24 Acts in 81 minutes

"24 Acts in 81 minutes. It pays to improve your word power!"

Before C86 there was C81...

This was probably my most important introduction to decent independent music, way back when I was just out of short trousers... the first outing for Scritti Politti's the sweetest girl... most people's introduction to Postcard records... Compiled by the NME journalist Roy Carr and a Rough Trade PR person, it's the most awesome and eclectic mixtape ever, and cost about £1.25 to readers of the NME!

This copy has been taken from an original cassette because this major history piece has never been reissued on CD (unlike the C86 compilation, which was issued as a fifth anniversary memorial to this one). It still sounds good though. If it is reissued, obviously, I would insist that you go out and buy it, but until then

• Sample track: Pere Ubu - Misery Goats mp3

Download the full cassette:

• Various Artists - C81 (140mb - so watch out!)

Track listing

Side one

1. "The "Sweetest Girl"" – Scritti Politti (6:09)
2. "Twist and Crawl Dub" – The Beat (4:58)
3. "Misery Goats" – Pere Ubu (2:26)
4. "7,000 Names of Wah!" – Wah! Heat (3:57)
5. "Blue Boy" – Orange Juice (2:52)
6. "Raising the Count" – Cabaret Voltaire (3:32)
7. "Kebab Traume (Live)" – D.A.F (3:50)
8. "Bare Pork" – Furious Pig (1:28)
9. "Raquel" – The Specials (1:51)
10. "I Look Alone" – Buzzcocks (3:00)
11. "Fanfare in the Garden" – Essential Logic (3:00)
12. "Born Again Cretin" – Robert Wyatt (3:07)

Side two

1. "Shouting Out Loud" – The Raincoats (3:19)
2. "Endless Soul" – Josef K (2:27)
3. "Low Profile" – Blue Orchids (3:47)
4. "Red Nettle" – Virgin Prunes (2:13)
5. "We Could Send Letters" – Aztec Camera (4:57)
6. "Milkmaid" – Red Crayola (2:01)
7. "Don't Get in My Way" – Linx (5:15)
8. "The Day My Pad Went Mad" – The Massed Carnaby St John Cooper Clarkes (1:46)
9. "Jazz Is the Teacher, Funk Is the Preacher" – James Blood Ulmer (4:03)
10. "Close to Home" – Ian Dury (4:13)
11. "Greener Grass" – Gist (2:32)
12. "Parallel Lines" – Subway Sect (2:38)
13. "81 Minutes" – John Cooper Clarke (0:13)

And if you liked that, you'll like these:

25 Years of Rough Trade Shops
Rough Trade Shops - Indiepop Vol.1
Rough Trade Shops - Post Punk Vol.1
Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984
North By North West: Liverpool & Manchester from Punk to Post-Punk & Beyond
Do It Yourself: the Rise of the Independent Music Industry
John Peel - Right Time Wrong Speed
From Brussels With Love
Pillows and Prayers

and of course

Cd86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop

and this book...

Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture

well, Xmas is coming after all...