Rise

Format

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  DAMGOOD460LPLong Player  £15.00

Label

Damaged Goods

Johnny Moped

Cycledelic

Limited to 1000 Copies - 500 on Neon Pink and 500 on Neon Yellow. This version is in a Gatefold sleeve featuring the original Barney Bubbles artwork from the inner sleeve for the first time since the Belgian edition from 1978. Yes it's an official repressing of the debut album 'Cycledelic' from Johnny Moped following on from their new album 'It's A Real Cool Baby' which came out earlier in the year to critical acclaim. 'Cycledelic' was originally released in April 1978. Apparently a nightmare to record - by this stage, Johnny was practically under house arrest after the group's van had run over Brenda's mother (not fatally!), causing her to finally loose patience with whole scenario. In order to get Johnny to the studio on time, the others met him from work, spun some tale of needing a group meeting in some spurious cafA# or other and promptly drove him all the way to the studio non-stop. The vocals were thus laid down in one day. A 'Mystery Track' was added to the LP later at Roger Armstrong's (Chiswick Boss) bequest. Johnny did the vocals for this cut over the phone. The 'Mystery Track' eventually appeared on the LP in the same place as 'VD Boiler' as a piece of concentric tracking (ie. you got one cut or the other depending where you placed the stylus.) Revolutionary! The rest of the LP was made up of live cuts recorded at The Roundhouse. Obviously, Johnny nearly didn't turn up then either. The group had set up and sound-checked only to find Johnny queuing up outside the venue to pay to get into his own gig, with 15 minutes to go to show time. Moped was a clumsy singer even by the standards of early British punk, given to moaning and gurgling when he couldn't think of something to say, and guitarist Slimy Toad had chops and wasn't afraid to show them, so some of the longer songs like 'Maniac' and '3D Time' veer off into what sounds like a thug's version of prog rock. And even when the band did tear into something short, fast, and loud, they sounded like '60s pop gone mad on speed 'Cycledelic' may be one of the only albums from punk's first wave that displays almost no audible Ramones influence. But if the Mopeds were following a path all their own, they were clearly having a lot of fun doing it the falsetto piss-take of Chuck Berry's 'Little Queenie' serves as parody and tribute at once, 'Darling, Let's Have Another Baby' is a wicked send-up of UK pop at its most insipid, and 'Hell Razor,' 'Wild Breed,' and 'Make Trouble' thrash about with glorious abandon. Not all of the best punk-era bands were recorded, but through the farsightedness of Chiswick Records, Johnny Moped happily were. Thirty eight years (Yes!) on,'Cycledelic' wears its dumb brilliance well. It's also Captain Sensible's favourite album, which can't be bad! There will be 1000 copies only, no more.

Tracklist

• 1. V D Boiler
  2. Panic Button
  3. Little Queenie
  4. Maniac
  5. Darling, Let's Have Another Baby
  6. Groovy Baby
  7. 3D Time
  8. Wee Wee
  9. Make Trouble
  10. Wild Breed
  11. Hell Razor
  12. Incendiary Device