Throwing Muses: Untitled (1986 LP)

Format: LP
Label: 4AD
Country: UK
Year: 1986
Price paid: $6
Place purchased: Books and Melodies, Syracuse NY

Seminal album. Not only a very advanced sound for 1986, but the first American band signed to 4AD. I blame (in part) this album, the 'Lonely is an Eyesore' compilation, and the Pixies for shaping music in a way that would facilitate the codification of the 90's Indie scene... for better or worse... and thus indirectly the development of grunge and the general anti-pop aesthetic. Fuck you grunge. Damn' hippies.

The cover art is 'typical' 4AD design. That is, cutting edge and frickin' awesome. The label's graphics can be cryptic at times though I must admit- I had to look online just to find out the album's release date and nationality, as this info is nowhere to be found on the sleeve or label. Here's a short article that discusses (in part) 4AD's art style. Never did like that 'hairy back' Pixies cover though:

Facing The Other Way: Ivo Watts-Russell & Vaughan Oliver On 4AD Records

The band state that this album has no title. It's known popularly as 'Throwing Muses'... but that name was given to another of their albums in 2003.

This LP never saw a US release on vinyl, thus the higher values seen today. Average values seem to be in the $25-35 range. I thank the confusing 4AD cover art and lack of a title for enabling me to pick this one up so cheap, as this undoubtedly made it difficult for the store owner to easily research value. He probably said "Fuck it, six bucks." That's my theory anyway.

Primitives: Really Stupid EP

Format: 12" EP
Label: Lazy/Rough Trade
Country: UK
Year: 1986
Price paid: $3
Place Purchased: Jack Wolak's Rare Necessities

The non-stop party that was New Wave with its catchy beats and plastic sounds, collapsed suddenly in 1985. All at once everything seemed fake and trite, the general public woke up as from some hairspray induced haze. Woke up hungry for good, honest, average Joe-with-a-guitar type music.

Fair enough. But this left the 'spirit' of new wave (lower case) in a limbo state. What were those still interested in synthesizers and the conceptual supposed to do in a world suddenly enamored with hip-hop and unplugged Indie? The Brits had an answer...

If I had to pick one time and one place as my favorite from music history it would have to be 1986-1989 in the UK. It was truly a golden age of Britpop. Melody Maker deemed 1988 and 1989 as 'The Summers of Love' due to the heavy influence of 60's psychedelia. Wild colours and loopy pop chords lived on. This 'second wave' burned bright but briefly; by the dawning of the new decade the summers had faded into the Autumns of Grunge.

The Primitives, for me anyway, are one of the brightest stars of those heady days. Fuzzy, jangly, and sweet, with a sharp bitter cool metallic interior. I saw them live in '89 and I was blown away by their detached, fizzing wall of sound. It physically filled the room... even though the lead singer (Tracey Tracey) was too shy to even look up from the floor.

The album art is fantastic, as was most of the design of music ephemera during the last mainstream days of vinyl. Record companies went all out to catch the attention of the music-buying public, trying every trick in the book to grab one last dollar from the pro-CD mainstream before it was too late. The result was a wild, flowering gasp of creativity. A riot of text and jittery/jumbled imagery. I think that comes across with this example- the art is both calm and aggressive at the same time. So abstract in tone that you'd practically need to be part of 'the club' to decipher it's hidden messages; don't buy this unless you know what you're doing. To buy this vinyl wasn't a casual purchase, you had to mean it man! You were buying art, buying a twelve-by-twelve inch experience.

There was a time when twelve inches from this period were as hot as shit. A (very nice) friend of mine picked up a few early Primitives singles for me (including this one) when he went to the UK back in '88. He paid close to 30 pounds (or roughly $45) EACH for them at that time. Thankfully they were a gift! Values have dropped, as they always do with hot commodities, but if you're collecting to invest then my money would be on 7 and 12 inch singles from this period. They're currently undervalued, produced in relatively low numbers, and early examples are becoming increasingly scarce.

