Polling in the Buslane: Jazz Butcher Gift of Music/Bloody Nonsense poll (RIP Pat Fish 1957-2021)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Pouring one out for a the passing of that rare combination of wit, style and kindness, Pat Fish. As I write this his band's cultural imprint seems improbably low, with <6400 monthly listeners on Spotify and a wikipedia article that is all of 6 sentences including the correct yet inadequate summation "Their oeuvre is blackly humourous"...

Here's hoping the upcoming "Dr. Cholmondley Repents" set will make it to streaming services in November - seems promising as a teaser double-a-side was uploaded by Fire (Rebecca Wants Her Bike Back/Sixteen Years). In particular the return of many of the 7" only tracks on the classic 80s compilations polled below like the original (faster) Southern Mark Smith, Rain, Hard, Buslane, Devil is my Friend, Death Dentist, JB v Prime Minister will be crucial to his legacy - well maybe not Buslane - but these are definitely half of the best things he ever recorded in my opinion and here to be decided by science. Thought I would poll the first two comps together: Bloody Nonsense, one of the quintessential US late-80s college distillations; and add in the other tracks from UK only Gift of Music (CD version).

Poll Results

Option	Votes
Big Saturday	2
The Human Jungle	1
Rain	1
Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present	1
Jazz Butcher Meets Count Dracula	1
Partytime b-side version	1
The Devil is my Friend	1
Zombie Love b-side version	0
Roadrunner	0
Girls Who Keep Goldfish b-side version	0
Sweet Jane	0
Marnie	0
Water	0
Real Men	0
Drink	0
Death Dentist	0
Grooving in the Buslane	0
The Jazz Butcher Vs The Prime Minister	0
President Reagan's Birthday Present	0
Southern Mark Smith a-side version	0
Lost in France	0

― mig (guess that dreams always end), Thursday, 7 October 2021 03:45 (two years ago) link

http://jazzbutcher.com/memoriam

― mig (guess that dreams always end), Thursday, 7 October 2021 04:15 (two years ago) link

Impossible, there's something to recommend on almost every track - a pithy turn of phrase, a laugh, an earworm. "Bloody Nonsense" was my introduction as well, probably after hearing "JB Meets Dracula" or "Death Dentist", wonderfully amusing and wicked catchy. Will revisit this poll after a bit of listening.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 7 October 2021 14:41 (two years ago) link

"Big Saturday", "Rain", and "Drink" are all flawless, tough choice

― sleeve, Thursday, 7 October 2021 15:46 (two years ago) link

Gerald, i would say almost every song on this has all three which is what makes it so remarkable. It also really captures the vibe of mid 80s british humor for me, a Young Ones/Withnail/Blackadder vibe to it that I don't get on most other music from the period and I didn't know I was missing until I heard it.

― mig (guess that dreams always end), Friday, 8 October 2021 00:37 (two years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Tuesday, 12 October 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link

hope this poll inspires some people to listen or re-listen. such a classic. for those of you interested it’s mostly on the Draining the Glass comp.

i went with “big saturday” because it was a mix tape classic of mine back in the day. could easily have picked “partytime” or “drink” or “the human jungle” or…

― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Tuesday, 12 October 2021 00:39 (two years ago) link

I spent a lot of time with Distressed Gentlefolk after it came out. I own nearly every long-player they released (best title? Sex and Travel), but I’ve never felt TJB was crucial in any way, even tho I thought they were underrated.

― New Zealand, with that hottie (hardcore dilettante), Tuesday, 12 October 2021 00:40 (two years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link

I salute all 7 other fans!

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 14:24 (two years ago) link

Cheers to the other fan who voted for Big Saturday. Victory is indeed ours.

― doug watson, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 18:08 (two years ago) link

I think big saturday works better as track 9 on the comp, than as track 1 of their 3rd album. Just looked up the lyrics and was surprised to see that the line is "hey King, hope you had a good weekend", not "Hey Kid". Apparently a salute to ex JB member Rolo McGinty, this new old fact seems to muddle the lyric a bit for me... "hey, I had a one night stand this weekend how did you do Rolo" is probably not the correct revision of the meaning of the song, but i can't make out why he's in the song. Is it a very Woodentopsy song, though? Perhaps, it might be indebted to Plenty.

― mig (guess that dreams always end), Wednesday, 13 October 2021 18:56 (two years ago) link

Did a quick bit of sleuthing and the upcoming odds and sods box, "Dr Cholmondley Repents", replicated "The Gift Of Music" and "Big Questions" with two exceptions: a live take of "Zombie Love" from the former and the immortal "Olaf Palme" from the latter! Either an oversite, ran out of space, or a hat tip to collectors.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 27 October 2021 18:38 (two years ago) link

oh man "Olaf Palme" omission is so brutal

I said this on the other thread as well:

"didn't wanna whine on his FB page but there are at least four crucial tracks missing from that set, which is really a bummer ("Temptation Inside Your Heart", "Chinese Envoy", "Christmas With The Pygmies", and the original version of "Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present" that was the B-side of the "Marine" 7")"

― Communist Hockey Goblin (sleeve), Wednesday, 27 October 2021 18:49 (two years ago) link

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.