A treat for you…

I picked up this EP with a live Style Council track at a charity shop last week. It was originally free with issue 1 of The Hit, a magazine I don’t recall at all.

It’s a good performance. No idea if it’s still exclusive.

Style Council - Walls Come Tumbling Down (Live) (1985)
Recorded at Manchester Apollo 14/6/85

1980 again

"Oh, no! He’s posting prog again!"

From Mike Rutherford’s Smallcreep’s Day LP, side one of which was based on Peter Currell Brown's surreal novel of the same name. And yes, that’s Mike Rutherford of Mike & The Mechanics who are responsible for many crimes against music but this is excellent whatever your genre bias. I know you all hate prog but you’re just bigots.

Mike Rutherford - Working In Line (1980)

Mildly Interesting Pop Fact: the singer on this is Noel McCalla who apparently auditioned for the 2009 series of X-Factor but didn’t get past the 'bootcamp' stage.

1980 Single of the Week

In 1980 with the release of the Black Sea LP I thought XTC had peaked. Little did I realise this was just the beginning and they would go on to be one of the greatest British bands ever.

The scans above are from the free poster that came with the Sgt. Rock single.

Side One: XTC - Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me) (1980)
Side Two: XTC - Living Through Another Cuba/Generals and Majors (Live) (1980)
Both ripped from the original single.

1980 Friday Night Record

Shalamar - Make That Move (1980)
Ripped from the original 12-inch single

1980 Single of the Week

My I’ve been a lazy blogger. After a reasonable start to the year everything ground to a halt. This after I hatched my cunning plan for a regular 1980 Single of the Week post. To make up lost ground the rest of this month is going to be all 1980 all vinyl!

Starting with this…

Bill Nelson’s first post Be Bop Deluxe and Red Noise single and the first release on his own Cocteau label. Do You Dream In Colour was a preview of his forthcoming Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam album. I remember it seemed to take forever for that LP to finally see the light of day, eventually arriving some two years after the Red Noise’s Sound-on-Sound. Two years between albums doesn’t sound like much these days but it was an eternity back then. At least we got four tracks – Bill’s singles from the early 80s were usually quite generous with non-album bonus tracks.

If you only know one Bill Nelson song chances are it’s Do You Dream In Colour. It got mostly favourable reviews, at least one pointing out a similarity to an old T-Rex song (I forget which one), and was a small hit, peaking at No 52 in the UK chart. It’s not really what I expected at the time, I had anticipated a more electronic sound, but I was won over by its jaunty poppy sound which is a bit at odds with the lyric.

The first two songs on side 2 are by the touring version of Red Noise, possibly destined for the planned but never released 2nd album. Neither would sound too out of place on Sound-on-Sound. If you’re familiar with that LP it’s easy to imagine Ideal Homes in the middle of side 2 and Instantly Yours has a similar vibe to Stop Go Stop.

Finally Atom Man Loves Radium Girl features Bill Nelson on all instruments and is probably nearer to the sound I was expecting.

The three side 2 songs are not currently available on CD even though they would have made ideal bonus tracks on the Quit Dreaming reissue.

Bill Nelson - Do You Dream In Colour (1980)
Bill Nelson - Ideal Homes (1980)
Bill Nelson - Instantly Yours (1980)
Bill Nelson - Atom Man Loves Radium Girl (1980)