Keeping The Curtains Closed

In the late 80's in the UK if you really fortunate at three in the morning one of the then four television networks would host a show devoted to indie/alternative music. One such show, the of which escapes me but lets called it "Loaded", would feature every week a fanzine review, and then play a video by one of thew bands featured in that fanzine. So I duely sent in a copy of Red Roses For Me, and shock horror a couple of weeks later some guy sitting on a park bench was talking about it, telling the world it was pretty much a bog standard indiepop fanzine, featuring a couple of sarah bands and "look it comes apart" as several pages blew away in the wind! "Bastard!" I thought as they went into a Wedding Present video, "Who is this git?" I wanted to know. It turned out the host was one Pat Fish, head honcho of The Jazz Butcher and yes in hindsight he was right about that particular Red Roses.

So at the time I pretty much decided I would hate with a passion anything this Fish character released, or I'd least ignore it. This I did until I heard the band's cover of "Spooky" which was pretty damn cool and at some point I found the two Creation albums released either side of that single; 1988's "Fishcotheque" and 89's "Big Planet, Scary Planet". Both of these albums fitted into the Creation sound of the day with members of The Weather Prophets helping out on the former and fans of that band, The Caretaker Race, and Lloyd Cole & The Commotions would find much to love here. The band were apparently more popular in Europe and even the US then they ever were in the UK and Fish (Pat, not that guy from Marillion) continues to record as The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy to this day. The two songs today are examples of the pop goodness of "Fishcotheque" and if you go to the band's website below you'll find lots of MP3 and links to purchase the CDs that are currently available, sadly "Fishcotheque" not being one of them.

The Jazz Butcher website with places to buy their music can be found right here