I think I've probably waffled on at length about Microdisney more than most bands, so for an overview of their previous work and career, it probably makes sense to simply
skim back over the old entries.
What I'm doing here is scrabbling together the last remains I have of their 45 back catalogue (although there's nothing to say I won't stumble upon more examples over the next few years) placed here so that you, the Microdisney fan - or the soon-to-be Microdisney fan - can enjoy some of the odder moments in their catalogue.
Birthday Girl
Label: Rough Trade
Year of Release: 1985
"Birthday Girl" was supposedly the single which caught the eyes of Richard Branson's slaves at the Virgin headquarters, and won the band a major label contract. Listening to it again as part of the
"Clock Comes Down The Stairs" download, it's easy to hear why - this is wonderful stuff.
Equally intriguing, however, is the lesser-heard B-side "Harmony Time" which chooses a jaunty, twanging melody to undercut some anti-Thatcherite lyrics.
"If you want luncheon in your lap/ knife your neighbour in the back/ if you don't do it/ somebody else will" sneers Cathal at one point, emphasising the prevailing culture of the time (which still exists in London and the South East to this day, regrettably). It was a strange track to relegate to B-side status, given that it outperforms a lot of the "Crooked Mile" album they went on to release.
9 comments:
Thanks for bringing me back to being a teenager in the mid 1980s listening to Peel and Fanning. They both played lots of Microdisney. I bought the five LPs at the time but missed a couple of the singles so these b-sides are much appreciated. I never caught Microdisney live but saw a number of incendiary Fatima Mansions gigs in the 1990 - 1993 period.
I knew this band in Cork way back in the last century. We loved them! there was another band called "The Nun Attacks" a punk band whose energy and joy de vivre was immense, poignant and illuminating. Their lead singer drowned in the river Thames, London..
Didn't they become "Five Go Down To The Sea"? If so, there's a blog entry on here about that lot, too...
http://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2009/12/five-go-down-to-sea-singing-in-braille.html
Excellent. I have both the "Birthday Girl" 7" and "Singer's Hampstead Home" 12" on vinyl and have been meaning to upload those.
Great work -- thanks very much! Any chance of a "We Hate You South African Bastards" post?
Dolph - I really should, shouldn't I? I own the record, but the only reason I've held off uploading it so far is the fact that it contains some of the band's weakest material. Still, so many people are seeking it out that it's probably fair to give this stronger consideration in the New Year.
Singer's Hampstead Home was about the man who overdosed on heroin at Boy George's house. I seem to remember the music press being not quite sure whether this made the song a righteous blast of anti-pop star anger (good) or an anti-dugs, and possibly homophobic, rant(bad).
I'm pretty sure I have it somewhere, though having said that I don't remember seeing it for awhile…
It's the double-pack 7" with "Little Town In Ireland" on the flip of the first single, and Peel Sessions tracks on the second.
If I ever manage to find my copy of it again, I will!
"Little Town In Ireland" is rubbish, and I already own "Town to Town" and the Peel Sessions tracks elsewhere, so I may well have sold it at some point.
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