409 Hello Edwyn Collins* - L.O.V.E Love

(* as  part  of  Orange  Juice )

Chart  entered  : 7  November  1981

Chart  peak : 65

Number  of  hits :  15  ( 9  with  Orange  Juice, 6  solo )

If  nothing  else  this  must  be  a  contender  for  the  worst  sleeve  we've  had; it's  hard  to  believe  an  intelligent  fellow  like  Edwyn  saw  this  and  thought  "Yeah, that  looks  good !"

This  was  also  I  think  the  first  hit  cover  of  a  chart  hit  from  my  own  pop  lifetime.

Edwyn  was  born  in  Edinburgh  in  1959  and  joined  his  first  band , a  hard  rock  outfit  Onyx  at 15  until  they  decided  a  banjo ukulele  player  didn't  fit  their  sound. A  few  years  later  he  was  a  student  at  Bearsden  Academy  and  responded  to  an  ad  placed  by  a  bedroom  outfit  The  Nu-Sonics . He  took  along  a  college  friend  David  McClymont . With  original  Nu-Sonics  members  James  Kirk  and  Steven  Daly they  played  the  Glasgow  punk  scene  until  September  1979  when  they  changed  their  name  to  Orange  Juice.  Edwyn  had  a  wide  range  of  musical  influences , the  Buzzcocks, the  Byrds, Velvet  Underground, Chic , Motown  for  starters  , so  the  band  sounded  pretty  fresh  if  you'll  excuse  the  pun.

At  the  end  of  the decade  he  decided  to  set  up  an  independent  label  Postcard  with  his  mate   former  punk  singer  Alan  Horne  and  thereby  define  the  "indie"  sound  for  the  next  decade ( people  of  my  age  wince  at  the  very  idea  that,  say,  Coldplay  could  ever  be  described  as  "indie" ).  Not  surprisingly  Orange  Juice  were  the  first  band  to  put  out  a  single  on  the  label, "Falling  and  Laughing"  in  February  1980.  It's  fair  to  say  that  the  band's  ambitions  outstripped  their  abilities  at  this  point  and  the  single  is  fairly  rough  around  the  edges  with  the  drums  too  loud  and  the  timing  suspect. Nevertheless  it  has  a  certain  charm  as  Edwyn  sings  of  unrequited  love  over  the  guitar  jangle  in  his  mannered  style  and  one  has  to  remember  this  is  three  years  before  The  Smiths.

It  was  followed in  August  1980  by  the  more  muscular  "Blue  Boy"  apparently  written  as  a  tribute  to  Pete  Shelley, its  querulous hero  finding  consolation in  the  songs  of  the  Buzzcocks  frontman. It's  notable  for  a  killer  chorus  and  two  heroically  out  of  tune  guitar  solos.

The  third  single  that  November  was  "Simply  Thrilled  Honey"  combining  one  of  Edwyn's  most  arch  lyrics - "Ye  Gods ! I'm  simply  thrilled  honey"  - with  a  distinctly  Joy  Division  influence  in  the  arrangement. Future  member  Malcolm  Ross  was  involved  in  producing  the  single  and  the  band's  increasing  musical  proficiency  is  obvious. By  now  the  music  press  was  going  apeshit  for  each  release  by  OJ  and  their  label  mates  Josef  K  and  The  Go-Betweens  hailing  them  as  "perfect  pop". This  wasn't  particularly  welcomed  by  the  group  who  were  acutely  conscious  that  they  weren't  selling  any  records  outside  the  NME-reading  student  audience. As  Steven  Daly  later  put  it  "we were  aware  that  you  couldn't  be  pop  unless  you  were  actually  popular".

Orange  Juice's  last  single , the  disco-flavoured  "Poor  Old  Soul"  was  released  in  March  1981. The  lyric  is  a  playful   dig  at  Horne  though  it  hints at  Edwyn's  increasing  exasperation  at  his  partner's  erratic  behaviour . I  think  it's  the  weakest  of  the  four  Postcard  singles  but  its  interesting  in  raising  the  question  of  the  provenance  of  New  Order's  Temptation.  Another  single  James  Kirk's  song  "Wan  Light"  was  planned  for  release  in  the  summer  but  was  cancelled  when  Horne  realised  Edwyn  was  talking  to  the  majors.  As  soon  as  Orange  Juice  signed  for  Polydor  in  the  autumn, the  label  was  shut  down.

Doing  a  cover  of  Al  Green's  last  ( at  the  time ) hit   in  1975 ( number  24 ) was  the  idea  of  their  new  producer  Adam   Kidron . Daly  claims  he  opposed  the  idea "I  didn't  even  think  it  was  one  of  Al  Green's  good  records  and  I  certainly  didn't  think  we  could  add  anything".  I  tend  to  agree  with  him; I  only  really  remembered  that  the  song  had  been  in  the  same  chart  as  Sweet's  Fox  On  The  Run  and   was  uninteresting.  It  just  meanders  along  at  the  same  pace  with  no  real  chorus . Orange  Juice  do  add  something  besides  an  updated  production, a  badly  off  key  lead  vocal  which  makes  the  record  seem  longer  than  it  actually  it  is . Edwyn  is  more  defensive  about  the  record - Green  himself  apparently  liked  it - but  even  he  concedes  it's  out  of  tune.  I  think  that  without  the  goodwill  accumulated  through  the  Postcard  singles  this  wouldn't  have  charted  at  all.