Big Hits of Mid-America Vol. 4

TwinTone 1983

Great document of the label that put MN on the map, and helped to spawn some of the biggest punk/hardcore/indie-rock bands in the land.  There is no denying the importance of this label and what they did for Minnesota.  Even bands that never put out a single release on the label were helped out by them (think Husker Du and many others).  They spawned the Suburbs, Suicide Commandos, Replacements, Soul Asylum, (my favorite) The Magnolias and many others.

When I started my label the folks at Twin Tone gave me some great advice, and when I did my video show, they helped me out then too, and I’m not the only person they ever helped.  I was just some dumb kid that I doubt anyone there would ever remember.  So even if the Twin Tone bands aren’t your speed, you need to give them a lot of credit for all the work they did.

So…the comp…..   Well, this is filled with the typical Twin Tone bands.  Just download it already.  Great record!

Get it here .

"Men of Distinction"

No music posted here.  I just thought I’d help spread the word about this new (very old) release on Garage D’or Records.  It’s out in a couple of weeks, so go get it!!!  Those that frequent this blog know that i don’t knowingly post stuff that is readily available, so even if tis were to get posted somewhere on the interwebs, I won’t link to it….you’ll need to buy this one.

Garage D’or is proud to return after a year long absence. Our new release is L7-3, MEN OF DISTINCTION. This band was the direct descendent of the Suicide Commandos, featuring Dave Ahl, Chris Osgood and new member Steve Fjelstad on bass. The album was recorded late in 1980 and early 1981 at the legendary Blackberry Way Studio in south Minneapolis. Produced by Fjelstad who was soon to produce both the Replacements and Husker Du. L7-3 were a more complex and brainy version of the Commandos with a twist. Lots of vocals and layered guitars with a unique approach to songwriting. The album contains 18 songs, all available here for the first time ever and lovingly re-mixed for this package by Terry Katzman and Tom Herbers. Here is a lengthy glimpse of a classic Minneapolis band who predated the college rock sound by a good two years. Lots of exciting notes, data and song lyrics.
Available November 17 2009.
Garage D’or 020 | $14 postage-paid

Go buy it here !

Lung Cookies Compilation

Smoke Seven/Your Flesh

The influence of Your Flesh was pretty heavy since almost half the bands are from Minnesota.  Classic early 80’s Minnesota punk from Final Conflict, Otto’s Chemical Lounge, Willful Neglect, Boy Elroy, Red Meat & Ground Zero.  Check this one out!

Get it here .

Self Titled 7" from 1983

One of the oringal Refelx Records.  Only one track here, but worth a listen.  Also worth the history lesson over at MVX’s Punk Vault.

The lineup for this 7″ was:
Dale Nelson: vocals
Paul Osby: guitar
John Anglim: drums
Tom Hazelmyer: bass

Get it here .

Blue Hippos

12" EP & Fourty Fourty EP

From the Ashes of Otto’s Chemical Lounge , the Blue Hippos were a  Twin Tone band.

I must admit that I’ve never been a big fan of the Blue Hippos, but I believe (it’s been a while) that I own one of these long out of print records, but I haven’t listened to it probably since the day I bought it. When I was working on my cable access show in the early 80’s, I went on a binge for about a year buying just about anything locally released so I could play it on the show.  Most of that stuff is packed up in boxes, probably never to be looked at again.  That’s why I really got to liking these music blogs.   I’m able to find a lot of the old records that I owned back in the day, but never transferred to CD/MP3, or that I just plain missed out on because of poor distribution or limited supply.  No matter what folks in the music industry will tell you about how the internet has killed their business, it has become awesome for old farts like myself that just want to hear some of those old vinyl records, and cassette tapes that I have piled up in the basement but will probably never play again.  It’s also been a great way to check out the bands I missed the first time around…most of which are completely non-existent today.  Those are the bands that I celebrate here!

I’m just direct linking to another blog that has this posted.  No point in duplicating their work, so head over there and get it!