“It’s one of those old films, from the eighties or something.” Teaching English to teenagers sometimes exposes me to utterances like this. What could it be? I wonder, although cultural funnelling helpfully restricts the options. Dirty Dancing, Grease and Jaws have the edge over Amadeus or Passage To India. Guess what? It turns out to be Gone With The Wind. The fact that chronological incongruity fades with time wasn’t in the lesson plan but, that’s what got illustrated at my end. Nobody’s synapses would pop wildly if I said Richard II was born in 1327, and countless other equally preposterous claims could be added with no signs of popping.
Avoiding the nostalgia trap was an original objective of this blog, but brace yourself, time to face the Eighties has arrived. This week’s track comes from a compilation, Generation Blitz, which demands that we look back. It’s described as, ‘Thirty-four prime cuts from the frontline of today’s 1979 – 81 Blitz era-inspired global electronic post punk/ synth-pop underground.’ Motivation is not addressed but check this, ‘The set moves from sophisticated synth pop classics to electronic new wave floorfillers and takes in minimal electronic synth punk and outsider post punk along the way. These are the sounds of a global scene that is an open space for all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, ages and abilities.’ Isn’t this natural? And engaging? A scene with all-new levels of explicit openness wants to look around for their progenitors. Like Foxe’s Book Of Martyrs, a 16th century text that delved back through the archives looking for Protestant heroes in pre-Protestant history. If the Lollard knights can be pioneers on the road to a new truth, then why not Boy George?
Gazing backwards is unavoidable, but instead of 1982, it’s 2002 that’s lodged my attention. The year that a compilation, This Is Not The Eighties, appeared, packed to the brim with kinky electroclash wonders. It featured Miss Kittin’s version of Sweet Dreams, just like Blitz Kids features Parallox doing Fade To Grey. This wheel’s been spun right round before, first like a record, then a CD, and now a rainbow Kung Fu panda GIF. At this point we´ll indulge in something Pete Paphides calls Mortality Mathematics, pointing out that more time has passed between Miss Kittin’s Sweet Dreams and NOW, than between Miss Kittin’s Sweet Dreams and the original. Sequencers don´t stop time flying.
Sexuality and synths are the keys here, so finally we get to Sink Ya Teeth. What a band. Their track record for spiky brilliance is unquestioned, and The Crown maintains their grip on funk punk allure. The synthiness reaches levels that are unusually high for them, with their trademark bass hooks getting swapped up for a burbling background that is pure Kraftwerk. Music, shoes and maybe lust are all wrapped up in the simple line,
Those aren´t the boots you wore yesterday, but they´ve been a long time coming.
Since footwear comes up, headgear is the inevitable follow up,
The Crown has been bought and paid for.
Gut instinct tells me that any crowns at the original Blitz club would have been pinched or cobbled together from car parts or scaffolding or cake decorations. Don´t ask me though, there are kids out there now with all the expertise necessary.
THIS WEEK
Sink Ya Teeth – The Crown
69 (What?) views since 30st July Weekly Average Views – 15
LAST WEEK
Toya Delazy – Teke
Weekly Average Views – 87 Blog Week Views – 32
EXTRAS
Miss Kittin – Sweet Dreams
Parallox – Fade To Grey