Friday, 19 May 2017
643 Hello The Lightning Seeds - Pure
Chart entered : 22 July 1989
Chart peak : 16
Number of hits : 15
Here begins the final chapter in one musical cycle as we come to the last punk to make good.
Ian Broudie was born in Liverpool in 1958 and was part of the Eric's scene in Liverpool in the late seventies. He joined the group Big in Japan in 1978 as their guitarist and was their most incongruous member , a nerdy-looking teenager alongside the transgressive flamboyance of Holly Johnson and Jayne Casey. We've covered their output ( such as it was ) in the Johnson post. Although not a partner in the enterprise Ian worked with his former bandmates Bill Drummond and Dave Balfe at Zoo Records honing his skills as a producer on the first Echo and the Bunnymen album Crocodiles .
However Ian still wanted to perform and in 1979 founded the band Original Mirrors with vocalist Steve Allen from the Liverpudlian art-rock outfit Deaf School. Other members included keyboard player Jonathan Perkins who had a short spell with XTC and thirtysomething drummer Pete Kircher from late sixties one hit wonders Honeybus. Along with The Photos , the Original Mirrors were one of those bands mentioned a lot in the music papers I was buying at the start of the eighties that never got much airplay. They played a brash modern pop decorated by synthesiser flourishes. I think Simple Minds is the closest comparison. Despite the press attention, a high profile support slot on Roxy Music's UK tour in 1980 and backing from Peel, the band never sold many records., largely I think because Allen's singing- while- throwing- up vocal style was unattractive and the songs were a bit lacking in substance. My review of their second and final album ( on a first listen, their debut was slightly better ) is here. The group split up in the middle of 1981.
Ian occupied himself with producing the next Bunnymen album "Porcupine " then formed a duo with another Zoo alumnus Paul Simpson , keyboard player in the pre-fame Teardrop Explodes and more recently singer with The Wild Swans. Care merged Simpson's poetic lyrics and heroic vocals with Ian's melodic nous and sonic craft to create a baroque synth-pop with late sixties influences similar to Liverpudlian contemporaries the Pale Fountains and Icicle Works ( both of whom he later produced ). They got a deal with Arista and released three singles "My Boyish Days", "Flaming Sword" and "Whatever Posssessed You" . "Flaming Sword" with its piccolo trumpets almost cracked the Top 40 in the autumn of 1983 but that was as close as they got. Again Ian had linked up with a singer whose vocals were an acquired taste; Simpson's wobbly baritone sounds a bit mannered. The pair recorded enough material for an album but it never saw the light of day until a compilation CD ( which neither of them sanctioned ) "Diamonds and Emeralds" in 1997. The duo went their separate ways in 1985.
For the next few years Ian concentrated on his producing work and his client base expanded to include Richard Jobson, The Colourfield, The Fall and The Bodines. However he was still writing and recording some material for himself and unveiled himself once more as the sole member of "The Lightning Seeds" with this single.
"Pure" is not too far removed from a less ornate "Flaming Sword" with Simpson's sub-opearatics replaced by a rather thin, reedy vocal that dovetails with the idea of keeping things "pure and simple every time". It floats on a sea of lush synths with the odd little brass interjection to add a sense of purpose. It did seem anachronistic at the time, the sound of Cherry Red circa 1982 suddenly reappearing in the Top 20 alongside Stock, Aitken and Waterman. The song is an expression of love for his young son Riley and its obvious sincerity proved a winner even without a particularly strong chorus. The melodic bass solo in the middle sounds like it's been copped from New Order's Love Vigilantes.
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Lightning Seeds were both the first album (the compilation album also entitled "Pure") and single ("What If...") that I bought with my own money, so they'll always hold a special place in my heart. The most surprising thing about this song is that is cracked the US top 40.
ReplyDeleteI've made my thoughts clear on the talents of Paul Simpson elsewhere, so I'll just add that Broudie would do his own version of 'Flaming Sword' as a b-side to a later Lightning Seeds single, though Wiki incorrectly co-credits it to Simon Rogers.