Date-X - Trappuppgång (1981)

b/w - Blinda Romanser

Great Pop-punk form this Swedish (Eskilstuna) Band (1981-'83).

Bengt Eklund (Voc, Guitar)
Benny Eriksson (Guitar)
Magnus Adolfsson (Bass)
Mats "Masken" Jonsson (Drums) Masken = Worm

When Schoolband Råttgift disbanded in 1980, two bands formed from the ashes Memento Mori and Date-X (apparently they wanted to be Melody but the name was taken)

From what I've read (press clippings* in the download) it seems the band had a couple of lucky breaks.
1. They came to the attention of & were contacted by Billy Madden (owner of Adventure Records) &
2. They scored an appearance on top Swedish TV show "Måndagsbörsen" (28/09/81) - other bands to do this included Gyllene & Noice. (tracks played included ; Trappuppgång , Ce Soir & Svärd Och Rosor ).

Unfortunatly in the fall of '82 Swedish Army National Service called for Bengt, Benny & Magnus.

*clippings from Punktjafs

Discography

- Let It Out Vol.2 Compilation LP (Adventure Records ADV LP 101 - 1981) 2 tracks - "Room 21 / Crying Girl"
- Trappuppgång / Blinda romanser 7" (Adventure Records ADV SP 102 - 1981)
- Date-X LP (Adventure Records ADV LP 103 - 1981)
- Brinnande Liv / Simmar lätt 7" (Adventure Records ADV SP 105 - 1982)

Sounds & scans below

http://www.mediafire.com/?xie5ywl4cu0s1mn

Lucky Numbers - Bring It On Home To Me (1980)

b/w - Back To Rock And Roll

Great Pop Rock / powerpop cover of a Sam Cooke classic from this Limerick band (1978 - ?). Led by Shay Fyfe & managed by Noel Carty

This was possibly the bands 6th release for Play Records (Back To Rock And Roll had already graced vinyl by being a B-side for their 1st 45 (Hey Rock 'n' Roll - Play Records PLAY 109 - 1978)

For more info pop over to Irish Rock.Org

N.B. - Mike "Doc" Horan was the Drummer in this band before moving to The Conquerers in 1979.

Sound & scans below

http://www.mediafire.com/?fyvahszbsh3cbdd

Reasonable Man - Public Army Policeman (1981)

B1 - Snakebite
B2 - Economic Sense

Nice 45 full of socially aware New wave / Ska with a bass line that screams of listening to too much Dub (this was recorded at the now defunct Starforce Studios, Clapham South London.)

The London based 4 Peice that went into the studio on 9 & 10/05/1981 were;

Tony Payne (voc, Tambourine)
Steve Pugh (guitar voc)
Kev Taylor (bass & lead Guitar)
Colin Hakin (drums, voc)

Have to admit to having a preference for Snakebite - that's the tune & not the beverage. Unfortuately, I'm afraid to admit there was many a lost teenage night on that stuff (1/2 a pint of strong cider, 1/2 pint of strong lager & a dash of blackcurrent juice, if we were feeling posh).

Sounds & scans below

http://www.mediafire.com/?95bbxsfxeb2a3ml

Jim Power And Taurus - Only Yesterday (1978)

b/w - Night Has The Habit Of Dragging On

Double A side, with Only Yesterday being a nice slice of 60's influenced powerpop & the flip being a bit too Country for my taste (An unfortunate drawback of buying these private pressings does mean that you unwittingly end up with a large amount of Folk/C&W on the shelves).

Both Sides were penned by Norman Teeling / recorded at Dublin's Trend Studios & released on Jim's Self funded Power label.

