Ignatius Jones - Like A Ghost/ Seductive Ways

- Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About , Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Ensign
Year of Release: 1982

Australian actor, contortionist, journalist and singer Ignatius Jones is an odd sort. He's most famed in his home country for being the lead vocalist in "shocking" new wave band Jimmy and the Boys, whose act apparently included S&M and mock rape. Footage of their shows sounds ripe for inclusion in one of those "It Was Alright In The 70s" clip shows, by the sounds of it, except none seems to be available. However, YouTube allows us to watch them covering The Kinks in a peculiar fashion and see TV footage of their Tim Finn penned top ten hit "They Won't Let My Girlfriend Talk To Me", and with that we should presumably be content.

Once Jimmy and the Boys split, Ignatius set about trying to establish a solo career for himself. The results were not as successful. "Like A Ghost" was the first release, and is actually rather good, awash with an eerie, empty synth-pop simplicity as a complete antidote to the absurd theatrics of his previous band. Apparently a minor hit in the gay clubs on the American West Coast, it was obviously deemed notable enough to be granted a UK single release, unlike anything Jones did before or since… but for all the record label enthusiasm, it wasn't a sizeable seller on either side of the planet.

After the follow-up single "Whispering Your Name" failed to gain any traction, Jones formed the briefly lived Arms and Legs before then joining the swing-jazz band Pardon Me Boys.

He arguably found bigger success outside the fields of acting, music or journalism when he became an Events Director and was given the role of Creative Director for the 2000 Sydney Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. It's a far cry from being a member of the most shocking New Wave band in Australia, viewers.

Label: Ensign
Year of Release: 1982

Australian actor, contortionist, journalist and singer Ignatius Jones is an odd sort. He's most famed in his home country for being the lead vocalist in "shocking" new wave band Jimmy and the Boys, whose act apparently included S&M and mock rape. Footage of their shows sounds ripe for inclusion in one of those "It Was Alright In The 70s" clip shows, by the sounds of it, except none seems to be available. However, YouTube allows us to watch them covering The Kinks in a peculiar fashion and see TV footage of their Tim Finn penned top ten hit "They Won't Let My Girlfriend Talk To Me", and with that we should presumably be content.

Once Jimmy and the Boys split, Ignatius set about trying to establish a solo career for himself. The results were not as successful. "Like A Ghost" was the first release, and is actually rather good, awash with an eerie, empty synth-pop simplicity as a complete antidote to the absurd theatrics of his previous band. Apparently a minor hit in the gay clubs on the American West Coast, it was obviously deemed notable enough to be granted a UK single release, unlike anything Jones did before or since… but for all the record label enthusiasm, it wasn't a sizeable seller on either side of the planet.

After the follow-up single "Whispering Your Name" failed to gain any traction, Jones formed the briefly lived Arms and Legs before then joining the swing-jazz band Pardon Me Boys.

He arguably found bigger success outside the fields of acting, music or journalism when he became an Events Director and was given the role of Creative Director for the 2000 Sydney Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. It's a far cry from being a member of the most shocking New Wave band in Australia, viewers.

Hackensack - Moving On/ River Boat

- Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About , Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Island

Year of Release: 1972

In the late sixties and early seventies, music began to be appraised by certain selective punters not just by how melodic or innovative it was, but how loud and heavy, especially in the live environment. Bands began to obtain huge amplifiers and stacks affordably, and thus acts such as Blue Cheer described themselves as being capable of turning the air to cheese with their sheer racket. Presumably nobody asked for a refund when the venue around them didn't transform miraculously into rich Brie.

Hackensack were renowned for being one of Britain's heaviest blues rock bands in the early seventies, and became quite a draw on the live circuit, chalking up 270 gigs - but naturally, their high voltage and volume attacks failed to cross over into record shop sales. 1974's Polydor released album "Up The Hard Way" was cultishly successful, but not enough to convince anyone that they had a reasonable commercial proposition on their hands, though it has since become a highly collectible item. Thus Hackensack were kicked back on to the small venue circuit before giving it all up, an unissued live album apparently languishing in the Pye vaults.

