I first heard of of Lush when their album Spooky conquered the College Radio charts. I remember being impressed because that album sat at the top of the college chart for weeks! But there was so much great new music coming out around that time, I wasn’t even sure I’d heard any of their songs on the radio yet. It wasn’t until months later when a friend brought over the Spooky LP that I discovered I already DID like a song of theirs, the awesome For Love, which had been in rotation while that album was dominating the college airwaves.
About a half a year later, I started working nights at an Art Studio with this really cool guy named Steve, who became my alternative music guru. One night we were talking about musical groups we were fans of, and he asked me, “Do you like 4AD Groups?” I had to pause and think before asking, “Wha…what ‘s 4AD?”
He explained that 4AD was a music label, a pretty eclectic music label at that, and he was an absolute fan of the groups in the roster. He was especially appreciative of 4AD’s unique artistic covers, featuring moody dreamlike designs by Vaughan Oliver.
He then proceeded to run down the list of some of his favorite artists on the label, and there were a few that I actually DID like, such as Cocteau Twins, Clan Of Xymox, Pixies, and his favorite group at the time: LUSH!
I mentioned that I DID get to hear the album Spooky, and I did like that song of theirs “For Love”, but didn’t really know too much more about them. He asked if I’d ever seen how the group looked, in particular the lead singer, to which I answered a polite, “No.”.
He smiled and said, “O.K…I’m gonna make you a VHS tape of some of their videos.”
Well, Steve was true to his word, and the very next week, he gave me a videotape with maybe six or seven LUSH videos, and quite frankly, yes, I was blown away! The songs were just terrific, the group looked cool, and the two girl vocalist / guitarists, well…what can I say? They were just beautiful!
The VHS tape Steve made for me had a the PV for “For Love”, as well as a few other videos for songs I only vaguely remembered hearing from Spooky, “Superblast!”, and the ultra-gorgeous “Nothing Natural” vid. He also included earlier songs from the band that I just fell in love with as soon as I heard them, “Sweetness and Light”, and a beautiful video for what has become my favorite clip of Lush, the incredible “De-Luxe”. From that point on, I was hooked! The two LPs that were out, GALA and SPOOKY, became some of our most-played discs at that studio late at night!
When I started working at Tower Records, I met a couple of r MAJOR Lush fans…I remember these girls' lockers were covered with Lush pics, and they really widened my scope of the world of Miki and Emma! It was a wonderful time, because I made friends with these big fans just as Lush was set to release their NEW album, SPLIT! There was a LOT of excitement that year, I tell you!
Not only was there new LUSH music to listen to and learn, but there also was a whole slew of new Lush VIDEOS to get and love! Then the crowning present that year came when my friend Herb visited a Music store in Pennsylvania and bought me a COMPLETE Bootleg LUSH CONCERT! This was the famous Texas show, and I was simply blown away. To see them performing an entire concert was incredible, the quality was A+ perfect, and Oh My did Miki look just GORGEOUS! What a Gift!
It’s probably around this point that I morphed into a manic “must have it all” Lush fan, and I soon discovered there were TONS of Lush songs out there, tucked onto flip-sides, One-off compilations and EP bonus tracks, that needed to be acquired! Soon I was picking up different 4AD single variations, collections like “Alvin Lives in Leeds” and those terrific “Volume” series for collectible Lush stuff!
There were these three cool musicians I knew, who loved Lush as much as I did, and they invited me to play in a side-band project they had which did very Miki Berinyi-ish shoegazer music! I happily agreed, and for a while there, we were rockin some pretty nice tunes! We even did our version of “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend”! Ah, happy times!
In 1996, one of my dreams came true when LUSH announced they were coming to Hawaii to play in a little venue called “Nimitz Hall” to promote their brand new CD, LOVELIFE! Me and my friend Larry made our way down to that gig, and MAN, we were NOT disappointed. We got choice viewing positions on a balcony that looked right above the club stage, the scene couldn’t have been better if we were sitting front row!!!!
Miki and the gang started the show with “Heavenly Nobodies”, and I immediately started laughing, for this was their way of saying to the adoring crowd, “Don’t worship us-We may not live up to your standards!”
They ran through their catalog of hits, but the song that really knocked our socks off was their blistering performance of “Runaway”…the song was just POUNDING!, Miki and Emma’s soaring vocals never more spot-on! And of course I don’t have to say how great those two gals looked!
Miki had this habit of putting her guitar pick in her mouth whenever she changed guitars, and a lucky friend of mine managed to catch the pick when she flicked it into the audience. The next day, he showed it off, and I was in awe as I examined the pick – Miki’s pink lipstick was smudged into all the cracks of the “Fender” relief logo!!!
Sadly, as everyone knows, Chris would take his life a few weeks after this gig, and the wonderful group of LUSH would separate for good. When I think about it, I feel so blessed that I got to see them, because a few weeks difference and the concert I saw would never have happened. That makes me savor my memories even more. And even though the group is gone, I’m still collecting their stuff, only now instead of looking forward to the new releases, It’s acquiring those old/rare/unreleased/bootleg stuff still waiting to be discovered! Every time I acquire a new collectible or song (boy, ya shoulda been there when I finally got a copy of “Sweetie”!), it takes me back and reminds me what a fine group Lush was, and still is!
