h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*John laughs*

That's Bim Sherman. Why is he laughing? You'll find out in just a moment, I've got a nasty feeling, and erm, that's called Revolution on On-U Sound again, and it's from an LP Across the Red Sea. Now you may recall an LP earlier, or an earlier LP with a very similar title, that's Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts which was on Bright Records, and this is my attempt to play a track from it, let's see, it's called The Great British Mistake, see if it comes up in the right place, indeed it has done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayHrl-bV1kE

Those are The Adverts and The Great British Mistake from the LP Crossing the Red Sea, ah those were the days, and I know I say that about every record I play which is an old record. Today isn't the day really. I don't like all this heat, do you? I mean I know, it's un-British. I like the British weather when it rains and there's always the expectation of a bit of snow in July and things like that, I think that's quite healthy and good for us and unexpected. This kind of heatwave and all this heat we've been getting and all the sunshine I regard as a great deal of continental nonsense and I think we can do without it. From New Order this hopefully We All Stand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTCz_jdlpdY

And that's the last from our second session with New Order, We All Stand the title of it. These are The Abyssinians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ei3vVLiZFE

Donald Abyssynians it says on the label, and why shouldn't it. That's called Peculiar Number. The last from Vice Squad, and don't forget on tomorrow night's programme the Wild Swans and The Higsons, No Right of Reply.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulANgNY1Vw4#t=9m51s

(9m 51s - end)

That's Vice Squad and the last from them, No Right of Reply, and to end tonight's programme Sprung Aus Den Wolken and a track which you and I would call Wart, but the Germans would call Warte. That's between them and their consciences if you ask me. This is how it goes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnQsGXzTB8Y

Ah, I always like to leave you with a song on your lips. That's Sprung Aus Den Volken... and if you do you'll mop it up! Ha ha. A little er, disc jockey style joke for you, something to think about, and er, that's the end of tonight's programme. Tomorrow Night as I keep insisting, The Wild Swans and The Higsons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpAoX6IxoFo#t=0m26s

Tonight, sausages, our sessions have come from New Order and Vice Squad but now Radio 1 transmitters are closing down until five o'clock tomorrow morning when we'll be joining Radio 2 until seven o'clock, then Mike Read will be along with the breakfast show. Thanks very much for listening and goodnight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpAoX6IxoFo

"Just like a flower when winter begins, and just like a fire in icy winds, just like a doll that is wanted no more, that's how I sometimes feel." This achingly lovely verse is a translation from the winning German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, and I hope it means as much to you as it already means to me. Tonight's sessions are from Kan Kan and China Crisis, and we start with Kidz Songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5SIniMN6-0

That's Zanti Misfitz on Clay Records, a band from Blackpool... it is Blackpool isn't it? One of those places anyway, they're all the same, and that's called Kidz Songs, an appropriate start to this programme cos I thought er, The Higsons session on your programme Neil, was pretty darn good. Kid Jensen: "Yes it was a superb session." Okay, don't go on about it *Kid laughs in the background* Er, and he also finished his programme, or the penultimate record in his programme was from The Cure, 100 Years. I was gonna have this particular track now but, as it is I shall have to turn the record over and play The Hanging Garden instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFoOlStjrzg

*Kid Jensen hangs out in the studio for the first half hour or so, and for some reason John keeps calling him Neil.

The Cure, and that's called The Hanging Garden, and that's a track from the forthcoming LP, Pornography, as was the track which Kid played towards the end of his programme, 100 Years. And did you see the football on television on Sunday afternoon? Liverpool and Southampton? Unfortunately living out in East Anglia we only got something like about four minutes of it but it was enough two include to *miraculous* saves by Bruce. I mean, I hope you saw them, they were superb. This is Johnny Clarke, You Better Try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMBfPr-9q8s

Johhny Clarke, and that's a 12" on Art and Craft Records, it's called You Better Try, and on several occasions over the past few weeks I've recommended to you the excellent 12" EP by Kan Kan, and er, we've got a session from them tonight, the first result of which is Déjà Vu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4S_q_poC2w

(Beginning - 3m 58s)

Déjà Vu, nothing to do with Crosby, Stills and Nash, for any old hippies who may be listening. That's the first from Kan Kan, and er, out guests on tonight's programme. Over the weekend, listening to a great many records whilst at home waiting for the birth of child 'D' who hasn't actually put in an appearance yet but any minute now hopefully. Er, I'm listening to, as I say, a lot of American records including, er a lot of records, including a lot of American hardcore punk records, and I must confess I rather enjoyed some of them because er, you know, they still seem to have a sense of humour and things, and they also go for brevity in a big way as you'll see later on in the programme. This is one of the longer records which I listened to over the weekend and it comes from an LP on Discord which is called Flex Your Head and has as inappropriate a sleeve as you could possibly hope to find I think, and features a multitude of bands: Deadline, Artificial Peace, Iron Cross, Void, Red Sea, Youth Brigade, Government Issue, Minor Threat, State of Alert, The Untouchables and Teen Idols. Never heard of any of them I bet, well I expect some of you will have done. These are The Teen Idols and Commie Song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-dYylvRbVM

