"I THINK YOU NEED THE STAIRS IN YOUR LIFE". THE STAIRS INTERVIEW (2016)

The Stairs (Ged, Edgar, Paul). Photo by Mark McNulty

After a 20 year absence, The Stairs surprised many last November by reforming for a hometown gig at Liverpool’s Kazimier Club. The night saw a triumphant return to the stage for cryogenically frozen Edgar Summertyme, Ged Lynn and Paul Maguire who blew away the assembled masses with a set of their frazzled beat classics and a couple of new additions as if it were yesteryear. Such was the success of that night they’ve been inspired to play a few more shows, starting next Thursday 24 March when they headline the first night of Le Beat Bespoke festival in London. Also appearing that night will be the added attraction of Graham Day & the Forefathers, so it promises to be a great night.

Le Beat Bespoke organisers, The New Untouchables, asked me to attempt to interview the band for their Nutsmag. Despite being told singer/bassist Edgar was “harder to pin down than Giant Haystacks” both he and drummer Paul Maguire kindly took the time answer a few questions.

The Stairs first came to most people’s notice after you signed to Go! Discs and released ‘Weed Bus’ in 1991. Can you tell us a bit about the formation of the band and your history up to that point?

Paul: Me and Edgar met on a youth music scheme around ‘89, we had a similar music interest of ‘60s garage punk. Ed had a few tunes he had written including ‘Weed Bus’, which we jammed and me and him started there. Ed knew Ged who was on the same music scheme so we roped him in. We skinned up and we got it together. We had our own night every Friday in the Cosmos club where we played a set of covers, then we’d DJ, then we would play our numbers.

Edgar: We were just psychedelically attached friends having a laugh really in bedrooms and bedsits with acoustic guitars banging ashtrays etc. Eventually we were borrowing the only spare time in my bro’s pracky room with a friend Pete Baker (the sleeping Mexican on LP sleeve) on bass and me on guitar. Pete didn’t really take to the bass so things were slow. We gradually gained some momentum when I joined in Ian McCulloch’s group on bass (mid ‘89) and took over the bass duties in the group. It wasn’t till we played and handful of our songs at a ridiculously rammed New Year’s Eve party (1990) at Mike Mooney’s house that we realised that we were capable of pleasing anyone other than ourselves. Marc Riley was often in attendance at the Cosmos club and Alan Duffy from Imaginary records came to check us and plans were formulated to record our first EP (later sold on to Go! Discs) with them.

The first couple of EP sleeves and the shows around that time featured a fourth member, Jason. What was his role and what happened to him?

Edgar: Jason was a friend whose role was originally, in his words, as ‘personal manager’ but eventually we managed to coax him on-stage to play percussion, gob iron and keys as required. I don’t think he really took to the role as he would come and go frequently from the group. The comparisons to Bez and Eric Idle didn’t really help I suppose.

Paul: Jason was meant to be our manager in the beginning, but he wasn’t any good at that stuff. So we gave him a harmonica and maracas which he played. Haven’t seen him for years.  

Go! Discs seemed to understand where the Stairs were at: recording in mono, strong 60s artwork etc. How was your relationship with them and why did it come to an end? What was their expectation of the band you signed?

Edgar: Thanks to being well-managed at the time by Pam Young we went to them with a strong vision of how we wanted things to look and I think they had fun what with it being a little different from their norm at the time. Our A&R man initially was Carl Smyth (Chas Smash from Madness). We were his first signing and he was very accommodating and enthusiastic. Unfortunately Madness reformed shortly a few months after our LP came out. With no key man clause in contract that was where our troubles began.

Paul: Carl really loved our band. He got us the deal, liked all the artwork and the mono deal. He understood our band and was good dealing with us. When Carl left there was no one there who understood the band. They thought we were a bit of a joke and didn’t know what to do with us.

Mexican R’n’B is, quite rightly, regarded is a classic LP. How did you feel about it when it came out and how do you view it now?

Edgar: Why thank you sir! How I felt at the time is a complex affair I’d need Sigmund Freud and couch and a few hours to get to the bottom of that. I’m definitely happier now as it seems to have stood the test of time. We definitely created a little slice of the 60’s in the early 90’s there.

Paul: I loved that album then and I still love it now. I’m very proud to have been involved and made Mexican. We were still all learning our instruments and grooves and singing when we recorded it. I thought at the time and I still think it now that Edgar is a genius. His songs and playing were so fucking cool. We were recording this at a time most of the world was getting into acid house. We wanted to give the general public something else to listen to. Get them on the ‘Weed Bus’ so to speak.

