Probably best remembered for their 1983 ‘disco-not-disco’ classic ‘Love Tempo’, Quando Quango released unique and influential records throughout the early eighties on Factory Records. The musical brain child of Mike Pickering and Hillegonda Rietveld, the band were formed in 1981 and quickly became one of label’s most revered and trailblazing bands.

With their abstract mix of disco, punk, new wave, world, jazz, reggae, they were dismissed by the UK music press for being too eclectic and weird. As with the yesterday’s SOTD, they first garnered attention from New York by none other than Larry Levan. The band was even invited to play at the Paradise Garage in 1983 (which they duly did but got a lukewarm reception).

In 1985, the band released their only album ‘Pigs & Battleships’ to some critical acclaim. With the tracks perfectly complimenting the forthcoming House explosion, as well as providing anthems for the Hacienda, for whom Pickering would later become synonymous with (we’ll gloss over the whole M People thing). The band’s influence across the board cannot be underestimated.

Anyway, ‘Genius’ is a mind-spinning party song. With Latino-flavoured percussion, upbeat pianos, as well as Fela Kuti-esque guitar flourishes, producer Mark Kamins harnesses the band’s distinctive sound and delivers a near-perfect, dreamy summer song.

Genius indeed.

Quando Quango – Genius

Taken from The Stranglers’ 1979 album ‘The Raven’, this genuinely strange offering shows off the surprising  creative diversity and ingenuity from one of Britain’s most misunderstood and maligned punk/new wave bands. From the accusations of misogyny and pub-rock oafishness to concept albums about aliens and songs about heroin, no one can accuse Hugh Cornwell and Jean Jacques Brunel’s Guildford Outlaws of being boring.

‘Meninblack’ was primarily Cornwell’s concept, and introduced the idea of extra-terrestrial hit-men who silence individuals that have witness UFO landings (yeah i know, crazy or what?!).  Along side ‘Duchess’, the track is the highlight of the album. With the idea being so unusual and extraordinary, the band used it for the subsequent 1981 concept album of the same name.

This period of the Stranglers history is often overlooked (FACT: I was only introduced to it last year by a friend. Shocking I know, but true), so I urge you to go and seek the aforementioned albums and you’ll be richly rewarded with songs about crazy-ass aliens done in a pulsating, experimental punk/new wave stylee and let’s face it, who doesn’t want that?

The Stranglers- Meninblack

The Stranglers- Meninblack

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 scenes of Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg (amongst others) to commercial success in the mid-eighties, the NDW is now regarded to have exerted its influence on genres such as, new beat , electroclash and the ‘dance-punk’ phenomena of the early noughties.

‘Film 2′ is one of the genre’s understated masterpieces.  A b-side from the hit single ‘Eisbar’ (which was later covered by the Ad Man’s wet-dream group Nouvelle Vague), the track is unnerving and extraordinary. With it’s slightly off-kilter four to the floor beat and minimal yet driving sound, it’s a song that was way ahead of its time. Featuring on many mix compilations over the years (most notably Hot Chips’ DJ Kicks album), just shows the timeless quality of this cult 1981 gem.

Grauzone – Film 2