a gerard love composition. now you see it, now you don't...
Sounds vaguely familiar ? It ought to. The sound of Memphis filtered through the dirty grey lense of the River Clyde; a perfect sound east coast pretenders, the Bay City Rollers, never quite got down on tape.
Before Teenage Fanclub (and the arrival of one Brendan O'Hare) there were the BMX Bandits, and - as this home recorded compilation of 4-Track demos proudly attests - The Boy Hairdressers and The Clydesmen too, a loose Big Star fixated collective forged between Glasgow's Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Francis Macdonald and Gerard Love.
Purloined from an undisclosed source:
"With Brendan, full-volume afternoon rehearsals begin in the unlikely setting of Norman’s bedroom in his Grandmother’s house in Bellshill and continue regularly until they feel about ready to exist in public. Throughout the practices Mrs Blake watches championship snooker on the television in between making the lads pots of tea."
"Kylie's Got a Crush on Us" eventually got it's chance to go public with the pressing of the Bandits' 1993 12", released through Alan McGee's Frankenstein, Creation Records; home to the mono-browed, super inflated egos of those New Deal upstarts, the Gallagher brothers.
1986, 53rd & 3rd Records.
4 comments:
Now that's what I call a single cover - the main feature not the inset!
Appeals to my debauched senses
Also I nod with appreciation at the song's title. Good.
If there was such a thing of a 'thumbs up' icon for blog comments it would be right...here!
Ha! Glad you approve, Löst Jimmy. A little bit of fishnet goes a long way...
I still have a knocked off counterfeit watch I bought for a song from a friend who roadied for the BMX Bandits once upon a time. '89 or '90.
Not sure what that has to do with Kylie's crush, come to think on it, but there you go...
I haven't commented for ages (still read the blog but really haven't got time to comment these days with a teeneager starting her GCSE's in the house I hardly see the computer!) However, I just have to name drop that Francis MacDonald is my wife's first cousin and whenever we used visit his now sadly deceased mother, Norman Blake was always in the house as wel las Francis
Good to hear from you Peewit!
It's a two-way street; I've been meaning to comment, too, up on your site but between getting married and starting one of our kids at high school I've let things slip a bit myself.
It's a small world! I was at the GOMA in Glasgow fairly recently and I noticed an artist on exhibition there was sponsored by Norman Blake and (I think) his wife. I forget the artist's name, but some of his work was quite interesting.
I trust the family connection means you have been privy to some Fanclub rarities ? A great band. In all their incarnations. It's a bit like been married into royalty, to a degree. In a good way.
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