Comments on: PopNose V2.0

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:07:14 +0000

Thanks VS! I was quite tempted to pitch a review of the record to places but thought I shouldn’t break my embargo.

By: vinylscot

vinylscot — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:05:34 +0000

Sorry to re-awake this long-dead thread, but if anyone is still looking for a CD copy of “Freaky Trigger”, it’s recently been re-issued by RPM with four extra tracks.

It’s still only their second-best album (of two), and if you haven’t listened to it yet, Tom, I’m not sure you should do so now.

Davy Henderson is still making interesting music with his new project, the not-very-commercially-named “Sexual Objects”. Their recent LP had a few moments which harped back to this sound.

By: vinylscot

vinylscot — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:03:15 +0000

I think DJP may have hit the nail on the head, in that, success-wise, Win were a purely Scottish phenomenon, and they probably didn’t really take hold south of the border.

Their songs were big and ambitious, certainly clever, but they didn’t always work, but when they did (as they did on most of the first album), they were up there with the very best in late 80s pop. I believe they had record-label problems in between their two albums, which delayed the second by a year or so, thus losing whatever momentum they may have built up.

I’ve never heard Win quoted as an influence, but the Fire Engines certainly are, regularly (although again, their sphere of influence may be rather Scotland-centric). Among the most obvious, there was a one-off collaboration with Franz Ferdinand a couple of years ago.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:43:47 +0000

Spooky, I found this album during a recent tidy of my music collection. Although I remember the Tennant’s album I only got the album fairly late on (1994, maybe. On casette) but I still listened to it fairly constantly around that time and wasn’t bothered by the very 80s production on it. I’m not sure what I’d think now, but I imagine(hope!) I would still be favourable. And I’m afraid that Hollywood Baby too was my favourite too (You’ve Got The Power and Charms probabaly running it a close second).

I’m always faintly surprised that I’ve yet to see anyone cite them as an influence. As someone who loves the “clever” end-of-pop, I would have always thought someone else I liked must have dug what they were doing.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:33:58 +0000

Both “You’ve Got The Power” and the album sold heavily in Scotland – after all, the song was used in a McEwan’s advert – but the sales never really happened down South…

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:29:40 +0000

I still haven’t!

By: vinylscot

vinylscot — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:23:59 +0000

I first came across this site while searching for a CD copy of the “Uh Tears…” album, which I remembered as a lost pop masterpiece from 1987. I got hold of a copy and, it’s still a great pop album, but it’s VERY dated.

“Hollywood Baby Too” is my favourite track too, but I don’t know anyone else who can abide it. I think you’ve got to give it a chance – there’s a lot going on in there, and without the will to see it through I could see why casual listeners might just wander off.

Most people, of course, only know “You’ve Got The Power”, and then only because of the advert and its appearance on a free NME cassette. It is still one of the great unexplained mysteries of our times how it was never a huge hit. The album got a heavy push from London records at the time, with huge displays in the Virgin Megastore in London, which is where I bought my original cassette copy. Surely a re-release of the poppiest track could have paid dividends?

I understand this may all have been discussed before, before the earlier comments were lost, but I’d be interested to hear other people’s opinions on this.

“Hollywood Baby Too” – complex pop masterpiece or dog’s breakfast?

and Tom, if you haven’t re-listened to “Freaky Trigger” yet, don’t!