Various Artists - A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89 (12 Discs)

[I began putting this one together back in mid-2018... but discovered some problems with the discs that took a while to sort out, and by the time I did so, I'd moved on to other write-ups. Guess I'll finish this one up now...]

I found this rarity available for download a couple of months ago [ed. note - early 2018], from an obscure music website, Kangnave (which appears to have been actively added to for a couple of years in the mid-2010s, but hasn't seen a new posting since 2015). Here's the description the blog moderator put up regarding this:

This is a pretty insane project put together by my pal Vince B. from San Francisco a few years back. As the title indicates, this is a homemade 12 x CD-R (!) compilation of punk bands fronted by female vocalists from 1977 to 1989. More like a giant mixtape than a compilation, as he only made 36 copies which he sent to friends and people who submitted material. You may notice that some of the bands didn’t have a steady female vocalist (The Lewd, etc.) but he still included songs that were sung by another member of the band. This is as international as it gets, with stuff ranging from world famous Blondie or Crass to the most obscure Eastern European cassette compilation veterans. The boxset came packaged in a handnumbered fancy translucent lunchbox enclosing all 12 CD-Rs, a stack of full-colored cards featuring comprehensive tracklist and artwork/info, as well as a manga pin-up figure! Talk about a labor of love.

Like the guy above said, this is a pretty incredible worldwide collection of decent to excellent punk vocalized by women - here's the lineup for all twelve discs:

Disc 1:

1. Blutsturz – Schweigen (Demo) (Germany, 198?)
2. Penetration – Money Talks (England, 1977)
3. Pyhäkoulu – Painajainen (Finland, 1986)
4. VulpeSS – Me Gusta Ser Una Zorra (Spain, 1983)
5. The Comes – Panic (Japan, 1984)
6. Suicide Squad – New Kids Army (Australia, 1980)
7. Rivolta Dell’Odio – Altari Del Terrore (Italy, 1984)
8. Sick Things – Anti-Social Disease (England, 1977)
9. Accident (a.k.a Accidents) – True Detective (USA, 1979)
10. Dishrags – I Don’t Love You (Canada, 1979)
11. Último Resorte – Hogar, Dulce Hogar (Demo) (Spain, 1981)
12. The Fastbacks – Someone Else’s Room (USA, 1981)
13. Anorexia – Rapist In The Park (England, 1980)
14. Phobia – Pretend You’re Not Crazy (USA, 1978)
15. Androids Of Mu – Bored Housewives (England, 1981)
16. Sort Sol (With Lydia Lunch) – Boy-Girl (Denmark/USA, 1983)
17. Tappi Tikarrass – Skrid (Iceland, 1984)
18. Flowers – After Dark (Scotland, 1979)
19. The Rentals – I Got A Crush On You (USA, 1979)
20. Pariapunk – Double Face (France, 1987)
21. Amsterdamned – Traditie Amme Balle (Netherlands, 1982)
22. Dr. Zeke – Vild I Skogen (Sweden, 1979)
23. The Lewd – Magnetic Heart (USA, 1982)
24. Au Pairs – Kerb Crawler (England, 1980)
25. Mo-Dettes – White Mice (USA/Switzerland/England, 1979)
26. Stripes – Weekend Love (Germany, 1980)
27. Violators – The Fugitive (England, 1980)

Disc 2:

1. Schund – Schund (Austria, 1982)
2. Wunderbach – Raya (France, 1982)
3. Total Muzak – Någonstans I Sta’n (Sweden, 1980)
4. Liliput – Hitch-Hike (Switzerland, 1980)
5. NJF – Sitting!! Pretty (Canada, 1984)
6. S.I.B. – Listless (Italy, 1981)
7. Manisch Depressiv – Zeitmaschine 1 (Switzerland, 1983)
8. Sheena & The Rokkets – Omae Ga Hoshii (One More Time) (Japan, 1979)
9. Rezillos – Flying Saucer Attack (Scotland, 1978)
10. Sado-Nation – Messed Up Mixed Up (USA, 1982)
11. Lucrate Milk – Fucking Pacifist (France, 1983)
12. Dan – Lust Is Greed (England, 1987)
13. Nasty Facts – Drive My Car (USA, 1981)
14. Life Cycle – Indifference (Wales, 1988)
15. Livin’ Sacrifice – Mentalsjuk (Sweden, 1981)
16. The Brat – Attitudes (USA, 1980)
17. Non Band – Ducan Dancin’ (Japan, 1982)
18. Bizkids – VIPs (Netherlands, 1980)
19. Minus Cway – Gdje Me Vjetar Odnese (Yugolsavia, 1982-88)
20. The Rats – Broken Wire Telephone (USA, 1983)
21. Anouschka & Les Privés – Contrôle (France, 1980)
22. Slits – Vindictive (England, 1977)
23. ICA – Untitled (Netherlands, 1981)
24. Trash – Peace Of What (USA, 1984)
25. Boys Boys – Monley Monkey (Japan, 1980)
26. Honey Bane – Girl On The Run (England, 1979)
27. TNT – Razzia (Switzerland, 1981)
28. Nuns – Wild (USA, 1980)
29. Electric Deads – 30 Years (Denmark, 1982)
30. Conflict – Who Will (USA, 1984)
31. Atims – Women (Netherlands, 1982)

Disc 3:

1. Hans-A-Plast – Polizeiknüppel (Germany, 1979)
2. Usch – LTO (Sweden, 1979)
3. Desechables – El Asesino (Spain, 1984)
4. Ici Paris – Le Centre Du Monde (France, 1980)
5. Action Pact – Suicide Bag (England, 1982)
6. Invaders – Backstreet Romeo (England, 1980)
7. Lepers – Flipout (USA, 1979)
8. Franti – Vento Rosso (Italy, 1983)
9. Out On Blue 6 – Examples (England, 1981)
10. Mr. Kite – Exit B9 (Japan, 1978)
11. De Zweetkutten – Atoomgeweld (Netherlands, 1981)
12. Ideal – Berlin (Germany, 1980)
13. Holly And The Italians – I Wanna Go Home (USA, 1981)
14. Modesty – Kad Srce Radi Bi Bam (Yugoslavia, 1982-88)
15. Delta 5 – Anticipation (England, 1980)
16. Beex – He Obliterates Me (USA, 1981)
17. Kaltwetterfront – Revolverheld (Germany, 1982)
18. Hydra – Ombre (Italy, 1985)
19. Vacum – Är Ungdomar Människor? (Sweden, 1980)
20. Nixe – Man Under My Bed (Netherlands, 1981)
21. Alternative – Seen Through Tear-Filled Eyes (Scotland, 1984)
22. Schematix – Nothing Special (USA, 1980)
23. Eyes – Don’t Talk To Me (USA, 1978)
24. Russians – Anything She Wants (England, 1980)
25. Kontrola W. – Manekiny (Poland, 1982/1998)

Disc 4:

1. Kizza Ping – Den Nya (Sweden, 1982)
2. Strapaze – Tage (Germany, 1983)
3. Glueams – 365 (Switzerland, 1979)
4. Kleenex Aktiv – Hilfe (Germany, 1985)
5. XL Capris – My City Of Sydney (Australia, 1980)
6. Josie Cotton – Johnny, Are You Queer? (USA, 1981)
7. Rakketax – Van Agt (Netherlands, 1980)
8. A-Heads – No Rule (England, 1982)
9. Drustvo Prisjecavalaca Boljih Dana – Sexualna Ovisnost (Yugoslavia, 1982-88)
10. Pink Champagne – Söndagsskolehyckel (Sweden, 1980)
11. Curse – Killer Bees (Canada, 1978)
12. Flirt – Don’t Push Me (USA, 1978)
13. 水玉消防団 (Mizutama Shouboudan) – 真空パック・トラベル (Japan, 1981)
14. Bizon Kidz – Godsdienstwaanzin (Netherlands, 1981)
15. X-Ray Spex – I Live Off You (England, 1978)
16. Reactors – World War Four (USA, 1980)
17. Klasse Kriminale – Construito In Italia (Italy, 1988)
18. Debils – Maso (Switzerland, 1981)
19. Plastix – Geschlechtsverkehr (Austria, 1981)
20. Avengers – Teenage Rebel (USA, 1978)
21. Hagar The Womb – Idolization (England, 1983)
22. Blitzkrieg – Szene (Germany, 1989)
23. DIRT – Hiroshima (England, 1981)
24. Disturbers – KZ Syndroom (Netherlands, 1980)
25. Andreas Dorau Und Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter (Germany, 1981)
26. Pandoras – That’s Your Way Out (USA, 1984)
27. Lost Cherrees – Living In A Coffin (England, 1982)
28. Learned Helplessness – Vegis (USA, 1982)
29. A-Gen-53 – Stalingrad-Stumpfsinn (Austria, 1981)

