Before indie, paisley underground, noise-pop and shoegaze you had the low key buzz of the thin fuzz of Shoes. Their lo-fi power pop with occasional neo-psych overtones was distinctly not particularly new wave-y here. They were doin their own thing. The impeccable diy four track recording of the Black Vinyl Shoes LP was released on Shoes own record label Black Vinyl Records before Bomp signed them the following year for the Tomorrow Night single (see previous post). Do You Wanna Get Lucky?'s got mellifluent melodic charms, ace chugging riff-age, the spectre of Phil Spector and that little surreal guitar break of tripped out noise is something else.
Crank this melon farmer up and you'll be chanting Jenny's phone number at the top of your lung in no time.
Here's another one I haven't heard since I was ten. Only made it to number twenty two on the charts here. 8675309's got Canadian hit written all over it though and guess what? Surprise surprise it was a number two smash in Canadia that went on to become the the twentieth biggest selling single of 1982! Only kept off top spot by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder's fucking awful Ebony & Ivory.
If I ran a golden oldies radio station this is the type of thing I'd be programming. Tunes that were in the lower regions of the charts for one or two weeks as well as good tunes that just didn't quite make it instead of the same thirty songs they've been playing on repeat for forty years on Australia's airwaves.
Bringing you all the non hits and memories. These Someloves singles got nowhere near the Australian top 40, I mean these guys were incredibly successful at being unsuccessful. Here's four of the greatest pop non-hits you never heard.
My Favourite LP in 1987 was At First Sight, Violets are Blue by The Stems. By the time Dom Mariani left The Stems and came out with these tunes in 1990 from a reactivated Someloves his time, in my eyes, was up. We'd been into The Pixies, JAMC, My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr, SY as well as the whole indie-dance thing for a year or two by then and these jangly melodic retro throwbacks seemed a bit fusty. I thought Sunshine's Glove was a bit of dad rock that had escaped from the Kingswood's car radio in 1981. I mean it kinda was but that was no bad thing. You can't deny a good tune and it seems that's all Dom and his partner in crime Darryl Mather had: Crafty, affecting and infectious pop tunes. Timeless.
The Someloves - Know You Now (1988)
As far as second half of the 80s power pop goes this is up there with The Smithereens' Behind The Wall Of Sleep and Crash by The Primitives. Know You Now is possibly Dom and Darryl's crowning achievement. An undeniable sherbet bomb of pop tune.
The Someloves - Melt (1990)
Their third single rocks a bit harder. I mean that could be Joey Santiago doin that nifty lead.
The Some Loves - Don't Talk About Us (1986)
It's crazy to think Dom Mariani was in two great bands at the same time ie. The Stems and The Some Loves (later renamed The Someloves). He also had great songwriting partnerships in both groups. I guess The Stems were a bit more Garage-y while The Some Loves were more on the power pop tip. It's all gloriously timeless guitar driven pop music.
Anyway guitarist, co-songwriter and producer of The Someloves Darryl Mather had been a founding member of Lime Spiders and he met Dom in the 80s while The Stems were still going. They recorded their debut single It's My Time for the legendary Citadel label in 1986 of which Don't Talk About Us was the B-side.
More great non-hits and memories. Here's another slice of lo-fi power pop, this time with more of a garage/freakbeat influence. Shoes achieved a pretty incredible sound on this single considering it was a do it yourself in the basement job. The mellifluous vocals and crunchy driving guitars are perfect for each other like other stuff that's perfect for each other.
Unsurprisingly when Shoes later signed to Electra Tomorrow Night was re-recorded, in a plush studio with a producer, for release during power pop's premier year of 1979 but it still failed to crack the top 40... Shoes are undoubtably the most legendary coulda-been group of the era. I mean these tunes just belong on the radio...
Fuck yes! Bringing you all the olden days jams and non hits and memories.
