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Vim: There aren't any sheep in Mongolia!
Den: That's a good name for a band...
Bad News by Bad News © 2004 Parlophone Records Ltd.
Crusty Basco
By Andrew Burns Origin: We are big fans of Tabasco in my house and there is always a bottle of it floating around the kitchen. As a particular container ages, if you are not vigilant, a residue may form around the neck of the bottle close to the lid. Crusty ‘basco may not be pleasant, but it is a good name for a band…
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Nickel Tipple
By Andrew Burns Origin: I was initially unsure about Nipple Tickle and who they were going to be, so I toyed with the idea of changing it to Nickel Tipple. I decided I liked both names and figured they would have been very different bands. And you can’t have too many imaginary bands in your life, can you?
Queen Quackers
By Andrew Burns Origin: I can’t remember which of my lovely girls offered this one up, but one of them misheard “Cream Crackers” as the afore mentioned Queen Quackers. And it is thus that imaginary 80s pop icons are born… Queen Quackers was formed in 1979 when Healey (born Helly Haugen) move to London from his native Oslo. He was employed as a language teacher (Healey is famously fluent in German and Russian as well as English and his own Norwegian) by day while he pursued his musical ambitions at night. NMM Review: British Values, Dead Orchid
By Andrew Burns The work that David Fowler, Norman Shaker and Pete Davis had done as Spoof Elephant only hinted at the brilliance that was to come. It was as if hearing and then incorporating the haunting voice of Lisa Denton allowed them to give free rein to the hitherto latent creativity that was in them. 9th Earl of Scandal
By Andrew Burns Origin: This came from mishearing a Radio 4 discussion (very Rock and Roll!) about one of the Earls of Sandwich (it may or may not have been the 9th). 9th Earl of Scandal seemed to me to be a great name for a band… 9th Earl of Scandal are a Glaswegian all-girl punk band. Formed in 2001 by Fiona McPherson and her University friends Naomi Mills and Maggie Rush, united by their love of Scottish Punk and New Wave. Originally they called themselves Carmen Miranda’s Hat, a fruity nod to two of their influences, Orange Juice and Strawberry Switchblade, but became 9th Earl of Scandal when Jolene “Dolly” Neil joined them, taking over lead guitar duties and completing the lineup. Random Cat
By Andrew Burns Origin: We have a cat and a cat flap. Said cat flap is operated by the cat’s identity chip, but something (the flap or the chip, still not clear which) stopped working and so we had to set the cat flap to allow in any cat just so our cat could gain entry. This lead to us discovering, sat in our kitchen like butter wouldn’t melt, a Random Cat. This one’s for you cheeky, mystery Tabby. Random Cat formed in Sheffield in 1961 as an after school project for friends George Lake, Graham Hogan, Malcolm French and Jack McArthur. French and Lake were really the driving force and it was they, French in particular, who taught Hogan the guitar, thus bringing him into the fold. McArthur wanted in and persuaded the other three to allow him to play the drums for them (though he couldn’t play at the time and his self taught, goofy style is what gives Random Cat their distinctive, heavy backbeat sound). They started out playing Blues covers- they were good and got better quickly. Driven by French’s virtuosity on the guitar and Lake’s rasping, snarling voice their reputation grew. You Can’t Go Wrong With Pink Chaps
By Andrew Burns Origin: We have Little Mix to thank for this one. Little Mix and their pursuit of new and inventive ways to wear as little as possible. While being shown their video by my nine year old for the song “No More Sad Songs” one of the girls is sporting the afore mentioned item of clothing. You can’t go wrong with pink chaps, says I. Good name for a band… You Can’t Go Wrong With Pink Chaps (often known simply as “Pink Chaps”) formed in Sydney, Australia in the early 2000s, around the coming together of two undoubtedly unique talents. Former drag queen Michael “Micha” Rodriguez and burlesque performer Angelina “Angel” Khoury were kindred spirits and the music they produced together was a melange taking in influences of Disco, Glam Rock, Electronica, Dance and Heavy Metal. In the Sydney incarnation of Pink Chaps Micha and Angel were joined by guitarist Johnny Good and drummer Boomer McGhee. Their music back then was chaotic, frenetic and lacking the pop polish we might associate with them today, but they were playing with gender stereotypes and glorious, outrageous costuming right from the start. Pink Chaps built up a sizeable local following, but they felt their appeal in Australia was restricted to the Sydney metropolitan elite. This frustration lead to Micha and Angel hatching a plan to decamp to the bright lights of New York City. This was unfortunately sold to Good and McGhee as a disbanding and lead to the inevitable, incongruous court case a few years later. Once in New York Angel and Micha wasted no time in reforming Pink Chaps this time joined by Marty Gould and Steph Soprano on guitars and Daniel Gray on drums. The new polish arrived quickly, the heavier elements of their previous incarnation filtered out by the more sophisticated influence of Soprano in particular. Again, quickly they garnered a sizeable local following, but their breakthrough came across the Atlantic when their Disco infused reimagining of Queen Quackers’ “Love’s Laser” was picked up on the UK’s Radio 1. They followed this hit quickly with their own “Slow Sexy Cruise”. Their sexually adventurous lyrics along with the dance beats meant they were hugely popular in the clubs, while their playful personas and outlandish costumes gave them pop crossover (cross dressing) appeal. On the back of their self-titled first album they went on tour in support of the newly reformed Queen Quackers. While that tour was cynically put together (Queen Quackers’ Healey openly admitting he at least was only involved for the money) and, for the most part, cynically received, Pink Chaps’ involvement was life changing for that band. The exposure propelled them into stardom. That stardom lead to Good and McGhee (original members of the band in Sydney) suing for lost earnings. This was a difficult time for You Can’t Go Wrong With Pink Chaps. Eventually Daniel Gray left Pink Chaps to be replaced by Boomer McGhee, the original