C86 Show - Indie Pop

The Chameleons special with Mark Burgess in conversation.

The Chameleons released their debut album, Script of the Bridge, in 1983. They followed it with What Does Anything Mean? Basically and Strange Times in 1985 and 1986, respectively, before abruptly disbanding in 1987 due to the sudden death of the band's manager. After the split, Burgess and Lever formed the Sun and the Moon, while Fielding and Smithies formed the Reegs. Burgess also had a short solo career with backing band the Sons of God. The Chameleons reformed in 2000, releasing Strip (2000), Why Call It Anything (2001) and This Never Ending Now (2002) before separating again in 2003. Burgess alone continues to play Chameleons songs live under the name ChameleonsVox. Lever died in 2017.

Known for their atmospheric, guitar-based sound and passionate lyrics, the Chameleons are regarded as one of the most underrated Manchester bands of the 1980s. They did not attain the commercial success of other groups from the Manchester scene but developed a cult following.

The Wild Swans special with Paul Simpson in conversation

The Wild Swans formed in 1980 when Paul Simpson, who had left The Teardrop Explodes after the recording of their first single, teamed up (on vocals) with Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Ged Quinn(keyboards), James Weston (bass) and Justin Stavely (drums).

An opportunity arose when Pete de Freitas of Echo & the Bunnymen (an old friend and flatmate of Simpson's) agreed to fund their first single "The Revolutionary Spirit" (1982, Zoo Records). Stavely had dropped out of the band, so De Freitas ended up financier, drummer and producer for the single;  he was credited under his middle names, Louis Vincent. The single spent 9 weeks on the UK Independent Chart, peaking at no. 13.

Despite turning out to be Zoo's last ever release, the single received a measure of critical acclaim and in time, developed cult status. Subsequent to the release of "The Revolutionary Spirit", weekly rehearsals were given a degree of urgency when the band was offered a BBC Radio 1 John Peel session. Songs on this session, all written by the team of Simpson, Quinn and Kelly, include "No Bleeding", "Enchanted" and "Thirst". By this point, the band was rounded out by two new members: Baz Hughes (bass) and Joe McKechnie (drums).

The Wild Swans were sporadically active in the early 1980s; touring with Echo and The Bunnymen in 1981 following a residency with The Teardrop Explodes. A David Jensen session came in spring 1982, with the band penning and performing "The Iron Bed", "Flowers Of England" and "Now You're Perfect". The group split very soon after this BBC Radio 1 session was broadcast.

Post-split: Care and The Lotus Eaters (1982–1985)

Once the band split, Kelly and Quinn started up The Lotus Eaters with co-founder Peter Coyle. Simpson followed suit with the duo Care, teaming up with Ian Broudie. Strangely, Arista Records, who had refused to sign The Wild Swans, then snapped up both of the offshoots.

Both groups issued several singles. The Lotus Eaters scoring a chart hit, and releasing an album in 1984. Care, meanwhile, reached number 48 in the UK charts with the single "Flaming Sword". Both bands had broken up by 1985, with Care having recorded an unreleased album.

Revival: The Wild Swans, Mark II (1986–1990)

In 1986, the session recorded for the Radio 1 John Peel Show, was finally released on Strange Fruit Records, containing the tracks "No Bleeding", "Enchanted", and "Thirst". It repeated the single's success, peaking at no. 13 on the independent chart. Shortly thereafter, Simpson, Kelly and Quinn got together and began playing once again as The Wild Swans.

By 1988, Quinn had dropped out, Simpson and Kelly were joined on bass by Joe Fearon, and a long-awaited debut album finally emerged. Titled Bringing Home The Ashes(1988, Sire/Reprise Records), and featuring session players on keyboards and drums, it was produced by Paul Hardiman and yielded two singles, "Young Manhood" and "Bible Dreams". Simpson is nowadays disparaging of the sound developed on the album and feels that some of the aura and magic surrounding the (Mark I) Wild Swans had been lost. "Major label thinking is like a virus, you forget why you started the band and fall into the 'hit' record mind-set". He went on to offer even more stark words of wisdom for those thinking of setting up a band: "Major labels suck the poetry from your bones and fill the gaps with a cement made from cocaine and crushed teenagers."

Bringing Home The Ashes was issued in the United States initially, followed by UK and German releases. A near-simultaneous promo-only release called Music and Talk From Liverpool included Wild Swans tracks interspersed with interviews with Jeremy Kelly.

A second album on Sire, Space Flower, was released in 1990, subsequent to the departure of Kelly. It was produced by Ian Broudie, and featured a line-up of Paul Simpson (vocals, mellotron, effects), Joe Fearon (bass), Ian Broudie (guitars, keyboards), Chris Sharrock (drums) and Ian McNabb (additional guitars, vocals).^[12][10] Sharrock and McNabb were both of the Liverpool three piece The Icicle Works.^[12] Much of the material written for the album had a food-flavoured theme, depicted by the tracks "Melting Blue Delicious", "Tangerine Temple", "Chocolate Bubble-Gum" and "Vanilla Melange". The album was released in the US, Germany and Japan, but not initially in the UK.

The Wild Swans split up again shortly after Space Flower and Simpson went on to form his own project 'Skyray', recording several singles, EPs and albums, and the spoken word project Dream Diaries.

The Lilac Time special with Stephen Duffy in conversation

The Lilac Time is a British alternative folk-rock band that was originally formed in Herefordshire, England by Stephen Duffy, his brother Nick Duffy and their friend Michael Weston in 1986. The band's name was taken from a line in the Nick Drake song "River Man".

Since its formation, The Lilac Time has gone through various line-up changes, with the Duffy brothers as mainstays. The band's activity has intertwined with Stephen Duffy's solo and songwriting career.

The Duffy brothers and Michael Weston had recorded music that would become the band's self-titled debut, which was first released on Swordfish Records in 1987. Michael Giri and Fraser Kent joined when the band went on tour. The group signed to Fontana, which reissued the band's first album in remixed form in 1988. The group went on to release the albums Paradise Circus in 1989, and & Love For All in 1990, the latter of which was produced by Andy Partridge and John Leckie.

