Post Punk Guide

[shadowplay]

In response to Gliders thread I knocked this together and gave it it's own thread as massively long. 150 or so bands, I'll come back and fill in the blanks. The best way I can think of to describe this is that when I was 12-16 I worked in a record shop and the staff were divided into two groups; those who saw Punk as mission accomplished and those who saw it as the start because what was interesting was what it flushed out the undergrowth. I was in the later. I have avoided adding any US or UK hardccore and missed out most punk pop like the Undertones, not because I don't like it but because this is my idea of Post punk. Apologies for the typos etc this was a long haul but therapeutic.

I used the Simon Reynolds 78-84 Rip it Up period as the timeframe.

Let me know any thoughts on anything contained within. I haven't ordered the choices, I kept them random.

Pink Military/Industry - largely forgotten but for me better than lots of the over exposed bands. Later Pink Industry stuff is past the cutoff date.

Dreamtime

Don't Let Go Pink Industry


Killing Joke - PP royalty almost sound better now because they were smart enough to check out Moroder.

Change

Requiem

Follow The Leaders

Siouxsie and The Banshees - almost goes without saying

Night Shift

Red Light

Placebo Effect

Spotify Mix here I made for a friend (I didn't spend any time ordering it)

Clock DVA great band from Sheffield. always went their own way and later on did some great dancefloor directed stuff and also great etho futurism as the Anti Group.)

Four Hours

Eternity In Paris

Young Marble Giants - super minimal, only one album to buy

Searching for Mr. Right

Public Image Limited - first three albums are great, I have no love for much beyond.

Another

Poptones

Flowers of Romance

Adam and the Ants - were beyond massive in the UK in early 80's

Car Trouble

Dog Eat Dog

Gang of Four - again well covered, important politically and for not having a narrow mindset. Steve Albini copped his guitar direction here.

To Hell With Poverty on uk tv.

What We All Want - a hardy perennial in every alt disco in the early 80's

Bow Wow Wow - proving manufactured isn't always bad

C30 C60 C90 Go

Louis Quatorze

Colin Newman - A-Z is the equal of any Wire album IMO

Alone

& jury

Rema- Rema - Only one EP but so great and mebers went on to Wolfgang Press, Mass and Renegade Soundwave

Rema-Rema - this was heavily played in discos

Feedback Song textbook PP bass.

Suicide - predated but never got into their stride until later. I saw them bottled off supporting the Clash. Funnily I remember there being more folk into the forgotten second album and the Vega solo record.

Ghost Rider

Diamonds Fur Coat Champagne - again heavily played in clubs

Ultravox! - became awful but were probably Post Punk while punk still going on.

Artificial Lifealways reminds me of sort of EuroTelevision

Magazine - have the perfect guitarist.

The Light Pours out of Me

Shot By both Sides

Permafrost

The Associates. Not always bundled in with the stereotypical PP sound but they wouldn't have wanted to be. Have one of the greatest singers.

White Car In Germany- perfect post Bowie stomp

Transport to Central

The Creatures - Banshees spin-off that hasn't dated one little bit.

Miss The Girl

A Strutting Rooster

Simple Minds - became awful but had some good stuff early on.

I Travel again played to death in diskos

Theme for Great Cities runs alongside the Europa fetishism that many UK bands descended into becuse the UK was a shit heap at this time. Some crossed the border in pseudo fascism though.

Flesh For Lulu - ridiculous and toolish to the max but...had some (three) good songs

Restless

Roman Candle

Subterraneans

Bauhaus - toolish as above but with more good songs

Bella Lugosi's Dead - the baggage does get in the way but Bella is a fucking amazing record. (must be Small Wonder all other versions are shite though)

Dark Entries

Lagartija Nick

Kick In the Eye I still play this out on occasion

The Birthday Party - again well trodden but amazing ground. I chose the two songs you'd always hear out.

Release The Bats - at the time I felt this was almost a novelty record but I changed my mind.

Sonnys Burning

The Triffids - kinda got where the Bad Seeds ended up ten years before.

