C86 Show - Indie Pop

Wendy Houstoun

Wendy Houstoun in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.wendyhoustoun.com/

Edgehill University Performance coming up. You can book for this show - or Manchester Lowry 14th March 8.00 pm or Soho Theatre March 20th-23rd 7.00 pm

Wendy Houstoun is a director, choreographer and performance maker who was worked  with experimental movement and theatre forms since 1980.

Her solo works Haunted Daunted and Flaunted, Happy Hour , The 48 Almost Love Lyrics  , Desert Island Dances and  50 ACTS  have all toured Europe , Australia and the US.

Works were made with long collaboraters composer John Avery, lighting designer Nigel Edwards who also act as directorial voices

Collaborative work with companies and individual artists include:

Lloyd Newson and DV8 Physical Theatre , Tim Etchells and Forced Entertainment , Charlotte Vincent and Vincent Dance Company, film-maker David Hinton, dancer Jonathan Burrows, composer Matteo Fargion, performer Nigel Charnock, dancer Rachel Krische, artist Terry O'Connor ,  performance artist Rose English, Gloria Theatre, Lumiere & Son Theatre, Ludus Dance Comapany   in theatre and site specific pieces , films and installations.

Robert Hecker - Redd Kross and It's OK!

Robert Hecker in conversation with David Eastaugh

http://www.itsoktheband.com/

Played lead guitar and sang with Redd Kross from 1984 to 1991, and again from 2006 to the present, in addition to occasional on-stage reunions throughout the 1990s. He has also played guitar and sang with the band It's OK! since 1992. As of 2013, he no longer actively tours with Redd Kross, but continues to perform live with It's OK!

It’s OK! is/are: Robert Hecker (chameleon-voiced guitar guru, Redd Kross), Ellen Rooney (five-octave vocalist), Dennis McGarry (eight-string bass & three-piece suit), & Roy McDonald (drummer extraordinaire, The Muffs & Redd Kross). Individually, they can all stand as shred-lords, but collectively, they make a beautiful, hyper melodic (& harmonic) sound. 

It’s OK! have released four sixteen-song albums on Econoclast Recordings, each & every one of them a triumph of eclecticism. It’s OK! have been compared to Queen, Guided By Voices, Poi Dog Pondering, Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, the Ink Spots, the BellRays, & A Giant Dog, to mention just a few. “We like all different kinds & sorts of music, so we write all different kinds & sorts of songs.” The band are currently constructing their fifth album. 

Slade - Dave Hill

Dave Hill in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.davehillslade.com/the-band

Without doubt one of the most exciting bands to come out of Great Britain in the past 50 years. With their unique blend of perfect pop-rock'n'roll, outrageous flamboyance and pure fun, and no less than 23 Top-20 singles of which 6 were No-1 smash hits...plus 6 smash albums, Slade have become a firm favourite in the hearts of pop fans all over the world.

 

SLADE'S chart career has spanned 6 decades and their enduring songs “Far Far Away”, "Cum On Feel The Noize" and "Coz I Luv You" are still featured today in TV commercials for some of the Worlds biggest companies.

 

SLADE first hit the road in 1966, touring throughout Great Britain and Europe and becoming a regular concert attraction. Joining forces with the former Animals bass guitarist and Jimi Hendrix Experience manager, Chas Chandler, Slade achieved their first chart hit in May 1971 with the Bobby Marchan song "Get Down And Get With It" then, released in October of the same year "Coz I Luv You" was the bands first No-1 and a huge hit across Europe.

Throughout the seventies, Slade became one of Europe's biggest bands, touring and recording continually and making regular trips to America, Japan and other parts of the world. Slade's catalogue of hits are synonymous with the era:- "Take Me Bak 'Ome", "Mama We'er All Crazee Now", "Cum On Feel The Noize", "Gudbye T' Jane", along with the many others provided a soundtrack to the Glam Generation and are still today, heavily featured on any retrospective of the time.

Desmond Child

Desmond Child in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://desmondchild.com/

Grammy-winning and Emmy-nominated songwriter Desmond Child is one of music’s most prolific and accomplished hitmakers. He’s a film, television, theater and music producer, recording artist, performer, and author. His credits appear on more than eighty Billboard Top 40 singles spanning six decades, including “Livin’ On A Prayer,” “You Give Love A Bad Name,” “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” “Dude Looks Like A Lady,” “How Can We Be Lovers If We Can’t Be Friends,” “I Hate Myself For Loving You,” “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” “The Cup Of Life,” “Waking Up In Vegas,” “Kings & Queens” and many more.

