You Disappear From View
The other day I started writing a post about The Teardrop Explodes and went to dig out my old 7" of their single "Treason" (the original one on Zoo Records) with a view to recording its b-side for inclusion here but discovered that I didn't have it any more. Not only that but I didn't have any Teardrop Explodes on vinyl, all their other singles and both their albums were gone too, I'd completely forgotten I'd sold them along with a whole lot of other vinyl during a bout with poverty I had in the 90s. It was a bit of a pisser and I'm wondering why I flogged them when I still have all my Echo & The Bunnymen and Wah! Heat records and The Teardrops were by far my favourite of the Liverpool bands formed by one of The Crucial Three.
I know this is all deeply uninteresting but it sort of ties in to a point I was going to make about thinking that The Teardrops have been a little forgotten. For all the blog posts written about great post-punk bands of the past you never seem to hear their name mentioned much, at least not anywhere I've been visiting lately. Am I the only one carrying a torch for their greatness? It's not as if I used to overhear people talking about them at the bus stop all the time but these days I have the sense they don't get thought of much at all and certainly don't inspire the same devotion that The Bunnymen do. I know they only made two albums but having a small back catalogue has never stopped the creation of a cult-like following for certain bands (hello, Josef K) and there isn't a single Teardrop Explodes fan site on the web. So this is my way of throwing a bit of love and respect their way, and how could you not love a band that called their (aborted) third album "Everybody Wants To Shag... The Teardrop Explodes".
While The Bunnymen could be a tad overwrought and Wah! in all their various guises were a little slapdash, both Teardrop albums are gems of bright pop thrills and offbeat eccentricity that sound as fresh now as the day they were picked. Luckily I also happen to have both of them on CD though you can't beat still having the original records and it would have been nice to have the version of "Books" (a song also recorded by The Bunnymen) that was on the b-side of "Treason" if only to remind myself if it's any different to the one on their first album.
Download: Books - The Teardrop Explodes (mp3)
Download: Colours Fly Away - The Teardrop Explodes (mp3)
Download: The Great Dominions - The Teardrop Explodes (mp3)
Buy: "Kilimanjaro" (album)
Buy: "Wilder" (album)
PS: In case you didn't know where they got their name from, here it is. From an old Daredevil comic.
22 Comments:
I dug out The Bunnymen's album Porcupine the other day, and, apart from the singles, was really disappointed. It sounded dated and I personally could understand why they hadn't become the band they promised and somebody like U2 went global.
But Julian Cope...ah. I loved the Teardrops, and I think it helps that Copey has made some glorious records since that give the Teardrops a place in a lineage. Plus there are great songs involved; proper songs with verses and choruses, not just moody riffing.
I don't own anything of the Teardrops either anymore though...sold the vinyl..yup.
Looks like I might have to do some purchasing. Now where's my credit card?
Never knew that about their name. Very cool. I remember I loved Cope's "World Shut Your Mouth". Forgive me, but I still enjoy their hit "I Go Up" (that was the right name I think).
Huh, that's kind of depressing. I love the Teardrop Explodes, and if I had abandoned my 'Kilimanjaro' LP, I'd be bummed.
I take it you never visited Spinster's Rock. It was dedicated to Julian Cope and Teardrop and had tons of rare bootlegs and the like. Alas, it is gone now.
Isn't it time there was an Echo and the Bunnymen backlash?
Of all the 'important' bands from that period I think they've dated the worst.
Thanks. Always loved Teardrop Explodes; you are not alone in appreciating them.
As a former second hand record shop assistant I can tell you the reason: no-one wanted Wah! records, or Echo and the Bunnymen. Julian, on the other hand, has maintained enough of a cult following to keep his old stuff in circulation.
And as for an Echo backlash...well, they are Chris Martin's favourite band, and if that isn't enough to condemn them, I don't know what is.
I do remember the bloke at Record & Tape Exchange in Notting Hill Gate handing me back The Banshees and Simple Minds 12" singles I was trying to sell, saying "we've got too many of these" - if only he had done the same with my Teardrops singles.
Another vote for the Teardrops here -- that second album is pure genius as far as I'm concerned.
I'm with you on them not getting the respect they deserve, or really any mention at all. Maybe Julian's subsequent wander down the leylines scares people off?
I saw them at the Hammersmith Palais and it was one of the greatest things I ever saw - but I also saw them a couple of times be dreadful. Probably the druuugs.
The Teardrops and the Bunnymen were both fab. Bring on the rarities, please.
I think Echo and the Bunnymen have aged okay.
I featured the Teardrops in my first proper post. I always felt they weren't remembered for their massively disappionting 2nd album. Of course, I haven't heard it for over 25 years so I can't remember what I didn't like about it. Of the two songs I do remember I still don't particularly like 'Passionate Friend' but 'Tiny Children' has grown in stature.
I, too, loved the Teardrops more than the Bunnymen. Julian's "World Shut Your Mouth" has been my personal anthem since 198-whenever it was first released.
Only just discovered your blog and I love it, a really good range of tunes both unknown and not-heard-in-yonks (Silly Games! Thankyou!) and really buoyant writing.
Posting a Teardrops track has prompted me to post one too, the French version of Treason.
Teardrops 2nd is an absolute classic. way better then the first. I remember trying to be like the teardrops in my band Jane Pow, we had to get the drummers little brother in to play trumpet and we just played him reward and sais "Yeah like that " !
Bloody hell, "Reward" is still in my top 10 singles of all-time!
Mat
Everone hated Wilder but I loved it and still do. Well, I was living around Sefton Park in Liverpool at the time (I'g gone there only because I was such a big fan of the Liverpool scene, which had just about died by then ... Black anyone?)
Just wanted to say that I liked Cope, because altho he didnt always get it right, it was always an interesting and valiant attempt. A bit like Andy Partridge and XTC.
PS Kept all my vinyl. IM a drunkard but Im not stupid
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