Andy Matthews - "Spring (or 'Bog​-​shed in lock​-​down')" (Ah! Records) 2020

Here's a band that the recently 'Late' Anton Fier (Feer)definitely didn't play in, as did NOT Andy Matthews of, I am Informed, 'Ah! Records'.Officially the least successful record label of all time(there's a lot of competition for that accolade); so says Andy anyway,who,these days, posts his labels albums,Ep's,singles, etc on that lovely Bandcamp place thingy.

Do you remember Bog-Shed? Yes?...well you should if you read this blog,'cus everything they ever recorded is available HERE!

Why bring this lot up again I don't hear you ask?...'Tis because Mike Bryson, a bass wielder second only to the great JJ Burnel, has died but a couple of weeks ago.Therefore we are in tribute mode,especially as 75% of Bog-Shed are now ex-ex-members of the mighty Shed,and the human race in general.

Also, do you remember the 'lockdown'?...I, personally, had a great time,and business was booming.I didn't want it to end.

We all coped with it in our own very different ways,and Andy of Ah! made the bizarre but understandable decision to make a Bog-Shed tribute album.

Eclectic is the watchword here,with every viable pop song form utilised to transform 20 of the most un-famous Bog-Shed tunes into a smorgasbord of different styles and non-styles.

Andy explains this inexplicable oddity using words such as this: "to keep from going mad, and in keeping with the times and my role within them, I embarked upon a project of near-pointlessness."

Sounds like normal life to me?!

But more to the point,what a great group was Bog-shed...remember them this way.


Tracklist:

1.the amazing Roy North penis band 04:04
2.Champion love shoes 02:48
3.The fastest legs 02:42
4.Hell bent on death 02:59
5.I say no to lemon mash 00:05
6.Into me 05:22
7.Little car 02:39
8.loaf 02:59
9.oily stack 02:41
10.old dog new tricks 02:04
11.packed lunch to school 02:49
12.panties please 03:55
13.people equal greedy 02:40
14.raise the girl 03:59
15.runner on a blunder 03:29
16.sing a little jam 02:33
17.sing a little tune 02:54
18.Summer in my lunchtime 04:48
19.Thunderballs 02:56
20.Tommy Steele record 02:40

DOWNLOAD this once in a lifetime name your price offer HERE!

Various Artists – "Ideal Guest House" (Shelter) 1986 & "The First After Epiphany" (Ron Johnson Records – ZRON 21) 1987

As I received a request for a Ron Johnson compilation,it reminded me of the official comedian attached to this shambling Ron Johnson style stuff, Ted "I was Walking Down the Road" Chippington. I'm not sure if he was into this kind of popular music,but he was enlisted to be the compare of this trendy compilation cassette to support homeless charity "Shelter"; which is rather apt as we are facing the largest homeless crisis in Europe since world war too. Its time to start world war Free (dom) innit? I am of course referring to the current Invasion of Ukraine by that nice Mr Putin man....just in case you are part of the uninformed majority,or living in Russia....in which case i have to inform you that your army has been committing War crimes against your Slavic brothers in the west.....basically you're fucked.

The drole monotone self-elected worst comedian in the world ever Ted,links together a bunch of shambling C86-era,Johnson related groups in his characteristic stoic manner...at times he's even funny!?

Its got Bog-Shed and bIG fLAME on it, what more could you want or need?......just ignore the Chumbawamba track,...oooooh, they didn't like Neil Kinnock.....edgy stuff not, nuff said.

Tracklist:

A1 Big Flame– Man Of Few Syllables
A2 The Wedding Present– You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends (alt Version)
A3 The Soup Dragons– Fair's Fair
A4 The Creepers– Sharper And Wider
A5 The Shop Assistants – Home Again (Live)
A6 The June Brides– This Town (Accoustic)
A7 Rob Grant with Yeah Yeah Noh– Mr. Hammond Has Breakfast In Bed
B1 Stump– Kitchen Table
B2 The Legend!– Everythings Coming Up Roses
B3 Pigbros– Barren Land
B4 Stitched Back Foot Airman– The Deadly Spore
B5 BMX Bandits– Sad?
B6 Bog-shed – Jobless Youngsters
B7 Chumbawamba– Kinnochio

DOWNLOAD and give these tracks a home HERE!

