SHIVVERS LP !!!

AVAILABLE NOW AT SING SING RECORDS

BUSTER, 'She Ain't My Baby' b/w 'Certain Kind Of Feeling' (RCA, 1978)

BUSTER, 'She Ain't My Baby' b/w 'Certain Kind Of Feeling' (RCA, 1978)

Liverpool's teeny-bop, Asian-export-only answers to the BAY CITY ROLLERS found here in Nippon on their fifth and final single for RCA.

When presented with BUSTER's oeuvre, most punters seem to plump for the glitter-rock 'Beautiful Child' as the band's masterpiece, however, they would be grieviously mistaken.

Slick, unmistakable and undeniable teen power-pop froth, 'She Ain't My Baby' enters into the same high echelon as the best of THE QUESTIONS, APOSTROPHE or even THE RUBINOOS while 'Certain Kind Of Feeling' is the perfect slow-dance, BEACH BOYS ballad come-down you'd need after dry-rutting yourself into frustration on the record's A.

They'd never sound better, though I still think 'Sunday' is a pretty marvy tune as well.

'SHE AIN'T MY BABY'



'CERTAIN KIND OF FEELING'

THE WINDOWS, 'Don't Hang Up' b/w 'My Dear' (no label, 1982)

THE WINDOWS, 'Don't Hang Up' b/w 'My Dear' (no label, 1982)

In yet another case of ignore the A-side!

Ignore the A-side and - in addition - any name association one might make with said group and the tepid dollar-bin-clogging LP ('Runnin' Alone') they would later issue in 1987.

Ignore it all!

Just not the B-side.

THE WINDOWS were a carpetbagging powerpop group with membership collected from across the lower midwest and upper south.  Led by Chicago-native Larry Brewer, the group were based in that great bastion of scallywag Yankee-dom - Western Tennessee - and played throughout the South; being particularly popular in the capital of my home state of Mississippi.

Five years before they poodle-permed-up their hair, however, THE WINDOWS issued what they probably figured was just their initial public entree into the world of commercial rock/AOR pop-air-wave-rotation-pandering.

And it was!  And it is!

However, 'My Dear' also just happens to inadvertently sparkle with that rare early CHRIS STAMEY & THE db's and TOMMY KEENE guitar slash brilliance, sweetened with ROY WOOD vocal homages, that is so rare/fleeting within 80s powerpop.  ...which is all the more reason that it should be celebrated.

Never issued with sleeve and hardly distributed - THE WINDOWS 45 debut offers up a perfect 'What-If' speculative scenario.  Had THE WINDOWS had proper distribution, an entire generation might have been spared R.E.M.

In any event, enjoy THE WINDOWS.

'DON'T HANG UP'



'MY DEAR'

Protex on Last Call with Carson Daly

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

DAILY PLANET, 'Life' b/w 'Pay' (Riff Raf, 1980)

DAILY PLANET, 'LIFE' b/w 'PAY' (Riff Raf, 1980)

A cool uncomped breath of fresh air before hardcore idiocy-SLASH-Posh Boy mediocrity set in and made southern California safe for board shorts and Social Distortion tattoos forever.

Impossible to say and/or to recreate the exact climate of the times, but I find it highly doubtful that BOBBY SOXX or Gregg T. or Mike S. of the ANGRY SAMOANS would have found much with which to take issue (get it???) with the specific style und sound being mined by the DAILY PLANET. Recorded live on New Years' Eve at L.A.’s Club 88 (allegedly for some documentary called 'Transitions' which I'm not sure actually exists), both sides of thee D.P.’s lone single recall the Rickenbacker/high-energy spit-roast spirit of groups such as THE ROCKERS or maybe even THE NERVES if they had worn matching striped Telnyashka instead of three-piece loser suits.

Some of the band's membership originally hailed from Chicago and apparently soldiered on within the PLANET until at least ’82, at which point the writing was well and truly on the stall and it read in letters red-dripping-red:  DROP DEAD BABY.

Also, gotta love the mod-nod of the label name.  This, undoubtedly, was the DAILY PLANET's finest hour.

'Thank you and have a good Eighties.'

