Local Bands/Artists on YouTube

[Paul D]

That's a timeless classic from the Lotus Eaters,here's something different from To My Boy.



The Grid

[Portobello Red]

Pale Fountains

A leading proponent of the "quiet pop" movement of the early 1980s, the Pale Fountains formed in Liverpool, England in 1981. Led by singer/songwriter and guitarist Michael Head, the group -- which also included bassist Chris McCaffrey, drummer Thomas Whelan and former Dislocation Dance trumpeter Andy Diagram -- debuted in 1982 on the Operation Twlight label with the single "(There's Always) Something on My Mind," which generated such a posititve buzz that they were immediately signed by Virgin for the then-staggering sum of 150,000 pounds.

However, their label debut, the lavish "Thank You," failed to crack the U.K. Top 40, despite a heavy promotional push. After an intense year in the studio, the Pale Fountains' first LP, the bossa nova-inflected Pacific Street, finally appeared in 1984; after such a relatively long absence from the limelight, the group had lost its status as media darlings, and the record fared poorly.

Producer Ian Broudie was brought in to helm 1985's ...from across the kitchen table, but again success was not forthcoming; in the wake of considerable acrimony amongst the band and their label, the Pale Fountains soon split, with Head returning to Liverpool to form Shack with his brother John.” (From AllMusicGuide).

‘Pacific Street’ is a beautiful album, bursting with great pop tunes and is truly one of the under-rated lost classics of the 80’s.

Pale Fountains - You'll Start a War






Pale Fountains - Jean's Not Happening





Michael and John Head of the Pale Fountains were later founder members of Shack

[Portobello Red]

Shack - HMS Fable cover


Listen to HMS Fable here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Shack/HMS+Fable


Shack – Comedy






Shack - Oscar






Shack - I Know You Well






Shack - Cup Of Tea





Shack interview – including audio interview
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/conte..._feature.shtml


Listen to Shack – Time Machine, The Best Of… here:
http://www.shacktheband.com/jukebox/index.html


Listen to ‘Natalies Party’ here:http://www.last.fm/music/Shack/_/Natalie%27s+Party

[Paul D]

I love Here's Tom with the weather,what an album.

[Portobello Red]

Originally Posted by Paul D

I love Here's Tom with the weather,what an album.

Me too, Shack seem to have earned a lot a lot of respect from the people who have listened to them.

I love the lyrics to 'Oscar' and was going to post them under the video, but I can't seen to find them on the net.

Also, I've only just found out that:

their latest album ...The Corner of Miles and Gil named after two of the Head brothers' heroes, Miles Davis and Gil Evans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack_%28band%29


Listen to ...Here's Tom With the Weather here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Shack/...He...th+the+Weather

[Paul D]

Pete Riley is still going strong over there today.



Treehouse's first U.S. release is Nobody's Monkey on Breaking Records, a new label co-founded by Hootie manager Rusty Harmon. Treehouse owes little to the Blowfish musically, however, for this Liverpool quartet is firmly rooted in the music of their hometown heroes, the Beatles. More specifically, Nobody's Monkey reflects the music-hall psychedelia of such 1966-'67 singles as "Rain" and "Penny Lane." Treehouse is much better at this narrow niche than most bands, because the guitar squiggles and smears are accompanied by seductive pop melodies. Peter Riley not only wrote the intoxicating choruses for such songs as "Rain on Your Parade" and "A Million Places at Once," but also sings them in an aching tenor caught between hurt and idealism. --Geoffrey Himes

http://www.youtube.com/user/PeteRiley

http://www.amazon.com/Nobodys-Monkey.../dp/B000002JCM

[Portobello Red]

Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe - Born in Blackpool.

Lowe studied architecture at University of Liverpool from 1978. During a work placement in 1981 at a London architectural practice, he met Neil Tennant in a hi-fi shop on the Kings Road in London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Lowe



Chris Lowe in the Pet Shop Boys - Paninaro

Paninaro (plural: Paninari) is a subculture born in Milan, Italy during the early 1980s at a fast food restaurant called Al Panino (in English: At the Sandwich). The subculture was famous for its apolitical nature and its obsessions with fashion and the United States, contrasting sharply with the hyperpoliticized 1970s. It did develop consequently with the vapid hedonism on the 80s, fostered by reaganomics, thatcherism and deregulation liberism, reinforced by the diffusion in Italy of privately-owned television channels which vehiculated messages of consumerism and a fetishitic urge of self-affirmation through status symbols.

The typical Paninaro look might be Timberland boots or deck shoes, jeans rolled up to ankle height, belts with big buckles, Best Company sweatshirts, bulky Moncler jackets and brightly colored rucksacks.

In their heyday they were lampooned in the Italia 1 comedy show Drive-in by Enzo Braschi, who played a character depicting the shallowness of the subculture and its unending vulnerability to newer trends and fads of the 1980s (New Romantic, Dark-Goth, Rambo-like, and so on...). Braschi later dropped the charachter after a season in which he appeared in military uniform relating his experiences in the then-compulsory service in the Italian Army (then a rite of passage signalling detachment from the teenage years).

