Space - Tender Force 12''

Space

Tender Force 12''

1981

Space Disco

France

Tracklist:

A.Tender Force (Extended Version)
B.Robbots



     Space, formally Didier Marouani & Space, are a French electronic music band from the city of Marseille active from 1977 through 1980 and returning with on-stage remake performances since 1992. They are considered as one of the most notable artists of the short lived space disco music scene, and early pioneers of Eurodance electronica subgenre.
     Space was founded in 1977 by Didier Marouani (also known as Ecama), Roland Romanelli, and Jannick Top. The first three albums — Magic Fly, Deliverance and Just Blue — were an immediate success (they sold over 12 million records all over the world). The album Magic Fly, which is widely considered to be their best work, was released in audio cd in 2001, 24 years after its original release. Although Didier Marouani left the band in 1979, the other two members Roland Romanelli and Jannick Top released in 1980 the album Deeper Zone under the name of Space. Then Space officially split up in 1981.
     In early 1980s Marouani, with Janny Loseth of Titanic as lead vocalist, continued to perform and record under the titles of Didier Marouani & Space, and Paris-France-Transit due to release lawsuits. The name "spAce" was legally reacquired after some artistic copyright disputes around 1990, allowing musicians to re-release classic albums and give a European live cover tour in 1993. The latest Space album was released in 2002. In the same year, the S Club Juniors made a remix to their single "New Direction" featuring the backing track of "Magic Fly". The band's hit "Magic Fly" as well as many other songs from the self-named album were remixed in 2003 by the Belgian dance music project Minimalistix. Now in 2011, there is a new release by Space called From Earth To Mars.

     Albums
Magic Fly (1977)
Deliverance (1977)
Just Blue (1978)
Deeper Zone (1980)
Paris-France Transit (1982)
Space Opera (1987)
The Very Best of Space (1985)
Concerts en URSS (1996)
Best of (1998)
Symphonic Space Dream (2002)

Spandau Ballet - The Freeze 12''

Spandau Ballet

The Freeze 12''

1981

New Romantic New Wave Synthpop

England

Tracklist:

01.The Freeze
02.The Freeze (Special Mix)



     Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles and four Top Ten albums in the UK between 1980 and 1990. The band split acrimoniously in 1990 but announced their reunion in March 2009, complete with a tour that began in October 2009.
     The band was formed in 1976 and was originally called 'The Cut', with Gary Kemp and Steve Norman on guitar, later saxophone and percussion. Kemp and Norman were both attending Dame Alice Owen's School, Islington, and were close friends, as they shared a similar interest in music and a common desire to form a band. They were joined by fellow student John Keeble, who had met Norman through storing his drum kit in the school's music room and would regularly meet at lunchtimes to practice. John was followed by bass player Michael Ellison. Tony Hadley, who knew Norman, then joined as lead singer. After a few months, Richard Miller replaced Michael Ellison on bass, before Kemp's brother, Martin Kemp, finally took over the role, joining the band a couple of years later. By this time, the band had already gained some live experience. Steve Dagger, a friend of the band members, was then asked by Steve Norman and Gary Kemp to manage them. He was to be an integral part of the band's initial and continuing success.
     The band was called 'The Makers' in the early years, but profess to having changed their name after a friend of the band, journalist and DJ Robert Elms, saw the name scrawled on the wall of a nightclub lavatory during a visit to Berlin along the lines of "Rudolf Hess, all alone, dancing the Spandau Ballet" (Rudolf Hess was the sole inmate at Germany's Spandau Prison). The new Spandau Ballet, with Martin Kemp and Tony Hadley, began performing with this name and generating a positive buzz around London. Their music prior to then was in the style of the early Rolling Stones or The Kinks, but became more electronic as they began to hang out in clubs such as Sally's and Blitz, where they would listen to bands like Kraftwerk and Telex. The Blitz was regarded as the birthplace of a new 1980s music and fashion phenomenon called New Romanticism.
     The band was involved in a major bidding war, but eventually signed to Chrysalis Records and released "To Cut a Long Story Short", produced by the electronic musician Richard James Burgess. Released just ten days after the band emerged from the studio in order to meet the huge demand created by the buzz they had established, "To Cut a Long Story Short" was an instant British top 5 hit in 1980. This was followed by hits with "The Freeze", "Musclebound" and the well-received and Gold-certified album Journeys to Glory in 1981. The sound of Journeys to Glory was typified by chanted vocals, a splashy snare drum sound, strongly rhythmic guitar parts and a lack of guitar solos; the hallmarks of what would become known as the New Romantic sound and the sound of the early eighties.

