Middleage Fanclub

Less a comment on the current age status of Teenage Fanclub, and more a nod to my belated comprehensive education in the TFC ouevre, past and present, in the past few years. 

In fairness, I was in the last few months of my teenage years when the lads first burst onto the scene but, apart from all of the missed gigs not least when Gerard Love was present, I think coming to them later in life has also brought it's own rewards.

Current case in point is their latest single, Day In The Sun, with an album Do Not Dare to Dream following in October.

Superficially, a blend of pleasing chords, gentle harmonies and life affirming lyrics. I love the undercurrent of squally guitar and swirly keyboards, and it's all wrapped up in under 200 seconds.

With another heatwave about to frazzle this already scorched island this week, I wouldn't necessarily recommend a day in the sun in literal terms, but I can get behind this Day In The Sun any time.

The Original Bee, Bee And Gee (But No Bee Gees, If You Know What I Mean)

One of the highlights in a year of great albums has been the debut by Butler, Blake & Grant.

Their debut as a trio perhaps, but these are legends in their own right: 

Bernard Butler, Suede, McAlmont & Butler, über producer

Norman Blake, Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits

James Grant, Love And Money, Friends Again

...as well as numerous solo ventures and collaborations over the decades.

I'll come back to Butler, Blake & Grant as a recording and performing threesome another time. Today's selection plucks four gems from each artist's extensive catalogue to present 47 minutes of deep cuts and should-have-been smash hits.

What a talented trio. And lovely blokes, too. But that's a story for another time.

1) Let's Go Away: Bernard Butler (1999)

2) Groovy Good Luck Friend (Janice Long Session): BMX Bandits (1986)

3) Winter '89: Love And Money (1989)

4) A Change Of Heart (Single Version): Bernard Butler (1998)

5) God Knows It's True: Teenage Fanclub (1990)

6) State Of Art (The Spiral Tribe Edition): Friends Again (1995)

7) The Patron Saint Of The Lost Cause (Album Version): Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler (2020)

8) Baby Lee: Teenage Fanclub (2010)

9) Hubcap To Blue Town: Love And Money (1991)

10) My Dark Star: Suede (1994)

11) Golden Shower: The Boy Hairdressers (1987)

12) Wanderlust II: Love And Money (1988)

1986: Janice Long Session, BBC Radio 1, 8th June 1986: 2

1987: Golden Shower EP: 11

1988: Halleluiah Man EP: 12

1990: God Knows It's True EP: 5

1991: Winter EP: 3

1991: Wishing Waters EP: 9

1994: Stay Together EP: 10

1995: Spiral Tribe Volume 1: 6

1998: A Change Of Heart EP: 4

1999: Friends And Lovers: 1

2010: Shadows: 8

2020: In Memory Of My Feelings: 7

The Original Bee, Bee And Gee (But No Bee Gees, If You Know What I Mean) (47:15) (Mega)

Finding It So Hard To Stay In Tune

Dumb Dumb Dumb by Teenage Fanclub originally closed side 1 of Howdy!, their seventh album released in October 2000 and was subsequently released as a single in April 2001.

Whilst the album got to #33 and lead single I Need Direction peaked at #48 in the UK, Dumb Dumb Dumb doesn't appear to have troubled the singles charts at all. Which is a shame as it's got all of the classic TFC elements and deserved better. Maybe it was just too nice: lairy Bicester pop punkers Crackout released a single called You Dumb Fuck six months later, but that at least managed a week at #87...

Dumb Dumb Dumb is not Teenage Fanclub's - or Norman Blake's - finest three minutes perhaps, but it's good enough for me. Especially on a sodden Tuesday morning in July, where this part of the world seems to have forgotten it's summer.

