So it's the middle of the night. I had thought I'd go somewhere earlier, but it got later than I wanted because I've been spending too much time dicking around with this crap. Lucky you.
Fashion Central (1994)
So about the only thing I've ever found about this band is a small video for the song "Count Me In" attributed to a band named Schwa (though Fashion Central is named in the comment) There's girls exercising in the video. It's otherwise just about the catchiest little pop tune you're ever likely to hear today and maybe most of tomorrow as well.
It also says they were from Richmond, VA. As far as I'm aware this is their only released work.
It's kind of unfortunate. I quite enjoy all three songs on this one.
Ekstasis (1977)
The Fans were one of the first of the independent bands that would appear in the fertile crescent of the Athens, Ga scene that also spawned bands like the B52's & REM. They put out three singles and didn't become famous. One of the main guys in the Fans was Kevin Dunn who made a few records on his own that will appear at some point down the line.
This record owes a bunch to the artier side of concurrent UK at the time but owes a lot more to Roxy Music than the Sex Pistols. Lots of what were probably very very expensive at the time synths and a cover of the Tornadoes 1962 hit instrumental "Telstar" which was produced by the incredibly innovative record maker Joe Meek before he a bit off the deep end and shot his landlady and himself. Everybody else lived happily ever after.
Here's what I've found:
ReplyDeleteThe Fashion Central single has SCHWA in the run-out groove on both sides
https://www.discogs.com/Fashion-Central-Count-Me-In/release/7112044
Tim McCready co-led the bands Schwa and Fashion Central
http://www.cherub.rocks/timothy-bailey-the-humans/
The wikipedia page for Michael Hearst has a discography starting with two Schwa 'albums' and a Fashion Central one.
The Schwa ones appear to be demo tapes
http://articles.dailypress.com/1992-12-11/features/9212110021_1_cassettes-demo-bands
I can find nothing on the Fashion Central 'album', "Underwood", but the Michael Hurst wikipedia page lists it as being on Brilliant Records, and I reckon that it's probably a cassette with no catalogue number judging by this
https://www.twee.net/labels/brilliant.html
It looks to me like on https://www.discogs.com/artist/587569-Schwa-2 the single and the two tracks on compilations are our Schwa and the albums are two different unrelated Schwas.
Looks like Discogs has two different Schwas mixed up and I'd love to find a copy of the Underwood, but it's a ghost even on the internet. It seriously looks like that wiki page is the only reference to it anywhere.
DeleteI think it's possible that Fashion Central was just Schwa renamed, partly because of the video and also because it looks like on the Schwa single they'd already started appending VA to their name.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. In 1994 Schwa changed its name to Fashion Central simply not to be confused with a few other US bands also called Schwa. I counted 3 other Schwa bands and one more called Schwah. That is funny.
ReplyDelete