One of my biggest reasons for abandoning my old blog "Left and to the Back" was the fact that focusing on genuine obscurities - singles which hadn't been made available online before in any form - was becoming a tougher and tougher mission. We live in an age where even if Spotify hasn't hoovered up the goodies, some brat on YouTube will inevitably have uploaded something for everyone's pleasure, and even if they've failed, Cherry Red are there in the sidelines waiting for something surprising for their next "150 New Wave Obscurities" box set.
I honestly didn't expect to begin this blog, focusing on indie chart entries which almost all received some airplay and press coverage, and unearth anything which might have been worthy of a place on the old site. There it was in the 1981 Indie Charts, though - "Brave New England", which despite eventually peaking at number 17 and even being reissued by RCA later that year, had left no audio trace behind online.
As a dog that returneth to his vomit, so is a fool that repeateth his folly, and inevitably I ended up buying a second hand copy of this purely to satisfy my curiosity about who the group were and what it sounded like, and also to upload it online for the benefit of you good people.
It looks as if Walter Mitty's Little White Lies - henceforth known as WMLWL - were a Liverpool based act with Gary McGuinness on guitar and vocals, Jon Rupert Holt on keyboards, Colin Walker on guitar, Paul Williams on bass, Colin Ventre on drums and Gerry Garland on saxophone.
"Brave New England" is very much the kind of New Wave single which feels as if it has some "pub rock heritage" about it, being closer in style and feel to Tom Robinson than XTC or Talking Heads. There are no hard angles or unexpected discords; instead, the group deliver a fluent pop/rock song whose cult level sales combined with radio appeal must have made the band catnip to RCA, who swept in to reissue it later on in 1981.
Copies of the RCA single seem even more scarce than the original on the tiny Hip Records, though, and the group weren't given any other chances to record for a major (or indeed any other) label. This is what we've been left with, and while it's not clear to me what promotion it received to manage a mid-placed indie chart position - I can find no signs that the music press reviewed it first time out or John Peel played it, for example - enough people cared to get it there.
"Gillett.... the best that man can get..." Come on, tell me you don't hear that with the intro.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for this. Well worth the wait and the purchase, catchy and enjoyable. Very clever trick of repeating the line "To do the same things again". Not just thrown together, that.
ReplyDeleteRepeated plays last night for this which, in my opinion, is a gem up there with The Colours and the Changin’ Times from your “Left And To The Back” blog. To these ears, an unintentional Cardiacs vibe about the track, which sounds like two or three songs or disparate ideas welded together at separate points to make the silk purse.
ReplyDeleteThe single’s life gets more curious, though, as it looks like it was actually released on three different labels. According to the NME chart website, on its initial charting in July 1981 it’s shown as being released by Open Eye, a label operating at the time from the band’s home city of Liverpool. This version of the single isn’t listed on either 45cat or Discogs, which adds to the mystery.
When the single re-enters the chart in September 1981, it’s listed as being on Hip, a tiny label based in the Cheshire town of Altrincham which didn’t even have Cartel distribution behind it.
I can’t imagine John Peel playing the song as it sounded far too poppy for his show, but I can certainly imagine Peter Powell or Kid Jensen somehow acquiring a copy and giving it a few spins, and someone at RCA hearing the track and becoming intrigued.
Me again...sorry... just discovered John Peel did play this at least once, probably due to a letter from a band member's uncle who used to work with Peel's dad....
ReplyDeletehttps://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Peel_July_1981
Now that is interesting - I looked them up on the John Peel Wiki and got a nil return, so not sure how that happened! I doubt Peel generally did favours for historical acquaintances on his radio show, though, so perhaps he did enjoy the record.
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