The Mekons reinvented themselves (again) with the musical miscegenation of these ragged ribald rancorous reflections on romance. The band had been dropped from A&M Records after the label refused to release 'The Curse of the Mekons' and found themselves in a two-year hiatus while negotiating another deal with Warner Brothers that brought the band to the brink of collapse and without a recording contract. It was during this time that they recorded 'I ♥ Mekons' with Tom "Cat" Greenhalgh on vocals and guitar; Susie "Honeybaby" Honeyman on violin; Jon "Don Juan" Langford on guitar and vocals; John "Lovely" Langley on drums; Sarah "Casanova" Corina on bass; Sally "Bunny" Timms on vocals; John "Lovely Dubbly" Gill on melodica; and Rico Bell and Elie Hollingshead on backing vocals.
Langford reveals: "Once we got of A&M we thought it would be smooth sailing, but we didn't realize that the music industry...actually we did realize, but we didn't think we could fall into another trap so quickly. It was kind of an expectation trap, you know? Where we were being advised to hold out for this great deal and negotiate in this...Like Thatcher economics or Reaganomics. It was just this great big puffed-up bubble that burst, and nobody was better off at the end of it. We spent the best part of 14, 15 months thinking "this" is going to happen and nothing happened...We nearly split up, really. Then it was kind of like, like someone said last night. Steve Goulden, who used to be our drummer up unil we left A&M -- he left mainly because he was so disillusioned with the music industry. I was talking to him last night [and he said], 'You know we nearly split up?' [Then} he said, 'Why, you just couldn't be bothered to split up.' I said, 'Yeah, it's too much trouble.' It's kind of true. We were so in despair that we couldn't even be bothered to split up...It's a lot about buying people, you know. They want to buy you! The only language they understand is money. They don't understand or have any interest in music. They want to buy your magazine; they want to buy the Mekons. They think, 'Give them enough money, and we can have them.' It's kind of like this weird greed thing. And it is true. If they offer me enough money, they can have me. That's what we were holding out for. But the guy who was dangling the money didn't have it, and he was using us to try and procure the money. Which, again, is like, 'Where is the logic in that? Why on earth is he dangling the Mekons to somebody? Does he think he's going to attract a lot of money?' We've been doing it for 15 years, and we've never made any money. We make more money touring Europe selling t-shirts then we do...It's like...I don't know. It's kind of our revenge on the whole situation: We refuse to die. All logic and good sense would say we split up any number of times and just cease what we're doing what we're doing. But fortunately, there are some good people out there who occasionally dangle us a lifeline -- like Touch & Go. It's actually refreshing to speak with people directly, who actually mean what they say and act on it! Don't say to hings to me because you think I want to hear them -- which is the way the music industry runs. They'll tell you everything. They'll say they love your band when they haven't even heard you, you know? Our first conversation with Cory at Touch & Go was, "I don't really like the Mekons very much, as far as what I'm interested in, but I am interested in your situation." And then he listened to the album, ['I ♥ Mekons'], and decided he liked it, you know? ... It's about love. It's kindof like a cold brutal sort of record."
Greenhalgh recalls the frustration over the band's struggles with major record labels: "If we had any illusions left, they were thoroughly purged... It's just about being into music generally, listening a lot, to anything, and working out what relates to your own music and feeding it into the process...Anglo-Saxon culture has a deep phobia of anything that whiffs of intellectualism. We're probably inhibited by that, but also it should be possible to think about deep things without having to take yourself too seriously... It's about reclaiming (rediscovering) a tradition of radical dissent, about trying to know your own history... Things haven't always been the way we're led to believe... We are as concerned as anybody else about making money to live, but experience in the music biz has taught us these are ****/shark-infested waters. Loads of money would be great, but you don't get something for nothing...Er, we like doing it. It's interesting...We are certainly not your average rock 'n' roll band, this is true. My personal view of the Mekons is constantly shifting. It depends what's going on at the time. At best, it's about friendship."
