C86 Show - Indie Pop

Jonny Bridgwood - Fireball XL5, The Sting-Rays, Morrissey & Kathryn Williams - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Fireball XL5 entered the Norwich music scene in the very early 1980s. Initially the band played authentic rockabilly music but in a short space of time this developed into a unique style of punkabilly. 1950s rockabilly combined with 1980 era bands like The Meteors and The Cramps influenced the style.

Adele Nozedar – Indians In Moscow & The Fever Tree, & author - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Indians in Moscow, originally formed as a three-piece in Hornsea, near Hull, in 1981. Pete, Stuart and Adele formed the core of the band, later adding a drummer and a guitarist to the line up. As part of the Hull scene, the band came to the nation’s attention via an energetic performance playing their 1983 debut single “Naughty Miranda” on The Tube’s Hull special.

Adele is now an author and forager and can be found HERE

Kevin Hewick in conversation with David Eastaugh

New releases:

Touching Stones, Tasting Rain (2016, Botheration)

Driven By Love, Driven By Hate (2017, Botheration)

Never Give Up On A Song (2021, Botheration)

English singer-songwriter who was an early member of the Factory Records roster. Today he is known for his recordings on Sorted, Pink Box and his own Botheration label, and his recent work with Venetian collective Unfolk.

Hewick signed to Cherry Red Records in 1983, and released the album Such Hunger for Love, the single "Feathering the Nest", and This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal, a four-track 12" EP recorded in collaboration with The Sound. These and various items from Hewick's time on Factory were later reissued by Cherry Red in 2003 as the Tender Bruises and Scarscompilation CD

Douglas MacIntyre - Creeping Bent, Article 58, Jazzateers & Sexual Objects/Port Sulphur  - in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Article 58, named after the Soviet classification for counter-revolutionaries, were formed in Scotland by Gerri McLaughlin (vocals), Douglas MacIntyre (guitars) and Ewan MacLennan (bass), with Stephen Lironi (drums) on these recordings. The group existed for a short period of time, burning brightly before burning out. 

Andy Moor - The Ex &The Dog Faced Hermans - in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Moor began his musical life in Edinburgh, Scotland playing guitar with Dog Faced Hermans, an eclectic group that mixed post-punk energy with traditional tunes and improvisations. In 1990 he moved to the Netherlands after an invitation to join Dutch band The Ex. In 1995 he began another group, Kletka Red with Tony Buck Joe Williamson and Leonid Soybelman, fusing traditional klezmer, Greek and Russian songs with their own styles of playing.

Terry Bickers - House of Love & Levitation - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Guitarist and singer, he is best known for his work as the original and current lead guitarist with The House of Love and as the former frontman/guitarist for Levitation and Cradle. During the late 1980s and 1990s Bickers was hailed as one of Britain's leading young guitarists, as well as attracting plenty of press coverage due to his unconventional pronouncements.

Bickers's most recent work has been with singer-songwriter Pete Fijalkowski, with whom he released the album Broken Heart Surgery in July 2014. He is currently based in Brighton, England where he teaches music at the college Access To Music.

Sarah Griffiths - The Bollweevils, Sarah Griffiths & Duck -  in conversation with David Eastaugh

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 independent record label, 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.

A Bollweevils compilation CD, Life's A Scream, was released in Japan in 1992, on the Toy's Factory label. It contained all the tracks from the first three recorded EPs.

Simon Oakes - Peach, Suns Of The Tundra, Osiris Club & Grand Western  - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Peach - Short lived British progressive metal band. 

Suns Of The Tundra evolved from the Heavy / Progressive Rock band Peach (7); retaining original Peach songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Simon Oakes and drummer Rob Havis (now playing Bass), they are joined by Andy Marlow (Bass), Andy Prestidge (Drums) and Mark Moloney (Guitar).

Kavus Torabi - Gong, Monsoon Bassoon, Cardiacs & Knifeworld - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Musician and composer, record label owner and broadcaster. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his work in the psychedelic, avant-garde rock field (primarily as a guitarist). Torabi was one of the founding members of The Monsoon Bassoon (as singer, guitarist and one of the two primary composers), was a member of cult psychedelic rock group Cardiacs, and fronts and plays guitar for the current lineup of legendary psychedelic band Gong.

