To explain how the Independent record labels were distinct from the Major record labels in the late Twentieth Century, l have to paint a brief picture of the record industry in the 1970's. I will keep it brief partly because it is fairly dull and mostly because I am not an authority.
The Major labels had whole corporations set up to produce, package, distribute and promote popular music if they believed they could could make huge profits. This was when people paid for music before the internet, downloading and streaming destroyed the profitability of the record industry. Therefore the music that appeared on the Majors was generally the established mainstream artists where the audience was known and financial risks were low. The Majors had contracts with the artists and they wanted each album to be, as Kurt Cobain put it, a "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter".
The Majors would often pay radio stations to play their latest singles on heavy rotation to promote the accompanying albums. Most radio stations rely on commercial money so needed to kelep audience numbers high. As a rule most people who tuned in to the stations wanted songs they knew to hum along to whilst they got on with their day. These factors meant that the airwaves were full of middle of the road adult orientated rock and probably still are, on the whole.
There was very little chance of new unknown and unsigned bands playing experimental music and inventing new sub-genres from breaking into such a market. The Majors would only be interested if they could see something they could flog by the container load to the youth market.
Some punk and new wave bands were "picked up" by the Majors, (or "sold out") however, in exchange for huge advances, they usually lost their artistic control. The Clash and the Sex Pistols both signed with Majors in the 1970's and were both majorly pissed off with the interference that was exerted on them. The songs Complete Control and E.M.I. were written in reaction to The Man.
So if you wanted to remain as an independent artist in control of your destiny and record a triple album of techno, jazz and punk then generally you needed to find or form an independent label.
The Do It Yourself spirit extended beyond playing the music to recording it, mixing it, creating the record sleeves, promoting it and delivery.
The music charts in the UK were made up from the sales returns of the chain record stores so if independent labels weren't getting their records into the high street shops then they were also excluded from the charts. In 1980 the first Independent Music Chart was compiled by the independent record stores consisting of any genre of music that was released on the independent label. The term Indie music came into popular usage in the 1980's. It has also been associated with a style or sound but the term was more about independence or lack of commercial appeal!
In this blog I am selecting twenty Indie tunes from the year 1980 and explaining why I think they are ace. I'm also not being overly fussy about whether the record was originally released on a Major or Independent label - if it has the spirit of Indie it's in. To borrow the quote from Primal Scream's Come Together...
"Today on this program you will hear gospel and rhythm and blues and jazz. All those are just labels, we know that music is music..."
1) Love Will Tear Us Apart (Martin Hannett Sessions) by Joy Division (Factory)
Joy Division's biggest hit with a singalong chorus is a tale of Ian Curtis's marital breakdown
Producer Martin Hannett recorded and remixed multiple versions trying to find the perfect definitive mix. He encouraged Ian Curtis to croon the song like a punk Frank Sinatra. Synthesizers replaced Bernard Summer's guitar and indicate the musical direction that the band were heading in.
Ian committed suicide soon after the single was released and their second album Closer made the Manchester band world famous and successful commercially. The Joy Division story is told in the excellent film 24 Hour Party People.
2) Final Day by Young Marble Giants (Rough Trade)
From out of Cardiff comes this song about a woman preparing her home and family against the onslaught of nuclear Armageddon in a short minimalist masterpiece accompanied by synthesized whines and a picked guitar. The final day promises total devastation followed by peace at last.
3) Redemption Song by Bob Marley and The Wailers (Island)
The reggae is gone in Bob Marley's classic acoustic lament beloved by the campfire guitarists of the world. The song's message is to strive to overcome hardships with faith, courage and self belief.
Bob had been losing a battle with cancer when he recorded what would become the closing song on his final album before he died in 1981. He implores the listener to take up the causes he believed in after his time. "Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom?"
4) A Forest by The Cure (Fiction)
Robert Smith took tight control of the The Cure's direction for their second album. Where Three Imaginary Boys had been a compilation of material written over their formative punk years, the new album Seventeen Seconds would be a more considered offering of minimalist atmospherics, sketchy instrumentals and some standout songs like this haunted gem.
5) D-7 by The Wipers (Park Avenue)
I don't understand the lyrics to Dimension-7 but this punk song is awesome. The Wipers were formed in Portland, OR by guitarist Greg Sage who craved the underground and stayed well below the radar. D-7 was covered by Nirvana which is the only reason I have even heard of the band.
6) Police On My Back by The Clash (CBS)
In 1980 The Clash were calling the shots and released Sandinista, a triple album with thirty-six songs influenced by hip hop, dub, jazz, folk, and every type of world music. For me they went too far and the quality suffers but there are a handful of tracks that cut through including this anti-police rocker sung over a siren. Career Opportunities played on a xylophone and sung by some kids is another highlight on the album.
7) Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins (Dindisc)
A song from a Canadian band daydreaming about escaping the drudgery of the life as an office drone to return to a fantastical beach paradise that seems faraway in time.
