Yachts 2nd and final (or is it…read on) album wasn’t quite the equal of their debut but it was still pretty darn good. I’m sure I remember at the time there was a reason for this title, them being on Radar Records they really weren’t without it, but cannot recall what hat might have been.

The band had toured the US with The Who and Joe Jackson in support of their debut album. This time around Yachts were produced by ace Punk/New Wave favourite Martin Rushent (The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, Generation X, 999 and of course the eighties-est album of the 80’s, “Dare” by the Human League). It’s a great sounding record very much in the vein of the first, crunching guitars, swirling 60’s keyboards and even the odd synthesizer here and there to bring it up to date, great tunes and still those slightly snarky lyrics (“Lonely girl I saw you sitting there, with a bunch of squares, obviously you needed me”). Side 2 begins with a creditable stab at the Northern Soul classic “There's A Ghost In My House”. I could honestly live without the last song “Spimosa”, which smacks of some private band in-joke, but that’s being really pernickity.

Bassist Martin Dempsey left the band later in 1980 to join Pink Military and Yachts finally split up in 1981. Keyboardist Henry Priestman was briefly a member of both Yachts and Bette Bright & The Illuminations before joining up with It’s Immaterial and subsequently The Christians. He’s now released 2 solo albums of what I lovingly refer to as grumpy old man music, songs like “Did I Fight In The Punk Wars For This”, "We Used To Be You" and he wrote the wonderful lyric “I’m the same age that my Father was when I first thought he was old”.

Yachts are still fondly remembered by guys of my age, Mark Kermode is a big fan, and I often have conversations about them in the shop. They were the subject of a 3 CD retrospective box set in 2018 and Henry Priestman recently announced a “new” Yachts album after finding a stash of old tapes containing unreleased songs in his archive. I’m looking forward to that and would encourage anyone to have a listen to Yachts. 

Now I’m Spoken For - https://youtu.be/_WyvjuSdgu8?si=EEdBHX6PE3AYjbuV

Unlike my friend Dave, who has an uncanny ability to recall when and where he first heard and bought a record plus how much he paid for it (!), I don’t often recall such minutiae. But I do remember that the day I bought this, the debut album by Liverpool’s Yachts, I also bought the first album by The B-52’s. That was a good days shopping and I still have both. Coincidentally both albums came with bonus 7” singles inside.

Yachts were formed by Liverpool art students and had initially been named Albert Dock & the Cod Warriors, under which guise they opened for the Sex Pistols in Liverpool in 1976. Although coming to the world at the height of Punk via Stiff and Radar Records they were a more 60’s influenced Power Pop combo, decidedly in the New Wave camp and with tongue somewhat firmly inserted in cheek. Yachts weren’t a comedy band by any means but there is a hint of a cheeky sense of humour hanging around everything. Much of the 60’s feel was supplied by their most famous alumni, Henry Priestman and his Vox Continental style keyboards. Henry would go on to greater success with It’s Immaterial (“Driving Away From Home” anyone ?) and The Christians and is still making music under his own name which is well worth investigating.

Yachts released their debut single “Suffice To Say” on Stiff Records in September of 1977. It was a full year before they released second single (the quite fantastic) "Look Back in Love (Not in Anger)" but this time, like a number of former Stiff artists (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe), on Radar Records. The album “Yachts” was recorded in New York with producer Richard Gottehrer (who had previously been responsible for 60’s bubblegum hits like “I Want Candy”, “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “Hang On Sloopy” and had co-founded Sire Records with Seymour Stein). Somehow the tapes were held up at customs on the way back to the UK necessitating a remix for “technical reasons” on eventual arrival back home.

Standout songs include the opening “Box 202” a song about computer dating from as far back as 1979, the crunching “Heads Will Turn” and the singles “Love You, Love You” and “Yachting Type”. Critic Robert Christgau said of the album “You have to hand it to a group that can give itself such a ridiculous name and then come up with credible songs called 'Yachting Type' and 'Semaphore Love.' Actually…even the one structured around the word 'tantamount.' “ …he’s referring to Tantamount To Bribery”…). If you like Costello, Joe Jackson and The B-52’s I’m gonna stick my neck out and say you’ll enjoy Yachts.

This is another album I own more than one copy of. On its release it was packaged up with a bonus live 7” featuring the songs “Suffice To Say” and “On And On” and in two different coloured sleeves, one with metallic blue stripes and one with metallic red stripes on the front. I own both colour sleeves and my blue sleeved copy has the bonus 7” included.

Yachting Type - https://youtu.be/Aj203ln8nwc?si=NNz6aPXd7GP-IqjG

I’m writing about these two together as, although they were originally released as separate albums, within a few months they had been packaged together and were being sold in a “buy one get one free” deal and my copy of “Waxworks” has a sticker on the front telling you that. 

I don’t buy a lot of singles comps, usually because if I like a band that much I’ve got the individual singles and albums. I’ve always liked XTC, why wouldn’t you, they’re one of the very best and most innovative and original bands to come out of the Punk and New Wave period. But for some reason I never really bought their records, too much other stuff going on at the time I guess. But in 1996 Virgin Records released “Fossil Fuel - The XTC Singles 1977-92” and it became a much loved and played item, sadly it was only ever released on CD. So when I came across this pair I had to have them, the only downside being you’re missing out on 10 years worth of, frankly brilliant, singles from 1982 to 1992.

Two XTC singles I did own were “This Is Pop” and “Are You Receiving Me ?”. Miles had the “3D EP”, “Statue Of Liberty” and the album “White Music” so we had the early stuff covered between us. Don’t really know why we both stopped after that, may simply have been the sheer amount of great stuff being released around ’78 and ’79 vs our meagre incomes. Those two I did have are utterly brilliant New Wave pop singles built on jittery instrumentation and big fat chorus hooks, neither were hits (well, “Are You Receiving Me ?” did make #86 in Australia !) but both are great.

XTC then went on a run of actual chart hit singles with “Making Plans For Nigel”, “Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)” and “Senses Working Overtime”. They produced some genuinely fantastic singles after the period covered by this compilation (try things like "Love on a Farmboy's Wages”, “All You Pretty Girls”, “Mayor Of Simpleton”, “The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead” and “The Disappointed”). The B-sides volume “Beeswax” is interesting but not essential.

Virgin Records please release “Fossil Fuel” on vinyl and we could all enjoy the collected singles of a genuinely great and original band. And if for some reason you are blissfully unaware of the wonder of XTC, please click this link here and find out about them.

Are You Receiving Me ? - https://youtu.be/RApvaQ0uGTw?si=GsL3fsQJp3HffmyP