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

[Norton Canes]

Front 242 - Rhythm of Time

(because I forgot Tragedy >For You< was released in 1990)

Released 15^th April 1991





Alternative pop history: Highest chart position 19 | Weeks on chart 4 | Did not chart on original release but was propelled into the top 20 on the back of its inclusion in the 1992 movie Single White Female

(It really was in Single White Female)

[Norton Canes]

Arse, I've missed all the releases from Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine too. Hey, Sin got to #35 in the UK chart! Don't remember seeing that on the TOTP rundown.

[daf]

The Lilac Time ‎– Hats Off, Here Comes The Girl



Featured on the album "Astronauts" - released in August 1991

By the time of the recording of their fourth album, Astronauts, the band were falling apart and Duffy, having burnt himself out producing the album, abandoned it, leaving the remnants for manager Alan McGee to sweep up and release on his Creation label.

 

Stephen Duffy : "I got so depressed making this album that I gave up before it was finished. I just stopped and split up the band. It came out six months later. Of course, this is the record everyone loves..."

[jamiefairlie]

Breathless - Flowers Die

https://youtu.be/Fm9TcoieG7o



A cover of an Only Ones song, it was the B-side to the "Always" single, and also featured on fourth album, "Between Happiness and Heartache".

[Brundle-Fly]

Chlorine Dream - Spirea X Released on 4AD in 1991.





Underrated Scots turn with an underrated Scots tune.

After six years in the band, Jim Beattie left Primal Scream in 1988. Two years later he formed Spirea X, the name taken from a Primal Scream b-side (an instrumental track that he had written), announcing "We're going to do it...by having better songs, better melodies, better arrangements, better everything. By sheer force of ideas".. He must've been spitting nails when Screamadelica did so well.

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

[jamiefairlie]

Time to close off 1991 now, we'll start 1992 later on Wednesday so get your last entries in now.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The Beautiful South - Let Love Speak Up Itself



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX8y0hebI9g

Strange to think that songs we (or some of us at least) regard as classics weren't hits, but this didn't even sniff the arse of the top 40.

I first heard it when Vic and Bob guest-hosted a Sunday afternoon show on Radio 1 in the early '90s. This was one of Bob's choices. They were mucking about as usual, but he stopped me in my tracks here.

"That was a nice song, wasn't it, Andy?"

[Brundle-Fly]

Michelin Man- Momus  Released on Creation in 1991.



A zero out of 10 album review in the NME? Where do I sign up? I asked Nicholas Currie about this score at a Q&A back then. He said he and Betty are love rivals on the fetish scene and her hatred of him all stems from that. Hmm.

We've covered Momus before on AAHOPM so some background on this number. The album's third track, "Michelin Man", caused Momus to be threatened with legal action by the Michelin tyre company. They were angered by his use of their mascot, the aforementioned Michelin Man, an anthropomorphic pile of rubber inner-tubes, as a metaphor for hypersexual rubber fetishism. As a result, all unsold copies of the album were destroyed and future pressings of the album omitted the song from the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w37H_ttCy4A

[Oz Oz Alice]

Coil - Love's Secret Domain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G3MPHwRAwQ (video NSFW unless you work in a gay brothel in Thailand)

At points there is so much blurred movement that it almost sounds like an aural action painting. The album features guest vocals from Annie Anxiety, Rose McDowall and Marc Almond. Ex-This Heat drummer Charles Hayward adds the frenzied percussion to 'Love's Secret Domain' itself, as Balance pierces the veil and England's black heart stands exposed; 'O rose, thou art sick!' It functions as a damnation of the rotten state of British culture, a celebration of perversity and a Blakean call to arms.



Stephen Thrower on Charles Hayward's drums: I suggested we approach Charles. I think Geff and Sleazy were a bit wary of him because he was regarded as a bit of a 'lefty' but I pushed for him because I thought This Heat were so incredible. Geff loved some This Heat too, especially things like "24-Track Loop," and we would both listen to the Health & Efficiency 12" at maximum volume round at Beverly Road. Sleazy wasn't so sure. Then Charles came in, marched into the drum booth, set up, and started pounding and racing around the kit, at which point Sleazy was beaming. He started sampling him on the fly, which is where the drum loops for 'Scope' (from the Shock Records 7") came from.

