Vinyl #50 - Was (Not Was)

"Wheel Me Out" (12" single)

I first heard this beauty in a small basement club in Portsmouth city centre called Martha's. From memory it was really just a downstairs function room in a pub but they used to have a club night there on a Thursday night focused on playing the edgiest and hippest new music, the kind that the normal nightclubs didn't play and the sort of music I was reading about in The Face magazine in 1980. Including imports and pre-releases. They played the full 12" versions rather than fading them out. It felt sort of exclusive which made it even better. 

Before they had their chart hits, Was (Not Was) were an extremely hip duo from Detroit and "Wheel Me Out" was their debut single only available on 12" on the equally hip New York avant-garde record label Ze Records (it was actually on their Antilles imprint).

It's a fantastic slab of quirky dance music, with a very funky and sleazy bass, samples of strange vocals, clanging percussion and weird trumpet and guitar lines. Clearly the best thing was (Not Was) ever produced, it was so innovative at the time, and it takes me back to being 18 years old living for the next Thursday and the next brilliant music the fast-changing sub-cultures of the time regularly produced.

Here's the music: https://youtu.be/e75AY16W2IU

Vinyl #49 - The Clash

 "London Calling"/Armagideon Time" (1979 12" single) 

As ever The Clash thought about their fans and provided brilliant value for money. On the face of it this is about "London Calling" which charted, but we all knew the song already and the version on this is the same as the one on the album of the same name.

No, what this 12" is all about and what Clash fans like me bought this for was "Armagideon Time", not on the album and produced by The Clash themselves. On the A-side you get an excellent if straightforward version of this reggae classic; but the real gem is on the the B-side:

Nearly 9 minutes of a dub version of the song - in two parts. The key thing which stands out is that on both Paul Simonon's bass is cranked right up, to the point where it shudders and reverberates, and Topper Headon's brilliant drumming is brought right up in the mix. Both show what a great rhythm team The Clash had, perhaps underrated and suffering from the focus on Strummer and Jones. 

It's just a brilliant performance with equally good production; typical Clash - they always produced excellent B-sides, and this ranks as probably one of the best.

Vinyl #48 - Heaven 17

"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" (12" single)

By 1981 things were changing - I was now working in Portsmouth city centre and was able to spend my lunch times perusing the record shops. Music was changing too - punk and new wave had had their day, ska and new romantics had taken over and there was an emerging electronic music scene - with Sheffield bands the Human League and Heaven 17 leading the charge.

March 1981 saw this debut single from Heaven 17, a catchy, danceable slab of electro-funk with heavily political lyrics (which could apply equally today as back then - nothing's really changed). As was my way in 1981 I had to have the 12" version, although interesting to note now the song wasn't a massive hit - not helped by being banned by the BBC as too political (and by possibly libelling Reagan). It came out a good six months before the band really hit the big time with their classic debut album 'Penthouse and Pavement'.

Listening to it again it still holds up and it's been covered several times including by the likes of New York hipsters LCD Soundsystem.

Here's the music: https://youtu.be/lV5dbcOmw6I

Vinyl #47 - Boomtown Rats

"Like Clockwork" (7" single)

I always think of the Boomtown Rats in two ways - the pre-fame band and the post-fame version. 

It's hard to remember them pre-fame but I used to love the Boomtown Rats at that time - when they first came over from Ireland right in the middle of the punk explosion. Geldof was another snotty-nosed lead singer with attitude not the Saint Bob he became.

Their first album was released in 1977 contained the brilliant single 'Lookin' After No.1', and they followed it with a new single 'She's So Modern', released in March 1978 and taken from their next album (bands recorded albums so quickly in those days). I loved this single too so me and Duffer, my mate from school, went to see them play at Portsmouth Locarno on a school night - Tuesday 28th March 1978 (I was 15 years old). I still remember the gig, totally dominated by Geldof's presence, always saying something controversial, particularly about the press/media. They were a great live band, very accomplished musicians whilst also radiating raw energy; they played lots of tracks from the forthcoming album 'A Tonic For The Troops' including 'Like Clockwork' released as a second single from the album in the June.

