Music Reissues Weekly: Moving Away from the Pulsebeat - Post-Punk Britain 1977-1981

MOVING AWAY FROM THE PULSEBEAT As musically unruly as the period it documents

Box-set collection as musically unruly as the period it documents

“Moving Away from the Pulsebeat” is the final track – barring the locked-groove return of the two-note guitar refrain from “Boredom” – of Buzzcocks’ March 1978 debut album, Another Music In A Different Kitchen. At five minutes 40 seconds it didn’t cleave to the short, sharp punk template. Also, it was largely instrumental. And it had a drum solo.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Beatles - Stowe School 1963

THE BEATLES - STOWE SCHOOL 1963 A schoolboy’s momentous tape recording

A schoolboy’s momentous tape recording

“We hope if you like it, you'll buy it,” says Paul McCartney. It’s 4 April 1963 and The Beatles are on stage and about to perform their third single “From Me to You.” It’s out in a week.

To his left, John Lennon instantly responds to the entreaty. “And if you don't like it,” he retorts. “Don't buy it.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Jon Savage's The Secret Public - How The LGBTQ+ Aesthetic Shaped Pop Culture

JON SAVAGE'S THE SECRET PUBLIC How The LGBTQ+ Aesthetic Shaped Pop Culture

A significant release

Jon Savage's The Secret Public How The LGBTQ+ Aesthetic Shaped Pop Culture 1955-1979 accompanies the titular author/historian/journalist’s book of almost the same name. The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped Popular Culture (1955–1979) and this 41-track double CD each track exactly what their titles say, drilling into what has often paralleled or underlain yet repeatedly influenced a constantly evolving mainstream.

Music Reissues Weekly: Andwella - To Dream

How a cult psychedelic band laid the ground for a massive Demis Roussos hit

Original pressings of Love And Poetry sell for up to £2,800. Copies of the August 1969 debut album by Andwellas Dream can sometimes also be found for £700, a relative bargain in the context of the upper limit of the prices the collector’s market has settled on.

Music Reissues Weekly: Little Girls - Valley Songs

Deserved tribute to the Los Angeles new wave popsters who failed to click

The name, Caron and Michelle Maso explained to Los Angeles radio DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, was a literal description. “We’re both like five feet. We’re all grown up, but we’re still little.”

Music Reissues Weekly: West Coast Consortium - All The Love In The World

WEST COAST CONSORTIUM - ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD Top-drawer British harmony pop

Top-drawer British harmony pop band whose promise was unfulfilled

West Coast Consortium’s first single was July 1967’s “Some Other Someday,” a delightful slice of Mellotron-infused harmony pop which wasn’t too far from The Ivy League’s “Funny How Love Can be” and The Rockin’ Berries’ “He’s in Town” – each of which were hits in, respectively, 1965 and 1964. All three bands were on the Pye label and its associated imprint Piccadilly.

Music Reissues Weekly: Warsaw - Middlesbrough 14th September 1977, Joy Division - Manchester 28th September 1979

WARSAW, 1977, JOY DIVISION, 1979 Thrilling live document of one of Britain’s greatest bands

Thrilling live document of one of Britain’s greatest bands

Edinburgh’s Rezillos were booked to play Middlesbrough’s Rock Garden on Wednesday 14 September 1977. “I Can’t Stand my Baby,” their debut single, had been issued in July and they were on the road subsequent to its release, positive music press reviews and regular spins from John Peel. Their humour-laced, Day-Glo art-punk was making waves.

Music Reissues Weekly: Linda Smith - I So Liked Spring, Nothing Else Matters

LINDA SMITH - I SO LIKED SPRING, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS An American musical auteur

The reappearance of two obscure - and great - albums by the American musical auteur

Three years ago, the release of Till Another Time 1988-1996 generated a thumbs up. A compilation of recordings by the Baltimore and/or New York-based Linda Smith it was, according to this column, “stunning” and “significant.” Until this point, knowledge of Smith had “largely been the province of the do-it-yourself world of music.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Congo Funk! - Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River

CONGO FUNK! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River

Assiduous exploration of the interconnected musical ecosystems of Brazzaville and Kinshasa

Brazzaville is on the north side of the Congo River. It is the capital of the Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is on the south side of the Congo. It is capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaïre. The cities face each other, about 1.5km apart, divided by the river and being in different nations.

Music Reissues Weekly: Patterns on the Window - The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1974

A nebulous year in music resists easy definition

Half-way through this three-CD set, the energy level suddenly shifts upwards. It’s just one track of the 67 collected, but in this context this basic, blunt recording stands on its own. Issued in October 1974, Dr. Feelgood’s debut single “Roxette” was an early sign that British music could change, needed to change.