SAS: As we put together the 2,000 copies of the Marbles 10″ – each one folded, stamped, numbered, assembled – we were feeling pretty good: The first time we had made something that we felt people were actually waiting for! And it was an exciting record.

Its small success focused all our minds on making the album, it was really going to happen – we started to look at potential studios. Townhouse 3, formerly Ramport, was a studio built by The Who to make Tommy. It was in the dark end of Battersea, we loved the place from the moment we entered.

At the time Rough Trade (the label) were not in great shape but Geoff offered to loan us the £15k to make the album. Although, ironically, we decided to sign with the newly formed This way up label because we liked Dave Bedford (though being funded by Polygram this was going to have far-reaching effects on our lives, but we were blind to this at the time).

We also needed a new house. I had found a ‘mansion’ behind Kilburn tube station in Loot. With 5 of us moving in we could afford the rent. Space for everyone and a big room for the studio.

By the end of the Spring we had moved in, our baby born and our first album – all 21 songs of it – recorded, mixed and finished. It was an uncompromising record. Ian Caple did a great job for us, taking on the demo ideas and pushing them to another level. The final night of the mixing, the album was edited into its order on the half inch tape. As we listened through there was a sense of awe and disbelief in the room. We had made this. All the success we needed existed right there in that moment.

I was sent to see Tim Young at the Hit Factory on Whitworth Street in Fitzrovia to master the album. I could tell he was impressed that the album was already compiled on half inch tape, though he did his best to conceal it. He listened once, then cut an acetate of the complete double album and sent me home to listen. It was satisfyingly heavy.

By the time of the albums release in October we had somehow been offered the support slot for the Bad Seeds’ European tour. Heady times. The album reviews came in but we didn’t need anyone to tell us how great our album was, we already knew.

DB: I remember the morning we set off for the Bad Seeds tour vividly. Dickon had arrived back from Mexico the day before. We’d hired a big van with airplane seats – Luxury after the sitting on amplifiers in the back of transit vans we were used to.
We loaded it with guitars and our suitcases, boxes of veggie spread – We’d heard rumours of the meat fest most truck stops we’d be eating at dished up.
We drove away from the new house, waving goodbye to Suzanne and Sidonie. The six of us and James. Even something as simple as a ferry crossing holds a magic moment in my memory those first couple of years. Piling into the restaurant: Beans and chips, a stroll around the deck before hitting the bar. Duty free and then back in the van.
Because of the special occasion, we treated ourselves from the petty cash. A carton of cigarettes each for the smokers and a bottle of Jameson’s for Dickon (The only non smoker).
By the time we reached Germany we’d drank the Jameson’s and probably smoked him like a kipper with our endless cigarettes.
I remember sitting in the front with James as we crossed over the Czech border. Keeping him awake, changing the cassettes.
The first show was amazing to us: the beautiful but decaying Lucena. 3000 people packed in (a little different to the Camden Falcon).

We had a day off the next day. Exploring Praha hungover and tired from the journey. I’d never seen anything like it. Caught between it’s repressed past and free present. Those who knew how to make a buck already taking over.

There were some long drives. Chasing the Bad Seeds overnight tour bus. I even tried climbing aboard after one show. Early starts and late nights. We flew in Dave ‘the boy racer’ Bedford for a really tight drive. His foot to the floor all the way. Throwing us around like he was in his VW Golf.

The last night of the tour, sitting in a conference style room, saying our goodbyes to the Bad Seeds. It had been great, we were treated so well. To watch them play every night and to be invited to play our songs to their audiences. It was such a wonderful experience.
It also had it’s side effects – We got stuck in their stage set up for a couple of years. Every lazy journalist made the connection. And it took a while for us to shake off the goths.