Frightenin’ 45s: Charles Bernstein – Run, Nancy!
I was tempted to post DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince’s Nightmare On MY Street today and then I thought, nah, let’s listen to the final track of Charles Bernstein’s underrated score to Wes Craven’s 1984 film Nightmare On Elm Street instead! Bernstein’s brooding use of creepy electronics perfectly [...]
Tony Carey – Radio Tokyo
Taken from former Rainbow keyboardist Tony Carey’s ever-so-slightly-offensively titled 1982 instrumental album Yellow Power, the track ‘Radio Tokyo’ re-entered my consciousness yesterday when Mike Simonetti featured it on his stupendous FACT mix. Drawing influence from Japan, Carey’s debut album has been described by the man himself as being “cult birth-of-techno [...]
Single of the Day – Queen Samantha – Give Me Action
Renowned for her immortal 1979 Italo-Disco crossover track, ‘Take A Chance’ (A TK Records classic btw), The Queen of HI-NRG and dance, Queen Samantha, released today’s SOTD, ‘Give Me Action’ in 1982. A superb disco bomb that glitters and sparkles like the bright city lights of eighties New York, this [...]
Surreal Singles Club: The B-52s – Deep Sleep
Athens, Georgia’s finest, The B-52s, recorded this minor Surreal classic back in 1982. Taken from the Mesopotamia EP and produced by David Byrne, it saw the band delve deep into the past and travel to a mysterious post-punk parallel universe. Alongside the title track, ‘Deep Sleep’ is one of the [...]
Subway Sounds: Futura 2000 & The Clash – The Escapades of Futura 2000 (dub)
The Clash shed a lot fans when they released ‘This Is Radio Clash’ in 1981. Released on a 12” between the ‘Sandinista’ and ‘Combat Rock’ albums, it was a massive club smash, promptly entered the disco charts and the Clash famously divided their fanbase. It marked the point when the [...]
Single of the Day – Andy Nelson – Lady Angie
What a front cover! For that reason alone, Andy Nelson’s 1982 funky electronic disco masterpiece is our SOTD. Not really, the song turns out to be pretty good as well. A cult favourite, the track was recently lauded by ‘nu disco’ legends the Idjut Boys, due to it’s fabulous ‘camp [...]
Single of the Day – Anna – Systems Breaking Down (dance version)
SYSTEMS BREAKING DOWN!!!!!!!! They’re not really but have a listen this spooky Balearic electronic track from 1982. This rare and seminal track was produced by 80s disco-pop mavericks Geraint Hughes and Ken Leray. A dark-synth pop song with tons of atmosphere and feeling, the landscape of synths and weird sounds [...]
Single of the Day – Blackway – Follow Me
Round up the ‘quite sad really’ week with this rare 1982 Italo classic! Yay!! Today’s SOTD is a dark, brooding number that recalls Flash And The Pan and other strange foreign creatures. Wonderfully subversive, its hazy, futuristic synths and vocals combine to make a perfect Italo-Disco moment. There’s not much information about [...]
Single of the Day – Grauzone – Film 2
Formed by brothers Stephen and Martin Eicher in 1978, the Swiss band Grauzone were part of the ‘Neue Deutsche Welle’ (New German Wave) – a collective of European bands who took their inspiration from punk, early electro and the grey decaying urban cities around them. From its early beginnings in 1981 from the underground punk [...]
Single of the Day – Carly Simon – Why
Ahhh, the summer. There’s nothing like the summer with a bit of Carly Simon. What’s Carly Simon got to do with the summer? I hear you ask. Well, my friends this timeless ‘Balearic’ classic will tell you ‘why’ (arf!). Produced by the mighty Chic in 1982 for the flop movie ‘Soup [...]