Talking of which, people often refer to your marijuana singles – ‘Weed Bus’, ‘Mary Joanna’ – but I’ve always noticed the preoccupation with rain on Mexican R’n’B, at least three songs mention it. Any correlation?

Paul: Well you’d have to ask Edgar that. Personally I like rain, except when it gets me spliff wet at the bus stop.

Edgar: I was probably because I was spending too much time in Manchester as their retrogressive shopping experience has always been far superior to ours despite the constant rain!

After being released from Go! Discs you were still gigging, recording and exploring different styles. How was the band developing at that time and why didn’t a second album materialise?

Edgar: Looking back I think we were too eager to move on from the Mexican R’n’B sound, we should have made another three of those really, and with having no one at Go! to recognise this - not that we’d have listened- and with the copious amounts of weed being smoked I think we just wanted our music to be more mad really both structurally and sonically. The fact that I was just starting wholeheartedly to discover soul music too just confused matters. We we’re constantly demoing but Go! weren’t prepared to let us start a new LP as such. This went on for about two years and then we left the label.

Paul: We started to sound a bit heavier, and we got better at playing. We loved touring always a good laugh. But it was hard to get any backing; we weren’t being taken seriously by any record company or music papers. We spent all our money recording the second album, so at the end no one wanted to release it.

Viper Records eventually released Who Is This Is. What are your thoughts on that? Is that how you’d envisaged the second album?

Edgar: After leaving Go! we thought it a good idea to record the LP ourselves. A long-winded complicated affair with members coming and going. By the time it was done we’d about run out of speed hence it not seeing the light of day till Viper’s release.

Paul: I’m glad we did it, for me it has some great moments. But looking back it also sounds confused, which I suppose we were also at the time.

How did you feel about the reaction from your reunion gig in Liverpool? Had you kept in touch? Is it something you’d thought about over the years?

Edgar: Absolutely smashing! We’d all kept in touch but our paths only ever brought us together sporadically but usually only two of us in same room at same time. The first rehearsal was great when we kicked into ‘Mary Jo’ it was more like we’d had two weeks off rather than 20+ years. It was great to see the two tiers in our fan base that night: those who were older and were coming back to see us again and the young uns who were there to witness the legend that got created by word of mouth in the past 20 years. The crowd reaction was fantastic; I don’t think either tier felt let down.

Paul: The reunion gig was magik, the reaction was just overwhelming for all of us I think. Incredible, old fans, new fans. They knew all the words, ha ha. I’ve always bumped into Ed round town when I’m there as I live in Reykjavik. I hadn’t seen Ged for years. We all moved in slightly different circles. I’d been hoping we could do at least one gig for a few years. And when Mike from the Wicked Whispers called me up, it felt exactly right. With the amount of toss that goes by the name of music nowadays, I think you need the Stairs in your life.

The Stairs, Kazimier, November 2015

What are the plans for the band now? Will you be recording new material?

Paul: We’re not sure just yet. Anything can happen in the next half hour.

There’s a new Stairs collection, The Great Lemonade Machine In The Sky, out now. Tell us about what’s on that.

Edgar: I’d recently found a suitcase full of cassettes in the loft at my mum’s that I thought had been thrown out when I’d left home way back. The previous Viper comp had come from the collections of friends and colleagues with my own thought lost at the time. So the idea was to create a second volume of Right In The Back Of Your Mind [2007 odds and sods compilation]. I spent a fair bit of time trawling through them (lots were mix tapes etc.) and mixing down the 4-tracks where available and it was a real nice touch that it all came together in time for the reforming of the group.

‘Shit Town’ is a pretty mad single taken from it and might come as a bit of surprise to people who only know Mexican R’n’B. What was the story behind it and is it about anywhere in particular?

Paul: You’d have to ask Ged. It’s obviously about Liverpool. The city was a lot different from it is now. On the other hand…

Edgar: It’s primarily about Liverpool if I’m right, Ged? It was definitely one of the finest finds of the suitcase trawling. It was recorded during second LP sessions. What you’re listening to is a remastered monitor mix. It was mixed with the others as Ged had left the group by that point.

Which are your favourite three Stairs songs and why?

Edgar: ‘Weed Bus’ will always be big in my heart as it was my first song written in the Stairs style as such. Although it’s not our song I’ve always been proud of our arrangement of [Bo Diddley's]‘You Don’t Love Me’. I guess to pick a third from the rest it’d be ‘Right In The Back Of Your Mind’ as it’s pretty kick ass and stress free to play out live, well for me anyhow.