Disc 5:

1. Crass – Where Next Columbus? (England, 1981)
2. A.P.P.L.E. – If In Heaven (USA, 1985)
3. Sleeping Dogs – (I Got My Tan In) El Salvador (USA/England, 1982)
4. Asbest – Family Care (Netherlands, 1982)
5. FFF – Arbeit Macht Dumm (Germany, 1986)
6. Gas – World Peace (Japan, 1985)
7. Les Calamités – Toutes Les Nuits (France, 1984)
8. Mother’s Ruin – Godzilla (Switzerland, 1979)
9. Toxic Waste – Traditionally Yours (Northern Ireland, 1985)
10. The Ex – Lied Der Steinklopfer (Netherlands, 1989)
11. NBJ – Dead Porker (USA, 1982)
12. Doll – Trash (England, 1978)
13. ST-37 – Unknown Soldier (Germany, 1985)
14. Jetset – Tot Hier En Niet Verder (Netherlands, 1982)
15. Fega Påhopp – Hålla Masken (Sweden, 1980)
16. Alma Y Los Cadáveres – Confidencias de Nutrexpa (Spain, 1982)
17. Da Stupids – Alien (USA, 198?)
18. Essential Logic – Quality Crayon Wax OK (England, 1979)
19. Beardsley – Summer Holiday (Japan, 1986)
20. Lärm – Pigeon (Netherlands, 1982)
21. Fatal Microbes – Violence Grows (England, 1978)
22. Sin 34 – Not (USA, 1983)
23. Vice Squad – Latex Love (England, 1980)
24. Lord Eva Braun – Week-End à Blois (France, 1989)
25. Ätztussis – Bullen (Germany, 1980)
26. Falange – Falange Suburbana (Brazil, 1988)
27. Bags – Survive (USA, 1978)

Disc 6:

1. Conflict – The Guilt And The Glory (England, 1982)
2. Putrid Girls – 1234 (USA, 1983)
3. Nog Watt – Going On (Netherlands, 1984)
4. Suburban Reptiles – 45 Single (New Zealand, 1978)
5. Lost Kids – Alle Taler (Denmark, 1979)
6. Edith Nylon – Edith Nylon (France, 1979)
7. Expelled – No Life, No Future (England, 1982)
8. Tollwut – Seuchen (Germany, 1981)
9. Blondie – Youth Nabbed As Sniper (USA, 1977)
10. Wartburgs Für Walter – More More Anymore (East Germany, 1989)
11. Ref – Soda Bikarbona (Yugoslavia, 1982-86)
12. Chumbawamba – beginning To Take It Back (England, 1986)
13. Mizz Nobody – Smittad (Sweden, 1978)
14. Platzangst – It’s A Light (Germany, 1983)
15. The Pogues – I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day (Ireland, 1985)
16. St. Vitus Dancers – The Survivor (England, 1982)
17. Mary Monday & The Bitches – I Gave My Punk Jacket To Rickie (USA, 1977)
18. DZK – Juventude (Brazil, 1988)
19. Cocadictos – Juan Pablo II Y Amigos (Spain, 1983-84)
20. K.U.K.L. – Dismembered (Iceland, 1984)
21. Petticoats – Allergy (England, 1980)
22. Kalashnikov – Ødelæg Og Hærg (Denmark, 1984)
23. No Thanks – Fuck Everything (USA, 1983)
24. Indirekt – Shell Helpt (Netherlands, 1985)
25. Namenlos – Nazis (East Germany, 1984)
26. UXA – No Time (USA, 1980)
27. Peggy Luxbeurk – Sueur Froide (France, 1982)
28. Flere Døde Pansere – Midedød (Denmark, 1983)

Disc 7:

1. Toxic Shock – Remote Control (England, 1984)
2. Toxic Shock – Riot Riot Riot (USA, 1982)
3. Zelda – [Japanese Title] (Japan, 1981)
4. Total Chaoz – Oh Beatrix (Netherlands, 1981)
5. ZOI – Psaulme 1 (France, 1986)
6. Tozibabe – Moja Praznina (Yugoslavia, 1985)
7. Xmal Deutschland – Qual (Germany, 1983)
8. Ghost Walks – Fallen Angel (USA, 1985)
9. Life In The Fridge Exists – Have You Checked The Children? (New Zealand, 1980)
10. X – Nausea (USA, 1980)
11. Sacrilege – Dig Your Own Grave (England, 1985)
12. Combat Not Conform – Keep Your Head (Germany, 1985)
13. Typhus – ノータッチ (Japan, 1980)
14. Foreign Legion – Trenchline (Wales, 1986)
15. Rough Cut – Danger Boy (USA, 1981)
16. Ludus – Mother’s Hour (England, 1981)
17. The Bastards – Impossibilities (Switzerland, 1978)
18. Rutto – Paha, Kuolema (Finland, 1983)
19. Nikki Corvette – Young & Crazy (USA, 1977)
20. Photos – Skateboard (England, 1980)
21. Last Few – Suicide Commando (Netherlands, 1983)
22. Tyranna – Back Off Baby (Canada, 1980)
23. Screaming Sneakers – Violent Days (USA, 1982)
24. Poison Girls – Statement (England, 1982)
25. Verdun – Günther (France, 1988)
26. Noh Mercy – Caucasian Guilt (USA, 1979)
27. Bow Wow Wow – C30, C60, C90, Go (England, 1980)
28. Götterflies – Empty (Netherlands, 1981)

Disc 8:

1. Post Mortem – The Casualty (England, 1985)
2. Antischism – Evil God (demo) (USA, 1989)
3. Wrong Kind Of Stone Age – Run Amok (Australia, 1984)
4. The Puke – Happy Family (Netherlands, 1981)
5. Teddy & The Frat Girls – Clubnite (USA, 1980)
6. Questions – Take A Ride (France, 1980)
7. 無理心中 (Muri Shinjuu) – 子宮 (Live) (Japan, 1980-82)
8. Rubella Ballet – Something To Give (England, 1982)
9. Die Tödliche Doris – Kavaliere (Germany, 1982)
10. Los Microwaves – Time To Get Up (USA, 1981)
11. Extrém Exém – Eget Liv (Sweden, 1982)
12. Icon A.D. – Fight For Peace (England, 1982)
13. Dago Wops – Big Mac (Germany, 1981)
14. 8-Eyed Spy – Diddy Wah Diddy (USA, 1980)
15. Indian Dream – Insult To Injury (England, 1985)
16. Destroy All Monsters – Bored (USA, 1978)
17. Bluttat – Flying Into Heaven’s Door (Germany, 1985)
18. Raincoats – Adventures Close To Home (England, 1979)
19. Afrika Korps – Buzz Stomp (USA, 1977)
20. M’n’M’s – I’m Tired (USA, 1980)
21. キャ→ (Kyah!) – Slapdash (Japan, 1985)
22. Teenage Jesus & The Jerks – Less Of Me (USA, 1978)
23. Dog Faced Hermans – Balloon Girl (Scotland/Netherlands, 1987)
24. Mydolls – Soldiers Of A Pure War (USA, 1983)
25. Gash – Gash Trash (Australia, 1986)

Disc 9:

1. Berlin – The Metro (USA, 1982)
2. Poles – C.N. Tower (Canada, 1977)
3. Kuolleet Kukat – Vihollinen On Systeemi (Finland, 1984)
4. Joyce McKinney Experience – Armchair Critic (England, 1989)
5. VKTMS – Hard Case (USA, 1979)
6. ゴメス (Gomess) – 地獄へ (Japan, 1986)
7. Charol – Sin Dinero (Spain, 1980)
8. Tragics (a.k.a Misfits) – Mommi I’m A Misfit (USA, 1981)
9. Kandeggina Gang – Sono Cattiva (Italy, 1980)
10. Jingo De Lunch – What You See (Germany, 1987)
11. Vermilion – Angry Young Women (England, 1978)
12. The Maggots – (Let’s Get, Let’s Get) Tammy Wynette (USA, 1979)
13. Brain Death – Personal Affair (Japan, 1987)
14. Squits – Porno Pirate (Netherlands, 1982)
15. Siouxsie And The Banshees – The Staircase (Mystery) (England, 1979)
16. Unwarranted Trust – Honour’s Calling (Canada, 1984)
17. Bulimia Banquet – Scientology Sucks (USA, 1988)
18. Nurse – ナ－ス (Japan, 1983)
19. Secta Suicida Siglo 20 – Virginidad Sacudida (Mexico, 1989)
20. Castration Squad – The X Girlfriend (USA, 1979)
21. Jo Squillo Eletrix – Skizzo Skizzo (Italy, 1981)
22. A5 – Reeperbahn (Germany, 1980)
23. Manufactured Romance – You (England, 1980)
24. Frigidettes – Turmoil (USA, 1982)
25. Capitalist Alienation – Nuclear Trash (Canada, 1987)
26. Sperma – Please Love Me Tonight (Japan, 1985)
27. Mystery Girls – Ego (USA, 1983)
28. Exeroica – Del Apocalipsis (Argentina, 1988)
29. Partners In Crime – I Wanna Drive You (USA, 1984)
30. Dawn Patrol – What My Gonna Do (With Me) (England, 1981)
31. Maps – My Eyes Are Burning (USA, 1979)

Disc 10:

1. Neo Boys – Never Comes Down (USA, 1980)
2. New Walls – No Creation!? (Japan, 1985)
3. Gymslips – Miss Nunsweeta (England, 1982)
4. Loud Warning – Loud Warning (Netherlands, 1986)
5. Vs. – Magnetic Hearts (USA, 1980)
6. Turncoats – Waste Of Time (England, 1987)
7. Agonia – [Unknown title] (Italy, 1985)
8. Demented – Back To The Bed (USA, 1982)
9. PVC – Galehus (Norway, 1980)
10. Girls At Our Best! – Warm Girls (England, 1980)
11. Wilma & The Wilbers – Chronic Alkie (USA, 1980)
12. Cringe – Secretary Spread (USA, 1981)
13. Detectors – La Ciutat No Es Per Mi (Spain, 1987)
14. Suburban Lawns – Gidget Goes To Hell (USA, 1979)
15. Red Scare – Streetlife (USA, 1982)
16. Sofa Head – Invitation To Dinner (England, 1989)
17. 45 Grave – Black Cross (USA, 1980)
18. Plasmatics – Dream Lover (USA, 1979)
19. Not Moving – Behind Your Pale Face (Italy, 1983)
20. Enemy – Want Me (USA, 1978)
21. Potential Threat – Animal Abuse (England, 1982)
22. Anti-Scrunti Faction – Slave To My Estrogen (USA, 1985)
23. Legal Weapon – Hostility (USA, 1981)
24. OXZ – Be Run Down (Japan, 1984)
25. Shivvers – Teen Line (USA, 1980)
26. Donkeys – Wacky Acky I Aye (England, 1978-82)
27. Wrecks – Punk Is An Attitude (USA, 1982)
28. La Souris Déglinguée – Marie France (France, 1983)
29. SST – Autistic (USA, 1977)
30. Anti/Dogmatikss – Estado De Caos (demo) (Spain, 1983)

Disc 11:

1. Abwärts – Bel Ami (Germany, 1980)
2. Even Worse – Illusion Won Again (USA, 1981)
3. F.U.A.L. – Freedom Under Animal Liberation (Northern Ireland, 1989)
4. Nena – Nur Geträumt (Germany, 1983)
5. Gruftrosen – Mörder Von Gestern (Austria, 1985)
6. Sledgehammer – Paramilitary Recruits (Northern Ireland, 1988-ish)
7. Deutscher Abschaum – The German Superman (Germany, 1984)
8. Family Fodder – Debbie Harry (England, 1980)
9. Pink Turds In Space – Eastenders (Northern Ireland, 1988)
10. Die Mimmi’s – Mc Donald (Germany, 1984)
11. No-Song Kutkotz – Telegram (Netherlands, 1984)
12. Ratos De Porão – Nao Me Importo (live) (Brazil, 1985)
13. Martina + Part Time Punx – Mehr Von Dir (Germany, 1987)
14. Frightwig – Only You (USA, 1984)
15. Big In Japan – Big In Japan (England, 1977)
16. Bärchen Und Die Milchbubis – Jung Kaputt Spart Alterscheime (Germany, 1980)
17. Mood Of Defiance – American Love Song (USA, 1983)
18. Virgin Rocks – Get Along With You (Japan, 1987)
19. Ana Hausen – Professionals (England, 1981)
20. Métal Boys – New Malden (France, 1980)
21. Red Cross – Standing In Front Of Poseur (USA, 1980)
22. Dolly Mixture – Been Teen (England, 1981)
23. Morbid Opera – White Flag (USA, 1983)
24. Chin-Chin – We Don’t Wanna Be Prisoners (Switzerland, 1984)
25. Lovedolls – Now That I’ve Tasted Blood (USA, 1986)
26. Compos Mentis – Confused (New Zealand, 1985-ish)
27. Hysteria – Silent Hate (England, 1984)

Disc 12:

1. Pervers – Asozial (Germany, 1984)
2. Hugh Beaumont Experience – Moo (USA, 1983)
3. Inocentes with Meire – Ri Dos Hippies (Brazil, 1984)
4. Ruggedy Annes – Hollow Heroes (Canada, 1985)
5. Blowdriers – Berkeley Farms (USA, 1979)
6. Rap – Accident (Japan, 1985)
7. Decadent – Opposition Proposition (USA, 1982)
8. Warriors – Born To Ride (Japan, 1987)
9. Bambix – Little Miss Sunshine (Netherlands, 1989)
10. Super Heroines – Death On The Elevator (USA, 1981)
11. Cherry Vanilla – The Punk (England, 1977)
12. Hari-Kari – Prey For Peace (USA, 1983)
13. Kleenex – Ü (Switzerland, 1979)
14. Chute De Esperma – No Keremos (Spain, 1984)
15. Revo – Fuck The School (Netherlands, 1980)
16. The Fall – Hotel Blôedel (England, 1983)
17. Der Riß – Images (Germany, 1985)

As the compiler mentioned above, in some ways, the title of this set is a misnomer... although many of the bands featured in this compilation (such as The Raincoats, Kleenex, The Slits, Hans-A-Plast, etc.) are indeed all-woman groups, a good proportion of the songs being offered here are by unisex bands that just happened to have a woman as a lead singer (like X, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, Chumbawumba and X-Ray Spex) or groups that let one of the female members sing a song or two  (like The Fall, 45 Grave, The Rezillos, and the like).  Perhaps a better name for this would have been A Reference of Female Voices in Punk Rock 1977-89... but maybe I'm just nitpicking. All in all, the selection here is superb...

Unfortunately, the initial set of downloads burned from this blogger's copies were NOT superb. I had a heck of a lot of issues with some of the song files, especially in the last five or six discs - some files were incomplete, others hopelessly corrupted.  So I made the time and took the extra effort to cull out the crap and find replacement files for some of these bands from other sources. Considering the level of obscurity of some of the tunes provided in this set, it goes without saying that it took a while for me to track everything down.   But in the end, I think I did.  So the set I'm offering here is a clean and uncorrupted as you're going to find out there for the time being.

