How did I get hear? #6 - Grant Smithies on Pere Ubu's "The Modern Dance"

I can remember the exact moment my brain exploded. It was 1981, in Edinburgh, and I was in the basement bedroom of my flatmate Colin, who played drums in a local punk band.

A hyperactive stoner with excellent musical taste, Colin seemed to own only one T-shirt (sky blue, with the words “Hi Anxiety” screenprinted on the front) and made me mix tapes jammed with life-changing tunes by The Fall, This Heat, Wire and The Feelies.

Then one night he dropped the stylus on The Modern Dance, the 1978 debut album by Cleveland, Ohio rock band, Pere Ubu. Between my ears, I felt a warm, wet thud as my grey matter detonated. Here was music that sparked a thousand questions, which in the end boiled down to just two: Who would possibly think of recording sounds like this? And what was it about Cleveland that made this sort of thing seem OK?

 

The music was a mix of harsh keyboard noise, surf guitars and obscure pop references, and the main guy yowled out his vocals in a high, sing-song warble many would struggle to accept was even singing. Under a layer of screaming synths, opening song Non-Alignment Pact sounded like Chuck Berry backed by a band of punks on acid.

 

I was smitten. The Modern Dance made most other albums sound hopelessly pedestrian, as if the makers simply lacked courage.

And I’m not alone in my love of this record. Rolling Stone’s Dave DiMartino once wrote “Modern day rock’n’roll reached its peak in 1978 with The Modern Dance and has declined ever since.”

 

Grant Smithies runs Nelson Record Emporium Family Jewels - you can find them on Facebook here