|
|
|
The Rose's first single
release, coming out in early 1985, and immediately being picked up
by John Peel and championed via his radio play the Rose's début
reached No1 in the UK indie charts. What was even more
remarkable about this instant success was at this stage The Rose
of Avalanche were not an established live act with a following, so
found themselves in the pretty unique position of being top of the
charts but with no gigging experience. "LA Rain"
was written by the original Rose lineup of
Morris / Berry / Davis and recorded at Parkside Studios in Leeds.
The track was originally produced & mixed by Lawrence, the
bass player from the March
Violets (influential Leeds scene band). However the Rose
weren't happy with the results and promptly re-mixed it when he
left!. As part of this remix the
boys felt the track needed a little something extra and persuaded
one Glenn Shultz who was working at the studio to put some 12
string over the track. By the bands own admission Glenn was
technically far superior to any of them, having been classically
trained. At that point Glenn was invited to join the band on a
permanent basis. The title track is a
brooding, sleazy opus, clocking in at over seven minutes. The
style and swagger of the song masks the youth and inexperience of
the band. Phil almost raps the lyrics in his mock American drawl
which was to become a trade mark of the band. The support from Peel
continued throughout 1985 with the band recording a Peel
Session on 28th May 1985, and "LA Rain" being
named in John
Peel's "Festive 50" (number 26 in fact) in December
1985. The Rose choose "Rise
To The Groove" and "Conceal Me" to back
the single, with other songs from the same session carried over to
the "Goddess" single.
Both establish the Rose's rock 'n' roll influences, learning
towards an American influence. This was unlike many of their
contemporaries in the Goth scene who could trace their roots back
to British Punk and New Wave.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
