Just A Trick Of The Light

Orange Juice have such an embarrassment of riches in their back catalogue, all skewiff and untutored and out of kilter. It's their rough edges that make them so loveable I think. From their early days, this is the magnificent, frenetic Felicity (written by James Kirk). This version was from a flexi disc given away free with the first 1000 copies of Falling And Laughing, recorded live in Edinburgh in 1979.

Felicity (Flexi Version)

From the later days, the brilliant What Presence?!, shown here live on the Whistle Test in '84 with a squealing guitar solo (along with Out For The Count).

Orange Juice 'Felicity'

We break up, we break up, we don't care if school blows up....

I've finished work for Easter which makes it a good day. But any day couldn't be entirely bad for hearing the sheer joy and exuberance of Felicity, my favourite Orange Juice song- from the opening 'woaaah woah, woaaah woah, woaaah woah!!', this song sums up the Chic meets The Velvets style, as Edwyn described it. Written by James Kirk, lovely ramshackle, chiming guitars, great all-over-the-shop singing, brilliant break- 'let's take it to the bridge now!'.

Apparently all OJ's albums are about to be re-issued and a box-set is coming too. 'Happiness, oh-oh-oh happiness, oh-oh-oh, happiness, this is the sound of happiness'.

And don't their fringes look great?

Felicity.mp3