WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (December Pt 2)

Turning again to the big red book to see if anything half-decent was released in December 1984.

Last month’s edition of this series opened up with a solo single from Pete Shelley.  As for this month….

mp3: Flag of Convenience – Change

The group had formed in 1982, with Steve Diggle and John Maher of Buzzcocks very much to the fore.  There had been a debut single, Life On The Telephone in September 1982, but it took more than two years before a follow-up was recorded.   This proved to be Maher’s last involvement with Flags of Convenience, with the group then going through a series of further personnel changes through their eventual break-up in 1989.

mp3: Talking Heads – Girlfriend Is Better (live)

The film, Stop Making Sense, and the live album of the same name had been released to huge critical acclaim in October 1984, but I hadn’t realised until browsing through the big red book that a single had been lifted and released at the beginning of December.  It failed to chart, and with it selling in such small numbers, now attracts a wee bit more on the second-hand market than many other Talking Heads 45s.

mp3: Sonic Youth & Lydia Lunch – Death Valley ’69

I wouldn’t normally include an American-only release in this series, but given there’s so little to highlight from this particular month…..

This came out on 12″ on the Los Angeles indie-label Iridescence Records. It proved to be the demo version of a track that was later re-recorded for inclusion on the 1985 album, Bad Moon Rising.

And that’s it…….most indie labels kept their powder dry until the early months of 1985.  But that’s not a year I intend to devote any sort of lengthy series to.

JC