Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
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This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past & present) and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you've never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
Twitter - @murrayeaston
Email - murrayeaston {AT} gmail {DOT} com
Cover version of the month #113 Teenage Fanclub cover International Airport
Teenage Fanclub have recorded and released some incredible cover versions over the years. Ranging from their limited edition 7-inch of The Ballad Of John & Yoko back in 1990, through to their glorious take on The Go-Betweens Easy Come, Easy Go as the b-side to the I'm In Love single, taking in the likes of The Byrds, Madonna, Neil Young, Yo La Tengo and Sebadoh en route.
Just over 20-years ago, the Fannies released a split 7-inch with their friends International Airport, recording a cover version of their song Association for a Domino Records single.
International Airport are Tom Crossley's band. Tom is an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist, currently a member of The Pastels and Gerard Love and the Magic Influence. Tom's talent, ear for sound and taste come pouring out of his music. Having seen him up close with Gerry quite a bit over the last couple of years, he really has the magic touch (influence) and brings so much to anything he is involved with.
Crossley is someone who recognises and understands the beauty of the xylophone and you can hear that throughout Association, which is an exceptionally loose, melodic and playful song. (Regardless of what version you listen to - see below) The song is musically layered with love and care. I love when it drops to almost nothing, guitars kind of hang lightly over percussion and then it all comes back in with the vocal refrain; Won't you tell it to me doctor
NOTE - I think this is the lyric, it's what I have been singing all these years!
International Airport recorded three versions;
Association - what I presume to be the original. A laid back, stoned, kind of psych folk jam, beautifully raw version which appears on their 2004 album Reunion Of Island Goose. This version really highlights the tumbling and flowing vocal melody. I just listened to the whole album again while driving about in the Glasgow sunshine, it's a glorious messy delight.
Association! Channel Mash - The lead version on the 4-track EP with Teenage Fanclub from the same year. It sounds like Teenage Fanclub and The Pastels might have been involved. I'm pretty sure I can heart Mitch's voice at times, also Norman's.
Association! Int Air Source - The 4th track on the EP. More akin to the album version.
Teenage Fanclub clearly loved the song and recorded their own version. It's an absolute gem, full of sunshine shimmer, glorious guitars and happy harmonies. An instrumental version is also on the EP.
Tom seems pretty busy with Gerry and there are signs of long overdue activity from The Pastels, so I'm unsure if he'll record and release anything with International Airport again or not. Regardless, he brings creativity and a cool dreamy vibe to everything he is involved with - Tom is a genuinely supreme musician.
The International Airport original of Association, their Channel Mash version and Teenage Fanclub's cover are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE
Driving home from King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut last night, I felt genuinely elated. I had a proper buzz. There were a few reasons for the good feeling, but most of all, I’d just discovered my new favourite young band - Fatale. I was kind of getting used to thinking those days might be over.
I had already fallen for them after hearing their demo of original song Moves You and a cover of The Velvets Femme Fatale that inspired their choice of name. The demo prompted me to reach out to the band for a short interview that you can check HERE,
Other reasons behind my elation were;
Seeing Tuts rammed with young people in search of, and supporting, new music. The downstairs bar was mobbed and it was clear that most of them were there to see Fatale. The upstairs venue had to open the section by the sounddesk for Fatale coming on.
Loads of cool kids in cool clothes with cool haircuts. A nice mix of 60's and 90's fashion. Part of me felt old, part of me felt excited to be around it. The energy and enthusiasm of youth is infectious.
Meeting a cool young journalism student who said they read my blog!
Teenagers being inspired by and getting into Scottish indie guitar bands (and the likes of T-Rex and The Velvets) that I discovered when I was a teenager.
Reminiscing about good times in King Tuts over the years. Here is a blog I wrote about 25 of them on Tuts 25th anniversary.
Fatale were onstage at 9.15pm and they played a 30-minute set of energetic guitar pop. Less than a handful of gigs old as a band, they displayed all the kind of raw energy and potential that excites me as a music fan.
Arriving to cheers, the band plugged in and were off, playing a 7-song set to cheers and pogo-ing. A scuzzy cover of T-Rex's Life's A Gas was an early highlight with some of the crowd singing the refrain, while their own song Another Sunrise told of the desire to go out and have fun.
Fatale look the part too. There are some fantastic haircuts (or lack of) across the band, while I found myself debating whether guitarist Chris in his vintage Captain America (the band) long sleeve t-shirt, or drummer James - sporting a retro AC Milan top with Kaka's name and number on the back - had the coolest top! Shout out to singer Ben for also wearing a BMX Bandits T.
Captain America/Eugenius are a clear and evident influence on the band, scuzzy and fuzzy guitar sounds mixed with chimes, and catchy melodic vocal hooks.
Fatale's song Jesus Christ is the catchiest guitar pop song I've heard in a long time and I hope they get to record it before too long. Their cover of The Velvets Femme Fatale was glorious, with singer Ben's voice sounding superb. The band stretched it out a little with the call and response at the end.
Closing with the aforementioned Moves You, echo-ing the delights of early Teenage Fanclub, Fatale generated a huge reaction from the crowd.
It's going to be really interesting to see how Fatale develop over the next year or so. It's still very early days. Keep an eye on their Instagram for demos/show announcements.
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.
I started this blog/playlist/mixtape back in October 2016 with the simple intention of creating a playlist that I would add songs to on a regular basis and then blog about the latest additions every month.
There would be no thought to the structure of the playlist, unlike the mixtapes and CD's I would make in my younger days. I'd just add songs when I felt like it, depending on what I was listening to.
As a result, my Never Ending Mixtape jumps from 4,395 songs to 4,441 with the addition of Wires and Waves by Rilo Kiley.
There are loads of old favourites added this month - The Lemonheads, Stone Roses, Beach Boys, BMX Bandits and Pulp. I've been enjoying digging into Bob Dylan demos and discovering Scottish producer Barry Can't Swim (pictured above), while recent singles by Billy Nomates and HAIM have been getting blasted out regularly.
You'll find a few of the additions listed below.
Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or CLICK HERE
Recent discoveries
Everything Is Going To Be Alright by Barry Can't Swim
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