The Mighty Lemon Drops - Some Of My Best Friends Are Songs (1986)

The Mighty Lemon Drops formed in Wolverhampton in 1985, and featured Paul Marsh (vocals/guitar), David Newton (guitar), Tony Linehan (bass) and Keith Rowley (drums), who had all enjoyed chequered careers in numerous Wolverhampton outfits. Newton had previously played with Active Restraint in 1982, which also included Marsh and Linehan. They in turn played regularly alongside Another Dream, and both bands featured on single releases by local label Watchdog Video And Records. Newton and Neal Cook of Another Dream put together the Wild Flowers, alongside Dave Atherton, and after a further single and a support to Simple Minds, Newton moved on once more, forming the Sherbert Monsters with Marsh and Linehan, later changing their name to The Mighty Lemon Drops. The temporary drummer was Martin Gilks (later with the Wonder Stuff), before Keith Rowley stepped in full-time. Their first recordings were issued as a cassette under the title of 'Some Of My Best Friends Are Songs', which included a number of songs that would later be re-recorded for their debut album, although a couple of other tracks remain exclusive to the tape. Only 150 copies were run off, and they were originally sold at gigs, with the leftovers being sold by mail order. In June and July of 1986 the band recorded some demos in Birmingham, and you can hear how much they'd progressed in that year from those early recordings. They'd already released their first single, 1985's 'Like An Angel', on Dan Treacy's Dreamworld Records label, and had recorded three tracks for the NME's 'C86' cassette album, of which 'Happy Head' was selected for inclusion, putting them at the forefront of the nascent jangle-pop genre that the cassette was trying to promote. By adding the 1986 Birmingham demos to the eight songs from the 'Best Friends' cassette we have an album from the very earliest days of the band, showing that even at the start of their career they knew where they wanted to go. 

Track listing

01 Pass You By
02 Take My Heart
03 My Biggest Thrill
04 Like An Angel
05 My Feelings
06 Sympathize With Us
07 Behind Your Back
08 On My Mind
09 Now She's Gone
10 There She Goes Again
11 Uptight
12 Take Me Up
13 Hypnotized