At the turn of the 70s, songwriters like Tony Macaulay (‘Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes’), Cook and Greenaway (‘Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart’), Lynsey De Paul and Barry Blue (‘Storm In A Teacup’) and John Carter (‘Beach Baby’) were bossing the singles charts and Radio 1 while more serious acts such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd concentrated on album sales.

“Chip Shop Pop” is a stellar collection of super-melodic, expertly crafted songs; it gathers two dozen of the songs that got away, all potential hits written by these Denmark Street-schooled songwriters. You might have only heard these records once or twice before, coming out of a passing kid's transistor radio, or in the background in a cafe, or a chippie, and then they disappeared into the ether never to be heard again - until now.

Aside from the Fortunes, Marty Wilde and Candlewick Green, very few of these names will be at all familiar but the harmonies, the string and brass arrangements and top session musician playing will all be familiar to anyone who loves the sound of ‘My Baby Loves Lovin'’, ‘Silver Lady’ or ‘(If Paradise Is) Half As Nice’. They are all incredibly catchy.

Compiled by Bob Stanley from his sizeable collection of 70s 7" singles, ”Chip Shop Pop” revives records on Bell, UK, Young Blood and Bradley's, labels that were home to these unabashed radio-friendly sounds that would disappear when first disco, then punk, came along later in the 70s.
Dormant for decades, many unavailable for more than fifty years, here is a perfect collection of sunshine-friendly pop with a capital P.

TRACK LISTING

Side One
1. HELLO, HELLO, HELLO - STORMY PETREL
2. MELANIE MAKES ME SMILE - TONY BURROWS
3. TIP OF MY TONGUE - BROTHERLY LOVE
4. LOST AND FOUND - WHISKEY MAC
5. ON A PLANE TO NOWHERE - BARRACADE
6. LEAVE A LITTLE LOVE - CANDLEWICK GREEN
Side Two
1. LADY PEARL - CURRANT KRAZE
2. ON THE RUN - SCORCHED EARTH
3. I WANT TO BE WHERE YOU ARE - SCARECROW
4. TELLTALE - PATCHES
5. RUSTY HANDS OF TIME - PETER DOYLE
6. A LITTLE THING LIKE LOVE - RIVER
Side Three
1. DREAMS ARE TEN A PENNY - JOHN KINCADE
2. IN THE MORNING - BITTER ALMOND
3. EVERY LITTLE MOVE SHE MAKES - WHITE PLAINS
4. SCHOOLGIRL NOTION - JANIE & THE MARLETTES
5. HERE COMES THAT RAINY DAY FEELING AGAIN - FORTUNES
6. YELLOW BIRD (HAVE YOU NO HOME) - DESIGN
Side Four
1. CLOVELLY - ROGER HOLMAN & SIMON MAY
2. I NEED YOUR EVERLASTING LOVE - LIBERTY HELM
3. BYE GOODBYE - SILVER LINING
4. IT'S GETTING SWEETER ALL THE TIME - SHORTY
5. CATERPILLAR - COLD FLY
6. THIS IS MY LIFE - WEI WEI WONG

A definitive insight into the ever-influential world of Mark E. Smith and the Fall, featuring never-before published essays and ephemera from fans, collectors and the artist and band themselves.

This is not a book about a rock band. This is not even a book about Mark E Smith. This is a book about The Fall group - or more precisely, their world. Over a prolific forty-year career, the Fall created a world that was influential, idiosyncratic and fiercely original; it was an education. Who wouldn't want to be armed with a working knowledge of M.R. James, contemporary dance and Manchester City? Bringing together previously unseen artwork, rare ephemera and handwritten material, alongside essays by a slate of fans, EXCAVATE! is a vivid, definitive record - an illumination of the dark corners of the Fall's wonderful and frightening world.

'To 50,000 Fall Fans: please buy this inspired & inspiring, profound & provocative, beautiful & bonkers Book of Revelations, choc-stock-full of loving Acts by true Apostles, simultaneously both the scrapbook you wished you'd kept and a portal to futures & pasts, known & unknown, & a Fantastic Celebration of this Nation's Saving Grace. - 'DAVID PEACE

'A container sized treasure trove bursting at the hinges with strangeness and wonder . . . I strongly advise you to buy it.' - MAXINE PEAKE

‘Waterloo Sunset’ is now regarded as the greatest song about London. It comes as a shock, then, to discover it was originally about another city altogether. Watching acts who had been huge stars just three years earlier but now couldn’t buy a hit – the Searchers, Billy J Kramer, Gerry and the Pacemakers – the Kinks’ Ray Davies wrote ‘Liverpool Sunset’ in sympathy.

