4.52am Issue: 027 30th March 2017 - The Blondie Issue

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Welcome
Welcome to Issue 027
This week we take a look at the all kinds of
cool Debbie Harry and Blondie, go all Tele
with a variety of Custom Shop Guitars from
Fender, welcome the awesome Microdance
back and then so much more.
Have a fine week..
All at 4.52am

Contents
BLONDIE
BIRMINGHAM ODEON 1977
POLLINATOR
GEORGE HARRISON
FURCH GUITARS
DANNY GATTON
THROBBING GRISTLE
MERLE HAGGARD
LT WADE
JAMES BURTON
CATHERINE MCGRATH
THE MICRODANCE
GIRL RAY
MANUELA
VIOLET COLD
GARBAGE

BLONDIE
Historica
When Chris Stein and Debbie Harry met, it
was as Stein joined Harry’s then band,
Stillettoes, in 1973 hoping to take advantage
of the burgeoning New Wave/Punk scene
that was starting to spring up, although at
that point there wasn’t anything quite as
official as a name – it was just ‘New Music’
and that carried a lot of clout.
The Stillettoes weren’t going where Harry
and Stein wanted to be though, and so they
left in ’74 to form what was initially called
Angel and the Snake along with Fred ‘Sonic’
Smith, but quickly became known as Blondie.
Harry wasn’t new to the music scene, she had
already played in a folk band, The Wind In
The Willows in the late 1960s, and had her
look together partly due to her time as a
Playboy Bunny, and partly because she was
simply cool, but with a twinkle in the eye that
would eventually take her and the band all
the way.
By 1975 the band had recorded their first
album which went out without fanfare via a
small label, but was eventually bought by
Chrysalis who took it a lot further in ’77, and
things started to move for the band.
In fact the first couple of albums were
critically well received, but as with a lot of
American bands, they got their first exposure
outside of the country, with Australia and the
UK quickly adopting them, as sales didn’t
exactly impress at home. Like Hendrix before
them, they came home a success having
been recognised overseas and by the time
the band had recorded their third album,
‘Parallel Lines’ the world had caught up
with the band, and their music had a ‘New
Wave’ label that people were latching on
to.
‘Parallel Lines’ was the breakthrough,
selling 20 million copies worldwide off the
back of singles like ‘Heart of Glass’ and
hitting number one in the UK and more
importantly (for their bank balances, at
least) number six in the U.S.
‘Heart of Glass’ was a great example of
what made the band a little bit different
and over the next couple of albums they
would continue to explore different areas
of music, ‘Rapture’ being the first rap
record of any kind to hit number one, and
the reggae of ‘Heart of Glass’ was mixed
with the Disco influence of the Bee Gees
and electronica of Kraftwerk. It wasn’t Patti
Smith, but it was working.
This willingness to experiment was taken
to another level when Harry worked with
Giorgio Moroder on ‘Call Me’ which would
be used as the lead song on the soundtrack
of the Richard Gere movie, ‘American
Gigolo’ and would take Harry and the band
into the stratosphere.
Which of course is where the problems
started, as the media’s obsession with

Harry was never likely to be appreciated for
long by the rest of the band, and as the band
moved into the 1980s the cracks began to
show as they decided to take a break and do
their own thing.
Debbie’s solo album ‘Kookoo’ did well, if
taking a slightly more obscure path than the
increasingly pop focussed Blondie, and
Harry along with Stein worked with John
Walters on a soundtrack for his monumental
‘Polyester’ as Harry diversified, taking a
number of film roles for which she again
gained much credit and attention.
This, continual pressure was beginning to
tell and with Chrysalis keen to cash in with
the band’s first ‘Best of’ album, and the
attendant round of publicity, things began to
spill over.
The band limped on, but the writing was on
the wall as drugs and money became a
problem and an untimely dip in ticket sales
saw the band begin to cancel tour dates.
Stein being diagnosed with a serious and
possibly deadly illness was the final straw and
the band was as good as over for a number
of years.
But they were never forgotten, and through
both a selection of Harry’s solo albums and
Blondie reunions the flame has continued to
flicker if not roar.
Of course what has never waned is the
impact they have continued to have on music
generally, and any number of bands still cite
Blondie as a major influence.
May sees the launch of their new album
Pollinator and they are currently touring with
Harry, now 71, still getting all the attention.
To summarise just how big Blondie were and
how important they continue to be is difficult
without going down the rabbit hole of
hyperbole, but the truth is they were one of
the most important and influential bands ever
and probably won’t be appreciated until they
are finally gone.

