Roo wrote:
> Joe Horowitz wrote:
> > "Roo" wrote:
>
> >> 16. Lloyd Cole - Lloyd Cole
>
> > I used to love Lloyd Cole when I was about twelve or thirteen, my bro
> > had a load of his albums and ISTR they were all quite good. Were the
> > others called 'Rattles****s' and 'Easy Pieces' or something? Mind
> > you he's probably done more now.
>
> Aye, 'Rattles****s', 'Easy Pieces' and 'Mainstream' were all Lloyd Cole
and
> the Commotions albums, love them all. The album I mentioned in my list
was
> his first solo effort after splitting from The Commotions. I remember
> reading about that album in Q Magazine in about 1989 and the reviewer
said
> summat like 'Cole has turned in his brown suede jacket for a more manly
> black leather one' (or words to that effect). I liked that. I also
read
> recently that his early solo stuff is regarded as more grown up...not
sure
> about that but I do prefer it.
>
> One of the best gigs I have ever seen was Cole in Liverpool. He played
an
> acoustic set for about 2 hours in a room which held a couple of hundred
at
> most. Every time I have seen an interview with him he has always come
> across as a miserable bastard but at this gig he was really funny,
cracking
> jokes, telling anecdotes and having a bit of banter with the crowd.
>
> Sometime last year I got to see Lloyd Cole and the Commotions play a
> 'Greatest Hits' show as part of a mini tour promoting the
> repackaged/remastered/re-released (delete as applicable) best of album.
> Remember how you think they sounded when you were twelve? They were
even
> better last year.
A heads up in case you're not aware, LC has a new record out,
"Antidepressant", kind of rare these years, as he seems to have sort of
been
through some hard times, career-wise. Always loved his work, though...
"Rattles****s" defined the Summer of 1985 for me, and "Love Story", the
last
one I remember him putting out, has some of his best work, imo.
Some older LC tracks at:
http://www.myspace.com/lloydcole
> Lyrics: http://www.lloydcole.com/weblog/index.php?p=1634&c=1
>
> At Home Alone
> publication: The Scotsman
> publication date: 19/09/2006
> posted: 30/09/2006 by grambo
> category: Record Reviews
>
> At home alone
> FIONA STURGES
> THE hair is gun-metal grey and the trademark black polo-neck sweater has
> vanished, but Lloyd Cole is still recognisable as the one-time
centrepiece
> of Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. Nevertheless, sitting over an afternoon
beer
> reflecting on his career, the singer notes how growing old can present
> something of a challenge when it comes to selling records.
> "It's very hard if you don't have some novelty about you," he says.
"I've
> been around for ever, so why should anyone get excited about a new Lloyd
> Cole album? To my mind, my music doesn't sound all that different from
some
> of the popular bands around at the moment. The difference is that
they're
in
> their twenties and have cool haircuts and I'm a grey-haired
45-year-old."
> Cole's accent reveals both his Derby****re roots and 17 years of living
in
> America. He originally moved to New York for a "brief sabbatical", but
met
> his wife there and stayed on. Having been driven from Manhattan by
rising
> house prices, the couple now live with their two sons in the Pioneer
Valley
> in Massachusetts. "It's horrible weather, which I'm used to, but it's
nice
> countryside," Cole remarks. "We've just moved to a house with a big
garden.
> I'm now a typical suburban dad who mows the lawn at weekends."
> Cole is in London to discuss his new album, Antidepressant, though he's
been
> spending most of his trip taking his eldest son, William, on a tour of
his
> old stomping ground in Glasgow, from the university campus (he left a
note
> for his English literature tutor) to Nico's bar, an old band hang-out in
> Sauchiehall Street.
> "I like it in Glasgow a lot and I'd move back there in a second if it
> weren't for my family," he says. "I have great memories of the time I
spent
> there. Plus, I prefer the weather - I like a more temperate climate."
