- Rip It Up · 1982
- You Can't Hide Your Love Forever · 1980
- Coals to Newcastle · 1980
- Coals to Newcastle · 1980
- Rip It Up · 1982
- Rip It Up · 1982
- You Can't Hide Your Love Forever · 1982
- Rip It Up · 1982
- Rip It Up · 1982
- Rip It Up · 1982
- The Orange Juice · 1984
- Rip It Up · 1982
- You Can't Hide Your Love Forever · 1982
Essential Albums
- The title song of Orange Juice’s 1982 album Rip It Up is the unquestionable focal point of the Scottish quartet’s short-lived career. Built around a bass line so full of nectar that it practically leaks onto the speakers, “Rip It Up” is as catchy and danceable as anything ever recorded by Chic. Yet it remains true to Orange Juice’s essence: gawky but suave, sweet but assured, Scottish but soulful. The addition of Zimbabwean drummer Zeke Manyika may have helped the group embrace club rhythms at a time when disco was considered outré, especially in punk circles. At 23 years old, Edwyn Collins was rapidly maturing as a lyricist. While his peers remained caged by themes of despair and alienation, he boldly addressed desire, fidelity, and sympathy. Into taut disco beats the band wove strands of folk rock, country music, and Southern American R&B. In its era, Orange Juice was utterly anomalous. But 20 years later, more young indie bands would be emulating the blend of styles on Rip It Up than the gloomy post-punk that overshadowed Orange Juice in its lifetime.
Artist Playlists
- Get up to speed on the underrated Scottish post-punk pioneers.
Singles & EPs
Compilations
About Orange Juice
Inserting frisky funk licks into homespun jangle-pop, Orange Juice almost immediately became a flagship band for the international pop underground in the 1980s and beyond. Formed in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden in 1979, the group debuted with “Falling and Laughing,” an excitable snapshot of vocalist/guitarist Edwyn Collins’ droll lyrics and suave singing. After signing to local label Postcard—cofunded by members of the band and later home to Aztec Camera and Josef K—Orange Juice cut a distinctly melodic path through early-’80s post-punk while also referencing classic soul songs along the way. Their disco-kissed 1983 single “Rip It Up” became a Top 10 UK single, but the band folded only two years later. Beyond their robust influence on Scottish acts like Franz Ferdinand, Orange Juice introduced the world to Collins, who scored a solo hit with 1995’s mod-tinged “A Girl Like You.”
- ORIGIN
- Glasgow, Scotland
- FORMED
- 1976
- GENRE
- Alternative