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Origin | Liverpool, England |
---|---|
Genres | New wave, indie pop |
Years active | 1980-present[1] |
Labels | Hit Machine, Inevitable, L.H.M., Eternal, Ark, Siren, Virgin |
Members | John Campbell Jarvis Whitehead |
Past members | Paul Barlow Martin Dempsey Henry Priestman |
It's Immaterial are an English indie pop band from Liverpool, England, formed in 1980. They are best known for their 1986 single 'Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)', which reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.[2]
Career[edit]
It's Immaterial were formed by three former members of Yachts - Mancunian John Campbell vocals, Martin Dempsey guitar, and Henry Priestmankeyboards - in addition to Paul Barlow, drums. By 1984, the band had been reduced to a duo - Campbell and Jarvis Whitehead, guitar and keyboards, who joined in 1982.[3]
On 11 November 1981, around the time of the release of the band’s third single, It's Immaterial recorded the first of four sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1. The track listing was 'A Gigantic Raft (In the Philippines)', 'Imitate the Worm', 'White Man's Hut', and 'Rake'.[4] 'A Gigantic Raft' was featured on the soundtrack of Jonathan Demme's 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate.
In April 1985, the band recorded their fourth and final John Peel session (track listing: 'Rope', 'Hang On Sleepy Town', 'Space' and 'Festival Time'). In the same month, the band's Fish Waltz EP reached number 30 on the UK Indie Chart.[5]
Less than a year later the band had a hit single with 'Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)'. ('John Campbell puts his foot down on the pedal – ever so gently – to cruise out along the M62. A Mini-Midwestern road movie transported to Liverpool'.[6]) This song was their biggest hit and has since featured widely on television advertisements and on 1980s based compilation albums.[citation needed]
Another minor hit followed, 'Ed's Funky Diner (Friday Night, Saturday Morning)', with accompanying video, before the release of the band's debut album, Life's Hard and Then You Die, in September 1986.[7]
In 1990, they released their second album Song. As before, the music was of a subdued, understated nature, with wry wit in the manner of an indie Pet Shop Boys.[8] The album was a commercial flop, despite receiving positive reviews in the music press. The album was produced by Calum Malcolm, best known for his work with the Blue Nile.
In the same year as Song, former It's Immaterial keyboard player, Henry Priestman, had a UK number one album The Christians with the band of the same name.
Since 2010, some unreleased songs from the album have appeared on different Internet music channels. (Track listing (in order of their appearance): 'Just North of Here', 'New Moon', 'Is It Alright (Between Us)', 'House for Sale' and 'How Can I Tell You'.) Downloading openrct2 for mac.
A deluxe edition of their album Life's Hard and Then You Die' was released on 1 July 2016. The double CD issue contains the original album remastered plus bonus tracks of single versions, B-sides, remixes and one of the group's John Peel sessions.[9]
On 23 September 2016, the group launched the campaign to produce and release their 'lost and found' album House for Sale via Pledge Music. The pledge target was reached, although an initial tentative release date of spring 2017 was later postponed to early 2018.[10]
Reviews for the debut album[edit]
- Michael Sutton of AllMusic wrote:
Musically, the LP is all over the place — new wave, country, blues, folk, and synth pop. Somehow the smorgasbord of styles works, because the band members aren't being eclectic just for the sake of it; they simply have a wide canvas, keeping the album fresh from beginning to end.[11]
- C60 Low Noise wrote:
This is an intelligent and extremely well-realised album that belies its simplistic origins. For those of you who are genuinely moved by soaring harmonised vocals (courtesy of The Christians), ironic folk rendition, rolling Spanish guitars and tongue-in-cheek meanderings, I would seriously recommend this to you.[12]
- Dave Schulps at Trouserpress.com wrote:
A fascinating musical hybrid that touches variously on synth-pop, atmospheric art-rock, recitation and a unique brand of English country music. It may remind you of early OMD.[13]
Discography[edit]
Studio albums[edit]
Year | Title | Chart positions |
---|---|---|
UK [14] | ||
1986 | Life's Hard and Then You Die
| 62 |
1990 | Song
| — |
1992 | House for Sale
| — |
2017 | House for Sale
| — |
Singles and EPs[edit]
Year | Title | Chart positions |
---|---|---|
UK [14] | ||
1980 | 'Young Man (Seeks Interesting Job)' 'Doosha (A Success Story)'
| — |
1981 | 'A Gigantic Raft (In the Philippines)' 'No Place for a Prompter'
| — |
'Imitate the Worm' 'The Worm Turns'
| — | |
1982 | 'A Gigantic Raft (In the Philippines)'
| — |
1983 | 'White Man's Hut' 'The Worm Turns' 'Solid Piles of Food'
| — |
1984 | 'A Gigantic Raft (In the Philippines)' 'The Mermaid'
| — |
1985 | Fish Waltz (EP) 'The Better Idea (Push the Boat Out)' 'Several Brothers' 'Lullaby' 'Fish Waltz'
| — |
'Ed's Funky Diner'
| - | |
1986 | 'Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)'
| 18 |
'Ed's Funky Diner (Friday Night, Saturday Morning)'
| 65 | |
'Space'
| — | |
1987 | 'Rope'
| — |
1988 | Driving Away from Home (CD EP)
| — |
1990 | 'Heaven Knows'
| — |
References[edit]
- ^'It's Immaterial: New Album: House for Sale on PledgeMusic'. Pledgemusic.com. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ^'Retrochart for Late April 1986 - everyHit.com'. Retrocharts.com. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ^Strong, Martin C.:The Great Alternative & Indie Discography, 1999, Canongate, ISBN0-86241-913-1
- ^'Radio 1 - Keeping It Peel - Sessions: It's Immaterial Session 1'. BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ^'Indie Hits'. Archived from the original on 23 September 2006. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
- ^Du Noyer, C. (2002) Liverpool - Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture, Virgin Books, London, p. 264; ISBN978-0753508404
- ^It's Immaterial - Ed's Funky Diner on YouTube
- ^Larkin, C. (2003) The Virgin Encyclodepia of 80's Music, Muze, London, p. 264, ISBN978-1852279691
- ^'It's Immaterial / Life's Hard and Then You Die reissue track listing revealed'. superdeluxeedition.com. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^'It's Immaterial'. pledgemusic.com. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^Michael Sutton. 'Life's Hard and Then You Die - It's Immaterial Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards'. AllMusic. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ^Immaterial Review in ‘C60 Low Noise’
- ^Review by Dave Schulps of Trouserpress.com
- ^ ab'IT'S IMMATERIAL full Official Chart history'. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
We’re pleased to confirm the full track listing of the forthcoming 30th anniversary deluxe reissue of the It’s Immaterial album Life’s Hard And Then You DieAs you will see below, the first disc contains the remastered 10-track album plus a whopping nine bonus tracks including B-sides and single versions. There are some fantastic tracks amongst these, including the seven-inch, shorter version of Washing The Air (which surely should have been on the album) and Only The Lonely.
