The Official Punk, Indie, Goth, Alternative 1976-1986 thread

[V8mate]

Inspired by the 'Rave' thread, I thought I'd start an homage to another great decade of British music.

While the rave boys were wetting their pants over the latest XR3i, us slightly older peeps had none of the insurance shockers they faced; in fact, it cost me less to insure a 5.0 V8 as a 17 year-old on 'L' plates than it does for my V8 today!

Anyway - let's share the music, the culture, the memories. I know you're out there as there have been several times when musical nods have been given in other threads.

So, favourite tracks, favourite bands. (if you're gong to post youtube links, can you add the artist's name and song title too - just a list of youtube URLs is so off-putting)

What did you wear, eat, smoke? Best gig? Most memorable gig? Most treasured record (whether you still own it or not)

Rather than extend this opener, I'll post some of my favourites in due course - just let rip with the memories.

[Ozone]

Jilted John - Gordon is a Moron, so apt for today.

The Stranglers - Peaches.

The Pistols - Great Rock n Roll Swindle - classic.

(CBA with youtube links, if you know them, you know what i mean)

[bob1179]

I come from an 'Indie, Alternative' music background, but I'm a decade later and more mid 90's.

Can I still join in...?

[V8mate]

Best gig - Sisters of Mercy at the Lyceum in the Strand, 1984. As the lights went down and the smoke was pumped in, Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' was played. It was the first time I'd heard the track and it was just such an awesome intro to the gig.

Most memorable gig - probably got two of them: both the same band! Was at both the ICA and Camden Electric Ballroom for the Jesus & Mary Chain gigs when the viewing masses rioted following the 5 minute sets.

[Yertis]

Looking back I'm quite surprised I didn't end up as one of those Mutoid Waste Company types, with a skinny dog on a bit of string. Still love New Model Army and Killing Joke, and have skinny dogs.

[V8mate]

bob1179 said:

I come from an 'Indie, Alternative' music background, but I'm a decade later and more mid 90's.

Can I still join in...?

Is that when 'Indie' went all floppy-haired?

Ah, go on then, I bet none of the early-adopters ever grew up anyway!

[V8mate]

Yertis said:

Looking back I'm quite surprised I didn't end up as one of those Mutoid Waste Company types, with a skinny dog on a bit of string.

I sometimes wonder if life wouldn't be a whole lot less hassle if we did!

Tune in, turn on, burn out, man!

[bob1179]

V8mate said:

bob1179 said:

I come from an 'Indie, Alternative' music background, but I'm a decade later and more mid 90's.

Can I still join in...?

Is that when 'Indie' went all floppy-haired?

Ah, go on then, I bet none of the early-adopters ever grew up anyway!

It was I'm afraid... I was there with floppy hair and baggy jeans and I even had a 'beanie'...

I spent my formative years listening to the likes of the Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Dandy Warhols, Elastica, Rocket from the Crypt, Mansun, The Wonderstuff, The Farm, etc. I could go on for hours...

Living near the sticks we used to take bottles of 'Two Dogs' up to the fields, listen to music get drunk, smoke those funny cigarettes and misbehave with various girlfriends.

Happy Days.

Edited by bob1179 on Friday 17th October 11:57

[vernan]

1986 is a little early for me as a cut-off, as I was emerging from metal via glam stuff like the Lords of the New Church, Hanoi Rocks etc. It was stuff like the blonde bands (Darling Buds, Primitives, even Transvision V) that really floated my boat and that's a bit later. but I spent most of the 80s and 90s going to one gig or another.

The Bolshoi
Zodiac Mindwarp
GBOA
PWEI (grebo version)
The Godfathers
The Mary Chain
and the omnipresent Julian H Cope (roll on the RFH in November)

all seem to fit into the title

[97octane]

A teenager in the punk era....

The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall

Best ever track - "Smile"
after 1986...

The Fall

There are others, too many to mention, but

"The Fall, always the same, always different"

[V8mate]

vernan said:

1986 is a little early for me as a cut-off, as I was emerging from metal via glam stuff like the Lords of the New Church, Hanoi Rocks etc. It was stuff like the blonde bands (Darling Buds, Primitives, even Transvision V) that really floated my boat and that's a bit later. but I spent most of the 80s and 90s going to one gig or another.

