The Throwback Thursday Retro Video Project; Modern Eon & Section 25

Joy Division had a heavy influence on the post punk scene with a couple of groups showing an obvious influence.

Section 25 were the most obvious band to take after the Joy Division. They had actually toured together and not coincidentally for their first album, "Always Now" (1981), they had the same producer (Martin Hannett), album cover designer (Ian Saville) and record label (Factory Records). Not surprisingly they sound exactly like Joy Division albeit with a singer who has a more airy sound than Ian Curtis.

SECTION 25 ~ "FRIENDLY FIRES";


This spooky track uses a George Melies short "The Haunted Castle";

SECTION 25 ~ "BABIES IN THE BARDO";


This vid uses a strange 1900's short featuring some early stop-action animation.

SECTION 25 ~ "INSIDE OUT";


This vid uses a 1960's Op Art film by Robert Breer.


Modern Eon were a Liverpool group who put out one album in 1981 which tempered their Joy Division influences with a more ethereal sound. They showed altogether more original potential than Section 25 and earned good reviews from the fickle UK music press for their one and only album (and a couple of indie singles) but just as Joy Division met disaster on the eve of their first North American tour, Modern Eon had to cancel their proposed tour after their drummer, who was integral to their sound, was injured. They broke up soon after and none of the members went on to have any noteworthy musical careers.

MODERN EON ~ "WAITING FOR THE CAVALRY";


This vid uses an early silent film by Segundo De Chomon which feature some cool stop-motion animation.

MODERN EON ~ "HIGH NOON";


This vid uses a Segundo De Chomon short from the 1900's "The Chinese Dancers"

MODERN EON ~ "MECHANIC";


This vid uses a 1900's travel doc which has some unintended lighting effects caused by the degradation of the film stock.

MODERN EON ~ "EUTHENICS";


This vid uses another silent travel doc

MODERN EON ~ "CHILD'S PLAY";


This vid uses some spectacular 1900's nighttime footage of Coney Island

MODERN EON ~ "AFTER THE PARTY";


This vid uses some more travel doc footage for an early track which didn't make it to the album

MODERN EON ~ "CARDINAL SIGNS";


This vid uses one of series of short Op Art films by George Cup made in the 1970's.

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Cancon Edition

Cancon; New Wave Edition;

STURM GROUP ~ "TO THE BALTIC";


Sturm Group were a Toronto band in the 1980's who were basically in a similar genre to artsy post-punk groups like PIL, Joy Division, Wire, Pere Ubu, Section 25, Modern Eon, Clock DVA, Jass and Section 25. They put out three albums along with an earlier cassette before breaking up in the early 90's. There was also a side project named Norda who put out an ep. Bassist Walter Sobzjack went on to be a producer and play in Raggadeath in the 90's.

STURM GROUP ~ "TWENTY";


For both these instrumentals I used two George Melies films from the 1900's.

SIMPLY SAUCER ~ "MOLE MACHINE";


Simply Saucer were an Art Punk/Noise band from Hamilton in the late 70's somewhat similar to the Fall and Wire with a heavier Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd. They only released a single but did record an album that was released some years after the band broke up. This instrumental track uses a 1920's German Dada Art film by Walter Ruttmann.

FM ~ "STARLESS";


FM with Nash The Slash were part of the first wave of Toronto Punk scene of the late 70's although they were really more of a Prog Rock band. They recorded one album before Nash quit and the band carried one for a couple more albums with Ben Mink. This King Crimson cover is from the early Nash era and uses a George Melies space travel film which seems fitting as Nash was also known for composing music for silent film showings.

THE SPOONS ~ "NOVA HEART";


The Spoons were one of the few bands of the Toronto early 80's scene to find some degree of international success. They started out as a similar vein to early Simple Minds and Ultravox before adding more layered keyboards similar to the Human League and OMD when the had a couple of hits like "Nova Heart" and "Arias & Symphonies". After that there sound became more mainstream and less interesting although they did have a few more hits. This vid uses an art film from the 1970's be George Cupp and Steve Elliot.

