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Simply Thrilled: The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records
They had just a few hundred pounds, one band missing a drummer, a sock drawer for an office, more dreams than sense and not a clue between them how to run a record company. But when Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins decided to start their own label from a shabby Glasgow flat in 1979, nobody was going to stand in their way.
Postcard Records was the mad, makeshift and quite preposterous result. Launching the careers of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and cult heroes Josef K, the self-styled 'Sound of Young Scotland' stuck it to the London music biz and, quite by accident, kickstarted the 1980s indie music revolution.
Simon Goddard has interviewed everyone involved in the making of the Postcard legend to tell this thrilling rock'n'roll story of punk audacity, knickerbocker glories, broken windscreens, raccoon-fur hats, comedy, violence and creating something beautiful from nothing, against all the odds.
Postcard Records was the mad, makeshift and quite preposterous result. Launching the careers of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and cult heroes Josef K, the self-styled 'Sound of Young Scotland' stuck it to the London music biz and, quite by accident, kickstarted the 1980s indie music revolution.
Simon Goddard has interviewed everyone involved in the making of the Postcard legend to tell this thrilling rock'n'roll story of punk audacity, knickerbocker glories, broken windscreens, raccoon-fur hats, comedy, violence and creating something beautiful from nothing, against all the odds.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 17, 2014
5 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Simon Goddard
29 books35 followersSimon Goddard was born in Cardiff in 1971.
He is the author of over a dozen books, most prominently the Bowie Odyssey series.
He is not religious and ought not be confused with anyone of the same name on Goodreads who has written religious stuff.
agent: thenorthlitagency.com
He is the author of over a dozen books, most prominently the Bowie Odyssey series.
He is not religious and ought not be confused with anyone of the same name on Goodreads who has written religious stuff.
agent: thenorthlitagency.com
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 9, 2014
Pure bliss was going to a record store in the early 80s and buying Orange Juice records. In fact, there was a record store in Santa Monica called Texas, that was the Orange Juice outlet. My first introduction to Orange Juice wasn't their music, but their photograph in one of the English weekly music papers - their clothes, their haircuts, and the song titles... it captured my imagination. And once I bought their first album, I was surprised how funky it was in that Scottish way. "Simply Thrilled," is a fun journey and read of the Postcard years - which was the independent label that basically dealt with the early years of Orange Juice. The main juice, Edywyn Collins, is a pop music genius. A great lyricist, and a wonderful croon of a voice. In many ways, he's my fashion role model to this very day. Alan Horne, may or may not be a genius, but he's a man of taste and somewhat a visionary figure. I like this book a lot. In fact, I like all of Simon Goddard's books.
May 11, 2014
Goddard’s account of Postcard’s brief but gloriously insane existence is suitably fast moving and enveloped in prose that isn’t just purple but strives to invent an entirely new, ultimate shade of that colour. It’s the story of how Alan Horne gloriously crashed his Motown fuelled fantasies with the ebullient assistance of the inimitable Edwyn Collins. It’s almost the textbook lesson in how not to run your own label, communication, organisation and finances rarely rising to the level of shambolic. But then, when the music they release is of the calibre of Josef K, Orange Juice, The Go-Betweens and Aztec Camera, perhaps it’s all worth it.
Goddard’s work seems based on first-hand accounts from all the major players, and as such makes gleeful play that there may be issues with strict accuracy. He even takes the famous line from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance of ‘when the legend becomes fact, print the legend’ as inspiration. Which, in true Postcard style, makes for better entertainment. What it means is that it captures how Horne’s madness takes him to the brink of success, though it’s not so good on internal motivations past his initial reasons for forming the label. That means that this is something of a shallow portrait which rarely pauses for breath or analysis, though it’s good on contrasting what made Postcard so different from the equally chaotic Factory Records.
I’m not quite sure as to whether Goddard’s prose is a stylistic decision or narrative stretching padding – his previous books have essentially been linked lists often typical of journalists looking to move into prose. Despite the relatively brief length of the book, it does become more and more wearing over the course of the book. Goddard does have a good grasp on his narrative though, centring it on Horne, finishing with Postcard’s demise and only leaving the later chart success of Orange Juice and Aztec Camera as an epilogue.
