The Instant Automatons – Blues Masters Of The Humber Delta [Cass] (1980, Deleted Records)

 

The Instant Automatons were leading figures in the largely cassette-based U.K. Bad Music scene (a British DIY movement whose adherents made their music available on cassette, for free) of the late '70s. Between 1977 and 1982 , using a bedroom full of homemade gear plus some conventional instrumentation, core members Protag (later of Alternative TV, Blyth Power and Zounds) and Mark Lancaster (“somewhere between Cooper Clarke and Mark E. Smith”) forged a warped hybrid of traditional songcraft and lo-fi primitive post punk. Although cassettes were the band's native medium, they also appeared on several vinyl releases, including their own EP and various compilations featuring similar weirdos. 

 
The Instant Automatons mixed the experimental and the conventional, with relatively traditional song structures often lurking beneath the surface weirdness -unlike some of their post-punk contemporaries who deconstructed the concept of "the song" itself. Again, Lancaster attributes some of this to practical considerations: "We were only just learning to play our instruments and our equipment was deficient, so even our best efforts to play 'properly' sometimes turned out quite bizarre." The band was never short of skewed rock and pop oddities. [SOURCE: BFE RECORDS BANDCAMP]

 

 

Label: Deleted Records – DEC 010 

Format: Cassette, Numbered, C60 

Country: UK 

Released: 1980 

Style: Lo-Fi, Experimental, Post-Punk, Minimal Wave

 

Tracklist:

North Bank 

A1 All You Need Is Love 

A2 Laburnum Walk 

A3 Mr. MacPhee 

A4 Esoteric No. 2 - Blazing Pedals 

A5 Catacomb (MG) 

A6 Catacomb 

A7 Prisoner Of The Grapevine 

A8 I Think Somebody Must Have Poisoned Me 

South Bank 

B1 Then He Hit Me 

B2 Esoteric No. 5 - Brains Under Glass 

B3 Restless Night (LMC) 

B4 Ballad Of The New Things 

B5 Disillusion (LMC) 

B6 August '78 (LMC) 

B7 When The Pubs Close 

B8 Outro (MG) 

 

Notes:

(MG) -> Live at Meanwhile Gardens 

(LMC) -> Live at the London Musicians Collective 

"Live performances and bedroom recordings made by the Instant Automatons during February to October 1980." 

"The Instant Automatons; not published not copyright 1980 rip us off - see if we care". 

 

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Hit Parade – Bad News [7''] (1983, Crass Records)

Hit Parade was basically a one man anarchist band, the brainchild of P. Checkoff (aka Rik O’che) a member of the Anarchist Collective in Belfast. Being a left-wing socialist Checkoff’s songs were highly political by nature and concentrated on life in Northern Ireland. Subject matter ranged from the evils of television to H Blocks; the RUC to housing problems, and of course unemployment. “I wanted to make people aware that there’s more than a tribal sectarian war here, there are a lot of problems. It’s a multi-problematic place" stated Checkoff shortly after the release of the 'Nick Nack Paddy Wack' album in 1986.

 
Unsurprisingly, Hit Parade signed to the Crass label. Hit Parade produced electronic music made up of samples, loops and noises and were helped out in the studio by the likes of Eve Libertine, Penny Rimbaud, Jane Gregory and Flux Of Pink Indians and a host of other musicians, Checkoff said at the time “All the structure of the songs is done by me here in Belfast. But when I go into the studio in London it becomes more of a collected effort with different people putting in ideas.” The first release was the 'Bad News' EP in ‘83. This was followed by the 'Plastic Culture' 12” single in ‘84 and finally by the 'Nick Nack Paddy Wack' album. The album was recorded in ‘84 but due to the financial crisis Crass were in at that time, it wasn’t released until ‘86. Penny Rimbaud and Paul Ellis produced the album.

 
Upon the release of the E.P. 'Bad News', an electro-rap rant on such evils as television, H Blocks, the RUC and so on the Crass label in 1982, copies were seized by Special Branch at retail outlets, along with everything else on the Crass independent label, it managed to reach No.4 in the independent charts.

 
Before the album was released, Channel 4 produced and screened a TV documentary on the health of women in Northern Ireland. The documentary was called "Under The Health Surface" and the programmes soundtrack featured the music of Hit Parade, which can be found on the 'Nick Nack' LP in slightly different forms. [SOURCE: SPIT RECORDS]

 

 

Label: Crass Records – 221984/12 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single 

Country: UK 

Released: 1983 

Style: Synth-pop, Experimental, Synth Punk, Minimal Synth, Anarcho-Punk

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Here's What You Find In Any Prison 

A2 More Faces 

B1 Bad News 

B2 H Block 

 

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Games – Dance This Way [7''] (1982, Open Eye Records)

 

Games were a pioneering three-piece synth-pop outfit, formed in 1980 and consisting of Brendan Coyle (synthesisers, percussion, vocals), Colin Hughes (synthesisers, percussion, organ, vocals) and Steve Knott (synthesisers, guitar, vocals), from Wirral, UK. The same year, they self-released their first 7" single 'Childsplay' followed by a contribution of the two tracks "Unrest In The Real World" and "The Song" to the 'Street To Street Volume Two' LP compilation on Liverpool's Open Eye Records in 1981. Then the band fell apart with Steve moving on under the Games moniker including new band members. Their 7" single 'Dance This Way/Love Canal' still saw its release in 1981. Brendan and Colin moved on as Zephyr In The Swamp, Brendan also played in Some Detergents, and Colin in Sense Of Vision.

