Testimonial 21.

Where to begin? Well, it all started when I was somewhere between the ages of 7 and 9. My family lived in Kingston-Upon-Thames, and my friend’s mum drove us to school some days. I remember seeing this day-glow poster on some corrugated iron fence opposite St.John’s Church. It was in strange childish writing, and at the time I thought it read “Cardidas”.

Time warp ten years to the age of about 19. I had a few friends who were in to Cardiacs, was told how amazing they were, but still hadn’t heard any. I got hold of a video that had an excerpt of their live video (Big Ship from Maresnest). I was completely perplexed/fascinated by their strange dusty costumes and the apparent arrogance/madness of the lead singer. A while after this another friend called me and said ”…you have to come and see this band CARDIACS play at The Venue, New Cross. I saw them the other day and it was the best gig I’ve ever seen!”.

Along I went, knowing the track Big Ship but still unsure of what to expect. The band began to emerge on stage amongst all the smoke blown by these gigantic fans at the side of stage, and the most fantastic droning noise I have ever heard started to drive everyone nuts. I was surrounded by complete strangers from all walks of life (from “crusties” to “normals”) and they all had wonderful smiles on their faces. Then the whole place erupted and I was swept away by the music and the sweaty bodies!

On my way out of there I bought The Seaside, the only CD album they had on sale then. Completely different to the live stuff they were playing but I loved it. I sought out every album and gig after that… it’s so hard to describe, you’ve just got to hear them to understand. Going to see them play is often where your addiction starts! There’s nobody else who makes music that sustains my interest as much as Cardiacs. Every album is a wonderful surprise.

Marc (cardiacs.com webmaster and devotee)

Testimonial 22.

One day my musical friend visited me with some CD’s he’d lended from the library. Along with his usual classical and old-prog things was this CD of a band with four people on the cover wearing strange, office-like shirts and ties, and the front-guy looked to me like a dark-haired Kurt Cobain with funny glasses. It was Heaven Born and Ever Bright, the original CD cover, by Cardiacs. My friend was over-entheusiastic of this band, calling the music ‘funny prog’. I listened to some excerpts of it while he was mimmicking away on the music, and didn’t get the hang of it.

But later I found the same CD in the library, loaned it, and started to like it. And after just some weeks, Cardiacs started to re-release their entire backlog catalogue on CD. I was just compulsed to buy things. After just some more weeks I’d spent over 300 guilders and my Cardiacs catalogue was already complete. And I loved every scrap of it.

First time I saw them live, last year in Holland, my Cardiacs fanhood developed more into a mania, me loving the whole way they were acting on stage, pure mayhem… Have seen them live 6 times now, 4 times in holland (the only 4 times last year), and 2 times in England, where I travelled to last March. That was absolutely fabulous. Cardiacs probably won’t ever cease to amaze me…

Groet!

Joost Doesburg – Holland

Testimonial 23.

I first heard Cardiacs on a best of the year independant record labels compilation CD, Indie Top 20 – CD88 in funnily enough, 1988. The track was ‘Is This The Life’ which sounded somehow different to all the other songs on the CD in a way I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but at the time I didn’t try to find anything else by them. I had only recently discovered ‘Indie’ complilation albums and found that I could hear lots of good music by bands I’d never heard of.

I didn’t see their name mentioned again until 1993 when I saw they were playing a couple of miles away in a biggish venue with another band I knew nothing about, Levitation. I was interested to see Cardiacs play live for the first time as I remembered how good the 1988 song was. To be honest I can’t remember anything about Levitation, who came on first. But the second band …

The stage was all blacked out and these two men with very little hair stood at each side looking defiantly at the crowd. The one on the right hand side of the stage (who I later found out to be called ‘Jim’) had a very closely shaved head and was wearing these awkward old fashioned looking glasses that made him look quite old and nerdy. I heard a woman in the audience near me say ‘He looks like my dad !’.

The rest of the band came on, all dressed in a uniform that was a dark green shirt and long shorts, looking like something out of ‘Dads Army’. They then all stood at the front of the stage and sang their first song to the music on a backing tape as they weren’t holding their instruments. This song sounded like a triumphant majestic hymn and sounded awe inspiring !

Not what I had been expecting !

