...And the Native Hipsters

One of the more bizarre "groups" birthed by the late-'70s/early-'80s British post-punk scene, And the Native Hipsters achieved notoriety in 1980 with the oddball single "There Goes Concorde Again," a living room recording that the group had pressed into 500 copies. Upon hand stamping each of the singles and assembling the sleeves from posters of soccer player Kevin Keegan, the group sent them to the infamous Rough Trade shop. DJ John Peel picked up the single and began playing it constantly on his influential BBC program, and the group had to press another 5,000 copies. Clocking in at just under seven minutes, the formless composition is more of a spoken word piece or whimsical experiment than a song, featuring Nanette "Blatt" Greenblatt's perfectly-devoid-of-skill vocals, a wobbly funhouse synth, the occasional guitar pling, and not much bass. Greenblatt and William Wilding were pretty much the nucleus of the group, which featured countless members during its existence. Those who came and left included Robert Cubitt, Tom Fawcett (Design for Living, Fraff), Lester Square (Monochrome Set), Annie Whitehead (a noted session trombonist), Ludwina van der Sman, Chris Cornetto, and Simon Davidson. Though the original lineup only played one gig together (opening for Bauhaus), Wilding and Greenblatt continued to perform together sporadically. A couple official releases followed the group's debut single, but none of them were able to garner its popularity. In 2001, interest in And the Native Hipsters was renewed from the inclusion of "There Goes Concorde Again" on the Rough Trade Shops: 25 Years box set. Wilding assembled a retrospective disc of the group's work, culling material that had and hadn't been released throughout the previous 20 years. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music...