The United Kingdom Of Song #41: Leeds

"Could life ever be sane again?"

The Leeds side streets that you slip down

I wonder to myself

The Smiths - Panic

Leeds was the first city I knew. My dad worked in Leeds when I was a kid, back in the days when getting there from Huddersfield was a much shorter journey. As I grew older, Mum used to take me to Leeds Comic Marts every other month, and when I started work, I'd often catch the train from Bradford to Leeds to spend my wage in the city's many record shops. It was later that I discovered Manchester (too big and scary for a little Yorkshire lad) and later still, Sheffield (Leeds without the pretentions). Nowadays I work in Leeds myself, or close enough, but the only reason I have to visit the city centre is the occasional gig. I don't feel as welcome there as I once did... it's all too new and shiny and ever-expanding... but then, I've never been a city boy. 

Still, I was encouraged to breath life into this old blog series after listening to the wonderful Cherry Red compilation, Where Were You: Independent Music From Leeds (1978-1989). Not only does that collection feature some of the best bands to ever call Leeds home, including The Wedding Present, The Sisters of Mercy, Cud, The Mekons and The Sinister Cleaners... but it also features quite a few songs about Leeds. Like this one!

Named after an Eddie Cochran song, Pink Peg Slax were a Leeds rockabilly band who scored quite a few sessions with John Peel and Andy Kershaw in the 80s, though they never broke through to the big time. They were also responsible for this little beauty...

Pink Peg Slax - Self Pitying Stan

Next, I want you to imagine that Grandmaster Flash grew up in Leeds, rather than on the mean streets of The Bronx. Get ready to meet...

The Legendary Len Liggins - Life In Leeds City

Mandi and Debi Laek are two sisters from Leeds whose quirky tales of life in Leeds have drawn comparisons to The Kinks, The Jam, Brian Wilson and Syd Barrett.

The Rhythm Sisters - Saturday/ Sunday Lazy Leeds Afternoons

Moving beyond the Cherry Red compilation, here are a few more Leeds-centric tunes I found in the hard drive...

The Spanish Amanda - Leeds or Karatsu

The Who - Summertime Blues (Live At Leeds)

The Parachute Men - Leeds Station

And another Leeds band... one whose most famous song is immortalised in big neon letters on the wall of Leeds theatre, The West Yorkshire Playhouse...

Eat, sleep and crap

For it to prey on your needs

Down a dark street

In backwater Leeds

Chumbawamba - Drip Drip Drip

Of course, Leeds has a darker side. Back in the 80s, it was known as the home of the Yorkshire Ripper, and one notorious football team...

Amanda Palmer - Leeds United

Lyrically, Leeds also pops up in some quite unexpected places...

She'd spent 35 pounds on one pack of ciggies

Running an errand for him indoors

Then she kept running straight down to Leeds Central

Took Intercity and left her remorse

Hue & Cry - Looking For Linda

Mark Knopfler wrote the following tune about Harry Phillips, a Leeds sculptor who never got the respect he deserved... because he wasn't from a trendy town.

He was ignored by all the trendy boys in London

Yes, and in Leeds

He might as well have been making toys

Or strings of beads

Dire Straits - In The Gallery

Here's a contemporary American band that 30-something hipsters like Ben are into, despite the fact that they're named after that old sitcom about growing up in the 60s. The song is all about being on tour, mostly in Leeds, but far away from home...

Last night in Leeds

Ad and I found ourselves wandering the city

Looking for pizza

All we found was complacency and somewhere to sleep

I'm still waiting for the map to say home's a week away

The Wonder Years - Hostels & Brothels

Another band getting homesick is Atlanta's The Indigo Girls...

It's dark at 4 pm in Leeds

The steeples pierce the skylight 'til the last of it bleeds

The absent sound of another day as it recedes

Into the shadows

Until it's nothing

The Indigo Girls - Leeds

Also from Georgia is the band Of Montreal. Turns out they've been to the capital of West Yorkshire too...

Eating at Welcome Breaks daily

We danced in Leeds with Brit Pop Haley

Of Montreal - My British Tour Diary

Back in the UK, Geordie folkster Richard Dawson is someone I've been listening to quite a bit lately since Michel Faber sang his praises in Listen. Here, Richard talks about missing his daughter after driving her away to University...

Waving me goodbye from the steps of her building

She  shrinks into the shudders of the rearview

Tears  begin to fall on the outskirts of Leeds

I am missing her already

Richard Dawson - Fresher's Ball

Meanwhile, Sheffield lad Jarvis Cocker suggest they're not that welcoming to outsiders in Leeds...

We came across the North Sea with our carriers on our knees

Wound up in some holding camp somewhere outside Leeds.

Because we do not care to fight, my friends - we are the weeds.

