Wey Wey Hep a Hole Ding Dong: Robyn Hitchcock the song by song, album by album thread

Vegetable Man - 5/5
Syd was a genius. Too bad what happened to him. Cool that the Soft Boys got ahold of this unreleased recording and recorded a fairly faithful version of it. Their version of "Astronomy Domine" was a highlight of the reunion shows.

 

Just a quick jump in... though somewhat late...

The Soft Boys “The Queen Of Eyes” is beyond no doubt my favourite piece of ear candy that always savors.
It’s a quick whirlwind of a pop song, rushing on with such descriptive whimsical lyrics:
“Blinking on and off it's the Queen of Eyes
With a carapace shell and her black lace thighs“

Initially ensnared by the catchy jangly guitars, I always admire how the lyric is oh-so-slightly twisted to:
“With a carrot based shell and her black lace thighs”

Obscure. Irreverent. Bizarre. Humourous.
Set to music that you can bounce off the walls.

The song is a great encapsulation of why Robyn Hitchcock is one of my favourite artists.

(Also, my 6 year old nephew always asks to hear it.)

 

To me, Vegetable Man is pretty much the Soft Boys in 'covers band, bringing you a song you've probably not heard before' mode. They don't inject much of their own flavour, unlike the other live tracks they'd cover - the arrangement and feel are very much as per the Pink Floyd bootlegs which was the only way to have heard the song, apart from tuning in to BBC Radio in 1967.
Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing, hats off to them for giving people like me a chance to hear a legendary SydBarrett tune for the first time. The band didn't seem to really stretch themselves on this track but then again, they didn't have to - the original version was so off the wall that just copying it created another perfectly fitting Soft Boys track!
Another thought - Maybe they performed it live a lot at the time, and they wanted to give fans a version to enjoy at home?

 

I love the song, I think it was not available by Floyd at the time or for a long time after...so pretty good, I'd probably listen to the Floyd version though...

 

Yep, a quick glance at Wikipedia (which I should have done before I posted ) reveals that they were 'Dolly Mixture' but miscredited as 'The Dolly Mixtures' on one of their singles which is probably how I remembered it. And it was indeed their drummer Hester Smith (and not Midge) who inspired the 'Hester' of 'Old Pervert' fame.

A relative of Hester's piped up on a forum somewhere (may even have been SHF) a few years ago to exclusively reveal this tidbit, and my elderly confused brain scrambled it a bit since.

 

I'm not a Floyd expert, but if I remember rightly their version of it (along with Scream Thy Last Scream), while spoken of in mythic tones since its original recording, was dusted off for one of its periodic considerations for official release around 1975 and duly given a sparkling new mix. This projected release never materialised, however. Those tapes were bootlegged though, and I think they began to circulate in the mid-late 1970s, so the song would be relatively fresh even in Robyn's head by 1979/80. So yes, they were offering fans a public service by recording a version of it. I was surprised the SBs didn't do a studio version of 'Gigolo Aunt' instead though, given how often they played that live.

 

I love Syd Barrett, and find almost everything put out by the post-Syd Pink Floyd excruciatingly dull. I can certainly understand Hitchcock's excitement about this song, and this might have been the first time it was commercially released (the original recording wasn't officially released until 2016, though it had been floating around on bootlegs for decades), but it's really only a footnote to this magnificent album. (I didn't include it on my 2LP reconfiguration of Underwater Moonlight and didn't need to.)

The only time I've ever seen Robyn Hitchcock live (as far as I know he's never toured New Zealand) was at his 'Games for May' Barrett tribute concert in London with Graham Coxon. A fun night, crowned by two magnificent performances of 'See Emily Play' (which seemed to be the song that had been rehearsed the most. They returned to it for an encore because they'd run out of songs.).

 

I think I'm with you on that. Are we alone? We'll know soon enough!