Compiled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley, with comprehensive sleeve-notes, “Liverpool Sunset” investigates a thrilling but overlooked era in the city’s musical history, covering soul, R&B, psychedelia and freakbeat. 

As this collection makes clear, the city was still producing new acts in the late 60s, and still making great records, it was just that the world had started looking elsewhere for its musical fix. 

By 1965 the Iron Door club, once the Searchers’ Merseybeat home, was beginning to host soul all-nighters where local band the Chants were often on the bill. The Cavern was by now hosting the likes of Solomon Burke, Stevie Wonder and Ben E King.

All of this music was an inspiration to the next wave of Liverpool acts such as Just Four Men, Tiffany’s Thoughts and the Clayton Squares. The latter were so highly regarded that breaking out nationally seemed a formality: they had two singles released on Decca, a six-week stint in Hamburg, a Ready Steady Go performance, and management by both the Cavern’s owner Bob Wooler and London tough-nut Don Arden.

“Liverpool Sunset” also includes overlooked tracks by some of the original Merseybeat stars: Billy J Kramer’s soulful ‘We’re Doing Fine’ deserves to be better known, and Cilla Black’s wildly odd ‘Abyssinian Secret’ in 1968 was considered too outré by Parlophone and ended up buried on an EP. Adventurousness wasn’t an issue. Joe Meek produced both the Cryin’ Shames and Billy Fury’s brother Jason Eddie, while McGough and McGear had Jimi Hendrix helping out on the terrific psych-pop So ‘Much To Love’. 

Here are two dozen lost gems; 60s Liverpool classics once hidden now uncovered…

TRACK LISTING

1. IT'S A CRIME - The Kirkbys
2. FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING – Tiffany With The Thoughts
3. NOBODY LIKE MY BABE - The Dennisons
4. JUST TO BE WITH YOU – Johnny Gustafson (aka Johnny Gus & Johnny Gus Set)
5. IT'S ALMOST GOOD - Eddie Cave & The FYX
6. YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHISPER - The Dimensions
7. WHATCHA GONNA DO – Jason Eddie & The Centremen
8. DON'T LET A LITTLE PRIDE (STAND IN YOUR WAY) – Billy Fury
9. IMAGINATION - The Clayton Squares
10. COME ON BACK - Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames
11. NEVER LEAVE YOUR BABY'S SIDE - Tony Jackson
12. THE CAT - The Merseys
13. ATMOSPHERES – The Wimple Winch
14. SO MUCH TO LOVE - McGough & McGear
15. MICHAELANGELO - 23rd Turnoff
16. SUMMER COMES SUNDAY - Swinging Blue Jeans
17. A MAN WITHOUT A FACE - The Chants
18. ABYSSINIAN SECRET - Cilla Black
19. WE'RE DOING FINE - Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas
20. COME ON - The Carrolls
21. CONSTANTLY CHANGING - The Koobas
22. GIRL ON THE CORNER - Focal Point
23. IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME - Crackers
24. INTO MY LIFE SHE CAME - The Penny Peeps

Everyone has their favourite era of the Bee Gees' career, but so much is still unclear about this celebrated but often misunderstood band. This book will provide the perfect route in, pulling together every fascinating strand to tell the story of these pioneering, melancholic masters of pop. Uniquely, the Bee Gees' tale spans the entire modern pop era - they are the only group to have scored British top-ten singles in the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s - and includes world-conquering disco successes like 'Stayin' Alive' and 'More Than a Woman', both from the soundtrack of hit film Saturday Night Fever.

But the Bee Gees' extraordinary career was one of highs and lows. From a vicious but temporary split in 1969 to several unreleased albums, disastrous TV and film appearances, and a demoralising cabaret season, the group weren't always revelling in the glow of million-selling albums, private jets and UNICEF concerts. Yet, even in the Gibbs' darkest times, their music was rarely out of the charts, as sung by the likes of Al Green, Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton and Diana Ross.

“Incident At a Free Festival” is a tribute to the mid-afternoon slots at Deeply Vale, Bickershaw, Krumlin, Weeley, and Plumpton – early 70s festivals that don’t get the column inches afforded the Isle of Wight or Glastonbury Fayre, but which would have been rites of passage for thousands of kids. Bands lower down the bill would have been charged with waking up the gentle hippies and appealing to both the greasy bikers and the girls in knee-high boots who wanted to wiggle their hips. And the best way to do that was with volume, riffs and percussion.