This is their solitary single, and consists of two quite different halves. The A-side "Moving On" chugs along and swings merrily, and actually has an almost glam rock chorus which sounds like it might have been borrowed from Iron Virgin or one of the many flop tinseltowners of the day. It's perfectly good, but it's the B-side that really shows what Hackensack were capable of. "River Boat" is an absolute dumb-ass assault, riddled with a primal, almost garage rock riff which needles away throughout. Vocals scream, cymbals crash, and the whole thing is a fine example of how the 60s punk tradition naturally morphed into Serious Rock in the early seventies. So downright distorted and compressed is the track that I had to have three goes of ripping it from vinyl before getting the right volume control - it sends all the needles flying into the red even at low recording volumes. I still can't decide if I over or under did it.

Lead singer Nicky Moore went on to be a key player in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with Samson, guitarist Ray Majors went on to join British Lions before eventually hooking up with Mott The Hoople, and drummer Simon Fox joined Be Bop Deluxe. The whereabouts of bassist Stu Mills is less clear.

Label: Island

Year of Release: 1972

In the late sixties and early seventies, music began to be appraised by certain selective punters not just by how melodic or innovative it was, but how loud and heavy, especially in the live environment. Bands began to obtain huge amplifiers and stacks affordably, and thus acts such as Blue Cheer described themselves as being capable of turning the air to cheese with their sheer racket. Presumably nobody asked for a refund when the venue around them didn't transform miraculously into rich Brie.

Hackensack were renowned for being one of Britain's heaviest blues rock bands in the early seventies, and became quite a draw on the live circuit, chalking up 270 gigs - but naturally, their high voltage and volume attacks failed to cross over into record shop sales. 1974's Polydor released album "Up The Hard Way" was cultishly successful, but not enough to convince anyone that they had a reasonable commercial proposition on their hands, though it has since become a highly collectible item. Thus Hackensack were kicked back on to the small venue circuit before giving it all up, an unissued live album apparently languishing in the Pye vaults.

This is their solitary single, and consists of two quite different halves. The A-side "Moving On" chugs along and swings merrily, and actually has an almost glam rock chorus which sounds like it might have been borrowed from Iron Virgin or one of the many flop tinseltowners of the day. It's perfectly good, but it's the B-side that really shows what Hackensack were capable of. "River Boat" is an absolute dumb-ass assault, riddled with a primal, almost garage rock riff which needles away throughout. Vocals scream, cymbals crash, and the whole thing is a fine example of how the 60s punk tradition naturally morphed into Serious Rock in the early seventies. So downright distorted and compressed is the track that I had to have three goes of ripping it from vinyl before getting the right volume control - it sends all the needles flying into the red even at low recording volumes. I still can't decide if I over or under did it.

Lead singer Nicky Moore went on to be a key player in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with Samson, guitarist Ray Majors went on to join British Lions before eventually hooking up with Mott The Hoople, and drummer Simon Fox joined Be Bop Deluxe. The whereabouts of bassist Stu Mills is less clear.

Back very soon...

- Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About , Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

I moved into the new house a month ago, and you can see from the picture above the chaos that awaited… the previous owners simply locked the doors and left a pile of junk behind, most of which was of such a poor quality that even the local charity shops wanted nothing to do with it. Cheap old chipboard wardrobes from the eighties, scratched and scuffed drinks cabinets, a wheelchair, a very old radio (pictured - I'll try to test this at some point, as soon as I can find a new lead for it), even an ancient 70s kitchen sink with a slightly rusty residue… moving our own stuff in was a challenge, viewers, and we're still trying to work out the cheapest way of getting a lot of the old junk sent to landfill.

The question you're naturally asking is "But did they leave any vinyl behind?" And of course, no, they didn't. The one pile of junk I would have been delighted to have been left as an unlisted feature of the house wasn't to be found. So it's been a slow process of shifting things hither and tither, tidying, painting, removing horrendous carpeting from the floors, and generally getting a run-down property up to some sort of inhabitable scratch. The boiler was also shot, so we didn't even have hot water for the first few weeks.

All that said, Virgin Media have been brilliant at getting us back online, managing to get us hooked up in half the time BT managed during the last house move. This despite the fact that they had to get roadworks permission from the council, dig up the kerb outside, and wire the cable into our property. To achieve all that in a fortnight is actually unbelievably good.

I'm also hopeful enough that the chaos in my life has been reduced to the extent that I can start putting regular entries back up on "Left and to the Back", although the flow may be disrupted from time to time whenever the builders are in. 

I also think I'll ditch the "Emerging" section of the blog unless anyone has a begging need to see more from it. Nobody seemed to ever read or comment on the entries, which leads me to suspect that this really should remain as a blog for obscure old music, not up and coming artists (however enthusiastic I am about them). Send your letters of complaint to the usual address… but I highly doubt I'll get any.

