Month: April 2024

Its April so that means that it is Record Store Day once again. Therefore, it is time for me to pul together a release I would like to see put out today but most probably never will. It is at this point that I should point out that there should always be a little caveat when stating that these are the complete recordings, as there is no doubt something else that a band/artist has recorded that they don’t want to release or that it is multiple takes of the same song which might be interesting in an historical sense, but will not justify multiple plays. 

Who were The Jennifers? For anyway who is a fan of Supergrass, you may well of heard of this group. This four piece were made up of Nic Goffey (Guitar), Andy Davies (Bass), Danny Goffey (Drums) and Gareth Coombes (vocals and guitar). There is a reference to a fifth member called Dan Fox but I have not been able to find out what his contribution was.

Formed in 1990, the band played their first gig at the Jericho Tavern. This legendary Oxford gig venue would play host to numerous bands who went on and made it (as it were). These include Ride, Pulp, Bombay Bicycle Club and Radiohead, even though the latter was when they were called On A Friday. The pub is still there but it does not seem to be the home of new bands. I am happy to be corrected on this last point. 

The band built up a reputation in their local music scene and produced two demo tapes of three songs each. These were sold at gigs and this in turn would lead to them securing a deal with Nude Records. Their first, and what would turn out to be their only release was a four track E.P. called ‘Just Got Back Today’. The E.P. reached number 18 in Melody Maker’s Indie Chart and number 23 in the N.M.E.. David Simpson, writing in the Melody Maker in 1992 said that “The Jennifers are a good pop group who could easily become a great one…and at this stage in their career they’re already better than David Jones/Bowie, Kraftwerk etc. were at this point in theirs”. High praise indeed. 

The band would play some dates in Belgium and the Netherlands as well as headlining at the Powerhaus venue in Islington. The Song ‘Just Back Back Today’ was included on the compilation ‘Independent 20 Volume 16’ along with such names as Suede, Belly and The Smashing Pumpkins. The band were said to be demoing new material but their relationship with Nude Records soured due to a difference in ideas and attitude. 

‘Tightrope’, a new song was demoed and was included on the compilation ‘Days Spent Dreaming’, which was produced to highlight bands from Oxford. The song was said to be the one they hoped would be their next single but no new record deal was forthcoming, so the band split up. Andy Davies went off to University and Nic Goffey became a film maker, directing a number of music videos along with his partner Dom Hawley. These included a number by Supergrass, which was the next band formed by Danny Goffey and Gareth Coombes, even though by  that stage he was calling himself Gaz. 

So what do we have on this release? We have all four songs from the ‘Just Got Back Today’ E.P. along with six tracks from the cassettes the band would sell at gigs. The seventh song is ‘Tightrope’ from the aforementioned ‘Days Spent Dreaming’ compilation. Is there anything else in the archive? Well, this is a complete record of what the band put out in the public domain. If there is anything else, the group members have not deemed us worthy of hearing them. 

Side A

1. Just Got Back Today
2. Rocks & Boulders
3. Danny’s Song
4. Tomorrow’s Rain
5. Nobody’s Fool (Demo)
6. (Slow Song) (Demo)

Side B

1. Flying (Demo)
2. Inside Of Me (Demo)
3. Cosmic Trees (Demo)
4. Tomorrow’s Rain (Demo)
5. Tightrope (Demo)

The cover is based on the minimalist design of The Jennifers original release. Instead of someone licking an iced lolly, there is a picture of the band. 

Blur were formed in 1988 when school friends, Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon were joined by Alex Hames and Dave Rowntree. Initially called Seymour, Albarn, James and Coxon were all studying at Goldsmith’s College and Rowntree had played in previous bands with Coxon. By 1989, they played their first gig and after recording some demos, attracted the interest of Food Records. Duly signed, their second single, ‘There’s No Other Way’ broke the top ten in the UK. The singles either side of this did not chart as highly. ‘Leisure’ the parent album also broke the Top Ten but it did garner mix reviews. 

A tour of the USA in 1992, ostensibly to pay off their debts lead to fighting between members. Homesick and close to being drooped by their label, the band returned with the ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ LP. The album and all of the singles that were taken from it all charted and the band were able to keep their record deal. Considering what was to come next, it does show that sometimes you really need to let an artist grow. Success does not always come straighter away. 

In 1994, the band released the single ‘Girls & Boys’. This and parent album ‘Parklife’ came out at exactly the right time for the band to ride on the wave of the new Britpop scene. The ‘Parklife’ single, featuring actor Phil Daniels, seemed to be everywhere in the late summer of 1994, but I was surprised to find that this was not as big a hit as ‘Girls and Boys’. It was around this time that the feud with Oasis, that other behemoth of Britpop started. This would culminate with the infamous Battle of Britpop when the bands released their latest singles on the same day. Blur with ‘Country House’ and Oasis with ‘Roll With It’. For such a monumental time (as this race to see who would make it to number 1 made the national news), both songs were not very good. 

Blur ultimately won that battle but their next album, ‘The Great Escape’ was eclipsed in sales by Oasis and their ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? album. Feeling that the writing observational pop songs had run its course, the band released ‘Blur’ which showed Coxon’s interest in American noise alternative rock. However, this collection does not go this far into the story, nor does it include anything of the B-Sides released before ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’. As this is a year of celebrating all things Britpop, this just focuses on that era of the band’s releases. 

Blur released eleven singles in the UK so there was a lot of material to choose from, but unlike Suede or Oasis, their hit rate for top notch B-Sides was not as great. However what does become clear, especially when listening to the singles for ‘The Great Escape’ was how they were already to experiment with the sound that would come to dominate their 1997 self titled album. 

Side A

1. Ultranol (The Univsesal – 1995)
2. Threedneedle Street (To The End – 1994)
3. Bone Bag (For Tomorrow – 1993)
4. My Ark (Chemical World – 1993)
5. St Louis (Chemical World – 1993)
6. Beechcoma (For Tomorrow – 1993)
7. Anniversary Waltz (Girls & Boys – 1994)

Side B

1. A Song (Stereotypes – 1996)
2. No Monsters In Me (The Univsesal – 1995)
3. Into Another (For Tomorrow – 1993)
4. The Man Who Left Himself (The Story Of The Charmless Man – 1996)
5. Theme from An Imaginary Film (Parklife – 1994)
6. Tame (Stereotypes – 1996)
7. Supa Shoppa (Parklife – 1994)

I adapted the cover from an image I found the blog http://blur-expresso.blogspot.com/2009/10/blur-b-sides-rarities