I’m not going to try and convince you that Turnip, the lead track on the debut 7-inch by Pittsburgh band, Hurl, is a great piece of music. You can hear the whole of the EP in the video and I think it’s arguable that the other two tracks, Clutch and 12 Foot Drop are both better songs. For Peel, the attraction of Turnip was its similarity to other bands, with him wondering aloud as to whether Codeine had been an influence. The vocal makes Stephen Immerwahr sound like Kurt Cobain and you may find your attention wandering before the band reach the end of the first or second lines, though Hurl have a neat trick of yo-yoing between somnambulant muttering, albeit backed by the beautiful arpeggio which roots the track, and urgent bursts of noise as they ponder the potential loss of a girl. It has its moments certainly, but I would probably have ignored it had Peel not mentioned that all the tracks on the Turnip 7-inch had been recorded on June 30 1992. So, while Hurl were recording Turnip, I was onstage at Pendennis Castle performing in The Comedy of Errors.
It always fascinates me to see what people were doing on dates which have particular significance for me. Being both a keen football fan and a performer, I can recall dates from the 1990s in particular with almost anally retentive accuracy. Part of that is down to the fact that I kept a daily journal from the beginning of 1995 up to mid 2002 - though I threw them out when I moved in with my wife; but it’s also because, during the 90s, I was involved in hobbies and interests which demanded attention to dates and times. Rehearsal dates, performance dates, cricket matches etc. It’s why whenever I read diaries of famous figures, I’m always excited to see what they were doing on dates that I have a clear memory of myself. Inevitably, the dates either coincided with:
1) A show.
2) An Ipswich Town match of some significance.
3) A romantic engagement.
To see/hear about the actions of others on important dates in my life helps me to see my story as one of billions that we all play out each day. I was 5 hours ahead of Hurl when they went into Sound Seven Studios on 30/6/92 in the small neighbourhood of Valencia, Pennsylvania. I have no idea which of their three tracks they would have been recording at the time that I was playing my scenes in The Comedy of Errors. They wouldn’t have known it, but the Won’t she walk away lines they recorded that day for Turnip would hold significance for my family 24 hours later when my father’s aunt died after a tortuous couple of years.
It is not a great song, but I will cherish it for providing evidence of a moment in my own life, where both of us tried on the same day to make a contribution to culture and art. The fact that I’m writing about them suggests that their effort was more successful than mine.
Video courtesy of caustic tune.
Lyrics are copyright of their authors.
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