Compiled by the venerated Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs of Saint Etienne, this is the heavier side of the early 70s they summarised on the acclaimed “English Weather” collection. There’s an air of menace and illicit thrills among tracks by Andwella, Stack Waddy and Leaf Hound (whose “Growers of Mushroom” album is worth well over £1,000). Bigger names include the rabble-rousing Edgar Broughton Band and kings of the festival freakout, Hawkwind. They are represented by their rare version of ‘Ejection’

For every mystical Tyrannosaurus Rex performance there was something like Atomic Rooster’s Tomorrow Night or Curved Air’s Back Street Luv to capture the spirit of the day and stir the loins of festival goers; the tracks on “Incident At a Free Festival” were inspired by both Chicago’s percussive wig-outs and the Pink Fairies’ anarchic spirit. The sounds were heavy and frequently funky, with a definite scent of danger. Their message was clear and simple: clap your hands, stamp your feet, hold on to your mind. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Chasing Shadows - Deep Purple
2. One Way Glass - Manfred Mann Chapter Three
3. Hold Onto Your Mind - Andwella
4. Hot Pants - Alan Parker & Alan Hawkshaw
5. Do It - Pink Fairies
6. Tomorrow Night – Atomic Rooster
7. Taken All The Good Things - Stray
8. Out Demons Out - Edgar Broughton Band
9. For Mad Men Only - May Blitz
10. Back Street Luv - Curved Air
11. Ejection - Hawkwind
12. Meat Pies ’Ave Come But Band's Not ’Ere Yet - Stackwaddy
13. Lovely Lady Rock - James Hogg
14. Third World - Paladin
15. Taking Some Time On - Barclay James Harvest
16. Ricochet - Jonesy
17. Led Balloon - Steve Gray
18. Big Boobs Boogie - Slowload
19. Freelance Fiend - Leaf Hound
20. Confunktion - Dave Richmond 

The world is full of Bee Gees fans. Yet, for a band of such renown, little is known about Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb. Weren't two of them twins? Didn't one of them marry Lulu? Where does Andy fit into the Gibb family tree? And why did they storm out of that Clive Anderson interview?People tend to have their favourite era of the Bee Gees' career, but many listeners are also conscious that there is more to uncover about the band.

This book will provide the perfect route in, pulling together every fascinating strand to tell the story of a group with the imagination of the Beatles, the pop craft of ABBA, the drama of Fleetwood Mac and the emotional heft of the Beach Boys. Uniquely, the Bee Gees' tale spans the entire modern pop era - they are the only group to have scored British top-ten singles in the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s - and includes world-conquering disco successes like 'Stayin' Alive' and 'More Than a Woman', both from the soundtrack of hit film Saturday Night Fever. But the Bee Gees' extraordinary career was one of highs and lows.

From a vicious but temporary split in 1969 to several unreleased albums, disastrous TV and film appearances, and a demoralising cabaret season, the group weren't always revelling in the glow of million-selling albums, private jets and UNICEF concerts. Yet, even in the Gibbs' darkest times, their music was rarely out of the charts, as sung by the likes of Al Green, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, and Destiny's Child. Capturing the human story at the heart of the Bee Gees, this book will be a lyrical and stylish read, delighting hardcore fans with its details while engaging casual pop readers who simply want to know more about this important and enigmatic group.

There was plenty of genuine discontent in Britain at the tail end of the 1970s, and it had little to do with bin strikes or dark rumours about overflowing morgues. In the world of popular music, the most liberating after-effect of the Sex Pistols was that anyone with something to say now felt they could make a 7” single. “Winter Of Discontent” is the sound of truly DIY music, made by people who maybe hadn’t written a song until a day or two before they went into the studio. It’s spontaneous and genuinely free in a way the British music scene has rarely been before or since.

“Winter of Discontent” has been compiled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, the latest in their highly acclaimed series of albums that includes “The Daisy Age”, “Fell From The Sun” and “English Weather” ("really compelling and immersive: it’s a pleasure to lose yourself in it" - Alexis Petridis, the Guardian). The era's bigger DIY names (Scritti Politti, TV Personalities, the Fall) and the lesser-known (Exhibit A, Digital Dinosaurs, Frankie’s Crew) are side by side on “Winter Of Discontent”. Mark Perry’s Sniffin’ Glue command – “Here’s one chord, here’s another, now start a band” – was amplified by the Mekons and the Raincoats, whose music shared a little of punk’s volume, speed and distortion, but all of its obliqueness and irreverence.

