John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke who was born on this day in 1949 has been dubbed The Bard of Salford. JCC, the ‘punk-poet’ poet laureate of the 1970s and early 1980s, was huge, in a cultish way. To quote Phil Jupitus “This was more than poems, it was comedy, new and arcane words, stories, street wisdom all spewing out of this man and his notebook”. His album, Snap, Crackle and Bop, produced by Martin Hannet is undoubtably his most successful, it reached 26 in the charts and number 39 in NME's 1980 Albums Of The Year. Here, JCC comes perilously close to singing in some spots, and dangerously close to copping a rap approach in other parts. Backed by the Invisible Girls there are few musical highlights but in reality it’s all about JCC and his cynical, quirky and sometimes social statements that will get you grinning.
Half-Mute Tuxedomoon
Tuxedomoon released their debut LP Half-Mute on March 15, 1980. What an astonishing listen, fittingly released on The Residents’ label Ralph Records Half-Mute was a leader in creativity in 1980. Where much of the Post-Punk bands were adopting a techno or synth based approach Tuxedomoon took on instruments such as sax and violin, synthesizers to them were merely complimentary instruments. There’s something to be heard here with each listen. Extraordinary
Talking Heads: 77
1977 and Talking Heads released their debut album Talking Heads:77. The album immediately put the New York City band on the tip of the critic’s tongues. Talking Heads:77 didn’t chart at all in the US, but at least went No.60 in the UK and although the album didn’t succeed locally, one of its singles, 'Psycho Killer' hit No.92 on the Billboard Hot 100. Through that single Talking Heads entered the public’s consciousness, now there is no turning back. The band created their own template, there was nothing like them at the time, or realistically, since. Creative, intelligent, they carried a raw level of simplicity. The whole album is loaded with staggered rhythms, sudden tempo changes, odd guitar tunings and quirky rhythmic single-note patterns. The stand-out overall is the showcasing of David Byrne's skilful song-writing and vocal acrobatics. Few debut albums ever sound this inventive, for the time it’s up there with the classic Marquee Moon by Television. As far as Taking Heads releases go, you'd have to wait until Remain in Light for a release that trumps this one!
Bill Nelson
The enigmatic Bill Nelson was born in 1948 in Yorkshire, England. Bill first came to the fore when in the band Be Bop Deluxe, they had a UK top 20 hit with 'Ships In The Night'. Bill is a supreme multi-instrumentalist and prolific recorder of over 100 albums!! He has recorded under several guises namely, The Revox Cadets, Orchestra Arcana, Channel Light Vessel, The Lighthouse Signal Mechanism Orchestra, and of course Bill Nelson. Bill’s music couldn’t be more fascinating and varied, venturing from guitar driven pop to ambient music. After Be Bop Deluxe folded in 1978 he moved to a New Wave styled guitar project called Bill Nelson’s Red Noise and released the essential and defining album Sound On Sound. From the ‘80’s he concentrated mostly as a solo musician and received critical acclaim for his experimental synth-pop releases, namely the single 'Do You Dream In Colour?' and the marvellous albums Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam and The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart).
Michael is from a coastal rural town in Australia and has always been an avid music collector. His interest drew him to radio as a programmer/presenter in his hometown and creating a Facebook page. It's from that Facebook group that this book materialized. Here, his daily posts from over many years on musicians’ birthdays, releases, and events have been collected as a whole. Michael then sought out artists and identities world wide to provide insightful tales about their experiences from the halcyon days of New Wave & Post-Punk.
During the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, while living in Sydney, Michael turned his interest towards electronic music. Inspired by the likes of Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre & Tangerine Dream, he collected various synthesizers, electronic devices and tape machines and possibly became the first to combine samples of Australian Indigenous music and electronica with his independent cassette release Thematic Variations. This release was eagerly sought out by listeners after it attained rotation on the national radio station 2JJJ.
In 1982 Michael experimented with tape loops, cut-ups, and samples, incorporating synthesizers, effects pedals, a drum machine, and an unknown sample from an Australian Aboriginal record. This creation became part of his cassette release, Thematic Variations. Left Ear Records, out of Melbourne pursued to release some of this unique recording on vinyl and digitally. Michael and Left Ear searched to uncover the sample’s origin and after number of years they uncovered the sample was “Wangga”, a ceremonial song from the Emmiyangarl people of Northern Australia. Today a remastered version of this recording is again now available. https://leftearrecords.com/jungles-arnhem-land
To place your order please complete the form below. As soon as the book is in stock we will be in touch . Do not hesitate to contact us for any queries and we will be back to you without delay.