Turntable Revolution Record Collection 15

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 august 15

1 Fauves : Tortured Soul
2 Sea Urchins : Summershine
3 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Come Saturday
4 Astronauts : Back Soon
5 BTP Folders : All Of A Sudden
6 Gobblinz : Communique
7 Indelicates : America
8 Ting Tings : Shut Up And Let Me Go
9 Exhibit A : Distance
10 Vivian Girls : Wild Eyes
11 Newpolitans : Duck Town
12 Tagmemics : Chimneys
13 Penny Candles : Memory Box
14 Pathetix : Love In Decay
15 Lucky Soul : Add Your Light To Mine Baby
16 Tuxedo Moon : Pinheads On The Move
17 Summer Cats : Lonely Planet
18 Wave Pictures : Strange Fruit For David
19 Manhattan Love Suicides : Clusterfuck
20 Alphabeat : 10,000 Nights

Green numbers indicate new entries.

Only A Northern Love Song

1. Many years ago, 1980, in a rainy city named Manchester a record label called Object existed. Grow-Up was responsible for one of the label's greatest pop moments. It was their second release on Object, the first featured six tracks of tentative and twisty half-formed songs. An LP called The Best Thing was an extension of ideas that had been toyed with on the debut single. Then suddenly out of nowhere came Joanne.

2.

A stop-start paean to young love among the rocks kissed by the North Sea surf, the jittery nervousness of that first crush, the awe in which the loved one is observed while doing the most mundane things, these are touchingly conveyed. "From Scarborough Harbour to Whitley Bay, I'm gonna love you for just one day", they sing and then declare, in glorious contradiction, the genius line "Will you marry me before I go gay?" If they had been a hundred miles further north they would have been Orange Juice. The b side has two tunes called "The Affirmation of Existence" and "Gggdadgadadad" so they were probably art students who eventually merged into one and became Tracey Emin, but for the sake of Joanne we can forgive them that.

3.

Another LP was released, Without Wings on the Up label, shortly before they grew up too much to devote time to an unsuccessful band. Much of the LP was more in the spirit of Joanne with occasional daring adventures into jazzy pop; their tuneful tinkering deserved more than the oblivion that embraced it.

4.

Listen to it on imeem.

EYE ON EBAY

Here's a first on T.Rev. I'm commenting on an auction that is due to finish later today. Up for grabs is Ten Feet Tall by the Flowershop. It's not a cover of the XTC song. It is though a cracking C86ish pop tune and one I stumbled across in a charity shop last year along with a batch of Cherry Orchard flexis. No bids as yet but it's available as a buy it now at a very reasonable price. Any lovers of pop left alive? That Noah And The Whale single can wait until next week, sand down your bidding fingers and prepare to pounce. Trust me, I'm a blogger.

Turntable Revolution Mixtape 2 Revolving

1. The Cybermen - Cybernetic Surgery
2. Scrotum Poles - Pick The Cats Eyes Out
3. Reacta - Sus
4. The Desperate Bicycles - The Medium was Tedium
5. Martin & the Brownshirts - Boring
6. Bleach Boys - Chloroform
7. Sema 4 - up down around
8. Art Attacks - Neutron Bomb
9. Pseudo Existors - Now
10. The Wasps - Teenage Treats
11. Sods - No Pictures
12. Satan's Rats - In My Love For You
13. Negatives (Bradford UK) - Love Is Not Real

Turntable Revolution Record Collection 14

Nostalgia is not a modern obsession

Nostalgia is not a modern obsession. The fifties American family was celebrated on the cover of this 1988 flexi release by the Peach Thieves. Prosperous and fun-loving, the uniform of happiness for the girls is pleated skirts which implies a rigid adherence to structure and formality. Are the men wearing bespoke trousers? The little girl is goggle-eyed as if she's never entertained the notion of a spherical object propelling itself forward without continuous aid from a human limb. One feels this is not an instant or an ecstatic seizure, rather that this family was permanently in thrall to joy. The elder girl is already accepting her future role to some stifling husband as she brings forth the crass nectar of 1950's corporate America, Coca Cola. And where better place to offload all that youthful energy your kids are harnessing than the bowling alley? The adamantine ideals, such as truth, justice and the attaining of the American dream, parents are eager to instill in their offspring can be forged in the healthy competitiveness sport encourages.

The sleeve is misleading as the two tracks the Peach Thieves offer us are in a C86 style. They came from Lindal-in-Furness, Cumbria and they were Philip on vocals and guitar, Johnny on guitar, Shaun on bass and Chris on drums. Johnny is modelling himself on Johnny Marr on the reverse sleeve. The record is dedicated to Vic Godard. I'd hazard a guess he never heard it. Both tracks are accomplished. Morecambe Bay is a slow wistful paean to the summer of 1987 when the boys were apparently being bullied by surfers on the beach.

What became of the Peach Thieves? Who were they? Did they ever release anything else?

Hear Out Of The Nowhere on imeem.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 august 8

1 Indelicates : America
2 Astronauts : Back Soon
3 Sea Urchins : Summershine
4 Fauves : Tortured Soul
5 Exhibit A : Distance
6 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Come Saturday
7 Gobblinz : Communique
8 Vivian Girls : Wild Eyes
9 Newpolitans : Duck Town
10 Penny Candles : Memory Box
11 Alphabeat : 10,000 Nights
12 Manhattan Love Suicides : Clusterfuck
13 Lucky Soul : Add Your Light To Mine Baby
14 Wave Pictures : Strange Fruit For David
15 Ting Tings : Shut Up And Let Me Go
16 Squad : Red Alert
17 Pathetix : Love In Decay
18 Tuxedo Moon : Pinheads On The Move
19 Tagmemics : Chimneys
20 Reacta : Stop The World

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY

The Machines aggressive muddily-produced True Life ep accrues £83.25. If you want a taste of the Machines I suggest you buy the compilation Bored Teenagers 4 on Bin Liner records which also contains the amusing Public Pisstake and a powerpop classic by the Elevators.

Turntable Revolution Record Collection 13

Singles Selection

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 august 1

1 Indelicates : America
2 Sea Urchins : Summershine
3 Astronauts : Back Soon
4 Alphabeat : 10,000 Nights
5 Penny Candles : Memory Box
6 Newpolitans : Duck Town
7 Manhattan Love Suicides : Clusterfuck
8 Exhibit A : Distance
9 Gobblinz : Communique
10 Vivian Girls : Wild Eyes
11 Wave Pictures : Strange Fruit For David
12 Squad : Red Alert
13 Lucky Soul : Add Your Light To Mine Baby
14 Reacta : Stop The World
15 Mob : Give It To Me
16 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Come Saturday
17 Peach Thieves : Out Of The Nowhere
18 Scabs : Amory Building
19 False Idols : Ego Wino
20 Fauves : Tortured Soul

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY

Das Schnitz was a band formed at Torquay Boys Grammar School. They crossed the sexual divide and played a fifteen minute gig at the girls grammar school. In early 1979 Ellie Jay helped them attain immortality by pressing 533 of their only single. About 100 of the singles had sleeves "designed" by the band, they couldn't afford proper sleeves so they bought a large quantity of unused ones and scribbled their name on them. Blondie, Funkadelic and Chaka Khan were a few of the artists that had their sleeves doctored. Despite the "support" of those famous pop stars their notoriety remained rooted in the Torquay area.
Appearing sleeveless on ebay the single sold for a paltry £63.90. Those with sleeves usually sell nearer the £100 mark.