Monthly Archives: February 2009

80’s Music Rules ~ More from Retrospect CFRC-FM ~ 02-24-09

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Sizzlin’ hot, Ed-FM turned up the heat a few degrees last night. He came out of the gate full tilt with the Payola$ and ended on a high note with Vicious Pink’s “Cccan’t You See.” Where else can you be entertained and have an enjoyable 80’s music lesson all rolled into one? I was batting way less than .500 in my attempts to ID the songs/artists. I should know better than to try to outsmart the Master of Obscure 80’s.

 

Be sure to tune in to Ed and his spectacular 80’s Retrospect show on CFRC-FM from 8 pm until 10 pm on Tuesday nights. Ed takes requests by phone: (613) 533-CFRC (2372) or email: retrospectcfrc at yahoo dot ca. Indulge yourself in some “80’s Music that doesn’t suck.” I guarantee die-hard 80’s New Wave/post-punk fans will not be disappointed.

 

CFRC-FM Playlist February 24, 2009

 

Basement of Carruthers Hall in Queens University, Kingston, Ontario

ED-FM ~ Retrospect

80’s Music That Doesn’t Suck

If the “Listen Live” link on the CFRC Website doesn’t work, copy and past this URL into your Windows Media Player: http://sunsite.queensu.ca:8000/

 

  1. Payola$ – China Boys
  2. The Pogues – Fiesta
  3. Men Without Hats – Security (Everybody Feels Better With) (10” Single)
  4. Brian Briggs – Look Around The Corner
  5. The Catholic Girls – God Made You For Me
  6. Voice – Lime
  7. The Comateens – The Late Mistake
  8. Land Of Giants – Cannibal Dolls (12” single)
  9. Pukka Orchestra – Rubber Girl
  10. Jona Lewie – Big Shot – Momentarily
  11. Way Of The West – Drum (Social mix)
  12. Robbie Rox – Let’s Get Dirty
  13. Huang Chung – Ti Na Na
  14. The Glove – Mouth To Mouth (The Landry vocal mix)
  15. The The – Sweet Bird Of Truth (Extended mix)
  16. Zounds – Can’t Cheat Karma
  17. Chalk Circle – Superman (Meets The Man Of Steel)
  18. Sad Lovers And Giants – Clint
  19.  Silicon Teens – Sad Flight
  20. Rough Trade – Fashion Victim
  21. Sandro Carlos Camerin – London Derriere
  22. Comsat Angels – You Move Me (12” single)
  23. Vicious Pink – Cccan’t You See

80’s Music Rules ~ Criminally Underrated Artists/ Bands ~ Abecedarians

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abecedarians

(Check out exciting, updated information HERE.)

Most people will recognize Abecedarians from their single 80’s hit called “Smiling Monarchs.” The original band formed in 1983 in Los Angeles and consisted of Chris Manecke (guitar, vocals, keyboards), John Blake (bass), and Kevin Dolan (drums). “Smiling Monarchs” was mixed by Bernard Sumner of New Order and released on Factory Records. The New Order influence is apparent in the prominent use of synthesizer, the magnitude of which is not heard in any of the band’s subsequent recordings. This debut track became instantly popular and is featured on many 80’s various artist collections.

 chris-manecke

Abecedarians moved to Caroline one year later for their debut EP Eureka.  Resin followed in 1987. Two compilations have since been released: AB-CD (1988), which is a collection of nearly all of Eureka and Resin, plus the Factory single “Smiling Monarchs,” and The Other Side of the Fence (which includes unavailable early demo tracks).

 

Beyond “Smiling Monarchs,” the band had a unique, spare sound that was both genuine and endearing. Chris Manecke’s understated vocals, churning guitar, and accompanying earnest rhythm licks via John Blake’s chugging bass and Kevin Dolan’s thrumming drum kit made the band’s sound larger than a mere trio, yet refreshingly raw á la garage rock. The lyrics are dark, yet delivered in a way that makes the listener think perhaps the intention is more ironic than morose. There’s no denying Abecedarians’ post-punk roots.

 

Abecedarians recordings are rare and very hard to get. I have heard from John Blake that a box set is planned for release. No date has been set, but I know that such a release will make a lot of Abecedarians fans very happy. It has been a long wait for those wishing to replace lovingly worn vinyl with updated audio tracks. Here’s hoping the long wait will soon be over.