Paul: ‘Woman Gone and Say Goodbye’. It’s just the best of us: growly, beaty, big and bouncy. ‘Mundane Monday’ I think it’s such cool little groove, and we sing about rain. ‘Skin Up’. I love playing this live, but it’s a bit tricky to skin up and play the drums at the same time. I used to do it back in the days.

Follow The Stairs on Twitter and Facebook. See the original unedited version of the above interview at Nutsmag. Full Le Beat Bespoke details, including a Saturday night gig by another Monkey Picks favourite Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind, here. For archive 1994 Monkey Picks/Something Has Hit Me interview with The Stairs see here. 

JANUARY PLAYLIST

Joy Marshall goes shopping. 

1.  Charles Mingus – “Moanin’” (1960)

I was fortunate to catch the Mingus Big Band twice at Ronnie Scott’s this week. Sounds extravagant but I’m pleased I did as each 90 minute set only had time for half a dozen treatments of Mingus material in a Big Band format. They were fantastic on both occasions (different sets) and I guess Mingus himself would’ve approved of hearing his music arranged and presented in a way which wasn’t always practical in his lifetime. Among the numbers aired were Gunslinging Bird, Song With Orange, Diane, Bird Calls, Sue’s Changes, The Child’s Hour of Dream, So Long Eric, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, Fables of Faubus (retitled Fables of Trump) and one of my favourites, from Blues & Roots, Moanin’.

2.  John Ashley – “Little Lou” (1960)

Ashley featured in many late 50s/early 60s TV shows and films (ones containing cars, werewolves or beaches appear to have been favourite) but it’s this rocking teen-drama which is of most interest. He’d later go on to produce the first four series of The A-Team and it’s his voice that narrates the introduction, fact fans.

3.  Little John – “Just Wait And See” (1965)

Fat horns, clinking keys, punching drums, call and response vocals, thumping, dog’s dangly bits floorfiller. Don’t even think about trying to find an original on Gogate. Sensational.

4.  Joy Marshall – “And I’ll Find You” (1968)

Recorded shortly before Marshall’s untimely death, Vicki Wickham’s sumptuous production for her Toast Records makes this fall somewhere between Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick.

5.  Glass House – “Touch Me Jesus” (1971)

Holland-Dozier-Holland get sanctified on their Invictus label with a 45 aimed at the dancefloor more than pulpit. The fact no members of Glass House appeared on the record, which was in fact recorded by Darlene Love’s group the Blossoms, didn’t appear to trouble their conscience.

6.  The Miracles – “Ain’t Nobody Straight In LA” (1975)

From the LP City of Angels which provided the Miracles biggest ever hit, “Love Machine”, this was a bold move. It took a couple of listens to catch which side of the fence they were with sitting – sounded like a piss take at first (“homosexuality is a part of society, well I guess they need more variety”) - but it’s supportive, embracing of diversity, with the group deciding “gay people are nice people too, man” before heading off to a gay bar. Cracking tune too.

7.  George Jones – “If Drinkin' Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)” (1981)

From the song’s Wikipedia entry: The upswing in his professional life brought little peace to his personal one; dogged by a years-old cocaine addiction and a near thirty year drinking problem, he continued to miss shows, engage the police in high speed chases, and show up at award shows obviously inebriated to accept honors. The despairingly hopeless "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)" verged on topicality as Jones sang about falling out of cars at four in the morning and drinking "twenty bottles."

8.  The Stairs – “I Remember The Day” (1988)

Recorded by a young Edgar Summertyme during his time on a YTS scheme at Attic Studios with early evidence of his Syd Barrett/Strawberry Fields leanings. Now featured as one of many curios on a new odd and sods Stairs compilation, The Great Lemonade Machine In The Sky.

9.  Spiritualized – “She Kissed Me (It Felt Like A Hit)” (2003)

Hold tight as J. Spaceman launches this rocket.

10.  Paul Orwell – “Attack” (2016)

The songs are pouring out of Paul Orwell at the moment and Heavy Soul are catching them in a bucket and sticking them out as fast as their little arms and legs are able. This latest blink and you’ll miss it 45 is a simple yet effective acid rock Bolan boogie.

THE STAIRS at the KAZIMIER, LIVERPOOL

After months of eager anticipation The Stairs were back on Thursday night for their first gig in over twenty years. It was, without a shadow of doubt, a brilliant night. Nearly 500 people from all over the country squashed into a sold out Kazimier club in Liverpool, a stone’s throw from where Edgar Jones, Ged Lynn and Paul Maguire established The Stairs at the beginning of the 1990s.

