The Raven Is On The Wing (Record Mirror 4th August 1979)

 

Pete Shelley 'Cue The Music' Live In London 1986 DVD

Looking for a suitable post for the ongoing 1987 thread I was dipping my toes into old music press from the previous year amd some stuff came up relating to this little chap. 1986 saw the release of a new Pete Shelley album, 'Heaven and the Sea'. I have talked about it before on these pages, about what a remarkable album it is, despite falling victim to a degree of the overblown production that marred many an album that appeared in the secong half of the decade.

This is a recording of an episode of the ITV series 'Cue The Music' hosted by Mike Mansfield and on occasion (as here) by the comedian Tony Slattery, who we lost last month. I have two versions of this recording, one that I prepared and authoured an another downloaded years ago from Punktorrents authoured by Bandit999. Of the two versions, my version I think my version has a slightly clearer picture and so that is the one I have chosen to share here.

DVD Image: https://we.tl/t-hj1cUFoae6

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-5rA83AvpBr

01. Intro

02. Waiting For Love

03. On Your Own

04. Never Again

05. My Dreams

06. Blue Eyes

07. If You Ask Me (I Won't Say No)

08. No Moon

09. Telephone Operator

10. Homosapien

11. Something's Gone Wrong Again

In addition, below is the announcement from Record Mirror of his tour.... I would have loved to have seen him play the Zap Club in Brighton! Do anyone have any recordings from this tour. The closest that I have is the shortened support slot that he played with The Damned at the 10th Anniversary gig in Finsbury Park.

Record Mirror 8th November 1986

Finally, here's a contemporary review of a gig from this period that he played at The Warehouse in Leeds.

Record Mirror 17th May 1986

20 From '87 (8) Peterborough Arena 25th March 1987

 

And another from 1987 and the second leg of the Dreamtime tour. This is a pretty good quality audience recording of the gig.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-qLCZn5ZI7g

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-DHAJR71DnO

The English Beat Buffalo State University NY 14th April 1983 (TFTLTYTD#16)

 

This is a gem of a recording of The Beat, or The English Beat as they had to be known Stateside for legal reasons. There was just something about this band, their songs were a mixture political protest ('Get A Job', 'Stand Down Margaret' and 'Two Swords') and songs about relationships ('Too Nice To Talk To', 'Jeanette', 'Hands Off... She's Mine') all delivered with a high level of positivity. Both live and in the studio they played out their 'Peace, Love & Unity' mantra. It was a mixture of killer material, Roger's charm and who knows what else that made The Beat the band that bands wanted to tour with. They supported some of the biggest bands of the late '70's/early '80s, The Clash, The Police, oh and some bloke by the name of Bowie. They were supported by some big bands too on the rise. On this tour support was provided by REM. The exposure that the band enjoyed from touring with big name bands ensured some degree of success in United States that continued for a while with General Public, the band formed by Roger and Dave Wakeling after the demise of The English Beat.

Legendary Beat saxophonist, Saxa, died in 2017, Ranking Roger died in 2019, whilst original drummer Everett Morton died in 2021.

A truely great and inspirational band.

Many thanks to the original Dime uploader.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-vwlqkXqueQ

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-6mbQ464k0s