The Hippy Posed Engrossment

                                                         Steve Treatment pictured with Marc Bolan in 1976

A Marc Bolan & T.Rex obsessive who became fascinated by the DIY ethic of punk rock, Steve Treatment's early musical interests ran in parallel to my own. Steve's friends in the mid-seventies included post-punk noisemakers The Swell Maps, who played on his debut '5 Sided A Side' EP in 1978, albeit hidden behind the outrageous pseudonyms of Matilda Tank, Amphibious Landing Craft, Edrun Kübelwagen and RJ Half-Track. Two further Steve Treatment singles followed in 1979, each in a glorious home-made, photocopied sleeve crammed with photo montages, typewritten info and handwritten in-jokes. I bought all three of those singles at the time and I treasure them still. If I'd have had even one ounce of musical ability in 1978/9, I'm certain that I would've made a similarly glam infused, naive punk racket as Steve.

Steve Treatment died of pneumonia in 2015, at the tragically young age of 57.

Steve Treatment - The Hippy Posed Engrossment

Steve Treatment - Heaven Knows

Nikki Sudden and Swell Maps

Nikki Sudden, of D.I.Y. post-punk pioneers Swell Maps, died, as the result of a heart attack, seven years ago today, soon after concluding a performance at The Knitting Factory in New York. His prolific career continued long after the band split in 1980 and he went on to release over 30 albums, including collaborations with members of Waterboys, Wilco and REM.

I initially selected a couple of songs from his later work, but found neither of them available to stream, so have gone back to The Maps by way of a tribute. Neu! meets Buzzcocks on Sudden's pulsating 'Blam!!', from the 1979 debut LP 'A Trip to Marineville', while the brilliant and eccentric 'Steven Does', from a bonus EP issued with the same album and vocalised by fellow Map Phones Sportsman, is quite simply one of my favourite songs of the period. Listen out for Nikki's unique acoustic guitar solo.