Known Pleasures (Gang Of Three)

In our latest flexidisc we will exhume the body of Eileen, run a musical autopsy, and discuss the song that moved a million hearts in stereo in 1982. Was Eileen a metaphor for casting off the social mores of sexual repression and escaping Thatcherite Britain’s humdrum existence? Was Kevin Rowland plundering Celtic rhythms and instrumentation a way of coming to terms with his Irish heritage? Or was it just a cracking good song? Either way, we at Known Pleasures will hum this tune forever, and who’d blame us? So, get your banjos out, tune those violins and dance a Celtic jig to the wonderful Dexys Midnight Runners classic: Come On Eileen.

In 1980, The Pretenders were everywhere. With the first number one single of the eighties, an album that was chock full of great songs and an image that could not be ignored. In today’s episode we’ll discuss the first three albums and follow Chrissy’s journey from Akron Ohio to the streets of London.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0RyekXLu1VFePEtwJoCnFw?si=f5e1434b381c4660

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

In this episode we interview Cathy McQuade & Ken Campbell from the Australian New Wave band Deckchairs Overboard. We discuss the early days in Melbourne, Cointreau, Paul Hester, supporting Midnight Oil and Hunters & Collectors, making videos with dice & chains and what they've been doing recently.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Deckchairs Overboard, here is the much celebrated 4 x track ep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIRfNBYNnHg

Catherine McQuades Music: https://catherinemcquade.com/music

Ken Campbell's band Valvewire: https://muzeek.com/valvewire

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/CJj4TTQMUcc?si=uPhw4nnLsilDOL9p

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

Were there any New Wave Xmas songs? Turns out there were quite a few.

Video Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLAbrKhJxw

At the legendary CBGB’s in New York in the mid 70’s, I think it’s fair to say that Blondie were outliers. Still, they took enough from the attitudes and performances of their punk contemporaries to create a style of idiosyncratic pop that made them stand out from the crowd.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1KQsSZDvmnpCxBu6n5Nmzg?si=vteJC5bFTjam5Q8hBH12Ng

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

Instagram: knownpleasurespodcast

In 1988, U2 seemed to believe their roots lay with the Beatles, Hendrix, Billie Holliday and Bo Diddley. The album – and film – Rattle and Hum saw them referencing the above, as well as recording with Dylan, then BB King, at Sun Studio in Memphis. But where were their actual influences in this telling of the tale? The Rottens and Viciouses? The Curtises and Hooks? The Strummerses?

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0NTcqN7km05UEpZB2auX5S?si=adc61be685084e11

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Known-Pleasures-131768500804116

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

If the Tears For Fears story ended after their first album we would gladly induct them into our own Post Punk Hall Of Fame, no hesitation. But in 1985, they went out to rule the world with well crafted, hook laden pop songs that America fell 'Head Over Heels' for and MTV heralded them as one of the bands at the forefront of the 2nd British Invasion. So, after that first album do Tears For Fears qualify as a New Wave band, and indeed does it really matter?

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/4OEEf5tBTEVZ6PNXKgHoyP?si=PPKXo9kxSbyejQjBCLBbag

This is a compilation of a few of our favourite moments from the first 7 years of the Known Pleasures Podcast.

Hit singles: nuh. Hit albums: nuh. Unusually charismatic singer? Unforgettable visual image? Brilliant band name? Nuh. Nuh. Nuh.

So why, 46 years after they formed, are we talking about Wire?

Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, 154 might sound like the opening line of a really good poem; it is, though, the list of albums – released between 1977 and ’79 – which, despite making only the barest dent in the charts, remain among the most influential of the era.

Beloved by everyone from Johnny Marr to Elastica, from REM to Henry Rollins to Sonic Youth, Wire are still, as Rolling Stone noted in 2017, ‘Punk’s ultimate cult band’.    

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1VLiKVlWbrLbxvtAkCnGOD?si=-Oa7As9oSNWmfyNdQEz_cw

We at Known Pleasures have had an unusually complicated relationship with The Smiths. But that doesn't mean we can't have the conversation. In this episode we choose 10 songs at random and discuss their pros and cons. Mark makes an appearance at the end to give us his 2 cents worth on the Mancunian quartet.

