Decade V: 1989

Side 2 (or Side 10, if you will) of the Decade mixtape series, compiled 8th April 1990.

 

As David Byrne asked waaay back in 1980 on the opening side of this epic venture, "Well, how did I get here?"

I don't know about you, but the last five weeks have flown by for me. Yet, 10 sides, 120 songs, 7 hours, 40 minutes and 28 seconds later and that's it for my look back at the 1980s. 

 

If you've followed some or all of my selections over the past five weekends, I hope there's been something that's resonated with or reminded you. That, or you've been introduced to some of the more obscure chart misses that you weren't aware of or were too young to experience first time around.

Before I delve into 1989 itself, a few Decade facts for those of you that like that kind of thing. Across the 120 songs, most artist appearances were one-offs, but 16 managed 2 appearances, some perhaps surprisingly so.

Bronze medals therefore go to Julian Cope, Echo & The Bunnymen, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Heaven 17, The Human League, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Killing Joke, O.M.D., Pete Wylie & Wah!, Pixies, R.E.M., Scritti Politti, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Cult, Visage and - who would have thought? - Wall Of Voodoo.

Just 4 artists managed a total of 3 appearances. Silver medals to Talking Heads, Talk Talk, The Smiths and U2. No band managed to feature on both the first and the last selection, but Talking Heads and U2 achieved the greatest span, both with first and last appearances in 1980 and 1988. 

 

A special mention for Siouxise Sioux, whose two appearances with The Banshees (in 1980 and 1983) and The Creatures (1989) gets her an honorary Silver medal and also the 'greatest span' achievement award as an individual artist. Seems fitting, as Ms. Sioux was never one to be bound by conventional rules.

Only 1 band achieved 4 appearances and, especially given that I compiled the series in 1990, it's no surprise that the Gold medal goes to Depeche Mode. Sharing the 'greatest span' record with the above, the Basildon boys first featured in 1981 with New Life, returned in 1983 with Everything Counts, came back in 1986 with Stripped and make their final appearance in 1989 with Personal Jesus.

But enough preamble, what about 1989? It was a year of historic events, too many to go into here though I will just acknowledge that it marked Margaret Thatcher's tenth year as Prime Minister, the first to do so in the 20th century. Little wonder then that I was formulating plans to leave the country and go travelling for a year, something that I managed to do in 1990. 

I was working full-time and any money left over from 'housekeeping' (aka rent to my parents, but considering cheaper than a city centre bedsit), running the car, record buying and nights out was being put aside for my planned escape. 

Gigs in 1989 therefore were few and far between, but varied. I didn't keep a record so I've long forgotten the local/unsigned bands and the growing number of club nights and DJ sets that I saw. However, the few tickets that I've managed not to lose since tell me that I variously enjoyed the live experiences of The Monkees (sadly minus Mike Nesmith), The Jesus & Mary Chain, Inspiral Carpets and Pixies (again), this time supported by The Wolfgang Press. 

Once again, plans for a companion series Decadance means that today's 1989 selection is light on dance music, though one pioneering electronic act makes the cut and a couple of indie/dance crossovers barge their way in.

Surprisingly making their first appearance in the series, right at the end, are The B-52's. Channel Z was a precusor to 5th album Cosmic Thing, released in June 1989. I bought the 12" single which did little to help, as it failed to chart. Likewise, the album managed one week at #75 before disappearing... until March 1990 that is, when second single Love Shack got to #2 and boosted Cosmic Thing into a Top 10 album with a six-month run in the charts.  

 

Channel Z got a second go in August 1990 and still only managed a peak of #61, which is a shame. Maybe it was just too political and angry (well, as angry as The B-52's could possibly get) for the UK's fragile minds.

After years of pioneering and cutting edge sounds, Cabaret Voltaire signed to EMI and released Groovy, Laidback & Nasty, their most commercial and conventional album to date (and of all, as it transpired). Stephen Mallinder and Richard H. Kirk seemed to cop a lot of flak for 'selling out' and mimicking the prevailing music fashions rather than influencing then, which I think was unfair.