Evergreen Dazed - Elizabeth Bruce

Elizabeth Bruce in conversation with David Eastaugh

http://www.evergreendazed.com/

https://evergreendazed.bandcamp.com/

Evergreen Dazed were formed in Leicester, England, in 1991, when Elizabeth Bruce, a US student on a year long exchange, answered a 'vocalist wanted' advert by Mark Turrell.
 
They found an instant chemistry between his dreamy pop tunes and her smoky, jazz-tinged vocals, which can be heard on their first album, 'Cloudbeams In Your Eye' (CBBMLP3).

This was recorded at home and released in Nov 1992. It features acoustic pop in the style of The Sundays or Mazzy Star, electronic ambient pieces, and echo-laden space rock.

They played a couple of gigs in San Francisco, supporting an embryonic Richard Buckner, and bay area folk rocker Sonya Hunter. They also secured a feature article in UK psych magazine Ptolemaic Terrascope, and an entry in Chris William's book of underground bands 'Adrift In The Ether'.

The book drew the attention of Spanish indie-pop label Elefant, who wanted to release some of their music. This resulted in a 7" 3 track EP 'Ocean Beach', released in 1994, and appearances on a couple of label compilations, as well as a Felt tribute CD.

Steve Almaas - Beat Rodeo & The Suicide Commandos

Steve Almaas in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.discogs.com/artist/633930-Steve-Almaas

https://www.facebook.com/salmaas

The Suicide Commandos are an American punk rock trio from Minneapolis. They formed in 1975 and released two 7-inch EPs on an indie label in 1976 and 1977 before signing with Blank Records (a subsidiary label of Mercury Records) in 1977 and releasing one album, Make a Record. Despite their short original 4-year stint together, the Suicide Commandos are considered the pioneers for jump-starting a punk rock music scene in the Twin Cities, which eventually produced bands like The Suburbs, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements and Soul Asylum

Fifth Column - Caroline Azar & G.B. Jones

Caroline Azar & G.B. Jones in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYSvRgOMKKIY6SktAeGdFgg

Their first vinyl release was the 7" Boy-Girl EP produced in 1983 by Voicepondence Records.

The name of their first full-length recording To Sir With Hate was a play on the theme song from the British school film Produced by Michael Phillip Wojewoda, it is now considered a classic of Canadian music; at the 2016 Polaris Music Prize it was named a shortlisted nominee in the 1976-1985 category for the 2016 Polaris Music Prize, the 2017 Polaris Music Prize, and the 2018 Polaris Music Prize.

A song from this LP, "The Fairview Mall Story" was based on true events concerning media publication of the names of men arrested after being entrapped by police and was instrumental in paving the way for the emergence of the queercore scene. Their video for the song, directed by indie feature film director Steven Rumbelow, involved 50's images of men cruising in their new cars, shopping malls, and car crashes, was intercut with the band and go-go dancer Bruce La Bruce. A video for the song "Where Are they Now?" was also made, directed by Marc de Guerre.

Their live shows often included films played overtop of the band and a 'go-go' boy dancing. They were frequently accompanied by guest musicians who played instruments as varied as saxophone, trumpet, flute, or violin.

Robert Sellers and Nick Pendleton - Marquee: The Story of the World’s Greatest Music Venue

Robert Sellers and Nick Pendleton in conversation with David Eastaugh

http://www.paradiseroad.co.uk/marquee-the-story-of-the-worlds-greatest-music-venue

Marquee: The Story of the World’s Greatest Music Venue tells the story of both the music club and the festival, from the birth of the club in 1958 and festival in 1961, through to their sale by original owners Harold and Barbara Pendleton thirty years later.

Hardback, 320 pages, with 49 black & white illustrations

The Marquee is the most famous and iconic music club in the world. Melody Maker called it, ‛The most important venue in the history of pop music.’ 

The story of the Marquee is the story of popular music in Britain. This new book from Paradise Road evokes the hot, sweaty and sticky life and times of the club through the words of the musicians, management, staff and fans who were there to witness music history being made.

Terry Newman - Taylor Swift

Terry Newman in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/taylor-swift/

Terry Newman worked in the fashion industry for more than 20 years, both as an editor at i-D, Attitude, and Self Service and as a contributing writer for newspapers including the Guardian, the Independent, the Times, and the Sunday Times.

Taylor Swift is the quintessential millennial. Free-thinking and creative, she navigates pop stardom with boundless charisma and a keen eye on her digital presence. She has become a truly global phenomenon but remains intimately connected with her fans. A born storyteller, her outfits mark the different phases of her whirlwind life every bit as clearly as her songs. From cowboy boots to cottage-core, Saint Laurent to sci-fi, onstage and on the street, her clothes are always carefully chosen to match the moment. These pages reveal those moments in gorgeous photographic detail with reliably astute analysis from the author of Harry Styles and the Clothes He Wears. The latest in a popular celebrity fashion series, this book charts the style evolution of a hyper-chic superstar at the vanguard of 21st-century culture.

