Our first single, recorded round the back of 7-11 in Crouch End in January 1994. (In a studio, rather than actually in the alley round the back.) We had actually recorded a version of this for a compilation of new bands in Preston, called Reclaiming the Guild in 1992; the first thing we ever did.
Sometimes that first version turns up on ebay but it’s not half as good as the proper single version. Trust me. Anyway, the 45 was a limited edition on the Pooh Sticks label, Spirit of 86 and really was made record of the week on Radio Belgium.
The B-side Like Water seems to turn up on the web here and there and people seem to like it. The thing that really strikes me about both songs is that our drummer Martin seems to be working ferociously hard all the way through. The ace trumpet is by Karen, who we knew from Manchester. Her boyfriend was in the studio all that weekend. He may or may not have been training to be a vicar. Maybe I got my wires crossed.
Anyway, big big guitars on both songs, maybe because it was produced by Steve Mack, who was singer in That Petrol Emotion. He was a proper cool fella from Seattle (I think), with his dreads and track record in Proper Music. At one point, I’m sure I actually apologised to him for our falling short of his grown-up rockist standards. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Recording is a game of patience.”
