deutsches 80' s-Musik

To follow up my last post, here are some more obscure 80's sounds.  There was a lot of interesting music coming out of Germany back then and these are some of my favourites.  I came across this stuff via John Peel's shows, NME and some excellent Birthday Party gigs with Malaria! and Einstürzende Neubauten as support bands.

Einstürzende Neubauten
Featuring Blixa Bildegard, who later joined Nick Cave's Bad Seeds, these guys were stretching the boundries of music with the use of power tools, sledge hammers, etc as percussive intruments.  Check out the pic from the back of their first LP below for their gear. I went to an amazing gig of theirs in August '83 at the Acklam Hall in west London, a small hall built under a motorway.  I was right at the front getting showered in sparks and broken glass..  Marc Chung was digging holes in the wall behind the stage with the pneumatic drill... awesome stuff.  The whole gig was filmed for the Channel 4 music show The Tube but only a minute or two was ever shown on tv.  I'd love to know if the footage is still stored away somewhere.

Two tracks by them here, starting off with the first track off the Kollaps LP, 'Tanz Debil', followed by 'Thirsty Animal', a 9 minute track from a 12" release.  Lydia Lunch does vocals on it with a voice like nails on a chalk board.  (The other side of Thirsty Animal, 'Durstiges Tier' features a rythym track made by miking up Blixa's torso and Marc Chung thumping him.. not easy listening).

Einsturzende Neubauten - Tanz Debil

Einsturzende Neubauten - Thirsty Animal


For a detailed chronology of the band's activities check out this link:
http://www.fromthearchives.com/en/chronology1.html

Abwarts
A four piece band closely linked to Einsturzende as two members joined them when Abwarts split in 1982.  They recorded a couple of 45s and LP's in their time.. Never knew too much about them but I got their LP "Der Westen Ist Einsam" and this was my fave track from it.

Abwarts - Aus Einem Gartenhaus


DAF / Deutsch-Amerikanische-Freundschaft
These guys featured in NME quite regularly in the early 80's, with a live version of their first single, Kebabtraume, included on a NME Rough Trade cassette around '80/'81.  They started out as a 5 piece but by 1981 were a two piece with Robert Gorl on drums and Gabi Delgado-López on vocals along with synthesiser backing tracks.  I've got five tracks here.  'Kebatraume' and 'Gewalt' from their first 45 on Mute Records, 'Verschuende Deine Jugend' from their LP 'Gold Und Liebe' and lastly Robert Gorl's first solo single after they split in 1983, 'Mit Dir' b/w 'Beruhrt Verfuhrt'.

DAF - Kebabtraume

DAF - Gewalt

DAF - Verschuende deine Jugend

Robert Gorl - Mit Dir


Robert Gorl - Beruhrt Verfuhrt


Malaria!
Malaria! were a 5 piece female band who formed in '81, released a few records between then and '83, supported the Birthday Party on a European tour (when I saw them a few times) and also made it over to the States.  They looked awesome and were quite powerfull live but I never thought they came across too well on record. The below track, 'Thrash Me', comes closest for me.

Malaria - Thrash Me

That's probably enough 80's stuff for now.. back with something different soon..

I hated the 80's...

I just watched a BBC documentary about UK bands in the US in the 80's and it brought back a lot of the disillusionment I felt during that post-punk period.  Watching old favourite groups like the Ants, Banshees and Human League turning into 'new romantic' pop acts or just losing their edge was depressing.  It did get me trying to remember what I did actually like in the 80's..  Apart from digging back as far as the 30's for interesting music I did still go to quite a few gigs and managed to dig up a bunch of old faves to cheer myself up..

Theatre of Hate.. they grew out of Kirk Brandon's punk band The Pack and expanded on his anthemic approach.  I never managed to see The Pack so made sure I got to pretty much every London gig  TOH did.  They managed to keep enough of the punk edge while expanding their sound.  Got their first 45, 'Original Sin' and flip side 'Legion' from 1980 and still sounding a bit like the Pack  followed by a later single, 'The Hop'.

Theatre of Hate - Original Sin

Theatre of Hate - Legion

Theatre of Hate - The Hop

The other group I really liked back then was the Birthday Party, Nick Cave's early group who moved from Australia to London in the early 80's.  I first caught them in mid '81 and tried to get to every gig I could after that..  Got their best 45, 'Release the Bats' b/w 'Blast Off' here from 1981, 'Bully Bones' from their second Peel session in '81 and 'Wild World' from the 'Bad Seed' EP in 1983.

The Birthday Party - Release the Bats

The Birthday Party - Blast Off


The Birthday Party - Bully Bones

The Birthday Party - Wild World


Onto a different sound.. the friend who got me into the Birthday Party also hipped me to this single by jazz punk nutters Rip Rig & Panic, featuring a young Neneh Cherry.  I never really got into them but always loved this one.. from 1981, crazy noise..

Rip, Rig & Panic - Go Go Go, This Is It

I'll finish this one a mellow note.. singer Carmel did some great jazzy/blues stuff as well as some poppier stuff.  This is her first 45 from 1982, mostly just her voice and acoustic bass.. not like anything else I was hearing back then.

Carmel - Storm

Enough for now.. I may have some more 80's bits and pieces tomorrow unless I get distracted..

Jackie Ross - Hard Times - SAR Records

Got the first 45 by Jackie Ross here, on Sam Cooke's SAR records label from 1962 ('Jacki' on the label).  Jackie went on to have a hit with Selfish One on Chess after this and released some other great 45's but never saw too much success.  I think 'Hard Times' is the best side, a slow, cool number written by Jackie.  'Hold Me' is more of a popcorn/bubblegum number but nice enough (the sort of tune Sam Cooke turned out for fun).

Jackie Ross - Hard Times

Jackie Ross - Hold Me