All I Am Is Loving You

Zoo Records CAGE 005 - recorded 14th May 1979 released June 1979

Julian Cope -.vocals, bass,

Mick Finkler - guitar, organ, piano

Gary Dwyer - drums, organ, piano

Written by Finkler / Dwyer / Cope / Simpson

As their career progressed, the Teardrop Explodes gained a reputation for having great b sides. There's even a blog post by Bob Stanley about it here

Of course that particular song which Bob mentions is a long way in the future of this blog but the point remains - once they were up and running, the Teardrops made great b-sides.

Except for this one.

"All I am is loving you" was inspired by the "Nite Flights" album by the Walker Brothers, released in 1978. This was their third and last album made during their reunion, which had started so well with "No regrets" a few years earlier. Now the Walkers had been told their label was folding and to record whatever they wanted, so the three "brothers" wrote some songs, recorded them and got the LP issued before the label collapsed. (Only it didn't collapse just yet, it struggled onwards for another few years thanks to New Musik). In 1978 nobody was interested in another Walker Brothers album, but when people heard it they were astounded. The music was mostly a strange mutant disco, propulsive and dark, with eerie harmonies between John and Scott. Most of the attention was paid to the four new songs written by Scott, which included the album's title track and a remarkable, strange and disturbing song called "The electrician". This song would point to a future for Scott Walker away from the countrypolitan cover versions and show tunes he had spent most of the seventies recording. 

Paul Simpson owned "Nite Flights" and it inspired "All I am is loving you", what would become the b side of "Bouncing Babies". In "Head on" Cope explains that there were songs on "Nite Flights" where John and Scott sang weird harmonies over atonal piano and a motorik beat. I must say it's quite a reach from "Nite Flights" (or even "Fury and the fire") to "All I am is loving you". Cope wanted it to sound "sad and wistful, like Scott Walker singing in purgatory". Sadly it's only the listeners who were in purgatory.

It starts reasonably enough, a two chord drone on the organ, a bass pulse, rolling drums, clanging discordant guitar... So far so post punk. Then Cope starts singing and it feels like he's not in the same key as the rest of the band. Also there's some bizarre vocal smothered in reverb in the background, and occasional clanging piano. It all sounds slightly off key and amateurish. Cope's lyric seems honest, almost a love song, he repeats words and phrases - the chorus centres on the line "All I ever seem to do is wander around" which may be a reference back to "Sleeping Gas" or just a coincidence. The song drags itself slowly for over four excruciating minutes. 

It was an experiment but frankly it didn't work. The band didn't admit it in public but knew in private it was a failure. And yet there are live renditions from 1979 which are better, they seem more in tune with each other. Maybe it was an off day in the studio? Also the idea of making a background vocal almost incomprehensible would appear again in the Teardrops discography so it's not a wasted concept.

I shouldn't really be too critical. The band were barely six months old at this point, and while they did have better material at this point they also had worse (see next blog post). It must also be remembered that comparing "All I am is loving you" to a song later in their career is kind of pointless - they were a very different band in 1979 to what they became in 1981. In 1979 they were a bunch of post punk ruffians with an anti-image, influenced as much by the Una Baines version of The Fall as the "Nuggets" compilation. Taken on these terms "All I am is loving you" is ok. It's just that with hindsight we know they would do better.