From Aldous Harding to Neil Finn, New Zealand, like Iceland, brings forth more crucial artists than their population might expect. The Verlaines, led since their formation in 1981 by singer songwriter and guitarist Graeme Downes, first appeared as part of the Flying Nun label’s early Double Dunedin EP release that also featured The Chills, Sneaky […]
Any independent record buyer from the early eighties would be aware of the Some Bizarre record label and the band The The. Andy Dog Johnson was the brother of Matt Johnson, The The’s only constant member. Andy Dog as he was known designed sleeves for the label and created the spikey artwork for several of […]
It’s difficult to discuss This Mortal Coil without mentioning Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie’s version of Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett’s masterpiece, Song To The Siren. Although it appeared on This Mortal Coil’s 1984 debut album, It’ll End In Tears, the single version was released a whole year before the album in 1983. The version […]
Whenever I see this clip all I can think of is their Mums crying with joy – they look like five little boys playing. It makes the extremes of their history all the more bizarre. In 1979 when they were finally signed to Vertigo records after their first independently released EP, the line-up was Joe Elliot […]
Although The Icicle works were formed in Liverpool in 1980, they didn’t release their self-titled debut until 1984. The band’s line-up of Ian McNabb on guitar and vocals, Chris Layhe on bass and Chris Sharrock on drums contributed some powerful melodic Pop to the Liverpool scene at the time. Frustratingly, different songs from their debut […]
The story of this song and this band is rather unusual. Formed out of the ashes of the Liverpool bands, The Wild Swans (Jem Kelly) and The Jass Babies (Peter Coyle) the song was first recorded for a John Peel session in 1982. The response was a major label bidding war and the song was officially released […]