Red Pony

Hanging shed

The Laughing Clowns - Saw them supporting the Birthday Party, very underrated but really important because the drum style pervaded most of the better Australian bands.

holy joe

This Mortal Coil - supergroup of sorts from the days when 4AD actually signed acts rather than licensed them


16 Days Gathering Dust - epic cover which combines 2 Modern English tracks

Kangaroo - chosen because my friend sings it. Big Star cover.

Tuxedomoon

No tears - every club played this. Notable because very few US bands were popular in the UK. Also notable because 78-82 saw a spike in (often synth) bands using sax/clarinet which has never since been repeated.

In a Manner of Speaking

This Heat - never really fit in but they were good. My cousins arty crowd were all right into them.

Twilight Furniture

Shrink Wrap

Xmal Deutschland - generally not taken as seriously as I think they should be. I think Manuela Rickers is a brilliantly distinctive guitarist

Incubus Succubus

Boomerang

Augen Blick

the Slits (again very well covered eleswhere)

Heard it through the Grapevine - again you'd be guaranteed to hear this on a night out circa 1982

So Tough

Marine Girls - I was torn on this as they are kind of proto twee but I wan to mention the Tracey Thorn solo record which is superb.

A Place In The Sun

Deux - until last year I'd never heard anyone mention Deux so it's nice to see the best continental synthpop getting some oxygen.

Felicita

Paris Orly

Ruth (see Deux)

Polaroid-Roman-Photo

Nine Circles (see Duex but NC are even better)

Twinkling Stars

What's There Left


Shock Headed Peters (only one EP scrapes but the next few years of releases are great)

Shock Headed Peters - I, Bloodbrother Be (£4,000 Love Letter) I'll never tire of this.

"I wanna walk through Sodom with a boy on my arm
Who's so damn pretty I don't know where I am
When they look so like a girl it's easy to swallow"

The B52's - it's sad that they are seldom taken seriously because the were fantastic and had a great guitarist.

Rock Lobster live - close to being my favourite youtube clip. They were brilliant live around this time.

Give Me Back My Man - again a song you'd have heard in any alt disko around this time.

Mesopotamia- they got David Byrne in to produce and i'll never tire of playing this out.

The Meteors

I had a debate about including them. On the plus side they don't even sound Psychobilly in retrospect, they are pure primitive rockabilly and the only one of their ilk worth a fuck. Their gigs back then were often astonishingly violent affairs but super high energy.

Radioactive Kid

Johnny remember me


Swans - generally hateful at this point but went onto better (Children of God, Greed, Holy Money) and worse (cover of LWTUA) things.

Stay Here

Japan - opinions always divided on Japan, started out as hilarious Glam clowns and ended up impossibly sophisticated. I worked in a record shop when I was 12 or so and everyone but me hated them. Then again they all liked the UK Subs.

Ghosts- amazing that this was close to becoming a UK number one.

Quiet Life

Human League

Flew to close to the sun with Dare and were never the same again. Impossibly great songs, iconic covers, didn't take themselves too seriously and unafraid of change. Understood Moroder as important as Kraftwerk.

Being Boiled

Sound of the Crowd

Empire State Human


John Foxx - got out of Ultravox just in time.

tapped right into the Ballard thing running though the brainy end of Post Punk

Underpass

Chris and Cosey

Straight up one of my favourite bands of all time. The influence of Chris and Cosey cannot be overstated but somehow they have become a footnote where they are headline material.

October Love Song - is there a better synth single?

Put Yourself In Los Angeles

As CTI - Dancing Ghosts- pretty much the blueprint for techno and maybe the first to use the 808 and 303 together.

Psychic TV - when I was a young teen I wrote a letter to Psychic TV and Genesis actually called my house, my mother hung up on him.

They had production values far above most of their peers and (zuccarelli holophonic)recording in the Hellfire clubs cave etc did appeal to teen me.

Message from the Temple

The Orchids

Ov Power- another disco classic

Colourbox - important for technical innovation and for getting us all more into US dance stuff. This and Streetsounds 1 are forever linked in my head.

Breakdown- pre-dates Blue Monday.

Throbbing Gristle. Important beyond the music, they gave help and infrastructure to other like minded people, the one gig I was at (first time round) was filled with the dispossessed, the strange and the wilfully weird.

hot on the heels of love

Persuasion

Walkabout


The Leather Nun - became an shit rock band but early on the were patronised by some of the TG orbit and were brilliantly gloomy proto goth.