> If there's a sense of nostalgia about the old haunts, it no longer
applies
> to the band that he led for five triumphant years in the mid-1980s. He
got
> that out of his system two years ago when he reunited with the former
> Commotions - guitarist Neil Clark, keyboard player engineer Blair Cowan,
> drummer Steven Irvine and bassist-turned-s****ts writer Lawrence Donegan
-
> for one final tour. The shows marked the 20th anniversary of the release
of
> Rattles****s, the band's best-loved record and one of the defining
moments
> in 1980s indie rock.
> "It was fun to do, but I don't want to do it again," Cole states. "The
tour
> was great, but it was interesting how the same problems re-emerged. A
couple
> more weeks together and we'd have been bickering again. I realised that
I
> was quite happy having left the band. I think we all felt the same way."
> As a teenager in the 1970s, Cole was a self-confessed music nerd who
prided
> himself on being able to complete the NME crossword in ten minutes, and
was
> captivated by glam rockers such as Marc Bolan and David Bowie. An
unlikely
> choice of idols, I note, given his penchant for sombre outfits and moody
> poses.
> "I guess that's true," he replies. "I think during the Commotions years
I
> had this idea of what a glamorous pop star should be, and it didn't
involve
> glitter. But I never wanted to look like the bloke next door. People
used
to
> say I had this sort of brooding cool. I think I just have the misfortune
of
> having a face that looks miserable even when it's not."
> When the band began life in 1982, Cole was studying at Glasgow
University.
> Originally a sprawling soul band, the group eventually trimmed itself
down
> to a quintet and alighted upon jangly guitar pop as its signature sound.
> Being the only Englishman in a Glaswegian band, Cole says he rarely felt
> like the odd one out, since the press and his fellow band mates dubbed
him
> "an honorary Scot".
> Their 1984 debut, Rattles****s, was instantly appropriated by the
student
> bedsit brigade, who wor****pped Cole's unashamed erudition. The songs
came
> with wry references to his cinematic and literary heroes ("read Norman
> Mailer/Or get a new tailor," he sang on Are you Ready to be
Heartbroken?).
> The novelist Dave Eggers recently credited Cole with turning him on to
Joan
> Didion (the song Speedboat was based on her first book), who, in turn,
> inspired him to start writing. Yet, despite the kudos, the Commotions
> weren't the most commercially successful of bands. They never had a
single
> in the top ten; their highest chart placing was at 17 with Lost Weekend
in
> 1985. However, Rattles****s was in the top-selling 100 albums for a
year,
> while their first single, Perfect Skin, landed them a slot on Top of the
> Pops.
> "To start with, I thought the life we had was very glamorous and
romantic,"
> says Cole. "To be living as a singer in a rock band and being on TV and
> appearing in magazines was exactly what I'd dreamt about as a kid.
> "But then the day-to-day reality of it proved less exciting. It was a
lot
of
> work and we never really found a way to enjoy life on the road. Maybe we
> weren't wild enough. We drank plenty, but we didn't have wild parties.
> Instead, we'd all just sneak off and do our own thing."
> It wasn't until Cole left the band and moved to New York in the late
1980s
> that he took full advantage of the rock'n'roll lifestyle. At one stage,
he
> had four girlfriends on the go and - rebel that he was - even grew his
hair
> long. "I got married with that haircut; it completely ruined our wedding
> photos," he grumbles. But, by the early 1990s, his solo career was on a
> downward slide, with each record selling fewer copies than the last.
> Eventually, in 1996, his record company, Mercury, rejected his new album
and
> demanded that he put out a greatest-hits package. Cole refused, and
instead
> negotiated his way out of his contract.
> "I think I managed to escape being dropped by a few months, but it's the
> same thing really. I was lucky that the managing director was someone
with
> whom I was on good terms. We realised he was trying to sell records and
I
> was trying to make records, but we both had different ideas about how
that
> should be done. Essentially, we'd both failed. That said, I truly
believe
> that I could have made (the Beach Boys' masterpiece) Pet Sounds and they
> wouldn't have liked it."
> Cole's next two albums went by virtually unnoticed, having been licensed
in
> the UK via an obscure French label. By this point, he was close to
declaring
> himself bankrupt. Since then, he says, economic considerations have been
at
> the forefront when planning his next move.
