Secret Sounds - An Epitaph

I've been meaning to blog about Dutch new wave band Secret Sounds for a while, and recently I found out that Wilmer Wolf, lead singer and songwriter, passed away almost a year ago in May 2024. I first discovered the band in a very roundabout way which is par for the course if you are passionate about music that is outside the mainstream. 

I was in Jersey, Channel Islands, for a weekend in 2022 and got to spend about an hour in a record shop in St Helier. At that time I was very interested in collecting local music so I picked a few albums, and also found they had a decent selection of more unusual 80's singles so I also bought a handful of those.

One of the singles was called "Love And I" by the curiously named Jeanny's Wild Obsession. Without looking too closely it looked like a stereotypical single from maybe 1987 or 1988. However, when I researched the single back at home and got ready to make a digital archive recording, I found that it was actually from 1993 and had Dutch origins. Not a big deal maybe but when you collect singles from certain countries and years little things can matter, more than they should. Moreover I didn't really like the song on first hearing so I left it alone and did not think about it too much.

But then, because I did not label my recording, it kept popping up on my thumb drive and I would have to play it to remember what it was. After the second or third time I found more to like and got interested. I found out that the singer was Angeline Bonette and when I googled her I found a YouTube video from 2014. After a bit of confusion I understood that this was a one-off reunion gig by a Dutch band called Secret Sounds, and the song in the video was the curiously named "Johnny and The Rites of Sin". Angeline did not sing on their early records but both her and drummer Jean Monsou had been in a later incarnation around 1987 or 1988. So now we were back in my musical wheelhouse, and boy, did I like that song. I played it a lot. 

I then found the band on Bandcamp. The aforementioned song is a key cut on their 1984 album Wasteland and was also a B-Side on a single with the shorter title of "Johnny". I noticed immediately that, considering the band only released a few singles and one album (on their own independent label), they recorded a lot of material between 1981 and 1988 and that their lead contributor Wilmer Wolf was a very gifted songwriter and producer. In 2014 he remastered all their material and released it as a limited edition box set of 11 CD's. The quality was very high throughout. I began by buying the albums digitally on Bandcamp one at a time, and then eventually, after I was back in the USA in 2023, found a copy of the box set and had it sent from the Netherlands.

There is so much to dig into with this band, I can only recommend that you take a listen and explore. I knew that Wilmer by his own admission had some health issues and some personal demons. In interviews he is candid and thoughtful. He released a solo album a few years ago before his health declined. I had hoped that by buying the albums on Bandcamp he would know that someone was interested in his music, but it's a shame I did not have the chance to tell him more personally how much I enjoyed his work. That's life I guess.

John Wilson - Your Eyes (1987)

 

7" Single, released in 1987

John Wilson - Your Eyes (A-Side)

John Wilson - Bad Guy (B-Side)

New Asia - Central Proposition (1981)

7" Single, released in 1981

New Asia - Central Proposition (A Side)

New Asia - Here And There, Now And Then (B-Side)

Majesty - Girl (1987)

7" Single, released in 1987

Majesty - Girl (A-Side)

Majesty - After You (B-Side)

Majesty was a brief pop project by Debbie Wiseman and Tony Wharmby. Debbie has gone on to become a noted British composer, and her husband Tony has worked as a recording engineer.

This was a request via Discogs!

New Release: The Graphic - People In Glass

Latest release from Base Ten Records is People In Glass by The Graphic, from Greensboro North Carolina. This was originally released by Dolphin Records back in 1984.

Primary Colors - Wildlife

Art Affairs - Workaholic

 

7" Single, released in 1988

Art Affairs - Workaholic (A Side)

Art Affairs - Even If You Go (B Side)

Ruby Blue - Give Us Our Flag Back

 

7" Single released in 1987

Ruby Blue - Give Us Our Flag Back (A Side)

Ruby Blue - The Quiet Mind (B Side)

Both tracks were taken from the band's debut album, Glances Askances, on Red Flame. Initially consisting of Rebecca Pidgeon and Roger Fife, they then released a second album and some singles on Fontana between 1988-1990.

Richard Sanderson - Anytime At All

 

7" Single, released in 1990

Richard Sanderson - Anytime At All (A Side)

Richard Sanderson - Silly People (B Side)

A new artist discovery for me this year, I'm not sure why Richard's excellent album Anytime At All was only released in Germany as it includes many great tracks, including both sides of this single.

President - European Summer

7" Single, released in 1987

One of the (many) 80's singles in my box I have held off posting, President was at the time a vibrant young British band centered around two brothers, Geoff and Tony Wright. Given that the summer of 1987 also brought us droves of europap like Spagna and Sabrina, you might well fear the worst, but in fact despite only having one song the songwriting ability was immediately in evidence. The single was released on a small label (Rekords UK) and I suspect would have been well received by a wider audience if it had made more radio playlists at the time. There was also a video filmed at Saltburn by the Sea in July 1987.

For much of the music I feature, that would be the end of the story, but happily in recent years Geoff and Tony have returning to recording and performing with impressive results. They released an album, Breathe, in 2014 and posted some videos. I really liked "Coast" which saw a digital release a couple of years ago.

