This Year's Model (2002) liner notes: Difference between revisions
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The keyboard player, a 19-year-old student from the Royal College of Music, was easily the most impressive candidate at the auditions. He had asked to stay to hear the other players and later been discovered curled up asleep among the amplifiers, having quietly demolished a bottle of sweet cooking sherry. He was obviously the man for the job. His family name was Nason, which most people misheard as the more common "Mason", but we soon started calling him "[[Steve Nieve]]". | The keyboard player, a 19-year-old student from the Royal College of Music, was easily the most impressive candidate at the auditions. He had asked to stay to hear the other players and later been discovered curled up asleep among the amplifiers, having quietly demolished a bottle of sweet cooking sherry. He was obviously the man for the job. His family name was Nason, which most people misheard as the more common "Mason", but we soon started calling him "[[Steve Nieve]]". | ||
The bass player was a few years older than the rest of us. [[Bruce Thomas]] had played in a number of recorded bands and had plenty of road and studio experience. He had a fondness for venturing up the neck of his instrument to registers unfamiliar to other bass players. In those days he also possessed a decent sense of humour. Then again, he was from | The bass player was a few years older than the rest of us. [[Bruce Thomas]] had played in a number of recorded bands and had plenty of road and studio experience. He had a fondness for venturing up the neck of his instrument to registers unfamiliar to other bass players. In those days he also possessed a decent sense of humour. Then again, he was from Middlesbrough. | ||
After a couple of years working in California, the drummer had arrived back in England courtesy of a major record company. They had sprung for his plane ticket after my manager, [[Jake Riviera]], had persuaded them that he might be a candidate for a vacant drum stool for one of their new groups. However, upon arrival in London he headed straight for the studio where [[Nick Lowe]] had just mixed "Watching the Detectives". I never really entertained the idea of another drummer. [[Pete Thomas]] was three weeks older than me. I was 22 and had just released my first record. | After a couple of years working in California, the drummer had arrived back in England courtesy of a major record company. They had sprung for his plane ticket after my manager, [[Jake Riviera]], had persuaded them that he might be a candidate for a vacant drum stool for one of their new groups. However, upon arrival in London he headed straight for the studio where [[Nick Lowe]] had just mixed "[[Watching the Detectives]]". I never really entertained the idea of another drummer. [[Pete Thomas]] was three weeks older than me. I was 22 and had just released my first record. | ||
Our live debut was second on the bill to [[Wayne County & the Electric Chairs|Wayne County and the Electric Chairs]] in [[Penzance]]. This was about as far from "where it's at" as you could get. Any sense of the punk or "new wave" excitement that was filling weekly music papers was pretty hard to detect in the West Country. The next evening in Plymouth we saw a few girls sporting scary eye makeup, but everyone else looked like they might have been waiting for The Sweet to take the stage. On Saturday night we returned to [[Davidstowe]] to play a dance in the village hall in payment for our week of rehearsal room hire. Now we were ready for the big city. | Our live debut was second on the bill to [[Wayne County & the Electric Chairs|Wayne County and the Electric Chairs]] in [[Penzance]]. This was about as far from "where it's at" as you could get. Any sense of the punk or "new wave" excitement that was filling weekly music papers was pretty hard to detect in the West Country. The next evening in [[Plymouth]] we saw a few girls sporting scary eye makeup, but everyone else looked like they might have been waiting for The Sweet to take the stage. On Saturday night we returned to [[Davidstowe]] to play a dance in the village hall in payment for our week of rehearsal room hire. Now we were ready for the big city. | ||
On the afternoon of our [[Concert 1977-07-26 London|London debut]] it was decided that I would perform on the pavement outside the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane where C.B.S. Records was holding a convention. [[Stiff Records]] personnel marched up and down bearing placards entreating the A&R staff to give me a contract or at least come to our show. Unfortunately, the hotel management thought we were taking part in a political demonstration, and in a short time a large number of police vehicles came roaring up to the scene. The senior inspector was not amused to find that his special squad had been mobilized to deal with a publicity stunt. | On the afternoon of our [[Concert 1977-07-26 London|London debut]] it was decided that I would perform on the pavement outside the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane where C.B.S. Records was holding a convention. [[Stiff Records]] personnel marched up and down bearing placards entreating the A&R staff to give me a contract or at least come to our show. Unfortunately, the hotel management thought we were taking part in a political demonstration, and in a short time a large number of police vehicles came roaring up to the scene. The senior inspector was not amused to find that his special squad had been mobilized to deal with a publicity stunt. | ||
