Doggerel Bank – Mister Skillicorn Dances [LP] (1975, Charisma)

 

Without a doubt, one of the most unknown and unique of the wonderful Charisma artists would have to be Doggerel Bank, a group featuring an eccentric poet with equally eccentric musical backing. The center of the group was William Bealby-Wright, a poet from the Isle of Man (i.e. a Manx) and former leader of The Barrow Poets, a music and poetry aggregation who made records from roughly the mid-60’s to the early 70’s, with albums on Fontana and Argo as well as privately pressed records.

 

Doggeral Bank set the words of William Bealby-Wright to an art-rock melange of harmonium, violin, viola, harp, mandolin, piano, organ, concertina, mini moog, electric guitar, drums and percussion composed by former British poet lauriat Jim Betjeman. Although they released two groundbreaking albums, 'Silver Face' and 'Mister Skillicorn Dances', neither was released outside of England and the group disbanded.  

 

Susan Baker, who played harmonium, mandolin and violin for Doggeral Bank from 1973 until 1975, went on to perform on the soundtrack of The Who's 'Tommy'.  Jim Parker, who is largely responsible for the music on the Doggerel Bank LPs, also did the musical backing on Betjeman’s four Charisma LPs. Producer Hugh Murphy, best known for his work with Gerry Rafferty, also produced a number of Charisma singles by a wide range of artists, and had earlier helmed some wonderful progressive rock with Gracious! for Vertigo. [SOURCE: LAST.FM] 

 

 

Label: Charisma – CAS 1102 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: Apr 1975 

Style: Prog Rock, Poetry, Art Pop

 

Tracklist:

A1 Where The Sun Always Shines 4:13 

A2 The Man With The Ginger Lily 2:21 

A3 Hyde Park Monster 4:51 

A4 Crazy Lips 2:29 

A5 Lady Jane 1:49 

A6 Oblique Song 3:36 

B1 The Lighthouse Keeper's Bicycle 5:08 

B2 North Circular Blues 2:38 

B3 Cow Pie 2:18 

B4 Sarcophagus Blues 2:52 

B5 Mister Skillicorn Dances 2:47 

B6 Shopping Around 4:53 

B7 Valediction (Rondeau Redouble) 3:11 

 

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Europeans – Vocabulary [LP] (1983, A&M Records)

 

Europeans (sometimes referred to as "The Europeans") were a British new wave group formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1985. They released two studio albums and one live album, none of which achieved much in terms of chart position. In 1989, their former keyboard player and co-lead vocalist Steve Hogarth joined Marillion as lead vocalist. 

 
'Vocabulary' is an excellent, powerful, new-wavey, pop-ish art-rock album. very musical and very entertaining without being shallow or banal. Excellent musicians who enjoy what they do are at play. Stand out tracks are "Innocence" and "Spirit Of Youth". Moods and sounds are rich, complex and diverse. Ferg Harper's vocals add a special note as well as Geoff Dugmore's serious drumming does. The production on all tracks is tight, robust but also "airy", meaning, there's a kind of effortlessness immanent that gives room for the drive and discipline the band manages to maintain the whole album through. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]

 

 

Label: A&M Records – AMLX 68558 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1983 

Style: Pop Rock, New Wave, Art Pop

 

Tracklist:

A1 The Animal Song 3:50 

A2 A. E. I. O. U. 4:00 

A3 Voice On The Telephone 3:43 

A4 American People 3:10 

A5 Falling 5:20 

B1 Recognition 3:35 

B2 Innocence 4:00 

B3 Spirit Of Youth 3:34 

B4 Modern Homes 3:21 

B5 Kingdom Come 6:00 

 

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Orquesta De Las Nubes – Manual Del Usuario [LP] (1987, Grabaciones Accidentales)

 

Orquesta De Las Nubes formed in 1980 by Suso Saiz and percussionist Pedro Estevan when the two met whilst studying a course on Techniques of Contemporary Composition in Madrid. Sharing a curiosity for American minimalist and Non-Western music, the pair began to share music through many listening sessions, during which the idea slowly evolved to try and make music together. Pedro’s partner at the time, soprano singer María Villa, would later join the two on vocals. With Suso’s sparse use of guitar loops, synthesizers, and drum computers in combination with the hypnotic percussion of Pedro Estevan and the wordless drifting vocals of María Villa, Orquesta De La Nubes would evolve as a group with a truly unique musical language; an ethereal and almost otherworldly musical realm. 