Oh Yeah!...here's that Ron Johnson sampler LP "The First After Epiphany" that i mistakenly thought had no exclusive tracks on it, and you could get them from the other official releases on the blog if you search for Ron Johnson Records. I was wrong, There's at least a Twang! track that one can't get elsewhere,and maybe an errant Splat! number,or anything else with an exclamation mark in it's name:

"The First After Epiphany"
Ron Johnson Records – ZRON 21 (1987)

Tracklist:

A1 Splat!– Mistook
A2 Big Flame– XPQWRTZ
A3 A Witness– Dipping Bird
A4 Stump– Big End
A5 MacKenzies– Man With No Reason
B1 The Shrubs– Blackmailer
B2 The Ex– Knock
B3 Twang – Here's Lukewarm
B4 The Nose Flutes– Bodyhair Up In The Air
B5 The Great Leap Forward– Drowning Speechless
B6 Jackdaw With Crowbar– Crow

DOWNLOAD this epiphanal moment HERE!

Phil Hartley - "Demos,Sessions,and Live (1988-89)" (A Die or DIY? Collection) 2022/1988

A devastating loss to the pop world was the break-up of Bog-shed sometime in 1987/1988-ish during the last flowering of classic British independent pop. An even greater loss was the life of erstwhile lead warbler and unheralded absurdist poet of the aforementioned Bog-Shed group, Mr Philip Hartley;who left this mortal coil during October 2006.Swiftly followed by drummer Tris King (Brain Tumor),who also moonlighted with those other classic mid-eighties Ron Johnson types,the equally cursed, 'A Witness';whose guitarist managed to fall off a mountain in 1989.

Sometimes one suspects a record company conspiracy to put a permanent end to any bands,slash,music, that appeals to those who require more than just lovesongs and peado-propaganda from their unpop-pop.

Where did they all go when Bog-Shed dissolved,one wonders? One of them's an illustrator and the sole 'success story' in the ranks;and of the others,only Phil Hartley made a short attempt to carry on the legacy.There was obviously an album's worth of new material, and it sounds like...er....Bog-Shed.

A Peel Session was made,live appearances,and Demo's.....then.....nothing!

“This week the score draws are plentiful!” (Slave Girls)......he liked that line apparently,and very representative, it is, of the current musical situation we find ourselves trapped in.

There were no studio recordings made before Phil disappeared somewhere,and died of something unspecified.

A notable unrecorded gem, captured live in 1989, was "Dirty Filthy Pop Presenter", where Jimmy Savile is name-checked.....just when you thought serial silly-billy John Lydon had a monopoly on outing the vile Sa-vile, after mentioning it once ,vaguely, in an interview,did nothing about it,then claimed to be the only moral human in the UK....although I think rather,that Phil Hartley was sort of fulfilling his weird absurdists fantasy of being one of those awful TV pop Presenters from decades past.He had a history,name-dropping former Basil Brush sidekick Roy North in an early Bogshed song,"The Amazing Roy North Penis Band"which was also the working title of the first Bog-Shed incarnation around 1985.

Here's the great Roy North singing his version of Tenpole Tudor's "Swords Of A Thousand Men" back in 1981.....you really couldn't make this up!

I am assuming that Roy did not indulge in the same depraved pastimes that kept the blindingly obvious sex monster Savile entertained for decades.....but his sing-a-long versions of charts hits places him well above suspicion.He was from Hull anyway,which is a crime against humanity in itself,so we'll let him off any reluctant investigations in to potential dark doings in 1981 he may,or certainly is NOT, responsible for.

Tracklist:

1. Regulation

2. Lord Smutty Lips (Demo Version)

3. Can I Use The Phone?

4. Have You Done Your Chores?

5. Teenager

6. You All Look The Same

7. Lord Smutty Lips (Peel Session 13/11/88)

8. Inspector of Crime (Peel Session 13/11/88)

9. Prepare to Change Sandals (Peel Session 13/11/88)

10.Purchase Nicely (Peel Session 13/11/88)

11.Are You Real (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

12.Who Are The Sane (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

13.Prepare to Wear Sandals (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

14.Inspector of Crime (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

15.Master Life (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

16.Purchase Nicely (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

17.Yeh Yeh (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

18.Teenager (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

19.Dirty, Filthy, Pop Presenter (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

20.Lord Smutty Lips (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

21.You Are, You Are (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

22.Say No (08-03-1989 The Source, Wordsley)

DOWNLOAD this dirty filthy pop presentation HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "C-86" (New Musical Express ‎– NME 022) 1986

Amazingly,five of the Ron Johnson stable appeared on the Iconic 'Indie' compilation "C-86", as released/compiled by the NME.

Indeed we also find Bogshed nestled in amongst such pale floppy fringe wearers as The Wolfhounds, the Bodines and other jangly foppish nonsense.

I'm surprised to discover that the tape that defined an Indie Era of jingly jangly tweedom, did in fact have some very non-jangly groups included.

Primal Scream open up the proceedings sounding, for all the world exactly like the very shit Stone Roses, three years in advance of all that 'Madchester' crap.

