Various Artists - Merkin Records Seedy Sampler

Black Pete must have been the only alternative band in Baltimore that wasn't included on this 1989 20-band sampler CD from Merkin Records:

1. U. Violets - Gade (actually Ultra-Violets, must have been a legal issue that prevented them using the name on this CD)
2. All Mighty Senators - Wink (band still active)
3. Lambs Eat Ivy - Serpentine
4. Bazooka Joe - Insomnia
5. Dark Carnival - Back to the Factory
6. Monkeyspank - Dr. Omar
7. Jade - Line
8. Lungfish - Return Descender
9. The Pearl Fishers - Black Box (not the David Scott band)
10. The Unknown - Empty House of Night
11. Rise - God Bless the Creeps
12. Elements of Design - I Love a Man with Rhythm
13. The Last Picture Show - Destination (led by writer Louis Maistros as Lu Maestro)
14. Braver Noise - The Smiths Have Gone to Heaven
15. Seesaw - Rochelle Bridges
16. Motor Morons - Another Girl (may still be active, though no shows since 2007; imagine Devo songs played by Einstürzende Neubauten)
17. Mark Harp - The Drill (guitarist for Null Set/Cabal, also of the Beatoes, Motor Morons, Chelsea Graveyard, the Diamondheads, etc.)
18. Infant Lunch - Cut the Cord
19. Grey March - Beneath the Sea
20. Reptile House - Turning Disease

There's quite a variety of musical styles here: punk, gothic, new wave, Springsteenian populist rock, funk, and more. Get the CD rip here or here.

Makaton Chat - Strange Beach

Makaton Chat were a four-piece band from Stockton, UK, who released one single (Federal State Chance, 1982) and one album (Strange Beach, 1983) on Trans Records. Band members were:

• Anthony Lindo: lead vocal, keyboards
• John Hodgson: keyboards, vocal
• Paul Fowler: drums
• Richard Holmes: bass

On Strange Beach they are joined by:

• Sally Jones: saxophones
• Roy Neave: guitars
• Steve Graham: guitars

I would classify their music as "UK alternative pop," somewhere along the lines of Haircut 100. There are a few really stunning tracks on Strange Beach (Dormant Skyline, Lines, Festival), and several more good ones, ten tracks in all. Get the vinyl rip here or here. I'm not sure when Makaton Chat broke up; there are a couple live clips on YouTube from 1986:

These performances show the band as a five-piece; does anyone know who the guitarist was for that gig (Dovecot Arts Centre, 1986)?