Dodgy with Mathew Priest in conversation with David Eastaugh

Dodgy's debut album was produced by The Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie. The band concerned themselves with social issues by supporting The Serious Road Trip, War Child, the Liverpool Dockers' Strike, Charter 88 and youth democracy campaigns. The band became the second UK act, after China Drum, to play in Sarajevo after the lifting of the siege, giving a concert at Kuk club in August 1996.

Dorothy Max Prior - Rema Rema, Psychic TV &  The Ragroof - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Member of Rema Rema. Under her first name, she is best known for a pop single released on Industrial Records which claimed she was 19 when in fact she was already 27. The other musicians on this record were Genesis P-Orridge and Alex Fergusson who were shortly to form Psychic TV with Peter Christopherson. They apparently asked Dorothy to play in the group, but she declined and didn't join the group until many years later when she was credited under her middle name Max. Dorothy only stayed in Psychic TV for about a year. In between this, she was in punk-pop rockabilly band first called The Weekend Swingers and then The El Trains.

Kev Hopper - Stump, Ticklish and Prescott in conversation with David Eastaugh

His debut for Dimple Discs ‘Sans Noodles’ is a musical delight, at turns playful and surreal, but always surprising and intriguing. Weaving together digital sound collages with live instrumentation, Kev creates a musical universe where guitar twang co-exists with processed voice rhythms and song narratives can take on a life of their own. The album features a cover version of the The Shadows classic “Theme For Young Lovers” and ends with a disarmingly beautiful and off-kilter piano balled “Fruit Flies” featuring the only traditional vocal performance on the record by Sharron Fortnam. 

APB with Iain Slater in conversation with David Eastaugh

APB formed in the small rural town of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and consisted of singer/bassist Iain Slater, guitarist Glenn Roberts, and drummer George Cheyne.

Though living in a remote area, they took inspiration from the "DIY" spirit of the punk scene, sounding like bands as Liquid Liquid, adopting a hard-working approach to writing, rehearsing and performing. Meanwhile, in Aberdeen, a small independent record company called Oily had started to release records and they were impressed enough by the band's live shows to release a single in 1981. The song was "Chain Reaction", which had long been a favourite at gigs. It was basically a two and a half minute punk/pop song with fuzzy distorted guitar and Scottish inflected vocals, but already the band was evolving with a sparser and more rhythmical sound. Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Gang of Four, ESG, Buzzcocks, and The Clash were all filtered through three teenagers from Aberdeenshire to create a catchy, rhythmic sound.

The Vibrators with John ‘Eddie’ Edwards in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Vibrators were founded by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his label RAK Records. Most produced their first single, "We Vibrate". The band also backed Spedding on his single, "Pogo Dancing".

The Vibrators recorded sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1 in October 1976, June 1977, and February 1978. They were one of the pioneering punk bands that played at London's Roxy Club. They headlined in January 1977, supported by the Drones, and in February they played twice at the venue. In March 1977, the band supported Iggy Popon his British tour. Later that year, they backed ex-Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter

Martin Bisi in conversation - B.C Studio - in conversation with David Eastaugh

In 1981, he started B.C. Studio (initially named OAO, Operation All Out, Studio) with Bill Laswell and Brian Eno in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, where he recorded much of the No Wave, avant garde, and hip-hop of the early 1980s including Lydia Lunch, Live Skull, Fred Frith and Afrika Bambaataa. In 1982 he recorded the instruments for the first song Whitney Houston recorded as a lead singer, "Memories" off of Material's One Down LP.
Soon after recording Herbie Hancock's "Rockit", Bisi split from Bill Laswell but continued working from BC Studio till present time, with a specialty in loud, dense sound, such as Foetus and Serena Maneesh.

In 2021, he worked with the Hypnagogia album of Travis Duo.

