AAGA CD - NOW AVAILABLE

Now that Christmas time is closing in on us all once again, some of you will no doubt be wondering what to buy off the record tokens you get. Problem solved - treat yourself to this AAGA CD.

The compilation called "The World Makes Me Sad Sometimes", on Rightback Records, is the first time a collection of AAGA's original 80's material has been given an official release, and so a good opportunity to hear for yourself why Factory Records wanted to showcase the band in Manchester at the time.

You'll know by now that I have featured many of  AAGA's cassettes on Retro, all displaying their homemade covers, well keeping the self assembly process going, here above is the CD cover when it was still work in progress at the design stage. The cover visuals were a joint effort by Mike Kane's daughter & son, with the AAGA logo the work of Dundee graphic artist, Nick Wright.

It will of course be available on iTunes and so on.

Finally, below is another reminder of the band's sound, this time from a gig at the Tayside Bar in 1984 -  catching AAGA in one of their more mellow moods.

A gig I was at too!

Thanks to Craig and Brian.

HOPE FOR DUDS POSTER - 1981

[The success of Destruction/Creation led to two more live events in Laing’s – Open Sandwich and Hope For Dud’s – the latter being a multi-media happening with music by Boo Hooray, Aaga & Erasmic Super Foam, projections by Neil Watson, Sid Ozalid’s stand-up poetry, plus an action by the Principal Player highlighting the politics of the fishing industry in Scotland.]

This is the poster for the "Hope For Duds" event that took place on 20th June 1981, as described above.
Below is another track by The Principal Players called "This Principal Player Has A Dog" - recorded live in a flat in Hawkhill by Pete Horobin and Erasmic Super Foam member, John Butler, whose hacking staccato guitar technique energetically chisels out a pretty funky backdrop!

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.

HARD COPY FANZINE - 1982

 

Hard Copy fanzine appeared on the scene in summer 1982.
However, in the above debut issue, it states that it was not a fanzine but the first computer-related music magazine.
True, it was all done neat & tidily on a word processor rather than the usual cut & paste method, which was quite innovative, but magazines legally have to be registered. They require barcodes or ISBN numbers for official reference identification, Hard Copy did not have any. The British Library require copies of a magazine to document and archive. Were they sent any issues of Hard Copy?
Anyway, the fanzine was mostly the work of Dundee music journalist, Bob Flynn, although there was a team of assistants involved in the write-ups, illustration and photography too.
The content was well written - plenty of gig reviews, some local band info and general coverage of the UK music scene.
A very nice piece of work actually.
A local fanzine with a magazine price tag!

UNIT 47 MAGAZINE - 1980'S

Unit 47 was a Scottish music magazine that hit the racks in 1984.

In fact it actually described itself as half magazine half fanzine and covered the alternative music scene mostly, but it also made room for a touch of jazz and rock.

Although there were a few pages given to well known English acts, the magazine's main focus was Scottish bands, as indicated by Roddy Frame, Fiction Factory & The Cocteau Twins on the covers above.

Lots of space was used spreading the word about unknown bands, as well as supplying demo tape reviews.

It also had stuff like gig reviews, fashion, cinema and special features such as the lowdown on recording studios.

One of the contributors was Dundee music journalist, Bob Flynn, who managed to get a full page feature on the Tayside Bar, including an interview with boss, Brian Sinclair.

Unit 47 also gave away a flexi with issue 1.

The 3 above are dated Feb/Mar, April & June 1984.

I'm uncertain how long the mag lasted however.

DUNDEE RECORD ADVERTS

Here's 6 rare adverts that are seldom seen in music archives featuring records released by Dundee acts.

Top one is the Poor Souls "When My Baby Cries" on Decca. This was published in the national music press in 1965.

Second ad is for The Headboys "Kickin' The Kans" single which was released in 1980 on RSO and was published in a music trade mag.

The one following it is a bit different, in that it is a promo card that came out in 1981 to coincide with The Associates single "White Car In Germany". The record label is Situation Two of course, and the details are published on the reverse side of the card.

Underneath that is an ad that was also published in 1981, a Billy MacKenzie side project by local act, 39 Lyon Street, titled "Kites". RSO the label.

Next one is for another Billy MacKenzie side project, this time it's Orbidoig with a single called "Ice Cream Factory" on WEA. This ad was published in the music press in 1982.

Last ad is for an Inca Rhodes single called "Hideaway" on the Silk label. Although the record was released in 1986, the advert was published in February 1987.