T.R.A.C. (Top Risk Action Company) - Nice Up The Nation: The First Demos

 

Of Schulz... and Strummer... and second acts.

(Just read this over; this is a pretty meandering post... but it gets to the main point soon enough.  Just bear with me...)

I read a lot - that's my thing.  I rarely if ever watch TV; I'd much rather spend the evening with a book in my lap and a drink at my elbow, especially on these warm and fleeting summer nights up here when I can do so on my front porch.  

My tastes are pretty eclectic; in the past couple of months, I've gone through Patti Smith's Just Kids, F. Scott Fitzgerald's first three novels (This Side Of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned (the ending of which I HATED) and The Great Gatsby (for the first time in more than twenty years)), David McCullough's final book (before his death last year) The Pioneers (which frankly in my opinion wasn't as compelling as any of his previous histories - no offense, but I think he should have hung it up after his second-to-last one, the brilliant The Wright Brothers), Barbara Tuchman's Stilwell and the American Experience In China (superb, although sometimes hard to keep track of all the Chinese names), Nathaniel Philbrick's Battle of the Little Bighorn history The Last Stand, and all three volumes of Edmund Morris' comprehensive biography of Theodore Roosevelt's life and presidency.  While taking in these larger tomes, I usually read other shorter/less-serious books for "dessert", such as obscure Jim Thompson hardboiled crime novels I didn't get through the first time (like A Swell-Looking Babe and Pop. 1280), Wild and Crazy Guys (documenting the rise of comedy mavericks like Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy in the '80s and '90s), and a recent compilation of Shary Flenniken's raunchy and insightful Trots and Bonnie comics from the old National Lampoon magazine.

I buy new books practically every other weekend, and have what I think is a pretty decent home library.  But I rarely if ever buy books just to "buy" them - I read everything I purchase, because something looks interesting and informative to me.

With that being said, there's really only one series that I collect just to "have", due to one of my childhood obsessions - the Charlie Brown cartoon reprints.  In 2004, Fantagraphics Books published the first in a series of books containing the entire print run of Peanuts, Charles Schulz's beloved, long-running and internationally famous comic strip.  Starting with the first strip published in 1950, Fantagraphics released two volumes a year, each volume containing two years of strips.  Over the next twelve years, the publisher put out what ended up being a total of 26 volumes capturing every comic printed between 1950 and 2000, along with a final volume containing collection of Schulz strips, cartoons, stories, and illustrations that appeared outside of the daily newspaper strip.

It's my personal feeling that Peanuts, and Charles Schulz, peaked in the Seventies.  By that time, the cartoonist had been drawing the strip for over two decades, and had all but perfected the complicated interplay of relationships between the characters.  And most importantly during that period, the character Snoopy had yet to take over and dominate the strip - the dog still interacted somewhat with the other characters, and his activities complemented those of (ostensible main character) Charlie Brown and the gang.  

But by the end of that decade, Snoopy's fantasy lives (the WWI flying ace, Joe Cool, novelist, etc.) began to be the focus of the comic.  He no longer needed any of the other strip characters to "be" - he just needed his imagination.  In support of this new focus on Snoopy, Schulz began constructing a entire side life for him existing apart from that of the other Peanuts characters, beginning with the 1970 introduction of Snoopy's bird friend Woodstock... and in the years that followed with beagle members of Snoopy's immediate family, including Spike, Belle, Olaf and the like.  In my opinion, this shift of focus dragged the entire strip down and completely screwed up the overall dynamic.  I was a huge fan of Peanuts when I was a kid, but after around 1980 I ceased to pay very much attention to it.

With that said, over the years I've collected every volume of the Fantagraphics Peanuts series up through the first thirty years or so of the strip, through the early 1980s run - the initial fifteen books.  But I've never felt quite "right" about stopping there.  As you can probably determine from my music posts, I'm a completist, and I like having a full set, whether that's the total discography of a band I like or all the books in a particular collection.  So last year I began a search for the remaining volumes, and found what I thought was the next in the series for sale at a discount on eBay, The Complete Peanuts: 1981 to 1982.  When it arrived the next week, I took the new book down to the section of my library containing the other Peanuts volumes... only to find that I ALREADY had a copy of that particular one, which I must've purchased unconsciously in years prior.

I couldn't return it, and I wouldn't just throw it out, so I did the next best thing; there's a really good used bookstore across town from where I live, which has thousands of volumes in various genres on sale and also runs a decent book-buying program.  I figured I could take my unneeded tome over to the shop and get a few bucks out of it, or possibly swap it out for something on sale there that I might be more interested in.

That weekend, I went over to the bookstore and made a deal with the proprietor for a reasonable price for my book; it was in almost-new condition, so I did pretty well.  Instead of taking the money and running, I took the time to look around while I was there, to see if there was anything that semi-struck my fancy.  And I found it in the "Popular Music" section - Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer, a 2007 biography of the Clash frontman, written by his longtime friend, music journalist Chris Salewicz.  As I've mentioned before, The Clash are one of my all-time favorite bands, so I couldn't buy this book fast enough...

...And I found it well worth the acquisition.  Salewicz's excellent book goes through Strummer's life in intricate detail.  I found the following review on the GoodReads.com site - I heartily concur with every word, and can add nothing to this succinct and superb review:

The Clash was--and still is--one of the most important groups of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Indebted to rockabilly, reggae, Memphis soul, cowboy justice, and '60s protest, the overtly political band railed against war, racism, and a dead-end economy, and in the process imparted a conscience to punk. Their eponymous first record and London Calling still rank in Rolling Stone's top-ten best albums of all time, and in 2003 they were officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Joe Strummer was the Clash's front man, a rock-and-roll hero seen by many as the personification of outlaw integrity and street cool. The political heart of the Clash, Strummer synthesized gritty toughness and poetic sensitivity in a manner that still resonates with listeners, and his untimely death in December 2002 shook the world, further solidifying his iconic status.

Music journalist Chris Salewicz was a friend to Strummer for close to three decades and has covered the Clash's career and the entire punk movement from its inception. With exclusive access to Strummer's friends, relatives, and fellow musicians, Salewicz penetrates the soul of an icon. He uses his vantage point to write the definitive biography of Strummer, charting his enormous worldwide success, his bleak years in the wilderness after the Clash's bitter breakup, and his triumphant return to stardom at the end of his life. In the process, Salewicz argues for Strummer's place in a long line of protest singers that includes Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, and Bob Marley, and examines by turns Strummer's and punk's ongoing cultural influence.

One of the main areas of Strummer's life I was eager to get to in reading this book was the circumstances behind the dissolution of The Clash in late August 1983, when Mick Jones was summarily dismissed from the group.  Over the years, there have been various conjectures, claims and counterclaims surrounding who exactly pulled the trigger on Mick and why - was it Bernie Rhodes, who reentered the band's orbit as manager in 1981, after being dismissed from that role three years earlier?  Was it a decision by Joe alone, or a joint one with fellow band member Paul Simonon?  The book is sort of wishy-washy in terms of definitively pointing the dirty stick at anyone in particular, and I won't spoil anything for those of you who haven't had the chance to read it yet... although reading between the lines, Strummer does not come off looking particularly well in this episode.

Mick reflected on the internal politics that eventually split up the group during an interview for the BBC 2 programme Def II, circa 1990:

“It all started going wrong actually when Topper left…Topper left and it was never really the same, but we could have carried on, but then I got fired (laughs)…but we’d really stopped communicating by that time. We just managed to maintain a grunting level of civility, you know, before, but it was kind of all set up as well, you know, I was set up really, and that was kind of political, behind the back.

People were moving and trying to be influential, and different people were coming between members of the group, you know, things like that. All the things that start happening, you know, when you become really successful… you become a different kind of asshole. I turned up the day I was fired and got me guitar out, you know, and I think it was Joe it was who managed to muster up the courage to say that he didn’t want to play with me anymore, and when somebody says that to you…I just packed my guitar…just whoa… hey, you know, OK bye, and that was it. I walked, and Bernie came running out after me with a cheque in his hand, you know like a gold watch or something…which added insult to injury, but I took it anyway, and about two days mourning, and I started on the next group.”

