The Power Of Pop: Wayne Hussey Talks About The Making Of "Masque" & The Condition Of The Mission In 1992

Originally published in American Music Press (October 1992)

By Devorah Ostrov

The Mission before Simon Hinkler left the band.
(Wayne Hussey second from right)

The record company bio that came with the new Mission UK album, Masque, reads like an ersatz Bronte novel. "Standing beneath the vaulted ceiling of Beefheart Hall..." begins the romanticized prose that depicts the group's vocalist Wayne Hussey surveying his country estate — no doubt named in honor of the avant-garde musician best known for Trout Mask Replica. 

The text gets even more ambitious when Hussey (apparently keeping his desire to be Ted Nugent a secret all these years) "discards his huge wolf and weasel fur cape. Leaping onto a three-legged milking stool, he hangs his brand new, recently blooded crossbow on the wrought-iron weapons rack fixed high up on the thick granite walls."

Wayne Hussey
(photographer unknown)

Hussey himself is on the other end of the phone line, having a hearty chuckle. He's really a very jovial fellow. 

"That's all a fabrication!" he exclaims.

So, Beefheart Hall doesn't actually exist?  

"Not to my knowledge."

And you don't kill your own meat and custom-make clothing from the fur?

"No!" He's quite emphatic about that.

I'm guessing the bit where bassist Craig Adams and drummer Mick Brown turn up for rehearsals in an ex-Soviet military helicopter is also fiction, which is a shame, as I quite enjoyed that mental image.

"The bio was designed to see how many people would believe it," explains Hussey. "It's been quite amusing, particularly in Japan. The Japanese journalists all believe every single word!"

★ ★ ★

Q: Masque is so different from your previous albums. It's sort of upbeat! Has it taken people by surprise?

WAYNE: It's really... [he pauses to chuckle] divided them, particularly our audience here in Britain. I think people who have seen us play live a few times understand it a little more than the people who haven't. But you know, parts of our audience really don't understand it and even... [more chuckles] don't like it. And then some of them say it's the best record we've made. But you don't make a record with that intention. You just do the best job you can at that particular point in time. And hopefully along the way, you entertain yourself as well as entertain some other people.

Masque
(Mercury Records - 1992)

Q: Is it true that the band was on the verge of breaking up just before recording Masque?

WAYNE: Yeah, well... It's a question that gets raised every now and then, particularly since Simon [Hinkler, guitarist] left. I mean, we were in the middle of that 1990 tour when he left. And suddenly, it went from something that felt solid and invincible to something questionable and vulnerable. You constantly have to reappraise what you're doing anyway, kind of validate it for yourself. I think it's part of the creative process to question what you're doing, to question its value.

Q: Has the new record convinced you that it's worthwhile to keep the band together?

WAYNE: It's brought us closer together as people. Our friendships underwent a pretty traumatic time in 1990. It was the worst time ever. We didn't like each other very much, which was probably born out of the fact that we didn't like ourselves. So, I think it's brought us closer together as friends, which was basically what the band was founded on. I've been in bands before where friendship was never an issue. It was very much, "This is just what we do together," and that was it. It was great to be in the Mission, to be four lads in it together, and be best friends. Obviously, when Simon left, it really shook it all up.

The Mission at the time of this interview.
L-R: Mick Brown, Wayne Hussey & Craig Adams

Q: Are you still friends with Simon?

WAYNE: Yeah... I mean, YEAH! I would never want Simon to come back into the group. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want to come back. There was a period when I felt betrayed by him, pretty let down. And I'm sure he felt the same way about us. But time's a good healer. He played a couple of shows with us last year, and he came to my wedding. Ironically enough, he's now a journalist [with Rock World magazine].

Q: Has he interviewed you yet?

WAYNE: No! There was a request put in by the paper to interview us, but he knows too much dirt. Haha! He reviewed the LP — he gave it eight out of ten. There were a few little digs at me, reading between the lines, but I guess that's to be expected.

Wayne Hussey

Q: I got the impression from some of the lyrics on Masque that you used the songs to, for lack of a better phrase, purge some personal demons from your head. Some of the lyrics seem really close to home.

WAYNE: It was the kind of discipline I imposed on myself with this record. In the past, I tended to deviate a little from the subject matter; get a little prosaic, you might say. I prefer to call it poetic license. But with this record, I really wanted to try to speak in a language that I speak in every day.

Q: Instead of being consciously 'gothic.'

WAYNE: Well, I never thought of it as being gothic. I think of it as being poetry, but I was kind of into the use of words for their sound more than their meaning. But that was the only discipline I imposed. Musically, it was: let's throw enough things in the pot and see what we get!

Q: I do think that some of your lyrics, for instance, "Never Again," would make wonderful poems on their own.

WAYNE: It's weird, I really envy people who write nonsensical two-line songs, but I need to qualify it to myself. And my way of qualifying it is that it reads well, as well as sounds good.

Q: Do you read much poetry?

Wayne on the cover of No. 1 magazine
November 1, 1986

WAYNE: I have done in the past. Now I read more novels and biographies. But when I was younger, I did read a lot of poetry.

Q: Do you have a favorite poet?

WAYNE: Yeah... It's a pretty common one, but it's Baudelaire.

Q: Do you have a favorite English folktale?

WAYNE: No, but I have a favorite Iowa folktale! My wife's father is originally from the Midwest, Iowa, and he's got loads of stories. My favorite one is about this guy they used to call "Dancing John." He just couldn't sit still. So, when he died, there was a massive turnout in the local community. People came just to see him lying still in his coffin. It was the first time anybody had seen him stay still! There's going to be a song on the next LP called "The Ballad of Dancing John," I think.

   I also like a lot of Steinbeck's writing. Have you ever read Travels With Charley? It's a wonderful book. It's one of the last ones he wrote, if not the last. He bought a mobile home and traveled around America with his dog. Basically, that's what the book is about — discovering America, all these folktales from wherever he went. It's really, really good!

Q: Would you like to do something like that yourself? Travel around America?

WAYNE: Yeah, I'd love to! I'd really like to have the time and the means to do it. There are so many spectacular parts of the country, particularly the Pacific Coast Highway, Monterey, Yosemite. Then you go out to Vegas — it's just very bizarre! You've got all these different things...

Poster for the band's 25th-anniversary celebration
at the Brixton Academy in London.

Q: Pop culture!

WAYNE: It is! Particularly LA. There's so much 20th-century history, and it all fascinates me. It's what I grew up with. I really can see Kelly and I living out there in a few years' time.

Q: What about the rest of the band?

WAYNE: I don't know... I really don't see the band going on forever and ever. I'm sure Craig and Mick don't either. It's something we're doing right now that we're enjoying.

Q: Is there some other work you see yourself doing in the future, like maybe writing a book?

WAYNE: Yeah, that's kind of a major ambition of mine. Whenever I read a great book, it's like, "God, I would love to..." To have a finished manuscript would be like, wow! Not even to have it published or anything. I just think it would be a great sense of achievement. But I haven't got the self-discipline to do that. I also like the lifestyle and discipline of writers. I like the idea that they get up at six 'clock in the morning and write till mid-day, so many words, and then the rest of the day they get drunk.

Q: I don't think they all do that.

WAYNE: I know they don't, but Charles Bukowski does. I'm not sure he's disciplined in his writing at all, actually. I know that's the way Steinbeck used to write.

