Cassette Culture

The high-water mark of post-punk. Looking at the bill of the four nights at the YMCA in Central London during August 1979, its hard to deny that assertion. Final Solution’s bill brought together Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, Scritti Politti, Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle and Rema Rema.

For Cassette Culture the particular night on 3rd August with TG, Cabaret Voltaire and Rema Rema is a nexus in our story: where paths met, bands were formed, tapes were exchanged.

Linking back to our catalogue of artists in the “tapes received” listings of TG’s Industrial News, we speak with Kevin Thorne of Third Door From The Left and We Be Echo, and Dorothy Max Prior, drummer with Rema Rema and Psychic TV.

Matt Johnson continues in the second part of our conversation, covering his later releases in the mid-80s and a notable big budget video project with Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson in the Amazon.

Hinging on that night where they all met in Central London, we follow the Rema Rema story with Dorothy Max. Max had known Gen and Cosey Fanni Tutti since 1976, when she was working at the ICA during COUM Transmissions' Prostitution show. The friendship carried on after Throbbing Gristle split, through a brief stint in the mail room for Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and a tour as drummer for Psychic TV.

The touchstone compilation “The Men With The Deadly Dreams”, curated by Geoff Rushton and released on White Stains, returns as another nexus, with two live Rema Rema tracks (recorded at Acklam Hall in April 1979). Martyn Bates (Eyeless In Gaza) tells more of this story in our previous episode, Mind Bomb. https://cassetteculturepodcast.com/mind-bomb-the-the-eyeless-in-gaza/

Rema Rema continued to pick up attention and just as they were about to implode, Ivo Watts-Russell seized on the band as “one of the best things he had ever heard” - The debut recordings The Wheel In The Roses EP (BAD 5, 1980), came out as the first release of his new 4AD label. The vinyl arrived after the band had already split, with "Send no flowers" scratched into the run-out grooves.

Guitarist Marco Pirroni joined Adam and the Ants, Gary Asquith went on to Renegade Soundwave, and Mick Allen and Mark Cox became The Wolfgang Press, a 4AD fixture for years. Max toured as drummer for Psychic TV in the mid 80s.

This episode completes our journey through the Tapes Received list, and with it Season 2.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO

You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Matt Johnson,
David Dent,
Kevin Thorne,
Dorothy Max Prior,
Martin Franklin

MUSIC

"This Is Concrete" The Happy Citizen (theme)
"People On Site",
"My Vymura",
"Lazy Finger Shake" The The, See Without Being Seen (Cinéola, 2019)
Throbbing Gristle, Live at the YMCA, 3 August 1979, IRC22
"Pause" Third Door From The Left, Face The Firing Squad (Chamber Music, 1981) "Christopher" Rema Rema, The Men With The Deadly Dreams (White Stains, 1981)
"Land Of Birds” Culturcide, The Men With The Deadly Dreams (White Stains, 1981)
Rema Rema, live in London, 1979
"Feedback Song" Rema Rema, Wheel In The Roses (4AD, 1980)
William S. Burroughs, Burroughs + Brion Gysin + P.Orridge (Cold Spring, 1989)
"Entry" Rema Rema, Fond Reflections (Extended Wheel In The Roses) (4AD, 2019)

THANKS Jerry Kranitz, co-host for all interviews recorded in the series. Richard Rupenus, research and series advice. Dorothy Max Prior, David Dent, Kevin Thorne and Matt Johnson.

Episode art photo of Rema Rema: Paul Stahl.

LINKS
The The (https://thethe.com)
Rema Rema at 4AD (https://4ad.com/forewords/rema-rema)
We Be Echo (https://webeecho.bandcamp.com)
Dark Eyes of London (https://darkeyesoflondon.blogspot.com/)
Sex Is No Emergency, Dorothy Max Prior (https://www.strangeattractor.co.uk/publications/sex-is-no-emergency)
Wild Planet, Sounds, 7 May 1983, scanned by Cultural Amnesia (https://culturalamnesia.com/misc/wild_planet)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. Get early episode access, extras, free Bandcamp digital catalog at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our Industrial News "tapes received" trail reaches into the early 80s, and attention turns to quality. Robert H. King leads us into this episode, where we speak with Matt Johnson (The The) and Martyn Bates (Eyeless In Gaza).

Martyn Bates of Eyeless In Gaza picks up the thread. As Migraine Inducers he sent the Dissonance tape into the network and landed in Industrial News issue four. Name check for an early Portobello Rd label ID Cassettes, by Mark Perry (Alternative TV/Deptford Fun City). Ambivalent Scale, Martyn’s own label with Pete Becker, was a container for all of their early solo releases plus outputs from a cohort including Bron Area, The Stick Insects and Kevin Harrison.

Matt Johnson of The The details his early attendance at Throbbing Gristle shows and connection with the group members. The tape he passed on to Genesis led to his own mention in Industrial News in the September 79 issue. But then, he drops another mind bomb: The promoter behind many of Throbbing Gristle's London gigs was Colin Faver, later a major DJ in the acid house scene of 1988 and pirate broadcaster on London’s Kiss FM. With Kevin Millins he ran Final Solution, promoting many TG gigs including Butler’s Wharf and the legendary show at the YMCA with TG, Cabaret Voltaire and Rema Rema.

Geoff Rushton’s Stabmental zine is referenced once again as the print which contained all of the most progressive music in the emerging Industrial scene. The compilation cassette intended to be issue 6 of the zine, “The Men with The Deadly Dreams” gathers a seminal set of recordings, including tracks by Eyeless In Gaza, Rema Rema, Chris Carter, Richard H Kirk and Chris Watson. Watson himself produced and mastered the tape at Cabaret Voltaire’s Western Works studio in 1981.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of some of the amazing artefacts, fanzines and cassette releases that drop through our letterbox on our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

THANKS
Jerry Kranitz, co-host for all interviews recorded in the series.
Richard Rupenus, for research and series advice.
Interview recordings of Colin Faver are outtakes from the “They Call It Acid” documentary project.

