Tag: vinyl

  • my loveliest vinyl, part 19

    my loveliest vinyl, part 19

    Snuff - FLIBBIDDYDIBBIDDYDOB (Workers Playtime Play 11T, 1990)
    Snuff – FLIBBIDDYDIBBIDDYDOB (Workers Playtime Play 11T, 1990)

    Ahhh, Snuff. The best that ever came from the UK in the 90s – great guitar, great horn section, great chorus and the typical english sense of humor. I recall a show in Hamburg sometime in the 90s in a half-empty rather large place (“Fabrik”), on a weekday, where the band had an internal battle for the “last chord” on every song. So songs lasted on and on and on … great fun!

    This is special, as it is not a normal record but an EP with almost covers (be it from other bands or commercials) and as i do dig cover versions it was an instant love. Sure there are more Snuff records deserving to be noted here – but that is for later…

    The verdict:
    1977 – great cover or a great song from the Specials, technicaly that makes it 1980 but i do not care at all!
    published by a cool lable – Workers Playtime, a reference to an old BBC Radio Show (1943-1964) and a left-wing 80’s London group. Working Class rules! Later reissued by Fat Wreck in the US of A.
    found in a cool shop – Martin Stehr’s Drugstore was THE place in the 90′s
    catching sound – preserving such a gem and transforming it into 90’s uptempo pop-punk: priceless.

    Although a cover, the lyrics deserve to be noted:

    Each day I walk along this lonely street
    Trying to find, find a future
    New pair of shoes are on my feet
    Cos' fashion is my only culture
    
    Nothing ever change, oh no...
    Nothing ever change
    
    People say to me just be yourself
    It makes no sense to follow fashion
    How could I be anybody else
    I don't try, I've got no reason
    
    Nothing ever change, oh no...
    Nothing ever change
    
    I'm just living in a life without meaning
    I walk and walk, do nothing
    I'm just living in a life without feeling
    I talk and talk, say nothing
    
    Nothing ever change, oh no...
    Nothing ever change
    
    I walk along this same old lonely street
    Still trying to find, find a reason
    Policeman comes and smacks me in the teeth
    I don't complain, it's not my function
    
    Nothing ever change, oh no...
    Nothing ever change
    
    They're just living in a life without meaning
    I walk and walk, do nothing
    They're just playing in a life without thinking
    They talk and talk, say nothing
    I'm just living in a life without feeling
    I walk and walk, I'm dreaming
    I'm just living in a life without feeling
    I talk and talk, say nothing
    I'm just living in a life without meaning
    I walk and walk, do nothing
    
    (c) 1980 The Specials (2 Tone / Chrysalis)

    And, worth to note through all the years, Duncan kept the band going, going and going – so here the last incarnation blasts through “Do Nothing” in 2009:

     

  • my loveliest vinyl, part 18

    my loveliest vinyl, part 18

    Zoinks! - Bad Move Space Cadet (Dr. Strange Records DSR#31, 1995)
    Zoinks! – Bad Move Space Cadet (Dr. Strange Records DSR#31, 1995)

    This is a song that was fixed in my brain for large parts of the mid 90s in the hey-days of what was called “Pop-Punk” (and thus got a bad name forever). They hailed from Reno, NV, and as the mighty 7 Seconds they where DIY to the bone. This is their first LP, on Dr. Strange, and sure i have the limited eddition clear vinyl version as i bought it back then. “UMA 14 TIMES” is a definite hit and doing a song for the lovely Uma Thurman back then sure was based upon her performance in “Pulp Fiction”. But, if you ask me, a well deserved appriciation!

    The internet (damn Internet, never forgets) sums it up:

    To understand Thurman's career choices, recall her distinguishing role,in 1988's "Dangerous Liaisons". In the film, she blossoms from a stammering convent girl into a finger-sucking wench. It was partly her beauty and talent that struck moviegoers;but it was also, to be honest, her topless unveiling in bed with John Malkovich. 
    