 

Well the 1974 remix had indeed been bootlegged and that’s where they got it from. I remember a long post-gig chat with RH during which he mentioned this one, and also having the first illegally available 7” of the Velvets’ Foggy Notion... unfortunately they never did a cover of that one

 

Our votes for "Vegetable Man"

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Average: 3.15

 

Today's song is "Strange", written by Robyn Hitchcock.

Strange
LYRIC.

"Strange" was originally released on the three-song EP Near the Soft Boys. Since 1990 it has been included as a bonus track on reissues of Underwater Moonlight.

 

Not officially available until 2016!

 

i enjoy the scruffy take of Vegetable Man by the SBs. Romps along with Robyn affecting a Syd Barrett sort of sneer.
Strange is rather slight and is slightly below the quality of cuts on Underwater Moonlight proper - but still a nice tune in my book.

I'm following the thread without marking.

 

"Strange" has some very creepy words; it is a return to creepy serial killer madman persona that populated a lot of the Can of Bees era songs; but because the music is tighter and more streamlined than the 1978-1979 stuff, it makes more of an impact. Hitchcock's singing is at his most Hitchcocky: more Dylanish expressive than melodic, but there's just enough melodicism to hang a nice harmony on in the chorus.

Overall, it doesn't rise to the heights of the Underwater Moonlight songs, of course -- which is why it was an outtake. But it's certainly an enjoyable song. With a songwriter as prolific as Hitchcock it fades somewhat in the wake of so much brilliant music, but it's quite enjoyable anyway when you do take the time to get into it.

3.5/5

 

Strange - OK b-side, good harmonies and very nice drumming from Morris. Reminds me (retrospectively) of the songs on the 2002 bonus EP. 2.75/5.

 

Strange -- OK and a decent b-side that probably could have made the album, but I don't see which other song they would cut for this one. solid 3/5

 

Strange - 3/5

 

Our votes for "Strange"

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Average: 3.0625

 

Today's song is "Only the Stones Remain", written by Robyn Hitchcock and produced by Pat Collier.

Spotify: Only the Stones Remain
LYRIC.

Recorded in 1980, this was released as a single in 1981; and on the "half album" Only the Stones Remain, which combined 5 studio cuts with another "half album" of live cuts; together the release was called Two Halves for the Price of One. It was also included on the 1976-1981 compilation and since 1990 has been included on CD and download issues of Underwater Moonlight.

 

The cover depicts Stonehenge, and I suppose that that was the inspiration for this rock history lesson. Of course, nowadays I can't think of Stonehenge, ancient history and rock and roll without thinking of Spinal Tap; but nevertheless this is a pretty good song -- one of the most commercial and instantly likeable of their grinding, sort of heavy rock songs. Seems more like a late seventies hard rock song than a relic of the punk era -- nearly Led Zeppelin-ish, though with a tighter, pop sensibility than say, "Achilles' Last Stand." It does tread on the line of novelty but stays on the right side of it by simply rocking hard and relentlessly.

4.2/5

 

Having grown up fairly near Stonehenge I felt the Spinal Tap mini version was a minor blip...
Great song and track - but I much prefer the Egyptians 1985 version. Mark Radcliffe used to play it a lot on BBC radio. 4/5.

 

This is one of the best!

 

5/5. Fantastic song with great only-Hitchcock lyrics. I must admit I’ve used the line “candy floss evaporates, honey” when I was too polite to say “tough ****”.

Note that the album version is different from the single one (the only version to be reissued digitally), with a synth coda.

 

I agree. There are a striking number of lines in this that only he could have written.

There's an echo of "boys spat juice from out of their fresh young bulbs" in the intro to I Want To Tell You... on the eponymous album.

 

Only The Stones Remain is one of THE classic Soft Boys songs. During any visit to a stone circle this song is playing in my head.
The actual recording feels slightly out of control with its own excitement and revs along somewhat unhinged, wailing guitars hitting the spot every time. A glorious racket.
Not even Spinal Tap's pale imitation, Stonehenge, can ruin it.
I'm not marking - but this is a six out of five.