The movement was also diffused in some European countries, and is celebrated by the Pet Shop Boys in the song Paninaro.

Italian Paninari spoke their own slang, very similar to the dialect of American Valley Girls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paninaro

[Portobello Red]

Ken Dodd and The Beatles having a laugh
(near the end of the interview John admits to being a Liverpool fan)






Beatles interviewed in Sweden






John Lennon – Old Grey Whistle Test Interview 1






John Lennon – Old Grey Whistle Test Interview 2






John Lennon – Old Grey Whistle Test Interview 3

[Portobello Red]

The Teardrop Explodes


The name Teardrop Explodes was taken from a panel in the Marvel comic book, Daredevil No. 77.









The Teardrop Explodes - Reward





Teardrop Explodes - Ha Ha, I'm Drowning (Live)







image hosted on flickr




Teardrop Explodes - Passionate Friend





The Teardrop Explodes - Treason (Its Just A Story)

[Paul D]

Reward's a great song,it's a pity they wasn't around for longer.

[Paul D]

Here She Comes Again.




Outside Your Door.



I Need You.

The Stands were formed by singer/songwriter Howie Payne (37) in early 2002 following the break up of Liverpool band "The Big Kids", of whom Edgar Jones of The Stairs was the frontman.

Luke Thomson (guitar), Dean Ravera (bass), and Steve Pilgrim (drums) completed The Stands line up in the fall of 2002 and the band quickly became favourites at the The Bandwagon Club night along with The Coral and The Zutons.

After a much reported record company bidding war The Stands joined echo records in the spring of 2003 and began recording their debut album "All Years Leaving" at Noel Gallagher's "Wheeler End" Studio along with a collection of friends (Noel Gallagher (Oasis) and Oscar Rumpold(The Coral) both play on the record).

"All Years Leaving" was released in the spring of 2004 and entered the UK album chart producing no less than 4 top 40 singles.

After a touring the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia and the US the band relocated to Los Angeles in late 2004 to record their second album "Horse Fabulous" with producer Tom Rothrock at the legendary Sunset Sound studios .

"Do it like you like", the bands 5th single, entered the UK top twenty in the spring of 2005 as the band embarked on a second tour of the US.

"Horse Fabulous" was released on Monday, 25 July, 2005 and entered the UK album charts.

A strange twist of fate in the finest myth making tradition of the record business took place however when, just one week after the record was released, The Echo label ran into trouble, which led to "Horse Fabulous", one of the most widely anticipated and critically acclaimed albums of 2005, being left adrift and virtually unobtainable after the first few days of it's release, despite great demand.

The Stands embarked on a 4th sold out UK tour in September 2005 climaxing in their final concert at the Carling Academy Islington in London.

Howie Payne is currently recording his debut album for release in 2007. Steve Pilgrim is now drumming for John Power (ex-The La's and Cast). Dean Ravera is playing bass with Howie Payne. The Artist Formerly Known as Luke Stand has joined Liverpool band 'The Gravity Trap' with other veterans of the Zanzibar 2002 scene.

[Paul D]

Sometimes I



Tell Me Live

Laura on song for pal Robbie

IT’S not every day a girl gets an offer from Robbie Williams she can’t refuse - but that’s exactly what happened to singer Laura Critchley on a recent Stateside trip.

Singer Laura, from Liverpool, was over in Los Angeles shooting photos for her album, which comes out next month, when she got a call from the star.

She’d met him last October through her manager, who is friends with Robbie’s tour photographer, and the pair had kept in touch.

“We had a good laugh together last year, he’s an Alan Partridge fan and completely got my humour, so we carried on e-mailing each other when I came home,” Laura tells Insider.

“I’d flown to LA to shoot some pictures and for record company meetings and on the last day I was there, Rob phoned to ask if I could go over to his house and record some vocals on his new album.

“I was shopping at the time, but I did an about-turn and we went straight to his house in Hollywood that night. We watched a footy match with him first, then went to his house, listened to the stuff and I put my own little edge on three of his songs.

“It was brilliant. I got to sing a whole part, not just backing vocals, on what will be his next original album. Rob came in and said: ‘Take my vocal out on that bit, just leave Laura’s in.’

Laura, 23, admits she’s been a fan of the former Take That naughty boy for years.

Now they’re mates and, she adds:“He’s such a good laugh and lovely.”

With her own single, What Do We Do, out on October 15, followed a week later by the album, it’s going to be a busy few months for Laura.

Having supported Deacon Blue at this year’s Summer Pops, she’s about to head off on a 30-date tour with X Factor’s King of Swing Ray Quinn.

“It’s going to be an absolute scream,” she says with a laugh.

