It is between the notes (between the sharps and the flats)
that’s where you’ll find the jazz, the good stuff; everything else is just
playing scales. Similarly, it’s between the lines of our story (between the
myth and the cliché) where you’ll find the source; the musical gold.
Much has been written
about Corduroy, a history of the band spread like Wikipedia whispers through recycled
sleeve-notes and the re-ordering of the same tracks over relentless ‘best-of’
compilation albums. This box-set gives fresh perspective, featuring recordings
that preceded the group’s fabled deal with Acid Jazz Records, other tracks
recorded at the bitter end of the partnership, and some that were simply
forgotten; plus the holy grail of all audio treasures - an unreleased single.
Corduroy formed on the periphery of the beat
scene, at the tail end of 1991, within a few months, after a brief meeting with
Edward Piller in 92, they signed a deal with his label and in the studio the
following week. Three albums were released by London’s Acid Jazz Records:
Dad Man Cat - Raw Hammond funk with fast
bass runs, funky drums and punky guitar, the template of the Corduroy sound.
The title blended from three jazz words used by the sixties Rat Pack and
combined as one - bop-talk.
High
Havoc - The soundtrack to a mythical
movie; a spy film featuring the grooviest clubs, evil fez wearing villains and the
longest limbed girls in the whole of swinging London. The title, a potent mix
of ‘high camp’ and unbridled chaos, epitomising the band’s famed live energy,
with added conceptual orchestration.
Out Of Here - A tamer, vocally led record with nods
towards American AOR bands of the seventies; a more traditional ‘Acid Jazz’ sound
that ironically led the group to contrive the title to become the band’s
farewell.
Cherry Red Records, with the assistance of
the band themselves, have compiled within this box the three albums (including
period single B-sides) plus a fourth bonus live album. You may already have
one or all of them; chances are you’ve at least heard some of the songs. You
will not however have heard the rarities included throughout; sourced directly
from band member’s personal archives, they contain the untold story, the bits
that have been missed - the lost pieces of the final musical jig-saw puzzle.
Having been previously dropped by Sire Records, proto-Brit-poppers Boys
Wonder, led by the Addison twins (Ben and Scott) recruited Richard Searle
(the Doctor & the Medics and occasional Boys Wonder bassist) for a one off
new years-eve show at Up The Creek in Deptford, South East London, in 1991. The
style, heavily borrow from a guitarist friend, Simon Nelson-Smith's own band,
largely consisted of jazzy instrumental cover-versions. With Simon established
on guitar, the gig was a success and the four-piece started to write and demo
more material in the front room of Ben and Scott’s family home in Blackheath.
Not only was this a cheap way to rehearse, but the room had great acoustics. To
that end, a porta-studio cassette demo was recorded, E-Type (from which a budget video was shot).
It is from these formative
‘living room’ sessions that the majority of the debut album was written.
Recorded in Denmark Street’s Bass Head Studio, some tracks (due to lack of
time) were shelved and forgotten. Goober
Grape (inspired by a jar of peanut butter and jelly marshmallow whip). Sesame Street (the TV theme - an early
inclusion in the very first live set). Funky
Freedom (a jam based on a Boys Wonder track). Happy Shopper (a thrash swing number) and a Quincy Jones tune - Hikky Burr. Thought lost, they are
included here, mistakes and all.
The
follow-up album High Havoc (also
recorded in 92) was released and toured in 1993; two singles Something in My Eye (originally a demo
on which Ed Piller invited Ben & Scott to collaborate) and The Frighteners, were taken from the
album. Another popular live track, Very
Yeah, was re-arranged whilst on tour, with vocals (not featured on the
album version). In late 1993, it was agreed to edit the album recording, add the
vocal part, and release the radio friendly Very
Yeah (vocal version) as a third single. However, Acid Jazz was approached
by Channel 4’s anarchic television show, The Word, with the opportunity to
feature Corduroy live on the program - on the condition that they played a
track from their encore (a cover version of Lemmy Kilminster’s speed metal
signature tune) Motorhead by
Motorhead. The track was reworked, recorded and released as the next single -
instead of the Very Yeah edit.
It
transpired that The Word would only show one Acid Jazz band; label mates,
Mother Earth (published and managed by Acid Jazz) appeared on the program in
Corduroy’s stead. The Very Yeah (Sing
Song Sing-Along) was shelved, forgotten and thought lost; it is included here.