The Mission circa 1986
Poster from Smash Hits magazine

Q: Are you disciplined as a songwriter?

WAYNE: No. I'll plunk around on the piano or a guitar. I have a studio now in the garden of my house, so I go there and mess about. If something captures my imagination, I'll pursue it. But it's very strange. I'm always coming up with new ideas, 99% of which I discard or forget. But no, I tend to write in phases, really. I haven't written a song now since we finished the album. But I'll start doing some stuff, and five or six good songs will come at once. That's the way I work.

Q: I just want to say that I'm really happy you chose "Like a Child Again" as a single from the new album. It's such a great pop song!

Wayne shares the cover of Sounds with
Miles Hunt of the Wonder Stuff - March 1990

WAYNE: It is a great pop song! I'm proud of that one. It was actually the last song I wrote for the record.

Q: There are actually quite a few great pop tunes on Masque.

WAYNE: Well, you know, I've always felt that we were more a pop group than we were a rock group. I don't think we fully realized the songs in the past. I don't think we saw ourselves too clearly.

Q: Was there pressure from within the band to change your musical direction a bit with this album?

WAYNE: As far as Craig, Mick and myself, we kind of realized even before Simon had left that we had to go somewhere else with it. But we weren't sure what to do or where to take it. Obviously, when Simon left, it forced our hand a little bit, but it actually kind of liberated us in a lot of ways. I was writing tunes and not having to accommodate another guitar player. I'd forgotten that I could play guitar! I'd let Simon do it all. But with this record, it was like, "Okay, I'll play guitar here." On the other hand, if I didn't want any guitar in a song, then there wasn't any guitar.

Q: Replacing Simon was never a question then?

WAYNE: No! The Mission is the three of us now, although we used additional musicians on the record, and we'll use additional musicians when we play live as well.

Q: You used King Hussein's personal violin player on "Sticks and Stones." How did that come about?

"Like a Child Again"
CD single (Mercury Records - 1992)

WAYNE: I asked Jaz [Coleman, of Killing Joke], who's a friend of ours, to score the track. He said, "Yeah, but ah... I'm going to bring somebody along to play violin." Abdel [Aboud Ali] works for a living in a restaurant in Shepard's Bush. He's one of those annoying violin players that comes up and plays while you're eating! But whenever there's a royal occasion or a state wedding in Jordan, he gets the V.I.P. treatment. Quite neat!

Q: And Anthony Thistlethwaite [formerly of the Waterboys] co-wrote some of the songs.

WAYNE: Only two tunes ended up on the record ["She Conjures Me Wings" and "Even You May Shine"], but there were a few other tunes that I wrote with Anthony. He's such a lovely person. He's such a great person to play with because there's absolutely no ego involved on his part. He just purely loves music and plays for the fun of it!

Q: The song "Even You May Shine," is that about Charles Manson?

WAYNE: What makes you say that?

Q: You reference "Helter Skelter," little piggies, the family, and the names Sadie and Gypsy.

Wayne Hussey
(photo from the NME)

WAYNE: Yeah, I read the book around the time we were touring California. It's bewildering to me that people would do anything for this person. But it's quite an easy concept to grasp. Being in a band, there are times when you're put into a position of power, and it's easy to see how that can be abused. That's basically what the song is about — people need to find their place; they need to feel like they're part of something.

Q: "From One Jesus to Another," is that an answer to John Lennon's "Gimmie Some Truth"?

WAYNE: No, it's more like an answer to a song called "Lovely," which was on Carved In Sand [the band's previous album]. Actually, "From One Jesus..." was the first song that I wrote for this record. It's kind of, uhmm... It's the realization that you need to love yourself, and you really only need yourself. Once you have that, everything falls into line. But the bottom line is, firstly, you need to love yourself.

Q: It sounds like you've come to this realization fairly recently.

WAYNE: Towards the end of 1990, I was a mess. My personal life was a mess; the band was a mess. I was drinking far too much and taking far too many drugs. During the last world tour, I was supposed to go out and play to two thousand people a night and be a certain type of persona. And it ended up that I'd play that persona just to please them. I was really very unhappy, and I was taking it out on all the people around me, and I didn't know why. I'm the kind of person who doesn't confront things very easily. I tend to ball it up and try to put it on one side. It's interesting what you said before, with this record trying to lay some ghosts to rest because that's definitely how it worked for me. And it's probably the best way for me to exorcise those ghosts, through writing songs. The whole time I was making the record was very much a healing time. Obviously, Kelly, who became my wife while we were making the record, was very instrumental in that as well. She helped me regain my self-confidence. It's a gradual process. But with this record, I was very much getting it out of my system.

Advert for Wayne's 2015 tour in support of his
solo LP Songs of Candlelight and Razorblades.

Q: Are you content with the Mission's status in the music world?

WAYNE: I'm fairly happy with where we are right now. There was a time when we really saw ourselves being bigger than U2, or whoever, and when Simon left, it dawned on us that maybe that wasn't going to happen. I would like to sell more records, but in terms of my personal life, being able to do the things I want to do, go where I want to go without being bothered — it's great!

Q: Yeah, Bono probably can't go to the grocery store without being mobbed.

WAYNE: But the guys from Pink Floyd can. I much prefer that kind of fame.

Q: Will you be touring America in support of Masque?

WAYNE: I think we'll probably come over. It won't be a tour in the normal sense of the word. It won't be a concert tour, or anything. I don't know what it'll be yet.

Q: It'll be a surprise!

WAYNE: Well, you know, the record surprised a few people. Hopefully, we'll surprise them live too!

Mojo Nixon Spreads Yuletide Cheer During His Horny Holidays Tour. But Where's Skid Roper?

Originally published in American Music Press (1992)

Interview by Devorah Ostrov

Mojo Nixon
(Photo from "The Mojo Manifesto: The Life & Times Of Mojo Nixon")

During his onstage banter at a local club, Mojo Nixon described himself as a cross between Bigfoot and Roddy McDowell in Planet Of The Apes. It's a pretty accurate image. He's a mountain of a man, with a booming hillbilly accent and a razor-sharp wit.

As well as getting him in some hot water with Benson & Hedges, Nixon's wicked sense of humor is responsible for the irreverent pop culture classics "Elvis is Everywhere" and "Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child" (both of which he recorded in the '80s with onetime collaborator Skid Roper), as well as the wildly irreverent "Don Henley Must Die" which sneers: "Pumped up with hot air/He's serious, pretentious/And I just don't care..." (Rumor has it that the former Eagle recently joined Nixon onstage in Austin to sing the song's rousing chorus: "Don Henley must die, don't let him get back together with Glen Frey!")

Horny Holidays LP (Triple X Records - 1992)

Since September, Nixon and his band the Toadliquors — bassist Sean "New Guy" McCarthy, drummer Mid "Wid" Middleton, and Pete "Wet Dawg" Gordon on piano — have been touring the US in support of their new Christmas album Horny Holidays (Triple X Records).

The offbeat LP includes some unconventional takes on Xmas standards like "Good King Wenceslas" and "Jingle Bells." While other treats like James Brown's "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto," and the perennial family fave, "Mr. Grinch," are given that special Mojo twist.

I caught up with the affable Mr. Nixon in time to give him a cheap plastic Cat in the Hat for Christmas and ask a few questions about his latest project.

