An Alternative History of "Pop" Music: Part 2, 1982 -

[Astronaut Omens]

Soul II Soul-Back to Life (Acapella)/ Jazzie's groove
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2fzcXSpaU
Sorry for posting something off a number 1 album, but I bet this spine-tingling bit of music is, surely, an "alternative" to the hit single version that came out the following year. OK, maybe this is cheating, so instead...
Soul II Soul- Africa Dance
Nobody ever mentions this breezy flute workout from the same LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzBlSj-y-Rk

[Astronaut Omens]

Inner City-Inner City Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKKOFUgNru4

Cascading techno waterfall with mumbling monologue on top from techno whizz Kevin Saunderson.

[jamiefairlie]

Alright, let's move on to 1990!

[jamiefairlie]

Into Paradise - Here With You

https://youtu.be/wG9XOOu4Yb4



Formed in Dublin in 1986 by David Long (vocals, guitar), Rachael Tighe (bass), James Eadie (guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Ronan Clarke (drums). This is taken from debut album, "Under The Water". They'd manage one more album before splitting in 1993.

[jamiefairlie]

The High - Box Set Go

https://youtu.be/Q9zwLCLCkSA



Formed in Manchester in 1989 by pre-fame Stone Roses alumni Andy Couzens (guitar) and Chris Goodwin (drums) plus vocalist John Matthews and bassist Simon Davies. This is their third single, they released two albums before disbanding in 1993.

[Brundle-Fly]

In Sickness And In Health - Snuff. Released on Workers Playtime in 1990.





Thrash Pathetique? Snuff taking the mantle from the likes of The Gonads, Splodgenessabounds,Toy Dolls etc, the comedy Oi! herberts of ten years earlier.

This is a cover version of the TV theme to the eighties Alf Garnett sitcom. It's taken from the mini-LP, Flibbiddydibbiddydob which was the follow up to the album...

(takes a deep breath),

Snuffsaidbutgorblimeyguvstonemeifhedidntthrowawobblerchachachachachachachachachachachayouregoinghomeinacosmicambience

Snuff are a British punk rock band formed in Hendon in 1986. The original line-up was Duncan Redmonds on drums and vocals, Simon Wells on guitar and vocals, and Andy Crighton on bass, with Dave Redmonds being added to the line-up on trombone in 1990. They have released their material through a variety of independent record labels including their own, 10past12records, as well as on Fat Wreck Chords, a label owned by Fat Mike of NOFX.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pNbgXR7NlA

[Johnny Yesno]

Naked City - Speedfreaks




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BjXRFWHpBI

And here's a live version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkrfVZGmLL8

Thrash Jazz from John Zorn and friends. Speedfreaks is from the album Torture Garden, which comprises 42 tracks in around 25 minutes, each one a perfectly crafted vignette. There are various versions with different artwork, all connected to BDSM. I have the above gatefold, which I think came out in 1991.

I remember John Peel played a few tracks off this on one show and one of his listeners opined that it was the finest album of 1990. At the time I had just purchased Caustic Grip by Front Line Assembly and I had my doubts. It's a bold statement, I know, but it turns out the listener was entirely correct.

If you don't know this album, be warned: it will ruin you. When your brain gets accustomed to the speed, everything else starts sounding a bit pedestrian and there is also the nagging question about just where you go from here.

[Johnny Yesno]

Front Line Assembly - Force Fed



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRyiU3fbvcw

From their fifth studio album Caustic Grip. This was the first album of what I've heard called second wave industrial music and I had no idea electronic music could be so aggressive. In fact, I hadn't heard the first wave at this point. Sadly, FLA have become a bit of a parody of themselves now but this is still a great album.

[Johnny Yesno]

Meanwhile, FLA's Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber were also still making great music as Delerium.

Delerium - Shroud



https://youtu.be/qbE9BoBOpzc?t=308

Shroud is from their third album Syrophenikan.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows



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

The Fannies' hypnotic debut single. In those days their bucket of guitar sludge owed more to Neil Young and Crazy Horse than to Big Star. Still sweetly tuneful, but with more volume and squall. It does, however, point to what was to come. Even though it's difficult to make out the muffled words, there is an ineffable undercurrent of sadness to this record. It's a melancholic swirl of cyclical melancholy.

I think we all know who Teenage Fanclub are, so there's no need to attach a potted biography!

[daf]

The Lilac Time ‎– All For Love & Love For All



Released as a single in April 1990 - reached #77 in the UK charts.
 

Title track of the album '& Love For All', produced by Andy Partridge.

Stephen Duffy : "I'd worked with Andy on & Love for All, the third Lilac Time album. At the time he saw his job to make The Lilac Time into a more roadworthy sort of, you know, toughen it up and make it sellable. So I kind of thought, well, maybe that's what's needed now, you know. So I went back to him. And also I mean he's got, obviously, a fantastic ear for melody."



Due to taking ages and blowing the budget, Partridge only produced half the album, leaving John Leckie to capture the remaining folkier tracks on wax.

