One day Josie Jones arrives unnanounced at the One Little Indian offices in London. She tells label boss Derek Birket that she wants a deal for her new single.
"Let's hear it then," he sez.
Instead of playing him a demo, she reads out, in a dour northern accent, her 'imperfect list'. Birket is blown away by the words, & decides to take a punt, offering her a tiny recording budget
A few weeks later, she returns with the masters. To everyone's amazement, not only is the track kinda amazing, but it is recorded by Robin Gutherie of Cocteau Twins & Pete Wylie with Andrew Weatherall remixes already arranged...
It's jaw-dropping weirdness, especially in its original beatless version - a list of evildoers & nastiness spat out in a vitriolic Scouse accent over a dark ambient drone.
"Adolf Hitler. the dentist. Terry & June. fucking bastard Thatcher. Scouse impersonator. silly pathetic girlies. silly pathetic woman. macho dickhead. Bonnie Langford. neighbours. lost keys. phoney friend. ungrateful accusing mate. the Royal family. Stock Aitken & Waterman. smiling Judas. heartbreaking lying friend. Myra Hindley. acid rain. stinking rich female in furs. disloyal lover. wife & child beater. drunken abuser. racist. bully. The Sun newspaper. AIDS inventor. Leon Brittan. all nonsense. massive massive oilslick. Jimmy Tarbuck. loneliness. cancer. hunger. greed. gut wrenching disappointment. evil gossiping fashion bastard. tasteless a&r wanker. hard cold fish. overdraft like a mountain. the Jimmy Swaggart show. the Tory invention of the non-working class. poll tax. commie bashers. mister Jesse Helms. Hillsborough. weird british judges. apartheid. John Lennon's murder. anyone's murder. the breakdown of the NHS. the death of the rain forest. Heysel stadium. rednecks. rape. homelessness. the all-American way. Clause 28. Tiananmen Square. sexual harrassment. Nelson Mandela's imprisonment. Nancy's term. Ronnie's term. miscarriage. where were you?"
decryption code in comments
Imperfect List 1
Imperfect List 2
Imperfect List 3
Imperfect List 4
Weirder & weirder,
NØ
Imperfect List
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So glad to see this up. I heard about it on another blog some time ago but the link was dead. And just in time to add two more to the list - Hegseth and the US judicial system. Today's news is sickening.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there is no perfect list. It would be near endless. Each day adds more & more supidity to the world view. What, sickening??? You don't want to witness a live stream execution. The Pentagon is now the new ISIS.
DeleteNot heard this before, thanks for sharing! BTW it's 'all nonces', not 'all nonsense' to my Northern ear.
ReplyDeleteI didn't translate, I just quoted the write up. Thanks, anon.
DeleteA solid '90s-style retreat.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see this posted on the main page.
ReplyDeleteKoenraad
Hi NØ ,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this peace of 90s art
Grüße and all the best to you
PETR
Thanks to you all. Hope you are enjoying the month of weirdness.
DeleteNice one! Thank you. Loving all the weirdness this month, that’s right up my alley. Can’t wait till I’m done moving and have access to download and listen to all these gems. A lot for me to catch up on.
ReplyDeleteI knew weirdness was definitely your bag. Trying to fill it with Halloween treats of a different (WEIRD) variety. Good luck with your move (?). For me moving has always been a strange blend of stress & pleasure. Hope all's well with you.
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