{"id":8443,"date":"2015-08-29T12:39:08","date_gmt":"2015-08-29T11:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/?p=8443"},"modified":"2015-09-04T01:20:56","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T00:20:56","slug":"anarka-and-poppy-the-lost-all-the-madmen-recordings-1984-this-bitter-lesson-the-value-of-defiance-1982-crass-the-final-interview-dial-house-1984-blyth-power-meanwhile-gardens-198","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/anarka-and-poppy-the-lost-all-the-madmen-recordings-1984-this-bitter-lesson-the-value-of-defiance-1982-crass-the-final-interview-dial-house-1984-blyth-power-meanwhile-gardens-198\/","title":{"rendered":"Anarka And Poppy – The lost All The Madmen recordings – 1984 \/ This Bitter Lesson – 96 Tapes – 1982 \/ Crass – The final interview Dial House – 1984 \/ Blyth Power – Meanwhile Gardens – 1986 \/ Buld – 96 Tapes – 1986 \/ Louise – Chiswick Demo – 1989 \/ Blyth Power – Streetlevel Demo – 1984 \/ A Touch Of Hysteria – 96 Tapes – 1983"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anarka And Poppy \u2013 The lost All The Madmen recordings \u2013 1984<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

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In January 2015, Louise from the band Hysteria Ward contacted me to ask if I was interested in a load of stuff in a box. A mysterious question to which I answered \u201cYes I was\u201d. On visiting I found that the box contained several 1\/4 inch master reels of various recordings (by various bands) that were released on the All The Madmen record label back in the 1980\u2019s. At the bottom of the box I noticed a master reel that was not released by All The Madmen records.<\/p>\n

This master reel had been lost for over thirty years, and it was in this box.<\/p>\n

Anarka And Poppy were a peace punk band from Preston. In 1984 the band (at the invitation of Josef Porta who during late 1983 \/ early 1984 was now the ex-drummer of The Mob) came down to stay at 96 Brougham Road in Hackney.<\/p>\n

The following day Anarka And Poppy travelled to Gold Dust studios in Sidcup with Alistair who was looking after All The Madmen records at that time. Gerard remembers that a few months previously Flowers In The Dustbin (along with Claire from the band This Bitter Lesson) had also completed a session at Gold Dust studios recording \u2018Freaks Run Wild In The Disco\u2019 a record that was released on All The Madmen records in 1984.<\/p>\n

Not much is remembered about the session that produced the three tracks recorded by Anarka And Poppy at the studio that day.<\/p>\n

Alistair remembers that Paul Christie, the producer at the studio, had asked Jane, the vocalist, to not sing the line \u201cIt\u2019s a fucking nightmare\u201d as he was worried it would offend. Perhaps his heart was in the right place, but his advice was duly ignored in any case.<\/p>\n

On completion of the session the master reel was handed over to the band after payment and everyone was driven back to Hackney by Paul ex-This Bitter Lesson and Faction who had a van.
\nAt Brougham Road Paul held onto the master reel and from that point the mystery of this master reel starts.<\/p>\n

Alistair never did end up releasing the Anarka And Poppy single on All The Madmen records after all. The master reel had gone missing, no doubt lying around somewhere in Brougham Road. Alistair did get to release the amazing Zos Kia 7\u2033 single \u2018Rape\u2019 though.<\/p>\n

Anarka And Poppy split up several months later on in 1984. By 1985 Rob Challice ex-Faction had taking over from Alistair running All The Madmen records. Rob ploughed head first in the record label releasing several records by Blyth Power, Thatcher On Acid and The Astronauts along with a handful of other bands up until the spring of 1988. The Anarka And Poppy master reel was long forgotten about.<\/p>\n

I had helped out at All The Madmen records from the Autumn of 1985 until the Spring of 1988. I did not spot this master reel during those years, so who knows what happened to it? And who knows how, thirty years later, I get a large box of old master reels to either keep, throw away or \u2018to do something with\u2019, that included this Anarka And Poppy master reel amongst them?<\/p>\n

I decided \u2018to do something with\u2019 all the master reels. I checked with Pete Fender ex-Fatal Microbes, Rubella Ballet and Omega Tribe, if it was possible to restore the master reels after so many years. He advised that it was possible.<\/p>\n

I \u2018advertised\u2019 the master reels I had been given, including the Anarka And Poppy one, via a post on Face Book explaining that Pete Fender was willing to bake the reels to restore and then he would remaster the restored master reel. I got some interest from some members from the bands, including members of Anarka And Poppy.<\/p>\n

I handed the master reels (that members of the various bands were interested in being restored) to Pete in Dagenham, and later on that month, the master reels were carefully restored and remastered by Pete.<\/p>\n

Pete then returned the restored master reels to the members of the bands who were involved along with the remastered raw files and mp3\u2019s on separate CDR\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The three tracks on this Anarka And Poppy master reel that were carefully restored and remastered by Pete Fender have turned out beautifully clear, and all three tracks are absolute classic early \u2013 mid 1980\u2019s peace punk songs.<\/p>\n