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)
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.
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!
Generally thought of as thee best post punk comps. But, apart from the
superb Glaxo Babies, the rest hasn't been done any favors by time. Its
probably my least favourite of all the compilations i have posted. Its
too well produced, and professional sounding for my taste.
Tracks:
01 - Glaxo Babies - It's Irrational
02 - Europeans - On The Continent
03 - Private Dicks - Green Is In The Red
04 - Moskow - Too Much Commotion
05 - Essential Bop - Chronicle
06 - Directors - What You've Got
07 - Various Artists - Own Up
08 - Sneak Preview - Slugweird
09 - The Stingrays - Sound
10 - The X-Certs - Anthem
11 - Apartment - The Alternative
12 - The Numbers - Cross-Slide
13 - Vice Squad - Nothing
14 - Stereo Models - Move Fast-Stay Ahead
15 - Double Vision - My Dead Mother
"Ding Donnnng....."DOWNLOAD calling! HERE!