There's more Info on Norman Teeling here

Sounds & scans below

http://www.mediafire.com/?blxpp47pid3y8ps

Gaffa - Normal Service Will Never Be Resumed EP (1977)

A1 - Normal Service Will Never Be Resumed
A2 - Married Men
B1 - Several Grabs (At The Empty Holdall)
B2 - Stage Gear (Live)

Here's the 1st 7" from this Nottingham Band (1973*-80) - their only previous recording is "Playing At Love" on the compilation "Nottingham Castle Rock" - PRIVATE FEST 002 (1973 - 500 pressed)

The EP's a mixed bag, but good enough for NME to make it "single of the week" & call them "Art college clever dicks who have earned their precocity"

The Band began life as
Wayne Evans (voc bass)
Paul Cronk (guitar)
John Herod (guitar)
Mick Baratt (drums)

But by now were
Wayne Evans (voc bass)
John Maslen (guitar)
Clive "Myph" Smith (guitar)
Mick Barratt (drums)
Brendan Kidulis (keyboards) left the band early '79 & made a pretty good 45 in 1980

Discography

7"
-Normal Service Will Never Be Resumed EP - Cleverly Bros CBM-002 (1978)*
-Hearts Of Stone/ You Know I Love You (But I Don't Know How I Know) - Gaffa'n' Product ZZZZ-S001 (1979)*
-Attitude Dancing (Land of 1000 Dunces)/ Long Weekend - Gaffa'n' Product ZZZZ-S002 (1979)*
-Man With A Motive/ Your Side My Side -Gaffa'n' Product ZZZZ-S003 (1980)
* these recordings have many sleeve variations, many hand made by the band
-According to 45 Revs there was also a recorded but unreleased 4 track 7" EP, (working title of "Firm Favourites" - Use Your Imagination / Feeble Without A Pause / Parish / The Raver) that was due to be their 2nd release in early '78 on the Croydon based Next Records.

LP
Neither Use Nor Ornament - Gaffa'n' Product ZZZZ-001 (1979)

Peel session (unreleased)
Baby Sitting / Anna Nervosa / White But Not Quite / The Rota / Gangster Tendencies - (produced/engineered by Trevor Dann & Mike Robinson in Madia Vale studio 4 - recorded 20.03.1979 & aired 04.04.1979)

Wayne Evans played in many Nottingham based bands after the band demise, the latest being The Last Pedestrians

Gaffa It seems have returned go here for some footage of the gig (Review here) or follow the links to hear their Peel Session & LP

Sounds & scans below

http://www.mediafire.com/?xnb9y8ji21mhlz2

Roquivários - Totobola (1981)

b/w - Ela Controla

Rock & Various (Roquivários) were a Portuguese (Lisbon) Pub Rock band (1981-83) who embraced the New Wave & Ska sound (Seemingly Totobola is the most Ska sounding)

Mario Gramaço (Voc Sax )
Jorge Luis Loução (Guitar)
Midus (Bass Voc)
Paul Corval (Bass)
Rabanal (Drums) ex Aranha




Discography
(Midus plays the Bass on the EMI recordings as Paul Corval leaves)

Pronto a Curtir - RT (1981) LP*
Totobola/Ela Controla - RT (1981) 7"
Cristina (Beleza É Fundamental)/Disc-Jockey - Valentim De Carvalho (EMI) (1982) 7"
Roquivários - Valentim De Carvalho (EMI) (1982) LP

* All the reveiws I've read have said this LP was very rushed & has very poor production

More tracks Here

Sounds & Scans below

http://www.mediafire.com/?97ov5asr175t51j

Stevie Sharp And The Clean Cuts - We Are The Mods (1980)

b/w - He Wants To Be A Mod

Was this a genuine calling or just cashing in on the Mod Revival?

I prefer the B-side as I find "We Are.." a bit annoying. However, it's a rarity that doen't turn up that often (300 - 500 pressed) & as I've had it requested you can make up your own minds!

Released on Happy Face (& recorded at The Old Smithy) so I'm assuming the band were from the Worcester Area.

It has been reputed (& refuted) that Stevie Sharp was the ex guitarist of Satan's Rats & The Rowdies
(As they were from Evesham I can see why the link was made but the band's title is more than likely just echoing the "Mod ethos")

"We Are The Mods" can also be found on the awful We Are The Mods! LP (most of the tracks are low budget live recordings of admittedly mainly otherwise unavailable great tracks)

Sounds & scans below

http://www.mediafire.com/?763lkd51gl72rjr