Rip It Up

Last week brought the US paperback release of UK music journo Simon Reynolds' much heralded Rip It Up And Start Again. It's the story of the original post-punk movement, 1978 to 1984. I've had about a million people (all in Europe) recommend it to me based on music posts here. I lived in the UK from 1979 to 1985, and the stories told in this book are all about my music - the bands, the songs, all of it. I am enjoying it immensely of course, and I've cheated a bit already too - flipping through the index, reading pages about people and bands. This set me off on a flip through the old record collection too, and this week's posts will be music from the original post-punk era. It may be a bit clichéd but I'm starting off the week with the song that inspired the title of the book - Orange Juice's Rip It Up. It's the title track of the band's second LP, and as a single saw them have the biggest success of their career to that point. It's a delightfully catchy tune that adds a bunch of production gloss to the band's traditionally shambolic indie pop. Taking inspiration from the sound of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, the song rides a cool squelchy bass line, has lots of scratchy guitar bits and funky synth lines and features a hot sax solo too. Drummer Zeke Manyika provides a steady, mid tempo rhythm to keep it all together. A great song, and a fitting title for a book about a musical movement that really did rip it up and start again. Stay tuned for more leftfield goodness all week...