NO CANDY FOR ME THIS XMAS

Some vampiric vinyl collector, possibly located east of Vladivostok, snatched the Candy Ranch single from me in the dying seconds of the auction. Reasoning that the last time this sold it stuttered around the £65 mark I was a little complacent and therefore had to suffer miseries as this went elsewhere for the steep sum of £173. It's very likely I'll have to wait another four years before this reappears. Released around late eighties/nineties on Tumak & Sons records in a picture sleeve with a shunter adorning it Section 58/Screaming Nutter trundled down a branch line to nowhere and remained neglected in some abandoned sidings, only a few collectors interested in jotting down its number.

VANISHED

Due to technical diffilculties with the home computer I have neglected the blog. For the few who follow this self-indulgent exercise I offer my sympathies; surely your lives are not so lacking in enrichment you can't go elsewhere for your pleasures? Be that as it may if I offer but one being a miniscule of fulfillment I feel absurdly humbled. If not, carry on without me as you have for the last month or so.

TRASH IN THE ATTIC

Want to mourn the modern world? Try the Isle of Wight, that undisturbed splodge beneath the knee of England, where a thick patina of the past prevents the present from imposing its empty gloss upon it. Home also to the Pumphouse Gang and Trixie's Big Red Motorbike, artistes that may as well have been based on the Falklands for all their influence on the mainland. Equally ignored, despite a convivial letter addressed to Go! Discs tucked inside the sleeve of my copy of their single, was The Attic, hopefully not named after the Adrian Gurvitz non-classic Classic. Little information is given on the sleeve. All three songs, The Final Thrill, Excuse To The World and The Cradle, appear to be originals written by the mysterious triumvirate of Arnell, Adams and Beasley.

The single was recorded in the summer of 1987 and came out on Picnic records.

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TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 sep 24

1 Betty & The Werewolves : Paper Thin
2 Frazers : Get It Right
3 Tantara Blade : Seven Shades Of Shame
4 Like : He's Not A Boy
5 Laughing Apple : Participate!
6 Jangletties : Happy All The Time
7 Passengers : Hell To Heaven
8 Stripes : One Step Ahead
9 Attic : The Final Thrill
10 Tantara Blade : This Car Has Crashed
11 Summer Camp : Round The Moon
12 Veronica Falls : Beachy Head
13 Hit Parade : I Like Bubblegum
14 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love
15 Locals : You Never Have Fun
16 Absolute Albert : Noises
17 Elevators : Making Love To Graham
18 Sleepovers : Secret
19 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land
20 Frazers : Selfish

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY----Deep throat

Two People struggled to make any inroads into 1980's pop land despite releasing a handful of tantalisingly tuneful singles, the best of which were This Is The Shirt and this one, Mouth Of An Angel, which sold for a moderate £13.50. B side Let's Raise Murder is equally as good. This was a lucky find for me in a charity shop for the insubstantial sum of 50p.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330455887548&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 sep 17

1 Like : He's Not A Boy
2 Betty & The Werewolves : Paper Thin
3 Tantara Blade : Seven Shades Of Shame
4 Elevators : Making Love To Graham
5 Frazers : Get It Right
6 Laughing Apple : Participate!
7 Absolute Albert : Noises
8 Passengers : Hell To Heaven
9 Locals : You Never Have Fun
10 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land
11 Ferrymen : Whole World
12 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love
13 Society : Can't Hide A Lie
14 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults
15 Frazers : Selfish
16 Hari & Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home
17 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love
18 Sleepovers : Secret
19 Standard Fare : Philadelphia
20 Boy Genius : Blame Love

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY-----You've been fingered.

Obscure release by Fingers on Ratchet records. We're Alright/Saints Alive sells for £142. Did it ever come in a picture cover?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230504671565&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

EYE ON EBAY----Dead comedian's anti-feminist moment.