 

It's been playing on my mind
I don't want to waste your time
And the thought of you is tearing me apart

Had a name but now that's gone
I don't know where I went wrong
Now I'm all alone and drifting in the dark

Take me back to what I know
Cos I don't know where to go
And I'm finding it so hard to stay in tune

But it's hard to comprehend
Getting closer to the end
And I hope that I'll be feeling better soon

Now I'm just a fading light
But I want to feel alright
And I hope that you can help me through the days

And I find it hard to sleep
Cos I sold myself so cheap
Do you think about me when I go away

Sharing A Moment

Less than two weeks after the first Dubhed post dedicated to Teenage Fanclub, here they are again with a sublime selection for Sunday.

Two sides for you today, fourteen songs in total and coming in at vinyl-friendly 20-odd minutes per side. The selection is mainly drawn from the mid-1990s and more specifically the Grand Prix era. This highlights more that I have relatively little of their output beyond the excellent compilation, Four Thousand Seven Hundred And Sixty-Six Seconds, a clutch of singles and quite a lot of orphan tracks that have been culled from numerous music magazine promo CDs over the years. 

 

With that revelation, I will be buying their forthcoming album, Nothing Lasts Forever, out in September, and also working my way through their back catalogue, starting with the first four albums.

In the meantime, I hope this offering does them justice, either as a reminder of how great they are or, if you're hearing most of these for the first time, a prompt to follow me and catch up with Teenage Fanclub.

 

Side One

1) About You (Album Version) (1995)

2) Getting Real (1995)

3) Middle Of The Road (1997)

4) Jesus Christ (Cover of Big Star) (1997)

5) Primary Education (1990)

6) I'm In Love (Album Version) (2016)

7) I Saw The Light (Cover of Todd Rundgren) (1991)

8) Mellow Doubt (Alternative Version) (1995)

Side Two

1) Star Sign (Album Version) (1991)

2) Everything Flows (Single Version) (1990)

3) The World'll Be OK (Album Version) (2002)

4) Answerphone Message 2 (1995)

5) Weird Horses (1993)

6) That's All I Need To Know (1995)

 

1990: Everything Flows EP: A5, B2

1991: Bandwagonesque: B1 

1993: Radio EP: B5

1995: Grand Prix: A1

1995: Grand Prix (limited edition bonus 7"): B4

1995: Mellow Doubt EP: A2, A8

1995: Sparky's Dream EP: B6

1997: Ain't That Enough EP: A4

1997: I Don't Want Control Of You EP: A3 

2003: Four Thousand Seven Hundred And Sixty-Six Seconds: B3

2005: Scotland On Sunday EP (newspaper promo CD): A7

2016: Here: A6

 

Side One (22:13) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (21:51) (KF) (Mega)

Yesterday Is Now Tomorrow

Teenage Fanclub have an album out on 22nd September (a month earlier for digital). Nothing Lasts Forever is their eleventh full length record and a surprising sidestep into the dance tent, throwing breakbeat, grime, ye gods even drill influences into the mix and seeing how it lands for a band now well into their third decade of making music.

Oh, alright. It's none of those things. If the first two tracks - and songs released ahead of the album - are anything to go by, the album is reassuringly Teenage Fanclub, "effortlessly turn[ing] melancholy into glorious, chiming harmony."

 

And sometimes, that's exactly what you need in your life.

Junk Garage Clear Out

Side 1 of a cassette compilation recorded by my friend Stuart in late August 1991.

 

This was the closing paragraph when I posted Side 2 in January 2022:

 

Junk Collage (do you see what I did there?) by me, ripped from various magazines and adverts. I can easily spot Buddy Holly and Christian Slater in there. I think the main picture was a toilet wall backdrop to a photo of a music artist, but I've forgotten who.

Some of the typeface has worn away, but you get a sneak preview of what will eventually pop up when I post Side 1. The reason I didn't go with that one today is that the tape opens with an expletive-ridden intro, but one which segues perfectly into a Neil Young & Crazy Horse track. I'm debating whether it stays, goes or is edited in some way before posting. Watch this space...it might be a while.