Q: What possessed you to record a Christmas album?

MOJO: I've been wanting to do a Christmas album for a while. I thought that the bad eggs, the mutants, the weirdos, the doomed and the damned of the world needed one.

Q: I love that you included your version of "Mr. Grinch." Covering a song from How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a stroke of genius!

Mojo wearing a WEBN t-shirt

MOJO: It's an unheralded Christmas classic. And you know, we sing the actual, real words: "Your head is full of snot..." That's right up my alley!

Q: Where did you find all the other bizarre Christmas songs that you cover on the album? Like the lecherous "Trim Yo' Tree."

MOJO: I have a huge collection of weirdo Christmas albums. I've been collecting 'em for 10 years, and I have about 100 or so. Most of 'em are by people you wouldn't think would do a Christmas album, like "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" by James Brown or Huey "Piano" Smith's "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus." And I wanna carry on that tradition.

Q: So, it wasn't Elvis Presley's Christmas collection that inspired you?

MOJO: No... Well, that was part of it. In fact, I think on my next Christmas album, Naked New Year — the first one is always so successful you have to do a second one — we'll do Elvis' version of "Merry Christmas Baby."

Q: You also wrote a couple of new Christmas tunes for the album...

MOJO: I wrote a couple; I rewrote a couple of things... I wrote the "Little Man Song," which had been floating around in the Mojo archives for a while but had never made it onto an album, and the soul-groove song, "It's Christmas Time."

Mojo Nixon (Rock Musician) on CNN

Q: What about the "Head Crushing Yuletide Sing-A-Long"? To me, it sounds kinda like the Christmas classic "Winter Wonderland," although it's less than a minute long.

MOJO: Uh... that's actually just one of our miscues.

Q: I also want to mention your brilliant rendering of "Good King Wenceslas." You barely start the song, admit you don't know the lyrics, and just keep going "la, la, la." Did you truly not know the words, or was it planned that way?

Custom Condoms
promo merch for Horny Holidays

MOJO: It's a combination of both. I truly don't know the lyrics, and I thought it would be funny to do a song which typifies Christmas, where people sing the first two lines and that's all they know.

Q: Was the project really as spontaneous as it sounds?

MOJO: It was pretty spontaneous. We did it all in four days. We didn't know the words to any of those songs before we started. We didn't know how to play 'em. We didn't know what key they were in. We didn't know the arrangements. So, we had to learn 'em, record 'em, overdub, and mix everything in four days.

Q: Is that the way you've recorded all your albums?

MOJO: Nah! The first one [Mojo Nixon And Skid Roper released in 1985] took eight hours — four hours to record and four hours to mix! We didn't even know we were making an album. We thought we were just making demos.

Q: That's amazing! Kind of makes you wonder what took Guns N' Roses so long.

"Elvis is Everywhere" - Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
Picture sleeve 45 released in 1987 on Australia's
Liberation label.

MOJO: Right! 'Cause they're under enormous pressure from Geffen to have shit. So, they end up making shitty albums with boring songs. Who told them to do "Live and Let Die"? Who told Axl to play the piano with Elton John? Axl Rose is all pose. He looks and acts like he wants to be a rock god, but he doesn't have any rock 'n' roll songs. Where's the "Satisfaction"? Where's the "Jumpin' Jack Flash"? Their big hit, "Sweet Child O' Mine," is a power ballad. It's not a rock song; it's a slow-skater!

Q: When you were recording the song "Elvis is Everywhere" [from Bo-Day-Shus!!! released in 1987], did you think it was going to become a hit and your signature tune?

MOJO: No! After we recorded it, I realized it was gonna come out right when the 10th-anniversary [of Elvis' death] was happening. I didn't know that when we recorded it. There was just a whole bunch of Elvis stuff happening at that time, and I just kind of picked up on it and wrote a song about it. When it came out, the 10th-anniversary thing was huge! It was on the cover of Newsweek!

Q: But your timing was just a fluke?

Mojo Nixon circa 1990
Enigma Records publicity photo

MOJO: Yeah, well... I pick up on the vibrations in the universe before most normal humans.

Q: Do you ever want to be taken more seriously? Or write less humorous songs?

MOJO: Nah! There's a real trap there. Unfortunately, you're either perceived as being serious like Don Henley, and you wanna save the rain forest and critics love you. Or you're perceived as being a buffoon. There's no in-between. Even if I did an alleged serious album, in the middle of it, I'd let a fart! I couldn't stop myself.

Q: I read that your sense of humor recently got you into trouble with the Benson & Hedges people. Apparently, a quote of yours caused them to drop you from their Blues & Rhythm concert series.

(The quote in question was: "I'm running for the Presidency on the Mushroom Party. The basic overriding platform is that having sex is better than killing. The people who take mushrooms and get laid a lot aren't going to be pushing the button.")

Recent pic of Mojo Nixon and Little Steven
promoting Nixon's SiriusXM show "The Loon in the Afternoon."

MOJO: This friend of mine [Chris Morris] writes for Billboard and he was just quoting all the crazy shit I normally say, and Benson & Hedges freaked. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I was spewing forth my normal, you know, anarchy rhetoric, and some guy goes, "Oh, no! We can't have him!" I also got dropped by TNN. Same deal.

Q: What's TNN?

MOJO: The Nashville Network. That's the reason why I haven't been on [David] Letterman and stuff.

Fabulous poster for a series of Mojo Nixon
shows in Texas.

Q: That's awful!

MOJO: Hell, it's their loss. When I'm King of the Universe, they'll be sucking my boots!

Q: I've been wondering, whatever happened to your old pal and collaborator Skid Roper?

MOJO: Oh, god! He's in prison in Arkansas. He was cross-dressing at this Liberace tribute, and they don't like that in Arkansas. So, they took him to the women's prison! But Governor Bubba, soon to be President Bubba — the first draft dodger, wife swapper, dope smoker, saxophone player to be in the White House — is gonna release him before he goes to D.C.

Q: Is this true?

MOJO: Sure! Need you ask?

(Actually, Skid Roper has two albums of his own on Triple X Records: Trails Plowed Under released in 1989 and Lydias Cafe released in '91. A spokesman for the label would neither confirm nor deny Mojo's story, only saying that last he heard, Roper was running a used drum shop "just before the legal problems...")

Q: In addition to the usual Triple X label on your latest release, I noticed the name Triple NiXXXon Records. Is this a subsidiary deal you have?

Mojo Nixon
(promo photo)

MOJO: I do have a little subsidiary label. It has Fish Karma, One Foot in the Grave... Who's the next one we're gonna put out? Eugene Chadmore... crazy, nutty people who would probably never get a record deal anywhere else. Enigma's out of business and IRS has been absorbed by Capitol [Mojo's former labels], so we put Horny Holidays out ourselves. Even if I had a major-label deal, they wouldn't let me make the drunken Christmas record I wanted to make. Record company people — you can't imagine how small their brains are. If you rammed their brains up a gnat's ass it'd look like a BB in a boxcar. You get the picture? Brains up a gnat's ass... BB... boxcar.

Q: You live in San Diego, and your band [the Toadliquors] is based in Austin. But you recorded Horny Holidays as well as two other albums [Root Hog Or Die and Otis] in Memphis. Is there a particular reason you like to record there?

