It's Immaterial

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It's Immaterial
Origin Liverpool, England
Genre(s) Post-punk
Indie-pop
Years active 1980-1990
Label(s) Hit Machine
Inevitable
L.H.M.
Eternal
Ark
Siren Records
Former members
Paul Barlow
J.J. Campbell
Martin Dempsey
Henry Priestman

It's Immaterial were a band from Liverpool, England, formed in 1980. They were best known for their 1986 single "Driving Away From Home (Jim's Tune)", which reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart [1].

Contents

[edit] Career

It's Immaterial were formed by three former members of Yachts - John Campbell, vocals, Martin Dempsey, guitar, and Henry Priestman, keyboards - in addition to Paul Barlow, drums. By 1984, the band had been reduced to a duo - Campbell and Jarvis Whitehead, guitar and keyboards, who joined in 1982.[2]

On 11th November 1981, around the time of the release of the band’s third single, It’s Immaterial recorded the first of four sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1. The tracklisting was ‘A Gigantic Raft’, ‘Imitate The Worm’, ‘White Man's Hut’, and ‘Rake’ [3].

A Gigantic Raft (In the Philippines) has since been featured on the soundtrack of Jonathan Demme's 2004 remake of the Manchurian Candidate.

In April 1985, the band recorded their fourth and final John Peel session (Tracklisting: ‘Rope’, ‘Hang On Sleepy Town’, ‘Space’, and ‘Festival Time’). In the same month, the band’s Fish Waltz E.P. reached number 30 in the UK Indie Chart [4]. Better was to follow.

Within a year of the Fish Waltz E.P. It's Immaterial had a national hit on their hands - ‘Driving Away From Home (Jim's Tune)’. The song has been described as a Liverpudlian classic. “John Campbell puts his foot down on the pedal – ever so gently – to cruise out along the M62. A Mini-Midwestern road movie transported to Liverpool” [5]. Driving Away From Home has since been featured widely on television advertisements (mostly car-related) and 80s compilation albums.

Another minor hit followed, ‘Ed's Funky Diner (Friday Night, Saturday Morning)’, before the release of the band's debut album, "Life's Hard Then You Die", in September 1986.

The track "The Better Idea" from the album can be said to be one of the first popular songs addressing the mood surrounding the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.

In 1990 they released Song, a more down-tempo and synthesizer driven album. However the 'story-telling' lyrical style previously employed on "Life's Hard and Then You Die" remained. “As before, the music was of a subdued, understated nature, with wry wit in the manner of an indie Pet Shop Boys” [6]. The album was a commercial disaster, despite receiving positive reviews in the music press.

In the same year as Song, former It's Immaterial keyboard player, Henry Priestman, had a UK number one album with The Christians.

[edit] Reviews for the debut album

  • “Musically, the LP is all over the place — new wave, country, blues, folk, and synth pop. Somehow the smorgasbord of styles works, because the band members aren't being eclectic just for the sake of it; they simply have a wide canvas, keeping the album fresh from beginning to end” [7].
  • “This is an intelligent and extremely well-realised album that belies its simplistic origins. For those of you who are genuinely moved by soaring harmonised vocals (courtesy of The Christians), ironic folk rendition, rolling Spanish guitars and tongue-in-cheek meanderings, I would seriously recommend this to you”.[8]
  • “A fascinating musical hybrid that touches variously on synth-pop, atmospheric art-rock, recitation and a unique brand of English country music. It may remind you of early OMD”.[9]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • Young Man (Seeks Interesting Job) / Doosha (A Success Story) (Hit Machine, HIT 001, July 1980)
  • A Gigantic Raft (in the Philippines) / No Place For A Promter (Inevitable, INEV 9, July 1981)
  • Imitate the Worm / The Worm Turns (L.H.M., IHM 002, November 1981)
  • White Man’s Hut / The Worm Turns (Eternal, JF 2, October 1983)
  • A Gigantic Raft (in the Philippines) / The Mermaid (Eternal, JF 4, February 1984)
  • Fish Waltz E.P.: Fish Waltz / Several Brothers / The Better Idea / Lullaby (Ark, DOVE 3, March 1985)
  • Ed's Funky Diner / Washing the Air (Siren, SIREN 8, October 1985)
  • Driving Away From Home (Jim's Tune) / Trains, Boats, Planes (Siren, SIREN 15, March 1986) #18 UK Singles Chart
  • Ed's Funky Diner (Friday Night, Saturday Morning) / Only the Lonely (Siren, SIREN 24, July 1986) #65
  • Space / Washing the Air (rub a dub mix) (Siren, SIREN 34, October 1986)
  • Rope / Festival Time (Siren, SIREN 38, February 1987)
  • Driving Away From Home (Jim's Tune) / Ed's Funky Diner / Driving Away From Home (I Mean After All It's Only 'Dead Man's Curve' (Virgin, CDT 26, November 1988) 3" CD-EP
  • Heaven Knows / River (Siren, SIREN 129, August 1990)

[edit] Albums

(Track Listing for Life is hard and then you die: "Driving Away From Home", "Happy Talk", "Rope", "The Better Idea", "Space", "The Sweet Life", "Festival Time", "Ed's Funky Dinner", "Hang on Sleepy Town", and "Lullaby")

  • Song (Siren, June 1990)

(Track Listing for Song: "New Brighton", "Endless Holiday", "An Ordinary Life", "Heaven Knows", "In the Neighbourhood", "Missing", "Homecoming", "Summer Winds", "Life on the Hill", and "Your Voice")

[edit] References

  1. ^ Retrochart for Late April 1986
  2. ^ Strong, Martin C.:"The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, ISBN 0-86241-913-1
  3. ^ John Peel Sessions on BBC Radio 1;
  4. ^ Info on UK Independent Hits;
  5. ^ Du Noyer, C. (2002) “Liverpool: Wonderous Place”, Virgin Books, London, p. 264;
  6. ^ Larkin, C. (2003) “The Virgin Encyclodepia of 80s Music”, Muze, London, p. 264;
  7. ^ Album Review by Michael Sutton, All Music Guide;
  8. ^ Immaterial Review in ‘C60 Low Noise’;
  9. ^ Review by Dave Schulps of trouserpress.com;