10. Pigbag - Sunny Day (Y Records)

 

Number one for two weeks from 14th November 1981

Well, this is a sticky situation. The indie number one we’re tackling by Pigbag is not the track for which they are best known – that single (“Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag” if it really needs to be spelt out) has spent months dithering around the indie charts, selling out, being repressed or reissued then selling out again, and has yet to reach the summit. This means we’re discussing the group’s other minor hit before we come to their biggie, which was recorded and released before it. Confused? I will be.

Obviously, there should be little doubt that “Sunny Day” made it to the indie summit (and the middle reaches of the National Top 75) on the back of the goodwill created by its older brother. “Papa” had been played on evening radio and in clubs for months on end and the group’s name had gone from being an ultra-underground concern, a vague rabble of jazzy post-punk garage jammers from Bristol, to a promising, potentially mainstream act.

On paper, a group creating wigged-out instrumental post punk records seems like a deeply unlikely commercial proposition, but 1981 was a time where normal rules didn’t always apply, and Pigbag’s sound wasn’t as isolated as it might appear. Other groups such as Rip Rig and Panic were blasting out their own ramshackle bedsit party soul-jazz sounds to a curious public, so even the denser, harsher aspects of their style wouldn’t have felt like a bolt from the blue. For all their angularity, Pigbag also swung like demons when they wanted to, the sheer size of the band membership allowing for various instrumental grooves to thread their way through the mix, from hooky brass riffs to clattering carnivalesque drum patterns.

“Sunny Day” is good evidence of this. What’s surprising about it is how much more of a fluid funk groove it seems compared to “Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag”. That single regularly took shrieking and jarring slip roads away from the motorway of the track’s central riff before rejoining it, whereas “Sunny Day” is actually more radio-friendly, less of a racket and frankly less likely to confuse Dave Lee Travis. It almost has as powerful a hook as “Papa”, and doesn’t veer too far way from it, augmenting it with funky guitar riffs and elastic basslines.

The group and label could perhaps have been forgiven for expecting a proper breakthrough hit, but its comparative conventionality may have been a curse. These days you’ll struggle to find many people who respond to it. I used to carry a vinyl copy of “Sunny Day” in my DJ’ing box, but quickly removed it when I realised the only reactions it got were requests for “Papa” to be played instead (“Haven’t you got their other one?”). Pepped up audiences know what they want to hear, and it’s the group’s anthem, however jagged that was.

This doesn’t stop “Sunny Day” from being a work of joy – I didn’t carry it around in my record box purely to weigh myself down, after all. The music video is a low budget effort which nonetheless shows a bunch of blokes looking as if they’re away on some youth camp holiday, not looking like pop stars but nonetheless seeming raffish, current and carefree with it. It presents a group who are in tune with each other’s ideas and having the time of their lives, and that bonhomie is infectious.

As is often the way with these things, the truth was somewhat different and good fun was not necessarily being enjoyed by all – but we’ll save all that for the next chapter in their story. For now, “Sunny Day” sounds both edgy and brightly groovy, a good trick to pull off in an unsettled era that required music with plenty of both qualities.

Trivia

Pigbag were named after founder Chris Hamlin's cloth bag which had a screen-printed warthog on it. I have never seen a photo of this item anywhere but in all honesty, it sounds in dubious taste.

Away From The Number One Spot

Thomas Dolby’s mates The Fall Out Club appear briefly at number 18 with some dramatic electro-jitter in the form of “Wanderlust”. Can’t help but think there’s a truly amazing single trying to burst out of the confusing and mechanical lo-fi production here, but plenty of others disagree and think it’s fine as it is.




Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins also makes his indie chart debut in the group The Drowning Craze whose single “Trance” briefly appears at number 25. Don’t expect anything “ethereal”, though – this is slightly irritable post-punk funk.




More surprisingly than that, Mel Brooks also puts in an appearance at number 26 with “Good To Be The King”, released to tie in with his 1981 motion picture "History Of The World". I'm slightly surprised that a major label didn't throw their lot behind this to turn it into a novelty hit, but given its somewhat lacklustre showing in the indie listings, perhaps it was wise not to.



Elsewhere, The Associates return again with “White Car In Germany” swiftly making a high appearance. It would eventually peak at number 7. 




The full indie chart for this week can be found on the UKMix Forum. 

Number One In The Official Charts

Queen and David Bowie - Under Pressure (EMI)