[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

October 26 featuring African Head Charge, Iron Curtain, and the Arthur Russel-produced Loose Joints:

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Finally, as promised, Shoes:

Click here to view the embedded video.

They started to record in August 1982 and released an EP titled Bítið Fast í Vítið which went out through label Spor. This 12” vinyl was formed of 5 tracks performed by Björk, who replaced the original vocals by Eyþór. The only song in English was “London”.
They followed up in 1983 with the release of their first album titled Miranda, which was released by Gramm. This record consisted of 13 tracks and even though Tappi Tíkarrass was the less experimenting project of singer Björk, this album outstands with songs like “Kríó” which feature pop melodies, and “Tjet”, a song that renders a mellow start and ends with disco references.

Despite the rising interest in this band as Björk developed into an international music artist, the discography of Tappi Tíkarrass has never been reissued and all the original releases are widely unavailable.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Vanity Records in Osaka was one of the unforgettable hallmarks of the early Japanese underground music scene of the late-70′s. This label was founded by Yuzuru Agi, the music critic/editor of Rock Magazine. Agi was a sort of alternative visionary with a superb talent to assess new musical modes at a time when blues and West Coast-style rock still dominated the local music scene. He was also responsible for cloning the Japlish term “techno-pop” – which he used to describe Eno-produced bands like Talking Heads and Devo – that later became internationally known via Yellow Magic Orchestra. Inspired by punk and the flood of indie labels that swept New York and London, Agi started Vanity Records in 1978, releasing 11 LPs, 3 singles, 12 flexis, and 6 cassettes between ’78 and ’82.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Aunt Sally’s debut album incorporates waltz and tango into rock, evocative of pre-war European nostalgia with excellent literary lyrics. This high school band consisting of three girls and two boys had an idiosyncratic presence in the local Osaka punk/new wave scene. After the band’s brief existence, the vocalist Phew went solo and released several albums”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Similar to ESG and Liquid Liquid this high school band played new wave garage funk. As with Sympathy Nervous, the leader of the band, Takayuki Shiraishi, reappeared to the techno scene of the 90s under the name of Planetroid, releasing Detroit techno influenced works.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Receiving a cassette tape from RNA Organism by air-mail, Agi mistakenly thought that they were from overseas and highly acclaimed the band in Rock Magazine; however, it was a clever ploy from by Kaoru Sato from Kyoto. This is amazing dub music with funky bass, noise guitar, trumpet and rhythm machine – sort of like a heavier version of Andy Partridge’s Take Away.”

June 30th with: The Honeymoon Killers, Linear Movement, ESG, The Reversible Chords

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Yoko Ono, the subject of perhaps the world’s most misdirected focus of hate, shines with her 1981 track Walking On Thin Ice, the final mix would be in the hands of John Lennon on the day of his death:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pheonix recluse Eddy Detroit makes an appearance with a track off of his 1982 record Immortal Gods. The record was backed by contemporary surf rockers Sun City Girls and includes tunes reflecting the finer points of life: Vampires, a deitiy by the name of PazuZu, and of course, Mephisto Cigars:

Click here to view the embedded video.

—

July 7th with: Cracked Actor, Arthur Brown & Craig Leon, Deutscher Kaiser, Woo

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

A small tribute to the Australian and New Zealand scene, which aside from the legendary Dunedin sound of bands on Flying Nun Records also encountered a huge punk movement in the late 70’s, led by Brisbane band The Saints:

“The earliest incarnation of The Saints was formed by Ed Kuepper (guitar) and Chris Bailey (vocals) in Brisbane, Queensland in 1973. They shared a background in immigrant families (Kuepper’s German and Bailey’s Irish), and an admiration for high energy 1950s and ’60s music, such as the Detroit rock of The Stooges and MC5. Queensland at the time was controlled by the conservative, authoritarian Country Party democratic government of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen — an environment with plenty of inspiration for creative and alienated young people. The result was a frenetic, pulsating sound, topped with Bailey’s sardonic lyrics. Unable to get regular gigs, they played at a house in inner city Petrie Terrace, where they soon attracted unwanted attention. Police arrested fans for trivial offences, often in a brutal fashion, but their approach only created more interest in the punk scene. The Saints gigs’ got bigger and their fans started to form bands, both punk and dissimilar in sound, beginning a distinct Brisbane punk scene, one of the first in the world.”

One of these fan bands that would spring from the Brisbane area would come to be known as The Riptides, whose mod pop stylings are more closely related to that of The Ramones:

Click here to view the embedded video.

June 9th with: Roky Erickson, A Certain Ratio, Liaisons Dangereuses, and Sparks.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Will sends his love from afar with a special request for Italian renaissance man Franco Battiato:

Click here to view the embedded video.

A special tribute to Wolfgang Riechmann, the man who could legitimately say he was both the fifth man in Kraftwerk and the guy Schwarzenegger based his Mr. Freeze costume off of:

Click here to view the embedded video.

June 16th with: The Flying Lizards, Human Switchboard, Eardance, and Abwarts.

Also to be desired: Cleveland Punk sets featuring Pere Ubu and Tommy Jay and a dedication to Italian producer / Disco magnifico Giorgio Moroder with a special set featuring a Donna Summer treat!

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Belgian-Leatherbound-New-Wavers / Martin-Short-lookalike-contest runners up A Blaze Colour play a little diddy while staring deep into your soul:

Click here to view the embedded video.

—

June 23rd with: Spacemen 3, Nitzer Ebb, Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, and Chumbawumba (seriously).

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Aussie Industrial group Severed Heads with their single “Dead Eyes Opened” off of the album Since The Accident. Gaining a significant cult following in Euro dance clubs, Severed Heads would start a world tour shortly after the album’s release, taking with them local video producer Stephen Jones who would incorporate similar multimedia effects into their shows.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also: A special tribute to Fred Cole, who since 1964 has released a prodigious assortment of albums in genres ranging from Garage Rock to Country. After being promised an opening gig in San Fransisco’s Filmore for the Yardbirds but then denied at the door, Cole and then current band The Weeds would take their van up towards Canada, fed up with the music industry and hoping to avoid a draft call from the oncoming war. As legend goes, their van would brake down outside of Portland. It would be there that Cole would meet his future wife and bassist Toody Conner. Together they would run a local record store while producing some great west coast punk records under the monikers King Bee (who would open for The Ramones), The Rats, and Dead Moon. Today, Fred and Toody Cole still play as Pierced Arrows with drummer Kelly Haliburton.

In keeping with last week’s classic rock-meets-new wave theme, here’s Bob Dylan playing Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Don’t Start Me To Talkin” on David Letterman backed by the Chicano LA punk band The Plugz:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s March 31:
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
And April 7:
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Following up on last week’s show, here’s a clip from that Neil Young film Human Highway, featuring Devo in some pretty unsettling Halloween masks:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.