The Lilac Time was dropped by Fontana then briefly signed to Creation Records, where the band was subsequently managed by label head Alan McGee. The band's sole release on Creation was Astronauts, in 1990. The Duffy brothers' cousin, noted-session musician Cara Tivey, contributed organ and piano to the album.

The band later regrouped with Claire Worrall and Melvin Duffy (no relation to the brothers) and recorded Looking For A Day In The Night with producer Stephen Street for spinART Records in 1999. They then released Lilac 6 on Cooking Vinyl in 2001, followed by Keep Going, which was released in 2003 under the name "Stephen Duffy and the Lilac Time" on Folk Modern.

Runout Groove was released on 22 October 2007 on Bogus Frontage. The band played the 2007 Green Man Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall as a six-piece. The band's gig at the Green Man Festival serves as the backdrop to the film "Memory & Desire — 30 Years in the Wilderness With Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time." The documentary was filmed over six years by Douglas Arrowsmith, who included new and vintage Lilac footage. The film is accompanied by a Universal Records album of the same name, which compiles songs from Duffy's thirty years of music making. The Queen Elizabeth Hall concert is to be released as a live recording.

No Sad Songs was released on Tapete Records in April 2015.

A new Lilac Time album, Return to Us is planned for release in late 2017.

Catherine wheel special with David Hawes talking about life in the band.

Catherine Wheel formed in 1990, comprising singer-guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson), guitarist Brian Futter, bassist Dave Hawes, and drummer Neil Sims. Hawes had previously played in a Joy Division-influenced band called Eternal.^{[citation needed]} They took their moniker from the firework known as the Catherine wheel,^{[citation needed]} which in turn had taken its name from the medieval torture device of the same name. The band was sometimes included in the shoegazing scene, characterized by bands that made extensive use of guitar feedback and droning washes of noise, as well as their continuous interaction with extensive numbers of effects pedals on the stage floor.

The band performed a Peel session in early 1991 while still unsigned; two 12" vinyl EPs were released on the Norwich-based Wilde Club Records, named after the regular weekly Wilde Club gigs run by Barry Newman at Norwich Arts Centre. They signed to major-label Fontana Records after being courted by both Creation Records and the Brian Eno-run label Opal Records. The band's debut album, 1991/92's Ferment, made an immediate impression on the music press and introduced Catherine Wheel's second-biggest U.S. hit, "Black Metallic", as well as the moderate hit "I Want to Touch You". The album features re-recorded versions of some of the Wilde Club-issued EPs. "Black Metallic" was later featured in the film S. Darko.

The more aggressive Chrome followed in 1993, produced by Gil Norton. With this album, the band began to shed its original shoegazing tag, while still making skillful use of atmospherics, such as on the song "Fripp". In a 2007 interview, Rob Dickinson said that members of Death Cab for Cutie and Interpol told him that without this album, their bands "wouldn't exist."

1995's Happy Days saw the band delving further into metallic hard rock, which alienated a portion of their fanbase, even as it increased their exposure in the United States during the post-grunge era.^[4][5] The single "Waydown", and especially its plane-crash themed video, received heavy play in the U.S. A more sedate strain of rock known as Britpop was taking over in the UK, causing Catherine Wheel to continue to have greater success abroad than at home.

The B-sides and outtakes collection, Like Cats and Dogs, came out the following year, revealing a quieter, more contemplative side of the band, spanning the previous five years. This carried over into Adam and Eve in 1997, wherein the band scaled back the sonic force of their sound from its Happy Days levels, with clean playing on some songs that featured extensive use of keyboards and acoustic guitars. Alternately, songs like "Satellite" and "Here Comes the Fat Controller" were lush and orchestral in scope.

In 2000, Catherine Wheel re-emerged with a new record label, a new bassist (Ben Ellis); a modified name (The Catherine Wheel); and a new album, Wishville. After mixed reviews, record company turmoil and lacklustre sales, the band went on a still-continuing hiatus.

In March 2010, Ferment was re-released, containing bonus tracks and extensive sleeve notes.

Mark Springer - founder member of the group and came up with the name RIP RIG AND PANIC -in conversation talking about life in music & art with David Eastaugh

Rip Rig + Panic was formed in 1980 naming their newly founded project after the 1965 Roland Kirk album of the same name, the duo preferred to explore their free jazz and reggae roots in contrast to their former band's avant-garde and political leanings.

Pianist Mark Springer, who had performed live with The Pop Group, began collaborating with the duo by playing keyboards and occasionally providing vocals during live shows. Eventually, vocalist Neneh Cherry joined followed by bassist Sean Oliver. This line-up released the single "Go! Go! Go! This Is It"/"The Ultimate in Fun (Is Going to the Disco with My Baby)" on 13 August 1981, with Gavin Martin of NME saying "Rip Rig and Panic tread a fine line between undisciplined wasted and ingenious commercial aplomb."

The band's debut album, God, was released on 3 September 1981 by Virgin Records. It fused free jazz and free improvisation with post-punk, funk and reggae music. The music received high marks from NME for their viruoso playing and esoteric sense of humor, with the review calling it "an act of faith in tumult."^[6] The single "Bob Hope Takes Risks" followed on 27 November.

For their second album, I Am Cold, the band adopted a more commercial approach in their sound while further embracing jazz and world music influences. The album was recorded with the help of vocalist Andi Oliver and jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. The band made a guest appearance in an episode of the British sitcom The Young Ones performing their 1982 single "You're My Kind of Climate". 1983's Attitude was the band's final and most accessible album, supported by the singles "Beat the Beast" and "Do the Tightrope".

