I encountered the Milltown Brothers in September 1991 when they were booked as the support on The Wonder Stuff’s “Never Going To Memphis” US tour. We all got on immediately and they were great company on that month long tour. I got on particularly well with their roadie, Spike, a joke cracking ball of energy from Leicester. It was his first time in the US of A and by this time I felt like a bit of a veteran, this being my third swing through America. It was great to see them all being as blown away by the country as we were.

The Milltown’s were a five piece featuring brothers Matt and Simon Nelson up front and, unusually for the time, heavily featuring Barney Williams and his Hammond Organ. That’s one of the things that drew me to them cos I bloody love a swirling Hammond. They wrote great, hook laden songs that reminded me of the Teardrop Explodes, 60’s psychedelia and had a hint of the Manchester Baggy thing going on in places.

Side 1 is superb. The first 4 songs, “Apple Green”, “Here I Stand”, the gorgeous ballad “Sally Ann” and their Top 40 single “Which Way Should I Jump” leave you breathless. Side 2 lets up on the pedal , but not much. “Seems To Me” is a banging, Hammond driven, air punching singalong and it all comes to an end with the gentler “Sandman” and “Real”.

I did a couple of gigs working for the Milltown’s in 1992 as, in the early part of that year, we got the tragic news that Spike had been killed in an accident on the autobahn while out on tour with another band in Germany. On 19th March 1992 The Wonder Stuff appeared billed only as “very special guests” (and there’s a whole other story around that gig) on a bill with the Milltown Brothers and Crazyhead at Leicester University to raise money for his family.

I have nothing but great memories of my time around the Milltown Brothers. This is a great record and I’m really happy to have it on vinyl at last. I gotta admit whenever I hear “Sally Ann” I always tear up a bit remembering singing along to it at side of stage with Spike. Sleep well my friend x

Sally Ann - https://youtu.be/1qdNN9T61A0?si=AToQyLVwInnn_C7c