MOJO: The guy who produces my albums, Jim Dickinson, lives in Memphis. Although he didn't do this one, me and the engineer did it. But Memphis is just a great place. It's, you know, where Elvis is from. That's where we're going! If it's good enough for Elvis and Howlin' Wolf, it's good enough for us.

Q: Do you hang around at Graceland?

MOJO: Nah! It's kinda weird down there. There's other places to go. Secret Elvis hide-outs!

Poster for the Jello Biafra/Mojo Nixon
1994 Prairie Home Invasion LP
(Alternative Tentacles)

Q: Did you ever see Elvis in concert?

Mojo: No, I never did. When I was in high school, it was supremely unhip. I didn't quite realize it was so unhip that it was hip. I hadn't passed that hurdle yet.

Q: I've been told that you're a big collector of odd junk.

MOJO: My house is a monument to weird junk!

Q: What's the strangest thing you own?

MOJO: A shingle from the house John Wayne was born in; it's kind of a religious artifact. And I have a painting of a rooster by Evil Knievel. If I could just get Hitler and Johnny Cougar, I'd have all the big painters!

Q: Just out of curiosity, what does the Nixon household look like at Christmas? Do you put the lights on the house and reindeer on the roof?

MOJO: Uh-huh! Really hideous! The neighbors really hate it. I just saw something in a J.C. Penny catalog... My mom was making me look at it when I was back in Virginia during the early part of the tour. She's saying, "You have to pick out something I can get you for Christmas." I see this four-foot-high plastic Santa Claus, and the ad says: "New this year — Afro American Santa Claus!" I said, "That's what I want!" But she wouldn't get it for me.

Mojo's story is told by Jay Allen Sanford in this "Famous Former Neighbors" cartoon strip.

Material Issue: Jim Ellison Claims To Know What Girls Want. Who Better To Help Me Build The Perfect Human Being?

Originally published in American Music Press (1992)
Interview by Devorah Ostrov

Material Issue - "What Girls Want" CD single
(Mercury Records - 1992)

Right now, my favorite teenage-girl magazine is running its annual "Sassiest Girl in America" contest. To win, one simply has to construct the perfect human being.

"Think of more than four but less than fifteen folks — living or dead — who you admire the heck out of," state the rules. "Now create a totally ideal being employing different attributes from said individuals."

And who better to help me with this Frankensteinian project than Material Issue vocalist Jim Ellison. After all, he already has a head start with the hit song "What Girls Want":

I want a man with lips just like Mick Jagger

Rod Stewart's hair, and Keith Richards' stagger...

I wasted no time in getting Jim — who had just returned home to Chicago after a two-month US tour in support of the group's latest album Destination Universe — on the phone.

Material Issue (Mercury Records publicity photo)

AMP: So, who do we pick for a sense of humor?

JIM: Rodney Dangerfield.

AMP: Good. What about singing voice?

JIM: Robin Gibb.

AMP: The Bee Gees? Interesting. Okay, how about intelligence?

JIM: Gene Simmons.

AMP: Really? Is he smart?

JIM: Highly.

AMP: Eyebrows?

JIM: I've always thought that Paul McCartney has good eyebrows.

AMP: That's a great choice! Whose ambition do we admire?

JIM: That's a toughie. No one has ever struck me as being ambitious.

AMP: What about yourself?

JIM: Yeah... I guess...

Jim's unassuming reply was sweet, but it wasn't going to win me Sassy's contest. It seemed like a good time to switch gears and ask a few proper interview questions.

Material Issue
(Mercury Records publicity photo)

AMP: Did you guys suspect that "What Girls Want" would be a big hit when you recorded it?

JIM: Well... we think all the songs on the album are hits [suddenly he's all ambitious], but we liked "What Girls Want" the best. We had two top-five hits last year with "Valerie Loves Me" and "Diane" [both from the International Pop Overthrow LP), so we'd pretty much established ourselves as far as modern rock goes. Now "What Girls Want" is getting played on AOR, which we never thought would happen. But the record is #38, and it's still climbing!

AMP: Are you personally a big fan of pop music?

JIM: I'm a fan of everything. I listen to music from the '50s to now. I'm always listening to old music for reference points, but I listen to new music too, because a lot of it's great.

AMP: What current bands do you like?

Back cover pic from the "Valerie Loves Me" 12-inch EP
Photo: Michael Lavine

JIM: The Cave Dogs were our opening band on this tour, and I thought they were excellent. I like Cracker quite a bit; they did some shows with us. There's some local Chicago bands that I like a lot.

AMP: Historically, the Midwest has always had a reputation as a breeding ground for great pop bands — Cheap Trick, Shoes, the Replacements...

JIM: Historically, it has, but it's been a while since Cheap Trick. Unfortunately, we don't have much more than Material Issue in the pop vein currently.

AMP: Why do you think that is?

JIM: A lot of musicians get frustrated with the format, seeing as there's so many bands that have played that kind of music. But our music still has a modern edge to it, even though it's straight-ahead pop. I think a lot of bands get too sucked up in the retro aspect of pop music.

AMP: But there's so much you can do with pop!

JIM: Yeah, but I don't think too many people know how to do it. If they did, we'd have a lot more successful pop bands.

* Postscript — I did not win the "Sassiest Girl in America" contest.
* RIP — Jim Ellison committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in June 1996. 

Young Fresh Fellows: I Run Up My Phone Bill While Discussing "It's Low Beat Time" With Scott McCaughey

Originally published in American Music Press (October 1992)

By Devorah Ostrov

The Young Fresh Fellows (L-R): Kurt Bloch, Scott McCaughey,

Tad Hutchison & Jim Sangster (photographer unknown)

Interviewing Young Fresh Fellows vocalist/guitarist Scott McCaughey was an entertaining way to run up my phone bill! We were supposed to discuss the band's new Frontier Records release, It's Low Beat Time, which we did.

But we also talked about YFF's psych-fest version of Sony Bono's "I Just Sit There," which they recorded for last year's tribute album Bonograph. "Sonny's wife [not Cher!] called up the label and ordered 20 copies," gushes Scott. "They wanted to give them to people for Christmas presents."

Other topics of conversation included his thoughts about the group's 1987 hit single "Amy Grant" ("It's the stupidest song ever"), audience requests ("We've been known to try and play songs we don't know if somebody asks us nicely"), the Dictators (the Fellows are "super into" the Dictators), ex-Flamin' Groovies vocalist/Phantom Movers leader Roy Loney ("He's so rocking!"), and the vinyl vs. CD argument (of course, he prefers vinyl).

It's Low Beat Time (Frontier Records 1992)

Seattle-based for more than a decade, Scott and former Fellows guitarist Chuck Carroll originally hailed from the Bay Area. The move north was made with the intention of starting a BAM-type music 'zine for the Northwest. But as Scott explains, "In the three months since Chuck had checked out the scene, The Rocket had started and filled the void."

The pair stayed because they liked the city's atmosphere, and they even fell in with The Rocket's staff. In fact, Scott still writes a column on alternative music for the magazine.

Forming an idiosyncratic pop group of their own wasn't part of the agenda; it just sort of happened. "We just recorded a record," offers Scott ambivalently about the launch of a respected career which now spans almost nine years.

