C86 Show - Indie Pop

REM special with Bertis Downs in conversation with David Eastaugh   R.E.M.'s drummer Bill Berry instigated Downs' connection with the band. In 1978, John Huie, a rep for the booking company Berry worked for at the time, suggested Berry look up Downs, whom he knew from Davidson College who had since graduated and was then in law school at the University of Georgia . Downs attended an R.E.M. show at...

Blancmange special with Neil Arthur in conversation with David Eastaugh   English synth-pop band formed in Harrow, London , in 1979. The band were a duo for most of their career, composed of Neil Arthur (vocals) and Stephen Luscombe (keyboards). They came to prominence in the early 1980s releasing four singles that entered the Top 20 charts in the UK, such as " Living on the Ceiling ", " Waves ",...

Th' Faith Healers  special with Roxanne Stephen in conversation with David Eastaugh   Th' Faith Healers were an English indie rock band who were originally active between 1990 and 1994. The members of the group were Roxanne Stephen (vocals), Tom Cullinan (guitar and vocals), Ben Hopkin (bass), and Joe Dilworth (drums). [1] They recorded multiple EPs and singles along with two full LPs. Tom Cullina...

Shelia Chandra special - Monsoon, The Imagined Village, Ancient BeatBox - in conversation with David Eastaugh   As a teenager she formed the band Monsoon with Steve Coe (who became the band's producer) and bassist Martin Smith. Monsoon created a fusion of Western and Indian pop styles. The band recorded its only album, Third Eye , in 1982 from which it had a hit single, " Ever So Lonely ", which p...

Pentagram special with Bobby Liebling in conversation with David Eastaugh   In 1971, Bobby Liebling and Geof O'Keefe decided to leave their previous bands (Shades of Darkness and Space Meat, respectively) to form a new band that reflected their interest in emerging metal and hard rock acts such as UFO , Black Sabbath , Uriah Heep , and Sir Lord Baltimore . At Liebling's suggestion, the group was n...

Vic Godard in conversation with David Eastaugh In 1976, Godard formed Subway Sect with three other fans of the Sex Pistols at the suggestion of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren , who wanted another band for the line-up of the 100 Club Punk Festival . Despite their inexperience, Subway Sect made a successful debut at the festival and were taken on by Clash manager Bernie Rhodes . They appeared w...

The Wonder Stuff with Miles Hunt in conversation with David Eastaugh The Wonder Stuff released four albums and nearly 20 singles and EPs, enjoying considerable chart and live success in the UK. The band have continued to tour and record since 2000. Largely the vehicle for the songwriting of Miles Hunt , the band split up with a farewell performance as headliners of the 1994 Phoenix Festival , but...

The Bible with Boo Hewerdine in conversation with David Eastaugh The Bible was formed in 1985 in Cambridge , when former Great Divide frontman Boo Hewerdine teamed up with keyboard player/drummer Tony Shepherd (who'd played with jazz bands and drummed for Cambridge bands The Wobbly Jellies and Somewhere in the Foreign Office, the latter of which had featured future satirist Chris Morris on bass)....

The Fleshtones special with Peter Zaremba in conversation with David Eastaugh The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Jan Marek Pakulski two roommates who discovered that a previous tenant had left behind some instruments in the basement of the house they were renting. Streng, on guitar, and Pakulski, on bass, were soon joined by neighborhood friends Peter Za...

Weekend, Working Week & Afro Celt Sound System with Simon Emmerson in conversation with David Eastaugh Record producer , guitarist , DJ , musical director at Lush , and founder of the group Afro Celt Sound System . He is also the main organiser of The Imagined Village , a collaborative work from many roots artists. Emmerson also plays on this album. In 1995 Emmerson was nominated for a Grammy for...

Peter and the Test Tube Babies with Derek 'Strangefish' Greening in conversation with David Eastaugh Peter and the Test Tube Babies were first featured in Sounds magazine in July 1980, and after a John Peel Radio One session, made their vinyl debut on the Brighton compilation album Vaultage 78. In recent years the band has played at festivals including the 11th Antifest in 2005. They also had two...

The Legendary Pink Dots special with Edward Ka-Spel in conversation with David Eastaugh The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984 the band moved to Amsterdam , playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka-Spel and keyboardist Phil Knight. As of 2012, the group is composed of Edw...

Pete Jones special - talking about life with Public Imagine Limited, Department S & Brian Brain with David Eastaugh Pete Jones played bass in different bands since the punk rock era of the 1970s, but is known for being a member of Public Image Ltd., during 1982–1983. He played bass guitar on PiL's highest charting UK single "This Is Not a Love Song" as well as recording Commercial Zone whilst with...

