Interview with Lawrence from RCM (1993)

Interview with Lawrence from RCM (1993)

Extra tracks on 12" singles are marked with an asterisk, instrumentals are
marked with an "i". Comments by Lawrence from the May 1993 "Record Collector" are prefaced with an "L". Record Collector article text prefaced with "RC".
Annotations by A. J. Norman <nja@leicester.ac.uk>
Notes: Further info by Rui H. If you dare to compare the original article to the one published at Ultranet, you'll might find some diferences in layout and in the discography. My version pretends to stick to the original magazine article.

The recent revival of interest in 70s music has been fuelled by several
new bands who've been paying blatant homage to the glam era. Both
Morrissey and media darlings Suede have recycled glam guitar riffs; but
if there is a full-blown glam revival, then Denim look set to be, as
Gary Glitter put it, the leaders of the gang. With song titles like "I
Saw Glitter On Your Face" and "The Osmonds", Denim are cheer-leaders for
the decade that reared flared trousers, platform shoes and Boney M.

The band is the latest vehicle for Lawrence, the enigmatic individual
who attracted a strong cult following during the 80s with Felt. We'll
be taking a look at Denim's brief career next month, alongside
Lawrence's Top 12 favourites from the 70s, but in this feature, we
concentrate on Felt's ten-year career, which spanned the 80s -- a decade
Lawrence now claims to hate.
Whereas Denim hark back to the 70s, Felt owed more to the late 60s,
while also acknowledging both the New York craftsmanship of Television's
Tom Verlaine, and punk pioneers like Vic Godard. Lawrence's fragile
voice, sounding like Lou Reed with a hint of Bob Dylan, was often
accompanied by intricate guitar work reminiscent of the Byrds, while
swooping organ lines decorated a seemingly endless supply of gorgeous
melodies. And his captivating lyrics ranged from intensely personal
recollections to illustrious images from European history, painting a
musical picture that was augmented by evocative song titles and
attractive sleeve designs.
Felt were never afforded the recognition their majestic music deserved.
True, they flirted with the indie charts, but there was always more to
the band than their relatively small but devout following suggested.
The media, in fact, were more intrested in Lawrence's non-musical
activities -- stories were rife of how he once drove to a concert in a
van without ever getting out of first gear, of how he ate only meat, and
of his obsession with cleanliness. However, Lawrence always claimed
that Felt wouldn't be fully appreciated until after their demise; and
sure enough, the accolades began to arrive after his self-proclaimed
'ten year plan' for the group ended in 1990.
Much of this praise has been sparked by Denim's high media profile,
which has obviously provoked interest in Felt's illustrious catalogue.
This feature takes a chronological look at the band's releases, starting
with a rare DIY effort issued in the wake of punk, before detailing two
distinct chapters in Felt's career; their recordings for two of the most
respected indie labels of the 80s -- Cherry Red and Creation. Both
companies have since issued excellent compilations that provide the
perfect introduction for those who've warmed to Denim and want to hear
more.
Those looking for a more in-depth survey should look out for Cherry
Red's new Felt box set, due in June, featuring their first four albums
on two CDs, plus the "Absolute Classic Masterpieces" compilation and a
CD containing the non-LP Cherry Red tracks.
First of all, though, Lawrence talks about his memories of Felt, from
their roots in punk's aftermath to his handling of the group's back
catalogue.

Record Collector: Where did the name Felt come from?
Lawrence: I think it's to do with a line from "Venus", a Television
song, where Tom Verlaine stresses the word 'felt' at a certain point,
and it always stuck in my head. Also because it's the past tense of
emotion -- it conjured up the right images.

RC: Was the whole New York scene a big influence on you?
L: Television, Patti Smith and Richard Hell -- people who were trying
to merge poetry with rock. That's definitely what I wanted to do --
form an art rock band. I believe in poetry and it was validated by
Patti Smith and Tom Verlaine.

RC: Who were your other inspirations?
L: Lou Reed, I guess. Bob Dylan hit me in 1983 when I heard a song
called "I Threw It All Away" off "Nashville Skyline". I changed the way
I wrote after that. It said to me you can use poetic images in a
direct way -- they don't have to be abstract -- and within a pop tune as
well, which set me off on a different road.

RC: How did Felt come together as a band?
L: We lived in a little village called Water Orton on the outskirts of
Birmingham and I knew guitarist Maurice Deebank and the original bassist
Nick Gilbert.