[Brundle-Fly]

Endless Festival - Anne Dudley And Jaz Coleman. Released on China in 1990.





When I had to move back in with my parents in old sleepy Sussex suburbia, I used to love blasting the beginning of this track out the window on a balmy Saturday night, just to unnerve the locals.

We've covered Anne and Jaz before. This was their one-off excellent collaboration. It's almost like a James Bond soundtrack in parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsT1ET20-SE

[Better Midlands]

Westbam - Alarm Clock



This is basically a DJ cut-up record based around the intro to Gang Of Four's What We All Want, Weatherall sampled Alarm clock heavily on his MBV - Soon remix. It reached #78 in Jan 1990 as the b-side of Hold Me Back but was the more popular track so after the initial pressings was flipped to the a-side with covers reflecting that.

Maximilian Lenz started his musical career in 1978 in the punk scene of his birth town Münster under the moniker Frank Xerox. He then played bass, drums and synthesizer. Together with Andreas Bleckmann (alias Sally), he founded the band Anormal Null in 1979. Afterwards he founded Kriegsschauplatz, who were active until 1983.

The origin of his DJ moniker Westbam is a homage to Afrika Bambaataa, thus Westphalia Bambaataa. He started his career as a DJ in 1983 in the Odeon club in Münster. In 1984 he moved to his friend and mentor William Röttger in Berlin where he released his first record called 17 – This Is Not a Boris Becker Song, which was coproduced by Klaus Jankuhn. WestBam, his brother Fabian Lenz, William Röttger, Klaus Jankuhn and Sandra Molzahn later founded their own label Low Spirit.

He played at the first Love Parade rave party in 1989 at Ku'damm Berlin and also wrote the Love Parade Anthems from 1997–2008. He was the only DJ, who played at all Love Parades from 1989 to 2008 and planned to perform for a last time at the Loveparade but cancelled his performance in response to the Love Parade disaster. He later heavily criticized the decision to continue the event despite the death of 21 visitors.

In 1991, he organised the first Mayday rave in Berlin. With over 5000 people, it was the biggest techno party in Germany at the time. Since then, Mayday has been vital to the German techno scene. Westbam was involved in the planning of the events and also produced the annual Mayday anthems together with Klaus Jankuhn in the project Members of Mayday until 2013.

[jamiefairlie]

Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas

https://youtu.be/0d-lttbObeU



Title track, and second single taken from, sixth album, "Heaven or Las Vegas". As usual it did nothing in terms of chart action and they'd also passed out of the Peel orbit by now too.

[jamiefairlie]

Dead Can Dance - Black Sun

https://youtu.be/XdSNTPgPryc



Taken from fifth album, "Aion", the last album of their prime period.  After this they'd start a slow but steady drift into aimless 'Timbakulala, spirit of the forest' type ambient world music.

[Oz Oz Alice]

Paris Angels - Perfume

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X5ekIFIazg

Paris Angels were regulars of the Boardwalk and Haçienda clubs in Manchester. They first signed a recording contract with Sheer Joy Records and in collaboration with Michael Johnson produced their most well known song "Perfume (All on You)". It was 'single of the week' in the NME and reached the top 10 of the indie charts in the summer of 1990. This was closely followed by "Scope" and "I Understand"; the latter of which was the single of the week in the final edition of Sounds.

On the back of this early success, the band signed to Virgin Records, released "Fade" and re-released "Perfume" to back up their only album, Sundew, which was met with favourable reviews from NME, Vox and Melody Maker. Paris Angels then recorded a session John Peel. "Stay", appeared on the best of the Peel Session's box set, and they had other radio and television sessions. In March 1991, NME reported that Paris Angels were appearing at the 'Great Indie Festival – A Midsummer's Day Dream' at Milton Keynes Bowl in June that year. Also on the bill were 808 State, Gary Clail, New Fast Automatic Daffodils, The Shamen, Shades of Rhythm plus Flowered Up.

Paris Angels recruited long-time collaborator Simon Crompton to produce their next album for Virgin, however with the sale of Virgin to EMI, Paris Angels were removed from its roster. The completed album was never released. They were one of the last bands to leave during this cull along with Public Image Ltd and Definition of Sound.

Left with no recording contract, and with singer Jane Gill pregnant, the band called it a day.

Wagstaff returned with Black Grape and the Happy Mondays. Rikki Turner played in St. Jack Steven. Taji went on to record with The Rude Club. Bassist Scott Carey recorded with Chelsea-based band The Shave and hosted The Evening Session and Transmission on Manchester radio station 96.2 The Revolution.

Drummer Simon Worrall died on 2 November 2011.

In 2013 the band reformed to play live, and signed a deal with Stereokill Recordings to finally issue their second album, recorded in 1992. After the deal fell through, the group instead made the album available as a free download on Bandcamp.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar - Gling-Gló



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reM7VKN4lYg

A fleeting collaboration between Bjork and some Icelandic jazzers. I like it a lot.

