The Pogues

Artist: The Pogues

LP: If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Song: "Bottle of Smoke"

[ listen ]

Song: "Fairytale of New York"

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I don't remember what brought The Pogues to mind earlier this week, but when they were there, I suddenly realized that I couldn't recall seeing their records in my collection lately, and I worried that perhaps I'd gotten rid of them. (I've had similar vinyl "I got rid of it" regrets in the past.) 

I thumbed through the 'P's and was relieved to find my two Pogues records still there (the other one is 1985's "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash"), but lodged in the slight fold in the top of the plastic sleeve for this one was the corpse of a spider, enshrouded in web. Thank you, dead spider, for underlining the fact that I've neglected my Pogues albums for far too long. I gave both records a spin and they haven't aged a bit.

Described as a "British Celtic punk band," The Pogues is one of the groups I discovered while working at Budget Tapes & Records in Yakima back in 1986-1988. We got a play copy of "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" (I think this may be that same copy!) when it was released in 1987, and I was instantly hooked. There's no other band like them. "Fairytale of New York" is the most wonderfully dreary Christmas song ever recorded, and it's been stuck in my head for days!

[ The Pogues ]

The Mighty Lemon Drops

Artist: The Mighty Lemon Drops

LP: Out of Hand
Song: "Out of Hand"

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I've been on a Mighty Lemon Drops kick these past few days, and I've just read someone saying that they sorta' sound like Echo & the Bunnymen. I suppose they do! Originally called The Sherbet Monsters, this English group that formed in 1985 had fortunately changed their name before I first heard of them when "Out of Hand" played on MTV's 120 Minutes, which I watched religiously every Sunday night at some divey pizza joint near BYU campus in Provo, UT during my freshman year at college there in 1987-1988. Unfortunately The Lemon Drops, who were both fabulous and mighty, melted away in 1992. You can read about them here.

 

[ The Mighty Lemon Drops ]

My Bloody Valentine

Artist: My Bloody Valentine

LP: Isn't Anything

Song: "No More Sorry"
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Song: "(When You Wake) You're Still In a Dream"
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After five glorious days in Barcelona with my friends, I took a train up to the little town of Figueres by myself to spend a day or two. It's the town where Salvador Dalí was born and spent a lot of his time, so of course I visited the museum there that is dedicated to his work. 

I also made a point of dining in the luxurious restaurant at Hotel Duran (Duran?), which is reportedly where Sñr. Dalí frequently spent time hanging out with friends. 

The service at El Restaurant del Hotel Duran was so excellent, formal, precise, and provided in a foreign language, I have to admit feeling a little intimidated. When presented with 'small' or 'large' options for a glass of wine, I opted for the latter... which meant that I got an entire bottle to myself, kept chilled at the side of my table. By the time I finished my meal I was quite more than tipsy. Fortunately, it turns out there's nothing more delightful to be as you stumble through Figueres at night, across La Rambla, to the ice cream stand, passing now-empty sidewalk cafes as you make your way a little lost-like toward the comfort of your room in an old Spanish hotel. 

Oh, and the record store. There's just one in Figueres, called Discos Quim. It's right off the main plaza in the center of town. They don't have much in the way of used vinyl, but they did have new copies of all three My Bloody Valentine LPs, available at just €12.50 each! It seemed divine providence finding those there, since My Bloody Valentine had been a favorite since my college days and I'd just seen them for the first time at The Paramount Theater in Seattle a few weeks earlier, courtesy of my friend Charlie who I was currently hanging out with in Spain! It's like my whole world was falling into place. 

[ My Bloody Valentine ]

"Isn't Anything," from 1988, was their first full-length LP. It's pretty damn awesome, though often overshadowed by their iconic follow-up LP, "Loveless," released three years later. You can read about My Bloody Valentine here, and find some interesting notes and rave reviews for "Isn't Anything" on Wikipedia here. And if you ever get a chance, I highly recommend a visit to the town of Figueres, Spain. 

 

[ Discos Quim — Figueres, Spain ]

Bauhaus

Artist: Bauhaus

LP: 12" single

Song: "Telegram Sam"
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With the arrival in my mailbox yesterday of this 1980 Bauhaus 12" single from my new friend Philippe in Poitiers, France, my early-4AD catalog collection is complete! Originally a popular single released in 1972 by T-Rex, this Bauhaus version—catalogue no. AD 17(T)—was very popular with the people of New Zealand, going all the way to #12 on their charts.

[ Bauhaus ]

The Past Seven Days

Artist: The Past Seven Days

LP: 7" single

Song: "Raindance"
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As I've probably mentioned before, in 1986, after first hearing This Mortal Coil's "It'll End In Tears" LP, released in 1984 and featuring a bunch of musicians recording on 4AD at the time, I became obsessed with the label and its music and began collecting every 4AD release I could get my hands on. Their 1987 "Lonely Is An Eyesore" compilation LP included a list of all label releases up to that point, indicating which ones had already gone out of print.

I've found quite a few of them over the years, even some of the hard-to-find out-of-print ones from 1980 and 1981, when the label was first getting started. It's always exciting to be thumbing through a bin of 45s when my eyes, like lasers, suddenly zero in on a rare 4AD release that they've never gazed upon before! 

But after over 30 years of hunting and collecting, there are still about 20 out-of-print 4AD releases from 1980-1983 that I've simply never come across in all my rummaging. So I've decided to employ the miracle of the internet to obtain copies of these missing pieces, one by one, from around the world and have them delivered to my doorstep. I am determined to complete my 1980-1988 4AD vinyl collection before being placed, contently, in my grave. 

This 1981 single by The Past Seven Days (not to be confused with the current Seven Days) was the first of the 4AD rarities to arrive. It had evidently been lurking in the dusty bins at Yesterday and Today Records in Olney, Maryland (I assume dusty based on their web design.) The copy arrived in great shape and plays just fine on my real turntable, but the needle got stuck twice on the rinky-dink USB turntable I use to make a digital copy, so when that happened I had to give a bit of a nudge. On the bright side, it made the song last longer.

The Past Seven Days never made any other records, and their All Music biography says it's uncertain who was even actually in the group. But as we can all tell from reading below, it was Trevor Dooley, Colin Gaynor, John Hanlon, and Max...with remix duties handled by Kevin Bacon!

[ The Past Seven Days ]

The Reds

Artist: The Reds

LP: The Reds

Song: "Whatcha' Doin' to Me" / "Not You"
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I'm running out of room again. I keep thinking maybe I'll get rid of some of my late-'70s post punk LPs since lots of them kinda' sound the same...but then they're all so damn good! Like this debut from The Reds on A&M Records. It was evidently a flop when it came out, since A&M dropped them like a red hot potato. Yet the music of The Reds holds up today more than just about anything that went zooming to the top of the charts in 1979. Of course The Reds released their record on green vinyl. You can read a bit about the group here and here. This one's a keeper.

[ The Reds ]