POST PUNK 198O

When my interest in post-punk blossomed into a bit of an obsession, my mind fixed on two years: 1979, which seemed to have a disproportionate number of the period-defining all-time-great LPs; and 1981, which had its fair share of great albums by big names, but more significantly was seemingly endless in its supply of lesser-knowns of incredible quality and diversity. For this reason, I focused first on 1981 in the eponymous ‘1981’ box set I made between 2003 and 2004, that consisted of nine themed CD-length mixes and a whole additional mp3 “briefcase” disc, which in total featured hundreds of bands and artists. But I’d actually first made a 3-mix 1979 set for friends the year before, which finally blossomed into the (relatively) tight ‘1979: Post-Punk’ set from 2017. For whatever reason, I’d subconsciously always thought of 1980 as sort of the breather between these two different high-water-mark years.

Finally, I’ve set out to delve more consciously into that elusive year of post-punk. The result of my reconsideration is this, the final box-set of a trilogy of explorations: ‘Post Punk 1980’. I could perhaps say a slightly lower proportion of my all-time favorite post- punk/new-wave/etc. albums were released in 1980, the kernel of truth in the way I’d thought of the year. But, unsurprisingly, the bigger realization as I assembled this collection was that 1980 was in no way, shape or form a down year. In fact, the explosion of quality-and-quantity nearly matches 1981. Certainly, I found it harder than ever before to cull and cut, and as such here you have eight themed mixes, and all of them are roughly a C-90 in length, so much greatness is there to explore.

I have again defined post-punk in its broadest sense: as music drawing on long-simmering traditions of art-pop (theearly years of which were explored in the ‘Post-Punk: 1968-1978’ mix). I’m not particularly interested in clarifying, and more so in blurring: even the core bands one thinks of as defining “Post-Punk” (say, Talking Heads, Joy Division, Gang of Four, Siouxsie & The Banshees, This Heat) show just diverse the music is, and perhaps how fundamentally loose-fitting a name- of-convenience “post-punk” really is. So here you’ll find New Wave, proto-Goth, Art-Rock, Power Pop, etc. etc. and a whole lot of music that doesn’t fit neatly under any genre label. Each of the eight logo-identified mixes focuses noton particular sub-scenes, per se, but on sounds that work together, moods, emotionality, production approaches, etc. I hope that the theme and sound of each mix will be self-apparent as you dive in. It’s entirely possible not every sound will be your bag, but don’t let that stop you trying another and another: post-punk is like the weather, always mutating.

When I started listening to post-punk music, it was already a couple of decades old, but to my young ears it sounded “newer” than anything actually-new I was hearing from the time. Now the music in this set is approaching 40, and so am I (born as it happens in 1980), and yet it still sounds just as timeless and forward-reaching. To my ears, the post-punks of ‘78-’82 concocted a musical ethos of open-eared adventure that defied rules and instead fostered principles, depending less on youth and “nowness” than most pop music does. As evinced by the current-day post-punks heard on the ‘Post-Punk: 2007-2017’ set, that ethos and those principles continue to inspire creativity to this day, both by musicians who explicitly self-apply the name, but also far beyond. The fantastically woozy, adventurous, expansive sounds of current-day underground-ish hip-hop, R&B, arty electronics, etc. (as heard on the ‘Old Souls’ mixes and ‘The Fire’) draw from the post-punk spirit (and production techniques) in the same way as original post-punk drew on dub, funk, Motown, disco, Krautrock, musique concrete, and beyond.

