Ahab- Party Girl 7”
Here’s a 7” from the UK that I can’t seem to get enough of lately. Virtually no info to be had out there on the web, but I do know this record dropped in 1981 via Chicken Jazz, who released several records by The Waterboys. The cover looks a little reminiscent of A-ha’s “Take On Me” video, but the styles are quite different. Here we have what seems to be two one-man minimal synth tracks. The a-side has a bit of a Felt/Eyeless in Gaza-esque vibe to it (a sound I very much enjoy), and features lyrics I’m sure everyone can relate to. The second track (a cover of a classic 70s ballad) is a bit more driving, but still has a bit of sadness behind the uptempo melody. All in all, an excellent obscurity to kick off your week!
Ahab- Party Girl 7”
1. Party Girl
2. Don’t Give Up On Us
*download it here* (RE-RIPPED 6.4.13)
April 18, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Hey – this single was the brainchild of Paul McLaughlin formerly of the Prats. He was based in Edinburgh and the label Chicken Jazz was owned by members of Another Pretty Face (and later the Waterboys in Mike Scott's case). There is a feature on it in Deadbeat no.2, a zine from Scotland. There is a blog dedicated to the zine with scans, type deadbeatzine in google and it'll take you to it.
June 17, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Thanks for the extra info, Laura!
June 21, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Thank you very much for this wonderful melancholic beauty and your precise description!
January 27, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Can’t thank you enough. Taped ‘Don’t give up on us’ from a John Peel show in 1981 and searched for it for ages but with no luck, until now!
June 10, 2013 at 1:42 pm
ha, excellent. I love this record!
October 16, 2013 at 6:46 pm
I shared a flat with Paul when he made this. I nagged him for ages to send it to Simon Bates who at the time, was trying to present himself as a cutting edge DJ and I thought the B side would be perfect for him. Unfortunately, Paul never agreed, so he didn’t send it in. Shame, I think the B side would have been a huge hit and still sounds great today. I heard the demo version of Party Girl too, which had a long, heavy metal guitar solo at the end instead of Gordon McEwans sax, so Paul sort of knew what he was doing!
August 1, 2014 at 12:50 am
Thanks all for the really good comments. Michael, I’d forgotten you were encouraging me to do that, I should have listened! 🙂
November 19, 2015 at 1:36 am
Nice to hear from you, Paul! Thanks for making a great single!
February 3, 2017 at 1:52 pm
Hi Paul, Happy New Millennium, yesterday I was loading a picture of you on the Deadbeatfanzine website, and today I spy this…what a small world, I must do FB one day…
November 19, 2015 at 4:13 pm
I just posted on FB “at least one other person on Earth has this 7 inch” I have put both these songs on numerous compilation tapes (and CDs) over the years. Found this at Zed Records in Long Beach in late 80’s. Thanks Paul, I’m a huge Postcard fan so that fact you’re from the same area just makes sense.
Any more recordings lurking about??
July 24, 2021 at 10:44 pm
I would be really greatful if anyone could upload Party Girl’s lyrics.