See you soon, then. 

I moved into the new house a month ago, and you can see from the picture above the chaos that awaited… the previous owners simply locked the doors and left a pile of junk behind, most of which was of such a poor quality that even the local charity shops wanted nothing to do with it. Cheap old chipboard wardrobes from the eighties, scratched and scuffed drinks cabinets, a wheelchair, a very old radio (pictured - I'll try to test this at some point, as soon as I can find a new lead for it), even an ancient 70s kitchen sink with a slightly rusty residue… moving our own stuff in was a challenge, viewers, and we're still trying to work out the cheapest way of getting a lot of the old junk sent to landfill.

The question you're naturally asking is "But did they leave any vinyl behind?" And of course, no, they didn't. The one pile of junk I would have been delighted to have been left as an unlisted feature of the house wasn't to be found. So it's been a slow process of shifting things hither and tither, tidying, painting, removing horrendous carpeting from the floors, and generally getting a run-down property up to some sort of inhabitable scratch. The boiler was also shot, so we didn't even have hot water for the first few weeks.

All that said, Virgin Media have been brilliant at getting us back online, managing to get us hooked up in half the time BT managed during the last house move. This despite the fact that they had to get roadworks permission from the council, dig up the kerb outside, and wire the cable into our property. To achieve all that in a fortnight is actually unbelievably good.

I'm also hopeful enough that the chaos in my life has been reduced to the extent that I can start putting regular entries back up on "Left and to the Back", although the flow may be disrupted from time to time whenever the builders are in. 

I also think I'll ditch the "Emerging" section of the blog unless anyone has a begging need to see more from it. Nobody seemed to ever read or comment on the entries, which leads me to suspect that this really should remain as a blog for obscure old music, not up and coming artists (however enthusiastic I am about them). Send your letters of complaint to the usual address… but I highly doubt I'll get any.

See you soon, then. 

Breaktime

- Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About , Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

It pains me to say it, but unfortunately this blog won't be updated for a little while. I'm presently in the process of buying a house (and hopefully moving into the house, provided I can get the solicitors to agree on some nigglingly worrying details), and while I had hoped I could stack and queue enough entries to tide the site over during the process, there just aren't the hours in the day. So…

For the first time in two years, there's going to be a bit of a gap in the service. The last time I took a break in 2013 chaos absolutely fucking reigned. It was only intended to be 2-3 months long, but during the period I fractured my left elbow, moved house and had titanic battles with BT about getting back online again - apparently the simple job of just turning up to my house when they were supposed to and installing broadband was too tricky to cope with ("The man who is installing your broadband is just around the corner in his van, he'll be there soon…" "Er… I don't know why we said that. He cannot install your broadband today, he is nowhere in the area, yes, I would be shouting if I were you too, sir, I cannot blame you").

Here's hoping I get through this whole experience a bit more smoothly and "Left and to the Back" will be back online sooner rather than later. In the meantime, wish me luck. 

It pains me to say it, but unfortunately this blog won't be updated for a little while. I'm presently in the process of buying a house (and hopefully moving into the house, provided I can get the solicitors to agree on some nigglingly worrying details), and while I had hoped I could stack and queue enough entries to tide the site over during the process, there just aren't the hours in the day. So…

For the first time in two years, there's going to be a bit of a gap in the service. The last time I took a break in 2013 chaos absolutely fucking reigned. It was only intended to be 2-3 months long, but during the period I fractured my left elbow, moved house and had titanic battles with BT about getting back online again - apparently the simple job of just turning up to my house when they were supposed to and installing broadband was too tricky to cope with ("The man who is installing your broadband is just around the corner in his van, he'll be there soon…" "Er… I don't know why we said that. He cannot install your broadband today, he is nowhere in the area, yes, I would be shouting if I were you too, sir, I cannot blame you").

Here's hoping I get through this whole experience a bit more smoothly and "Left and to the Back" will be back online sooner rather than later. In the meantime, wish me luck. 

Emerging - MIYNT, Communions and Have You Ever Seen The Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS?

- Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About , Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

I started the "Emerging" section of this blog largely to scratch a particular itch I had - while the purpose of "Left and to the Back" is unquestionably to focus on odd, brilliant and esoteric old vinyl finds, the reality is that my life and listening habits revolve just as much as around new material as old. Trouble is, the vast majority of artists I've featured in the section over the year sound as if they owe a large debt to music emerging somewhere from the period 1966-1995. In some cases, I could have presented them as bona-fide lost records from previous decades (and they'd probably have picked up more readers that way).

