Jeremy Gluck

Jeremy Gluck & Superczar - Victim of Dreams
Jeremy is a Canadian who lives in Wales. In 1978 he formed the Barraccudas who played surf tinged garage rock. His best known solo work is "I Knew Buffalo Bill" which featured a who's who of alternative rock stars including Nikki and Epic from Swell maps, Rowland S Howard and Jeffery Lee Pierce. He also wrote rock journalism under the name of Jeff Traitor and has had novels publuished under the name of Jeremy Clarke.

"Over ten years ago I voluntarily exiled myself from London to south Wales. A long process of madness and random factoring led to a new life and the resumption of music. In the process I met and briefly managed Swansea band Superczar, with whom I recorded this song - well, poem - in mid-2006. Victim of Dreams seems to sum up what had and has become of me and point to a cold but real future. I continue to work with Superczar and others on new music. Many are the fallen, and sorely missed, but those of us still confused to be here feel the need and duty to keep expressing ourselves. The Void is deaf... we have to make the most of this stupid monkey planet while there's still time. I am grateful to Superczar for their work with me, and to myself for these words wrenched from my own struggle.Ê Art ain't easy but as we say in Canada, it beats working..."
victim of dreams (gluck-williams-griffiths) vocal - jeremy gluck guitar and keyboards - jeremy williams guitar - andrew griffiths bass guitar - davy thomas recorded and produced in 2006 at westbury street studios, swansea by jeremy williams
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Superczar
are a Wesh band who's "Future Never Happened" album is a constantly changing melting pot of styles! more

The Existentialists

The Existentialists -Shelagh was a Mod
Lo-fi Mod/Punk band from Toulouse, France, born on a midsummerÕs night in 2006 when 60's lover Jimmy, 24, obsessed with the likes of The Who, Creation and The Velvet Underground, decided to record and perform his own songs. Now consisting of a varying line-up of like-minded friends, The Existentialists play a brand of 60's flavored minimalist pop influenced by the DIY spirit of various artists such as Television Personalities, Beat Happening, Daniel Johnston and Jeffrey Lewis...
Shelagh Is A Mod Words and music by Nicolas Mazel. The musicians were : Jimmy - vocals, guitars, Olivier Subra - bass Nico Mangione - drums Recorded in Monsieur Subra's ex-bedroom, courtesy of his parents.
No Mods were harmed during the making of this track... A few Rockers did perish though! www.myspace.com

The Knockouts

The Knockouts - D-Zug
The Knockouts are the sharpest dressed and most rocking band in Luton! Their sound is a raucous, primitive racket... no vocals, no bass... (who needs 'em?) it's the treble that counts! All you need to know is that they formed in 1993 and then again in 2000. Three of them were in Thrilled Skinny, one was a rather obstreperous t-shirt seller for the same band. They have numerous albums and singles (and a cassette) on their own High Town label and this track is from their 7" single on Topplers. www.theknockouts.org.uk
www.myspace.com/theknockoutsuk

Dan Melchior und Das Menace

Dan Melchior - Elev to Mezz
Dan Melchior was born in the 1970's - consequently his childhood memories are a mish mash of rod stewart/the fonz/alvin stardust/brown chequered wallpaper/doctor who/chorlton and the wheelies and the smell of tcp - anyway, making a jump of a couple of decades - a foundation course at art school helped dm join a band and very little else - he spent a large portion of the 90's on the dole bolstering his job avoiders allowance with pass the hat money from gigs played with holly go lightly at various ratty london venues - he also recorded with the infamous trashbeat provacateur billy childish before eventually shuffling back to art school to scrape a much contested BA - in a fit of devil may care derring do he moved to nyc - married the wonderful letha rodman - recorded a couple of albums with in the red records under the 'dan melchior's broke revue' moniker - did a couple of long tours of the u s of a with aforementioned - even did a short trip with alternative television as second guitarist - presently recording alone and as 'dan melchior und das menace' - and living in the beautiful environs of durham, north carolina. www.myspace.com/dasmenace www.danmelchior.com

The Madness of Crowds

the madness of crowds - go japan go
Better known for their coma inducing, krautrock symphonies, on this track the band rock-out in support of the Japanese football team! Taken from the Topplers World Cup Competition CD (2006) www.topplers.net (choose MOC from menu) more more

Killola

Killola - Barrel of Donkeys
No matter where you are on Earth, you can hear this band. Los Angelean fourtet Killola masterfully blend '70s lippy girl new wave with hi-energy and catchy rock numbers. On the surface, as warm and cuddly as a bra full of puppies... Dig a little deeper though, and it soon becomes apparent that each bite of the candyfloss is laced with razor wire.
www.killola.com

