When I started Burning Aquarium almost three years ago with the idea of sharing music that I thought had been overlooked by posterity Orange Juice were one of my main inspirations.
In many ways Orange Juice drew the blueprint for the Independent music of the 80's and 90's.
These records have all been featured on Burning Aquarium before.
I'm going to write something here about Patti Smith being one of the most influential figures in post 1970 popular music. And I'm going to do this without referring to Bob Dylan or Rimbaud... Fuck!
I didn't say I wasn't gonna do rockabilly. I just said I ain't gonna sing no song that ain't a country song. I won't be known as anything but a country singer.
Buck Owens.
Lots of rockabilly artists came from a Country music background, others, such as Charlie Rich and Wanda Jackson enjoyed success in Rockabilly and then returned to the Country genre when the craze for Rockabilly subsided.
Country music legend Buck Owens released one Rockabilly 45. He used an alias because he didn't want to alienate his country music following.
These tracks are not ripped from the original, they're MP3s.
The late eighties- Golden Age of fanzines. Zine was edited by Iestyn George, later of the NME and Maxim. The Summer 1989 issue featured a flexi disc of She Looks Right Through Me by The Waltones and Where You Belong by The Hepburns. In the near future we'll be posting a Hepburns discography and an exclusive interview with frontman Matt Jones.
Just for you audiophiles, a rip of a 30 year old single found sleeveless in a cupboard.
UB40 were hip and earnest. Then, by delving into the archives of Jamaican pop music and covering numbers like Johnny Too Bad, Many Rivers To Cross, Kingston Town and Red Red Wine they became phenomenally successful.
This was their début single.
Released in 1993 to promote a Best of 2 Tone compilation this EP brought together the début singles from 4 of the label's leading acts:
The Special AKA- Gangsters
Madness- The Prince
The Selecter- On My Radio
The Beat- Tears of a Clown
In the case of Madness and The Beat these were their only releases on the label.
Photographer Toni Tye documented the 2Tone scene in early 1980, when it was having a massive impact on British pop music. Her archives can be viewed here.
Hands up if you can name Lou Deprijck's biggest hit.
In 1977 Lou Deprijck recorded his composition Ca Plane Pour Moi with the following line up:
Mike Butcher (aka Jet Staxx), guitar; John Valke, bass; Bob Dartch, drums. The anthem of hedonistic abandon was intended as the B side to Pogo-Pogo.
It was released by Plastic Bertrand in December 1977. But Plastic Bertrand was not a pseudonym or alter ego of Deprijck. He was a lip synching front chosen by the record company for his his punk image and received less than 0.5% of the royalties.
Also in late 1977 Alan Ward, singer with punk band Bastard released Jet Boy Jet Girl. He used the same backing track recorded by Butcher,Valke and Dartch. The record was released under the name Elton Motello, and when it was reissued in Britain in 1978 it was mistakenly believed to be the original on which Ca Plane Pour Moi was modelled.
Ramones clones from London. The A-side is a little too long at two minutes thirty...Keen eyed readers will notice that Erazerhead spelled their name differently from the title of David Lynch's dark masterpiece Eraserhead. In case he sued, apparently.
Manager of The Stranglers sees a 'posh' woman singing in a restaurant. Thinks wouldn't it be funny - posh woman dirty macho band combination? 2 singles (only JJB on the second; fuck knows who the other 'Young' or 'Fabulous' Mutations (as they were billed ) were). Great punk name, actually derived from Ben Johnson's Volpone(1606) - typical Stranglers- nothing quite what it at first appears. Records not too bad- shortish, fastish, R&B ish- The Stranglers instantly recognisable of course...
A type of new wave Dusty Springfield sound inspired by acts as diverse as Small Faces and Television, The Expressos released a handful of singles and a solitary LP. They supported many top acts, the most notable being The Jam.
Rozzi Rayner - vocals
Micky Toldi - guitar
Johnnie Christo - bass
Nick Pyall - guitar
Milan Zekavica - drums
It was important to me that there'd be something searingly poetic in it, in a lyrical sense, and yet jubilant at the same time...
Morrissey
The Smiths debut was released on Rough Trade Records in May 1983.
A self produced tape of the track, made at a cost of £250 had landed them a one record no contract deal with the company.
Attempts were made to re record Hand In Glove for the epynomous debut LP but eventually John Porter settled on a remix of the original effort.
The b-side was a live recording of the (prepoterously) controversial Handsome Devil (on 25th August 1983 - The Sun newspaper, under the headline Child Sex Song Puts The Beeb In A Spin accused The Smiths of singing about picking up kids for sexual kicks) from the Hacienda gig on 4th February 1983- notable for being the first time that flowers were used on stage by the group (a response, acording to Morrissey, to the sterile inteior of the club).
Morrissey specified that the record should have a paper label with 4 vents around the centre piece (like the 1960s singles he so loved) and that the sleeve should have a 'side vent' so that the disc was put in from the side rather than the top.
Much to his chagrin Hand In Glove did not make the top 40.
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]
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:
Good time music from Coventry.
This was the first release on 2 Tone records.
Information on the record can be found here.
This is a rip of the original single.
This was DEVO’s debut single. It was produced by Brian Eno, although such luminaries as Iggy Pop, Robert Fripp and David Bowie also expressed an interest in producing them at the time. Allegedly Bowie eventually did help out with the production.
The flip side Jocko Homo is titled in reference to a creationist tract called Jocko-Homo Heavenbound by B. H. Shadduck . The song also makes reference to the Charles Laughton/ Bela Lugosi movie Island of Lost Souls (1933). This also gave the band the phrase ‘are we not men?’ spoken in the movie by Lugosi.
Ripped from 32 year old vinyl- gatefold sleeve pics in file.
Sandie cut an unusual figure, and would herald a new abandoned casualness for female singers… Morrissey, Sounds 1984.
Morrissey was always a huge fan of the female pop stars of the 1960’s, and Sandie Shaw in particular. In 1984, having being coaxed out of semi- retirement by Morrissey, Sandie recorded a cover of The Smiths debut single Hand In Glove backed by Johnny, Andy and Mike. The record sold 20,000 copies within three days of release. Also included here are Jeane(which appeared on the 12”- this version is a bonus track on the 2004 issue of her LP Hello Angel) and a duet by Morrissey and Sandie of Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness- an outtake from Morrissey’s Viva Hate LP. The song was written by Morrissey for Sandie and her version appeared on Hello Angel (the title of which came from a postcard that Morrissey sent her). Here are some of Sandie’s reminiscences about working with The Smiths.
When we came to the U.S., Mick stumbled upon a music shop in Brooklyn that carried the music of Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, the Sugar Hill Gang...these groups were radically changing music and they changed everything for us. —Joe Strummer
The American novelist Thomas Wolfe made the distinction between putter inners and leaver outers. (Wolfe was a putter inner; he died leaving a stack of unsorted manuscripts almost two meters tall). By the time they reached the Sandinista era The Clash had definitely become putter inners.
1977’s The Clash was 35 minutes long, carrying no excess weight. Three years down the road they gave us a three disc 144 minute sprawl. This rather funky single was released in 1981. The bass was provided by Norman Watt- Roy of The Blockheads and Joe Strummer composed the lyrics on the spot.
This is worth downloading just for the authentic pub-jukebox vinyl crackle…
