Due to a last minute holiday, just before Christmas, and the ensuing chaos and ennui of the holiday period, it seems I let my fileden account lapse, and a few unlucky souls missed out on downloading some of the songs on my site, specifically it seems, the Shop Assistants rough mix and live stuff (they should all be working now). By way of an apology, I thought I should offer you this: the legendary first Shoppies single."Something To Do" came out in 1984, a year before they really arrived with what most people thought was their debut EP "All Day Long". Well, this single was actually their debut, and it's interesting for a number of reasons. First off, it's actually recorded by most of the Shoppies (David, Sarah, Laura and Ann) but Aggi And Stephen from the Pastels are on there as well (it's Aggi who provides the vocals). The song remains, intriguingly, the sound of what the two groups would be like if they were melded together: there's the twee, coy charm of the Pastels, draped across two minutes of fuzzed-out Ramones pop-punk crash'n'burn. To these ears, it sounds perfect, but it obviously wasn't going to work: Aggi and Stephen went back to just being The Pastels, and The Shoppies added another drummer and turned up those guitars even louder.
It's also interesting for its sheer rarity. Copies go on eBay for anything up to about £125, which is quite unbelievable. It's truly one of the "Holy Grail" singles for C86-era collectors. This rip isn't the greatest quality, but the quality of the song still shines through, loud and clear. Once heard, never forgotten. Enjoy.
Buba And The Shop Assistants "Something To Do" (mp3)
5 comments:
Thanks for posting this, I am still trying to find this record, but given that finding any of the Shop Assistants' stuff can be quite a battle, THANK YOU!!
Managed to find all Day Long EP here at home in Edinburgh and was dead chuffed. the last two EPs can still be bought in Edinburgh, if people out there are interested...
Wow - thanks!
What's the other side like?!
actually, if you could post the b-side that would be cool...
Ed
Absolute genius record! I'm resigned to never owning it which causes me sleepless nights :( Luckily, the A-side is currently 'available' on a 3 cd-r bootleg box of Scottish punk/post punk called 'Kilt To Death: The Sound of Old Scotland -78-84'. I got mine in Monorail in Glasgow and Volcanic Tongue (also Glasgow) also had it a while back ...
cheers, brogues
I'm on the case of the "Kilt By Death" CDR, thanks for the head up :)
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