C86 Show - Indie Pop

Band of Susans with Robert Poss talking about life in music with David Eastaugh

Band of Susans was an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1986 and active until 1996. It originally consisted of Robert Poss(guitar/vocals), Susan Stenger (bass/vocals), Ron Spitzer (drums), with Susan Lyall (guitar), Susan Tallman (guitar), and Alva Rogers (vocals). The band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving three guitarists. Poss, Stenger, and Spitzer were the band's core members throughout its duration. They originated in the New York noise rock scene, but due to their layered guitar sound were sometimes seen as the American counterparts to the UK shoegazing bands and also drew influence from modern experimental composers Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca.

Martin Atkins special talking about Pigface, PIL, Killing Joke & much more with David Eastaugh

Best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke.

He also works as a consultant, has written books, and is the music business program coordinator at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. Atkins is an honorary board member of the Chicago-based nonprofit organisation Rock For Kids.

The Farm with Peter Hooton in conversation with David Eastaugh 

The band evolved from an earlier group called The Excitements, in 1984, they released the single, "Hearts and Minds", produced by Suggs. In 1986, after McVann's death, Melvin left the band to pursue a varied career as the director of his own construction firm, but he eventually returned to music in 1990 under the guise of Mr. Smith, a two-piece band that toured frequently, but did not release anything of note. 

After the departure of Melvin and the death of McVann, Hooton brought in a new line-up. They released four independent singles, but did not have a big break until 1990. In 1989, the band had been given a cameo role in the movie The Final Frame starring Suggs. They were signed after this and hired Suggs as their producer. Their first single under new management was "Stepping Stone", a dance remake of Paul Revere & the Raiders and The Monkees' single "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", a 1966 single that in its day reached No. 20 in the U.S. Billboard charts for The Monkees. They appeared in The Face, an influential popular culture magazine in the UK, and their promotion of "No alla violenza" anti-hooligan T-shirts during Italia 90 helped to raise their profile further.

The Farm's first song to reach the top part of the UK Singles Chart was "Groovy Train", which reached the Top 10 in September 1990. During the summer that year they played in Ibiza and were a key feature in the film A Short Film About Chilling. In late November that year, they released their most memorable song, "All Together Now", which instantly became a hit and peaked at number three in the charts in December 1990. It was on the crest of this wave that their album Spartacus reached No. 1 in the UK the following year. 

The Photos with Steve Eagles in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Photos were originally a punk band named Satan's Rats that formed in Evesham, Worcestershire in 1977, with the first stable line-up of Paul Rencher (vocals), Steve Eagles (guitar/vocals), Roy Wilkes (bass guitar), and Olly Harrison (drums). They released three singles as Satans Rats before Wilkes left, to be replaced by Dave Sparrow; and then Rencher left, after which the others deciding to expand the group with the addition of a female singer; They unsuccessfully tried to get Big in Japan's Jayne Casey to join, but convinced Wendy Wu (born Wendy Cruise, 29 November 1959), the former manager of pub rock band City Youth to join in 1979. The Photos signed to CBS Records but moved on to Epic Records after one single. They released a self-titled album (Epic, 1980) and number of singles. These included "I'm So Attractive" and "Barbarellas" (concerning the closure of a Birmingham nightclub).

The album was successful, reaching number 4 in the UK Albums Chart, and Wu's picture was briefly a regular item in the music press. Initial copies of the vinyl release of the album came with a bonus album, The Blackmail Tapes, the additional tracks also included on the cassette release, and the album was supported by the group performing numerous concerts around the UK.

The album was later re-released in CD format, although only a limited number of copies were pressed. The CD was re-released in October 2007 by Cherry Red Records, the label originally due to have signed the band before they were contracted to CBS. The re-release includes some additional tracks including "I'm So Attractive".

They released several singles in the UK including "I'm So Attractive". which was added to the US album release. "I'm So Attractive" was not included on the CD that was released in 1999, along with eight additional tracks from The Blackmail Tapes.

