Graeme Gash: Watching Television (1981)

Posting a From the Vaults song off the Waves album of 1975 (here) was almost more trouble than it was worth. There was so much off-line (ie. e-mail) traffic along the lines of, "Loved that album, why isn't it on CD?") that I even formulated a standard reply.

It went along the lines of "Thanks for your interest, but I don't know why it isn't. It should be".

Someone suggested that guitarist Graeme Gash -- a key member of Waves, although he didn't write the song Arrow which I posted -- wasn't keen to see the album reissued for reasons of his own.

Hmm. Okay. But . . .

Anyway, if that is vaguely true (and I don't know), this posting might not take him to a happy place either.

His album After the Carnival of '81 -- which had assistance from drummer Steve Garden, saxophonist Paul Lee, bassist Paul Clayton, guitarist David Marshall (of Waves) and a few others -- is yet another of those exceptional but currently forgotten Kiwi albums. Except by those like me who hold it dear to their hearts.

On the Siren label (was there another release by them?) and recorded at Harlequin by Gash and Lee Connolly (who played percussion, guitars and did some backing vocals) After the Carnival -- in Gash's own impressive cover art -- is, like that Waves album, one of those elusive but always memorable albums.

And this song strikes right to the heart of the most insidious drug of them all.

Unfortunately it has become timeless.

And therefore this song with its unsettling chiming guitar and domestic story is also timeless. 

Forgive the surface noise but, as with the Waves album, there's a simple way around that.

If the parties would just come to the party?

(For another poke at the same subject have a listen to Frank Zappa here.) 

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