The discontent was with society as a whole. No subject matter was taboo: oppressive maleness (Scritti Politti); deluded Britishness (TV Personalities); gender stereotypes (Raincoats, Androids of Mu); nihilistic youth (Fatal Microbes); alcoholism (Thin Yoghurts); self-doubt and pacifism (Zounds). The band names (Thin Yoghurts!) and those of individual members (Andrew Lunchbox!) had enough daftness to avoid any accusations of solemnity.

“Winter Of Discontent” is the definitive compilation of the UK DIY scene, and a beacon in grim times. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: A soundtrack to a generation of discontent in the late 70s. DIY music that spontaneously smashed through the British music scene in the wake of the punk revolution.
Mark Perry’s Sniffin’ Glue command, “Here’s one chord, here’s another, now start a band” was the fuse and these tracks are the light that shone through those dark days.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE ONE
1. WHERE WERE YOU? – The Mekons
2. VIOLENCE GROWS – Fatal Microbes
3. THE TERRAPLANE FIXATION – Animals & Men
4. WORK – Blue Orchids
5. SMALL HOURS – Karl’s Empty Body
6. SOMEBODY – Frankie’s Crew
SIDE TWO
1. CONFIDENCE – Scritti Politti
2. DRINK PROBLEM – Thin Yoghurts
3. LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT – Anne Bean & Paul Burwell
4. BROW BEATEN – Performing Ferret Band
5. NO FORGETTING – The Manchester Mekon
6. FAIRYTALE IN THE SUPERMARKET – The Raincoats
SIDE THREE
1. CAN’T CHEAT KARMA – Zounds
2. BORED HOUSEWIVES – Androids Of Mu
3. IN MY AREA (Take 2) – The Fall
4. THE SIDEWAYS MAN – The Digital Dinosaurs
5. ATTITUDES – The Good Missionaries
6. THE WINDOW’S BROKEN – Human Cabbages
SIDE FOUR
1. KING AND COUNTRY – Television Personalities
2. IN THE NIGHT – Exhibit ‘A’
3. NUDES - Performing Ferret Band
4. DIFFERENT STORY – Tarzan 5
5. THE RED PULLOVER – The Gynaecologists
6. PRODUCTION LINE – The Door And The Window

“Fell From The Sun” gathers the best of the 98bpm records that soundtracked the summer of 1990. It has been compiled by Bob Stanley, whose own group Saint Etienne makes an appearance alongside acknowledged classics (Primal Scream’s ‘Higher Than The Sun’) and forgotten beauties (Soul Family Sensation’s ‘I Don’t Even Know If I Should Call You Baby’).

1989 had been a long hot summer, but 1990 felt longer and hotter. Since the house music explosion of 1987, Britain had had a whistle in its mouth, and it needed a lie down. February 1990 brought two records that were made to accompany the sunrise and would shape the immediate future: The KLF’s “Chill Out” was a continuous journey, a woozy, reverb-laden mix; and Andrew Weatherall’s drastic remix of a Primal Scream album track – ‘Loaded’ – slowed down the pace on the dancefloor itself, right down to 98 beats per minute.

Within weeks of ‘Loaded’ and “Chill Out” emerging, a whole wave of similarly chilled, floaty, mid-tempo records appeared. The charts were full of chugging Soul II Soul knock-offs, but further out were amazingly atmospheric records such as the Grid’s ‘Floatation’, which married the new-age relaxation method du jour with Jane Birkin-like breathy sighs; BBG’s ‘Snappiness’, which was all sad synth pads and Eric Satie piano; and the Aloof’s ‘Never Get Out Of The Boat’, which re-imagined Apocalypse Now as if it had been shot in Uxbridge.

“Fell From The Sun” gathers the best of the 98bpm records that soundtracked the summer of 1990. It has been compiled by Bob Stanley, whose own group Saint Etienne makes an appearance alongside acknowledged classics (Primal Scream’s ‘Higher Than The Sun’) and forgotten beauties (Soul Family Sensation’s ‘I Don’t Even Know If I Should Call You Baby’).

This was a modernist sound, grabbing bits of the past, the feel of the immediate now, and creating something entirely new. There was a notable 90s-does-60s vibe, a neo-psychedelia that didn’t involve guitars. For a moment, or at least for a summer, it felt like the perfect future had already arrived. “Fell From The Sun” encapsulates that moment.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Mega comp of comedown downbeat, sunrise indie-dance and woozy morning moods; curated by our good friends and musical heroes Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley who really seem to know how to organize a collection with sincere and heartfelt sentiment. Unmissable!

