These are the Top 20 Most Played Tracks from Wud Records at SoundCloud in 2017.

We hope there are some you like! Thanks very much for your support. \,,/(^_^)\,,/

http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/news/wud-records-20-played-tracks-2017/

20 Most Played Tracks of 2017

Abnormal by Dark Company, from the album Alien Heat.

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/J. Willmot/R. Holloway/M. Greatorex/G. Barbe/P. Jones.

Copyright © 2015 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1989 Explicit Music/Pig Pen Music.

Sequenced at Silent Running Studios, Exeter, by G. Davies and J. Willmot 1992.

Performers:
Vocals - PJ Speed
Guitars - Zak Black
Bass - Maxx Damage

ABNORMAL
Have you got a compass
Do you know where you are
Starless and Bible Black
But you hear guitars
Light years away but they’re there
And I can tell you where
Where, where, where

Have you got a problem
With finding the sun
Heart stopped and blinded
Hearing melodies run
Light years away but they’re there
And I can show you where
Where, where, where

Abnormal, unforgivingly
Already warmed up
We’ve come to set you free
But there is a payment for reality
Unless you wanna wait
For Hell to freeze

Will you want a pilot
Will you want a fast plane
Ground-bound and lonely
Chained to a refrain
Light years away but it’s there
And I can tell you where
Where, where, where

Will you sign agreement
Will you pay for your soul
Godless and friendless
Down on Echo Road
Light years away but I’m there
And I can show you where
Where, where, where

Abnormal, unforgivingly
Already warmed up
We’ve come to set you free
But there is a payment for reality
Unless you wanna wait
For Hell to freeze

Fun Facts:
Abnormal was originally written and performed by Alien Heat.
It was the very first song that the whole Alien Heat band created together.
Abnormal was composed by five blokes squeezed into a small bedroom in Topsham Road, Exeter on a particularly rainy November afternoon in 1989.
George studied Graham’s original drum parts and programmed them into the sequencer.
Jeff then added the extra percussion parts.
The bassline in this recording is an amalgamation of Marc’s original bassline and Jeff’s subsequent bassline, both of which we loved.
Richard programmed the original keyboard sounds himself and these are approximated on the studio synths, which we tend to feel did a reasonably good job.
The guitar solo at the end before the swoops, howls and feedback had contributions from Jeff and from Phil the Fiddle.
Phil’s contributions were from when this song was performed in Prague by Doctor Watson.
Pete would always try to stick his head as far as it would possibly go into the speakers of George's cab when the feedback and howling started.
This song is in the key of F#m, the other chord being Em.
The tempo is 124 BPM.
The original version of the song suddenly and inexplicably broke into some different chords at the end.
The updated ending retains the bi-chordal simplicity of the rest of the song.

See also:
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company/alien-heat-2
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/alien-heat/abnormal
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/alien-heat
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/abnormal
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/abnormal-2
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
http://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/

Email: darkcompany@wudrecords.co.uk

Alien Heat

Abnormal

Downloads

Dark Company: Abnormal (beta mix)

The Percolator by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by D. Danielli/G. Davies.    

Performers:
George: guitars
Dave: bass, percussion
Emma: flute

Project directed by George Davies.

Recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 2000 Explicit Music. 

Fun Facts:
* The Percolator was initally composed by Dave and modified into a Flicker tune by George.
* Dave took George’s Stratocaster home to give it some TLC, and when he brought it back, this crazy tune had sprung forth from it into his hands.
* It seems to be about the vague imaginings one might have that manifest into more coherent thought after musing has occured.
* This may be nonsense though – Dave composed it initially and maybe it was just some tune.
* The time signature is very variable, so Flicker set the metronome to record in 1/8 at 150 BPM.
* This meant it had an insane amount of bars on the sequencer.
* This resulted in comments like “Let’s go back to bar 2340 and try from there” – quite impressive for the shortest piece on the album!
* It can be thought of as being largely in a slow eleven time, with the odd bar of six after the Em9.
* It’s easiest to count ||: 1-2-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3- :||
* Emma’s flute towards the end represents the steam when boiling takes place.
* The brutality of the djembe doing the bass drum is important.
* George said that the melody seemed quite obvious once he’d understood the chords properly.
* George composed and scored the flute part for Emma after his guitar melody materialised.
* Scoring the part for Emma using pencil and paper was the first time George had had to use music score in a real-life situation for years.
* This piece is in D minor, although the C minor adds a cunning twist.
* One of the keys to unlocking the rhythm of the piece is to follow the cowbell.
* It plays on every other beat, so sometimes it is on the beat and sometimes off.
* More cowbell!
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/the-percolator

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/at-least-1000-words/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/the-percolator
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/flickermusic
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/flickermusic
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Video of George playing the acoustic guitar part, with out-takes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EzCjSTSyG8
"And now...!"

At Least 1000 Words

The Percolator

Download

Flicker: The Percolator

Tomorrow by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by G. Davies/D. Danielli.   

Performers:
George: guitars
Dave: bass, drums

Project directed by George Davies.

Drums recorded at The Old Mill Studios, Thorverton.
Recording engineer: Greg Daniels
Strings recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 2000 Explicit Music.

Fun Facts:
* Tomorrow was almost called Tomorrow Will Be Better, as it’s good to have something to look forward to when one is feeling glum.
* When things are bad, there is cause for optimism.
* If one has a bad day, the law of averages would suggest the next day will probably be better.
* The “…will be better” part is therefore implied in the title.
* This is a tune of hope.
* Smile in the teeth of adversity!
* Tweak the nose of terror!
* It is another tune where some brass would have been desirable, but none was forthcoming.
* Three different guitars – Nicodemus, the Ice Maiden and the Stratocaster – all have their parts to play here.
* Tomorrow starts with the Stratocaster, which plays the main theme in E.
* Nicodemus plays the long chords, including some really unlikely inversion of D major.
* The Ice Maiden does the swoopy noisy harmonic parts.
* Dave plays the bass on his Fender.
* The key change to A at the end was something Flicker did in a jam in Tomorrow‘s formative stages.
* It was outstandingly good on the first time and Flicker never felt they quite recaptured the magic of that groove.
* Despite searching high and low and numerous different takes and versions, this was the closest they could manage.
* The tempo is 116 BPM.
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/tomorrow

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/at-least-1000-words/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/tomorrow
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/flickermusic
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/flickermusic
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Tomorrow

Flicker: Tomorrow

Or Maybe Not...? by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by G. Davies/D. Danielli.   

