Whitechapel - Warren's Ancient Jukebox

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T14:31:03-07:00

This is a thread where I am going to post music videos I find that appeal to me, probably because they're out of the ark and I remember them from when I was young and had hair.

No-one else may post videos or links to this thread. This is for me. Comment if you like. No copycat threads, please.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T14:35:02-07:00

Motorik, acid, drone, stunned embrace. 1990-ish? Lousy copy, of course. Look for a good one.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T15:01:37-07:00

what the fuck, Sonic Boom does Kraftwerk?

That's great though.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T16:20:37-07:00

I haven't heard ANY Spaceman 3 since the dance clubs in the early 90s. Hearing it again has the finest edge of nostalgia to it...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T16:40:19-07:00

" Dancing " to this in a sordid disco in Swansea is one of my favourite teenage memories. It required heroic doses of drink and druggage.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T16:50:10-07:00

I haven't heard much of their post Playing With Fire stuff, I'm guessing it was just Sonic Boom's show by this time.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T16:59:08-07:00

Their last album was pretty much a split...one side Jason Pierce working out how to be Spiritualised , the other ( my favourite ) Sonic Boom's peculiarly grubby and addled take on dance music. Their work was the regular soundtrack to a group of young men ( myself one of them )failing to roll a spliff correctly in a sandalwood stinky room and wondering why all the girls preferred to be out partying to Galliano.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T17:02:42-07:00

I put "Hypnotized" on warrenellis.com last night:

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T17:06:12-07:00

I'm going to get the rizlas. Anyone want any snacks from the garage ?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T17:17:40-07:00

hahahaha

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-12T17:31:09-07:00

that Hypnotized video must be really old...it has an "MTV" logo in the corner!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T05:27:01-07:00

Niiiiiice! Was that 120 Minutes on MTV UK? I remember the US version being sort of OK. Loads of commercials, leaving about 20 videos per show, of which maybe 2 or 3 were memorable. Like the Damned's cover of "Alone Again Or" and Spear of Destiny's "Never Take Me Alive." Maybe a Jesus and Mary Chain video or two. It's been awhile.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T06:13:35-07:00

The only decent show I remember watching on plain old MTV (because there's like 10 now) was Alternative Nation during the early 90's... And they played Aerosmith *barf*

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T06:35:53-07:00

Ah Spacemen 3 were great. Their album "Dreamweapon" does exactly what it says on the tin.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T06:40:24-07:00

Orphan Fairytale.

(that bubbling keyboard figure is, I think, a break from the Eurythmics' "1984")

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T15:06:57-07:00

AUTOBAHN, part one

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T15:07:55-07:00

AUTOBAHN, part two.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T15:47:38-07:00

That was great!
A MOOG Fantasia.
Naked unicyclists and lots of things that look like scrotums. What's not to get excited about?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T15:49:19-07:00

Nice timing. I just came back from seeing Kraftwerk live for the first time. Those boys had absolutely no problem keeping my attention even with the minimal stage presence. (The visuals being another matter entirely.)

And surprisingly un-pop live, too. Lots of nasty krautrock/electro/techno/house in that mix.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T16:15:06-07:00

Man, being able to single out the "1984" riff from the Orphan Fairytale clip is skill indeed. It sounds like another riff to me, but I can't peg it, so you've got it until I can produce something concrete. You're spot on time-wise, though, it's exactly the right kind of synth sounds coming out of that period of Euro synthesizer music.

Have never come across those animations for Autobahn before. Very 1974. I haven't sat through the full length version for a while.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-13T21:30:38-07:00

I went to an underground club in 1985 where they projected that Autobahn clip on the wall while everyone tripped on acid.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-14T03:25:52-07:00

From comments in YouYube for Part 2 if Autobahn: My mom used to listen to them in highschool. *sob* Back in those days my friends and I listened to loads of Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Kraftwerk, and the sort of prog rock lite that you could get in the states back then via late night FM radio: Yes, Pink Floyd, ELP, etc.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-14T04:29:46-07:00

A lot of recent lo-fi artists are putting out records that are really similar to No Pussyfooting, which is sort of fitting because that record was also made with no money or equipment at all (even if it was later put together in a studio). Ducktails' self-titled record, off the top of my head, is like No Pussyfooting if Robert Fripp had been a hippie instead of a robot.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T02:19:09-07:00

That video is weird as fuck and mindwarping, something I heartily approve of. If I openly admit this is the first time I've actually heard any Kraftwerk, will I be stoned to death for my transgression? Be kind, I beg you, I grew up in rural California where the only radio stations were classic rock and *shudder* country >.<

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T05:25:25-07:00

More Kraftwerk later.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T06:31:19-07:00

@J. S. Hardin:
Second only to James Brown, Kraftwerk is the most sampled band on Earth, their beats and rhythm lines providing many, many other bands with foundations for songs. So in some strange way, you HAVE heard Kraftwerk, even if you did not know it. Their most sampled song is called "Numbers", which contains a killer rhythm track that nearly every hip hop act on Earth has a sample of, right next to their sample of James Brown's "Funky Drummer". Maybe Warren will post it later; if not, worth checking out on your own.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T07:18:11-07:00

Re: Kraftwerk

I'm (unfortunately) old enough to remember when a severely edited version of Autobahn was in the UK pop singles chart (!) That would have been 1975 (I think?). It sounded like nothing I'd ever heard in my life before. It sounded like music from the future.

Obviously that style of electronica is much more familiar now, especially, as Paul Sizer said, since Kraftwerk have been sampled by so many other acts. But imagine what it sounded like when its companions in the charts were the likes of Mudd, The Rubettes, Gary Glitter (!) and the Bay City Rollers...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T07:52:15-07:00

Man, Kraftwerk is brilliant. Love their Tour De France Soundtrack and Die Mensch Maschine...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T08:52:45-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T08:56:45-07:00

Of course, given how young most Whitechapelers are, the reaction to this should be interesting...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T08:59:52-07:00

Sadly my first reaction to hearing that is "what ad was that from?"

Marmite?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T09:16:16-07:00

Funny, my first thought was "Huh, I haven't heard this Fatboy Slim song before..."

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T09:31:29-07:00

My first reaction was "I haven't heard this Tom Waits song before."

My second was "is this song about leveling in MMORPGs?"

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T10:30:32-07:00

I know it's moving away from Kraftwerk but it's interesting to note their hand in development of instruments like the vocoder and drum machine. Not many musicians can claim such an influence/creation...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T11:04:58-07:00

I have just decided that Kraftwerk in the morning sets a helluva tone for the rest of the day^^ Thank you, gentlefolks, I am now well and truly hooked.
As for the Pipkins, that guy totally sounds like he's channeling the great and mighty Howlin' Wolf.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T11:13:17-07:00

You can never have too much Kraftwerk. I spent most of last weekend playing some electronic/synthy stuff to my 9 month son. We've been listening to a lot of Soulwax and Miss Kitten and the Hacker recently so I thought he should know where the beepy noises began. I think he approved, if not not I'll wait until he rebels by listening to Coldplay.

I wonder what gems our wise leader will dig out next?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T14:09:34-07:00

FULL-ON EIGHTIES

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T14:44:48-07:00

Re: The mobiles

Nice song. A little too early for my memory to fully recollect but it´s good to see someone else is in 80´s mode today....