The timeline of Jone's immediate post-Clash work has always seemed a bit scrambled to me; memories of participants in that period that I've read are variously contradictory and confused in terms of time periods and activities.  So I've tried on my own to come up with a plausible sequence, based on all of the information I could gather...

I'd always been under the impression/assumption that Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite in the weeks after his departure from The Clash.  But apparently that wasn't quite true.  Jones' initial post-Clash landing spot, within days of his dismissal, was as a member of General Public, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger's new project formed in the wake of The English Beat's breakup earlier that year.  With Mick on board as lead guitarist, General Public became a British New Wave/ska 'supergroup' of sorts, containing former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners and The Specials along with The Beat and The Clash.  But Jones' tenure in the group was short-lived; by the late fall of 1983, less than three months after leaving The Clash and halfway through the recording sessions for General Public's debut album All The Rage (where he contributed guitar to "Hot You're Cool", "Tenderness", "Where's The Line?" and many other tracks), he had already moved on.

Jone's next group, Top Risk Action Company (T.R.A.C) came together, it seems, in early 1984.  The story, as told by saxophonist John "Boy" Lennard (ex-Theatre Of Hate - Jones was the producer on that band's only LP, 1982's Westworld), is a bit inaccurate in regards to time, in that Jones had departed The Clash six months earlier - perhaps the 'spliff' smoke mentioned below left him somewhat confused:

"T.R.A.C. came about when I was at Mick's place. He got up to phone the press to confirm he was leaving the Clash... He came back, rolled a spliff and said he wanted to start a band with Topper and I."

As mentioned above, Jones also asked former Clash bandmate Topper Headon and Basement 5 bassist Leo Williams to join the nascent band with Lennard and himself, and the quartet began rehearsing and recording demos in the early spring of 1984.  But in hindsight, I don't believe that Mick was serious about prepping an actual album for release with this group.  He appears to be just exploring and experimenting with different sounds at this time for his own benefit.  In addition, Top Risk Action Company almost immediately faced some band turmoil; Headon's on-again/off-again heroin addition made a serious resurgence during this time.  As per Lennard again:

"I think [Mick] didn’t feel confident Topper could hold it together and was feeling overwhelmed and [therefore] closed it down [by sacking Headon]."

After Headon's firing, rehearsals became more sporadic, and Lennard began drifting away to other projects.  With that, T.R.A.C., as a viable enterprise, was over and done with before the summer of 1984 was out... not that this appeared to be any great loss for Jones.  It seems clear now that Mick himself wasn't too keen on pursuing his evolving musical direction with that group of musicians, and all of the demos the band recorded were shelved.

Into what remained of T.R.A.C. (namely Jones and Williams), Don Letts and Greg Roberts were recruited in July/August of 1984... and from the ashes of that former band rose the phoenix that was Big Audio Dynamite.  BAD's first gigs were in October 1984, and their debut LP This Is Big Audio Dynamite was released in November 1985, sparking off a decade of successful and critically-acclaimed albums and gigs.

That isn't to say that what Top Risk Action Company came up with pre-BAD was a bunch of crap.  What survived of the band's demos were recently recovered, remastered, and released on a bootleg CD.  Stylistically, the songs on this disc are to me somewhere between Mick Jones' genre-hopping dance songs on Combat Rock (e.g. "The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too", "Atom Tan", "Inoculated City") and proto-Big Audio Dynamite post-punk dance/funk/reggae (indeed, the demo version of "The Bottom Line" here was reworked and released on BAD's first album). 

Here's the full tracklist:

1. The Prolific 

2. Winning (Napoleon Of Notting Hill) 

3. Gone To The Dogs 

4. Ringmaster 

5. Astro Turf 

6. Interaction 

7. Nation 

8. Apprentice 

9. Ducane Road

10. Fare Dodgers 

11. The Bottom Line 

12. Euroshima (Edit)

13. Euroshima (Unedited)

 

Lineup: 

 

Mick Jones: Vocals/Guitar 

Topper Headon: Drums 

Leo Williams: Bass 

John "Boy" Lennard: Sax

On the whole, this release may not be everyone's cup of tea.  But at the very least, we can get a glimpse as to what was going in Mick Jones' mind at the time, and get a sense of his music creation process.  

I'll leave John Lennard again with the final word regarding T.R.A.C.:

"I thought it was a creative period for him but Mick is slow to bring it up. Great memories!"

Here for your listening pleasure and to add to your musical memories is Nice Up The Nation: The First Demos, a bootleg compilation of Top Risk Action Company tunes recorded during the summer of 1984.  Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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Various Artists - A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89 (12 Discs)

[I began putting this one together back in mid-2018... but discovered some problems with the discs that took a while to sort out, and by the time I did so, I'd moved on to other write-ups. Guess I'll finish this one up now...]

I found this rarity available for download a couple of months ago [ed. note - early 2018], from an obscure music website, Kangnave (which appears to have been actively added to for a couple of years in the mid-2010s, but hasn't seen a new posting since 2015). Here's the description the blog moderator put up regarding this:

This is a pretty insane project put together by my pal Vince B. from San Francisco a few years back. As the title indicates, this is a homemade 12 x CD-R (!) compilation of punk bands fronted by female vocalists from 1977 to 1989. More like a giant mixtape than a compilation, as he only made 36 copies which he sent to friends and people who submitted material. You may notice that some of the bands didn’t have a steady female vocalist (The Lewd, etc.) but he still included songs that were sung by another member of the band. This is as international as it gets, with stuff ranging from world famous Blondie or Crass to the most obscure Eastern European cassette compilation veterans. The boxset came packaged in a handnumbered fancy translucent lunchbox enclosing all 12 CD-Rs, a stack of full-colored cards featuring comprehensive tracklist and artwork/info, as well as a manga pin-up figure! Talk about a labor of love.

Like the guy above said, this is a pretty incredible worldwide collection of decent to excellent punk vocalized by women - here's the lineup for all twelve discs:

Disc 1:

1. Blutsturz – Schweigen (Demo) (Germany, 198?)
2. Penetration – Money Talks (England, 1977)
3. Pyhäkoulu – Painajainen (Finland, 1986)
4. VulpeSS – Me Gusta Ser Una Zorra (Spain, 1983)
5. The Comes – Panic (Japan, 1984)
6. Suicide Squad – New Kids Army (Australia, 1980)
7. Rivolta Dell’Odio – Altari Del Terrore (Italy, 1984)
8. Sick Things – Anti-Social Disease (England, 1977)
9. Accident (a.k.a Accidents) – True Detective (USA, 1979)
10. Dishrags – I Don’t Love You (Canada, 1979)
11. Último Resorte – Hogar, Dulce Hogar (Demo) (Spain, 1981)
12. The Fastbacks – Someone Else’s Room (USA, 1981)
13. Anorexia – Rapist In The Park (England, 1980)
14. Phobia – Pretend You’re Not Crazy (USA, 1978)
15. Androids Of Mu – Bored Housewives (England, 1981)
16. Sort Sol (With Lydia Lunch) – Boy-Girl (Denmark/USA, 1983)
17. Tappi Tikarrass – Skrid (Iceland, 1984)
18. Flowers – After Dark (Scotland, 1979)
19. The Rentals – I Got A Crush On You (USA, 1979)
20. Pariapunk – Double Face (France, 1987)
21. Amsterdamned – Traditie Amme Balle (Netherlands, 1982)
22. Dr. Zeke – Vild I Skogen (Sweden, 1979)
23. The Lewd – Magnetic Heart (USA, 1982)
24. Au Pairs – Kerb Crawler (England, 1980)
25. Mo-Dettes – White Mice (USA/Switzerland/England, 1979)
26. Stripes – Weekend Love (Germany, 1980)
27. Violators – The Fugitive (England, 1980)

Disc 2:

1. Schund – Schund (Austria, 1982)
2. Wunderbach – Raya (France, 1982)
3. Total Muzak – Någonstans I Sta’n (Sweden, 1980)
4. Liliput – Hitch-Hike (Switzerland, 1980)
5. NJF – Sitting!! Pretty (Canada, 1984)
6. S.I.B. – Listless (Italy, 1981)
7. Manisch Depressiv – Zeitmaschine 1 (Switzerland, 1983)
8. Sheena & The Rokkets – Omae Ga Hoshii (One More Time) (Japan, 1979)
9. Rezillos – Flying Saucer Attack (Scotland, 1978)
10. Sado-Nation – Messed Up Mixed Up (USA, 1982)
11. Lucrate Milk – Fucking Pacifist (France, 1983)
12. Dan – Lust Is Greed (England, 1987)
13. Nasty Facts – Drive My Car (USA, 1981)
14. Life Cycle – Indifference (Wales, 1988)
15. Livin’ Sacrifice – Mentalsjuk (Sweden, 1981)
16. The Brat – Attitudes (USA, 1980)
17. Non Band – Ducan Dancin’ (Japan, 1982)
18. Bizkids – VIPs (Netherlands, 1980)
19. Minus Cway – Gdje Me Vjetar Odnese (Yugolsavia, 1982-88)
20. The Rats – Broken Wire Telephone (USA, 1983)
21. Anouschka & Les Privés – Contrôle (France, 1980)
22. Slits – Vindictive (England, 1977)
23. ICA – Untitled (Netherlands, 1981)
24. Trash – Peace Of What (USA, 1984)
25. Boys Boys – Monley Monkey (Japan, 1980)
26. Honey Bane – Girl On The Run (England, 1979)
27. TNT – Razzia (Switzerland, 1981)
28. Nuns – Wild (USA, 1980)
29. Electric Deads – 30 Years (Denmark, 1982)
30. Conflict – Who Will (USA, 1984)
31. Atims – Women (Netherlands, 1982)

Disc 3:

1. Hans-A-Plast – Polizeiknüppel (Germany, 1979)
2. Usch – LTO (Sweden, 1979)
3. Desechables – El Asesino (Spain, 1984)
4. Ici Paris – Le Centre Du Monde (France, 1980)
5. Action Pact – Suicide Bag (England, 1982)
6. Invaders – Backstreet Romeo (England, 1980)
7. Lepers – Flipout (USA, 1979)
8. Franti – Vento Rosso (Italy, 1983)
9. Out On Blue 6 – Examples (England, 1981)
10. Mr. Kite – Exit B9 (Japan, 1978)
11. De Zweetkutten – Atoomgeweld (Netherlands, 1981)
12. Ideal – Berlin (Germany, 1980)
13. Holly And The Italians – I Wanna Go Home (USA, 1981)
14. Modesty – Kad Srce Radi Bi Bam (Yugoslavia, 1982-88)
15. Delta 5 – Anticipation (England, 1980)
16. Beex – He Obliterates Me (USA, 1981)
17. Kaltwetterfront – Revolverheld (Germany, 1982)
18. Hydra – Ombre (Italy, 1985)
19. Vacum – Är Ungdomar Människor? (Sweden, 1980)
20. Nixe – Man Under My Bed (Netherlands, 1981)
21. Alternative – Seen Through Tear-Filled Eyes (Scotland, 1984)
22. Schematix – Nothing Special (USA, 1980)
23. Eyes – Don’t Talk To Me (USA, 1978)
24. Russians – Anything She Wants (England, 1980)
25. Kontrola W. – Manekiny (Poland, 1982/1998)

Disc 4:

1. Kizza Ping – Den Nya (Sweden, 1982)
2. Strapaze – Tage (Germany, 1983)
3. Glueams – 365 (Switzerland, 1979)
4. Kleenex Aktiv – Hilfe (Germany, 1985)
5. XL Capris – My City Of Sydney (Australia, 1980)
6. Josie Cotton – Johnny, Are You Queer? (USA, 1981)
7. Rakketax – Van Agt (Netherlands, 1980)
8. A-Heads – No Rule (England, 1982)
9. Drustvo Prisjecavalaca Boljih Dana – Sexualna Ovisnost (Yugoslavia, 1982-88)
10. Pink Champagne – Söndagsskolehyckel (Sweden, 1980)
11. Curse – Killer Bees (Canada, 1978)
12. Flirt – Don’t Push Me (USA, 1978)
13. 水玉消防団 (Mizutama Shouboudan) – 真空パック・トラベル (Japan, 1981)
14. Bizon Kidz – Godsdienstwaanzin (Netherlands, 1981)
15. X-Ray Spex – I Live Off You (England, 1978)
16. Reactors – World War Four (USA, 1980)
17. Klasse Kriminale – Construito In Italia (Italy, 1988)
18. Debils – Maso (Switzerland, 1981)
19. Plastix – Geschlechtsverkehr (Austria, 1981)
20. Avengers – Teenage Rebel (USA, 1978)
21. Hagar The Womb – Idolization (England, 1983)
22. Blitzkrieg – Szene (Germany, 1989)
23. DIRT – Hiroshima (England, 1981)
24. Disturbers – KZ Syndroom (Netherlands, 1980)
25. Andreas Dorau Und Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter (Germany, 1981)
26. Pandoras – That’s Your Way Out (USA, 1984)
27. Lost Cherrees – Living In A Coffin (England, 1982)
28. Learned Helplessness – Vegis (USA, 1982)
29. A-Gen-53 – Stalingrad-Stumpfsinn (Austria, 1981)

Disc 5:

1. Crass – Where Next Columbus? (England, 1981)
2. A.P.P.L.E. – If In Heaven (USA, 1985)
3. Sleeping Dogs – (I Got My Tan In) El Salvador (USA/England, 1982)
4. Asbest – Family Care (Netherlands, 1982)
5. FFF – Arbeit Macht Dumm (Germany, 1986)
6. Gas – World Peace (Japan, 1985)
7. Les Calamités – Toutes Les Nuits (France, 1984)
8. Mother’s Ruin – Godzilla (Switzerland, 1979)
9. Toxic Waste – Traditionally Yours (Northern Ireland, 1985)
10. The Ex – Lied Der Steinklopfer (Netherlands, 1989)
11. NBJ – Dead Porker (USA, 1982)
12. Doll – Trash (England, 1978)
13. ST-37 – Unknown Soldier (Germany, 1985)
14. Jetset – Tot Hier En Niet Verder (Netherlands, 1982)
15. Fega Påhopp – Hålla Masken (Sweden, 1980)
16. Alma Y Los Cadáveres – Confidencias de Nutrexpa (Spain, 1982)
17. Da Stupids – Alien (USA, 198?)
18. Essential Logic – Quality Crayon Wax OK (England, 1979)
19. Beardsley – Summer Holiday (Japan, 1986)
20. Lärm – Pigeon (Netherlands, 1982)
21. Fatal Microbes – Violence Grows (England, 1978)
22. Sin 34 – Not (USA, 1983)
23. Vice Squad – Latex Love (England, 1980)
24. Lord Eva Braun – Week-End à Blois (France, 1989)
25. Ätztussis – Bullen (Germany, 1980)
26. Falange – Falange Suburbana (Brazil, 1988)
27. Bags – Survive (USA, 1978)

Disc 6:

1. Conflict – The Guilt And The Glory (England, 1982)
2. Putrid Girls – 1234 (USA, 1983)
3. Nog Watt – Going On (Netherlands, 1984)
4. Suburban Reptiles – 45 Single (New Zealand, 1978)
5. Lost Kids – Alle Taler (Denmark, 1979)
6. Edith Nylon – Edith Nylon (France, 1979)
7. Expelled – No Life, No Future (England, 1982)
8. Tollwut – Seuchen (Germany, 1981)
9. Blondie – Youth Nabbed As Sniper (USA, 1977)
10. Wartburgs Für Walter – More More Anymore (East Germany, 1989)
11. Ref – Soda Bikarbona (Yugoslavia, 1982-86)
12. Chumbawamba – beginning To Take It Back (England, 1986)
13. Mizz Nobody – Smittad (Sweden, 1978)
14. Platzangst – It’s A Light (Germany, 1983)
15. The Pogues – I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day (Ireland, 1985)
16. St. Vitus Dancers – The Survivor (England, 1982)
17. Mary Monday & The Bitches – I Gave My Punk Jacket To Rickie (USA, 1977)
18. DZK – Juventude (Brazil, 1988)
19. Cocadictos – Juan Pablo II Y Amigos (Spain, 1983-84)
20. K.U.K.L. – Dismembered (Iceland, 1984)
21. Petticoats – Allergy (England, 1980)
22. Kalashnikov – Ødelæg Og Hærg (Denmark, 1984)
23. No Thanks – Fuck Everything (USA, 1983)
24. Indirekt – Shell Helpt (Netherlands, 1985)
25. Namenlos – Nazis (East Germany, 1984)
26. UXA – No Time (USA, 1980)
27. Peggy Luxbeurk – Sueur Froide (France, 1982)
28. Flere Døde Pansere – Midedød (Denmark, 1983)