TRACK LISTING

1. HIGHER THAN THE SUN (HIGHER THAN THE ORB)(Extended Mix) - Primal Scream
2. IT COULD NOT HAPPEN (Essential Trance Hall Mix) - Critical Rhythm Feat Jango Thriller & Vandal
3. CASCADES (Hypnotone Mix) - Sheer Taft
4. AFRIKA (Love And Laughter Remix) - History Feat Q-Tee
5. FLOATATION (Original Version) - The Grid
6. SPEEDWELL (Radio Edit) - Saint Etienne
7. FALLEN (Album Version) - One Dove
8. TEMPLE HEAD (Pacific Mix - Airwaves) – Transglobal Underground
9. JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE (Electro Instrumental Mix) - Massonix
10. U MAKE ME FEEL (Running Water Aka Workhouse Mix) - Elsi Curry
11. I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF I SHOULD CALL YOU BABY (Marshall Jefferson Symphony Mix) – Soul Family Sensation
12. SNAPPINESS (7” Edit) - BBG
13. NEVER GET OUT THE BOAT (The Flying Mix) - The Aloof
14. SPIRITUAL HIGH (The Moodfood Megamix) – Moodswings

“76 In The Shade” follows in the footsteps of Bob Stanley’s hugely successful comps for Ace, including “English Weather” and “The Tears Of Technology”. It suggests bright yellow sunshine, hot plastic car seats, cats lolloping on the lawn. A few tracks (Smokey Robinson, Cliff Richard, David Ruffin, Carmen McRae) act as necessary splashes of cooling water; most of them sound like it’s just too hot to move. Luckily, you don’t need to.

The months without rain and airless days and nights might not have been something out of the ordinary in the Algarve or the south of France, but it was without precedent in Britain. The Summer of 1976 has remained a benchmark for long, hot summers – there may have been scorchers since, but none have seemed quite as relentless or enervating. The country melted into a collective puddle. “76 In The Shade” probably wasn’t anyone’s real life soundtrack of the year – that could have included Bowie’s “Station To Station” and Abba’s “Greatest Hits”. Instead, Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley has put a compilation together that sonically evokes the summer of 1976 itself, its sweet heat and almost narcotic lethargy.

Getting out of the sun, you might have sat inside with the radio on, and heard the dreamy wooziness of Liverpool Express’s ‘You Are My Love’, 10cc’s ‘I’m Mandy Fly Me’, or the Emotions’ ‘Flowers’. Or maybe you flopped out in front of the telly, where you heard an alternative summer soundtrack – the music libraries that provided the bulk of the testcard’s music gave us Simon Park’s minimal ‘Stoned Out’ and John Cameron’s deeply immersive ‘Liquid Sunshine’; the Californian jazzer Spike Janson provided the wordless vocal harmonies of ‘Walking So Free’.

“76 In The Shade” follows in the footsteps of Bob Stanley’s hugely successful comps for Ace, including “English Weather” and “The Tears Of Technology”. It suggests bright yellow sunshine, hot plastic car seats, cats lolloping on the lawn. A few tracks (Smokey Robinson, Cliff Richard, David Ruffin, Carmen McRae) act as necessary splashes of cooling water; most of them sound like it’s just too hot to move. Luckily, you don’t need to.

TRACK LISTING

1. WALKING SO FREE - Spike Janson
2. SUGAR SHUFFLE - Lynsey De Paul
3. MIRACLES (SINGLE VERSION) - Jefferson Starship
4. GET OUT OF TOWN - Smokey Robinson
5. I’M MANDY FLY ME (ALBUM VERSION) - 10CC
6. STONED OUT - Simon Park
7. NOTHING TO REMIND ME - Cliff Richard
8. DISCOVER ME - David Ruffin
9. YOU’RE THE SONG (THAT I CAN’T STOP SINGING) - Hollywood Freeway
10. YOU ARE MY LOVE - Liverpool Express
11. LIQUID SUNSHINE - John Cameron
12. NOT ON THE OUTSIDE - Sylvia
13. STAY WITH ME - Blue Mink
14. WILD MOUNTAIN HONEY - Steve Miller Band
15. FALLIN’ IN LOVE - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
16. FLOWERS - The Emotions
17. MONTREAL CITY - Azimuth
18. ROCK’N’ROLL STAR - Barclay James Harvest
19. MISS MY LOVE TODAY - Gilbert O’Sullivan
20. MUSIC - Carmen McRae