Consider this one a road map of sorts. Through a different time and not necessarily a comprehensive documenting of that terrain, but one that got Hydroplane part way to where they were going. As Andrew recalls below, these are songs that tell the story of their band as much as the music they made themselves, as soundtracks, inspirations, experiences and contemporaries. Which, i guess, makes it's their own Museum Station of sorts...
It’s the journey, not the destination. I can’t remember what we were listening to when we started Hydroplane. What sticks in my mind is Mike from Drive-in Records offering to release our first single – at the time the band was barely more than an idea. We’d just driven back from Detroit to Grand Rapids, Michigan through a snowstorm. Strangely snow was a constant. Feeling like he was going to freeze to death, Bart wrote the lyrics to our song Wurlitzer Jukebox after we’d been out with Keith from Wurlitzer Jukebox – who released our second single – to see Broadcast play in Birmingham. It was cold, but maybe not as cold as Scott’s ill-fated South Pole expedition which we also later wrote about. Like most artists, we’re a product of our environment, as much as our musical influences. I never tire of listening to the records on this list. It’s just a snapshot and won’t necessarily reveal our ‘sound’, but it is some of the artists that have inspired us. - Andrew Withycombe, 2023
Hydroplane - Selected Songs 1997-2003 is out now on limited edition dbl LP. Buy here.
Tracklist
1. Lighthouse Keepers – Springtime (Exploding Lighthouse Keepers 12" EP, Guthugga Pipeline Records, 1983)
2. Upside Down House – Maintenant (Mauve Xylophone 12" EP, Mauve Xylophone Records, 1982)
3. The Moles - This Is A Happy Garden (Tendrils and paracetamol 12" EP, Waterfront Records, 1991)
4. Kendra Smith - Stille im Meine Hamburg (Split 7" with Keith Levene and Hillel Slovak, Overzealous Editions 1990)
5. Beat Happening - Don't Mix The Colours (7" flexi-disc, K Records / 53rd & 3rd, 1988)
6. Hem - Be Completely Full Of...... (7", Fantastic Records, 1995)
7. Ninety Nine – Popemobile (self-titled CD, Endearing Records/Patsy Records, 1996)
8. Yolanda - With This Kiss (demo c.1960) (Joe Meek The Triumph Sessions: Work in Progress CD, RPM, 1994)
9. Marie and the Atom - Orange Towel Song (Yellow Read Aloud 12" EP, Flying Nun, 1983)
10. Windy & Carl - Away (Reprise) (Portal CD, Ba Da Bing!, 1995)
11. Harmonia – Sonnenschein (Music von Harmonia LP, Brain, 1974)
12. Suicide - Radiation - (Alan Vega Martin Rev: Suicide, Island Records, 1980)
13. Walker Brothers - I Can't Let It Happen To You (Images LP, Phillips, 1967)
14. Broadcast - We've Got Time (Accidentals 7", Wurlitzer Jukebox, 1996)
15. Snapper – Emmanual (Xpressway Pile=Up, V/A, Avalanche Records, 1990
16. The Mark of Cain - The Lords of Summer (7", Phantom Records, 1988)
17. The Saints - One Way Street (The Most Primitive Band In The World: Live From the Twilight Zone, Brisbane 1974 LP, Hot Records, 1995)
18. Joe Meek - I'm Waiting For Tomorrow (demo c.1960) (Joe Meek The Triumph Sessions: Work in Progress CD, RPM, 1994)