Various Artists: Badger A-Go-Go

Dat Tooner Melt Got Good Toons, Aina Hey?

If you ever sipped cold water from a bubbler and wished it was PBR, this is one record you're gonna want! It's a compilation featuring bands representing the Milwaukee New Music Scene of the late 80s and early 90s such as Die Kreuzen, E-I-E-I-O, Plasticland and Couch Flambeau.

Liner notes on the back cover read: "15 of the Greatest Sounds. Here's the lp that had to happen. The swingin' sounds of the Badger State that have made it Nationally.

Without a doubt, this lp is a collector's item… representing Contemporary Sounds, R&B, Psychedelic, Rock & Roll, Calypso, Folk Rock, and the Mod Sound.

Not only is this a great lp for listening and dancing… It's a party in itself."

So… Grab yourself a twelver of Pabsts, and few links of Goose Liver Sausage and a wheel of Medium Sharp Cheddar and Get Ready to Get Down!

Various Artists: Badger A-Go-Go

1. Danelectro - Liquid Pink
2. I'm Gonna Emphasize - Plasticland
3. Downer Street - Squares
4. The American Way - Dummy Club
5. K.I.D. - Boy Dirt Car
6. Can't Sit Down - Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans
7. Seasons of Wither - Die Kreuzen
8. Helvetica - Couch Flambeau
9. Grievance in F#m - The Blowtorch
10. Mrs. Wilson - Cherry Cake
11. Stop at the Left…Look to the Right - F/i
12. Play with Pain - Appliances-SFB
13. Blood on the Saddle - Brian Ritchie & The Ghostly Trio
14. Gonna Get Gone - E-I-E-I-O
15. My Mother Still Likes Me - Voot Warnings

The Lucy Show: Mania

Lucy! I'm Home!

I don't know much about this band. Despite the information available on the Net (primarily at http://www.thelucyshow.net/) I find it hard to really know a lot about a band without having heard much out of them. That being said… I would LOVE to know more about this band.

I do know the band was formed in South London in 1982 by two ex-pat Canadians, Mark Bandola and Rob Vandeven, and that they remained together until 1989.

This record was released in 1986 and is simply amazing! It's Pop, but it has a Punk Informed edge and just enough of a Guitar Band quality to keep it squarely in the Pop-Rock category. This is the beginning of the Alternative scene that swept through in the 90s. In this record I hear R.E.M., The Psychedelic Furs, Rain Parade, David Bowie, several other bands who's names I can't recall at the moment, and (at some level) The Hoodoo Gurus? Maybe?

Anyway… It's a great record. Enjoy!

The Lucy Show: Mania

1. Land and the Life
2. View from the Outside
3. Sojourn's End
4. Sad September
5. A Million Things
6. Sun and Moon
7. Shame
8. Melody
9. Part of Me Now
10. New Message

The B-52's: Mesopotamia

There's a lot of Ruins in...

Back when it all started (around the 4th millennium BC) they called it Mesopotamia. What inspired The B-52's to write a song about it is beyond me. It might be because the Mesopotamians invented beer. It might not, though.

As it is, however, the song that they did write and record is really cool, as is the entire record on which it appeared. It was produced by David Byrne and released, as a 6 song 12" EP, in 1982.

And we all know that, since the area that Mesopotamia existed in is now known as Iraq, there are even more ruins there now than there were in the 80s. I'd like to think that I'll hear something else about Mesopotamia, soon, that makes me feel as happy as this record always has.

The B-52's: Mesopotamia

1. Loveland
2. Deep Sleep
3. Mesopotamia
4. Cake
5. Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can
6. Nip It in the Bud

X-teens: …big boy's dream / X-teens

One of Many Great Things to Emerge from... The Rip Van Winkle State?

Yep. That's one of the ways by which they refer to themselves, those folks in North Carolina. A few years back, though, there were some there who refered to themselves as The X-teens.

They musta refered themselves to the correct individuals, I'd say, in that they eventually had a sweet little 5 Song EP released on Moonlight Records in 1980. And the reference must have continued, positively, through the release of the Full Length Album X-teens, on Dolphin Records, in 1983.

Yep.

X-teens: ...big boy's dream

1. Johnny's Having Fun
2. Fragile Beings
3. In a Grey Circus
4. Venus
5. Big Boy's Dream

X-teens: X-teens

1. Nobody
2. In Droves
3. Tonight Tonight
4. Anyone Can
5. Baby John
6. Heaven in Your Eyes
7. Romper Rheumatism
8. Penny
9. Hard is a Love Daparting
10. Nothing Left to Say
11. Emotion X-teens
12. Happy Again
13. Shift and Rotate
14. Cold War

You can check out the website of he who produced both of these, Don Dixon, here: http://www.dondixonmusic.com/

And Finally, after lookin' around for it for 23 years, I find that Power Pop Criminal$ has been kind enough to post "Love and Politics," the X-teens final output. Go get it Here. Be sure to check out the rest of the site, too, and to leave a comment if you're as impressed as I am.