Apparently, this set was featured on the Dangerous Minds website a few years ago - but still linked back to the Kangnave page, with its wonky files. Here for your listening pleasure is my repaired version of A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89, a fan-compiled boot of twelve discs containing over 300 slices of quality punk and post-punk from the heyday of this music.  Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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Various Artists - "Space Age Love Song" covers

Nowadays, the early '80s band A Flock Of Seagulls has been reduced to little more than a punchline, remembered more for lead singer (and former hairdresser) Mike Score's unusual hairstyle and the derisive mention of the group's name in the film Pulp Fiction than for their music.  And if any of their songs are recalled at all, most people lump them all together and refer to the band as "just another cheesy '80s group". 

But in hindsight, A Flock Of Seagulls were pioneers and extremely influential, with their dance-able electronic synth-pop sound and style leading the way for similar and subsequent British bands that followed in their wake.  While their heyday was brief, they opened the door for New Romantic bands like Duran Duran, Culture Club and Adam & The Ants to dominate the US and international charts, along with "Second British Invasion" groups like Wham!, Eurythmics and Bananarama, and allowed subsequent later acts such as Kajagoogoo, ABC, Dead Or Alive, and Talk Talk to make significant inroads on worldwide charts as well.  In my opinion, in many ways you can draw a direct line from what A Flock Of Seagulls was doing at the time to the current state and nature of dance, electronic and some pop music on the airwaves today.

As significant as their achievements were, as I mentioned above, A Flock Of Seagulls' time in the spotlight was very brief, peaking in 1982 with three monumental international hits:  "I Ran (So Far Away)", "Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)", and what I consider to be their magnum opus and one of the greatest synth-pop songs of all time, "Space Age Love Song":

"Space Age Love Song" is so well-constructed that over the years, many a band, both well-known and obscure, has seen fit to try their hand at covering it.  I think it was about three or four years ago that I came across an entire ALBUM of these covers offered on someone's website; I wish I could recall where I got them from, so I could give the compiler all due credit and respect for pulling these together.  But the location seems to have been taken off-line, or has otherwise eluded my searches for it.

But in any event, here it is for you to enjoy:  Space Age Love Song covers, a delightful and entertaining bootleg of some of the best attempts to re-record/reimagine this tune.  Have a listen, enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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Various Artists - Dunedin Double EP

...And my last quickie post this week in appreciation for reaching the half-million visitor landmark...

From the old (and long defunct) Kiwi Tapes blog (credit for this narrative to original poster):

The Dunedin Double EP was a seminal record in New Zealand music. An unusual format, it contain two 45rpm 12" discs, and at nearly 50 minutes length, it is longer than many albums.

Released in 1982, the compilation was one of the first releases from the newly formed Flying Nun Records label (catalogue number DUN-1), which over the course of the next ten years was to become the biggest independent record label in New Zealand. Many of the label's top groups came from the South Island city of Dunedin, and established that southern city's music scene as the leading source of guitar-based bands in New Zealand throughout much of the decade. The bands from the city which had music released on Flying Nun were grouped under the loose banner of Dunedin Sound, and several of them went on to not only national but also international success.

The Dunedin Double EP established the names of four of these groups, each of which was represented on the double EP by one side. The four bands concerned were The Chills, Sneaky Feelings, The Stones, and The Verlaines. The Chills' song "Kaleidoscope World" in particular became very popular, gaining considerable airplay for the band (It later provided the title for the band's first album, a compilation of their early singles and EP tracks.

Though the sound quality of the Dunedin Double EP was distinctly lo-fi (it was recorded on portable 4-track), the release of this record provided a major impetus both for Flying Nun records and for the four bands involved, as well as providing inspiration and momentum to the music scene in Dunedin.

For your consideration:  Flying Nun's legendary Dunedin Double EP, released on vinyl in New Zealand in June 1982, and to the best of my knowledge never re-released on CD or any other format. Enjoy, and as always... well, you know.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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Various Artists - Night Of The Living Dead (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

I've been thinking hard about becoming one of those "cord-cutters" I've been hearing so much about, and finally dumping my cable television subscription.  At this stage of my life, cable is a nearly useless frivolity nowhere near worth its monthly purchase price.  Frankly, I simply just don't watch that much TV anymore - or at least the TV the cable companies want me to watch.  I could care less about the endless variety of "reality" shows and singing/dancing contests that befoul the airwaves nowadays - I wouldn't watch Duck Dynasty, Naked & Afraid or Dancing With The Stars at gunpoint.  And don't get me started regarding network television - it's all so samey; either bland sitcoms (I once tried to sit through episodes of The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men - I didn't make it to the first commercial break) or gussied-up whodunit dramas (seriously, how many versions of CSI/NCIS/WTF do they air each week?).  If it weren't for The Daily Show, South Park, Downton Abbey and the occasional Ken Burns documentary on PBS, I'd rarely have the set on at all during the year.

In many ways, it feels odd now to feel so ambivalent about television; for folks my age, TV was an essential and formative experience in our lives from nearly the very start.

Looking back now, I'm amazed at the stuff I used to watch - and that my parents let me watch - regularly at a young age; not just kiddie fare, but some relatively sophisticated stuff (for late 60s/early 70s TV, that is . . .). For example, in addition to I Dream of Jeannie and Daniel Boone, I never missed an episode of Land Of The Giants or The Mod Squad - I was four years old at the time. The next year, when I was five, I recall being bitterly disappointed when I learned that a favorite program at the time, The New People, a hokey drama about hippies surviving a plane crash and building a new society on a desert island, had been cancelled mid-season.

As I got older and was allowed to stay up later, my taste in TV shows continued to skew to programs made and marketed for adults, moving away from fluff like Family Affair, The Courtship of Eddie's Father and Nanny & The Professor and into things that were on past 8:30 pm, like Alias Smith and Jones (alas, Pete Duel . . . he could have

been a big star), Longstreet, Kung Fu and Mannix (quite possibly the most violent network TV show ever aired).

I can't really say that absorbing these 'grown-up' shows at a young age affected me all that much. I mean, watching the fistfights, car crashes and gunplay on Mannix didn't desensitize me to violence, or turn me into some kind of sociopath later in life. I'm sure that, like me, you've heard stories of kids during the 1950s who would watch George Reeves' Superman program, then go out and injure themselves by tying capes to their necks and jumping off the roof of their homes. I've always considered those tales to be mostly apocryphal - kids aren't really as stupid and impressionable as adults think they are, and learn at a very early age what is real and possible in real life and on TV, and what's not. Even back then, I knew that commercial spaceflights, blind detectives and pretty blonde witch-wives didn't really exist. I got it - I just enjoyed the programs.

But there was one aspect about watching those sort of shows relatively late into the evening that had a profound effect on my mind and soul - the Seventies were the Golden Age of classic horror movie trailers airing during breaks, commercials seemingly tailor-made to scare the absolute piss out of any little kids who might happen to be awake that time of night. I couldn't tell you how many times I would be watching TV by myself or with my siblings in a darkened den, when suddenly one of those goddamn things would fill the screen! None of us could get out of the room fast enough, screaming with fright and holding our hands to our ears to block out the sound! It got to the point where, for a couple of years, whenever a show faded to an ad break, I would get up and stand near the doorway to the room, so I could quickly make my escape should something scary pop up on screen.

Here's a prime example of the sort of stuff that would rear its head at any time during the night; this film trailer used to jolt the absolute bejesus out of me when I was seven:

At the time, there was something about seeing a frog with a human hand hanging out of its mouth that just scared the crap out of me . . . so much so, that my dad used to tease me back then by saying "Hey, son!", then putting his arm up to his mouth so that it looked like his hand was sticking out! It never failed to upset me back then, but looking back, it seems pretty funny now.

Here's another one from later in the 70s that was also a guaranteed late-night kiddie room-clearer in my house . . . this trailer is still unnervingly creepy today - just listen to that voice:

As frightening as the movie trailers were, in many ways they had nothing on what used to appear as regular fare on the networks back then. Probably a lot of you are too young to remember, but back in the Sixties and Seventies, the Big Three used to have weekly-scheduled movie series - shows like The CBS Friday Night Movies, NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies, The ABC Movie of the Week (I used to love the opening for the latter - great music, and from what I understand, one of the first examples of computer graphics on television):

These movie anthology shows started out in the 60s, showing old Hollywood B movies and the like, but by the end of that decade, the networks wised up and stopped paying the film studios for their hoary old castoffs and box-office flops, instead producing and airing their own "made for TV" movies.  A lot of the home-grown stuff they showed on these programs was crap - tepid family fare, or pilots for possible future TV shows (long-running series like Kojak, Columbo and The Six Million Dollar Man started out as one-shot movie pilots on these programs). But in some cases, the networks aired some pretty interesting, innovative stuff. For example, the car-truck cat-and-mouse thriller Duel, Stephen Spielberg's first big directorial effort, was a TV movie that was subsequently released to theaters. And the immortal sports classic Brian's Song, with Billy Dee Williams and James Caan as Chicago Bears running backs Gale Sayers and the doomed Brian Piccolo, also began as a Movie of the Week.