“I’m really looking forward to it – it’s like Scousers on the loose!”

[Portobello Red]

Guy Chambers

You lived in Liverpool for several years didn't you?

"When I was 13 my dad moved from the London Philharmonic Orchestra to the Liverpool Philharmonic and we all moved up here. I was here from '76 to '81."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/conte..._feature.shtml

Click on the Media link on this website to listen to some singles and albums that Guy Chambers has written / co-written.

http://www.guychambers.com/index2.html

Guy Chambers Discography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Chambers



Writer's discography

• 30 Gold / Platinum certified albums

• 19 Top 10 singles

• 6 No.1 singles

• 12 No. 1 albums




Albums

Tracks featured on the following albums:


• Darren Hayes's This Delicate Thing We've Made (2007)

• Beverley Knight's Music City Soul (2007)

• Melanie C's This Time (2007)

• Ross Copperman's Welcome to reality (2007)

• Axelle Red's Jardin Secret (2006)

• Stefy's The Orange Album (2006)

• Patrizio Buanna's Forever Begins Tonight (2006)

• Laura Michelle Kelly's The Storm Inside (2006)

• Erin Boheme's What Love Is (2006) #17 USA Bilboard Jazz Charts

• Beverley Knight's Voice (2006)

• INXS's Switch (2005) #17 USA Bilboard 200

• Melanie C's Beautiful Intentions (2005 re-release)

• The Isis Project (2005)

• Jamie Cullum's Catching Tales (2005)

• Keren Ann's Nolita (2005)

• Charlotte Church's Tissues and Issues (2005)

• James Blunt's Back To Bedlam (2005)

• Aslyn's Lemon Love (2005)

• Beverley Knight's Affirmation (2004)

• Brian McFadden's Irish Son (2004)

• Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten (2004)

• Delta Goodrem's Mistaken Identity (2004)

• Hilary Duff's Hilary Duff (2004)

• Andrea Bocelli's Andrea (2004)

• Kylie Minogue's Ultimate Kylie (2004)

• Jessica Simpson's In This Skin (2004)

• Speedway's Save Yourself (2004)

• Busted's A Present for Everyone (2003)

• Texas' Careful What You Wish For (2003)

• Melanie C's Reason (2003)

• Skin's Fleshwounds (2003)

• Jewel's 0304 (2003)

• Rachel Stevens' funkydory (2003)

• Nick Lachey's SoulO (2003)

• Will Young's From Now On (2002)

• BBMak's Into Your Head (2002)

• Diana Ross' Love & Life (2001)

• Kylie Minogue's Light Years (2000)

• Unamerican's Unamerican (2000)

• Tom Jones' Reload (1999)

• The Waterboys' The Live Adventures of the Waterboys (1999)

• World Party's Egyptology (1997) #3 UK, #83 US

• Cathy Dennis's Am I The Kinda Girl? (1996)

• World Party's Bang! (1993)

• World Party's Goodbye Jumbo (1990)

• Robbie Williams' Greatest Hits (2004) #1 UK, 5 x Platinum

• Robbie Williams' Live At Knebworth (2003) #1 UK, 2 x Platinum

• Robbie Williams' Escapology (2002) #1 UK, 6 x Platinum

• Robbie Williams' Swing When You're Winning (2001) #1 UK, 8 x
Platinum

• Robbie Williams' Sing When You're Winning (2000) #1 UK, 8 x Platinum

• Robbie Williams' I've Been Expecting You (1998) #1 UK, 10 x Platinum

• Robbie Williams' Life Thru A Lens (1997) #1 UK, 8 x Platinum




Singles


• "Afterglow" by INXS (2006)

• "Pretty Vegas" by INXS (2005) #9 Australia

• "First Day Of My Life" by Melanie C (2005) #1 Germany, #1 Switzerland, #1 Spain, #1 Portugal, #2 Austria

• "Come As You Are" by Beverley Knight (2004) #9 UK

• "Real To Me" by Brian McFadden (2004) #1 UK, #1 Ireland, #1 Denmark, #1 Norway, #2 Sweden, #4 Finland, #54 Australia

• "Irish Son" by Brian McFadden (2004) #6 UK

• "Out Of The Blue" by Delta Goodrem (2004) #9 UK, #1 Australia

• "Together We Are One" by Delta Goodrem (2006) #2 Australia

Co-written with Robbie Williams

• "Sexed Up" (2003)

• "Something Beautiful" (2003) #3 UK

• "Come Undone" (2003)

• "Feel" (2002) #1 UK

• "Something Stupid" (1998)

• "Eternity"/"The Road To Mandalay" (2001) #1 UK

• "Let Love Be Your Energy" (2001) #10 UK

• "Supreme" (2000) #4 UK

• "Kids" (2000) #2 UK

• "Rock DJ" (2000) #1 UK

• "She's The One"/"It's Only Us" (1998)

