The Mock Turtles - Two Sides album 1991

UZZA_SPARTA

UZZA_SPARTA

Midfield
Anybody remember The Mock Turtles from late 80's/early 90's?
the lead singer was brother of comedian Steve Coogan... they were a much talked about indie band at the time with some catchy songs... also a great live band, and in fact probably the only indie band from Manchester or Greater Manchester at the time (apart from inspiral carpets) who had a singer who could actually sing live! :lol:

Their album 'Two Sides' was released 30 years ago this week or charted this week on the ill-fated Siren Records... had the indie hits 'Can U Dig It' & 'And Then She Smiles' on the album, they had appeared on TOTP earlier in the year, were set to play various festivals during the summer, and then their record label suddenly went bust and nobody could access or buy their album after that!
To make matters worse, or just plain bad luck, I seem to recall their previous record label also going bust around release of their previous album too!! :eek:

Then years or actually decades later their song was picked up and used by Vodafone on their tv adverts..





www.discogs.com

The Mock Turtles - Two Sides

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1991 Vinyl release of "Two Sides" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
 


Great choon! They weren’t received as a “cool” indie band in the same way as the Carpets/Roses/Charlatans/Mondays/Verve. I remember I made a compilation tape where it followed this one, another jangly delight from student disco days:

 
UZZA_SPARTA said:
Anybody remember The Mock Turtles from late 80's/early 90's?
the lead singer was brother of comedian Steve Coogan... they were a much talked about indie band at the time with some catchy songs... also a great live band, and in fact probably the only indie band from Manchester or Greater Manchester at the time (apart from inspiral carpets) who had a singer who could actually sing live! :lol:

Their album 'Two Sides' was released 30 years ago this week or charted this week on the ill-fated Siren Records... had the indie hits 'Can U Dig It' & 'And Then She Smiles' on the album, they had appeared on TOTP earlier in the year, were set to play various festivals during the summer, and then their record label suddenly went bust and nobody could access or buy their album after that!
To make matters worse, or just plain bad luck, I seem to recall their previous record label also going bust around release of their previous album too!! :eek:

Then years or actually decades later their song was picked up and used by Vodafone on their tv adverts..





www.discogs.com

The Mock Turtles - Two Sides

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1991 Vinyl release of "Two Sides" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
Click to expand...
Saw them at the Downtown Bar in Blackpool, early days. They brought a handful of mates with them.
 
Shack said:
Wonder why that album has those two songs on when they were also on their debit Turtle Soup (a decent album I think).
Click to expand...

see my initial post... I think it was because a year earlier that Turtle Soup album was released on the Imaginary Records label which went bust... then they signed to Siren Records and when they released that album their new record label also went bust! :eek:
 
Bog standard jangle pop, they were inoffensively OK. Must have seen them 10+ times in various gigs around Manc and in the middle of the afternoon at festivals.

As for the Carpets, neither Tom nor Steve would claim to be able to sing live. :lol: Also, Tim Booth might disagree.
 
Last edited:
UZZA_SPARTA said:
Anybody remember The Mock Turtles from late 80's/early 90's?
the lead singer was brother of comedian Steve Coogan... they were a much talked about indie band at the time with some catchy songs... also a great live band, and in fact probably the only indie band from Manchester or Greater Manchester at the time (apart from inspiral carpets) who had a singer who could actually sing live! :lol:

Their album 'Two Sides' was released 30 years ago this week or charted this week on the ill-fated Siren Records... had the indie hits 'Can U Dig It' & 'And Then She Smiles' on the album, they had appeared on TOTP earlier in the year, were set to play various festivals during the summer, and then their record label suddenly went bust and nobody could access or buy their album after that!
To make matters worse, or just plain bad luck, I seem to recall their previous record label also going bust around release of their previous album too!! :eek:

Then years or actually decades later their song was picked up and used by Vodafone on their tv adverts..





www.discogs.com

The Mock Turtles - Two Sides

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1991 Vinyl release of "Two Sides" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
Click to expand...
Same era as Neds Atomic Dustbin Wonderstuff and PWEI? Good era that
 
Steak Pie said:
Bog standard jangle pop, they were inoffensively OK. Must have seen them 10+ times in various gigs around Manc and in the middle of the afternoon at festivals.

As for the Carpets, neither Tom nor Steve would claim to be able to sing live. :lol: Also, Tim Booth might disagree.
Click to expand...
Aye. But Can U Dig It is weirdly good imo. Nowt else is though and the band had no charisma
 
Steak Pie said:
....As for the Carpets, neither Tom nor Steve would claim to be able to sing live. :lol: Also, Tim Booth might disagree.
Click to expand...

would disagree when it comes to Tom Hingley as he was best singer (incl. live) from that entire era... the other bloke Steve Holt? was never able to sing live and worst thing they did as a band was get him back in the fold as their lead singer once Tom left the band.