David Byrne & Brian Eno - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

David Byrne & Brian Eno

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

1981

Experimental Art Rock

Scotland / England

Tracklist:


     Side one
"America Is Waiting"
"Mea Culpa"
"Regiment"
"Help Me Somebody"
"The Jezebel Spirit"
     Side two
"Qu'ran"
"Moonlight in Glory"
"The Carrier"
"A Secret Life"
"Come with Us"
"Mountain of Needles"


     My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is a 1981 album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, titled after Amos Tutuola's 1954 novel of the same name. The album was re-released in expanded form in 2006.
     Receiving strong reviews upon its release, My Life is now regarded as a high point in the discographies of Eno and Byrne. In a 1985 interview, singer Kate Bush remarked that the album "left a very big mark on popular music," while critic John Bush describes it as a "pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience, and Third World music." The extensive use of sampling on My Life is widely considered ground-breaking—it was one of the first albums to do so—but its actual influence on the sample-based music genres that later emerged continues to be debated.
     The album was recorded entirely with analogue technology, before the advent of digital sequencing and MIDI. The sampled voices were synchronized with the instrumental tracks via trial and error, a practice that was often frustrating, but which also produced several happy accidents.
     Also according to Byrne's 2006 notes, neither he nor Eno had read Tutuola's novel before the album was recorded. Both were familiar with Tutuola's earlier The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952), but his My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was not easily obtained in the U.S. when the material was recorded. Even without reading the book, Eno and Byrne thought the title reflected their interest in African music, and also had an evocative, vaguely sinister quality that also referenced the voices sampled for the album: the vocalists were recorded sometimes several decades before being re-appropriated by Eno and Byrne, and the voices often seemed to take on unanticipated qualities when placed in the new context.

     Personnel

David Byrne and Brian Eno – guitars, bass guitars, synthesizers, drums, percussion, found objects
John Cooksey – drums on "Help Me Somebody" and "Qu'ran"
Chris Frantz – drums on "Regiment"
Busta Jones – bass guitar on "Regiment"
Dennis Keeley – bodhran on "Mea Culpa"
Bill Laswell – bass guitar on "America Is Waiting"
Mingo Lewis – bata, sticks on "The Jezebel Spirit" and "The Carrier"
Prairie Prince – can, bass drum on "The Jezebel Spirit" and "The Carrier"
Jose Rossy – congas, agong-gong on "Moonlight in Glory"
Steve Scales – congas, metals on "Help Me Somebody"
David van Tieghem – drums, percussion on "America Is Waiting" and "Regiment"
Tim Wright – click bass on "America Is Waiting"
Rooks on "Help Me Somebody" courtesy of April Potts, recorded at Eglingham Hall

Logic System - Logic

Logic System

Logic

1981

Electropop Synthpop

Japan

Tracklist:


1.Intro
2.Unit
3.Domino Dance
4.Convulsion Of Nature
5.XY?
6.Talk Back
7.Clash (Chinjyu Of Sun)
8.Person To Person
9.Logic

     Logic System is a musical project of Hideki Matsutake. Hideki started as an assistant for Isao Tomita in the 70's and is well-known as the sequencer programmer and modular synthesizer operator for the Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), but he wasn't a member of YMO. He worked on several of their albums and toured with his huge collection of synths. He also did sequencing work for numerous technopop albums for other artists, particularily in the early 80's. In 1996 he performed in a big concert event organized by Isao Tomita and was also guest on Towa Tei albums. On his website is a huge number of MIDI files he released, with some of YMO's original songs.
     Hideki Matsutake (born August 12, 1951 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese composer, arranger, and computer programmer. He is known for his pioneering work in electronic music and particularly music programming, as the assistant of Isao Tomita during the early 1970s and as the "fourth member" of the band Yellow Magic Orchestra during the late 1970s to early 1980s.
     In 1981, Matsutake formed "Logic System" with Makoto Irie, with whom he toured to perform in other Asian countries several times. The unit has released 10 albums to date, 2 out of them released in 8 countries. Its latest album is Tansu Matrix, released in 2008. He was also a member of Akihabara Electric Circus, which released the chiptune album Super Mario Bros. 3: Akihabara Electric Circus in 1988. He also composed the video game music for Treasure's Guardian Heroes in 1996, alongside Nazo Suzuki. Matsutake is currently Chairman of Japan Synthesizer Programmers Association (JSPA).

Johnny Warman - Walking Into Mirrors

Johnny Warman

Walking Into Mirrors

1981

New Wave Synthpop

England

Tracklist:


01 Walking Into Mirrors
02 Radio Active
03 Searchlights
04 Martian Summer
05 Screaming Jets
06 Three Minutes
07 Will You Dance With Me?
08 (SOS) Sending Out Signals
09 Dancing Dolls
10 Fantastic Light


     "Born in Bethnal Green, London, Johnny Warman made his stage debut as a child, when his local school choir was judged proficient enough to appear in two productions at London's prestigious Royal Opera House, alongside Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi. By the mid-'70s, however, he had gravitated to rock, forming the band Bearded Lady and releasing a 1975 single, Rock Star. It went nowhere and, when the band split, Warman signed solo with Ringo Starr's Ring-O label, releasing a single in 1977 and a Germany-only album, Hour Glass, two years later. By 1980, Warman had formed a new band, Three Minutes - following their breakup, he took much of the band's repertoire for his next solo album, 1981's Walking Into Mirrors, released by Elton John's Rocket label. Recorded with Peter Gabriel's then-current band, with Gabriel himself guesting on backing vocals on the single Screaming Jets, Warman found himself with a major Australian hit. (...) A masterful, electronics-driven slab of wartorn paranoia whose edginess was only amplified by the presence of Peter Gabriel on effectively keening backing vocals. (...) Hints of the John Foxx-era Ultravox (not to mention the inevitable Gary Numan, too) shine through some of the sparser numbers, an impression heightened by both Warman's own, occasionally robotic vocal intonations and the sense that the entire album is an idiot dancing on the edge of Armageddon; the early '80s, of course, saw civilization perched on one of its way-too-regular nuclear precipices, and Walking Into Mirrors echoes both the scientific realities and the science-fiction romances of that scenario. (...) Unfortunately, the follow-up, 1983's From the Jungle to the New Horizons, did little, prompting Warman to abandon his own recording career and concentrate on songwriting".
(Dave Thompson, All-Music Guide)

