1979 and only 1979 Mix

[shadowplay]

I'm involved in an art/commerce project which has necessitated me making up a (continuous*) 2 hour mix of records from 1979, roughly following those post punk ley lines. I probably have to do it live at some time so I practised today and recorded it. Of course the minute I finished I remembered shit I should have stuck in it and I'll change it later but sometimes it's nice to see your purest instinct.

It HAD to be records (plus the odd tape that thankfully later became a record) that were released in 1979 and all but one I bought in 79 or 80 at the latest, bar the Rother track. There's no Joy Division, which might seem obtuse given my handle but I thought everyone had heard enough JD for a lifetime and IMO Closer is better anyway.

To be honest 79' was the real start of my own music thing as the gobbing and shouting died down but I'd have done better if I just had the extra year.

Anyway if you came round to the tadpole stage young Shadowplay's house in 79', you'd have been entertained or annoyed by the following as we tried to do something with our hair with a can of Elnett nicked off the Mothership and endure the constant interruptions from Shadowplay Senior as he came up every five minutes to complain about the noise and moan about it all just being 'noise'. Or possibly a C120 I made up for a girl who then promptly taped the Grease Soundtrack over it, which seemed to happen a lot!

It's weird that I can remember buying a lot of these records but can barely remember anything else from that far back. I clearly remember buying the Sparks single the day I was in a school bus crash on the way to a school trip to the coast (bus on side but no serious injuries) and my mum gave me money because she thought I needed cheering up (I was fine). I also remember my cousin's boyfriend giving me the John Foxx promo just to dazzle me and get me on side since I was the favourite nephew. He was something in music promotion and IIRC he gave me a lot of records, not all fantastic Mr Foxx quality. I'm sure he once gave me a bag of records containing I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper (on 12inch).

Thanks for listening or if you don't listen just for swinging your finger this way. If anyone fancies weighing in with some omissions/(auto)suggestions, opinion, fire away below.

I was thinking this mix might be good if you really hate your co-workers!

1979 Only 1979 Mix on Mixcloud (indexed)

*mixing that which was not intended to be mixed isn't always a success and I definitely prioritised selection over mixing and played whole tracks at the right speed and not easier to mix edits. Or as my kid put it on hearing the first 30 minutes; 'sorry to say it but oven glove level mixing as usual dear old dad'. Oh and there's a coupla groove jumps but that's because the needle can't stop dancing, right?

Tracklist

1. Public Image Ltd. - Radio 4
2. Orior - Tutankhamen
3. Pink Military - I Cry
4. The Human League - Zero As A Limit
5. Vice Versa - Newgirls Neutrons
6. Fad Gadget - Back to Nature
7. Thomas Leer & Robert Rental - Day Breaks, Night Heals
8. Bauhaus - Bella Lugosi's Dead
9. Cabaret Voltaire - Silent Command
10. The Leather Nun - Slow Death
11. Fingerprintz - Wet Job
12. Gina X Performance - No G.D.M
13. Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Torso Corso
14. Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business
15. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Electricity
16. Sparks - The Number One Song In Heaven (probably going to chop this to the seven later)
17. Throbbing Gristle - Hot on the Heels of Love
18. Tubeway Army - I Nearly Married a Human
19. John Foxx - Metal Beat
20. Michael Rother - Katzenmusik 08
21. This Heat - 24 Track Loop
22. Simple Minds - Garden of Hate
23. Clock DVA - Brigade
24. Modern English - Drowning Man
25. The Lines - On The Air
26. Magazine - Permafrost
27. The Freeze - Psychodalek Nightmares
28. Japan - The Other Side of Life

D

[FrankRay]

call me an old poptart, but surely fire in cairo by the cure, icons by siouxsie, dead souls by JD, cities by talking heads and, while we're at it, don't stop til you get enough by michael jackson and rocker's dub by augustus pablo would all fit nicely??

[shadowplay]

call me an old poptart, but surely fire in cairo by the cure, icons by siouxsie, dead souls by JD, cities by talking heads and, while we're at it, don't stop til you get enough by michael jackson and rocker's dub by augustus pablo would all fit nicely??

