Showing posts with label The Word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Word. Show all posts

Wednesday, 19 August 2026

Like A Motorway

 

Trust me #122
Like A Motorway by Saint Etienne

Released in May 94 and (inexplicably) reaching only 47 on the UK singles charts, Like A Motorway is one of my favourite songs by Saint Etienne who come to the Glasgow Barrowland next month. The Pastels will be supporting. It is set to be a very memorable night.

The date is part of Saint Etienne's The Long Goodbye tour, with the trio deciding to bow out from 37-years of creating dreamy, reflective and sublime pop since forming in 1990. Since then, the band have released 13 albums and 17 top 40 singles, but those facts merely gloss the surface. 

Saint Etienne always stood out; image, style, art, taste, Bob Stanley's background as a music journalist, Heavenly Recordings, the DJ's remixing their songs, the choice cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart (see previous blog), a debut album that captured the times, some superb compilation albums (check Songs From Mario's Cafe and The Trip) and the perfect alternative pop star singer - Sarah Cracknell .

Ah, yes, Sarah Cracknell. An absolute dream who captivated many a young indie boy in the 90's - and still does to this very day! That super soft, warm and welcoming voice, the feather boas, cheeky winks, cool blonde hair and impeccable fashion sense - looking like she was going to go straight from a gig to a club ... or a film set! I don't mind admitting to falling head over heels for Sarah!


You're In A Bad Way, released in February 1993, was the first Saint Etienne record I bought. I still remember taping it on to a mixtape for the 6th year Common Room at school. The band were prolific in that period, their So Tough (1993) and Tiger Bay (1994) albums spawned 7 singles, with the band also releasing I Was Born On Christmas Day, a duet with Tim Burgess. So they were never far from The Chart Show, The Word, Top of the Pops or the many other music shows on TV at that time. The NME and Melody Maker loved them.

Watch Saint Etienne and Tim Burgess live on The Word HERE.


Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs have impeccable taste in, and knowledge of, pop music and on Like A Motorway they are clearly digging the pulsating synth sounds of Giogio Moroder. The synth bass groove (I just can't get enough of this) and top line riff are super cool, while Sarah Cracknell sounds seductive and sexy.

Like A Motorway rides in on a deep pulsing bass synth riff, the beat kicks in, Cracknell whispers he's gone, he's gone and then at 35 seconds the lead synth melody comes in. There is a Weatherall style beats break just before the first verse. Cracknell tells the tale of a broken heart.

She wears sad jeans, torn at the waistband
Her pretty face, is stained with tears
And in her right hand, she clasps a letter
I know this means, that he has gone

The second verse has Cracknell telling more - about the girl never thinking she would fall in love, then getting her first kiss. In the third verse Sarah goes on to tell about the girl falling for all the lines she was fed.

He said her skin, smelled just like petals
Said stupid things, he knew she'd like
She said her life, was like a motorway
Dull, grey and long, 'til he came along

The song takes a twist in the 4th verse as Sarah takes over, probing for info, before the girl in the song suggests something more sinister might have happened...

I said - how could he ever leave you

You two were good, you were so right

She said - I wish that he just left me

He'd be alive, alive tonight

He's gone, he's gone

After thinking the guy in the song might have just left, or dumped her and broken her heart, the listener is left wondering if (a) she killed him, or (b) there was an accident. The artwork for the single shows a crashed/abandoned car, overgrown with leaves and weeds. The Chemical Brothers (then The Dust Brothers) and David Holmes both got their hands on Like A Motorway to provide remixes.

Like A Motorway 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.

