Friday Mixed Bag: The Deserters, The Alarm, Great Buildings

When you talk about woefully obscure bands, arguably, the "Most Obscure Major Label Band of All Time Award" just may go to Canada's The Deserters. I would be willing to bet that I could fit everyone who's ever owned a Deserters record into my shoebox of an apartment.

Today you get to discover a cool band you missed out on back in the 80's.

What I know about The Deserters:

- They recorded two albums for Capitol.

- They were represented by Spider Entertainment, who also managed The Romantics at the time.

- Lead singer Kenny Maclean went on to play bass (and have poofy hair and wear lip gloss) for Platinum Blonde, who were HUGE in Canada through the mid-80's.

- That's it.

Next on the list is a rare track from The Alarm called "Reason 36". I include this here because, even with the recent reissues of the band's catalog on CD, with tons of bonus tracks, this track remains one they've (I suspect intentionally) forgotten about, as it was not written (or sung) by Mike Peters, but, rather, Dave Sharp. It was always a fave track of mine.

Next up are Great Buildings - a Los Angeles based band that included Danny Wilde and Phil Solem, who went on to become The Rembrandts a decade later. This record came out in 1981, sold a dozen or so copies, and, even in the wake of the Rembrandts' success with the theme song from "Friends", never saw proper re-issue on CD.

Eleven years after their last chart success, my guess is the boat has sailed on ever seeing the Great Buildings' steller album see release on CD. Of course, the recent re-issue of songs by The Quick (the band Danny fronted prior to Great Buildings) does give creedence to that whole pigs flying thing.

1. Deserters - Place To Go
2. Deserters - Take It All
3. Deserters - Two Sides Of Life
4. Deserters - Dancing On The Ceiling
5. Deserters - Goodbye Forever
6. Deserters - No Time For Talking
7. Deserters - Take It Away
8. The Alarm - Reason 36
9. Great Buildings - And The Light Goes On
10. Great Buildings - Combat Zone
11. Great Buildings - One Way Out
12. Great Buildings - Another Day In My Life
13. Great Buildings - Love Goes Blind

Friday Mixed Bag: The Tourists, Belfegore, Adam Schmitt, etc.

Each Friday brings us a hodge-podge of out-of-print gems.

The Tourists

Week Days
Round Round Blues
Angels And Demons

Before there was Eurythmics, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox were part of a London rock band call The Tourists, led by the severely underrated Peet Coombes. Their's was a great blend of new wave, psychedelia, and keyboard-drenched sixties pop.

I once had the pleasure of meeting Annie, wherein I gushed about my love for the Tourists' third and final album, LUMINOUS BASEMENT (from which the above tracks are taken). She, of course, smiled politely and, once my adoring rant subsided, admitted: "I had actually forgotten all about that album. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I should probably go back and give it a listen." I later read in an interview that took place prior to our discussion that she wasn't all that fond of the record at all. Hmm.

Belfegore

All That I Wanted
Comic With Rats Now
Don't You Run
Wake Up With Sirens

Many consider Ministry's TWITCH (1985) to be the template for the launch of the industrial movement that occurred in the mid-to-late 80's that included such luminaries as Front 242, Laibach, Front Line Assembly, Nitzer Ebb, and Nine Inch Nails. That's only because they never had the chance to hear the one and only release by Germany's criminally-unknown Belfegore. Sure, they recall early 80's Killing Joke, too. But, thanks to production by the legendary Conny Plank (who, strangely enough, also produced the above tracks by The Tourists), they bring a certain slickness and accessibility to the proceedings that Killing Joke sometimes lacked.

Adam Schmitt

Overdone
I Know You're All Mine

Midwestern power pop wunderkind (and now a noted indie producer) Schmitt released two albums for Reprise in the early 90's that came and went with little fanfare. The only press I ever saw for either release was a review in Stereo Review magazine, and the only airplay I ever heard was a couple spins of "Waiting To Shine" (from his second release, ILLITERATURE) via left-of-center Chicago rock station WXRT.

I'd have probably never known about him if I hadn't already worked with him on my first record in 1988 (and on each release thereafter) and, truth be told, I was prepared to hang up my guitar in anticipation of the release of his first solo effort. This was, after all, one of the youngest and most talented guys I had ever known. If anyone had the ability to turn the music scene on its ear, it was Adam.

While neither release turned out to be the juggernaut I was hoping for, Adam's talent was evident to the few who happened upon his records. To this day, he is revered within the power pop community and is a quite in-demand producer based out of Illinois.

The two tracks available here are non-lp tracks included on label samplers. The first, "Overdone", saw release only on the limited-edition PARASOL'S SWEET SIXTEEN, VOLUME 4 (released by Parasol Records in 2001).

The second track was released on a Warner Brothers sampler called TRADEMARK OF QUALITY in 1993. The song, "I Know You're All Mine", was actually penned by local Champaign-Urbana rocker Nick Rudd.

Needless to say, both samplers are long out-of-print and darn near hard to find these days.

Enjoy.

In Color, Version 2.0

In homage to the band who penned the song from which this blog takes its name, we are making available the rough mixes of Cheap Trick's 2003 studio re-recording of their legendary 1977 release, In Color (And In Black And White).

For anyone who has bothered paying attention, Cheap Trick have gone on-record quite often over the years as being dissatisfied with this particular album - most notably Tom Werman's overly sterile production.

Compared to the dark and lacerating production on their self-titled debut effort, released only six months prior to In Color, the difference in sound is quite startling. But, truth be told, the suits at Epic wanted a radio friendly Cheap Trick and it was Werman's sole responsibility to deliver, which, arguably, he did.

That the album failed to generate any interest at radio, or retail for that matter, is just another prime example of a typical label meddling in hopes of scoring big on the charts, only to achieve quite lackluster results (the album peaked at #73 on the Billboard album charts).

This is not to say that In Color was a bad album. Song-for-song, this is by far the best album Cheap Trick ever released: I Want You To Want Me (albeit in a remarkably neutered version that differs strikingly from the live version that became a worldwide smash hit), Southern Girls, Downed, Come On Come On, Oh Caroline, Clock Strikes Ten, etc. portray a songwriter in guitarist Rick Nielsen and band firing on all cylinders.

History, of course, tells us that this album was a huge hit in Japan and that the band released a live album from their whirlwind Japanese tour that reprised many of the very same tracks from In Color in splendid, high-octane glory. By doing so, they, for all intents and purposes, made In Color obsolete. Those who ran out and bought In Color after discovering the band via Live At Budokan were in for a rude awakening. The pristine production, wherein all instruments seemed to be noticably separated within the mix, lied in direct contrast to the bigger-than-life wall-of-sound that was Live At Budokan.

Thus, in 2003, Cheap Trick still felt the need to right the "wrong" that was In Color 1977 by re-recording the album with indie producer Steve Albini.

Did they accomplish what they set out to do? You be the judge.

Hello There
Big Eyes
Downed
I Want You To Want Me
You're All Talk


(the following tracks are available to DONATE TO CHARITY SLICE readers:)

Oh Caroline
Clock Strikes Ten
Southern Girls
Come On Come On
So Good To See You
I Want You To Want Me (alternate version)
Can't Hold On (2003 studio version)
Oh Caroline (alternate version)