8) Ace Of Spades by Motorhead (Bronze)
The jewel in the crown of Motorhead's career is the gambler's anthem The Ace of Spades. With its tumbling drums, dirty guitar riffs and howling vocals of the filthiest rock n rollers on the planet it became an instant "live fast, die young" classic.
9) Cool by Pylon (dB)
Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Pylon played jagged guitar music with a yelping female vocalist. This was their debut single. Two obscure 80's albums were released and if it wasn't for R.E.M. championing them and their cover of Crazy on Dead Letter Office then I wouldn't have heard of them either.
10) People Who Died by The Jim Carroll Band (Atco)
Jim Carroll was a New York poet who briefly formed a band and recorded this vicious album. This song is a tribute to all his friends that had died too soon. Jim's autobiography "The Basketball Diaries" was made into a film in 1995 starring a very young Leonardo DiCaprio and is well worth watching. (Rotten Tomatoes disagrees 46%).
11) Shark Attack by Split Enz (Mushroom)
Another gem from Split Enz. Comparing his love to a deadly shark that will chew you up and spit you out. Contains the best lyrics ever written about being nibbled by sharks.
12) Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps by Splodgenessabounds (Deram)
A joke that wears thin on repeat listening but I recommend listening at least once a decade.
13) The Earth Dies Screaming by UB40 (Graduate)
This was the third single from UB40 in 1980 released on the independent Graduate label. The British Reggae band went on to become one of the biggest Reggae acts in the world from humble beginnings on the doll in a Birmingham bedsit.
14) Sketch for A Summer by The Durutti Column (Factory)
Manchester guitarist Vini Reilly released the debut album with a sandpaper record sleeve so it would destroy the other records in your collection. "It's good music to chill out to", says Steve Coogan in Twenty Four Hour Party People. Vini would later work with Morrissey on his debut album after the break up of The Smiths.
15) I Will Follow by U2 (Island)
Early track by U2 taken from their debut album Boy. I Will Follow has been their most played song through their live career according to some statto with far too much time on their hands.
16) Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except For Me And My Monkey) by The Feelies (Stiff Records)
The New York band played frantic jittery guitars released the Crazy Rhythms album in 1980 which includes this Beatles' cover. The Feelies album cover looks like Weezer's Blue Album but pre-dates it by 15 years and don't they look like a Mid-Nineties Blur? The record stiffed on release and the band resisted pressure to make commercial hits and split up instead. They reformed for a follow up in 1986 produced by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck who was another Feelies fan.
17) World Up My Ass by Circle Jerks (Frontier Records)
I discovered this L.A. hardcore punk band whilst compiling this blog and I did LMAO when I heard this defiant blast of extreme noise terror. Well worth seventy-two seconds of your day.
18) There Goes Concorde Again by ...And The Native Hipsters
A home recording that took the ear of DJ John Peel and entered the Independent charts in August 1980. They recorded further material but not even I've ventured that far left-field. (lol)
19) Baggy Trousers by Madness (Stiff)
Beloved by 80's school kids a nutty song about getting through school (teachers and pupils) and much more fun than Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall. Madness were massive in the early 80's and had many hits between 79 and 86. They reform all the time and still release new music to their hardcore fanbase.
20) Going Underground by The Jam
Rivaling Madness in UK chart success were The Jam who released singles ever few months and a new album every year. Going Underground went straight to number 1 on its first week of release.
This is a rant about turning your back on society and literally going underground and leaving the politicians, the media and the general public to deserve each other.
Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1977
The Indie Years 1978
The Indie Years 1979
The Indie Years 1981
The Indie Years 1982
The Indie Years 1983
The Indie Years 1984
The Indie Years 1985
The Indie Years 1986
1) Love Will Tear Us Apart (Martin Hannett Sessions) by Joy Division (Factory)
Joy Division's biggest hit with a singalong chorus is a tale of Ian Curtis's marital breakdown
Producer Martin Hannett recorded and remixed multiple versions trying to find the perfect definitive mix. He encouraged Ian Curtis to croon the song like a punk Frank Sinatra. Synthesizers replaced Bernard Summer's guitar and indicate the musical direction that the band were heading in.
Ian committed suicide soon after the single was released and their second album Closer made the Manchester band world famous and successful commercially. The Joy Division story is told in the excellent film 24 Hour Party People.
2) Final Day by Young Marble Giants (Rough Trade)
From out of Cardiff comes this song about a woman preparing her home and family against the onslaught of nuclear Armageddon in a short minimalist masterpiece accompanied by synthesized whines and a picked guitar. The final day promises total devastation followed by peace at last.
3) Redemption Song by Bob Marley and The Wailers (Island)
The reggae is gone in Bob Marley's classic acoustic lament beloved by the campfire guitarists of the world. The song's message is to strive to overcome hardships with faith, courage and self belief.
