The Cortinas ‎– "True Romances" + "Please Don't Hit Me (CBS Demo's)" (1978)

True Romances (CBS Records) 1978

A1 Heartache 4:48
A2 I Don't Really Want To Get Involved 2:20
A3 Ask Mr. Waverly 3:39
A4 Youth Club Dance 2:58
A5 First I Look At The Purse 2:28
A6 Radio Rape 3:49
B1 Tribe Of The City 3:39
B2 Have It With You 2:02
B3 I Trust Valerie Singleton 2:08
B4 Broken Not Twisted 3:01
B5 Take That Light Away 2:12
B6 Further Education 2:26
B7 I'll Keep My Distance 3:51

"Please Don't Hit Me!" (CBS DEMOs)1978

1 Tribe Of The City
2 I Don't Really Want To Get Involved
3 Youth Club Dance
4 Ask Mr. Waverley
5 Have It With You
6 Broken Not Twisted
7 Heartache
8 Radio Rape
9 Justice
10 Further Education
11 I Trust Valerie Singleton
12 First I Look At The Purse

Bristol's premier 'Punks' ,The Cortinas, were one of those few '77 punk bands that looked like kids from the street. No expensive biker jackets,swastika t-shirts and spiky haircuts for these hicks from the provinces.They also played no-frills rock'n'roll rather than the hyped up version of Rock and Bad heavy metal that was the output of the higher echelons of the genre.They even had a singer who sported a proud Quiff, how anti-fashion was that?

The record companies were running out of 'punk bands' to sign up and destroy, so, inevitably the turn of the Cortinas would come.

CBS released an LP based on the Demos they recorded to get a record deal, which was a sterile over-produced version of what had made them a viable acquisition for the label who had turned the Clash into an Adult Orientated Rock act.

Included here are both the Demo versions, and the Official versions for a contrast and compare lesson in why record companies Suck!

Its like giving your mum (or Dad) your dirty jeans to wash and receiving them back washed and ironed with a sharp crease running down the front and back of the trouser legs.

"Please Don't Hit Me" (Valarie singleton) is raw,rough and ready Pub influenced Punk Rock;whereas, "True Romances" is polished New Wave pop,expertly recorded in an acoustically dead studio.....which I have grown to actually like over the preceding 40 years.

Both versions have their plus points in 2017, but for the time, it is astonishing how unbelievably stupid record executives/producers were in 1977/8 and beyond.Punk Rock was universally misunderstood by almost everyone in the business, and these two LP's stand as a testament to that.

I suppose it's like myself producing a Hip-Hop album.....hang on...no i think i'd do a good job on that one actually....and i'd love to produce someone like that ginger bloke with the small acoustic....er...Ed Sheeran, thats it; and I wish I could have produced The Cortinas in 1978 too.

The cover is another issue. Looking through the 'New Wave' section in Revolver, Leicester, in 1978, I was looking for this album and couldn't see it.Asked the assistant and he flicked through twice and found it. It just so invisible, like when Man United played in a Grey kit and lost 3-1 against Southampton.The manager complained that they couldn't see each other. After changing the kit at half-time they still lost.......if CBS changed the cover at half-time I reckon the sales would have shadowed the fortunes of Manchester United that fateful day, and sunk without trace.

Yep big business and art don't go together, just like Footballers and brains......and the colour Grey.

DOWNLOAD a True Romance HERE!

and

DOWNLOAD a truer version of True Romances HERE!...(i.e. please don't hit me)

The Cortinas - "Sessions,Demos,and Singles 1977" (a Die or DIY? Compilation)

And who got there first in Bristol then?
'Twas 2nd wave punk band The Cortinas, which included a future member of "Cut The Crap" Clash (but we'll keep that quiet!), and a Singer with a quiff called Valentine!
More on the Pub Rock side of early Punk Rock were our Cortinas,refreshingly, keeping a clean crunchy guitar sound unlike the majority of the class of '77. Provincial Punks like this lot were rare in the early days, and to be accepted into the trendy clique was difficult; but without doubt they were one of the most competent and energetic of the New Wave crowd.This wasn't enough to survive the Seditionaries clad London fashionistas of the Kings Road.They always remained outsiders up until the rest of the Bristolian scene got the Funk on and left Punk and The Cortinas behind.
Here's a compilation I chucked together of some early Demo's, the John Peel Session, and the first two, Classic, singles, which showcase the band at their best before the Record Company got hold of them and destroyed 'em.(see the last track)

Tracklist:

01 Fascist Dictator (Single A-side 1977)
02 Television Families (Single B-side 1977)
03 Defiant Pose (Single A-Side 1977).
04 Independence (Single B-Side 1977).
05 Having It (Peel Session - 16-07-1977)
06 Further Education (Peel Session -.16-07-1977)
07 Defiant Pose (Peel Session - 16-07-1977)
08 Television Families (Peel Session - 16-07-1977)
09 Tribe of the City (Demo).
10 I Don't Really Want to Get Involved (Demo)
11 Youth Club Dance (Demo)
12 Mr Waverley (Demo).
13 Having It (Demo).
14 Broken Not Twisted (Demo).
15 Heartache (7" single version 1978.)

