Durutti Column: classic or dud

There's nae colin here son!

CS: UK 1978 (Factory) [handmade promo]
2x7": UK 12/78 (Factory FAC 2) [silver gatefold sleeve, with stickers]
12": GR? 198? [silver sleeve; bootleg]

[disc/side one]
4:57 No Communication
3:16 Thin Ice (detail)

- "Produced by Martin Hannet [sic] and Laurie Latham
Exclusion
Vinny Reilly - lead guitar
Colin Sharp - lead vocal
Stephen Hopkins - keyboards
Phil Rainford - vocals July 1978
Tony Bowers - bass and vocals Oct. 1978
Dave Rowbotham - guitar and vocals Oct. 1978
Chris Joyce - drums Oct. 1978"
[several of whom later formed the band Simply Red]

- edition of 5000
- Released December 24, 1978, though not in the shops until January 1979.
- NB: the sound is that of a punk group, unlike subsequent releases.

~ Everything
~ IS REPAIRABLE
~ EVERYTHING
~ IS BROKEN

xpost fair enough. There was a picture in one of the music mags recently.

xpost haha

i didn't know that! which song?

http://s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?
id=3HKOBIG0G3F730PEGFLPRY3C8H

http://s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3HKOBIG0G3F730PEGFLPRY3C8H

Too damn drunk, etc.

"No Communication" is very a snapshot of the times. Very sub-Magazine. Mind you, Joy Div didn't arf crib the lyrics off for "Transmission".

So the LTM Durutti reissues are out -- four total: an expanded Lips That Would Kiss, Circuses and Bread and Fidelity, plus a 1981 live album from Brussels taken from a soundboard. The latter was the most interesting to me by default since I hadn't heard it before -- nice performance, one of the first times Bruce Russell had been part of the band and it's interesting hearing how he's testing the limits of the songs at points, more fills and other things, while Vini's singing is flatter and rougher given the mix. The interview at the end is a nice bonus as well -- plenty of complaints about the PA!

anybody else get a weird feeling hearing Vini's music in the film Jerry Maguire?...

not really. i hope they paid through the nose to use it though

I haven't heard that much DC, but if all those tracks on Best Of are better than "Future Perfect" well good christ.

why has allmusic.com failed to review the otherwise wonderful Time Was Gigantic...When We Were Kids LP?...

(it's true, what he said about time)...

It occurs me to me how much I wish there was a full length DVD of Durutti available. I don't think there's ever been one, has there? All I've got is a the Factory VHS "A Factory Outing" that has "The Beggar" on it, and the Umbrellas Under the Sun comp.

I found some clips on You Tube and MySpaceTV but unfortunately I'm having problems with my internet and sound right now so I can't vouch for specific clips too well.

The Japanese live album, Domo Arigato, came out on vhs years and years ago, there must be a conversion of it floating around. I also have seen a few files on torrent sites before, Fado Music Festival 1991 is one of them.

Durutti mania up in here. I'm listening to LC and actually enjoying it quite a bit, which is weird. I was always kinda disappointed in this album.
I remember a local television station that sampled a bit of this for their in between breaks. Brilliant.

disappointed by LC? does not compute

Song they sampled was "Jaqueline", I mean.

xpost

Yeah I'm not understanding why I was disappointed in it yet, either. Maybe it will become clear later.

Has anyone heard the Thieves Like Us song on the Kitsune Maison 4 comp? It's made more or less entirely from a sample of "Sketch for Summer" (I think, anyway; it's definitely something off the first album) and I'm not really sure what I think of it yet.

Colin Sharpe wrote the book "Who killed Martin Hannett?" and is described as 'his best friend' on the cover. (tbf, that may not have been his idea to call himself that)

It seems he was drafted in at the last minute to replace the previously sacked singer, so may not be the guy in the early DC pics. His task was also to write lyrics for the two pieces so far written, "No Communication" and "Thin Ice" (of which Alan Erasmus added a few bits too). After the further split (Mothmen that way, Colin and Vini this way), they did a few gigs together but basically packed it. About a year after the Factory sample, if I recall right, Vini and Martin did the album.

Actually, if they stripped the vocal off those tracks, they'd be fine as actual DCol tracks anyway: Thin Ice (detail) particularly.

That was a fine post, Mark! I had forgotten about the Mothmen connection. I shall have to play those two DC tracks now, I love them so much. I don't mind his vocals, either.

I had great fun last night with the Hannnett produced bonus tracks on the "LC" CD. I've long thought "Belgian Friends" was an especially exceptional song (like top 5 Vini for me), but I took a closer listen to the likes of "For Mimi" & "Self-Portrait" and wow, blew my hair back. I started seriously wondering if Mr. Hannett might have contributed to the bass lines on the latter. They seemed so much in his style of playing. Still the liner notes say Vini wrote these songs entirely, so who knows?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N-8lrlZx0g

i've got a copy of the Durutti Column live in tokyo (Domo Arigato) on dvd. it's fantastic. actually beats newOrder's 85 japanese dvd by a long shot.

I shall have to seek that out. I believe I might know where to get one of those, actually.

In the meantime I can't believe I neglected to post this one the other night, one of my major top 5 or 6 Durutti tracks here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhzG_3d7aM

Fuck me, that takes me back. That was my first exposure to Durutti, seeing that on "The Tube" in early '85. Thank you!

Okay I've got the Domo Arigato on DVD now and I must say I'm not all that thrilled with it. The main problem is the trumpet and sometimes the violin are too far up in the mix. I want to hear more of Vini's keyboards & guitar. Some songs it works out okay on, though...

I mean I never had any problem with these instruments on the "Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say" EP, but there's a proper place for them in the mix and this isn't it.

"Belgian Friends" on keyboards is sweet, though. Yikes.

And the weird thing is that just before "The Missing Boy" started, I heard that riff in my head and prayed it would be the next song and it was. Sigh. I mean we've all affirmed that Vini is a genius, right? Have we established this yet?

Goose pimples on my flesh when he starts in with the "same old order" bit. What is the deal with his fingernails? Is he playing with this fingernails? The brilliance is blinding. I've definitely never heard a better version of "The Missing Boy". And yes I know it was written for Ian Curtis, you wankers.

And yes I know it was written for Ian Curtis, you wankers.

He was in Joy Division.

Truth be told, I'm totally insane over "Self-Portrait" now. There is this part in that song when the guitar note/key changes entirely from anything you might expect and it kills me. Let alone the Martin Hannett's production. I decided I had to have this on vinyl. Cost me a fortune but I can't live until I have that on vinyl and can hear it on headphones. I will get to have "Belgian Friends" on vinyl too! What a thrill!

Still there are more great tracks..."Danny", "One Christmas For Your Thoughts"...

Haha! xpost