Split Enz: True Colors

I Bought It 'cause It Sounded Good...

Of course... I could have bought it because it looked really cool, too. I'm not sure which mattered most to A&M Records in 1980. Thankfully, it was a really good record!

This was the first album I had ever seen with a Laser Etched Image Etched into it by a Laser. The idea of an Image being Etched into Anything by a Laser in 1980 was Pretty Wild. The idea of a Vinyl Record Album (which we had been taught to keep safe from scratches) being Scratched to Pieces by a Laser and Still Playing was... Well... Astounding!!! I mean... We weren't even supposed to touch the surface of these things with our greasy little fingertips, for Pete's sake!!!

I searched all over this thing we call The Internet and found this picture, along with a whole bunch of info about the band and this album at: http://www.thelogbook.com/disc/enz/

Allow me to state at this point that I will forever refer you to those who have actually searched and researched the information instead of claiming to have it myself. Them other guys are lots smarter than I am. I have more records than they do, though, so we make a good team.

What I do know about this band is this. For one: Enz is the technical term for the Reservoir at the tip end of a Condom. That being said, the name Split Enz had a good bit in common with The Lovin' Spoonful and 10cc. For two: They were from Australia and were led, by this point anyway, by The Finn Brothers. The Finn Brothers, of course, ended up being The Crowded House Guy (Neil) and That Other Finn Guy (Tim). The band was, actually, composed of a number of tremendously talented individuals, all of whom contributed to the group's interesting-yet-accessible sound. This is one of several great records by a really great band. It was pretty cool lookin', too.

Split Enz: True Colors

1. I Got You
2. Shark Attack
3. What's the Matter with You
4. Double Happy
5. I Wouldn't Dream of It
6. I Hope I Never
7. Nobody Takes Me Seriously
8. Missing Person
9. Poor Boy
10. How Can I Resist Her
11. The Choral Sea

The Brains: The Brains

The Smartest Band in the Whole World!!!

The Brains were one of Atlanta's early New Wave bands, and certainly one of the best. Tom Gray's strong songwriting really pushed them out in front of many of the other bands in the region at the time, and Rick Price's flashy guitar slingin' was a wonder to behold.

This is their first album, released in 1980 on Mercury Records. Strangely, The Brains are about the only band I'm aware of whose sound was tamed (diminished, as a matter of fact) by the production of Steve Lillywhite, who was an incredibly hot producer at the time and who is well known for having produced some really powerful records. Still, the energy that was the The Brains' is apparent in much of this disc and it's a tremendous chunk of rock.

Download it. Listen to it. Use it.

The song "Money Changes Everything" was a hit for Cindy Lauper. Rick Price went on to great success playing bass with The Georgia Satellites.

The Brains: The Brains

1. Treason
2. See Me
3. Raeline
4. Girl I Wanna
5. In the Night
6. Money Changes Everything
7. Scared Kid
8. Sweethearts
9. Girl in a Magazine
10. Gold Dust Kids

The Swimming Pool Q's: The Firing Squad for God

What is this? The He-Man Woman Hater's Club?

Nope. It's just The Swimming Pool Q's after Anne Richmond Boston left. Without her around the guys seemed to feel as if there was no need to include a "pretty" song on this record. Heck! There were only 5 songs on it in the first place. And so "The Firing Squad for God" 5-Song Maxi-Single comes across as a bit more of a Hard Rockin' Guy Record than the previous Q's records, but don't think that means it's not strange and wonderful.

Heck… Jeff Calder's still writing the songs, Bill Burton's still smackin' the skins, J.E. Garnett is still the bass player and the Lead Guitar is still in the capable hands of Bob Elsey. As a matter of fact, Anne is actually playing pedal steel on "Working in the Nut Plant" and she designed the record jacket, so it's still the same band.

In other words… This is a Great Record.

The Swimming Pool Q's: The Firing Squad for God

1. The Firing Squad for God
2. El Presidenté
3. Working in the Nut Plant
4. Hip-Hype
5. Reprisidenté

The Swimming Pool Q's: Blue Tomorrow

Today was, what… ORANGE!?!

I don't know how many copies of this record sold. I don't know how many radio stations played any of the songs on it. I don't know how many people thought Anne Richmond Boston's was the Most Beautiful Voice on the Face of the Planet in 1986. Or that Bob Elsey was the Greatest Guitar Player in the Universe. Or that Jeff Calder was, well… Jeff Calder, for that matter. All I know is that they were all correct.

"Blue Tomorrow" was the second and final record that The Swimming Pool Q's had come out on A&M Records. I could waste about 12 paragraphs telling you how good this record and this band are. Better that you just download it to your computer and upload it to your earhole. Do it.