Because we got no homes they call us smelly refugees.

Pulp - Weeds

Kevin Rowland is even less of a fan...

Lord have mercy on me, keep me away from Leeds

I've been before, it's not what I'm looking for

Dexys Midnight Runners - Thankfully Not Living in Yorkshire, It Doesn't Apply

But my favourite song about Leeds is still this one, from Californian songwriter John Darnielle. It's a song dedicated to Goth God and "Leeds lad" Andrew Eldritch... although he was actually born in Cambridgeshire. Nevertheless, it always makes me smile...

 

Conversations With Ben #27: Mocking The Elderly

Ben: Same age as you.

Rol: Thank you for that reminder. I'll be more careful with the drugs.

I think you need to move over to some downers. Balance it out.

I'm pretty good at handling the down part without chemical assistance.

This is what Ben sent me for my birthday. 
Along with a card that read "Old Man Like Old Man Music."

Thank you for the present, by the way, but you shouldn't mock the elderly.

The irony is, I still think of Britpop as modern music.

Old man.

I'm not sure even I have heard of some of the bands on those cards. Whiteout!?!

Question for you...

Pulled Apart By Horses. Trampled By Turtles. Can you think of any other bands that are named after getting hurt or killed by animals?

Here's a better one for you.

List of bands where if a person said they were their favourite you'd be suspicious of them.

Examples...

If someone said Simply Red were their favourite band, you'd think that they just hadn't really listened to much music.

They're a good band.

But even their Greatest Hits has some filler on there and compared to other bands they have limited deep cuts.

Also... Creed.

Chas and Dave.

Fine Young Cannibals.

The Breeders.

Wang Chung?

First, Simply Red are awful.

And Mick Hucknall is a tool.

Second, this reminds me of the I Just Called To Say I Love You bit in High Fidelity.

If someone told me Chas & Dave were their favourite band, I'd just think they must be a Cockney.

And at least they haven't fallen for Damon Albarn's sham.

I got a free ticket to see The Good The Bad and The Queen a number of years ago. Second most boring concert I've been to. And it would have been the most boring for most people but the most boring was a niche one. Second time seeing Godspeed! You Black Emperor. The first time is interesting and a novelty but it's a one and done thing.

In the list of Damon Albarn's crimes, being dull and sanctimonious for the last 20 years ranks much higher than 5 years of pretending to be a Cockney scamp, guvnor

Would you trust someone to babysit Sam if they said Think Tank was their favourite Blur album?

I wouldn't even let them in my house.

Louise's old boss loved Hue & Cry. He got them to play live at his 50th. Apparently they hate each other and argued the whole time.

Other than Ordinary Angel and Looking for Linda, what else have they got, really?

You forgot their big hit! 

Ben sends a photograph of his newly-mowed lawn.

Now I feel like drinking a beer in the middle of the week and watching football.

Why are you mowing grass that hasn't yet started growing?

It was knee height.

To a grasshopper.

Shut up

Am man now.

Drink Carling.

Tell Mrs. Ben there be trouble if tea not ready.

Watch futkik.

Get mad when Team A beat Team B.

I think you're more middle aged than macho man.

Am man!

Listen to Oasis.

And Kaiser Chiefs.

Give you a thump.

Finally get Mrs Brown's Boys.

Is funny coz man in dress.

Is this the first time you've ever experienced manual labour?

I used to be quite literally a site labourer.

And I'm using my ex-workmates as influence for this character.

Or...

Shurrup, soft lad.

One time back when I worked in radio, a colleague of mine had driven to work in really bad snow and basically dumped his car in a snow drift outside the building. Later that night we looked out to see if it was still snowing, and there was some random bloke sat in his car. We went out to ask him what the hell he was doing, and he said:

"I was cold. And I don't work in a fancy radio station like you guys. I'm a manual labourer. Look at my manual labourer's hands! Look, I've got calluses and everything!"

That sounds genuinely terrifying.

It was. But also kind of surreal. In the end, he just buggered off.

Are you sure he hadn't escaped from the local psych ward?

It was Bradford. Most people in Bradford have escaped from some kind of institution, or are on their way into one.

Have you seen that Anti Racist baby is in the news?

Ted Cruz went on a rant about it as a black judge was elected to the Supreme court.

Well, I guess it'll sell a shitload more copies now. I'll have that first edition back that I gave you for your birthday.

Heard the new Craig Finn song?

No.

It's good.

Yes. It is. 

Seriously though... how are you?

Well, I've not died a drug overdose yet... or been punched by Will Smith. So I guess I'm doing better than a lot of 50-somethings...

I can't believe you've listened to Simply Red's Greatest Hits all the way through.

