Co-released with Jour de Pluie Records and Coolax
EUROPE ORDERS:
jourdepluierecords.bandcamp.com
In the Spring of 2020, I received an email via the Paisley Shirt Bandcamp that this guy in France was putting together a Television Personalities compilation and looking for more US artists that may be interested “...for the moment, there are 12 French groups, one from Australia, and there is Jad Fair” - so how could I pass up putting out anything Jad Fair and/or TVPs-related?
Over the course of the year, Guillaume and I emailed back and forth. He stayed in contact with the artists, ensured that recordings were getting done, emailed updates, designed the foldout cover, got the album mastered, and created the tracklist. This was a labor of love for him and it shows.
What came out was a wonderfully creative group of covers from across the world. Some lo-fi beauties and some total reimaginations of Television Personalities songs - all done in amateurish fashion.
Here’s Guillaume’s version:
“In April 2020, during the first confinement, I took advantage of this ‘free time’ to launch a project that I had been thinking about for a long time.
I first wanted to do a French tribute, but having a small network, and TVPs being a rather obscure group in France, I would not be able to do it alone.
I contacted some French independent labels to get contacts of artists who could be interested. Future Folkore Records were the first to encourage me.
Then I contacted Pascal, who had recently become a fan of TVPs (what luck!) and he offered to co-produce the compilation on his new label: Coolax. He also encouraged me to contact one of my heroes, Jad Fair, and you know what, Jad said yes!
From there, the project took on more importance than expected... While searching the Internet, I was intrigued by a label from San Francisco, full of cool records and named after a song from TVP. So I knocked on the door, and said "Bonjour Kevin!"
Kevin's help was invaluable: he looked in his address book (some bands in the compilation are on Paisley Shirt Record), and also offered me a co-production. Wow, I was filled!
Soon after, I discovered a Japanese label called "Galaxy Train", which helped me by giving me contacts of Japanese musicians who are fans of TVP.
A German group and a Belgian artist finally joined us, and so the cast was full.
Despite the difficulties due to confinement, to record, all the artists did a great job, they have proposed nice covers in which you can feel their own artistic worlds, their sensibilities, their originalities... That's what makes a tribute album a great tribute album, I think. It's not a kind of nostalgic tribute.
The mood of the compilation is globally positive, joyful and it fits well with the colorful and childish sleeve of the album.
I find too many people remember TVP's for the "dark" reasons: melancholy songs, the fragility of Dan Treacy (singer and songwriter of the TVP's), the chaotic career of the group and his hard luck story... I wanted to stress that, first of all, the TVP were a smart band, full of humor, irony and irreverence... that's why I think this comp is successful.
And like a classic fan, I wanted to tell everyone that I love this band, that everyone should discover it or rediscover it. Tell your friends!
Finally, you should know that Daniel Treacy has very serious health problems, certainly irreversible, and has lived for years in a care center in England. I don't really know if he will ever hear this compilation, but i really hope so, to prove to Daniel that many people miss him.
A musician on this compilation said a very nice sentence to me: "Come on, let's send some love on magnetic tapes to Dan!"
Some love on magnetic tapes, yeah, all is said...”
----------
All proceeds of the sales on the Paisley Shirt Bandcamp will go to Heart To Heart International (
www.hearttoheart.org), who “improves healthcare access in the U.S. and around the world.”
PSR-45