DOWNLOAD punk from before bristol got the funk HERE!

Mark Stewart and the Maffia ‎– Learning To Cope With Cowardice" (On-U Sound ‎– ON-U L.P. 24) 1983

There are times when I think that anybody with an opinion shouldn't be allowed in front of a microphone,even worse, in front of a microphone connected to a P.A. system. Politicians are bad enough, but pop stars who think they are politicians,or even, a....gulp!... leader(!?), are far worse.Its a kind of fascism to be screamed at at high volume with no right to reply in a crowd all with the same opinion and dress sense......sound like anything we encountered before,like in Nuremberg for  example?
Having heard about some 'street' accented ginger bird 'tellin' us like it is' at the annual Glastonbury middle class convention, called Kate Tempest (uh?) last weekend.I thought i'd check this rant out on youtube (click here if you ain't seen it). Her scowling Brits academy face turning pink with the strain of projecting her spittle soaked views on how terrible things are. Like one was trapped in a corner being shouted at by a ruddy faced hairdryer. .....yeah I sort of agree with her,but whats the point in that? If she'd have done the same at the local Conservative club she'd have been bottled off the stage. Preaching to the converted was never anything more than a pointless exercise in futility. She don't look a barrel of laffs either.
I used to think the same of Mark Stewart until i saw him on that BBC documentary on Post-Punk, and he seemed like a rather lighthearted and amusing fellow.
The constant barrage of Politics was a major reason that the Pop Group split up.....he just never gave it a rest.He was never going to convert anyone.Those who bought (Yes they sold things,Ma Thatcher would have approved) Pop Group records were already either going to be leaning in that direction politically, or, completely apolitical. An occasional change in subject matter would have strengthened his message tenfold. Really I don't care what an artists Political opinion is,especially if they hammer the same nail for decades......change the fucking record please?.....or in Kate Tempest's case,please don't enter my world again.
On a more interesting subject, "Learning To Cope With Cowardice" is classic abstract inter-racial Dub,that within its existence, conveys a much stronger message than any barked rant. The ironic version of 'Jerusalem' is a fine example of how political music should be; subtly subverting a 'Last night of the Proms' classic, reclaiming it from the Hooray Henry's and giving back to the people it was written for, the serfs of feudal Britain. Very appropriate in this new era of debt driven neo-feudalism that we are trapped inside.......Yes I agree with Mark Stewart on ALL his points(If you're interested???....I wouldn't if I was you!), but I don't like being preached at, even if I am one of the converted.

Tracklist:
1.Learning To Cope With Cowardice
2.Liberty City
3.Blessed Are Those Who Struggle
4.None Dare Call It Conspiracy
5.Don't You Ever Lay Down Your Arms
6.The Paranoia Of Power
7.To Have A Vision
8.Jerusalem

Learn to cope with DOWNLOADING a rar file HERE!

Pigbag ‎– "Dr Heckle And Mr Jive" (Y Records ‎– Y 17) 1982

This blog of late has been getting into some pretty unhealthy, populist, 'Dance' orientated areas!.....I blame that bloody bunch of hippity-doodie commies 'The Pop Group'; especially as all their members seemed to crop up somewhere in all these groups.....Pigbag being no exception; as original bassist, Simon Underwood was to be seen doing that dancing with the bass thing, that all white boys felt obliged to indulge in from the Ska boom onwards.......YOU WILL ENJOY YORSELF!
One thing I can't stand is enforced jollity.
Mr Underwood also holds the undisputed honour of being the only member of The Pop Group to ever be on a Hit record..... "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag", thanks to Mr Paul 'N-n-n-n-n-Nineteen' Hardcastle's punchy remix (included here); and they also got to do Top Of The Pops twice! 
Saving street cred stories were later heard about how naughty they were in the BBC studio's, making the director very very angry.......Oh those anti-capitalist Anarcho-socialists eh!?......just a pity that their need for success ran roughshod over their 'principles'.......but at least they could prance around on telly with their trumpets I suppose.
That said, they made a couple of well funky brass heavy tunes that can even get my Anti-Capitalist Anarcho-socialist toes-a-tapping.

Tracklist

Dr Heckle:

1- Getting Up
2- Big Bag
3- Dozo Don
4- Brian The Snail

Mr Jive:

5- Wiggling
6- Brazil Nuts
7- Orangutango
8- As It Will Be

Bonus Tracks:

9 - Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag (12" version)

10- Sunny Day (12" version)

11- Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag (Paul Hardcastle remix)

DOWNLOAD some pale white boys dancing with trumpets HERE!

Don Cherry ‎– "Brown Rice" (EMI ‎– 3C 064-18107) 1975

Now a chance to post something different.
Of course Neneh Cherry, of Rip Rig + Panic's step dad was Jazz legend Don Cherry; who also played the good bits on the "I am Cold" album.
So you gotta be curious as to what he got up to in his long career haven't you.....what d'you mean 'No'!?
Here's Don's obscure seventies Jazz Fusion masterpiece that is 'Brown Rice'.A kind of laid back ,post-jazz world fusion experiment from the lost year of 1975.When all us 'white kids' were being tortured by ELP and Yes.Black music never seems to have a bad year(depending on taste; which,according to Mark Stewart of The Pop Group '...is a form of censorship').If you dig deep enough there hasn't really been a bad year since about 1966 in pop music, even further in the Avant Garde and Jazz..........jeez I'm being generous today!
Normal service will be resumed on the next post.......or maybe start right away.....Is it me or is everything SHIT!?

