Laptop’s ‘End Credits’, an almost forgotten 1990s synthpop earworm, is set for re-release thanks to an intervention from Vince Clarke and Neil Arthur
When New York producer Jesse Hartman (aka Laptop) released ‘End Credits’ at the tail end of 1997, he was championed by BBC Radio tastemakers John Peel and Steve Lamacq. UK and US chart success never quite happened, and the project faltered when his label Island Records dropped him in the wake of a corporate takeover.
The track, full of deadpan humour, is now seen as something of a lo-fi cult classic, and it’s about to get a new lease of life thanks to an unexpected cover version from Erasure’s Vince Clarke, Blancmange’s Neil Arthur and go-to electronic producer Benge. The trio formed supergroup covers band Doublespeak and they’ve included ‘End Credits’ on their self-titled debut album alongside songs by David Essex, The Carpenters and ABBA.
“I had no idea they were doing this,” says Hartman. “A friend of mine in London stumbled upon it and told me that they had covered my song. It was pretty shocking and really cool. This was the launchpad for me to start reinvestigating my old music.”
On 19 June, New York art-pop label Hurricane Cove will release the original ‘End Credits’ song, and in the style of 1990s CD singles it will come with a phalanx of different versions. There will be the original track, which Steve Lamacq made Single Of The Week in Melody Maker back in the day, plus an early-2000s remix by The High Llamas. There’s also an extended director’s cut which restores the single’s original voicemail sample, in which the song’s heartbroken protagonist leaves a plaintive message after being dumped.
“The original version was like, eight minutes long,” says Hartman. “I’m leaving a message at the end of the song to the girl I’ve been seeing. I’d forgotten we had cut out the answerphone sample before releasing the single – I’d blocked this version from my memory.”
There’s also a ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Phone Call’ version which reduces the track to a strobing folk oddity, with Hartman’s voice strung out and stripped of its double-tracking.
As a thanks for the Doublespeak cover, the EP also comes with two of Hartman’s own cover versions – Laptop’s take on Blancmange’s Top 10 hit ‘Living On The Ceiling’ and Erasure’s subversive romance anthem ‘Love To Hate You’. The latter in Hartman’s melancholic hands – complete with orchestral stabs and deadpan backing vocals – is quite the listen.
After more than two decades off the stage, Laptop will play a live show at central London’s The Betsey Trotwood on 25 June. He will be joined on stage by new wave singer Wreckless Eric – Hartman had covered his Stiff Records punk classic ‘Whole Wide World’ back in the late 1990s. The gig is sold out, but you can join the wait list here: https://dice.fm/event/l8dbpw-laptop-one-night-only-london-25th-jun-the-betsey-trotwood-london-tickets
Laptop’s ‘End Credits’ EP will be released on Hurricane Cove on 19 June
