VIEWS FROM URBAN DWELLINGS - 1983

A dip into Dundee's underground publishing now, courtesy of Aagapublications.

This book called "Views From Urban Dwellings" came out in 1983 and was the 2nd volume of the title.

Aagaproductions is credited as being Mike Kane & Steve Grimmond, who also make an appearance as contributors.

The others who submitted material for vol 2 were - Kevin Dyer, Ray Flood, Pete Horobin, Charles Lear, Craig Methven, Bob Philips and Steve Sneyd.

The content of the book was a mixture of poems, short stories, photos, musings, art, short plays, bits & pieces like that.

In fact I've already featured the graphics of Pete Horobin from the book, so this time I thought I'd focus on the writing and have plucked out an example of Ray Flood's poetry.

This one titled "The Meaning Of Life" deals with the routine and boredom of being stuck in a mundane job.

He mentions he gets the 1B into the city centre to work at "JM".

John Menzies? Could be..!

Anyway, big thanks to Craig.

AAGA - BEDROOM TAPES - 1983

When you get an idea, get it down any way you can. Scribble it onto a scrap pad, whistle it into a Dictaphone, anything, as long as the idea is itemized, so to speak, that's the main thing, then you can go back and refer to it later when time comes to do a proper version of it. If you miss the opportunity to get the idea down in the first place, chances are it will never appear again. Gone forever!

I unearthed this cassette by AAGA from 1983 called "Bedroom Tapes", the contents consisting of tunes Mike Kane & Steve Grimmond came up with. Some tracks are a bit loose, some are more fully formed. AAGA made loads of cassettes back then, a few were "one offs" such as this one, others were duplicated then either given away free or sold cheaply.

This particular red & blue one was swiped off the cover of a magazine when Mike worked in John Menzies. Any unsold mags that had tapes attached, Mike would...recycle them, let's say, and record over the contents with his own stuff. All that was needed was a portable tape recorder and whatever band equipment there was.

There are 8 of these homemade lo-fi tracks on this cassette, so plucking one out as an example I have gone for "These Chances". Undeterred by the DIY approach, this tune has a really compelling bassline accompanied by a free-range kind of singing technique layered on top.

Not intended to be the finished article of course, but you can tell there is a good idea in there bursting to get out!

Glad they made the effort.

STOP PRESS : There are reports coming in of an official CD release by AAGA due out in a few weeks. More on that later.

BOB PHILLIPS ON GUITAR - 1984

Here's a candid domestic scene caught on camera in 1984.
Filmed in Mike Kane's kitchen, it features Mike and Steve Grimmond having a bit of a blether about AAGA, while tucking into some nosh.
Serving up some tasteful tunes in the background is Bob Phillips, adding to the ambiance with a touch of classical guitar.
A few years earlier (1977) Bob supplied slide guitar on The Drive's single. He was also one of the participating guitarists in Boo Hooray.
You may remember he was advertised as Boab Philips in the Soul Kiss Club feature on Retro, when he was playing down at the Tayside Bar.
The Tayside Bar crops up during the chinwag by the way.
Those of you who are knowledgeable on classical music may enjoy playing "Name That Tune" while all the chatting is going on. One tune you will get is the "World In Action" theme!
Unfortunately, Bob is just about to give us a rendition of Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" when the video fades out after only 3 notes!
The scene was captured by Kevin Guthrie of Altres.
Thanks to Mike.

AAGA - THE NEW SAINTS... CASSETTE

The final AAGA cassette I have in my collection is this one here from around the 1983/84 period - "The New Saints Of Drab Intensity".

There are 4 tunes on it, 2 are live recordings, 1 was done on 16 track and the one here below "Patience Is Virtue" was done on 4 track.

This is probably the most tuneful thing AAGA have ever done. It's even, dare I say, commercial sounding! Quite a sensitive touch to it too.

Thanks once again to Mike Kane.

 

FLUX - DESTROY ALL SYSTEMS - 1987

You may remember I put a track by Flux up last year which turned out to be a rare example of a tune connected to Mike Kane which everyone who commented seemed to like! It was a dreamy ambient chill-out track.
In the caption back then I said I would pick out a contrasting tune from the 1987 "In Flux" cassette and post it later. Now's the time, and so here is a little ditty of theirs called "Destroy All Systems(2)"
I think you can guess by the title that it's Flux in a tuffer mood and with the volume turned up! A dizzying wall of sound out on a mission to subvert the masses with it's relentless chants and slogans pile-driving their way through it all.
Well you didn't think they were gonna let you get comfy in your bean bags, did you?!!

