Wags

Paul 'Wags' Wagstaff, the guitarist who supplied the funk and the acid jangle to Manchester's late 80s/ early 90s band Paris Angels, died suddenly at the weekend aged 60. His instantly recognisable guitar riff lit up 1990 single All On You (Perfume) along with the acidic squiggle and thump of the 303 and Rikki Turner and Jane Gil's dual vocals, the song that became the band's calling card. 

All On You (Perfume)

They signed to local indie Sheer Joy and released several more singles, Wags a key part of the songwriting. The majors came and Perfume was re- released by Virgin in 1991 with this video to promote the single, everyone in it looking very youthful and of the time. 

Rikki Turner and Wags started Paris Angels with bassist Scott Carey, out in the East Manchester badlands of Guide Bridge, near Ashton- under- Lyne with the line up expanding to become a seven piece band and work with Paul Johnson, the man who produced Blue Monday with New Order. 

Paris Angels called it a day following a change of ownership at Virgin and the axe being taken to the roster (PiL also got dropped). After Paris Angels Wags played with Black Grape and then in 1999 with the reformed Happy Mondays as well as guesting with The Charlatans. A couple of days ago Rikki shared a crowdfunder to help raise the money to give Wags a decent funeral, a send off for the man he called the Captain, which can be found here. 

RIP Paul Wags Wagstaff. 

Unknown Territories

Rikki Turner has a past. He is a former Paris Angel, a veteran of Manchester bands The New Southern Electrikk and The Hurt and more recently San Pedro Collective. He has been working on a project recently that he says will be his last, that once it is done he will retire from music. Rikki always knows who to work with. His previous groups seen him write and play with among others Wags (a Paris Angel who went on to Black Grape), Suddi Raval (of Hardcore Uproar fame), Simon Wolstencroft (The Fall, pre- Stone Roses Stone Roses). 

His latest and last musical outlet is Unknown Territories, a collective based in Manchester's Spirit Studios, with Martin McLaren and bringing ex- Inspiral Carpet Tom Hingley on board along with Sean Crossey and Esther Maylor (from Heavy Salad) and with production courtesy of Callum Croston and Lewis Jones. Rikki wears his heart on his sleeve and has been sending me snippets of the forthcoming album for some time, always with the promise that it is for Isaac. The first fruits of Unknown Territories came out yesterday, a single called Broken...

Broken is heavy duty 21st century music, the lead vocals of Esther front and centre, underpinned by deep electronic bass and the tsk tsk tsk tsk of hi hats, skittish bleeps and crunching drums. There's more to follow with an album forthcoming featuring both singers and spoken word pieces, and a one off gig at The Eagle Inn, Salford, in December. 

Back in 1990 Paris Angels caught the wave of interest in Manchester bands following the explosion of 1988/ 89. The group were from east Manchester, the unfashionable side of the city, out in Guide Bridge and Ashton- under- Lyne. Regulars at The Hacienda and the Boardwalk they were soaking the influences that were in the air- 60s guitars, sequencers, dance rhythms, New Order's late 80s marriage of all those- kaleidoscopic sounds that saw them sign to Sheer Joy and release three singles, All On You (Perfume), Scope and I Understand, before they signed to Virgin for the album Sundew. 1990's All On You (Perfume) is the one everyone talks about (and rightly so) but Scope, released the same year, can also hold its own, both at the time and now, thirty three years later. 

Scope

Time

San Pedro Collective, a Manchester based group built around the mercurial talents of Rikki Turner, were exploring an acid house sound a year ago, the song Where Do I Begin? and before that a collaboration with Siddi Raval on The Things You See. The new song strikes out in a different direction on their new song, the honey- drenched vocals of Jasmine Needham, a clipped, funky guitar riff and loose limbed drumming of Si Wolstencroft (formerly in The Fall). Time is a summer sounding song, laid back, some 70s strings and bags of easy going charm. Video here.

Rikki, once upon a time, was the singer and front man in Paris Angels whose 1990 single All On You (Perfume) was one of that year's guitar/ dance music crossover highlights. Rikki sometimes, I think, feels that the song is a bit of a millstone for him but it's loved by many including Ride/ Glok man Andy Bell who recorded this sweet acoustic cover version last year for XS Manchester. Video here. 