COLIN FAVER
We would like to dedicate this episode to the memory of Colin Faver, who passed away on 5 September 2015. As a listener, his mixes always captured something rich and progressive, and now we know more about why his name and presence always brought a deeper cultural resonance to everything he did. “Particularly looking for indie music, even if it's something you've made in your bedroom…” Sound familiar ? RIP Colin. (https://www.insomniac.com/magazine/remembering-colin-faver-a-life-in-the-mix/)

LINKS
Eyeless In Gaza, https://eyelessingaza.com/
The The https://thethe.com
“See Without Being Seen” featured in this episode https://thethe.bandcamp.com/album/see-without-being-seen
Robert H. King https://www.rhking.net/

DEEP LINKS
Touch https://touch33.net/early-cassette-culture
Stabmental https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabmental

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Robert H. King
Martyn Bates
Matt Johnson
Colin Faver

MUSIC

“And now the treasures of music enchanted worlds are yours to command” Migraine Inducers, Dissonance/Antagonistic Music (Ambivalent Scale, 1979)
“Lazy Finger Shake” The The See Without Being Seen” (Cineola, 2020)
“By Train To The Coast” Pete Becker (Ambivalent Scale)
“Through A New” Migraine Inducers, Dissonance/Antagonistic Music (Ambivalent Scale, 1979)
“Minus Beat” Migraine Inducers, Dissonance/Antagonistic Music (Ambivalent Scale, 1979)
“Kodak Ghosts Run Amok” Eyeless In Gaza, (Ambivalent Scale, 1980)
“Voices” M.A. Peacock. The Men With The Deadly Dreams, (Stabmental/White Stains, 1981)
“Planetarium” The The, See Without Being Seen (Cineola, 2020)

Throbbing Gristle live at the YMCA August 1979, from “24 Hours Of Throbbing Gristle”
“People On Site” The The, See Without Being Seen (Cineola, 2020)
“Troops” The The See Without Being Seen (Cineola, 2020)
“Pale Saints” Eyeless In Gaza, The Men With The Deadly Dreams (Stabmental/White Stains, 1981)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. Get early episode access, extras, free Bandcamp digital catalog at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Searching for connection and community; we track the story of Chris Connelly (Fini Tribe, Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Pigface) discovering Throbbing Gristle via the John Peel Radio show and getting in touch. Meanwhile, Joe Strummer of The Clash spreads the DIY gospel to a young Robert H. King after a gig at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, resulting in formation of the Pleasantly Surprised cassette label.

When the two come together a few years later, the Fini Tribe contribution to "You Bet We've Got Something Against You" on King's new Cathexis Recordings label, followed by the "Let The Tribe Grow" EP, propels both the label and the band on to greater things.

Chris Connelly is another of the artists featured in the "Tapes Received" listing of TG's Industrial News zine. This resulted in local underground musicians showing up at his door and handmade cassettes from the likes of Nurse With Wound arriving in the mail.

Geoff Rushton (later John Balance of Coil) compiled "Endzeit," a hand-numbered edition of 230 copies on Datenverarbeitung carrying Virgin Prunes, Section 25 and four tracks by a young Cultural Amnesia. Geoff’s own slim White Stains Tapes imprint released “The Men With The Deadly Dreams”. Both releases appearing as inspirational touchstones, connecting back into our wider story.

King’s Pleasantly Surprised label ran from 1982 to 1984, its artfully packaged cassette compilations opening with The Birthday Party and carrying early tracks from Cocteau Twins, Primal Scream, The Wake, Marine Girls, Billy MacKenzie, Bauhaus, The Wolfgang Press, Test Dept, and Cultural Amnesia. By 1986, the saturation of the cassette market created a tipping point when the label morphed into vinyl releases on Cathexis Recordings.

Chris Connelly and Fini Tribe burst onto the wider music scene after being picked up for a John Peel Session, releasing on their own Finiflex label and beginning to collaborate with the US Wax Trax! label. Ultimately Chris moved to Chicago, joined Ministry and Al Jourgensen side-project Revolting Cocks - using his background in the DIY experimentalism of the tape scene to forge the template for some ferocious Industrial Rock during the ’90s.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music "This Is Concrete" by The Happy Citizen.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

THANKS
Jerry Kranitz, co-host for all interviews recorded in the series.
Richard Rupenus, for research and series advice.
Chris Connelly for original tape loop recordings featured in this episode.

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Chris Connelly
Robert H.King

Gerard Greenaway voiced by Sean Holland.

MUSIC
“Climbing” Chris Carter, The Men With The Deadly Dreams, cassette compilation (White Stains, 1981)
“Big Jug - Wet Steel Rail” Fini Tribe, The Sheer Action Of The Fini Tribe 1982-1987 (Shipwrecked Industries 2026)
“The Craighouse Dogs” Chris Connelly, Blockader, (Vinyl On Demand 2014)
"Cathedral” Fini Tribe, John Peel Show, August 1984
“All Fours” Fini Tribe, The Sheer Action Of The Fini Tribe (Shipwrecked Industries 2026)
“Pale Saints” Eyeless In Gaza, The Men With The Deadly Dreams, (White Stains, 1981)
“Materialistic Man” Cultural Amnesia, Enormous Savages (Anna Logue 2007)

LINKS
Chris Connelly (https://chrisconnelly.com)
Robert H. King (https://www.rhking.net/)
Cultural Amnesia (http://www.culturalamnesia.com/)

"The Sheer Action Of The Fini Tribe" is available from Chris Connelly via Bandcamp (https://chrisconnelly.bandcamp.com/album/the-sheer-action-of-the-fini-tribe-1982-1987)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of the most surprising and revealing connections surface in this episode. Two worlds that rarely get mentioned in the same breath: Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records, and Manchester's Factory Records. At the centre are two more names from the Industrial News “tapes received" list; Paul Wiggin of Section 25 and Robbie MacDonald of Crawling Chaos offshoot, Zyklon B Zombies. Both aspiring musicians who connected with TG's Industrial News zine by sending cassettes of their music.

Paul describes experiencing the crushing, low-frequency weight of the early Throbbing Gristle gigs which stunned a generation of post-punk audiences with the “sonic warfare” that the band were waging.

Later, a direct-to-tape demo sent to Industrial Records came back with an invitation from Genesis P-Orridge to London, and a glimpse of TG’s world via a Cosey Fanni Tutti performance.

Section 25’s support slot for Joy Division, followed with Ian Curtis's word was enough to secure a deal with Factory Records. Setting them off on recordings sessions with Martin Hannett at Cargo, and Pink Floyd's old Britannia Row studio.

Over in Newcastle, Robbie MacDonald was working behind the scenes for The Crawling Chaos, creating sleeves, booking gigs, and supporting their own label, Foetus Products. Ahead of a gig at Whitley Bay's Rex Hotel, word went round that Throbbing Gristle themselves might turn up under an alias: Zyklon B Zombies. The backing tape built for the hoax made its way to Industrial Records as something of a joke at the band's own expense and, whatever became of any reply, it landed the Zyklon B Zombies in the "Tapes Received" list regardless.

Two Factory scouts in that night's crowd left far more taken with The Crawling Chaos than with the prank, leading to a clandestine meet up with Tony Wilson, and the eventual release on Factory Benelux of FAC 17.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music "This Is Concrete" by The Happy Citizen.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

THANKS
Jerry Kranitz, co-host for all interviews recorded in the series.
Richard Rupenus, for research and series advice.

