Here is our interview with one of the founding members of Joy Division, New Order and The Light, Peter Hook. Enjoy the insight, the ceremony and the atmosphere of one of the most influential bass player of the Post Punk era. The video version is on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/100063297726030/videos/625143802696575 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com Twitter: @pleasuresknown
Nov 12, 2022•35 min•Season 6Ep. 38
When late night talk turns to the turbulent musical period known as “post-punk”, three names invariably crop up: Joy Division, Wire and Gang of Four. Like some sort of unholy trinity, they remain standing like not-so-silent sentinels, lighting the way forward. Here at Known Pleasures we’ve already twisted ourselves into knots over Wire and despite our name, are still afraid to tackle Joy Division, so…Gang of Four it is. From 1978’s spiky Damaged Goods EP through to 1983’s pop-tinged Hard we’ll t...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 37
In 1981, a yoghurt-factory worker, a window dresser, and two blokes employed by an insurance company and a bank, somehow conjured up one of the most irresistible songs of the decade. Forty years and a hundred million records later – including 35 Top 20 hits in the UK – Depeche Mode are solid-gold, electronic-rock royalty. In this episode, we join the band for the first part of their expedition – from the sparkling pop of ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ to the industrial clank of ‘People Are People’, los...
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 36
At the legendary CBGB’s in New York in the mid 70’s, I think it’s fair to say that Blondie were outliers. Still, they took enough from the attitudes and performances of their punk contemporaries to create a style of idiosyncratic pop that made them stand out from the crowd. Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1KQsSZDvmnpCxBu6n5Nmzg?si=vteJC5bFTjam5Q8hBH12Ng Twitter: @pleasuresknown Instagram: knownpleasurespodcast...
Apr 09, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 6Ep. 35
Hit singles: nuh. Hit albums: nuh. Unusually charismatic singer? Unforgettable visual image? Brilliant band name? Nuh. Nuh. Nuh. So why, 46 years after they formed, are we talking about Wire? Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, 154 might sound like the opening line of a really good poem; it is, though, the list of albums – released between 1977 and ’79 – which, despite making only the barest dent in the charts, remain among the most influential of the era. Beloved by everyone from Johnny Marr to Elastica...
Feb 02, 2022•52 min•Season 6Ep. 34
In this episode Mark, Patrick & Graham hold a magnifying glass over Adam & The Ants. Not to set fire to them & watch them burn, but to illuminate them and watch them glow. Vote for us: https://australianpodcastawards.com/vote Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6x2LPIq9LtunoVWugVg8mn?si=l0wFQ0NcQM6zWChbHjCL9w...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 33
Born like so many others out of 1977’s London punk scene, the Psychedelic Furs however seemed to deliberately stand out from the off. There was the name for a start - not very punk and more redolent of the despised 60s if anything, and then there was the music. Never a huge critical or commercial favourite they nevertheless struck a chord with new wave hungry audiences around the world and continue to this day. Over the course of four albums released from 1980 to 1984 we’ll examine where the Fur...
Oct 01, 2021•51 min•Season 5Ep. 32
“The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly”. Known Pleasures is back with a podcast of Bladerunner proportions - one hit wonders of the new wave era. Here we explore our favourite supernova tracks of the time and ask “where are they now? does that even qualify as new wave?” and “whose idea was this again?” Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6PUtCDlsvXsm7RzjFkQZ9A?si=8xqvq5ZYR8WPjeYnr_fvBw...
Aug 01, 2021•54 min•Season 5Ep. 31
You might… know of… INXS as sinuous rock-funk exponents from the late 80s and early 90s. You might… know how…. they came to rule the world with their infectious hook laden songs. But_ did_ you_ know_ that back home in their native Australia there were plenty who saw them as just another rock band who’d graduated from the macho, 60s-influenced pub rock scene that had produced the likes of AC/DC. Well, here at Known Pleasures that really gets our goat up. INXS were not an Aus Rock band. They were ...
Feb 08, 2021•58 min•Season 5Ep. 30
When Andy, Paul and Winston took to the stage at a club in Liverpool in 1978, the small crowd assembled didn’t quite know what to expect. Especially because Winston was a tape recorder. What they wouldn’t have anticipated was that, within three or four years, this peculiar band - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - would rattle off a string of hit singles and eccentric inventive albums, placing them firmly on the frontline of the electro-pop invasion of the early to mid-80s. Spotify Playlist: ht...