'LIFE'


'PAY'

THE UPTIGHTS, 'I'm Awake' b/w 'Promises (She Isn't In Love)' (Up, 1981)

THE UPTIGHTS, 'I'm Awake' b/w 'Promises (She Isn't In Love)' (Up, 1981)

I have no idea what lead singer CAROLYN ODELL is saying in the A-side's chorus.  Is it an entreatment to take the 'freeway?'  A seductive invitation to have a 'threeway?'  An exultation that she supports the Tulane University Green Wave?  In any event, it's OK, because the true action on the lone platter from these New Orleans power poppers is on the record's b-side.

'Promises, Promises' is not the familiar stupid show-tune.  In fact, it's moody, mod, femme-vox power pop in the mode of BONNIE HAYES, JOSIE COTTEN and/or - even at a stretch - THE SHIVVERS.

Back sleeve is total local - the band thanks a bunch of uptown radio stations and their guitar player, who also doubles as their photographer and de facto graphic designer.

A much better single than I'm probably making out and still available cheap.

...now if only they'd enunciate.  

'I'M AWAKE'


 'PROMISES (SHE ISN'T IN LOVE)'

THE DE-CODES EP (Generic Records, 1980)

THE DE-CODES EP (Generic Records, 1980)

Merry power pop X-mas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa!

Sweet wonderful reader:  you don’t know how lucky you are that Trey or Jeremy have not already posted up a link to the video for Pointed Sticks’ ‘Powerpop Santa.

Shameful.

In any event, enjoy an unacclaimed bunch of mod anonnos out of central Pennsylvania named THE DE-CODES, produced by  none other than CRAIG BEVAN and similar - in sonic verisimilitude - to THE RETROS of St. Louis.

Actually, between these guys, CRAIG and THE HORNETS, there’s evidence that there might have actually been a nascent power pop new wave scene a-brewing up there in Penn’s Woods.

But, really, does anyone other than Erik Lindgren actually care?

Enjoy then the then sounds of THE DE-CODES and have a Happy New Year!

‘JUST LUST’

‘TURN AROUND’

‘NO REPLY’

‘PHYSICAL WRECK’

 

PHIL CORDELL, 'Roadie For The Band' b/w 'Twistin' And Jivin'' (Mowest, 1973)

PHIL CORDELL, 'Roadie For The Band' b/w 'Twistin' And Jivin'' (Mowest, 1973)

To me, this sums up the aesthetic interregnum experienced by many Brit Invasion boomers better than almost anything this side of THE LIVERPOOL ECHO.  The die-hard faithful - pious unflagging to the initial three-minute POP spark.

More familiar to some as the name behind the 'Red Lady' 45 comped on the first FADING YELLOW installment and, to likely far fewer, as a latter day saint in the UK Christian rock scene, PHIL CORDELL turned in this humble, yet emphatic/ecstatic power pop ode to chart rock's lowest rung in the year when ROCK was perhaps experiencing its greatest glam rock bloat.  Whether it was intended as autobiography or just pithy song-crafting, the A-side of this single is pure Mersey revival brilliance with the OOMPH and technical savvy of the top flight studios where it was recorded showing through.

The B-side is, sadly, not that great.

Still, the guitarwork, melody and production on the A will not be denied and proved more than enough to convince Motown to cover the bill.  Hopefully payment included burn treatment for the searing lead guitar outro.

Enjoy then PHIL CORDELL - may he rest in peace and no longer have to lug around amps in Rock 'N' Roll Heaven.

'ROADIE FOR THE BAND'

SING SING EXCLUSIVE: The Romantics - Little Red Or White Lies?

THE ROMANTICS, 'LITTLE WHITE LIES' (Spider, 1977)  AR SPDR 101A - RED WEB

v.

THE ROMANTICS, 'LITTLE WHITE LIES' (Spider, 1977)  101-A - WHITE WEB

A tale of two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT recording sessions.

...which, to this point, no one has cared about because:

1 - It's THE ROMANTICS

AND

2 - The record - in all its incarnations - has always been common and affordable

However, inspired by PATRICK LUNDBORG's recent research and championing of the original, non-hit version of THE STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK's 'Incense & Peppermints' on All American Records v. the more familiar and staid hit arrangement on UNI, I figured it was high time to definitively diagnose this depressingingly uncharted discrepancy hitherto only whispered about in the language of wind and ghosts.