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Paul Wiggin
Robbie MacDonald

MUSIC
"Fallen Monument" Section 25, Illuminus Illumina (self-released cassette)
"Live"  Throbbing Gristle at the Ajanta Cinema, Derby, 1979
“Life” Side A, Zyklon B Zombies backing tape
"You" Section 25, Jams From The Bardo
"Red Voice" Section 25, Blackpool Rox EP
"Rose Apple Island" Section 25, Jams From The Bardo
"New Horizon" Section 25
"Death" Side B, Zyklon B Zombies backing tape
"Sex Machine" Crawling Chaos (demo)

LINKS
Section 25: https://section25.com/
Crawling Chaos: https://crawlingchaos.co.uk/
Factory Records archive: https://factoryrecords.org/

Section 25 "Jams From The Bardo" is available on Klanggalerie.
https://klanggalerie.bandcamp.com/album/jams-from-the-bardo

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From 1978-1980, Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records published a newsletter called Industrial News. With a philosophy of exchange and transparency, they listed attendance numbers at their concerts, future label plans, and a list of contacts who had mailed them tapes of their own music: the “Tapes Received” list.

Capturing a cultural watershed moment where the bedroom bands of the DIY Punk scene gave way to something new: ambitious, experimental, abstract, industrial. Making music using the newly available technology of synthesisers, with tape media and looping as part of the creative process.

In this episode of Cassette Culture we begin to unravel the story of those tapes sent to Industrial Records - what was on them, and what became of the artists who sent them?

At the centre of this episode is Val Denham - painter, singer and tape experimentalist. We hear how a deliberately provocative letter to Genesis P-Orridge loaded with insider references, led to a invitation to London and the beginning of a friendship that would influence her creative life.

Her early tape recordings won fans in Genesis and Peter Christopherson and almost became a release on Industrial Records. Val walks us through the London of the late 70’s, studying at the Royal College Of Art while creating striking artwork for TG gig flyers, attracting Some Bizarre Records’ Stevo and Marc Almond to her Degree Show. Then later creating album artwork for Marc & The Mambas, Psychic TV, and Throbbing Gristle.

Philip Sanderson of Storm Bugs and Richard Rupenus of Funeraldance Party offer their own stories of corresponding with TG, sending in tapes, and finding themselves part of a growing international network of like-minded artists. Richard received an encouraging letter from Genesis himself; Philip developed his own music as Vote Police, Storm Bugs and launched his label, Snatch Tapes.

Years later, after the death of Genesis P-Orridge both contributed to a search for the original “tapes received” cassettes. A search that ended at the Tate Gallery archive and, ultimately, led nowhere.

Hosted by Martin Franklin. 
Theme music "This Is Concrete" by The Happy Citizen.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

THANKS
We have benefited from the extensive knowledge of Richard Rupenus for the theme and many factual ingredients in this episode. Jerry Kranitz co-hosts all interviews recorded for the series.

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Richard Rupenus
Philip Sanderson
Val Denham

Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti recording from the “Other, Link Me” COUM Transmissions documentary, (BBC Television)

Richard Rupenus, read by Tim Nice.

MUSIC
“Untitled” Funeral Danceparty, Qwertyuiop (self released cassette)
BBC Newsbeat Radio Special, 1976,
23 Drifts To Guestling, (Iham Productions)
“Swimming” Val Denham,
“Solely From” Storm Bugs, A Safe Substitute
“Untitled” Funeral Danceparty, Qwertyuiop  (self released cassette)
“Time Is Money” Val Denham
“Blue Red Sky” Death And Beauty Foundation (Vinyl On Demand)
“Make customers Matter” Storm Bugs, Table Matters EP
“Untitled” Funeral Danceparty, A Celebration of iDeath (Vinyl On Demand)

LINKS

Val Denham: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063796652836
Industrial Records: http://www.throbbing-gristle.com/industrialrecords/
Snatch Tapes/Philip Sanderson: https://snatchtapes.bandcamp.com/

Available from Vinyl On Demand:
Funeral Danceparty 'A Celebration of iDEATH' Recordings 1979-82 (2Lp/7inch)
https://vod-records.com/-1-18-500.htm

Val Denham Box Set incl Silverstar Amoeba, Counterdance and Death & Beauty Foundation
https://vod-records.com/-1-18-749.htm

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The strange, uncompromising world of Alien Brains, the project led by Nigel Jacklin that helped define the outer edges of the early 1980s DIY cassette underground. Emerging from a school science lab, inspired by John Cage and nurtured by the fledgling cassette network, Alien Brains rejected conventional song structures in favour of pure spontaneity, raw improvisation and a deliberate embrace of failure as an artistic possibility.

The DIY cassette scene of 1979, with its “it's easy, cheap, go and do it” ethos, provided the perfect outlet for these early recordings. Mark Lancaster of The Instant Automatons and Deleted Records recalls encountering Nigel, playing an early gig with him at his school, and releasing the first Alien Brains cassette “Menial Disorders”.

The story takes a notorious turn into the heart of the British public school system. As head of the Rock Society at Oundle School, Nigel invites Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza to perform in the main hall, a collision of avant-garde industrial noise and traditional boarding school culture. We find a recording of Cosey Fanni Tutti sharing her memories of the shock induced by the performance - to teachers and pupils alike. For some it was an outrage; for others, a transformative experience. The concert recordings were released by Industrial Records on VHS and cassette tape.

Richard Rupenus of the New Blockaders recalls finding Deleted Records via an advert in the DIY Corner column of the music paper Sounds, ordering the first Alien Brains release and eventually joining the group. He describes the strange, semi-chaotic Alien Brains performance at The Basement in Newcastle in 1982, where the band added another layer to the experience by introducing pungent smells into the venue’s heating system.

Nigel picks up the thread to talk about working with non-musicians such as Neil Purvis, echoing John Cage’s belief that people without formal training can be freer of inherited constraints. He describes recordings made in unlikely spaces – a disused Second World War water tower, an out-of-tune piano in a Women’s Institute hut – and a string of performances, including a sparsely attended but historically rich show at Centro Iberico on Harrow Road in London, a squatted former school where Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse had previously played. An excerpt from this performance would later appear on the “British Interiors” cassette, with members of Nurse With Wound among the few in the audience that night.

Philip Sanderson of Storm Bugs and Snatch Tapes, recalls habits in the pre-internet era when people simply turned up at your house if they’d found your address on a tape insert. He remembers Nigel arriving at his place and joining in impromptu recording sessions that turned everyday spaces and objects – old school buildings, gas pipes, scraping furniture – into sound sources, a UK parallel to the kind of improvised noise later associated with acts like The New Blockaders.

The network kept widening. A chance meeting at Rough Trade in London connected Nigel with the Dutch scene and led to a New Year's Eve concert in Amsterdam — the biggest Alien Brains ever played. Bendle of The Door and the Window became a regular collaborator, the two of them hanging microphones out of windows to capture street conversations, feeding urban collage into the Alien Brains machine.

