This is a live version of the song from Glasgow 1986.

Fred Titmus R.I.P

Half Man Half Biscuit – Fuckin’ ‘Ell It’s Fred Titmus

Having conquered the UK charts in 1981 with their reworking of the classic 1964 Gloria Jones track Tainted Love, the song was a monster hitting number one in seventeen countries including the UK.

Say Hello Wave Goodbye was the final track on the 1981 classic album Non Stop Erotic Dancing, which also featured Tainted Love and Bedsitter as well as the controversial Sex Dwarf.

The album was recorded on a low budget in New York at the height of the Manhattan gay club scene and the early days of the drug ecstasy which was allegedly used by Soft Cell throughout the recording.

Although the recording took place in New York the content unashamedly reflects the seedy underworld of eighties England.

Soft Cell – Say Hello Wave Goodbye

Jam – Eton Rifles – Something Else 1979

The Fire Engines were a part of the young, vibrant Scottish scene, and in 1980 released their debut single, Get Up and Use Me. A treble lo-fi treat of jangly guitars with a post-punk tribal beat.

If not as manic, The Fire Engines are definitely a reference point for the contemporary indie pop group Franz Ferdinand; and in 2004 The Fire Engines reformed and recorded a limited edition single with the band.

Franz Ferdinand recorded a version of Get Up & Use Me, while The Fire Engines recorded Franz Ferdinand’s Jacqueline.

The Fire Engines were Davy Henderson (vocals & guitar), Russell Burn (drums),  Graham Main (bass) & Murray Slade (guitar).

For more information visit The Fire Engines MySpace page.

Fortunately, we’ve chosen to include the rarely seen promo video for The Fire Engines version.

Here is one of the most powerful performances both Annie Nightingale and I ever saw on The Old Grey Whsitle.  Public Image Limited, PiL at their very very best performing Careering & Poptones in 1980.

Johnny Rotten was still known as John Lydon and his wonderful lyrics and vocal delivery are accompanied by the throbbing bass of Jah Wobble and the screeching synthesizer stabs and flanged guitar chaos of the brilliant Keith Levene.

Without Levene and Wobble John Lydon and Pil were nowhere near the force of the first two albums.

PiL performed Careering and Poptones on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1980 to promote their second album, Metal Box.

Here is a rare clip of The Cure before Robert Smith began backcombing his hair and raiding his mother’s make-up box.

Here’s The Cure performing a song called At Night which went on to be reworked and eventually released as A Forest in 1980.

I believe this is a live gig recorded by French TV.

The Psychedelic Furs are probably best remembered for ‘Pretty In Pink’, and only then because of a more glossy remixed re-release in 1986 as the main title track of a John Hughes blockbuster teen film of the same name.

But there was a lot more to the Psychedelic Furs, and Sister Europe is one of my favourite tracks. It is much more dark and moody, (but not as dark as the promo video!) and taken from their self-titled debut album from 1980.

Easy to forget but in 1980 the word psychedelic was not a cool label to be attached to, a word that conjoured up long-haired hippies rather than Syd Barrett and acid.

Richard Butler appears on Juliana Hatfield’s forthcoming album released later this month.

The quality of this live television performance is not very good, but I thought a clip of the original Human League performing Being Boiled was still worth posting.

Being Boiled was originally released in 1978 on Fast Records.  Allegedly this clip is from 1979 but I don’t know where from.  Phil Oakey went on to gain commercial success as the Human League by recruiting two school girls, while Ian Craig Marsh & Martyn Ware had their own string of commerically successful singles with Glenn Gregory as Heaven 17.

Tom Robinson has reinvented himself as a great radio dj, but in the late 1970’s he was a angry young man!

Most commonly heard Tom Robinson Band song is the over-rated pop sing-a-long pop song 2-4-6-8 Motorway; while Glad To Be Gay is sometimes mentioned as a song of the times.  But Up Against The Wall has all the angst, power and politics of a Clash song.

Here is a performance from 1978 on Top Of The Pops.

John Peel was possibly right when he said Teenage Kicks by The Undertones was the perfect pop song.  Here’s the original promo video of the band miming to one of the best pop songs of all time.