The Story Of...
The Story Of The Blues 1983, anthemic, beautifully sung with emotion and with the most wonderful soulful backing (wish I could find out more about who the two wonderfully harmonious backing singers were!), there was no way that this wasn't going to hit some dizzy heights in the UK Charts in the day.
The 7" Single's back cover sadly only references the backing vocals to 'Some Girls' which is a shame as their contribution was valuable in helping the song achieve the impact it had.
You can also see on the back cover that the single was produced by the legendary producer, engineer and musician Mike Hedges who has produced for some really big names over the years. He has been responsible for production of The Cure (Seventeen Seconds), Siouxsie & The Banshees (Nocturne), The Associates (Party Fears Two) and this track by The Southern Death Cult with their first single called 'Moya'.
Interestingly enough The Cult have just released their first album in six years called 'Under The Midnight Sun' you can catch up with details of it at GuitarWorld.com.
Mike Hedges has also worked with other acts such as The Manic Street Preachers and also from a previous post on this site The Beautiful South.
Upstairs At Eric's
Wah! (under various names) were active from 1979, Pete Wylie and company gained critical acclaim throughout 1980 for the singles "Better Scream" and "Seven Minutes to Midnight"(both as Wah! Heat), the latter being single of the week in the NME, Sounds and Melody Maker during spring 1980. Both tracks were released on the Inevitable Record label run by Pete Fulwell (managing director of Eric's a well known venue in the Liverpool scene). Better Scream originally released in 1979 and being the first release for the record label. It was also home for other notable Liverpudlian bands such as Dead Or Alive, It's Immaterial and China Crisis.
Inspirations & Frustrations
Their biggest hit single was "The Story of the Blues", which was released in late 1982, and reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart by January 1983, first appearing in the Charts at Christmas time. Apparently, the song was inspired by Alan Bleasdale's gritty drama 'Boys from the black stuff' which showed the lives of once proud people hit with unemployment and desperation no thanks to the government back in the day and sparking the catchphrase 'Gis a Job' made famous by actor Bernard Hill who played Yosser Hughes...
It was also about Pete Wylie's frustration with WEA Records on which the single was released. Clearly getting Pete riled up made for good tunes!😉
Breaking Wind In Your Kitchen
Just as a slight aside, although still relating to Mr Wylie if we fast forward to 1986 and his appearance on Top Of The Pops with '
Sinful'. John Peel's introduction to it caused a bit of a stir at Aunty Beeb (I remember watching it on TOTP at the time and laughing loudly!), he suggested that if the song wasn't made #1 he would personally come and break wind in your kitchen, here is the late Mr. Peel and his rather amusing comment as well as many other quips in this clip...
Video & Info Source Thanks
Picture Source Thanks
Back Cover of 7" Single source Discogs.com