Irmin Schmidt & Bruno Spoerri - Toy Planet

Irmin Schmidt & Bruno Spoerri

Toy Planet

1981

Electronic Experimental Ambient Jazz

Germany / Switzerland

Tracklist:


A1 The Seven-Game (Ring Of Smile - Reversed) (7:01)
A2 Toy Planet (9:21)
A3 Two Dolphins Go Dancing (3:26)
B1 Yom Tov (3:24)
B2 Springlight Rite (4:41)
B3 Rapido De Noir (Last Train To Eternity) (6:55)
B4 When The Waters Came To Life (4:46)



     Irmin Schmidt (born 29 May 1937 in Berlin) is a German keyboard player and composer, probably best known as a founding member of the band Can.

     Bruno Alexander Spoerri (born 16 august 1935) is a Swiss jazz and electronics musician.
Born in Zurich, he studied applied psychology in Basel and Zurich. He played the saxophone as a student, and toured with the Modern Jazz Group Freiburg in Germany and Switzerland. In the early 1960s, he worked as a psychologist and career counsellor. He experimented with electrified saxophone and published the album Voice of Taurus in 1978.

Gina X Performance - Voyeur

Gina X Performance

Voyeur

1981

Electropop Synthpop

Germany

Tracklist:


A1 I.C. Code
A2 Horror Vacui
A3 Babylon Generation
A4 Kaddish
A5 Video Draguer
B1 Hypnosis / Hypnose
B2 Pederast Dissection
B3 Hom Intern
B4 Kiruna

     Formed in Cologne, Germany, the core of Gina X Performance comprised charismatic Gina Kikoine (vocals and lyrics) and writer-producer-musician Zeus B. Held. Held had previously been a member of the group Birth Control, and split to record solo in 1978, beginning work with Kikoine that year.Between 1979 and 1984 the group released four albums of cool arthouse electro-disco: Nice Mover, X-Traordinaire, Voyeur and Yinglish. Their classic 1979 single No G.D.M. was a club hit on both sides of the Atlantic and remains a cult classic thanks to electro/synthcore compilations such as Nag Nag Nag. Slinky second single Nice Mover is also an established favourite, having appeared on the Andrew Weatherall compilation Nine O'Clock Drop.

Discography

Nice Mover (Crystal Records/EMI, 1979)
X-traordinaire (EMI, 1980)
Voyeur (EMI, 1981)
Yinglish (Statik Records, 1984; credited to Gina X)

Our Daughter's Wedding - Digital Cowboy

Our Daughter's Wedding

Digital Cowboy

1981

Synthpop

USA

Tracklist:


A1 Target For Life
A2 Red Alert
A3 Lawnchairs
B1 Dance Floor
B2 No One's Watching

     Our Daughter's Wedding was an American synthpop trio from New York, consisting of Layne Rico on synthesizer, Keith Silva on vocals and keyboards, and Scott Simon on bass-synth and saxophone. The group took their name from a section of greeting cards.
     In 1981, they released the internationally successful "Lawnchairs". It peaked at #49 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1981. They toured with other bands of the day including U2, Duran Duran, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Iggy Pop, The Psychedelic Furs and frequently appeared on MTV as guest hosts. Their television resume also included various shows on BBC Television.
     They released the "Digital Cowboy" EP on EMI in 1981. The EP was recorded at Chipping Norton Studios in England (with notes "no sequencers used"), and it featured "Target for Life", a pure new wave sound at its best, similar to early Talk Talk hits that came a year later.
     After "Digital Cowboy", the band released an album in 1982 - Moving Windows. The record was co-produced by David Spradly (writer of "Atomic Dog" and a member of P-Funk) who gave the music a prescient hip hop sound. The record featured the singles "Auto Music" and "Elevate Her", but an argument between the band's temporary manager and the head of EMI caused the record to be killed, thus forcing them to cancel an extensive European tour. Locked in a recording contract and with no record or tour support, the band remained on the road for one year touring the country with The Psychedelic Furs. In 1984, after that tour, the band dissolved.

