808 State - Ancodia

Oh sweet love of a non-existent god. I'm ashamed not to have the vinyl. See my red face for not having the vinyl!



I told you folks I was going into some heavy dance music. Well...

Unique - What I Got Is What You Need 12" (1983)

This song drives me NUTS. I remember when 808 State sampled it in 1989-1990 for their song "Ancodia".

Here is another boring ass video but listen to the MUSIC:



Come on, hook me up Deejayzzzz! Take your soul sister to the BANK!

Native Tongue EP, 1981

Native Tongue - self-titled EP, 1981


I'm posting this for the lovely soul named Neal who asked me to post their early EP. Thank you, Neal.

This was a band from Boston, Massachusetts USA. I don't have anything to say about them that I haven't already said here. They sorta sound like Gang Of Four. I think the 4th song here is especially good - "Carving The Future From Soap". It's a bit different to what they tried to do on their album, etc. I dig it. I have an insert and back sleeve for this record, but too drunk to handle the patience it would take to scan these things right now.

I'm gonna go into some heavy dance music, soon. This is fair warning.

Ike & Tina Turner

My dad used to play this song. I don't even have any words for what this does to me, it's too intense. Ike & Tina Turner "Proud Mary". Creedence Clearwater Revival's cover of it can go suck it, I mean it. This is MUSIC. It never ever gets any better than this:

What? You tell me Creedence's Fogerty wrote this song? Aww, well the Turners shamed him.

Rick James - Glow

Rick James - Glow LP 1985
This album from 1985 has flipped my lid. Prince was never that good, okay? I'm going to have the VINYL SOON!!!!!!

Also if you like this kind of music I'm going to have an album by mid-80's UK indie band 400 Blows soon (let's hear it for A Certain Ratio style funk)!!!! Stay tuned!

Cathy La Creme & The Cro-Tones

Cathy La Creme & The Cro-Tones - I Married A Cult Figure From Salford 7", 1980

I almost hesitate to post this one before first attempting to introduce folks to John Cooper Clarke, because this is totally a piss-take record about JCC, and he even can be heard on the A-side. Unless you're familiar with John Cooper Clarke, or care about records produced by Martin Hannett, you probably aren't going to get the joke or see the value in this. I got this record because it was listed on the Martin Hannett website as possibly being produced by Hannett (or he might have even played on it). It's really not clear whether he did or not. The third photo you see here is the insert. It says "produced by Smudgeboy". There is a guy in the photo at the bottom that sortof looks like Hannett. Considering the time frame and the nature of this disc, there really isn't any reason to believe he wasn't involved. But who the hell knows?

In any case I seem to be petering out now with my Dining Out label options for this blog (though I may have a few more of those) and will probably turn my attention towards some more rare Martin Hannett related records like this one. I am very passionate about Martin Hannett. Joy Division records wouldn't sound like they do if it weren't for him. I love his production sound, though I do think he did some flawed things in his career. He was also a fantastic bassist and synthesizer musician and for those who don't know these things, he played in John Cooper Clarke's backing band for JCC's first three albums. I only thought of JCC as a spoken-word poetry artist for many years, not realizing that he actually had some fantastic musicians backing him on his first three albums. Here is an example called "Sleepwalk" from JCC's "Snap Crackle & Bop" album, 1980. That's Hannett on bass!

Passionate Friends 7", 1983

Passionate Friends - "Passionate Friends"/"Wake Up-Shake Up" 7", 1983

I want to thank the person who commented on my recent Passionate Friends post saying they were looking forward to another blog post about them. What better way to get this blog rolling again than to get a comment like that. Cheers, you kind soul!

I can't promise this blog will always stay on track. Sometimes I get really drunk and really passionate about music and the music in question may not even be post-punk (though The Dancing Did were). Last weekend was a good excuse to go nuts since my hard drive died. It felt right at the time and I'm not going to delete those posts. I meant every word of them. I'm pleased to report my computer is back and with more memory this time so I can get back to posting vinyl and hopefully I won't have any more trouble scanning LP sleeves. Anyway...

Yes, Scottish band. Passionate Friends. I believe this was their second and last 7", and the last official release of their career. I apologize for the vinyl quality of the b-side, but hey, if you're game to go fiddling with it in an audio program like Audacity and clean up the vinyl crackling, go ahead and send me the results. Unless I'm dealing with a pretty isolated vinyl pop or click I've never felt comfortable trying to clean up vinyl recordings. Besides, some folks just prefer to do it themselves, and I'd be depriving them of that. No joke. I once traded with a truly world-class collector of post-punk who felt that way. So either deal with the vinyl noise or clean it up and send me your betterment. Thanks.

