THE SOUND (JEOPARDY LP)

Most people categorize the The Sound as a Post Punk band, so I guess I'll go with that but, when you listen to this record, I'll think you'll agree they were much more. My personal favorites on this are Heartland and, Resistance. They're probably the more upbeat tracks here. The rest of the album is much darker and equally great. I guess it depends what mood I'm in. If you haven't heard this classic yet? Check it out! Many different disc's are for sale, that you can buy here http://www.resonancestore.com/renascent/music/2. The Sound formed in South London in 1979, shortly after a band called the Outsiders dissolved. It isn't a very well-distributed fact, but the Outsiders' 1977 LP Calling on Youth was the first self-released British punk LP, issued roughly four months after Buzzcocks' infamous Spiral Scratch 7". Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Adrian Borland led the Outsiders though a couple of other releases, but the band sputtered out three years after their 1976 formation. Bassist Graham Bailey (aka Graham Green), who had joined the band in time for their final recordings, followed Borland into the new group with a drummer named Michael Dudley and a saxophonist/clarinetist/keyboardist named Bi Marshall.Fittingly enough, Borland's motivation to cut ties to the punk movement mirrored that of original Buzzcocks member Howard Devoto, who left his own band after Spiral Scratch. Like Devoto, who had gone on to pioneer yet another field called post-punk with Magazine, Borland looked around, saw all the bands who played straight-ahead chug-chug-chug rock & roll, and decided that the tired blueprint was in need of a little more depth and variation; atmospheres, tensions, and unfamiliar twists on the interplay between the instruments would be needed. Lyrics were another thing. Not content with simply railing against the government or grunting and yelping about trivial matters to merely keep a song moving, Borland became one of the few post-punk songwriters whose lyric sheets were truly worth ingesting and analyzing. Former Outsider Adrian Janes aided the cause, remaining involved with Borland in a behind-the-scenes manner, writing some of the band's lyrics with his former bandmate. The Sound made their first recordings in the living room of the Borland family home, with Adrian's supportive father Bob acting as recording engineer. As demonstrated on Propaganda, a posthumous release from 1999 that collects these sessions, the band was gradually — not so drastically and suddenly — leaving the Stooges/Velvets axis and applying touches that would be developed into something all their own. They received their first break of sorts from Stephen Budd, an early supporter since the Outsiders days, who had recorded and released some material by Bailey and Borland's electronically inclined side project, Second Layer. Budd's label, Tortch-R, made a small profit from a Second Layer release, so he opted to put it right back into the Sound's first release. Budd also became the band's manager, booking studio time for them with Nick Robbins in Elephant Studios and finding places for the band to gig.The first release made a humble impression. Physical World was reviewed positively in the NME by Paul Morley, and DJ John Peel took minor interest, playing it a couple times during his influential BBC program. Though the Sound hadn't the will to pine for a major label deal, the WEA-affiliated Korova label (home of Echo & the Bunnymen) came knocking when they found out the band was going back into the studio to make a full album. Korova heard the rough mixes of the album and a deal was made. Regardless of the label's involvement, Jeopardy was recorded cheaply, and upon its release was reviewed extremely favorably by all the important outlets. Reviews in the NME, Sounds, and Melody Maker gave it five stars. Rightfully likened to the Bunnymen, the Teardrop Explodes, and Joy Division. Korova tried to push the Sound into recording something more radio-friendly and they responded by recording All Fall Down (1982), a harsh, discordant and distinctly uncommercial electro album, and were almost immediately dropped.
With their major label days at an end The Sound signed to Statik, a medium-sized independent label, and released a mini-album Shock of Daylight, their fourth album Heads and Hearts (1985) and their fifth, the powerful In the Hothouse (1986), a double live album recorded over the course of two nights in August 1985 at the London Marquee.
Statik went into liquidation, and left The Sound without an outlet for their music. Borland fell prey to a malignant mental illness and was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid, schizophrenic, manic depression. The group stayed together long enough to release a sixth album, Thunder Up (1987)
A European tour to promote Thunder Up in November 1987, however, ended in disaster when Borland had a breakdown during the first date in Vitoria, Spain at a venue called The End
Adrian saw this as an omen, following a long obsession with Jim Morrison and The Doors, all subsequent dates were cancelled.
The band took a short break and played a few final lack luster gigs in Holland to fulfill contractual obligations. Mike Dudley decided to leave the band shortly afterwards and the group quit a few weeks later in early 1988.
Adrian Borland began a solo career and recorded five low-key albums but continued to be plagued by mental illness.As he put the finishing touches to his last album Harmony and Destruction Adrian began to show symptoms of illness again. He died on the early morning of April 26th 1999 after throwing himself in front of a train at Wimbledon Station.
Mike Dudley has now retired from music.
Graham Bailey moved to America in 1992 and has retired from music.
Colvin Mayers died from an Aids-related illness on Boxing Day 1993.

.
REFERENCES - MYSPACE http://www.myspace.com/thesounduk ALLMUSIC http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kpfrxq95ldse~T1 TROUSERPRESS http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=sound WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound
.
KOROVA RECORDS 1980
.
***DOWNLOAD***