ABCs of My Vinyl Collection (Letter C, Part 15)

Here's the first from the Flying Nun stable to be featured in in this series. So, it begs the question... what happened to the Chills? Patience, my friends. They are coming up in the D section. Huh? Trust me. It will all make sense. Anyway, back to the Clean, probably my favorite band from New Zealand to this day. This first song is taken from 'In-A-Live,' a five-song 12" recorded at London's Fulham Greyhound on July 13, 1988, when they opened for the Bats. This was an incredibly important show in the history of the band. They hadn't been together for several years. Craig Taylor, manager of the Chills, invited Geoff Travis (of Rough Trade fame) to see them. Within a day or two, Travis was ready to sign them. Without that show, there may have never been 'Vehicle,' the Clean's first full length album, released in 1990, nine years after the band's first single. I have mentioned 'Vehicle' quite a few times on these pages already. So, suffice it to say the album is a masterpiece. Incidentally, 'In-A-Live' isn't too shabby either. It was single of the week in Sounds upon release in 1989.

From 'In-A-Live,' here is "Anything Could Happen." The studio version appeared on the 1981 EP 'Boodle, Boodle, Boodle.' To reacquaint you with 'Vehicle,' let's listen to "The Blue" as well. If, by chance, you haven't heard the Clean, I would suggest starting with the 46-song double CD 'Anthology' Merge Records unleashed on unsuspecting Americans in 2002. It's quite a collection made even better with a four-album vinyl box set that came out in 2014. As for 'Vehicle' and 'In-A-Live.' these were tough finds until Captured Tracks lovingly reissued them together in 2013. Since then, the label has continued to dig up gems from the glory days of Flying Nun. You would do well to seek out more of this "Dunedin Sound."

"Anything Could Happen" (Live)
"The Blue"