RICHARD NEWMAN - 'Juvenile City'

What a fantastic record this is! Kicking off with a great spoken intro before launching into a sublime fake punk song in the Gyppo or Airship vein. 'Juvenille City' (sic) was part of a group of songs written for a television broadcast under the title 'Songs Of The City' which was apparently shown on London regional TV. The album of the same name referred to on the back of the picture sleeve more than likely never happened. Since the B-side of this single sounds like Eric Clapton, then perhaps we're not missing out.

Richard Newman is more associated with folk and blues music, he's still active as a writer, producer and performer. He's also worked in broadcasting on both radio (Capital Radio) and Television (Channel 4) as well as writing a book on the making of Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'. He may also be the same Richard Newman who produced Pete Newnham's classic 'Rudi' single in 1977.

ELTON MOTELLO - 'Jet Boy Jet Girl' (Clean Version)

Spot the difference...

Yeah, the 'Hansa' logo on the 2nd picture is much larger. The first picture is the more common standard issue of the record which usually comes in a picture sleeve. The 2nd picture is the rarer 'clean version' with altered lyrics and a slightly better remix. This different version usually turns up sleeveless which makes it easier to spot. To double check the matrix should read 'LIG-508-A-1-2' rather than 'LIG-508-A-1'.

Anyway this 'clean version' of 'Jet Boy Jet Girl' makes no reference to 'head', 'blood' or 'penetrate' and as mentioned earlier it features a brighter mix. Another reason you need this is the superior mix of 'Pogo Pogo' on the flip which is speeded up slightly, clocking in at around 5-6 seconds shorter than the original. One other thing of note is that one of the two copies I have has 'Jet Boy' labels on both sides of the disc, anyone else got one like this?

I don't know if both versions were released simultaneously or whether Lightning put the 'clean version' out a few months later to cash-in on the success of 'Ca Plane Pour Moi' but these versions were likely exclusive to the UK. Other versions of the song from other parts of the world are optional (7 minute 'club mix', USA 'radio mix' with bleeps!) but this one is essential.

THE CHEETAHS - 'Radio-Active'

The Cheetahs came from Penicuik just outside Edinburgh and were fairly prolific gig wise in and around the Scottish capital. The band were Joe Donkin (vocals), John Roberts Dobson (guitar), Andrew Allan (bass), Droo Farmer (drums) and Nasty Phil (harmonica).

This single on Bruce Findlay's Zoom label was the band's only release and was quite a popular record locally if memory serves me. Of the three songs on offer 'Radio-Active' is the winner though the other two tracks, the pub-punk of 'The Only One' and the more straight ahead punk of 'Minefield' are also solid efforts.

After The Cheetahs split, drummer Droo and guitarist John formed the band Epsilon alongside Robert Sandall (formerly of Blunt Instrument and London Zoo) and Joe Telford (formerly of Matt Vinyl & The Decorators and Insect Bites).

THE D.P.'s - 'Running Away'

Someone sent an email several weeks ago asking for something by The D.P.'s. Now, I always reply to emails if it's anything that's related to the website/blog but somehow this one must have got binned along with the promo push by the next big thing in indie rock or the female rapper who thinks that 'Paranoia' by The Freeze sounds like the Beastie Boys (really?). Anyway, apologies to whoever you were.

The D.P.'s earlier incarnation The Depressions had already completed their debut LP by the end of 1977, but it never surfaced until the following April just in time for the punk backlash and subsequent bad press that followed. Something that was noted by Barn Records parent company Polydor who where already pissed by the recent lack of hits by Barn's A-listers Slade. So, you can imagine the suits at Polydor's reaction to newly demo'd thug-punk songs like 'Mongrel Breed' and 'When They Take Me Away' that The Depressions were planning for the next record. Polydor also rejected the impressive thug-powerpop (there's a new mp3 tag for ya!) of 'Skinhead Terry' and 'Modern Girl'.

Barn's solution was to bring in producer Pete Kerr (the man who cleaned up The Motors), abbreviate the band's name to the D.P.'s and encourage the band to write some less aggressive songs. The resulting album 'If You Know What I Mean' turned out solid enough despite the outside interference. 'Running Away' didn't make the cut for the LP, but did surface as a B-side and shows that The D.P.'s could master pop hooks as easily they could punk rock.