Quintessence(s) of Old Wave (4 of ??)

 

There can surely be none-more-Old-Wave than this clip of Lindisfarne doing "Fog On The Tyne" on the Old Grey Whistle Test.

Scarcely believable that music like this could exist. 

As for the lyrics: 

Sittin' in a sleazy snack-bar suckin'

Sickly sausage rolls

Slippin' down slowly

Slippin' down sideways

Think I'll sign off the dole

'cause the fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine

Could a copper comprehend

That a crooked coffin maker is just an undertaker who

undertakes to be a friend

'cause the fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine

We can swing together

We can have a wee wee

We can have a wet on the wall

If someone slips a whisper

That his simple sister slapped them down

And they slavered on their smalls

Not only did they exist (still exist in fact) but they were hugely popular - the album Fog On the Tyne got to #1 and was the eighth biggest Brit seller of 1972. 

This was the Top 5 single off the album.

In the Top of the Pops rendition, the drummer reputedly hit a large bass drum with a rubber fish - but I see no trace of such antics here.

The next album rejoiced in the title Dingly Dell.

More albums with very Old Wave artwork

By this point, after the New Wave, they're just wet -  Smokie with strings

I associate Lindisfarne with The Strawbs - a group I find oddly fascinating not just as quintessence of Old Wave but also a quintessence of rock middlingness

Ah I'd got the idea it was an anti-union song, but apparently it's a celebration - and became a chant on picket lines. 

Now I vaguely remember that arch-Old Waver Steve Harley wrote an anti-union song

Which would make sense given that he'd been traumatized by a walk-out when the original Cockney Rebel demanded more pay and more say. 

Is it this one, "Red Is A Mean, Mean Colour"?

Hard to extract that sentiment from the lyrics - or indeed any coherent statement on anything

This one from '78's Hobo With A Grin  - presumably made during Grunwick etc etc - does include the line: "I don't believe in unions"

 

"I don't believe in unions, I don't believe in power

Tired of revolutions, they're dyin' hour by hour

Yes, I believe in open space, yes, I believe in human race

Yes, I believe in open space, yes, I believe in human race"

Some of the Strawbs actually went New Wave 

The lyric and album artwork seem Old Wave 

Although admittedly there is a twist to the sexism in "Nice Legs" - the singer gets his comeuppance. 

Discogs claims The Monks were intended initially as a spoof of punk rock. 

And also asserts that their debut album Bad Habits went double platinum in Canada.