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Classix Nouveaux were originally conceived as a vehicle for X-Ray Spex after Poly Styrene left in 1979, and an advert was placed in Melody Maker looking for her replacement. Sal Solo answered the ad and got the gig, but only two ex-Spexers (guitarist Jak Airport and drummer B.P. Hurding) actually joined the new band (Rudi Thomson and Paul Dean ending up with my workmate Paddy Carroll in The Outpatients, see above). By the time that "The Robots Dance", their debut single, was released on their own ESP label (the label's only release, as they signed to Liberty later in 1980), Jak Airport had already left the band, who had by then been lumped in with the emerging New Romantic scene, rather to their surprise. The track sounds to me like a bridge between the post-punk that dominated at the start of the year, and the futurism that had just begun its ascendancy (we're still exactly two months away from the release of Spandau's "To Cut A Long Story Short", which would properly kickstart the column inches).
I first read about The Motels in Punk in late 1976, but the original line-up split up in 1977, reforming in 1978 with just singer Martha Davis and guitarist Jeff Jourard remaining from the first line-up. They'd already had a Top 10 hit in Australia with "Total Control" in 1979, and they wouldn't crack the US chart until 1982 with "Only The Lonely", but in the interim they had two minor UK hits with "Days Are OK" and "Whose Problem", its immediate predecessor (both recorded after Jeff Jourard had left). "Whose Problem" is my best discovery of this poll, which slips neatly into its post-Pretenders times; it's immensely pleasurable, and I might yet vote for it.
Jeff Scott & The Hitmakers "Keep On Proving It" can't be found online, and it remains rare, selling for around £35 on Discogs. The weedy-voiced Jeff Scott's other two choppy power pop singles - one solo, another with the Hitmakers - are all on YouTube, and sell for similar amounts. They're nothing special.
Despite Mike Nicholls' perplexing praise and predictions of future greatness, Live Wire plodded on hitlessly until 1981, during which time they released three flop albums for A&M. As with Jenny Darren's extended tenure at DJM, you do wonder why they were given so many chances; this is dreary, pedestrian stuff.
For a band much lauded for their intelligence, XTC's "Generals And Majors" offers a pretty facile commentary on the armed forces, rendered more facile still by its video, featuring Richard Branson. Andy Partridge thought so too, commenting that Branson only appeared "because he's a complete publicity hog. He decided he was gonna turn up and keep suggesting that he be in the video. That is the worst video ever made by man".
As with Kenny Loggins above, that silly old Mike Nicholls accidentally reviews the B-side of The Upset's only single, "Hurt". I saw tons of bands like The Upset in support slots during 1980 - there was an absolute glut of them - so it made sense for three of the band (who had supported Dexys on tour) to quickly jump ship and join forces with five ex-Dexys (including Mick Talbot) in The Bureau.
Cathy La Creme's John Cooper Clarke pisstake is nicely done, her vocals reminding me of Yorkshire punk poet Joolz Denby.
"West One (Shine On Me)" is the only one here that I ended up owning on vinyl, as it appeared in the autumn on a cheap Virgin compilation called Cash Cows. Malcolm Owen, who had been fired for his heroin habit and then re-hired, had fatally OD-ed six weeks earlier, making this their final single. I'm torn between voting for this and The Motels.
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 13:18 (two years ago) link