Before they were famous (I prefer their earlier stuff)

This post was inspired by the fact that none of my friends realised that bands like The Human League and Dead or Alive had recorded anything before they hit the big time. The singles below a a handful of my favourite tracks by bands that would go on to be huge stadium fillers but that, in my case, I prefer their earlier stuff.

Let's start with The Human League who probably entered most people's consciousness in 1981 when they released their third album, Dare, and the various hit singles that came from it. I'm not necessarily saying I don't like this period of The Human League, but I find their earlier, less commercial recordings more appealing. Heralding from the industrial heartland of Sheffield, home to other electronic / experimental bands like Cabaret Voltaire, their first single, Being Boiled, was released on the Fast Product label way back in 1978. A very different sound to what they would go on to produce in the 1980's, but an essential slice of post-punk / synth-pop.

The Human League - Being Boiled, Fast Product, c.1978

The Human League also released a 12" single on Fast Product, The Dignity of Labour Pts. 1-4, with early pressings coming with a free flexi. Despite its seeming rarity there are plenty of these available on Ebay at the time of writing this post. 

The Human League - The Dignity of Labour, Fast Product, c.1979

Although they signed to Virgin records after these releases, the success of their first few singles on Virgin was still minimal, although they did secure a Top of The Pops appearance with Rock and Roll Part 2,  taken from 1980's Holiday EP. I cannot claim to have heard them during their stint with Fast Product, but I was introduced to them by a school friend who has a copy of Empire State Human, released on Virgin records in 1979, and then again in 1980 where it troubled the UK charts at number 62.

The Human League - Empire State Human, Virgin records, c.1979

Let's swap artists now and now and move on to Dead or Alive. A band I cannot claim to having heard before they were famous, although I was aware of the name, but one whose back catalogue I discovered recently. Their first 2 singles, I'm Falling and Number Eleven, were released on Liverpool's Inevitable records, home to other Liverpool bands like Wah! Heat (more about them later), Modern Eon, and It's Immaterial. The single I'm going to feature here however, is their 1982 12" single, It's Been Hours Now. I could have chosen any of the first three as they are all excellent, but I wanted to shine a little light on the chap at the top right hand of the front cover, Wayne Hussey, who would of course go on to be part of The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission, via Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls.

Dead of Alive - It's Been Hours Now, Black Eyes Records, c.1982

No, 'I prefer their earlier stuff' post could possibly be complete without mentioning Ultravox, or should I say Ultravox! Many people will be aware of Ultravox following the success of their hit single, Vienna, but if I'm honest it leaves me a bit cold. Each to their own, but I much prefer the period from 1977 to 1979 where their vocalist was John Foxx, when they relased 3 stunning albums, Ultravox!, Ha1 Ha! Ha!, and Systems of Romance, none of which troubled the UK charts but they did secure a John Peel session in 1977, which as far as I'm concerned is more worthy by far than having a hit.

I'm going to choose their first single release for this post, Young Savage, from 1977, mainly because it's about as far away as you could possibly get from their later, post John Foxx, sound. Becoming increasingly hard to track down, this one will set you back a pretty penny on Ebay.

Ultravox! - Young Savage, Island records, c.1977

Next up we have stadium fillers, Simple Minds. However it wasn't always that way, and their early records are quite different from the songs that would make them superstars. Prior to signing to Arista records, and then Virgin records, Simple Minds released two wonderful singles in 1979 on Zoom records, Life in a Day and Chelsea Girl.

Simple Minds - Life In A Day, Zoom records, c.1979

Simple Minds - Chelsea Girl, Zoom records, c.1979

I was going to stop there with Simple Minds but didn't feel I couldn't move on without mentioning their  classic 1980 singles, I Travel and Changeling, both released on Arista records, and still largely escaping the wider public's attention. I Travel was released in both 7" and 12" formats, with early copies of the 7" coming with a free, two track, flexi disc. All versions of this release are now becoming increasingly hard to find out in the wild, although there are several on Ebay.