Disc 7:

1. Toxic Shock – Remote Control (England, 1984)
2. Toxic Shock – Riot Riot Riot (USA, 1982)
3. Zelda – [Japanese Title] (Japan, 1981)
4. Total Chaoz – Oh Beatrix (Netherlands, 1981)
5. ZOI – Psaulme 1 (France, 1986)
6. Tozibabe – Moja Praznina (Yugoslavia, 1985)
7. Xmal Deutschland – Qual (Germany, 1983)
8. Ghost Walks – Fallen Angel (USA, 1985)
9. Life In The Fridge Exists – Have You Checked The Children? (New Zealand, 1980)
10. X – Nausea (USA, 1980)
11. Sacrilege – Dig Your Own Grave (England, 1985)
12. Combat Not Conform – Keep Your Head (Germany, 1985)
13. Typhus – ノータッチ (Japan, 1980)
14. Foreign Legion – Trenchline (Wales, 1986)
15. Rough Cut – Danger Boy (USA, 1981)
16. Ludus – Mother’s Hour (England, 1981)
17. The Bastards – Impossibilities (Switzerland, 1978)
18. Rutto – Paha, Kuolema (Finland, 1983)
19. Nikki Corvette – Young & Crazy (USA, 1977)
20. Photos – Skateboard (England, 1980)
21. Last Few – Suicide Commando (Netherlands, 1983)
22. Tyranna – Back Off Baby (Canada, 1980)
23. Screaming Sneakers – Violent Days (USA, 1982)
24. Poison Girls – Statement (England, 1982)
25. Verdun – Günther (France, 1988)
26. Noh Mercy – Caucasian Guilt (USA, 1979)
27. Bow Wow Wow – C30, C60, C90, Go (England, 1980)
28. Götterflies – Empty (Netherlands, 1981)

Disc 8:

1. Post Mortem – The Casualty (England, 1985)
2. Antischism – Evil God (demo) (USA, 1989)
3. Wrong Kind Of Stone Age – Run Amok (Australia, 1984)
4. The Puke – Happy Family (Netherlands, 1981)
5. Teddy & The Frat Girls – Clubnite (USA, 1980)
6. Questions – Take A Ride (France, 1980)
7. 無理心中 (Muri Shinjuu) – 子宮 (Live) (Japan, 1980-82)
8. Rubella Ballet – Something To Give (England, 1982)
9. Die Tödliche Doris – Kavaliere (Germany, 1982)
10. Los Microwaves – Time To Get Up (USA, 1981)
11. Extrém Exém – Eget Liv (Sweden, 1982)
12. Icon A.D. – Fight For Peace (England, 1982)
13. Dago Wops – Big Mac (Germany, 1981)
14. 8-Eyed Spy – Diddy Wah Diddy (USA, 1980)
15. Indian Dream – Insult To Injury (England, 1985)
16. Destroy All Monsters – Bored (USA, 1978)
17. Bluttat – Flying Into Heaven’s Door (Germany, 1985)
18. Raincoats – Adventures Close To Home (England, 1979)
19. Afrika Korps – Buzz Stomp (USA, 1977)
20. M’n’M’s – I’m Tired (USA, 1980)
21. キャ→ (Kyah!) – Slapdash (Japan, 1985)
22. Teenage Jesus & The Jerks – Less Of Me (USA, 1978)
23. Dog Faced Hermans – Balloon Girl (Scotland/Netherlands, 1987)
24. Mydolls – Soldiers Of A Pure War (USA, 1983)
25. Gash – Gash Trash (Australia, 1986)

Disc 9:

1. Berlin – The Metro (USA, 1982)
2. Poles – C.N. Tower (Canada, 1977)
3. Kuolleet Kukat – Vihollinen On Systeemi (Finland, 1984)
4. Joyce McKinney Experience – Armchair Critic (England, 1989)
5. VKTMS – Hard Case (USA, 1979)
6. ゴメス (Gomess) – 地獄へ (Japan, 1986)
7. Charol – Sin Dinero (Spain, 1980)
8. Tragics (a.k.a Misfits) – Mommi I’m A Misfit (USA, 1981)
9. Kandeggina Gang – Sono Cattiva (Italy, 1980)
10. Jingo De Lunch – What You See (Germany, 1987)
11. Vermilion – Angry Young Women (England, 1978)
12. The Maggots – (Let’s Get, Let’s Get) Tammy Wynette (USA, 1979)
13. Brain Death – Personal Affair (Japan, 1987)
14. Squits – Porno Pirate (Netherlands, 1982)
15. Siouxsie And The Banshees – The Staircase (Mystery) (England, 1979)
16. Unwarranted Trust – Honour’s Calling (Canada, 1984)
17. Bulimia Banquet – Scientology Sucks (USA, 1988)
18. Nurse – ナ－ス (Japan, 1983)
19. Secta Suicida Siglo 20 – Virginidad Sacudida (Mexico, 1989)
20. Castration Squad – The X Girlfriend (USA, 1979)
21. Jo Squillo Eletrix – Skizzo Skizzo (Italy, 1981)
22. A5 – Reeperbahn (Germany, 1980)
23. Manufactured Romance – You (England, 1980)
24. Frigidettes – Turmoil (USA, 1982)
25. Capitalist Alienation – Nuclear Trash (Canada, 1987)
26. Sperma – Please Love Me Tonight (Japan, 1985)
27. Mystery Girls – Ego (USA, 1983)
28. Exeroica – Del Apocalipsis (Argentina, 1988)
29. Partners In Crime – I Wanna Drive You (USA, 1984)
30. Dawn Patrol – What My Gonna Do (With Me) (England, 1981)
31. Maps – My Eyes Are Burning (USA, 1979)

Disc 10:

1. Neo Boys – Never Comes Down (USA, 1980)
2. New Walls – No Creation!? (Japan, 1985)
3. Gymslips – Miss Nunsweeta (England, 1982)
4. Loud Warning – Loud Warning (Netherlands, 1986)
5. Vs. – Magnetic Hearts (USA, 1980)
6. Turncoats – Waste Of Time (England, 1987)
7. Agonia – [Unknown title] (Italy, 1985)
8. Demented – Back To The Bed (USA, 1982)
9. PVC – Galehus (Norway, 1980)
10. Girls At Our Best! – Warm Girls (England, 1980)
11. Wilma & The Wilbers – Chronic Alkie (USA, 1980)
12. Cringe – Secretary Spread (USA, 1981)
13. Detectors – La Ciutat No Es Per Mi (Spain, 1987)
14. Suburban Lawns – Gidget Goes To Hell (USA, 1979)
15. Red Scare – Streetlife (USA, 1982)
16. Sofa Head – Invitation To Dinner (England, 1989)
17. 45 Grave – Black Cross (USA, 1980)
18. Plasmatics – Dream Lover (USA, 1979)
19. Not Moving – Behind Your Pale Face (Italy, 1983)
20. Enemy – Want Me (USA, 1978)
21. Potential Threat – Animal Abuse (England, 1982)
22. Anti-Scrunti Faction – Slave To My Estrogen (USA, 1985)
23. Legal Weapon – Hostility (USA, 1981)
24. OXZ – Be Run Down (Japan, 1984)
25. Shivvers – Teen Line (USA, 1980)
26. Donkeys – Wacky Acky I Aye (England, 1978-82)
27. Wrecks – Punk Is An Attitude (USA, 1982)
28. La Souris Déglinguée – Marie France (France, 1983)
29. SST – Autistic (USA, 1977)
30. Anti/Dogmatikss – Estado De Caos (demo) (Spain, 1983)

Disc 11:

1. Abwärts – Bel Ami (Germany, 1980)
2. Even Worse – Illusion Won Again (USA, 1981)
3. F.U.A.L. – Freedom Under Animal Liberation (Northern Ireland, 1989)
4. Nena – Nur Geträumt (Germany, 1983)
5. Gruftrosen – Mörder Von Gestern (Austria, 1985)
6. Sledgehammer – Paramilitary Recruits (Northern Ireland, 1988-ish)
7. Deutscher Abschaum – The German Superman (Germany, 1984)
8. Family Fodder – Debbie Harry (England, 1980)
9. Pink Turds In Space – Eastenders (Northern Ireland, 1988)
10. Die Mimmi’s – Mc Donald (Germany, 1984)
11. No-Song Kutkotz – Telegram (Netherlands, 1984)
12. Ratos De Porão – Nao Me Importo (live) (Brazil, 1985)
13. Martina + Part Time Punx – Mehr Von Dir (Germany, 1987)
14. Frightwig – Only You (USA, 1984)
15. Big In Japan – Big In Japan (England, 1977)
16. Bärchen Und Die Milchbubis – Jung Kaputt Spart Alterscheime (Germany, 1980)
17. Mood Of Defiance – American Love Song (USA, 1983)
18. Virgin Rocks – Get Along With You (Japan, 1987)
19. Ana Hausen – Professionals (England, 1981)
20. Métal Boys – New Malden (France, 1980)
21. Red Cross – Standing In Front Of Poseur (USA, 1980)
22. Dolly Mixture – Been Teen (England, 1981)
23. Morbid Opera – White Flag (USA, 1983)
24. Chin-Chin – We Don’t Wanna Be Prisoners (Switzerland, 1984)
25. Lovedolls – Now That I’ve Tasted Blood (USA, 1986)
26. Compos Mentis – Confused (New Zealand, 1985-ish)
27. Hysteria – Silent Hate (England, 1984)

Disc 12:

1. Pervers – Asozial (Germany, 1984)
2. Hugh Beaumont Experience – Moo (USA, 1983)
3. Inocentes with Meire – Ri Dos Hippies (Brazil, 1984)
4. Ruggedy Annes – Hollow Heroes (Canada, 1985)
5. Blowdriers – Berkeley Farms (USA, 1979)
6. Rap – Accident (Japan, 1985)
7. Decadent – Opposition Proposition (USA, 1982)
8. Warriors – Born To Ride (Japan, 1987)
9. Bambix – Little Miss Sunshine (Netherlands, 1989)
10. Super Heroines – Death On The Elevator (USA, 1981)
11. Cherry Vanilla – The Punk (England, 1977)
12. Hari-Kari – Prey For Peace (USA, 1983)
13. Kleenex – Ü (Switzerland, 1979)
14. Chute De Esperma – No Keremos (Spain, 1984)
15. Revo – Fuck The School (Netherlands, 1980)
16. The Fall – Hotel Blôedel (England, 1983)
17. Der Riß – Images (Germany, 1985)

As the compiler mentioned above, in some ways, the title of this set is a misnomer... although many of the bands featured in this compilation (such as The Raincoats, Kleenex, The Slits, Hans-A-Plast, etc.) are indeed all-woman groups, a good proportion of the songs being offered here are by unisex bands that just happened to have a woman as a lead singer (like X, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, Chumbawumba and X-Ray Spex) or groups that let one of the female members sing a song or two  (like The Fall, 45 Grave, The Rezillos, and the like).  Perhaps a better name for this would have been A Reference of Female Voices in Punk Rock 1977-89... but maybe I'm just nitpicking. All in all, the selection here is superb...

Unfortunately, the initial set of downloads burned from this blogger's copies were NOT superb. I had a heck of a lot of issues with some of the song files, especially in the last five or six discs - some files were incomplete, others hopelessly corrupted.  So I made the time and took the extra effort to cull out the crap and find replacement files for some of these bands from other sources. Considering the level of obscurity of some of the tunes provided in this set, it goes without saying that it took a while for me to track everything down.   But in the end, I think I did.  So the set I'm offering here is a clean and uncorrupted as you're going to find out there for the time being.

Apparently, this set was featured on the Dangerous Minds website a few years ago - but still linked back to the Kangnave page, with its wonky files. Here for your listening pleasure is my repaired version of A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89, a fan-compiled boot of twelve discs containing over 300 slices of quality punk and post-punk from the heyday of this music.  Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

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Andy Gill (Gang Of Four), 1956-2020

Sad news:  Andy Gill (shown pictured at left with bandmate Jon King), the founding, stalwart and only constant member of the various formations (and reformations) of post-punk giants Gang Of Four, died over the weekend at the age of 64.  Here's his obituary from The Guardian:

Andy Gill obituary

And from the same source, here's a excellent overview/tribute to his art and influence; I can add nothing of substance to this superb writeup:

Andy Gill: Gang Of Four's genius guitarist who burned a route out of punk

I got into Gang Of Four way back in the early '80s, when a friend of mine loaned me his vinyl copy of their debut album Entertainment! To say I was blown away by it is an understatement... I LOVED every single song on that album, and after I got my own copies (successively on vinyl, cassette and CD over the years), I played them to death! At one time, "Anthrax" was my favorite song; I once told a story in an earlier post about how I coerced a short-lived alternative radio station in Norfolk, Virginia to play it during weekday rush-hour drive time... quite possibly the one and only time Gang Of Four was ever broadcast in that area.

And years later, when I was in my own band, made up of middle-aged finance executives (the full story of which I have yet to tell), playing rock and pop standards, I somehow convinced those guys to include a cover of "I Found That Essence Rare" on our playlist - the drummer Bill used to refer to it as our "punk set"!

After an equally great follow-up album, 1981's Solid Gold, the original group lineup began to splinter, with bassist Dave Allen leaving the band to form Shriekback, replaced by Sara Lee. The first release with this new bassist, 1982's Songs Of The Free, signaled a subtle shift away from the jagged, scabrous, Situationism-influenced bent of their earlier music and into a more commercial sound, a move signified by the centerpiece song on the album, "I Love A Man In A Uniform".

Still, there were enough good tunes on this release (I especially loved "Life! It's A Shame" and "I Will Be A Good Boy") to satisfy fans of their signature sound and attitude - including me. And I remained a Gang Of Four

devotee even through the following year's widely-panned album Hard, recorded by a trio of Gill, King and Lee in the aftermath of original member drummer Hugo Burnham's departure.  Hard was a blatant bid by the band for wider radio airplay, and it failed miserably, with Gang Of Four devolving into little more than a disco-influenced funk band. The remaining members called it quits the next year, undertaking a "farewell tour" through the spring and summer of 1984 (I'm still disappointed in myself for skipping the opportunity to see them on that tour).

However, that wasn't the complete end of Gang Of Four; various members got back together in the following years in various iterations to make new band recordings. Gill and King collaborated on 1991's Mall and 1995's Shrinkwrapped (the latter being more well-received than the former, although in my opinion, neither were up to the standards of the group's first three releases). Finally, in late 2004, the original lineup of Gill, King, Allen and Burnham reformed, and spent most of the next year touring the world. I saw them that summer when they played The 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, finally seeing one of my

old favorites live; they were, of course, excellent. Later that year, the reconstituted band released Return The Gift, rerecordings of songs from their earlier albums - an interesting, but somewhat unnecessary product. Afterwards most of the band members immediately scattered, although Gill and King continued working together until 2011.

In the following years, Gill kept the Gang Of Four flag flying, with different and various members, and issuing new releases (2011's Content, 2015's What Happens Next, and most recently last year's Happy Now) from time to time. I saw the group for the last time just about a year ago (the same week I saw Martin Phillips and The Chills at a nearby venue), when they played at a small club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was good to see Gill up on stage again, but the show made me long for the original sound and the original band, as I heard them all those years ago.

So here, in memory of and tribute to Andy Gill and his seminal group, Gang Of Four, I offer up the following:

• Their first release, the Damaged Goods EP, put out by Scottish indie label Fast Product on vinyl on October 13th, 1978 (this disc features the original version, with different lyrics, of "(Love Like) Anthrax");
• The 100 Flowers Bloom two-disc compilation, a mixture of demos, album cuts, live versions and remixes, released on Rhino Records on November 3rd, 1998.  This one has been a long-time go-to source for Go4 music for me!; and
• The Peel Sessions Album, a collection of all three of the group's appearances (in 1979 and 1981) on BBC1's John Peel Show, put out on Strange Fruit Records in 1990.