Steve Parsons - Sharks

Steve Parsons in conversation with David Eastaugh

Sharks are a British rock band formed in 1972 by former Free bassist Andy Fraser upon his departure from Free. They were signed to Island Records and were highly rated by critics, especially for Chris Spedding's guitar work.

The original line-up consisted of Fraser (bass, piano), Snips (real name, Steve Parsons) (vocals), Spedding (guitar) and Marty Simon (drums).

Steve Parsons and Anke Trojan directed the 2023 documentary Not a Rock-Doc: A Shark's Tail, about the ups and downs in the story of this band, from the success heights in the '70 to the issues that led to its dissolution and then to further insights around the subsequent reunion. Filmed in Berlin, Tokyo and London, the film was noticed for its integration of various angles of raw footage and for its humor and irony. The narrative is stirred by interactions with Steve Parsons and Chris Spedding, notably Jordan Mooney (Pamela Rooke) managing to bring to light previously unknown nuances in discussions with an otherwise tight Chris Spedding.

Stephen Budd

Stephen Budd  in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.record-producers.com/

Stephen Budd is a British music industry executive based in London. He is a director of artist and producer management company Stephen Budd Music Ltd, the OneFest Festival, the Africa Express project and is the co-founder of the NH7 Weekender festivals in India.  In June 2017 he completed his 3-year term as co-chairman of the MMF (Music Managers Forum). He is a co-executive producer of Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds' ‘Give A Home’ global concert series. His current management roster includes the artists Dry The River and Nubiyan Twist, along with the record producers Rob Ellis, Tore Johansson, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Nick Zinner, Mike Hedges, and Arthur Verocai.

Gitane Demone - Pompeii 99, Christian Death, Gitane Demone Quartet

Gitane Demone in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://darkvinylrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-young-kings-of-midnight?fbclid=IwAR2yqngs8N6zgEivN3YHKOsvq8e5u1cxCm4SBvX3TlMNwgU9Hg6Bd6TJAl4

https://gitanedemone.bandcamp.com/

American singer, musician and visual artist. Her career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the influential band Christian Death. In addition to her work with Christian Death, Demone was previously a member of Pompeii 99, worked with Dreadful Shadows, and has had a solo career which has included three studio albums: Am I Wrong?, Stars of Trash and The Reflecting Shadow.

Bob Andrews or Derwood Andrews - Generation X, Empire & Westworld

Derwood Andrews in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://derwoodandrews1.bandcamp.com/

Guitarist, writer and founding member for- Generation X, Empire, Westworld, Dead Horse, Moondogg, Speedtwinn, Tone Poet and other glorious stuff...

In late 1976, Andrews was playing lead guitar with an band called Paradox. Whilst performing at a gig at the Fulham Arts Centre he was talent-spotted by the punk-rocker Billy Idol, who was at that time looking for a guitar player to complete the line-up of a new band that he had just formed that would be named Generation X.

Evergreen Dazed - Mark Turrell

Mark Turrell in conversation with David Eastaugh

http://www.evergreendazed.com/home.html

Evergreen Dazed were formed in Leicester, England, in 1991, when Elizabeth Bruce, a US student on a year long exchange, answered a 'vocalist wanted' advert by Mark Turrell.
 
They found an instant chemistry between his dreamy pop tunes and her smoky, jazz-tinged vocals, which can be heard on their first album, 'Cloudbeams In Your Eye' (CBBMLP3).

This was recorded at home and released in Nov 1992. It features acoustic pop in the style of The Sundays or Mazzy Star, electronic ambient pieces, and echo-laden space rock.

They played a couple of gigs in San Francisco, supporting an embryonic Richard Buckner, and bay area folk rocker Sonya Hunter. They also secured a feature article in UK psych magazine Ptolemaic Terrascope, and an entry in Chris William's book of underground bands 'Adrift In The Ether'. 

Andy Prieboy - Wall of Voodoo

Andy Prieboy in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://wallofvoodoo2.com/home

https://www.andyprieboy.com/home

In early 1984, he was invited to join Wall of Voodoo, occupying the vacated front-person position. Touring the world and recording three albums with the band, his composition Far Side of Crazy charted in foreign markets, going top ten in Australia. 

In the early 1990's, his solo work featured Tomorrow Wendy, covered by Concrete Blonde on their Bloodletting album. In addition, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt performed Loving the Highway Man as a duet on their Western Wall album. 

By the middle of the decade, he was writing, directing, and performing his acclaimed musical, White Trash Wins Lotto, a Gilbert and Hooligan take on the Guns n' Roses story. Between 1995 and 2001, White Trash Wins Lotto successfully ran at Largo and The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles. It was also featured at The HBO Comedy Festival, New York's PS 122, and on Conan O'Brien. 

