Details
The video was filmed at a party the band threw at a squat in Hulme, Manchester.
The first release of James’ anthemic Come Home reached 84 in the UK Singles Chart.
7″ RT245 – Come Home (Short Version) / Promised Land
12″ RTT245 – Come Home (Long Version) / Promised Land / Slow Right Down (demo) / Come Home (Short Version)
CD RTT245CD – Come Home (Long Version) / Promised Land / Slow Right Down (demo) / Come Home (Short Version)
Release Name: | Come Home |
Artist Name: | |
Release Date: | 20th November 1989 |
Format: | Studio Single |
Catalogue: | 7" RT245; 12" RTT245; CD RTT245CD |
Come Home was initially intended as the first single off the Gold Mother album which the band had recorded for Rough Trade in the summer of 1989. It was dished out to club DJs as a white-label promo by Rough Trade without revealing James as the artist in order to combat the band’s reputation as wimpy, vegan, celibate Buddhists.
James biggest UK tour to date was announced to coincide with the release. With a “Powerplay” listing on Radio 1’s Simon Mayo show ensuring daytime airplay, a hit single looked like a safe bet, especially as the release coincided with the start of the Madchester explosion.
The single was backed by Promised Land, a song inspired by the then-Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The lyrics were a direct searing attack on government policy in the middle of the Poll Tax crisis. The other track was a demo version of Slow Right Down, a powerful up-tempo track that was wasted as a b-side.
Artwork for the single was once again provided by Central Station Design.
Marketing of the single was however a disaster. Pluggers were left without copies of the single, the accompanying video failed to capture the energy of the song and was rarely aired and crucially, many record shops were left without or with insufficient copies of the single.
The single entered the charts at number 84, but was denied the momentum that might have led to a second-week improvement by an error in the charts at Music Week which meant Come Home was not listed.
Furious with the situation, James went to see Geoff Travis, MD of Rough Trade, who told them they would only ever be a minority interest with an audience of 20-30,000. With more belief in their own potential, the band asked to be released from their contract and to be able to buy the album from Rough Trade. Travis agreed and soon after, the band signed to the Fontana arm of the Phonogram label.
“Harder, fresher and more bitter than most bands around. Should rank them up there with The Mondays”
White label promo sent to DJs without band name
Come Home (Short Version) / Slow Right Down (Demo Version) / Promised Land / Come Home (Long Version)
Release Name: | Come Home - Rough Trade white label promo |
Artist Name: | |
Release Date: | 1st November 1989 |
Format: | Promo Single |
Catalogue: | no catalogue number |
White label promo sent to DJs without band name
A compilation VHS by Beechwood Music.
Sit Down
Release Name: | Indie Top Video Take Two |
Artist Name: | |
Release Date: | 1st November 1989 |
Format: | Compilation (non James) VHS |
Catalogue: | MVP 9912003 (Beechwood Music) |
A compilation VHS by Beechwood Music.
Tracks included:
1. The Stone Roses – She Bangs The Drum
2. The Lightning Seeds – Pure
3. Inspiral Carpets – Joe
4. The Men They Couldn’t Hang – Rain, Steam And Speed
5. Wire – Eardrum Buzz
6. Kitchens Of Distinction – The Third Time We Opened The Capsule
7. The Man From Delmonte – My Love Is Like A Gift You Can’t Return
8. James – Sit Down
9. Bradford – In Liverpool
10. The Parachute Men – Leeds Station
11. The Fuzztones – Nine Months Later
12. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Mercy Seat
13. The Wolfgang Press – Raintime
14. The Sugarcubes – Regina
Come Home is the opening track on James’ 1990 Gold Mother album. It was released twice as a single – on Rough Trade in November 1989 and reissued in remixed form in June 1990.
Come Home came about in the band’s rehearsal rooms in Denton as they were trying different arrangements of Sit Down, but were getting confused about the song they were playing. It has the same chord structure as Sit Down.
Originally previewed on a nameless white-label DJ promo to avoid the negative impact of James’ folky image, this was a big hit in indie clubs in the late summer of 1989. It only reached a disappointing 85 when released in November despite an accompanying sell-out tour. Remixed by Flood, it reached number 33 when re-released in the summer of 1990. It has seen remixes by the likes of Youth and Andy Weatherall since and still remains a staple part of most James live sets.
A Come Home shirt appeared on Top of The Pops months before James when one of Beats International wore one performing their number one “Dub Be Good To Me”.
Extended Flood Mix
Hugo Live Dub Challenge
Live In Extraordinary Times
Andrew Weatherall Mix / Skunk Weed Skank Mix
Youth Pressure Dub
Song: | Come Home |
Released: | 20th November 1989 |
Main Associated Album (or Single): | Gold Mother |
First Heard Live: | London Town And Country Club 2 – 28th September 1989 |
Sit Down reached the 77, the highest UK Single Chart position to date for James.