By the 1985, it was over. A final performance at the Architectural Association — a mess of equipment, wires and confusion for someone's degree show — Nigel takes a taxi home and that was the end of Alien Brains.

Hosted by Martin Franklin. 
Theme music "This Is Concrete" by The Happy Citizen.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

THANKS
We have benefited from the extensive knowledge of Richard Rupenus for many elements in this episode. Including sourcing of the recording of the message left by Nigel on the Industrial Records telephone answering machine in 1980.

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Mark Lancaster
Philip Sanderson
Bendle

Cosey Fanni Tutti & Chris Carter, recorded at Rough Trade East in conversation with Luke Turner of The Quietus.

Nigel Jacklin, read by Robert Hayes.
Richard Rupenus, read by Tim Nice.

MUSIC
Alien Brains, "Blatantly Nihilist" (Fashionable Trousers 1980)
Alien Brains "Menial Disorders" (Deleted Records 1980)
"The Preparation For The Corruption Ov Oundle Public School " Nigel Jacklin answer machine message, 23 Drifts to Guestling (Iham Productions)
Throbbing Gristle at Oundle School (Industrial Records, VHS)
Alien Brains "Live at the Basement "(Aeon/VLZ Productions)
"Song" Nigel Jacklin, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes)
Alien Brains "British Interiors" (self-released)
Alien Brains "Der Blaunk Tepes" (self-released) 
Verdansgang "And It's There"  (ADN Tapes)

The excellent Alien Brains box set "It's All History Now - Tape Works 1979-1985" is released on Vinyl On Demand (Cat. VOD123)
(www.vod-records.com/-1-18-471.htm)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A hard to imagine London of derelict warehouses and ruined public buildings birthed the short, intense life of Snatch Tapes, the late-70s cassette label founded by Philip Sanderson of Storm Bugs. Launched in 1979, Snatch Tapes became a focal point for electronic and experimental musicians pushing beyond conventional song structures and embracing the possibilities of electronics, tape loops and DIY distribution.

Sanderson reflects on his early experiments with circuit-bent cassette recorders and transistor radios, the handmade oscillations that powered his duo Storm Bugs, and his time at Goldsmiths University’s Electronic Music Studio

Central to the story is Sanderson’s playful subversion of identity. Through the invented electronic duo Claire Thomas and Susan Vesey, he provoked an overwhelmingly male scene and inadvertently attracted the attention of Cherry Red Records. When Cherry Red, via A&R figure Mike Alway, sought to develop the duo into a full vinyl release, the elaborate fiction began to unravel in a farcical chain of meetings and the eventual confessions.

As Snatch Tapes gathered momentum, a loose but vibrant network formed around it. Contributors included Lemon Kittens, David Jackman, Nigel Jacklin, The New Blockaders, Cultural Amnesia, Beach Surgeon, N4’s, Alien Brains and more.

Yet by 1981, after three intense years, Sanderson chose to step back. The label passed briefly to David Jackman before dissolving into the wider flow of 1980's cassette activity.

Looking back, Sanderson identifies 1980 as both the peak of Snatch Tapes and a high-water mark for the cassette underground’s visibility. For a fleeting moment, it seemed possible that DIY cassettes might become a genuine alternative channel for direct music distribution.

Featuring recollections from Philip Sanderson, Gerard Greenway and Nigel Jacklin, this episode documents a formative chapter in UK cassette culture.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

LINKS
Snatch Tapes: https://snatchtapes.bandcamp.com/
Goldsmiths University Electronic Music Studio: https://sites.gold.ac.uk/electronic-music-studios/
Cultural Amnesia: https://culturalamnesia.com

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Philip Sanderson
Gerard Greenway, read by Sean Holland (joinedupthink.co.uk)
Nigel Jacklin, read by Robert Hayes

MUSIC

“Call” Orior, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes 1981)
“Window shopping” Storm Bugs, Table Matters (1979)
“Hodge” Storm Bugs, A Safe Substitute (Snatch Tapes)
"N4s” N4s, Snatch 1 (Snatch Tapes)
“Cultural Amnesia Dub” Snatch 2 (Snatch Tapes)
“Ashes & Diamonds” Claire Thomas, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes)
“Reprint 2” Claire Thomas & Susan Vesey, Reprint (Snatch Tapes)
“Soley From” Storm Bugs, A Safe Substitute (Snatch Tapes)
“Untitled” Alien Brains, British Interiors,   1982
“Song” Nigel Jacklin, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes)
“Under Press Of Sail” Claire Thomas & Susan Vesey, Snatch 1 (Snatch Tapes) 1980
“Bright Waves” Claire Thomas & Susan Vesey, Reprint (Snatch Tapes) 1980

Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:
https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emerging from the squats, free gigs and improvised studios of late-70’s Portobello Road, F*ck Off Records operated at the volatile intersection of hippie idealism and punk DIY. Active between 1979 and 1982, the label released copied-to-order cassettes alongside a small number of vinyl EPs and LPs with music by Alternative TV, The 012, Danny & The Dressmakers, Here & Now, The Instant Automatons, The Androids Of Mu and their many collaborators.

Founded by Kif Kif Le Batteur and Jonathan Barnett in a period when Portobello was dense with creative possibility: vacant houses, squatted venues, free festivals and heaps of talent.

We join Jonathan Barnett to trace the roots of the label through the influences of Sniffin’ Glue and Mark Perry to Here & Now’s free-music ethos and open minded approach to supporting others. Central to the label’s emergence was Street Level Studios, a low-cost recording space that allowed bands to record without compromise, and the cassette as a format that made duplication, circulation and autonomy possible.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen

KIF KIF
We would like to dedicate this episode to the memory of Keith Dobson aka Kif Kif Le Batteur, who passed away in July 2025. His influence runs through the whole scene that we document in Cassette Culture, and joins many dots in my own life. We are proud to be able to tell at least a small part of his story and so sorry that we just missed him.

