Blyth Power – 96 Tapes – 1985

This tape was recorded as separate tracks, the way I used to record the tapes way back when KYPP started off. I run out of time on the KYPP site uploading in this way and therefore just recorded the whole cassette by whatever band was being featured on the site later on… All photographs are from my collection and show members of the band in the basement of 96 Brougham Road in Hackney where the tracks that appeared on this cassette were recorded.

Blyth Power with ‘A Little Touch Of Harry In The Night’, a strangely titled cassette influenced by the bard Shakespear on the wonderful 96 Tapes imprint straight out of Brougham Road in Hackney. These tracks were all recorded underneath 96 Brougham Road with the help of Protag on the mixing desk. Not a lot of room under that house but the results are clear to hear on the tracks featured on this cassette only release.

The best cassette release on the label by a country mile and my favourite of all the Blyth Power material that was released from 1985 to 1987.

A Little Touch Of Harry In The Night (96 Tapes)

Thirteen hurtling songs, wrapped in a crew manual for a class 56 locomotive. What goes on here? Blyth Power has answers of sorts: ‘Just as Revlon killed the rabbits in laborotory tests / Surely we shall die of Sony Walkman video cassettes…’

In songs like the classic ‘Some of Shelley’s Hangups’ and ‘Under The Seawind’ Blyth Power’s slyly wise words ring as sharp and abrasive as their guitarist.

But elsewhere, well, many nights may well be spent in good-spirited debate centred around these strangely phrased tales of trains, mythology, history, cricket and metaphysics. And soon it may well make sense…

As we recall the guitar chopped, jagged rush of early ATV/Wire, we can also note just as often the small but vital debt owed to folk balladry by their jerky, midpaced gallops and Josef’s peculiarly English voice.

Blyth Power – raw and uniquely exciting – are as good as riding bikes, dancing until stupid, baking bread, or taking drugs, whatever is your kick. Or near enough at least.

Robin Gibson

Sounds – 2.2.85

15 comments

Nuzz
November 1, 2007 at 10:12 pm

love this tape.
durruti
November 10, 2007 at 3:08 pm

I’ve nicked the image above for use on my site, hope you don’t mind but it was by far the best I could find 😉
Scotty
March 24, 2010 at 8:44 pm

Wow! never thought I’d hear this again. Thanks.
ray ss
August 2, 2010 at 10:15 am

thanks a bunch, love it, i recognize some songs from an lp of theirs
Mattieu
February 10, 2011 at 11:46 pm

Great stuff. It’s been many years since I heard some of these songs. Now just need to find a copy of ‘Bind their Kings’
Penguin • Post Author •
February 10, 2011 at 11:49 pm

The Blyth Power 12″ singles (one of them with that track on) are here:
https://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=473
Mattieu
February 12, 2011 at 10:48 am

Cheers
slyme68
February 12, 2011 at 12:55 pm

It’s come to this trawler’s notice that a dude has pressed vinyl versions of this and is selling them for £6 each. http://www.lavidaesunmus.com/PAGES/musframeset.html
Nic
February 14, 2011 at 12:46 am

The person from the Distro didn’t press up the LP, slyme (that was S**n from Demo Tapes who has also released LPs of tapes by A Touch of Hysteria, Passion Killers and Violent Uprising) – but I did notice they have reissued ‘Hymns of Faith’ by Crisis and have an Astronauts reissue coming out as well…and there are some other interesting ‘reissues’ available as well (including Amsterdamned)…
Trunt
February 14, 2011 at 7:07 pm

Don’t forget the Solvent Abuse ‘Glue kills’ release on the mighty Demo Tapes. I think there could be a Splatter Babies release soon, just cleaned up some tapes to cd for Mr For**s. The A Touch of Hysteria release is into it’s second pressing, if you aint got it, it’s a must. The band are still treading the boards, now with Kez on the drums, after Chris original drummer and ex Lush/Hardskin drummer departed this mortal coil in 1996, a sad miss. Some of ATOH also do the backing for Andy T.
Chris L
February 15, 2011 at 12:16 am

@ Nic: Amsterdamned, as in the band who played the Centro? That certainly is one for the ‘obscurists’ corner.
Nic
February 15, 2011 at 10:55 am

Yes, definitely an ‘obscurists’ release Chris… 🙂
Nic
February 16, 2011 at 8:04 am

Chris: in case you haven’t seen it yet, Paul Platypus (Exhibit A, Twelve Cubic Feet, etc) has put up scans of the ‘Obscurist Chart’ which appeared in Sounds back in the early 1980’s:
http://obscuristchart.wordpress.com/
Lots of familiar names in there!
Chris L
February 17, 2011 at 2:04 am

@Nic: many thanks, hadn’t seen that. Glorious stuff.

One for the real drooling geeks who’ve tracked down everything off that Nurse With Wound list 😉 These acts should at least be elevated to KBD status?

I remember laughing at that title EATING APPLE CRUMBLE WHILST LISTENING TO ROWCHE RUMBLE at the time, still cracks me up today. In fact there are just so many fucking funny song/band/release titles it’s impossible to even start listing any more.

One thing i’ve got to ask though ; did any of those ‘The Late Mike Finch’ cassettes actually exist?
jonathan evans
August 5, 2013 at 10:00 pm

thanks. great stuff, again. once again, find myself excited in a way un-befitting a middle aged father of three. but, to be fair, so many great bands are back on the road and / or recording and it’s like a dream come true – even if it is inspired by the new breed of thatcherite government.