C86 Show - Indie Pop

Thin White Rope with Roger Kunkel in conversation with David Eastaugh 

In 1984, a four-track recording with about 14 songs was sent to a number of labels, and an additional demo was recorded in December with Scott Miller producing. At this time, Jozef Becker rejoined the group, replacing French. Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records, who heard of Thin White Rope through a magazine review of the 14-song demo, signed the group to Frontier, and the band then recorded Exploring the Axis.

Over time, the band retained singer/songwriter/guitarist Guy Kyser and guitarist Roger Kunkel, with a changing line-up of drummers and bass guitarists. Like Television, it was noted for its twin guitar attack, innovative use of feedback structures and oblique lyrics. The Rough Guide to Rock called Thin White Rope "one of the few worthwhile traditional American guitar rock bands of their era. While most of the essential groups of the time were pushing back the limits of the form, Thin White Rope had the distinction of managing to breathe new life into the genre."

Adele Bertei -  Contortions,  Peter Laughner & Why Labelle Matters - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Bertei began her career playing guitar and singing in the Wolves, her first band with Laughner. She left Cleveland for New York City in 1977 shortly after Laughner died prematurely of complications due to alcoholism.

Bertei quickly became a prominent figure in the no wave art and music scene in NYC, playing Acetone organ and guitar in the original line up of the Contortions fronted by James Chance. While working as personal assistant to Brian Eno in 1978, Bertei took him to a series of concerts at Artists Space in New York, which resulted in Eno producing the iconoclastic LP No New York for the Virgin/Antilles label, featuring the Contortions and three other no wave bands.

Marco Pirroni in conversation with David Eastaugh

Pirroni was lead guitarist and co-songwriter in the second incarnation of Adam and the Ants, penning two UK number one singlesand a further four Top Ten hits, with Ant. The two albums he co-wrote for Adam and the Ants, Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming, both made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart ("Kings" #1; "Prince Charming" #2).

When Adam and the Ants disbanded in 1982, Pirroni was retained as Adam Ant's co-writer and studio guitarist; they produced another number-one single ("Goody Two Shoes") and an album (Friend or Foe), followed by four more Top 20 hits. Ant and Pirroni won two shared Ivor Novello Awards for "Stand and Deliver"

Pirroni and Ant working together sold more than eighteen million records worldwide, scoring number ones in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Israel and Japan as well as in the UK.

Doctors of Madness with Richard Strange in conversation with David Eastaugh

In September 2019 he toured the UK with an all-star band in a show entitled "Richard Strange performs the songs of Lou Reed", featuring over 20 songs by the former Velvet Underground composer and front man.

Throughout the Covid- 19 "Lockdown" months of March-August 2020, Strange worked from his studio, creating an audio version of his memoir "Strange- Punks and Drunks and Flicks and Kicks", which he offered free in daily instalments from his website, and he commenced a weekly online radio show, "Dark Times Radio", featuring music he had written, performed, produced or been inspired by. The shows were uploaded to the Soundcloud platform.

Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed in 1975, recording three influential but non-commercial albums. The band was supported by the Sex Pistols, the Jam and Joy Division. He disbanded the band in 1978, after Dave Vanian of the Damned briefly joined him on vocals. He subsequently recorded as a solo artist, releasing two albums The Live Rise of Richard Strange (Ze Records 1981) and The Phenomenal Rise of Richard Strange (Virgin Records 1981) before further releases with the Engine Room up to the early 1990s.

The Hard-Ons with Ray Ahn in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Hard-Ons are an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1981. Founding members included Keish de Silva on guitar, vocals and Peter "Blackie" Black on guitar, Ray Ahn soon joined on bass guitar with de Silva switching to drums. The group issued eight studio albums before disbanding in 1994. They reformed in 1997 to release further material. In 2002 de Silva was replaced on drums by Peter Kostic, who was replaced in turn by Murray Ruse in 2011. De Silva returned as a guest vocalist in 2014 and permanently rejoined the band in 2016. During their first 12 years, the group issued 17 consecutive number-one hits on the Australian alternativecharts. During that time they became Australia's most commercially successful independent band, with over 250,000 total record sales

Jimi LaLumia in conversation with David Eastaugh

New York punk musician Jimi LaLumia was raised in Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island, and grew more and more interested in the New York City music scene of the late '60s and early '70s. He became a freelance music writer and a scene staple at the legendary Max's Kansas City, befriending Johnny Thunders and Jayne County in the process. In 1977, LaLumia formed Jimi LaLumia and the Psychotic Frogs, self-releasing the manic "Death to Disco (Disco Sucks)" later that year. The aptly titled EP Typically Tasteless appeared in 1978, featuring the originals "Mangle Me" and "You'll Never Walk Again" on the A-side and hilariously vulgar renditions of "Eleanor Rigby" and County's "I Got Fucked by the Devil Last Night" on the flip. The following year saw the release of two more Beatles-related covers, the Isley Brothers' "Twist and Shout" and the Shirelles' "Boys," on a gold-vinyl 45 featuring vocals by Cherry Vanilla and Blondie's early backup singer Donna Destri. Although the group survived in various forms for several years, that was their last official release.