First hinted at briefly in a short review of THE ROMANTICS' follow-up single on BOMP! in issue 29 of BLITZ (formerly BALLROOM BLITZ) magazine out of Detroit, Michigan, Nov. '78, which reads:

'In the face of accusations of "sell out" and "commercialism" from many of their fans who were disappointed with their re-recording of their classic "Little White Lies" last year, Hamtramck's Romantics bounce back with a masterpiece that easily qualifies as one of the year's best.'

...an incorrect assessment; nevertheless, I became intrigued.

Not least because I found any allegations of insincerity aimed at the future Budweiser/T.G.I. Friday's commercial kings of poodle-perm, leather-suit, schlock-rock laughable, but also because I've always wanted to see what all the early taste-makers ever saw in THE ROMANTICS anyway. 

Cue Young Steve and the Japanese.

Tentatively mentioned on the PoP "n" RoLL blog (home of THE CHOOSERS among many others), Atsushi and Co. pondered:

'This can certainly be called a pop 'n' roll classic. But did you know that there is a different version of the a-side 'Little White Lies?'

As far as appearance goes the difference is the color of the spider web. The regular version is white  and the special version is RED. The matrix number for the white version is 101-A and for the RED version it's AR SPDR 101A.

As far as the difference in sound, the intro is cut on the special RED version. It starts suddenly from the vocal. The tempo is faster than the usual version, and more than anything, it's a raw, rough performance that is very exciting to listen to.'   *

Which says just about as much as I need to.  As ridiculous as it may sound (and they look), maybe THE ROMANTICS' debut album cover was meant to be a red-leather post-it note pointing back to this earlier recording.

As irreconcilable to their later, major label facelessness as 20/20's early sides and demos on BOMP!, the original version of 'Little White Lies' is as jumping with vitality, energy and an argument for POP! as anything by THE NERVES, SHOES, or DWIGHT TWILLEY.

Too bad the b-side recording on both pressing - featuring some HORRENDOUS Dad-Rock, Blueshammer harmonica - didn't benefit from any second thoughts or re-record re-considerations

Enjoy then, the ORIGINAL, non-hit, RED web version of 'Little White Lies' and the later, tamer, more new-wave ready rendition and decide for yourself which is superior.

SING SING NEWS - YOU HEAR IT...

FIRST!

'LITTLE WHITE LIES' - RED VERSION  (ORIGINAL)

 

'LITTLE WHITE LIES' - WHITE VERSION (RE-RECORDING)

  

*  PoP "n" RoLL blog translation work courtesy of every one's favorite MMA documentarian, Young Steve 'Don't Call Me Mark' Borchardt

BEAT FEET, ''No Ties' b/w 'Aundrea' (FUN'Y Records, 1983)

BEAT FEET, 'No Ties' b/w 'Aundrea' (FUN'Y Records, 1983)

'Discovered' (maybe?) by a Tucson garage turkey recently celebrating his 3Xth birthday and - less recently - allowing me free access to booze and to abuse at his nuptials, this, the lone 45 by BEAT FEET is in - actuality - pretty standard striped-shirt/head-band/heybra new-wave/power pop fare.

...if'n you do not take into account the stirring color string bikini cover art and ragged BEACH BOYS harmony remnants and STEVE JONES rip-off riffs on the A-side chorus.

However, even if you do decide to take stock of neither of those elements, the amateurism displayed by the LEAD drummer on each side is endearingly dumb.

Enjoy then these indiscriminate and un-claimable misogynists - the world is renewed by their passing.  Where they're from I haven't the first idea.

This bud's for you T Dawg!

'NO TIES'

 'AUNDREA'

Sing Sing on WFMU 91.1 FM

Sing Sing Records DJ Night! 
Wednesday, October 2nd, 9pm - Midnight
on The Evan "Funk" Davies Show 

The Sing Sing Records label has been putting out a steady stream of amazing reissues ever since Trey Lindsay and Jeremy Thompson launched it in 2009. Their focus has been mostly on punk and power-pop from the '70s, with the occasional glam nugget mixed in, so you can expect to hear a similar selection of rocking rarities and killer cuts when Trey and Jeremy take over the Evan "Funk" Davies show at 9pm on Wednesday night, Oct. 2. You'll want to dust off your cassette recorder for this one -- don't miss it! 

