DEVO- Live (1981)

Am I alone in thinking that the 'whacky' imagery of this group (you know, the jumpsuits, ziggurat hats and big geeky glasses) was actually very sinister? Whatever, the music was good, and performed live it has a nice hard energy to it.
Originally recorded for The King Biscuit Flower Hour live at the Fox Warfield San Francisco, 16 August 1980. This is a rip of the Virgin 12” release. The EP spent three weeks at the top of the Australian charts in 1981.

Mark Mothersbaugh – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Gerald V. Casale – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
Bob Casale – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Bob Mothersbaugh – guitar, vocals
Alan Myers – drums

Bauhaus – Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape (1982)

It must be pretty frustrating downloading these vinyl rips from Burning Aquarium- some of the discs I rip surprise me with the enduring quality (I mean lack of scratches and surface noise) and then occasionally there are others like this! This vinyl has obviously taken a battering over the years- there are two really nasty bites in the opening track but after that it’s not too bad, so relax. Bauhaus’ music was pretty ictal anyhow, and they even called their best of compilation Crackle.
These recordings captured Bauhaus live in Liverpool and London in the winter of 1981-82.
By the way, it says on the label PLAY VERY LOUD and I’m not going to argue with that.
Again, I’ve not split the tracks up.

Stiff Little Fingers, Hanx! (1980)

Here's a vinyl rip of another essential album of its era. 5 of these songs were singles.
Recorded live in July 1980 (Johnny Was at the Rainbow, all other tracks at Aylesbury) this LP was initially intended as a USA only release prior to the bands' US tour.
I was very small as a kid- and when I was 13 SLF played in Llanelli.Unbelievable! Hardly anyone ever played in Llanelli. It was over 18's and I looked about 8. I was spared the ignominy of being refused entry ( I would have seen fuck all anyway) by not having the balls to defy my old man (what an anarchist I was!). So whilst one of my favourite groups played 5 miles from my house I was playing cricket in the park, or something like that...
In the interest of continuity I haven't split the tracks up.
Jake Burns – vocals, guitar
Jim Reilly – drums
Henry Cluney – guitar
Ali McMordie – bass

The Stranglers- Live (X Cert) (1979)

Another of those LPs from my adolescence that brings back the taste of warm beer.
The tracks were recorded at The Roundhouse in June and November 1977 and at Battersea Park in September 1978. It was the band's fourth album release and their fourth consecutive top ten album in the UK.
For younger readers: The X certificate , replaced by the 18 certificate, was a film classification that from 1970 to 1982 meant suitable for those aged 18 and over.
Proper Stranglers line up, proper Stranglers record. 1979 saw the release of The Raven and the beginning of their slide into loopiness.
In the interest of continuity I haven't split the tracks up.

Hugh Cornwell- vocals, guitar
J-J. Burnel - bass, vocals
Dave Greenfield- keyboards
Jet Black- drums

The Ruts- Grin And Bear It (1980)

During 1980-81 us schoolboys experienced a fair amount of grief.
Bongo mourned for Lennon, Psycho cried when Marley died, Curtis caught us all out. But I mourned most of all for Malcolm Owen, who died from a heroin overdose on July 14th 1980 at the age of 26.
These Southall boys, part of the People Unite collective, fused punk and reggae sounds and themes with streetwise political sensibilities.
A sort of working class version of The Clash…

Malcolm Owen -vocals
Paul Fox -guitar
John "Segs" Jennings -bass
Dave Ruffy -drums

Billy Childish -Thee Milkshakes (1984) -Thee Headcoats (1993)

What we have here are two live sets featuring the great Billy Childish.
Thee Milkshakes recorded in 1984 and Thee Headcoats from 1993.
The King of Garage Rock- Childish has produced over 100 LP’s with his various bands, in addition to writing 40 volumes of poetry and producing hundreds of paintings.
This is the sort of stuff that should make you dust down that old guitar…
The file contains sleeve notes, line ups etc.