Dec 11, 2020•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 29
If 1978 can be regarded as Year Zero for post punk, then Magazine were already wide awake when day one dawned. From 78-81 they produced four challenging albums and set the tone for the next 30 years. Episode 28 of our Known Pleasures podcast examines what made Manchester’s Magazine one of the greats. Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1SWGj9qxomqduRKvzssYLu?si=nqItmi_8QPWZIloTF9iMDQ
Oct 12, 2020•54 min•Season 4Ep. 28
When the BBC website ran a poll on great disabled Britons, he came second only to Stephen Hawking. That’s how loved and admired was the geezer from Upminster. So how does his music stack up after all these years? Has our trawl through the Ian Dury back catalogue left us thinking what a waste, or was it as good as cheddar cheese and pickle, a Vincent motorsickle or slap and tickle? Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7uXGJG3bDGq4xcAP6qRsQz?si=rljXylSjQ16QnhptiPh8_w
Aug 26, 2020•54 min•Season 4Ep. 27
In this special episode we discuss the New Wave Bandwagon Jumpers. Be it a post punk appropriation by genuine fans, a dabble in the New Wave by former wave makers or an opportunists opportunity to sell records. We went in hard and found our top ten recording artists who dared to try their hand at new music in the early eighties. Our bandwagons are in a circle. Let the gunfire commence.
Jun 30, 2020•51 min•Season 4Ep. 26
If the Tears For Fears story ended after their first album we would gladly induct them into our own Post Punk Hall Of Fame, no hesitation. But in 1985, they went out to rule the world with well crafted, hook laden pop songs that America fell 'Head Over Heels' for and MTV heralded them as one of the bands at the forefront of the 2nd British Invasion. So, after that first album do Tears For Fears qualify as a New Wave band, and indeed does it really matter? Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.c...
May 10, 2020•49 min•Season 4Ep. 25
It’s fairly safe to say there’s never been another Australian band, before or since, like The Birthday Party. While it would be unfair to blame these Boys Next Door entirely for the subsequent invention of Goth, they were most certainly grave-side when the body was being exhumed. We give you the lowdown on the wild ride of how St Nick got his start – and more. Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/0U30jUbhcAxsvjaK2mR5oT?si=lYYdxhwGSmqN47fdcHmTiw...
Apr 08, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 24
When talk turns to legendary bass players of the punk and post punk era, one name always surfaces near the top: JJ Burnell of The Stranglers. We caught up with the Euroman himself ahead of their 2020 Australian tour. People Are The Enemy Interview: http://peoplearetheenemy.libsyn.com/people-are-the-enemy-episode-104?fbclid=IwAR1rcBC-g_eUj8hGXlDBs12boxxl8jS3J5Fu8g3q5Hincs9yO2HG96lrol0...
Jan 30, 2020•26 min•Season 4Ep. 23
At first glance, The Cars might seem an unlikely choice for a post-punk dissection, but they’re just as much a part of the US conversation as Blondie, Talking Heads and Devo. So, put the top down, your pedal to the metal and take a spin with The Cars. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20wz3mYLp8xwxhV0pEpOQX?si=9I4-Nfb_QaKI-81mVYkbxg
Jan 09, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Ever wondered what the best 5 albums of the post-punk era were, as defined by three self-appointed experts? Well, wonder no more as we’ve got you covered.
Nov 26, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Gang of Four were at the forefront of post punk and no one did more to influence the sound of post punk guitar in particular, than Andy Gill. We spoke with Andy before he toured Australia in 2020 in one of his last recorded interviews.
Aug 24, 2019•17 min•Season 3Ep. 20
When their single Vienna reached #2 in the UK charts in February 1981 Ultravox became popstars overnight, but overnight had been a long time coming. In the 7 years since their formation, shedding a lead singer on their travels, they’d evolved from New York Dolls and Velvet Underground wannabes to become standard bearers for innovative, sometimes epic electronic pop. They were never the darlings of the music press but has the passage of time been kind to Ultravox and where do they stand now in th...