Reformations can be dicey affairs with bands returning without original members, their motives questionable, looking a bit old and shit, and removed from their original period can appear out of date and, at worst, even cabaret. Certain bands are defined by their era and sit uncomfortably once extracted but The Stairs were always out of time; harking back to the 60s beat boom when the prevailing musical trends were an assortment of post-baggy, grunge and shoegazing. The Stairs weren’t the only ones going back to mono and recycling British R&B, US garage and Dutch Nederbeat but they were by far the best: more gifted, confident and charismatic than the rest and possessed an off-kilter humour. Who else concluded songs by asking “What do you think of Tarzan undies? Do they scare ya?”  

From the opening seconds of ‘Mary Joanna’ - Ged’s opening riff, Paul’s thumping drums and Edgar’s thunderous bass and exaggerated Jagger howl – it was immediately apparent this was going to be good. When that was followed by ‘Flying Machine’, from their first EP, my excitement built incrementally with each passing song. The last times I saw the band, ’93-’94, they’d progressed into a heavier psychedelic rock band than beat combo, and whilst still excellent hearing sets of unfamiliar, experimental material was a different experience to two years previously. They’d moved on. I vividly recall The Stairs play a Mod Rally at the Isle of Wight in 1993 and the stunned reaction of the assembled Mods who didn’t know what to make of it all. Well, they did, but frankly that was their loss.

From ‘Flying Machine’, a perfect set unravelled, nineteen songs whooshed past. The majority of the classic (and it is that) Mexican R’n’B including ‘My Window Pane’, ‘Mundane Mundae’, ‘Sweet Thing’, ‘Woman Gone and Say Goodbye’, ‘Out In The Country’ all sounded box fresh, as did the double-whammy of ‘Fall Down The Rain’ and ‘Right In The Back Of Your Mind’ which nearly reduced the Kazimier to rubble ahead of its forthcoming demolition by developers. There were some choice EP tracks, ‘When It All Goes Wrong’, ‘You Don’t Love Me’ and ‘Russian Spy and I’; a couple of the later songs in ‘Skin Up’ and ‘Stop Messin’’; the nutjob “new” found-under-bed single ‘Shit Town’ sung by Ged; and even a brand new number ‘1000 Miles Away’ thrown in for good measure. 

Everything was delivered with supercharged power, as if The Stairs had spent twenty years with all this energy suppressed, waiting to explode. The longer they played, the more they locked into each other. If all that wasn’t impressive enough what was bewildering was how the band had remained cryogenically frozen. Edgar looked like he’d walked straight off his record sleeves without a hair out of place and it took me a while to work out he wasn’t wearing the same pink and white paisley shirt from the Bass Clef in ’94 (that had a penny collar, this one pointed…); Ged has kept the same cut-by-himself-in-the-mirror curtains/bob affair and those bug eyes still bulge and his mouth still falls open as he plays guitar; it’s only a few flicks of grey in Paul’s still curly bonce that give any indication we’re now in a different millennium. Like I said, and call me shallow if you will, this stuff is important in bands. Imagine, if you dare, the horror of witnessing a bald Birdland or a fat Five Thirty. They were accompanied on acoustic/electric guitar and organ by Austin Murphy from Edgar’s band The Jones. For what it’s worth, he looked like a young David Hepworth.

There was little chat between songs, certainly no emotional milking of the situation: the music, the audience’s dolally reception, and the smiles of the band said it all. After a pounding ‘Skin Up’ they went off to quickly do that (possibly) before returning for the anthemic  ‘Weed Bus’, given a bizarre cowboy style intro by Edgar about the joys of Liverpool’s public transportation system. With that fantastic finale about knowing you’re in heaven, they were gone.

Apart from missing their old talisman Jason shaking his maracas one more time this gig had it all; any misgivings about spoiling their memory banished. Where The Stairs go from here remains to be seen – and I doubt they’ll want to keep treading old ground for long - but this night, this monumental night, this little piece of history, was nothing short of triumphant and, if anything, elevated their already treasured status for anyone fortunate enough to have witnessed it.

NOVEMBER PLAYLIST

The Standells

1.  Mark Murphy – “Li’l Darlin’” (1961)

Ace Records this month issued a new comp, Georgie Fame Heard Them Here First, featuring 25 tracks covered by our Georgie. Such was the vast array of tracks to pick from, this, from Murphy’s Rah, didn’t make the cut.

2.  Brian Auger – “Blues Three Four” (1961)

Pre-Hammond Auger, here demonstrating his jazz chops on the piano. It’s the opening track on a new Brian Auger anthology Back To The Beginning. Unfortunately the collection is let down by poor liner notes which don’t supply details of where this track was taken, so I’ve guessed the year. Possibly recorded with Dave Morse? Answers to the usual address.