A picture of Morrissey wearing a Primitives t-shirt for your pleasure

Lene Lovich: 1980 Global Assault

Format: 10" 
Label: Stiff/Epic 
Country: US 
Year: 1980 
Price paid: $10
Location purchased: Exchange, Kent Ohio

Lene Lovich is one of my 'top ten' New Wave artists. The poster child for Stiff Records who cultivated a dark, mysterious, and for the most part bogus slavic proto-goth image.

This ten-inch is a bit of a mystery to me. I don't use the word 'rare' lightly, but IMO this piece of vinyl certainly fits the bill. I'd never heard of it, even after a quarter century of collecting. Granted I've never sat down and pulled out a comprehensive Lene Lovich discography looking for holes in my collection. Information online is scant. Every copy I can confirm (three total) is marked 'Demonstration Not For Sale' with gold embossed 'promotion' and 'plug' markings on the back. Mine has the same markings. Did this ever see a legitimate release, or was it truly a promo-only item?

Either way this was obviously an attempt by Stiff to push their flagship artist onto the American public. A 'global assault' if you will. I think it goes without saying that this disc failed to inspire 'Lene craze' in the Yanks. She made nary a blip on the US charts during her entire career. God bless her!

When I first saw this one on the wall at a record store in Ohio it didn't register. The generic white sleeve was off-putting. After being initially drawn to the 'Stiff' label I was repelled by the 'Epic' on there as well, as that means it was intended for the US market and not a 'pure' British product. (joke)

The sticker makes all the difference though.

Design-wise there's not too much to talk about. Generic white sleeve with a sticker on it. I will say though that the sticker itself is well designed- minimal in a Russian Constructionist sorta way that manages to convey Stiff's style, the 80s aesthetic, and Lene's sham Slavic roots all in just a few lines and one color. The sticker placement isn't as haphazard as it looks either; every example I can find has the exact same sticker placement with the 'mock chance' tilt to it.

Tracklist:

Side A-  Monkey Talk, The Night, Too Tender (To Touch)

Side B- Angels, Lucky Number, Home

A-side recorded live at London Lyceum, 2/3/80
B-side recorded live at Paradise Theatre, Boston, 3/15/80

Lene and Les Chapell getting tipsy.

The Applicators: What's Your Excuse

Format: LP
Label: C.R.A.S.
Country: US
Year: 2002
Price paid: $10
Location purchased: Exchange, Kent Ohio

I have a soft spot for all-girl groups. Rarely do they have 'staying power' to span multi-decade careers or garner an abundance of kudos from music snobs... but I'll take them over some dusty old acoustic crooner anytime. The Applicators have released three full length LPs (this is the first) so they obviously have some enough of a fanbase to keep the flame alive.

My primary way of learning about new music is to dive right in and just buy what I don't know. As I always say- unlike books, you CAN often judge a record by its cover. I mean, just look at it! Adorable.

I was sold when I flipped it over and saw track names like 'Puke on You' and 'She Smells Like Me.' Pure gold. Their sound is, well, I can probably name a dozen all-girl bands of the last decade that have a similar attitude. Sort of like The Muffs, only sloppier. Perhaps a little X-Ray Spex thrown in. Overall an early 90's 'Riot Grrrl' sound. Here's a sample:

Applicators- She Smells Like Me

The Teardrop Explodes: Bouncing Babies/All I am is Loving You

Format: 7"
Label: Zoo Records
Country: UK
Year: 1979
Price paid: $2
Location purchased: Square Records, Cleveland Ohio


I knew little of the band before picking up this single, but I really dig their sound here. Similar to some Cure to my ear, playful yet melancholic. This version has a raw bass-heavy feel missing from the more polished LP version.

