The Balcony Dogs - The Trip (1988)

The Balcony Dogs - Andy Eastwood (vocals) and Steve Johnson (guitar), Mooney (guitar), Gary Dwyer (drums, ex Teardrop Explodes, at the time occasionally playing with Black), Carl Washington (bass, ex Wah!) − in 1987 signed to Island recorded and band collected all their material onto an Lp.

About signing to Island records, Andy Eastwood recalls: ‘Really we needed to. Basically Pete [De Freitas] had ‘blown out’ a lor of money getting the whole thing going. Obviously, the controversy started when people started pinning labels on him that he’d ‘flipped’. We had just gone through severe poverty, even though people think you’re just pure decadent. We didn’t have any gear. Most of the geat that we used had to be borrowed and it just came to the point where we realized that we needed backing now, we needed somebody to believe that there was something there worth backing. We knew it, it’s just convincing the bastards to get the cheque books out. […] I’m quite glad that it turned out to be to be Island, because, as far as that bureaucracy goes, I think they are a less of a hassle to deal with, the less of the megabooks vibe.’ (Blast Off, Feb 1988 # 5)

The album was titled Trip (possibly referred to the experience/s in New Orleans that got things going). (Possibly Pete De Freitas played drums on some of the tracks.)

Balcony Dogs - The Trip (1988)
- Fluency 3
- Wheel of Fortune
- Good Little, Bad Little
- Shot to Earth
- Drug Planet #7
- Balcony Dog
- Charlene's Dream
- Rings of Saturn
- Underworld

After the split of the Balcony Dogs, many of the members joined the Divine Thunderbolt, formed by Tim Whittaker, featuring Jake Brokman, Andy Eastwood (vocals), Kate Milner (vocals), and at some point Pete and Frank De Freitas and Mike Mooney.

bdt

The Balcony Dogs - The Balcony Dogs (1988)

The Sex Gods Andy Eastwood (on vocals) and Steve Johnson (on guitar) were joined by Mooney, first on bass, than on guitar, by Gary Dwyer (ex Teardrop Explodes, at the time occasionally playing with Black) on drums, and by Carl Washington (ex Wah!) on bass. Because of all these names and connections the band gained a cult status even before having released anything. The record company refused to release an album under the name of Sex Gods and the band opted for Balcony Dogs (taken from one of their songs). The first vinyl release was the self-title 12”:

The Balcony Dogs (1988):

- Balcony Dogs

- Rings Of Saturn

- Fat Pocket Justice

- McHelicopter

bc

The Sex Gods - Some Recordings (1985-1986)

By 1985 the Liverpool scene was quite stale. Music creators and consumers alike felt the need of "something fresh to liven up the Liverpool music scene" (Blast Off, Feb. 1988). The Sex Gods, in the mind of their founder members, were probably meant to fill this creative gap.
The original Sex Gods started off in late 1985 / early 1986 as a vague idea of fun born out of the disillusionment Pete De Freitas resented from the whole Bunnymen’s experience. The nucleus was formed by De Freitas himself, Tim Whittaker (ex Deaf School, Pink Military, Lori & the Chameleons, Gale Force), and Jake Brockman, in the Bunnymen’s rehearsal room. When the tension within the band exploded, De Freitas flew to New Orleand (pictures on the left), taking along the Bunnymen road crew of Tim Whittaker, Andy Eastwood (ex Crash Course, The Eye Of…), Steve ‘Johnno’ Johnson (ex Wah! Heat, a.k.a. Johnny Cult, ex Ellery Bop), plus Tim O’Shea (of Send No Flowers). The whole idea of the trip to New Orleans, in De Freitas’ words (1986) was the need “to get away on holiday and come back with more than just memories having spent a lot of money and very big hangovers [but rather] with something positive”. The idea was to work “totally off chance” and was partly inspired by the film The Dice Man, a culty lunatic semi-religion called Bokanism, and the weird notion of “the duck” – which stood for anything which is ridiculous, insane and irrational.

The band was occasionally joined by the Bunnymen’s on the road guitarist Mike Mooney (later Spiritualized) and sax player Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs). This flexible line-up hung out, occasionally worked on songs, and allegedly documented the whole experience on super 8 film and in a book called The Godlogs.
In fact, the trip turned out to be less inspiring than planned, and all about not eating, not sleeping, ingesting vast quantities of LSD and alcohol, and crashing cars and motorcycles.
Mars Williams remembers that: “[De Freitas] was singing, and also decided that he wa going to play guitar. We rehearsed a bit in the house, wrote and worked on songs, and then we went into the studio and recorded some of it. The thing that was really bad about the band was that Pete should’ve been playing drums, because he was a great drummer, and the guy that was playing drums [Whittaker] wasn’t. And Pete was not a good guitarist, so who knows what he was trying to do. It was more like Pete’s friends hanging out” (1998).
As De Freitas’ finance dwindle, members of the Sex Gods begun drifting home one-by-one, each expressing concerns about De Freitas’ mental health.
Back in Liverpool, Whittaker left the band and De Freitas moved to the drumming stool, occasionally bringing in his brother Frank (Woodentops) on bass. During the summer the band recorded some songs in Rockfield, but this line-up wouldn’t last for long: by the end of 1986 the Sex Gods lost both founder members, as De Freitas rejoined the Bunnymen for good.

