Random 80's Wednesday

Here's the second part of my La Folie Du Jour tribute.

Other Voices - Another Tuesday (7" Single, 1983)

22 Beaches - Dust (from the compilation cassette Another Spark, 1984)

The Another Spark compilation, an independent release, also included rare music by Microdisney, In Embrace, 1000 Mexicans, Perfect Vision, and many others.

Steve Lake - Life Of Riley (12" Single, 1987)

This is my second post of a Steve Lake track lately. Clearly an overlooked talent. His website is at www.stevelake.co.uk

Datblygu - Tu Allan (from Fi Du, 1984)

I couldn't find the track from the Datblygu single referenced on LFDJ, so here's a track from a very limited cassette released a couple of years earlier.

Captain Sensible - The Ballad Of Mark And Shula (from the "Come On Down" 12" Single, 1985)

My own find, this. A typically bizarre B-Side from the Captain, containing bits of his hit "It's Hard To Believe I'm Not" and what appears to be some factory boss bemoaning the fundamentally lazy British workers who clock in and read newspapers in the loo.

Frontier Scouts tracks can be found at the Chapter Music page on Bandcamp.

Go2 - I Like My Own Company

7" Single, released in 1982

Go2 - I Like My Own Company (A-Side)

Go2 - My Heart Bleeds (B-Side)

Suburban Sprawl - Borders

7" Single, released in 1986

Suburban Sprawl - Borders (A-Side)

Suburban Sprawl - Album Excerpts (B-Side)

The only Suburban Sprawl album I could find information on was called Ice and was released in 1989-90. I'm presuming that an earlier album exists - the excerpts are quite tasty - but I can't confirm this.

Random 80's Wednesday

Hello and thanks for stopping by today. Something a bit different this week, and moving forwards also. I've been meaning to comment on the slow pace of updates recently. My fiancee and I recently took on the full time care of two boys, one aged 8 and the other just a year. With my daily commute, three dogs, and living in a small house, it's been difficult to find the time and space to set up and use my turntable. For one thing, everything has to be kept out of baby's reach! So, like the Imajinca single I just posted, I'll do a few here and there but for the time being I'm largely restricted to music I've already recorded or obtained digitally elsewhere. So bear with me.

I was researching an album I saw on Discogs.com when I came across a very interesting, but old blog, namely La Folie Du Jour. It's been inactive for four years but the breadth of music showcased was quite impressive. Anyone who puts a Screen 3 B-Side in a compilation is o.k. with me! Sadly all the links were expired, but it did inspire me to go look for some of the music mentioned, so I'll be posting some here as a tribute to a great blog. I'll also try to comment on the bands as I go.

Yeah Jazz - Julie And The Sealions (7" Single, 1984)

Yeah Jazz were from Uttoxeter and released a handful of cassettes and albums. You can buy some of them at Smalltown Records.

The Turquoise Swimming Pools - Burst Balloons (from the Zoo compilation To The Shores of Lake Placid, 1982)

The sort-of supergroup TSP were Troy Tate and David Balfe from Teardrop Explodes, and producer/engineer Hugh Jones.

Bamboo Zoo - Submarine (from Look! Listen! Consume!, 1981)

Bamboo Zoo were a Manchester post punk band. They have a Facebook page. They have also posted new music on Reverbnation.

What To Wear - The Robbery (from Casual But Smart EP, 1980)

The Procession - Secret Love For Dinosaurs (from Haunted By Memories, 1987)

In addition, several of the tracks I saw posted are now available through legal channels:

Shiny Two Shiny, a Liverpool synth band, had the bulk of their material reissued on the compilation When The Rain Stops, in 2014.

Eton Crop have their own Bandcamp page.

Matthew Young also has a Bandcamp page.

New Zealand band Front Lawn also have a Bandcamp page.

The Brotherhood of Lizards album Lizardland, with bonus tracks, is also available at Bandcamp. English pop whimsy at it's finest.

Imajinca - The Very First Video Kiss

7" Single, released in 1984

Imajinca - The Very First Video Kiss (A-Side)

Imajinca - All In A Moment (B-Side) 

Random 80's Wednesday (and some other decades as well)

We had a very nice, sun dappled holiday in Europe. So why post songs about rain? Uh, why not, right?

