Music That Changed My Life

When John Peel died, I flew over to attend his funeral in Stowmarket. Of course, many musicians were there too. On the way to the official event, I bumped into Underworld's Karl Hyde, whom I had met several times for interviews. We shared an impressive afternoon and became friends over the years.

I mention Underworld as one of the 20 artists that changed my life because it all started with their music. Maybe not everyone knows, but Eton Crop had a brief techno career as EC Groove Society, where EC stood for Eton Crop. Underworld was a huge influence on us. They also had a ‘band’ background, so combining vocals and samples with synthesizers and computers in a new repetitive structure felt natural.

Dubnobasswithmyheadman is a house classic that still sounds modern all these years later.

>>> Play Dubnobasswithmyheadman 

Later on, I’ll return to the late seventies and early eighties, defining years for my musical taste. But first, I want to guide you through house and hiphop. It feels so special to have been around when punk, house, and hiphop started. The early days of new movements are magical—the people, the labels, the music—it’s a gathering of uniqueness! That changes when the masses come in.

Take those early warehouse days of house. The rest of the world didn’t have a clue, but a small incrowd of believers knew something special was happening. Just like when punk started, or when hiphop came along. Music that was new, that was different. Every record felt exciting.

One of my sources for house (and later techno, etc.) was John Peel, of course. I could have mentioned him in every part of this series. The legendary BBC DJ introduced me to all kinds of music and taught me to keep an open mind.

I remember a day in London when John Peel put on a show. On the bill was DJ Dave Clarke. Watching him changed my view of the art of DJing. He used three decks, mixing multiple tracks for short and long bits, constantly. He wasn’t just playing records; he was creating new music on the spot. Incredible.

Archive One is a brilliant record by Dave Clarke. Techno the way I like it: loud and funky.

When we loved a band, Corné would start picking up the phone to see if we could support them. That’s how we ended up playing all over the Netherlands and England with The Fall. One of my all-time favourites, there is no group I have more records of than The Fall.

I have one bad memory of a tour. We were supposed to open for The Fall in London, at The Lyceum I think, and had to drive from Leeds, where we had stayed the night at the student flat of Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Steven Wells, and others. Traffic was crazy. When we arrived at the venue, we heard the compère say: “Eton Crop unfortunately didn’t show up today.” Aaarrggghhh!

There’s a lot I can say about The Fall (I almost took care of Mark E. Smith’s cat for a few days!), but today I want to focus on my favourite phase of The Fall: the version with two drummers! I’ve never seen a better band live on stage: Karl Burns (drums), Paul Hanley (drums), Steve Hanley (bass), Craig Scanlon (guitar), Marc Riley (guitar), Mark E. Smith (vocals). 

Again, I could have chosen so many great albums from The Fall, but Hex Enduction Hour is my pick for now, because of The Fall with two drummers! “The Classical”! The rolling drums, the brilliant basslines, the great repetition, the duelling guitars, the catchy backing vocals, plus Mark E. Smith :-)!

Music is making friends—I’m still great friends with Marc Riley!

>>> Play Hex Enduction Hour

If I have to name one band that has had the biggest influence on my life, I don’t have to think long. That’s easy: it can only be The Mekons, for so many reasons.

• They were masters of their limitations in the early days. We tried to be that too :-) Now they’re good and proper musicians. Love that too of course.

• They taught us that punk could be sweet and tender too.

• They were original innovators, experimenting early on with instruments (synths, drum machines, violins, etc.) and genres (rock, folk, etc.). That had a huge influence on us.

• Jon Langford produced some of our albums and created a lot of our artwork. Great stuff.

• Tom Greenhalgh produced one too. I was singing and said, “That’s out of tune.” He disagreed: “That’s a different kind of tune.” Thanks to Tom, I know that ‘different kind of tune singers’ are my favorites. From Tom (!) to Barney (New Order) to Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays), etc.

• Susie Honeyman played violin on various Eton Crop records.

• Playing the festival Mekonville in England, with Susie for example, was one of the highlights of our career.

• The Mekons are friends for life.

I could pick many Mekons albums as favourites, but I chose the lesser-known second album Devil’s Rats & Piggies - A Special Message From Godzilla. That’s where they started experimenting with new genres, instruments, and musical formats. It’s the album that influenced me most in my life.

>>> Listen to Devil’s Rats & Piggies - A Special Message From Godzilla

I grew up in a Dutch village called Nieuwkoop. My lifelong Cropper-friend Corne Bos is from there as well. It’s where we started Eton Crop. Of course, many international artists inspired us, but in those early days, my biggest influence came from Ivy Green, a punk band from Hazerswoude. They were raw, they were original, and they sang about our lives with songs like ‘Stupid Village,’ ‘I’m Sure We’re Gonna Make It,’ and ‘Another Subculture Going Bad.’

Later on, we became friends and played together a lot. This album and this band are both really dear to me.

>>> Listen to their debut album from 1978