"...Fire In My
Pocket..."
Like those other British
songwriting geniuses with swinging dicks and fabulous bedroom techniques -
Mickey Jupp and Nick Lowe - BILLY BREMNER has been a go-to guy for a witty
boogie-woogie tune for absolute decades now. And it's about bleeding time that
someone within the enclaves of music recognised his rather fab contributions to
our R&B wellness. So up steps RPM Records.
A little history first –
Scotland's Bremner owes his biggest claim-to-fame as one of the lead guitarists
with England's supergroup ROCKPILE (although he's also played session guitar
for The Pretenders, Carlene Carter and many more). Rockpile's lone album
"Second Of Pleasure" from 1980 on F-Beat Records is the kind of
British Rock 'n' Roll platter that will elicit an unsightly tearful blub of
yesteryear nostalgia from men of a certain age and Pub Rock persuasion. And
don't get me started on that fantastic Everly Brothers EP that was attached to
the front sleeve either. And while this little beauty has none of those songs - its musically in the same ballpark. In fact when you play the opening number on this
delightful hour-and-a-half CD compilation - "I'm Dying (To See You Again)"
– Billy's vocal is so akin to Dave Edmunds (one of the other guitarists in Rockpile along with Nick Lowe) – you may indeed double
take (the other new 2018 song is "Shoot Myself").
For collectors there's
Tracks 15 to 18 - four Previously Unreleased Demos of "Loud Music In
Cars", "The Creature From The Black Lagoon", "Trouble
Boys" and "Stuck in The Fog". In fact the Bremner link with
Edmunds goes back further than 1980 and Rockpile – Dave covered "Trouble
Boys" on his "Tracks On Wax 4" album on Swan Song Records in 1978
and "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" on his "Repeat When
Necessary" album – also on Swan Song Records – but in 1979. A call to arms
then - here are the yes, buts, ifs and whys...
UK released 19 Oct 2018 –
"Singled Out" by BILLY BREMNER on RPM Records RPM 542 (Barcode
5013929554221) comes in a card digipak offering a 16-page booklet annotated by
NICHOLAS JOHN (with a further Producer’s Note by MARK STRATFORD on the rear
page). The inner flap of the digipak pictures ten singles (labels and sleeves)
stretching from 1977 to 2005 and offers discography info beside each. RPM’s
resident audio guy SIMON MURPHY has done the mastering for its 21 tracks (65:25
minutes) and everything sounds lickety-splitly fresh and up for grabs. In fact
if anything, the audio bounces off the speakers at you regardless of the decade
– Seventies or Noughties (the only exception being a 1974 recording called
"54" 40' Or Fight" about the Alamo that sounds like its been
lifted from a wobbly cassette and is no doubt included for rarity's sake). All
tracks by Billy Bremner except as noted below...
1. I'm Dying (To See You
Again)
2. Shoot Myself
3. No If, But Maybe
4. I See It In Your Eyes
5. I Get Enough
6. Mona Lott - BILLY BREMNER
& FASTBUCK
7. Shatterproof
8. Look At That Car
9. Fire In My Pocket
10. Meek Power
11. Yes Please
12. Tired And Emotional (And
Probably Drunk)
13. Loud Music In Cars
14. The Price Is Right
15. Loud Music In Cars
(Demo)
16. Creature From The Black
Lagoon (Demo)
17. Trouble Boys (Demo)
18. Stuck In The Fog (Demo)
19. Heart And Stone - BILLY
MURRAY
20. Downtown Hoedown - BILLY
MURRAY
21. 54" 40' Or Fight -
BILLY MURRAY
This is the kind of comp
that feels like a long time coming and it won't surprise me a jot if it ends up
being a tasty little seller. 21 tracks gather together long-forgotten 7"
singles from 1977's "Party Hoedown" on Polydor Records 2058 881 right
through to 2005's "No If, But, Maybe" on WEA 5050467-8386-5-9.
In-between we get "Heart And Stone" from 1978 on State Records STAT
72 and on to the super cool and super catchy "Loud Music In Cars" on
Stiff Records BUY 125.
Smart choices include a slew
of obscure and unfairly forgotten flipsides - "Tired And Emotional (And
Probably Drunk)" - a B-side to "Laughter Turns To Tears" on
Stiff BUY 143 in 1982 and "Fire In My Pocket" from 1984 - a B-side to
"When Love Goes To Sleep" on Arista ARIST 566. Another flipper is the
setting-you-free "Mona-Lott" – B-side to "Endless Sleep"
from 1985 on Rock City RCR 6. I also liked "Meek Power" from 1982 on
Demon Records and the keep-up-the-payments chrome monster "Look At That
Car" - but I wasn't too enamoured with the slightly forced
"Shatterproof" - trying too hard to be a hit. But it’s a small
complaint on an otherwise big fat yes.
A job well done and not
before its time – kudos to all involved...