LISTEN LIVE AT WFMU.ORG

R.U. Carley, 'Boys In L.A.' (private label, 1984)

R.U. CARLEY, 'Boys In L.A.' b/w 'One More Time' (private label, 1984)

I am willing to bet, dollars to donuts, when Ms. R.U. CARLEY and CO. sang the chorus to this sunny-A-side-up piece of fluff boulevard power pop that she had - much more - the city (El Eh) in mind than she did the state (the great Huey P. Long Child Of The Mississippi - LA - Louisiana).

...which is unfortunate, as it's taken this boy in LA (the state) to rediscover this 30 year old municipal gnu wave footnote, long after the GQ boys in corvettes on Sunset had ceased caring.  However, perhaps this was merely a realization of radio rock realpolitik, as one can not cruise very far in the Pelican state bayou.

That said, what is known about R.U. CARLEY is that this is her group's only record, the A-side of which was included on a neuvo Girl Group compilation put out by Rhino ('The Girls Can't Help It') the same year their self-issued single came out and that the B-side is terrible.

That's it.   

THE SHIVVERS it is not!

As phoney as PEARL HARBOR & THE EXPLOSIONS, as slick as the post-Stiff GO-GO'S, yet only one VALLEY GIRL party scene away from immortality.  And, in all actuality, a pretty catchy tune.

Enjoy then R.U. CARLEY and thank me for keeping the B-side all to myself.

'BOYS IN L.A.'


 'ONE MORE TIME'

THE PILLS, 'THE PILLS EP' (VileTone, 1980)

THE PILLS, 'Mini-LP' (VileTone, 1980)

I like PILLS.

MAAAAAAAAN

And, by that statement, I, of course, mean THE PILLS - STR8 OUTTA Phoenix, Tucson* Arizona.

The Copper State's finest circa 1980 and, even by that time well past their prescription expiration date.

Forget skins, brains and guts, this is HAIR, FLARES and (cigarette) BUTTS.  These five PILLS guys are preening proud and looking menthol soft-pack loud.  Also, they have a skilled trade in melodic/if derivative power-pop sounds.

Listen:  90% of all bands taking their style cues from THE NEW YORK DOLLS suck.  And while I don't have PILLS particularly pegged as heroin addict transvestites, the unfortunate scronching BO DIDDLEY cover and their name immediately give it away.

That said, they're still at least a million times better than THE MEAT PUPPETS.

Seriously, if you can listen to 'In A Car' after ingesting this dose, you have massive problems that modern medicine may not be able to fix.

Enjoy then the lone EP Mini-LP by THE PILLS on your ride to the emergency room!

Or choke on a bottle cap!

It's up to you!

*  correct origin of the PILLS confirmed with their biggest fan, Tony "AA"
'DC-10'

'PILLS'

'HOLLYWOOD DOLL'
 
'LEAVIN' TOWN'
 

CLUB WOW, 'Prettiest Girl' b/w 'The Nights Are So Long' (Criswell, 1982)

CLUB WOW, 'Prettiest Girl' b/w 'The Nights Are So Long' (Criswell, 1982)

I'm calling shenanigans.

Not just only on WILLIAM JAMES WILDEN (aka JIMMY ZERO), but also upon anyone who could possibly prefer THE DEAD BOYS to this record.

Look here:  these are facts.  Not opinions:  FACTS; i.e. ideological positions with corroborating evidence to support them.

EXHIBIT A:  THE DEAD BOYS are one of the worst bands to ever be allowed to produce two albums of major label, sub-ALICE COOPER-excretable, sheet-metal, shit metal 'ye-uh!' rock bullshit ever.

Ever! 

PERIOD.

If you - the reader of this blog - find anything - ANYTHING - within this band's half-hearted, half-baked, half-dimensional aesthetic compelling, I personally pity you (condescendingly, not compassionately) and hope you have a great time at the SONNY VINCENT gig later tonight.