 

A glance below and a few seconds into today's selection and you'll see and hear that I decided to keep Dumpy's Rusty Nuts in. It's now so ingrained after three decades of listening to this mixtape that it's almost impossible for me to hear Over & Over by Neil Young & Crazy Horse without it.

Many years later, I repaid the 'favour' by including the Dumpy's Rusty Nuts intro on a birthday CD that I compiled for Stuart. One for a future post.

I'd returned to Bristol after a year travelling, so this cassette served as a kind of 'this is what you missed whilst you were away' round up of music in 1991. In addition to a tremendous comeback albums from Julian Cope and Throwing Muses, Teenage Fanclub released the Star Sign EP, a precursor to the mighty Bandwagonesque album later that year.

 

The Fat Lady Sings made two appearances on this compilation, having blown Stuart away when we saw them supporting The Psychedelic Furs in 1990. They didn't - and have never - quite had the same impact on me but I like the B-side featured here, a good example of the quality and quantity of their music at the time.

Stuart had also been delving into some rock classics, this tape probably being my first introduction to Horses by Patti Smith and Exile On Main Street by The Rolling Stones. I'd taken the Neil Young & Crazy Horse and Mazzy Star albums with me on my travels, so these were already classics, in my opinion.

 

It's another much-loved and much-played cassette, containing songs that have stayed with me over the last thirty-odd years and sound every bit as good now as they did then. 

 

1) Intro / Over & Over (Album Version): Dumpy's Rusty Nuts vs. Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1990)

2) Fall On Me (Album Version): R.E.M. (1986)

3) Free Money: Patti Smith (1975)

4) To Reach Me: The Go-Betweens (1986)

5) Be My Angel: Mazzy Star (1990)

6) Happy: The Rolling Stones (1972)

7) Safesurfer (Album Version): Julian Cope (1991)

8) Momento Mori: The Fat Lady Sings (1991)

9) Counting Backwards: Throwing Muses (1991)

10) Like A Virgin (Cover of Madonna): Teenage Fanclub (1991)

1972: Exile On Main Street: 6

1975: Horses: 3

1986: Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express: 4 

1986: Life's Rich Pageant: 2

1990: bootleg live cassette / Ragged Glory: 1

1990: She Hangs Brightly: 5

1991: Arclight EP: 8

1991: Counting Backwards EP: 9

1991: Peggy Suicide: 7

1991: Star Sign EP: 10

 

Side One (45:07) (Box) (Mega)

Side Two here

On The Soul...De La, That Is

A tribute to David Jude Jolicoeur aka Plug 2 aka Trugoy The Dove aka one third of hip hop legends De La Soul, 21st September 1968 to 12th February 2023.

Another sad loss, all the more tragic that Trugoy was 54 years old, barely any time in the scheme of things. But what he achieved in his life cannot be underestimated. 

 

I can't pretend that I was so on it as a teenager that I immediately switched on to hip hop and rap music and got 3 Feet High And Rising as soon as it hit the record shops in 1989. But I really liked De La Soul. Over three decades later, their impact on music as a whole - not just genres - is perhaps only just beginning to be fully appreciated. After many years of legal entanglements, the release of De La Soul's early albums on streaming services next month will bring their music to a new generation.

I'm definitely not qualified to write about De La Soul's influence or Trugoy The Dove's contribution to establishing a new narrative and form of expression, but I can share a selection of songs that I love. In my usual cobbled-together-at-the-last minute style, this 10-track selection mostly draws from the earlier singles, throwing in a few songs from a budget De La Soul compilation I picked up a while ago. 

 

I also had to include their contribution to the Judgement Night film soundtrack, itself made up of collaborations between rap and hip hop artists and guitar bands, be it indie, thrash or grunge. Teenage Fanclub were the unlikely partners with De La Soul, but somehow it works. 

Gorillaz took it to it's logical next step in the 21st Century. Where else would you see De La Soul performing on stage with Damon Albarn, Gruff Rhys, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon?

