Tuesday 5 August 2014

Department S - Is Vic There?

The classic debut from Department S, released in 1980 on Demon Records (and later picked up by RCA in 1981) "Is Vic There?" got to #22 in the national chart. Even though they released some other excellent tracks their new record label Stiff gave up on them, and this disappeared.

I always loved this song, and liked a lot of their other material as well, its a shame that they never got the support and recognition that they deserved. The b-side of this is a cover version of T.Rex's "Solid Gold Easy Action" which as the original was such a brilliant track in the first place , it was a mistake to cover. There is a nice touch at the end where it merges into the Stones "(I Can't get No) Satisfaction"

Nice little etching on the a-side "Is Porky There?"

Band: Department S
Label: Demon Records
Year: 1980
Tracks:
1. Is Vic There?
2. Solid Gold Easy Action

Ripped from glorious scratched vinyl:


If you like this then your in luck as both tracks and much more are available on their debut album which although produced in 1981 was not released until a few years ago:

Sub-Stance
Sub-Stance

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I remember a really good article Vaughan Toulouse (RIP) wrote for an early edition of The Face about following The Clash around on the 16 Tons tour.