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 Everett True

Everett True’s Favourite Bands (and Venues) of 1980

Everett True’s Favourite Bands (and Venues) of 1980
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I started, so I may as well see this mini-series through to its conclusion.

This is probably the most dubious ‘top’ chart of all from my teenage self in 1980. It’s not based on ‘likes’ or ‘ratings’ (as you might have expected), but on simple numbers, calculated via a point system – two for a live show, two for an album, one for a single. How much I enjoyed the live shows or records didn’t come into it. Although a note does state “biased to gigs” so maybe I did make some form of adjustment.

Whatever. Teenage boy has to rate everything so teenage boy rates everything.

Some of these bands listed have stayed with me consistently down the years, in particular Buzzcocks. Never a year goes by without me playing all their albums several times. Ramones also (obviously). (I’m surprised The Jam aren’t in there but maybe they didn’t qualify as I never saw them play live. Likewise, I hadn’t seen The Fall by that point.)

Young Marble Giants and The Raincoats and The Slits, check. Always return to them. Joy Division, no. I grew too obsessed with Ian Curtis and so jettisoned them somewhere around the early 80s. I really like the occasional song I hear these days but I don’t think I’ll ever return. Still love This Heat’s first two albums and maxi-single, obviously. Essential Logic I have very fond memories of, but have barely played since (the kill rock stars reissue notwithstanding). pragVEC, I delight in rediscovering every so often. A Certain Ratio, too. Darts? Well, I did see them play twice – and loved their singles. Can’t say I play them non-stop in 2014 but I still dig their revivalist groove.

If you’ve seen the other posts in this series, you might figure Buzzcocks have come out of nowhere. Well, they were the first band I saw… and I owned six albums of theirs at the time (including three full-length bootlegs) and 15 singles. Ramones’ singles were harder to come by with picture sleeves: I only had six of those.

TOP BANDS ’80

1. BUZZCOCKS

2. RAMONES

3= JOY DIVISION

3= YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS

3= THE RAINCOATS

6. ESSENTIAL LOGIC

7. THE SLITS

8= THIS HEAT

8= DARTS

10. PRAGVEC

11. A CERTAIN RATIO

The next chart would have been based on the number of times I went to there, doubtless. Oh wait, they couldn’t have been. I only went to the Alexandra Palace once (that wonderful Rough Trade-based all-dayer). Maybe it was the number of awesome bands or sets I saw there? Who knows.

TOP VENUES ’80

1= HAMMERSMITH CLARENDON

1= DEPTFORD ALBANY

3. ALEXANDRA PALACE

4. ROCK GARDEN

5. ELECTRIC BALLROOM

6= UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

6= GOLDSMITH’S COLLEGE

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