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T14:51:34-07:00

i never really got bitten by the kraftwerk bug but i absolutely adore the earlier album (called Tone Float) that Ralf & Florian made under the name Organisation.
it's a fantastic slice of early krautrock.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T14:52:50-07:00

TONE FLOAT was mostly improv, wasn't it?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-15T15:00:04-07:00

i honestly don't know but it definitely has that sort of jammy vibe to it. there is live footage on youtube if you enter the band and album (notice how i cleverly avoided adding a video to your jukebox).
It's definitely not going to be to everyone's taste but i love this stuff. just wish i could play it.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-16T09:30:54-07:00

I know there's a video of Ralf and Florian doing a song called "Truckstop Gondelero" somewhere on YouTube, with Florian whipping out the flute and all, and it's VERY improv and jazz-like, albeit through the filter of their electronic viewpoint.
My love of Kraftwerk always came from hearing stories of black DJs and hip-hop artists in the early 80's asking "Who the hell are those funky black dudes in Kraftwerk?", followed by "What? They're white boys from Germany?"

Music nerd trivia: OMD named their first album "Organisation" after Ralf and Florian's piece. I'm sure you all knew that already.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-16T09:52:37-07:00

I seem to recall Derrick May saying Detroit Techno started as a concept where Kraftwerk is stuck in an elevator with George Clinton.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-16T10:28:56-07:00

You know, I have to say that I sorta liked The Pipkins. I'm also pretty sure I've heard that song before somewhere.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-16T15:06:29-07:00

My reaction to The Pipkins:

"that sounds familiar, VERY familiar."

Well, according to Wiki... the instrumental version was used in silent Benny Hill sketches. That's where I know it from.

(oh yeah, and it was used in a couple ads too)

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-16T18:52:24-07:00

My love of Kraftwerk always came from hearing stories of black DJs and hip-hop artists in the early 80's asking "Who the hell are those funky black dudes in Kraftwerk?", followed by "What? They're white boys from Germany?"

They're the bastard children of industry come forth to set humanity rockin'.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-17T08:58:55-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-17T12:51:17-07:00

having grown up bout the same time as derrick may (a few years younger), i can attest that detroit was obssessed with kraftwerk in the 80s. a dj named electrifying mojo would play their 12" and albums in their entirety night after night over the air and their songs would chart on our local stations right next to prince, rick james and david bowie (our RnB stations were a bit more open-minded back then)-and you can still play 'numbers' or 'tour de france' at any detroit party regardless of the ages present and people will dance.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-17T13:03:08-07:00

Geez, Warren, are you rummaging through MY personal jukebox? Mr. Orbit is a standard at Sizer Central.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-17T14:34:34-07:00

Most Australians would recognise the Pipkins track from the NAB/Auskick ads that get played all throughout the AFL season.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-17T14:38:01-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T05:12:14-07:00

The Pipkins. Wow. I heard that a few times on the radio in the early '70s, remembered the chorus but had no idea who did the song. It's the sort of tune that would have been on American radio back then.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T08:16:06-07:00

Ah...Lush. 4AD were fantastic.Is this the point where they stopped sounding like The Cocteau Twins and went for the pop prize ?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T08:31:13-07:00

Just looked up Lush on Wikipedia (they passed me by when they were at their peak: I preferred other 4AD bands like Throwing Muses and Belly etc.), and found this out about lead singer Miki Berenyi:

Her mother, Yasuko Nagazumi was a Japanese actress who played minor roles in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice and in TV-series Space: 1999.

Mental. I'm glad the band is getting some nice residuals lately, what with two of their songs appearing on Rock Band. Shoegazey stuff too, not the pop stuff as shown above (De-Luxe and Sweetness and Light, if you're interested).

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T08:45:33-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T08:55:57-07:00

That settles it. I'm getting Gala, while chastising my past self for not trying this out when I was a student, when everyone else was.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T10:37:48-07:00

Lush! now we´re talking! i think i must have played my "Spooky" tape a gazillion times before my stereo combusted in defiance..

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T11:54:54-07:00

Shit, I just now realized that Lush was in Rock Band 2, and I'd made a mental note to check them out. Warren moves in mysterious ways...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T12:38:26-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T13:05:14-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T13:42:35-07:00

Warren, you must have been one of the customers (or the possessing spirit thereof) who came into the record store (when I was working at one in college) who would smoke clove cigarettes in the back corner of the store and laugh at me when I had to sell Phil Collins and Sade records to people. Well, I was also the one who put on the cool stuff over the store system when the yuppies left, so that makes me cool too, right?

Great jukebox so far, keep 'em coming.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T15:27:06-07:00

oh man.
as much as i loved the wall of noise of early Swans i always absolutely adored late period cheesy goth Swans. The Burning World & White Light From The Mouth of Infinity are great albums. An amalgam of Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and Leonard Cohen.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T18:28:36-07:00

@ icelandbob

Damn, I miss Lush; seeing them and the Jesus and Mary Chain at the second Lollapalooza was a defining moment of my teenage years.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T18:33:13-07:00

What, no Joy Division?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T18:48:10-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T18:57:00-07:00

Anton Corbijn filming your video always = win.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-18T18:58:41-07:00

Damn you Warren, I almost went a whole day without listening to Joy Division. Well, that's shot to hell...*puts Unknown Pleasures on loop and begins badly playing bass along to it* I blame you for this.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-19T03:29:39-07:00

Wow it's like a late 80's student disco, I can almost see the winklepickers drowning in a lake of spilled snakebite while some bowlcut in a baggy black crew neck jumper tells me for the tenth time that The Pastels are the best band in the universe.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-19T03:45:40-07:00

this posting made me go to youtube and listen to 'Joy Division Oven Gloves' by Half Man Half Biscuit. my day is off to a very happy start now.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-19T04:46:58-07:00

while some bowlcut in a baggy black crew neck jumper tells me for the tenth time that The Pastels are the best band in the universe.

you were supposed to hit those people

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-19T05:19:46-07:00

That Joy Division post made me go looking for a song that turns out to be "The Captain and Tenille Meet Joy Division" by goofy Boston '80s band the Swinging Erudites. It almost sounds like Michael Gira singing it. Sadly, it's not online but the Swinging Erudites have a MySpace page.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-19T16:45:54-07:00

as much as i loved the wall of noise of early Swans i always absolutely adored late period cheesy goth Swans

Fred Frith string arrangement on that album, I think.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-20T02:57:30-07:00

Yeah, he played violin on it.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-28T09:09:24-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-28T13:37:24-07:00

wow - i'd never heard that before. that's pretty nuts sounding.

did he do this around the same time as Can did that Rite Time album? that also had a real World Music (in the andy kershaw sense of the phrase) type vibe to it.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-28T15:29:32-07:00

My favorite Czukay project was the "Plight and Premonition" album that he did with David Sylvian in 1988. I was house sitting out in the country and that was one of the CDs out there. It just filled this huge art-filled house with an ambient wash and I loved it. Really fit with the remoteness of the location.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-28T15:43:14-07:00

This is from CANAXIS, 1968. Copey has a nice bit on it.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-28T16:44:57-07:00

cool - ta

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-29T01:13:47-07:00

@Paul Sizer

Plight & Premonition is incredible, and Flux + Mutability is very good, too. Both with Sylvian.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-29T08:48:01-07:00

Yup, I own them all.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-29T09:26:35-07:00

@ Warren

Did you ever listen to Peter Gabriel, especially some of his older stuff? I'm wondering if he ever did a video for "Rhythm of the Heat."

