Not Rock On

This is a very special post, different from every other series of posts I care about at the moment. The Angry Flowers were a band from Göttingen, that liked the Sixties, to say the least. One of them was Matthias Hanich, the brother of one of my classmates. I think he played bass and sang. Together with Heiko I visited Matt in London, or should I say Tooting Bec. We slept in a student's dormitory where most students went home during holidays, except for the kids from abroad. As Matt could not get a license to let us live there for a few days, he had to bribe the porter and still every loud noise was a sign to crawl under the bunks! And it worked! I had one situation when the cleaning woman wanted to clean under the bed in the next room (where I was) and someone talked her out of that because a group of school kids had arrived at that moment! The Go-Betweens and the TV Personalities were more than an influence, and so they created two nice Pop songs! And he showed us Dan Treacy's house! See this old post .
Grüsse an Heiko Schütte!!!!!!!!!

Now Heiko is making his own music as La Grande Illusion . This was a song from the Television Personalities great LP ...and don't the kid's love it!
Have a look, you find some samples of his music there.

Where is Matt now?

Every record that has Grace Kelly as coverstar ought to be a hit!

At least these guys had their chance!

Angry Flowers 7" 1986

A few years earlier there was another band (actually they had the Grace Kelly theme two years earlier) and they made a fortune!!! And they earn every cent of it!!! Writing songs about Teddy-bears and Teenager Love and still being hardcore (kind of...), and lots of fun, that's it! And still today! Die Ärzte (www.bademeister.com)
I heart Die Ärzte! Since 1984 when I caught some remote airwaves from SFB from Berlin on my radio in Lüchow-Dannenberg, it worked only when the weather was right. They had won a contest of the Berlin Senat with Teenagerliebe and also my heart. Later they could be seen on the cover of BRAVO, Germany's No. 1 teen mag (they just turned 50!) and on some funny "New Wave" Magazines on german TV on Sundays around 11.30, driving on escalators in the Europa-Center, also on this show was a very young and punk Blixa Bargeld, reporting from his hole under an Autobahn bridge, completely the opposite of the bohemian old fart he is now!
Who remembers Nina Schultz, the presenter? or was it Schulz? I think she later became a model and was shown in THE FACE around the mid-eighties a few times and was very nice to look at, kind of MM for the eighties.

Die Ärzte - Teenager Liebe 7"

Labels: German stuff, New Wave + Indie

Posted by Jörg at 10/29/2006 07:20:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The recordings on this CD are from waaay back, 1978 if you believe Skysaw, our beloved "grandfather" of On-U Sound on the net. And of course we all do! He is THE capacity! Unfortunately we may be made to blame for a little shortcoming in the bandwidth of his site or at least the site where he hosts his pix recently... I hope this does not cause any problems (others than not being able to find album scans of On-U LPs...)
Finally I managed to get my old scanner working with XP and now I can scan at least CDs. LPs are too large unfortunately!
Anyway, you will find all the info at Skysaw's site!

Classic Sherwood Dub!!!!

Btw I really like the small photo. I think it was taken in Germany in the 80s. The Mercedes station wagon is extremely rare as MB did not have this in their official range, so it must be the work of a coach builder.

Creation Rebel - Historic Moments Vol. 2

CD front and back cover

Labels: On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/29/2006 03:47:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Keith LeBlanc was part of the rhythm section on songs like "The Message" for SugarHill in the early 80's. Somehow he joined forces with Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound fame. That's what we waited for! Roots Reggae, Dub plus the influence of Hip-Hop and electronics, great!
Here you get two non On-U CDs from Keith LeBlanc, although a certain Mr. Sherwood did some mixing on these. Both CDs feature the vocals of Bim Sherman and the electronic trickeries of David Harrow (see Anne Clark), but "Raw" is much closer to the stuff you are used from On-U, "Tasteless cuts" is much more early Techno and cut-up (it is from 89), but it has a great bounce! As Friend Electric mentions correctly in the comments, this ts officially credited to DJ Spike, but as our friend Skysaw says here , 'DJ Spike' / 'Spike' was primarily Keith with guest collaborators.

