The Swinging Madisons - "Volare"

New York City's The Swinging Madisons were a nightclub sensation in New York in the early '80s. Led by flamboyant singer-keyboardist Kristian Hoffman (ex-Mumps/James White) the Swinging Madisons played humorous lounge club rock. They released a five-song EP on Select Records in 1981 which included this cover of "Volare". Vocalist Kristian Hoffman still records, Paul Rutner played drums, Guitarist Robert Maché played with Steve Wynn and The Continental Drifters, bassist Joe Katz plays intrumentals in NYC's "Loser's Lounge" house band the Kustard Kings.

Accidents - "Blood Spattered With Guitars"

Accidents hailed from Chelmsford, Essex, U.K. where the B.B.C was born. They released the superbly titled slice of Mod called "Blood Spattered With Guitars" on Hook Line 'n' Sinker Records in 1979. In 1980 they recorded an LP, the equally brilliantly titled "Kiss Me On The Apocalypse", but it was shelved after reaching the test-pressing stage. "Blood" starts off slowly so don't dismiss it before it takes off in all its Mod glory. This "lost Band" became found again in 1996 when Detour Records released the album on CD. Accidents were Mark Robbins: lead guitar, Nick Smith: bass, Terry Ruffle: vocals & guitar and Paul Sullivan drums.

Girls At Our Best - "Fast Boyfriends"

Hailing from the Leeds area, Girls At Our Best had a couple of indie hits in the U.K. in 1980, and couple more in 1981 including "Fast Boyfriends" (Happy Birthday Records). They released the "Pleasure" album containing a free "Pleasure" bag then broke up in 1982. Singer Judy Evans, the only girl in the band, has a distinctive trill that may take some getting used to but is worth the effort. D. Carl Harper played Drums, Gerard Swift, Bass and James Alan, who went on to play Psycho-rockabilly with Tall Boys, played Guitar. Thomas Dolby is credited with playing synthesiser and Flood was in the studio as the engineer. This is another "Lost Band" that was rediscovered in 1994 when Vinyl Japan rereleased "Pleasure" on CD which quickly went out of print but if you must have it(!) get it at GEMM.

Soul Attack - "Little Lost Child"

Northern New Jersey based Soul Attack played Rock infused with elements of R.E.M. Creedence and Motown. They played live with the intensity of The Clash and in their sleeveless shirts and stylish suits looked like them as well. They gigged for an all-too brief time around their home state with occasional trips across the river into New York City and released a great four song Pop/Punk EP on their own Change Records label. "Little Lost Child" sounds like a lost Stiff Little Fingers track. Soul Attack were Chris Moffa: Guitar & Vocals, (see previous post) Ernie Mendillo: Bass & Vocals, Ed Rupprecht: Guitar & Vocals and Alan Katz: Drums & Vocals.The line up was short-lived and changes were made but Ernie and Ed went onto international fame when they morphed into the The Brandos.

Robert Seidler - "Christian Boy"

Robert Seidler's "Christian Boy" was in heavy rotation at radio station KQAK in San Francisco in '84 and '85, placing in the top ten of the Quake's top 100 songs of '85. Robert says "Back in ‘82 we were all just coming out of the angry punk thing, trying to figure out what to do next. I had just finished a rather difficult break up with my band Mr. Clean due to some serious conflicts and betrayal. The song "Christian Boy" was written as a reaction to that betrayal. The feelings I had were so strong, the disappointment so great, the song just sort of wrote itself. I believe songs can be friends and "Christian Boy" was a good friend at a very difficult and cathartic time in my life." The song found its way onto the KQAK Rock to Riches compilation album and then onto the EP originally entitled "Dotted Line". The song has since been remixed and appeared on cd for the first time in 2001 when Robert released the E.P."Christian Boy" on CD. The original version presented here is also on the CD. Doug Van Blaricom played guitar, Valdimir Malinovsky, keyboards, Kevin Powell, drums and Jim Clausen, bass. Thanks to Robert who has changed his name to Cole Panther, for allowing his work to be posted. He has since recorded a side project entitled Jennings Radio. Additional thanks go out to Edwin Gore for ripping the track from vinyl.