Steve Lake - In Every Life A Little Rain Must Fall (from Murder Violence Sex Divorce, 1985)
Geoff Byrd - Tale Of The Rain And The Moon (from Candy Shell, 2003)
Last Gentlemen - Grey Rain (from Last Gentlemen, 1985)
Casey Stratton - Past The Rain (from Standing At The Edge, 2004)
Merge - Ocean Rain (from Lost Heroes, 2001)

His Latest Flame - Stop The Tide

7" Single, released in 1986

His Latest Flame - Stop The Tide (A-Side)

His Latest Flame - Wake Up And Smell The Coffee (B-Side)

An earlier single by the gals. This vinyl was a bit more worn than I usually have so excuse the extra crackle on this one.

Random 80's Wednesday

Ata-Tat - Where The Wind Blows Best (from Ata-Tat EP, 1986)
Applied Science - Shadows Of Fear (from Definition, 1986)
Immaculate Fools - Tragic Comedy (from Dumb Poet, 1987)
The Crystal Set - Benefit Of The Doubt (from From Now On, 1987)
Glory - Hearts Will Sing (7" Single, 1987)

Random 80's Wednesday

Meat Loaf - Special Girl (7" Single, 1987)
Hearts On Fire - You Promised Me A Camera (from Dreams Of Leaving, 1985)
TV Smith - New Ways Are Best (Unreleased, available on Sparkle In The Mud CD)
Sad Lovers And Giants - Toy Planes In The Sky (from Treehouse Poetry, 1991)
Push - You Never Wait (from Push EP, 1984)

Random 80's Wednesday

The Goodbye Look - Half The Fun Of The Crime (7" Single, 1985)
The Snake Corps - Victory Parade (from Flesh On Flesh, 1985)
Twenty Two Cavegods - Raised Up (from Raised Up, 1988)
Emerald Choir - Autumn Winds (from Timber Timbre Burn, 1987)
Valerie And The Week Of Wonders - Real Surprise (7" Single, 1984)

Randy Newman - Falling In Love

Cute (and very '80s) video of the theme tune from Tom Selleck's Her Alibi movie.

Native Tongue - History

7" Single, released in 1984

Native Tongue - History (A-Side)

Native Tongue - Lost Soul (B-Side)

This was the second (and final?) single release on Squanderlust Records, an independent Essex based label. Not much other information out there.

Dietplan - The Melting Pot

Dietplan - The Melting Pot EP (1984)

1. The Only One
2. What Do You Believe?
3. Conflicts of Interest
4. I Don't Like My Car
5. Counting Houses

Download   

Guitar, Vocals – Doug Moldawsky

Bass, Vocals – David Coddington
Keyboards, Synthesizer, Vocals – David Clayton-Smith

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Chuck Eubank  

 

Requested by Poodlehead.

Real Macabre - White Horses

7" Single, released in 1985

Real Macabre - White Horses (A-Side)

Real Macabre - The Call (B-Side)

Jump The Nile - Like The Cruel Sea

7" Single, released in 1984

Jump The Nile - Like The Cruel Sea (A-Side)

Jump The Nile - Wire (B-Side)

Portable People - Passion Beat

7" Single, released in 1983

Portable People - Passion Beat (A-Side)

Portable People - It's For You (B-Side)

Portable People was a pretty obscure Pittsburgh band fronted by Rick Reynolds. Rick continues to record and release music through CD Baby. I don't know if PP recorded anything else.

Radio Earth - Never To Make You Cry

7" Single, released in 1987

Radio Earth - Never To Make You Cry (A-Side)

Radio Earth - Heart Of Stone (B-Side)

Random 80's Wednesday

Freeze Frame - Today Tomorrow (7" Single, 1985)
Persian Gulf - Everything Begins Again (from The Movie, 1986)
Stream Dreams - Promises Of Love (from Red Red Rain, 1985)
Middle Class - Everything (from Homeland, 1982)
Systems Of Romance - Stay (from Dare The Dance, 1983)

Italian Heroes - All For Nothing

7" Single, released in 1986

Italian Heroes - All For Nothing (A-Side)

Italian Heroes - Monte Carlo (B-Side)

It's Only A Game

Big Break was a snooker themed quiz show hosted by Jim Davidson in the early '90s. My vague recollections of this programme basically revolve around Dennis Whatshisface wearing stupidly large glasses, Jim Davidson doing what he does, i.e. not too much, and certainly, the memorable theme song:

It's only a game so put up a real good fight
I'm gonna be snookering you tonight!

