The Indie Years 1986

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.

 

The Indie Years 1986 Spotify Playlist

           

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)

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 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)

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)

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)

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.

19) Wide Open Road by The Triffids (Mushroom)
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

The Indie Years 1985

I've taken a few years break from writing this blog but I'm back newly inspired and ready to push on to finish the Eighties and then tackle the monster that was the Nineties when Indie briefly went mainstream.  However ten years before Britpop is where this blog will land us.  1985 saw the arrival of two important bands - the Jesus & Mary Chain and The Stone Roses - a band that would later herald the "Resurrection of British Pop" as John Robb describes in his book of the same name.     

 

The Indie Years 1985 Spotify Playlist

1) Nowhere Fast by The Smiths (Rough Trade)
The Smiths released their four studio albums at a rate of one a year between 1984-87.  Given most of their later singles were not included on their albums this demonstrates a remarkable work rate.  They burned bright and fast before they burned each other and split up.  Nowhere Fast is taken from their second album Meat Is Murder and is a great example of the often overlooked humour of Morrissey, the ferocious melodic riffs of Johnny Marr and the tightness of the rhythm section comprised of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce.

2) Inbetween Days by The Cure (Fiction)
A single from the excellent Head On The Door album where the Cure mixed darkness and light with songs of despair, joy, pop and rock. This track and fellow single Close To Me were both huge hits accompanied by memorable videos on heavy rotation on MTV that completed the progression of the band from cult wonders to a worldwide pop phenomenon.

3) Just Like Honey by The Jesus And Mary Chain (Blanco y Negro)
Taken from debut album Psychocandy, the JAMC emerged from Glasgow in a swirl of melodies and feedback that would influence a generation of shoegaze bands.  Their drummer Bobby Gillespie left shortly afterwards to form the equally important genre-hopping Primal Scream.

4) Love Vigilantes by New Order (Factory)
Great song from Bernard Sumner about a soldier fighting in an overseas war always gives me the shivers.  Ambiguous lyrics can be understood in one of two ways.  Either the soldier returns home to find his wife had mistakenly been informed of his death or there was no mistake and it hasn’t sunk in yet.

5) Dirty Old Town by The Pogues (Stiff)
Excellent folk song from the Irish band taken from the album Rum, Sodomy and the Lash.  The song was originally written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 and was based on Salford, Manchester. It was a hit for The Dubliners in 1968 and has been covered many times over the last seventy years. 

 

 6) A New England by Kirsty MacColl (Stiff)
A cover of Billy Bragg’s original.  Bragg wrote an extra verse for this version.  Aside from her own releases Kirsty provided vocals to many groups including Talking Heads, Happy Mondays, The Smiths, The Wonder Stuff and Simple Minds over the years.

7) Walls Come Tumbling Down by The Style Council (Polydor)

Weller encourages the masses to unite and rise up to overthrow the Thatcher Government.  The Style Council joined with other left-wing artists to form Red Wedge a political youth movement associated with the opposition Labour Party. Weller’s experience of this left him disillusioned and he stepped back from overtly political songs after this.

8) Death Valley '69 by Sonic Youth (Big Blast)

Words can’t do justice to this aural onslaught. This is both unnerving and addictive in equal measures.

9) Downtown Train by Tom Waits (Island)
Great song from gravely voiced Tom Waits that later became a hit for Rod Stewart when he covered it in 1989.  This original version was taken from the Rain Dogs album selected as NME’s 1985 Album of the Year. Rain Dogs tells gritty tales of the New York underclass.

10) Tell Me by The Stone Roses (Thin Line)
Years before they became famous, the Roses were putting out singles on tiny labels and growing a local fan base in the North of England.  Their early material is interesting to see how they developed from a gothic punk band into the legendary band that delivered their debut album four years later.  The Stone Roses actually recorded an album in 1985 with several songs that would later emerge on the 1989 eponymous album.  However they weren't happy enough with the results and decided to can it and go back to the rehearsal rooms. 

11) Tupelo by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (Mute)

A song about the birth of Elvis during a storm in Tupelo Mississippi.  

12) Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven (I.R.S.)
I only know of this song because it was covered by the Manic Street Preachers as a B side over a decade later.  Great song, great band name and goofy lyrics that were written to deliberately deny any coherent story or meaning.

13) She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult (Beggars Banquet)
The biggest and best song by The Cult - actually I can only name one other Cult song but if it’s not She Sells Sanctuary then I’m not interested.

14) Kerosene by Big Black (Blast First)

US Punk band founded by Steve Albini who later became a recording engineer for many alternative artists and bands including Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Jarvis Cocker and The Wedding Present.

Kerosene is a song about the escaping the boredom of rural America by screwing and blowing shit up.

15) Flag Day by The Housemartins (Go Disc!)

The debut single from The Housemartins formed by Paul Heaton.  As a single it reached Number 124 in the UK charts.  It was included on their debut album London 0, Hull 4.

16) Move Me by The Woodentops (Rough Trade)

A South London band who formed out of The Jazz Butcher.

17) The Unforgettable Fire by U2 (Island)

Atmospheric rock track inspired by a photo exhibition of victims of the Atomic bombs dropped on Japan.

18) Welcome To The Pleasuredome by Frankie Goes To Hollywood (ZTT)

Following their trio of number one hits in ‘84 the Liverpool band just missed out on four straight number ones when this record stalled at number 2.  (Bloody Phil Collins).  

19) Like An Angel by The Mighty Lemon Drops (Dreamworks) 

A psychedelic punk band from Wolverhampton whose debut single Like An Angel appeared on the NME compilation cassette C86 and helped secure a number one in the Independent charts. 

20) This Is England by The Clash (CBS)

The final single from the punk legends. With infighting leading to main songwriter Mick Jones and drummer Topper being fired and law suits flying around.  Joe Strummer and manager Bernie Rhodes clashed over the musical direction, the use of drum machines, samples and new band members. The final album Cut The Crap was widely panned and Strummer dissolved the band in October’85.

Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1986
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

Mixtape August 2019

1st day of August and I've finished my blog on time.  I'm going to give myself the rest of the month off.

1) The Graveyard of the Outcast Dead by Frank Turner
An alternative Christmas song about a dead Southwark prostitute. Better than it sounds!

2)  Give Me Honey by Dope Lemon
Stoner rock from Angus Stone.  The Album Smooth Big Cat is my favourite so far this year.



3) Impossible Knots by Thom Yorke
Could this be Thom's funkiest bassline ever?

4)  Fly (King Britt Remix) by Low
The haunting vocals from the lo-fi rockers given a subtle remix tweaking.

5) In My Mind by Alice Ivy featuring Ecca Vandal
Cut N Paste Dream Pop

6) Martini (Happiness Is Wealth Disco Remix) by The Presets
Aussie dance track stretching out over nine minutes

7) Jacuzzi Rollercoaster by Roisin Murphy & Ali Love
A duet featuring Ali Love and Roisin Murphy formerly of Moloko fame.

8) Melody of Love (Adelphi Music Factory Remix) by Hot Chip
An awesome remix that sounds like an early nineties rave track.

9) Bizarre Love Triangle Live at MIF by New Order & Liam Gillick
New Order have released a live remix album of their greatest hits.  Bizarre Love Triangle remains one of my favourite songs of all time.  Always fun to hear new versions but the vocals are rather weak on this recording.

10) Linked by Bonobo 
Only discovered this ambient groove artist yesterday, 21 years into his career.  His last full album Migration makes a sublime late night listen.  Co-incidentally he was born two weeks after me and grew up in Hampshire.  We have never (knowingly) met. 


11) Dancing In Love by Alice Jemima
Lush new single - love her voice.

12) Talk It Out by Matt Corby & Tash Sultana
Two Aussies collaborating on a laid-back duet.

13) Once by Liam Gallagher
Sounding more like John Lennon than usual - not a fan of Liam's solo career but this cuts mustard.

14) Rollin With The Flow by Kurt Vile
A fantastic good time stoner country rock ballad originally recorded by Charlie Rich in 1977.

15) Walking Away From Love by Steve Mason
More quality daftness from the former Beta Band man.   



