In 1981 It's Immaterial recorded their first session with John Peel. The Liverpool based band formed by former members of pub rock band Yachts and made a fine combination of post-punk and pop. I almost forgot them when I saw that they were featured on a sampler about Liverpool's new sound of the early 80's. Still a band that was underrated and didn't got the acclaim they should have. In better times with less other big bands around in their times they would be great.
Another forgotten band from the late 90's are Dub Sex from Manchester. Raised in the tradition of the late punk/new wave scene they brought back the sound of post punk. A few weeks ago they released an retrospective of their works and it sound still fine and brought me back to those times when this sound was great at this time. Sadly they didn't got the got favor they should have got back lots of years ago.
I decided to open a new series about singers and bands that mean (or meant) a lot to me. Most of them were big in the punk/post-punk era and I want to remember them at this place. Maybe some memories will raise up when you reed this words.
Let's start with a band the first time they caught my ears when I owned myself a sampler of New Wave music. The Ruts are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band. They formed in 1977 against the background of their anti-racist activities. Trademark was some sharp guitars, songs with great harmonies and a singer shouting out his messages.
In a rut is a very good example of their early songs - here in the version at a Peel session:
After the appreciation of John Peel they signed to Richard Branson's Virgin label and released their first album The Crack. It was one of the first albums I bought from this genre and it is still a classic. On this album was also their single with the biggest success in charts:
Another typical song is Staring at the Rude boys. A drifty bass and massive guitar riffs make this song a classic.
As said The Ruts have a huge addiction to reggae. They are of the first bands that combined their music with ingredients of reggae. Jah War is one of these songs that had a heavy rotation on my turntable at these times and I still love this song today.
In 1980 they had to bear a stroke of fate when singer Malcolm Owen was found dead in the bathroom of his parents house from a heroin overdose. The band continued as Ruts D.C. (D.C. stands for da capo, an Italian term standing for back to the beginning) and released another classic Rhythm Collision. It's like the mother of all British dub records. It was a lucky coincidence when Mad Professor took The Ruts under his wings and brought together what belonged together.
