Tart Tart

A CD on heavy rotation in my car stereo at the moment is a very cheap straight out of a bargain bin; compilation album. A collection of 15 Happy Mondays tracks, album tracks and b-sides of theirs, no singles.

Anyhow, an album track from their 1987 debut album "Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)" is on this CD, refreshed my memory of just how good the band are/were, and I have to say this track is completely up amongst my best songs ever(!), it's the track "Tart Tart" - please if you have the album or this track, go put it on, and enjoy the 4 minutes and 25 seconds - if you havent got it, get it! In fact, i've changed my MySpace song to "Tart Tart" - go listen up very loud on some quality speakers! Get past Ryders out-of-tune voice, which fits "perfectly" anyway, listen and understand - tells a great story...

The track and album was produced by John Cale, "THE" John Cale. The John Cale i've seen take offence at Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) for smoking in his company - John Cale of course an ex-heroin addict... Anyhow "Tart Tart" is one of the first glimpses of Shaun Ryders lyrical ability, documenting the producer Martin Hannetts abrupt split from the Factory Records label:

He made his shock announcement
And backed off, backed down, backed off
And then he got up off the floor
He said "Im wealthy enough, not to do this no more"
And he made it all known, with his hands held up, palm out

"In eight lines he captured the whole fucking thing" - Anthony H Wilson.

The rhythm section of Paul Ryder and Gary Whelan (with Shauns guidance), took the sounds coming from Detroit and Chicago in the mid 1980's and formed a new music. "To me this is just dance music", "Then why is nobody dancing?". This album was followed up with their album "Bummed", featuring the groundbreaking "Wrote For Luck", produced by Hannett himself, who had by then changed the way we hear music, and continued to do so...

I could write another post gushing about "Wrote For Luck" too... the remix of the track making a certain Paul Oakenfold a dance-hold name. Another time maybe. Put "Tart Tart" on, i've tried not to say the word all post, but i'm going to.. it's... genius!