Tracklist:
Brown Rice 5:14
Malkauns 13:59
Chenrezig 12:50
Degi-Degi 7:05

DOWNLOAD and show your friends how sophisticated you are HERE!

Rip Rig + Panic - "I Am Cold" (Virgin Records) 1982

The Pop Group spin-off ,Rip Rig + Panic's slightly more controlled and structured follow up to the massive financial flop "God".Somehow they managed to persuade trumpet maestro Don Cherry to add a bit of class to augment his step Daughters' whiny vocals.

Basically it's more of the same anything goes kind of trendy dubby jazz-punk fusion but with less wild abandon of the first LP.

Again, Virgin give them the double vinyl treatment, which ensured that they lost even more money in the vane hope that they could find the next Sex Pistols or Mike Oldfield to finance Branson's greater ambitions.

Tracklist:
North Side
1 Hunger (The Ocean Roars It Bites) 3:00
2 Epi Epi Arp Woosh! 4:00
3 Another Tampon Up The Arse Of Humanity 4:00
4 Misa Luba Lone Wolf 3:06
East Side
5 Storm The Reality Asylum 4:00
6 Here Gathers Nameless Energy (Volcanoes Covered By Snow) 4:20
7 A Dog's Secret 1:30
8 Liars Shape Up Or Ship Out 2:00
South Side
9 Warm; To The If In Life 4:30
10 Nurse Increase The Sedatives (The Torment's No Better) 4:15
11 Take A Don Key To Mystery 4:00
West Side
12 Tax Sex 5:00
13 Subversive Wisdom 5:00
14 Fire Eyes Joyful Silent Tears 4:10

Bonus:

15 You're My Kind Of Climate (7" single)

DOWNLOAD this chilly relic HERE!

Rip Rig + Panic ‎– "God" ( Virgin ‎– V 2213, Uh Huh Prods ‎– V2213)

The Pop Group splintered into many pieces, none greater than the whole.
The very trendy Rip Rig And Panic(Jazzy namedrop number 1;nicked from Roland Kirk), featured Sager and Smith from the aforementioned Pop Group, plus keyboard hanger on Mark Springer, and future International Pop Star Neneh Cherry.
Thinking they were getting a poppier version of The Pop Group, Virgin Records signed them as quick as shit off a stick.......someone must have got the sack after Richard Branson heard this.
It does,however, sound like a bunch of pretentious ,and very recent Jazz Record fans shut in a room with instruments, a tape recorder, and some Tequila ,and told how fantastic they were.
The ,admittedly, lovely Neneh Cherry's whiney voice being particularly rasping on the delicate bones of the inner ear.
Whenever 'Jazz' becomes absorbed into Pop music, there is always a sense of annoying elitism treading water within the 'we are cooler than you' grooves. Someone bought some of those marked down Archie Shepp records from the eclectic record shop in downtown Bristol to leave lying around their squat........what music do you like?.........Moi?...I like Jaaaaaaazzzzzz, y'dig?
Oh...OK......I 'dig' Jazz too, but i'm not so far up my own arse as to not realise I feel slightly more sophisticated when i'm playing an Albert Ayler album than one by A Flock of Seagulls.......I know which one i'd prefer to be listening to most of the time......that's right, A Flock Of Seagulls, Ayler gets right on my tits. Neneh's dad, Don Cherry, happens to have made some rather great fusion records, and even appears on Rip Rig + Panic's second LP. 
I'm a big fan of the epoch when Jazz embraced rock, the Fusion era of Miles Davis,which was an evolution  rather than when Rock embraced Jazz, or worse, when 'Pop' embraced Jazz, which was motivated by a lack of idea's;so they steal from the past rather than look towards a future.
I hated this record when I bought it.....but as so often happens after a gap of thirty years it sounds fresh, wild and exciting.......now I thinks its very great(despite the fucking annoying people on spliff humour). I'm so fickle ain't I?

Tracklist:

Red Side
Constant Drudgery Is Harmful To Soul, Spirit & Health 3:24
Wilhelm Show Me The Diagram (Function Of The Orgasm) 1:10
Through Nomad Eyeballs 3:28
Change Your Life 3:01
Yellow Side
Knee Deep In Shit 3:30
Totally Naked (Without Lock Or Key) 1:54
Try Box Out Of This Box 2:34
Need (De School You) 1:32
Green Side
Howl! Caged Bird 3:30
Those Eskimo Women Speak Frankly 3:13
The Blue Blue Third 5:25
Blue Side
Shadows Only There Because Of The Sun 2:41
Beware (Our Leaders Love The Smell Of Napalm) 1:51
Miss Pib 1:34
It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Brrod 2:58

Bonus Tracks:

Bob Hope Takes Risks (7" Version)3:53

Go, Go, Go! (This Is It)2:19

The Ultimate In Fun (Is Going To The Disco With My Baby)2:30

Hey Mr E! A Gran Grin With A Shake Of Smile5:11

Billy Eckstein's Shirt Collar3:22

Bob Hope Takes Risks (12" Version)7:01

DOWNLOAD this rip and don't panic HERE!

