Desperate Bicycles Discography Online

regarding the Junior Boys...they did eventually get signed...because someone thought they'd sell records. And if that label person didn't think that, they might not even have the money to buy their damn drum machine, and I wonder, do they still have a day job? Music has been treated as a product for a hell of a long time, and while it is, artists deserve to quit their day jobs and get paid, even if buying the CD is the equivelent of hitting the tip jar. I download files, if I don't like them, I delete them, and if I do like them, and they're not David Bowie, I buy the CD.

but if we couldn't expect to make our money back, there'd be no Theoretical Girls CD. Not because anyone was holding it back, but because nobody would have bothered, nobody would have cared, hell, nobody would have known to check. The best music releases would all be charity. And while we think about money, and our end goal is to make millions putting out forgotten music, our main goal is to at least make our money back so we can do it again. And if we make even more money back, well we can then afford to put out better stuff, promote it to more people, better support the artists etc, such is capitalism.

regarding the zappa/lucas/apocalypse redux arguments, they really don't relate to what may or may not be happening with the Desperate Bicycles I don't think, or with my comment regarding Lenny Kaye/Patti Smith or The Chills. But even with that there's gray areas...regarding the basic assumption, and this has been discussed before, that any remastering is going to be better remastering, that's different then radically remixing something.

As far as your musical utopia, there's been many discussions in many places...what happens when the media no longer exists, there's no copy-protection and everyone had gigs of storage in their brains and their living rooms, will all artists only make money through live performance? I just don't feel like having that discussion and figure we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!

TV appearance? I'll be contacting you off-list!

eww, this music is fucking shite. there's no reason to hear this bollocks except the fact that someone doesn't want you to hear it. brilliant marketing move, laddies.

i love this pretentious existential explanation for the band:
"The Desperate Bicycles were formed for the specific purpose of recording and releasing a single on their own label."

Not to make good music, not to express anything relevant, but simply to release an album. Yes, this has encouraged me to go buy an excessively large Hummer and drive it around just because.

i'd say "advice on arrest" definitely expresses something relevant, and far from existential or pretentious. try actually listening to them next time.

What's really cool about music is that sometimes some people like it, while other people don't. A little respect for other people's taste and opinions goes a long way. They wrote tons of great songs that mean a lot to a lot of people. It's fine if you don't like them, and I guess it's silly for me to argue on the internet about stuff like this.

It was a pretty big deal, a big conceptual leap back then, that you could just put out a record. They had that idea and decided to do it. It was an influential move, but unlike the bulk of their followers, the music was also fantastic and they continued to write songs, released a few more singles and an LP. Most of it is pretty good to completely awesome, in my opinion, if not yours.

And I like it just because.

Is this the thread that is mentioned in the page at the top of the thread that doesn't work when you click on the link on that page?

Because if it is, he's right, it is interesting.

I remember buying the second single from my local record shop and cursing the fact that you must have either lived next to Rough Trade or been a friend of the band to get the first single. Certainly had no chance getting it out in the sticks. It's good to hear it again after all these years.

Dug this up for the first time in probably 4 years? Totally enjoying "Cars"

"Holidays" is easily one of my favorite songs of all time. Can't get enough of it.

I'm at the "Grief Is Very Private" single and it's quite exceptional. I'm surprised at how fucking good this is.

There's a Lusty Ghosts song toward the end of this podcast..!

http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/extras/podcast/27

the "article" I wrote for Swingset Magazine in 2004:

http://swingsetmagazine.com/2012/06/xerox_music_is_here_to_stay/

I may update it one day with newer info, links, color photos etc, and post to the Acute site, but for now you can look at this and learn nothing new.

Dan, I don't know if it's already been addressed, but do you have the Evening Outs single and the Peel Sessions of the Desperate Bicycles on your burned CDs and if so, is it possible to receive any copies?

the desperate bicycles 7"s were all recently bootlegged with added bonus peel sessions tracks added. no sign of a 'remorse code' bootleg though.

and, great article, dan.

Thanks. Hopefully I'll do the updated version eventually.

I have the Evening Outs single and the Peel Sessions. Neither were on the original burned CDs.

Mark, when you email people via ilx, you have to include an email address so they can write back!

got the 4 "reissue" 7"s today
first single is Smokescreen/Handlebars on one side & Occupied Territory/Skill on the other, 2 great singles for the price of one.
second single is Medium Was Tedium/Don't Back The Front on one side & 2 tracks from a Peel Session on the other, a slower & more together sounding version of Smokescreen & (i'm assuming) Teacher's Prayer (the sleeve & label have no info at all!)
third & fourth singles are pretty straight repros of New Cross & Grief Is Very Private with sleeves changed/added. have to say stylophone/bass/drums is a great idea for a band lineup.

Rough Trade (and a few other places) are currently selling copies of the Remorse Code LP which are supposedly from a legit warehouse find. It's £24.99. I bought one but I'm now wondering if I'm just falling for a ruse to sell a bootleg at an inflated price.

"warehouse find" often means bootleg but it seems odd that rough trade would go to the length of saying These albums look and play as new but you have to remember they are from 33 years ago. You will not find a better copy if they weren't genuine. do you have a copy or are you waiting for it to arrive? the 7"s that were bootlegged have a sheen on the sleeves that the originals didn't have and this might be the case with this if it isn't actually original.

i just bought one so i guess i'll find out soon enough.

not sure who actually found them but Paco from La Vida Es Un Mus was selling these online the other day. would be p surprised if he was engaging in any underhand monkey business. decided not to buy one cos I can't rly justify (to myself) either spending that much on an LP or flipping it for a profit

Paco sells bootlegs all the time but I guess he doesn't normally claim they aren't bootlegs, just doesn't mention that at all.

yeah that's what I figure