This far-reaching approach to post-punk might not please those who prefer it as something more strictly-defined, a “Post-Punk” proper. But I hope most people, from dyed-in-the-wool folks who were there in 1980, to their neophyte kids and grandkids (!), will prefer the eclectic approach that I take as part-and-parcel to post-punk. In the years after I made the ‘1981’ box set, I slightly regretted giving it such a simplified and definitive-sounding title, as there was so much other amazing music made in 1981 that even I couldn’t finagle labelling as post-punk (but that I think any fan of post-punk should hear, as heard in the ‘Le Monde du Funk’ series and elsewhere at Musicophilia). So I’ve tended to hedge my bets, ever since, and include “post-punk” in the titles. And yet, I don’t think it’s wholly unreasonable to name a post-punk box after simply the year in question: to me, no other umbrella-term genre name in use in 1978-1982 touched so many sounds, and linked up with as many other genres, times, places. That eclecticism is what I hope is ultimately the legacy of early post-punk: it was the solvent that dissolved boundaries, paving the way for the musical and artistic freedom the best artists of succeeding decades have taken as a birthright. And my tiny contribution to how a few people out there think about post-punk, I hope, is that listeners know for all of post-punk’s oft-cited gloom and angularity and intellectualism: it’s truly a joy. It’s certainly been my pleasure, all these years, and I hope it is yours, too.

POST PUNK 198O | HEART

01 [00:00] Josef K - “It’s Kinda Funny” (‘It’s Kinda Funny’ Single) 02 [03:40] Comsat Angels - “Total War” (‘Waiting For A Miracle’ LP) 03 [07:10] Lizard - “Celebration” (‘Gymnopedia’ LP) 04 [13:25] The Cure - “Secrets” (‘Seventeen Seconds’ LP) 05 [16:40] Talking Heads - “The Overload” (‘Remain in Light’ LP) 06 [22:20] New Musik - “A Map of You” (‘From A to B’ LP) 07 [26:00] The Sound - “Desire” (‘Jeopardy’ LP) 08 [29:15] Flowers - “Icehouse” (‘Icehouse’ LP) 09 [33:30] Japan - “Nightporter” (‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’ LP) 10 [40:25] Wipers - “Alien Boy” (‘Alien Boy’ EP) 11 [43:45] The Human League - “Dreams of Leaving” (‘Travelogue’ LP) 12 [49:30] The Durutti Column - “Sketch for Summer” (‘The Return Of’ LP) 13 [52:15] Magazine - “A Song From Under the Floorboards” (‘The Correct Use of Soap’ LP) 14 [56:25] Iggy Pop - “Mr. Dynamite” (‘Soldier’ LP) 15 [60:45] Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - “The Misunderstanding” (‘Organisation’ LP) 16 [65:00] Ultravox - “Vienna” (‘Vienna’ LP) 17 [69:35] Gary Numan - “Photograph” (‘This Wreckage’ Single) 18 [71:55] Joy Division - “Twenty-Four Hours” (‘Closer’ LP) 19 [76:25] The Associates - “Paper House” (‘The Affectionate Punch’ LP) 20 [81:10] XTC - “The Somnambulist” (‘Generals & Majors’ EP) 21 [85:40] Young Marble Giants - “Salad Days” (‘Colossal Youth’ LP)

[Total Time: 1:27:45]

POST PUNK 198O | FIRE

01 [00:00] Simple Minds - “Changeling” (‘Changeling’ Single) 02 [04:10] The Slits - “In the Beginning, There Was Rhythm” (‘Man Next Door’ EP) 03 [09:55] Material - “Discourse” (‘Discourse’ Single) 04 [14:00] The Beat - “Mirror In the Bathroom” (‘I Just Can’t Stop It’ LP) 05 [17:00] Au Pairs - “It’s Obvious” (‘Diet’ Single) 06 [22:40] Krisma - “White Knife” (‘Cathode Mamma’ LP) 07 [27:35] Colored Music - “Colored Music (Instrumental)” (Unreleased) 08 [31:45] Roxy Music - “Same Old Scene” (‘Flesh + Blood’ LP) 09 [35:35] Yello - “Downtown Samba” (“Solid Pleasure’ LP) 10 [38:05] Talking Heads - “Crosseyed & Painless” (‘Remain in Light’ LP) 11 [42:45] The Blackouts - “Probabilities” (“Men in Motion’ EP) 12 [47:35] Gang of Four - “Outside the Trains Don’t Run On Time” (‘Gang of Four’ EP) 13 [50:45] Blondie - “Rapture” (‘AutoAmerican’ LP) 14 [57:05] Kid Creole & The Coconuts - “Darrio” (‘Off The Coast of Me’ LP) 15 [61:00] The Pop Group - “Where There’s A Will” (‘Where There’s A Will’ Single) 16 [66:10] Killing Joke - “Bloodsport” (‘Killing Joke’ LP) 17 [70:50] This Heat - “Health & Efficiency” ‘Health( & Efficiency’ EP) 18 [78:05] Japan - “Gentlemen Take Polaroids” (‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’ LP)

