OK, OK, it’s a bit early to start talking about Christmas already, but as we know, the mighty CUD band are always one step ahead.
The band have revealed that they will be playing 2 intimate gigs which should be very special indeed.
The first is a return to the Leeds Cockpit on 14th December, followed by a trip down the M1 on Santa’s sleigh for a show at the Water Rats, Kings Cross, London on the 15th.
Our pals Carl, William, Mike and Gogs crossed the Penines and dropped in for a session with 6Music’s Marc Riley.
While we can’t bring you the songs from the session due to the vagaries of the BBC, you can listen again here to the in depth chat putting some of those old Wikipedia myths to rest.
Having told us that there was not much by way of mementoes Gerry proceeded to produce numerous bags of demo tapes and twenty year old cassettes, boxes of original merchandise, upwards of twenty scrapbooks and even the odd piece of original artwork – not much work to do then!
Still , there are far worse ways to spend a weekend than by immersing yourself in memories of classic musical eras and Mega City Four certainly deserve their prominent place as a leader in the punk/pop movement of the 90’s.
With the track listing for the release already nearing completion and the sleevenotes underway we hope to have good news very soon on a release date- so please stay tuned or better yet register for news updates on MC4 and our other Partner Artists.
Sonic Youth once claimed that The Family Cat were their favourite UK rock band, so it’s about time that there was a collection of their finest tracks.
Five Lives Left: The Anthology has been compiled by Paul Frederick (aka Fred) and John Graves. The 2CD set tracks the band’s career from the first single, Tom Verlaine, on Bad Girl Records through to previously unreleased tracks from the abandoned post-Magic Happens sessions.
Fred said “We chose all the singles and some alternative versions of a lot of the LP tracks, plus unreleased songs from the sessions which would have become the third full LP if the band had carried on after Magic Happens. It’s strange to listen to this music after so many years, but it’s good to hear that unique mixture of power-pop, pyschedelic grooves and heads down, no nonsense, guitar grinding!”
And John added “For me, this brings back a world when Snooker was popular, bands had to starve for their art, and CDs were quite a novelty. Looks like in 2012 we have come full circle.”
The 36 track set includes all the singles including the classic Steamroller, plus Colour Me Grey and River Of Diamonds featuring PJ Harvey on backing vocals. There are also 10 previously unreleased recordings featuring BBC sessions, key album tracks and b-sides.
You can pre-order the album here.
The tracklist is…(* denotes previously unreleased track)
1. Tom Verlaine (12″ Version)
2. Remember What It Is That You Love
3. Thought I’d Died And Gone To Heaven
4. Place With A Name (Single Version)
5. Colour Me Grey (Featuring PJ Harvey)
6. Steamroller (12″ Single Version)
7. Across The Universe
8. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
9. Jesus Christ
10. River Of Diamonds (Featuring PJ Harvey)
11. Airplane Gardens (Single Version)
12. Amazing Hangover (Single Version)
13. Springing The Atom (Single Version)
14. Wonderful Excuse (Single Version)
15. Goldenbook (Single Version)
16. Bring Me The Head Of Michael Portillo
17. Tom Verlaine (Re-Bereted)
1. Sandbag Your Heart (BBC Peel Session) *
2. Slept In Clothes (Album Version)
3. From The City To The Sea (BBC Peel Session) *
4. Endlesss Cigarette (Album Version)
5. Gabriels Wings (Album Version)
6. Too Many Late Nights (Album Version)
7. Furthest From The Sun
8. With A War (BBC Peel Session) *
9. Gameshow (BBC Peel Session) *
10. Fire Music
11. Move Over I’ll Drive (BBC Mark Goodier Session) *
12. Rockbreaking (Album Version)
13. Blood Orange
14. Nowhere To Go (BBC Goodier Session) *
15. If You Think You Know What Love Is
16. Ace Of Cups *
17. Snowplough *
18. Mount Pleasant (BBC Goodier Session) *
19. Taking Your Sister Home *
“Do we really need multiple live versions, in variable sound quality, of songs such as “Purple Love Balloon” or the Morrissey inspired “Only (a Prawn in Whitby)”? Yes, we do. Cud completists won’t need convincing, and newcomers will find plenty to enjoy in this beautifully produced four-disc package, containing material recorded for local and national radio from 1987 to 2006. Cud began life when a group of fine art students from Leeds Polytechnic retrieved a battered drum kit from a skip. Lead singer Carl Puttnam sent a demo to John Peel, leading to their first BBC session. Cud’s rise was meteoric, but the band split in 1995, reforming in 2006 to publicise a greatest hits compilation. They’re still going strong. So many of these songs are still very, very funny – Puttnam’s lyrics are consistently witty, and his larger than life vocal style never irks. The best Cud songs are noisy flashes of poetic gold, wearing their erudition lightly. One listen to “I’ve Had it With Blondes” should convert the uninitiated”.