Not quite as glorious as the label’s ambition and the songs that resulted, but a serviceable starting point as to one of the indie’s finest examples of ambition exceeding reach. If you want the story in the true Postcard spirit, this is fine, but if you want the actual story head for Richard King’s How Soon Is Now.
Goddard’s work seems based on first-hand accounts from all the major players, and as such makes gleeful play that there may be issues with strict accuracy. He even takes the famous line from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance of ‘when the legend becomes fact, print the legend’ as inspiration. Which, in true Postcard style, makes for better entertainment. What it means is that it captures how Horne’s madness takes him to the brink of success, though it’s not so good on internal motivations past his initial reasons for forming the label. That means that this is something of a shallow portrait which rarely pauses for breath or analysis, though it’s good on contrasting what made Postcard so different from the equally chaotic Factory Records.
I’m not quite sure as to whether Goddard’s prose is a stylistic decision or narrative stretching padding – his previous books have essentially been linked lists often typical of journalists looking to move into prose. Despite the relatively brief length of the book, it does become more and more wearing over the course of the book. Goddard does have a good grasp on his narrative though, centring it on Horne, finishing with Postcard’s demise and only leaving the later chart success of Orange Juice and Aztec Camera as an epilogue.
Not quite as glorious as the label’s ambition and the songs that resulted, but a serviceable starting point as to one of the indie’s finest examples of ambition exceeding reach. If you want the story in the true Postcard spirit, this is fine, but if you want the actual story head for Richard King’s How Soon Is Now.
July 3, 2019
Echoing similiar reviews here, I've no idea why the author chose to filibuster such a simple story. The forced extended metaphors (the whole 'blazingly' passage), repeated awkward phrases ('fate's cruel ministers', around five times total) and purple prose (Horne's cat dream, or the entire foreword).
However, I was interested in hearing anything I'd not previously read about Postcard Records. I rescued a few tidbits - it's always nice to hear about the magnetism of the young Paul Haig, who remains, for most part, a mystery. I'd liked to have learned a little more of Paul Quinn's failed attempts at chart success.
From the get go, Goddard confesses that a lot of bluster and straight-up lies pepper the Postcard Records story, but it ultimately left me knowing little more than when I went in. I'm sure Alan Horne prefers it that way, though.
The impression that Horne would be smitten with how this turned out suggests his own contemporary ambitions were just as decidedly 6th form.
However, I was interested in hearing anything I'd not previously read about Postcard Records. I rescued a few tidbits - it's always nice to hear about the magnetism of the young Paul Haig, who remains, for most part, a mystery. I'd liked to have learned a little more of Paul Quinn's failed attempts at chart success.
From the get go, Goddard confesses that a lot of bluster and straight-up lies pepper the Postcard Records story, but it ultimately left me knowing little more than when I went in. I'm sure Alan Horne prefers it that way, though.
The impression that Horne would be smitten with how this turned out suggests his own contemporary ambitions were just as decidedly 6th form.
August 10, 2022
I read this in one sitting, less of a testament to it being un-putdownable in any way, rather the fact that it's short and completely insubstantial.
If the tall tales of Alan Horne - who, it has to be said, sounds like a complete pain in the arse - make the tome superficially entertaining, the lack of any actual detail makes it a pretty unsatisfactory read. Some of what's here is simply nonsense: Horne's condemnation of The Go-Betweens as weed smoking longhairs (in 1978 they were neither of these things!) is typical of where the author has simply regurgitated Postcard 'legend' rather than anything approaching reality, even though there's a footnote in which Robert Forster effectively says that Horne's account is cobblers!
If you happen to have fifteen quid burning a hole in your pocket then buy a second hand copy of Orange Juice's 'Ostrich Churchyard', or one of the Josef K retrospectives... whatever you do, don't waste it on this.
If the tall tales of Alan Horne - who, it has to be said, sounds like a complete pain in the arse - make the tome superficially entertaining, the lack of any actual detail makes it a pretty unsatisfactory read. Some of what's here is simply nonsense: Horne's condemnation of The Go-Betweens as weed smoking longhairs (in 1978 they were neither of these things!) is typical of where the author has simply regurgitated Postcard 'legend' rather than anything approaching reality, even though there's a footnote in which Robert Forster effectively says that Horne's account is cobblers!
