From the latest Cherry Red mail out. Who’s that, then? Go on, have a guess.
“EXTENSIVE BOX SET EXPLORING ONE OF THE UK’S BEST LOVED BANDS OF THE EARLY 1990s AND FIGUREHEADS OF THE ‘SHOEGAZE’ SCENE AND BEYOND.”
Spoilers to follow in comments.
Guess who
by 32 Comments
Well, give us a clue, then…
This is a game which could run and run, isn’t it.
Shoegazers. For “Figureheads” think: more like Vauxhall Conference League.
A futball reference – I’m out…
My Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts to your Quo.
Slowdive?
Getting warm.
The right home town, as well.
Were they one of the most individual and enigmatic bands of their era?
Not only, but also “Impossible to categorise”. Unless that category is ‘shoegazers’:
“the band were quickly embraced by both the music press and a global audience, and soon found themselves part of the emergent shoegaze scene alongside contemporaries such as Slowdive and Ride”
I always enjoy looking through the Cherry Red promotional mailouts.
That 4CD set of all the Joe Gibbs dub albums released in the 1970s looks an excellent value buy for all fans of the golden era of reggae:
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/joe-gibbs-and-the-professionals-the-1970s-dub-albums-collection-4cd-set/
Already on order 😉
Chapterhouse – the other shoe gazy lot from the Rock & Roll hotbed of Reading
Maybe The Sundays, but they only have a 25% link to the town
We have a winner. Given their massive global success, how could it possibly be anyone else?
Sure I saw both Slowdive and Chapterhouse on the same bill. Maybe it was just the same venue. Either way, I don’t recall walking out thinking “this lot are going to be huge”.
Mind you, I wasn’t convinced by Radiohead when I saw them, so my opinion may not always be reliable
I definitely saw Slowdive early on in the Granby Tavern. I might have seen Chapterhouse there as well – I lived round the corner and there was a midweek Indie/Goth night (I remember camo netting round the stage) – my band Free Beer played a (the only) gig there.
Plus I’m fairly sure I saw them at both Reading and Glastonbury festivals.
I did see Chapterhose (headlining, I think) at the Cambridge Junction when Whirlpool album came out.
I really liked Chapterhouse back in 1990/91. Falling Down and Pearl were great tunes and I probably saw them live about four times that year (always really good support bands if memory serves). I think I’d forgotten about them by the time of the second album and probably fallen in love with some other guitar band at that point, with Spiritualized probably the likely candidate to take over that role in my life. I wonder if the ‘house are still gigging?
Brief reunion in 2008-2010, apparently.
You young people and your beat music
I lived in Reading in the late 80s and through the 90s and managed to remain blissfully unaware of any of these bands. Finger very much not on the pulse, clearly.
Only band from Reading I can vaguely remember were the Cooper Temple Clause who I once saw at a festival in Hong Kong. Up there with Yes at QPR as my least memorable festivals ever
I had a soft spot for them back in the day, my 12″ of Pearl still gets an occassional spin. You have to wonder how extensive the box set can be for a band who only released two albums?
I bought the Pearl 12″ and Whirlpool on LP. I was amazed to find the Memerise 12″ (which I picked out of a bargain bin) made number 60, so that takes them to two-hit wonder status.
I haven’t looked at the contents of the 6CD box but I remember there was an early version of Whirlpool, recorded at the same studio in Rugby where Spacemen 3 recorded, released around the time of the reunion.
And there’s me hoping it would be CBeebies own Nick Cope’s – Candy Skins…
I’m amazed Cherry Red haven’t ‘done’ them yet. Is their catalogue tied up in legal limbo, or something?
If Bogshed can have an anthology, anyone can.
You’ve got to love Cherry Red – who else would be putting out a 5CD Eyeless in Gaza box set, featuring their entire 1981-1986 output for the label re-worked into five thematic suites?
On Chapterhouse, them and the very talented Global Communication responsible for one of the greatest remix albums ever.
Initially a companion CD to blood music, rereleased separately but you’ll struggle to get one for much under £50.
I see it’s on the box set – cheaper to get it with 5 other CDs than secondhand.
I remember going to the Forum (then the Town and Country) and watching a bill of Bell Tower (me neither), 5:30 and Chapterhouse. After empirically forgettable shoegazey stuff from the openers, 5:30 tore into their set like psychedelic mods on extra speed, which is exactly what they were. I became a fan on the spot.
After that, Chapterhouse came across as the most lily-livered, God-help-us-if-there’s-a-war bunch of whey-faced poltroons it was possible to affront me with. ‘Pearl’ livened things up only slightly, and that had everything to do with John Bonham’s sampled drums and nothing to do with them. Box set? Pah.
5:30 were great live, although I never bought any of their records. I remember “The next song is called Supernova. No, it is not about a fast car.” and their “About F***cking Time” t-shirt (which I did buy).
Just listened to Supernova on Spotify, as started on Youtube but within 30seconds assumed that the rip was abysmal. No it’s the production.
Please Sir…I have a Belltower album. There were two singles off it, Out shine the sun and Lost in Hollow. Both were ok, the rest of the album wasn’t.
Decent band 5.30, until they became a bit over reliant on the old wah pedal. Abstain, Catcher In The Rye and Air Conditioned Nightmare are great songs which make me think of sweaty gigs at the Old Trout in Windsor. Fun times.
Clearly not The Guess Who ….