4.52am Issue: 036 1st June 2017 - The U2 Joshua Tree Edition

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Welcome
Welcome to Issue 036
This week we couldn’t help but notice that
it is 30 years since U2 released their
career-making Joshua Tree album. For
chaps of a certain age, it meant a lot at
the time, but what about now?
We check out the re-issues, the tour, look
at the guitars and then take a trip down
memory lane to the olden days when we
still thought music could change things.
Maybe it still can?
Who knows.
From there we have a chat with the rather
brilliant Tangents, look at SC Relics and
then La Contessa D’Jook is checking out
Roddy Frame and Aztec Camera.
All at 4.52am

Contents
U2: THIRTY YEARS ON
RE-ISSUE, REPACKAGE, REPACKAGE!
3 rd JUNE 1987: BIRMINGHAM NEC
TAPED: THE JOSHUA TREE
FENDER STRATOCASTER SIGNATURE
FENDER JAZZ BASS SIGNATURE
GRETSCH GREEN FALCON
SC RELICS
OUT OF MY HEAD: SUSIE BLUE ‘BE A LADY’
THE TANGENTS
AZTEC CAMERA

FEATURES

U2
Thirty Years Later
Whilst the Baby Boomers might be
getting their Tena Pants twosted about a
remix and reissue of Sgt. Pepper and his
Long Gone Band, my generation are
probably more impressed (and a little
scared to find that) it is thirty years since
U2 released The Joshua Tree.
For our younger viewers, I’m not sure
how that sits among the Born in the
USAs, Gracelands and Forever Changes in
terms of classic albums, but as somebody
that (rather sadly) bought the CD Single
of ‘With or Without You’ on the day of its
release, six months before I could afford
the CD player to play it on, it has always
been something special in my neck of the
woods.
Now, I remember thinking that The
Peppers being twenty years old made
them ancient, back in the day, so where
this leaves me I’m really not sure, but
with the Joshua Tree anniversary being
marked with the obligatory re-issues, a
world tour and another look at some of
the 1980s most impressive and important
music, we couldn’t miss out on the
chance to take a trip down memory
lane.
And if you are wondering about why it
is that a band who only a year or three
ago were indignant at the idea that
they were being seen as some kind of
heritage band, the rumour is that the
election of a certain Mr D.Trump meant
that they wouldn’t be releasing the
follow-up to ‘Songs of Innocence’ and
that instead this was something good
to do instead.
Whatever the reason, it is a genuine
treat to see the entire album being
played for the first time and the on-line
concerts that are already to be found
show that the band can still nail it.
And if the stage settings are a little
advanced from the stripped back,
monochrome of 1987, well the world
has changed in many ways and you
don’t get to be and then stay the
biggest band in the world without
knowing when to change things up a
bit.

THE JOSHUA TREE 2017
RE-ISSUE, REPACKAGE, REPACKAGE!
Back in 1987, I remember the day that
The Joshua Tree was released. I was
meant to be at University (or Polytechnic,
I can’t remember if it had crossed over at
that point) and instead queued-up at
HMV in Coventry, waiting for them to
open. Sad it may be, but there were
plenty of other people there too, and
quite the rush to grab the album and get
it to the counter.
I ditched my classes that day, catching a
train back to Birmingham, reading the
cover notes and lyrics all the way home,
trying to guess melodies to go with the
words.
It was a beautiful looking album – I’d not
been sure how they could produce a
‘package’ to match that of the
Unforgettable Fire, but this was brutally
simplistic, yet perfectly designed, an
artefact in the truest sense and that was
before I even heard what was buried on
the vinyl.
The wheel has turned of course, and in a
lot of ways it is odd that 30 years on we
see vinyl and CDs forming such a large
part of the re-issues the band are putting
out to celebrate. The idea of a ‘Deluxe’
version, and then a ‘Super Deluxe’ would
have seemed laughable a few years ago
but now are not only expected but
demanded and the record company
have genuinely added value and should
be applauded, with six ‘packages’
including not just the original album,
and then adding the songs that were
originally B Sides (Silver and Gold being
criminally left off the album proper) but
adding a variety of new remixes from
the likes of Eno, Lillywhite, Lanois and
Flood as well as a complete recording
of one of the ‘87 Madison Square
Garden concerts and then outtakes and
rarities to taste.
Elsewhere there is also a book of
photographs the Edge took at the
original Joshua Tree photo sessions in
the Mojave Desert in 1986 as well as a
selection of Limited Edition
photographic prints from the
ubiquitous Anton Corbjin.
You pays your money and takes your
choice, with Vinyl, CD or digital flavours
all available.
Do these reissues really matter? I don’t
know, but there is something special
about this one, the attention to detail
and the fact that so many of the
original cast have been involved in
creating something new all over again.
You can see all the variations HERE

