Back in 2018 Louder Than War caught up with the Yorkshire born Henry Priestman, singer, musician, record producer and songwriter about the then, recently released Yachts box set, Suffice to Say: The Complete Yachts Collection. As friend of Louder Than War, Dave Dawson recently found out though, this turned out not to be quite the ‘complete’ story, with Missing in Action – The Lost Tapes 1980-81 featuring 17 unreleased tracks recently being found and released. Dave sits down with Henry for a chat…
Dave Dawson: Yachts, Missing In Action – The Lost Tapes 1980-81 sounds like a warped version of Adrian Gurvitz. “Gonna write a classic, gonna leave it in the attic”!!
Henry Priestman: “Yes! Basically these were 19 unreleased/unheard songs (that I genuinely did find in a box of tapes in my attic) that Yachts demoed in the nine months before we split up. We’d been dropped by Radar Records, and it was a desperate attempt to get another deal. I wrote half and Martin Watson the guitarist wrote half, some with Bob Bellis, the drummer. We thought they were great but then we sent them off to record companies and got nothing… you know… nobody was interested. I suppose we’d been going for a few years, and it was always nearly going to happen but hadn’t. I think our heads were down and we just thought “is it all crap?””
DD: I interviewed Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin, and they said they hawked “It’s My Party” to every label in the UK before Stiff took it. They all said this soon to be worldwide hit was uncommercial. You CAN be right.
HP: “Exactly. So it was a joy when in 2021 I discovered these tapes when I moved house. Mind you, I still couldn’t tell whether they were any good…”
DD: You were too close to it…
HP: “Yes. So I sent them to a few people who I knew would give me an honest answer. Some were Yachts fans, and also people like Andrew Lauder who initially signed us back in the day, who actually did put one of the songs, A Fool Like You, out on Demon Records. Everybody came back going “these are great yeah, put it out!””
DD: Do you think it’s serendipitous that Chris Topham, who operates as much a fiercely passionate DIY guerilla operation as Stiff – who you were originally with – was the one to release it?
HP: “Absolutely. He kindly offered to put it out on his label, and if only we’d got those sorts of reviews back in 1979 and 1980!! 4 Stars in virtually every monthly music magazine, and even The Observer and The Guardian. It was just incredible, so it’s been for all of us a labour of love, especially for me and Martin Watson who were the main ones behind it happening… pushing and trying to find the best versions from our old, battered cassettes: “…have you got a better version of this song… it’s a bit wobbly on the intro on mine… Great. I can use your intro with mine”, and so on. But of course cassette tape machines rarely play at the same speed, so it’s like Strawberry Fields Forever (using two different takes) but, hey, nobody noticed! Not one person has reviewed it saying, “well it’s a bit dodgy, it comes from a cassette”, because we just tried to make it sound as good as possible, with a bit of tweaking, but no AI. I’m so thrilled with the result.”
DD: Bruce Thomas remembered you opening for Elvis Costello and The Attractions upstairs at Eric’s (seminal Liverpool venue) which I’m guessing is where Yazoo got their album title from. It was a pivotal night for you.
HP: “Yes. We were then asked by Stiff to support the band at their August Sunday night residency at the Nashville Rooms in London, and at the last one Stiff said “right, do a single”. It’s like that film Sliding Doors. If it wasn’t for Costello, I probably wouldn’t be here talking to you. I’d be working in a record shop. It’s crazy.”
DD: Much of Stiff’s roster had already been round the block and served years in apprenticeships: Ian Dury with the Kilburn’s, The Attractions with Quiver, Flip City and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, and so on. Do you think that the fact that you hadn’t and were checked in at the deep end gave you more a “kids in the sweet shop” attitude because you weren’t jaded?