Their scheduled appearance on BBC Television's Top of the Pops was cancelled due to industrial action. A second album, Crystal Tips and Mighty Mice, was released in promotional form in 1981, but withdrawn before it reached the shops, and reissued by Cherry Red Records in 2008. Wu left the band in 1981, to be replaced by Che, and The Photos split up later that year.

Patty Schemel special talking about her life in music with David Eastaugh

Patricia Schemel is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, where she developed an interest in punk rock music as a teenager. She began drumming at age eleven, and while in high school, formed several bands with her brother, Larry.

Schemel was recommended as a drummer to Hole frontwoman Courtney Love by her husband, Kurt Cobain, a friend of Schemel's. She formally joined the band in 1992, and performed on their critically acclaimed second album, Live Through This (1994). On the band's third release, Celebrity Skin (1998), Schemel was replaced by a session drummer after its producer, Michael Beinhorn, convinced Love that Schemel was unable to adequately perform during their recording sessions. Though she receives credit on the album, her drumming does not appear on the final tracks, and the event marked her departure from the band. For the band's subsequent tour, Schemel was replaced by Samantha Maloney.

After leaving Hole, Schemel developed a significant crack cocaine addiction, and was homeless for a time. In the early 2000s, she became sober and reunited with Love, joining the short-lived group Bastard before drumming on Love's debut solo album, America's Sweetheart (2004). Schemel subsequently drummed for Juliette and the Licks, appearing on their EP ...Like a Bolt of Lightning (2004).

In 2010, using concert and video diary footage from Hole's 1994–1995 Live Through This world tour, Schemel co-created Hit So Hard, a documentary chronicling her time in Hole, her overcoming substance abuse, as well her subsequent business operating a dog boarding business. In 2013, she joined the indie rock group Upset, formed by Ali Koehler, previously of Vivian Girls and Best Coast, and formed the band Death Valley Girls with her brother, Larry, the same year.

Jeffrey Lewis in conversation with David Eastaugh

Lewis is often regarded as part of the antifolk movement, foremost because he was one of the many bands and performers (including The Moldy Peaches, Kimya Dawson, Diane Cluck, Regina Spektor, Major Matt Mason USA and Lach) who played in the 1990s at New York's SideWalk Cafe and its biannual antifolk festivals and open micevents. His music also possesses certain traits of a perceived antifolk style - a downbeat self-deprecating humor, an off-kilter singing style, a mixture of acoustic and 'punk' songs which feature themes of everyday occurrences and feelings. Lewis himself does not mind the 'antifolk' tag: "I think it's a cool title. The fact that no one knows what it means, including me, makes it kind of mysterious and more interesting than saying that you're a singer/songwriter or that you play indie rock."

After being signed by the British record label Rough Trade in 2001, Jeffrey Lewis released his first official album The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane. Also that year (in February), Lewis was visited by Kimya Dawson while living in Austin, Texas. Over the week she stayed there, they wrote five songs. These songs were later re-recorded with a full band and released by K Records under the moniker "The Bundles," on an album of the same name, in 2010.^[8]

In 2003 Rough Trade released the album It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Light Shines Through, credited to Jeffrey Lewis with Jack Lewis and drummer Anders Griffen. His third Rough Trade record, City and Eastern Songs, was released in the UK in November 2005 and in the US in September 2006. Most of Lewis's albums also include his brother, Jack Lewis, who wrote or co-wrote and sang and played bass on a number of the songs. In October 2007, Rough Trade released 12 Crass Songs, a Jeffrey Lewis album consisting entirely of songs written by the British punk band Crass, reworked to match Lewis's antifolk style.

In a January 2018 "MusicMakers" interview with Adafruit, Lewis announced he was working on numerous new projects, including "Writing a new issue of my comic book series, mastering an album I recorded of covers of Tuli Kupferberg songs, mixing an album I recorded in collaboration with Peter Stampfel, and working on writing and recording new songs with my band for my own next album. Remastering and repackaging my old 2005 album “City & Eastern Songs” for a deluxe vinyl re-issue."