(https://www.eatsdrinksandleaves.com/rip-keith-dobson-1956-2025/)

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

LINKS
Portobello Film Festival (https://www.portobellofilmfestival.com/)

“Floating Anarchy” Here & Now documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsg8cMdYtuM)

Good article on the late-70’s Punk/DIY scene by Bob Stanley:
Birth Of The Uncool (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/mar/31/popandrock1)

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Jonathan Barnett
Keith Dobson, aka Kif Kif Le Batteur
Mark Automaton

MUSIC

“The Ballad of F*ck Off Records” The 012, Weird Noise EP (F*ck Off Records 1980)

“Allez Alibaba” Planet Gong, Floating Anarchy 1977 (Charly Records 1978)

“Terrified of Dogs” Alternative TV, Back To Sing For Free Again Soon compilation (F*ck Off Records 1979)

“Pretty Nun” Androids of Mu, F*ck Off Demo Tape (F*ck Off Records 1979)

“Too Big” The Instant Automatons

“Drop Dead” / “Don’t Make Another Bass Guitar, Mr Rickenbacker” Danny and the Dressmakers, Back To Sing For Free Again Soon compilation (F*ck Off Records 1979)

“Total Disregard for Greenwich Theatre” ATV/The Good Missionaries, Scars On Sunday (F*ck Off Records 1980)

Fish From Tahiti — The 012, Weird Sampler (F*ck Off Records 1981)

Asbestos Lead Asbestos — World Domination Enterprises, Let’s Play Domination (Product Inc 1984)

Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:
https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After we spoke with Mark Automaton for our episode on Deleted Records and the Instant Automatons, he kindly shared his recollections of the music and bands presented on the legendary “Deleted Funtime” compilation, released by Deleted Records in 1980.

Originally compiled by Martin “Protag” Naish of the Automatons, and featuring 34 tracks by various outsider musicians and misfits from across the booming cassette network in the UK. 

Filling a c90 cassette and in 1980, available for 60p and a self-addressed envelope direct from the band - we’ve omitted a few tracks where they were by the same band or sometimes where we had no recollections to share.

The tape hiss you’ll hear on the music tracks is original, mostly due to the sometimes third generation tape copies that were the sources for the compilation.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassettes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Mark Lancaster

MUSIC
Missing Persons "Chemical Solutions"
Colin Potter "Power"
Stabmental "Thin Veil Of Blood"
The Midnight Circus "Obsession"
391 "Prisoner Of The Living Room"
The Door And The Window "Habits"
The Digital Dinosaurs "Fingers And Thumbs"
Lurch "Single Symphony Excerpt"
The Mystic Umbrellas "Journey To The West"
The Digital Dinosaurs "Walking Out"
Merz "Spud-Dream"
Duo Elettronica "Duo Elettronica Tape Excerpt"
Mic Woods "Little Girl"
The Instant Automatons "Disillusion"
Alien Brains "Alien Brains Excerpts"
Heddon Street W1 "We Wanna Pogo"

LINKS
https://www.waterden.net/
https://markautomaton.bandcamp.com/
The Luxury Of Dreams: An Autobiography, by Mark Automaton
https://amzn.asia/d/bS6PSxt

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:
https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emerging from the same late-1970s underground that fuelled punk, DIY cassette culture, and European electronic experimentation, we explore the influence of Colin Potter - sound artist, producer, and founder of Integrated Circuit Records (ICR)

From beginnings building crude oscillators and fuzz boxes to university access to an EMS Synthi A, his path reflects a generation discovering sound through curiosity rather than convention.

We track the growth of ICR from a mail-order cassette operation into one of the UK’s most important underground labels of the early 1980s. Starting with cooperative compilation LPs and cassettes, Potter helped connect artists working across abstract electronics, industrial, cosmic music, and experimental sound - including The Instant Automatons, The Legendary Pink Dots, Carl Matthews, The Door and The Window, and many others.

We hear how Potter’s cassette duplication service became a crucial infrastructure for labels such as Third Mind Tapes. That practical role also led to deeper artistic collaborations, most notably with Nurse With Wound, Current 93, and Steven Stapleton, where Potter’s studio became a space that hosted creative risk, sonic transformation, and unconventional production.

Featuring contributions from Colin Potter, Jonathan Colclough, Gary Levermore, Mark Lancaster, this episode examines how technical generosity, and openness to experimentation helped shape the 45 years of underground electronic music released on ICR.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

LINKS
Colin Potter/ICR:
https://icrdistribution.com/ 
https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Jerry Kranitz
Colin Potter
Jonathan Coleclough
Mark Lancaster
Gary Levermore

MUSIC

“Off The Graph” Colin Potter, The Ghost Office, Mirage
“We Are So Glad” Colin Potter, We Couldn’t Agree On a Title, (IRC001)
“The No. 1 Entertainer” The Door & The Window, Weird Noise E.P. (FO Records FEP001)
“Invertebrates” The Instant automatons, We Couldn’t Agree On A Title, LP (IRC001)
“Sentimental” Those Little Aliens, We Couldn’t Agree On a Title, LP (IRC001)
“Ismalla”  Those Little Aliens, Flowmotion, (ICR 003)
“Power” Colin Potter, The Scythe, (ICR002)
“Harmless Thought” Carl Matthews, Integration, (ICR 012)
“One Million Blades Of Grass” Colin Potter, Visions, (Third Mind Tapes TMT009)
“The Self Sufficient Sexual Shoe” Nurse With Wound, Rock n Roll Station, (United Dairies)
“As Above, So Below” Carl Matthews, Flowmotion compilation, (ICR 003)

Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:
https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Underneath the safety pins, television expletives and bondage trousers that came with Punk in 1977, there was a coded message for those ready to hear it. Resolutely independent, the Instant Automatons and their label Deleted Records tuned in from the North of England and got that message of DIY independence, creativity and confidence that followed "Here's Three Chords, Now Form A Band".

We trace the birth of the UK cassette underground - from isolated  bedrooms to West London squats, from hand-dubbed tapes to Rough Trade shelves. It’s the story of how a handful of young people, with almost no resources, built a national community through shared idealism, cheap technology, and an unstoppable desire to create.

Finding their tribe with the Labroke Grove hippie-punks circulating around the Here & Now/Frestonia/free festival scene and building their community under the Westway. 

Here & Now drummer, Kif Kif Le Batteur made his sentiment about the established record industry clear when he named his cassette label F.O. Records. Recognising that the Instant Automatons and their label Deleted Records got it too, they connected to collaborate on cassette and vinyl releases, gigs and tours. And in doing, forged a template that was adopted and amplified from there on.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen/"Hesatative" Jack Hertz

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Jerry Kranitz
Mark Lancaster
Colin Potter
Jonathan Barnett
…and John Peel

MUSIC
Duo Electronica (except), Deleted Funtime (Deleted 009)
The Instant Automatons “ Routine Habit” We Couldn’t Agree On A Title (Integrated Circuit Records ICR 001)
Colin Potter “The Last Train” The Scythe (ICR)
The Instant Automatons  “Scared To Be Alone” Peter Paints His Fence EP (Deleted)
Instant Automatons “Too Big” Not So Deep As A Well (Waterden WDCD002)
Danny & The Dressmakers “God Puts A Stop To The Silver Paper Monster” 39 Golden Grates (Fuck Off Records)

Archive audio: “Johns Vacuum Cleaner” John Peel Show 17 June 1980, BBC Radio 1

“Pre Natal Counselling” The Midnight Circus
“Chemical Solutions” Missing Persons,
“Disillusion”  The Instant Automatons
“Journey To The West”  The Mystic Umbrellas
All from the Deleted Funtime compilation (Deleted 009)

Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)

PROTAG 
We would like to dedicate this episode to the memory of Martin "Protag" Neish, who passed away in February 2014. We were too late to meet him, but found his footprints through some of the episodes in this season of Cassette Culture. We are proud to be able to tell at least a small part of his story.
(https://louderthanwar.com/northern-punk-scene-mourns-martin-protag-neish/ )

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:
https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From vinyl to cassettes and the occasional... flexi-postcard! Geert-Jan Hobijn reflects on Staalplaat’s origins as a cassette label, and some current releases.

