Here's Johnny - Merry Hell (1986)

As mentioned in the previous post on Liverpool bands of the early 80's, Here's Johnny did actually record an album, but as so often happens, the record company didn't have enough faith in the band to issue and promote it, instead putting their money behind Fairground Attraction, which, it has to be admitted, did work. However, Here's Johnny's album would have appealed to an entirely different market and I can see no reason why it wouldn't have been a success. No doubt it would have been played on the John Peel show, as he would always champion anything from his hometown, and I would certainly have bought it, but we'll never know as it was cancelled soon after recording, never to be heard until now. The album was obtained by dominik500 from band members Colin McKay and David Knowles themselves (who incidentally are working together again, writing and making music with John Wilkinson in a band called The Swan Chorus), and they even gave permission for it to be shared. All four of their singles were to be included, although two of the tracks from their Peel session would remain exclusive to that recording session. The album was planned to be released in mid 1986, and came so close that it was even given a catalog number (PL 71016), but at the last minute the release was cancelled. I've added the b-sides to some of their singles as bonus tracks at the end, so enjoy this effort by yet another band who fell foul of the vagaries of the record industry, and had all their hard work come to nothing. 

Track listing

01 Hellzapoppin'
02 Absense Of Malice
03 Torture Garden
04 Your Room
05 Love You To Death
06 Idlewild
07 Open Minded
08 Reckless
09 How Do You Sleep
10 I Fall Apart
11 Belief
12 All You Ever Talk About
13 Turn On The Charm

Various Artists - The Peel Sessions - Liverpool 1981 - 1983 (1983)

After dominating the UK music scene for most of the 60's, Liverpool experienced a resurgence of young bands in the late 70's and early 80's, with groups forming on an almost daily basis. Some went on to achieve considerable success, such as Black, A Flock Of Seagulls, and The Icicle Works, while other burned brightly for a while before fading away. For every Echo And The Bunnymen there was a Blonde Streak, and for every Frankie Goes To Hollywood, a Lawnmower. Some managed to release a few singles, with the lucky ones even getting an album out, and a number of them, like Big In Japan, Modern Eon, 3D (A Fish In C), OMD, Wah! Heat, Come In Tokio, It's Immaterial, Cook Da Books, The Teardrops Explodes, and China Crisis have already had posts on the blog collecting their hard to find recorded output. Then there were those bands who were only heard by the general public on the John Peel show, where they were invited by that champion of all things Indie to record a Peel session, and this post collects five of them, who probably would have faded into obscurity if their music hadn't been preserved for posterity by the great Peel himself. Jass Babies, Blue Poland and Rebel Da Fe never even released a single, while Box Of Toys managed two, and Here's Johnny released a couple and also recorded an aborted album, before they all disbanded.   

Blue Poland – Chris Larsen (bass) (later Lawnmower, Beach Bastards), Mel Deeprose (vocals), Neil Morgan (vocals), Nigel Robinson (guitar), and Steve Thomas (drums). They were featured on the BBC2 music vehicle 'Something Else' in the early 80’s and shortly after did a John Peel session. Their career was cut short by the illness and tragic early death of Neil Morgan. Nigel's brother Nick Robinson played in Boat Party

Box of Toys – Brian Atherton (vocals, keyboards) (later The Light), Roy Campbell (bass, vocals), Phil Martin (saxophone, keyboards, vocals) (later Come in Tokio), and Andy Redhead (drums, guitar) (ex Select Committee, later 3D). Not much more information about this band.

Here’s Johnny – Roy Corkhill (bass) (ex Black, Third Man, later Icicle Works), Dave Whittaker (bass) (ex Visual Aids, Jass Babies, Herr Lune), Andy Zsigmund (guitar), who was replaced by Mike Bulger in 1985, David Knowles (keyboards) (ex Achilles, Virgin Dance), Steve Brown (drums) (ex Jazz Babies, Afraid of Mice), and Colin McKay (vocals, guitar) (ex Achilles), who was the main force behind the band, writing most or all of the material. Had a track on 'Son Of Jobs For The Boys' compilation LP in 1985 and released four singles on RCA between 1985-86. Although the band were tipped for stardom, RCA decided to put their money on Fairground Attraction and Here’s Johnny faded away.

Jass Babies – Peter Coyle (later No Trace, Tin Ethics, Living Legends, Lotus Eaters), Rob Boardman (guitar) (ex Visual Aids, later Personal Column), Dave Whittaker (bass) (ex Visual Aids, later Here’s Johnny, Herr Lune), and Steve Brown (drums) (ex Visual Aids, AOM, Here’s Johnny). R'n'Bluesy minimalist band, who apparently released one single on Open Eye Records, although I can find no trace of it. 

Rebél Da Fé – Tomo (vocals) (ex Ponderosa Glee Boys, later President Beate Route), Gary Williams (bass) (ex Psycamesh, later SOL), Mark Robson (drums) (ex Psycamesh,later President Beate Route, 501 Amsterdam, Bush Telegraph, Catalogue, High Five, Rain, Salvadore), Steve Hadden (guitar), JJ Whitehead (ex It’s Immaterial), and Karen Halewood (keyboards) (ex Ex Post Facto, Royal Family & The Poor). Tomo left just before they recorded their John Peel session in 1982, after which Mark Robson and Gary Williams relocated to Amsterdam till 1985/86.

You can see by the bands that these musicians had been in or were to join later just what a close-knit community it was in Liverpool at that time, and so to make sure that these groups aren't forgotten here are their Peel sessions all collected together on one post, which celebrates some of the many forgotten and unrecognised bands that played around Liverpool between 1981 and 1983.   

Track listing

Blue Poland - 1982
01 Find Out
02 Household God
03 Puppet Nation
04 Time And Motion

Box Of Toys - 1983
01 When The Daylight's Over (Sunset)
02 Time Takes Me Back
03 Precious Is The Pearl
04 I'm Thinking Of You Now

Here's Johnny - 1983
01 Hellzapoppin'
02 World In Action
03 Every Mirror I See
04 Your Room

Jass Babies - 1981
01 Let Me Soak It Up
02 My Love Make You Melt
03 Parable
04 Talk In Tongues

Rebel Da Fe - 1983
01 Yangtse Kiang
02 Hideaway
03 Ascension
04 Alter And Connect