3 RD JUNE 1987 - NEC
Colonel Gimp
Ah, the 3 rd of June 1987, I remember it
fondly. It had been so long since Live Aid
and Milton Keynes, the end of the
Unforgettable Fire Tour, rumours of
break-ups and a long wait for something
new.
The tickets we’d got from the fan club
and one short, Shaun would come along
and somehow we would sneak him in by
the simple subterfuge of a ‘lost ticket’
reported at the box office.
Still can’t quite believe that worked.
Inside, it was simply electric. An hour of
spotting the celebrity – Mike Peters of the
Alarm wandering around and (whatever
happened to) Gaz Top trying to be
noticed trying not to be noticed.
And then the lights they dimmed, and the
opening strains to ‘Streets’ wafted around
and then – chaos.
We were sat on the right-hand side of the
stage, and I can clearly remember the
scaffold seating of the stand bouncing in
place as thousands of people jumped like
the wildest of idiots. I’ve seen dozens of
concerts at the NEC but never anything
like that.
Of course the music was immense. Long
before the hanging plastic cars, rotating
mirrorballs, belly dancing Lemons,
enormous TV screens or fibre glass
heads, this was stark in its simplicity,
cowboy hats apart, even the band’s
dress code was monochrome.
It was all about the music and that was
OK, that was all we wanted.
And too soon it was over, local guitarist
dragged onto the stage to play along (I
must have met thirty of him in
subsequent years, and a dozen hers
too) and too soon it was over and we
left with the first of our tour T Shirts,
proudly with the venue and date on the
back, there would be quite a collection
of those by the end of the Summer.
I bought the bootleg in Birmingham
Library the next day and must have
worn it out. So strange to hear it large
on YouTube now, wonder how the
songs will sound these days.

TAPED: THE JOSHUA TREE
1987
I know we are all meant to hate CDs
these days, I mean if we are trying to be
cool. They don’t sound as good as vinyl
or cassette, we all know that, but I have
to say when it came to the Joshua Tree,
it did have one advantage and that was
that you could hear the crickets at the
start of ‘Exit’ which was something you
couldn’t hear on the original vinyl album.
It was something that always struck me
(and I had the piss taken out of me for
obsessively mentioning it far too often)
and to be totally honest I had never
checked, but I had assumed it was the
same with the cassette too.
Because of course, spending a lot of time
on buses and trains, it was a cassette
recorded from the album that I was most
often listening to on my Walkman, and it
is only now, having treated myself to an
’87 cassette of the album for the first time
that I realise I was wrong, and that there
was a difference between the real deal
and the DIY home-made. You get to
hear the whole of the last track, for
one, which you didn’t on a C90 with
another album on the B Side, the tape
ran out before the music did.
Because playing the ‘proper’ cassette
today, you can hear the crickets as well
as everything else, beautifully
reproduced, and if there is a slight hiss,
which there is, well that is OK too,
because when you listen to the
scorching enormity of ‘Bullet the Blue
Sky’ or the tortured pain of ‘Mothers of
the Disappeared’ it only ever sounds
more authentic.
Feels far more real.
I can see me buying all the other
albums on cassette now, so much
neater than vinyl, cooler too, don’t you
know?

