A Head Full of Wishes

A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.

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Substack
A Head Full of Wishes newsletter #25

My record collection - Magic Hour - After Tomorrow (10”)

Magic Hour’s second release, just ahead of their first album, came out on Ché Records in 1994 and contained, on the a-side, a couple of tracks from Magic Hour’s first albun No Excess is Absurd After Tomorrow and World of One, which was only on the CD versions of the album. On the b-side is a fifteen minute version of Permanent Green Light, originally released by NY psych-rock band The Godz on their second album.

Magic Hour - After Tomorrow
Magic Hour - After Tomorrow

I managed to miss out on Permanent Green Light on my originals series a few years back, mostly I imagine because it didn’t state on the sleeve that it was a cover and I was unfamiliar with The Godz. It did mention that it was written by Jim McCarthy on the label so I ought to have picked up on it, but suspect that I just hadn’t pulled it out of the sleeve enough to notice.

In 2016 Magic Hour released a digital only compilation of non-album tracks which is where I was alerted to the omission as the Bandcamp page clearly stated “‘Permanent Green Light by the Godz’”. The Godz original was just four minutes long but I could imagine it being stretched live, and Magic Hour’s version is exactly how I’d imagine it to sound if it were, Lots of noise, lots of feedback, and a motorik relentlessness. It hits my psych-rock buttons that normally end up in me digging out Hawkwind LPs.

You can hear the original four minute version by The Godz on YouTube, and you can listen to, and buy, the Magic Hour version on Bandcamp for a dollar!

The randomness of my method of selection has been particularly odd with Magic Hour who turned up seven times in the first 100 posts and only twice in the almost 200 since then, and this is the first Magic Hour entry since in eighteen months - and there are (currently) only two more after this one.

My record collection: Galaxie 500 - Studio outtakes (CDR)

This is a CD that came with the VHS I posted about earlier and a couple of posters. It contains studio outtakes, or unedited studio takes most of which has now been released, either on the first Uncollected or the more recent Uncollected Noise New York releases. Previously I had most/all of this on a cassette.

Galaxie 500 outtakes CDR
Galaxie 500 outtakes CDR

There is a live version of It’s Getting Late tagged on the end but even that has now had an official release, it being from the CBGBs show that recently got released.

The one, as yet still unreleased, gem is the fast version of Ceremony that I have shared before, but always nice to hear it again. I think this was recorded when they went into Noise New York to record demos for Slash Records in February 1989… I know somewhere Dean mentions the fast version in an interview/article/book but I haven’t tracked down where that was.

Galaxie 500 - Ceremony (fast version)

There are also non-album versions of Pictures and Flowers. The cassette I mention above suggests that Shout You Down, Can’t Believe It’s Me, and See Through Glasses were from December 1987, but I can’t find any evidence to support that, and the Noise New York Uncollected dates them to February 1988.

Full tracklist:

  • Walking Song (August 1987)
  • On The Floor (August 1987)
  • The Other Side (August 1987)
  • Shout You Down (February 1988)
  • Can’t Believe It’s Me (February 1988)
  • See Thru Glasses (February 1988)
  • Song in 3 (July 1988)
  • Jerome (July 1988)
  • Ceremony (February 1989)
  • I Will Walk (February 1989)
  • Pictures (probably July 1988)
  • Flowers (probably July 1988)
  • It’s Getting Late (live at CBGB’s 13th December 1988)

OK - that all became a bit nerdy… and has me ready to start to document Galaxie 500’s recording sessions… next project!

  • Catalogue Number: AHFOW 10/170
  • Artist: Galaxie 500
  • Title: Outtakes
  • Format: CDR

Audio: Luna in London supporting The Velvet Underground

Whilst going through my cassettes preparing the next few posts for the my record collection series of posts I came across a recording that I had both forgotten I had, and had never digitised. This is an audience recording of Luna’s set at The Forum in London while on tour with The Velvet Underground.

'The Velvet Underground plus support' ticket
'The Velvet Underground plus support' ticket

I’ve digitised the show and am currently seeding it on bittorrent site Dimeadozen (you need to be registered, and to have a bittorrent client, to download it).

It’s a fair recording of the show, given that it’s of a support act in a large venue. As a taster, here are Luna playing Slash Your Tires:

Luna - Slash Your Tires (The Forum, London, 5th June 1993)

Source: Luna - 5th June 1993 - Forum, London, UK

Dean wrote about the show in his tour diary:

Tonight’s show is at the Forum in London, capacity of about 1800. Lots of celebrities, like Chrissie Hynde and Peter Gabriel. Wow. I was hoping for Mick Ronson. The Velvets do a killer version of “Hey Mr. Rain” which must be about twelve minutes long. They’re also doing a new song in the encores, “Coyote.” After the show, we go back to the Columbia Hotel and sit in the bar.

Luna / VU tour diary – 5 June 1993

I’ll be writing about the tape, and I guess the show, in the series in a few weeks time and will share it again then, in the meantime, go grab it from DIME.

I’ve previously shared my recording of the headline show that Luna played a couple of days earlier.

The coming week in history

12th October 2008 - Damon & Naomi at Rough Trade East

Alasdair of The Clientele with Damon & Naomi
Alasdair of The Clientele with Damon & Naomi

We got to Rough Trade East in plenty of time, picked up our wristbands said “hi” to Damon & Naomi and introduced them to Adam (because that’s what proud parents do when they get the chance) and then idled away until show time. Not getting a coffee because the Rough Trade espresso bar decided to close before the gig, and the thought of negotiating the hordes in/around Brick Lane was just too much for us to contemplate.

Damon & Naomi & Alasdair (MacLean of The Clientele) took the stage for their short set while a crowd of 40 or so watched on.

12th October 2016 - Luna in Paris

Luna in Paris 2016
Luna in Paris 2016

After failing to manage to organise a pre-meet for this show we arrived at the venue to find the first act finishing, and the venue already pretty packed - I fought my way to the front and said “hi” to Ulrika before moving back to the merch stand to have a quick chat with Britta who was selling the Ts an CDs.

I moved forward again and found a decent spot on a raised area to the left of the stage before second support act Matt Elliot started. Under normal circumstances I might have found somewhere else to be during his set but the spot was good enough to hang onto.

Managed to be found by both Franck and Michael before Luna started but it was too crowded to track down any of the folk I hadn’t previously met but said they were going to be there.

Another splendid Penthouse set was followed by a couple of sizeable encores including Sean doing Still at Home, plus Malibu Love Nest, Bewitched, Tiger Lily, Ceremony and Indian Summer.

You can watch the whole of this show on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBZ_OFqmRXU

15th October 2016 - Britta in Paris

Saturday arrived and somehow we managed to already be cutting things fine. But it would be OK because the Paris Metro was brilliant… only tonight the normal two minute wait was a six minute wait add to that the traditional confusion about which way to walk when we got out of the station, and some (understandably) zealous security at the venue that forced me to queue to check a water bottle - meant that we managed to miss the opening of Britta’s set.

We were shown to our seats in the stalls and enjoyed what we saw - relieved to have got there for most of the short set. It was a pleasure to see Britta and Dean on a big stage in front of a big, attentive and appreciative audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB2nDj-hZbM

Discoveries and rediscoveries