I did a bit of record shopping yesterday and couldn’t resist the (incongruously titled) 12″ Live on a Hot August Night by Crispy Ambulance on On the Factory Benelux label (apparently relegated to Factory’s overseas sub-label as Tony Wilson wasn’t keen). It’s classic Factory – beautifully packaged – a bit cold, a bit trancey and a wee bit psychedelic round the edges. It has prompted me to compile a Factory/FBN playlist and would love to hear others faves or suggestions of some of the more neglected output from 86 Palatine Road. The quality control was a bit erratic (Adventure Babies anyone) but aside from You Know Who there is much to enjoy in the catalogue and some of it has weathered very well indeed I reckon (and thanks to James at LTM/FBN a great deal of it is still ‘in print’) Give this a spin.
(I also want to toss in the suggestion of a FAC-cast as a possible future Afterword Podchat if anyone’s interested…)
Shack Up by A Certain Ratio is a must
This is one of my favourites. The vocalist they had at this time seemed to be doing Liz Fraser before Liz Frazer was doing Liz Frazer.
My other suggestion is anything from the first two Durutti albums – sublime.
Point of order and digression:
The chant “You’re going home in a [insert expletive of choice here] ambulance” is in fact nonsensical. Ambulances don’t take you home, they take you to medical facilities.
A. Pedant.
And then, if you’re lucky, they take you home.
A. N. Other Pedant.
That’s a good subject for a podcast – there were some great acts on Factory (many only briefly). I was always as much of a fan of ACR as I was of NO.
DC. Railway Children. James. Mondays. SXXV. The Wake. Stockholm Monsters.
James Nice’s book is excellent.
Lovely stuff. For me the archetypal Crispy Ambulance moment is The Presence, on that EP. I don’t think they ever topped it.
Section 25 are the non-obvious Factory band for me, with From The Hip and Always Now both essential albums in my onion. ‘The Process’ is utterly beautiful, while ‘Looking From The Hilltop’ still sounds futuristic now. I listened to nothing but Factory for about two years, and they’re the ones I keep coming back to now.
Worth remembering that ESG, Cabaret Voltaire and OMD all started out on Factory.
Surely the greatest moment of Crispy Ambulance’s career is the namecheck they get in HMHB’s Running Order Squabble Fest…
Not important, but I thought the Cabs started out on Rough Trade.
A. Pedant Jr
That’s it, I’m firing my unpaid intern.
Great to see Marcel King in there. Have to go for Freaky Dancin’ by Happy Mondays, Looking From A Hilltop by Section 25, Flight by ACR, Otis by the Durutti Column, Brighter by The Railway Children, Hymn From A Village by James. I could go on. Great compilation of New Order/BeMusic productions just come out too.
whatever happened to…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouOeEoF8-Dk
New (3rd album) due out later ths year.
http://www.thedistractions.co.uk/home.html