In conversation recently, NIGHTMARES ON WAX mainman George Evelyn confided that "70s/80s" was conceived purely accidentally when reminiscing of childhood time with LSK (aka Leigh Kenny), who wrote the sharply affectionate lyrics to "70s/ 80s" as a result and turns in a beautiful MC-ing job to boot.
Well, happy accident or no, with "70s/ 80s" Nightmares On Wax have delievered a single that will strike more than a few chords with people of a certain age (roughly 35 -40), and its' spot-on Two-Tone influenced sleeve perfectly captures that late 70s/ early 80s musical/ social interface.
The thing is, received wisdom these days dismisses the 1980s as bobbins musically, but as "70s/ 80s" so vividly reminds us, the post-punk days leading to, ooh, 1982 or so were actually really exciting for different genres. Let's face it, those of us who remember such times enjoyed a real swell of pride when The Jam topped the charts, and Two-Tone ruled the roost and TOTP featured Madness, The Specials and The Beat seemingly every week.
And "70s/ 80s" catches this vibe to a T, as LSK so memorably puts it: "She was gettin' into Adam Ant and Wuthering Heights/ I waz gettin' into Madness and grifter bikes." Before he's finished, he also brings in Toast Toppas, home computers, 'Jim'll Fix It' and "the letter A sprayed in a circle everywhere." Set against a background of riots on TV, the National Front and "a wicked witch waz in power", this is pretty much a wickedly accurate portrayal of the early Thatcher days in anyone's street.
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And the genius thing is that musically it's both utterly contemporary and catchier than a warehouse full of meathooks into the bargain. Hinging on a mellifluously sweet guitar motif, it's guaranteed to get even the three left-feeters up, frugging and wondering why they hadn't discovered the mighty NOW previously.
For once, the two remixes are more than worthwhile, too. The 'Up Bringing Mix' brings on Roots Manuva, Rodney P and Tozz 180 and ups the Mc-ing and rhyme factor to further great effect ("who'd ha' thought there'd be an end to the recession?") with references to Red Stripe, choppers and (wa-hey!) The Sweeney. If anything, though, the RJD2 mix goes one better, reshaping the template with spacier beats and a classic disco feel. Really. I say that most unashamedly.
Nightmares on Wax have been a sizeable cult commodity for some years (as anyone who owns the evergreen "Smoker's Delight" album can testfiy), but "70s/ 80s" is so catchy, approachable and downright memorable that it's hard to imagine it being anything other than a massive hit, even in these apathetic times. However inadvertently, George Evelyn and co have created a real anthem for a generation.
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