1. Shortest War – Flexible Response

I bought the EP Mint Sauce For The Masses on its release in 1980 and the best track on it –  The Shortest War became one of the first tunes I ever played in a band. Apparently it’s only an instrumental because the singer didn’t turn up to the recording session. Great nonetheless.

Flexible Response – The Shortest War

2. Base Line – The Beatstalkers

I had the good fortune to play in a band supporting The Beatstalkers at Barrowlands when they briefly reformed in the early 2000s. That night they played this classic which later, with lyrics, evolved into I Can Only Give You Everything for The Troggs, Them and a million other garage bands in 1966.

Shortened: Ed + g video vsl

3. Sympathetic Anaesthetic – Fire Engines

The Fire Engines were one of my first music obsessions. I stupidly thought Edinburgh was a great place to be in a band and all the attention the city and the rest of Scotland was getting circa 1980 was all totally normal and would continue forever.

Fire Engines – Sympathetic Anaesthetic 

4. Mind Blender – The Wildebeests

The Wildebeests are good friends of mine and I think I saw pretty much all their early gigs. This bit of tank pok is from their third and finest LP Dimbo Party from 1998.

Mindblender – YouTube

5. TV Set – The Prats

When I was still in 2nd year at high school a friend told me another friend of his, our age, from Oxgangs played in a band and they were having a record released on Rough Trade. Of course I didn’t believe him. Turned out to be true. For the last 20 years I’ve been slowly making a documentary film about those teen wonders called Poxy Pop Stars. It’ll be finished one day hopefully.

TV Set

Tartan 21 – The Prats Poxy Pop Groups Teaser – YouTube

Angus’s alter ego Preston Pfanz (with The Seaton Sands) will be playing an instrumental in store album launch for their LP Return To Burnt Island at Elvis Shakespeare on Edinburgh’s  Leith Walk at 3pm, this Saturday 27th September

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