16) How Can A Head by The Flaming Lips featuring Mick Jones
It is now twenty years since the amazing 1999 album The Soft Bulletin and this sounds just as good.  The Flaming Lips more often than not get too weird to enjoy but their latest album King's Mouth: Music and Songs is a return to form.  This is Mick Jones from Foreigner (not The Clash).

17) Northern Holiday by Kaiser Chiefs 
The Kaiser Chiefs just released an excellent new album called Duck which recalls the bands glory days.

18) Restless (Riddim Punks Remix) by The Skints featuring Protoje
This has everything.  London's Skints - check, Jamaica's Protoje - check and drum n bass remix - check.  Happy listening!

19) One Club Town by Real Lies 
Love the heavily sampled nineties track - still trying to figure out what it is??? Answers on a postcard please.

20) Bullet With Butterfly Wings by Karen O.
A smashing Smashin' Pumpkins cover.

The Indie Years 1984

Ah 1984! The Mid-Eighties - when popular songs dealt with the drugs, racism, famine, homophobia, war, the afterlife and going to nightclubs, standing on your own and leaving on your own.  But it wasn't all social commentary and right-on politics some established artists like Paul Weller just wanted to shout to the top in a repetitive manner and the fledgling Red Hot Chili Peppers were just enthusiastic about jumping.  Good times! 

1) Original Sin by INXS

This song is about social conditioning and growing up with the beliefs of your parents. It was produced by Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers who suggested introducing the interracial relationship which in 1984 was considered controversial enough to get the song banned from several US radio stations.  It was a number one hit single in Australia and France and heralded the arrival of their fourth album The Swing.

2) The Killing Moon by Echo & The Bunnymen

Echo and the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch humbly describes this as “the best song ever written”.  Undoubtedly it the best song ever written by him.  He hasn’t described what the lyrics mean preferring to keep it mysterious and allowing the listeners to reach their own conclusions.  Ian said the “Fate up against your will” refrain was influenced by “To Be Or Not To Be”.  Typically Ian thinks his lyrics surpass William Shakespeare’s.

3) Thieves Like Us by New Order
Peter Hook rates this as New Order’s greatest song. Appropriately for a song called Thieves Like Us, Hooky admits he stole the baseline from a 1974 Hot Chocolate song called Emma.

4) Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow by Felt
Felt released ten albums between 1982 and 1989 before they disbanded leaving a distraught cult following.  They were too cult for me so I was unaffected at the time. 

5) Shout To The Top by The Style Council
Paul Weller takes his brand of white soul elevator music and sings "shout to the top" over it.

6) How Soon Is Now? by The SmithsT
his classic Smiths track was originally released as a B-Side to William, It Was Really Nothing.  A distinctive guitar intro displaying some of Johnny Marr's tightest riffs and some of Morrissey's bleakest lyrics.  A firm favourite of bedsitters wallowing in their self imposed isolation.       

7) A Sort Of Homecoming by U2

The rousing opening track from U2’s fourth album.  The lyrics include powerful imagery of bomb-blasts, explosions, fields of mourning and crucially “the land grows weary of its own”.  But the message is of overcoming the troubles tearing down walls and building bridges.

8) Don’t Go Back To (Rockville) by R.E.M.
 The Rockville in brackets could be replaced with any small town and the songs warns against moving backwards, wasting your time and getting stuck in a one horse town.  A sort of homecoming to be avoided. 

9) White Lines (Don't Do It) by Melle Mel & The Furious Five

Grandmaster Flash had already left the group over a dispute about the royalties from their previous hit The Message. Grandmaster Melle Mel, the leader of the Furious Five penned this social commentary on cocaine.  To make it commercially acceptable Melle Mel cynically inserted the “don’t do it” refrain.  Flash called out this hypocrisy saying “Now the guys are saying no to drugs on this new record, but I bet they’re out looking for the dope man just like me.”  The music was a re-recorded cover of a song called Cavern by liquid Liquid.

Incidentally the story about the businessman caught with drugs and released on bail was based on John DeLorean owner of the iconic 80s car. 

10) Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen
I always used to turn this off thinking it was an awful piece of  jingoistic crap with his arse on the cover.  It was only recently that I listened to the lyrics and realised it was actually a story about the psychological fallout of the kids drafted into the Vietnam War, brutalised  and rejected by their society when they returned - with his arse on the cover.

11) Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat 
An autobiographical story from Jimmy Somerville about getting away from the gay-bashing provinces and seeking a new life in more cosmopolitan city.  

12) Looking From A Hilltop by Section 25
A band five years ahead of their time - the opening beat sounds like The Shamen circa 1990.  This is a Blackpool band on the Factory Records label.

13) I Walk Away by Split Enz
By 1984 Tim Finn had quit the band and his younger brother Neil had taken over as the main songwriter.  I Walk Away was a taken from the final Split Enz album which was only released in Australia and New Zealand.  Neil Finn loved the song but felt it was overproduced and it was re-recorded as a stripped down version two years later and included on the first Crowded House album.  Whilst the best version is obviously subjective, and debate rages in some very nerdy corners of the internet, my preference is the Split Enz version.  

14) The Caterpillar by The Cure

The Caterpillar was the only single taken from The Top - a collection of psychedelic Cure rock songs mixing paranoia, pop and Eastern influences with mixed results.

15) Plateau by The Meat Puppets
A song about searching for the promised land or the afterlife and when you reach it there’s “nothing on top”.  A big influence on Nirvana who later toured together and performed this and two other Meat Puppet songs with them on their MTV Unplugged appearance.

16) Let's Go Crazy by Prince
Prince had a more uplifting view of the afterlife.  Starting with organs and a sermon on never ending happiness in the next life, Prince advised enjoying your mortal life before the grim reaper visits you.

17) 2 Minutes To Midnight by Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden’s song about the Atomic Armageddon Clock and the vested interests of the military industrial complex pushing the nuclear arms race.  It was released against a backdrop of increasing high tension between the West and the Soviet Union in the early eighties.  President Reagan described the Soviets as an Evil Empire after the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1980 and the US announced the development of a spaced based missile defence system dubbed Star Wars in 1983.  

18) Two Tribes - Annihilation Mix by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Two Tribes covers the same theme with pounding rhythms, American funk, Russian strings and a huge chorus. It spent 9 weeks at Number 1 in the UK and was a global hit.  I had the 12” and liked the air raid sirens, Ronald Reagan impersonations provided by Chris Barrie and apocalyptic yet calming public service announcements about radiation fallout and tagging your dead grandmother. 

19) Get Up And Jump by Red Hot Chili Peppers
This is the debut single from LA punk funk band Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

20) Do They Know It's Christmas Time? by Band Aid

This charity record to raise money for the Ethiopian famine was written and recorded in a rush to be released in time for Christmas.  Midge Ure of Ultravox and Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats collected their pop/rock star friends (Sting, U2, Bananarama, Duran Duran, Boy George) and gave them lines to sing.  The charity record raised over eight million pounds in a month and became the UK’s highest selling single holding that record for 13 years.  They followed Band Aid with the Live Aid concerts in 1985 to raise more funds.

Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1986
The Indie Years 1985
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

The Indie Years 1983

The Eighties are well under way here and a strong alternative scene was thriving.  New Order started dancing and fellow Mancunians The Smiths began their five year dominance of indie.  Liverpool unleashed Frankie Goes To Hollywood, from America R.E.M. and Talking Heads led the college radio scene and all around excellent alternative bands were busy releasing yearly albums at a work rate that would shame today's bands.    

1) Blue Monday by New Order (Factory)
New Order still refused to include their singles on their albums so Blue Monday was only available as a single.  The floppy disc sleeve with cut out sections cost more to produce than they sold it for.  It became the best selling 12-inch single of all time selling over 700,000 copies in 1983 and cost Factory Records a fortune.  Created as a song that could be played by the machines while the band went to the bar early it heralded the indie dance crossover and served as the blueprint for Madchester.

2) This Is The Day by The The (Epic)
Another classic song that was not popular at the time but its quality shines through the decades.  Harmonicas were all the rage in '83.