BIRMINGHAM ODEON 1977
Colonel Gimp
Ah, the smell of grease paint, the sound
of the fools in the Circle clapping like
seals, there was nothing like the
Birmingham Odeon in its pomp, and that
day in '77 when I went along to see what
all the fuss was about with this American
band, Blondie. Oh they had some nice
songs, I'd already fallen in love with their
attitude, their diversity, their drummer
(well we can’t all go for the blonde
bombshell thing, give a boy a break).
It was odd queueing up outside along
New Street though, all these suicide
blonde girls dressed in black ‘bin’ liners,
all these skinny boys squinting and
hoping that their girlfriends would look
like Debbie Harry in a dim light. Beautiful
days.
I’m sad to say that the concert itself I
remember little of, just flashes as it was
clearly a band on the cusp of massive
things. The crowd was incredible and I
swear I could feel the floor moving. There
was just some kind of electricity flowing
though the place that night that I have
never experienced before or since
without any chemical encouragement.
What I do remember is the spark, the
twinkle in the eye of Ms. Harry as she
looked around the room – stopping a
song at one point to take a photo of the
crowd as though she knew too that
things were about to get crazy for her,
for all of us. OK, mainly for her.
I walked home that night and had this
gentle reggae rhythm I’d not heard
before burrowing into my brain, I never
did hear them play it again or even on
record, and that summed Blondie up
for me. OK, they had Debbie, perhaps
the greatest female front woman any
band has ever enjoyed, and they had
an almost jazz-like willingness to
explore music in a way I can only think
of the Beatles or Bowie doing when
they were at the height of their
popularity. And that is the key for me,
anybody can try things when the
pressure is off but Blondie were more
than just a pop band, and despite being
the most famous band on the planet at
that point, they still pushed the
boundaries, incorporating reggae,
disco, electronic music and who knows
what else into the seemingly narrow
New Wave consciousness. So there we
are, mine hat duly tipped in
appreciation.

POLLINATOR
Blondie 2017
May 2017 sees something special
happening in the world, as Blondie are
releasing their first album in two years
and more importantly are going back to
their roots with something more akin to
Parallel Lines and Plastic Letters, taking
the best of what was New Wave and
melding it with a variety of other
influences.
Interestingly, a number of other artists
have contributed songs – I personally
can’t wait to hear Johnny Marr and Nick
Valensi’s contributions, and Sia writing
for Debbie Harry has got to have
potential by anybody’s standards.
The lead single ‘Fun’ is everything you
would ever hope for from a Blondie
track and you just know ‘Instant classic’
has been said far too many times
already.
And then there is Laurie Anderson,
that’s me sold then.
The album is released in May, but you
can pre-order as is the way of things
these days, and receive all manner of
posh vinyl and cool rewards.
Go check it out HERE, I think there is
going to be a groovy Summer ahead.

GEORGE HARRISON
Fender Tribute Rosewood Telecaster
I have to admit over the years I have had
a little bit of a Rosewood Telecaster habit
that may have gotten out of control. Not
that I’m a super Beatles fan, I should
point out, I like them but I’m not slavishly
bothered about their gear, but from the
first time I saw a Rosewood Telecaster I
have simply had to have one. And have
them I have.
The first was a completely solid model
weighing in at 12-13lbs, then I have had
a variety of builds from Warmoth parts
and by Luthiers, I even had a couple of
Fender Japanese ones – all of them great
(the Tokai less so, I hate to say, and the
Harley Benton used Fablon, I think), but
I hadn’t played one of the official George
Harrison Tribute models until recently,
and I have to say it was a bit of a joy.
I won’t bore you with the history – suffice
to say that Fender made George an all
rosewood Telecaster, and he used it for
the ‘Let It Be’ recording sessions and then
on the roof of the Apple Building that
would be the chaps farewell live
performance – instead we’ll just look at
the guitar and see how we go.
Needless to say when it comes to one of
the Fab Four, the stakes are high and
Fender aren’t going to mess about
when producing their Tribute to Mr
Harrison. Straight away they wheel out
one of their top Luthiers, Paul Waller,
and as you would expect he has access
to the original ’68 guitar ‘in a secret
location’ and some beautiful wood. Of
course, given the recent CITES news
about the restrictions on the movement
of Rosewood, the existing guitars may
prove to be the last ever, which is a
sobering thought.
But the guitar – and immediately, I
realise that the single piece rosewood
necks I’ve had in the past were all
‘wrong’. Not that I care, but for the
Beatles Statto, the fact that George’s
guitar had a three-piece neck, which
Paul lovingly reproduces here came as
a surprise. As ever it is the attention to
detail that is most impressive when it
comes to these top quality Custom
Shop guitars, and along with the right
grain, the light ageing and everything
else, it is the little things such as the
traditional placement of the Telecaster
Fender logo being ignored with a
slightly different location being
replicated here, that show how much
care goes into these things.

