A RTHUR Lee may have been the predominant influence on the young Michael Head, but, closer to home, Aztec Camera were also crucial. Like Head, Roddy Frame was another youthful prodigy mastering the art of song. “The Pale Fountains were lucky enough to play on the same bill as Orange Juice,” says Head. “We loved Postcard, so when they played in Liverpool at Plato’s Ballroom [August 31, 1981] it was a big deal for us. Through that we met Aztec Camera. Just watching them do their soundcheck was amazing. There’s a passage in the middle of ‘Just Like Gold’ where I’d never heard anything like it. I remember saying to someone, ‘Those chords are voodoo!’ They were like jazz chords, suspended and augmented. We went into the dressing room and got talking to them. I was still learning my craft as a player, but I was in awe of them, especially Roddy as a guitarist. He was completely proficient in rhythm and lead, he had the lot going on. He was more or less the same age as me. It was like, ‘What the fuck!’ Roddy was a big inspiration to the Paleys.”
“Voodoo chords”: Roddy Frame with Aztec Camera, London, 1982
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