C86 Show - Indie Pop

Shoen Knife special with Naoko Yamano in conversation with David Eastaugh

Shonen Knife is an alternative rock band formed in Osaka, in 1981. Heavily influenced by 1960s girl groups, popbands, The Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands, such as the Ramones, the trio crafts stripped-down songs with simple, yet uncoventional lyrics sung both in Japanese and English.

Despite their pop-oriented nature, the trio maintains a distinctly underground garage rock sound rooted in edgy instrumentation and D.I.Y. aesthetics, which over the course of their long career has earned them a solid, worldwide cult following and made avid fans out of seminal 1990s alternative rock bands such as Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and Redd Kross.

The band has been credited with making "the international pop underground more international" by "opening it up to bands from Japan". They have also performed as a Ramones tribute band under the name The Osaka Ramones.

is an alternative rock band formed in Osaka, in 1981. Heavily influenced by 1960s girl groups, popbands, The Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands, such as the Ramones, the trio crafts stripped-down songs with simple, yet uncoventional lyrics sung both in Japanese and English.

Despite their pop-oriented nature, the trio maintains a distinctly underground garage rock sound rooted in edgy instrumentation and D.I.Y. aesthetics, which over the course of their long career has earned them a solid, worldwide cult following and made avid fans out of seminal 1990s alternative rock bands such as Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and Redd Kross. The band has been credited with making "the international pop underground more international" by "opening it up to bands from Japan". They have also performed as a Ramones tribute band under the name The Osaka Ramones.

Wire special with Colin Newman in conversation with David Eastaugh

Stump special with Kev Hopper in conversation with David Eastaugh

Stump were an Anglo-Irish indie/experimental/rock group featuring former Microdisney membersMick Lynch (vocals) and Rob McKahey (drums), along with Kev Hopper (bass) and Chris Salmon (guitar). They formed in London in 1983. The original vocalist was Nick Hobbs, who left early on to form The Shrubs.

Their first release was a four track EP Mud on a Colon issued in 1986 through the Ron Johnson record label. This was followed by a self released mini album Quirk Out produced by Hugh Jones which included their cult hit "Buffalo". "Buffalo" appeared on NME's influential C86 compilation and a video was made by Channel 4which was shown on The Tube. Continuous UK touring, regular coverage in the UK music press - including cover features in both the NME and Melody Maker, and a return to The Tube for a live performance of "Tupperware Stripper", ensured that Quirk Out stayed in the UK Indie Charts for 26 weeks, peaking at number 2. A session for the John Peel radio show recorded in February 1986 was released as a Peel Session EP on Strange Fruit Records in 1987. Following these successes the band were signed to Ensign Records.

Their only full-length release, A Fierce Pancake (named after a term meaning 'deep conundrum' in The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien) released in 1988 was recorded in Berlin and London produced by Holger Hiller with assistance from Stephen Street and was mixed by Hugh Jones after an unsuccessful session with US producer John Robie. The recording process was, however, often fraught with arguments amongst the band as to the sound and direction of the album.^[4] However, the group were pleased with the finished results and three singles were released from the album: "Chaos", "Charlton Heston" (which reached number 72 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1988 and therefore became their only national chart success) and a re-released "Buffalo" (the latter only featuring on the US edition of the album). The album did not bring the crossover success the label had hoped for and, after recording a few b-sides and some demos, they split up at the end of the year.

Stump's persistent and growing cult following prompted the release of A Fierce Pancake on iTunes; Hopper had previously reported on his website that their entire catalogue had been out of print since 1990. The "Pancake" download prompted the release of a 3-CD set containing Mud on a Colon, Quirk Out and A Fierce Pancake as well as the group's post-"Pancake" b-sides and demos and their compilation appearance, "Big End". This was released by Sanctuary Records in 2008 under the title The Complete Anthology.

Mick Lynch died in December 2015.

Sarah Records special with Lucy Dawkins talking about the film My Secret World, with David Eastaugh 

Rory McLeod in conversation with David Eastaugh

My Life Story with Jake Shillingford in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Go-Betweens special with Lindy Morrison in conversation with David Eastaugh.

The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout its existence. Drummer Lindy Morrison joined the band in 1980, and its lineup would later expand to include bass guitarist Robert Vickers and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown. Vickers was replaced by John Willsteed in 1987, and the quintet lineup remained in place until the band split two years later. Forster and McLennan reformed the band in 2000 with a new lineup that did not include any previous personnel aside from them. McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack and The Go-Betweens disbanded again. In 2010, a toll bridge in their native Brisbane was renamed the Go Between Bridge after them.

