Left Luggage is a pretty appropriate name for this month’s cache of tunes. Appropriate in that it’s bunch of stuff I deposited in a place a long time ago and now I finally have a chance to revisit it. I guess stretching the metaphor it is the Music Club that has provided me with the actual lost ticket to come and pick the stuff up.
The basic body of the work is five tracks recorded for a short film my brother wrote and directed in 1995. I think it was one of the first soundtracks I was really ever involved in. I read somewhere the great Memphis producer Jim Dickinson saying that putting music to pictures is one of the ultimate creative undertakings and I guess he is pretty much correct in this. It certainly is where a lot of my energies have been concentrated the past few years.
This whole collection of tunes is a bit of a creative snapshot for me – of the people I was involved with and the way I was making music at a certain period (around 1995 – just as the Weddings were starting to think about finishing up). And listening to it I can still hear (and see) the first basic recording set-up that I actually bought to record the first Waifs album in Jen Anderson’s basement in Fitzroy. I actually had to take out a small loan and while I wasn’t too happy about the debt if it meant we were up and running then that was enough I suppose. It pretty much ended up being the rig with which we recorded Donkey Serenade for the Weddings so in a sense it was happily ironic in that it was that album that basically managed to get WPA out of debt.
But it’s all here – some songs I wrote and finished with Sherry Rich, a duet I recorded with Nick Barker, a cover of a tune I learnt from the recordings of Tex Moreton. A lot of it recorded in Jenando’s long gone basement and some of it done in the studio at my current address where the new behemoth of a recording rig blinks at me beguilingly (it’s all done with computers these days!). And where all this collection was brought together and mastered hopefully into some sort of coherent offering. So any tick of the clock now it will all be up and out there in the market place once again to begin it’s second life. Left Luggage indeed.
Finally signed up for the club, so really looking forward to this month’s set.
Thanks very much for posting my request for Skyway. I love Westerberg’s music and your version does him credit. Ah, the nostalgia floods over me! Westerberg, MacGowan, Hart & Mould, Swill & Simmonds, Thomas – great songwriters, great showmen. Keep the great tunes coming.
Without blowing too much smoke, I find it quite humbling to think about Mick’s work ethic.
Not only rehearsing, gigging & touring with a band but also involved in side projects – producing the Waifs first album, writing a score for a short film, etc.
I think of the average punter who goes to work and does a days work – week in week out – much of it is pretty much stock standard, and most people (well the ones I know) kinda resist taking on additional stuff.
Yet, here is Mick taking on yet another string to add to his already substantial bow.
Thanks for sharing it with us. Much appreciated. Love the MMMC. Chonk On.
C’mon Mick, having withdrawls here waiting for the March Edition……
Love ya work Mick !
As someone who was at the Tennis “gig”, I recall a “Kia hotshot” that you handed out to the said drunken yobbo in response to a repeated request of “play something I know!!!!” something along the lines of “I don’t know that that would be possible…” anyway it was a magic moment of sorts. Garden party was a great way to finish as I recall- perfect choice, a sort of a pleasant FO to those spilling their beers on the stacks.
Anyway- can relate to Aus, Flag Bikini having spied on these many a time. Me and the missus couldn’t resist reworking some of the lyrics though on a long Easter drive to camping whilst listening to the latest MTMC offering and at risk of stepping on your creative toes , I reproduce the “better” ones for your enjoyment (??)
“I can’t believe they are so small, your Australian Flag Bikini,
they don’t cover you at all, those AFB”
“Don’t you know they are see-through, those AFB,
I can see see far too much of you, in those AFB”
“That yobbo can’t keep his hands off you and your AFB,
You’d be hard pressed not to score in your AFB”
“You’ve missed the beach that’s plain to see,
why the hell is your bloke bothering me,
I thought the tennis was more than just plain booze,
and your AFB”
“The Southern cross it stands so proud, on your AFB,
Next door the Jack it makes me mad, on the AFB”
And thought not appropriate by the better half…
“Your rolls of fat aren’t covered by your AFB,
I’d recommend a one piece next time to try, not your AFB”
Thanks for keeping us amused !!!!!
request: any of the Barf/ Wally live sessions- couldn’t get to any of them- the one my way was booked out days before- would love to hear any or all,
Chonk on.
I’ve joined, and can I just say, loving it!!!!!!! Have been a huge Mick Thomas (Weddos, Sure Thing) fan for over 19 years. Love ya Mick. Have been tied down with kids for the last eight years or so and haven’t been able to get out to gigs. Kicking myself for not attending the last Newtown gig. This newsletter takes me to a place I miss, new songs or old songs remastered, pictures etc.
Love hearing my five year old sing Away Away, the next generation of groupies on the way, look out.
Ok enough sucking up, keep the songs coming. Love ya.
Danielle.
Mick, You have hit the nail on the head for the rod for your back (that could be a verse from Rattlin’ Bog) with the acoustic version of Walkerville. There are so many songs I would love to hear reworked, or just plain live and in all their glory.
Nice Canadiens shirt in the Memphis shots! I “coerced” my future wife to come to her first WPA show at Club Soda and there was no looking back after that. I was a “bloke from Montreal” and, no offence, I would have been mighty pissed if she did end up going home with you.
As I approach 42 in a few days, it would be great to know the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Barring that, alternate/live versions of Away Away, Under the Clocks, or Hungry Years (damn that nostalgia again – I promise that I have faithfully listened to your work beyond the ’80s) would be great.
A long shot with this one, do you remember an acoustic song you performed at McGill Uni? You said at the time it was the nearest thing you had to a Halloween tune – Mrs. O’Grady? Mrs. Brady and her little old ladies? It was a hoot but I have never been able to figure out the song. Too many St. Ambroise pale ales have clouded the synapses!
Cheers for the MMMC. I look forward to each edition.
Gavin
What happened to the blog Mick?
Yeah the blog thing hasn’t really worked as part of the MMMC. I think next time around we will try and incorporate it into the actual body of ther page itself.
Hey there,
I’m pretty sure the song I played for Halloween all those years ago was called The Lindfield Ladies. I picked it up playing around the folk clubs in the 70s(!!!) and I’m not sure who wrote it or even what it is specifically about. I’ll do some research and maybe even attempt to re-learn it as it is one that people seem to remember form the few times I have trotted it out. Damn – the 70s!!!!
Cheers….Mick