Big Hair

Artist: Big Hair

LP: 7" single

Song: "Puppet On a String"

[ listen ] 

Last weekend Jan and I decided to go for a Sunday drive to West Seattle for breakfast (the big West Seattle Bridge is out of commission since it's evidently cracked, so we had to go the long way around). We ate at Easy Street Café, then I suggested we browse in the record store to practice for our upcoming trip together to Minnesota. I've got quite a few record stores on my list in Minneapolis and St. Paul, so I wanted to be sure we'd manage.

I'm happy to report that things went well! Also, I found some pretty amazing records. Someone had brought in a nice bunch of early '80s (1980 to 1982) British goth/new wave 45s, similar to the earliest releases on 4AD, but on other labels that were also around at the time. One of them is this incredible version of "Puppet On a String" by Big Hair, released on Fresh Records in 1980. Discogs doesn't list any other records by Big Hair, which is unfortunate for my collection...but I suppose it's good news for my pocketbook.

[ Easy Street Records and Café in West Seattle ]

Kincade

Artist: Kincade

LP: 7" single

Song: "Dreams Are Ten a Penny (Diez Sueños Por Un Penique)"

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This evening I've been rummaging through some of the records I found a few years ago on my trip to Barcelona. I figured this zippy little ditty would make a nice posting for the last day of the first month of what seems already to be a troubling year. 

The group Kincade has a funny story...since there wasn't actually any such thing when this song was written and recorded by John Carter and his wife in England in 1972. The song flopped in England, evidently, but was a hit in Germany! Carter didn't feel like touring to support the single, so some guy named John Knowles changed his name to John Kincade and he went to Germany to promote the song instead. Eventually, Carter recorded an entire "Kincade" album using session musicians, but then a real band had to be fabricated for TV appearances in Spain. The newly assembled band also made several appearances in Germany before the hit singles finally dried up and everyone was able to stop pretending to be Kincade and go back to their regular lives. You can read all of this for yourselves on Wikipedia here. I wonder who that guy is on the cover of my Spanish single!

Procol Harum

Artist: Procol Harum

LP: Exotic Birds and Fruit

Song: "As Strong As Samson"

[ listen ]

Song: "The Thin End of the Wedge"

[ listen ]

Song: "Fresh Fruit"

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Speaking of classic bands I'm just now finally getting into: Digging up a terrific Procol Harum single (no, not "A Whiter Shade of Pale") at my local record store a month or two ago prompted me to embark on a mini-binge, buying just about all of the group's early LPs, which the store just happened to have used copies of in stock. "Exotic Birds and Fruit" is Procol Harum's 7th LP, released in 1974. Peaking at only #86 on the US album charts, it was their least successful record up to that point...which, as we now know, probably means it was their best one so far!

Formed in 1967, Procol Harum is one of those bands whose name I'd heard and whose records I'd seen over the years, but I'd just never bothered looking into them. (Others are Three Dog Night, UFO, Uriah Heep...there are a bunch of them.) Anyway, these guys are good. I'm glad I've finally added some of their stuff to my collection! You can read about Procol Harum here, and there's info on this particular record right here.

 

[ Procol Harum ]

5000 Volts

Artist: 5000 Volts

LP: 7" single

Song: "I'm On Fire"

[ listen ]

Happy New Year! I can't tell you how pleased I am with the recent switchover to a new and improved administration in our ole' US of A. Wait...yes I can: I'm SUPER pleased! It's been just two days since the inauguration of the Biden-Harris team, and already the emergency brakes have brought a bunch of Donald Trump bullshit to a screeching halt, as the gear-shift is then thrown into reverse. With so many emergencies to tend to at the moment, I am THRILLED that President Biden submitted a comprehensive (and humane) immigration policy reform bill after his inauguration and before his first night's sleep in the White House. 

Biden has basically been doing what I'd likely be doing if I suddenly found I'd been elected President of the USA during this troubled time. And then, of course, that got me thinking: What song would I choose to have playing at my rallies as I approached the microphone to address an enthusiastic crowd? I've settled on this 1975 disco single by British group 5000 Volts. I'm a little surprised it wasn't already taken. You might say, "Alex, you're too old to start thinking about being the President." And then I'd say: "Yeah, I know." Actually, I may be a little long in the tooth, but by political standards I'm still a spring chicken. Isn't Mitch McConnell 117? Plus, I'm currently working for the Federal Government, so I've already got one foot in the door!