Now it seemed to me that such a tune was clearly composed specifically for the show, but it's true origins are actually a lot more interesting. The tale involves Captains, ships, mythical creatures, losses, bankruptcies and, yes, a beaver.

I mentioned a few months ago that I had 'discovered' Captain Sensible. In my musical stream-of-consciousness fashion, I was interested by his choice to cover "Relax" as a B-Side, and once I heard it - a pretty close reading of the original, with some nice sampled movie/TV dialogue - I looked for a few more things he'd done. I came into singles around 1985, which was after his really big hits and TOTP moments, so I looked for his first couple of albums, then his third (Revolution Now, from 1987) and also found a couple of odds and ends. One was a Syd Barrett cover ("Octopus") for a MOJO CD, the other was called "The Snooker Song" and was indeed what I remembered as the aforementioned Big Break theme. Now it transpired that this paean to a very British sport was from an '80s musical production, The Hunting of the Snark.

Previously I had purchased a copy of the reissue of The Hunting of the Snark CD/DVD for 99 cents about three years ago, and sold it last year, unopened, to a fella in Australia for about $40. So other than knowing the soundtrack had some value, I knew little else about it. This week, I looked it up on Wikipedia and YouTube. Being a big Midge Ure and Ultravox fan back in the '80s I was surprised to learn that Midge played guitar - pretty well - during the live concert put on almost exactly thirty years ago, April Fool's Day, 1987. The more I read about the production, the more interesting it became.

The composer behind The Hunting of the Snark, Mike Batt, was someone I was familiar with, but only vaguely. I had posted one of his albums before, as a request, but had to re-read the post as I couldn't remember it at all. (Actually I re-read my blog quite a lot. it might sound a bit egotistical, but it is one of the reasons why I have felt encouraged lately to write and post more - so as a reader you can't have it both ways!) I've always been interested in the craft behind songwriting and Mike is one of the most engaging composers I've come across. For example, in a Guardian interview, he insists on referring to his production as The F*****g Hunting of the Snark, because the whole production was so beset with problems and critical reproach. The live concert - at the Royal Albert Hall, no less - cost nearly a million dollars to put on and Batt himself would have cancelled the whole thing if he had been able to. The soundtrack album had never seen a proper release and the label had gone bankrupt without fulfilling the promotion promises they had made. And as Snark was based on a Lewis Carroll nonsense poem in the first place, at least on paper it sounded bonkers. (His own liner notes on the album re-release are thoughtful and unusually revealing.)

Where else could you find - within the same one hour performance - Captain Sensible singing music hall, Julian Lennon in a chef's costume, luminaries such as John Hurt and Billy Connolly reciting verse, Mike Batt himself conducting and singing in a naval commander's uniform and US soul diva Deniece Williams dressed up like a beaver. Oh yeah, and flippin' Midge Ure playing blistering guitar solos - while wearing a blue cravat the size of Kensington. Maybe you should just watch it already.


I could also mention that Mike got his idea for the production while sailing around the world for two years on a steam boat, that he composed both "Bright Eyes" and "A Winter's Tale" - two songs guaranteed to get me blubbing like a baby - that he discovered Kate Melua and a bunch of other artists, and much more besides. But for now I'll just say that by his own admission, much of his lyrical work has expressed a yearning for change, to explore new places and possibilities, and his commercial success has been well-won.

Out in the deserts of darkness and dreams,  
Out though the oceans of sadness we sailed. 
Venturing onwards through mystical scenes,  
Blown on the whim of the wind that prevailed.  
We had no reason to doubt the truth,  
Driven by danger and discontent,  
And the drums of youth.  
Don't let the memory die, 
Childen of the sky, heroes of the sea.  
And as your life passes by,  
Remember how it feels to be 
Children Of The Sky 
(from "Children of the Sky")

Random 80's Wednesday

Swing Set - The Dance (from Life Speeds Up, 1986)
Basking Sharks - Red Rose (from Shark Island, 1983)
D-Day - Dance It Off (from D-Day, 1983)
Jules Shear - Chain Within A Chain (from Demo-itis, 1986)
Milltown Brothers - Janice Is Gone (from Manchester, North of England, 1988)

