Husker Du - Books About UFOs

  I'll slip one of my all time favourites in today. Everyone should know Husker Du, the trio that featured Bob Mould (guitar/vocals), Grant Hart (drums/vocals) and Greg Norton (bass) and who formed in 1979 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

  One of the leading lights of the US indie scene in the 80's they released several classic albums; Everything Falls Apart, Zen Arcade, New Day Rising, Flip Your Wig, Candy Apple Grey, Warehouse : Songs And Stories.

  Splitting acrimoniously in 1987, Mould and Hart went on to have successful careers as solo artists and with Sugar and Nova Mob respectively.

  Tempting as it was to post my first ever purchase by them, their 1984 cover of the Byrds' Eight Miles High, I'm instead featuring what in my opinion is their best song. From 1985's New Day Rising album, this is Books About UFOs.....

Walking down a sunny street to the library
Checking out the latest books on outer space
Going to the fruit stand to buy a dozen oranges
Then she and the books and the oranges go back to her place

She tells the same old story to everyone that she knows
She's just sitting in her room reading books about UFOs

Sometimes I see her sitting on the rooftop
Perched in a lawnchair and staring into the sky
I know that somewhere in some faraway galaxy
That some gray men with telescopes are gazing right into her eyes

Her live revolves around all of the planets
And she is constantly aware of all the changes that occur
I'm going to turn into a lens and focus all my attention
On finding a new planet and naming it right after her

Broken Talent - Might As Well Die (Punk)

"I'm so bored
I don't know why
I got nothing to do
So I might as well die...."

  Don't you just hate them? Those select few who can make sloppy, couldn't give a fuck music sound so good. It's an art form being able to produce something that sounds as though it probably took 5 minutes to cobble together but which timelessly still sounds as magnificent 30 years down the line as it did when it first saw the light of day.

  Broken Talent were from Miami and featured the talents of Richard "Santo" Mallia (vocals), Malcolm Tent (bass/vocals), Marky Awesome (guitar) and Kat Holzhauser (drums). Their first release was 1984's Blood Slut 7" which came out on Tent's T.P.O.S. label and is now a must have purchase for collectors despite being largely ignored at the time.

  The following year T.P.O.S. also gathered together all their early recordings and added a few unreleased tracks to make up the Good, Bad, Awful album..... Fast forward 30 years and Floridas Dying has lovingly compiled a 14 track collection of their best material. Called Rules No one, it's definitely one you don't want to miss, you can check it out here :  http://totalpunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/broken-talent-rules-no-one-lp 

  The song I've posted below is the punk version of Might As Well Die.....

The Expelled - Cider

  A drinking song today from a band from Rothwell,  Leeds who formed in July 1981.

  The Expelled signed to top punk label Riot City Records (after a demo was passed on to Vice Squad drummer Shane Baldwin) and released their debut ep, No Life No Future and a single, Government Policy, both in 1982.  The line up around this time consisted of Jo Ball (vocals), Tim Ramsden (guitar), Craig "Macca" McEvoy (bass) and Ricky Fox (drums).

  Jo left the band when she got married and they never really recovered from the loss. Jewlie featured on vocals for a John Peel session and then Vice Squad guitarist Dave Bateman's girlfriend Penny stepped in to record a couple of tracks (Cider/Violent Minds, these surfaced in 1985 on the Rot Records comp, A Kick Up The Arse ) but after deciding to plough on as a 3 piece with McEvoy on vocals they spilt in 1984 after Riot City ran into financial difficulties and halted the release of their Waiting For Tomorrow 12" ep.

  Since then there's been a compilation released on Captain Oi! (cd) and VPR Records (vinyl) and there's the Demos & Singles 81/84 comp which you can check out here : http://vomitopunkrock.bandcamp.com/album/the-expelled-demos-singles-81-84.

  The band reformed in 2003 with Tricycle Thieves' Becky Lawrence on vocals and spent a while gigging but no new material was released.

  Not their best known song but I like it, this is Cider.....

Chin Chin - Why am i so lonely?

5 months into the blog without an all girl Swiss band and then you get them on consecutive days. Formed in Biel in 1982 and consisting of Karin (guitar/vocals), Esther (bass/vocals) and Marie-Anne (drums/vocals), Chin Chin learnt to play their instruments as they went along, they didn't even have a proper singer, Carol joining after extensive auditioning but she didn't hang around long before they reverted to a 3 piece. Their wide array of influences included The Clash, X Ray Spex, The Ronettes, Bowie and T Rex. Their debut single was 1984's We Don't Want To Be Prisoners but it was the following year's album, Sound Of The Westway, that was their magnum opus. It's success lead to international exposure and to them signing to Scotland's 53rd and 3rd label (home of such bands as The Shop Assistants and Talulah Gosh) who released their Stop! Your Crying ep in 1988. From their album, this is Why Am I So Lonely......