Founded by Rusty Egan and Steve Strange in 1979, Blitz was key to the development of electronic music in the UK, acting as a catalyst for the new romantic movement along the way, and we've compiled a fascinating oral history of the legendary London club by talking to some of the key figures on the scene. As well as Rusty himself, we have contributions from Billy Currie, Robert Elms, Princess Julia, Mark Moore, Richard James Burgess, Caryn Franklin, Chris Sullivan, Philip Sallon and Steve Dagger. A gripping read from start to finish, packed with entertaining anecdotes and illustrated by lots of brilliant photos, we think this might be one of the best pieces we've ever published.
There's plenty of good stuff elsewhere in the issue as well, of course, including interviews with former Sonic Youth head girl Kim Gordon and self-styled "multi-dimensional creative dissidents" Lost Souls Of Saturn. Plus the anarchic and provocative Paranoid London, ex-Xmal Deutschland singer Anja Huwe, Eno's friend and associate William Doyle, Ninja Tune producer Forest Swords, Detroit techno luminary Robert Hood, and the prolific yet still largely unknown Woo, who have been crafting their wonderfully oddball electronica for more than five decades. That's got to be worth a gold star, right? Woohoo!!
This month's bundle edition includes 'Blitz 80', a purple vinyl seven-inch EP featuring three of the biggest tracks Rusty Egan played at Blitz. It opens with John Foxx's 'Burning Car', the sinister and unsettling third solo single from the one-time Ultravox frontman. Next up is Vice Versa's 'New Girls / Neutrons', an irresistible electronic hustle by the Sheffield band that later morphed into ABC. And to close, we have Gina X Performance's 'No GDM', the spicy and slinky eurobeat classic from the German duo of Gina Kikoine and Zeus B Held. All three of these tracks are killers and together they add up to a terrific futurist frug.
As with all our music releases, this record is strictly limited and is only available to readers of Electronic Sound, so make sure you get your copy right away.