| |
Text by Derek Sozou.
|
|
THE SERVANTS She's
Always Hiding 7" Single
SONGS She's
Always Hiding/Transparent
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; John Mohan - guitar; Philip King - bass; John
Wills - drums
PRODUCER Richard Preston
STUDIO Alvic, Baron's Court,
London
RECORDED 31 January 1986
RELEASED March 1986
LABEL/NUMBER Head 1
Early 1985, David Westlake was 19, living in west London.
Into Lennon/McCartney, Dusty Springfield, Doug Yule-era Velvet
Underground. Put a band together using the want ads in the
NME. Name came from Joseph Losey's film The Servant.
First gig at the Water Rats Theatre in London's King's Cross,
July 1, 1985. Head Records was set up by Creation employee
Jeff Barrett and NME contributor Bill Prince. |
 |
THE SERVANTS John
Peel session BBC Radio One
SONGS A
Fleeting Visit/Rings On Her Fingers/You'd Do Me Good/She Whom
Once I Dreamt Of
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; John Mohan - guitar; Philip King - bass; John
Wills - drums
PRODUCER Dale Griffin
STUDIO BBC Stuidios, Maida Vale,
London
RECORDED 16 March 1986
FIRST BROADCAST March 1986
DJ John Peel read a review of the Servants and invited the
band to record a session for his radio programme. The band
got some OK gigs, opening for Sonic Youth, the Go-Betweens
and others. |
 |
THE SERVANTS Transparent
NME C86 Compilation RECORDING
INFORMATION as for She's Always Hiding, above
RELEASED 1986
The NME put together a compilation of a new bunch of bands. They invited the
Servants to contribute a track. Unfortunately, being on C86 put across a
wrong message about the Servants. It turned out that most of the other bands
on the NME compilation were into the so-called "shambling" scene that
started up around then. The Servants were not part of that scene. They had
wanted to keep a distance from that scene. |
 |
THE SERVANTS
The Sun, A Small Star 12"
EP SONGS
The Sun, A Small Star/Meredith/It Takes No Gentleman/Funny
Business
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; John Mohan - guitar; Philip King - bass; John
Wills - drums; Amanda Brown - violin on The Sun, A Small Star
PRODUCER Richard Preston
STUDIO Elephant, Wapping Wharf,
London
RECORDED 8 August 1986
RELEASED October 1986
LABEL/NUMBER Head 3
By the time this record came out, this line-up of the Servants had split.
The record company had dropped the band. There was no live work arranged.
Westlake looked around for a new chance for to get to make the next Servants
record, but without luck. John Mohan and Philip King already had live and
recording work lined up with other bands. With no real reason for them to
get together and rehearse in the Servants at the time, the line-up drifted
apart. The band had come together through musicians wanted ads, and had had
some kind of luck right away. But they had not been together long enough for
there to be any sort of camaraderie. So as soon as the luck ran out, it was
over. |
 |
DAVID WESTLAKE &
THE GO-BETWEENS Janice
Long session BBC Radio One
SONGS The
Word Around Town/Dream Come True/Faithful To 3 Lovers/Everlasting
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; Robert Forster - guitar; Robert Vickers - bass;
Amanda Brown - violin, oboe & backing vocals; John Wills
- drums
PRODUCER Barry Andrews
STUDIO BBC Studios, Maida Vale,
London
RECORDED 14 January 1987 (mixed
12 February 1987)
FIRST BROADCAST February 1987
Westlake set about putting together a new band line-up in November 1986. DJ
Janice Long invited him to record a session for her evening show on the BBC.
Luke Haines answered an ad in December 1986. John Wills was still around on
drums and knew the songs. But there was not enough time to find and
rehearse-in new people to do the session. Go-Between Robert Forster offered
to play. He brought in Robert Vickers and Amanda Brown. The Go-Betweens
became friends when the Servants opened for them on tour. |
 |
DAVID WESTLAKE Westlake
Album SONGS
The Word Around Town/Dream Come True/Rings On Her Fingers/Everlasting/She
Grew And She Grew/Talk Like That
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; Luke Haines - guitar & piano; Martyn Casey
