The Heartbreaks – Big in Japan

The rainfall in Morecambe embitters me
It fucks my hair and stings my cheeks
But you know that I am fond of you
And all the things we’re yet to do
           - Liar, My Dear – Joe Kondras (from “Funtimes” by The Heartbreaks)

The Winter Gardens in Morecambe was given a face lift at vast expense a few years ago, but inside it’s derelict. 

This sort of sums Morecambe up.  The Heroes of She had their first photo-shoot in the Winter Gardens – the decaying grandeur of the old music hall was the perfect back-drop for the glamour of the up and coming band.  Another band on the up and up is The Heartbreaks, who included their song “Winter Gardens” in their set at the Shangri-la in Osaka last night.  It was amusing to hear the Japanese crowd sing along enthusiastically without the least idea of the significance of the words.
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The Heartbreaks love Morecambe, as we all do, but they were ecstatic to be back in Japan for the second time, where they are building quite a following.  The lead singer is impossibly good-looking, with his mop-top looking every bit the young Beatle.  And I don’t think the Beatles in their early days in Hamburg or The Cavern will have got the crowd going quite as much as The Heartbreaks did at the Shangri-la.  When they played their latest single, “Delay, Delay” the young Japanese audience went wild. And they knew all the words.