Aztec Camera

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Glasgow, United Kingdom (1981 – 1995)

Aztec Camera was a Scottish new wave band from Glasgow.

The line-up of the band changed several times over the years, but the constant member had been guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Roddy Frame. Founding members included Campbell Owens (bass) and Dave Mulholland (drums). Ex-Bluebells bassist Craig Gannon was a member from 1983 through 1985, before joining The Smiths. Guitarist Malcolm Ross (formerly of Josef K and Orange Juice) also joined in 1983, and appeared on the Knife album.

Though generally considered to be born out of the New Wave movement, Aztec Camera’s music is mostly acoustic oriented and might be better described as guitar pop. There is no doubt that the band took some musical and lyrical inspiration from Elvis Costello. Aztec Camera opened for Costello on a U.S. tour early in their career.

The band’s first UK 7” single was released by Glasgow-based indie label Postcard Records in January, 1981, and contained the songs “Just Like Gold” and “We Could Send Letters”. The latter song appeared on the influential C81 compilation cassette, released by NME in 1981.

Aztec Camera’s debut album, High Land, Hard Rain, was released in 1983. However, Owens and Mulholland left the group before the release, leaving Frame to complete the album alone. The album was quite successful, gathering significant critical acclaim for its well-crafted, multi-layered pop. The band went on to release a total of six albums, although most of these were essentially written and played by Frame. The albums included Knife (1984), Love (1987), Stray (1990), Dreamland (1993) and Frestonia (1995).

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Popular tags: new wave, 80s, scottish, pop, post-punk  See more

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1		Somewhere In My Heart			490
2		Oblivious			321
3		Walk Out To Winter			190
4		Good Morning Britain			126
5		Pillar To Post			118
6		The Boy Wonders			106
7		We Could Send Letters			104
8		The Bugle Sounds Again			84
9		Lost Outside the Tunnel			68
10		Release			61
10		Down the Dip			61
12		All I Need Is Everything			56
12		Back on Board			56
12		How Men Are			56
15		Still On Fire			51

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