Those tracks were the B-side to the original Ed’s Funky Diner and then the reissued Ed’s, respectively.Washing The Air (Rub A Dub Mix) features on CD 2 of the reissueThe second CD includes the band’s (previously unreleased) last Peel Session (where they played four tracks from the album), all the remixes and mops up a few further extra tracks, ending with the 4-track demo of Driving Away From Home. In fact there are five versions of Driving, on this deluxe set, along with three versions of Ed’s Funky Diner. If you’re already a fan, you’ll know he 12-inch versions are epic, and in some cases, very different from the seven-inch/album cuts.In total, 12 tracks have never been issued on CD, but none of them have ever sounded this good. This new edition of Life’s Hard And Then You Die comes packaged as a gatefold card wallet and features a 16-page booklet with a track-by-track commentary by the band.This is due for release on 1 July 2016. If you are interested in It’s Immaterial and/or this reissue, make sure you’ve added your name to the mailing list (see below) because there is more to tell you in the next few weeks (I’m considering organising an event in London, for example). Disc One – Original Album Remastered, plus B-sides & single versions. 1.
Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune) 4.12. 2. Happy Talk 5.28. 3. Rope 3.34. 4. The Better Idea 5.41.
5. Space 3.58.
6. The Sweet Life 4.38. 7. Festival Time 3.52. 8. Ed’s Funky Diner 3.04. 9.
Hang On Sleepy Town 4.20. 10.
Lullaby 6.25. 11. Washing The Air 3.23. 12. We’ll Turn Things Upside Down (The Enthusiasts Song) 4.29. 13.
Only The Lonely 3.46. 14. A Crooked Tune 3.40. 15. Trains, Boats, Planes 3.49. 16. Hereby Hangs A Tale 4.07.
17. Kissing With Lord Herbert 2.59.
18. Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune) (single version) 3.51. 19. Space (single version) 4.04Disc Two – Peel Sessions & Remixes. 1. Space (John Peel Session) 3.47. 2.
Hang On Sleepy Town (John Peel Session) 4.10. 3. Festival Time (John Peel Session) 3.30. 4. Rope (John Peel Session) 3.30. 5.
Ed’s Funky Diner (The Keinholz Caper) 5.53. 6.
Washing The Air (Rub A Dub Mix) 5.29. 7. Driving Away From Home (Wicked Weather For Walking) 7.11. 8. Ed’s Funky Diner (Friday Night, Saturday Morning) 8.05.
9. We’ll Turn Things Upside Down (When The Revolution Comes) 4.06. 10. Driving Away From Home (I Mean After All It’s Only ‘Dead Man’s Curve’) 6.29. 11.
Space, He Called From The Kitchen 7.10. 12. Rope (Extended Mix) 6.07. 13.
Space (Instrumental) 4.02. 14. Jazz Bo’s Holiday Transatlantique 4.47. 15. Driving Away From Home (Original 4-Track Demo) 3.13. Well, I received this for my birthday from a thoughtful friend and this is well nigh perfect. Superb mastering.
As much brilliance as could fit on 2 CDs. Illuminating liner notes with not just the band but the producer and A+R exec as well. A great album has been made definitive. I listened to my copy of this 5-6 years ago and decided that I needed to master a disc of all of the B-sides and mixes since the album was so excellent. Fortunately, I only bought a few of the singles form this before your efforts rendered the time and considerable expense moot. I still need to get the rest of the pre-Circa singles though!
That’s still a going projects, that, due to the licensing issues, will probably never happen professionally. I have the “Young Man” single and the road ahead beckons. Always loved this band and have ‘most’ of their singles. Just missing ‘Imitate The Worm’ from the non-Siren catalogue.I’m a professional audio-restorer specializing in vinyl transfers and of course I’ve done all my I.I.
Material for my own enjoyment over the years. Nice to se an official re-issue though. Long overdue.HOWEVER! If anyone’s seriously interested in doing a compilation of I.I.’s non-Virgin material If the master tapes for those recordings are absent or missing or damaged, I have very high quality examples of everything except ‘Imitating The Worm’ and that could be also sourced pretty easily. They are good enough for reissue – I say!Anyone? Contact me via my site seewhyaudio dot com.
Serious enquiries only no downloads. ColinPS Hope I’m not breaking any rules here.