Slow Death

F.F.A(not work safe since it's about anal fisting but a classic alt disco cut).

The Sisters of Mercy - Motorhead x Suicide, went downhill when Hussey joined. The Sisters had some much image baggage that got in the way of perception of how good they really were.

Alice

Body Electric

Lights

Robert Rental - beautifully raw sythpop. The grain in his records makes him kin to Autechre IMO.

Double Heart

Thomas Leer & Robert Rental - Day Breaks, Night Heals


Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF). Sythpop was often very placid and DAF added a dash of aggression.

Der Mussolini again if you went out in the early 80's you'd have danced to this.

Der Räuber Und Der Prinz


Fad Gadget - a billion times better (and more advanced) than Depeche Mode

Lady Shave

For Whom The Bell Tolls

The Box

Joy division - almost goes without saying. Beyond good songs JD are interesting because if you hear these songs minus Martin Hannett production they sound much more pub rock. The same goes for Killing Joke minus Conny Plank

Transmission

Shadowplay

Decades

A Certain Ratio - a hilarious live prospect but a good band who are probably rated higher now than then.

Do The Du

Knife Slits Water

Lucinda big influence on bands like A Primary Industry

The Durruti Column. Important for paving some of the grown for later bands like the Cocteau Twins as much as for some great records.

Jacqueline

Sketch For Summer

Section 25 - among the first to tip their hat to Disco

Dirty Disco- actually played in discos, blah x3

Girls Don't Count

Malaria - I'm mildly obsessed with Malaria, I still play them all the time, they were an impossibly cool girl group. Gudrun Gut was in Einstürzende Neubauten Mrk1

Your Turn To Run among my favourite tracks in this list.

kaltes klares wasser

You You

The Lemon Kittens (later cell divided into Danielle Dax and The Shock Headed Peters)

Hospital Hurts The Girl

Kites

chalet d'amour

Danielle Dax. not taken as seriously as she merits due to her pinup status.

Fortune Cheats

Bed Caves

Modern English - became awful but some classic songs and strong first album.

16 days

Gathering Dust

Life In the Gladhouse best heard as a 12inch but can't find that version.

Grauzone

Eisbär. Was once a best kept secret but well known now. James Murphy certainly likes it.

Film 2

The Cocteau Twins -

Perhaps Some Other Aeon - a friend of my cousin put this out on his tape only label.

All But an Ark Lark- I always thought this was the guitar in Night Shift taken to it's logical conclusion.


Nurse With Wound - arty, absurdist and interesting because Stapleton has always just done his own thing. Faust to PiL's Can.

Scrag

Cabaret Voltaire. Did as much as anyone to establish synths as serious tools. Also kinda sleazy/sexy, which is good since a lot of post punk is asexual and a bit grey (CV are gret too but it's a different shade of grey).

Seconds Too Late

Crackdown(single version) - interesting because this is evidence of a band opening up their listening to contemporary American black music. (streetsounds was becoming massive)

Yashar

Blue Orchids - ex Fall members (important indie touchstone)

The Flood

Monte Cazazza - important as incredibly well connected. Involved with TG, PTV, Leather Nun and other.

Mary Bell

23 Skidoo - as well connected as Monte but on another level. Incredible musicians, sounded unlike any of their cohorts. They are the action packed other side of the Jon Hassell future ethnology coin.

The gospel comes to New Guinea

Coup (in the Palace) sampled badly by the Chemical Brothers

Tearing Up the Plans

Einstürzende Neubauten - I was at the ICA gig where the virtually wrecked the place in 1984. After they broke there were loads of terrible bands banging pots and pans.

Kalte Stern

Tanz Debil

Soft Cell - still sound amazing and proof that on occasion the man in the street will buy a good record. S econd hand record shop used to be rammed to the rafters with Non Stop Erotic Cabaret, Dare, Kings of the Wild Frontier and Ziggy Stardust.

Sex Dwarf one of the best songs to caper to on the dancefloor

Bedsitter

Tainted Love the Coilversion is great.