> "There comes a point in your life when you have responsibilities other
than
> yourself, and you just have to make a living," he reflects. "Weird as it
> sounds, I found it quite liberating. The first gig I did purely for the
> money was this folk festival in Belgium in 1994 and it turned out to be
> great. I feel lucky that I got through ten years without ever having to
> consider issues of finance, but also a bit stupid that I didn't think
about
> it before. There were times when I singlehandedly employed about 20
people
> to help out, without making a profit myself. Now I make my bookings
based
on
> economics, and then I try and play the best show I can." Now Cole is
signed
> to Sanctuary records ("a haven for old codgers"), who seem happy to
release
> the finished product as it is delivered. Antidepressant, recorded on an
> Apple Mac computer in a studio near his home, is his first release in
three
> years. Though there are occasional bleak moments, it's a warm and witty
> record that finds him in a comparatively chipper mood. The old literary
> references are notable by their absence, along with the learned
wordplay.
> "Antidepressant was certainly constructed with a light-hearted
intention,"
> notes Cole. "Songs like How Wrong Can You Be? and I Didn't See it
Coming,
I
> think they're sad rather than bleak. I don't necessarily rein in my
> melancholy moments, but, at the same time, I don't want to make Blood on
the
> Tracks. My life isn't entirely unhappy, and I don't want to give the
> impression that it isn't worth living. My life experiences are always
varied
> and I like the idea that the songs reflect that." The album may reveal a
> more optimistic frame of mind, though there's a discernible weariness in
his
> voice when he talks about the rigmarole of touring. There are periods,
he
> says, when he's toyed with the idea of giving up music altogether and
> concentrating on his other passion: golf.
> "I love playing it and I have this ridiculous dream that I could design
golf
> courses for a living," he says wistfully. "Apparently, you have to be
good
> at numbers and I was a real maths whiz at school. But my overwhelming
> feeling is that, if I can keep on plugging away with music and adding to
> this body of work that I've been developing since the early 1980s, then
in
> the future people might find it something worth treasuring. That's
really
> all I want."
> . Antidepressant will be released on 25 September on Sanctuary records.
> Lloyd Cole appears live at Edinburgh Queen's Hall on 25 October.
> A life of occasional Commotions
> . Born 31 January, 1961, in Buxton, Derby****re, Cole grows up in nearby
> Chapel-en-le-Frith.
> . After school, he goes to University College London to study law. He
fails
> the course and decamps to Glasgow University, where he studies
philosophy
> and English. He never graduates.
> . In 1982, he forms the Commotions with Blair Cowan on keyboards,
Lawrence
> Donegan on bass guitar, Neil Clark on guitar and Stephen Irvine on
drums,
> all friends from Glasgow University.
> . In 1984, The Commotions sign with Polydor and their debut album,
> Rattles****s, is released.
> . In 1985 the band's biggest album, Easy Pieces, is released, reaching
No
5
> in the album charts. More polished than Rattles****s, it includes the
> singles, Lost Weekend and Brand New Friend, both of which gain
significant
> airplay.
> . In 1987 the band releases Mainstream. It fails to live up to the
promise
> of the preceding albums.
> . In 1989, the Commotions disband over artistic disagreements. Cole
moves
to
> New York and goes solo. He records with Fred Maher and Robert Quine and
> releases two solo albums, Lloyd Cole in 1990, and Don't Get Weird on Me
Babe
> a year later.
> . Throughout the 1990s he releases a number of solo albums, and in 2000
> records an album with the New York-based band, the Negatives.
> . In 2004, in celebration of Rattles****s' 20th anniversary, Lloyd Cole,
> below, and the Commotions reform to perform a one-off, sell-out tour in
the
> UK and Ireland
> . In 2006, the Scottish band Camera Obscura release Lloyd, I'm Ready to
Be
> Heartbroken in reply to Cole's 1984 hit, Are You Ready to Be
Heartbroken?
--
"Hasty Pudding" by Will Dockery-Henry Conley
http://www.myspace.com/willdockery
TAS, featuring the song "Fadeaway Encounter", written by Dockery-Conley:
http://www.johnhmaloney.com/tuesdayshow/tasep34.mp3
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