Failures
These tracks
generally didn’t
make it to the
stage where the
whole band
played them, or
never made it
onto tape.
Luck of
The Irish (?)
(1981)
Steven was at
the peak of his
McCartney phase
and this was possibly his
attempt at doing
his own “Give
Ireland Back To
The Irish”. It
went something
like “If you had
the luck of the
Irish you would
be dead”.
Do The
Blast (1981)
Another rejected
Dark Visit
turkey, this
time from Dead.
The lyrics were
something about
“Come on baby do
the blast with
me/move on up to
dimension 23”
over what was
supposed to be a
Seeds-inspired garage riff, but
Dead couldn’t
put across how
the tune sounded
in his head and
the lyrics must
have looked
pretty bad on
paper. Wilbur
and Steven
weren’t
impressed and it
went in the bin.
The Dark
Visit (1981)
Yet another Dead
original that
bit the dust,
written around
November 81.
Every verse was
supposed to end
with “.. The
Dark Visit” but
it was quite
hard to find
rhymes to lead
into that, hence
“…what the hell
is it/ You know
it can only be –
the Dark Visit”
Seem to remember
that it provided
Wilbur and
Robert
“Raibeart”
Macaulay from
Lower Sandwick
with some
amusement before
an exam, so it
probably went up the chimney after school.
“Eyes
Glazed…?” (1982)
The third Dark
Visit lineup
used to rehearse
an overelaborate
thing with
pretentious
beat-type lyrics
intoned by
Wilbur that
began “Eyes
glazed –
with yellow
light…” and had
several sections
that went at
different
speeds. Not
aware that this
was ever taped
or gigged. If
anybody could
remember
anything about
it they probably
wouldn’t admit
to it…
Extended
Velvet
Underground
Style Jam (1982)
2 versions of
this appear on
the 1982 Dark
Visit practice
tapes. It’s just
Bod and Dead in
Dead’s garage
improvising
around a
repeated drony
bass riff. A bit
like VU 1st
album/White
Light White Heat
versus Hawkwind.
2 Pissed
Drivers
Also appears on
the 1982 Dark
Visit practice
tape. Bod and
Dead only, while
waiting for
Wilbur and Alan
Dick to turn up. Bod & Dead were both
in The Guireans
at the same time
and this was
intended to be a
Guireans song.
Which it was,
appearing on
“Olacs Volume
79” (1983).
Coyote
Mind (Emil &
Leroi only)
There’s a
snippet of this
on the 1984
Subterraneans
practice tape.
Leroi had a bass
riff and Emil
dashed off some
lyrics for it on
the spot. It’s
just bass and
vocals, inspired
by the cool (or
so it seemed
back then)
coyote head skin
that Leroi had
obtained for 50c
when on holiday
in Canada as a
kid.
9
Plagues Comin’
Down on You (Leroi
only, with Jimmy
Kyle on guitar)
Leroi was
working on a
couple of songs
in 84 which were
heavily
influenced by
the Seeds and 13th
Floor Elevators
LPs he’d
acquired in
Edinburgh, but
they never came
to anything and
he never
rehearsed them
with the band.
They’re tacked
onto the end of
the 84 practice
tape.
Ghost
of Texas Minds (Leroi
only, with Jimmy
Kyle on guitar)
See above. Seem
to remember
trying this one
out with No Head
Jackson standing
in on vocals and
giving up
because it was
supposed to be
infused with
late Elevators/Roky
Erickson/Flatlanders-ness
but ended up
sounding like a
crap version of
the Shangri-las’
“Leader of the
Pack”.
Me an’
Your Woman (Leroi
and Memphis
Louie only)
There’s a tape
somewhere of
Leroi (guitar)
and Memphis
Louie (vocals)
doing what seems
to be a fairly
complete
acoustic version
of this John Lee
Hooker-ish
original, but it
never made it to
the band stage.