The Promise - Glasshouse (1985)

The Promise - Glasshouse

1. Glasshouse (Extended Mix)
2. Time to Speak
3. Glasshouse (Single Mix)

The link has been updated in November 2013. This is probably one of my very favorite "obscure" singles which deserved to be a much bigger hit. Also it was great to hear from Grant, the lead vocalist for the band. Good work guys!

Fun (Records) In Germany

Here's a little plug for mail-order specialists Fun Records based in Germany. If you have ever tried using Musicstack (and if you collect music, them you probably have) then Fun Records appears quite often, usually with comparatively low prices, even accounting for the Dollar/Euro differential.

As collectors of LP's will tell you, finding the albums is less than half the battle. The real challenge is having them shipped many thousands of miles safely without costing a fortune.

Here are five records I recently ordered from Fun.

What you can see here is the 7" and 12" of "Glasshouse" by The Promise, one of my favorite obscure '80's singles, and then The Great Unknown by Nomo, Good Evening Yugoslavia by Hitlist and Stronger Than Reason by Person to Person. I have featured rips from all these outfits before, but these were records I just had to own myself.

Anyway, to get back to my point, I paid about 14 dollars for all of these, and then a further 10 dollars for surface mail. Considering it typically costs over ten bucks to ship one album here just from Canada, I thought that was a good deal, and the surface option probably took a few days longer, but that's all. And as you can see everything was in excellent condition. Well done Fun Records, I will be ordering again soon.

Even More from This Other Eden

Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of the obscure British pop group This Other Eden, and last time I pondered what their unreleased album Freewill might have been like.

I've since been in contact with Chris Thow, who was in the band with Mike Perry, and he was kind enough to send me a couple of tracks and some more information.

The Freewill sessions were recorded near Taunton at a studio owned by Annabel Lamb. The following tracks would have been on the album:

Man's World / Black / Mama's In Love / Face of an Angel / Freewill / Ordinary Man / Wake Me Now / All Fools Day / Take A Leaf From My Book / Teach Me To Cry

In addition another track "The Word" would have been a bonus track on the compact disc version.

This leaves a further six tracks which were used as B-Sides. These are:

Heaven / Question of Love / Heart to Heart / Sweet Wine / Angels Tell Lies / Mama's In Love (Live Acoustic Version)

I've featured the singles Man's World and Teach Me To Cry previously. Here's the 12" Single of Face of an Angel, which I think was the second single released.



This Other Eden - Face of an Angel (1989)

Face of an Angel
Heart to Heart
The Word

[UPDATE] Well, it took a few years, but I finally got a copy of the album from Niall Power, who played drums for the group. The track list was slightly different, as follows:

Man's World / Face Of An Angel / Black / All Fools Day / Ordinary Man / Wake Me Now / Freewill / Take A Leaf (From My Book / Mama's In Love / The Good Old Boys

Chris and Mike have been performing gigs since 2014 under the name The Blue Amen and you can find clips and info via their Facebook page and Soundcloud. Great stuff!!

Niall has also sent me a bunch of photos from some of his gigs. Great bloke.

Seeing Red In Black And White

I've been involved in some lively discussions at the New Wave Outpost concerning a couple of vinyl rips I posted. Because the interest was greater than I expected, I decided to do a full post here.

Seeing Red was a band from Guernsey, Channel Islands that released one solitary single, a double A side. Track one was "Ice" which reflected on Robert Scott's tragic expedition to the South Pole in 1912 and in particular the self-sacrifice of Captain Lawrence Oates who walked to his death in order to give his companions a better chance to survive. The back of the sleeve quotes H.R. Bowers, another member of the five man expedition.


Track two was "Weekahead" which was a little moodier but probably my favorite out of the two.

The band consisted of Graham Luxton (vocals), Stephen Luxton (keyboards), Dave Upson (bass) and Gary Rouget (keyboards). The single was pressed on the Les Disques De La Rose Rouge label, serial number SRS001.



