Still Can't Stop To Mess Around

Following on from Sunday;s post, Side 2 of a punk and post-punk period piece, cramming eleven songs into twenty nine and a half minutes.

Another mix of the obvious and the obscure (at least in the UK), from X-Ray Spex (England) and The Boomtown Rats (Eire) to The Kids (Belgium) and Ebba Grön (Sweden).

I must have heard Sonic Reducer dozens of times before I was aware of or heard the original version by The Dead Boys as it was go-to crowd pleaser for any band with a bit of attitude on the Bristol live circuit in the last 1980s.

999 are the only representatives from Urgh! A Music War, whilst The Adverts have managed to to slip a song in on both sides, Gary Gilmore's Eyes yesterday and One Chord Wonders today. To be honest, it was supposed to be either/or but I couldn't choose and there was room for both.

And the collection closes with a classic that's less punk and more pop, but just had to be included. I can't name another song by Plastic Bertrand, but when the one song is this joyous, who cares?

Next Monday is a bank holiday. Today isn't, so I grit my teeth, gird my loins and prepare to enter the fray. See you on the other side!

1) Sonic Reducer: The Dead Boys (1977)

2) Fascist Cops: The Kids (1978)

3) Oh Bondage Up Yours!: X-Ray Spex (1977)

4) Wild Youth (Single Version): Generation X (1977)

5) Lookin' After No. 1: The Boomtown Rats (1977)

6) Emergency (Album Version): 999 (1978)

7) This Perfect Day (Album Version): The Saints (1977)

8) One Chord Wonders (Album Version): The Adverts (1977)

9) Mona Tumbas Slim Club: Ebba Grön (1979)

10) Lexicon Devil (Single Version): The Germs (1978)

11) Ça Plane Pour Moi: Plastic Bertrand (1977)

1977: An 1: 11

1977: Oh Bondage Up Yours! EP: 3

1977: The Boomtown Rats: 5

1977: Wild Youth EP: 4

1977: Young Loud And Snotty: 1

1978: Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts: 8

1978: Eternally Yours: 7

1978: Lexicon Devil EP: 10

1978: 999: 6

1978: The Kids: 2

1979: Prorock EP: 9

Side Two (29:24) (GD) (M)

Fill The Skies

Heading back to the mid-late 1970s today with a clutch of songs that are guaranteed to get me moving or, even worse, singing along. 

Although the music dates from before I started buying records, the songs here by Roxy Music, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, The Boomtown Rats and David Bowie all made an impression on me at an early age. Japan's version of The Velvet Underground came to my attention when it was re-released in the early 1980s and it was probably another couple of years before I even heard the original. James White & The Blacks - and the whole No Wave/Ze Records scene - found their way to me in the late 1980s, although Kid Creole & The Coconuts were popular way before then. I'd explored Lou Reed's early 1970s albums and also the run of albums starting with New York before I went back to his mid-late 1970s work, including Coney Island Baby.

Songs then that don't represent a single period in time for me and instead are scattered through my record buying history, triggering individual and special memories every time I hear them.

1) Angel Eyes (12" Remix): Roxy Music (1979)

2) Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 (7" Version): Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1978)

3) Contort Yourself (Album Version): James White & The Blacks (1979)

4) Rat Trap (Album Version): The Boomtown Rats (1978)

5) All Tomorrow's Parties (Album Version) (Cover of The Velvet Underground): Japan (1979)

6) Leave Me Alone (Unreleased Version): Lou Reed (1976)

7) John, I'm Only Dancing (Again) (12" Version): David Bowie (1975)

1978: A Tonic For The Troops: 4

1979: Angel Eyes EP: 1

1979: John, I'm Only Dancing (Again) EP: 7

1979: Off White: 3 

1979: Quiet Life: 5

1979: Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 EP: 2

1992: Between Thought And Expression: The Lou Reed Anthology: 6

Fill The Skies (40:37) (Box) (Mega)