Something that came to me recently was the vague memory that Lawrence was somehow involved with Shampoo, the duo famous for the song "Trouble".

Following up on this I discovered they started out on Bob Stanley's record label and their first single was co-written by our man:

"Blisters and Bruises"

Songwriter(s): Jacqueline Blake, Lawrence Hayward, Caroline Askew

The single had two b-side tracks, "Paydirt" and "I Love Little *****", which are also listed at that site but lack writing credits. Having listened it's not hard to imagine Lawrence had a hand in these too. All three songs are on YouTube.

(The forum seems to want to automatically censor the word p u s s y.)

There doesn't seem to be any mention of this collaboration anywhere here. Anyone know anything else about this?

-Robert

Hi Robert.
I already mentioned this in the Felt site (Related Discography)...also on Lawrence's wiki page btw. Being a free spirit, Lawrence always disliked collaborations and "get togethers", but it seems this time he made an exception.(maybe he was into one of the girls...who knows :) )

Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEUI4Q6sCLs

It sounds a lot like Go Kart Mozart
Excellent post Robert!!

RK

Ah ok now I see the mention. The record isn't listed in the discography which is what I was looking for.

Yeah all three tracks aren't far from the Denim/GKM sound.

In 1992, at a St Etienne concert at a club called SE1 in Victoria, I bumped into Lawrence. "Middle Of The Road" had just been released. He had two girls with him. These two later became Shampoo. Lawrence was the songwriter for the first two singles "Bouffant Headbutt" and "Blisters And Bruises" - under the name Discotheque USA - and he also named the band. The girls at the time were running the fan club magazine for Manic Street Preachers. I just remember talking to Lawrence whilst the two girls looked on disinterested.

From what I read, their Manics fanzine lead to them writing for the NME, which I'm guessing is how they connected with Bob Stanley... and from there to Lawrence.

Without wishing to get too prurient, I've often wondered if Lawrence was romantically involved with either of them.

They appear to have vanished off the face of the earth. Their surly and dismissive interviews were a hoot.