C86 Show - Indie Pop

DNA & Dark Days special with Robin Lee Crutchfield

Robin Lee Crutchfield talking about his life with DNA, Dark Day and much more with David Eastaugh.

Robin Lee Crutchfield is an American artist. He is best known as one of the founding musicians of the former New York No Wave scene. He has performed at such hallowed musical grounds as CBGB's, Max's Kansas City and Artists Space; as well as had his work on display at prestigious venues like MoMAand The Whitney Museum of American Art.

Rockats special Smutty Smiff or Stephen Dennis Smith

Rockats special Smutty Smiff or Stephen Dennis Smith in conversation with David Eastaugh

In 1977, Childers had just finished the Anarchy tour with Sex Pistols, The Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. After the tour was over, Levi Dexter met Childers at a rockabilly concert in London. Childers decided to start a fresh project. Dexter and Smutty Smiff decided to form a band together, even though Smiff had no musical training. One week later, Childers purchased a double bass for Smiff and a first gig was booked in Max's Kansas City.

At about same time, when the band was accepted by local artists, musicians and photographers, Smiff became a model and a friend to photographers such as Andy Warhol, Mick Rock, Bob Gruen, Janette Beckman, and Robert Mapplethorpe

The Wendys with Jonathan Renton & Ian White Part 2

The Wendys with Jonathan Renton & Ian White Part 2 - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Formed in 1987, the Wendys were the second Scottish band to be signed to Factory Records, after The Wake. Their name came about after a nights drinking the evening before they were due to sign for Factory. They decided upon The Marys, but when the time came to sign for Factory, none of them could remember what they had decided upon. Believing they had chosen the Wendys, that's the name they registered. After the group opened for the Happy Mondays, Shaun Ryder's father suggested that they send in a demo tape. After they were signed to the label, Phil Saxe acted as their manager. Having felt at odds with the contemporary Scottish music scene, the Wendys found a common spirit among the Factory Records roster, saying they shared similar influences as their labelmates but still wanted to be known as their own distinct band

The Wendys with Jonathan Renton and Ian White Part 1

The Wendys with Jonathan Renton and Ian White (part 1) in conversation with David Eastaugh

Formed in 1987, the Wendys were the second Scottish band to be signed to Factory Records, after The Wake. Their name came about after a nights drinking the evening before they were due to sign for Factory. They decided upon The Marys, but when the time came to sign for Factory, none of them could remember what they had decided upon. Believing they had chosen the Wendys, that's the name they registered. After the group opened for the Happy Mondays, Shaun Ryder's father suggested that they send in a demo tape. After they were signed to the label, Phil Saxe acted as their manager. Having felt at odds with the contemporary Scottish music scene, the Wendys found a common spirit among the Factory Records roster, saying they shared similar influences as their labelmates but still wanted to be known as their own distinct band. Although they enjoyed critical acclaim with the release of their debut album Gobbledygook in 1991 (produced by Ian Broudie), they did not achieve the widespread popularity of labelmates such as New Order or the Happy Mondays. The timing of their album's release directly preceded the demise of the label, also hurting their chances at success. Following a long hiatus, the group released their second album Sixfootwingspan (originally intended to be called Sixfootwingspan Yoga Birds) in 1999.

Culture Shock, Citizen Fish & Subhumans special with Dick Lucas

Culture Shock, Citizen Fish & Subhumans special with Dick Lucas in conversation with David Eastaugh

Culture Shock is an English punk rock band formed in Warminster, Wiltshire in 1986 by Dick Lucas, previously of the Subhumans. Over their four-year history the band played hundreds of gigs, including frequent appearances at free festivals, and released three studio albums on the Bluurg record label. Lucas’ lyrics were mostly concerned with social and political issues, from cruelty to animals, Northern Ireland, war, and social alienation, but were far from angry rants, often finding a positive and empowering perspective.

Culture Shock split at the end of 1989, as Bill and Nige both had young families to support. Dick went on to form Citizen Fish with Jasper, the bassist on Culture Shock’s final album, and two other former members of the Subhumans.