Enjoy, remember, and as always... well, you know; I always enjoying hearing from you all.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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The Fall - On The Wireless (Non-Peel Radio Sessions) (3-Disc Set)

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the infamous on-stage set-to between members of The Fall at Brownies in Lower Manhattan on the tail end of their American tour that year... the fight that led to the immediate and permanent departure of longtime band stalwarts Steve Hanley, Karl Burns and Tommy Crooks and forever changed the direction of the group. From YouTube, here's the video of the entire shambolic set, with band leader Mark E. Smith instigating the situation approximately 25 minutes into the hour-long gig - it quickly deteriorates from there:

The spring 1998 U.S. tour of The Fall started out on a bad note. For some reason or another, drummer Karl Burns and guitarist Tommy Crooks missed the transatlantic flight from Manchester to the States - a situation that, of course, drove Smith into a towering rage even before the plane got off the ground in England. The two showed up in New York later that day, but that didn't improve Smith's attitude.

Another major point of tension/contention centered around the itinerary - it was scheduled to be a week-long campaign and then some, beginning in New York and moving on to venues up and down the U.S. East Coast from Boston to Washington DC, with shows practically every night. But bizarrely, the group was only booked to stay in New York City hotels. Why?

Well, back during the 1993 American tour in support of the then-recently released The Infotainment Scan, when there was (then) plenty of label cash to throw around, The Fall were provided suites at the ultra-swank Gramercy Park Hotel for

a week. Smith took a particular liking to this style of living while on tour in the States, so much so that for The Fall's return visit to the States in 1994, he insisted upon staying there again, and made the hotel his central point of operations during their East Coast concerts. As a consequence, the band would play venues hundreds of miles away from the city, only to pack up their gear each night and be bused back to Manhattan... arriving back at the Gramercy Park often in the wee hours to stumble exhaustedly into their opulent beds for a couple of hours of sleep, before having to load up and be out on the highway again later in the day. Needless to say, this was not an ideal situation for anyone in the group (other than Smith, I suppose). Fortunately, there were only three or four East Coast dates on that tour, before The Fall headed to venues in the Midwest and West, so the band members sucked it up for that short period.

During this 1998 U.S. jaunt, Smith once again booked a room at the Gramercy Park for himself and his girlfriend, keyboardist Julia Nagle - an expense the group/label frankly could hardly afford at the time due to some serious tax issues they were facing back home [full disclosure - I've stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel a couple of times myself in the past; believe me, cheap it ain't...]. The rest of the band was ensconced across town at the decidedly more downmarket Quality Hotel East Side (apparently, the concern with economy and on-tour penny-pinching during this period didn't apply to Smith personally...). As with the 1994 visit, The Fall's gigs (all in the Northeast U.S.) were arranged as before, with the group returning to New York each night to ensure that Mark got to spend as much time as possible wallowing in the hotel's grandeur. But there were twice as many East Coast shows on this tour than there were in 1994. It was inevitable that fatigue and bad feelings would begin to set in among band members.

And then, Smith queered the deal almost immediately upon arriving in America, before the first note at the first show was even played. Obviously still in a rage regarding Burns' and Crooks' tardiness, Smith proceeded to trash his hotel room practically the minute he walked into it - breaking lamps, telephones and furniture - and was thrown out of the Gramercy Park within an hour of arriving. The main "justification" for making those long back-and-forth bus trips to and from places like Boston and Philadelphia was thereby removed... but it was far too late to arrange for lodging closer to the tour stops, and the transportation contract couldn't be cancelled. Smith and Nagle were forced to stay at - and return each night to - the same ramshackle Manhattan Quality Inn with the rest of the band... a situation that did nothing to improve the attitudes of any of the involved parties.

The first couple of shows on the tour (at Coney Island High in New York, The Loop Lounge in Passaic, NJ and The Middle East in Cambridge, MA) reportedly went well, with no overt outbursts or out-of-the-ordinary aggression noted from Smith towards his bandmates (although it was noted in a couple of news outlets that Smith appeared to be sporting a black eye during the New York gigs - who knows if those reports was accurate, and if so, the source and circumstances behind that shiner). But as the tour went on, with weariness increasing and tempers shortening, things began to quickly deteriorate.

Apparently, the first overt conflict occurred during their gig at The Trocadero in Philadelphia on April 4th. From Steve Hanley's 2014 book The Big Midweek detailing his life as a member of The Fall:

"During the gig [specifically, during the band's rendition of "Jungle Rock"] [Mark] tries to push me aside so he can fuck with my amp. It is the first time he has laid a finger on it in years. He's lurching towards it, trying to grasp hold of the knobs like on those machines at the fair that never picks up a toy, no matter how much money you put in and no matter how much the child cries. I push him out of the way with the end of my bass and turn my back. ...I finish the song and walk off, to be joined shortly after by Tommy and Karl, leaving [Mark] with nothing else to do but sing "Everybody But Myself" all by himself."

The three commandeered the tour bus and returned immediately with most of the band equipment to New York, leaving Smith and Nagle in Philly to fend for themselves. To exacerbate an already bad situation, upon their return to Manhattan, the bus was broken into overnight and a large quantity of the group's instruments (including Nagle's cherished keyboards) were stolen. The band got through their next gig, a show on Sunday, April 5th at The Black Cat in DC, with borrowed equipment... but the tension and bad blood within and between the group members was palpable.

All of which led up to the Brownies debacle on Tuesday, April 7th. I won't go into further details regarding that gig; If you're a Fall fan, I'm sure you already know more than enough about it - if not, I refer you to the video above. The site Dangerous Minds has a superb summary of the circumstances behind the fight - check it out here. And of course, the "cherry on top" of that night, with the Fall kaput and the rest of the U.S. tour cancelled, was the after-gig arrest of Smith at the Quality Hotel in the small hours of that following morning, allegedly for assaulting Nagle back in their room... an ignominious end to a tumultuous period.

I've already provided my impressions and opinions on the immediate and long-term impact of the Brownies altercation on the future history of The Fall - no need to reiterate my thoughts here. This post is more concerned with heretofore unavailable/hard-to-find music from the pre-brawl period (mostly) that I happen to have in my possession.

The set provided here (another long unavailable offering from the defunct Symphony Of Ghosts website) appears to be a re-release of/upgrade to 2004's Unreleased Radio Sessions '81-'99 two-disc bootleg - another boot set that I acquired from God knows where (perhaps the old Young Moss Tongue site) many moons ago. Both compilations have almost the exact same contents, although the overall track list is different; here's the lineup, with sources listed (if known):

Disc 1:
01 Lay Of The Land (David 'Kid' Jansen Session 02-19-1984)
02 God Box (David 'Kid' Jansen Session 02-19-1984)
03 Oh Brother (David 'Kid' Jansen Session 02-19-1984)
04 C.R.E.E.P. (David 'Kid' Jansen Session 02-19-1984)
05 Stephen Song (Janice Long Session 1 09-09-1984)
06 No Bulbs (Janice Long Session 1 09-09-1984)
07 Draygo's Guilt (Janice Long Session 1 09-09-1984)
08 Slang King (Janice Long Session 1 09-09-1984)
09 Copped It (Saturday BBC Live 09-29-1984)
10 Elves (Saturday BBC Live 09-29-1984)
11 Fortress / Marquis Cha Cha (Saturday BBC Live 09-29-1984)
12 Interview (Saturday BBC Live 09-29-1984)

Disc 2:
01 Frenz (Janice Long Session 2 05-19-1987)
02 Get A Hotel (Janice Long Session 2 05-19-1987)
03 Ghost In My House (Janice Long Session 2 05-19-1987)
04 Haf Found Bormann (Janice Long Session 2 05-19-1987)
05 In These Times (Piccadilly Radio Session 02-25-1988)
06 Carry Bag Man (Piccadilly Radio Session 02-25-1988)
07 Cab It Up (Piccadilly Radio Session 02-25-1988)
08 Oswald Defense Lawyer (Piccadilly Radio Session 02-25-1988)
09 Glam Racket (Mark Goodier Session 05-17-1993)
10 War (Mark Goodier Session 05-17-1993)
11 15 Ways (Mark Goodier Session 05-17-1993)
12 A Past Gone Mad (Mark Goodier Session 05-17-1993)

Disc 3:
01 Fit & Working Again (Dutch Session 05-17-1981)
02 Fantastic Life (Dutch Session 05-17-1981)
03 New Face In Hell (Dutch Session 05-17-1981)
04 Shake Off (XFM Session 04-15-1999)
05 F'oldin Money (XFM Session 04-15-1999)
06 Jet Boy (XFM Session 04-15-1999)
07 Touch Sensitive (XFM Session 04-15-1999)
08 Antidotes (XFM Session 04-15-1999)
09 10 Houses Of Eve (XFM Session 04-15-1999)
10 Inevitable (XFM Session 04-15-1999)
11 This Perfect Day (XFM Session 04-15-1999)

This just goes to show that John Peel wasn't the be-all and end-all of Fall live sessions; the band did extensive and superb work with a number of radio hosts, both influential and obscure. This set collects the best of their work from that period.

