IQ with Paul Menel: a sumptuous rarity on Youtube.

[iguana]

posted by none other than gerard johnson (squire-/syn-/squackett-collaborator). ensuing discussion about the nomzamo/comfortably-years welcome!

[dgtlman]

Rare indeed. Very nice!

[ombasan]

I liked the Menel-years. Discovered the band when they were the opening act for Mike + the Mechanics in 1989 and immediately fell in love with the sound. I've been following them close up to Subterranea (which I thought was great) but not much ever since. For me they just got too predictable and samey. PL Menel to my ears is the better singer than Peter Nicholls.

[zeprogmeister]

Cool footage. Will have to watch the whole thing later. Dig those 80s hairstyles

[Orcopian]

Aw that was fantastic, thanks so much for posting. Real nostalgia fest for me , I was lucky Enough to see this line up twice and it brings back lots of memories. It's a great performance with what to me seems a good festival set, especially like the closing medley of the wake/ headlong/ last human gateway.

Interesting to see this was martins modern 80's keyboard rig, the first time I saw them he still had the cs80, mellotron and logan string synth. Forgot about mikes guitar synth you don't see them much nowadays. Nice closeup of tim'so bass pedal work at the end. And what about that hair!

[Paulrus]

Excellent footage, since most of the stuff from the Menel years is pretty crappy, multi-gen video (but how annoying for the audience to have someone with a camera bouncing around the stage like that).

But while I get that IQ (and the label, especially) thought Menel was the guy to help them reach a broader audience I've never been sold on him (pardon the pun.) From a purely technical standpoint I don't think he was any better than Nicholls, and in several ways was inferior IMO. And his stage act was pretty generic from everything I've seen. At least Nicholls inhabits the lyrics and is a much needed dramatic focal point for the band. But I give Menel credit for giving it everything he had as a front man, which is all anyone could have asked for.

Also, as a lyricist and on record Nicholls is the singer for IQ IMO. The Nomzamo-AYSC period was a game but futile attempt to ride some kind of wave behind bands like Simple Minds and Tears for Fears. Those records work for me most because of what the instrumentalists put down than anything Menel brought to the table. But as this video demonstrates the older material blows all that stuff out of the water. I mean, standing in that crowd while they're chewing through the Tales/Wake medley at the end people must have been going "Holy fuck, when did THIS band show up?"

Everyone notice the "Tull"-stenciled crate on the stage? This is in the description over on YT:

Saturday July 16th, 1988
"Out In The Green" 1988 -
Verein für Ballsport Waldstadion, Gießen, Germany
. Jethro Tull
. Foreigner
. Starship
. Ten Years After
. T'pau
. IQ
. Ron Wood & Bo Diddley
. Gunslingers
. TYA

So IQ had to slot in between Ron Wood and T'pau (who?). Must have been fun.

[arabicadabra]

Nine In A Pond Is Here was the name of a bootleg vinyl I bought of this lineup rehearsing back in their day - gotta pull it out and listen again.

[Orcopian]

Nine In A Pond Is Here was the name of a bootleg vinyl I bought of this lineup rehearsing back in their day - gotta pull it out and listen again.

yep I have that one, I think it was 3 sides of live music in rehearsal and the 4th side was some typical iq humour I think stomach of animal was one track on there.

Comparing Menel and Nichols is a bit pointless, everyone knows pete is the iq singer but for whatever reason he was out of the band and they needed someone through the commercial label period, paul did a good job and as said he couldn't really do any more, this is a great performance by him. I wonder if they had sucess at the time would they still be together now?

[moecurlythanu]

That reminds me...I have a PAL VHS of IQ Live in Bochum from 1987 *I think*. I got it in a trade at that time, but have basically forgotten about it. Never had it transferred, and have yet to see it. I need to take care of that. Out of sight out of mind is too easy a trap.

[moecurlythanu]

Everyone notice the "Tull"-stenciled crate on the stage? This is in the description over on YT:

Saturday July 16th, 1988
"Out In The Green" 1988 -
Verein für Ballsport Waldstadion, Gießen, Germany
. Jethro Tull
. Foreigner
. Starship
. Ten Years After
. T'pau
. IQ
. Ron Wood & Bo Diddley
. Gunslingers
. TYA

I have a concert program & poster of that gig, acquired in a trade from someone who attended. Iirc, the inflatable IQ cushion I have was given out at that gig, but I may not be remembering that right, and digging out the old correspondence ain't gonna happen.

T'pau (who?).

Well, despite the name from Star Trek, they weren't Sci-Fi at all. 80s female fronted pop band. They had one hit and it got a lot of run on Empty V, but I don't recall the title. Pretty incongruous on that bill, imo.

[moecurlythanu]

Nine In A Pond Is Here was the name of a bootleg vinyl I bought of this lineup rehearsing back in their day - gotta pull it out and listen again.

It wasn't a true bootleg, as it was put out by the band. They called it an Official Bootleg (presumably because of the Lo-Fi aspect,) and issued it to introduce Paul Menel to the fan base. The label was their own, and Super Tortured Artist Label is a reference to the recently departed Peter Nicholls.

[Progbear]

I need to watch this later, when I have more time. I’m a big fan of some of the tunes from that era (especially “Nostalgia/Falling Apart at the Seams” and “Wurensh”).

Well, despite the name from Star Trek, they weren't Sci-Fi at all. 80s female fronted pop band. They had one hit and it got a lot of run on Empty V, but I don't recall the title. Pretty incongruous on that bill, imo.

“Heart and Soul” was their hit. I can’t believe I remember that. When their hit was featured on Beavis & Butt-Head, I remember Butt-Head saying, “This chick’s name is T’puh!”

[SteveSly]

I still think "Nomzomo" is a great album.

[zeprogmeister]

I like it a lot as well.

Just watched the vid. High energy performance.

[iguana]

“Heart and Soul” was their hit. I can’t believe I remember that. When their hit was featured on Beavis & Butt-Head, I remember Butt-Head saying, “This chick’s name is T’puh!”

“china in your hand” was an even bigger hit… ‘87ish. their success fizzled not long after. but carol decker was a fantastic vocalist.

i watched this at least three times yesterday. menel on fire! and the ending medley of wake/widow’s peak/gateway is just the way how to sell (neo) prog to an afternoon festival crowd under rain.

[Garden Dreamer]

Amazing quality for an old VHS tape. Can't imagine anyone other than Pete fronting IQ but this is still the core of the band instrumentally and fun to watch as a historical event.