But where these made-for-TV movie programs really kicked out the jams was with the mysteries and horror movies they sometimes aired. I recall seeing The House On Greenapple Road (a superb early '70s detective classic that led to the show Dan August) and being jolted by its rather graphic depiction (for that period) of the aftermath of a grisly murder. I remember seeing another creepfest around that time, When Michael Calls, about a woman receiving phone calls from her presumably dead son. And of course there was the still-classic Trilogy of Terror in 1975 - anyone else remember that doll with the razor-sharp teeth attacking Karen Black in her apartment?

But for me, the hands-down gold standard for made-for-TV horror when I was a kid was a movie shown on ABC in the fall of 1973, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark:

In this film, a house full of particularly disturbing-looking goblins (that only come out at night, of course) set out to capture or kill the new tenants occupying their home. I sat and watched this one with my brother in our basement family room in Wisconsin, and for MONTHS afterwards, we couldn't enter a room at night without reaching around from the outside and switching the lights on first . . . and for a long time after that, I looked at wall heating grates with fear and apprehension.  The ending of this movie (and no, I won't give it away here) is one of the all-time great downbeat horror endings.  All in all, the tone and atmosphere of this film lived long in my memory, up until the present day (apparently, I wasn't the only one - director Guillermo Del Toro has been quoted as saying this movie scared the hell out of him as well when he was a kid).

As scary as these television movies were, I think that in some small way, I benefited from experiencing them, in that as I got older, there were fewer and fewer things that could really put the fear of God in me. Before I reached double-digits, I was a thrill ride aficionado, and couldn't wait to ride the roller coasters and other exciting rides at Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion every summer. My friends and I used to play in the woods near our homes well into the night, running through the trees in pitch blackness without trepidation. And I routinely walked home from a buddy's house on gloomy evenings through a long, dark and narrow path through a forest - I never gave it much of a thought at the time. I look at my kids today - who refuse to ride coasters with me at amusement parks, who rarely if so much as walk across the street at dusk to see their friends, and who recoil with fear and revulsion whenever I suggest we settle in for the night with a classic scary movie like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Shining - and just shake my head sometimes. I think that kids today are scared of a lot more things for a lot longer, because so many of them have been protected for so long from experiencing frightening or disturbing things. And that's a shame. Oh well . . .

I'm a grown man now, jaded and cynical after all of these years . . . and yet there are still a couple of things that just freak me right the hell out.  For example:

A couple of years ago, when I lived in Maryland, I was flipping around the cable box one night and landed right in the middle of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, probably the only one of his movies I never caught when it was first released in theaters - I recall that night it was airing on HBO or something. I arrived just before the first 'accident', a graphic head-on high-speed collision between Kurt Russell's "death-proof" stunt car and a sedan full of women - a crash that Tarantino felt the "artistic" need to show over and over, from different angles, to show exactly what happened to each of the auto's occupants . . . Jesus. I don't know if you all have ever seen that movie or that particular scene . . . but as bad as it sounds with my description, it's much worse actually seeing it, and it rocked me and shocked me to my core. I don't know what Quentin was trying to accomplish with that section of the film, but if it was to deliver a sickening kick to the viewer's stomachs, then mission accomplished. I bought Death Proof on DVD a couple of years later, to complete my Tarantino collection. For the most part, it's a pretty decent, entertaining film . . . but to this day I avoid watching that particular crash scene. I can't describe how or why it gets to me - I'm not squeamish, and I don't think I'm particularly sensitive. It's just a scene and an experience I have no interest in knowing all that much detail about.

Other than Death Proof, there's probably only one other film that still fills me with the same sort of shock, horror and dread - the original Night Of The Living Dead.

"Night Of The Living Dead?", you may be asking yourself - "That cheap-ass black-and-white zombie-attack throwback from the Sixties - are you kidding? Hell, there aren't even any decent special effects in that movie!" Yes, all of that is pretty much true. But it's that lack of production values - the grainy footage, natural lighting and settings, and odd camera angles - that makes NOTLD what it is. It comes off as less a film and more of almost a documentary, a chronicle of actual events that occurred that night. There's an undercurrent of realism that runs through the movie - in the movements, mindsets and actions of the various victims in relation to their plight - that makes you feel not only like "this really happened", but also "this CAN really happen".

And despite its lack of color, the film contains some of the most shocking scenes in horror film history. It goes without saying that zombie movies as we know them today basically didn't exist before 1968. With Night Of The Living Dead, director George Romero not only invented the genre, he also introduced an unprecedented depiction of gore rarely seen before that time. Animated dead bodies feeding visibly on human flesh and entrails was jolting back then, to audiences more used to the restrained 'shock' of a Christopher Lee Hammer Horror film or a Hitchcock flick. It remains jolting today.

The scene in NOTLD that always gets me is near the end (semi-spoiler alert), when the zombiefied little girl eats her father, then hacks her mother to death with a paving trowel in the basement . . . To me, that's a profoundly messed-up segment, with the girl's arm rising and falling again and again, and the sound of the trowel entering her mother's chest, over and over - brrrr! For me, unwatchable.

 Not much thought was given to compiling a Night Of The Living Dead soundtrack when the movie was completed in the late '60s. In fact, it wasn't until more than a decade later that anyone got around to doing so.  The album is full of good ol' '60s-style incidental suspense/horror film music, along with a fair amount of dialogue from the film.  Apparently, it didn't sell very well - to the best of my knowledge, this disc has never been released on CD.

So here for your listening pleasure is Night Of The Living Dead (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), released on vinyl by the label Varese Sarabande in 1982. I hope that this soundtrack helps set the tone for your scary and spooky Halloween night. So have fun, and enjoy! And as always, let me know what you think.

 (As for myself, I have no particular plans this evening, after the final trick-or-treater departs. I don't know . . . I guess I'll just stay in and watch some TV . . .)    

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Here's a fun fact: a small snippet from the final selection on this soundtrack album, "Funeral Pyre (End Title)", was used in one of the most disturbing (and yet hilarious) cartoon scenes of all time, the 'Call The Police' segment of Ren & Stimpy's "Rubber Nipple Salesmen" episode on Nickelodeon.  If you've never had the chance to experience it . . . bon appetit (and keep in mind that this was a show for children):

The B-52's - Mesopotamia ("David Byrne Mixes")

“When someone reaches middle age, people he knows begin to get put in charge of things, and knowing what he knows about the people who are being put in charge of things scares the hell out of him.”    

― Calvin Trillin, With All Disrespect

I've been watching the current Senate campaign in nearby Massachusetts (for the seat of former Senator and current Secretary of State John Kerry) with more than my usual bit of interest in all things political. I actually have a personal connection to this contest - I know the Republican candidate, Gabriel Gomez. He was my classmate at the Naval Academy, and in the same company with many of my old Annapolis friends. I can't say that I know him well, but we're familiar enough to recognize and call one another by name in a crowd of people. It's sort of strange, seeing a guy who you knew in your younger days, the same sort of hell-raisin', hard-drinkin', tom-cattin' partier you once were, now presenting himself as a solid citizen and vying for high elective office. Although I can't say that I support his cause or agree with most of his positions, I wish him well in his endeavors.

