The Seaside (album)

The Seaside
The Seaside
Demo album by Cardiacs
Released	1984
Recorded	1980–1983
Genre	Post-punk; ska punk; art punk; progressive rock; avant-punk;
Length	57:06
Label	Alphabet Business Concern
Producer	Tim Smith
Cardiacs chronology
Alternative cover
	Cover of the 2015 reissue, based on the full-colour artwork for the album's second cassette release.

The Seaside is the third demo album from English rock group Cardiacs. The album originally featured the second recording of what would become the band's only hit single, "Is This the Life?". It is the last of the band's releases to feature keyboard player/drummer/singer Mark Cawthra and the first to feature keyboard player William D. Drake (as well as being the only album to feature two other musicians who were briefly Cardiacs members - Graham Simmonds and Marguerite Johnson).

The album is composed of material the band had written and performed between 1980 and 1983. Initially The Seaside was only produced on cassette (as with earlier Cardiacs album releases), and was only made available through the band's fan club and at concerts. It is notable for having been the first formal release on the band's own label, the Alphabet Business Concern. Three editions of the cassette album were produced, each with a different cover - the first featuring a drawing of the “Little Man and a House” (as pictured above), the second a colour picture of bass player Jim Smith, and the third being a completely different picture in black-and-white. The three editions of the cassette album were released in 1983, 1984, and 1990, respectively. All versions are rare, with the 'Little Man and a House' cover being the rarest.

Several tracks on the cassette album were re-recorded for subsequent releases. "Is This the Life?", "A Little Man and a House" and "R.E.S." were all re-recorded and released five years later on Cardiacs' 1988 album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window. "Nurses Whispering Verses" was eventually re-recorded a decade later for the band's 1996 album Sing to God (albeit with different lyrics).

The album captures the band in a transitional phase, with two distinct lineups of the band featured. Both featured Mark Cawthra (who moved between drums and keyboards during different recording sessions) and his voice is featured prominently on the album, occasionally sharing lead vocals with Tim Smith. Cawthra would leave the band amicably during the sessions for The Seaside in order to pursue his own projects.

Reissues[]

The Seaside was reissued on CD in 1995, with "Nurses Whispering Verses", "Is This the Life?", "A Little Man and a House" and "Dinner Time" all removed from the track listing. The reason provided for these omissions was that the master tape containing those four songs had been damaged and the recordings lost.

Despite that, October 2015 saw the announcement of a further re-release, which reinstated, and remastered, all the original tracks.

Track listing[]

All songs written and arranged by Tim Smith unless otherwise indicated.

Side A
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Jibber and Twitch"		4:48
2.	"Gina Lollabrigida"		3:13
3.	"Hello Mr. Sparrow"	T. Smith, Sarah Smith	4:33
4.	"It's a Lovely Day"	T. Smith, S. Smith, Colvin Mayers, Mark Cawthra	3:25
5.	"A Wooden Fish on Wheels"	T. Smith, Cawthra	3:22
6.	"Nurses Whispering Verses"		6:03

Side B
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Is This the Life"		5:03
2.	"A Little Man and a House"		4:15
3.	"Hope Day"		6:36
4.	"Dinner Time"		4:35
5.	"Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog"	T. Smith, Cawthra	3:34
6.	"R.E.S."		5:26
7.	"To Go Off and Things"	T. Smith, Cawthra	2:13

CD re-issue, 1995
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Jibber and Twitch (Short intro)"		4:35
2.	"Gina Lollabrigida (Full ending)"		3:11
3.	"Hello Mr. Sparrow"	T. Smith, S. Smith	4:33
4.	"It's a Lovely Day"	T. Smith, S. Smith, Mayers, Cawthra	3:25
5.	"A Wooden Fish on Wheels"	T. Smith, Cawthra	3:22
6.	"Hope Day (Short intro)"		6:20
7.	"Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog"	T. Smith, Cawthra	3:34
8.	"R.E.S."		5:26
9.	"To Go Off and Things"	T. Smith, Cawthra	2:13

CD and Vinyl re-issue, 2015
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Jibber and Twitch"		4:48
2.	"Gina Lollabrigida"		3:13
3.	"Hello Mr. Sparrow"	T. Smith, S. Smith	4:30
4.	"It's a Lovely Day"	T. Smith, S. Smith, Mayers, Cawthra	3:25
5.	"A Wooden Fish on Wheels"	T. Smith, Cawthra	3:22
6.	"Nurses Whispering Verses"		6:05
7.	"Is This the Life?"		5:03
8.	"A Little Man and a House"		4:15
9.	"Hope Day"		6:36
10.	"Dinner Time"		4:35
11.	"Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog"	T. Smith, Cawthra	3:34
12.	"R.E.S."		5:26
13.	"To Go Off and Things"	T. Smith, Cawthra	2:13

Digital Bonus Tracks, 2015
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Jibber and Twitch (Short intro)"	4:35
15.	"Gina Lollabrigida (Full ending)"	3:11
16.	"Hope Day (Short intro)"	6:20

Personnel[]

Tim Smith - guitar, vocals
Jim Smith - bass, vocals
Graham Simmonds - guitar
Sarah Smith - saxophone
Marguerite Johnston - alto saxophone
Dominic Luckman - drums (except 5, 10, 12)
Mark Cawthra - keyboards and vocals (except 5, 10, 12); drums (5, 10 12)
William D. Drake - keyboards (tracks 5, 10, 12)
Tim Quy - marimba, percussion
Lanze Lorrens - trumpet, backing vocals
Mike Peters - trumpet
Nick Pell - trumpet
Tim Hills - trombone
Wendy Collins - backing vocals

External links[]

Official Cardiacs site