Some Figures From The Toronto Music Scene Pass On

Frankie Busseri of 1950's Toronto pop vocal group the Four Lads, the first Toronto group to score international hits ("Standing On The Corner", "No Not Much", "Moments To Remember", "Istanbul");

THE FOUR LADS ~ "STANDING ON THE CORNER";


THE FOUR LADS & FRANKIE LAINE;



Fred Keeler ~ Guitarist with 1960's Toronto band David Clayton Thomas & the Shays

DAVID CLAYTON THOMAS & THE SHAYS ~ "WALK THAT WALK";



Jackie Shane ~ 1960's Toronto R&B singer;

JACKIE SHANE ~ "WALKING THE DOG";



Joanne Brooks ~ 1970's R&B singer and later singer in New Wave band Rough Trade;

ROUGH TRADE ~ "BIRDS OF A FEATHER";


ROUGH TRADE ~ "BUTCH";



Johnny Lovesin ~ Rock & Roll singer/guitarist and a fixture on the Toronto scene from the late 70's onward including opening for the Ramones first Toronto gig;

JOHNNIE LOVESIN ~ "WORKING GIRL";


JOHNNIE LOVESIN ~ "BAD TALK";



Dave Bookman ~ Radio DJ from the 80's onward on CIUT, CFNY and INDIE 88m club booker and supporter of indie music, also singer in 80's for indie band The Bookmen;

VIDEO TRIBUTE FOR DAVE BOOKMAN;



Leon Redbone ~ Ragtime Folk Rocker from the 1970's and an influence on Tom Waits;

LEON REDBONE ~ "DIDDY WAH DIDDY";


LEON REDBONE ~ "SHINE ON HARVEST MOON";



Joe Hall ~ Artsy Folk-Rock and Comedy singer songwriter and another fixture on the Toronto club scene from the 1970's & 80's

JOE HALL & THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT ~ "SWEET GYPSY NOSE";


JOE HALL & THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT ~ "LOS HABLOS TELEPHONOS";



Ed Bickert ~ Jazz guitarist from the 1960's onward;

ED BICKERT ~ "JUMPIN' THE BLUES";



Mose Scarlett ~ Folk & Blues singer from the 1970's onward;

MOSE SCARLETT ~ "SWEET GEORGIA BROWN";



Herb Dale - Toronto Country singer/songwriter;

HERB DALE ~ "JUST LIKE GOOD OLD WILLIE NELSON";



Justin Haynes ~ Toronto guitarist & mandolinist;

JUSTIN HAYNES;



Brian LaHaie ~ Drummer for Toronto folk band the Donefors & Cindy Doire;

THE DONEFORS ~ "IN A CORNFIELD";

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Black Sabbath & Monster Magnet

This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Black Sabbath and Monster Magnet.

You wouldn't normally think of Sabbath as subject for some artsy film mashups but there's a couple.

BLACK SABBATH ~ "EMBRYO";


This one uses one of the earliest short clips from Edison Studios circa 1894.

BLACK SABBATH ~ "FX";


For this little effects noodle I used some Edison Studios footage taken from the 1901 Pan-Am Expo in Buffalo which was incidentally where President Willaim McKinley was shot.

MATMOS ~ "FX";


This cover of the Sabbath song was from a Black Sabbath cover album and I used some more Edison Studios footage, this time of the aftermath of the San Fransisco earthquake and fire of 1904.

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "INTO THE VOID";


This epic cover came from yet another Sabbath tribute. Uses a Polish film based on the Gogol story "The Portrait".

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "EGO THE LIVING PLANET";


With their 1995 album "Dopes To Infinity" album Monster Magnet produced the greatest album Black Sabbath never made. More footage from the Edison Studios footage of the San Francisco Earthquake for this instrumental.

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "MASTERBURNER";


For this track I used a short art film made by Yoko Ono as part of Flux Films, a Dada art Collective in 1967.

