Continued from yesterday's post... when I was about 16 or 17, I was invited to join an APA. I had no idea what an APA was and the internet wasn't around to explain like it is nowadays.
"An amateur press association is a group of people who produce individual pages or zines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group."
Initially I was just writing individual pages for a zine called Comic Critics Cavalcade, in which letter-hacks from all over the world could share their thoughts on new or old comics or the changing face of the industry.
After a year or two doing that, I was allowed into the inner circle: Inertron, an APA in which a small group of British comic fans made their own zines every couple of months, photocopied a batch, and sent them off to a central mailer for distribution to the rest of the group.
A week or so later, we'd receive a huge parcel containing every else's zines which we then read and commented on. Some of those zines were huge (for anyone who thinks writing this blog must be a time-consuming affair, it's nothing to the amount of time involved in being part of an APA). Yet it was also a lot of geeky fun... otherwise else why did we spend so much time on it?
Not everyone involved was a teenager like me - some of the other contributors were in their 20s, 30s or even older... but nobody thought there was anything odd about that. We were united by our shared love of comics... but also, films, music, TV shows, and life as we knew it. Nobody agreed on everything, but nobody violently disagreed either. We were interested, rather than angry, when someone liked different things to us. Being a part of that group was a natural precursor to the blogosphere - or this comfortable little corner of the blogosphere anyway.
I recently found all my old APAs up in my mum's attic, and I'm in the process of scanning them to digital files for posterity. Below is the cover to the first issue of my zine Rock n Roll, named after the sign off line I used for all my fan letters. At the top of the post is a cover from a later edition. Even though this was an APA for comics fans, we could write about whatever we wanted in our own zines, so music was a big part of my witterings even back then.
Until I found that dusty old box up in mum's attic, I hadn't thought about my time in the APA group for maybe a quarter of a century. I'm not sure why it stopped, but I suspect it was partly that the internet took over. I did find myself quite active in online comics groups from the mid-late 90s, and I suspect quite a few of my fellow APA-ers made a similar leap. I was also spending more and more time producing my own comics by then (not to mention completing my English degree and working in radio) so something had to give. I miss the creativity and community of it all, but other things came along to fill that hole... like writing this blog. I guess I've always felt the need to put my thoughts down and have them read by others, all that's changed is the medium.
In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs
And mopping up spilt beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer
Emma Pollock or Emma's Imagination for the picture please, said Charity Chic, who's doing pretty well at picking our pictured artist lately, even if he can't supply any relevant tunes.
Ms. Pollock was always the Emma at the forefront of my mind for this post. I've been a fan since the early days of The Delgados.
The only other singing Emma in my collection is the actress Emma Caulfield, here duetting with Nicholas Brendon from the Buffy musical episode. I'm sure Alyson will appreciate this if nobody else.
Onto the songs then... although this week had less entries than usual. When I began this feature, I figured the girl's names would trounce the boy's names in song suggestions, but that hasn't been the case for the past few weeks. Anyway, here's what you had for me, beyond those that made the Top Ten...
...which was a bit too modern-Saxon. An older Saxon tune might have stood a chance.
Finally, you'll be pleased to know that my millennial hipster politico friend, Ben, was far too busy doing important things this week to devote much effort to the search, although he did offer the following, which he says reminds him of being 12...
I was 31 when that record came out. It reminds him of being 12. Grrr...
(Actually, I think he's a year or two older than your Maths will reveal... but I ignore him whenever he tells me his exact age because it makes me ill.)
Meanwhile, scraped from my own hard-drive, but still worthy of consideration...
And, from 1971, this curious tale of an Emma who...
...comes to see me
About 8 o'clock each night
And she throws her arms around me
And off we go in flight
Like an airplane
Moving up and down
Which, however sweetly sung, is a pretty terrible euphemism.
However, one night Emma is late... and Jonathan has his tea at 8.30, so frankly, don't mess me about love. I'm not sure this song is meant to make me laugh so much.
