Donation Update - 31st July 2026

 

Pete says 'Thanks for the cash!'

Just wanted to say another heartfelt thanks to those that have donated so far towards to cost of the annual subscription to WeTransfer, the platform that stores all of the music files that appear on Aural Sculptors. As of today (31st July) £135 has been raised which represents 68% of the subscription cost. If you still feel inclined to make a contribution you can do so at anytime via the PayPal button located on the right hand bar of the site.

Whilst I am offering thanks allow me once again to appreciate those who regularly send files through to me to share with the small but avid Aural Sculptors community and also those who engage with the site through the comments facility (yes I know the comment procedure is not intuitive!). 

Hugh Cornwell Echoplex Los Angeles 17th March 2012

 

St Patrick's night in Los Angeles back in 2012. This is a great pro-shot recording of the LA date on his US tour packaged as Hugh Cornwell versus Glen Matlock in a night of 'Heavyweight Rock And Roll'. Old punk rockers aside I would contend that there was someone equally desirable to see on this night. Clem Burke was occupying the drum stool behind Hugh on this tour (bass duties were performed by Steve Fishman).

Here we have the tried and tested HAC setlist format in which Stranglers and solo material alternates give or take... to keep the audience engaged in Hugh's words. The set closes with a guest appearance on stage of said Matlock for a version on the Mose Allison number, 'Seventh Son'.

DVD Image: https://we.tl/t-VwZdTn25Fa5DmKvs

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-XfU3J0jJWnxrYbO3

Dead Pioneers Don't Panic Essen 19th July 2026

 

(photo: David Devant)

Somebody left a comment on one of the posts on the site, 'Please keep on posting new bands'. Now by my own admission, this is something that I have not really done over the years. My thoughts on the matter for a long time have been along the lines that discovering bands is something that you do in your teens. This is of course an absolute nonsense, music should be ageless and be there to be discovered throughout life. I do however stand by the fact that seeking out new music takes time and effort, which can be a barrier to new discovery. However, I have taken that posted comment to heart at least to some extent. Luckily for me I have a friend in Germany who can facilitate this. Peter is an avid gig goer and is in the habit of sending anything that he considers may be a good fit for these pages over to me. This is how I came by Dead Pioneers.

This band that hails from Denver, Colorado are very current, but they take me right back to the 80's when I had a small collection of cassette recordings of 'Rodney On The ROQ' compilations. These featured the likes of Black Flag, Channel 3, Social Distortion, Dead Kennedys and the Circle Jerks. The brand of hardcore punk that those bands played sounded great to me and still does. So, when I listened to the first few tracks of Dead Pioneers, recorded this month on tour in Essen, I immediately heard that particular US style hardcore again. Specifically, I heard Circle Jerks and perhaps early Dead Kennedys. Lead singer, Gregg Deal, sounds a lot like Keith Morris... especially when they play the Circle Jerks anthem 'World Up My Ass'!

Gregg Deal is an interesting character. A registered member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe, he is an artist, musician and activist who promotes first nation rights and culture. When he is not doing that he fronts Dead Pioneers who were recently in Europe promoting their new album, 'Wagon Burner', released just last month. The band take an uncompromising stance when it comes to White Power groups in the States. Now, having spent time last weekend in Nuremburg's Court Room 600 and at the Nazi Rally ground complex, anyone with an issue with Nazis is okay in my book!

In addition to the music I had a listen to a TED talk delivered by Gregg Deal which gives some idea of where he's at. Here. Interesting stuff at this time when the Trump administration has just reignited its dispute with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History accusing them of misrepresenting American history.

So thank you Peter... keep on educating me!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-vuwNxtTQceWtcztw

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-MCJaTszSpCpXzUVZ

O2 Academy Sheffield 25th March 2011

 

Now this is a good one. Sourced from Tarquinlive. DomP has mastered this recording and made a big positive difference from the original. Sounds great to me, with the quality doing justice to the set that gave us such gems as 'Tramp', 'Two Sunspots', 'Dead Loss Angeles' and 'Sweden'. Dom reminds me that this was the last tour that Jet undertook in it's entirety.

Thanks Dom! Appreciate it.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-bDBZBBeuaPWTOy4J

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-mdAaLqUxhokFpDP4

Eat Our Dust Weller! Golden Brown At Number One (6th February 1982)

Being a bit of a nerd I have been part of a pub quiz team (the same one no less) for 32 years! The pubs whose quizzes we have participated in invariably have a music round. One round theme that has reoccurred over the years runs along the lines of big songs that missed the No. 1 chart position, unjustly or not. The classic example is the dreadful 'Shaddap You Face', a novelty hit by the Australian/American Joe Dolce that kept the Ultravox anthem 'Vienna' off the coveted number one slot. Such was the overblown pomposity of the song that half of the UK's record buying public sniggered at such a turn of events and continue to do so more than forty years later!

