Friday, August 29, 2014

Scotland in the 1980s (and I suppose, the late 70s as well) - 8/29/14

















I said it before on this show in general, several times during this particular episode, on blogs, in conversations, under my breath, internal monologues, etc. and I'm going to say it again right now - Scotland is a relatively small country which has produced a relatively large amount of important post punk and alternative music, especially during the decade that we like to call the 1980s.

There were heavyweights (Simple Minds, Big Country, Cocteau Twins, Jesus and Mary Chain), up-and-comers who would go onto making their biggest splash in the next decade (Primal Scream, Soup Dragons, Del Amitri), cultish bands who were highly influential (Orange Juice, Josef K, Vaselines, Aztec Camera), and even plenty of other great groups who never quite made it but maybe should have (The Headboys, Zones, The Jolt) and more!

I could have gone on and on but for brevity's sake, I kept the episode just under 2 hours. I also recorded all my commentary in stopped traffic so please excuse the open air sound. To try and cover this up, I added some accompanying background bagpipe music to these segments. There's another great musical contributions we can thank Scotland for:  Bagpipes. Does anyone else play bagpipes? Who cares? Because no one else plays bagpipes like the Scots and very few nations play post punk like they do either.

Click on the link below to hear the show. Had to put this one in AIF format (don't ask) but it should play online or in iTunes if you download it:


SCOTLAND IN THE 1980s






Friday, August 15, 2014

Post Punk Goes Surfing - 8/15/14
















After a long winter's nap, this podcast has re-emerged, just in time for summer to be over. And what better way to say goodbye to summer than with an episode dedicated entirely to the effect of surf music on punk, post punk, new wave, etc.? According to all my books on saying goodbye to summer, nothing.

It should come as no surprise that Blondie, the Ramones, and the Cramps - bands with such a heavy early 60s influence already - might incorporate some of the classic surf sound into their music but what about people like the Love & Rockets, Sisters of Mercy, and 45 Grave? Only one way to find out, just click on the link below and listen to my show. Well, there are actually plenty of ways to find out but I still recommend listening to the show:

Surf Influence on Post Punk