Another Imaginary Album

Another imaginary album. Previously I speculated about the Andrew Weatherall, Jah Wobble and Sinead O’Connor album that could have followed Andrew’s remixes of Jah Wobble’s Invaders of You in 1992 and the album that he was lined up to produce for The Fall in 1993 but which didn’t happen, as well as a re- united Joe Strummer and Mick Jones album c.1989. Today’s imaginary album is another Weatherall one, this time one that existed for a while on paper but was never followed through. In 1994 following the artistic success of Sabres Of Paradise’s Haunted Dancehall, the record company, Warp, were keen on a follow up with Sabres and some hand picked guest vocalists. The Chemical Brothers and Leftfield had both made records with guest vocalists by this point, including Beth Orton, Tim Burgess, Toni Halliday, and John Lydon and Warp felt Sabres should be getting in on the action. In an interview with NME during this period, possibly the dance music page Vibes (which Andrew’s friend Sherman edited and wrote), Andrew mentioned that he was looking forward to working with Ice T. Jagz Kooner has confirmed that Ice T/ Tracy Morrow’s name was on a list of names of people that Warp were hoping would take to the microphone on this mooted Sabres Of Paradise plus friends album. 

At the Sabresonic 30th event at The Golden Lion last November Jagz and Gary Burns confirmed that a list of names was drawn up. Dot Allison and Bobby Gillespie were both on it, both singers with close connections to Andrew, Bobby via Andrew’s production on Screamadelica and Dot via Andrew’s post- Screamadelica production on One Dove’s Morning Dove White. There is a cassette that belongs to Chris from Soft Rocks, given to him by Andrew as a thank you along with a pile of records, that contains an unreleased Sabres Of Paradise track that goes by the title of Al Green (Revenge Of Dove). The track has that blissed out electronic dub sound that Andrew helped shape with One Dove, possibly even contains a One Dove sample, and although the cassette is not top quality in terms of sound, it’s a real shame it was never finished, it’s very much a lost Sabres track. I’d love to share it but I think doing so would get me into trouble.

Sirens

The tantalising thing about the track’s title is the possibility that alongside guest vocals from Ice T, Bobby Gillespie and Dot Allison, the Reverend Al Green would be making an appearance. Imagine something like Sirens, above from One Dove's Morning Dove White, with Al Green singing on it.

According to Jagz the next name pencilled in by Warp was that of Tom Waits. Tentative enquiries were being made and it was at this point that Andrew got cold feet, getting the fear about working with some of his heroes, and kiboshed the whole project, not willing to put himself in a studio with someone who he regarded as highly as Tom Waits, a hero of Andrew’s since his teenage years.

Heartattack And Vine

Again, close your eyes for a moment and try to imagine Tom Waits' growl and gravelly tones, his gutter poetry, over the top of some mid- 90s Sabres dub. Think of the remixes that could have come from this imaginary album.

Andrew was quite vocal in interviews in the second half of the 90s about dance acts using guest vocalists, in a disapproving way, so he may have had doubts from the start but sitting here three decades later, the prospect of a Sabres Of Paradise album with Tom Waits, Ice T, Al Green, Dot Allison and Bobby Gillespie all singing on it feels like a lost opportunity, one that will have to live in our imaginations only.  

More Bands In Places They Shouldn't Be

Following my two previous posts in this series, the first here and the second here, today I offer you some more television appearances from bands whose pluggers and record labels booked them onto tv programmes that may in retrospect have been a little ill advised. The mid 80s was a golden period for this sort of thing with bands miming on lunchtime television, early evening chat shows and children's tv in order to shift more singles.  

In October 1985 Prefab Sprout appeared on Hold Tight, filmed and broadcast by one of Scotland's regional independent broadcasters. The actual appearance was at Alton Towers, the Staffordshire theme park. Prefab Sprout are playing their classic 80s single When Love Breaks Down. It doesn't look especially warm. The crowd are seated in temporary seating, swaying on demand and largely out of time. Paddy McAloon attempts to hide his embarrassment behind a pair of aviators. The band spend much of their time concentrating on remaining steady on the swaying, springy platforms. 

On 5th January 1980 The Clash, who famously refused to do Top Of The Pops because they wouldn't mime, appeared on TISWAS, ITV's Saturday morning kids tv show.  The four members are interviewed by Sally James and offer a copy of London Calling as a prize for a lucky viewer. Sally keeps talking, presumably in an attempt to make sure no one swears. Topper is clearly stoned. At two minutes thirty nine seconds Paul leans over to spit on the floor in front of a group of small children. It's all over fairly quickly, probably to everyone's relief. 

In 1990 Ice T appeared on BBC2's art programme The Late Show. Nothing that incongruous in some ways- it was an arts programme after all- but somehow Ice T, at that point the leading exponent of gangsta rap, guns, chains and women in tiny bikinis, appearing on a fairly staid and stiff arts programme more used to hosting panel discussions of the writings of Salman Rushdie, is all kinds of dissonance. In this section, closing the programme, Ice T does Lethal Weapon. His rapping, done live, is flawless and the sense of LA menace is palpable in front of a completely, sterile empty BBC studio. 

The show was already a music lover's dream, if not for the right reasons. In November 1989 The Stone Roses were riding the crest of a very large wave and pitched up on The Late Show midweek, an accident waiting to happen. The programme went out live, Tracey MacLeod introducing the fourpiece playing Made Of Stone live, the band looking impossibly cool and sounding on it as well. As they hit the first chorus John Squire's guitar hits the BBC's noise limiters and the sound cuts out suddenly. Drummer Reni begins giggling. Ian begins to ask questions. Tracey returns to the camera and apologises, moving on to the next item (about photographer Martin Parr). 'They ask you to come and then they mess you about', Ian complains behind her. 'We're wasting our time lads', he goes on, and then louder, 'Amateurs, amateurs'. It is brilliant TV, and let's be honest, much better and more memorable than if they'd just played Made Of Stone.