Wednesday, April 23, 2008

My Peel Tapes: Part 8

Hello dear friends,

quite some time has passed since I last found the time to post something here. Blame it on the fact that the weather has improved slighty (which in my region means nothing more than a change from constant rain to rain just 5 days a week, not 7 .... nevertheless Mrs. Loser uses it as an excuse to drag me into the garden whenever she can in order to force me to dig holes here and plant little trees there and move useless heavy things around and back. Arrrrggghh !!!!)

But apparently here I am, having stolen meself away from it all, with:

(43) Eton Crop - 'Yes Please Bob' (mp3). Surely the first and most probably the last band from Holland featured in this series, with the title track from their 1986 album on Ediesta Records. Rather a nice LP back then, I recall. Perhaps later today I will listen to the whole of it again after 20 years of not doing so ....
[upon request:
Slab - 'Mars On Ice'
Billy Bragg - 'Greetings To The New Brunette'
Woodentops - 'Everyday Living'
Rote Kapelle - 'These Animals Are Dangerous'
Mighty Jungle Beasts - 'Kick In Windows]

(44) The Very Things - 'This Is Motortown' (mp3). Risen out of the ashes of The Cravats, The Very Things first came to my attention when Peel played their second single, 'The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes' ('84), which I thought was an excellent title for a song. And indeed the track itself is awesome, so try to get your hands on it if you can. 'This Is Motortown' though is from 1986, a 12" on DCL Electric. You Britons might know The Shend, the singer with The Very Things, from his TV appearances in such series as Eastenders, The Bill and Torchwood.
[upon request:
Ciccone Youth - 'Burning Up'
Suicidal Tendencies - 'Institutionalized'
A Witness - 'Sharpened Sticks']

(45) The Go-Betweens - 'Lee Remick' (mp3). I always found it dead hard to decide whether this is the best that The Go-Betweens have ever done or whether it is 'People Say', the 1979-follow-up single to this 7" on the legendary Able Lable, released in 1978. Again, I only wish I had the record, but as this is not the case, I had to take it from the excellent compilation of their work, which I referred to in a previous posting. And shouldn't you have a clue who Lee Remick might possibly be, have a look here:


[upon request:
Pop Will Eat Itself - 'Oh Grebo, I Think I Love You'
We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - 'Love Is The Slug'
Shop Assistants - 'What A Way To Die]

(46) Half Man Half Biscuit - 'Arthur's Farm'/'All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit' (mp3). From the Peel Sesion the band did on 10.11.1985. I chose to play that and not the fantastic Undertones track below mainly because I think you don't hear this particular HMHB tune all that often ('Arthur's Farm' that is, 'Dukla Prague' should be commonly known by now. If this is not the case: the last second of it - when Nigel goes 'Aaaah' - is better than sex: so listen closely!! , so it might be new to at least a few of you.

And this exactly is why I'm doing all this here: perhaps you listen to it, sit back, relax, like it as much as I do and say to yourself: 'Gosh, this Sexyloser is such a nice chap!'. "Four legs good, but no legs best, invalidity reigned supreme" is hard to beat, isn't it? And: note the quote from 'Eton Rifles' in this, Jam fans! On Strange Fruit Records, a 12" from 1986 ...

[upon request:
Undertones - 'Here Comes The Summer'
Ramones - 'Howling At The Moon'
Woodentops - 'Why'
Ciccone Youth - 'Into The Groovy'
Wedding Present - 'Felicity'
Ruts - 'Society']

(47) The Screaming Tribesmen - 'Igloo' (mp3). Done in sunny Brisbane back in 1983 and certainly one of the finest things ever to come to us all the way from Australia. There ain't very much I can tell you about it, apart from the fact that this is one of very few songs that are able to give you the feeling that you are in the middle of the story the singer tells you. Not a very nice thought to be in the Polar Zone, but there you are .... a 7" on Citadel Records and a much sought-after item by now .... nice essay upon the track: here.

[upon request:
Shop Assistants - 'After Dark'
Avengers - 'We Are The One'
Joy Division - 'Leaders Of Men]

(48) Big Stick - 'Jesus Was Born (On An Indian Reservation)' (mp3). Big Stick is comprised of two artistic and creative people, John Gill and Yanna Trance. The duo emerged in late ‘86 with their timeless classic hit titled 'Drag Racing'. The record got plenty of college airplay in the U.S. and healthy radio attention in England and parts of Europe. The duo signed with Blast First/Mute Records and enjoyed critical acclaim and success on foreign shores. On the B-Side of 'Drag Racing': 'Jesus Was Born (On An Indian Reservation)', which was originally released on a compilation cassette on Wally & The Beaver. I have an album called 'Crack 'n Drag', released in 1988 on Torso Records in the Netherlands, which also includes the track. Great stuff!

[upon request:
Pop Will Eait Itself - 'The Black County Chainstore Massacre'
Eton Crop - 'When The Bottle Gets Uncorked'
Ramones - 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker']

(49) Jane Bond & The Undercovermen - 'Hot Rod Lincoln' (mp3). One of the very first tunes I posted on Sexyloser and because I'm such a lazy guy (which reminds me of the fact that I still have to do some work for the upcoming Sloth - episode of the Contrast Podcast ... Tim: my contribution will be with you soon, promised!!): just scroll down to the bottom of the page to learn more about it. Your loss if you don't do so, the track is purely awesome!

[upon request:
Goldene Zitronen - 'Zitronenmord'
Shonen Knife - 'Makin' Plans For Bycin'
Dub Sex - 'Tripwire']

(50) Frightwig - 'Beverly' (mp3). Frightwig was an all-women band from San Francisco who pioneered the riot grrrl movement and were very influential to its development. They were known for inviting a male audience member on stage to "dance" during the song "A Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do" and thereby publicly ridiculing him. Frightwig was composed of Cecilia Lynch, Deanna Ashley, Mia Levin, Susan Miller, Megan Page and Rebecca Tucker. 'Beverly' is taken from their 'Faster, Frightwig, Kill! Kill!' album on Caroline Records from Canada in 1986.

[upon request:
Shonen Knife - 'I Wanna Eat Chocolate Bars'
Shop Assistants - 'Train To Kansas City'
Smiths - 'Shoplifters Of The World Unite']

I hope you had fun, nice people. Place requests and I'll link to the tunes you want to hear.

Stay tuned until next time,

Dirk

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dirk: I am loving this series, I think it's a fine complement to anything else that keeps C-86 alive... and this is from a mid-aged Yank so forgive my cultural ignorance. I wondered why you haven't posted or mentioned Colorblind James Experience? Truly unsung and worth remembering, but made popular-ish by Peel back in the day. Also ... I'd like to request some Shonen Knife; any of the tracks you mentioned will do!

Anonymous said...

hola
muy buen gusto...
podias subir terry & gerry¿¿¿

saludos
kalo.

Anonymous said...

Thanks from a 20-something American who for some reason really likes jangly British music/power pop. I had never heard of Half Man Half Biscuit, that track is so catchy! I do have a request, though .. more Shop Assistants, please.