French Lessons (1979-1984)

Wirral based pop rock band, formed in 1979 by Rob Cross (keyboards), Doug Halligan (bass and vocals), Ron Roberts (guitar) - both former members of Cops in Dieguise - and Tony Hall (vocals). Colin Roberts, the band’s original drummer was replaced by Keith Butler (former Fallen Heroes) in 1981. The band were regulars on the local music scene and winners or runners up of various local and national competitions, developing quite a large local following.
French Lessons privately released two cassette albums. Homework was recorded at SOS Studios, in Liverpool, between August 1981 and March 1982 and produced by Pete Coleman.

Homework (1982)
Side 1:
- Anytown
- Poor Little Rich Girl
- Social Insecurity
- Planet 3
- Nursery Crimes
Side 2:
- Timebomb
- Willie the Kid
- Don't believe in rainbows
- Badlands

Reel Music is the band’s second album. Side one of was recorded at Corndon House Studios in December 1982. Side two was recorded at Amazon Studios, Liverpool, in November 1982. All tracks where mixed and mastered at Corndon House Studios, in December 1982.

Reel Music (1983)
Side 1:
- Only a broken heart
- Return of the kid
- The jogger
- Midnight cabaret
- Don't believe in rainbows
Side 2:
- Protect and survive
- Mr. Zero
- Anonymous
- Dream Street

In 1984 the band released their first single (the double A-sided Red Light Girls/Ticket to nowhere).

More information about the band and audio files can be found here
(see also: http://www.frenchlessons.org.uk/ )

Doof - Exist (1982)

In 1982 Philip Johnson (see relevant post) collaborated with Paul Platypus (Exhibit A, Twelve Cubic Feet) on the project Doof, releasing the 10" mini-LP Exist:

Doof / Exist (1982)

- Treat Me Like (The Man I Am)
- Brighton, Pt.1
- Nine Years Old
- Brighton, Pt.2
- On It In It
- Treat Me Like (The Man I Am)

Abouth his music, in 1985 Johnson says:
‘My music is an uncommon mixture of musical styles – I didn’t deliberately make it that way, I just like different things andit seems natural to me to put them together, but I’ve always been identified with the ‘experimental’ end of things, like most people who release cassettes. I find what I do hard to describe, and I don’t really want to describe it, I want to surprise listeners, and I want to be able to annoy or amuse or excite or move or confuse them, or create several feelings at once’

doof

Philip Johnson

Philip Johnson is an avantgarde artist who started making music in autumn 1978 and released his first cassette (54 Minutes of P. Johnson) in 1979, one of the earliest participants in the British independent cassette scene. Between 1979 and 1981 he released about 20 cassettes, until 1981 when Johnson became a partner in Namedrop, a short-lived independent record label (which also released Johnson full-fledge Lp ‘1982 – Youth the Morning’). When Namedrop collapsed Johnson went back to releasing cassettes and providing tracks for compilations, mostly cassette compilation (among which Blues Vol. 2, released by Alan Gill’s Bopadub records). In 1981 Johnson released material also under various pseudonyms such as Ancient Regime, the Barringtons, Flower Perverts.

In the folder:
From the compilation We Couldn’t Agree on the Title (1982):
- The Bridewell
- Anaesthetic

From Three Minute Symphony (1984):
- Always Behind You

here