Bucketfull Of Brains
Issue 34
Robyn Hitchcock And The Soft Boys
by Jon Storey
It's been a long wait, but finally The Soft Boys are available en masse in digital sound with the simultaneous release of three 5" discs, each clocking in on the healthy side of an hour. Here we will be looking at A Can Of Bees, Underwater Moonlight, and Invisible Hits as well as Robyn Hitchcock's new solo LP, Eye.
As most readers should already be more-than-familiar with The Soft Boys, I think we can dispense with the history lesson, and concentrate on the material to hand (anyone requiring further education is referred to back issue No. 23). For the sake of completeness, as far as Soft Boys CDs are concerned, I should remind you that the Raw Cuts CD (Overground OVER 05, 6 tracks), the digital equivalent of the Wading Through A Ventilator 12", has already been available for several months.
A Can Of Bees
(Two Crabs CLAW 1001CD) (61:32)
As any well-informed Soft Boys fan will tell you, there are three different versions of this album -- this 17-track CD encompasses all the important variations (thus, you get two versions of both "Sandra's Having Her Brain Out" and "Leppo And The Jooves") except that it omits "Have A Heart Betty" and "Rock 'n' Roll Toilet", originally on the Aura version of the LP and now included on the Invisible Hits CD (more later). Additionally, there is a previously unreleased studio version of "Skool Dinner Blues". I hope that makes sense. Thus, what you end up with is a bunch of underproduced-but-vibrant cuts recorded in late-'78, and a quartet of live recordings by a four-piece Soft Boys (Hitchcock/Rew/Metcalfe/Windsor), augmented in the studio by sometime member Jim Melton (vocals, harp, percussion), and Gerry Hale (violin). Even on this first album, The Soft Boys had already created a highly-distinctive sound, due mainly to the superb interplay of the Windsor/Metcalfe rhythm section, and Hitchcock's bizarre lyrics (prime examples here: "The Pigworker", "Leppo And The Jooves", "Return Of The Sacred Crab", "Sandra", and the live "Anglepoise Lamp", and "Ugly Nora").
Included in the insert are some brief sleeve notes about the sessions, by Hitchcock, with some comments on a bunch of unreleased tracks that he claims were recorded later on: "Jerry Scud, Hoof Lips", "God Of Beaks", "Bonde M'Teko Stomp", or "Lobsterman", anyone? I'd be very surprised if we ever get to hear these intirugingly-entitled teasers, though.
With its duplication of titles, and cheek-by-jowl studio and live cuts, the Can Of Bees CD may be an awkward beast -- but it's an eminently rewarding hour of music nonetheless. It also saves having to buy three versions of the same album -- at collectors' prices -- in order to hear all possible permutations.
Underwater Moonlight
(Glass Fish MOIST 1CD) (68:13)
This has eight extra cuts over the original UK LP, although two of those -- B-sides "Vegetable Man" and "Strange" (both Syd Barrett covers) -- were included on the German version of the original LP (released on the Roof label). The other additions are the "Only The Stones Remain"/"Where Are The Prawns?" single, "Song No. 4" (originally a B-side of "He's A Reptile"), and a trio of previously-unreleased cuts, "Dreams", "Black Snake Diamond Rock" (a live version of which appears on Lope At The Hive), and "There's Nobody Like You". "Dreams" is pleasant enough -- largely an instrumental workout, it doesn't rival The Soft Boys' best material. "Black Snake Diamond Rock" is much more aggressive -- with a stop-go rhythm and a snarled vocal repeating a "tulips from Amsterdam" motif -- and might perhaps have sat a little more easily on A Can Of Bees. "Nobody Like You" maintains the momentum, but harmony vocals (and an almost Boogie vibe) replaces the vitriol. Another welcome find.
Despite another catalogue of great songs (including the intense opening "Queen Of Eyes" and "Tonight"), the overall sound of Underwater Moonlight was way too thin and lacking in the lower frequencies -- though this CD release does seem a shade fuller. With its more straightforward song-structures and melodies, this set contains The Soft Boys' most immediately-accessible material. By this time, Andy Metcalfe was replaced by Matthew Seligman (although both Hitchcock and Rew play some bass in addition to guitar).
Invisible Hits
(Glass Fish MOIST 7CD) (63:30)
Ah, the posthumous album. Not released until 1983, Invisible Hits comprises material recorded at Spaceward Studios (as was Can Of Bees) between October '78 and June '79. Highlights here include The Soft Boys' own "Brown Sugar": "Rock 'n' Roll Toilet" (featuring the band swapping instruments to add to the fun: Windsor on lead guitar, Metcalfe on drums, Rew on bass); Hitchcock getting into the groove on one of the most ludicrous Bo Diddley steals ever -- "Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole" -- as the others chant "jibba-jabba bathroom-squeak"; and the glorious Pop hooks of "He's A Reptile".
