JOHNNY CURIOUS & THE STRANGERS

A1. In Tune


A2. Road To Cheltenham


B1. Pissheadsville


B2. Jennifer


Illegal Records, IL009. 1978.

Johnny Curious & The Strangers were:
Bob Greene - Bass, Vocals
Alan Cowley - Lead Guitar, Vocals
John Phillips - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Ian Cowley - Drums

Formed in Welwyn Garden City in 1976 from the ashes of the hippy band Mask, this rather strangely named band was one of those cast of thousands destined to obscurity and the eternal gig circuit for one reason or another. It could have been so different if they had released their first single 'Back In Pissheadsville Again' on Raw Records. Lee Wood was interested after hearing the demo but it was not to be though he did end up releasing a couple of tracks from Welwyn's next punk band Acme Sewage Company.

Instead The Strangers ended up on Illegal re-recording and releasing the single a long time after the spark had gone. The original Pissheadsville is a stomping classic punk track that would hold its head on any punk compilation and other tracks on that initial demo suggest Television, Wire and The Now as similar melodic punk. You will have to make do with the Illegal Records version but its better than none. A second single Someone Else's Home was released in 78 on Bugle Records without Johnny but by then the band sounded completely different. They played all the usual venues - The Roxy, Vortex etc - and their name is at least immortalised on the back of the Farewell To The Roxy album as graffiti.

(description from www.punk77.co.uk)

BOYFRIENDS (US)

A. I Don't Want Nobody (I Want You)

B. You're The One

Bomp Records, BOMP 117. 1978.

A. Wrapped Up In A Dream

B. Same Old Song (The Four Tops)

Signal Records, BR01. 1981.

The Boyfriends were:

BOBBY DEE WAXMAN (GUITAR / VACALS)

PADDY LORENZO (GUITAR / VOCALS)

JAY NAP (FIRST BASS PLAYER)

GENE COOPER (SECOND BASS PLAYER)

LEE CRYSTAL (FIRST DRUMMER)

SAL CAPY (SECOND DRUMMER)

The Boyfriends were led by NYC powerpop pioneers Bobby Dee (ex-Poppees) and Paddy Williams: they put out a 45 on Bomp! in 1978, then got picked up by Malcolm McLaren... After Malcolm turned down some deals he probably shouldn't have (as did William Morris after that), the Boyfriends found themselves on their own. "Don't Want Nobody" was their irresistible (and stunningly noisy) debut on Bomp Records, who'd signed Bobby Dee's earlier band the Poppees, only to have them split into these Boyfriends and the Sorrows. They pressed up just 100 copies  of their second 45 in 1981, whence "Wrapped Up in a Dream" is a handsome exploration of Paul McCartney's Wings-ier tendencies (one of power-pop's dark little secrets).(description and pressing quantity from Teenline, not sure how accurate it is, and it sounds more Stones-y that Wings-y to me) 

Side note: The Boyfriends most powerful live song was probably "I Need Your Love" and although it was never released under the Boyfriends moniker you can hear the Ramones version on Subterranean Jungle.

Full Bio here:

http://poppeesboyfriends.com/

AMBUSH Tell Me B/w Pleasing Piece of Mind

(Ambush Records 1981)

TELL ME

PLEASING PIECE OF MIND

Thanks to Collin for this post!

Bloomington, Indiana based, mixed gender quartet - three fellas and one lady - who may be the same group mentioned in the ACID ARCHIVES as having a later LP. If so, I haven’t seen it. A self-issued release, recorded at Home Grown Studios in beautiful Bloomington, IN; beyond that, not much in the way of details. Luckily for us, the A-side more than speaks for itself. A lovely, fuzz-drenched, mid-tempo rocker reminiscent of Shoes or maybe even the Sponsors, TELL ME epitomizes nearly everything worthwhile about private-press pop/rock. The singer-songwritery flip is excellent as well, but perhaps falls a bit outside this blog’s purview. Too good to be so unknown. Who was Ambush???!

Rebel- Baby Baby Baby bw No Use Crying

BABY BABY BABY (don't listen to that guy)

NO USE CRYING

Third single from the Dutch band Rotjoch (who changed their name to Rebel).The single was released in 1982 on the VIP label and was re-issued the following year as Rebel (featuring Waldo) housed in a totally different picture sleeve. Neither song strays far stylistically from the 1981 " Bad Boy " LP though the production is slightly more upscale . The band continued to play as Rebel until 1985 and recorded demos for a second LP which never materialized.

members were:

Ronald Welgemoed- vocals, guitar

Pim Bilderbeek- lead guitar, vocals

Michiel Ten Veen- Bass

Rene Van Den Velden- Drums

STRIKE - RADIO SONGS bw TEENAGE REBEL

A. Radio Songs



B. Teenage Rebel



Totally incredible double A sided 45 by Strike from Belfast. This great 45 came out in 1980 on the cash in "Shock Rock" record label in an edition of 500 copies.

Band members were:
Mark Nixon - Vocals
Noel Rafferty - Rhythm Guitar
Paul Kenny - Lead Guitar
Laurence Sprott- Bass
Davy Johnston - Drums

I asked Paul Kenny to give me a little info on the bands history since so little is available online, this is Strike's story in Paul's words...(hit the 'read more' link to expand article)

Read more »

Richi Ray - I Believe In b/w She Says

(RAY-O, 1977)

I BELIEVE IN

SHE SAYS

Thanks to Collin for this post.

The career of Richi ray Harris - here simlpy credited as Richi Ray - began over ten years before this obscure, solo bow on the guitarist's own Ray-O imprint, Harris got his start playing guitar with legendary, lost San Francisco psych-garage band Freedom Highway and later played with an early 70's incarnation of Moby Grape. On his own here, Ray delivers two strong tracks which successfully marry the bubblegum pop of Jan & Dean to the harmony style of the Turtles and Beau Brummels; neither track exhibiting any influence of punk. One of the two songs, 'SHE SAYS" is the obvious stand out, recalling the late 60s Lou Christie if backed by the Byrds. An out-of- time pop gem - much like the single by Barry Knoedl - certain to delight fans of both Nerves and Neighb'rhood Childr'n alike. Ray later contributed a track to the local Rib label sampler, Hot Ribs, and is still playing today.

RPM'S- UNRELEASED LP TRACKS

DEXEDRINE DAYS

ANOTHER SUNDAY

LSD

GIMME SOME ACTION

EVERYONE'S ON DRUGS

IT'S ONLY TIME

I COULD BE HAPPY

LAST CHANCE

WE'RE SO ANGRY

ONLY A ROSE

One year after recording the single, the RPMs replaced drummer Rob Mccuen (who wrote the opening track of the LP)with James St. Patrick and headed into the studio to record a 10 track album that remains unreleased to this day. The band at the time of the recording consisted of

Denis Laing- Bass and Vocals

Brent Mireau- Guitar and Vocals

Jim Virgili- Lead Guitar

James St. Patrick- Drums and vocals

The songs on the record are totally on par with the single and as a whole this album is truly better than most Powerpop LP's of the time. COULDA' BEEN A HIT!!!