Part 1 – I’ve Seen The Future And It Works
Originality and creative foresight can sometimes be an accidental combination of the right influences coming together at the right time.
For me, No-Man’s May 1990 recording of Colours was just that.
By taking the skeleton of a 1960s Donovan Folk anthem and underpinning it with a sample from a 1980s A Tribe Called Quest song (which itself was taken from a 1970s Lou Reed song), a future presented itself. By subsequently adding my croon, Ben’s inspired violin playing and Steven’s white noise guitar, I felt No-Man had found a sound of its own for the second time in its short career.
The ultra-spacious arrangement and combination of the rarefied (Classical and Ambient) with the Urban (Hip Hop and Noise Rock) seemed to suggest something very different from what surrounded it. Also, for perhaps the only time in my musical career, I could see how a strand of music might develop over time.
Alternative Pop has frequently been about creating increasingly elaborate structures out of something basic, then tearing them down only to make different, but equally elaborate structures from the rubble.
With their combination of unusual sample sources and refined textures, I felt No-Man tracks from the late 1980s/early 1990s like Colours, Days In The Trees and Drink Judas represented a development out of Hip Hop analogous to that of Pink Floyd’s Progressive Psychedelia coming out of the 1960s Blues revival, or Magazine’s Art Pop evolving from Punk.
My feeling was that the post-Hip Hop scene would become more sophisticated in terms of influences (adapting elements of Classical, Jazz and the Avant-Garde) and arrangement (sample manipulation becoming more specialised and complex). Massive Attack’s brilliant and majestic Unfinished Sympathy bore this out to a certain extent at the time, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s when Trip Hop and Drum’n’Bass found popularity that these speculations played out on the larger scale I’d imagined they would.
The immediate popular culture around this phase of No-Man’s career saw the emergence of Grunge and the Indie Glam of Suede and The Auteurs (which morphed into Brit Pop), while my own personal playlist of contemporary artists included Talk Talk, Rain Tree Crow, Prefab Sprout, American Music Club, Momus and The Blue Nile.
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Part 2 – Living The Dream (Pop)
Colours’ entire media campaign centred around sending 5 copies of the single, along with a semi-comic press release, to selected journalists we believed would see the band as an interesting contrast to the prevailing musical trends.
Luckily, the small-scale mailout produced big results.
Chris Roberts at the Melody Maker (a respected writer for a prominent music paper of the time) made Colours Single Of The Week, and as the cliche goes, the phone started ringing.
Within the month, we’d signed to Hit & Run Publishing. Within two months, I was being interviewed on BBC Radio One’s Newsbeat.
In 1990, courtesy of its Genesis and Phil Collins catalogue/ownership, Hit & Run were the biggest independent publisher in the world. Bizarrely, No-Man were signed, along with Space, Right Said Fred and Kula Shaker, as a means of attracting that mythical creature, ‘the youth audience’.
As an admirer of Genesis and Peter Gabriel, it was a thrill to be a part of the company and a surreal moment signing the contract with Tony Smith in a scene that almost exactly replicated a photo from Armando Gallo’s The Evolution Of A Rock Band (a book I’d greatly enjoyed as a teenager).
After a brief fling with Liverpool mavericks Probe Plus (a deal I got by just walking into their office on spec and playing a cassette) and several discussions with a number of big labels, One Little Indian became No-Man’s record label.
Steven and I both liked OLI bands Kitchens Of Distinction and The Sugarcubes, and Steven was also keen on the early work of The Shamen. An idealistic Indie with mainstream ambitions, the fit seemed good.
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Part 3 – Days (And Days And Days) In The Trees
It was decided early on that Days In The Trees would be No-Man’s first single for One Little Indian. At six minutes plus and possessing a ferociously dissonant mid-section, for us, this was an important, uncompromising statement of intent.
With money and commitment behind us, we went into a variety of studios to record the song.
Many months later, no version or mix (including one done at Abbey Road) seemed right, so we opted for what we considered to be the best of the recordings.
Although I liked the artwork and the overall way the Days In The Trees EP worked (Reich is a piece I still love), I was disappointed with DITT itself, which never seemed as graceful as the song I heard in my head (an unreleased 2009 version contains what I consider to be the best vocal performance).