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-29T09:50:32-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-29T12:20:21-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-29T12:28:41-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-29T13:18:08-07:00

that beak track is very nice i'm a sucker for a good bassline.

warren do you know a (now defunct) scottish band called Ganger? They were early contemporaries of mogwai but in my (not really so) humble opinion were way way more interesting than just going soft / loud / soft. there's a track of theirs on youtube called capo that you may like to check out.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-30T16:02:30-07:00

This is from CANAXIS, 1968.

It's also on OHM+: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, which is a compilation I can strongly recommend. It learned me the truth about various things I thought I knew about electronics in music, and gave me my first listen to quite a few people I'd only known by reputation before.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-08-30T16:02:56-07:00

@ Warren

Thanks for posting that. I'd sort of flirted with Gabriel back in the mid-80s when "Sledgehammer" was inescapeable on MTV. I even picked up the "So" album and discovered "In Your Eyes" before John Cusack. Though my favorite track from that album was and is "Red Rain." Fast-forwarding about ten years or so from then, I and the family went to Sox Flags and I went to see some magician perform. It was pretty forgettable until the final trick when he played "Rhythm of the Heat" as an accompaniment. I went back to the show four more times just to hear that one song (and really only the first two and half minutes of the song). I finally asked the guy what the song was and bought the "Security" CD at the next opportunity. And whenever I read Planetary and see the Drummer working his mojo, that's the song I imagine him playing to charm the machine gods into doing his will.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-01T02:33:05-07:00

The video to "Shock the Monkey" had the Sankai Juku dancers performing in an abandoned, grungy factory. If you really want Peter Gabriel's prehistory, go look for the albums he did before Security. When he left Genesis, he did like Brian Eno did after leaving Roxy Music - weird (for the time) stuff with Robert Fripp. I have the albums on vinyl, haven't listened to them in ages. In storage, of course.

I've got a whole shelf of CAN CDs that aren't on my iPod. I'll have to do something about that. I never saw them live, but I did see Damo Suzuki play here a few years ago.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-01T14:25:34-07:00

I saw Suzuki three years ago, it was terrible, he filled the whole music with the usual gibberish but none of the rhythmic fluency. Granted, the band that was playing with wasn't very rhythmic either.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-02T04:44:19-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-02T09:31:46-07:00

I vaguely remember the gibberish, but the band seemed OK. I remember it was a pretty good show, but otherwise didn't leave mucb of an impression.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-02T11:12:20-07:00

i had a major Lou Reed session a month or so back. i never bothered with this album though as i'd remembered it as one of hs iffier moments but that there tune is pretty cool.

apart from the first three Velvets (and Songs for Drella) for me it's Berlin that is his moment of unparalleled solo genius. i've seen some of the live footage from the tour he did of it the other year though and i'm pretty glad i missed it. his singing voice seems to be on it's last legs - it's a real shame. he did however take Antony (of & The Johnsons) out with him as a co-singer and his version of Candy Says is heartbreaking and judging by the look on Lou's face he agrees. There's an even better solo antony version on youtube too.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-02T13:04:49-07:00

i had a major Lou Reed session a month or so back. i never bothered with this album though as i'd remembered it as one of hs iffier moments but that there tune is pretty cool.

Terrible album. FLY INTO THE SUN is head and shoulders above everything else on it.

Agreed about BERLIN. Though I do have a great fondness for the goofy poison candy that is TRANSFORMER.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-02T13:52:54-07:00

i always think of Transformer as being half a good record - especially on vinyl. one side gold the other side, not so much fool's gold but more sort of, chav's gold - there's gold in there but it's been mixed with quite a bit of dreck to bulk it up into a sovereign ring.

New York is another favourite. It was such a return to form, Dirty Boulevard especially.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-02T14:03:40-07:00

You remember what a big deal NEW YORK was at the time? Lou Reed reborn.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-02T15:10:16-07:00

absolutely. he even appeared on stage at the mandela concert doing a couple of tracks (Dirty Blvd and The Last Great American Whale) on his own playing one of those horrible cricket bat shaped guitars that were all the rage at the time. It was such a blast seeing him amongst that carnival of overly earnest dross and the audience obviously didn't have a clue who he was.

it really was a rennaisance time for him. A year later he and cale produced the wonderful Songs For Drella album. I still, to this day, play Drella every couple of months. the raw honesty of the lyrics and the stark, minimal, almost brutal, instrumentation rocked my world. I remember listening to 'Hello, It's Me' with a head full of acid one night with tears streaming down my face. It's such a heartbreaking song. And living deep in the Welsh valleys with nothing to look forward to but a giro every fortnight that final line from 'Smalltown' - 'There's only one good use for a smalltown. You hate it and you know you'll have to leave!' - felt like it was written directly to me.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-03T01:22:03-07:00

Sweet Jesus, I haven't heard "Fly into the Sun" since the days when I still had hair.

Thanks, I needed that.

P.S. I still think "Turn to Me" is pretty great, though.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-03T07:07:53-07:00

Transformer was one of the first albums I owned...still like it.

Waded through a lot of his terrible solo stuff , but still have a soft spot for Coney Island Baby for some reason.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-03T08:27:54-07:00

Coney Island Baby is absolute genius, right below The Bells as my favorite Lou Reed album.
I absolutely loathe Berlin by the way... Oh Jim is the only song in it I really like, the rest is just plodding miserablist tripe.

@bjacques

Suzuki always played with a different band in each "tour" he did, usually a local band or someone he was friends with. It was his "Damo Suzuki's Network" phase if I'm not mistaken, don't know if he's still doing it though.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-03T09:28:58-07:00

@Boga - you say 'plodding miserablist tripe' like it's a bad thing? ;D
You gotta love how much an artist like Reed can split his admirers to such a degree let alone his detractors.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-03T09:42:22-07:00

I very much prefer his earnest stuff... Street hassle, The Bells, Coney Island Baby, etc.

I find nothing strange about hating part of his discography while absolutely loving other parts of his work, especially since he tried so many different approaches during his "how to tell the Transformer fans to fuck off" phase in the 1970's before getting his groove back.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-03T09:51:55-07:00

I'm ashamed to admit that the only Lou Reed song I was familiar with before this thread was "Midnight Blue."

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-03T14:52:35-07:00

johnjones no reason for shame. he's someone well worth devoting a bit of time to though - i recommend starting with the first Velvets album (cause it's perfect) and then going forward from there.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T00:09:18-07:00

So, Mr. Ellis do you get into, or not like Crass? You're a just a few years older than me and from "Over There".
Lots of slogans and such, but some good arguments I think. I remember talking to my friend Heather about Reality Asylum. I said "It's a feminist attack on Christianity, I don't really give a shit about feminism or Christianity I..."
She finished my sentence "You just like the attack."

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T00:42:19-07:00

@ Warrenellis.

I never thought I'd see mention of the Arch-Drood on Whitechapel, I don't know why. I used to really enjoy the Teardrop Explodes but Cope's solo stuff was great up until he went all earth mother fixated, though even 20 Mothers has some great tracks on it. I've often wondered what would ensue if you got Julian Cope and Dave Sim in a room together.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T04:11:20-07:00

If you don't like Cope's ODIN you're dead inside.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T04:16:26-07:00

So, Mr. Ellis do you get into, or not like Crass?

Nobody liked Crass. You either wanted to be identified as someone who listened to Crass, or you didn't.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T09:39:17-07:00

Julian Cope , particularly the World Shut Your Mouth and the mighty Jehovahkill , was the soundtrack to a year of Penzance bedsit living.