James were/are excellent band but I never heard Tim Booth sing great in any live set up and must have been to about 4 of their gigs over the years. In fact by coincidence, and on subject of James, about 10 or 15 years ago there was some charity gig in Manchester where Tom from Inspirals sang live several James songs with members of James the band playing the instruments... was impressive combo :cool:
 
UZZA_SPARTA said:
Anybody remember The Mock Turtles from late 80's/early 90's?
the lead singer was brother of comedian Steve Coogan... they were a much talked about indie band at the time with some catchy songs... also a great live band, and in fact probably the only indie band from Manchester or Greater Manchester at the time (apart from inspiral carpets) who had a singer who could actually sing live! :lol:

Their album 'Two Sides' was released 30 years ago this week or charted this week on the ill-fated Siren Records... had the indie hits 'Can U Dig It' & 'And Then She Smiles' on the album, they had appeared on TOTP earlier in the year, were set to play various festivals during the summer, and then their record label suddenly went bust and nobody could access or buy their album after that!
To make matters worse, or just plain bad luck, I seem to recall their previous record label also going bust around release of their previous album too!! :eek:

Then years or actually decades later their song was picked up and used by Vodafone on their tv adverts..





www.discogs.com

The Mock Turtles - Two Sides

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1991 Vinyl release of "Two Sides" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
Click to expand...
i was working for the label when they signed.......f***ing hell we destroyed some indie bands or maybe they fucked themselves signing for a major
 
daventry cat said:
i was working for the label when they signed.......f***ing hell we destroyed some indie bands or maybe they fucked themselves signing for a major
Click to expand...

really? which label? Imaginary Records? or Siren Records (Virgin)?

The last time I saw them live was at the Boardwalk in Manchester near Deansgate... probably early 1991 period as I moved for work down to London later that year.. then next thing I was told was that Siren had gone belly up as well?
 
Shack said:
Wonder why that album has those two songs on when they were also on their debit Turtle Soup (a decent album I think).
Click to expand...
Yeah turtle soup was really good album. Recently brought out an extended one. They should of been bigger than they were instead of just remembered for one song
 
I thought Turtle Soup was pretty decent at the time. Plus Imaginary put out a kind of Budget Compilation album (87-90) made up of ep's b sides and tracks from tribute albums etc , that was also very enjoyable. I think I was put off buying their 2nd album when I learned they'd re-recorded a couple of tracks from their debut for it. Not sure how much of that was their decision or otherwise ? But it just immediately gave the impression rightly or wrongly, that they were a little short on new material imo.

Some of their stuff was a little on the "whimsical" side I guess. Plus they never really managed to create a distinctive sound for themselves. That said you could always tell they had a lot more musical ability than many of their contemporaries. This was a cracking cover as well..

 
Last edited:
UZZA_SPARTA said:
really? which label? Imaginary Records? or Siren Records (Virgin)?

The last time I saw them live was at the Boardwalk in Manchester near Deansgate... probably early 1991 period as I moved for work down to London later that year.. then next thing I was told was that Siren had gone belly up as well?
Click to expand...
Siren I worked for all the labels virgin had apart from virgin itself(separate team) so the likes of siren, ten, circa, eg, virgin US. We were always signing indie bands and ruining them.... The lotus eaters would be another example. Some should just be left alone. Can u dig it should have been a much bigger hit
 
daventry cat said:
Siren I worked for all the labels virgin had apart from virgin itself(separate team) so the likes of siren, ten, circa, eg, virgin US. We were always signing indie bands and ruining them.... The lotus eaters would be another example. Some should just be left alone. Can u dig it should have been a much bigger hit
Click to expand...

interesting... I knew Jerry Kelly from Lotus Eaters fairly well back in the 90's. I think their album (No Sense of Sin) got released by Arista over in the states?
Jerry and Tom Hingley from inspirals had a brief collaboration during the mid 90's as The Lovers, with self released EP 'Work, Rest & Play' that had the late great Denise Johnson supplying backing vocals on one of the tracks.

agree about Can U Dig It (I presume they got that vodafone tv ad on back of some publishing deal with Virgin itself though?)
 
UZZA_SPARTA said:
interesting... I knew Jerry Kelly from Lotus Eaters fairly well back in the 90's. I think their album (No Sense of Sin) got released by Arista over in the states?
Jerry and Tom Hingley from inspirals had a brief collaboration during the mid 90's as The Lovers, with self released EP 'Work, Rest & Play' that had the late great Denise Johnson supplying backing vocals on one of the tracks.

agree about Can U Dig It (I presume they got that vodafone tv ad on back of some publishing deal with Virgin itself though?)
Click to expand...
Virgin at the time was awash with money (and success) and we simply gave too much to bands used to and built upon working on a shoestring and off they went down their rabbit holes
 

Back
Top