Video Version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfMFZtwzt5Y&t=28s

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

At first glance, The Cars might seem an unlikely choice for a post-punk dissection, but they’re just as much a part of the US conversation as Blondie, Talking Heads and Devo. So, put the top down, your pedal to the metal and take a spin with The Cars.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20wz3mYLp8xwxhV0pEpOQX?si=9I4-Nfb_QaKI-81mVYkbxg

In 1981, a yoghurt-factory worker, a window dresser, and two blokes employed by an insurance company and a bank, somehow conjured up one of the most irresistible songs of the decade. Forty years and a hundred million records later – including 35 Top 20 hits in the UK – Depeche Mode are solid-gold, electronic-rock royalty.   

In this episode, we join the band for the first part of their expedition – from the sparkling pop of ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ to the industrial clank of ‘People Are People’, losing members, attracting the scorn of the media, and wearing a skirt or two along the way. So, let’s speak, and spell it out for our listeners about Depeche Mode.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/39QGuohqd0FEBl83Rv8WMY?si=nqDiH6SOTb6SUJqEArvfCA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Known-Pleasures-131768500804116

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

‘Play high, Hooky! Play high!’ Ian Curtis had been Joy Division’s conductor and lightning rod, giving his crucial nod of approval to Peter Hook’s upper-register bass sound and pulling the strings elsewhere. In May 1980, though, after Ian’s death, the renamed New Order faced an uphill battle. How they not only survived, but thrived spectacularly, is one of the great redemptive stories of rock and roll.

Spotify Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6SPnBqYphsObL9HQKoyYYN?si=6f223859504d425a

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

In this episode we talk with one of the founding members of China Crisis, Eddie Lundon. We discuss their working with drum machines, working with synthesisers and working with fire & steel in the lead up to their first ever tour of Australia, 40 years after the release of their 1st album.

So sit back and witness the difficult shapes & passive rhythms of Eddie Lundon from China Crisis.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Known-Pleasures-131768500804116

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

When Andy, Paul and Winston took to the stage at a club in Liverpool in 1978, the small crowd assembled didn’t quite know what to expect. Especially because Winston was a tape recorder. What they wouldn’t have anticipated was that, within three or four years, this peculiar band - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - would rattle off a string of hit singles and eccentric inventive albums, placing them firmly on the frontline of the electro-pop invasion of the early to mid-80s.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5N5hZGmo8v289gom799R2M?si=iKm_jpCQSyizFhdF3oD10Q

In our latest 'Interview' episode we talk to Craig Hooper, former member of The Reels, The Mullanes (Crowded House) and The Church. We discuss his early days in regional New South Wales, the difficulties in naming bands, being stranded in New Zealand, using electronic instruments to create a unique sound and recording songs that would make your mother proud.

Youtube video version of interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7rkBZm7I9s&t=9s

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

Lindy Morrison & Amanda Brown from The Go Betweens chat about the music, the memories and the madness of being musicians in the 80's. Pass the cookies and settle in for a podcast with an unusual time signature and a head full of steam.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

We here at the Known Pleasures Institute are producing short form podcasts to be delivered sporadically throughout the year in between our normal full length episodes.

Here we discuss the synth pop classic I Ran by A Flock Of Seagulls.

If 1978 can be regarded as Year Zero for post punk, then Magazine were already wide awake when day one dawned. From 78-81 they produced four challenging albums and set the tone for the next 30 years. Episode 28 of our Known Pleasures podcast examines what made Manchester’s Magazine one of the greats.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1SWGj9qxomqduRKvzssYLu?si=nqItmi_8QPWZIloTF9iMDQ

This is a personal one. A quick look at the history of one of my favourite music venues in my home town of Brisbane in Queensland. 

It’s fairly safe to say there’s never been another Australian band, before or since, like The Birthday Party. While it would be unfair to blame these Boys Next Door entirely for the subsequent invention of Goth, they were most certainly grave-side when the body was being exhumed. We give you the lowdown on the wild ride of how St Nick got his start – and more.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/0U30jUbhcAxsvjaK2mR5oT?si=lYYdxhwGSmqN47fdcHmTiw

You might… know of… INXS as sinuous rock-funk exponents from the late 80s and early 90s. You might… know how…. they came to rule the world with their infectious hook laden songs. But_ did_ you_ know_ that back home in their native Australia there were plenty who saw them as just another rock band who’d graduated from the macho, 60s-influenced pub rock scene that had produced the likes of AC/DC. Well, here at Known Pleasures that really gets our goat up. INXS were not an Aus Rock band. They were a new wave band and a really good one.