When I push him for more information, he adds, "Chuck and I had recorded a lot of junk on a four-track. We'd always sent tapes to our friends, and after we moved to Seattle we thought, they're gonna be expecting a cassette come Christmas, and wouldn't it be really funny if we sent them an album. Like, they'd be totally blown away!"

Flyer for the Replacements & Young

Fresh Fellows at the Gift Center in SF - 1992

In 1983, with Chuck's cousin Tad Hutchison on drums and Scott (credited as "Sled") temporarily on bass, the Fellows recorded their whimsical debut, The Fabulous Sounds Of The Pacific Northwest, on the exceptionally obscure PopLlama label.

"They'd never really put out any records," notes Scott of PopLlama. "They'd sort of put out a couple of cassettes. But when we came up with the idea to do this record, Conrad [Uno, label owner and producer] said, 'I'll record it and we'll put it out on my little label' — which didn't really exist."

Scott picks up the story a few months later: "When the record came out, much to our amazement, people heard it and liked it. We started getting letters from radio stations around the country that had it at #1! We thought, Wow! This is really weird. We weren't taking it at all seriously."

Before their second PopLlama release (1985's Topsy Turvy), Jim Sangster took over as the group's bassist, and Scott switched to guitar. "I'm too retarded to play bass and sing at the same time," he states. A couple of years later, the Fellows moved to the bigger indie label Frontier Records where they've since issued a string of eagerly received quirky LPs, including 1988's Totally Lost — after which Fastbacks' guitarist Kurt Bloch replaced Chuck Carroll.  

With Low Beat Time, the band Rolling Stone once described as "the Lovin' Spoonful at Buzzcocks' speed" still isn't taking it seriously. The 16 mostly snappy tunes (with the usual bits of oddness YFF is known for) shift and collide dramatically in style and mood, with tracks that careen from bopping beats to garage-punk wallops to organ-driven romps.

The Young Fresh Fellows in their snazzy Electric Bird Digest outfits

"Tad wanted this whole record to be a super-happy, up-beat dance kind of thing," observes Scott. "But we couldn't all agree to do the whole record that way, so we just haphazardly recorded a bunch of stuff."

He might be using the word "haphazardly" in a literal sense, as five studios in three different cities were employed in making the album. According to Scott, the plan was to "just go back to the basement, take a month, and get really out there." But their regular studio was booked by someone else and the guys were impatient to get going. "We wanted to get a record out this year," he comments, "for no particular reason. But Frontier thought it would be a good idea."

PopLlama publicity photo featuring guitarist Chuck Carroll

Two of the studios they used required a cross-country trip to Memphis.

One was Easley Recording, where Alex Chilton can often be found. If you listen closely, you can sometimes hear Chilton's hollow-body Gretsch on It's Low Beat Time.

"We didn't know it was his until we'd used it on a bunch of songs," swears Scott.

The other was Royal Studios, where they worked with the great Willie Mitchell. The producer of soul superstars like Al Green and Ann Peebles oversaw the album's title track as well as the Fellows' cover of the Young Rascals' "Love Is a Beautiful Thing."

Scott confirms that everything turned out to be "really cool" with Mitchell, although he admits to having some initial jitters. "Here's this sixty-year-old black guy who's been recording really talented soul singers for the last thirty years, and here's four jaded punk rock losers from Seattle, coming in and stomping around. We didn't know if it would work out at all."

The Young Fresh Fellows on the cover 

of Seattle's The Rocket - June 1984

YFF's punky treatment of the customarily earnest trad-folk tune "Green Green" took shape at Easley. It's a highlight of the album and features legendary bluesman Rufus "Walking the Dog" Thomas on guest vocals. How did this unlikely but perfect collaboration come about?

"We knew he was in Memphis," says Scott, "and we tracked him down. He said, 'Sure, I'll come over.' He'd never heard the song before, but he instantly got into it. He's like 75-years-old and still super-psyched about music." Apparently, it was Thomas' idea to do the song's intro as a solo, and he added some improvised scat vocals as well. "It was great!" enthuses Scott.

Back on home turf, the band hooked up with Kearney Barton, engineer of 1965's proto-punk classic Here Are The Sonics, which Scott rates as one of the ten best rock 'n' roll records ever made (YFF cover "High Time" on the tribute album Here Ain't The Sonics).

Barton got them the authentically primitive garage sound they wanted for two tracks — "99 Girls" and "She Won't Budge" — both of which stand out for being so overtly lo-fi. However, at one point, Scott was slightly worried they'd gone too far. "I was wondering if people would think there was something wrong with their CD when it got to those songs," he chuckles. "We tried to make those two songs sound like the Sonics as much as possible. We didn't overdub anything. Kearney would record the songs every time we played, but he wouldn't erase anything. So, we just picked the versions we liked the best."

Fabulous Peter Bagge-designed poster for

recent YFF shows in Seattle and Portland

So, it seems like they've had a jolly good time. But wasn't all that traveling and studio expense a bit of a strain on Frontier's finances? 

"Yeah, I was kind of wondering how that would go over," muses Scott. "We definitely spent more money on this record than we have on any other one, but they were like 'Okay.'"

In case you haven't caught one of their shows yet, the Fellows are just as weird and eclectic live as they are on record, and twice as much fun! "You could see us two or three nights in a row and not hear any of the same songs," remarks Scott. "Or you might hear 'Amy Grant' all three nights."

On occasion, their setlists include "76 Trombones" and "The Girl from Ipanema." And their performances are frequently compared to the crash-and-burn days of the Replacements. Actually, the only words I could decipher in the liner notes to a Spanish YFF release were "Sonics" and "Replacements."

Scott's happy with the comparison. "I think we're a lot more punk rock than people realize, people who have only heard one of our records. We totally charge live! We love to play super-loud and super-fast. Our shows are pretty much free-for-alls!"

Motörhead: We Talked To Lemmy About "March Ör Die" & Got The Scoop On New Drummer Mikkey Dee For AMP #1

Originally published in American Music Press #1 (October 1992)
Interview by Devorah Ostrov & Schneider

Motörhead at the time of this interview

L-R: Lemmy, Würzel, Mikkey Dee, and Phil Campbell

March Ör Die (WTG/Epic) is Motörhead's latest offering, but it comes with a new drummer.

Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor has been officially replaced by mighty skins-basher Mikkey Dee, whose claims to fame include stints with King Diamond and Don Dokken.

Although Philthy parted ways with the group once before (to work on a project with Brian Robertson; he returned a couple of years later), this time, his departure looks to be more permanent and not without some turmoil.

Philthy seems to have left/been sacked early on in the recording process, as he only appears on one track: "I Ain't No Nice Guy" (which also features Slash on lead guitar and guest vocalist Ozzy Osbourne). Tommy Aldridge — previously with Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers, and Whitesnake among others — plays drums on everything else except "Hellraiser," which features Mikkey. To get the scoop, we spoke with Mikkey and iconic Motörhead frontman Lemmy.

Back row L-R: Phil Campbell, Mikkey Dee & Würzel

Lemmy front and center!

AMP: Mikkey, what's the first thing you did when you found out you were Motörhead's new drummer?

Mikkey: I gathered my thoughts and thought about how I was going to approach the whole thing. I had to sit down and kick back for a while and think about it.

AMP: You didn't shout "Whoopee!" and get drunk?

