Vinyl #13 - The Monochrome Set

"Alphaville" / "He's Frank" (7" single, 45 rpm)

Not a lot to say about this except I remember buying this single in a record shop in Drayton, a district in Portsmouth, when it first came out in 1979.  I think I must have been visiting a girlfriend who lived nearby in Cosham because I'd have had no other reason to go there!

I've always had a soft spot for both songs, again on the always-reliable Rough Trade label (RT005 so not long after it was formed). I never bought anything else by The Monochrome Set although I think they are still going. But both songs still sound great, off-kilter indie with enigmatic lyrics. Here they are:

https://youtu.be/7jSqLJsDJgw

https://youtu.be/oTl_CBiKd7c

Vinyl #12 - Sheila Hylton

"The Bed's Too Big Without You" (7" 45rpm)

As punk withered and died, and we all emerged into the 80's, my musical tastes diversified and Island Records always seemed to produce great records.

I had no idea who Sheila Hylton was, but the clue to what makes this record so good is in the small print on the label. It's one of my favourite tracks by The Police - Sting wrote it for their second album "Reggatta de Blanc". And it was arranged by Jamaican rhythm maestros Sly & Robbie who also played the drums and bass that propel the song forward. And having one of Kingston's top producers Harry J just about seals a sure-fire winner.

And that's about it, I've never bought anything else by Sheila Hylton but I still love this single.

Here it is:

https://youtu.be/MHG-hI5tMbE

Vinyl #11 - The Clash

"The Cost of Living EP" (7" 45 rpm)

Released in May 1979, I bought this because basically I bought anything The Clash released, and it also featured four brand new tracks. On initial listening you could tell they were moving on musically - developing more sophisticated and complex songs and arrangements - away from the three-chord in-your-face sonic assaults of their earlier stuff.

Looking back it was a clear bridge between their earlier agit-punk and the multi-faceted sonic landscape that would be the 'London Calling' album which was released six months after the 'Cost of Living' EP.

It also provided them with a hit - by covering the Bobby Fuller Four 1966 hit 'I Fought The Law' - they immediately broadened their audience (although of course The Clash lived up to their vow of never appearing on Top of the Pops). I love both versions of the song, I also loved playing it when I was in Aeroplane Blondes.

'Capital Radio' was actually a re-recording of an earlier track given away on flexi-disc with the NME, this version having more depth and power although also with a slightly indulgent and over long outro. 

The other two tracks were the Strummer/Jones originals which really marked the move forward. I've always had a soft spot for 'Gates of the West' which featured Mick Jones on lead vocals doing his best Mott the Hoople impression.

It all came in a great 7" gatefold outer sleeve and inner sleeve.

For me personally it was a time when I had been out to work for nine months, was finding my feet in the 'adult' world (although I was still only 16) and it felt great that both me and my musical heroes were pushing on forwards.

The songs:

https://youtu.be/_W-lUtlRpvQ

1. I Fought The Law 00:00 2. Groovy Times 02:46 3. Gates Of The West 06:17 4. Capital Radio 09:46

Vinyl #10 - Echo & The Bunnymen

Echo & The Bunnymen - "The Killing Moon"

I was never a massive fan of Echo & The Bunnymen, something about Ian McCulloch's cocky scouse-about-town character really grated, but they released some sublime singles, and 'The Killing Moon' is the best.

The chorus is a classic earworm which soars and then just keeps soaring even higher - it's best heard on the album version, all five glorious minutes of it. Just when you think the chorus repeat is fading, it comes again and leaves you wanting more.

This is the only piece of Bunnymen music I've ever bought - vinyl, CD or download. But it's one of my favourite singles.

Here it is:

https://youtu.be/LWz0JC7afNQ

Vinyl #9 - Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt - "Shipbuilding" (7" single)

Released in August 1982, this had a special significance for me as my Dad served in the Falklands War of that year, specifically on the task force flagship HMS Hermes. 

So Costello's superb lyrics really resonated with me. It was his comment on the nations reaction to the Falklands campaign but expressed in a totally original way. The lyrics juxtapose the jobs and wealth brought to communities by shipbuilding, with the death and sadness caused when those same ships are used in combat.

Co-written with Madness producer Clive Langer who wrote the jazz-tinged lilting music, it's one of those records that works on many levels but like most masterpieces, it provokes the listener to think beyond the immediate hit of a 'nice song' into something deeper. Which is exactly what Costello intended of course.

Wyatt is the perfect deliverer of the message, although Costello also recorded a version which was released on the 'Punch The Clock' album in 1983 and is well worth checking out for the sumptuous trumpet solo by famed jazz man Chet Baker, which isn't on this single.

A recognised classic, best listened to with headphones in a quiet place.

Links (Wyatt version then Costello's)

https://youtu.be/Res3-YX4X8g

https://youtu.be/rlcHnp5FEdc

Vinyl #8 - The Jam

The Jam - "David Watts" / "A Bomb In Wardour Street"

This was The Jam at their creative peak - it was 1978 and they were moving beyond the sheer energy that dominated their earlier releases, but before the chart domination and straight-to-number-one of their later releases.

The songs are from the third album 'All Mod Cons', incredible really to think that Weller was only 19 when he wrote the songs for the album.

Having said that about Weller, this single was a double A-side but it was the cover of the Kinks song 'David Watts' that got all the airplay on radio. What was very unusual was that the lead vocal was by Bruce Foxton, the bassist, and not Weller. And their aren't many Jam songs when that happened. Written by Weller hero Ray Davies, the song is based on someone Davies knew at school, and was gay, which meant in the 60's the message had to be subtle - although re-listening to it, it's not that subtle.

The other A-side is one of Weller's angriest and direct social commentaries, especially the hate and violence that punk had started to attract. It was a theme he would re-visit in 'Down At The Tube Station At Midnight', but this was an angry 19 year-old from Woking pleading for those intent on causing mayhem in the capital to see the error of their ways and where it all might end (apocalypse!).

I was lucky enough to see The Jam at Portsmouth Guildhall at this time, they were a brilliant live band and for a three piece they made a great sound. 

Here's the songs:

(Have included live version with Weller in complete Kinks mod look, check out how young he looks)

https://youtu.be/YC0_NyIxw7A

https://youtu.be/-tLIZsijVwg

Vinyl #7 - The Special AKA

The Special AKA - "Gangsters"/The Selecter - "The Selecter"

1979 was a strange year and was crying out for something new. I was getting bored with punk/new wave which was inevitably becoming more watered down and commercial. The original punk bands were developing in different ways – some better than others – and as a 17 year-old I wanted something new and fresh.

Lo and behold up comes this single, the first 2-Tone record, a double A-side with The Special AKA (subsequently becoming The Specials) on one side and The Selecter on the other. It’s ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials that made the impact and led the charge of the new ska revival that produced The Beat, Madness and others. 

The tune is actually a re-working of a 1964 Prince Buster ska song called ‘Al Capone’ and I think it went Top 10 in the singles charts which in those days was a shed load of sales. The brains – some would say genius – behind The Specials, including the writing of this song was Jerry Dammers.

Two great albums followed in the subsequent years before the wheels fell off, Dammers having nothing to do with the current Specials line-up that now rakes in the money through touring and re-hashing the old hits which they didn’t write. Without him they’ve recorded nothing new in about 30 years which just about says it all.

Nonetheless, ‘Gangsters’ remains a gold nugget, a song which genuinely changed what the youth of ’79 were listening to and influencing countless other bands. Not many records do that. I think I might even call it a classic. Here's the music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgCZN1rU5co

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czVEty7-n6E