Influences: Saint Etienne

Music

There are few British groups whom have transcended the charts, engaged with the underground and embodied the spirit of youth culture in the last thirty years succesfully. In the 1990's the indie dance music scene was in full swing, a niche crossover began to emerge as bands realised the potential in electronic music, however very few had the charisma, style and sense of understanding in order to be able to pull such a delicate balance off.

Saint Etienne represent the 'Home Counties', they are English in every sense of the word. A small town group who blossomed in an era of fluorescent lights and wilderness dancefloors. Their music remains as important to the legacy of pop as it does to distant ravers.

This month marked a surprise return as the group released a new album with Heavenly Records. ‘Home Counties’ is a tribute to the roots of the group and the people from the communities which made them what they are.

See their influences below:

Visit the Saint Etienne site HERE.

LISTEN

The Beach Boys - Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (1966)

They were voted ‘world’s best group’ in NME just after they recorded this. Imagine that. I remember playing it in the car driving around the fringes of Croydon at dusk in the mid eighties, and I scared myself stupid. – Bob

The Beach Boys - Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (1966)

They were voted ‘world’s best group’ in NME just after they recorded this. Imagine that. I remember playing it in the car driving around the fringes of Croydon at dusk in the mid eighties, and I scared myself stupid. – Bob
Jake Thackray - Last Will And Testament

I’ve always been fascinated by what defines “Englishness”, and how it has almost nothing to do with the Conservative Party notion of what it is, and what – presumably – they’re trying to conserve. Jake Thackeray is someone I’ve only discovered in recent years. His main influence is the French songwriter Georges Brassens, but he’s basically transferred his style to West Yorkshire. It also seems very English that this amazing songwriter was seen by a huge percentage of the public on terrible light entertainment TV shows, meaning almost no one took him seriously before he died. Jarvis Cocker is a fan, which makes sense. – Bob
Retrospective Punishment: Episode Ii - Leaders Of Men

Football is a good prism for Englishness, both in its “we invented it” superiority, and the genuine (but almost impossible to articulate) love people have for the game. It subverts the stiff upper lip, strong and stable shit – it leaves grown men crying. – Bob
3 Of A Kind (Three Of A Kind) - Baby Cakes

I love PC Music, they’ve made some of my favourite music of the last few years. Ultra catchy, minimal, synthetic, super-modern pop. It’s a shame they don’t have hits (not that it seems to bother them), but Babycakes feels like it predicted them and it got to number one. It blows my mind that 3 Of A Kind didn’t even bother releasing a follow up. – Bob
Elvis Live Interview 1956

Elvis was “the most controversial name in show business” in 1956. He bats off a line of insane questioning that even Jeremy Corbyn hasn’t had to face (“What about the rumour that you once shot your mother?”), and stays calm and looks amazing throughout. Best pop star ever. – Bob
World Of Twist - Sons Of The Stage

World of Twist on Snub TV. They were the most pop thing I’d encountered in the flesh, nobody else had stage design like that. We supported them on one of our first live appearances and in comparison looked like ‘two bored guests at a wedding reception’ – Pete
The Porpoise Song - The Monkees - Head

One of the sonic and visual highlights of their film Head, written by Carole King. Bob and I had read about Head and been desperate to see it for ages. I think it eventually got shown on Channel 4 one afternoon and exceeded our expectations of ‘far out-ness’ – Pete
Buffalo '66 Moonchild

Buffalo 66 – still one of my favourite films, this is a great surreal clip of Christina Ricci dancing to King Crimson’s Moonchild. Vincent Gallo’s uptight narcissistic antihero is genius. I read that the whole film occurs in memory allowing for a less linear structure and hyper-real scenes. – Pete
Marvin Gaye: The Final Years

Marvin was at a very low point in life and retreated to Ostend in Belgium for temporary restoration. He stayed with the family of a local popcorn DJ. And this is a very homemade looking, odd and intimate portrait of the great singer, with some eye watering live performances. And Marvin playing darts in a pub with Belgian sailors. – Pete
Cabaret Voltaire - Sluggin' Fer Jesus (1980)

This was one of the first electronic records I bought. It’s kind of a forerunner to acid house, I used to find it scary but addictive. Instruments and sounds hard to discern, the dialogue from a documentary about bible salesmen set adrift in a sinister soundworld. – Pete