Felt/Denim/Go Kart Mozart/Mozart Estate

This passed me by at the time .

I revisited Denim on Ice today

Very enjoyable - the moment Denim started to mutate into Go Kart Mozart

Only Lawrence eh.....?


Denim - Synthesizers In The Rain

I've been revisiting...

Denim - Back In Denim (1992)

A few musings...

For the most part Felt passed me by at the time, with the exception of Forever Breathes The Lonely Word and, of course, Primitive Painters, one of the great singles of the 1980s.

I really got on board the Lawrence train with Denim. Glam was so ludicrously unfashionable during the 1980s and early 1990s that few discussed it or admitted their love for it. Having been an impressionable 10 year old in 1972 my emotional connection with the genre is such that I have carried the Glam flame from then to now, and will continue to do so. I loves it, as you doubtless know by now.

Since hearing this album I have been firmly Team Lawrence. I have fully embraced the Felt back catalogue and found much to cherish and appreciate, and I have everything by Denim and, subsequent to that, Go Kart Mozart, now curiously renamed Mozart Estate. At some point soon we should be able to enjoy their first LP ‘Pop-up! Ker-ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping’. I will be at the front of the queue at Resident.

Back In Denim famously was a major factor in the bankruptcy of Boys Own Records. Lawrence wanted it just so and sincerely believed this album would turn him into a rock n roll star. Producer John Leckie stated about Lawrence, "I've worked with Phil Spector and John Lennon and Syd Barrett, but I can't take this any more. You're madder than any of them”. If you’re interested in this sort of thing check out the Lawrence of Belgravia DVD.

Back In Denim signalled one hell of a reinvention, and it’s a far cry from the ethereal Felt. It is also astonishing. Chock full of banging tunes, many of which have very amusing lyrics, and - thanks to Mr Leckie - it sounds amazing. Middle of the Road is the key tune in which Lawrence lays out his manifesto: (adopts best Brummie accent) I hate the Stones and I hate Blues…” and sets the controls to the middle of the road. It’s all here: the Osmonds, the IRA, glitter, spangles, star jumpers….

Back In Denim works on so many levels. Until this re-listen, I felt the final three tunes saw the quality drop off slightly. What was I thinking? They’re incredible. I’m Against the Eighties is fantastic. Full of optimism for the 1990s despite his disdain for Duran Duran and Jesus and Mary Chain amongst others. He’s still in love with the modern world.

I suspect Lawrence knows he’ll never be an A list star, or even B, C or D, but he’s still out there compelled to share his idiosyncratic vision. Praise be. Bring on Pop-up! Ker-ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping

10/10

‘I’d rather be a tramp than reform my old bands’: Lawrence on life as British music’s greatest also-ran



His fans range from Charlie Brooker to Jarvis Cocker, yet the auteur behind Felt, Denim and Mozart Estate never found fame. He explains why it was all Princess Diana’s fault

www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jul/27/lawrence-interview-felt-denim-mozart-estate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

www.cherryred.co.uk/product/mozart-estate-pop-up-ker-ching-and-the-possibilities-of-modern-shopping-cd-edition/

• New, full-length album from the latest incarnation of Lawrence, Mozart Estate.