Within every city and town there's a madison Frozen lives for whom nothing's happening Hungry children is a mother's dilemma Dumpster diving to feed her baby Emma
That's a classic, though probably not enough of a lyrical nod compared to some of the ones that did make the final ten.
Big cheese down at the Tourist Information Come forth with your queries And I’ll wade out for miles Never trust a crown green bowler under thirty The future’s so dull I’ve gotta sing torch songs Dropkick the improv workshop mimeshow gobshite Facepaint Left Bank Kenneth Emma R-A-D-A Rainer Werner Cokeheads cokeheads cokeheads
From Rigid Digit and Walter. Lovelier than you'd expect from Chumbawamba, plus it's from an album called A Singsong And A Scrap. What else do you need?
Can I add one more, said Martin,because it's excellent. For Emma, forever ago.
Also, For Emma by Bon Iver,Alyson seconded, I only discovered them and the album of the same name when I started writing about the pesky virus in March. They had a song called Blindsided on that album which fitted the bill perfectly at the time.
Jury's still out here at Top Ten Towers on the whole Bon "I recorded this album in a cabin in the woods to get back to the roots" Iver experience, I'm afraid. Still, this was popular enough (on a quiet week) to make the chart.
Thanks to Emma, says C, I can recycle my comment from last week with the disallowed Teddy!
"...There's a sweet song: 'The Ballad of Marmalade Emma and Teddy Grimes' by Hard Meat, and I can give you a little background to the story too..."
The rather ambiguous-sounding name Hard Meat suggests all sorts – perhaps the title of an Andy Warhol film or a Scandinavian porn mag, maybe even the name of a militant anti-vegetarian group…so you may be relieved to know that the Hard Meat I’m referring to here is a 60s/70s band from Birmingham. Even then one might expect them to be Black Sabbath soundalikes, complete with controversial lyrics and dubious imagery - however, they had a far softer and more psychedelic/folk/acid rock sound and one does wonder why they chose such a name.
Their first single was a cover of the Beatles’ Rain’ (b/w ‘Burning Up Years’ which was covered by NZ band Human Instinct - many thanks to the reader who corrected the info stated on here earlier) released in 1969 on Island, and they went on to make two albums for Warner Brothers, ‘Hard Meat’ and ‘Through A Window’.
It is the last track on ‘Through A Window’ entitled ‘The Ballad of Marmalade Emma and Teddy Grimes’ (also released as a single in 1970), which has been on continuous play in my mind this week. I just love its uplifting feel, and an overall sound reminiscent of Traffic and early Faces. I was also intrigued by its subject matter because Marmalade Emma and Teddy Grimes were real characters who, through the late 1800s/early 1900s, resided in the historic town of Colchester, which is just a few miles from where I live.
It’s assumed that Hard Meat were spending some time in the Essex countryside when they heard talk of these legendary local characters in a pub and were so struck by the stories that they decided to write a song about them.
Marmalade Emma and Teddy Grimes, pictured below in 1910, lived as eccentric tramps and roamed the streets of Colchester begging and blagging all that they needed to live on, drinking beer slops from the local pubs, sleeping in ditches and hedges, and probably managing to get by very adequately on very little. The local community tolerated them in spite of some controversy and brushes with the law – on the 1891 Census Emma registered her occupation as ‘prostitute’, the only one on the list, and was also sent to prison briefly for swearing at a policeman. Story has it that on her return from the clink some local lads asked her where she’d been, to which she replied, “to college”.
Read the rest, and see Marmalade Emma and Teddy Grimes for yourself, here.
Blimey, it's a long time since I heard the name Beulah, Brian. Didn't know this one, but it wins the prize for Best New Song You Guys Have Introduced Me To This Week. Especially when the trumpet kicks in at the 2 1/2 minute mark.
You flirt, you drink, you can't stop your winking at the boys at the bar
All you need is a gun and a car
A country song if you don't have a heart
1. Hot Chocolate - Emma
Back when pop/soul (what they'd call r 'n' b these days) had proper guitar solos in it!
Suggested by Martin, Lynchie and Alyson, who adds...