John Blake’s MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/northjohn

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abecedarians_(band)

“Dinner” via YouTube user missparker0106:

“I Glide” via YouTube user missparker0106:

“Soil” via YouTube user tadeuz30:

“Smiling Monarchs” via YouTube user missparker0106:

 

ABECEDARIANS DISCOGRAPHY

SMILING MONARCHS 12″ EP (1985)
smiling-monarchs-epTracklist:

01 Smiling Monarchs
02 Benway’s Carnival

 

EUREKA EP (1986)eurekaTracklist :

01 Ghosts
02 Soil
03 Beneath the City of the Hedonistic Bohemians
04 I Glide
05 Mice & Coconut Tree
06 The Misery of Cities

 

RESIN (1987)resinTracklist :

01 Dinner
02 Spaghetti Western
03 Where Whitie Ain’t Allowed
04 Wild Flowers Grow From the Trash
05 Press Escape
06 Laugh at Yourself
07 Sufferin’ Tarnation
08 Panic in Needle Park

 

AB-CD (1988) ab-cdTracklist :

01 Ghosts
02 Soil
03 Other Side Of The Future, The
04 I Glide
05 Mice And Coconut Tree
06 Smiling Monarchs
07 Dinner
08 Spaghetti Western
09 Where White Ain’t Allowed
10 Press Escape
11 Laugh At Yourself
12 Surf Western

 

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE 10″ (1990) other_side

Tracklist:

CD 1


01 Beneath The City Of The Hedonistic Bohemians
02 Ghosts
03 John’s Pop
04 Come Out
05 Classic
06 Spaghetti Western
07 Switch
08 Where’s Karen
09 Soil
10 The Other Side Of The Fence
11 Wildflower
12 They Said Tomorrow

CD 2

01 Benways Carnival
02 Beneath The City Of The Hedonistic Bohemians
03 The Misery Of Cities
04 Wildflowers Grow From The Tras
05 They Said Tomorrow

live gig on June 17, 1988 :
06 Where Whitie Ain’t Allowed
07 Press Escape
08 Dinner
09 Lift Off
10 Spaghetti Western
11 Soil
12 Laugh at Yourself

 

80’s Music Rules ~ More from Retrospect CFRC-FM ~ 02-17-09

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Yet another fabulous evening of uber-obscure 80’s music on Retrospect at CFRC-FM. The first five tracks that Ed-FM spun left me scratching my head and Googling lyrics like mad. There was no way I was going to identify any of the songs that kicked off a set of delightful, dance-in-your-chair, ear-tingling, 80’s tunage. So, I decided to just throw up my hands in surrender, sit back and enjoy what I was hearing, and leave it up to Ed to back-announce the selections.

 

The music was sensational, truly a welcome gift after a hard day at work, and a pleasurable history lesson indeed. These bands are definitely worth research and a little digging for at your local used-vinyl store. Ed even played Abecedarians, a personal favorite of mine from the 80’s. Mostly known for their one hit “Smiling Monarchs,” the Abs have a plethora of scorching songs. In fact, I’ve just been inspired to feature them here as part of my “Criminally Underrated” series.

 

Be sure to tune in to Ed and his out-of-this-universe 80’s Retrospect show on CFRC-FM from 8 pm until 10 pm on Tuesday nights. I guarantee hard-core 80’s New Wave/post-punk fans will not be disappointed.

 

CFRC-FM Playlist February 17, 2009

 

Basement of Carruthers Hall in Queens University, Kingston, Ontario

ED-FM ~ Retrospect

80’s Music That Doesn’t Suck

If the “Listen Live” link on the CFRC Website doesn’t work, copy and past this URL into your Windows Media Player: http://sunsite.queensu.ca:8000/

 

  1. Moral Support – Living With Passion (Extended Mix)
  2. Iam Siam – Talk To Me (I Can Hear You Now) (Extended Mix)
  3. Big In Japan – Suicide A Go-Go
  4. NeoA4 – Say This To Me (Extended Mix)
  5. The Bridge – Industrial Love Dance (Love Mix)
  6. Durutti Column – The Missing Boy
  7. Vis A Vis – I Am The Night
  8. Lori and the Chameleons – Touch
  9. Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short (Extended Mix)
  10. XTC – Summer’s Cauldron
  11. XTC – Grass
  12. Susan Fassbender – Twilight Café
  13. New Regime – Don’t Let Go (12” Single)
  14. The Hush – Dancing In East Berlin
  15. Handful Of Snowdrops – Gabrielle
  16. This Fear – Soldier Of This Fashion
  17. Abecedarians – Soil
  18. Zip – Your Love (Extended Mix)
  19. SS-Say – Care

 

80’s Music Rules ~ Criminally Underrated Artists/ Bands ~ The Lucy Show

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Here is yet another 80’s post-punk/ New Wave band that deserved much more attention and accolades than it received. It was called ”The Lucy Show” and was formed by Mark Bandola (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Rob Vandeven (vocals, bass), with Pete Barraclough (guitars, keyboards), and Bryan Hudspeth (drums). Bandola and Vandeven were two Canadian-born friends who had moved to England in the late 1970s.