- bass; Alsy MacDonald - drums
PRODUCERS Paul Gadd and Steve
Nunn
STUDIO Greenhouse, Islington,
London
RECORDED 18/19 April 1987
RELEASED November 1987
LABEL/NUMBER Creation CRELP
019
RE-ISSUED 1993 on CD: Creation
CRECD 019
1987. Luke Haines had settled. John Wills had gone with noise-band Loop.
Bass players came and went. No drummers at all. Creation Records asked
Westlake to make a record. But there still was not a full band. Westlake and
Haines recorded some songs with the Triffids' rhythm section. Creation put
out the songs later in 1987 as Westlake. |
 |
THE SERVANTS
It's My Turn 7"
Single/12" EP SONGS
It's My Turn/Afterglow/Faithful To 3 Lovers/Do Or Be Done
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; Luke Haines - guitar & bass; Hugh Whitaker
- drums; Susan Tanner - violin on It's My Turn and Faithful
To 3 Lovers
PRODUCER Harold Burgon
STUDIO Elephant, Wapping Wharf,
London
RECORDED 19 November 1988
RELEASED September 1989
LABEL/NUMBER Glass 056/Glass
12056
Drummer Hugh Whitaker left chart band the Housemartins and joined the
Servants in June 1987. The Servants did not fit in with Creation's rock and
roll pretensions and were dropped. Glass Records invited the band to record
an album. The day the band went into the studio a call arrived explaining
that Glass was running out of money, better make it a single instead. It
would take more than a year for Glass to release the single. |
 |
THE SERVANTS Disinterest
Album SONGS
Move Out/The Power Of Woman/Restless/Third Wheel/Thin-Skinned/Self
Destruction/Hush Now/They Should Make A Statue/Hey, Mrs John/Look
Like A Girl/Big Future/Afterglow
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; Luke Haines - backing vocals, guitar & piano;
Alice Readman - bass; Andy Bennett - drums
PRODUCER Mark Dawson
STUDIO Goldust, southeast London
RECORDED 17/18 April 1990
RELEASED July 1990
LABEL/NUMBER Paperhouse PAPLP005/PAPCD005
Desperate times led to a desperate measure. The Servants signed with Fire
Records in 1990. Band morale was low, and this produced some strangely
angular material. |
 |
THE SERVANTS
Look Like A Girl 7" Single
SONGS Look
Like A Girl/Bad Habits Die Hard/It's My Turn
LINE-UP Look Like A Girl line-up
as on Disinterest. Other songs: David Westlake - vocals &
guitar; Luke Haines - backing vocals & guitar; Jonathan
Scullion - bass; Hugh Whitaker - drums
A-SIDE RECORDING INFORMATION as
on Disinterest
B-SIDE RECORDED BY Martin Schori,
live in Biel, Switzerland, 4 May 1989
RELEASED August 1990
LABEL/NUMBER Paperhouse PAPER004
The Servants were under contract, but with nothing going on
and nothing about to go on. Twelve months later, the band
played its last show at the Rock Garden in London's Covent
Garden. August 21, 1991. Everyone said good night. |
| |
DAVID WESTLAKE Take
Me To Your Heart Performance
#1 Compilation CD RELEASED
June 2002
LABEL/NUMBER Intercontinental
ITC 8
French label Intercontinental asked Westlake to contribute
a track for a compilation they were putting out. He gave them
a demo of a song that wouldn't be included on the upcoming
album, "Take Me To Your Heart". |
 |
DAVID WESTLAKE
Play Dusty For Me Album
SONGS Play
Dusty For Me/Song For John/Back On Track/An Ocean Away/Say
When/Stupid Love/The Lonely City/I Can't Give You The Life
You Want/Nowhere Days/I Die For Love/Patience/Even If/Life
On The Edge/Hi You/Life Goes On
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; Dan Cross - guitar; Cormac Moore - bass; Willis
Moore - drums
RECORDED BY Cormac Moore
MIXED BY Willis Moore
STUDIO P.Boy Studios, Kilkenny,
Ireland
RECORDED August 2001
RELEASED 11 June 2002
LABEL/NUMBER Mahlerphone CDA
001
After a twelve year absence, Westlake pressed up an album of new material in
2002, recorded in Kilkenny, Ireland. The songs are slower than before, but
stronger. (Click on the Press page for reviews.) |
 |
THE SERVANTS
Reserved Album
SONGS The Sun, A Small Star/A Fleeting Visit/You'd Do Me Good/Afterglow/She
Whom Once I Dreamt Of/It Takes No Gentleman/It's My Turn/Rings On Her
Fingers/Meredith/She's Always Hiding/Do Or Be Done/Faithful To 3
Lovers/Transparent/Funny Business/Loggerheads/Search Under Stones/Water Baby
Blonde/Hey, Mrs John/Who's Calling You Baby Now?/I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
RECORDED BY Cormac Moore
RELEASED 27 March 2006
LABEL/NUMBER Cherry Red CDM RED 297
The Cherry Red label issued this compilation in 2006, making twenty tracks
available for the first time on CD. It includes the Servants' singles
1986-1989, and the BBC John Peel session. Luke Haines tells the story of the
band in his sleevenotes. |
 |
VARIOUS ARTISTS
cd86: 48 tracks from the birth of indie pop Compilation album
RELEASED Late 2006
LABEL/NUMBER Sanctuary CMEDD1420
DISC ONE 1. Primal Scream: Velocity Girl / 2. The Servants: The Sun, A Small Star /
3. Hurrah: Around And Around / 4. The Loft: Why Does The Rain / 5. East
Village: Vibrato / 6. Sea Urchins: Pristine Christine / 7. Siddeleys: What
Went Wrong This Time / 8. Another Sunny Day: Anorak City / 9. The Clouds:
Get Out Of My Dream / 10. Boy Hairdressers: Golden Shower / 11.
