Gerry & The Holograms

Holy shit this is the best old music discovery I've made in 10 years I reckon. I'd not even heard of them until 2 days ago. This is so damn good I can't believe my ears. All I know is they were from Manchester and this was released in 1979. New Order were surely fans as they nicked the melody for Blue Monday. Thanks to Finders Keepers Radio for the heads up on this, it featured on their synth spezial. You can download the entire Absurd catalogue, which consists of 10 or 15 singles or something, from Jonny Zchivago here. He also hints at Martin Hannett's involvement on these recordings. There is no mention of Absurd or Gerry & The Holograms in that biography on Hannett though. 

Cabaret Voltaire - #8385 Collected Works

On The Hi-Fi In Nov 2013

Never ventured into Cabaret Voltaire's work beyond 1982.  From their inception in the early 70s to1982 they were one of the greatest bands on the planet. Cabaret Voltaire's paranoid clanky custom built low-fi electronic dub funk was an irresistible sound. It reflected, according to Richard H Kirk "Post-war desolation, unemployment and ugly urban landscapes."  I guess their move into more commercial/dancefloor friendly terrain after the departure of Chris Watson during the 2*45 sessions in 1982 always seemed a bit dubious to me.  New Order were already occupying that area with excellent results soon to be followed by Severed Heads. Previously Cabs could do no wrong on their winning streak of releases from 78-82 including classics like Mix Up, Three Mantras, Voice Of America, Red Mecca and their clutch of singles now compiled on The Original Sound Of Sheffield 1978/82. Cabs were also one of perhaps only 2 bands, the other being Devo, that arguably recorded their best work before they started releasing records.  Their pre-history recordings were only ever released to the wider public over 20 years later on Methodology 74/78: The Attic Tapes. That 3 cd set was the sound of a real homemade electronic garage band.

In 1983 with the release of The Crackdown they were reduced to the duo of Richard H Kirk and Steve Mallinder. Along with their change of direction came major labels, money and fancy 24 track studios. The music I'd previously heard from this era, mainly from late night tv, has always underwhelmed me so i'm venturing trepidaciously. When I first put on The Crackdown (disc 1 of 6 in this collection) I thought maybe this was a bad idea and that perhaps there was no need for me to pursue this avenue of exploration. I quickly moved on to disc 2 which contains the Micro-phonies LP and much to my surprise I am comin back to this record for more. Sure that doesn't mean its up there with The Attic Tapes but for anything to get a repeated listen, in this day and age, it must be doing something right. I have to look at them as The Cabs mk II, which they are, to get past the fact that no electronic squalls of dubbed out noise will be coming my way. Do Right, Spies In The Wires and Sensoria are the choice cuts here. The only other disc I've got to so far is disc 5 which has the 83-85 12" versions and is perhaps the best way to listen to this era of Cabaret Voltaire. Just Fascination and Crackdown (both originally from disc 1) are excellent here as is the aforementioned Sensoria.  These versions are beefed up for the disco dance floor and dare I say it make you wanna boogie, in a very white manner of course. This is as far as I've come so far but I'm a lot more positive about continuing on with the other 3 cds and then there's the dvds.....to be continued.....

Choice Cabs artifact.

*I missed that Wire article a while back, so apologies if you're bored of this subject.

Beards A reprise

Early Joy Division early beard

The Original beard king even before I got into Dennis Wilson was of course the legendary Peter Hook. Jim Morrison, The Beatles etc. all had them during trend times as did Dennis but it was Peter Hook in the coolest band of the late 70s and then another cool one throughout the 80s who stuck with it in the non trend times. It did stick out like a sore thumb. Of course now it seems normal. I think though in recent times he's even been shaving. He just seemed to not fit. He shoulda been drivin a truck or something. My brother and I used to find it hilarious. I dunno if we appreciated his contrariness or his out of time naffness. Anyway in tribute to the great man we made a fantastic collage of about 20 photographs all with beard in different phases of growth. It really was quite foreign particularly to have facial hair in the post-punk/indie/dance scenes. Clean shaven was the go and really only went indie in the 00s and has now gone corp/fashionista/sportsman/knob etc. In the late 70s & 80s it only belonged to science and geography teachers. A hipster wouldn't have been caught dead with a hair on his chinny chin chin! I wish I still had that collage, it used to take pride and place in our flat. Hooky Monster Respect!

This is his classic beard and hair look for most of the 80s in New Order.
Not that dissimilar to Dennis Wilson.

Transmission
Joy Division
Best bearded bassline ever!

RE: What ever happened to Ducktails?

Anyway diggin' on this now.

III: Arcade Dynamics

Ducktails

(11)

Anyway I was listening to this thinking 'Who does this remind me of?'

I started recalling my original thoughts on who their influences might have been from

back then. New Order/Galaxie 500 came to mind as well as Dif Juz and Durutti Column

which in 2008 was hard to believe that the later two groups were being

referenced by a young group from America.  This guy was probably not even alive when

Vini Rielly and Dif Juz released those records in the early 80s.

It made me think what a breath of fresh air they were back in 08.

When I say fresh air I also mean it as a description of their

lovely music.  Anyway they reminded me of Ducktails.

I realised they'd released a bunch of top records while pretty much

flying under the radar of most people.  This was the sound of hazy sunshine,  

the gentle rippling of waves and wasted summer days being wasted.  

Ducktails along with Dolphins Into The Future

will forever remind me of a holiday I spent in Fiji a few years back. In the barmy

evenings I would listen to them while drinking vodka after spending a hot day

in and by the water. It was like I was still floating in the water

or lazing on a boat in the middle of the pacifc ocean.



Anyway track down these classics and break out the drinks with umbrellas, along

with whatever else you might want to imbibe.

 

II

Ducktails

(08)

Landscapes

Ducktails
(09)

Ducktails

Ducktails
(09)