Seedy Films

Say Hello Wave Goodbye

Abwärts

Computerstaat

Marc and the Mambas

Torment- written by Steve Severin of the Banshees during the Glove sessions IIRC.

Sleaze

Ritual - notable because they had a sax player (a singer who sounded like Kirk Brandon) and had all the Gothic hallmarks years before most of the later clowns. Most of the and ended up in fairly weel known bands like The Death Cult, In Excelsis and The Sex Gang Children.

Brides

Conscripts

400 Blows - kinda like a bridge between the experimental electro pioneers and the more pop ones. Became unbearably 80's later on.

Beat The Devil

Conscience


The Cure

Heavily covered. Worth saying that for me 17 Seconds, Faith, Pornography is where the were best.

The Glove - Cure Banshees spin-off
Punish Me With Kisses

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.

My Eyes

Lydia Lunch

Atomic Bongos

That she was the ace of spades in Annie Sprinkles Pleasure Activist Playing Cards deck says it all.

The Passions - perceived as a one song wonder but slightly unfair. Often supported decent bands.

I'm In Love With a German Film Star

James White and the Blacks

Contort Yourself August Darnell mix classic alt disco track.

always interesting to hear next to the earlier version as the Contortions (which is still fucking amazing)
again what was with all the Sax players, no bands have them now.

Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Like James Chance stepped from noisy no-wave to quirky post disco

Torso Corso

Funky Stuff

Herpes Simplex

Cindytalk - Gordon Sharp Sang in This Mortal Coil and is for me an incredible singer.

It's Luxury

Spirit behind The Circus Dream

Memories of Skin and Snow

Bush Tetras - like a cross between Liquid Liquid and the Slits.

You Can't Be Funky I still play this out

Too Many Creeps

Shriekback - ex Gang of Four, more dancefloor crossover

My Spine is the Bassline

Sexthinkone

Mars - when I first hears Sonic Youth in 83 or so they reminded me of Mars

Helen Forsdale

3E

DNA - kinda blues punk but not blues you every heard before but it provokes that response. Often heard via a fourth hand cassette copy.

Blonde Red Head

You And You

The Sound - deserved to be bigger than U2. They lack the ridiculous pomp/hubris but have more power.

The Fire

Winning

Jeopardy

Echo & the Bunnymen - became so terrible as they retreated towards 60's influenced pudding, honestly words fail me. Brilliant early on though. I went to see them all over Britain and met my best mate on the Isle of Skye at a gig in 83' or so.

Stars Are Stars

All My Colours

Talking Heads - well covered but Fear of Music/Remain In Light was so important for the bands who had a bit of funk about them like The Wolfgang Press

Born Under Punches

Drugs

The Wolfgang Press - only early stuff qualifies but arguably best in show at 4AD.

Prostitute 1

Deserve

ESG - were a bit of a secret weapon until the reissues.

You're no Good

Moody

The Psychedelic Furs. I have a strange relation ship with the Furs, I can't stand Pretty and Pink and like some of the horribly produced later stuff. If you chop the beginning of Heartbeat it becomes 100% better.

We Love You

President Gas

Into You like A train

Material - can be boring musos but...

Reduction

Dif juz - a band ahead of their time. Post rock before the term was coined.

Hu

Roy's Tray

Soarn

Eyeless in Gaza - I'd also recommend the Martyn Bates solo record Letters Written super highly, gorgeous, bucolic, hymnal wonder. The singing could be seen as divisive but consider me divided.

kodak ghosts run amok

Photographs and Memories

Sad Lovers and Giants. deserve a reappraisal because their sound has been plundered widely.

Things We Never did truly great song

Imagination

Lost A Moment I chose this because when I first heard the Smiths I thought. Hmm Sad Lovers and Giants...

The Chameleons - like The Sound they deserved that U2 spot on live aid.

In Shreds

Paper Tigers

Orange Juice - the Postcard scene wasn't ordinarily my thing but I gre up around it and it's a weakness

Rip It Up

Falling and Laughing

Aztec Camera - a great guitarist

Oblivious

The Chills - had an usually big following in my home town, to be honest I don't think super highly of them beyond Pink Frost. They get a bit too much like proper music.