It’s long, long overdue and details of the Family Cat Anthology are expected any day soon. Rumour has it that it’ll be called Five Lives Left…
During the research and compiling of the album, lead singer Fred found some extremely rare flexi-discs (remember those, kids!) in the Family Cat lock up. It’s from the Magic Happens era and Fred has kindly given us a copy to give away to you – all you need to do is register in the box at the top of the page and the winner will be drawn at the end of October.
If you are already registered, just send an email to info@3loopmusic.com with ‘I Want That There Flexi’ in the subject line.
Good luck!
The following is the official announcement from Julie’s Bicycle:
“3 loop music has achieved Industry Green certification in 2011/2012 and is awarded 1 star in recognition of its strong commitment to managing its carbon emissions and improving its environmental impacts.
Industry Green certification is developed by Julie’s Bicycle for music, theatre and the wider creative industries. By achieving Industry Green certification 3 loop music is joining the UK music industry’s response to climate change and environmental sustainability.
For more information about Industry Green and Julie’s Bicycle please visit”
3 loop music is extremely proud to have been awarded the mark, noting that we are the first example encountered by Julie’s Bicycle of a label demanding that all artists commit to the same environmental ends.
For more information on how we aim to minimise our impact on this our Earth check out our Green Credentials.
As previously mentioned the 4CD set features 69 tracks including alternative versions of all of their hits, a smattering of covers including inimitable takes of Like A Virgin, Urban Spaceman and Down Down, plus the full Carefree Sud session in all its psychedelic glory.
Including their 3 John Peel sessions, some extremely rare regional radio recordings and a full gig from Sheffield Sound City in 1993, it’s a captivating catalogue of CUD’s career from 1987 to 2006.
The set is released on 10th September and is available for pre-order here.
The set also comes with postcards and a poster designed by the band plus a booklet with brand new sleevenotes from Carl, William, Mike plus 6Music DJ Andrew Collins.
Tracklist
John Peel Show 1987
1. Mind The Gap
2. You’re The Boss
3. Don’t Bank On It
4. You Sexy Thing
John Peel Show 1988
5. Treat Me Bad *
6. Punishment-Reward Relationship *
7. Living In The Past
8. Everybody Works So Hard
John Peel Show 1989
9. Only (A Prawn In Whitby) *
10. BB CUDn’t C
11. (I’m The) Urban Spaceman *
12. Epicurean’s Answer *
On A Personal Note 1988
13. Slack Time *
14. I’ve Had It With Blondes *
On the Rocks 1987
1. You’re The Boss *
2. Mind The Gap *
3. Make No Bones *
4. Don’t Bank On It *
5. Van Van Van *
6. You Sexy Thing *
Carefree Sud 1989
7. Vocally Speaking
8. Wobbly Jelly
9. Price Of Love *
10. Starry Eyes
11. Mind The Gap *
12. Only (A Prawn In Whitby)
Jerry Hibbard’s Groove Web 1991
13. Pink Flamingo *
14. Down Down *
GLR 1994
15. Purple Love Balloon *
16. Slipaway *
Radio 5 Mark Radcliffe’s Hit The North 1991
1. Robinson Crusoe *
2. Hey, Boots *
3. Possession *
Radio 1 Mark Goodier 1991
4. Profession *
5. Oh No Won’t Do *
6. Purple Love Balloon *
7. Sometimes Rightly Sometimes Wrongly *
Radio 5 Mark Radcliffe’s Hit the North 1992
8. Easy *
9. Pink Flamingo *
10. Strange Kind Of Love *
11. No Smoking *
12. Through the Roof *
Radio 1 Mark Radcliffe Show 1994
13. Neurotica *
14. The Mystery Deepens *
15. Slipaway *
16. Ski Bum *
Radio 1 Collins and Maconie’s Hit Parade 1994
17. One Giant Love (Acoustic) *
18. Like a Virgin (Acoustic) *
6Music Gideon Coe Show 2006
19. Only (A Prawn In Whitby) *
20. Love In A Hollow Tree *
21. The Dream Is Killing Me *
Sheffield Sound City 1993
1. Rich And Strange *
2. Waving And Drowning *
3. Strange Kind Of Love *
4. The Mystery Deepens *
5. Love In A Hollow Tree *
6. Robinson Crusoe *
7. Purple Love Balloon
8. Possession
9. Slipaway *
10. Easy *
11. Through The Roof *
12. Eau Water *
13. Hey, Boots *
14. Ski Bum *
15. Vocally Speaking *
16. My Need To Hurry *
17. One Giant Love *
18. I’ve Had It With Blondes *
And from Fred’s current band, Jack Adaptor, here’s a tribute to her majesty on this Right Royal weekend. Possibly.
The 4th Jack Adaptor LP ‘Swimming Pool Lies’ is still available to buy now in record shops, on-line (at Cargo Records, itunes, Amazon etc) or from directly from the jackadaptor on-line record shop!
Visit Jack Adaptor for music from albums old and new.
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