My Jealous God - The Idiot's Ball (1992)

My Jealous God were formed in South London around 1989 by Jim Melly on vocals and guitar, Danny Burke on lead guitar, Chris O'Donnell on bass and Andrew Berkley on drums, and they played the sort of music that was always going to get them accused as being Southern chancers jumping on the Madchester bandwagon. Rough Trade snapped them up and released their first single 'Everything About You' in 1990, followed by 'Pray' in October of that year, and this was the track which gained them some attention. After a label change to Fontana, 'Easy' followed in 1991, before 'Pray' was resurrected in 1992 for a remix with new lyrics, but it was withdrawn shortly after release, although some copies have since surfaced. During their time at Fontana they recorded an album titled 'The Idiot's Ball', and this was slated for an April 1992 release, but just after review copies were sent out it was shelved by the label after the group broke up. After the band folded, singer Jim Melly embarked on a career in journalism and went on to edit 'Inside Edge' magazine, later writing a book on The Faces titled 'Last Orders, Please', which was published in April 2003. To remind ourselves of one of the many unsung bands who joined the Madchester scene in the early 90's, here is My Jealous God's shelved 'The Idiot's Ball' album from 1992. 

Track listing

01 Easy
02 Asked For
03 Carol Caviare
04 Pray
05 Suppose
06 Afraid
07 Petrol Bomb
08 I've Got Everything
09 The One I Love
10 Watching
11 Daisies