The Wake with Gerard "Caesar" McInulty

The Wake with Gerard "Caesar" McInulty in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Wake released their first single on their own Scan 45 label, coupling together "On Our Honeymoon" and "Give Up". This single eventually caught the attention of New Order manager Rob Gretton, who helped the band sign to Factory Records in 1982 and record an LP (Harmony) at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. This was followed by a number of singles on Factory and its Belgian sister label Factory Benelux. In 1983, The Wake toured with New Order, and thus received critical attention but were often unfavourably compared to their more celebrated labelmates. Gillespie was asked to leave in 1983, subsequently playing drums with The Jesus and Mary Chain and achieving fame with his own band Primal Scream. After a short-lived stint with McInulty's ex-classmate Martin Cunning on bass, Alexander 'Mac' Macpherson permanently replaced Gillespie. That same year the band recorded a session on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme and David 'Kid' Jensen's BBC radio 1 show. The band toured extensively and scored an indie hit with their 1984 single "Talk About The Past" which featured Vini Reilly of Durutti Column on piano. The recording and release of their seminal 1985 album Here Comes Everybody marked the apex of their career. Further releases were few and far between: one more single "Of The Matter" emerged in 1985 before their last release for Factory, a 4-track EP entitled "Something That No One Else Could Bring" finally appeared in 1987.

In 1988, disillusioned with the lack of proper promotion and indeed apathy from Factory Records, The Wake left the label and signed to Bristol's legendary Sarah Records, releasing two singles and two LPs, the last being 1994's Tidal Wave of Hype. By this point, once again down to a three piece featuring McInulty, Allen and Allen, they also shared personnel with another Glasgow-based band on Sarah, The Orchids, with whom they had also played a few live gigs. When Sarah shut down in 1995, The Wake effectively dissolved.

The Mudd Club with Richard Boch

The Mudd Club with Richard Boch in conversation with David Eastaugh

The club featured a bar, gender-neutral bathrooms and a rotating gallery curated by Keith Haring on the fourth floor.^[2] Live performances included new wave, experimental music, literary icons Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, and catwalk exhibitions for emerging fashion designers Anna Sui and Jasper Conran.

From the start it functioned as an "amazing antidote to the uptown glitz of Studio 54in the '70s". As it became more frequented by downtown celebrities, a door policy was established and it acquired a chic, often elitist reputation.

The Mudd Club was frequented by many of Manhattan's up-and-coming cult celebrities. Other individuals associated with the venue included musicians Lou Reed, Johnny Thunders, David Byrne, Debbie Harry, Arto Lindsay, John Lurie, Nicowith Jim Tisdall, Lydia Lunch, X, the Cramps, the B-52's, the Bongos and  artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and his then-girlfriend Madonna; performers Klaus Nomi and John Sex; designers Betsey Johnson, Maripol and Marisol; and underground filmmakers Amos Poe; Vincent Gallo, Kathy Acker, and Glenn O'Brien.

Terry Banks - Dot Dash, St Christopher, Glo-Worm, Julie Ocean

Terry Banks - Dot Dash, St Christopher, Glo-Worm, Julie Ocean - in conversation with David Eastaugh

 

Sterling Roswell -Spacemen 3 & The Darkside

Sterling Roswell -Spacemen 3 & The Darkside special - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Roswell joined Spacemen 3 in 1987 as drummer, and performed on the albums The Perfect Prescription and Performance.

After leaving Spacemen 3, he joined The Darkside in 1989 - alongside Spacemen 3 bandmate Pete Bain - and recorded three albums with the band.

He then moved to Rome, Italy, where he worked with film-maker Massimo Di Felice. He subsequently relocated to London and released an AAA associated 'space pop' single on the 'Mint' label subsidiary of Jungle Records.

In 2004 he issued the solo album the Psychedelic Ubik under his own name on Mint/Jungle Records. More recent recording credits include producing the Transparency LP with Sky Saxon of The Seeds on Jungle Records, guest percussion on Geraint Watkins' Dial 'W' For Watkins on Proper Records, keyboards on Tres Chicas Bloom, Red & the Ordinary Girl on Yep Roc Records and guitar with The Odeon Beat Club on Beatclub Recordings and a guest performance on Martin Belmont's album The Guest List.

Gary Clail

Gary Clail in conversation with David Eastaugh 

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 electronicunderground 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).

