The Seaside (album)

The Seaside is the third demo album from English rock group Cardiacs. The album originally featured the second recording of what would become the band's only hit single, "Is This the Life?". It is the last of the band's releases to feature keyboard player/drummer/singer Mark Cawthra and the first to feature keyboard player William D. Drake (as well as being the only album to feature two other musicians who were briefly Cardiacs members - Graham Simmonds and Marguerite Johnson).

The Seaside
Original cassette cover
Demo album by
Cardiacs
Released1983[lower-alpha 1]
Recorded1980–1983
StudioCrow (London)
Length57:06
LabelAlphabet Business Concern
Producer
Cardiacs chronology
Toy World
(1981)		 The Seaside
(1983)		 Rude Bootleg
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Record Collector[8]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music[9]

The album is composed of material the band had written and performed between 1980 and 1983. Initially The Seaside was only produced on cassette (as with earlier Cardiacs album releases), and was only made available through the band's fan club and at concerts. It is notable for having been the first formal release on the band's own label, the Alphabet Business Concern, and a showcases a much cleaner, fuller sound than their previous cassette tapes. The cassette has three known versions - the first featuring a stamped sleeve, the second a black and white picture of bass player Jim Smith, and the third a coloured version.[10]

Several tracks on the cassette album were re-recorded for subsequent releases. "Is This the Life?", "A Little Man and a House" and "R.E.S." were all re-recorded and released five years later on Cardiacs' 1988 album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window. "Nurses Whispering Verses" was eventually re-recorded a decade later for the band's 1996 album Sing to God (albeit with different lyrics). Earlier recordings of "Nurses Whispering Verses" and "Is This the Life?" had previously appeared on the Toy World cassette.

The album captures the band in a transitional phase, with two distinct lineups of the band featured. Both featured Mark Cawthra (who moved between drums and keyboards during different recording sessions) and his voice is featured prominently on the album, occasionally sharing lead vocals with Tim Smith. Cawthra would leave the band amicably during the sessions for The Seaside in order to pursue his own projects.

Reissues
Cover art for the 1990 and 1995 reissues
Cover art for the 2015 reissue, based on the full-colour artwork for the album's second cassette release

The Seaside was reissued on CD in 1995, with "Nurses Whispering Verses", "Is This the Life?", "A Little Man and a House" and "Dinner Time" all removed from the track listing. The reason provided for these omissions was that the master tape containing those four songs had been damaged and the recordings lost. Despite that, November 2015 saw the release of The Seaside: Original Edition box set which reinstated, and remastered, all the original tracks.

Track listing

All tracks written and arranged by Tim Smith, except where noted.

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Jibber and Twitch" 4:48
2."Gina Lollabrigida" 3:13
3."Hello Mr. Sparrow"
  • T. Smith
  • Sarah Smith
4:33
4."It's a Lovely Day"
3:25
5."A Wooden Fish on Wheels" (*) 3:22
6."Nurses Whispering Verses" 6:03
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Is This the Life"5:03
2."A Little Man and a House"4:15
3."Hope Day"6:36
4."Dinner Time"4:35
5."Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog" (*)3:34
6."R.E.S."5:26
7."To Go Off and Things" (*)2:13
CD re-issue, 1995
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Jibber and Twitch" 4:35
2."Gina Lollabrigida" 3:11
3."Hello Mr. Sparrow"
  • T. Smith
  • S. Smith
4:33
4."It's a Lovely Day"
  • T. Smith
  • Cawthra
  • Mayers
  • S. Smith
3:25
5."A Wooden Fish on Wheels" (*) 3:22
6."Hope Day" 6:20
7."Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog" (*) 3:34
8."R.E.S." 5:26
9."To Go Off and Things" (*)
  • T. Smith
  • Cawthra
2:13

Personnel
  • Tim Smith – guitar, vocals
  • Jim Smith – bass, vocals
  • Sarah Smith – saxophone
  • Mark Cawthra – keyboards and vocals except *, drums on *
  • William D. Drake – keyboards
  • Graham Simmonds – guitar
  • Marguerite Johnston – alto saxophone
  • Tim Quy – marimba, percussion
  • Dominic Luckman – drums

Additional musicians

  • Lanze Lorrens – trumpet, backing vocals
  • Mike Peters – trumpet
  • Nick Pell – trumpet
  • Tim Hills – trombone
  • Wendy Collins – backing vocals

Technical

  • Produced by Tim Smith and Garah Simmonds
  • Engineered by Graham Simmonds

Seaside Treats
Seaside Treats
Video / EP by
Cardiacs
Released
  • 31 December 1984 (video)
  • 1985 (EP)
Length
  • 18:38 (video)
  • 22:38 (EP)
Label
  • Jettisoundz (video)
  • Alphabet Business Concern (EP and video re-releases)
Producer
  • Tim Smith
  • Graham Simmonds
Cardiacs video chronology
Seaside Treats
(1984)		 All That Glitters Is a Maresnest
(1992)

Seaside Treats is a video and extended play (EP) consisting of three and four songs from The Seaside respectively. The video could be found in the very small number of "Seaside bags" sold at concerts which also contained the EP, the Cardiacs Book, a poster, a badge and a stick of Cardiacs seaside rock. The VHS, featuring alternative comedy sketches by the band, was released on 31 December 1984,[11] and the 12-inch EP in 1985. A promo video for "A Little Man and a House" also appeared on the Jettisoundz compilation VHS Pirates of the Panasoniks.[12]

Track listing
Side one
  1. "A Little Man and a House" – 4:23
  2. "Hope Day" – 6:36
Side two
  1. "R.E.S." – 5:25
  2. "To Go Off and Things" – 2:14 (Smith, Cawthra)
Video
  1. "A Little Man and a House"
  2. "R.E.S."
  3. "To Go Off and Things"

Notes
  1. Some sources indicate a release year of 1983,[1][2][3] while others indicate 1984.[4][5][6]

References
  1. Phillips, Lance (2003). "The Cardiacs". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd ed.). London: Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-457-6.
  2. Ewing, Jerry (22 July 2020). "Cardiacs singer Tim Smith dead at 59". Prog. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  3. Benac, Eric (27 August 2021). The Cardiacs: Every Album, Every Song. On Track. Sonicbond Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-78952-131-3.
  4. Lawson, Dom (22 July 2020). "Kavus Torabi's Guide To Cardiacs". Prog. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  5. Lawson, Dom (2 March 2021). "Cardiacs' best albums - a buyers guide". Classic Rock. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  6. Sgrignoli, Marco (20 July 2022). "Cardiacs - biografia, recensioni, streaming, discografia, foto". Ondarock (in Italian). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  7. Larkin, Collin (2006). "Cardiacs". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Brown, Marion - Dilated Peoples. Muze. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4. Note: Search "Alphabet 1983" (with quotation marks).
  8. Hamnett, Alun. "Album Reviews" (PDF). Record Collector. p. 96.
  9. Larkin, Collin (1997) [1992]. "Cardiacs". The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music. London: Virgin Books. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-7535-0159-7. Note: Search "Alphabet 1983" (with quotation marks).
  10. "Discography". The Cardiacs. Archived from the original on 19 February 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  11. "Seaside Treats (1984)". Trakt. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  12. Pirates Of The Panasoniks (back cover). Various artists. Jettisoundz Video. 1985. JE 137.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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