Some songs are perfect. They transcend the band that created them and become bigger than the band will ever be as an entity. “There She Goes” by The La’s and “Hard Sun” by Indio are two such examples. “Throw Your Arms Around Me” is the best example in my opinion. The band who wrote the song is Hunters and Collectors. The singer/writer is Mark Seymour who is the older brother of Nick Seymour from Crowded House. It is a beautiful song which has been done well by others but never equalled by anyone.
Here is the actual video for the song from the Human Frailty album:
Here is a version by Neil Finn from Crowded House:
Here is Mark Seymour performing with Eddie Vedder:
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big Teenage Fanclub fan. As a matter of fact I think they are one of the best bands from the last 20 years. Their first album was called A Catholic Education which contained their first masterpiece in Everything Flows. It still ends shows. Next was Bandwagonesque from 1991 which ranked number 1 in Spin Magazine’s best of the year, outplacing a little album called Nevermind by some band you’ve probably never heard of. Amidst some inner band strife and the replacing of Drummer Brendan O’Hare with Paul Quinn, the band released Thirteen, affectionately named after the Big Star song.
Next up was what many consider to be their finest album, Grand Prix which plays almost like a greatest hits album. About You, Sparky’s Dream, Mellow Doubt, Don’t Look Back, Verisimilitude, Neil Jung, I’ll Make It Clear….They are all better songs than most bands best song of their career.
Their sound mellowed a bit over the years, showing more of their Byrds influences. Songs From Northern Britain, Howdy! and Man-Made from 2005 were the last three albums proper and are all amazing. If you don’t know this band, check them out. They have 3 excellent singers and songwriters. Take a listen to “If I Never See You Again”, the last song from Howdy!, which is one of my favorite, yet saddest songs in their catalogue.
They are also an incredible band to see live. I saw them on the Thirteen tour in 1993 at Lee’s Palace in Toronto and my ears are still buzzing. It was, by far, the loudest show I have ever been to. They also opened for Radiohead on their OK Computer tour of North America in 1997. Here is a live FM broadcast of a show from Aberdeen Scotland in 2000 supporting their Songs From Northern Britain album.
Here is the video for “Star Sign” from Bandwagonesque
Here is the video for the song “Ain’t That Enough” from Songs From Northern Britain
Here is a Glasgow 2006 live version of “Don’t Look Back” from Grand Prix