Search/Destroy: The Shop Assistants

I can think of five bands off the top of my head who were on C86 and who I prefer to the Shop Assistants, incidentally. I think past "Somewhere In China" and "Safety Net" the Shop Assistants are not worth the effort, all the songs seem like inferior versions of those two.

Search: A friendly bloke at MVC in Romford who commended me for my Sly & The Family Stone purchase (I like being flattered)

Destroy: Beardy blokes in the Camden Record Exchange, who seemed to be snorting at everyone's purchase.

I actually do love a great deal of C86, cause clearly- I'm a huge Shop Assistants fan- but then if I had a pound for every time someone says "C86, Sarah records, etc." and proceed to list a dire pit of wibbling that starts with the Trembling Blue Stars and ends with Belle and Sebastian.

Let me rephrase that: Belle & Sebastian should not be lumped in with other bands. They centre on a songwriter whose intuitive grasp of melody is the best in the UK that I'm aware of. I like the Shop Assistants, and might (or might not) like some of the other bands that Kate doesn't really mention, but I don't think that the same claims can be made for any of them that can be made for B&S.

You know, I don't even mind B&S. I own most of their albums, and I do listen to them more than occasionally. But the fact remains I have never met a N&S *FAN* that I have liked. Sure, I have many friends who have the same feeling towards them, like them, think their songwriting and musicianship is good... however, people who LOVE them to the point of naming their screen-names, cats, clubs after them ANNOY me to the point where I start to hold it against the band.

Methinks this is a new thread, actually...

Search "It's Up to You" from the C86 cassette. What is that? A xylophone? It's so beautiful.

also I don´t wanna be friends with you is their second best song
and their cover of the Pleasure seekers song "What a way to die"

I think I damaged my hearing and vocal chords listening to that one a few months ago on repeat.

my favorite track of theirs is the "Train from Kansas City" cover (actually the one on the Sounds(I think it was Sounds) 7" giveaway is even better).

seriously, one of my favorite bands of all time. can't think of a single bad song.

A friend taped me an album called "Will Anything Happen," which compiles most of the songs mentioned here along with "All Day Long" and other instant classics. Whether they were proto-riot-grrrl or post-Jesus and Mary Chain, they pretty much defined a sound that's been dipped into by everyone from Heavenly to Slumber Party. Somebody reissue them, please.

Search "It's Up to You" from the C86 cassette. What is that? A xylophone? It's so beautiful.

-- Amateurist (amateuris...) (webmail), February 24th, 2003 3:28 AM. (amateurist) (link)

so is it a xylophone?????

so if someone has their lp on cd and can possibly copy it for me, er, let me know. i'm dying to have it on something besides a very worn out cassette.

xpost

Search Silver : the "Shop Assistants" LP

other : The first e.p.

not exactly destroy, but... : anything else without Alex (alex? yeah?)

Lyrics go "I'm so bored, what can I do? I'm so bored, here we go again!" and there's a trumpet in the background, and I know it's on Will Anything Happen, but I can't remember the title of it, and googling does me no good because the only site I can find has a track listing, but no lyrics...

Help me! I've actually got a bet riding on this.

Is it "All That Ever Mattered"? Is it "Caledonian Road"? I can't actually remember!

It's remarkable how good they were. So solid, so sound; not frail and lame but lush and throbbing.

Singles good, album misproduced.

I didn't think I liked 'Train From Kansas City' that much, but actually the lead guitar at the end is pretty hard and heavy. And it struck me as the song reached its platform that 'Train From Wycombe' might have been written as some kind of dim homage to that title.

Actually I'm sure that 'After Dark' is their second best track: miraculously gentle, poised, delicate, hushed, travelling.

hmmm, they're cool but talulah gosh were wayyyyyyy better

-- schnell schnell, Monday, 24 February 2003 19:07 (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

QFT

MySpace page gone, but Wikipedia page looks better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shop_Assistants

"Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Motorcycle Boy is one of the catchiest songs ever.

One day, I WILL find the Buba & the Shop Assistants single.

I love this band, although I also probably like Talulah Gosh better.

http://www.emusic.com/label/Shop-Assistants-Setanta-Songs-MP3-Download/144268.html

I'd still love to see a proper reissue, and they could fit the two 1990 singles on this and still make it one CD.

It's also missing the Shopping Parade EP, presumably cos it was on Subway. This does have the Safety Net EP on it which the Overground CD didn't have. Is this mp3-only then?

Whoops, it's even missing "After Dark" from the version of "Will Anything Happen?" I have on tape. Arg, somebody reissue everything!

