Futura 2000 featuring The Clash - Futura 2000 and his Escapades 12" (1983)

Futura 2000 (Leonard Hilton McGurr) is a graffiti artist from New York City. In 1982 he provided a rap on Overpowered by Funk on The Clash album Combat Rock. At this time The Clash (on the verge of break up) were experimenting with the new urban sounds of  hip hop. Always image conscious The Clash also embraced other elements of this relatively new proletarian culture.
In the 70's Futura 2000 was dodging the cops painting subway trains, by the time this record was released he was a respectable gallery artist and graphic designer.
 The movie Style Wars is well worth a watch- it's on YouTube of course...

Ride (EP) - (1989)

For a while Oxford's Ride were the darlings of the music press and were seen as the future of British music. It was all pretty short lived though. This is their beautifully packaged and sonically awesome debut on Creation records.
Andy Bell later went on to play bass with Oasis- tragic. Loz Colbert has also been in Supergrass and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Chelsea Girls, Drive Blind, All I Can See, Close My Eyes

Steve Queralt- bass
Loz Colbert -drums
Andy Bell-guitar, vocals
Mark Gardener -guitar, vocals

The Smiths- This Charming Man (1983)

One of those moments when a vivid, electric awareness of the power of music is born or renewed- Danny Kelly (NME)
...it imparted the first glimpse into the unknown dominion of Smithdom. The prelude now over, This Charming Man felt like The Smiths'concrete beginning.- Simon Goddard (The Smiths- Songs That Saved Your Life).

Tracks:
1 This Charming Man [Manchester*- produced by John Porter]
2 This Charming Man [London- produced by John Porter]
3 This Charming Man [New York Vocal, produced by Francois Kevorkian]
4 This Charming Man [New York Instrumental, produced by Francois Kevorkian ]
5 This Charming Man [Peel Session 21.09.83, produced by Roger Pusey- as featured on the LP Hatful of Hollow]
6 This Charming Man [1992 single remix]
7 This Charming Man [Original 7" version*, produced by John Porter]
8 This Charming Man [ Vinyl rip of original 7" version*, produced by John Porter]
9 Jeane [Vinyl rip of original 7" B-side, produced by Troy Tate]
10 Wonderful Woman [12" single B-side, produced by John Porter]

* On the CD multi single I have Sire Records rather naughtily overlook the fact that the original 7" mix was Porter's Manchester version . Therefore there are only 6 different versions of the track here.

Completists will be aware that Accept Yourself also featured on the B-side of the UK 12". It was an earlier version than the one used on Hatful of Hollow, which was from a David Jensen radio session- both versions were produced by John Porter. Here is the version that appeared on the B-side of the 12" single:

Rema - Rema - Wheel In The Roses 12" (1980)

Here's a gem from the early days of the wonderful 4AD label.
The first 4 issues by the company were under the name Axis. It was Bauhaus's Dark Entries (AXIS 3), that made the biggest impact. The single was reissued as AD 3, thereby becoming the first record to actually bear the label "4AD."
This EP from Rema - Rema was the second, (BAD 5).
Line up:
Gary Asquith -guitar,vocals
Marco Pirroni -guitar
Mick Allen -bass,vocals
Mark Cox -keyboards
Max -drums

Rema - Rema split when when Marco Pirroni (an original member of Siouxsie & the Banshees) joined Adam and the Ants.
Asquith, Allen, and Cox went on to form another short-lived band Mass, which then split up to form Renegade Soundwave (Asquith) and The Wolfgang Press (Allen and Cox).
Later in her career Max joined Psychic TV.

Fond Affections was later covered by This Mortal Coil , sung by Gordon Sharp (Cindytalk) with Mark Cox again on keyboards.

The striking cover is an adaptation of the photograph The Wrestlers, Kordofan, Sudan 1949 by George Rodger.

Sonic Youth- Kill Yr Idols (1983)

Sonic Youth’s 3rd release features 2 tracks from Confusion Is Sex , a live recording, and 3 new songs recorded live to 2-track at Wharton's studio in October 1983.
Lee Ranaldo describes it as: An EP made in 1983, released in Germany when it seemed that no-one else was interested in releasing a Sonic Youth record.
At the time Sonic Youth were very popular in Europe, but the US press were generally ignoring them.

Happy Mondays- Freaky Dancin' 12" (1986)

Another forgotten record from 'before they were famous'. Bernard Sumner from New Order producing (not a particularly succesful venture in my opinion- the funky bass gets buried in a rumbling muddy sound at times, and the clangy guitar only sporadically shines through, the overall effect is that there's a hell of a lot going on- this worked on later records like WFL).
I think this is the only place you can find The Egg- a cracking, funky track.
This is probably my best charity shop find for years.