Gling-Gló is the only studio album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, consisting of Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason on bass. "Gling-gló" is an Icelandic onomatopoeia whose English equivalent is "ding dong", or the sound that a bell makes

.

[jamiefairlie]

I think you'll find that's Sheena Easton performing at The Orb in Bellshill circa 1978.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

With Mike Mills on keyboards.

[chveik]

The Geto Boys - Mind Of A Lunatic

remixed version by Rick Rubin. i'm not a rap historian but i think they invented horrorcore here.

[jamiefairlie]

Lush - Sweetness And Light

https://youtu.be/u7cqkpy4QrQ



Second single, it flirted with the UK charts, reaching number 47, and made it to number 27 in the Festive Fifty.

[jamiefairlie]

Pale Saints - Sight Of You

https://youtu.be/6MAy1dJ1C9M



Formed in 1987 in Leeds by singer-bassist Ian Masters, guitarist Graeme Naysmith and drummer Chris Cooper. This is from their debut album, "The Comforts of Madness", and it reached number 11 in the Festive Fifty.

[jamiefairlie]

The House of Love - Scratched Inside

https://youtu.be/IvsgJSNFM_o



One of a batch of songs recorded for their second album but discarded until released as part of the compilation "A Spy In The House Of Love".

[jamiefairlie]

Bastro - Nothing Special

https://youtu.be/J_cGFgbUyJE



We've already has an entry from Bastro previously. this one is a cover of a "My Dad Is Dead" song and it was released on a split single with the same band, each covering a track by the other. It reached number 45 in the Festive Fifty. They released two albums before coming to a close in 1991.

[jamiefairlie]

Bark Psychosis - I Know

https://youtu.be/-j8LMfugRjo



Formed in Snaresbrook, Essex in 1986, by schoolfriends Graham Sutton (guitar, vocals) and John Ling (bass, vocals). This is the b-side to their third single, "Nothing Feels".

[Corduroy Castle]

Sun City Girls - Esoterica Of Abyssynia

Here's my personal favourite album released in 1990! Sun City Girl's otherworldly, spooky, heavily eastern-influence yet strangely catchy Torch of The Mystics.



I'm not gonna front, I didn't "get this" when I first heard it, but when I did, whooo did my chakras misalign and singe themselves black, and boy, did the third eye of my brain open wide and start oozing yak blubber. Just a gorgeous album from start to finish, and the one I would always recommend to anyone wanting to check out the Girls' chaotic discography (half of which, and I say this with equal parts affection and frustration, is complete shite).

The album is best enjoyed as a whole where you can really cook inside its guts like a mouse inside a python (stand out track is probably The Shining Path, their version of the Lambada) but I chose this rockin squiffly piece of string jerky, because if I ever fully commit to middle-aged homebrew top gear 'dave grohl is alright you know' fat bald dad status and start learning the guitar, this song and Swell Maps' Loin Of The Surf would be my first nascent shred candidates

The Sun City Girls were Alan Bishop, Sir Richard Bishop and Charles Gocher Jr.

[Brundle-Fly]

Get Higher - The Moonflowers Released on Heavenly in 1990.



Shakin' Mondays? This is SOOOO 1990, it's almost like a pastiche of a baggy band made last week. Love it though.

The Moonflowers were a Bristol-based rock band formed in 1987. The band was active as a performing and recording unit until 1997. To date, they have released eight EPs and seven LPs on their own PopGod Records label, home to numerous other Bristol-based artists including Praise Space Electric (a Moonflowers spin-off featuring members of that band), Me, Ecstatic Orange, Mammal among others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6a0FW1u2Yg

[Better Midlands]

Get Higher - The Moonflowers Released on Heavenly in 1990.



Shakin' Mondays? This is SOOOO 1990, it's almost like a pastiche of a baggy band made last week. Love it though.

Too right, this had a Rocky & Diesel (X-Press 2) mix, they were yer third tier indie band remixer when you couldn't get Andy Weatherall or even Terry Farley on board.

[jobotic]

I saw the Moonflowers and I had a fantastic night out. Hats off to them, I say. Tighten up with the funny noise!

[Better Midlands]

New Fast Automatic Daffodils- Big (Baka)



I've always liked this remix of New Fads' Big by Hacienda DJ Jon da Silva, it has dated really well in my opinion compared to many of the Indie remixes from that time.

The band was formed in 1988 by former members of the punk rock group Pariah. Dolan Hewison, Justin Crawford, Perry Saunders and Icarus Wilson-Wright were former students at Manchester Polytechnic, while Andy Spearpoint attended drama school. The name comes from a poem by Adrian Henri that mixed an advertisement for a yellow Dutch car with a Wordsworth poem. Often associated with the 'Madchester' scene of the late 1980s, but never really part of that scene, the band's debut single, "Lions" was released in 1989 on Playtime records (then home to Inspiral Carpets), followed the same year by the Music Is Shit EP. In 1990, they signed to Play It Again Sam, September of that year seeing the release of "Fishes Eyes", and debut album Pigeonhole appearing in November, which reached the UK top 50.