The Swimming Pool Q's: Blue Tomorrow

1. Now I'm Talking About Now
2. She's Lookin' Real Good (When She's Lookin')
3. Pretty on the Inside
4. Laredo Radio
5. Wreck Around
6. More Than One Heaven
7. Corruption
8. Blue Tomorrow
9. Dream in Gray
10. Big Fat Tractor

The Swimming Pool Q's: The Swimming Pool Q's

Sacrifice Yourself at the Alter of Love

I think the All Music Guide description of the band, written by Mark Demming, is probably better than anything I could come up with:
"Atlanta's Swimming Pool Q's were one of the first Southern new wave bands to gain nationwide recognition in the early '80s after the breakthrough of The B-52s made folks aware that there was more to Southern rock than what Q's leader Jeff Calder called "the Boogie Establishment." However, while most of their Georgia brethren were famous for serving up light, off-kilter pop, Swimming Pool Q's music had a darker and more challenging undercurrent, balancing twisted guitar patterns against lyrics that played on Southern Gothic archetypes in a manner that was often witty, and sometimes ominous."

Read the entire biography at http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:di5zefukhgf1%7ET1.

This is the band's first major label release. While it's a bit more commercial than the album they had put out previously, on Atlanta's db recs label, I still find it strange and exciting. In fact, a few of the songs are just flat-out spooky or disturbing, while the records overall feel is peaceful and pretty. If you're not already familiar with them, this is your chance.

The Swimming Pool Q's: The Swimming Pool Q's

1. The Bells Ring
2. Pull Back My String
3. Purple Rivers
4. The Knave
5. Some New Highway
6. Just Property
7. Silver Slippers
8. She's Bringing Down the Poison
9. Celestion
10. Sacrificial Alter

Psycotic Pineapple: Where's the Party?

It's Not JUST Crazy… It's PSYCOTIC!!!

The first time I ever heard of The Psycotic Pineapple was on a Sex Pistols' record. I'm not gonna bother explaining that, as it's a pretty obscure reference, except to say that it piqued my interest enough that when I finally ran across a Psycotic Pineapple record in a store I bought it immediately! And I've never been sad for doing so.This one is very New Wave!!! And, of course, as anyone who was alive in the early 80s knows… There was No Such Thing as New Wave!

As such, though, it seems to be a pretty perfect record for 1980. It contains all the perfect 1980 stuff... Some Twangy Guitars, The Perfect "Kind-of, but not really, Obscure" 60s song, "Bad" Words, FUZZ!!!, and a Healthy Dose of Humor.

Humor is a good thing, by the way. Silliness is good too. This record has plenty of Silliness.

Psycotic Pineapple: Where's the Party?

1. Hang On for Your Life
2. The Devil Has Work for Idle Hands
3. I Forgot Who I Was
4. I Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Get Rid of You
5. The Saw
6. Headcheese
7. Sabrina
8. She's Boss
9. You're Gonna Miss Me
10. Drop Out
11. I Want Her So Bad

M: The Official Secrets Act

This is ALSO where I'm from…

Well, okay. This is more like WHEN I'm from. This record is an amazing example of Cold War entertainment. There were a few of those back in the good ol' days. James Bond movies were the best, of course. Anything that scared the pants off of you with THE BOMB was pretty good.
I recall the first time I ever saw "On the Beach," with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner and thought… "WOW!!! Look at Ava Gardner!!! Hubba Hubba!" But I also thought, of course, "It would be awful if all of humanity were to be destroyed by Atomic Warfare."

By that time, though, I'd also already seen the entire series of "Planet of the Apes" movies and, so, had thought "It would be awful if all of humanity were to be destroyed by a bunch of God-Damned Apes even if Kim Hunter (Hubba Hubba) were there!!!"

So, in the long run, The Entertainment Value of The Cold War turned out to be Greater Than The Warfare Value of The Cold War. If only that could be the case of all wars.

At least we got this record out of it. This is the fella (his name is Robin Scott, actually) that did that cute little song called "Pop Muzik" (New York, London, Paris, Munich...).

This record, "The Official Secrets Act" is his second album (released in 1980). My copy was purchased in "Used" condition and was previously owned by some College Radio Station. The following notes are what a Student Disc Jockey scribbled upon some labels that are affixed to the back of the jacket.

(1) Join the Party - Side 1 Cut 2 - Funny, Good beat, very catchy, great synth work EXCELLENT! Almost silly. Fades.

(2) RELAX - Side 2 Cut 1 -upbeat- very weird, but quite appealing-w/strings Give it a spin! ENDS COLD

2nd album by the man who brought you "Pop Muzik" - This is much stronger than the first album - Many synths, but not so much of a "Gimmick" album as an album of Rock n' Roll dance music. Very Melodic, not too weird, Don't Be Afraid.

M: The Official Secrets Act

1. Transmission (The World Is At Your Fingertips)
2. Join the Party
3. Working for the Corporation
4. Your Country Needs You
5. M'aider
6. Relax
7. Maniac
8. Keep It to Yourself
9. Abracadabra
10. The Official Secrets Act

This one has a bit more noise than some of my other rips, and then again it has less than some others as well.