Shivers Inside
PART 26
Luther Ingram Orchestra – Exus Trek

Once upon a time I was accused of disappearing into my world of books and films where darkness came too soon.  Total nonsense of course.  There was music too.  But the suggestion was that I was missing out.  Total nonsense too.  Products have so much to teach us.  So many stories to tell …

Yeah it’s got a certain something hasn’t it?  I got the idea of doing something here from an old copy of Soul Underground.  They used to do a modern soul night here.  Says something about the size of that scene doesn’t it?  And, going back further, I’m sure there used to be a mod thing here.

We must have traipsed all over the West End looking for a good place to put these shows on.  And this was about the best of the lot.  It’s incredible really.  £10 to hire the room for the night.  But then again it’s dead around here on a Friday evening once the offices have emptied.  So we’ll be bringing in a bit of trade.  The place seems to be run by Turkish gangsters, but they seem decent sorts.  Wouldn’t want to cross them.  So I guess we’re on thin ice.  Because we rather gave them the impression we were putting on a jazz night.  Still I suppose it depends what your definition of jazz is.  And Dave did have a Coltrane t-shirt on when we booked these nights up.

I was absolutely determined we had to have somewhere in the West End.  It’s fairer for everyone.  And I hate trekking across to Camden or anywhere further out where you’re forever looking at your watch and worrying about when the last train leaves.  And Camden’s horrible.  That tube station there is so awful.  Like a wind tunnel.  And now that Jeff’s shut up shop, I don’t ever want to go back.

It’s also good to get away from the meat market thing.  Endless streams of young hopefuls parading their wares week in and week out.  Some of them even paying to play.  I wanted somewhere that was ours.  Somewhere where only our groups would play.  And where the shows would take place only occasionally.  And so become a sense of occasion.  Rather than a ritual. 

It will also be an opportunity to make links with some of the people who are catching up with our records.  We should be able to shift copies of the singles, and hopefully persuade people to take copies away to sell on for us.  I think it was the best thing we ever did to breakaway from The Cartel.  What’s the point in paying people not to distribute your records?  I still say it’s tantamount to censorship.  We’ve got as much right to have our records in the shops as Dinosaur Jr.  It’s what the Stockholm Monsters were singing about on How Corrupt Is Rough Trade?  I like the sense of being self-sufficient.  I feel we’ve got more in common now with the chancers selling their white labels out of the back of their car boots. 

Look around you.  There’s a good mix of old faces and new.  Where do these Japanese girls come from?  And it means a lot to see people like Big Mick here.  Apart from the Jasmine Minks, I thought he would only ever listen to Swedish psychedelia and Australian garage bands, but he seems to have really taken to The Claim, which I think is fantastic.  And there’s quite a lot of the old fanzine crowd here too, though there doesn’t seem to be any fanzines left now does there?  Shame because we could do with people spreading the word.  Actually that reminds me, Karen from Glasgow is meant to be coming down for one of the other shows, which will be great.  She sent me a copy of that Orchids 10”, which I loved.  Mind you, I think I freaked her out by saying it reminded me of a cross between Television and the Bay City Rollers.  I wasn’t joking. 

When was the last time you saw The Claim?  Was it at that Falcon show with Biff Bang Pow!?  That was when I walked out in disgust because Ed Ball had jogging bottoms on.  Well, you’ve got to have principles.  You’ll love the new songs.  There’s a brilliant one called Sunday, which would make a brilliant single.  And one named in tribute to Earnestine Eady, which is pretty cool isn’t it?  Anyone who loves her singing The Change is alright with me.

I am so proud of the way the group has bloomed over the past couple of years.  When I saw them playing with the Jasmines at the 100 Club I knew they had something, but recently they’ve been a revelation.  The guitar solo in Losers Corner is heartbreaking isn’t it?  That song seems to reinvent a tradition that stretches back through Ray Davies and Ewan MacColl.  It’s like Dirty Old Town is a song we all know, but when you listen to it.  Really listen to it.  Wow.  It’s incredibly beautiful.  And it’s the same with Waterloo Sunset and Days.  The black arm band at the party.  And in this summer of love someone’s got to be the argumentative soul in the corner. 

Trouble is nowadays I lie awake at night worrying whether my own contrariness is holding them back.  What your old friend called the Anti-Midas Touch.  Would they be better off with someone who might take a rather more orthodox approach to the business?  I dunno.  They’re awkward sods themselves, so I don’t think they will throw it all away for a shot at success.  The thing is now in terms of approach and execution they are now the avant garde.  Except that people have all but forgotten what that really means.

Interesting the way half the crowd tonight seems to be clothed by River Island.  These tops are pretty neat, so I stocked up. Looks like I wasn’t the only one.  I see the Stone Roses seem to be wearing something similar in publicity shots.  I like their look, but I still don’t really get that LP.  It’s pleasant enough, but I still argue it sounds like a watered down Purple Hearts.  It’s incredible to witness the frenzy from some quarters for that sort of sound, but if you come from the Medway then you’ve got no ‘ope if there’s a bit of a punchy garageland thing going on. 

Blimey.  I’ve just noticed how bad the tape sounds.  We forgot to bring a proper tape deck so we had to plug my Walkman into the PA.  And of course my home taping is notoriously primitive.  But I thought it would be good to get away from the standard support group scenario, and just play some great music.  Some of which hopefully people won’t have heard before.  Some of which is simply a statement to say this is where we’re at.  So I stuck on the Shirelles, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Valentinos, Kleenex, Thick As Thieves, Wolfhounds, Shack, Go-Betweens, Lyn Collins, Jamo Thomas, William De Vaughan, Dusty, Maxine Brown, Blue Orchids, Richie Havens, The Eyes, The Action, Pentangle, Lee Morgan, Tim Buckley, and so on. 

And if I’m really clever for once I will actually get it right and make it possible for the lads to come on stage – well there isn’t a stage of course but you know what I mean – to the sounds of the Luther Ingram Orchestra doing Exus Trek.  Ah I thought you’d know that one.  I’d like to say that the actual reason I wanted to work with the group was that I heard Dave say they liked to take to the stage to that track.  And what a track!  It’s funny that they picked up on it like me from the Grapevine This Is Northern Soul compilation which came out around 1980.  Just right for born again teenage mods scratching around for the source sounds.  It was the first Northern Soul LP I bought.  And I still play it all the time.  Rules by Gil Blanding.  Love Slipped Thru My Fingers by Sam Williams.  People That’s Why I Sing My Song.

I still have no idea if it’s a record the connoisseurs approve of, and frankly I couldn’t give two hoots. I think it was though.  They put out a load of singles too like Judy Street doing What, which of course Soft Cell covered.  Actually I almost put the Judy Street version on this tape.  I wonder if anyone will dance?  I might just.  I’m not the greatest dancer, and I may never have been to Wigan, but at least the man who coined the phrase Northern Soul lived round the corner from me in Bexleyheath. 

© 2007 John Carney

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