Blotto - "I Wanna Be A Lifeguard"

It's officially summer so what better way to kick it off than with a classic new wave beach song. Blotto spent two years honing their chops playing the clubs in Albany, New York, then raised enough money to produce a four-song ep which this song comes from. It seemed that anytime The B52's "Rock Lobster" was played in a club in 1980 it was followed by Blotto's "I Wanna Be A Lifeguard". You can read all about Blotto's history here and download more music too. Taking a cue from The Ramones, Blotto was vocalist Sarge Blotto, bassist Cheese Blotto, guitarist Broadway Blotto, guitar-vocalist Bowtie Blotto, and drummer Lee Harvey Blotto. Female lead singer Blanche Blotto joined the band for a while, then quit, being replaced by Chevrolet Blotto.

The Go - "Don't Take Her Away"

I'll never forget how nervous I was the first time I crossed the Hudson River from New Jersey to go to New York City's Bowery and CBGB's to see The Go. I was a 19 year kid who rarely strayed from the safe environs of the NJ club scene. Hearing their clean, jangly Power Pop sound made the graffiti covered walls of CBGB's less threatening. The experience opened up NYC as a club destination for me and The Peppermint Lounge and Mud Club became new haunts. The Go were from nearby Yonkers, NY and played CB's as well as many other tri-state area clubs regularly. Unfortunately they only managed to release an independant 4 song EP in 1980. Despite coming close to getting a recording contract they called it quits a couple years later . The Go were Kenny Dutch : Guitars/Vocal, Tom Conte : Guitars/Vocal, George Peters : Bass/Vocals, Joe Brya : Drums/Percussion Kenny and Tom still play in a band called Hipripper.

The Cosmopolitans - "How To Keep Your Husband Happy"

Like it or not "The Stepford Wives" have returned so it's fitting that this week's song is The Cosmopolitans - "How To Keep Your Husband Happy". The Cosmopolitans (Jamie Sims & Nel Moore) started out in North Carolina as a dance troop called Cosmopolitan Dance Troop, then moved to New York City and mutated into a rock act that integrated some dance/performance mayhem. In this song from 1981 they quote lines from 60's fitness guru Debbie Drake's excellent checklist for keeping your husband happy like "Firm and graceful body", "Be interested in him and the things he does" and "Excess fat (taboo)" over guitar and drums provided by fellow Carolinian Mitch Easter. Mitch Easter also co-produced the song with Jamie for Allen Betrock's Shake Records.

Student Teachers - "Looks"

Larchmont, New York's Student Teachers were one of few teenage bands on the NY punk scene and had one of the first female rhythm sections in a non-all-girl band . Shortly after they began playing, Jimmy Destri (the keyboard player from Blondie) started producing the band. The song "Looks" was released on a compilation called "2 x 5" on legendary Marty Thau's Red Star label along with tracks from the Bloodless Pharoahs, Revelons, Comateens, and Fleshtones. They opened for Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Richard Hell and The Dead Boys among others. In November of 1980 they released an EP entitled "Easter 78 - Halloweeen 80" and broke up. The Student Teachers were David Scharff - Vocals, Philip Shelley - guitar, Joe Katz - guitar, Bill Arning - keyboards, Lori Reese - bass, Laura Davis - drums. Philip Shelley later founded the Mystery Dates and the Nitemares. David Scharff has worn many hats in the music industry including fanzine publisher, and record company art director and writer. "Looks" was covered in 2000 by former Soul Coughing's Mike Doughty.

Chris Moffa & The Competition - "Places To Live"

Chris Moffa of New Jersey's Chris Moffa & The Competition referred to his band's music as "Contact Music" which in his words meant "music brought about by a real need to express some serious social issues". They were compared to the Clash (though he didn't completely agree) and the song "Places To Live" is filled with Clash style references to rap/rock/disco and politics. The band's music had punk and pop/rock influences as well. They toured up and down the east coast in support of an ep from which this track comes but soon split up when Chris joined Soul Attack (soon to be featured here).Chris Moffa & The Competition were Chris Moffa - guitar and vocals, Jim Ohm - drums, and John Lewis - bass, although Frank Roselli played bass on this track.

