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An Alternative History of "Pop" Music

Started by jamiefairlie, August 15, 2020, 09:27:00 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on January 12, 2021, 12:49:43 PMThe Swinging Laurels were a jazz-influenced pop act from Leicester, UK. Formed in 1980 by ex-member of The Wendy Tunes, Gaz Birtles
No wonder he couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo in a Man United shirt, if he was spending all his time playing jazz-tinged nonsense back in the East Midlands!

Jockice

Not only that, he's one of the few famous people with a connection to Long Eaton, where my girlfriend lives. Well him, fellow former footballer Mark Draper, John Peel's producer John Walters and that irritating woman who used to be on The Apprentice but isn't Katie Hopkins.

daf

#2822
The Soft Boys - Only The Stones Remain



Released in 1981 as a single to promote the album 'Two Halves For The Price Of One' - did not chart

Quote'Two Halves For The Price Of One' was issued just as The Soft Boys were disbanding, and, as the title implies, consists of two distinct sides, each with their own sub-titles, and seperate front covers -

"Only the Stones Remain" - which includes late studio recordings by the group.
"Lope at the Hive" - featuring five songs recorded live at the Hope & Anchor.

 

Oddly, one side seems to be 20p cheaper than the other - so remember to hold it the right way round when you take it to the counter!

Brundle-Fly

Celebrate The Bullet - The Selecter Released on Chrysalis in 1981.





The great lost single from that era and to me, The Selecter's haunting anti-guns anthem is one of their finest moments.

The Selecter were originally signed to 2 Tone, a ska group formed in 1979 in Coventry, England. The original band split up in 1981 after releasing their second album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X4x6z-A_cg&feature=emb_logo

jamiefairlie

New Order - In A Lonely Place

https://youtu.be/iFteKByG5Q4



Recorded in New York with Martin Hannett in September 1980 and released as the b-side to debut single Ceremony, both tracks written as Joy Division just before Ian Curtis's death.

A powerful, sullen storm of a song, made all the more poignant when played live, where they'd often change the lyrics to "How we wish you were here with us now".

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on January 12, 2021, 11:27:47 AM
Stands back in amazement! My brain must've thought your entry was in the Little & Large thread in CC. Soz.

No worries, we should be proud of ourselves for nominating such a supersonic track.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Electric Light Orchestra - Rain is Falling



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

A great song, but one of Jeff Lynne's rare chart misses (it didn't chart at all). The album it's taken from is an eccentric synth-pop masterpiece. More of which below...

QuoteTime is a concept album about a man from the 1980s who is taken to the year 2095, where he is confronted by the dichotomy between technological advancement and a longing for past romance. The record topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks, though it attracted mixed reviews for its heavy use of synthesizers and stylistic shift away from the orchestral rock of previous ELO albums. It has since gained a cult following, particularly among retro-futurist enthusiasts.

daf

Vin Zee - Funky Be Bop



Reached #44 on the Billboard R&B chart in the US in August 1981

Despite appearances, Vin Zee seems to have been an Italian disco project masterminded by Stefano Pulga

jamiefairlie

The Durutti Column - The Missing Boy

https://youtu.be/z4jRk9JQ1wQ



Formed in 1978 in Manchester by guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly and Bruce Mitchell on drums. They were amongst the first wave of artists signed to Factory Records.

This is taken from LC, their second album. Lyrically it's a tribute to labelmate Ian Curtis.

There was a boy
I almost knew him
A glance exchanged
Now a legend

Brundle-Fly

Let's All Make A Bomb - Heaven 17  Released on Virgin in 1981.





This brings back fond memories from forty years ago swaying back and forth in my brother's bedroom while listening to this album on massive headphones. On a loop.  It's amazing you could do that back then without getting bored out of your skull.

Heaven 17 were formed as a side project of the British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.), the production company formed by Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, after their departure from The Human League in 1980. Known for hit singles such as Temptation & Let Me Go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I57YbiJ7x2w

sirhenry

Quote from: jamiefairlie on January 12, 2021, 08:54:51 PM
The Durutti Column - The Missing Boy

https://youtu.be/z4jRk9JQ1wQ



Formed in 1978 in Manchester by guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly and Bruce Mitchell on drums. They were amongst the first wave of artists signed to Factory Records.

This is taken from LC, their second album. Lyrically it's a tribute to labelmate Ian Curtis.

