The British Are Coming…Again [Guest Post]

I highly recommend this 5 star mixtape of British music by friend of the Lounge–that’s him sitting in the corner sipping his bitter, muttering to himself- Mr. H von P. Really diverse selections! Thank you very much!

Mr H von P’s notes on the music. Be sure to check out the links to the videos as well.

Back in the days when smoking was practically compulsory in hospital, advertising was less stringently regulated. Our hero Gregor Fisher [Ed. on the cover] is having trouble in the photobooth

A quick run around the fair isles begins with an ode to London from those cheeky chappies Madness and The Liberty of Norton Folgate which was a real place in the East End of London that existed until 1900. Julien Temple made a film of the eponymous album filmed in The Hackney Empire which is worth a squiz.

The Rezillos are from Edinburgh, forming in 1976, & fronted by Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds who occasionally still perform. Quite a few members have featured over the years; have a gander at their Wikipedia page to see what they all got up to post peak success. As a live act, they were enormously entertaining at their peak. Destination Venus was released in 1978 and stands up pretty well.

Over to Derry now for a crowd pleaser from The Undertones (with whom The Rezillos toured briefly) and Family Entertainment – great rhythm section on this track. Hugely relatable at the time because they were all so ordinary – no flashy clothes or airs and graces for our boys. Fergal of course left to do his own thing, but the band did some brilliant tracks and for me, this is a favourite.

The early albums from Genesis seem to me to occasionally hark back to the bucolic idyl of Old Albion. Horizons was written by Steve Hackett who joined the band in 1971, and this guitar instrumental was apparently inspired by Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 in G Major

There was a time in the 70s when there seemed to be reggae interpretations of practically everything. Forward to 1985 and Izzy Royal reworked the theme by Geoff Love to long running soapy Coronation Street. Actually, it was released 2 years earlier and attributed to The I-Royals an alias of author, musician and producer Graham Wayne – AKA Izzy Royal.

Staying in the north (Nottingham), Sleaford Mods were formed in 2007 by Jason Williamson and Andre Fearn. Force 10 from Navarone is off last year’s album UK Grim and is a pretty good introduction into their schtick. Here Jason is joined by Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw. They are a particularly compelling live act gacked on anger with some unique stages moves.

Underworld have an unmistakable sound and this 1996 cut Oich Oich was a b-side to the CD single release of ‘Pearl’s Girl’ – it’ll get under your skin…

The Barry Gray Orchestra provided the music and theme songs to almost all of Gerry Anderson’s television series up until 1977. Dangerous Game was recorded in 1967 and appeared in an episode of Thunderbirds called The Cham-Cham. See the band The Cass Carnaby Five perform it live here twice, with Sylvia Anderson providing vocals in the second outing

The Creatures were a side project of Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie that allowed both to explore other musical avenues that were perhaps harder to indulge as Siouxsie & the Banshees. The 1962 jazz number Right Now is probably more closely associated with Mel Tormé’s 1966 version but The Creatures’ 1983 interpretation is a compelling contender.

A 1972 instrumental now from Pink Floyd’s Obscured by Clouds called Mudmen. The album was Floyd’s seventh and was recorded in France where it went to number one. This is not a track that gets a lot of attention, but I think it’s worth a listen.

Third Uncle is taken from Brian Eno’s 1974 second solo release Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) which I once saw described as ‘post-punk before punk’ which is astute. Bauhaus did a terrific cover in 1982 and often opened their live sets with it.

Speaking of covers, here’s Cock Sparrer’s 1977 version of The Stones’ We Love You. The band formed in 1972, but despite their four on the floor pub rock / glam delivery became associated with punk due to their lyrical content and attitude.

She Said is taken from Plan B’s 2010 release The Defamation of Strickland Banks – a concept album from Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew (AKA Plan B) about getting banged up for something he hadn’t done. Mostly delivered in a retro soul style, the whole album has some splendid melodies and a cohesive frame. The video that was made to accompany this song is worth foraging for on You Tube.

Luke Haines is something of a contrarian and certainly prolific. Satan Wants Me came out in 1983 and features on the album Das Capital featuring his former bandmates from The Auteurs. Other work includes an album about the Baader Meinhof gang, another about British nuclear bunkers and another devoted to wrestling. He was also part of Black Box Recorder which he formed with John Moore (ex-Jesus and Mary Chain) and Sarah Nixey who delivered Haines’ vituperative lyrics with a clipped deadpan ennui, which I’d recommend exploring if you are unfamiliar with the band.

I remember ‘Little Nicky’ Horne playing The Sultans of Swing on his show Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It on Capital Radio in the 70s. I am certain that it was this1977 demo version and not the more polished version that everyone is familiar with. Not bad for a demo…

Loose Fit from Salford’s Happy Mondays is one of the strongest releases from this band. I think that we can all agree that the band indulged in various enjoy chemical adventures, and this song sounds like its completely wrecked.

Ian Dury’s Razzle in my Pocket – is a song about pinching a pornographic magazine from the local newsagent. Released in 1977 as the b-side to Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n Roll, it’s unclear if it is autobiographical in nature. A shame that it didn’t make the cut for the first album New Boots & Panties. The salacious nature of many of his lyrics had a music hall quality and he was a master of slang & innuendo. Greatly missed.

A Lady of a Certain Age is a carefully observed vignette from The Divine Comedy and typical of their stock-in-trade. Neil Hannon’s lyrics often had a sharp edge. Whilst he recorded the album Victory for the Comic Muse from which this is taken, he had a cold that he couldn’t shake. Life can be cruel – he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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