Always liked him...silly , occasionally profound , ambitious and interested.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T09:42:09-07:00

I've tried to listen to Crass but the only listenable thing they produced was that Thatcher-Reagan tape.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T15:11:20-07:00

If you don't like Cope's ODIN you're dead inside

Well i´ve ordered this after your big up of it in your Wire column from last month. I certainly hope that i have some feeling inside me when i listen to it this weekend.....

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-04T16:00:12-07:00

If you don't like Cope's ODIN you're dead inside.

I second that.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-05T03:36:23-07:00

I don't think I've heard Odin, I assume it's more like Rite or Queen Elizabeth than say Saint Julian?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-16T13:59:01-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-16T15:35:48-07:00

Nobody liked Crass. You either wanted to be identified as someone who listened to Crass, or you didn't.

I like "Banned From The Roxy", "Big A Little A " and "Big Hands" !! :0)

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-17T00:54:42-07:00

great video.
every vid should have a dancing inuit in it.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-21T12:37:58-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-21T16:21:38-07:00

Is Julian Cope's Odin the same thing as Discover Odin? I have the latter and I love it...

Never heard "Odin" though.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-21T16:53:26-07:00

@Versus

it´s not the same. Discover Odin produced with the british Museum on the subject of the history of Odin and came out in 2001. Odin (the other album) came out in ´99

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-23T08:05:23-07:00

for me billy bragg is an odd one.
i think he'd be a great neighbour and i imagine he'd be fun to go for a pint with but his music pretty much passes me by.
that said though i absolutely love New England. especially the 'It's wrong to wish on space hardware.' bit.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-27T05:17:09-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-27T05:19:31-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-27T05:23:45-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-27T05:24:21-07:00

Yes, I'm blatantly fucking with people now.

Remember the rules of this thread: you may comment, but only I may post videos.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-27T05:50:38-07:00

i have a split 7" single here somewhere with that skids track on one side and Babylon Burning by The Ruts on the other side. One side gets played waaaay more than the other.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-27T09:59:23-07:00

Ahhh the skids. "Scared to Dance" was one of the first records i ever bought from a second hand record store in 1986. Into the valley is still a great song. It was basically the gateway into my full on Big country Obsession that lasted for about 3 years....

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-28T03:58:44-07:00

God, I remember seeing Swords of 1000 Men on MTV back in the day. They showed about the same time as Safety Dance by Men Without Hats and some Adam and the Ants video or another. Didn't Edward Tudorpole claim to be descended from Henry VIII?

Sparks. I never got into them, vaguely knew who they were, until I found Matt Howarth's "Those Annoying Post Bros.," featuring hilariously ultra-violent Ron & Russ Post, named after Ron & Russ Mael from Sparks. I like that clip above. It totally sounds like something Amanda Palmer would cover.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-28T06:33:12-07:00

I love Into the Valley and I don't care.

EDIT: Actually, drawing a line between Palmer and Sparks is an interesting one, which I'd never thought of which makes a lot of sense. Always worth remembering that This Town... was a No 2 hit. Pop music is amazing.

KG

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-28T06:45:43-07:00

I see nothing wrong with any of the last few suggestions. What am I missing? They're brilliant.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-28T07:09:14-07:00

i have a split 7" single here somewhere with that skids track on one side and Babylon Burning by The Ruts on the other side. One side gets played waaaay more than the other.

I'm pretty sure I have that same single!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-28T07:17:22-07:00

I love that Skids track, but I have never heard of Tenpole Tudor before, and I quite liked it too. - I hadn't been exposed to very much British post punk stuff while growing up where I did in Canada- (but now that I have an account with last.fm I'm making up for it big time). I really like the Undertones, the Ruts, the Stranglers... beautiful stuff, and it's all brand new to me.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-29T17:35:22-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T00:07:36-07:00

You weren't into the X Ray Spex at all, were you?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T04:02:03-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T04:06:22-07:00

Boring Bob Grover, now there was an Eighties pop star...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T05:26:44-07:00

'Eighties pop star' has gotta be in the running for nastiest insult ever.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T06:02:15-07:00

hahahaha

Yeah, but LOOK how Eighties that "Zambesi" clip is.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T06:14:12-07:00

yeah, it's of Black Lace proportions.

do you think the drummers chicken suit was borrowed from The Tweets?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T06:37:25-07:00

Puts me in mind of Rip, Rig and Panic and even the jazzy croonings of Matt Bianco (whom I have a soft spot for, even though I know they would get shredded here).

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T06:38:18-07:00

not to mention the woeful Pigbag.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T06:41:30-07:00

Man, there was a whole explosion of bands that had a bunch of ex-punkers who discovered horn-lines, hired a black singer, and decided loose jazz needed to be in the charts. Probably also pulling from all the kids who grew up with the Ska scene wanting to cobble together a band.
Oh, don't forget Amazulu...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T07:55:11-07:00

Amazulu!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T08:08:47-07:00

I'm glad I don't remember much of the eighties.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T10:31:36-07:00

I've still got tapes of The Young Ones somewhere around. Amazulu were on one of them, doing "Montego Bay."

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T10:57:47-07:00

Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth once said, something along the lines of, that he was going to write a book on the million best singles of the eighties. it seems like a fools errand until you start to remember all the awesome music that existed throughout the various undergrounds at the time.
The mainstream was so utterly dire that it's really tainted the whole decade, musically speaking.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T11:34:26-07:00

True, although that said, don't think that the 80's were/are in any way special in that regard. Nostalgia is a trap.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T12:23:46-07:00

Oh, don't forget Amazulu...

I was trying to...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T12:27:25-07:00

...What the hell happened to this thread?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T12:33:41-07:00

it got funny

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T12:57:43-07:00

Also:

Yes, I'm blatantly fucking with people now.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T13:14:17-07:00

I see Paul Weller trying to be laid back and cool and the 'godfather of mod' these days and then I remember Style Council...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T13:30:42-07:00

@taphead -- I prefer to think of Warren drunkenly dancing to Amazulu.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T14:04:37-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T14:09:08-07:00

I've still got tapes of The Young Ones somewhere around. Amazulu were on one of them, doing "Montego Bay."

That was also my first exposure to them.
I also got to see the Young Ones invite Motorhead, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Rip Rig and Panic, Nine Below Zero and The Damned to perform as part of their shows. Genius!

I imagine Warren double speed head-banging/moshing to the Amazulu song, personally...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T14:12:56-07:00

I actually owned that Amazulu single. Back in Thee Olden Days, record shops would do five singles for (say) a quid, but if you couldn't muster up five singles, they'd sell 'em at 50p each. So you ended up with four records you wanted and one piece of shit. I have a lot of pieces of shit stored in boxes. To get a Teardrop Explodes 12" cheap I had to also get a Vicious Pink Phenomena picturedisc, once...

I also owned that first Style Council single. Got a copy of "Tom Hark" knocking around somewhere, too.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T14:13:49-07:00

And I will say this...
Rag on the "80's pop stars" all you like, but as an American, the sheer diversity of stuff that made it to the charts in the UK during the 80's kicked the shit out of what passed for a diverse, entertaining chart over here. The possibility of Style Council and Amazulu being in the charts at the same time in the US would be near zero. I would glance at the UK charts in Trouser Press magazine each month and cry tears of 80's jealousy.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T14:22:36-07:00

In Britain, "O Superman" could be a hit record. I always liked that about us.l

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T14:54:36-07:00

Paul Weller dances like an idiot.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-09-30T23:53:51-07:00

Kind of an occupational hazard for 80s pop singers, isn't it?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T03:06:56-07:00

Re: The Style Council - how about the video for "Long Hot Summer"? Clever socio-political satire or blatant homoeroticism? Discuss...