Vin Cassidy from Section 25 in conversation

Section 25 formed in Poulton-le-Fylde near Blackpool, Lancashire, in November 1977. Initially the band was a duo, consisting of brothers Larry Cassidy (bass, vocals) and Vincent Cassidy (drums). In June 1978 they made their live debut with Phil Denton on guitar. Denton was replaced in November by Paul Wiggin. June 1979 saw the Cassidy brothers promote a charity gig in aid of International Year of the Child at Blackpool Imperial Hotel, featuring Section 25 and other local bands as well as Joy Division and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. As a result, Section 25 were invited to play at the Russell Club in Manchester, and joined Factory Records.

Their debut 7", "Girls Don't Count", was released in July 1980 on Factory Records, produced by Ian Curtis and Rob Gretton of Joy Division. All Section 25 releases would be released through either Factory Records (until the demise of that label), or sister imprint Factory Benelux. Their debut LP, Always Now, appeared in 1981 and was produced by Martin Hannett at Britannia Row studio. The pochette sleeve was among the most expensive and elaborate in the label's history (designed by Peter Saville) utilising an exclusive 'marble' effect design printed on the inner jacket and a fold-out cover that resembled a match-book similar to the cover used by Cabaret Voltaire for their 2x45 album.

The three-piece group played many gigs in Britain and Northern Europe between 1979 and 1981, both as a headline act and with other Factory Records artists, such as Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, Blurt, The Durutti Column, Crispy Ambulance and New Order. The group also released a self-produced second album, The Key of Dreams. However the original line-up split in September 1981 shortly after Paul Wiggin declined to fly to a concert in Helsinki supporting New Order, swallowing up most of their fee by travelling overland. With a North American tour already planned, his fear of flying made his departure inevitable. Factory label boss Tony Wilson then tried and failed to recruit then-unknown guitarist Johnny Marr as a replacement.

Abandoning much of the existing live set, the Cassidy brothers prepared for an upcoming European tour with backing tapes and an extra percussionist John Grice. Following a warm-up date in London, the group visited Belgium, Holland and Germany in January 1982 in tandem with Factory labelmates Crispy Ambulance. The band then undertook their first North American tour, albeit restricted to the East Coast.

1983 – 2006 (From The Hip to Love & Hate)

Joined by percussionist Lee Shallcross, Section 25 gradually evolved with a more electronic-dance direction, a process which culminated in the album From the Hip and remix single "Looking From A Hilltop", both released in 1984 and produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order. This second iteration of the band also featured the Cassidy brothers' sister Angela Flowers (vocals, keyboards) and Larry Cassidy's wife Jenny Ross (vocals, keyboards). The five-piece completed a lengthy second tour of North America in January 1985, where the single "Looking From A Hilltop" achieved a measure of club success.

Later in 1985 the single "Crazy Wisdom" emerged on Factory Benelux as a 12", but the group again splintered, leaving husband-and-wife team Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross to complete a fourth album, Love & Hate, finally released by Factory in 1988. Bad News Week was also released as a 12" single, remixed by Bernard Sumner. Section 25 then fell silent for more than a decade, although their entire back catalogue was reissued on CD on LTM as well as an archive DVD, So Far. There have also been several live and rarity CDs released by the same label.

In 2001 the band regrouped and started composing new material. It was originally expected that this would form the basis for a new album, but these plans were derailed when Jenny Ross, after a long fight with cancer, died on 20 November 2004 at age 42. The LTM DVD So Far, an audio-visual history of the band released in January 2005, was dedicated to her memory.

2006 – 2009 (Part-Primitiv to Nature and Degree)

Now with Ian Butterworth (formerly of fellow Factory act Tunnelvison) on guitar and Roger Wikeley on bass and keyboards, the Cassidy brothers performed their first live show in nearly two decades at their hometown Poulton-Le-Fylde in May 2006 followed by dates in Blackpool, Paris, Brussels, Leicester, London and Athens.

A new studio album by the quartet, Part-Primitiv, was released by LTM in April 2007, together with Communicants, a DVD assembled from live performances in 2006. Larry and Vin Cassidy also featured in the 2006 Factory documentary film Shadowplayers, and a BBC television documentary on the label. The group performed at the Plan K venue in Brussels in December 2007 as part of the Factory Night (Once Again) event, being joined onstage by Peter Hook of New Order for a cover of "Temptation". It was then proposed that Hook and Section 25 play further shows together, performing a mixture of Section 25, Joy Division and New Order songs.

Roger Wikeley left Section 25 in 2008 and was replaced by Stephen Stringer. In November this revised line-up played with Peter Hook in Paris, Brussels, Oss in the southern Netherlands and Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.^{[citation needed]} Ian Butterworth parted company with the Section 25 at the end of the year. Stephen Stringer moved on to guitar and Section 25's sound engineer and programmer Stuart Hill moved on to bass guitar. Both were no strangers to Larry and Vin, who had helped them record demos in 1983 and 1985.

The band released a new album in 2009 called Nature + Degree through LTM Recordings. Several tracks featured vocals by Bethany Cassidy, daughter of Larry and Jenny, who joined the group as co-vocalist and keyboards player. Section 25 appeared at the "Factory Night (And Then Again)" event at Plan K on 12 December 2009, with Beth and Larry sharing vocals. The group also returned to the States for festival dates in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

On 27 February 2010, it was announced that founding member, singer, and bass player for the group, Larry Cassidy, had died at the age of 56.

2010 – present (Retrofit to Elektra)

Prior to Larry Cassidy's death, the band had completed work on a new album, Retrofit, which was released on 14 September 2010. The album features electro reworkings and updates of previously issued Section 25 tracks, as well as one new song "Über Hymn". The album closes with a new version of Looking From A Hilltop, produced and arranged by Stephen Morris of New Order.

Limited copies came with an extra CD of a 16-minute recording of Larry Cassidy reading selected lyrics of Joy Division's Ian Curtis. This was recorded in January 2010 and would be Larry's last visit to a recording studio.

The band opted to continue to perform with their current line up. Section 25 played the FAC251 club in Manchester on 20 November 2010, and in 2011 issued their first new release without Larry Cassidy, a download-only EP titled "Invicta" EP, via Hacienda Records. June 2012 saw a deluxe vinyl reissue of From the Hip (Fact 90), issued as a special edition on Factory Records with 'remixed' artwork by Peter Saville, as well as a split coloured-vinyl 12" with Stereograph featuring two dub versions of "Colour Movement Sex and Violence" and "Inner Drive".

