"Party Party" on TV - December 1982

[SoulForHire]

I had not seen this version before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW-figfxjzs

[Hawksmoor]

I had not seen this version before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW-figfxjzs

No, me neither. As the youtube posters point out, it is clearly being lip-synched, but is definitely a different version from the one released as a single. As most people here will know, on UK television in the 1970s and 1980s, it was standard practice to re-record a song note-for-note and then mime to the new recording - it was a way of getting around the Musicians' Union regulations which forbade miming to a record (even if it was your record). Most Top of the Pops performances were done in this way, for example.

Anyway, this is a lively and enjoyable version of 'Party Party' that I'd never heard before - more likeably ragged and less obviously 'produced' than the single version, to my ears. Good find.

[johnfoyle]

See also -

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... arty+Party

and

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... arty+Party


A member of TKO mentions what sounds like the background to this appearance -

http://www.paulspeare.com/index_files/page0003.htm



Paul Sphere -

CLOCKING ON

(extract)

It was late November 1982 when Jim, Brian and I were called to meet EC and his manager, Jake Riviera, at The Jam Studios in North London. He was affable, with a sharp wit, but simultaneously very focused. He outlined some ideas he had for using horns on his new material and rehearsals were booked at Shepperton for 13 December onwards. There was no time to waste - gigs were lined up for the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool on 21 December and the Royal Albert Hall on the 24th and 27th - the horns would be playing a half-hour spot during the set. There would only be five days to arrange, rehearse and memorize all this material. To add to the pressure, he wanted us to record a version of his recent release, "Party Party", for an appearance on Channel 4's "Afternoon Plus" on the 15th. Fortunately, we were used to picking up new arrangements quickly through our previous work, but all this would be a challenge in the time available and the stakes were high. Oh, and by the way, could we recruit a trumpet player?

To those in the know, it's a bit unusual for a horn section like ours not to include a trumpet. This was a legacy from our Dexys 'pedigree' where a fat, rasping sound was the order of the day. Since then, we'd kept the line-up to alto sax, tenor sax and trombone, partly because we felt this sound lent us a particular identity, and also because no one we'd worked with since had insisted on us adding anything else, except the occasional soprano sax part. Anyway, that was all about to change - EC didn't want our horn sound to be too close to the now-famous Dexys and so Dave Plews, a contemporary of Jim's at Leeds College of Music some years before, was brought in. Dave was a considerable player whose experience in jazz and musical shows was rather different to our own, but his powerful tone and aggressive playing lent themselves perfectly to our style. (Sadly, Dave Plews took his own life in November 2000. He was 42.)

We arrived at Shepperton on the first day and attempted to get to grips with all the arrangements that were thrown at us. I very quickly realised that EC was like a big-band arranger without manuscript paper - all the horn lead lines were already in his head and sung or played on the piano to us, from which we'd construct harmony parts where necessary. Steve Nieve also contributed ideas, often taken from his own keyboard parts. We'd frequently worked this way with other artists, but they were never so sure as EC about what they wanted. Gratification was instant on playing back these arrangements with the Attractions, a rhythm section of the highest calibre. Everything seemed to slot together as if we'd been playing as a band for years and the Attractions seemed as fired-up about the sound as we were.

When I received the itinerary for these December gigs, under the title "Party Party", I noticed that our horn section had grown a name, "The Royal Guard Horns" - not something that truly reflected our sound or image - but by the Royal Albert Hall dates this had been changed to "The Imperial Horns", a very slight improvement. Anyway, it showed EC's desire to give us some sort of identity within the band, and that couldn't be bad.

The Liverpool gig came and went, and as far as I can remember, went down well with the crowd. At least our five days' rehearsals had enabled us to 'break the ice' without embarrassment before the daunting task of playing two nights at the Royal Albert Hall. One detail I do remember from Liverpool was that EC had developed a prominent scouse accent for the occasion, which was the subject of mild amusement among band and crew.

Christmas Eve arrived. I'm not usually nervous about performing live, however big the venue, but as I waited backstage at the Albert, standing beside the famous conductor's podium, I was soon aware that this occasion would be different. The Hall is steeped in musical history, its grandeur impressive - almost intimidating - and did I really know all the horn parts? For that matter, did Jim, Brian and Dave really know all the horn parts? Would my faithful old Selmer Mark 6 decide, on this auspicious occasion, to throw a wobbler during the set, leaving me with only half the notes working? And why had I never worried about this before?

I needn't have been apprehensive - we gave a good account of ourselves that night and there was a feeling of pride and achievement within the "Imperial Horns" at having pulled it off within the limited time and in such grandiose circumstances. During the final number, "Pump It Up", there was a chance to let loose and really enjoy ourselves, the gig now more or less 'in the bag'. In the extended chorus near the end we found ourselves using more of the stage area and I was jumping across towards Pete Thomas's drum kit, hammering home the rhythm in a state of mad relief!

There wasn't much time for congratulations afterwards as the horns had to rush off to the Venue, Victoria to play another gig. It was the Q-Tips Christmas bash and, as it turned out, their final gig together. By this time Paul Young's first album, "No Parlez", was well in progress and his future career would be as a solo artist.

After a very brief Christmas break, we were back again at the Albert for the 27th. No problems there - by now we felt we'd passed the audition and this was confirmed by the fact that EC had asked us to play on the forthcoming album to be recorded in March and April.

[SoulForHire]

Shoot. Tried to do a search for "Party Party," but I guess I did not have the patience. D'oh!

[johnfoyle]

Hey, it's great to have any reason to revisit this song!

[buzz]

I know EC has always disowned this song but I have always liked it. Film was rubbish.