Meanwhile, just found this:

http://www.indie-mp3.net/shopassistants/index.htm

'After Dark' is maybe one of the greatest songs ever recorded by a band like this. That gliding oblivious lead through the verses!

Okay, I think I've tracked down nearly everything you can download online:

http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2009/04/the_shop_assist.php

Buy the reissue CD on Amazon (which includes "After Dark"), buy a few tracks on eMusic (through they're obviously taken from old records), and download the rest.

Been back to these guys a lot the last couple of weeks but I have to say there's not much beyond "Safety Net" that I feel the need to keep with me.

While I've been coming around to mike a's view.

Well don't get me wrong it's all good but I think ironically it's the sonic aggro that I'd forgotten about that makes it a bit wallpaper-y for me.

Listening to this lost Motorcycle Boy album, Scarlet and it's really gorgeous!

The singles after "Big Rock Candy Mountain" were underwhelming, but work much better on the album.

A shame it was never properly released. Alex's voice, lovely but filled with forlorn gravitas, is so good on virtually everything she ever recorded.

Just downloaded what I could get from Mr Scholtes' very helpful page of links.

This is particularly good
http://icoulddietomorrow.blogspot.com/2009/02/shop-assistants-7-collection.html

I couldn't get everything but I now have 28 tracks, 1:11 playing time, which is more than an hour more digital Shop Assistants than I had a few days ago. And almost all of it is a great pleasure to hear.

Whatever happened to Alex, and why didn't it?

A taste of this absolutely amazing lost album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZqrHi9-Igg
I'm not the uploader

I should add that's from The Motorcycle Boy 'Scarlet'.

what's the SA connection? am confused.

Same lead singer.

Spencer, thanks for reminding me of the Motorcycle Boy album - I completely forgot I had it! It inspired me to download the singles as well. Seems ripe for a Cherry Red reissue!

Dd that album actually get released? Looks like it made the rounds online a few years ago but I can't track it down now. Sounds right up my alley based on that YouTube clip.

that track is rather lovely, though not up to shop assistants' best (what is?)

YSI?

This was my fav Motorcycle Boy song, still sounds great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es8OglraRUc

xxpost to myself. Managed to find it. Only one track in so far but sounds good! Thanks for posting Spencer.

um... (sotto voce) YSI?

I'm on a train at the moment but I'll get you a link at some point this weekend I Dunno. Are there rules/restrictions about that sort of thing here?

would it perhaps be a train from kansas city?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OZA4u5IsEY

what's better than soulseek for getting good albums?

This should work, I Dunno: https://www.hightail.com/download/UlRRbGtHSyt0TW5MbjhUQw

Everything: I've never used Soulseek so I don't know what's better, but for this kind of thing I usually search a blog aggregator like munju.net (which is down at the moment).

geez, I downloaded some Motorcycle Boy tracks (but not the entire album) in 2008 at the height of my Shop Assistants obsession, but I don't think I've ever listened to them. thanks for the link, early rejecter.

"Big Rock Candy Mountain" is my favorite Motorcycle Boy track - and to be honest, as much as I LOVE Shop Assistants, this is probably my favorite track that Alex sings on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPy2YvMGH9A

Just discovered that The Motorcycle Boy guitarist Michael Kerr tracked down the Scarlet master tapes and has given the album its first official release!

https://www.themotorcycleboy.co.uk

Just got my copy, seems like there's some slightly different versions compared to the widely circulated bootleg. Biggest change is "Hey Mama" is 30s shorter.

is it any good? most (not all) of the Motorcycle Boy stuff I've got or heard is really not that much to be excited about

It's nice if a bit slight, always great to hear Alex Taylor's voice.

Being reported that Alex Taylor has died.

https://louderthanwar.com/alex-taylor-the-shop-assistants-rip-c86-icon/

Some people on Facebook saying that they'd heard she'd died a few months ago but it hadn't been confirmed. RIP.

A few months ago? People are saying she died in 2005?!??!

Last year one of the guys from the Motorcycle Boy did some interviews about their reissue and he had no clue where she was and couldn't track her down.

It's all very strange.

:(

Now on FB that the same guy from the Motorcycle Boy confirmed that after he gave those interviews he was contacted by Alex's husband and told that she passed away in 2005. I guess that in the 90s she just completely dropped out of her previous circles and that was before social media etc. so it just didn't come out at that point. Sad news. She had such a great voice.

Wow. RIP Alex.

Here's one of those interviews from last year, the last lines are very poignant.

http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/9430/Motorcycle-Boy-Interview

I just heard about this reissue and am listening to it on streaming. It's really beautiful and of course sad as I'm just hearing about Alex Taylor passing as well.