Joe writes: The Crocketts built a dedicated live following but there
was something slightly comedic about them (not least their name, as their
singer was called Davey), which I felt held them back. But they did have one
wonderful song, Mrs Playing Dead. Its opening lines are almost perfect:
"It's not every afternoon that you walk into a bar" (I always thought
it should be "a room") "and I look at a woman and I know I'm gonna love her all of my life".
Next came The Crimea, who featured two members of The Crocketts - singer and songwriter Davey Macmanus and drummer Owen Hopkin. They were a serious band with a serious name which was partly a reaction to the comedic element I mentioned earlier. I stumbled across them by chance at In The City (a now-defunct music industry conference which gave many bands early opportunities). Their gig was shambolic but I thought songs like Baby Boom and Bombay Sapphire Coma were literate yet anthemic, with the most wonderful extended melodies, and lyrics that pinpointed the male psyche like no-one else. They became the first signing to my publishing company and the first band I worked closely with.
There was a time when every relevant Radio 1 specialist
DJ was a fan of theirs, including John Peel and Zane Lowe. Then they signed to Warner Bros US and disappeared to
the US to remake their album (which, in retrospect, was unnecessary). By the
time they returned home, their moment at Radio 1 had passed, never to return.
After leaving Warner Bros, they made headlines around the
world by giving their second album away for free online, but they didn't manage to capitalise
on that moment in the spotlight, nor on a TV ad for the most commercial track
on that album, Loop The Loop.
Like The Crocketts, they built a loyal fanbase without truly breaking, and I'm still hurting about that, but at least they left behind
some wonderful, unique music:
There's one Crimea song you should hear that isn't on Spotify et al - Six Shoulders Six Stone, wherein Davey's girlfriend dies from anorexia. It's hard for me to be objective about The Crimea so I will you leave you to decide whether this is brilliant or uncomfortable or both. It's definitely brave:
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