The NME C81 Cassette Sleeve

C81 was a cassette given away with the British magazine New Musical Express in 1981 (hence (C)assette 81) and released in conjunction with the record label Rough Trade. Intended to mark the first 5 years of the independent label movement in the UK record industry and Rough Trade itself, it was the first in a series of many cassette releases from the paper. Probably the best known (and derided) was its belated follow up C86. Publishing a tape was also an acknowledgement of the flourishing self published cassette culture of the time that the NME had been supporting in its short lived Garageland column. Image File history File links NMEC81. ... For the meaning of cassette in genetics, see cassette (genetics). ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a weekly magazine about popular music published in the UK. It is unlike many other popular music magazines due to its intended focus on guitar-based music and indie rock bands, instead of mainstream pop acts. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rough Trade on 130 Talbot Road (nearby Notting Hill station) Rough Trade Records is a British independent record label. ... An independent record label is variously described as a record label operating without the funding (or outside the organizations) of the major record labels, and/or a label that subscribes to indie philosophies such as DIY and anti-corporate art. ... The C86 Cassette Sleeve. ... Cassette culture was in part an offshoot of the mail art movement of the 1970s and 1980s. ...

The NME were overwhelmed by the demand for the tape as over 30,000 readers sent off £1.50 for a set of 24 remarkably diverse tracks ranging from jazz (James Blood Ulmer), poetry (John Cooper Clarke), ska (The Beat) and 'Canterbury Scene' (Robert Wyatt). Simon Reynolds called it "post punk's swan song" noting the appearance of 3 acts from Scottish independent label Postcard and the emerging new pop tendency of bands like Aztec Camera and Scritti Politti alongside post-punk luminaries as Cabaret Voltaire, Subway Sect, Red Crayola and The Raincoats. Jazz is an original American musical art form that originated around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in African American musical styles blended with Western music technique and theory. ... James Blood Ulmer (born 2 February 1942 in St Matthews, South Carolina) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and singer. ... John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born January 25, 1949) is a performance poet from Salford, Manchester, England, affectionately known as the Bard of Salford. ... The Beat (known in the US as The English Beat) were an essential two-tone/ska revival and pop music group who formed in the Birmingham, UK in 1978 and disbanded in 1983. ... The Canterbury Scene (or Canterbury Sound) is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock musicians that were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... // Robert Wyatt, born Robert Ellidge, in Bristol on 28 January 1945, is an English musician, and a former member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine. ... Simon Reynolds (born 1963), who read history at Oxford, is an influential British music critic, who made his name at Melody Maker in the 1980s. ... Aztec Camera is a Scottish New Wave music band from Glasgow. ... Scritti Politti are a British rock group who achieved success in the early 1980s, and made a return to the public eye in the late 1990s. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial punk rock explosion. During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning 1976-1983, bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones and The Damned began to challenge the current styles and conventions of rock... Cabaret Voltaire first worked on experimental electronic music, and sound in the early 1970s. ... One of the original (and best) British punk bands, Subway Sects posthumous reputation has suffered because of their comparatively small output. ... The Red Crayola was a psychedelic, avant-garde rock band from Houston, Texas, formed by art students in the late 1960s and led by singer/guitarist and visual artist Mayo Thompson. ... The Raincoats were formed in 1977 by Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) while they were students at Hornsey College of Art, London, England. ...

Track listing

Side one

1. "The "Sweetest Girl"" – Scritti Politti
2. "Twist and Crawl Dub" – The Beat
3. "Misery Goats" – Pere Ubu
4. "7,000 Names of Wah!" – Wah! Heat
5. "Blue Boy" – Orange Juice
6. "Raising the Count" – Cabaret Voltaire
7. "Kebab Traume Live" – D.A.F
8. "Bare Pork" – Furious Pig
9. "Raquel" – The Specials
10. "I Look Alone" – Buzzcocks
11. "Fanfare in the Garden" – Essential Logic
12. "Born Again Cretin" – Robert Wyatt