AAGA - WHATALIFE CASSETTE - 1982

The AAGA "Whatalife" cassette dates from 1982 and only contains 2 tracks - "Illness" and the title song.
I can't help chuckle at some of the lyrics in "Whatalife", which are basically saying there is more to life than just going boozing and watching telly. The only song ever to mention the Lea Rig and Harry O..!!
Me being a bit of a dubologist (makey up word!) also gives the echoed phrase weaving in & out, the GG seal of approval!
Thanks to MK

AAGA - THE UNHEARD CASSETTE - 1983

I've still got quite a few items of Mike Kane based material I haven't delved into yet, so ploughing on with a few more post punk goodies, here's a 4 track cassette by AAGA called "The Unheard", done in 1983.
Get a load of the gruff, grimy, gritty, grunge guitar powering it's way through. WOWEE!!
The basic drum machine rhythm along with Steve Grimmond's distant vocal is really all it needed.
All the tracks are untitled, so this is just referred to as "Track 4".
Thanks to MK

THE WELLGATE BOMB SCARE - 1982

In the early 80's, when IRA bombs were commonplace on mainland Britain, there were often many false alarms and hoaxes that went along with it which kept members of the public vigilant.
Here is an example of one of the more amusing false alarms...
In a generous act of philanthropy one day, local musician, Mike Kane, gave away free packages to the public, containing a music cassette of his band, AAGA, along with some other gifts inside... just like wee lucky bags. One of these packs was dropped off at the Wellgate Library. A little later, one of the observant librarians spotted the package sitting there, thought it might be a bomb, and promptly called the cops. The Wellgate was evacuated and the suspect package dealt with.
A few hours had passed when Mike was visited at home by the boys in blue (he kindly left his name and address on the explosive devices!).
The police commenced questioning him about the incident. Mike's tape recorder was running at the time and managed to capture the conversation, the transcript of which (above) was published in the first issue of The Voice.
You may need to click on the image to read the large version.
AAGA - louder than a bomb!!

VEX GIG REVIEWS - 1981

Here's 2 different Vex performances that took place in 1981.

The first review is seen from the audience's perspective, and the other is an account of a gig by the band.

So, the top one was a show Vex did at the Tayside Bar. A large turn out for this one too, and although writer, Jock Ferguson, gives a good detailed description of the evenings events and a bit of background information on the band, he does end up dismissing Vex as "Bluffers"!!

At least there was no police presence during this performance, but being Vex, some of their gear got smashed up!

The 2nd review was written by Vex member, Mike Strachan, and tells of what happened at their gig at the Brig O' Tay in Fife.

Not only did Vex improvise their sets, on this occasion they also improvised a name change and called themselves Mass on the night, sharing the bill with 2 other acts, The Noise and Waiter Waiter.

Once again, however, the night ended abruptly when the police were called, that lead to their equipment being switched off and the band banned!

You'll probably need to click the images to read the large versions.

VEX LITERATURE

Mike Kane once got the following headline in Cranked Up mag - THE MOST HATED MAN IN DUNDEE - and it went on to state - "Vex has elicited more horror, disgust and outrage than any other musician of his time".

The piece was written by Fabian Bell aka Craig Methven and it continued with an interview which contained this classic opening line - "Mike, I know a lot of people who want to punch you in the mouth..."!!

Vex did get a few pages of coverage in Cranked Up but his band didn't exactly get the C.U. thumbs up, and so Vex decided to print up their own literature, putting the band's point of view across, in music as well as politically. These publications were given out free at gigs.

A couple of examples are shown above, from the 1981/82 period.

The top cover has printed on it - VEX (veks) annoy, irritate, make unhappy.

The 2nd cover has printed on it - LECTURES SET TO NOISE.

The bottom snippet comes from the Lectures mag and has Vex laying it on the line with a mini manifesto describing their declaration of intent.

TIME FOR VEX

It's time to have a dip into the disorderly world of Vex now - so those of you of a nervous disposition, better look away for a couple of days!
Main man, Mike Kane (above), set Vex loose in Dundee around the late 70's having mutated out of Flux. Although there was no real permanent band line-up, some of those who were involved were - Mike Strachan - Neal Mitchell - Rat - Gary Kidgell and a few other like minded music extremists. There was a bit of cross-pollination going on with fellow radicals, Boo Hooray.
What Vex presented was a kind of mishmash between the ideology of 60's improvisation collective, AMM, and the confrontational attitude of the New York no wave scene of the late 70's, which resulted in an unpredictable collision of ideas leading to lots of experimental freestyle post-punk mayhem!
They were also dab hands at generating their own publicity, distributing Vex literature and splattering the town with homemade flyers.
The artwork below could almost be a Banksy!
Anyway, to give you a sound clip to go with the caption, here is a wee blast of Vex doing a track called "Exorcise Your Thoughts" - in this case, it's all Mike Kane.
At least Vex can't be accused of being a commercial music biz sell-out!