I don't know how many of you out there are familiar with the works of Calvin Trillin, the writer and humorist, but if you haven't checked him out, I heartily suggest you do. He has a very dry, witty, gentle, self-depreciating sense of humor . I heard him in a radio interview last year, discussing his then-latest book Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff (a book that went on to win last year's coveted Thurber Prize for American Humor). During the interview, Trillin brought up the topic I've quoted above, about the people we know and have grown up with now reaching the age where they're being put in charge of things, and how weird that seems. It was a pretty funny bit, with Trillin making reference to the kids he grew up with, known for eating worms or wetting their pants in elementary school, now serving as college presidents, elected officials and other respected authorities.

I can relate to that already, looking back not just on the recent Senate candidate acquaintance, but also on the lives of many of my old elementary and secondary school friends. Back in high school, one of my best buddies and I had an ongoing (and definitely non-PC) gag that poked fun at the mentally disabled. So what is his profession now? He's a senior administrator for residential communities that provide care and independence to people with Down's Syndrome and other developmental disabilities, a cause that he's devoted his life to. In another case, I went to school in California with two brothers who did such crazy, dangerous stuff to and with one another (jumping off of roofs into pools, crashing bikes head on, etc.) that I seriously thought they were congenitally insane. Today, one is a respected corporate attorney in the Bay Area, while the other is a renowned chemical engineer. So, it just goes to show you that the attitudes and actions on display in someone's early life are no harbinger of things to come.

All of which brings me to a phone call I received a few weeks ago, from my old friend Camob . . .

I've mentioned him a couple of times here in this blog. He lives way out on the West Coast, in San Diego, so we don't get together very much - I think the last time I actually saw him was in 2009. But we've always kept in contact through phone conversations and emails, maintaining a friendship and connection that goes back more than thirty years, all the way back to when we were young pups living next door to one another in a dingy old dormitory in Newport, Rhode Island.

He's a lot like me, in that most of his musical loves and sensibilities were formed back when we were in prep school and college. Camob was well into the New Wave long before he came to Newport, and was a champion of bands of that ilk that hailed from his home state of California. For instance, I remember when L.A. natives The Go-Go's dropped their hit debut LP Beauty and The Beat in the summer of 1981; you would have thought that Camob owned stock in I.R.S. Records, the way he talked up that band and that disc to anyone who would listen! He knew a lot about SoCal bands like Sparks and the Surf Punks, groups that I had only a passing acquaintance with. But as I mentioned in a previous post, the thing that made us instant friends early on was the discovery that we were both huge Devo fanatics. During off hours, we would sometimes hang out in his room, listening to his cassette copy of New Traditionalists (released the month after the Go-Go's album, in August 1981) . . . or more often than not, he and I would march up and down the halls with our parade rifles, mock-serious, as "Devo Corporate Anthem" (off of Duty Now For The Future) blasted out of his room and James, his older, more worldly roommate, looked on at us with an air of bemusement (ah, the things we did when we were young!).

I was the one who turned Camob on to The B-52's, my favorite band at the time. I was stunned that he was unfamiliar with their music up to that point . . . but he was a fast learner. By Christmas of 1981, he was a full-fledged fan - leading up to our epic journey to Providence that winter to catch them live at the Performing Arts Center (click that link above for the full story).

Although decades have now passed and we are much older, Camob remains a committed fan of both Devo and more especially The B-52's.  He never misses an opportunity to see them play when they are in his area, which is fairly often. I've seen the Bee-Fives about 7 or 8 times in my life; I figure that, over the years, Camob has paid to see them at least 25 times all told, and has been to no less than a score of Spudboy concerts. Just before the holidays last year, during one of our phone conversations, he suggested that I keep an eye on the mails, as he was sending a package my way. I thought that was a bit odd, since he and I are not in the habit of sending each other Christmas gifts every year. I tried to pry out of him what it could be, without luck. But after a day or two, I sort of forgot about it. A few days later, however, a box with my name on it arrived at my door. I recalled that it was from him, but I had no idea what it could be. I tore the box open, and laughed hysterically as I found this inside:

A joke gift, but one from the heart, and a reminder and acknowledgement of our old days together.

A couple of years ago, I was browsing around the Web, and came across a site describing a recently remixed version of The B-52's song "Mesopotamia". So I started looking around for it, but instead stumbled upon a site that had what was purported to be the "original mix" of the Mesopotamia EP - the mix reportedly done by David Byrne that was mostly shelved after he and the band had disagreements regarding the album project (which was why Mesopotamia was released as a 6-song mini-album, instead of The B-52's third full-fledged studio album). From what I read, this "Byrne mix" was included only on early copies of the EP released in England, which were immediately pulled in favor of the version that most people are familiar with. But a couple of the English copies remained at large, and the guy running the site got his hands on one of them.

I practically levitated out of my seat as I read this. Mesopotamia has long been one of my favorite B-52's albums, but to this day it holds a mixed reputation among the band's aficionados. The EP marked a substantial change in the musical direction of the band. On this record, The B-52's moved away from the more 'basic', good-time, straight-ahead party rock sound of their first two albums (The B-52's and Wild Planet) into something somewhat darker, denser, more polyrhythmic and layered. Many fans and critics were horrified by this shift - I can recall one savage review from back then that contained the line "The B-52's tried to take the 'p' out of 'party', and failed." As a result, Mesopotamia peaked on the U.S. Billboard charts significantly lower than its predecessor, the Top 20 hit Wild Planet. This EP definitely put the brakes on The B-52's momentum, and it took them years to recover.

The full story behind the aborted Mesopotamia sessions has never been fully told.  From what I understand, the disagreements between David Byrne and the Bee-Fives stemmed from two things.  First, it was the sound itself, which was a radical departure from what the band was known for; the B-52's (and the label) were understandably nervous about so drastic a move away from what by then was considered a 'signature' sound for the group.  It seemed to them that Byrne was trying to act like a bush-league Brian Eno, and mold the band into a hybrid afro-worldbeat version of what Talking Heads had been doing under Eno's production during that time (Fear Of Music/Remain In Light/Speaking In Tongues).

In addition, Byrne was producing his first full-scale solo work, the musical score for the Twyla Tharp Broadway dance project, The Catherine Wheel. He was working full-bore on that during the day and producing/mixing the B-52's stuff at night (again, trying to be a little Eno). But unlike his mentor, Byrne obviously couldn't handle the stress/effort involved in helming two big projects at once, and one of them began to suffer. Guess which one? So between the changed sound and Byrne's inattention, they collectively decided to part ways, and scrap the full album sessions.

The problem the label had with aborting the album was that it screwed up their release plans; there was supposed to be a full-blown B-52s album on the shelves in 1981. So Warner Bros. quickly slapped together the Party Mix! remix EP for release in July 1981, buying time for themselves and the band while they tried to figure out what to do with the unfinished songs and mixes left by Byrne.

The result was chaos. Island, Warner's distributor in the UK, rushed the pressing of the overseas Mesopotamia discs for release in January 1982 - somehow including unfinished, unedited demos of some tracks, instead of the fully produced songs. So, you see - the heralded so-called "David Byrne original EP mixes" are actually nothing more than a music label's huge fuckup.

Even with all of that, they're still interesting. Three of the songs on this "Mesopotamia - David Byrne Mix" (screw it - for the sake of simplicity, let's just keep calling it that) - "Deep Sleep", the title cut, and "Nip It In The Bud" are essentially identical to what I'd heard for all these years. But there were significant differences in the other three songs/demos:

• "Loveland" - the 'David Byrne mix' is 8:24 minutes long, almost a full three and a half minutes longer than the "regular" version. It's also much 'dryer' than the familiar version; that is, there is no reverb or echo added to Kate's voice in this version of the song. Still, it's pretty good.
• "Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can" - This alternate version is a full minute and a half longer than the familiar version. I'd always sort-of liked the 'regular' version, but I always felt that, like "Nip It In The Bud", it could have been improved on. I discovered that, in this case, I was wrong. The 'David Byrne version', while longer, simply has too much going on within it - a lot of annoying sound effects and horn fanfares that intrude upon and ultimately diminish the song. I frankly prefer the version I've always listened to all these years to this one.
• "Cake" - The hands-down highlight of the 'Byrne mixes'. This version is two minutes longer than the familiar version. In this one, the song is slightly sped up from the 'norm', and overall it's a LOT funkier (in a cool Bootsy Collins, Speaking In Tongues-era Talking Heads fashion) and better put together than the released version. You don't notice the extended length of it; it's THAT good, and should have been the one to have gone on the official EP.

