Ah, The Primitives. Along with Primal Scream and The Wedding Present, the Primitives came out of the ‘c86’ scene and hit the charts and Smash Hits. Lumped in with The darling Buds and, erm, Tranvision Vamp in the ‘blonde’ movement, they had some class(ic) tunes. Best known for ‘Crash’ which opens this debut, they appeared on Top of the Pops, made great videos and even sold records. Then as the indie music scene became increasingly obssessed with there ‘always having been a dance element to our music…honest!’ they faded away by the early nineties.
I would love to get my mucky paws on their third album, but for now, here is their classic debut Lovely, from 1988. There are compilations available, but their studio albums are currently unavailable. Criminally.
1. Crash 2. Spacehead 3. Carry Me Home 4. Shadow 5. Thru’ the Flowers 6. Dreamwalk Baby 7. I’ll Stick With You 8. Nothing Left 9. Stop Killing Me 10.Out of Reach 11. Ocean Blue 12. Run Baby Run 13. Don’t Want Anything to Change 14. Buzz Buzz Buzz
Disclaimer: I hereby state that I do not own, nor have I ever owned the rights to this music. I am making no profit out of posting this music here. The reason i am posting this album is that it is unavailable in the UK. I hope that if people like this album they will track down a copy of it, and more importantly, that those who own the rights re-issue it.
Fronted by Tracey Tracey and Paul Court, and an ever changing lineup of a rhythm section, the Primitives from Coventry were one of the acts associated with the C86 movement who actually went on to break the Top 40 and appear in Smash Hits and Top Of The Pops. Though their sound fitted well alongside the likes of The Shop Assistants and Talulah Gosh, their sound also bore the trademarks of The Buzzcocks and Blondie. Their own label, Lazy, put out three singles before they re-issed the first ‘Thru The Flowers’ signed to RCA and released ‘Crash’ the song with which they are most associated. These were their first three singles:
Well, having not posted many videos here for a while (other than the links to the two Benga videos last week, obviously!) I thought I would post some classic 80s eighties indiepop videos here.
First up, Edinburgh’s gone but not forgotten heroes, The Shop Assistants. BTW, if anyone knows where in Edinburgh this video was filmed, or can work it out, let me know. The other day Mrs. 17 Seconds and I were watching it closely to see if we could work it out but without success.
The Shop Assistants -I Don’t Want To Be Friends With You
I will do a post on the Primitives sometime very soon, having just got my hands on an excellent compilation of early stuff called Buzz Buzz Buzz, for the meantime, here is the video to Really Stupid.
The Primitives -Really Stupid
Hmm, might well have to do a post on the Darling Buds as well. Some people derided them as Primitives copyists (blonde girl singer and three blokes in black! Ooh! must be copying them! *withering sarcasm*) but I thought they were pretty great. The first time I saw this video I was eleven years old.
Darling Buds -It’s All Up To You
Does anyone know if Primal Scream did videos for any of their pre-Sonic Flower Groove singles? This is, however, a class song and (nicely) typical of many of the indie videos of the period.
Primal Scream -Gentle Tuesday
A fantastic song, controversial at the time given that the Grand Hotel in question was the one in Brighton where Margaret Thatcher and the conservatives were staying in 1984 when it was bombed. (‘Jesse Garon’ still runs a record shop in Edinburgh and is a thoroughly nice bloke).
Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes -Grand Hotel.
Meanwhile, will try and write up Amplifico and Wake The President interviews…