I'm fairly certain that everything on this lp by Bob Hope, I Hope The Sky Falls On Her Head, appears on Accident's The Patron Saint Of Adultery compilation which has a marginally more fetching cover of a woman in her underwear ( depending on your sexual preference ), which is perhaps a reference to that infamous night when the real Bob Hope compered Miss World and outraged feminists stormed the stage. Poor Bob was shaken and had to muster all his Hollywood bluster to righteously decry the harpies. If only feminists would storm the stage when misogynstic rappers start ranting on about bitches and hos. Whatever happened to the noble occupation of protesting? Meanwhile this sold for £66.99.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380252355544&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

EYE ON EBAY-----Lethal fish

Not rockabilly and not the Bristol bunch, this Stingrays is an altogether more interesting prospect simply because I'd never heard of them until Modboy put this single Still In Love With You up for auction. A financial outlay of £42 secured this slice of fish food.



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330474814816&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 sep 10

1 Like : He's Not A Boy
2 Betty & The Werewolves : Paper Thin
3 Frazers : Selfish
4 Absolute Albert : Noises
5 Elevators : Making Love To Graham
6 Laughing Apple : Participate!
7 Locals : You Never Have Fun
8 Ferrymen : Whole World
9 Tantara Blade : Seven Shades Of Shame
10 Society : Can't Hide A Lie
11 Frazers : Get It Right
12 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults
13 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love
14 Passengers : Hell To Heaven
15 Hari & Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home
16 Boy Genius : Blame Love
17 Standard Fare : Philadelphia
18 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land
19 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love
20 Shrag : Rabbit Kids

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY-----

Bit of a bargain snapping up Kenickie's Catsuit City for £19. This was Kenickie's first single release on Marxist label Slampt, the north east's angry voice of insurrection. Lauren Laverne has now firmly slotted herself into the establishment.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200518919292&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_947

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 sep 3

1 Frazers : Selfish

2 Like : He's Not A Boy

3 Betty & The Werewolves : Paper Thin

4 Absolute Albert : Noises

5 Locals : You Never Have Fun

6 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults

7 Society : Can't Hide A Lie

8 Hari & Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home

9 Elevators : Making Love To Graham

10 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love

11 Shrag : Rabbit Kids

12 Ferrymen : Whole World

13 Boy Genius : Blame Love

14 Standard Fare : Philadelphia

15 Laughing Apple : Participate!

16 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land

17 Betty & The Werewolves : Euston Station

18 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love

19 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio

20 Felt Tips : Lifeskills

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY------A Welsh wet one

Genuinely rare powerpop single by Welsh band Liquid Stone. Released sleeveless, rumours have it that only a hundred or so exist. So no surprise when this sold for £500. Seller claimed that the a side had never been comped but he's made an error as the curious can find Here Comes The Weekend on Powerpearls volume 10.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320582492649&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_947

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 aug 27

1 Frazers : Selfish

2 Like : He's Not A Boy

3 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love

4 Betty & The Werewolves : Paper Thin

5 Hari & Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home

6 Society : Can't Hide A Lie

7 Absolute Albert : Noises

8 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults

9 Shrag : Rabbit Kids

10 Standard Fare : Philadelphia

11 Locals : You Never Have Fun

12 Boy Genius : Blame Love

13 Betty & The Werewolves : Euston Station

14 Ferrymen : Whole World

15 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land

16 Elevators : Making Love To Graham

17 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love

18 Felt Tips : Lifeskills

19 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio

20 Math & Physics Club : Jimmy Had A Polaroid

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY---------Supporting players

Never heard of The Actors but seller Modboy claims they would fit into the C86 bracket. The band was not imaginative enough to come up with a name for their label so maybe not much can be expected from their single which is comprised of three songs, Insanity, Strange Thoughts and Colony Earth. This mysterious item sold for £66.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ACTORS-rare-1987-UK-INDIE-POP-TWEE-C86-PRIVATE-/330469533479?pt=UK_Records&hash=item4cf184e727#ht_953wt_930