The Modulators - "Spin Me Around"

The Modulators were a local New Jersey band that played the small clubs in NJ and New York almost weekly during the early 80's. They released several singles and one nine song E.P., "Tomorrow's Coming", from where "Spin Me Around" appeared on Vintage Vinyl records, an off shoot of the local record store of the same name. Their music was inspired by The Beatles, The Byrds and Marshall Crenshaw among others. Their music was 80's power pop at it's finest. The special effects heavy video for the song "Spin Me Around" received heavy rotation on the Newark, NJ video channel U68. The Modulators may hold the record for playing Bloomfield, NJ's The Dirt Club more times than any other band. Their song "Down At The Dirt" was the clubs theme song and appeared on the "Dirt Compilation Vol. 1." The Modulators primarily were Joe Riccardello on bass & Keyboards, Mark Higgins on Guitar and Mark Westlake on Drums.

The Mosquitos -"Do You Want To Hurt Me"

Long Island, New York's The Mosquitos released a 5 song EP of fine 60's influenced pop entitled "That Was Then, This Is Now!" on the Valhalla label in 1985 and then disappeared. The Mosquitos, who took their name from the band that appeared on an episode of "Gilligan's Island", were known for their blistering live shows (anybody have any mp3s or cd-rs?) and for writing the song "That Was Then, This is Now" that the regrouped Monkees turned into a Top 20 hit in 1986. The Mosquitos were Vance Brescia, (vocals/guitar), Steve Prisco (lead guitar/vocals), Iain Morrison (bass/vocals), Mitch Towse (drums), and Tony Millions (keybard/vocals).

Miché and the Anglos - "One of Those Things"

If you were stuck in little old Geneseo, NY in 1985 without a driver's license, one of the few very cool things you might be able to put on your social calendar was being able to see a Miché and the Anglos show. Heck, my first real date (with that cool punkish girl that I met at all-county orchestra) was at a show at the SUNY Geneseo student union ballroom. The band consisted of Miché Fambro (vocals & guitar), Fred Mentner (guitar), Dave Brick (keyboards), Craig Moffitt (bass & sax) and James Conner (drums). They played all over the Rochester and upstate area from at about 1979 through 1988. They released a self-titled EP in 1985, and a full LP (video clip available here) around 1987. (The mp3 of 'One of Those Things' comes from the EP.) Miché also worked part-time at world-famous Buzzo Music in Geneseo, corrupting the youth with his recommendations of weird LPs by Mick Karn, and these gloomy bands on some label called 4AD. In the late 80s, Miché ran a small label called SLIDD records, that released solid recordings by 'The Paper Train', '3 Boxes', and a number of other upstate acts. He is still recording, releasing under the SLIDD label, and lives in Ithaca, NY. Rolling Stone gave his solo release, 'The Chapel Session', a glowing review in 1998.

The Whyos - "Full Arms And An Empty Heart"

New York, NY's The Whyos played catchy, neo-rockabilly. They released a few singles and an album and did a cover of a Led Zeppelin song for a tribute record. Their song "1-2-3-4" appeared on The Dirt Club Compilation. Their music also was released in Holland on the Dutch label Rockhouse. The info on the picture sleeve from this song lists only the band members first names, but after doing a little research I can name two out of four: Mike Girao: Guitar (Vocals), Tim: Vocals, Brain: Bass & Joe Geary: Drums. Joe and Mike still play with a band called The Blues Jumpers and Joe also plays with Rick Fink & His Gas House Gorillas. This single was released in 1982 on Steven Nyhoff's and Nels Johnson's Fake Doom Records, once home to The Cucumbers. If anybody has any additional information on The Whyos please add a comment below.