Saturday Snapshots #29 - The Answers

If yesterday's clues were all a blur to you... allow me to clear them up.



10. Oy! Rossiter! This is what James Bond might drink on the dark side of the moon.

Martin Rossiter is the lead singer of Gene. Bond would have his martini shaken, not stirred, with Pink Floyd.

Pink Martini - Hey Eugene

Charity Chic got the artist, Chris solved the song.

9. Bounce! Mrs. McCartney loses a: rare grown-up caterpillar.

If something is bouncing, it's bobbing up and down. Linda - a = Lind.

Bob Lind - Elusive Butterfly

Alyson broke out of her chrysalis to solve this one.

8. Women can be just like Van Halen. Crying Clitheroe or Weeping Watford?

A Girl Called Eddy - Tears All Over Town

And another one for Alyson!

7. Split up with your lad? Don't turn a drama into a Cold War crisis.

Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

And another one for... oh. Nobody. Guess that's a point for me then. (Unless it was answered after 9pm Saturday.)

6. Not Chubby Checker. Not New Order.

Fats Domino - Blue Monday

It never occurred to me before that Chubby Checker was just a rip off of Fats Domino. Perhaps it had occurred to Rigid Digit.

5. I'm overjoyed that you put everything you had into this.

Blood, Sweat & Tears - You've Made Me So Very Happy

Lynchie got this. Alyson kicked herself.

4. Make a big fuss while searching for Wonder Woman.

Hue & Cry - Looking For Linda

CC was this week's early bird... despite the fact that these guys had a lot more hair when they had their hits.

3. The next best thing to your daily song about Slash.

The next best thing to sliced bread?

Bread - Guitar Man

A point for C!

2. Swimsuits murder a song about Princess Leia.

Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl

Charity Chic solved this one eventually... though C and Chris were typing the title at the same time.

1. Jazz label gets mixed up with Bill Hicks musical.

The jazz label would be Bluenote. Mix it up and you get Bluetone. This song is named after a Bill Hicks record. Slight Return also owed a debt to Hicks, which was C's guess, but I prefer the track Rigid Digit eventually identified...

(This has a truly awful video - what were they thinking? - so I've posted the audio only.)


By my reckoning, this week's joint winners with 2 1/2 points each are C and CC. Well done, guys. Excellent teamwork as always.

More next week, double-decker buses permitting...

My Top Ten Linda Songs

If I live long enough, I'll do a Top Ten for every name in the phone book. Here's ten songs about Linda... or, as with the lady above, Lynda.

Special mentions to Linda Ronstatd, Linda Thompson, Linda McCartney, Linda Perry, Linda Lewis, Linda Clifford, Linda Jones, Linda Lyndell and Linda Gail Lewis (Jerry Lee's sister).


10. Leroy Taylor - Oh Linda

Originally released in 1967, this forgotten soul number was resurrected in the UK by the Northern Soul DJs of the 70s. Can't find much out about Leroy Taylor himself, but I always like to hear that old soul sound.

9. The Valves - Linda Vindaloo

Gritty Scottish punk from 1979 that I probably came across through JC, The Vinyl Villain. 

8. Barry Manilow - A Linda Song

From one year earlier than The Valves, yet as far away from Scottish punk as you can get. And the reason I'll never be a cool music blogger: I actually prefer this one.

7. Mark Collie - Linda Lou

Shameless Country Song of the week - it even begins with Mark drinking a Pepsi while gassing up his truck. See also Linda Lou by The Tractors, which is a bit more Creedence. 

6. John Prine - Linda Goes To Mars

An amusing John Prine number about a bored wife and her overactive imagination.

5. The Lemonheads - Layin' Up With Linda

Originally recorded by American punk rock nutbag GG Allin and his backing band at the time, The Carolina Shitkickers, though I prefer Evan Dando's version because his voice always gives me shivers. King Slacker that he is, I wish he'd get off his lazy arse and record some more songs.  

Layin' up with Linda used to be fun
Nobody ever paid the rent, there was never anything done
Then one day I killed her, now I'm on the run
But living with Linda used to be fun 

4. Luke Haines - Linda's Head

From the mind-boggling, yet hugely nostalgic, concept album 9 1/2 Psychedelic Meditations On British Wrestling Of The 1970s & Early '80s, this is Luke Haines's tribute to 80s wrestlers "Exotic" Adrian Street and his tag-team partner / manager / wife, Miss Linda. I could make this stuff up, but it wouldn't be as interesting. 

3. Bruce Springsteen - Linda, Let Me Be The One

One of many "lost" Springsteen tracks recorded in the mid-70s (around the time of Born To Run), this was finally released in the late 90s on the Tracks box set. It's classic rock 'n' romantic storytelling... as with so many of those " lost" songs, hearing it now you realise how much of a perfectionist Bruce was, deciding not to release it for all those years.