• "Strong" (1999) #4 UK

• "No Regrets" (1998) #4 UK

• "Millennium" (1998) #1 UK

• "Let Me Entertain You" (1998) #3 UK

• "Angels" (1997) #4 UK

• "South Of The Border" (1997) #10 UK

• "Lazy Days" (1997) #8 UK

• "Old Before I Die" (1997) #2 UK




Films


• Kinky Boots (2005)

• Fantastic Four (2005) "Always Come Back To You" - Ryan Cabrera

• Love Actually (2003) "I'll See It Through" - Texas

• Finding Nemo (2003) "Beyond The Sea" Robbie Williams

• Bridget Jone's Diary (2001) "Have You Met Miss Jones?", "Not Of This Earth" - Robbie Williams

• A Knight's Tale (2001) "We Are the Champions" Robbie Williams

• Bend It Like Beckham (2002) "Dream The Dream" Shaznay Lewis

• Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) "Man Machine" Robbie Williams

• Nobody Someday (2002) "Nobody Someday" Robbie Williams

• Mean Machine (2001) "Let Me Entertain You" Robbie Williams



Awards

• 3 Ivor Novello Awards

• 3 BRIT Awards

• Q Classic Songwriter Award

• MMF Best Produced Record Award

[Portobello Red]

From this list


Some Guy Chambers songs co-written with Robbie Williams:



Feel





Supreme





No Regrets





Angels

[Paul D]

Altogether Now



Groovy Train.

One of the weirdest nuttiest stories in pop history, the streetwise Farm was formed in Liverpool, England in 1985 by singer Peter Hooton a onetime youth worker searching for a musical outlet to voice his political concerns. Rounded out by guitarists Steve Grimes and Keith Mullin, bassist Carl Hunter and drummer Roy Boulter, the primary incarnation of the Farm recalled both the leftist identity and horn-powered sound of urban soul. They were dubbed "the Soul of Socialism". The group promoted its music not only through live appearances but also via football fanzine 'The End', a soccer fanzine published by Hooton - a forerunner and inspiration for loaded magazine
1990. Imagine the utter surprise as popular Saturday morning music feature The Chart Show played the video for new Farm release, and former Monkees hit, Stepping Stone. Why Surprise? Well, apart from ORS, a reasonable documentary by Miles Copeland (brother of Stewart, The Police) on Liverpool bands and Kevin Sampson's indie flick The Final Frame, the band had seldom appeared on screen. This was awesome stuff. The band were lucky to have had a full half page dedicated to them in any article in the music press to this particular date. Suddenly it sank-in, they were going places and good luck to 'em. Ben Leach was new soundman as keyboard player. Kevin Sampson and Suggs were soon the management team behind the band. Terry Farley was mixing their sound and the band were steadily gaining new ground in terms of popularity. Produce records was set up. The band played at the grand opening of The Palace, located in Slater Street and facing Wade Smith's original shop. The Palace was a typical shopping arcade of the Indie/Dance era (i.e Manchester's Afflecks Palace) and was well placed in the new cultural centre of younger Liverpool, the former warehouse laden Bold Street area.

The band were a regular fixture in the area, as their base was Produce Records at Holmes Building in nearby Wood Street. Soon Groovy Train followed and proved more, much more popular than their previous release. It was to peak at no.6 in the national singles chart. The band had featured on Ibiza - A Short Film About Chilling, shown on Channel 4, and their fan base spread rapidly. They were now BIG news.
Old fan favourite No Mans Land was re-worked as All Together Now, the tune was to be brilliantly fused with Pachabel's Canon. Steve Grimes, what genius! It was a top spot contender, sadly up against pop heavyweight Cliff Richard. The Xmas hit rounded off a memorable year for the band. No other single release from the band was to equal the success of the two aforementioned tracks, all the same each one was of true Farm quality. Don't Let Me Down was a slower number and maybe this break in momentum sealed its fate. Groovy Train had been a much heavier fast paced sunburst dance tune. Some believed All Together Now was propelled by Xmas fever and the situation in the Gulf region. But, isn't that exactly what makes a tune truly memorable? The excellent arrangement and pure pop orientation catchiness can never be dismissed. Spring 1991 saw the album Spartacus shoot in at no.1 in the album chart. Indie/Dance was at its peak. There was the legendary gigs. The Town & Country and Royal Court classics. Pete Wylie and B.A.D's Mick Jones were two heads often seen with the band. Jones was a hero to Hooton, and to many others, as former Clash guitar player. The band had Pete Wylie provide backing vocal on All Together Now and thus allowed him to re-invent himself.

Soon, there was a collaboration for a new version of his excellent 80's number Sinful. Mind and Love See No Colour were to be new single releases from the band. Despite doing less, in the usual commercial sense, these two tracks were excellent and gave hard hitting lyrics reminiscent of old style Farm contributions. Rising Sun was a re-working of East & West. East & West was a late 80's Farm track (still remember the T-Shirts for the tour of the said name).

