FST 059 JOHNNY SAYS YEAH! - FRIENDS GONE BY

 

            Johnny Says Yeah!      -     Friends gone by 1986-1989

13 Track CD- Album

Cat.No. FST 059

 

                        Wainting here for me

                        Bittersweet

                        Some things are more simple

                        Better off dead

                        Suzie

                        Times comes to a standstill

                        Promises

                        I won´t let you go

                        But it´s true

                        Everything is mine

                        In my heart

                        Happiness is such a thing

                        Now I´ll dream

 

 

Was hat man denn da schon wieder nettes ausgegraben bei Firestation? Ein Stück britischer Popmusikgeschichte, das wahrscheinlich nicht allzu Vielen etwas sagen wird. Selbst das Internet schweigt auf ein Anfragegesuch hin beharrlich. Johnny Says Yeah wurde von den beiden Brüdern Jools und Jason Wilson aus der Taufe gehoben. Zusammen mit einer Handvoll weiterer Musiker entstand eine ganze Reihe toller Songs, so u. a. der elegante Opener „Waiting Here For Me“. Höhepunkt im Schaffen von Johnny Says Yeah! war sicherlich die BBC Session, die ihnen zuteil wurde. Außerdem gab es noch zwei veröffentlichte Singles. Letzten Endes zählt aber nicht der Erfolg, sondern lediglich das Engagement, es überhaupt gemacht zu haben. Diese Liedersammlung, die zwischen 1986 und 1987 aufgenommen und 2004 neu gemastert wurde, wird für so manche Erinnerung an die guten alten Zeiten sorgen. 8 / 10

                            www.soundmag.de

 

 

The Chesterfields, the Popguns, the Orchids, the Fat Tulips, tThe Strawberry Story, Heavenly, St Christopher, the Field Mice, the Brilliant Corners, Felt, the Pastels, the Wedding Present, the Desert Wolves, the Siddleys, the Flatmates, the Groove Farm, the Man From Delmonte.
If any of the above bands mean anything to you, then you’ll probably love Johnny Says Yeah as they are from the same rich mid 80’s indie-pop stock.
Having spent most of my formative teenage years in the mid 80’s and having been a big fan of the whole “C86” thing, I thought I had pretty much come across all of the bands from that era worth a listen. But I hadn’t reckoned upon the incredible skills of Berlin’s Firestation Records in unearthing nuggets such as this from the past. Firestation have already released 5 excellent compilation CDs highlighting a vast array of British indie-pop talent from the 1980’s and now are releasing individual retrospectives such as this one.
Of the 13 tracks here, 'Better Off Dead' is easily the most instant with trademark peels of brass lighting up a superb bounce-along tune, but in truth there isn’t a duff moment elsewhere. Quite staggering considering most of the tracks never really made it beyond the demo stage.
Singer Jason Wilson’s vocal style is very much of the time and the lyrics have a similar innocence, but that just lends to the charming appeal of the band and their above mentioned contemporaries. We may be nearly 20 years on, but for 30-somethings, like me, who want to remember music from outside the mainstream, CDs like this are vital.

Dixie Ernill

www.pennyblackmusic.com