Smash Hits November 1980 Crossword- how many can you get ?(click on the pic for a big version)
I'm over at JC's place this coming Monday as part of his 'Merry Month Of May' season, where I'll be spinning up some eighties flavours. So as a warm up thought it may be appropriate to crack a few forgotten scraps from that decade in the blog.
If you can remember the eighties, then you weren't really there. Oh no that's the sixties isn't it. Strange to think though, that we're now further away from the pre-Live Aid eighties, than they were from the sixties.
So if the title of this post rings any bells for you, it's possible you'll also remember Ye Other Olde Names from the post-punk, pre-hip hop period that have since dropped out of circulation and right off of the retro-radar. Names like - Stevo, Steve Dagger, Gary Barnacle (and his sax/trumpet), Pino Palladino (and his fretless bass), Zeuss B Held, Rusty Egan.
Travelling back to that time perhaps you were a reader of New Sounds New Styles, The Face, Zig Zag, SFX. Or wore some long forgotten fashion fad, Tukka Boots, Kung Fu slippers (popular during the summer of 83), even an item with a Japanese flag (which became something of a style icon for several months) repeat printed across it.
If any of the above apply, you'll know that Gary Numan had the most hopelessly devoted (Tubeway) army of fans that would shamelessly ape the exact angle of his tilted Trilby, double red belts or copy and clone his electric blue rinse - as seen in this picture disc
(I never really rated Gazza at the time apart from Are Friends and Cars, but he doesn't sound too bad listening back)
Gary Numan - Music for Chameleons
Or how a fourties Latin look (zoot suits, key chains and kipper ties) and fifties fashions (creepers, bowling shirts and bum-freezer jackets) were hugely popular and onsale alongside contemporary clobber at trendy markets and vintage boutiqes...
(Yes I did buy a vintage suit and gambler arm bands, but was to embarrased to wear either out and about)
Blue Rondo A La Turk - Klacto Vee Sedstein
And that bongo a-go-go rimshot percussion was all over everything from Jazz Funk and Adam and The Ants, to Spandau and Haircut 100 12-inchers, and of course those sun, sea and piracy lovers - Bow Wow Wow
(Who could resist using school rulers for drum sticks, and tapping out the intro to Ant Music )
Bow Wow Wow - W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah No No My Daddy Don't) (12")
Ad from The Face May 1983
24 comments:
Ooo fretless bass and Josef K riffs take me right back to the scene of fashion crimes
Hello choco fancy seeing you here!And what's this the doings of a new blog, a chocolate blog you could say? Josef K there's a blast remember Robert Marlow - Face Of Dorian Gray, he helps out on bass for Swindle now..
PS Bloggers and browsers C64 designed my Golden Mile inspired header and these pics used in the PM blog
Stevo called me an "arty bastard" once. It was at Cariba in Conduit Street, where the Bollock Brothers ran a club night. A handful of French Blues from Big Roz at Kensington Market, and you could get by on lime soda all night, and get the N98 home. Happy days...
As for the Kung Fu slippers, they were known as 'Rampton Kickers' in my house, and they went a treat with my Japanese flag t-shirt, though I can't remember what I would have worn in the middle.
I found my surviving Foundry skirt in a suitcase last week. That's going to get an outing one of these days.
You've got me started now.
Tip-top PM, I shall be having a crack at that crossword over the weekend. Nice ref to the Hits disco correspondent Bev Hillier in 6 Across - if I think of her column now I think of 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' by McFadden & Whitehead.
You trendy SE boys, it was all Philly and Simple Minds in Torbay x
Loved Kensington Mkt - Rock-a-Cha (the rockabilly shop) at the back, skinny jeans on the ground floor and bootleg tapes were my faves - The Foundary I bought a load of their gear (summer 82 - pre Culture Club) the red cross with aeroplanes, blue roses etc..worth a fortune now (you've got to blog it too ISB)
Davy - Forgot Sodoffo they should re-run old Smash Hits and music mag quizzes - The Disco and Independent charts from the same issue are fab - I must blog them one day
Gotta love the 80's. That's the decade when I first started buying my own music.
There's a lot of good gear from the 80s that gets overlooked in favour of the novelty and naff Keith
Rusty Egan - was he in The Frantic Elevators?
I'm getting him mixed up with someone else, aren't I?