In 1988, "Streets of Your Town", the first single from 16 Lovers Lane, entered the Top 100 on both the Kent Music Report chart in Australia and the UK Singles Chartin the United Kingdom. The follow-up single "Was There Anything I Could Do?" was a No. 16 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States. In May 2001, "Cattle and Cane", from 1983's Before Hollywood, was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time. In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series.

The Bats special with Paul Kean in conversation with David Eastaugh

In the early 1980s, Robert Scott and Kaye Woodward were sharing accommodation together in Christchurch. Scott was already playing bass in The Clean, and had also played with bassist Paul Kean in the short-lived band, Thanks To Llamas. After Scott taught Woodward some of his songs, the three began playing together at parties as The Percy Taiwan Band. After recruiting Malcolm Grant of The Bilders on drums, they renamed themselves The Bats.

The Bats first performed in Dunedin on New Year's Eve, 1982. Over the next two years, they were involved in the live music scene in Christchurch and Dunedin, before releasing their first EP, By Night (1984), on the nascent alternative New Zealand record label, Flying Nun. The band spent the next two years touring New Zealand and Australia, and released another EP, And Here Is 'Music for the Fireside' (1985). The band's early releases were accompanied by some typically low budget but original music videos, notably 'By Night', 'I Go Wild' and 'Downfall'.

The band then travelled to Europe and spent time touring Britain and Germany, including playing support for Alex Chilton. They recorded the Made Up in Blue EP at the 24 track Point Studio in London in December 1985. 'Made Up in Blue', the first single released in the U.K. by Flying Nun, was awarded 'Single of the Week' by the influential British magazine, NME. An acquaintance in Glasgow offered the use of his home 8 track studio, and half of the tracks for what would become their debut album, Daddy's Highway, were recorded there.

The Bats returned to New Zealand to finish recording for Daddy's Highway, which was released in 1987. The album has been named as their most highly regarded and one of the best New Zealand albums of the 1980s. In 2000, it was named No. 88 in music magazine Rip It Up's New Zealand's Top 100 Albums of All Time. Notable tracks on the album include "North By North", "Tragedy" and the lead single, "Block of Wood", all of which were staples on New Zealand student radio.

The Bats' second album The Law of Things (1990) continued to define a consistent Bats sound. It featured Alastair Galbraith on violin, as did Daddy's Highway. In 1991, The Bats released Fear of God. It spent three months on the French top 50 album charts. Also in 1990, Flying Nun re-released the band's first three EPs on a single compilation CD, Compiletely Bats.

The band found increasing success in the United States over this period. Between 1986 and 1993, The Bats toured the U.S.A four times, including 14 dates supporting Radiohead in 1993. Their fourth album, Silverbeet, reached No. 6 on the College Music Journal album chart.

The Bats' next album, Couchmaster (1995), would prove to be their last for ten years.

Big Country special with Mark Brzezicki in conversation with David Eastaugh

Big Country comprised Stuart Adamson (formerly of Skids, vocals/guitar/keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar/mandolin/sitar/vocals), Tony Butler (bass guitar/vocals) and Mark Brzezicki (drums/percussion/vocals). Before the recruitment of Butler and Brzezicki an early incarnation of Big Country was a five-piece band, featuring Peter Wishart (later of Runrig and now a Scottish National Party MP) on keyboards, his brother Alan on bass, and Clive Parker, drummer from Spizz Energi/Athletico Spizz '80. Parker had approached Adamson to join his new band after the demise of Skids.

Adamson auditioned Parker (1980) at The Members' rehearsal room in Ladbroke Grove, London and the next day was called on to play drums on demos for CBS Records at their Whitfield Street studios. The demos were produced by Adam Sieff and just featured Adamson, Parker and Watson. Adamson had asked bassist Dave Allen from Gang of Fourto join the band but he declined. Adamson asked Parker to join the band, which led to eight months of rehearsal in Dunfermline in a disused furniture warehouse.

The culmination was a concert at the Glen Pavilion at Dunfermline and an interview with BBC Radio Scotland where the CBS Studio demos were utilised. The band then played live with Alice Cooper's Special Forces tour for two concerts in 1982 at The Brighton Centre.