This single shows the Rats moving on from punk, it's feels a bit Talking Heads-esque and definitely marks the point where they left punk behind. I've listened to the whole album recently and it still holds up with great songs and performances but it definitely ain't punk. The B-side 'How Do You Do?' is a little cracker that shows the old Rats in full glory, it has a wonderful change of gear coda about 45 seconds from the end.

I've subsequently read that Geldof always wanted to be a famous rock star and with the third single from the album 'Rat Trap' released in November 1978 he achieved his aim - it went to number 1, repeat appearances on 'Top of the Pops' and then more success ('I Don't Like Mondays' etc ) including the Cult of Bob...

I lost interest after they became successful and part of the mainstream, purely because the music didn't work for me anymore. But pre-fame I loved them. Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/BtDhMScCkcQ
https://youtu.be/1APjN_73JS0

Vinyl #46 - Spandau Ballet

"The Freeze" (12" single)

No-one can begrudge a band commercial success and popularity, but there was a time when they first released records that Spandau Ballet were incredibly hip and were leading lights in changing the musical landscape in the UK, 

The 'New Romantics' were a new movement and Spandau were a key part of it; I didn't follow the fashion but the initial rush of music was great; Gary Kemp has always had a great sense of melody and when coupled with the force of a new youth movement it sounded and felt great - the early Spandau singles were fantastic.

"The Freeze" was their second single and I bought the 12" version, the remix on the B-side is still a terrific dance track; a great slab of electronic dance-funk; it's easy to forget how synth-orientated they were in the early days, the Kraftwerk and Bowie influences clear for all to hear. I remember requesting this song repeatedly at parties and the subterranean club I used to frequent in Portsmouth on Thursday nights in 1981.

I stopped buying Spandau Ballet records after this - they chose the mega-stardom route and by definition the music softened and appealed to me less and less. 

But for a few months, Spandau's music hit the spot. Here's the remix in all it's glory:

https://youtu.be/gCHVAFq3UT0

Vinyl #45 - Gruppo Sportivo

"Beep Beep Love" (12" single)

I bought this in Focus Records in Waterlooville in 1977 after hearing it on the John Peel radio show. The promotional price of 99p for a 12" single would have been a big factor in the purchase for this 15 year-old.

Apart from Peel playing them regularly (and I think having them do a session for his programme) I knew nothing about them except that they were a Dutch band, but what I did like was this very catchy, off-kilter pop gem that doesn't take itself too seriously. Playing it again for the first time in years, those endearing traits still shine through and I have to say this 57 year-old is still very fond of it! 99p well spent me-thinks.

Research tells me that the record was produced by some Dutch bloke out of Golden Earring (of 'Radar Love' fame), and that the main bloke behind Gruppo Sportivo (which is a great name for a band) was and still is slightly strange.

Here's the music:   https://youtu.be/tYtua6piTuU

Vinyl #44 - Blondie

"Heart of Glass" (12" single)

I'd liked Blondie since their first album and their brilliant early singles. But when this came along it was a step up and it gained them (and Debbie Harry especially) superstardom.

It's just a perfect slice of Moroderesque disco, and this is the full near-six minute version. What I've always loved about this record - and still love - is Clem Burke's brilliant drumming - especially on the extended outro. Quite simply superb.

Here's the music - enjoy!

https://youtu.be/VtEu_SKE1Gc

Vinyl #43 - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

"The Message" (12" single extended remix)

It was July 1982 and I'd moved out of my parent's home, and was a 19 year-old sharing a house with some lads in central Portsmouth when this came out, I remember buying it and then realising I'd have to carry it to Fratton Park to watch Pompey play, hoping that it would survive the crush on the terraces (in those days the Fratton End was a terrace and we all swayed around rather a lot!). Thankfully it did survive.

It's safe to say that this is an all-time classic - the first rap song with a social message - THE message - it made a massive impact at the time and it's been sampled and copied ever since. The music is secondary, it's not particularly inspiring but the lyrics - printed in full on the FRONT of the picture sleeve - were what mattered. A huge slice of reality for America and on the 12" you got a full 7 minutes plus.