Shoes For Industry - "Singles,Sessions,and Live 1979-81" (a Die or DIY? Compilation)

This lot take me back to the Actors in groups discussion we indulged in during the Punishment Of Luxury posts; for Shoes For Industry,as well as having a similar style of moniker, they were the 'house band' of the Crystal Theatre in Bristol. At least singer Paul Bassett Davies trod the boards, and was a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as a comedy script writer for radio, and now writes funny books too.His voice has that dodgy Spherical Objects, Deep Freeze Mice quality, that could be annoying,but as the lyrics are so good, remarkably, i am the very opposite of annoyed (unusual for me).Another theatre connection is their group name, which was taken from a 'Firesign Theatre' routine.
In fact,this bunch sound like very entertaining chaps indeed;in all departments,great tunes, funny,intelligent lyrics,and backed by Bristol's version of the Blockheads.
Barely had they poked there heads above water when they disappeared from view...never to reform again.Something a lot of far worse groups have failed to achieve in recent times, to disastrous effect! 
Here we have their two excellent singles,and their sole Peel Session, along with a live soundboard recorded live bootleg from Berlin!?

Tracklist:

1-Devil Dogs (Peel Session 10-09-1979)
2-War Of The Potatoes (Peel Session 10-09-1979)
3-Shell Shock (Peel Session 10-09-1979)
4-Fear Of Wages (Peel Session 10-09-1979)
5-Falling In Love Again (Single a-side 1979)
6-Laughing Song (Single B-Side 1979)
7-Spend (Single A-Side 1980)
8-Sheepdog Trial inna Babylon (Single B-Side 1980)
9-Fathers Trousers (Live in Berlin 1980)
10-Slave Of Love (Live in Berlin 1980)
11-3 Tons Now (Live in Berlin 1980)
12-Imaginary Boogie Doll (Live in Berlin 1980)
13-Sheepdog Trial Inna Babylon (Live in Berlin 1980)

DOWNLOAD bristols finest shoes HERE!

Shoes For Industry ‎– "Talk Like A Whelk" (Fried Egg Records ‎– FRY1) 1980

The most boring band I ever saw live came from Bristol.......no it wasn't "Shoes For Industry"; I'm talking about the dreadful Massive Attack.
Shoes For Industry are the very opposite of Massive Attack; talented tune-smiths who write their own stuff instead of nicking it,and can actually perform it, and, most importantly,they have a sense of humour. You never saw these chaps pictured in half light looking mean and moody with a backdrop of recent technology; taking oneself too seriously isn't an attractive quality, especially if you're a boring fucker.
I suspected the lead singer,Paul Bassett Davies, was a frustrated comedian, and lo and behold he seems to have carved out a reasonably successful career for himself as a comedy script writer and novelist.Even winning....gulp...'awards'!?
However the award he is winning this evening, as one of Shoes For Industry, is in the third best band from Bristol ever, category, in which they beat Massive Attack by at least a couple of hundred places.
No doubt there will be persons in the comments section telling me how fantastic 'Blue Lines' is? Well don't bother 'cus you're wrong!
There are few songs to rival "Invasion Of The French Boyfriends" for satirising European stereotypes, both in its accurate description of the swarthy French libertine, and the British sense of inadequacy in the realms of romance. All this and managing to be genuinely funny too, an art-form that seldom achieves its goal.
There are plenty of clever and funny moments hidden in the lyrics of this, their sole long player.I'm rather fond of "The War Of The Potatoes".......who won that war? I hear you ask......I don't know!....I'm paraphrasing again, so download the album and find out.
It's definitely NOT boring!

Tracklist:

A1 The War Of The Potatoes
A2 Fear Of Wages
A3 Invasion Of The French Boyfriends
A4 Jerusalem
A5 Depilation
A6 Shell Shock
B1 Violent Stabbing With A Knife
B2 The Changeling featuring Devil Dogs and Slave Of Love
B3 Talk Like A Whelk

DOWNLOAD it you whelk HERE!

Glaxo Babies ‎– "Nine Months To The Disco" (Heartbeat Records ‎– HB2) 1980

It's Glaxo Babies but not as we knew them.
After a line-up change, our second favourite Bristolians recorded their only official album, and its like a different group made it. No vocals,lots of of showing off how eclectic and sophisticated their record collections are, and some on-trend bass slapping,all glued together with a disco beat.
It was time to break up and they obliged us. Dick Catsis taking his funky bass slappin', and "Shake (the Foundations)" to the Pop Group.
A sad demise to a group with buckets of potential.

Tracklist:

A1 Maximal Sexual Joy
A2 This Is Your Vendetta
A3 Seven Days
A4 Electric Church
A5 Nine Months To The Disco
B1 Promised Land
B2 The Tea Master And The Assassin
B3 Free Dem Cells
B4 Dinosaur Disco Meets The Swampsstomp
B5 Conscience
B6 Slim
B7 Shake (The Foundations)

DOWNLOAD 37 years after the disco ended HERE!