Scritti Politti are a British rock group who achieved success in the early 1980s, and made a return to the public eye in the late 1990s. ... The Beat (known in the US as The English Beat) were an essential two-tone/ska revival and pop music group who formed in the Birmingham, UK in 1978 and disbanded in 1983. ... Pere Ubu are an experimental rock music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. ... Pete Wylie (born on 22 March 1958) is a Liverpool-based singer/songwriter, best known as the leader of a group that was variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, The 5,000 Names of Wah! or even The Mighty Wah!. Active from 1979, they garnered critical acclaim for the single... Orange Juice was a Scottish post punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976, becoming Orange Juice in 1979. ... Cabaret Voltaire first worked on experimental electronic music, and sound in the early 1970s. ... DAF is an influential electropunk band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 featuring drummer/synth player Robert Görl, vocalist Gabi Delgado, guitarist W. Spelmans and bassist/keyboardist/saxophonist Chrislo Haas. ... Furious Pig were a British band active briefly during the post-punk era. ... The Specials are a British band formed in 1977 in Coventry (see 1977 in music). ... Buzzcocks are a British rock music group. ... Essential Logic were a UK post-punk band formed by saxophonist Lora Logic (born Susan Whitby) after leaving X-Ray Spex. ... // Robert Wyatt, born Robert Ellidge, in Bristol on 28 January 1945, is an English musician, and a former member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine. ...

Side two

1. "Shouting Out Loud" – The Raincoats
2. "Endless Soul" – Josef K
3. "Low Profile" – The Blue Orchids
4. "Red Nettle" – Virgin Prunes
5. "We Could Send Letters" – Aztec Camera
6. "Milkmaid" – Red Crayola
7. "Don't Get in My Way" – Linx
8. "The Day My Pad Went Mad" – The Massed Carnaby St John Cooper Clarkes
9. "Jazz Is the Teacher, Funk Is the Preacher" – James Blood Ulmer
10. "Close to Home" – Ian Dury
11. "Greener Grass" – Gist
12. "Parallel Lines" – Subway Sect

The Raincoats were formed in 1977 by Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) while they were students at Hornsey College of Art, London, England. ... Josef K was a Scottish post-punk band active in the early 1980s who released singles on legendary record label Postcard Records. ... Blue Orchids are a British Post-punk band formed in Manchester, England in 1979, when Martin Bramah decided to quit the The Fall having recording that bands debut album Live At The Witch Trials. Bramah teamed up with keyboardist Una Baines, also an ex-Fall member, guitarist Rick Goldstraw... An Irish rock band. ... Aztec Camera is a Scottish New Wave music band from Glasgow. ... The Red Crayola was a psychedelic, avant-garde rock band from Houston, Texas, formed by art students in the late 1960s and led by singer/guitarist and visual artist Mayo Thompson. ... John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born January 25, 1949) is a performance poet from Salford, Manchester, England, affectionately known as the Bard of Salford. ... James Blood Ulmer (born 2 February 1942 in St Matthews, South Carolina) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and singer. ... Ian Dury, in a look combining Gene Vincent with a Cockney pearly king. ... In computing, GiST or Generalized Search Tree, is a data structure and API which can be used to build almost any kind of search tree on almost any kind of data. ... One of the original (and best) British punk bands, Subway Sects posthumous reputation has suffered because of their comparatively small output. ...

See also

• DIY punk ethic
• Fanzine
• Punk rock
• Post-punk

The DIY punk ethic refers to the idea of doing it yourself, i. ... A fanzine (see also: zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular subject for the pleasure of others who share their interest. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial punk rock explosion. During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning 1976-1983, bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones and The Damned began to challenge the current styles and conventions of rock...

External links

• Rip It Up and Start Again — Post Punk 1978–84 Simon Reynolds
• ‘It was easy, it was cheap, go and do it!’ Technology and anarchy in the UK music industry
• Stylus Magazine article on C81