“Blaue Augen” (1981) By Neonbabies (1979-1983)

“Chicken in Black” (1984) by Johnny Cash

This was basically a fuck you to his record company.

“Glasshouse” (1985) by Party Day

Further Experiments was a British band formed in 1979. They went on to take the moniker Party Day in 1982.

Further Reading:

official(ish) site great resource of information run by Steve Drury

link

“Dayvan Cowboy” (2005) by Boards Of Canada (1986-present)

Boards of Canada is a duo from Edinburgh, Scotland.

“Wir bauen eine neus Stadt” (1981) by Palais Schaumberg (1980-1984)

This song is from their second album Palais Schaumberg, which was released in 1981. Palais Schaumburg was an early 80’s Neue Deutche Welle (German New Wave) band from Hamburg, Germany. The band was co-founded in 1980 by Holger Hiller and Thomas Fehlmann, who met each other at the HFBK.

Listen to more here.

Further Reading:

Art-Magazin interview of Hoger Hiller in German (2013)

Article in Electronic Beats

A Guide to Neue Deutche Welle

“Tainted Love” (1964) by Gloria Jones (1950’s-present)

You’ve probably heard Soft Cell or Depeche Mode’s version(s) of this hit song. Although it didn’t receive similar success, Gloria Jones sang and recorded the original version. Jones wrote and produced for well known acts such as The Supremes and Jackson 5. She also sang backup for T. Rex and became romantically involved with Marc Bolan until his death, an unfortunate result of her driving drunk.

Further Reading:

Interview on Goldmine Magazine (2010)

Marc Bolan School of Music & Film

The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song

Comics and music? Yes please!

If you’re a fan of country act The Carter Family, I highly recommend this book. Hell, even if you’re not a fan, it’s a nice quick read with beautiful illustrations throughout. Written and illustrated by Frank M. Young and David Lasky, it chronicles The Carter Family’s lives and includes a CD with rare radio recordings. Young and Lasky have an accompanying blog called Carter Family Comics: Don’t Forget This Blog!.

If you’re not familiar with The Carter Family, and you’re a fan of country, you need to check them out! They consisted of Sara Carter (vocals, guitar, autoharp), Alvin Pleasant Carter (vocals), and Maybelle Carter (vocals, guitar, autoharp). Maybelle created her own unique style of guitar playing which has influenced many artists to come.

And if you’ve ever heard of a little old lady named June Carter (Johnny Cash’s wife), she just happend to be Maybelle Carter’s daughter.

“Der Adler” (1991) by Udo Kier from My Own Private Idaho

Udo Kier is a German actor with a prolific number of films under his belt, particularly those dealing with vampires. Although he gravitates towards horror films, he also appears in other genres.

My Own Private Idaho is a film by Gus Van Sant. Taking inspiration from Shakespeare, it stars River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.

I just discovered an interview series called Making Music.  They have a set of videos with Alan Sparhawk from the band Low.  The few interviews I've seen so far are very different than most.  They get into the gritty details of the songwriters methods of creating songs, gear used, and much more.

NPR probably won't be streaming this album for much longer since it came out this week. Highly recommended listening.

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