 
Games were truly ahead of their time and quite unique in that they played credible well-crafted pop songs in a purely electronic style. They did not ride the wave of synth-pop, they were the early creators. The stories of the band waiting outside Hessy’s famous music store in Liverpool waiting for their orders of the Roland SH-09 to be delivered, emphasised that they were the zealots of the synthesiser phenomenon which was to change pop music forever. Looking back their commitment enthusiasm and industry was truly remarkable. Ironically the songs were not dry and mechanical. The crude monophonic synths and very early Dr. Rhythm drum machine were used creatively to produce memorable, dramatic and emotional pop songs. Games truly were visionaries and pioneers. They never got the credit they deserved because they were not in the right place at the right time and lacked the contacts good management could have provided.

This single was recorded at Open Eye Studio, Liverpool in 1981 and released the same year. The tracks were recorded by Dave Hutchman and Steve Knott on a Studer A80 8-track machine. Wayne Hussey played guitar; Brian Rawling played drums; Dave Hutchman played trumpet on "Love Canal"; and Steve Knott played synthesisers, sang, and wrote the songs (published by BMG-Chrysalis). The tracks were produced and mixed by the band, and the single was mastered by Tim Young at CBS in London. The label graphic and typesetting were done by Alex Plain and the sleeve graphic was drawn by Steve Knott (based on dance notation). The Games logo is based on the Omni typeface. The track "Love Canal" is an edited version, the full version contains an extra verse (unreleased). [SOURCE: DISCOGS]

 

 

Label: Open Eye Records – OE 007 

Format: Vinyl, 7" 

Country: UK 

Released: 1982 

Style: New Wave, Synth-pop, Minimal, Minimal Wave, Minimal Synth

 

Tracklist: 

A Dance This Way 

B Love Canal 

 

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Faith. No More. – Faith. No More. [Cass] (1983, Not On Label)

 

The first Faith No More demo, released under the stylized name of 'Faith. No More.'. The A-side features a recording of their first concert on October 11th of 1983 at On Broadway in San Francisco, California. The B-side features the first song that the band ever wrote and recorded after Mike Morris, vocalist and guitarist in Faith. No Man., was out of the picture. The songs featured on the A-side were written after the song featured on the B-side. This demo tape is believed to be limited to about 200 copies, though an exact amount is unknown as the copies were photocopied and dubbed by the band as needed. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]

 

 

Label: Not On Label (Faith No More Self-released) – none 

Format: Cassette 

Country: US 

Released: 1983 

Style: Alternative Rock, New Wave, Post-Punk 

 

Tracklist:

A1 Intro 2:10 

A2 The Jungle 3:07 

A3 Why Do You Bother? 5:01 

A4 FST 5:53 

A5 Spirit 4:51 

B New Love, Same Neuroses; New Hairstyles, Same Minds 20:51 

 

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Europeans – Europeans / Voices [7''] (1978, Heartbeat Records)

Europeans was a New Wave band formed in Bristol in 1977 and split in 1979. Their sound reminsds a bit of early Ultravox, with faint impressions of Gary Numan on the synths. Members were Jonathan Cole (vocals, guitar and synthesizers) and James Cole (drums). This group should not be confused with the similarly named Europeans, another British new wave band formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1985.

 

Jon Klein was co-founder of the London based club "Batcave" and guitar for Siouxsie & The Banshees and Specimen. Bassist Steve Street began his career in 1976 on the Bristol music scene by recording demos for The Pop Group, and later in 1978-79 for Glaxo Babies. In 1978 he helped form the Europeans, which only released this single before the band broke up in 1979. Since then he has produced and worked on a wide array of artists including The Blue Aeroplanes, Electric Guitars, Essential Bop, Vice Squad, Fear of Darkness, Love Jungle, Tears For Fears, Matt Johnston (The The), Ric Ocasek (The Cars), Green On Red, Billy Mackenzie (The Associates), Chris Hughes, Daniel Lanois, Mick Glossop and Mike Mansfield. He currently works for Sugar Shack Records Ltd. and its' subsidiary Bristol Archive Records, which re-releases music mainly from Bristol bands associated with the 1970/80s punk and new wave era.

 

 

Label: Heartbeat Records – Pulse 2 

Format: Vinyl, 7", Single 

Country: UK 

Released: 1978 

Style: New Wave, Synth-pop 

 

Tracklist:

Western 

A Europeans 3:59 

Eastern 

B Voices 3:59 

 

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Doc Corbin Dart – Black Tuesday [Cass] (1991, Not On Label)

 

Doc Corbin Dart is a musician from Lansing, MI, born March 16, 1953. He is best known as the vocalist for the punk rock band The Crucifucks, whom he fronted from 1981 until 1989 and again from 1996 until 1998. His lyrics are extremely anti-authoritarian and confrontational and the police, the US government, and Christianity are frequently his targets. He released his first solo album, 'Patricia' (named after his therapist), in 1990. 

