Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past and present), playlists and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
Insta - @everythingflowsglasgow
I've been watching a lot of old Roses footage since the sad passing of Gary 'Mani' Mountfield. The Made of Stone documentary, Blackpool Live, the Snub TV footage from the Hacienda, the Other Side of Midnight performance of Waterfall, reunion shows from Parr Hall, Heaton Park, Coachella and Madison Square Garden, old interviews where the Roses are ice cold cool and TV appearances where they look like the perfect band. All glorious stuff.
One video has stood out in particular in the last week. It's footage of the reformed Roses, filmed in Super 8 style on a mobile phone by Shane Meadows on his first visit to the band's rehearsal studio on 18th April 2012. Meadows credits the moment as when he realised how best to film the Roses intimate working relationship.
The 5-minutes of black and white footage begins with Reni already in an effortlessly playful groove on his drums, while Mani finishes tuning his bass. Reni's eyes are closed, lost in the music as the camera cuts to Mani who begins the iconic riff of I Wanna Be Adored.
Ian Brown, hair looking good, camouflage jacket, mumbles sounds into his mic. Mani stops and then restarts his magnificent rumble. Squire walks into the background and picks up a guitar. Reni keeps his groove going, funk jazz fusion beats over the Adored bassline.
Before long Squire is sprinkling magical nuggets, causing Mani to grin beautifully. Brown shakes a tambourine. Squire, with impeccable, yet, messy hair, is now seated, coaxing some feedback, wearing a cool pair of Nike trainers and a stylish over-shirt. Brown smiles. Like the rest of us, he can only really watch on and marvel. Maybe he was thinking 'why the hell did we leave it so long?' ... Me too, Ian, me too! To Brown's credit, he lets this beautiful jam flow on.
Squire plays with some effects; reverb, delay and echo, moving with ease up and down the neck of his guitar. Reni is beaming, at one with his drums, Mani is locked into the bass riff, Ian Brown stands and looks on in awe.
At 4-minutes in, Meadows focuses on Reni and the way he moves around his kit is astonishing. I can't help but think this guy hasn't recorded enough beats in his lifetime. There must be some old jams from the Second Coming sessions gathering dust in vaults. And what other footage from the rehearsals does Meadows have stashed away? I'd love to get access and go digging!
Then we cut to Mani's bass, the camera moves up to capture him in the zone, lips pursed and then he lets out a beautiful 'yeah'. God it makes me smile and brings happy tears to my eyes.
Meadows moves round and Reni starts showing off for Mani, looking him in the eyes as he adds some more moves to his grooves, shaking his head, laughing with Mani who never strays from his classic bass riff. Squire is still busy coaxing and conjuring gorgeous psychedelic gems from his guitar.
The footage ends, aptly, from behind Mani, his view of the room and the band he loved so much. The rogue Rose who anchored everything, allowing the exceptional Reni and Squire to do their thing. What a band!
There are songs that come and go, and then there are songs that stay with you. Songs that feel like old friends. For me, Sit Down by James is definitely one of them.
First released in 1989, then subsequently re-recorded and re-released to huge acclaim and success in 1991, Sit Down somehow manages to be both deeply personal and completely communal.
“Sit Down is one of those songs that encourages people to put their arms around strangers. As soon as we launch into the opening bars, they start smiling.
Then they turn to someone next to them or their girlfriend or boyfriend and hug them, and then they start singing every single word. As a musician, that’s incredibly humbling.” Larry Gott, original James guitarist
The original cover for Sit Down
James were already something of a cult band by the late ‘80s, releasing two albums and having a range of t-shirts that always (and to this day) sold well.
By 1989 the band had gained enough confidence to buy the album rights to their forthcoming Goldmother album from Rough Trade in search of a bigger label. Fontana was the label they found for new songs like Come Home and How Was It For You. They also re-recorded Sit Down, a single they had released on Rough Trade in 1989.
The original version of Sit Down clocked in at over 8 minutes. The lyrics, beat and structure are all there. The extended piano break/instrumental is gorgeous and goes all dreamy, then a little weird after the fade out and in at the end ... but it lacks bite, it misses the oomph of the re-recorded version.
By the time Fontana re-released the new version in 1991 ... everything had changed. Madchester had exploded and James were swept up in the whirlwind around it.
Sit Down reached #77 in the UK charts on it's original release, #2 in the Indie Charts. Upon re-release, it leapt up the UK charts and reached No. 2 on the actual charts, only kept off the top spot by Chesney Hawkes’ The One and Only. (A very ‘90s chart showdown if ever there was one.)