They were so consistent over a period of about 15 years yet I never hear of them much nowadays - anyway, a beautiful yet really sad song.
Thank you also to Martin for reminding me of the Sisters of Mercy cover...
It's so funny how we don't talk anymore... until you want the answers to Saturday Snapshots. But you all did very well again this week, so... Congratulations!
I think Alyson took this one, though Chris & Walter both did sterling work on some of the tougher ones while Charity Chic kept the flag flying for his home country, Rigid Digit corrected Alyson (and himself) and C was happy with #3, which really should have been 7. Lynchie must have had a lie in this week...
Last year I did a number of posts about Mathematics. I thought I'd follow that up with some musical science classes. You see, I finally started watching Breaking Bad. Yes, I know, I know, I'm nearly ten years behind the curve. Ironically, I've already watched the first two seasons of Better Call Saul, and I've been meaning to watch BB for ages, but... you know, time.
Anyway, for Walter White, we have to start with Chemistry...
Special mentions to The Chemical Brothers and My Chemical Romance.
Because I love Spirit Of Radio, I bought the Best Of Rush. I can do prog in small bursts before it all gets a bit pompous for me. I'm always impressed by the guitar work on records like this... but I prefer Yes though, mainly because Jon Anderson's voice is a thing of wonder.
There are three types of chemistry songs. The first: where chemistry is a metaphor for the spark between two people. The second: where chemistry is a metaphor for drugs. The third: where it's both.
This, like our Number One, belongs the third category, I think.
The way Damon dances around in the countryside in this video... seriously, if you were out for a nice Sunday afternoon walk and you bumped into him, you'd turn swifty in the opposite direction.
If you potter about on youtube, you'll find a number of songs where people have tried to rap the Periodic Table. When Scroobius Pip gets into his own attempt at that, about halfway through this song, I just wish he'd carried on till he got all the way up to Oganesson.
Ironically, despite being on Chemikal Underground and writing this song for her 2010 album The Law Of Large Numbers, Emma Pollock studied Physics at university...
John Otway's fans helped him celebrate his 50th birthday by getting this into the Top Ten in 2002. He even made it back onto Top Of The Pops. Brilliant.
This
one's a bit of a stretch, I confess, since it's obviously about the
band mentioned above and not really anything to do with chemistry... but
they're my rules, I can break them if the song is good enough. Great lo
fi indie, made even better by the inclusion of a mournful trumpet.
One of those late nineties / early noughties guitar bands it's never been cool to admit to liking... so, obviously, I think they're great.
I remember when I found out about chemistry It was a long, long way from here I was old enough to want it but younger than I wanted to be Suddenly my mission was clear
So for awhile I conducted experiments And I was amazed by the things I learned From a fine fine girl with nothing but good intentions and a Bad tendency to get burned
They lose points for that silly CD single cover (above) though.
The obvious choice is Chemistry Class from Armed Forces, but much as I love that album, I love Punch The Clock more. I have in the past observed the cliché that artists in love don't always make the best records and that heartbreak and misery make for much better songwriting partners. This is often the case, and you'd expectit to be true of the gleefully cynical Elvis Costello more than most. And yet, and yet... Punch The Clock is full of shiny, exuberant love songs, and it's brilliant.
It's the element within her
Something under her skin
That is shining out through the face of the girl
Two sapphires and couple of rows of pearls
1. Suede - The Chemistry Between Us
Having led the Britpop charge, Suede went full on anthemic pop band on their third album, Coming Up. Although it does have a soaring chorus, sumptuous strings and plenty of la-la-las, at over 7 minutes in length, The Chemistry Between Us was never going to be a hit like the FIVE Top Ten singles this album produced. As with many of Suede's earlier hits though, it is obsessed with drug culture, although Brett Anderson claims the lyrics are anti-drugs, about people who can only make connections when they're high.
Oh, Class A, Class B... Is that the only chemistry?
Look at that: I can still do indie and guitar pop! Funny how the subject matter led more to those kind of bands...