HP: “Yes! We were the new kids on the block. We didn’t quite know what the business was and we were naive. We’d only formed in May!” What?? We’re going to London to do a gig??”. Stiff also had Wreckless Eric who was slightly before us, and I’d supported him at Hull Art College (where I did a year’s Foundation Course), so there was a Stiff link there. Eric’s band were called Addis and the Flip Tops, featuring the Binettes, and our band – we didn’t even have a name, we only formed weeks before, just for this gig – was me, Martin Watson and John Bradbury on drums, and I only realised four years later when I saw them on Top of the Pops, that John had joined The Specials. I also need to mention Deaf School, this band at Liverpool Art College who were about to sign to Warner Brothers! They were so helpful to us. We used their manager, and they lent us their gear. They’ve just not long ago asked Yachts to reform for Deaf School’s 50th Anniversary Shows at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall this year, and I was so touched to be asked, but the logistics may not have worked out. Maybe another time… Another stroke of luck was that back in 1977 someone was selling a Farfisa organ for £25 which I bought, which slightly became our signature “garagey” sound. We were all into (1965-68 Psychedelic compilation) Nuggets”
DD: Do you think Inspiral Carpets were taking notes?
HP: “I know they were! I bumped into Clint – lovely fella – at an airport when I was in The Christians, and he recognised me… “I love Yachts. That Farfisa sound!””
DD: Were you aware before I emailed you a decade ago that (film critic) Mark Kermode was a massive Yachts fan as disclosed in one of his books?
HP: “I didn’t! Two people told me about around the same time and then of course I had to go out and find the book, and you were right. Kermode’s mate loved The Clash and was nicknamed Strummer, so Mark picked his favourite band and his nickname became Henry… so people in Manchester still call him Henry! I got to play on his band The Dodge Brother’s album, and he played bass on my last album on the remake of Yachts’ Love You Love You. And he got me on to play a couple of songs with him live at the Playhouse in Liverpool. He’s a lovely fellow.”
DD: It’s also lovely when I interview people about very old, unearthed stuff and think “that STILL could have been released just last week”. I don’t think The Lost Tapes has dated at all
HP: “I’m really pleased that you said that. I think that’s what’s so surprised me – everybody coming back going “this is good!”. I think myself and Martin Watson – we wrote half and half – both tapped into an urgency because we’d been booked into the studio and I remember our manager saying “we need you to come up with as many songs as you can”, so we did probably four sessions in this little studio in London and before each one the manager was like “right you’ve got four weeks left, we need you to come up with another six songs”. We were doing it realising that this could be it; if we don’t get this right we won’t get a deal, as we’d already been dropped by Radar. Yachts basically stopped because I was performing with original Yachts singer John Campbell as It’s Immaterial, initially just as a hobby band, and then while I was away on tour with Yachts, they wrote A Gigantic Raft in the Philippines, which we recorded as a single. It started getting Radio 1 plays and I was thinking “hang on, this is probably more interesting than what we’re doing”, so I left Yachts and did It’s Immaterial full time. Yachts had been knocked back so many times. How long could we carry on doing it? We’d given our all since 1977. We were now in 1981… we’d been so close. The Americans loved the first album but didn’t quite get the second, so that market fell away. For me it was good to try something else where I wasn’t the main writer. I could just enjoy being in a band where I didn’t have to come up with another four songs a day… the fact that this new Yachts album, Missing In Action, is stuff we’d all forgotten about, was written off and then suddenly it gets the best reviews we’ve ever had. Wow. We’ve virtually sold out the pressing. I’m just so thrilled with it.”
Listen to Dave Dawson chatting to Henry Priestman and hear a couple of songs from the collection on Louder Than War Radio
Missing in Action – The Lost Tapes 1980-81 can be purchased here
Photo Credit R.Wynne Jones
Interviewer Dave Dawson is a music journalist and co-creator of “The Pop Star Letters” books.
A Plea From Louder Than War
Louder Than War is run by a small but dedicated independent team, and we rely on the small amount of money we generate to keep the site running smoothly. Any money we do get is not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to think and write, or hungry shareholders. We know times are tough, and we want to continue bringing you news on the most interesting releases, the latest gigs and anything else that tickles our fancy. We are not driven by profit, just pure enthusiasm for a scene that each and every one of us is passionate about.
To us, music and culture are eveything, without them, our very souls shrivel and die. We do not charge artists for the exposure we give them and to many, what we do is absolutely vital. Subscribing to one of our paid tiers takes just a minute, and each sign-up makes a huge impact, helping to keep the flame of independent music burning! Please click the button below to help.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