In 2004, Andy co-authored a novel The Psycho-Ex Game with Emmy Award-winning writer Merrill Markoe for Random House. 

After taking time out to compose, Andy returned to the stage to present an autobiographical song cycle called A Thousand Gorgeous Lies at The Harold Williams Theatre at The Getty Center in Los Angeles. 

Most recently, Andy has been working on this collection of forgotten, abandoned, and unfinished songs which he calls "One and One Make Three."

Annie Haslam - Renaissance

Annie Haslam in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://anniehaslam.com/annie-haslam-original-art/

https://johnwettonlegacy.co.uk/

In February 1971, Haslam became the new lead singer of Renaissance after answering an advertisement in the British periodical Melody Maker - Haslam was lead vocalist on seven studio albums during their classic period (1972–1979), four studio albums from 1981–present, and a number of live albums.

In August 1978 the band's single "Northern Lights" reached the top 10 in the UK singles charts.

 

Nick Haeffner - The Tea Set

Nick Haeffner in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://nickhaeffnerdimplediscs.bandcamp.com/album/what-time-can-do-2

http://www.nickhaeffner.co.uk/index.html

In 1980 he joined post-punk band The Tea Set, recording an album and several singles and gigging extensively including supports for U2, Iggy Pop, The Clash and XTC. Nicks solo album The Great Indoors was released on Bam Caruso records in 1987.In 2019 after a number of years as a lecturer Nick has returned to music with self released music through Bandcamp. 

Kevin Armstrong - David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Paul McCartney, Morrissey

Kevin Armstrong in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.kevin-armstrong.com/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Absolute-Beginner-Memoirs-least-known-guitarist/dp/1911036173

Armstrong was signed by Charlie Gillett's Oval Records in 1980 and formed the group Local Heroes SW9  and released two albums, Drip Dry Zone in 1980 and New Opium in 1981.

Armstrong took part in the recording of The Passions's third album Sanctuary, produced by Mick Glossop. The first single from that album was "Jump for Joy", which was released on 5 May 1982, followed by the album and the "Sanctuary" single on 18 September 1982.

Armstrong collaborated with David Bowie on the soundtrack for the film Absolute Beginners. He also played in the band for David Bowie's Live Aid appearance in 1985, and recorded the song "Dancing In The Street" with David Bowie and Mick Jagger.

He played guitar on the Iggy Pop 1986 album Blah Blah Blah and was musical director for Iggy Pop's world tour in 1986/87.

Mick Rossi - Slaughter & The Dogs

Mick Rossi in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://secretrecordslimited.com/products/seccd293

https://open.spotify.com/album/6CDdnpP6vmKBji4D0JLslu?si=-aD8bL4ySwuM8Je73_5geA

Legendary Slaughter & The Dogs guitarist Mick Rossi released solo album All The Saints and All The Souls in 2020 - his new album Gun St, named after the street where his family moved to in Ancoats in the 1930s, was released on Secret Records Ltd. 

Slaughter and the Dogs are an English punk rock band formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Their original line-up consisted of singer Wayne Barrett McGrath, rhythm guitar Mick Rossi, drummer Brian "Mad Muffet" Grantham, lead guitarist Mike Day and bassist Howard Bates.

 

Paul Simpson - The Wild Swans, Care & Teardrop Explodes

 

https://www.paul-simpson.co.uk/the-wild-swans/

https://www.roughtrade.com/en-gb/product/paul-simpson/revolutionary-spirit-a-post-punk-exorcism-the-teardrop-explodes-care-the-wild-swans-and-beyond

Part memoir, part social history, Revolutionary Spirit is the poignant, often hilarious story of a cult Liverpool musician's scenic route to fame and artistic validation, and marks the arrival of an original literary voice.

If Morrissey was the Oscar Wilde of the 1980s indie scene, Simpson was its William Blake; a self-destructive genius so lost in mystical visions of a new arcadia that he couldn't meet the rent.

Simpson's career begins alongside fellow Liverpool luminaries Ian McCulloch, Bill Drummond, Will Sergeant, Pete Wylie, Pete Burns, and Holly Johnson at the infamous Eric's club, where, in 1976, he finds himself at the birth of the city's second great musical explosion. He co-founds and christens the neo-psychedelic pop group The Teardrop Explodes with Julian Cope but walks out of the band just as they are about to break big and goes to work in a tearoom instead. He then forms The Wild Swans, the indie-band of choice for literary-minded teens in the early 1980s, and Care with Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds, sharing a flat with a seventeen-year-old Courtney Love along the way.