The band were also popular in the US and they had signed with Sire in 1991, Madonna's label. Problems regarding the direction in which the band was heading began a wilderness for The Farm. Divisions on musical direction split the camp into factions. Suggs bailed and the band ditched Produce and signed to Sony, the £1,000,000 venture. The 1994 album Hullabaloo had some excellent tracks. Messiah was released as a single and despite the great attention given to it and crowds turning up at gigs stateside, the album and single were not great commercial successes. Sire were promoting some of their other acts and interest in the band wasn't a priority. Was Pete Hooton's 1970's Gerry Conlon hairdo to blame? They were also one of the bands that played The Last Night Of The Kop. An emotional occasion for Pete and Roy, both red hot Liverpool FC fans. The event marked the end of The Kop as a terrace, a result of Hillsborough and the conclusions drawn afterwards. The band eventually split and the late 1990's presented that all too familiar post-band great The Best Of album. Pete Hooton and Keith Mullin formed Hunkpapa and Carl Hunter and Steve Grimes Briter. Roy Boulter provided Wylie's Wah! with percussion.

After the rampant success of Altogether Now 2004 (the official England European Championships Single), The Farm were badgered by Get Loaded promoters to reform, and perform alongside The Happy Mondays at Brixton Academy for two nights in March 2005. The shows sold out!!! In addition, Get Loaded in the Park 2005, a new festival, was blessed with a live performance ...in front of 25,000 people @ Clapham common, 10,000 Glasgow and 17,000 in another gig with the Mondays at Manchester Evening News Arena.

[Portobello Red]

Good shout Paul - I also like this version of the video:

The Farm - All together Now

_____________________________________

Peter Hooton (lead vocalist in the Farm) wrote this article for The Face in 1990.


Peter Hooton's account of the terrace obsession with training shoes. The article appeared in The Face magazine, Vol 2 no.26, in November 1990. It remains the original work of Peter Hooton.


http://www.terraceretro.com/backissue/ph2.html



This year marked the tenth anniversary of THE FACE, but whereas parties have been thrown to commemorate this occasion, nobody has bothered to hold a 'do' for the tenth anniversary of the training shoe. It could be a unique occasion (possibly hilarious) and a fitting bash to celebrate a decade that has seen trainer wear break out on a massive scale. Training shoe espionage is now big business, and sportswear conventions where new designs are revealed have stricter security and secrecy than any Tory Party Conference: it seems that bootleggers know their stuff and can rip off a design before you can tie your laces!


I'm sure Adi Dassler and his brother Rudolf didn't know what they were starting when they began making sports shoes in Germany in the Twenties. After the war, the brothers had a row and split (good soap opera plot, this) and Adi formed Adidas and their kid formed Puma. The companies have been arch rivals ever since and it's only fitting now that the two main rivals in the so-called 'old school trainers' wars are Adidas and Puma.


Much has been written about training shoes over the last couple of years, as the style magazines and the newspapers have tried to come to terms with the massive increase in the popularity of the trainer. Empires have been built and fortunes acquired during the Eighties, and most 'lazy' journalists have looked to the States to explain the phenomenon. Unfortunately, most of what has been written has been complete nonsense, so far from the truth that it's not even funny. If the truth be known, the obsession with training shoes for the youth of this country began in the late Seventies and not in the late Eighties, as some would have us believe. It came from the football terraces and the council estates of the big cities, and who gives a George Best who started it - it happened and that's a fact.


In the post-punk revolution of '78/79, Adidas Samba ruled the terraces of Anfield and Goodison, quickly followed by Stan Smith's, before Puma struck back with its Argentina (blue leather, white stripe) and the much sought after Puma Menotti (red leather, white stripe). Trainer wars were well underway, and European away matches were the perfect opportunity to acquire those obscure training shoes available in Germany, but not in Liverpool. Most of the training shoe addicts would never dream of getting a pair you could buy in the city centre in Liverpool. This was real fashion, and the competition was intense. A revolution was going on that had absolutely nothing to do with the streets of Brooklyn or the Bronx. In all the years that The End magazine was printed in Liverpool, we never received a single letter about 'trainers' in America, but we did get hundreds about the training shoes the different football crews were wearing. A football crew's reputation could be severely damaged by giving it toes (getting chased) at Fulham Broadway, Finsbury Park or the Euston Road, but more serious damage could be done if a fatty was seen wearing a bad pair of trainers by the opposing teams' fashion spotters.


In May 1981, Liverpool played Real Madrid in the European Cup Final in Paris. We arrived at St Lazare Station on the Sunday before the game. The next three days were spent not looking at the buildings and architecture of gay Paree but for a mythical Adidas Centre which one of my mates overheard someone talking about in hushed tones in a Liverpool snug. Naïve teenagers we may have been, but if we had found it we would have been heroes. The bemused Parisians didn't know what the fuck we were on about when we asked for the "Adidas Centre" in several differing French accents. It was like the search for the Holy Grail, but more like the Monty Python film version.


