The Real Tuesday Weld

The Real Tuesday Weld are a British band, founded by lead singer and producer Stephen Coates in 1999. They have released six albums, many singles, and EPs and many tracks on compilations. Their combination of big-band jazz era sounds with electronica and vintage-style animations has been influential on the current range of electro swing artists and DJs.[1]

This article is about the band founded by Stephen Coates. For the economist, see Stephen Coate.

The Real Tuesday Weld
Singer and producer Stephen Coates
Background information
OriginUnited Kingdom
GenresIndie pop, lounge, electro swing, dark cabaret, music hall, hauntology
Years active1999–present
LabelsAntiqueBeat Crammed Six Degrees Records
Websitewww.tuesdayweld.com
MembersStephen Coates
Jacques Van Rhijn
Clive Painter
Don Brosnan
Matt Snowden
Josephine Lloyd
Past membersDavid Guez
Brian Lee
Jed Woodhouse
Geraldine McEwan

The band is named after American film actress Tuesday Weld. Coates once had a dream involving Weld and 1930s vocalist Al Bowlly and cites it as inspiration for the band's particular style.

At present, the band is signed to Crammed (Europe, Australasia, South America) and Six Degrees Records (North America). They have previously released recordings with Antique Beat, Kindercore Records, Dreamy Records, Bambini Records, PIAS Recordings and Motorway Records. A German alt-country band by the name of Tuesday Weld that released an album called Starscene 98 on Glitterhouse Records is not related.

"The Clerkenwell Kid" is often cited as the band's producer / re-mixer but is an alter ego for Coates himself. The 2009 album, "The Clerkenwell Kid: Live at the End of the World" is an imaginary live recording of a concert on the "eve of the apocalypse." The Clerkenwell Kid is also the main character in a London-based mythology that Coates has developed around his love of the city's history and stories.

Their live shows are usually accompanied by visuals in the form of bespoke films and animations.

The band's album The Last Werewolf is a soundtrack to the novel of the same name (2012) by childhood friend Glen Duncan, reprising their joint work on Duncan's novel I, Lucifer (2004). In 2010 – 2011, Coates also co-wrote and produced an album Horseplay as "Lazarus and the Plane Crash," a collaboration with Joe Coles of UK cult garage rockers The Guillotines that was released on Antique Beat in 2012. Every year since 2003, the band have released a Christmas EP of songs and spoken word elements.

According to the band's website, for the last few years Coates has been working on scores for indie features, Russian music-related projects, and various arts events but is recording a set of albums for release in 2019.

Film scoring

The band have worked with many animators and filmmakers, particularly the Russian animator Alex Budovsky and the American animator George Fort on several international award-winning films. Their "Bathtime in Clerkenwell" cut (from the "I, Lucifer" album) appears as the soundtrack for Budovsky's innovative multi-award-winning short film of the same title.

Coates has written music for various independent features including Paul Cotter's Bomber and the US indies "Meeting Spencer" (2009), "The Suspect" (2013) and Meet Me in Montenegro (2014) as well as the French movie Encore heureux (2016) Directed by Benoit Graffin . He has also written for several documentaries and short films including US cult series 'The Midnight Archive', 'The Man Who Married Kittens' a biopic of anthropomorphic taxidermist Walter Potter, several 'Everyman' programs for BBC 2 and most recently for a series of documentaries made by Amnesty International about the Syrian conflict

The band have had many existing tracks used in films, television shows and commercials. Their song "I Love the Rain" was used in a commercial for Chevy in 2011. The 2013 Apple iPad commercial featured the piano instrumental "The Lupine Waltz' from The Last Werewolf album. The song "Last Words" (from the album "The London Book of the Dead") is cut throughout and plays over the final scenes of Sony pictures' 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by indie cult director Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas).

Other music

Coates has re-mixed several artists including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, David Byrne and The Puppini Sisters in their burlesque style re-make of "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé Knowles. They have collaborated widely with artists including Brazilian electronic chanteuse Cibelle, English nu-folk diva Mara Carlyle, Guillotines vocalist Joe Coles, Martyn Jacques, leader of The Tiger Lillies, Pinkie Maclure and Claudia Brücken of Propaganda and ACT.

In 2007, he was commissioned to write music for the Rothko room at the Tate Modern, London and the band re-scored the surrealist cult film Dreams That Money Can Buy for the British Film Institute.[2] Other commissioned arts projects include 'Propaganda from the State of Love' at London's Victoria and Albert museum for the 2008 'Cold War Modern' exhibition.

In 2010/2011, he was commissioned to write and produce the original songs for the Rockstar Games title L.A.Noire. The recordings feature the German singer Claudia Brücken of the band Propaganda.

X-Ray Audio

In 2014, Coates launched The X-Ray Audio Project an initiative to provide a resource of information about 'Roentgenizdat' Soviet bootleg recordings of forbidden music made on used X-Rays in the 1940s and 1950s.[3] The project archives visual images, information, audio recordings and interviews made during travels in Russia with photographer Paul Heartfield as the basis for a book 'X-Ray Audio: The Strange Story of Soviet Music on the Bone' published in November 2015 by Strange Attractor Press.

