We've got Reds under the bed on this week's Namesakes. Which Fifth Columnists will be a SMASH hit with you?
THE FIFTH COLUMN #1
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"Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty were a duo known as Stealer's Wheel when they recorded this Dylanesque, pop, bubble-gum favourite from April of 1974 that reached up to number five, as K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies continues..."
So says the wonderful Steven Wright in Reservoir Dogs. And if Steven Wright had his own radio show, I would listen to it a lot more than I listened to Steve Wright In The Afternoon. But I digress...
Before they became Stealer's Wheel, way back in 1966, Paisley's Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty (along with Dennis Bell) were known as The Fifth Column. This was their only single...
The Fifth Column - Benjamin Day
THE FIFTH COLUMN #2
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Canadian post-punk band from the early 80s with a feminist agenda, a political edge and a fiercely independent streak.
THE FIFTH COLUMN #3
All the way from Blackpool in 1983 came these post-punk Fifth Columners with a smile on their face... for now.
The Fifth Column - Laugh While You Can
FIFTH COLUMN #4
Proper female-fronted DIY punk from Cricklewood in 1985, with Moggy on guitar.
That's not how I'd spell... etc. etc.
THE 5th COLUMN #5
US new wave / indie band from 1987 who clearly had been listening to Talking Heads. This is the b-side of their only single to be found on discogs, the a-side appears to have blown away with the sand of time...
FIFTH COLUMN #6
While these guys, in 1988, had clearly bought a few Pet Shop Boys records...
THE FIFTH COLUMN #7
Finally, some lo-fi acoustic stuff from Athens, Georgia in 1988...
Some disappointment at Top Ten Towers that I was unable to find the abrasive death metal band from Queensland now calling themselves The 5th Column, having changed their name from Maggot Infested Fuck Pit. There were a few other 5th Columnists I couldn't locate, but none left quite the same hole in my heart.
But which Fifth Column would persuade you to join... and which would you grass up to the authorities?
I'm going to give my vote to #2 purely on the fact that they were lovely - back in the olden dayes when you had to actually write letters to addresses printed on the back of record sleeves, Mr SDS corresponded with them for a while and they were kind enough to send him two free albums. I remember a great track by them being 'All Women Are Bitches' - as happily disproved by the above!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful world we grew up in.
DeleteI'm afraid numbers #1 to #4 have left no impression beyond mild boredom. Introducing a band with reference to the Pet Shop Boys means I am predisposed to dislike it, and listening to the track the vocal is even more annoying than that bloke in the PSB.
ReplyDeleteFaux Talking Heads (#5) very tedious. #7 earnestly tedious. Of the 7 my vote goes to #1, but it will be on vol. 220 of the Download series
ReplyDelete#1 will not be on vol 220 (or any other volume)
DeleteIf only I could have found Maggot Infested Fuck Pit.
Delete1 and 2 for me. Whatever happened to Dennis Bell (or Rob Sinclair and David Storie who were in The Maverix before they became The Fifth Column #1)?
ReplyDeleteThe Marverix? Hmm...
Delete