Up Yaws ("Fucking Cunt/Awkward Bastard") anonymous comedy 12" - the revival!

[Ambient Sheep]

Probably "DAMONT", meaning the 12" was pressed by Damont Audio.

Agreed.

http://www.discogs.com/DEA-Dark-Days/release/575578

The MySpace of one of the members of DEA refers to "fucking cunt song" as being the b-side -- might be worth getting in touch with him to find out where it came from? It might not lead to anything -- the DEA track seems to have been released way after the original one-sided 12" so I assume they just got hold of it and put it on the b-side for a laugh...

Yeah, that would be my most likely theory too.

-- but it could be worth a shot?

Definitely.  You never know, rather than ripping it from the original 12" vinyl, he might have got hold of the master tape and/or know something about who did it.  I'm assuming it couldn't have been him in the first place, given that he would only have been 15 in 1984.  Unless he was 15 with rich parents and some mature-sounding friends, that is.

He seems chatty enough on his Myspace, so hopefully he might reveal what he knows.

Note to weekender: he's the current(?) keyboard player for Flowered Up.

[biniput]

Well well well what a stroke of luck and maybe you lot forgot about the youtube posting?? Well i noticed a response that was from a user called Vanillacoffe which was:

Ah ..Buckim + Riskit ;-)

So i was intrigued and gave a message:

Do you know what that is? or what it could mean as the people who put up that song would like to know the origin of that track. The track in question is one that contains a comment of yours:

This is the reply.

Greetings!
I know the song very well, first heard it in 1984 - 5 I think.
Been following the thread on CAB with interest and have been tempted to contribute but have been reluctant in case my information is incorrect and sends people off in directions that lead nowhere.
My own digging on this topic lead me down two paths. One was to a company called Stage Two (a sound and lighting company) in Watford - Hertfordshire. Apparently, the drummer on that recording used to work there.
The second path lead me to a band called Dramatis. Formerly the backing band (Tubeway Army) for Gary Numan.

However, without any real evidence to support the above - I thought best not to post on CAB.

I bought a copy of this record in 84 ish from a record shop in Ruislip Middlesex (The shop was called "Top Trumps")

The guy in the shop told me Buckim + Riskit is an anagram but I am sure you guys and gals knew that already :)


Regards,

VC

Well what progress. Lets get on with the anagram first. EDIT  forgot to ask how he knew who the drummer was at all.

[Languid]

this really is getting scooby doo now!

[Little Hoover]

Whenever someone finds out the answer they'll have to erase all evidence of it as life will have no longer have any meaning when we've found out.

[Goldentony]

I noticed Tony Hawks hadn't replied to Lee, so I tried myself and recieved a reply -

No idea. But it's very funny. Alas, I had nothing to do with it. Good luck finding out the truth

Another one out

[biniput]

Latest PM from Youtube:

No need for thanks, I would dearly love to know myself.

One more thing I forgot to mention.
A friend of mine had a tape of the song. He found it in the cassette player of a van that once belonged to Stage Two. They had a small fleet of Talbot Express vans, they traded some in to a local Peugeot dealership in Watford for some new Peugeot Boxer vans. My friend used to work for said Peugeot dealer and found the tape when the van was being prepared for auction.

One other thing - it has been a while since I had a listen to the track so was playing it last night on the tube and it struck me that some of the backing vocals sound familiar.
Then it struck me...

Have a listen to these guys having a bit of a row after a gig...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q0bGH8ScxE

Nicko and Steve sound very much like the backing vocals on Dedicated to...

Could be another tree that I am barking up the wrong side of...!

VC

They do sound like those on the backing so they may be worth a shot.

[Languid]

Simon Lovechild of DEA responds:

i wish i could tell you more about that song, but you probably know more than me, as i was gonna post you the same link you have,
i was played it by tim jefferies from loaded records back in the day, and managed to release it just before he was gonna on a white label as dea etc....
it was always good to play to a room of mashed up people without drawing atention to the record ,and seeing their " am i hearing things or just paranoid look?? i did have a few people ask me if it was about them ,and i would answer " what ..are you some kind of fucking cunt"??
sorry couldnt be of more help but your detective skills will no doubt track down said culprit... cheers sy

Tim Jeffery next then

[Languid]

I've never known who did it, I got my copy from Citysounds back in the day
but I'll be fascinated to find out if you do discover who made it.

Tim

Lol I just read the comment from Simon Lovechild, yeah I never did quite forgive him for copying it off
me and releasing it himself!

