Digging for Vinyl - Terence Trent D'Arby - Neither Fish Nor Flesh

     Straightaway I came across this record that I had only remembered the cover of but not the actual music, the band was called The Thought and on the cover is this guy who looks like he either has a pounding headache or he's some kind of mentalist trying to lift a glass of water with his "thoughts"…I'm betting on the latter. After some research I found out they were a Dutch band that had a minor club hit in 1983 with a cover of the Electric Prunes' "I HadToo Much Dream Last Night"…mystery solved.  Some of you might remember (well I hope you remember) in last week's DFV post I couldn't remember a title of a record that Kevin who works at Alleycats Music & Art had showed me, so as soon as he had time I got him to dig it out, it was a various artists record called 'Life In The European Theater'. It turns out it was an anti-nuke record put out by some of the top New Wave/ Two-Tone British bands of the day, like The Clash, The Jam, The Specials, XTC…the only non-British band on the record is The Doors…I didn't pick it up but if it's still there this week it might be spinning on my turntable tomorrow night. 

     With the news that Canadian band The Grapes Of Wrath are releasing their first album in 22 years I'm thinking it was fate that I came across their 1987 record Treehouse, it contained such memorable songs as "O Lucky Man" and "Peace of Mind", they just had this cool folk rock style that always played right. Another Canadian record that I came across was Boomtown by the now MP Andrew Cash. Some really impressive music was coming out around this time and it all had this Alt/Country/Folk sound tied around it, Cash along with The Skydiggers familiarized me to a different genre of music that I was just starting to emerge myself in. 

   Some artist's first record is their "hit" record, it's the album that puts them on top, they win all the awards, it sells a bazillion copies, it makes them a star…then it's time for their sophomore album. Terence Trent D'Arby's sophomore album was called Neither Fish Nor Flesh and in my view is far superior to his debut album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby. Finding the vinyl of Neither Fish Nor Flesh mixed in with the "common folk" I rescued it and transported it home where it found its rightful place. Where his first record (don't get me wrong it's a really good listen) just seemed hit produced Neither Fish Nor Flesh is on the "out there" side, you have to work with it, you put on your headphones and take the time to find out what TTD was up to when he came up with the ideas that were eventually pressed into the black old. Finding this was a real treat also because back in the day I only had it on cassette, so to be able to flip sides made it all the more real.
***BTW just in case you didn't know Terence Trent D'Arby does not go by that name anymore, since 1995 he's been going by the name Sananda Francesco Maitreya***

Don't forget to check out Alleycats Music & Art in Downtown Orillia….you want music, they have you covered.

  See you next Wednesday in the Vinyl Bins

Joe Cornelisse-SMM

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Alleycats Music & Art

95 Mississauga St. E, Orillia, Ontario

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Tue - Sat: 11:00 - 5:00 PM

Sun: 12:00 - 4:00 PM

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