RC: Tell me about Felt's first recordings.
L: I've got a couple tapes of me and Maurice in 1978 when I first
started playing with him. They're instrumental pieces. He was
classically trained, which created an odd combination -- I was still
learning how to play and write. He knew all about construction and the
art of songwriting because he'd studied it since he was 12. I was just
a novice.

That wasn't Felt though. Our first recording was a demo in a four-track
studio recorded a few months after we'd formed. We did "Something Sends
Me To Sleep", "Cathedral" and "Birdmen" (which we didn't like and
wiped). "Something" became the first single.

RC: The Cherry Red label was a far cry from punk rock -- were you
turning your back on the punk ethos?
L: I didn't want to turn my back on punk. I loved it! I believed in
all its values and still do. Yeah, Cherry Red was a cottage industry,
in love with Kevin Coyne and Kevin Ayers and pastoral suburbs! The
label was founded on those inspirations. If I'd thought it through, I'd
have realised it wasn't the label for me. I wanted to believe it could
be, though.

RC: Why did you choose Creation after you left Cherry Red?
L: Creation was coming through. They'd got the Mary Chain so I knew
this was going to be a very big label, even though it was a front-room
job when we joined. I knew Alan McGee would do it -- it was just a
matter of time.

RC: Were there any unissued Felt tracks or abandoned projects?
L: There was a 7" record -- it wasn't a single, it wasn't an album.
One side was called "Horror Film Music" and the other side was called
"Porno Music". And they were instrumentals for imaginary horror and
porno films. It was around the "Pictorial Jackson" period, but it never
happened. Only one track was recorded. It was called "The Sound Of
Death Above A Garage".

RC: Who did you consider to be your contemporaries?
L: When we came up in 1980 there was Orange Juice and Josef K --
Postcard -- and Crepuscule, Factory -- labels that had identities, we
felt part of that. We were never welcomed into the fold though. We
didn't get a look in.

RC: Why didn't you play live very often?
L: My whole philosophy was it's not worth doing unless it's different
to what everyone else has done -- not playing live very often created
mystery and not many people did it. Everyone was always on tour.

RC: Did Felt ever record any Radio 1 sessions?
L: We did two for Janice Long in '83 and '84 and one for Andy Kershaw.
"Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow", "Mexican Bandits" and "The Day The
Rain Came Down" are the only ones I remember recording. I don't like
radio sessions. Someone always wants to get hold of the tracks and
release them in the end. Our sessions were below average. We shouldn't
have done them.

RC: How have you approached Felt's back catalogue? Most of the Felt
CDs are now housed in plain, generic designs.
L: Artwork for 12"s and CDs is totally different. You can't just stick
your album sleeve on a CD. Sometimes it doesn't look very good. I
thought Felt was a blank, anonymous type of thing and I wanted to
reflect that in the new sleeves, to look really modern, like a product.
The earlier CDs didn't have the band's support but the current CD range
has been officially sanctioned, if that isn't too strong a word.

Shanghai SRTS 79, 9/79. "Index" is on ACM. Recorded in Lawrence's bedroom,
using two 5 W practice amps, and a 16 pound cassette recorder. 500 copies,
the first 100 with notes from Lawrence on the sleeve. There is also a
Japanese bootleg from 1990.

L: I didn't know how to make a record and I found an advert for a company
called SRT in the back of "Melody Maker", offering mastering, pressing
and labels. They did it all in one. The cover was printed at a high
street Xerox shop. I folded and stapled them on myself. The label on
the bootleg is completely black, while the label on the original was
black and yellow with writing. There was no text on the bootleg at
all. When I first had it pressed, me and Nick Gilbert had befriended
Scritti Politti. The drummer took it into Rough Trade who immediately
took, I think, 100 copies. And that was probably all it sold for a
year. It got a couple of reviews. Then, when we formed the band in
1980, I sent it out again as a new release and it got "Single of the
week" in "Sounds".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 Shanghai No. 2, 1980

The only other release on Shangai was this obscure 45 by the Versatile Newts, housed in a charming sleeve depicting a childlike drawing. Both sides of this Felt spin-off project had a spiky post-punk sound, in stark contrast to Felt's more sedate approach. Today, copies are almost as hard to find as "Index".

L: This was the bass player Nick Gilbert's record. It was his band and
his project. 1000 were pressed but Nick threw away 600 in the early
80s, so there's only 400 now. Mark Smith from the Fall was a big fan.
We got our first show with the Fall because he liked that single.
It was recorded at the same studio as Felt's first demo.

