10 Kamal 167 B.E. (Baha’i calendar)
Soundtrack in my head: The Primitives, “Out Of Reach”
Yes, it’s finally happened. And I’m not ashamed to say that I’m excited about it.
The Primitives are one of my favorite bands from the 1980’s. The Coventry, England based group created music that combined a number of elements that I like about 80’s music: punk, pop, and 60’s psychedelic revival. (80’s nostalgists often forget the degree to which the 60’s made a comeback during the 80’s, influencing artists like Prince, The Bangles, R.E.M. and Echo and the Bunnymen.)
The lead singer, Tracy Tracy (born Tracy Cattell) is a month younger than I am, and started her career when she was only eighteen or nineteen. She exuded an air of sweet girly innocence mixed with a bit of punk attitude.
I remember the first time I played my cassette tape of the Primitives album “Lovely,” my college roommate commented that it sounded like “neon thrash.” Their early music mixed bubblegum pop with Ramones-influenced buzzsaw guitars, and a little bit of psychedelia here and there. Their next CD, “Pure” focused more on their pop and psychedelia influences.
The band broke up in 1992 after their last album, “Galore,” did poorly. The band members went on to other various projects.
In 2009, the band reformed to commemorate the death of their bassist Steve Dullaghan. The gig went so well that they decided to organize a tour this year. They played a number of shows in the UK this past spring, played a show in Brooklyn, NY and performed in some European music festivals this summer.
Below are a few videos that show the range of their music.
This first video features the song that prompted the “neon thrash” comment from my roommate:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx1IAhFotME&hl=en_US&fs=1]
This one below was the closer for my most recent DJ gig last Friday night, and proved to be a hit with the crowd.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alunyb3dqLg&hl=en_US&fs=1]
The last song below I could only link to, but it’s my favorite and the video also shows the band at their heyday.