Artist: Lush
Year: 1990
I have had one very minor brush with Lush that doesn't paint me in the best light, but what the hell? On the morning of Aug. 30, 1996, I walked into work like any other. A co-worker pal of mine with a little fanzine on the side greeted me in a frenzy. "I got you on the list for Lush's show tonight, but you gotta interview the lead singer in like five minutes." I laughed loudly and inappropriately for about one second until that angelic face popped into my head and I realized he was serious. "Wait, you mean Miki Berenyi?" My stomach flipped then flopped.
I had done a couple of reviews for this fella with hopes I would find the fire for music again after those years out of the country, but it wasn't really working. A conversation with Miki could certainly go a long way, but with zero prep time and few listens to Lush since the 'Spooky' era, I knew I would bomb. I had a cubicle. My friend had an office. So, I asked if I could use it while I made the call. Thank Christ I didn't have to face her, and I didn't want anyone eavesdropping on this disaster either. I could hear my voice quaking as I dialed and summoned her.
After stalling with small talk about what she planned to see during her day in D.C., I opened with a little self-deprecation. "Who in the world put you up to talking to this little fanzine, anyway?" She gave an unexpected and sincere answer about her own fanzine with bandmate Emma Anderson when they were kids. Score. All uphill from here, right? Unfortunately, no. There was a long pause as I tried to conjure up stock interview questions that would be boring but not embarrassing. Nothing.
I'm beginning to panic now. I was really into Elvis Costello at the time and remembered Lush's cover of "All This Useless Beauty" that appeared as a B-side on his "You Bowed Down" single. I asked a question about that which led to about five follow ups on Costello and the obscure take she performed for someone else's record two years ago. She had to be asking herself, "I got out of bed for this?" I started down the same road with Lush's cover of Wire's "Outdoor Miner" but stopped myself by saying something like "Really liked your cover of 'Outdoor Miner,' too." Yep, not even a question. Now I'm entering Chris Farley territory as I start spewing song titles from the band's earliest days, hoping for a reaction. I'm sure "Sweetness and Light" was one of them. It's always been my favorite. Too bad it was written by Emma. Ugh.
You get the point. The worst interview I have ever conducted, and it was probably the worst one Miki ever had to sit through. I didn't mention the new album 'Lovelife' even once. Miki should have told me to go soak my head, but she didn't. She was nothing but a pro, and all I can say nearly 20 years later is "thank you." My crush is still intact. I think the worst part was just the right questions popping into my head in the ensuing days. There would be no chance to redeem myself. It all came to a stunning end for Lush weeks later when drummer Chris Acland died. I'm very excited at news of the band's impending reunion, but I won't be putting in a request for a Q&A.
11 comments:
A solid choice at # 3 Brian, made even more special because of a great story! If I'm honest about what the 90's were to me, aside from a focus on House Music, it was the era of Shoegaze/Dreampop (I personally hate the term Dreampop), the era of over the top Goth and the beginning of Post Punk's Dinosaur Age. Yes, there was this little thing called Britpop, but really It was easy to ignore. Tongue firmly in cheek - maybe...
Good tune and good tale.
Is there a recording available of this little chat, Brian?
Like you, I was writing for a living back then and I'm not sure I'd have done a better job. Miki would no doubt have rendered me speechless just by being on the other end of a phone.
If I had to choose just one Lush song, it would also probably be Sweetness And Light.
Such a great story Brian - I feel your pain.
To be honest I know very little about Lush, other than the big singles from their final album, this is a very nice tune though.
What a great story. I've no doubt that you were charming regardless of how you feel you came across.
Some great Lush footage and interview with Miki (as she is now)on a recent BBC4 programme shown here (Girl In A Band / Girls in Bands at the BBC) a shame that (I presume?) you can't access it? But you know, I'm sure she mentioned an interview she did for a fanzine in 1996..........
