Transmission, feat. Andy Rourke at First Avenue (21 Mar 2015)

About Transmission DJ Jake Rudh hosts the long-running weekly Minneapolis-based post-punk, new wave and indie dance night Transmission every Wednesday night at Club Jäger, and every Thursday night at 10pm on 89.3 The Current. Read More DJ Jake Rudh Between bands, DJ Jake Rudh played a selection of 70s and 80s ska music videos (Madness, Specials, etc), and opening up the show was … The Smiths Smiths' bassist Andy Rourke will be heading to Minneapolis next Saturday as a special guest to Minneapolis dance club Transmission's 14th Anniversary. …

We don't normally cover dance clubs, but there were two key things about the Transmission show last Saturday (March 21st), that I felt were important enough for us to pay attention. First, this is indie dance club was celebrating its 14 Year Anniversary, and, second, guest DJ, Andy Rourke is the bassist of one of my favorite 80s band, The Smiths.

Just to give you a little background, I used to live in California, and semi-regularly attended two Britpop dance clubs: Popscene in San Francisco and Café Bleu in Los Angeles. Unlike going to concerts or seeing a movie, going to a dance club was more of a talking and being social and dancing with our friends... plus it was really fun to hear some of our favorite songs being played over the speakers.

Dancers

Turnout to this Saturday event was very, very good, with the main dance floor generally full, as you can see from the photos. Everyone we ran into were generally smiling, drinking, being social, and having a good time.

If you have attended any Transmission shows (or seen a UK band live), chances are, you will already be familiar with DJ Jake Rudh's music tastes, but he will play to the crowd. For the Transmission audience, the majority of music were of that alternative 80s/90s era, like Talking Heads, The Cure, Run DMC, New Order, Billy Idol, Beastie Boys, Beck, and, of course, The Smiths. However, once in a while, he'll throw in a curve ball, like Franz Ferdinand, MGMT, or MIA.

The special DJ guest of honor, Andy Rourke took over spinning at midnight. The introduction was a video of Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr introducing Rourke, taken from their appearance together in Brooklyn, New York, last May 3, 2013. With that quick intro, Rourke blasted The Clash's "London Calling"... indicating what's to come on his playlist.

Unlike Rudh's music video set, Rourke's setup did not feature any music videos. Instead, some generic driving footage (and later some early 80s film/documentary) were shown on the projection screen.

The majority of Rourke's playlist is what you would expect at a Transmission show, which is to say mostly British music (The Rolling Stones, Stereo MCs, The Beatles, Blondie, Echo and the Bunnymen), but occasional throwing in some American stuff, such as The Breeders, The Dandy Warhols. The oddest Rourke song choice was probably First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)", featuring a young Kenny Rogers on vocals. I really love 'Condition', even wrote an extensive Cover Lover article, where you can hear Supergrass' version.

Jake Rudh and Andy Rourke

I also got the biggest kick out of hearing the New York Mix of The Smiths' "This Charming Man", because in that song, it's all about the bass. I would say that Rourke may be biased, being the bassist and all, if it wasn't for the fact that it is actually a good mix/remix. According to Jo Slee, from her Peepholism book, the New York mix was quickly pulled out of circulation in 1984, because Morrissey loathed it. I actually didn't get a hold of the song until it was later reissued by WEA in the guise of This Charming Man Japanese EP. Even in 1992, it was still a relatively rare song.

Other oddities included Primal Scream and Kate Moss' cover of "Some Velvet Morning", a remix of Mark Ronson's Smiths cover "Stop Me", and an old T.Rex song, "Telegram Sam".

I grew up in the 80s and 90s, so many of these songs are familiar to me. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, bring your old friends to Club Jäger this Wednesday night.

Andy Rourke is currently on his DJ Tour, heading over to The Wayfarer in Costa Mesa, on March 26th, and to the Bunkhouse in Las Vegas on March 27th.

Transmission at First Avenue, Minneapolis (21 Mar 2015)

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