[ 5000 Volts ]

The Wolfgang Press

Artist: The Wolfgang Press

LP: Scarecrow EP

Song: "Ecstasy"
[ listen ]

Beacon Cinema in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle assembled a tribute to my favorite record label—4AD! The 100-minute program, which screened last night at 7pm, included music videos by iconic groups that were on the label (Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, etc.), along with interview clips and concert footage. (The show was sold out; I barely squeaked in! They're showing it again at 8:30pm on Sunday, February 16.) The tribute begins with clips of Bauhaus and The Birthday Party, who were on 4AD shortly after it was started in 1980, and covers roughly up to the early '90s, with bits from Pixies, Lush, Spirea-X, Pale Saints, His Name Is Alive, and Red House Painters from around that time. 

Of course they couldn't include EVERY band on the label, or the film would have been 500 minutes instead...but still there were three groups in particular that I'd like to have seen featured, perhaps instead of Pale Saints, Dif Juz, and Spirea-X. Two of them are Modern English and Colourbox. They barely got a mention, though both were prolific on the 4AD label in the formative years. The third is The Wolfgang Press, whose members were parts of other 4AD bands before starting The Wolfgang Press and releasing their first LP, "The Burden of Mules," on the label in 1983. They became progressively more danceable over the years, and released their final LP, "Funky Little Demons," on 4AD in 1995. More than any other, The Wolfgang Press represent the label's transition from their post-punk goth roster of the early '80s to the more accessible dancefloor-friendly sound the label moved toward on into the 1990s. ("Pump Up the Volume," anyone?)

The Wolfgang Press 3-track "Scarecrow" EP, released in 1984, was already out of print by the time I learned about it from the listing in the 4AD catalog on the inner sleeve of the 1987 label compilation album "Lonely Is An Eyesore." On the lookout for all things 4AD, I remember being ecstatic when I found my copy of "Scarecrow" at Randy's Records in Salt Lake City in the spring of 1988, after taking the bus up from Provo, Utah to record hunt in the big city for the day. (I didn't have a car...or a job...or any friends.) On the bus on the way home that night, the woman sitting next to me saw my bags and asked me what I'd bought. I excitedly showed her, and she began ranting about how my music was Satanic and I was going to go to Hell. I changed seats, but it still made for an awkward and longs bus-ride home.

Anyway, thanks to The Beacon Cinema for putting this tribute together. It brought back lots of memories, as the music of 4AD was basically the soundtrack of my life between ages 16 and 24.

[ The Wolfgang Press ]

Altered Images

Artist: Altered Images

LP: 7" single
Song: "Happy Birthday"

[ listen ]

I don't normally wish myself a happy birthday, but today I turn 50, and life is good! (Technically I'm still 49 until 10:55am.) Here's to another wonderful 50 years!

The Pogues

Artist: The Pogues

LP: If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Song: "Bottle of Smoke"

[ listen ]

Song: "Fairytale of New York"

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I don't remember what brought The Pogues to mind earlier this week, but when they were there, I suddenly realized that I couldn't recall seeing their records in my collection lately, and I worried that perhaps I'd gotten rid of them. (I've had similar vinyl "I got rid of it" regrets in the past.) 

I thumbed through the 'P's and was relieved to find my two Pogues records still there (the other one is 1985's "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash"), but lodged in the slight fold in the top of the plastic sleeve for this one was the corpse of a spider, enshrouded in web. Thank you, dead spider, for underlining the fact that I've neglected my Pogues albums for far too long. I gave both records a spin and they haven't aged a bit.

Described as a "British Celtic punk band," The Pogues is one of the groups I discovered while working at Budget Tapes & Records in Yakima back in 1986-1988. We got a play copy of "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" (I think this may be that same copy!) when it was released in 1987, and I was instantly hooked. There's no other band like them. "Fairytale of New York" is the most wonderfully dreary Christmas song ever recorded, and it's been stuck in my head for days!

[ The Pogues ]

Foreigner

Artist: Foreigner

LP: 7" single
Song: "Juke Box Hero"

[ listen ]

Here's one of the songs that was playing on 107.3 KFFM in Yakima, WA when I was 12 years old in early 1982, just as I was starting to listen to popular music. I loved it then, and it's only gotten with better with time. Turn this one up loud. It's exhilarating! Though the chorus seems designed for it, there's no fading out here. The song goes out blazing, suddenly, at full volume and with a bang. 