Of course Primal Scream would become one of those very same ,terrible bandwagon jumping combo's of 1989. Of the rest only The Soup Dragons would join them in making dance/indie crossover awfulness; which is a shame because I quite liked early Soup Dragons......I'll admit......in fact i quite enjoyed a lot of this tape!?....which is strange, as I regarded this stuff (Ron Johnson acts excepted), as the enemy,rather than the NME.

30 years removed,one now finds this jangly indie pop refreshing,and charmingly youthful.Unlike me.

Tracklist:

1–Primal Scream Velocity Girl 1:22
2–The Mighty Lemon Drops Happy Head 2:42
3–The Soup Dragons Pleasantly Surprised 2:05
4–The Wolfhounds-Feeling So Strange Again 1:41
5–The Bodines-Therese 3:09
6–Mighty Mighty-Law 3:40
7–Stump-Buffalo 4:30
8–Bogshed-Run To The Temple 3:28
9–A Witness-Sharpened Sticks 2:30
10–The Pastels-Breaking Lines 2:59
11–The Age Of Chance-From Now On,This Will Be Your God 3:12
12–Shop Assistants-It's Up To You 2:38
13–The Close Lobsters - Firestation Towers 1:48
14–Miaow-Sport Most Royal 2:54
15–Half Man Half Biscuit-I Hate Nerys Hughes (From The Heart) 3:46
16–The Servants-Transparent 2:36
17–MacKenzies-Big Jim (There's No Pubs In Heaven) 2:34
18–Big Flame-New Way(Quick Wash & Brush Up With Liberation Theology)1:37
19–We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It-Console Me 1:24
20–McCarthy-Celestial City 2:59
21–The Shrubs-Bullfighter's Bones 3:48
22–The Wedding Present-This Boy Can Wait 4:00

DOWNLOAD to see and hear 1986 HERE!

Bogshed ‎– "Brutal" (Shelfish Records ‎– SHELFish 4) 1987

Here's Bogshed's first album part two, aka the second album, but the same as the first. Chock full of 'shambling' discordant alternative pop, executed to perfectly imperfect standards.
I always had a problem with this album,mainly because it had a glossy colour cover. Something that suggested pretensions towards popularity, which of course was total bollocks in the case of Bogshed, who couldn't have been more unpopular, even with John Peel listeners!
"Brutal" is comfortably the equal of "Step On It",there's just too much of it; perhaps Bogshed are another group who should have stuck to EP's? 
Never mind 'Geoffs Big Problem', Bogshed's big problem was how to move on from their formulaic composition's to something else......not that they should have.Their back catalogue is not far off perfect, and they stopped doing it at the correct time.
What did we get in place of all this Ron Johnson style stuff......yep.......bloody 'Madchester'!!!!....we didn't know how privileged we were.

Tracklist:

A1 Raise The Girl
A2 Geoff's Big Problem
A3 Old Dog New Dance
A4 No To Lemon Mash
A5 I'm The Instrument
A6 Oppertunatist Knocks
B1 People Equal Greedy
B2 Sing A Little Tune
B3 C'mon Everybody
B4 Uncle Death Grip
B5 Spring
B6 Loaf

DOWNLOAD brutally HERE!

Bogshed ‎– "Step On It" (Shelfish Records ‎– SHELFish 2) 1986

Bogshed, as brilliant as they were,and like many other similar alternative pop groups,had a tendency to repeat themselves, and very often only had one full length album in them.....and I suppose this is it? The Fall have more or less repeated them/him selves for thirty odd albums,only the constant reshuffling of personnel adding an accidental force for change. This method is not a guaranteed or desirable direction for most artists, so they fizzle out. And Bogshed did "Step On It 2" and fizzled out. 
Endlessly repeating yourself is,however, a sure way of creating a career in anything. Just look at U2,Damien Hirst,J.K. Rowling and van Morrison. Anyone with any integrity would just stop when they've done it.......Bogshed stopped.

Tracklist:

A1 Mechanical Nun 3:02
A2 Run To The Temple 3:31
A3 Adventure Of Dog 1:58
A4 Tommy Steele Record 3:23
A5 Jobless Youngsters 3:05
A6 Tried To Hide But Forced To Howl 2:49
A7 Packed Lunch To School 2:28
B1 Summer In My Lunchtime 2:38
B2 The Fastest Legs 2:18
B3 Oily Stack 2:13
B4 Hell Bent On Death 2:57
B5 Thunderballs 2:23
B6 Can't Be Beat 3:12
B7 Little Car 0:48

DOWNLOAD and step on it HERE!

