Songs That KROQ Forgot #1

SONGS THAT KROQ FORGOT:

Back in the late '70s and early '80s, if you were a fan of New Wave, Post-Punk, Power Pop, and Synthpop and you lived in Southern California, your radio station of choice was probably KROQ (106.7 FM). Back in the day, KROQ didn't follow trends like they do now - they set them!  KROQ would play singles, album cuts, b-sides and anything else that suited their fancy.  And they didn't just play stuff that was released in the U.S.!  They would also play import singles and album cuts and were responsible for many bands gaining attention from the American labels in the first place.

When KROQ would jump on a song, they'd play it in medium to heavy rotation for a certain amount of time and then it would disappear from their playlists entirely.  As the '80s became the '90s (and when KROQ went from great to ghastly), there were hundreds and thousands of songs that KROQ once supported heavily that seemingly evaporated into thin air and would never make an appearance on their 'flashback' playlists. The once-great radio station had moved on like many of us do...

But what about those lost songs?  The ones yo used to love so much... What about the memories they conjure up when you hear them again after decades of being hidden away in the darkened recesses of your mind?  

Do they remind you of stolen kisses with a long-lost sweetheart?  

Do they remind you of driving to McDonalds during lunch hour in your senior year?  

Do they remind you of driving up PCH along the beach and playing these songs as loud as possible?

Do they remind you of life-long friendships?  Long lost loved ones?

Well, they should because they are the soundtrack of your life.

I am here to remind you of those songs you loved (or loathed) back then... the songs that ushered in a music revolution that was already becoming a little stale by the time MTV became popular.  These songs once made a difference in our lives.  Like Johnny Mann, they made us 'stand up and cheer'.  The truth of the matter is, they STILL mean something.  They are the heartbeat of a generation that is now closer to retirement age than they are their high school heyday.  These songs made it a lot easier to get through the day and that is all that matters.  Let them take you back to a time when your heart was still full love and your youth was still...er.. young!

P.S.  Some of the bands are still remembered while others are unjustly forgotten... but these gems from the late '70s and early '80s are still as wonderful as ever.  They are the SONGS THAT KROQ FORGOT!

PART ONE:

BRIAN BRIGGS/"See You On The Other Side"

 (some used to call this "Goodbye Frankie")

ICEHOUSE/"We Can Get Together"

PAT WILSON/"Bop Girl"

(yes, that is a 15 year old Nicole Kidman co-starring in this video!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDNupK1RkdY

THE DICKIES/"(I'm Stuck In A Pagoda With) Tricia Toyota"

DEPECHE MODE/"Get The Balance Right"

MENTAL AS ANYTHING/"If You Leave Me..."

XTC/"Helicopter"

KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS/"Stool Pigeon"

SQUEEZE/"In Quintessence"

WIDE BOY AWAKE/"Chicken Outlaw"

Why SQUEEZE's East Side Story Is One Of The Greatest Albums In The History Of Rock 'n' Roll!

SQUEEZE

EAST SIDE STORY (1981)

BUY at IMPORTCDS.COM

BUY at DEEPDISCOUNT.COM

Oh, dear.  I'm in trouble!  Calling this blog post "Why SQUEEZE's East Side Story Is One Of The Greatest Albums In The History Of Rock 'n' Roll!" isn't doing me any favors right now because people immediately want to know WHY and they want to know NOW!  They are also quietly mocking me... or perhaps loudly mocking me and I just can't hear them.  But believe me, I know that detractors are there and ready to pounce and verbally abuse me... but that's OK, because I truly believe that Squeeze's East Side Story IS one of the greatest albums in the history of Rock 'n' Roll!  And here's why...

Back before Squeeze songwriters Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford were dubbed the 'new Lennon & McCartney" they were the quintessential British songwriting team. Difford's lyrics were always clever and Tilbrook knew his way around a melodic hook, thus making them more than just another Pub or New Wave band.  While other groups would seize the moment and create music that was of it's time, not wanting to look too far back into Rock's rich history. Difford and Tilbrook were different - they embraced their influences without copying them.  Before East Side Story, they released their first three albums (Squeeze, Cool For Cats and Arbybargy) to critical acclaim and managed to have a few hit singles in the process.  But with East Side Story, they stripped away the production excesses and recorded an album that was simple, warm and filled to the brim with melodies that were sweet yet tough.  This was the first album where critics started to make their 'new Lennon & McCartney' case, and deservedly so.