Bob had been losing a battle with cancer when he recorded what would become the closing song on his final album before he died in 1981. He implores the listener to take up the causes he believed in after his time. "Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom?"
4) A Forest by The Cure (Fiction)
Robert Smith took tight control of the The Cure's direction for their second album. Where Three Imaginary Boys had been a compilation of material written over their formative punk years, the new album Seventeen Seconds would be a more considered offering of minimalist atmospherics, sketchy instrumentals and some standout songs like this haunted gem.
5) D-7 by The Wipers (Park Avenue)
I don't understand the lyrics to Dimension-7 but this punk song is awesome. The Wipers were formed in Portland, OR by guitarist Greg Sage who craved the underground and stayed well below the radar. D-7 was covered by Nirvana which is the only reason I have even heard of the band.
6) Police On My Back by The Clash (CBS)
In 1980 The Clash were calling the shots and released Sandinista, a triple album with thirty-six songs influenced by hip hop, dub, jazz, folk, and every type of world music. For me they went too far and the quality suffers but there are a handful of tracks that cut through including this anti-police rocker sung over a siren. Career Opportunities played on a xylophone and sung by some kids is another highlight on the album.
7) Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins (Dindisc)
A song from a Canadian band daydreaming about escaping the drudgery of the life as an office drone to return to a fantastical beach paradise that seems faraway in time.
The jewel in the crown of Motorhead's career is the gambler's anthem The Ace of Spades. With its tumbling drums, dirty guitar riffs and howling vocals of the filthiest rock n rollers on the planet it became an instant "live fast, die young" classic.
9) Cool by Pylon (dB)
Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Pylon played jagged guitar music with a yelping female vocalist. This was their debut single. Two obscure 80's albums were released and if it wasn't for R.E.M. championing them and their cover of Crazy on Dead Letter Office then I wouldn't have heard of them either.
10) People Who Died by The Jim Carroll Band (Atco)
Jim Carroll was a New York poet who briefly formed a band and recorded this vicious album. This song is a tribute to all his friends that had died too soon. Jim's autobiography "The Basketball Diaries" was made into a film in 1995 starring a very young Leonardo DiCaprio and is well worth watching. (Rotten Tomatoes disagrees 46%).
11) Shark Attack by Split Enz (Mushroom)
Another gem from Split Enz. Comparing his love to a deadly shark that will chew you up and spit you out. Contains the best lyrics ever written about being nibbled by sharks.
12) Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps by Splodgenessabounds (Deram)
A joke that wears thin on repeat listening but I recommend listening at least once a decade.
13) The Earth Dies Screaming by UB40 (Graduate)
This was the third single from UB40 in 1980 released on the independent Graduate label. The British Reggae band went on to become one of the biggest Reggae acts in the world from humble beginnings on the doll in a Birmingham bedsit.
14) Sketch for A Summer by The Durutti Column (Factory)
Manchester guitarist Vini Reilly released the debut album with a sandpaper record sleeve so it would destroy the other records in your collection. "It's good music to chill out to", says Steve Coogan in Twenty Four Hour Party People. Vini would later work with Morrissey on his debut album after the break up of The Smiths.
15) I Will Follow by U2 (Island)
Early track by U2 taken from their debut album Boy. I Will Follow has been their most played song through their live career according to some statto with far too much time on their hands.
16) Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except For Me And My Monkey) by The Feelies (Stiff Records)
The New York band played frantic jittery guitars released the Crazy Rhythms album in 1980 which includes this Beatles' cover. The Feelies album cover looks like Weezer's Blue Album but pre-dates it by 15 years and don't they look like a Mid-Nineties Blur? The record stiffed on release and the band resisted pressure to make commercial hits and split up instead. They reformed for a follow up in 1986 produced by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck who was another Feelies fan.
17) World Up My Ass by Circle Jerks (Frontier Records)
I discovered this L.A. hardcore punk band whilst compiling this blog and I did LMAO when I heard this defiant blast of extreme noise terror. Well worth seventy-two seconds of your day.
18) There Goes Concorde Again by ...And The Native Hipsters
A home recording that took the ear of DJ John Peel and entered the Independent charts in August 1980. They recorded further material but not even I've ventured that far left-field. (lol)
19) Baggy Trousers by Madness (Stiff)
Beloved by 80's school kids a nutty song about getting through school (teachers and pupils) and much more fun than Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall. Madness were massive in the early 80's and had many hits between 79 and 86. They reform all the time and still release new music to their hardcore fanbase.
20) Going Underground by The Jam
Rivaling Madness in UK chart success were The Jam who released singles ever few months and a new album every year. Going Underground went straight to number 1 on its first week of release.
This is a rant about turning your back on society and literally going underground and leaving the politicians, the media and the general public to deserve each other.
Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1977
The Indie Years 1978
The Indie Years 1979
The Indie Years 1981
The Indie Years 1982
The Indie Years 1983
The Indie Years 1984
The Indie Years 1985
The Indie Years 1986
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