[Total Time: 1:25:15]

POST PUNK 198O | CONVERTIBLE

01 [00:00] The Feelies - “Original Love” (‘Crazy Rhythms’ LP) 02 [02:50] The Jam - “Start!” (‘Sound Affects’ LP) 03 [05:20] Joy Division - “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ EP) 04 [08:40] Go-Go’s - “We Got The Beat” (‘We Got The Beat’ Single) 05 [11:10] Martha & The Muffins - “Echo Beach” (‘Metro Music’) 06 [14:40] Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls - “Drummer Boy” (‘Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls’ LP) 07 [17:35] The Beat - “Twist & Crawl” (‘I Just Can’t Stop It’ LP) 08 [20:15] The Cars - “You Wear Those Eyes” (‘Panorama’) 09 [25:00] Squeeze - “Pulling Mussels” (‘Argybargy’ LP) 10 [28:55] The Mo-Dettes - “Bitta Truth” (‘Paint It Black’ EP) 11 [32:05] Pink Military - “Did You See Her?” (‘Do Animals Believe In God?’ LP) 12 [35:00] Alan Vega - “Ice Drummer” (‘Alan Vega’ LP) 13 [39:30] Poly Styrene - “Dreaming” (‘Translucence’ LP) 14 [43:15] INXS - “Roller Skating” (‘INXS’ LP) 15 [46:00] The Stranglers - “Bear Cage” (‘Bear Cage’ Single) 16 [48:45] XTC - “Generals & Majors” (‘Black Sea’ LP) 17 [52:45] The Selecter - “On My Radio” (‘Too Much Pressure’ LP) 18 [55:50] Elvis Costello - “Black & White” (‘Get Happy!’ LP) 19 [57:40] The Vapors - “Letter From Hiro” (‘New Clear Days’ LP) 20 [64:00] Prince - “When You Were Mine” (‘Dirty Mind’ LP) 21 [67:35] Alex Chilton - “Hey! Little Child” (‘Hey! Little Child’ Singl) 22 [71:15] The Only Ones - “Trouble In the World” (‘Baby’s Got a Gun’ LP) 18 [74:15] Teardrop Explodes - “Poppies In the Field” (‘Kilimanjaro’ LP) 19 [79:15] The Specials - “Do Nothing” (‘More Specials’ LP) 20 [82:55] Scott Wilk & The Wall - “Man In the Mirror” (‘Scott Wilk + The Walls’ LP) 21 [85:30] Pretenders - “Lovers of Today” (‘Pretenders’ LP)

[Total Time: 1:31:20]

