It’s now time to look at some of the 45s released in January 1984 that didn’t make enough impact with the record buying public to leave a dent in the singles charts but have proven to be of enough cultural significance to be recalled here in Villain Towers. By cultural significance, I mean I either bought a copy or danced to it to at the student disco….or perhaps actually discovered it many months/years later and kicked myself for being late to the party. Or it might well be that I think its inclusion in this piece will be of interest to someone out there who drops by this blog on the odd occasion.
1984 was a year when the goths really came to the fore, but as it was a genre that I didn’t really take to, I won’t really be able to do it justice throughout the year. A reminder that back in July 2021, flimflamfan came up with this wonderful ICA on many things goth, while the following month saw complementary offerings from Middle Aged Man (click here) and Echorich (click here).
None of those three superbly written ICAs made space for a band, formed in London in 1982, and whose third single was released in January 1984:-
mp3: Alien Sex Fiend – R.I.P.(Blue Crumb Truck)
It might not be goth in the purest sense of the word, but I think it’s great fun.
mp3: The Brilliant Corners – She’s Got Fever
It took me until 2016 to discover The Brilliant Corners, thanks to one of their songs being included on the C87 box set released by Cherry Red Records. After mentioning them on the blog a couple of years later, Eric from Oakland came up with this terrific ICA, which led to me then purchasing a two-disc compilation, Heart on Your Sleeve, that offered up 48 tracks drawn from the ten singles and five albums the band released between 1984 and 1993. She’s Got Fever was the debut single, and I feel it’s a bit rawer and less polished than some of the later offerings; it also comes in at just over 90 seconds in length. More rockabilly than indie.
mp3: Hey! Elastica – This Town
1983 should have been the year that Edinburgh’s Hey! Elastica made it big. Signed to Virgin Records and given a decent budget to record the debut album, they did their best, but it just didn’t happen. They could have been, and I reckon, should have been, the Scottish B52’s. The first three singles had flopped, and the folk at the record label, all too aware that this was a signing that hadn’t worked out, were just going through the motions when the calendar moved onto 1984. January saw a fourth and final single, while the album was issued with no fanfare in March. I get all nostalgic whenever I listen to them.
mp3: Dolly Mixture – Remember This
Best known for being the backing vocalists when Captain Sensible enjoyed some very unexpected chart success as a solo artist in 1982, Dolly Mixture had their own parallel career which had begun back in 1978 as a trio of teenagers, and included significant support tours with The Undertones and Bad Manners, signing a record deal with Paul Weller‘s label, Respond Records, and in due course setting up their own label. Remember This was a single on Dead Good Dolly Platters, but with no success coming their way, they chose to split-up just a few months later.
And finally for this month:-
mp3: The Pale Fountains – Unless
Consisting of Mick Head (vocalist/guitar), Chris McCaffery (bass), Thomas Whelan (drums), Andy Diagram (horns) and Ken Moss (guitar), this Liverpool-based band had a wide range of influences such as Love, Burt Bacharach and the Beatles. They were critically feted on the back of their 1982 debut single (There’s Always) Something on My Mind issued by the Belgian-based Les Disques du Crépuscule and this then led to a big deal with Virgin Records for whom there had been two well-received 45s in 1983, one of which, Thank You, had made the Top 50. Hopes were high for 1984, and Unless was the lead single from what would be the debut album, Pacific Street, scheduled for release in late February 1984. Sadly, the critical acclaim didn’t cross over to widespread radio play or commercial success.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 