Spotify Play List:

https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/2TPpHXX1YYLGsoh6YDwV2s?si=crAOCVu2T-iObgxvHziYFQ

When talk turns to legendary bass players of the punk and post punk era, one name always surfaces near the top: JJ Burnell of The Stranglers. We caught up with the Euroman himself ahead of their 2020 Australian tour.

People Are The Enemy Interview: http://peoplearetheenemy.libsyn.com/people-are-the-enemy-episode-104?fbclid=IwAR1rcBC-g_eUj8hGXlDBs12boxxl8jS3J5Fu8g3q5Hincs9yO2HG96lrol0

Here's our latest Flexidisc shortcast where we discuss Islington's finest Spandau Ballet and their debut single To Cut A Long Story Short.

Were Graham Parker & The Rumour part of the Punk Rock scene in Australia?

I guess it depends on where you view it from and from behind which pair of shades.

In this episode Mark, Patrick & Graham hold a magnifying glass over Adam & The Ants. Not to set fire to them & watch them burn, but to illuminate them and watch them glow.

Vote for us:  https://australianpodcastawards.com/vote

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6x2LPIq9LtunoVWugVg8mn?si=l0wFQ0NcQM6zWChbHjCL9w

“The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly”. Known Pleasures is back with a podcast of Bladerunner proportions - one hit wonders of the new wave era. Here we explore our favourite supernova tracks of the time and ask “where are they now? does that even qualify as new wave?” and “whose idea was this again?”

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6PUtCDlsvXsm7RzjFkQZ9A?si=8xqvq5ZYR8WPjeYnr_fvBw

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7uXGJG3bDGq4xcAP6qRsQz?si=rljXylSjQ16QnhptiPh8_w

In this episode, Graham interviews the Bass Player from 'The Jam' and 'From The Jam'.

The video interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgXy5F8jD2I&t=37s

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

In our latest Flexidisc we discuss the Synth Pop classic Fade To Grey by Visage.

Rusty Egan - former drummer with The Skids and The Rich Kids, founding member of Visage and DJ at The Blitz Club in London, sits down with us for a discussion on the post punk scene, the New Romantics and Club Culture in the early 80's.

Rusty Egan's Mix Cloud page: https://www.mixcloud.com/rustyegan/

Rusty Egan's Sound Cloud Page: https://soundcloud.com/rusty-egan

The Known Pleasures YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYXJiCDDsOZYrE6DV_tOIvg

The Known Pleasures Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

The Known Pleasures Instagram Page: 

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

On our Birthday Party episode we said “there’s never been an Australian band before or since quite like them”. We recently had the opportunity to interview drummer Phill Calvert who told us about the boys’ early school days, his departure from the band and why he knew eventually Nick would go solo. Ladies and gentlemen, release the bats! 

Video version on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LrIVMNzmDA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

While Athens in Greece gifted civilisation with democracy, science, philosophy, taxes, writing, and schools, Athens in Georgia gave the world Widespread Panic, REM and the subject of today’s podcast The B-52s.

A frenetic drummer in strange glasses, a guitarist who clearly needed to add more strings to his bow, a lead singer who would shout and vociferate more than sing, and two bouffant-wearing female vocalists that sounded unlike anyone else.

How was this a recipe for a successful New Wave band?

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3sqaz9vstfKqejNPHhRm1e?si=174c3037d9f24bf4

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

During the mid-seventies, a group of angry young men sprang from the punk scene in London. They possessed a singer-songwriter sensibility, combined with an acerbic wit, lyrical acrobatics and melodies that would have made one or two Brill Building composers weep with envy.

The three Musketeers leading the charge were Graham Parker, Joe Jackson, and the subject of this podcast, Elvis Costello.

From 'My Aim Is True' to 'Get Happy!!' , Elvis Costello showed the world that songs about guilt and revenge could be infectious and inventive. 

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7k4gpAsTGTHXLQh1ZTxfDo?si=9d48408bb85b4c9b

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Known-Pleasures-131768500804116

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

Here is our interview with one of the founding members of Joy Division, New Order and The Light, Peter Hook.

Enjoy the insight, the ceremony and the atmosphere of one of the most influential bass player of the Post Punk era.

The video version is on our Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/100063297726030/videos/625143802696575

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

On the eve of his upcoming tour we interview the former lead singer and songwriter from the seminal UK punk band The Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell.  We ask him about the new album, his days with The Stranglers and everything in between. So get a grip on yourself and listen in to a few moments of madness from the mind of Hugh Cornwell.

In our latest Flexidisc we discuss Lene Lovich's 1981 song New Toy.

Born of the fallout from two of post punk’s best, Shriekback had no right to be any good, because well, so-called supergroups rarely are. But Shriekback were better than good – at their best they were simply majestic, riding a wave of ideas and inspiration that left other 80’s pretenders flailing in their wake. In this episode we’ll attempt to hook, then land the fish below the ice that is Shriekback.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/02VcGqVqogjhIEvVATH0t7?si=b5a8aec097d24ebf

To purchase Shriekback music: https://shriekback.com/store

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYXJiCDDsOZYrE6DV_tOIvg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

When late night talk turns to the turbulent musical period known as “post-punk”, three names invariably crop up: Joy Division, Wire and Gang of Four. Like some sort of unholy trinity, they remain standing like not-so-silent sentinels, lighting the way forward. Here at Known Pleasures we’ve already twisted ourselves into knots over Wire and despite our name, are still afraid to tackle Joy Division, so…Gang of Four it is. From 1978’s spiky Damaged Goods EP through to 1983’s pop-tinged Hard we’ll try to explain why this Gang of for(mer) art students deserve their Champions League place at the post-punk table.

Spotify Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6kTznje9g7c1FQWfU1jQ3O?si=0fEgmwgFSg2ws_SKbozQ5Q

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Known-Pleasures-131768500804116

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

In this special episode we discuss the New Wave Bandwagon Jumpers. Be it a post punk appropriation by genuine fans, a dabble in the New Wave by former wave makers or an opportunists opportunity to sell records. We went in hard and found our top ten recording artists who dared to try their hand at new music in the early eighties.

Our bandwagons are in a circle. Let the gunfire commence.

Born like so many others out of 1977’s London punk scene, the Psychedelic Furs however seemed to deliberately stand out from the off. There was the name for a start - not very punk and more redolent of the despised 60s if anything,  and then there was the music. Never a huge critical or commercial favourite they nevertheless struck a chord with new wave hungry audiences around the world and continue to this day. Over the course of four albums released from 1980 to 1984 we’ll examine where the Furs went right or wrong, the hits and the misses and where they fit into post-punk rock’s rich tapestry.

Spotify Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1URDN9AS8HshmsPjjkGgeq?si=PhUlVpf4R7mCNU5Pbe0CxA

There was one particular genre that sprang from the post punk era that was all at once joyous, political, infectious, melodic, alternative and danceable.

It was a revival of the '60s Ska Movement that became known in the UK as Two Tone.

And in this multi cultural cafe, full of delectable delights and international flavours, we had the opportunity to taste a little Madness, try a little Selecter, indulge in the sweetness of The Beat and maybe order some Bodysnatchers to go.

But before ordering anything on the Ska menu, it's always good to see The Specials.

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/0guragbxN0JAaUAZCjbUMW?si=xEk2SWBPR96cw8KZVtNSdA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Known-Pleasures-131768500804116

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

Can you clap in time to the I Don't Like Mondays intro? Clearly Patrick can't.

In our latest Flexidisc we try to dismantle the classic Boomtown Rats song and try to work out what makes it tick.

And the reason? Well, there are no reasons.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063297726030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnownPleasuresPodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownpleasurespodcast/

Twitter: @pleasuresknown

The Known Pleasures Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn2bfFxC-0

While time heals all wounds,  the scars of your first hapless podcast episode can run deep. With that in mind, we revisit Simple Minds and attempt to do justice to their Eureka-moment third album, Empires and Dance. 

During the punk years there were many rules to follow. What to wear, what to listen to and what you should avoid listening to. Punk was an all encompassing lifestyle. But one band with one song proudly proclaimed that they played pop music and it opened the gates for many punk and new wave artists to embrace the catchy melodic chorus while still retaining a bit of aggression, a bit of quirkiness and the snotty punk attitude.

So let’s all go Meccanik Dancing with the brilliance that is XTC.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/4Ocjc0kcFX5q3rnwqtM1Rd?si=oCLYpCEPR2uMB2X7tq16AQ

The Clash, perhaps more than any of the rest of the Class of ’77, seemed to be looking for a way out of punk almost from the start. In an era where it felt like music could actually change the world, they set about making themselves “the only band that mattered”. No band since has fought the law and won, like The Clash.