As for the specification of the guitar itself,
it is definitely a case of the best of
everything as no corner is cut at all.
From the top we have a chambered
Rosewood body. This has the traditional
maple ‘spacer’ basically a slice of maple
between the top and bottom caps, which
have been chambered to lighten the
guitar. The finish is a very thin Satin
Polyurethane which is beautifully applied,
feeling almost like an oil finish. The smell
of the rosewood is something you really
have to experience, a quite beautiful
thing.
The neck is as mentioned a three-piece
construction, with a rosewood ‘board on
top. The neck itself has an ‘Oval C’ profile
– which is bigger than you’d expect, and
the nut width is slightly bigger too which
works well. 7.5” radius matched with
Narrow Jumbo Frets makes for a guitar
that feels great and works well for both
chords and lead work.
At least the type of lead work I’m ever
likely to do…
Apparently, they also disturbed the
legendary Abby Ybarra and got her to
come out of retirement long enough to
wind something special in the pickup
department just for this guitar. As I say,
nothing has been left to chance.
As for playing it, well it would be easy to
say ‘It is a Tele’ and to be perfectly
honest, it is pretty traditional as they go.
What I would say is that it is a beautifully
set-up Tele and that the Rosewood has a
definite, mellower tone quite like walnut
that never seems to happen with other all
rosewood guitars (I’m thinking of the
rosewood necked PRS at this point.)
Pickupwise, they are beautiful – none
of the filling-shattering high tones I
hate (sorry chaps but it is the truth)
and as easy to play blues as it is
Springsteen, the Stones are as easy to
channel as Mr Harrison himself.
In fact I was left wondering whether it
is simply the perfect Telecaster, and for
me it could quite easily be.
Is it better than all the ones I’ve had
before?
I hate to say it but yes, yes it is.
I just wish I was likely to be able to own
one at some point.
Find out more HERE

FURCH GUITARS
A Neck Revolution
Having just found a somewhat banana
influenced guitar neck in the back of a
cupboard, I must admit I was quite
impressed to see that Furch Guitars have
been working on an approach to building
a stronger, lighter and more productive
guitar neck than we have ever seen
before. This they have already included in
all of their production guitars, but
hopefully it is an approach that will be
taken-up/licensed by other
manufacturers.
Based upon some serious R&D, Furch
have quite literally gone back to basics
and recreated exactly what a guitar neck
is, focusing upon the neck joint and
improving upon tradition in three key
ways:
• a casting made of special alloy
located inside the neck heel that
ensures a stable position of the5
neck and its angle vis-à-vis the
body,
• a highly rigid carbon casing that
maintains the neck in the set
position over a period much
longer than is the case with
standard neck joint designs and,
at the same time, facilitates a
gradual bow in the neck, a
factor of essential importance
for playability,
• a fully adjustable dual-action
truss rod for highly precise
adjustment of the neck bow in
both the convex and concave
directions.
To find out more, you can check out
the new neck design and the quite
beautiful guitars Furch are making
HERE.

