PS - quick update. The only copy of this I can find for sale on the internet is going for $650, on Discogs. Crikey.
I first heard a “Postcard Record” while listening to Jo hn Peel one evening in 1980. The great man played
Orange Juice’s debut single Falling And Laughing. I had been curious about the
band for a few months as a small buzz was developing about them. But then there
were so many buzzes going around about almost every new post-punk band that was
emerging (and there were a lot of them!) that I had no reason to suspect these
guys would be anything special. Having said that the number of ‘special’ bands
emerging in that period was quite spectacular. The Fall, Echo and The Bunnymen.
The Teardrop Explodes (and the rest of the Liverpool scene) The Scars, The
Sound, The Pop Group et al…..most doing great Peel sessions and all releasing
similar quality singles.
But for me Falling And Laughing really stood out. It had a
gawky dumbness to it musically – mainly due to the guitars sounding ever so
slightly out of tune. To quote Edwyn Collins:-
“We tried for a sound that was part The Pop Group's "She is Beyond Good
and Evil" part Sheila B. Devotion's "Spacer".We Failed!”
But lyrically it was poetry.
“No I’m not saying that we should build a city of tears/All
I’m saying is I’m alone and consequently/Only my dreams satisfy the real need
of my heart”.
To a love sick 18 year old this was just perfect - and gave
me all the fuel I needed to confirm that the world was a desolate place when it
comes to matters of the heart. You guessed it – I wasn’t getting any!
Anyway this one little piece of 7 inch vinyl had to be
hunted down – along with every single bit of information I could find about the
band who created it. Which is how I came to find out it was more than just a
single band – it was part of a record label set up by a man called Alan Horne.
Alan
Horne was a visionary. By all accounts a stubborn, tunnel-visioned kinda guy –
but with a real love of original, challenging music. Of the people I would love
to meet (and actually have a realistic chance of doing so on the basis that
they are in the UK Edinburgh Glasgow
Falling
And Laughing made Melody Maker single of the week – but was a complete bastard
to get hold of as less than 1000 copies were pressed. It came with a postcard
and flexi-disc with the track Felicity - another lovelorn classic. I got one
mail order from Rough Trade and bought a second for £60 off eBay a couple of
years ago. It is my favourite single ever – and also my most valuable in
monetary terms. According to Record Collector there were 963 copies pressed –
so only 961 available out there for any prospective collectors! RC value it at
£70 – but I think that must be understating it as it very rarely comes up for
sale.
Horne
then really began to develop Postcard – releasing records by 2 other Scottish
bands, Glasgow Edinburgh Jo sef K. The resulting records were pieces
of art in their own right with free postcards and unique sleeve designs – all
featuring the Postcard cat – pinched from drawings by Louis Wain in a 1900’s
children’s book .
The
next 2 Postcard releases were as a result of a joint recording session between
Orange Juice and Jo sef K.
Blue
Boy backed with Love Sick, produced by ATV’s Alex Ferguson, followed on
brilliantly from Falling And Laughing – unwittingly defining an ‘indie’ sound
that many would copy/be influenced by (incidentally the A-side featuring an
organ borrowed from a 19 year old Alan McGee).
As I
recall the music press’ response to these releases was mixed. Some immediately
saw the unique but raw talent that was emerging here – but equally Horne and
his band’s attempts to out cool everyone who they met and were interviewed by
was not to everyone’s taste. As
Alan Horne later reflected: “When you’re that age the only thing that’s
important to you is to be hip. And we had that in buckets. That’s what we
became....soooo smug.”
An antidote to the smugness was
Roddy Frame’s Aztec Camera. Roddy formed the band when he was just 14 – with
bass player Campbell Owens. He became, for me, the most talented musician of
his generation. By the age of 16 he had written most of what became the High
Land Hard Rain album. For most musicians writing those songs during the entire
course of your life would have been an achievement! Their debut single on Postcard was Just Like
Gold/We Could Send Letters. Both songs a sublime mix of acoustic 12 string
guitars, splashing cymbals and romantic lyrics. Breathtaking in its ambition –
it was light years ahead of the other young bands of the era – added to that
this young guy was a genuinely great guitar player. A second Aztec Camera
single followed - Mattress Of Wire/Lost Outside The Tunnel – more of the same, but in common with Orange
Juice, a yearning soulfulness that made you wonder how a boy so young could
have experienced all this heartache to write these songs. Major labels were
salivating and a proposed Postcard album never materialized.
In addition to the 3 Scottish bands
– Alan Horne released one single on Postcard by Australian band The Go
Betweens, I Need Two Heads/Stop Before You Say It. A perfect fit with the rest
of the roster – however the GB’s moved on to Rough Trade.
Orange Juice eventually signed to
Polydor and released their debut album You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever in
1982. In 1992 the demo album Ostrich Churchyard was released. The comparison
between released/unreleased was the other way round than with Jo sef K. The rawness of Ostrich Churchyard being
considerably preferable to the slick Adam Kidron produced Polydor album.
By 1982 Postcard was no more as OJ
and AC moved onto majors and Jo sef K
split up. Alan Horne did re-emerge with the label again in 1992 – releasing
records by some good bands like Nectarine No. 9 and Paul
Quinn and The Independent Group (their Will I Ever Be Inside Of You album is
excellent) but somehow it wasn’t the same. Music had changed - The Smiths had been and gone and dance and
Madchester were the flavours of the era.
The music left from that original 2
year period is, to me, astonishing. 3 very different bands led by 3 very
different but hugely talented men – Roddy Frame, Edwyn Collins and Paul Haig. To list the bands they influenced would
be very long and very boring – but would include almost all the non-heavy metal
guitar-based music of the last 25 years…..but just to be hip (!) Franz
Ferdinand are a prime example.
Quite why it still means to much to
me is prob ably 50% down to the music
and 50% how it affected me at the time. It showed me that these hugely talented
people actually thought the same as me in terms of doing something new and
original (just I didn’t have the talent!). Most guys like these would
previously have found themselves in some run of the mill group rehashing old
styles or more likely developed their creativity in the art world. I guess punk
opened music up for so many people to express themselves; musicians and artists
alike.
Last year I met Edwyn at a small pub
gig in the north of Scotland
)
)