Five extra tracks include alternate version of "Have A Heart, Betty" and "Rock 'n' Roll Toilet" (both with Matthew Seligman, and originally on the third, Aura version of Can Of Bees); the original mixes of "When I Was A Kid" and "Love Poisoning" (as per the rare Bucketfull 7"); and, to close, a live "Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole" recorded at the Lady Mitchell Hall in Cambridge, late-'78. Invisible Hits isn't in the same league as Can Of Bees and Underwater Moonlight, though it remains an essential, and rewarding, purchase.
So while we should be thankful that the vast bulk of The Soft Boys' catalogue is available on CD, a few items (apart from a heck-of-a-lot of previously unreleased songs and various alternate versions) remain on vinyl only. Most obviously, there's most of the Two Halves For The Price Of One LP (all five live cuts, and three of the five studio tracks remain unavailabe on CD), which could be filled out with the Portland Arms live stuff -- or perhaps some other previously-unreleased live material from the Lady Mitchell Hall gig.
Leaving aside the Soft Boys bonanza, Robyn Hitchcock has a new album newly-available on Glass Fish (France) and TwinTone (USA), with a CD version including extra tracks. Despite this return to "indie" labels, Hitchcock remains signed to A&M, and a new record featuring The Egyptians is scheduled for 1991.
Eye
(Glass Fish MOIST 8) (Europe)
(TwinTone TTR 89175) (USA)
Where Hitchcock's A&M albums seem overtly radio-easy, Eye is a return to basics -- songs for voice and acoustic guitar, unmatched in their sparse instrumentation since 1984's I Often Dream Of Trains. On the back cover, Robyn glances over his shoulder; while on the front, a tiny prawn basks in the corner of an eye. The faithful can, and undoubtedly will, seek their own interpretation (ha, ha). While on the subject of the sleeve, an odd reference to the mid-'70s hit "Kung Fu Fighting" (it doesn't appear on this album) is easily explained. Robyn told me he has recorded the number for a forthcoming anti-Poll Tax compilation LP. Can you wait?
Although all of Eye's fourteen tracks are previously unreleased (all recorded at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, 1988-9), some may be familiar through live performance -- notably "Flesh Cartoons", "Cynthia Mask", and "Executioner". "Queen Elvis" is, of course...but no, its easy familiarity is misleading, because this song wasn't on the album of the same name. As well as performing a lot of these new songs during recent U.S. radio broadcasts, Robyn has also been heard to perform excellent impersonations of Bob Dylan ("Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands") and Jim Morrison ("The Crystal Ship"), attesting to his skill as a mimic. But we digress....
Making guest appearances on Eye's crowded stage are renowned chicken-fancier Napolean Bonaparte, sharing a rare tune ("Cynthia Mask") with Neville Chamberlain; timid drag artist "Queen Elvis"; cool San Francisco DJ Linda Ryan ("Flesh Cartoons"), like Mark Ellen (in "Clean Steve"), a longtime champion; a lazy-but-pretty "'Chinese Water Python'"; and an amazing self-decapitation specialist ("Aquarium"). And that's just the tip of this iceberg. The songs pose a hundred ridles (or none), disgorging a welter of images somehow obscurely related -- or a stream-of-consciousness mumbo-gumbo, sliced for easier digestion (??). Several times 'round the block, and I'm none-the-wiser (which is probably the best way to be). But I should point out that other tracks are more conventionally attractive. In particular "Beautiful Girl" and "Raining Twilight Coast" (both on side two): stand-aloof, simple-but-captivating love songs.
One thought persists: in mentioning, with some degree of affection; real characters like Ryan, Ellen, and Kimberley Rew; it almost seems as though Hitchcock is, ahem, "paying his dues". Perhaps considering closing the current chapter of his work? On the final track, "Aquarium", he sings, "You know I'm gonna miss you when I'm gone", addressing the statement via two significantly different voices, to, I suggest, both the character/monster he has created -- Robyn Hitchcock, wacky Englishman with shellfish-fetish -- and his ever-faithful hard-core audience.
For whatever reasons, Hitchcock angrily "retired" from public performance in the early-'80s, re-emerging in 1984 as something of a cult celebrity and going on to achieve far greater recognition (certainly in the USA) than he had ever done with The Soft Boys (or via his initial solo releases). With this in mind, it occurs to me that lure of fame and fortune -- and the question of the motives behind a second "retirement" -- are what Robyn is wrestling with here in Eye's closing minutes.
But what do I know? I'm just a fan, after all. Nevertheless, I can assure you that this is a strangely fascinating and multi-faceted album -- and one which will keep me intrigued for a long while yet. And I see no earthly reason why you shouldn't feel the same. So give it a whirl. By the way, the CD has four extra cuts: "Sweet Ghost Of Light", "College Of Ice", "Transparent Lover", and an electric version of "Queen Elvis".
The recordings covered in this article span the recorded history of one of this country's most idiosyncratic performers, and are a timely reminder of his inspired songwriting and enduring talent. If Robyn Hitchcock's music over the next decade is as rich and as varied as his existing catalogue to-date, I'll be one very satisfied customer. Last, but by no means least, the complementary skills and input of Andy Metcalfe, Morris Windsor, Kimberley Rew, and Matthew Seligman -- admirably displayed on the three Soft Boys CDs covered herein -- should never be underestimated.
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