But chart positions only tell part of the story. Sit Down hit differently. At festivals, clubs, indie discos and sweaty student unions, the song became a kind of mass communion. People didn’t just sing along—they felt it. And often, they sat down on the dancefloor and swayed along to it.
Ecstasy was the drug of choice up and down the nation. People were coming up and opening up. Sit Down connected with people. James had somehow distilled something deeply human into a few verses and a chorus: vulnerability, empathy, connection. Love.
Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they're touched by madness
Sit down next to me
The heady times of Madchester were captured on film by James when they played the city's cavernous G-Mex venue. I borrowed by friend Dave's VHS cassette and watched it on a loop in the summer of 1992 as I recovered from a broken leg. James performance of Sit Down was particularly mesmerising.
In time, I found that this incredible 9-minutes 21 -seconds version had been released as a single in March 91 and I gleefully bought the 12-inch after tracking it down. The live version was the a-side, with the Gil Norton produced new version and Tonight on the flip.
This is your show, this is our song is how a curly haired Tim Booth introduces the anthem to the blissed out crowd. Starting to the sound of air horns, the drum beat of Sit Down kicks in, followed by acoustic guitar and piano.
It's hard to carry on
When you feel all alone
James are off, powering along at pace, Larry Gott's electric guitar has a zip to it, Booth is smiling at a boy lost in the music in the front row. The band take it right down, Booth sits on the stage and some of the audience get down too - something that was repeated in clubs across the country, people stopped dancing to sit down together on the floor, to sway and sing-a-long. Then the audience take over, clapping to the beat, singing the mantra over and over.
From One Of The Three interview (link below);
Larry Gott:While we were away touring, Sit Down was getting played at the Hacienda and people were sitting down. And then the Hacienda did special bus journeys on Friday nights from the club to a Saturday evening gig at La Locomotive in Paris. Four coaches from the Hacienda went to see James.
Saul Davies: It did feel like Manchester had invaded Paris. A bunch of nutters with floppy trousers from Hulme were sitting down...
Larry Gott:It just took our breath. We didn't know what to do. The place was ram-packed - the heat in the air was causing a fog. And as they all sat on the floor, Tim walked through the audience, standing head and shoulders above them, looking almost Biblical in a cloud of sweat droplets in the air. What the fuck happened?
Tim Booth: It was overwhelming. For this to happen, on that song asking for some kind of unity was devastating.
A week later, we were playing Liverpool Royal Court Theatre and Larry's strings snapped in the middle of the song, so I signalled Dave to take the song right down. And then the audience started singing it to us for 10-minutes. Larry cried. I was crying.
The last 3-minutes of the 12-inch version feature no sound from the stage. The crowd become the band. Air horns are blasted, whistles are blown, the bands daisy logo is projected across the stage like a 60's happening, Booth looks on amazed at the ecstatic reaction to his bands anthem. There isn't a mobile phone in sight! Everyone is engaged, singing with all their might.
Oh sit down, oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy
After a while Booth takes a film camera from one of people filming, determined to capture his view for prosperity. The place goes even more mental, the place is bouncing, manta still going, backed by cheers, whistles and air horns.
Fist raised in triumph, Booth then hands the camera back and begins to applaud the crowd. Booth and Jim Glennie then stare in disbelief at the sight and sounds they are witnessing. The mantra returns, eventually leading to wild applause before, finally it finishes.
Every second is captured on the 12-inch, it's utterly magical. Watch the video (that misses Tim's intro) below.
A couple of memories;
If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor
That line alone speaks volumes: about perspective, longing, and the burden of knowing what could be. It’s simple, but it cuts deep. I still have a t-shirt that I bought after Manchester United won the treble in 1999. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is celebrating with those lyrics. I refuse to throw it out. In fact, I might order another from T-shirts United.
I was in Barcelona for the final (blog here) and my favourite memory of Sit Down is the DJ playing it (at least once) after the game and everyone singing along, hugging strangers in complete tears.
Another time, in the 90's at the Barrowland, Tim and the band were pulling some of the audience up onstage to dance to the song. One of my best friends, Wigs, was pulled up by Jim Glennie and danced along. In the days before mobile phones, my friend Dave and I were lost in the moment with our jaws dropping, so no footage or image of this exists, sadly! But we'll always remember it.
Sit Down still feels very fresh, essential. In a time when loneliness, anxiety, and disconnection are part of daily life for many, its universal message of empathy hasn’t aged a day.
Check this fantastic interview with Tim Booth and Larry Gott about Sit Down for One Of The Three.
Sit Down (live at G-Mex) is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE. Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.
Happy Mondays Wrote For Luck was originally released as a single back in 1988, it was then subsequently remixed and re-released in 1989 as W.F.L.