Discography

     Singles
"Lawnchairs" (1980)
"Nightlife" (1980)
"Digital Cowboy" (1981)
"Auto Music" (1982)
"Elevate Her" (1983)
"Take Me" (1984)
     Albums
Digital Cowboy (1981)
Moving Windows (1982)
Nightlife: The Collection (2007) (Almacantar Records - compilation album - Also available on iTunes)

The Durutti Column - LC

The Durutti Column

LC

1981

Post Punk Art Rock

England

Tracklist:


        5:14    Sketch For Dawn 1
        3:29    Portrait For Frazier
        2:16    Jacqueline
        2:30    Messidor
        4:34    Sketch For Dawn 2
        6:47    Never Known
        5:03    The Act Committed
        1:57    Detail For Paul
        6:36    The Missing Boy
        2:49    The Sweet Cheat Gone
        4:35    For Mimi                              
        5:24    Belgian Friends                        
        4:41    Self Portrait                          
        4:26    One Christmas For Your Thoughts
        3:39    Danny
        3:01    Enigma


     The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist (and occasional pianist) Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart (on bass, keyboards and harmonica) and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan (on piano). Chris Ott summed up Vini Reilly in 2003: "Friend to Ian Curtis and New Order, a borderline New Age celebrity within European muso circles and the creative force behind much of Morrissey's Viva Hate, Vini Reilly has unleashed untold volumes of music over the last twenty-five years. Delving into modern classical composition with 1984's Without Mercy, his low-key reputation as an independent auteur was cemented with 1988's Vini Reilly, a masterpiece recorded in just twenty days' time after finishing Viva Hate with Morrissey and Stephen Street."

     In 1978 Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, later partners in Factory Records, assembled a band around the remnants of local punk rock band Fast Breeder: drummer Chris Joyce and guitarist Dave Rowbotham. They called the then incomplete group The Durutti Column, derived from a misspelling of the name Buenaventura Durruti, who led a column of anarchists during the Spanish Civil War. On January 25, Vini Reilly, former guitarist for local punk rock band Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds, joined, followed some weeks later by co-member vocalist Phil Rainford and, by the end of February, bassist Tony Bowers arrived from Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias. The line-up was short-lived as Rainford was sacked in July, and replaced by vocalist Colin Sharp, who also became one of the songwriters. Rainford went on to produce for Nico and Suns of Arqa.
     The Durutti Column played at the Factory club (organised by their managers), and cut 2 numbers for the first Factory Records release A Factory Sample, a double 7" compilation also featuring Joy Division, John Dowie and Cabaret Voltaire. On the eve of recording a debut album, the band broke up after a dispute about Wilson and Erasmus's choice of producer, Martin Hannett. Rowbotham, Bowers and Joyce went on to form The Mothmen (the latter two becoming members of Simply Red some years later), Sharp went on to form The Roaring 80s, SF Jive, and Glow, and also dedicated himself to acting; only Reilly remained.
With everyone's departure, The Durutti Column defaulted to Reilly's solo project. Other musicians contributed to recordings and live performances as occasioned. Former Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias drummer Bruce Mitchell doubled as co-manager with Wilson throughout their career on Factory and for many years afterwards.
     LC ("Lotta Continua", Italian for "continuous struggle"), released in 1981, was recorded without Hannett, and introduced percussionist Bruce Mitchell, Reilly's most frequent musical partner and occasional manager. It was recorded on a four-track cassette deck at home (while it was slightly padded in the studio, the tape hiss is intact); among the first crisp, professionally released recordings made cheaply at home.

- "LC" is an abbreviation for the Italian anarchist slogan
  "La Lotta Continua" meaning "the struggle continues".
- "Messidor" is the tenth month of the French Revolutionary calendar
   and the title of Alain Tanner's 1979 film
- "The Missing Boy" refers to Ian Curtis
- "The Sweet Cheat Gone" is the published English title for the
  "Albertine disparue" volume of Marcel Proust's
  "À la recherche du temps perdu" ["In Search Of Lost Time"]


     Members
Vini Reilly
Bruce Mitchell
Keir Stewart
Poppy Morgan

     Past members
Dave Rowbotham
Chris Joyce
Phil Rainford
Tony Bowers
Colin Sharp
Tim Kellett
Peter Hook
Martin Jackson
John Metcalfe

Starter - Starter

Starter

Starter

1981

Minimal Synth New Wave Synthpop

Switzerland

Tracklist:


1. Lunapark
2. Is This Love
3. Minijupe
4. Baby
5. Plastic
6. Tanger
7. Tarzan And Jane
8. Machinedrum
9. Part Of You


     STARTER was s minimal electronics/synthpop group from Switzerland, formed by vocalist and fashion designer Francis Foss, Claudine Chirac (from fellow electronic group Grauzone) and Jet Harbour. Later lineups also included Stephan Eicher, Pauchard and Reto Keller.
     Starter formed in 1981 as a three piece, led by Francis Foss, who remained the only original member after a personnel switch in 1985.
     Starter would release one LP in 1981, followed by several 12'' releases throughout the late eighties, calling it quits in 1989. Francis Foss was also active in Shy Rose, a Swiss Italo Disco act who released a handful of singles.
     In 2004, Topfuel Entertainment collected Starter's discography and released it as an extremely limited CD-R pressing, sold alongside a DVD of various live performances over the years. Only sixty copies of this fine release exist.