Senser special with Heitham Al-Sayed in conversation with David Eastaugh In 1993, Senser released two indie singles on Ultimate – "Eject" and "The Key". In March 1994, Senser released their third single, "Switch", which entered the UK Singles Chart at number 39. Senser's first album, Stacked Up, was released in May 1994, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 4. At the beginning of 1995, Senser...

Thousand Yard Stare special with Stephen Barnes in conversation with David Eastaugh The band's debut effort, the Weatherwatching EP was released in November 1990 on Stifled Aardvark Records, the band's own record label . Both the Easter 89 and Tumbletown EPs were demo tapes made up by the band and sold at gigs prior to their first official release, the 12" vinyl only Weatherwatching. In a response...

Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey in conversation with David Eastaugh Amelia Fletcher has been the frontwoman of an evolving series of pop groups from the 1980s to the present. Her bands included Talulah Gosh , Heavenly , Marine Research , Tender Trap , and, since 2014, The Catenary Wires. She also sang backing vocals for The Wedding Present early in their career and on the Hefner album We Love the C...

Ride special with Mark Gardener in conversation with David Eastaugh Gardener formed Ride with Andy Bell (guitar), whom he met at Cheney School in Oxford , and Laurence Colbert (drummer) and Steve Queralt (bass guitarist), whom he met doing Foundation Studies in Art and Design at Banbury in 1988. While still at Banbury the band produced a tape demo including the tracks "Chelsea Girl" and "Drive Bli...

Inca Babies special with Harry Stafford in conversation with David Eastaugh Still retaining their original Manchester post-punk roots, the Inca Babies have appeared since 2008 at festivals and concerts across Europe, performing at 'Drop Dead' festival in Vilnius, Lithuania and 'Deathcave 2014' festival in Saint-Petersburg and Moscow, as well as playing live in Warsaw, Milan, Rome, Athens, Amsterda...

Mega City Four special with Gerry Bryant in conversation with David Eastaugh  The group were officially formed in 1987 and the band's career started with performing gigs around their local town of Farnborough before making their vinyl debut in September 1987 with "Miles Apart"/"Running in Darkness". The single led to a round of gigs with fellow punk -influenced bands like Senseless Things and Snuf...

Stephen Street in conversation with David Eastaugh English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths , The Cranberries and Blur . Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album Viva Hate following the split of The Smiths. More recently he has worked with Kaiser Chiefs , Babyshambles and The Courteeners . For a time, he was managed by Gail Colson 's company Gailforce Management....

Carolyn Fok in conversation with David Eastaugh Cyrnai is Los Angeles-born painter, writer and electronic musician Carolyn Fok. She self-produced a number of cassettes and eventually released Charred Blossoms (1985). It took a decade to release the follow-up, the ambitious multimedia project Transfiguation (1996), and then The Listener (2000), which is less ambitious but perhaps more accomplished.

Spizzenergi special with Spizz in conversation with David Eastaugh Their lineup in late 1979 consisted of Spizz on vocals and guitar, Mark Coalfield on keyboard and vocals, Dave Scott on guitar, Jim Solar (real name James Little) on bass guitar and Hero Shima (real name Suresh Singh) on drums. With a distinctively new wave sound, as Spizzenergi they became the first number one band on the newly fo...

S*M*A*S*H special with Ed Borrie in conversation with David Eastaugh Ed Borrie and Salvatore Alessi formed S*M*A*S*H after meeting at school in the mid-1980s - Salvatore had previously been in a band called GLC.Rob Hague joined soon afterwards. The band's sound recalled the late 1970s and early 1980s punk and new wave bands. The British music press were enthusiastic about the band creating a scene...

Pure Hell special with Kenny Gordon in conversation with David Eastaugh Among the pioneers of the post- garage rock , post- acid rock , glam-theater era of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pure Hell was among the first of its kind, comparable to the MC5 , Sex Pistols , Dead Boys . Commercially, the band had little success and only released one single (" These Boots are Made for Walking " b/w "No Ru...

The Dylans special with Quentin Jennings in conversation with David Eastaugh The band was formed in early 1990 by former 1,000 Violins guitarist, songwriter, and occasional singer Colin Gregory, now on bass guitar , Jim Rodger (guitar), and Andy Curtis (guitar). They soon recruited Quentin Jennings (keyboards) and Garry Jones (drums), continuing 1,000 Volins sixties-tinged retro style, but with a...