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…

The King of Luxembourg - Royal Bastard, Él ‎ACME 8, 1987.

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.

Colin Lloyd Tucker - Love Her Dearly, Humbug BAH13, 1995

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

Colin Lloyd Tucker – Remarkable, Humbug BAH2, 1990.

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.

Colin Lloyd Tucker – Unreleased Tracks & Sundry Songs

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,
NØ