It had mixed results: the album failed to chart and although the three singles managed #66, #55 and #61 respectively, they remain Cabaret Voltaire's highest charting singles. I think - as I did back then - that Hypnotised is a great single. Remixed by Fon Force, Mute label boss Daniel Miller and A Guy Called Gerald, with backing vocals from Ten City, it was an interesting diversion even if it proved to be short-lived.

I first heard Pop Will Eat Itself on a couple of compilations and fell for their Grebo sound, even more so as they started to play around with samples and beats. Wise Up! Sucker is perhaps less familiar than Can U Dig It? though there's surprisingly little between then in terms of chart placing. PWEI seriously troubled the UK Top 40 in the 1990s, but Wise Up! Sucker remains one of my favourite songs that they ever did.

Also making a comeback of sorts was Depeche Mode with Personal Jesus. This heralded a new direction, lots more twangy guitar than you might expect and a catchy yet off-kilter chorus. I bought the singles on 12" (there were usually at least 2) on release, but never 7" hence the inclusion of one of the (three) remixes by François Kevorkian. 

 

According to my handmade cassette inlay, I originally faded out the song around at 4:13. On recreating the tape for this post, I found that this selection was running considerably short, so I've included the full length Holier Than Thou Approach here. 

I'd heard very little by The Stone Roses at this point. My friend Stuart had their album, which I'd heard a couple of times but wasn't blown away by. Their standalone double A-side single in November 1989 was another matter entirely, though. What The World Is Waiting For was good, though not a million miles away from the album that preceded it. Fools Gold was another matter entirely and got my attention from the start. Despite my preference for the 12" format generally, and the fact that Fools Gold was stretched out to nearly ten minutes, at the time I plumped for the 2-track 7" single. I retrospectively came to love those earlier songs, but Fools Gold is the one that really switched me onto The Stone Roses.

Making an unexpected reappearance were The Creatures aka Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie, then-partners in The Banshees and in life. I really liked The Creatures' music, which followed a more disciplined, minimalist structure, playing to the strengths of Siouxsie's distinctive vocal styling and Budgie's phenomenal percussion skills. Standing There was remixed by Mike Hedges and I bought the 12" and 10" singles. 

 

The latter, titled the La Frontera Mix, was under 4 minutes and featured on the cassette. I haven't been able to rip my vinyl for this recreation and, as far as I can tell, it's essentially an edit of the 10-minute Andalucian Mix on the 12". So, I've edited the latter to provide a clean ending at approx. the same point as the La Frontera Mix to maintain the original sequencing.

Mekons had been around for over a decade by the time I bought a record by them. But what a record. I think I'd heard and quite liked Ghosts Of American Astronauts, didn't really know anything else that they'd done and bought The Dream And Lie Of... EP on 10" without hearing a single song, purely down to a rave review that I'd read in NME, Melody Maker or Sounds. I wasn't disappointed.

Three of the four songs appeared on the subsequent album The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll and Club Mekon is the penultimate song on the EP. The flurry of country punk, Sally Timmins' vocals and the opening verse of

 

When I was just seventeen, sex no longer held a mystery

I saw it as a commodity to be bought and sold, like rock and roll

had me hooked and even now, Club Mekon puts a shiver down my spine and a smile on my face when I hear it. Superb.

Pixies could do no wrong and Monkey Gone To Heaven was no exception. I saw Pixies perform this song live at the Studio in Bristol, two months after the single release and a few weeks after the album Doolittle had blown my teenage mind. Hearing Black Francis scream, And God is seven! And God is seven! And God is seven!, to an audience that were screaming right back at him, was incredible.

Next is the one true WTF? moment, with the inclusion of Destroyed by Scottish metal band The Almighty. I'm struggling to explain this one, or remember why I even had anything by them. I'm supposing that it was either the recommendation/influence of my brother, or that I was trying to impress a girl in the hope of asking her out at some point. 

