7 Inch Singles Collection: Dalek I - Freedom Fighters

Dalek I Love You!:

DALEK I

A-side: Freedom Fighters

B-Side: Two Chameleons

(Vertigo 1979)

I suggested in a previous blog entry that Fuzzbox deserve a place in the Boys Own Bumper Book of Brilliant Band Names, if that's the case then Surely Dalek I Love You also needs to be in there too. Their record company shortened it to the less great Dalek I for their initial releases, but I still think of them as Dalek I Love You. 

I first encountered this group when I found a cassette version of their second album cheap in Woolworths. I would like to tell you that it was my hip and happening music sense that drew me to this band - knowing that they were tangentially involved with The Teardrop Explodes. I'd, of course, be lying if I did try to make you believe that. It's a band with the word Dalek in the title - I'm a Doctor Who fan, and have been for a long, long time (this could have been a Doctor Who blog - and maybe will be when I'm all done with my records!) It was a pleasant surprise when that Dalek I Love You album turned out to be quite good, and so I snapped up some of their earlier singles when I found them in second-hand record shops.

Freedom Fighters was their first single. It's a kind of post-punk agit-pop effort with synths as well as guitars in the mix. It has the punk-funk feel of Then Gang Of Four (I know me comparing a band you've never heard of to one you've probably never heard of is possibly a futile exercise - but it's done now). The thing that stands out on this record is the spikeyness of the tune punctuated by staccato guitars, there's a kind of bloody-mindedness to to some of the groups of his time - in that they're using synths, but they make music that is impossible to dance to. Freedom Fighters is a pretty minimalist effort, with an anti-fascist political bent. I've got written down in my notes that it's a song for people not politics I'm not sure what I meant by that, other than maybe the politics of the record is not party politics but more of a general feeling. The other thing that's notable is that Freedom Fighters is quite short and stops very suddenly. 

Two Chameleons on the other side is melodically softer, but with a steady bass pulse, again with the spikey and staccato feel of the a-side. Vocally it reminds me of Elvis Costello. Overall Two Chameleons is more of an impression than a tune, it's not really hummable, and then fades out, without having ever really faded in.

A record then that intrigues rather than entertains, and makes me want to go back and listen to other Dalek I Love records.

Next time a tango that isn't...

7 Inch Singles Collection: Gary Moore - The Loner

Some instrumental rock this time:

GARY MOORE

A-side: The Loner

B-Side: Johnny Boy

(TEN 1987)

Gary Moore, was a bit of a guitar legend really, without ever being high up in the public conscience. Well little more than "Wasn't he in Thin Lizzy, once?", and while yes he was in Thin Lizzy briefly, he did a lot more other stuff and widely collaborated with a whole host of well-known folk. So a widely-respected, skilled guitarist, who over many years crafted a fine blues sound.

I remember The Loner being released, I must have seen it on TV, probably the Chart Show (Saturday mornings Channel 4!). This must have made me go out and buy this record - because at the time it was not something I'd have gone out of my way to buy. The most likely reason for me buying it was because it was a guitar instrumental - a rare commodity in the late 80's, and with me being a Shadows fan (as mentioned in a previous blog entry) it was almost an act of solidarity on behalf of guitar instrumentals. (All right, there's a bit towards the end of the track where the title is groaned over the tune, but I'm ignoring this)

The Loner is basically a power ballad stripped of vocals, with the guitar licks taking the place of the voice sounding epic and melancholy. It sounds like the theme to a big movie - one full of windswept mountains and moorland and raw emotions. Moore keeps it tight and together - none of the histrionics or shredding that many many guitar legends can't seem to resist when showing off - for that I'm thankful. Despite the enviable skill on show I can't help but feeling the the overall record was just a little dull - nothing there to catch attention or bring a little spark to the proceedings.

The last few records I've gone through in the blog, I've found the B-side to be better than or at least as good as the main track. Johnny Boy successfully bucks this trend by being more boring than the A-side. It starts a little folky - and in fact tries to sound like a traditional folk song. I think it's trying to be an Irish version of Danny Boy. There's a vocal on this side of the record, which is wholly adequate, and is completely unremarkable. I've heard plenty of slow songs, that have energy , and substance to them. This neither and feels largely drained of anything like energy.

He was obviously a great guitar player, but it would take more (pun not intended!) than the evidence of this record to convince me, and I'd guess many others too.

Next time we delve into the murky world of early 80's indie synthpop...

7 inch singles collection: We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - Your Loss, My Gain

Here's Fuzzbox:

WE'VE GOT A FUZZBOX AND WE'RE GONNA USE IT

A-side: Your Loss, My Gain

B-Side: Pink Sunshine (acoustic)

(WEA 1990)

When "The Boys Own Bumper Book Of Brilliant Band Names" is eventually released I'm sure that there'll be an entry for We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It. It's a fantastic name, just by virtue of being too long and slightly silly, but even better when you shorten it just Fuzzbox it sounds like it might possibly be a bit rude, especially in conjunction with  fact it the moniker of an all female band. (it's not of course - it's the name of a guitar effects pedal in case you were unaware). All of which endears me to this band. Their early output was a bit rough and ready in the indie punk vein, all wrapped up in "Can't believe we're doing this" attitude. A bit ramshackle DIY and occasionally discordant and noisy, but definitely fun.


