C86 Show - Indie Pop

Elizabeth Westwood in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://www.theguntonarms.co.uk/new-years-eve-2025/ Named after the sci-fi film Westworld, it was formed in 1986 by former Generation X guitarist Bob "Derwood" Andrews and American vocalist Elizabeth Westwood. The line up was completed by drummer Nick Burton. Before the recording and release of their third and final album, Burton left the band and was replaced by Gary "Gaz" Young and Tracey "T.J." O'Conner, making them a quartet. Visually the band were styled in a way reminiscent of comic book art and musically they were a blend of classic 1950s rock and roll, glam and punk, updated with beatboxes and sequencer. They had an early success with their debut single "Sonic Boom Boy", which reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1987, and was used in Sony's advertisements. They had one more Top 40 hit, "Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo" which reached #37 in May the same year. They released three albums before moving to the Arizona desert in the US in 1992 to form the band Moondogg.

Harry Dingman in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://foragainst.bandcamp.com/ https://www.harrydingman.com/ https://themillionsne.bandcamp.com/ Something of an anomaly in Midwestern America, For Against—especially early in its career—has looked to a distinctly British aesthetic for inspiration, most obviously the post-punk scene exemplified by the early rosters of the Factory and 4AD record labels. Featuring members of underground Lincoln bands Cartoon Pupils and Hymn to Joy, the band first called itself Glue, and then D.B.L., finally settling on Four Against One, a name that reflected its status as a quintet at the time. Bassist Liz Panarelli's early departure gave way to keyboardist Jeffrey Runnings' shift to bass, as well as the band's truncation of its name to For Against. By 1985, singer Jon Fynbu had departed as well, leaving the core trio of guitarist Harry Dingman III, drummer Gregory Hill and bassist Jeffrey Runnings. The latter would become (with very few exceptions) the band's sole vocalist and lyricist.

Andrew 'Tiny' Wood in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://www.facebook.com/UltrasoundTheBand English indie rock band. With roots in the British underground psychedelic and experimental rock scenes of the 1980s and early 1990s, the band emerged in 1997 and soon gained attention for their "operatic prog-glam ambitions" and "violent reworking of the idiosyncratic compositions of Captain Beefheart and the staged ambisexual pop idioms of the likes of Marc Bolan and David Bowie". Signing a high-profile deal with Nude Records at the tail-end of the Britpop era, the band released several well-received singles and were tagged as "another big, bright hope for British music" but split up acrimoniously in 1999 following the release of their debut album Everything Picture. Reuniting in early 2010, Ultrasound have gone on to tour and to release two further albums.

Tim Polecat in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://www.facebook.com/ThePolecats/?locale=en_GB https://westhampsteadarts.com/nightery_event/the-polecats-2/ The band formed in 1977 in north London. The original line-up was Tim Worman (a.k.a. Tim Polecat, vocalist), Martin "Boz" Boorer (guitarist and vocalist), Phil Bloomberg (bassist), and Chris Hawkes (drummer) who originally played under the name "Cult Heroes". Finding difficulty persuading promoters to book them on the rockabilly circuit with a name sounding "too punk", they adopted Hawkes' suggested band name, the Polecats. Hawkes was later replaced by Neil Rooney, who was subsequently replaced by John Buck. The Polecats played rockabilly with a "punk sense of anarchy and helped revive the genre for a new generation in the early '80s." The band were first signed by the fledgling British rockabilly record label Nervous Records, and recorded their first single "Rockabilly Guy" at guitarist Alan Warner's "Lane Studios" in 1979. Formerly with the "Foundations" band, Warner toured and recorded with the Polecats for about a year. In 1980, the band signed to Mercury Records, and released their most successful LP, Polecats Are Go! They had UK chart success with the David Bowie cover "John, I'm Only Dancing", a reworking of "Rockabilly Guy", and another cover version of the T-Rex (Marc Bolan) song "Jeepster". In 1983, they hit the charts in the United States with their song "Make a Circuit with Me". John Buck replaced Neil Rooney in 1982 playing drums.

