Diggin’ For GOLD LABEL OF LOVE NEEDLE MYTHOLOGY Pete Paphides Q&A (founder)

Interview: Jamie Atkins

There’s plenty you can tell about the coming fortunes of a record label from the enthusiasm of those behind it. So, judging from the state of my wants list after an hour or so sat around the kitchen table of its founder – writer and broadcaster Pete Paphides – the future of Needle Mythology looks rosy. From waxing lyrical about Barry Booth’s 1968 album, Diversions (featuring lyrics by future Pythons Terry Jones and to take shape. With the first two Michael Palin) to praising the musical releases on Needle Mythology – comfort food of Eleanor Friedberger’s reissues of that Broudie album, plus third solo album, 2016’s New View, the original configuration of Stephen Paphides has the sort of zealot’s Duffy’s I Love My Friends (1998), enthusiasm for music that can cause each featuring fanbait bonuses – otherwise sane individuals to gaze imminent, RC was keen to find out longingly at the label logo and more, starting with the big question. catalogue number on a sleeve and think, “I could do that.” Why start a label? And now Paphides’ daydreams The short answer is that there were have become reality, with his first a bunch of records that I wanted to pair of releases about to hit the racks. have in my collection and I didn’t, They’ve been a while in the making. because they just didn’t exist on vinyl. A few years back, following his weekly So I had to put them out myself. Pete Paphides in his Soho Radio show, Paphides happened record room: “It’s all to bump into vinyl enthusiast and And why Needle Mythology? a bit of a dream” record label manager, Will Harris. It’s the name of a song from Duffy, Naturally, the conversation turned the Stephen Duffy album prior to the to the contents of Pete’s record box, one we’re putting out. I like the double Friends by Duffy is one of the first contained in Andy Partridge’s shed. which happened to include a lone CD meaning. The protagonist in the song releases. How did that happen? The next thing I’d heard, Stephen among the vinyl – Ian Broudie of The is a girl who’s lost her way in life I’d been a fan of his for a long while. had taken Mao Badge and In The Lightning Seeds’ 2004 solo album, because she’s fallen for the mythology I used to write him fan letters and Evening Of Her Day, these two Tales Told. According to Will, “I love that surrounds hard drugs. About six always followed his progress. I’m from absolute career-highlight songs, The Lightning Seeds, but this record years ago I hosted two series’ of a Birmingham, too, so there was a off the album. These lovely, baroque, had somehow escaped my attention. show for 6Music called Vinyl Revival certain amount of civic pride in his orchestral, expansive and beautiful This was a totally unacceptable state and I persuaded Stephen to record early success. I thought it was just songs made way for these perfectly of affairs for Pete, so he literally forced a jingle for me based on Needle so brilliant that he jacked in the solo pleasant but not exceptional Andy the CD into my hands and told me to Mythology. So it’s been kicking around career to form this group called The Partridge productions. It was still go home and listen to it!” in my head for a while as Lilac Time. I read about them before a good album – two songs can’t This got the pair thinking about a good name for a label, while giving I heard them but even so, I was so make that much of a difference – other albums that were long due a nod to my favourite songwriter. sold on the idea of just abandoning but I just thought, “One day this has a vinyl release. One thing led to the 80s prematurely – of the group to come out as originally intended.” another, and Needle Mythology began So it’s fitting that I Love My going off to The Malverns to live in a house and make this pastoral pop And how about the Ian Broudie LP? music. Nobody else was doing I’d always loved him. Even when he anything like that at the time. became known as the Three Lions Then I heard the records and loved bloke, to me he was the guy who them. I edited a fanzine [Perturbed] produced the Bunnymen, Shack and and interviewed him for that and when The Pale Fountains – this unassuming I moved to London we kind of became but influential figure on the Liverpool friends but I never stopped being a post-punk scene. The Lightning fan. So, when he was due to release Seeds had slightly gone to ground – I Love My Friends on Indolent, then I think Three Lions had burned them BMG’s indie subsidiary, he sent me out a little bit – and he was pondering a cassette – because it was the 90s his options. He was going through and there were still cassettes. I heard a period of turbulence in his personal it and thought, “He’s done it. This is life and was a bit lost so he went his masterpiece.” back to what he knew, which was Over the Christmas of 1996 producing young bands. I just became obsessed with it. It Tales Told came out on Deltasonic was confessional but had these quiet in 2004. I put it on and was quite moments alongside power-pop; the shocked because it was quite fragile sonic landscape of the record was and emotionally bare – he sounds always changing and the tunes and almost a bit shell-shocked, like he’s lyrics were brilliant. not quite sure what’s going to happen A few weeks later I heard the to him. It was a bit heart-breaking to record company was saying that hear the guy who wrote Pure – to me, they didn’t hear any singles on it, the perfect love song – writing songs so they wanted him to work with that seem to be an inversion of that; Andy Partridge on a few more songs, when you can no longer believe in because apparently the magical perfect love what are you left with?

formula of Britpop success was And that’s what Tales Told is. Photo : Blly-Dean Cohen

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DFG.indd 32 11/04/2019 14:43:57 “This is ridiculous, he just had a whole album he didn’t put out... and we get to do it”: Needle Mythology’s reissue of Stephen Duffy’s I Love My Friends was a welcome opportunity for Paphides to “sweat the small stuff”