Xmal Deutschland - Incubus Succubus 12'' / Incubus Succubus II 12'' / Qual 12'' / Schwarze Welt 7''

Xmal Deutschland

Incubus Succubus 12''

1982

Gothic Rock

Germany

Tracklist:

01. Incubus Succubus
02. Zu Jung Zu Alt
03. Blut Ist Liebe

Xmal Deutschland

Incubus Succubus II 12''

1983

Gothic Rock

Germany

Tracklist:

01. Incubus Succubus II
02 . Vito

Xmal Deutschland

Qual 12''

1983

Gothic Rock

Germany

Tracklist:

01. Qual
02. Zeit
03. Sehnsucht

Xmal Deutschland

Schwarze Welt - 7''

1981

Gothic Rock

Germany

Tracklist:

01. Schwarze Welt
02. Die Wolken

     Xmal Deutschland (pronounced: iks-mul doychlunt) was a musical group from Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1980 with a completely female line-up, they became successful outside their native country. The lead singer of the band is vocalist Anja Huwe. Xmal Deutschland's last album was released in 1989.
     Xmal Deutschland (often written as X-Mal Deutschland) was formed in 1980 by Anja Huwe (vocals), Manuela Rickers (guitar), Fiona Sangster (keyboards), Rita Simon (bass guitar) and Caro May (drums) in Hamburg, Germany. Their first single, "Großstadtindianer" was released a year later on Alfred Hilsberg’s ZickZack label. The band also contributed the to the label compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig (ZZ 45). Around this time Rita Simon was replaced by Wolfgang Ellerbrock.
     In 1982 the band released the Goth classic "Incubus Succubus". Drummer Caro May left the band and formed a new band, and the vacant drummer position was filled by Manuela Zwingmann the same year. While German audiences were less than receptive at first, a United Kingdom tour opening for the Cocteau Twins resulted in a label deal with independent label 4AD Records. Their debut album, Fetisch and the singles "Qual" and "Incubus Succubus II" were released in 1983, all 3 making the UK Independent charts, even though the band wrote and performed in German.
     Manuela Zwingmann left the band after one year, being replaced by Peter Bellendir. This lineup, Huwe/Rickers/Sangster/Ellerbrock/Bellendir proved to be the longest running. 1984 saw the release of the single "Reigen" and the album Tocsin, followed by a world tour through 1985.
     The Sequenz EP was essentially a remake of a John Peel session, which had been originally recorded April 30, 1985, and was broadcast May 13, 1985. The EP contained the tracks Jahr Um Jahr II, Autumn (the band’s first English lyrics, apart from brief snatches of English that appeared in Qual, Young Man and Tag für Tag) and Polarlicht but omitted Der Wind, which was played at the Peel sessions.
     1986 saw the release of Matador, produced by Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers. Xmal Deutschland also opened for The Stranglers at a concert at Wembley Arena in London. Their follow-up album, Viva was recorded in Hamburg and was released in 1987, followed by the single "Sickle Moon". Viva contains a large number of English lyrics, among others a poem by Emily Dickinson. It was during this time that the band were interviewed by Jamie Meakes for the infamous underground Goth Fanzine 'House Of Dolls'.
     After the release of Viva, Manuela Rickers, Fiona Sangster and Peter Bellendir left the group. Anja Huwe and Wolfgang Ellerbrock continue to work with Frank Z. (Abwärts) on guitar. Producer Henry Staroste played keyboards, and German studio drummer Curt Cress completed the line-up that would record the 1989 LP Devils and the singles "Dreamhouse" and "I’ll be near you". This also proved to be the last release of Xmal Deutschland, showing a change of direction towards mainstream pop. 1990 saw a few scattered live appearances by the group, but eventually the group split up.


Discography

     EPs and singles:
1981 7" Großstadtindianer
1982 12" Incubus Succubus
1983 12" Qual
1983 7" Incubus Succubus II
1983 12" Incubus Succubus II
1985 7" Sequenz
1985 12" Sequenz
1986 12"/CD The Peel Sessions (30.04.85)
1986 7" Matador
1986 12" Matador
1987 7" Sickle Moon
1987 12" Sickle Moon
1989 12" Dreamhouse
1989 12" I'll be near you
     Albums:
1983 Fetisch
1984 Tocsin
1987 Viva
1989 Devils

UK Decay - For Madmen Only

UK Decay

For Madmen Only

1981

Punk Rock Gothic Rock

England

Tracklist:


•Duel
•Battle of the Elements
•Shattered
•Stage Struck
•Last in the House of Flames
•Unexpected Guest
•Sexual
•Dorian
•Decadence
•Mayday Malady
•For Madmen Only


     UK Decay are Luton-based positive punk (the precursory term for gothic rock) band, formed out of the ashes of another local band called The Resistors, who were Steven Abbot (Abbo) guitar, Steve Harle on drums, Paul Wilson vocals, and Martin (Segovia) Smith bass.
     The Resistors formed in 1978. After Paul Wilson left during the spring of 1979, the remaining band members changed their name and released the ‘Split Single’ 7” in partnership with local band Pneumania on their own Plastic Records label, under the new name UK Decay. There were two tracks from each band, with UK Decay contributing "UK Decay" and "Car Crash", and Pneumania "Exhibition" and "Coming Attack". The 'Split Single' sold extremely well, mainly thanks to a damning review in the NME, whose Danny Baker and Charles Shaar Murray described them as "one of the worst punk bands of all time". At the same time, some of the band produced their own monthly fanzine The Suss, and ran their own punk record and clothes shop, 'Matrix'. Guitarist Steve Spon was poached from Pneumania, allowing Abbo to concentrate on frontman duties.
     UK Decay were arguably a major influence on an emerging wave of bands such as The Sisters of Mercy, Sex Gang Children and Southern Death Cult. These bands together spawned the emerging postpunk and Goth movements that still resonate today. UK Decay had a major role in developing these scenes, but had ceased to exist by the time these other bands started getting serious press coverage and sales. CD re-issues of the band's music have recently become available through their official website.