    Bands wrote songs about her - the male singers in Majesty Crush's mildly creepy "Uma" and Zoinks!'s cinephilic "Uma Fourteen Times" ("I long to hold ya / I know I'm no Travolta") lust for her. And in Heavenly's "Ben Sherman," a female singer regrets that her deluded boyfriend pines for Uma.

    Nevermind, the verdict:

    1977 – pure, sweet and thrusting rhythm – a real gem!
    published by a cool lable – Dr. Strange – was and is cool!
    found in a cool shop – Martin Stehr’s Drugstore was THE place in the 90’s
    catching sound – without any doubt, i think this is the best pop-punk song from the US of the 90’s, even better than some of the Green Day stuff.

    The lyrics are precise and very clear – no question asked:

    I'm always home, patheticaly alone
    waiting for you, Uma Uma Thurman, i'll say your name again (2x)
    Uma (3x)
    Uma Thurman, i'm yours
    Bonanza Jellybean couldn't make the scene
    now it's up to me, Uma
    
    Uma - Uma
    It's me, you're someone
    I'm nobody 
    
    Uma Thurman, i'll say your name again (2x)
    Uma (3x)
    Uma Thurman, i'm yours
    
    You're the big man's wife
    but not in real life
    I'll be you Vincent Vega
    
    I'll long to hold ya
    I know I'm not John Travolta
    I can't even dance
    
    Uma Thurman, i'll say your name again (2x)
    Uma (3x)
    Uma Thurman, i'm yours 
    
    I'm in this band, not in much demand
    and I'm a grain of sand
    and you're an hour glass
    and I'll kick Gary's ass
    if you want me to
    I'll do anything for you
    after all
    I wrote this song for you (repeat)
    Uma
    
    (c) 1995 Zoinks!

    They ceased in 1998, no clue what happend to the guys. Also no clue if Uma ever knew this and reverted on it. She should. As an act of grace!

    Now listen – the video is great DIY – see the wayback maschine to 1996 (and sorry, you need to jump places):

     

  • my loveliest vinyl, part 17

    my loveliest vinyl, part 17

    Chin-Chin - Sound of the Westway (Farmer Records Chin-Chin 2, 1985)
    Chin-Chin – Sound of the Westway (Farmer Records Chin-Chin 2, 1985)

    Now this is Switzerland again and this is something special. There are a couple of all-girl post-punk groups in the US of A that state that their sound was inspired by this 80s Swizz band. The sound actualy was Punk but later it was dubbed “C86” or “Schrammel-Pop” – all  tags that i can not reconcile. They made energetic music, with limited abilities at the start and they where not afraid of “letting it all out”. They went to some fame as the were signed by the same lable as the Shop Assistents, a band that got a lot of fame in the UK. The verdict:

    1977 – sure DIY! And plenty of Ramones,
    published by a cool lable – Farmer Records where a small and cool DIY lable from CH!
    found in a cool shop – Konneckschen back then, sure thing!
    catching sound – “Never Surrender” is a “ohhh-hoh-ohah” anthem of timeless beauty. Should have been covered many many bands – but by the looks it hasn’t been…
    not too bad words – yep, a real youth anthem!

    I would realy like to know what happend to these girls!

    The record got re-released in 2010 in the US of A and the marketing for that states:

    In 1985, Chin Chin's album "Sound Of The Westway" was released on Farmer Records, containing 12 original compositions recorded and mixed in just 7 days. "Sound Of The Westway" is a brilliant mix of punk-informed crunch and buoyant pop melody that shows Chin-Chin tobe true pioneers of DIY noisy pop.
    
    As it happens this combination of DIY punk ethic, fuzz guitars and bubblegum pop was also gaining traction in the UK with the nascent C86 scene. Featuring bands like Shop Assistants and The Pastels, C86 was a confluence of youngbands who were as influenced by Phil Spector as The Ramones, and Chin-Chin fit right in next to groups like The Rosehips and The Fizzbombs.

    Listen! Volume Up!