The Mighty Lemon Drops are the latest band to get a limited ‘dinked’ edition to mark the 40th Anniversary of their debut album, Happy Head.
Dinked is a collaboration between some of the UK’s most proactive and industrious independent music retailers and run by Natasha Youngs (Resident, Brighton) & Rupert Morrison (formerly of Drift, Totnes), alongside their respective day jobs, purely, they say ‘for the love and the buzz’. The duo has released vinyl from new artists, established acts along with future stars and Legends, with no genre being off limit. Amongst the diverse range of artists are Geese, Fat Dog, Wunderhorse, Courtney Barnett, Suede, Mercury Rev, Los Campesinos!, OSEES, Kneecap, Goat Girl, BC Camplight, Kurt Vile, Hannah Peel, Tricky, Lambchop and many more.
This month sees a special edition of The Mighty Lemon Drops debut featuring a number of extras, available to order now on marbled red and black vinyl, the package includes a bonus 7” with early ‘Dreamworld’ versions of tracks Something Happens and Now She’s Gone, along with new sleeve notes from the band as well. This release is newly remastered from the original tapes by Phil Kinrade at AIR Mastering.
The initial lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Paul Marsh, guitarist Dave Newton, bassist Tony Linehan, and drummer Keith Rowley, with Newton and Linehan contributing most of the songwriting. Happy Head was first released in 1986 on Geoff Travis’ Blue Guitar. The Wolverhampton bands’ debut produced by Stephen Street, fresh from his work with The Smiths. It includes the singles The Other Side Of You and My Biggest Thrill, alongside the title track Happy Head – a song which first appeared in demo form on C86 – NME’s now iconic compilation that helped define a generation of indie guitar music. The album record shimmered with ringing guitars and a vibrant blend of psychedelia and post-punk energy and also features a re-recorded version of Like An Angel, the band’s breakthrough independent single.
For me Happy Head was one of the first times I’d eagerly anticipated an albums release, having first been blown away by the original 12” of Like An Angel, a record which set me very much on an ‘Indie’ part at the age of 15, leading me to the unholy trinity of the music press.. NME, Melody Maker and Sounds (and occasionally Record Mirror).
Although I’ve listened to the record many times over the years, I’m looking forward to this remastered version anew.
Pre-order here
All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him via his LinkTree
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