There was a boy
I almost knew him
A glance exchanged
Now a legend

I've been listening to this loads over the last 40 years and never knew what it was about. This thread continues to be a joy.

jamiefairlie

The Psychedelic Furs - All of This and Nothing

https://youtu.be/VMl3QhOyNZM



Founded in London in February 1977 by singer Richard Butler and his brother Tim. This is from their second album, Talk Talk Talk.
They went on to release a further six albums, including huge success in the USA in the mid-80s,  before splitting in 1991.

daf

The British Darts Team With Vince Williams And Bobby George ‎– 180



Released in 1981 - did not chart

QuoteRobert Francis George was born in Manor Park, London. After leaving school, he had various jobs including as a nightclub bouncer and floor layer before taking up darts at the age of 30. He won several major tournaments, including the News of the World Championship in 1979 and 1986, the Butlins Grand Masters in 1979 and 1980, the North American Open in 1978 and the Nations Cup in 1980, as part of an England triples team with Tony Brown and John Lowe. And he was WDF Europe Cup champion in 1982 beating Eric Bristow in the final.



His colourful character enabled George to be successful on the darts exhibition circuit. He became the game's first full-time exhibition player when he stopped playing regular tournaments in 1986. In 2009, he teamed up with Eric Bristow and John Lowe to tour theatres around the UK and Ireland, appearing in a show named Legends of the Oche which was presented and hosted by comedian Duncan 'Chase Me' Norvelle.

poodlefaker

Quote from: daf on January 12, 2021, 12:00:00 AM
Sir John Betjeman - The Varsity Students' Rag



Featured on the album 'Sir John Betjeman's Varsity Rag' - released in 1981

Although this would seem to be miles away from the early 80's music scene, it just occurred to me that it fits in neatly with the TV smash of the year - 'Brideshead Revisited' - set around Oxford University in the 1920's, and first broadcast on Granada in October 1981.

Is it too late to mention Betjeman's The Licorice Fields at Pontefract? An absolute banger that sounds like What Goes On by the Velvet Underground with a colliery brass band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gqAc6lMgwA

And Senex, from the same album is funky as hell:

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

Jim Parker, who worked with JB on these records, went on to give us Captain Beaky.


Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: poodlefaker on January 12, 2021, 10:18:08 PM
Is it too late to mention Betjeman's The Licorice Fields at Pontefract? An absolute banger that sounds like What Goes On by the Velvet Underground with a colliery brass band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gqAc6lMgwA

It's never too late for that. I love it to licorice pieces.

Wipers - When It's Over
From their album 'Youth Of America' released by Park Avenue Records in the US, 1981. Not released in the UK until 1984.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUm_FeB0KlQ



Discogs says:
QuoteWipers was a recording project formed in late 1978 by Greg Sage in Portland, OR. First conceived as a studio project, they originally planned to release fifteen LPs over ten years and completely avoid doing tours or interviews. They disbanded in 1989 after releasing six studio albums, but reformed in 1993 to release three more albums. They disbanded for good in 1999.

Greg Sage says:
QuoteMy thoughts were that the mystique from the lack of playing the traditional rock and roll promotion game would make people listen to our recordings much deeper with only their imaginations to go by. I thought it would be easy to avoid press, shows, pictures, interviews. I wanted to make my own recordings, manufacture and run my own label myself....to keep it pure and unfiltered as possible since everyone has an opinion and too many chefs makes for shitty slop.

The first few seconds of 'When It's Over' tell you this is a long way from shitty slop. In fact, whenever I'm pissed up on booze and play it too loudly, I can very quickly convince myself that it's quite possibly The Greatest Fucking Record Ever Made. And sober me is starting to think that drunken me might well have a point.

daf

Pancho the Parrot - I Left My Heart In San Francisco



Released in late 1981 - did not chart

QuotePancho was a Mexican double yellow headed parrot that had once been owned and trained to mimic human soprano singing by an opera singer before coming into the care of Ray Berwick at San Diego Wild Animal Park. Berwick, a famous animal trainer whose birds and other animals have appeared in movies and television shows, further trained Pancho to speak and sing on cue.

He appeared with Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show" in September 1981 singing a few bars of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", which led to a spin-off single presented as a medley along with 'When It's Springtime in the Rockies, and 'Bali Hai', with the Johnny Mann Singers lending vocal support.

 

The flip side of the record, 'Bobby and Lolita', featured African Grey Parrot Bobby and yellow-naped Amazon Lolita squawking along to their improbable life story as a 'swinger' and 'singer' over a tasty disco beat!

It's all downhill from here!

jamiefairlie

This Heat - A New Kind of Water

https://youtu.be/PoCze4CNEms



Another from the Camberwell combo.

This Heat were active in the ascendancy of British punk rock and post-punk, but stood apart from those scenes with their experimental, confrontational, and politically charged approach.

This is from their second, and last, album Deceit. They split in 1982.

daf


Brundle-Fly

The Voodoo's Curse - The Scientist. Released on Greensleeves in 1981.





The first dub reggae album I ever owned and I was probably in at the deep end, as my experience of proper Jamaican style reggae up until then was mainly Uptown Top Ranking and the theme tune to the BBC2 soap Empire Road.  It has to be said, the sleeve swung it for the teenage me.