After The Crucifucks demise at the end of the 1980s, Dart opened a baseball card store and ran for mayor of Lansing, MI. He did not win but pledged his support to Lansing's incumbent mayor on the condition that the mayor build a rape crisis center (which Dart had pledged to do if he won) in Lansing (the incumbent won and built the crisis center after the election).

 
Years later, Dart began calling himself "26" and released an album under that name in 2004. Doc once gave up on swear words and refused to say his old band's name, but this attitude has since gone away. Dart has a mostly negative opinion on the first Crucifucks LP, referring to it as a "spoken word album with a little noise in the background". [SOURCE: DISCOGS]

 

 

Label: Not On Label (Doc Corbin Dart Self-released) – none 

Format: Cassette, Limited Edition 

Country: US 

Released: 1991 

Style: Alternative Rock, Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Jangle Pop

 

Tracklist:

A1 The One Who Loves You Part 1 4:49 

A2 The One Who Loves You Part 2 1:28 

A3 The Day I Got Back From Madison 3:28 

A4 Clock Without Hands 6:08 

A5 Caroline 5:47 

B1 Debbie 3:16 

B2 I Can't Handle It 5:45 

B3 Black Tuesday 3:18 

B4 Autumn 4:59 

B5 Not So Far Away 3:00 

 

Notes:

Self-released cassette of Doc Dart's second album, limited to only and handful of copies and not available to the general public. 

 

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Claustrofobia – Arrebato (Música Per A Vetllades D'Intriga) [LP] (1984, Wilde Rekords)

 

Claustrofobia, from Spain, presented an arty and theatrical synth-pop, similar to Kan Kan or Artery, typified by "La Espia Que Me Amo", further enhanced with traditional flamenco guitars in "Sueños De Donna". "Sombras En La Alcoba" navigated towards a mixture of dark-wave and the noir soundtrack-theme, while "Amor Sensible" was even more eclectic, a blend of disco beats, ambient spooks, incantations, and a middle-eastern chorus. Eclecticism isn't a panacea though, and it's only till "Rapsodia Bajo El Volga" that we encounter a real highlight, a ghostly and cursed piano theme, accompanied by a dejected vocal delivery and desolate sound-effects. All the while, "Lagrimas Por Un Bolero" was their most violent moment, but again behind the paroxysmal wall of synthesizers and guitars lay a fondness for the traditional Spanish ballad. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Wilde Rekords – WR-004 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Mini-Album 

Country: Spain 

Released: 1984 

Style: Synth-pop, Minimal, Darkwave, New Wave, Minimal Synth, Post-Punk, Krautrock

 

Tracklist:

A1 La Espia Que Me Amo 3:20 

A2 Sueños De Donna 1:30 

A3 Sombras En La Alcoba 3:00 

B1 Amor Sensible 3:13 

B2 Rapsodia Bajo El Volga 4:40 

B3 Paris Nostalgic (Tango) 5:30 

B4 Lagrimas Por Un Bolero 6:15 

 

Notes:

"Rapsodia Bajo El Volga", "Paris Nostalgic" and "Lágrimas Por Un Bolero" recorded live at Sala Metro, Barcelona, in a 4-track Fostex. 

 

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Bp. Service – Bp. Service [Cass] (1990, Weast CMC Agency)

 

BP. Service was one of Hungary's important industrial music groups. Industrial music in Hungary did exist behind the iron curtain in the 80's but in very marginal forms. Some of the bands are Art Deco, CMC and Falatra(x). Basically it was not until the early nineties that industrial groups could publish their music regularly in Hungary and that also more groups started to exist.

 
BP. Service consisted of Szabó György, Kósa Vince and Orbán Balázs. Szabo György is subsequently known for his graphic design and creating many of the posters for underground concerts in Budapest before the fall of the iron curtain. Lately those posters have received renewed attention and have been compiled in a book. Kósa Vince was also the founder of the group Art Deco and can be considered as one of the pioneers of Industrial music in Hungary.

 
This cassette that came out in 1990 contains two lengthy tracks of classic industrial sounds. It conceptually takes on the big city or metropole (in this case Budapest) as a place of noise where traffic, construction, dirt, automation and industry are part of the daily urban environment. A concept that can be seen often in this particular vein of industrial music, tracing back most notably to Berlin's finest Einstürzende Neubauten, but of course there are numerous examples. The music contains bleak Hungarian lyrics, sound-manipulations and the use of metal and other physical materials that are being used rhythmically. [SOURCE: ARCHAIC INVENTIONS]

 

 

Label: Weast CMC Agency – none 

Format: Cassette, Album, C30 

Country: Hungary 

Released: 1990 

Style: Industrial, Post-Punk, Experimental

 

Tracklist:

B Untitled 

C Untitled 

 

Notes:

No track-titles listed. Sides are labeled "B" and "C" instead of "A" and "B". 

 

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