The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore by Keane

So far i've written about the first vinyl single that i ever bought and the first one that i ever owned. Now, it's time to tell you about the last single that i acquired and one that i've never played.
I say acquired because i didn't actually buy it. It comes under that category of free singles that are given away by bands for their fans, or by record labels for promotional purposes.
I have several vinyl singles like this and may well talk about some others over time.

"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by Keane is, as i'm sure many people are already aware, a cover version.
The song, written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, was originally a solo hit for Frankie Valli in 1965. Crewe and Gaudio wrote many songs for both Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Although "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" has been recorded by many artists, including Cher. Probably the most famous version is the one by The Walker Brothers, which was number one in the UK in 1966.

The version by Keane was recorded in 2004 and was originally meant as a download only release. Quite a revolutionary idea back then. It was then given to the War Child foundation, of whom Keane are patrons, so that it could be downloaded from the War Child website. This was in 2005.

The 7" vinyl single version that i own, was given away to some fans of the band in 2005 and was limited to only 1,000 copies, all individually numbered. It was done as a thank you to early fans of the band who had helped them with their initial success.You can see from the photo above, that my copy is number '0814'.
The vinyl single came with a copy of a hand written note, written and signed by the band members. The note starts with the words "Thanks for all your love and support during the last year".

So, how did i come to get my hands on such a limited edition single?
Well, Keane come from the town of Battle, scene of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Battle is only 7 miles from where i live. So, i knew a bit about the band from a fairly early stage. Although they never played locally, concentrating their efforts instead on London. A strategy that proved to be a good one.

Strangely, seeing as how new a band Keane are, i do actually have some more vinyl 7" 45's by them. Some of their single releases also came out in numbered limited edition vinyl as well. I have a copy of "Somewhere Only We Know" (Number 1635) and, for some unknown reason, 2 copies of "Everybody's Changing" (Numbers 1033 and 2606). Both singles were released in 2004.

I do also have some other rarities by them. I have a copy, on CD, of the first ever release of their song "This Is The Last Time". Which was originally released in 2003 on the Fierce Panda record label.

I also have a 6 track promo sampler CD of Keane's first album, Hopes And Fears. It was sent to me by the record company, prior to the album release and has the serial number '0005' on both the CD and the cover. It also came with a note saying that the CD was copy protected, water marked and that my name had been logged for security reasons!

I have only seen Keane live twice. The second time was in June 2005 at a local music festival, a gig i ended up reviewing for the local paper. It was very much a homecoming gig for a band who had had a huge amount of success over the past year. I remember that the gig was only a couple of days before Keane's appearence, in front of a worldwide audience of many millions, at Live 8.

The first time i saw them was in rather different circumstances and was just before their breakthrough single, "Somewhere Only We Know", was released in February 2004. The gig was on 7th February.
The venue was the "Underground Theatre" in Eastbourne, just 15 miles from Hastings and i still have my ticket. I doubt that there were more than 50 people in the small theatre and i got the impression that most of them were family and friends anyway.
Something that sticks in my mind from the gig was that i was right at the front, actually leaning on the stage, during the whole gig. Not knowing that Keane were just about to come on, i'd wandered down to the front to have a look at the gear that the band were going to use. It was at that moment that Keane walked on stage, so i thought i'd stay right where i was. A very good decision on my part i think.

Well, Keane have certainly come a long way since that day, selling over 10 million albums so far.
Their fifth album, Strangeland, was released in  May 2012 and in common with all of their previous 4 albums, it went to number one in the UK album charts.
Apparently, only one other band have ever managed that same feat....... The Beatles.
I think that fact proves that this is definitely a case of local lads making good.

Postscript:
Guess what? I've now remembered that i have actually seen Keane a third time.
This third occasion was between the two gigs mentioned above. I have no idea how i came to forget this third gig, as it was a good one, just like the other two.
The gig, once again, took place in Eastbourne. This time though it was at the Winter Garden on 8th May 2004. I don't remember a huge amount about the gig except that it took place just at the time that "Hopes And Fears" was released and that it was a standing only gig. There were certainly far more people there than at the previous Eastbourne gig, just a few months before.
The one thing that does stick in mind is walking down a road, near to the venue, prior to the gig and walking right past Tim Rice-Oxley, of Keane. I wish i'd said "hello" now.

The Day The World Turned Day-Glo by X-Ray Spex

"Some people say little girls should be seen and not heard. But I think, Oh Bondage Up Yours! 1-2-3-4!"

And so starts the first ever single from the punk band X-Ray Spex, "Oh Bondage Up Yours!".
Not a bad opening is it, especially as the final part was virtually screamed down the microphone by the bands singer Poly Styrene.
This is something that had a profound effect back in 1977, as young girls just weren't supposed to act like that. It could be argued that this was the start of what became known as "Girl Power".
Punk Rock opened up doors for many people, especially for women, who were at the forefront of that movement and have not looked back since.

By the time of their 2nd single "The Day The World Turned Dayglo", X-Ray Spex were well established within the UK Punk Rock scene. The single was released in March of 1978 and got to number 23 in the UK charts.
The B Side was a track called "I Am A Poseur", which contained the lyrics, "I am a poseur and i don't care. I like to make people stare". There certainly were a few poseurs around in those days and especially in 1978.

X-Ray Spex were formed after Poly Styrene (Real name Marianne Elliott) saw the Sex Pistols on Hastings Pier on 3rd July 1976, supporting the Welsh rock band Budgie would you believe? A day that just happened to be her 18th birthday. Like many people who saw the Sex Pistols in those early days, it changed her life.
X-Ray Spex quickly established themselves on the London Punk Rock scene, playing at the legendary Roxy club and appearing on the "Live At The Roxy" album released in July 1977.

The main reason that "The Day The World Turned Dayglo" has been included here though, is because of the colour of the actual vinyl itself.

As you can see, it is indeed Dayglo!

In my mind, one of the great things about this period in British music is the revival of the 45rpm single.
Yes, they'd been popular for many years, but the Punk era kick-started a revolution in cover art and coloured vinyl. The whole singles market was revitalised and new, independent record labels started springing up everywhere. Partly because the mainstream labels weren't interested in a lot of the new music being created, a whole new Do It Yourself culture was started.
Singles became collectors items, with limited edition releases containing many shades of coloured vinyl, or special picture sleeves. Apart from the new record labels, new artists and designers were emerging to produce all that new and exciting cover art. Once again, the ripples from that era are still being felt today.
There will be more coloured vinyl, cover art and new record labels featured in future blog posts.

X-Ray Spex only released one album Germ Free Adolescents, which came out in 1978 and the band split up in 1979. They did reform, albeit briefly, several times, most notably in 2008 when they performed a sell out gig at the Roundhouse, in London. But, no new music was ever released.

Poly Styrene settled in my home town of St Leonards On Sea and lived, literally, just around the corner from my house. She, very sadly, died of breast cancer in a local Hospice on 25th April 2011.
I wrote a blog post, "Oh Cancer, Up Yours!" about her death at the time.

I think it can be safely said, that without the emergence of the Punk Rock movement in the mid 1970's, bands such as X-Ray Spex would never have been given the opportunity to record and release their music to a wider record buying public.
And what a lesser place this world would be without that music.