1979's the golden year for new wave power pop and the new wave of power pop innit. Other Boys Do is from the lo-fi cult classic album The Toms. Tom Marolda was the Ariel Pink of his era: He sang, played all the instruments and recorded the entire thing on his own in his New Jersey home, coming up with the most charming record of 1979 in the process.
Back again with 20/20 and this their second LP. They up the new wave ante here for a blistering guitar driven pop classic. Ace guitar, large harmonies and even larger bass and drums all delivered with great gusto. We're all nuclear boys living in a nuclear world.
20/20 - Out Of My Head [1981]
Now for the other absolute banger from 20/20's Look Out record. It's got that bass line from The Supremes that's also been recycled by the likes of Iggy Pop, The Jam and er... Jet. This is the best usage though innit. Try not to dance around your lounge room to this one. These guys are right on the money with their youthful exuberance, enthusiastic harmonies and smokin' rhythm section. Hard to believe this wasn't a worldwide smash hit.
A song with a memory hidden in the deep recesses of my mind.
I am sure I haven't heard this since 1981 when I was 9. When heard yesterday my mind went "Fuck yes I love this" Then I thought this must have been a hit here in Australia and yes indeed it was a number 6 smash that went gold. I even enjoyed the key change which had me thinking that it was probably Stock, Aitken and Waterman's overuse of this songwriting trick that made me averse to such things, actually this might be the greatest most affective key change in a pop song ever... anyway Phil Seymour played drums and bass in the Dwight Twilley Band and also contributed a guest appearance on the debut album by 20/20 featured in the previous post.
Precious To Me's got layers and layers of nostalgia, history, tradition and meaning. I think this is the greatest 80s rediscovery I've made this year. I just can't believe how fucking infectious this tune is. You can have your Badfingers and Big Stars, Phil Seymour's the real deal baby!
Yellow Pills is at that perfect intersection of power pop and new wave. Chucking an unruly and abrasive synth into a slice of pure melodic guitar pop is a genius manoeuvre.
20/20 - Sheri [1979]
Also it's hard to deny this hook laden anthem. Melodic. Energetic. Electric.
20/20 - Tell Me Why (Can't Understand You) [1979]
This one's more on the mid tempo tip. So Beatle-esque it reaches ELO-like proportions. The infectious stuttered "T-T-T-T-Tell Me Why" chorus is peak new wave gloriousness. Concluding with lengthy psych interlude that includes spacey bass, backwards guitars, synth, spooky backmasked vocals and an epic fade out.
I think I bought the Jungle Rot cd reissue cd in the 00s mainly because of this photo accompanying the review which caught my eye in a magazine. It pictured three young burnout dudes hanging out in an abandoned house in nowheresville USA during the mid 70s.
If someone told you this opening title track was a Chrome demo from 1977 you'd believe them, with its fantastic acid fried fuzz guitars and snarling vocals.
Most of the rest of the LP doesn't really follow this style. There's a couple of tunes in a similar vein but the rest is more low key, comprising throwback 60s garage, some blues and stoner psych noodling with hints of of Velvets circa 3rd LP, The Stooges, Blue Cheer, probably The Groundhogs... anyway, an eclectic curio it definitely is.
It's Misery - George Brigman [1975]
It's the creepy stoner fuzz jamz that this teenage three piece from Baltimore excel in though.
One of the great post-154 albums. If you like your post-punk nice and gloomy yet sometimes uplifting, the incredibly dreamy Fiction Tales LP is for you. Along with Alex Johnson's inventive idiosyncratic vocal style & melodies we get serious post-punk drummage, classic goth bass lines and an array stellar dreamlike guitar textures. Chuck in weird atmospheric sound fx, a bit of piano, synth waves and some sax on a coupla tracks and that's your lot. While similar smaller bands of the era, Chameleons, The Sound, Sad Lovers & Giants etc. now have huge cult followings this Liverpudlian group still seem to get overlooked surprisingly.