Pink Frost

The Gun Club - if don't have Fire of Love there is something wrong with you. The Gun Club were one of the best live bands and since they played with the Cramps a lot it meant great nights.

Sex Beat

Ghost On the Highway

The Cramps - Incredible, sleazy Rock N Roll. If there is better front man Guitarist pair than Lux and ivy I'd love to be set straight.

Human Fly

Donimo impossible to sing

TV Set

I Can't Find My Mind

Josef K. Paul Haig is an interesting guy, having done everything from Rockabilly covers of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moFV8S9wUaI]Ghost Rider [/url]to Disco versions of Atmosphere.

Sorry for Laughing

Heaven Sent

Go Betweens.

Your Turn My Turn

Batchelor Kisses

The Monochrome Set. Classy, yet quirky, europop. They probably should have built a good audience and it's a bit unfair they are mainly known for the horrible Jacobs Laddera song that really annoys.

He's Frank

Eine Symphonie Des Grauens

Devo - I can't be bothered with Devo but they at least deserve a listing

The Church. I'm not really a believer, I can see the appeal but I'd rather listen the The Sound or somthing.

Too Fast for You

Now I Wonder Why

Tear It All Away

Mission of Burma. Honest, unpretentious rock stripped of all nonsense.

That's When I reach for My Revolver (sadly murdered by a million bands)

This is not a Photograph

The Replacements - had zero profile in the UK, I only knew who they were because I got a single out a bargain bin.

I'm In Trouble

The Virgin Prunes. Crazy live, straddled absurdist and arty .

The Faculties of a Broken Heart (12 inch of Baby Turns Blue)

Pagan Love Song

Love Will Last Forever

Gina X Performance. Important because they were played in clubs. If I had a penny for every time someone had declared "I always wondered who sang that "Wanna be a Great Dark Man, being but a Lesbian, Song" I'd be up a few quid.

No GDM

Nice Mover

Holger Hiller - a certified forgotten genius and innovator.

Das Feuer I still play this all the time, still sounds modern

Jonny (du lump) as close to a hit as he came, sort of varispeeded northern soul

Gut and Bose

Honey Bane - delinquent teen and Crass pet project who made a few great records before going on to become a soft erotic model

guilty (dub version) great to dance to

Girl On the Run

The Mob - bridge between anarcho punk and what went on to be goth

No Doves Fly Here

Witch Hunt

Judy Nylon & Crucial - If I remember correctly Judy was important in Eno developing his Ambient idea, in any case Pal Judy is a great record.

Information Rain

Liquid Liquid - were on the same 99 label as Bush Tetras and ESG. The records were super hard to get, the band were like a special forces A Certain Ratio but harder lither and funkier.
Optimo

Cavern(sampled for White LInes)

Bellhead

The Fall. my shame is that I like the Brix period best. I think the Fall suit being pop.

Dead Beat Descendent

Big New Prinz

Cruisers Creek

The Pop Group. Supposedly the only UK band the Birthday Party liked. Similar dark power but twinned with far left politics. if you ram raided the Gang of Four with the Birthday Party...

Thief of Fire

We are All Prostitutes

The Raincoats - File under charming but dated

Fairytale in the Supermarket

Scritti Politti - Important beyond being a good band because of extreme dedication to DIY and politically driven transparency (they printed all costs on the sleeve of the first EP).

Skank Bloc Bologna

Bibbly-O-Tek

Messtheticsthere's a reissue series so named of one single wonder DIY bands that is worth looking at.

Modern Eon - forgotten Liverpool band, kinda like a cross between the Modern English, Sad Lovers and Giants and The Sound

Splash!

Euthenics

Childs Play

Rip Rig and Panic - an uncharitable man would say the Pop Group with all the interesting bit removed. Kinda ok but I haven't listened to them since 1982...

Constant Drudgery Is Harmful To Soul, Spirit & Health

The Wake. Kinda like a Postcard version of New Order. At the time I was sick of the sight of them but I've mellowed.

Patrol

Favour

Mary Moor . More french synth, one song wonder but often one song is enough.

Pretty Day

Medium Medium. Yet another band with a sax player, not a million miles for Gang of Four.

Hungry So Angry


Brian Eno and David Byrne - my life in the bush of ghosts. Important as an influence and an indicator of where things were going. Also you either got My Life.. or you didn't.