Saville also provided the cover image and title for their eighth studio album, Dark Light, issued on the Factory Benelux imprint in February 2013. "My Outrage" was also released as a 7" single. Also released during the same period were the 10" single "Invicta Max" (an expansion of the 2011 EP of the same name) and the official remix album "Eigengrau", featuring numerous remixes of earlier Section 25 recordings by Zoviet France, Absolute Body Control, Portion Control and Renaldo and the Loaf among others.

In May 2014 the group issued an expanded 30th anniversary CD edition of From the Hip via Factory Benelux, with a bonus disc featuring original demos as well as a BBC radio session from 1984 plus a new recording of "Reflection". Both Bernard Sumner and Jon Savage contributed liner notes. The new version of Reflection (subtitled 'Younger Image') was also issued as a limited edition orange vinyl 7" single to mark Record Store Day in April 2014. On Record Store Day the band performed in Manchester with Factory peers Crispy Ambulance and Minny Pops. A review of the show in The Guardian newspaper described Section 25 as "a revelation" and "the best new/old band in Britain."

In April 2015 Section 25 released "Mirror", another limited edition 7" single for Record Store Day, with guest vocals by Simon Topping, formerly of A Certain Ratio. The song dated from 1980 but had never before been recorded in the studio. Both the song and the packaging complemented a new CD edition of Always Now, re-mastered and featuring a bonus disc with their 1981 John Peel radio session as well as a complete live concert from 1980. The packaging replicated the original wraparound cover designed by Peter Saville.

In 2016 the group released a new live album, "Alfresco", as a vinyl and CD package to mark Record Store Day in April. That same year the track "Hit" from their 1981 album Always Now was sampled by Kanye West on a new song, "FML", featured on his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo.^[6]

In December 2017 the band announced on their Facebook page that they were working on a new album, to be released during the spring 2018. Vincent Cassidy also announced that their original guitarist, Paul Wiggin, will contribute on the new album.

June 2018 saw the release of an eleven-track album Elektra, recorded at West Orange Studios during the early part of the same year. The album featured appearances by original guitarist Paul Wiggin and newest family member Michael Cassidy on bass. One of the tracks (FML) is an acoustic cover of the Kanye West track that sampled the band's Hit from their 1981 set Always Now.

Ted Chippington special.

Chippington started performing in 1981 under the name "Eddie Chippington" before changing to Ted "due to maturity and baldness". He first came to national prominence when a gig he had performed in Birmingham in 1984 supporting the Fall was released by local record label Vindaloo on a 7" EP entitled Non Stop Party Hits of the '50s, '60s and '70s. The EP title refers to his penchant for performing his own versions of classic hits, including on this occasion his rendering of Ottawan's "D.I.S.C.O.". The record was played by John Peel on his BBC Radio Oneprogramme - a rare occurrence for a comedian.

In 1986 he released an album, Man in a Suitcase - a collection of live recordings plus some more songs, including his versions of "She Loves You" and Alvin Stardust's "I Feel Like Buddy Holly" - which reached the Top 10 indie album chart. "She Loves You" received wider exposure after Steve Wright repeatedly played it on his Radio 1 show, which in turn led to the track being released as a single by Warner Brothers. It narrowly failed to make the Top 75 but Chippington claims that the deal with Warners' earned him "£1,000 and a nice curry".

Despite its failure to crack the charts, "She Loves You" raised Chippington's profile considerably and led to numerous media appearances, including a turn on the BBC's lunchtime magazine show Pebble Mill at One, the latter fulfilling a lifelong ambition.

Chippington also fielded interviews with the New Musical Express, Birmingham's BRMB and the colour supplement of the Mail on Sunday. He also performed at the Glastonbury and Readingfestivals.

Chippington once again came close to mainstream UK singles chart success with a recording of his theme tune "Rockin' with Rita (Head to Toe)" which he performed with his fellow Vindaloo artists the Nightingales and We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It. A further single followed with his reading of Dion's "The Wanderer", in which the boastfulness of the original lyrics was turned on its head: "I'm not the wanderer, I'm not the wanderer...not too keen on roaming around and around and around".

The Wolfhounds special with Andrew Golding talking about life in music, indie pop and his new solo album Dragon Welding'.

The Wolfhounds began as a slightly askew indie pop/rock band, and signed to the Pink label in 1986. First EP Cut the Cake was well enough received for the NME to include them on their C86 compilation album. After three singles and debut album Unseen Ripples From A Pebble on Pink,^[1] they briefly moved to Idea Records for the Me single, then rejoined Pink's boss at his new label September Records. September soon evolved into Midnight Music which was the Wolfhounds' home for all subsequent releases.

With original members Bolton and Clark replaced by David Oliver and Matt Deighton, the Wolfhounds' sound developed into a denser, less poppy sound.^{[citation needed]} After a compilation of earlier material, second album proper Bright and Guilty was released in 1989, featuring the singles "Son of Nothing", "Rent Act" and "Happy Shopper". The sound progressed further with the albums Blown Away (also 1989) and Attitude (1990), which found them in Sonic Youth territory, interspersing raging guitars with elegant compositional exercises. This proved to be the final Wolfhounds release of the 80s, with the band splitting in early 1990.

Golding and Stebbing formed Crawl, while Callahan hooked up with former Ultra Vivid Scene member Margaret Fiedler in Moonshake. Matt Deighton formed Mother Earth.

The current line-up is David Callahan (guitar/vocals), Andy Golding (guitar/vocals), Peter Wilkins (drums) and Richard Golding (bass). The Wolfhounds reformed in 2005 for a gig to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of their first single "Cut the Cake" in 1985.