Danny Hyde on "Further Back and Faster": I will remember to the day I die the convoluted hilarious back and forth dialogue between Geff and Steve both fuelled by drugs and lack of sleep discussing over and over whether it should be the left or right hand that "loved hate" and the political implications to that meaning, me and Peter almost collapsed in pain from laughing.

Coil use a lot of symbolism both aurally and visually. How important to you is this?
Jhonn: Just the way we think. The Black Sun is a weird one, it's what I call the "Millennial Emblem". I've noticed it in a lot of other people's stuff. All About Eve's video ended with a black sun and the Shamen have been using it in weird ways. It's like this strange shape is appearing and I don't know why. The one we used is taken from Aleister Crowley, originally. He drew it as a cipher for something. Then we used the chaos symbol which sort of dovetailed to the use of that in Chaos magic. We are going to do a book on expanding it all to see how many we can come up with. I'm going to get as many people in; just everything I can find on it. I've got a file on it but I know if I ask as many people as possible it could go on forever. It will be out by the autumn or something.

Balance remembers visions of larval shells rearing up like huge mummies in the booths. It was almost as if they'd found their way into one of the backrooms of the British Museum, as rows upon rows of 10 foot tall Amazonian warriors and Babylonian kings appeared to march through the control room. 'I'd see them sitting there,' Balance recounts. 'Touching each other and talking to each other. Everyone could definitely psychically sense that there was stuff going on all the time. Me and Steve were just sat looking back into the control room at all these entities pretending to be deities and Steve said, fuck that, we're not going in there. We didn't come out for four days straight. I remember staring at a curry and watching moles spring out of it, but I realised I'd been looking at it so long the thing had grown fur. Four days, just too scared to go into the control room because there were all these kings sitting there, twitching.'



"We shot 'Love's Secret Domain' in a go-go boy bar in Bangkok," says Sleazy, a smile flickering on his face, "with John performing onstage with about 20 or 30 dancing boys, which probably won't get played on MTV, in fact!"

Peter - "The problem we have with Crowley is the same problem we have with any organized religion - the dogma, the set of rules you have to live by. It doesn't mean we have to reject everything Crowley said and did. He basically said to follow your own nose, do what feels right to you. The power is within each of us. He was also an advocate for gay rights in a very hostile climate for such activity - Victorian England. As far as the pentagram goes, we don't use it as a satanic symbol, but as a symbol of sexual power honoring such gods as Mars and Mercury, who the OTO saw as sources of that power. We're just interested in the symbolism."

[Oz Oz Alice]

MIDI Rain - Always (Vocal Club Mix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIUmb5t2sPA

No elaborate quote map for this one but in an alternate universe John Rocca had a TOTP appearance with the Love's Secret Domain dancers in a show of solidarity with the Coil Boys. This is a nice, emotive piece of acid electro pop.

[Oz Oz Alice]

Grant Brothers - Trust The Night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnUcT27-ODQ

Alternate Pop History - While I can find nothing about this record, I do know it was used as the theme music for the Italian language dub of Queer As Folk that ran on the Night Box channel, broadcasting only in Warrington for some reason. Trust The Night by the Grant Brothers is saccharine, poppy Italo house and a great example of the genre.

[daf]

Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians – Lysander



Featured on the album 'Perspex Island' - released in October 1991

Pete Ficht : "Before we start, I must admit that I am in the Cult of Hitchcock, that small but loyal group of (mostly) alternative music fans who have fallen in love with this obscure British singer/songwriter/guitarist's peculiar vision. Hitchcock's music sounds like a brilliant mix of Beatles, Pink Floyd and Monty Python. His main gift seems to be setting bizarre, comic, bitter lyrics in beautiful, melodic pop settings. Hitchcock is also prolific: three albums with the Soft Boys in the late '70s, five solo albums in the '80s and six others with his band The Egyptians since '85.