Delving into my gig ticket tin, I find that I saw The Almighty at the Bierkeller in Bristol on 26th February 1990. No memory of that one at all. The fact that I recorded the Decade V cassette six weeks after the gig perhaps explains its inclusion and the brevity of my interest in the band. I remember buying the Blood, Fire & Love album from which this song is taken though I suspect that it was culled from my collection not long after. 

 

Listening to it now? I'm finding it hard to tell the difference between The Almighty and Def Leppard, to be honest, and that's not intended as a compliment. It must surely have sounded outdated even in 1989! For a second or two, I considered swapping out The Almighty for something less anachronistic but whatever the reason, I considered it 'good' enough for inclusion so it has to stay. Don't do drugs, kids!

 

The The restore the intellectual equilibrium with The Beat(en) Generation, their first new single in a couple of years and the first to more explicitly pitch The The as a band rather than a solo venture for Matt Johnson. Well, if your band included Johnny Marr, you would shout about it, wouldn't you? 

I love The Beat(en) Generation, even though I'll admit that I still find Matt's pronunciation of 'reared' in the chorus a bit jarring (!). Diction notwithstanding, the general public evidently agreed as The Beat(en) Generation became The The's first ever UK Top 20 hit, reaching #18 in April. There were two additional remixes on the 12" and I picked the stripped back Campfire Mix for this selection.

Another surprise - nay, shock - late entry to this series is The Cure. In April 1990, I still didn't own any of their albums though I had a few of their 12" singles, so I'm as surprised as you that it's taken until 1989 for them to debut. That said, as the original tapes covering 1982 to 1985 have been lost forever and were recreated from scratch, it's possible that Let's Go To Bed, The Lovecats or Close To Me previously featured but I'll never know for sure.

Lullaby is an astonishing single with yet another memorable video directed by Tim Pope, so it's not really a surprise that I bought it. Again, it was the 7" not 12", so I most likely got it from the bargain bin at Woolworths. Still, it's #5 peak was another reason why Top Of The Pops and the Radio 1 chart rundown weren't a complete waste of time in the late 80s.

So, the selection and the series comes to a close with another first-time appearance here, Kate Bush and the title track of her album The Sensual World. The single entered the chart at #12 on 24th September 1989 and began a slow slide back out in the following four weeks. In my opinion, it's one of the finest songs she's ever recorded. From the opening church bell peals, to the Irish music flavours and Kate's sweetly restrained vocals, it's a magical journey from start to finish and a perfect way to end this voyage into the past.

I thought when I started this, that it would be a fun run though for a few weeks, with some top tunes and a few attempts at wit thrown in. It's been a lot more than that: I've revisited artists - and subsequently albums - that I haven't heard in a long while; I've also dredged up memories and snapshots of my callow youth.

Thanks so much for coming along with me, and your words of encouragement on the way. I am gradually getting back to responding to your many and lovely comments. And yes Ernie, I will answer your burning question about my first proper girlfriend ;-)

That's it for now. I never got around to the more dance-themed 80s collection or repeated this endeavour for the 1990s when I reached the new millennium. It was fun while it lasted.

Normal service resumes next weekend. By that, I mean the return of winging it and off the cuff musings...!

1) Channel Z (Remix/Edit): The B-52's

2) Hypnotised (The Fon Force Edit): Cabaret Voltaire ft. Ten City

3) Wise Up! Sucker (7" Version): Pop Will Eat Itself

4) Personal Jesus (Holier Than Thou Approach): Depeche Mode

5) Fools Gold 4.15 (7" Version): The Stone Roses

6) Standing There (Andalucian Mix) (Edit By Khayem): The Creatures

7) Club Mekon (Album Version): Mekons

8) Monkey Gone To Heaven (Album Version): Pixies

9) Destroyed (Album Version): The Almighty

10) The Beat(en) Generation (Campfire Mix): The The

11) Lullaby (Remix): The Cure

12) The Sensual World (Album Version): Kate Bush

Side Two (46:08) (KF) (Mega)

If you missed any of the previous posts, you can jump straight to them here.

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