MUSIC LIST
creole, zydeco and blues. great band. great night out.
O 880 Berlin Nicky Tam‘s, Victoria Street. 225 6569. Afternoon. Free. 0 Rootsie Tootsie Band Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. £1 after 9.30pm. Rhythm ‘n’ blues.
0 Cry Clowns. High Street. 9pm. Free.
0 Billy Jones Burke and Hare. West Port. Free. Another gig-packed fortnight for local folk-rock singer-guitarist.
O Blueflnger The Cavern. Cowgate. 226 5641. Rhythm 'n blues.
[THERE- Glasgow
0 Michelle Shocked Daddy Warbucks. 46 West George Street. 10.30pm. Following vaguely in the wake ofSuzanne Vega and Ted Hawkins, Michelle Shocked has enough originality. as shown on her indie chart-topping album ‘The Texas Campfire Tapes' to warrant your attention.
0 BMX Bandits Rooftops. 92 Sauchichall Street. 332 5883. 10.30pm. £3. More indie chart regulars. but (keep it quiet). the BMX Bandits have a sense of humour that would be welcome in a lot of their contemporaries.
o The Stranglers/Hurrah Barrowland. London Road. 552 4601. 7.30pm. £5. ldon‘t know ifthe Stranglers are even worth going to see even from a nostalgia point ofview. Hurrah. however, are a fine live band, and here‘s hoping that 999th time around ‘Sweet Sanity‘ will be the huge hit that it should have been first time out
Edinburgh
0 The Comsat Angels The Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. 9pm. Postponed from Thursday 19 because ofTV commitments. the moody ‘new wave‘ band from the early 80s, plucked from the mists of obscurity by Island Records. Album to follow.
0 Tam White and The Dexters Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 2263816. £1 after9pm. Another Sunday session from Edinburgh‘s great bluesy growler, currently to be heard doing vocals for BBC] ‘5 Tutti Frutti.
0 Billy Jones Lord Darnley. West Port. 229 4341. 9.30pm. Free. See Sat21.
0 Dead Man‘s Jive The Cavern. Cowgate. 226 5641.
MONDAY 23
Glasgow
0 Stranglers/Hurrah Barrowland. London Road. 7.30pm. £5. Extra night due to huge demand for tickets. What can you say?
0 Man 2 Man/Man Parrish Panama Jax. Custom House Quay. 10.30pm.
Edinburgh
0 Michelle-Shocked The Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. 9pm. See paneL
O Splatch Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9pm. Free. New band. formed by ex-Warp Factor 10 Singer.
' 75'3")“.5 i If»: v '\‘ At around the time this magazine was starting the word was that we were to prepare for an American invasion in the shape of straightahead rock guitar bands like REM, The Long Ryders, The Rain Parade and Green 0n Red, who would sell truckloads of records and till concert halls throughout the land. The
°l|oodgates never opened, and nobody
mentions that period any more, except lorthe odd soul who would love to see REM’s tabled artistry grace British stages once more.
But Green 0n Red are back for anothergo. Their new LP, The Killer Inside Me, preceded by the single ‘Clarkesville‘ (a very different song from The Monkees’ homage to the town), is being released on Mercury, and the boys are trekking on another gruelling tourto promote it, and hopefully win over British audiences at last.
‘The first time we came around there
TUESDAY 24 - Edinburgh
0 Warp Factor 10 Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9pm. Free. Cover versions of pop and soul standards.
0 Eat The Peach The Cavern. Cowgate. 226 5641. Pop.
[KW
Glasgow
0 Shill'l'he Fixx. Miller Street. 10pm. Free. Formed from the remains ofthe excellent Rattling The Cage. l-iowever. since the departure of Ewen Vernal (bass) and Lorraine McIntosh (b/vocals) to join the soon to be stars. Deacon Blue. it will be interesting to see how the new line-up and songs stand up. My hopes are high.
Edinburgh
0 L00 Acka Bop Boston Bean Co. St James Centre. 55601 1 1 . 9pm. Free. Fifties-style skiffle types. appeared on The Tube under the guise of the Peristalsis Brothers.
0 Billy Jones The Canny Man‘s. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free. See Sat 21 .
o Deacon BIue'I‘he Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. Lightweight pop group from Glasgow. signed to CBS and making a rare appearance on this coast. Featuring the mega-talented Ricky Ross.
