The Alarm - 68 Guns

[Dogwatcher]

I'm currently listening to a CD called On The Charts: IRS Records 1979-94. It's a really great CD I picked up cheap one day, has some great songs on it.
One of which is called 68 Guns by The Alarm.

Does anyone know anything about this band.
To me it sounds almost like something The Clash did, just a little poppier. Didn't The Clash also have a song called Brixton Guns or something like that? So is this band just a rip off of that great outfit?
NE! got Ne ideas?

 

[Leaping Lindner]

Originally posted by Dogwatcher
I'm currently listening to a CD called On The Charts: IRS Records 1979-94. It's a really great CD I picked up cheap one day, has some great songs on it.
One of which is called 68 Guns by The Alarm.

Does anyone know anything about this band.
To me it sounds almost like something The Clash did, just a little poppier. Didn't The Clash also have a song called Brixton Guns or something like that? So is this band just a rip off of that great outfit?
NE! got Ne ideas?

Gees you are stretching my memory now Dogwatcher.I remember that the band(The Alarm) never took off in Australia in anyway(either in mainstream or alternative circles). I recall they had a single called "Spirit of 76" and an LP called "Declaration"(i think).No doubt there was other stuff but that's the only two I know of for sure.I use to write to a guy in the states who was mad on them and I'd send their stuff which I use to be able to pick up around Adelaide for next to nothing(cos no one else was interested!).
The Clash song you are thinking of is "Guns of Brixton" off of LONDON CALLING which is about the racial tension in Brixton in the late 70's.
when they kick at your front door how you gonna come? With your hands on your head or on the tigger of your gun?
When the law break in how you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement or waiting in death row? You can crush us,you can bruise us,but you'll have to answer to oh the GUNS OF BRIXTON

 

[Lady Lawrence]

I have a 7inch single of the song - and a signed one at that! I loved 'em. I have a photo of me with one of the guys in the band called Eddie Twist. Yes they were from Wales and huge in the UK in the early to mid 80's.

Now that took me back -

 

[LordLucifer]

Here's some info on the Alarm :



Formed : 1981 in Rhyl, Wales
Disbanded : 1992
Group Members : Dave Sharp Eddie Macdonald Mike Peters Nigel Twist
Genres : Rock
Styles : Alternative Pop/Rock
Tones : Somber, Confrontational, Passionate, Rousing, Literate, Earnest
Labels : IRS (14), Twenty-First Century (2), Beyond (2), A&M (2)

Comparisons to U2 have dogged Welsh quartet the Alarm throughout their career, but in light of the Alarm's socially conscious lyrics, melodic rock anthems, and gravitation toward a mainstream alternative sound over their career, perhaps the comparisons are justified. Lead singer and guitarist Mike Peters was actually inspired by U2's passion and commitment to form the group in 1981 with guitarist/vocalist David Sharp, bassist Eddie MacDonald, and drummer Nigel Twist. Their early sound was energetic and largely acoustic-based, while the group's stage look encompassed skintight leather pants, gaudy belts, and spiked hair. Their first of several U.K. hits was "Sixty Eight Guns," but didn't chart in America until 1987 with "Presence of Love," which reached number 77 and proved to be the extent of their U.S. singles chart success. By that point in their career, the group had adopted a more electric guitar-based sound and had gravitated more toward the mainstream, but since U2 had hit the big time, the Alarm seemed too much like a pale imitation. The band tried something different on 1989's Change, which featured more traditional Celtic influences and a guest appearance from the Welsh Symphony Orchestra, but it proved to be too little too late. The Alarm broke up early in the '90s, and Mike Peters embarked on a solo career. — Steve Huey

 

[Lady Lawrence]

lol - mixed two of the names up - I knew there was a "twist" in there somewhere.

What else is on the cd dogwatcher? I love getting compilation cd's with stuff you had forgotten about.

 

[Dogwatcher]

Our Lips are sealed - Go gos
Mexican Radio - wall of voodoo
68 Guns - The Alarm
The future's so bright - Timbuk 3
Spirit in the sky - Doctor and the medics
Heartbreaker - Dread Zepplin.
Camouflage - Stan Ridgeway
Mad About You - Belinda Carlisle
HeyMatthew - Karel Fialka
The one I love REM
Joey Concrete Blonde
Holy Cow - Jools Holland
Dizz Knee Land - dada
Far Side of Crazy - Wall of Voodoo

Picked it up cheap and loved it ever since -its a regular at home.

 

[Dogwatcher]

Thanks for the work Sheik Yerbooti, great stuff.

 

[LordLucifer]

Originally posted by Dogwatcher

Picked it up cheap

Didn't we all ?? Has anyone ever paid full price for it ?? Only cost me $5.

 

[Dogwatcher]

Originally posted by TheSheik


Didn't we all ?? Has anyone ever paid full price for it ?? Only cost me $5.

great CD though - dare I sat it underrated.