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton
1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells
2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond
4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot
5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon
6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras
7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans
8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland
9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave
10. Sometimes by James
11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time
12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre
13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields
14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals
15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser
16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes
17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth
18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter
19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground
20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub
21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub
23. Belfast by Orbital
24. Clouds by The Jayhawks
25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral
26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair
27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke
28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones
29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze
29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells
30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor
31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton
32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich
33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem
34. Mondo 77 by Looper
35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton
36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats
37. How High by The Charlatans
38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands
39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.
40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective
41. There She Goes by The Las
42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes
43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo
44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell
45. Revolution by The Beatles
46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys
47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays
48. American Trilogy by The Delgados
49. Loser by Beck 
50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy
51. Comedy by Shack
52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven
53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr
54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels
55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized
56. Chestnut Mare by The Byrds
57. Cannonball by The Breeders
58. Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
60. Lucky by Radiohead
61. Strange Currencies by R.E.M.
61. I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell
62. Like A Ship (Without A Sail) by Pastor TL Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir
63. Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations
64. Made of Stone by The Stone Roses
65. Tonight In Belfast by Orbital, David Holmes, DJ Helen and Mike Garry
66. Anything by Adrianne Lenker
67. I Hold Something In My Hand by Bill Ryder-Jones
68. I Meant Every Word by Burnett Sisters
69. Dream Baby Dream by Suicide
70. Stove by The Lemonheads
71. Red Lady by Phil Cordell
72. Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb
74. Turnin' My Heartbeat Up by The M.V.P.'s
75. Razzle Dazzle Rose by Camera Obscura
76. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
77. The Rat by The Walkmen
78. My God Has A Telephone by Aaron Frazer
79. Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack
80. Sweet and Tender Romance by The McKinleys
81. Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros
82. 69 Police by David Holmes
83. Hey Lisa by David Holmes
84. I Am A Rock by Simon & Garfunkel
85. Kung Fu by Ash
86. Kids by MGMT
87. Slight Return by The Bluetones
88. Give Peace A Chance by John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
89. Cut Your Hair by Pavement
90. Race for the Prize by The Flaming Lips
91. Waitin' for a Superman by The Flaming Lips
92. Acquiesce by Oasis
93. This Is Music by The Verve
94. Lone Swordsman by Daniel Avery
95. Sparky's Dream by Teenage Fanclub
96. Common People by Pulp
97. Let Our Love Grow Higher by Eula Cooper
98. Regret by New Order
99. Keep On Keepin' On by Nolan Porter
103. Life Is Sweet by The Chemical Brothers 
105-107. Wigan Casino - Three Before Eight - Time Will Pass You By by Tobi Legend, Long After Tonight Is All Over by Jimmy Radcliffe, I'm On My Way by Dean Parrish
108. Cobra by Geese
109. All I Have To Do Is Dream by The Everly Brothers
110. Vapour Trail by Ride
111. Teardrop by Massive Attack
112. Since I Left You by The Avalanches
113. Good Dancers by The Sleepy Jackson
114. Kiss My Love Goodbye by Bettye Swann
116. Get Out Of My Dream by The Clouds
117. Sundress by Ben Kweller
118. I Love You by Primal Scream
119. Calico Skies by Paul McCartney 
120. Lay This Burden Down by Mary Love
121. Primitive Painters by Felt w/ Elizabeth Fraser



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Thursday, 7 March 2024

Girls & Boys

30-years ago 
Girls & Boys by Blur

Release date - 7th March 1994

Britpop exploded in the spring of 1994 and went technicolour with the release of Blur's Girls & Boys. This single well and truly put the POP in Britpop, reaching number 5 in the charts and catapulting Blur to new heights.

Never mind song titles like Metal Mickey or Animal Nitrate, this was pop in its purest form. Girls who want boys, who want girls ... that's been the case since the dawn of time and even The Beatles hadn't captured this in such a bold way. 

Girls & Boys is almost ridiculously catchy. The synth riff, disco beat, funky (Duran Duran - according to Alex James) bass and Damon Albarn singing about love in the nineties, is paranoid (I always thought it was it's paradise).

Albarn wrote the song after holidaying in Magaluf with his girlfriend Justine Frishmann from Elastica. He couldn't believe the way girls and boys would just meet up in pubs & clubs to get off with each other.

On sunny beaches

Take your chances 

Looking for ...

It's easy to look back at the nineties through rose-tinted glasses (and believe me ... I do!) but it's easy to forget that Labour didn't come to power until May 1997, in the dying embers of Britpop. Albarn beautifully captures some of the challenges faced by the youth of the day in a line that is almost thrown away at the start of the second verse;

Avoiding all work

Cause there's none available

The song is just two verses and that incredibly catchy chorus that is repeated joyfully again and again and again. But just to give you something else to sing to, Albarn throws in an extra little hook while Graham Coxon pushes a phaser effect on his guitar and cranks it up. 

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Girls & Boys is energetic, contagious pop music, this was the Britpop klaxon sounding loud and clear. If Suede kicked down the door then Blur were the first to steam through.

Official video

Live on The Word

Pet Shop Boys remix


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Wednesday, 29 March 2023

Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)

30-years ago #2
Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) by Sub Sub



Released 30-years ago today (29th March 1993), Sub Sub's Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) was a super catchy, squelchy, fun soulful electronic pop tune that reached number 3 in the charts. I recall buying it on cassette single. I wish I'd got it on vinyl! But being at school, I probably only had enough money for the cassette at the time.

Sub Sub were brothers Andy and Jez Williams with their friend Jimi Goodwin. They brought in Melanie Williams on vocals. The band would go on to release their album Full Fathom Five on Robs Records (the label formed by Rob Gretton, New Orders manager). 

Goodwin and the Williams brothers would go on to form Doves following a studio fire where all their equipment and recordings were destroyed.

But back to Sub Sub! The single was a smash, selling 700,000 copies, allowing the band to buy their own studio and spend years creating new music that would be released as Doves.