Butler and Brzezicki, working under the name 'Rhythm for Hire,' were brought in to play on "Harvest Home." They immediately hit it off with Adamson and Watson, who invited them to join the band.

John Parish in conversation with David Eastaugh

Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He has also worked with many other bands including Eels, Tracy Chapman, Giant Sand, and Sparklehorse. 

His first record release was a single "Mind Made" by the British new wave band, Thieves Like Us (1980). In 1982, he formed the band Automatic Dlamini, with Rob Ellis. The changing line-up of Automatic Dlamini included Polly Harvey from 1988 until 1991. Automatic Dlamini recorded three albums: The D is For Drum (1987),Here Catch Shouted his Father (1990 – unreleased but available as a bootleg), and From A Diva to a Diver(1992). By the time From A Diva to a Diver was released, Harvey had left to form the PJ Harvey trio with ex-Dlamini members Rob Ellis and Ian Olliver, and Parish was playing guitar with Marc Moreland's band The Ensenada Joyride.

In 1986 Parish had begun a parallel career as a record producer working with UK bands including The Chesterfields, The Brilliant Corners, The Caretaker Race and The Becketts. In 1995 he co-produced PJ Harvey's "To Bring You My Love", on which he also played guitar, drums, percussion and organ. He co-wrote and produced The Eels album Souljacker (2001), and played guitar on the world tour that accompanied its release. He has produced and/or played on a number of Howe Gelb / Giant Sand albums and frequently appears onstage with them. Parish produced the Giant Sandalbum Chore of Enchantment (2000), and a photograph of his wedding in Tucson in 1998 was used as the cover for the 2011 re-release of the record.

He also began working as a film composer in 1998, writing the score for Belgian director Patrice Toye's debut film, Rosie. Parish's score won the Jury Special Appreciation prize at the 1999 Bonn Film & TV Music Biennale. He has since scored other films and a Dutch seven-part TV drama Waltz(2006).

Parish has now worked on seven albums with Harvey, including two co-written albums: Dance Hall at Louse Point (1996) and A Woman A Man Walked By (2009). He played in the PJ Harvey touring band (guitar/drums/keyboards) from 1994 – 1999, from 2009 – 2012 and from 2015 - 2017. He co-produced and played on To Bring You My Love (1995),White Chalk (2007), the Mercury Prize winning Let England Shake (2011) and The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016).

Jim Jones in conversation talking about his life in music with David Eastaugh

Thee Hypnotics are an English psychedelic garage rock band, formed in 1985 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The band are currently composed of frontman James "Jim" Jones, guitarist Ray Hanson, drummer Phil Smith and bassist Jeremy Cottingham. The band split in 1999, before announcing their reformation in January 2018.

The band recorded three studio and one live album for record labels including Sub Pop, Beggars Banquet/Situation Two, RCA Records, American Records. They were part of the early alternative rock and psychedelic rock London scene, and made an impact on the underground and alternative music scenes in the UK, Europe and the United States.

Co-founders Jones and Hanson were originally joined by drummer Mark Thompson and bassist Adam Sharam. Personnel changes ensued with others including drummer Chris Dennis (1987–88), bassist Will Pepper (1988–93 and 1994–95), Canadian drummer Phil Smith (1989–99) and bassist Jeremy Cottingham (1997–1999).

They released their first 7" single "Love In a Different Vein" in 1987 on Vinyl Solution. Thee Hypnotics subsequently signed to Situation Two a subsidiary of the independent record label, Beggars Banquet. The band cemented this union by scoring an independent chart hit with the 12" single "Justice In Freedom" and the follow up "Soul Trader".^[1] Their live album, Live'r Than God (1989), elevated the band out of the UK club scene,^[1] and they toured supporting both Gaye Bykers on Acid and Crazyhead, as well as on their own UK tour. In September 1989, Melody Maker noted that "Thee Hypnotics care only for their own generic past and frenetic present. The future doesn't even get a look in... Forget regression, this is reincarnation! Past, present and future!"^[3] Thee Hypnotics were asked to do a radio session for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel on 28 March 1989, and they recorded "Nine Times", "Love in a Different Vein", "Soul Trader" and "Let's Get Naked", and were previewed on MTV.

Thee Hypnotics began to attract attention in the United States, in particular Seattle where its own alternative rock scene was taking off. Sub Pop made Thee Hypnotics their first UK signing. Sub Pop's release of Live'r Than God! became the band's US debut, and encompassed not only a Powerhaus concert recording but also their singles to date. Thee Hypnotics shared pages with Mudhoney, Screaming Trees and Nirvana in the Seattle publication, Backlash. Seattle became a second home for the band and, after Mark Thomson was replaced by the Canadian drummer Phil Smith, the band made its US tour debut.

The Damned took the band out as their support act. The Lords of the New Church approached Thee Hypnotics lead singer, Jim Jones, to front the Lords but he declined. Subsequently, Stiv Batorswore a T-shirt with a 'singer wanted' advert and then sacked his band onstage.^[6] In 1989, Ray Hanson and Jim Jones joined Stiv Bators onstage at The Opera On The Green, Shepherd's Bush, London, as temporary Dead Boys, after Cheetah Chrome failed to secure a work visa.

Peter Momtchiloff in conversation talking about his life in music with David Eastaugh.

Peter Momtchiloff is a British guitarist and bassist. His musical career began in 1978 playing bass guitar in Winchester band The Big Figure. At Oxford he continued as a bass player and vocalist in Ron and His Beat Busters (under the name Miguel Horton) and Communist Alliance. These outfits played a combination of cover versions and original material with new wave, R&B and rockabilly influences. As a guitarist he played in country bluestrio The Shovel Robinson King Biscuit Country Blue Band.

Momtchiloff was a founding member of the seminal twee pop bands Talulah Gosh, Heavenly and its later incarnation Marine Research. In 1999, he joined Jessica Griffin in her band the Would-Be-Goods.

He has also played guitar for Scarlet's Well, Les Clochards, and Hot Hooves.

In 2014 he formed a band called Tufthunter to record an album of his songs, each sung by a different singer. This album was released in 2015 under the title 'Deep Hits'.

Dolly Mixture special with Rachel Lowell in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Dolly Mixture were an English band formed in 1978 by bassist and vocalist Debsey Wykes, guitarist and vocalist Rachel Bor and drummer Hester Smith. They had a taste of Top 40 success performing backing vocals for the Captain Sensible hit "Wot", a Top 10 hit with Sensible on "Glad It's All Over", and a UK No. 1 hit backing Sensible on his 1982 cover of "Happy Talk". Rachel Bor also featured on the Animus/Loose Records single "Wot NO Meat?" also by Captain Sensible in 1985. Rachel and Debsey performed together on 24 April 2013 at the Islington Assembly Hall in London.

The group was formed in Cambridge by Bor, Smith, and Wykes, three school friends who shared a fondness for The Shangri-Las and The Undertones. Dolly Mixture supported The Undertones on one of their first UK tours. The band also played venues with The Fall and The Transmitters in 1979. They were once supported by U2. In Autumn 1981, they toured as the featured support band for Bad Manners on their Gosh It's tour and were very well received by the second wave mod/ska audience that filled various theatres and venues up and down the land.

Relocating to London to gig extensively, national BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel gave them exposure on his radio show and in his weekly column in the UK pop paper, Sounds. Signed to Chrysalis Records, the group released a cover of the Shirelles hit, "Baby It's You" (1980), produced by Eric Faulkner of the Bay City Rollers. However, the cover version was disowned by the group, which protested the label's attempt to sell them as a teen girl group. Their next single, "Been Teen" (1981), was the first single released on Paul Weller's Respond label. It was followed by "Everything And More" (1982), also released on Respond. Both singles were produced by Captain Sensible and Paul Gray of The Damned. They became friends with Sensible and recorded backing vocals on his singles and albums. After Sensible had a hit with "Happy Talk" in 1982 (featuring Dolly Mixture, credited as "Dolly Mixtures" on the single, and also in the song's video) and following various appearances on the television show Top of the Pops, Dolly Mixture – as a separate entity from Captain Sensible – performed extensively.

In 1983, the band released a double album called the "Demonstration Tapes" on their own Dead Good Dolly Platters label. The album sported a plain white cover and each copy was numbered and authentically autographed by the group members. Only one thousand copies were pressed. The album featured 27 demo tracks which covered a large part of the band's repertoire.

The same year saw a release of the "Remember This" single, again on Dead Good Dolly Platters label. The B-side was a piece entitled "Listening Pleasure/Borinda's Lament", which included dialogue (à la Home Service British Force's Radio DJ), a half-finished song and an instrumental chamber piece with Wykes on piano and Bor on cello.

The 12-inch vinyl Fireside EP was released in 1984 on Cordelia Records, owned by Alan Jenkins, a member of The Deep Freeze Mice. The six-track EP represented the band's new artistic direction and contained mostly instrumental pieces, abandoning the guitar/bass/drum format. The most recognisable track was "Dolly Medley", containing highlights of the Dolly's repertoire, including the previously unreleased "Dead Rainbow", all done in a chamber music style. It was produced by Dolly Mixture and Andrew Fryer.

The Bambi Slam special with Roy in conversation with David Eastaugh

After releasing 3 singles in 1987 on Product Inc./MUTE Records in the UK, put out by Rough Trade Records as the "Is" EP in the US. They then released their debut and only full length CD on Blanco y Negro/WEA in the UK, a huge thrill as the band where great fans of label mates the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Warner Bros Records put the record out in the US.

The band played and toured with the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Iggy, PiL, the Cult, Big Black, Fields of Nephilm , Sonic Youth , the Pixies etc. and was managed by Andrew Eldridge, singer of The Sisters of Mercy and his partner Boyd Steemson at Merciful Mngmt. They also did BBC radio sessions for both John Peel and Janice Long.

The Bodines special with Paul Brotherton in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Bodines, consisting of Mike Ryan, Paul Brotherton, Tim Burtonwood and Paul Lilley, emerged from Glossop, England, near Manchester, in 1985. Fronted by the floppy-fringed Ryan, they became one of the better-known outfits from a crop of jangly indie bands that sprang up around that time. They made their debut with "God Bless", an early release by Creation Records. Shortly afterwards, Lilley was replaced on drums by John Rowland. Two further singles followed; their second, "Therese", was included on the famous C86 compilation album. Like their contemporaries Primal Scream, The Mighty Lemon Drops and The Weather Prophets, The Bodines went on to sign up with a major label with great hopes of transferring their success to the mainstream charts. The group joined Magnet Records, where a remix of "Therese" became their major label debut.

In July 1986, The Bodines participated in the Festival of the Tenth Summer. The Bodines's debut album, Played (produced by Ian Broudie, later to enjoy success as a recording artist as the Lightning Seeds) scraped into No. 94 in the UK Albums Chart, in the summer of 1987. None of the Bodines' singles got into the UK Singles Chart. Under pressure for failing to deliver the hit record that their major label backers required, the Bodines split up, albeit temporarily. Rowland went on to play with The Rainkings.

In 1989, a reformed line-up of Ryan, Brotherton, new bassist Ian Watson, and new drummer Spencer Birtwistle released the single "Decide" on Manchester's Play Hard label and contributed a further new track to the same label's Hand to Mouth compilation. A couple of years later, Ryan reappeared with a new band called Medalark Eleven (misnamed after Harlem Globetrotters' Meadowlark Lemon), assisted by Gareth Thomas on bass and Adrian Donohue on drums. Reunited with Creation Records, they released a couple of singles ahead of the album Shaped Up, Shipped Out.

On 23 August 2010, The Bodines debut album Played was reissued with seven bonus tracks on the Cherry Red label.

Ut special with Jacqui Ham in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Ut's members were Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham, and Sally Young. They were joined briefly by filmmaker Karen Achenbach in 1979 before resuming as a three-piece band and relocating to London in 1981. Ut toured the UK with bands such as the Fall and the Birthday Party. Originally releasing albums on its own label Out Records, the band became a favourite of John Peel and recorded several sessions for his show before joining forces with Blast First in 1987.

In Gut's House was originally released in 1988 and made NME's Top 50 that year. The Washington Post noted, "With In Gut's House, Ut has scraped and droned one of the finest underground rock albums of the year.... The tightly woven, firmly focused sound...is rich, spooky, urgent, and quite unexpectedly beautiful."

In 1989, the band recorded and released the album Griller, engineered by labelmate Steve Albini, who shared Ut's raw aesthetic. In March 1990, Ut played its last concert in Paris.

