Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

cool, haven't seen that in ... 15 years? never released on DVD, I take it?

It came out on DVD in 2001, but I never bought it and I think it's out of print. It was just a straight transfer of the shit quality VHS so it was a low priority for me.

this usta get shown on a local NY/NJ UHF station (one song at a time) constantly in the mid '80s.

Last night I was listening to the Soft Boys "1976-81" comp and, by god, it's spectacular. The punkadelia sound, the harmonies, Robyn's twisted world view ("Sandra's Having Her Brain Out" was the first thing I ever heard from him at age 17 and it's never left my head since). I'm guessing there's lots more in the vault, not the least is the full Portland Arms gig which is wonderful. Bring it on!!

i still haven't gotten over the "have a heart betty"s on that

Best 2cd retrospective ever.

just recently heard "Salamander" for the first time, what a fantastic, sick song.

Yes! That track got orphaned in the most recent reissues from Yep Roc-- tragically, IMO.

kind of want to pretend those yep roc reissues never happened. do-over!

I was just mulling over "Two Halves For The Price Of One", an odds and ends comp at the end of the Soft Boys career. Only some of it has been released on CD:
Only The Stones Remain - Underwater Moonlight
Where Are The Prawns - Underwater Moonlight
The Bells Of Rhymney
There's Nobody Like You - Underwater Moonlight
Innocent Boy - Invisible History
Black Snake Diamond Rock (live)
Underwater Moonlight (live)
Astronomy Domine (live) - Invisible History
Outlaw Blues (live) - Invisible History
Mystery Train (live)

The version of Rhymney isn't the same one Robyn released as a b-side and Mystery Train is live vs the studio take on the 1976-81 comp. I think I've got that right...

'Innocent Boy' is so great, man I haven't heard/had that song in forever.

I think the Mystery Train on that is the same as on The Rout Of The Clones. Maybe not? I don't have them handy to compare.

Rout is 1978 gig, Lope At The Hive is 1980.

i'd like it if he put out the full gig from whence those live "two halves" tracks came. that's not floating around in the bootleg world, is it?

I've never seen it.

And thanks for the Rout/Lope clarification, GmcBB.

It's too bad The Asking Tree isn't updated anymore, or that there's not another level of detail regarding versions of each track. I've been digging into this stuff for years and even I have to refresh my memory from time to time.

Is there a specific date for the Lope recording? I had heard March 1980 but it doesn't match up with the one Asking Tree setlist for that time period.

It's got to be this one: http://www.jh3.com/robyn/base/gig.asp?chubb=70 but clearly the tracklisting is incomplete.

slightly confusing facebook update suggests that Joe Boyd is producing the next Hitchcock LP. which i think is good news.
gave love from london another try last week -- man, i would like to hear robyn's demos for it, because i really have trouble getting past the dullllll production (especially the programmed beats). hard to tell if the songs are good/bad/mediocre/whatever.

Joe Boyd is great news. I hope it's correct! Propellor Time felt a little Boyd-y and is my favorite of the last several RH LPs.

i wanna destroy you always segues into surrender by cheap trick for me...

a pox upon the media... got my kiss records out...

i have very mixed feelings about this dude but i wanna destroy you is all time, not that this is news to anybody

gave love from london another try last week -- man, i would like to hear robyn's demos for it, because i really have trouble getting past the dullllll production (especially the programmed beats). hard to tell if the songs are good/bad/mediocre/whatever.

Tyler, my feelings echo yours. I'm not sure the demos would be much better, the songs themselves are just not strong:

Harry's Song - Nice piano but his singing is a bit out of tune at times. Meh.

Be Still - This is a good one with good lyrics as most of his death-focused songs are. I dig the cello.

Stupefied - Um, no, jeez I don't like this one at all from the programmed beat to the weak keyboards. "You wanna get high but you don't know why", blech.

I Love You - This is alright, with an aggressive vibe, but he's done this sort of song better many times. Mentioning tendrils and dissolving just makes me want to queue up "Clean Steve" and "Chinese Bones", respectively.

Devil On A String - This might be better in demo form but the playing just seems so uninspired and the lyrics aren't memorable.

Strawberries Dress - Feels like a cut-and-paste job where all the pieces don't fit. Meh.

Death & Love - Crikey, who pressed the wrong button on the drum machine? Is he trying to sound like an "Avalon" outtake? His lyrics on this album feel forced - neither straight-forward nor weird enough. The "I got screwed, uh-huh" bit is very poor.

Fix You - I like this one, he takes some chances with aggressive vocals and it works.