In this special interim episode of Cassette Culture, Martin Franklin and Jerry Kranitz speak with Geert-Jan Hobijn, the legendary founder of Staalplaat - the experimental music label that began in an Amsterdam squat in 1982 and went on to define an era of radical sound and design.

We focus on some current activities publishing unreleased Muslimgauze recordings, reissuing classics from the Korm Plastics label - and dreaming up outlandish packaging ideas (including a cassette release that came with a pair of custom-designed socks).

The conversation also touches on the challenges and joys of running a label across decades, the crossover between Staalplaat’s releases and Geert-Jan’s own Staalplaat Sound System installation work, and the philosophy of making music and art available in ways that resist the digital mainstream.

Hosted by Martin Franklin & Jerry Kranitz.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen/"Hesatative" Jack Hertz

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassettes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

MUSIC
"Headphonics (VPRO Version)" Ryoji Ikeda, Mort Aux Vaches (Staalplaat, 2020)
"Zealot" Muslimgauze (flexi-postcard 2025)
"A1" Muslimgauze, Tape 13 (cassette 2025)
"Live At The Clocktower, New York City (27 April 89)" Arcane Device, SIX (Korm Plastics D, cassette 2025)

LINKS
Staalplaat Label
https://staalplaatlabel.bandcamp.com/

Muslimgauze
https://muslimgauze.bandcamp.com/

Korm Plastics D
https://kormplasticsd.bandcamp.com/

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music mix by Joshua James Amberson drawing on cassette releases reviewed in issue #3 of the Copy This Cassette zine.

Joshua is publisher of the Basic Paper Airplane zine, and curator of the Antiquated Future store/distro and label. He is based in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Theme music "Hesatative" Jack Hertz

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassettes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

LINKS
Joshua James Amberson/Antiquated Future (https://www.antiquatedfuture.com/)
Copy This Cassette (https://copythis.bandcamp.com/)

MUSIC
Other Worlders "Hidden Energy Positive Light" Aural Canyon
https://auralcanyonmusic.bandcamp.com/album/hidden-energy-positive-light

Machine Go Boom "When We're Ghosts" Just Because Records
https://justbecauserecords.bandcamp.com/album/when-were-ghosts

Zeiss Ikon "Cybernetic Anarchy" 2025 Reissue, Magrit Records
https://zeissikon.bandcamp.com/album/cybernetic-anarchy

Big Fat Head "BoBo Rising" Clean Demon Records
https://cleandemonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bobo-rising

Charles Rice Goff III "Language For Unstated Thoughts" Taped Rugs
https://archive.org/details/LanguageForUnstatedThoughts/

Cody Brant - Carl Kruger "Smoke Detail" Copy This 2025
https://codybrantcarlkruger.bandcamp.com/album/smoke-detail

Yaara Valey "our liberation is" Antiquated Futures
https://antiquatedfuture.bandcamp.com/album/our-liberation-is

Guidon Bear "Internal Systems" Antiquated Future
https://antiquatedfuture.bandcamp.com/album/internal-systems

THANKS
Immense thanks to Joshua James Amberson for curating this mix,
(https://www.antiquatedfuture.com/)  and to the artists for use of their tracks.

Produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the worlds of mini-comix to independent music, D. Blake Werts is the creative force behind the fanzine, Copy This Cassette.

Martin Franklin and co-host Jerry Kranitz sit down with Blake to share the surprising story of how he discovered cassette culture only a few years ago, and how that discovery inspired him to launch a new publication devoted entirely to underground cassette releases.

He explains the philosophy behind Copy This Cassette, including its tactile, analogue-first ethos and the importance of short, descriptive "snapshot reviews."

We also learn about Blake's deep roots in the world of mini comics, how he taps into regional cassette scenes from the Pacific Northwest to Europe, and the editorial decisions that keep the zine focused and accessible. 

You can find Copy This on Bandcamp at copythis.bandcamp.com and catch our unboxing video of issue 3 on the Cassette Culture Podcast YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

Keep updated on the Second Edition of "Cassette Culture: Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet Age" by contacting Jerry. jerrykranitzwriter.com/

Hosted by Martin Franklin & Jerry Kranitz.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen/"Hesatative" Jack Hertz

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassettes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

MUSIC
”Step On Me” Hydrone - Live at Nelsonville 2022 (Clean Demon Records)
 “n-0”, Kozo Inada,  Kozo Inada & Frans de Waard (temporary mountain)
“Post Surgical Blues” Versioning, Cloud Plateau (Ingrown Records)
“Alamogordo” FUZZ UNLIMITED, Journey To The Seventh Planet (Illuminated Paths)
“Hippie” Versioning, Cloud Plateau (Ingrown Records)
“Under Garbage” Cody Brant - Carl Kruger, Smoke Detail (Copy This)

LINKS
Copy This
https://copythis.bandcamp.com/

Clean Demon Records
https://cleandemonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-nelsonville-2022

temporary mountain
temporarymountain.bandcamp.com/

Ingrown Records
ingrown.bandcamp.com/

Illuminated Paths
illuminatedpaths.bandcamp.com/

Basic Paper Airplane
www.antiquatedfuture.com/zines/basic-paper-airplane-13-the-cassette-tape-issue/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3D glasses at the ready, we speak with Richard Allen, editor of psychedelic magazine Freakbeat, founder of Delerium Records, and Michael Dog of Club Dog, Megadog and Planet Dog Records.

Together, they helped define an era of fanzines, home-recorded cassettes, underground parties, and independent music distribution.

This episode, we’re hearing the inside story of a telephone call to Timothy Leary, the artists behind Freakbeat’s unique 3d page design,  Club Dog’s rare live cassette releases and the birth of Planet Dog Record’s legendary electronic compilations like Feed Your Head.