DANNY GATTON
Fender Signature Telecaster
Following on from Gorgeous George’s
beautiful Rosewood Telecaster, it struck us
here in the 4.52am Shelter that we’ve never
really known just what the perfect Telecaster
is, and that we may as well have a little look
at some of the other ones out there.
This is, as ever, entirely unscientific and
based upon what happened to be available,
so apologies for missing out a lot of the usual
suspects.
After the Rosey, I thought that something
bog standard and Butterscotch would make
sense. We never had a Keef or a Bruce
around, but what we did have was a rather
wonderful playing Danny Gatton signature
model, again from the Fender Custom Shop.
This of course isn’t Butterscotch, instead a
‘Frost Gold’ which looks a lot prettier in-thewood
than in-the-fotos which lose a lot of the
subtlety of the colour.
Danny’s original Tele is a heavily modified
1950s model, and in a lot of ways that is a
perfect place for us to look at the possibilities.
The Fender Custom Shop again have excelled
themselves and studied the original guitar
closely, and this sees us getting a guitar with
a swamp ash body that has a beautifully
applied nitro cellulose finish, which is always
nice to see. It has never sat right with me,
the idea of a poly finish on a top-quality
guitar. I’m sure it makes little if any
difference, but the margins are so fine at this
level everything counts, even if it is just in
your head.
Anyway, the neck is a real beauty. Carved
from a beautiful piece of birds eye maple,
this is a big old ‘50s U shape but with a
modern 9.5” radius that gets us past some
of the playability issues some may
experience.
22 vintage frets give a few more options
for the widdlers and the Signature ‘flash’ is
enhanced by cubic zirconia dot markers,
perfect if blings your thing.
The blade pickups are Fender’s own, but
based on a set of Bill Lawrence ones that
Danny has used for years and they
manage to give you all the twang you
could want whilst still having the option to
remove eyebrows at 30 yards. Well cool.
As ever the guitar is perfectly finished, the
fretwork is like glass and in many ways it
is the perfect enhancement of a traditional
Tele.
It quite simply has all the looks (with added
zazz) but that little bit extra under the
bonnet for when you need it.
You can find out more over THERE

THROBBING GRISTLE
Great News
Those wonderful people at Mute have
again pulled out the stops and I’m really
chuffed to be able to report that they are
re-releasing the entire Throbbing Gristle
back catalogue over the next few years.
If you are too young to remember just
what a musically fantastic and
artistically/politically important a band
they were, the first stage of the rerelease
schedule is for you, as for the first
time ever you can now listen to their back
catalogue on the usual Streaming
Services.
Moving forward, the next three years will
see all their albums re-released digitally
and in physical form, alongside a
selection of box sets, rarities and who
knows what else.
In other news for the band, Chris Carter
is also due to release a solo album on
Mute in the Autumn of this year, his
first for 18 years, whilst Cosey Fanni
Tutti releases her autobiography, ‘Art
Sex Music’ on Faber next week.
Not to be outdone, Genesis Breyer P-
Orridge (PTV3) performs a
reinterpretation of the soundtrack to
Derek Jarman’s In The Shadow Of The
Sun (originally performed by Throbbing
Gristle) at Café Oto in May 2017.
You can hear Throbbing Gristle on
Spotify HERE
We will hopefully have a review of
Cosey Fanni Tutti’s ‘Art Sex Music’ next
week, but you can pre-order it THERE
Find out more about the Band and the
re-release schedule SOMEWHERE ELSE

MERLE HAGGARD
Fender Signature Telecaster
Now we talked about Danny Gatton’s
Custom Shop Telecaster having a little in
the way of ‘bling’ with its cubic zirconia
dot markers and birds eye maple neck,
but compared to Merle Haggard, in the
flash department, Danny is strictly
amateur.
Taking a Telecaster Thinline as his
starting point, Merle dispensed with such
frippery as an ‘f-hole’ and instead went
for a solid, straight through, highly
flamed maple neck. This is beautifully
carved with a lovely cut away at the neck
join. It still seems odd seeing a Fender
without a bolt-on neck, but this works
perfectly and looks beautiful.
Attached to the centre-block we have two
chambered alder ‘wings’ that give the
guitar plenty of air and ensures it jangles
like a Byrd in a cutlery factory.
Just to make it a little bit more special, a
maple cap has been laminated on top so
that the centre block is only visible from
the back. The top is of course pure
opulence., with a centre joined piece of
quilted maple.
It is perhaps the least surprising thing of
the week to say that all of the hardware
is gold. Well it would be wouldn’t it?
As for the pickups, we have a pair of
Fender’s Texas Specials which along
with some fancy switching options
means this will nail just about
everything. In summary – glorious.
See more THERE

