The Lilac Time - Paradise Circus (1989)
"Fontana wanted the second album and I was ready having spent 18 months promoting the first one. But instead
of being able to do our thing in the country as I'd hoped we were booked in to a brand new studio not far from
Phonogram (where the first thing they did was complain about the ash from our joss sticks). The small folky
sound without the de rigeur large ambient snare drums of the age was our sound (and just about our only original
idea for the time)."
Things were starting to unravel at a fair pace. Stephen was very unhappy with his sound, Phonogram were
unhappy full stop. The words "drive time" and "America" were said. Tony Phillips would nip in early to try and
patch up the drums and Stephen would stay late re-recording percussion and keyboards. This demand from Phonogram
to "Americanize" the sound of the Lilac Time was parodied ruthlessly by Stephen with the opening single being
"American Eyes".
"Somedays we had fun sampling the machinations & tick of Big Ben for Father Mother Wife & Child
(A Wings of Desire tribute song, itself inspired by Rilke). The album is let down by my voice. Having lost
my voice on the first tour I'd become a prima donna and her larynx. Steamers, lozenges, gargles etceteras.
Finally & in a rare moment of lucidity I gave up smoking cigarettes (briefly cannabis too). When Dylan
gave up he crooned Nashville Skyline. I however turned my reedy nasal whine into an unpleasant squeak;
comparable to a school descant recorder being overblown by a novice tone deaf skinhead-dating girl. It was a
disaster. Tony a non-smoker was begging me to smoke. I relented but too late for most of the album."
"I hadn't been warned either that one of Phonograms executive's wives despised the sound of the pedal
steel & the album was delayed still further to remove by way of remix the melancholic steel. All of this
and further mastering prevarication's meant that Paradise Circus wasn't released until the 9th of October
almost two years after the first and a month after we'd started to record the third."
As a fan I find it incredible to think of Paradise Circus as a failure. In fact many other fans rate it
in the top three best albums made by Stephen (according to fan based polls) where it actually finished joint
first with "The Lilac Time" and "Astronauts" as Stephen said...
"I had carefully brought with me from childhood the belief that in time I would make Abbey Road. It hit
me hard therefore to realise I wouldn't make the standard of the worst Wings b-side. I now wish I'd consoled
myself by making Paradise Circus by the Lilac Time, but that would have been too plausible."
Nonsense according to those with ears. The NME polls put it in the "Top 100 essential albums of the 80s"
and the Guardian put it in the "Top 100 Alternative albums...ever".
Essential Listen: Stephen rarely covers other people's songs, rarer still he puts them down on
vinyl. So have a listen to the wonderful US EP "Welcome to Hell Here's Your Accordian", based around
American Eyes but with a wonderful version of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi". I was sent a copy by
Stan Hocevar, original editor and producer of "The Ups and Downs Fanzine", in 1994 and I laughed and
smiled my face off all day.
Essential Buy: : Listen to Paradise Circus the way it was meant to be, before the men in
suits tried to ruin it. The 2006 reissue contains the second album that was supposed to go with Paradise Circus.
It saw a small cassette release as "Bait" but deserved better than it got.
Chris
~ Click on the cover images for more details ~
| Artist/Composer | Title | Release Year | Format | Cat. Number | Label | Country | Length | Tracks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1989 | LP | 838 641-1 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 43:46 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1989 | Cassette | 838 641-4 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 43:46 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1989 | CD | 838 641-2 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 43:59 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1989 | CD | PPD-1112 | Nippon Phonogram | Japan | 43:59 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1989 | CD | 838 641-2 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | USA | 43:58 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1989 | CD | 838 641-2 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | USA | 43:58 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1989 | Cassette | 838 641-4 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | Canada | 43:46 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 1999 | CD | BRIDGE 003 | Universal/Polygram | Japan | 43:59 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 2004 | CD | 80100935 | Universal/Polygram | United Kingdom | 44:01 | 13 |
|
The Lilac Time | Paradise Circus | 2006 | CD | 983736 5 | Mercury / Universal | United Kingdom | 79:31 | 27 |
|
The Lilac Time | American Eyes | 1989 | 7 inch | LILAC 5 (Int. 874 608-7) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 07:20 | 2 |
|
The Lilac Time | American Eyes | 1989 | 12 inch | LILAC 512 (Int. 874 609-1) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 10:59 | 3 |
|
The Lilac Time | American Eyes | 1989 | Cassette | LILMC 5 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 07:20 | 2 |
|
The Lilac Time | American Eyes | 1989 | CD single | LILCD 5 (Int. 874 609-2) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 13:03 | 4 |
|
The Lilac Time | American Eyes ("Welcome To Hell - Here's Your Accordion") | 1989 | 12 inch | PRO 763-1 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | USA | 18:16 | 6 |
|
The Lilac Time | American Eyes | 1989 | CD single | CDP 149 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 05:02 | 2 |
|
The Lilac Time | The Days Of The Week | 1989 | 7 inch | LILAC 6 (Int. 876 132-7) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 05:29 | 2 |
|
The Lilac Time | The Days Of The Week | 1989 | 12 inch | LILAC 612 (Int. 876 133-1) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 11:05 | 3 |
|
The Lilac Time | The Days Of The Week | 1989 | CD single | LILCD 6 (Int. 876 133-2) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 11:06 | 3 |
|
The Lilac Time | The Girl Who Waves At Trains | 1989 | 7 inch | LILAC 7 (Int. 876 374-7) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 08:20 | 2 |
|
The Lilac Time | The Girl Who Waves At Trains | 1989 | 12 inch | LILAC 712 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 10:30 | 3 |
|
The Lilac Time | The Girl Who Waves At Trains | 1989 | Cassette | LILMC 7 (Int. 876 374-4) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 08:20 | 2 |
|
The Lilac Time | The Girl Who Waves At Trains | 1989 | CD single | LILCD 7 (Int. 876 375-2) | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 12:59 | 4 |
|
The Lilac Time | Excerpts From Paradise Circus | 1989 | CD | LTCD 1 | Fontana/Phonogram, UK | United Kingdom | 20:53 | 6 |