7″ RT225 – Sit Down / Sky Is Falling
12″ RTT225 – Sit Down (extended) / Goin Away / Sound Investment / Sky Is Falling
CD RTT225CD – Sit Down (extended) / Goin Away / Sound Investment / Sky Is Falling
Release Name: | Sit Down |
Artist Name: | |
Release Date: | 19th June 1989 |
Format: | Studio Single |
Catalogue: | 7" RT225; 12" RTT225; CD RTT225CD |
Following the split from Sire, James released the number one indie album One Man Clapping with the assistance of Geoff Travis from Rough Trade. In the spring of 1989, James signed to Rough Trade and entered the studio to record Sit Down, a track written in the days of Sire which they had held back until they had escaped to a new label.
With James now a seven-piece band, the single was released in June 1989 to coincide with a short UK tour. It was released on 7″, 12″ and a small 3″ CD single with original issues of the 7″ including a free postcard. The 12″ and CD formats included an eight-minute version of Sit Down ending in a reprise of the song with a sound engineer chanting Lester Piggott over the outro. B-sides to the single included Sky Is Falling, a demo that was James contribution to BOP Records legendary Manchester North of England album, Goin Away, a two-minute track that had opened up many James shows that year and Sound Investment, a meditation on the complexity of relationships.
A video directed by Ed Barton accompanied the single. Set against a white background and Tim sporting a fetching kaftan, the video features the band performing the song, Tim hugging a sheep (which apparently urinated him at one stage) and various shady-looking individuals sitting down next to Tim. The video received a Musicians Union ban for two weeks as it featured Jim impersonating a drummer, apparently taking someone else’s job.
Artwork for the single was provided by Manchester’s Central Station Design, responsible for most Factory Records sleeves.
The single received almost universal acclaim in the music press, but Radio 1 appeared not to pick the single up so crucial airplay was lost. The single entered the charts at number 77 and went no higher, but that was better than James had achieved before. The song had however left an indelible mark on the James audience.
James kick off a long-term recording relationship with Rough Trade Records with the single Sit Down released on June 19th. Sit Down looks set to build on the success of the indie chart-topping One Man Clapping live album; the b-side Sky Is Falling shows the band have lost none of their out-spoken concern for environmental issues.
The full track listing for the twelve inch version is as follows:
Keyboardist Mark Hunter is welcomed aboard the line-up for a national tour – dates as follows:
Walking The Ghost is track eight on the 1990 James album Gold Mother.
It also features on the Come Home live video and dvd.
Song: | Walking The Ghost |
Released: | 4th June 1990 |
Main Associated Album (or Single): | Gold Mother |
First Heard Live: | Bristol Bierkeller – 19th June 1989 |
Government Walls is track two on the 1990 James album Gold Mother (track three on the reissued version).
It was first aired in Spring 1989 and is one of James’ most direct protest songs damning the secrecy of government.
References are made to the John Stalker affair where the police officer had uncovered a shoot to kill policy of the RUC in Ireland and was silenced by an unrelated and fabricated scandal.
Song: | Government Walls |
Released: | 4th June 1990 |
Main Associated Album (or Single): | Gold Mother |
First Heard Live: | Bristol Bierkeller – 19th June 1989 |
Sound Investment is a b-side to the 1989 James single Sit Down.
Song: | Sound Investment |
Released: | 19th June 1989 |
Main Associated Album (or Single): | Sit Down (1989) |
First Heard Live: | Never performed live |
Gold Mother is track nine of the James album of the same name.
It is a tribute to mothers everywhere and is based on Tim’s experience of the birth of his own child Ben with James’ ex-manager Martine.
The track features backing vocals by the Inspiral Carpets who had supported James in 1989. The track was also remixed by Warp of Sheffield.
At live shows, the song would often be accompanied by a stage invasion.
Song: | Gold Mother |
Released: | 4th June 1990 |
Main Associated Album (or Single): | Gold Mother |
First Heard Live: | Nottingham Trent Poly – 17th June 1989 |
Promised Land is a b-side from the 1989 James single Come Home. A live acoustic version also appeared on a US radio promo CD called A Certain Damage 44 in 1992.
It was a very direct attack on the Conservative then-Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher. Tim wrote the lyrics on the way to the studio when the band were recording Sit Down in Sheffield at the time of the Hillsborough football tragedy where Mrs Thatcher was using visiting the survivors as photo-opportunities.
Given the unrest with the government and the opposition to the poll tax, the song was rapturously received every time it was played, the reaction often prompting the band to stop the show for several minutes and causing Larry to cry on a couple of occasions.
Song: | Promised Land |
Released: | 20th November 1989 |
Main Associated Album (or Single): | Come Home (1989) |
First Heard Live: | Nottingham Trent Poly – 17th June 1989 |