Entertainment For Lively Minds
Jellyfish
Posted by Auntie Beryl on 23 September 2009 - 11:47pm.
Have we done this lot yet? Two albums that came out at the exact time that sounding like ELO and Wings and anything powerpoppy would be ignored, ie whilst shoegaze and grunge ruled. Yet they were fantastic.
I absolutely love 'em. Any other acolytes out there?
A sample:
(Embedding disabled by the evil EMI, I fear)
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a DJ mate
played this t'other month at an evening and I forgot how fabulous it was and immediately sought out a 7" copy. Danny Baker plays 'Baby's Coming Back' quite regularly. Are the albums worth checking out then?
You can get 'em for about a fiver each
..and neither will let you down. Bellybutton is pop prog, Spilt Milk more prog pop. Both fantastic.
I hadn't listened to them in ages
but I recently found my vinyl copy of Bellybutton, stuck it on the turntable and wondered why I never bought it on cd. Fantastic stuff, it was like being back at college again. But in a good way.
If you like Jellyfish...
...try listening to Jackdaw 4. (www.jackdaw4.com). It's often suggested in reviews that there is a similarity.
Why Would EMI...
disable that? it doesn't make any sense! If I could see it and hear it I might buy it!!
Just listened to Bellybutton....
...last Sunday. Great album (as is the other). Saw them live once, one of the few gigs in my life which I had to go to on my own as no one I knew liked them.
Saw them once too, Manchester
University. They were great. Jason Falkner's stuff is pretty good too.
They are delightful.
And I agree about Jason Falkner's solo stuff too. All a veritable box of ( power ) poppy delights. And talking of boxes, if you haven't already got it try to track down the 4 CD boxed set 'Fan Club' which gathers together a plethora of rarities including things like live renditions of Japanese pop hits. In Japanese.
Roger Manning Jr
Actually prefer the solo projects of Jason Falkner and Roger Manning- and boy there have been a few, even some they have worked on together
My favourite of Rogers is The Land of Pure Imagination
but this is a good faux-glam track from the more recent Catnip Dynamite
Anyone
share my passion for the similarly power poppy Linus of Hollywood?
I Had To Pass Up
my one and only chance of seeing them as it clashed with my sister-in-law's 30th. No comeptition you might think, but the family didn't see it that way.
It's also worth checking out
The Sonic Executive Sessions, who did a rip-roaring cover of an unreleased Jellyfish track - Hello
Ahhh, the Jellies...
One of my favourite bands of all time - both albums are great but "Spilt Milk" just tips it for me. Unfortunately I got into them just as they split, but I've done my best to catch up with the ex-members live; have seen Jason Falkner here and in the US a few times.
Just a shame that the other main songwriter, Andy Steurmer, now restricts his musical output to writing songs for Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel.
I did try the Jackdaw 4 (mentioned above) but was a bit disappointed, having heard them hyped as the "new Jellyfish"... they didn't come close for me.
Imperial Drag
The Jellyfish follow on band from Roger Manning and Jason Falkner are worth checking too
And Martin Gordon's new album is very Jellyfish
baby's coming back
i have their 'nappy' cd single of 'baby's coming back'from 1991 and saw them at that inxs concert of the same year at wembley stadium
Just stunning.
Someone gave Bellybutton five stars in Q.
They're best live band I've ever seen. And Guy Chambers, whose then band The Lemon Trees supported them, agrees with me. Because he told me. So there.
Spilt Milk is a tad overblown but still wonderful.
But, overall, a staggeringly good band who were not right for their time but who seem to crop up on these boards with refreshing regularity.
Unfortunately
never saw them live (apart from on TV). Love the albums and the Sonic Executive Sessions covers.
Also fortunate enough to possess a copy of the 'Fan Club' boxed set, which I found on eBay.
For me, Spilt Milk is up there with the best albums ever - wonderful stuff.
Had Imperial Drag, but let it go recently. Keep meaning to check out solo projects, Uma Jets, Faulkner, Manning etc.
Jon Brion played with them, but is apparently not everyone's cup of tea as a producer. I like the stuff he's done with Aimee Mann.
Interesting ( ish ) fact-
Roger Manning has played keys on the last few Morrissey albums.
Is it too late to add
that I love them too? Brilliant band. Better than the Stones (*gets coat*)
The Goat At Number One
Shouldn't that be 'Gets Goat'....of die-hard Stones fan?
It's never too late to admit to liking Jellyfish
I've been haunting music biz and mag boards for years, both here and in the States, and the one name that comes up, more than any other, when the question is asked along the lines of: "who should have made it but didn't?" is Jellyfish.
It's as if the industry thinks one thing and the public thinks another. Who would have thought it?