comes to reading. So after going to an optician for the first time in my life the other day, I now wear glasses for smallprint - including books and newspapers. Over the coming year I intend to highlight a few of the music books that I own - I think in terms of bios alone [...]

I'm the first to admit that gigs-wise 2011 was less action-packed than any other over the past 30 years. I've a cunning plan in mind to make sure 2012 is a lot more productive...more on that in the coming days. But 2011 was seen out with a great night out. But you wouldn't expect anything else from a night in the company of David Gedge & Co. The thing is....before you go along you know what to expect. Around 90 minutes of fast [...]

mp3 : Altered Images - Happy New Year It might only be 23 seconds long, but the sentiment is there. Here's hoping 2012 turns out to be a good 'un for all concerned. mp3 : Ballboy - Welcome To The New Year And my oh my, haven't this lot's image changed a fair bit since 1983...... Tune in all year for more random and incoherent thoughts from your humble scribe.

As 2011 draws to an end, many bloggers - including most mt favourite places to visit as lsited over on the right hand side - will already be looking back over the past 12 months and highlighting some of their personal best ofs in terms of music, books and other entertainment. I'm sorry for an readers who are fans of such items for it's no something going to feature at TVV. 2011 has not been a great year. Most of you will know why. I thought that 2010 was bad enough - and by [...]

The day after Christmas can sometimes be a bit of an anti-climax. I hope it is not the case with you dear readers. The folk I feel sorry for are those in the retail sector. They probably finished at 6pm on Saturday night after about three or four weeks in a row without a day off during which time they dealt with customers who were clueless and often rude. I certainly saw some supermarket check-out staff get a mouthful of abuse because the shop had the temerity to have run out of some foodstuffs and those [...]

It's the tradition round these parts:- mp3 : Sultans of Ping - Xmas Bubblegum Machine Hope Santa has been great to you and your loved ones.

This is for my brother and his family in Florida...and my mum and dad who are over there visiting the grandkids this festive period. He was lying in the half light Of Christmas and Glasgow Thinking and talking Talking to St Enoch about [...]

This was a bugger to sort out for you as the a-side to this 12" single is a double-grooved record, which means you've got to muck about with it a bit to make sure you get both versions of the song as available on the vinyl:- mp3 : Sugarcubes - Birthday (Christmas Eve) mp3 : Sugarcubes - Birthday (Christmas Day) Now these might very well be the wrong way round. I've never been sure which is which - I'm basing it on the fact that 'Eve' is listed [...]

Released in 1981. It's on Les Disques du Crepuscule. Here's what it says on the back of the sleeve:- Yet another Christmas album. This one comes from Belgium, a small country which has contracted debts from its partners all around the world. In debt we are towards the artists who have written the featured selections collected under the title 'Chantons Noel'. Let's sing Christmas. [...]

As mentioned yesterday, I'm re-posting some old stuff in response to a request from a reader. Here's something dating back to April 2009:- RADIO FRIENDLY UNIT (NON) SHIFTER All that talk the other day of Paul Haig (and again I'd like to thank everyone who lent their support) got me thinking of other great songs to come out of Edinburgh. And right away, this piece of magic from 1986 sprung to mind:- [...]

A reader writes:- Just went on to the website after getting home from my works xmas party at The Arches. A colleague recommended the vinyl villain after talking about music from the 80's and all the scottish bands we listened to. Been trying to get hold of the Fruits of Passion and Goodbye Mr Mckenzie for ages. Saw your write-ups but couldn't download the [...]

FEED THE WORLD.... In a recent episode of Songwriters on Sky Arts channel, Midge Ure explained how the Band Aid single, Do They It's Christmas? came about, "I was up in Newcastle ready to go on The Tube music show with Ultravox. I was talking to Paula Yates , when [...]

From wiki:- The Bathers are a Scottish Chamber pop band. Formed in Glasgow in 1985 after the band Friends Again split up, they are essentially the vehicle for singer-songwriter, Chris Thomson. They have released seven albums. [...]

Following his departure from The Stone Roses in April 1996, guitarist John Squire quickly got back into the music industry with his new band The Seahorses with who he enjoyed a fair amount of commercial success. All of their recorded output was released in 1997, beginning with #3 hit Love Is The Law [...]

While recently re-reading the excellent Goodnight Jim-Bob : On The Road with Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (a highly recommended book available from its publishers here ), I was struck by the following passage:- On May the 10th backstage at the Carlisle Sands Centre we received a phone call to tell us that 1992 The Love Album had entered the charts at number 1. That surely should have felt a lot better than it did. I was cock-a-hoop head over [...]

PRODUCTION VALUES I recently heard Steve Lillywhite telling how he got his break in the music industry, working as a tape operator at the Philips Studios. Then while working for Polygram Records, he got the opportunity to produce some demo tapes for the first incarnation of Ultravox then called Tiger Lily with a lead singer named Dennis Leigh, who [...]

The above pictured cat is on the mend. But it was looking bad for a bit. He was taken to the vet last Friday afternoon by Mrs V after she spotted that he was having problems peeing. Turns out he had a blockage which was also affecting his kidneys and liver. Emergency surgery was undertaken - and quite a long operation it turned out to be. He then spent three nights under the direct supervision of a team of vets in a hospital before being allowed back home late on yesterday where he continues [...]

Post-holiday blues, Xmas nights out, scary weather and a seriously-ill cat have all been determining factors in my inability to get the blog back to normal these past few days. And with the cat not yet completely out of the woods yet (that's three nights away in a vet's hospital with the costs ever-escalating), it might be that no sooner have I tried to get going again than I will come to a grinding halt. But to matters in hand. Saturday 19 [...]

From wiki:- Ballboy are a four piece indie band from Edinburgh, Scotland. Formed in the late 1990s, the band have released five albums between 2001 and 2008. Originally comprising Viv Strachan (vocals), Gordon McIntyre (guitar), Nick Reynolds (bass), and Alexis Beattie (drums), Ballboy played gigs around Edinburgh for a few years, and recorded tracks for the Edinburgh indie compilation it's a life sentence..., released [...]