Jul 30, 2019•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 19
I had no idea what a mod was. I didn’t know about Lambretta scooters, Chelsea boots or cashmere jumpers. So when I first laid eyes on The Jam I was confused. Where is the spikey hair, the ripped t-shirts, the bondage trousers and the safety pins? Who was this well-dressed trio in Union Jacks playing music like The Who on speed? In this podcast we discuss their six studio albums from when they were Absolute Beginners all the way to their final parting ‘Gift’ to the world. Seeing the Jam say farew...
Jun 05, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Were The Stranglers an ageing punk band who Got A Grip On Themselves before turning Golden Brown, or just a bunch of brass-necked bovver boys with a yen for karating their way into trouble? Are they punk, post punk or are they just…The Stranglers? Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/6KIehdHVAKygkExz42zRgQ?si=dJcn7vn2SOmsnshYIADeqA
Apr 09, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 17
From the 'Rubber Capital of the World' - Akron Ohio, these Spudboys in Ziggurat hats carved out a career in popular music by making the most uncompromising, angular, robotic tunes that really had disaster written all over them. But their rise to prominence coincided with the New Wave movement where to be unusual was the cool thing to be. So, what happened when they were through being cool? Spotify Playlist Link : https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1HYDPMbfqrpmBgpl2JCtnY?si=xZIqcPv...
Feb 21, 2019•55 min•Season 3Ep. 16
A group that persistently divided the critics, to some Bauhaus were brooding masters of edgy but elegant, choppy guitar-riffed bass-grooved masterpieces that spoke to the pain they felt amidst an uncaring world. To others, Bauhaus were wallies. But while the band’s pitch-dark lyrics and highly charged theatrics were just a bit too preposterous for some to swallow, over the course of four diverse albums, and a host of memorable singles, vocalist Pete Murphy and his cohorts carved a substantial, h...
Dec 31, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Formed amid the frenzy of the Melbourne new-wave music scene, the brutal hypnotic tribal funk of this six-, or eight-, or 10-piece band (depending on when you saw them) was as massive and thrilling a sound as we’d ever heard. So, what was it all about? Pub-rock legends, or as big a disappointment as Australian post-punk has witnessed? Here we discuss the life and times of Hunters and Collectors. Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1BVe58hBHgHs03CTeVhMOY...
Sep 03, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 14
The Clash, perhaps more than any of the rest of the Class of ’77, seemed to be looking for a way out of punk almost from the start. In an era where it felt like music could actually change the world, they set about making themselves “the only band that mattered”. No band since has fought the law and won, like The Clash. Spotify Playlist Link : https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/5L5XVvKBchXG6i76Hetf91?si=ekabH8EnTz-rtU1FOZJxcQ...
Jun 08, 2018•49 min•Season 2Ep. 13
During the punk years there were many rules to follow. What to wear, what to listen to and what you should avoid listening to. Punk was an all encompassing lifestyle. But one band with one song proudly proclaimed that they played pop music and it opened the gates for many punk and new wave artists to embrace the catchy melodic chorus while still retaining a bit of aggression, a bit of quirkiness and the snotty punk attitude. So let’s all go Meccanik Dancing with the brilliance that is XTC. Spoti...
Apr 17, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Despite their success, Talking Heads made a career out of never really fitting in. With no discernable image or direction apart from a desire to stand out, they emerged at the dawn of US punk, played the game their way – and won. How did these very original outsiders eventually Stop Making Sense and go on to triumph in their own Revenge of the Nerds? Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/1230971434/playlist/1krZNaV4yj1VkLoVGhzRTA?si=3NuOPBqJTD6UsviQ3Ee8OA...
Mar 08, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Forget the waitresses, forget the cocktail bars, forget the brilliantly simple chorus that ensured Don’t You Want Me would be a number one single around the world. While it’s understandable that many people’s memories of The Human League revolve around their global smash hit, for the real story we needed to go back to The Future. How did a bunch of sci-fi loving non-musicians from a grim industrial city in northern England help shape the destiny of popular music and sell millions of records alon...
Jan 26, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 10
When it comes to influential bands coming out of Liverpool, they don’t get any bigger than Echo & The Bunnymen. (Except for one notable exception). From the reptilian snap of Crocodiles, the other-worldly Heaven Up Here, the sharpened spine of Porcupine to the pop deluge of Ocean Rain, the Post Punk output of Echo & The Bunnymen cemented their place in the pantheon of New Wave greats and for these reasons they will always be the Fab Four. Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/u...
Nov 17, 2017•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 9