The midnight boys are outside
Scraping tears up off the street
Standin' guard beneath the window
Where only Linda sleeps
The leader is a kid named Eddie
Walkin' like an angel in defeat
He trashes her old man's car, slashes Linda's name in the seat
And calls out
Linda will you let me be the one!

2. Hue & Cry - Looking For Linda

A chance meeting with a lady called Linda McAllister in a Stirling pub inspired inspired Pat & Greg Kane to write this tribute, possibly as a way of encouraging her to keep fighting as she was having quite a hard time of it, by all accounts. Released in 1989 (not a great year for music), it remains my favourite Hue & Cry single, though (like a lot of late-80s chart hits) it sounds a little thin and synthy today.

1. The Beach Boys - Lady Lynda

A big 70s hit for the Beach Boys in the UK, though it didn't do much for them back home, the melody of Lady Lynda is based on Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. The song was written by Beach Boy Al Jardine and Ron Altbach of King Harvest (the band who did the original version of Toploader's big 90s hit Dancing In The Moonlight). The Linda in question was Jardine's wife... when they divorced later, he tried rewriting it as Lady Liberty (in... erm... tribute to the Statue of Liberty). Yeah, like that was going to work.





Which is your Lady Linda?

Alternatively, if you'd like to suggest a name for me to have a go at creating a Top Ten... just leave a comment. I always like a challenge.

My Top Ten Looking For... Songs

Looking for a great old pop song? Here's ten...


10. David Bowie - Looking For Satellites

I remember reading an article years ago about how the Dame had taken to writing songs by snipping up old newspapers and gluing random words together to create his lyrics. I wouldn't believe that for most of his songs...but this one? Damn straight.

Nowhere, Shampoo, TV, Combat, Boyzone
Slim tie, Showdown, Can't stop...

Still, this is surely the most credible song Boyzone ever appeared in.

9. Chris Rea - Looking For The Summer

Very atmospheric tune from the old gravel-gargler. Not sure if this is the official video, but it works very well.

8. The National - Looking for Astronauts

Take all your reasons and take them away to the middle of nowhere, 
And on your way home
Throw from your window your record collection...

Now, if I were to follow The Natonal's advice on this one, I'd be throwing out quite a few of their records too...

7. Philip Jeays - Looking for a Horse to Ride

 If you've never had the pleasure of Philip Jeays before... do yourself a favour and click the link above now.

6. Prefab Sprout - Looking For Atlantis

Rarely a week goes by when I don't feel like a good Paddy. Here he is in his finest white suit, live on Wogan. 

Say you do find your volcano and the darn thing is still hot...
Lesson one : Child don't waste it
Lesson two : The world's your cherry
But tomorrow ? Maybe not
Lesson three : Come on and taste it

Now that's what I call a chat up line!

5. Seafruit - Looking For Sparks

Lost gem from the Britpop era; I'd forgotten how much I liked this. Seafruit's Geoff Barradale is now the manager of the Arctic Monkeys. In case you were wondering.

4. Hue & Cry - Looking For Linda

1989 was in many ways the nadir of 80s pop, but there were faint glimmers of sunshine from the likes of Hue & Cry and their best single, a trainbound love story with an alcoholic runaway who spent more on one packet of cigarettes than was wise, especially in them days.

Iffypedia calls Hue & Cry "sophisti-pop", lumping them in with the likes of Deacon Blue, The Style Council, The Blue Nile and Aztec Camera... yet, curiously, not Lloyd Cole... who's surely more sophistipop than the rest of them rolled together?

3. Warren Zevon - Looking for the Next Best Thing

Appreciating the best but settling for less...Warren Zevon: never content. That's why we love him.

Don Quixote had his windmills
Ponce de Leon took his cruise
Took Sinbad seven voyages
To see that it was all a ruse

(That's why I'm) Looking for the next best thing...

2. Robert Palmer - Looking For Clues

From wayyyy back in 1980 when Batley Bob shared his eyeshadow with Gary Numan. Loved this song for years but never seen the video before... it's a terrifying Kubrickian nightmare. (And discovering amazing oddities like that is why I keep doing this blog.)

1. Tom Waits - (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night

The very definition of louche, this drips grubby atmosphere from every glorious note. Tom Waits at his very best.

Tell me, is it the crack of the pool balls, neon buzzing?
Telephone's ringing, it's your second cousin
Is it the barmaid that's smiling from the corner of her eye?
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye...
Makes it kind of quiver down in the core
Cause you're dreaming of them Saturdays that came before
And now you're stumbling
You're stumbling onto the heart of Saturday night

Those were my favourite Looking For... songs. Were you Looking For... any I didn't include?