Onyx - Call of the Wild and Jet Set singles

Last July I posted a rip of a 1982 cassette by Onyx, an obscure Boston-area New Wave band. Their two 45s had long eluded me, but last week a generous reader provided me rips of them. (Thanks, Martin!) They are:

• Call of the Wild b/w S.O.S.
• Jet Set b/w Saturn 09

"S.O.S." and "Jet Set" appear on the cassette as well, but these vinyl rips obviously have better sound quality. "Call of the Wild" and "Saturn 09" round out the Onyx canon with more of the same sweet blend of minimal electronics and heavy basslines. Martin has also provided nice scans of the sleeves. The back cover of "Jet Set" contains the most information about the band I have yet seen: production and copyright credits are for Judd Stone and vocals are by "Beveur." The songs were recorded and mixed the The Loft in Boston and engineered by M.J. Klein. Web searches have turned up no more information on these people; does anyone out there know of them and their pre- and post-Onyx endeavors?

Get the vinyl rips here or here.

Onyx - four-song cassette, 1982

One of the great lost bands of the new wave era is Boston-area Onyx, unmentioned in any online music guide, unrepresented in the online music marketplace but for a single 7" 45 of "Call of the Wild" b/w "S.O.S." on GEMM (as of this writing). Between 1981 and 1983 they released just two singles and a four-song cassette that included two songs from the single releases, all on their own Nu-Age label. They sound like a three-piece: acoustic drums (sometimes phase-shifted), a heavy electric bass that serves as the lead instrument, and keyboards that create a spacey atmosphere; the overall effect is of a more beat-heavy Krautrock. The female vocalist does not sing, but whispers or recites a narrative over the driving instrumental backing. "S.O.S." is particularly infectious:



Presented here is a rip of the cassette, the full track listing being:

1. S.O.S.


2. Robot World


3. Jet Set


4. Planet X

Total playing time is about 23 minutes. I don't have the actual cassette handy, so the picture above is just a reconstruction; there was no cover art. Update 9/3/08: I found the tape! The actual cassette is now pictured above.

Update 3/7/09: The two Onyx 45's are now posted here.

Update 1/6/11: see comments for new links.