PERSONAL COLUMN
Lost & Found 1981-1985
In 1984, it felt like Liverpool’s Personal Column were about to crack it. With three Peel sessions under their belt, airplay from Kid Jensen and Janice Long, and the kind of literate indie songs that stood apart from what most of their peers were doing. Despite the fact that on paper, it should have worked, in reality things just didn't work out.
Not because the music fell short, in fact far from it. Personal Column just never fit neatly in to any particular corner of the music world. Their music was too melodic for the post-punk crowd, not glossy enough for the New Romantics. And as a band they were too grounded to play the anarchist card. They looked like the people you might actually share a pint with, which wasn't too far from the truth given how much time was spent in pubs between gigs. The business side of things, by their own admission, went badly.
Not because the music fell short, in fact far from it. Personal Column just never fit neatly in to any particular corner of the music world. Their music was too melodic for the post-punk crowd, not glossy enough for the New Romantics. And as a band they were too grounded to play the anarchist card. They looked like the people you might actually share a pint with, which wasn't too far from the truth given how much time was spent in pubs between gigs. The business side of things, by their own admission, went badly.
What’s left is a box of tapes, memories of chaotic live shows, and now finally an album, Lost and Found 1981–1985. Listening to it today, it doesn’t sound like nostalgia. The songs hold up really well in today's world. Sharp, angry in places, but also strangely fresh. Forty years on, it could be a new band you’d stumble across on Bandcamp.
It’s a document, yes, but it is much, much more than that. The collection is a real reminder that good songs sometimes survive even when the moment doesn’t.
It’s a document, yes, but it is much, much more than that. The collection is a real reminder that good songs sometimes survive even when the moment doesn’t.