A Head Full of Wishes newsletter #46

2026-03-20
Categories: substack

Substack
A Head Full of Wishes newsletter #46

My record collection [335] Luna - California Blue / Rock Yr Baby

This is my second copy of Luna’s California Blue / Rock Yr Baby seven inch released by Feral Child in 2017, last time out I spent most of the post talking about the AA-side.

So, while I had a full post about the AA-side the A-side is just going to get one sentence!

The A-side is Luna’s cover of Roy Orbison’s California Blue which was recorded in the sessions for A Sentimental Education - the original dates from Roy’s late period and was written by Roy with Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty.

When this single arrived the thing that grabbed me most wasn’t the A or the AA side but the sleeve which looked very familiar and then I realised why - the picture used on the front was the same used on my paperback copy of Geoffrey Fletcher’s The London Nobody Knows.

Geoffrey Fletcher was an artist and author whose drawings, mostly of London, appeared in many books, magazines, and newspapers during the 1960s and 70s. The London Nobody Knows is his best known work because in 1967 it was made into a short film featuring James Mason walking around some of the locations featured in the book and is a glorious look at disappearing London. The film was released on a DVD in 2008 which was my introduction to the work of Geoffrey Fletcher (although I suspect he had long been seeping into my unconscious).

I have still been known to take visitors to see the sewer lamp in Carting Lane. In this pic on the left is Fletcher’s sketch from the book, in the middle is James Mason from the film, and on the right is my boy posing with it a few years back.

Around that time I had gone back to drawing, something I hadn’t done much of in years, and Geoffrey Fletcher’s style and choice of subject matter was a great inspiration to me. My second book by him was his Elements of Sketching which became my sketching bible - even if I didn’t really follow its rules and I’m not sure I improved as a result of it. I then followed it up with quite a little library of his books - here are some.

… and here are a few examples of me desperately trying to be like him!

I suspect the choice of sleeve was made by whoever is behind Feral Child?

Here’s Luna playing California Blue for Paste in 2019:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8n-WYRjpys

Catalogue Number: AHFOW 11/068
Artist: Luna
Title: California Blue / Rock Yr Baby
Format: 7”
Bought via Great Pop Supplement in 2017

Previously in my record collection:

[210] Luna - California Blue / Rock Yr Baby

My record collection [336] Dean Wareham - Live at St. Pancras Old Church (green cassette)

So this is my fourth post covering the six copies I have of recordings from Dean’s shows in London in 2013 so I guess there’s not a great deal more for me to say!?

The original release was on cassette and came in two flavours one in a green shell and one in a red shell. The cassette j-card was the same for both but since it was printed on diaphanous paper it gives the impression that the difference is more than just the shell of the cassettes, and to reinforce the eye for detail the green ones came with a download code on red paper, and the red one on green.

There’s a fair chance that the download code in the picture above hasn’t been used so if you’re quick (and interested) you can grab yourself a free download!

Dean gave me a copy of both cassettes after his show at The Prince Albert in Brighton in May 2014… so I guess I can pad out this short post with a clip of Dean and band playing Tugboat at that show… and discussing air-conditioning!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3WB1TwuH6k

Catalogue Number: AHFOW 16/006
Artist: Dean Wareham
Title: Live at St. Pancras Old Church
Format: MC with green shell
Buy ‘Live at St. Pancras Old Church’ on Bandcamp

Previously in my record collection:

Dean Wareham on songwriting

A couple of weeks back Scott commented on a Substack post…

Speaking of songwriting: Have you asked Dean why his songs never have bridges? Seems weird to never use this element, especially given his taste for 1970s radio-friendly tunes.

I must admit that the lack of a middle eight in Dean’s work hadn’t really occurred to me but, listening back Scott did seem to have a point.

He decided the best way to address this question was to head to the source and so if you head over to the AHFoW Substack you can find out how Dean responded to the question “It seems like you’re a connoisseur of late 60s/70s high-quality radio-friendly rock, where a bridge is common. Why not make use of this element?”… and a few other songwriting enquiries.

https://aheadfullofwishes.substack.com/p/dean-wareham-talks-songwriting

This coming week in the past

22nd March 2013 - Damon & Naomi in Portsmouth Book & Bar, NH

Here they are playing A Second Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyVbGA8vPJo

21st March 2003 - Luna at The Knitting Factory, NY

On 20 March 2003 Bush and Blair invaded Iraq on spurious grounds. Luna covered Tuli Kupferberg’s Kill for Peace at their Knitting Factory shows on the 20th and 21st of March 2003 - This recording is from the 11pm show on the 21st.

Luna - Kill for Peach (Kintting Factory, NYC - 21st March 2003)

Source: Luna - 21st March 2003 - Knitting Factory, New York, NY, USA

SubstackA Head Full of Wishes newsletter #46