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 Hayes, Middlesex, England. Into Lennon/McCartney, Dusty Springfield & Doug Yule-era Velvet Underground, he put a band together using the want ads in the NME. Westlake took the band's name from Joseph Losey's film The Servant. The Servants played their first gig at the Water Rats Theatre in London's King's Cross on July 1, 1985. Head Records was an independent label set up by Jeff Barrett, later head of Heavenly Records.
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
LABEL/NUMBER Head 1
DJ John Peel read a review of the Servants and invited the band to record a session for his radio programme.
THE SERVANTS Transparent
NME C86 Compilation
RECORDING INFORMATION as for She's Always Hiding, above
RELEASED 1986
LABEL/NUMBER Head 1
SIDE ONE 1. Primal Scream: Velocity Girl / 2. Mighty Lemon Drops: Happy Head / 3. Soup Dragons: Pleasantly Surprised / 4. Wolfhounds: Feeling So Strange Again / 5. Bodines: Therese / 6. Mighty Mighty: Law / 7. Stump: Buffalo / 8. Bogshed: Run To The Temple / 9. A Witness: Sharpened Sticks / 10. Pastels: Breaking Lines / 11. Age Of Chance: From Now On, This Will Be Your God
SIDE TWO 1. Shop Assistants: It's Up To You / 2. Close Lobsters: Firestation Towers / 3. Miaow: Sport Most Royal / 4. Half Man Half Biscuit: I Hate Nerys Hughes (From The Heart) / 5. Servants: Transparent / 6. MacKenzies: Big Jim / 7. Big Flame: New Way / 8. We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It: Console Me / 9. McCarthy: Celestial City / 10. Shrubs: Bullfighter's Bones / 11. Wedding Present: This Boy Can Wait
The NME put together a compilation of a new bunch of bands. They invited the Servants to contribute a track. Many of the other bands on C86 were part of the so-called "shambling" scene that started up around then. The Servants wanted to keep a distance from the scene, but gave the NME the b-side of their first single, "Transparent". C86 was originally released during the summer of 1986, as both an NME mail order-only cassette (NME 022) and by Rough Trade as an LP during a series of five concerts at London's Institute Of Contemporary Art.
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
Head Records dropped the Servants before "The Sun, A Small Star" came out. Westlake searched for a new label to put out the next Servants record, but the other members of the band began to look around for live and recording work with bands who had label backing. Without a record company behind them, Westlake's cohorts got more involved in other bands and the line-up fell apart.
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 line-up of the Servants in November 1986. DJ Janice Long invited them to record a session for her evening show on the BBC. Drummer John Wills knew the songs, but there was not enough time to find and rehearse-in a full new band line-up to do the session. Australian band the Go-Betweens had become friends when the Servants opened for them on tour. Robert Forster of the band offered to play guitar, bringing in Robert Vickers on bass and Amanda Brown on violin.
VARIOUS ARTISTS Doing God's Work - A Creation Compilation
Album
SONGS SIDE ONE 1. Phil Wilson: Ten Miles / 2. Biff Bang Pow: In a Mourning Town / 3. Momus: Murderers / 4. House of Love: Shine On
SIDE TWO 1. Jasmine Minks: Cut me Deep / 2. David Westlake: The Word Around Town / 3. Nikki Sudden & the Jacobites: Kiss at Dawn / 4. Blow-up: Catch Me
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals & guitar; Luke Haines - guitar & piano; Martyn Casey - bass; Alsy MacDonald - drums
STUDIO Greenhouse, Islington, London
RECORDED 18/19 April 1987
RELEASED 1987
LABEL/NUMBER Creation CRELP 024
Luke Haines answered Westlake's music press ad in November '86. By the time they found a label and recorded "The Word Around Town" (track 2 on Side Two), drummer John Wills had left. Westlake and Haines recorded with the Triffids' rhythm section. As Haines says in the sleevenotes to the Reserved compilation, "it cuts against the grain of the paisley psychedeliasts and inept Byrds tribute acts clogging up the Creation roster."
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
PRODUCER 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
Creation Records invited Westlake to make a six-song mini-album in 1987, but there still was not a full band. Westlake and Haines recorded some songs with the Triffids' rhythm section, and Westlake wanted to call the record after the opening track, "The Word Around Town". Westlake and Haines toured the UK accompanied only by a Dr Rhythm drum machine, but Creation delayed six months in releasing the record, calling it 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 1205
Luke Haines was in the Servants from 1987 to 1991. Drummer Hugh Whitaker left chart band the Housemartins and joined the Servants in June 1987. The Servants didn't fit in with Creation's way of thinking 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. Glass would take more than a year 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
The Servants signed with Fire Records in 1990. Band morale was low, and this produced some angular material. Luke Haines would later say of Disinterest in the sleevenotes to the Reserved compilation: "It is Art Rock. Ten years too late and fifteen years too early."
THE SERVANTS Look Like A Girl
7" Single
SONGS Look Like A Girl/Bad Habits Die Hard/It's My Turn
LINE-UP as onDisinterest.
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
Single from Disinterest. Twelve months later, the band played its last show at the Rock Garden in London's Covent Garden on 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 put out a demo of a song that would not be included on the Play Dusty For Me 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. Reviews on the Press page.)
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
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals & guitar; Dan Cross - guitar; Cormac Moore - bass; Willis Moore - drums
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
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
RELEASED Late 2006
LABEL/NUMBER Sanctuary CMEDD1420
Twenty years on, expanded edition.
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 (plus bonus tracks)
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/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
LABEL/NUMBER DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION Angular Recording Corporation
After a twelve year absence, Westlake pressed up an album of new material in 2002, recorded in Kilkenny, Ireland. Jack Rabid, writing in US magazine The Big Takeover in 2011, had this to say about the album: Play Dusty for Me (2002) is only Westlake's second solo LP, and even this one was released, sort of, in a highly limited issue that quickly sold out but was still never repressed. London's Angular label issued a new, digital version in 2010, with bonus tracks. Interestingly, it is a highly reserved fare. The music has something in common with the "Pale Blue Eyes"/"Sunday Morning" Velvet Underground. Add in a wistful touch of Dusty Springfield (an old Westlake favourite, feted here in the both the album title and opening title track), and a general unhurried nature of an LP put out for pure love rather than commercial gain, and this collaboration with guitarist Dan Cross and two Moore brothers for the rhythm section, Cormac bass and Willis drums, just seems to lay there in its relaxed, prettied, cooing loveliness. Don't pick any one track, though any of them would give you the overarching idea; sit down for the whole hour and 18 songs and take in the charming, lightly perfumed, but soulful air.
THE SERVANTS Youth Club Disco
Vinyl LP
SONGS SIDE ONE: Loggerheads/Meredith/The Sun, A Small Star/You'd Do Me Good/A Fleeting Visit/It Takes No Gentleman/Water Baby Blonde
SIDE TWO: It's My Turn/Afterglow/She Whom Once I Dreamt Of/Rings On Her Fingers/Faithful to 3 Lovers/Do Or Be Done/She's Always Hiding
LINE-UP David Westlake - vocals & guitar; John Mohan, Luke Haines - guitar;
Phil King, Alice Readman - bass; John Wills, Hugh Whitaker - drums.
ALBUM CO-ORDINATED BY Desmond Lambert
RELEASED 18 July 2011
LABEL/NUMBER Captured Tracks CT-111
Essential vinyl document.