Wednesday, August 18, 2021

STRIKE - Radio Songs 7'' 1980

PowerPop today and two fantastic examples of this genre are offered by Strike's only single, and after that they quick disappeared from the scene. And I would like to give you useful infos about the band that was put together by the interesting SpitRecords blog: "Strike were a five piece combo that hailed from Belfast and consisted of Mark (vocals), Noel & Paul (guitars), Laurence (bass) and Davy (drums). After forming, they immediately got down to rehearsing at Nix's parent's garage and composing fresh songs which eventually evolved into their own distinctive melodic sound. They then began gigging locally with their set of originals, filled out with the odd cover version, including 'Teenageer In Love', a number which practically every Belfast punk band at the time had a go at! Noel worked in a recording studio which helped a lot. He was able get the fledgling band into the studion quite regularly, at the end of the day, where they would work late making demos and putting their live set together.

They released one 7Inch on Shock Records in 1980, pressed in a limited edition of only 500 copies. To promote the slab they played a series of gigs around Ireland, which received much media attention and they also secured a high profile support slot to the Boomtown Rats at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. A&M Records showed an interest in signing the band and sent one of their puppet over to watch Strike perform at The Pound in Belfast. They had really liked the demos that they had been sent, but unfortunately no recording contract were made.

 There followed sone line-up changes which resulted in Steven taking over duties at the drum stool and Lesley became the new singer. This change in personnel found the band move in a different musical direction too. They began to play less original material and concentrated more on playing covers by bands such as the Tourists and Pretenders and playing residences in Dublin and Belfast. This later incarnation of the band released two tracks on the Belfast compilation from 1980. Their single was re-released by Sing Sing Records in 2010 in a limited run, sold out very quickly."

Enough of words, let the music speak and enjoy two Gassenhauer, made by a sympathetic combo.


No comments:

Post a Comment