we listen so fast: forgotten/unkown/unloved 80s we are listening to.

i made fun of the connells so i listened to their "hats off" single. i think i remember seeing the video on mtv. they got the smiths jangle as well as the r.e.m. jangle. if "hats off" wasn't at least a little bit inspired by smiths i'll take my hat off and eat it.

they were the buffalo tom of their day.

grant lee buffalo being the buffalo tom of THEIR day. which might have actually been the same day...

I was disappointed to play a bit of Shiva Burlesque recently (talking of GLB) and finding that I didn't love it nearly as much as I did at the time. Althogh I did keep the first couple of Downy Mildew LPs on a replay, were they known in the US? Totally obscure in the UK.

When I was a teenager and used to tape 120 Minutes every sunday night I HATED the Connells. I thought this song was the tweest wimpiest thing of all time.

Revisiting a few years ago when I wrote a thing about 120 Minutes for my blog I realized I had grown up and could now appreciate this anthemic jangle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fluvL_5P1XM

here's my 120 minutes if yr interested. Sorry for the dead links.

http://acuterecords.com/blog/?p=29

The first Downey Mildew album was on Jack Rabid’s top 200 of all time list or whatever (from a 90s big takeover issue)

this is so great. john luongo for the win!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ_NDwZTlU4

speaking of don dixon, jack rabid, jangle rock, and the 80s, i went and saw concrete blonde at their debut performance in nyc after their first album came out (and sang "still in hollywood" on stage with them!) and jack rabid was playing the original version of "blue line" up above and this led to me hanging out with jack and looking at all his cool 45s and he had every cool 45. i was a top let's active fan as well as a top oh OK fan. i had never heard the original. i flipped out that someone would play it in a packed rock club.

ubiquitous 80s album i have never been tempted to play: Rave On Andy White

buzz buzz buzz. i got a bunch of these radio shows on vinyl. john peel intros to every track.

https://i.discogs.com/LNOCJwiDWh1o_Oqc7AcaHKeykkRAFhdqGVDltwLb6Og/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:444/w:450/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTExODA2/MTQtMTE5ODgxNTAw/Mi5qcGVn.jpeg

hubba hubba...

https://i.discogs.com/0krwFVRpmWcpPS7DuTl8L3_YU64m3DLFSNS2OxJ9-78/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:594/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI4Njg2/ODctMTQxMTA5NzA4/MS04MjA0LmpwZWc.jpeg

damn, i wasn't expecting such freestyle goodness! sign me up!

also, r.i.p., tommy:

Tommy Page (born May 24, 1967, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA - died March 3, 2017, New York City, New York, USA) was an American singer-songwriter and later a music industry executive. He served as an A&R executive and Vice President of Top 40 Promotion at Warner Bros. Records/Reprise Records, associate publisher at Billboard, and Vice President of Artist and Brand Partnerships at Pandora Internet Media.

I don't remember Tommy Page at all but his Wiki entry is filled with "unusual details in Wiki articles."

Page also appeared on an episode of Full House, titled "Crushed", which first aired on January 14, 1992.[6] In the episode, he sings a special song to Stephanie Tanner on her tenth birthday, but spends the following day with her sister DJ, much to Stephanie's dismay.

this album is outstanding. the freestyle is actual freestyle and not some pop hybrid and the syrupy pop ballads are way over the top orchestral and goopy behind his unthreatening boy voice. they sound cool. plus, you get a pet shop boys song about africa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-wOIJ4TUY

playing loudly in public...

https://i.discogs.com/yG62W0hYcTclJlwJ8pVzs1SrDs-UcFIaqAr3MXQ5I5g/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:400/w:400/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTMyMTk2/MDItMTMyMTAxNjYy/OS5qcGVn.jpeg

listening to this and trying to figure out why people pay so much for it. $200+. apparently its because of the LONDON STEPPER RARE GROOVE SCENE OF YORE. kinda one of those IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW situations. sounds nice. that Koko Pop record sounded nice too. and it will only set you back five bucks.

https://i.discogs.com/j8OC96UoZvUf2u_XXv_4son_yfxSOPJKNtwa9kvrB-s/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:593/w:596/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEwNjQ4/MzQ1LTE2MDQxMzQz/MTAtNzI1Ni5wbmc.jpeg

i sold that Zulus EP! same guy bought a drum & bass 12-inch and his kid got a sweet copy of Beck's Loser 12-inch. 1st pressing. it's really the best way to hear "Loser". the one Beck song i love.

i sold that tommy page record so fast. and that rare soul stepper lp as well. definitely want the tommy page CD.

best promo cover of the day. please believe us! midge is your man! hahaha. so not going to happen.

https://i.discogs.com/0CnydiHENZla14sn8K77tYvwkWJpHLa2UjK1RQy3sOo/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:588/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQxNDQ2/NjMtMTUxMDg0NjU3/Ni01NzU2LmpwZWc.jpeg

Is the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate a notable venue for incisive rock criticism?

It's a bit impressive how anonymous Midge Ure remained in the US given all that hyperbole.

I had literally never heard of him before just now, but it’s the guy from Ultravox? Weird that I didn’t know that

(fwiw i am almost 39 so it sort of makes sense that i wouldn’t know but still)

The guy from Band Aid you mean

His Wikipedia page says McLaren asked him to be lead singer of the Sex Pistols. Hard to imagine God Save The Queen in the Vienna voice.

That was later. At the time he was doing this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQod5Qwjteg

He was briefly a guy in Thin Lizzy!

He was briefly a guy in Thin Lizzy!

