TEXAS TREVOR AND THE TENNESSEE PICKLE FLICKERS LIVE AT STEVE PHILLIPS 21ST BIRTHDAY PARTY 19/7/85

Introduction / If God Had Made Us Humble (The Why Did He Make Trucks) / Hoo-Cum / Bhagwan / Cherry (I Love You) / The Beast / The Nice Song / Melinda

This album derives from the combination of a cassette Walkman recording and the audio track of a domestic video camera. By synching them both up at the parts where they were both recording, and by using one of them at parts where the other had not captured the proceedings, it was possible to reconstruct the entire gig, a 21st Birthday party held at a tennis club in Kardinya. This dissonant cacophony lasts a good three quarters of an hour. In its defence, it is worth pointing out that all the material performed was original. And further, this is the only recorded live performance of the "backing tape" version of "Cherry (I Love You)" in existence, the song that was to not too soon afterwards be a big encore feature of early Love Pump shows at the Wizbah. This entire show also exists on video, and is indeed a curious document.

BISHOPS GROVE TAPES - VOLUME 1 (4-TRACK TASCAM TAPES #1)

Sleep My Little Child / Sweet Chastity (first version) / Guitar Instrumental 1 / This Isn't Reality (instrumental) / Guitar Instrumental 2 / Stoned Instrumental / One Man Went To Mow / I Gave You Everything / Refreshers / I Want You Like Never Before-We're Gonna Rock / Advance Australia Fair / Johnny Young / Guitar Instrumental 4 / Trev's Synths / Acapulco Sun / Up For Barter / This Isn't Reality / Pete's Synths / Pete's Jam / I'm Down / Hey All You People / Mike's Bagpipes / Mike's Synths

This volume collects all of the 4-track Tascam cassette recordings from March to late April 1985 made by Pickle Flickers principals Trevor and Peter in a flat in an old apartment block called Bishops Grove, which was located on St Georges Terrace in downtown Perth. The recordings comprise song demos, improvisations, and other excursions into sonic mayhem using an old analog synth called a Roland SH-101 and a little drum machine called a Dr Rhythm. All of the material on this volume has been taken from a cassette mixdown of the original cassette 4-track recordings, so sound quality is medium/lo-fi.

BISHOPS GROVE TAPES - VOLUME 2 (4-TRACK TASCAM TAPES #2)

I Forgot To Remember To Forget / Three Seconds / I Remember / Drowning In The Sea Of Love / Twist The Knife / I Could Do Far Worse / If God Had Made Us Humble / Quiet Waters By / Don't Ever Quote Morrisey To Me Please / Rimming / The Boogie Rastus Indian Chant Rap / The Nice Song / A Message / Cherry (I Love You) (demo) / Brady Bunch / James Bond Theme / Melinda / Takes More To Come Second / Cherry (I Love You) / Flesh Of My Flesh / I Know Where I'm Going

This volume collects the rest of the Bishops Grove 4-track Tascam cassette recordings from late April to July or August 1985. More improvisations, song demos, instrumentals and other bits of silliness. Highlights include Trev and Pete's "If God Had Made Us Humble (Then Why Did He Make Trucks"?)", the Smiths parody "Don't Ever Quote Morrisey To Me Please", and the earliest demo versions of "Cherry (I Love You)". These sessions ran contemporaneously with the Pickle Flickers Sessions listed below. Most of this volume has been digitally remixed from the original 4-track cassette tapes wherever available, and sounds noticably cleaner.