If you happen to have fifteen quid burning a hole in your pocket then buy a second hand copy of Orange Juice's 'Ostrich Churchyard', or one of the Josef K retrospectives... whatever you do, don't waste it on this.
January 9, 2016
Simon Goddard is a fine writer with great taste in music, so naturally I was going to love this book about Postcard Records, a small 80's indie record label from Scotland that featured four of the finest bands that barely went anywhere: Orange Juice, Josef K, The Go-Betweens and Aztec Camera. Unfortunately, the information he accumulated was either scarce or withheld out of respect for those still living, which leads Goddard to parade his skillful literary licks and densely packed cultural references in your face with a sad urgency that made this book seem to lack the substantive information I was hoping for. Sometimes, when we are writing about past events, some flourishes of the pen are a welcomed tonic to a dry recitation of facts, but I found this book to be a little heavy on the fluffy wordplay and hip allusions to be a fully satisfying work of rock journalism. The story itself is short and some of the details have conflicting accounts, but sometimes we (seemingly) intelligent readers just need a clear telling of events, and not pointless omissions to generate an unnecessary mystery to be revealed a few paragraphs later. Luckily, my strong appetite for the information (or any information at all about these bands that I love!) pushed me through, although by the end I felt like I barely learned anything about the bands, but I did figure out that Simon needs to write more fiction to exorcise his literary demons that interfered with his journalism.
April 10, 2016
Just when you think you can't love Edwyn Collins any more, this book informs you he used to carry his kitten in his vintage checked shirt pocket and nearly had a side project called 'The Secret Goldfish.'
Book itself feels a bit brief. Just when it starts to lag, Edwyn n Alan go to meet Nico and all is redeemed. Made me want to put on a coonskin cap and swoon over 60s Gretsch guitars, so overall business as usual I guess.
Book itself feels a bit brief. Just when it starts to lag, Edwyn n Alan go to meet Nico and all is redeemed. Made me want to put on a coonskin cap and swoon over 60s Gretsch guitars, so overall business as usual I guess.
Read
April 8, 2014The sort of tumbling-over-self prose I can stomach on semi-pro music sites turns out to be considerably harder work at book length, but there are moments of hilarity and fascinating awfulness. "The legendary Alan Horne" really does sound like a nightmare.
January 11, 2016
We'll if I didn't love the music already this sixth form exercise in ' too cool for school' schtick would have put me off for life. Just about the dullest read ever. Only the discography gives it an extra star
July 28, 2018
I was given this book as a birthday gift and was really excited to get reading it. The book itself is a lovely object and a joy to pick up. Lovely thick paper and lots of white space. I was just a little bit too young to have been interested in Orange Juice during the postcard years but am a retrospective fan.
It was great to read about the early years and laugh at some of shambolic stories. They all seemed to be a bunch of chancers, especially Alan Horne, but with enough self belief to make things happen.
Simon Goddard's telling of the 'legend' (he freely admits that facts may have become blurred over the years in the Postcard story) gets a bit too attention-seeking for my liking. About half way through I had become tired of his flowery prose style (which reminded me a bit of Morrissey's autobiography in places). Everything is grandious and overblown. Much like Horne's attitude to postcard. Fur coat and no knickers.
After a long break I picked it up again, finished it, and was glad I did but really it felt like there was a lot of padding, and the explanation of that and the generous size of text and white space on the page was more to do with the story being eeked out to fill a book when really half the number of chapters would have done it.
All in all it wasn't a bad read but neither was it great.
It was great to read about the early years and laugh at some of shambolic stories. They all seemed to be a bunch of chancers, especially Alan Horne, but with enough self belief to make things happen.
Simon Goddard's telling of the 'legend' (he freely admits that facts may have become blurred over the years in the Postcard story) gets a bit too attention-seeking for my liking. About half way through I had become tired of his flowery prose style (which reminded me a bit of Morrissey's autobiography in places). Everything is grandious and overblown. Much like Horne's attitude to postcard. Fur coat and no knickers.