Positive Noise - Charm 7''

Positive Noise

Charm 7''

1981

New Wave Post Punk Synthpop

Scotland

Tracklist:

01. Charm
02. ...and Yet again

     Positive Noise were a New Wave and Synthpop band from Scotland who had a number of indie hits in the 1980s. They released three albums and several singles and were together for over five years.
     The band was formed in 1979 by Ross Middleton (vocals), his brothers Graham Middleton (keyboards, vocals) and Fraser Middleton (bass guitar, vocals), Russell Blackstock (guitar, vocals), and Les Gaff (drums). Their first released material was two tracks ("Refugees" and "The Long March") on the Statik label compilation album Second City Statik in 1980, and they followed this with two singles on Statik in 1981, both of which were top-ten hits on the UK Independent Chart. Début album Heart of Darkness was released in May 1981, after which Ross left to form the short-lived Leisure Process, with Blackstock taking over on lead vocals. Heart of Darkness peaked at number four on the independent chart, and the band's second album, Change of Heart (1982), also charted, reaching number 21. They released a third and final album, Distant Fires, in 1985, now with John Telford on drums and John Coletta on guitar, but their earlier success was not repeated and they split up shortly afterwards.
     Ross Middleton went on to work as a music journalist, writing for Sounds under the pen name Maxwell Park.


Discography

     Albums
Heart of Darkness (1981) - came with a bonus 7-inch single: "Love Like Property"
Change of Heart (1982)
Distant Fires (1985)
     Singles
"Give Me Passion" (1981)
"Charm" (1981)
"Positive Negative (1981)
"Waiting for the Seventh Man" (1982)
"Get Up And Go" (1982)
"When the Lightning Strikes" (1983)
"A Million Miles Away (1984)
"Distant Fires" (1985)

Kirlian Camera - Passing Masks 7'' / Kirlian Camera EP

Kirlian Camera feat. Simona Buja

Passing Masks 7''

1982

Synthpop

Italy

Tracklist:

01 Passing Masks
02. Still Close

Kirlian Camera 

Kirlian Camera EP

1981

Synthpop

Italy

Tracklist:

A1  News
A2  No One Notice Them
B1  Rays
B2  Autumn Room

     The group was founded in 1980 by Angelo Bergamini, and was a pioneering act of the Italian synthpop scene, eventually being the first Italian group to be signed to Virgin Records.
Between 1982 and 1984, Bergamini also played in the Italian italodisco group Hipnosis, which earned a platinum record for album sales in Germany, and had a top-10 hit throughout Europe with their single "Pulstar".
     During the eighties, Kirlian Camera's sound became progressively darker, moving away from the synth pop sound dominating their earlier releases. In 1993, they signed to the German label Discordia. 1995 saw them collaborate with labelmates Dive on Obsession EP.
     While the group's lineup has constantly changed over the years with many members joining and leaving, it has been relatively stable since 1999, with songwriter Angelo Bergamini being joined by full-time singer Elena Fossi.
   
     On 26 April 1999, Kirlian Camera was drawn into the then-current sensationalism over Goth culture when they were off-handedly mentioned by social scientist Alfred Schobert in der Spiegel, in an interview printed as a sidebar to a 4-page newspaper feature on the Columbine High School shootings. Schobert contended that the group (along with Death in June and Boyd Rice) was an example of a "neo-fascist element" in contemporary goth and EBM music, and accused them of performing a Hitler salute onstage.
     In their next cd, the group issued a communique, stating that they were offended by the witch hunt against them, but that they wanted to keep their political opinion to themselves, refusing to place the band within one specific political orientation. They denied that they were right wing extremists, pointing out that past member Nancy Appiah was Ghanaian, and that they sing lyrics by the Jewish-German poet August Stramm. However, they were not allowed to respond in der Spiegel, and as a result show cancellations and protests by Anti-Fascist Action continued to dog them through 2002.
     Furthermore, from interviews, one could learn that Angelo Bergamini does not state his own political preferences, and that the women from the band are oriented rather towards the left.

Fad Gadget - Incontinent

Fad Gadget

Incontinent

1981

New Wave

England

Tracklist:


1. Blind Eyes (5:04)
2. Swallow It (5:42)
3. Saturday Night Special (6:39)
4. Incontinent (3:27)
5. Manual Dexterity (3:35)
6. Innocent Bystander (6:32)
7. King Of The Flies (4:29)
8. Diminished Responsibility (5:50)
9. Plain Clothes (4:40)


     Fad Gadget is the stage name of Francis John (Frank) Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), an influential British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both New Wave and early Industrial music.
     As Fad Gadget, his music was characterized by a distinctive use of synthesizers in conjunction with sounds of found objects, including drills and electric razors. His bleak, sarcastic, and darkly humorous lyrics, often layered in meaning and discussing subjects such as machinery, building construction, human sexuality, and physical violence, were sung in a droning, often expressionless voice.