Performers:
George: guitar, Plank, keys, synths, percussion
Dave: drums

Project directed by George Davies.

Drums recorded at The Old Mill Studios, Thorverton.
Recording engineer: Greg Daniels
Everything else recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 2000 Explicit Music. 

Fun Facts:
* Or Maybe Not…? is a piece about maximum uncertainty, the ending of one thing and the beginning of the next.
* It is about fears and insecurities, and the notion that perhaps we never really know each other very well at all.
* Or is it?
* This piece is also about self delusion, believing in something that was never there to begin with.
* Sometimes one can delude oneself into belieiving what one wants to believe, rather than what is real.
* If this tune were a spread of three Tarot cards, it would be The Blasted Tower, the Nine of Swords and the Ten of Swords.
* Or Maybe Not…? can be a challenging piece on guitar in a stretchy kind of way.
* There are some chords that require 5-fingers, with the thumb holding down the hi-E string.
* The original seed of inspiration came from when George wondered if he could make something pleasant out of a dischordant chord using context.
* He played a simple C on the nut and slid it up one fret for some classic tyro yuckiness.
* You first hear this chord in bars 2 and 4.
* This piece was played on the Ice Maiden, using the neck pickup.
* The Plank was heavily compressed and the part was recorded at around 10am after an all night session working on the MIDI parts.
* The key is D minor, which is the saddest of all keys, according to Nigel Tufnell.
* The tempo is a steady 120 BPM.
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/or-maybe-not

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/at-least-1000-words/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/or-maybe-not
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/flickermusic
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/flickermusic
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Or Maybe Not...?

Flicker: Or Maybe Not...?

Blown Away by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by G. Davies/D. Danielli.   

Performers:
George: guitars, synths
Dave: bass, drums

Project directed by George Davies.

Drums recorded at Clark’s Cottage, West Putford, North Devon.
Strings recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 2000 Explicit Music. 

Fun Facts:
* Blown Away is a piece that is about surprise, although it actually contains few true musical surprises.
* Holding tight to shaky foundations that you know will not last, in order to survive one big difficulty, leads to yet another big difficulty further along.
* Blown Away is a reminder that next time, one should trust one’s intuition and refrain from such tomfoolery.
* The key for Blown Away is E major and the tempo is 125 BPM.
* The whole tune grew out of the C# minor to C section quite quickly in October 2000.
* There are quite a lot of guitar parts, quiet ones that you don’t hear on the first listening.
* A guitar far back in the mix is playing G# while the rest of the band plays C.
* This helps to set up a weird dissonant mood.
* The lead part where the sustained notes turn to feedback was fun and very satisfying to record.
* George says it is something he learned from Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, lead guitarist of Blue Oyster Cult.
* Dave plays the bassline on his Fender.
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/blown-away

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/at-least-1000-words/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/blown-away
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/flickermusic
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/flickermusic
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Blown Away

Flicker: Blown Away

Welcome to the Family by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by G. Davies/D. Danielli/F. Zoboki/A. Celestine. 

Performers:
George: guitars
Dave: bass, drums, keys, synths

Project directed by George Davies.

Drums recorded at Clark’s Cottage, West Putford, North Devon.
Strings and synths recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1999 Explicit Music. 

Fun Facts:
* George had made friends with a Hungarian man called Floyd who showed him a new chord from a Portuguese sea shanty.
* The mystery chord is Bm11b5.
* It is played by holding the A and G strings on the second fret with the first and second fingers, and the D and B strings on the third fret using the third and fourth fingers, with the hi-E open and the lo-E muted.
* The other two chords in the song were A minor and E.
* When George was headhunted by the MD of the company Floyd worked for, Floyd gave him a copy of Mario Puzzo’s book The Godfather, and wrote ‘Welcome to the family!’ inside the front cover.
* Obviously this piece could have no other name.
* Welcome to the Family is in the key of A minor.
* The tempo for this tune is 98.0035 BPM.
* Emma recorded an extra part on the keys that was not used in the end.
* The Stratocaster enters to play rhythm on the second verse.
* The Ice Maiden takes the twin lead parts at the end.
* Some trombone was also planned, but there were no players around at the time, so the final mix remains without it.
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/welcome-to-the-family

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/at-least-1000-words/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/welcome-to-the-family
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/flickermusic
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/flickermusic
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Welcome to the Family

Flicker: Welcome to the Family

Beautiful Wings by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by G. Davies/D. Danielli/L. Welsman/E. Williams.

Performers:
George: guitar, synths, samples
Dave: Plank, drums
Lucy: cello, keys
Emma: flute

Samples:
hollywoodedge.com, The Double Locks Hotel Exeter, the nature and wildlife of Sidmouth.

Project directed by George Davies.

Drums recorded at Clark’s Cottage, West Putford, North Devon.
Strings, synths and flute recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1999 Explicit Music.

