Landspeed Loungers
With the 'forgotton' album scheduled for release soon, its about time that this interview found its way into press...
Rewind to March 1999. Three excited members of the now legendary and delightfully off-kilter Landspeed Loungers are giddily answering questions as they await the start of Radio One's Mary Anne Hobbs Show.
Since the call had come from the Evening Session's producer, the then brightest hopes of the Leeds scene had been eagerly listening to the radio all week. Steve Lamacq was regularly spinning 'Paul' from their brilliant These Guys Are All Dead EP sending the band into various states of ecstasy and denial when they first found out:
"I went into a giddy stupor and ran around the room before phoning everyone I could think of so I could tell them!" says Steve Adams, then guitarist of the Loungers explaining his immediate reaction.
"I didn't believe it and went for a curry" deadpans vocalist Dave Cooke - "...so I feel gutted!"
Bassist Eric Jackson sure knew how to celebrate though: "I bought some cigars and bought a bottle of the second cheapest wine known to man - which was really foul. I've got some more in tonight to celebrate today's play of the record!"
The band were already on a high after completing a tour of the UK. No mean feat having spent the last couple of weeks stuck in a van with buddies/hate figures The Scaramanga Six. "They're a good band and everything but they're boring and they can't take their ale!" according to a sniggering Steve.
Things reached fever pitch with their new record being played daily by Lammo and co on Radio One. So just what is it like hearing your own music on Radio One?
"It's like Leeds United playing Man United in an FA Cup Final," explains Steve, "...and ten minutes to go, we're losing 1-0. Then getting an equaliser with seven minutes to go, then getting the winning goal when they said that they'd be playing it again... basically it's just a cue to leap around the room a fair bit!"
The boys go on to explain why they feel vindicated - not having any label support to call on in putting out their own EP.
"We feel proved right." Says Dave comically. "We feel that everyone else was wrong and they've had to now admit it."
"We've just done a successful tour, made a CD ourselves, without any management or publishing, record company or any other backup..." continues Eric; "...so it was just a great feeling to think that it is possible to do that on our own.
"This is the year of the Lounger... like our own Chinese New Year, the stars are in our favour. We can do headline gigs easily in Leeds or London when we want... all over people will be saying I can't believe it's not Lounger!"
In between catching up on all the radio play news and usual Loungers horseplay, leedsmusicscene somehow got onto the now strangely portentous subject of musical differences...
"Yeah, we always have musical differences." Replied Dave laughing.
A few months later, after yet more radio play, orders for the EP from all over the UK, industry bigshots and Sleeper guitarists getting involved with the band, on the cusp of releasing their debut album; suddenly the Loungers split.
It was a big shock at the time to their small army of fans, coming not long after the demise of the Loungers' much vaunted and nearly-made-it compadres Chest. Apart from (those alleged lightweights in the drinking department) The Scaramanga Six making their usual racket, things had gone all a little quiet in Leeds.
Fast forward to July 2002. leedsmusicscene grabs a few minutes with now Being 747 frontman Dave Cooke. Cooke talks candidly for the first time about the end of the Loungers and confirms the whispers on the grapevine about the planned brief reunion and the planned release of the long-lost Loungers album that never was.
"It is going to come out, yeah. You see the thing is, we recorded a load of songs for an album before we split up but I don't think it's some of our best stuff so I would argue the case that some of it shouldn't find it's way onto an album. Though saying that, just as we split up there were a couple of songs that were really good that we never actually got round to recording.
"The thing is we had an album recording session, but I would like to play around with it a little. Bill (Barlett, guitarist) has got loads and loads of stuff of ours recorded onto minidisc - he was recording all the time. I'd like to really sit down with all this stuff to choose from and really put out something that represents us - rather than a collection of the obvious.
"We really need to get together and talk about it. We are agreed that we are going to do it.
"Things are a lot more amicable now - especially all doing the Wrath (Records) thing, it's really ironed out any ill feeling."
So bringing things right up to date, here we are, Friday 13th September 2002. Tonight sees Dave's Being 747 playing with Galitza at Joseph's Well. Bar singer Emma, Galitza comprise of all of Dave's former Loungers bandmates. leedsmusicscene learnt last week that punters are likely be treated to a reprise of 'Sweet Pea', one of the Loungers' best loved songs if not a whole lot more by a briefly reformed Landspeed Loungers - if they can remember how to play them that is!
Things certainly have moved on in Leeds since the heady days of the bowling-shirted Loungers. With The Music riding high in the charts, Parva not too far behind them plus a host of other bands just waiting in the wings, things are looking very healthy again. But for nostalgia's sake and to hark back to the last golden age of the Leeds scene and see two damn fine bands in their own right anyway, get down to the Well tonight. Hold back the tears, it's bound to be emotional, but one thing's for sure, you won't believe it's not Lounger...
