Twelfth Night (aka. Early Material, The Electra Tape)
releases:
| format | date | label | country | time | | 1 | MC | 1980-10 | Twelfth Night Records | UK | 32:10 |
track list:
| side A | | 1 | The Cunning Man | 5:43 | | 2 | Afghan Red | 11:23 | | side B | | 1 | Abacus | 7:20 | | 2 | Keep The Aspidistra Flying | 7:35 |
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musicians:
| Rick Battersby | keyboards | | Brian Devoil | drums | | Electra McLeod | vocals | | Clive Mitten | bass | | Andy Revell | guitar |
Info
The tracks were recorded in the late Summer of 1980. I don't know who made the front cover, but I will ask. This tape was recorded during the short-lived line-up that includes female singer Electra. She sings on and wrote the lyrics to three of the tracks on the tape; Afghan Red is instrumental. It is known, however, that she wrote lyrics to Sequences as well, coincidentally ending the song with a long-stretched "love", as Geoff did with his version. There might be a recording of a live performance with Electra, where she sings Sequences. During the recording sessions, a short version of Für Helene Part I (the rhythm section) was also recorded, which was used as the B-side to The Cunning Man on The First 7" Album. For more information on Electra, visit here website: www.mgck.co.uk. Tape Title
The only title that's on the tape (apart from the song titles, of course), is "Twelfth Night". The tape is referred to by the band as Early Material, but among fans is also known as The Electra Tape. "The Cunning Man"
Shorter songs than we're used to! This song even has a chorus. Electra's voice is hard to understand. Strange lyrics in this one: "there he stood upon the stage / calmly cool, guitar in hand / was he Beck or was he Page? / no no no, he's the Cunning Man". Was she in love with Andy Revell? "Afghan Red"
What a marvellous instrumental! The band must have thought so, too. It was played even when Andy Sears was in the band. "Abacus"
Strange track. I think I know of only one live recording (instrumental), so I guess the band never thought it was a very good one, too. "Keep The Aspidistra Flying"
Exactly what this band stood for - a little agressive, not too complex, and very melodic. It has been played instrumentally, on here with Electra's lyrics and vocals, and later Geoff's lyrics were sung by himself and Andy. It later was called Aspidentropy when the first part of Aspidistra replaced the first part of Entropy. Entropy consisted of Four And Three plus a newly written second part, so technically, Aspidistra replaced Four And Three.
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