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 aug 20

1 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love

2 Frazers : Selfish

3 Hari & Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home

4 Shrag : Rabbit Kids

5 Like : He's Not A Boy

6 Society : Can't Hide A Lie

7 Betty & The Werewolves : Euston Station

8 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love

9 Standard Fare : Philadelphia

10 Betty & The Werewolves : Paper Thin

11 Boy Genius : Blame Love

12 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults

13 Pere Ubu : Cloud 149

14 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio

15 Morning Spunk : ?

16 Felt Tips : Life Skills

17 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land

18 Math & Physics Club : Jimmy Had A Polaroid

19 Tender Trap : Do You Want A Boyfriend?

20 Liechtenstein : This Must Be Heaven

Green numbers indicate new entries

EYE ON EBAY------Sunburn and bloody noses

One of the great lost indie bands that sprouted up from the fertile C86 soil, The Siddeleys released the formidable Sunshine Thuggery 12" on Sombrero in 1988. Four flawless tracks of mustard-laced indiepop criminally overlooked at the time managed to persuade a punter to part with £33.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290466356936&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

EYE ON EBAY--------Childish Claim

Kent mod revivalists The Claim released several singles on various labels and this one on Caff is one of their rarest. Sleeve artwork by Billy Childish might have helped this rocket up to a final sale price of £79.81.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220655562173&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 aug 13

1 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love
2 Shrag : Rabbit Kids
3 Betty And The Werewolves : Euston Station
4 Hari And Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home
5 Standard Fare : Philadelphia
6 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love
7 Boy Genius : Blame Love
8 Society : Can't Hide A Lie
9 Pere Ubu : Cloud 149
10 Frazers : Selfish
11 Felt Tips : Lifeskills
12 Morning Spunk : ?
13 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land
14 Math & Physics Club : Jimmy Had A Polaroid
15 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults
16 Liectenstein : This Must Be Heaven
17 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio
18 Tender Trap : Do You Want A Boyfriend?
19 Tunnelrunners : Forever Crying Alone
20 Really 3rds : Everyday Everyway

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY------He keeps on killing time

The Clive Culbertson fan club continues to pay substantial amounts for Time To Kill. This copy sells for £127.27. Somewhere in a hidden forest there is a factory churning these singles out. Just how rare is this expensive morsel when it seems to turn up every month.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110570987744&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

EYE ON EBAY-------Desperate men

What's going on here? Smokescreen by The Desperate Bicycles achieves a surprising total of £62. Odd as this single regularly turns up and usually sells for half that price. One desperate bidder got squeezed.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380259630597&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 aug 6

1 Standard Fare : Philadelphia

2 Shrag : Rabbit Kids

3 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love

4 Betty & The Werewolves : Euston Station

5 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love

6 Hari & Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home

7 Pere Ubu : Cloud 149

8 Boy Genius : Blame Love

9 Felt Tips : Lifeskills

10 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land

11 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults

12 Liechtenstein : This Must Be Heaven

13 Morning Spunk : ?

14 Tunnelrunners : Forever Crying Alone

15 Really 3rds : Everyday Everyway

16 Society : Can't Hide A Lie

17 Tender Trap : Do You Want A Boyfriend?

18 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio

19 M J Hibbett & The Validators : Do The Indie Kid

20 Math & Physics Club : Jimmy Had A Polaroid

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY-----Report to Head Office

Modboy assures potential buyers that he's only come across three copies of Clicking In My Head by Head Office on Make Believe Records in twenty-nine years. There was a lot of clicking on the mouse which helps said record reach a dizzy £228.77 along with the claim that this is a lost powerpop classic. Is it? Help me find out somebody.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330459421543&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_973wt_930

EYE ON EBAY---------Lost in a Toy Shop

Minimal synth from Dewsbury tickles the fancy of a profligate bidder. The Maze by The Toy Shop has sold for less than half before but seller Modboy's pedigree ensures he collects £183.99 for this 7". Who was The Toy Shop?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330459401908&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1115wt_930

