With the recent release of The Dead C’s new album ‘Patience’ , we asked guitarist Bruce Russell to put together a podcast, he made up the rest of the rules around what he played, and sent us a track listing on the back of a postcard.
Track listing
….and the maggots dance, 1…2…3…
Originally broadcast on Volcano Radio in Lyttelton, community radio – live and local.
- Alastair Galbraith & Graeme Jefferies Timebomb [Xpressway 7”, 1989]
- The Builders America [no label 7”, 1982]
- The Riptoids The Devil Paid a Visit [Onset/Offset 7”, 1985]
- The Swingers Certain Sound [Ripper LP, 1979]
- Herco Pilots NZ Rec [Rem 7”, 1982]
- Naked Spots Dance Crescendo/Circle Moon [Sausage LP, 1980]
- Playthings Coloured [no label 7”, 1981]
- Life in the Fridge Exists Have You Checked the Children? [Sausage LP, 1980]
- The Wasp Factory Steel Blue Sky [F-Star 7” 1986]
- Toerag When the Moon is Strong [Onset/Offset 7”, 1985]
- Fetus Productions Marvellous [no label LP, 1980]
- Shoes This High Not Weighting [no label 7”, 1980]
- George Henderson & Alastair Galbraith Maquarie Island [Turbulence box set, 1991]
This is a radio show, albeit one you are hearing via the internet – it is not a history lesson, nor is it an attempt at creating a critical consensus. These songs don’t prove a theory or rewrite any histories. I picked these tracks because I love them all.
The only rule was that they were all recorded or released more or less in the 1980s, and released on indie labels other than Flying Nun. My only ‘point’ is to show how there was a lot of stuff happening in that decade in NZ ‘around’ what in retrospect seems like the ‘prime’ imprint of the decade (FN), but which at the time was just one (the biggest) among a number of like-minded outlets for the burgeoning music scene of the time, in what was a golden age of creativity and talent investment.
People may think based on my own output, that I don’t really ‘do music’ – but of course I have time for music, I just place it in a broader context of sound than many people care to engage with. I listen to Fetus Productions and fridge compressors with equal interest.
These tracks are probably united by their rough’n ready recording style, they have a ‘fairly gritty’ sound on the whole. But honestly, if you crank up that Playthings track, it really sounds like a band – as it should, since it’s a live recording. What amazes me in retrospect was that they were so tight that they could deliver such a flawless version of a reasonably complex and demanding song on an average night at the Gladstone. At the time that didn’t surprise me in the way with hindsight that it does today.
I think I can honestly say that back then we hardly knew how lucky we were to be so spoiled for choice. I actually did have a rather crazy inkling that The Clean were quite literally the best band in the world in 1981. And ever since then I’ve felt I was right. What I didn’t know was that within my lifetime such music would become almost impossible to make with the same degree of passion and commitment. That’s my tragedy I guess. Cassandra was given the power to foretell the future, and the curse of never being believed. I was given the power to pretty well infallibly pick classic underground rock music, and the curse of watching it die away almost completely.
But enough about me! Just call me a grumpy old fuck and go about your business. But as you do, be sure to listen to these great lost classics. All worth searching out if you’re lucky, wealthy and persistent! There are so many more to choose from that I’ll probably have to have another crack at this, so I can throw in the Nocturnal Projections, Say Yes to Apes, the Features and the Perfect Strangers.
Two of these have been re-issued by Flying Nun in the past, but the rest have appeared only once in tiny editions, and then been gone. So digitising them seems like an OK thing to do. If any copyright owners feel differently, let us know and we’ll cut you from the record of history, with regret.
Enjoy this for now, because next year is the 30th anniversary of the Flying Nun experiment (… let’s build a record label!). And so 2011 should see more light thrown on some of these dusty back pages. Until then, hold your breath, cross your fingers and prepare to kiss your ass goodbye.
Bruce Russell - ex-Xpressway
