C86 Show - Indie Pop

Alan Buckley in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyCcKAa35PE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayh-vWqDzBU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ioIhmzGEI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVfK1tbeGwk&list=PLcDwkXhr5uEwekhN-p-OKHqcY_cLxvWjR Mid 80s proto-janglers Here Comes Everybody inspired Andy Bell (Ride/Oasis) to buy his first guitar, then, mission accomplished, broke up in 1986. Singer/ guitarist Richard and drummer Pete were introduced to bassist Alan by some HCE fans at St Paul's Arts Centre later that year, and The Anyways' core trio was born. Their goal was to wear black and sound like The Velvet Underground, but luckily they got it slightly wrong and ended up sounding like themselves (while still wearing black). Jennie used to read the newspaper onstage and on one occasion shorted out the keyboard by pouring fizzy pop into it. Trudy, a volunteer mental health worker, brought a big following from the Mill Drop-In Centre, to liven up the usual anoraked indie audience. Sounds reviewed the band's second gig, The Television Personalities offered support slots at the 100 Club in Oxford St, and Notown Records put out the first single, Confession, in 1987. Overcome by the excitement of being played on John Peel (once), Jennie left, and Ali took her place. The Anyways became regular performers at the Camden Falcon, where Bobby Gillespie told them they needed more guitar solos. Two tracks (no solos) were featured on The Jericho Collection in 1988 alongside Notown label-mates Shake Appeal (lots of solos). A video of rousing revolutionary anthem Levitate the Pentagon was shown on satellite TV at 2.00am. The Anyways played in Oxford, London, and Bristol with Talulah Gosh, Razorcuts, The Mission and Ride... and on their own at a Hindu wedding in Hendon (kicking off the evening with that cheery toe-tapper, Love Gone Bad). Band mantra Welcome to Psychedelic Country became even more appropriate when Hamish and Karen joined in 1990. An album (Love Lies) was recorded by Rich Haines at Dungeon Studios, but sadly not released. A swirling cover of George Harrison's If I needed someone graced a charity album called Revolution No. 9. Despite their sterling work on the swirling, Hamish and Karen decided to go more Country than Psychedelic, and left to form Lucky and The Losers in 1991. The final incarnation of The Anyways was completed by guitar maestro Mark, who had previously acted as friend and multi-tasking facilitator to the band for some time - in celebration, chilled Frascati was served to the new line-up onstage at the Zodiac in front of hundreds of delighted Heavenly fans. The Sunshine Down EP came out on Marineville Records in 1993, by which time Richard had received stage-fright counselling from Jonathan Richman and the band had supported Bad Manners at a college ball. Wider (not inspired by Buster Bloodvessel) was featured on the Days Spent Dreaming compilation. By now people wanted to spread their musical wings, so The Anyways' Grand Finale gig was held in 1994 at the Jericho Tavern (the band's spiritual home for many years). 

Tot Taylor in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.tottaylor.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thgIeoqRyok https://www.riflemaker.org/ London-based songwriter, composer, record producer, author and art curator. He was a songwriter, singer, performer and band member throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties as well as composer of film soundtracks and theatre scores including stage-productions for the UK's National Theatre. In 2003 he founded the Riflemaker Gallery in London with the curator Virginia Damtsa, which featured feminist, audio and performative art for galleries and museums.

Chris Wilson in conversation with David Eastaugh guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, most known for his role as the lead singer of the San Francisco band the Flamin' Groovies, having replaced original singer Roy Loney in 1971. With Wilson on lead vocals, the band released their influential 1976 album Shake Some Action. His song "Shake Some Action", co-written with Cyril Jordan, appeared in the 1995 movie Clueless. He was also a long-term member of The Barracudas and in 1993 he released the mini-album Pop backed by The Sneetches and the debut solo album Random Centuries.

