Grievously Underrated ... Part One

Dear friends,

this is the start of a whole series for which I try to post a song from a band which I think - as the title implements - was (or is) grievously underrated. That of course reflects just my personal opinion, at the end of the day you will have to judge yourself. But in any case I can only recommend that you should have a listen to the songs: I really honestly do think that those tracks should have deserved more attention than they got when they came out. In my eyes they're all total classics and the people who wrote them are heroes to me!

So let's start with Calvin Party. As far as I know they come from the Manchester area and if memory serves correctly, before they turned into Calvin Party, they were The Levellers Five (nothing to do with The Levellers). In both formations they recorded for Probe Plus Records from Liverpool and whilst trying to ascertain a little more information for you, I found out that Calvin Party are still existing and even have a brandnew album out. Check their myspace side, what I heard there was not bad at all. There will also be a UK promotional tour which starts next month, and if you decide to go and see them, you might be lucky to hear them performing this one, from 1995:



Calvin Party - 'Life And Other Sex Tragedies' (mp3)

If you want to get hold of this particular track, just have a look at the Probe Plus homepage. But bear in mind that the album of the same name does NOT contain this track, you will find it on the LP/CD 'Lies, Lies And Government' (Probe 43) though.

Next up something from a band not totally unknown, at least not to people of a certain age, so I would think. But if you've never heard this before, you really missed a treat. The original version of the song was titled 'Into The Garden' and now you know I'm talking about Artery. Artery formed in Sheffield in 1979, 'Into The Garden' though is from 1982. I have the original version on tape, but a 'different' version of the song (although the difference is not that big) was issued as the B-Side of 'The Alabama Song' - 12" in 1983. The sound quality is way better, therefore you'll get:

Artery - 'The Death Of Peter X.' (mp3)

Next up a welsh band, something which normally always guarantees quality: The Glass Torpedoes. I don't know anything about them, apart from the fact that one of them later was with Nightmares On Wax. This here is from a 7" on Teen Beat Records from 1979, the A-Side being 'Someone Different', although - again - I think another song on it is much more enjoyable:

Glass Torpedoes - 'Morning, Noon And Night' (mp3)

The third release on Hemiola Records from Leeds featured a combo from Arlington, Virginia: The Eggs. Despite of their stupid name the record itself was just marvellous. It must have struck a chord in Britain at least for a few people, because it reached # 10 in Peel's Festive 50 of that year. Doesn't make them worldwide superstars, but who gives a damn, right?

The Eggs - 'The Goverment Administrator' (mp3)

That's it for today, people, there's more to come, I'm sure. Before I go, I would - as usual - like to draw your attention to both the current and also to tomorrow's edition of the mighty Contrast Podcast: well worth listening, believe me!

Have fun ... and I would be more than happy to read any comments saying whether you liked the tracks as much as I do or not!

Cheers,

Dirk