Miscellaneous - The Sun Shines Here: The Roots Of Indie Pop 1980-1984

by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 18 / 10 / 2021

Miscellaneous - The Sun Shines Here: The Roots Of Indie Pop 1980-1984

Label: Cherry Red Records
Format: CD Box

Essential and delightful five CD box set from Cherry Red which focuses on the roots of indie pop and should be in every pop fan’s record collection.

Review

Back in 2013, Cherry Red released the five CD compilation ‘Scared to Get Happy – A Story of Indie Pop 1980-1989)’, chronicling the early roots of indie pop and also the golden days in the late 80s, with bands like The Stone Roses and The La’s. The box set was hugely successful, with numerous reprints, and that’s probably one of the reasons why they are now releasing a companion to ‘Scared to Get Happy’, this time focusing on the roots-part of the indie pop story, from 1980 to 1984. There are a lot of household names here as well, like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Everything But The Girl and Pulp, but the real treat here is the vast number of rare tracks and songs that have never been released on CD before. A lot of the bands on here could easily be featured on a post punk compilation as well (and they surely have been, too), like Mo-Dettes, Josef K and Au Pairs, and that just goes to show that many bands that embraced the more experimental part of the punk scene then evolved into what we now call ‘indie pop’, but in those days the term ‘new pop’ was more frequently used, especially by the music press. Many of the tracks picked for inclusion on ‘The Sun Shines Here’ are not the most famous ones by the bands, which makes it even more interesting, if you ask me. If you want the ‘hits’, I would rather recommend the equally brilliant Cherry Red compilations ‘C86’, ‘C87’ etc, or maybe try to find a copy of the aforementioned ‘Scared to Get Happy’ box set. For instance, the Everything But The Girl song included here is ‘On My Mind’, originally written and recorded by Tracey Thorn’s first band, Marine Girls (also featured here, of course), and then re-recorded with Ben Watt for the duo’s first single, ‘Night And Day’, in 1982. And the Aztec Camera song on the third disc isn’t ‘Oblivious’ or ‘Walk Out to Winter’, but instead his cover of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’, recorded in 1984. Oh, you want some of my personal picks off the 74 songs on the 3 discs? Well, I’d love to share that! For starters, ‘Sweetie’ (The Chefs), ‘It’s Obvious’ (Au Pairs), ‘Go For Gold!’ (Girls At Our Best!), ‘You’re My Kind Of Girl’ (The Page Boys, who later evolved into 1000 Violins) and ‘Million Tears’ (The Pastels) are some of my old favorites here, but there are heaps of great tunes here! Josef K, Dolly Mixture, It’s Immaterial, The Monochrome Set, Lori & The Chameleons, Weekend, The Pale Fountains, The Gymslips, The June Brides, Hurrah! (by the way, the song ‘Hip Hip’ ends with the chant ‘Are you scared to get happy?"), The Loft, The Wee Cherubs… the list goes on and on, making it longer than a Gary Moore guitar solo. As usual when we’re dealing with Cherry Red box sets, the packaging and information is absolutely flawless, with lots of facts about the bands and the songs contributed here, and also a very interesting essay by Tim Barr that kicks off the accompanying booklet. For me, as an indie pop aficionado, this compilation is pure delight, and even though all the songs might not be top notch, it’s really interesting to hear those early attempts at merging the pop of the 60s with the punk spirit of the 70s, resulting in the perfect sound of the 80s!

Track Listing:-

1 WAH HEAT! Better Scream
2 THE TEARDROP EXPLODES Read It In Books
3 LORI & THE CHAMELEONS The Lonely Spy
4 SCARS Love Song
5 THE DISCO ZOMBIES Mary Millington
6 MO-DETTES Twist And Shout 7 IT’S IMMATERIAL Young Man (Seeks Interesting Job)
7 MANICURED NOISE Freetime 9 THE CHEFS Sweetie
8 JOSEF K It’s Kinda Funny 11 AU PAIRS It’s Obvious
9 DOLLY MIXTURE Step Close Now
10 VIC GODARD & THE SUBWAY SECT Stop That Girl
11 FAMILY FODDER Debbie Harrry
12 LUDUS Mutilate
13 GIRLS AT OUR BEST! Go For Gold!
14 ESSENTIAL LOGIC Fanfare In The Garden
15 THE MONOCHROME SET Ten Don’ts For Honeymooners
16 ART OBJECTS 20th Century Composites
17 THE LINES Transit
18 JOWE HEAD Cake Shop Girl
19 THE WILD SWANS God Forbid
20 ALTERED IMAGES Insects
21 THE BLUEBELLS Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool (Demo)
22 THE JAZZATEERS Don’t Let Your Son Grow Up To Be A Cowboy
23 SCRITTI POLITTI The “Sweetest’ Girl”
24 THE NIGHTINGALES Inside Out
25 WEEKEND The View From Her Room
26 EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL On My Mind
27 BLUE ORCHIDS Wait
28 PREFAB SPROUT Radio Love
29 JONI DEE Featuring THE TIMES Here Come The Holidays
30 THE FARMER’S BOYS Whatever Is He Like?
31 THE PALE FOUNTAINS Just A Girl
32 THE RAINCOATS Running Away
33 THE GIFT Crashing Down
34 TRACEY THORN Simply Couldn’t Care
35 MICRODISNEY Hello Rascals
36 DISLOCATION DANCE You’ll Never Never Know
37 THE LAUGHING APPLE Wouldn’t You?
38 THE CINEMATICS Puffa Train 17 IN EMBRACE Sun Brings Smiles
39 THE DAINTEES Involved With Love
40 FIVE OR SIX Chalk Circle
41 TRIXIE’S BIG RED MOTORBIKE Hold Me
42 THE GYMSLIPS Big Sister (It’s Probably Better)
43 BEN WATT On Box Hill
44 MARINE GIRLS That Fink Jazz-Me-Blues Boy
45 DEL AMITRI The Difference Is
46 FRIENDS AGAIN State Of Art
47 PULP There Was…
48 JANE AND BARTON I Want To Be With You
49 SWALLOW TONGUE Got To Be There
50 THE PAGE BOYS You’re My Kind Of Girl + 20 Others