Happy Birthday Billy Childish!

Celebrating the birthday of painter/poet and musician Billy Childish with a chat with Ian Svenonius, "Troubled Mind" and more.

Two For The Weekend: Cream Soda

UK garage punk trio Cream Soda kick out two Medway-style rockers "Excuses" b/w "Mrs. Barker" on a limited lathe-cut single.

Cream Soda are a trio of late teens hailing from the Medway delta. They offer Punk Rocked Power Pop, fused with 60s Freakbeat and Garage, as well as the late 80s indie stuff.

Respecting the past, with eyes firmly on the road ahead, they echo the classic Medway sound, like The Prisoners and Thee Milkshakes, whilst also incorporating more recent influences.

The idea behind Cream Soda started in late October of 2023 when singer/guitarist Tom Page and drummer Tom Emerick, accompanied by one of Page’s mates on bass, started playing original material in various garages after becoming acquainted through Music GCSE at Rainham Mark Grammar School, Medway. Due to creative disagreements, the bass player left and Jack Etheridge – another one of Tom Page’s mates joined the band; a guitarist by trade but was happy to pick up the four-stringed instrument.

Playing their first gig on 1st December 2023, Cream Soda have played throughout Kent and the South East since then, and continue to make noise on stages wherever they can.

With the help of Zach Moon (of Mitchell Lane and The Critic), Cream Soda recorded a version of their Song ‘Mrs Barker’ and made it available on Soundcloud. 

A few months later, they went into Ranscombe Studios and recorded five more songs. One of which ‘Someone I’m Not’ was released on Dammit Records’ October 2024 compilation via Bandcamp.

On Cream Soda's lathe-cut 7-inch – released in a numbered limited edition of 20 copies (now sold out) in a generic brown paper sleeve – ’Excuses’ is the second of the Ranscombe Studios songs to be revealed to the public, as well as a remaster of ‘Mrs Barker’ on the flip. 

Hopefully Spinout will press up a proper vinyl edition of Cream Soda's savage seven with a picture sleeve, but until then, have a listen to both sides below. 

Heavens to murgatroyd, it's Billy Childish's birthday even!

Raising a glass to Billy Childish with a 2019 performance, a chat with Toyah Willcox and a documentary you may have missed.

Happy Birthday Billy Childish!

Celebrating the birthday of musician, poet and painter Billy Childish with the Sunday Painter documentary and two interviews. 

One For The Weekend: Guy Hamper Trio

Check out the house rockin' instro "Man In The Mouth Of A Cave" featuring UK Hammond hero James Taylor & Billy Childish.

Here's the scoop...

Superb 45 featuring two Hammond-led instrumentals. The A-side is taken from The Guy Hamper Trio’s second long player due out on Hangman Records. The B-side is exclusive to this release. Billy Childish fills in the details. 

A Side: ‘Man in the Mouth of a Cave’

I have painted St. Cuthbert’s Cave, Northumberland on many occasions and decided that it was imperative that I write a great jazz /beat theme all about it. (Important info: After Viking raids monks from Lindisfarne wandered the north-east carrying the body of St. Cuthbert. Legend has it that they took refuge in ‘St. Cuthbert’s Cave.’) I wrote the song with my friend Jamie Taylor in mind to have his way with it, which he does to thunderous applause – I should imagine.

B Side: ‘107 Sleepless’ (alternate take)

‘107 Sleepless’ is a tune I wrote in the early 1980s when me and Mick Hampshire would stay up the entire weekend writing songs for our group The Milkshakes. (We lived at 107 Rochester Street, Chatham.) About 3am Sunday morning we would be flagging and sitting there senseless. I would play this jazz riff over and over for some unknown reason. Meanwhile it should make a nice theme tune to some yet to be written HBO series and make me a millionaire – I should imagine.

Get it here. Have a listen to the A Side below. 

 

New 'Failure Not Success' album from Wild Billy Childish due Feb 24

Billy Childish reprises some old faves by Richard Hell and Jimi Hendrix on his new Failure Not Success album on Damaged Goods.

Here's the scoop...
Failure Not Success is the new studio album by Wild Billy Childish & CTMF featuring our man at his songwriting best! The 12-track album includes covers of tunes by Richard Hell ("Love Comes In Spurts") and Jimi Hendrix ("Fire") along with a newly recorded version of the classic "Bob Dylan’s Got a Lot to Answer For." It's coming out February 24th via Damaged Goods. If your local record shop won't stock it, you can mail order a copy right here.  