Dave who used to run Citysounds might know something about it, but I don't know his whereabouts these days
though ever since Citysounds closed a few years ago, he lives in the Gillingham Kent area

Just reread the entire thread and it would seem that no-one has asked Brian Conley about this yet. There was initially some confusion about who had been asked in the precrash thread. He was the main suspect at one point...

[Goldentony]

Another hole opens up. The Brian Conley thing might be worth pursuing, assuming he's not trying to keep some image as a family friendly all rounder and doesn't want to be exposed as some dangerous sweary "Family entertainer in fucking cunt shocker" type guy. If anyone remotely interested in figuring out who this is is near Leeds or in Leeds, then Brian is currently there starring in Hairspray til July 3rd. It's a bit of a step trying to bother him in person, and there's always the chance he might just flat out deny it but again, it could be worth a go.

[Ambient Sheep]

Wow, completely missed all these developments since my last post on the 13th June.  Good work, guys, and welcome to our music-biz lurkers!

Had Brian Conley been a top-ten artist before March 1984 though?  Or indeed ever?  Not saying that we shouldn't ask him, but something for supporters of that theory to bear in mind.  That's assuming of course, that my record shop's File under: 'One-sided 12" by Unknown Top-Ten Artist' sticker can be taken as gospel.  I always have until now, but maybe it's time to be flexible on that.

Interesting though, that so many of our leads end up pointing towards somewhere in Hertfordshire.

[biniput]

Page 1 post 2.

All I can remember about this one was that Brian Conley was asked directly about it and denied all knowledge

That seems to be that.

[Goldentony]

Sent an email a few days ago to a guy who runs a Gary Numan fansite, who's interviewed members of Dramatis in the past. Got a reply before -

Listened to the track, can honestly say i really can't see any way this had Dramatis involed. By 1983 they'd ben dropped from Rocket Records and recording and touring as backing band to Numan.

Sounds fair enough, but then a really interesting snippet at the end that could open up another avenue -

Russell did write material with Craig Charles (Red Dwarf)and as theres a pic of Robert LLewellyn on there it might have some connection, also, 'Tok' music is the copyright owner on the label Tik n Tok perhaps)

The Tik and Tok info caught my eye the most here, and Tik and Tok i'm assuming refers to these guys - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tik_and_Tok who have a Gary Numan connection. Tik and Tok have a website and Tim Dry from the duo has his own website and stuff. The entire thing could just be a massive coincidence but i'm going to give it a shot and see if we get a reply and hopefully get a bit closer to solving this!

[Paaaaul]

Robotic mime and music duo Tik and Tok (Tim Dry and Sean Crawford) began performing together with SHOCK: a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe in the early 1980s with Barbie Wilde, Robert Pereno, LA Richards and Carole Caplin.

I believe that this a conspiracy that goes all the way TO DOWNING STREET.

[Goldentony]

This shit goes right TO THE TOP, JERRY!

[Languid]

Page 1 post 2.

That seems to be that.

So it would seem until...page 1 post 13 (same poster)

See, this is what happens when I attempt to remember things.  It was your questionning of Robert Llewellyn that I was thinking of, but as Conley was the main suspect when this all cooled down I got them mixed up.

I don't think it's him myself but he hasn't been ruled out...

[Ambient Sheep]

The Tik and Tok info caught my eye the most here, and Tik and Tok i'm assuming refers to these guys - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tik_and_Tok who have a Gary Numan connection.

When I first saw the "(R) TOK MUSIC" on the label back in 1984, Tik & Tok were the first people I thought of, but then I thought "This record sounds as little like them as anything possibly could do and still be classed as music", so I thought no more of it.

Tik and Tok have a website and Tim Dry from the duo has his own website and stuff. The entire thing could just be a massive coincidence but i'm going to give it a shot and see if we get a reply and hopefully get a bit closer to solving this!

Go for it!  It does seem to fit in with this strange Hertfordshire/Numan connection in some way.

I guess we should also look up some Tik & Tok records on discogs.com or something and see if their publisher was indeed TOK MUSIC.

[Lee]

One was to a company called Stage Two (a sound and lighting company) in Watford - Hertfordshire. Apparently, the drummer on that recording used to work there.

If no-one else has already, I might give them a call on Monday, as they're still in Watford. Quite what I'm going to ask them though...

"Ah, hello. I was wondering, did you used to have someone working for you in 1984 who was a drummer by any chance? It's just we're trying to find out about this record that shouts "fucking cunt" at you for five minutes..."

[Rev]

So it would seem until...page 1 post 13 (same poster)

Yes, I'd like to clarify that I was talking TOTAL BOLLOCKS at the beginning of this thread.  I got confused, what with all the excitement.

