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Sorry it has taken me so long to post updates, here's a little more for you:
November 1997
TCS have been writing and recording new demos/updating existing demos with a newfound fervor over the last few weeks. John Douglas has returned from his temporary stay in London, and the band members have all been together in the same place for the first time in a couple of months. 10 hour days aren't unusual right now.
There is a particular record label which seems to be pursuing TCS somewhat aggressively at this point, having contacted the band frequently over the last month.
According to one of the A&R people at this label, "TCS is undeniably talented (but)...they've never really been well presented to the US...the American record buyers need an easy package to be sold to them...TCS are very clever, and (while) the music really isn't that radio friendly as far as verse chorus verse in the usual American pop way...(certain songs) had potential, but they've also never really had a label that put much effort into developing and breaking them...they aren't that well known in the industry, to be honest, but that just might be to their benefit at this point..."
Let's just say there would be a certain amount of irony if it were to work out that TCS signs with this label. Anyhow, TCS are planning to send a demo tape to this label in the next couple of weeks. Let's all hope this pans out!
A while back I mentioned that TCS had been contacted by the the British Council, a non-profit international organization which is working with a company called Scotland the Brand, who exist to promote Scottish products overseas. Scotland the Brand is helping to organize "Scotsfest 98", taking place in New York City beginning January 25, 1998. Last I heard, TCS were still a possibility, but I'm not sure how strong. I hope to get some updated information about this soon.
Our old friend Davie Hughes (former bass player) is attending Glasgow University studying Communications and Mass Media. He still lives in Kilmarnock and, somewhat contradicting earlier rumors, is apparently still good friends with TCS, seeing Paul and Frank fairly often. Don't look for him to rejoin TCS, however. He's happy in school and misses playing, but thinks it was the right time for him to leave.
I get these questions from people a lot of the time (I'll eventually move these to the FAQ), so I figured I'd just answer them here:
Is "A Happy Pocket going to be released in the US? I really doubt it. This would likely only happen if TCS buy the rights to AHP from Polygram (which appears extremely unlikely at this point), or if TCS sign a new record deal and the new record company buys the rights from Polygram (I don't know how this work, but I have a hard time believing that Polygram would sell the rights to another record company), or if Polygram decided to release it themselves (which I doubt will happen since TCS aren't on the Polygram artist roster, maybe it would happen when TCS hit it big on a new label and Polygram wants to leech off the success).
Great...how can I get a copy of "A Happy Pocket"? You either need to order it as an import, look around the web's on-line record stores or get lucky and find it new or used in a store somewhere. If this doesn't work, send me a message. I can usually get it new for $23 including tax and postage.
When are TCS releasing a new album/touring in the U.S.? I have absolutely no idea. I wouldn't expect anything anytime soon. If we get lucky, maybe there will be an album sometime in 1998, and then a tour might follow. But don't expect any sort of tour without an accompanying album.
January 14, 1998
Well, I've known this for a while but just never got around to updating the page. Not unexpectedly, TCS will not be participating in Scotsfest in New York City at the end of January. They were not among the final selections by the organizing committee. Maybe it's for the best as TCS try to get their situation straightened out.
TCS sent a demo tape with 3-4 songs to label mentioned above (not by name) in December. Later in the month, the label asked TCS to give them another song or two. This isn't really a bad thing, since the label didn't just come out and say no, but is interested in continuing to talk with TCS. As of right now, I don't think TCS have submitted any additional songs.
TCS may be signing a publishing deal with a large, well known company in Japan (name withheld). A publishing deal isn't a recording deal; what this does is gives the rights to TCS' songs and music to this company, who in turn may be planning to have Japanese bands record some of TCS' songs! I'm not sure how this all works with respect to Polygram, since I thought they owned the rights, but maybe what Polygram owns is the catalog of recordings, but TCS have the publishing rights. Or maybe it would be for the new songs. As you can see, I don't know exactly what TCS is selling the rights to (i.e all songs, one album, etc) or if this will happen. Remember, these are just rumors. However, I'd hope that if TCS get some exposure through a publishing deal, then maybe this company will be interested in talking about a recording deal. I think this is great news if it happens.