Check out the full track list below followed by a two-part radio interview with Marc Riley and two songs from the new album, the title track "Failure Not Success," and a cover of "Love Comes In Spurts." 

Failure Not Success – Wild Billy Childish & CTMF

1. Love Comes in Spurts

2. Failure Not Success

3. Beneath the Flowers Serpents

4. Walk of the Sasquatch

5. Hanging by a Tenuous Thread

6. Fire

7. The Old Long Bar

8. Come into My Life

9. Skinwalker

10. Becoming Unbecoming Me

11. Moon of the Popping Trees

12. Bob Dylan’s Got a Lot to Answer For

Hammond hero James Taylor sits in with the Guy Hamper Trio

Billy Childish has enlisted Prisoners' keyboard ace James Taylor for his new Guy Hamper Trio album All Poisons In The Mud.

Midweek Mixdown: Rupert Orton's Pink Lemonade w/ Billy Childish

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Here's the scoop...

Rupert's special guest on his latest Pink Lemonade show for Totally Wired Radio is the one and only Billy Childish (Wild Billy Chyldish & CTMF ) - Legendary hero to Jack White, Andrew Weatherall and countless others... Billy picks a bunch of blues & country tunes which had a big influence on him and we chat about how he developed his unique sound with a Revox G36 Tape Recorder, the broken wheel Medway Delta rhythm, drinking green tea with Bianca Jagger; his latest project The William Loveday Intention and lots more... There’s also a special Red Rooster Festival live preview plus new music from Joshua Hedley, Nick Waterhouse, Daemönik Fonce, The Hanging Stars and Sister Cookie. 

Listen right here. 

Watch Billy Childish and crew tear it up at the BBmix Festival in Boulogne-Billancourt, France back on November 23, 2019 below.

Billy Childish sneaks out two new William Loveday Intention LPs

Billy Childish's new WLI albums, The Bearded Lady... and Blud Under The Bridge are available now with a 4CD box on the way. 

Now available from Damaged Goods are the last two in the set of 4 LP’s by The William Loveday Intention, ‘Blud Under The Bridge’ and ‘The Bearded Lady Also Sells The Candy Floss’, both on LP and will be joined later in the month by the 4-CD box set of all four albums, entitled ‘The Dept. Of Discontinued Lines’ Mailorder info right here. 

Here's the scoop...

The William Loveday Intention – Why the new band name?

Because it’s William Loveday’s group – they are a new band.

The new version of ‘My Love for you’ has a spaghetti western/Ennio Morricone feel. Were those classic western films and soundtracks an inspiration for you growing up?

The young William Loveday did see those movies on release as his father was a fan and took him along to see them. William himself was never a great fan, but it seems that something left a stain on his consciousness.

Julie does a great job with the vocal on this one. Are there any more unreleased Julie vocals in the vaults?

There are one or two other songs that J.W. Loveday has sung on – but she is hard a hard girl to nail down.

Who played the brass on the recording?

Tom Morley is the trumpet player for the William Loveday Intention.

‘A La Mort Surbite (sitting in Jacques Brel’s Seat)’ is the single’s other song, what inspired the lyrics for it?

William Loveday’s many visits to Belgium in the 1980s to see his love interest (who was flemish). This song is about the bar A La Mort Surbite (the Sudden Death) in Brussels were they would often go to drink.

Will there be any other releases by The William Loveday Intention or just this single?

The William Loveday Intention are currently recording 4 LPs.

The debut 7″ single by The William Loveday Intention was released in June 2020. ‘My Love For You’ was pressed on khaki green vinyl (150 copies) and light blue vinyl (350) copies.

There are plans to release four albums by The William Loveday Intention. The first was released in October and is titled People Think They Know Me But They Don’t Know Me.

The remaining three albums are all recorded and sound excellent. 

Check out a couple tracks from The William Loveday Intention below. 

Billy Childish vs. Link Wray

Wild Billy Childish & his CTMF crew cut loose on Link Wray's Comananche as a closer at BBmix in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. 

Watch Billy Childish in Hamburg, 1992

Here's some fine footage of Billy Childish in Hamburg back in 1992 followed by a clip from his latest album Last Punk Standing.