Baby Honey

Last week I enjoyed reading some tweets from Allan Hutton, a fellow music fan that I follow on Twitter, about tracking down a vinyl copy of The Pastels Baby Honey.

I tweeted Allan, we exchanged some messages and then Allan kindly agreed to write a guest blog for me. I'm glad I asked!

The great thing about this blog is that it highlights how some bands will always be mentioned and handed down. Some will pass people by - but bands like The Pastels will always be recommended in some shape or form - be that from bands, fans, labels, journalists or record shops.

Read on....

Baby Honey by The Pastels
Guest blog by Allan Hutton

I have to admit I was late to the party with regards to the Pastels.

I'd never been an Indie Kid, My Youth Culture rite of passage was via Punk then Mod in the late 70's and very early 80's.

Music was then and always has been a big part of my life.

I was blissfully unaware of The Pastels in the 80's as I was mourning the end of The Jam and into the Style Council, Aztec Camera, The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes to name but a few.

By the time the 90's arrived I started hearing great things about Teenage Fanclub and was getting into them. Through them I got to know about the Pastels and BMX Bandits etc.

I'm not exactly sure where I first heard the Pastels it might have been on Peel, I was intrigued by them but never owned any of their stuff until the late 90's when I got a hold of Illumination.

I really liked that album and decided to seek out their earlier stuff which had passed me by.

Among the Pastels melodic shambling clang, there was a B-side that shone like a beacon in the night for me! The jaw dropping and mesmerising, psychedelic Baby Honey. It is just one of those songs that you really get into and feel connected with. It has the deadpan coolness of the Velvet Underground and the repetition of The Fall which climaxes into a crescendo of beautiful and intense noise that you never want to end!

For me this song is and always will be the Pastels finest moment.

When I first heard it that song must have been about 14 or 15 years old therefore a vinyl copy of Million Tears with the spellbinding flip side was hard to find. I searched everywhere for a copy all to no avail.

As the years rolled by I succumbed to CD's and downloads and  kind of gave up on ever acquiring a vinyl copy and settled for the digital version on Up for a Bit!

However, the resurgence of vinyl four or five years ago rekindled my interest in records and once again I was on the hunt. However I still couldn't turn up Baby Honey! Until last week!

As I routinely searched Discogs of an evening, to my astonishment a near mint 12" copy was available. I was gonna have to pay a bit more than I would have liked, but I just bit the bullet and clicked that button! 

Two days later it was spinning on my record player and it hadn't aged one single bit as Baby Honey still sounded as enthralling now as when I first heard it all those years ago!

There is magic in her fingertips

There is magic in the lips I kiss

There is magic in her beautiful eyes

To justify the tears I've cried

The Pastels in November 2017 at the Concert for Stewart Cruickshank