There is an excellent Guardian article here; How we made Sub Sub's Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)



I'll be blogging (fairly regularly - hopefully monthly) on releases from 30-years ago for the foreseeable future. 1993 was such a pivotal year for me as I finished school without really knowing what I wanted to do. And I was a musical sponge! Pouring over the NME & Melody Maker on a weekly basis and using spare cash on visits to record shops.

I was big into the whole indie and grunge guitar scene, but to this day I love a good pure pop tune and this is a belter. Enjoy.


Previous blogs in the series
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Tuesday, 11 January 2022

Mrs Robinson

Cover version of the month #73 
The Lemonheads cover Simon & Garfunkel



Sometime back in 1992 I heard Mrs Robinson by The Lemonheads and also caught the video that was on heavy rotation on MTV. I bought the 7-inch single and subsequently bought the album it was on - It's A Shame About Ray. I'll be blogging on the album soon as it is receiving a deluxe reissue for its 30th anniversary.

Mrs Robinson wasn't originally on the album. The Lemonheads had recorded it (under duress from Atlantic Records) for the 25th anniversary of the film The Graduate, where the song by Simon & Garfunkel had featured back in 1967. The video for the single splices between shots of The Lemonheads on a boat on the canals of Amsterdam (?) and scenes from the film.

The Lemonheads scuzzy bubblegum garage pop version became a hit all over and Dando became an indie pinup, crossing over into the mainstream through his incredible good looks and hedonistic lifestyle. 

I absolutely loved (and still love) The Lemonheads version and the beautiful b-side Being Around, so clever, funny and melodic. 

The do, do, do, do, do, do intro is pure pop and after a burst of guitar the drums kick in and the band tear through the first verse. I love the garage psychedelia outro that goes on for 40-seconds.

Evan never played the song when he toured It's A Shame About Ray for the 20th anniversary, so it will be interesting to see if he does this time.


Simon & Garfunkel released Mrs Robinson as a single and on their Bookends album back in 1968. A 30-second introduction introduces us to the key guitar riff and vocal melody of the song, before bursting into the chorus. Paul & Art are in perfect harmony

One thing that surprised me when I listened to the song for the first time in a while was its length. I would never have guessed that Mrs Robinson was over 4-minutes long!

Simon's lyrics are so clever, introducing politics in the verse beginning Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon that leads to the lines;

Going to the candidates debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this, you lose

That last line hits politics absolutely spot on - every way you look at this, you lose! 

I do think there is a touch of psychedelia in the way Simon & Garfunkel sing. Their voices are so beautiful and gentle, the playful intro, then the way they rise for the final verse. I love how the guitar riff is played upon for the outro, something The Lemonheads picked up on.

Check the stunning romp through the song by The Lemonheads on 90's cult classic show The Word and Simon & Garfunkel wowing Central Park.

Both versions have been added to my Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify, or search for Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions.

A list and links to all previous covers of the month blogs is below.

Previous covers of the month

13. Hurt




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Thursday, 11 April 2019

Supersonic


25-years ago today, 4-days after catching the band for the first time at the Tramway where they supported label mates The Boo Radleys as part of Radio 1's Sound City, I walked up to HMV in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, during my lunch hour to buy Supersonic, the debut single by Oasis.

I was falling for the band big time and was eager to explore the 4-tracks on the CD single, I also bought the 7-inch the following week and continued to collect both through the bands career.

Pre internet, iTunes and streaming etc, you could only hear songs live, on the radio or if you bought them. It is a time I often reminisce about, there was a sense of anticipation and eagerness around a release and I spent much more time with releases and albums than I admit to doing these days. You had to, you had invested in them, you took a chance or believed in a band. You followed and supported them like a football team. Thankfully I've supported a lot of bands that I fell for in my teens through to the present day and they have largely rewarded me.


The music weeklies had described Oasis as a cross between Happy Mondays and Sex Pistols and Supersonic lived up to that comparison. Starting with a primitive beat, guitars then squall and feedback into a riff and we're off, with a young 21-year old Liam Gallagher giving advice to himself, to others and making a statement about how he is feeling.

I need to be myself
I can't be no-one else
I'm feeling supersonic
Give me gin and tonic
You can have it all but how much do you want it?

From the start Oasis were themselves, in interviews, on stage and in person. They could have it all and oh how they wanted it. They went for it big time, early on Noel stated that he wanted to release singles as regularly as The Jam, they were backed with excellent b-sides, and the band toured relentlessly, not only in the UK, but across Europe and the States.


Supersonic is full of urgency, in the guitars, vocals, delivery, production and in some of the lyrics. Some of them are gibberish, while others seem to be Noel Gallagher sizing up where he is in life, a theme that recurs through a lot of the early Oasis material.

You need to find a way for what you want to say
But before tomorrow

Alan MacGee had wanted the punky Bring It On Down to be the debut single, but Supersonic, apparently written by Noel while the rest of the band were having a Chinese takeaway, was perfect.