Mark Hoyle in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.route-online.com/all-books/swerve https://dubsex.net/about Dub Sex are often cited as one of Manchester’s greatest ‘lost’ bands. Formed in the concrete landscape of 1980s Hulme, their music is appropriately raw and intense, bass-led with wiry guitar patterns swirling around the impassioned vocal style and presence of frontman Mark Hoyle.  They came to prominence over the release of five critically acclaimed EPs and mini-albums in the late 80s. John Peel picked up on them from the outset playing a demo recording of ‘Tripwire!’ later describing the band on-air as “one of my very favourites”. Dub Sex went on to record 4 sessions for his BBC Radio show, the first of which incredibly aired 3 times in just 6 weeks during Feb/Mar 1987.   ‘Tripwire!’ saw a formal release later in 1987 on the band’s debut EP. The mini-album ‘Push’ and ‘The Underneath’ EP soon followed. Enthusiastic music press reviews helped the band’s profile rise amongst the post-punk fraternity and incendiary live shows led to several TV appearances including BBC’s influential ‘Snub TV’ and Tony Wilson’s Granada show ‘The Other Side of Midnight’.   By early 1989 and the release of the ‘Swerve’ EP, Dub Sex had become Indie Chart regulars with ‘Swerve’ also making John Peel’s ‘Festive Fifty’ at the end of that year.  

Lenny Helsing in conversation with David Eastaugh https://preciousrecordingsoflondon.bandcamp.com/album/pre-048-the-green-telescope-andy-kershaw-session-230186 Forerunners to The Thanes, The Green Telescope started out in 1981 as ardent ambassadors for 60s-style psychedelic sounds, soon becoming well known around Edinburgh for putting together exotic-sounding shows featuring freak-out style lights. A couple of line-up changes later, they took fresh inspiration from the British beat group era plus the US/European teen garage-punk explosion – think ‘Nuggets’ and ‘Pebbles’. There were only two singles – including the much-sought-after ‘Face In A Crowd’ seven-inch – so this, their only BBC session from 1986, is a proper one-off, capturing the spirit and sound of the times via a swirling organ, a psych heart and three totally unreleased tracks. Plus one that was recorded only 20 years later in a different version by the Thanes.

Nic Beales in conversation with David Eastaugh https://sweetpool.bandcamp.com/ Pigbros was an English indie band formed in Birmingham in 1984 by Nick Beales (guitar & vocals) fresh from a stint in The Nightingales and Jonathan Cooke (bass). Recruiting a teenage Fuzz Townshend - as well as projects under his own name) the band played a few gigs before augmenting the line up a few months later to include Svor Naan (saxophone & guitar) not long departed from The Cravats & DcL Locomotive. The initial sound was a rumbling, bass-heavy groove, driven by Fuzz’s drumming and Jonathan’s unique echo bass with Nick's fierce choppy guitar playing. Added to this concoction was Svor’s mixture of sax riffing and swirling echo effects and a rather curious guitar style which could be mistaken for a balalaika. The band finally split in 1988 with members doing their own projects.

Mark Wilson & Pete Barker in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWEISh0MznA Anarchic rockabilly beloved by the late John Peel. "If Elvis had been a Marx Brother, he would have invented Pink Peg Slax" (James Brown, NME) With a name derived from an obscure Eddie Cochran rocker, Pink Peg Slax promise rockabilly revivalism, but these veterans of the Leeds 80s music scene deliver musical subversion. Borne out of punk, the Slax line-up were original members of the Mekons, the Sisters of Mercy and The Gang of Four. Celebrated by John Peel and Andy Kershaw (4 Radio 1 sessions), the NME (3 singles and 2 albums gained 5-star reviews) and TV chef Keith Floyd (who wrote sleeve notes) Pink Peg Slax knocked out 100% original tunes with a deft rockabilly-cajun approach. Pink Peg Slax provided the necessary knowing wink to counter the gothic scowl on the face of indie music in the mid-80s. The Smiths released Meat Is Murder; the Slax released Eat More Meat. The only band ever to offer James Cagney impressions as serious musical output on night-time Radio One, Pink Peg Slax busked their way onto C4's The Tube, annoyed legions of Goths by supporting The Mission on tour and wrote songs about drunken pigs, deaf railwaymen, murderous Frenchmen and Holsten Pils. Frontman Vince Berkeley, often at odds with the world and the time of day, once thanked an audience of fairground workers for not being "gippos", told an indifferent audience in Dusseldorf to "go away and make some chemicals" and regularly spat on, kicked or threatened audience members he felt were disrespecting the band. And yet the band's Roman Catholicism led to album reviews in The Universe, the premier UK religious weekly. After a break of 20 years to raise families and conquer the world of work, Pink Peg Slax return with their original line-up and most of their hair intact..

