Decade II: 1983

Side 2 of a mixtape, compiled circa March 1990, lost along the way, reimagined and recreated 12th August 2024.
 
I hope you've brought your cardboard, there's some electric boogaloo ahead...
 

Again, as the cassette, sleeve and track listing are lost in the car fumes of history, I've recreated this from scratch, a dozen songs culled from my collection in spring 1990, when I originally recorded this thing.

I'll acknowledge the elephant in the room and say that yes, Temptation by Heaven 17 got to #2 in May 1983 and even that wasn't enough to secure a place in this collection, much as I love it. 

Was swapping it out for Kissing With Confidence by Will Powers (a mere #17 in Oct 1983) a step too far? Not for me, it's not. Besides, it's got Carly Simon on vocals and it's produced by Todd Rundgren! And the video's lots of fun.

At the expense of other contemporary classics, I've also given a nod to the fact that though I'd been blown away by The Message and Buffalo Gals, The Rock Steady Crew were the ones that my mates at school were more interested in. Whilst I didn't feel particularly inclined to wear a Sergio Tacchini tracksuit or start body popping behind the Science block, I did enjoy the music. 

I do remember that the original 1983 cassette started with Burning Down The House by Talking Heads, which is an obvious choice, perhaps. What's more surprising is that when released as a single in the UK in July 1983, it failed to chart. It took 16 years, Sir Tom Jones leathery lungs and The Cardigans' polish to take the song into the Top 10.

 

More debuts on this side, including Cocteau Twins with the beautiful (but non-charting) Sugar Hiccup. I perhaps should have picked something from the equally wonderful Sunburst And Snowblind EP as the record buying public at least managed to get that release to #86, but it's all good.

Talk Talk, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Depeche Mode are all back, with debuts from Aztec Camera, Shannon, Wall Of Voodoo, Fun Boy Three and an up-and-coming band from Manchester, with a striking lead singer and lyricist. Sadly now a complete twit, but made a big impression on me as a 12-year old.

 

More from this decade next weekend. Don't miss it, Big Brother is watching....

1) Burning Down The House (Album Version): Talking Heads
2) Oblivious (Album Version): Aztec Camera
3) (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew (Vocal) (Single Version): The Rock Steady Crew
4) Let The Music Play (Radio Edit): Shannon
5) Kissing With Confidence (12" Mix): Will Powers ft. Carly Simon
6) Everything Counts (Single Version): Depeche Mode
7) This Charming Man (Manchester): The Smiths
8) Mexican Radio (UK Extended Mix): Wall Of Voodoo
9) My Foolish Friend (Extended Version): Talk Talk
10) Sugar Hiccup (Single Version): Cocteau Twins
11) Dear Prudence (Single Version) (Cover of The Beatles): Siouxsie & The Banshees
12) Our Lips Are Sealed (Singles Version): Fun Boy Three

20th March 1983: My Foolish Friend EP (#64): 8

27th March 1983: Call Of The West (#57): 9

15th May 1983: Waiting (#7): 12

??? July 1983: Speaking In Tongues (# n/a): 1

14th August 1983: Construction Time Again (#6): 6

9th October 1983: Dear Prudence EP (#3): 11

16th October 1983: High (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew EP (#6): 3

30th October 1983: Kissing With Confidence EP (#17): 5

27th November 1983: High Land, Hard Rain (#18): 2 *

27th November 1983: Sunburst And Snowblind EP (#86): 10

27th November 1983: This Charming Man EP (#25): 7

19th February 1984: Let The Music Play (#14): 4 *

Side Two (46:00) (GD) (M)

* Oblivious initially entered the UK chart on 30th January 1983 and got to #47 by March, but no higher. Second time lucky when Oblivious was re-released at the end of October and got to #18 a month later.

** Let The Music Play first charted on 13th November 1983, peaked at #51, dropped out of the chart for a month or so, then returned in January 1984 for a further 14 weeks.

Until These Things Get Better

When I posted the Aztec Camera selection yesterday, I had no idea that the debut album High Land, Hard Rain was originally released on 19th April 1983. 

So, what better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that release with another Aztec Camera post, featuring performances of two of the album's many highlights?