The great news about this band is you don't have to hunt too far for info about them or to even hear their stuff. I believe their myspace page has three more songs up than were ever released, and they're even downloadable, though it takes a bit of work. Check it all out here.

Brass Construction PRIME DISCO

I know this is a boring video but I want you to tell me what in god's name do you want out of disco/funk that this song does not fulfill for you? Female backup singers!? Minor complaint!

The Dancing Did - "And Did Those Feet" (1982) reissue CD

OH MY FUCKING GAWD did you folks know that Cherry Red reissued their 1982 album called "And Did Those Feet" with fucking 12 bonus tracks!!!!!!!!! COUNT EM! *12 BONUS TRACKS*

OH MY GOD

You thought the Damned were good??? HOLY FUCKING HELL
Here is a link.

That is why am a fucking anglophile is the likes of this CD. Oh my god.

The Brits always do it best when it comes to music. NEVER FORGET IT.

And then at the end of these bonus trax there's one where they decide to scratch my disco itch. Oh my fucking christ. THE HIGSONS would run and hide in fear of this song called "The World's Gonna End In Cheltenham (b-side to 'Badger Boys')! These people were....OH my god. MUSIC! Glorious music! This is the fucking shit.

Don't the fucking Brits do it? Isn't always the BRITS WHO MAKE THE BEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD?????? Come ON! You know it's true!

I want every Sex Pistols fan to hear the Dancing Did's song called "Green Man" and then tell me what the hell else they want from music.

New Joy Division documentary

I did get the new Joy Division documentary DVD in the mail. I'm going to watch it very soon, here. Get my butt off the internet for awhile for god's sake!

If I could just stop playing that Rick James song and the this one by the Mary Jane Girls which I can't stop playing either called "Candy Man". I love the goddamn synthesizer riff!!!



I promise I will go back to posting obscure post punk when I get my computer back.

Update

My hard drive crashed this morning. Sigh. They said I will be able to save all my music files but the downside is I don't get my computer back from the shop until probably Monday or Tuesday. Sigh, I've been reduced to a big, clunky Windows 95 computer with dialup folks! Help! I'm not in a position to rip records right now, even though I have some new ones I wanna rip. This is a painful process, but I'll live. I have my iPod, at least. And a boombox. *weeps* But I miss blogging already! :(

Anyway, the honest truth is, too...that I've moved away from post-punk entirely lately in my listening habits and immersed myself once more in late 70's through mid-late 80's R&B/Funk/Disco and I don't even feel comfortable blogging about that stuff cause I fear alienating whatever audience I might have on this blog.

But since I can't even comfortably post any music right now, what the hell? I'll confess I have FLIPPED OUT over this song by Rick James called "Glow". I have played this song about 32 times today, I'm serious. It's from 1985 I think (of course, my fave year). I am DYING to have this fucking album but I can't find it anywhere. I'll have to order it online. I don't even think it's available on CD. For chrissakes. Here's a you tube link for the song (apparently you're not allowed to embed this in your blog for some reason):
Rick James - Glow

Also I have a K-Tel LP (that's an old vinyl record to you kids) of disco music from 1976 called "Dance Machine". You would not believe the classic disco songs on that mother fucker and there are a LOT of songs on it. The Hustle...Fly Robin Fly...Walking In Rhythm...TWO songs count 'em TWO by K.C. & The Sunshine Band. I also like Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" and you can fuck off if you don't agree.

Also I got a CD today by Brass Construction. I wonder if it will be all disco or something a little different.

Danse Society - Heaven Is Waiting (1984)

I feel quite sure that some folks reading this blog now have already known about this album for quite some time. I've known about it, but never actually had it until now. I would have always assumed to find it was mediocre, based upon the singles I heard on college radio. Instead, I'm completely amazed. This is like, the ULTIMATE goth record. I don't even know where to begin. And I especially love that they have danceable synthesizer 12"es. Don't you? I mean the likes of "Angel" is kinda trying to do a New Ordery thing isn't it? I know a lot of folks say these guys were middle-of-the-road and forgettable. But hell....I disagree. And I'd be a fool to post the stupid thing, too. You'll have to find it elsewhere. I was disappointed that iTunes and emusic didn't have it but I bought the import CD and I'm so thrilled with it. Some years back I made myself a CD of a bunch of early Danse Society stuff but it only interested me for a short while and then I grew bored of it. Go figure.

Auscult - Quality Goth!

This record I found on Phoenix Hairpins' blog is freaking amazing. Those who love goth as much as I do probably understand that really great goth records are far and few between, but this one is a killer, and the bassist is clearly influenced by Simon Gallup of The Cure. This record must be heard. Find it here.

