Liaisons Dangereuses - Los Niños Del Parque, 1982

Incredible and way ahead of anything else at the time. Unfortunately they produced only one album, the result of four ten-minute sessions recorded to CHBB cassettes - mixed by Liaisons Dangereuses at Conny Plank Studio and released with Teldec Import Service in October 1981. The Los Niños Del Parque single was released on Mute in 1982.

Fad Gadget - Coitus Interruptus

The first Fad Gadget album. Nine songs recorded at Blackwing Studios, All Hallows Church, London 1980.

Sexual Harrassment - If I Gave You A Party, 1983

First heard this on Gomma’s incredible Anti NY compilation from 2001 - holy jesus nearly ten years ago already, and nothing short of a revelation for me at the time. Along with the shamelessly under-produced name-dropping festivities of LCD’s “Losing My Edge”, I’m pretty certain this double vinyl comp basically triggered my no-wave addiction. I’ve been searching for the originals of all the tracks ever since. Sexual Harrassment was part of the music that came out of New York’s early 80’s hip hop & graffiti Mudd Club scene. This must rank among some of the weirdest dirtiest electro out there of the time, it doesn’t get any better. Especially love the party scene at the end of the track.

Soft Cell - Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go, 1981

After the chart failure of their previous single “Memorabilia” - actually an underground club fav produced by Mute Records founder Daniel Miller - Phonogram Records allowed Soft Cell to record a second and final single in an attempt to score a chart success. The band opted to record a radically minimalist cover version of “Tainted Love”, a northern soul classic originally sung by Gloria Jones.

Soft Cell’s version was recorded in a day and a half with singer Marc Almond’s first vocal take being the version ultimately used on the record. They left the recording sessions with only modest expectations that the track might break into the UK Top 50. Further, Almond wrote that his only significant contribution to the song’s instrumentation (besides the vocals) was the suggestion that the song begin with a characteristic “bink bink” sound which would repeat periodically throughout.

J.J. Fad - Supersonic, 1987

Produced by The Arabian Prince. Just wait for the electro edits after the beat drops 4 minutes in. Dope.

The Bollock Brothers - Harley David (Son Of A Bitch), 1987

British punk band formed in 1979 by Studio 21 club dj Jock McDonald who turned out some killer left-field covers, notably this one originally by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot as well as an elctro version of The Sex Pistols album Never Mind The Bollocks.

Thanks to my bro Tommy p for pointing this one out while record shopping in little tokyo LA a while back.

Ultravox - Mr. X, 1980

A beautifully crafted minimal new wave electro track produced by Conny Plank at his studio near Cologne Germany, very much in the same vein of Juan Atkins’ seminal detroit tech “Alleys Of Your Mind”, mostly due to the mechanical drumming of I believe a Roland CR-78 drum machine.

Playgroup - Euphoria, 1985 (Factory Benelux)

The only single from this little-known New York outfit, not not to be confused with Trevor Jackson’s electroclash Playgroup project. Released in ‘85 on Factory Benelux alongside two other 12” singles, Playgroups’ sound fits in perfectly along side the likes of New Order, but unfortunately suffered from a lack of promotion.

The Benelux label was the result of an informal arrangement made in 1980 between Factory Records and Les Disques du Crépuscule in Brussels, whereby the latter released ‘spare’ recordings by Factory artists. However most of the Benelux releases have proved to be jewels in the Factory crown - The Key of Dreams (Section 25), Everything’s Gone Green (New Order), Shack Up (A Certain Ratio), Calcutta (The Names) and The Plateau Phase (Crispy Ambulance). Now defunct as a political entity, the term Benelux referred to the pre-EU customs union formed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

He Said - Watch-Take-Care, 1989

One of the many experimental electronic side projects of Graham Lewis, bassist of Wire, beginning with the release of Hail in 1986 on Mute. Take Care is his last album to date.

I’ve pretty much had the entire album on repeat since picking this up last week from Zzz’s.  It covers a lot of ground, spanning from industrial noise to moody new wave, electro ballads, and even a bit of acid house. The dystopian video-collaged album art, credited to Sven, certainly doesn’t disappoint either.

Bauhaus - She’s In Paties, 1983

Their tenth and final single, released on Beggar’s Banquet shortly before the band split up. Apparently Peter Murphy’s modeling career as the guy sitting in the Le Corbusier LC2 armchair for all the UK Maxell cassette ads had something to do with that.