Stockholm's MIYNT, on the other hand, is brilliantly modern. Latest single "Civil War" (backed by the almost as brilliant "Nick Drake") is a complex, fascinating cobweb of melodic hooks married to a fiercely twenty-first century electronic production. Somewhere in the tangle lie elements of Boards of Canada, classic sixties pop, film noir soundtracks and contemporary EDM, but never once does it sound like it belongs to any one point, place or time. Luxuriously icy to the last and full of surprises, this is a single that deserves to be the launchpad for a major career - it makes this month's bunch of three-chord indie-pop merchants sound like the unadventurous chancers they are.



Staying within Scandinavia - and I haven't chosen to deliberately theme this entry, incidentally, it just turned out that way - Copenhagen's Communions are less bewitchingly futuristic, dropping post-punk basslines and angst-ridden eighties vocals into their otherwise crystalline pop, but "Forget It's A Dream" is a haunting and yearning track which sounds as if it should have been written long ago. It also achieves the remarkable feat of being so packed with ideas that the six-and-a-half minute run time of the song seems perfectly rational and reasonable. Not a note or riff wasted here.



There are also Finnish contenders this month in the shape of the ridiculously yet brilliantly named Have You Ever Seen The Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS, who take garage punk and leave out the guitars (bass excepted), instead choosing to develop their particular flavour of abrasive bubblegum pop with layers upon layers of analogue keyboards. It's unlikely to set the UK Top 40 aflame next week, of course, but "Family Man" is available now and makes it sound as if they're having more fun than anyone else on the planet, fizzing over as it does with energy and whirling keyboard sounds. It's a peculiar nugget for the 21st Century, and even if they never have another good idea, their time will have been well spent on this one.

I started the "Emerging" section of this blog largely to scratch a particular itch I had - while the purpose of "Left and to the Back" is unquestionably to focus on odd, brilliant and esoteric old vinyl finds, the reality is that my life and listening habits revolve just as much as around new material as old. Trouble is, the vast majority of artists I've featured in the section over the year sound as if they owe a large debt to music emerging somewhere from the period 1966-1995. In some cases, I could have presented them as bona-fide lost records from previous decades (and they'd probably have picked up more readers that way).

Stockholm's MIYNT, on the other hand, is brilliantly modern. Latest single "Civil War" (backed by the almost as brilliant "Nick Drake") is a complex, fascinating cobweb of melodic hooks married to a fiercely twenty-first century electronic production. Somewhere in the tangle lie elements of Boards of Canada, classic sixties pop, film noir soundtracks and contemporary EDM, but never once does it sound like it belongs to any one point, place or time. Luxuriously icy to the last and full of surprises, this is a single that deserves to be the launchpad for a major career - it makes this month's bunch of three-chord indie-pop merchants sound like the unadventurous chancers they are.



Staying within Scandinavia - and I haven't chosen to deliberately theme this entry, incidentally, it just turned out that way - Copenhagen's Communions are less bewitchingly futuristic, dropping post-punk basslines and angst-ridden eighties vocals into their otherwise crystalline pop, but "Forget It's A Dream" is a haunting and yearning track which sounds as if it should have been written long ago. It also achieves the remarkable feat of being so packed with ideas that the six-and-a-half minute run time of the song seems perfectly rational and reasonable. Not a note or riff wasted here.



There are also Finnish contenders this month in the shape of the ridiculously yet brilliantly named Have You Ever Seen The Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS, who take garage punk and leave out the guitars (bass excepted), instead choosing to develop their particular flavour of abrasive bubblegum pop with layers upon layers of analogue keyboards. It's unlikely to set the UK Top 40 aflame next week, of course, but "Family Man" is available now and makes it sound as if they're having more fun than anyone else on the planet, fizzing over as it does with energy and whirling keyboard sounds. It's a peculiar nugget for the 21st Century, and even if they never have another good idea, their time will have been well spent on this one.

Reupload - The Lemon Men - I've Seen You Cut Lemons

- Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About , Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label (finally issued on): Polydor
Year of Release: 1969

I don't normally upload studio acetates on "Left and to the Back", simply because they're fragile, very difficult to come by and usually very expensive. If the opportunity arises to buy the issued or demo vinyl version instead of a rather crackly acetate, I'll take the former option despite the desirability of the latter. I like to own records I feel I can DJ with and play at my own leisure rather than ones I have to keep safe from the scuffing of needles and general wear and tear.