Low Numbers

Low Numbers - Keep In Touch 7", 1979

You know, I've disparaged pop music on this blog before, and melodies. But this one is a real gem in both departments. When I was investigating a lot of UK post-punk music in 2004, this one was especially memorable for me, and I bought the real article recently just so I could post it here. In the book by Vernon Joynson entitled Up Yours! A Guide to UK Punk, New Wave, and early Post Punk, he calls this single part of the mod revival. Okay, well...yeah I guess you could say that. Sure.

It was produced by Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69 but honestly I couldn't give a flying crap about Sham 69. I would love to know if Low Numbers ever released anything else. I tried to find this out a few times but came up with nothing. I think there was another (American) band called that from the same time period, though.

Naughtiest Girl Was A Monitor

Naughtiest Girl Was A Monitor - "All I Need" 7" on Dining Out, 1982

Continuing the theme on this blog of posting records on the Dining Out label, here's one from Naughtiest Girl Was A Monitor. Apparently they were from Sheffield if System of Romance's blog is to be believed. They never had an LP issued while they were around, but last year Vinyl On Demand released an LP that contained their their three singles and more. Only problem is if you don't have a turntable you're fucked. :) Anyway, I believe this was the only one of their singles on Dining Out, the other ones were on different labels.

So what is it like? Mellow and synthesizery with vocals. I guess it's fair to say a lot of bands starting using synthesizers in 1980. These folks weren't afraid to pick up the ball and run with it. It's not really synth-pop though, it's too...melancholy for that I think. See what you think. Also...those two red dots on the sleeve - I'm convinced they were put there on purpose because I don't believe they are a stain.

Half Church (again!)

Some of you may recall a record I posted some months back by Half Church. Recently one of the band members left a comment on that post with a corresponding myspace page. Check it out.

Passionate Friends

I have recently discovered this Scottish band and I love them. I'm probably going to post a single of them pretty soon. Shame they never got to release an album. This is a clip from 1983.

Gods Gift (again!)

Gods Gift - 12" EP, 1981

Readers of this blog may remember me mentioning the Manchester post-punk band Gods Gift before, who were on the Buzzcocks' label New Hormones. Well, I have been trading emails with the guitarist, Stephen Murphy, who is a very nice man, and he has graciously given me permission to post this 12" EP. He tells me he is talking with several labels about releasing some Gods Gift material in the future that has remained unreleased all these years. He recently did a fairly lengthy and illuminating interview for a New Hormones website that you can read here. He also tells me that once when they were the support band for Joy Division he thought JD were so amazing he wanted to stop playing altogether!

So how to describe this EP? Well, it's dark and sinister, but in an in-your-face punk kind of way. It's comparable to early stuff by The Fall, real lo-fi like the "Dragnet" album but meaner and darker than that. This is just the kind of stretching-the-envelope post-punk I like. Doing something DIFFERENT and just not giving a fuck. Makes pop music look like nothing. Makes melodies seem unimportant.

I deeply regret that I was not able to successfully scan this record sleeve, either front or back. I tried several times, but alas I just don't think my computer has enough memory to make it work. I am going to get more memory put in my computer soon. The logo you see above is only a small portion of the front sleeve.

Here is a link to my original post about this band.

Native Tongue

Native Tongue - Yowl LP, 1983


This was a band from Boston, Massachusetts called Native Tongue that I think were really cool. It's not hard to see that Gang of Four were their main influence, but they were better than the herky-jerky types you hear nowadays (Franz Ferdinand ugh) and sometimes they even sound like the Fall, as on the infectious track "Ali". I found this record by accident in about 1995 while at the local college radio station. I taped it and had a great time listening to it on the way to class. They had an earlier self-titled EP from 1981 that I will probably post later. They also did the Christmas song "Do You Hear What I Hear" for a compilation of Boston bands entitled "Boston Rock Christmas".

This is their myspace page but as with all myspace pages, the sound is so awfully compressed. Yuck! Myspace is like the plastic of the internet, imho.

New Model Army "The Price" 7", 1984

New Model Army - The Price/1984 7", 1984

I have just ripped a bunch of 7"es for my blog today and this one was quite the treat. I first heard this when I was about 14 years old. Miraculously, someone had played the A-side on the local college radio station, and I was hooked. I tried to get the DJ's there to play it again so I could tape the whole song, but the one I called didn't know who the fuck this band was so he played me something by the New Models instead which I couldn't care less about. Hahah.

Actually, though I did go on to buy some New Model Army LP's, I don't think I actually found my own copy of this single until many years later, probably in 1990 or something.

I see from their discography they had a single out in 1983, too. Sigh...I'd like to hear that.

The Cure in 2008?

Look I wrote the Cure off years ago...but um...they seem to have a lot of absolutely amazing new songs these days. Yikes. I'm gobsmacked.


Here's some more new Cure songs if you don't believe me.