Lemon Hearts - Shake Yourself

7" and 12" Single, released in 1987

Lemon Hearts - Shake Yourself (Extended Mix)

Lemon Hearts - Honey From The Spoon (B-Side)

Lemon Hearts - Pure Love (12" Single B-Side)

Lemon Hearts - Shake Yourself (7" Single A-Side)

Download

Although they only released one single, I love the Lemon Hearts. I took a chance on buying the single unheard several years ago, and then later I found the 12 inch. Last year I messaged producer Nick Tesco over Twitter and he confirmed that the Lemon Hearts had been a new incarnation of Epic pop hopefuls the Roaring Boys, last heard of in 1985. I may have featured a track or two before, but here's their entire recorded output, at least as far as I know.

The Bic - Musica Pop

7" Single, released in 1983

The Bic - Musica Pop (A-Side)

The Bic - Go Jo (B-Side)

This was the first single released by Go! Discs, famously the label of The Housemartins, The Beautiful South, The La's and, um, The Southernaires...

Vocalist Bric Brack appeared on a couple of other things, but this was a one-off - and pretty fun - single.

John Adams - Through The Eyes Of Love

7" Single, released in 1985

John Adams - Through The Eyes Of Love (A-Side)

John Adams - Don't Turn And Walk Away (B-Side)

Here's the solo 1985 single from Private Lives front man John Adams, produced by Andy Taylor of Duran Duran.

RAH Band - Sweet Forbidden

7" Single, released in 1986

RAH Band - Sweet Forbidden (A-Side)

RAH Band - Perfect Stranger (B-Side)

Eclectic and idiosyncratic, Richard Hewson's RAH Band flitted around the UK pop scene from the late seventies, enjoying a couple of sizeable hits - including "Clouds Across The Moon", a Top Ten smash which lead to a memorable Top Of The Pops performance including a Logan's Run-inspired 'Intergalactic operator'.

After releasing several singles from the resultant Mystery album, "Sweet Forbidden" was the first of a number of stand alone single releases, and after being dropped from RCA, their follow up album Something About The Music remained unreleased until appearing on iTunes a couple of years ago.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but personally I find it easy to warm to Liz Hewson's delightfully unaffected vocals. The band has a website and a Facebook page.

Random 80's Wednesday

Haven't done one of these for a while!

Figure 5 - Paradise (from Born To Vacation, 1985)
The MPs - Lavender Time (from Beater Release, 1987)
Black - It's Easy (Peel Session, 1982)
Naffi - D'Ya Hear Me (7" Single, 1981)
Some Now Are - Truth To Tell (7" Single, 1983)

Rent Boys - Kick Down The Door

7" Single, released in 1980

Rent Boys - Kick Down The Door (A-Side)

Rent Boys - Feeling Ice (B-Side)

For quite a long time I thought the Private Lives single, "Where Do I Go", was the earliest by John Adams and the band. Then I read about a year or so ago that "Kick Down The Door" was an earlier single released in the same year under a different name. In my continuing quest* to track down all the John Adams/Private Lives material I've noted the various different styles the man managed to commit to vinyl. Here John and co jump on the Police/pop reggae bandwagon. I believe I now have all the John Adams related singles from 1980 to 1987, so it's about time to put some sort of compilation together. You're welcome.

*like Star Trek, but without any kind of prime directive.

The Big Supreme - Please Yourself

7" Single, released in 1987

The Big Supreme - Please Yourself (A-Side)

The Big Supreme - Keep On Pushing (B-Side)

More pop merriment from Big Supremo Barry Flynn. I may have posted these tracks before, but I only just acquired the original vinyl - released just about exactly thirty years ago - so here's a fresh new set. This one actually had the song words printed in No. 1 magazine - but steered clear of the charts. The only Big Supreme single I don't have is "Let's Turn Our Love Around" which I think was the last one.

Lypbox - My House

7" Single, released in 1988

Lypbox - My House (A-Side)

Lypbox - This Town (B-Side)

I wasn't familiar with Lypbox before finding this single listed on eBay recently. It caught my eye looking as it does a bit like the great This Other Eden singles from the late eighties.  I'm not sure but they may have been a Cambridge based band, with this their only release.

Andy Pawlak - Mermaids Official Promo Video