Rap in power, Dave, Plug 2, Trugoy, all of you.

 

1) Eye Know (7" Mix By Prince Paul): De La Soul (1989)

2) Oooh (Rae & Christian Remix): De La Soul ft. Redman (2000)

3) Superfast Jellyfish: Gorillaz ft. De La Soul & Gruff Rhys (2010)

4) The Magic Number (1-2-3 Mix By Chad Jackson): De La Soul (1989)

5) It's A New Thing (It's Your Thing) (D-Nat & Onda Reconstruction): The Isley Brothers ft. De La Soul (2004)

6) Me Myself And I (Extended Version By Richie Rich): De La Soul (1989)

7) Long Island Degrees: De La Soul (1995)

8) A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays" (Radio Home Mix By David Morales): De La Soul ft. Vinia Mojica (1991)

9) Fallin' (Faded Album Version): Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul (1994)

10) All Good?: De La Soul ft. Chaka Khan (2000)

 

On The Soul...De La, That Is (44:20) (Box) (Mega)

Creation Myths

Creation Records compilations were cheap, cheerful and a great way of sampling singles, EPs and album cuts. I'm pretty sure Keeping The Faith: A Creation Dance Compilation was the first I picked up and worth a post in its own right. Not long after, I picked up (even cheaper) secondhand copies of Do You Believe In Love?, A Palace In The Sun and Sorted, Snorted And Sported. With the exception of Keeping The Faith, I generally found Creation compilations a real hit-and-miss affair, unlikely to bear start-to-finish plays and most useful as material for mix tapes. I was not especially moved by Tangerine, The Bounty Hunters, Something Pretty Beautiful and didn't explore their music beyond these and other Creation compilations that I got over the years.

 

Today's selection is from a mix CD that I put together circa 2004-2005, when I decided to have a clear out and donate some albums to a local charity shop. There are some notable omissions from the original albums - Chelsea Girl by Ride, the Andrew Weatherall remixes of Primal Scream and Love Corporation, No More Sorry by My Bloody Valentine - because I had them elsewhere on albums or compilations that I was keeping.

This, then, is the 'best of the rest' but with a sequencing that I was happy to play and replay. It's mostly guitar-based (acoustic and squawling, sometimes both) with the odd sprinkling of electronic beats and samples. Enjoy.

 

1) Honey Power: My Bloody Valentine (Tremolo EP, 1991)

2) I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have (Album Version): Primal Scream (Primal Scream, 1989)

3) Street Of Lights: Peter Astor (Zoo, 1991)

4) Snow (Album Version): The Times (E For Edward, 1989)

5) Yu-Yu (FTD Mix): Hypnotone (Hypnotonic EP, 1991)

6) Girl Go (Single Version): The Jazz Butcher (Girl Go EP, 1990)

7) Laze It Up: Swervedriver (Sandblasted EP, 1991)

8) Chevron: Peter Astor (Submarine, 1990)

9) Love (Album Version): Love Corporation (Lovers, 1991)

10) Don't Ask Why: My Bloody Valentine (Glider EP, 1990)

11) Dream Beam (Ben Chapman 7" Edit): Hypnotone (Dream Beam EP, 1990)

12) Rave Down: Swervedriver (Rave Down EP. 1990)

13) Shine (Single Version): Slowdive (Holding Our Breath EP, 1991)

14) Lundi Bleu (Radio Edit): The Times (Lundi Bleu EP, 1992)

15) She's On Drugs: The Jazz Butcher (Cult Of The Basement, 1990)

16) You're Just Dead Skin To Me: Primal Scream (Primal Scream, 1989)

17) Star Sign (Album Version): Teenage Fanclub (Bandwagonesque, 1991)

1990: Do You Believe In Love?: 4, 6, 16

1991: A Palace In The Sun: 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15

1991: Sorted, Snorted And Sported: 1, 3, 5, 7, 13, 14, 17

Creation Myths 1989-1991 (1:19:34)