Crispy Ambulance

Any Factory Records fans in the house?

If you are a fan of Factory records like me, please consider purchasing this fantastic fanzine. I just got it in the mail today and I am speechless. The photos of Tony Wilson alone are blindingly fantastic, let alone the rest. It's typed just like an old fashioned fanzine, too. I was so touched to receive a package of paper in the mail from the UK like that, just the way I used to so many times when I was a teenager and in my early twenties. I even got a little misty-eyed at the familiar fragile brown paper it was packaged in. There isn't anything like that in the whole U.S. of A., mark my words, and I haven't seen that kind of paper in a long, long time.

Here's what was posted on the Factory mailing list about this issue:

Scream City, is the Manchester fanzine from the people who brought you Cerysmatic Factory and special guest contributors. Covering music, art, books, popular culture, it's an old school fanzine and is made from paper, ink and staples.

Scream City 4 is the FAC-2 special and the contents include:

Anthony H. Wilson by David Nolan
Peter Hook interview by Michael Eastwood
Vini Reilly interview by Phil Cleaver
Industrial Relations: The Design of FAC-2 by Matthew Robertson
Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire) interview by Michael Eastwood
John Dowie interview by Ian McCartney
Sample Minds: Before and After A Factory Sample by Andrew James

Scream City 4 is on sale via eBay (seller id="cerysmatic")
priced 2.00 GBP + postage and packing. Paypal only.

Thank you for your forebearance.

John
--
Cerysmatic Factory / Scream City
www.cerysmaticfactory.info/screamcity.html

For those too lazy (or drunk) to look it up, here's the link on ebay:
Buy it here.

De Press

De Press - Block To Block, 1981

Here's one of the more goth tracks on the album entitled "Kejk"

De Press are a Polish-Norwegian band that were featured on a Uniton Records compilation, which is how I originally found out about them. My original intention was to post their goth masterpiece album "Produkt" from 1982 here but I see that Systems of Romance's blog beat me to it. So here is their first album instead and this one is more punk than that one. I always thought the coolest thing about this band though was that they could put both punk and goth songs side by side on their albums, and do both styles quite successfully. According to wikipedia, they still tour and record today, albeit with a very different lineup. Another interesting thing I learned there is that the Produkt LP was produced by John Leckie who I remember as having produced The Stone Roses and The Fall, among many others.

Ed Banger

Ed Banger - Kinnel Tommy/Baby Was A Baby 7", 1978

I'm pleased as punch to finally post this. I adore this single. I adore the far-out sleeve, everything. The A-side features Ed yelling at the TV screen to a player on his favourite football team. The background music features echo-ey plunkety plunk piano, a steady bass-line, and a couple short stabs of guitar here and there. It all works out far better than it should on paper. The B-side seems to do a Jerry Lee Lewis impression on the piano or something. It's a good old fashioned 50's rock and roller, only it kinda comes off more like pop music. Both sides of this single were produced by Martin "Zero" Hannett, and I think he did a bloody fantastic job on this.

As I said earlier on this blog, I obtained permission from Ed (now Edweena) Garrity to post this single. The A-side can be found on the "Rabid/TJM Punk Singles Collection" which is still availble on CD, and it's a great CD to have, too.

Here's a list of my fave bands/artists of all time

1. Joy Division/New Order (or vice versa)
2. Dif Juz
3. Crispy Ambulance
4. Kate Bush/Nick Drake (or vice versa)

Then there are some things which are my ultimate faves by artists who only hit a short stride of brilliance in their careers:

David Sylvian - First three solo albums inc. Blue Of Noon b-side
Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain and A Brass Band In African Chimes
Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
U2 - Unforgettable Fire era plus Joshua Tree b-sides and some early stuff too
Ride - Today Forever EP, Grasshopper, Leave Them All Behind and Seagull (live versions)

That's a good summary of my fave music ever. But then I'm leaving off a whole lot of Martin Hannett stuff, so...sigh.

Well, at least I feel more prepared for a trip to a desert island now.

Yell-O-Yell

Before on this blog I mentioned Greek post-punk bands. Best one so far is probably Yell-O-Yell. Annie's Animal's blog posted a bunch of their stuff but I found another album called "Hello Hell" that wasn't on that blog. And it's really freaking cool in that it's very obviously influenced by the Birthday Party, but maybe a slight step mellower than that. Birthday Party with just a dash of goth. Lovely.

Here's a song from the album called "Death Pirouette". I doubt Bauhaus would have disapproved of this.

Next up will be the Ed Banger single. I'm pleased to announce that I have received approval from none other than Ed Banger(now Edweena) him/herself to post this single and so I shall, for Martin Hannett produced it after all, and Hannett remains my favourite musician/producer ever.