Felt: The past tense of feel. Perceivedorexaminedbytouch.
She felt his face with her hand
Felt: A feeling of a physical, mental or emotional state.
I felt hurt by the words they said
Felt: Toperceiveasaphysicalsensation,asofpain.
I felt the pain in my back after the accident
Felt was a 1980s British alternative rock band led by Lawrence, whose surname was never listed in any credits or press; the band's name was inspired by Tom Verlaine's emphasis of the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus".
Time for a bit of a diversion. Today's post will feature the late 70's early 80's new wave/post punk artist Klark Kent.
Kent was just a bit of a mystery in his earliest years, but that mystery quickly faded as his true identity came forth. Of course we knew that Stewart Copeland (drummer for the Police) was Klark Kent, sometimes spelled Klerk Kant and various other spellings of the name.
Klark Kent
Stewart Copeland
As Klark Kent, Stewart Copeland recorded for IRS Records. IRS Records is that small indie label which was founded by Copeland's brother Miles Copeland. IRS Records was distributed by A&M Records, the label for which The Police recorded.
Klark kent released only four singles and one mini album (EP).
Singles: "Don't Care" / "Thrills" / "Office Girls" - 1978 "Too Kool To Kalypso" / "Kinetic Ritual" - 1978 "Away From Home" / "Office Talk" - 1980 "Rich In A Ditch" / "Grandelinquent" - 1980
His EP was called "Music Madness from the Kinetic Kid" and was released on 10" green vinyl record in 1980. It's release fell half between the release of the Police albums Regatta de Blanc (1979) and Zenyatta Mondatta (1980). The EP contains 8 tracks as follows:
"Don't Care" – 2:08
"Away From Home" – 2:55
"Ritch In A Ditch" – 2:46
"Grandelinquent" – 3:09
"Guerilla" – 3:32
"Old School" – 2:44
"Excess" – 3:12
"Theme For Kinetic Ritual" – 4:18
Guitars, bass, drums, kinetically tuned piano, specially adapted kinetic klarinet, percussive perpetrations and vocals all done by Klark Kent.
Every song on this EP is upbeat and carefree. It's an enjoyable post-punk/new wave gem. Copeland donned the Klark Kent disguise and even created a fake biography which shows up in the liner notes of his EP. The fake bio portrays Kent as a computer programmer who sued IBM for stealing one of his inventions. Copeland recorded as Kent in order to record the songs he wrote for the Police that Sting didn't like. Klark Kent's songs are goofy and eccentric which was in complete contrast the the maturing sounds of The Police.
In this blog the focus on Magazine is on music. The spotlight will shine on the English post-punk band named Magazine.
In 1977 Howard Devoto (born Howard Trafford) formed Magazine, just shortly after he left Buzzcocks. The classi line-up of the group from 1978 to 1980 was Howard Devoto on lead vocals, John McGeoch - guitar, Barry Adamson - bass, Dave Formula - keyboards and John Doyle - drums. They write all their own music with the exception of the occasional cover. My particular favorite cover tune by Magazine is their rendition of Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)". Magazine completely transforms this 1970 funk classic to a post-punk celebration with possible influences being Talking Heads and Brian Eno.
My biggest attraction to the group is - well for obvious reason - they're a pretty good group. I primarily enjoy Howard Devoto's unique vocals, you know it's him right off the bat. He's a quirky very unusual sort of personality and interesting the watch in his music videos.
One of my favorite songs is the 1978 song "Shot By Both Sides", Martin Jackson plays the drums with impeccable timing and puts a good sense of intense joy into what he does. Toward the middle of the song John McGeoch bursts in with an electrifying guitar solo. The entire band goes way above any musical expectations and puts in an outstanding performance on this recording. A classic in it's genre which is deserving of more appreciation on a wider sense of music history.
All four of Magazine's studio albums reached the Top 40 in the UK and one of their live albums made UK #69. In the U.S. they went virtually unnoticed with the except of fans of the genre. They made only one brief U.S. chart appearance in 1980 when their recording of "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" reached #42 on the Dance Music/Club Play singles chart.
Magazine was short lived recording only four albums between 1978-1981. Shortly afterward Howard Devoto released a solo album and then formed the group Luxuria. Most recently Howard Devoto prefromed and co-wrote several songs with Dave Formula on Formula's 2010 album "Satellite Sweetheart".
