Format: LP
Label: RCA
Country: US
Year: 1982
Price paid: $8
Purchased at: The Record Archive, Rochester NY
In the hierarchy of punk/New Wave it will always be UK>New York>west coast>everything else. Sorry, that's how I roll. That being said there are many fine fine west coast artists from the golden period.
Slow Children are one of those. All but unheard of today, they never hit mainstream success back in the day either. But it wasn't for a lack of trying- they released two full LPs and a bunch of singles. It's my theory that their sound was just a little too shrill/grating to enable them to break into the US charts. Perhaps a little too intellectual/wordy for the average pop-music-buying Joe?
In prepping to write this entry I stumbled across an 'official' band page set up by the lead singer Pal Shazar... but it hasn't been updated since 2006. Digging deeper it appears that Slow Children are still active, sort of. Looks like Shazar married the famous producer Jules Shear (known for his work with such bands as The Bangles, 'Til Tuesday, 10,000 Maniacs, and yes Slow Children) and they've carried on under the name, Shear replacing founding member Andrew Chinich. They've performed as recently as June of this year (2013.) There was some talk a few years ago (2010) of the original duo reforming and releasing a new album. The tracks had been written, but...?
Anyway, as previously stated, Slow Children made nary a dent in the pop music scene. They did however garner enough interest that their label RCA took notice and included them in their 'Radio Series' LP set. The RCA Special Radio Series was a short-lived attempt by the label to promote their artists. The LPs are pre-packaged interviews with music spliced in. Basically it's a whole radio show on a disc, just add commercials and your station has instant programming! Included with the disc is a cheesy mock-handwritten sheet explaining contents and timing, as well as a rather crude looking press release.
Other artists that got the RCA radio series treatment include David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Bow Wow Wow so they're in good company. Supposedly this series was 'NOT FOR SALE' and only meant for promotional purposes. So says the sleeve. But RCA spent so much time on the package/cover design that I wouldn't be surprised if a limited number were released commercially. That or the label REALLY wanted to impress radio DJs. I'll go with the 'impress DJs' theory until I get more info...
This might-sound kinda gay, but I was on an emotional roller coaster with this LP. When I first stumbled upon it in The Record Archive I was super-stoked- great band and weird/obscure release. I put it in the pile and gladly forked over the eight bucks. Once I got home though I began to think that I already had this disc. All my vinyl's still packed, but I'm about 75% sure I do indeed have it already. My heart sank. Then today when I pulled it out to photograph I realized that... it's autographed! Amazing. I love autographs, the artists actually TOUCHED the record themselves.
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| Andrew Chinich and Pal Shazar autographs |
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