In their third album 'Manual Del Usuario', released in 1987 by GASA, one can perceive a much more elaborate and better production work than on the first two. They have truly magical moments that make you believe you are listening to the Mexican musician Jorge Reyes, in his excellent album 'Comala'. Jorge Reyes, when he was in Spain in the mid-eighties, became friends with the members of Orquesta De Las Nubes, and the album 'Manual Del Usuario' was also released in Mexico under Jorge's label, Producciones Exilio. [SOURCE: GRUPOS NACIONALES NUEVA OLA 80]

 

 

Label: Grabaciones Accidentales – GA-169 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: Spain 

Released: 1987 

Style: Experimental, Ambient, Post-Minimalism, New Age, Progressive Electronic, Art Pop

 

Tracklist: 

A1 El Corredor 9:10 

A2 Vendrán Lluvias Suaves 4:00 

A3 Ella No Lleva Gafas 3:58 

A4 Conversaciones Entre Una China Y Un Ogro 5:00 

B1 Tiempo De Espera 7:00 

B2 Dum? Reprise 2:54 

B3 Como Un Guante 6:40 

B4 Un Diente En El Bolsillo 6:49 

 

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No Man Is An Island – The Girl From Missouri [12''] (1989, Plastic Head Records Limited)

No-Man are an English art pop duo, formed in 1987 as No Man Is an Island (Except the Isle of Man) by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. The band has so far produced seven studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes collections (most notably, 2006's career retrospective, 'All the Blue Changes'). The band was once lauded as "conceivably the most important English group since The Smiths" by Melody Maker music newspaper, and a 2017 article of Drowned in Sound described them as "probably the most underrated band of the last 25 years". Originally creating a sample-based proto-trip hop/ambient/electropop-styled music, No-Man has pursued a more organic, diverse and band-oriented sound in subsequent years. Drawing from a diverse mix of singer-songwriter, post rock, minimalist, progressive rock, jazz and contemporary ambient sources for inspiration, No-Man's musical style is distinctive yet difficult to categorise. 

 
Steven Wilson originally launched the band in 1986 as a solo project, recording an instrumental track called "From a Toyshop Window", which blended progressive rock with synth pop. In 1987, he linked up with singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist and keyboard player Tim Bowness, who at the time was singing with Liverpool-based art-pop band, Plenty. Bowness and Wilson continued working together on recording sessions for the next two years. Violinist Ben Coleman joined the project after becoming involved with recording sessions in late 1988. The band established a four-piece live line-up in 1989 by adding guitarist Stuart Blagden (who had previously played with Bowness in the Manchester-based band, Still). No Man Is An Island released their debut single, a waltz time ballad called "The Girl From Missouri", on Plastic Head Records in mid-1989. The band was disappointed with the single and soon disowned it. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

 

Label: Plastic Head Records Limited – PLAS S 012 

Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM 

Country: UK 

Released: 1989 

Style: Indie Rock, Art Rock, Art Pop, Chamber Pop, Progressive Rock

 
Tracklist: 

A1 The Girl From Missouri 

A2 Forest Almost Burning 

B1 Night Sky, Sweet Earth 

B2 The Ballet Beast
 

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Virginia Astley – Promise Nothing [LP] (1983, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)

 