The Bolshoi
Zodiac Mindwarp
GBOA
PWEI (grebo version)
The Godfathers
The Mary Chain
and the omnipresent Julian H Cope (roll on the RFH in November)

all seem to fit into the title

We were probably at the same gigs!

I loved the Bolshoi, saw them several times including at the original Marquee in Wardour St. Went to a lot of Zodiac Mindwarp gigs as I use to follow Dr and the Medics about and they were often on the same bill. Here's a horror story of an 80s 'pop' video - 'Prime Mover' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnCcWOS7y8

Saw GBOA (and their alter-egos, the Lesbian Dopeheads on Mopeds) a few times. PWEI - still about today! - managed to spill an entire pint down Clint's front just before he was going to go on stage in a pub in Hammersmith (didn't matter, it was his pint, not mine).

Ah - the memories come flooding back - great post Vernan!

[maxrider]

97octane said:

A teenager in the punk era....

The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall

Best ever track - "Smile"
after 1986...

The Fall

There are others, too many to mention, but

"The Fall, always the same, always different"

You are John Peels ghost AICMFP

[Tuna]

At a party I was chatting with a very attractive woman about music, and we got onto this area. We were both waxing lyrical about the signer in some indie band (and I was thinking I'd probably pulled). Then she said she'd been in the front row for one of the band's gigs.

At the time I would have been nine years old.

The conversation all went a little pear shaped after that.

[bob1179]

maxrider said:

97octane said:

A teenager in the punk era....

The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall

Best ever track - "Smile"
after 1986...

The Fall

There are others, too many to mention, but

"The Fall, always the same, always different"

You are John Peels ghost AICMFP

Beat me to it! I was going to say the same thing...

I used to love listening to John Peel of evening. The man was a legend and is sorely missed.

[vernan]

V8mate said:

We were probably at the same gigs!

I loved the Bolshoi, saw them several times including at the original Marquee in Wardour St. Went to a lot of Zodiac Mindwarp gigs as I use to follow Dr and the Medics about and they were often on the same bill. Here's a horror story of an 80s 'pop' video - 'Prime Mover' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnCcWOS7y8

Saw GBOA (and their alter-egos, the Lesbian Dopeheads on Mopeds) a few times. PWEI - still about today! - managed to spill an entire pint down Clint's front just before he was going to go on stage in a pub in Hammersmith (didn't matter, it was his pint, not mine).

Ah - the memories come flooding back - great post Vernan!

Bloody hell, that's the truth - I got into the Warps via the Medics too, and the Nephilim as a result of the Warps. The excitement of seeing that video on Top of the Pops (was it Ade Edmondson directed it?)
I found a picture of myself the other day with a Zodiac Tshirt on with the cover of High Priest of Love - god how I wish I still had that, but I wore it til it fell apart.....

The Bolshoi - did you see them at the Marquee with Westworld (Bolshworld). Was a warm-up for the 86(?) 87(?)Reading Festival, which was great, the Mission on Fri night, Iggy Pop........

The Medics - Crystal Palace Bowl with Hawkwind and the Enid (and the Armoury Show as I recall). Kettle on a Long Chain, Nobody loves you when you got Brown Shoes.......... Bizarrely I booked the Medics a couple of years ago for a conference, just before the TV "battle of the has-beens". Clive looked at me with amazement when I asked for "Kettle..."

Saw PWEI at Shepherd's Bush about three years ago - still kicking.

God's Own Medicine coming out........

It's all coming back now - thanks for that V8mate, much respect. Don't tell me you went to see the Larry Miller Band at the Marquee too..........

[97octane]

bob1179 said:

maxrider said:

97octane said:

A teenager in the punk era....

The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall
The Fall

Best ever track - "Smile"
after 1986...

The Fall

There are others, too many to mention, but

"The Fall, always the same, always different"

You are John Peels ghost AICMFP

Beat me to it! I was going to say the same thing...

I used to love listening to John Peel of evening. The man was a legend and is sorely missed.

Mrs 97 has difficulty understanding why I have kept the JP tribute programmes and "JP at 60" on our hard disk. Every time I get slightly drunk & a bit maudlin, on goes the DVD...

[Yugguy]

Sisters of Mercy.

The Alarm wanting to be The Clash.

[V8mate]

vernan said:

V8mate said:

We were probably at the same gigs!