FENDER STRATOCASTER
The Edge Signature Guitar
Compared to the majority of his
contemporaries, the Edge was
particularly slow in having a Signature
guitar, amplifier or anything else, and it is
only recently that he has put his name to
anything, gear-wise, at all.
Whilst a Gibson Explorer and a Vox AC30
or twelve would have been the obvious
choice for me, the Strat became his go to
guitar in the late ‘80s and it is right that
Fender have replicated his understated
black Strat with a beautifully put together
guitar.
Based on a ‘70s Strat, we have the
beautiful (OK to me beautiful) large CBS
style headstock along with a quartersawn
maple neck. This is slightly larger than
the usual Fender C and with a 9.5” radius
is a total joy to play.
The body is alder, and totally
understated, with a beautifully applied
urethane finish. This, I guess, is a little
surprising with the majority of Fender’s
high end guitars going the nitro-cellulose
route these days, but as the guitar was
designed with Mr Edge’s input, it
probably matters little to him.
In terms of the sounds on offer it is the
real deal. Two Fat 50s pickups at the
neck and middle give all of those great
Strat tones, but the added boost comes
from a DiMarzio® FS-1 at the bridge
which has that little bit of oomph any
gigging musician will appreciate.
Other than that, it has a love-it-orloathe-it
2-point Tremolo, Deluxe
tuners and comes with a case and
some other goodies, as you would
expect.
As a standard Strat, this is perfect.
Price is around that of an American
Strat and whilst it has a signature on
the headstock, it is unobtrusive enough
not to cause offence or embarrassment
if you aren’t a fan.
This is simply put, an excellent Strat
and everybody needs one of those.

FENDER JAZZ BASS
Adam Clayton Signature Bass
One of the most underrated bass players
in the world has to be Adam Clayton of
U2, as even the most cursory of listens to
any of their albums soon shows, with his
expansive and surprisingly groovy
underpinning of the songs that lets the
Edge drift away doing whatever it is he
happens to be doing, he provides the
structure around which everything else
revolves. And as for his tone, it is never
less than perfectly appropriate.
His choice of a Signature Bass from
Fender is similarly solid and yet perfectly
judged. Based upon the classic Jazz bass,
his signature model comes in a beautiful
metallic Sherwood Green, with the
matching headstock always a nice touch.
The body is alder and the finish is
Urethane and as ever, beautifully applied.
The neck is the usual 34” scale and has a
comfortable 9.5” radius, the construction
as you would expect is maple and
rosewood, with the usual block markers
adding a touch of class.
For me the key to a bass is a good
bridge, and the Fender Hi-Mass one is
as good as any without getting into
aircraft parts and it gives the bass a
satisfying thump without losing any
sustain.
As for the pickups, I really love the
Custom Shop '60s Single-Coils, which
can give you the thud of the Precision
as easily as the sweeter tones of a Jazz.
Independent volume controls mean
that there is no need for a switch and
a master tone control hands the rest.
Simplicity.
As with the Edge’s Strat, this has the
feel of a working instrument that any
gigging musician would appreciate and
you feel would be happily delivering the
goods decades down the line without
any trauma.
A lovely bass anybody would be proud
to own, whether you are a fan or not.

GRETSCH GREEN FALCON
Bono Signature Guitar
If the Signature offerings served up for
the Edge and Adam Clayton are
understated and classic, it was never
likely to be the case when it came to the
Gretsch Green Falcon developed along
with U2’s front man, and boy does he like
his bling.
This is a Liberace of a guitar and my only
disappointment when I took it from the
case was that I had misplaced my
candelabra.
From the top, it is a beautiful Green
Falcon semi-acoustic, in ‘Soul Green’ with
some of the most stunning gold sparkle
binding I’ve ever seen.
Everything about the specification is
top quality, from the laminated maple
hollow body, the maple neck with quite
spectacular ebony fretboard.
The choice of High Sensitive Filter'Tron
pickups is excellent, giving the twang
but also having some grit when
needed, and then there are the top of
the line bridge and tailpiece.
OK, maybe you need to be facing a
stadium filled with adoring fans to carry
this off, but this is one hell of a guitar
and one of the nicest Gretches I’ve ever
played. And that is what really matters.
A beautiful guitar.