Astley is more widely known for the people she's played with than her own records. A classically trained British pianist and flutist who also happens to be Pete Townshend's sister-in-law, she contributed piano to Townshend's "Slit Skirts," and has played sessions for Siouxsie & the Banshees. Her late-'70s band, The Ravishing Beauties, also included future Dream Academy singer Kate St. John and Nicky Holland, who would work with Tears for Fears and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Astley's sparse body of work combines ambient, even experimental textures and song structures with her pretty soprano vocals. Producing three albums, her records are recommended to listeners looking for intriguing ambient British pop who find the Cocteau Twins and the 4AD stable too wimpy and pretentious. 'Promise Nothing' collects two EPs: 'A Bao A Qu' (1982) on the side 1 and 'Love's A Lonely Place To Be' (1983) on the side 2, plus the track "Futility" originally released on the New Musical Express' 'Mighty Reel' cassette tape compilation from 1982. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

 

Label: Les Disques Du Crépuscule – TWI 194 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo 

Country: Belgium 

Released: Sep 1983 

Style: Minimal, Ambient, Experimental, Ethereal, Dream Pop, Ethereal Wave, Art Pop, Chamber Pop

 

Tracklist: 

A1 We Will Meet Them Again 4:00 

A2 Arctic Death 3:02 

A3 Angel Crying 3:46 

A4 Sanctus 2:08 

B1 Love's A Lonely Place To Be 3:27 

B2 Soaring 3:25 

B3 Futility 3:25 

B4 A Summer Long Since Passed 4:40 

B5 It's Too Hot To Sleep 5:40 

 

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Furniture ‎– The Lovemongers [LP] (1986, Premonition Records)

The British pop band Furniture was founded in London in 1981 by vocalist Jim Irvin, guitarist/pianist Tim Whelan and drummer Hamilton Lee. A 1983 self-financed EP, 'The Boom Was On', won the trio a contract with the Survival label, and after swelling to a five-piece with the additions of bassist Sally Still and keyboardist Maya Gilder, they began issuing a string of singles, later collected as the LP 'The Lovemongers', a self-consciously retro blend of jazz, funk, soul, ballroom, put together with a punk, in-your-face, do-it-yourself sensibility. From the post-punk nihilism of the title track, through the funky "Throw Away the Script" to the characteristic uncontrolled emotionalism of Whelan's singing on "I Can't Crack", there are elements of misjudgement and downright naffness, but that only increases its charm -a real record made by real people, and thus the perfect antidote to airbrushed, manufactured pop. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

 

Label: Premonition Records – PREM 6 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1986 

Style: New Wave, Art Pop, Sophisti-Pop

 

Tracklist: 

A1 The Lovemongers 2:56 

A2 Throw Away The Script 4:27 

A3 Love Your Shoes 3:36 

A4 Escape Into My Arms 4:17 

A5 What The Fog Said 5:20 

B1 Dancing The Hard Bargain 3:55 

B2 Bullet 5:10 

B3 Talking Kitten 3:54 

B4 Sang Froid 5:25 

B5 I Can't Crack 4:14 

 

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Lori & The Chameleons – The Lonely Spy [7''] (1980, Korova)

Lori and the Chameleons are just so incredibly frustrating. A band with a wonderfully distinct and full blooded sound but whose entire output consist of a microscopic 4 songs. All of them very good, mind, but they're still just four songs. This most shortlived of bands was comprised by Lori, who apparently dropped off the map after releasing a couple of singles, the notorious Bill Drummond, later of The KLF and dozens of other head-scratching projects most will likely already be acquainted with and David Balfe, soon to become the keyboardist for The Teardrop Explodes and Julian Cope's close friend/nemesis.  