My Rain - Again, his singing sounds slightly out of tune in places. Dull song anyway.

End Of Time - Not bad, not great. The teaser snippet of the unincluded title track is possibly the best thing on the album!

Didn't he say he was going for a modern/pop sound on this album? I guess that explains the production choices. Both this and "Tromso" have an unfinished feeling. Even taking the best tracks from both results in a bottom-tier release in his vast catalog. Ah well, they can't all be gems.

Wonderful show last night:

https://twitter.com/2fortheroaduk/status/407258157942312961/photo/1

also playing tonight, with a cellist (I forget who) - there were a few tickets on the door last night, so maybe there will be tonight, and he seems to be on very good form right now.

i can't stop playing "he's a reptile" because it has that special combination of absurd/funny/true lyrics and super standard rock song structure. so fun.

I'm sitting here in the abandoned brain... The hypothalamus is open to the rain and the leaves blow into the hall...

New album streaming at New York Times. SO MUCH better than Love From London. On first listen I'd say it's easily his best non-Venus 3 album in nearly 20 years. Might be able to remove the Venus 3 codicil given time.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?_r=2&

finally getting to this and yeah! sounds pretty wonderful. "san francisco patrol" might be one of the best things I've heard from the dude in 15 years. worthy of EYE.

I liked most of it, incl spare instrumentation and allusively, intimately direct address over weirdness (though was ready for weirdness/humor too). Goosebumps for the timing of "Don't Look Down." Good on "The Ghost In You," which fits/sets context & vibe; Psy Furs don't get enough coverage anyway. Are the others (except disappointing "Crystal Ship") all originals?

Also, who else is on it?

"don't look down" is a grant lee philips tune and to turn you on is roxy music... don't know who's playing on it, though.

Apparently he's on Marc Maron's WTF podcast tomorrow.

Haha wow!

I guess we'll finally find out who his guys are

jesus, this album is gorgeous

track 2 quite near mad me cry just now

wow.

anyone listen to wtf podcast yet?

It's okay but nothing revelatory. They kind of cover the same shit over and over because Marc's a bit of a putz.

Nice microview here, though why waste rationed words mentioning Syd, since reviewer then admits he's less relevant than Nick Drake---but Joe Boyd *also* produced "Arnold Layne," so just gotta namedrop one more tyme--it's RS, after all. Anyway, tells who owns the occasional female voice:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/robyn-hitchcock-the-man-upstairs-20140826

I didn't realize his dad wrote "Percy"! I love that Kinks album.

"The Man Upstairs" is definitely growing on me. I still sort of like the older version of "Ghost In You" but it's such an outstanding song in the first place and Robyn's take reveals the underlying emotional depth. His other covers are great except I'm not thrilled with "Crystal Ship". "San Francisco Patrol" is utterly gorgeous, in both sound and sentiment. The other originals are solid. Overall I think it's far better than "Love From London" and "Tromso Kaptain". He certainly set the bar high with the Venus 3 stuff!

His best non-Venus 3 album since Moss Elixir.

A Star for Bram still holds that title for me. But this is damn good.

Twenty years ago "So You Think You're In Love" topped the U.S. modern rock chart.

In 1994?

Aye. "So You Think You're In Love" was 1991

Twenty-three. Autocorrect.

ok

that's the first place i learned the phrase "silent majority"!

same!

"Lysander" off that album is a lost gem. It hurts me that I can't put those A&M deep cuts on Spotify mixes for people.

My feelings about Perspex Island overall will never settle. I've loved and hated that record so many different ways over the years. And I can't separate it from what a hard confused dark place I was in when it came out and when I played the shit out of it. I get the sense RH was in a dark place when he made it, too.

"Perspex" is underrated, and a bit of a victim of the time it came out and the production choices (even more so with "Respect"). Those tracks are better heard outside the studio:
"The Kershaw Sessions" has great versions of "Oceanside", "So You Think You're In Love" and "Birds In Perspex".
"Bad Case Of History" has live versions of "Vegetation And Dimes" and "Child Of The Universe".
"Ride" was released in demo form on a promo. It was also performed for the BBC but uncollected officially.
I have a nifty version of "She Doesn't Exist" from a 1995 Rhino reissue tour bootleg. I'm sure live versions of the rest are out in the aether as well.

I loved it at the time. I said elsewhere yesterday that the mix is a mess: as he’d prove on XTC’s Nonesuch released the following year, Paul Fox had no clue how to record trad rock. "Lysander," "If You Go Away," "Ultra Unbelievable Love," and "Ride" work though. I'd go so far as to say it's his best A&M album.