Also - I have a terrible feeling Warren is due to unleash King Kurt upon us.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T04:39:29-07:00

paul weller. what a cunt.
and his hair was the prototype for limahl's own shocker hairdo.

the 80's are held in such high regard that it totally misses the mark. same with the 70's.
Dave Haslam's book on the 70's, 'Not Abba' sums up what is wrong with 70's nostalgia - the 70's theme bars, 70's nights and so on. They stick to a certain period of time, say 72-75 and stay there, wallowing in a pool of shit.

UB40's demise has tainted their entire back catalogue, which is a shame as 'the earth dies screaming' is still as eery now as it was back then. It easily belongs on a jukebox sitting beside 'Ghost Town' by the Specials.

hell, just from each year, the 80's produced a remarkable amount of fantastic music.
A few years back, one obsessive man compiled a box set solely dedicated and collated from 1981. If you didn't manage to get a physical copy you can now download it in it's entirety via here

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T05:09:58-07:00

Re: The Style Council - how about the video for "Long Hot Summer"? Clever socio-political satire or blatant homoeroticism? Discuss...

Doesn't matter. Shit song.

Also - I have a terrible feeling Warren is due to unleash King Kurt upon us.

I very nearly did release "Banana Banana" on you.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T05:20:11-07:00

@frenchbloke - Thanks for that 1981 link, seems like a treasure trove.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T08:20:37-07:00

Ragging on the '80s is the '70s' revenge for the ragging it got in its turn. Like they say, if you can remember the Eighties, unfortunately you were probably there. To be fair, in the Eighties I enjoyed New Wave, punk and early gothic, and decent dance music. I've got a huge vunyl collection to prove that I actually did have fun then.

@Paul Sizer: I too was envious of great UK radio while I was reading Face, Zig-Zag and NME (Somewhere I still have my unused Hacienda club card that I sent off for). The second season of Life On Mars wouldn't have gotten away with the cool music it featured unless a lot of it got played on the air (John Peel RIP). I still have a couple of those blue-label compilations of his.

American commercial radio was utter shit, but by way of consolation, Michael Mann would slip the occasional cool song into an episode of Miami Vice (like PiL's The Order of Death after pop start Fiona offs herself) or The Damned's "In Dulce Decorum" during one of the many drawn-out, slo-mo gunfights at an episode's end.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T08:37:28-07:00

being inclined to the more 'out there' forms of music i pretty much despised the UK radio throughout the eighties with one very important (and obvious) exception. John Peel's shows were always a frustrating joy. frustrating because he played such a variety of music that you generally had to sit through a swathe of things that you didn't like before he'd spring something on you that was genuinely gobsmacking. i discovered so much music that i still love through his show.

more interesting than the music on the radio at the time were the shows such as The Tube and Snub TV which went outside the mainstream a little.

I think commercial radio desperately needs a john peel now probably more than ever before. we canvassed our students in college the other week and not one of the kids we asked (several class loads) ever listened to the radio. personally, i can't remember the last time i listened to music on the radio.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T09:06:58-07:00

EDITED BY WARREN: SEE POST #1 IN THIS THREAD, PLEASE.

ALSO, MAKE SURE YOU'RE SET TO HTML IN YOUR REPLY WINDOWS.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T09:15:15-07:00

re: "In Britain, "O Superman" could be a hit record. I always liked that about us."
Yes, yes...That song was an incredible comfort to me, used to listen curled up in the corner. Waves and soothing. was it number one? I'm sure it was close... memories of seeing it on Top of The Pops, don't think they ever showed all of it.
Looking back it seems so strange.
Can't imagine it happening now, but that is a stupid thought.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T09:38:12-07:00

@Ian Holloway

your lucky you managed to get John Peel! When i was growing up in the 80´s, we couldn´t get radio 1 in shetland on FM. Only on MW and then the reception was so poor it wasn´t worth it. For many years i truly was "who is this John Peel person they go on about?". It wasn´t till i left to go to Glasgow Uni in ´94 that i first managed to listen to radio 1 properly.

In the 80´s for us, it was just the pure processed major label music. there were no decent record shops of any kind and NME wasn´t on sale in the newsagents until i was older. Our main exposure was usually top of the pops and getting "now that´s what i call...." compilations for a xmas present. As a result a lot of this, a lot of good 80´s music completely bypassed us. I would give you a blank look if someone mentioned The Smiths or Orange Juice, but could hum on demand Hue and Cry´s "Labour of love" Paul Harcastle´s "19". the only record my Mum had was "Mississippi" by Pussycat. Gah!

Oh and folk music, lot´s of local folk music....

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T10:03:56-07:00

@ Ina holloway - you missed the oxford road show, riverside, the other side of midnight, night network, switch, what ever you didn't get and a lot of other short lived music shows that creeped into the television.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T14:10:55-07:00

By request:

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T14:12:50-07:00

You must be stopped before you go too far.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T14:19:52-07:00

King Kurt - Banana Banana

Oh dear - is that my fault?
That'll teach me to keep my mouth shut...

Still, preferable to The Style Council, isn't it?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T14:29:38-07:00

Only marginally.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T14:29:38-07:00

I HAVE NOT YET GONE TOO FAR.

And yes, JRadley, that is YOUR fault.

"Speak Like A Child" and "Walls Come Tumbling Down" were the only two Style Council singles I could stomach, back then.

It's funny: I remember there was a lot of excitement about "Speak Like A Child," Paul Weller's first post-Jam single with his new band...

I listened to John Peel AND watched TOP OF THE POPS. (John Peel presented TOP OF THE POPS, once in a blue moon, and it was always funny. I wonder how many Brits here are old enough to remember "The Rhythm Pals"?)

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T14:39:45-07:00

Dear people of Whitechapel. I do apologise.

'Walls Come Tumbling Down' was the only Style Council track I had any time for, probably because it sounded most like The Jam.

John Peel's rare appearances at the helm of Top of the Pops were priceless. And it did feature some good stuff amongst the dross. As someone said earlier, 'O Superman' was on TOTP (and I believe someone like Dave Lee Travis introduced it, looking completely out of his depth).

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T15:05:34-07:00

I HAVE NOT YET GONE TOO FAR.

Did I need to bold the "before" in my statement? Here, I'll say it again:

"You must be stopped before you go too far."

And JRadley, Warren's just using you as a cover. He's obviously nostalgic for this stuff and won't own up to it. AND he's getting the added kick out of torturing everyone else in the process. Seriously. He's evil. You knew that. Stop protecting him.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T15:23:30-07:00

Mr.Ellis
-please keep up the madness.
I'm deeply amused by it all, sir. And I suspect Jess is making funny faces.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T15:34:41-07:00

NoooooOOOOOooooooooooooooo Roo, don't encourage him.

*weeps*

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T15:39:30-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:08:20-07:00

...

If we give you your hair back, will you stop?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:09:27-07:00

Are you offering your hair?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:14:03-07:00

I'm educating you, Linker.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:14:58-07:00

Was thinking more along the lines of this, actually:

The quality of wig will improve as the music does.

EDIT: Believe it or not, I'm old enough to remember many of these videos, Warren. :P

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:17:48-07:00

But do you know why they are important? Or do you look at them and see only things distracting you from turtles?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:18:59-07:00

Everything is a distraction from turtles.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:38:10-07:00

Warren, do not listen to Jess about the hair; she lies.