LT WADE
Hard To Know
You probably know LT Wade from Furs
whose album ‘Just Kids’ was many kinds
of cool last Summer, but there is so much
more to the chap than that (not least that
he survived being Courtney Love’s
guitarist), and now he is showing his skills
as a songwriter with his own solo release
‘Hard To Know.’
As he explains,
“’Hard To Know’ is a realistic look at love
and how we perceive it. We’re sometimes
caught up with this twisted idea of what
love is through the movies we watch or
the music we listen to...even events like
Valentine's Day. For me love is many
different things as I’m sure it is for many
people. Love is personal. It’s not a bunch
of flowers or a box of chocolates once a
year. Sometimes you think that you’re in
love or you’re trying to be in love with
someone but you question it from time to
time. Is the love and am I doing it right?
Should I feel like this? It doesn’t always
run like a rom-com.”
And to celebrate all of the love, he also
put a video together himself,
"The visual is a DIY collage of a few of
my personal videos spliced in with
interesting bits I've searched and found
on the internet. I tried to find visual
snippets that complimented the lyrics
and the sonic qualities of the song."
What doesn’t come across from that is
just how innovative and plain old
interesting the music is. There are
elements of the psychedelic and
dreampop (or whatever we call it this
week) – even Krautrock - but the way
in which he uses notes and textures is
definitely painterly, a really great piece
of music, beautifully written and
exceptionally performed.
Simply put it is an aural explanation to
an alien of what it is to search and then
find love with all of the excitement fear
and pain that involves.
The alien may not understand, but
even they will get with the groove.
Time for a Mercury Prize methinks.
Find out more over HERE

JAMES BURTON
The Man Paisley
As if it wasn’t enough to be forever
known as Elvis’ guitar player – when he
got to be good again – James Burton and
his variety of understated and somewhat
shrinking violet guitars, will forever be
known as the guy who first had a paisley
guitar.
Now you may not know me, that is fine,
but anybody who does will know what
that means to me.
Originally James of course played a pink
paisley Tele that was pretty much ‘60s
traditional apart from the livery. This is
still (for me) the definitive one, but that
doesn’t appear to be enough for either Mr
Burton or those Fender chaps, as these
days he has two more Signature Paisley
Teles to choose from, one red and one
blue.
Now normally I’d spend some time on the
spec, but I really don’t care to as it is all
about how they look so instead I’m just
going to show the pretty pictures. Plus of
course we are planning a proper look at
Mr Burton and we can talk turkey there.
Brilliant guitars, awesome guitarist.
Find out more HERE

CATHERINE MCGRATH
Starting From Now
We’ve been a little in love with Catherine
McGrath for quite a while here in 4.52amland,
and that doesn’t seem likely to
lessen any time soon with news that the
lass is releasing a new E.P
‘Starting From Now’ is the first song to be
shared, and it comes with this rather cool
video for your delectation.
You have to feel that Catherine is about
to break through big-style if the rest of
her material keeps progressing like this,
and touring with the likes of the
Saturday’s Una Healy won’t hurt much
either.
So if you need a little country in your soul,
check Catherine out, you will lurve her
too.
Find out more HERE
LIVE SHOWS
MAY
Thu 11th - Under The Bridge, London
(supporting Kelsea Ballerini)
Mon 15th - Bush Hall, London (supporting
Una Healy)
Thu 18th - Electric Ballroom, London
(supporting Picture This)
Sat 20th - The Great Escape Festival,
Brighton
Tue 23rd - Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
(supporting Picture This)
Wed 24th - Oran Mor, Glasgow
(supporting Picture This)
Tue 30th - Olympia Theatre, Dublin
(supporting Picture This)
Wed 31st - Olympia Theatre, Dublin
(supporting Picture This)
JUNE
Fri 2nd - Olympia Theatre, Dublin
(supporting Picture This)
Sat 3rd - Olympia Theatre, Dublin
(supporting Picture This)
Sun 4th - Olympia Theatre, Dublin
(supporting Picture This)
Wed 7th - The Waterfront, Belfast
(supporting Picture This)
Fri 9th - Marquee, Cork (supporting
Picture This)
Sat 10th - Marquee, Cork (supporting
Picture This)

THE MICRODANCE
Get Darker
OK, I have to admit this up front – I’m
quite the Microdance fan and when, last
year, after one of the great debut albums
of all times, the band went their own
ways, I may even have shed a little tear.
There, I said it.
Imagine how chuffed I was to hear then
that the band had morphed and
developed a new skin, as Alex Keevill, the
band’s frontman explains,
"After a couple months of entertaining
the idea of going solo, I felt the need to
have the heavy metal Gods on my side
again! So I very quickly put together a
killer line-up and decided that new music
should be the priority. I had over a
hundred songs to choose from; but
challenged myself to write something
new - a song that hits hard from the off.
I originally intended ‘Get Darker’ to be the
musical equivalent of a fast food mini
meal; but as is often the case with my
songs, it ended up being more like a 12
course tasting menu. I thought to myself
'We have financial restrictions, we can
only do one song; so let's give them an
EP's worth of music in that one song.' I
think we succeeded"

And what a band he has put together and
I must admit I’m more than pleased to
see that Cheryl Pinero is providing
backing vocals, which as ever are quite
beautiful.
This is a seriously dark music and it is
great to see the progression from ‘New
Waves of Hope’ in terms of songwriting
which shows that Alex’ decision to write
anew was fully justified.
This really is a special track and as a sign
for the future it has put a smile back on
my face.
You can pre-order ‘Get Darker’ HERE and
you really should.
So do it.
Do it now.

