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Baker's Dozen

Composites For A Generation: James Fry's Baker's Dozen
John Quin , September 14th, 2022 08:10

From the hits of Hot Chocolate and the trashy joys of Sigue Sigue Sputnik to the 'death jazz' of Miles Davis and the angst of Portishead, James Fry takes us through his life in thirteen albums

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La Casa Azul – La Polinesia Meridional

This is pure pop music. I was in a hotel in Benidorm and went down to the bar. All of a sudden everyone – old and young – starts dancing to this track called ‘Colisión Inminente’, number six on the album. So I went up to the DJ and he told me the name of the track and the band and it blew me away. I then read later that the band are said to be the Spanish equivalent of Saint Etienne – and I love Saint Etienne, I’ve worked with them. Everything they’ve ever done. Bob has written the foreword to my book.

This track – it’s like going on holiday. You could put your suitcase on the bed and pour a bottle of prosecco over your head. Makes you want to put your swimming trunks on and have a piña colada. It’s just great pop music. It’s very much a Pre New record. We lifted heavily from it. Also it came at a time when The Pre New went through a phase. We were anti-Brexit, we thought it was a lousy idea, and so we wanted to call ourselves ‘El Pre Nou’ and become a Catalan pop band. And so be no longer associated with British pop. We changed all our colours to Barcelona colours. But I like the whole album. If it’s the last record I hear on planet earth I’ll be a happy man.’