3) Hand in Glove by The Smiths (Rough Trade)
The brilliant debut single by The Smiths released on Rough Trade was not the huge hit single that Morrissey and Marr were expecting.  It reached #124 in the charts.  After it appeared on their debut album and was re-recorded with Sandie Shaw on vocals it did make the charts the following year.

4) Mad World by Tears for Fears (Phonogram)
A new wave hit taken from their debut album.  It was covered twenty years later for the soundtrack of the movie Donnie Darko and it became a #1 single for Michael Andrews and Gary Jules.

5) A New England by Billy Bragg (Utility)
Folk protest singer Billy Bragg wrote this a year before it was a hit for Kirsty MacColl.  This original only had two verses but Kirsty asked him to write another verse for her cover version.

6) This Is Not A Love Song by Public Image Limited (Virgin)
This was Public Image Limited's biggest hit single reaching the top 5 in the UK charts.  PiL were formed by John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten after he left the Sex Pistols.  PiL had started to head in a more commercial direction and this song was written as a response to their fans who believed they were selling out.


7) Dear Prudence by Siouxsie and the Banshees (Polydor)
Their second cover of a Beatles White Album song after Helter-Skelter.  Robert Smith of The Cure had joined the Banshees for two separate tours during their early years and wanted to appear on a Banshees record so suggested they released this cover which became their biggest hit.

8) Sugar Hiccup by Cocteau Twins (4AD)
Scottish rock band drench this track with lush guitars and nonsensical vocals and possibly invent dream pop.  I was listening to this track heavily years later whilst trying to feed my baby son mashed fruit and in my mind the lyrics will forever be "banana throw-up".

9) Burning Down The House by Talking Heads (Sire)
This was the result of Talking Heads attending a Parliament-Funkadelic gig and trying to emulate them.

10) Southern Mark Smith (Big Return) by The Jazz Butcher (Glass)
Name checking the leader of the Fall is one way to remain obscure and the Jazz Butcher achieved this easily.  And they went on to repeat this feat many times resulting in an obscure career.  However some members went on to star in The Woodentops.

11) Radio Free Europe by R.E.M. (Hib-tone)
Their debut single from 1981 re-recorded for their 1983 debut album "Murmur" it helped establish R.E.M. as a big band on the US College Radio circuit.  The lyrics were largely improvised and mumbled which would be Michael Stipe's preferred vocal method until the Mid-80's. 

12) Testify by Stevie Ray Vaughan (T-Neck)
Stevie Ray Vaughan sounds like the Jimi Hendrix of the 1980s and you can see what John Squire was aiming for on The Second Coming.


13) Sixty Eight Guns by The Alarm (I.R.S.)
Originally called The Toilets in 1977 these Welsh punks went through many line ups and several name changes (Quasimodo, Seventeen and Alarm Alarm) before they became The Alarm in 1981.  This was their biggest hit and was inspired by a book on 1960's Glasgow Street Gangs.  The Alarm are still touring and recording music but I've never heard anything else by them.   


14) New Year's Day by U2 (Island)
Taken from the War album, a song about the Polish Solidarity labour union movement which opposed the Communist Government.

15) Temple Of Love by Sisters Of Mercy (Merciful Release)
Gothic rock band formed in Leeds in 1980 who released several singles and three albums between 1980 and 1993.  Their biggest hit was an epic 1992 remix of this early single but here it is in the original form.


16) 99 Luftballons by Nena (Epic)
An anti-war song from West Berlin - It was re-recorded into English as 99 Red Balloons but the original was sung in German and tells a story of 99 air balloons being released on the border of the Iron Curtain which a pilot shoots down and this escalates into a full scale war. 

17) Temptation by Heaven 17 (Virgin)
Formed when some members of The Human League split away. Great dance tune which later featured in the disco scene in the film Trainspotting.

18) The Love Cats by The Cure (Friction)

One of the first happy poppy songs released by The Cure.  Unfortunately if you listen to the lyrics "Into the sea, you and me", is a reference to drowning cats in a bag.  Still they were definitely lightening up and subverting the mainstream.

19) Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood (ZTT)
Liverpool's FGTH originally released Relax in October '83.  It would sell millions of copies all over the world and become one of the biggest hits of the decade.  It was the first of their trio of epic singles covering the topical issues of the Mid-Eighties: gay sex, nuclear war and horny vampires.

20) The Trooper by Iron Maiden (EMI)
Maiden's Eighties output was very educational.  This single details the battle of the Balaclava in 1854 with a retelling of Lord Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Further Reading...

The Indie Years 1986
The Indie Years 1985
The Indie Years 1984

The Indie Years 1982

The Indie Years 1981

The Indie Years 1980

The Indie Years 1979

The Indie Years 1978

The Indie Years 1977

The Indie Years 1981

Britain in the Early Eighties enjoyed or suffered a sound track provided by old punks, new wave, new romantics and New Order.  Whilst many in Britain celebrated the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana this occurred against a backdrop of economic decline, unemployment racial conflict and police brutality which sparked riots in the inner cities with Brixton and Toxteth being the most infamous of a spate of unrest from disaffected youth across the UK.  The simmering resentment boiled over into battles with the police, arson attacks and looting.  This spirit was captured in many of the alternative acts of the time.  Whilst The Clash had a full back catalogue predicting a riot, it was ska revivalists The Specials who took their Ghost Town anthem to the top of the charts.


1) Ghost Town by The Specials

Addressing the themes of urban decay of the inner cities and the impact on the people who reside in the towns that closed down.  Named song of the year in 1981 by NME, Sounds & Melody Maker.  

The Specials original lineup split after this record forming Fun Boy Three and The Special AKA.

2) Rise Above by Black Flag
Henry Rollins joined as lead singer in 1981 and Black Flag recorded their debut album Damaged. Black Flag originally formed in 1976 but had issues with their major record company who didn't like their material and refused to release records.  They set up their own influential hardcore label SST to release their confrontational songs.

3) One In Ten by UB40
This song was the ratio for the unemployment figures in UB40's West Midlands during 1981 and is a statistical reminder of a world that doesn't care.

4) I'm In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk by The Freshies
In a change of styles here is an enjoyable song from a Manchester punk band formed by Chris Sievey who would later be known by his stage persona Frank Sidebottom.  Apparently they turned down a 14-year old Johnny Marr for an audition because he was too young. 

5) Pretty In Pink by The Psychedelic Furs
One hit wonders who struggled on for over a decade on the strength of these four minutes of pop genius.  This song didn't even make the Top 40 on its original release until it was rerecorded for a movie soundtrack five years later.

6) I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives by Television Personalities
No hit wonders - Television Personalities were unappreciated by the masses but they recorded excellent quirky songs like this ditty about finding the reclusive former Pink Floyd singer. 

7) Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads 
A sermon about drifting through your own life on autopilot and suddenly having a moment of clarity where you wonder WTF happened?

8) Primary by The Cure
Minimalist punk rock played on drums and two bass guitars.  It was the only single released from their gloomy third album Faith.  One critic panned this records as "hollow, shallow, pretentious, meaningless, self-important and bereft of any real heart or soul".  Can't win them all!  

9) Ceremony by New Order
The debut single from New Order who renamed themselves after the death of Ian Curtis the previous year and handed vocals to Bernard Sumner bringing in Gillian Gilbert on keyboards.  Initially they sounded very similar to Joy Division with dark melodies and Ceremony was originally recorded as a Joy Division song.  The band would travel to New York City later in 1981 where they experienced the dance clubs that provide the inspiration for their future direction.  They also had all their musical equipment stolen and they went shopping for synthesizers.
   
10) October by U2
Haunting piano played by The Edge on this title track from U2's second album.

11) Souvenir by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
OMD from Liverpool were already mixing piano with synthesizers so maybe New Order didn't need to cross the Atlantic to find their new direction.  Souvenir maybe a bit soppy but it successfully tugs at the heartstrings.

12) Idiot Strength by The Nightingales
Formed out of the ashes of Birmingham's first punk band The Prefects, this band had the third highest number of recordings for the Peel Sessions.