Glaxo Babies ‎– "Put Me On The Guest List" (Heartbeat Records ‎– HBM 3) 1980

Early Glaxo Babies demo tracks from 1978 to 79, including a plodding version of the classic "This Is Your Life" and a reggae version of "Who Killed Bruce Lee".Some of the other tracks are lesser versions to the ones recorded for The John Peel Show, and for their excellent singles. However,its a better record than the official LP "Nine Months to the Disco" released earlier that same year.

Tracklist:

A1 Avoiding The Issue*
A2 Because Of You*
A3 This Is Your Life*
A4 Police State*
A5 Who Killed Bruce Lee (Version)#
B1 Stay Awake*
B2 She Went To Pieces#
B3 Burning#
B4 Flesh#
B5 Puppet Patrol~

* 01/12/78. 

#   09/03/79

~   25/06/79. 

DOWNLOAD yourself on to the guest list HERE!

Glaxo Babies - "Singles and Sessions 1979-80" (a Die or DIY? Compilation)

Another classic post punk combo from Bristol are Glaxo Babies, briefly called Gl*xo Babies when the pharmaceutical giant of the same name threatened legal action unless they changed their name. It was an unflattering reference to the fact that the very same drugs company had provided Thalidomide ,which caused deformities in unborn foetus's.......that's capitalism for you, killing and maiming our kids and ruining our favourite pop groups names.
Glaxo Babies released a string of classic singles and EPs in 1979-80, which were never matched by their long players. Again, this oversight was remedied by the BBC, with two great Peel sessions.
Put all this together and you've got one of the greatest post-punk albums that never existed!
Its almost impossible to choose between "Christine Keeler" , "This is Your Life", "Who Killed Bruce Lee", and punky funk classic "Shake",which was frequently covered live by The Pop Group, as their greatest un-hit.
In fact, bassist Dan Catsis, would add his considerable talents on the four strings for The Pop Group from 1980 onwards(sadly he's also in the recently reformed poop groop!); which explains why they started to sound like the Glaxo Babies plus Mark Stewart from then on.(but doesn't explain why they now sound like Haircut 100?!)
For which track the Glaxo's earned their place on the infamous Nurse With Wound list, i can't be bothered to find out, but on it they are! They are a bit too funky for Stephen Stapleton and chums,but, "It's Irrational", stands out out as an early example of ferocious discordant guitarwork, more akin with the kind of 'No Wave' stuff that was gestating on Thalidomide in New York at the time. Then again, if The Pop Group were american wouldn't we be dumping them in with the No Wave lot too?.....or were they too political for those mid-town trendies, rather like The Glaxo Babies?

Tracklist:

01 Christine Keeler [Christine Keeler 7" 1979)
02 Nova Bossa Nova [B-side Christine Keller 7")
03 This Is Your Life [This Is Your Life EP 1979)
04 Stay Awake [This Is Your Life EP 1979)
05 Because Of You [This Is Your Life EP 1979)
06 Who Killed Bruce Lee¿ [This Is Your Life EP 1979)
07 Shake (The Foundations) [single 1980)
08 She Went To Pieces (Live 28-03-1979, Shake B-side)
09 It's Irrational [Peel Session 17-04-79)
10 Bruce Lee [Peel Session 17-04-1979)
11 She Went To Pieces [Peel Session 17-04-79)
12 Burning [Peel Session 17-04-1979]
13 Limited Entertainment [Peel Session 19-02-1980]
14 Dahij [Peel Session 19-02-1980]
15 There'll Be No Room For You In The Shelter [Peel Session 19-02-1980]
16 Permission To Be Wrong [Peel Session 19-02-1980]

DOWNLOAD some mutant post-punk funk HERE!

The Pop Group ‎– "Idealists In Distress From Bristol" ( Vinyl Japan ‎– JASKCD195) 2007

Two whole compact disc's of vintage live performances by everyone's favourite Bristolian Punk Funk Dub combo, including several unreleased tunes, and a Capitol Radio session track from 1979; which was also included on "Cabinet Of Curiosities" and listed as being 'Live in Bristol 1978'????
The quality of the recordings are varied, as are the sources.Most are audience bootleg recordings, with only the Helsinki and Milan gigs being obviously soundboard feeds. Alas, its all very listenable, and captures the live energy and anger of this innovative,once legendary, and ironically named pop group.

Tracklist:

CD1:
Capitol Radio Session, April 5th 1979
1.1 Don't Sell Your Dreams 3:42

Locarno Ballroom, Portsmouth UK, March 8 1979
1.2 She Is Beyond Good And Evil 5:48
1.3 Don't Call Me Pain 7:33
1.4 Snow Girl 3:39
1.5 Don't Sell Your Dreams 3:39
1.6 The Boys From Brazil 4:55
1.7 We Are Time 5:41

Milan, Italy, 1980
1.8 Thief Of Fire 1:36
1.9 Forces Of Oppression 2:17

"Beat The Blues" Festival, Alexandra Palace, London, June 16 1980
1.10 Shake The Foundations 3:26
1.11 Forces Of Oppression 2:24
1.12 Feed The Hungry 4:08
1.13 Thief Of Fire 3:50
1.14 There Are No Spectators 5:08
1.15 God Problems Communism 2:47
1.16 For How Much Longer 4:26
1.17 Justice 3:44
1.18 We Are All Prostitutes 4:40
1.19 Shake The Foundations 3:40

