OK team, it’s time to put on your oversize OXFAM greatcoat, distress your hair into a fashionably dishevelled state and listen to some jangly guitars in the hard-to-classify-into-a-single-genre British late 70s / early 80s indy / alternative / student rock quiz!

There’s one curve ball in here, it’s a contemporary British band that I like, probably because their sound is very early 80s to me.

There are some obscure ones in here, let’s see how it goes – limit 3 for now.
Limit off in a desperate bid to stimulate interest here...

1. I hear her voice and start to run
karen - A Forest - The Cure

2. You hear laughter cracking through the walls
early 80s single from a pioneer punk band, fronted by the female goth archetype

3. First I want a kiss and then I want it all
karen - Rescue - Echo & The Bunnymen

4. And you go home, and you cry and you want to die
karen - How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths

5. When the routine bites hard and ambitions are low
Paul - Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division

6. And the Lady of the Lake takes my hand and leads me to the Holy Isle
Ever visit Leeds in the 1980s? If yes, you would have seen more goths than you could shake a stick
at and this band, led by Andrew Eldritch, were largely responsible!

7. You give me cold hands
Paul - Pale Shelter - Tears For Fears

8. Dance to the radio
karen - Transmission - Joy Division

9. All he sees is the back of chairs, in the mirror a lack of hairs
Indy Gent - Bingo Master's Breakout - The Fall

10. I’m knee deep in myself but I want to get more of that stuff
The "other Paul" - Some Candy Talking - Jesus And Mary Chain

11. They'll turn away no more
nally - Blue Monday - New Order

12. It really moved me
Paul - I'm In Love With A German Film Star - The Passions

13. Oh the heads that turn
Paul - She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult

14. She loves to be one of the girls
Taoist - Pretty In Pink - Psychedelic Furs

15. You’re turning into something I detest

16. Rain is the tears of the never never navvies who cry
The "other Paul" - Towers Of London - XTC

17. The victims have been bled
karen - Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus

18. You’re equal but different
The "other Paul" - It's Obvioius - The Au Pairs

19. The dream helps you forget you ain't never danced a step
Paul - The King Of Rock And Roll - Prefab Sprout

20. Nurse me into sickness, nurse me back to health


21. He fills his head with culture, he gives himself an ulcer
karen - At Home He's A Tourist - Gang Of Four

22. By day we run by night we dance

Hi Maddog

#14 is "Pretty in pink" by The Psychodelic furs

Tao

#4 How Soon is Now? - The Smiths

#4 How Soon is Now? - The Smiths


#14 is "Pretty in pink" by The Psychodelic furs

Both correct Rob & Karen, well done!

However, I was relying on you guys to guess lots of these, surely you know more than one each!?

However, I was relying on you guys to guess lots of these, surely you know more than one each!?


I recognise 1 and 21 but can't place them yet

Hi Graham...you're right - there are some obscure ones here...!!

#5. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' - Joy Division (almost 25 years since Curtis's suicide...I'm getting old!)

#7. 'Pale Shelter' - Tears For Fears

#12. 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star' - Passions
Haven't heard this in yonks, so it's a bit of a guess...but it sounds right...!

Is #1 A Forest - The Cure?

#21 Gang of Four - At Home He's a Tourist

I think #11 is New Order's "Blue Monday." :)

Hi Graham...you're right - there are some obscure ones here...!!

#5. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' - Joy Division (almost 25 years since Curtis's suicide...I'm getting old!)

#7. 'Pale Shelter' - Tears For Fears

#12. 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star' - Passions
Haven't heard this in yonks, so it's a bit of a guess...but it sounds right...!

All correct Paul, very good!
I wrote the lyrics to #12 from memory as I don't have it in my collection, I think it's accurate  :-\\.

Is #1 A Forest - The Cure?

#21 Gang of Four - At Home He's a Tourist

Glad to see these both came to you karen, both are correct!

I think #11 is New Order's "Blue Monday." :)

It certainly is Jeff :)!

9. Bingo Masters Fallout-The Fall

9. Bingo Masters Fallout-The Fall

Wow, Indy - I'm really impressed, this was one of the most obscure tracks on here!

Hi Maddog!

I might be miles off, so correct me if I'm wrong, but #22 sounds to me like it could be Big Country - Look away...
Anyway, 70s/80s British indy... not really my cup of tea.

Hi Maddog!

I might be miles off, so correct me if I'm wrong, but #22 sounds to me like it could be Big Country - Look away...
Anyway, 70s/80s British indy... not really my cup of tea.

Hi there FaultyDog, and thank you for resurrecting this quiz from the oblivion into which it had fallen :).
It seems like 70s/80s British indy is not the cup of tea of most posters here :(.

Unfortunately, your guess on #22 is not correct. If it helps, #22 contains a riff that I feel was blatantly stolen by Nirvana
for one of their early 90s hits, although when this went to court it was thrown out.

Hi Graham...don't take it as any reflection that British Indie is not everyone's char...

It's just that the majority of these are obscure...even for me!

But I think I've managed to pull one more out from the entangled mass of grey matter (hums to self...)

#13. 'She Sells Sanctuary' - Cult

...now I really am snookered...

#13. 'She Sells Sanctuary' - Cult

Great - well done Paul!
If you care to take another look at #17 again, I have a feeling that you might remember this one.
The clue is in the lyric...

Oh, and I do recall that, in the past, you have expressed mild fandom of the band at #16 also ;)

If you care to take another look at #17 again, I have a feeling that you might remember this one.
The clue is in the lyric...

