Formats
RVSN001LP - LP
5060446121276
Details
*SOLD OUT, ALL STOCK FULLY ALLOCATED* ONE OFF RSD 2017 PRESSING OF 700 COPIES / BLACK VINYL School Daze and RPM proudly present a compendium of the demo cassette generation from the early 1980’s, filtered through (principally British) independent women of the post-punk era. ‘Sharon Signs To Cherry Red’ began life as the archetypal independent single released on the obscure Lowther International label by archetypal independent act, The Kamikaze Pilots, the review of whom by Danny Kelly in the NME gives us the starting point: “Disturbingly, also from Norwich…comes this plaintive tribute to/assassination of all the earnest misery gobs ever signed to Cherry Red’s roster, with particular reference to the Tracey Thorn pantheon”. What was a gentle mocking of The Marine Girls et al is now the starting point for this meander through the 80s’ underground, a period which enabled more involvement from women in independent music, a slight, if not complete, freeing up of the male-dominated hegemony that had existed before punk. Many of these artists were night-time John Peel session regulars, fighting for daytime coverage in the press, walking the fine line of questioning from the NME (hip young gunslingers asking sexual politics) and Smash Hits (Milton Keynes readers asking which hairspray they used). ‘Sharon…’ is but an overview of a fertile time, when the democratization of music through punk had resulted in new viewpoints, talents and perspectives finding their voice. The breadth here is a joy: from the sugary Dorothy (originally on Throbbing Gristle’s Industrial Records) to ex-Dolly Mixture Debsey Wykes’s Coming Up Roses, from the punked scrawl of The Petticoats to the avant funk of Bristol’s Scream & Dance, the one thread all these groups have in common is their fierce independence. That and their XX chromosomes. Some of these recordings are surfacing for the first time on “Sharon Signs To Cherry Red,” while others are from rare 7”s and compilation releases. School Daze is a new imprint from the Glasgow-based Night School, focusing on discovering and sharing the past.
Tracks
A1. The Kamikaze Pilots ? Sharon Signs To Cherry Red
A2. Dorothy ? I Confess
A3. Marine Girls ? Hate The Girl
A4. The Avocados ? I Never Knew
A5. Scream And Dance ? In Rhythm
A6. Strawberry Switchblade ? Seaside (Go Away)
A7. Dolly Mixture ? How Come You?re Such A Hit With The Boys, Jane?
A8. The Petticoats ? Normal
B1. Dawn Chorus And The Blue Tits ? Teenage Kicks
B2. Family Fodder ? Debbie Harry
B3. Vivien Goldman ? Launderette
B4. Trixie?s Big Red Motorbike ? A Splash Of Red
B5. Rexy ? (Don?t) Turn Me Away
B6. Sarah Goes Shopping ? Summer Blues
B7. Coming Up Roses ? I Could Have Been Your Girlfriend
B8. Amy and The Angels ? I Hate Being In Love