He was producing The Coral and And sourcing that extra material? like. the thickness of the cardboard, does the obvious thing on her albums The Zutons in Liverpool so basically, With the Ian one you get four songs, what finish to use on the sleeve – and uses a lot of people who sit he’d go to his hotel at night and write, three of which have never been that’s all a bit of a dream. outside the obvious pop and rock then bring these songs into the studio. released before. And that was just One thing we didn’t really foresee discourse. It’d be like a reintroduction So in between doing their songs he’d a product of sitting in his loft and is the problem with sleeve artwork on – this is what you’ve been missing. say, “Look, do you wanna play on having him play me stuff. He’d say, albums that have only previously been We’ve also got reissues of Robert this?” Which give it that that informal “What do you think of this one?... released on CD – you can’t just blow Forster of The Go-Betweens’ solo work quality. Certain records are like a And this one?” There’s a song called them up to LP size. So far, we’ve been on the way. We’re having a meeting moment in time; snapshots of an Something Street, which is quite using it as an opportunity to do when Robert’s next in the UK to unrepeatable moment in someone’s bare and sparse on the record but something different. Stephen Duffy discuss the extra tracks that will life, and they have that intimacy that he did a band version of it which has a design background and he had go with each album. And then it’s goes with that. That’s what Tales Told seems to have more major chords. a different sleeve and images he was a matter of getting the photographs means to me. It’s a beautiful record. It sounds really good – Ian Broudie’s quite keen to use. Ian Broudie had and finding the original artwork. songs being played by The Coral: of some photographs from the same Then there’s The Finn Brothers, How did you come to release it? course it’s good! I just felt like a session as the album cover shoot Butcher Boy, Linda Thompson and About 10 years ago I interviewed him competition winner. I used to buy this which were printed up really large. more – we’re keeping busy. and said, “One day I’d like to release man’s records when I was at college that on vinyl because it’s not really fair in my late teens. Which labels are you inspired by? Do you have a standout album that it didn’t come out.” With Ian, you I love Light In The Attic; Numero are you’d love to reissue? can’t get it into your head that he’s great, I don’t know how they do it; My dear wish is to put out the two ever been famous because everything “If the record John Jervis’ wiaiwya, it’s unbelievable albums Lewis Taylor made for Island he projects is completely counter to the stuff he puts out and he’s got [1996’s self-titled and 2000’s Lewis that… So he said, “Yeah, sure, that’ll is great, its a day job! Ace are on a roll with Bob II] but the cost to license them at the be great.” And because he’s so Stanley and Pete Wiggs doing these moment is prohibitive, which is sad casual, you think he’s humouring you. day will wonderful, thematically-connected because they’re brilliant and I want I got in touch nine years later and compilations like Paris In The Spring people to buy them. said [suddenly animated], “Ian, I’m always come” and The State Of The Union: you just thinking of starting a label and, you want to own them. I like compilations What has been the reality of know, we had a conversation that With the Duffy one it made sense that tell a story that you previously setting up a label? time and you said, ‘Sure.’ Were you to put those songs he worked on with didn’t know was there and Bob and The work is far greater than serious? Cos I’d actually really like to Andy Partridge on a bonus 7”. It was Pete’s Three Day Week does that I anticipated but that’s fine, I just do that and we’ve got distribution.” the obvious place for them to go as brilliantly. At the time, you would’ve keep going ’till it’s done. The attention And he just said, “Yeah, yeah, I was they don’t really sound like the rest been too close to see the story, that to detail that you need to have in serious, sure.” It’s like you’ve known of the record. Then Stephen – who it was even a phenomenon – it takes order to do it well is absolutely him forever, he’s so easy to get along is quite inscrutable in many ways – someone really smart to be able to necessary. with. He’d had approaches from other said, “I’ve just been looking through look back and say, “Each one of these labels but knew how much of a fan the archive and I’ve found an album’s records joins the dots and when you How has it been since the label’s of the record I am. worth of songs – original and pull them all together, this happens.” first pair of releases were unreleased, not alternative versions, In time to come, I would hope that announced? Which brings its own pressures… but actual songs – from that period we can diversify in terms of genres The early reaction to the label Obviously, yeah. I mustn’t fuck this up that never came out and I’ve been and I like the idea of going into has been far in excess of anything because he’s shown faith in me. listening back to them. They’re pretty intelligently-curated compilations. I imagined. Just seeing that there good. Do you want them?” And Bob’s one of my best friends and are people out there who are actually How did you go about making the they’re just astonishing. we’re constantly having conversations waiting for these records to come records special? I had one Sunday evening where about fantasy compilations. out! I’ve had some quite emotional Records are expensive these days. I sat listening to them where I’m messages from people who were So you have to make them special – sitting now and just started laughing And what comes next? always desperate to own these if you’re gonna buy a vinyl album and because I thought, “This is ridiculous, We’re quite far down the line in putting things in a form that did them there’s another record in there with he just had a whole album he didn’t together a Tanita Tikaram compilation. justice. I was always fairly confident it, that’s quite exciting. And if that put out... and we get to do it.” He We’ve cleared the tracks and the next that their day would come because record has unreleased material on it, was quite specific about how he conversation we need to have with they’re great records, and if the record that’s quite exciting as well. We could wanted it to come out. He thought her is about artwork, so that’s quite is great its day will always come. probably charge a little bit less if they it sat well as a standalone album, so exciting. I just think she’s this national didn’t include the extra record – I’ve he gave it its own title: Blown Away. treasure that we’ve kinda lost sight www.needlemythology.com been very careful to say, “This isn’t of. She’s made 10 albums and has a free record.” You’re probably getting How important is the packaging? evolved in such an interesting way. Ian Broudie’s Tales Told and that additional record at exactly what It’s really nice to sweat the details. She’s got this amazing husky voice Stephen Duffy’s I Love My Friends it cost us to make. Like what the spine’s going to look and is a brilliant lyricist. She never are released on 10 May.

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