Fun Facts:
* Black Sabbath once told us that fairies wear boots.
* Flicker can confirm that this is absolutely true.
* There was once a Very Naughty Fairy who had the most beautiful wings.
* One day George played her this tune.
* She didn’t like it, so she flew away, leaving a sparkly trail behind her.
* George’s girlfriend at the time often wore fairy wings.
* If she walked past something and brushed her wings against it, she would cry “Ow!”, hold the wing, grimace, and complain of having a terrible wing-ache.
* On the occasion of the Solar Eclipse in south west England in 1999, a member of the public asked the Very Naughty Fairy how she got her beautiful wings.
* A: Where did you get your beautiful wings?
* B: Well… when I was a very small fairy I had these two funny little stumps on my shoulder blades, and then suddenly one day, I woke up and these two beautiful wings had grown.
* A: Huh. Come on, where did you get them, really?
* B: (stamping booted foot in indignation) I told you already!
* A: …!?!
* Beautiful Wings was composed on acoustic guitar using DADFCE tuning.
* It starts in D minor and ends in F major.
* There was a guitar harmonic that had to be recorded separately as it just wasn’t coming across loudly enough.
* Emma’s flute was the first or second take.
* She had never heard the tune before.
* Lucy’s cello avoids cliches and the obvious and plays things one might not expect.
* The evil laughter is the mischieviousness of the naughty fairies.
* The baby sounds represent the innocence and wonder of fairydom.
* There is a sampled bell from the food bar inside the Double Locks Hotel near Exeter.
* The seagulls represent the sounds of Sidmouth, where Flicker often went.
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/beautiful-wings

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/at-least-1000-words/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/beautiful-wings
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/flickermusic
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/flickermusic
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Video of George playing the acoustic guitar part, with out-takes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P1MKkQCTOo

Beautiful Wings

Flicker: Beautiful Wings

Farsight by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by G. Davies/D. Danielli/G. Barbe/N. Board.

Performers:
George: guitars, synths, keys, samples
Dave: bass, drums, samples 

Samples:
Maharaj Ji, Jonathan Agnew, stinsv.com

Project directed by George Davies.

Drums recorded at Clark’s Cottage, West Putford, North Devon.
Strings recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1995 Explicit Music.

Fun Facts:
* Farsight is the oldest piece on the album At Least 1000 Words.
* It is a piece that George wrote around March 1995, during the days of The Ug Brothers.
* Any recordings of the original have been lost to the vortices of time and the land of refugee cassettes – the Tape Void, as the Ug drummer Graham used to call it.
* Originally there were words for it too.
* These lyrics described the kingdoms of the mind, those inner spaces, places and temples; the mythology of the self that begins in early childhood, a mysterious and magical place that is a sanctuary where only you can go, a place that is reachable in the blink of an eye yet can be so far, far away in space, time and reality.
* This place never really allows any other individual, however close a relationship and understanding they may have with you, ‘access all areas’ – perhaps for the best, as we all need our own castle to retreat to occasionally.
* Farsight is dedicated to that very world that exists within all of us, our private fantasy space, where we go in our dreamtime, and the place from where art comes or is filtered through to us from the farside perhaps, and the zone you are in when you are ‘in the zone’.
* Dave then wrote some other more Ug-like words.
* The only two that can be recalled are “wondering why”.
* The Ug Brothers disbanded before the song was ever performed live.
* This was a great shame as Farsight was one of the band’s collective favourites and one of the last new pieces they worked upon.
* We have been unable to dig up any Ug Brothers recordings of Farsight.
* Natalie, the Ug singer, came up with a vocal melody for the lost lyrics penned by Dave.
* A small fragment of that melody remains, in the very beginning of the lead guitar part, the rest again vanished forever to the realms of nilspace.
* This instrumental version of Farsight seemed to be a convenient resolution.
* In as many ways as possible it is largely true to the original Ug Brothers version.
* The piece begins in G minor but ends in C major and runs at 120 bpm.
* That was exactly the speed of the rhythm of the bridge on the USS Enterprise in the first Star Trek series, a sound which we used from the website www.stinsv.com, and just seemed perfect by its synchronicity.
* As the piece begins you can hear a Klingon door opening, from the same site – to let you in.
* Flicker tried to get the sound of a motor race into the soundscape, but it didn’t work so was left out.
* The percussion is probably not so different from the original played by Graham, again lost to the mists of time.
* Dave certainly delayed coming in with the full drumkit to the exact same point as The Ug Brothers.
* Dave’s beautifully expressive and critically acclaimed bassline, played on the Fender, was what drove and made the piece distinct.
* All the guitar parts are played on the Ice Maiden apart from the lead line, which was recorded using Nicodemus.
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/farsight

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Farsight

Flicker: Farsight

Moonpath by Flicker.
Album: At Least 1000 Words

Music by G. Davies/D. Danielli.    

Performers:
George: guitars, Plank, synths, percussion
Dave: drums, djembe

Project directed by George Davies.

Drums recorded at The Old Mill Studios, Thorverton.
Recording engineer: Greg Daniels
Strings, synths and percussion recorded at Chiseldon House, Exeter.

Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Dave Danielli.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios (uk) 2012.
Remastered again at Wud Records Studios (EU) August 2023.

Originally released 31st July 2002.
First re-release 12th May 2012.
Second re-release 1st September 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 2000 Explicit Music.

Fun Facts:
* After dark, when the moon is low in the sky, it makes a beautiful shiny road to itself all the way along the top of the sea.
* The moon always looks so beautiful on the sea at Sidmouth, where Flicker and their friends used to go.
* Sidmouth is bang in the centre of Lyme Bay, and the sea looks so big.
* The moonpath there was even better before all the breakwaters were built.
* The guitar parts for Moonpath were all played using the Ice Maiden, which is double tracked left and right.
* The rhythm guitar was the origin of the track and carries the melody as well.
* The tempo is 138 BPM and the key is C# minor.
* There are many hybrid chords involving fretted notes and harmoonics.
* Moonpath ends up on a B.
* Full details here: https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words/moonpath

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/flicker/at-least-1000-words/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/moonpath
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/flicker/at-least-1000-words
https://www.discogs.com/release/17114565-Flicker-At-Least-1000-Words
https://www.redbubble.com/people/flickermusic/shop
https://twitter.com/flickermusic
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/flickermusic
https://twitter.com/WudRecords
https://linktr.ee/flickermusic

Moonpath

Flicker: Moonpath

Flashback by Wud

Words by Simon Miller and George Davies.
Music by George Davies, Simon Miller and Ken Staple.
Recorded and produced by Ian Dent at Daylight Recording Studios, Honiton.
Remastered at Wud Records Studio One.

