Blueboy/The Bank Of England
Their 3rd and final album, on Shinkansen Recordings
after Sarah Records had shut up shop. It is unusual for me to go back and find
a band that I had either dismissed or not known about, discover their music and
be so utterly bowled over by its brilliance. Certainly in the pop world this is
unusual (jazz is a whole different story in that respect, and many a future
feature on this blog should start to elaborate on that…). Most bands back then,
(and “then” could be any time over the last 35 years), were dismissed for
bloody good reasons; reasons which have generally speaking stood up to this
day, although my recent Pet Shop Boys U-turn does give me cause for concern. And
for me to miss them completely if they might possibly be “my thang” would be strange
as I have always had friends, both real and virtual, pointing me at suitable stuff.
No, me and Blueboy not catching up with each other until around
20 years after they started out is a bit of a weird one. It probably has something
to do with me being a bit sniffy about the whole C86/Indie (and thus eventually
Sarah) thing, due to my belief that it was mostly a rip off of the Postcard
Records bands but with only a fraction of the talent. At the latest count I was
approximately 73.66% correct in that assumption. Which still leaves a helluva
lot of good stuff (you do the math).
And Blueboy, if I haven’t made it obvious enough yet, were
bloody brilliant. In fact after gradually purchasing and allowing myself to slowly
enjoy their 3 albums over the last couple of years, I am of a mind that 1 or
more of the 3 is really “up there”, amongst the best. Yes, the best.
I wrote a bit about the first album If Wishes Were Horses
earlier this year, and while it would make sense to cover the 2nd
album Unisex next, I have gone for The Bank Of England as it is my latest
favourite thing of all time despite only dropping through the letter box last
week.
The reissue available via El/Cherry Red includes sleeve notes
by Michael White (who is in the process of writing the Sarah Records book)
which help enormously in catching up on the history of all this stuff. Essentially
this album was released after a hiatus in the band’s career when the core song
writing team of Keith Girdler (vocals) and Paul Stewart (guitar) changed line
ups, briefly worked under the name Arabesque and then gradually became Blueboy
again for one final album.
In short it captures for me everything that is great about
the band. The gorgeous melodies, ethereal guitar playing and provocative lyrics
of their earlier work still remain but are complemented by a harder edge to
some songs that removes any potential for criticism along the lines of “too
wimpy by half”. It is Paul Stewart’s guitar playing that makes the difference
in this respect. On By Appointment, Jennifer Yeah! and Ask The Family, he
actually rocks out to the extent of having yours truly air guitaring round the
room like a right twat!
The “to-die-for” melodies are still there, don’t worry about
that. The single Marco Polo (“climb the stairs, unwrap the moon”) is a pop
classic that makes The Lotus Eaters sound like Motorhead (stick with me on
this); Chadwick is an acoustic ballad that reminds one of The Beautiful South’s
Rotterdam at first but is actually miles better; Disco Bunny, with Cath Close singing
lead , and the delightfully named Bradford, Texas, again hit the mark as ballads
of some distinction.
I haven’t even touched on Keith Girdler’s lyrics, as to go
into them in detail would take longer than the time I have right now, plus I
don’t feel I have listened enough to critique them adequately
yet. Suffice to say there really is so
much quality and depth here. See this from Ask The Family:-
“jamie sits in khaki clothes all buckles and
bows romantique/ and he writes prose but no one knows 'cause they're locked in
a secret tin/ he just wants to be needed to be understood maybe fake some
enjoyment”
I really can’t understand why Blueboy’s work was not more
widely feted back then. But then I guess I ignored them, so can’t really
complain about most everybody else doing the same. The fact is, good people, we
missed something special. Really, really fucking special. Do what I have done,
and rectify this huge omission in your musical life.
PS If you come across an artist called The Blue Boy - please don't be confused. They/it are nothing to do with these wonderful people (as Michael White's sleeve notes humorously refer!)
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