MUSIC LIST
o Headway Benefit Queen Margaret College, Clerwood Terrace. 339 8111. 8pm—8am. £2.50. Students and guests only. Tickets in very limited quantities from Ripping Records and The Onion Cellar. Mammoth 12-hour extravaganza. bar open 12 hours!! Music from We Free Kings. Fizz Bombs. The Mysterons. and Trident. Cabaret from Red Ferrets, The Alexander Sisters and the Chernobyl Sisters. and Videos will be running for the completely knackered. Benefit for research into head injuries.
0 The Elements, Crocodiles in Cream and Ambition Calton Studios. Calton Road. 556 7066. 9pm. £2.50 (£2). Promising local talent. The Crocs‘ name has been spotted on the back ofa few leather jackets.
SUNDAY 31 Glasgow
0 The BMX Bandits Vicky‘s. Kilmarnock. 10pm. [was always prepared to give the BMX Bandits the benefit ofthe doubt until I actually saw them. Music for people with a mental age of2l/2.
o The Bodines Wired, 46 West George Street. 10.30pm. £4. A highly recommended gig at a new club in Glasgow. geared towards providing good music on a Sunday night. Support it. or you have no right to complain about the lack of decent gigs in Glasgow at the moment.
0 Equinox Cotton Club, Scott Street. 3320712. 10.30pm. Showcase for a local band that are hard working. but hardly the future of rock and roll. But. who knows?
Edinburgh
0 Tom Jones Playhouse Theatre, Greenside Place. 557 2590. SOLD OUT.
0 Rockshop Craigroyston High School. Pilton. 1—5pm. In an important part of both the Spring Fling and the Pilton Festival, live bands including Lesson 4, Roach Motel. Badman Posse, Good And Gone, We Free Kings and Camera Shy will be appearing. alongside stalls on such topics as welfare rights, tenants‘ associations. health groups. homelessness and action and campaign groups. Refreshments available.
0 Trixx and Last Orders Soundcheck Rock Club. The Venue, Calton Road. 557 3073. 7.30pm. New weekly club featuring local heavy rock and metal bands.
0 Tam White and The Dexters Preservation Hall. Victoria Street, 226 3816. £1 after 9pm. Another session from Edinburgh‘s premier bluesman, whose voice provided Big Jazza‘s growling vocals on Tutti Frutri.
0 Billy Jones Lord Darnley. West Port. 229 4341 . 9.30pm. Free. Edinburgh’s favourite singer/songwriter. promoting his album. Qu 'esl-ce Que C'est. full of acoustic rock ‘n‘ roll numbers.
0 Shakatak The Amphitheatre. Lothian Road. 229 7670. Doors open 10pm. £4. Halfprice before 11pm. Yes. real chart-topping pop stars. though these days without sales point Jeffrey. lgather. fora few
When the term
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‘Paisley Underground’ was coined, it unfortunately
POPU '- l 3“ strangers:
but when people talked about ‘shambling bands’ the name of Paisley’s favourite sons was, unfairly, on everyone’s lips. For all the wrong reasons.
Their current single, Never Seen Before, is light years away from the ‘shambling’ idea, and much betterthan their previous vinyl airings: Firestation Towers, on C86 (absolutely the last mention that LP gets in this magazine) and their rockier debut single, the wonderfully-named Going To Heaven To See If It Rains, in which singer Andy’s tongue couldn’t stay outof his cheek. Never Seen Before is unashamed pop, with a gorgeous refrain backed by massed female voices, and is available on the independent label Fire Becords. Although they claim that as a band, ‘Anything we’ve ever done has been through not bothering about it’, Close Lobsters (Andy on vocals, Graham and Tom on guitars, Bob on bass and Stewart on drums) are getting the hang of these pop hooks remarkably quickly.