The example relevant to these humble pages is that a race to No.1 between The Stranglers and The Jam (two of the biggest survivors of the first wave of punk) played out in early 1982 and this too has been a quiz question on several occasions. The problem for The Stranglers was that despite having achieved significant radio play for the first time in years with the quirky, out of character waltz of 'Golden Brown' the competition in February 1982 was stiff, specifically in the form of Weller's mob who released 'A Town Called Malice/Precious as a double A-side. Arguably The Jam were the biggest band in the UK at this time and 'Malice' saw The Jam at the top of their game, both in terms of Weller's lyricism as well as the musical punch they were then delivering. And so it was that the Official UK chart saw 'A Town Called Malice' streak up the chart (the single is seen here in the Melody Maker Chart as a new entry, straight in at number eight (as of 6th February)), rapidly reaching number one, thereby denying The Stranglers the greatest measure of chart success.

However, look closely at the singles chart below, the number one is no less than 'Golden Brown'! The music paper Melody Maker was always rather apart from its UK music weekly rivals, long being a champion of 'real musicianship' which roughly translated to folk and jazz. In this spirit of stubborn independence they continued to produce their own UK single and album chart that was not infrequently at odds with the Official UK Chart returns. So in a nutshell, 'Golden Brown' did reach No. 1.... you just have to look in the right places.

So, next time that particular question surfaces in a pub quiz, maybe I should point out the factual error.... but then again I might just get docked points for being an annoying smart arse!

As an aside, the Official UK Chart has also published a Top 40 of favourite No. 2s (record wise!). Take a look at the esteemed company that 'Golden Brown' is keeping. Sandwiched between James's 'Sit Down' (a song I loath!) and 'Waterloo Sunset' (one of the greatest British pop songs of all time). Seeing the Ray Davies composition there, a parallel comes to mind.... 'A Town Called Malice' is surely a 'Dead End Street' for the 1980's.

And even if 'Golden Brown was pipped at the post by 'Malice', it's no disgrace and I can think of a host of worse songs to lose out to.

'It's-a not so bad, it's-a nice-a place

Ah shaddap-a you face!'

The Gig That Mobilised Manchester? Lesser Free Trade Hall 20th July 1976

 

As much as I would love to conjure up a pristine recording of this famed gig I can't I am afraid. However, whilst this is not a new post (the link goes back to July 2023), such is the gravity of this particular anniversary it is worth directing people back to the 'I Swear I Was There' documentary DVD.

Having arranged a gig at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in June, Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto brought the Pistols back for a return fixture just six weeks later. This gig would be Buzzcocks first 'proper' gig (they weren't ready to play the June date)... oh and the actual first Buzzcocks gig occurred in April at the Bolton Institute of Technology.

Sex Pistols

(Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester 20th July 1976)

The story does not warrant a retelling here, watch the film for chapter and verse on that score. Suffice to say that if the 4th June gig was sparsely attended, the few that were there did a good job of spreading the word that something extraordinary was in the making and the return of the rag-tag cockney quartet was not something that the savvy ones should miss. And they didn't. On this night fifty years ago the Pistols played once more, watched by an audience that included the movers and shakers to be that would propel Manchester to a position of music prominence for the next 20 years or so.

It got press to from Jonh Ingham in the 31st July issue of Sounds too!

(Review from the collection of John Maher)

Here's the link to the DVD..... 'I Swear I Was There'.

What Brian Did Next - Tanz Der Youth Music Machine London 10th August 1978

 

This month, 'Vive Le Rock' magazine must be congratulated on the publication of their 'Damned Annual', a brilliant compilation of articles, interviews, Q&A sessions with key players in the band's long career. As good as the annual undoubtably is, it set me to thinking about all of the side projects, new bands etc etc that have an association with 'brand Damned'. It's a job for Pete Frame I reckon!

The White Cats

King

Doctors of Madness

Lords of the New Church

The Doomed

Naz Nomad

The Phantom Chords

The Sensible Grey Cells

Professor and the Madman

...

The list goes on and on.

One of the first new ventures was from Brian James who formed a band called Tanz Der Youth after departing from The Damned.

Sounds (20th May 1978)

New Musical Express (20th May 1978)

Record Mirror (20th May 1978)

Sounds (10th June 1978)

New Musical Express (30th September 1978)

Sounds (30th September 1978)

Blink and you will have missed them. In their brief existence they released one single on Radar Records, 'I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry' backed with 'Delay'. Their other 'achievement' was getting a support slot on Black Sabbath's 'Never Say Die!' tour, another short lived venture with TDY quitting the tour seven dates in after successive bottle receptions!

Although there is only one official release to their name, they left some traces in the record, in the form of this gig from August 1978 at the Music Machine in Camden and a John Peel Session (both released unofficially). 

So that was Tanz Der Youth, an sonic experiment that Brian's audience were perhaps not yet prepared for. The music very much brings to mind early XTC and Magazine, so quite a departure from anything that he had done with The Damned!

Next stop Euroman Cometh with his old pal Jean Jacques.

I have included what I believe to be the correct track listing on the artwork (versus the file names). Thanks to the original Dime uploader (theGrape).

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-ggbhjZkf6LCbR3rX

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-QnMScNkyJuY1Lomm