All in all, it was pretty exciting hearing these alternate versions. Despite its critics, I'd always liked Mesopotamia - regardless of the fact that, even at its debut, it had a sort of unfinished, half-assed feel to it. And I knew from my conversations with Camob that he liked the EP as well. So I quickly forwarded him a copy, and soon afterwards received the following response:

"Really appreciate you sending this along. As we have discussed before, I always loved Mesopotamia like you did and I always felt it got shorted by everyone but the true fans. I was never a big fan of "Throw That Beat........" or "Deep Sleep", Loved "Mesopotamia", "Cake", really liked "Nip it in the Bud" and "Loveland". And you are right on with your comments, this version of "Cake" should have been the one they included on the EP."

That's my boy Camob - always on my wavelength!

Camob graduated from Annapolis a year ahead of me, and spent all of his active duty Navy time in the Pacific Fleet. He left active duty back in the mid-90s and found a niche in the professional placement field, eventually opening up his own successful business. But he maintained his Navy connection and continued his military advancement as a reserve naval officer; as a reservist, it seemed that he was more 'active' than he was when he was actually in the regular Navy, with regular deployments to hot spots around the world.

So back to that phone call . . .

Camob called to tell me some outstanding news that he's just received - he had been selected for flag rank - my boy was going to be made an Admiral! I couldn't believe it!

. . . And yet, I could believe it. People who don't know him well might dismiss him - but Camob has worked his ass off all his life to achieve success, both in business and in the military, and has never let adversity or naysayers deter him from where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do on this planet. I have been lucky enough to see all of his facets throughout his life - from the beer-bong wielding, concert-attending, poker playing boon compadre and dependable wingman, to the dedicated family man, savvy business professional and 'watertight' military commander. He's not just one or another of those things - all those experiences and attitudes from across the years are what molded him into the man he is today.

So I don't expect him to change much, now that he's got gold stars on his lapels. He'll probably still chuckle over our email exchanges (some of the funniest things I've ever written and read have come through the banter and correspondence Camob and I have engaged in, off and on, for over thirty years now). He will undoubtedly be the first Flag Officer in U.S. history who's once owned (and worn) a plastic Devo "New Traditionalist Pomp" hairdo . . . one who's served more hours of disciplinary marching and room restriction at USNA than perhaps any other admiral . . . one who knows and appreciates who Lene Lovich, Jane Wiedlin and Susan Dallion are . . . a man who never missed an episode of The Facts Of Life when it was on, and who once nursed a years-long crush on one of the TV show's girls (I'll let you guess

which one) . . . and one who spent much more time laughing and having fun in school and in life than in sweating over things, politicking and glad-handing his way to high rank. I'm afraid to say that there are more than a few top officers out there who greased their way along with that sort of "brownnoser" attitude (and I can personally name more than one . . .) - Camob is NOT one of those officers.

As such . . . well, with my buddy making Admiral, I sort of feel like Henry Hill and Jimmy "The Gent" Conway felt in Goodfellas, when they heard that Tommy DeVito was going to be a 'made man' in the Mafia - "With Tommy being made, it was like we were all being made." With Camob, it's like, finally, the right man, one of our own, a guy I've known and liked for forever and can relate to, made it. And I couldn't be happier.

(of course, in Goodfellas, this happened . . .

. . . so maybe that's not such the best analogy to use in this case . . . but I digress . . .)

So, with all of this, I have to say that in this instance I can't agree with Trillin's assessment of 'friends in high places". Knowing that Camob is now one of the folks "in charge of things" doesn't scare the hell out of me; quite the opposite - it makes me smile, knowing that, at least in this case, justice prevailed, things are in the right hands, and all is good and proper in the world. Congratulations to my old and dear friend!

So, in honor of the new RADM (USNR) Camob, here's The B-52's Mesopotamia EP, containing the alternate demo versions, released erroneously by Island Records in the United Kingdom on January 27th, 1982. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.  

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The Clash - Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo, Japan (1982-01-28) (Discs 1 & 2)

More Clash bootlegs . . .

Here's the two-disc version of The Clash burning down the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo as part of their Far East tour in early 1982, playing some pre-release versions of songs that would eventually appear on Combat Rock three months later. In terms of quality, this set is hit and miss . . . But even in its muddied glory, you can still hear the power and musicianship of the band shining through. You can even sense some remaining rapport between the band members here - probably the last of it, as the band was touring in the midst of the contentious recording of that album. Mick Jones was unhappy with the rest of the band rejecting his Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg mix, and Glyn Johns was about to be brought in at the end of the tour to remix the album in London. Jones was especially pissed at Joe Strummer; their acrimony would lead to Jones leaving the group less than eighteen months later . . .

(but I've already covered the story behind Combat Rock, haven't I?)

Anyway, what I'm saying is, despite the iffy quality in places, it's still an essential listen for Clash fans with a hankering to know what the band sounded like live. So, here you are. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

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Whoa - lookie here at what I found; some enterprising young raascal has taken the liberty of uploading a major portion of the Nakano Sun concert onto YouTube. Enjoy!

Eddie Murphy - Eddie Murphy

As I mentioned in a previous post, at one time I made a concious, concerted effort to subconciously mold and influence my kids' musical tastes into something resembling my own - an attempt that frankly was an abject failure. But over the years, as my children have grown, it has been interesting and fun to see them develop their own tastes, and marvel at the things they start to like - especially so when those likes begin to mirror my own.

For example, my younger daughter and son are still at the stage where "Spongebob Squarepants" and "Phineas & Ferb" rank high on their lists, in terms of cultural relevance and quality entertainment. She loves playing with her dolls, and he with his toy soldiers, and they both enjoy the Poptropica and Club Penguin websites and their Xbox and Wii games. With all of those activities and programs capturing most of their attention, I assumed that they were absorbing very little, if any, of the music I played around the house.

However, a few months ago, while we were all driving somewhere, I was playing some tunes off my mobile device through the car stereo (I always keep my iPod in the car, for on-the-go tuneage). My little girl suddenly piped up, "Daddy, would you play that 'Lobster' song, please?"

I quickly figured out that she was referring to the B-52's "Rock Lobster", and put it on for her.

While it was playing, I happened to glance back at my son. Now, his favorite pastime while riding in the car is playing one of the several games I have for him on my iPhone - Angry Birds, Smash Cops, Major Mayhem, Jetpack Joyride. Usually, he's so locked into these games, that I have to impose limits on how long he can play them. So, needless to say, I was surprised to see that, as "Rock Lobster" played, he had actually turned the iPhone OFF, and sat in his seat, head down, playing air guitar a la Ricky Wilson . . . for the ENTIRE song! When the song ended, they asked for an immediate repeat; all in all, I played "Rock Lobster" six times in a row for them, with my son pantomiming every note every time, and my daughter learning the correct sounds to make every time Fred Schneider called out "Dogfish!" or "Sea Robin!" It was very funny, and very good to see.

My third child, the oldest (tween-aged) daughter, has her own iPod, and with it she has established her own musical tastes - mostly showtunes (like the soundtracks to Cats, Wicked and West Side Story), Michael Jackson songs and a smattering of lightweight pop like Demi Lovato and Katy Perry (*sigh* . . . yeah, I know). But occasionally I can sneak something onto her device that she 'discovers' and falls in love with.

For instance, a couple of months ago, I surrepticiously put Crystal Castles' "Crimewave" in her playlist - she found it, thought it was the greatest song in the world, and now she's a devoted Crystal Castles fan. But I don't do a lot of that sort of stuff - I'd rather let them discover their own media likes . . . although in more than one case, it's left me with some awkward situations to deal with.

I have a couple of Apple TV boxes in the house, connected to the TVs in the living room and in the girls' room. Apple TV allows you to, among other things, wirelessly stream the contents of your iTunes music and video database directly through your television - so instead of crowding around a computer screen to hear a song or watch a show, you can hear/view stuff anywhere in the house. Through Apple TV, my oldest daughter discovered my Monty Python collection (I have the entire series, along with all the movies, digitized in my hard drive). Over the past year, she's watched every single episode and film multiple times, laughing her head off every time; she knows Monty Python cold now, and through her exposure to it, it's sparked her interest in comedy.

