Enjoying watching guitar folk lose their shit on their first exposure to John Butler:
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Congrats!
I’m not really a fan of punk, but I do like Devo, Cardiacs, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I’m not sure if the first two are punk at all, but I’m pretty sure that Siouxsix is.
I also really like some of Suburban Lawns, but I’m not sure where they fit in either. I guess there’s always lots of genre mixing.
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I get a percentage of whatever is sold (which I can’t remember off the top of my head), but i get it from the first sale…
It just struck me that you can just get your local library to order a copy for the library, too. This would be especially good if you can’t afford a copy, as they’ll buy the more expensive hardback, you’ll get to read it, and others in your community will be able to do so too. Win-win!
And BTW, most academics don’t expect to make money off book sales. The only ones that really do are the super-stars and people who write textbooks! It’s great if I can make money off this, but it’s most certainly not my primary concern. 
Devo certainly has crossover with punk…
I will say that punk was both a “genre” as the industry defines genre, but it also became a means of organizing democratic culture. Punks pioneered a means of producing music that people in other genres emulated, so there is influence there outside of the musical style.
Yep.
Thanks all. Just send me a PM if you want to discount code. And ask your library to order the book, too.
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Hm. You might be onto something there. But also, I’d say that calling something a thing before it’s a thing is always pretty fraught. But I can certainly see some of the influence, though I don’t know how much of their Hamburg days were well-known about in the early 70s… I do think that lots of punks liked the Beatles and were influenced by them (especially their earlier stuff), but by no means all.
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I saw them a handful of years back and “bonkers” doesn’t even cover it but they were an awesome gig to be at. Weird and wonderful and then some.
@mindysan33 if you have the details I will see if I can get your book ordered at my library here as I seem to be on a roll for getting them to order and hold things for me.
Also, I picked up a graphic novel about Roller Derby girls from them yesterday and the old Tank Girl book I also found wasn’t on their system so the librarian told me I could just have it and if the security gate pinged on my way out then she would happily ignore it
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As far as I know, you should be able to go in and just ask your library to purchase the book… here is the guide the publisher sent me:
Geared towards university libraries, but I don’t see why it won’t work for public libraries as well?
Here is the direct link to my book, which should have all the information you might need?
Thanks!
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Excellent, thanks!!
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Wow! I’m envious. I’ve only known about them for a couple of years. My favorite of their songs is “Tarred and Feathered,” and the video is just unhinged:
The keyboardist, William D. Drake, is fabulous, and can be bonkers too (though more serious as well):
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Tarred and Feathered is excellent.
They certainly give off a vibe that they are in another world, like if somebody said they’re from the next dimension over it’s kinda believable.
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I wonder if maybe this conversation should be moved to the “Talkin’ about music” thread?
It’s the only song I know of where the lead singer, Tim Smith (RIP), slaps himself on the head and says “Ow,” then ends the song with a sigh.
I like the makeup too. I guess that was their trademark.
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Your wish is my command 
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Handy, thanks
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A group of musicians from several metal (?) bands did a cover of T&F. It’s pretty neat. Tim Smith’s brother Jim is one of the musicians.
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Wow.
I’m so sharing that with my friend, he’ll love it - thanks
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2022 has been a good year thus far for seeing synthpop artists.
Earlier this year I saw a-ha, and they were great. Recap:
A few weeks back I saw Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. While I had already bought tickets long before, in June 2021, they did a live-streamed benefit show for their road crew from the O2 in London. They looked and sounded great there so my expectations were high for this show and they did not disappoint. Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys sound just as good now as they did in the 1980s. Andy still does his wonderfully dorky “Trainee Teacher” dance moves. The crowd was on fire the entire time. I don’t think I sat down the entire show. They played for nearly 2 hours with a good mix of older and newer songs, including a couple deep cuts from some of the early albums.
Here’s a snap from that show:
And, yes, the saxophone was absolutely taken out for the If You Leave and So in Love sax solos.
Setlist:
Then, last night I saw Howard Jones with Midge Ure opening. This was my second HoJo show. The first was in 2020 just weeks before the pandemic lockdowns began. Recap:
The tickets I got included a meet & greet package so I got to be one of a small group who got shuffled into a room to get a few seconds with Howard to get a picture taken, have the briefest of conversations, and have him sign something (not having the foresight to bring a CD with me, I had him sign my lanyard). He was extremely nice and even complimented my TR-808 shirt that I was wearing telling me how he still has his 808. I wish I could have spent more time nerding out with him about synths and drum machines, but these things don’t ever really allow for that.
As for the show, it was pretty great. Midge Ure sounded excellent. He performed mostly Ultravox songs and a couple solo songs — and of course Visage’s Fade to Grey. His crowd banter was great with him cracking a joke about how he sounds like Groundskeeper Willy (“but not really”) and how his most streamed song on Spotify by millions was of course the one he didn’t write (The Man Who Sold the World).
Here’s Midge with Dan Burton as “the other half of the band”:
Setlist:
Worth calling out Dan Burton was actually on loan from HoJo’s band and did double duty as Midge’s keyboardist and Jones’ keyboardist and drummer. He definitely worked hard tonight. Much props.
Howard Jones was of course great. He’s such an amazing talent; a talented singer and prodigious pianist. His voice sounds just as good as ever. The previous show of his that I saw touring as The Howard Jones Trio was very stripped down but this show was totally synth pop with a few acoustic versions to change up the pace a little. While Howard Jones Trio guitarist Robin Boult was on hand, bassist Nick Beggs (of Kajagoogoo) is sidelined due to COVID until later in the tour. That was a bummer as he’s an incredibly good bassist. But the show must go on and it was a blast. Howard even broke out the keytar for a few songs. I’d definitely see him again given the opportunity.
Setlist:
About the only downside was the casino crowd at the show. Lots and lots of drinking and drunken shenanigans in the crowd which kinda sucked. Seats had almost sold out before the show so at least people who were there were there because they wanted to see Howard, not just because the venue comped a bunch of tickets to folks.
Coming up:
Not really synthpop but still relevant, I’ll be seeing Kraftwerk in July.
To close the circle and see some contemporary synthpop, I’ll be seeing CHVRCHES in September. (They originally weren’t coming to PNW but added more dates here recently and I got tickets as soon as they went on sale.)
In October I’ll be seeing New Order co-headlining with Pet Shop Boys — twice in the same week, but at two different venues. (Partially hedging against possible border closures since one show is in Canada, and the other is it’s fucking New Order and Pet Shop Boys both of whom I’ll happily see twice.)
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