This is the tenth (and I promise, the last - I swear, I'm losing them in droves every time I post another one) Mix Tape, and I have to say, I'm in love with it. It features New Wave music - some people might argue with my definition of New Wave, and say that my chronology is up the spout and that I have no justification in including Aswad, Iggy Pop and the Soft Boys as New Wave - and why have I included no less than 3 Specials tunes? - to which I say, bugger off and make your own mix tape.This music must have been kicking around in the background when I was growing up, but it wasn't til later that I grew to appreciate it muchly (because if I am honest, my clearest musical memories of the 70s/80s were *cough* Elton John, Gary Glitter and Alvin Stardust. And the Brotherhood of Man. And disco, disco, disco...)
When I look back, the late 70s/early 80s was quite a rich time for music, you had all the shiny silly pop bands and then there were all the interesting left-field agitators writing songs about earth-shaking political issues which you just don't get in pop music now. Would you know these days that we've been living through war and terrorism and huge upheavals just from listening to music radio?
new wave
6 comments:
Oh Bondage, Up Yours - XRay Spex - Poly Styrene, a black teenage girl writing anti-capitalist anti-sexist tunes, wearing dayglo and sunglasses, yelling at the top of her voice - she should be worshipped as a goddess.
Ever Fallen In Love - The Buzzcocks
Ok, people will say they were punk not new wave, but they were always too cute and poppy to really be punk, they just got away with it by playing fast. Surely one of the best pop tunes ever written?
Give it to the Soft Boys - The Soft Boys
Hmm, don't know too much about them, apart from the fact that it's a bold name, check them out on Wikipedia.
Mirror in the Bathroom - The Beat
This was on the soundtrack to Grosse Pointe Blank, when John Cusack the assassin is trying to bump off another assassin at his 10 year high school reunion, shortly after shagging Minnie Driver, his high school sweetheart, film fans. It's a good soundtrack for people of my advancing years.
Gangsters - The Specials (also The Thing I Like Most About You Most Is Your Girlfriend/Ghost Town) Where are our Specials now when we need them? Who's writing songs about teenage pregnancies and all our kids getting stabbed and shot on the streets these days? The lily-livered pop bands of today wouldn't touch anything remotely political. (I think they are underrated, the Specials.)
African Children - Aswad. A lot of New Wave bands pinched their drums and their basslines from reggae, so why not go straight to the horse's mouth? This was live at the 1983 Carnival, it sounds like a great show.
Watching the Detectives - Elvis Costello - like this one. Never really got him, I think of him as someone I'm saving for when I'm older and have more time (like all classical music). This rocks though.
Public Image - Public Image Ltd - when she was 13 my friend Elsa bumped into John Lydon at Richard Branson's annual Virgin garden party, whilst wearing a huge PiL t-shirt with his face on. He said 'Hey, that's me!' She was mortified and ran off.
The Endless Sea - Iggy Pop - is it New Wave? I don't know, it has a sort of moody, dubby bassline - but every mix tape is better for a little Iggy.
Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones - In case The Endless Sea was too much of a downer, this is a short and sweet one to end on.
The Specials, The Only Ones, X-Ray Spex, PIL... Quality stuff lady. :)
Hah! Did that exhibition jog your memory? I have to say - I've been delving into my late 70's/early 80's collection as a result! Still planning a podcast - but still seem to be working very long days/most nights at mo x
Glad you like it Rad :-)
RoMo - it's true, it must have been at the back of my mind - I await it with interest, I like your ROCK stories... hope the work is not too much to bear...
Oh God, The Specials were about the only band I could admit to liking in front of my school colleagues without feeling like a freak. I've got to get the albums out now ... and I haven't heard that Aswad track since John Peel played it back in 1066 or something.
glad to oblige, Betty...
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