Well that's certainly true I think. Those are The Teen Idols, one of their three tracks on the LP and that was called Commie Song, and the LP is Flex Your Head, you'll hear more from it. I mean, the recording quality is not of the best I must confess, but at the same time spirit I think is right. From China Crisis, our other guests tonight, This Occupation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5kUGAxpjGU

That's China Crisis who have a new single available which I'm sure has been played many times already on Neil's programme, although not on this yet. That's called This Occupation. And some months ago, well, about a month ago it must be said, I got a postcard from Tricia saying please play any track from the three albums listed below for my husband David Jarvis who's staying in Stafford Prison until June, and she puts down things from The Cure, New Age Steppers and Joy Division. Well I thought instead since it was a month later I'd play the new New Order single again, so David, this is for you, Temptation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yd_w0LybRk

New Order, and that's the single on Factory Records, Temptation the name of it, have you been playing that one a lot, Neil, have you? KID JENSEN: "What, the 12 version"? *John giggles* Sue Thornton wrote to me from Germany and asked me to play something for Paul McGreavy, Paul Redhead, Martin, Lee, Frank, Steven and Andrew without telling me where these citizens are, and er, this is for them therefore. Defects, and Brutality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9_dnTWgGt8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt50cB4gSSw

And that's from the album The Seven Voyages of Captain Sinbad, by the man himself on Greensleeves Records, and that's called Sugar Ray. And one of our technical operators was in the studio before the programme started and he was telling me about a, well it's an interview actually not in this week's New Musical Express but in last week's with the Liverpool band Cook The Books, in which apparently they said that we'd banned their record Piggy in the Middle Eight because of the political content of the lyrics. This is absolute nonsense actually, totally untrue, we just didn't play because we didn't think it was a very good record, not nearly good as their track for example on the er, Crackin' Up compilation cassette which I think I played last Thursday was it, or Wednesday, I forget which. Anyway, that's the only reason we didn't play it, not because of the political content, and I think people who listen regularly to these programmes will probably know that that wasn't true.

From The Clash, this is Know Your Rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6hxZ8ze-eY

The current single from The Clash as I'm sure you know, and that's called Know Your Rights, and er, Kan Kan. Shall I give you the line-up? There's Patrick Deeneen, or Dineen I suppose it is on vocals, drums, keyboards and bass, Graham McGill on er, bass and guitar, and Flavia Malim on vocals. Kan Kan, and er, this is Some Things Never Change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4S_q_poC2w#t=3m58s

(3m 58s - 8m 07s)

That's Kan Kan and Some Things Never Change. Goodness me, do you know... that's very very true isn't it? From Modern English and the LP After The Snow on 4AD Records, not in the shops yet I think, Tables Turning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etMGYuumk0w

That's from the forthcoming LP from Modern English, their second as somebody pointed out actually because er, I think last time I played a track from the LP I said it was their debut LP. What made me say that I simply don't know. Just one of those little aberrations that occur from time to time... alright, they occur every night. That was called Tables Turning. And I was very embarrassed actually because just before he went, before he went out of the studio to go home Kid said "I'll be listening to your programme on the way home", and that's always very very unnerving when people tell you things like that, as I suspect he knows, because you'd think he'll be driving along in his er, very very flash car, tell you what, no, I'd better not describe it to you. Very very vulgar car on his way home, and he'll be thinking to himself "How does this porker hold down the job?", and you, it makes it you very self-conscious about it all. From Scream and Dance, the 12" version of the new single, this is described as the Wicked Mix of...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeWVTqzQsog

That's the particularly violent dancefloor mix from Scream and Dance of Giacometti on the 12" single, EP, whatever it is on Recreational Records. And entries for our third Bruce Grobelaar competition are really so truly awful that we haven't actually still haven't come up with a winner. I mean, we're still getting one or two drifting in, and I keep hoping that one of them will be good enough to actually give the six Radio 1 calendars to, but er, nothing yet, and one of them came from Ripon's Sheena Easton Cambodian Barmy Army, and there's was fairly awful as well, but they'll be in sympathy with Jodie Foster's Army, which is abbreviated to JFA, and they seem to come from Phoenix Arizona, and they, like so many other of these American hardcore bands, seem to er, seem to treasure brevity for its own sake, so the JFA, and this is the song which gives them their name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC-6Z7QXJ9E