Mea Culpa

America is waiting

Dead Can Dance - beautifully maudlin, Scott Walkeresque singing for Brendan Perry and Bulgarian/opera wail from Lisa Gerrard. My favourite DCD is always when the have proper bass.

The Arcane

Ocean

Frontier

Threshold

Tones on Tail. Bauhaus spinoff, in many ways sound better now than they did then. Lots of electronic influence and an ear for Editions EG stuff.

Lions

Performance

The Rain

Sort Sol (once called the Sods) - Danish and the single below is an essential purchase for 4AD completists and pretty good.

Marble Station (was actually on the Sods album)

Boy/Girl (with Lydia Lunch)is a classic Post Punk hoedown/soundtrack to bar brawl

Wire - arguably one of the few acts from this period never to have disgraced themselves, still try and keep it contemporary with their solo and collective work.

Outdoor Miner

Map Ref. 41°N 93°W

Death In June (the pre nazi years)

State Laughter

Crisis (who became Death in June) thankfully for me far left and not right. Dark/political

UK 78

Holocaust

The Mekons. very much in the acomplished punk band category. Spirit of 76 still present as it were.

Where Were You?

Christian Death - ridiculous, clownish, pretentious, mannered...why do I like these songs?

Romeos Distress

Deathwish

The Sex Gang Children, see Christan Death but minus liking them, I hadn't thought of them in years untill I heard the last Horrors album and the bass reminded me of them. Anyway they were massive in certain quarters and had a Bez figure who used to dance about in a skeleton costume (really).

Sebastiane actually not bad int he gypsy Goth style but that's me done for another 20 years

Van Kaye and Ignid - I know nothing about this group beyond loving this, knowing they only had a couple more reorded songs and that they are Dutch.

Alice Notely - like a mini film.

No More - more euro synth love

Suicide Commando

ADN' Ckrystall - more euro synth love

Cocaina Vitamina

March Violets (Sister of Mercy prodeges) - I'm conflicted...ridiculous, blustery and kinda fun. Best when they are being most poppy.

Snake Dance

Walk Into The Sun


Play Dead - notable because (Neu! producer) Conny Plank produced them, he turned down Bowie and U2.

Conspiracy

Propaganda
(often fucking shocking though)

Xex - more euro synth "Be a good Bolshevik! Don't be no nogoodnik!"

Svetlana

Strawberry Switchblade. Uncool but I love Strawberry Switchblade, charming and great songs. Rose also sung with Coil, Current 93 and host of others.

Trees and Flowers beautiful

Since Yesterday

teen me fancied Rose so much (she was a friend of my cousin)

Foetus (Jim Thirwell/Clint Ruin/Filth Spektor) bizarre sleazy channeling of electro bigband with military/gospel chants. Sampling pioneer and good producer of other peoples records.

Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Street of Shame

Phillip And His Foetus Vibrations - Tell Me, What is the Bane of Your Life

Foetus Art Terrorism - Calamity Crush

classic UK footage of Foetus with Soft Cell weirdly Dave Ball just covered this agin with Gavin Friday (on Blast First Petite ten inch)


Scentists. Best known for the song below but delving deeper will be rewarded.

Swampland

Severed Heads. Unkindly often reffered to as Australian Cabaret Voltaire but this is unfair. They are great in my eyes and always tried to move things forward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLIi_ZMBfQs]Dead Eyes Opened[/url]

Petrol( I break my 84 cap for it's greatness)

both alt disco classics

SPK (to be honest their really good recordZamia Lehmannicame out in 86')

See Saw

Metal Dance

Test Dept (similar ideas to Neubauten but more functional). Intensely politcal, made records with striking miners and put on some incredible events industrial sites. Had trouble translating this to record.

Total State Machine

Swell Maps - Post punk before punk, incredibly snotty.

Let's Build A Car

Midget Submarines


Minimal Compact. sole Israeli entry. Malka Spigel is the wife of Colin Newman and is in Githead with him. Also records as Swim

Morpheus Secrets

Not Knowing

No More - no classic euro synthpop

Suicide Commando

Clair Obscur - French synth gloom

Blume

Liaisons Dangereuses - forebear of bands EBM bands like A Spilt Second and Klinik

Los Ninos Del Parque

Kas Product = more slighty whacky french synth

Never Come Back

Trisomie 21 - French, started of like typical euro synth then added guitars and got better. Best track is The Last Song but it's later.