I'm telling you, Japan must really be a TCS hot spot. I just heard from someone who wishes to remain anonymous, that an A&R representative at a record label in Japan was given a TCS demo tape by a company which manages music rights, and offered him the opportunity to release a new TCS album. This A&R rep is interested and there's a 50/50 chance right now. In this case, I don't know the names of the companies but am wondering if there's some overlap with the above rumor.
Regarding the wherabouts of TCS, they still haven't sold the studio and I'm not sure if it's currently up for sale, but I think they do intend to sell it. John is back in London and Frank, Paul and Stephen are in Kilmarnock; Stephen actually works at a record store!
TCS supposedly have a new bass player (name withheld), but I don't know if he's a permanent replacement or a sessions guy, or what his background is. I'll get my spies on that one...
January 20, 1998
Okay, a little clarification of some earlier rumors and a little more news:
I believe this is the situation: The publishing company in Japan is negotiating with TCS for the rights to its new songs, not any material from the first three albums. Instead of having Japanese bands record TCS' songs, which was the original thought, the publishing company has decided maybe this isn't such a good idea, since it's apparently difficult to translate TCS' songs into Japanese and have them sound like anything someone would be able to listen to. The publishing company has therefore taken the initiative to shop TCS' demo tape around to record companies in Japan in the hopes of landing a recording deal. Now, this is all about money. If the publishing company is going to pay TCS for the rights to its new songs, but doesn't use the songs for Japanese bands, in order for the company to recover its investment in the publishing rights, it's in the company's best interest to secure a recording deal for TCS. This is good news since there would be more incentive to get TCS a recording contract. The publishing company is supposed to have a representative in Kilmarnock this week to meet with TCS.
Surprise, surprise, Polygram may not actually hold the publishing rights to TCS' back catolog, which contradicts earlier statements from Frank and John (granted, something could have changed since it was last mentioned). The rights are owned by Independiente, which is more or less Go!Discs is another incarnation (the founder of Go!Discs and the founder of Independiente is Andy MacDonald).
The reason the question of publishing rights came up is because there is a U.S. television show which is interested in using some of TCS' music. TCS list member Evan Katz is the writer for a new show called "THREE", which premieres at 9:00 PM on Monday February 2, on your local WB (Warner Brothers network) channel. It's a weekly one hour action-adventure that updates older shows like "Mission Impossible" and "To Catch a Thief". The show features the music of a number of different alternative groups in the background (such as Gene, Folk Implosion, Garbage, and Stereophonics). As TCS' publishing situation is being sorted out, nothing is definite; but Evan intends to use TCS' music, pending clearance. Don't forget to tune in!
Hahahaha...okay, I really got a kick out of this one. TCS were written up in a Scottish tabloid last week (I think it is called "The Sun"). The tabloid made up this story about how Frank, after suffering terrible financial problems, fled the country in order to avoid tax collectors and the police. The article says that Frank is wanted on fraud charges and has "gone missing" and states that Shabby Road appears to have been hastily abandoned and is now locked up. The article speculates that after TCS broke up (news to me), Frank got himself into serious debt and was in so much trouble that he just disappeared.
Now here is the truth: the band is in debt because of various things that happened while they were on Go!Discs, and as they have been without a recording contract for the past year. They are still together and most of them live in Shabby Road, as I mentioned above. Frank hasn't been out of the country since last fall, and hasn't travelled much further than Irvine, to visit his parents. Frank wasn't interviewed for the story (obviously), but the tabloid probably tried calling Shabby Road (where the old phone number has been disconnected and a new number is in its place) and also tried talking to Frank's father. In an effort to put the reporters off, Frank's father said they "hadn't seen Frank in a while and didn't know how the reporters would be able to get ahold of him". Without being able to speak with Frank, the reporters likely felt that he had indeed gone AWOL. Somehow the tabloid must have found out about the band's financial troubles and then intended to put a slightly different spin on it given that Frank is Eddi Reader's brother.
Anyhow, I thought that was pretty funny, but don't believe it. If anyone happens to be wandering around Kilmarnock, you might actually bump into Frank. I'm hoping to get a copy of the article soon and will post it for a good laugh.