Copyright © 1985 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1982 Explicit Music/Pok Songs.

Performers:
Ken Staple – voices
George Davies – guitars

FLASHBACK
Hey Mandy won’t you come out and touch me
Hey babe, won’t you ride on high
It’s getting harder to see the sunshine
You make love right through my eyes

It’s not the same without you
We can’t make the same heat without you
It’s just a fading memory
You stay away from our kind

Waking up in a wasted body
The slightest fear had ‘sturbed my fears
I feel low and I need a good friend
To help me laden through these years

It’s not the same without you
We can’t make the same heat without you
It’s just a fading memory
You stay away from our kind

Hey Mandy won’t you come out and touch me
Hey babe, won’t you ride on high
It’s getting harder to see the sunshine
You make love right through my eyes

It’s not the same without you
We can’t make the same heat without you
It’s just a fading memory
You stay away from our kind

Fun Facts:
This song is in fact Flashback Part 1.
Flashback Part 2 is a song called Hard Times that was also played by Wud.
Flashback Part 3 is the original lyrics to Flashback Part 1 with new music, a song that never made it to a band format.
The words written by Simon were initially “Hey Judas won’t you come out and touch me”.
George at that time felt uncomfortable with the religious connotations and changed “Judas” to “Mandy” and a couple of small things.
An older, wiser George regrets doing that.
These lyrics were a perfect fit for the original melody of the vocal line.
The form and structure of the solo were Simon’s, and came from a few moments of inspiration during a Fooog Dinboffin and the Release jam session.
As luck would have, we still have that recording of Fooog Dinboffin and the release and will be sharing it online at some time in the future.
Ken’s contribution to the writing of this song was the harmony vocal in the final chorus - a small, but splendid contribution.
The various tempo changes caused Ian the engineer some extra work, but he managed to press all the right buttons at the right time, so credit is due for a great job on his part.
Ken’s performance is again admirably restrained.
Guitars used on this song were the same Westone Paduak as used in That’s No Way to Pay a Bodyguard and Ken’s Flambeau acoustic, of which he was very proud indeed and never inclined to hold back when it came to bragging about it.
The distortion comes from Simon’s ancient MXR Distortion pedal, which was borrowed for the day.
It was mustard yellow and had just two knobs.
As dirt pedals go it was the business, although it sounds slightly odd plugged straight into the desk via a pre-amp.
This song subsequently evolved and gathered extra writers and performers.
It became part of the sets of Laughing Sun, The Addled Eggs, The Subterraineans and Rough Terrain.

See also:
www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/wudtheband
www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/wud/daylight-demo/flashback 
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/daylight-demo
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Daylight Demo

Flashback

Wud: Flashback (DD)

That's No Way to Pay a Bodyguard by Wud

Words and music by George Davies.
Recorded and produced by Ian Dent at Daylight Recording Studios, Honiton.
Remastered at Wud Records Studio One.

Copyright © 1985 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1983 Explicit Music.

Performers:
Ken Staple – voices
George Davies – guitars

THAT’S NO WAY TO PAY A BODYGUARD
Well there’s whisky on the shelf
What are you running from?
Do you know if you’re coming or going?
Well I have got an idea
You’ll need someone to look after you
Just like I know that I can do

And you know that’s not what I want from you
And you know it’s over when the day is through

Well that’s no way to pay a bodyguard
I don’t want to be tied down
And I am so afraid of you
Because I know just what you can do

And you know that’s not what I want from you
And you know it’s over when the day is through

Fun Facts:
This song in the key of Am was written a few days after George spent a day in the Stokeinteignhead music studio of a friend of his father’s.
Said friend of father played the two chords that begin the song as he tested that the necessary things were all on.
Having never seen the second chord before, George thought “Aha!”, although he spent most of the day fiddling with the rather magnificent organ and all its sounds and buttons and levers.
The instrumental section that goes C-Bb-F-G-Am-Em-Bm-Dm originally had some lyrics that made a chorus that spoke of such things as sheep, fields, grass and the relative merits of the colours thereof.
These were soon dropped due to being too silly.
Fairly near the start of this version George almost makes a right mess of the lead guitar - again - but just about manages to get away with it.
It’s take 3407, or thereabouts.
The guitar used for this song was a Westone Paduak, which has subsequently seen a fair amount of action over the years and now lives at Cliff’s house.
The sound of the guitar was never really quite right on this recording.
It sounded much better when played through an Electric Mistress and a proper amplifier.
This version also misses the drums and bass guitar.
Ken is extremely restrained in the performance.
The title of this song was too long for the eventual cassette that was produced, and was truncated to simply Bodyguard.
This song was something a campfire favourite amongst the Wud posse.

See also:
www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/wudtheband
www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/wud/daylight-demo/thats-no-way-to-pay-a-bodyguard
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/daylight-demo
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

That's No Way to Pay a Bodyguard

Wud: That's No Way to Pay a Bodyguard (DD)

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/J. Willmot.
Recorded, engineered and mixed at Silent Running Studios Exeter 1992-3.
Remastered at Wud Records Studio One.

