I Have Never Heard These Bands That Start With The Letter L

Landscape - Jazz funkers who got electronic and rode in on the coat tails of the new romantics. Their hit Einstein a go-go set the tone for 1981. Appeared on Tomorrows World playing electronic versions of their instruments.

Clive Langer and the Boxes - Clive went on to great success as a producer with Alan Winstanley, many, many credits to his name. Most recently Dogs Die in Hot Cars.

Thomas Leer, synthpop singer songwriter, had a song on the seminal Cherry Red comp Pillows and Prayers. Pleasant enough but a little forgettable.

Ken Lockie, ex Cowboys International singer.

L.E.S.R. -- Lower East Side Rockers...Rocks? Uh, they were mid-late 80s urban "roots rock" sorta like sub-Del Lords.

Roy Loney & Phantom Movers -- former lead singer of Flamin' Groovies.

Lew Lewis Reformer - splendid pub rock from Southend on Stiff. Best single the excellent 'Win or Lose'.

Thomas Leer was in Act with the goddess Claudia Brucken after his solo work. Actually, I think Billy underestimates him. The track on Pillows and Prayers 'All About You', is fantastic, and his work with Robert Rental is also very good.

I have a Little Bob Story track - i think it's a cover of 'All Or Nothing' and is on the 'New Wave Compilation'. It's crap. Weren't they French?

Virna Lindt - Swedish sophisto-pop on the Compact Label in the early/mid 80's. Can't remember much else.

Lines - typical London postpunk mob. Scritchy-scratchy angular and stuff. I have none of their recds, but someone will be along soon no doubt...

Little Bob Story -- French New Wavey, punk-like rockabilly band. Popoff ridiculed them in one of his books.

Buddy Love -- Power pop act loved by New York Rocker or the Trouser Press, I forget which.

Little Boy Bitch -- British poppy, semi-punk band. "Annoying All The Neighbors" is a song I remember that wasn't half bad.

London were managed by Simon Napier-Bell, who confesses in one of his books that he saw them and was amazed at the audience/band interaction. He instantly offered to make stars of them, not realising that every punk turn in the capital at the time was received with equal rapture (apart from Terry and the Idiots). Jon Moss played in the Damned just before they split up the first time round.

Lew Lewis's career was disrupted after he was sent down for robbing a sub post office. Like you do.

Thomas Leer's story is explained in Simon Reynolds' new book.

Lambrettas weren't quite as good as the (godawful) Secret Affair. Wasn't their version of 'Poison Ivy' quite ska influenced? Think I actually liked their follow-up, 'Dance' a bit better, but if you're going to listen to the opinions of my 8-year old self, you're probably in a big bunch of trouble.

Thomas Leer put out a DIY debut single on his own label: "Private Plane"/"International". All very home made and low-fi; terrible off-key mumbly vocals buried in the mix, which sound like he was trying to keep his voice down in case his mum heard him downstairs. Anyway, Sounds loved it. It was almost simultaneous with "Paralysis"/"A.C.C" by Robert Rental, which was very similar in execution... so it wasn't a surprise when they later teamed up. Leer's single with Claudia Brücken as Act, "Snobbery And Decay", was intricate Trevor Horn-esque synth-pop.

Lew Lewis was the harmonica player on the first two Eddie & The Hot Rods singles. His debut solo single "Boogie On The Street" came out later in 1976 as one of the first releases on Stiff, and featured members of Dr Feelgood. Lean and moody blues based pub rock. Second solo single in early 1977 was "Out For A Lark" - more of the same but more cheerful.

Little Bob Story were like a French Dr Feelgood, with a rather large and sweaty lead singer. One 4-track EP on Chiswick in 1976, which I enjoyed a lot while waiting for punk to come along.

Were there more than one Lines? I'm remember a song called "Barbican."

Thomas Leer, Clive Langer and The Lines are 3 of my all-time favorites, like, the stuff I actually listen to every day. Maybe Dr. C up there was referring to the fact that he'd assume I'd join in and go on and on about how great the Lines were? I'm too busy but yeah, If I had to get rid of all my records except for like 20, these 3 would all be represented.

I have never heard these "L" bands from Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums 1955-1996 book:

(At least I don't think I have. At least not much. Unless I'm wrong about a couple, but so what):

L.A. Boppers
Lace
L.A. Dream Team
L.A. Express
David LaFlamme
Billy Larkin & the Delegates
The Larks
Latin Alliance
The Law
Leapy Lee
Leatherwolf
Le Pampelmousse
The Lightning Seeds
Lions & Ghosts
Little America
Little Caesar
Little Village
Living In A Box
Lizzy Borden
Lo-Key?
Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends
Los Admiradores
Los Indios Tabajaras
Lost Boyz
Louie Louie
Love and Money
Love Childs Afro Cuban Blues Band
Love Spit Love

Heard a number of these but will restrict comment to Little Village. That record's good. They played here in Atlanta and the front of the stage had three of my fave musicians all lined up: John Hiatt, Nick Lowe, Ry Cooder but all I found myself looking at was Jim Keltner. The man is not from this rhythmic planet, or at least his hands and feet aren't. Astonishingly good drummer.

lightning seeds the actually not too bad 'band' of otherwise barely competent producer type ian broudie

L.A. Dream Team were old-skool rappers...(L-L-L-A Dream Team...is..in...the...house)...