So for your listening pleasure, here's The Fall's On The Wireless (Non-Peel Radio Sessions), a three-disc bootleg made available in the summer of 2005. Enjoy this offering, with the hope that it brightens this dark day in Fall history for you! And as always, let me know what you think.

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[10 Apr 2018 (p.m.) - Quick note: OK - repaired the previously posted files (at least most of them...) - these should be good to go now. If you have any issues with these tune files, let me know upon receipt - thanks.]

The Fall - Scherzo Schist

Well...  I promised in my previous posting that if I found it, I'd immediately post it here - so here you all are. Special thanks to blog friend Ji De for hooking me up - finally - with this long sought-after bootleg collection of ostensibly hard-to-find Fall tunes I first heard about on the Symphony Of Ghosts blog more than a decade ago.

Here's the track list and sources:

01  In The Park (Acklam Hall)
02  The Man Whose Head Expanded (live) [PBL video version]
03  Couldn't Get Ahead (live) [The version on the VHS8489 video]
04  US 80's-90's (live). (What's That Noise 7", also on Backdrop)
05  Kimble (Peel Session)
06  Why Are People Grudgeful? [more funky, more upbeat version. 12" mix?]
07  Noel's Chemical Effluence (The 27 Points)
08  Crying Marshall (Filthy Three mix from the F'Oldin' Money single #2)
09  Powder Keg (Version) (0161 compilation)
10  Spencer Must Die (Peel Session)
11  Beatle Bones [Peel Session '96, Beefheart cover]
12  Touch Sensitive (Peel Session version)
13  Inch [the main version from the Inch CD single]
14  Calendar (from Masquerade double EP)
15  Das Katerer (The Post Nearly Man version)
16  Two Librans (demo) (Voiceprint Ltd. giveaway CD promo)
17  Blindness/Blindman (Voiceprint Ltd giveaway CD promo)
18  Life Just Bounces (In the City) (same version as on A World Bewitched)

This set of "rarities" didn't turn out to be as 'rare' as I had hoped... For example, I'd previously provided "Calendar" in my Masquerade posting from a while back, along with "Das Katerer" in my The Post Nearly Man writeup, "Inch" in my posting of the same name and "Kimble" way back in 2011 with the Kimble EP here.  And a lot of these other songs are available on the

excellent The Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 box set (which every self-respecting Fall fan should have already long had as part of their collection) and other more mainstream band releases (Backdrop, The 27 Points, etc.).  But there are enough true obscurities included here to make this disc worth acquiring... plus, it's nice to have everything all in one easy-to-access package.

So, this isn't an essential bootleg by any means... but overall, still worthwhile.

So for your consideration, here's The Fall's Scherzo Schist bootleg, compiled by that same secretive group of British fans that brought you King Of Moscow Road back in 2005.  Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

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The Fall - King Of Moscow Road

I ran this one down more than a decade ago in my search for any and all things Fall-related, from a now long-defunct music blog (Symphony Of Ghosts). Here's a description of this disc from the website, and the circumstances by which it was acquired:

"Fan bootleg sent out by unknown group of an eBay seller or 1 or 2 other fellows working together to spread some rare Fall joy to a few select fans - not known to be for sale..."

Here's the track lineup:

01 I'm Bobby (Excerpt - MES Solo)
02 Words Of Expectation (Live)
03 Rowche Rumble (Live)
04 In These TImes (Piccadilly Radio Session)
05 Oswald Defence Lawyer (Piccadilly Radio Session)
06 Cab Driver (Version Of City Dweller)
07 A Past Gone Mad / Passable
08 War (Goodier Session)
09 Don't Call Me Darling (source unknown)
10 'Ol Gang (Live Masquerade EP)
11 Christmastide (Levitate bonus CD)
12 My Ex-Classmates Kid (Rude All The Time version)
13 Janet VS Johnny (Fall Vs 2003 EP)
14 Mod Mock Goth (RNFLP-Narnack version)
15 Recovery Kit #2 (RNFLP-Narnack version)
16 Portugal (RNFLP & Sparta FC single hidden track)
17 Theme From Sparta FC (video edit version)

Some of these songs you may have seen provided elsewhere, on other Fall boots and releases (including some I've recently posted here)... while others are true band rarities. Take them as offered for what you will.

(One thing I'm still kicking myself over in regards to this disc: on the Symphony Of Ghosts site, the moderator mentioned that he received both this disc AND another fan-fabricated bootleg (Scherzo Schist) on the same day in the mail from an unknown provider in the UK. For some reason - either stupidity or oversight - I failed to download the music on the latter disc at the same time as King Of Moscow Road. Of course, the files for Scherzo Schist have long been unavailable off of this blog, and I've been searching for them ever since (ten-plus years now), with no luck whatsoever... Annoying.)

In any case...

Here, on what would have been Mark E. Smith's 61st birthday, I offer to you in his honor The Fall's King Of Moscow Road bootleg, compiled by mysterious and unknown British individuals in April 2005. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

Happy Birthday, MES - you're not forgotten down here, 'cock'.

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The Fall - TV Appearances 1978-2004

And for my final posting in my week of Fall-related releases in the wake of the death of Mark E. Smith, here's a fan-assembled compilation (in .mp4 format) of television appearances, videos and interviews by the band over more than a quarter-century. You could say that this amalgamation serves as the visual

companion to The Fall's Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 box set, released in 2005. There are some superb and iconic performances featured here, from the band's appearance on Tony Wilson's So It Goes program in the late 1970's to the "Cruiser's Creek" video. Get ready for over TWO HOURS of Fall goodness!

Enjoy and remember what we'll all be missing, now that Mr. Smith is no longer with us. And as always, let me know what you think.

R.I.P., Mark.

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The Fall - Demos & Rarities

 

Nabbed this one donkey's years ago from an online source; I think it was The Ultimate Bootleg Experience (T.U.B.E.), although it's been so long now, I simply don't recall.

No matter; this is a superb collection of heretofore unreleased/hard-to-find Fall music, recorded between 1981 and 2002. Here's the track lineup:

01. Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul (1981 demo)
02. Neighbourhood Of Infinity (1983 demo)
03. C.R.E.E.P. (1983 demo)
04. Hey! Mark Riley (1985 demo)
05. Whizz Bang (1989 Peel Session, never broadcast)
06. Simon’s Dream (1990 demo)
07. Middle Class Revolt (Prozac mix, Drum Club remix 1994-95)
08. Middle Class Revolt (Orange In The Mouth mix, Drum Club remix, 1994-95)
09. Bonkers In Phoenix (1994 demo)
10. The Chiselers (1996 demo)
11. The Ballad Of J. Drummer (1996 demo)
12. The Horror In Clay (”Post Nearly Man” 1998 demo)
13. Nev’s Country (”Hot Runes” 2000 demo)
14. Rubber (”The Unutterable” 2000 outtake)
15. Weirdo (”The Unutterable” 2000 outtake)
16. Iodeo (”Green Eyed Loco Man” 2002 demo)
17. Dramatic (”Country On The Click”/”Real New Fall LP” 2002 outtake)
18. 1983 MES Interview

Not much else needs to be said regarding this offering - it's real, it's rare, it's The Fall!

