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.

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.

More From Bandcamp

More Bandcamp discoveries worth your time...

Last week I bought the debut album by Cry No More, a band I had not heard of before but put out two major label albums in the late 80's. Good songs and a wonderful sense of humor, evidently.

https://crynomore.bandcamp.com/

Yesterday I held off buying an album on vinyl by Naked Prey on Frontier records. Timely, as they are also available through Bandcamp.

https://frontierrecords-nakedprey.bandcamp.com/

Lastly I have to recommend a recent release by 80's synth guru Thomas Leer. As you might expect, his album 1982 is a collection of tracks he produced around that time that did not get released. Not sure why, as the material was very strong. He was label hopping a bit if I recall before his major label debut LP Scale of Ten in 1985.

https://futurehistoric.bandcamp.com/album/1982

Bandcamp Update

One of the more exciting developments I have been seeing lately is the number of lesser known 80's bands now making their catalogue available through Bandcamp, often including extra demos and other curiosities. I'm going to try to make this a more regular feature.

First up, if you enjoyed the Social Security track I posted a little while ago, they have made all their albums, plus extras, available.

https://socialsecurity.bandcamp.com/

I can't remember if I have mentioned Martin Ansell's brilliant 1986 album An Englishman Abroad before, but it's definitely worth a listen. Previously, Martin released two great new wave singles, one under the moniker of The Quarks and then as President President. You can find both those singles, his solo albums, and other demo tracks here:

https://martinansell.bandcamp.com/

Big Sur - Dancing On The High Wire

12" Single, released in 1987

Please Stay

Dancing On The High Wire

Catch Me I'm Falling

[Update - August 2016] Happy to report that main man Andy Thornton has made Big Sur's entire recorded output available through Bandcamp. Great stuff, Andy!