THE BANGSTERS Escape from Bubblegumland & The Scarlet Plague 2 x mini lp 1984/85 New Rose 320 kbpsHunting Party* /Johnny's Free* / Lonesome Banjo* / Demented Sounds* / Gore Darlings* / Trash Brain* / Escape from Bubblegumland° / I Can't Handle this Dream° / Strangers° / We can only ...° / The Heat° / Disappointed°/ Call Me Tonight° / Bermuda (bonus track) / Electric Fields (bonus track).
*Escape from Bubblegumland - ° The Scarlet Plague
Produced by Swasse.
The Bangsters: Swasse : guitar & lead vocals / Rolf Rock : drums & vocals / U.B. Moore : bass & vocals.
Formed in 1984 as a three-piece garage/psyche/punkrock-band The Bangsters were signed by french label New Rose that same year and released two mini albums. "Escape From Bubblegumland" (nov -84) and "The Scarlet Plague" (jul -85). Like the Nomads or the Sinners , the Bangsters were a sweden band from the same period.
Cd artwork by MAX !
During the 1970s, Dickinson moved behind the board and began working as a producer. His work on the Memphis cult band Big Star's final album, "Third", would make Dickinson a cult figure himself, and he would also producer Big Star frontman Alex Chilton's "Like Flies On Sherbert" album in 1979. Any band that wanted a bit of Dickinson's Memphis magic would sojourn to the Bluff City, and Dickinson would produce albums by Jason & the Scorchers, Willy DeVille, Mojo Nixon, Green On Red, the Replacements, Chris Stamey, The True Believers, Mudhoney, Rocket from the Crypt and Screaming Jay Hawkins, among many others.
Greg Kihn began his career in his hometown of Baltimore, MD, working in the singer/songwriter mold, but switched to straightforward rock & roll when he moved to San Francisco in 1974. The following year, he became one of the first artists signed to M. Kaufman's now-legendary Beserkley Records. Along with Jonathan Richman, Earthquake, and the Rubinoos, G. Kihn helped to carve the label's sound (a melodic pop with a strong '60s pop sensibility) a refreshing alternative to the bloated prog rock of the time. In 1976, after his debut on the compilation Beserkley Chartbusters, he recorded his first album with his own band. Through the '70s, he released an album each year and built a strong cult following through constant touring, becoming Beserkley's biggest seller. In 1981, he earned his first bonafide hit with the Top 20 single, "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)," from the "Rockihnroll" album. He continued in a more commercial vein through the '80s with a series of pun-titled albums: "Kihntinued" (1982), "Kihnspiracy" (1983), "Kihntageous" (1984), and "Citizen Kihn" (1985). He scored his biggest hit with 1983's "Jeopardy" from the "Kihnspiracy" album. One more single broke the Top 40, 1985's "Lucky," but by the time "Love and Rock and Roll" was released in 1986, the puns had run out and so had the hits. Kihn kept a relatively low profile throughout the '90s, releasing "Mutiny" in 1994 and "Horror Show" in 1996. "All the Right Reasons" followed in mid-2000. 
Most tribute albums fail because the interpretations are too diverse to make the album consistent. "Brace Yourself: A Tribute to Otis Blackwell" sidesteps that problem by having the artists record with a house band well-versed in the material of the legendary rock & roll/R&B songwriter. Thankfully, the approach works; none of the artists turn in a bad performance, and the disc rocks (albeit rather gently) from start to finish. But then again, it wasn't that hard to make a good album when the artists included are W. Deville, D. Edmunds, G. Parker or K. Kristofferson ! 
Bebe Buell's great blessing -- that she's a beautiful woman attractive enough to enjoy success as both a fashion model and a Playboy centerfold -- has also been something of a curse as far as her musical ambitions are concerned. Yeah, she's sexy and she's dated a whole bunch of rock stars, but while models who think they can sing are a breed most reasonable folks fear, Buell also seems to know and love rock & roll, and judging from Retrosexual, she's a hard rock belter of no small ability. No, Buell won't make you forget either Chrissie Hynde or Joan Jett on any of the album's ten tunes, but she does merit a not-unfavorable comparison to both of them, and she lets loose with some attitudinal swagger that might draw a grin from Iggy Pop or David Johansen on "Lust Never Sleeps" or "Bored Baby." The album's production is a bit too loose for its own good, some of the material is kinda cheesy, and Buell's band could use a dash more garage punk sneer and a jigger less metal crunch (though the guitarists ape Johnny Thunders more often than Eddie Van Halen, thank the fates), but overall this is a solid and enjoyable piece of rock action from a tuff girl who deserves more props than she gets -- she's cooler than Avril Lavigne, rocks better than Courtney Love, and has more fun than both of 'em put together. Points added for "Claw Bite," the best song about being attacked by mutant humanoid lobsters of recent memory. 
