Posts by Matthew Goody
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Damn time difference! Missed writing something for this. Oh well. I'll cut and paste my two cents.
It's hard to be succinct in describing how goddamn awesome the Clean are, and their importance to New Zealand music, but one of my favourite anecdotes comes from when they briefly postponed their break-up to open for The Fall at their Christchurch gigs in the winter of 1982. If there's any reason to hold off splitting up that surely is the best reason, right?Hamish was interviewed in The Press at the time and was asked about the Clean's brief return for these gigs. He told David Swift:
“[We] wanted to make some money to buy some land near Nelson."
I always wondered about this remark. Was he half serious or just taking the piss? A few years ago I asked him about it. He said it was a little dig at the expense of all the bands going all in with the paisley shirts and 60s psychedelia at the time, when the Clean had already been there, done that. The only next step was to take things further, pack it in and join a hippie commune. I just thought this was hilarious and kind of epitomized the attitude of the band. They weren't worried about image, or style or making money, they just wanted to make amazing music that was both challenging and new.
Producer Jack Endino once said that "some bands get on stage and they're entertainers, they have a schtick. And some bands get up there and they rock, they're up there to rock out." We all know where the Clean land on this scale, they fuckin' rocked.
As side notes:
If we're including covers, we should not forget Wingtip Sloat's cover of "Anything Can Happen" as it's probably the earliest cover of the Clean from a band outside NZ.
Also Comet Gains' cover of "Beatnik" is memorable for me. First time I ever saw Comet Gain they opened for the Clean in Brighton. Fantastic show all around and probably only about 20 people there to enjoy it.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Got Knox?, in reply to Mike O'Connell,
Anyone know for sure? How many were in the JOAS series BTW? I still have a solitary copy of #3.
I believe there were 4 total issues of Jesus on a Stick, but not positive. Last issue I have is #4. I have #1, #3 and #4 if scans are required. National Library appears to only have #1.
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Just an FYI that San Francisco label Dark Entries has just reissued Phantom Forth’s EEPP LP (Flying Nun, 1984) with extra demo tracks, the Last Rumba track on LP and artwork by Paul Luker.
Details are on their website.
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If there's ever a shop to leave you bloodied it's the Thing. I failed to mention it to you in my Twitter msg because once you go in there it's hard to get out! A true experience though, not many of those types of shops left.
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Straightjacket Fits
It appears copy editing made it to the tip sheet for the paperback edition, as it is spelt correctly on that version.
At first I thought it was eBook only but paperback details are here: here. $37 for a 272 page paperback, yikes!
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to the author of this rather interesting parody
Wow, thanks for posting this.
Strange coincidence, as I know Scott and my wife used to work with him.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Festive and Unconflicted, in reply to Russell Brown,
the role of political spin in Tony Blair’s embrace of Oasis and Creation Records.
They managed to get Oasis, but let’s not forget Labour also tried to recruit Pulp and Jarvis Cocker which didn’t go so well. It did produce a great rejected Pulp tune Cocaine Socialism that told the whole story and was later reworked with more radio friendly lyrics into “Glory Days"
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Hard News: Music: All this and some…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Do I have a leg to stand on asking them to desist or at least fire a percentage off to Flying Nun?
You most certainly do, or at least FN does. There's a feature on EBay to take down counterfeit goods. E-mail me if you want me to do it.
Thanks for posting that Knox Stones/TD poster. Just acquired one of them but yours is in better shape.
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Polity: Canada voted, in reply to Kumara Republic,
within BC there’s a noticeable urban-rural split.The rural areas might as well be part of Alberta.
Simply not true.
Only Green Party MP comes from rural riding.
NDP continued long tradition of doing well in urban East Vancouver.
South East BC ridings both went NDP, as did much of the Island. Kootenay area where i'm from has been left for decades and has NDP MP for years.
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Polity: Canada voted, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
hopefully to one heading in a better direction
No question. It's only been a couple of days but the excitement that Harper is gone and things are changing for the better is evident wherever you go.