A documentary about Frank Tovey’s Grand Union album with The Pyros, in which he is interviewed by Savage Pencil and frolics with goats, comments on Canary Wharf and gives us a very personal take on the canal that inspired the title.
Rare Video of the Week
Reaching back to 1987, Sista Mannen på Jorden (SMPJ) made their first live appearance at Stadt Hamburg, an all-ages venue in Malmö, Sweden. The band started as a side project to Page, with Eddie Bengtsson working on science fiction-influenced spacetronica. Almost thirty years and many quality albums later later, SMPJ are making their UK debut on 19 April 2015 at A Secret Wish.
We are immense fans of Fad Gadget/Frank Tovey here at Cold War Night Life, so finding this treasure from 1982 is a source of great happiness. The clip is from the British TV series, Whatever You Want. The show starts with a nonmusical reference to “Lady Shave” and launches into “Coitus Interruptus” before moving onto tracks from his then-current album, Under the Flag.
Thirty years ago this week, Psyche released their debut album, Insomnia Theatre. The record was significant on several grounds: it was one of the first North American dark electro recordings; it was made by a couple of Canadian teenagers, instead of by rich Europeans armed with Rick Wakeman-scale equipment; and it gave us some of the catchiest tunes in the genre. “The Brain Collapses” was the most immediately gripping track on the album, and it tells the story of singer Darrin Huss coming to terms with the aftermath of a party. Psyche relocated to Europe and went through some personnel changes, but are still bothering the bats and making great tunes.
In 2003, Echoboy played the Montreux Jazz Festival. Their set opened with this classic track, from Volume 2 (Mute), with a dedication to Joe Meek. The proceedings were captured by the festival crew, but we don’t recall seeing a Blu-Ray edition next to their Johnny Winters or Nile Rodgers offerings.
Mirrors took some stick for wearing their OMD influences on their sleeves, but few acts in recent times have managed to sound as magisterial as the Brighton-based outfit did on this track. Although it provided vital signs of hope for British indietronica, a second album was not to be before the band dissolved amidst the pressure to sound less like their heroes. It’s a shame, because OMD certainly didn’t mind.
With Tina Schnekenburger running their Conny Plank-produced backing tracks, the duo of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft dominate the stage in this video from 1981. Robert Görl remains one of pop’s greatest drummers, marking time with the same martial precision on display here. Singer Gabi Delgado snarls and purrs in equal amounts, leaping between ends of the stage like a cat chasing a sunbeam. This is raw power, Iggy.
For completists, here is the 1979 version of the song, recorded before the Görl-Delgado split from the rest of the band:
Lustans Lakejer [EN: Lackeys of Lust] was one of Sweden’s first – and remains one of its greatest – new wave bands. Formed in 1978, the band achieved success with their first single, “Diamanter är en flickas bästa vän” [EN: “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”], twice: originally, in a punk-pop vein, and in 1982 with a more refined style, which saw them taking up position as a Swedish Duran Duran or Ultravox. Led by vocalist Johan Kinde, LL continue to charm their way across the country’s stages. This video is from a performance on Swedish television.
S.P.O.C.K might look, on the outside, like a Star Trek-themed novelty act, but in fact it’s a complex and sophisticated blend of poptronica and philosophy. Like the best science fiction, their music tells us more about our life on Earth than any imaginary venue in space, but the message is hidden within layers of vintage synths that lure you towards the dancefloor. It turns out that this video was made by the same company who produced Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants”, which makes sense in a way.