Courage is a three-track, 45RPM 12-inch Maxi single by the British alternative pop band Talking Drums, released on Sticky Music in 1982 (catalogue number GUM 005). (Remastered by George Horn and re-issued on vinyl by Dark Entries in 2018 featuring one bonus track, “Lost In The 20th Century”.) The EP was engineered by Ian McCredie at Black Gold Studios in Glasgow, Scotland; with Steve Butler producing. All tracks written by band members Dot and Charlie Irvine.
Talking Drums are Carol Moore on lead vocals and percussion, Dot Irvine on keyboards, backing vocals, and maracas, Charlie Irvine on lead guitar and backing vocals, Stewart McEwan on bass, and Derek Clark on drums. As well featuring “our old pal Malcolm ‘Hyper’ Duffin on congas.”
Rediscovered on Jazzanova’s “Computer Incarnations For World Peace” compilation in 2007, Talking Drums’ «Courage» is an amazing almost 8-minutes piece of dubby disco-punk-funk in the ESG/Talking Heads/Rip Rig n Panic/Pop Group/Slits vein, but where its contemporaries were often on a quite dry experimental percussion-driven dogma, this one’s way lusher and more sweetly, joyfully melodic, through the use of synths, FX and echoes galore, enwrapping a very catchy tune, which makes it still more dancefloor friendly and ahead of its time than most of its contemporaries some 25 years later. A must-have then (if you can find it), which found echoes in the years 2000′s through artists like LCD Soundsystem, Headman, the whole DFA and Gomma catalogues and more generally all the ‘tropical’ poppy revival.
PROMO
Dark Entries is honored to reissue the debut 12” single ‘Courage’ from Scottish band Talking Drums. Formed in Glasgow in 1981 when Charlie and Dot lived above a pub and discovered their downstairs neighbor, Carol, was a sensational singer. They quickly recruited Stewart on bass and Derek on drums and started gigging. Scotland in the early 80s had a live music scene where unsigned bands could gather a serious following and the band played every major city, helped by catchy, indie-pop tunes and Carol’s explosive performances. The recorded their debut album ‘Fighting To The Finish’ all in a week in March 1982 and released it on cassette. ‘Courage’ was their first vinyl outing in the independent, cottage-industry spirit of the times, originally released on Sticky Music in late 1982. The group added a horn section and congas extending the song to 8 sprawling minutes of dubby disco funk in the vein of ESG and William Onyeabor. The studio owner, Ian, had just bought a new piece of equipment called an Aphex Aural Exciter and put the whole mix through it – maybe one reason why “Courage” sounds strangely ahead of its time. For this first time vinyl reissue we’ve added bonus track “Lost in the 20th Century” from 1982, previously available only on their debut cassette album. All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each copy includes a double sided insert with ephemera, photos and liner notes by the band.
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/courage-ep/1435214382)
12-inch Vinyl Single tracklist:
Side A:
A1. “Courage”
Side B:
B1. “Parasuicide”
B2. “Descartes Lives”
2018 Bonus Track:
B3. “Lost In The 20th Century”
Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://talking-drums.bandcamp.com/album/courage