CD2:

Koln, West Germany, February 5 1980
2.1 Shake The Foundations 1:47
2.2 Forces Of Oppression 3:21
2.3 Thief Of Fire 3:27
2.4 Feed The Hungry 3:39
2.5 There Are No Spectators 3:57
2.6 Crime Of The Evening 2:51
2.7 For How Much Longer 4:10
2.8 Where There's A Will 4:47
2.9 Justice 3:21
2.10 We Are All Prostitutes 6:46
2.11 Shake The Foundations 3:02

Helsinki, Finland, October 1980
2.12 Liberty City 9:50
2.13 Hotter Than 1000 Suns 5:58
2.14 Feed The Hungry 4:36
2.15 Entertain Your Life Away 4:54

DOWNLOAD disc one ideally HERE!

DOWNLOAD disc two to avoid distress HERE!

The Pop Group ‎– "Cabinet Of Curiosities" (Freaks R Us ‎– FREAK 2) 2014

The reformation of The Pop Group has finally brought about the release of the remainder of the Pop Group archives.
This is the companion disc to the "We Are Time" official bootleg. A couple of live unreleased tunes,an 'original' version of a classic, remixes,and the rest of the Peel session from the tenth of August 1978; including a slow motion version of "Words Disobey Me". There's a weird 'pop' version of "Don't Sell Your Dreams" that reminds me of the crud that they would release in the recent reformed version of this classic group.
I double checked to see if the new stuff was as bad as I thought, so I re-listened to "Citizen Zombie" from 2015, and it was even worse than I remembered! Yes it really does sound like Haircut 100 fronted by Mark Stewart. Its even shitter than the 21st century version of PiL.
Tragic!

Tracklist:

1-Where There's A Will (Foel Studio 1980, Remastered Single)
2-She Is Beyond Good And Evil(Ramport Studio 1978,Original Version)
3-Colour Blind (Live Brussels 1978)
4-Words Disobey Me (Peel Session 10-08-1978)
5-Don't Sell Your Dreams (Demo 1978)
6-We Are Time (Peel Session 10-08-1978)
7-Abstract Heart (Live Brussels 1978)
8-Amnesty Report III (Previously Unreleased Mix Of 1979 Single)
9-Karen's Car (Live Helsinki 1980)

DOWNLOAD if you're curious HERE!

The Pop Group ‎– "We Are Time" (Rough Trade ‎– ROUGH 12, Y Records ‎– Y 5) 1980

The Pop Groups 'Official' bootleg, compiling demos, live tracks,and radio sessions onto one handy black disc. Not a bad track on here (excepting 'springer',which is rather irritating).
The revived Poop Groop are currently destroying their legacy at a concert venue and record shop near you, but don't let that detract from the brilliance of their back catalogue,which you should already have in your collection and know intimately.Of which 'We are Time' is an essential part.

Tracklist:

1- Trap - demo 78
2- Thief of Fire - live Electric Ballroom 79
3- Genius or Lunatic - live Brussels 78
4- Color Blind - demo 78
5- Spanish Inquisition - live 79 (venue unknown)
6- Kiss the Book - John Peel Session 78
7- Amnesty Report - Foel Studios 79 

8- Springer
9- Sense of Purpose - demo 78
10-We Are Time - live Glastonbury 79

DOWNLOAD this genius or lunacy HERE!

The Pop Group - "The Boys Whose Head Exploded (live 1979-80)" (Freaks R Us FREAK20LP) 2016

File under Post-Punk.

This is post-punk with zero per cent progressive content, thirty-three and a third funk and soul.A sprinkling of free Jazz and Dub,you name it, its in there.Which I guess is a definition of 'Post-punk' after it was released from the straitjacket of its rocky predecessor.

The preachy nature of the Pop Groups manifesto like lyrics tends to get on ones proverbial tits, and the dance-ability irks somewhat as a nod towards the commerciality they allegedly detested.

Then, the cherry on the top, they go and reform as slightly rotund middle-aged blokes, to earn some dough.....ironically they still play "We Are All Prostitutes" but now in the style of a Haircut One Hundred tribute band.

What we have here are ten live cuts from 1979 to 1980, all of which verge on the cusp of total chaos.

Bruce Smith (the drummer), has the particular distinction of playing in two of the worst reformed groups from this specific epoch; namely The Pop Group, and PiL. They both should take a leaf out of This Heats book of how to do things;starting with make good music , and then call themselves 'This Is Not.... The Pop Group'.In the case of PiL, they should have used the prefix 'This Is Not...' from about 1982.

Tracklist:

We Are All Prostitutes (Live Milan 1980)
Justice (Live Cologne 1980)
How Much Longer (Live Cologne 1980)
Blind Faith (Live Sheffield 1979)
Forces Of Oppression (Live Cologne 1980)
There Are No Spectators (Live Cologne 1980)
Feed The Hungry (Live Cologne 1980)
Rob A Bank (Live Milan 1980)
Shake The Foundations (Live Cologne 1980)
73 Shadow Street (Live Helsinki 1980)

DOWNLOAD the boys whose waistlines expanded HERE!

