Artifacts

Badges and Sounds of a Bygone Era

Back in 2013 I decided to get my studio shipshape after a summer of relentless schedules, and while doing so I found a little tin box full of treasures from my past. This for me was one of the most exciting of them all; my Blondie badge, circa 1977!

If I’m correct in thinking so, Blondie played their first London gig in May 1977. I was attending art college in Charing Cross Road, London at the time and one of the shops nearby had started selling small photographic prints of concerts that they were supplied. Alongside this badge, I bought a couple of photos of Debbie Harry, one of which I’ll share here. There was no photographer’s credit on any of the prints, which is a real shame, as I’d love to know who took this photograph, and credit them of course.

Here’s a video of one of my favourite Blondie tracks from the album Blondie, released in December, 1976.

Slow Motion from the album, Eat to the Beat, released September 28, 1979.

I bought this The Human League badge not long after seeing them play on a double bill with Siouxsie and the Banshees at Tiffany's, in Purley, Dec 19th, 1978. The band had released their first single, "Being Boiled", in June 1978, so this was one of their first live appearances. I took my SLR camera along and managed to get a couple of reasonable shots of Siouxsie, but I didn’t get any of The League. I remember at the time that they projected stills from Gerry Anderson tv shows while they performed. It’s strange to think that for a skint teenager back then, every exposure cost money. These days we can just fire them off willy-nilly, but each roll of film, whether it was 12, 24, or 36 exposures had to be processed and printed, so if the lighting was bad, or I couldn’t get close enough, I just didn’t risk wasting a shot.

Here’s a photo of Siouxsie and the Banshees that I did manage to get.

Below, a recent remix of The Human League’s UK and US hit that was released in November 1981, Don’t You want Me, from the album Dare.

Plus, Love Action (I Believe in Love).

A remix album entitled Love and Dancing was released under the group name The League Unlimited Orchestra. The album was produced by Martin Rushent (see also, my Hard Corp article) and contains mostly instrumental remixes of songs from the band's multi-platinum selling album Dare. I still spin this one every now and again… ‘cause it’s great!

Another gem that I found was my Bow Wow Wow badge. Originally only released on cassette, C30 C60 C90 GO was the world's first-ever cassette single. The B-side, Sun, Sea and Piracy, was also on side one of the tape, leaving the second side blank to encourage the listener to record tracks off the radio. Bow Wow Wow promoted home taping during an era when music piracy was a very big issue.

Here’s a low-light exterior shot of The Lyceum where Bow Wow Wow played live on April 12th, 1981, and I was there with (below left) my then girlfriend Marian, my friend Simon, in clothing that was de rigueur for 1981, and my good friend Andrée who was visiting from the South of France.

This was around the time I started photographing the New Romantic scene, and I spent more time photographing the audience than the performances on stage, a few of which can be seen on my archive website.

Above… people made an effort, y’know! Here’s another photograph of Marian with Simon, in my makeshift studio, using my low-tech tungsten lighting gear. This was sometime in 1981 when Star Trek sideburns were… a thing.

C30, C60, C90, Go!

And from a couple of years later… I Want Candy.

Lastly, my Nina Hagen badge.

This following collaboration between Adamski and Nina Hagen is just awesome! I had the pleasure of meeting Adamski when he came to my first Alternity show; in fact he was the first person I sold a framed print to, which pretty much made my year… anyway… these are the kind of details I need to make a note of, so I don’t forget them when I’m even longer in the tooth!

This next track is from the first album Nina Hagen Band, the debut studio album that was released in February 1978.

Still one of my favourite/favorite album sleeves.

I took this photo of a Nina Hagen poster I saw on a wall in Berlin, Germany back in 2012, whilst avoiding the London Olympics which happened to be just down the road from where I lived… and a nuisance.

Anyway, there ya go… a little excursion down memory lane. Not at all comics related, but some things just aren’t!