BEATFOR107 - January Singles Weekender I

Digging up some records on holidays, so today we have an eclectic singles session.
A favourite vintage punk rock and roll radio stations intro, back in 1979. From California, The Beans released two singles for Lima Bean Records, the first one let it in, but this Surf’s Up is an stormy punk surf instro with spicy girls inviting to dance it on the beach.

The Beans - Surf's Up [7' Lima Bean Records 1979]



Go Feet label did not have the same level of fame as the 2 Tone Records, but was an important sister label to the 2 Tone genre. The Beat's first release was on 2 Tone Records, but when Madness struck a deal with Stiff Records, The Beat left to form their own label.
The three original members of the Mood Elevators (David Ditchfield, Noel Green, and Jenny Jones) met after literally being thrown together following a street fight. A group initially named Inside Out was soon formed from the three. Once ready to gig in early 1980, the band began to book spots at pubs around Birmingham. Impressed by the performance they witnessed, The Beat offered them an opportunity to record a single on the Go Feet label along with the supporting spot on a UK tour.
Only two 7-inch singles were released by the band. Their first, Annapurna, was a big hit on the indie scene.

The Mood Elevators - Annapurna [7' Go Feet 1981]


The Piranhas were formed in 1977, and were originally part of the Brighton punk scene, achieved their biggest success (classic one-hit wonder) with their cover version of the South African kwela song "Tom Hark", an instrumental hit in 1958 for Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes. With new lyrics written by the band's frontman "Boring" Bob Grover under the Stock-Aitkin-Waterman partnership, it was a Top 10 hit in 1980. It was the first song to feature on BBC Television's pop music programme, Top of the Pops.
Jilly was included in their first single, an infectious punky singalong.

The Piranhas - Jilly [7' Attix 1978]


The Rivvits were a West London-based punk band formed by vocalist and guitarist, Chris Burne. They played all the influential punk/new wave clubs and pubs in and around London, such as, The Marquee, The Roxy, The Vortex, alongside (then) fledgling punk bands such as, XTC, The Lurkers, Subway Sect, The Slits, Jilted John, The Buzzcocks, among others.
The band signed to Alien Records in 1977, run by their new manager, Nigel Lucas, jointly with Chris Burne and Martin Godfrey as artistic directors.

Alien Records continued to bring out singles into early 1980, using personnel formed from the Rivvits under various band names; The Beaks and, Nathaniel Halcrow & The Mastodons written by Burne, which is a classic organ/bass riff pop song with a very catchy chorus. It's about liberty versus the dangers of extremist politics, both right and left!

Nathaniel Halcrow & The Mastodons - Move To The Right [7' Alien 1979]

BEATFOR108 - January Singles Weekender II

Some really ace stuff for you today.
Bill Kern was a passionate musician, and a gifted songwriter. He began writing songs at 13 years old, and continued writing throughout his entire life. His Beatles collection was legendary. He had the most complete collection of Apple records in the world.
He was a master songwriter, and this are one of his best songs from the New Wave era, you can imagine the sound.
Bill was one of the founders of Beat Bad Records, and along with Barry Knoedl, the driving force behind the Badbeats, a partnership formed for lasted 32 years, until Bill's death in 2005.
This record was released as a double 'A' side. In order to reinforce the idea that it was a double 'A' side, they put both songs on the 'A' side. The other side of the record is blank. Then people would still assume that the first song was the intended 'A', so they made two versions with each song leading off, using distinctly different mixes on each from the same takes. Each version comes with a different color picture sleeve. You're Not Coming Home is Red, Don't Listen To Them is Blue.

Bill Kern - Don't Listen To Them [7' Beatbad Records 1979]

The Trend hailed in a barn in the Derbyshire hills, overlooking Manchester’s Airport. A pop band led by the charismatic Mark Revell from Stalybridge. Released their debut single Teenage Crush in 1979 on their own label Trendy Records.
Then, they were picked up my "MCA" Records and went onto release three more singles before disappearing. Polly and Wendy was their second one in 1980. Rumour has it that this song was written about two sisters who went to their gigs.

The Trend - Polly & Wendy [7' MCA 1980]

Bleeding Hearts were a rare Cannot area –UK- powerpop band on the UXB label Crazy Plane Records; people said that most of these release were destroyed. ¿? Produced by Little Winston, local dj and record label owner. A must for all good pop tester. Great stomping sing-along.

Bleeding Hearts - I Need To Know [7' Crazy Plane Records 1980]

Led by JP McLain, who compares vocally to a poppier Elvis Costello, The Gems were a slightly under-developed but good new-wave pop. Also features Barry Shank later of The Unclaimed and The Long Ryders. On the power pop label, their lonely single for Titan Records out of Kansas City.

Gems - Didn't Like It Anyway [7' Titan Records 1978]