Department S

I don't really know much about Department S. Apparently they named themselves after some short lived UK television show about spies. If you're really adventurous you there exists a truly ancient webpage with an earthlink(!) address that purports to tell their tale. I'm inclined to believe it since it's that old. They had two other singles beside these two that I don't currently have and there are numerous versions of each of these. "Going Left Right" is a truly kickass tune. It's the sort of tune I have to hit replay on when it comes up in random play. I quite like it.

Department S

I'm pretty sure that "Is Vic There?" is probably the first song I heard on some college radio station in Boston back in 1980. A number of years later when I was in the throes of a first failed band the other guitarist chose "Put All the Crosses on the Right Boxes" as a song he wanted to cover.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Have you ever wondered what a minimal synth pop version of Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" would sound like? Me neither, but here's Sun Yama anyway.

Sun Yama (1982)


And then you have to ask yourself, "Well, how can I top that shit show in the latter half of this post?" There is one only decent answer to be found in the pile of crap I've recently digitized. The Teenage Boatpeople. Go on Facebook and pretend you have an idea of who the fuck they are. Well, probably the only thing you really need to know is that amongst their members was noted Free Jazz & Improvisational musician, Milo Fine. It seems likely that nothing on this record existed until "record" was pressed and the tape began to roll. It works though in its own messed up fashion. Let this music be Free

 

4 by the Teenage Boatpeople (1979)

Cap'n Jazz vs. Gang Green

 

Cap'n Jazz (1993)

For the longest while I'd prowl budget 7" bins and look for things that seemed interesting and if I could pick them up for a buck or two, I'd just buy them. It was a bit of a gamble that sometimes paid off and sometimes didn't. It's part of the reason I've got so many fucking 45's. One time I picked up this particular single by Cap'n Jazz. Apparently some of the members went onto bigger things that I never listened to. I also didn't listen to this single much. I'm giving it another chance. I also didn't scan the cover. Make of that what you will.

Gang Green on the other hand were the fastest hardcore band in Boston. They would eventually turn into a walking punk rock advertisement for Budweiser. I saw them a few times at various all ages shows at the Channel in Boston. This is and their tracks on the "Boston Not LA" compilation are probably their high points in my book. (If you forget "Taaang Dub" happened. I assume that it exists to fill up the rest of a side that only had a 45 second song on it.)

 

Sold Out

Whatever Happened to Barbara Manning?

It seemed like at one point in the early 90's that Barbara Manning was the It Girl of the moment and seemed poised to give Liz Phair a run for her money by actually being, I dunno, talented and a good songwriter. Then at some point she kind of dropped off the face of the indie rock planet. It's too bad. I quite enjoyed her stuff. "B4 We Go Under" was written by Robert Scott who would later record it with one of his many side projects the Magick Heads. "I Love You a Thousand Ways" was a hit for Lefty Frizell in 1959. The single itself is one of those way too nicely made silk screened covers by C.O.N. Artists.

Don't Let It Bring You Down b/w Haze is Free was released on Forced Exposure in 1990. I like this one too. She's on Facebook. Go ahead and Like her.

 

Barbara Manning

Power Pop Post

The Notes are notable for the presence of Arf Arf Records bigwig and Space Negro, Eric Lindgren as well as Power Pop legends the Paley Brothers. It's a double helping of some sweet high school angst.

the Notes (1979)


While we're at it with some Power Pop here's the Numbers from Delaware. This is one for that collection of fifty bands from the fifty states that you didn't know you were starting until the moment you actually remembered that Delaware existed. You're welcome. The a-side is the winner here. Apparently they released an earlier 5 song 12" ep. Keep an eye out for me.

 

The Numbers (1980)

The Great Unknown

It's not often that I can't find a trace of something somewhere in the vast wasteland of useless and arcane information of the Internet. I'm usually pretty good with Google and know that everything you can imagine is somebody's favorite thing ever and that they've usually felt compelled to go online and share it with the whole fucking world. Sometimes a search is further complicated by the use of some kind of really common word as the band name (eg. Anonymous, or the Groceries) Not so for Phun. (The closest I get is a Phish tribute band that I won't waste both of our times by linking to.) I can't seem to find a trace of them on the web after a solid three minutes of looking.

Which I suppose may raise a curious eyebrow in the average person with a bit of intrigue and the rubbing of palms together for the chance to hear some uncovered gem that's been otherwise lost in the mists of time. The veritable wet dream of every record collector. Unfortunately this may not be the droid you are looking for. Phun's "Music for the Masses" is not really very good.

They were a fairly nondescript female fronted alternative band based in Southern California judging by the back cover. She's got a decent enough voice but the songs don't really ask much of it. ("The Knife" is a story of stealing her best friend's boyfriend which is a bit amusing.) The songs just kind of plod. (Your mileage will, of course, vary. But I don't reckon by much.) All of which makes one wonder if embarrassment isn't the reason no trace of Phun is otherwise found online.

However all is not a total loss. "Hit & Run" almost, just almost cranks things up a notch to...well, not even close to 11, let's say 6 1/2. It's also coincidentally the only song not credited to someone in the band. Make of that what you will. If nothing else Phun finally does exist on the web.

 

Music for the Masses (1982) 

To make it up to you, here's Subs very catchy single on Stiff Records.They were Scottish just like the Bay City Rollers but with fewer tartan scarves.

 

the Subs (1978)

So It Begins Again

So I've decided to do another Swinging Singles Club blog. It's probably not a smart thing to do.

I did one a couple of years ago before I went back to school and stopped having time to do dumb crap like rip and post old 45's on the internet. I've also since realized that I had made some really shitty rips back then and decided to start over. It's kind of daunting and stupid, but it's my decision  and since you're the beneficiary of my stupidity, who are you to question it.

This leads to the decision about what to post first. So for SSC 2.0, I think I'm going to go with the two most downloaded posts of the previous one.

The Angst in my Pants (1980)

Weird Noise Ep (1979)

Both of which made it onto some dude's Top 100 list of DIY records a number of years back. I don't care, I bought them years ago for cheap because they looked weird and funny. I was correct. Your mileage will vary with your tolerance of musical nonsense.