Despite my misgivings, the song was chosen as Single Of The Week in several places (Melody Maker, Sounds and Channel Four teletext amongst them) and the EP managed an Indie Top 20 chart placing. These things combined with sessions on the likes of Mark Radcliffe’s and Nicky Campbell’s radio shows bought us more recording time from OLI and a few successful performances on the then popular Indie Dance live circuit.
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Part 4 – Pop Goes The Easel
Lovesighs, the mini-album, emerged in much the same way as Days In The Trees; as a means of justifying the large amount of time and money we were spending in the studio trying to make our debut album, and as something for our performances to promote.
Ostensibly, a compilation of our early singles, Lovesighs also contained what we’d imagined would be a third single (Heartcheat Pop) and its b-side (Iris Murdoch Cut Me Up), as well as a piece we’d offered free to a magazine (Kiss Me Stupid).
As with Days In The Trees, I liked the raw ambition evident in some of these pieces (particularly Iris Murdoch Cut Me Up), but felt that the overall execution lacked finesse.
For me, the ideas were there but our technical abilities and the production didn’t quite match them. Perhaps the best thing about Lovesighs was that it showed a band equally at ease with Pop and experimental music, and as with Colours, an originality emerged as a result of the band’s root influences colliding with the technology and styles of the era in which the album was made.
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Part 5 – Tim Drum
In the Autumn of 1992, to promote the release of the single Ocean Song, No-Man toured the UK with Jansen, Barbieri and Karn performing as its rhythm section. As fans of their innovative work with Japan/Rain Tree Crow and its solo offshoots, this was an undoubted honour.
Steven and I immediately struck up a friendship with Richard, and the trio’s professionalism and collective experience was a welcome addition to the world of No-Man.
Due to poor advertising, the concerts were variable in terms of attendance and a sell-out show would be followed by an almost empty hall.
The music worked well, but the overall experience was a little disillusioning for all involved.
Mick Karn and Ben Coleman, natural showmen both, played brilliantly and deservedly took the accolades throughout the tour.
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Part 6 – Beauty And The Beat
By October 1992, we’d finished a version of Loveblows & Lovecries that we submitted to One Little Indian. This edition differs significantly from the released album and includes Ocean Song, Taking It Like A Man, a totally different take of Painting Paradise and the original (12 minute) Tulip. As far as I know, only two white label copies of this exist (with cover).
The album was rejected as being uncommercial and we were sent back to the studio with the task of coming up with a hit single. What we came up with instead was Only Baby.
We spent a week in the isolated Jacob’s Studio in Surrey re-recording songs and tidying up mixes. Well-rehearsed and well-prepared, we finished re-recording the songs quickly. Consequently, most of the time at Jacob’s was spent eating, sleeping, reading, talking to Jean-Jacques Burnel (The Stranglers were in Jacob’s other studio), and waiting to hear the results of the engineer’s all too common six hour ‘hi-hat adjustment’ marathons.
The album’s rejection helped us reassess what was originally there and improve upon it. The rough edges of Lovesighs (and the original L&L) were smoothed and a greater sense of cohesion was achieved.
A common misconception people make is that due to its lack of a reissue, Steven and I dislike L&L. I can’t speak for Steven, but then as now, I like its combination of beats, lush textures and floating melodies. The album may be slick and may have dated, but there’s a genuinely emotional quality to the material that I can still identify with.
From its sweeping orchestral introduction through to its gently fluttering violin-led conclusion, the album contains many highlights for me, including the epic scope of Sweetheart Raw, Painting Paradise and Housekeeping, the melancholy melodies of Lovecry and Beautiful And Cruel, and the proto-Trip-Hop of Tulip and Break Heaven.
In an abstract way, the lyrics dealt with subjects as diverse as a friend’s nervous breakdown (Lovecry), a momentary incident that altered the course of a life forever (Sweetheart Raw) and my own unpredictable relationship of the time (Break Heaven).
Loveblows And Lovecries doesn’t have the scale and stripped-down fragility of Together We’re Stranger or the simple timelessness of Speak, but it does possess a bittersweet melodic character that I’m still fond of. The seeds of Flowermouth and the ballads on Wild Opera and Returning Jesus can be easily traced back to Loveblows.