I also have a show on my computer called The Best of Eddie Murphy, featuring some of his most celebrated sketches from his time on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" - you know, stuff like Gumby, Mr. Robinson, and of course Buckwheat; pretty mild stuff comparatively, but still hilarious. She found that on Apple TV early last month, and enjoyed it immensely, watching it multiple times and even putting the show on her mobile device, so she could watch it on the go.

Over the Labor Day weekend, I surprised the children with an "end-of-summer" trip to a nearby amusement park. It took about an hour to drive to the park from my house, and my daughter brought her iPod along, watching the Eddie Murphy clips all the way there. We spent all day at the park, riding the rides, seeing the shows, eating stuff that wasn't particularly good for us and splashing around at their on-the-grounds waterpark. The kids had an absolute blast, which was all that I hoped for. As the park closed, I loaded up my three happy, tired children into the car and began the long drive home.

My oldest daughter turned her iPod on early in the return journey, but found that it was running out of power.

"Daddy? Can I plug my iPod in to charge it up?" (I have a Apple device car adaptor)

"No, honey - I'm sorry; I need the plug to charge up my phone. But you can listen to Daddy's iPod if you want."

"Okay!"

I handed my device back to my little girl, and for the next ten minutes silence reigned in the car. Then I heard a sound coming from the back seat:

**snicker!**

I looked back through the rear-view mirror to see my daughter covering her mouth and shaking with laughter. I asked, "What's so funny, sweetheart?"

In the most innocent voice possible (a telltale right there), my daughter answered, "Ohhhh . . . nothing!"

I just nodded, but kept an eye on her . . . And sure enough, a couple of minutes later, again - **snicker!**

"What are you listening to, honey?"

And again: "Ohhhh . . . nothing, Daddy!"

Just as before, I let it go - she was enjoying herself; so be it. But a minute later, when she snickered again, I laughingly asked her what was making her laugh so much.

She paused for a moment, then said, "Well, I found these old Eddie Murphy albums on your iPod . . ."

My immediate thought was "Oh, shit." Eddie Murphy's comedy shorts on SNL, while funny, are only a bit risque - as much as he could get away with on network TV. But the stuff on his comedy albums is a FAR CRY from the material my daughter had seen and was used to - filled with profanity and references to "faggots" (pardon the term), "motherfuckers" and "big dicks". I was mortified, and my initial impulse was to either reach back and snatch the iPod from her ears as quick as I could, or otherwise tell her to turn it off and find something else to listen to . . .

But just as quickly, I reversed myself, and decided to just let it go and let her keep listening. You know, your kids are your kids, and over the years as you raise them, you tend to think of them as these innocent little tykes needing constant monitoring, nurturing and protection from all of the bad things in the world. But I think that most parents (myself included) maintain this image of their children for a lot longer than necessary. Kids grow up pretty quickly, especially in these times, and it's both impossible and foolish to try to keep from exposing them to the reality of the world - both the good stuff and the bad (racism, profanity, obscenity, etc.). Instead of putting up an iron wall between them and these sort of things, I've found that it's better to erect a door instead, allowing these things to enter their lives slowly, with some level of control, and together with them helping to understand and deal with these issues. When the odd event or situation slips through or around that 'door' into your child's life, outside of your control, instead of freaking out or trying to pretend it's not there, having an approach like this already established helps you to deal with it in a more rational way.

My oldest daughter is pretty smart and switched-on; after a year of watching Monty Python, she 'gets' politically incorrect humor, knowing why it's funny in certain circumstances, but also knowing why it's not for general audiences. The last thing I'd expect her to do is start repeating these riffs in front of her mother or grandparents - she knows better than that. So that makes my job a little easier . . .

Besides, she thinks the stuff is hilarious, and she's right. In the wake of Murphy's meteoric rise in the 1980s, followed by his uneven career (to put it mildly) of the past twenty-odd years, it's easy to forget what a bombshell his debut comedy album was when it was released in November 1982. At that point, Murphy has been on SNL for two years, for the past year being the breakout cast member and biggest attraction during a lackluster period in the history of the show. The album Eddie Murphy was really the first time a national audience got to experience the REAL Eddie Murphy - profane, powerfully cynical, urban, raw. Some of the routines on this first release have become classics: "Talking Cars", "Black Movie Theaters", "Myths/A Little Chinese" - and my personal all-time favorite, "Drinking Fathers".

Most of this album is a laugh riot, with the only off-notes (pun intended) coming from the two weak songs Murphy saw fit to put at the end of each side, "Boogie In Your Butt" and the annoying "Enough Is Enough". Still, that being said, the release of Eddie Murphy was the opening salvo in a two-month onslaught of career successes in 1982 - the release of 48 Hrs. in early December, and his stint as guest host of SNL later that month (the first, and only, active cast member to ever host the show) - that by the end of the year had elevated Murphy to one of the biggest stars in the world.

Eddie Murphy extended that superstardom through the remainder of the '80s, but by the beginning of the 1990's, that momentum had petered out, weighed down by hubris and bad career decisions. Too bad. Even in the wake of his career decline and series of crappy, widely-panned movies (I Spy, Norbit, Meet Dave, Imagine That, and one of the all-time flops, The Adventures Of Pluto Nash- among many, many other stinkbombs), Murphy is still considered by people in my generation as one of the funniest comedians and greatest film stars ever. And this debut album is where that reputation took seed and began to grow. Heck - if it can still make my tween-aged daughter laugh, all these years later, I guess there's still SOMETHING to it, eh?

So, for your listening pleasure, Eddie Murphy, released by Columbia Records on November 6th, 1982. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

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The Clash - Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg (2-disc version)

I've been a Clash fan pretty much from the get-go. I rank this band up there with the Beatles, in terms of the rapid expansion and improvement in their music progression and depth in the short time they were together.

[Actually, if you think about it, the parallels between the Clash and the Beatles are remarkable. Both were made up of members who had paid their dues in the local music scenes (London and Liverpool, respectively) of their day. Both were heavily dependent on diligent, headstrong managers (Bernie Rhodes and Brian Epstein) early in their careers. Both bands put out double LPs (Sandinista! and The White Album) late in their careers which are considered not only their masterpieces, but some of the greatest albums of all time. Both really only had an active recording life of about six years. And both fell apart due to personal acrimony between the band members.]

But I digress. Simply stated, The Clash are one of the greatest bands that ever existed.

I remember the first time I heard Combat Rock - a friend of mine bought it on vinyl, and I was there when he dropped the needle on the first track, "Know Your Rights". Man, that declaration by Joe Strummer ("This is a public service announcement - WITH GUITARRRRRR!") followed by that guitar kicking in, practically gave me a heart attack! Practically every cut on that album was a winner to me. I've always considered Combat Rock to be their greatest album, superior even to Sandinista! (which, to be completely honest, as great as it was, had a lot of filler on it).

I discovered over the years that a lot of people didn't agree with my verdict on Combat Rock. I heard that, on that album, the Clash went commercial, or got too arty, or forgot how to write songs, etc., etc. A lot of people who I thought would know better had some very negative things to say about this album, and I could never understand why. After a while, I stopped listening to them. I thought it was great, so what do I care about the critics?

I didn't learn until years later that Combat Rock was actually supposed to be a DOUBLE album, just like its predecessor Sandinista! From what I understand, Mick Jones had actually prepared a mix of this double album in late 1981, under the working title Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg. But the rest of the band rejected this first version, mainly due to personality conflicts between Strummer and Jones which would result in Jones getting kicked out of the group in 1983. The band handed over mixing and production duties to Glyn Johns, a former producer for Blue Oyster Cult, and he was the one who mixed it as a single album to everyone (except Mick's) satisfaction.

Here's a great track off of the original double album mix that never made the final cut for Combat Rock - "Kill Time" (also known as "Idle In Kangaroo Court W1"):

 I searched high and low for this original two-disc version, and finally found a copy that included not only the original mixes, but an entire second disc of studio outtakes from the recording sessions.  And thus, I bestow them unto you:

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