I can’t remember much about the rest of what they played other than to say I was in a state of shock after the first song and was blown away by the other songs as well.

I rushed out to get the album from their set, ‘Heaven Born And Ever Bright’ and was amazed !

I have been into their music ever since like I never thought I could feel about a band. I have been moved by their music in a way no other band has ever achieved to my ears. I now feel immensely proud to be a Cardiacs fan and follow their gigs round the country when they are on tour when I get the chance. The gigs are always manic and the band always act madly. I always end up grinning like a cheshire cat when I see them play and lots of songs on their albums leave me that way as well. I’ve met the band several times and they are the nicest most genuine group of band folk I have ever met. I can’t say anything more other than go out and buy their albums ! They are music’s biggest kept secret !

Steve

Testimonial 24.

Once upon a time, in late 1990 to be more exact, a certain Martin Stenson populated a party, where there was much rejoicing. A prequel to Circus Flabbergast, Deadmanshand (shut up!), was a ska-oriented band I played with at this time. Knowing this, Martin cunningly put a tape in the taperecorder and addressed me:
“Hey, Måns, check THIS out. This beats the shit out of the Selecter!”

What I heard intrigued me to a great extent indeed. I later learned that it was “A Wooden Fish On Wheels”, by, oh yes: CARDIACS.

About a year later, me and some friends attended the annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival. But during a John Scofield concert, I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy and ill. Much to my chagrin, I realized I had to take the boat home to Sweden alone, as I felt my fever-infested bones wobbling ominously under my shuddering body, but:
I wanted to buy a record, something to comfort me on my way home.

A gangly man named Petter, who were travelling with our party, offered to pick out an album, as I was to sick to do anything.
Suddenly “On land and in the sea” materialized in my hands, and off I dashed to the boat.

At home, alone, the fever rose to new heights. I was delirious. MAD, some would say.
I played the LP over and over and over and over again, and strangely enough I could FEEL life being fuelled into me from every note that hit my eardrums. I could no longer tell if I was awake, asleep or dead; it was all a gargantuan trip, verging on euphoria as the music penetrated the stale and musty shell of my pustulating spirit. This went on for days and days. A common dream was that I rocketed naked through outer space, watching the rise and fall of civilisations on passing planets from afar, salty tears whitening my face, triumphant CARDIACS-choruses ringing in my ears, ah!

It virtually saved my life that album, or so it seemed, or at least it nursed me back to health. It’s totally impossible to play now due to the vinyl being severely worn out. Since then, a day without listening to Cardiacs, is very rare. All Cardiacs albums are very special to me. The only song I can’t stand, (nay; like the least) is “Ocean Shipwreck”.

And then there is the first-encounter-with-Maresnestvideo-incident, the four-people-singing-in-praise-of-Cardiacs-in-a-church-window-incidents, the neverending-quest-of-trying-to-get-people-to-understand-cardiacs-incidents, etc etc. ‘Thank you.

the everso faithful

Måns Mernsten (Sweden)

Testimonial 25.

My first experience of Cardiacs came shortly after the untimely demise of The Smiths, who along with Iron Maiden were my combo of choice back in the mid-80s. In a desperate attempt to find something new and similarly life-affirming, I bought a good few records in the summer of 1987, many of which were by bands I’d never heard of previously. Cardiacs’ spazzy little faces peered at me from a deranged looking album sleeve in Our Price Records, Hemel Hempstead, and I felt compelled to investigate. They looked like a bunch of retards, covered in flour and apparently dribbling slightly,so I figured the music had to be good. It was fucking amazing. Every track was packed with unexpected treats, from the bombastic title tune through to the stinky-fingered “Plane Plane Against The Grain”. The “Big Ship” mini-LP became my favourite record and remained so until the eventual release of “A Little Man & A House & The Whole World Window” a year or so later. What astounded me was that this band weren’t massively popular – ah, the naivety of youth! – with their nonsensical lyrics and irresistible melodies. As soon as I saw the band live I knew that this was a band who transcended all the usual bandwagon bollocks, and who would inevitably mean more and more to me as time went on. They’d created their own little world and I immediately felt like I belonged to something really magical and unique. I did, I still do, and it’s sodding marvellous.

DOM
http://www.lamcat.demon.co.uk