I will give you a wig if you continue. How does this sound?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T16:51:25-07:00

Pfah. He's picking on my turtles, so he's not getting any wigs from me.

And look, I wasn't looking to totally derail this thread since I've enjoyed it very much for some time. I sat through the OMD video a second time, and without sarcasm, no, I don't understand what you're getting at with that, Warren. So feel free to educate me.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T17:05:56-07:00

I will.

But first:

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T17:09:07-07:00

@RenThing

Dear God, that is so Sigue Sigue Sputnik...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T17:09:34-07:00

Ah -- Joy Division's back. Phew!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T17:11:54-07:00

....did someone say Sigue Sigue Sputnik?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T21:22:23-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T23:06:21-07:00

But how authentic? Could it be the final piece of the Paul is Dead puzzle? We need some DNA testing on that wig!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T23:35:07-07:00

Heh i played drums in a one off punk jam band with an Martin Degville of Sigue Sigue Sputnik, he shouted a lot about the goverment and them vomited on an amp....

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T23:40:09-07:00

@ Warren

I wonder how many Brits here are old enough to remember "The Rhythm Pals"?
Unless it's a sign of my incipient senility, wasn't that what David 'Kid' Jensen and John Peel called themselves when they co-hosted TOTP?

Damn, that Joy Division video is good. Directed by Anton Corbijn, I think?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-01T23:53:53-07:00

people have written off OMD, which if you take into account anything they released after 'Dazzle Ships' is a fair comment but there are several reasons to go re-visit their back catalogue.
1. they released an album called 'Dazzle Ships'.
2. Said album was, at the time, rather odd. Shortwave radio, samples. There's one track that features only these lyrics., "abc 123"
3. Organisation. Even if you detest Enola Gay (can't see any other country producing a band that would sing something most folk misunderstood to be a love song that was actually about the US decision to drop an atomic bomb. It has 'Stanlow' on it. Stanlow is the name of an oil refinery. It is a wonderful track.
4. Martin Hannett added reverb on the reverb of the early mixes of electricity, which was on Factory records.
5. Architecture & Morality is actually a very good album.

I could go on for hours about Joy Division being wondrous.
I shouldn't need to, so I wont.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T00:23:52-07:00

....did someone say Sigue Sigue Sputnik?

I'm pretty sure they didn't.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T00:44:05-07:00

sadly, Degville is still on the go.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T03:20:18-07:00

If I could post videos to this thread, right about now I'd be posting some PiL. But I can't. So I won't. Cough.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T07:33:19-07:00

((Never mind, my comment was time warped. Move along.))

I would, however, like to say Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Because I am an obedient like Whitechapel Monkey who exists to entertain and aid Mr. Ellis. On Fridays.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T09:30:35-07:00

I'm pretty sure they didn't.

My gut reaction was to mention that I was pretty sure Pete Wisdom did while he was chatting up Kitty Pryde in a bar. But I feel like I've detracted from the quality of this thread enough already.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T10:27:21-07:00

@howyadoin

No, that was me who said Sigue Sigue Sputnik ;). I always sort of mentally connected their look to Max Headroom...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T12:28:32-07:00

About OMD, I actually think Organisation is one of the best British albums I've ever heard, even if I always skip Enola Gay.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T14:13:58-07:00

wait until he starts playing the housemartins!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-02T15:19:35-07:00

Are you kidding? I fucking love that band.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-04T18:15:58-07:00

All right all you anti-popsong whiners! I think I see what Warren's doing here, and while it's just a guess, I think I see a pattern emerging:

Most of the songs I've seen on this thread in some way made it to the charts and, by their own admission, were odd ducks. But they did establish going to different sources than the 3 chords/verse-chorus-verse template that by the time of most of these songs was dead and being kept alive with electro-shock. OMD, King Kurt, etc. were all, in different ways, saying "fuck it, I wanna do this pop thing MY way", knowing full well they could fall on their faces and makes asses of themselves. I would say it took more balls for OMD to present themselves as they did, amidst the glitter/dayglo and rock of the early mainstream 80's. He's wearing a cardigan, for God's sake!

But they were trying new things, much more fearlessly than I had seen in years. They were "post-punk", in the sense that they developed new ways to say "Fuck Off" to what was around them, but not just going to rock to do so. They were going to jazz, electronic music, showtunes (Capt. Sensible doing "Happy Talk", anyone?) and having a laugh at it. The fact that "O Superman" did make it to the top of the charts in the UK was nothing short of brilliant, a near flipping of the bird to most rock acts, and hopefully filling them with some fear to produce better music. Which some of them did. Eventually.

Just a theory.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-04T18:38:23-07:00

@Paul -- I was mostly just teasing Warren (or attempting to) and it took a bit of an ugly turn. Now I just feel bad. :P

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-04T20:29:48-07:00

Jess: I'm sure he can take it, and I wasn't singling anyone out. Don't feel bad (unless he tells you to, of course ;) )

I've just always been a fan of "pop" music, but I know that some people just have an aversion to anything that gets into the charts. My view is that sometimes really genre-changing stuff gets into the charts, and that's really exciting. I'm certainly an optimist, but I take great joy in seeing crap that shouldn't be in the charts get in there and infect all the other homogenized filler around it.

I also like to identify when actual ground is broken, as opposed to when it happens and gets popular at the same time. Look at any big musical sea-change, then look back about a year and I guarantee that we can find a lesser known song that really laid the groundwork for that change to happen. Here's one I always trot out; Ministry's "Twitch" album laid the groundwork for NIN's "Pretty Hate Machine" nearly 5 years ahead (both had Adrian Sherwood on production duty). Heck, Wax Trax records passed on signing Reznor because they already felt they had the album he was pitching (as I have read somewhere, a decision they lived to regret).

Not quite the same, (and more of an extension/continuation of one band), but Joy Division certainly made the listening public more fertile for New Order to become incredibly popular later on.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-05T00:34:54-07:00

re Nine Inch Nails and Wax Trax! - If you have a Wax Trax! catalogue with a mention of Pailhead you'll see them described as 'Harder than nine inch nails..'
Pialhead were Big Al from Ministry (and everyone else) with Ian Mackay from Fugazi. And yes, they were harder than nine inch nails. (and Nine Inch Nails too)
I still can't listen to Pretty Hate Machine - it hasn't travelled well, which is surprising due to Adrian Sherwoods involvement, although it's mostly a Keith Le Blanc at the helm, affair.