Razorcuts with Tim Vass in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Razorcuts were an indie pop band formed in 1984 in London. The group centred on Gregory Webster and Tim Vass (who were previously in The Cinematics), with various musicians including Peter Momtchiloff of Heavenly, Angus Stevenson (later of the Relationships), and New Zealand drummer David Swift.

Early releases on the Subway Organisation label, including the debut Big Pink Cake led to a deal with Creation Records for whom they released two albums. Razorcuts split up on 21 April 1990, with Vass going on to form Red Chair Fadeaway, and Webster to The Carousel, Saturn V and then in the late 1990s Sportique.The duo were reunited under the name 'Forever People' in 1992 for a one-off single on Sarah Records.

Crass special with Steve Ignorant in conversant with David Eastaugh

Robin Millar in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Robin Millar record producer, musician and businessman, known variously as 'The Original Smooth Operator', 'The man behind Sade', and 'Golden Ears' Boy George - one of the world's most successful ever record producers with over 150 gold, silver and platinum discs and 55 million record sales to his credit. His 1984 production of Diamond Life, the debut album by Sade, was named one of the best ten albums of the last 30 years at the 2011 Brit Awards.

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The Cockettes special with Fayette Hauser in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Cockettes were an avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III) in the fall of 1969. The troupe was formed out of a group of hippie artists, men and women, who were living in Kaliflower, one of the many communes in Haight-Ashbury, a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Hibiscus came to live with them because of their preference for dressing outrageously and proposed the idea of putting their lifestyle on the stage.

Their brand of theater was influenced by The Living Theater, John Vaccaro's Play House of the Ridiculous, the films of Jack Smith and the LSD ethos of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters. The troupe performed all original material, staging musicals with original songs. The first year they parodied American musicals and sang show tunes (or original musical comedies in the same vein). They gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure.

The Cockettes were the subject of a 2002 documentary titled The Cockettes and directed by David Weissman and Bill Weber.

Bleach special with Salli Carson & Steve Scott talking to David Eastaugh 

Bleach were an indie rock band from Ipswich, England, usually considered part of the shoegazing genre. The band was formed in 1989 by brothers Neil and Nick Singleton (guitar and bass, respectively) together with drummer Steve Scott and vocalist Salli Carson. Their first release was the Eclipse EP in 1990, followed in 1991 by the Snag EP. The tracks from these two EPs were collected on an album in 1991. 1992 saw the release of the full-length album Killing Time, and the single "Shotgun", a surprising mixture of shoegazing and rap. In 1993 the band released two separate mini-albums, Hard and Fast. The group disbanded shortly thereafter.

Chumbawamba special with Dunstan Bruce talking about life in the band and much much more with David Eastaugh 

Soup Dragon & Snowgoose special with Jim Mcculloch - talking about life in music, indie pop, Soup Dragons and the new album from the Snowgoose - "The Making of You" - with David Eastaugh 

Dolly Mixture special with Debsey Wykes talking about life in music with David Eastaugh 

The group was formed in Cambridge, England, 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 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.

The Psylons with John Haskett talking about life in music, the band and the Portsmouth music scene - with David Eastaugh 

The Psylons were a UK post-punk band formed in Portsmouth 1984 by Keith Wyatt, Carl Edwards, Jack Packer and Warren Grech. The band produced four singles, an EP and two albums, the second of which, “Gimp” was produced by Jim Shaw of Cranes. The debut single “Run To The Stranger” was a New Musical Express Single of the Week and reached number 13 in the Alternative/Indie chart. Two sessions were recorded for BBC Radio One and broadcast on the John Peel and Andy Kershaw shows.

Over the next few years the band gigged extensively and supported many acts including The Fall, My Bloody Valentine, Cranes, Spiritualized and Moonshake.

After a number of personnel changes the band finally split in 1995.

John Haskett is currently a front of house sound engineer and tour manager and has worked with Killing Joke, Splashh, We Are Scientists & Wolf Alice.