"... Anyhow, Fan Club (a division of New Rose Records) is nuts enough to to re-release this spellbound blues album (the bum groping king) . Listening to it , you discover an aristocratic red-neck , one of the saltiest guitar ever heard, a shootist. For the rest of it , the song remains the same. Always the same old story of honky tonks and Gents Roms graffitis. Wilhelm sings like an open fly and the guitar sounds like a three days hangover. Put a pinafore on before you play it. The intro of "Styrofoam" is gonna spit greasy stains on your tie. It's not genuine country music, it's not genuine blues. It's not country blues either. It's just another bottle smashed on your face, a corny crack & a splash of muddy poetry that sang lullabies to one another. Picture this ! You 've just wasted five bucks on that ! Serves you right." 
LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH 
Although it was the Lords' third release, "The Method to Our Madness" sounds more like a debut. The band is bursting with energy and the production, by Chris Tsangerides, is much rawer than that on "The Lords Of The New Church" or "Is nothing sacred?" The opening salvo is "Method to My Madness," a four-on-the-floor rocker with a vocal contribution by I.R.S. Records impresario Miles Copeland, who admonishes Stiv Bators, "Now don't go tellin' secrets/This record's gotta sell!" After that, the aggression level stays pretty high, dipping only for a couple of ballads, "I Never Believed" and "When Blood Runs Cold" (the latter of which uses a string section; Stive Bators and strings -- who whould have thought it?) "The Method to Our Madness" contains some of the Lords' best non-hits: the sinister, sexy, bass-driven "Murder Style" and "The Seducer," the tale of a figure who might be a messiah, might be an antichrist, probably not too far off from how Bators saw himself. The closer, "My Kingdom Come," sounds like an ending, and it was; the Lords would never again record at full power before their split in 1988.
WILLY DEVILLE 
The shadow of the Rolling Stones, the classic role model for bands who embrace rock's scuzzy, dangerous, vaguely satanic side, looms large over Lords of the New Church's second album. The influence of Mick Jagger on Stiv Bators' lippy, sneering delivery has never been more apparent. Brian James emulates Keith Richards' rhythm-oriented guitar parts, leaving Dave Tregunna's bass as the lead instrument. Nicky Turner may not be Charlie Watts (who is?), but he provides a dependable backbeat. 
Though the album was well-received, the Lords became more notorious for their live shows, or more specifically for Bators's crazed abandon as a performer. A devotee of Iggy, Bators had in his Dead Boys days developed a reputation for being unafraid to risk his life in pursuit of rock & roll glory. He suffered innumerable on-stage injuries during his career, the most famous being the time he reportedly nearly hung himself during a Lords show. As the story goes, a favorite stunt of Bators' where he looped the mic cord around his neck went awry, resulting in his being clinically dead for several minutes. 
Although their roots were in punk rock, their debut album announced to the world that the Lords of the New Church were not your average punk band. They had ambitions: they would be the last beacon of truth in a world nearing its end. And while you can't call The Lords of the New Church entirely successful -- for every high point like "Open Your Eyes" or "Russian Roulette" there's a clunker like "Portobello" or "Eat Your Heart Out" -- you can't fault their effort. Guitarist Brian James and the rhythm section provide a wide-screen setting, with guest musicians adding synths and horns to the guitar bass, and drums foundation. But the face, mouth, and heart of the Lords was Sitv Bators, who casts himself here in the role of rock & roll poet/preacher/prophet. He was no Bob Dylan, to be sure, but on "The Lords of the New Church" he demonstrates lyrical maturity surprising to anyone who ever heard Dead Boys songs like "I Need Lunch." Consider these few lines from "New Church," which may not be high art, but make their point and also serve as a neat summary of the Lords ethos: "Truth can't be found on the television/Throw away youth ya gotta take a stand/Music is your only weapon/Spanners in the works go start your gang..."Lords of the New Church" is very much an artifact of the Reagan era and somewhat dated in its approach, but Bators' core message of personal freedom, and the fervor and sincerity with which he delivered it, have retained their resonance across the years.