"On this latest album (his third for A&M), producer Paul Fox (XTC's Oranges and Lemons) puts Hitchcock's 15-year career into perspective. The production is full and lush, and Fox has seemingly cut down on Hitchcock's occasional musical and lyrical obsessions (like fish, for example). On Perspex Island, Hitchcock has toned the humor down somewhat, his lyrics focusing more on personal and human themes. The first half of the album contains the usual uptempo, quirky pop songs, but it ends unusually with five slower, more reflective tracks. These showcase some of the best work he's done, such as the Lennon-esque "Ride" and "She Doesn't Exist," a haunting ballad with contributions from R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Peter Buck (who plays throughout).



"Hitchcock's own tasteful guitar playing (he was jangling while Peter Buck was still figuring out the A chord) has never sounded better. This album rode at the top of the college radio charts in October and November, but it probably won't break him big, although it should. But that's OK. There's room in our cult. Join us. We'll just keep him our little secret. For now."

[daf]

Andy Partridge – Wonder Annual



Recorded in April 1991 - released on 'Fuzzy Warbles Volume One' in 2002

Andy Partridge : "Actually a song about female masturbation, yay! Let's have more of it. This demo dates from April 91, and along with the 'Disappointed', was one of the last two things written for Nonsuch. Oh... How I wanted to record this for that album, or Wasp Star, or any. It's one of my very favourite unrecorded XTC songs, so I guess it'll exist only in this form. If lust equals knowledge, then I side with the snake."

This was one of the songs floating around on the demo tape that was circulated during their 'on strike' years in the 90's - along with other songs that were eventually re-recorded and released on the 'Apple Venus/Wasp Star' albums in 1999-2000. Hadn't realised it was so early, as most of the other songs dated from '94-'96.

[Oz Oz Alice]

Swans - Love Will Save You

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

Alternative History - Swans first single from White Light From The Mouth of Infinity, in its 4 minute radio edit, accompanied by a video starring Gira and Jarboe in cowboy hats performing a homage to Serge and Brigitte's Bonnie and Clyde video, peaked at 10 on the Billboard chart; in the UK we ignored it in favour of the record Kylie had just made with Genesis P-Orridge.

[Brundle-Fly]

Follow Me Not - Dream Warriors Released on 4th & Broadway in 1991.



I've only ever been a casual hip hop fan but loved that brief period when it sampled jazz and had that smoothness I just don't hear anymore with today's stuff.

Dream Warriors were a Canadian hip hop duo from Toronto, Ontario, originally comprising of King Lou (Louis Robinson) and Capital Q (Frank Allert). In 1994, Spek (Hussain Yoosuf) and DJ Luv (Phillip Gayle) were added to the line-up. They later left the group in 1997 and the group reverted to a duo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NQ9tqgPzo4

[Lungpuddle]

The Beautiful South - Let Love Speak Up Itself

Strange to think that songs we (or some of us at least) regard as classics weren't hits, but this didn't even sniff the arse of the top 40.

I first heard it when Vic and Bob guest-hosted a Sunday afternoon show on Radio 1 in the early '90s. This was one of Bob's choices. They were mucking about as usual, but he stopped me in my tracks here.

"That was a nice song, wasn't it, Andy?"

Every post of yours in here has been magical, but this one particularly. I'm assuming you've heard the version with Jacqui Abbott singing, but mentioning it on the off chance you haven't. I think this is the song about PH imagining his parents' marriage going south. When he goes into the "when you feel unhappy that I'm not the one I was" bit, find that very moving. I'm a fan of the band's work in general, but they have a few particulars that no other band can beat for getting me all emotional. Prettiest Eyes, Hold Me Close, Have Fun, that sort of thing. Have you heard his latest, Manchester Calling? Bit removed from the Beautiful South style, but I like it.

[jamiefairlie]

Welcome to 1992!

[jamiefairlie]

The Yesterday Sky - A winter´s dawn

https://youtu.be/fp-rJJNqusw



Ex=Field Mice members Bobby Wratten, Anne Mari Davies and Mark Dobson briefly formed Yesterday Sky in 1992 before becoming the more synth-oriented outfit Northern Picture Library. They released just this solitary track as part of the four track compilation "International Pop".

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Every post of yours in here has been magical, but this one particularly.