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Once inside the police van I mentioned that I was making my London "debut" that evening. "Not if we keep you in, sonny", snapped the arresting officer. I had already surrendered my belt and tie and was waiting to be taken down to the cells when my solicitor rang the station. I don't know what was said, but suddenly I was given a cup of tea, they completed the paperwork, and the desperado was released. | Once inside the police van I mentioned that I was making my London "debut" that evening. "Not if we keep you in, sonny", snapped the arresting officer. I had already surrendered my belt and tie and was waiting to be taken down to the cells when my solicitor rang the station. I don't know what was said, but suddenly I was given a cup of tea, they completed the paperwork, and the desperado was released. | ||
I remember much less about that night than the fact that I had to be in court the next day by 9 a.m. I took my turn among the drunks, the disorderlies, and the ladies wearing very few clothes. When I came before the magistrate, the charge was not even correct. I was fined five pounds for "selling records in the street", which I suppose had some truth to it. I thought it easier to agree than to try and explain. It was only when I reached the cashier's desk that I realised there was less than that amount of the fine in my pocket and I had to queue up for a further two hours to go before the bench again to request "time to pay". Three months later I signed a contract with Columbia Records and My Aim is True was scheduled for U.S. release. | I remember much less about that night than the fact that I had to be in court the next day by 9 a.m. I took my turn among the drunks, the disorderlies, and the ladies wearing very few clothes. When I came before the magistrate, the charge was not even correct. I was fined five pounds for "selling records in the street", which I suppose had some truth to it. I thought it easier to agree than to try and explain. It was only when I reached the cashier's desk that I realised there was less than that amount of the fine in my pocket and I had to queue up for a further two hours to go before the bench again to request "time to pay". Three months later I signed a contract with Columbia Records and [[My Aim is True]] was scheduled for U.S. release. | ||
After one hysterical trip round the U.K. club circuit, we joined the "[[Live Stiffs]]" package tour, also featuring [[Wreckless Eric]], [[Nick Lowe]], and [[Ian Dury]]. What started as a presentation of "labelmates" quickly became a pretty competitive adventure both on and off the stage. One night, while suffering from what might be politely called "assisted insomnia", I scrawled a large number of verses about this headlong pursuit of oblivion. Next morning, I mercifully threw away most of the pages, but that evening we were playing a brand-new song. Five days later, we recorded "[[Pump It Up|Pump it Up]]" in one take. Pretty soon I would stop resisting the lure of the nightlife completely. | After one hysterical trip round the U.K. club circuit, we joined the "[[Live Stiffs]]" package tour, also featuring [[Wreckless Eric]], [[Nick Lowe]], and [[Ian Dury]]. What started as a presentation of "labelmates" quickly became a pretty competitive adventure both on and off the stage. One night, while suffering from what might be politely called "assisted insomnia", I scrawled a large number of verses about this headlong pursuit of oblivion. Next morning, I mercifully threw away most of the pages, but that evening we were playing a brand-new song. Five days later, we recorded "[[Pump It Up|Pump it Up]]" in one take. Pretty soon I would stop resisting the lure of the nightlife completely. | ||
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We were crossing a foggy mountain ridge coming into [[TN|Tennessee]], when the size of the task began to dawn on us. It was not going to be easy to take America by storm. The four of us plus our tour manager were jammed into a rented station wagon on-route from [[Atlanta]], [[GA|Georgia]], to [[Madison]], [[WI|Wisconsin]]. We took turns riding "shotgun", that way you got to control the radio. It was during this journey that we managed to tune in to different parts of "Stairway to Heaven" playing simultaneously on three stations. It was not uncommon to catch the end of [[Linda Ronstadt|Linda Ronstadt's]] version of "Blue Bayou", only to find it had just begun on an adjacent frequency. You could have been forgiven for thinking that this was why they were called "frequencies". | We were crossing a foggy mountain ridge coming into [[TN|Tennessee]], when the size of the task began to dawn on us. It was not going to be easy to take America by storm. The four of us plus our tour manager were jammed into a rented station wagon on-route from [[Atlanta]], [[GA|Georgia]], to [[Madison]], [[WI|Wisconsin]]. We took turns riding "shotgun", that way you got to control the radio. It was during this journey that we managed to tune in to different parts of "Stairway to Heaven" playing simultaneously on three stations. It was not uncommon to catch the end of [[Linda Ronstadt|Linda Ronstadt's]] version of "Blue Bayou", only to find it had just begun on an adjacent frequency. You could have been forgiven for thinking that this was why they were called "frequencies". | ||
