1.The Wild Things [single version] (3:42) 2.When I Grow Up I Want to Be Be an Astronaut (3:23) 3.Long Dean (4:11) plus The Wild Things [video]
The first single, and opening track, from the classic Ten Songs About You album. Readers with too much time on their hands may notice that I cut and pasted that opening sentence from the entry on R.E.M.'s 'Drive', but sadly the resemblance pretty much ends there. Ben Parker (vocals, guitars, tunes) and Jason Hazeley (keyboards, lyrics, arrangements) met on the apparently soul-destroying job of music transcriptors, which meant listening to pop music and writing it all down in musical notation so that the sheet music could be published. Once they decided to concentrate on their own material, they co-wrote several songs for Martine McCutcheon (none of the hits though) and finally got a record deal of their own. The debut mini-album Hello was, they claim, recorded for £10, and the second one was even more expensive. It managed to sell 50000 though, and thus they were rewarded with a larger budget for their second full-length effort.
So, it's fair to say there was a fair bit riding on The Wild Things then. I was impressed when I first heard ot, not least because I was pleased that it even existed. You can hear where the money went, as it was their most radio-friendly sound to date, with a luxuriant arrangement. The basic sound remains acoustic though, with the distinctive sound of an upright bass (played by regular cohort Andy Waterworth) driving the rhythm. The lyric is a near-perfect summary of Hazeley's style, waspish and sarcastic, knowingly clever but self-deprecating: he even cites the supposed Clever Book Of Clever Things To Say. When the chorus asks "Is that why I fell in half with you?" it's not entirely clear whether he's talking about the beginning or the end of the relationship - or indeed both, and I'd like to think that's a deliberate ambiguity rather than me being thick. What we can tell is that it's about people who create problems for themselves when they haven't got enough of them already ("Some time to hit a wall/Then find it isn't there at all/When I'm swinging on my neuro wrecking ball") which is all of us I suppose. This style is perhaps an acquired taste.
ONLINE: Back
to the random single project
Although somebody called Twig has a credit for editing the track, the only difference I've detected from the album version (also on the other CD single) is that this one fades out, instead of reaching a full close. Either way, it sounded like a hit to me - but clearly not to radio programmers, for all that Jo Whiley and Mark & Lard both chose it as Record Of The Week on their respective shows. Still, I was prepared to do my bit, and even to bite the bullet and buy both CD formats - except that the one record shop we had in Harrow then had only CD1. I even went to the lengths of asking at the counter whether they had a copy of CD2. No, said the employee. That might be why this failed to breach the Top 80, then.
Predictably enough, When I Grow Up I Want To Be An Astronaut is a lesser work, its phrasing as breathless as the title is long-winded, though it's well-produced and very listenable. Parker doubles his vocal lines on melodica, and there are some backing vocals which sound very like Polly Paulusma, who's not credited here but is for the A-side and the rest of the album. Actually, I'm listening to it again now, and it's better than I remember it.
The instrumental Long Dean takes its name from one of the two studios where it was recorded. Hazeley takes up the melodica this time, whilst Parker picks at an acoustic guitar to create something that faintly recalls the instrumentals on Nick Drake's Bryter Later album, surely not a coincidence as they worked from time to time with Drake's arranger, Robert Kirby. It's charming, but at almost four minutes plus a little inconsequential studio dialogue it slightly outstays its welcome.
Finally there's the enhanced section, whose main feature is the video, an odd concoction which shows Ben playing crown green bowls abetted by Jason. It's slightly undermined by poor sound editing at the very end, though - the track is still fading out when it abruptly cuts to a sound effect. You can also enjoy a "lyrics" section, which is synchronised with the audio - click on any line to hear it, or watch them light up as you listen to the song in the right order. A discography lists their releases up to that point (but does not supply track details), a gallery shows you three pictures of the duo, similar to ones used in the album sleeve, and finally there's a press release,
which you can also read at Anglo Plugging's website.
Surprisingly, the Official
site is still there as of March 2005, though not all the links work.
There was never a lot else about them even when they were together, but I've found a couple of articles here and here.