4 Patty
SLA-OK!
(All photos of The Loves playing Upstairs At The Garage, London on the 23rd of October, 2001 by Bob Stuart)
B-Side of the “Boom-A-Bang-Bang-Bang” Single- The Track And Field Organisation, October 2001
I miss being able to toss off weird little things that wouldn’t “fit” on an album as a b-side for a 7” single. In this age of streaming and the rising cost of recording and vinyl pressing, it would be an incredible indulgence. I suppose I could put them on Bandcamp or something?
Written about Patty Hearst and her kidnapping by the SLA (the Symbionese Liberation Army) from the perspective of Patty at the time she was taking part in the bank robberies. When arrested she said that she was brainwashed and made to take part in all the SLA’s illegal activities. She got 7 years in prison but was out after 22 months thanks to a pardon from President Jimmy “Howay The Lads!” Carter, before being totally pardoned by Bill Clinton on his last day in office. Since then, she’s been in a load of John Waters films which is where I think I first saw her.
This recording is the first example of me putting quotes from films or documentaries in my songs. I can’t remember what the documentary was called but it would’ve been something that Cardiff Central Library had, and I remember it taking a long time as we had to cue up the VHS machine to the recording machine and press play at the exact right time. We were doing it straight to tape with not a computer in sight. And you can tell it was recorded on tape as it starts with that wonderful sound of the tape getting up to speed with the whine of feedback already going. Like “Stutter” by Elastica, or a lot of songs on Alex Chilton’s “Like Flies On Sherbert” album.
On the back of the “BOOM-A-BANG-BANG-BANG” (3) 7” sleeve there’s a quote from Todd Rundgren (taken from the opening of his song “Piss Aaron”) “If it’s stupid enough…it’s cool” I remember emailing Mr Rundgren and asking him if he’d produce our debut album. I really like the sound of the first New York Dolls record (despite them not liking it) but he never got back to me. Probably didn’t fancy leaving Hawaii to come to rain sodden Cardiff.
“PATTY” was the last thing that George Shiel recorded as a Love. Soon after, he went to Poland to teach English as a foreign language, fell in love and is now back in Britain with his wife, Anna and their two sons. He was a lovely man who I only ever saw angry once, when it was revealed that Isobel Campbell from Belle and Sebastian had been in Tommy’s Bar in Cardiff the weekend before with her then boyfriend’s band, Astrid. He thumped his drums harder than he ever did when playing and let out a small shriek.
Speaking of small shrieks, I genuinely thought the scream I did at the end of the song was the equivalent of Gruff Rhys’s from the end of “God! Show Me Magic” but it just sounds like I’ve stumbled barefoot over Lego as my voice is breaking.
And in answer to your questions, yes, it is a conscious rip-off of the “SFAOK!” bit from Super Furry Animals’ “Wherever I Lay My Phone (That’s My Home)” but I don’t think I’d heard “Misty Mountain Hop” by Led Zeppelin when I wrote it.
