The Judge
RAVES!
Date: 04/12/10
Brand X - "...And So To F..." (1979)
I've mentioned before somewhere (here, in fact) about the part played in my musical education by some of my colleagues in Yale Sixth Form College, Wrexham in the late 1970s, and here's another example.
I think it was Dave Williams who brought along Brand X's fourth LP Product to the feast, and I remember being impressed by it. So much so that I saved my pennies and bought a copy not very long afterwards from the much-missed branch of Cob Records which stood in Wrexham High Street.
My copy was a US import which meant, I found out later, that a couple of the tracks were in different places in the running order. This was one of them, appearing as the last track on Side One on the import, but next-to-last on Side Two on the UK release.
...And So To F... was composed by Phil Collins and, as one might expect, it has a characteristic 9/8 time signature for much of its length, before moving into a standard rock 4/4 later on. The playing is strong and driving throughout, with Collins setting the pace with drums and percussion (a part which didn't work quite so well live when it was played on standard keyboards), and John Giblin (who composed the wonderfully atmospheric track April which follows this one on the UK issue) augmenting the rhythm, allowing Robin Lumley (keyboards) and John Goodsall (guitars) to go to town over the top of it.
It's remained a favourite ever since, so here it is. The visual is static - just the LP cover - but enjoy the music:
Update: Well that's another one pulled by the corpos.
Update Update: Found another one!
And here's former Brand X man John Goodsall and his band Transcendental Medication performing the piece in LA in 1988:
