If I had to pick a favourite era for music, it would be 1977-1982.
Of course, I was too young to know what it meant at the time, but it's the era that I have spent time tracking down the most sounds from.
There was just so much great stuff: The original UK punks finally getting the chance to make records, Roots reggae from Jamaica, the beginning of Hip-Hop, Bowie's Berlin period, the beginning of indie, Post-punk, New Wave, No Wave, Disco, New Romantics (before it got silly), Marvin Gaye's 'Sexual Healing', Siouxsie, the arrival of Madonna, Michael Jackson's Off The Walland Thriller.
OK, so i'm sure people could write long lists about all the crap they had to live through musically, socially and personally and they'd be right too.
But -and it's hard to do it justice -my view of six great tracks from the period.
Human League -'Being Boiled.' mp3
Scritti politti -'Skank Bloc Bologna.' mp3
James Chance -'Contort Yourself.' mp3
The Cramps -'Human Fly.' mp3
Wire -'Three girl Rhumba.' mp3
The Fall -'Bingo Master's Breakout!' mp3
as always, if you like what you hear, support the artists involved!
6 comments:
Ooh, the human league, I saw an ad for an early gig with siouxsie! One of my favorite songs is "lebanon", that guitar sounds rocks. The fall, of course goes without saying, just is timeless
I am sorry to hear you are also having bandwidth problems! Well I may try to use some of the recs all of you have made,.
A very interesting choice, Ed: I downloaded only the ones I hadn't heard. Of these, the Scritti Politti hit me straight between the eyes with a side to them I didn't know of. Green sounds like he was trying to strike a pose between Peter Gabriel and Roger Chapman, and the reggae influence was already in place. Fascinating.
Redundant to comment on Wire (this was the song they sued Elastica over), the Fall or Human League: accepted classics all.
The Cramps: not bad, but I've never liked them much. James Chance: different. All in all, individual and enlightening. Thank you.
Juan -Interesting you highlight the league's lebanon -this song was mocked for years afterwards for the 'and where there used to be some shops' line. The first three albums (reproduction, travelogue and dare) are essentials for anyone interested in the roots of today's dance/electronica, though the later stuff paled into comparison.
SIG -glad to enlighten anyone! Love Scritti in all their various forms, may be time I did a special scritti post...
greetings,ed
I'm a first-time visitor to your blog. Linked in here from another blog, but I'm not entirely certain how. Not familiar with James Chance, but I'll give that one a go. Like your blog and plan to return often.
cheers,
haywire
Brilliant choice of songs.
Interesting to hear the James Chance track. I watched a documentary on No Wave the other night, 'Kill Your Idols'.
Do you know it?
I sort of know of it, assume it's named after the Sonic Youth EP from that era, but haven't seen it.
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