We had landed in the country ten days earlier. Fresh from a 15-hour journey from London via [[Los Angeles]], we arrived in the Bay Area at mid-evening and were confronted by the unimaginable luxury of a Howard Johnson's motel. The rooms contained king-size beds, colour television, and a bathroom. Our English hotels of that time typically featured narrow bunks with scratchy nylon sheets, a faulty black-and-white TV in the "residents lounge", and a freezing trip down the threadbare carpet to a shared toilet at the end of a dingy corridor. In the words of [[Chuck Berry]]: "Everything you want, they got it right here in the U.S.A.". I took a cab across the Golden Gate Bridge and called the driver to a screaming halt outside a record shop that was still open despite the fact that it was nearly midnight. Picking up a local music paper, I found that Iggy Pop was playing the same club in which we were due to make our American debut the next night. It took me three weeks to recover from seeing Iggy perform--with the limbs of an unstrung marionette, doing his Marlene Dietriech act with a straight-backed chair. I probably would have spent the whole tour hurling myself face down on the stage if I hadn't been holding a guitar. | We had landed in the country ten days earlier. Fresh from a 15-hour journey from London via [[Los Angeles]], we arrived in the Bay Area at mid-evening and were confronted by the unimaginable luxury of a Howard Johnson's motel. The rooms contained king-size beds, colour television, and a bathroom. Our English hotels of that time typically featured narrow bunks with scratchy nylon sheets, a faulty black-and-white TV in the "residents lounge", and a freezing trip down the threadbare carpet to a shared toilet at the end of a dingy corridor. In the words of [[Chuck Berry]]: "Everything you want, they got it right here in the U.S.A.". I took a cab across the Golden Gate Bridge and called the driver to a screaming halt outside a record shop that was still open despite the fact that it was nearly midnight. Picking up a local music paper, I found that [[Iggy Pop]] was playing the same club in which we were due to make our American debut the next night. It took me three weeks to recover from seeing Iggy perform--with the limbs of an unstrung marionette, doing his Marlene Dietriech act with a straight-backed chair. I probably would have spent the whole tour hurling myself face down on the stage if I hadn't been holding a guitar. | ||
Our shows went well in [[San Francisco]]. We received a pretty good welcome in the Bay Area. I even bought a couple of guitars: a red Rickenbacker six-string and the green Gretsch Country Club, which I later I used for the rhythm part on "This Year's Girl". | Our shows went well in [[San Francisco]]. We received a pretty good welcome in the Bay Area. I even bought a couple of guitars: a red Rickenbacker six-string and the green Gretsch Country Club, which I later I used for the rhythm part on "[[This Year's Girl]]". | ||
After an excellent start in Northern California, I took an instant and irrational dislike to Los Angeles. This was a town where nobody seemed to walk anywhere. Not being able to drive, I spent the first 24 hours in my room at the Tropicana Motel watching television. When I did venture out, I discovered regular resident [[Tom Waits]] resting in a chair in the front office and things began to look up. | After an excellent start in Northern California, I took an instant and irrational dislike to Los Angeles. This was a town where nobody seemed to walk anywhere. Not being able to drive, I spent the first 24 hours in my room at the Tropicana Motel watching television. When I did venture out, I discovered regular resident [[Tom Waits]] resting in a chair in the front office and things began to look up. | ||
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Three days later we found ourselves at a sparsely attended club in [[Concert 1977-11-23 New Orleans|New Orleans]] -- the atmosphere not helped by the fact that the audience were standing in a foot of water from a burst pipe. Our hotel rooms in the French Quarter had doors that had been kicked in on more than one occasion. The corridor carpet wore dark, tacky stains that were either ketchup or something more sinister. Outside on Bourbon St. we joined the gullible tourists drinking in the open air and paying a $10 cover charge to hear Clarence "Frogman" Henry sing two songs. | Three days later we found ourselves at a sparsely attended club in [[Concert 1977-11-23 New Orleans|New Orleans]] -- the atmosphere not helped by the fact that the audience were standing in a foot of water from a burst pipe. Our hotel rooms in the French Quarter had doors that had been kicked in on more than one occasion. The corridor carpet wore dark, tacky stains that were either ketchup or something more sinister. Outside on Bourbon St. we joined the gullible tourists drinking in the open air and paying a $10 cover charge to hear Clarence "Frogman" Henry sing two songs. | ||