     Incontinent is the second album by Frank Tovey, better known as Fad Gadget, released in 1981. While developing the industrial sound of his debut Fireside Favourites in 1980, the new album relied less on drum machines and found objects, introducing more traditional instruments such as accordion and jaw harp, as well as making more frequent use of female backing vocals. The album's cover featured Tovey made up as the puppet Punch. Its lyrical content was informed by his tour of the US in 1980.
     "Blind Eyes" satirised keeping the world's problems at arm's length, with lines such as "Send a few pounds to a charity / Now we're feeling so much better" and a chorus intoning "Hear no, see no, speak no evil". This was followed by the sexual innuendo of "Swallow It". "Saturday Night Special" took its title from an American revolver and ruminated on the right of men to bear arms and rule their home. It has been called a "baroque ditty for all gun lovers",[1] and "a comment on the macho attitudes of Reagan's America".[2] The title track and "Manual Dexterity", respectively the last track on Side 1 and the first track on Side 2 of the original vinyl LP, were the album's twin instrumentals. The former track featured Mute Records founder Daniel Miller, the latter Robert Gotobed of the band Wire.
     A non-album single, "Make Room" backed with "Lady Shave", preceded Incontinent's release on 18 March 1981. "King of the Flies" was released as a flexi-single on 2 October 1981. "Saturday Night Special" backed with "Swallow It Live" (recorded at the Venue on 8 December 1981) was issued on 5 January 1982. A rerecorded version of "King of the Flies" backed with "Plain Clothes" was released on 6 April 1982. None of these singles, or the parent album, made the mainstream charts.

     Personnel
Fad Gadget – vocals, Chinese shawm, saxophone, flute, percussion, synthesizer, sequencer
Nick Cash – drums (except track 5), percussion, steel drum, vocals, jaw harp, accordion
Peter Balmer – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
David Simmonds – piano, synthesizer, voice
B.J. Frost – vocals
Anne Clift – vocals
Eric Radcliffe – guitar (tracks 6 and 9)
Robert Gotobed – drums (track 5)
Daniel Miller – sequencer (track 4)
John Fryer – percussion, voice

BB Gabor - Girls Of The Future

BB Gabor

Girls Of The Future

1981

New Wave Post Punk

Hungary (Canada based)

Tracklist:

Keep On Dreaming
Little Thing
Fidgety Pete
Girls Of The Future
Othello
Jealous Girl
Outsider
Shake
Simulated Groove
Turn Table Turn
When You're The Only One I Love


     Born Gabor Hegedus in 1948, his family fled Hungary and the political revolution there to England when he was only 8. Music didn't become a factor in his life until moving to Toronto at age 23. Gabor became a staple of the local underground scene during the late 70's, where his industrial pop/punk sound was pretty much the 'norm'.
     His self-titled debut was released by Anthem Records in the spring of 1980. Co-produced by Terry Brown, whose work included among others Stampeders, Max Webster, Klaatu and Rush, it showed an instant sense of maturity, backed by the success of the two singles, "Metropolitan Life" and "Soviet Jewelry". Gabor made two cross-Canada tours, and enoyed the success of other hits from his debut including a remake of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi", "Lazer Love" and the social commentary "Hunger Poverty and Misery". Gabor's youth in the middle of a communist regime was also made known in "Soviet Drug Club".
     GIRLS OF THE FUTURE hit the stands a year later. Produced by Gene Martynec, who'd worked with such Canadian stars as Edward Bear and Rough Trade, it continued along the veins put forward by its predecessor. The first single released was "Jealous Girls", a cover of the Extras' hit, which was followed later in '81 by "Little Thing." Also on the record was some of Gabor's most tightly-written music, including the upbeat "Keep On Dreaming" and "Shake", co-written by Jimi B.

     After being cut from Anthem's roster in '83, Gabor's career came and went in spurts, but continued working in the industry the remainder of the decade. Some of his credits included production of The Extras, Ron Hedland and Jimi B, as well as doing session work with Todd Rundgren. Though he reformed a touring group in '87, he was finding the music scene had no room for his brand of pop. In 1990, Toronto police found Gabor dead in his apartment, the victim of an apparent suicide at the age of 42.
     BB Gabor's life was one marred with tragedy, from his childhood in war-torn Hungary, to his struggling just to survive in England, working as a cab driver and even dabbling as a broker in precious metals, to his humble beginnings in the Toronto music scene, to his untimely demise. Though he only recorded two records, he left his mark on the industry by working with some of the industry's best, as well as writting some of Canadian pop's most cutting-edge music.

Pete Shelley - Homosapien

Pete Shelley

Homosapien

1981

New Wave

England

Tracklist:


01 Homosapien
02 Yesterday's Not Here
03 I Generate A Feeling
04 Keats Song
05 Qu'est-Ce Que C'est Que Ca?
06 I Don't Know What It Is
07 Guess I Must Have Been In Love With Myself
08 Pusher Man
09 Just One Of Those Affairs
10 It's Hard Enough Knowing
     bonus tracks
11 Witness The Change
12 Maxine
13 In Love With Somebody Else
14 Homosapien (Dub)
15 Witness The Change / I Don't Know What Love Is
16 Love In Vain


     Pete Shelley (born Peter Campbell McNeish, 17 April 1955 in Leigh, Lancashire) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of Buzzcocks.

