The Mekons: Jon "Johnny Minor" Langford (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion); Brendan "Staff Nurse" Croker, Ken Des Essientes (vocals, guitar, bass); Tom "Brian" Greenhalgh (vocals, guitar); Eric "Rico Christian" Bellis (vocals, accordion); Sally "Hood" Timms (vocals); Dick "Sir Dickie" Taylor (guitar, piano); Susie "Dora Honeyperson" Honeyman (fiddle); John "Tahitian" Gill (melodeon, bass); Robert "Sigmund" Worby (organ); Steve "Buzz" Goulding (drums).
Recorded at Berry St. Studios, London, England in December 1987.
The Mekons: Brian Greenhalgh (vocals, guitar); Sally Hood (vocals); Sir Dickie (guitar, piano); Robert Sigmund Worby (organ); Tahitian Gill (melodeon, bass guitar); Staff Nurse Croker, Ken DesEssientes (bass guitar); Buzz Goulding (drums); Rico Christian, Johnny Minor, Dora Honeyperson.
Personnel: Johnny Minor (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion); Staff Nurse Croker, Ken DesEssientes (vocals, guitar); Rico Christian (vocals, accordion); Dora Honeyperson (fiddle); Robert Sigmund Worby (organ); Steve Goulding (drums).
Audio Mixers: Brian Pugsley; Steve Forward; Richard Preston; The Mekons.
Recording information: Berry St. Studios, London, England (12/1987).
Photographer: John Ingledew.
Only slightly less fabulous than its immediate predecessor, 1987's HONKY TONKIN', with SO GOOD IT HURTS the Mekons began to move away from the folk and country experiments which had dominated their music in the mid-'80s. While there's plenty of Susie Honeyman's old-fashioned fiddling and Sally Timms' cowgirl squeals on this record, the songs themselves combine elements of straight-up rock & roll, punk, reggae, and psychedelia, even going so far as to include a straightforward version of the Rolling Stones' "Heart of Stone," sung beautifully by Timms.
Rather like contemporaneous albums by The Fall, with whom the Mekons otherwise have little in common, SO GOOD IT HURTS is neatly balanced between rock and roll and the band's own quirkier muse. Their next album, the only slightly ironically-titled THE MEKONS ROCK'N'ROLL continues down the rockist path, but SO GOOD IT HURTS is a pivotal album in the band's long and productive career.