The first is Lost Outside The Tunnel, live at TVE Studios in Madrid on 18th September 1984. The song was originally the B-side of second single, 1981’s Mattress Of Wire, and the album version nearly made the selection yesterday. Roddy and co. provide a great version here.

The second did make the previous Dubhed selection in 2021 and is my second favourite non-single track from High Land, Hard Rain, after Orchid Girl. The performance of We Could Send Letters is taken from a Channel 4 show called The Switch, circa 1983. 

I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of this TV show but again it’s a fine rendition, only outperformed by Roddy Frame’s mighty barnet.

Hair raising stuff indeed.

 

All My Friends Will Make Amends

The first and last Aztec Camera selection to feature here was in September 2021. Having to reload my digital music collection inevitably unearthed the albums I'd uploaded from 1983's High Land, Hard Rain to 1995's Frestonia and taking in the Japan-only compilation Covers & Rare from 1993. Along the way, and courtesy of The Vinyl Villain's championing of all things Roddy Frame, I got to hear the first two Aztec Camera singles on the Postcard label, released in 1981.

Today's selection lifts one song from each Aztec Camera album, plus singles, B-sides and covers. The production may at times plant the music in a specific time, but the songs are timeless, closing with what I think is one of Roddy's finest lyrics and the inspiration for today's post title.

Side One

1) Sister Ann (Album Version) (1993)

2) All I Need Is Everything (Album Version) (1984)

3) Imperfectly (Album Version) (1995)

4) Just Like Gold (Single Version) (1981)

5) Everybody Is Number One (Album Version) (1987)

 

Side Two

1) Birds (Single Version) (1993)

2) Get Outta London (Album Version) (1990)

3) Do I Love You? (Album Version) (Cover of Ronald Graham & Ethel Merman) (1990)

4) Salvation (Single Version) (1990)

5) Mattress Of Wire (Single Version) (1981)

6) Orchid Girl (Album Version) (1983)

1981: Just Like Gold EP: A4

1981: Mattress Of Wire EP: B5

1983: High Land, Hard Rain: B6

1984: Knife: A2

1987: Love: A5

1990: Red Hot + Blue: B3

1990: Stray: B2

1990: The Crying Scene EP: B4

1993: BIrds EP: B1

1993: Dreamland: A1

1995: Frestonia: A3

 

Side One (21:48) (Box) (Mega)

Side Two (22:25) (Box) (Mega)

 

My previous Aztec Camera / Roddy Frame selection, Just Close Your Eyes Again Until These Things Get Better, is available here.

Oh iPod I Love You

A slightly different blast from the past today as I take another dip into the dusty archives of my previous blog. This selection was posted on 7th April 2007 as individual MP3s. Originally an iPod Top 20 most played selection, I've re-sequenced and re-created the playlist as two 'sides' which flow more naturally, to these ears at least. As you'll see, I was deep into an obsession with mash-ups at the time, which accounted for half of the Top 20.

Over to my former 30-something self...

I finally got around to upgrading from my much loved Panasonic portable cassette player to an iPod Nano last month. Even though I'm making very slow progress with uploading stuff from my record collection (about 500 songs so far, barely half the 4GB space), I've been giving my iPod a good run for it's money. It's been great to hear songs that I haven't listened to in a while, as well as discovering a whole load of stuff on the internet. The shuffle option has proved to be highly addictive when it comes to unusual playlists. I quit smoking (again) on Tuesday and (honest, guv) the moment I lit up my last fag, Chumbawamba's Give The Anarchist A Cigarette kicked into my headphones. Thankfully, so far my iPod's skipped John Lennon's Cold Turkey, which is also lurking in there somewhere...

To pick up the story, 15 years on, apart from the cliché of a celebratory cigar when Lady K was born, I've not smoked since and I have never been tempted to try vaping.

 

I've been through 5 iPod Nanos since that initial purchase (the green one in the picture, if you're wondering); I worked them very hard. The subsequent iPods were all cheap secondhand purchases from eBay and for varying reasons all eventually gave up. I think my iPods were less forgiving than SWC's over at No Badger Required... 