Copyright © 1993 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1991 D & G Music/Explicit Music.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals, harmonica
George Davies – guitars, sequencing
Jeff Willmot – sequencing

LAST TRAIN TO HEAVEN
It’s the last train to Heaven
And this is midnite calling
Sleep slipped out the window
To where the stars are falling
And the sandman points a finger
And the shadows begin their crawling
This is the last train to Heaven
And this is midnite calling

How many miles to Babalon?
Three score mile and ten…
Will I get there by candlelight?
Yes, and back again…
And the joker shuts his eyes
And the dream begins to end
This is the last train to Heaven
And it won’t call again

Well, it’s the last train to Heaven
And this is midnite calling
Moonlight minds the night time
Rides while day is walking
Lights the way to paradise
And dawn lets in the morning
It’s the last train to Heaven
And this is midnite calling

How many miles to Babalon?
Three score mile and ten…
Will I get there by candlelight?
Yes, and back again…
And the joker shuts his eyes
And the dream begins to end
This is the last train to Heaven
And it won’t call again 

Fun facts:
This song is in the key of G.
Pete plays the harmonica parts on a full-scale harp which simply would not do concert pitch no matter how many hammers we bashed it with.
It was a popular acoustic number when performed by Dr Watson and in George’s TEFL classes.
Most of the sequencing is played on the Yamaha TG33.
The clicky guitar that we wish was considerably quieter is a sample.

See also:
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company/rage-in-heaven
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/rage-in-heaven/last-train-to-heaven
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Company-154909774522910/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Rage in Heaven

Last Train to Heaven

Dark Company: Last Train to Heaven

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/J. Willmot.
Recorded, engineered and mixed at Silent Running Studios Exeter 1992-3.
Remastered at Wud Records Studio One.

Copyright © 1993 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1992 D & G Music/Explicit Music.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals
George Davies – guitars, sequencing
Jeff Willmot – bass, sequencing

LOOKIN’ BAD
Lookin’ bad, tricky and sad
Smile came in with what he had
The dark-faced joker makes you pine for love
Even though you know you’ve got enough
Brewin’ a storm, sticky and warm
The dress she wears says you’d best be gone
What she got in mind for the midnite hour
Is you, sweet boy, for a night-time flower

It’s lookin’ bad, lookin’ bad
Oh, oh, oh, it’s lookin’ bad

Ringin’ the bell, can’t see too well
I can tell there’s trouble by the smoky smell
Your fine friend the doctor’s a-fading fast
If you’ve got a wish you’d better make it your last
Take your hand while you can
Keep it well away from the monkey man
I know lots of habits that can make you cold
But there isn’t any cure for growing old

It’s lookin’ bad, lookin’ bad
Oh, oh, oh, it’s lookin’ bad

Walkin’ around facin’ the ground
Shot-away sugar’s in the lost and found
Lucky charm loser’s changed another face
Emotional cripple’s come to take your place
You’ve got to run, leave it undone
Eros got his arrow notched on ‘stun’
Gotta be the last time you empty out your face
Or some Easy Rider sheriff’s gonna get on your case

It’s lookin’ bad, lookin’ bad
Oh, oh, oh, it’s lookin’ bad

It’s lookin’ bad, lookin’ bad
Oh, oh, oh, it’s lookin’ bad 

Fun facts:
This song is in the key of E.
George plays all the guitar parts on the Ice Maiden.
Jeff's bass is played rather than sampled.

See also:
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company/rage-in-heaven
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/rage-in-heaven/lookin-bad
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Company-154909774522910/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Lookin' Bad

Dark Company: Lookin' Bad

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/J. Willmot.
Recorded, engineered and mixed at Silent Running Studios Exeter 1992-3.
Remastered at Wud Records Studio One.

Copyright © 1993 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1992 D & G Music/Explicit Music.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals
George Davies – guitars, sequencing
Jeff Willmot – bass, sequencing

TERMINAL ROAD
Flares burning, night stars turning
The jugglers and the clowns of the circus are returning
And the ghost of the hunter doesn’t stay any longer
He’s killed all the old things to make himself younger

Smoke rolling, red fires melting
The kings and the clerks of the money streets are running
And the sign of the soldier has been eaten by a creature
The world doesn’t need violence for a teacher

Here on Terminal Road
We’re on Terminal Road
Here on Terminal Road
We’re on Terminal Road

Lamps bleeding, rain clouds twisting
The mechanics and the mayors of the small towns are missing
And the mark of the beast is getting much clearer
It’s right up close and getting weirder and weirder

Flags flowing, colour fields glowing
The jokers and the knights of the past are cloning
And the shadows of the moon paint darkened faces
With a mere mirrored light that midnight chases

Here on Terminal Road
We’re on Terminal Road
Here on Terminal Road
We’re on Terminal Road 

Fun facts:
This song is in the key of Dm.
George plays the guitar parts on Nicodemus.
Jeff played his bassline into the S900 and parts of it were used throughout the song.
When the band were to play live, the plan was to perform this song as the very last one so that they could leave the stage with just the machines working away.

See also:
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company/rage-in-heaven
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/rage-in-heaven/terminal-road
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Company-154909774522910/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Terminal Road

Dark Company: Terminal Road

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/J. Willmot.
Recorded, engineered and mixed at Silent Running Studios Exeter 1992-3.
Remastered at Wud Records Studio One.