After a long break I picked it up again, finished it, and was glad I did but really it felt like there was a lot of padding, and the explanation of that and the generous size of text and white space on the page was more to do with the story being eeked out to fill a book when really half the number of chapters would have done it.
All in all it wasn't a bad read but neither was it great.
May 5, 2020
I bought this at the National Museum of Scotland in 2018 after walking through the very well-presented History of Scottish Pop exhibition. Obviously I enjoyed it because I loved every single bum note ever released by that short-lived label. It doesn't take itself any more seriously than Postcard itself did, which is mainly fine, but there's something about his writing style that occasionally jars, as if he's trying to write it in the style of a cocky early 1980s 21-year-old. Or maybe that just is his style. Kudos too for having the courage to write for a market that goes no further than: fans of early Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and Josef K.
March 3, 2021
The story of the archetypal indie label the Postcard Records had to be told. But telling it as a fable is a bizarre choice by Goddard. The style is confusing at best and really irritating at worst. The prologue almost forced me to put the book aside. Nevertheless, I continued reading and am glad that I did. The info on Postcard releases and related ones makes the book worth buying.
December 14, 2018
A very well written account of a special time in Scottish post-punk!
May 26, 2019
Same as many below...scant on fact, stuffed with purple prose...very disappointing...
September 2, 2020
I love it! Great subject matter and great writing.
July 14, 2021
Overwritten but that suits the subject. Good account of how two Glaswegian changers made their dream into a reality, for a little while.
May 19, 2014
I've probably never been as excited about a music book as I have been about this one. I've been obsessed with Orange Juice and Postcard Records for the best part of 16 years now (and am crazy enough to have the drumming kitten tattooed on my arm!) have, until now, had to piece together the "story" of The Sound of Young Scotland from various anecdotal stories in music magazines and in excerpts from other books. Apparently this book was written with the participation of all parties involved - including the notoriously prickly label svengali, Alan Horne. This, in itself, has proven to be something of a coup, given how reluctant Horne has been in the past to talk about the label. And what a story it is ... pluck, luck and a fair amount of craziness launched the career of Orange Juice, the briefly-burning Josef K and the never-as-good-as-those-first-two-Postcard-Singles Aztec Camera. Rather than taking a straightforward, Mojo magazine approach, Goddard's book attempts to reconcile the legends with the "truth", and when the two (often) conflict, he just prints both stories. The prose is a little flowerly in places, but the author has a nice turn of phrase, and there are many literal laugh out loud moments.
Quibbles? The first one is that the book is very short, and whilst concentrating only on the Postcard years seems perfectly reasonable, it would have been interesting to have a bit more of an afterword, or a "whatever happened to ..." section at the end. What DID become of Alan Horne? Where did the various members of Josef K end up? Is James Kirk really a podiatrist now, and if so, whereabouts in Scotland do I go for a set of orthotic insoles? Secondly, given how visual the whole Postcard aesthetic was, it's disappointing that there aren't more photos, other than a few (very good) band pictures. I'd go so far to say that this would have made a great coffee table book, featuring reproductions of all the fanzines, single sleeves and Dada-esque clip art and ephemera accumulated by Horne and Collins as the label developed, along with an illustrated discography.
Still, these are minor quibbles; this is a fantastic book about some fantastic bands and equally fascinating people. Highly recommended.
Quibbles? The first one is that the book is very short, and whilst concentrating only on the Postcard years seems perfectly reasonable, it would have been interesting to have a bit more of an afterword, or a "whatever happened to ..." section at the end. What DID become of Alan Horne? Where did the various members of Josef K end up? Is James Kirk really a podiatrist now, and if so, whereabouts in Scotland do I go for a set of orthotic insoles? Secondly, given how visual the whole Postcard aesthetic was, it's disappointing that there aren't more photos, other than a few (very good) band pictures. I'd go so far to say that this would have made a great coffee table book, featuring reproductions of all the fanzines, single sleeves and Dada-esque clip art and ephemera accumulated by Horne and Collins as the label developed, along with an illustrated discography.
Still, these are minor quibbles; this is a fantastic book about some fantastic bands and equally fascinating people. Highly recommended.
