7" compilation thingees from 1995

Here we are.

It's the 13th.

Hayfever #1 (1995)

The profile for this on Discogs states:

Hayfever was a German written magazine which came out very irregularly but always included a 7" containing mostly unreleased tracks. The mag covered anything between early IDM, postrock, psychedelica and experimental. Originally started in Bremen, some staff members later moved on to Hamburg. 

Enlarge the picture if you want to see who's on it. There's a couple of NZ folks and a couple of others. I'm not your monkey.

 Grimsey split (1993)

A split seven inch in only the loosest terms. Both sides are the work of John Crozier who played  lead guitar with the Hang Ups on their first couple records that got posted back in October. (follow the links there on the right. We'll wait.) The two projects are Ninian Hawick and the Shebrews. Both of them had full lengths to go with this taste test. (We'll see if I feel up to it later.)

Lost then Found

I found a single that I wasn't aware I'd misplaced.

the Boys (us) (1977)

For whatever reason this had gotten itself stuck in a weird pile of terrible Polish new wave crap that I'd gotten in a package deal with a couple of singles that I actually wanted from eBay. I'm not sure how that happened. It just did and there it was. So here's Nebraska.

It's some really sweet Power Pop shit that probably got them laid a lot back in the day in Lincoln, Nebraska. They deserved it. This is good shit.

Europeans (1978)

A year later to just as little interest to the world in general Europeans released their namesake single "Europeans" which is a nifty little toe tapper with some expensive sounding synthesizer styles and a song that they had such hopes for that they rerecorded it for their only other single on a different label. It apparently didn't do much to lift their profile. They broke up shortly after.

Things that are...interesting ca. 1982.

Not a whole lot on either of these objects.

Beef Tabloid split (1982)

You can cross Nebraska off your fifty states list.

This single was included with a copy of Beef Tabloid #9, a zine started in Omaha, Nebraska in 1980. The  sum total of which I know about it comes from this.  As for the bands themselves? Nobody knows anything. Even a guy in Nebraska who wrote a music column in 2011 devoted to music from Nebraska seemed mystified and stymied. That should peak your interest at least. Personally I kind of prefer the Bump Fuzz side if for no other reason than I think the moniker is a euphemism from less pubic hair phobic times. A hole is a hole, indeed.

 Venus Dressed in Plastic Garbage (1982)

Meanwhile due east about 1440.8 miles (give or take) in Boston, Mickey Bliss was strapping on his boots and laying down this dark little synth ditty. The title alone qualifies it as a masterpiece. Is this that Cold Wave that I sometimes see listed places where people are wont to endlessly divide music into genres and subgenres and microgenres  until things get so muddled and confused and arguable that the labels themselves lose all sense of meaning? Maybe.

I like New Wave Power Pop in a 12" format

There were some 12" eps I needed to digitize. I share. Pictures unfortunately are from the deep end of the interwebs since the camera I have is kind of potato quality and photographing 12" covers is a pain in my lazy ass.


There was a time when it was totally uncool to enjoy local level New Wave records and nice pop songs by skinny tie wearing bands. That was not punk and you were a poser, or a loser or a dork or some such nonsense. You'd have to front a little at the all ages show to keep your street cred as somebody who was serious about their music and pop songs were way too commercial sounding to lend you any credence as a taste maker. Those guys were selling out and trying to make it big because apparently by joining a band you took some kind of unspoken vow of poverty in exchange for you artistic freedom which required you to make music that would only appeal to a small impoverished group of jerky pretentious teens in leather jackets and pink hair or something. Or so it seemed, at least.

I didn't care too much. I was/am a dork. I love a good pop song.

Love at First Sight (1981)

The Peter Dayton Band kicked out this jam in Boston in 1981. Previously Peter Dayton had been part of La Peste who were responsible for the second best song referencing blow jobs to come out of the Boston area, "Better Off Dead"(Which is in the queue somewhere down the line, kids) But where La Peste were a driving kbd style band, the solo stuff was a lot more farfisa new wave with surf and rockabilly reference points. It rocks a lot more gently but you can dance to it and your girlfriend would go with you to the show. Ric Ocasek was behind the board for the recording of this and the rest of the Cars make appearances in various capacities as well for those Cars completists.
My only experience with the band is an appearance at some really odd outdoor show that me and some teenage friends piled in a car to drive to the boonies to see. Peter Dayton played the first slot and then there was the Jim Carroll Band (with Lenny Kaye on guitar) and the headliners were the Ramones. There were probably a few other bands in there too, but none of them remain in the failing memory banks. It was wicked good as the kids are wont to say.

It's the Renaissance (1983)

Meanwhile a couple of years later in Nebraska, a young gentleman by the name of Danny O'Kane released this little new wave power pop elongated player with backing by the Model Citizen Club. It seems pretty unfairly obscure. Perhaps it's the congas. I find it to be otherwise pleasant listening. Brief googling suggests that these intrepid musicians made their way east to better enjoy obscurity and poverty in New York City where another record was released. It only awaits the days to come where the obscurists and enshrine it as a lost masterpiece based on its rarity more than its content. Until then, enjoy it. It's a worthwhile spin.