The pair have made a short documentary film of the same name with UK organisation The Vinyl Factory and the longer form 'Roentgenizdat' which was awarded the best documentary prize at the Russian Film Festival in London 2017.

They hold multimedia events where Coates tells the story of the Soviet bootleggers and they cut new X-Ray records from live performances as a demonstration of the process involved in the UK, US and Europe working with various musicians including Thurston Moore, Marc Almond and Barry Adamson. Coates delivered a talk on the project at Tedx in Krakow in June 2015.

The project has become a major touring exhibition showing in London, Birmingham, Belfast, Trieste, Moscow, St Petersburg and Tel Aviv. It is due to show in Tokyo in April 2019.

In March 2019, as The Bureau of Lost Culture, Coates and Heartfield cut audio by Massive Attack, Jonsi, Noam Chomsky amongst others onto X-ray for 'The Library of Dangerous Thoughts' project by the University of the Underground[4]

Broadcasting and other work

Outside music, Coates has written for various publications and radio and worked with various arts organisations. His label Antique Beat presents the monthly 'Salon for the City' in Westminster and curates various arts events including '32 Londoners' and London Month of the Dead' based around the city's history and mythology.

His involvement with and writing about the tomb of Hannah Courtoy in Brompton Cemetery has encouraged speculation that it contains a working time machine.[5] He has written for Londonist, The Quietus, Calvert Journal, GARAGE magazine, Collecteurs Magazine and other publications and has narrated voice overs for various animations.

In 2008, he wrote and presented a series of eight radio programs: "US and THEM: Sounds of Propaganda and the Cold War" on London Arts radio station Resonance 104.4fm. In 2012 he appeared on the Fiona Shaw directed arts project "Peace Camp" providing a vocal take on Nick Cave's lyrics to the song "Into my Arms" with A. L. Kennedy

In February 2015, he wrote and narrated an essay for the BBC Radio 3 series Just Juvenilia telling the story of his visit to the underground river Fleet in London, the time he lived in a Buddhist monastery and the circumstances surrounding the forming of The Real Tuesday Weld in the late 1990s.

In November 2015, his publishing company Antique Beat and Earth Recordings released "Film Music" a three album set of music by the Russian film composer Mikael Tariverdiev, a project Coates had been working since he first heard the composer's music in Moscow in 2011.[6] In November 2017 a follow up release was made of the complete soundtrack to the Soviet classic comedy of errors "The Irony of Fate", the score from the TV series 'Olga Sergeevna' was released in October 2017 and the OST for the 1970s Soviet blockbuster series '17 Moments of Spring' was released in November 2018.

In 2018, he wrote and presented a series of five radio programs on London Arts radio station Soho Radio on various subjects related to bootleg music and vinyl culture and currently presents The Bureau of Lost Culture, a monthly show about countercultural themes.

In 2019, he wrote and presented Bone Music, a documentary based around interviews carried out in Russia for an edition of BBC Radio 3's Between The Ears series. The program told the story of an underground culture of forbidden music in cold war era Soviet Union and featured the Russian band Mumiy Troll.[7]

Discography

Most of the band's albums have had multiple versions released in different territories. They have also issued several private releases including an 'Audio Christmas card' with exclusive tracks each year since 2001. This discography is not complete, though it does cover the major releases.

Albums
  • At The House of the Clerkenwell Kid, (2001, Bambini)
  • Where Psyche Meets Cupid, (2001, Kindercore Records)
  • When Cupid Meets Psyche, (2001, Dreamy Records)
  • I, Lucifer, (2002, PIAS Recordings; edited and released 2004, Six Degrees Records). Soundtrack/companion to the novel I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan. Glen Duncan is a childhood friend of Coates.
  • Les Aperitifs et Les Digestifs (2004, Dreamy Records). A live album that includes unreleased songs and covers.
  • The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid, (2005, Six Degrees Records)
  • Dreams That Money Can Buy, (2006, BFI). Alternative soundtrack to the 1948 surrealist cult film by Hans Richter
  • The London Book of the Dead, (2007, Six Degrees Records / Antique Beat)
  • At the End of the World, (2008, Six Degrees Records / Antique Beat). Limited live recording made by The Clerkenwell Kid 'on the eve of the apocalypse'
  • The Last Werewolf, (2011, Six Degrees Records / Crammed Discs). Soundtrack/companion to the novel The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan.
  • Horseplay as "Lazarus and the Plane Crash" with Joe Coles, (2013, Antique Beat)

EPs

Singles
  • "Trojan Horses" (1999, Dreamy Records )
  • "I Love The Rain" (7") (2001, Dreamy Records)
  • "Am I in Love?" (2001, Motorway Records)
  • "Still Terminally Ambivalent Over You", (2005, Play It Again Sam)
  • "Last Words", (2009, Antique Beat)
  • "Ruth, Roses and Revolvers", (2010, Tongue Master)

