Underneath the safety pins, television expletives and bondage trousers that came with Punk in 1977, there was a coded message for those ready to hear it. Resolutely independent, the Instant Automatons and their label Deleted Records tuned in from the North of England and got that message of DIY independence, creativity and confidence that followed "Here's Three Chords, Now Form A Band".

We trace the birth of the UK cassette underground - from isolated  bedrooms to West London squats, from hand-dubbed tapes to Rough Trade shelves. It’s the story of how a handful of young people, with almost no resources, built a national community through shared idealism, cheap technology, and an unstoppable desire to create.

Finding their tribe with the Labroke Grove hippie-punks circulating around the Here & Now/Frestonia/free festival scene and building their community under the Westway. 

Here & Now drummer, Kif Kif Le Batteur made his sentiment about the established record industry clear when he named his cassette label F.O. Records. Recognising that the Instant Automatons and their label Deleted Records got it too, they connected to collaborate on cassette and vinyl releases, gigs and tours. And in doing, forged a template that was adopted and amplified from there on.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen/"Hesatative" Jack Hertz

VIDEO
You can find videos of some of the amazing fanzines and cassette releases that drop through our letterbox on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Jerry Kranitz
Mark Lancaster
Colin Potter
Jonathan Barnett
…and John Peel

MUSIC
Duo Electronica (except), Deleted Funtime (Deleted 009)
The Instant Automatons “ Routine Habit” We Couldn’t Agree On A Title (Integrated Circuit Records ICR 001)
Colin Potter “The Last Train” The Scythe (ICR)
The Instant Automatons  “Scared To Be Alone” Peter Paints His Fence EP (Deleted)
Instant Automatons “Too Big” Not So Deep As A Well (Waterden WDCD002)
Danny & The Dressmakers “God Puts A Stop To The Silver Paper Monster” 39 Golden Grates (Fuck Off Records)

Archive audio: “Johns Vacuum Cleaner” John Peel Show 17 June 1980, BBC Radio 1

“Pre Natal Counselling” The Midnight Circus
“Chemical Solutions” Missing Persons,
“Disillusion”  The Instant Automatons
“Journey To The West”  The Mystic Umbrellas
All from the Deleted Funtime compilation (Deleted 009)

Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)

PROTAG 
We would like to dedicate this episode to the memory of Martin "Protag" Neish, who passed away in February 2014. We were too late to meet him, but found his footprints through some of the episodes in this season of Cassette Culture. We are proud to be able to tell at least a small part of his story.
(https://louderthanwar.com/northern-punk-scene-mourns-martin-protag-neish/ )

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.