A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
My record collection
#041: Luna - Something in the Air
Luna’s cover of Thunderclap Newman’s Something in the Air was released as part of Sonic Cathedral’s singles club in 2019, I wrote about the test pressing that Nat sent me earlier and suggested I had “plenty to write about the single” that would wait for this post… not sure whether the post will live up to that tease… but here goes.
Some random facts related to this single coming… as they pop into my head:
- Something in the Air was written by Speedy Keen who was born, and lived in Hanwell, a few hundred yards from where I lived, for a long time… although not sure if he lived there while I did. I never, knowingly, bumped into him. There is no blue plaque to him - I think there ought to be. He also produced Motorhead’s first album.
- Subscribers to the Sonic Cathedral Singles Club got extra gifts with each release - Luna’s came with a very cool NASA-like mission patch.
- For a short period I built and ran (for free) the website for a version of Thunderclap Newman - only Andy Newman was still a part of the band, I met him at a gig they played in a bar in West London and he was lovely. The gig wasn’t great and I wrote as much on my blog… which saw me sacked from my role as Webmaster. I got a slightly ridiculous formal dismissal via a letter.
- The flip side of the single contained The Oort Cloud/Kuiper Belt - two spacey, instrumental improvisations.
- Another member of Thunderclap Newman was Jimmy McCulloch who was later in Wings… and died too young.
- For the launch of the single Sonic Cathedral had a splendid, but sadly sparsely attended, evening at The Social. It included a screening of Tell Me Do You Miss Me some excellent live performances by “surprise live bands” (Daniel Land, Buffalo Postcard and Ben Phillipson) and “special guest DJs” … which was me!
- Here’s the playlist of a mix of what I played during that DJ-ing job - I’ve not been asked again!
- Catalogue Number: AHFOW 11/076
- Artist: Luna
- Title: Something In The Air / Oort Cloud / Kuiper Belt
- Notes: Came with a ‘mission patch’
- Packaging: Card sleeve inside another card sleeve inside a PVC sleeve
- Format: 7”
- Bought as part of the Sonic Cathedral Singles Club
- The tracks are available as part of Luna’s ‘Postscripts’ EP on Bandcamp
Previously in my record collection