The Hepburns- Goalmouth Incident 12” (1987)

I first heard this record in one of those high ceilinged Victorian mental hospital wards. I was working with Matt Jones’ brother Jim and the day he received his copies of the record he was putting on a disco for the patients. The usual Tom Jones and Showaddywaddy fare was interspaced with numbers from The Smiths and tracks off this EP.
The Hepburns come from Llanelli and I knew the four guys who played on this, their first outing on vinyl.
Now, 22 years later ( no idea what happened to my 1987 copy) I’ve just managed to get hold of a copy from Japan.
The Hepburns (with Matt Jones and Mike Thomas from the original line up) are still going strong, and, much as I urged people to buy this EP 22 years ago, I would urge you to support them by picking up what you can of their more readily available releases from Radio Khartoum , where you can also find a free download of a recording of the tracks from their 1989 Peel Session.

Les Mun- drums
Matthew Jones- vocals
AD Clement- guitars
Michael Thomas- bass



UPDATE- 23.07.09- I've been alerted to quality problems with this transfer. I'm working to fix these problems and as soon as I have managed this I will I re up this record . Until then be warned that the sound quality is poor. I'll let you all know when this is fixed and apologies to any readers who have been disappointed by this.

UPDATE- 24.07.09- The problem is now resolved ( input levels were too high, causing distortion if you're interested in such things). The new link should be up by 12:00 BST tomorrow. Thanks pop pickers.

UPDATE- 24.07.09- Fixed! New rip, new link.

The Southern Death Cult - Fatman / The Girl/ Moya 12” (1982)

How common are Native American fixations in Bradford?
The SDC, earliest incarnation of Rock Monsters The Cult, were certainly pretty into the culture of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. They had a heavy gothic sound (it was known at the time as Positive Punk- the sound and the image that evolved into Goth) and unsurprisingly supported acts such as Theatre of Hate and Bauhaus during their brief career (Oct 81- Feb 83).
This is a vinyl rip...

Buzz- guitar
Aky- drums
Barry- bass
Ian- vocals

A contemporary article from the NME here.

The Wedding Present- Brassneck 12” (1990)

This is the original Brassneck:


Here is the 12” single by The Wedding Present, featuring an alternate recording of the song as well as a cover of the excellent Box Elder by Pavement.

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

Charged GBH- Leather, Bristles, Studs & Acne (1981)

Fast and loud punk heading down the road to metal, a sort of DIY Motorhead…
This is a vinyl rip of the Clay 12”, so it includes the track Alcohol, which seems to be missing from some CD reissues.

Colin Abrahall- vocals
Ross Lomas- bass
Colin "Jock" Blyth- guitar
Andrew Williams- drums

Miaow- Belle Vue 12" (1985)

Anyone remember this treasure?
Miaow, as featured on the 'legendary' NME C86 tape. I first came across them on Peel, also used to have the Underground Strum+Drum cassette, which I was surprised to see was actually 1988... thought it was older.
Cath Carroll - vocals, guitar
Steve Maguire -guitar
Ron Caine -bass
Chris Fenner -drums

There's a history of the band and an overview of Cath Carroll's work here.

The Subhumans- Time Flies... But Aeroplanes Crash 12" EP (1983)

The Subhumans came from Wiltshire and initially signed to Flux of Pink Indians’ Spiderleg label. They cited their influences as being Crass, The Damned, King Crimson and Frank Zappa!
This 8 track EP from 1983 brings us some tuneful, technically accomplished anarchopunk . There’s even a piano driven song! They sound more like a 1977 band than their crusty contemporaries.
line up:
Dick Lucas - vocals,occasional piano
Grant Jackson - bass
Bruce Treasure - guitar,vocals,occasional drums
Trotsky - drums

The Smiths- Rusholme Ruffians/ Nowhere Fast – Peel Session August 1st 1984

These two tracks from The Smiths Meat is Murder LP were recorded for a Peel Session broadcast on August 1st 1984. They later appeared as the B-side to the 12” single of Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (1987).

The Hepburns- Electrified, (from countryside to city) 12" (?1990)

Llanelli- rugby, tinplate, beer…
I had to get my thinking cap on for this one.
I dug out this Hepburns 12” and found that curiously, there is no date on it. I looked it up on Discogs- not listed.
If the Peel Session was spring 1989 and Aled Richards replaced Les Mun on drums during the summer of 1990 (my memory is sketchy) then this must fall somewhere in between. Early 1990?
The sound quality on London Welshman is a bit fuzzy I’m afraid. I think that this is more than made up for by the inclusion of Dive- Matt Jones at his finest, a sort of male Dorothy Squires.
The latter day incarnation of the Hepburns is well worth checking out – Matt still writes a wicked bossa nova tune and you also get the drumming of R n B legend Pat Grover.
I’ll repeat my request: does anybody have a copy of Goalmouth Incident that they could share with the world? I dunno what happened to mine...
Line up here:
Les Mun- drums
Matt Jones- guitar , vocals
The King of Wales- fender telecaster
Mike Thomas- bass
Iain Davies- keyboards
Cronsey- artwork, pigsqueal, harmonica & krugers