MUSIC LIST
o REMEMBER THE QUESTIONS? The one-time most-likely to band have since gone their separate ways, with Bop Sh’Bam taking up quite a high prollle locally. Anyway, vocalist, Paul Barry has returned with a solo single, called Complicated on MCA. Bet you can’t wait . . .
o REMEMBER H20? Well, their vocalist lan Donaldson is to release a solo single. Surely it is not a mark ot the record company’s laith in the band and their songs that this is to be a cover version? Strictly top secret as to what it is at the moment, but could it possibly be a rather well-known Walker Brothers song? Strictly rumour ol course - so remember to lorget where you heard it tlrst (based on an unoriginai idea by Billy Sloan, 1922). o REMEMBER CREWEY RACOON? Well, try and lorgel. Their malnman, Davey Scott’s new band, hearts and Minds have their excellent tlrst single out on Epic this week. The single leans heavily on the Waterboys’ Whole Ot The Moon, but their other recordings suggest a whole lot more to otter. A special 4-track12ln single is available. A booby prize at the new Van Morrison Album (which isn’t actually all that bad) to the tlrst journalist to compare them with Deacon Blue, Danny Wilson orthe Bathers.
e REMEMBER LLOYD COLE AND THE COMMOTlONS? You do? Well, you will be pleased to know that their single ‘My Bag’ is released on Polydor on 21 September. No lighting in the queues to buy it . . .
o CONTINUING the occasional Listen! teature ol Tomballs- teaturlng classic quotes trom Radio Clyde’s adorable heavy metal DJ Tom Russell. The delinitlve quote trom Friday 4 September: ’Thls is Whitesnake on compactdlsc. . . No it’s not, it’s Anthrax . . .Well, it wouldn’t be the Rock Show without some mistakes. Would lt?’
ALBUMS
o The Bodlnes: Played (Magnet). Could this be some great lost Echo and The Bunnymen LP, perhaps recorded between Porcupine and Ocean Rain? lan Broudle’s the producer, the guitars and arrangements at the songs are like a poppier Bunnymen, and the singer
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approximates McCulloch’s hlgh whine, though without the seductive resonance ol the lowertones. Perhaps Mac had a cold during the sessions. But no, the sleeve says Bodlnes, and the singles ‘Therese’ and ‘Skankln Oueens’ shine out with some kind ol brilliance and originality. Two out ot ten, though, does not an essential purchase make.
0 New Order: Substance (Factory). Funny old world. I listened to this album and realised I’d been a New Order lan tor years without knowing it. Alter their last diabolical live show up here i swore I’d never go to see them again, but I can’t recommend this release more highly. ‘Substance’ brings together all the singles, lrom ‘Ceremony’ up to the deserved hlt ‘True Faith’. Memory plays tricks: the old lave ‘Blue Monday’ now comes over as a botched experiment in the dancetloor ethic they were eventually to get to distinguished grips with. Buy the double cassette version and you get one ol their best-ever plopped among some dreary B-sides; the mighty ‘Processlon’, which sounds as up-to-date now as it did in 1982. A low dull tracks notwithstanding, a better collection ol British pop music you couldn’t hope to lind this year. Why wait till Christmas?
0 Aztec Camera: Deep and Wide and Tall (WEA) The tlrst lruits ol Roddy Frame’s visit to America to work with soul luminaries like Marcus Miller, Russ Tltleman and David Frank. I hated this on tlrst listening - but perseverance was rewarded: it is one ot the best things they have ever recorded. Also look out torthe B-slde, ‘Bad Education’, much more instant, and possibly closer to the Aztec Camera ot old, it that is what you preler.
SINGLES
o The Motorcycle Boy: Big Rock Candy Mountain (Rough Trade) There must have been more to Alex Taylor’s decision to leave the Shop Assistants than to replace them with a beleathered band that could play Westworld rilts. Apart lrom that, not a million light years lrom the Shoppies sound, and a disappointingly weak song.
I II II It
‘ ROOK REPORT . _
The best laid plans ot mice and men. . . I Here are some late additions to our
guide torthe struggling musician which I appeared in last issue.
STUDIOS
0 Radio Clyde 041 941 1 1 11, ext 312. Contact: Grae Allen. There’s always been a studio at Radio Clyde, usually mixing tracks recorded on their 24-track mobile (from Alice Cooper to the SNO), but it’s now been re-equipped and all concerned are much happier with it. When they called us, rates stood at £21 per hour, but are rising soon. Desk: Amek G25/20 28 channel in line 24 group desk. Tape machine: MCI J H 24 track with Dolby A. Mastering: MCI J H1 10 2 track, Sony PCM701 Digital Audio Processors. Studio monitors: Tannoy, Yamaha and Auratones. ‘Toys’ include a scamp rack, F769 vocal stresser, Urei and Audio Design limiters and compressors, Urei dual parametric EQ, BX20 reverb, EMT plate, Eventide 9/10, Delta Lab Timeline, Bel DD80 and Yamaha SPX90. Massive microphone selection.
The 24-track mobile, hired by many companies, has MCI J H600 36 input 24 group desk, MCI 11-! 24 track recorder and two MCI 2 tracks, which can go straight on to digital tape
RECOMMENDED READING
o This Business at Music An
American publication, packed with
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information on every imaginable aspect of the music business. Includes facsimiles of sample contracts for every situation. Essential for musicians, publishers, writers, etc. Painstakingiy researched. Apparently only available from Billboard Ltd, 71 Beak Street, London WlR 3LF( tel 01439 9411), costing £17.50 inc. postage and packing.
VIDEO
0 lnnovlson 24a Ainslie Place, Edinburgh EH3 6A1 , 031-225 2186/7. Contact: Jamie Swinton. Normally record, broadcast quality, in hi-band, with Sony M3A and Sony BWl 10 recorders, but can provide Betacam and 16mm film. A day’s recording, with the most basic crew, would cost a minimum of £600, though, as in all these things, Innovision can supply virtually anything you would want if you can afford it. All projects are tailored to fit the client’s price range. Ideally bands should present Innovision with a storyboard, but someone can be brought in to design one. If a band don’t really know what they want themselves, putting it into someone else’s hands can bring unsatisfactory results, so plan ahead. Post-production takes place in two in-house editing suites, minimum £240 per hour. Innovision can convert hi-band to lo-band to make VHS copies. They recently made a promo for the DeafJim ‘No Sleep Till Bedtime’ single.
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The List 18 Sept- 1 Oct 35