Gary Lucas (born June 20, 1952) is an American guitarist who was a member of Captain Beefheart and worked with the likes of Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Nick Cave and Lou Redd - plus writing Touched by Grace: My Time with Jeff Buckley published in English by Jawbone Press - in conversation with David Eastaugh 

MC5 special with Wayne Kramer talking about life in music, creativity and much much more with David Eastaugh 

Goober Patrol with Tom Blyth talking about life in music with David Eastaugh

Like their contemporaries Snuff and Leatherface, Goober Patrol formed in the late 1980s, bringing together influences from the British pop punk and American hardcore scenes; reviewers have highlighted the Goobers sound as equal parts Stiff Little Fingers, Circle Jerks and Snuff. In the early 1990s the Goobers received lots of praise from fanzines and mainstream music presses for their live shows plus their two albums and two singles co-released on Boss Tuneage and Lost and Found records.

Whilst drinking lots of booze on tour in the UK and Europe with Green Day, Samiam, R.K.L. and The Mr. T Experience; they released a joint EP with the latter on Punk As Duck Records. After receiving this split EP, much missed renowned BBC1 DJ John Peel got them into the Maida Vale BBC studios to record a session for his radio show which gained the Goobers a more widespread U.K audience.

The Goober’s music and – perhaps more importantly – drinking then brought them to the attention of NOFX’s Fat Mike who signed them to his legendary Fat Wreck Chords label. Their first FAT release Vacation (1996) displayed their mastery at concocting contagious, hook-laden punk tunes, whilst the follow-up The Unbearable Lightness of Being Drunk (1999) mixed offbeat Brit humor and serious personal overtones with raw, hardcore, punk ‘n’ roll. In the late 90s and early 2000s the Goobers toured non-stop around America, Canada and Europe with Tilt, Down By Law, Bouncing Souls, Strung Out and Diesel Boy, and made a couple of really stupid videos for FAT’s Peepshow compilations.

Now, following a break to go back to university, work in the Christmas cracker factory and for bass player Tommy Goober to tour the world in the Toy Dolls, the Goobers are back with a new album, new members and a desire to get drunk in the greatest cities in Europe whilst playing their favorite tunes, from ‘Easy Life’ and ‘The Biggest Joke’ to ‘B.E.E.R’ and ‘Last Train to Shezza’. They hope to see you there and maybe you could buy them a pint or two! Cheers!

Penny Rimbaud in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Penny "Lapsang" Rimbaud, is a writer, poet, philosopher, painter, musician and activist. He was a member of the performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and in 1972 was co-founder of the Stonehenge Free Festival, together with Phil Russell aka Wally Hope. In 1977, alongside Steve Ignorant, he co-founded and played drums in the seminal anarchist punk band Crass, who disbanded in 1984. Up until 2000 he devoted himself almost entirely to writing, returning to the public platform in 2001 as a performance poet working alongside Australian saxophonist Louise Elliott and a wide variety of jazz musicians under the umbrella of Penny Rimbaud's Last Amendment.

The Lime Spiders with Mick Blood with David Eastaugh 

Lime Spiders were an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1979 with Mick Blood on lead vocals. He was later joined by Tony Bambach on bass guitar, Gerard Corben on guitar, Richard Lawson on drums, and David Sparks on guitar. Their debut studio album, The Cave Comes Alive! was released in June 1987 and reached the top 60 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Their most successful single, "Weirdo Libido", was released in January that year and reached the top 50 on the related Kent Music Report Singles Chart. In April its music video was the first ever shown on Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV music series rage. The track was used on the 1988 feature film Young Einstein's soundtrack. The group disbanded in 1990 and in 1999 Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted they had provided "raucous sound mixed screaming vocals and wild, fuzz-tone guitar riffs to arrive at a mutant strain of acid punk that bordered on heavy metal". Lead singer Mick Blood still performs Lime Spiders songs with session musicians, these are essentially Mick Blood solo performances.