Your Loss, My Gain was their final single, and long gone was the the slightly amateurish feel, discarded along with the multicoloured hairdos and associated trappings. Now in was was a bright clean slick sound and look. This song is so highly polished you could use it as a mirror - all of the rough edges have long gone and so has much of the charm of their earlier days. There's still a sense of fun in this record, but innocence and charm have been traded in for sophistication and glamour - which doesn't quite hit the spot for me. Your Loss, My Gain is a perfectly serviceable piece of power pop that feels more or less like the missing link between Bananarama and Transvision Vamp.

Over on the the B-side is an acoustic version of an earlier hit, Pink Sunshine. Again this was from their polished power pop era - a brash and shiny hit, showing the band at most fancy free and confident. The acoustic version of this Pink Sunshine showcases this but adds an extra layer of vulnerability, stripping away the power, but adding a great deal more warmth. 

When looking for the video to link I had a look at a lot of other Fuzzbox tracks, and found out that their guitarist, Jo, died a couple of years ago in her early 40's. This made me sadder than I expected, maybe it's because I'm a similar age, but more because I one thing I never associated with Fuzzbox is sadness. They exuded a sense of fun, and that being diminished is something that really plays with the emotions. Some bands aspire to greatness through skill and talents, some bands aspiring to nothing more than having a bit of fun, and through that achieve greatness. I know which of those I prefer.

Next time a solo offering from a guitar legend.

7 inch singles collection: Elvis Presley - The Girl Of My Best Friend

The King has entered the blog:

ELVIS PRESLEY

A-side: The Girl Of My Best Friend

B-Side: A Mess Of Blues

(RCA 1960)

The Rock 'n' Roll of the late 50's and early 60's is the first music I started to really get into, and it's the one that I always come back, the one that always feels like home, the one that I can listen to at any time, in any mood. It's my music. However I've always been a bit disdainful of Elvis - not that he didn't make some fantastic records, because he did. It's just that I always felt he had less to offer than many of his contemporaries. In my opinion, that wasn't always down to Elvis though - I think he had a management that realised that record and ticket sales could be made just as easily through pushing his charisma and sex appeal, than by encouraging the raw talent. As a result Elvis coasted from record to record, some good, others less so safe in the knowledge that they'd all sell anyway. It's a good business model, and has been employed successfully on many artists through the years - it just doesn't always lead to great records.

So what about The Girl Of My Best Friend - you may know it, it's pretty well known, maybe not as well known as some of his other hits, but it was popular and successful. This is Elvis post-army, when the die-hards say he stopped being Rock 'n' Roll. This may well be true, but it didn't necessarily mean that the less r 'n' r records weren't any good. The Girl Of My Best Friend has a swinging mambo feel to it, you almost can't help swaying along to it. Elvis's best asset was always his voice, and it's on fine form here, with the pitching and phrasing just right. This is a great track, my only reservation with it is that the ahh-ing of the Jordanaires in the background sounds a tad twee, and actually distracts from the sound, when they should be enhancing it.

A Mess Of Blues is on the flip-side. A less famous track, maybe, but a lesser song definitely not. Living up to the title, it has bluesy feel. Not, I'll admit, a rough and dirty blues - it's a little too clean cut and sanitised for that. Nonetheless Elvis is backed by great honky tonk piano sound, that boogie-woogies away throughout the song really helping to capture the atmosphere and bring the sound to life. It may have the less commercial sound, but I think A Mess Of Blues has the edge over the a-side just in terms of sound and feeling.

This is the kind of evidence that helps you believe that maybe he did really deserve to be The King.

Next time a girl group from 1990...

7 Inch Singles Collection: Steve Young - Seven Bridges Road

Going for some proper country music this time:

STEVE YOUNG

A-side: Seven Bridges Road

B-Side: Don't Think Twice

(Country Roads 1981)

Steve Young is a someone who was a pioneer of the "country rock" and "outlaw country" movements. I didn't know that - I just had to look it up on Wikipedia, and I suggest if you want to know more about him you head there too. However much of a pioneer he was he obviously wasn't someone who garnered much fame from it, or at least not to me, as I'd never heard of him outside of this record.

Seven Bridges Road itself may be more familiar - The Eagles had an American hit with it in 1980. Steve Young was the originator of this song back in 1969 (thank you Wiki), so it looks like in 1981 he thought to capitalise on The Eagles success by sticking his own version back out there. I don't know whether this is re-recording or re-release of the original, and , frankly , I'm not sure that really matters.

Seven Bridges Road is plaintive and mournful. The melody is picked out an acoustic guitar and the song is carried by Steve Young's strong country voice. There's a sadness and almost mystical quality to the sound. Structurally it's big ballad, building and building towards epicness throughout the duration of the song. It's start s small and grows into something bigger and wider, starting to rock as we reach the outro. Although it is country rock - the country nature isn't too overt, so it's not overpowering. I was surprised that I enjoyed that as much as I did.

Don't Think Twice is a Dylan song. Just like the a-side it has some acoustic picking to start, but much more uptempo than Seven Bridges Road. When he first starts singing it does sound like he's trying to stretch his voice into dylanesque contortions, however this quickly disappears and he settles into the kind of gravel voiced sound familiar to "Outlaw Country" music. At this point the backing group becomes more full on and the overall sound is much stronger. This has a much more overt country flavour, with quite heavy emphasis on fiddles. What it doesn't do is remind me of the Dylan version, and that's a good thing.

Overall, for an obscure bit of country and western I really rather enjoyed that record. Although as I've got older I've noticed that I've had a stronger leaning to country than in my younger years, (I blame my Dad). I think it's a good thing that I'm embracing more styles as I gracefully age.

Next time there's an appearance from The King!