We headed north to share a bill with the [[Talking Heads]] in a small theatre in Atlanta that neither of us could have been confident in filling alone. The dates were so far apart that we had lots of time to take in the scenery. Every billboard or shop sign seemed like the opening line of a new song, and sometimes that proved to be the case--I was filling notebooks that would provide the lyrics of our next album, [[Armed Forces]]. | We headed north to share [[Concert 1977-11-26 Atlanta|a bill]] with the [[Talking Heads]] in a small theatre in Atlanta that neither of us could have been confident in filling alone. The dates were so far apart that we had lots of time to take in the scenery. Every billboard or shop sign seemed like the opening line of a new song, and sometimes that proved to be the case--I was filling notebooks that would provide the lyrics of our next album, [[Armed Forces]]. | ||
The tour proceeded across the States, encountering every reaction from curiosity to hostility until we reached the more welcoming audiences of [[Concert 1977-12-09 Boston (early)|Boston]], [[Concert 1977-12-07 Philadelphia (early)|Philly]], and, finally, [[Concert 1977-12-13 New York (early)|New York City]]. We even played the legendary Stone Pony in [[Concert 1977-12-16 Asbury Park (early)|Asbury Park]] but had to lock ourselves in the dressing room to escape a furious posse of [[Bruce Springsteen|Springsteen]] fans when I jokingly introduced The Attractions' own "Bruce" as "the Real Future of Rock and Roll". | The tour proceeded across the States, encountering every reaction from curiosity to hostility until we reached the more welcoming audiences of [[Concert 1977-12-09 Boston (early)|Boston]], [[Concert 1977-12-07 Philadelphia (early)|Philly]], and, finally, [[Concert 1977-12-13 New York (early)|New York City]]. We even played the legendary Stone Pony in [[Concert 1977-12-16 Asbury Park (early)|Asbury Park]] but had to lock ourselves in the dressing room to escape a furious posse of [[Bruce Springsteen|Springsteen]] fans when I jokingly introduced The Attractions' own "Bruce" as "the Real Future of Rock and Roll". | ||
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We arrived at NBC with the intention of playing a couple of songs from our live set. Maybe something got lost in translation, but none of the humour seemed nearly as "dangerous" or funny as they seemed to think it was, or perhaps they were just having a bad show. The record company interference certainly didn't help my mood. | We arrived at NBC with the intention of playing a couple of songs from our live set. Maybe something got lost in translation, but none of the humour seemed nearly as "dangerous" or funny as they seemed to think it was, or perhaps they were just having a bad show. The record company interference certainly didn't help my mood. | ||
We were getting pressure to perform a number from My Aim is True. I honestly believed that the words of "[[Less Than Zero|Less than Zero]]" would be utterly obscure to American viewers. Taking a cue from an impromptu performance by Jimi Hendrix on a late '60s B.B.C. television show, I stopped this tune after a few bars and counted off an unreleased song, "[[Radio, Radio]]". I believed that we were just acting in the spirit of the third word of the show's title, but it was quickly apparent that the producer did not agree. He stood behind the camera making obscene and threatening gestures in my direction. When the number was over, we were chased out of the building and told that we would "never work on American television again". Indeed, we did not make another U.S. television appearance until 1980. Although this clip from SNL went on to be rerun on numerous occasions, I was not allowed back on the show until [[TV 1989-03-25 Saturday Night Live|1989]]. However, I was forgiven in time to be invited to re-create the moment, with the [[Beastie Boys]] as my backing band, for the show's 25th anniversary special. | We were getting pressure to perform a number from My Aim is True. I honestly believed that the words of "[[Less Than Zero|Less than Zero]]" would be utterly obscure to American viewers. Taking a cue from an impromptu performance by Jimi Hendrix on a late '60s B.B.C. television show, I stopped this tune after a few bars and counted off an unreleased song, "[[Radio, Radio]]". I believed that we were just acting in the spirit of the third word of the show's title, but it was quickly apparent that the producer did not agree. He stood behind the camera making obscene and threatening gestures in my direction. When the number was over, we were chased out of the building and told that we would "never work on American television again". Indeed, we did not make another U.S. television appearance until 1980. Although this clip from SNL went on to be rerun on numerous occasions, I was not allowed back on the show until [[TV 1989-03-25 Saturday Night Live|1989]]. However, I was forgiven in time to be invited to re-create the moment, with the [[Beastie Boys]] as my backing band, for the show's [[TV 1999-09-26 Saturday Night Live|25th anniversary special]]. | ||
Back in 1977, we returned to England to find that my final Stiff single, "Watching the Detectives", had reached No.15 in the charts. Our manager, [[Jake Riviera]], then dissolved his Stiff Record partnership with [[Dave Robinson]], taking Nick Lowe and myself to be the first artists on the new Radar label. | Back in 1977, we returned to England to find that my final Stiff single, "Watching the Detectives", had reached No.15 in the charts. Our manager, [[Jake Riviera]], then dissolved his Stiff Record partnership with [[Dave Robinson]], taking Nick Lowe and myself to be the first artists on the new Radar label. |
Revision as of 15:14, 26 May 2013
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