Simple Minds - I Travel, Arista records, c.1980

Simple Minds - Changeling, Arista records, c.1980

Having mentioned Wah! Heat above and their association with the Inevitable label, they now get their turn here. A band that somewhat confusingly changed their name from Wah! Heat, to Wah!, and then to The Mighty Wah!, and had their mainstream success with hits like The Story of the Blues, Come Back, and later with Sinful as Pete Wylie and the Oedipus Wrecks, but prior to that, as Wah! Heat, they released a couple of great singles on Inevitable records. Better Scream was released in 1979, and Seven Minutes to Midnight was released in 1980. Both brilliant songs which received acclaim in the music press at the time and featured on John Peel, for whom they recorded a session. Their debut album, Nah=Poo - The Art of Bluff, released in 1981 on Eternal records, is also a bit of a lost classic. Both of the singles turn up in the wild from time-to-time at reasonable prices, and are also fairly easy to find on Ebay.

Wah! Heat - Better Scream, Inevitable records, c.1979

Wah! Heat - Seven Minutes to Midnight, Inevitable records, c.1980

And finally for this short post, we move on to ABC. Yes, ABC, although not perhaps as most will know them. Prior to forming ABC, Mark White and Stephen Singleton were part of a Sheffield, electronic new wave / minimal synth band called Vice Versa. They released a couple of singles as Vice Versa, the first was Music 4 in 1979 on Neutron records, which is pretty much impossible to find unless you have deep pockets, and Stilyagi, in 1980, by which time Martin Fry had joined the band. Music 4 is listed at anything between £30 and £200 on both Ebay and Discogs. Stilyagi seems to go for less but still commands a hefty price tag.

Well, once again this was a post that could have continued for considerably longer, but it's now past my bedtime so I'll end it here. Other worthy contenders might have been Tubeway Army before their massive Are Friends Electric hit; the first single by The Police, Fall Out, from 1977; anything by The Psychedelic Furs prior to them hitting the big-time with Pretty In Pink, in particular their first two singles, We Love You and Sister Europe, and of course not forgetting The Leyton Buzzards (occasionally The Buzzards From Leyton) who released some quite impressive punk and new wave singles before morphing into Modern Romance.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more posts in the hopefully not too distant future.

A trawl through the music and artwork of the singles released by The Skids

 Having recently blogged about the singles of one of my favourite bands, XTC, I was wondering what I could blog about next which perhaps had a similar theme of singles released in different formats, limited editions, etc. One band which sprang to mind was The Skids who released numerous singles on coloured vinyl, picture disc, double singles, etc.

To make the discography complete however, I need to start with their first single, which was released in a conventional picture sleeve and on black vinyl. Having formed in the summer of 1977, The Skids first single, Charles, also referred to simply as The Skids EP, was released on No Bad records in 1978. The other 2 tracks were Reasons and Test-Tube Babies, all written by lead guitarist Stuart Adamson. Being released on a small, Scottish independent record label, this release is now quite hard to track down 'out in the wild'. Ebay does have a few copies but they will set you back £15 and upwards.

The Skids - Charles, No Bad records, c.1978

After their first release The Skids signed to Richard Branson's Virgin records in 1978 and released a handful of albums and singles. The first of these was Sweet Suburbia, which was released as a limited run on white vinyl. At the time of writing, Ebay has a few copies on both black vinyl and white vinyl, for reasonable prices, although the white vinyl version will cost you more.

The Skids, Sweet Suburbia, Virgin records, c.1978

The next single by The Skids was a 4 track E.P. called Wide Open, released in 1978. This came in both 7" and 12" formats, with the 12" format being pressed on red vinyl. The E.P. charted at number 48 in the UK charts, with The Saints Are Coming regarded as the lead track. The other 3 tracks were: Of One Skin, Night and Day, and Contusion, all of which appeared on their first John Peel session.