March 12, 2015
In the late 1970s a disparate group of young souls came together, bonded by their love of music. A record label was formed and the resulting releases defined 'the sound of young Scotland' for a few glorious months. Some individuals went on to greater success, others fell by the wayside but the influence of Postcard Records is widespread. This book tells the story of the creative talent and the man who brought it all together, Alan Horne.
Pinning my heart on my sleeve, this book was always going to appeal to me as I was an original fan of Postcard Records and, at age eighteen, I was beside myself when I managed to obtain a copy of 'Falling and Laughing' by Orange Juice, the debut release. Therefore I absolutely loved the stories about Glasgow and Edinburgh youth, recognising individuals and bands from the times but also the stereotypes of the people around the fringes. My only quibble with the book is the style of writing. It makes sense to write in an anecdotal, almost comedy-fiction style and Goddard does explain that this is because he got disparate versions of events from many protagonists. However I feel that at times it goes over the top with florid description. Nevertheless I was singing snatches of songs as they were mentioned as I went back to my 1980s indie-past.
Pinning my heart on my sleeve, this book was always going to appeal to me as I was an original fan of Postcard Records and, at age eighteen, I was beside myself when I managed to obtain a copy of 'Falling and Laughing' by Orange Juice, the debut release. Therefore I absolutely loved the stories about Glasgow and Edinburgh youth, recognising individuals and bands from the times but also the stereotypes of the people around the fringes. My only quibble with the book is the style of writing. It makes sense to write in an anecdotal, almost comedy-fiction style and Goddard does explain that this is because he got disparate versions of events from many protagonists. However I feel that at times it goes over the top with florid description. Nevertheless I was singing snatches of songs as they were mentioned as I went back to my 1980s indie-past.
October 1, 2016
Straying at times into purple prose territory, and full of maddening detours in narrative (Alan's supposed "cat day dream" is amongst the most tedious things I've ever read), the book nevertheless fills in the story of a oft-forgotten label that really was (and is) deserving of more attention. Alas, Goddard's sixth form writing exercise ("It's a comedy of manners! God I'm clever" is the ever present subtext) let's them down in the same way Geoff Travis supposedly did, telling the story in a way that's both shallow and over-researched (a feat few authors could manage) and making Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins out to be the most insufferable pair of idiots this side of the border. If you're a fan of Orange Juice or Josef K, it's sort-of worth sticking it out, but the sudden, guilliotine drop of an ending will leave no one satisfied. Dissapointing.
August 19, 2014
I was hoping for a bit more than this book delivered. Ultimately it was alright but just alright. The Postcard story deserves a much more thorough telling by someone who isn't so ready to worship at the alter of Alan Horne. At times it reads like an over-written press release.
Two points that really bothered me:
- Barely any clues that Postcard was relaunched in the early to mid 90's. Or any information on why they did it, and why it shut down again.
- Towards the end, when discussing the second post-Postcard Orange Juice line up, Zeke Manyika doesn't even get his last name used? What the hell is that?
Ultimately, I think this book falls victim to an all to common problem in book publishing these days: A sore lack of (or none at all) a good editor.
Two points that really bothered me:
- Barely any clues that Postcard was relaunched in the early to mid 90's. Or any information on why they did it, and why it shut down again.
- Towards the end, when discussing the second post-Postcard Orange Juice line up, Zeke Manyika doesn't even get his last name used? What the hell is that?
Ultimately, I think this book falls victim to an all to common problem in book publishing these days: A sore lack of (or none at all) a good editor.
July 30, 2014
one of the most enjoyable music books I've ever read - and I've read heaps - great story, wonderful characters, colourful often audacious writing - probably took a few liberties but who cares really - putting a spin on how some extraordinary music was made is fine by me and Goddard has the advantage of knowing some of the main players personally so maybe it's all true! .. only drawback - far too short and hardly any photos. Highly recommended.
March 14, 2015
Really well written by Simon with a little bit of artistic license with the facts. Like most books from this era the story is a little bit harsh about Geoff Travis. A great read.
March 5, 2015
It's like, how much more purple could this be? And the answer is none. None more purple.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews