C86 Show - Indie Pop

Candy Opera special with Brian Chin Smithers in conversation with David Eastaugh

Liverpool band Candy Opera released their debut album, 45 Revolutions Per Minute on Berlin-based Firestation Records after a thirty-year wait

Picking up where 45 Revolutions Per Minute left off, the new Rarities collection follows up with a set of even harder to find gems mined from unreleased recordings from the 80s to the noughties

Sarah Jane Morris in conversation with David Eastaugh

In 1982, Morris joined The Republic as lead singer they received enormous publicity from the music press including cover stories with NME and City Limits and a documentary for Granada TV. But the band was deemed too political for radio play, with the exception of Capital London. The Republic were signed to Charlie Gillett's Oval Records Ltd and released an EP entitled Three Songs From The Republic and two singles entitled "One Chance" and "My Spies". Success did not follow and the band split up in 1984.

Morris then sang with The Happy End, a 21-piece brass band named after Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill's musical play. Playing a circuit that included Brighton's Zap Club and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Happy End explored protest music from Africa, Ireland and Latin America on a way that emulated Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra.

Morris explored her more theatrical side on Brecht/Eisler's There's Nothing Quite Like Money and Brecht/Weill's Pirate Jenny from The Threepenny Opera.

The Happy End released two albums on the Cooking Vinyl label with Morris. Following a successful Edinburgh run in 1986, Morris then decamped to chart success with The Communards.

Morris found fame initially with the Communards, who are best known for their hit "Don't Leave Me This Way". Morris featured prominently on many Communards tracks, her low and deep vocal range contrasting with Jimmy Somerville's falsetto. She has also recorded as a solo artist, releasing albums since 1989. These have enjoyed most popularity in Italy and Greece.

Morris also contributed to the opera The Fall of the House of Usher (1991) by Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, singing the part of the chorus.^[1] She also sang the part of Mère Ubu on the Pere Ubu album Long Live Père Ubu! (2009), which features songs from Bring Me The Head of Pere Ubu, David Thomas's theatrical adaptation of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi.

She recorded an album of John Martyn covers with guitarist Tony Rémy in 2019 entitled Sweet Little Mystery.

BMX Bandits with Duglas T Stewart in conversation with David Eastaugh

BMX Bandits were formed in Bellshill by songwriter and lead vocalist Duglas T. Stewart out of the ashes of The Pretty Flowers, a group that featured Stewart alongside Frances McKee (later of The Vaselines), Sean Dickson and Norman Blake. Beginning around 1982/1983, this early version of the band would perform impromptu, happening-style gigs at various locations around Bellshill including local parks, their school and the Hattonrigg Hotel. Before settling on the name The Pretty Flowers, they usually performed under various controversial and outrageous names to attract attention. The material they performed was often improvised or based loosely on other songs. The group would also partake in various other activities to amuse themselves, such as making home videos interviewing themselves as well as members of the public and recording albums of music in one night on home tape recorders.By 1985, McKee had left to start The Vaselines with Eugene Kelly and the group began to morph into the BMX Bandits. The style of the group as a collective of musicians has been present since its early days, with Stewart acting as the leader while the line-up constantly fluctuates. Many notable independent Glasgow musicians have passed through the band over the years and often continue to contribute to BMX Bandits recordings.

The band signed to 53rd & 3rd and released their first single during the first half of 1986; "E102" / "Sad?". Both songs were written by Stewart with Sean Dickson, who played guitar and keyboards on the recording alongside his Soup Dragons bandmate Jim McCullough. The band's cheerful and playful sound, inspired by 1960s pop music along with Duglas T. Stewart's sense of humour was unusual in rock music at the time and caused mixed responses. However, Radio 1 DJ Janice Long was an early supporter of the group; regularly playing their single and asking them to record a session for her show. They followed up "E102" that same year with a cover of "What a Wonderful World", backed with "The Day Before Tomorrow", which has since become a staple of their live sets. By the end of the year, Dickson left to focus on The Soup Dragons. During the following year, Norman Blake and Joe McAlinden became more involved, with Blake contributing guitar, keyboards and songwriting and McAlinden primarily playing bass and violin. In 1988, the band released another 4-song EP and made a television appearance on the BBC Scotland music show Full Scale Deflection on the same episode as Primal Scream. Their set included a cover of the Beastie Boys song "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)"^[10] and Norman Blake dressed up as an old man with a false moustache.

Po! with Ruth Miller in conversation with David Eastaugh

Po! was originally formed by Ruth Miller (vocals and guitar), with Julian Glover (bass) and Mark Fuccio (drums). Usually subsumed under the C86 or twee pop headings - which is not essentially to misrepresent them - they possessed considerable originality. In particular, the themes of misogyny, disappointment, and nostalgia act as a counterpoint to the vocals, melodies, and jangly guitars so characteristic of the genre.

Part of the fanzine scene, Po!'s first release was the flexidisc Hopscotch in the Snow, which a Leicestershire fanzine Samantha produced from locally recorded demos in 1987. Jan Frazer replaced Fuccio on drums for this recording. This was picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and provoked some interest. In 1988 Po! released another flexidisc, this time shared with The Originals, who played the backing instruments on 'Glass King'. There followed an album, released on the band's own Rutland Records label, entitled Little Stones, 1000 copies of which were pressed. It cost just £20 to record. The backing tracks were recorded on a Tascam reel-to-reel four-track at MikTon Studios (a former factory at 45 Chatham Street, Leicester; now private flats).The backing musicians for Little Stones were members of The Originals; Yvonne Blair (drums & percussion); Kevin Young (Guitar); Terri Lowe (Guitars, Bass Guitar). Equipment was supplied by Lowe and borrowed from Phil Hudson, the sound engineer at The Princess Charlotte, the premier music venue in Leicester. Bob Dylan, an influence, was represented in the form of a cover version of "All I Really Wanna Do", which featured a black 12-string Rickenbacker guitar.

The Bachelor Pad with Tommy Cherry in conversation with David Eastaugh

Their first recording came in early 1987 via one side of a free flexidisc given away with a fanzine before three singles in a twelve month period for Warhola Records.  It would be a further two years before the release of a debut LP on Imaginary Recordsand then finally three singles on Egg Records before they called it a day in 1991.

Rubella Ballet with Zillah Minx & Sid Truelove in conversation with David Eastaugh

The band was formed by drummer Sid Ation (born Sid Truelove, 18 April 1960, Sutton Coldfield, a former chef, later also the drummer with Flux of Pink Indians), former Fatal Microbes Pete Fender (Dan Sansom, guitar), Gem Stone (Gemma Sansom, bass) and It (Quentin North, also bass), with vocalists Annie Anxiety and Womble. Annie, Womble and It were involved only initially, left and were replaced by vocalist Zillah Minx (born Zillah Elaine Ashworth, 31 March 1961, Birkenhead). Fender and Stone were the son and daughter of Poison Girls singer Vi Subversa. The band used Poison Girls equipment to jam and write songs and their first performance was when they took to the stage at a Crass/Poison Girls concert. They had originally been called Rubella Babies.The band's first proper gig was a fundraiser for the Theatre Royal in Stratford, which ended in a riot, and the band played frequently, often asking audience members to put them up after gigs.

Nirvana with Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic & Chad Channing special - interview 30/10/1989 with Norwich Art Centre with David Eastaugh 

The Vaselines with Frances McKee in conversation with David Eastaugh

The band formed in 1986, initially as a duo backed by a drum machine. Originally intending to create a fanzine, Kelly and McKee decided to form a band instead. Stephen Pastel of The Pastels is credited with coming up with their name. After playing their first gigs, they signed to Pastel's 53rd and 3rd label and recorded the Son of a Gun EP with him producing, released in summer 1987. The EP featured a cover of Divine's "You Think You're a Man" on its B-side. By late 1987, Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly had joined on drums with James Seenan on bass. With this line-up and with Stephen Pastel producing again, they recorded the Dying for It EP, released in early 1988. It featured the songs "Molly's Lips" and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," both of which Nirvana would later cover. In June 1989 they released their first album, Dum-Dum, again on 53rd and 3rd but distributed by Rough Trade. The band broke up shortly after its release due jointly to the dissolution of 53rd and 3rd Records and the end of Kelly and McKee's romantic relationship. They briefly reformed in October 1990 to open for Nirvana when they played in Edinburgh.

The Jasmine Minks special with Jim Shepherd in conversation with David Eastaugh

Formed in Aberdeen in 1983, the band were initially a quartet of Jim Shepherd (guitar/vocals), Adam Sanderson (vocals/guitar), Martin Keena(bass guitar), and Tom Reid (drums/vocals). After sending a demo tape to Melody Maker, the band were recruited by Alan McGee to record for the fledgling Creation label. Their first single, "Think!" was recorded for £50 at Alaska Studios, Waterloo. The 4 piece line up was augmented by keyboards from Dave Musker, and the single produced by Joe Foster. The small brown plastic electronic organ was the same one that had previously been used on "Blue Boy" by Orange Juice. Prior to recording, Sanderson had been listening to the Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP, and repeated the two note refrain from "Boredom" at the end of "Think!". Later, Edwyn Collins of Orange Juice was to reference "Boredom" and repeat the same two note refrain on Orange Juice's hit single "Rip It Up". "Think!"/"Work For Nothing" was released in March 1984, and reached single of the week status, jointly with The Pastels single that Alan McGee released at the same time.

Murray Dalglish talking about his life in music - starting with the Jesus and Mary Chain - with David Eastaugh 

Murray Dalglish is the original drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain from their formation in early 1984 until November 1984 when he was replaced by Bobby Gillespie. Aged 16 when he joined the band, Dalglish played a two-piece drum kit, which he did whilst standing up; this style would later be carried on in Gillespie's playing. His drumming can be heard on the band's first single "Upside Down", along with its B-side, the Syd Barrett cover "Vegetable Man". He was reportedly kicked out of the band as his father demanded that Dalglish be given more money despite the fact that the band at the time was making little, if any, money at all.

Dalglish was drummer for Baby's Got a Gun, Trixie's Big Red Motorbike, The Sux Pastels and The Decay, and as of 2014, he owns a hair salon in East Kilbride.^[3]

Ultra Vivid Scene with Kurt Ralske in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Former Nothing But Happiness and Crash guitarist Ralske started Ultra Vivid Scene in 1987, was signed to 4AD Records in 1988, and released his first UVS EP, She Screamed, in 1988. The debut album Ultra Vivid Scene released October 1988, was written, produced and performed entirely by Ralske, whose influences include The Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain. The second album, Joy 1967-1990, was released in April 1990. The same month they played their first tour dates in the United Kingdom.^[2]

The last album, Rev, was released in October 1992, and was performed by a band comprising Julius Klepacz (drums) and Jack Daley (bass) with Ralske on vocals and guitar. This album was picked up by the Chaos imprint of Columbia Records (Sony Music Distribution) during the time rival Warner Bros. was having some success with its imprints' 4AD relationships (4AD/Sire, 4AD/Elektra, 4AD/Reprise).

As a live act, Ultra Vivid Scene performed only a handful of US dates in support of the first album in 1989. The second album in 1990 was supported by one month of touring in Europe and two months in the US. 1993 saw one month of US tour dates for the third and final album.

Ralske has gone on to do solo work, and has also produced albums for such artists as Rasputina, Ivy and Charles Douglas. His last known musical endeavor was the solo release in 2001 Amor 0 + 01. Since that time, Ralske has worked as a visual artist.

Echobelly special with Glenn Johansson in conversation with David Eastaugh

In 1992, Madan and Johansson first met in a pub, with Sonya expressing her desire to sing in a band "I used to sing a lot as a child. I suppose I had a secret desire to sing", They soon teamed up with bass guitarist Alex Keyser and drummer Andy Henderson, who had previously played with PJ Harvey's band.

Guitarist Debbie Smith, formerly of Curve, came on board in 1994. According to the Epic Records' website, the group came up with the name Echobelly from the notion of "being hungry for something". With Madan and Johansson serving as songwriters, they recorded their debut EP, Bellyache, on the independent Pandemonium label in late 1993.

Daniel Takes a Train special with Paul Baker in conversation with David Eastaugh