04 July 2016

The CULT of CLT





This post is the result of a comment from W, a ubiquitous commenter on anything Tucker Crowe (subtle Juliet, Naked – Nick Hornby misspoke)…er…Colin Tucker around the Interweb. I have never been all that into the cult of CLT, but I have some of his voluminous output. Certain songs like "There Over There" or "Bury the Hatchet"  are right up there with the best & CLTs Remarkable certainly is. Hope this is good enough, W. 

One of Tucker’s first musical projects was Plain Characters, a band made up of  Colin Tucker – vocals; Paul Jonhstone – guitar; John Hyde – keyboard & bass; & Tim Broughton – percussion.

Their very first release was the single "I Am A b/w Very Peculiar Julia", which came out in 1977.

Plain Characters – I Am A b/w Very Peculiar Julia 7", Rouge Music Ltd. RMS/PC1, 1977.

Side 1 –
I Am A

Side 2 –
Very Peculiar Julia



In 1979 Colin Lloyd-Tucker was working at De Wolfe Music, the Soho music publisher/recording studio with Matt Johnson (mastermind behind The The). The two of them recorded Matt’s first album, Spirits. This album remains unreleased, although the album track "What Stanley Saw" was included on the Cherry Red Records compilation Perspectives & Distortion.

Matt Johnson – What Stanley Saw, Cherry Red B RED 15, 1981.

By the early 80s, CLT was involved in numerous musical projects. One of the groups was The Gadgets, which was made up of Tucker, Johnson, & fellow De Wolfe-mate John Hyde. Here is their first release.

The Gadgets – Gadgetree, Final Solution FSLP001, 1980.
all decryption codes in comments

Side A –
Kyleaking
Making Cars
Narpoth (Eraserhead Singing)
U.F.O. Report #1
Sliddery
Singing in the Rain
Only One Me
Shouting "Nispers"
There Over There

Side B –
Termite Mound (The Sound)
Slepe
Devil’s Dyke
Six Mile Bottom
U.F.O. Report #2
Autumn 80
Duplicate
Pog Track
Thin Line


In 1981 Plain Characters released their first (& only) full-length LP, Invisible Yearnings. This album has a lot going on with it. From garageband post-punk to spoken-word-space-jazz to minimal electronics to foot stomping dance punk, this record has some great moments. Two of best songs are on back-to-back tracks on Side 2. "Menial Tasks" is a bass-driven post-punk dance tune with hints of Metal Box-era Public Image Limited & Entertainment-era Gang of Four. The next song could be stylistically its polar opposite. "Julia" is a largely electronic track with back-and-forth synthesizer & guitar. But the one thing unites these two songs & helps retain some semblance of cohesion is Colin’s vocals.

Plain Characters – Invisible Yearnings, Abstract Records ABT001, 1981.

Side 1 –
Affair:19.10.80
Labyrinth
Not for Resale
Zero Zero
Fingerprint City

Side 2 –
O
Menial Tasks
Julia
Counting Sheep
The Four Lies



At this same time Colin was introduced to Simon Fisher Turner by Matt Johnson. They played together with Johnson at The The live shows (notably at The Venue & the Lyceum in London & an extended stay at the Marquee Club) but never on any official The The releases. This is when Tucker & Turner came in contact with Deux Filles, the aptly named female French duo. Gemini Forque & Claudine Coule met as teenagers at a holiday pilgrimage to Lourdes, during which Coule's mother died of an incurable lung disease. Forque's mother was killed & her father paralyzed in a grisly auto accident. The two teens bonded over their shared grief & worked through their bereavement with music. However, after recording two critically acclaimed albums, after playing throughout Europe & North America, Forque & Coule disappeared without a trace in North Africa in 1984 during a trip to visit Algiers, where Forque had lived from birth to the age of five. Theories ranging from abduction & murder to self-planned disappearance to spontaneous human combustion have cropped up from time to time. Since 1984 not a trace of the duo has turned up except for a mysterious letter purportedly written by Coule claiming that the pair journeyed to India on a spiritual quest, only to meet with further hardships. Indeed the short, terribly unhappy lives of Forque & Coule are at the root of the small but fervent cult following the mysterious duo have gained since their disappearance. (This would be a terribly sad story if a word of it were true. In reality, Deux Filles were Colin & Simon. They would pose in drag for the album covers. They even played live without the audience realizing that the tragic French girls on-stage were actually the two of them.)  As I noted in another post, Deux Filles’ two albums have been recently re-released & are available, if you’re interested in this craziness.