SC RELICS
The Relicmeister
One of the few pleasures life continues to
offer me (I know it is sad) is finding new
people who are doing great finishing
work on guitars.
I really should get out more.
Moving on from my lack of a life, I have
totally fallen in love with the work Scott
Cameron of SC Relics is doing these days
with what feels like an explosion of quite
beautifully finished guitar bodies and
necks appearing on his Facebook feed
every day.
Using traditional nitrocellulose finishes,
Scott then takes the time to create
realistic and quite beautiful relic finishes
of every shade and state, without ever
dipping his toe into the comedy finishes
too many people make their own.
It is a matter of taste and takes a level
of perfectionism to get realistic looking
and feeling results and Scott seems to
be nailing it each and every time.
He does have a web site – HERE – but
his work is in demand and few bodies
he has for sale are there for long before
they are snapped up, so I would
suggest you take advantage of his
custom service if there is something
you want in the near future.
I’m pleased to say that we are
interviewing Scott in the next issue of
Guitar Quarterly, but I couldn’t not
share a few examples of his work here.
You can find Scott on Facebook HERE

OUT OF MY HEAD
Susie Blue ‘Be a Lady’
OK, it is no secret that one of my
favourite bands are the rather brilliant
Susie Blue, who’s latest single ‘Be a Lady’
I seem to be playing every single day.
Many times.
Ask my neighbours.
Destined for a Glastonbury appearance in
a couple of weeks, there is little doubt in
my mind that Susie Blue will be
headlining festivals in the coming years,
and their debut album, whenever It
arrives is something I quite simply can’t
wait to hear or live without.
The strength of the band is that the
songs are top quality, never afraid to
face the trickiest of issues, and most
important of all, every single one of
them seems to become an earworm
burrowing deep into my brain and
never, ever letting go.
It is as simple as that, they are quite
brilliant, and you really need to get on
board now.
You can find out more HERE about the
band, but be careful, you may never
get passed their tunes.

THE TANGENTS
Tonight
One of the most exciting new British
bands around at the moment are the
quite exceptional The Tangents, with a
mix of Brit-Pop, Mod and something
much more contemporary, their new
single ‘Tonight’ has been produced by the
legendary Gavin Monaghan, and is
destined to see them doing great things
in the very nearest of futures.
Not one to miss a gift giving horse’s
tonsils, we took the opportunity to ask
them a few questions, and luckily they
gave us some answers.
Tell us how you all got together?
“Angus and I (Tom) formed the band in
2014, with Jack joining late last year.
Angus and I met when we first started
jamming via some mutual friends, and
became a band when we decided that we
wanted to get out there, and start
gigging.
We went through a lot of different band
members before finally settling on Jack
on the bass. We found Jack through
Facebook; he’d already seen us live a few
times and was a fan of the band. When
we realised that he played the bass, we
invited him over for a jam. It was clear
immediately that Jack was the natural
choice.”
Would you briefly tell us about
each of the band members?
“I, (Tom), play the guitar and sing, and
I also write the songs. I’m the quiet one
– I don’t say much but occasionally
come in with a witty comment. Or at
least I like to think I do. Funnily
enough, ‘Witty’ was my nickname for
years…
Angus drums and does the backing
vocals; he’s the clever one and does all
of the business stuff, so he’s pretty
much our manager. The tour we’re
doing was managed mainly by Angus.
He’s also been playing the longest,
something like 11 years now!
Jack’s our bassist and is the resident
photography/design guru. Jack’s the
funny lad in the band, and is always
there to provoke a giggle no matter
how tired the band is, and brings that
spark to it.”
When and where did you meet?
“Angus and I met through some mutual
friends when, as part of some college
project, I had to do a bit of recording.
Angus’s band at the time was the one