Although credited to the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five the song was c0-written and sung by only two of them - Duke Bootee and Melle Mel. It's on the brilliant Sugar Hill label which at the time could do no wrong and was a guarantee of quality (it's biggest hit being "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang)  

Listening to it again today, it still sounds fresh and the Message still resonates. Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/vsmp-TYjxp4

Vinyl #42 - Womack & Womack

"Love Wars" (12" single, extended remix)

New year, slightly new approach. I've decided to delve into my 12" single stock - and certainly in the early 1980s I bought a lot of 12" singles, after all this was the time of the remix and extended versions, with possible bonus tracks not on the 7" version.

I'm starting with this super slick slice on 1983 American disco-funk (I went slightly soul boy at this time of my life as you will discover over the coming months). This is just a fantastic song which is impossible to keep still to or not sing along to. Listening to it again it now, it does get slightly repetitive over the 12" format and probably works better over 7", but back in the day you HAD to have the extended remix.

Womack & Womack were husband and wife duo Linda and Cecil Womack and they were steeped in American musical history  - Linda was Sam Cooke's daughter and Cecil had previously been married to Mary Wells of The Supremes. Before singing their own material they had worked with people like James Brown and as a songwriting duo had written hit songs for many artists.

When I bought this single I was working in a bank in central Portsmouth and my mate Ian and I would spend every - and I mean every - lunch hour in the local record shops looking for the latest releases. We were lucky to have a large HMV store, plus a Virgin Megastore in the (now gone) Tricorn Centre and a local independent store Subway Records. Heaven!! Getting our fix of buying a new vinyl record certainly helped the afternoon go quicker, and the boring commute home felt better knowing that I had some new vinyl to whack onto the turntable as soon as I got home.

Here's the music:

 https://youtu.be/fajfqEgj9BI

Vinyl #41 - The Pretenders

I Go To Sleep - 7" single

I've always had a soft spot for The Pretenders, but usually their rockier stuff.

This is at the other end of the spectrum completely, not like their usual stuff. The clue is that it's a cover of a Ray Davies song who, of course, was Chrissie Hynde's partner at the time. It's a powerful and intense ballad.

Interestingly The Kinks never released a version, it was originally released by a band called The Applejacks (never heard of them!)

Here's the music: https://youtu.be/uIpfsMdf0LQ

Vinyl #40 - Sheila Hylton

"The Bed's Too Big Without You" (7" inch single)

I always liked The Police song "Bed's Too Big Without You" but in 1980 - a year after the original - this version was released on the always-reliable Island Records and I fell in love with it. 

I didn't know Sheila Hylton, not many people did as she was only a part-time singer when not working as an air hostess for Air Jamaica, but there's something about this version that works for me. The clue to that may be in the credits - arranged by the crack Jamaican rhythm team of Sly & Robbie; I've always loved their work whether it's Black Uhuru or Grace Jones. Produced by Harry J - again a legendary producer (remember 'The Liquidator' by Harry J's Allstars?).

So great song by Sting, no doubt about that, and I love both versions but this one just nips ahead.

Here's the music:  https://youtu.be/MHG-hI5tMbE

Vinyl #39 - The Jam

"The Modern World" (7" single)

One of the Jam's early singles, released in October 1977 (42 years ago!!) the only single off their second album. Already Paul Weller was marked out as a spokesperson for his generation and this song - part of his manifesto for youth over the 'old guard' - cemented that position further. Here's the music:
https://youtu.be/oWrd9XuSKZg

Just looking at the front cover of the picture sleeve underlines how young these guys were - Weller was 18 and still living in Woking with his parents. The maturity of his lyrics and the power of the songs marked The Jam out as something different. I saw The Jam in their prime in 1978 at Portsmouth Guildhall and for a three-piece they blew the place apart.