Aye, all sound choices. Dead Souls wasn't out time though and I was never personally much of a fan of the Cure prior to Jumping On Someone Else's Train or at least I think they only got really good the next year. I had a bit of a to and fro with my mate who is running this project over Talking Heads, he was for, I was against, not that I didn't like them, I just didn't like them in this context and I had to draw a line somewhere. Michael Jackson is what he is but I never had the records at the time, I heard them now and then but I never owned them and Sparks gave me enough of the shiny bright.

I tried to use some other tracks but I had to admit defeat when I couldn't ram their square peg into the round hole like Slogun and Mekanbo by SPK but strictly speaking I bought the single on Industrial in 1980 and only bought the Australian 79' records later on in the 80's.

I had Join Hands in my long box and Icons was indeed the track and it was either going after Garden of Hate or before Modern English but I it didn't happen, it was getting near the end and wanted to stick in a few tracks that I liked but few people ever got to hear.

Seems a bit odd being 79'' only but once I can talk about what it's for it will make some sense.

D

[Embenny]

How about this one?

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Had to check Wikipedia to be sure, but it confirms that Horrorshow/Adultery is indeed from 1979. After years of devotion to the former I came to love the latter a little more, but either side's a peach. Horrorshow probably suits your mix better due to its more leisurely tempo.

I think something from the The Door & The Window's earliest outings from '79 might fit the bill too.

[Harmoncj]

ooh, you gotta add "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" by wire

[shadowplay]

Had to check Wikipedia to be sure, but it confirms that Horrorshow/Adultery is indeed from 1979. After years of devotion to the former I came to love the latter a little more, but either side's a peach. Horrorshow probably suits your mix better due to its more leisurely tempo.

Yeah Horrorshow is the charm on that one but I'd picked four Scottish tracks already and I was very much in an either/or situation between that and The Freeze and when I do the final one I'm probably going to pick Visitors.

Not Scottish but I'd pulled a Second Layer single and somehow I missed it.

D

[whisperit]

Totally worth logging in and saying thanks for a nicely sequenced selection. A year or two extra would make it more synth heathy, I guess.

As for suggestions, here is one from a pretty well known compilation:
A 3 Dans Les WC - Contagion

[eggwheat]

Great..will listen later.

[shadowplay]

Totally worth logging in and saying thanks for a nicely sequenced selection. A year or two extra would make it more synth heathy, I guess.

As for suggestions, here is one from a pretty well known compilation:
A 3 Dans Les WC - Contagion

It's a good idea to break out of the English language ghetto, I didn't have a lot of foreign stuff at that time. I think I only started to look into it when I got Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft ‎- Kebabträume single on Mute early in 1980 and from there you'd see the odd name and try and find or order it in. It seems ridiculous in these times where everything is available instantly but it seemed genuinely exotic buying records in a foreign language and sometimes you had write off, get a list sent back, buy currency or a postal order, send off and then wait what seemed like months to hear back. I was looking at the first Din A Testbild single for example but it was one of those square peg situations.

Great..will listen later.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I've found you very knowledgeable.

D

[FrankRay]

Great mix, by the way. Enjoying it a lot. Shame This Sporting Life by the mekons wasn't out til 81... would've fit in nicely. Never heard Pink Military before, intriguing song. Cheers!

[shadowplay]

Never heard Pink Military before, intriguing song. Cheers!

Album and the EP that version of I Cry is on is really good but I really, really love them later on as Pink Industry. I honestly think they should have been as big as New Order.

Old Thread;

Anyone else love Pink Industry/Military?

In an alternate universe What I wouldn't Give troubled the top of the charts.

such a killer first verse.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to feel your presence here
There's my Smiths tapes you never wanted to hear
Throw them away, Morrissey in the bin
If It would bring you back again

D

[mezcalhead]

Not so knowledgeable personally, but listening and enjoying nonetheless.

There wasn't much around in Australia of this sort of thing at that time, the music I think of when I hear "1979" wouldn't fit in your mix, stuff like Hindu Love Gods, Radio Birdman, etc. I think Severed Heads were just getting started that year, and there were quite a few similar non-guitar-based Melbourne bands but it's all early/mid 80s IIRC.

Just on the Bauhaus track now, I remember everyone I knew seemed to have a copy of their live album (Press Eject & Give Me The Tape?) so when I hear the studio stuff it sounds a bit dry and deadpan to me.

[dinosaurkale->]

my birth year..thanks for posting

[PJazzmaster]

needs some Cluster
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