 

Drummond and Balfe dubbed themselves the Chameleons and, inviting Lori along, wrote these exotic, widescreen travelogues in song format. Their debut single went head over heels for Japan, the outstanding B-side to this one goes to Peru. It bears repeating how much of a travesty it was that a band like this was only a blip in the radar for a milisecond, an experience abandoned as quickly as it was picked up, still, they gave us 'The Lonely Spy', as musically rich, evocative, mysterious and intoxicating as new wave could ever hope to become. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

  

Label: Korova – KOW 5 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, Stereo 

Country: UK 

Released: 1980 

Style: Synth-pop, New Wave, Dream Pop, Art Pop, Neo-Psychedelia

 

Tracklist:

A The Lonely Spy 

B Peru 

 

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People In Control ‎– When It's War [7''] (1981, Crammed Discs)

 

It's very lo-fi, but it has a fabulous groove to the EP. It certainly has that sort of absurdly orchestrated yet function feel of Family Fodder. It has the male and female vocalist interchanges and that sort of dub influenced post-punk vibe and tribal style drumming as well. Charles Bullen from This Heat was involved in this project as well which explains the slightly more experimental touches this has. "When It's War" is sort of haunting. "Failing To Achieve" is also a good track, but perhaps not quite as memorable as the title track. Their finishing move, "Pale Fail" echoes "When It's War" only it's mainly instrumental, not really a song actually. All in all though what little material exists from this group is pretty wicked, and if you are a fan of either Heat or Fodder then this should be an absolute must. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

 

 

Label: Crammed Discs ‎– cram 1457 

Format: Vinyl, 7", Single, 45 RPM 

Country: Belgium 

Released: 1981 

Style: Tribal, Post-Punk, Art Pop

 

Tracklist:

A1 When It's War 3:30 

B1 Failing To Achieve 2:35 

B2 Pale Fail 1:22 

 

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The Lo Yo Yo ‎– Extra Weapons [LP] (1985, Floppy Discs)

 

British band The Lo Yo Yo was founded by Family Fodder frontman John Pearce, aka Alig, in 1984. The Lo Yo Yo was active for 2 years and released one cassette, one split cassette with Look De Bouk, one full-length LP and appeared on the 'Local International 15-26' compilation cassette on Recommended. The band’s name comes from a Captain Beefheart song titled "Low Yo Yo Stuff" on the 1972 'Clear Spot' LP. The Lo Yo Yo’s line-up was actually more varied and included, along 10 or so other musicians, various Family Fodder members like Mick Hobbs, Felix Fiedorowicz and Rick Wilson. All three also played in The Work and Officer!, sometimes with Pearce himself. Charles Bullen of This Heat occasionally played drums with Family Fodder and co-produced The Lo Yo Yo’s unique LP, 'Extra Weapons', in 1985. Some songs on here are so dope and perfect for a mixed Dj set -especially "Learning to Fly" which is like Letta Mbulu meets Tom Tom Club. Great 80's material here with a lot of the sound trends going on at that time here. Funky, World/African, art band weirdness, post punk attitudes, instrument and electronic experimentalism. [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Label: Floppy Discs – FLOP 1 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1985 

Style: New Wave, Art Rock, No Wave, Art Pop, Post-Punk, Zolo

 

Tracklist:

A1 Bad Intentions 

A2 All The Atrocities 

A3 I Can Hold My Own Hand 

A4 Learning To Fly 

A5 Petroleum 

B1 More To Come 

B2 China Blue 

B3 Cache-Cache 

B4 You Never Know 

B5 Cog 

B6 The History Of Weaponry 

 

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Henry Badowski ‎– Life Is A Grand [LP] (1981, A&M)