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Part 7 – An Ending (Ascent)
Although the critical reaction to the album was positive and radio sessions evolved into TV sessions, the Loveblows/Lovesighs era ended on a low with the forced release of Painting Paradise (revisited).
Only Baby had been an Indie Top 20 hit and One Little Indian felt that a sound-a-like follow-up could bring us greater recognition. A hastily re-written Painting Paradise (featuring a grafted on chorus from a much earlier song) was recorded with the then producer of then labelmates, The Shamen and Bjork. The result was presented to One Little Indian along with our serious reservations about releasing it.
As with the US single Taking It Like A Man, we were overruled.
One positive was that the b-side of Painting Paradise, Heaven Taste (a product of our brief liaison with JBK), was as ambitious and idealistic as its a-side wasn’t. Another, was that we resolved never to give in to record company pressure again.
Believing that it may be the last thing we’d do on a major scale, we decided that our next album would be wholly representative of what we wanted to achieve musically, regardless of the reactions.
Our second album advances and recording money were spent on home studio equipment and session performances from musicians we admired. From here on in, we were determined to guarantee total control.
Cue Flowermouth.
Listen to housekeeping from Loveblows & Lovecries © no-man
Visit the no-man last.fm page
The earlier works of No-Man are those that personally excite me the most (yes, I even love the oft despised single version of Painting Paradise), so this has been a fabulous read, thanks!
I hope that someday we might hear those alternate versions of Days in the Trees and Tulip… perhaps in Lost Songs Vol. 2 or the release of Love You To Bits? (*Hopes*)
Fascinating as always, a 12 minute Tulip – are the no limits to the depths of the no-man vaults. I kind of agree with Matthew Lost Songs 2 would be a worthy addition to the no-man catalogue. By the way I didn’t get the ‘flawed but no longer ignored’ tagline of LS 1, Love Among The White Trash is simply glorious!
L6L was the first No-Man album I ever heard. The funny thing is that happened in 2008!
I was in the middle of a soon to end 8 year relationship. L&L was with me all the time: during the break up, the following pain and even when I unexpectedly met that “somebody to hold my hand” which shares my life until today.
Yeah,L&L music and lyrics were there. It was an album that changed my life.
I’m really happy to know what T. Bowness thinks about it.
Best wishes from Santiago, Chile.
My overall favourite no-man era, at least partially because it was when I got introduced to the music and saw a couple of live performances. Heaven Taste is definitely by far my most played b-side track.
L&L is one of my favourite no-man albums. Whilst i like the melancholy of the recent albums, L&L is a pleasant and upbeat contrast. Thank you very much for sharing your reflections on this period of no-man with us.
As I have told you many times, Tim, L&L is still my favourite No-man album, and I am so glad to see you write so positively about it. Steven claims he is somewhat ashamed of it (personal comment to me, though he might be less than serious). I really would love to hear that white label demo…. I know you’ve got a copy! 🙂
Maybe Kscope will bring us on a day the luxe final edition of Loveblows & Lovecries + Lovesighs – An Entertainment, like Wild Opera That would be nice too buy.
This was the album that really hooked me in (although I’ve got a three track cassette demo bought from a very early gig which I treasure). Its one of a very small number of albums I can play end to end, no skipping. Brilliant.
Tim,
Thanks for this fascinating insight into a much-loved album. The World (of no-man obsessives) would love to hear L&L as originally conceived, warts and all. It is interesting to read of your dissatisfaction with the various versions of Days in the Trees. Although some are less stellar than others, they all have a unique charm. Again, I would love to hear the 2009 unreleased version.
Again thanks again for the insight into what is superlative, timeless music.
One of my most treasured CD finds was a copy of L&L coupled with Lovesighs in a 2 CD limited edition release in a mainstream record store in my hometown. Normally I wouldn’t have even ventured in, but something made me browse that day, thank goodness I did – and found one of my favourite no-man sets out of the blue! 🙂
That’s the set that I have Alun, bought from a lovely little independent record store in Cambridge. I hope it’s still there!
A reply from Tim Bowness…
Many thanks to all of you for your encouraging feedback about both the album notes and the music.
It certainly makes both feel more worthwhile.
Attempts at answers:
1) Why no reissue?
I’d love to see a deluxe version of this appear, but….
