October 28, 2023

Fear Of The Dark🎃

Well, I guess it's that time of year again and as ever it comes around quick, the clocks go back an hour, nights draw in, the weather cools and before we know it Halloween is upon us and Winter follows hot on its heels (mind you there was Halloween stuff in the shops getting ready for it way back in August, no doubt the Christmas stuff will be hitting the shelves as soon as Halloween and Fireworks Nights are over!🙄). To be honest, I actually love Autumn, the falling leaves turning a russet and golden colour, those dewy mornings, a freshening to the air, taking the dog for a walk in the local park and kicking through piles of fallen leaves.🍂 Not quite so keen on it getting darker earlier though!

Falling Leaves Gif Tumblr — Falling Leaves: Tumblr Gif

Anyway, enough with the daydreaming and onto the sounds, which although I am sure I could have hunted down something specifically with the word Halloween in the title or lyrics when I first put this post together, it just seemed a little bit predictable, so in the end I thought I would go with the track below as it follows with the season in terms of it gets darker earlier. So, again enough and cue the music...

The band are simply called Scars (I must admit a band I hadn't heard of before), with the track taken from their album Author, Author! 1981, which was to be the band's only album. Their first single in 1979 was released on the Scottish based Fast Product label entitled 'Adult/ery / Horrorshow', which you can catch at the youtube link.

Fast Product were an interesting label formed by Bob Last and Hilary Morrison which released for bands as diverse as The Human League ('Being Boiled') was released on the Fast Label in 1978. As well as that it released for other bands such as The Mekons, Gang Of Four and The Dead Kennedy's. You can read more about them and their impact on the music scene at the article on the Guardian Newspaper online at the link. Evidently according to the article the last single the label was to release as FAST 12 was California Über Alles by The Dead Kennedys!

After the collapse of the label Last and Morrison started up a new label called Pop : Aural which released the first single by Scottish post punk outfit The Fire Engines in 1981 with their track which you can catch at the youtube link 'Big Gold Dream'.

The Scars, Band & Formation

Originally the band featured here were known as 'The' Scars and they were formed about 1977 in Edinburgh, they became part of the Edinburgh post-punk scene of the early 80's alongside other bands of the day such as The Fire Engines. They consisted of:

Stephen McLaughlin - Drums
Paul Research - Guitar/Piano
John Mackie - Bass
Robert King - Vocals

At the time of recording the first single in 1979 they had Calumn Mackay beating the skins for them but by release of the album in '81 Stephen McLaughlin looks to have taken that role.

Influences

They were influenced by bands and artists such as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, T-Rex and David Bowie, so pretty much glam rock style I guess. Their single 'Love Song' features the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel track 'Psychomodo' as the B Side. You can catch an interview with Paul Mackie at the link

Your Attention Please

Other song from the album called 'Your Attention Please' was released as a gold flexi disc free in the London Style Magazine i-D.

Secondary, 3 of 3 — Picture Source: Disccogs.com

They also managed to score a couple of 'Peel Sessions', you can catch the 1980 session at the link.

Evidently electronic music duo Lemon Jelly sampled 'Horrorshow' in their song 'Shouty Track' in 2005.

If you are interested in some Halloween style vibes on this site you can catch my previous posts at the links: All Hallows and A Sub Pop Halloween Swap.

🎃👹👻🏮🎃👹👻🏮

Anyhow wishing you all an upcoming 🎃Happy Samhain/Halloween🎃, keep it real & keep it spooky!👻