At least twice!

i'm a sucker for this kinda stuff. they made three singles and then made two singles as Escape From New York.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtlLztQQVdI

only two years from their initial "crime" and "english guns" political platform and they had discovered party drugs in Thatcher's England.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-B00sIXLcs

You’re missing their big track Fire In My Heart. This has been bootlegged and repressed and is something of an underground/cosmic/balearic hit.

https://escapefromnewyork.bandcamp.com/album/fire-in-my-heart

His Wikipedia page says McLaren asked him to be lead singer of the Sex Pistols. Hard to imagine God Save The Queen in the Vienna voice.

He had more of a trad punk rock voice when he was in Rich Kids w/ Glen Matlock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TkQYKLDK4A

oh man you guys i wish you could hear this so bad. this band from liverpool sounded EXACTLY - and not like a little or oh they must have been fans of that band in a big way - no, EXACTLY like...wait for it....R.E.M.! it is a true approximation. its funny. it really is. and they have a saxophone! just to make things better. even the picture of their EP on discogs is funny!

https://i.discogs.com/4t7p6wepggm_9lXdEf2m0ct_CSnoDKE07j8RszppFrU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:337/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM2Mjcw/MjktMTUzNTI5MjMw/NC00NDQ4LmpwZWc.jpeg

oh but anyway i couldn't find it on youtube. maybe you can find it on one of your shadowy dark music torrent sites. search for the song "inching up" or "two men waiting".

they had a later album too. haven't looked for that yet. i hope they sound like late-80s r.e.m. on that.

i put this de wolfe library record on from 1981 and it turns out its the music from Prisoner: Cell Block H! can't get much more 80s than that. i just couldn't resist the challenger floating past the world trade center. *kidding* *lol* #neverforget #christa4ever

guitarist alan parker started making library music in 1970! he also made that sappy Congregation album that had a big 70s hit. he made a lot of music with the great herbie flowers. studio legends spend a lot of time together. he was also in Blue Mink. he was in CCS that had a big hit with their led zep cover. him and herbie made the legendary Rumplestiltskin album. a hard rock classic. basically, if chris spedding was busy, alan got a phone call.

https://i.discogs.com/lEGrmJhFR56xptH8T6h7K5XXla8UYJXvg_r8_MYiWWU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:461/w:463/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIzNDg0/NzctMTMzMDE5ODUw/NS5qcGVn.jpeg

see i told you guys i loved that robyn hitchcock song a lot. a tape i made in 1987. a very definite "rock" tape made for rocking purposes. i loved LSD at the time. this was about as amerindie as i ever got. touch & go and homestead ruling my world apparently. and its a pretty sloppy tape as mixes go. why clan of xymox and that new order tracks are on there i have no idea. in 1985 half the tape would have been stuff from It'll End In Tears and Up On The Sun. in 1984 it would have been hardcorehardcorehardcore and hippie rock. i tried so hard to like That Petrol Emotion after the first album. i played that first album at least a thousand times. "Big Decision" wasn't so terrible except for the rapping. i made dance and synth-pop mixes too. they would probably be more fun to hear now.

https://scontent-bos5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/704883_10151943131067137_1390051502_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=2c4854&_nc_ohc=BV3CnWqF0MsAX9UoYDC&_nc_ht=scontent-bos5-1.xx&oh=00_AfDz1roVBZ8Bk77O9FlA0EMXOyvPJdlH8JQU1Ajn2OpMbA&oe=65280086

with a few exceptions, my kind of americana!

Salem 66 are a great lost band.

Liking the ‘That Petrol Emotion’ love - co-sign Salem 66 contribution.

I nagged the Omnivore Records twitter account at least a dozen times that they should reissue the Salem 66 records.

Talking of bands from Liverpool, I think "Immaculate" by The Wild Swans might be the most 80s-sounding track ever. To my ears it manages to combine New Order, Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, Lloyd Cole, The The, Icicle Works...

i should listen to a wild swans record. wait, have i?? well, again then. cuz i can't hardly remember.

meanwhile, in the north of england, this sounds so GREAT at 9AM eastern time.

https://i.discogs.com/DABhduX06qiZB-dHx-ZF8pWDpbtZWrQpuSS9FQeZw1U/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:591/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQyMzI4/MC0xMTQ3NTM0NTE1/LmpwZWc.jpeg

https://i.discogs.com/mI0lL-IuUj02VxR60s0RbbEaQKTXcHa2XA6BXXvaMOI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:547/w:588/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQyMzI4/MC0xMjg4NzYyMDM5/LmpwZWc.jpeg

wait, liverpool is northern too.....?

i just think of manchester. and newcastle. coal...so much to answer for.

i watched both seasons of The Cleaner on Britbox the last couple of nights. its a Madchester-themed dramedy. lots of happy mondays talk.

Shakin' Stevens was on the last episode of The Cleaner playing the singer of a Shakin' Stevens cover band called Shaking Stevens! i thought that was funny and i'm not even Welsh.

1982 was the best time to make that comp above. in two or three years everyone would sound like U2. or The Alarm. or Tenpole Tudor. or Beltane Fire.

just to torture myself with something that i know i won't like anywhere near as much as that northern comp i'm playing bands playing live in lawrence kansas in 1988.

https://i.discogs.com/v32TGglieoG4m7u7WbTCIuwdSbZFC27evvHxN7wO-BE/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:463/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI2MTM0/NTktMTQ1OTg3Mjk0/NS0zODI4LmpwZWc.jpeg

That compilation is incredible. It's like a lost installment to that "1981" series that one ILXor did.