Prag VEC - "Peel Sessions 1978-79"

Pragmatically ,the definition of 'Vector' seems to describe the music of Prag VEC quite satisfactorily indeed thank you very much....'a quantity having direction as well as magnitude, especially as determining the position of one point in space relative to another.'
And , as usual, the recordings made for the BBC are especially representative of a groups sound in their natural state.
Unfortunately, this groups third John Peel session seems to be absent without leave......does anyone have it out there? More Prag VEC please?

Tracklist:

01 Nervous [08-23-78]
02 Ruby [08-23-78]
03 Stay [08-23-78]
04 Bits [08-23-78]
05 Hijack [01-29-79]
06 Toast [01-29-79]
07 The Follower [01-29-79]
08 Expert [01-29-79]

DOWNLOAD this pragmatic vector of post punk fun HERE!

Prag VEC - "Live in Plymouth 20-02-1979" (Bootleg)

An extremely rare bootleg of Prag VEC in a live situation.
Its an audience recording, but quite good quality.I have no idea if they are supporting a main act or if they are headlining, but its a short set of around twenty minutes, which suggests the former.I suspect its from Magazine's uk tour early in 1979.

Tracklist:

1- Expert
2- Uh Oh Erotic
3- Wolf
4- Toast
5- Bits
6- Ruby
7- Third Person

DOWNLOAD from the place where England kicked out their god-squad from and sowed the seeds of the american taliban that haunts us to this day......i am ,of course, referring to those pilgrim father idiots embarking on the mayflower for the new world, and landed in a place that they called plymouth!!?....at least in 360 years time Prag VEC played a gig in plymouth(UK) to erase this stain?HERE!

Prag VEC - "No-Cowboys" (Spec Records – reSPECt 1) 1980

Post-punk enigmas ,prag VEC, never released an actual album as such; but they did release a fake compilation called 'No Cowboys,which was filled with tracks by themselves (prag VEC) masquerading as fake groups with names like 'The Couch Potatoes' and 'Vince Quince And His Rialto Ballroom Detectives'.Hi-jinks indeed?
It also features Jim Thirlwell on the Wasp Synth, in the days before he became a Foetus; his work never got better than this.
Experimental proto-indie Art-rock of the highest caliber.

Tracklist:
A1 –Laugh
A2 –Third Person
A3 –Nervous
A4 –Happy Valley
A5 –Mens Casual Wear 1962
A6 –Breaking Point
A7 –Your Your Lay Lay
A8 –By The Sea
B1 –Uh Oh Erotic
B2 –Welcome Home
B3 –My Name's Eddie
B4 –You're The Gun
B5 –Cigar-Ettes (Y.M.C.A. Oct 79)

DOWNLOAD without any cowboys HERE!

Prag VEC ‎– "Bits EP" (Spec Records ‎– SP001) 1978

A group frequently seen supporting nigh-on every 'post-punk ' act going, especially Magazine, in 1978/9 was proto-indie arty types Prag VEC.
Admirably 'Prog' free, they were an early pointer to what would become know as 'Indie' to floppy fringed students everywhere.
The band name was apparently a contraction of the two words "pragmatism" and "vector", chosen at random.

Later line-ups featured Jim "Foetus" Thirlwell, whose career went decidedly downhill, musically, from there, but uphill in terms of success.Personally, Foetus is one of those musical projects I can't abide......unlike Prag VEC who are brilliant; even though they occasionally indulge themselves with that Post-Punk cliché of writing a song with French lyrics. A 'proggy' tactic to show your peers how intellectual you are.......it works, and as a bi-product you inevitably get an audience in France; and they will never forget you for it.

Tracklist:
A1 Existential 2:30
A2 Bits 1:41
B1 Wolf 1:49
B2 Cigarettes 2:27

DOWNLOAD bits in megabytes HERE!

Magazine ‎– "The Complete John Peel Sessions 1978-1980"

Post-prog leviathans Magazine became a little too slick for these pages around the turn of the eighties. Mainly due to the horrendous over-production of Martin Hannett, who ironed out every crease in Devoto's wish to be a post-punk 'Genesis'......which was futile because Genesis actually became a post-punk Genesis around this time.
Luckily, some of these later tunes were saved by the BBC production team at Maida Vale studio's for their Peel Sessions.A high achievement despite the heavy impediments of Adamson's Fretless chorused Bass, and Dave Formula's insistence on playing several keyboards all the way through certain tracks(no-one likes a show-off).  So here's an album that's nearly as good as "Secondhand daylight"

DOWNLOAD from under the floorboards HERE!

Magazine - "Definitive Gaze (Demos and Live 1977)" (Bootleg)

OK, who were the first 'Post-Punk' band anyway?

Some say it was Magazine, the band formed by DIY pioneer and ex-Buzzcock Howard Devoto? But I reckon they were more straight forward punk stained sneery prog, and not at all Post-Punk, which was a style I would ascribe to groups like Siouxsie and the Banshees,PiL,Joy Division,Gang Of Four,or even The Pop Group? Absolutely zero prog influences there?