drummer. Johnny Good was paid off handsomely by all accounts. With their difficult history dealt with and a revised, stable lineup now in place, Pink Chaps were free to pursue greatness. And pursue it they did with their second album “Your Welcome”. It was a name they came to regret though, spending the majority of the following two years explaining that it was as grammatically correct as it might have been had it been called You’re Welcome. Angel in particular took to abusing interviewers (violently in one memorable case) who even dared to raise this with them. But this just added to their irreverent, establishment defying aura. The third album, “Who Cares?” Was the one that really defined them as pop royalty becoming a number 1 hit in the US, UK, Japan and across Europe. They continue in the same genre-defying, establishment debunking vein- always innovative, always exciting, always (sometimes confusingly) sexy. We as fans are eagerly waiting to see what they will do next… NMM Review: Live in Cape ‘n’ Hogan
By Andrew Burns Live in Cape ‘n’ Hogan was the first collaboration between Tom Cape of Humble Pumpkin and Graham Hogan of Random Cat. It was recorded at the end of 1969 as Tom Cape ended his well documented association with cult leader D. Beau Harrison. It’s release in 1970 was pretty understated, treated by their record company as a curious side project for both men. The stylistic difference from either of their previous works adding to that sense- this was neither Tom Cape’s familiar psychedelic, elusive pop, nor Graham Hogan’s blues inspired British rock. This was folk-rock, soaring harmonies, melancholy and beautiful. But while this new direction was challenging for the A+R men it captured the zeitgeist perfectly and despite that slow burn it became the colossal international seller we now recognise, securing Cape and Hogan’s position in the pantheon that is home to all legends of popular music. So- has it stood the test of time? Emphatically so in the opinion of this reviewer. Despite Hogan’s influence it does stray very close to what might be considered Americana today (not necessarily a bad thing, just not to everyone’s taste), but the quality of the songwriting is evident for all. Cape’s poetic sensibility is more than obvious in the lyrics, but his more esoteric proclivities have been reined in, harnessed and rooted in reality by Hogan’s grittier, English, Northern perspective. The harmonies and production are beautifully layered and there are always new sonic treats to be found. As with all their albums Cape+Hogan are credited as joint producers, but it is widely acknowledged that arrangement and production value is Hogan’s gift to the partnership. From the first time I heard this album- I snuck into my older sister’s bedroom to play it on her beloved record player while she was out, very quietly so as not get caught- I was hooked. It remains my favourite of all their work, though I love everything they have ever done. Rumours persist of another album though both men are in their 70’s, but given their current war of words in the Twittersphere this would seem optimistic. I will wait eagerly, but in the meantime I am more than happy to continue listening to this gem. Humble Pumpkin
By Andrew Burns Origin: My partner is a vegetarian and this leads us to occasionally discuss the relative merits of various vegetables. During one such discussion this phrase struck my ear as a good name for a band… Humble Pumpkin’s most famous son is, of course, Thomas Cape, but before he achieved Rock Legend status as one half of the inestimable Cape and Hogan he was the songwriting creative soul of these Californian psychedelic trail blazers… Tom Cape and his cousins Andy and Dennis Croft along with their school friend Mickey Miles formed Humble Pumpkin in the Croft’s garage in the summer of ‘64. At first they were covering, mimicking the surf groups that were all over the local radio at that time, but they learned and evolved quickly. Driven by Cape’s rapidly maturing songwriting they were soon honing a much more grownup, authentic style. Their first single, “Shining Water” was a minor hit locally, but it did well enough and generated enough interest that “She Was Mine”, the follow up was picked up nationally and that was really the start of their rise to stardom. A first album followed quickly- “Pumpkin Pie” was really more of the same: psychedelic, wailing guitars under achingly poetic, enigmatic lyrics. The second album, “Humble Pie” arrived before the end of ‘65 but even in this short time there was a stylistic evolution. With the adulation this evolution brought came the excesses of the Rock Star lifestyle. All four of them embraced this, but it was Cape in particular who took to indulging his inner demons with the greatest abandon. It was in the period after the release of Humble Pie, in the hurricane of success that swirled around the band after that album that Cape first came into contact with D. Beau Harrison. This was before the Montana Compound and the horror associated with that place, before the Collective’s bizarre breeding programme. Indeed at that time Harrison and his Collective, such as it then was, used Cape’s Hollywood hills mansion as their base of operations for much of 1966. Harrison’s influence on Cape was fast and tight and they began writing together during that period. The other 3 members of Humble Pumpkin were not happy with this level of influence on Cape as a person, but most importantly as a songwriter. Harrison is credited as co-writer on all but 3 of the tracks on the third album “There’s Always Room For Pie” and neither the Crofts nor Miles were happy at the lyrical direction those songs took- playful enigma had made way for faintly threatening nonsense. It is rumoured that the royalties that were paid to Harrison for his hand in writing There’s Always Room For Pie are what bought his now infamous Montana property. Harrison’s influence on that final album did not help relationships within the band, but in the end it was Cape’s high handed, prima donna-ish attitude to his friends and band mates that finally ended Humble Pumpkin. You can read more about Cape and Hogan here: http://mongoliansheep.weebly.com/blog/cape-and-hogan1379328 |
AuthorAndrew Burns really should know better and has so many more important things to be doing than writing this drivel. Please offer him no encouragement either via social media or through the contact page Archives
September 2017
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