As a bonus you get the Malcolm X - No sell out 12" from 1983 on Tommy Boy, the first time I noticed Keith LeBlanc, a little later I found the Akabu 12" posted below (although Keith was not on it, but it was on TommyBoy)

Keith LeBlanc - No sell out 1983

Keith LeBlanc /DJ Spike - Tasteless cuts 1989

Keith LeBlanc - Raw 1990

Labels: On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/29/2006 02:51:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Born in Barbados, raised in London Dennis Bovell soon became part of Matumbi, a great british Reggae band. I once owned their "Seven seals" LP. Unfortunately I sold it years ago. There is a thing about records you sell. Right then you think you don't want it and don't need it but after you sold it, time differs, you want them back!
Where is my triple-LP of -Delta T now? I could not listen to it, but I would like to HAVE it! It felt good.
There are more of these stories I won't bore you with!

Dennis Bovell - Strictly Dub wize 1978

Labels: On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/29/2006 02:38:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This experimental UK pop band was a spin-off from the Manchester-based indie mavericks The Fall, actually they were kicked out by little Stalin Mark E. Smith. Una Baines (keyboards/vocals) and Martin Bramah (guitar/vocals) both found themselves outcasts from that band as the 80s dawned. They put together the Blue Orchids with Rick Goldstar (guitar), Steve Toyne (bass), and Joe Kin (drums), producing a sound that echoed the less esoteric moments of their former employer. Lyrics were usually spoken or half-sung, leaving a sinister and enticing set of songs that deserved a wider audience.
I especially love Una's organ playing!

"There is an economy of love and yearning in every chord, vocal or instrumental that breaks from the aching heart of the Blue Orchids' sound."
Barney Hoskins NME.

"Blue Orchids' pop is as exotic as their name... their sound is emotive yet economic, the effect subtle and striking."
Lynn Hanna NME.

The Blue Orchids are still working, have a look at their my space . You find additional info on Wikipedia .

Blue Orchids - The greatest hit (money mountain)1982

Labels: New Wave + Indie

Posted by Jörg at 10/23/2006 03:52:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Here is something different than On-U Sounds for you!
Östro 430 were an all-female band I first heard on John Peel's music on BFBS. He also liked them a lot. Nice songs with not so nice lyrics sometimes...

"Ihr trefft euch nur auf Feten ohne Mann / und seid so lieb, daß ich es nicht ertragen kann / nur Rumgeschmuse und alle brav / das ödet mich an, das ist nicht mein Bedarf / denn ich bin ganz normal / jawohl ganz stinknormal / denn ich brauch so ab und an / einen Mann, einen Mann, einen Mann." ("Normal")

There is some info here

Östro 430 - Durch dick & dünn 1981

Labels: German stuff, New Wave + Indie

Posted by Jörg at 10/23/2006 03:38:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

At the moment I use uploading.com, zshare.de, Rapidshare seems to be FULL, ha ha ;-).
I just changed ALL the links on this blog, so you just have to click on the link and a new window will open automatically while my blog will stay on your screen (until you click it away).
Does anyone have experience with Feedburner?
Do you use feeds?

If you download from uploading.com it some time happens that you just get the message to use their premium service, just click on refresh once or more and you will get to the download.

Labels: misc

Posted by Jörg at 10/22/2006 08:28:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This one is much more classical Reggae, than wild sound experiments. "Revenge of the underdog" featured the combined vocal and DJ talents of the grealy missed Prince Far I, sweet voiced Bim Sherman, Lizard Logan and Jah Woosh over rolling bass lines and driving drums. I love the deep, deep voice of Prince Far I over this bass heavy foundation and the contrast to Bim Sherman's wonderful falsetto! One of my favourites.
There is a nice review by Steve Barker here , as part of a nice site on On-U Sounds .

The musicians are almost identical to the Playgroup lineup : Style Scott, Crucial Tony, Lizard, Bonjo I, Nick Plytas, Giant Dread, Tony Wraffer, Eskimo Fox, Mr. Ranking Magoo and Viv Albertine from The Slits.

Singers & Players - Revenge of the underdog 1982

Labels: On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/21/2006 09:16:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Playgroup was more or less a band of the usual suspects hanging around at the studio : Bruce "Minty" Smith, Eskimo Fox, Style Scott, Sean "Hogg" Oliver, George Oban, Crucial Tony, John Waddington, Kendall Ernest, "Deadly Headley" Bennett, Tony Wraffer, Nick Plytas, Mark Coalfield, Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah are names you know from many On-U Sound records.

But this is a little different. Maybe John Waddington (ex-Pop Group, link to our 'Sons & Daughters Of The Pop Group' mission) had a strong influence on this. The Reggae and Dub elements are spiced up with more jazzy sax and Waddington's free form guitar playing. Especially "Crunch", "Shock absorber" and "Hoggs might fly" sound rather Pop Groupey. "No speed limit" is a fine example of Sherwood Dub production.

