Two more weeks at number one from w/e 19th May 1984
It's been a while since we've seen a rebound number one on the blog, but here we are again, back in the arms of the Cocteaus for two further weeks. Here's what was happening lower down the charts:
Week One
9. The Cult - Spiritwalker (Situation Two)
Peak position: 3
We'll come back to this one over the weekend if it's all the same to you - it was never officially an NME Indie Chart number one, but as we're about to find out, things got very complicated over the summer.
18. Colourbox - Punch (4AD)
Peak position: 18
More twittery grooves from 4AD's most dancefloor friendly band, who on this single sound as if they're edging closer to pop music, rapidly flashing Top of the Pops studio lights and the same carefree buoyancy of Freeez or even Break Machine. Only the extended breakdowns, lack of a nagging chorus and gasping orgasm noises prevent it from making the leap to daytime radio.
Week Two
9. New Order - Murder (Factory Benelux)
Peak position: 9
Released over in Belgium as an exclusive on Factory's Benelux label, then charting on import over in the UK, "Murder" isn't really an act of generosity to loyal Belgian fans so much as a cast-off. It was originally recorded in Winter 1982 while the group completed their sessions for the "Power Corruption and Lies" album, and sounds (at best) like a B-side in waiting. By the time the "Substance" compilation emerged, that's how it was categorised too, relegated to the second bonus CD alongside all the other instrumental versions, dubs and flotsam.
Sonically this has little relation to where New Order found themselves in 1984, containing tribal drum patterns, menacing bass lines, and spindly Twilight Zone-esque guitar work, interspersed with occasional samples from "2001 A Space Odyssey". For anyone pining for the atmosphere (no pun intended) of their earliest work, it might have acted as an interesting reminder of those darker days, but the average Belgian consumer must have been baffled to pieces by this one.
10. Husker Du - Eight Miles High (SST)
Peak position: 10
"Eight Miles High" created havoc with The Byrds "commerical fortunes" back in 1966, often being cited as being the point where their pop audience jumped ship to listen to material which didn't involve complex, meandering Eastern-styled guitar breaks and eerie, trippy observations on an England the band seemingly didn't understand, nor felt fully understood by (it's always been interesting to me that the group made visiting this country sound like an excursion to some mysterious and impoverished backwater tribal village - perhaps it was the drugs, perhaps it was the fact that Britain was still trying to pick itself up from the ruins of World War Two, but we can't have been as miserable and unfathomable as that, surely?)
It's a complex number to cover, which is possibly why the emerging Husker Du just dismantle it instead, howling, screaming and creating something which actually sounds uncannily like some smalltown 1966 garage act doing their thing with it. If the original is ill at ease with itself but nonetheless coherent, Husker Du's take is trippy in the most uncomfortable sense of the word, like someone who has taken acid at a crowded party in a strange town and now couldn't be further from enjoying themselves. It's a perfectly valid way of interpreting the song and captured the imagination of many listeners in 1984, beginning the process of Husker Du becoming a fringe cause for many music critics.
13. Instigators - The Blood Is On Your Hands EP (Bluurg)
Peak position: 13
I didn't love the Huskers as much as some of their contemporaries (Minutemen, Replacements, Meat Puppets etc.), but their version of "Eight Miles High" was thrilling and brilliant. It starts out pretty faithful to the original (the lead guitar line, if not the guitar tone) and builds to a wordless rage -- or maybe bewilderment. Like a bad trip at a party in a strange town, as you said. Sisters Of Mercy's version of "Gimme Shelter" and The Banshees' deconstruction of "Helter Skelter" achieved something similar. Like nails driven into the coffin of the 1960's. Not the most original observation. Anyway, it's cool to know that it charted on your side of the Atlantic!
ReplyDeleteI always remember Husker Du getting tons of critical praise in the UK, and they seemed to get much more attention than any of the groups you mentioned. It didn't really translate to anything that could be called proper success, even after they signed to Warners, but still.
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