Compilation tracks: a selection
  • The Days of You & Me (Remix) on Kindercore 50 (2000, Kindercore Records)
  • I Like It That Way on Kindercore 50 (2000, Kindercore Records)
  • The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid on A Wish Upon a Star (2001, Dreamy Records)
  • I love the Rain (Stormy Weather Mix) on Little Darla Vol. 17 (2001, Little Darla)
  • At the House of the Clerkenwell Kid (Carousel Mix) on Carousel Vol3 (2002, Carousel)
  • Declan's Bad Days on Comes with a Smile Vol. 8 (2003, Comes with a Smile)
  • Declan's Little White Birds on Comes with a Smile Vol. 8 (2003, Comes with a Smile)
  • One More Chance on Little Darla Vol. 20 (2003, Little Darla)
  • Bathtime in Clerkenwell on Transmusicale 26 (2004, Transmusicale)
  • Bathtime in Clerkenwell on Luffkasellet 3 (2005, Music for Dreams)
  • Bathtime in Clerkenwell on Weeds Volume 2: Music from the Showtime Original Series (2006, Lions Gate Films)
  • The Ugly and the Beautiful on The Thrill of Collette (2005, N.O.I.S.E./Collette)
  • The Eternal Seduction of Eve on The Thrill of Collette (2005, N.O.I.S.E./Collette)
  • The Ugly and the Beautiful on Siddhartha (2005, GeorgeV Records)
  • The Day Before You Came on Backspin: A Six Degrees 10 Year Anniversary Project (2007, Six Degrees Records)
  • Yes, I Love You (Shrift Remix) on Eden (2007, Six Degrees Records)
  • Paris Blues (Duke Ellington Remix) on Cinematic (2007, Six Degrees Records)
  • Bringing the Body Back Home (Feat. Cibelle)) on Traveller 08 (2008, Six Degrees Records)
  • Kix on Buddha Bar X (2008, GeorgeV Records)
  • Last Words on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Soundtrack (2008, Atlantic Records)
  • Last Days on Songs for a Year (2009, Peppermill Recordings)
  • Cloud Cuckooland on Swing Style Volume 2 (2009, Lola's World)
  • The Sweetest Songs on Twisted Cabaret (2010, Volvox)
  • Little Boxes on Indie Lullabies (2010, American Laundromat Records)
  • Guilty, Torched Song, I Always Kill the Things I Love on L.A.Noire Soundtrack (2011, Verve)
  • Musique pour une Film Francaise on Smoked and Uncut (2012, Limewire)
  • Kix on Smoked and Uncut (2012, Limewire)
  • The English Alchemist on Smoked and Uncut (2012, Limewire)
  • The Eternal Seduction of Eve on A Magical Journey (2012, Klangmeister)
  • Song of December on Festivus (2012, Highline Records)
  • Musique pour une Film Francaise on Smoked and Uncut (2012, Limewire)
  • Last Tango in Clerkenwell on Electro-Swing V (2013, Wagram)
  • Theme for the Experimental Record Group on The Twilight Language of Nigel Kneale (2013)
  • Pony Swing on Electro-Swing VII (2014, Wagram)

Cover versions
  • Stand by Your Man original by Tammy Wynette
  • La Javanaise original by Serge Gainsbourg
  • Little Boxes original by Malvina Reynolds
  • Poker Face original by Lady Gaga
  • The Day Before You Came original by Abba

Remixes
  • After All for Bebel Gilberto (2005, Six Degrees Records)
  • Yes, I Love You for Shrift (2006, Six Degrees Records)
  • Paris Blues for Duke Ellington (2007, Six Degrees Records)
  • Asa Branca for David Byrne / Forro in the Dark (2007, Nublu)
  • Crazy in Love for The Puppini Sisters (2008, Universal / Verve)
  • Good Morning Blues for Count Basie (2008, Verve)
  • Makes Me Happy for Undersea Poem (2010, Six Degrees Records)
  • Step into Christmas for The Puppini Sisters (2010, Universal / Verve)
  • Strange is the man for Piers Faccini (2011, Six Degrees Records)
  • Stop Googlin' Me for Bart and Baker (2013, (Wagram)
  • Pony Swing for Dr Cat (2014, Green Queen, Music)
  • The Big Easy for Pete Thomas (2014, EMI)
  • Ugly Bones for Piney Gir (2015, Damaged Goods)
  • Work It for The Puppini Sisters (2016, Millionaire Records)
  • St Tropez for The Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society (2017, Six Degrees Records)
  • Joe Palooka for Heavy Sugar (2019, Freshly Squeezed)

References
  1. Interview Nicholas Raggenau Paris Djs, 16 August 2012.
  2. The Stuff of Dreams Imogen Tilden, The Guardian, 16 August 2006.
  3. Bone music: the Soviet bootleg records pressed on x-rays. Peter Paphides, The Guardian, 29 January 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  4. Blais-Billie, Braudie. "Massive Attack, Pussy Riot, More Pressing New Songs on X-Ray Film Records". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  5. Brompton Cemetery: The sealed mausoleum believed to be a fully-functioning time machine. Richard Jinman, The Independent, 12 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  6. Mikael Tariverdiev Film Music. John Garrat, Pop Matters, 16 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  7. "BBC Radio 3 - Between the Ears, Bone Music". BBC. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
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