OUT NEXT MONTH!

Two great new releases coming next month, both available to preorder now!

At long last, the Daggermen's one and only album is back out again and we also have a lovely French language 7" by the Courettes on PINK vinyl! Oooh La la!

Read on for more info and click HERE or on the pics to order!

** RELEASE DATE - 21st OCTOBER **

The Daggermen - Dagger In My Mind (CD/LP)

Long-awaited reissue of a Medway classic!

12-track vinyl LP and 18-track CD including bonus tracks.

This is one of the most legendary albums of the Medway scene, originally released on Own-Up Records back in 1986 now back out with additional photos and newly revised artwork by Mr Bruce Brand of Arthole Retrographics

Here's what Wolf had to say about the band...

The Daggermen all went to Rede Secondary School in Medway, Kent. It was a school for those that failed their 11 plus, or who passed it but decided to go there anyway (as Jon pretends).  Being in some of the same classes we became friends and found we liked the same music; The Who, The Small Faces, The Kinks, The Beatles and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. We started going to Carnaby Street, wearing Beatle boots and generally being a bit Moddy.

Dave’s older brother, James Taylor, played organ in The Prisoners and we’d listen to cassette tapes of them along with other local band, The Milkshakes as we bounced on the trampoline during P.E. After watching both bands play live in local venues such as the M.I.C. club in Chatham we formed The Daggermen, working out who was going to play which instrument as we stood next to the now demolished school sports hall.

No one can quite remember who thought of the name, The Daggermen (it was me) or how comes Jon was playing bass on a guitar in the band at the very start and then Terry took over when we started gigging (it was because he had a real bass guitar and a car). But the next thing was that we were supporting The Prisoners both in Medway and places such as the 100 Club in Oxford Street.

Then, one sunny day at around the age of 17, I bumped into Billy Childish walking across a field. I formally introduced myself and told him that he should definitely come and see our band that night because we were “fucking brilliant”. He did turn up and bought us a tray of whiskies whilst we were on stage, a sure sign that he had liked it. This led to him and Russ Wilkins, bass player in The Milkshakes alongside Billy, asking us if we wanted to record an E.P. for Russ’s label, Empire Records. This was our first ever recording called Introducing The Daggerman which was made in a brick arch under Rochester bridge that we rented for £2 a week to rehearse in and lovingly referred to as ‘The Hole’.

We got ourselves a “manager” (our mate, Vic Templar) and started playing up and down England, drinking as much as possible in the van on the way to each gig, often paralytic by the time we went on stage. Our musical style was a sort of mixture of punk and mod and we played covers such as ‘Heatwave’ (The Who’s version) and ‘Get Ready’ by the Temptations, along with Dave and Terry’s originals.

Then came a change of line up when Jon resumed his position as bass player and Terry left for America. We started wearing military jackets thanks to Jimi Hendrix and made our first long player, Dagger In My Mind (I got the title off an episode of Star Trek, although I remembered it wrong and it should have been ‘Dagger Of The Mind’). The album was produced by James Taylor and Allan Crockford of The Prisoners at Woolly Studios on the Isle of Sheppey in 1986.

This line-up played together for a couple of years up and down the country (also with a few gigs in France) before we called it a day and sailed off into the future in bands such as The James Taylor Quartet, The Kravin’ “A”s, The Solarflares and Billy Childish and The Buff Medways.  As energetic youths, we had a lot of fun and I am very proud to have been part of The Daggermen.  We hope you enjoy these recordings, now all gathered together for the first time.

Sincerely yours,

Wolf Howard, Cafe Mozart, Chatham

CD TRACKLISTING

1 – It’s You I See  2 – What Do I Do For You  3 – There’s No Escaping  4 – I’ve Been Hurt

5 – I Have Lost Heart  6 – You Were Meant To Be  7 – Every Moment  8 – Dagger In My Mind  9 – That Girl

10 – D’you Think Of Me  11 – I Feel The Regret  12 – I’ve Been Searching  13 – Now It’s You I Need  14 – Ivor

15 – One More Letter  16 – I Wish You Were Mine  17 – Bundle  18 – No Reason

LP TRACKLISTING

1 – It’s You I See  2 – What Do I Do For You  3 – There’s No Escaping  4 – I’ve Been Hurt  5 – I Have Lost Heart 6 – You Were Meant To Be 

7 – Every Moment  8 – Dagger In My Mind  9 – That Girl  10 – D’you Think Of Me  11 – I Feel The Regret  12 – I’ve Been Searching

AND!

The Courettes - Bye Bye Mon Amour (pink vinyl 7")

The A-side 'Bye Bye Mon Amour' is a re-recorded French language version of their first Damaged Goods 7” 'Want You! Like a Cigarette'.

The original English language version features on the B-Side. Great news for anyone who missed out on the long since sold out 7” from 2020!

Here's the wonderful Flavia Couri with a few words about the single...

“We are big fans of '60s French pop - Gainsbourg, Sylvie Vartan, Jacques Dutronc, France Gall and many more. We love the versions made in France of the British and American hits back them, like Marie Laforet’s version of Stones’ 'Paint it Black' ('Marie Douceur') and Petula Clark’s version of The Kinks’ 'A Well Respected Man' ('A Jeune Homme Bien'). So we decided to have our own Frenchy pop hit! Please welcome 'Bye Bye, mon amour'! Because nous desirons les francophone fans comme a un cigarette! Hope the French, the Canadians, the English, the Danes, the Brazilian, the whole planet, the whole galaxy enjoy it. Turn up your volume and allez-y!”

Lots more releases coming in November...

Thee Headcoat Sect 7", Billy Childish & The Singing Loins LP/CD, Guy Hamper Trio LP/CD...and more!

Thanks for Reading!

Ian & Duncan