Oh, and I do recall that, in the past, you have expressed mild fandom of the band at #16 also ;)


Eek! There's me on the spot...

In hindsight, #17. does look familiar, but after repeated bouncings around the brainbox, still nothing bites...

However...

That bloke from our office (the other Paul - whose assistance I called on before, you may remember) is back from holiday tomorrow...so a bit of brain-picking from him is in order...watch this here space...

#8 Joy Division - Transmission

Is #3 Echo and the Bunnymen?  not sure of the exact title.  "Come to my rescue" or something like that.

Eek! There's me on the spot...

In hindsight, #17. does look familiar, but after repeated bouncings around the brainbox, still nothing bites...

However...

That bloke from our office (the other Paul - whose assistance I called on before, you may remember) is back from holiday tomorrow...so a bit of brain-picking from him is in order...watch this here space...


I think I've worked out what #17 might be.  Which makes part of your comment ironic.

Anyhow I'll let you ask the other Paul first.

#8 Joy Division - Transmission

Correct karen! :)

Is #3 Echo and the Bunnymen?  not sure of the exact title.  "Come to my rescue" or something like that.

Yes, yes, yes!! :).
The title is "Rescue" but you got the lyric pretty much spot on...."Won't you come on down to my.....Rescue"!
Great song from the Bunnymen, check it out anyone who cares for guitar based rock music.

Point of trivia - the photo on the cover of The Bunnymen's second album (Heaven Up Here) was taken by the sand dunes in my home town of Southport.

I think I've worked out what #17 might be.  Which makes part of your comment ironic.

Anyhow I'll let you ask the other Paul first.

This additional hint (assuming that you're referring to the "still nothing bites" aspect) leads me to believe that you have worked this one out as well karen!

Thanks again for continued interest here guys, although it's looking that all the answers might get gotten by a World record lowest number of players ;).

How do...back again, with a couple of answers from 'the other Paul'...

#10. 'Some Candy Talking' - Jesus & Mary Chain
...which I really must listen to again when I get the chance!

#16. 'Towers Of London' - XTC
...it must be a very mild fandom of XTC that I've got, as I don't think I've ever heard this...!!

#18. 'It's Obvious' - Au Pairs
...not heard of these, but he says they were forever on the university touring circuit...

And I've pulled out one from my own head (tho' he knew it as well...!)

#19. 'King Of Rock And Roll' - Prefab Sprout

And finally...


I think I've worked out what #17 might be.  Which makes part of your comment ironic.

Anyhow I'll let you ask the other Paul first.


Surprise surprise! He knew that too!
(And I now know where the 'biting' reference comes into it...!)

However, as you were first to peer over the parapet karen, this one (to be fair) is all yours...

#17 Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus.

I was looking through for any Bauhaus lyrics really.

That's how I did one or two of these, work out what group might be there and then look through the lyrics in the quiz to see which ones I recognise in the context of what group might sing them.


How do...back again, with a couple of answers from 'the other Paul'...

#10. 'Some Candy Talking' - Jesus & Mary Chain
...which I really must listen to again when I get the chance!

#16. 'Towers Of London' - XTC
...it must be a very mild fandom of XTC that I've got, as I don't think I've ever heard this...!!




Not heard of either of these tracks




#18. 'It's Obvious' - Au Pairs
...not heard of these, but he says they were forever on the university touring circuit...




Not a name I recognise at all.

Well done, karen...

Well, Graham - you've near-enough exhausted the collective minds of all of us, so you'll have to start clueing hard as from now...!!

How do...back again, with a couple of answers from 'the other Paul'...

#10. 'Some Candy Talking' - Jesus & Mary Chain
...which I really must listen to again when I get the chance!

#16. 'Towers Of London' - XTC
...it must be a very mild fandom of XTC that I've got, as I don't think I've ever heard this...!!

#18. 'It's Obvious' - Au Pairs
...not heard of these, but he says they were forever on the university touring circuit...

And I've pulled out one from my own head (tho' he knew it as well...!)

#19. 'King Of Rock And Roll' - Prefab Sprout

Excellent work Paul and the other Paul...all of these are correct :)!

I also remember The Au Pairs from the university touring circuit in the early 80s, they were a mixed gender band and had a loosely based feminist / left wing political agenda. I remember the song "It's Obvious" as it was one of the first I ever listened to on a Walkman, it's about gender equality - "You're equal, but different - it's obvious!".

"Towers Of London" is probably my favourite XTC song, I recently downloaded it onto my iPod and I play it all the time, along with a few others from this quiz.

#17 Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus.

Great stuff karen :)!
This is another track I've recently downloaded from iTunes and have really enjoyed listening to again.

Well, Graham - you've near-enough exhausted the collective minds of all of us, so you'll have to start clueing hard as from now...!!

OK, point taken, clues coming up!

No. 22 - And we Dance  by "The Hooters"  ?

No. 22 - And we Dance  by "The Hooters"  ?

Hello (and welcome!) holicman...unfortunately your guess is incorrect :(.
I think that The Hooters are American, not British  :-\\?

Hi Graham  :)

Is #20 by The The ?  My friend Michelle plays this CD all the time and I think that's where I know this lyric from ???

Is #20 by The The ?  My friend Michelle plays this CD all the time and I think that's where I know this lyric from ???

It is The The, Janine, probably their biggest hit. I used to play it all the time in my car....in the 80s.
I'm sure Michelle can give you the song title too :)!