3.  The Wanderers – “After He Breaks Your Heart” (1963)

Led by Ray Pollard, the Wanderers had already recorded for a decade before they cut this typically clean New York slice of Big City Soul for United Artists. Now included on the superb new Lost Without You: The Best Of Kent Ballads 2 compilation for Kent.

4.  The Pirates – “Cuttin’ Out” (1965)

Tough switchblade slashing rockabilly punk from a Texan combo who left behind a couple of 45s, this being their highlight.

5.  Jimmy Witherspoon – “Man Don’t Cry” (1965)

From Jimmy’s swinging Spoon In London which attempted to place him in a slightly more pop-soul setting. That said, “Man Don’t Cry” is a haunting, big voiced, big band creeper.

6.  David Bowie – “Let Me Sleep Beside You” (1967)

Recorded on 1 September 1967 for Deram, “Let Me Sleep Beside You” was the first Bowie single produced by Tony Visconti who sat a neat bass and drum rhythm on top of a sweep of strings. I'm generally indifferent to Bowie but like this. 

7.  The Standells – “Looking At Tomorrow” (1967)

The Standells production team went to town on this, creating a clanging echo drenched protest number with composer Larry Tamblyn taking lead vocals and putting his organ high in the mix. That’s not a euphemism.

8.  Miles Davis - "Bitches Brew" (1970)

On any given day the same piece of music (and I'm primarily talking jazz here) can either enthral or infuriate. Depending on one's mood, 27 minutes of this one track could easily do either.

9.  Hollywood Brats – “Sick On You” (1973)

After my effusive praise for Andrew Matheson’s recent memoir, Sick On You, it was little surprise to see Mojo magazine crown it Book of the Year. The song of the same name should’ve similarly won accolades in the year of its completion.    

10.  The Stairs – “Flying Machine” (1991)

From side two of their first EP and the second song played at Thursday’s reunion gig in Liverpool, setting the tone for what was a triumphant return, exceeding all expectations. More about this later.

GET YER SKINS TOGETHER, THE STAIRS ARE BACK ON THE BUS!

The Stairs, Isle of Wight, August 1993: Ged Lynn, Paul Maguire, Edgar Jones

The Stairs are back. On 26 November, over twenty years since their last performance, Edgar Jones (then Summertyme), Ged Lynn and Paul Maguire play a hometown reunion gig at the Kazimier in Liverpool. For a brief moment in the early 90s it appeared their big boss beat might crossover into the mainstream and whilst debut single ‘Weed Bus’ became something of a classic and their LP Mexican R’n’B sounds as good today as it did then, they fizzled out of the public eye after label Go Discs short-sightedly released them.

In early 1994 I interviewed Edgar for issue three of my fanzine, Something Has Hit Me, and it caught them at an experimental and ambitious time, excited by the possibilities of where their music could take them and what they could achieve. Unfortunately, they didn’t release another record during their lifetime and folded not long after. A second album Who Is This Is, which featured much of the material Edgar mentioned and was part of their live set at that time, quietly sneaked out on Viper many years after their demise. The same label this month releases a new odds and sods compilation, The Great Lemonade Machine In The Sky, including demos, live songs and alternative versions. Also, a limited edition 45, the Beefheartesque bonkers 'Shit Town' is pulled from the album. 

With drummer Paul now based in Iceland don’t expect The Stairs to return full time so any chance you get to see them, grab it. In the meantime, let’s go back to ’94, that fanzine article and enjoy a few previously unseen photos…

Something Has Hit Me: In 1991/1992, The Stairs released four great EPs and an outstanding LP, Mexican R’n’B. Everything they did was geared to being as authentically 60s sounding as possible, right down to having Go Discs release their records in mono only. Their sound was an accurate blend of Pretty Things, Chocolate Watchband and early Stones, anything modern was frowned upon Hand in hand with this was their well-documented love and use of dope, with two of their singles, ‘Weed Bus’ and ‘Mary Joanna’, being less than subtle in sentiment. Even their t-shirts bore the legend “Superstars of Smoking”.

The last eighteen or so months have seen an almost complete silence from the band, only popping up occasionally for the odd low key gig. Now in 1994, they’ve started to gig more regularly again. Something Has Hit Me talked to singer and chief songwriter, Edgar Summertyme.

You did a live session for GLR (Greater London Radio) this morning. How was it?

It was sound. Boss like. A good buzz getting up early in the morning and going down and playing. It was a good room to play in, as it was the first time I’ve heard everyone in the band properly for ages. We did two new songs that went out live, ‘Skin Up For Me Baby’ and ‘It Was Alright’. We’re trying out a few different bags at the moment. Like the way we’re playing and getting into different things. One of those songs is quite heavy and the other is more Tamla. We’re just trying to see what fits best, cos since we’ve left Go Discs we’ve become a different band really.