You'll note that only 4 Nanos are pictured. The fifth - also pink and always the least wanted on eBay, it seems - fell from my pocket as I was racing to platform 12 at Leeds Railway Station to catch a train home. I saw it slide effortlessly across the platform before gliding briefly above the tracks then dropping down into the path of an incoming train. I'd like to say that either Dylan's Blood On The Tracks or Mylo's Destroy Rock & Roll was playing in that fateful moment but, to be honest, I don't remember and I was probably swearing too loudly to notice as I continued running for my train, my suddenly orphaned headphone cable trailing behind me... 

 

I retired my last Nano a couple of years ago and sold the 4 defunct iPods as parts on eBay. These days, my headphone and in-car music listening is all on my phone, with a never-ending variation of playlists.

 

As for mash-ups, I still love them, but my frankly ridiculous habit of downloading and collecting hundreds of them had significantly dropped by the end of the 2000s. The artists that I followed now seem to have mostly retired from mash-ups and are focused on other music-related pursuits.

 

IDC aka David McCarthy has released two albums, Overthrow The Boss Class (2008) and The Sun is Always Shining Above The Clouds (2011) and, according to his website, album #3 is currently in production.

 

McSleazy seems to have been retired around 2010-2011 and Grant J. Robson has since worked as a soundtrack composer and solo artist. His 4th album, Lit By The Dark, was released in 2021 and features The Vaselines' Eugene Kelly on The Burden, which is rather wonderful.

Team9 also ceased some years ago by all accounts and I've struggled to find any current website for Neil Mason. Info suggests that Neil is still based in Perth and working as a soundtrack composer and music producer.

Go Home Productions last released a couple of mash-ups in 2020, but Mark Vidler has more recently been involved with Graham Daniels as Addictive TV, including the incredible Orchestra Of Samples project. Mark was recently pictured with Devo and John Lydon at the Cruel World Fest in Pasadena, California.

 

Loo & Placido aka Laurent Lupidi & Jeremy Johnson are still going strong, celebrating over 20 years of mash-ups, more recent beneficiaries being XXXTentacion, Billie Eilish, Chvrches and Post Malone. 

Suffice to say, my digital music collection has grown exponentially since 2007 and my Top 20 most played list has significantly changed, skewed in part by school runs and Lady K's brief obsessions with Queen and, way out in front, Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man which was curtailed only by the lockdown in 2020. Of today's selection, only Lou Reed comes anywhere close, coming in at #84...

Anyway, enough of my yakking, without further ado here's today's selection for your listening pleasure.

Side One

1) Pain Killer (Album Version): Turin Brakes (2003)

2) Toop Toop Groove (Cassius vs. Madonna): Loo & Placido (2006)

3) In The Morning (Album Version By Geoff Barrow & Adrian Utley): The Coral (2005)

4) 7 Nation Rocker (Alter Ego vs. The White Stripes): IDC (2004)

5) Don't Call Me Song 2 (Madison Avenue vs. Blur): McSleazy (2000)

6) Satellite Of Love (Album Version By David Bowie & Mick Ronson): Lou Reed (1972)

7) Get I.D. (Kelis vs. Kasabian): McSleazy (2004)

8) Sheltered Life (Radio Edit): Erlend Øye (2003)

9) Since You Love Me (Kelly Clarkson vs. David Guetta vs. The Egg): Loo & Placido (2006)

10) Uptight Maggie (Re-Vision) (Stevie Wonder vs. Rod Stewart): Go Home Productions (2004) 

 

Side Two

1) Oblivious (Remix By Felix Chamberlain & Ted Templeman) (7" Version): Aztec Camera (1983)

2) Oops I'm Loaded (Original Version) (Tweet vs. Primal Scream): Team9 (2006) 

3) The Doorbell Encore (Jay-Z vs. The White Stripes): Team9 (2005)

4) Lost In Music (Album Version) (Cover of Sister Sledge): The Fall (1993)

5) Naive Hustler (Mirwais vs. Simian Mobile Disco): IDC (2006)

6) I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have (Cover of Primal Scream): Idha (1994)

7) Give The Anarchist A Cigarette (Edit): Chumbawamba (1994)

8) Insatiable Love (Darilyn Mansun) (Darren Hayes vs. Marilyn Manson): McSleazy (2002)

9) Sometimes Always (Album Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain ft. Hope Sandoval (1994)

10) Tulsa Telephone Book (Live @ Roskilde Festival, Denmark) (Cover of Tom T. Hall): Calexico (2000) 

 

Side One (35:30)

Side Two (37:35)

Happy Jolly Tape Thing

Side 1 of a mixtape, recorded sometime in 1992.

