Ghosts of Dance-Ghosts of Dance 7" (UK, 1982)

This will inaugurate my first post from work. I usually work through lunch but today I'm casting off the corporate shackles and taking a real lunch. I ate sushi and will post this very lovely song I am totally in love with. Obvy, this is one of the new records I got in Toronto and I picked it up at my friend's shop, LP's LPs. If you are ever in the area, I recommend a stop-in.

For now, here is Ghosts of Dance. This single is out on Plastic Canvas Records who only put out one other release, a Severed Head single. As you know, a lot of what I post on here has been covered other places or I can't really find band members of/information on so I just stick it here and hope maybe members will find it. This is a bit of both. Kentucky Fried Wave has a nice blurb about Ghosts of Dance HERE. I do not think the download links are working but if they come back up or I can find another, I will post it here.

Anyway, in some other news, I don't think I am going to be able to make it sadly to the Delphic Oracle show on Friday, but you should. Event info HERE. I know there's a lot of other shows that night around town but this will be nice.

Jeez, half an hour for lunch really flies by. I will talk to y'all soon!

Love,

Megon

Club Tango-FTN/Get The Picture 7" (UK, 1981)

This weekend I went to Toronto for what is always a whirlwind trip and I had more fun in some arenas and less in others than expected. On the absolutely funnest side, I bought a million trillion new records, all of them totally blog-worthy. Some of them that I love the mostest I am going to have to get my shit together and make Youtube videos out of, but that's for another day. 

For now, starting with a wee bit of a mystery. I know I don't have THAT much time for researching things these days and that bums me out but I have committed a bit of time to looking into this record and for the life of me I can't shake loose anything about the singer. The rest of the band is pretty much an all-star line up, as far as I'm concerned anyway. Dave Henderson and Andy Ross from Disco Zombies and Alex Turnbull before he was in 23 Skidoo. The girl singing on this, their second single out on Dining Out, still escapes me. On a side note, Dining Out also put out this Occult Chemistry record and my favorite The Naughtiest Girl Was A Monitor record, which is off topic but anyway... If you have any info, feel free to comment or contact me over there ---------->

In other news, I am feeling recharged and refocused by all this new music and if I can squeeze a little time out of my hectic schedule, I will be back soon with a whole slew of new posts. In the meantime, here are both sides of this super catchy, funky post-punky gem. Oh, jeez, almost forgot, you can download both songs over at The All Night Party HERE. 

Love,

Megon

Hilary-Kinetic 12" (US, 1983)

I don't have time to say much tonight, maybe for the best. I have so much to do before going out of town Friday but I really wanted to put this up. The other night during my set I played this Hilary song, Drop Your Pants. Long story short, everyone wanted to know what it was, so here it is. HILARY. I am shocked this record doesn't have a bigger cult following. I see Drop Your Pants up there with the best new-wavey, sarcastic 80's ladies anthems and it totally reminds me of the Kate Fagan and Anemic Boyfriends jams I have posted here before. And personally, I think the rest of the record is pretty catchy as well. Sadly, Hilary only ever wrote four songs released across two records. She passed away in 2007. There is a pretty comprehensive, although a bit outdated, fan site dedicated to her HERE where you can download all four songs. Here's her hit though, Drop Your Pants.

Okay, off to do a million and one things.

Love,

Megon!

Cry Of The Innocent-The Haunting/Still, Forever 7" (UK, 1982)

So, I have basically been sitting on my thumbs, not being struck by anything I really wanted to post about. Maybe because I've been busy and my stress level is through the roof right now, but today I got a wealth of inspiration that I'm going to chop up into several thematic posts this week before getting the hell out of dodge on Friday. Not to digress too much into a Dear Diary type thing here, but as many of you may know who follow me other places, my grandmother died last Wednesday and then Friday the neighbor's toilet overflowed and destroyed pretty much my whole house. So, I am going to go on a mini-vacay this weekend to see some shows and friends and when I get back, pack up my entire life and move out while the insurance company fixes my house.

Anyhoo, this never-ending shit show has me listening to a lot of stuff on the darker side of things including, but not limited to, this record by Cry Of The Innocent from Hull. If you read the zine, you know how much I love things from Hull and this is no exception. This record has just the kind of sound I love and the first time I heard the b-side, Lee Jones had my heart at the very first "Hey!"

You can glean some info about both releases by this band over at Phoenix Hairpins HERE and HERE. I don't think the download links are still active, sadly.

Either way, here's both sides of the single, Still, Forever being a particular favorite.