The album is owned by One Little Indian. Since signing in 1991, beyond being given advances at the time, we haven’t been accounted to by the company.
We could re-release this through One Little Indian (I’m occasionally in contact with the company’s MD) , or via a license on Kscope.
However, as with the re-issued Flowermouth (which was coordinated, re- mixed, re-mastered and re-packaged by the band), No-Man would see no royalties from the release.
The Flowermouth royalties were shared between Kscope and One Little Indian. OLI haven’t accounted to the band for the reissue, or even acknowledged its existence (despite decent and ongoing sales).
This situation would also be the case with Loveblows & Lovecries.
Added to this, the original mastertapes are in the possession of One Little Indian, so sonic improvements would be negligible.
My own preference would be to re-record the material and wrest control of the songs from One Little Indian.
As we did with Speak, I think we could reprise the material in the spirit it was originally intended (as with some of you, the emotions from the time flood back when I hear the L&L songs). Given schedules, this may not be possible for quite some time.
Robert Fripp has spoken very eloquently regarding the subject of record company lack of accountability and I recommend his diaries on the subject at DGMLive.
2) The unreleased version:
I seem to remember that the unreleased Painting Paradise is a glossier, more reverb-heavy production that we recorded in a large studio. The PP that ended up on the released L&L is the band’s home studio demo (which we preferred).
The 12 minute Tulip (which was performed live on a couple of
occasions) has an intro that was used as the title track and intro to the album Speak and a long, ‘Electro repeat with white noise’ cyclical fade out. I always liked this version, but Steven was less sure about it. We both felt that the coda was perhaps too similar to the endings of Housekeeping and Sweetheart Raw (hence the reason for dropping it).
A very nice memory regarding this track (undoubtedly forgotten by the man who made the comments!) is when we played it to Jean-Jaques Burnel, JJ said that it reminded him of everything he liked about music (comparing it to 1970s Soul, Kraftwerk and The Velvet Underground).
3) Love Among The White Trash:
As with the later Chelsea Cap, this was probably good enough to get on an official album. At the time, I think we felt it was too similar to Beautiful And Cruel (which we liked better). For the same reason, Chelsea Cap lost out to Outside The Machine.
4) Lost Songs Volume 2:
This is certainly something under consideration. Whether it takes the shape of a new album or a second disc for a Lost Songs reissue is yet to be decided.
5) Stories lead to other stories:
This was actually a heavily truncated version of what I’d originally written (all kindly submitted and formatted by Mr Kinski).
There are plenty more tales from this era, especially involving the many studios we went into.
These included a Bhangra Beat studio in Southall (whose manager suggested No-Man record a Bhangra version of KC & The Sunshine Band’s ‘That’s The Way (Uh Huh Uh Huh) I Like It’), Manfred Mann’s studio (above the Stock, Aitken & Waterman PWL empire), the famous Maison Rouge and one of the Sarm studios (which we got cheap due to The Pogues having to cancel sessions because of Shane Magowan’s drunkenness!).
Then there’s a tale or two concerning the unrecorded No-Man drummers and…..
Tim Bowness 18/08/2011
Tim – Thanks for the reply and including more information! It makes for fascinating reading, although I share your frustration at the problems with reissuing material.
Copyrights is a frustrated issue for musicians, and artist in general. But we can hope that there willl be a limitation of copyright of the material ??? Another question for Tim, Calfornia, Norfolk reissue when is the planning for that.????
pre-empting a response from Tim, Burning Shed have said that there are plans to release California, Norfolk but no streetdate yet. I missed getting this on ebay recently but managed to win the Bowness/Smiles Live archive Vol 1 CDR :O) I’m still looking for stuff even now lol!
I would love to see a release of California, Norfolk. Getting damn tired of being outbid on eBay at the last minute. £36.60 the last one went for!
Another insight in an exciting era of no-man’s.
Thank you for caring that much about your fans.
I think all of us do really appreciate your blogs and personal responses to our…umm…maybe stupid ideas, too ;-).
Many love and hugs from Germany.
Stay the grand artist you are!
[…] – An Entertainment, and now available on the retrospective anthology All the Blue Changes. In a personal reassessment, Bowness expresses reservations about the mix and performances in the released version, but […]