The Jam didn't really fit into the standard punk categorisation but their attitude was completely punk. Weller drew on all his influences though - soul, motown and mod -especially when shaping the sound and look of the band. Just look at the B-sides to this single, The Jam's live versions of two soul classics but played at break neck punk speed. Well worth a listen and showing that The Jam were never going to be pigeon-holed into a single musical genre. Remember these songs were recorded 11th September 1977 at the 100 Club on Oxford Street - the so-called 'home' of punk rock. Quite brilliant.

https://youtu.be/Hu1X2c3o8YQ

Vinyl #38 - Sex Pistols

"Never Mind The Bollocks" (album)

Decided to do something different this time with an album which I've been re-visiting. Not just any album though - one of my Top 3 albums ever.

It's hard to overstate the impact the Sex Pistols had on changing the face of popular music in the UK (and probably elsewhere). No Pistols - no Nirvana. no Foo Fighters, no Arctic Monkeys, no Idles, no numerous snivelling indie guitar bands that have followed. The Pistols set the future template by pressing 'reset' on the whole fat and overblown rock music industry in the 1970's where success was measured by the length of both the drum solo and the lead singers hair.

The Pistols made this one album before they imploded amongst death, squalor and recriminations and I for one am glad it ended then. They leave a perfect one album legacy. Forget the outtakes, bootlegs, live recordings and fairy tale rubbish subsequently recorded by the rotting corpse of the band - that's just corporate vultures wringing as much money they can out of the Pistols 'brand'. Forget the non-music antics, the swearing on TV, the circus that they became.

Instead let's focus on the one proper album they made. It has certainly lost none of it's edginess and power. It still captures the UK in 1977 but it still remains relevant and immediate. It still smacks you in the face, sonically and lyrically.

What makes it so good? Well it's the combination of Steve Jones's multi-layered power chords and his licks that sit in between the lines (Jones has been a criminally under-rated guitarist); Paul Cook's rocksteady and crashing beat and drum fills, and his unusually clever and frequent use of the ride cymbal; John Lydon's (nee Rotten) snarling, spitting vocals along with his nihilistic lyrics. And last but not least original bassist Glen Matlock's eye for a melody and a hook (the band effectively ceased musically when Matlock was sacked by McLaren for being 'too musical'; McLaren wanted a cartoon punk in the band and got one with Sid Vicious who couldn't even play the bass - the bass parts on 'Never Mind The Bollocks' are played by guitarist Steve Jones).

The production is a total wall of sound but never muddied, listening on headphones you get to hear these constituent parts in all their individual and combined glory.

The iconic album cover by artist Jamie Reid has been much copied but never bettered, it suited the contents perfectly.

The hype and 'notoriety' surrounding the Sex Pistols has unfortunately meant that most people's focus has not been on the music. It's worth revisiting this album which captured the punk zeitgeist in 40 minutes of perfect music and words.

Here's the music:

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm29866883

Vinyl #37 - Holly and The Italians

"Tell That Girl To Shut Up" (7" single)

Don't know a lot about this group, just a great catchy pop/rock single released at the tail end of 1979, I have a faded memory that I saw them supporting The Clash but I might be wrong.

I didn't buy anything else by her/them, but this single still stands the test of time.

I do know that Transvision Vamp recorded a version of it which became quite a big hit in the 1980's.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/mhV39CSf3CA

Vinyl #36 - Dead or Alive

"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" - 7" single

A classic single that I liked the minute it was released in 1984. I was aware of Pete Burns from the Liverpool punk scene in the late 1970's but he never found fame until he wrote and sang this dance pop jewel.

It eventually went to number 1 in the charts and the key to it's catchiness is the names of the producers - the genius hit factory that is Stock, Aitken and Waterman (although it's mostly Pete Waterman who was responsible for this one). This was their first number one record before they went on to Kylie, Jason et al.

Of course Pete Burns could never really follow this tune (an impossible task) but he continue to find fame on TV and for other reasons until he died in 2016 aged just 57.

On a personal level, I remember dancing at clubs and parties to this record, it never failed to get people on the dance floor (that's still the case today). And I've always had a soft spot for song titles that (have parentheses).

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/PGNiXGX2nLU

Vinyl #35 - John Lennon

"Nobody Told Me" (7" single)

Choosing between Lennon and McCartney is a bit like choosing between lager and bitter - sometimes I like one, other days I like the other. I've always admired Macca's purer pop writing, the sheer brilliance of the hooks; but on the other hand Lennon's agit-pop protest songs always had a deeper meaning and expressed his inner feelings with less shiny varnish.

