Agent Provocateur - You're No Good

OK I know this isn't Punk or new wave (and no this posting is not about lingerie), but I have a few oddities in my collection that I would like to share as personally I rate them and it does no harm to stray into other genres now and then. To be honest when I first played this I though it was indie and then I looked them up to find more and discovered that they were classified as dance, trip hop and big beat (I wouldn't know one from the other).

Agent Provocateur was a collaboration between John Gosling (also know as the Mekon) Mathew Ashman (ex Bow Wow Wow), Dan Pepe, Danny Saber (formerly Black Grape) and female singer Cleo Torrez. They released one album "Where The Wild Things Are" which featured the single "Agent Dan" with Shaun Ryder on vocals.

If you like "You're No Good" then your in for a treat as there a three different versions here, and all of them are excellent. Ever since I first played this I have always loved it, on track one the twanging guitar is perfect with Cleo's vocals telling you "You're No Good". If you listen to "Semtex Gun" you can see why they are labeled dance, but even though I'm not a dance fan even this has grown on me.

So try it out and leave a comment, I would be interested to see what all you punk fans think of this.

Band: Agent Provocateur
Label: wall Of Sound
Year: 1996
Tracks:
1. You're No Good
2. You're No Good (Mekon 7" Mix)
3. Semtex Gun
4. You're No Good (Depth Charge Mix)

Ripped from not so glorious CD

Shock - Angel Face 7"

I know, I know your all thinking what the.... is this doing here. But I've always said I'm a sucker for covers especially if their done differently, so an electronic version of the Glitterbands Angel Face has to fit. I actually bought this from Woolworths classic 'out of the charts box for 25p' (not sure if it ever got in the charts but it was supposedly a dance floor hit)

Shock were a music/mime/dance/pop group that were notable in the early 1980's for supporting bands such as Gary Numan, Adam and the Ants and Depeche Mode. This was their debut single produced by Rusty Egan (ex Rich Kids, Visage fame).

So you get an electronic/dance version of the classic glam hit 'Angel Face' which could never match the original, but it's worth a listen. The b-side has a pretty bland instrumental. They did release one further single, although as I never heard it, I can't comment.

Band: Shock
Label: RCA
Year: 1980
Tracks:
1. Angel Face
2. R.E.R.B.

Ripped from glorious scratched vinyl

If you like this then you could look for their second single 'Dynamo Beat', I haven't got a clue what its like.