The Scientist AKA Hopeton Overton Brown Born: April 18th, 1960 in Kingston, Jamaica. He was a protégé of King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock), one of the originators of dub music. The Scientist burst onto the reggae scene in the mid '70s with a reckless mixing style that seemed to outdo even King Tubby's wildest extravaganzas. He began his career as an engineer at Studio One and soon after at Tubby's in the late 70's. Shortly afterward, he gained a reputation with a distinctive mixing style.

Don't have nightmares!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqD_CcIG--Q

daf

Sue Wilkinson - Women Only

 

Released in June 1981 - did not chart

QuoteSusan Mary Wilkinson was a British singer-songwriter. Wilkinson appeared on Top of The Pops on 28 August 1980, to perform her self-penned hit "You Gotta Be A Hustler If You Wanna Get On" - which reached #25 in the charts. Slade thunderstick Don Powell, and Wilkinson's main skweeze at the time, appeared bashing the drums during the perfromance.

     

Wilkinson also worked as an actress and model under the name of Sue England, and later moved to Nashville and had success as a jingle writer.

Gregory Torso

Inflatable Boy Clams - Skeletons




Creepy, creaky, weird and squeaky. San Fransisco art girls did this double 7" in 1981 and then evaporated into nothingness, like a ghost, woooooo.

Skeletons

Gregory Torso

Quote from: Hooverbag Sherlocks on January 12, 2021, 11:51:39 PM
The first few seconds of 'When It's Over' tell you this is a long way from shitty slop. In fact, whenever I'm pissed up on booze and play it too loudly, I can very quickly convince myself that it's quite possibly The Greatest Fucking Record Ever Made. And sober me is starting to think that drunken me might well have a point.

I thought about posting this, too! The guitars are phenomenal, like a cyclone full of whurtlizers, straight to the pleasure receptors of the brain. The title track (later covered by the Melvins) is a banger, too.

jamiefairlie

New Order -- Cries and Whispers

https://youtu.be/0NZfjbht79M




One of two b-sides to the Everything's Gone Green 12" single (the other being Mesh) and another of New Order's first batch of new tracks written in summer/autumn 1980.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Hooverbag Sherlocks on January 12, 2021, 11:51:39 PM
The first few seconds of 'When It's Over' tell you this is a long way from shitty slop. In fact, whenever I'm pissed up on booze and play it too loudly, I can very quickly convince myself that it's quite possibly The Greatest Fucking Record Ever Made. And sober me is starting to think that drunken me might well have a point.

I'm inclined to agree with drunken you, that is a magnificent piece of music.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Stray Cats - Little Miss Prissy



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-C05YUy6o0

This blistering track from the rockabilly revivalist's second LP was released as a single, but failed to chart. It wouldn't sound out of place on Jack White's Third Man label.

QuoteStray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. including Stray Cat Strut, (She's) Sexy + 17 and Rock This Town.

The Stray Cats quickly developed a large following on the New York music scene playing at CBGB and Max's Kansas City When they heard a rumour that there was a revival of the 1950s Teddy Boy youth subculture in England, the band moved to the UK. They then spearheaded the nascent rockabilly revival, by blending the 1950s Sun Studio sound with modern punk musical elements. In terms of visual style, the Stray Cats also blended elements of 1950 rockabilly clothes, such as wearing drape jackets, brothel creepers, and western shirts with punk clothes, such as tight black zipper trousers and modern versions of 1950s hair styles.

jamiefairlie

The Cure - All Cats Are Grey

https://youtu.be/0W61lL4h9j4



From their Peel session of 7 January 1981. A very different, faster version than that which appears on Faith and all to LOL NO good in my opinion. Probably my favourite Cure track.

Johnny Yesno

Quote from: jamiefairlie on January 13, 2021, 07:37:03 PM
New Order -- Cries and Whispers

https://youtu.be/0NZfjbht79M




One of two b-sides to the Everything's Gone Green 12" single (the other being Mesh) and another of New Order's first batch of new tracks written in summer/autumn 1980.

This was 1981 as well? Christ. What a great year for music. Now I just have to check which one is Cries and Whispers and which one is Mesh...

jamiefairlie

Quote from: Johnny Yesno on January 13, 2021, 08:18:49 PM
This was 1981 as well? Christ. What a great year for music.

Indeed, perhaps a claim to the best ever year?

Johnny Yesno

The Cramps - Can't Find My Mind



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqx_Qw2Jqao

There's a lot of covers on this album, but I've chosen one of the original works. Poison Ivy is an underrated guitarorrist, I reckon. I love that groink sound at the end of each riff.

Musicians on this record:

Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitar
Kid Congo Powers – guitar
Nick Knox – drums

Engineered by Paul McKenna. But not that Paul McKenna, as far as I know.