The Birthday Party- Drunk on the Pope’s Blood. Lydia Lunch - The Agony is the Ecstacy (1982) Split 12"

The Birthday Party side of this split 12” was subtitled 16 Minutes Of Sheer Hell. There was a frenzied wrath about The Birthday Party's live performances, and violence was never far beneath the surface.
The Lydia Lunch track is a plangent dirge set against a great soundscape of feedback and distorted guitars underpinned by a solid gothic drum beat.
Dark stuff indeed.
Line ups:
Birthday Party:
Phil Calvert- drums
Tracy Pew- bass
Mick Harvey- guitar
Rowland S Howard- guitar
Nick Cave- vocals

Lydia Lunch:
Christian Hoffman- drums
Steven Severin- guitar
Murray Mitchell- guitar
Lydia Lunch- vocals

The Special AKA- Live! (1980)

The Specials were the punkiest of the new wave of ska bands, thanks in part to the edgy guitar of Roddy Byers and also the social consciousness of their original songs. Their early records launched my enduring passion for ska and rocksteady, leading me to explore the history of Jamaican music and track down the originals that inspired the 2 Tone movement.
2 Tone was commercially successful in a way that punk had never been. In 79-80-81 The Specials / Special AKA scored 7 consecutive top ten hits, including 2 number ones, ...
the music and image had mass appeal, particularly with younger kids. The porkpie hats, the sta pressed, the braces, the dances, the shades- it was all there on a plate and served up by numberless market stalls. This EP went to number one in the UK charts in January 1980. The lead number, a breakneck version of a track off the band's debut LP, was a reworking of Lloyd Charmers' Birth Control . The remaining tracks are covers of 60's Jamaican classics that would pepper generations of ska compilations.
Terry Hall - vocals
Jerry Dammers - keyboards
Lynval Golding - rhythm guitar, vocals
Neville Staple - toasting, backing vocals, percussion
Roddy Byers (Roddy Radiation) - lead guitar
Horace Panter (Sir Horace Gentleman)- bass guitar
John Bradbury (Brad) - drums
with
Rico Rodriguez - trombone
Dick Cuthell - flugel horn

Bauhaus-Satori in Paris (1982)

Satori , literally understanding , is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment. Satori in Paris was issued free with the initial release of the Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape live LP, as well as on the New Rose label in France. (This is the Beggars Banquet issue) Both tracks (Double Dare and Hair of the Dog) were recorded live at Le Rose Bon Bon, Paris, France on December 3rd 1981.
The record takes its name from Jack Kerouac’s unenlightening 1966 account of a drunken trip to France in search of his roots.

R.E.M- Live at Tyrone's OC, Athens, GA, May 12th 1981

Okay, here’s another live bootleg for you.
It’s May the 12th 1981 and the venue is Tyrone’s, Athens, GA.
The band is REM.
Enjoy

The Smiths - Hacienda, Manchester, July 6th 1983

It's a pity you didn't sign the Smiths…
God to Tony Wilson, in the movie 24 Hour Party People.

Here's another film:
In 1982 Factory Records impresario Tony Wilson opened a nightclub in a disused Bollywood cinema . It was named The Hacienda (The name comes from a slogan of the radical group Situationist International: "The Hacienda Must Be Built", from Formulary for a New Urbanism by Ivan Chtcheglov)and given the Factory catalogue designation FAC 51.
This was The Smiths 14th gig, their 2nd at the Hacienda. To date they had only released one single. Two days previously Morrissey had given his first national radio interview on the David Jensen Show.
Press:
Smiths sign to independent label Rough Trade
The Smiths, generally considered one of the brightest prospects to emerge this year, have signed a long-term deal with Rough Trade Records. They say this "represents a conscious decision of preference" for the independent label, which was competing against three major labels, one of whom offered a six-figure cash advance. Their single 'Hand in Glove' has already been released, and they are currently in the studio with producer Troy Tate recording tracks for their first album and follow-up single.
New Musical Express, July 9, 1983

Why the importance in carrying flowers?
Morrisey: "They're symbolic for at least three reasons. We introduced them as an antidote to the Hacienda when we played there; it was so sterile and inhuman. We wanted some harmony with Nature. Also, to show some kind of optimism in Manchester which the flowers represent. Manchester is so semi-paralysed still, the paralysis just zips through the whole of Factory..."
Sounds, June 4, 1983
Line up for those born too late or just plain indifferent:
Morrissey- voice
Johnny Marr- guitar
Andy Rourke- the bass
Mike Joyce- drums

Ramones- Its Alive (1979- recorded 1977)

Hey, ho, let’s go…
If a traveller from another planet ever lands here at Walker Towers and asks the question what’s this rock n roll thing I’ll play him some Ramones.
Simple simple stuff. The brilliance lies in the simplicity, the raw energy.
The minimalism of the music is matched by the purity of the imagery:
Biker jackets, torn jeans, T shirts and Chuck Taylors.
Johnny and his Mosrite guitar. Bubblegum and John Holmstrom cartoon strips…
Recorded on December 31st 1977 at The Rainbow Theatre, London, although according to this 2008 interview with Marky Ramone - It's Alive was redone in the studio. You keep the drum track, and then Joey and Dee Dee and Johnny did it over in the studio.
Up to you whether you believe that or not.