I loved the Bolshoi, saw them several times including at the original Marquee in Wardour St. Went to a lot of Zodiac Mindwarp gigs as I use to follow Dr and the Medics about and they were often on the same bill. Here's a horror story of an 80s 'pop' video - 'Prime Mover' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnCcWOS7y8

Saw GBOA (and their alter-egos, the Lesbian Dopeheads on Mopeds) a few times. PWEI - still about today! - managed to spill an entire pint down Clint's front just before he was going to go on stage in a pub in Hammersmith (didn't matter, it was his pint, not mine).

Ah - the memories come flooding back - great post Vernan!

Bloody hell, that's the truth - I got into the Warps via the Medics too, and the Nephilim as a result of the Warps. The excitement of seeing that video on Top of the Pops (was it Ade Edmondson directed it?)
I found a picture of myself the other day with a Zodiac Tshirt on with the cover of High Priest of Love - god how I wish I still had that, but I wore it til it fell apart.....

The Bolshoi - did you see them at the Marquee with Westworld (Bolshworld). Was a warm-up for the 86(?) 87(?)Reading Festival, which was great, the Mission on Fri night, Iggy Pop........

The Medics - Crystal Palace Bowl with Hawkwind and the Enid (and the Armoury Show as I recall). Kettle on a Long Chain, Nobody loves you when you got Brown Shoes.......... Bizarrely I booked the Medics a couple of years ago for a conference, just before the TV "battle of the has-beens". Clive looked at me with amazement when I asked for "Kettle..."

Saw PWEI at Shepherd's Bush about three years ago - still kicking.

God's Own Medicine coming out........

It's all coming back now - thanks for that V8mate, much respect. Don't tell me you went to see the Larry Miller Band at the Marquee too..........

I've never heard of the Larry Miller Band - clearly too many gigs and not enough time.

I loved the Marquee - it was one of the travesties of my youth when it was closed and redeveloped as a poxy restaurant. It was a true leftover from the 60's (Hendrix played there) and you could feel all the ghosts of every band the walls had ever seen whenever you went in there. Always use to go to the Intrepid Fox across the road for beers beforeit opened. Would often find the bands in there too. Female landlord - stunning, petite woman, hard as nails. Always had her bar staff dressed in BDSM gear - I'll NEVER forget the 6' brunette barmaid.

One of the surprise nights at the Marquee was an All About Eve gig. I always got there as doors opened, but most people didn't bother with the support acts. That night, shortly after the demise of the Sisters of Mercy, Wayne Hussey & Co turned out with the Mission as support. Only their second outing (the previous having been at Gossips, round the corner in Meard St.)

I saw the Nephilim a few times, but that was right at the end of my 'youth' period. Had to start growing up unfortunately. (Have stuck the gearbox firmly in reverse since though!)

Dr & the Medics - awesome. Not sure when you first started seeing them - but my favourite song was the Beetle Ride. Clive would make the crowd absolutely hush, then all lay down on their backs with their arms and legs in the air, mvoing slowly like a dying fly. (How many gigs diod you go to where you had to lay on your back???) The verses were really slow while this oddity was going on and then the choruses really fast; you had to jump up for the choruses and dance 'conventionally' before dropping back down for the next verse. I understood that they stopped doing the song live because of 'injuries' in the crowd.

I had a purple frill-fronted shirt made by Wendy Anadin from their shop in Ladbroke Grove too.

Did you go on any of the Magical Mystery Tours? I managed to miss all of them; one of life's regrets

[DippedHeadlights]

Ozone said:

Jilted John - Gordon is a Moron,

The B side of that "going steady" is hilarious, he has left Julie and is now going steady with Sharon.

"I used to think that I was dead ugly but now I know I'm not that bad looking really"

"...Saturday night we go to the Bus shelter at the end of the road, we sit in it and mess about then we go and buy some chips"

DH

[vernan]

No, didn't go on them, but remember reading enviously of them in Sounds (highlight of the week), and wishing I had the money (what, £10??).

Gossips - the club night there was called Alice in Wonderland, wasn't it? Went a few times, but was always utterly frustrated that the many fantastic looking dominatrix/grebo girls were laughably uninterested in a public school dilettante like me. What I would have given for a girl like that in those days (and indeed now, I suppose).

Agree totally about the Marquee - used to go to the Ship though beforehand.

Haven't thought about all that in years. Will be digging out Laughing at the Pieces this weekend. Cheers.