The newspaper Paris Soir reported the antics of Liverpool supporters with some confusion. They had been drinking, but they didn't seem to want to fight anybody. They were too busy shoplifting, with the main targets being clothes and, of course, trainers. By the morning of the game the sports shops of Paris were locked, with staff supervising the doors, allowing only two people at a time into the shop. A way of life had been born and no one had even heard of hip hop, house or rap, let alone Run DMC.


It was some time before the fashion magazines and newspapers started to write about this street culture, but when THE FACE wrote a big feature on the subject in its July 1983 issue the floodgates opened. The article, written by Kevin Sampson, concentrated on the fashion area of London's so-called 'Casuals', Liverpool's so-called 'Scallies' and Manchester's 'Perries'. Within weeks, Time Out had an article written by London playwright and football fan Mick Mahoney who got it right when he pointed out that "if Nike brought out a crocodile-skin trainer for £140, it would be a smash". The football crowd and estate dwellers of the big cities didn't give a monkeys what they were wearing in Harlem or anywhere else; if it looked good in the Anfield Road End, the Scoreboard Paddock or the Clock End, it was good enough for them. Over the next year, nearly every newspaper in the country, from the Mail On Sunday to New Society, had articles on this strange breed of training shoe-clad youngster.


As usual the sports firms were slow to respond, and even by the mid-Eighties you still couldn't buy good, exclusive trainers in most cities. Europe, not the States, was still the mecca, and many shopping trips by eager Scousers willing to supply the demand in their home city went some way to doing this. (It also increased the letters from German/Swiss nicks asking for copies of The End magazine to relieve the boredom.)


It was during this period that a young buyer for Adidas based in Liverpool (but originally from Yorkshire) set up shop in a small back-street in Liverpool City Centre. He set up on his own because the company he worked for, Top Man, didn't really know what was going on, on a street level. After travelling to the Frankfurt Sports Fair he had wanted them to stock Adidas Forest Hills (white leather, gold stripes). Adidas insisted On 500 pairs going to the 'flagship store' in Oxford Circus. They didn't sell a pair and most of the reps blamed the price tag (£29.99) in 1980/81. Wade Smith knew different. After laughing at the idea of launching Forest Hills in Liverpool, Adidas let him have 500 pairs. He put them on sale in the beginning of December 1980; by Christmas they had sold out. Wade Smith was given salesman of the year in January and promptly left to set up shop on his own. He immediately set off for Germany in a van and the rest is history. His four-storey department-style store is testament to that. The shop now caters for the mainstream market, but it was built upon bringing in exclusive trainers from Germany in the early Eighties, trainers that had nothing to do with America, but a lot to do with the nomad Scousers, and Wade Smith often supplemented his stock by buying from Liverpool 'entrepreneurs' with time on their hands to travel to Deutschland and acquire, by various methods, the much sought after, exclusive Adidas Trim-Trab.


Judy Rumbold, the fashion editor of The Guardian, couldn't have been more wrong when she wrote about trainers (August 21 1989): "In Tom Wolfe's Bonfire Of The Vanities, sneakers are documented as an intrusive part of young American street style; not just symbols of black affiliation and for high performance on the dancefloor but as crucial elements in maintaining a lugubrious, rhythmic gait that Wolfe coined the Pimp Roll. That was in 1987; now the fad has soft-shoed across from the streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx and become a cult throughout Europe." Apart from qualifying for Pseuds Corner in Private Eye and avoiding the use of plain English, what Rumbold was trying to say was that British youth had just discovered trainers in the late Eighties. The hilarious Clothes Show even declared 1987 as the "year of the training shoe". Have these people been in a time-machine or chained in dimly-lit rooms in Beirut? This myth has got to be quashed!


Anyway, everyone knows that training shoes have gone a bit crazy in the past few years. Hilarious designs have been churned out of the factories and many a massive tongue has been laughed at. Competiton is cut-throat and it seems some of the designers have been taking some dodgy tabs (or suffering from over-worked stress syndrome), as the high-top trainer becomes more and more ridiculous.


The hilarious Clothes Show even declared 1987 as the "year of the training shoe". Have these people been in a time-machine or chained in dimly-lit rooms in Beirut?


Bad trainers now rule the market, but it has nothing to do with 'fashion' it's mass consumerism (check Tony Wilson out in his Travel Fox). The main reason people have been wearing Adidas Shell-toes and Puma States in the past year or so is because Nike, Adidas, Troop, Converse, British Knights, Travel Fox, Reebok, LA Gear, Hi-Tec, Jordache, etc, are producing some of the silliest, shittiest trainers known to man (and woman). The frantic search for trainers past is simply a reaction against the shit trainers syndrome! Thankfully, according to Wade Smith's sales figures, Liverpool is not a great supporter of multi-coloured high-tops.


