Tour de Force were an all-women UK new wave act featuring Bernice Cartwright (bass), Deirdre Cartwright (vocals, guitar), and Val Lloyd (drums, vocals) and Carol Stocker (vocals).
"Beat The Clock" is the A-side of their third 45, which they self-released on Wongo records in 1981. It is an anti-nuclear track about escaping the doom of the Doomsday Clock.
I'll let Susy Taylor of "Spare Rib" zine take if from here in her 1982 review: "My favorite bit of this song is the intricate harmony on B....B....B....B....B....Beat the Clock, while all the instruments in the background are ticking away menacingly. Viv Corringham's harsh and unmelodic vocals compliment the sentiments of the song:
"Can we change
It's not within our control
Is it too late for us to turn back
And rearrange
But can we ever unfold
To block the minds
Who plot the tactics."
Their second single, "School Rules," is also dynamite stuff and can be found here on YT along with the B-side of this one and the first one.
4 окт 2024