POST PUNK 198O | AMPLIFIER

01 [00:00] Pylon - “Stop It” (‘Gyrate’ LP) 02 [02:55] Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls - “Sympathy (Peel Session)” (BBC Peel Session) 03 [05:40] Beakers - “Red Towel” (‘Red Towel’ Single) 04 [08:25] Minutemen - “Joe McCarthy’s Ghost” (‘Paranoid Time’ EP) 05 [09:25] Swell Maps - “Blenheim Shots” (‘...In “Jane From Occupied Europe”’ LP) 06 [13:05] The Comsat Angels - “Real Story” (‘Waiting For a Miracle’ LP) 07 [16:40] Colin Newman - “& Jury” (‘A-Z’ LP) 08 [19:30] Wipers - “Wait A Minute” (‘Is This Real’ LP) 09 [22:35] MX-80 Sound - “White Night” (‘Someday You’ll Be King’ Single) 10 [26:50] Iggy Pop - “Play it Safe” (‘Soldier’ LP) 11 [29:50] XTC - “No Language In Our Lungs” (‘Black Sea’ LP) 12 [34:40] Bauhaus - “Small Talk Stinks” (‘In the Flat Field’) 13 [38:10] Girls At Our Best - “Warm Girls” (‘Getting Nowhere Fast’ Single) 14 [42:15] Mission of Burma - “Academy Fight Song” (‘Academy Fight Song’ Single) 15 [45:20] The Cramps - “Sunglasses After Dark” (‘Songs the Lord Taught Us’ LP) 16 [49:00] The Embarrassment - “Sex Drive” (‘Sex Drive’ Single) 17 [54:00] Bush Tetras - “You Taste LIke the Tropics” (‘Too Many Creeps’ EP) 18 [55:30] The Cure - “Play For Today” (‘Seventeen Seconds’ LP) 19 [59:10] Husker Du - “Writer’s Cramp” (Unreleased Demo) 20 [61:30] Josef K - “Final Request” (‘It’s Kinda Funny” Single) 21 [63:45] The Psychedelic Furs - “Soap Commercial” (‘The Psychedelic Furs’ LP) 22 [66:40] The Feelies - “Crazy Rhythms” (‘Crazy Rhythms’ LP) 22 [72:45] The Blackouts - “Being Be” (‘Men In Motion’ EP) 22 [77:10] Buzzcocks - “I Believe” (‘I Believe’ Single)

[Total Time: 1:24:20]

POST PUNK 198O | CASSETTE

01 [00:00] Young Marble Giants - “Searching For Mr. Right” (‘Colossal Youth’ LP) 02 [02:50] Family Fodder - “Savoir Faire” (‘Savoir Faire’ Single) 03 [05:20] The Gordons - “Adults & Children” (‘Future Shock’ EP) 04 [07:30] Reptile Ranch - “Saying Goodbye” (‘Animal Noises’ EP) 05 [10:40] Manicured Noise - “Metronome” (‘Metronome’ Single) 06 [14:00] Half Japanese - “Girls Like That” (‘1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts’ LP) 07 [16:05] Dow Jones & The Industrials - “What’s The Difference” (‘Hoosier Hysteria!’ LP) 08 [17:55] Sods - “Off Morning” (‘Under En Sort Sol’ LP) 09 [21:10] Animals & Men - “Shell Shock” (‘The Terraplane Fixation’ Single) 10 [24:20] Plastics - “Interior” (‘Origato Plastico’ LP) 11 [27:25] Y Pants - “Favorite Sweater” (‘Off The Hook’ EP) 12 [29:50] The Monochrome Set - “Goodbye Joe” (‘”Strange Boutique”’ LP) 13 [32:35] Smokey - “Strong Love” (‘Fire’ Single) 14 [36:20] Dalek I - “The World” (‘Compass Kum’pas’ LP) 15 [38:45] Neonbabies - “Tanz Mit Mir” (‘Nervos’ EP) 16 [41:20] Doctor Mix & The Remix - “Ile Deserte” (‘Psychedelic Desert’ EP) 17 [44:30] Polyrock - “Go West” (‘Polyrock’ LP) 18 [47:45] Reversible Cords - “Malcontent” (‘Reversible Cords’ LP) 19 [50:10] Blancmange - “Holiday Camp” (‘Irene & Mavis’ EP) 20 [53:05] Xex - “Svetlana” (‘Group: Xex’ LP) 21 [56:25] The Room - “Motion” (‘Motion’ Single) 22 [59:20] Nasmak - “So” (‘Nasmak Plus Instruments’ LP) 23 [61:40] Fire Engines - “Everything’s Roses” (‘Get Up and Use Me’ Single) 24 [64:50] The Gist - “Yanks” (‘This Is Love’ Single) 25 [67:00] The Diagram Brothers - “There Is No Shower” (‘We Are All Animals’ EP) 26 [69:20] Bow Wow Wow - “I Want My Baby On Mars” (‘Your Cassette Pet’ LP) 27 [71:40] Richard Strange - “International Language” (‘The Live Rise of Richard Strange’ LP) 28 [75:05] Marilyn - “Sex Means Nothing When You’re Dead” (‘Sex Means...’ Single) 29 [77:00] Ludus - “Unveil” (‘The Visit’ EP) 30 [80:15] The Mo-Dettes - “Foolish Girl” (‘The Story So Far’ LP) 31 [83:10] Delta 5 - “Anticipation” (‘Anticipation’ Single) 32 [85:20] Television Personalities - “Smashing Time” (‘Smashing Time!’ Single) 33 [88:00] Pink Section - “Part Time” (‘Pink Section’ EP) 34 [91:20] Orange Juice - “Love Sick” (‘Blue Boy’ Single) 35 [93:45] Units - “Mission” (‘Digital Stimulation’ LP)