After serving his apprenticeship in UK bands Norman And The Baskervilles, Lick It Dry and The New Rockets, Henry Badowski joined punk band Chelsea on bass, but in early 1978, after only a few months, he left to enlist as drummer for Stiff Records artist Wreckless Eric. During the summer of that year, he sang and played keyboards with the short-lived King, a punk/psychedelic group that included Dave Berk (drums; also Johnny Moped), Kym Bradshaw (bass) and Captain Sensible (guitar, ex-Damned). When King folded, Badowski took up the bass with the re-formed Damned offshoot, The Doomed. With the new year came the new position of drummer with The Good Missionaries, an experimental band created by Mark Perry from Alternative TV. This association led to the start of his solo career in the summer of 1979, with the release of ‘Making Love With My Wife’ on Perry’s Deptford Fun City label. Recorded at Pathway Studios, the track was performed completely by Badowski and displayed a strong 60s influence, with echoes of Syd Barrett and Kevin Ayers. The b-side, "Baby Sign Here With Me", was originally part of the King live set and utilized the talents of James Stevenson (bass, guitar) from Chelsea, and Alex Kolkowski (violin) and Dave Berk (drums), both from the Johnny Moped Band. The single drew favourable reviews and within a month he had signed a contract with A&M Records, releasing a further two singles, ‘My Face’ and ‘Henry’s In Love’, closely followed by the album 'Life Is A Grand', a classic slice of psychedelia that was to signal the end of Badowski’s solo career. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Label: A&M Records ‎– AMLH 68527 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: Europe, US

Released: 1981 

Style: Synth-pop, New Wave, Art Pop

Tracklist:

A1 My Face 3:20 

A2 Henry's In Love 3:09 

A3 Swimming With The Fish In The Sea 4:46 

A4 The Inside Out 3:27 

A5 Life Is A Grand 3:44 

B1 Silver Trees 3:34 

B2 This Was Meant To Be 3:50 

B3 Anywhere Else 3:54 

B4 Baby, Sign Here With Me 3:50 

B5 Rampant 4:09 

Credits:

Art Direction, Design – Michael Ross 

Drums – Dave Berk 

Engineer – Simon Smart 

Guitar, Bass – James Stevenson 

Photography By – Andrew Douglas 

Producer, Engineer – Wally Brill 

Violin – Aleksander Kolkowski 

Voice, Saxophone, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion, Producer – Henry Badowski 

Other Versions:
'Life Is A Grand' ‎(LP) I.R.S. Records SP 70601 US 1981

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Officer! ‎- Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes [LP] (1988, Not On Label)

Officer! is the brainchild of Londoner Mick Hobbs. His musical roots are in the fecund RIO scene of the late ’70s and early 1980s, initially as guitarist in The Work (alongside Bill Gilonis, Rick Wilson and Henry Cow’s Tim Hodgkinson), and subsequent related groupings The Lowest Note, The Lo Yo Yo, and The Momes. Over the course of the decade he became closely associated with This Heat and their Cold Storage studio in Brixton, working with the likes of Flaming Tunes, Family Fodder, Catherine Jauniaux and Zeena Parkins, to name but a few. 

The Officer! project formally surfaced in 1982 with a cassette tape entitled 'Eight New Songs By Mick Hobbs'. It marked the blossoming of a singular writer and improvisor, with a gift for plangent melody, ingenious arrangement and lyrics at once caustic and courtly, playful and profound. The Cold Storage-recorded 'Ossification' LP arrived a year later, followed by 'Cough' (1985) and 'Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes' (1988). [SOURCE: BLACKEST EVER BLACK] 

Label: Not On Label (Officer! Self-released) ‎– NO 001 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1988 

Style: Avantgarde, Experimental Rock, Art Pop, Zolo

Tracklist:

A1 Coma 

A2 R Tune 

A3 Simone 

A4 Old St 

A5 Remove Your Hat (Parts 1 & 2) 

B1 (I've Got A) Nice Girlfriend 

B2 (I Only Want To Make You) Smile 

B3 Truck 

B4 Hid It ('Cos I Wanted You To Find It) 

B5 Gawping 

B6 Bright Star 

Credits:

Lacquer Cut By [Cut By] – Tim Young 

Performer [The Following Participated:] – Antoine Gindt, Bill Gilonis, Claudia Schmid, Daniel Koskowitz, Felix Fiedorowicz, Keisuke Matsui, Mick Hobbs 

Notes: 

Recorded 4 track in France & England '86-'88. 

Special thanks to Felix for invaluable assistance. 

Cut [at] CBS. 

Made in England. 

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