This episode closes Season One of Cassette Culture—but don’t worry, Season Two is already in production. We’re working on a Bandcamp subscription offer that will give you some exclusive custom cassettes and provide a means to donate to help us keep the reels turning with the podcast.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music: “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen/"Hesatative" Jack Hertz.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

FEATURING:

Richard Allen
Michael Dog

MUSIC

“Operation Apricot” Ring, O De Dun Dun (Self released cassette)
“What Do You Turn On When You Turn On” Timothy Leary, You Can Be Anyone This Time Around

From Psychedelic Psauna (Delerium Records):
“Black Ferris Wheel” The Coloured Plank,
“Mind Train Jam” Sun Dial,
“Erp Riff ’83” Ozric Tentacles

“Nothing Can Stop Us Now” Webcore, The Great Unfolding (A Real Kavoom)“
Nodens Ictus, Live At Club Dog (Woof Distribution)
“Medicine Wheel” Eat Static, Prepare Your Spirit (self released cassette)
“Nightmare” Treatment, Psychedelic Psauna (Delerium Records)

LINKS

Planet Dog Records http://www.planetdogrecords.com/
Club Dog Memories https://www.pooterland.com/looking_glass_dead_dog.html

Delerium: https://www.discogs.com/label/3338-Delerium-Records

AVAILABLE NOW
Premonitions: Underground Cassette Network 1989-90
14 nocturnal tracks of ambient, tape collage, industrial and improv, now on Bandcamp. https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/album/premonitions-underground-cassette-network-1989-90

*Cassette Culture* is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio. (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Armed with fanzines, cassette tapes, and a fierce DIY spirit - two teenagers from Herne Bay helped shape the UK’s underground music scene.

In this episode, host Martin Franklin traces the journey of Gary Levermore, founder of Third Mind Records, and Richard “Richo” Johnson, the force behind Grim Humour fanzine and Fourth Dimension Records. From their early days frequenting a local record shop to trading zines and music through the post, their story captures the energy of a grassroots movement that gave voice to some of the most experimental and influential acts of the 1980s.

We explore how fanzines like Tone Death and Grim Humour connected a sprawling network of artists and fans, and how this evolved into Third Mind’s legendary cassette compilation “Rising from the Red Sand”—a defining moment for underground electronic and post-industrial music. The episode offers inside perspectives on artists such as Nurse With Wound, Test Dept, Attrition, and Legendary Pink Dots, while also shedding light on the support they received from key tastemakers like Rough Trade, John Peel, and Dave Henderson of Sounds.

Along the way, Gary reveals the moment he turned down the newly formed Skinny Puppy, and how that decision—and others—shaped the future of Third Mind and its eventual partnership with Roadrunner Records.

Richo discusses the evolving mission of Fourth Dimension and his enduring dedication to artists with a distinct sensibility, both sonically and personally.

Passion, persistence, and a love of experimental sound helped two independent labels make their mark on music history—one photocopied zine and dubbed cassette at a time.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen/"Hesatative" Jack Hertz

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

VOICES
Richard “Richo” Johnson
Gary Levermore
Dave Henderson
Martin Bowes

MUSIC
“Mansonik No 1” Konstruktivists, Psyko-Genetika, Third Mind Records 1983
“Song Of The Flame” Tone Death, Rising From the Red Sand Third Mind Tapes 1983
“Love Is….” Legendary Pink Dots, Basilisk, Third Mind Tapes 1984
“Page After Page” I’m Dead, Grim Humour#3 7” Flexi, Fourth Dimension Records
“Gdansk” Test Dept, Rising From The Red Sand, Third Mind Tapes 1983
“Onslaught” Attrition, Onslaught, Third Mind Tapes 1983
“At Set Points” Ian Boddy, Visions, Third Mind Tapes 1983
“Strange Play Of The Mouth” Nurse With Wound, Rising From The Red Sand, Third Mind Tapes 1983
“Grow Dark In The Sun”  Mummies & Madmen, Winter Hill Recordings 2024
“Not Me” Thurston Moore w/Tom Surgal, 10” EP, Fourth Dimension
“Film-o-sonik” Konstruktivists, Psyko-Genetika, Third Mind records 1983
“Bite My Head” Portion Control, Rising From The Red Sand, Third Mind Tapes 1983

Herne Bay ambient recordings by Damon Hart-Davis used by permission.
https://www.earth.org.uk/Herne-Bay-ambient.html

LINKS

Third Mind Records
https://www.discogs.com/label/2746-Third-Mind-Records

Fourth Dimension Records
https://www.youtube.com/@FDRecords2023
fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com

Dave Henderson
https://23ears.co.uk/

Attrition
https://attritionuk.bandcamp.com/

THANKS TO:
Damon Hart-Davis for capturing the ancestral ambience, Dave Henderson & Martin Bowes for going the extra mile, Alan Rider for this months package.

AVAILABLE NOW: The project that started it all.
Premonitions: Underground Cassette Network 1989-90
14 nocturnal tracks of ambient, tape collage, industrial and improv, now on Bandcamp. https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/album/premonitions-underground-cassette-network-1989-90

*Cassette Culture* is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio. (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tales of handmade 'zines and the cassette underground with two key figures: Martin Bowes of the electronic-industrial band Attrition, and Alan Rider of the Adventures In Reality label and fanzine.

We trace their trajectory from the early days, as local Coventry fanzines "Alternative Sounds" and “Adventures In Reality” evolve into bands and cassette labels and build grassroots distribution networks that span the World.

Bowes and Rider reflect on how out-of-hours Art College facilities, post-punk energy, and the rise of affordable recording technology like the Tascam 4-track empowered musicians to bypass the mainstream and do it themselves.

Connecting with our previous episode (EP09 Wild Planet 1983: The World Gets Weirder) with Dave Henderson, writer of the Wild Planet column in Sounds, there’s more about how *The Elephant Table" LP came together. Plus, the usual tales of copying tapes in real-time, mailing music around the globe, and even embedding ZX Spectrum programs onto music cassettes. 

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

FEATURING

- Martin Bowes (Attrition)
- Alan Rider (Adventures in Reality)
- Dave Henderson (Sounds/Wild Planet )

MUSIC

Attrition “Dead Of Night” Death House - Adventures In Reality Recordings (1981)
Hawkwind “Jam 2” UK Electronica 1983
Attrition “Mariannes Dream” In The Realm Of The Hungry Ghost - Third Mind Recordings (1986)
Attrition/Audio Leter “Talkback” Action And Reaction - CNLF (1983)
Nurse With Wound “Someone Others Garden” Rising From The Red Sand Vol #1- Third Mind (1983)
Muslimgauze “Trans Time” The Last Supper - Adventures In Reality Recordings
Attrition “Monkey In A Bin” John Peel Show - BBC Radio 1 (24 April 1984)
Legendary Pink Dots “Surprise Surprise” The Elephant Table - X Tract (1984)
Attrition “The Black Maria” The Black Maria - Two Gods (2025)

LINKS

Attrition (https://attritionuk.bandcamp.com/music) | (https://attrition.co.uk)
Adventures In Reality (https://adventuresinreality.bigcartel.com/)

"Adventures In Reality, The Complete Collection" book reprints all issues of the fanzine in a 500 page softbound book. Order directly from Alan Rider via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/alan.rider.161)

See the ARR ZX Spectrum program from "The Last Supper" on YouTube:
https://www.journaldulapin.com/2023/01/12/last-supper-spectrum/

THANKS TO:
Steve Cammack for the “The Elephant Table” vinyl.
https://remuhmuration.blogspot.com/

Our old chums at SoundArt Radio 102.5FM for digitising services.
https://soundartradio.org.uk/

AVAILABLE NOW
Premonitions: Underground Cassette Network 1989-90
14 nocturnal tracks of ambient, tape collage, industrial and improv, now on Bandcamp. https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/album/premonitions-underground-cassette-network-1989-90

*Cassette Culture* is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio. (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the provocative performances of Throbbing Gristle at the Lyceum to Einstürzende Neubauten's infamous stage-demolishing concert at the ICA, this episode captures the moment when musical boundaries were not just pushed, but completely obliterated.