So...this song is a strange one, it combines Lennon's poppier side with his usual lyrical dexterity. Recorded not long before his death, but not finished and released until some four years later, it did pretty well in the charts as I recall. I wouldn't call it typical Lennon, it's just a cracking tune.

I've never listened to the B side I'm afraid as I don't rate Yoko as a musician.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/cuuhsqA95iA

Vinyl #34 - Bob Marley & The Wailers

"Could You Be Loved" (7" single)

This single sparks a lot of memories. Specifically​,​ dancing to it on a Saturday night at Nero's, the premier (ahem) nightclub in Portsmouth, located opposite the pier in Southsea (since pulled down and replaced with a development of apartments on the land apparently owned by one Mr H​.​ Redknapp).

​This song was where Bob Marley broke ​out of the reggae-only brigade, cleverly maintaining his roots, but adding a gloss of commercialism which significantly widened his audience.

Anyway, I didn't care about all of that, I just danced to it on the multi-coloured uplit floor (think Saturday Night Fever) at Nero's. Happy daze.

It's a difficult song not to at least shake a leg at.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/g3t6YDnGXAc

Vinyl #33 - The Jam

"When You're Young"/"Smithers-Jones" (7" single)

Back in the days when bands regularly recorded and issued singles that were not included on albums, The Jam were one of the finest exponents of this fine thing to do.

'When You're Young' is arguably their finest 'stand-alone' single (although 'Strange Town' may run it close). A brilliant slab of Weller's anger-pop, a paean to youth, a celebration of not-being-old. 

Released in August 1979 just before my 17th birthday, it spoke directly to me and I lapped it up. Look at the picture sleeve, how young do Paul, Rick and Bruce look? The latter in classic mod black Fred Perry polo, Paul in paisley shirt a la Small Faces.

This was The Jam at their prime.

The B-side 'Smithers-Jones' is unusual in that it was written and sung by bassist Bruce Foxton (apart from the coda which Weller barks out). It's a very endearing tale of work and commuting, apparently based on his father as he undertook the daily slog to London only to be made redundant. This is the band version of the song, interestingly an orchestral (yes, orchestral!) version appears on The Jam's seminal near-concept album 'Setting Sons' released some three months later.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/kX2HHGIP3io

https://youtu.be/PMqm_UfONlE

Vinyl #32 - Patti Smith Group

"Because The Night" (7" single)

I'm not and never have been a great fan of Patti Smith's sonic output (the best thing she has done was her excellent memoirs book 'Just Kids').

However...her biggest hit is the exception - probably because it's co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It was actually a Bruce reject (he recorded a version for one of his early albums but rejected it, although since Patti had a hit with it he's since played it live) but Patti wrote a different set of lyrics and hey presto, a bona fide top 5 hit in the UK in 1978.

In fact it sounds like The Boss but with a woman's voice, the music is just like the E Street band, the driving melody keeps going and then lifts even higher. It's without doubt Patti Smith's best vocal performance and really is an all time classic single. Nice picture sleeve as well. Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/c_BcivBprM0

Vinyl #31 - Adam & The Ants

"Car Trouble" (7" single)

I'd really enjoyed Adam & The Ants 1979 album 'Dirk Wears White Sox' (I remember listening to it over and over at a girlfriend's house - she owned the album, I didn't). This was before Adam Ant hit the big time with his run of radio-friendly, chart-topping singles and albums. And before the make-up and tassles - dandy highwayman indeed!!

'Dirk Wears White Sox' is darker, seedier and much more left-field.

'Cartrouble' was one of the tracks on the album, and the single is a re-recorded version released in March 1980. It's much more radio-friendly and you can start to hear the mellowing of Adam into the pop star he became. The re-recording on the single is played by a different set of Ants than were on the album; it's the Ants who played on the big hits. So I've always seen this single as the sound of a band in transition - from cult act to mass market.

It's still a cracking song though, here it is:

https://youtu.be/moyoi0ysiE8