That said, I've never seen a finally released copy of The Lemon Men's "I've Seen You Cut Lemons" in my life, and whilst they (apparently) do exist, this acetate turned up for sale so cheaply that it was worth a punt. Frequently labelled by bloggers as a "psychedelic record", it's not so much psychedelia as an unbelievably peculiar ballad. A rich voiced singer croons a gentle melody about mental illness, using the unexpected lines: "You say that I'm mad and should be committed/ And you are the one who should be called sane", "I've seen you cut lemons/ I've seen you burn children and leave them to die". Yes indeed. Perhaps to muddy the waters further, the song also contains the lines: "You ask me if I don't also cut lemons/ I do, but when I do I cry".

Context, as always, is everything. A Sean Connery directed play entitled "I've Seen You Cut Lemons" hit the London theatre stage around this time, and focussed on the relationship a writer had with his bi-polar sister. We'd need a script of the Ted Allan authored play in question to fully understand the significance of its title, and sadly I don't have one, but it would seem sensible to assume that this record was in some way a tie-in to the production, or at the very least a tribute to its efforts. Sadly, "I've Seen You Cut Lemons" was both a flop in London Theatre-land, closing after five nights, and perhaps inevitably a flop in the record charts as well. Surprisingly, it's story didn't end there, and the play formed the basis of the 1984 film "Love Streams" directed by John Cassavetes, which won the Golden Bear at that year's Berlin Film Festival.

As for the song itself, it's truly unorthodox, combining a brooding moodiness with peculiar Jimmy Webb styled lyrical lines and a relaxing lounge music backing - to use that lazy journalistic device of cross-referencing styles, it's rather like the theme tune to "Just Good Friends" colliding with the plot of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". We will probably never hear its like again, and as for who the Lemon Men were... does anyone have any ideas? My guess would be that they were a studio band put together solely for this project, but I'd be happy to be corrected.

Oh, and as Bam Caruso always used to say on the back of those "Circus Days" compilation albums - you will be able to detect popping and crackling in this mp3, but it would be foolish to ignore this medium merely because of the fragility of earlier storage systems.

(Update - This blog entry was originally uploaded in April 2012. Since then I've been informed that Glen Mason is the vocalist on this disc, whose son's Godfather is none other than Sean Connery. He has recently had two CDs released entitled "All My Life" and "Shadrack and Rare Tracks". Thanks for letting me know, Chris Adams, and I hope Glen enjoyed hearing this track again). 

Label (finally issued on): Polydor
Year of Release: 1969

I don't normally upload studio acetates on "Left and to the Back", simply because they're fragile, very difficult to come by and usually very expensive. If the opportunity arises to buy the issued or demo vinyl version instead of a rather crackly acetate, I'll take the former option despite the desirability of the latter. I like to own records I feel I can DJ with and play at my own leisure rather than ones I have to keep safe from the scuffing of needles and general wear and tear.

That said, I've never seen a finally released copy of The Lemon Men's "I've Seen You Cut Lemons" in my life, and whilst they (apparently) do exist, this acetate turned up for sale so cheaply that it was worth a punt. Frequently labelled by bloggers as a "psychedelic record", it's not so much psychedelia as an unbelievably peculiar ballad. A rich voiced singer croons a gentle melody about mental illness, using the unexpected lines: "You say that I'm mad and should be committed/ And you are the one who should be called sane", "I've seen you cut lemons/ I've seen you burn children and leave them to die". Yes indeed. Perhaps to muddy the waters further, the song also contains the lines: "You ask me if I don't also cut lemons/ I do, but when I do I cry".

Context, as always, is everything. A Sean Connery directed play entitled "I've Seen You Cut Lemons" hit the London theatre stage around this time, and focussed on the relationship a writer had with his bi-polar sister. We'd need a script of the Ted Allan authored play in question to fully understand the significance of its title, and sadly I don't have one, but it would seem sensible to assume that this record was in some way a tie-in to the production, or at the very least a tribute to its efforts. Sadly, "I've Seen You Cut Lemons" was both a flop in London Theatre-land, closing after five nights, and perhaps inevitably a flop in the record charts as well. Surprisingly, it's story didn't end there, and the play formed the basis of the 1984 film "Love Streams" directed by John Cassavetes, which won the Golden Bear at that year's Berlin Film Festival.

