Like many other British independent labels Beggars Banquet were formed under the influence of the punk-rock movement. During the years they released a lot of records with quality and taste. Their first release was a classic punk single by the Lurkers. With the subsequent singles the hit the nerve of the time and bands like Tubeway Army and Gary Numan reached high positions in the charts. But Beggars Banquet had also open ears for gothic and new wave. Further along the line the released the records by The Go-Betweens and records by MES's The Fall at his best times. This could be an endless list if I would feature songs by Robert Forster or Grant MacLennan. Anyway, good to look back at the disclosures of this record label with a smile.
Almost three weeks ago I had myself a wonderful and unforgtable time with the other blogging mates in Glasgow. Sitting at home and wearing the Postcard-shirt (thanks again JC) I think it is time to feature this label on this place. Postcard Records was a superb Scottish independent label formed by Alan Horne back in 1979 an the label's motto The Sound Of Young Scotland was programme.Also short lived Postcard was a massive influence of C81/C86 movements. I have to admit that this label brought out artists that were still found on my turntable. Also the the output by former members of the early bands.
One of the first releases on the Postcard were Orange Juice. I bought their first album because I enjoyed the cover. Two dolphins jumping out of the water that made me think musicians that put this picture on the cover can't be bad at all. And surprisingly the music fitted to me very well. Based on post-punk guitars they created a very unique sound. The songs had hooks and the voice of Edwyn Collins was far different to any other at this time around.
From Edinburgh they signed Josef K., another post-punk band and they borrowed their name by Franz Kafka and the protagonist of his novel The Trial. Founder Paul Haig mixed post-punk guitars with funk and disco. Very new and not everybody's cup of tea at this time. For me they opened ears to different genres and I understood that this would be normal in the subsequent years. Sadly these pioneers hadn't the success they should have.
The Go-Betweens from Brisbane released only one single on Postcard but you can hear on this early one that they had a massive potential and talent that other companies also saw. I Need Two Heads is nothing more or less a classic of the band and their live sets.
This post wouldn't be complete if I did not mention Roddy Frame and Aztec Camera. I remember a few discussions in the early 80's if it is good that songwriter jump on the independent train. I hardly had to fight about my opinion that every good record can be named as independent when it wasn't released by major companies. On his first records Roddy Frame showed us his talent in singing and songwriting that got better the older he got.
Postcard Records were resuscitated by Horne in 1992 for three years that brought us back Paul Quinn with The Independent Group for some great records.