In 2006, they were asked by Bob Stanley of St Etienne to play at the ICA in London, alongside Roddy Frame and Phil Wilson, to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the NME cassette C86. They have continued to play live, re-energised when The Membranes asked them to be special guests at The Lexington in London, and in March 2012 played with Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab in support at a benefit to raise funds for the Timperley Frank Sidebottom memorial statue.

An EP called EP001 was released on Vollwert-Records Berlin in April 2012 containing three songs that pre-date the band's first single but that were never recorded satisfactorily at the time. Of these songs, 'Skullface' has picked up a lot of radio play.

The band released several 7" singles in 2013, included on new album Middle Age Freaks, released on Odd Box Records in 2014. Also in 2014 an anniversary limited-edition issue of Unseen Ripples from a Pebble (plus bonus tracks) was released by Optic Nerve Recordings.

In October 2016, the Wolfhounds released their sixth album Untied Kingdom (...Or How to Come to Terms with Your Culture). Louder Than War rated it 9/10.

Finitribe special with David Miller in conversation

The band formed in Edinburgh in 1984 by Chris Connelly, John Vick, Andy McGregor, Philip Pinsky, David Miller and Simon McGlynn.

Initially a post-punk guitar outfit, the band released a debut E.P. Curling and Stretching on their own Finiflex label in the summer of 1984, graduating to their first John Peel Session in 1985 before rethinking their whole approach in the mid 80s.

Tired of the conventional drums, bass and guitar set up, they acquired a sampler and began experimenting with electronic music. The result was Let The Tribe Grow, an EP released on the Glasgow label Cathexis and featuring 'De Testimony', a seminal dance floor anthem for the original Balearic/Acid House generation. Subsequently, they signed to Chicago label Wax Trax and released two singles, "I Want More" (a cover of the Can song) and "Make it Internal", raising their profile in the States and resulting in extensive radio and club success.

A long and arduous "toilet" tour of the UK in 1988 led to the departure of three members – including Connelly who relocated to the States and joined the Revolting Cocks and Ministry – and a parting of the ways with Wax Trax Records.

This in turn resulted in a resurrection of the Finiflex label and a distribution deal with Fast Forward for a long-awaited debut album, Noise Lust and Fun. The band was now made up of Pinsky, Vick and Miller along with various contributions from Little Annie, Rosanne Erskine and Wilf Plum. A series of remix EP's proved their electronic and dance floor credentials and brought indie chart success.

The band met and signed a long-term publishing deal with Andy Heath (director of Beggars Banquet and Momentum Publishing), allowing the band to grow and develop without the constant need for advances from record companies.

After signing a new deal with One Little Indian the band with encouragement from label boss Derek Birkett ran into controversy almost immediately with the 'Animal Farm' EP. Subverting the nursery rhyme "Old MacDonald" for the purposes of berating the similarly titled hamburger outlet, Finitribe (as they were now known) offered up a flavour of the anti-consumerist stance prevalent on new album Grossing 10k (1989). The subsequent threat of legal action was not exactly helped by a "Fuck off McDonald's" poster and T-shirt campaign.

The band continued to develop stronger links with the electronic music world for their next single and album. Andrew Weatherall produced and remixed the single "101" (1991) along with Graham Massey from 808 State. Justin Robertson then worked with the band to remix and produce the singles "Ace Love Deuce" and "Forevergreen" (1992). These singles all featured on the band's most critically and commercially successful album, An Unexpected Groovy Treat (1992), the last album they were to record for One Little Indian.

The success of this album allowed the band to re launch their 'Finiflex' label and the in-house production team recorded and released many singles including those by Justin Robertson, State of Flux, Ege Bam Yasi and Sparks. A Finiflex Compilation album And Away They Go was released to critical acclaim in 1993. The band was redeveloping their studio complex in Leith during this period and coordinated all management, recording, press and merchandise from there.

After leaving One Little Indian the band further developed their studio complex and looked for a new recording deal. With the assistance of Tom Watkins (Pet Shop Boys, East 17) the band negotiated a deal with Pete Tong at London/FFRR. This deal allowed for the completion of the state of the art recording studio in Leith and facilitated complete independence for the recording of their next album.

For the writing and pre-production of the band's fourth album they relocated to a small crofting settlement called Sheigra. near Kinlochbervie in the north west of Scotland. In 1994 the band released the single "Brand New" and although a minor hit the relationship with London/FFRR was cooling. A further single "Love Above" and the album Sheigra were released in 1995. The band followed this with a tour with Sparks and then their own headlining tour of the UK.

By early 1996 David Miller and Philip Pinsky split from John Vick, the former continuing with Finitribe and John Vick successfully continuing with the studio complex Finiflex.

The slimmed down Finitribe, now operating from house built on the side of a volcano, started a new label U.G.T and released an LP by Acid House maverick Ege Bam Yasi. While looking for a new label and a new singer Finitribe went to Essex to work with former Prodigy collaborator Jason Byrne. The result was the EP Squelch and the meeting up with future producer Witchman(John Roome).

For a short while the band hooked up with Chas Smash (Madness) as manager, this indirectly led to a meeting with Korda Marshall and a deal was struck with Infectious/ Mushroom Records(home of Garbage and Ash). Philip and David recruited a band and picked up some guitars and drums.

The band's fifth album 'Sleazy Listening' was recorded in Edinburgh with John Roome (Witchman) producing. It featured Paul Haig, Little Annie, Niroshini Thambar, Chris Ross, John Roome and Katie Morrison. The album mixed electronica and live instrumentation and received critical acclaim. Melody Maker stating that, " If Finitribe had lived and worked in Bristol they would have won the Mercury Music prize by now".

The album was launched with a sell out gig at The Shooting Gallery, Edinburgh with Davy Henderson's Nectarine No. 9. The band toured the UK with their most successful gigs for several years, headlining the ICA in London. They recorded the first ever John Peel live session and released three further singles for Infectious.

This was the band's last album and tour. Their last gig was at a sell out Bath Moles Club in the summer of 1998.

Other interests and priorities meant that Philip and David put Finitribe to one side . One more single was released 'Bored' (2000).