The Platforms

The Platforms - Walk of Shame
They may look like good girls, but the music says, "I wanna be bad!!!" These glam-rock inspired girls from Austin Texas rock all the way out of their pink fur lined garage!!! Inspired by everything from The Kinks and Stooges to the misogynistic songs of 80's hair bands, The Platforms turn the tables and issue the orders. The band's first original,"Bang Me" is a roaring anthem about a girl getting what she wants. An appropriate follow-up, practiced daily on college campuses everywhere, is the unanimous crowd-favorite "Walk of Shame." Both appear on the band's first full-length CD, "Kicked Off," released on 'Ankle Injury' records in late 2004. more myspace

Mong

MONG - Captain Beefheart had quite an effect...
By the time this compilation appears, Mong will have released two albums on Topplers records. Apart from the fact that he/they come from the West of Scotland, we know nothing about them!
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Masque

Masque - Mong's Bones
Masque are a two man noise machine from Glasgow. They blend cutting edge electronic cut-ups with snarling guitar and vocals and their two EPs on Topplers are full of uncompromising, politically charged lyrics. In 2006, after releasing their 2nd EP, the band retired to the studio and created a series of cover versions of songs by other artists on the Topplers label including this sleazy version of the sound of Mong! more covers

Gang

Gang - Rat Poison
gang n. 1 - a band of persons associating, especially for criminal purposes. A band pursuing antisocial purposes. 2 - set of workers, slaves, or prisoners. 3 - A two person band interested in jams, fashion, and community. Amanda Damron (vocals, guitar) and Jaclyn McGraw (rap superstar, drums). Production is by The Big Kids, aka Tim Sonnefeld (White Tim) and Nicole McGraw Band members Jaclyn McGraw and Amanda Damron decided to form a musical collaboration when they realized that they sounded like no other. Their blend of hip hop, rock and roll, craziness, wild attitude and bangin' style come together in ways that make people stare in confusion, smile, and then bust out laughing in a good-spirited nature.
See the video for Rat Poison and more at myspace.com/xgangx

Out of Nowhere

OUT OF NOWHERE - Pretty Little Eyes of Hate
An alternative punk/rock indie band based in Cambridge. They have an EP of their own songs available and also have a cover version of the Television Personalities song "14th Floor" on the Topplers website!
www.outofnowhere.uk.com
www.myspace.com/outofnowhereband

The NoMen

The NoMen
A loose collective of musicians who operate within the Topplers label. They have appeared as the backing band on most of Steve Tratment's new recordings and feature on some tracks on Jowe Head's 'Parallel Universe' CD and the 'Merman Blues' single. They are best known for their sympathetic covers of late 70s DIY punk songs all of which are available free to download from the topplers site. More

Pottedheid

Pottedheid - Saudi This is another track... in fact, the winning track from the Topplers Record's World Cup theme song competition from 2006! A variety of World Cup related songs were posted to the website and viewers could vote for their favourite. Whether by means fair or foul, Pottedheid were the clear winners with this trippy instrumental full of eastern promise! A beautiful, hand made cup was awarded to Pottedheid for their contribution... well done again to the boys from Aberdeen in Scotland!
www.pottedheid.com

Mr Luggs

Mr Luggs - Dafty Duck
This track is from the 2006 'hand made' 7" single by ex Nyah Feartie, Mr Luggs. His musical career started in the early eighties when he joined his brother in the metal-bashing, noise pollution band Nyah Fearties based in Lugton, Scotland. After realising that transporting huge piles of scrap metal from gig to gig was impractical, they turned into an acoustic duo using only bass and ganjo (a mix of guitar and banjo!) Strangely enough they made more noise with this line up than they did battering the metal percussion! Nyah Fearties carried on in one form or another till 1995 and produced a number of highly sought after LPs and singles. Mr Luggs also played on the more folk orientated and melodic Junkman's Choir along with his brother Davy. He also was part of the Wee Sma's and ERS when he lived in Germany during the late nineties. There are two Mr Luggs CDs available on Topplers as well as the 7" single.
A video of this track made by members of Pottedheid can be seen at - http://media.putfile.com/Dafty-Duck-40
nyahfearties.co.uk
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www.audiostreet.net/mrluggs