The two would go on to work together on numerous projects.

Here are a couple: a mostly covers album Royal Bastard by The King of Luxembourg (a nom de musique of Simon Turner with vocal assistance from CLT…


Side A –
A Picture of Dorian Gray (Television Personalities cover)
Valleri (The Monkees cover)
The Ruben’s Room
Mad (Harpers Bizarre cover)
Poptones (PIL cover)
Something for Sophia Loren (Henry Mancini cover from Arabesque)

Side B –
Baby
The Wedding of Ramona Blair (The Mirage cover)
Happy Together (prelude)
Smash Hit Wonder
Happy Together (The Turtles cover)
Liar Liar (The Castaways cover)



& CLT / SFT providing backing vocals for 1987s Go-Betweens Tallulah.

Go-Betweens – Tallulah, Big Time 6042-2B, 1987.

Tracklist –
Right Here
You Tell Me
Someone Else’s Wife
I Just Get Caught Out
Cut it Out
The House that Jack Kerouac Built
Bye Bye Pride
Spirit of a Vampyre
The Clarke Sisters
Hope the Strife
 


CLT has a deep catalogue of solo works reaching from 1984s Toybox to 2012s Still Calm Melancholy Air Brush Hush. Much of his more recent material is readily available, go search it out.

One album I can’t really listen to is Songs of Love, Life, & Liquid. It’s just so much country-pop crap compared to other CLT outings, but I will post up "Love Her Dearly" (the only notable track IMO) but I’ve taken it from the Humbuggery compilation from Humbug Records 1995.



My own personal favorite CLT solo release is Remarkable. What more needs said?



Tracklist –
Remarkable intro
A Remarkable Girl
Heart & Soul
Bury the Hatchet
Big Brass Band
Love Bombs
Abey! See de Gol’fish
House on the Hill
Remarkable reprise
Dream Time
Dark Damp Corners of Despair



To bring this thing to a close, I’ll post up some unreleased tracks & a gallimaufry of other tastes from Colin’s private stash.


Tracklist –

In Mysterious Ways (previously un-issued CLT track 2015)
Prayer for Vince (Deux Filles from the album ‘Space & Time’ 2016)
Your Incredible Mind (from the CLT album ‘Inner Nutshell’ 2011)
This Is For You (Maggi Ronson from her album ‘Sweet Dreamer’ 2013)
Kids (from the CLT album ‘Fear of Flying’ 2004)
Look to the Moon (previously un-issued version CLT 1996)
The Alligator Song (CLT previously un-issued 2015)
For You, Your Majesty (CLT previously un-issued 2015)
Brush (CLT from the album ‘Still Calm Melancholy Air Brush Hush’ 2012)
Home (CLT previously un-issued 2015)
Elephant Head (from CLT ep 2014)
New Beginning (CLT previously un-issued 2014)

Enjoy,
 
 

16 comments:

  1. I think Invisible Yearnings is a cranky and eccentric masterpiece and should be a classic.


    CLT's Plastic Head label mates, Rachel And Nicki, sang a cover of Very Peculiar Julia with CLT and John Hyde doing the music.

    Best blog ever. Cheers.

    PS. Of course, they'll never be enough CLT but if you could add the "Menial Tasks" 7" that would be good as I've never heard the b/side.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good to hear from you, W. Glad you enjoyed the posting.

      I am in total agreement about Invisible Y. I will post up Menial Tasks 7" this weekend.

      Also, shortly after posting this, a friend of mine mailed me a brand-new unopened copy of CLT's Head (A Curious Mind is a Questionable Thing). I will carefully rip it & also post it up. You may already have but I'll make sure it is pristine 7 do it fair justice.

      Delete
    2. Here goes. What's next???

