Real Time 3 (1982) C90

Here's the third one, and possibly the best so far (ignoring that I posted volumes five and seven some time ago) by my estimation - hard to believe it was compiled by means presumably similar to throwing bricks from the top of a double decker bus travelling down a busy high street and expecting them to brain only persons with some degree of talent; unless Mr. Cox rejected anyone's contribution as being too crap, although I'm fairly sure I recall him stating that everyone who sent something for Real Time was represented in one way or another.

As usual, a few of these will have to speak for themselves, besides which, if you're reading this then you too have internet access and are just as able to research a few of these names as I am. Both Oi Polloi and Anhrefrn (pictured above) should be sufficiently famous for you to have heard of them, I would have thought, although being as this tape dates from 1982, this stuff actually came out almost a decade before I'd heard of either. I vaguely recall getting a letter from the Infamous Zeek & Giz back when I was running a tape label, but I was a bit put off by 1) the Infamous prefix, given that I'd never heard of them, 2) frequent reference to what they termed comedy tapes, and 3) the proposition that I might like to engage in swapsies - it all felt a bit too much like you don't have to be mad to work here, BUT IT HELPS! Thankfully though, their music is decent, and I probably would have enjoyed it back then were it not for the reservations already given; and idid idid apparently once had a split tape with New 7th Music on a label called Rock Against Elvis Costello, which is amusing.

I don't know nuffink else. Favourites artists here - Trendy Turtles and the Invisible Band, but it's all pretty good.

Download the twenty-five tracks and cover by clicking on this link.

Tracks:
1 - Trendy Turtles - Hickory Dickory
2 - Trendy Turtles - Instrumental
3 - Trendy Turtles - Bamber
4 - The Genitals - Our Eyes Met
5 - The Genitals - Sound of the Spa
6 - Sons of the Electrodes - Bear in Mind
7 - Oi Polloi - Police State
8 - Oi Polloi - Poppy Day
9 - Oi Polloi - No Future
10 - Oi Polloi - Media
11 - Lurch - Hush Little Baby
12 - Yr Anhrefrn - Stwffiwch Y Dolig
13 - Yr Anhrefrn - Ynni O'r Sebon
14 - Terminal Spectators - Another Day
15 - Terminal Spectators - Reach for the Sky
16 - The Infamous Zeek & Giz - Ronnie & the Rayguns
17 - The Infamous Zeek & Giz - My Brain is Infested with Mince
18 - Future Future - 21st Century (Dreams)
19 - Graham Larkbey - You Look So Lovely Tonight
20 - Graham Larkbey - Your Husband Didn't Like It
21 - The Invisible Band - Alazarin's Castle
22 - The Invisible Band - Doin' the Ton
23 - idid idid - Moloko Plus
24 - Ron Ferret - Wasps
25 - Ron Ferret - Train of Thought

 
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Real Time 2 (1982) C90

Here's another one, as per arrangements made t'other week. I don't know much about this lot either, except a few of them contributed to the previous volume. Research reveals that Gunslinger were based around one Alan Davey (pictured above) whom Discogs describes as the second-longest serving member of Hawkwind, so that's interesting, and perhaps accounts for why those two tracks are possibly my favourites on this tape. I'm fairly sure I saw Workforce live at the Green Dragon, Stratford-upon-Avon back in the early eighties - one of those sort of grunting funky Test Dept with a trumpet bands falling somewhere between Slab and Hula, as I recall, and very good too, although I suppose it might be a different band with the same name. In any case the internet doesn't seem to remember much about their ever having existed. Patrol were on the second A Country Fit for Heroes compilation on the studded leather No Future label, but that's about all I've found out about them. The Same was obviously Robert Cox, later of Rimarimba, and the man behind Unlikely Records who put out this tape. I assume he's probably also the man behind the track by Robert Cox.

A few of these are given here as [excerpts] because I couldn't be arsed to increment each individual thirty second snippet of something or other where artists contributed what sounds a lot like advertising for some album they were about to release, plus titling a single track as, for one example, The Black Box / We Care / Summary / Scenes of Today / Sandra / The Black Box as listed on the cassette cover struck me as cumbersome. Personally I wish they hadn't done this, because here, I've put together a montage of our best stuff for your compilation just seems to reduce the whole enterprise to advertising space, aesthetically speaking, regardless of some of that material sounding good; but, there's not much point in whining about it now, nearly four decades later, because each to their own, and admittedly the selection as a whole remains very, very listenable with plenty of surprises.