In 1983, The Lucy Show released their first single, “Leonardo da Vinci,” on Shout Records. The legendary John Peel took notice of this track and gave it airplay. In 1984,  The Lucy Show was invited by R.E.M. to support them on their 1984 UK tour.

In 1985, the band’s debut album, …undone, was released. Even though the album enjoyed great critical acclaim and a meteoric rise up the charts, the band soon learned that they were being dropped from their current record label A&M UK. This put a serious crimp in their upward climb to success.

In 1986, the band released their second album, Mania on Big Time Records. This album garnered two major college-radio hits and a video for “A Million Things” which received airplay on MTV. However, Big Time Records went belly-up, again foiling the chances for the band to break through the music industry’s barriers in a memorable way.

The band disbanded, leaving Bandola and Vandeven to release one final single, “Wherever Your Heart Will Go”, in 1988 on Redhead Records. The single flopped and The Lucy Show faded into obscurity forever.

Fortunately for us, Mania was reissued on CD containing several bonus tracks. Unfortunately, …undone has not been re-released and to this day remains out of print. This is a shame because three excellent, moody, gorgeously lush songs are on this album: Ephemeral (This is No Heaven), The White Space, and Twister. Another blogger, Bubu from Musicalement Votre is a huge The Lucy Show fan. Visit his site and do a search for the band to find out more information.

 

“Ephemeral (This Is No Heaven)” via YouTube user tadeuz30:

 

“Part Of Me Now” via YouTube user rockcientounico:

 

“A Million Things” via YouTube user thewhitespace:

 

the-lucy-show1

…undone (out of print)

 

 

 

 

 

Tracklist:

1.      Ephemeral (This Is No Heaven)

2.      Resistance

3.      Come Back To The Living

4.      The White Space

5.      Wipe Out

6.      Twister

7.      Undone

8.      Remain

9.      Better On The Hard Side

10. Remembrances

11. Dream Days

 

the-lucy-show Purchase Mania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracklist:

1.      Land And The Life

2.      View From The Outside

3.      Sojourn’s End

4.      A Million Things

5.      Sad September

6.      Sun And Moon

7.      Shame

8.      Melody

9.      Part Of Me Now

10. New Message

11. Jam In E

12. Invitation

13. Civil Servant

14. Sun And Moon (live)

15. View From The Outside (live)

16. New Message (basement demo)

17. A Million Things (original mix)

18. A Million Things [multimedia track]

 

 

80’s Music Rules ~ More from Retrospect CFRC-FM ~ 02-10-09

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OK, so I’m sitting at my PC, minding my own business last night….and I was absolutely blindsided by the playlist from Ed-FM at CFRC. Talk about feeling inadequate – I was stumped time and again by song after song. Almost made me hang up my music blogging days. Well, no, not really. That’s actually what makes listening to Retrospect on CFRC every Tuesday night from 8 pm until 10 pm such a pleasure – I never fail to learn something new about 80’s music.

If you are an 80’s Post-Punk, New Wave, uber-obscure connoisseur, give Ed-FM a listen. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

CFRC-FM Playlist February 10, 2009

Basement of Carruthers Hall in Queens University, Kingston, Ontario
ED-FM ~ Retrospect
80’s Music That Doesn’t Suck
If the “Listen Live” link on the CFRC Website doesn’t work, copy and past this URL into your Windows Media Player: http://sunsite.queensu.ca:8000/

1. Jane Siberry – Mimi On The Beach
2. Chain Of Fun – Paisley Girls (12” Single)
3. Siouxsie And The Banshees – I Promise
4. Simple Minds – Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel
5. Fred Schneider And The Shake Society – It’s Time For A Kiss
6. Toby Swann – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
7. Talk Talk – Why Is It So Hard? (12” U.S. Remix)
8. The Assembly – Stop/Start
9. The Spoons – No Electrons
10. Blue Peter – Living In The 80’s
11. Adam Ant – Spanish Games (Ed-FM gave a big plug for the Wolfmen!)
12. Screaming Blue Messiahs – I Wanna Be A Flintstone
13. Yeah Yeah Noh – Superimposed Man (Peel Sessions)
14. Ohama meets Dania – Lonely Heart Dance
15. Barbie And The Kens – Just A Gigolo
16. English Beat – Whine & Grind/ Stand Down Margaret
17. David Byrne – Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)
18. Red Flag – Broken Heart
19. Hawaiian Pups – Spook Opera
20. The Adventures – Another Silent Day
21. Berlin USA – Sex (I’m a…) (12” Extended Version)
22. Way Of The West – Drum (Social Mix)

80’s Music Rules ~ Criminally Underrated Artists/ Bands ~ Eight Seconds

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es1Eight Seconds was a Canadian New Wave band that formed in 1982 in Ottawa, Ontario. The original band members were Andres Del Castillo (vocals, guitar), March Cesare (bass), Frank Levin (keyboards), Marc Parent (guitar), and Scott Milks (drums).