Mark Johnson in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLE9mfb6eZU https://dontsleepdream.bandcamp.com/album/life-is-just-a-ride Although first formed in 1985, The Bollweevils did not come together properly as a live act until 1988. The first full line-up included Sarah Griffiths (vocals), Mark Johnson (lead guitar), Steve McKevitt (bass guitar), Dave Lloyd (rhythm guitar) and Chris Coyle (drums). From their first gig The Bollweevils received favourable reviews. However, it was not until late in 1989 that the band signed a recording contract with the Vinyl Solution. In March 1990, their first single was released on the Decoy label, the self produced and critically well-received four track Talk To Me EP. ABC's Stephen Singleton agreed to help record the second single, but it was not finished until 1991 and neither the band nor the record company were happy with the results. The tracks were re-mixed in June with the punk/dance producer Alan Scott, but the Life's A Scream EP was never released in that form.

Shaun Ward in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGqFli3c7wM Floy Joy was an English group formed in Sheffield, England, who recorded two albums and had minor success with several singles. Into the Hot was released by Virgin in September 1984. It was preceded in July 1984 by the single "Burn Down a Rhythm", which also failed to chart. The second single, "Until You Come Back to Me", was released in October 1984. The third and final single, "Operator", was released in January 1985 and reached No. 86. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izOdvBmTDh0

Aki in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://sonofpunk.co.uk/ https://nationrecords.bandcamp.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9bzv8-c_gs British musician/rapper, grew up in Bradford. He co-wrote some songs and played drums with the rock band 'Southern Death Cult' as Haq Qureshi, but is best known as member of Islamic rap band Fun-Da-Mental. Aki also runs Nation Records.

Dave Howard in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://thedavehowardsingers.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/dave.howard.3133 The Dave Howard Singers is a cult Canadian alternative rock band/project originally formed in Toronto Canada. The project is based around the talents of singer-songwriter Dave Howard (the only consistent member) and the signature sound of his Ace Tone organ. During the second half of the 1980s, the band were resident in (and drew many members from) Britain, where they were a cult act making several appearances on nationwide television.

Rob Miller in conversation with David Eastaugh https://mngbookshop.co.uk/9780252088964/the-hours-are-long-but-the-pay-is-low/ https://www.robmillerwriting.com/ In this memoir/history/fever dream, Rob Miller, co-founder of Chicago’s venerable Bloodshot Records, chronicles the unlikely evolution of Bloodshot from a list scribbled on a cocktail napkin one cold winter night into an internationally renowned home for roots music, Americana, and “alt-country,” as well as his own evolution from self-described shy, dorky Detroit teenager to DIY label owner. Working with celebrated artists such as the Old 97s, Neko Case, Robbie Fulks, Scott H. Biram, The Sadies, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, and the late Justin Townes Earle at the beginning of their careers, established, critically-acclaimed artists like the Bottle Rockets, Detroit Cobras, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, William Elliott Whitmore, Bobby Bare Jr, and Murder By Death, as well as important musicians that had an early impact on him like Graham Parker, Alejandro Escovedo, Barrence Whitfield, Exene Cervenka, Dex Romweber, and R&B icon Andre Williams, Miller had an almost 30-year run in Chicago’s vibrant music scene, from the 1990s into the early 2020s. Through it all, the label remained fiercely independent, resisting efforts to pigeonhole their sound or succumb to the music industry’s hit machine mentality.  Written with wry self-deprecation, the book is a unique look at the vibrant Chicago music scene and a little label that could.  It is a musical coming of age story that treads the line between memoir and history, and is full of anecdotes, cautionary tales, and a from-the-trenches perspective on the workings of underground music.  In great detail, the author hits the highs, the lows, the harsh realities, and the acts of creative enthusiasm that defied common business practices.  And, at its heart it is a celebration of indie communities, and an appeal to appreciate and strengthen them.

