No Place Like Home
Early Recordings
The songs on this album were recorded at 'House In The Woods - Surrey' and 'Cava - Glasgow'. They were recorded in a transition period where the band went pear shaped after a gruelling 'Peace In Our Time' tour of Europe. Stuart decided to quit the band after the last show in Jersey.
Bruce Watson - November 2003
1. If there was one song from these titles that should have been a single, in your opinion, which would it be?
Mark - 'Kiss The Girl'.
Tony - I suppose it would be 'You, Me And The Truth.
Bruce - If there was one song that should have been a single it would have to be 'Kansas'. Unfortunately it was far too long and editing it down would have damaged the flow of the song. I used to hate it when the record label edited songs like 'Fields' etc. so that it would get played on the radio.
2. Which versions of the songs released twice ('Kansas' and 'Ships') do you prefer and why?
Mark - I prefer the original versions.
Tony - The versions that ended up on 'The Buffalo Skinners' were superior recordings with more attitude.
Bruce - I prefer both songs on the 'The Buffalo Skinners' (subsequent release) mostly because they had been played in a live situation for a long time and they just seemed to fit with the rest of the material on 'The Buffalo Skinners' album.
3. Any funny memories from this era whilst recording the album at Rockfield?
Mark - None that I can recall. However, I found the experience enjoyable and rewarding.
Tony - No.
Bruce - I didn't really enjoy the atmosphere on this album. Like I said it was one of those periods when Stuart had left the band, then decided to come back. Mark upped sticks and went to play with Fish (and I don't mean tickling trout). Tony and I formed 'Hot Macramé' which was doomed from the start due to the 'Great Cuban Wool Crisis' of '89 - anyway I digress.
Mark agreed to come back and play on the album as session drummer, but the result is that there is no continuity on the album (through no fault of Mark's). It sounds like there are four different bands playing the songs. Is it the same band playing 'Reptile' that is playing 'Dynamite Lady' then 'Ships'? It is but it doesn't sound so. The only funny memory I have is of Robin (gutar tech) farting on Sooty's head. (Sooty was the Studio poodle). The worst memory is of Robin (with the aid of a Welsh Dentist) pulling my front tooth out with pliers because I had an abscess that was killing me. When the album came out, a review in the music press simply said 'No place like the bin'.
4. Which of these songs did you most like playing live?
Mark - 'Kansas'.
Tony - 'Kansas' was a stormer, maybe it would have been more popular if it had been given more airplay..
Bruce - I always loved playing 'Ships' live; it became the new 'Chance' for a while. 'Kansas' became a live favourite for a long time and I always loved playing 'Reptile' that was pure sleaze. I think we did 'Hostage Speaks' for a short while but it just didn't seem to work for me - same with 'Leap Of Faith'. What can I say? It was a weird time and it wasn't the original line up although Chris Bell and Colin Berwick were great players and great guys to be with.
5. Did Pat Moran add anything to these songs as a producer?
Mark - He brought a keyboard sound into the band which gave a different dimension to some songs.
Tony - Pat is a good producer but I know he had his artistic wings clipped by the record company. He didn't produce the album that he wanted to.
Bruce - Yes and no. He is a very technical producer along the lines of Chris Thomas and Peter Wolf. He would analyze every piece of music we put to taple for innacuracies, timing, tuning etc. and sort it out which is what a great producer will do, but we were used to working with Steve Lillywhite and Robin Miller (sic) who are also like that but very creative as well. Robin and Steve could tap into being commercial as well as being left-field at the same time. Like I said earlier the album sounds like four different bands playing on that record.
6. Take any of the songs and suggest who you would like to cover it and why?
Mark - I would like to hear Dido cover 'Ships', as I think it owuld suit her vocal style.
Tony - Guns 'N' Roses could have done 'Kansas', Cliff Richard should do 'Dynamite Lady', Des O'Conner (sic) could croon his way through 'You, Me And The Truth' and Elton should so 'Ships'.
Bruce - 'Beautiful People' - Bob Dylan (basically because we nicked it from him), 'We're Not In Kansas' - The Who (for obvious reasons), 'Dynamite Lady' - Vanessa Feltz or Shelly Winters. (BOOM - imagine the video!)
7. What was the best live show you did in this period?
Mark - They were all great!
Tony - I don't remember much good during this period.
Bruce - I think the Rockplast show in Bonn and the Dublin gigs were probably the best from the time but it wasn't my favourite era (That was yet to come with the 'Buffalo Skinners' USA tour).
8. It was the end of the road with Mercury. What do you remember of the last days if anything?
Mark - I remember Chris Briggs playing guitar on the outro to one of our songs.
Tony - I never ever thought I'd be in a band that had such an obnoxious bunch of shites in control of its destiny.
Bruce - It was the end of the road with Mercury and I don't actually remember much. Stuart was super fit and looking great, not unlike an early Elvis. I quit smoking and ballooned up like the dynamite lady with missing teeth. Tone was all dread locked up and was seen on a few occasions with a Rickenbacker bass (Too toppy Tone, you're a precision guy). We had an 'A & R' guy called Russ Conway, who didn't know his arse from his elbow.
9. Chris Briggs immediately resigned you. Backwards or forwards move?
Mark - Forwards.
Tony - It was a forward move that just didn't move forward.
Bruce - It was a fantastic move as far as I was concerned. We went in to the studio with Simon Phillips on drums. He learned that whole album in his car. He had the songs on cassette and had scoped them in London traffic jams. He completed the album in 3 days, every take was first take except for when we ran out of tape halfway through a song.
10. You made 5 promo clips from these songs. Which was your favourite? Which one did you enjoy making?
Mark - Ships (both cases).
Tony - 'Republican' was fun. Nothing stands out about the others.
Bruce - We actually made six promo videos for this period. 'Save Me' and 'Heart Of The World' were directed by Howard Greenhalgh. They were really good promos as they had the band appearing in front of all these really weird effects. In reality we were just performing in front of a blue screen. Roger Pomphrey who was involved with Dave Stewart, directed 'Republican Party Reptile' and 'Beautiful People'. THe line up was still Chris and Colin on drums and keys and I still think these are good promos for the time. 'Alone' - again directed by Roger but this time we had Martin Chambers from the Pretenders on drums. Martin had a tendancy to fall asleep quite a lot. 'Ships' - can't remember who directed it but Mark was back in the band and we had a chick in a body suit lying in a bath. All in all, not a great time but 'The Buffalo Skinners' were around the corner.
This album represents my thoughts about how the album should have been heard originally. These (reasonably well made) demos illustrate a band ready and willing to go into a studio and try to improve on what it new (sic) to be more than good enough, to produce a high quality album. Even contracting the services of Pat Moran compounded our wish to move on and advance carelessly into new vistas. We even got to go back to rocks' ancestral home; 'Rockfield Studios'.
I'll not pull my punches. No Place Like Home turned out to be the sad product of an inexperienced A&R person and his tyrannical boss. Between the two the final product was not going to be anything but sub-standard, no matter what we tried. It was a shame that the record company didn't dump us before we made the record. Ever since, I considered this to be the group's lowest point. Then I heard these demos again and realised it wasn't - until the record company took over. When you hear these demos you may just understand what I mean.
Tony Butler - November 2003
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