Big, bad and sad should be the companies' mottoes. Even Michael Jackson has designed a trainer for LA Gear, imaginatively called 'Billie Jean'. It's big, black and has more studs than a biker's jacket. Unbelievable! Jackson must've been under the effects of the anaesthetic after a nose job to come out with something so bad. It's not whether old trainers are fashionable or not (many of the old school trainers were crap). The fact is that they are a million times better than many of the new trainers on the market and a lot harder to find. Obviously American fashion does have an influence on the


TOP TEN SAD TRAINERS

1. Traval Fox Barracuda (and all others)
2. Nike Air Jordans
3. (black) Fila Tourissmo
4. Anything by Troop
5. British Knights (all ranges)
6. LA Gear (hilarious)
7. Reebok Pump
8. Nike Air Pressure (you've got to pump the bastards up)
9. Hi-Tec (never seen a good pair yet)
10. Jordache (no exit)

TOP TEN CLASSICS

1. Adidas Samba
2. Puma Argentina
3. Adidas S.L. 80's
4. Adidas Stan Smith
5. Adidas Forest Hills
6. Adidas Trim Trab
7. Adidas Shell-Toes
8. Diadora Borg Elite
9. Adidas Gazelle
10. Puma States

European market, but when the Sunday Mirror magazine declares "the high-top trainer rules the world and is this year's trendiest fashion accessory. Anybody who's anybody knows that a pair of brand new trainers - bright laces undone, tongues out, displaying that all important brand name - says more about you than a wallet full of gold credit cards", you know it's time to leave the county and live on a desert island in your bare feet or search the loft for your ex-issue Diadora Borg Elite or Stan Smiths.


Let's be plain here - the Sugarhill Gang circa 1979 dressed in Huggy Bear hipsters and hairy chests were the genuine NYC article. A generation away from the British urchins who started it all. American persons who wear training shoes with suits and fur coats cannot be taken seriously. This isn't another beautifully executed US import - it's a slab of classic British hokum and there's nothing LA Gear can do about it. That's all.

[Paul D]

That's a great little article that,it brings back a lot of memories.I remember reading The End as a kid,it was the worlds' first Fooball fanzine.

Remember the 1970s? The sad glam rock era, Raliegh "Chopper" bikes, skateboards or the boys pen? For the youth of Liverpool it saw their respective clubs entering Europe and a desire to throw off the fashions set by petite bourgeois image makers, such as Mr. McLaren and Ms. Westwood, very much part of the St Martins art set. LFC's 1977 European Cup victory saw a change in look for its younger army of fans. The punk thing had burnt out and the bands had fully established themselves. Bowie was still much part of the scene and the atmosphere of such albums as "Low" and "Heroes" distanced him from mainstream pop. Liverpool youth were sporting mohair and jelly bean sandals, very much a "neo-beatnick" look. Bands such as The Clash had outlived the media death sentence of punk. Attitude was important and the look of the later terrace trends was evolving. Merseyside's stint in Europe, EFC were in the UEFA Cup at the time, gave new ideas for the development of this new look. As the seventies came to a close, the door of sartorial elitism was opening for the youth of Liverpool.

Contrary to popular belief, "wedge" haircuts were not attributed to Spandau Ballet. Indeed, wedges were very much part of Scouse hairstyle vocab long before the Spands graced the cover of Smash Hits or made their debut on TOTP. It would be David Bowie who holds that particular honour. As to whether Bowie 'obtained' the look from US Olympic figure skating champion Dorothy Hamill? The jury is still out.

The name "Scally" was a popular term in Liverpool for the no-good, going no-where, individual that you kept your daughter away from. It came from the word "Scallywag", a term that was first used in the US after the civil war. Very few people will probably admit to being a "scally" and often refer to the period as "having wore the gear". No Scouser would describe having spent their former youth as a casual or a perry, so you can see why scally is often the preferable term. Other than grafitti at Lime street station and in the toilet cubicles at Liverpool magistrates courts, the first time that I actually heard it used to describe the collective term for the style hungry youth on the terraces was by a mod revivalist, who had also referred to the look as "Square". The latter term being used in 1950s America for people who were not "with it".

How wrong could he have been?

Very!

From 79 until 81 Liverpool youth had created and ended a dynamic youth subculture that has shaped the look for the nations youth ever since.(European Capital of Culture anyone). Even on their demise as trend setters, the memorable "Scruff-look" came into being and was set as the way to look if you mattered in Liverpool. Don't be fooled by the title, it was a unique look that still smacked of sharp elegance. London and Manchester were not lacking in producing the goods and the more friendly titles of "Casuals" and "Perries" were their respective versions of terrace movement. "Perries", incidently, was the term used by some further south to describe the northern youth movement, "Soul boys" was another. A friend of mine working in Birmingham, at the time, was quite pissed off after being called a "Perry". The term was said to come from wearing Fred Perry, which did make an appearance at the time especially down south?


