http://mediumcool.blog.co.uk/

Tony Kostrzewa

2008-05-03T12:43:29+02:00

If you're thinking of prominent Northern Tonys, the Wilson variety inevitably crops up and maybe a Warren too. But there was another, someone I'm indebted to, whose influence on the Eighties independent music scene is huge and often overlooked. Tony Kostrzewa or Tony K as he was more easily known sadly died on 1 May.

Tony ran York-based Red Rhino who gave me the manufacturing and distribution deal to make Medium Cool happen. He was also instrumental in the setting up of The Cartel, the independent distribution network of record shops that stocked the kind of stuff you wouldn't really see in Virgin, Tower or HMV. Many of the shops also ran their own record companies and occasionally had the money to help up and coming labels. This is how it worked for me.

Red Rhino took a box load of Enormous Room flexis and supplied the shops that wanted it in return for taking a small percentage for shifting them around. On the back of some positive press and airplay on Peel, the flexis sold out in a week and I made enough money to do it all over again with The Raw Herbs.

Tony and his label manager Pete Thompson liked what I was doing and subsequently offered a deal where Red Rhino paid Medium Cool's bills and recouped the outlay from sales with a split on any profits. We never actually made any but it was Tony's faith alongside his ability to take such a financial risk that allowed me to put groups into the studio and release records. That and all the cash they were making from The Wedding Present.

More recently I came back into contact with Tony as he offered help and advice for my new label. By his own admission he wasn't well but he was fighting back and his passion for music was as strong as ever. True passion and fast-paced enthusiasm, that's what I'll remember.

Here's the obituary from The Independent and a transcript of a lecture Tony gave on record labels and distribution. You'll see what I mean.

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Rebellious Jukebox

2007-05-05T08:18:59+02:00

The Medium Cool Jukebox is now live and along with the permanent selections I'll be adding occasional temporary downloads from the label's cassette archives to the A, B, C & D buttons.

All the jukebox tracks are in MP3 format and should automatically open and play in your media player. You can even download them for keeps too.

This post will be updated to reflect what's currently on offer -

A - The Enormous Room 'Limestone'. A studio version of a song which was in the group's set in 1986. This may have been recorded for one of the Imminent compilations but I'm not entirely sure it actually got a release. NEW

B - The Corn Dollies 'Big Cane Call'. An additional B-side recorded for the 12" re-release of 'Forever Steven' in early 1988. Back then there seemed to be a clear and much debated divide between those in the REM camp and those in that of The Go-Betweens. Take a wild guess which side this lot were on. NEW

C - The Waltones 'Eddie'. An early tale of unrequited love from the 'Tones and despite being demo'd a few times the song never made it to vinyl. This is the 1987 version from the 'She Looks Right Through Me' session.

D - The Raw Herbs 'I Don't know What To Say'. The Herbs get mellow. This song was never recorded in the studio but here's a live version from a Manchester International gig in November 1986.

UPDATE I've finally worked out how to upload stuff to YouTube. Here's the video for The Raw Herbs third and finest single 'Don't Bury Me Yet' from 1987. So that's where all the posters went...

And while we're at it here's The Waltones at their best with the video for 'She Look's Right Through Me' which was also part of our glorious 1987 Autumn Collection.

And still sounding as fresh as a sea breeze, Brighton's The Pop Guns with 'Landslide', the label's penultimate release in 1989. You can also check out the YouTube video for 'Waiting For The Winter'.

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Sloppy But Poppy

2007-04-14T15:18:19+02:00

Anytime now The Waltones compilation 'You've Gotta Hand It To 'Em' is being released by Cherry Red and brings together their album 'Deepest' plus the two 'Edge Of The Road' tracks and all their single A's & B's including the unreleased 'Listen To Your Heart' 45.

The above image is not the actual CD cover as I haven't got a copy yet but was taken in Eastbourne in 1988 where the group were recording their debut album in between ice creams and donkey rides.

It's great that this stuff is finally getting a re-release and I heard a rumour that there may even be a few gigs to promote the compilation if they can all get their shit together in time. Alex - the flat gold things are called cymbals...

In the meantime here's a YouTube link to the 'She Looks Right Through Me' video and you can keep up to date on the latest Waltonemania via their My Space site.

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It Was A Pleasure Then

2007-02-25T12:29:27+01:00

Apologies for the delay in getting the kiss and tell story online, I'm still feverishly writing '1986'.

In the meantime here's a proposed design for the poster to accompany the forthcoming label retrospective 'The Punk Rock Itch' which will be a double CD containing official releases, unreleased stuff, demos and hopefully some long lost videos too.

The good news is that all the groups are now on board apart from The Rain who I'm still chasing...

Update 14/3/07: The Rain have now given their blessing so you can expect The Punk Rock Itch to include a number of tracks and rarities from Basingstoke's finest.

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The Punk Rock Itch

2006-11-06T19:57:30+01:00

Finally after 20 years it seems like a good time to talk.

The memories may well be a bit fuzzy but this is a tale of a small record label I ran in my early twenties and a document of my brief fling with the pop music industry. Well actually it was more of an unreciprocated crush but I won't let that get in the way of a good story.

The blog came about because I've been struggling to think how I'd fit all the words and pictures on to the Medium Cool website and also it has one advantage in that anyone interested can scream, shout or disagree if they want to.

I'm the first to admit that Medium Cool was never really a major contender in that whole Eighties independent scene but, looking back, it did have its moments despite all the bad luck which came our way.

To make it a far more interesting read I'll also be putting Medium Cool into context and namechecking some of the great people, groups and labels that were around at that time.

Funnily enough, there seems to be a resurgence of interest in that whole scene on websites, blogs, YouTube etc and Bob Stanley's even had a stab at compiling the recently released CD86 to expose a new generation to the sound of early 'indie pop'.

I never really liked the term 'indie' but it's not a bad effort despite the absence of The Wishing Stones 'Beat Girl' or 'Halcyon Days' by 1000 Violins.

There have even been tentative e-mails between myself and Cherry Red about a Medium Cool retrospective to follow The Waltones compilation they're in the process of putting together. If it ever does happen it's going to be called 'The Punk Rock Itch'.

Anyway, I guess it'll take a while to get everything posted but to make it easier for you and me I've divided the tale into four chapters each corresponding to a year of the label's existence. Bear with me as the gaps on the subsequent pages get filled in...

Andy Wake

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1986

2006-11-06T19:57:14+01:00

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1987

2006-11-06T19:56:58+01:00

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1988

2006-11-06T19:55:27+01:00

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1989

2006-11-06T19:53:39+01:00

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