Spotify Playlist Link : https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/5L5XVvKBchXG6i76Hetf91?si=ekabH8EnTz-rtU1FOZJxcQ

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1BVe58hBHgHs03CTeVhMOY

A group that persistently divided the critics, to some Bauhaus were brooding masters of edgy but elegant, choppy guitar-riffed bass-grooved masterpieces that spoke to the pain they felt amidst an uncaring world. To others, Bauhaus were wallies.

But while the band’s pitch-dark lyrics and highly charged theatrics were just a bit too preposterous for some to swallow, over the course of four diverse albums, and a host of memorable singles, vocalist Pete Murphy and his cohorts carved a substantial, high-cheekboned place for themselves in the post-punk firmament.

Spotify Playlist Link : https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/2R8lXLIhQ0wUEvaZedxXlw

From the 'Rubber Capital of the World' - Akron Ohio, these Spudboys in Ziggurat hats carved out a career in popular music by making the most uncompromising, angular, robotic tunes that really had disaster written all over them. But their rise to prominence coincided with the New Wave movement where to be unusual was the cool thing to be. So, what happened when they were through being cool?

Spotify Playlist Link : https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1HYDPMbfqrpmBgpl2JCtnY?si=xZIqcPvMQO6OJqeX2aQ3PQ

I had no idea what a mod was. I didn’t know about Lambretta scooters, Chelsea boots or cashmere jumpers. So when I first laid eyes on The Jam I was confused. Where is the spikey hair, the ripped t-shirts, the bondage trousers and the safety pins? Who was this well-dressed trio in Union Jacks playing music like The Who on speed? In this podcast we discuss their six studio albums from when they were Absolute Beginners all the way to their final parting ‘Gift’ to the world. Seeing the Jam say farewell was easily the Bitterest Pill I’ve Ever Had To Swallow.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1uLLtYSs31jEN5NljbpaCt?si=vmPRlDJyRRmqnBwJXNjMIw

Were The Stranglers an ageing punk band who Got A Grip On Themselves before turning Golden Brown, or just a bunch of brass-necked bovver boys with a yen for karating their way into trouble? Are they punk, post punk or are they just…The Stranglers?

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6KIehdHVAKygkExz42zRgQ?si=dJcn7vn2SOmsnshYIADeqA

When their single Vienna reached #2 in the UK charts in February 1981 Ultravox became popstars overnight, but overnight had been a long time coming. In the 7 years since their formation, shedding a lead singer on their travels, they’d evolved from New York Dolls and Velvet Underground wannabes to become standard bearers for innovative, sometimes epic electronic pop. They were never the darlings of the music press but has the passage of time been kind to Ultravox  and where do they stand now in the world of post-punk ROckwrok?

Spotify Playlist link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6PU75VpIehjRO896922Uhh?si=5b_rJJ6QQnS_-XpQzOs_Gw

Gang of Four were at the forefront of post punk and no one did more to influence the sound of post punk guitar in particular, than Andy Gill. We spoke with Andy before he toured Australia in 2020 in one of his last recorded interviews.

Ever wondered what the best 5 albums of the post-punk era were, as defined by three self-appointed experts? Well, wonder no more as we’ve got you covered.

Forget the waitresses, forget the cocktail bars, forget the brilliantly simple chorus that ensured Don’t You Want Me would be a number one single around the world. While it’s understandable that many people’s memories of The Human League revolve around their global smash hit, for the real story we needed to go back to The Future. How did a bunch of sci-fi loving non-musicians from a grim industrial city in northern England help shape the destiny of popular music and sell millions of records along the way? Welcome to the peculiar world of The Human League.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6ut6s3tO080YsKYP5Mlpt6?si=5rnyxgwfSgWYXpTZgt3eFg

Despite their success, Talking Heads made a career out of never really fitting in. With no discernable image or direction apart from a desire to stand out, they emerged at the dawn of US punk, played the game their way – and won. How did these very original outsiders eventually Stop Making Sense and go on to triumph in their own Revenge of the Nerds?

