Notes From a Small Island

Opening this to assess the contents I found I'd never even unwrapped it... which means I certainly hadn't watched it! Too late now - perhaps one day I'll find a cheap DVD and three hours of spare time.


Picked up on a whim in Australia.

Good To Great by Jim Collins

By rights I should probably have burned this and prevented someone else's intellect from being polluted by its rags-to-riches nonsense. But I wasted a lot of money on it and wanted to get some of it back.

Greedy. Unprincipled. I should burn in hell.

Hits and B-Sides by Prince

Pop, soul or funk? Classification is overrated anyway.

And I do like Prince (I went to see him at Earls Court in 1992). But not enough to want to wade through a collection of hits and b-sides; I much prefer to grab one of his albums at random and listen to the whole thing.

If I'm honest with myself, I only bought this because it was so stupendously cheap.

Dig Your Own Hole by Chemical Brothers

Unfair to tag this as a victim of my narrow-mindedness, as I started listening to progressive house-styled dance in 1991, but my enthusiasm for Leftfield, Future Sound of London and the Guerilla record label didn't quite translate to the Big Beat sound of The Chemical Brothers (although I did like Bentley Rhythm Ace's album!).

I've actually played Let It Slide by Ariel much more than this... Sorry Tom!

Stop! by Sam Brown

Another disc from the second-hand racks of Vinyl Village in Barkingside...


I suppose I was curious why the single Stop! wasn't followed up in any big way. After all, they pulled out all the stops (hmmm...) in promoting that single - memorable video, red lips, platinum blonde hair, red outfit.


Maybe there wasn't another hit on there of the same quality, but
the rest of it was pretty decent: a varied album which sounds like a group of talented musicians had fun making. It just doesn't find its way onto the CD player often enough.


Sam's wikipedia entry says she's an artist in control of her music, not prepared to bend to the will of interfering record companies and preferring to avoid the limelight. She also co-wrote a song with Maria McKee.


Have I been too hasty here..?

The Joshua Tree by U2 - Remastered Deluxe edition

Irresistable and flying off the shelves quicker than you can click confirm, such that prices on eBay are already escalating.

Will doubtless be repressed in a month or so.

City of Sin by This Picture

I first saw This Picture playing a lunchtime set in the big top at Greenbelt 1987. In the programme they professed to be influenced by Led Zeppelin and The Waterboys, a clever way for a rock group to avoid mentioning U2 in the 1980s. Their peformance was understated, but the music was interesting, so I resolved to keep an eye out for them.



A year later they were headlining in the big top on a Saturday night and their confidence had grown measurably. Simon Bye was prowling the stage with an air of practised distraction, resembling a rustic Michael Hutchence in his brown corduroy jacket. Stephen Hughes's remarkable bass playing ensured he wasn't dwarfed by the green-illuminated Trace Elliot stack standing behind him. Top hat-wearing Robert Forrester tore at his guitar while brother Duncan was pounding the drums behind him. This was the template for This Picture live shows for the next couple of years.

I began following This Picture's London shows. I remember two at The Mean Fiddler in Harlesden, supporting Something Happens and Blue In Heaven. At one I cheered the announcement of "Rape The Hillside", only for Simon Bye to pause after the first word of the title leaving me feeling extremely uncomfortable. There was no Underground to Harlesdesn, so I'd borrow my dad's car and drive back to Essex afterwards around a nearly-deserted North Circular Road.

A friend of the group who'd travelled up from the west country kindly made me a tape of their Radio One session for Janice Long and their first demo, both featuring signature song "Naked Rain". Within a year Rough Trade would release a one-off EP featuring a less-interesting version with violins over the introduction.

The group signed to Dedicated Records whose headquarters in Notting Hill weren't far from the office where I worked as a record plugger. I struck up a friendship with Colleen who worked there and popped in regularly to drop off copies of records we were promoting, and - self-servingly - pick up copies of their latest stock. It was great - and slightly rare - meeting people who were as enthusiastic about music as I was.

There was a hiatus as Stephen Hughes was replaced by Austen Rowley on bass. That saddened me, but I continued to follow This Picture across London - The Borderline, Fulham Greyhound and The Underworld - to the mainstage at Greenbelt. They released an album - A Violent Impression - featuring some of the songs they were playing live, alongside newer compositions. It felt slightly unbalanced and the songs sounded like they'd been swamped by the studio during the extended gestation.


I spoke with Simon briefly at The Underworld show, half hoping we might get some plugging work, only to find they were handled by one of the leading pluggers in the business. He told me about Stephen's departure, remaining optimistic for the future. As time went on, the recession deepened. I left the music business. Dedicated Records was disbanded. This Picture ended up on Arista who released this album and then tried to ignore it. Other than the singles, I don't recognise the songs... but it still has its moments.