San Pedro

Rikki Turner, former Paris Angel, ex-New Southern Elektrik and The Hurt, is a restless soul who just keeps moving- when one project ends another begins. His latest group is San Pedro Collective, named after the town in California that was home to Rikki's favourite writer Charles Bukowski (and also home to Bagging Area favourites Minutemen). San Pedro are preparing for a release in July, an e.p. called The Demon Sessions, which will include this song (appearing here in a brief snippet and remixed by The Winachi Tribe).



The Things You See is a collaboration between Rikki and Suddi Raval, with a thundering acid house bassline, plenty of late night, dancefloor vibes and a sultry vocal from Millie MacBean. Also involved are Simon Wolstencroft (ex- Fall drummer), Antnee Egerton of The Winachi Tribe and Manc poet Karl Hildebrandt. The e.p. will feature the original mix of The Things You See and two further songs, San Pedro and A View From The Drowning Pool- the latter is a moody, electronic beast, bleeps and sirens over an 808 and Rikki's street poetics, spoken word vocal.

Suddi Raval was one half of Together who made two records I hold dear. The first was 1990 rave anthem Hardcore Uproar, piano house, a Star Wars sample and the crowd sounds from a rave in a warehouse at the Sett End in Blackburn.



The second was an unfinished remix Together did of Durutti Column's Contra-Indications. In 1990 Vini Reilly was experimenting with samplers and drum machines and his Obey The Time album chimed perfectly with the times. Together's remix was unfinished due to the tragic death of Suddi's partner in Together, Jon Donaghy, in a road accident in Ibiza. I've been coming back to The Together Mix for almost thirty years now and always get chills when I play it. Despite being unfinished Tony Wilson declared it magnificent and released it as a single anyway.

The Together Mix


Rikki's former bands have all released songs that I've raved about here. In 2016 The Hurt released Berlin, a moody Scott Walker via Bowie, collar turned up against the falling Manchester rain.



Paris Angels were from Guide Bridge, near Ashton under Lyne, east of Manchester. Their first single is a legendary slice of 1990 Manchester, a marriage of acid house bass, jangly guitar lines and rattling machine drum with Rikki and Jane Gill's dual vocals. I once bumped into Jane at the Boardwalk- literally- and she told me to fuck off. Which was probably fair enough- I wasn't looking where I was going.

Perfume (All On You)

Perfume came out on indie label Sheer Joy and was widely played and praised. They followed it with two 12" singles- Scope and I Understand- before signing to Virgin (who re-released Perfume) and then put out an album called Sundew. Virgin was sold to EMI and a cull saw various bands removed from the label, Paris Angels among them (and PiL too). Which shows what major record labels know.

Mother Of Earth

I came across this earlier this week, a new band and from Manchester too. The New Southern Electrikk and a dark, sultry cover version of Mother Of Earth by The Gun Club. The band say it's only a demo but it sounds pretty done to me. Singer Monica Ward has got one of those voices and the band, former Paris Angels amongst them, cook up a reverb laden stew. Southern gothic via east Manchester. More please.

Reader Request Paris Angels 'All On You (Perfume)'

Another reader re-post request which I missed, also from back in March, this time from Nik J for this Paris Angels single. All On You (Perfume) was much loved by many, although not Ctel from the mighty (but sadly deleted by Google) Acid Ted blog.

All_On_You_(Perfume).mp3

Paris Angels 'All On You (Perfume)'

After The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays gatecrashed Top Of The Pops in November 1989 there was a scramble to sign anyone with a guitar and a cagoule. This led to some good bands and records-World Of Twist, recently covered over at Acid Ted, especially their Sons Of The Stage single. The High's first lp had several good songs, Up And Down, Box Set Go, Somewhere Soon. Intastella- I seem to remember Dream Some Paradise being good, but can't find my copy (if anyone can oblige with an mp3 I'd be grateful). There were others, but the hit rate soon petered out. There was also this, clearly indebted to New Order and Happy Mondays, but a great single all the same. Crisp beats, guitars, twin boy-and-girl vocals, loved-up but threatening to mug you at the same time. Paris Angels followed this with two other singles, signed to Virgin, released an inferior version of this single and a poorly received album. They also got themselves in trouble with the all powerful music press (if memory serves, journalist accused band of being smackheads, band beat journalist up, music press stopped writing about band). Changes at Virgin saw them dropped before a second album. Guitarist Wags ended up in Black Grape. I saw them live twice and this was the standout live as well as on record. Funny how with Madchester, and to some extent punk and post-punk, loads of bands could release one great single, but couldn't repeat the trick. Anyhow, we're left with this one piece of brilliance.

All_On_You_(Perfume).mp3