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1krZNaV4yj1VkLoVGhzRTA?si=3NuOPBqJTD6UsviQ3Ee8OA

Flowers (or Icehouse as they came to be known) and Models might seem like strange bedfellows, but both bands sprang from the same highly concentrated influence the explosion of punk had over the Australian music scene before going on to the wider commercial success they are perhaps better known for today.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/0z6CF7WXufgzeNmcz5Sb6z?si=2qlevN1CRUa9cxYnsF0knw

Killing Joke emerged from the squats of Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove during what became known as the second wave of punk in late 1978. They cast a long, dark, influential shadow over bands as diverse as Metallica and Nirvana but it is their early works that set the template and reconfigured what the noise left by the end of punk could be.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1HBKGQDP2chi5WtexX4Qy8?si=ozSO0_jERuyEq_olyUgeMw

When it comes to influential bands coming out of Liverpool, they don’t get any bigger than Echo & The Bunnymen. (Except for one notable exception).

From the reptilian snap of Crocodiles, the other-worldly Heaven Up Here, the sharpened spine of Porcupine to the pop deluge of Ocean Rain, the Post Punk output of Echo & The Bunnymen cemented their place in the pantheon of New Wave greats and for these reasons they will always be the Fab Four.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/7aeLqhiW5OdcTPU8y6z6YE?si=Q434QvmtT8eUbDM71qY5Xg

In 1977, from the primordial swamp of Glasgow, in the grimy inner-urban heart of Scotland, a rock band emerged. Their name: Simple Minds. But 40 years, and 30 million records later, are they destined to be remembered as one of the most innovative, ground-breaking groups of the early 1980's or are they merely to be recalled as the band whose cheesy pop song played in the background at the end of The Breakfast Club. Did we, indeed, ‘Forget About Them’, or will they live on in our memories as long as music itself is played?

Spotify Playlist Link:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6fdD6gqTXo3nApLtiu61t1?si=RCt7wnXaSeKRCrytH-NqIw

Conjoined in many ways aside from Robert Smith’s stint as touring Banshee guitarist, the links between these two may not be immediately obvious but as post-punk pioneers they stand out for their early albums in particular. Sounds and the way to treat them – once the shackles were gone nothing was off limits.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6h3xMAqIwHiHu3AiBHfRgV?si=ogY6P5XWS-iWSyJWPJQHAA

There has been some debate between the three of us as to whether Japan deserve to be categorized as a Post Punk band. They did start their life in 1974 as an almost glam rock outfit looking like the New York Dolls playing a kind of punk/funk hybrid. They then went through various changes in look, style and performance and unwittingly (much to their chagrin) spearheaded the ‘New Romantic’ movement in the early Eighties. But their music became much admired at this time due to it’s unique instrumentation, the cool slick vocal delivery of David Sylvian and the amazing fretless bass of Mick Karn that made them stand out from so many of their contemporaries.

There was never anyone like them, and there has been no one like them since.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/44iygasaKcu3mrVzRQNJWl?si=wMu_8NKYQi-TZMeO9Vcqnw

In 1977 John Joseph Lydon (nee Rotten) made his name defining punk. 12 months later he arguably went one better to invent post-punk. A mere 9 months after breaking up the incendiary Sex Pistols the first output from his new band Public Image Limited arrived in October 1978 in the perfect form of the single Public Image. Suddenly a lot more seemed possible.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6KBo48oUFsB8d9qBU7KNI4?si=dk2-9Z1_RuCfFdJPrjeR5g

To the derision of many in the punk movement, The Police would go on to become the most successful new wave band of all. Their sparse, insistently rhythmic, impossibly catchy songs simply took the world by storm, and within three years they were arguably the biggest band on the planet. So, with the benefit of almost four decades’ hindsight, how does the legacy of The Police stack up? Pleasant, but forgettable reggae-tinged pop from a best-forgotten band; or creators of some of the most brilliant music of the era?

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/3Op4fFCMRZtxh7QQM0pmcN?si=fJL3BPwBRfmVQxdu2N9Tzg

The eighties, unlike any other decade, started with music being created on instruments that had never before existed. Sure, the Moog had appeared in the late sixties and showed up in various recordings throughout the seventies, but by the turn of the decade there were many drum machines, sequencers, analogue & digital keyboards that began to change the musical landscape in many ways.

And this electronic music went from being an underground curiosity to a commercial powerhouse thanks in large part due to todays featured artist, Gary Numan.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/7AO6KIx4SluTc3oGXa019y?si=4Zz4xIYhRMKmT4VfEGiqSA