That's very kind, thank you! I love this thread, CaB at its best. A constant ear-opener.

I must admit, I haven't heard the Abbott version, nor have I heard Heaton's latest album. Thank you so much for the nudge, LP, I will definitely check them out.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zmy2oBGmPc

One of the saddest songs I have ever heard. You can never go back.

"That summer feeling is gonna haunt you one day in your life."

I, Jonathan is the fourth solo album by Jonathan Richman. As the founder of influential proto-punk band The Modern Lovers, Richman had strived to convey authentic emotions and storytelling with his music. I, Jonathan continued this aesthetic with simple and sparse rock and roll arrangements, and straightforward lyrics about mundane topics.

The album helped increase Richman's cultural profile, which would include a 1993 appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien during which Richman performed one of the album's songs, I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar.

[Jockice]

OU (Gone Gone) - Pulp

Sheffield's perennial also-rans make yet another bid to become well-known outside the city. Surely it's not going to happen this time. Is it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT8rPi7EIa8

Well, they did get the chance to do it at the Reading Festival two years later. Then disappear back into obscurity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HbcDPUbdSU

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Great choice!

[Jockice]

Ta!

[poodlefaker]

Chlorine Dream - Spirea X Released on 4AD in 1991.

Underrated Scots turn with an underrated Scots tune.

After six years in the band, Jim Beattie left Primal Scream in 1988. Two years later he formed Spirea X, the name taken from a Primal Scream b-side (an instrumental track that he had written), announcing "We're going to do it...by having better songs, better melodies, better arrangements, better everything. By sheer force of ideas".. He must've been spitting nails when Screamadelica did so well.

Remember when he insisted on being listed as "Jim Navaho" on the Scream's first album? What a tool.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Jim is a lovely fella. He may have been a daft, pretentious tool back then, but weren't we all?

Dunno what he's up to now, I hope he's retired and happy, but for years he devoted himself to helping Glasgow creative types on the dole. He was an absolute godsend to me and similarly skint friends of mine. A genuinely good man.

[Brundle-Fly]

The Path - Prototype  Released on Buzz in 1992.





Seeing as thirty years have passed since my first AAHOPM entry last August, I thought I'd refresh my memory and see who I posted. It was the brassy pop instrumentalists, Sounds Incorporated with Sounds Like Locomotion.

From Dartford to Ohio. Music has changed a bit, eh?  To aptly quote early nineties, Jarvis Cocker, 'Do you remember the first time?' _{when you posted an artist in that old thread}

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,82149.0.html

Anyway...

Prototype AKA Dan Curtin began his music career in 1992. His fascination with music was sparked ten years earlier when he discovered the burgeoning hip-hop movement. Hip-hop, along with new wave, electro, and other sonic innovations of the Eighties began to loom largely in his life, and it was only a matter of time before Curtin began experimenting with music creation himself. When he finally heard the futuristic sounds of house and techno, everything changed. Drawing influence from stargazing evenings with a telescope and late night drives through nearby Cleveland, Ohio; music production became Curtin's primary focus. Cleveland, a city not known as a hub for house music creation, was initially isolating. However, Curtin was able to observe the more prominent scenes of other cities without becoming part of or being identified with any one of them. He began designing a new sound in techno and house music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYmYAEsDxOA&t

[Norton Canes]

Can't believe we've had nothing from...

The Young Gods - Skinflowers

Released January 1992





Alternative pop history: Highest chart position 6 | Weeks on chart 11 | Top of the Pops studio performance 30^th January 1992

[Gregory Torso]

Can't believe we've had nothing from...

The Young Gods

I posted their debut 7" back in 1986... :(

TV Sky is a great album though.

[Norton Canes]

I posted their debut 7" back in 1986... :(

Oops sorry

[Gregory Torso]

Superconductor - Bush Pilot



Ridiculously heavy but also incredibly catchy, Vancouver band Superconductor had seven or eight guitarists, two bassists and one drummer. They were fronted by Carl (AC) Newman, who later went on to find international fame with The New Pornographers. Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices loved this band, as did I, although they were somewhat of a 'fucking around unit' to paraphrase.

Did a beautiful version of 'There She Goes' too.