Leapy Lee was a regular fixture on UK kids' TV in the late 1960s.

Living In A Box's eponymous hit was a 1987 sophisto-pop "incisive social commentary" take on Bobby Womack. Womack repayed the compliment by recording a cover version.

Love And Money was the band that James Grant formed after the very wonderful Friends Again split up. It was less jingly-jangly post-Postcard twee, and more traditionally rock-based, so I didn't pay much attention.

I'm sure that lots of people will tell you about the Lightning Seeds. They had a long string of UK hit singles, including a de facto national anthem Number One.

Lightning Seeds - "Pure": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwzc30glWac

imo as good as they got at catchy indie pop.

Led by Ian Broudie who was (iirc) a founding member of Big in Japan and produced for the Bunnymen and Icicle Works before moderate success with the Lightning Seeds.

Mike, what was the connection between Living in a Box (song) and Bobby Womack?

David LaFlamme was the violinist / mainman of It's A Beautiful Day, who hit it big in the late 60s with "White Bird" (I'm sounding like Casey Kasem now, sorry), couldn't tell you anything at all about his solo records but I'd wager he "went fusion" in the 70s.
Leatherwolf - I remember the name, I'm guessing glam? That's a long shot I know.
Le Pampelmousse - my remedial French tells us that their name translates as "The Grapefruit".
Living In A Box - is it possible to be sub-Go West? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHt_GzOgjvA yes it is
Lizzy Borden - saw them at the Reading Festival in 1987, stood out from the pack as being the worst band of the day. In retrospect they were probably great though, I think there was a "theatrical" stage show.

I really like that Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends album, largely because his friends (including J. Page/Bonham/Beck and others) are heavy indeed. Songs are all overamped throwaways like you might find on any random 1962 album by your average band of British hacks imitating American hacks. Sutch himself is a terrible singer, but his enthusiasm goes a long way. Enjoyable, but certainly not worth the $45 price tag I've seen on it. (Paid $1 for mine at a garage sale!)

Mike, what was the connection between Living in a Box (song) and Bobby Womack?

I always thought that the song's debt to 80s-period Womack was clear (though would admittedly struggle to quantify it now), so it tickled me when Womack did the cover version...

Womack also provided backing vox for Living in a Box's third single So The Story Goes.

Lightning Seeds w/Skinner & Baddiel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96-zW2c8H2o

Little Caesar -- LA hard rock band, rode into town on a wave of major label signings in the very late Eighties when the A&R men were into the minor fad of finding tough and authentic-looking denim-wearing, motorcycle riding guys. Largely, they stank. See Circus of Power, Junkyard, Pygmy Love Circus... Anyway, Little Caesar were on Geffen and had a real honest-to-God singer. Their LP was so good, I remastered it for CD with audio restoration tools. Had a minor hit with a redo of "Chain of Fools" and also covered "I Wish It Would Rain." They had a gift for doing torch songs which, in their hands, sounded much better than the largely nondescript drinking, riding and partying songs that they and everyone else in the genre filled their albums up with.

Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends -- I have a soft spot in me for Lord Sutch. David Sutch was also a minor politician although inner demons had at him and he killed himself a few years ago. Here's what I said on eMusic for
a Jimmy Page omnibus that included some of the Heavy Friends tracks:

The last six tunes on No Introduction Necessary come from 1970's Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends, an album dubbed "the worst of all time" in a BBC poll about a year before Sutch committed suicide. That's harsh. Anyway, also reissued this year on Wounded Bird, the Sutch record featured most of Led Zeppelin, who are unmistakable on "Thumping Beat" and even in the jaunty "Union Jack Car." David Sutch is (or was) antic party fun set to hard rock with everyone cheerfully going along for the ride.

Jeff Beck is also on it.

For second Lord Sutch album, the backing band was Ritchie Blackmore and some members of Mott the Hoople, I think.

Some of the songs from "Heavy Friends," notably "Thumping Beat" and "Wailing Sounds" are again reissued for 2008 on Get the Led Out, a very good mostly instrumental tribute to LZ.

Love Spit Love was Richard Butler's new band after the Psych Furs broke up. I only remember them for a cover of How Soon is Now, though I could swear they were on the Crow soundtrack too (but they weren't, I checked).