I've been listening to Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground...actually I've nearly worn it out. It's hard to locate some of this stuff now, but I have managed to find a couple of these gems to share with you all. (I apologize that they aren't in chronological order, since I confess I looked up the exact years after the fact. Hey, I can't remember everything!)
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The title of my post comes from this song, which I try to keep in mind when I get too sanctimonious for my own good.
Faith No More - We Care a Lot (1987)
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Just like the winsome heroine of the movie JUNO, Mr Daisy unsympathetically trashes Sonic Youth, thereby hurting my feelings. :(
See if you can spot all the famous people flitting by in the film clips.
Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot (1988)
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Just some really elegant racket!
Gang of Four - To Hell with Poverty (1981 -live)
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One can hardly believe music can be this bad. Even worse, by the middle of the song, you realize the badness is the POINT, and it's time to make REVOLUTION! YES, WE ARE BAD, AND WE ARE PROUD OF IT! Fuck your bourgeois quality standards!
I imagine it could have been truly dangerous to actually perform this live, amidst all that flying proletarian debris. And this was way before Henry Rollins was getting quoted like some sage on VH-1.
Lyrics are helpfully included in this video, except for the chorus:
We!
Are tired!
Of your!
Abuse!
Try!
To stop us!
It's!
No use!
Really a mosh-pit special.
Black Flag - Rise Above (1981)
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This one is decidedly strange, but it can really grow on you. The lead singer of Japan, David Sylvian, sounded like equal parts Bryan Ferry and David Bowie, and didn't seem to be at all ashamed of his outright, unabashed impersonations. I'm also not quite sure what to call the music, "synth-pop" or early techno? (At least hang around for the pretty chorus, even though all that techno-curlicue noise can get on your nerves.) Great visuals, but also decidedly strange.
Another song that speaks to me very personally:
Just when I think I'm winning
When I've broken every door
The ghosts of my life
Blow wilder than before
Just when I thought I could not be stopped
When my chance came to be king
The ghosts of my life
Blew wilder than the wind
Japan - Ghosts (1981)
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Me oh my, take a listen to this...they were just little babies! (Ahh, weren't we all?) If you own Murmur, you'll notice this version is a bit different. It was re-recorded for Murmur in 1983.
R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe (1981)