there but for the grace of god,was it a uk release 1st or usa. only ask as they changed one of the lines in the song,got a uk 12 and a us 7 someone must have noticed this also

there but for the grace of god,was it a uk release 1st or usa. only ask as they changed one of the lines in the song,got a uk 12 and a us 7 someone must have noticed this also

I bought the UK 12" as a new release, didnt realise a change of lyric, havnt heard it for years, not even sure if I still have it

on uk release mentions the words black ,jew,and gay ,us release says where upper class people stay ,which is quite startling !!!.so i wondered if the lyric was changed for us market, hence uk release 1st

on uk release mentions the words black ,jew,and gay ,us release says where upper class people stay ,which is quite startling !!!.so i wondered if the lyric was changed for us market, hence uk release 1st

Is the US version you have a demo? I imagine it could have been Bowdlerised for radio play

Is the US version you have a demo? I imagine it could have been Bowdlerised for radio play

no its an issue but the lyric is changed

The original U.S. 12" (which I think came out first) had the "no blacks, no jews, no gays" line. There was a later version with the "where only upper class people stay" line was inserted. The album version also contains the original lyric.

The US 12" demo is an edited version I recall, maybe wrong

Always be a Rotherham sound for me.

Written by August Darnell - Kid Creole.

The US 12" demo is an edited version I recall, maybe wrong

Always be a Rotherham sound for me.

Written by August Darnell - Kid Creole.

yeah i knew it was the kid which made me think it was uk 1st , also didnt know it came out twice in us thankyou all for your info

yeah i knew it was the kid which made me think it was uk 1st , also didnt know it came out twice in us thankyou all for your info

Machine - There But For The Grace Of God , Go I

Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child

A lovely girl with a crooked smile

Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit

For a kid to grow up in

Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away

With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

Chorus:

There but for the grace of God go I

Poppy and the family left the dirty streets

To find a quiet place overseas

And year after year the kid has to hear

The do's the don'ts and the dears

And when she's ten years old she digs that rock 'n' roll

But Poppy bans it from home

Chorus

Baby, she turns out to be a natural freak

Popping pills and smoking weed

And when she's sweet sixteen she packs her things and leaves

With a man she met on the street

Carmen starts to bawl, bangs her head to the wall

Too much love is worse than none at all

Chorus

Both the original US ( PD 11457 / 33 1/3 RPM ) and UK ( PC 1146 / 45 RPM ) 12s had the infamous line " with no blacks , no jews , and no gays " line at the end of verse # 1. Due to complaints made to RCA in the US , August Darnell was pressured in to recutting the vocals with the line " where only upper class people stay " - or loose his recording contract with them ..........

The publicity photograph for Machine is below the sound clip from YouTube .......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUAp9QZHED0

Malc Burton

Edited December 5, 200816 yr by Malc Burton

I don't know who posted the photo on you tube but I think they've got their groups mixed up.

The photo looks like Kid Creole and the Cocoanuts ( another August Darnell group).

Machine is made up of Jay Stovall, Lonnie Ferguson, Melvin Lee, Kevin Nance

and Claire Janice Jackson Bathe (what a name!).

Somehow I don't think those tall blondes are named Jay, Lonnie, Melvin or Kevin.

Edited December 5, 200816 yr by the yank

Machine - There But For The Grace Of God , Go I

(snip)

Too much love is worse than none at all

Chorus

And then it loops back to the first verse, perhaps signifying how history repeats itself each generation?

(Bit deep for a Friday night eh )

Machine - There But For The Grace Of God , Go I

Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child

A lovely girl with a crooked smile

Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit

For a kid to grow up in

Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away

With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

Chorus:

There but for the grace of God go I

Poppy and the family left the dirty streets

To find a quiet place overseas

And year after year the kid has to hear

The do's the don'ts and the dears

And when she's ten years old she digs that rock 'n' roll

But Poppy bans it from home

Chorus

Baby, she turns out to be a natural freak

Popping pills and smoking weed

And when she's sweet sixteen she packs her things and leaves

With a man she met on the street

Carmen starts to bawl, bangs her head to the wall

Too much love is worse than none at all

Chorus

Both the original US ( PD 11457 / 33 1/3 RPM ) and UK ( PC 1146 / 45 RPM ) 12s had the infamous line " with no blacks , no jews , and no gays " line at the end of verse # 1. Due to complaints made to RCA in the US , August Darnell was pressured in to recutting the vocals with the line " where only upper class people stay " - or loose his recording contract with them ..........

The publicity photograph for Machine is below the sound clip from YouTube .......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUAp9QZHED0

Malc Burton

[/quote

mr burton many thanks ,not surprised rca thought the words a little troublesome

I don't know who posted the photo on you tube but I think they've got their groups mixed up.

The photo looks like Kid Creole and the Cocoanuts ( another August Darnell group).

Machine is made up of Jay Stovall, Lonnie Ferguson, Melvin Lee, Kevin Nance

and Claire Janice Jackson Bathe (what a name!).

Somehow I don't think those tall blondes are named Jay, Lonnie, Melvin or Kevin.

Unless you come from Thurnscoe in South Yorkshire that is ..........

The photograph is from one of the web sites containing information about Machine , not YouTube ........

Malc Burton

I don't know who posted the photo on you tube but I think they've got their groups mixed up.

The photo looks like Kid Creole and the Cocoanuts ( another August Darnell group).

Machine is made up of Jay Stovall, Lonnie Ferguson, Melvin Lee, Kevin Nance

and Claire Janice Jackson Bathe (what a name!).

Somehow I don't think those tall blondes are named Jay, Lonnie, Melvin or Kevin.

Who cares!! Hows about them Coconuts!

Well done Malc!!

UTT Steve

My UK 7" (demo) PB 1456 is a "cleaned up" version also

i had a 12" u.k unedited version on release, i can remember talking to a d.j about this at that time he told me it had been withdrawn dont know if its true

That's a late version of The Coconuts in the pic. Kid Creole released his own version Of there but for the grace of God and I ahve a live version by him on some NME cassette.

My UK 7" (demo) PB 1456 is a "cleaned up" version also

so the 12 uk and us both unedited then both 7s edited

That's a late version of The Coconuts in the pic. Kid Creole released his own version Of there but for the grace of God and I ahve a live version by him on some NME cassette.

It was on the B side of the Maladie D'Amour 12" ,(cleaned up version).

The NME tape is called "Dancing Master" NME 001, I'll have to dig mine out and have a listen.