In other news, I want to thank everyone who came out on Friday to the Xarah Dion record launch. It was a helluva night. I have a couple more posts lined up of songs that I played that night that got a lot of attention. In the mean time, if you need her record, and you NEED her record, you can go HERE.

Love,

Megon 

Family Plot-Convictions LP (Canada, 1987) & Moev-Cracked Mirror 12" (Canada, 1981)

Holy shit, y'all. What a long and exhausting week, and weekend for that matter. All the guests and house guests are gone now and there's precious little time to relax. One thing that has been dragging me through the chaos by my boot straps is this lady, pictured below. And, yes, this is another post in my series of Canadian classics, well, should-be classics. Recently, I have become obsessed with the collective works of Madeleine Morris. Since Canada is my adoptive homeland, I feel an especial fondness for Canadian music, especially since much of it never made it out of Canada. Anyway, here's some stuff from the two main groups Madeleine was involved with, Moev and Family Plot.

I'll start with Moev, mostly due to chronology. And, also because the oh-so-knowledgeable gents over at Systems of Romance have done most of my work for me on this one. You can go HERE and download the group's first full length, Zimmerkampf, and read a bit about them. I have actually been listening to another song, Cracked Mirror, on repeat, which is featured on the 12" that came out the previous year in 1981 and put out on their own label Noetix, its only release. My friend Ronnie called this song "sad disco for days." He was kind enough to give us a very lovely shout out on-air last night on his radio show, Echo's Answer. You can listen to the episode HERE chock full of all sorts of lovely ladies like Rose McDowall, Confetti, Sally Dige, Sally Patience, Bloom Offering and so on. He should also be on-air in a little bit HERE from 1-3 EST today. Recommended.  

Okay, back on topic and fast forwarding a bit through several more Moev releases and Madeleine eventually leaving the band, we get to Family Plot. About this group Phil Addington, the bass player, writes:

I came back to Vancouver earlier than my other bandmates who were required to stay in England as they had run afoul of the law. The only person I had to play with was my youngest brother Bernie, who was also a bass player. He played a Rickenbacker through a Roland Jazz Chorus amp which gave him a unique, barking sound. When drummer Simon returned we formed an instrumental trio called "Danse Macabre". Two basses and drums. We were a hit at the druggy after hours parties. Paul returned and added keyboards to the sound. My girlfriend Madeleine Morris, who was singing with the up and coming electropop band Moev, decided to quit that band and join us. Family Plot started gigging in 1983. We played a number of great shows with bands like Alien Sex Fiend, Love and Rockets, Butthole Surfers, Nina Hagen, Hunters and Collectors, No Means No and Wire. We recorded a cassette ep and a 12" album shortly before Madeleine left (after she and I split up). We enlisted Naomi McLeod as singer and played with her for about a year before giving up in 1990.

Otherwise, this band is poorly documented just about everywhere, as far as I've found. I have been jamming this track pretty heavily, not on any of the albums, but appearing on the Last Call: Vancouver Independent Music 1977-1988 compilation. Otherwise, they have one album featuring Madeleine called Convictions, self released in 1987. 

Hope you enjoy one, or maybe both, of these tunes. I will be back soon with some more stuff, some Canadian, others not. I skipped Varning Fest this year and am storing up my energy for NDY Fest in Toronto in two weeks. I will see loads of you there, I know. Otherwise, my calendar is sadly lacking in exciting things coming up. OTHER THAN:

Don't forget I will be DJing between bands this night. Event info HERE.  This is a Montreal all-star line-up. Not to be missed. Come say hi!

Okay, love, love, love,

Megon

Kaméléon-S/T LP (Quebec, 1981) & Térapi-S/T 7" (Quebec, 1982)

Man, what a fucking day. Got on my bike to go to work and the front wheel fell off, inexplicably, when I started riding. Rushed to take the metro, which was jam packed, of course, and some guy took the chance to grab my butt. Work was hell and there must be something in the air because everyone was grumpy all over today. But, for all the lows, there were some very nice highs. Amongst them, an acquisition of some records sorely missing in my collection. I am not going to brag but in among those is one of my favorite records from Quebec and here we are with this post about two bands from our fair province. 

I will start with Térapi. Just one self titled 7" with four songs out in 1982. You can go like them on Facebook HERE and mostly keep up with the singer's current solo career. Here's such a Quebec jammy jam. 

Now, onto Kaméléon. The singer of which still lives in Montreal and does some pretty rad shit. You can check out her current "electroacoustic" music HERE.  This particular record is pretty disco-y but stupid catchy. But, judge for yourself. 

Anyway, NDY is coming up so I will be back soon with some Toronto bands for you. Maybe even something before them? 

Big kisses,

Megon