The Senseless Things special with Morgan Nicholls in conversation with David Eastaugh

Senseless Things formed around the musical partnership of songwriter Mark Myers aka Mark Keds (vocals, guitar) and Morgan Nicholls (bass, originally guitar), who as eleven-year-olds in Twickenham, Middlesex put together Wild Division in the early 1980s. With the addition of drummer Cass Browne (also occasionally known as Cass Cade and Cass Traitor) they became the Psychotics, playing various venues in their local area despite still being at school. Their first gig together as the Senseless Things (named after a phrase used in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Julius Caesar) followed at the subsequently-demolished Clarendon in Hammersmith, London, in October 1986. Auxiliary members at this stage included a keyboard player, Ben, and a guitarist, Gerry, who deputised for Nicholls while the latter was studying for his O levels.

The definitive Senseless Things line-up formed in summer 1987 when Nicholls returned to take over bass, with the new recruit, former BBC clerk Ben Harding acquiring the vacant guitarist's role. The band regularly appeared at The Clarendon in Hammersmith, London playing both downstairs in the Broadway bar and upstairs in the main auditorium.

Taking their musical cue from the Ramones and the Dickies, and their spiritual lead from fellow guitar outfit Mega City Four, the quartet embarked upon a hectic touring schedule, often playing on the same bill as Mega City Four, Snuff and Perfect Daze.

The band's first releases were singles given away with issues of Yo Jo Jo and Sniffin' Rock fanzines. By March 1988 the band had attracted the attention of the BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who invited them to record the first of three sessions for his programme. The "Up And Coming" 12" followed, then "Girlfriend" the following year, both on Way Cool Records.

Their first album, Postcard CV, was released in 1989, capturing the energy of their concerts by packing ten tracks into twenty two minutes. Record Collector called it "sprightly pop-punk/ indie with touches of Buzzcocks and the Undertones". The album was rounded off by "Too Much Kissing", which was released as a single and was to become their signature track.

In 1990 the band signed with What Goes On Records, just as the label collapsed, resulting in an abortive EP release. The band then signed to Vinyl Solution subsidiary Decoy Records, who released the four-track EP "'Is It Too Late?", produced by Jon Langford of the Mekons. The group stayed with Decoy for "Can't Do Anything", (also produced by Langford), which prefaced an appearance at the Reading Festival; the band then signed to Epic Records at the start of 1991.

The subsequent album The First Of Too Many saw the band experimenting with other styles including acoustic songs, and the single "Got It At The Delmar" entered the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. Allmusic praised the album's blend of "bubblegum pop" and "gobstopping hard rock", likening the band's sound to the Who and the Replacements. Two further Top 20singles followed in 1991/1992 - "Easy To Smile" and "Hold It Down". The band toured the United States, supporting Blur, and went to Japan for the first time, appearing on talent show Ika-Ten.

Cover art for the first two Senseless Things albums and most single releases around the same period was provided by comic artist Jamie Hewlett, creator of Tank Girl and later Gorillaz.

The second single from their third album, 1993's Empire of the Senseless, "Homophobic Asshole" (with promotional video directed by Steven Wells) received critical acclaim but was released reluctantly by their record company due to the band's choice of title and failed to chart highly. Follow-up single, "Primary Instinct", an equally political (anti-racist) lyric but a more radio-friendly title, had slightly more commercial success. In a further Mekons connection, the album shared its title with a track from the 1989 album The Mekons Rock 'n Roll, itself named for a Kathy Acker novel.

In 1995, the band released a final album, Taking Care Of Business accompanied by two singles, "Christine Keeler" (renamed from "Christian Killer") and "Something To Miss". The latter's b-sides included a Replacements cover as well as a song co-written with Lenie from Mambo Taxi. Senseless Things went into permanent hiatus the same year after farewell tours of the UK and Japan.

Mark Kramer in conversation talking about his life in music with David Eastaugh 

Mark Kramer  known professionally as Kramer, is a musician, composer, record producer and founder of the New York City record label Shimmy-Disc. He was a full-time member of the bands New York Gong, Shockabilly, Bongwater and Dogbowl & Kramer, has played on tour (usually on bass guitar) with bands such as Butthole Surfers, B.A.L.L., Ween, Half Japanese and The Fugs(1984 reunion tour), and has also performed regularly with John Zorn and other improvising musicians of New York City's so-called "downtown scene" of the 1980s.

Kramer's most notable work as a producer has been with bands such as Galaxie 500 (whose entire oeuvre he produced), Low (whom he discovered and produced), Half Japanese, White Zombie, GWAR, King Missile, Danielson Famile, Will Oldham, Daniel Johnston, and Urge Overkill, including their hit cover of "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon".