Mark Saunders special - Part 3

Mark Saunders  in conversation with David Eastaugh

Saunders's professional music career started as a drummer playing with Carlene Carter, Johnny Cash's stepdaughter, in 1982. The first time he went into a recording studio with her to record some demos, he was excited by the whole recording process and after the stint with Carlene finished in 1984, he landed a job as an assistant at West Side Studios, London working with production pair Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley who produced for Madness, Dexys Midnight Runners, Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, Elvis Costello and later Bush.

In 1985, Saunders engineered the hit record "Dancing in the Street" by David Bowie and Mick Jagger. A year later, he became a freelance engineer and was discovered by Rhythm King, a label at the forefront of British dance music. Working on a couple of Bomb the Bass mixes led to co-producing Neneh Cherry's No. 2 US Billboard hit "Buffalo Stance" and the subsequent seminal multi-platinum album Raw Like Sushi. Following this, he worked on many pop/dance acts including Erasure, Depeche Mode, Lisa Stansfield and Yazz as well as Ian McCulloch, the Mission UK, the Farm, the Heart Throbs, Texas and the Sugarcubes. Robert Smith of the Cure employed Saunders's radio friendly skills to mix all singles from the album Disintegration. "Lovesong" became the Cure's highest charting single, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Saunders went on to work on further Cure albums - UK No. 1 Wish, Mixed Up and Wild Mood Swings.

It's Immaterial with John Campbell

It's Immaterial with John Campbell in conversation with David Eastaugh

It's Immaterial were formed by three former members of Yachts - Mancunian John Campbell vocals, Martin Dempsey guitar, and Henry Priestman keyboards - in addition to Paul Barlow, drums. By 1984, the band had been reduced to a duo - Campbell and Jarvis Whitehead, guitar and keyboards, who joined in 1982.

On 11 November 1981, around the time of the release of the band’s third single, It's Immaterial recorded the first of four sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1. The track listing was "A Gigantic Raft (In the Philippines)", "Imitate the Worm", "White Man's Hut", and "Rake". "A Gigantic Raft" was featured on the soundtrack of Jonathan Demme's 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate.

In April 1985, the band recorded their fourth and final John Peel session (track listing: "Rope", "Hang On Sleepy Town", "Space" and "Festival Time"). In the same month, the band's Fish Waltz EP reached number 30 on the UK Indie Chart.

Less than a year later the band had a hit single with "Driving Away From Home (Jim's Tune)". ('John Campbell puts his foot down on the pedal – ever so gently – to cruise out along the M62. A Mini-Midwestern road movie transported to Liverpool'.

Cecil with Ste Williams

Cecil with Ste Williams in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Cecil formed in Liverpool in 1993. The members were Ste Williams (vocals), Patrick Harrison (guitar), Ally Lambert (drums), Anthony Hughes (guitar and keyboards), and Jay Bennett (bass).

The band spent the end of 1995 and most of 1996 playing concerts in much of the United Kingdom. They played with such bands as The Levellers, Skunk Anansie, and Paw. They also played in music festivals at Donnington and T in the Park. During this time, they released their second single "My Neck", which was backed with an acoustic track and a piano version of the single, giving a hint of the direction they were heading in for the recording of their 2nd record.

The Last with Joe Nolte

The Last special with Joe Nolte in conversation with David Eastaugh

The band was initially inspired by the nascent CBGB’s scene as well as the first Modern Lovers album. Its sound was a mix of garage rock, surf rock, folk rock and psychedelic rock. The first settled line-up included Vitus Mataré (keyboards, flute), the Nolte brothers, and Jack Reynolds (drums). After three self-financed singles, the band was signed by Bomp! Records, who issued the debut album L.A. Explosion!in 1979 (described by Trouser Press as "a near-perfect debut").^[2] It was also issued in Germany (Line Records), Japan Trio/Trash Records), and the UK by London Records.

They recorded a second album, Look Again (1980), which has never been released. The original members began to disappear until its demise in November 1985, with David Nolte joining Wednesday Week and later Lucky, and Mataré forming Trotsky Icepick. The band was considered a major influence on the psychedelia-influenced LA bands of the mid-1980s, including The Bangles and The Three O'Clock, as well as the South Bay punk bands such as Black Flag and the Descendents.

Joe reformed the band in 1988 with Mike Nolte along with new members Luke Lohnes (guitar, vocals), Larry P. Manke (bass guitar), and Dave Nazworthy (of Chemical People) (drums). This line-up signed to SST Records, releasing three albums between 1988 and 1996. The early 80’s lineup of the band reunited for occasional reunion shows in Southern California between 2005 and 2013. That year, The Last released a new album for the label End Sounds featuring the Descendents/All rhythm section of Karl Alvarez and Bill Stevenson.

