So far this week, I have seemed to discredit the notion of post-punk as such a huge departure from mainstream pop music. There is a huge exception to this contention, which I will address tomorrow.
But today, we will highlight two New Wave acts that provide examples of classic songwriting living on in the post-punk era.
Aztec Camera is really the work of Roddy Frame. He was part of the same wave of Scottish pop that also produced Orange Juice and Big Country in the early Eighties. He has always worked in a jazzy semi-acoustic guitar pop style. Frame was still in his teens when the band began; after a 25-year career, Frame will turn 42 next month.
Here is a 1981 article on Aztec Camera from the British publication Sounds. Note this stuff:
The first interesting thing they say comes from Roddie and it’s about the Fall… The other two like/have liked the Fall as well. An obvious inspiration. I notice they have donned would-be flash trousers for the day but the lack of commitment shows how deep the early Fall ideals have stung them. (Later Campbell says he’d like to go ‘dressing like you want to dress’. Without an image.)
Like the equally quixotic Orange Juice, the Aztecs seem to have calmly forgotten about 20 years of depressing r’n'r history. They wear Jim-Bob shirts! And sensible Sensible Shoes! And it is unaffected, natural.
It seems so silly to mention it, but it was startling in the Eighties to see a band that looked just like you, dressed just like you. In a small club, as the band walked out, it might look like a few audience members had just decided to put on a show.
Anyway, here is a track from Aztec Camera called “Hot Club of Christ,” undoubtedly a tribute to The Quintette of the Hot Club of France, which featured Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. The song (actually a medley of Christmas favorites) appeared on the compilation Ghost of Christmas Past released by the Belgium label Les Disques Du Crépuscule in 1981. I’m guessing that’s founding members Campbell Owens (bass) and Dave Mulholland (drums), with Frame on guitar.
Aztec Camera (or perhaps I mean Frame’s songs) have been known for clever lyrics; for example, the first hit single “Oblivious.” Similarly, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze are known for being terrific songwriters, and are frequently compared to Lennon/McCartney. In their early days, they had more of a pub rock vibe than the more classical pop sound they evolved toward. Here is “Christmas Day,” a holiday single released in 1979. They were hoping it would turn into a holiday classic, but it failed to chart. See the video for the song here.
The chorus lyrics are veddy English:
What would Christmas be without
Mary and Joseph
Morecambe and Wise
Laurel and Hardy
A cracker surprise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were an extraordinarily famous British comedy team, in the “fat one and the little guy” tradition. Their Christmas specials were a national tradition in the Seventies. I’m guessing that the next reference is to Laurel and Hardy’s movie Babes in Toyland (1934), which is often shown at Christmas, due to a couple of really minor Yuletide references. Then, a reference to Christmas crackers, a charming part of the British holidays (Check here for more).
Aztec Camera – Hot Club of Christ — BUY
Squeeze – Christmas Day — BUY