Tap Dancing in Slush

Tracklist

  1. Vile Bodies
  2. Zing Went The Strings
  3. Brittle People*
  4. Dada Smoothed
  5. Segment 1

This version of Brittle People differs from that released on Struvé & Sneff.

Release Info

This was recorded in 1978 as a counterpart to Behind Closed Curtains, under the name Plimsollline, a short-lived entity that just predated the adoption of Renaldo and the Loaf as the band’s title. Arguably, the spirit of what would become Renaldo & The Loaf is very evident in this work.

It remained unreleased until 2014, when it was released alongside Behind Closed Curtains in a deluxe double-CD set by Klanggalerie.

History

Dave, “We recorded a lot of material, now we were using the name Plimsollline. Like that, all one word, we liked the three ‘l’s’ together. We responded to an ad in one of the music papers – ‘artists wanted’ or something like that. Anyway much to our surprise we were offered a deal and we put together an album called Tap Dancing in Slush.”

Brian, “Tap Dancing in Slush was a 5 track EP to go with the LP Behind Closed Curtains. These collections were recorded between 1978 and 1979 and were made up of the first ‘tunes’ we were prepared to reveal to the outside world. We answered an ad to send tapes to an indie record label, Raw Records of Cambridge. This guy, Lee, liked what he heard and it was he who suggested the EP/LP releases. As it turned out he didn’t put his money where his mouth was and he disappeared. Still, it did give us confidence and we went and met with A&R men from Virgin and Rough Trade. Geoff Travis of Rough Trade gave us useful advice and also suggested we invest in a good multitrack tape recorder. This we did and eventually Struve & Sneff happened.”

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