With straight-forward production by the great Roger Bechirian and Elvis Costello (who really should have produced a lot more albums than he actually did), East Side Story is charming without being quaint.  It's not an album of twee pop songs for the New Wave generation - its a mature slice of Pop/Rock that still sounds fresh and invigorating over 30 years later. Instead of recreating their breakthrough album Argybargy, Squeeze stepped up to the plate and delivered an album so full of life, love, heartache and joy that its difficult not to experience those emotions while listening to it.

When East Side Story was released, I was 18 years old and had already experienced the highs and lows of every emotion related to a relationship.  This was an album that opened my eyes to a passion that went beyond a love shared by two people.  The songs spoke about things beyond the typical boy/girl fodder that Pop was known for.  They were about real life, real feelings, real people.  The songs were not about the same kinds of politics that The Clash and The Jam sang about.... these were more personal and close to home.  It is an honest album that invites the listener into the band's world, which reflects what was going on around them at the time.  In many ways, East Side Story reflected the lives of the listener: same situations, different characters. Ordinary lives, extraordinary songs. 

From the opening track, "In Quintessence" (the only song on the album produced by Dave Edmunds), the album is a thrill ride through a myriad of styles and moods.  They remained a Pop band, through and through, but they took little detours along the way, building an album as diverse as it was melodic. The hit single "Tempted" (written by Difford/Tilbrook but chiefly sung by new keyboardist Paul Carrack) adds a little slice of Soul to the album while "Labelled With Love" is a Country weeper that sounds incredibly natural and not forced at all.  "Messed Around" is a Rockabilly ditty that comes immediately after "Vanity Fair", which could have been a Revolver track had "Eleanor Rigby" not have existed at the time. The band's desire to experiment is evident in "There's No Tomorrow" and "F-Hole", both of which feature great melodies within musical frameworks that are entirely different to the rest of the album. As for the Pop side of the band, "Someone Else's Heart", "Is That Love?", "Woman's World" and "Piccadilly" are absolutely perfect in every way... from the production to the performance.  

The only blemish on the album is the less-than-stellar "Heaven", which still fails to excite these ears over three decades later.  So, you may be asking yourself HOW can this be a great album if there is a bad song on it?  Well, most people think that Sgt. Pepper is one of Rock's greatest albums of all time, right?  Well, I don't personally know many people who can sit through "Within You Without You" on that album... so I rest my case with that one example.

East Side Story still feels fresh and certainly not of it's time.  It is an absolute delight of an album that raised their profile in the Rock 'n' Roll community and made the band stand out in a sea of 'New Wave' bands (I use that term to define how they were categorized, not how they sounded).  It is entirely unpretentious and is a virtual love letter to the glory, magic and power of Rock and Pop music.

Unfortunately for Squeeze (and for all of us), Carrack left the band after touring for the album and the band began to lose momentum, commercially.  When their follow-up album, Sweets From A Stranger, was released, the simplicity of the band was swallowed up by glossy production and they split after a further single.  They've reunited since then a few times and while their albums have been fantastic, nothing has come close to the magic of East Side Story. Well, OK... maybe some albums did come pretty damn close, but not quite.  Don't get me wrong... a mediocre Squeeze song is still loads better than most band's entire back catalog!

An amazing album that truly is one of the greatest in the history of Rock 'n' Roll.  And you know what?  I've heard a lot of albums in my time... and I'm STILL listening to music every day... and very few come even close...

But don't take my word for it... let the music do the talking!

