All things come to an end and so is this little series. It made a lot of fun to me crawling back into the days British independent music made it marks in history. Following the chronology of this kind of music development shows that I still stuck deep into this music.
Another fine year for independent music. Old heroes like The Fall, The Cure and Johnny Thunders showed up with good records, traditional (Irish) music taken roots in music and some artist appeared to stay like Billy Bragg or to fade away too soon like the Woodentops. There was no direct movement in action but the indie sector was, as usual, throwing up quirky three minute slices that embraced politics, guitars and sheer madness. So enjoy a trip to music we've listened to 30 years ago.
Looking back this year seems like new music established in the place where I lived. Not that there was too many folks that agreed to this kind of music but there was still a scene. New local bands (that sadly never released any track) appeared for a few years and vanished again. A few weeks ago one of these bands made a reunion gig 25 years after they split. F.A.T. Insects played in a great venue - an old cinema. I went there expecting nothing than let my memories cruising around this time. And I got a great concert. It was not only nostalgia listening to them - I was astonished how good they were. Even better than decades ago. And it wasn't only me having fun at this concert. A lot of people appeared that I knew from these times and haven't seen them for long time. All in all one of these evenings that will be unforgotten.
This year was a very political year at my place. First because of NATO double-track decision and the following installation of nuclear weapons in Germany by the American army and second because of the final denying of the planed census by the German government. Watching the songs on this CD I think there are less songs with a political statement on it. It seems the music is generally moving to singer/songwriter with them introverted lyrics of electronic dance/dream pop. But there is nothing to complain about because music is every time in motion and this is just a little spot on what's happened.
Looking back to this year in independent music it is torn between regular New Wave and the rise of singer/songwriting or classic soul and some kind of dark wave. It was some kind of transition. More and more styles showed up and opened our ears to sounds long gone by. As an example is Mari Wilson who guided lots of people to classic soul - maybe it's the birth of Northern Soul - I don't know but many artists in this year showed us that there was more than punk/new wave. Anyway, old and new had their place in music and many of us became aware of the new sounds that was played (whys and wherefores could ABC have so many success?).
1981 was the year independent music changed his face. During the last years a lot of bands became highly rinsed playing short guitar based songs with a lot of verve. Now it seems that pop and the spirit of singer/songwriter get a foot in the door of new music. Fantastic bands like Haircut 100, Aztec Camera appeared on the scene as well as acts like Flock of Seagulls or Hazel O'Conner. I don't want to wail - it was a very good thing that happened to new music - they enriched us with their music. Now I could spread my musical spectrum to even this music.
In my hometown the first so called 'punk bands' showed up in some locations. Absolutely a few years too late but they had the power and the spirit in it. I remember a few concerts where there was for one hour totally weirdness listening to some young fellows playing mostly cover versions of their heroes. Still in 1981 the mainstream ruled my little town. The jazz purists refused to listen to this kind of music, the Deadheads were still smoking pot and the rest was listening to Phil Collins, Journey or Pat Benatar but the scene grew the more we outdistanced from them. I remember one of the first concerts by Fido and the Insects (one of the first local punk bands) in a very small club playing in front of 80 people watching them. Listening to them crudely sound wasn't fun at all but we loved their power and enthusiasm. A few month ago I watched them after more than 30 years when they played a reunion gig. Everyone's got older (and maybe wiser), the dudes learned how to play their instruments and the crowd was happy for another evening to remember these days.
1979 seems like independent music has grown up. More and more influences ware taken over so that we have now a bigger musical spectrum. There are still the bands that play the rhythm and blues influenced new wave like The Rumour and Joy Division stuck deeply in their own fantastic sound. It was the year great pop songs were made by independent artists like Kristy McColl or Squeeze. Looking retrospective to this year I have to determine that it was the year electronic sound entered the indie stage. Fat Gadget or Cabaret Voltaire opened our ears for something different and new. It was also the year British kids discovered a type of music that was forgotten but still present in the shade: Two-Tone and Ska. Bands like the Specials, The Beat, The Selecter and Madness gave us the sound of the summer and The Jam weren't the only ones wearing suits any more. For me it was the year I had to do my military service. Almost a lost year staying away from my crowd and less money to buy records. It was also a time when I spent my leisure with five more guys in room listening mostly to Dire Straits, Pink Floyd's 'Wall' and ABBA or something else from the first Disco wave in Germany. Sometimes I got the chance to play one of my tapes and the result was still the same: offering them new music is like throwing pearls before swine. Anyway, here are some songs that might make you a happy start into the weekend.
I made many thoughts during the last days how to replace the foreign correspondent series. Then I found the CD-collection Indie-Scene: The story of British Independent Musc in my archive recently. When I have read all the titles on the backside of the cover I have to admit that this was a golden era of music. It's music Dirk presents on with his superb series of girls tapes . So I will start a series about these era, the music we listened to these days and maybe reflecting these days.
At that time in 1977 the charts are filled with pop songs by ABBA, David Soul, The Eagles, Leo Sayer and dreadfully bad songs like Baccara with 'Yes Sir, I can boogie' and 'Mull of Kintyre' by The Wings. Punk and New Wave started to appear in this year and new bands paved the way to new music. American bands like The Ramones, Johnny Thunders and New York Dolls brought their music that was raw, fast and full of energy to London. And very fast kids adapted this music and created a very own scene. Punk was born. In Kings Road, London Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood established their boutique selling S/M-accessory to the kids. Everything was possible in these days. For me it was a rather new experience listening to different kind of music my friends used to listen to. Anyway, this was the dawning of a new era in music and this CD's are a good overview what happened in this 10 years.