'Bouncing Babies' was the band's second single. It failed to chart. The song:

The Teardrop Explodes- Bouncing Babies


The art- This one certainly won't win any awards in my book. A lousy underexposed B&W photograph surrounded by puke yellow. I'm sure the photograph has some specific meaning (it looks to be an early 20th century Surrealist image) but I'd need time to decipher that. For now the message is as cryptic as the song itself. That being said it has a certain naive low-tech charm.

Zoo Records was formed in order to facilitate the release of singles by the band 'Big in Japan.' Other acts on the label include 'Echo and the Bunnymen' and 'Lori and the Chameleons.' The label quickly folded, having only released two LPs and a handful of singles.

Supposedly the 'Bouncing Babies' single was hard to come by, even back in the day. So much so that another band (The Freshies) wrote a song about their exasperation in attempting to locate a copy. As far as I know this is the ONLY single ever released with the subject of the single being another single. Sadly I don't own this single yet; supposedly it's rarer than the single they're lamenting:

The Freshies- I Can't Get 'Bouncing Babies' by The Teardrop Explodes

Voice of the Beehive: I Walk the Earth/This Weak

Format: 10" picture disc
Label: London
Country: UK
Year: 1988
Price paid: $3
Location purchased: Jack Wolak's Rare Necessities

 

When I think of Voice of the Beehive (VOTB) I always think of England. If I ever wrote a book on the late 80's UK music scene  I'd be torn as to whether to include them or not. The sister duo are Californian, BUT the band was formed in the UK, had exclusively UK backup musicians, performed primarily in the Britain, had most of their chart action there, and much of their 'weirder' vinyl output (such as this 10") were released solely for British consumption.

To give you a sample of their sound here's a cover of the Partridge Family's 'I Think I Love You.' Covers are a great way to measure the individuality and mettle of the band, as the listener instinctively strips away all the baggage/intent of the song and can concentrate on pure style. A crap band is quickly caught out; VOTB are anything but crap IMO:

Voice of the Beehive- 'I Think I Love You'

VOTB had no delusions of artistic depth; even though they were known for their clever often thoughtful lyrics, they were perfectly comfortable making jangly aggressive power-pop.

'I Walk the Earth' peaked at number 42 on the UK charts. The band had eight top-50 hits in the UK over their three album lifespan, most from their debut album 'Let it Bee' (of which this single is from.)

The 10" itself is a great example of period UK vinyl production. At the time of this single's release UK vinyl sales in general were lagging so companies pulled out all the stops in an effort to make an impression with the consumer. If you think about it the 10" is a pretty useless size. I suppose it has its uses... if you're putting together an EP and need more space than a 7" but less that a 12". Maybe. But that's not the case here as this is merely a 2 track single. The vinyl is clear, but instead of the usual practice of inserting a paper element between two sheets of vinyl, there's simply two stickers laying on the surface.

Probably limited to 5,000 pressings, this is numbered 4480. The B-side is exclusive to this disc.

New Women in Rock

Author: Liz Thompson (editor)
Format: book
Publisher: Delilah/Putnam/Omnibus Press
Country: US
Year: 1982
Location purchased: 1/2 Price Book Warehouse, Syracuse NY 

 

If you don't know by now female vocalists are my thing. British groups/artists in particular. No one text has had a greater impact on my musical tastes and education than this book- flipping through it now I'm STILL amazed by the sheer amount of obscure data it contains...

'New Women in Rock' covers (not surprisingly) female artists that were hot in 1982. So tight is its focus though it could have been easily been called 'Women in New Wave' or even- and more accurately- 'British Women in New Wave' were it not for the inclusion of a few odd ducks such as Bette Midler and Joan Armatrading.

The biggies you'd expect to find are all here- Lene Lovich, Blondie, and Siouxsie to name a few. Where the book really shines though is the inclusion and equal treatment of all but unknown artists today such as Wendy Wu and the Photos, The Mo-Dettes, and Cherry Vanilla.The book assumes that you- a contemporary 1982 music lover- have at least a working knowledge of the artists covered; the write-ups are more of a 'slice of life' than an in-depth history.