So enjoy the band's Demos & Rarities bootleg, posted online way back in the mid-2000s (probably around 2006, although I'm dating it from the last song included), and a pain in the butt to track down nowadays. So it's provided here for your edification and convenience.

As always... well, you know.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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The Fall - Country On The Click (Bootleg Version)

In the aftermath of the infamous April 1998 punch-up at The Fall's Brownies gig in New York, when most of the band (including longtime stalwarts like Steve Hanley and Karl Burns) permanently departed the group, Mark E. Smith and remaining member (and his then-girlfriend) keyboardist Julia Nagle quickly cobbled together some replacement musicians (including bass guitarist Adam Halal, drummer Tom Head and guitarist Neville Wilding) to constitute a 'new' Fall. This hastily assembled lineup

somehow managed to coalesce into a unit, and released two well-received and critically acclaimed albums, 1999's The Marshall Suite and 2000's superb The Unutterable.

But, as usual and true to form, Smith just couldn't leave well enough alone. Due to either real or contrived reasons (some reports suggested that there was a royalty payment dispute among band members, although Halal later denied this), he sacked all of the new members in early 2001, reducing The Fall to just himself and Nagle once again. After another chaotic, haphazard scramble for new members (which was apparently too much for Nagle; she too left the band that spring), another group lineup (consisting of guitarists Ben Pritchard and Ed Blaney, drummer Spencer Birtwistle and bassist Jim Watts) was assembled. I assume that in doing so, Smith hoped he could once again recapture the same sort of creative magic he got just two years earlier, from musicians not fully initiated into the whys and wherefores, the history and mythology of The Mighty Fall. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way, initially.

Although The Unutterable was superior to its predecessor and got outstanding reviews, its sales and chart position were significantly below that of The Marshall Suite. This was probably due to the lack of support from the band's new label; Smith attempted to parlay the success of The Marshall Suite into a better recording deal, and moved from Artful Records to Eagle Records (a division of Universal Music Group) in late 1999/early 2000. But the English label (home to ancient prog-rock groups like Deep Purple, Yes, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer) didn't quite know how to market The Fall, with predictable results.

The result of this was that the band was in dire financial straits in 2001. So while it was necessary to get an album released that year to generate some much-needed revenue for the group, they really didn't have the funds to do a top-notch job of producing it. Feeling that they had been mismanaged and underpromoted, The Fall had left Eagle for Voiceprint Records earlier that year (the latter label had acquired Smith's own Cog Sinister imprint in 1997) - but this label wasn't exactly rolling in money either (Voiceprint's holding company ended up going insolvent a few years later). As a result, the first album with this latest lineup was recorded on the cheap, very quickly in subpar conditions. Ben Pritchard later described the wretchedness of the situation:

"It was a very miserable experience making that album. We were recording it in a studio where there were rats running around. There was a weightlifter's gymnasium above us, you'd be recording a take and suddenly you'd hear BOOM dropping barbells and dumb-bells on the floor and you'd have to stop and start again... I wasn't there a lot of the time they were recording that album. Just cos I couldn't deal with it. Ed Blaney, Jim, Spen, Mark, Steve Lloyd the producer was there. I didn't really know anyone, it was my first time recording and it was a miserable, horrible experience... [It was] rushed. Two or three weeks, it was done. He needed the album out, the group needed the money for it."

The resultant disc, Are You Are Missing Winner (released in November 2001), frankly sucked, in my opinion - full of (mostly) bad songs ill-conceived and poorly executed, recorded with a wildly uneven mix; apparently the album was pushed out the door so fast, there was little time spent properly mastering the tracks. Even Pritchard, who played on it, referred to it as a "horrible album". The critics savaged it, and it was the first Fall album since 1983's Perverted By Language to completely miss the British Top 200 charts. Are You Are Missing Winner was a trainwreck from start to finish.

In serious trouble now, the group responded by touring relentlessly during the latter part of 2001 and the first half of 2002. These shows included an extensive U.S. tour in the fall of 2001, the first in this country by the band since the Brownies debacle nearly four years earlier (I saw them play at the Knitting Factory in New York that November, during their three-night stand at that venue), along with two full-scale European

tours.  This intense series of concerts produced 2G+2, a June 2002 release (on yet another new label, Action Records) consisting mostly of live material culled from their U.S. shows, along with three new studio songs ("New Formation Sermon", "I Wake Up in the City" and "Distilled Mug Art"). This album actually charted in Britain this time; no great heights (#116), but high enough to keep the wolf from the band's door for a bit.

The scheduling of this multitude of shows, one on top of the other, had another more salubrious effect; it transformed this version of The Fall into a cohesive group, with chops honed from dozens of live performances. This group was more than ready for their next challenge; to improve upon their debut studio recording debacle.

The Fall entered Gracieland Studios in Lancashire in December 2002 to begin work on this latest release, sessions helmed once again by longtime band producer Grant Showbiz. After eight weeks of recording and a month of remixing by Showbiz and Watts, promo copies of the new album, titled Country On The Click, were made from the mixing reference discs and forwarded to selected reviewers, with an eye towards an early spring 2003 release date.

However, an unnamed and unidentified individual, for reasons of his/her own, leaked these demo versions onto the Internet shortly before the scheduled release.  As Jim Watts recalled in a post on The Fall Forum about three years ago:

"I found one of the reference CDs in a drawer recently. The leak came from those CDs and if I remember correctly there were only a handful ever made. I think I worked out exactly who leaked the album in the end. I know they meant well but at the time I was just as annoyed as Mark about the leak. I think they thought by getting it out there it reinforced our version versus Mark's but it just made a bad situation worse.

The leak version was pretty much mine and Grant Showbiz's vision. We edited and mixed all the tracks. I followed Grant's lead as at that point he was the named producer of the album and I thought we had Mark's blessing. I really wanted the album to be a lot more solid than [Are You Are] Missing Winner musically and sonically. I slept on the engineers drafty living room floor for 5 days while we were mixing in London."

The unauthorized release of these album tracks enraged Smith; just as Watts mentioned above, Mark saw it as a power move by the producer to subvert his "artistic vision" of what he wanted the release to sound like:

"Mark heard that CD and was really unhappy with it. I totally understand why, me and Grant had painstakingly gone through every single utterance of Mark's from the tapes then edited the vocals very heavily. Obviously after all my effort I was quite upset too. We fell out and Mark took the album into Dingo's studio and they worked on it."

In his rage, Smith commandeered the basic album tracks from Showbiz and, as Watts mentioned, took them to Simon 'Dingo' Archer's 6dB Studios in Salford (Mark's hometown), whereupon he proceeded to remix and partially re-record the disc (Archer's bass-playing skills were utilized in the new recordings of four songs, including "Green Eyed Loco Man" and "Mad Mock Goth"). These efforts took up most of the summer (during which The Fall made another swing through the U.S., to make up for a planned late 2002 tour that fell through). At the end of this, Smith used his remastered

tracks to re-sequence the entire album, and renamed it The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country On The Click). The disc was released in England in October 2003.

The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country On The Click) was greeted with near-ecstatic reviews by the critics. A few examples of the praise for this album:

"If The Fall... have not just released their best record in a decade, they have certainly released a more consistent and accessible one, just in time for the tail-end of the post-punk renaissance."

"This is the sound, throughout, of a remarkable institution doing all the things they do best and sounding as alive as they ever have."

"Great by Smith's standards. Practically genius by everybody else's."

"It's brilliant."

Smith completely disowned the leaked version of this album, and as time has passed, this initial mix has faded into the background, obscured and buried beneath the torrent of praise the released version engendered. But that isn't to say that the Showbiz/Watts version is without merit. There are significant differences in the music featured on both versions, but in my opinion not enough to sway one's overall preference from one to another. I think BOTH versions are superb. And in that, I completely agree with Watts' assessment:

"I 100% support the released version as the definitive album... But I suppose more than enough time has passed now for the leaked version to be accepted for what it is without stealing the official version's thunder now."

And here it is, for you all to listen to and accept for yourself: the bootleg version of Country On The Click, the alternate mix of The Real New Fall LP, released under shady circumstances onto the Internet in early 2003. Enjoy, and as always let me know what you think.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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