Jennifer Finch in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://jenniferfinch.com/ https://jenniferfinch.bandcamp.com/album/diamonds-in-the-belly-of-the-dog https://substack.com/@jenniferfinch https://theshockerofficial.bandcamp.com/album/up-your-ass-tray-extended American musician, designer, and photographer most notable for being the primary bass player of the punk rock band L7. Active in L7 from 1986 to 1996, Finch also wrote music and performed with her bands OtherStarPeople and The Shocker in the interim before joining the reunited L7 in 2014.

  Leigh Goorney in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://gnuinc.bandcamp.com/album/moribundiing https://www.facebook.com/leigh.goorney The new album by The Long Decline finds Leigh Goorney (formerly Kenny Wisdom) and his ever-shifting collaborators pulling together strands of history, politics, and autobiography into a startlingly unified whole. Produced by Cos Chapman (Rude Mechanicals), the record is perhaps the band’s most accomplished to date. Includes unlimited streaming of Moribundiing via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.  

Palden Jenkin in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://penwithbeyond.blog/about/ https://www.palden.co.uk/podcasts.html About Palden I was born in Hartfield in the Ashdown Forest in Sussex in 1950, in a nursing home which not long before had been the American Generals’ HQ in Britain in WW2. A fine start. I grew up in 1950s Cardiff, Wales, and in 1960s Liverpool, and here my spiritual path began at age 16, tripping out on acid and beginning to see things in an entirely dfferent way. Went to university at the London School of Economics in 1969 during its time of revolution. I never looked back. This was the big change-point in my life, which set the course for all the rest of it. In today’s terminology I was radicalised, thereafter dedicating my life to world change, and personal change with it, though very much tied up with it. Later I lived in the mountains of Snowdonia, Wales, then I had to leave the country in 1974, regarded by the authorities and media as a traitor and even a murderer, to live in Sweden until 1980. I’m really grateful for the safety and healing Sweden gave me. I married a Swedish lady, Berit, and we had two kids and many adventures, partly in Stockholm and partly in the forest in northern Uppland. There, as an English teacher of political refugees, inadvertently I started my later humanitarian work, in which I came to specialise in trauma recovery, social reconstruction and freelance intelligence work in conflict zones. During that time, after seven years’ study, I became an astrologer. Since then I have counselled a few thousand people, writing three astrology books and founding the astrology camps in the 1980s. But I didn’t easily fit into Sweden and, when I found out I was exonerated of my former alleged crimes, I returned to Britain. This involved a painful end to my marriage and the loss of two children. I landed in Glastonbury and I cried my eyes out with grief for two years in men’s groups and therapy groups. This was a big change too, opening me up for something. Then came my instructions and I came alive again. In 1983-84 I started the UK camps movement – first with indoor gatherings in Glastonbury, then with summer camps, at first near Glastonbury, and later round the country. The Glastonbury Camps, spontaneously started and lasting three years, were followed from 1987 by the OakDragon Camps, from both of which many other camps organisations sprouted, in several countries.   By 1990 I was burned out, and there were quite a few people in the OakDragon who wanted to take things a different way. So, sad about that, I left and started again. I  went into book editing with an enlightened publisher called Gateway Books. In 1992 when I was asked to write The Only Planet of Choice – a book of communications from some cosmic beings called the Council of Nine. It was a privilege to write. I was also involved with editing a series of books by and about the Austrian genius Viktor Schauberger, and five books of alternative ideas about Jesus, and lots of other books too, through the 1990s.

Brinsley Schwarz in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://brinsleyschwarz.bandcamp.com/album/shouting-at-the-moon https://brinsleyschwarz.bandcamp.com/album/tangled https://unexpectedcd.bandcamp.com/album/unexpected   Legendary British musician and songwriter Brinsley Schwarz returns with a new solo album this Autumn.Shouting At The Moon represents the third part of a trilogy begun with his debut solo release Unexpected in 2016 followed by Tangled, his first album for Fretsore Records in 2021.Founder of the 70spub-rock icons (if icons is not too strong a word!) of the same name, and subsequently Graham Parker and The Rumour, Brinsley’s passion for writing and recording reignited in recent years following two albums and tours with that band, as well as duo shows with Parker, resulting in Unexpected. The gestation period for the songs on Shouting At The Moon goes back even further.“I wrote ‘The Chance’, ‘Nothing Is What It Seems’ and ‘What In The World’ sometime between the late 1990s and early 2005,”he explains. “‘Hard To Change’ and ‘It’s Been A Long Year’ were written during 2024 and 2025 and recorded during that time. So you can see a big spread in time of writing and recording;some songs were recorded and were intended for my first solo album. But we had a surplus of recorded tracks and so we could pick tracks based on how the songs seemed to gel together as an entity, as an album.”As with Tangled, Brinsley pays tribute to his friend with a well-chosen cover: “Graham Parker wrote ‘Watch The Moon Come Down’ in the late1970s. One of my favourite GP songs.I loved rearranging and recording it.” Key to this revived activity has been producer, engineer and keyboard-player James Hallawell another Parker collaborator, also noted for his work with the likes of The Waterboys and Jackie Leven. “He helped me record my first album Unexpected,”says Brinsley. “We just carried on recording.”

Bill Dickson in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://rousers.bandcamp.com/album/1979-sire-session Inspired by the New York Dolls, Ramones and such immortal ‘50s rockers as twangy guitar hero Duane Eddy, the Rousers were woefully under-documented in their prime. A few major labels sniffed around, including RCA and Warner Bros. subdi­vision Sire. But no one committed them to vinyl until Reynolds issued their “Party Boy” b/w “Don’t Let The Band Stop Playing” 45 (produced by Wayne Kramer of the MC5) via Jimboco in 1981.  Reynolds corrects this oversight today with the release of the demos that the original Rousers lineup—vocalist Jeff Buck­land, rhythm guitarist Bill Dickson, bassist John Hannah, lead guitarist Tom Milmore, and drummer Jerid O'Connell—cut for Sire in the label’s basement studio on New York’s Upper West Side in 1979.  Tracked to tape under the sharp ear of Ed Stasium, hot off sessions with the Ramones and Talking Heads, the 1979 Sire demos are raw, radiant, and long overdue for release. They captured the Rousers in full dragstrip ignition mode: dueling Gibson guitars plugged into Fender amps for maximum punk twang, hiccupping Elvis/Buddy Holly vocal inflections, and a rhythm section built for backseat makeouts and beer-splashed dance floors.  With nods to Duane Eddy (“Ram Rod,” “Movin’ N Groovin’”), the sweat-soaked charm of originals like “Be My Girl” and “Product of the USA,” and a rip-it-up cover of Wilson Pickett’s “If You Need Me,” Rousers 1979 Sire Session is the missing chapter of NYC punk’s golden age, finally pressed to wax.  Never before released, the tapes sat shelved in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Sire archives for decades, digitized and re­stored in 2024. Mixing duties were split between Bob Stander (Parchessi Studio) and Ed Stasium himself, ensuring pe­riod-authentic crunch meets modern punch. The result is 13 tracks of grease-slicked melody and garage-pop swing, crowned by the kinetic rave-up “Bumblebee Rock” and the shoulda-been-hits “Lonely Summer” and “Be My Girl”—a song that splits the difference between Tommy James stomp and Marshall Crenshaw shimmer.

