From Belgian Friends

The Names - The Astronaut

I upped a low-fi rip of this a few years back, and after listening to it again the other day, I reckon it deserves a high resolution rip for all you cold waving audiophiles out there.
The names last single was the Martin Hannett produced The Astronaut. A little less gloomy than Nightshift, this three-track owes a lot to Faith-era Cure, but Hannett but run his magic fingers over the recording, and the licks of subtle acoustic guitar through the chorus are magical.
Collectively, the music of The Names remains mostly anonymous in the post-punk era, save for the obvious and limited Factory connection, however some of their individual songs are very important and deserve more attention.

Ripped from a 12" single released on Les Disques du Crepescule (TWI 111) to high resolution 24-bit FLAC audio.
A1. The Astronaut
B1. Shining Hours
B2. Revenge

The Names - Spectators Of Life

I've featured The Names best known Factory single elsewhere, but here is their rare debut from 1980. Originally released in Belgium as a 7" only, this was a parallel release on Celluloid on 12" throughout Europe.

It's a great song, showing the band with their original new wave sound before they regressed to post-punk.

Spectators Of Life : ripped from a 12" single released on Celluloid Records in 1980
A1. Spectators Of Life
B1. White Life
B2. The Drive

Link Removed

The Names - Nightshift

These days Nightshift is regarded as a Factory classic, though back in 1981, when it was first released, it was widely ignored.

The flipside I Wish I Could Speak Your Language is by far the stronger track with it's superb Martin Hannett production.

The Names have reformed and are due to play Brussels in December supporting A Certain Ratio, Section 25 and The Wake. Should be quite a night!

Nightshift : ripped from a 7" single released on Factory Records in 1981
A. Nightshift
B. I Wish I Could Speak Your Language

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