 

I've been avoiding the obvious and posting a mixtape opening with Sunday morning on a Sunday morning for a while. However, as this selection also features April Skies and it's April, not to mention a couple of mentions of an impending summer (of love), what can I do? 

I compiled this for my girlfriend, in what I'm guessing were the early weeks and months of our relationship. Her birthday's in September so I'm assuming from the song themes that it was prior to this, in the spring/summer. We'd met at college, studying A-Levels and with a shared love of art, and it was a very happy time, as the mixtape title suggests.

 

I have an unconditional love for all of these songs, they're each associated with good memories, not just this relationship but other happy times and events in my life. I've seen five of the artists live in concert - The Psychedelic Furs, The The, Julian Cope, The Jesus & Mary Chain and Blondie - six if you count Ian McNabb's solo gig at The Phoenix Festival, and they were all brilliantly memorable gigs.

 

Summer Of Love and Poised On The Edge Of Forever only made it as B-sides in the UK, whilst Forever Now and Four Flights Up are album cuts that really should have been singles. 

 

As for the singles themselves, it's all killer, no filler in my not-very-humble opinion. Just hearing This Is The Day followed by Eve's Volcano followed by April Skies struck a real chord when I heard it again.

 

Benchtop is the possible anomaly here, as it was only released in Australia in December 1990 as the lead song from the Resisting Calm EP. I was living and working there at the time and Benchtop was heavily played by radio station Triple J. I was hooked, ended up tracking down a copy on 12" vinyl and shipping it back to the UK. It remains one of my most treasured EPs. Melanie Oxley and Chris Abrahams were previously in a band together, Sparklers; Abrahams is perhaps better known these days as part of experimental jazz trio The Necks.

I hope you're having a good weekend, whether you're observing Easter or just taking a brief respite from the crazy world we're living in. Hopefully the sun's shining wherever you are and today's selection will put a big smile on your face.

Love to you all and thanks for visiting!

1) Sunday Morning (Album Version): The Velvet Underground (1967) 

2) Forever Now (Album Version By Todd Rundgren): The Psychedelic Furs (1982)

3) Summer Of Love (Single Edit By Shep Pettibone): The B-52's (1986)

4) Poised On The Edge Of Forever (Single Version): The Dream Academy (1985)

5) Oblivious (Single Version): Aztec Camera (1983)

6) This Is The Day (Extended Version): The The (1983)

7) Eve's Volcano 'Covered In Sin' (Single Remix By Tom Lord-Alge): Julian Cope (1987)

8) April Skies (Single Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain (1987)

9) All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House) (Long Version): The Icicle Works (1985)

10) Here Comes The Summer (Single Version): The Undertones (1979)

11) Denis (Album Version) (Cover of 'Denise' by Randy & The Rainbows): Blondie (1977)

12) Benchtop (Single Version): Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams (1990)

13) Four Flights Up (Album Version): Lloyd Cole & The Commotions (1984)

Side One (46:02) (Box) (Mega)

Just Close Your Eyes Again Until These Things Get Better

Inspired by yesterday's post at The Vinyl Villain, here's a Sunday selection of Roddy Frame and Aztec Camera, refreshing 10 songs I haven't played for a while.

Side One (18:40)

1) In My Life (Cover of The Beatles): Roddy Frame (2002)

2) Western Skies: Roddy Frame (2006)

3) Bigger Brighter Better: Roddy Frame (1998)

4) Set The Killing Free: Aztec Camera (1983)

5) Rainy Season: Aztec Camera (1995)

Side Two (19:18)

1) True Colors (Cover of Cyndi Lauper): Aztec Camera (1990)

2) Song For A Friend: Aztec Camera (1990)

3) Jump (Single Version) (Cover of Van Halen): Aztec Camera (1984)

4) We Could Send Letters (Album Version): Aztec Camera (1983)

5) Forty Days Of Rain: Roddy Frame (2014)

Side One (18:40) (Box) (Mega)

Side Two (19:18) (Box) (Mega)