As for the song itself, it's truly unorthodox, combining a brooding moodiness with peculiar Jimmy Webb styled lyrical lines and a relaxing lounge music backing - to use that lazy journalistic device of cross-referencing styles, it's rather like the theme tune to "Just Good Friends" colliding with the plot of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". We will probably never hear its like again, and as for who the Lemon Men were... does anyone have any ideas? My guess would be that they were a studio band put together solely for this project, but I'd be happy to be corrected.

Oh, and as Bam Caruso always used to say on the back of those "Circus Days" compilation albums - you will be able to detect popping and crackling in this mp3, but it would be foolish to ignore this medium merely because of the fragility of earlier storage systems.

(Update - This blog entry was originally uploaded in April 2012. Since then I've been informed that Glen Mason is the vocalist on this disc, whose son's Godfather is none other than Sean Connery. He has recently had two CDs released entitled "All My Life" and "Shadrack and Rare Tracks". Thanks for letting me know, Chris Adams, and I hope Glen enjoyed hearing this track again). 

The Road - She's Not There/ A Bummer

- Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About , Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Kama Sutra

Year of Release: 1968

If I'm not careful, this blog is going to get a reputation for continual uploads of cover versions of The Zombies "She's Not There". First we heard the synth pop version a mere few entries back, and now this is the much more antique 1968 cover, slightly wigged out and updated for the groovy set.

Rather than make this an entirely straight reinterpretation, The Road here have some fun with beatless, acapella interludes, long, drawn out and atmospheric electric organ build-ups, and generally faintly ambitious tinkering. It's not a total remodel in the mould of The Panic's version, and nor is it epic and bombastic in the manner of Colin Blunstone's fantastic re-recording under the name Neil MacArthur (something I would have uploaded here long ago were it not already widely commercially available) but it's picking up a few sixties club plays now purely for its swing. It's not hard to understand why.

B-side "A Bummer", meanwhile, gives Lieutenant Pigeon's flips a run for their money in sheer bizarre minimalism.

The Road consisted of brothers Jerry and Phil Hudson, Joe and Jim Hesse, Nick Distefano, and Ralph Parker. They hailed from Buffalo and formed as The Mellow Brick Rode (a much better name, in my view) in 1967. "She's Not There" just narrowly missed a Billboard Hot 100 place, and would perhaps have performed better had the band's manager organised a widespread US tour and promo package for them - but apparently these plans fell through. Rumours have since abounded about his gangster/ mob connections, and there's an interesting article with the group on this website that tries to complete the picture.

The Road managed two LPs - the eponymous "The Road" in 1969, and "Cognition" in 1971 - before disappearing. They still occasionally reform to perform on the club circuit.

Label: Kama Sutra

Year of Release: 1968

If I'm not careful, this blog is going to get a reputation for continual uploads of cover versions of The Zombies "She's Not There". First we heard the synth pop version a mere few entries back, and now this is the much more antique 1968 cover, slightly wigged out and updated for the groovy set.

Rather than make this an entirely straight reinterpretation, The Road here have some fun with beatless, acapella interludes, long, drawn out and atmospheric electric organ build-ups, and generally faintly ambitious tinkering. It's not a total remodel in the mould of The Panic's version, and nor is it epic and bombastic in the manner of Colin Blunstone's fantastic re-recording under the name Neil MacArthur (something I would have uploaded here long ago were it not already widely commercially available) but it's picking up a few sixties club plays now purely for its swing. It's not hard to understand why.

B-side "A Bummer", meanwhile, gives Lieutenant Pigeon's flips a run for their money in sheer bizarre minimalism.

The Road consisted of brothers Jerry and Phil Hudson, Joe and Jim Hesse, Nick Distefano, and Ralph Parker. They hailed from Buffalo and formed as The Mellow Brick Rode (a much better name, in my view) in 1967. "She's Not There" just narrowly missed a Billboard Hot 100 place, and would perhaps have performed better had the band's manager organised a widespread US tour and promo package for them - but apparently these plans fell through. Rumours have since abounded about his gangster/ mob connections, and there's an interesting article with the group on this website that tries to complete the picture.

The Road managed two LPs - the eponymous "The Road" in 1969, and "Cognition" in 1971 - before disappearing. They still occasionally reform to perform on the club circuit.