Copyright © 1993 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1992 D & G Music/Explicit Music.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals
George Davies – guitars, sequencing
Jeff Willmot – bass, sequencing

MEDICINES
I can see that dark-set face
Hands crawl by fingering fate
Parsely, sage, rosary of time
Herbs to heal the modern mind
A wounded lover with a clockspring heart
Hears not the Heavens only metal stars
Drinks the liquor of certain flowers
Is released from lust to count the hours
There inside a secret garden
There inside a secret garden

Night’s sweet hush is for us all
No creeping thing is too small
Wings and webs a mottled map
Dawn will take the empties back
A solo soldier with a gunmetal head
Hears only the music of the marching dead
Drinks the liquor of certain flowers
Is released from lust to count the hours
There inside a secret garden
There inside a secret garden

Writhing vines climb the hill
Where we stand so very still
Columbine perfumed dark
The whitest flowers an eternal spark
A parish priest with a Bibled mouth
Speaks unnoticed of God and Doubt
Drinks the liquor of certain flowers
Is released from lust to count the hours
There inside a secret garden
There inside a secret garden 

Fun facts:
This song is in the key of A#.
George plays the guitar parts on the Ice Maiden.
Jeff played his bassline into the S900.
When Pete sang the melody to George for the first time it took him ages to decide which of the multitude of different possibilities to go with.
There are two simultaneous guitar solos at the start of the song, both of which were recorded on the first take.
Pete was initially sceptical about the whispered vocal.
Various acoustic versions of this later appeared with the song transposed down to A.
It was performed by The Bastard Sons of Dennis and Dr Watson and used as a teaching resource by George in his TEFL classes.
Some of the bassdrum and snare parts were recorded by randomly bashing keys and then quantising.
It produced some remarkably pleasing results.

See also:
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company/rage-in-heaven
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/rage-in-heaven/medicines
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Company-154909774522910/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Medicines

Dark Company: Medicines

Crash by Dark Company.
Album: Signmaker

CRASH
No more candid picture shows
Just soap bubble opera’s shallow glows
They tell me it’s a story about my life
To just ignore what I don’t like
It’s so real I must live like that
Script in my pocket and a ticket in my hat

We gotta stop
We’re gonna crash
Life is money you can’t pay back
Life is money you can’t pay back

No more cracks in the temple walls
Next week’s episode will save us all
Your mirror becomes a TV tube
What was reflection now is a view
The face you see is not your own
It spends its time in someone else’s home

We gotta stop
We’re gonna crash
Life is money you can’t pay back
Life is money you can’t pay back

No more thoughts in a lazy way
They scream from the glass: “We’ll make your day!”
I believe it’s true because it’s on the screen
But you can only see what they have seen
We’re all plugged in to one beating heart
Life don’t begin until the programme starts

We gotta stop
We’re gonna crash
Life is money you can’t pay back
Life is money you can’t pay back 

★

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/J. Willmot/R. Holloway/M. Greatorex/G. Barbe. 

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals
George Davies – guitars, Boss DR220A drum machine, organ, EDP Wasp
Jeff Willmot – bass 

Recorded, mixed and produced by George Davies at Silent Running Studios Exeter, Autumn 1991.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios 2010.

Originally released 19th December 1991.
First re-release March 1992.
Second re-release June 2000.
Third re-release 16th December 2010.

Cover Art:
Crash by Peter Greatorex

Copyright ℗ 1990 Pig Pen Music.
Copyright © 2010 Wud Records.

Fun Facts:
* Crash was Alien Heat’s set opener.
* Sadly no recordings of the Alien Heat version still exist, as far as we know.
* The key for Crash is B minor.
* When George went to entertain the folks of Plymouth in the subways with his acoustic guitar, he used to play this sliced together with another Dark Company song called Ulysses.
* Ulysses later became an Ug Brothers song called Paperchase.
* Crash was the first song that Jeff played bass on for Dark Company.
* Jeff was very keen to impress and played some amazing things, including attempting the guitar riff in unison.
* George showed Jeff how to hold the G string of his bass on the 4th fret with his right hand so he could hammer on and pull off with his left.
* This technique fascinated Jeff and he played it over and over in the van whilst Pete gave him a lift home.
* All the guitar dirt is natural Marshall overdrive.
* There are no pedals at all, just guitar into amp and a mic on the cab.
* George had just had his antique Marshall revalved and spent around 45 minutes playing with feedback at high volume, until Pete appeared and asked him politely to stop as the neighbours were having palpitations.
* The guitar parts were recorded shortly after that.
* Pete's vocal parts were double-tracked.
* George and Richard wrote the organ part in George’s Haldon Road bedsit one day in the early spring of 1990 when Richard came to visit with his keyboards.
* Whatever contributions Marc and Graham made to the writing of this song are now lost in the mists of time, although they receive a small credit here nevertheless.

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/signmaker/crash
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Company-154909774522910/
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Over the years, Crash has drawn a lot of comment as its mix of styles is very appealing. Van Halen, ZZ Top, Talking Heads, The Who and AC/DC seem to be the most frequent comparisons. This was a favourite comment on Twitter one day: "Crash sounds like the Who, Talking Heads and Yes all jamming together." - https://twitter.com/prosperousmu

Signmaker

Crash

Dark Company: Crash

Future Sadness Past by Dark Company.
Album: Signmaker

FUTURE SADNESS PAST
Slow light, runway from the sun
So right, time and times are done
We must pay the price for fun
Until we have Night Man on the run

Slow light, MacBeth witches’ brew
Best seen from some distant view
We know, do what you have to do
It’s an icy night we must all live through

Now we rage against the cold sky
Now we hate tomorrow
Now we say we will try
To kill the birds of sorrow
To kill the birds of sorrow

★

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/J. Willmot.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals, cigarette lighter, fast fret tin
George Davies – guitar
Jeff Willmot – bass

Recorded live at Silent Running Studios, Exeter, Autumn 1991.
Audio lifted from a cassette bootleg and cleaned.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios 2010.

Originally released 19th December 1991.
First re-release March 1992.
Second re-release June 2000.
Third re-release 16th December 2010.

Cover Art:
Mushroom Baby by Peter Greatorex

Copyright ℗ 1991 D & G Music.
Copyright © 2010 Wud Records.