Now, New Order - there's a recording doing the rounds on the blogs of a New Order session recorded at Western Works in Sheffield with Kirk, Mallinder and Watson of Cabaret Voltaire at the controls. There's a great track which is a Cabaret Voltaire / New Order collaboration.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-05T03:18:41-07:00

@frenchbloke:

Link please! I loves me some Cabaret Voltaire. Side projects too. Lost interest after "Hypnotized," though.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-05T05:03:09-07:00

@bjacques - it can be found via here : http://thepowerofindependenttrucking.blogspot.com/2009/04/homage-new-order-western-works-980.html

there's also a blog that has undertaken correcting the muddy new order re-masters of the singles.
they all sound rather good via http://neworder-recycle.blogspot.com/

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-05T06:56:26-07:00

Cabaret Voltaire don't get nearly enough love.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-16T08:54:14-07:00

... Warren's modus operandi, laid bare via music. Take whatever you have to work with, and do it your way...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-16T10:33:41-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-21T04:53:47-07:00

Sounds like Lush or Main. Anyone remember SeeFeel?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-21T14:47:53-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-21T15:22:02-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-21T16:59:07-07:00

Granada TV was fucking ludicrous, in a good way.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-22T07:17:50-07:00

This thread just cheered me up! Thank you Warren.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T12:26:15-07:00

I did not realize that Marc Bolan had his own tv show, or that he died about a week after filming that.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T12:31:10-07:00

Huh. I had a very distinct dream in which XTC was up next. "Generals and Majors", I think it was.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T12:48:27-07:00

Good god no.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T12:54:14-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T12:55:42-07:00

I had this on a much-beloved compilation tape from UNDERGROUND magazine. Still sounds good to me.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T12:59:31-07:00

In my defense, I didn't even know it had a video, much less that it involved an inflatable castle and what is apparently Richard Branson.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T13:39:54-07:00

never really into xtc but 'making plans for nigel' is a great tune (primus did a pretty good cover of it too).

clock dva was always one of those bands i think i'm going to like due to all the industrial records connections but still don't.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T13:47:14-07:00

This was by far my favourite Clock DVA. The rest all left me a bit cold, as I recall.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T14:04:51-07:00

it's got all the right ingredients for me.
relentless bass-lines, squealing guitar and andrew eldritch / pete murphy esque vocals but i've never seemed to be able to connect with it.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T16:25:39-07:00

I've only heard Man-Amplified from Clock DVA, which I still dig out from time to time. Lovely mishmash of cybernetics, and essays of big science ideas. Musically more of a minimalist electro thing, with some ambient thrown in for good measure.

edited to remove link

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T19:07:00-07:00

Like Ian, I would have plenty of connections to CLOCK DVA, but they never clicked for me. I remember shopping in the WAX TRAX store in Chicago and seeing CLOCK DVA next to Front 242, Pailhead, Front Line Assembly, etc, but for the few 12" I picked up (the only one I still have is "The Hacker"), it had interesting things going on, but I wanted my Wax Trax records to be a little more bangy/clangy.

Warren, did you ever find what Colourbox was doing interesting? I just pulled out a bunch of their 12"s this weekend and was very surprised how well their cut up/sample stuff holds up, given that most "Oh boy, samplers have just come down in price" bands from the mid-80's fall apart pretty quickly.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T19:10:11-07:00

On their own, I always found them fairly weak and insubstantial, as I recall. I should re-listen to some of those stuff.

But I did like that one thing they did with AR Kane:

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-25T19:23:11-07:00

Ah, yes, M/A/R/S/S, made right before the huge legal tsunami of sample clearance. I've got two 12" versions of this; one with all the original samples, and one with a few non-cleared samples switched out.

The one that was sticking with me was a 4 song EP (no title, with a great 23 Envelope cover of a negative image of two horses screwing). They always has a slight spin toward poppiness, but their sound production always slipped enough interesting stuff in to move them above the rest of the herd. Bomb the Bass always straddled that fence as well. Tim Simenon's newest Bomb The Bass album "Future Chaos" is stunning, if you have an interest.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-26T02:10:38-07:00

it was you that bought the other copy of 'underground' ?

Colorboux were a fine band. they were just too far ahead and suffered for it.
although some of their output hasn't travelled well 20 years later, 'Philip Glass' is still fantastic

Can't go wrong with the Human League 1977-1980 really.
Although that version of Being Boiled, above, is the faux stereo version with added reverb that EMI stuck out to cash in on the 81 success. The original ( grey labelled, not orange ) mono version is by far the better.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-26T13:22:24-07:00

M/A/R/S/S - YEEEEEESSSSSS!!!

one of my true defining moments of the 80´s...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-26T16:05:10-07:00

Colorboux were a fine band. they were just too far ahead and suffered for it.

Love their first record.

M/A/R/R/S sounds incredibly dated nowadays. I kind of feel the same way about pre-chill out KLF, it might have been groundbreaking at the time, but the fact that it's so reliant on now-dated production technology absolutely ruins my enjoyment of the music, not to mention the fact that most of the point of those projects (like M/A/R/R/S) seems to be showing off their cool new toys (ie. The Art of Noise). Colourbox transcend that somewhat because the songs just stand out for themselves, and they were a lot more subtle with the way they used the studio.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-26T16:14:23-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-26T16:31:25-07:00

Right, now we're talking.

Dance anthems and discordianism / Robert Anton Wilson has to be one of the strangest concepts for a chart topper. And damn if that isn't some of the finest dancefloor production in the history of EVER.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-26T17:08:08-07:00

i'll always love the KLF for getting Extreme Noise Terror onto the Brits. Funny as all manner of fuck!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-26T17:55:06-07:00

Both KLF and Art of Noise were the best when they were screwing with the business of making their music. Art of Noise were most potent when Paul Morley was spinning them musical manifestos; after that, they became hi-tech show-offs, although every record they did had one glimmer of their insane peak points.
Of course, Morley is a genius anyway, so how could you go wrong?

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-27T10:47:02-07:00

God. Pump up the volume used to drive me up the wall, it was so ubiquitous, though I was a fan of AR Kane. I much preferred "Bomb the Bass "Beat Dis" and the slightly later fun of S-Express.

Man this takes me back. You guys remember when clubs transformed (almost overnight) from herds of Chino wearing Miami Vice wannabees frowning the night at the bar while their poodle girlfriends danced around gaudy handbags then suddenly they were filled with hundreds of swaety people in tshirts and shorts off their faces cheering like mad and dancing like apes with big smiles on their faces? My friends were all metallers and were horrified by me embracing that scene until they actually got so sick of me raving about it that they acquiesced and never looked back. Heh I recall the Cathouse (the headbangers favourite) in Glasgow shortly after that mashing up Faith No More with 808 state and everyone dancing like maniacs to it.

Oh yeah... and all this was fields.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-27T12:38:17-07:00

@Ian Holloway

you know i was thinking of that last night when watching the justified and ancient track, then went and saw the Brit award footage. Still brings a massive smile on my face. don´t know whether it´s the awesome mess of a performance or the firing a machine gun into the audience at the end.... brilliant!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-27T13:17:53-07:00

yeah, apparently they'd rehearsed...apparently.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-27T13:23:13-07:00

the funniest bit i read about that event was that they were going to kill a sheep on stage and throw the carcass into the audience! But this didn´t happen as Extreme Noise Terror were strict Vegetarians, so they made a compromise that they simply dumped an already dead sheep carcass at the entrance to the main after show party

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-27T15:05:41-07:00

as always there are a couple of versions.
they did dump the dead sheep outside the party but what i read was that the plan was to throw buckets of it's blood over the audience which would have been well worth watching. hermann nitsch style actionist art at the brits - either way it would have been brilliant tv.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-10-28T04:21:10-07:00

Oh my god, Actionists. David Bowie was a huge fan of them. I think his album Outside was partly a homage to Actionists, and he co-hosted this awful Canadian TV horror series called The Hunger, introducing the episodes on a set that looked like a meat locker. A friend of a friend helped organize an Actionist happening in 1970 in Amsterdam, in which artist Otto Mühl would strangle a swan onstage, but hippies rushed the stage and stopped it.

Warren, you'd like Otto Mühl. After being part of the Destruction In Art movement (inspiring the Who's Pete Townshend to destroy his guitars onstage), Fluxus and the Actionists, he started up a cult/commune (Friedrichshof) outside of Vienna. Friedrichshof did rather well, since many of the members were stockbrokers and computer programmers and could bring in serious money, and lasted for 20 years. Mühl's downfall came from getting a little too much into the role of king bee.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-01T19:03:54-08:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-02T02:32:35-08:00

Ah, that Buddy Holly sourcing Dr and the Medics.
their 'Sprirt in the Sky' was eclipsed and outclassed by Fuzzbox on Whistle Test.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-02T07:18:35-08:00

Catching up on the thread...