The Standells with Tony Valentino in conversation with David Eastaugh

In 1964, Liberty Records released three singles and an album, The Standells in Person at P.J.s. The album was later re-issued as The Standells Live and Out of Sight. The band also appeared on The Munsters TV show, as themselves in the episode "Far Out Munsters," performing "Come On and Ringo" and a version of The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand".^[9] In late 1964, they signed with Vee Jay and released two singles in 1965. Later in the year they signed with MGM for one single.

The group appeared in several low-budget films of the 1960s, including Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) and cult classic Riot on Sunset Strip (1967). The Standells performed incidental music in the 1963 Connie Francis movie Follow the Boys, which coincidentally co-starred Larry Tamblyn's brother, Russ Tamblyn. The Standells played the part of the fictional rock group the "Love Bugs" on the television sitcom Bing Crosby Show in the January 18, 1965 episode "Bugged by the Love Bugs". In addition to appearing in the aforementioned The Munsters episode as themselves, they also appeared performing an instrumental in the background in the March 29, 1965 Ben Casey series episode, "Three 'Lil Lambs." The band also performed the title song for the 1965 children's movie, Zebra in the Kitchen.

Delphi Newman - Baby June, Jim Jiminee, The Box Brothers and Vital Disorder - in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Jim Jiminee hailed from Fleet in Hampshire, comprising Kevin Jamieson (lead singer/guitar), Peter Dyes (lead guitar), Delphi Newman (keyboards), Nick Hannan (bass), and Lindsay Jamieson (drums). Another notable ex-member was Harriet Wheeler from The Sundays who had sung in an early incarnation of the band called Cruel Shoes. Jim Jiminee sounded like the best of Mod-style indie-pop combined with surprising elements of skiffle and subtle jazz, Kevin sang about relationships as tragicomedy, life on the dole; semi-routes to small town madness.

Their first EP Do It On Thursday, released in 1987, is an indie classic, when indie actually meant independent. It was, rightfully, a top 20 indie hit, featuring four life-affirming songs; the type that made you want to throw your best hat in the air, kiss your dearest friend, throw yourself into your neighbour’s goldfish pool, that sort of thing. They were all suffused with natural energy bursting life; they made signing on the dole sound like the finest thing you could do.

Ian Donaldson in conversation with David Eastaugh

Ian Donaldson is a Scottish singer, songwriter, composer, record producer and writer - with a new single, All I Have is Forever, coming out spring 2022.

Donaldson's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of new wave band H₂O, which released two UK Top 40 hits in 1983 with the singles "I Dream to Sleep" and "Just Outside of Heaven". After the band's break-up, he pursued a solo career and played in a band called FourGoodMen.

Donaldson released his debut novel, A Rainbow in the Basement, in 2016.

Steve Conte - New York Dolls, Michael Monroe, Company of Wolves  - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Conte first became known to the music industry in the early 1990s as the songwriter and guitarist of the band Company of Wolves (Mercury Records). After the Wolves' breakup in 1992, he went on to form the band Crown Jewels with John Conte, and in 2003, the pair made an album under the name The Contes. In 2004, Steve Conte joined the New York Dollsas a guitarist and vocalist, where he would remain until 2010 when he joined Michael Monroe's new band.

American musician, songwriter, guitarist, music producer, and lead singer of the band Steve Conte NYC. He has worked with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno on a variety of anime soundtracks including Wolf's Rain, Cowboy Bebop, RahXephon and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG. He is the former lead guitarist of the New York Dolls.

Christian Hayes or Bic Hayes special - Dark Star, Levitation & Ring - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Bic Hayes, is an English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. Best known as the frontman of Dark Star and guitarist with Levitation, he has also released solo material as Mikrokosmos, which was produced by Tim Smith.

Hayes first appeared on the south London psychedelic rock scene in the mid-1980s: by 1988 he was playing guitar with Ring, moving on to become bass player with The Dave Howard Singers in 1989. In the same year he joined Cardiacs as second guitarist, replacing departing saxophonist Sarah Smith. Hayes would appear as part of the band on their All That Glitters is a Mare's Nest live album and video: he would also make writing and recording contributions to their studio album Heaven Born and Ever Bright. During this period, he also worked on an intermittent thrash rock project called Panixphere.