So you’ve left Go Discs then? Is that why you’ve been so quiet?

Yeah, that’s right. The fella that signed us left the company and then we had a big patch with no money coming in and that.

Have you gone anywhere and signed with someone else?

We’re not gone anywhere, we’ve looking at the moment. Tonight’s our first sort of showcase (at the Bass Clef in Hoxton). We’ve still got the publishing deal with Warner Chappell though, that’s important. They even had ‘Russian Spy and I’. They actually own that song but had to phone Holland and go through all their old records to check they owned it.

I thought the promotion you got from Go Discs was quite good.

Yeah it was quite reasonable like. They put us about a bit and all that. But the head man there now just isn’t into our bag. He’s just into pop records. We were getting harder and heavier and generally better and better at playing, but he isn’t a man that listens to the rhythm section or a record, he just listens for the twee lead singer. He likes twee lead singers and I could never sing like that.

You said about getting into different things, I saw you’re at the Isle of Wight last August (1993) and your sound was quite different, heavier in places and it seemed some was improvised.

Yeah, it was the San Franciscan thing really, that we got into. We’re trying to take that sound and modernize it. The thing is today, there’s a lot of good bands around but they’re not playing with real good taste. But I think that you can do something with modern music and make it tasty. I mean, there’s the occasional moments of Lenny Kravitz that are alright, you know what I mean, but he hasn’t the je ne sais quoi to quite pull it off. People will just have to wait for us. We just want to see a British band that’s as good as say the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and things like that. They’re quite good but they’ve got such a shit singer.

So it’s not just a case of recreating that 60s sounds anymore?

No, we want to take it further now. Because as musicians we’d just die, we’d be cabaret and that’s not a good place to be. I’ve got all the respect in the world for bands like The Aardvarks and that, who are carrying on doing that, bit I just don’t think it’s for us to carry on in that vein forever. Although, having said that, I’m looking back a bit further as well as looking forward. Listening to Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, there’s more of that to be learnt. Captain Beefheart-isms. There’s a lot of ways to go. You don’t have to be Led Zep to take your music into the future. Things like Little Richard. There’s a lot to Little Richard than you realise because of all those 70s bands doing versions of his songs. But if you listen they sound like a lot of those early Stax records from the late 50s, if you listen closely.

Do you listen to a lot of soul music?

Yeah, you can learn a lot from that. The way the bands played together. The way they make room for someone to do something. I’ve learnt so much from that. I’ve always liked Motown and stuff but recently I’ve been playing Willie Mitchell, Garland Green, Jimmy McGriff and early James Brown instrumentals, things like that.

Have you recorded any new material?

We’re recorded a few demos and that but we’re looking to record some more when we get the money. We’ve got so much material to get through. We’re about a year behind my writing now, so we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

Will those songs just get left behind?

Yeah a lot of it will but songs go through rebirths. Sometime they go through very big changes. If I decide I don’t like the arrangement or something I’ll do a “tribute” arrangement. Like on ‘No One Knows’, I hated the arrangement so we did a bit of an Easybeats tribute, 1966 style. So, you’ve always got all that to choose from. Having said what I did earlier, we’ll always bring up things from the past, but we’ll try to present them with the modern person in mind, because we want to reach as vast an audience as possible. If anything, we’d like to teach them and then give them weirdness. Get ‘em into that. Plus it would be good for the other bands as well because no one is reaching across that barrier at the moment. We want to break down that barrier.

You recorded an album of cover versions that didn’t come out, how come?

The label, Imaginary, folded. So we were unable to release it. One of the tracks that might have ended up on it was featured on a compilation. We did ‘Moonchild’ by Beefheart. It was a pretty spot on copy. It’s on 1965 Through The Looking Glass but I haven’t got a copy of it myself yet.

What about putting something out yourself?

Yeah, we’re thinking of doing a single ourselves. We’re trying out a few new ways of recording. I can’t really go into it cos someone might rob the idea but basically it’s a way of getting a modern sound that sounds like an old sound that sounds like a modern sound. Also, there’s a lot more range to this band that you don’t know about. Left Banke kinda stuff that you’ll never hear live, but they will eventually come out on albums. I love that big production stuff.

Brian Wilson?

Yeah, I was a big Smile freak for about two years. When I was 19-20 I wrote a load of soft songs. We can’t play any of them live. We were going to do an album under a different name and call it Wet Sounds but had to abandon the idea cos Go Discs weren’t into us going under a different name. We loved those songs, all nice lightweight 1966 pop songs. I was great to write those.