Graham Luxton and Dave Upson went on to form The Johndoes, a band that is still around today, albeit in a much altered line up. They have a MySpace page.

The Luxton brothers are my cousins and that is why I have owned this single since 1985. I'm amazed it didn't get lost or otherwise disposed of over a 20 year period.

Ed from CFRC-FM was kind enough (and had enough good taste) to recently feature "Ice" on his weekly show, 80's Retrospect.

The Silencers - A Letter From St Paul (1987)

Another band that never seemed to get its due, The Silencers briefly rode the burgeoning celtic rock movement in the latter part of the '80's that coincided with the commercial peaks of such bands as Simple Minds, Deacon Blue, and Del Amitri. Formed by Jimmie O'Neill and Cha Burns out of the critically respected but ultimately unsuccessful new wave band Fingerprintz, The Silencers released their debut in 1987 and received some airplay, particularly in America, thanks to lead single "Painted Moon" and strong production overall from Dave Bascombe.

The Silencers - A Letter From St Paul (1987)

1. Painted Moon
2. I Can't Cry
3. Bullets and Blue Eyes
4. God's Gift
5. I See Red
6. I Ought to Know
7. A Letter From St Paul
8. Blue Desire
9. Possessed

CD rip at 320k.
Download

I also found a promotional 12" single for "Painted Moon" that included two rock radio remixes that I don't think were ever commercially available. Here's the longer mix.

The Silencers - Painted Moon (Rock Radio Remix)

Susan Boyle: Where Angels Rest

Just for once, I'm finding myself swept along with a pop culture phenomenon.

At first glance, my favorite tune so far this year checks all the wrong boxes. Firstly, it's from a musical (I'm not a big fan of musicals). Secondly, it's a live performance (again, not usually my thing). Third, it's from a (whisper this) reality TV show. An audition, even. And, quite honestly, if somebody had told me a few days ago it was possible for a middle-aged spinster from West Lothian to bring me to tears in front of my computer, I would have probably had a good laugh.

Enter Susan Boyle.

By now, her audition segment from last Saturday's Britain's Got Talent show has become a YouTube phenomenon, with over 4,000,000 hits. For the record, that's more than ten times more than any other clip this week. For once, I am more than happy to go along with the crowd.

To say she was phenomenal is an understatement. And, in watching the clip, you were able to see in the faces of the judges and the audience a sublime moment of recognition - when, after spending years listening to music, you finally hear something that makes you feel like you have been deaf for your whole life. As her voice effortlessly glides to the rafters, we are also transported - to a place where angels rest and the world we live in becomes beautiful again.

Like many others, I have watched this over and over again. Utterly fantastic.

This evening, I tried to watch some of the American Idol performances. It was tough. Because now, if I am not spontaneously standing up in front of the TV, tears streaming down my face, and clapping like a madman, I will probably be disappointed.

I showed the clip to my wife and daughter. My wife made a very perceptive comment. She said that it made her feel sad that this person's gift has been hidden for so many years. My own thought is this: wherever God is, whoever God is, and whatever God might be, He has a great big grin on His face. Because millions of people, all over the world, are now discovering one of His best-kept secrets.

As for myself, I'm praying for an album.

UPDATE - One year later: Well we all know what happened. Even though it was released in November, this lady was to have the top-selling album in the UK for 2009 and the second highest selling album in the US with over three million copies sold in just six weeks.

As for the YouTube clip, it still brings a smile to my face. Best reality TV moment ever. Even though I might have sounded like an idiot last year, I stand by my comments. Well done, that lass!!

Random 80's Wednesday

Mancrab - Fish For Life (12" Single, 1986)
Mobiles - Amour, Amour (7" Single, 1982)
The Hollow Men - Gold & Ivory (from The Man Who Would Be King, 1987)
Getting The Fear - Last Salute (7" Single, 1985)
Just Good Friends - One Night (7" Single, 1984)

Completely random this week as these are five tunes I found on an old USB stick.