Playgroup - Epic Sound Battles Chapter 1 1982

Labels: On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/21/2006 08:45:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I have to send some "pings" to Friends Electric's multiple "pongs" (btw, thanks for the list!). I just saw that dorfdisco braunsfeld joined in too, great!

This is not that Reggae oriented as the other On-U Sounds posts.

Judy Nylon was an american expat in 70's London, where she started recording with Patti Paladin as RAF, using tape solicitations of the police in Germany, accessed by dialing 1166 on the phone in Cologne after Schleyer was kidnapped in 1977. A different version of this is on the Fetish EP (FET 004) from 1981, that you find below as a little bonus.

Pal Judy was released in 1982, produced by Judy Nylon and Adrian Sherwood. The musicians were Judy Nylon (Vocals/Producer), Chris Joyce (Drums), George Oban (Bass), Sean Oliver (Bass), Nick Plytas (Keyboards), Nick Plytas (Vocals), John Waddington (Guitar), John Walker (Engineer), Kendall Ernest (Guitar), Eskimo Fox (Synthesizer Percussion), Adrian Sherwood (Producer).

With Adrian Sherwood's amazing production technique providing the foundation, Nylon takes off on this dark, moody exercise in postmodern pop that includes an incredible downtempo version of "Jailhouse Rock." It's a tremendously seductive record.

You can find a good interview with Judy here.

Snatch - Fetish EP 1981

Judy Nylon & Crucial - Pal Judy 1982

Labels: On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/21/2006 08:21:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

New Age Steppers started as a one-shot project featuring Mark Stewart from the Pop Group, Style Scott, George Oban of Aswad, Ari Up from The Slits, Bim Sherman and Neneh Cherry. Lead guitar was supplied by Keith Levene, who was the musical mainstay of Public Image Ltd.

British producer Adrian Sherwood was the only constant in the New Age Steppers, an ever-changing jam session that included members of the Slits, Public Image, Rip Rig + Panic, Raincoats and the Pop Group. The records are a melting pot of synthesized New Wave and Reggae, transmuted through dub studio techniques. In practical terms, that amounts to variations on a theme or, more accurately, a rhythm. And this rhythm is life.

The first song I heard was "Man next door" on John Peel's music on
BFBS and I was hooked! The mix of Punk, New Wave and Reggae was one of John Peel's
virtues and I was the sponge to swallow all this and I did, and I love it!
This was the first time European Reggae sounded right and real.

New Age Steppers - First LP Stat LP 9


Check out for info on Maximum Joy , similar but different!

Labels: On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/17/2006 02:39:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

In 1980 I found this record in a bargain bin at the local hardware store (F. Hettig, Lüchow). I had already heard about Punk and new Wave and The Stranglers and this LP had a sticker saying "Stranglers Bassist" so I bought it for 9,95 DM. I was not disappointed! It does not sound like a typical Stranglers album, it has a much more electronic, New wavey flair. this is what the Record Collector had to say in 92 :
Burnel's solo career began in 1979, with the release of his "Euroman Cometh" LP. According to the bassist, the album was pieced together from 'after-hours" recordings made in London during the Stranglers' "Black And White" sessions. "I had nowhere to sleep at the time," he explains languidly. "I'd get stoned with my mates in the studio, then late at night, once they'd all gone, I'd be there with my sleeping bag and pillows - maybe I'd have a few girlfriends round - and start messing about with the drum machine." Before long, Burnel's moonlighting had accumulated enough material for an album, which United Artists duly agreed to issue. "I thought, 'This'll set the cat among the pigeons,'" he recalls, "because firstly, nobody expected me to be capable of anything and secondly, it was quite a departure from what I'd been doing before." Indeed, in marked contrast to the punchy, melodic songs on "Black And White", "Euroman Cometh" contained a collection of dark, atmospheric soundscapes, embroidered with Burnel's intense, monotone theorising about a united Europe - variously delivered in English, German and French.
"I used rhythm boxes - this was before there were proper drum machines - which you couldn't programme. It was a choice of little presets, 'fast rhumba', 'fast salsa'. I'd just work around them.
But besides the music, which ranged from the haunting, textured fumblings of "Euromess" to the frenetic backdrop to Burnel's version of the Beat Merchants' R&B classic, "Pretty Face", the LP's most remarkable feature was its preoccupation with the subject of Europe. As its title hinted, "Euroman Cometh" argued that England and its Continental neighbours had to become allies to ensure the survival of their respective cultures and economies. With admirable foresight, it also demanded the reunification of Germany! Burnel, whose mother is French, explains: "I believed - and I still do - that, although there may not be a United States of Europe, eventually there will be some sort of confederation with growing ties between each state. Anyone who doesn't think that must be living between the Zulu Wars or something."

