'90's vs '80's

[Andreas Stuewe]

K Henderson schrieb:

> OK, so what *were* the space/psych groups from the 80s (other than BAS) that
> never found an audience around the world?  Pick the handful you liked best,
> and give us a short description if you would.  I liked BAS enough to wonder
> if there truly were some others.  I guess other than HW, F&R, and the
> Hawkfan 12 bands (UZero and the like), the early 80s is a gigantic hole for
> me.  (Well, Eloy did some decent stuff too.)  But it wasn't then until TAT
> ('88?) and the discovery of Ozrics, Tubliah Dog, etc. that I realized there
> would be others appearing in the mists.
>
> And finally, can any of this stuff still be found?  Or has any of it
> appeared officially on CD?

After all, the 80´s weren´t that bad:
Here & Now produced a few good albums in the early 80´s, though I only own 1
("Theatre"). Then there´s Plasticland who did some good pop psyche stuff
throughout the 80´s. Let´s not forget Union Carbide Productions from Sweden, not
unlike Spacemen 3, but more melodic. They are known as the Soundtrack of our
Lives nowadays and do some slightly psychedelic pop. In 85 XTC produced a
marvellous album as the Dukes of Stratosphear, "25 o´clock" with wonderful
pastiches of 60´s Pink Floyd, Move, Beatles. Love & Rockets (ex-Bauhaus band
minus Peter Murphy put together one of my favourite 80´s album: "Express" from
86, also on CD - great psychedelic pop with lots of great guitars).

The Ozrics released their first tape in 85. Magic Mushroom Band got their 1st
album out 1 year later. And in 86 the so-called "Grebo" (?) scene started with
bands as Gaye Bikers on Acid, Pop will eat itself and Zodiac Mindwarp. I saw the
first 2 bands in the summer of 87 with HW at the Acid Daze festival in Finsbury
Park, along with the Pink Fairies and the Ozrics. This festival really changed
my life completely. Until then I never knew that such good music is around. And
there played "Voodoo Child", one of the very best Hendrix clones ever! I´m still
searching for their sole album from 87.

So what really was a bad period in the 80´s was from 81 to 84 IMHO. But I
totally agree with Keith that the 90´s were a hundred times better musically.
There are even more good bands around than in the early 70´s!

Andreas (35 and grown up in the 80´s)