[Total Time: 1:35:30]

POST PUNK 198O | BRAIN

01 [00:00] The Boys Next Door - “The Friend Catcher” (‘The Birthday Party’ LP) 02 [04:20] Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - “Co Co Pino” (‘Die Kleinen und Die Bosen’ LP) 03 [07:40] Glenn Branca - “Leson No. 1 For Electric Guitar” (‘Lesson No. 1’ EP) 04 [15:50] Martin Rev - “Temptation” (‘Martin Rev’ LP) 05 [20:10] Flying Lizard - “Portugal” (‘Move On Up’ Single) 06 [23:15] Factrix - “Splice of Life” (‘Empire of Passion’ Single) 07 [27:10] Dome - “Rolling Upon My Day” (‘Dome’ LP) 08 [30:50] Ike Yard - “Nocturne” (Unreleased) 09 [36:15] Sods - “Il Zone” (‘Under En Sort Sol’ LP) 10 [43:55] Les Vampyrettes - “Menetekel” (‘Les Vampyrettes’ EP) 11 [47:35] Swell Maps - “Big Empty Field” (‘...In “Jane From Occupied Europe”’ LP) 12 [51:20] Virgin Prunes - “...Greylight” (‘Twenty Tens’ EP) 13 [55:30] John Foxx - “20th Century” (‘Burning Car’ Single) 14 [58:35] Mr. Partridge - “New Broom” (‘Take Away/The Lure of Salvage’ LP) 15 [63:50] Friction - “Cycle Dance” (‘Friction’ LP) 16 [68:10] Colin Newman - “Inventory” (‘A-Z’ LP) 17 [70:20] Free Agents - “Untitled” (‘£3.33’ EP) 18 [76:10] Tuxedomoon - “What Use?” (‘Half-Mute’ LP) 19 [79:55] Din a Testbild - “She’s So Nice” (‘Programm 1’ LP)

[Total Time: 1:25:55]