13) Rapture by Blondie
Blondie popularizes the New York Rap scene in one of the earliest international hits influenced by the underground.  Deborah Harry raps for the second half of this song.  She name drops Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash but soon runs out of lyrics and rambles on repeating herself and jibbering about the man from mars eating cars.  Rapture has been highly sampled in hip hop tracks ever since. 

14) The Magnificent Seven by The Clash
The Clash had also been influenced by hip hop and they also tried their hand at rapping with greater success in my opinion.  The Magnificent Seven was actually recorded six months earlier than Blondie's Rapture although it had a later release date. 

15) That's Entertainment by The Jam
Back to England and Paul Weller's acoustic song of frustration about city living and is so British it can transport you back with its vivid imagery.  All the way back to a place you'll want to leave!

16) Wunderbar by Tenpole Tudor 
A short lived punk band and another one hit wonder released on Stiff Records

17) Just Can't Get Enough by Depeche Mode
Infectiously catchy and the first sizable hit for Depeche Mode.  Main man Vince Clarke pulled the pin after this success and went on to form Yazoo and later Erasure.

18) One Step Ahead by Split Enz
Neil Finn's composition was a huge international hit which surprised him as he said "it hasn't got a proper chorus".

19) Tainted Love by Soft Cell
Marc Almond and David Ball met at Leeds Polytechnic and formed Soft Cell in 1977 after initial chart failures their record label gave them one last shot.  They recorded a cover originally recorded by Gloria Jones in the 1960's as a Northern Soul anthem.  Gloria was later a member of T.Rex and the girlfriend of Marc Bolan. Tainted Love was a huge international hit for Soft Cell who made a lot of money which went to Gloria as royalties. 

20) Invisible Sun by The Police
Sting's wrote this song about the power that people find to carry on living through war and disasters with Belfast and Lebanon being particular influences.

Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1977
The Indie Years 1978
The Indie Years 1979
The Indie Years 1980
The Indie Years 1982
The Indie Years 1983
The Indie Years 1984
The Indie Years 1985
The Indie Years 1986

Manchester

The horrific terrorist attack by Islamist extremists targeted against children at a music concert in Manchester last week was sickening and unforgivable.  My heart goes out to the family and friends of anyone affected by the events at the Manchester Arena.  The response and the stories of assistance showed the resilience from the people of Manchester.

I've been to a few gigs in Manchester when I was a student and I've always loved the music of the city - the Roses, the Mondays, the Smiths, Oasis, Joy Division and New Order.  One of my favourite films is 24 Hour Party People which depicts the Manchester music scene and the rise and fall of Factory Records with Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan).



So here is a playlist to celebrate the Music of Manchester over the last forty years.

Evil must never be rewarded and terrorists will not change the way we live.  

Madchester Will Rave On

Mixtape Oct 16

Here's twenty of the best new tracks I've uncovered in the last month with the regular Spotify playlist. Enjoy Indie Rocktober
 

Open playlist in Spotify 

1)  Love by Stonefield.
Four Aussie sisters from Victoria, Australia

2) People On The High Line (Richard X Remix) by New Order
Great dance remix of New Order track courtesy of Richard X

3) Randy by Justice
French dance masters with the full joyous version - please ignore the short changing radio edit 

4) Harvest Moon by Sunflower Bean
New York band with a cover of Neil Young

5) Never Say Never by Thundamentals
Funky Aussie Hip Hop 

6) Stonecutters by Dope Lemon
Another track taken from Angus Stone's excellent new album

7) Acid Rainbow by Sweat
Time to find the end of the acid rainbow according to this new sweat band from the UK

8) Still Breathing by Green Day
Green Day continue their revival with this being the second new song in two months that I've enjoyed

9) Robin Hood by Jamie T
This is one of my favourite tracks of the year and must be remembered when I start compiling an end of year wrap up.  It is a fitting tribute to the legend of The Clash

10) Hold On by Teenage Fanclub 
One of indie's greatest bands has returned after six years with their eleventh album called Here

11) Wow (GUAU! Mexican Institute Of Sound Remix) by Beck.
Awesome Mexican remix of his first single with an album expected in November

12) Grace by Work Drugs
A dreamy chilled out moment

13) Ceremony by Wussy
You can't beat a Joy Division cover (unless you're playing the original)

14) Ivy League by Alex Lahey 
Alex Lahey is an indie pop songwriter from Melbourne

15) Hearts To Kill by Palace Winter
Danish/Australian indie rock

16) Gotta Find A Way by The Frightnrs
New York group making classic early reggae sounds.  The singer Dan Klein died a couple of months ago but the band have just released this final album.   