I never knew Clock DVA sounded like THAT at any point. Then again all I'm into by them is Sound Mirror and The Hacker, so I didn't go far beyond these two tracks.

And the only positive thing I have to say about Dr and the Medics? I like their makeup, that's all.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-02T18:52:31-08:00

I went to see Alice Cooper (I think) years ago and Zodiac Mindwarp and Love Reaction were supposed to be supporting. Zodiac was ill (I recall jokes about Zodiac Mindwarp and the Eye infection) and unfortunately replaced by Dr and the Medics. That was a bad night.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-03T09:56:29-08:00

Eleven minutes of German motorik zen.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-03T10:37:07-08:00

Brilliant!
I'm playing NEU! on last.fm right now, and it's spitting all kinds of awesome at me...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-03T11:10:25-08:00

the first neu album is motorik heaven.
the second i like too - even the sped up and slowed down tracks.

neu75 i cannot abide - it's just too dated and if you look you can find neu 4 out there in blogland but i don't recommend you do as it's truly atrocious.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-03T14:56:31-08:00

I managed to find this album after getting "Primary Colours" by the horrors. All the reviews were namechecking NEU! so i thought i´d check it out for the similarity. This is definitely the best track on the album. It´s the sort of music i can definitely imagine playing on the car stereo while on the autobahn at midnight...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-04T01:19:21-08:00

Ooo, Joy Division! And Sparks! Everyone should hear the two Sparks songs they did with Faith No More, WThis town ain't big enough for the both of us" and "Something for the girl with everything" (I do believe they are both on youtube).

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-04T07:09:22-08:00

@icelandbob - if you don't know them already you might like to check out a british from a few years back called Appliance. they're very Neu but with added vocals. their early eps and first album are sublime. there's a vid on youtube called Pacifica.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-04T08:03:20-08:00

For your motorik needs I'll also pitch Circle from Finland. Their earlier stuff is math-punk, then they got more ambient and dubby. And more currently a judaspriestian metal band, but never mind that now.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-04T08:48:37-08:00

@Ian Holloway

(ok... writes...down "appliance - band")

That is my little project tonight...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-04T09:45:01-08:00

On a similar blissed-out motorik vein to Neu I can heartily recommend Harmonia ( Deluxe and Musik von Harmonia are lovely albums )

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-04T12:16:43-08:00

Appliance were on Mute.
they were rather good.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-04T15:09:41-08:00

@frenchbloke - they were indeed and they were indeed.
although it must be said they went downhill as they went along. that first album - manual (which can be dl-ed via the museum of imaginary histories blog- and the 5 or so early 10" ep's are just sublime neo-krautrock.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-05T06:09:21-08:00

@odaelisbeth

Good call on the Sparks/Faith No More songs. As a Mike Patton/Faith No More fan I am embarassed to have never heard these. Thank You!

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-05T22:00:07-08:00

Who can forget Faith No More's EPIC music video, with Mike Hatton's hilarious woollen jumper that his grandma knitted for him.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-06T06:13:51-08:00

Mike Patton, not Hatton. I would never want to forget that song, video, or jumper. It is hilarious, but honestly its about the worst stuff Patton has ever done. To me Tomahawk would be the best stuff he has ever done.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-06T18:20:23-08:00

Yup, it's Patton, damn it. The perils of posting drunk! EPIC had patches of brilliance, but the whole White Guy Trying To Do Rap thing was sad.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-06T18:27:12-08:00

I always loved the way FNM (or The Village People of Metal, as Warren put it) kept themselves on a first name basis with the ridiculous. God knows we had, and still have, an abundance of overly self-important metal bands.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-08T11:17:42-08:00

God, I haven't heard this version in years...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-08T13:21:18-08:00

First heard this song on a " Now that's what I call music " compilation , just after The Primitives , and it changed my world.

edited for Cornish spelling

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-08T13:44:30-08:00

Sidewalking? I heard it the night John Peel first played it... and then played it another two or three more times because he loved it so much. I still think this was their high point.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-08T13:54:03-08:00

They definitely went downhill after Darklands , although I'm still fond of the last album Munki , perhaps because it was about that time that I finally got to see them live.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-08T17:16:15-08:00

Their cover of Mushroom is one of the droniest, most obsessive things I've ever heard.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-09T01:20:44-08:00

sidewalking always reminds me of sly fox's 'let's go all the way' and vice versa.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-09T05:52:56-08:00

@frenchbloke: THANK YOU! Couldn't place the damn melody in my brain, but that's it.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-17T15:40:27-08:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-17T15:40:54-08:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-17T18:07:42-08:00

Holy crap, I LOVED this album to death back in the day! I even did a music video for the song "Love Lasts Forever" for an "alternative video media" class in college (it got erased by an asshole studio tech).

To my mind, Kissing The Pink was a perfect mix of early Human League, plenty of weird instrumentation and prog-rock pomposity, nestled into alternate synthpop. They skewed too pop after this album (trying to achieve that PWL/Stock/Aitken/Waterman sound), but they just appeared a few years ago on 3-4 songs on the latest X-Press 2 album "Makeshift Feelgood". Sounds exactly like they used to.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-27T03:55:07-08:00

Just caught up with the thread, starting from Amazulu. I'm surprised no-one posted "So what? Ah'ma Glaswegian"
My abiding memory of John Peel on TOTPs was his ironic dancing, which I still emulate to this day.
XTC - while they did a couple of classics I much preferred their alter-egos - The Dukes of Stratosphear!

Maybe you should start a compilation album franchise. I'd buy Now That's What I Call Warren's Ancient Jukebox.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-28T07:58:32-08:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-28T08:04:38-08:00

Aarrgh, someone else remembers Lick the Tins

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-11-29T09:41:28-08:00

I always thought 'Somekind of Wonderful' was highly underrated.

The soundtrack had Furniture's 'Brilliant Mind'which is pretty damn good.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-12-06T12:39:14-08:00

hahahaha

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2009-12-08T10:31:36-08:00

you bastard.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-01-04T14:26:18-08:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-01-04T16:58:38-08:00

Ah, Hazel's TRON period, I remember it well...

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-01-18T18:29:33-08:00

That was sort of Jodorowsky/Metabarons.

(And yes, it amuses me that she's named Oda. Sry.)

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-06T13:14:36-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-06T13:14:56-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-06T13:16:32-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-06T13:33:44-07:00

Ah welcome back ancient jukebox, we´ve missed you.....

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-06T14:25:12-07:00

i was only thinking earlier today that it's a shame this thread wasn't around anymore.

special brew foul drink great tune.

it's easy to forget just how popular this lot were in their heyday. from wiki "Bad Manners spent 111 weeks in the UK Singles Chart between 1980 and 1983"

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-08T08:44:30-07:00

ah, the ode to Carlsberg.

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-08T09:02:05-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-08T09:02:48-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-08T09:04:55-07:00

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-08T09:05:58-07:00

(watched this in a hotel room in 2003. if you don't like this one, you don't like music.)

Warren's Ancient Jukebox

2010-06-08T09:59:57-07:00

no love for the Beat's Twist and Crawl ?
and I second the Skatalites love and add that if you don't like it, you deserve everything bad that comes to you as a direct result