I'm not going to post my rips of the "European Summer" single here - I also have the 12 inch - because all the tracks are available on Spotify and other digital media outlets if you search for the European Summer EP. Kudos to the band for keeping their name all these years, even if in the internet age it makes it a little harder to google search them. 

They also have a new single out this week called "Reach Out" which is nothing if not timely. 

Amazon UK link

Thanks to Geoff for reaching out - I really should have mentioned them before now!

Sleep Of Reason - Building 27 (1987)

I don't know much about Sleep Of Reason. They released one album on Top Records in 1987 and came from the Vienna, Virginia area apparently. Band members were Steve Hansgen, Tom Rowland, Arnie Karklis and Vince Silberberg.

Building

Cottage Industry - Things Go Up (1986)

Random Eighties Memories February 2020

Laughing Stock - The Boy Who Never Sleeps

(from Pipe Dreams, 1985)

Quasi Hands - Lovelife

(from Quasi Hands, 1985)

These Are Houseplants - Sunshine Anytime

(from Nashville Rock, 1987)

Playing At Trains - A World Without Love

(12" Single, 1987)

One - Son Of The Sun

(from Upstream, 1989)

Lung Overcoat - Voice In The Box

(from Climbing Up The Hill, 1986)

Aerial FX - Out Of The Window

(from Watching The Dance, 1982)

Second Thoughts - Wrapped

(7" Single, 1985)

A Drop In The Ocean - Valentine's Day

Head For Tall Trees - A Question Of Love

(from Certain Damage! Volume 1, 1987)

Monica's Interval - To Follow

(from Tortoise, 1989)

Blue Hollow - Inhale

(from Stealing A Whisper, 1986)

Vis A Vis - I Am The Night

(from Heart And Soul, 1985)

Other Bright Colors - NPR

(from Endlessly Rocks The Cradle, 1986)

Cassell Webb - Total Recall

(from Llano, 1985)

February 2020

House Of Pants - Pressed (1984)

I don't normally buy 6 track EPs (actually these days I don't buy much of anything) but anyways this one sat on my discogs.com want list for quite a while before I got it back in 2017.

House Of Pants was another Oakland California band and the brainchild of Jeff Saltzman, who released a couple of EPs, including this one on Amorous Records and played around town before heading off into the legal field. In the 90's he was part of Green Day's management team. There's not much more information out there that I could find.

Pressed

Jo Alice - Mister Remote (1984)

Greg Guidry - Over The Line (1982)

One of the downsides of obsessing over music that is between thirty and forty years old is that a lot of water has flowed under a lot of bridges by now. Memories fade, life moves on. Sometimes, I read about musicians who have enjoyed a recent reunion, satisfied with a legacy that is likely obscure but still loved, maybe even trying their hand at writing something new. More likely though, many of our heroes are nowhere to be found, and sadly, for some that is true in a literal sense, having passed on either through accident, death by natural causes, or, as in this case, by suicide. Personally, I pass no judgment. The great thing for me about music is that it lives on regardless of the triumphs or ills of its creators.

I found this record in Nashville about 5 years ago, and may well have left it alone except for a heartfelt post it note on the album somewhere that recommended it to a friend. It's perhaps a bit more mainstream, AOR style than I usually opt for, but depending on my mood, there is nothing wrong with that. One track even charted quite highly, and perhaps like one of my other rock discoveries from 1982, David Reilly, the fact that Greg had been honing his chops for years as a songwriter and backup singer imbued the album with a solid, satisfying songs. A little strange then, that it took until 2000 for it to see even a limited CD release, given that it was released originally by the mighty Columbia label.

Sadly, as I mentioned before, Greg committed suicide in 2003 in Fairview, Tennessee, at the age of 49. Having recently turned 50 myself, I am struck by how vulnerable the human male seems to be around the half century mark. Since then, other demo tracks and a posthumous album have been released - you can find them on iTunes, Spotify etc. - but not this one. If you enjoy the album, raise a glass on his behalf.

Over The Line

Blue Oil - I Blow You A Kiss

Flag - Flag (1985)

Flag was a short lived collaboration between Archie Brown, formerly of Dexy's offshoot The Bureau, and David Cairns, previously well known in the UK for his involvement with a number of bands, most notably Secret Affair.

Although the writing partnership was largely productive, tensions arose with label Scotti Bros due to the mixing of the record. The album was released in the USA and Germany, but surprisingly not in England. A single "I Am" was released to radio but was not particularly successful. Nevertheless, highly underrated and worth a second listen.

More information on the band and album is here.

Flag

Streetcar Named Desire - Yesteryear

Eubie Hayve - Mystery (1988)

Eubie Hayve were a phonetically amusing alternative rock band from Maryland, releasing two short LPs on their own Eubet Recordings label. Mystery was the second, more accomplished one. The band consisted of Ginger Hopkins on vocals, Anthony Mark Piazza on guitar, David Frey on bass and Devlin DeHaven on drums. "Work In Progress" was the single.

Mystery