Il se noie

Theatre of Hate - another band with sax in the lineup. Billy Duffy from the Cult was in Theatre of hate but didn't play on the records Were a great live band.

Do you Believe in The Westworld

Propaganda

Alien Sex Fiend - A bit of comic turn but had profile in the early 80's. They played the club I ran.

Ignore the Machine

Clan of xymox (only one record made in the time period everything after Medusa is awful) They are Dutch

Stranger(later rerecorded on the Clan of Xymox album)

No Words (also on album above in refreshed form)

The Danse Society - later on they were awful and Steve Rawlings singing got really bad. Early on they were really good and had production values way about the bands they played with.

We are So Happy

Somewhere

UK Decay. Singer Abbo coined the term Goth (Punk Gothique), it's always ncie to have someone to blame. At one point their Album was wother crazy money, I sold my spare for a more than a weeks wages.

Testament

For My Country

EMAK (elektronische musik aus koeln) Brilliant German synth group, they just got reissued

Filmusik

Tanz In Den Himmel

Ludus - Loneladyreminds me of Ludus who are supposed to be a favourite of Morrisey

Mirror Mirror

Breaking The Rules

Pere Ubu - like a sheet metal Can polished to a dull sheen. Post Punk before Punk.

Heart of Darkness

Final Solution

Getting The Fear - 2 single wonders affiliated with PTV and with Some Southern Death Cult members

Last Salute

Southern Death Cult/Death Cult/Cult

Brothers Grimm

Resurrection Joe- funny how I wasn't that fussed with this at the time but think it's the only Cult song I like now.

8 Eyed Spy - maybe my favourite so called No Wave group. Again more Lydia Lunch and I think some of the sounds on this were influential

Run Through The Jungle

Atomic Bongo

Zounds - refined punk pop with a political conscience

Can't Cheat Karma

War!


New Order - obvious.

Truth

Ceremony

Temptation

Mesh


Artery. seldom mentioned dark band from Sheffield

Ringing The Bells


Inca Babies - like 99p shop Birthday Party but were an entertaining night out

The Interior

Nightmares In Wax - Pete Burns band before Dead or Alive

Black Leather kinda hilarious, camp and a laugh to dance to. Early Dead or Alive aren't really recommended but it's funny how they sound like a 60's garage group playing Cult songs.

Coil - got better later an unbelievable band, among my all time favourites if not the one.

Tainted Love or Tenderness of Wolves

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. Really good upto 86 or so but become a bit rock for me later on. Singer played a JM, the band had no image to speak of which was a good and bad thing.

He's Read

Hollow Eyes

Hand on Heart(came out in 85 but I like it)

Talk About The Weather

Die Haut - German band that later collaborated with Nick Cave, Anita Lane and others.

Der Karibische Western(feature Lydia Lund credited as Stella Rio)

The Normal - Tapping right into the Ballard obsession. Teh Nirmal is Mute founder Daniel Miller

Warm Leatherette another alt disco classic

Jeunesse d'Ivoire - one song wonder but a great song. Italian

A Gift of Tears

Mass - even more unsettling than Rema Rema

You and I

APB Post Punk funk from Aberdeen

Shoot You Down

Dance Chapter - one of the first bands on 4AD.

Anonymity

Thomas Leer - so far ahead of the competition, such a beautiful sound. I always wonder if Joy Division were listening.

Private Plane

Letter from America

Flock of Seagulls - terrible terrible hair, hard to see past the image but hearing M83's last record just made me thing flock of Seagulls had a couple of good songs

Modern Love is Automatic

I Ran

[echobaseone]

you deserve a medal.
the future of music is better in no small part thanks to this list.
except for the Church not doing it for you, and at least you included them.
great and exhaustive stuff David.

[ymjon]

Great list, definitely some stuff I have to check out there.

