'80s Indie Pop

[Chris Henniker]

I know some of it's twee, but a lot of it could be good power-pop. The Primitives, early JAMC, Shonen Knife, among others were 80's power pop at its best. Who's your fave indie pop act?

[Chris Henniker]

I love The Saints, especially Know Your Product and I'm Stranded. I love JAMC's version of Vegetable Man, which makes me think of either a flasher or a superhero (could he be both?).

Dead Boy said:

Do you mean you haven't heard their early singles?  I don't have the CD's + DVD box set, but if memory is right, I think they didn't have any great tunes on B-sides except both cover versions of Syd Barrett's "Vegetable man" and the Subway Sect's "Ambition".

And I think early JAMC weren't a great live band.  Actually I have a bootleg of their ealy live, I have played it few times, haha.  But you may found some good tunes, so I donno.

BTW, have you heard the Saints?  I can recommend their CD box set "All Times Through Paradise"!

Jim Reid is a big fan of the Saints!

Also, early Subway Sect's tunes are great, too!  If you didn't know.

[Dead Boy]

Yeah, I meant Chris Bailey and Ed Kuepper's early Saints!

 

I recalled some tunes.

They released some good singles.  (You know?)

Their fist LP wasn't my cup of tea, but this tune was good.

I still haven't heard any other their tunes.

I don't like them very much (I've heard only 5, 6 tunes.), but this tune was cool at the time.

I didn't remember even about the el Records!

[bricklayer]

[Chris Henniker]

What did anyone make of the CD86 compliation?

[Angus Martin Montgomery]

The NME C86 tape was one of the ones I didn't send off for (can't figure out how,'cos I sent off for loads of them) but recently I got a d/l of it...people seem to think it was all 'jangle pop' but there were some bands on it playing a sort of 'angular' Beefheart/Pere Ubu/Gang of Four inspired post punk style of music as well...I liked both kinds of sound...listening to John Peel several nights a week on the radio nurtured a 'no boundaries' attitude in me...I wasn't one of those who complained 'cos the whole show every night wasn't their own personal playlist...I can't take people who support a band or a style of music like a football team,to the exclusion of everything else.

[Angus Martin Montgomery]

I don't mind twee...liking indie pop doesen't threaten my masculinity...'I Want To Hold Your Hand' was 'twee' although they probably meant 'I want to ride your brains out'...I have this concept of music...the first stuff I heard was the early '60's pop stuff and that included The Beatles,Stones,Kinks,Who,Pretty Things,Yardbirds,Animals,Motown,Small Faces...I followed that through the years with the blues rock,psych and heavy/underground bands...by the 'early-mid '70's' things seemed to be running out of steam but along came pub rock...Dr. Feelgood,Eddie and the Hotrods,etc. and we bought 'Nuggets'...punk/new wave was the excitement of the '60's again and then by the time Orange Juice 'invented' 'indie' it was the excitement of the'60's yet again...I read an article,possibly in Mojo,that mentioned 80's indie as being more or less '60's inspired and I agree...also shoegaze and Madchester...in my head I live back in the 1960's...does this make any sense?It does to me...I'm so glad I came into this world in 1955...

[Chris Henniker]

I don't mind twee, but it gets a bit cloying and you need a foil for it.

Angus Martin Montgomery said:

I don't mind twee...liking indie pop doesen't threaten my masculinity...'I Want To Hold Your Hand' was 'twee' although they probably meant 'I want to ride your brains out'...I have this concept of music...the first stuff I heard was the early '60's pop stuff and that included The Beatles,Stones,Kinks,Who,Pretty Things,Yardbirds,Animals,Motown,Small Faces...I followed that through the years with the blues rock,psych and heavy/underground bands...by the 'early-mid '70's' things seemed to be running out of steam but along came pub rock...Dr. Feelgood,Eddie and the Hotrods,etc. and we bought 'Nuggets'...punk/new wave was the excitement of the '60's again and then by the time Orange Juice 'invented' 'indie' it was the excitement of the'60's yet again...I read an article,possibly in Mojo,that mentioned 80's indie as being more or less '60's inspired and I agree...also shoegaze and Madchester...in my head I live back in the 1960's...does this make any sense?It does to me...I'm so glad I came into this world in 1955...

[Angus Martin Montgomery]

...boy,I've got loads of foils for it...

[John Battles]

That's the problem , The JAMC's early , pre - LP single sides , particularly "Vegetable Man" and "Ambition" , are really hard to find. I lost interest after their first LP , so I would'nt buy a box set for 8 songs , personally. They earned a terrible reputation after a short tour of the states in about 1986....I saw them in '87 , and they SOUNDED LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE , EXCEPT THEY DID'NT EVEN HAVE A DRUMMER ! GIMME A BREAK.  Jim Reid was collapsing to the floor , then recomposing himself at least every 30 seconds. You could have set your watch by it ! I heard , later , that the band demanded a case of Russian Vodka that's so rare , you probably could'nt find it in Russia , except on The Black Market. Someone found it, tho' , and the pre -show getting pissed commenced. I STILL ENJOYED THE SHOW , DESPITE THE ANNOYING DRUM MACHINE . i'VE GOT A TAPE WITH A FEW SONGS FROM AN EARLY UK TOUR , THEY DO SOUND PRETTY FUCKED UP , MAYBE NOT IF YOU DID'NT HOLD IT UP AGAINST THEIR RECORDS , THOUGH.    I did'nt think they'd get anywhere , here , and that's a compliment. Something that abrasive should'nt have gotten over in the states , not with The Cure and The Smiths to save us.

[melissa scott]

Loved the Shirts -- great live.

Boston: The New Models (Casey Lindstrom guitarist -- he's the guy playing the lead on "Something to Grab For" (Ocasek). If you ever heard Casey play, you'd recognize it immediately. Fabulous live. Their record, if you like that sorta thang, is worth a listen. Really obscure: The Lifters.

Chicago: powerpop/punk/whatever would be Epicycle. I've got a copy of a pretty good article 'bout them but link is gone now. Good thing I saved that. Because of their age, the crowd could sometimes be pretty wild.

Also,  Screaming Rachel Cain and the Remote (they were fun live)

Melissa

[Jose]

The Nits - Tent is one of those albums that I can never get tired of listening to, the whole album is full of great songs. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Tommy Hoehn and Van Duren, both have been known to work with Jon Tiven, Big Star and the Scruffs (which are some of my other favorite power-poppers). Also Ducks Deluxe s/t lp is great too, while that's not power-pop their are still one great pub rock band.

[melissa scott]

Here are some more good ones -- Rods and Cones, Classic Ruins... AND Human Sexual Response. Classic Boston and soooo early '80's indie pop.