Pale Fountains - Pacific Street

hendersonjones

Gone a little early because i’m busy tomorrow

The Palies first album from 1984 Pacific Street it’s been by my side for almost the last 40 years , the cover has always puzzled me but thanks to fulmine on here he filled in the blanks , the cover portraits an hungarian freedom fighter from 1956 the photographer is an italian Mario de bialso famous for his 1950/60s in the thick of it being there pictures , the lad on the front has just committed an atrocity of shooting down 6 secret russian spies coming out of an hungarian official building the two lads behind look on shocked , strangely when i saw them in 1985 with Jon there was a giant russian flag behind the band

And so to the music of Mick Heads debut offering , the first track Reach he’s telling us he’s in pacific street in order to make ends meet with red tired journey eyes it’s slow and then all hell breaks loose guitars trumpets of Andy Diagram (james) , i struggle with the the second track because of the lyrics it’s either a love song or something more sinister you decide , the album continues with melodic sun drenched tunes harmonies jazz calypso and great guitars , there’s parts that could come straight out of Dr Zivargo and others which could easily fit into a 1960s English kitchen sink film , saturday night sunday morning or a kind of loving Andy Diagrams trumpet playing is almost psychedelic a jimi hendrix of the trumpet world it’s class , it’s the sunday morning indie guitar jazz album you need to own with sliding guitars and easy lyrics , i fucking love this album and it’s always been up there in my top five when ever over almost 40 years , you’re really gonna start a war “just listen to what there saying” the guitars on this are quality , tell me you don’t know a girl like Abergele next time the perfect summer song , there’s a deluxe version with four extra tracks Meadow of Love is one of them , if ever there’s a track that should of been a James Bond theme it’s this
This album to me is cord jackets thick wolly socks hiking boots chequed shirts baggy shorts and scout caps .
I shall leave you with this thought when it was released in 1984 a couple of months later The Bunnymen released Ocean Rain , Liverpool must of
been awesome then

https://music.apple.com/gb/album/pacific-street/724913504

Thankyou

Jon

10.5/10. Beautiful. Sunday morning fare. Will write more later.

Don't think it's streaming.

hendersonjones

Jon
If it’s not streaming there gonna have to buy a copy 😁

Young_Marxist_at_Tescos

Our house, last Christmas day

CBIT

hendersonjones

CBIT
Cheers CBIT 👍🏼

Odd_Job

Essential for me. Best Paleys LP by a mile. Good effort HJ. Truth to be told you’ve never left Liverpool in 1985…

Under-the-ground

I bought this for £3.99 in our price in 1988.
This album as well as unknown pleasures around the same time was also £3.99. The light & dark.
I still swear by them.
I didn’t realise they became shack until early 2000’s. I was also lucky enough to get to the London show when they reformed. Mick head is a fucking genius no doubt.
I even went to Abergele to start a cycle ride 2 years ago, to Liverpool then onto Manchester the next day. Straight through the area where my mind resided , even though I am from nowheresville provinces south west.
That album means the world & has helped shaped mine.
Essential 10/10

Jon

Under-the-ground Wasn’t until you did that ride I realised it was a place.

fuzzy

Great choice. Amazingly accomplished album. Not in relation to this album but just been messing about watching Paleys videos on YouTube and found out that the fucking Manic Street Preachers covered Jean's Not Happening. What the fuck is going on there? I suppose they must really like it, they sound like they are trying to sound just like them. Mind blown. I did not know that.

Cooley

I was expecting something by the 4-Skins….. ☹️

CharlieG

Whilst the rest of OMJ rush about, in a frenzy, extolling the genius of Michael Head, I stand in the middle, in slow motion, wondering what all the fuss is about. I'm afraid that this doesn't change my mind. Sorry, HJ. A worthy 5/10 but not essential for me.

Reggie_Perrin

Love this albums. Still fresh and uplifting as ever.

Placid

Totally understand why so important as reminds you of that time.

Love the image and also about how different it is musically to everything else back then. I'm a convert to Mick Head after fighting not to like him.

Great choice. Worthy for the art work alone.

YoungParisian_inExile

This is what I like about this thread, its about albums that are essential to the poster, rather than a muso critic... and as you say Placid ... more often than not due to the time and the place.

Flaneur

I had Thank You on 7"

Will always remember the cover:

hendersonjones

Flaneur

Mega_Armageddon_Chickens

Flaneur
My dad heard that on Radio City in what I guess must have been around the end of 82.
He thought it was great and It really should have been a massive hit.
I wonder what would have happened to Michael and the band had that been the case.

Travis_Bickle

I suppose it was inevitable that someone would pick a Mick Head album. And, true to type, it was almost equally as inevitable that amongst the posts extolling his genius, there'd be some dissenting voices.
Whatever I may think of him, he's earnt an adoring army of loyal fans who can forgive his crises and calamities. They were there for his arrival and have remained with him in the lean spells, his songs carrying them through.
More power to him and them.
He's also assumed a position where people who were playing 'Now That's What I Call Music' albums in '84 now pretend to have liked him from the start. Again, more power to him, although perhaps not them. Cult status is no mean feat, even if it can mean occasional years of poverty.
I don't get it.
I've tried. Listened to him a few times. Gone back to give second and third chances. But it just sails by me.
It feels a very disjointed record. It's a bit all over the place. Bongos and Spaghetti western horns, songs that lurch from sitcom theme to timeshare advert soundtrack. That poor man's Phil Spector schtick that seemed to obsess early 80s Liverpool.
The Love influences ooze from every pore. Not the greatest foundation. Arthur Lee is another artist whose enduring appeal is lost on me.
And then there's his voice. You don't have to be able to sing to be a good singer. But you do if you want to write songs that need a good singer. He just isn't one.

We've always been a broad church on here. I'm sitting out communion on this one.....

Young_Marxist_at_Tescos

I’m sure I read quite recently that Thank You had sold well enough to merit them an appearance on ToTP, but some administrative cock up meant that they missed out.

Could be true. Or it could be that legendary Scouse wit, foxing this gullible wool…