A: Something Sends Me To Sleep / Red Indians (i)
B: Something Sends Me To Sleep (Version 2) / Red Indians (i)

"Something" is on ACM, "Red Indians" and the second version of "Something"
are on the box set bonus disc. The second version features Gary Ainge on
drums, the A-side is the original demo with Tony Race. Felt now consisted
of Lawrence, Maurice Deebank, Nick Gilbert and Gary Ainge.

L: When we had "Single of the Week" (with "Index"), Mike Alway, who worked
for Cherry Red, saw the review and an article about us in "Sounds".
So he got in contact and we signed to Cherry Red. The track on the
A-side was the four track demo version. When we signed, we went to
Rochdale, to a studio called Cargo, to record the first single.
We recorded two tracks in a day, but the version of "Something Sends
Me To Sleep" wasn't as good as the four track demo, so we thought we'd
stick them both on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty
-------------------------------
MRED 25, 3/82

A: Evergreen Dazed (i) / Fortune / Birdmen
B: Cathedral / I Worship The Sun / Templeroy

Later issued as a CD/Cass with TSOF. Bass player Nick Gilbert left during
the sessions.

L: Nick and I were friends and then when we started working together,
I kind of took control and he didn't really like that. I think the
songs are great but it's such an odd production, it's not balanced
correctly. "I Worship The Sun", songwriting-wise, has a section that
doesn't work. If the tapes still existed, I could remix it. In those
days, Cherry Red hired master tapes, though, instead of buying them.
A huge oversight. Future exploitation becomes very limited.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 CHERRY 45, 9/82

"My Face" is on the box set bonus disc, "Trails" is on ACM. Maurice Deebank
didn't appear on this single.

L: "Trails Of Colour Dissolve" was the A-side for me. When we got to the
cutting room, Mike Alway persuaded me to flip it. It became "My Face
Is On Fire" by default really.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7/12 CHERRY 59, 6/83

A: Penelope Tree
B: Now Summer's Spread Its Wings Again (*i) /
A Preacher In New England (i)

"Penelope Tree" is on ACM, B-sides are Maurice Deebank solo instrumentals,
"Preacher" is not the version on TSOF.

L: "Penelope Tree" isn't about Penelope Tree, I just used her name as a
title. At the time, there wasn't the 60s fixation which took hold a
few years later. It's a really modern-sounding song and production.
It wasn't a nod to the 60s at all. She was a model from that period.
I got a book called, I think, "75 Years Of Vogue" in the late 70s,
which had photos of Penelope Tree. I thought it was a great name.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP The Splendour Of Fear
---------------------
MRED 57, 11/83

A: Red Indians (i) / The World Is As Soft As Lace /
The Optimist And The Poet (i)
B: Mexican Bandits (i) / The Stagnant Pool /
A Preacher In New England (i)

L: When we started, one of our many plans was to release 30-minute
reflective albums and then have pop 7"s at the same time, so there'd
be two sides to the band. "Splendour Of Fear" follows that plan.
I think it was the most complete Felt record.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 CHERRY 78, 3/84

L: The A&R man at the time - Mike Alway had left - said he wanted to put
this out and was going to whether we liked it or not. Once again, we
did a double-A, which was a mistake because "The World Is As Soft As
Lace" should have been the main track. But ideally, the single
shouldn't even have come out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP/CD Inner Thought Zone
------------------
MRED 61, 7/84

The Watery Song / Four Corners Of The Earth / Study No. 1 /
[ Golden Hills /] Silver Fountain Of Paradise Square / [ So Serene /]
Dance Of Deliverance / [ Pavane / A Tale From Scriabin's Lonely Trail /]
Maestoso Con Anima

Maurice Deebank's solo album. [ Bracketed songs recorded 1992 for CD ]
All instrumental.

L: Maurice wanted to break free from the Felt formula as he called it,
because he felt restricted. I thought restriction was fine: I like
to be restricted. I like to know where the parameters are. But for
him, he felt he was being harnessed in, so he did his solo album
totally on his own - he even did the sleeve - and nobody from Felt
interfered. You can see where we were both coming from quite easily
when you hear his album. It's out now on CD with four instrumental
tracks recorded last year - the same type of feel but some new songs.
Eventually he didn't see any point in carrying on any more. He married
this Spanish girl and moved to Barcelona. He's back in England now
and co-wrote the B-side, "Paper", on the Saint Etienne single,
"Avenue", with Sarah Cracknell.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7/12 CHERRY 81, 7/84

"Fortune" is a re-recording of the song from CTAB, and is on ACM.
Both the other tracks are on the box set bonus disc.