Echorich, Funny, but I don't know if I really was this huge fan of shoegaze while it was happening. I appreciated MBV, Ride and a couple of others, but for some reason I didn't think of Lush in the same way. I just loved those singles and EPs that made up Gala. When their sound evolved, I continued to enjoy the work... even if it did take a little while for me to catch up after being away.
Adam, I knew I was on safe ground with you because you posted the song at some point during the countdown. That happened a lot with our little group these past months.
George, It was recorded. I have no idea what happened to it. I'm sure it would have given you immense pleasure.
Robster, Lesson 1: I can't think on my feet. Lesson 2: I don't know how to talk to girls. So many good songs, but this one was pretty easy for me.
Swede, Not sure if this is your sound or not, but I'm not going to pigeonhole you. The band just had their compilation reissued, and it looks like the label did a pretty good job. If you were into Cocteau Twins, you might really like the early records.
Ha! Very good, C. Watched a lot Lush on youtube this week. Made me remember how much I enjoyed Lush's show that night. So glad that was a phone interview. I had a dream it was done in person. Then she saw me from the stage and singled me out. "Hey, there's the wanker that interviewed me this morning." She goes on to tell the audience my line of questioning in great detail. I need a shrink.
Although I only know a few Lush tracks, I have always loved their version of "All This Useless Beauty", which I think I declared somewhere as one of my very favorite Elvis Costello songs. And as a BIG Smiths fan I hear their influence on so many of these '90's tracks, this one especially. I really enjoy coming to this site. I never shake my head at the song selections, however I do scratch it sometimes. Like at all the great stuff I somehow missed (Popguns, Sugargliders), or scratch it wondering how I overlooked tracks I knew (Lightning Seeds, St Etienne), and sometimes I wonder what am I missing here (Stereo Lab) and of course there's stuff that i wouldn't necessarily choose (no titles mentioned). But I love music, which is like steak. Everybody loves steak (well, apologies to vegetarians). Some like it rare, some like it medium and others well-done. Since I started coming to this site I've been digging thru my collection for '90s. My steak was a little different. My list would be very different. (What? No Hole?!!) Many years ago my buddy and I stated exchanging top 20 lists of our favorite albums each year. That has now grown into a massive 25 or so participants. I looked back through the '90s lists and see many of these tracks there. Belle & Sebastian, (which is a huge head scratcher for me) was very well-received. (Green Day was not.) However sometimes it's great fun to try new things and add to one's musical experience. If I haven't said this before Thanks, Brian. Love this. You haven't changed my love for Green Day, but I will admit I play Popguns now sometimes instead. Looking forward to the top of the charts. And I'm betting here on #1. I'll let you know if I am correct. I think it will be very sweet. Ha!
Kevinpat,
You think you're so smart with your "sweet" comment, don't you? Well, uh, perhaps you are in this case. Anyway, great to hear from you, and I always appreciate the thought you put into your comments. You will find a tiny bit of Hole, Foo, Nirvana and the like in the collection, and I even saw Nirvana at a club just before a certain song started to gain some traction (Oct. 12, 1991, Metro, Chicago, what a show!). As usual, though, I was going against the grain. I would have taken something from Sarah over Sub Pop and its offspring every time. Not quite Top 100 material for me.
As you say, though, it's great fun to try new things and add to one's musical experience. In case you didn't know one of my self-imposed rules with this countdown, I had to actually like the song when it was out. A discovery in 2005, for instance, can't be on this list, even if it came out in 1998. Sometimes a glaring omission might fall into this category since I missed quite a lot in the '90s. I'll get to some of those in my postmortem. That's a perfect time for everyone to tell me what I'm missing... and something tells me I will hear from a lot of you. Quite looking forward to it.
Sorry Bri. Don't mean to kill the suspense. And if for some reason I'm on to anything it's probably just some uh….divine intervention. I'm not that clairvoyant. Oh, and I got my list……. :)))
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