Motorhead featured
on the third album Out Of Here (recorded in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in
Bath) released in 1994, the track Mini was chosen as second single. The
prize of an actual Mini-Cooper, with custom Corduroy paint job, was raffled on
stage as the highlight to the promotional tour. It still appears at occasional
car shows.
Much of
1994-95 was spent on the road. Gigging throughout Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Australia, Japan and the UK, plus a coveted support slot with Camden- lovies-
Blur (at Alexandra Palace) alongside Pulp and Supergrass; this was arguably
Corduroy’s most popular moment. However, ambition and altercation saw a split
with Acid Jazz Records which resulted in Corduroy signing to a subsidiary of Richard
Branson’s newly formed V2 record label, Big Cat.
There were however a handful of recordings
for Acid Jazz, that although scheduled as singles, were not formally released
at the time. Summer In My Eye (a harder
Latin remix of Something In My Eye) and
Clockwork Man. Both (including
B-sides) have since featured on various, ‘bonus-edition’ releases and ‘best-of’
compilations (to date there have been at least six). However, the band was not
happy with the recording of Clockwork Man
and re-recorded the song in a heavier style in 1995 (at Eden Studios in London);
with the group’s soundman, Ricky Rickets, behind the mixing desk. This new
faster version of the song was far more successful, but only featured on one
rare Japanese compilation; thought lost, it’s included here.
The fourth album The New You, (recorded
in Roundhouse studio, London) in 1995, was released in 96. A vocal heavy, song
based album this time, the psychedelically exotic The Joker Is Wild chosen as single.
The fifth and final studio album, recorded throughout 98, Clik
was also released by Big Cat in 99. This album, which took a
torturous six months to complete, had a more sequenced flavour, drum n’ bass
producer Rob Playford at the controls in his own studio. Moshi Moshi to be the first single from this album.
Many bands have a ‘moment’, a chance to break free from the
lower reaches of the record charts; Corduroy never managed this transition.
Despite their popularity live, and a fanatical fan base, the group received
little radio play and remained an underground act. Things may have been
different if they had appeared on The Word, or remained true to their early
musical root - the funny filmic funketeers who shared vision and goals. Perhaps
they shouldn’t have switched labels. By 1999 tensions and deceits within the
band were at a head and moral at an all time low. Moshi Moshi failed to chart.
Big Cat released a second single from Clik,
a contrived disco track, Thing For Your
Love; the death rattle of a band without direction. Corduroy were dropped
by Big Cat Records, Big Cat were dropped by V2. The band split in late 1999.
The bulk of
this collection dates from the Acid Jazz years; however miscellaneous studio
recording (post Acid Jazz) resulted in several tracks that were never released.
The old-school jazz instrumental Get Ron
Carter, a kitsch psych-epic about fractals The Mandelbrot Set, and a protest song that harks back to the glory
days of the Acid Jazz years, Man Alive.
The band’s limping cassette
porta-studio was upgraded to a digital hard drive version; experimentation with
this new machine resulted in prolific demo recording, Apple Pipe, Preacher,
Another Hundred Years, Finally Atlanta, The
Impossible Smile, and the brooding
Original Sin. These bonus tracks, thought
lost, are also included here.
It is within
the musical DNA of the bonus tracks (those featured for the very first time), a
spark of brilliance that defines the essence of the true Corduroy sound; a
passion and joy for a genre played with an infectious enthusiasm (particularly
apparent in the ‘living room’ sessions); a band simply playing for fun.
Likewise, the fourth bonus disc, The Quattro
(Live In Japan 1994) CD, is a rare live document that commands three
figures from certain on-line retailers. Recorded
in one of the bands favourite venues, on one of Corduroy’s six Japanese tours;
this was the live set (evoking fast cars, fast girls and sharp threads) that
helped elevate ‘the fabric four’ to cult status; to be emulated by contemporaries,
to pre-empt the verve and life-style since championed by Austin Powers, to be chased
through the streets of Shibuya by the prettiest girls with the longest legs in
Tokyo; a groovy swinging soundtrack to an imaginary cartoon-world of sheer
unadulterated silliness. Very Yeah!
Searle Richard (2013) Corduroy.Very Yeah-The Directors Cut, Complete Compositions 1992-95.
Searle Richard (2011) Corduroy. Mod Speed Blog.