Magazine just sounded like the trad stuff that had gone before but updated with a Devotian sneer.They even had a keyboard player who played two keyboards at the same time.....very Keith Emerson.

Some reckon 'Television' were post-punk before punk? Maybe style-wise, but musically they were absolutely late sixties/1970; Quicksilver Messenger Service has been touted as a comparison, not that i've ever heard them. From the Noo Yawk angle, Talking Heads have the best,and only, american claim for the title in my humble opinion.

Magazine were without doubt first out of the blocks for the rebirth of Prog,and were definitively the first Prog-Punk band, as these Demos from the end of the summer of hate in 1977 testify.

The Live tracks were rejects from the 'Live at the Electric Circus' ten incher on Virgin. Probably spotted as not 'punk' enough by the prog experts at Virgin; the home of Faust and Mike Oldfield among other progressive rock legends......and they'd be right.

Tracklist:

1.Shot By Both Sides (4:32)
2.Sandwiches(3:08)
3.The Light Pours Out Of Me (4:56)
4.Motorcade (5:51)
5.Touch And Go (2:59)
6.Burst (3:56)
7.Shot By Both Sides (4:26)
8.The Light Pours Out Of Me (4:30)
9.I Love You You Big Dummy (4:58)

Tracks 1-6 demos, Pennine Sound Studios, Oldham September 1977
Tracks 7-9 Live at The Electric Circus, Manchester 2nd November 1977

DOWNLOAD both sides HERE!

The Diagram Brothers ‎– "Some Marvels Of Modern Science + Singles 1980-82" (New Hormones ORG 17) 1981

Twenty-four prog-punk parables for modern living from 1980/82, showcasing the British love of ironic pentameter and satire.

The horrors of WMD's juxtaposed with such banal evils as built-in obsolescence, hypochondria,and city councils, reveal through discordant music and humour that hell is more likely to be at next door's fondue soirée rather than deep underground somewhere.

The satire even has predictive qualities too! If only more than a couple of thousand,probably already enlightened people had heard and absorbed "I'm not going to fight for Oil" then we wouldn't be in the bath of shit that we find ourselves in today?......well at least a different bath of shit anyway!?

After all, we are ALL animals, aren't we?

Tracklist:

1 Those Men In White Coats 3:07
2 My Bad Chest Feels Much Better Now 3:30
3 Seals / Furcoats 2:17
4 Put It In A Bigger Box 2:42
5 Words From Major 3:22
6 Here Come The Visitors 3:06
7 Isn't It Interesting How Neutron Bombs Work 4:01
8 Ron! The Morris Minor's Gone 3:12
9 I'm A Policeman 1:23
10 I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being A Right Git 3:51
11 Aggeravation 3:06
12 I'm Not Going To Fight For Oil 2:46
13 Litter 1:34
14 Bikers 3:30

Bonus Tracks:

15 Bricks 2:43
16 Postal Bargains 1:56
17 Discordo 3:29
18 My Dinner 2:52
19 Fondue Soiree 3:31
20 Cherry Blossom 2:07
21 We Are All Animals 2:40
22 There Is No Shower 2:19
23 I Would Like To Live In Prison 0:52
24 Right Git (German Version) 3:30

Tracks 15 and 16 originally released as 7" "Bricks" in 1981. 
Tracks 17 to 20 originally released as 10" EP "Discordo" in 1982. 
Tracks 21 to 23 originally released as 7" EP "We Are All Animals" in 1980. 
Track 24 originally released on 7" "German EP" in 1982.

DOWNLOAD some marvels of post punk britain HERE!

The Diagram Brothers - "Peel Sessions 1980-82"

Post Prog genii, The Diagram Brothers, show us that shifting tempo's, unusual time signatures, can combine within the short song format, and still include humour ,funk and punk.
Bill Bruford and his proggy chums from 'Yes' would struggle to cope with the disciplines required to play these tunes.The difference between 'Yes' and The Diagram Brothers being that 'Yes' are utter shite, and the DB's are very good.
These sessions include the best versions of DB's classics such as 'Bricks', 'We Are All Animals' and 'Postal Bargains', among a plethora of similarly skewed and abstract Prog-punk classics.
They called it a day in 1983, understandably, because it was almost impossible to progress from here, other than endlessly repeating oneself, which is what a lot of groups tend to do.
The Diagram did the noble thing and packed it all in once they had got this stuff out there. Similar bands, like The Cardiacs and XTC carried on in the same vane; except XTC did manage to devolve into a pastoral post-psychedelic song factory until they burnt out, and The Cardiacs eventually had to stop because of serious Illness's.There seems to be a physical barrier to prevent this type of progressive pop from going further,rather like the finite limit of the speed of light?

Tracklist:

17/03/1980:

1. We Are All Animals
2. Bricks
3. Bikers
4. There Is No Shower

27/01/1981:
5. Postal Bargains
6. Those Men In White Coats
7. I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being A Right Git
8. My Bad Chest Feels Much Better Now

26/06/1982:
9. Hey Dad!
10. Tracey
11. You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two
12. The Expert
13. You'll Never Walk Alone

DOWNLOAD some interesting diagrams HERE!