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 july 30

1 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Say No To Love

2 Felt Tips : Lifeskills

3 Shrag : Rabbit Kids

4 Betty & The Werewolves : Euston Station

5 Standard Fare : Philadelphia

6 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land

7 Somewhere Over England : If I Ever Fall In Love

8 Liechtenstein : This Must Be Heaven

9 Pere Ubu : Cloud 149

10 Boy Genius : Blame Love

11 Really 3rds : Everyday Everyway

12 Tender Trap : Do You Want A Boyfriend?

13 M J Hibbett & The Validators : Do The Indie Kid

14 Tunnelrunners : Forever Crying Alone

15 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio

16 Socialist Leisure Party : Vulnerable Adults

17 Math & Physics Club : Jimmy Had A Polaroid

18 Hari & Aino : A Considerate Kind Of Home

19 Escorts : Bingo

20 Walking Floors : No Next Time

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY------I got it on tape

Ancient technology from the previous century still has its supporters, it seems. A cassette by Late Road Lunatics fetches a titanic total of £29.57 considering tapes capsized on the sea of obsolescence over a decade ago. They still sell them in Serbian petrol stations though.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200487406609&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

EYE ON EBAY--------Worth killing your pet for.......

Hysterical price paid for Radio Dept. lp Pet Grief. This was only released in 2006 on the loveable Labrador label who specialize in winsome Swedish indiepop. Final price £191.19

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260630318650&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 july 23

1 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land

2 Liechtenstein : This Must Be Heaven

3 M J Hibbett & The Validators : Do The Indie Kid

4 Really 3rds : Everyday Everyway

5 Tunnelrunners : Forever Crying Alone

6 Felt Tips : Lifeskills

7 Tender Trap : Do You Want A Boyfriend?

8 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio

9 Math & Physics Club : Jimmy Had A Polaroid

10 Walking Floors : No Next Time

11 Pere Ubu : Cloud 149

12 Dubious Brothers : South America Welcomes The Nazis

13 Faraway Stars : Jealous

14 Plastics : Robot

15 Escorts : Bingo

16 Plastics : Copy

17 Ethnobabes : Television Song

18 Bluetrain : Land Of Gold

19 Rogers Sisters : Les Fantaisies Sont Bien

20 Single Factor : Fresh On Her Lips

Green numbers indicate new entries

INDIETRACKS---I want to live in an Indietracks world

The Indietracks weekend started for us on Thursday. We surged past Nottingham, briefly stopping at a few charity shops on Mansfield Road as a filip for our dismay at Anarchy Records being closed, before chugging on to Sheffield. There we partook of refreshment at our friend Jeanette's house. She has just completed a book on acid/psych folk and looked rather exhausted. Itching to finger dusty old records I excused myself and rushed off to Record Collector before it shut. Friday saw us depart Sheffield, a few records heavier as Jeanette had kindly given me some of her unwanted singles, Bunnygrunt, Rondelles, Comet Gain etc. We turned up at the Premier Inn to be terrorized by a giant cutout of Lenny Henry and an armada of Spanish indiepop types.



We arrived on site as the sun kindly threw a few chipped rays of light over the festival. Veronica Falls kicked off the weekend quite quietly due to a few sound problems but soon delivered several punchy tunes. Allo Darlin' bestrode the stage like a gentle behometh, Silver Dollars sounding like the song of the festival already. Headliners Everybody Was In The French Resistance....Now had front man Eddie Argos laughing at his own wonderfulness but had me wondering why he wasn't propping up the bill. Funny men in pop are as rare as coppers with a sense of humour, that lot from the Wirral can do it and so can M J Hibbet, Mr.Argos has as heavy a touch as one of his catalogues.



Post bands we hauled our weary bodies to Offbeat in the shed. Scuppered by poor sound we still shuffled our inept feet to a few indie classics. For a change of scene we wandered over to Come Out 2Nite in the marquee. Ever danced on nuggets of coal before? Maybe we were tenderizing them for the hungry steam trains. Dancing on stony ground to Johnny Boy's You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes seemed entirely appropriate especially the line "And you get what you deserve." Entirely inappropriate was Madonna's Into The Groove. It's an indie disco, no need to pander to the ignorant majority who don't know their Field Mice from their Field Trip.