(There was a load of general chat here about bands having loads of great unreleased material and conversation turned back to the Easybeats).

I met George Young of the Easybeats a couple of years ago because we wanted him to produce us. But he came to tell me he didn’t produce anymore. He sat me down and gave me a two hour talk on how to look after myself in the music business, which was amazing. Because basically he’d fucked up badly. There was unreleased material of theirs left, right and centre. Albums cancelled and stuff. He just told me how to compose myself and to smoke a lot less of that stuff. Cos he used to be on it all the time and now he’s the most together man in the world. He’s just into looking after his family, which is really nice. He just told me to never forget my family.

So there you have it. A definite mellowing in The Stairs camp. Don’t worry about talk about getting modern sounding, as having heard some of the new songs live a few times I can tell you there are some real crackers there. ‘It Was Alright’ is as good a track as they’ve done previously and would have easily on Mexican R’n’B. As for some of their more experimental stuff, well, it’s simply brilliant. It may take some time before any of it sees a proper release, so make sure you go and see them live, they’ll knock yer socks off! 

The Stairs at the Bass Clef, Hoxton, 1994

Something Has Hit Me, Issue 3, April 1994

JULY PLAYLIST

1.  Big John Greer – “I’m The Fat Man” (1952)

He may be big but he can thrill you through and through. So claims Mr. Greer in a song about his rocking meat.

2.  Charlie Mingus – “Dizzy Moods” (1957)

Recorded in 1957 but not released until 1962, Mingus is quoted on the sleeve of Tijuana Moods as saying “This is the best record I ever made”. It’s difficult to put these things in any order and difficult to understand why such a fantastic LP waited in the wings for five years, although this was an incredibly prolific period with four other albums recorded and issued in 1957 alone.
[Comment from Monkey Snr: It was not issued by RCA for five years because Celia Mingus (his wife) sued RCA, and settled for $1200. I think it was about Debut (Mingus and Max Roach's label) issuing an LP by Thad Jones; RCA nicked the idea].

3.  Jack Harris and the Arabians – “Dog Wild” (1962)

Honkin’ and hustlin’ dirty R&B out of Chicago on the very cool Witch label.

4.  Prince Love and his Royal Knights – “Don’t Want No War” (1962)

“Mr Castro, I’m talking to you”. Gotta hand it to young Sly Stone for cutting a dance record about the Cuban missile crisis.

5.  Carolyn Franklin- “Right On!” (1970)

Big and brassy from Sister Carolyn.

6.  The Staple Singers – “This Is A Perfect World” (1971)

For the first time Al Bell and Stax took the Staples to Muscle Shoals to record, and their The Staple Swingers LP opens with the sound of machinegun fire, “God Save The Queen” played on a harmonium, and Roebuck Staples declaring “This is a perfect world, so let’s stop trying to make it what it’s not”. Powerful and rousing stuff even before Mavis takes up the baton.

7.  The Brand New Heavies – “Sphynx” (1990)

Although I saw the Brand New Heavies a fair few times in their early days – they were a great live band tapped into a strong funk, jazz and soul movement – I was pretty nonplussed by their debut LP when it eventually came out, playing it only a couple of times. This was probably due to preferring to listen to the JBs, the Meters, Charles Earland etc than a new band doing a copy. Twenty five later those considerations don’t apply and taken on its own merits The Brand New Heavies makes a strong summertime soundtrack.

8.  The Stairs – “Right In The Back Of Your Mind” (1992)

Smokin’ scouse big beat vowel mangling combo The Stairs are back! Or rather they will be when they play the Kazimier in Liverpool on 26 November. Details are sketchy at the moment and no other dates announced so get yer skins together and catch the 147. Hope they do this epic Stooges/Chocolate Watchband mash-up. 

9.  The Nervous Rex – “(I Love Your) Psychedelic Curtains” (2009)

Zyd Hockey played this on his Fusion wireless show the other week and my toe was already merrily tapping away when my ears picked out the line “Your LP records by The Action and the Electric Prunes” guaranteeing its place in this month’s playlist.  

10.  James Taylor Quartet – “Why Can’t We Get Along” (2011)

From The Template, the JTQ follow the one used by the Style Council trying to sound like the Isleys. Infectious little number this one.

JUKEBOX 7"S PLAYLIST - FRIDAY 17th JANUARY 2014

The second Jukebox 7”s night at the Elixir Bar in NW1 last Friday was good fun, not least for Long John McNally, Miles Macleod, Elliott Marmaduke Jones and myself who got to play a pile of our favourite records, drink ourselves into a stupor, and listen to a geezer with tattooed hands tell us about his mate Eric Burdon and going to see The Animals at The Downbeat Club in Newcastle. 

