Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Marti Caine and 1994 Melody Maker comp



Sorry I have not posted in a while. Summertime and I've been travelling.

This last collection from the Dalston Oxfam was not super exciting. There were some kind of amusing tapes which weren't really exciting enough to post, like the soundtrack of Starlight Express, and some really excellent tapes which were not ironic enough for the spirit of this blog (but which I highly recommend), like the Selected Ambient Works II from Aphex Twin which doesn't have any written titles but includes the great track Blue Calx.

So I have chosen to feature Marti Caine who is primarily known for her acting work apparently and for hosting musical type shows on the BBC in the early 80s, such as the Marti Caine Show. But this very slick disco album was co-written by Barry Blue - I suspect the same guy that did Boogie Nights and I Eat Cannibals from Toto Coelo. Funnily enough - these tracks are slick and well produced but somehow not really enough to make them memorable. But for anyone looking for another catchy track to play in a dj set, these might fare. I think the best is probably the slightly reggae lite tune Snowbird City.

Marti Caine - Who
Marti Caine - Love the Way You Love Me
Marti Caine - Snowbird City
Marti Caine - Tin Heart and the Rebel





Fortunately, there was something remotely more critically interesting and rare in the tape bin this time, but it wasn't in great condition. This is a tape compilation released with the April 29, 1995 issue of Melody Maker.

Some of these songs are presumably not available for purchase even anywhere else. The Goya Dress and Schtum tracks are not listed on discogs at least. Drugstore's track with Radiohead dude Thom Yorke may be their best known (El President) but I'm not sure I'm liking it better than this earlier track. The My Life Story Motorcade track is pretty catchy, but still not really my favorite cup of tea. My Life Story was apparently started primarily by Jake Shillingford whose most recent band is Exileinside. I'm not sure the new band sound is pushing any new limits, but the track Butterfly Wings is quite pretty. Anyone can feel free to explain to me the whole appeal of this genre - I just bring you what's in the tape bin :)

Side one
Drugstore - Speaker 12
My Life Story - Motorcade

Side two
Goya Dress - Scorch (demo version)
Schtum - New Brunswick

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks a lot for those excellent Melody Maker covertapes - have you ever come across 'Fiddling while Romo burns' covertape (MM Romo 96)? would love to see that one day, keep up the great work, it is always a massive joy to see what you come up next with!

tmunki said...

Yeah, I saw the article, thought it added seconds onto my 15 minutes and thought "I'd better stick some stuff on the blog now", noticed that the visitors to the site increased but still I sit on my arse doing nothing about it!

Anonymous said...

Cheers for the melody maker thing love schtum and didn't have this track.

Anonymous said...

update update!

I am not Kek-w said...

A Marti Caine disco css - genius!

Anonymous said...

I´d like to ask if you know a song performed by Marti Caine in the 80's, called "You".
I´ve been looking for this song, but everything I found about Marti Caine does not mention that song.
"...the day began just like another, ordinary day, in an ordinary way I watched you hurry by...you looked so shy..."
Thanks!
Sonia,fm Brazil

dalston shopper said...

Sonia - I have answered your dream. I found the song on this Excelsior compilation on this blog post which you can download.

http://musicadetodosostempos.blogspot.com/2007/10/excelsior-mquina-do-som-do-01-ao-08.html

It looks like it originally came out on the B side of a 1978 single of hers called I've Never Been to Me (at least that's what Wikipedia says).

Todd

Anonymous said...

HELLO DO YOU STILL HAVE THE MARTI CAINE LINKS THEY DO NOT SEEM TO WORK ON YOUR SITE ANYMORE

dalston shopper said...

Links have been updated for Marti Caine. Great album actually.

Anonymous said...

Hey thank you so much for the Marti Caine Links re up what a great recording that was by her would you ever consider putting up the other songs from the album it is so very hard to find...cheers and keep up the great work..Anthony from Australia

dalston shopper said...

I seem to recall that because this was a cassette the other tracks were not good enough quality.