For fans of the new ‘alternative’ rock music that spun out of the post-punk new wave movement, 1983 sort of felt like a microcosm of the 1964 British Invasion.

At the start of the punk movement, the Sex Pistols inadvertently spawned a healthy ‘do-it-yourself’ mentality, with literally hundreds of bands forming and achieving some level of recognition. Because of its relatively small size (from an American perspective) Great Britain provided an excellent breeding ground for a gestating scene that would have been impossible in the overblown, heavy-handed, major-label-record-company driven American market.

For a while, it appeared that quality was a genuine consideration, as opposed to ‘marketability’. With this show, we feature tracks from three albums released in October 1983 that fit this description.

Featured tracks include;

1) Beating of Hearts – XTC (‘Mummer’)

2) Wonderland – XTC (‘Mummer’)

3) Love on a Farmboy’s Wages – XTC (‘Mummer’)

4) Ladybird - – XTC (‘Mummer’)

5) Let Them All Talk – Elvis Costello (‘Punch the Clock’)

6) Shipbuilding – Elvis Costello (‘Punch the Clock’)

7) Pills and Soap – Elvis Costello (‘Punch the Clock’)

8) Oblivious – Aztec Camera (‘High Land, Hard Rain’)

9) We Could Send Letters – Aztec Camera (‘High Land, Hard Rain’)

10) Pillar to Post – Aztec Camera (‘High Land, Hard Rain’)

11) Lost Outside the Tunnel – Aztec Camera (‘High Land, Hard Rain’)