RECORD TURNOVER 80s HITS #127
The Four Plugs is the obscure solo project of one John Irvine from north-eastern England. Irvine also played in the group Idol Death and released a lone single as The Four Plugs in 1979, inspired by the likes of Throbbing Gristle.
Released on the one-off label Disposable Records, tt has since become a classic of the UK post-punk era, partly because it was played by John Peel and much later praised by Ugly Things. Last year, it got a long overdue reissue from American label In the Red, in collaboration with Henry Rollins’ reissue label 2.13.16.
After recording as Repetitive John, Irvine revisited the Four Plugs moniker last year with an EP release on Industrial Coast. One of the tracks recently appeared on the new compilation from Opal Tapes.
Last year Industrial Coast also issued a retrospective compilation called The Lost Tapes – 1979/80 that appeared on a run of 50 tapes. Long since sold out, the 11-track collection is sadly not available anywhere, but you can hear one of the tracks here.
