I Just Don't Know

I'm running out of juice, but wanted to squeeze this one in anyway.

I could use some inspiration.

If only there was someone who could inspire me daily....

In the Dark (1978)

A long time ago in a galaxy called Hollywood there lived a weirdo by the name of Kim Fowley who made strange records and who put together a girl group called the Runaways which gave the world our introduction to both Joan Jett & Lita Ford.

When the Runaways had had enough of his weirdo shit he went on to put together another group called Venus & the Razorblades to cash in on the whole punk rock fad.

That group was fronted by one Dyan Diamond who was all of 14 at the time she auditioned and won the lead vocal spot for Fowley. (and is pretty creepy given some of the sexual harrassment claims that came out about Fowley later on...)

After that short lived group called it a day, Fowley produced this record for the then 16 year old Dyan Diamond. If a middle aged man producing a bluesy "punk" record for a 16 year old girl with lots of rock and roll cliches and some too much harmonica is your cup of lukewarm poison, have I got a record for you!

I personally don't know what to make of it. I mean, I want to kind of like it on principle, but the record itself makes that hard. Shitty covers of "Baby What You Want Me to Do" by Jimmy Reed & a truly terrible pass at Elvis Costello's "Mystery Dance" don't help matters. She can sing, but the material isn't doing anybody any favors except the studio guys who are getting their paycheck out of it.

But I mean, I own the record. I've listened to it more than once. It's just not that often that happens.

Meanwhile, I haven't been able to confirm it anywhere, but it's not unpossible that your daily source of inspiration and life coaching books could come from Dyan Diamond herself.

One can only hope..

Blah blah blah

It's the 13th.
Compilation time.

Amuck (1982)

• A1 Dali's Daughter - Cold War
• A2 JFA - Bouncer
• A3 Meat Puppets - Unpleasant
• A4 Paris 1942 - She Cracked
• A5 Killer Pussy - Pepperoni Ice Cream
• A6 Sun City Girls - Bobby Sands Boogie
• A7 Victory Acres - Bottles Neck
• A8 Happy People - Happy People
• A9 Soylent Greene - Soylent Greene
• A10 Precious Secrets - I Wanna Know
• A11 The Teds - After the War (Meat to Eat)
• B1 International Language - Long Journey to Nowhere
• B2 Knebnagauje - Annex
• B3 Tone Set - Out! Out! Out!
• B4 Poet's Corner - History of the World and the Beat Ch.22
• B5 Mask - Windows
• B6 Destruction - Time

Filler on the Spectrum Ends

Digging deep again for more from previous entrants because I like completeness when it comes to discographies. I want to have it all. What's the point of having a collection if everything is incomplete?

Good Times (1983)

So back about four whole years ago I posted this Washington DC area based band debut single which some people really seemed to like based on feedback. It's the Acrylix. There's another 12" in between that and this that is perhaps the missing link, but here we have a 12" dance song with an instrumental remix on the flip and a track of nearly two minutes of people clapping and chanting the title for your club mix/roller disco needs.

You're welcome?

The Real World (1985)

And now as a palate cleanser a band I have not previously posted crap by.
They called themselves Don't No and they played hardcore.
The record is on Mystic and is from 1985.

You already know what this sounds like without even hearing it.

You're welcome?

Since We're Catching Up on 12" Vinyl from 1983

Here's another post of a 12" record by a band whose previous 7" contributions have already been posted nearly a year ago.

I had to do a bit of digging to find the original post because the band name is so forgettable that I'd failed to remember to even put it the original post itself.

That failure by omission was my fault.

The band was called the Groceries.

the Groceries (1983)

Here they are again. Pleasant, smart and smart ass. It's the Groceries. It being 1983 and we're already deep into Reagan's first term there's a bit of politics. Some more light ska. Lots of pop. Kind of insubstantial, but a few steps up from the previous singles. The playing and writing is certainly tighter.

 It sounds like summer of 1983 in the suburbs with the buzzing of a lawnmower in the distance and a light breeze in through the window. Maybe a plane is flying overhead. Maybe it just passed. But you're lying in bed with big bulky headphones on and feeling just ever so mildly rebellious at listening to something weird.

I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing.

If I was Clever I'd Have Posted This Back in June...

It's nearing midnight & I just had a nice coffee with a few spare Chinese food burps.
I don't really have much up my sleeve for the night. If I was going to go anywhere I'd have left a few hours ago and with the leftover Chinese in the fridge I'm able to put off going to the grocery store for another couple of days. The only thing I really had on the docket this week was a haircut anyway.

And I really need a haircut.
Really.
It's currently at that inelegant length that suggests that I may or may not have a 280Z blasting Def Leppard in the 7-11 parking lot while I ogle high school girls.

I don't.

So on with the show.

D-Day (1983)

So last October I had posted this band's two singles from 1979 & 81. They're pretty good. I mean, the first one is a novelty song about an underage girl, but you know the other one is a good skinny tie New Wave bopper. I knew that they had a full length on a major label. (A & M to be precise), but I was pretty wary since that tends not to work out so well based on past experience. At best a spit warm slab of vinyl mediocrity steeped in enormous heaps of 80s production touches that have not aged well.

I was wrong. This record is actually a hell of a lot better than it really has any right to be.

Based on the credits on the back they took their money and flew to the UK and worked with producer Bob Sargeant who besides helming the Fall's "Live at the Witch Trials" which already makes him a king in my book, was fresh from successful production work on the English Beat records, had a decent hit with Haircut 100 and would produce XTC's "Mummer" the same year.
Dude was a good choice.

So instead of making the jump to a major and making a steaming dump of a record, they managed to make quite an enjoyable New Wave slice that deserves a little credit. Performances, songs and production are all spot on and should have at least accounted for something. The only thing it really seems to lack is an obvious single. "Dance It Off" has a flair that might have made a decent 12" remix for discos. "More Than That" is a great pop number with a bit of ska flavor that could have done well in some markets. The closer "Lonely People" is strong.

The real stand out track for me is "Secret Worlds" which is just catchy as fuck but sung by the bass player, so not quite as representative of them as a whole. But it's a great song. No wonder he kept it for himself to sing.

But for whatever reason, the record came out and likely went straight away into the cut-out bins and was forgotten. The good thing is that it's dirt fucking cheap on Discogs. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of your own. It's worth the few bucks.

I feel like I owe Bob Sargeant a beer.