Rebellious Jukebox Vol. 3: Swing

“Disco Sucks” might have been a mantra for some of the original punks (or really, their brainless followers), but that is most certainly not the case with most of the Post-Punks. As evidenced on the first two installments of Rebellious Jukebox, dancing was very much a part of the Post-Punk zeitgeist. This third volume, Swing, continues to show that in addition to the Velvets and Roxy, these artists were also paying attention to Chic and Donna Summer.

Volume Three begins and ends with the vocals of Alan Vega, who shows us yet another unlikely influence on a Post-Punk artist: his crooning has often been compared to Elvis Presley, and “Fireball” might be the prime example. His band, Suicide (a duo actually, with keyboardist Martin Rev), was part of the original CBGB's scene (along with Talking Heads and Come On-- also featured here) and could easily be included on a Proto-Punk compilation.

The European continent makes a fairly sizeable contribution on this volume of Rebellious Jukebox as bands from Germany (Kraftwerk), France (Metal Urbain) and Belgium (The Honeymoon Killers) all make an appearance. I realize this series is very Anglo-American, but I intend to remedy this on a future installment (next September, maybe?).

Another Athens, GA band makes the cut here, bringing that quaint Southern city’s total up to four (the other three bands were all on the first volume: Pylon, B-52’s and Oh-Ok). This time it’s the vastly under-rated Method Actors, who have recently been given the reissue treatment from Acute Records.

Another band that are just now starting to get their due thanks to a recent reissue is San Francisco's the Units. If you aren’t from the Bay Area and didn’t live through the golden era of Post-Punk, you’d be forgiven if you thought “High Pressure Days” was a long lost Devo track. Probably my favorite track on this compilation, and the one newest to me, as I had never heard it before Community Library put out History of the Units: The Early Years 1977-1983 last year.

Enough out of me, Happy Listening!

Rebellious Jukebox Vol. 3: Swing

01. Alan Vega, “Fireball” [1981]
02. Gang of Four, “I Found That Essence Rare” [1979, Peel Session]
03. Depeche Mode, “Photographic” [1981, Some Bizzare Version]
04. Kraftwerk, “The Model” [1978]
05. Minutemen, “Life as a Rehearsal” [1982]
06. Fire Engines, “Discord” [1981, Peel Session]
07. Talking Heads, “I Zimbra” [1979]
08. Come On, “A Kitchen in the Clouds” [1978]
09. Tuxedomoon, “Incubus (Blue Suit)” [1981]
10. The Sound, “The Fire” [1981]
11. The Better Beatles, “I’m Down” [1981]
12. The Honeymoon Killers, “Histoire À Suivre” [1982]
13. The Method Actors, “My Time” [1981]
14. Soft Cell, “Bedsitter” [1981]
15. Colin Newman, “& Jury” [1980]
16. Manicured Noise, “Metronome” [1979]
17. Suburbs, “Tiny People” [1980]
18. Units, “High Pressure Days” [1980]
19. Caberet Voltaire, “Landslide” [1981]
20. Echo & the Bunnymen, “Read it in Books” [1979, Original Single Version]
21. Metal Urbain, “Hysterie Connective” [1978]
22. The Wake, “Favour” [1982]
23. James Chance, “Contort Yourself” [1978, Original Version]
24. Scritti Politti, “Double Beat” [1978]
25. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “Electricity” [1980]
26. Suicide, “Diamonds, Fur coat, Champagne” [1979]

Total Time: 1:19:08

Download it here: Rebellious Jukebox Vol. 3: Swing

PLEASE NOTE: When I zipped this puppy up and loaded up at Megaupload, I was in a bit of a rush, apparenttly, and the title for this comp comes up as "Rebellious Jukebox Vol. 3: Gloom". Of course, this is volume 3, but it should say "Swing". Instead of rezipping, I thought I'd just let you know and you can fix it once you've downloaded it. Apologies and Thanks Eric for noticing and letting me know!