Friday 14 September 2018

Various Artists ‎– "Mint Sauce For The Masses" (Playlist Records ‎– Play 1) 1980



Scotland has produced atrocities of Treblinka-equaling proportions in the world of Pop Music; but for every Deacon Blue or Hue and Cry, there's at least two Josef K's or Fire Engines to redress the balance.
Popping along the M8 from Glasgow, to Edinburgh, we find another over-short band compilation, which again alludes to a cash shortage,either reflecting the economics of the region, or the legendary tightness of the Scottish race?
The music lies somewhere between the greatness of Josef K and the toe-curling awfulness of Deacon Blue. I have heard better from this fine city,but these groups were performing on the cusp of the Postcard era, where Scotland really found their own musical immortality. The groups represented here are a forgetable reflection of the accepted musics of the epoch from whence it sprung......which is not a bad thing if that epoch is 1980's Britain.
Although the hook in the Twisted Nerve toon, 'Neutral Zone', is worth the price of admission in itself?..:

"The National Front Have Got It Wrong, That's Why We Wrote This Fucking Song!"

Tracklist:

A1 –Club Of Rome - Bedroom Scenes
A2 –Club Of Rome - Classics
A3 –Flexible Response - The Shortest War
B1 –Fun City - Avalanche
B2 –Twisted Nerve - Neutral Zone
B3 –Twisted Nerve - Vertigo


5 comments:

Dave Pay said...

Thanks for uploading this,TheTwisted nerve track Vertigo can be found in its original form on the farewell to the Roxy compilation from 1978, performed & written by Open Sore,who incidentally split up along with Blitz after having all their equipment nicked in Endinburgh of all places on the farewell to the Roxy tour.

JamesTrash said...

Club Of Rome included a couple of ex members of 1977 punk band Bee Bee Cee ...and Fun City featured Ronnie MacKinnon (post-Valves) and Gary McCormack (pre-Exploited). The 2nd Playlist EP is pretty good too, though one or two of the band's are from further west.

Anonymous said...

hi

do you have any of these comps ?

New Belief In Old Cities
"Cry, Havoc!" - Compiled By Stoke Musicians Collective
Flightpath One
Abstract
The Whinging Album: Clutching At Straws
Directions
Music From The Metropolis - A Compilation Featuring Artists From Milton Keynes
Kent Rocks Volume 1

Jonny Zchivago said...

Nope......tell a lie...have Kent Rocks.....isn't that a bit NWOBHM?

Anonymous said...

i'm not sure exactly but the info on discogs indicates it's a mix. i find the UK comps are usually a mix of most of the sounds from the period. they'll be a bit of synth, a bit of rock, a bit of indie etc. i couldn't really point out a favourite as i only seem to like a couple of tracks from each of the ones ive heard