BISHOPS GROVE TAPES - VOLUME 3 (PICKLE FLICKERS SESSIONS #1)

(May 1985 session:) The Beast Song (rehearsal) / Hoo-Cum (rehearsal) / Hoo-Cum / (June 1985 session:) / Mean Old Catholic Blues / The Beast Song

These are also Tascam cassette recordings from the same era as the previous two Bishops Grove volumes, but the distinction here lies in the fact that these are all 2-track performances without any overdubbing, and that they are specifically Pickle Flickers sessions - that is, Trev and Pete joined by Phil (primary vocalist) and also Stuart (synth, occasional vocal), as well as a supporting cast of other people lurking in the background. Highlights on this volume are the rambling epic "Hoo-Cum", and the confronting piece know as "The Beast Song". These tapes chart the genesis of this very garagey band, as songs take shape before our very ears. For instance, the rehearsal version of "The Beast Song" seems to be the very first tryout, and establishes itself very quickly as a distinct song with definite progressions and themes. The two versions of "Hoo-Cum" are a single rehearsal followed straight away by the definitive recorded performance (which was also videotaped and subsequently edited along with other footage shot around that time into a videoclip of the song itself). Although this CD volume may be hard going for the casual listener, it is at least complete and unadulterated, and has been digitally remixed and processed sympathetically with various filters and effects.

BISHOPS GROVE TAPES - VOLUME 4 (PICKLE FLICKERS SESSIONS #2)

(July 1985 session:) / Hoo-Cum / Bhagwan / Bhagwan (rehearsal) / Shit, What've I Done? (rehearsal) / Shit, What've I Done? / Bhagwan / The Beast Song (revisited) / Demis Roussos Likes Rimming / It's A Long Way From San Antone To Lafayette When You're Drunk / (August 1985 session:) / Crap / Carbohydates / The Wrath Of God / I Won't Be Happy Til I'm Living In Sydney

The second of these two volumes of Pickle Flickers sessions. Highlights this time are "Shit, What've I Done?", a merciless parody by Phil of his own dad, and "Bhagwan", a satirical look at the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh sect and its followers, who were large in numbers in Perth and Fremantle around the mid 1980s. This first sessions also yields an interesting Stu vocal improvisation (apparently partly autobiographical) entitled "It's A Long Way From San Antone To Lafayette When You're Drunk". The second session on this volume does not feature Phil, and is pretty drab in comparison to the other material that features him in the vocalist saddle.

BISHOPS GROVE TAPES - VOLUME 5 (WALKMAN RECORDINGS #1)

(Easter weekend 1985:) Mike looks at a bass guitar / Easter Egg hunt / Bishops Grove Jam / A trip to Fast Eddies / Bishops Grove Jam continued / (Circa April 1985:) Traveller Session 1 / Trevor muses

This volume contains only Walman cassette recordings, and mainly spoken word ones at that. There is some musical content though. The Easter jam at Bishops Grove shows Pete and Trev moving through material such as Human League's "Love Action", Depeche Mode's "I Just Can't Get Enough", the Models songs "Telstar" (their cover of the Tremeloes hit) and "Black Spot" (an obscure demo), and Donna Summer's "I Feel Love". The TV theme "Play School" even gets a look in. The volume is rounded out by roughly half an hour of fantasy role-playing session dialogue.

BISHOPS GROVE TAPES - VOLUME 6 (WALKMAN RECORDINGS #2)

(Circa April-May 1985:) Traveller Session 2 / ?

This volume contains twenty minutes of another fantasy role-playing game session, then material of a musical nature, the exact content of which has not yet been entirely defined. Some of the tracks are Walkman recordings of Trev's song demos recorded at a piano, but ideally, more mid-1985 material would have to be found in order to round out this volume in a satisfactory manner.

BISHOPS GROVE TAPES - VOLUME 7 (WALKMAN RECORDINGS #3)

(Hardy Street June 1985:) A bit with Trev Tristam & Pete / (Bishops Grove July 1985:) Andrew & Stuart's flat one Friday night / Pickle Flickers rehearsal / Hoo-Cum -Trev & Pete / (Steve Phillips' 21st birthday party:) Introduction / If God Had Made Us Humble / Hoo-Cum / Bhagwan / Cherry (I Love You) / The Beast Song / Melinda

This last volume contains more audio verite recordings of Bishops Grove conversations, and some more Pickle Flickers segments, one of parts of a rehearsal of two songs, "Bhagwan" and "Hoo-Cum". There is also a "late night" reading of "Hoo-Cum" by just Trev and Pete. This volume is rounded out by the same recording of the Pickle Flickers gig at Steve Phillips 21st that also appears at the top of this list.