1982 through to 1985 : Felt are a project, not a band. They don't do Saturday Superstore or Swap Shop or go through any of the myriad of hoops most bands, even the likes of The Smiths, do to acheive Stardom. Lawrence is the key focal point, a recluse, so at least the music magazines could write about something. Maurice Deebank contributed the classically inspired, very clean and impressive guitar lines.
1985 through to 1989 : Deebank departed. Circa 85/86, Felt topped the indie charts, although even a most impressive Liz Frazer from Cocteau Twins duet couldnt propel them to the charts proper. Lawrence took lead guitar duties, more or less, during this phase. Martin Duffy took a prominent role also, his keyboard/organ lines replacing the guitar lines of deebank. He proved an effective creative foil for Lawrence.
1990 through to 2006 : Lawrence launches Denim and Go Kart Mozart. Even at the height of britpop with Denim being touted alongside the likes of Pulp, failed to propel his magnificent music into the charts. Lawrence, ever the enigmatic recluse, never really commented on this state of affairs, and with Go Kart Mozart, confused even his staunchest of supporters.
A Common Misconception
With Felt, anything you may have heard is likely to be true. Original drummer Tony Race was fired because he had curly hair? Apparently it's true. Ten albums and ten singles in ten years? Nobody knows why this was important, but it happened, even to the point of Lawrence giving over the 'Train Above The City' LP to the groups drummer and keyboard player. He didn't participate, merely choosing the song titles. They got an LP out of it, though. Some fans love it, Martin Duffy wasting himself afterwards in Primal Scream. To finish, a quote from this excellent web site.
It was easy to imagine them as part of the Warhol factory scene, and certainly Lawrence was tragically and beautifully strange enough to have stood out amongst a crowd of Edie Sedgewicks, Gerard Malangas or Billy Names. It was also easy to picture him as a character in a Scott Fitzgerald story; he had that certain doomed existential prettiness that the twenties seemed to suggest. Twenties Lost Generation or Seventies Blank Generation. You could take your pick. In this respect, and others, Felt were like The Go-Betweens. Lawrence and Robert Forster shared an intense beauty that was awkward and sleek all at once. In different times they could both have been movie stars, enigmatic, dark and aloof. They were incredibly alluring, the types of people who inspire devotion and obsession for reasons largely beyond control or reason. If fate had been less fickle, then Lawrence and Forster would have been the peculiar star that Jarvis Cocker turned out to be.
So, A misconception? That Lawrence and Felt, aren't in fact as good as Pulp, The Smiths, The Go Betweens, The Velvet Underground, anybody. Felt are magnificence.
How To Buy
The three albums i've chosen to best represent the music of Lawrence includes two felt albums and one by Denim. One with Deebank, one with Duffy, one post Felt. That seems fair. Those wishing an easy entry into Felt could do far worse than to choose The Strange Idols Patterns which is full to the brim of magnificent pop songs. The 2nd LP i've chosen, somewhat controversially, is a twenty eight minute long instrumental LP. With no virtuoso playing anywhere to be seen. It's pure art in its highest form and the most definitive declaration of the original 'indie' ideals you'll ever likely hear. It's for fans of, oh, I don't know. Open minded people that love melodies to the exclusion of image, hype or fashion. It's timeless, wonderful music. It's Let The Snakes Crinkle Their Heads To Death. 'Back In Denim' is simply the best music Lawrence ever made, it's so happy and fun and moving. That it's never received a proper release, has been unavailable for fifteen years and only in 2006 received a limited, entirely non-promoted reissue, is a crying shame. Although, absolutely typical of Felt/Denim/Go Kart Mozart/Lawrence. You'll never read about this band, only perhaps, as a passing mention. They'll never get the kudos of a Smiths or even Go Betweens, another crinimally neglected group. Felt were Lawrence, one of the very few originals rock has ever produced.
Download Felt
A selection of Felt songs to download from the web, also forming a nifty 55 minute CD compilation.
1) Ballad Of The Band
2) Space Blues
3) Cathedral
4) Rain Of Crystal Spires
5) Wave Crashed On Rocks
6) My Darkest Light Will Shine
7) Primitive Painters
8) The Seventeenth Century
9) Apple Boutique
10) She Lives By The Castle
11) Stained Glass Windows In The Sky
12) The World Is As Soft As Lace
13) Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
14) Dismantled King Is Off The Throne
15) Crystal Ball
16) Train Above The City
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