"A Bus for a Bus on the Bus" is the debut single by the English rock band Cardiacs, then known as Cardiac Arrest, released in 1979 under Tortch Records.
Until the release of The Special Garage Concerts Vol II, none of the tracks on the 7-inch single had been reproduced anywhere else. The single was supposed to contain four tracks and not three, but the limited space on the 7-inch format prevented it. The fourth track was to be "Keep Your Dead Mice with You", which was later re-recorded as "Dead Mouse" on the Toy World album. The single is one of the rarest Cardiacs items.
Background and recording In 1977, Tim Smith formed an early version of Cardiacs with his brother Jim called the Filth, who soon changed their name to Cardiac Arrest.
Music and lyrics The song's title recalls "A Pound for a Brown on the Bus" from the Mothers of Invention album Uncle Meat (1969).
Release Cardiac Arrest released "A Bus for a Bus on the Bus" as their debut single under Tortch Records. The 7-inch vinyl had 1000 copies made and was sold only at concerts. Few physical copies of the cassette-only recordings were pressed and the single has never been reproduced physically. According to Benac, possessing the Holy Grail of a single could be the ultimate trump card for some Cardiacs fans.
On 13 November 1979, "A Bus for a Bus on the Bus" was played by John Peel on BBC Radio One's John Peel Show. Note: username = "peel" and password = "group".
The band SlapPeR released a version of the song in aid of Tim Smith in January 2020.
Live performances
Cardiac Arrest E.P. has never been reissued, and thus is one of the rarest Cardiacs releases. None of the tracks have ever been reissued from the original master, although tracks have had live versions appearing on other albums.
All three tracks were performed live on the 2005 live album The Special Garage Concerts Vol II A performance of the single appeared on the 2017 DVD Some Fairytales From the Rotten Shed.
Track listing A1. "A Bus for a Bus on the Bus" (Tim Smith, Michael Pugh) – 4:33 B2. "A Cake for Bertie's Party" (T. Smith, Jim Smith, Colvin Mayers) – 3:10 B3. "Food on the Wall" (Mayers) – 1:08
Personnel According to Eric Benac: Philip Pilf (Tim Smith) – guitar, vocals Patty Pilf (Jim Smith) – bass Peter Boker (Michael Pugh) – vocals Duncan Doilet (Colvin Mayers) – keyboards Richard Targett (Peter Tagg) – drums Raphael Cadd (Ralph Cade) – saxophone, triangle Pete's Cardiacs Site credits synth to Tim Smith rather than vocals and credits Pugh as "Peter 'Zip' Boker" and Mayers as "Max Cat".
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