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "KING OF MARS";


This video used another art film, by Robert Breer from 1970

BLUE CHEER ~ "MAGNOLIA CABOOSE BABYFINGER";


Before there was Black Sabbath there was Blue Cheer. This vid uses some test footage from a horror film from the British studio Hammer Films in the 1960's

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Ramleh

Ramleh were one of the bands to emerge from the early Dada-Industrial scene of Northern England led by the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire (who also made a series of vids for to be scene here and here) and Clock DVA (ditto here). Starting in 1982 they have continued (with an ever shifting lineup) to today releasing records on various small indie labels. Ramleh differ from the other bands mentioned in that while these bands would embrace electronic and even dance music, Ramleh have continued to work within the original Noise-Rock framework of traditional guitar, bass and drums drenched in screeching feedback, distortion, droning echo, shouted vocals (if any) and long, apparently free-form jams.

RAMLEH ~ "FAG-ENDERS";


For this track off the 1994 "Homeless" I used an early silent animated film by Winsor McCay, the father of animation, who incidentally I've also written about here. Note that the "Fag" in the title probably refers to the British slang term for cigarettes but I can't be 100% sure since the vocals are completely indecipherable.

RAMLEH ~ "CHICKENHAWK";


This track from "Homeless" uses a weird early sci-fi film from the great French director Abel Gance ("Napoleon") which includes some hallucinogenic camera tricks.

RAMLEH ~ "MAGIC TIGER";


This track uses another early French film, this time from George Melies which includes some early hand-tinted colour.

RAMLEH ~ "THUMB BUSTER";


This track uses a short art film made by Yoko Ono for the Fluxus Film art collective in New York in about 1967

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Monoton

More from my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project. This week; Monoton.
German electro group Monoton was actually Konrad Becker who released a debut album in 1982 of dark atmospheric drones called "Monotonprodukt 07". The album was quite obscure at the time but it has since been cited as an influence on later electro-minimilists and was re-released in 2003.

MONOTON ~ "FIRE";


This video uses an early 1908 DW Griffith film "The Lonely Vila", about a home invasion. I also used this film for a Cabaret Voltaire video but couldn't decide which I liked better so I kept both.

MONOTON ~ "NEW";


This video uses one of the early Edison Studios shorts from 1898.

MONOTON ~ "WHEREAMI";


This one uses another Edison Film, "Uncle Josh In A Haunted Hotel" from 1900. Uncle Josh was a recuring character of a rural rube who has adventures in the big city as the subject of a series of Edison shorts. This one is notable in having a supernatural theme.

MONOTON ~ "SINGSANG";


This video uses an ealy french film "Arab Sorcerie".

MONOTON ~ "SOUND SEQUENCE";


This video uses a short art film by Joe Jones made for the Flux Films collective in 1966.

MONOTON ~ "VIBRATIONS";


Another art film from the Flux Collective, "Exit" by George Brecht.

MONOTON ~ "SHORT WAVE TRANSMISSION";


For this one instead of using a vintage silent film I used a modern silent short "Locked In" by Mathew Zellner that I thought needed a soundtrack.

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Presents; Jass

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project presents, Jass;

I don't actually know very much about this band but their music is perfect for soundtracks. Jass were apparently a Shefield based band from the early to mid 1980's and part of the same scene as Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA and they tread similar ground to the Cab's circa "Three Mantras" and "Red Meca" era. Albeit in a more minimalistic and trance-like way. One of their tracks ("Trap Drip Drop") also shows some influences from Steve Reich's tape-loop works "Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain". Their entire recorded output seems to consist of an album of demos recorded in 1985-86 and a live album from 1987 and that's it. Needless to say the videos I made are the only ones for this band. Incidentally the group's name comes from the original 1900's spelling of the of the word "jazz".

JASS ~ "OLD FILM LIFE";


For this video I used an early French Pathe film "Sculptures Moderne" which features some crude stop-action animation.

JASS ~ "FRONTIER JUSTICE";


This one uses another Pathe stop-action film.

JASS ~ "SUNKEN SOLDIER BONES";


For this track I used a 1960's silent op-art short made for the Fluxus Art Collective by George Maciunas.

JASS ~ "TRAP DRIP DROP";


This track uses another art film made in the 1960's for Fluxus, this one a series of performance art films made by Frenchman Ben Vautier

JASS ~ "UNTITLED LIVE TRACK NO.2"


This track off the live album uses another film by Ben Vautier although this one is essentially a home movie