Any Trouble was an underappreciated bright spot on Stiff Records, a label which had no shortage of talented artists. Bandleader Clive Gregson's appearance, hardened love songs, and vocal style may have led to comparisons to Elvis Costello, but they were no second-rate rip-off -- each of their four albums revealed a songwriter of unique talent and a more-than-capable band to execute the songs.
Manchester-native Gregson formed the original band in 1975 while attending teaching school in Crewe, taking the group's name from a misquote from the Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles. After a brief moment as a folky trio with singer Tom Jackson, by 1976 Any Trouble changed to a four-piece rock group, speeding up their repertoire in response to the punk movement -- by this point the lineup was Gregson (vocals/guitar), Chris Parks (guitar), Phil Barnes (bass), and Mel Harley (drums). They built a strong following playing the pub circuit and released their own single, catching the attention of Radio One's John Peel, who quickly took the band and played the song on his show. This exposure started a small-scale bidding war from several labels. By 1980, the group signed with Stiff Records.
John Wood , a renowned producer (Nick Drake, John Martyn, Richard Thompson) who had recently produced Squeeze, was hired to produce Any Trouble's first album. Where Are All the Nice Girls? which had all the makings of a new wave classic, was met with some rave reviews but failed to rack up the big sales that were expected of it. After the record failed commercially, Stiff suggested that Gregson drop the band and redefine himself as a solo artist a la Elvis Costello - Buddy Gregson. Gregson declined, deciding instead to replace the band's drummer Harley, with the more capable Martin Hughes . They began work on the follow-up immediately.
Wheels in Motion (1981), while certainly more accomplished, lacked the spark of the first album and the record simply didn't catch on in the U.K. Any Trouble took a stab at Stateside success with a small promotional tour. Halfway through the tour, the band heard by word-of-mouth that they had been dropped by Stiff and were left stranded in America. Eventually they found their way back, but the stress of the situation broke up the band temporarily -- for about 18 months.
Martin Hughes departed and was replaced by Andy Ebsworth and Steve Gurl was added on keyboards. Chris Parks left shortly thereafter. Essentially a new band, the four-piece recorded Any Trouble in 1983. Again, the same story -- should've been a hit, somehow overlooked. Gregson, knowing the band couldn't last much longer, talked EMI into letting them do a double album. As a parting shot, Gregson and company stretched out for Wrong End of the Race , a sprawling album that allowed them to show their diversity and influences over 25 tracks of new originals, remakes of earlier Any Trouble songs, and a few covers. In America, the album was distilled down to a single record. "Baby Now That I Found You" saw some airplay on MTV; the reviews were good, but the band's cult status didn't change.
In 1984, the band played their last gig and called it quits. Gregson went on to a distinguished, though still underappreciated, career both as a solo artist and as a collaborator with Christine Collister.
In 2007, following the re-release of several Any Trouble albums on CD, Clive Gregson, Chris Parks and Martin Hughes, plus Mark Griffiths on bass, re-formed to record a new album which was released on the re-born Stiff Records label on 10 September 2007. The album was titled Life in Reverse and featured thirteen new Gregson songs. It was produced by John Wood, and had unique artwork by the Stiff Records designer Tobbe Stuhre. The band played a reunion gig at the Jazz Cafe in London to celebrate the release.
www.anytrouble.co.uk
Nice Girls
Any Trouble Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Looking for love of different kind
All the girls you wanna love
They just run for cover
Your kind of love ain′t what they got in mind
Hey baby
I can't the pressure
You spend so long
Firing up my imagination
Then you run around with all you other men
Here′s to all the nice girls
Kiss 'em once or twice girls
Problem page advice girls
They never tell you lies girls
Oh where are all the real girls
They act the way they feel girls
If you can find me one
I'll find you another
Every time you touch ′em
They don′t scream for their mothers
Hey hey
I'm sick and tired of all the nice girls
You′ve got me running round endlessly in circles
You've got me screaming on the floor
One look at you and I can tell your pretty nice girls
Then you kick me out the door
Hey baby
I wish I had the strength of mind
To tell you what I would do
I′d wait until you thought you'd got the upper hand
Then I turn the tables on you
Here′s to all the nice girls
Kiss 'em once or twice girls
Problem page advice girls
They never tell you lies girls
Oh where are all the real girls
They act the way they feel girls
If you can find me one
I'll find you another
Every time you touch ′em
They don′t scream for their mothers
Hey hey
I'm sick and tired of all the nice girls
So sick and tired of all the nice girls
So sick and tired of all the nice girls
I′m sick and tired of all the nice girls
I'm sick and tired of all the nice girls
I′m sick and tired of all the nice girls
I'm sick and tired of all the nice girls
I′m sick and tired of all the nice girls
The song "Nice Girls" by Any Trouble, released in 1980, is a classic example of a song that seems upbeat and cheerful at first glance, but is actually full of subversive and cynical lyrics about the difficulties of finding true love.
In the first verse, the singer describes how he has been searching for love all over the world, but the girls he wants are always running away from him. They don't want his kind of love, which is implied to be shallow and insincere. The chorus goes on to offer a sarcastic tribute to "nice girls," who are apparently hard to find and always give good advice. The singer then repeats his frustration with the "nice girls" who seem pretty and approachable at first, but turn out to be just like all the rest - flighty and unreliable.
The second verse is even more scathing, as the singer suggests that he might be tempted to play mind games with the "nice girls" to get his revenge for all the times he has been let down and disappointed. The song ends with a series of repeated declarations of how sick and tired the singer is of the "nice girls" who have let him down.
Overall, the song can be read as a commentary on the shallow and insincere nature of modern relationships, and a lament for the difficulty of finding true love in a world that values superficial charm over genuine connection.
Line by Line Meaning
You could travel the whole world over
You've searched so hard for love, far and wide
Looking for love of different kind
You've sought out love in all different forms
All the girls you wanna love
You desire affection from many girls
They just run for cover
The girls avoid you and take refuge elsewhere
Your kind of love ain't what they got in mind
The kind of love you offer is not what they want
Hey baby
Addressing the listener
I can't the pressure
I can't handle the stress of your inconsistent behavior
When you let me down again
When you disappoint me with the same pattern of behavior
You spend so long
You invest a lot of time
Firing up my imagination
You ignite my creativity and dreams
Then you run around with all you other men
But you go off and be with other men
Here's to all the nice girls
Here's a tribute to the genuine, good-hearted girls
Kiss 'em once or twice girls
A playful suggestion to appreciate those girls
Problem page advice girls
Girls who give helpful advice in problem-solving
They never tell you lies girls
These girls are truthful and reliable
Oh where are all the real girls
Questioning the authenticity of the girls you've encountered
They act the way they feel girls
The real girls are honest and express their feelings
If you can find me one
Offering a challenge to find a genuine girl
I'll find you another
Promising to help find another girl for whoever finds the first
Every time you touch 'em
Whenever you become involved with these genuine girls
They don't scream for their mothers
They won't falsely act scared or helpless
So sick and tired of all the nice girls
Fed up with encountering girls who are not genuine or sincere
I'm sick and tired of all the nice girls
Continuation of frustration towards insincere girls
Writer(s): Clive James Gregson
Contributed by Keira T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
paul leach
brilliant takes me back to the island of jersey 1980 great times !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!