Mikkey: Oh, I probably did — but it wasn't just because of being in Motörhead. I get drunk all the time! I was happy, don't get me wrong. I was super happy! But work comes first. After I got my shit together, of course, we went out and shot down a couple of tequilas... and fifteen beers!

AMP: How did you originally meet Lemmy and the guys?

Mikkey: I've known these guys for years! King Diamond opened for Motörhead in Europe in 1987. Lemmy actually asked me at that time if I wanted to join the band, but I turned him down.

AMP: Was this when Philthy had quit before?

Mikkey: No, this was when Phil was back in the band again!

AMP: What?! Phil was in the band and Lemmy asked you to join? This sounds like a big scandal!

Mikkey: Not really. They had problems with him. It's no secret. Not personal, but playing-wise. As Lem says himself [in someone else's interview] when Philthy came back, it didn't sound as good as it used to, and he didn't seem to have that much fun. When they toured with King Diamond, they kind of fell in love with my drumming, and we got along good. We were talking about it, you know, and we always kept in contact over the years.

AMP: Lemmy, tell us about the new album, March Ör Die. Does it reflect your state of mind at the moment?

The classic three-piece Motörhead lineup (circa "Ace of Spades")

L-R: Lemmy, Philthy, Fast Eddie Clarke

Lemmy: It's not completely autobiographical. If it was, I'd be baring my soul to the nation — and I do that all the time! Basically, what I'm saying is that we're all fucking doomed, so there's no need to lay down and whimper about it.

AMP: "Cat Scratch Fever" was a cool choice for a cover song. Has Ted Nugent heard your version?

Lemmy: Yeah, he doesn't like it. Probably because it's better than the original!

AMP: Motörhead's last album, 1916, was killer! But if you weren't already a Motörhead fan, you weren't likely to hear about it. What happened?

Lemmy: No promotion. Our record company's got no budget. They're the low man on the totem pole. We're with WTG, which is a subsidiary of Epic, which is a subsidiary of Sony, etc., etc. We've got no chance.

AMP: Oh no! Does that mean March Ör Die won't get any promotion either?

Lemmy at the Omni in Oakland - 1988
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Lemmy: We got a billboard on top of the Rainbow, but I haven't seen anything in the papers. I don't think Tommy Mottola [head of Sony Music Entertainment] is very interested in Motörhead. We've done a video this time, though. A real video — for the song "Hellraiser" with Pinhead!

AMP: Do you think MTV will show the video, other than on Headbanger's Ball?

Lemmy: Probably not, but I hope they do. It's a shame to make a video and have no one see it. The only thing that I can promise you, is that this band delivers and always has delivered!

AMP: Mikkey, are you worried about the fan reaction to your replacing Philthy?

Mikkey: No, not at all. I know they're gonna be skeptical. They're gonna watch me. But I'll tell you, they're not gonna be disappointed.

AMP: Do you get to change any of Phil's drum parts when Motörhead play live?

Mikkey: I get to do whatever I want. Philthy did some cool shit and he did some goofy shit. There's drum fills, like in "Ace of Spades" — that little break. I could do something incredible in there. But I don't wanna do that. I wanna keep it as simple as he did because that's the way the kids wanna hear it. Certain trademarks have to be there. Actually, what I might do is add more drums. I don't think Philthy really built up to some of the choruses. I think a song should lift, and that's where I think his weakness was. He was pretty monotone over the songs. I wanna make it more exciting! Give it a kick in the ass!

AMP: What are the similarities and differences in playing with King Diamond and Dokken, as opposed to Motörhead?

Lemmy and Pinhead from the video for the "Hellraiser" single. 
The song was also featured in the film Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com

Mikkey: They're all very, very nice guys. But musically, there are no similarities. Being in Dokken, I entered a different kind of music scene than what I was used to in King Diamond. I was suddenly up against Slaughter, Warrant, Poison...

AMP: The MTV hit-making machines!

Mikkey: Exactly! MTV, money — the business, crap, bullshit! And that was a very big difference. That's what I like about Lem and Wurz [Würzel, guitarist] and Phil [Campbell, guitarist]. By playing with Motörhead, it was suddenly fun again. I'm back with a really heavy band, and that's where I belong. I realized that playing with Dokken.

AMP: Lemmy, do you listen to your own records?

Lemmy: I listen to 1916 quite often. I hadn't listened to any of the others for years. But when they were reissued on CD, they sent me a box and I listened to 'em. They were really good!

Lemmy & Würzel (with Philthy on drums) at the Omni - 1988

Photo: Devorah Ostrov

AMP: Mikkey, do you have a favorite Motörhead song?

Mikkey: I've got tons of 'em! "Ace of Spades," of course... "Killed by Death," "Traitor," "Metropolis"... The whole new album is a smash to me! I wouldn't have joined the band if I didn't like what they were coming out with today.

AMP: Were you guys in LA during the riots?

Lemmy: We were right in the middle of recording "Hellraiser."

Mikkey: We were in the studio while Wurz was putting down the guitars. We had to get out of there. We were just a couple of blocks away from where Reginald Denny got beat up — where it all started. We were seeing people on the street with fucking baseball bats, and pickup trucks with 15 guys in the back. I had my new Corvette parked right out front, and I said, "I'm outta here!"

AMP: With the political climate at the moment, we're wondering which presidential candidate you might vote for — Bush or Clinton?

L-R: Würzel, Lemmy, Phil Campbell & Mikkey Dee

Lemmy: I wouldn't vote for either of those mealy-mouthed bastards! Tipper Gore [wife of Clinton's running mate Al Gore, and founder of the P.M.R.C.] has ruined the last chance for anything good. And I can't believe Ross Perot has dropped out. He probably got a phone call in the middle of the night with someone saying, "It's your ass." And the next day, he dropped out.

AMP: One final question, Lemmy... Motörhead is supporting Ozzy Osbourne on what he says will probably be his last concert tour. Do you have any retirement plans yourself?

Lemmy: No plans yet. You fuckers stick with me. You'll get what you deserve!

* You can find my 1989 interview with guitarist Phil Campbell here: devorahostrov.blogspot.com/2019/02/Motorhead-Phil Campbell

Inspiral Carpets: In My Second Interview With Clint Boon, The Keyboardist Reveals The Stories Behind "Devil Hopping"

Originally published in American Music Press (April 1994)
By Devorah Ostrov

Inspiral Carpets - photo from the video for "Saturn Five"

Follow this link to watch the full video:/www.youtube.com/saturn-five

I got into the hotel elevator with Inspiral Carpet's keyboardist Clint Boon. His signature bowl haircut was gone, as was his trademark crazy-colored shirt; both hairstyle and clothing were now more contemporary, verging on low-key. Still, I knew it was him. But he didn't know it was me, or rather, he didn't know that I was on my way to interview him, or perhaps someone else from his band — at that point, it was potluck who I would get.

I wondered if I should say something, but worried about saying something stupid. Then we got off on the same floor and took the same turn down the wrong hallway. Two more hallways, and we finally consulted on the room number we were both looking for. I mentioned that we'd talked on the phone two years ago, when the Inspirals were promoting Revenge Of The Goldfish. He seemed strangely relieved and said he'd thought I was going to mug him. By the time the record company rep opened the door, we were chatting like old friends.