Saturday started off awash with sunshine and then July mimicked October. Somehow we missed The Hillfields and most of Red Shoe Diaries but could they have bettered The Felt Tips? These Scottish lads were surely going to be the champions of the festival with their achingly arch songs about sex and Morrissey. But then along came The Cavalcade with their songs of rain-rinsed days in forsaken towns, of souls tortured by a captivity they've created for themselves to seek some twisted comfort. Outside clouds came to listen. But that was sunday, saturday still had several delights in the shape of the untamed energy of Betty & The Werewolves and The Give It Ups, boldly ramshackle and unformed. The Just Joans had yet another swipe at Morrissey, what is this fascination Scottish bands have with the old queen? Missed the Smittens, no doubt all glee and twee, but did mostly enjoy the leisurely pop of The Orchids; sometimes their sound is a little too sedate, like a supper club band for nonagenarians. Ballboy we heard from the car as we tried to remind ourselves what it was like to be warm. Even from afar they sounded good. Hurried back for Tender Trap but apart from Oh Katrina and the new single they failed to make me sway or swoon. Forgive me Amelia, it can't be you, it must be me. Rounded the day off with a dose of The Primitives, Tracy Tracy looking like an unsoiled Brix Smith. Not entirely engaged until I heard a succession of hits and Nothing Left. A quick shimmy to some shiny tunes spun by the very capable Astrogirl and then back to the menacing cardboard Lenny Henry.



The Indietracks train was inexorably approaching the terminus and parts of my brain were already anticipating the anti-climax of monday morning. No shabby sunshine, all blue skies, but the day would darken, mirroring the growing gloom in me as I knew this fabulous weekend was soon to end. We wandered among the buses and the trains, locating bits of my lost childhood, shreds of it coagulating into a confused whole, before heading back for the quiz. This meant missing the splendid M J Hibbett, perhaps a mistake as our quiz performance would have brought the wrath of Ann Robinson down upon us, "White Town had the highest chart position of any Indietracks band, not The Primitives, who can't tell the difference between his no.1's and his no.2's?" Cloaked in the rags of defeat we cheered ourselves up with the spectacular beauty of The Cavalcade who spun webs of shimmering melody in the church. Most of our remaining hours were spent getting ever chillier under the wasp tree watching The Loves and their buxom dancers, the criminally under-attended Cannanes, the splendid Standard Fare, the shrill Shrag who seemed incapable of introducing songs without foul imprecations, the two children sitting near us loved them. Missed Slow Club, by all accounts a mistake, but did turn up with the Swansea collective to see The Pooh Sticks, a band I've sort of overlooked for years, but with their homemade placards displaying song titles and their recruitment of Amelia they passed the time. It was when they played On Tape that they suddenly won me over. Shame it was their last song. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart closed the festival and they sounded better live than on record. The new material was as uplifting and vital as the older stuff. They kicked off with This Love Is Fucking Right and I knew my love for them was right too. I felt an errant tear stroll down my cheek as I knew these ecstatic days in Derbyshire were coming to an end. We delayed the inevitable comedown dancing to Joy Division and Talking Heads but we knew when the dull spectre of Bruce Springsteen haunted the decks that the real world, that icy world of a celebrity-saturated media, the Simon Cowell corporate leviathan and R & B sludge silting up the charts, was soon to impinge on our little village-like idyll.

Goodbye Indietracks-till next year.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 july 16

1 M J Hibbett And The Validators : Do The Indie Kid
2 Walking Floors : No Next Time
3 Tender Trap : Do You Want A Boyfriend?
4 Tunnelrunners : Plastic Land
5 Math And Physics Club : Jimmy Had A Polaroid
6 Really 3rds : Everyday Everyway
7 Liechtenstein : This Must Be Heaven
8 Tunnelrunners : Forever Crying At Love
9 Bubblegum Lemonade : Caroline's Radio
10 Felt Tips : Lifeskills
11 Dubious Brothers : South America Welcomes The Nazis
12 Plastics : Robot
13 Plastics : Copy
14 Single Factor : Fresh On Her Lips
15 Faraway Stars : Jealous
16 Ethnobabes : Television Song
17 Bluetrain : Land Of Gold
18 Escorts : Bingo
19 Rogers Sisters : Les Fantaisies Sont Bien
20 Velocette : Get Yourself Together

Green numbers indicate new entries.