Timms reflects on commercial success: "It wasn't something that I was concerned about, and I'd be an idiot to think that we could ever be a commercial success. So, no...I mean, you know, there were times when we've done better or worse, depending on the period. I don't think anyone's been unhappy about that. But the whole kind of ethos of the band was never to make money. Otherwise, we'd be doing something different. We would have definitely tried to be more commercial. It's not a commercial-sounding band at all. Especially not in today's market. But even then... It was OK. I mean, there were things that were frustrating. But there've always been things that were frustrating. A lot was made about that whole A&M thing. Our major-label experience was no different to anyone else's major-label experience. It's just that journalists like a story. And so that seems to be a convenient story that ran and ran and ran. Obviously, because we're so kind of hyperaware of our environment, there's no way we could find a major-label deal without it affecting what we did. And we kind of cannibalize ourselves, so that's going to come out in the music. And we had a lot of very stupid conversations with major-label and independent-label people over those years. But I don't know anyone who's been in a band any length of time who hasn't gone through that. You know? It really, truly wasn't any different. It's just that so much has been made of it. But we didn't get rich off it, obviously...Um, we're not pretentious, maybe. I don't know. Maybe some people would think it is pretentious. I'm not sure...How does that happen? Really it's not for me to say. I don't know how, I don't know it happens. It's for someone else to kind of work out in a way. I think one thing we do: We don't take ourselves out of the equation...I don't even feel it's pretentious. The songs I really like, if there wasn't an element of humor, they'd be so incredibly dark that you'd feel suicidal. So it's good that they come out that way. And I just think it goes back to that point I just made. It's an acceptance that we're as much part of this as anyone else. It's not like we've suddenly come to this great realization that we're better than anyone else. That's always kind of left in, that we're as ****ed up and loony as the rest of the world."
Marrying shimmering pop, furious punk, reggaefied trance beats, galloping grunge, and country music, 'I ♥ Mekons' was not the commercial breakthrough it could or should have been; but it remains a triumph of creative integrity, musical adventure, and humor. Give a listen and you too may find that you love the Mekons!
http://www.myspace.com/mekons/music/albums/i-mekons-18583948
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/the-mekons/album/i-love-mekons
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Mekons/I+Love+Mekons
http://www.mekons.de/love.htm
Millionaire
everybody's so in lovebut they don't touch or meet
eyes all stinging eyes all red
a bunch of flowers in the street
i love a millionaire
the champagne was never cheap
but i could pay someone to drink it for me
never rise up from these sheets
watching time just roll away
stretching out my bones
a million miles from home
lust corrodes my body
i've lost count of my lovers
but i can count my money
for ever and forever
dreaming of a creature who is too pale and large to stand
and only feels the terror of his vain flight from earth
Wicked Midnite
3 I Don't Know
http://www.myspace.com/mekons/music/songs/i-don-t-know-87980025
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Mekons/_/I+Don't+Know
4 Dear Sausage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfJBnvtJSYk
5 All I Want
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqbGqLsYYL0
6 Special
http://www.myspace.com/mekons/music/songs/special-87980028
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Mekons/I+Love+Mekons/Special
7 St. Valentine's Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdvYPCVE904
8 I Love Apple
http://www.myspace.com/mekons/music/songs/i-apple-87980030
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Mekons/I+Love+Mekons/I+Love+Apple
9 Love Letter
http://www.myspace.com/mekons/music/songs/love-letter-87980031
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Mekons/I+Love+Mekons/Love+Letter
10 Honeymoon in Hell
http://www.myspace.com/mekons/music/songs/honeymoon-in-hell-87980032
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Mekons/I+Love+Mekons/Honeymoon+in+Hell
11 Too Personal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKix3TLhVHg
12 Point of No Return
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg3-SdoOa_Q
'I ♥ Mekons' full album
Millionaire 4:36
Wicked Midnite 3:51
I Don't Know 4:20
Dear Sausage 3:47
All I Want 3:48
Special 2:30
St. Valentine's Day 4:58
I ♥ Apple 3:26
Love Letter 4:18
Honeymoon In Hell 5:33
Too Personal 5:54
Point Of No Return 3:00
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