The video may well be the most druggy pop music video of all time. Shaun Ryder and co are partying like it's ... 1989, absolutely off their heads on ecstasy. The video shoot party was in full swing but Ryder insisted that more was delivered and shooting didn't start until it kicked in.
Filmed by Manchester's Bailey Brothers, the result is an utterly astonishing document of the ecstasy and rave scene that the city was experiencing. There were no actors, this was the Mondays and friends from the Hacienda and across the city, off their heads on the strongest pills around and having an amazing time. There were only 2 takes of the video, I wonder if they are still kicking around somewhere, there must be some incredible footage.
Wrote For Luck is an astonishing song. I often think that the Mondays don't get the credit they deserve. They were like nothing before or since. Unmanageable, inventive, street wise, not only at the heart of the scene, but dealing drugs for the scene and now soundtracking it. Of the time, but completely different from any other band around.
On their debut album they had a song called 24-Hour Party People and they were. It seemed like they didn't stop from 1987 - 1992, releasing 4 albums and a string of singles.
For their 1988 Bummed LP, that Wrote For Luck featured on, the band worked with Martin Hannett, consuming ecstasy on a daily basis and taking in all kinds of influences to create sounds on whatever instruments they could get their hands on.
Hannett found an incredible guitar sound for Mark Day, one that, even through all the synths and beats, is central to Wrote For Luck. A funk punk Chic sound, scuzzed up and drenched in reverb.
Wrote For Luck starts at pace, big beats and Day's guitar over the top, Shaun then begins to sing and spout his unique poetry over the top.
You were wet, but you're getting drier
You used to speak the truth
But now you're liar
You used to speak the truth
But now you're clever
The original version of Wrote For Luck has a sense of urgency and even danger to it; a raw white boy funk groove stretched out to a little over 6-minutes, riding on Day's guitar, Shaun groaning and moaning an extra little melody to add to the feeling.
Vince Clarke, in his W.F.L remix totally gets the groove and brings the bass to the fore, the guitars (at least at the start) are gone, the beats are more clubby, the synths are making all kinds of cool noises and it's Shaun at the heart. The original raw version is just cleaned up a little, becoming more clinical ... more chemical.
The guitar groove is finally dropped in for the last 2-minutes and it sounds even more glorious over the menacing bass groove that Clarke has created and the clubby beats.
Paul Oakenfold, who would go on to produce the Mondays breakthrough album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, keeps the guitar from the off and immediately blends it with a four to the floor beat, sprinkling different kinds of synth effects all over the top.
Ryder's aaahhh, aaahh, aaaahhh's sounds incredible, the beats keep going, Day's shimmering guitar chords are dropped in as the song grooves to the end.
Vince Clarke's remix is my personal favourite, but the original Wrote For Luck and both the W.F.L. remixes are simply brilliant. Released just before the Mondays broke through with Step On and a string of singles from Pills n Thrills, it's quite remarkable that neither charted. W.F.L. reached the heady heights of number 68, although it did reach number 3 on the indie charts. Regardless, it's left a mark.
Check the original video and a simply sensational live performance from Manchester in 1989 that went out on Tony Wilson's The Other Side Of Midnight. This highlights the rave style atmosphere the Mondays were creating at their gigs.
A list of all previous songs I've blogged about in my Trust Me feature are listed below, along with links to each blog. The original version of Wrote For Luck and both the Oakenfold and Clark remixes join them.
I've also collated them all into a playlist on Spotify that you can find by searching for Everything Flows - Trust Me , or you can CLICK HERE
Technique recorded in Ibiza and released early in January 1989 in perfect time for the Second Summer Of Love, is probably my favourite New Order album.
The band had experimented with synths and beats from the off, leading to some impeccable electro pop like Bizarre Love Triangle, Thieves Like Us, The Perfect Kiss and of course the more experimental side of things with Blue Monday. And if you explore their albums you'll find gems like Your Silent Face and Face-Up.
The band take things to another level with Technique - although the band started recording in Ibiza (in a sh*t hole of a studio - but with a swimming pool according to Peter Hook) they finished it in Peter Gabriels Real World Studios. The discovery of Ecstasy while in Ibiza may have influenced with the sound, style and lyrics on the album, but it didn't help with the work ethic and actually finishing anything.
Still, the 4-months in Ibiza laid a path not only for New Order but for the Hacienda, Manchester and Madchester as Factory Records label mate Bez came out to sample Ibiza and proceeded to import ecstasy to the Hacienda, transforming it overnight. Bez's autobiography and Peter Hook's books on New Order and the Hacienda are all extremely entertaining reads and really highlight how quickly ecstasy transformed a club, sounds, style and a generation.
