While I got Heavenly vs. Satan from Forever Changes, at 533 Ecclesall Road, I got The Kershaw Sessions from The Polar Bear, which at the time was just a few yards away at 547 Ecclesall Road. It says that — the address, not the distance from other record shops — on the price label (£5.99, second-hand, "condition guaranteed"). Both shops subsequently moved to other premises nearby before closing their doors for good.
I've got a (possibly fictional) recollection of taking this to the counter and getting that satisfying nod of approval — "Ah, Robyn Hitchcock, yes <wink>" — that marks out the indie record shop proprietor. I still can't work out how good he is. He deserves the "Best hair in rock" accolade, and he's an entertaining scholar on everything from The Incredible String Band to The Magic Band. But the song formula of psychedelic jangle + insect/crustacean/amphibian + anatomical/monarchical reference can wear a bit thin.
The best tracks on this compilation are the acoustic ones recorded on a portable DAT player in Andy Kershaw's kitchen. With Andy Metcalfe apparently playing a double bass (must have been a big kitchen), the sound is reminiscent of those great Odetta albums. I don't know why more people don't emulate that sound, because it's great. (Does Norah Jones sound like that? The only remotely similar contemporary example that springs to my mind is Gwyneth Herbert.)
The one Hitchcock BBC session I'd really like to have is the one where The Soft Boys reformed and played Mark Radcliffe's Radio 1 show. It might have been the 1994 one mentioned on this page, though my memory places it a little later in the nineties, and including Queen of Eyes. I have a tape of it… somewhere… And actually it must have been 1994, because I remember them discussing the 1976-1981 Rykodisc compilation, which had come out the year before. Anyway, sadly none of those session recordings are on the other BBC compilation either, so my tape will have to do.
Update, 1 October 2009: It's reached the point where I not only forget which albums I've got, but also which I have laboured over on Music Arcades. Turns out I wrote about the 1976-1981 Rykodisc compilation three years ago. I went on about the Radcliffe session then, as well, though my web research was better. It turns out my memory succeeded on one point, though: they did play Queen of Eyes.
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