Line up:
Joey Ramone - vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
Dee Dee Ramone - bass, backing vocals
Tommy Ramone - drums

The Cramps Live at Napa State Hospital (1978)

This is our first movie post. In much the same way that I still refer to all recorded music as ‘records' I am still inclined to refer to any moving picture media as ‘a film’. I may post the occasional film, but it won’t happen that often.
The other day I was leafing through The British Journal of Psychiatry and I came across an article on music therapy for in-patients with schizophrenia
(2006 189: 405-409. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.105.015073 if you’re interested) that reminded me of this film.
Whatever you want to call that genre of raw B- movie horror horror punk that has its roots in early rockabilly and still flourishes to this day, The Cramps bestrode it like a 60 foot woman. How about Rock n Roll?
Napa State Hospital, California a 500-bed, four-story, Gothic-style asylum opened in 1875, when the institution in San Francisco became overcrowded.
In June 1978 The Cramps gave a free concert for patients at the Napa State Hospital that was recorded on a Sony Portapak by the San Francisco collective Target Video

Line up:
Nick Knox- drums
Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy -guitar
Bryan Gregory –guitar

In his treatise Meanings of the Intellect al-Farabi(872–950), dealt with music therapy, where he discussed the therapeutic effects of music on the soul.Robert Burton wrote in the 17th century in his classic work,The Anatomy of Melancholy, that music and dance were critical in treating mental illness, especially melancholia.So how about this?

R.E.M- Live at Mansfield, MA- 15th September 1989

Sooner or later I had to post something by R.E.M.
Brad said that he was originally from Scranton, PA. His dad had inherited some farm and they’d moved to the mid west. Brad hated it there. He actually preferred to be here in Wales. I suppose it must be cool to be considered exotic. On one arm he had an American eagle tattoo, and he soon balanced this out with a Welsh dragon on the other. I remember that on his door he had a front page cutting from some US paper: ‘Ethel Merman Dead.’ One day I called on Brad. The floor and the bed and the desk in his room were completely covered in playing cards. Brad was seated, cross-legged on top of the wardrobe. He had about twenty fresh packs of cards beside him and he was tossing cards down onto the floor. There must have been thousands of cards in the room. I didn’t ask anything. ‘The patterns, man, the fucking patterns…’ he said, entranced.
This is for Brad. It’s a soundboard recording of R.E.M, live at Mansfield, MA- 15/9/89. I think it’s just the second half of the gig, but still 13 songs or so.

The B52's- Live (1978)

When I was a boy, living in the sort of naive haze induced by the soporific fumes of Airfix glue, I assumed that The B52’s must have taken their name from the bomber aircraft. In my addled adolescent mind their retro style conjured up images of those Sailor Jerry/ Memphis Belle type pin ups that were painted on the nose cones of Yankee planes.
But no. My mother told me. The B52 was also a hairdo. The sort of hairdo that those girls wore (or affected to wear, they were wigs, you know?)
Incidentally there was a time when I lusted after Cindy Wilson with every cell in my tormented body. If you’re reading this Cindy…ah, too late now.
These eight tracks were recorded live in the band’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, in 1978. The quality is fine. Oh, and Rock Lobster isn't on it.
Line up:
Cindy Wilson (vocals),
Ricky Wilson (guitar)
Kate Pierson (organ, vocals)
Keith Strickland (drummer)
Fred Schneider (cowbell, vocals)

The Monochrome Set- Fin (1985)

I must have been sleeping! My next post was going to be The Lost Weekend by The Monochrome Set- a classic from truly the most remarkable of the post punk art school type bands of the eighties. (I already regret that half arsed attempt to categorise them, but in my defence I plagiarized it from Cherry Red Records!) But when I was doing my homework I found out that this delightful LP had been rereleased on CD in February – so go out and buy it you lucky people.
In the meantime here’s Fin. This LP comprises live recordings from 1979-1985, including two tracks from a TV appearance on Eastern Eye. I had this on cassette and played it until it was little more than a distorted sub-aqua squeal.
The Monochrome Set were cool, they were clever, they were sexy, they were witty and I’ve never understood why they weren’t absolutely massive.