Summer 1980, a few months before Jon played Sheffield. I bought my copy of Sounds from the newsagent on Shipbourne Road, Tonbridge. I can't remember what feature it was that I was desperate to read — perhaps a review of Rush's five-night residency at the Hammersmith Odeon on the Permanent Waves tour. But on the cover were the Young Marble Giants. I remember it clearly because they looked so distinctive. Not distinctive like Throbbing Gristle (Cosey Fanni Tutti 'dressed' so as to guarantee a 14-year-old boy's attention), but exactly the opposite: very evidently not trying to look remarkable in any way at all. No doubt the feature interview was done by Dave McCulloch (or was it McCullough?) — he did all that long overcoat music, and wrote the notorious "Ian Curtis: he died for you" obituary. His name on a review was usually a sign that it wasn't my kind of music, so I never read his stuff. But I always remembered that cover picture whenever I heard of Young Marble Giants in future years.
Where did I hear of them? I don't know exactly; they just got mentioned here and there, always with a certain degree of cult reverence. This was in the nineties. Galaxie 500's cover of their Final Day appeared on their boxed set, and I always thought their taste was impeccable. I started hunting this album down long before I noticed that one of the Moxhams featured on Charlotte Greig's wonderful Down in the Valley or before Colossal Youth featured on Stephin Merritt's list of 100 great recordings of the 20th century. Tim said his partner had a copy, but I never got round to asking her to borrow it. Then, in 1999, I found a copy listed in the Cheap or What catalogue, and that's the copy to the left of my keyboard right now. It's a 1994 re-issue from Les Disques du Crépuscule. Four bonus tracks, including Final Day. You always think you're buying the definitive, expanded, deluxe version. And then a new more definitive, more expanded, more deluxe one comes along. That's what you get if you click the Amazon or Spotify links below.
It's a one-off, isn't it? Sui generis, as Mark would say. Nothing else sounds quite the same, though many, including the original Giants themselves, may have sought to emulate it. What I've heard of Weekend is OK, but not nearly as distinctive. I mentioned that I saw the other Moxham (Stuart, not Philip, who played with Charlotte Greig) at the 2004 Chickfactor Ball — my diary says he was playing with Louis Phillippe, who does arrangements for The Clientele and others, though he was unknown to me at the time — but I wasn't impressed at all.
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Posted by: Margaret | 22 July 2009 at 02:41 PM