Fun Facts:
* This song was composed using just a bass, a guitar, their volume knobs and a shiny new set of lyrics from the prolific pen of Pete.
* An Alesis Quadraverb Plus and a few pipes of some extraordinarily good gear also deserve accreditation.
* Several subsequent attempts were made to record Future Sadness Past using the reel-to-reel machine.
* This live version was by far everybody’s favourite.
* It is lifted straight off the rehearsal cassette from the day when it was originally created.
* George plays Nicodemus for the beautiful icy ringing of the strings when played beyond the bridge and the nut.
* Jeff was rather fond of using his Mighty Mite bass to make whale noises and would often break into them during quieter moments.
* He would also play a solo version of Misty by Johnny Mathis on the bass, which was completely wonderful.
* An acoustic version of Future Sadness Past song emerged a few years after the original.
* It is based around an Em9 chord, exactly the same chord as the start of Ship to Shore.
* Future Sadness Past is completely atemporal and relies on the performers’ interactions.
* There are no beats at all until Pete starts flicking his unusual Zippo gas lighter by the mic and then tapping George’s Fast Fret tin with it.
* We felt these added sounds were very atmospheric, reminiscent of the clicking of dry bones echoing from inside a fog over the darkened River Styx.

See also:
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/signmaker/future-sadness-past
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Company-154909774522910/
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Future Sadness Past

Dark Company: Future Sadness Past

Armed & Dangerous by Dark Company.
Album: Signmaker

ARMED & DANGEROUS
In the circus there’s a uniform for fun
The love they got is fired from clownish guns
But it’s so dangerous
Armed laughter changing us
Warmed up with a yellow paper sun

Each act in line comes right in on cue
Bringing our emotions into view
And it’s so dangerous
Armed laughter changing us
Next time bring your mind along with you

There’s a pistol in my smile
It shoots grins for miles and miles
But look into my eyes
The reflection’s saying goodbye

Outside the ring we sit and blankly stare
Nobody but our own selves in the chair
But it’s so dangerous
Armed laughter changing us
Close your eyes and no-one knows you’re there

With animals such tricks are neatly made
They nod and wink in terminal parade
It’s oh so dangerous
Armed laughter changing us
Into their souls we think we can invade

There’s a pistol in my smile
It shoots grins for miles and miles
But look into my eyes
The reflection’s saying goodbye

★

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/S. Lock/J. Willmot.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals
George Davies – electric and acoustic guitars, bass, Boss DR220A drum machine
Sammi Lock – flute
Jeff Willmot – soprano sax
Rowena Parsons – tenor sax 

Recorded, mixed and produced by George Davies at Silent Running Studios, Exeter, Autumn 1991.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios 2010.

Originally released 19th December 1991.
First re-release March 1992.
Second re-release June 2000.
Third re-release 16th December 2010.

Cover Art:
Arrows of the Sun by Peter Greatorex

Copyright ℗ 1990 D & G Music.
Copyright © 2010 Wud Records.

Fun Facts:
* This song is very closely related to The Joker as they both share the same tune in the verses.
* George considered this tune-sharing conundrum a challenge and set about making this song and The Joker appear to not be all that similar after all.
* The original guitar parts came from a groove that George wrote whilst living in Plymouth.
* The tempo is 150BPM.
* When Sammi first heard this song, she sat and thought for a moment, then suddenly said: “I think here it should go like this,” and played the instrumental flute parts.
* During this recording we discovered that giggling and playing the flute are reasonably incompatible activities due to one’s inability to form the correct shape with one’s lips to blow anything resembling music from the silvery pipe.
* It took three or four weeks of visits and prolonged outbreaks of the giggles all round before Sammi finally nailed the parts.
* This was the most joyously memorable aspect of the entire recording of the Signmaker album.
* The 12-string was made by Melody.
* George acquired it by swapping a pair of jeans with ripped knees for it, a deal with which he was most chuffed.
* Some years later the guitar was destroyed by the boot of a drunken Satan’s Slave at an Ug Brothers after-show party (harumph).
* Jeff borrowed the soprano sax from Chrissie and recorded his parts before becoming a more permanent Dark Company member.
* The bass for Armed & Dangerous had already been recorded when he arrived.
* Guitars were plugged straight into the desk.
* George used the lyrics for this song in a fiendishly difficult English lesson when working as a TEFL teacher.
* When he ran seminars for other TEFL teachers on The Use of Music in the Classroom he would set the lesson’s tasks to groups of teachers, and even they would struggle with it.
* Pete wrote this song about the circus and enforced jolliness.
* George felt that it was about the unwanted and resented child whose role in life was to be its parent’s performing monkey, e.g. “aren’t I clever because isn’t my little Johnny clever”.
* To correctly spell the title of this song, an ampersand must be used.
* George and Jeff each produced a dub remix of this song, available as bonus tracks.
* Thus it came about that the ampersand would be used for & co, the remixing arm of the Dark Company project.

Armed & Dangerous

Dark Company: Armed & Dangerous

Killer by Dark Company.
Album: Signmaker

KILLER
Learning is a clock with only one hand
Dreaming is a beach with speaking sands
Knowledge is a vice that grips a man
And Cain was a killer that didn’t understand

Wisdom is a yo-yo with a broken string
Time is a bird that cannot sing
And you can’t stop the rain with anything
Except love

Wanting is a boat that doesn’t know the sea
Needing is a pain that hurts to be free
Waiting is a lock that doesn’t have no key
And Cain was a killer that could have been me

Wisdom is a yo-yo with a broken string
Time is a bird that cannot sing
And you can’t stop the rain with anything
Except love

War is a sore that won’t go away
Night is a bruise on the skin of day
Children are the reason that you say you’ll stay
And Cain was a killer who got clean away

Wisdom is a yo-yo with a broken string
Time is a bird that cannot sing
And you can’t stop the rain with anything
Except love

Teachers are people who shoot at sparks
Lessons are knives that shine in the dark
Sins are boats on the lake in the park
And Cain was a killer right there at the start

Wisdom is a yo-yo with a broken string
Time is a bird that cannot sing
And you can’t stop the rain with anything
Except love

★

Lyrics by P. Greatorex.
Music by G. Davies/P. Greatorex/R. Parsons.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals
George Davies – guitars, bass, Boss DR220A drum machine
Rowena Parsons – tenor saxophone

Recorded, mixed and produced by George Davies at Silent Running Studios, Exeter, Autumn 1991.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios 2010.

