Welcome to the tenth installment of my indie retrospective where I will cover the music of 1986. I looked at the news of the year and three stories jumped out at me - The US Challenger shuttle explosion, the Chernobyl meltdown and the Mexico '86 World Cup. In fashion I recall everyone at school had to have one lime green and one fluro orange sock or you weren't cool. At the cinema Crocodile Dundee, Aliens Platoon and Top Gun were playing. And the indie soundtrack is detailed below.
1) There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths (Rough Trade)
Released on The Queen Is Dead album and considered as a potential single. The doomed romantic theme and lyrics “to die by your side - well the pleasure and privilege are mine” were deemed too dark for 1980s radio playlists. The song topped John Peel’s Festive Fifty in 86 and the song finally got released as a single in 92 to promote a Best Of collection. Safe to say that There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is one of the greatest and most beloved indie songs of all time.
2) Really Stupid by The Primitives (Lazy)
Thrashing garage pop with squalling guitars. The Primitives were a indie band from Coventry who existed between 84-92 Success eluded them at this stage but they did score a UK hit in 1988 when Crash reached #5 in the charts.
3) All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit by Half Man Half Biscuit (Probe Plus)
Taken from the debut EP The Trumpton Riots. This song reminisces about childhood games Scalextric and Subbuteo and how they were unreliable and led to fights. “And you’ll always get palmed off with a headless centre forward and a goalkeeper with no arms and a face like his”.
4) I Believe by R.E.M. (I.R.S.)
First single from their fourth album. Stripe’s vocals were clearer, more audible and less mumbled on the Life’s Rich Pageant album so he got the chance to be the voice of a generation and deliberately rejects it with stream of consciousness lyrics that proclaim nothing more than platitudes. “I believe in Coyotes and time as an abstract”. Elsewhere on the album R.E.M. introduce environmental and political songs (Cuyahoga, The Flowers of Guatemala and Fall On Me).
5) And She Was by Talking Heads (Sire)
5) And She Was by Talking Heads (Sire)
A song about a girl who keeps floating around her neighbourhood, very high on acid.
6) Freaky Dancin by Happy Mondays (Factory)
The funk pop of Happy Mondays is unmistakable on this early single. Shaun’s unique vocal technique hasn’t evolved much over the years and the band speed up as the song goes on. The Mondays just did what they wanted and the World bent around them accepting these Mavericks just as they are.
7) Happy Hour by The Housemartins (Go! Discs)
The funk pop of Happy Mondays is unmistakable on this early single. Shaun’s unique vocal technique hasn’t evolved much over the years and the band speed up as the song goes on. The Mondays just did what they wanted and the World bent around them accepting these Mavericks just as they are.
7) Happy Hour by The Housemartins (Go! Discs)
The upbeat drinking song that propelled The Housemartins into the charts and a place on every pub jukebox. Obviously the lyrics undercut the cheery bonhomie of after work drinks with the closed minds and sexist work colleagues. “It’s Happy Hour Again, I think I might be happy if I wasn’t out with them”. Paul Heaton would return to the dark side of drinking many times in his career. Refer to Old Red Eyes Is Back by The Beautiful South for example.
8) Velocity Girl by Primal Scream (Creation)
This 82 second rush of indie pop adrenaline was released as a B-side. It opened NME’s C86 compilation cassette that gave a name to the alternative jangly guitar power pop sound that dominated the compilation.
9) Always The Sun by The Stranglers (Epic)
The Stranglers pre-dated Punk, embraced it and survived it. This mid 80s poppy rock song is enhanced by the lyrics which pose many rhetorical questions, with a singalong chorus. There are some nice guitar parts here, pneumatic drumming and an impressive cramming of too many words at the end of each verse.
10) E=MC2 by Big Audio Dynamite (Columbia)
10) E=MC2 by Big Audio Dynamite (Columbia)
After being fired from The Clash, Mick Jones created a new band B.A.D. which combined funk, reggae, dance and were early adopters of sampling music and film clips. Joe Strummer later reunited with Mick Jones and co produced and co-authored much of B.A.D.’s second album.
11) Black Hole by James (Sire)
After a couple of EPs released on Factory, Manchester’s James released two albums on the Sire label. A popular live band with a strong local following they had time to develop out of the spotlight before they emerged on the indie discos of the early Nineties.
12) Sometimes by Erasure (Mute)
12) Sometimes by Erasure (Mute)
Erasure’s fourth single was a great seductive pop song which made #2 in the UK charts. Vince Clarke had already been a founding member of Depeche Mode and Yazoo before teaming up with singer Andy Bell and forming the Synth-pop duo Erasure in 1985. They are still playing together 35 years later.
13) Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order (Factory)
My favourite New Order song - there have been so many versions and remixes of this over the years and I love them all. Pop Heaven.
14) Some Candy Talking by Jesus And Mary Chain (Creation)
Is it about sex or drugs? It’s certainly Rock n Roll and influenced by the Velvet Underground who recorded the similarly titled “Candy Says”.
15) Once More by The Wedding Present (Reception)
Second single from Leeds based The Wedding Present, featuring their trademark frantic guitars and drums with David Gedge’s distinctive vocals pleading for one more chance.
16) Infected by The The (Some Bizarre)
16) Infected by The The (Some Bizarre)
The The With a song about love being a sickness.
17) Rise by Public Image Ltd (Virgin)
An anti-Apartheid protest record written about Nelson Mandela (still a political prisoner at the time).
"Anger is an energy" screams John Lydon. Ten years after Anarchy In The UK, his fire is still burns.
18) Ballard of the Band by Felt (Creation)
Lawrence feels like giving in after years of no fame and no money. He carried on for another three years and disbanded the band in 89 having released 10 albums in 10 years. He later formed Denim.
Post-Punk band from Perth, Western Australia with a tale of the loneliness and the freedom of the outback. A true blue Aussie classic.
20) Swamp Thing by The Chameleons (Geffen)
What an intro! Trippy, twangy guitars and a steady dance beat For the first two minutes. This Manchester band had three albums in the mid 80s and Swamp Thing was their final and highest charting single reaching the giddy heights of #82. Noel Gallagher was a big fan and has cited them as a major influence on his songwriting. It would have been interesting to see where The Chameleons could have gone if they were still active during the Madchester years.
Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1985
The Indie Years 1984
The Indie Years 1983
The Indie Years 1982
The Indie Years 1981
The Indie Years 1980
The Indie Years 1979
The Indie Years 1978
The Indie Years 1977
What an intro! Trippy, twangy guitars and a steady dance beat For the first two minutes. This Manchester band had three albums in the mid 80s and Swamp Thing was their final and highest charting single reaching the giddy heights of #82. Noel Gallagher was a big fan and has cited them as a major influence on his songwriting. It would have been interesting to see where The Chameleons could have gone if they were still active during the Madchester years.
Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1985
The Indie Years 1984
The Indie Years 1983
The Indie Years 1982
The Indie Years 1981
The Indie Years 1980
The Indie Years 1979
The Indie Years 1978
The Indie Years 1977
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