I have written about my fascination with local indie-pop scenes around the UK in the late '80s, such as Barry Newman booking bands at the Norwich Arts Centre and releasing music on his own Wilde Club Records. In the past couple of years, I have been researching another such pocket around Newcastle. This cat named Stephen Joyce used to book bands at long-gone venue the Broken Doll. He booked My Bloody Valentine, McCarthy and many others, but with an eye for talent a little lower on the bill, such as Edinburgh's The Holidaymakers and locals like Nivens. He got a hold of both of them and released a split flexi along with a fanzine, calling the entire endeavor Woosh. What followed was a brief but memorable run of ten 7" singles, all but three of them flexis.
There were a couple of big names in the indie world that stopped by Woosh with a song, such as the Groove Farm and the Pooh Sticks, but it was Nivens that gave Joyce's label its brightest moment. Woosh 005, "Yesterday," peaked at No. 13 on the indie chart in early 1989. I have slowly begun to collect these 10 singles from Woosh, and I thought we could give Woosh 002 a listen since I keep this split flexi in the D section for the Driscolls. I featured my favorite song by the band a couple of years ago, and this one isn't quite up to the level of "Girl I Want You Back," but still a fine listen. "Father's Name Is Dad" is the Driscolls' first release, and it has that feel, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a cover from Fire, a late '60s band that was pretty trippy, to say the least. As mentioned earlier, this is a flexi. So please give me a pass on the pops and scratches. I like the song by Strawberry Story even more. Expect them to show up at some point.
"Father's Name Is Dad"
7 comments:
The original of 'Father's Name Is Dad' is a big favourite round these parts. I suspect C might concur - I believe she may have even introduced the song to me, back in the mists of time. I once tried to get a band that I used to hang-out with to cover it, but they politely declined my suggestion, saying that it was 'too wordy'! The Driscolls have a very credible stab at it.
It is a great song, Swede. I didn't know it until I got this 7", but the original is great. I believe I read somewhere there may even be two versions from Fire.
I really liked that post Brian, loads of info there. Do you play flexi's often? I was always rather dubious about them and only own one, by Motorheadbut haven't played it in thirty years and have no intention of doing so, Shure needles cost way too much.
Yes, absolutely love the original Fire song and thank you for the mention and the memory, TS! Ah, back from the days of first hearing all that great obscure '60s psych on the wonderful Bam Caruso compilations (and others). I also remember finding, most unexpectedly, a 7" single by the band The Beyond in the record shop's cheapie bin in around 1984, which was another '80s cover of Father's Name Is Dad (with their version of the Hush's Grey on the other side) - but I never knew about this one.
Drew, I know one of your obsessions is Northern Soul. Mine is '80s indie pop, particularly from the UK. Although I wouldn't say I have that many flexis, I find the fanzine culture from that time period really interesting. That wasn't happening all that much over here. Sometimes I'll get crazy about a certain band and want everything, including that one song they gave to some kid simply because he had the gumption to ask. I have a linear-tracking turntable, and it doesn't like two things... opaque-colored vinyl and flexis. It has trouble reading the grooves. So, no, I rarely play them. By the way, too much opaque-colored vinyl going on right now. Since I'm on this vinyl-ripping project, I'll play the flexis for the transfer and probably never again. As you say, not good for the cartridges. Oh, and the flexis are so thin they are difficult to find in the stacks too. Like leafing through onion-skin paper.
C, Not too surprised you didn't know this version, but I hope you enjoyed it. I can see how the original would be right up your alley. Did you hear it on one of the British Psychedelic Trip albums the See For Miles put out? One of the guys from the Driscolls was really into them, and that's where he heard it. Going to check out the one from the Beyond right now.
An education Brian
Hi again Brian, yes I did like the Driscolls version - thank you. I can't find much on the net about the Beyond (not to be confused with a rock band of the same name from Hong Kong apparently!) - nothing on youtube from my quick search just now but there's an entry on 45cat
http://www.45cat.com/45_search.php?sq=father%27s+name+is+dad+the+beyond&sm=se
which at least convinced me I wasn't imagining it!
Yes! - did indeed buy those See For Miles compilations, and many others in the '80s, like Chocolate Soup For Diabetics, reissues and comps on the Psycho label and Big Beat etc. - they were great times for new exposure to old music, it sounded fresh as a daisy to me!
Post a Comment