Desert Island Discs

[Al Crawford <awrc@cs.ed.ac.uk>]

I'm not a regular poster here (not being much of a Kate fan I tend to lurk
watching for the occasional thread that's of interest to me) but I'm going
to post my top 10 DID anyway, with comments.

1.	Win		..Uh! Tears Baby

	A group most readers of r.m.gaffa won't be familiar with. Scottish,
	and they never really broke through nationally or internationally.
	Rich, layered, downright *busy* perfect pop. If you want an opinion
	from a gaffa regular, ask Derek Langsford (sorry, Derek!)

2.	Propaganda	A Secret Wish

	Surprised this wasn't on Lazlo's list. Beautifully produced, dark
	synths and Claudia Brucken's vocals. I could listen to "Duel" until
	the end of time without ever tiring of it.

3.	Associates	Sulk

	Angst-ridden early 80s synth-pop. Billy Mackenzie's tortured vocals
	and Alan Rankine's instrumental hooks blend marvellously.

4.	The Human League	Greatest Hits

	Was their anything in the original spec about avoiding
	compilations? This is another album I could listen to forever, esp
	the beautifully tuneless female backing vocals on "Mirror Man".

5.	Underworld		Underneath The Radar

	I'll second Lazlo's assertion that this group is seriously
	under-rated but I'll choose their first album under this name. It's
	not as well-crafted and solid as Change The Weather but it's got a
	wider variety of styles. I'd have chosen the only album they
	recorded as Freur (Doot Doot) but I'm restricting myself to stuff
	that's out on CD and sadly that album isn't.

6.	Peter Murphy		Love Hysteria

	Not one that would have sprung to mind immediately if I'd been
	asked for my top 10 DIDs but I've decided to include it on the
	basis that it's one of those discs I can always put on whenever I
	can't decide what to put on (??).

7.	China Crisis		What Price Paradise

	Their best album to date, IMHO. "Arizona Sky", "June Bride", "We Do
	The Same Thing". More perfect pop.

8.	Ultravox		Vienna

	The definitive techno-rock album.

9.	OMD			Dazzle Ships

	All the "nice" stuff about OMD (delicate tunes, general
	etherealness etc) plus a nice dollop of experimental weirdness.
	"Radio Prague" is oh so evocative of evenings spent tuning up
	and down medium wave trying to pick up interesting stations.

10.	Bill Nelson's Red Noise		Sound On Sound

	Probably the gutsiest album he's ever made, combining the sound of
	Be Bop Deluxe with new wave energy.

OK, so that's my list. No Kate, mainly because I've never been particularly
taken by what I've heard (runs for cover). But, since this is r.m.gaffa, I
guess I'd better include the following...

ObKate : I read in this week's Melody Maker that Kate was one of a number
of names approached by Martyn Ware to participate in the new B.E.F. album
"Music Of Quality And Distinction Volume 2". This album, like Volume 1,
will consist of famous names singing cover versions of older tracks. I get
the impression that in the end Kate didn't take part but some of the
artists who will appear on the final version of the album include Green
Gartside, Billy Mackenzie and Lalla (sp?) Hathaway.

--
		   Al Crawford - Al_Crawford@edinburgh.ac.uk
	 "Such a digital lifetime, it's been by numbers all the while"