As before, the idea was to not be too obscure but play a mix of stuff to create what one might hear on a particularly well stocked jukebox. I think we achieved that. My contribution is listed below. Have very little recollection of that final set bar The Smiths and Glen Campbell so this list is as much for my benefit as yours.

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly

The Staple Singers – Respect Yourself

James Brown – Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs

The Flying Burrito Brothers – Older Guys

The Byrds – Mr Spaceman

The Stairs – Weed Bus

Five Thirty – Abstain!

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers – Born To Lose

Buzzcocks – Promises

Birdland – Hollow Heart

Bob Dylan – From A Buick 6

T.Rex – Born To Boogie

New York Dolls – Jet Boy

The Cure – Why Can’t I Be You?

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Spellbound

Adam & The Ants – Xerox

13^th Floor Elevators – You’re Gonna Miss Me

Outsiders – Touch

Mouse & The Traps – Beg Borrow and Steal

Leroy Van Dyke – It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

The Boo Radleys – Wish I Was Skinny

Manfred Mann – If You Gotta Go, Go Now

The Who – Doctor, Doctor

The Choir – It’s Cold Outside

The Smiths – Handsome Devil

The Seeds – Pushin’ Too Hard

The Jam – Heatwave

The Byrds – Feel A Whole Lot Better

Shrag – Rabbit Kids

The Vapors – Turning Japanese

Suede – Metal Mickey

Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues

The Housemartins – Sheep

Manic Street Preachers – Show Me The Wonder

The Redskins – Turnin’ Loose (The Furious Flames)

The Impressions – This Is My Country

The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset

The Action – Since I Lost My Baby

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – Tears Of A Clown

Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen

Glen Campbell – Wichita Lineman

AUGUST PLAYLIST

Been having a dig back through some oldies this month, helped by a mysterious white cat.

1. Ed Bruce – “I’m Gonna Have A Party” (1964)
According to Wikipedia, Ed Bruce is a country music songwriter and singer best known for his 1975 hit “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”. I’ll have to listen to that one in bit but around here he’s best known for a couple of big voiced, string laden singles for Wand including this morose mid-tempo mover where he invites only heartache, blues, misery and memories of you to his party.

2. The Graham Bond Organization – “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolf?” (1965)
Bond, Baker, Bruce and Heckstall-Smith all hurtle headlong into Jimmy Smith’s instrumental desperate to steal the limelight. Bond wins of course, managing to play organ and mellotron simultaneously, and then organ and alto simultaneously. Magick.

3. The Distant Cousins – “Let It Ring” (1965)
I always imagined The Distant Cousins as a groovy moptopped beat combo a la Standells. They weren’t. Raymond L Bloodworth and L Russell Brown actually looked disappointingly square, not that you’d ever have guessed from this infectious and irresistible would-be Merseybeat stomper.

4. Etta James – The Same Rope (1967)
The indomitable Ms James has a message for her wayward lover: “The same rope that pulls you up – sure can hang you”. Consider yourself warned, boy.

5. The Us Too – “The Girl With The Golden Hair” (1967)
Like countless others, Cincinnati band The Us Too served up covers to the local kids at the hop. What those kids made of this moody garage rocker with a wonky organ and a runaway flute is anyone’s guess.

6. Powder – “Gladly” (1968)
I’d forgotten how brilliant Powder were until revisiting their Biff! Bang! Powder compilation the other day. The closest thing the US had to The Who in their pop art pomp.

7. Big Joe Turner – “Two Loves Have I” (1969)
“Two loves have I, and both of them are you”. Big Joe’s ode to his schitzo girlfriend was a big hit around Shoreditch and Old Street back in the halcyon days of 2002. “Shoobie-doo, shoobie-doo”.

8. The Stairs – “Fall Down The Rain” (1992)
Seems appropriate.

9. The Coral – “Two Faces” (2010)
Sounds more like an amalgamation of The Byrds, The Hollies and Buffalo Springfield than even Crosby, Stills and Nash.

10. Pocketbooks – “Sweetness and Light” (2010)
Who or what replaced yuppies? Pocketbooks sound like a bunch of them who, when collecting Joshua and Honeypot from playgroup, pinch their kids’ instruments and tunelessly lisp passages from their novels-in-progress over the backing of toy drums and Bontempi organ. I can find no rational explanation for playing their Flight Paths album at least twenty times this month but I have, and bizarrely love it.