Bogshed ‎– "Let Them Eat Bogshed" (Vinyl Drip Records ‎– DRIP 2) 1985

Any record with a song called "Panties Please" on it has to be good right?
Bogshed's debut release on John Robb of the Membranes' Vinyl Drip records has six Bogshed classics of the same high standard achieved by all of their rather marvelous tunes.
The cover boasts a couple of typical drawings by Bassist Mike Bryson;who still churns out cartoons and caricatures to this day (check out his site here) ; but nothing surpasses the gravelly disjointed basslines he laid down with Bogshed. 
Such lo-fi but melodic eccentricity the like of which we'll probably never see again, Probably because they've been ignored from the second after they split up,30 years ago, in the face of massive public indifference.

Tracklist:

A1 Panties Please 3:27
A2 Spencer Travis 1:54
A3 Fat Lad Exam Failure 3:08

B1 Slave Girls 2:15
B2 City Girls 1:56
B3 Hand Me Down Father 4:00

DOWNLOAD your panties HERE!

Bogshed - "Peel Sessions 1985-88" (a Die or DIY? Compilation)

A collection of Bogshed's greatest work.Which, as per usual, was recorded at the BBC. Full of alternative pop classics such as "Champion Love Shoes", "Six To One and Likely" and "Raise The Girl".
This group should,and would, have been reasonably popular with the great unwashed masses if these same masses were not distracted to less sophisticated activities via the poisonous mind controlling compound MDMA.

Tracklist:
01 Packed Lunch to School [27-10-85].
02 Oily Stack[27-10-85].
03 Hell Bent on Death[27-10-85].
04 Can't be Beat[27-10-85].
05 The Fastest Legs [25-02-86].
06 Adventures of Dog [25-02-86].
07 Summer in My Lunchtime [25-02-86].
08 Morning Sir_Little Car [25-02-86].
09 Tried and Tested Public Speaker [15-07-86]
10 Champion Love Shoes [15-07-86].
11 Little Grafter [15-07-86].
12 Gather in the Mushrooms [15-07-86]
13 The Gourmet Is A Baby [14-04-87].
14 Raise The Girl [14-04-87].
15 I Said No To Lemon Mash [14-04-87]
16 Loaf [14-04-87].
17 Six To One And Likely [18-10-87].
18 Into Me [18-10-87].
19 From The Stubble To The Rubble [18-10-87]
20 Duck Fight/U.S. Bands/Wally Walla. [18-10-87]

DOWNLOAD a bog full of peel sessions HERE!

Bogshed - "Demo's and Rareties 1985-87" (a Die or DIY? Compilation)

Then we had the crop of groups who should have been on Ron Johnson Records instead of The Sewer Zombies and The Ex.
The most shining example being Bogshed.
Cheeky northern monkeys who were incorrectly portrayed primarily as a comedy turn in some quarters.Originally called "The Amazing Roy North Penis Band" upon their inception in 1984, one could easily see why they flirted with the 'Novelty Act' category.
Their shambling, bass led sub-discordant modern music hall tunes, were certainly catchy,and could even induce an urge to sing-a-long-a-bogshed.
So here's a collection of demo's, compilation tracks,rare singles and unreleased stuff to prove their part in the 'Death To Trad Rock' story.
Unfortunately on the subject of death, Bogshed Singer and excellent lyricist, Paul Hartley, died over ten years ago, so the prospect of any nostalgic reformation of Bogshed is a sad non-starter; especially as drummer, Tristan King followed him to peel band valhalla a few years later.Don't it make you feel so incredibly mortal?

Tracklist:

01 Hand Me Down Father ('Raging Sun' Compilation)
02 Runner On A Blunder(imminent comp)
03 The Amazing Roy North Penis Band (Cherry Red Comp)
04 Gathering Change(Aborted Cherry red Compilation)
05 Hold Up Your Hands, I'm Coming To The Market (cherry red Comp)
06 Lodger Problem(Aborted Cherry red Comp
07 Porridge In The Clothes(Aborted Cherry Red Comp)
08 Too Many Personalities(Aborted Cherry Red Comp)
09 You Are This(Aborted Cherry red Compilation)
10 Hand Me Down Father (Demo 1985).
11 Packed Lunch to School(Demo 1985).
12 US Bands (Demo 1985).
13 Slave Girls(Demo 1985).
14 Panties Please(Demo 1985).
15 City Girls(Demo 1985).
16 Fat Lad exam Failure (Demo 1985).
17 Spencer Travis(Demo 1985).
18 The Amazing Roy North Penis Band (Demo 1985)
19 Stop Revolving (Unissued Single 1987)
20 Your Science, My Sound (Unissued Single B-Side 1987)
21 Excellent girl (Final Single Release 1987)

DOWNLOAD from the toilet bog to your own private shed HERE!