     Homosapien was Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley's 1981 debut solo album, the title-track of which was released as a UK single the same year. The single was banned by the BBC, but was nevertheless a hit in several countries.
     The album began as a collection of studio demos recorded by Shelley (and produced by Martin Rushent) for the next Buzzcocks' album. In the process, Shelley and Rushent grew enormously fond of the sound they had created in the studio, which featured an interesting blend of drum machines, synthesizers and sequencers coupled with guitars. Shelley, weary of the Buzzcocks' financial state, decided to leave the band after Island Records' Andrew Lauder offered him a solo record deal based on the demos.
     Released at the start of the home computer boom, the album cover featured Shelley in a stylised 'office' leaning on a Commodore PET computer.
     As was typical in the era, Homosapien had a different track listing in the United States, with three songs being excised and three single b-sides being added in their place.
In 1997, Razor & Tie Entertainment reissued the US version on CD with five bonus tracks taken from Shelley's follow-up album, XL1. In 2006, the original UK version was reissued on CD by Varep Records. It includes all the songs from the US version as bonus tracks, as well as two other b-side "dub" mixes.

     Personnel
Pete Shelley - vocals, multi-instruments
Barry Adamson - bass
Martin Rushent - keyboards
Jim Russell - drums

Crash Course In Science - Signals From Pier Thirteen & Demos

Crash Course In Science

Signals From Pier Thirteen & Demos

1981

Minimal Synth Post Punk

USA

Tracklist:


A1 Cardboard Lamb
A2 Crashing Song
A3 Flying Turns
A4 Factory Forehead
A5 Pompeii Spared (Original Demo Version)
Bonus Tracks: 1981 Demos
B1 Near Marineland
B2 Second Glance
B3 It Cost's To Be Austere
B4 No More Hollow Doors
B5 Force The Habit
B6 Jump Over Barrels



     Crash Course In Science were a post punk band formed in 1979 in Philadelphia.They avoided the sounds of conventional instrumentation by using toy instruments and kitchen appliances to augment the distorted guitar, drums and synthesised beats. Championed by local radio station WXPN DJ Lee Paris they recorded the single "Cakes In The Home" (with the B-side containing "Kitchen Motors" and "Mechanical Breakdown") for his Go Go label. This was followed by "Signals From Pier Thirteen" in 1981 produced by John Wicks at Third Story Recordings.

Roboterwerke - Futurist

Roboterwerke

Futurist

1981

Minimal Synth Experimental Synthpop

Germany

Tracklist:


A1 Bitte Beeilen
A2 No Bees, No Honey
A3 High On Tech
A4 We Never Come Down
B1 The Lion Sleeps Tonight
B2 Pinhead Pinball
B3 Concrete Jungle
B4 Rockbots



     Robotwerke, aka Dieter Kolb and Franz Aumüller, were one of the first groups to experiment with electronic music in the mid-60s, inventing some of the first self-made drum machines. Look HERE Their fans include such luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Afrika Bambaataa, Sven Vath and Kraftwerk. Since the 60's they had allowed themselves to become more and more inspired by the Caribbean sounds of steeldrum and Soca, and developed their own brand of Soca influenced funky disco electro.

Kim Wilde - Kim Wilde

Kim Wilde

Kim Wilde

1981

New Wave

England

Tracklist:


01.Water on Glass
02.Our Town
03.Everything We Know
04.Young Heroes
05.Kids in America
06.Chequered Love
07.2-6-5-8-0
08.You'll Never Be So Wrong
09.Falling Out
10.Tuning in Tuning On


     Kim Wilde is the first studio album by Kim Wilde, released in June 1981.
     Most of the music on this album was played by the symphonic rock band The Enid and the songs were all written by Marty Wilde and Ricky Wilde. Production duties were fulfilled by Ricky Wilde. The cover photography was by Gered Mankowitz.
     Musically, the album was mainly new wave and rock-oriented, but it also featured a reggae track ("Everything We Know") and a brass section appeared on "2 6 5 8 0". Lyrically, Marty Wilde included love songs and also a song ("Water on Glass") about tinnitus (a medical condition that causes ringing in the ears), a song about the deterioration of inner cities ("Our Town") and a song about a theory that sound is alive ("Tuning In Tuning On").
     The album entered the UK album charts at #10, moving into the Top 3 the next week and the album was certified Gold by the BPI for sales of 100,000 copies. During promotion, Kim's band consisted of Ricky Wilde, James Stevenson and later boyfriend Calvin Hayes, who also appeared on the sleeve of the album. Kim later commented that, at that time in the industry, it was passe for a female to attempt to launch a serious career in pop music on her own, and that the backing band had been shown on the sleeve to give credibility to the album. Still, she was attacked for trying to copy the allure of U.S. band Blondie. The album was released in North America in 1982, reaching #86 in the USA and #42 in Canada.

     Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart new wave classic "Kids in America". In 1987 she had a major hit in the United States when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On" topped the charts. Starting in 1998, while still active in music, she has branched into an alternative career as a landscape gardener.