The Joys Of Spring

Mick Head's luckless, luminescent first band collated.

- By Johnnie Johnstone

Fame and fortune - who needs 'em? By conventional standards, it would be tempting to suggest Michael Head hasn't quite made it. After all, he's hardly a household name. At the same time, if being almost universally regarded as the elder statesman of British guitar pop qualifies as 'success', then Head has been very successful indeed. As for financial reward, well, he has probably eared - and blown - a few bob over the years too, not least the astonishing £150,000 contract advance from Virgin received by his first band, the Pale Fountains, in 1982.

Back then, these Forever Changes-obsessed inner-city Scouse lads threatened to pockmark the charts with hits. It never happened. Their inspirational brand of guitar pop should have seduced hordes of floppy-fringed admirers, but the young ones opted to shower their affections upon The Smiths, Aztec Camera and the Bunnymen instead while the 'Paleys' were somehow lumped in besides the likes of Joboxers. In their brief career, there were disappointments, some bad decisions and even a few surreal moments. Second single, Thank You - as John Earls explains in his superb sleeve notes - was earmarked for a surprise performance on