17)  Olympic Village, 6AM by Belle & Sebastian
A cheesy instrumental offering from the Twee Overlords that reminds me of O.M.D.

18) Waste A Moment by Kings Of Leon.
No description necessary here.  Plus I've got nothing of interest to add.

19) The Opposite Of Us by Big Scary
Beautiful music from the Australian band who have released a new album this month called Animal

20) Just A Lover by Hayden James
A slab of laid-back Aussie house music to play us out

Albums of the Year 2015

The nights are getting longer/shorter/not changing depending on your latitude, which means the end of the year polls are coming.  I have been making a list and checking it twice.  

I can now reveal my top ten albums of 2015 and some additional recommendations that missed out on the cut.  In reverse order to maintain the illusion of rising excitement...

10.  Oh Inhuman Spectacle - Methyl Ethel 

Methyl Ethel are a band from Freo in Western Australia who have released a handful of singles and this debut album.  They sound like a lazy Summer's day and are destined for further greatness in the next few years.  Listen to the single below and marvel at how they incorporate a saxophone solo without sounding cheesy.  Not an easy feat!

9. Why Make Sense - Hot Chip

Infectious grooves from and for dorky indie dads.

8. Ancient Future - Protoje

Jamacian reggae from one of the biggest reggae artists from the Reggae Revival scene.  Check out my earlier post  if you love a bit of reggae.  This is the third album by Protoje and the video below features Chronixx who is another big root reggae superstar.

7. Music Complete - New Order

New Order have returned with the best album since Republic.  Despite losing Peter Hook to musical and personal differences they are reunited with Gillian Gilbert who had ten years off and with Tom Rowlings (The Chemical Brothers) as the producer. The singles are loaded up front on this album but I find the more interesting material is found on the second half of the record, which gets better and better as it progresses.   Iggy Pop also appears on the track Stray Dog.

6. Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance - Belle & Sebastian

The Scottish Twee Overlords return to vanquish all before them armed with some pop songs.

This is the first studio album for five years and their ninth album in their twenty year career.

It's a fantastic return and adds some classic tunes to their repertoire.

5. Currents - Tame Impala

Perth's Tame Impala make the crossover into the big time with this album of psychedelic dance pop tunes.  This is the second WA band to make my top ten but they are not the last.

4. The Light In You - Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev release their most accessible album of the century which almost hits the highs of their timeless 1998 classic Deserter's Songs.  So many top spacey rock tunes to wash over you.

3. Man It Feels Like Space Again - Pond

The third and final Perth band to grace my list is the unhinged poppy psychedelia of Pond.

2. The Wanderings Of The Avener - The Avener

The French Producer behind the worldwide smash hit Fade Out Lines released his debut album in January 2015 containing plenty of deep house covers and guest vocalists including Hope Sandovol of Mazzy Star and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.  A great laid back collection of modern dance music.

1. The Magic Whip - Blur 

It was 1999 when Blur last released an album with full attendance.  Since then there have been many great solo albums and side projects.  Damon formed Gorillaz and Good The Bad and The Ugly. Graham had a series of lo-fi solo albums.  Dave stood for Parliament and became a lawyer.  Alex wrote an autobiography and become a Cheese Farmer.  Blur's Magic Whip was recorded in a dingy Hong Kong recording studio when the band found themselves with a week to kill following the cancellation of a festival.  Whether The Magic Whip will be Blur's swansong is unknown but with Gorillaz revival in 2016, it could be the last for a while so enjoy it.  

   

Honorable Mentions to the following albums that just missed the cut...

Wasting Away And Wondering - The School

Multi-Love - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Born Under Saturn - Django Django 

A Dream Outside - Gengahr
Chasing Yesterday - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds