Bucketfull Of Brains
1986 (Issue 14)
Robyn Hitchcock
As Hot As Sprouts
by Jon Storey
The re-emergence of Robyn Hitchcock, as a performer -- on both stage and record -- began twoards the end of 1984 with sporadic gigs (The Hope And Anchor, and The Bell in London's Kings Cross, spring readily to mind -- where he was backed by The Egyptians (featuring the former Soft Boys rhythm duo: Andy Metcalfe, bass; and Morris Windsor, drums; together with Roger Jackson on keyboards; and augmented, on occasion, by Otis "Horns" Fletcher on the obvious)) and the release of the solo LP I Often Dream Of Trains. Momentum built during the first six months of 1985 and culminated in the splendid Fegmania! album (which really ought to reside in all record collections).
Nigel Cross and I spoke to Robyn in early-summer '85, and the resultant interview can be found in B.O.B. Issue 12 (a few copies of which are still available -- see inside front cover). In the intervening period, there have been further releases: a live LP and video, both entitled Gotta Let This Hen Out!. The album (reviewed last issue) is a real treat -- being virtually a live greatest hits selection, and featruing material originally recorded with The Soft Boys, revamped by the superb Egyptians, together with more recent material. There is a cassette version of the LP, which contains three additional songs ("The Fly", "Only The Stones Remain", and "Egyptian Cream") from the same Marquee performance. The video is a visual delight, mixing onstage action and footage of Robyn playing some acoustic songs ("Surgery", "Sounds Great When You're Dead", and "Ghost Ship") with three films made by Robyn and Tony Moon to great affect. Of the three films, I particularly enjoyed the tranquility of "I Often Dream Of Trains". Robyn's stated preference is for "The Man With The Lightbulb Head", which shows just how much can be achieved on a budget of £180! The only advantage Robyn can see in having, say, £40,000 to play with is that it would enable him to produce about 200 new films!!
In early December I met with Robyn to find out about his recent visits to The States, and a veritable deluge of records to be released in 1986.
There were three visits to the USA -- the first unfortunately terminated when, during the fifth date of a six-week tour, Robyn collapsed onstage in Texas. "I wasn't strong enough when I [following hospital treatment] went out to America. After a series of wrenching 50-volt shocks from the microphone, I just couldn't stand it any more." The band returned to The States about a month later to play a few dates in the New York area (in fact, they were the final dates of the original tour). Andy Metcalfe was unavailable for both sets of dates, and so Chris Cox played bass (having previously played with Robyn on the Groovy Decay and Trains LPs).
In November '85, Robyn and The Egyptians, this time with Andy Metcalfe -- although he has also joined the re-formed Squeeze lineup as well as remaining in The Egyptians ["So he can have his chips and peas at the same time" -- Robyn] -- for their first proper, three-week tour. The band travelled in a large truck "with a red Indian painted on it -- it was great. Like a large pink womb that we drove around in." The audiences were receptive, and familiar with the material on both Fegmania! and Gotta Let This Hen Out! -- both of which had been released domestically (on Slash and via Important, respectively). Robyn noted that people were prepared to travel long distances to get to the shows, but "the real hard-core loonies, the ones that want to occupy the same suit of clothes as you at the same time, are probably more over here [in the UK]. In The States, they're just very appreciative, and they don't walk right up to you like they were looking into a fish tank." Robyn and The Egyptians plan to return to The States in late-March (and possibly also in September, too) with gigs pencilled in for New Orleans, Texas, California, Seattle, and in Canada, too. In addition to the two LPs already availabe Stateside, I Often Dream Of Trains will also be made available via Important this year, and the Portland Arms live Soft Boys cassette (previously only available by mail to purchasers of the SB's Invisible Hits LP) is also being released. Robyn: "The Portland Arms has a much better feel to it than any of the Soft Boys albums, because everyone was smiling when it was done. It was the sunny side of it." We discussed the merits of cassettes in general, and Robyn suggested it is only a matter of time before "dead-o-phones" are installed in coffins, with tape loops, for perpetual audio enjoyment. His own preference is for Ace Of Spades by the mighty Motorhead! ("Rest in peace"??)
Robyn has been working on obtaining the rights to reissue his earlier Soft Boys and solo material in the USA, where it has never been available previously (except on an import basis). So American readers can anticipate a clutch of classic records this year, you lucky people!
Regarding "new" recordings, there are a plethora of vinyl delights in store, which are due for release over the coming months, both in the UK and the USA, too. To make things as comprehensible as possible, we'll take these albums one by one:
Invisible Hitchcock
Invisible Hitchcock will consist of previously unreleased Robyn Hitchcock outtakes. Currently proposed for inclusion are songs entitled: "My Favourite Buildings", which Robyn gave a public debut at the Ronnie Scott's solo gig in March '85, when he supported John Cale; "The Abandoned Brain"; "Mr. Deadly"; "The Chinese Insect Commercial", which was considered for release as a 45 some years ago; another version of "Grooving On An Inner Plane"; "Scarlet Suitcase And A Long Bottle Of Wine", which has Tom Dolby helping out; and a Pop-y song called "All I Wanna Do Is Fall In Love", which was, says Robyn, "written for Roger McGuinn, but never presented to him." There will be others. Robyn was in the process of compiling tracklistings when we met.
Maureen And The Meatpackers
This album contains pre-Soft Boys material which was recorded in 1976 at Spaceward Studios (later used by The Boys themselves). Maureen And The Meatpackers didn't actually exist as a live performing unit, although the material on the album was based on Robyn's prior Folk club/cabaret act, which also involved two young ladies called Ros and Anst, and a guy called Paul, who played guitar and sang. In order to undertake the Meatpackers project, further personnel were necessary, and Robyn obtained the services of "a Jazz drummer called Hugh Stacy, a bass player we used to call 'The Tide Of Filth' (he's a lawyer now), and another guitarist called Hank. Robyn performed one of the Meatpackers' numbers, "The Unpleasant Stain", during the solo set mentioned earlier. Instrumentation on the album is acoustic guitars, bass, and drums; and the material "isn't nearly as paranoid as it became a couple of years later." [with The Soft Boys]
1st Soft Boys Sessions
Continuing the historical theme, and the deluge of albums, is 1st Soft Boys Seesions, which is exactly what you'd expect -- the sessions having been recorded within a year of the Meatpackers material, in March, 1977. Amongst the tracks on the album should be "Ugly Nora", "Of A Walnut" and "yet another version of 'Give It To The Soft Boys'." Other songs recorded at this session include "Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole", "Look Into Your Mirror", "Where Are The Prawns?", and "Innocent Boy". The recording sessions were produced by one Chris Hamburger, the deal being that in return Chris' band were allowed the use of the Hitchcock residence for rehearsal purposes -- a transaction that did not find favour with the neigbours! The Soft Boys' lineup then consisted of Robyn on guitar and vocal, Andy Metcalfe on bass, Morris Windsor on drums, and Alan Davies on guitar (later to be replaced by Kimberley Rew).
Groovy Decoy
Already available, but in the Netherlands only, is a 12" curio entitled (note the spelling!) Groovy Decoy. Rather than a straightforward reissue of the 1982 Albion album, there have been -- as I'm sure you fully anticipate by now -- changes made. The original artwork has been dispensed with, and the new cover sports a pair of stills from the Gotta Let This Hen Out! video. Additionally, "Grooving On An Inner Plane", from the original release, has been omitted, and replaced by the two non-album songs -- "It Was The Night" and "How Do You Work This Thing?" -- which only previously appeared on the flip-side of the "America" 45 (on Albion ION 1031)! I hope this is all now clear, disc-o-philes! Next time I suppose it'll be called Gravy Decay, and include the unreleased version of "Midnight Fish" and "Kingdom Of Love" from the B-side of the Nightride To Trinidad 12" instead -- but don't hold your breath.
New Songs
While (as we have seen) there is a vast amount of "historical" recordings awaiting release, I was keen to determine what can be expected next from Robyn and The Egyptians. I mentioned that little new material was being included in the live set -- except for a stately new song called "The President" ("He's the president of Europe/And he's talking to the dead/They're the only ones who'll listen, or/Believe a word he's said"). Robyn explained that with the band's outside activities, rehearsals were hard to fit in. But he has written a further twenty (or so) new songs. "At the moment, all the stuff is tending towards long Folk-y songs. People haven't recorded (except perhaps The Pogues) Folk music with modern instrumentation and sounds. It might be very interesting to record a bunch of traditionally-written songs in a very '80s way -- updating, in a way, what The Byrds did twenty years ago. Constructive technology could be used, but still with the band playing organically -- and with, maybe, a sequencer (or something like that). There's a song called 'Ghost Ships', and one about writhing called 'Bass' (as in the fish, rather than the instrument). There's one to do with sex and insects (not breaking any new ground for me). Another called 'Never Stop Bleeding'. It's a bit more gruesome than Fegmania!, which was one of those 'family albums' -- the acceptable face of the artist, like Transformer, Imagine, or Clear Spot. I hope that it doesn't come out too violent towards women, because I do get accused of that -- perhaps justly." At the time of writing, Robyn is organising a second "solo" showcase at Ronnie Scott's, set for 2nd February. He intends to perform several new songs, and aticipates being joined onstage by both Chris Cox on upright bass and Morris Windsor on percussion.
I asked Robyn about recordings made with R.E.M.'s guitarist, Peter Buck, early in 1985. "There's only two numbers, and it doesn't sound like R.E.M. -- it's like me, with more guitars. We play almost identical styles. It was just me, him, and Chris Cox on upright bass. It was recorded in Chris' home-studio. Hopefully Peter will feature on the next album." A fascinating combination, I'm sure you'll agree! Let's hope the vinyl lives up to the promise!
And finally, in case this lot hasn't already... [unreadable] ...and given your gullet nightmares, Robyn also mentioned the possibility of a fourth version of the Can Of Bees LP. Distinguishing features this time 'round could be a green back cover and a revamped tracklisting which will omit...no, no, NO! I really can't go on with this, it's all too much!
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