In January 2014 the band reissued "De Testimony" on limited 12" vinyl and have plans to reissue further classics from their catalogue.

The Claim special with David Arnold in conversation.

They formed around 1980, as part of the independent Medway scene around the nearby towns of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham and influenced by classic acts such as The Kinks, The Jam, The Clash and The Smiths. Stylistically, they shared much in common with fellow Kent band The Dentists and early Creation Records acts such as The Jasmine Minks.

Between 1985 and 1992, The Claim released two albums and various singles and EPs, first on their own record label, and then via Kevin Pearce's Esurient Communications imprint, Bob Stanley's Caff label and the German-based label A Turntable Friend. Their first outing, Armstrong’s Revenge & Eleven Other Short Stories (1985) was followed by the 12" EP This Pencil Was Obviously Sharpened By a Left-Handed Indian Knife Thrower (again on Trick Bag Records). By the time of 1988's Boomy Tella LP, the quality of their politically fused, bittersweet songs had matured considerably, and it is now regarded as their high-water mark. Meanwhile, their single "Wait And See" was recorded at ex-Jam drummer Rick Buckler's studio with ex-Jam producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven.

The Claim also teamed up with the poet and ex-Dentists drummer Vic Templar (an alias for Ian Smith) for various evenings which combined a play, featuring members of The Claim, with a musical performance by the band. Templar also collaborated with The Claim for the song "Mike The Bike", issued as the B-side to perhaps The Claim's most impressive outing, "Birth Of A Teenager", issued as a limited edition single housed in a sleeve designed by the Medway scene's most multi-faceted talent, Billy Childish. For another gig, Welsh band The Manic Street Preachers played their debut London show supporting The Claim. The Claim played their final show in January 1993.

None of The Claim's music appeared on CD at the time. Recently, the band themselves compiled a retrospective, Black Path, which was released on Rev-Ola Records in September 2009.^[2][3] The band played a reunion gig in Rochester, Kent on 19 September 2009 to coincide with the project's release. On Thursday 25 March 2010, they played at a second reunion show with fellow Medway band The Dentists at Dingwalls in Camden Town, London.

Inca Babies special with Harry Stafford in conversation.

Still retaining their original Manchester post-punk roots, the Inca Babies have appeared since 2008 at festivals and concerts across Europe, performing at 'Drop Dead' festival in Vilnius, Lithuania and 'Deathcave 2014' festival in Saint-Petersburg and Moscow, as well as playing live in Warsaw, Milan, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, London and many other cities across Europe. They are booked to appear for the first time in India, at the Saarang 2015 festival in Chennai (Madras).

The band was formed in Hulme, Manchester by Bill Bonney (bass guitar), Harry Stafford(guitar) Julian Woropay (vocals) and Alan Brown (drums), taking influences from Link Wray, The Cramps, The Gun Club and The Birthday Party^[1] Debut single "The Interior" was released in November 1983 on their own Black Lagoon label. Over the next five years they released a further six singles and four albums with a few changes of line-up, 1988's Evil Hour featuring Clint Boon of Inspiral Carpets on keyboards. Alan Brown of bIG fLAME and The Great Leap Forward was also drummer for a time.

The band recorded four sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme between 1984 and 1987.

However the band folded in the late 1980s, reforming for a concert in Munich marking the 20th anniversary of the booking agency IBD. The Inca Babies had been the agency's first overseas act. The Munich performance stimulated interest in the band and founder member Harry Stafford recruited Goldblade drummer Rob Haynes to remain part of the band. The death of original bass player Bill Marten came as Stafford was writing material for the band's first new release in two decades. Former A Witness bassist and longstanding friend Vince Hunt stood in to complete the album and for dates across Europe in late 2009 and 2010 and continues to play live and record with the band.

A double A-side blue vinyl 7" limited edition single "My Sick Suburb/Tower of Babel" was released by Black Lagoon Records to mark Record Store Day on 21 April 2012. The songs comment on the notorious Hulme Crescent flats in Manchester which were a centre of the city's counterculture in the 1980s and home to the band's early line-up. An accompanying video was uploaded to YouTube filmed and edited by film-maker and musician Boz Hayward.

Throughout 2012, the band made live appearances across the UK and Europe, performing in Italy, Poland and The Netherlands and also flying to Los Angeles for a one-off show.

In October 2012, the band released a CD titled Re-Peeled to mark their inclusion in a musical tribute night in Manchester to BBC DJ John Peel. This featured re-recordings of four songs originally recorded for sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio One show in the early 1980s.

The second album from the reformed line-up, Deep Dark Blue, was released in November 2012 and the band toured widely in 2013 to promote it, performing live across the UK and in Greece and Belgium.

In 2014, the vinyl only 12" EP Scatter was released to mark the resurgence of interest in vinyl records on Record Store Day and the band released their third album since reforming, The Stereo Plan. Following a launch party in Manchester with the reformed line-up of A Witness featuring Vince Hunt and Rob Haynes, the Inca Babies performed for the first time in Russia, headlining the Deathcave 2014 festival in Saint-Petersburg and Moscow, and also India, appearing at the Saarang global culture festival at IIT Madras in Chennai in January 2015.

Following The Stereo Plan, Harry Stafford started work on a solo album while Rob Haynes toured extensively with The Membranes and Vince Hunt joined Martin Bramah's Blue Orchids. A series of UK live appearances were booked for 2017 including at Blackpool's Rebellion festival on 6 August and also in Naples, Italy in July.

Jo Bartlett in conversation - talking about life in music, The Buzz Club, It's Jo & Danny, Ultimate Records, The Green Man Festival and much much more

https://indiethroughthelookingglass.com/about-2/

Quote from her website

"I was in my first band at 14. I promoted my first gig at 17. I went on to promote loads of gigs at The Buzz Club in Aldershot, which I started with Danny Haganin 1985. I booked bands including The Stone Roses, Blur, The Manic Street Preachers, Suede, The Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, The Charlatans and lots more. Soon you’ll be able to see all the fliers, posters, live recordings and memories I’ve collected on this site.

