I'm sure this one will be even more popular than my last proper Album Club submission
For me this is an absolute Classic, an album I've loved from the moment I heard it, way back in about 1991. It's the debut album by Radical Dance Faction, a band from Hungerford / Reading, led by a lyrical genius called Chris Bowsher. The band had been around for a number of years before this album came out, and had self-released a couple of excellent tapes and built up a strong live following through festival, squat parties and proper gigs.
RDF as they were known were part of a scene based around Reading, which included a number of bands with whom they shared members, such that the lines defining which band was which was easily lost. People say they came out of a band called Military Surplus, and Military Surplus got there first with a proper release, on 7" in 1987 on Bluurg records, but the Military Surplus lineup comprised most of the core RDF membership, and continued to play gigs through the 90's alongside the main band, so to be honest it could be argued that Military Surplus were just an alter-ego. In 2004 the bands reformed for occasional shows under the combined name Military Surplus RDF which made a lot more sense.
Anyway, RDF was Chris Bowsher's band, and it's his voice and his lyrics that drive this record. The beautiful vocals of Linda Goodman are the perfect foil, and the musical foundation displays a real musicality and maturity not often seen in similar 'punk / ska / dub' bands.
The standout tracks here are Hot On The Wire, Chinese Poem, Borderline and Surplus People.
Hot On The Wire was written by Chris about his experience of that day in 1987 when Michael Ryan killed 16 and wounded 15 in what was to become described as 'the Hungerford massacre'. It's an intense track, one that sent me off to read more about the events. Chris was quoted briefly in the book 'One Bloody Afternoon' by Jeremy Josephs.
Chinese Poem is about Tiananmen Square.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Dance_Faction
http://www.myspace.com/radicaldancefaction
http://www.myspace.com/militarysurplusrdf
The full album is available for streaming at Grooveshark:
http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Bord...+Cases/7596879