L: I don't like this song. The 12" was meant to have had string
arrangements by Ivor Raymonde, who worked with the Walker Brothers.
He'd heard the song and was all prepared to do it but it would have
cost too much money and Cherry Red wouldn't pay, so in the end we used
John Rivers and his mate. A ten bob job.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories
-------------------------------------------------
BRED 63, 10/84

A: Roman Litter / Sempiternal Darkness (i) / Spanish House /
Imprint (i) / Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
B: Vasco Da Gama / Crucifix Heaven (i) / Dismantled King Is Off
The Throne / Crystal Ball / Whirlpool Vision Of Shame

"Whirlpool Vision" is a re-recording of "My Face Is On Fire", with slightly
different lyrics. Later issued as a CD/Cass with ITSC, versions in the
original ITSC cover art include "Crucifix Heaven", the uniform grey versions
drop it.

L: With "Strange Idols" we abandoned the plan to release weird albums
and pop singles and decided to throw it all together. We changed!
I wasn't writing songs with two chords any more. The first two albums
are very much two-chord songs - very, very simple. By now, I was
concentrating on the poppier things.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 CHERRY 89, 8/85

Enter Martin Duffy on organ, this single was produced by Robin Guthrie and
featured Elizabeth Fraser on backing vocals. "Cathedral" is a re-recording of
the song from CTAB.

L: The Cocteau Twins were fans of Felt and invited us to tour with them
in 1984. We became friends and Robin Guthrie said he'd like to produce
us. It sounds untypical because Maurice Deebank wrote all the music.
Usually, we wrote songs together but this time he had the whole thing
ready. What you hear is how he'd presented it to me, and then I
filled in the melody and the lyrics on top. So it didn't have my
stilted rhythms. It hasn't got a basic Felt song structure which I
used to provide. I think that's why it breathes a lot. He was a lot
more experienced at songwriting than I was. It sounds more normal and
that's why people got into it, I think, apart from the fact that Liz
was singing. It almost had a riff, which is a terrible word to fling
around!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP Ignite The Seven Cannons
------------------------
BRED 65, 9/85

A: My Darkest Light Will Shine / The Day The Rain Came Down /
Scarlet Servants / I Don't Know Which Way To Turn / Primitive Painters
B: Textile Ranch (i) / Black Ship In The Harbour / Elegance Of An
Only Dream (i) / Serpent Shade (i) / Caspian See / Southern State
Tapestry

Later issued as a CD/Cass with TSIPAOSS. Robin Guthrie produced it, and
Elizabeth Frazer sang on "Primitive Painters" (and, according to the credits,
on "The Day The Rain Came Down", but you can't hear her).

L: It sounds totally different from other Felt records because Robin
Guthrie produced the whole album, and he did all the things he did
with the Cocteau Twins. It was the first time I actually let go of
the reins. He agreed to do it on the pretext that I'd let him
produce it all by himself.
===========================================
CHERRY RED COMPILATIONS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A: Something Sends Me To Sleep / Trails Of Colour Dissolve /
Dismantled King Is Off The Throne (demo) / Penelope Tree /
Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow (demo)
B: Crystal Ball / The Day The Rain Came Down / Fortune /
Vasco Da Gama / Primitive Painters

L: Cherry Red wanted to do a compilation. I've always hated compilations
and I still do really, although I've done a few of them. I don't like
the idea of mixing things up. They're a cop-out and I don't feel good
about it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12/CD CHERRY 121

A: Primitive Painters
B: Dismantled King Is Off The Throne (demo) /
Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow (demo)

Issued shortly before ACM. The two demos are the only songs on GT which are
not on ACM, except for "Vasco Da Gama",
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD Absolute Classic Masterpieces
-----------------------------
CDBRED 97

Primitive Painters / The Day The Rain Came Down / My Darkest Light
Will Shine / Textile Ranch / Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow /
Crystal Ball / Dismantled King Is Off The Throne / Fortune /
Dance Of Deliverance / The Stagnant Pool / Red Indians /
The World Is As Soft As Lace / Penelope Tree / Trails Of Colour
Dissolve / Evergreen Dazed / Templeroy / Something Sends Me To Sleep /
Index

Subtitled "A Chronological History In Reverse". "Dance Of Deliverance" is
from Maurice Deebank's solo album.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Box Set FELT BOX 1, 6/93

Contains the CDs of CTAB/TSOF, TSIPAOSS/ITSC, ACM and a bonus disc of 5 singles
and B-sides not on ACM. Not quite comprehensive, as "Crucifix Heaven" is
missing from TSIPAOSS, and the B-sides "Break It", "Now Summer's Spread Its
Wings Again", "A Preacher In New England", and "Cathedral" are not included.