Danny and I were always in bands while we promoted those gigs. We were part of the C-86 movement, releasing a couple of 12″s on Dan Treacy’s Dreamworld Records.

I worked in London as a press officer and plugger for independent label, Ultimate Records from 1991 – 96. Organising press trips to Japan, TV appearances, radio sessions and live reviews for lots of fantastic bands. Including this live tv appearance for Senser on ‘The Word’ – i’m in the crowd somewhere!"

The Rosebuds special with Jim Rivas in conversation

The Rosebuds are a Sacramento, CA band that originated in 1988! Indie pop, shoe gaze, psychedelic rock.

Dustin Reske: vocals, guitar
Josh Berkeley: bass
Ben Berkeley: guitar
Jim Rivas: drums

The Very Things special with The Shend in conversation.

When The Cravats split up in 1982, guitarist Robin Raymond (aka Robin R. Dalloway) and bassist/singer The Shend (aka Chris Shendo, born Chris Harz) formed The Very Things, recruiting drummer Gordon Disneytime (aka Robin Holland), bassist Jim Davis (guitarist with Redditch band CKV) for the first live gigs, followed by bassist Steven Burrows (aka Fudger O'Mad or Budge), who is band mate of And Also The Trees.  The band also originally had a horn section of Vincent Johnson, John Graham, Robert Holland, and Paul Green.  Debut single "The Gong Man" was released on Crass's label in November 1983, with "The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes" following in June 1984, now signed to Reflex Records. A short film was made based on the latter for Channel 4's The Tube.

The band's debut album was released in August 1984, after which the band was trimmed to the core trio. Several singles and EPs followed over the next few years, although a cover of R. Dean Taylor's "There's a Ghost In My House" was withdrawn in 1987 due to The Fall's version appearing at the same time.^[2] By 1988 the band had split up, although they had recorded enough material for an album release on One Little Indian, the Motown-influenced Motortown. The original albums, along with a collection of non-album tracks, were reissued by Fire Records in 1994.

The Very Things recorded two Peel Sessions, in 1983 and 1987, and two tracks, "The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes" and "This Is Motortown" featured in the Festive Fifty.

The Shend formed a new band, Grimetime, and has since gone on to an acting career, appearing in television series including EastEnders, Red Dwarf, The Bill, Men Behaving Badly, and Torchwood.

Ian McNabb in conversation talking about a life in music, The Icicle Works & much much more.

The Icicle Works are an English were named after the 1960 short story "The Day the Icicle Works Closed" by science fiction author Frederik Pohl. They had a top 20 UK hit with "Love Is a Wonderful Colour" (1983). In the US and Canada, they had only one top 40 hit, the 1984 single "Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)".

Led by singer/songwriter Ian McNabb, the band released five albums from 1984 to 1990 before breaking up in 1991. McNabb later convened a revised line-up of the band in 2006 to play live shows; this revised Icicle Works line-up still plays sporadic live dates.

The band was founded in Liverpool in 1980 when bassist Chris Layhe (who had been in a couple of local rock bands including Elanor and Blind Owl) answered an advertisement for a musical collaborator placed by 20-year-old Ian McNabb. The two got together and started writing. They quickly added drummer Chris Sharrock (who had previously drummed for the Cherry Boys), and began playing live shows as "The Icicle Works".

In 1981, the band recorded a six-song independently released cassette entitled Ascending. In 1982, they released the independent single "Nirvana", which made it to No. 15 on the UK's indie charts. The following year, the Icicle Works were signed to the Beggars Banquet label, who issued the single "Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)" on their subsidiary label Situation Two.

Later that year, The Icicle Works released their biggest UK hit, 1983's "Love is a Wonderful Colour", which was a Top 15 single. Their 1984 eponymous debut album followed shortly thereafter, reached number 24 on the UK charts and entered the US top 40. Appearing on the US top 40 singles charts at around the same time (and hitting the Canadian top twenty) was "Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)", a retitled and slightly remixed version of the band's Situation Two release of 1983.

Gary Clail in conversation - talking about the ups and down of his musical career.

Gary Clail  English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit in clubs with the 1991 song "Human Nature".

During the mid to late 1980s based in Bristol, he became a warm up act for On-U gigs. Clail first released a record in 1985. Several 12" singles were issued between 1985 and 1987, before Clail's first LP for Nettwerk, Tackhead Tape Time, a split effort between Clail and Tackhead. "Television: The Drug of the Nation" by The Beatnigs was remixed by Clail, Adrian Sherwood and Mark Stewart, on the Alternative Tentacles record label in 1988. 

In 1989, Clail issued his own album, billed as Gary Clail & On-U Sound System, on On-U Sound, which marked Clail's entrance to the electronic underground scene in Bristol, eventually leading him to work with RCA a couple of years later. This output incorporated several singles and EPs, as well as the Emotional Hooligan album (1991).

Clail released a further album on Yelen Records, entitled Keep the Faith (1996). 

In 2013 Clail formed the Gary Clail Sound System and began work on the album 'Nail It To The Mast'.  It was released on 15 December 2014. 

The Gladstone's guitarist Steven Hinrichs talking about life in music, the back and also For Against.

Quoted from Wilfully Obscure 

The Gladstones - Jeremy (1990, Tall)

Rolo McGinty in conversation talking about life in the Woodentops 

The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial line-up of Rolo McGinty (vocals, guitar, formerly of The Wild Swans and The Jazz Butcher), Simon Mawby (guitar), Alice Thompson (keyboards), Frank DeFreitas (bass guitar), and Paul Hookham (drums).

After a debut single, "Plenty" on Food Records in 1984, which received a glowing review from Morrissey in Melody Maker, they signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records, releasing a series of singles in 1985 and their debut album, Giant, in 1986. Generally well received by critics, the album's sound was characterised by acoustic guitars, but also featured accordion, marimba, strings, and trumpet sounds. The album reached No. 35 on the UK Albums Chart. A single from the album, "Good Thing", reached No. 7 on the UK Indie Chart.