Some recordings

- Rings (demo, New Orleans)

- Untitled (Rockfield Studios)

- Nightpatrol

sg

(All quotations from Chris Adams’ Turquoise Days)

The Frantic Elevators - Peel Session (1981)

In February 1981 the Frantic Elevators - Mick Hucknall (vocals), Neil Smith (guitar), Brian Turner (bass), Kevin Williams (drums) - recorded their first Peel Session:

Peel Session:

- Ding Dong

- Searching for the Only One

- Hunchback of Notre Dame

- I Am the Man

- Production Prevention

They playing some new material that would soon be released as the band’s third single (Searching for the Only One / Hunchback of Notre Dame). In September of the same year the band recorded their second Peel Session (And I Don't Care (Nobody Stays Here), After Hanging Around, What To Do? I'm Not To See Her, Ice Cream And Wafers) rehearsing the material for a possible album which never saw the light of day.

(see also: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/1980s/1981/Feb25franticelevators/)

The Frantic Elevators – Unreleased single (1980)

In late 1979 the Frantic Elevators - Mick Hucknall (vocals, former Osiris, Joe Stalin's Red Star Radio Band, Purple Haze, later Simply Red), Neil Moss (a.k.a. Neil Smith, guitars, keyboards, former Osiris), Brian Turner (bass) and
Kevin Williams (drums) - recorded the tracks for their upcoming second single which was due in January 1980. For some reason, the single never materialized.

Hunchback of Notre Dame (1980)

- Hunchback of Notre Dame

- I See Nothing and Everything

- Don't Judge Me

The title track was later to be re-recorded and released as the b-side of the band’s third single (Searchihng for the Only One, see relevant post)

Fe3

(see also:

http://frantic.fluteboy.co.uk/

http://www.franticelevators.co.cc/ )

The Frantic Elevators (Part 2 - 1981-1982)

The Frantic Elevators - Mick Hucknall (vocals, former Osiris, Joe Stalin's Red Star Radio Band, Purple Haze, later Simply Red), Neil Moss (a.k.a. Neil Smith, guitars, keyboards, former Osiris), Brian Turner (bass) and Kevin Williams (drums) released their third single in 1981:

Searching for the Only One (1981)

- Searching for the Only One

- Hunchback of Notre Dame

In September of the same year the band recorded their second Peel Session (And I Don't Care (Nobody Stays Here), After Hanging Around, What To Do? I'm Not To See Her, Ice Cream And Wafers) performing new material and proving the band’s creative productivity. A longish lapse of time was to pass before the Frantic Elevators’ fourth, final and self-financed single, which was released in late 1982:

Holding back the Years (1982)

- Holding back the Years

- Pistols in My Brain

Curiously enough the single failed to chart (due to poor distribution), whereas the A-side would resurface a couple of years later to become one of Simply Red’s most celebrated singles.

Although the band had already enough material for a debut album (the singles, the tracks for the Peel session, plus some new numbers like Haven't Got The Power) nothing came out of it. Hucknall quit in 1983, which continued for a few months as The Frantics before definitively disbanding by the end of the year.

Fe2

(see also:

http://frantic.fluteboy.co.uk/

http://www.franticelevators.co.cc/ )

The Frantic Elevators (Part 1 - 1978-1981)

The Frantic Elevators were a band from Manchester. Their relevance to the Liverpool scene resides not only in the fact that they gigged quite frequently in Liverpool, but also because their original bass player, Brian Turner, formed the Crackin’ Up with Roger Eagle (of Eric’s fame) in 1981.

The band formed in 1978 and consisted of Mick Hucknall (vocals, former Osiris, Joe Stalin's Red Star Radio Band, Purple Haze, later Simply Red), Neil Moss (a.k.a. Neil Smith, guitars, keyboards, former Osiris), Steve Tansley and Mark Reeder. The latter two soon left the line-up to be replaced by Brian Turner (bass) and
Kevin Williams (drums). There band also included and a fifth unofficial member, the photographer Richard Watt. The band released their first single in 1979:

Voice in the Dark (1979)

- Voices in the dark

- Everyday I Die

- Passion

A second single was planned, recorded and was soon to be released (January 1980) but never saw the light of day. The next vinyl release would be in late 1980:

You Know What You Told Me (1980)

- You Know What You Told Me

- Production Prevention

The single was rather coldly received by the music press. NME wrote:

‘Noisy acoustic beast, lots of whistling and rattling of zob-sticks […] A pity that bands feel inclined (or get coerced) to release gimmicky tracks as A-side [...]. Judging by the B-side, Production Prevention, The Frantic Elevators have more to offer than gimmicks. Not a lot, but at least it’s something’

In February 1981 the Frantic Elevators recorded their first Peel Session (Ding Dong, Searching for the Only One, Hunchback of Notre Dame, I Am the Man, Production Prevention) playing some new material that would soon be released as the band’s third single.

Fe-1

(see also:

http://frantic.fluteboy.co.uk/

http://www.franticelevators.co.cc/ )