Wonderful 80's post dear Mondo, I loved all three songs... especially the Gary Numan song (very new to me). Hope you have a great weekend. Your post sets the happy Friday mood nicely.
ISTV - isn't that Rocky Hill or was he in ZZ TOP - Rusty was in The Rich Kids and Blitz Kids supergroup Visage
You're took kind Gabbi - it's a bit like Bowie doing detective music isn't it?
The Frantic Elevators was the ginger cod-soul dollop Mick Hucknall's punk band.
I spend many an hour trawling Kensington Market for punk togs, brothel creepers and 7"s.
that bowie interview is one of my faves! so strange & wonderful :)
King's Road, Kensington Market and perhaps Carnaby St were my shopping hot-spots (in that order too) Coop.
S'great isn't it - 'When Rock Stars Go Mad' there's a thread waiting to happen TWOF.
the 80s kicked off great, then got progressively worse and from '83 onwards were total utter shit.
Matt
I think you can divide the eighties in to pre and post Live Aid Matt- that's when the rot sets in. And the worst of it is, the eighties gets remembered for all the guff not the good stuff..
There's more on my eighties theories over at JC's VV site tomorrow..
Can't knock a bit of Gazza Numan PM! He did go off the boil, but easy his first SEVEN albums are essential listening (if you twist my arm, I might go to eight)
The Plan (1978)
Replicas (1979)
The Pleasure Principle (1979)
Telekon (1980)
Dance (1981)
I, Assassin (1982)
Warriors (1983)
and maybe Berserker (1984)
Not a bad run in anyone's book.
Got any of those adverts for Crombie coats PM? It was a badly drawn skinhead, and i'm sure there was a speech bubble saying "great coats these" or something similar. Like that was going to clinch the deal if you were only half tempted!
P
Actually I'll take that comment back a bit, there was a spate of good garage bands in the mid 80s
Matt
Loved that mix you did over at VV. Especially side 2 because there's superb tracks there that I've never heard before. Where's Gina X been all my life?
P I had the first Gazza album (tape only - which someone copied for me). I was sort of put off by manic Numanoid fans though.. I will try some of them - big fan of electro squeaks and bleeps so shouldn't be too much of a stretch..
Matt - yeah, but then there's Dire Straits, Johnny Hates Jazz, Howard Jones, Aha, Simon Climie and Floyd, Zep, Bowie and Stevie Wonder all doing their worst work..
Thanks Darren you can grab the Gina tune here and some other related 80s bits here
"Matt - yeah, but then there's Dire Straits, Johnny Hates Jazz, Howard Jones, Aha, Simon Climie and Floyd, Zep, Bowie and Stevie Wonder all doing their worst work.."Could you point me in the direction of Johnny Hates Jazz's best work?
Maybe it's hiding out with Lord Lucan in South America.? ;-)
You can almost forgive JHJ, Kajagoogoo and similar they could only ever aspire to being harmless or hopeless - but heavy hitters like Bowie, Stevie Wonder really should have known better
You should read Dave Thompson's mighty book -I Hate New Music - where he claims "no one should have been allowed to make records during the 1980s "
i think a lot of the problem was that people lost their identity after the early-mid 80s, i was 15 in '80, and up to 83,84 everybody seemed to be a goth/skin/punk/futurist/ted/mod/psychobilly/rocker/soulie/etc.
Then all of a sudden round my way EVERYONE suddenly seemed to be into U2, Simple Minds, and The Smiths (how very dare they get BIG I wanted to be the only one who knew about 'em!)wearing kung fu slippers, pastel shirts, rolled up sleeves on eveything (miami vice had a lot to answer for), mesh t-shirts, pleated jeans tucked in boots with roll-over tops & streaked mullet hair; the discos spewed out this U2/Minds shit along with the gay-high-energy-woteva garbage, Madonna, Wham, Pedo Jackson, and wot was with all the novelty records an'all?
The days of youth cults just disappeared, now the kids all listen to the same shite. Very sad indeed.
Anon what was that all about - Simple Minds, U2, Big Country and The Alarm and their sub-Springsteen anthems. Live Aid I reckon, it promoted the idea of arena-rock...
Is "Music Chameleon" a track Mick Karn worked on? It sounds like a Japan tune, and that does sound like Karn on bass...
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