The Gories
Cry Girl b/w Everything That's Mine
scum stats: three versions, black and blue were available and listed on the Wild Honey website with low, three-digit quantity runs (but those qtys seem to be conspicuously missing when I look now), but a green vinyl copy showed up here, so...
Happy eight years punks.
As much as I love the Gories, as much as I belabor my appreciation for the Gories, as much as I have talked the ear off of all three members of the Gories, the existence of these tracks from over thirty years ago has somehow eluded me.
Don't get me wrong, I knew the Gories had covered these songs, their existence on live recordings always being welcome. Particularly, the version of "Cry Girl" from the Bandin sessions from 1989.
So dare I say, when the wonderful www.see-saw.fun substack hipped me to the existence of this Gories single a few weeks back, my first feeling was jealousy. I want to release any and all Gories music from now until the end of time. So seeing a small Italian record label that frankly I'd never heard of getting unreleased studio material, my ego felt bruised.
Then I realized that the release was timed to the Gories EU tour last month and figured it probably came together quickly and the pressing amounts they listed were, like, 300 copies total across the blue and the black. I couldn't really get mad at that.
And when I'd listened to the songs, I also couldn't get mad. It felt like something was missing. The live snarl of "Cry Girl" just doesn't come across as savage in this take. Dare I say...I *get* why it was left off the I Know You Fine, But How You Doin' album. And the cover of the Motions song "Everything (That's Mine)" feels like it's over before it begins.
These were clearly outtakes for a reason.
But how can I truly complain when the world gets to hear more, old Gories recordings? I cannot.
So while anniversaries here I usually use to encourage folks to support and check out the independent labels in their hometown, let's do the vaguely opposite here. Find a label nowhere near where you live. Bonus points if it's in a different country. Immediate suggestions would be RR Gems, Wild Honey, Funk Night Records, Total Punk, Soul Step, Outer Limits Lounge Records, Northern Ashram...that's just a start, but spend like five minutes on Bandcamp and you should literally be inundated with choice.
In the past 8 years, I felt like I've not dedicated as much time as I would've liked to music. To its discovery, to sharing, always feeling like I need to push harder. But as I think about it lately, that's me just being hard on myself. No one will ever have heard everything, so with that in mind, I'll keep yammering about what crosses my desk, perks up my ears and hopefully catches your attention as well.
Here's to another eight. Rock and roll.
I picked up a black copy of it from Bandcamp. I finally got to see The Gories live earlier in the year on their run of UK dates, when they’d played the UK before I couldn’t make any of the dates, but as soon as it came up I booked up to stay up in Manchester for the night, and was more than worth it! Definitely a gig highlight of the year.
My hubby and I saw the Gories on their European tour, they put on the most outstanding show. We were lucky enough to also meet Danny before the show, he was very nice and kindly took a few records backstage for Mike and Peggy to sign for us!
A few weeks later we saw the single drop on bandcamp and were on it straight away and ordered a black copy.
The postage was about the same price as the record, but we couldn’t miss the opportunity to own one!
Just waiting for the Dirtbombs to reform and do a UK tour….So how about it Mr. Blackwell?!
The English Couple x