One of the most requested re-posts ever on this blog.
So here’s the full EP!
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘Flower Horse.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘The Fuck Machine.’ mp3
One of the most requested re-posts ever on this blog.
So here’s the full EP!
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘Flower Horse.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘The Fuck Machine.’ mp3
Some years in music are pivotal and utterly steeped in meaning and resonance.
1992 was not one of them.
It was summed up by the sheer awfulness of Undercover’s ‘Baker Street’ cover, a hideous dance version of Bryan Adams’ ‘Run To You’ by a band called Rage and the fact that Madonna unleashed a stinker of an album called Erotica, and very possibly showed that you could be over-exposed when she released the infamous Sex book around the same time. It was topped off when Whitney Houston topped the charts with ‘I Will Always Love You’ at Christmas.
The Americans decided that they’d had enough of twelve years of Republicans and elected Bill Clinton to the White House. The Brits were convinced that the Conservatives could not possibly win, and then proceeded to hand them a mandate to rule Britain for the next five years. The big film of the year was Wayne’s World, which led to everyone making statements and then going …NOT! at the end of it. I buried myself deeper in NME, Melody Maker and tippexing my school folders with band names instead of doing as much school work as I should have been. Ah well…
This track was no.1 in John Peel’s Festive Fifty that year. It has to be one of the most requested tracks ever on 17 Seconds. It’s sublime – now watch the video and if you want the mp3 look elsewhere!
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’
Some bands are derided for ever. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin’s time must surely come. Part of the Stourbridge scene (along with Pop Will Eat Itself and the Wonderstuff), this was probably their biggest hit. This was also part of their music compilation Lunatic Magnets which was linked by various clips as the band attempted to do their own version of Reservoir Dogs which was the cult film of the year.
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin -‘Not Sleeping Around.’
…and boom! The word ‘Britpop’ had yet to enter the lexicon of the cultural landscape and the so-called ‘scene that celebrates itself’ wasn’t ever going to be a household name kind of thing, but Suede suddenly arrived, looking pretty damn perfet. The music press loved them. Morrissey covered one of their b-sides ‘My Insatiable One.’ Smash Hits claimed David Bowie had invited them to his wedding. Lead singer Brett Anderson claimed he was ‘a bisexual who had never had a homosexual experience’ and was soon being spoken of in the same sentence as both Bowie and Morrissey. In the face of grunge coming in from the US, Suede looked likely to lead the next British assault. In another galaxy their story would have ended far more happily.
Suede -‘The Drowners.’
They say history is written by the victors. ‘They’ may have a point. In the 20/20 perspective that is hindsight, this was Blur’s best single to date. It has been perhaps a little forgotten that at this point Blur were in the doldrums -far more than they would be after The Great Escape three years later seemed to show that they had been overtaken by Oasis. This single limped to no.32, their second album was about to be rejectedby their record company, but Blur knew something we didn’t…
Blur – ‘Popscene.’
…a weird sense of deja vu: at the tail end of 2007, the Black Kids were being hailed by many (including yours truly, less we forget) as being the next big thing. When their debut album was released, the press seemed to turn on them. So it was with Curve, whose first three EPs were far more feted than their eventual debut LP Doppelganger was when it arrived in 1992. A shame, because they were still firing on all cylinders as far as I was concerned…
Curve -‘Fait Accompli.’
I have kicked myself for missing out on a lot of nineties dance culture -too busy listening to Morrissey at the time, as well as going through a ‘I hate everything’ phase, for which I have no-one to blame but myself. However, this DID filter through to me. I only recently realised that Future Sound Of London had been connected with Humanoid, whose classic acid house track ‘Stakker Humanoid’ had made it onto Top Of The Pops four years previously…
Future Sound Of London -‘Papua New Guinea.’
I’ve always had a soft spot for Michael Franti, and as frontman of Spearhead, he was the first Hip-Hop act I ever saw live. It could have been this or ‘Television, The Drug Of The Nation’ but thistale of how a homophobe gets his comeuppance is pretty groundbreaking. And as at this time rap was becoming ever more confrontational (which was fine) but also displaying aspects of prejudice (which is not fine), it was good to see an act showng it wasn’t all about the benjamins.
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy -‘The Language of Violence.’
As has been well-documented, in 1992, The Wedding Present issued a new 7″ every month, the a-side being an original song and the b-side being a cover. This saw them make Top Of The Pops several times, have seven entries in that year’s Festive Fifty, rack up twelve top thirty hits…and then get dropped by their record company.
Wedding Present -‘Sticky.’
I wasn’t much into R&B in the nineties, much of it came under the heading of New Jack Swing, a genre that left me cold, mostly. But this track wasn’t like that, and like En Vogue, gave a glimpse of just how big the genre would be in the decade to come…
Shanice -‘I Love Your Smile.’
This wasn’t supposed to happen…or maybe it was. This is actually the track that first brought Bjork into the Top Forty in the UK, being a sizeable hit, even with the mad shoutyness going on, as ever. But by the end of the year the band hd called it a day, with Bjork going off to make a solo album…and actually put the avant garde on Top Of The Pops.
The Sugarcubes -‘Hit.’
