Soft Boys - Rout of the Clones (live 1978)

‘Rout of the Clones’ bootleg

Cambridge & Leicester, UK

Live Compilation 1978

  

soundboard recordings (quality: VG+; surprisingly solid quality, given the age & era of the source tapes)
   
01 Blues In the Dark

02 The Bells of Rhymney

03 Sandra's Having Her Brain Out 

04 The Pigworker

05 School Dinner Blues

06 Cold Turkey

07 Leppo & the Jooves

08 Have a Heart Betty

09 I Like Bananas

10 Wading Through a Ventilator

11 The Rat's Prayer

12 Give It to the Soft Boys

13 Hear My Brane

14 Return of the Sacred Crab

15 Mystery Train

16 Muriel's Hoot 
     - Rout of the Clones

17 (I Want to Be An) 
     Anglepoise Lamp

18 Poor Will & the 
     Jolly Hangman*
  
*rehearsal recording, quality VG-

  

(click on artwork, right, for venues & dates) 

ROB SEZ: OK, Soft Boys & RH fans: here's another one for your enjoyment. We're going back to near the beginning of the saga, featuring live recordings from the band's second year. The Asking Tree gigography indicates these performances all took place during one week in late November 1978 — about 3 weeks after the Portland Arms gig featured here last week. The sound/performance is rough & raw in the best sense, but even at this early date, the recording shows off the band's musical adventurism and Robyn's skewed wit. Once again, I'm fairly certain we have Dr. Forrester to thank for sharing this way back ... I dunno when.

THERE'S A MYSTERY BONUS SHARE RH FANS & OBSESSIVES WILL WANT TO SNAG.

  

FLAC

  

MP3@320

Soft Boys - Live at the Portland Arms 1978 (vinyl rip)

The Portland Arms
Cambridge, UK
Nov. 1, 1978
  
soundboard recording (sound quality: VG++; hi-resolution vinyl rip from Live at The Portland Arms LP [Glass Fish] release) 
  

01 Give It to the Soft Boys   
02 Sandra's Having Her Brain Out   
03 Give Me a Spanner, Ralph   
04 My Evaline   
05 Human Music   
06 I Like Bananas
     (Because They Have No Bones)    
07 Horns Large Horns   
08 The Book of Love   
09 Wish I Had My Baby   
10 White Shoe Blues   
11 In the Mood   
12 That's When Your Heartaches Begin   
13 Have a Heart, Betty (I'm Not Fireproof)   
14 The Duke of Squeeze   
15 All Shook Up 
16 Postman's Knock*
17 Deck of Cards*
  
*Trks 16 & 17 are from the same performance, but were not included on either of the official "Live at the Portland Arms" releases.

The Soft Boys:

cover of the original release on cassette, 1983

Andy Metcalfe - bass, vocals
Morris Windsor - drums, vocals 
Robyn Hitchcock - guitar, lead vocals, harmonica  
Kimberley Rew - guitar, vocals
  
Jim Melton - percussion, lead vocal (track 11)
Mungo Carstairs - saxophone, vocals 
Airborne Alice - additional vocals

ROB SEZ: Among Robyn Hitchcock & Soft Boys fans, this is a well-known release, taken from an early acoustic performance — offered here in all its lossless glory. It was first released in 1983 on Moonlight Records as a cassette-only edition, and reissued on vinyl in 1988 on Glass Fish Records with new artwork. It's never been released on CD. Tracks 1-15 are from a hi-resolution rip of the LP. (I cannot recall my source for the two bonus tracks, but I do know they're from a lossless source. A couple of tracks from this performance appeared on an officially-released compilation, but these are versions from the vinyl rip, so in that sense aren't exactly the same.) The set is now nearly complete, lacking only "Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole", which was played next to last in the setlist. HUGE THANKS to Dr. Forrester for sharing this one.
  
FLAC
  
MP3@320

Soft Boys - Hoboken, N.J. 1980 + Live 2001-'02

Maxwell’s

Hoboken, N.J.

Sept. 6, 1980

audience recording (VG; club show, with plusses outweighing the minuses by a solid margin) 

01 Kingdom of Love

02 Out of the Picture

03 Zip Zip

04 Human Music

05 I Wanna Destroy You

06 Only the Stones Remain 

07 Leppo & the Jooves

08 Queen of Eyes

09 There's Nobody Like You

10 Underwater Moonlight

11 Insanely Jealous

12 Astronomy Domine

ROB SEZ: I purchased this recently as a silver (pressed) boot. I transferred the files losslessly, then used Audacity to tidy them up, applying fades & enough eq to remove the uncomfortable tinny-ness that first greeted my ears. To compensate for the not-quite-ideal result, I’ve added the following two live radio sessions from 2001 and 2002. I recorded, transferred, tracked, & eq’d them for your listening pleasure. (Notice the lack of track duplication with the MBE sessions, though just 19 months apart.) If you've never had the pleasure, I highly recommend reading Kimberley Rew's eyewitness account of the Soft Boys. I have a few more Soft Boys sets I can share, but some encouraging comments will be helpful if you really want 'em...

Front Man Syndrome: does Robyn ever get tired of being the only guy in the photo?

‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’ with Nic Harcourt

KCRW-FM

Robyn has company this time, thanks to the Soft Boys

Santa Monica, CA
April 9, 2001
(broadcast date)

What an amazing radio station. Thanks, KCRW...

web stream (sound quality VG+ to VG++) 

01 intro

02 Kingdom of Love

03 Old Pervert

04 My Mind Is Connected 

     to Your Dreams

05 I Wanna Destroy You

06 interview

07 Sudden Town

08 Underwater Moonlight

09 The Face of Death

10 Pulse of My Heart

11 outro

Nov. 4, 2002 (broadcast date)

[all other info same as above]

01 intro

02 Queen of Eyes

03 Unprotected Love

04 Chinese Bones

05 Seven-Winged Bat 

06 interview

07 Narcissus

08 La Cherité

09 song intro + tuning

10 If You Know Time

11 final chat

MP3@320

Sample the tasty musical madness of the Soft Boys here (1980 live clip)

Learn more about the Soft Boys' music at 

Trouser Press and AllMusic

   

Soft Boys - London, UK 1994 (sbd)

The Astoria
London, UK
January 13, 1994

soundboard recording (quality Ex-; transfer from 'Where Are the Prawns?', fanclub-issued chrome tape)

SAMPLE: "Kingdom of Love" (live in London 1994)


01 Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole
02 The Face of Death
03 The Queen of Eyes
04 The Pigworker
05 Underwater Moonlight
06 Old Pervert
07 Hear My Brane
08 Where Are the Prawns?
09 Insanely Jealous
10 Kingdom of Love
11 band intros
12 Give It to the Soft Boys

Robyn H. & Kimberley R. of the Soft Boys
cool photos by Chris Boland from a 2006 live show
more at www.chrisboland.com

13 Only the Stones Remain
14 Zipper In My Spine
15 I Wanna Destroy You

ROB SEZ: I invested heart & soul in my first Soft Boys post — even tucking away a hidden bonus set. Response? Zip, zilch, nada. What's a blogger to do?  Re-double his efforts, naturally! SOFT BOYS POSTS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE (and blog reader participation) IMPROVES AROUND HERE!! 
My best guess: this amazing set comes from the mysterious & very generous Dr. Forrester, who has shared a heap o’ Soft Boys & Robyn Hitchcock goodies through the years at his excellent Just Add Cones blog. 

Tape insert for this fanclub-only release

 

MP3@320

The Soft Boys:

Robyn Hitchcock - vocal, guitar
Andy Metcalfe - bass, vocals

Matthew Seligman - bass

Morris Windsor - drums, backing vocal

   

Sean Lyons - guitar, vocals

Jim Melton - percussion, harmonica, vocals

Learn more about the Soft Boys' music at 
Trouser Press and AllMusic

Soft Boys - Live 1980 + 2002

Club Eighties
New York, NY
Sept. 5, 1980

audience recording (sound quality VG; a well-recorded, well-preserved artifact, with some imperfections — as expected from a tape of this vintage)

SAMPLE: "Queen of Eyes" (Live WFMU 2002)    



01 Kingdom of Love
02 Queen of Eyes
03 Strange
04 I Wanna Destroy You
05 Leppo and the Jooves
06 Only the Stones Remain
07 There's Nobody Like You
08 Insanely Jealous
09 Out of the Picture
10 Train Round the Bend (VU cover)   
11 Positive Vibrations
12 Zip Zip (James A. Smith tune) 
13 Gigolo Aunt (Syd Barrett cover) 
14 Dancing on Your Thumb
15 I Wanna Destroy You
16 Run Run Run (VU cover)
17 Kingdom of Love
18 Underwater Moonlight
19 Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd cover) 
 
TT: 71:30 mins.

ROB SEZ: Before Robyn Hitchcock (solo act); before RH & The Egyptians; before Kimberley Rew's Katrina & The Waves, there were the SOFT BOYS in the late 1970s to early 1980s. They were really good! ALL PRAISES go to the taper and sharers, especially caravelle for re-sharing the 1980 show a few years ago. Artwork for the 1980 set by Mick. Thanks also to hingyfan and chip_christian for sharing the 2002 set, recorded on the band's Nextdoorland tour. (Note about the artwork: the fan who first shared this thought the correct month for the 1980 show was August, but Hitchcock fans did some research, and turns out it took place Sept. 1980.)

Live Session
WFMU Studios
Jersey City, N.J.
Oct. 25, 2002 (broadcast Oct. 29)

FM recording (sound quality Ex-) 

Recommended for the well-dressed fan

01 I Love Lucy        
02 Pulse of My Heart        
03 Mr. Kennedy        
04 Unprotected Love        
05 My Mind Is Connected        
06 Each of Her Silver Wands        
07 Narcissus        
08 Hear My Brane 
09 talk 1      
10 The Man With the Lightbulb Head
11 Queen of Eyes        
12 When I Was a Kid        
13 If You Know Time
14 talk 2  

MP3@320
  
FLAC (1980 show only)      
 
The Soft Boys:
Robyn Hitchcock - vocal, guitar
Kimberley Rew - guitar, backing vocal
Matthew Seligman - bass
Morris Windsor - drums, backing vocal

Learn more about the Soft Boys' music at 
Trouser Press and AllMusic