Saturday 8 October 2011

When I close my eyes, the future begins ....... Northside



Some bands were merged into the scene because of the Place they were born or the record label they were on. To a certain degree Northside was placed in the baggy camp just like the bands "James" and "The high" and with the Madchester explosion Factory records labeled them Baggy and hyped them up to be the next big thing.

After supporting The Happy Mondays in 1989 they signed a recording contract with factory and landed a spot on the documentary "Madchester - The sound of the North".  But it was with their 1st single that the band hit a problem, Factory records may have had the most fantastic bands but when it came down to actually getting the bands noticed to a larger audience they always failed !. Shall we take a trip was released on 2nd June 1990 and was banned outright on all daytime radio and some High street shops, why i hear you ask?.  Well with the letters L-S-D being the 1st speaking lines to open the song it was bound to happen!.

With several singles including the fantastic "Take 5" being released between 1990 and 1991 the toured America then released their one and only album "Chicken Rhythms" on June 17th 1991 to mixed reviews. In the UK it did reach the top 20's and did favour better in the US but what with the Grunge scene hitting at the same time it was destined to get rocky. The band did record some demos for a future single and album, but with the demise of Factory records these never saw the light of day.

In 2006 the band reformed for a reunion tour but with the only original member being present was the singer Dermo but during 2008 2 of the original members "Dermo" and "Walsh" started working on new material.

Fingers crossed that 2nd album see's the light of day and maybe even a return to the music scene. Just one of the bands who could of been so much bigger if they had been given the proper chance. With the Britpop scene just around the corner who knew what could have been achieved!.

So that's that then i guess, another truly fantastic band that never got a chance!.  I see a pattern emerging here !!



Wednesday 5 October 2011

No one to sing my summer song ....... Bedazzled




Some bands from the early 90's had the baggy grooves and the haircuts but the tunes were limp, this was not the case for the band Bedazzled!. The four lads form the band in 1990 in "Gloucestershire" which was also the birth place for the mighty EMF. After gaining a decent following in their home town they landed a record deal with Columbia records and embarked on a 23 date tour of Britain.

Their only output was a handfull of singles and 1 album, but what an album it was!. The album "Sugar free" was full to the brim with catch folaty pop tunes that would rival and out play any of the bands of the scene of the time. But as the scene was being shafted by the Ever growing Grunge scene that was being championed by the NME (Sic!) the band was lost like so many of the other bands of the era. Just listen to the tracks "teenage mother superior", Railway children" and "postcards from here" and you will find an album that yes only had 10 songs but would be more heart felt, well written and catchy than anything that emerged from the Grunge scene.

Maybe it was down to the press ditching the scene to favour another to sell more papers or it might be just because they had shit management, we will never know. All i know is that if they were given a chance they would have been still making records today.


Link to the debut album "Sugar free" :

http://www.filefactory.com/file/ce2c9f6/n/Bedazzled_-_Sugar_free.rar

Monday 3 October 2011

Candy changed her tune ...... 35 Summers



So many bands just seemed to pour out of the Madchester scene once the flood gates were opened. But as usual the Music papers had already forgotten the scene that only a couple of years ago they had championed. Yes thats right GRUNGE was gaining a massive following over in the states and NME thought it was (Like everything they do! ) the new big thing, this of course would be followed by the rise of Britpop which they championed until they got bored !. With Madchester in a state of flux there were lots of bands who became invisible to the music press and to us the readers who only caught small condescending reviews to favour the Shit that was coming over from America!.

35 summers were one of these bands and like a few of that bands that had the "indie dance" label attached to them they released a cover as their 1st single. A baggy reworking of the Beatles "Come together" was the order of the day just like other bands outputs like  Candy flip, The soup dragons and The Farm would all produce a single by someone else. Not to say  its a bad thing because it was for my tastes a fantastic reworking and also their next 2 singles "Really down" and "i wont try". Really down sets the whole tone for the album with the jangly guitar and the Baggy beats and hart felt lyrics that made me smile.

Even though they toured with Northside and EMF in 1991 with the summer of love in full swing it wasn't long before they disbanded and the Debut album "Sketch" was shelved and forgotten apart from a Japanese issue.



Link to the debut album "Sketch":
http://www.filefactory.com/file/ce13bb9/n/35_summers-sketch.rar