      Plain Characters - Menial Tasks
      https://mega.nz/#!z9NhDD4b!Wlg33wkXBqGbkyDAkIFxFsHUrx8kLLyOxMCPxM8Fm0M
      Colin Lloyd Tucker - Head
      https://mega.nz/#!a9sW2BIK!NWt5NSTwW8BXEUZschmMIMj6L2SH4OxSz6ov5DwnZb0

      Delete
    3. At last I get to hear the b-side of Menial Tasks - and it's great - thank you so much for these.

      If you're asking "What's next???", and you mean on the CLT front, and you're asking me, then I would say Jeremy's Secret, LP & 12", and The Gadgets "Love, Curiosity, Freckles & Doubt" - both Tucker with Hyde again. I've never heard either but I'm sure they'll be interesting.

      And if you're asking generally "What's next???", I say just keep doing what you're doing, it's fantasic.

      Delete
    4. I was asking just in general???

      As far as on the CLT front, I may have shot my load of everything I have...but I'm not totally sur. I am still searching my horrible jumbled archives & there are several crates of vinyl I haven't looked through, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

      Check back here occassionally & I'll let you know.

      Delete
    5. Gadgets - L,C,F, & D
      https://mega.nz/#!Pkc2XYKD!IFViF4dPAAsTiSYsw_hBkqqTV_DppOfz1dyp7mrUCP4

      This may be the end,my friend.

      Delete
    6. Thank you for that - I especially liked hearing the Matt Johnson tracks.
      I think CLT is fantastic and should be better known - I don't know where you get it all from but I appreciate it.

      Delete
  2. 18 7 20 Hello...few YEARS late on this one...but thanks for all your work. For links given in comments section, rather than purple link in body of article, how do they work...pasting them in search engine just leads to MEGA site, even with edited permutations, but no music, whilst the Purple links still work, years later, with encrypt codes from comments. Am not too clever...it was the GADGETS LCF&D and MENIAL TASKS 7" Bside I really fancy, if they were still being shared. Ta v much Sally UK.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sally UK,

      Here goes (I believe)...Just checked Menial Tasks, Head, & Gadgets. All three led me to .zip files stored on MEGA ready to download.

      For example, to download Gadgets, I simply copied the link:
      https://mega.nz/#!Pkc2XYKD!IFViF4dPAAsTiSYsw_hBkqqTV_DppOfz1dyp7mrUCP4
      from the comment, entered it in to my browser, & was forwarded to a MEGA page:
      https://mega.nz/file/Pkc2XYKD#IFViF4dPAAsTiSYsw_hBkqqTV_DppOfz1dyp7mrUCP4
      which prompted me to import to a MEGA account or download as a .zip file 98.8MB.

      Give it a try, let me know.

      Thanks for visiting & commenting. An more help, just ask, I'm trying to share this great music with the world.



      Delete
  3. Hello, I was very happy to find "Remarkable" here, but the rip has a few flaws & CD skips! Any chance to get a clean re-up? Thanks anyway, fantastic blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I re-ripped Remarkable from a better source. Sounds pretty pristine to these old ears. Re-upped & new decryption codes below. Let me know if this is an improvement.

      Delete
    2. Thank You so much for this! It really is pristine now, way beyond compare! "Heart & Soul" had some really bad cd skips and stutters, now it's wonderful... I really love this album. THX again

      Delete
    3. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Glad the new file is much better. Sometimes in my haste or the busyness of posting, errors slip by. I really appreciate visitors such as yourself letting me know. That way I can make it more enjoyable not only for you but for all.

      Delete
    4. I'm glad I could help, keep up the good work!

      Delete
  4. Gadgetree
    mPhFsQx0VDT0lSVjkq646jhgHIuDH4BcD182DVF6sps
    Invisible Yearnings
    1nL7iMhaaZfykiOGhh-kyYtSlz4d3IrAW5RXtFKLysA
    Royal Bastard
    _Wf_-WJvKvZPx71nwBWxL1SAgf54TJlzGF3zDo2vFJk
    Tallulah
    VcUyNOD-cTqTMssi_nLHuceyKVm0oez67J9xuI9KX2g
    Remarkable
    G2Y-gkW69K6ZKPEISDjwyjJ4tTbH6lQ-juWxhC6iHG4

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have my own copy of remarkable and I can concur that it is a fine collection of music from this strange and reculsive artist.
    My dream/fantasy is that all his Plain Characters work gets remastered and released.

    ReplyDelete