Stuart Bruce in conversation with David Eastaugh Stuart Robert Bruce is an English recording engineer. He was the engineer for the recording of the Band Aid's charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" on 25 November 1984. Bruce started his career at Trevor Horn's Sarm West Studios. When Horn offered Bob Geldof and Midge Ure the studio free of charge for 24 hours to record the charity single, but was unavailable to produce it, Bruce was approached to engineer and mix what became one of the biggest selling singles ever. With many of the most famous artists of the time participating, and seven film crews in attendance, he worked straight through that day and night. The reputation Bruce gained of being able to get a track down in difficult circumstances later led to him being chosen to engineer the Guitar Trio album by Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin.

Richard Witts in conversation with David Eastaugh The Passage were a post-punk band from Manchester, England, who appeared on several record labels including Object Music, Cherry Red Records, and their own label Night & Day, a subsidiary label to Virgin Records. https://richardwitts.com/

Joe Dilworth in conversation with David Eastaugh https://bildbandberlin.com/products/joe-dilworth-everything-all-at-once-forever?srsltid=AfmBOop7qFncpNI6g3QxwWIi_P1wOGycmFmfMmgE2wP6t9pW7Egjs87v http://joedilworth.com/ Th' Faith Healers were an English indie rock band who were originally active between 1990 and 1994. They recorded multiple EPs and singles along with two full LPs

Gerard Evans in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.facebook.com/flowersinthedustbinofficial/?locale=en_GB http://anarchoscene.blogspot.com/2011/07/flowers-in-dustbin.html  

Andrew Reich, Jeffrey McDonald & Steve McDonald in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.reddkrossfilm.com/ https://reddkross.com/ From inventing Beach Punk to influencing the Grunge and Hair Metal movements, Redd Kross have maintained the highest level of musical integrity, originality and quality for over forty years.

Alan Clayson in conversation with David Eastaugh https://alanclayson.com/ https://alanclayson.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-and-modern-highlights-of-half-a-century-2 Singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as Record Collector, Mojo and Folk Roots, he subsequently established himself as a prolific writer of music biographies. Among his many books are Backbeat, which details the Beatles' early career in Germany, Ringo Starr: Straight Man or Joker?

Christina Bulbenko & Rex Broome in conversation with David Eastaugh https://bigstirrecords.com/the-armoires https://thearmoires.bandcamp.com/ The new record from the Burbank, CA indie pop quintet represents both a fresh start and the distillation of the potential inherent in their unique sound – somewhere between the sunshine pop of the '60s, the college rock jangle of the '80s and the Sarah Records/C86 chamber pop aesthetic of the '90s – and a lyrical approach that's always felt untethered to any one era or place. They've even put a name to the soundscape they inhabit: Octoberland, both the title of their forthcoming album (appropriately due on October 11, 2024) and a destination frequently referenced in its songs.

Leah Kardos in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.leahkardos.com/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kate-Bushs-Hounds-Love-33/dp/B0CYP75PF3 Hounds Of Love invites you to not only listen, but to cross the boundaries of sensory experience into realms of imagination and possibility. Side A spawned four Top 40 hit singles in the UK, ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)’, ‘Cloudbusting’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘The Big Sky’, some of the best-loved and most enduring compositions in Bush’s catalogue. On side B, a hallucinatory seven-part song cycle called The Ninth Wave broke away from the pop conventions of the era by using strange and vivid production techniques that plunge the listener into the psychological centre of a near-death experience. Poised and accessible, yet still experimental and complex, with Hounds Of Love Bush mastered the art of her studio-based songcraft, finally achieving full control of her creative process. When it came out in 1985, she was only 27 years old. This book charts the emergence of Kate Bush in the early-to-mid-1980s as a courageous experimentalist, a singularly expressive recording artist and a visionary music producer. Track-by-track commentaries focus on the experience of the album from the listener’s point of view, drawing attention to the art and craft of Bush’s songwriting, production and sound design. It considers the vast impact and influence that Hounds Of Love has had on music cultures and creative practices through the years, underlining the artist’s importance as a barrier-smashing, template-defying, business-smart, record-breaking, never-compromising role model for artists everywhere. This book charts the emergence of Kate Bush in the early-to-mid-1980s as a courageous experimentalist, a singularly expressive recording artist and a visionary music producer. Track-by-track commentaries focus on the experience of the album from the listener’s point of view, drawing attention to the art and craft of Bush’s songwriting and sound design. It considers the vast impact and influence that Hounds Of Love has had on music cultures and creative practices through the years, underlining the artist’s importance as a barrier-smashing, template-defying, business-smart, record-breaking, never-compromising role model for artists everywhere.

Dan Synge in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1068530812 https://open.spotify.com/track/546BO0xumtrdTs9FMiqbvb?si=eb83d941dd2c41ce   https://rosavillemusic.bandcamp.com/album/soundtrack-of-our-lives   www.dansyngeauthor.com Anyone can start a band. Anyone can be famous. Not everyone can wait a lifetime. From hammering it with the ‘gods of rock’ to heroin diaries, white line fevers and the inevitable ghost written My Story, it would seem that every gnarled old pop star has had a crack at the rock and roll memoir. Wrong-side-of-the-tracks childhood? Check. Abusive stepdad? Check. Salvation with the band followed by booze, sex, acrimonious rows, near death experiences, sobriety and, eventually, religion. Yeah, I think we get the picture. But what about rock’s also rans? The no hopers. The ones who never even got as far as a record deal. Shouldn’t these less-feted performers with their doomed musical adventures and dashed hopes of super stardom be allowed to tell their tale too? So here’s a real rock memoir. An honest, warts and all portrayal of what it’s like to fall in love with music and start your own teenage band (or indeed several bands) spanning the eras of glam, punk, new wave and 80s pop, right up to the so-called ‘second summer of love’ in 1988. Whatever happened to the teenage dream? Find out by joining guitarist and songwriter Dan with his band Stranger Than Paradise as they chart their rise to the top alongside a cast of outrageous characters and oh, so many disapproving grown-ups. Get ready for a no holds barred, tragi-comic ride through the euphoric triumphs and near misses of raw creativity and joyous music making.

Peter Kelly in conversation with David Eastaugh https://beerjacket.bandcamp.com/ Beerjacket is Scottish singer/songwriter, Peter Kelly, who has opened for The National, St Vincent, Kristin Hersh & Frightened Rabbit. In 2018, Scottish Fiction released album/book of songs & short stories, Silver Cords, leading to an appearance at Edinburgh International Book Festival, a sold-out show with Cairn String Quartet at Celtic Connections, & radio play from BBC Radio 6 Music and KEXP.

Kazuko Hohki in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.kazukohohki.com/ https://www.cherryred.co.uk/frank-chickens?srsltid=AfmBOooDDNlbGuF-rplim_W0Q1z4FFliWJ_ehN3sGCtlLFB0W4kpAGNM Frank Chickens are a Japanese musical group based in London, who have performed songs mainly in English since 1982. They were nominated for the 1984 Edinburgh Comedy Award for their performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In the same year, their single "Blue Canary" was number 42 in BBC DJ John Peel's Festive Fifty, a poll of his listeners' favourite tracks of the year. The band recorded 28 songs over five sessions for Peel between 1983 and 1989. In 1989 they hosted a television chat show on Channel 4 entitled Kazuko's Karaoke Klub. One of the founders of the group, Kazuko Hohki performs as a theatre artist and performance artist. She also sang with the group Kahondo Style who released 'My Heart’s In Motion' (1985) and 'Green Tea and Crocodiles' (1987). She is married to record producer Grant Showbiz.

Jonathon Grasse in conversation with David Eastaugh http://jawbonepress.com/jazz-revolutionary/ Jazz Revolutionary is the first full biography of Eric Dolphy, passionately tracing his creative life from Los Angeles clubs of the late 1940s and 50s, to New York in the early 1960s, and on to Paris, where sixty years ago he died from the complications of undiagnosed diabetes. It presents an engaging examination of this innovative musician and composer, from his family background to posthumous memorials, and provides insight into his recordings both as sideman and leader.

Joe McKecknie in conversation with David Eastaugh The Passage were a post-punk band from Manchester, England, who appeared on several record labels including Object Music, Cherry Red Records, and their own label Night & Day, a subsidiary label to Virgin Records. https://ra.co/dj/joemckechnie/biography