Welcome to my Saturday Night Party Night feature where we explore a classic compilation from the Punk and New Wave era of the late 70’s and early 80’s. It’s the Easter Weekend, so I’m off to Belfast again for a week with the fam, which means there may / or may-not be much posting this coming week. Now obviously given my location, it was a no brainer that I’d repost the Good Vibrations compilation from ’94 I think and you can enjoy some of the sounds from the streets of war-torn Belfast and Northern Ireland. Now given its proximity to the main part of the British Isles, it’s easy to understand why Ireland, and Northern Ireland in particular, was a big spawning ground for punk bands in the late-1970s. The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers were the two best known Irish exports, but there was also a big pool of B- and C-level talent, most of who recorded for the Good Vibrations label. This compilation pulls 25 tracks from Good Vibrations’ vaults, almost all of them faceless rehashes of the first Clash album. There’s nothing wrong with this analogy as many bands across the United Kingdom were doing the very same thing…but, to be fair, when there’s even a band named Protex, you have to make that call. Unfortunately these bands were taken in by the media-sensationalized aspects of punks (with anti-social lyrics, and beginner-level musicianship) more than by song-craft, innovation, or artistry. Belfast’s Rudi were the best of the bunch, simply because they had roots in glam and power-pop, and were better songwriters than the rest. The Undertones appear here with an pre-Sire “Emergency Cases,” which is mislabelled in the CD booklet as “Smarter Than U”…and even then that song is actually called “Smarter Than You.” Classic miss-direction from a world that didn’t care.
Good Vibrations Record Shop and Record Label was founded by Terri Hooley in the early 1970s. Good Vibrations started out in a small derelict building on Great Victoria Street, Belfast. It is now located on Winetavern Street, Belfast. Hooley's main objective in starting the company was to introduce punk bands from Northern Ireland to the rest of the United Kingdom, as he did not believe Northern groups were given enough attention. The label's first recording was for a local band called Rudi, a single called "Big Time". Hooley would later sign groups such as Victim, The Moondogs, The Shapes, Protex, The Outcasts, The Tearjerkers and The Undertones. Although the Undertones were to become the most famous of all these bands, Hooley was unsure, at first, whether or not he should sign them. "I wasn't sure about them because nobody liked them. People crossed the road just to spit at Feargal Sharkey." Later, when the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" came out, he "hustled it around every record company in London and they all hated it. I came back to Belfast and cried my eyes out. That night John Peel played it on the radio and said, 'wasn't that the most wonderful record you've heard in your life?' and played it again." The company also put on concerts around Northern Ireland, hiring hotel function rooms, church halls, youth clubs, and any other available venues. Good Vibrations hosted the first ever International Festival of Punk and New Wave at the Belfast Royal Ulster Hall over two nights in 1980 featuring almost the entire roster of the label's bands and other punk acts such as The Saints. Many listeners were brought to Belfast by the Good Vibrations DIY independence and Hooley's persistent determination and desire to see local music recognised nationally. Despite growing popularity, though, Good Vibrations filed bankruptcy in 1982, just as the first wave of British punk had officially died. Bands that had gone to London, such as Protex and Rudi, went back to Hooley – and Belfast. Hooley's friends later got him a shop called Vintage Records, Co. just around the corner from Good Vibrations. Good Vibrations reopened in 1984, closed in 1991, reopened in 1992, closed in 2004, reopened in 2005...now closed ..check out the movie about the life of Terri Hooley called Good Vibrations...
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MP3
1 Rudi - Big Time
2 Victim - Strange Thing By Night
3 The Outcasts - Love Is For Sops
4 The Undertones - Smarter Than You
5 Xdreamysts - Dance Away Lover
6 Protex - Don’t Ring Me Up
7 Protex - Listening In
8 The Idiots - Parents
9 Spider - Dancing In The Street
10 The Outcasts - The Cops Are Coming
11 Rudi - Overcome By Fumes
12 Ruefrex - Cross The Line
13 The Tearjerkers - Love Affair
14 The Moondogs - Ya Don’t Do Ya
15 Rudi - I Spy
16 The Shapes - Airline Disaster
17 The Outcasts - Self Conscious Over You
18 The Outcasts - Love You For Never
19 The Bankrobbers - On My Mind
20 Bears - Decisions
21 The Jets - Original Terminal
22 Shock Treatment - Belfast Telegraph
23 The Lids - I Don’t Want You
24 The Androids - Bondage In Belfast
25 Terri & The Terrors - Laugh At Me
Holy smokes...you're back! Oh, happy day!
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