The third single from Foreigner's fourth album, "Juke Box Hero" peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100, once again demonstrating mainstream America's inability to recognize or embrace quality entertainment that rises out of the ordinary. You can read about Foreigner here, and go here to find out how co-writer Mick Jones was inspired to create the song after taking in a dedicated fan who had been standing for hours in the rain outside one of their concerts—a scene that sounds like it was lifted right out of ALL ABOUT EVE.

[ Foreigner, circa 1981 ]

The Smiths

Artist: The Smiths

LP: 12" single

Song: "Girlfriend In a Coma"
[ listen ]

I splurged on a few things at Everyday Music on Capitol Hill the other day when I found some neat '80s stuff in the 'new arrivals' bin there. One of them was this 1987 12" single by The Smiths, in excellent condition! 

(I'd actually brought in a bag of records to trade, which included some neat old LPs from Mexico, Spain, Central America, Brazil, and other South American countries. I usually get a pretty good deal in trade at Everyday Music. Unfortunately, $5 guy was working there again when I went in. I'd encountered this guy before, several months ago, when I'd carted two full bags of records about ten blocks from where I'd finally found parking in hopes of trading them in for store credit. Some of the stuff was of the thrift-store variety, granted (The Lennon Sisters, anyone?), but there were also some neat old Motown records and other funk and soul LPs included. I was taken aback when he offered just $5 total for both bags. I was like, "Is this guy nuts?" But my arms ached, and so I accepted just because I knew I wouldn't be able to carry all that heavy vinyl another ten blocks back to the car.

But this time I parked closer. I browsed a bit while he looked the records over. Finally he made me an offer: "I can give you $5." I'm pretty sure this guy has no idea who Amalia Mendoza, Javier Solís, Lucha Villa, Jorge Negrete, or anyone else is that I stuffed into that bag, let alone that it's music people would pay money for. Or maybe he does. If you can add all that to the store's inventory for just $5, why not? I wasn't expecting $480 or anything, but maybe $30. When I brought in three bags of records a few months ago, another guy there offered $190 in trade; my friend traded in ten LPs there a few days ago and got $15. I bet she wasn't working with $5 guy. Anyway, I carted all my records back to the car, and then returned to do some shopping without any store credit from trade. I shouldn't let my pride stop me from adding a neat 12" single by The Smiths to my collection, right?)  

I'm adding a "T" to this one and dedicating it to my dear girlfriend Ryan, who recently moved to Tacoma. It's really serious!

[ The Smiths ]

The Mighty Lemon Drops

Artist: The Mighty Lemon Drops

LP: Out of Hand
Song: "Out of Hand"

[ listen ]

I've been on a Mighty Lemon Drops kick these past few days, and I've just read someone saying that they sorta' sound like Echo & the Bunnymen. I suppose they do! Originally called The Sherbet Monsters, this English group that formed in 1985 had fortunately changed their name before I first heard of them when "Out of Hand" played on MTV's 120 Minutes, which I watched religiously every Sunday night at some divey pizza joint near BYU campus in Provo, UT during my freshman year at college there in 1987-1988. Unfortunately The Lemon Drops, who were both fabulous and mighty, melted away in 1992. You can read about them here.

 

[ The Mighty Lemon Drops ]

Bronski Beat

Artist: Bronski Beat

LP: 7" single
Song: "Smalltown Boy"

[ listen ]

When this song came out, I made a photocopy of the cover so I could add it to the new wave music collage on the wall of my bedroom in our Tampico, Washington farmhouse. But Bronski Beat was the first openly gay group I'd ever heard of, and I was afraid someone would notice the song's sleeve with the telltale pink triangle in my collage and figure out I was gay! So I craftily placed this particular piece behind the 1960s lamp that hung over my bed so that you couldn't see it from the room unless you were lying on your back in my bed. I must've figured that by the time somebody was lying in my bed, they would hopefully already be finding out I was gay. Anyway, of course I'm the only one who ever saw it. 

It's still a good song all these 35 years later, don't you think? But seriously, does anyone really believe that any young gay man would be able to fit everything he owns into a little black case? The hair products and face creams alone would fill a very large red one.

Bronski Beat on YouTube:

[ "Smalltown Boy" ]

[ Bronski Beat ]