a man can get into trouble re-interpreting his old work
is it better to let it sit there in all its mythic glory…?
yes my friends
heyday
after the first record which is a bit awful
then the glorious sounding but slightly insubstantial b c
then emi/nick launay ruined seance
with its eighties crud (thanks, nick…it dated real well!)
then remote whatnots patchiness
then…
aha
then we unveiled our first almost masterpiece
remember it was the eighties
it was the fucking frigging eighties
we had to fight just to remain organic
can you understand that almost every idiot in the biz
wanted to make you eighties
eighties as epitomized by the thompson twins
or boy george or a million awful stupid bands
who’d hi-jacked the glorious future
that the beatles had left wide open
we had punk which shook it up
and then……
even listen to what neil young
or new order (new ordure) got up to in the eighties
of course it was harder to fight eightiesness in the eighties
because
only hypersmart hipsters like me even understood what was happening
like fish in water most of the imbeciles back then couldnt tell
that they were swimming through an era of embarrassment and tripe
the haircuts and cutesy little hats and the way girls looked back then
the beginning of the most ridiculous malaise in rock music
which was the perceived need for a huge punctuating snare drum
eg. what they tried to do to seance:electric lash esp
they were experimenting with “firing samples”
which meant when yer drummer whacked his snare on the tape
a sample of another drum played
this other drum would have been considered “better”
than whatever your own drummer played on his snare
so these guys carted there primitive snare samples around the globe
sticking em all over peoples records
we probably got the same ones as midnight oil had
and then after us the models….
one particular fault was the samples played a fraction late
and a fraction of time in a song can be everything
they also did weird things as they’d “refire”
eg the snare rolls in electric lash
sounds like a machine gun
which launay must have thought was cutting edge
but its still making most people groan 25 years later
funny thing is
i liked what he did to midnight oil
he spruced up a band and pushed em through his filter
trouble was the church was not a band
to go thru anyone elses filter
cos it was already going thru mine
so anyway
its important for me that you understand
how everything i did
with nearly everybody
was a fight
the church werent that successful
and everything was a fight for me..
i heard new gold dream and i liked its feel
it was mellifluous and organic
it was modern but not eighties
it was prod n eng by peter walsh
and he could understand ambience
he could also understand that i wanted this record
to have a spiritual component
and sonically he was ready for that
the band had decided to write most of the music together
this gave it a fresh cohesion and an added interest for the others
they were our songs
not just my songs
tho i was still the chooser and editor and general overseer of music
the others came up with brilliant bits n pieces for their parts
and all three shone as co-composers and musicians
peter walsh turned up to find 2 earnest guitarists
a prankster drummer and me
just turned 31
and i wanted to make a record
a non eighties record
with loads of guitars
with orchestras
with melody
with my first true authentic sk lyrics
the album opens with a masterpiece
go on listen to myrrh again
probably one of the best songs us or anybody ever wrote in rock
the music and words unfurl like a dream
no one could do what we were trying to do
but on myrrh we nailed it
everything was right
even the sounds of construction walsh flew in right at the end
construction that started early in the apts where he stayed
so he recorded it on a little dictaphone and stuck it on the record
peter walsh was the loveliest bloke i ever worked with
he was only about 26 when we did this
we spent lots of time playing pinball with him
in the foyer of the studio
a lockout of 6 weeks in 301
in the heart of sydney
8th floor up
we ruled up there
smoking so much fucking dope
but no other drugs
walshy ‘d have a beer occasionally
when he smoked the dope he’d go quite loopy
mainly tho he worked away steadily
he was always cheerful and tried to include everyone
he was a good mediator and everyone got on well
it was a good time
and it shows
walshy was good with all instruments
he knew how to mike and record stuff
he was old school in that way
he knew we wanted to be organic and he kept it that way
everything was great
i even splashed out n bought this renault floride
a 1959 convertible
and walshy n i rode out to the arrangers place in south sydney
with the top down
we were young we were happy
seemed we were on the verge of something
walshy n i figured out the arrangements with this guy
and lo n behold a week later these players turned up
and played on h.h.g and tantalised n night of light
at the end of night of light i had an idea
that the orch. all follow my sliding fretless bass
and they did
everyone was great
everyone was easy
heyday was so much more accomplished than starfish
starfish sold cos it had utmw
but heyday was much better
warmer realer nicer
im talking sounds here not songs
anyway
peter walsh was the producers producer
unlike the next 2 geezers who were uncouth bullies
who got lucky for a little while
gav mckillop was like peter walsh….a real producer
anyway
heyday had its weakspots
in our one argument
walsh didnt “let” me play keyboards
and theres some slightly average stuff on there
he didnt “let” the others sing either
so thats me singing everything
(as on p=a too)
i wasnt mad on disenchanted or youth worshipper
but walshy had heard the demos and he wanted em on
also when the record was repackaged overseas
record companies stuck as you will and the view on the end
which quite frankly was not what i had intended
just like when ziggy stardust finishes and then some other thing
comes on…yes its value for money
but no it disrupts the flow
roman was s’posed to end heyday not the view
it was a b-side!
anyway some understood it
we immediately jumped back up the ranks in australia
and played totally sell out shows everywhere
in sydney they were queuing round the block at midday
in england a few idiots gave it bad reviews and nothin happened
in the us it” only” sold 60 thousand
and got us dropped by warners
and look at us on the cover
ah so pretty so pretty
in paisley as some kinda statement against….
ah i dunno
big fat record execs with their starsign pendants on their hairy chests
against spand-o ballet and belinda carlisle
against the outfield and preppy college kids
against howard jones and madonna
against oafs and brutes n non poetic types
we were the church
we were more beautiful and slender
we had more hair and better guitars
we were well read and we liked to take hallucinogens
we constantly wangled and fluked our way thru
we stayed in amazing hotels and we flew biz class
we were cooler than fuck
christ
it was our heyday
it could never last
but it was
and theres the irony of it
the beauty of it
the extra-temporaiety of it (thats my word)
(which is always my gift..to see beyond these times)
thats why i’m the time being
the eighties couldnt constrain me
i could stand apart from the zeitgeist
i could deliver this in 1986 (made in 85)
and it still sounds fresh as the day it was made
congratulations are in order
if you enjoyed the heyday story
hit your donate button ..hard
if i get some dough in there sharpish
maybe i’ll give it to ya
on another hundred levels
god forbid!