Looking back is fun especially when it comes to music. There a few things more rewarding than a rummage through your record collection uncovering musical gems that you thought you had forgotten. Having listened recently to the Porch Song Anthology's "Song of the Earth" album again (we like it a lot), the urge overcame us to search through the Glasgow section of the Vinyl Vault to find something by the Telstar Ponies as the Porch Song Anthology turned out to be descendants of that very band. Aha! during one of their reformations in 2001, the Telstar Ponies released a single.
"Farewell, farewell" is positively jolly for a Telstar Ponies song. Starting with a strummed acoustic guitar, the song gets kicked into life with Rachel Devine's entrancing vocals enticing us further into the fun. Surprisingly conventional in a folk rock way, it develops a steam train like determination to reach the end of the tracks. Oh, and Mick Cooke's trumpet playing just exudes that feeling of loss that we all felt when the Telstar Ponies split up. This is probably one of their most accessible songs too.
"A Voice through a cloud" is similarly folksy but more in line with what we expect from the Telstar Ponies. Rachel Devine's vocals echo away at the end of a tunnel with little more than the tinkling ivories of Bill Wells to keep her company. That was the thing about the Telstar Ponies - they could go all folksy and arty and the resulting song would still be interesting and listenable.
So do the decent thing and give your ears a treat. A rummage through the second hand record shops or that EBay thingy should help you to track down a copy. Then you can play that interesting party game of guessing how many bands currently active in Glasgow were influenced by the Telstar Ponies.