Eleven different authors contribute, each with their own approach to their chosen subject. It is unclear if the article-format essays were written exclusively for this book (I assume they are), but the inclusion of writers such as Vivien Goldman hints at a deeper level of commitment to the subject since many are prominent reviewers of the day.

The book itself is gorgeous. Oversized and full-color, it contains many photographs of the artists I haven't seen anywhere else. The layout is tight and stylish, dripping with top-notch 80's class right down to the font choices- the slick presentation you'd expect from 80's Omnibus Press offerings. There's a rather comprehensive discography included as well; I'm sure hardcore completeness will snigger at the inevitable omissions, but it should keep the layman happy and busy attempting to track down its contents for quite a while.

Copies can still be found rather easily and cheaply today. Highly recommended.

Dum Dum Girls: He Gets Me High

Format: 12" EP 
Label: Sub Pop 
Country: US 
Year: 2011 
Price paid: $8 
Location purchased: Exchange, Kent Ohio


Until recently I had never heard of The Dum Dum Girls, but they're quickly becoming one of my favorite groups. I find their sound a fascinating and complex mish-mash of styles, ranging from west coast New Wave to British shoegazer.

I picked this one up on impulse based on the cover and its simple, iconic design. Sup Pop really went all out on the product too- the sleeve is super-thick stock that I haven't seen commonly used since the 60s; the inner protective sleeve alone is as substantial as many contemporary exterior sleeves. Put together it's one hefty package! Supposedly this vinyl came with a coupon for an MP3 download of the music which is, not surprisingly, gone. Undoubtedly pilfered by hipsters who bought the vinyl and then threw it away once they realized that they'd rather have the sweet, sweet digital version after all...

2011's 'He Gets Me High' EP includes a cover of The Smith's 'There Is a Light That Never Goes Out':

Dum Dum Girls- There is a Light that Never Goes Out

The Dum Dum Girls are Dee Dee Penny with an oft changing cast of band members. Their name is derived from the Iggy Pop song 'Dum Dum Boys' and The Vaselines' album 'Dum Dum.'

'I Will Be', their debut album released in 2010, was produced by Richard Gottherer, a major player in the New Wave music scene. He had previously worked with such acts as Blondie and the Go-Go's and co-wrote the 60's hits 'My Boyfriend's Back' and 'I Want Candy.' His involvement here hones their sound, evoking images of west coast New Wave (much of which i tselfevoked images of older girl groups of the 50s and 60s.)

Cherry Vanilla: The Punk/Foxy Bitch

Format: 7"
Label: RCA
Country: US
Year: 1977
Price paid: $1.50
Location purchased: My Mind's Eye, Cleveland

This is not a punk song, so don't be confused. It's a contemporary scathing parody of punk stereotypes... and a damn' good one at that. So good in fact that if you squint your ears in just the right way it's nearly indistinguishable from the British punk sound of the time.

Take a listen. Yes, she's rough around the edges and she could be somebody's mom. But the song itself is brilliant, the energy infectious, and the band really can play quite well:

Cherry Vanilla- The Punk (video)

Cherry Vanilla herself is quite a character. Most notably she was David Bowie's high-profile publicist during the early 70's, going so far as to (jokingly, I think) offer oral sex to any DJ that would play Bowie's music. She also worked on some of Warhol's theater projects, including the starring role in the UK production of 'Pork.' She's released three full LPs, five singles, and a tell-all book- definitaly not a flash in the pan despite her laughable stage name and tongue-in-cheek style.

I've wanted this single for awhile now. Sadly the condition's not that good, the sleeve anyway. The sleeve art gets the job done with its cute arresting image of Cherry and shocking red font, but I'd hardly call it ground-breaking design. But hell it's on RCA, so what do you expect?