Listening Too Long To One Song: Scars "All About You"

I haven't been obsessed with a song to the point where I simply had to write something about it for far too long. I usually have these impulses surrounding the dance party night that I take part in (Hungry Beat!) which occurred this past Saturday. However I haven't really been able to expound upon them as I have apparently been without any intelligent thought for the past month or so. Of course it's debatable if anything that I've ever typed around these parts could honestly be described as "intelligent" at all, but it's just so lovely to geek out about records you know?

On that note, I spent the greater part of my day yesterday listening to this song "All About You." I woke up far too early considering that we weren't finished cleaning the venue until 4 A.M. Of course I stayed in bed until the exact second that my need to put food in my stomach surpassed my desire to fall back asleep. I got up and made toast, and figured that I would go ahead and transcribe the playlist. When I saw the name Scars on the list, I immediately thought that I had to hear the song again at that moment, and listening to it over and over again yesterday while typing up the playlist was some of the most fun I've had in a long time. This may also have something to do with the fact that Brian played "Ceiling to the Floor" by Mighty Mighty, but he wrote it as Mighty to the second power, or Mighty squared depending upon how you look at it. I still can't figure out whether or not multiplying Mighty by Mighty would actually result in Mighty Mighty, but seeing that small 2 next to the word Mighty when I had completely forgotten that he wrote it that way made me laugh out loud.

Scars were on my radar long before I ever heard their music. I'm sure that I came across their name when I was searching the internet for any information to do with the bands most commonly associated with the "Sound of Young Scotland" label (Orange Juice, Josef K, etc.) I have no idea where I read it, but someone somewhere mentioned Scars, and how great and influential they were. I did a quick search for any vinyl that might have been for sale somewhere, found nothing, and kind of let the band's name reside in the back of my mind for awhile. Then about a month ago I purchased an iphone, began a seemingly endless revelry in the fact that I can now listen to lastfm while I am driving, and had this song played for me through a Josef K (one of my other current obsessions) station. I had such a strong reaction to this song when I first heard it, and since I was driving it took me a minute to look down to see what was playing. When I finally did look down I began to mentally kick myself for not persuing this band more fervently when I first read about them. Granted, when I read about Scars I was not expecting such a blast of exciting straightforward pop. It makes sense upon further research that this was their most recognizable single at the time, and it came about later on in their career when they were beginning to move into a more melodic direction with their sound. I was able to procure a copy of this 7" whose b-side Author! Author! has more of the arty post punk sound that I was expecting from this band though it still showcases a far poppier sound than any of the earlier singles that I've managed to hear. That side of Scars is genius as well, but there really is just nothing like that rush of pure pop that is "All About You." Both songs appeared on the band's only LP (also titled Author! Author!) which has been subsequently re-issued as a CD. It doesn't seem to be too widely available, but it's not extremely difficult to find, or terribly expensive either. A quick Google search should provide you with favorable results if that's something that interests you. In the meantime, I found a fantastic performance of "All About You" on a 1981 episode of The Old Grey Whistle Test. There are also plenty of videos up that feature earlier Scars tracks, and those are very well worth checking out while you are on the page. You can read more about Scars on their Wikipedia Page.