Bought myself a green cube from Redscroll Records for my birthday last week and put my vinyl into it. Made a little video of me going through the first few records.
Lately I’ve been regretting all the vinyl I’ve sold over the years, to pay rent or whatever, no reason seems good enough now. Especially on my mind have been David J’s Crocodile Tears And The Velvet Cosh, first pressings of Can’s Tago Mago and The Stooges’ Fun House. But one album I could never sell and that I cherish every time I think of it is the Rainy Day LP. A 1984 project by Dave Roback with guest contributions from members of The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate, The Rain Parade, and The Three O’Clock. Covering songs by Bob Dylan, Big Star, Neil Young, Lou Reed, The Beach Boys, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix.
Everything about this record is lovely. Susanna Hoffs singing ‘I’ll Keep It With Mine’ is not only my favourite version of any Dylan tune, but one of my favourite ever recordings. This has graced many a mix tape over the years. Pop perfection. And her rendition of The Velvet Underground’s ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ is pretty freaking great too.
And then there’s Kendra Smith’s wonderful version of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Flying On The Ground Is Wrong’ and her haunting take on Big Star’s ‘Holocaust’. Man, I love Kendra Smith.
Here’s a rather good Magnet article by Corey duBrowa on the whole project
I bought this record one day in the mid-90’s at Trash American Style in Danbury, Connecticut. (For those wondering, mine’s the US Llama Records pressing). Malcolm Tent, one of the shop’s owners, convinced me to buy it and for that I have always been thankful. Amongst other things, The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass is a tribute to all the great CT record stores that I grew up with and helped shape my musical tastes and knowledge, and in the Liner Notes of the book I thank Malcolm for this very thing. And the album was only $8. Unbelievable. As Fate would have it I went down to the WPKN Record Fair last weekend in Bridgeport, CT and ran into Malcolm for the first time in almost 30 years. It was great to see him. Such a sweet man, always so supportive of people doing things themselves. I gave him a copy of the book and I’ll be at his record fair in Danbury May 6th promoting it. I thanked him again for convincing me to buy Rainy Day that fateful day and Malcolm mentioned how he always thought the Clay Allison record was like a companion album to Rainy Day. I can totally see that. It could just as easily have been called Rainy Day if the name hadn’t already been taken. Though perhaps ‘Lazy Day’ would suit it better. Clay Allison were basically Opal before they became Opal. Dave Roback, Kendra Smith, & Keith Mitchell. An LP was slated for release on Rough Trade but never materialized. There were two 7”s, both from 1984, and this promo cassette dated 4/27/84. The tracks were later released between the two Opal Early Recordings collections, but hearing them as an album here is a lovely thing.
I first really got into Opal in late 1998. I had heard Happy Nightmare Baby years before and it didn’t do much for me then. But fast forward to a Rockets Burst From The Streetlamps rehearsal where we’ve all brought in burned cds containing our choices of two songs we’d like the band to cover. Our drummer Craig has chosen Morrissey’s ‘Jack The Ripper’ and Opal’s ‘Strange Delight’. I’ve never heard the latter before and it just blows me away. Still does. Its lazy campfire sway evoking all the promise and enchantment of evening. Gorgeous. And only a minute forty-two seconds long.
Craig loaned me Early Recordings and, straight off the bat, the breeziness continues with ‘Empty Box Blues’, another of my favourites. So different from the lysergic darkness of Happy Nightmare Baby. The clip below contains both Early Recordings records.
And so my obsession with Kendra Smith was on. Our guitarist Rick loaned me The Guild Of Temporal Adventurers, and I soon found her 4AD solo album, Five Ways Of Disappearing, at Newbury Comics. ‘In Your Head’ is as perfect a pop song as any I know.
And one day around this time, perusing one of the many singles boxes at Brass City Records in Waterbury, CT (another huge inspiration on me, as noted in The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass, this record even making an appearance in the book) I came across her split 7” with Keith Levene & Hillel Slovak. I posted this German lullaby a couple of Counterforces ago, but hey, it’s worth sharing again. Just learned via a Discogs note that “The misheard German title should correctly be "Still In Meine Hände" (Quietly Into My Hands).”
And while on this Opal deep dive this past week, I discovered the solo work of Suki Ewers, who sang on Opal’s ‘Brigit On Sunday’ and went on to play in Mazzy Star. ‘Forever Girl’ is my fave of what I’ve heard so far. Swirling music, lovely voice, reminds me of a less distorted Medicine, which is aces in my book.
SEVEN SONGS
For the record, my choices of songs for Rockets Burst From The Streetlamps to cover were New Order’s ‘Age Of Consent’ and The Mary Chain’s ‘Sidewalking’. Let’s start with those two. And also for the record, we never did any of these.
Mick Harvey & Anita Lane - ‘Overseas Telegram’. Gorgeous music and Anita Lane’s beautiful breathy vocals. I like it even better than the original. Written by Serge Gainsbourg, of course, and first recorded by Jane Birkin on her 1983 Baby Alone In Babylone album.
Jah Wobble & Julie Campbell - ‘Tightrope’. Speaking of, Keith Levene plays guitar on the first three songs of this killer collaboration album, Psychic Life. One of my favourite records of the new millennium. This is the opening track - what a bassline, what a voice, what a song
Funkadelic – ‘Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow’. Another of my favourite recordings, though in a very different vein from ‘I’ll Keep It With Mine’ mentioned above. This is so groovy and out-there and Awesome, one of the all-time great freak-outs. Even better that you can totally shake your thing to it. I love the guitar work, simultaneously wild and plowing a groove all its own, and at times sounding like the notes are on the verge of breaking apart as they pop out from it
Dot Dash - ‘Forever Far Out’. Finally listened to the whole new record this week and it’s just as good as everyone’s saying it is. If you want your indie-pop more new wave, I’m fairly certain you’ll dig this. And bassist Hunter seems to love Peter Hook as much as I do
Terri Rae – ‘Raining It’s Raining’. All the rain made me think of this. 1968 vibes. Oh yeah