Is anyone out there?

Hey Glen, I'm here, as usual.

And here are my 5 fav other bands, besides Skids

1. Armoury Show - the most under-rated band of the 80's

2. Pete Wylie & The Mighty Wah! - remember the classics 'Story Of The Blues' and 'Sinful'

3. The Associates - Singer Billy MacKenzie had a magical voice.

4. Pete Shelley / Buzzcocks - Timeless stuff

5. Silencers - Another crackin' Scottish band

There are loads others on my mp3 player, like - The Damned, Blancmange, Men Without Hats, Pistols, Undertones, XTC, SLF, Scritti Politti, Magazine, Heaven 17. Don't really listen to the pap that is around just now, however, I've found a really good female vocalist recently by the name of Ida Maria - worth a listen !!

Hope you can find something worth listening to from any of the above.

Hi Glen,

Too many to mention...

Guess The Clash are very obvious, and there'll  be a chorus of disagreement when I say The Stranglers.

Other than that, you could do worse than The Smiths, Dead Kennedys, The Jam, D.R.I (if you like punk/thrash crossover stuff), The Damned, and R.E.M have a great back catalogue..old stuff is really good.

Suz xx

WOW - What a response...The Associates - haven't heard Part Fears Two for years - I've just downloaded it!  I listen to "The Safety Dance" all the time and went to see the Pistols in '95 on the filthy lucre tour in Glasgow....scary experience but great. There was somrting on the tele the other night about Heaven 17, did you see it?

Suz - I love The Clash, The Jam have been one of my favourite bands for years, Green is one of my favourite albums but i never got into the Smiths. I remember buying a Morrisey album once - the one that had "everyday is like sunday on it", i loved that song. I listened to the rest of the album and hated it.

I'm off to try some of your recommendations on Spotify now - cheers for the tips - see you in July if you are both coming.

Hi Glen,

Morrissey's music really missed the creative genius of Johnny Marr, but if you are a bit of a lyricist, Smiths are wortjh listening to for that alone.

Billy McKenzie had such a wonderful voice. I was never really into The Associates, but he had  real talent.

Let us know what you think of our recommendations!

See you in July

Suz xx

Have to agree about The Smiths...I can appreciate that they were an iportant band and all...but other than a song or two, I never really cared for them. However, bands that I did love the and now are... Xtc - a really underated band! Rush - again a quality bunch of musicians... A couple of current bands... The Fratellis - great anthem tracks! Sia Furler - What a voice!! Great to keep hearing great music, but have to admit that my iPod is firmley based in the 70's and early 80's!!!

Other than Skids my favourites from 70s/early 80s would be

Ramones

Magazine

Descendents

SLF

Thousands opf records at home, but those are the ones from that period I still play a lot.

Loved the Jam too, and I'm one of the few who likes Style Council as well I think....

Hated the Smiths for years, similarly the Cure, but they've wormed their way into my tastes recently, The Cure especially are a really great band.

Current faves would be

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, great new wave sounding - bit l;ike a cross beteween Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Jam, with a harder edge.

top 5 bands from back then that i still listen to a lot would be

the clash: one of the best debut albums ever

the smiths: love them,lyrics up there with the best of them

xtc: andy partridge another songsmith

slf: never tire of them

ultravox: john foxx era,superb

good shout with the associates,also worth checking out is the vapors 2 albums,great stuff and dare i say u2 (early)

 off the top of my head , my pocket money would have went on records by

 the damned , siouxsie and the banshees , joy division, the clash and SLF/undertones or any other up and coming n.irish punk/new wave band

 had a mate back then who was obsessed with Rush , all his vinyl collection consisted of was Rush , he started a band who only played Rush covers ( very well in fact )

 I lost contact with him in the early 80s and to this day I cant listen to any Rush lp before grace under pressure or was it signals ?

Hi Michael,

I kinda agree about Rush...I lost interest in them around the mid 80's to mid 90's before getting back on board.  Even now I don't often listen to many records from this period....

Other stuff from the good ol' days...

Early Springsteen (although enjoyed recent CD "Magic")
DEVO
Hawkwind
Japan
Klark Kent (man he wis a larf)
Nine Below Zero
The Police (Hmmm...wonder how many people would admit to that!)
Rory Gallagher
T. Rex
Thin Lizzy

and soo many others....