The Wild Planet column, written by Dave Henderson started as a cut-out-and-keep centre feature in Sounds, the UK’s biggest music weekly, but soon became a focus for the new breed of cassette artists and labels across Europe.

Guitars were OUT, Synths were IN, sunglasses got darker, and the music became.… weirder.

Music journalist, curator and label runner, Dave Henderson takes us out on the streets of London in the days when you could bump in to a leather clad Cabaret Voltaire, or find Test Dept. in full force playing an underground station.

More than just a music column, Wild Planet became a cultural conduit for artists working outside traditional music industry constraints. Henderson's narrative reveals a vibrant ecosystem of bedroom musicians, experimental performers, and avant-garde creators who were reimagining what music could be.

A must-listen for music historians, cultural enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the raw, uncompromising spirit of artistic innovation.

DAVE HENDERSON
A UK based music journalist, editor, curator and label runner, Dave has a rich variety of roles within the UK music industry. These include running the New Talent stage at Glastonbury Festival, Managing director for Q, Mojo and Kerrang!, creating labels Dead Mans Curve, X Tract and currently running Cherry Red sub-label, Righteous

Hosted by Martin Franklin
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen.

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

THANKS TO:
Steve Cammack for the “The Elephant Table” vinyl.
https://remuhmuration.blogspot.com/

Our old chums at SoundArt Radio 102.5FM for digitising services.
https://soundartradio.org.uk/

MUSIC
23 Skidoo, Hacienda Live (Remix)
SPK “Despair” The Elephant Table, X Tract (1983)
Hawkwind “Phone Home, Elliot” Live at UK Electronica Festival, bootleg tape (1983)
Attrition “Dream Sleep” The Elephant Table
Konstruktivits “Andropov 84, The Elephant Table
Cabaret Voltaire “Voice Of America”, Live Granada TV 1980
Cabaret Voltaire “Seconds Too Late” Berkeley Keystone 25.10.80
Einsturzende Neubauten, Live ICA unreleased cassette (1984)

AVAILABLE NOW: Premonitions: Underground Cassette Network 1989-90
14 nocturnal tracks of ambient, tape collage, industrial and improv, now on Bandcamp. https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/album/premonitions-underground-cassette-network-1989-90

Podcast produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au/)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amazing artworks, CDr's and a mystery device. The full unboxing experience of the package sent to us from Belgium by Sandy from the Hybryds.

This is the Bonus version of the recordings which opened Episode 8 "Universe Of The Wyrd: The Cold Spring Story" - just for our curious listeners who want to hear more.

Episode contains these tracks from CD:
"Euthanasia" Rabbits Wear Boots, No Style No Rules
"Why Are you Hear?" Rabbits Wear Boots, Trans Human Distopia (USB key)
"Once I Dreamed" In The Wake Of The Witch, Hybryds
"From The Papyrus Of Nu" I Am The Eye Of Horus, Hybyrds
"Be Mine" Mythtopia, The 7" Remix Album, Hybyrds
"Wanderers Without Destinations" Mythtopia, Hybryds (USB key)

After the recording session we asked Sandy what the mysterious object was and he let us know that it was indeed a cool mini USB bank card-style device, with a fold out connection to put in a USB port. Like this:
https://www.imprintnow.com.au/product/custom-usbs/credit-card-usb

More from Hybryds: 
https://hybrydsmusic.bandcamp.com/

More from Rabbits Wear Boots:
https://rabbitswearboots.bandcamp.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the forefront of Industrial and dark electronic music since the 1980s, Cold Spring Records emerged from the cassette underground to become a significant independent record label.

We unpack the story of label founder Justin Mitchell, an underground music dot connector who started in the UK tape trading and mail art networks, and working within  the influential Temple Of Psychic Youth.

Cold Spring stayed close to it’s underground ethos to become a respected purveyor of the strange and the obscure, championing artists like Genesis P.Orridge, Psychic TV, Coil, Satori, and taking in releases by giant talents like William Burroughs, Lull, Merzbow, Mark Almond, British Electronic Foundation along the way.

Along the way, we explore the label's transition from cassettes to vinyl and CD, the importance of context and curation in their releases, and the organic way in which Cold Spring has connected the dots to create a universe of the wyrd.

Episode hosted by Martin Franklin
Theme music: ”This Is Concrete” The Happy Citizen

DISCOVER THE VIDEO
You can find videos of cassette tapes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

MUSIC

Rabbits Wear Boots “Why are you here?”  Trans-Human Dystopia, 3Rio Art

Hybryds “Wanderers without destinations” Mythopia, 3Rio Art 

Psychic TV “Unclean” Live, INRI, Cold Spring cassette (CS 001)

Angels Ov Light and Thee Angry Love Orchestra "VI” (CS002)

William Burroughs, Brian Gysin, Genesis P. Orridge, extract from “Interview & Readings” Cold Spring (CS006) cassette

The Hafler Trio & Willem de Ridder “Report”, ...And The Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly… Cold Spring (CSR 1LP)

Sandor Kalios “Northern Tale” ANS Electronic Music, Cold Spring

Sleep Research Facility “B Deck”  Nostromo, Cold Spring

The Horses Of The Gods “John Barleycorn”, John Barleycorn Reborn, Cold Spring

The Sea Of Wires “The Nightmare continues”, The Sea Of Wires, Cold Spring

LINKS

Cold Spring Records
https://coldspring.co.uk/
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/

Rabbits Wear Boots
https://rabbitswearboots.bandcamp.com/

Hybryds
https://hybrydsmusic.bandcamp.com/

AVAILABLE NOW: Premonitions: Underground Cassette Network 1989-90
14 nocturnal tracks of ambient, tape collage, industrial and improv, now on Bandcamp. https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/album/premonitions-underground-cassette-network-1989-90

Podcast produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au/)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.