GIRL RAY
Stupid Things
Heaven knows I’m not clever enough to
suggest that Girl Ray, or any band, are
‘one to watch’, but equally even one as
dense as I can tell that they are pretty
special and that ‘Special Things’ could
just be the track that makes things
happen for them in a big way. Not that
the Beeb have been slow – they already
seem to live on the BBC 6 Music playlist.
As for the video, they went for a period
drama which works perfectly. Girl Ray's
Poppy Hankin:"We'd always thought a
period drama influenced music video
would be really fun to film. So we
decided to get our Keira Knightley on and
do a WWII romance."
The song itself is "about crushing really
hard on someone, and finding myself
doing fucking ridiculous things to feel like
we've got some kind of connection," says
Hankin. "Watching films that they
mentioned fleetingly or ordering their
favourite drink at a bar. Very stupid but
happens every single time, ha ha”.
Doesn’t it just.
As for live dates, they have a few, but
then again too few to mention.
OK, maybe not.
Find out more HERE
GIRL RAY LIVE
14 April - Cardiff, Wales Goes Pop
Festival
30 April - Glasgow, Stag & Dagger
Festival
21 - 23 July - Truck Festival
17 – 20 Aug - Green Man Festival
25 - 26 Aug - Sea Change Festival
31 Aug - 3 Sept - End of The Road
Festival
09 November - London, The Scala

MANUELA
Invincible
I have to say that I am utterly captivated
by ‘Invincible’ the first single from
Manuela, the album by Manuela Gernedel
and her husband Nick McCarthy.
Manuela and Nick met in Bavaria, where
they both grew-up, before moving to
Glasgow where Manuela studied art and
performed with the band White Nights,
releasing a single E.P and Nick joined
Franz Ferdinand and sold a lot of records.
Throughout though, the pair have
continued to record music together as
Box Codax along with Alexander Ragnew.
The album ‘Manuela’ is a departure from
this and along with friends such as Jim
Dixon (Django Django), William Reese
(Mystery Jets), Roxanne Clifford
(Veronica Falls) and Paul Thomson (Franz
Ferdinand) they have made something
poignant, refreshing and interesting and
above all else – beautiful pop music.
LIVE DATES:
1 April – Spain, Gijon Sound Festival
13 April – Germany, Munich Rote
Sonne
20 May – Mexico City, Marvin Festival
3 June – London, Field Day
The album is available to pre-order HERE

VIOLET COLD
Anomie
I just love it when totally out of the blue,
you come across a new band or artist that
you have never heard of before, and they
totally blow you away.
It was only yesterday when talking to
Alex from the mighty Microdance that he
sent me a link to a brilliant new album
from an Azerbaijan artist, recording
under the name Violet Cold.
Now, it is, as ever, tricky to give a name
to the music Violet Cold are making – is it
shoegaze, maybe dreampop, could even
be post black metal nu gazing something
or other? – who cares. What I do know is
that it is totally entrancing, beautifully put
together and full of tiny ideas that send
a shiver to all the places you need a
shiver directed to at some point or
other.
Other than the music I know nothing
about Violet Cold, but hopefully we can
put that right over the coming months,
and they are truly a fantastic band (if a
one chap band is called a band, I don’t
know.)
Either way, go check them out and
enjoy, they are quietly, and then loudly
and then louderly brilliant.
You can listen for yourself HERE

GARBAGE
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
As it seems that this is the most popular
part of the magazine each week, I am
pleased to be able to introduce this
week’s selection from La Contessa
D’Jook, which comes in the shape of the
quite wonderful Garbage, led by the
beautiful Shirley Manson.
Ms Manson of course started out with
Goodbye Mr Mackenzie – I still have a
copy of the ‘Rattler’ somewhere – who
were an excellent band, but with Garbage
went onto a completely different level,
James Bond themes and everything else.
‘I’m Only Happy When It Rains’ was
one of many singles that managed
somehow to take the excitement and
anger of Grunge and Punk and add a
pop sensibility that created something
quite special.
It is great to see that Garbage are
touring at the moment, and with some
dates being played with our cover stars
Blondie, it almost feels meant to be
that they are La Contessa’s band of the
week.