Chesterfields: Ask Johnny Dee / 12. Raw Herbs: He's Blown In / 13. Laugh:
Paul McCartney / 14. The Hit Parade: You Didn't Love Me Then / 15. Weather
Prophets: Like Frankie Lymon / 16. June Brides: Sunday To Saturday / 17.
Dentists: I Had An Excellent Dream / 18. Mighty Mighty: Everybodys Knows The
Monkey / 19. BMX Bandits: E102 / 20. Tallulah Gosh: Talulah Gosh / 21.
Jasmine Minks: Cut Me Deep / 22. Razorcuts: I'll Still Be There / 23.
Bodines: Therese / 24. TV Personalities: Paradise Estate
DISC TWO 1. Jesus And Mary Chain: Upside Down / 2. Primitives: Really Stupid / 3.
Groove Farm: It Always Rains On Sunday / 4. Pop Will Eat Itself: Black
Country Chainsaw Massacre / 5. 14 Iced Bears: Come Get Me / 6. Fizzbombs: Sign On The Line / 7. Wolfhounds: Anti Midas Touch / 8. Wedding Present:
This Boy Can Wait / 9. Age Of Chance: Bible Of The Beats / 10. Shop
Assistants: Safety Net / 11. Close Lobsters: Just Too Bloody Stupid / 12.
Half Man Half Biscuit: Dukla Prague Away Kit / 13. Meat Whiplash: Don't Slip
Up / 14. Flatmates: I Could Be In Heaven / 15. Darling Buds: If I Said / 16.
This Poison: Poised Over The Pause Button / 17. Bachelor Pad: Jack And
Julian / 18. Pooh Sticks: On Tape / 19. Revolving Paint Dream: Flowers Are
In The Sky / 20. Soup Dragons: Whole Wide World / 21. McCarthy: Frans Hals /
22. Mighty Lemon Drops: Like An Angel / 23. Big Flame: Why Popstars Can't
Dance / 24. Pastels: Baby Honey
Twenty years on, and better than C86.
|
 |
DAVID WESTLAKE
My Ice Queen Track on Doing it for the Kids '08: A Compilation for Yorkhill Children's Foundation
RELEASED mid-2008
INFORMATION at: www.myspace.com/yorkhillproject
Desmond Lambert helped with the recording - January, 2008. Dan Cross on guitar & blow-torch; Cormac Moore on bass; Willis Moore on drums. The words: Cold, hard, and mean. Heartbreak machine. Coolest girl you've ever seen. My ice queen. / Work 9 to 5. See her arrive. Doesn't even know I'm alive. My ice queen. / Daydream - we meet. Her. Me. / One day I quit. Saw her for drinks. Said she felt she didn't fit. My ice queen. / Poor thing. Trust me. Oh, please. I'll help you out. I'll fit you in. / Now she fits with ease. Broke both her knees. Stashed her head in the deep freeze.
|
 |
DAVID WESTLAKE
Play Dusty For Me Album (plus bonus tracks)
SONGS Play
Dusty For Me/Song For John/Back On Track/An Ocean Away/Say
When/Stupid Love/The Lonely City/I Can't Give You The Life
You Want/Nowhere Days/I Die For Love/Patience/Even If/Life
On The Edge/Hi You/Life Goes On/My Ice Queen (bonus track)/Never Grow Up (bonus track)/Loggerheads (bonus track)
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals
& guitar; Dan Cross - guitar; Cormac Moore - bass; Willis
Moore - drums. Des Lambert - bass on "Loggerheads"
RECORDED BY Cormac Moore
MIXED BY Willis Moore
"Loggerheads" recorded & mixed by Des Lambert
RELEASED 5 July 2010
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION Angular Recording Corporation
DW never got around to a repeat pressing of the Play Dusty album after the original pressing sold out. The Angular label has now issued the album as a digital download with three bonus tracks.
|