Hi all,
My first buyer didn't come through on the following "unofficial"
Cocteau Twins CD after *2 months* so it's up on the block again.
** PRICE in US$ (or equiv. CAD, GBP, EURO etc.) **
** AIR MAIL POSTAGE depends on DESTINATION **
** Sorry, no PayPal.
$25 -- Cocteau Twins - "Pearly, Pink & White" CD (Tornado: TOR025) 1994
[Recorded live at Tulane University, New Orleans on February 28th,
1994. 75 min. with 17 tracks including "Pitch The Baby", "Heaven
Or Las Vegas", "Whales Tails", "Carolyn's Fingers", "Blue Bell
Knoll", and "Pink Orange Red". Limited edition. NEW copy.]
Email if interested...
-Patrick
pm.carey(a)utoronto.ca
Para los que no la hayan leido.
///////////////////////////////
A Brief History of Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead Before Slowdive and Mojave 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
written by John Kupchik
This is my attempt at writing a brief timeline of what came before Slowdive and
Mojave 3. Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead are two
musicians/singers/songwriters whom I respect and admire immensely, and
information about them prior to Slowdive is basically nonexistent on the web. I
thought it was about time someone did something about that, and this is what I
have tried to do here. It isn\'t much, but it is more than was available on the
web before. I still don\'t know much about Neil\'s life prior to Slowdive, so
most of it is little tidbits about Rachel I have gathered. I hope this will
serve as a useful and interesting resource for Slowdive and Mojave 3 fans
everywhere, and that they will be able to see the events that led to Rachel and
Neil\'s great contributions to music. This page is dedicated to this brilliant
musical duo whom we all (should) know and love.
1970
Neil Halstead is born on 7 October in Wokingham, England (near Reading).
1971
Rachel Goswell is born on 16 May in a small village outside Reading, England.
1976/77
Neil\'s family moves to Sonning Common in Oxfordshire, and that is where he
first meets Rachel (at school when they were about six years old).
1978
Rachel begins to learn guitar from her father at the age of 7.
Sometime in the early-mid 1980s
Rachel and Neil begin to take classical guitar lessons from Rachel\'s best
friend\'s mother. They continue to pass eachother often, as they attended the
same schools. Their friendship develops further.
Sometime in the early-mid 1980s
Neil does a paper round, saves up some money, and buys his first electric
guitar.
1984
Rachel gets obsessed with Grace Jones.
1985
Rachel gets obsessed with The Smiths.
Sometime in the mid-1980s
Rachel discovers the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees from her older brother.
1988
Rachel and Neil get together and form the band the Pumpkin Fairies, along with
future Slowdive bandmates Nick Chaplin on bass and Adrian Sell on drums (the
latter was not in Slowdive very long).
1989
The Pumpkin Fairies record and release their 7 song cassette demo. It was
recorded on 2 Jan 1989 at Reading Berks Rehearsal studios, when Neil was 18 and
Rachel just 17. The tracklisting is as follows:
1)everything you breath
2)stephanie says***
3)fifteen million smiles
4)you make me feel
5)whats the matter with me
6)dream on..
7)(untitled ghost track)
All tracks written by Neil except ***Velvet Underground.
Approximately a few dozen cassettes were made, complete with B&W photocopied j-
cards. The cover image is a picture of Rachel looking up, complete with poofed
out goth hairdo, looking sorta like a cross between Robert Smith and Siouxsie.
They were sold at the few gigs they played in Reading, and given to friends. It
is uncertain how many copies have survived to this day. On these songs Rachel
was the only vocalist, although Neil does sing backup on \"stephanie says\". This
song (albeit a VU cover) was the first example of how perfect Rachel and Neil\'s
voices harmonised. On the whole the songs sound highly derivative of My Bloody
Valentine, sort of gothy in the English sense. But throughout there are
definite signs of what Neil and Rachel would later write, definite hints.
Rachel\'s vocals are up front and prominent, and sound surprisingly good for her
young age. Neil\'s guitar work consists of mainly basic chords played through
fuzzy effects (primarily distortion). The song \"whats the matter with me\" is
probably the highlight of this demo, a wonderful whimsical little acoustic
ditty with Rachel singing and Neil plucking away on the guitar. It sounds very
quirky in a charming Syd Barrett sort of fashion. A really brilliant song that
wouldn\'t sound all that out of place on a Mojave 3 record. The bonus track at
the end is of unknown origin as it isn\'t listed in the credits. It is a
recording presumably from 1988 in Rachel\'s parent\'s garage, where they
practised. It sounds as if it was recorded on a boombox or a cheap portable
cassette recorder. There\'s some talking at the end, and it\'s rather interesting
to hear Rachel\'s high-pitched, youthful voice. Rather surprisingly, Neil\'s
voice doesn\'t sound too different from what it is now.
So a few months later the Pumpkin Fairies were no more, and Slowdive emerged in
October of 1989. Destined to fade away into the annals of musical history
totally unknown and forgotten, the Pumpkin Fairies are nevertheless important
as they were the very beginnings of the musical partnership of Rachel and Neil,
giving the world (or at least a few dozen people in Reading) a glimpse of the
greatness to come.
1989 (Autumn)
Neil has a place at University to read English Lit, but doesn\'t take it up
because Slowdive are signed to Creation at the time...
...and it is here where the story ends and continues on into Slowdive, and
further on to Mojave 3, and somewhere near on the horizon, into Rachel and
Neil\'s individual solo careers...
UPDATE:
I was recently contacted by Neil\'s mum Pamela. She graciously gave me some more
tidbits about Neil\'s early years, which I\'ve tried to fit into the above
timeline, but the exact dates are unknown so it\'s sort of a general estimation.
I\'ve decided to just post her words below, directly as she sent them to me, in
order to reference what information I got from her, as well as to have perhaps
a more cohesive summation of what might appear a bit vague on the timeline
above:
Neil was born in Wokingham which is near Reading. We moved to a place called
Sonning Common in Oxfordshire when he was small and that is where he met Rachel
at School when they were about six years old. They lived in the next road and
her parents and I still live in the village. They progressed through School
together and as you know they had the same guitar teacher and learned classical
guitar. Neil did a paper round and bought his first electric guitar. He had a
place at University to read English Lit which he did not take up as Slowdive
were signed at the time.
contributions, questions, comments, corrections, etc. kindly send to
blueskied(a)hotmail.com
this page was created on 18 April 2001. updated on 27 September 2003. many
thanks to Pamela Halstead for the info.
___________________________________________________________________
Si desea recibir, semanalmente, el Boletín Electrónico de la PUCP, ingrese a:
http://www.pucp.edu.pe/boletin/