Cover versions

 In today's blog post I thought I'd share a few of my favourite versions of tracks covered by artists in the punk, post-punk and new wave genre. In no particular order

Let's start with Generation X and their cover version of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates Shakin' All Over which appeared on the b-side of 1979's Valley of the Dolls single. A simply great cover version, showing Generation X's rock roots rather than their punk sensibilities. Their first two albums still get regular airtime at mine, with the self-titled 1978 debut just pipping the 1979 Ian Hunter produced Valley of the Dolls album.

I was aware of Captain Beefheart, from John Peel I'm guessing, but I never really listened to him until relatively recently, and certainly no more than 10 years ago. I was delighted to find however that the post-punk band, Magazine, formed by Howard Devoto after leaving the Buzzcocks, had covered his I Love You You Big Dummy on the b-side of their 1978 single Give Me Everything.

I struggled to choose just one Clash cover version, so have listed a few of them. From the reggae of Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves from the Clash's 1977 debut album, Toots and the Maytal's Pressure Drop released as the b-side of English Civil War and Eddie Grant's Police on My Back, which appeared on 1980's triple album Sandinista, to the rockier covers of Vince Taylor's Brand New Cadillac, from the 1979 double album London Calling and Sonny Curtis' I Fought the Law, they are all, to my mind anyway, simply wonderful. But ah, I almost forgot the cover / interpretations of Willie William's masterpiece Armagideon Time, which appeared as the b-side of the London Calling single, which is another gem in the Clash's cover repertoire.

And finally, for a bit of fun, I've chosen the Dickies cover version of Banana Splits (The Tra La La Song), mainly because as a kid I loved the Banana Splits TV show, but also because The Dickies do a mean cover version.

Other worthy contenders would be

The Jam - So Sad About Us (originally by The Who)

The Damned - Looking At You (originally by MC5)

A Certain Ratio - Shack Up

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Helter Skelter (originally by The Beatles)

Skids - All The Young Dudes (originally by David Bowie, and then Mott The Hoople)

Check out my previous blog post about my short(ish) love affair with Manchester's Factory records label and my regret in having sold some of them many years ago for less than a pint of beer.

I'm in love with The Factory

 When Richard Butler (aka Butler Rep) of The Psychedelic Furs wrote "I'm in love with the factory" in their 1979 single We Love You I'd always assumed it related to Andy Warhol's Factory, but it may of course have been referring to Manchester's enigmatic Factory Records. As a teenager at the time, and a disciple of the post-punk era, I had amassed a fair few records on the Factory label. Sadly I sold many of these for less than the price of a pint of beer, but more about that later.

More recently, much more recently in fact, I bought a copy of Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album as a little treat for myself. It's really quite a wonderful book for anyone interested in Factory records, not just for the music but perhaps more specifically the artwork and overall concept of the label, and if nothing else it reignited my interest.

Whilst I do regret selling some of the vinyl I had, most noticeable the Stockholm Monsters, Tunnel Vision and ESG singles, there are others that I can happily live without. At the time however it was a bit of a mission, or a quest, to try and get as many as I could, although I never realistically expected to complete the collection. I've always been a bit of a completist, which has led me down some strange record and CD collecting paths, probably stemming from or linked to my earlier childhood hobby as a train spotter, so it made sense, at the time anyway, to try and get as many as I could. I went down a similar path much later in life with Pete Namlook's Fax label. I had pretty much completed the set but then realised that I didn't listen to most of them, so sold them off too. Not a decision I regret as I managed to sell those at the top of their small market and the cash came in handy at the time.

Anyway, back to Factory Records. Apart from Joy Division and New Order, who will need little or no introduction, there were some Factory artists with whom I've had a longer enjoyment. Probably the group at the top of that list, after Joy Division and early New Order, is A Certain Ratio, named after the Brian Eno Song "The True Wheel" from his 1974 Album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). Starting off with 1979's All Night Party, and fairly quickly followed by the 1980 releases of Flight, Do The Du, and the album To Each, Factory label manager Tony Wilson is quoted as saying they were "beginning to forge links between post-punk industrial and dance-floor funk". Their first few releases were certainly more on the post-punk side, whereas their later releases clearly were moving into more of a dance direction. This is probably best illustrated by their album The Old and the New, of which side 1, assuming you're listening on vinyl, is a collection of their earlier, darker post-punk material, although still a bit funky, and side 2 is more of a nod to their dance side. I was lucky enough to catch them at Rough Trade East, in Shoreditch, a couple of years ago, and again at this year's Latitude Festival where, although without the temporary absence of Jez Kerr, they still performed a wonderful set, showcasing tracks from across their repertoire. Fortunately I've managed to track down vinyl copies of the A Certain Ratio items I sold, well all apart from All Night Party that is, which seems to command quite a high price tag.

Other Factory records that I sold, I don't miss so much for the music, but more the artwork. One thing that Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album did bring home to me was that these were more relevant to be kept as an art collection, rather than a music collection.