Originally released 19th December 1991.
First re-release March 1992.
Second re-release June 2000.
Third re-release 16th December 2010.

Cover Art:
Red Splat 1 by Peter Greatorex

Copyright ℗ 1991 D & G Music.
Copyright © 2010 Wud Records.

Fun Facts:
* This song is in the key of A minor.
* During the recording of the sax part, Row played a fabulous blort which caused much giggling and can be heard as a bonus track and on the ‘out-takes and blorts’ page at Wud Records.
* Unfortunately much of the giggling cannot be heard.
* This was the very first Dark Company song that was completed.
* It received highly positive critical acclaim from the Guild of International Songwriters and Composers.
* Due to unfamiliarity with the gear, the DBX on the TSR-8 was switched off for the recording, causing a most horrendous amount of hiss.
* The red LED meant the DBX was 'off', not 'on'.
* This was later fixed with cunning use of gates and aural exciters.
* Killer was written in August 1991 and is 110 BPM.
* The guitars were recorded straight into the desk rather than using an amplifier.
* Killer was the first single released by Dark Company from the Signmaker album.
* It was backed with Second Sight and the digital remix of Killer.
* If you listen carefully to Second Sight, you can hear a little ploppy guitar line running through the song here and there, similar to the ones in Killer. 

See also:
http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/dark-company
http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/dark-company/signmaker/killer
https://twitter.com/Dark_Company
https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Company-154909774522910/
https://www.instagram.com/wudrecords/
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Killer

Dark Company: Killer

Short and Sweet by The Subterraineans.
EP: Demo

SHORT AND SWEET
Somehow it just doesn’t suit me
Oh I try but it just won’t fit
Some way a promise of another day
Means nothing, nothing to me

Hold on – I’ve been here before
Waiting here – looking for an open door
Go to sleep – it’s just another empty day
Go around – and do it again
Time – time on my shoulder
Death – awaits round the corner

Life, life, give me life

Oh dear Lord there’s got to be another way
I’ve done no wrong yet somehow I pay
The truth – it doesn’t seem to play no part
I can’t moan though nothing is right

Fight – running up another hill
It’s tight – a little more than before
Expense – is all there ever seems to be
Push and shove – just for a little bit more
Time – time on my shoulder
Death – awaits round the corner

Life, life, give me life
Because life is short and sweet
It’s short and sweet

★

Music and lyrics by Dean Trotter.
This arrangement by The Subterraineans.

Performers:
Dean Trotter – vocals, electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar
George Davies – electric lead guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, EDP Wasp
Jerry Peirce – bass
Graham Barbe – drums

Recorded, mixed and produced by George Davies at 31 Cowick Lane, Exeter, 1986.
This EP was first released on 7th January 1987.

Cassette salvage performed 2008.
Audio remastered at Wud Records Studios 2023.

Cover painting by Unknown.
Graphics by Sam James and Blueprint Studios.

Copyright ℗ 1986 Explicit Music.
Copyright © 1987 Wud Records.

Fun Facts:
* Short and Sweet is in the key of A minor.
* We believe it was composed in the first few months of 1986.
* It was part of the set of The Addled Eggs before that band morphed into The Subterraineans.
* The acoustic rhythm guitar was played on Senga’s Yamaha steel string.
* The 12-string was an Ibanez acoustic with a cutaway.
* Dean’s rhythm guitar was performed on a black Squier Stratocaster plugged into a Sound City head and an unknown cabinet.
* George’s lead guitar was played on an Ibanez Roadstar plugged in to a five-channel HH P.A. head with a pair of dual concentric HH P.A. cabs.
* Effects used include a Boss HM2 distortion, a Boss GE7 graphic and a Guyatone Analog Delay.
* George added the Wasp to fatten out the bottom end a little.
* It was one of the first Subterraineans songs that Jerry learned to play on the bass.
* Dean would say “It’s got to go in… and out… in, and out.”
* Fortunately George knew what he meant and was able to translate this to Jerry.
* Short and Sweet was recorded using a Tascam 244 portastudio.
* A pair of Aria mics were used to record everything – an AM 60D and an AM 20D.
* For more info about these two mics, click here: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/aria-professional-microphones/5925
* The song was mixed to cassette on a Realistic SCT-60 twin cassette recorder.
* The serial number for the cassette machine is 05200319.
* Due to many years of cassette deterioration, the quality of this recording is not great.
* We have managed to improve a little on what remained.
* After this song was uploaded to SoundCloud, it was discovered by a band called The Eldar.
* They honoured The Subterraineans with a beautiful cover version of this song.
* Here is a link: https://soundcloud.com/theeldarstar
* Short and Sweet is an incredible and epic song that had the power to profoundly affect people who heard it live.

Sadly Dean took his own life by suicide at the Clifton suspension bridge, Bristol, in 1994. He was just 29 years old.

In Short and Sweet, Dean sings “Give me life” – we hope by keeping his songs in the public domain we are able to do that, just a little.

Rest in peace, Dean.

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/the-subterraineans/
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/the-subterraineans/demo/
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/track/short-and-sweet
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/the-subterraineans/the-subterraineans-lyrics/short-and-sweet
https://linktr.ee/wudrecords

Demo

Short and Sweet

The Subterraineans: Short and Sweet (demo)

Contact: info@wudrecords.co.uk
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Looking to grow your fanbase? Here's a proven strategy for success. It's a bit time-consuming at first because you need to work at it often. However, the awesome results will make it worth your while:

http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/miscellaneous/be-discovered-on-social-media

That article was published in March 2017. While some of the links may no longer work, the theory absolutely will. Try it for yourself!

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