The concert film, URGH! A Music War, is a great little time capsule of the art rock scene in 1980. Punk had flung open the door to the underground and new-wave, post-punk, synth pop, hardcore and no wave, among others, were ready to burst out onto the world.
The film is shot documentary style, but with no narration or explanation of what you’re seeing. Just the jams, man. Just the jams. I’ve never actually seen it, and probably never will, considering that the legal issues involved in getting the rights to all of the songs performed. Luckily, ol’ buddy youtube saves the day yet again. Also, I possess copy of the soundtrack on vinyl and have recorded a few of the tracks for your listening pleasure. There are other dubs going around on the net, but they have severe hums from where the turntables weren’t properly grounded. Hopefully, mine will come out a little better. Naturally, if you are in one of these bands or own the copyright, let me know if you want the files removed.
The movie takes bits from several different concerts and combines them into one epic show. I’ve sorted all of the songs by the concert they were performed at, to give a little better perspective on the setting.
Frejus Amphitheater - Paris, France - August 28th, 1980
The Police - “Driven to Tears”
XTC - “Respectable Street”
Jools Holland - “Foolish I Know”
Skafish - “Sign of the Cross”
Santa Monica Civic - Santa Monica, CA - August 16th, 1980
Wall of Voodoo - “Back In Flesh”
Wall of Voodoo - Back In Flesh
The Members - “Offshore Banking Business”
Pere Ubu - “The Birdies”
Magazine - “Model Worker”
ICA - London, England - September 5th, 1980
Tonya Wilcox - “Dance”
Guild Hall - Portsmouth, England - September 19th, 1980
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - “Enola Gay”
John Otway - “Chery’s Going Home”
The Whisky - Hollywood, CA - August 17th, 1980
Oingo Boingo - “Ain’t This The Life”
Oingo Boingo - Aint This The Life
Go-Go’s - “We Got The Beat”
Alley Cats - “Nothing Means Nothing Anymore”
The Ritz - New York, NY - August 22nd, 1980
Klaus Nomi - “Total Eclipse”
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - “Bad Reputation”
The Lyceum Ballroom - London, England - September 17th, 1980
Athletico Spizz ‘80 - “Where’s Captain Kirk”
Athletico Spizz ‘80 - Where’s Captain Kirk
999 - “Homicide”
The Rainbow Theater - London, England - September 18th, 1980
Steel Pulse - “Ku Klux Klan”
Gang of Four - “He’d Send In The Army”
The California Theater - San Diego, CA - August 20th, 1980
Devo - “Uncontrollable Urge”
The Lyceum Ballroom - London, England - September 7th, 1980
Echo & the Bunnymen - “The Puppet”
The Au Pairs - “Come Again”
Santa Monica Civic - Santa Monica, CA - August 15th, 1980
The Cramps - “Tear It Up”
X - “Beyond And Back”
Hammersmith Odeon - London, England - September 16th, 1980
Gary Numan - “Down In The Park”
CBGB’S - New York, NY - August 21st, 1980
Fleshtones - “Shadow Line”
If you’d like to hear the rest of the soundtrack, go on over to The Lost Turntable. All of the songs are there, but the turntable isn’t grounded and the speed is too high. Still, it is one of the only ways to hear these tracks.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Brian Connors Manke // Mar 4, 2008 at 10:35 am
I don’t know if this is the same copy as Lost Turntable - but I got a copy of this from here:
http://isupplythecountrywithbutter.blogspot.com/2007/12/urgh-music-war-1981-various-artists.html
Regardless, a very cool soundtrack!
2 utahpolis // Mar 4, 2008 at 10:57 am
Thanks, Brian!
They claim to be ripped from the CD, so I’d assume it would be a better copy.
3 Lost Turntable // Apr 10, 2008 at 8:40 am
Thanks for the mention. I just noticed that my tracks ARE oversped, thanks to that shitty turntable I had when I first recorded these tunes about two years ago. Looks like its time for me to fix that - look for an update tonight or tomorrow.
Also, while that dude ripped his from a CD at a high vbr, in my opinion they don’t have the range of my copy. And even if they did, it’s missing six tracks since the CD couldn’t fit everything that was on the original double-LP soundtrack!
4 wire154 // Apr 26, 2008 at 10:55 am
Yep, I ripped the original CD issue of Urgh! (it sounds more than fine, by the way), but it is missing 6 tracks from the original double LP. Glad to hear that Lost Turntable is going to put up a better rip of the LP.
That was extremely necessary.
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