I was watching the latest episodes of the Guy Garvey: From The Vaults series (on Sky Arts, we get it as part of our Freeview package- I've never paid for Sky anything, hitting Rupert Murdoch where it hurts every day). The series trawls through the ITV and regional networks archives of musical performances, some never previously seen, some only seen when transmitted. There are lots of clips from The Tube, Friday night teatime brilliance, and from a slew of other programmes such as Razzmatazz. The latest run has clips from 1982 (including a never before seen clip of Wah! miming The Story Of The Blues on a never broadcast pilot for a Granada music show hosted by Pauline Black of The Selector), 1984 and 1987. In 1987 with The Tube having ended Tyne Tees briefly tried to run an alternative TV chart show to rival Top Of The Pops. The Roxy was based from the studios The Tube had vacated and in the summer of 1987 attracted some big indie names- New Order did True Faith, The Jesus And Mary Chain mimed their way through Only Happy When It Rains and The Cure turned up to do Catch.
Catch is a funny little song, the second single from their then just released album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, a double vinyl packaged in a bright red/ orange sleeve, a close up of some lips. It came out at the end of May 1987, not long after I turned seventeen. I wasn't a huge fan of the group at the time but had a tape of Kiss Me and only a fool would deny the pleases of songs like Just Like Heaven and Why Can't I Be You? I had, until the other night, forgotten all about Catch
It's less than three minutes long, led by a violin and Robert Smith doo doo dooing his way in. The melody is achingly gorgeous, acoustic guitars and the snare drum rattle, there's a very summer sounding guitar solo and Smith's swooning, romantic vocal, 'I remember she always used to fall down a lot/ That girl was always falling/ Again and again/ I used to sometimes try to catch her/ But I never even caught her name'. Appearing on The Roxy didn't seem to shift many extra copies of Catch and it peaked at number twenty- seven in the charts and it is overshadowed by the band's big songs from the mid- 80s to early 90s run of singles and albums but it really hit a spot for me recently.
I then discovered that I own Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me on CD- I don't remember buying it but there was a period when CDs became much cheaper in bulk buy deals at HMV and Fopp and I think I picked it up as the third or fifth in a buy three/ five for a tenner deal. Catch is the second song on the album. At the other end of the album and in tone and sentiment is Shiver And Shake, the penultimate song on the album and messy tirade against a former lover/ bandmate with Hooky- esque bass, noisy guitars and crashing drums. Smith doesn't start singing until over halfway through, 'You're a waste of time/ Just a babbling face/ Just three sick holes that run like sores/ You're a fucking waste'. He does at least admit the object of this hatred, who he wants to smash to pieces, makes him shiver and shake when he thinks of how they make him hate. From the sweetest love song to violent hatred, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me covers the range of human emotions.
Yes Adam, long live Freeview and quite right don't send your money to any Murdock enterprise. As time passes people forget the corrosive effect Murdock has had on British cultural life. In fact I would take that further and say don't subscribe to anything. And get this, did you know we now have to 'subscribe' to vote. We will all need a photo id now to vote. So if you don't have this, no passport or photo driving license or means via smart phones etc to complete all this nonsense then you will have to get a 'Voter Authority Certificate' if you want to vote. Alert the population, we are being disenfranchised. You can only vote if you have all the gizmos. And only one confirmed case of voter fraud at the last election. Ha! you gotta laugh. -SRC
Yes Adam, long live Freeview and quite right don't send your money to any Murdock enterprise. As time passes people forget the corrosive effect Murdock has had on British cultural life. In fact I would take that further and say don't subscribe to anything. And get this, did you know we now have to 'subscribe' to vote. We will all need a photo id now to vote.
ReplyDeleteSo if you don't have this, no passport or photo driving license or means via smart phones etc to complete all this nonsense then you will have to get a 'Voter Authority Certificate' if you want to vote. Alert the population, we are being disenfranchised. You can only vote if you have all the gizmos. And only one confirmed case of voter fraud at the last election. Ha! you gotta laugh.
-SRC