coverpage
introduction
The Blue Mist
Darkness At Noon
The Pleasureheads
Nutmeg
Flowershop
The Charlottes
The Nightjars 80's Cambs rock(c) Andrew Clifton 2000-1
The Charlottes on Subway Organization Records
"Lovehappy" was released in August 1989 to outstanding reviews. For example, Dave Simpson of Melody Maker, who had admired the single as "a twee classic", was now impressed by the "doomy basslines and dentist's drill guitar": "Lovehappy is a distortion pedal-fuelled blast of an LP; The Darling Buds with a size 10 Doc Marten following up the rear." NME gave it 9 out of 10 and an album of the month accolade, Steve Lamacq writing that the songs were "caustic, excellent pop gambits" by a band "more unnerving and brittle than The Primitives and altogether more sexy than Kylie."
The first hundred albums contained my Charlottes' Web booklet detailing the band's first year. In 1997 at a Birmingham record fair, I saw the album "with rare insert" on sale for £45. I found this rather ridiculous - but it was sold for that within the hour! More collectable, I would have thought, is an EP featuring The Charlottes performing a different version of "Stubborn" from that on "Lovehappy", plus tracks by Thrilled Skinny, New Day Rising and The Von Trapps. It was on the tiny Yorkshire label Glut (FRIDGE 001) and The Charlottes launched it at a Hull Adelphi gig on September 15th.
John Peel was extremely impressed by "Lovehappy". On September 3rd he overcame his dislike of interviewing, and broadcast a discussion with Graham and Simon. On the 21st The Charlottes recorded four songs for a Peel Session, which was broadcast on October 18th and repeated a few weeks later. BBC producer Dale Griffin thought the guitar tracks too loud but the band disagreed. On returning to Cambridgeshire The Charlottes had second thoughts, but when they phoned it was too late to change. Fans agreed with John when he said how glad he was that the guitars had been left so high.
The Charlottes now had a distinctive and immediately identifiable sound. They went even further with this "walls of guitar sound" - Petra filling it out with a second guitar - instead of the commercial pop direction that some songs in their early concerts had shown they could just as easily have followed. Unfortunately as they became ever increasingly popular as a gigging band, Dave Fletcher found it impossible to also hold down a fulltime job, and drum with his other band The Nightjars once a week. Although he had said he would leave, it was still a shock when he actually did. Luckily Graham knew Andrew Wade, a natural musician who learnt the bass in a week when the opportunity came. A good job too, for they were soon on a 30 date spring tour with mutual fans Ride.
Sadly, the "Love In The Emptiness" 12" EP (SUBWAY 27) they were ostensibly promoting was much delayed (Ride released both their eponymous debut and "Play" EPs during the same period). By the time the record was released they had already signed a three album deal with Cherry Red Records (on 30th March 1990). The trade paper Music Week gave it glowing reviews, in both its mainstream and indie sections, and in its quarterly retrospective proclaimed it the best indie release of the summer. Several reasons were given The Charlottes for the delays and apparent lack of promotion (as explained on the original version of this page) but Martin Whitehead has recently refuted these.
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