Age of Chance special with Neil Howson in conversation with David Eastaugh

Steve Elvidge was a Leeds native, and attended St Michael's College (R.C.); being the most notable musical alumnus of that school since Jake Thackray. Neil Howson, (guitar) also from Leeds studied at Jacob Kramer College of Art, Geoff Taylor (Liverpool) and Jan Perry (Stockport) were students at Leeds Polytechnic, now Leeds Beckett University.

Age of Chance first came to national attention in 1985, when their debut single, "Motorcity/ Everlasting Yeah" released on their own label, Riot Bible, was picked up and championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ, John Peel. A session followed, recorded at Maida vale studios and four songs, "Going, Going Gone Man", "Mob Hut", "The Morning After the Sixties" and "I Don't Know and I Don't Care" were recorded. "I Don't Know.." was re-recorded for Gunfire and Pianos, a compilation album released by Zigzag magazine.

They released their second self-funded single, "Bible of the Beats" / "Liquid Jungle" in January 1986, which led to an invitation to contribute a track, "From Now On, This Will Be Your God" on the NME C86 compilation tape. The band made their London debut at the ICA Rock week in July 1986. A second Peel session was recorded in June 1986, with "Be Fast, Be Clean, Be Cheap", "From Now On, This Will be Your God", "Kiss" and "How the West was Won". "Kiss" was recorded for the John Peel session while the Prince single was still in the charts.

The band then signed to the Sheffield independent record label, Fon, for "Kiss" and its remix 12"s and six track mini-LP Crush Collision. "Kiss" was No. 2 in John Peel's Festive Fifty for 1986.

The band signed to Virgin in January 1987, and embarked on a nationwide UK tour. They recorded a Janice Long session comprising "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Noise", "Hold On" and "Bible of the Motorcity Beats." They began recording their first single for Virgin with producer Howard Gray: "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Noise/Big Bad Rap" and then started their first Virgin album, One Thousand Years of Trouble. A second single "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" was released in October, followed by the album. In 1988, Channel 4 began using "Don't Get Mad..." as the music for the American Football programme, which ran over the next three years. The band began recording their second Virgin album in the summer at Rockfield in Wales.

Original singer Steven-E left in September 1988, during the recording of their second LP, forcing the rest of the band to recruit a new singer, Charles Hutchinson, in January 1989, and "re-vocal" the LP, which was released as Mecca in 1990. The main single from that collection, "Higher Than Heaven" reached No. 53 in the UK, despite being voted "record of the week" by BBC Radio 1's breakfast show listeners. When Hutchinson left, Perry took on vocal duties briefly before the band split in 1991.

Galaxie 500 & Luna special with Dean Wareham in conversation

Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time as students at Harvard University.Wareham and Krukowski had formed a series of punk-influenced student bands, before Wareham returned to New York. When he returned in 1987 he and Krukowski formed a new band, with Yang joining the group on bass guitar, the new group deciding on the name Galaxie 500, after a friend's car, a Ford Galaxie 500.

The band began playing gigs in Boston and New York City, and recorded a demo which they sent to Shimmy Disc label boss and producer Mark Kramer, who agreed to produce the band. With Kramer at the controls, the band recorded the "Tugboat" single in February 1988, and the "Oblivious" flexi-disc, and moved on to record their debut album, Today, which was released on the small Aurora label. The band toured the United Kingdom in late 1988 and in 1989, then signed to Rough Trade and released their second album, On Fire, which has been described as "lo-fi psychedelia reminiscent of Jonathan Richman being backed by The Velvet Underground", and is considered the band's defining moment.On Fire reached number 7 in the UK Indie Chart, and met with much critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, but was less well received by the US music press, who cited Wareham's 'vocal limitations' as a weakness.

Galaxie 500 recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, these later released on the Peel Sessions album. Their cover of Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste" was also voted into number 41 in 1989's Festive 50 by listeners to the show.

The band split up in the spring of 1991 after the release of their third album, This Is Our Music. Wareham, who had already moved back to New York, quit the band after a lengthy American tour.

Galaxie 500's records were released in the US and UK on the independent Rough Trade label. When Rough Trade went bankrupt in 1991, Krukowski and Yang purchased the masters at auction, reissuing them on Rykodisc in 1996 as a box set containing all three albums and another disc of rarities.