All that said, ole JZ managed to throw off the dog-collar, dum-dum leather-jacket yoke of his previous stupid band's stupid incarnation just long enough in 1982 to hook up with former starry-eyed BLUE ASH  bass-player FRANK SECICH to produce one of the best obscuro power pop singles of all time!  No foolin'!

Seriously, how could this miss?  A cover of THE NEIGHBORHOODS' best song, a killer power pop original on the B.  Label art designed intentionally to mimic and make fun of BOMP! RECORDS.  Oh yeah, and bragging rights - you read it right - mine is GREG SHAW's copy!

You can't lose (but I'm afraid you also must deal)!

Finally, for all of you master-Bators out there reading this, (possibly) seething:  Stiv and Co recorded a crap reunion re-do of THE NIGHTS ARE SO LONG in 1987 so stick that in your pipe and smoke it before you start quoting BOBBY SOXX lyrics at me!

'This is actually good music/You're a knave!'

'PRETTIEST GIRL'


'THE NIGHTS ARE SO LONG'

Five Dollar Shoes // Your Rock 'N Roll Band b/w Your Rock 'N Roll Band // Neighborhood Records 1973

(from the Kiss FAQ site)
  Produced by Peter Schekeryk; Engineered by Eddie Kramer & amp; Bruce Staple. Recorded at the Electric Lady Studios, NYC. It's alleged to feature Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on backing vocals. Five dollar Shoes was: Gregg Diamond (drums, percussion, vocals), Tom Graves (keyboards, vocals), Jim Gregory (bass, vocals), Mike Millius (harmonica, vocals), and Scott Woody (guitar, vocals)

 This ( in my opinion ) is the record to get by this group. Really great track and can still be found for cheap.

YOUR ROCK 'N ROLL BAND

SONWBALL // SNOWBALL // 1977 GUINNESS RECORDS

Snowball was a group from Brooklyn NY active in the late 1960's and early 70's consisting of Joey Carbone and Richie Zito. The record is actually a collection of demos sent to the tax scam Guinness label by their producer and released several years later without the bands knowledge.  Really solid record and one of the more consistent Guinness releases.


SIDE1

SIDE2

COPENHAGEN, 'Don't Sail Too Near The Wind' b/w 'Tonight' (Copenhagen, 1977)

COPENHAGEN, 'Don't Sail Too Near The Wind' b/w 'Tonight' (Copenhagen, 1977)

Copenhagen.

A flavourful brand of chewing tobacco.  Also, the capitol of Denmark and the Hamlet kingdom's most populous city. 

Additionally, Mark DeCerbo’s pre-FOUR EYES aggregation with one lone sleeveless self-issued 45 to their credit.

And, while it might not rank up as high in the firmament as ‘Disengaged,’ both sides show DeCerbo’s slavish 60s revival style already well ensconced a full two years prior to the prescription lens being donned and before The Knack was anything other than the title of an old movie starring Rita Tushingham.

But you don’t have to take my word for it; here’s Four Eyes’ Mark:

Even a cursory look would show us that Four Eyes themselves got their start in San Diego circa 1976 as a country boogie band, eventually mutating into a power-pop group called Copenhagen. The quintet lasted just over two years, during which time the group shared a two room flat at the Catamaran Hotel, while nominally the house band at Webb's in Ocean Beach. Copenhagen became the backing band for both blues guitarist Tomcat Courtney and art rocker Gary Wilson, even joining him on a short promo tour for his legendary "You Think You Really Know Me" album.

The line up changed often in their short life span, but by the time their incredibly rare 45 "Tonight/Don't Sail Too Near The Wind" was issued, Copenhagen consisted of DeCerbo (guitar, vocals), Jeff Becker (guitar), "Mighty" Joe Longa (harmonica and keyboards, later with the Jacks and Powerthud), Barry Scott (guitar and vocals, Chris Creasman (bass, vocals) and Steve Bidrowski (drums, later of the Unknowns)- the single by the way is as melodic a piece of jangly pop rock as you're likely to find. Also of note they opened for Cajun legend Doug Kershaw at the La Mesa Lanes Bowling alley, and promptly had their keyboard player nicked by Kershaw.

Power pop with a City Rock chaser.  I rate it as a raer treat.

'DON'T SAIL TOO NEAR THE WIND'

'TONIGHT'