iPod Shuffle - Angels Of Deception - a photo on Flickriver

Angels Of Deception - "The The" - Play this track here.

?Whats this iPod Shuffle set all about? Read about it here

Well it's high noon at the U.K. corral,
& it's high time I got myself back on the rails,
I'm the lonesome cowboy, ridin across the range,
with just a hand held radio--to keep me sane,
ridin through the f.m. stations, the tumbleweed,
& the petrol stations,
Will all on board this yankee station
Prepare themselves for battle stations.....

This evening I was having a quiet friday night with 'er indoors out in town. this track was one of those thrown at me by the iPod.

Infected was The The's second album released in 1986. It is generally underated and is very much a product of its times. A work mate at the time from the Wirral Ian Stevens introduced me to 'The The' through the killer track 'Uncertain Smile', an almost perfect 12". I am eternally in his debt and his good lady wife Debby (although not Debbys C&W friends, but that is another story).

Matt Johnson has been the only constant band member of 'The The'. In November 1977, he placed an advertisement in the NME, asking for "Bass/lead guitarist into Velvets/Syd Barrett". Johnson later placed a second advertisement in the NME, stating his new influences as "The Residents/Throbbing Gristle".

Following the Sheffield TG axis As a duo (Johnson and Keith Laws on synths/tapes), The The began playing shows with some of that era's most influential groups: Wire, Cabaret Voltaire, DAF, This Heat, The Birthday Party and Scritti Politti in 1980.

In 1983 The The released their official album debut, the synth-noir classic Soul Mining. It featured the minor UK hit "This Is the Day", as well as a new recording of "Uncertain Smile". Produced by Matt Johnson and Paul Hardiman it featured guest appearances from Orange Juice's drummer Zeke Manyika, Jools Holland, Thomas Leer and J. G. Thirlwell (aka Foetus).

During The The's more prolific period of releases, from Soul Mining (1983) to Dusk (1992), most artwork used on the albums and single releases was produced by Matt Johnson's brother Andrew Johnson, using the pseudonym Andy Dog. The artwork has a distinctive style, and sometimes courted controversy, most notably the initial release of the 1986 single "Infected" which featured a masturbating devil and was withdrawn from sale and re-issued with an edited version of the same drawing.

For the 1986 album Infected, The The still only consisted of Johnson, but augmented by session musicians and featuring friends such as drummer/singer Zeke Manyika and Rip Rig & Panic singer Neneh Cherry. This album spawned four charting singles in the UK, notably "Heartland" (better known by its famous chorus "This is the 51st State of the USA") and made the UK Top 30. It was also unusual for having a full length accompanying film. Costing hundreds of thousands of pounds, Infected: The Movie was shot on locations in Bolivia, Peru and New York. Different songs were directed by different directors, mainly Tim Pope and Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (of Throbbing Gristle). Throughout 1986-1987 Johnson toured the world extensively with Infected: The Movie, showing the film in cinemas in place of performing live concerts. The film was also shown twice in its entirety on Channel 4 in the UK and on MTV's 120 Minutes in the USA.

In 1987 Johnson also took some tentative steps back into live performance. Whilst promoting Infected: The Movie in Australia he had a chance encounter with Billy Bragg who persuaded him to return to Britain and support Red Wedge, a coalition of like-minded musicians supporting the British Labour Party in its election campaign. Johnson agreed and enrolled long time friend and collaborator Zeke Manyika to join him in performing shows in London featuring stripped down versions of political The The songs such as "Heartland". This experience convinced Johnson to put a band together once again.

By 1988, The The was an actual band again, Johnson having recruited ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, one of my own musical heroes. It is fair to say that Matt and 'The The' drew on the shortfalls of Thatchers Britain. With the new austerity maybe there is a place again for a similar band of similar political colour to step up to the plate. Please check 'The The' out.

On an aside, I remember backpacking around India with a C90 cassette tape of Infected with 'Only A Grocers Daughter' from the Blow Monkeys on the reverse. Not one of my favourite politicians but I can have respect for her as possibly the strongest character since Churchill in that post in British history. Respect and admiration, obviously two very different emotions.

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I remember this type of view... just!
We had a portable Murphy radio as a kid. Wooden box, 90 volt Eveready battery inside, valves not transistors. Not 'solid state' as they used to say.

NB: Like all the images on this stream, full size prints up to 30x20inches are available, Check my profile for how to contact me.

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(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC

Taken on: July 16, 2010

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