Despite its mixed critical reception, "Euroman Cometh" reached No. 40 in the charts. As a taster for the album, United Artists released a single, "Freddie Laker (Concorde & Eurobus)", but unfortunately it sank without trace. In retrospect this is strange, as the A-side, which concerned the antics of the famous airline entrepreneur, was the most Strangler-esque track on the album. (The flipside, "Ozymandias", was a poem by Shelley from 1817 put to music.) Collectors should note that the 45 was also issued in France, Australia and Spain, with the last of these coming in a slightly different picture cover. In April 1979, Burnel assembled a band - comprising himself, Peter Howells, Penny Tobin and John Ellis )ex-Vibrator and present-day Strangler) - and set out on an extensive UK tour to promote the LP. Unfortunately, the series of dates was a flop, largely because the band's 45-minute set contained little to please the many die-hard Stranglers fans who turned up at the shows. However, punters were given some light relief each night when J.J. brought on his beloved Triumph motorbike to provide the 'revving up' intro to "Triumph (Of The Good City)", though the machine had to be replaced halfway through the tour when its engine played up! The band's performance at Hemel Hempstead was taped for posterity, and recently turned up on EMI's reissue of the "Euroman" LP.

Jean-Jacques Burnel - Euroman cometh

Labels: New Wave + Indie

Posted by Jörg at 10/16/2006 11:48:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I really love this song! When it came out in 1982 it was a sensation, Art crossing over to the Pop market.
The minimal approach was new there but it was lasting. This introduced me to the work of Philip Glass (that synth sequence after 2:40).
Enjoy!


I am still amazed by this, the USA series will appear here soon!

Labels: New Wave + Indie

Posted by Jörg at 10/16/2006 11:15:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

One Marcus asked for the second Mark Stewart LP "As the veneer of democracy starts to fade", so here it is!

Tough rhythms by the former Sugarhill backing band Doug Wimbish, Keith Le Blanc and Skip McDonald ("It was this tape they´d done with like rockets going off and drums that sounded like steamhammers. I was going mental playing it to everyone."), very extrovert singing and shouting by Mark Stewart. Touches of Reggae, Dub, Hip Hop and early Industrial combine to a great package with hard messages on On-U Sound records. This is not Phil Collins.

Mark Stewart started with the Pop Group, a radical Wave/Post-Punk/Funk/Reggae collective from Bristol, that asked to throw down the government and rob a bank. What more do you want. And it still sounds fantastic. Tight rhythms and clever lyrics still make you want to start the revolution, but nobody does...


Pop Group - For how much longer do we tolerate mass murder? 1980



Mark Stewart - As the veneer of democracy starts to fade 1985

Labels: New Wave + Indie, On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/14/2006 11:11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

If you read the slogan for this post, I am sure you will hunger for something long lost. Unfortunately I don't have anything by them on offer (until I get my tape working).
Anybody with any hint would be greatly invited to comment where I can get anything by the above mentioned!

Labels: German stuff, misc

Posted by Jörg at 10/07/2006 06:09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

All links should be up and working again!!!!

Let's see for how long...

They seem to delete just by chance. Some files that had been downloaded 4 days ago are now gone. This makes keeping a blog alive pretty hard. So now I have to check the links every day and re-up the files.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Labels: misc

Posted by Jörg at 10/07/2006 01:25:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

"Glaxo Babies were the fore-runners of a wave of Bristol music that spawned The Pop Group, Rip Rig & Panic, Maximum Joy & Pigbag, who all became household names as the jagged edged angst movement quickly gathered respect throughout the world. The foursome was initially vocalist Rob Chapman, guitarist/vocalist Dan Catsis (ex-Pop Group), drummer Geoff Aslopp, and bassist Tom Nichols. They released the This Is Your Life EP in 1979; by the time of the Christine Keeler single months later, a few changes to the lineup were made. Most significantly, Charles Llewelyn took over for Aslopp on drums and Tony Wrafter (another ex-Pop Group member) added saxophone. Chapmen then left, and the remaining members recorded the entirety of 1980's Nine Months to the Disco, their debut LP for Heartbeat, within the span of a single day. For the following Limited Entertainment EP (also released in 1980), the Glaxo Babies temporarily hooked up with the Y label. And finally, Put Me on the Guest List, yet another 1980 release, collected demos of the band's Chapman era. They apparently broke up at some point after its release; Catsis and Wrafter became part of Maximum Joy." Andy Kellman, All Music Guide.