Many individuals from the era are still respected for the role that they played then, and for the role that they have played since, in popular culture. Kevin Sampson is now an accomplished author and played a part in the team behind The Farm. Back then, he was a contributor to "The End" and had pieces published in the likes of "The Face" informing the nations sociologists and media big shots that there was more to youth than Culture Club or Duran Duran. This was done before the tabloids even began to think of centre page exclusives on so-called "terrace chic".


"The End" was a Scouse idea that was coedited by Peter Hooton, in his pre-Farm days and after, and Phil Jones. The fanzines regular characters of Joe Wag and Dossa was something to be identified with by many of its local readership. There were articles on terrace fashion and music, not forgetting opinions held on the social and political moods at the time. It was the terrace bible that led to the birth of the footy fanzine, many of which now concentrate solely on the game and resemble a football version of train spotting publications. The End did not reach the masses until 1981, and was ironic to say the least, this being at the time that Liverpool was to take a back seat in the what to wear stakes. Even so, the look that had kicked it all off was to influence street cred Scousers to date. The End brought the Merseyside scene to the nation after a feature in the music press in April 1982, plus the many plugs provided by John Peel on his Radio 1 slot, the fanzine was soon to outgrow its domestic readership. It was to become popular within the new Scouse "wag" era, and to terrace heads up and down the country, not forgetting individuals in foreign institutions. Rumour had it that a publishing house was at one time planning to re-issue all The End volumes in one book, but, sadly it did not materialize. Mr Hooton went on to front a new band "Hunkpapa", with reference to native American history, and I caught them a few years back and was very impressed. In 2004 the Farm reformed and it found the old classic 'All Together Now' re-released as part of the official England squad efforts for Euro 2004.

Elsewhere, Terry Farley was often sending The End his thoughts on the Cockney standing in the measure of things, before engaging on "Boys Own" and "Heavenly" Records. Who can forget the "first at it" debate? Liverpool muso journalist Pete Naylor was the man with his finger on the bands and tunes that mattered. Pete Naylor is behind the current production team "Domestic Films" that recently brought us "Tales from the riverbank", shown in the Granada tv region. Domestic films is a venture he has formed with former Farm bass player Carl Hunter.

"What's the score" is the only fanzine to come close to The End. It was from liverpool and edited by Peter Furmedge, like his father, a lifelong LFC fanatic. It was well timed, arriving on the wave of opportunity brought in by The Farm, and gave the terraces that certain feel that had long been missing since The End's demise. "Boys Own" was probably one of the few better spinoffs from The End, these also including "The Viz" and the countless so-called "New Lad" magazines. There was to be the likes of "When Saturday comes", being very funny, but sadly, concentrating solely on the game.

Even though the main "Scally" era was the late 70s to early 80s the look was still very much evident throughout the eighties and nineties, in particular 1990 when the indie/dance crossover thing exploded. This period introduced the so-called "old school" concept, "the vintage trainie meets the not so tight around the ankle as they used to be jean thing". With jeans that didn't threaten your fertility, as much, its impact was unforgettable.

If you want to read something to set the scene for the terrace trends in Merseyside in 1979, then read Kevin Sampson's excellent "AWAYDAYS". This story centres on a 19 year old Tranmere fan, "Carty". There's loads of references to the gear worn, running and being ran, the bands listened to, and the places to be at the time.

You can buy it online from Amazon, I have seen it here for £4.79.

[Portobello Red]

Great read Paul. I used to buy The End in the Virgin shop when it was in Central Station - I wish I had kept them.

I have read two of Kevin Sampson's books:

Awaydays
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Awaydays-Kev...0208759&sr=8-3



and

Outlaws
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Outlaws-Kevi...0208825&sr=8-7



I would recommend both of them.


Kevin Sampson

[Damon]

Originally Posted by Paul D

"What's the score" is the only fanzine to come close to The End. It was from liverpool and edited by Peter Furmedge, like his father, a lifelong LFC fanatic. It was well timed, arriving on the wave of opportunity brought in by The Farm, and gave the terraces that certain feel that had long been missing since The End's demise.

Great stuff. 'What's The Score' remains one of the funniest magazines - of any genre - I have ever read. I used to read it when I lived in Sheffield and admittedly some of the scouse banter baffled me, but you could just tell it was written by some of the funniest lads alive.

[Paul D]

Originally Posted by Damon

Great stuff. 'What's The Score' remains one of the funniest magazines - of any genre - I have ever read. I used to read it when I lived in Sheffield and admittedly some of the scouse banter baffled me, but you could just tell it was written by some of the funniest lads alive.

There lies a perfect example of scouse humour,it's become a bit of a cross to bear but something special definitely exists IMO.I suppose most people don't know what we're on about most of the time,it's not about telling jokes it's just purely based on taking the piss out of each other and that's why you had to have good clobber.