that me and my mate were recording.
Anyway, I was impressed by his
drumming so asked him to play along to
a few tracks after the session. We
formed the band soon after.
Jack we found via Facebook – I
remember we were just going through
people who liked the page and saw this
lad with Lennon shades on. Clicked his
profile, scrolled through a few pictures
and saw that he played bass. Asked him
if he fancied a jam and a pint, and
couldn’t believe my luck when he said
yes!”
Influences as a band - how does
that translate/morph into your own
sound?
“Growing up, I was raised on a diet of
Paul Weller, Oasis and The Beatles.
Throw in some northern soul and a bit of
ska, and that was pretty much my
childhood.
When I started writing tunes, this was
the first obvious influence and I think
that can be directly heard in the music –
particularly through the lyrics. Angus
and Jack both have some heavier
influences between them; Angus with
Led Zeppelin and Them Crooked
Vultures, Jack with Avenged Sevenfold
and Paramore – adding a different edge
to our music.
Recently, we’ve incorporated influences
into our music such as Catfish and the
Bottlemen, and Circa Waves – keeping
us with an up to date sound and making
us more accessible.”
Can you describe your sound?
“Dirty, rough, anthemic indie rock and
roll. If you want music to fall asleep to,
we probably don’t fit the bill. It’s loud, it’s
heavy, and it’s just rock and roll. We
crank the guitars up to 11, and smash the
skins on the kit. If you want to go crazy,
you might just like it.”
Can you describe your fans?
“Anybody and everybody! We try and
make a point not to peg ourselves to one
genre or to having a particular type of
fan. I see all different types of folk at our
gigs: young people, older people – it
doesn’t matter to us. Even Angus’s gran
likes it. Maybe she’s biased, though.”
When did you start gigging - what
was your first gig like?
“My aunt used to be the landlady of this
proper boozer in Carlton. The type of
place where everybody knows
everybody, so of course being the
nephew, everybody knew me. They used
to have cover bands on all the time, and
held open mic nights on Thursdays. After
many weeks rehearsing, we went down
and did four or five tracks. We were
nervous, but it was a great first
experience in a friendly place, I guess we
were lucky to have that.”

Tell us about the big gigs you’ve
played and how did you enjoy
them?
“We supported The Sherlocks in 2016 at
their sold out Leadmill gig. It’s strange,
but I find that the more people we play
to, the easier the job is. We were all in
the moment, and the sight of all them
people moshing and jumping around is
something that none of us will ever
forget.
Even more special was our headline gig
at the Bodega in March this year. We had
two quality support bands, and our own
crowd. It was such a stressful night, but
I just remember at around 9pm when we
were due to come on the stage, seeing
170 people waiting for us to get on and
play our tracks, it was mint. Also, when
Jack joined the band, he said it was his
dream to play the Bodega. What a
result!”
What was the first thing you’d
recorded?
“It was this EP which had 4 tracks on it,
and unfortunately this is no longer
available!”
How old were you?
“It was in 2014, Angus was 15, Tom was
18.”
Where did you do the recording?
“We recorded with Guy Elderfield at
Random Recordings in Nottingham. We
did four tracks in two days. It was a
major, major rush to get it done in the
time we’d booked! Money was a bit of an
issue, so no time was wasted in getting
this done.”
Was it what you expected/what
would you change now?
“We realised that you need to allow much
more time than you’d think you need for
recording, even if it’s just one song. Time
needs to be allowed for creative ideas to
be introduced, and when you’re rushing,
you miss these. This only comes with
experience, and now when we are
recording we allow plenty of time to get
the track done, and hope that each time
we do record, we come away from the
experience just a bit more efficient and
professional.”
How did you find working with the
producer?
“Guy is a great producer, and he should
be because he’s worked with some
awesome bands. He is highly creative and
works with the band according to their
timescales, ideas and budget. As a band,
we highly recommend him for new and
upcoming bands.”
What was the recording set-up?
“Pretty simple, mic up the drums, record
them. Mic up the bass, record it. Rinse
and repeat for guitars and overdubs. In a
two day session, this would probably take
up the first day. The next day, we’d do all
the vocals and mix the track. The whole
thing probably takes about 16 hours or so
of work, with breaks included.”