I found this record in February 1982 in a record store in Hamburg and bought it on the cover and the liner notes alone, as it was on Cherry Red and in the bargain bin for only 10 DM. A few really strong songs in the vein of the above mentioned bands and some rather experimental tracks, but very great sounds!

Glaxo Babies - Nine months to the Disco

Labels: New Wave + Indie, On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/02/2006 07:01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I really like that you appreciate the music I get online, but I would like to get some feedback!

Well, I am sorry but I used one wrong option on my blogs, so the comments were not published.

Labels: misc

Posted by Jörg at 10/01/2006 06:47:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

When I discovered the Woodentops
in 1984 it was a shock of joy. The fine
melodies of The Smiths combined with the energy of Gang of Four. Nice 6 and 12-string guitars, played at a frenzy, what else can a pop fan want! They arrived about the same time to me as the Go Betweens!

Woodentops - Giant LP


Woodentops - Plenty 12" + Well well well 12" + Everyday living 2x7"

Labels: New Wave + Indie

Posted by Jörg at 10/01/2006 05:32:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

For a change here is some german music from the 90s, rather the 00s again, following the Lassie Singers. Great Pop songs played with a guitar and verve, compare to Bernd Begemann.
I first heard of Space Kelly in 1995 through the mailorder company Malibu, lost but not forgotten... They offered a one-sided 7" by a then unkown to me called Space Kelly on Heribert Fassbinder. He was a very prominent sports commentator SK obviously did not like, he wanted to hang him from the stairs... I made a C-45 of it and it was played at The Funzel in Braunschweig during the 96 EM.
Space Kelly - N'Abend allerseits

05/2001 "Erster Alles"(10-Track CD & LP album: 1. Die schönsten Mädchen gibt es in Amsterdam, 2. Das Mädchen aus dem Fußballtrikotkatalog, 3. Ich mag keine Aubergine, 4. September Mädchen, 5. Das kommt nur von dem Petroleum, 6. Babyface Claire, 7. Ich möchte die weiblichen Fans von Take That, 8. Ich wollte nie eine Nacht mit einem Groupie, 9. Sozusagen Schluß gemacht, 10. Liebeslied #77. (CD & *LP, Apricot Records / Germany)

Space Kelly - Erster alles 2001

07/2002 "Das Leben ist kein Heimspiel"(8-Track 10" mini album: 1. Während er die Flasche leert, 2. Prinzessin Millionenschön, 3. Babyface Claire, 4. Du gehörst meiner Vergangenheit an, 5. Für Dich, 6. Ich tat es aus Liebe, 7. Im Arm, 8. Leuchtturm) (10"-Re-Release, El Muto / Lounge)

Space Kelly - Das Leben ist kein Heimspiel 2002

Labels: German stuff

Posted by Jörg at 10/01/2006 03:00:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This was a cheapo sampler from 1984 of (mostly) previously released material on the great ON-U label run by genius Adrian Sherwood.

Many tracks on ON-U featured the former Sugarhill backing band later also known as Tackhead, guitarist Skip McDonald, bassist Doug Wimbish and drummer Keith LeBlanc, completed by singer Bernard Fowler.

You can find more info on Skysaw's ON-U fan site with lots of information on the label and the artists and all the rhythms. This is a german site on ON-U .

V. A. - Pay It All Back Vol. 1

Unfortunately this link is no longer available and even more unfortunately I do not have a copy of this file! Grrrr... If anybody has a copy he found here, please let me know by posting a comment to the newest entry to this blog, so I can update this post for everyone and myself. I am not too keen on ripping several records again...


The second volume is from 1988 and features among others Reggae legends Lee Perry, Bim Sherman and Prince Far I, three of the great voices of Reggae and Dub.

This LP has more electronic flair to it, yet still keeping the trademark ON-U sound of Reggae and Dub plus that extra bit of weirdness/charme/genius, that makes these songs stand out.

V. A. - Pay It All Back Vol. 2

Labels: Compilations, On-U Sounds +

Posted by Jörg at 10/01/2006 02:11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post