Book Description
In 1984 author Charles Neal set about interviewing the major protagonists working in sound, word and image. Concentrating on the most challenging and confrontational, he deliberately chose those individuals and groups most at odds with the mainstream. His aim to produce a collection that reflected the cutting edge of the Eighties underground.
With only his tape recorder as defence, he solicited hundreds of hours of interview material, as well as photos, original writing and illustrations. His findings were as intriguing and diverse as the artists included. Often encompassing the taboo and perverse, the opinions of Nick Cave, Genesis P.Orridge and Michael Gira now read like lone voices against the tide of creeping commerciality that abounded in the Eighties music scene.
Those such as Coil, Einsturzende Neubauten and Lydia Lunch are still gnawing away at the boundaries of respectability, while New Order, Sonic Youth and Henry Rollins have become internationally renowned. Clearly, the confrontational legacy of the artists included within Tape Delay’s myriad pages is still visible in today’s musical world, whether it be in the industrial rhythms of Nine Inch Nails or the ambient undercurrents of Orbital or Underworld. Years later, this invaluable collection still makes for fascinating reading both as historical document and as signpost to future actions.