 

The band first gained recognition for their original song “Where’s Bula” taken from a 5-track EP Ottava Rima which earned them a winning spot in CHEZ-FM’s homegrown contest. Eventually, they caught the attention of Rupert Hine who ended up producing their first full-length album Almacantar. Hine had the band re-record “Where’s Bula” and another up-and-coming track “Kiss You (When It’s Dangerous)” for the new album. “Kiss You” ended up being the song for which the band is most noteworthy.

 

At the time, Hine was also producing a band called The Fixx. Similarities between The Fixx and Eight Seconds abound. Both lead singers possessed the same, earnest raspiness, both bands were guitar-driven and heavily rhythm oriented, yet only one band went on to international stardom while the other continued to work especially hard to be heard beyond North America.

 

Eight Seconds created another album of first-rate material in 1987 called Big Houses for ATCO, but shortly after its completion, the record-company filed for bankruptcy. Big Houses languished on the shelf until it was eventually released in 1990 by WEA. The length of time between releases had taken its toll, however, and Eight Seconds ended up disbanding.

 

Kiss You (When It’s Dangerous) via YouTube user Maxi470:

 

 

 

Where’s Bula via YouTube user JSBX5 (unfortunately, very poor sound quality):

 

No Picasso via YouTube user poptoonz:

 

A complete history of the band, along with a drive to re-release Almacantar can be found at The Almacantar Project, lovingly organized by a loyal Eight Seconds fan. Meanwhile, if you can get your hands on any Eight Seconds tracks, you will not be disappointed. This is a band that showed great promise, had all of the talent necessary and beyond, yet couldn’t catch that ever-elusive break to catapult them into international stardom.

 

es1Almacantar

 

Tracklist:

 

 

 

01 Sincere

02 Kiss You (When it’s Dangerous)

03 Call and a Cry

04 Just Pretend

05 Commissioner St.

06 Where’s Bula

07 Zoë

08 Wings

09 Listen

10 Land of the Monster

 

 eight_seconds_-_big_houses_front

Big Houses

 

This one is unavailable – if you can find it, it is a rare gem.

  

 Tracklist:

 

01 Here Stood Troy
02 No Picasso
03 Tell Diane
04 Chopin’s Heart
05 We Set Him Free
06 Thorn In My Side
07 Beyond The Shock
08 Happy Endings
09 Moving Day
10 Picture

80’s Music Rules ~ More From Retrospect CFRC-FM ~ 2-3-2009

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Ed-FM on CFRC out of Kingston, Ontario was cooking with gas last night. It’s normal for me to be totally stumped by two or three songs or artists (usually I can identify at least one or the other) during each one of Ed-FM’s spin-fests, but last night’s show was a masterpiece in obscurity. Ed-FM hit his in-your-face-obscure groove early on and it only got better as the night wore on.

Check out last night’s playlist and remember: If you like what you see, Ed’s show is as close as your Interwebs connection every Tuesday night from 8 pm until 10 pm.

CFRC-FM Playlist February 3, 2009

 

Basement of Carruthers Hall in Queens University, Kingston, Ontario

ED-FM ~ Retrospect

80’s Music That Doesn’t Suck

If the “Listen Live” link on the CFRC Website doesn’t work, copy and past this URL into your Windows Media Player: http://sunsite.queensu.ca:8000/

 

  1. Malcolm Burn – Humans Can Talk
  2. Nash the Slash – Who Do You Dub (The Club Mix)
  3. Kraftwerk – The Model (Catabonic mix)
  4. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark  – Genetic Engineering (12” single)
  5. Shriekback – Clear Trails
  6. Rational Youth – Holiday In Bangkok
  7. Art of Noise – Paranoimia (feat. Max Headroom)
  8. Mike Oldfield – Family Man
  9. Grace Jones – Jones To The Rhythm
  10. It’s Immaterial – Ed’s Funky Diner
  11. King – Won’t You Hold My Hand Now
  12. Eva Everything – Painless
  13. Modern Eon – Wait For The Cavalry
  14. Plastic Bertrand – Ça Plane Pour Moi
  15. Teenage Head – Shag Shack
  16. Men Without Hats – Jenny Wore Black
  17. Two People – Mouth Of An Angel (Extended Mix)
  18. Fad Gadget – Back To Nature
  19. Department S – Is Vic There?
  20. The Extras – Jealous Girl
  21. Yello – Lost Again (Extended Dance Version)
  22. Sisters Of Mercy – No Time To Cry
  23. Chameleons – Tears