The Skids - Wide Open EP, Virgin records, c.1978

Moving on to 1979, which was probably The Skids most commercially successful year, they released 4 singles and 2 albums. Their first single release of 1979 was the track they are probably most remembered for, Into The Valley, taken from their first album, Scared To Dance. Limited copies were pressed on white vinyl. The b-side was TV Stars, featuring a role call of soap actors (Ena Sharples, Stanley Ogden, Albert Tatlock and Annie Walker from Coronation Street, and Sandy Richardson, David Hunter and Meg Mortimer from Crossroads), and also John Peel and Kenny Dalglish. Into the Valley reached number 10 in the UK charts and also featured in John Peel's Festive 50 of 1979 at number 37. Black vinyl versions of the single are fairly easy to come by on Ebay and discogs, the white vinyl version less so.

The Skids - Into the Valley, Virgin records, c.1979

Their next single, Masquerade, featured Bill Nelson on keyboards, and he also has production credits. The track did not appear on their Scared To Dance album. Initial copies of the single were released as a limited edition doublepack in a gatefold sleeve. The other tracks were Out of Town, Another Emotion, and Aftermath Dub. This single charted at number 16 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Masquerade, Virgin records, c.1979

Later the same year, The Skids released their second album, Days In Europa, from which 3 singles were released. The first of these was Charade, with Grey Parade on the b-side. No coloured vinyl or free single with this release, which charted at number 31 in the UK charts. Again Bill Nelson is credited as the producer and also has a writing credit on the b-side.

The Skids - Charade, Virgin records, c.1979

The Skids last single release of 1979 was Working For The Yankee Dollar. This was released as a limited edition double single in a gatefold sleeve. The other tracks were Vanguard's Crusade, All The Young Dudes (the David Bowie song where Richard Jobson swaps out the lyric "who needs TV when I've got T-Rex" with "who needs TV when I've got Subway Sect", and Hymns From a Haunted Ballroom, which was taken from a John Peel session. The single made number 20 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Working For The Yankee Dollar, Virgin records, c.1979

As we move into 1980, the final single to be taken from the Days in Europa album was Animation, with Pros and Cons on the b-side. This reached number 56 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Animation, Virgin records, c.1980

1980 saw a change of personnel for The Skids with William Simpson leaving and being replaced by Russell Webb in time to start work on their 3rd album, The Absolute Game. I won't cover this in any detail here as this post is just about the singles, but early pressings of The Absolute Game album came with an extra album, Strength Through Joy.

The first of 3 singles to be taken from The Absolute Game was Circus Games which was released with a free colour poster of the band. The single peaked at number 32 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Circus Games, Virgin records, c.1980

The 2nd single to be released from The Absolute Game was Goodbye Civilian. This was released as a limited edition picture disc, as well as in a conventional picture sleeve. The b-side was the curiously titled Monkey McGuire Meets Specky Potter Behind the Lochore Institute.

The Skids - Goodbye Civilian, Virgin records, c.1979

The final single to be released from The Absolute Game was A Woman in Winter. The b-side featured a live version of Working For The Yankee Dollar. The single was issued in a gatefold sleeve (stating 'Comic Book') including an 8 page comic booklet titled "Skids Pirate Gold".

The Skids - A Woman in Winter, Virgin records, c.1980

Shortly after this release, both Mike Baille and Stuart Adamson left the band, the latter to form Big Country. The Skids continued with Richard Jobson and Russell Web, creating their fourth album, Joy, in 1981. Two singles were released from the album, but neither troubled the UK charts and The Skids dissolved in 1982.

Fields was the first single to be taken from Joy. It was released in 2 different 7" single sleeves, one with Richard on the cover, the other with Russell. It was also released on 12" where the covered featured both members. The b-side on all releases was Brave Man.

The Skids - Fields, Virgin records, c.1981

The Skids final single, also taken from the Joy album, was Iona, with Blood and Soil on the b-side.

The Skids - Iona, Virgin records, c.1981

So , we come to the end of The Skids single releases. Once again, many thanks for reading, and if you're interested why not check out some of my other blog posts.