Music Box 13th June 2026

Cabaret Voltaire were a British experimental avant-garde electronic music group from Sheffield, England, formed in 1973 Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zurich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement. this is their second single, Nag Nag Nag (Rough Trade 7" 1979)

The Paragons were a 60s Teen-Garage outfit from Charlotte, North Carolina (USA). The band recorded their only single “Abba” b/w “Better Man Than I” in 1967 for the group’s manager Bobbi Cashman's Bobbi Records label. Here is Abba (Bobbi 7" 19670

The Royal Family And The Poor oiginally formed 1978 by Michael Anthony Keane (sound effects) and Arthur McDonald (vocals), their sound was created by dismantling a radio receiver and wiring it up to a small analog synthesizer & connecting them both to an old stereo gram. This could then be manipulated by moving magnets around the receiver in the radio. In fact the oblique band moniker soon became the identity of just one man, Michael Anthony Keane, whose chequered history is a complicated. Here's song Restrained In A Moment (I Love You), from their debut LP The Project Phase 1 - The Temple Of The 13th Tribe (Factory 1984 cat no. FACT95)

Skip Bifferty were an English psychedelic rock band formed in early 1966.The band featured future members of Ian Dury and The Blockheads. Skip Bifferty were formed when Newcastle upon Tyne band The Chosen Few (featuring Alan Hull, later of Lindisfarne) changed their name and recruited a new singer, Graham Bell, to replace Hull. Managed by Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne, the band were given a contract by RCA Records. This is an initially unreleased demo Schizoid Revolution, which can be found on the sampler Looking At The Pictures In The Sky (Grapefruit 3XCD 20170 which I own and highly recommend. This track is sheer brilliance.

We conclude with The Jam's eleventh UK single Start! c/w Liza Radley (Polydor 7" 1980). Any resemblance to The Beatles track taxman is purely coincidental ... ahem! I prefer the B-side anyway, which is why I included it. Until next week ...