Peace, love and Pop,
Stephen SPAZ Schnee

RECORD STORE DAY: 10 (More) Albums That Changed My Life, Pt. 2

10 (More) Albums That Changed My Life
Pt. Two

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

     A lot of people wonder how an album can 'change my life'.  If you even pause for a moment to ponder that statement or scratch your head at the pretentiousness of it all, then you may not have experienced a life-changing experience by listening to music.  Many people don't unfortunately... especially in this day and age when music is easily downloadable in bits and pieces.  In my opinion, the download generation treats music as disposable: click, listen, move on...
   As for me and how music has changed my life... well, it has to do with the 'connection' between any given album and myself.  Whether I was sad after a break-up or happy because good things were happening around me, that is what dictates the 'connection' that I have with an album. What were my emotions like?  How did the album make me feel?  Could I relate to the lyrics... or maybe the atmosphere or chord changes?  There are so many factors that go into the whole 'experience'.
     Once I connected to an album, then it allowed me to see, hear and feel things differently.  The songs gave me a majestic feeling of hope... they touched a nerve.  The albums that I say 'changed my life' are ones that mean a whole lot to me because they enriched my life.  On some, I could totally relate to the lyrics while others gave me a chance to view something differently.  Some taught me while others rocked me.  In any case, they made my life BETTER because they existed.  Looking back at them now, I can't imagine going through life and not ever hearing them.

     Here are 10 albums that never fail to take me back to a certain period in my life.  They may not have sold millions of copies but they had an enormous impact on me. And they are albums I will cherish until my dying day….

     I’ve listed them in alphabetical order by band because, to be honest, I can never say that one of them had more of an impact on me than the other.  They are all equally important. And I've refrained from explaining WHY they mean so much to me.  Those reasons are ones that only I would understand... (and I'm sure that your choices are made based on similar situations and circumstances).

20/20/Self-Titled

BADFINGER/Wish You Were Here

THE BEAT/The Beat

THE BOOMTOWN RATS/The Fine Art Of Surfacing

THE CLASH/London Calling

GREAT BUILDINGS/Apart From The Crowd

THE RUBINOOS/Back To The Drawing Board

SQUEEZE/East Side Story

THE VAPORS/Magnets

XTC/English Settlement

SPAZ: 10 Albums That Changed MY Life, PT. 1

10 Albums That Changed My Life
Pt. One

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

For a music fan, listening to certain albums can unlock many memories that are usually hidden somewhere deep within the recesses of the brain.  Those memories could be good or bad, but the magic of the melodies bring those ragamuffin thoughts and emotions back up to the surface again.

     We all have favorite bands or albums that we listen to over and over again throughout our lives but there are always certain ones that really make an impact.  You may not consider these as the band’s best albums, but they are the ones that matter the most.  They are the key that opens those time capsules within us and allow us to relive the thrill (or sadness) of a certain time in our lives.

     Here are 10 albums that never fail to take me back to a certain period in my life.  They may not have sold millions of copies but they had an enormous impact on me. And they are albums I will cherish until my dying day….There are many more I’d like to list, but don’t want to bore you with too much at once.

     I’ve listed them in alphabetical order by band because, to be honest, I can never say that one of them had more of an impact on me than the other.  They are all equally important. And I've refrained from explaining WHY they mean so much to me.  Those reasons are ones that only I would understand... (and I'm sure that your choices are made based on similar situations and circumstances).

BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY/Strange Man Changed Man

THE JAM/Sound Affects

THE LAST/L.A. Explosion

MADNESS/Absolutely

THE RECORDS/Crashes

SHOES/Present Tense

SPLIT ENZ/Frenzy

SQUEEZE/Argybargy

XTC/Drums & Wires

YACHTS/S.O.S. (AKA Yachts in the UK)

SPAZ SPEAKS: Music is NOT Wallpaper!

I, too, am guilty of this evil in which I speak of....

There are times when certain songs become so overplayed, so ingrained in your psyche, that you begin to not notice them anymore.  Whether they come up over the loud system in a store or perhaps in your iTunes shuffle, on your tape deck, in a record store, whatever....these songs, which used to give you goosebumps, become nothing more than part of the scenery, not unlike wallpaper.  I mean, it's there, but you don't really notice it anymore...almost like it's NOT there.

I mean, how many times have you cranked up the radio when "Yesterday" by The Beatles comes on?  Maybe once since 1987? 

How many times have you stopped dead in your tracks just to listen to the majesty of Zepp's "Stairway To Heaven"? Well, apart from your kid brother playing the opening riff over and over when he first got his guitar.... (which makes me wonder: has that simplistic opening riff to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" replaced "Stairway To Heaven" as the song that beginners want to learn first? I certainly hope not...)

Do you even notice Mick Jagger's backing vocals on Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" anymore? What, you didn't ever notice them before?

