80s Post Punk Alternative Breakthrough!

So, everyone makes a big deal about C86, which is groundbreaking, yes, but doesn't touch me.  So, I thought I'd make a couple mix tapes of a few of my favorite tracks that I would consider Post Punk, others may consider Pop, but I feel definitely helped define what Post Punk was in the 80s. 

Yes, I could've gone obscure with groups hardly heard of and tracks near impossible to find, but what good would that do, for a feel-good mix tape?  Maybe some day I'll post a couple obscure Post Punk albums and bands, but not a mix tape.

A mix tape has got to be pretty.  Go back to the movie High Fidelity and refresh.  I want the tapes to be good to listen to from the very first track, all the way to the very last.  If that means I have to sacrifice a little integrity to make it a little glossy, so be it.

If you feel that some of these tracks aren't Post Punk, well, too bad.  This is my blog not yours.  Don't download it and don't listen to it.  Just let me know which ones should stay, which ones should go, which ones to add.  I don't mind hearing opinions, just don't expect me to change it just because you don't feel it meets the criteria I set. 

I mean this all in good jest.  I just want you to know how my teenage heart remembers Post Punk, that's all.

Again, I've included the "covers" should you want to make them CDs.  Just print and fold in half, and they'll slide into almost any jewel case.

Again, if you want to load these tracks, in this order onto your ipod or whatever, you're going to have to go back and relabel the files, as these files aren't labelled for crap.  I'm the old school drop-&-burn, so that stuff means nothing to me.

I sincerely hope you enjoy, and comment if you want.

80s Post Punk Alternative Breakthrough

Morrissey - Vauxhall & Maladjusted

So, if I was starting this blog posting my FAVORITE albums by my favorite artists, I probably wouldn't be posting these two, for Morrissey.  I've always had a special place in my heart for Bona Drag, since it first came out.  But, since it's been "remastered" "remixed" "re-released with bonus tracks", I haven't been able to go through the album again and rearrange it.  As you all know, Bona Drag was a collection of Morrissey's singles up to that point, with b-sides and all.  Well, lovely, that's right up my alley!  Now, though, there are a bunch of new tracks that I'm still not familiar enough with to make a final track order.

BUT, when these two were remastered, there wasn't much new that I didn't already have, so they were both easily completed.

Two very solid, yet easily forgettable Morrissey albums.  Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but there's nothing on these two that really make the stand out.

Of course, Vauxhall & I is Morrissey's American alternative break out album, released just when alternative music became mainstream in the US.  The More You Ignore Me became the alternative radio go-to for Morrissey, sandwiched right in between Matthew Sweet's "Baby We're the Same" and Spin Doctors "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong".  So, you can see how this album can easily be sullied simply by association with the music it was surrounded with....

Maladjusted was another story, though.  When this album came out, I was troubleshooting Boston Market restaurants in Des Moines and Ames Iowa.  We were seeing a shrinking of record labels.  Alternative music in the US was dying slowly whilke the music scene becoming more and more saturated with boy bands, "Electronica", R&B and "Industrial Metal".  A brief look at the remaining big alternative acts sees an aging population of artists beginning to reveal that they may have maxed out their creativity.  New Order had broken up, Depeche Mode had become an industrial band, Cure had one decent song off of their Mood Swings album, and even that was a pop hook giveaway.  Underworld was big, Chemical Brothers was bigger, Orbital was freeking HUGE, and Prodigy was, well, they were trying too. 

Anyway, Maladjusted appeared without any fanfare, and was rumored to be Morrissey's last.  It had a harder, rawer edge than most of his other material, and it seemed as if it would be a fitting exit.  My wife and I got together with another couple that we enjoyed doing things with, let's say their names were "Tim and Robin".  Anyway, we got together with Tim and Robin to go to Lawrence Kansas to see Morrissey play at this little venue there in college town.  It was open seating (actually standing), and only accommodated 500-700 people TOPS.  We weren't right up in front, but we were close enough to see Morrissey sweat.  And it was a GOOD THING.  Anyway, we were just getting into the groove, when he wraps it up.  We look at each other, and we were like "Is this intermission?" Only 45-50 minutes.  Not even an hour.  I mean, there wasn't even an encore! Yeah, we heard "Shoplifters of the World", and Interesting Drug, but you'd think he'd play for more than that!  We go outside and wait by his bus, with the rest of the crowd.  Someone shouts a distraction, and suddenly I see his head duck into the bus door and he was gone. 

Since that time, I've seen plenty of live performances online or whatnot, but that was my only "live" live performance.  Meh, maybe I was a little disappointed, but I DID get to see him.  And, that's all that matters.

Morrissey - Vauxhall & I - 1994

Morrissey - Maladjusted - 1997

Depeche Mode - Music For the Masses - 1987

As I mentioned in my last post, 1987 was a very special year for me musically, as I started to really listen to and explore the music that I introduced into my life.  Along with New Order, I also started listening to Depeche Mode.  I was also heavily influenced by the Cure's Kiss Me 3 album, but that's for another post.

My version of Depeche Mode's Music For the Masses is pretty straight forward.  I eliminated all of the remixes, with the exception of Fpmip (which really isn't a remix, per se).  I then added all of the B-sides to the singles, in order, after the album tracks.  Yes, this arrangement makes for a somewhat boring end, with the exception of Pleasure Little Treasure, but I couldn't bear to chop up the album itself to insert the b-sides.  The album itself is a masterpiece.
Depeche Mode - Music For the Masses - 1987

New Order - Substance 1987

In late 1986, and into 1987, I truly started to discover music.  Yes, yes, I had always loved my Duran Duran, and kept buying my random 45rpms, and taping songs off the radio as the DJs played them.  But, I never really heard it.  Yes, I listened, but it wasn't until 1987, that I HEARD.

One of the first bands that essentially introduced me to Post Punk music was New Order.  I started with their "Substance 1987" album, which was a hodge podge of singles that were never released on albums during their career.  Although they were all tracked in chronological order, some of the tracks were re-recorded in 1987, some of them actually were on albums, some were extended versions while some were not.  Some tracks were edited for length, simply to fit on the CD.  So, yes, a nightmare "record label" greatest hits.

While releasing this double CD album, they had also released 3 other singles simultaneously that were not on the album.  They recorded a soundtrack for a movie called Salvation.  They had several filler bits of instrumental music for their Substance video tape of music videos.  They had a megamix of songs from the album, and also a song recorded during this time, that was never released.

For MY VERSION of New Order - "Substance 1987", I only included materiel recorded and released during 1987 and 1988.  I included all the bits and pieces that I mentioned earlier, and all of the singles that were released at the same time as this.  All of the old materiel was relegated to the albums of the same time periods (of which I will post eventually).  This is a VERY DIFFERENT idea of what Substance was, but I feel that it actually is more of a collective for that time period.

And, it eliminates that stupid "greatest hits" tag that I hate so much.
New Order - Substance 1987