They understand the value of notoriety as well. Andy’s immodest proclamation, ‘lf pop needs rebuilding, we’re the boys for the job,’ is still reverberating around the music papers, fuelled by their astute press people. Close Lobsters also claim to perform the worst version of The Only Ones’ Another Girl, Another Planet (Come now, boys, itwasn'tthatbad, just maybe . . . unadventurous) and,
undaunted, have released another of Peter Perrett’s songs, Wide Waterway, on the B-side of their new 12in. The world waits with bated breath to hear what they’ve done with Crystal Gayle’s Don’t Make My Brown Eyes Blue and Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing, though the Lobsters feel that The Go-Betweens, Felt, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop and The Undertones are truer pointers to the Close Lobster sound.
‘When we play these days, though,’
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Andy told Sounds, ‘I get the feeling we’re more like Whitesnake than The Only Ones.’
After touring as support to That Petrol Emotion they are playing Glasgow Technical College on Saturday 6 June and Edinburgh Onion Cellar on Thursday 11 June as headliners.
Oh yes, and they play guitars too. (Mab)
months the most famous haircut in the universe.
MONDAY 1 Glasgow
0 Tina Turner/Robert Cray Band SECC. Finnieston. 7.30pm. SOLD OUT. It is a testimony to Tina Turner‘s recent revitalisation that she can fill the SECC for two nights, but whether such a venue is the best place to capture her live performance is doubtful. Robert Cray was a bit of a bore when headlining at the Pavilion last year. although a shorter set may show him at his best.
Edinburgh
0 Driving Sideways The Canny Man's. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free. Blues/jazz and rock ’n‘ roll.
0 The Nick Robertson Band Ne’gociants. Lothian Street. 225 6313. 9pm. Free.
0 Sheer Greed Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9pm. Free. Heavy rock.
0 Leaps and Bounds The Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. Doors open 7.30pm. Seven-piece band who claim to be the only band they know of in Scotland to play ‘genuine reggaefl
TUESDAY 2 ' Glasgow
0 Suzanne Vega/Thomas Lang Pavilion Theatre, Renfield Street, 332 1896. 7.30pm/10.30pm. £6.
0 Bobby Wishart Halt Bar. Woodlands Road, 332 1210. Free. Residency for excellent jazz saxophonist.
O Chicane Riverside Tavern, Gorbals. 9pm. Free. Residency.
O Charity Event Claremont High School, East Kilbride. Featuring two bands. as yet undecided, and organised by Community Education Service. CES and charity do not go well together, and neither are they renowned for their organisational skills. Let's hope it goes well.
Edinburgh
0 Double Trouble The Canny Man’s, Morningside Road, 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free.
0 The Peristalsls Brothers Négociants, Lothian Street, 225 63. 9pm. Free. Swing and skiffle.
O Restless Natives Preservation Hall, Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9pm. Free. 0 Bop Sh’Bam, Capital CYC and Miro Assembly Rooms, George Street. 226 2427. 9pm. £2 (£1). Bop Sh‘Bam have played some well-received local
gigs, Capital CYC have been compared to Cabaret Voltaire and Miro are described as a wild 4-piece new wave folk band from Edinburgh. big in Brittany.
WEDNESDAY 3 Glasgow
0 Tina Turner/Robert Cray Band SECC, Finnieston. 7.30pm. SOLD OUT. Second night.
0 Terraplane Rooftops. Sauchiehall Street. 10.30pm. As far as 1 can remember. Terraplane are a good heavy metal/a.o.r. type band. with a major recording deal. Well. at least they are better than Europe. . .
0 The Battle ofthe Bands Bruce Hotel. East Kilbride. 8pm. Hail the rock gladiators as they fight it out to discover important things like who has the biggest ego. the longest guitar solo. etc etc. One ofthe judges is Rangers‘ Ally McCoist. and the bands include Pteranadan. and the reasonably good. Entwined.
0 Ted Hawkins Pavilion Theatre. Renfield Street. 7.30pm. £5. A great voice. and certainly well received on his last visit to Glasgow, when supporting Billy Bragg at Barrowland.
o Chicane The Bowlers, Tullis Street. Bridgeton.l 9pm. Free.
The List 29 May — 11 June 31