2 posts tagged “pigbag”
I've been meaning to start a "crooners" thread, but it just hasn't worked out yet; maybe soon. In the meantime I've been listening to The Pop Group's catalog, and wishing I hadn't missed it all by a few years. Through the 80s I was a fan of all the groups borne of the late Pop Group: Mark Stewart + Maffia, Rip Rig & Panic, Maximum Joy, Pigbag, Float Up C.P., and possibly more, but I never got around to tracking down the source of it all. Thanks to the Internet, though, I can do that now, and it's been a revelation. In trying to find one song that encapsulates all the aspects of The Pop Group, I've decided on "We Are All Prostitutes":
Listening to this song from 1980, I think, "This is the blueprint for Rage Against the Machine!" Mark Stewart is even more hysterical than Zach de la Rocha (ranting hysterical, not funny hysterical) (not intentionally funny, at least) , the guitarist (John Waddington or Gareth Sager, or both?) takes cues from Sonny Sharrock instead of Ron Asheton, and everything is a bit sloppy and anarchic, but wedding shouted, social-justice-themed lyrics over a funky rock beat is something both bands have in common. The Pop Group had disintegrated by 1981, before I even heard of them, but Mark Stewart continued to carry the torch of political paranoia throughout the 80s, and a little bit in the 90s, and apparently still plays live gigs even today. I was lucky enough to catch him at the 9:30 Club in 1987 on an On-U Sound bill with Gary Clail and Tackhead (with Adrian Sherwood himself on the boards). Stewart only did a few songs but he emanated a powerful vibe that made it clear that his lyrics really are his own fears and convictions, not just an act. Perhaps he'll come play in Ithaca someday. Hahahaha!
Here's a first: an intersection of my 80s rarities thread with my car-chase music thread. The first song released by A Primary Industry was "Perversion" on Life at the Top, the LP companion to Abstract magazine number 4 from 1984:
Abstract was the brainchild of Rob Deacon, who died last month in a canoeing accident at age 42 (same as me). Life at the Top was issued by Third Mind records, and introduced me to several cutting-edge bands such as Pornosect, Attrition, Bushido, Stress, and Muslimgauze. I have two other issues of Abstract, and they are equally chock-full of creamy postpunk goodness. Deacon evolved Abstract into the Sweatbox record label, which I consider one of the top five labels of the 80s. Sweatbox launched Meat Beat Manifesto, for one, and issued records by A Primary Industry, In the Nursery, Adi Newton's post-ClockDVA group The Anti Group, and probably some more that I can't think of at the moment. They were all great records in beautifully-designed sleeves.
A Primary Industry put out another song on another Abstract LP, an EP (7 Hertz), an LP (Ultramarine), and a 12' remake of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" (all on Sweatbox), then disappeared. I have only now discovered that they didn't actually disappear, the core of Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper just regrouped under a different name, Ultramarine. I never got around to checking them out in the 90s, but I will make up for that shortly.
I can never hear "Perversion" without thinking of Pigbag's signature tune, "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" (1982), so here's that too:
