A drunk, an atheist and a poet walk into a bar. They’re all the same guy, and there is no punchline. Welcome to Del Amitri!

And so begins the long overdue Popdose Guide to Del Amitri, written by David Eastman.

I’ve had a Del Amitri post brewing since a stray mention caught the attention of site regular Ann, who expressed her love of the band’s third album Change Everything in the comments.

It was Change Everything that initially caught my ear and sent me head-over-heels into a deep love affair with a band that has some of the most statistically dismal yet brilliant lyrics you’ll ever hear.

Frontman Justin Currie and his guitar wielding collaborator Iain Harvie crafted several albums that song for song, remain unmatched in my musical collection. And it didn’t stop with the albums….

As Eastman details in his Del Amitri guide, some of the very best Del Amitri songs were relegated to B-side status, or even worse, there are some that are flat-out unreleased.

Such is the case with my absolute favorite Del track that is much loved amongst the diehards, “Drowned on Dry Land.”

when the world is full of strangers
and your nights are dark and dangerous
there´s a place where you can hang, just let it go

when your eyes see only sorrow
and your life seems somehow borrowed
and those long promised tomorrows never show

well come on down we´re waiting for you
we´ve got a special evening planned
we´re gonna push the boat out or ya´
might get drowned on dry land

Del Amitri – “Drowned on Dry Land” (download)

We’ve all had those moments where it feels like all is lost, and your greatest friendships become even more valuable. Late night conversations that feel like they could stretch for days, carry you past that point of no return, onward to new beginnings, and an outlook that is freshly renewed.

A more obsessive DA diehard than me can probably fill you in on the detailed origins of the song. For me, I got the above version on a cassette in the early 90s, taken from the band’s appearance on Idiot’s Delight with Vin Scelsa.

They were promoting Twisted (album four for those of you keeping track,) and by this point, I was a raging madman for anything and everything Del Amitri.

In the young days of the internet, this was still a bit hard to come by, and when you found someone that was a fan of a semi-obscure band like Del Amitri, you had made a connection that seemed previously impossible.

In this case, a fellow Del Amitri fan named Mike G. and I did several postal trades for live and rare Del Amitri material.

Mike (and a select other few) hooked me up with prized cassette recordings of great Dels stuff, one of which was the Idiot’s Delight performance/interview.

Program host Vin Scelsa has become a favorite radio personality of mine, and I wish that I would have saved the entire cassette of the appearance, because Del Amitri interviews are a unique experience, as is Scelsa’s interviewing style. Combine the two, and it was one of the more interesting nights on Idiot’s Delight (and there have been a few of those!)

“Drowned on Dry Land” remains one of my favorite Del Amitri songs at the top of the list when you talk about songs in terms of “the ones that got away.”

For Del Amitri, “Drowned on Dry Land” was “the one” in their catalog. It was performed live frequently during this time period, often wedged in the middle of “Be My Downfall,” an improvisational slot that was also sometimes occupied with a cover of “Like A Virgin.”

Del Amitri – Be My Downfall/Drowned on Dry Land/Be My Downfall (download)

Here today, I’ve got the musical highlights of that Idiot’s Delight appearance. With access to one of the early stand-alone CD burners, I made a compilation of my favorite Del b-sides, and live performances, and I’ll share the bulk of it with you here. The quality is pretty good.

Also, from the same CD compilation, is (most of) Del Amitri’s 1995 Mountain Stage performance. The quality is a few generations down on the cassette, but still entertaining – particularly the version of “Always The Last To Know,” which is great!

Del Amitri on Vin Scelsa’s Idiot’s Delight
4/9/95 (I think)
broadcast on WXRK-FM/ New York

1. Food For Songs
2. Tell Her This
3. Driving With The Brakes On
4. Drowned on Dry Land (unreleased)

Live on Mountain Stage
12/17/95

5. One Thing Left To Do
6. Roll To Me
7. Roll On Babe
8. Always The Last To Know
9. Charlie’s Bar

The final track again comes from the Idiot’s Delight broadcast – a humorous commercial for Brother P-Touch done live by Vin Scelsa with lots of participation from the Dels!

10. Brother P-Touch Commercial (from Idiot’s Delight)

Relevant Links:

Del Amitri official website (Here’s to Alison for being just a LITTLE bit more of a fan, all of those years ago, and starting what would become (and still is) the official Del Amitri website.)

Talk lots and lots with other Del Amitri/Justin Currie fans at the Del Amitri Bulletin Board

Del Amitri – Lyrics to the B-Sides courtesy of The 5th Fret

Justin Currie on Myspace

The (nearly complete) Vin Scelsa Playlist Archive

Vin Scelsa’s Idiot’s Delight

Purchase Del Amitri’s Change Everything – CD or MP3

Purchase Hatful of Rain (Greatest Hits) – CD or MP3

Purchase the Del Amitri video collection

Purchase Lousy with Love (B-Sides) – CD

Purchase Twisted – CD or MP3

Purchase Waking Hours – CD or MP3

Purchase Justin Currie’s What Is Love For from Amazon – CD or MP3