A lot of work to be done these days in the office. I am coming home from work, sit down and watch a bit of the Olympic games and no time muse to continue this blog like you used to have. So here are the last songs of one of the best new compilations of the late 70's presenting new music. You can range these songs as power-pop or fast rhythm 'n' blues but anyway they didn't lost it attraction to me after all these years.
When I bought this record in the late 70's I knew a few songs by the original and was surprised why so called punk bands cover theses classics. During the next years most every new band covered a well known song from the past (thinking about a new short series about covers, done by punk/new wave artists). First I was confused about what they done to these songs - but not for long. Very soon I recognized that they breathed new life into these songs. And most of them were better than the originals. I remember when I played these new versions to some friends and was sad that they didn't open their ears to new sounds. And it is the same until now. You can read in many panels people posting that they closed their ears in the early 80's and are not willing to listen to something new. Even if it is hot or not.
Devo were one of this artists that shocked with their first LP. They reduced their songs to a minimum. From Satisfaction as known by Rolling Stones it reduced to a rattling rhythm and a nervous chorus.
Another band that killed the originals were The Flying Lizards. They made the best version of Money I have ever heard. And they did the same with Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues. Going away from the Rockabilly sound they used a simple keyboard and almost spoken words to make a very new and unique version of this classic song.
Praise the lord that they put a song by The Skids on this record. It might be on of the first punk rock bands from Scotland and they grabbed me with Masquerade. a classic 2:45 minutes masterpiece. It is simple, exciting, dulcet and on heavy rotation almost 40 years ago. A few years later Stuart Adamson formed Big Country and wrote a lot of great songs. But this is a story I told already.
These songs from this sampler made me want to buy the albums of these artists. And I went straight to my local record dealer to get these records not knowing that they would be classic records of this decade. The Undertones impressed me with their classic short songs telling us about teenage feelings and how to stand it (or not).
The B52's were retro as retro could be. Bringing back the Rickenbacker guitar to our memory. I was huge impressed of their first record. Everything was stylish: the music, the outfit, the cover and especially their 60's hairstyle
This compilation introduced me to The Slits as well. Never heard sounds like this before. This mixture of punk, new-wave and reggae was very unique at this time and only less people listened to them at my place at this time.
Listening to this almost 40 years old record memories came back to these days. This record was unique to these days. Seldom had a record that gave me an overview of what music could be. It was a bunch of styles all over genres and made me searching for more of this.
It was the first time I listened to electronic music and it was far away of my musical favourites. Human League introduced me to what electronic music could be. Using simple chords and adding hypnotic hooks they made a classic song and they had to match this with their later songs.
This record brought me also to bands playing classic rock. I loved them from this song on, bought the older vinyls of their first band Kursaal Flyers and their later albums. They got little success with Starry Eyes a few years later. I still remember them as one of the best and forgotten pub rock bands.
There were a few classic and almost perfect pop songs on this record. One of them was by Cowboys International an almost forgotten band which never made a big success. Their first full length record The Original Sin is still a classic in late 70's British pop movement. Later lead singer Ken Lockie appeared as a background singer by the early Simple Minds.
As said the last time there were a lot of songs on this compilation that introduced me to a lot of music and sound I didn't heard before. And most of the songs made me curious to more songs of the artists. One of them was The Ruts. I bought their first full album after listening to Babylon's Burning and they didn't disappointed me with their record. It is still a record that was played regular in my house. One of those records that would take me to grave.
999 were a band formed in London in the late 70's but not really punk. They made a crossover between rhythm and blues and pub rock with a very sharp guitar. I don't owe any full album but I always loved their singles. Truly great songs with hooks that still works after decades.
Life Begins At The Hop was the first single by a band that had great success in the early 80's. XTC was named as an art-rock band with New Wave roots. I bought their first album Drums And Wires that still is an essential record of the early 80's. Should grab it out of my collection and listen again to songs like Making Plans For Nigel.
It was in the late 70's when a compilation was released in Germany with the new sounds of Britain and USA. Most of my mates named it as punk but it was more than this. It was an overview of new music for us in Germany. I bought this double album by recommendation of my local record dealer. And I was infected of these new sounds and searching more of this. JC posted yesterday a memory about The Members and I grabbed out the old vinyl and played it again after decades. Respective I have to say this double album was a fantastic introduction into music that embossed me in the upcoming years. There were a lot of songs on this record that became standards throughout the years. I remember when I played this records to my mates that they were confused to this kind of music. Barely rooted in the 70's mainstream they didn't open their ears to another kind of music. So let's show some music of this compilation and I am sure many of yours will remind of these songs.
