I'd like to correct a factual error from a couple of years ago. Wherein I dated buying my first Sex Pistols single as 27th February 1979 (based on a release date collected here). But look - there it is in biro and white, 1st March 1979. And probably only bought because the b-side's effing and jeffing if I'm honest.
So what else does March bring us
The final run of 'urcha' riffing
More ongoing disco-doo dah
And what's this? Shock, horror! Crocs?? On a Friday Night!!
Crocs - clubhouse of our friends electric and magnetic north for Essex alternative types? Well, yes - sort of. In truth Friday night was Junior Disco Night. I've even got a badge somewhere (down the back of the wardrobe if you're asking). Two tunes then..
Sid Vicious, ripped from my very own vinyl. And Dennis Brown something that always seemed to be spinning at the junior disco shindigs - with lyrics scanned from my Smash Hits of the time.
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)
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)
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 )
Your first musical post that is - and what the trigger, tune or track was that got you fired up enough to start blogging and cataloging the collection ?
One number did it for me. An instrumental obscurity, that randomly dropped into play by a group, who, ironically, have rarely popped up on my player since, and have never been captured on the blog - apart from my first ever MP3 post that is..
So who was it? Soft Cell, that's who.
Given this, The Cell, seem well overdue for another punt on the PM blog. Tarred forever with the Tainted Love brush, it's too easy to forget what a rabid and devoted following they developed, that they were too shadowy and almost sleazy to sit comfortably alongside other eighties glossy Top of the Poppers. Or what quality pop they produced.
Kings of the 80s 12-inch format. Insecure Me (B-side to Bedsitter) is tick-list of all that the Softies do best
Galloping arpeggios Grubby glamour Seedy nightlife Oh dear, I've overdone the gin (again) I'm an outsider but a survivor A proto-rap from Cindy Ecstasy Soft Cell - Insecure Me (12")
Probably some of the happiest moments of my teeny-times, were spent sipping, snogging, flapping and falling over, stumbling from gig-to-glugs, in itchy mohair jumpers, snug-fit jeans and motorbike jackets (bought from Kensington Market, The Great Gear Market or Nastys) - with the sickly smell of Boots Country Born setting gel, Snakebite pints and dry ice, to tunes like these...
See Friday the 16th, It's where I spent the evening of my 18th birthday
So another birthday rolls round like a bad penny, or to be specific - the 25th one since my 18th (ouch!). And, considering it's the Silver Jubilee of possibly my booziest of all birthdays - I've still got a fairly full recall of the day..
*Cue plucked harps, wobble vision and screen melts*
Which included getting my first Walkman (Saisho, not Sony), some 'as requested' LPs from the parents - 'Let's Stick Together' Bryan Ferry, and a glamtastic comp' 'Ballroom Blitz' were a couple. Hoovering up the Tennents Extra on the commute to art college, rounded off with a few 10 O'Clock vodkas in 'The Refractory' with Paul TMarmite, Bleech, Lil and Mrs-PM-To-Be (although we were just classmates at the time ) then hoofing along to the lipsmacking, non-stop, snog-a-longa-Christmas that was, the end of term Tech' tear up..
Following a quickie drop-in at my dull-as-dumplings former sixth form disco, I don't know why I went, how I got there or even got in (it was an over subscribed sellout, and I was totally ticketless), but Hanoi Rocks were playing at Crocs, just a short train hop away. Before the gig I only had swift shrift for H.Rocks - but Snakes Alive! The Rocksy rockers put on one of the most explosive shows ever seen at the venue, and I came reeling out a complete convert.
Hanoi Rock - 'Blitzkrieg Bop'. Filmed at The Marquee 19/12/1983 - three days after Crocs.
Their albums are lightweight wishy-washy affairs, but live and in action they packed more wallop than a one inch punch, and for me, are still topped only by The Damned's Crocs show a few days later...
But as it's my birthday (and I'll sigh if I want to), and being on a micro glam-buzz at the mo', I'm treating myself to a couple of tunes from the crypt that fit the mood of the moment...
The Damned tag-teaming with Motorhead as Motordamn on The Sweet's '73 shuffler
Should you happen to be at Crocs reunited next week, and see someone wearing mostly this - give 'em a tap on the shoulder and let's raise a glass and shake a leg together..
If you were the age to be out, about and shaking a leg (or flapping an arm) in Southend's early 80s alt.clubs and shady places like Crocs, Chesters and The Monkey House - or whatever your regional variation was - these two tunes should be more time-trippy than test driving the TARDIS, take you right back to the dry ice-age, and have your phantom senses tasting the 'snakebites and black', smelling the 'Hard Rock' hairspray (or Boots green, gunky, 'Country Born' setting gel), and perhaps feeling the itch of a black mohair jumper if you were ever a proto goth-monster or grebo-warrior...