Darts special with Den Hagarty

Darts special with Den Hagarty  in conversation with David Eastaugh

Founded in 1976, they built up a large following playing clubs and universities, although their break came after they appeared on Charlie Gillett's show on BBC Radio London in October 1976. This secured the band a recording contract with Magnet Records, where they were teamed up with record producer Tommy Boyce who had previously produced The Monkees. Covering 1950s rock and roll hits, they scored their first UK hit in November 1977 with a medley of "Daddy Cool" (originally a US 1957 hit for The Rays) and Little Richard's 1957 hit "The Girl Can't Help It".^[2]More cover versions followed in 1978 with "Come Back My Love" (originally recorded by US R&B group The Wrens in 1955), and "The Boy from New York City" (originally a US hit for The Ad Libs in 1965).

Craig Gannon - The Smiths, The Bluebells, Terry Hall & Aztec Camera

Craig Gannon in conversation with David Eastaugh

Gannon had played in bands with friends since he was 12 years old, and in 1983 joined Aztec Camera after replying to an ad in Melody Maker. In 1984 he briefly joined The Colourfield, and went on to join The Bluebells.

After another brief stint in The Colourfield, when bass player Andy Rourke was fired from The Smiths in early 1986, Gannon was hired to replace him. Within a fortnight, however, Rourke was reinstated and Gannon moved to rhythm guitar becoming the official fifth member, playing on the "Panic" and "Ask" singles and touring the UK, Canada and the US with the band. Gannon also played on the scrapped single "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby", which was included on The World Won't Listen compilation album. After the tour ended in October 1986, Gannon was no longer part of the line-up. Gannon has been affectionately known thereafter as "the Fifth Smith".

Mark Saunders - Part Two

Mark Saunders in conversation with David Eastaugh

Mark Saunders  is a British record producer and audio engineer who has worked on a number of albums since the 1980s, with artists including the Cure, David Byrne, Erasure, and Tricky.

The Mighty Lemon Drops with David Newton

The Mighty Lemon Drops with David Newton in conversation with David Eastaugh

Originally called the Sherbet Monsters, the quartet first formed in the spring of 1985 in Wolverhampton, in The Black Country. Paul Marsh, Dave Newton and Tony Linehan had played together in a band called Active Restraint in 1982, with Newton later leaving to become a founding member of the Wild Flowers. Dave Newton and Tony Linehan were the principal songwriters for the group. Their sound can best be described as a more psychedelia-influenced post-punk, played with a ringing Rickenbacker guitar as the lead instrument. They drew comparisons to Echo and the Bunnymen, who were also influenced by psychedelia.

After losing original drummer Martin Gilks (later to join the Wonder Stuff), the Drops line-up settled as Paul Marsh (vocals), David Newton (guitar), Tony Linehan (bass), and Keith Rowley (drums). In December 1985 the quartet, now officially the Mighty Lemon Drops, released their first independent single "Like an Angel", on Daniel Treacy of Television Personalities' Dreamworld Records label which went to the top of the UK Indie Chart and sold 14,000 copies. They also recorded a session for John Peel around the same time. Becoming part of the C86 movement, which was championed by the New Musical Express, they were soon snapped up by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade for his new Blue Guitar label, a subsidiary of Chrysalis Records. They signed with Sire Records for the United States and Canada around the same period. Derek Jarman produced the video for the "Out of Hand" single in 1987 which was followed by their hit "Inside Out" in 1988.

 

Max's Kansas City special with Peter Crowley

Max's Kansas City special with Peter Crowley in conversation with David Eastaugh

Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in December 1965 and closed in 1981.

Bill Carey special - Crash, Something Pretty Beautiful & The Stick Figures

Bill Carey special talking about life in music with David Eastaugh

Songwriter, guitarist, engineer and producer. Spent his early years in Florida where he formed The Stick Figures, he was also an original member of King Of Culture and NEMB. Relocated to New York City in 1981, where he joined Crash. Moved to London in 1986, where he formed Something Pretty Beautiful and later Gone Walkers. Currently living in Florida and fronting Gone Walkers and Agent 13.