Jowe Head

Jowe Head
Jowe is one of the the originals of the DIY scene! His first recordings in the late seventies were with the hugely influential Swell Maps, then he spent almost 10 years in the Television Personalities during the eighties. His first solo LP 'Pincer Movement' was released in 1981 and since then he has released at least a dozen albums either as a solo performer or as part of other bands such as the Palookas, The Househunters and Olive's Hairy Custard. He currently writes and performs as part of Angel Racing Food. Jack in the Green From Jowe's new CD "From a Parallel Universe." This track features a guest appearance by the NoMen and some dazzling playing by Welsh fiddle player, Rafe Fitzpatrick. The album, released on Topplers in September 2006, features some of Jowe's finest work and a few unusual covers of songs by such disparate artists as Dionne Warwick, Kevin Coyne and Sun Ra. He even updates his classic Cake Shop Girl from the Swell Maps' second album! More

Olives Hairy Custard - Necktie
This is the opening track from the OHC album. This band was formed by Jowe with Elliot P Smoke (drummer with Thrilled Skinny and now with The Knockouts) and two prime movers in the Australian Farm Core Scene, Garlon Hairmungous and Les Miserable! They only released one 4 track single in the late nineties, but an album was recorded which recently saw the light of day when released on Topplers (TV010). Necktie was previously available on a 2001 compilation LP on Beat Bedsit records called "It don't come right to me!" Olive's Hairy Custard were a highly visual and theatrical band, whose live appearances were legendary! More

Angel Racing Food - Ravenous Scavengers
Jowe teamed up with guitarist Lee McFadden (Alternative Television, The Long Decline) to form ARF. Their 'Venus Bigfoot' single on Little Teddy records is one of the musical highlights of this century with it's thunderous rhythms and honking sax! Topplers records are bringing out the band's debut album, though this line up of the band no longer exists! A reformed ARF (featuring Jowe's old drumming partner from the Television Personalities, Jeff Bloom), are currently gigging around London and hope to be recording new material soon. More

Steve Treatment

Steve Treatment & the NoMen
Steve Treatment & the NoMen - Steve Treatment was a teenage fan of T Rex in the mid seventies who became friends with Nikki Sudden as they followed Marc Bolan on tour. Nikki already had an early version of Swell Maps on the go and, after the Maps released their first single in 1977, asked Steve to record some of his songs using the Swell Maps as the backing band. The resulting "5 'A' sided 45" is one of the classics from the DIY punk era and Steve followed it up with two more singles on his own 'Backbone' record label - both of which are punk-pop classics with a Bolanesque feel. By 1980 Steve's recording career was over; the two man synth-pop bands were taking over and no one wanted to release Steve's album. In the early nineties he resurfaced as part of the Ticket Inspectors who released a couple of cassette only albums and gigged around London; and then there was a long period of silence...

In 2003 the Topplers website posted a couple of Steve Treatment tracks asking, "where is he now?" and before long we were in touch with the man himself... (thanks to Steve's sister and Christine Isherwood).
Steve hadn't stopped writing and recording and he sent us cassettes full of songs. At that point Topplers records was just a few friends bringing out CDRs of their own songs for their own amusement but the contact with Steve galvanised us into a having a purpose! Overnight we formed the NoMen and began rehearsing a set of Steve's songs with the idea of getting him to sing them with the NoMen as his band... but we had so much fun doing it that we did it all ourselves!!! Our first proper CD 'The Keys to Talgarth Road', was 11 of Steve's songs performed by the NoMen! After that we released the '5 "A" sided CD' which was a mixture of Steve singing with the NoMen, and a few acoustic numbers by Steve himself. Since then there has been a steady stream of Steve Treatment and the NoMen releases on Topplers records.
Around the same time Hyped2Death records in the USA put a few of his originals out on CD and in 2004 released a double CD of the complete works of Steve Treatment!

You are going to receive treatment "This song was my antidote to too many people taking S&M more seriously than being friends and having fun. In the seventies all we did was whip each other and take speed! It was meant to be a warm up, fun song and everyone liked it, so my name became Steve Treatment. Nikki Sudden heard a recording I'd done on Gary Hill's reel to reel and asked me to record it on his "Rather" record label, but I did "Negative Nights" instead. They are very similar as I was learning to play a barre chord... in fact I'm still trying to learn some more chords, but they all seem to like the old one!" This vocal was an outake from the '2005 "A" sided 45' sessions but the NoMen re-recorded the music and grafted the vocal onto their new version in September 2006!

Two Brothers "I thought the title (originally a song by the Springfields) appropriate for Nikki and Epic Map, so I wrote this short tribute about my old/young (too young) pals Nikki and Epic! The NoMen put a great Chuck Berry riff on this version and turned it up full throttle. It sounds great... better than a silly bunch of flowers!" Nikki Sudden died in March 2006, his brother Epic Soundtracks had died in 1997. More

RIP Nikki Sudden