Archived treasure

Way back in 1991, Hyprtonia World Enterprises in Norway issued a cassette compilation in a shiny red plastic case and a startlingly bright yellow double-sided sleeve that folded out into an A4 sized poster: It contained two tracks from the first The Speed Of Sound release - from when we were known as The Blood Oranges - and has just (yesterday) been digitally archived with free download here: https://tapeattack.blogspot.com/2023/04/va-fire-engine-201.html. 

The 29 track album with 21 artists was a bestseller for HWE and a constant feature in their catalogue, you can pick up the digital copy for free in the link above.

Ours were recorded on 24 track reel to reel Ampex tape, at Real To Reel in Macclesfield. 

Ancient history!

Thanks to Tape Attack for archiving it.

 

twenty five years

On a Sunday morning; 17th September 1989, a Manchester band walked into Real To Reel recording studio in Macclesfield and recorded their first release. Four songs. One EP. The session ended about 3am on Monday 18th. The four songs were picked to show a cross section of what the band played, at the two extremes were I Wanna Feel Good, an all out two minute garage punk rant, and Nightmare a surreal and translucent horror. between them were the straight guitar driven pop of I Aint No Doll (aka I'm Real) and Checkered Land, which is still regularly in the live set now. 



That was 25 years ago and it is very very good to still be playing after all that time. I never doubted that would happen because making music is an inner need that has to be fulfilled. 1989 is as distant now as 1964 was then, but it really does feel like just the blinking of an eye.

But, technically the gestation period was longer and it all started two years earlier, the day Andy Warhol died: 

22 February 1987, that was a Sunday too. Never die on a Sunday, it is a PR disaster. 
TV News on Sunday is shorter than during the week, and he got a quick mention before moving on to football results - more like fifteen seconds of fame than the fifteen minutes that he'd said everyone would be famous for. I said something along those lines to some of my house-mates and it sparked; a song was written and a band was born. The next night we recorded 'Andy Warhol's Dead' straight onto cassette using the cutting-edge technology of the day - a Walkman. The sound quality is best left to the imagination. It was uncomplicated filthy garage punk. (Transvision Vamp must have had parallel evolution, they had a song on their first album with the same title in October '88.) 
The Droogs L-R 
Andrea. Mark A, Steve, Mark H & John, 

But, that was a very different band, more of a pre-history or prelude. 
A fistful of songs carried forward from The Droogs to what became The Speed Of Sound. The 1989 incarnation was a four piece with dual vocals, 12 string guitar and 6 string bass, Christine left after a year and the format has been three piece since then. The name changed from The Blood Oranges to The Speed Of Sound around 1995. Because it meant more; however fast (or slow) the music is played the sound waves still travel at the same speed…

Here's a review from 1989 by Stick It In Your Ear magazine:
(the old Post Office Box address has been removed to avoid confusion)

And here's a link to the 1989 EP:

(its free listen/download)

Link to hear the 1989 EP

I Wanna Feel Good - Crunching snarling garage punk
I'm Real (I aint no doll) - Guitar driven power-pop
Checkered Land - To take you through the looking glass
Nightmare - Surreal menace of the unknown

Still here, still evolving and still enjoying it. It’s good to be loud. Thanks to everyone that’s ever listened, or seen us live and to all the people I’ve played guitar with over the years in bands, socially or just a jam - music is life.

Play Loud Play Often.

a brief history

Perhaps it happened like this:
"More power! I must have more power!" 
"It will overload; I can not it is too dangerous!" 
"No, I MUST have more power!"
" I could try to hold back the power level by hand and prevent it from reaching the critical stage - but it is most dangerous."
"Do it. I must have more power."
A switch is thrown, there is a palpable surge of static and a low electrical hum hangs in the air. 
Small neck hairs stand on end. 
Something arcs. 
A brilliant flash. 
Silence.
"They live! They Live!"

The Speed of Sound is the 21st century reincarnation of The Blood Oranges. Formed in Manchester UK in August 1989 and falling into suspended animation in the spring of 1991 and trace their linage back to the Sunday in February 1987 when Andy Warhol died, sparking the formation of a five piece band. The (quickly renamed) Poodle Police became The Droogs, blasting out songs like Mother Dearest (about Psycho) involving lead guitar played with a carving knife. A five song EP was recorded. The splinters went separate ways and The Blood Oranges formed in 1989, retaining several Droogs songs, expanding into powerpop as a four-piece with dual lead vocals - male/guitar (John Armstrong) and female (Chris Waterman) - while the rhythm section of Paul Shore (bass) and Denis Duffy (drums) played with a tightness derived from their shared love of Joy Division.

Intensive rehearsal sessions in August 1989 at the Greenhouse in Stockport (in a room often flanked by James to the left and The Stone Roses to the right) resulted in a recording session at Real-to-Reel in Macclesfield on 24-track analogue equipment and a four song EP. It displayed four different elements; unadulterated garage punk, pure indie pop, 12string Rickenbacker psyche-rock and experimentalism. 

Despite appearing on two compilations (You Can’t Be Loved For Ever No.2 and Hypertonia World Enterprises’ Fire Engine 201 – which is still the best-selling album in their catalogue) and repeated airplay in Europe on Lord Litter’s iconic Berlin KFR show, internal tensions caused a three way split. Restyled and concentrating on Powerpop-Rickenbacker-Rock, John was joined by ex-Droog Tony Day (bass) and Hamish Walker (drums). The new line-up continued until Tony left to form Human Shells and Dave Powell filled the gap. Suspended animation came in 1991. 

A twenty year interlude followed (apart from a 1996 cassette album under the new name The Speed Of Sound), broken in 2011 by the release of two singles and the album The Speed Of Sound At Tree Level and another two singles followed in 2012 plus the second album The Speed Of Sound In A Blood Orange Sky. There is more to come.