Devil Hopping (Elektra/Mute Records - 1994)

"Oh, I see you've already met," said the rep. He sounded a tiny bit peeved as he sent another journalist in the direction of vocalist Tom Hingley.

The guys were in town to publicize their new CD, Devil Hopping (Elektra/Mute Records). Produced by Pascal Gabriel (whose Belgian-accented pronunciation of "developing" inspired the weird title), the band's latest release has already generated two hit singles in their native UK.

The trippy "Saturn 5" entered the British Top 20 and stayed there for six weeks. Meanwhile, a remix of the album's opening track, "I Want You," shifted 20,000 copies before the video had even aired (featuring guest vocals by the Fall's Mark E. Smith, Melody Maker called it "psychedelic optimism meets psychedelic miserabilism"). There's a different schedule in the US, where the pristine pop tune "Party in the Sky" will be the first single.

Taking a seat on the bed, Boon explains that's because "Saturn 5" is a "very Inspirally song. As soon as the organ starts, you know it's the Inspirals. And the record company thought it was a better idea to promote something a bit more..." He runs through assorted ways to end this sentence in his head before eventually settling on "unusual."

While I'm not convinced that a vast majority of Americans would be annoyed with an "Inspirally sounding song" (or even know what that means), they trusted the label's decision. "We said, 'Okay, you know America better than we do. Do what you want.'"

Clint Boon is at the wheel in this pic from the "Saturn 5" video.

Originally formed in Oldham, Greater Manchester, the Inspiral Carpets' current lineup came together in 1986/ 1987.

Over the course of a handful of EPs, a 4-track Peel Sessions recording, and their first two major-label releases (1990's Life and 1991's The Beast Inside), the group acquired a reputation for its retro-psychedelic/ pop-infused songs.

This was fuelled in large part by Boon's hair and vintage Farfisa organ. "When we started out, we wanted to sound like the Seeds and ? and the Mysterians," he confessed in our previous interview.

They have an enormous and devoted UK following. And their singles — described variously as "the Doors meet the Electric Prunes" ("Directing Traffic"); "a colorful revisit to San Francisco acid rock" ("Commercial Rain"); and "sturdily melodic" ("This Is How It Feels") — consistently top Britain's independent charts.

Planet of Sound flyer for a "Devil Hoppings"

 promotion at Mad in Athens, Greece. 

The Inspirals finally broke through in the US with 1992's Revenge Of The Goldfish. But the band that we discovered was one that had become increasingly enamored with studio technology to create its sound.

Commenting on a particularly feedback-frenzied track from that LP, Boon observes, "When we were playing 'Generations' live last year, I had to think, how did I get that sound? It was created by a machine in a studio."

With Devil Hopping, they were determined to recapture the energetic feel of their early releases. "We wanted to sound like a band excited about what we're doing," asserts Boon. "In the past, we've gone into the studio individually, done whatever we had to do, and gone home. That's how we did Revenge Of The Goldfish. It's a brilliant album to listen to, but my memories of making it are driving 40 miles from my house to the studio, doing a few hours work, looking at my watch... This time I said, 'Let's all get together in the studio and stay there.' We brought our wives and kids to the studio, and it was really relaxed."

And instead of letting machines fix any gaffes ("Y'know, you play a half-decent organ solo, but a few of the notes are wrong, so you move them on the tape."), the guys prepared the old-fashioned way. "This time, we put a lot more concentration into the rehearsal period before the recording session," states Boon. "That meant we could spend less time actually recording and be more spontaneous." As an added bonus, Boon can unwind onstage. "Now that we're playing these songs live, it's very easy because I know what I did," he says.

Inspiral Carpets 

(Mute Records publicity photo)

Traditionally, all Inspiral Carpets material is credited to the group as a whole. However, when asked, Boon is delighted to point out exactly which tracks he wrote. The enigmatic "Plutoman," inspired by his infant daughter Harley Luv, is one of them. "I'll go through the lyrics for you," he offers. As he pulls out the lyric sheet, he reassures me that he's "not gonna start writing loads of songs about babies."

You know what they say about the lady who talks with the fishes

They say she will always have at least a billion, billion friends...

"There's this little person who's so innocent she's talking to the fish on the wallpaper. She's not got any of the prejudices that will come later on in life. But the other character is the Plutoman..."

2014 advert for the 10th-anniversary 

celebration of Manchester's Mint Lounge, 

featuring a DJ set by Clint Boon. 

Even out here where he sits
Drowning in isolation

He's stacking his bricks high
 And slowly walling out the world...

"He's the person we've all got inside us. He wants to isolate himself. So he not only moves to Pluto, he builds a wall around himself."

She's sending him flowers and sunshine
But he doesn't notice

On the stem of a rose she writes
"Have a nice day, Plutoman"...

"And she's sending him messages on the stems of roses." He chuckles. "Er… as you do."

Two other Boon compositions, "Just Wednesday" and "The Way the Light Falls," take a disillusioned look at the music business and the detrimental effect it can have on a relationship.

"Just Wednesday," he reveals, "is about this guy whose girl or wife has left him because of the business. It's taken over his life."

Maybe it was my fault all along

'Cos I'm constantly talking in pictures and song...

"Which is what I do. I talk in terms of music — lyrics and songs. In conversation, something somebody says will remind me of a song. It's an occupational hazard."

And for anyone else this would be
The best days of his lifetime...

Inspiral Carpets - publicity photo

Clint Boon with his signature bowl haircut

in the center.

"Which it should be, being in a pop group and doing all this stuff. At the moment I have a really good relationship. But basically, it's my fear of what might happen if it all gets out of control."

But not for me 

It's just Wednesday

Or some other day...

"Like today, it took me a long time to figure out what day it was. I used to think that people like that were pretentious wankers, but it happens to you. You don't have weekends, you don't know what day it is, and sometimes you have to think about what month it is."

"The Way the Light Falls" echoes the same theme (here Boon refers to the music business as "the monster"), but one line pays tribute to a pop star hero of the keyboardist:

See the smile on the new music pages, now his face is all of the rages

Hey pretty satellite sing me a tune, the one I love is the man on the moon...

"That's my favorite R.E.M. song," he blushes.

Boon also wrote "Saturn 5," and the verses (which contain references to his American-born wife's family) hold a huge amount of personal significance.

Lady take a ride on a Zeke 64...

"My mother-in-law first met her husband when he offered her a ride in his Ford Mustang. The license plate was Zeke 64, which was his nickname and his football jersey number."

"Saturn 5" (US CD/maxi-single)

Jerry wants to be a rockette...

"Jerry is my wife's auntie. She always wanted to be a Radio City Rockette, and now she is one! The song's about optimism and ambition."

There's a popular misconception 
Says we haven't seen anything yet...

"I'm saying: You might think it's alright, but things are gonna get even better."

Laying down the lifeless corpse of President 35

The lady crying by his side is the most beautiful woman alive...

"That's John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy."

Saturn 5, you really were the greatest sight

Stretching out on a summer's day, Houston is calling me back to her...

"What really inspired the song was seeing the rocket. Saturn 5 is a space rocket, the rocket that launched all the Apollo missions. Last year I went to see it in Houston. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. And on the way home, I wrote the song."

An eagle lands...

"That's a reference to the Eagle landing on the moon."

Promo postcard for the "Uniform"/"Paranoid" single/2-CD set

(Mute 1994)

And a planet full of people raises its hands

All hail the men who walk up in heaven today...

