In its early years post punk evolved at a dizzying rate, one long rush of endless surprise and inexhaustible creativity. The next twist was constantly being anticipated, the latest leap forward. But gradually that creativity began to stall, 1981 marking an important second phase. Styles that had once been subsumed within the larger post punk rhetoric emerged from the genius of the early years to be named and identified as such, not least Goth, built from the cornerstones of The Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Killing Joke and Siouxsie &The Banshees Ju Ju, and new pop, the most dominant element of post punk’s important second phase.
By the summer of 1981 post punk had shifted to a strategy of entry-ism, of embracing the major record companies rather than building an independent alternative. Sonic mannerisms that had once seemed charmingly quirky or inspiringly amateur suddenly sounded too earnest, too worthy. Perhaps we all got tired of the doom and gloom, the propensity of overcoat clad, angst ridden young men. And yet after so much digging around in the darkness there was an almost inevitable swing back to the light of glamour, escapism and fun.
The most telling example of this phase was Scritti Politti’s rejuvenated leader, Green Gartside. Once DIY almost to the point of death, he did a complete about turn. Rejecting his former Marxist, nouveau squat philosophy, he became the first post punk musician to talk openly about pop as the way forward. Soon there would be a new hierarchy of gifted stars over talentless non entities. If ambition was now a virtue, there was nothing to stop artists embracing the star system and so Scritti Politti, Cabaret Voltaire, DAF, even Genesis P. Orridge’s Psychic TV all signed deals with the major record companies.
New pop futurism and ‘The Big Music’ of Echo & The Bunnymen, U2 and Simple Minds abandoned the core quest for the authentic to revive the dream of self-reinvention. Another casualty was post punk's modernist confidence that it was possible to make an absolute break with the past. By contrast the second phase was properly postmodern, pillaging everything from Motown to psychedelia to glam. The dream suddenly became reality as new pop rampaged over the surface of everyday life in a way previously thought unthinkable.
The main protagonists all enjoyed varying degrees of success and yet, just over eighteen months later, it was all but over and it appeared as if post punk and new pop had finally run their course. Much of it would return to the underground although some still lingered in the mainstream; New Order cutting a lustrous path to the dance floor; 23 Skidoo’s move to motorised Avant-funk; Cabaret Voltaire’s cathartic embrace of structure and groove; Depeche Mode’s workers power imagery and S&M pervery; Echo & The Bunnymen’s glorious chart bound celebrations; U2’s shimmering atmospherics. There was also time for one last heroic stand.
In the winter of 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood stood at the crossroads of pop culture as punk’s last blast. Superficially at least, they resembled the commotion of the Sex Pistols; the BBC ban, the media outrage, the brilliant singles, the disappointing album. And yet, shining so brightly and raging so hard Frankie blew away the last remaining traces of new pop and post Live Aid led us back to the arid musical wasteland of our pre punk youth and a new ruling pop and rock elite of careerist charlatans and men who would be God!
Modern music culture would never be quite the same again!
01. JOSEF K ‘Sorry For Laughing’ (A Side February 1981)
02. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY ‘Nick The Stripper’ (Prayers On Fire LP March 1981)
03. SOFT CELL ‘Memorabilia’ (A Side March 1981)
04. D.A.F. ‘Der Mussolini’ (Alles Ist Gut LP March 1981)
05. ENO & BYRNE ‘America Is Waiting’ (My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts LP March 1981)
06. HEAVEN 17 ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’ (A Side March 1981)
07. THE CURE ‘All Cats Are Grey’ (Faith LP April 1981)
08. ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN ‘No Dark Things’ (Heaven Up Here LP May 1981)
09. FIRE ENGINES ‘Candyskin’ (A Side May 1981)
10. SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ‘Arabian Knights’ (Ju Ju LP June 1981)
11. GANG OF FOUR ‘To Hell With Poverty’ (A Side July 1981)
12. COMSAT ANGELS ‘Gone’ (Sleep No More LP August 1981)
13. NEW ORDER ‘Procession’ (B Side September 1981)
14. PIGBAG ‘Sunny Day’ (A Side October 1981)
15. MAXIMUM JOY ‘Stretch’ (A Side October 1981)
16. BOW WOW WOW ‘(I’m A) TV Savage’ (See Jungle Go Crazy LP October 1981)
17. HUMAN LEAGUE ‘Darkness’ (Dare LP October 1981)
18. JAPAN ‘Talking Drum’ (Tin Drum LP November 1981)
19. ALTERED IMAGES ‘I Could Be Happy’ (A Side November 1981)
20. SOFT CELL ‘Torch’ (A Side May 1982)
21. NEW ORDER ‘Temptation’ (A Side May 1982)
22. ABC ‘Date Stamp’ (Lexicon Of Love LP June 1982)
23. THE ASSOCIATES ‘Skipping’ (Sulk LP June 1982)
24. SCRITTI POLITTI ‘Asylums In Jerusalem’ (A Side August 1982)
25. SIMPLE MINDS ‘Glittering Prize’ (New Gold Dream LP September 1982)
26. SHRIEKBACK ‘My Spine Is The Bassline’ (A Side September 1982)
27. SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHESS ‘Melt’ (Kiss In The Dreamhouse LP November 1982)
28. ORANGE JUICE ‘Flesh Of My Flesh’ (Rip It Up LP November 1982)
29. NEW ORDER ‘Your Silent Face’ (Power Corruption Lies LP May 1983)
30. LIQUID LIQUID ‘Optimo’ (Optimo EP June 1983)
31. CABARET VOLTAIRE ‘Just Fascination’ (The Crackdown LP August 1983)
32. ABC ‘That Was Then But This Is Now’ (Beauty Stab LP November 1983)
33. 23 SKIDOO ‘Coup’ (A Side November 1983)
34. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY ‘Mutiny In Heaven’ (Mutiny EP November 1983)
35. PSYCHIC TV ‘Orchids’ (Dreams Less Sweet LP December 1983)
36. ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN ‘Thorn Of Crowns’ (Ocean Rain LP April 1984)
37. THE FALL ‘Oh Brother’ (A Side June 1984)
38. DEPECHE MODE ‘Blasphemous Rumours’ (Some Great Reward LP September 1984)
39. U2 ‘Bad’ (The Unforgettable Fire LP October 1984)
40. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’ (Welcome To The Pleasuredome LP November 1984)