March 4, 1998
I think I might have missed some info from about 4 weeks ago, so I'll need to check, but today I talked with Paul Livingston:
Current news: No, TCS have not signed with Matador or any label for that matter. They expect to sign the publishing deal with the Japanese company in the next couple of weeks (this is the same thing I heard at least 4-5 weeks ago, when Frank said that a woman from the company had been in Kilmarnock for a couple days and had offered TCS a deal before she left). This deal would be for one album and would only be released in Japan. TCS would probably tour in Japan at some point.
So I asked about coming to the US and he said they're really itching to get back to the US, but it's highly unlikely they'll make it here without an American record deal. He said he can't believe it has been 5 years since they were here and I told him just think how we feel!
A Japanese band called Sunny Day Service (I think they're popular) is supposed to be coming to Shabby Road to record a song with TCS. What would happen is that a new TCS song (as yet undecided) would be recorded as a single, with the A side by Sunny Day Service and the B side of the same song by TCS. This would be released in Japan. He said Sunny Day Service are petrified because they've never been to the UK and don't speak English. Paul thinks it would be hilarious because TCS don't speak Japanese!
TCS have two new songs that he mentioned: "Free Time" and "Ice Skating" (although he didn't sound too sure that's what the name of the latter song really was). He said one of them is a good pop song, and not cheesy, and he thinks their new stuff, in general, is great. They intend to get another demo tape with at least these two songs sent to the American label that has been waiting for a while. They still need to work on these songs a bit.
Since TCS don't seem to be talking to Rykodisk anymore, I'll mention them by name. A woman from Ryko was in Kilmarnock a while ago to meet with TCS, but for whatever reason, that didn't go anywhere. Paul said that they now think the first demo tape they sent out (with "Leave Us Alone", "Weightlifting" and "Up In the Air") wasn't very good. They're not particularly fond of the way they had arranged the songs at the time. The first two have since been reworked, and the third has been scrapped for the time being. So, they want to make sure that the next time they send out a tape, the songs are better developed than the last time. Simon Dine, who had signed TCS to their original contract with Go!Discs back in 1987 (?) has actually been helping TCS mix some of there new songs.
He mentioned that they have a new bass player; his name is Grant and he lives in Kilmarnock. He has been friends with TCS for a couple years and I think they got to know him because he played with other bands that used the rehearsal rooms at Shabby Road. As a result, Stephen Douglas is back on drums, and there is a guy named Stevie who is playing keyboards/piano (Paul says he's great). They aren't full time band members but Paul said if they sign a deal, they'd like to pay them some sort of a wage. I didn't understand what he said, but John has been able to do something that allows him to be in Kilmarnock most of the time and not have to go to London (I think John was taking some sort of computer class).
I'm not sure if the studio is up for sale, but Paul said they'd like to hold onto it if possible, so I'm guessing 1) it's not, and 2) they're not moving anywhere.
That's pretty much it. I'd have to say he sounded positive and the news is certainly positive, but take it with a grain of salt because there have been so many 'almost' deals, it's hard to keep track of them all. If I can remember anything else, I'll post it.
March 30, 1998
My "Secret Agent" has informed me of the following: From March 10-12, TCS were visited by a couple members of the popular Japanese band Sunny Day Service (SDS). (First, here's a little information about SDS: their last album called "Sunny Day Service" reached #7 in the Japanese charts and sold around 100,000 copies.) SDS were in Britian for a couple weeks and made an impromptu visit to Shabby Road Studios to meet TCS as a return trip to the UK is uncertain at this time. On the first day, TCS (including Grant and Stevie) and SDS played a few sessions just for fun. The second day was spent rehearsing and recording a cover version of Harpers Bizarre's "Snow", as the Sunny Day Sinatras. This song was recorded just for fun and it's unlikely that it will surface as an official release, but I've heard that it may be played on a special radio program in Japan! I'm not sure if the idea Frank mentioned earlier about having TCS and SDS record the same song as the A and B sides of a single will happen or not. There weren't any rehearsals or recordings on the third day, I think it was spent
recovering from the previous nights! TCS and SDS hope to meet up in
Tokyo again sometime (incidentally, SDS had opened for TCS when TCS
played their shows in Japan back in September 1996).