No Soft Boys though? Their two albums were both pure Psychedelic Punk
Underwater Moonlight
Insanely Jealous
Kingdom of Love

[cestlamort]

Wow. Admirable job, to say the least. We went through a huge Minimal Compact phase a couple of years back.

I'd add the following (will edit later with links):
Comsat Angels (three great albums, then some really bad stuff)
Charles de Gaol (French Wire?)
Metal Urban
pretty much anything on Factory Benelux is worth a listen (Names, Wake, etc)
German stuff:
Palais Schaumberg
Der Plan
SYPH
Mania D (Malaria spin off, not as good, more NDW)
Fehlfarben
Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle (Thomas Meinecke is a lauded German novelist now)

From our shores:
Husker Du
The Blackouts
U-Men
Minutemen
Big Black
Replacements
Embarrassment (a bit more proto-indie)
Feelies (ditto)
Green River (1985, so maybe just out of time frame, more pre-grunge, I'd venture)
+ some of the dischord stuff, when they slowed down (Rites of Spring, Embrace, Egg Hunt, Gray Matter, etc)

[fakeplasticdreams]

Re: Nurse with Wound - wow never thought it would under the PP genre. nothing wrong with it of course...


RE: Husker Du / Minutemen - arent they more garage-y rather than PP? Just a thought...

[CZ101]

Great list... Don't forget Julian Cope! OMD deserves a mention too, not to mention: Gary Newman (first Tubeway Army and Telekon are my favorites), White House, The Verlaines, early House of Love, etc..

[dc]

this musical epoch was so good, i've never really stopped living in it -

you're creating an amazing and exhaustive resource here, my friend -- my highest compliments, and i'm looking forward to seeing how it fills out.

and you're spot on about the Fall. Brix lives! "This Nation's Saving Grace" has no peer -

[whisperit]

oh, what a list! so many stuff to check out. Damn work, I want to go home already
Thank you, David! Have you ever considered to start a blog or something?

Slightly off-topic, but... could someone recommend me a decent book either on Magazine or Psychic TV? (if it exist of course) I know so little about them, but it'd make a great gift for a friend of mine.

[dc]

while i'm thinking about it, this seems like a good crowd to ask if anyone has an MP3 of Colourbox's "Tarantula" (7 or 12-inch versions) -

[dc]

speaking of the Gun Club and Cocteau Twins, one of the more interesting cross-pollenations of this period has to be the "Mother Juno" album -- Jeffrey Lee Pierce produced by Robin Guthrie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31UeRgznjvU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[shadowplay]

Thanks for all the additions, all have merit but I deliberately left out hardcore bands (another topic) and all those who fell out after 84. Missing the Comsat Angels and Cope was idiotic.

while i'm thinking about it, this seems like a good crowd to ask if anyone has an MP3 of Colourbox's "Tarantula" (7 or 12-inch versions) -

Pretty sure I have one if not I'll rip the single PM you once I get in front of a real computer (on phone). The same goes for every thing out of print on the list.



Whisperit; the only Psychic TV book I have is A Coumprehensive Collection of Lyrics (half in Italian and came with a record) though I have some of their propaganda pamphlets and my friend has one of the bronze penii they had made. Worth buying is Englands Hidden Reverse by David Keenan (on Coil, Current 93, Nurse with Wound) also there's Tape Delay by Charles Neil and there might be collection of Vague magazine (not sure on this as I have all the originals)

Anyway some great additions

D

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Wow! Impressive stuff.

I have a day off so I'll try'n trawl through all of this.

Glad to hear Mr Cope got a mention in the end.

The Teardrop Explodes - Reward (live)

It's the obvious choice but such a great track! Loving that bassline!!

[djetz]

Great work, fellow David. Truly impressive.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

As an 8 year old post Punk kinda passed me by but even I had a poster of Adam Ant on my wall, pre-Prince Charming I'm glad to say.

The very beginnings of New Romantic I guess, but definitely not Spandau fuckin' Ballet.

Adam & The Ants - Killer In The Home. Such a brilliant track!!
Adam & The Ants - Ant Invasion. Same goes for this one!!

[shadowplay]

Can I just apologise for the mess of my guide, it was tricky doing it in the small window and after so many lines the spell check stops working. I should have written it, then did the links and not done it all at the same time.

D