L: After Felt finished, I wanted to look back and get all the CDs on the
shelf with covers that I liked. Before, they had been out in different
sleeves and the catalogue was in a mess. For the Cherry Red years, we
planned a compilation CD and then the first four albums on two future
CDs so it would be a series of three with a 12" and CD single, i.e.
"Primitive Painters" as well. The plan has been to re-release the
Felt stuff in new, generic sleeves.

A: Ballad Of The Band / I Didn't Mean To Hurt You
B: Candles In A Church (*i) / Ferdinand Magellan (*i)

L: We started using an organ - a compact Hammond copy that you can take on
the road. I first saw it when Everything But The Girl used one, and
then Lloyd Cole and the Commotions used one. I didn't think it was a
60s sound and it wasn't anything to do with Bob Dylan and the Band. I
thought it was quite modern.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP/CD Let The Snakes Crinkle Their Heads To Death
-------------------------------------------
CRELP 009, 9/86

A: Song For William S Harvey / Ancient City Where I Lived /
The Seventeenth Century / The Palace / Indian Scriptures
B: The Nazca Plain / Jewel Sky / Viking Dress / Voyage To Illumination /
Sapphire Mansions

L: This is a reaction to the production we'd had so far - I didn't think
we'd been produced properly. There was a sound in my head that was a
lot barer than what we'd had before. And I didn't like reverb so we
made the instrumental album in an eight-track studio and controlled the
recording process totally. I saw Felt as a picture. I saw the
beginning and I saw the end so I knew this was just one little phase in
a whole journey. I wasn't thinking about it as a career move.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7/12 CRE 032, 9/86

A: Rain Of Crystal Spires / Gather Up Your Wings And Fly (*)
B: I Will Die With My Head In Flames / Sandman's On The Rise (*)

L: I would have liked to have released "Forever Breathes..." without a
single, but it sounded like it had to be milked. It was the first big
album, as if everything was building up to that moment; at least that
was the way Alan (McGee) saw it. He wanted "All The People I Like Are
Those That Are Dead", but I chose "Rain Of Crystal Spires" because I
wanted a pop song.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP/CD Forever Breathes The Lonely Word
--------------------------------
CRELP 011, 10/86

A: Rain Of Crystal Spires / Down But Not Yet Out / September Lady /
Grey Streets
B: All The People I Like Are Those That Are Dead / Gather Up Your Wings
And Fly / A Wave Crashed On Rocks / Hours Of Darkness Have Changed
My Mind

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP/CD Poem Of The River
-----------------
CRELP 017, 9/87

A: Declaration / Silver Plane / She Lives By The Castle
B: Stained Glass Windows In The Sky / Riding On The Equator /
Dark Red Birds

L: We were trying to conclude a circle, going back to the idea of
"Crumbling..." and "Splendour...", which was a 30 minute album with
six tracks. "Declaration" and "Silver Plane" weren't originally on the
LP. Two other songs were in their place, "When The Dawn Starts
Creeping In" and the first recording of "I Can't Make Love To You Any
More". Those songs needed special attention. A different production.
I thought it best to save them and record two easier ones.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 CRE 048T, 9/87

A: The Final Resting Of The Ark / Autumn (i)
B: Fire Circle (i) / There's No Such Thing As Victory /
Buried Wild Blind (i)

L: That was just me in Robin Guthrie's new studio. He hadn't recorded
anything in it and wanted to test the equipment. I'd just written
the song so I recorded it and we really liked it. His friend, Richard
Thomas, who was a soprano sax player, came down (he ended up drumming
for the Mary Chain, and was in a group called Dif Juz). The song was
so new and raw that I hadn't even taken it to the band. From there,
we decided to do an EP. It was one of the only spontaneous things
that happened in Felt.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP The Pictorial Jackson Review
----------------------------
CRELP 030, 3/88

A: Apple Boutique / Ivory Past / Until The Fools Get Wise / Bitter End /
How Spook Got Her Man / Christopher St / Under A Pale Light /
Don't Die On My Doorstep
B: Sending Lady Load (i) / The Darkest Ending (i)

