The musical listening from this week.
Reverend And The Makers - The State Of Things, album- Brilliantly observed lyrics on everyday life from 'The Reverend' aka John Mclure, on the Sheffield indie band's 1987 debut album.
The Cramps - A Date With Elvis, album- Voodoo punk rockabilly from this legendary band. This album from 1986 sees husband and wife duo Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, with stalwart sticks man Nick Knox moving from the b-movie horror subject matter of their earlier albums and moving to more sexual subject matter with plenty of innuendos.
The Normal - T.V.O.D / Warm Leatherette, 7" Single - A momentous release from 1978. The Normal was a pseudonym for Daniel Miller, who released this cult classic synth pop single as the first release on his own independent label, Mute Records. Mute would become one of the most successful and creative independent labels of all time with bands like Depeche Mode, Yahoo, Erasure and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds all bringing much success. This single features the wonderful Warm Leatherette, a song that was inspired by J.G Ballard's novel Crash, which finds sexual eroticism in the mangled wreckage of a car crash. It was so good that the legendary Jamaican singer Grace Jones recorded a cover version and made it the title track of her international breakthrough album.
Portion Control - Step Forward, album - The 1984 album by the synth noise act, who supported Depeche Mode on the Some Great Reward tour, which is where I discovered them. Not massively successful but very influential on later industrial music acts such as Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails. I really liked them so bought the album. I hadn't listened to it since the late 1980s. I still enjoyed it.
The Clash - The Clash, album- The eponymous 1977 debut album by the greatest punk band ever. They put politics and true rebellion into the genre. To quote singer songwriter and fan, Billy Bragg, "Without The Clash, punk would have just been a well placed safety pin, a sneer and a pair of bondage trousers " My political outlook was forever changed by this band.
Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame, album- The 1982 sophomore album release from the legendary synthesiser band, which sees them moving on from the bubblegum synth pop of their debut album and the departure of their main songwriter Vince Clarke. Martin L Gore steps up as songwriter on an album that sees the band exploring new more challenging concepts, but still retains some of the pop charm of their debut. Certainly not their best album by a long chalk, but I like it and it boded well for a glorious future.
Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend, album - The uber producer/deejay's second album released in 2009. A disco pop banger of a record that pointed the way to becoming probably the most successful deejay of all time on his subsequent releases.
So that's this week's musical meanderings. I decided to add a little more detail to what I'm listening too, so it's not just a list of names and titles. I hope those reading the post find it interesting.
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