POST PUNK 198O | COMPUTER

01 [00:00] Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark - “Enola Gay” (‘Organisation’ LP) 02 [03:30] New Musik - “Science” (‘From A to B’ LP) 03 [06:50] Telex - “En Route Vers de Nouvelles Aventures” (‘Neurovision’ LP) 04 [10:25] Krisma - “Cathode Mamma” (‘Cathode Mamma’ LP) 05 [14:05] John Foxx - “Underpass” (‘Metamatic’ LP) 06 [17:50] Moderne - “Indicatif” (‘Moderne’ LP) 07 [21:30] Siouxsie & The Banshees - “Lunar Camel” (‘Kaleidoscope’ LP) 08 [24:25] Visage - “Tar” (‘Visage’ LP) 09 [27:55] Industry - “Ready For the Wave” (‘Industry’ EP) 10 [31:40] Suicide - “Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne” (‘Suicide: Alan Vega Martin Rev’ LP) 11 [35:00] Ryuichi Sakamoto - “Thatness and Thereness” (‘B-2 Unit’ LP) 12 [38:20] Missing Persons - “Destination Unknown” (‘Missing Persons’ EP) 13 [41:45] Buggles - “Living In the Plastic Age” (‘The Age of Plastic’ LP) 14 [46:40] Devo - “Cold War” (‘Freedom of Choice’ LP) 15 [49:10] Final Program - “Protect and Survive” (‘Protect & Survive’ EP) 16 [51:35] Our Daughter’s Wedding - “Lawnchairs” (‘ Lawnchairs’ Single) 17 [55:05] Fad Gadget - “Ricky’s Hand” (‘Ricky’s Hand’ Single) 18 [59:05] Soft Cell - “L.O.V.E. Feelings” (‘Mutant Moments’ EP) 19 [62:35] The Human League - “Marianne” (‘Holiday ‘80’ EP) 20 [65:50] Chris Carter - “Beat” (‘The Space Between’ LP) 21 [69:50] Rinder & Lewis - “Cataclysm” (‘Cataclysm’ LP) 22 [75:35] Essendon Airport - “How Low Can You Go...” (‘Sonic Investigations (Of the Trivial)’ EP) 22 [78:50] Yellow Magic Orchestra - “Behind The Mask” (‘Behind the Mask’ Single)

[Total Time: 1:22:30]

POST PUNK 198O | ICE

01 [00:00] A Certain Ratio - “Flight” (‘Flight’ EP) 02 [05:50] Chrome - “New Age” (‘Red Exposure’ LP) 03 [08:40] Gang of Four - “He’d Send In the Army” (‘Gang of Four’ EP) 04 [12:15] Siouxsie & The Banshees - “Red Light” (‘Kaleidoscope’ LP) 05 [15:35] Colin Newman - “Troisieme” (‘A-Z’ LP) 06 [19:40] Ryuichi Sakamoto - “E-3A” (‘B-2 Unit’ LP) 07 [24:25] Visage - “Fade to Grey” (‘Visage’ LP) 08 [28:20] Killing Joke - “Requiem” (‘Killing Joke’ LP) 09 [32:00] Grace Jones - “Private Life” (‘Warm Leatherette’ LP) 10 [36:40] Krisma - “Peggy Guggenheim” (‘Cathode Mamma’ LP) 11 [40:50] The Boys Next Door - “The Hair Shirt” (‘The Birthday Party’ LP) 12 [44:50] Mr. Partridge - “The Forgotten Language of Light” (‘Take Away/The Lure of Salvage’ LP) 13 [49:05] Peter Gabriel - “Games Without Frontiers” (‘Peter Gabriel’ LP) 14 [53:05] In Camera - “Fragments of Fear” (‘IV Songs’ EP) 15 [57:25] Urban Verbs - “Luci Brasi” (‘Urban Verbs’ LP) 16 [63:05] Family Fodder - “Organ Grinder” (‘Monkey Banana Kitchen’ LP) 17 [68:00] David Bowie - “Ashes to Ashes” (‘Scary Monsters’ LP) 18 [72:15] Implog - “She Creatures” (‘Breakfast’ Single) 19 [77:00] Talking Heads - “Listening Wind” (‘Remain in Light’ LP) 20 [81:40] Indoor Life - “Madison Avenue” (‘Indoor Life’ EP)

[Total Time: 1:25:55] THE MUSICOPHILIA COMPANY

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