The band then became more experimental and frenetic when playing live, using more electronic sounds. This first became apparent as documented on the live album Live Hypno Beat (1987), which was recorded in Los Angeles in 1986. The band also started to become more 'raw' and unpredictable live, becoming one of the most exciting independent groups from the UK, while gaining an early hit on the burgeoning club scene in Ibiza with '"Why".

In 1987, Thompson left to be replaced by Anne Stephenson of The Communards. The more experimental mood continued on the second album Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway, released the following year, which failed to live up to the expectations set by their debut. Most notably, the listeners of Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM voted their song "Stop This Car" number 15 out of 106 in the KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1988, outperforming many more established acts, and one of the album's standout tracks, "Wheels Turning", became a dancefloor favourite.

The Woodentops continued to play live, touring the world until 1992, and tracks such as "Tainted World" became a regular on New York radio station Kiss FM with DJ Tony Humphries.

Vocalist and guitarist Rolo McGinty, who also wrote all Woodentops' songs, resurfaced with the DJ band Pluto in the 1990s, the Dogs Deluxe electronica project and also provided vocals for Gary Lucas's, Gods and Monsters. Guitarist Simon Mawby was briefly a member of The House of Love in the early 1990s.

The Woodentops returned to live performances in September 2006 and, in October 2009, they performed in a special concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London's South Bank. They also curated the events in the Front Room of the same theatre with an exhibition of works by artist Panni Bharti, and concerts by musicians Worm, Othon and Ernesto Tomasini.

Lush special with Miki Benrenyi talking about life in music, Lush, reunions and her new musical outfit, Piroshka & much much more

The band formed in 1987 in London, initially named the Baby Machines (after a line in the Siouxsie and the Banshees song "Arabian Knights"), with a lineup of Meriel Barham (vocals), Anderson (guitar, vocals), Berenyi (guitar, vocals), Steve Rippon (bass) and Chris Acland (drums).^[ Their influences were diverse; they were inspired by the garage rock scene of the Nuggetsseries, Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Beach Boys and the Byrds.

Anderson and Berenyi had been school friends, having known each other since the early 1980s, and together published the Alphabet Soup fanzine. In 1986, Anderson joined the Rover Girls as bassist, and Berenyi joined the Bugs, also as a bass player. Neither band lasted long, and in 1987, they joined Barham and Acland in the Baby Machines. Rippon joined shortly thereafter, and the band members decided on a change of name to Lush, making their live debut at the Camden Falcon on 6 March 1988.^[4][5] Barham left the band and later joined Pale Saints. Berenyi then took on lead vocal duties.

Anderson said of the band's beginnings: "We were kind of punk rock in one way. We did think, 'Well, if they can do it, why the fuck can't we?' Basically, our idea was to have extremely loud guitars with much weaker vocals. And, really, the vocals were weaker due to nervousness – we'd always be going 'Turn them down! Turn them down!'"  Berenyi said, "We started by writing crappy riot grrl anthems... which was probably charming in a juvenile way. But there was a very rapid shift from the minute we started to write for records. The music, the lyrics became much more thoughtful and expressive, more important, really. I remember that change beginning when Emma wrote "Thoughtforms," it certainly made me think I needed to get my act together."

The Screaming Blue Messiahs special with Kenny Harris in conversation 

The Screaming Blue Messiahs were a rock band, formed in 1983 in London by guitarist and singer Bill Carter, bass player and backing singer Chris Thompson and drummer Kenny Harris. The group emerged in the wake of the pub rock and punk scenes that had been very predominant on the UK capital's live music circuit during the late '70s/ early '80s. The band, a classic power trio, was active between 1983 and 1990 and released three major label LPs. They toured extensively throughout Europe, North America and Australasia, garnering wide critical acclaim for their aggressive blend of rhythm and blues, punk and rockabilly.

Before founding the Screaming Blue Messiahs, its three members had played together as The Small Brothers. Thompson and Carter had been part of the Captain Beefheart-influenced band Motor Boys Motor; together with Tony Moon on vocals, they recorded several tracks under that name on 24 August 1981 for John Peel's show on BBC Radio 1 and released a self-titled album. Initially, after Harris joined Carter and Thompson, the band briefly continued to perform under the name 'Motor Boys Motor'. According to Carter, the final name was chosen upon the suggestion of Ace/Big Beat's Ted Caroll, who was concerned that the band's initial proposal of 'The Blues Messiahs' sounded too pub rock.

Carter employed a rhythmic, blues-influenced, feedback-laden guitar style, using mainly Fender Telecaster guitars together with two combo amps: a Mesa Boogie and an HH outfitted with Gauss speakers. For his occasional forays into slide, he favoured 'the mike stand, or whatever is handy',^[4] and that he only used open tunings 'when the strings go open by accident'.

Featuring a sound described as "rockabilly from hell" and a strong passion for Americana, cars, guns, aeroplanes and broadcast evangelism, the group released the mini-album Good and Gone on Big Beat Records. Its six songs, which had been selected from eleven songs recorded in spring 1984 with producer Vic Maile during a session at Elephant Studios in Wapping, London, included a version of Hank Williams' "You're Gonna Change". Upon its release, the EP entered the top twenty in the UK independent record chart, where it remained for six months.

The Screaming Blue Messiahs played their first official gig at 'Downstairs at the Clarendon', Hammersmith, London on 11 June 1984. On 24 July 1984, they performed the songs "Good And Gone", "Someone To Talk To", "Tracking The Dog" and "Let's Go Down to the Woods And Pray" during their first recorded session for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1. Broadcast on 2 August, the session proved so popular that it resulted in two BBC releases, one a 4-track 12" and a later inclusion of 'Good And Gone' on an album sampler of Peel Sessions. In December of the same year, The Screaming Blue Messiahs appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test on the BBC, playing two live songs: "Let's Go Down to the Woods And Pray" and "Good And Gone", and then undertook a short tour of the Netherlands.