Separately, the Japanese company that I have referred to in earlier updates (that had reportedly already offered TCS a publishing contract earlier this year) expects to have the publishing contract finalized soon. It's unclear if they will offer TCS a record deal, it seems that they're trying to set up a record deal with another Japanese label on behalf of TCS. But overall, the situation seems positive and TCS should be able to sign a record deal in Japan this year.
TCS mailing list member Chris Cougill visited TCS at Shabby Road Studios during the week of March 16. The band is alive and well and for anyone who was worried, according to John Douglas (paraphrasing), "they've been through the worst of it and they're still together", which seems to indicate there's no chance of them breaking up. Coming from a guy who's sleeping on some cushions on the control room floor, you've got to believe it! Anyhow, Chris was able to hang out with the band, listen to some demos and listen in on a rehearsal (which included Grant and Stevie). All seems to be going well, but the band was silent about the current dealings with record labels. I don't think there was anything to avoid here, it just wasn't raised.
Oh, I'm not positive about this one, but I think TCS' friend George Dreghorn is now the band's manager. They have been without a manager since they fired their last one sometime in 1996 (? I can't remember when this was, it's in an old update), so it should be very helpful to finally have a manager who is actually a fan of the band and has their best interests in mind.
May 10, 1998
Ah, most of this is old stuff, already in the FAQ, but here's the deal with TCS' latest rumored record deal:
A few weeks ago there was a rumor on the TCS mailing list that TCS had signed a development deal with a startup record company based in New York City (name not mentioned to avoid any trouble!). What this would have meant is that the record company would have paid for TCS to record and distribute either a couple of singles or an EP (I heard a couple different stories) later this summer or fall, and also would have sent TCS on a 30 day 'showcase tour' in the US around the same time. The record label was also interested in having TCS come to the US (specifically a studio somewhere in Connecticut) to record the singles/EP.
Well, this created a bit of a frenzy and was quickly hushed up. The reason is because TCS had not signed a deal with this label and apparently don't plan to sign a deal with anyone for at least the next couple of months. TCS have spoken with this label about a deal and was in fact visited in Scotland by representatives from the label back in March, but nothing was ever definite.
In order to find out what was going on, I tried getting in touch with 'representatives of the TCS organization' (I'm not supposed to say who I spoke with). Someone told me that no, there was no deal, nothing was imminent, and that TCS still had a couple of months of writing and recording to do before they thought they'd have the songs at a point where they could start sending out new demo tapes. For now, TCS are continuing with their mysterious "master plan".
I talked to someone else who agreed TCS aren't ready to do anything quite yet: "...much more work needs to be done. I think the new stuff has the potential to be fantastic but in my opinion they are not in a position to get the deal they deserve just yet. it will happen though!!!" Let's hope this is accurate.
I have also just heard from someone in Japan who is involved with an organization that is planning a free, open-air concert in Tokyo's largest outdoor park for later this summer/early fall. The committee is interested in TCS as one of the artists and will be contacting the band soon.
May 14, 1998
TCS are in fact contributing a track to an upcoming promotional CD for Ayr College. The CD is being put together by George Dreghorn, who is TCS' manager, as part of his business classes in college. The CD is called "Sound of Purple" and will have 6 tracks:
The CD release party is being held on June 20 and ordering info will be available soon.
Songs that TCS are currently working on include:
TCS are about to conquer Japan:
They will soon be featured in two Japanese magazines. One is called (I think) '1-2-8', and the other is called 'After Hours'. The latter is going to be an article about the recent visit of the Japanese band Sunny Day Service to Shabby Road.
TCS are possibly playing some shows in Japan around the end of January. There would be 2 shows in Tokyo and 2 in Osaka and I think all would be with Sunny Day Service.
It's unlikely that TCS will play anywhere much earlier than that (if at all) as they feel it's still too early for them to be playing live.
And no, TCS have not signed any record deals.
That's it for now, please check back later.
Sorry that some of this is kind of vague, but in some cases I can't give out names of who I spoke with, heard news from or interested labels, in order to protect their anonymity. However, I do not put anything on this page unless I hear it myself or from someone else (usually my very trusted source) who I know has spoken with a "representative of the TCS organization".
That's it for now. Check back for more info later and hopefully there will be some good news. If you have any questions, send me a message. Also, feel free to send some mail to TCS (address is in the FAQ) to keep their spirits up!
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