"Obviously, the people cheering while they watch the astronauts walk in space."

Monochrome TV...

"Black and white telly."

All the things you ever represented to me

Take me once more, take me to heaven again...

Comic take on the "Madchester" scene featuring

the Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets & James

Boon places his hand reverently on the hotel room's television as if he's going to testify on a Bible.

"Seeing the rocket reminded me of being a kid and watching this stuff on the telly, seeing Kennedy on the telly, and Elvis, and the Empire State Building. When I was growing up, America was this little box!"

He's positively beaming with pride. "Good, innit?" It sounds like a question, but it's actually a statement, and Boon isn't waiting for an answer.

"I think it would be great to have a separate sheet with the album that explains what the lyrics are about," he continues. "People don't do that, do they?" This time it is a question. I shake my head to indicate they do not, and he makes a mental note to discuss this with someone.

While the lyric sheet is out, I ask Boon to clarify some of his bandmate's more cryptic stanzas. "We never ask each other what the songs are about," he argues. But he agrees to take a stab at "Half Way There."

"Tom wrote that song," he remarks. "I think it's about..." There's a long pause during which Boon glances over at Hingley to see if he's eavesdropping (he isn't). Boon leans in and dramatically hisses, "SEX!"

Clint Boon - photo from the "Saturn 5" video

Though I'll never see you again

It only makes me wanna do it some more...

"He knows that this is the one and only time he's going to do anything with this person. And he's got no respect for her."

Would I lie to you? 

Yes, I probably 

would...

"I know Tom's not promiscuous," insists Boon, defending his buddy. "If I wrote a song like that, my wife would kill me."

Is Tom married?

"Yes!" exclaims Boon. "And he's got four kids!"

★ ★ ★

Carpet Burns - My Life With Inspiral Carpets

Hardback cover of Tom Hingley's memoir

Q: Is there a way to tell which Inspiral's songs are yours? Any tell-tale clues to your writing style?

Boon: There are certain things I do that the others don't. One thing, I'm very sentimental when I write, and I don't try to hide it. Like when I wrote, "This is how it feels to be lonely/This is how it feels to be small/When your world means nothing at all." It's very blunt. I'm not trying to hide my feelings. And I like to make sure there's no superfluous syllables. If the syllables don't quite fit on the beat, it bothers me until I get it right. Then I ponder over the lyrics for ages, thinking: What's a nice way to describe Michael Stipe out of R.E.M. without saying, "Michael Stipe out of R.E.M.?" So, "Hey pretty satellite sing me a tune." I spend a lot of time on things like that.

Q: Tell me about Mark E. Smith and how he came to collaborate on the remix of "I Want You." 

Boon: We came up with this idea to do some collaborations for the B-sides, just to make the singles more interesting and more sellable in England. And Mark is someone we respect a lot. As you can imagine, he's an icon! He's a god to a lot of people! I'm the biggest Fall fan in the band, so I was appointed the job of ringing him up. I was thinking, he's gonna tell me to fuck off. I mean, people like U2 and Sonic Youth would probably be glad to work with this guy if they had the chance. And he says he's been asked to work with people too big to mention, but he's always turned down the idea of a collaboration. So I phoned him up, put the idea to him, and he was really into it. He jumped into a taxi and came down to the studio; made a video with us a couple of weeks later; did a photo session; an interview with the Melody Maker. He's gone headlong into the project!

Q: Did you know he was a big Inspiral Carpets fan?

Clint Boon - recent publicity photo

Boon: He never let it be known that he was a fan. But he never slagged us off, either. Mark doesn't say nice things about a lot of other bands, so by process of elimination... I always had a suspicion that he thought we were a bit cool. When we did the interview with Melody Maker, the guy asked Mark why he was doing this. It was the first chance we'd had to hear his explanation. He said that the Inspirals is the greatest pop band of this generation, and that pop music is what he's always loved. He went on to compare us to the Seeds and the 13th Floor Elevators — which is his ideal pop era. Briefly, he said he loves his band, but the Fall can't do the pop music that we do. So, for him, it was a chance to become a pop singer.

Q: Will the track be released over here?

Inspiral Carpets - publicity photo

Boon: We're not planning for it to come out in America, but we've got a few tracks in the can for B-sides, which are too brilliant not to release over here. We also just did two tracks with Peter Ork from New Order. We got Orky to produce the Inspirals doing a cover of [Black Sabbath's] "Paranoid," and he played some bass on it as well. The other track doesn't have a proper title yet; we just made it up in the studio. It's a very ambient... It's like a collage where things keep coming in and going out, things that don't suit each other; there's a bit of African-like singing and some synth noises. It goes on for like six minutes, and Ork plays bass over it — you can spot his bass a mile off! It was so spontaneous, and it's one of the most beautiful things we've done.

Q: I've heard about your cover of "Paranoid," but I thought it involved a rap group.

Boon: Collapsed Lung! They'd expressed an interest in doing something with my organ on it, so we sent them a multitrack of "Paranoid" and said, "Do what you want with it. Preferably rap over it and leave some of us on it." It's a really good track! In fact, the version with Collapsed Lung is so good, we have to remix our conventional version to make it sound better. But again, it's all B-sides.

Q: Maybe you could do an EP of B-sides for your American fans...

Inspiral Carpets with Mark E. Smith 

performing "I Want You" on Top of the Pops

Follow this link to watch the full video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch

Boon: I'm thinking about an LP of B-sides! I'm pushing for the next album to be as loose and spontaneous as these experimental sessions. The compromise might be a double album: one pop album and one over-indulgent, progressive rock — whatever you want to call it.

Q: You guys cover great tunes, but don't include them on your albums. Why is that?

Boon: We're a bit precious about the albums. Those are the definitive Inspiral's records that people will listen to, and we feel it's important that they know they're our songs. Plus, covers date what you do in some ways. Like when we first started, we used to do [the Seeds'] "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," and [the Velvet Underground's] "What Goes On," and [? and the Mysterians'] "96 Tears." If we'd put those songs on our first album, it would've made us look even more retro than people suggested we were. And "Paranoid" is a good example. If we'd put that on Devil Hopping... This is the year that progressive music is big again, innit? Pearl Jam, Blind Melon — they're all dropping names like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. So, the last thing we want to do is put a track like that on an album.

Follow Clint Boon on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/ClintBoonFanPage

Q: I've heard that you and Tom have been doing some acoustic radio sets while you've been over here. Any chance the group will go in that direction?

Boon: No! But I am thinking of busking in Manchester. Y'know, me and Tom on a street corner. The Clash did it in Manchester and Bob Dylan did it in London. People would be like, "It can't be the Inspirals! They're a Top 20 band!" Ha!

Q: Finally, I just want to say how amazing it is that your label flew you and Tom over here just to chat with some journalists. They must be really supportive of the group.

Boon: It's a sign that the company is giving us a good push! Somebody said to me last night, "You're really going for it with all this promotion." And I said, "Not really." I'm very happy to exist at the level we're at. If we get any bigger, great! If we don't get any bigger, no problem. I'm very comfortable and very happy with it.

* R.I.P. Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill who died on November 20, 2016

* To read my first interview with Clint Boon, go here: devorahostrov.blogspot.com/inspiral carpets/revenge of the goldfish