M&E: The Newszine - Rise 1995 (May)

1 Wobble Jaggle Jiggle – “What?” (075)

2 Sons Of Selina – “Paradise Mile” (250)

3 Sabotage – “Maschinensturm” (282)

4 Wobble Jaggle Jiggle – “Fresh Today” (112)

5 Barra – “The Mini Album” (258)

The chart returned to a top 30 in May, following the publication of The Best Of Catty-Log at the beginning of the year, in acknowledgement of our ever growing catalogue and sales. Unfortunately, though included, the two big selling titles from Brighton's Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (above) would only be available till the Rise '95 issue was published, then to be deleted at the request of Robert Chambers (top right), sadly no longer with us, but never to be forgotten. It followed the remastering and vinyl release on Delerium of their classic cassette, "Overflowing Bowl Of Green Jelly", Robert deciding the two M&E tapes were no longer good enough. In spite of my pointing out they were our 2nd and 3rd overall best sellers at the time, both quite brilliant and that people loved them, I failed to persuade him to change his mind and reluctantly had to announce their deletion. Probably not unexpectedly, this caused a bit of a "grab 'em while you can" rush of sales, ultimately giving them the no.1 they so thoroughly deserved. With less than three years on the M&E catalogue, they ended up our 8th best selling band ever. One can only wonder how high they would have finished if they'd been there till the end...

M&E: The Newszine - Fall 1995 (September)

1 The Conspiracy – “Out Of The Blue” (300)

2 Cosmic Dance Society – “Our Gods And Users” (297)

3 Wobble Jaggle Jiggle – “Fresh Today” (112)

4 Elza – “Monsters Movie / World Of Elza” (248)

5 Sosumi – “I Have No Taste In Music” (301)

After three albums that hadn't stirred the vaguest interest from our supporters, The Conspiracy (left) finally hit the chart for the first time. And they hit it big, straight in at the top, outsold only by our all time 2nd biggest selling release, the legendary 180 minute compilation set that is "Life, The Underground And Everything" (MMATT 42). The Plymouth band, lead by Duncan Pope, are an abject lesson in what can be achieved by enthusiasm, hard work and dedication. Ultimately, the band became our biggest selling English band, and 4th overall. Not bad when you consider their first three M&E albums didn't sell a single copy!

THE MAGIC INTERVIEW: DUNCAN POPE & DAVE BELL

M&E Newszine Update - Winter 1996 (January)

1 Sons Of Selina – “Now Give Me Back My Cake” (321)

2 Into The Abyss – “The Feathered Snake” (317)

3 Alphane Moon – “The Echoing Grove” (287)

4 Scrooge – “Happy What Else” (315)

5 Stormclouds – “Christmas With Stormclouds” (331)

At the beginning of 1996, M&E's favourite Sons found themselves back on top of our charts again, this time with the blistering live album, "Now Give Me Back My Cake". Recorded at The Conwy Festival in Wales, this album captured the band's energy perfectly. The photo was taken at The White Hart, in my old home town of Frimley. I got them that gig. Neil Crud often waxes lyrical over that career-defining gig in interviews; "Forget the BBC Radio 1 live sessions with Mark Radcliffe," he says, "I don't know where Sons Of Selina would have been if Mick Magic hadn't got us a gig at that pub in Frimley." I feel honoured to have been such an integral part of the band's proud history.

Fascinating Facts # 281 -

"Christmas With Stormclouds" wasn't released until January 1996, it actually made the top 5 purely on advance sales.

M&E News - Rise 1996 Special Edition (May)

1 Steve Andrews – “Dive In Deep” (296)

2 Communication Union – “Where Land Meets Water” (249)

3 Holland/Skin/Tunnel – “Holland/Skin/Tunnel” (330)

4 Cosmic Dance Society – “Our Gods And Users” (297)

5 Invisible Universe – “Transient Age” (225)

Steve's music wasn't really in what we considered 'traditional M&E territory' at the time he first made contact, so I rather famously turned him down! It wasn't long before I realised my mistake and invited him to add "Dive In Deep" to our catalogue. There's something quite infectious about Steve's brand of light hearted happy-hippy folk music, and a year after it was first released on M&E, his debut album hit the top spot. The Bard Of Ely, as the Welshman prefers to be known, went on to be our biggest selling solo artiste, and no.2 overall. Trust me, there is only one Steve Andrews (above right), and we're very proud of the fact this eccentric and unique character was one of ours...

THE MAGIC INTERVIEW: STEVE ANDREWS

The M&E Newszine - November 1996

1 The Witches – “Welcome All To The Solstice Sabbath” (347)

2 Titania Moon – “Slipstream” (336)

3 T.M.R. (The Thamesmead Rollers) – “Ghosts” (337)

4 The Conspiracy – “The Grand Illusion” (335)

5 Steve Andrews – “From Venus With Love” (359)

The second album of this immensely popular band (left) followed their debut to no.1, keeping a 100% record, only this time going straight in at the top. No mean feat when you consider the multitude of competition. This was really the golden age of M&E. We'd picked up masses of publicity and a kind of 'sympathy vote' because of the awful legal battle we were going through at the time, the label had never been so popular, sales were at an all time high and we'd sold copies of a record 97 different titles over this chart period. We also, of course, finally had our first CD release available, my own band's "Creavolution" (MMATT CD1), which opened doors that would previously have been closed to us. It would have been great to hear The Witches on CD, one of my own great personal favourite as they were, but twas not to be. Following the tragic death of Aleksandra, the band never recorded again, and that 100% record would stand forever.

The M&E Newsletter - Rise 1997 (May)

1 Wild Rain – “Live At The Square” (377)

2 Titania Moon – “Fazes” (370)

3 The Witches – “Welcome All To The Solstice Sabbath” (347)

4 Operattack – “Early Works” (360)

5 Sanity Assassins – “Sanity Assassins” (356)

And sadly, the tragedies continue with the tale of Wild Rain (right). This was another band well outside of our traditional musical remit, but we'd taken chances with the likes of Steve Andrews and The Conspiracy, and it had helped raise some welcome funds to continue fighting the good fight. There was something about this guitar combo from Hertfordshire, all around the 16-17 mark at the time and full of hope and energy. I included their eponymously titled theme track on M&E Showcase 6 in May '96, which got enough positive feedback to get my agreement to a full album. What we got was a recording of a very enthusiastically received gig they played at The Square in Harlow. And whether the M&E faithful would go for it or not soon became an irrelevant question, as we were swamped with orders from their sizeable army of loyal fans, pushing the album straight in at the top spot. The tragedy comes from the story of talented frontman, Matt Scales, whose career certainly showed a lot of promise, only to be wickedly cut short by a complication of cystic fibrosis. He never made it out of his twenties, but is widely remembered thanks to the fund lovingly set up in his name...       THE MATT SCALES MUSIC FUND