Should also be featured here: Ride -‘Leave Them All Behind.’ Jesus and Mary Chain -‘Reverence.’ Primal Scream -‘Movin’ On Up.’ The Cure -‘Friday I’m In Love.’ The Orb -‘Blue Room.’ Faith No More -‘Midlife Crisis. En Vogue -‘My Lovin.’ Boo Radleys -‘Lazarus.’ (Actually, there were good tracks it just felt horrible…)
I received another email today saying that links weren’t working, which was fine…except like a lot of bloggers I remove links after two weeks because I don’t actually own the rights to the music I post here (I wish).
Anyway, the tracks in question were from the debut Bang Bang Machine 12″ single, The Geek EP so…here we go.
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘Flower Horse.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘The Fuck Machine.’ mp3
THESE WILL BE UP HERE FOR TWO WEEKS. IF THIS IS AFTER SEPTEMBER 3RD, TOO BAD, YOU MISSED IT.
It is now September 3rd and the links have therefore been removed.
I’d received an email earlier today asking if I could re-post ‘Geek Love’ the 1992 Festive Fifty no.1, and I thought, why not post the entire EP? Especially seeing as the Evesham four-piece’s back catalogue seems to be unavailable.
This track is utterly sublime, and if you have never heard it before, I hope you like it. There are one or two crackles in the vinyl, but I think the sound quality is pretty good on the whole.
I will also soon post the remixes sent to me by my reader Max, when I have converted them into mp3s. Thanks for them, Max, never seen them anywhere else!
Speaking of posting unavailable stuff, I will be putting up a couple of albums by artists which I think are great but are unavailable in the UK on any format. Watch this space…
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘Flower Horse.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘The Fuck Machine.’ mp3
First of all, thank you to everyone who has been in contact with details about new acts; I’m going to try and go through it carefully and give my considered opinion about what to post; so if you don’t see yourselves posted immediately, don’t take it personally!
I was considering posting some other stuff today, reflecting on what might make my Festive Fifty at the end of the year, and found my mind drifting to the great man of the Festive Fifty, John Peel.
So, with a big nod to Steve (and not Mike, as I mistakenly called him earlier!) over at the brilliant Teenage Kicks, a brilliant Peel-related blog, here are ten tracks that made John Peel’s Festive Fifty over the years.
Given that he often got frustrated at some things being unadventurous, and there being ‘too many white boys with guitars’ I have tried not to fall into the same trap.
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’ mp3 (No.1 1992 Festive Fifty)
We’ve Got A Fuzzbox and we’re Gonna Use It -‘Rules And Regulations.’ mp3 (No. 31 1986 Festive Fifty)
Future Sound Of London -‘Papau New Guinea.’ mp3 (No.11 1992 Festive Fifty)
Half Man Half Biscuit -‘The Trumpton Riots.’ mp3 (No. 14 1986 Festive Fifty)
Althea & Donna -‘Uptown Top Ranking.’ mp3 (No. 2 1977 Festive Fifty)
Teenage Fanclub -‘The Concept.’ mp3 (No.6 1991 Festive Fifty*)
The Bhundu Boys -‘Foolish Harp/Waerara.’ mp3 (No.30 1987 Festive Fifty) (Steve from Teenage Kicks has got in touch and pointed out that it wasn’t this version that made the chart. However, it is fabulous!)
Kenickie -‘Come Out 2nite.’ mp3 (No. 1 1996 Festive Fifty)
This Mortal Coil -‘Song To the siren.’ mp3 (No. 4 1983 Festive Fifty, No.10 2000 Millennium Chart)
The Delgados -‘Mr. Blue Sky.’ mp3 (No. 29 2002 Festive Fifty)
For more on John Peel and fansites start here
* 1991’s Festive Fifty was known as the Phantom Fifty as John felt it was too predictable, topped as it was by Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and not featuring the dance sounds he’d been plugging that year. It was eventually unveiled, track by track over 1993).
…to make you cry, as Billy Ocean once sang (not long after pointing that that ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going, if memory serves).
It’s sunday night, and as always, seem to have those sunday blues.
Oh well, sad songs say so much (uh, cheers Elton).
Anyway, here’s a few beautifully sad songs. See what you think.
Have a good week.
Edx
This Mortal Coil -‘Song To the Siren (Tim Buckley cover).’ mp3
Peter Murphy -‘A Strange Kind Of Love.’ mp3
New Age Steppers -‘Fade Away.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’ mp3
Bang Bang Machine ‘Geek Love’ (Jimmi Kidd Records, 1992)
As old-school British indie-kids (i.e. were into indie before Britpop) know, this song was No.1 in John Peel’s Festive Fifty in 1992, the annual poll where Peel’s listeners would vote for their song of the year.
Hailing from Evesham, Wocestershire in England’s West Country, this song was their debut single. The band would go on to release two albums Eternal Happiness and Amphibian before they called it a day in 1996.
How to describe BBM? This track -and this is meant as a compliment – is a shoegazing epic with goth overtones. Even considering what a rubbish year 1992 was for music (and if you disagree, leave a message saying why!) it would be nice to think that this would have done well in the Festive Fifty in any year. John Peel said that even if they never made another record they would have achieved more than most of us do.
Bang Bang Machine -‘Geek Love.’ mp3
A Bang Bang Machine fan-site is here and their Wikipedia page is here. Try to buy the track if you can, on Amazon or ebay, there are no tracks available that I can see on iTunes (UK anyway).