[Rev]

As I'm here...

Had Brian Conley been a top-ten artist before March 1984 though?  Or indeed ever?  Not saying that we shouldn't ask him, but something for supporters of that theory to bear in mind. 

I know it was sold that way, but I've never understood why you've accepted that it was by a top-ten artist.  It's always struck me as the kind of thing an opportunist would write on a white-label just to shift it, and in this case it creates the idea that this filth is from someone famous.

I'm about 99% certain now that this was recorded by session musicians pissing about with the studio time of a star who had failed to show up.  I'm gonna go for, ooh, Robert Palmer.

[Goldentony]

Oh hey there everyone - Rrussell Bell of Dramatis/Gary Numan fame upon being asked about Up Yaws a few minutes ago -

I believe I may have been involved in that particular opus.

Hopefully get a follow up and a bit more info soon.

[Ambient Sheep]

Ooooh!!

[Languid]

Mystery half solved!!?
Well done GT. Its only taken us 7 years to get this far.

[biniput]

Well now we know a little bit more the reason as to why it exists could be answered in it being a reposte to Newmans sudden retirement. This would have sent them from backing a potential major artist to back on the pile of unused musicians. According to his Wiki (Numan):

Numan suppressed his anger and "got really hung up with this whole thing of not feeling, being cold about everything, not letting emotions get to you, or presenting a front of not feeling".[8] Furthermore, Numan's admiration of wealth alienated critics and fellow musicians; Yes recorded a sardonic song about him, "White Car," for their 1980 album Drama, a reaction to his habit of tearing around London in the white Chevrolet Corvette given to him by Beggars Banquet.

Also:

At age 15 after a series of outbursts in which Numan would "smash things up, scream and shout, get in people's faces and break stuff" Numan was prescribed with antidepressants and anxiolytics.[8] Numan has stated he has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder  which causes restricted social and communication skills. In a 2001 interview, he said: "Polite conversation has never been one of my strong points. Just recently I actually found out that I'd got a mild form of Asperger's syndrome which basically means I have trouble interacting with people. For years, I couldn't understand why people thought I was arrogant, but now it all makes more sense.

All of which could explain his "awkward bastard" jibes etc.

[Ambient Sheep]

Oh, so perhaps it's more like One-sided 12" about an unknown top-ten artist...

Would certainly explain why the truth's been kept quiet so long!


Or perhaps we're just jumping to highly premature conclusions!

[biniput]

From GT

The Tik and Tok info caught my eye the most here, and Tik and Tok i'm assuming refers to these guys - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tik_and_Tok who have a Gary Numan connection.

Seems you were right then and good work. I take it an email was the method used?

EDIT:

The second path lead me to a band called Dramatis. Formerly the backing band (Tubeway Army) for Gary Numan.

Just noticed that "vanillacoffee" person from youtube already half got it a bit back. Still good job to GT to confirming it.

[Goldentony]

Got hold of him electronically aye. Pretty relieved to get a response given how all the other Dramatis/Tik and Tok methods of contact didn't seem to elicit anything. Hopefully we can eventually get a bit of a follow up on this record pretty soon now we've managed to get a foot in the door slightly. Very excited at potentially getting the full backstory on all of this.

[vanilla.coffee]

Interesting that my tips may have proved fruitful.
As I said in my youtube messages, I was reluctant to post in this thread for fear of being hugely wrong and sending you all down a bit of a dead end.
Fingers crossed you will have a conclusion soon.

Actually, it will be a shame if it does conclude... sometimes there is more in a mystery than being all knowing.

Still watching this thread with interest...

Regards,

VC

[Languid]

Interesting that my tips may have proved fruitful.
As I said in my youtube messages, I was reluctant to post in this thread for fear of being hugely wrong and sending you all down a bit of a dead end.
Fingers crossed you will have a conclusion soon.

Actually, it will be a shame if it does conclude... sometimes there is more in a mystery than being all knowing.

Still watching this thread with interest...

Regards,

VC

Just out of interest what led you to suspect Dramatis in the first place?

[Ambient Sheep]

BUMP.  Nothing very exciting...

...but it has just occurred to me, very belatedly, that there are five dashes in the "Dedicated to _ _ _ _ _" title, just as there are five letters in a certain late-70s/early-80s synth-pop genius' surname.  Just a small bit of minor circumstantial evidence to support that theory.

I take it the follow-up never arrived, Goldentony?

[QDRPHNC]

Gosh, this is exciting.