Download the twenty-four tracks and cover by clicking on this link.

Tracks:
1 - Swimming in the Sea - [excerpts]
2 - Workforce - Ten Fingers Only
3 - Jonathan Rush - Only a Nightmare
4 - David Rush - Laser
5 - Gunslinger - Someone's Got You in the Gunsights
6 - Gunslinger - Step into the Future
7 - The Blotchees - [excerpts]
8 - Extension-Two - [excerpts]
9 - Extension-Two - Extension-Two (Alone Again)
10 - Lurch - Real Time
11 - Robert Cox - A2 is Missing
12 - Patrol - SS Officer
13 - Patrol - Innocence
14 - Tom Cramp & the Epileptic Ducks - Cramposaurus Chant
15 - Tom Cramp & the Epileptic Ducks - White Stalk SB
16 - The Puush - Morning Rolls and Hot Coffee
17 - Suburban Storm Troopers - Switchblade & Crucifix
18 - Suburban Storm Troopers - Mau Mau
19 - Switch-Chord Roulette - Theresa
20 - Switch-Chord Roulette - Goliath
21 - The Same - Instrumental 7/3/82
22 - The Same - Auntie Meat
23 - The Same - Sampled & Held
24 - The Same - Sync or Swim
 
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Real Time 1 (1982) C90

Some Digital Dinosaurs yesterday.

I thought I'd run out of compilation tapes, having digitised all of those in my possession, then remembered that Robert Cox, the man behind Unlikely Records, had very kindly sent me digitised files of the volumes of his Real Time series which I hadn't already posted here. So these are tapes from the eighties which I've only heard this year for the first time, which is exciting. The two volumes I have in my physical possession were posted here and here,  and I'm sharing those links so as to avoid having to repeat myself as to what Real Time was all about.

I'm pretty much in the dark about most of these people. I recall the Digital Dinosaurs from back in the day, and it turns out they were from Coventry so I probably read about them in Martin Bowes' Alternative Sounds. There's a bit about them here, and I've just noticed that the excellent Mr. Zchivago has a shitload of material on his Die or DIY? blog. In Embrace were something to do with the guy from 3 Way Dance and Peter Becker of Eyeless in Gaza, amongst others, and I remember What a Nice Way to Turn Seventeen fanzine of Leamington Spa going positively apeshit over their album, from which I assume these excerpts are taken. I also recall Jonathan Rush from somewhere or other, and the Ffuts used to be known as the Stuff. I'm sure you all know who was behind EG Oblique Graph, and the Same was Robert Cox himself, which is why it probably reminds you of Rimarimba. I don't know anything about the rest, but hopefully you'll agree this is a nice little collection, full of surprises. Quite keen on the Emergency Exit tracks myself.

I'll post volume two in another couple of weeks once I'm back from my holiday in Airstrip One.

Download the twenty-eight tracks and cover by clicking on this link.

Tracks:
1 - Syd Nairda - Nevada
2 - Lurch - High-Steppin' Mamma
3 - Digital Dinosaurs - Sideways Man
4 - Digital Dinosaurs - Red Fire Engine
5 - Jonathan Rush - Synthasalsa
6 - Jonathan Rush - New Dawn
7 - Y Celfi Cam - Mab y Gweinidog
8 - In Embrace - [excerpts]
9 - EG Oblique Graph - Scar
10 - The Ffuts - Luscious Love
11 - The Same - 453-549
12 - Tom Cramp & the Epileptic Ducks - Die for Doggy
13 - R.J. Curd - [excerpts]
14 - Emergency Exit - Falling for You
15 - Emergency Exit - Voices
16 - Part Form - [excerpts]
17 - Future Future - Operator
18 - The Toy Shop - [excerpts]
19 - Extension-Two - Gaps
20 - General Motors - Tubular Turd
21 - General Motors - Live Wasp Omelette, Lung
22 - Piers of the Realm - Manic
23 - Someone Else - Something Else
24 - The Same - Set Zero
25 - The Same - Hot & Cold
26 - The Same - Larruping Shuftly
27 - The Same - If You Want To, Do So!
28 - The Same - Du Ma Casa
 
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