June 23rd, 2010
Anyone who knows me, has heard me praise the wonderful Jasmine Minks, a band that was to be huge and was well on their way, but as usual the music machine lost their way and missed out on great band. Right from their first few singles on Creation, you knew there was something special, even the b-sides were better then most of the music coming out those days - but more about these in a few minutes - first the good news.
The release by the “Poppy White ep” by The Jasmine Minks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jasmine_Minks ) marks the launch of an exciting new Scottish label Oatcake Records ( http://oatcakerecords.co.uk/), which is run by Jim Shepherd of the Jasmine Minks. This is a label that is poised to do some exciting things as is indicated by the list of future and upcoming releases (I can’t wait to hear more from Scottish Funk greats APB).
The single contains four fabulous slices of Pure Pop Perfection, and are among the best songs ever by the Jasmine Minks. These songs were recorded in 1992, but for some strange reason, were never released till now, so it’s great to finally hear these tracks. “Poppy White” kicks off with a real jangle and some beautiful guitars. “Distraction” has an early Jam/Mod/Small Faces feel, especially when he sings the title and chorus. “Dead And Gone” is a brilliant track that will not leave you unsatisfied and somehow seems fitting in the memory of two lost friend. The Final track “Rain” is also a perfect Pop tune with a great beat and rhythm,(just watch those kids dance in the video and you’ll know what I mean) and dripping with a heart full of Soul - . This kind of music can “Rain on me” forever, I love it.
Now back to my story - I have been a fan of the Minks for a while now, ever since I heard their first amazing single “Think”, which was released on Creation Records (The Jasmine Minks were one of the first signings on Creation, along with Biff Bang Pow, The Legend!, The Loft, The Bodines, and The Revolving Paint Dream) way back in 1984. Even the b-side “Work For Nothing” was brilliant and made it’s way on a few of my mixtapes and still sounds fresh and relevant today. The equally brilliant follow up “Where The Traffic Goes” which was also out in the same year, cemented their stature as a band to watch out for. They had a fresh and exciting new sound that drew on the 60’s Mod/Beat/Garage sound (akin to the Pebbles series but with a modern feel) and adding a healthy edge and vitality that set them apart from much of the music coming out at that time. It also didn’t hurt that they also featured the talents of Dave Musker on Keyboards and music genius Joe Foster on production duties, who both had links to the Television Personalities, who were a favourite of mine.
(Picture borrowed from the wonderful Creation Website -
After that the albums started coming and a few more singles, all of which are gems and worth searching out. They didn’t allways stick to particluar mold or sound and drifted into various different styles of sound, drawing on some of the sound of punk, Postcard and soul elements and always exciting and melodic.
If you can’t find their early releases, you can always check out the mighty fine Rev Ola Records compilation “The Revenge Of The Jasmine Minks - The Best Of The Creation Years” or the Edition 59 reissues of some of the early Creation singles -
All the Best with the new label Jim!
Categories: 2010 Favourite, Great Music, zUncategorized |
Tags: Cherry Red Records, Creation Records, Dave Musker, EDITION 59, Jasmine Minks, Joe Foster, Oatcake Records, television personalities, Vollwert Records | 1 Comment
February 5th, 2009
With the current re-releases of all the Biff Bang Pow and Laughing Apple recorded output on the wonderful Edition 59 boutique label (http://www.vollwert-records.de/), it is time for me to add my comments on the legendary impact that Biff Bang Pow has had on my musical tastes and directions. To say that Biff Bang Pow was an inspiration would be an understatement as in one way or another, as I will explain, I am still being impacted.
I was first introduced to The Laughing Apple (pre Biff Bang Pow Alan Mcgee and Andrew Innes) through the Television Personalities connection as they were featured on the Whaam! label sampler “All For Art And Art For All” - BIG 8 - released in 1984, with a great version of “Wouldn’t You” which was later re-recorded by Biff Bang Pow for their first full length album on Creation Records (the label Alan founded). Alan and Andrew also moonlighted with The Revolving Paint Dream who were also featured on that same compilation - their song “In The Afternoon” was also rerecorded for a 7″ single on Creation.
There was a whole scene of exciting music developing at that time with bands associated with fanzines Communication Blur (which Alan wrote) and club nights at the Living Room which was later documented on the very first full length album on Creation Records “Alive In The Living Room” CRELP 001 (which features The June Brides, TVP’s, Jasmine Minks, The Legend!, The Loft, The Pastels, and more - many of the bands who would later form the early foundation of Creation Records). But before I talk a bit more about that, I must admit that The Laughing Apple had already been around for several years and released 3 singles from 1981 to 1983 which were quite difficult to locate and only one which I managed to find in Toronto at the time “Precious/Feeling”. These 3 singles are now being released on Edition 59 in a very limited edition of 59 numbered copies on 3″ Cd’s.
Back to Creation Records, I now was on the keen lookout for anything that came out on that label and many times I had to get friends who were heading to the UK or Europe to locate some of the early singles till Shake Recrds started stocking all the Creation stuff. Creation Records set me off on so many directions and introduced so much amazing music to the world that that is also another story and one that has been documented many times. Creation changed the musical landscape and impacted much of the music that was to come into my possession the 1990’s and on.
Biff Bang Pow were always a special group to me as it was the first link from the TVP’s to Creation Records but also because of Alan’s taste in music which also influenced the band’s sound - and Alan always had good taste (and still does). They blended the 60’s Mod and Freakbeat sounds (”Someone Stole My Wheels”) with traces of the TVP’s sound which I already was in love with (”Love’s Going Out Of Fashion” - they even covered “Someone To Share My Life With”) and also head into various directions of Psychedelic Pop and folkier moments. They had some great instrumentals like “The Whole World Is Turning Brouchard!” and Pure Pop heaven in songs like “She Haunts”, “She Paints”, “She’s Got Diamonds In Her Hair” and “She Never Understood”.
Joe Foster was featured on the early recordings and his amazing production enhances the music perfectly and gives it a depth that keeps you coming back to their recordings (Joe is writing some of the liner notes for the re-issues). Many others were also involved like Dick Green (Who runs his own influential label now), Edward Ball (with a tribute coming soon), Ken Popple (who sometimes plays with The Midget Submarines), and countless others.
Here is a source of some more info on Biff Bang Pow - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biff_Bang_Pow!
gonnabetimeless.blogspot.com
They didn’t get their rightful place in history (and Alan is quite humble about their sigificance), mainly because they were the label boss’s band and were dismissed without being given a chance - but the music speaks for itself and it has also inspired many. And here are a few samples but there is a lot more out there to discover.
Biff Bang Pow! - Someone Stole My Wheels
Biff Bang Pow! - She Never Understood
Tags: [Alan McGee] [Biff Bang Pow] [Andrew+Innes] [britpop] [Creation Records] [Oasis] [Waterbomb] [mp3][The Laughing Apple][Television+Personalities][The Legend][jangle+pop][Whaam!]
Categories: Feature 45, Great Music |
Tags: Alan McGee, Andrew Innes, biff bang pow, britpop, Communication Blur, Creation Records, Dick Green, EDITION 59, edward ball, jangle pop, Jasmine Minks, Joe Foster, Ken Popple, oasis, television personalities, the june brides, The Laughing Apple, the legend, The Loft, The Midget Submarines, The Pastels, The Revolving Paint Dream, waterbomb, Whaam!, Wichita Records | No Comments