Opener Fine Time sets the tone; high-hat action leads to synths, beats and squelchy bass. There are all kind of riffs floating about and all coming together to sound incredible. Sumner's vocals are whispery and then a Barry White style vocal kicks in (Sumner with effects) which is typical New Order humour.
At 2 minutes 28 seconds everything cuts out to a thumping beat over a high-hat before everything comes colliding into place after a Hooky bass riff.
New Order being New Order had to perform live on Top of the Pops rather than mime and Peter Hook describes the issues this caused with much hilarity in his book. Bernard Sumner looks he was enjoying himself!
Technique isn't all beats and synths though. All The Way is stunning guitar pop with Sumner singing about taking years to find the truth within himself and not caring what others say. The guitars shimmer, Hooky's bass grooves and it sounds like pure summer.
Love Less is built on a Hooky bass groove and Sumner sings as good as he ever has about a love broken down.
But you know
I watch every step that you make
To find some other fool you can take
Round and Round was another single from the album and it starts with real urgency in the synths before finding a groove. It's two verses and two choruses and then it takes off on a little instrumental journey, the synths programmed for stun, eventually leading back to the chorus.
The picture you see is no portrait of me
It's too real to be shown to someone I don't know
And it's driving me wild
It makes me act like a child
The darkest song on the album is probably Guilty Partner. Sumner's lyrics and song titles throughout the album perhaps indicate where he was at around this time. He injects extra urgency into the chorus and Hook's bass just jams and leads along throughout.
Then we come to Run, my favourite song on the album. This is just guitar pop perfection, Sumner plays a 12-string acoustic at times, then fires off a huge electric guitar riff after the first verse. Sumner is one of my favourite singers and guitar players. His ability to find a melody and let it flow is incredible, as is his knack of simple guitar solos. What a glorious uplifting outro.
Run was remixed and released as a single as Run 2.
Sumner's vocal melodies flow with ease on Mr Disco. The song almost comes as two, going off down a more electro path after 2 minutes 36 seconds before bring the chorus
I can't find my piece of mind
Because I need you with me all of the time
I used to think about you night and day
I used to feel what language cannot say
Oh I can't find you
I can't find my piece of mind without you
Then we progress to the astonishing Vanishing Point, this is New Order at their very, very best in my book. There is a euphoric 90-second intro before Sumner comes in. Musically, this is insanely good the way everything comes together, Hooky's bass before a hands in the air breakdown that then leads to the beats and chorus kicking back in - incredible.
My life ain't no holiday
I've been through the point of no return
I've seen what a man can do
I've seen all the hate of a woman too
Ibiza may have influenced the lyrics on Dream Attack. There is another beautiful intro and Sumner sings about waking up in the sunshine with the sound of music in his head.
There is a classic Sumner contradiction in the chorus; I don't belong to no-one, but I want to be with you before we are led to another piece of Peter Hook genius bass playing. Check how low he goes in the live video from 1989 below.
New Order were untouchable in the 1980's. To go from Ceremony and Movement in 1981 to Technique and Vanishing Point in 1989 is remarkable. Their resilience in the way they came together out of the tragic death of Ian Curtis, the way they experimented, created, pioneered and the sensational run of singles and albums they released is almost unbelievable to look back on.
The band went on to peak commercially in 1990 with the release of the England World Cup song - World In Motion. A lengthy break after the subsequent Republic album was brought to an end with the brilliant comeback single of Crystal and the Get Ready album.
Peter Hook and his band The Light continue their remarkable journey through the back catalogues of Joy Division and New Order in chronological order by playing Technique and Republic at SWG3 in Glasgow on Sunday 30th September.
The Chemical Brothers at their best with Beck, a lysergic lullaby remix of The Charlatans by Brian Jonestown Massacre, heartfelt emotion by the BMX Bandits, sublime songwriting and performance by Edwyn Collins, raw soul from the summer of love, a classic from the Hacienda and art school guitar pop by White. LISTEN HERE.
Wide Open - The Chemical Brothers featuring Beck So (Brian Jonestown Massacre remix) - The Charlatans The Unforgiven - BMX Bandits Make Me Feel Again - Edwyn Collins I Wanna Testify - The Parliaments Rhythm Is A Mystery - K-Klass Living Fiction - White
Previous Everything Flows Podcasts
Podcast #1 featuring Teenage Fanclub, David Bowie, Dr Cosmos Tape Lab, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, JR Green, The Undertones
Podcast #2 featuring The Troggs, Happy Meals, Rose McDowall, The Frank Popp Ensemble, Fun Boy Three, Jo Mango and The Pictish Trail, Miaoux Miaoux, Yo La Tengo
Podcast #3 featuring Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Marlena Shaw, Natalie Prass, November Lights, Molly Nilsson
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