I spent a lot of time in Sheffield from 1978 to 1981, probably far more than I should have done given that I was supposed to be doing a degree in Durham for the first part of this, only moving to Sheffield in 1980 to complete a PGCE. Ironically, the relationship which drew me to the city fizzled out by the time I started that course
But I was exposed to quite a vibrant scene, certainly very different to the punk and new wave bands who seemed to be emerging from other UK cities.
This 4 CD set, a Christmas present a couple of years ago, tries to gather a decade's worth of music from Sheffield, and as you'd expect, within a collection of 84 tracks by 84 different artists (well, nearly) there are diamonds to be enchanted by, plenty of ordinary stuff, and a few, let's be kind and say strange offerings.
CD1 (1977-81) opens with headliners The Human League, and an early instrumental single, Dancevision, setting the industrial electrical scene, quickly followed by They Must Be Russians (my brush with stardom, I worked with Paul from TMBR on the Christmas post in 1979) with an uncharacteristically humorous Don't Try To Cure Yourself, read from a pamphlet about sexually transmitted disease, over a jaunty guitar riff, sounding a bit like I, Ludicrous later would.
I'm So Hollow give the collection its name with an undistinguished song, and the rest of CD1 consists of bands I frequently saw advertised as playing in pubs, or never heard at all. Pram, Red Zoo, and 2-3 serve up some ordinary guitar fare, with Repulsive Alien providing a punk thrash, while Hobbies Of Today sound a little more futuristic with Metal Boys, and Mein Glas Fabrik present a haunting electro-tune. B Troop were a frequent name at the time and their single Junior is an early stand out. There's an early Thompson Twins effort, unrecognisable from the comfy new-Romantic sound they'd later embrace, but with a certain appeal. Nothing much else from the first CD is remarkable, apart from an interesting effort from Vena Cava, and a funky gentle jangly guitar led song from The Past Seven Days.
CD2 covers 1981-82, once again with a mixture of known names, has-beens and never-weres. There's a great start with Heaven 17's debut (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing, a fantastically theatrical proggy number, The Clown, from Artery. I do remember seeing New Model Soldier, whose doom laden Twist follows, but the high point of this era for me is Clock DVA's 4 Hours. The H17 boys return as B.E.F., with A Baby Called Billy, and electro-percussive piece. The Flying Alphonso Brothers' War Games is enjoyable tuneful and bright, while Shy Tots' English Industrial Estate sounds like a cheerful Depeche Mode. but the final half of this disc is less convincing, apart from, Alphabet Soup, an early ABC song, sounding more like The Pop Group than their later gold-lame jacket image. This is a good thing.
CDs 3 and 4 cover the period after I left the city, and most of the names here are unknown to me. But not, of course Pulp, who open CD3 with Everybody's Problem, a fairly ordinary song, which might explain why it would be another decade before anyone heard of Jarvis and chums. But there's a nice piece of jazz from Bass Tone Trap (Intruder In The Dust). There's an average electropop song from Danse Society (only worth mentioning so I can relate that I saw the band with about 20 others, when they were called Danse Crazy, and was the only one not to think they were shit). There's not much that's awful on the rest of CD3, but equally nothing else stands out. There's a track by Vendino Pact, a name that used to be common on pub bills, but I never saw, and I'm not regretting missing them. CD4 (1984-88) is less satisfying, without any bands I've previously heard of. There's a nice angry jazz-funk piece from The Anti Group, a decent punk thrash from Kilgore Trout, very mid-eighties jangly songs by Mr Morality and Treebound Story (think Lloyd Cole) but little else to get excited about.
As a comprehensive review of that decade in Sheffield, warts and all, this is a bold release, although I suspect the aim could reasonably have been achieved on two CDs, or by including more than one track from the more major players. But comprehensive it is, and there's much to enjoy. But for licencing reasons, no Cabaret Voltaire!
3* - a box set which places thoroughness over quality at times, but lots to interest the listener
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