paul james berry

The Sisters of Mercy - first vinyl singles "7

In the early eighties I bought most of my independent records from Jumbo Records in Leeds. Jumbo was situated in a scruffy shopping centre called The Merrion at the top end of the city going out towards the university. In fact, the Merrion Centre housed a few music venues at the time:

Lé Phonographique, The Dortmunder Bier Keller and the trendy Tiffany’s.

Tiffany’s, was a a major mainstream nightclub from way back in the 60’s, but in my day, although still a major ‘discotheque’, it did host a few slightly bigger bands of the time. Apparently, even an up and coming U2 played there. Although personally I can only ever remember seeing New Order there and I think I used the place when they had a kids discos in the mid 70’s - very hip;)

Leeds is twinned with the German city of Dortmund. I believe they gave us a statue of a drayman carrying a beer barrel and we gave them a vandalised telephone box. The Dortmunder Bier Keller was at the back of the centre and I seem to remember the entrance was coming from the street rather than inside of the centre. I saw a lot of smallish touring indie bands at the Keller. Flesh For Lulu taught me a big lesson when I saw them playing in front of only a handful of punters. Basically, give your all regardless of how many people are in the hall. I once did a solo show in a back-room of a pub in Manchester on a rainy Sunday night. There was nobody there - nobody, NOT EVEN A DOG! Even the sound-man cleared-off for a pint before I started. However, I recalled the zealous of Flesh for Lulu and enjoyed my gig. Strangely, I recently supported Wasted Youth in Leeds and told Rocco (Rocco played guitar for WY before FFL) my story and the man heartily laughed!!

Lé Phonographique (The Phono to us philistines) - my favourite club - the notorious dirty, sticky-floored dive, down some steep steps to the bowels of a seedy club. Claustrophobic, hot, sweaty & loud. Pillars holding everything up, and graffiti and stickers decorating the backdrop of the times. What more do you want in your twenties?

This was mostly a club with a DJ, but they did do the occasional gig like at Tiffany’s, but this was proper messy venue for a newbie venturing the boards. If memory serves, there wasn’t a stage (I was usually already drunk when venturing to The Phono) and the bands had to make do with a corner of the dance floor. I know one the original DJs from The Phono, Mark, who's still flying around the world doing his thing and playing a lot of the tracks from the eighties. I guess a good vibe never dies!

Back to Jumbo Records. It was a small shop which, can’t have been more than three or four strides from door to counter. At the till a couple of dudes who played in a band called Salvation which I think were signed to The Sister’s, Merciful Release label. Maybe I was just smaller in those days, but I remember looking up to buy my records as though the staff were leering down at me. I was probably just shy.

I played guitar for The Rose of Avalanche and it was Jumbo where I first publicly ever heard our first single, LA Rain. I’d turned the corner approaching the shop, when the song started blasting out. I turned a crimson shade, darted for cover and lingered in a nearby shop entrance listening to the song. I still find it strange listening to my own stuff in clubs or even on the radio. I can’t define it, but there’s something surreal about the sound that I’m hearing, that I can’t quite associate with myself.

At the time of purchase, The Sisters of Mercy were just getting their teeth into the local scene. Not even sure why they chose Leeds as I don’t think any of the band actually came from there. Craig was probably the closest. I supported The Mission on a long tour across the UK and Germany with my old band in 1986 and again in the UK in 2022 and never thought to ask. But, whatever logic or chance brought them to my Dirty City, I for one will be always grateful. Brilliant sound, brilliant visuals and brilliant all round concept!!

The first time I saw The Sisters live was supporting The Gun Club at The Warehouse, circa 1982/3 (another brill club I could write about for hours) and after that probably every local show they did for a number of years…. I was a fan!

Remember the main charts were dominated by Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Blondie, but some northern challengers were gaining traction - Soft Cell, The Human League and a few more. However, the indie charts were a breed apart, and on reflection it does seem to be a, ‘keep them in their place’ scenario - while millions of pounds where pumped into the machine of the fat-cats……

Anyway, I digress!! I started to write this little piece because I wanted to sell some old vinyl & help finance my boat's engine, but I’ve found over the years that collectors like the provenance of the artefacts. So, as mentioned I bought all these singles over the counter at Jumbo’s and from day one I’ve had them in a plastic sleeve. The only one to be absolutely honest I couldn't swear to is Walk Away. It’s possible I nicked this from my ex-wife’s collection…… ;)

They are all (I think the term is) near mint. However, I had a tendency to write my first name, ‘Paul’ just under the sleeve. I could probably try to erase this if requested. Also, I notice on Temple of Love there is a slight mark on the vinyl, but it seems to play ok.

Enough of my War & Peace.

The Damage Done:

Label: Merciful Release – MR7

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single

Country: UK

Released: Nov 1980