Katie Scaife & Kevin Bache in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://thelovelybasement.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TheLovelyBasement/ The Lovely Basement are Katie Scaife, Kevin Bache, Steve Dew and Paul Waterworth. The band are based in Bristol, UK. The idea back in 2018 was to combine the feel of the Velvet Underground with a hint of the twang of early country music. In the words of the band “we failed, but liked the sound of the failure. Slow, driving and dreamy by turns, we anchor our songs in the tried-and-true combo of two guitars, bass, drums and fine harmonies to float our passing thoughts on class, death, the pull of ennui, the push of irritation, existential OCD and taking it easy.” First two albums (Just Because You Can and the eponymously-titled second album) were released on Breaking Down Recordings, a Bristol collective label. Albums that have received very good reviews in magazines and independent radio stations in Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand. Lazy Travellers is another wonderful album by The Lovely Basement. Ten new songs with echoes of The Velvet Underground, The Clientele, Luna or Cowboy Junkies.

Tony De Meur in conversation with David Eastaugh The Fabulous Poodles started out just as The Poodles. The original Fabulous Poodles consisted of Tony de Meur on lead vocals and guitar, Richie Robertson on bass and vocals, Bobby Valentino on violin, mandolin and vocals, Bryn Burrows on drums and Bob Suffolk on piano.

Barry Melton in conversation with David Eastaugh  http://counterculture.net/thefish/ Co-founder and original lead guitarist of Country Joe and the Fish and Dinosaurs. He appears on all the Country Joe and the Fish recordings and he also wrote some of the songs that the band recorded. He appeared in the films made at Monterey Pop and Woodstock, and also appeared as an outlaw in the neo-Western film Zachariah and other films in which Country Joe and the Fish appear. An attorney and member of the State Bar of California, Melton has maintained a criminal defense practice since 1982.

Anne Clark in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.anneclarkofficial.com/ https://anneclarkofficial.bandcamp.com/ English poet, singer and songwriter. Her first album, The Sitting Room, was released in 1982, and she has released over a dozen albums since then. Her poetry work with experimental musicians occupies a region bounded roughly by electronic, dance (techno applies on occasion) and possibly avant-garde genres, with varying hard as well as romantic and orchestral styles. Clark is mainly a spoken word artist. Many of her lyrics deal critically with the imperfections of humanity, everyday life, and politics. Especially in her early works she created a gloomy, melancholy atmosphere bordering on weltschmerz. She has been considered one of the pioneers in the spoken-word music genre, as well as being acclaimed for her synth-pop and new wave music, especially across Europe.

Anne-Marie Hurst in conversation with David Eastaugh  https://www.ghost-dance.com/ https://ghost-dance.bandcamp.com/music Ghost Dance is a British gothic rock band formed in 1985 by Gary Marx (ex-Sisters of Mercy guitarist) and Anne-Marie Hurst (ex-Skeletal Family vocalist) as both were leaving their respective bands. The band were originally signed to Nick Jones' record label, Karbon Records, then were later signed to the major label Chrysalis Records, before splitting up in 1989. In 2019 the band reformed, with Hurst being joined by new members Tim Walker (guitar), Stephen Derrig (guitar), Phil Noble (bass), and Dave Wood (drums). They began work on new material. Reunion shows followed in the UK and the band signed to Voltage Records for a new album release in 2023

Thomas Leer in conversation with David Eastaugh  http://thomasleer.co.uk/ Leer played in several local experimental pop groups in the early to mid-1970s, moving to London when the punk rock scene was at its height. He formed the punk band Pressure, but by 1978 had moved on to music influenced by synthpop and Krautrock bands such as Can. That year, he self-financed his debut single, "Private Plane". Although it was recorded in his own flat and was only issued in 650 copies on his own label, it gained significant attention, with NME naming it "Single of the Week". In 1979, he released the album The Bridge in collaboration with Robert Rental. In 1981, he signed to Cherry Red, his first release for the label being the 4 Movements EP. After two further releases on the label, he was signed by Arista Records, releasing three further singles and his debut full-length solo album, The Scale of Ten in late 1985.