MORE UNEASY LISTENING

The initial copies of The Skids 1980 LP The Absolute Game came with a bonus second disc entitled Strength Through Joy.  Unlike nowadays when bonus discs have a premium attached to them this was a genuine free giveaway with the first pressings of the LP.....my copy still has the £2.99 price label on it (it looks as if it was purchased from a branch of John Menzies, which in those days was the Scottish equivalent of WH Smith in that it was a newsagent/bookseller who also sold records.)

My copy of the bonus disc is pretty much in mint condition for the simple reason that I played it maybe two or three times at most when it was purchased and then never again until a few days ago when I dug it out to play and convert into mp3s.  I'm really not sure, other than for the novelty factor, whether it was worth the effort.

Don't go thinking this is a disc of some long-lost Skids classics or studio outtakes.  It's best described as experimental.....at a time when lead singer Richard Jobson wanted to give the band to a  more traditional, fol-style and artistic bent when guitarist and lead songwriter Stuart Adamson wanted to keep things going just they way they were, the recording of this bonus LP probably played a big part in keeping the band together for a wee while longer.

The first side of The Absolute Game contains five tracks of which three were released as singles.  The other two tracks could easily have been 45s as well as they are hugely catchy and commercial.  The second side is a bit more patchy, but overall, the LP musters pass marks, and if I was into ratings it would be a 6 or a 7.

The bonus LP though is, to my ears, a bit of a dud. At best a 2 out of 10  Wiki says it is a collection of songs in which members of the band played each other's instruments.  That may well be the case, but it's not the playing that grates so much as the dullness of the tunes. Judge for yourself:-

mp3 : The Skids - An Incident In Algiers
mp3 : The Skids - Grievance
mp3 : The Skids - Strength Through Joy
mp3 : The Skids - Filming Africa
mp3 : The Skids - A Man For All Seasons
mp3 : The Skids - Snakes and Ladders
mp3 : The Skids - Surgical Triumph
mp3 : The Skids - The Bell Jar

I was of the impression that these tracks have been unavailable for years, but it turns out that a 2008 CD reissue of The Absolute Game saw them made available along with the single edits of the 45s and this rather  ordinary near- instrumental but brilliantly titled piece of music which was originally a b-side:-

mp3 : The Skids - Monkey McGuire Meets Specky Potter Behind The Lochore Institute

The Lochore Institute really does exist.  Click here to read all about the village and its attractions.....

Whether Monkey McGuire and Specky Potter were real people only Mr Jobson now has the answer......