"Shakespeare's Sister" returns to the top for one further week on w/e 20th April 1985
The "Aikea-Guinea" EP returns for a further 3 weeks on w/e 27th April 1985
Here we are again, with an absurd situation in the 1985 indie charts where The Smiths rebound for a single week and the Cocteau Twins grab the mantle back for three more. Who were the winners here? Not us, that's for sure, as it means we have no fresh meat to pop on the NME Indie Chart barbecue. Let's celebrate the other contenders lower down the charts instead.
Week One
Peak position: 11
"Cockney Translation" had originally been issued in 1984 and distributed by Polydor, but despite picking up huge appreciation among British reggae listeners, the label weren't impressed enough to release his next single "Police Officer", which was his only proper mainstream hit. They did, though, eventually have him back again for future releases in 1986, but couldn't be bothered to re-issue "Cockney Translation" themselves, hence its appearance here on the Fashion label in the indie listings. Confused? Oh, so the bloody hell am I.
In short, though, it's a great record. Smiley does his bit for urban relations by explaining Cockney slang and culture to his listeners, while simultaneously explaining British-Jamaican slang. It's witty and devious but also incredibly danceable, pounding away faster and with greater intent the more rapid-fire and intense Smiley gets. You can hear people doing almost identical things at spoken word events to this day; this was some sharply radical stuff by 1984 standards.
Peak position: 25
Peak position: 3
By 1985 the "classic rock and pop" medley had largely been consigned to the cultural dustbin, but that didn't stop record labels with compilations and reissues to flog from leaning on it as a promotional device. The Sweet have already disgraced the indie charts being massacred in this way, now it's Bolan's turn - and the outcome is no less graceless, frankly.
Leading on a hopelessly weak foot by making Bolan stutter at least six times too many on "Truck On (Tyke)" the rest of the best of his ouevre is also treated to the same basic DJ treatment. At its worst, this sounds more like the stylus getting stuck or skipping across a compilation LP than involving anything as complex as mash-ups or beat matching. Grim.
Peak position: 29
Sonic Youth had obviously been creeping around the underground scene for a few years by this point, but this was their debut single and has established itself as a cult classic since. Teaming the group up with the terminally adolescent rebel Lydia Lunch, "Death Valley" shows the sorry excuses for mid-eighties British punk bands how to really approach things - it's immediately arresting, and simultaneously simple yet unpredictable. This would have passed as a credible and current single in 1993, never mind 1985.
At one critical moment, it seems to get locked into its own primitive drone for an uncomfortably long time, before it unravels itself from the sticky web and launches itself skybound again like a huge dirty great fly. This remains a seriously impressive record.
Peak position: 30
The Truth were one of those strange early eighties major label signed acts who felt neither muckling nor mickling, with one foot in the mod revival, another in New Wave, then some occasional spare prop legs in areas such as classic rock and Motown, all while keeping one eye on the Sunday pop parade.
The approach gifted them two minor Top 40 hits, "Confusion (Hits Us Everytime)" and "Step In The Right Direction", the latter of which sounded like something Paul Weller might have rubber stamped for his fledgling Respond label. After that promising start, though, the launchpad was proven to be unstable, and no further hits were forthcoming. They found themselves booted off WEA and picked up by Miles Copeland's Illegal label for this single, which pushes the guitars up in the mix and makes them sound like angrier young men, but apart from that doesn't really do enough to restore their status.
They would later get some attention in the USA for their 1987 single "Weapons of Love" which managed an impressive Number 65 on the Billboard charts (no joke - that's great going for a band who were in danger of being totally forgotten) but their cultural legacy has been perhaps undeservedly muted (though the less said about their 1989 cover of "God Gave Rock and Roll To You" the better).
Week Two
17. Red Guitars - Be With Me (One Way)
Peak position: 4
The group's final release before naffing off to sign to Virgin, "Be With Me" is a strangely gentle farewell to the indie sector, all soulful crooning, atmospheric instrumentation, tasteful solos, and not a great deal of the adventure that was apparent in the band's previous singles. They were unquestionably at their best when fewer pairs of eyes were on them; "Be With Me" feels like a case of a group deciding they had to show their radio-friendly side for the sake of getting the rent paid. I'm willing to excuse musicians for that in my weary old age, having watched many of my friends dealing with the harsher economic realities of life, but that doesn't mean I don't still feel disappointed when it happens.
19. The X-Men – Spiral Girl (Creation)
Peak position: 18
The X-Men's final release for Creation before Alan McGee had a big purge of the label's roster and left them turfed out on to the cruel streets of Hackney. They never did release another new record. Oddly, this is also a rare example of an indie chart record which doesn't seem to have made its way on to the usual streaming channels either, and has no presence on YouTube. If anyone can help with that, I'd be grateful.
21. The Triffids - Field of Glass (Hot)
Peak position: 20
The British indie charts appeared to see a wave of international talent washing through them in 1985, perhaps in compensation for some of the more lukewarm and confused British material during the period.
The Triffids were a post-punk group from Australia who were legends in their own nation, but had to settle for cultdom in the UK. "Field Of Glass" is rough around the edges in places, but has a determination, rawness and force of personality that ultimately couldn't be ignored, despite its stylistic similarities to a lot of other material around at this time.
22. The Woodentops - Move Me (Rough Trade)
Peak position: 4
The Woodentops were one of Rough Trade's most successful bands, eventually managing a Top 40 album and an appraisal in Smash Hits which highlighted them as a band to watch in the future. It was a rare example of the glossy pop mag getting a prediction wrong, but you can understand why they might have been tempted to stick their necks out.