L: I never used titles that weren't my own except for "Pictorial Jackson
Review", which is from Jack Kerouac. Side one was eight pop songs and
side two was the ambient side. Robert Fripp did two albums on one.
It was a really good idea. He titled both sides too. I should have
done that.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP Train Above The City
--------------------
CRELP 035, 7/88

A: Train Above The City / On Weegee's Sidewalk / Run Chico Run /
Press Softly On The Brakes Holly
B: Spectral Morning / Teargardens / Book Of Swords / Seahorses On
Broadway

All songs are instrumentals recorded by Martin Duffy and Gary Ainge on piano,
drums and vibes. Lawrence contributed the song titles.

L: This was a conscious thing - we were trying to re-define some rules.
I think it's really interesting that the only thing the leader of the
band did was make the titles up. It wasn't really to pay for those
vibes, that was just one reason among many.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7/12 CRE 060, 8/88

L: I'd bought a Fender Rhodes bass piano for 25 pounds in a Birmingham
secondhand music shop and it turned out to be the instrument that
Ray Manzarek used on all the Doors albums. I was a Doors fan but I
never knew he'd used this when I bought it. And so we went into the
studio with this instrument to see what we could do. "Space Blues"
was a rough type of folk song - and then we took my guitar away
because I couldn't play it in time.
===========================================
CREATION COMPILATIONS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP/CD Bubble Gum Perfume
------------------
CRELP 069, 4/90
A: I Will Die With My Head In Flames / Stained-Glass Windows In The Sky /
I Didn't Mean To Hurt You / Space Blues / Autumn / Be Still /
There's No Such Thing As Victory / Ferdinand Magellan / The Final
Resting Of The Ark / Sandman's On The Rise
B: Don't Die On My Doorstep / A Wave Crashed On Rocks / Book Of Swords /
Declaration / Gather Up Your Wings And Fly / The Darkest Ending /
Bitter End / Rain Of Crystal Spires / Voyage To Illumination /
Ballad Of The Band

L: With "Bubblegum Perfume", I put all the short songs onto one album -
20 short Felt songs. There were long ones and there were short ones
and I couldn't get a good balance between them both, so in the end, I
just did the short ones - little snapshots of Felt. We're going to
delete "Bubblegum Perfume" and put out a double CD of single tracks
on one disc and album tracks on the other. I find that single and LP
tracks don't merge together very well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD Absolute Classic Masterpieces II
--------------------------------
CRECD 150, 12/93

1 Ballad Of The Band / I Didn't Mean To Hurt You / Magellan /
I Will Die With My Head In Flames / Sandman's On The Rise Again /
The Final Resting Of The Ark / Autumn /
There's No Such Thing As Victory / Space Blues / Be Still

2 Song For William S. Harvey / Indian Scriptures / Jewel Sky /
Voyage To Illumination / Grey Streets / A Wave Crashed On Rocks /
Hours Of Darkness Have Changed My Mind / She Lives By The Castle /
Stained-Glass Windows In The Sky / Dark Red Birds / Bitter End /
Don't Die On My Doorstep / The Darkest Ending /
Train Above The City / On Weegee's Sidewalk / Run Chico Run
===========================================
EL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flexidisc, el GPO F44, 10/89

Issued as a promotion for the album. Felt had only switched to Mike Alway's
El label because Creation couldn't put the album out till early 1990, spoiling
Lawrence's "ten albums and ten singles during the eighties" plan.

L: The flexi idea was something Joy Division had done, which I always
thought was great - to give something away. It was like, "Here's a
track from the album, have a listen" and you don't have to pay for it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LP/CD Me And A Monkey On The Moon
---------------------------
el ACME 24, 11/89

A: I Can't Make Love To You Anymore / Mobile Shack / Free /
Budgie Jacket / Cartoon Sky
B: New Day Dawning / Down An August Path / Never Let You Go /
She Deals In Crosses / Get Out Of My Mirror

L: We all moved to Brighton and put this LP together with John Mohan, who
was the original guitarist with the Servants. He was the first
distinctive lead guitarist we'd had since Maurice Deebank, because we'd
swapped so it was more organ-based since Maurice had left. John was
the closest I've ever heard to Deebank, and he looked similar as well -
a tall, thin, reserved kind of person.

Dec	JAN	Oct
	08
2014	2016	2017