NUTMEG
"And In England They're Going Mental"/"You're The Only One"/"Walking In The Rain"
(Molesworth Records HUNTS 3)
coverpage
introduction
The Blue Mist
Darkness At Noon
The Pleasureheads
Nutmeg
- on Molesworth
- on Fenrock
- on Ground
Flowershop
The Charlottes
The Nightjars
80's Cambs rock(c) Andrew Clifton 2000-1
I came across Nutmeg when I was on the panel judging the 1985 Cambs Association of Youth Clubs Bands Competition held in Sawtry. Nutmeg were representing Soham and came second to the mellifluent Peterborough reggae group Quadro. Nutmeg were inexperienced but had a raw garage band vitality. Their short sharp songs such as "Walking Into Town With The Girls", "It Came Together (It Wasn't Easy)" and "Shit Off, Scotty!" were idiosyncratic but also clearly rooted in teenage experience. With his swirling long hair, unfashionable 70s gear and wildly energetic performance, Tom Dalpra was a particularly engaging frontman. As much of their set was spent retuning and restringing, he also had to work hard to keep the audience's attention between songs, a talent he quickly perfected.
During 1986-7 I booked Nutmeg for a couple of gigs and they showed the Sawtry Village College performance hadn't been a fluke. They improved in leaps and bounds, Tom quite literally. And, as Maria Barbieri pointed out in a Scene And Heard review, Matthew Hobbs and new member Rich Scurrah looked the archetypal rock guitarists. Simon Palastanga played bass and Neil Taylor drummed.
"And In England They're Going Mental" was the funniest and most striking part of Nutmeg's performance, Tom improvising verses of what was happening in other countries between guitar freakout choruses to the title refrain. We agreed they would record it as their first single, at The Music Room, a new Peterborough studio which was basically the staff and equipment of the demolished Stix moved along Fitzwilliam Street into Live Music. The song's spontaneity was preserved by recording versions live in the studio. Dave Colton engineered and Baz Voce spliced together the best two halves. "You're The Only One" had some equally surrealistic touches. "Walking In The Rain" was much more conventional. I recall having to arrive late from a gig I was promoting; as I walked up the stairs I heard the playback of this unfamiliar song and thought I had come the wrong day.
Released in 1987 as a 12" EP, "And In England They're Going Mental" received positive reviews across the board, from Music Week through NME to Underground. At first it seemed it would be as successful as the Pleasureheads' release and I was not surprised when the band's manager told me the distributors had informed him it had sold out. Having regretted not releasing a second Pleasureheads single, I had resolved to follow up this EP quickly. The band had mentioned recording a cover version, and in an unreleased Seeds track called "Did He Die?" I thought I had found a perfectly bizarre sequel to "And In England". Sadly their manager told me this was a direction they no longer wished to follow. Instead Nutmeg were adding classic rock songs to their set to broaden their appeal, and their songwriting was moving in the same direction.
Just afterwards, I discovered that lines must have been crossed somewhere: although it had sold rapidly at first, hundreds of the EP remained unsold. Perhaps this was because, surprisingly, it hadn't received a single play on national radio. I don't know, but this was a bit of a shock. Despite a repromotion (featuring ads designed by young fans of the band) when Nutmeg won the 1988 Cambridge Rock Competition, I ended up receiving unsold boxes from Backs.
Nevertheless "And In England"'s uniqueness ensures a trickle of sales to this day, as collectors gradually find out about it. A decade ago I discovered that the record had been used by a West Indian broadcaster to accompany a clip of an England cricket team batting collapse. Last year (2000) a New Zealander, phoning in to Mark Radcliffe on Radio 1, revealed it had been used 'down under' for the same purpose. What a pity England have started winning again!
What happened next to Nutmeg? Continue to find out.