"Move Me" was their first indie chart entry and displays a stomping groove, hushed vocals, and keyboard washes which combine to sound quite unlike anything else around in 1985. It's possible to hear the influence of Teardrop Explodes and the sharper edges of New Wave in their sound, but in the end they're a peculiar shaped animal, like some seventies singer-songwriter on Harvest being forced to front an eighties alternative act. The result isn't entirely perfect, though - lead singer Rollo McGinty ruins matters slightly by singing "I'll be your punky monkey" at one point, a phrase Paul Whitehouse would later steal (consciously or otherwise) for his parodical Radio One DJ Mike Smash.
Peak position: 16
Peak position: 28
Week Three
9. Icons Of Filth - Brain Death EP (Mortarhate)
Peak position: 6
Welsh anarcho-punks deliver their finest hour, which throws more ideas into the cauldron than a seven inch slab of vinyl would ordinarily allow space for. It grinds, screeches, shudders, screams, clatters and finally halts, seemingly keen to tear up every rule about song structure and hooks, doing what it damn pleases but being belligerent in a persistently interesting way. That said, I'm not sure I'd want to voluntarily listen to it again at any point this week.
23. Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me (Charly)
Peak position: 7
The first entry on the indie chart for a Nina Simone standard which would end up soundtracking a Chanel No 5 advert in 1987, resulting in a considerable hit. In 1985, though, it was just a record of choice for the tasteful types who very confidently and loudly Knew Their Music, the reissue of the week for the people with a bit of life under their belts who probably wouldn't be seen dead with an Icons of Filth single. The road to successful advertising campaigns is soundtracked by the tastes of such types, as we will eventually see.
Peak position: 25
Peak position: 26
27. The Chameleons - Nostalgia (Statik)
Peak position: 27
When I was an eighteen year old, one of my female friends ended up dating a slightly older man in his twenties, who arrived at one of our house gatherings with an album by The Chameleons under his arm, desperate to impress upon us how fantastic they were. I recognised him as a slightly misguided enthusiast with weak social skills, and humoured this behaviour and asked questions, feeling a little sorry for him - my friends were less forgiving.
"What did you make of Fiona's boyfriend?" one of them asked mere seconds after he left. "Bit pretentious, wasn't he, banging on about that bloody album?"
When you're young, an age gap of a few years can sometimes feel unbridgeable, and with his keen evangelism for a mid-eighties cult band, the poor man had marked himself down as "not one of us". Most of us weren't interested in looking back to the relatively recent past, we were far too invested in looking forward and making our own mistakes in the process.
The Chameleons music wasn't "of" the nineties - though the Kitchens of Distinction did a fair job of being obviously influenced by it - and it often drifted towards the misty, faintly psychedelic end of post-punk. At its best it could also be strangely moving, but "Nostalgia" is all teeth and abrasion, snapping and bashing about while tackling the bold topics of ageing, progression and the natural state of human existence; an agitated post-punk brother to Pink Floyd's "Time", if you will. Not a topic teenagers can always grip, but it becomes a familiar ache very quickly.
Week Four
10. The March Violets - Deep (Rebirth)
Peak position: 2
The March Violets are back again with another slightly underproduced single which threatens greater atmosphere and complexity than it actually delivers. "Deep" gives off cold blasts of the rehearsal room blues, never quite seeming like more than a perfunctory run through of an idea which deserves better. Still, by the time you reach the three minute mark they begin to gain momentum, pushing towards something approximating a euphoric finale.
23. The Loft - Up The Hill And Down The Slope (Creation)
Peak position: 9
The Loft were Alan McGee's other great hope besides Jesus & Mary Chain. He believed key member Pete Astor to be a songwriting genius, and banked his money and credibility on getting him to the next level. The road ahead wasn't smooth, and while Astor would press on with another significant and longer-lived project, The Loft were dead in the water not long after this single came out, splitting up live onstage as Astor made pointed remarks about the shortcomings of other band members to a bemused audience.
"Up The Hill" has since been given a prominent place on a Creation compilation celebrating the talent on the label, and has been referenced by others since as a prime cut, but honestly, it doesn't even sound like the best single I've wrapped my ears around for the purposes of this entry, much less one of the neatest 45s McGee pressed up. Instead, it's a somewhat hollow, if snappy, low budget jangle with slightly hesitant vocals and wannabe beatnik lyricisms. Perfectly OK, but not indicative of genius at work. Astor's later work would build upon this significantly.
Unexpectedly, however, The Loft reformed this year to finally put out an album, "Everything Changes Everything Stays the Same". Given the chaotic and fractious manner of their split, that's got to put hope in the hearts of everyone who has given up on their favourite band getting back together one last time.
Peak position: 24
Peak position: 10
Number One In The Official Charts
USA For Africa: "We Are The World" (CBS)
Phyllis Nelson: "Move Closer" (Carrere)
Paul Hardcastle: "19" (10 Records)
Regarding the Woodentops sounding like the Teardrop Explodes - Rolo McGinty auditioned for them as a bass player in early 1981. In "Head on" Cope says he wasn't as good as Cope and they wanted someone better. In Paul Simpson's autobiography he says McGinty had a police record which would have made the forthcoming US tour impossible. Even so, McGinty stayed in the orbit of the Teardrops, playing bass on guitarist Troy Tate's solo singles, I'm pretty sure the Woodentops' debut "Plenty" was on Dave Balfe's Food Records.
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