At the time, there were shifty whispers that Red Lipstique were actually the Bollock Brothers in disco disguise.
You can see more about the Southend scene (including my live pics of The Damned, The Sweet and Lords Of The New Church - and my punk top 50) at the always excellent Southend Punk site
Tronik and myself went to see Big Boss Man at Metro last week (unfortunately BBM didn't play due to the drummer’s Tonsillitis) but we did manage to catch Silvery’s high speed, high energy Victoriana vampings as well as shiny new Swedish band Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck’s debut UK gig - MWML seem to specialize in songs sketched in the neat clean lines of Scandanavian designs, blended with the muted toots of trumpets, trombones and the jolly melancholy of Nick Drake on a sunny day all finished off with a polite pop polish. But don’t just take my word for it - why not taste test one of their Scanda-pops below? Or check out their Myspace site
Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck - Let's Watch The Sunrise
Something Old
Bank holiday Sunday saw me shaking a leg and raising a glass at the Crocs 80-85 reunion along with assorted other ex Goths, Punks, Psychobillies and Blitz Kids (sort of fiends reunited - and on the Sabbath too!) How good was it to hear all the Crocs classics at club volume - as well as these period pieces I’d completely forgotten about...
Mick with a stealthy 6 points who wins a trip back in time here..
Simon also deserves a shout for his healthy 4 score as well.
Perhaps it was a bit of a toughy in places - due to some 'local knowledge' tracks that were club hits at Crocs and few other South East/London venues. Hats not off, but tilted at a rakish eighties (over one eye)angle to everyone else who had a pop at this piece of pop puffery.
So, the final chart rundown then ..
All clips were from Standard 12" versions execept where in italics
80s 12" Teaser
Click on any of the answers for a full length youtube refresher...
And as an extra - probably my fave tune from this selection. I'm not really a fan of SM, but this track is more Moroder/Cerrone than their usual proto U2 antheming.
When I first started shaking a leg (or 'flapping' if it was The Cramps) at clubs back in the early eighties, Crocs in Rayleigh was the place to go if you were in the sunny Southend area. Marmite, Piley and I were regulars at Crocs alongside Depeche Mode (who played their debut show there), Boy George, Steve Strange and various other celebrity Blitz Kids, Punks and Pysco Billies that hoofed it down from London for the cheap drink (50p a pint before 10) and top tunes spun by resident DJ 'Fatman'.
This Mixwit comp is a rough sampler of the sound of the crowd from Crocs around the 1982/84 period until it eventually became refitted in chrome, mirrors and plastic palm trees and rebranded as the 'Pink Toothbrush'. One tune that was a guaranteed banker and fitted formats of all local clubs at the time...
The Monkey House - sounds for alt.student crowd Chesters - Electro night on Wednesdays Zero Six - Jazz Funk for Casuals and Soul Boys T.O.T.S - Eighties Disco
was the Bobby O produced Ronni Griffith track 'The Best Part Of Breaking Up'. Unfortunatley but understandably Mixwit's database didn't stretch to this eighties obscurity, so I've loaded it up below...
I will be loading up a hard copy of this mix at some point - but on a similar theme the good people at Punk Globe magazine invited me to submit a 'Top Ten' of anything for the April issue - which is now on their website and includes my top tunes and random items that I've been buzzing on recently - s'here if you fancy a peep Punk Globe Top Tens. (They've also loaded up my Brian James interview too - in case you missed it first time round)
Following on from my last Punk themed post here’s a couple more leopard skin and safety pin links
I found a great set of Punk pics while browsing Flickr recently.
There’s loads of memorabilia and some fantastically candid home photos of the Bromley Contingent, Chrissie Hynde, Judy Nylon and others taken by Simon Barker (legendary for always wearing an Anarchy shirt) around 76/77. After a bit of research it turns out these photos and more appear in a 9 part Summer of Hate feature which is here at 3AM (you have to browse parts 1 – 9 via page 9)
And on a more local level, another highly recommended website is Southend Punk – You don’t have to have been a punk or even lived in Southend to enjoy this site. It’s such a great document of what was happening in one area of Britain and all over the UK before, during and after the Punk big bang – I guarantee that if you’ve got any sort of interest in the late 70’s early 80’s Punk & New Wave period - Southend Punk will up your High Street.
You could even check out some of my photos of The Damned, and Lords of the New Church live at Crocs in 1983 at Southend Punk – Or have a peep at my Punk Top 50 which appears in the playlist section, while you're there.