What is next for you/band - when
can we expect an album?
“Expect another 3 or 4 singles and some
further tours over the next year or so.
We won’t be playing any festivals this
year, but the plan is to get on them for
next year, now that we have a secure
bassist in Jack! For an album, that’s not
something planned in the near future –
2019, maybe 2020.”
Thinking about your approach to
songwriting: What comes first -
words or music?
“Words tend to come first. I have pages
after pages of lyrics, as that is the part
of writing that I particularly enjoy. With
the music, some of the songs come
naturally just by looking at the words
whilst others have taken years to finish.”
How did you learn to write a song?
“By writing a thousand dreadful songs
before coming up with a half decent one!
In my opinion, there’s no magical
formula, it just takes years and years of
practice. I’m not even half the
songwriter that I’d like to be.”
Which one are you proudest of
“I think the song that I’m proudest of is
always the newest one that I’ve written!
I feel like at the minute, I’m probably
proudest of Tonight as a fully formed
product. I think it’s a great pop song, but
with meaningful lyrics.”
These days you can record a song at
home and have it distributed and
heard around the world in no time at
all - what do you think are the good
and bad parts of the ways things
have changed?
“I think on one hand, it’s easier to get
your music out there to the world. We’re
aware that people have listened to us in
New Zealand, which is awesome! On the
other hand, some of the drivel makes it
harder for the good stuff to shine
through. It’s also harder for a band to
earn money, because even with
thousands of streams on the likes of
Spotify, you still make a pittance!
I must admit that I like having access to
pretty much the entire library of recorded
music at the tips of my fingers, simply by
paying £10 per month. That being said,
there’s nothing quite as special as having
a physical copy of music – it’s yours, you
own it. With the likes of streaming
services and digital music, you’re
practically renting it.
So there are good bits, and bad bits. But
generally, I’m in favour of digital media.”
Collaborations - have you done
any/would you like to - who?
“We haven’t done any collaborations but
some day I’d like to work with For The
Girl on a track together. I think the singer
has an awesome voice, and they are a
good, tight band, who are also good
mates of ours.”

In terms of your guitar gear, can
you talk us through it?
“My guitar setup couldn’t be simpler. I
take a Fender Strat, and run it through a
distortion pedal into my Vox AC30. On
the amp, I’m running hi-gain, a bright
reverb and just the tiniest touch of
tremolo at all times. The tremolo just
gives it a shimmering vibe, it doesn’t
sound like tremolo at all.
In terms of a pedalboard, I have a ProCo
RAT. It’s an old model, and it barely
works. In fact, it has a bit of a mind of
its own and likes to cut out sometimes.
But it sounds awesome, and they just
don’t make them like that anymore. The
only other pedals are a BOSS TU-3 tuner,
and an MXR Micro-amp which I use as a
solo booster.”
Any dream guitars you would like?
“They say you’re either a Fender man or
a Gibson man, right? In this case, I have
to say I like my Fenders.”
But dream guitars?
“All of them.”
You can find out more about The
Tangents HERE and they are well worth
checking out, a top band writing great
songs – what else is there?

AZTEC CAMERA
Somewhere In My Heart
Over the years La Contessa D’Jook has
followed the path of one of Britain’s finest
songwriters, from his fresh faced
‘Oblivious’ and quite cheeky ‘Somewhere
In My Heart’, to his more recent (and still
annoying fresh faced) solo work.
What is easy to overlook given just how
good his songs are, is that like Neil Finn,
he is a quite exceptionally good guitar
player and while he has that talent
where he makes everything look
simple, it doesn’t take long for you to
realise that whether it is the songs he
writes or the guitars parts he plays,
they are anything but.