I caught Oasis for the second time at the old Cathouse (before it moved into the centre of town) in June and as a group of us hung outside in the sunshine waiting for the venue to open we could hear Oasis soundchecking and kids sung along to Noel's guitar riffs in Supersonic.


Oasis were about to go Supersonic. From the release of their debut single in April through to December they would release 5 singles and Definitely Maybe. With b-sides like Fade Away, Listen Up, Half the World Away and a non-album single in Whatever, in 9-months Oasis had released more quality material than many bands would release in a career. They didn't let up through 1995 but we'll save that for another blog.

Speaking of b-sides;

Take Me Away is beautiful, sung and performed by Noel Gallagher, the song shows a different side to Oasis than the ram it down your throat a-side of Supersonic. It's gentle, tender, melancholic and has a lovely double chorus second time around, something that Noel would use to great effect through his Oasis days.


There is a huge sense of frustration balanced with the need for escapism and dreams in a lot of early Oasis songs and I Will Believe (live) is one that captures that perfectly. Gallagher's lyrics talk of being locked up in chains, lost at sea,  down on his knees, the man in the middle and not knowing his own mind. They are delivered superbly by his younger brother and there is a classic Noel guitar solo.

And then we come on to the Columbia (demo) which has a monster groove and feel to it. To this day I regret not buying the 12-inch white label promo when I saw it in Missing Records for £20 back when it came out. It would be worth a lot more now! The power of Columbia is enormous, highlighted when Oasis chose to open their huge Knebworth shows with it.

Oasis had arrived. See below for live footage of the band performing Supersonic on The Word (their TV debut) in April 1994, also live in 1995 from Earls Court where Liam is looking and sounding and incredible, lastly footage of the band performing Columbia at the Chicago Metro in November that year, a show that many in the Oasis camp still cite as one of there best ever performances.










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Tuesday, 15 May 2018

Everything Flows TV - episode 1

I love YouTube. I come from an era where I recorded music videos and performances from The Word, Top of the Pops, the White Room, Later with Jools and BBC coverage of festivals like Glastonbury and T in the Park on to VHS cassettes!

And there was a market for this. Some enterprising individuals would mass produce their homemade bootlegs and sell them at record fairs. So I forked out £15/£20 for everything I could find on the Stone Roses, Oasis and The Charlatans!

Of course nowadays any TV show a band has ever done is online, as is their promo videos, interviews, official live footage and plenty of bootleg footage - some good, others shoddy.

I love when people I follow online post good stuff to watch, so I thought I would introduce what will hopefully become a regular feature - Everything Flows TV.

Episode 1 features brilliant stuff from The Beastie Boys, Nirvana, AC/DC and Jimi Hendrix.

The Beastie Boys fly through Sabotage live on the Letterman show. Check the ferocious energy and fun they are having. Superb!

The Word, broadcast late on a Friday night on Channel 4, was essential trash TV for a young teenager. There was some truly awful stuff broadcast, but some incredible live performances. Check Kurt's intro to Smells Like Teen Spirit, Captain America (to become Eugenius) t-shirt and the brilliant performance - Nirvana were such a tight live band but they could just go crazy - and they do....live on TV.


There used to be so much music on TV. This was extremely memorable! Nirvana were booked to play their current single Lithium on Jonathan Ross' show and were introduced to that effect. Broadcast live, they decided to tear through Territorial Pissings instead! They blitz through it with exceptional punk rock energy and intensity, leaving Jonathan Ross a little shocked but he makes the most of it with a little joke.

Speaking of energy - a few people recently posted this brilliant video of AC/DC performing It's A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock n Roll. Rocking out in the street (complete with bagpipes!) the band look like they are having the time of their lives - something that they always transferred to their fans.

In 1967 it must have seemed like anything could happen - and it often did. 2-days after the release of The Beatles seminal Sgt Pepper's, Jimi Hendrix and the Experience opened with it .... in front of The Beatles (Paul and George).

It would be one of his first gigs in London. Jimi was a sweetie, a very nice guy. I remember him opening at the Saville on a Sunday night, 4 June 1967. Brian Epstein used to rent it when it was usually dark on the Sunday. Jimi opened, the curtains flew back and he came walking forward, playing 'Sgt. Pepper', and it had only been released on the Thursday so that was like the ultimate compliment. It's still obviously a shining memory for me, because I admired him so much anyway, he was so accomplished. To think that that album had meant so much to him as to actually do it by the Sunday night, three days after the release. He must have been so into it, because normally it might take a day for rehearsal and then you might wonder whether you'd put it in, but he just opened with it. It's a pretty major compliment in anyone's book. I put that down as one of the great honours of my career. I mean, I'm sure he wouldn't have thought of it as an honour, I'm sure he thought it was the other way round, but to me that was like a great boost. - Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now
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