0 Headlul 0t Steam The Cavern. Cowgate. 226 5641.
GREE'N ON RED
g..-
was nothing happening here,‘ says Chuck Prophet IV (I kid you not), Green 0n Red's lead guitarist. ‘I thinkthat‘s part of the reason we’re back.’ (At their first gig on these shores they were supported by The Jesus And Mary Chain, an experience they found
. strange, but Chuck rates East Kilbride’s
finest: ‘A great band, they do what they wanna do.’)
I wonder aloud it British audiences can relate to their music as well as Americans, brought up on that tradition, can, and once Chuck has decided that he can live with my definition of his band as ‘country-rock’ he responds, ‘Rock ’n’ roll is your biggest export. You‘ve seen a lot of shit and everything turns over very last. You kind of eat your young. And you have these papers that come out every week, whereas Rolling Stone comes out once a month. As far as audiences go here,
THURSDAY 26 Glasgow
0 The Night Swimmers The Fixx. Miller Street. 10pm. Free. (iigged for years under the guise of l lappy The Man. but with a minor line-up alteration. and some good songs still in the bag. they will be releasing a single in the near future.
0 The Proclaimers/Punch Fury Murrys. Maxwell Street. 225 651 l. l0.30pm. £3. Things seem to be happening fast for the Proclaimers and l for one am pleased for them. Their debut album is almost half-finished. only a matter of weeks after the completion oftheir signing to Chrysalis. Also. they will be on Whistle Test the day before this gig. Sample them then. and then go and see them for further musical edification. Punch are unknown to me. but spoken highly of. so should be worth a look.
0 Scheme Mclnlays Place. 40 Annick Street. Shettleston. Free. Fresh from another two-night sell out at the Pavilion. Scheme returns to the pub circuit. and this financially lucrative residency.
0 Caterpillar Workers Benefit Strathclyde UU. John Street. 9pm. Featuring the wonderful Jesse Rae. along with other bands still to be confirmed. Well worth your money.
Edinburgh
0 Gary Moore Playhouse Theatre. Greenside Place. 557 2590. 7.30pm. £8. £7. Former guitarist with
they're much more blase and harderto impress. We usually have fun regardless.’
Of Green 0n Red’s recorded output he says that ‘while “Gas Food Lodging" was a premature road diary, and “No Free Lunch“ (recorded in the rock 'n‘ roll city of Bath) was a kind of transition piece, this record kind of takes place in your living room. Murder, hate, it's the kind of record you write while you‘re watching late-night television and the only thing on is religious programmes asking you for money. It's a very real record, very honest. I think.’ Much of the praise is laid atthe door of producer James Dickinson, also responsible for Big Star’s third LP, one of Chuck's all-time favourites, Dickinson being the kind of guy who not only retains the mistakes but turns them up. ‘So many records today are so precious and fine-tuned that there’s nothing human left,’ moans Chuck.
When he finds out he’s being interviewed for a Scottish magazine, this Los Angelean reveals his unsuspected love for the movie Restless Natives and tries out his accent, which, it has to be said, sucks. Until the gig at Edinburgh‘s Queen‘s Hall on Thursday 26 March, he and the band are in England, and enjoying it. ‘I like the lifestyle. I like going to the pubs about noon.‘
Whatabout being chucked out an hour later, though, Chuck?
‘Yeah, I like thattoo. It keeps you in line.‘ (Mab)
Colosseum and Thin Lizzy. his latest album shows him going for that Big Country sound for ethnic authenticity. That it should come to this. . .
0 Green on Red and The Doctor's Children Queen‘s Hall. Clerk Street. 668 3456. See panel.
0 Baby’s Got A Gun (To be confirmed). The Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. Young. loud and obnoxious Stooges/Ramones fans. I believe. From East Kilbride.
0 Driving Sideways Top of the Walk. St James Centre. 557 2631. 8pm. Free. Blues-rock.
0 Billy Jones Lord Darnley. West Port. 2294341. 9pm. Free. See Sat 21.
0 Stealin’ The Blues Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 2263816. 9pm. Free.
0 Dead Man's Jive Clowns. High Street. 9pm. Free.
FRIDAY 27 ' Glasgow
0 Deacon Blue/Kevin McDermott Orchestra/Incredible Blondes Glasgow College ot"l‘echnology. Cowcaddens Road. 9pm. An end of term bash. with the band actually organised well in advance. Wow! This may just be the last time to see Deacon Blue locally before major success (1 hope). while Kevin McDermott must be on the verge of a record deal — at last. The incredible Blondes have a rather nice single called ‘Where Do I Stand‘ on No Strings
The List 20 March — 2 April 29