After awhile, just like anything else, we take music and entertainment for granted. It fades into the background and we just stop noticing.  I don't think we ever stop caring about it.... its just sort of there.  Not unlike a cat.  What, your forgot you had a cat, too?

How is it that we lose those feelings for something that once made us feel so alive?  And once lost, can we find that feeling again?  Thankfully, I believe that we can. All it takes is for us to try to revisit the moment we first heard a particular song... the moment it slipped right down into the soul and took root....

For example, about 10 years ago, A Flock Of Seagulls' "I Ran" came on the radio.  Normally, I admit that I would have just turned it off because I've heard it so many times. And to be honest, it was strange that I was listening to the radio in the first place because I always have a plethora of new stuff to listen to or CD-R mixes that I make myself...
But anyway, I was about to turn off the car and head into Target or wherever I was going. But then I heard that guitar riff.  I've heard those guitar riffs so many times, I almost forgot they were there.... but they leaped out at me right away.  I paused and thought back to the time that I first bought that album at Licorice Pizza so many years ago.  I remember first hearing that track when I threw the album on, before radio picked up on it and played it to death.  I think I had heard it once or twice on KROQ, but when I played the album for the first time, it was really when I fell in love with the track...  My memories took me back to that first time, the excitement of hearing something NEW.
Then, suddenly, that song clicked again with me.  It had been 20 years or so since I listened to it from beginning to end, but for the first time in ages, I wanted to hear it again!  I finished my shopping and rushed home and threw it on the CD player.  I probably listened to it five more times that day. I'm glad to say that I still love hearing it today.... I still hate the video, though!




A more recent example would be Squeeze's 'Someone Else's Heart", which is from the East Side Story album, one of my favorite albums of all time.  Now, I never stopped loving this track, but it became just another song that played on the iPod that became a part of the background... something that didn't leap out and kick me in the head when I heard it....
Just the other day, it was on an '80s mp3 comp I was playing in my car.  It came on and I almost skipped it to see what was next, but I decided to let it play.  Then, I began to remember just what an exciting time it was for me when this album came out.  And I remembered how cool it was to hear Chris Difford actually singing instead of croaking his way through the song (as he did on previous albums... the song "Cool For Cats" is a great example)... and suddenly, I was totally digging the track again!  I played it once more before I arrived at work to begin my day...




There are other examples, but I won't bore you with them.  What I'm trying to say, though, is that music makes up the soundtrack of your life and you have to stay connected to it in order to make it mean something years down the line.  As I have proven, I am guilty of this as well, but I also spend enormous amounts of time reconnecting with it all, over and over again.  Sometimes, I lose the plot.  Other times, I still get those goosebumps decades later.  But the important thing is that I am at peace with music, whether it's Pilot's "Magic", Spandau Ballet's "True", Buddy Holly's "Words Of Love", Elvis' "Suspicious Minds", The Fixx's "Saved By Zero", Paul McCartney's "My Love", George McRea's "Rock Your Baby" or the two aforementioned examples.

So, stop looking at music as wallpaper, as something that is 'there' and let it sink back into the places it used to inhabit so many years ago.  Get in touch with that music lover inside of you, pull out those old records, tapes, CDs or mp3s and throw yourself a party.

Music matters.


Peace, love and pancakes,
Stephen SPAZ Schnee

THE SINCEROS/The Sound Of Sunbathing review

In the late '70s and early '80s, the line between Pure Pop bands and New Wave outfits became intertwined. Most bands that played slick, melodic Beatles-influenced pop were considered Power Pop in the mid '70s but by the time bands like Squeeze, The Sinceros, 20/20, Nick Lowe, The Plimsouls and other like minded acts hit the music scene, they were quickly branded New Wave and marketed as such.

This was not necessarily a bad thing in terms of commercial sales, but we all know that when a music scene dies, it takes most of the bands with it. Some bands (Squeeze, Nick Lowe) were able to rise above but when New Wave became old news, then the bands lost label support and any momentum they had built up.

The Sinceros were an excellent Pop band consisting of four great musicians: Mark Kjeldsen (vocals/guitar), Ron Francois (bass/vocals), Don Snow (keyboards/vocals) and Bobby Irwin (drums). While Kjeldsen was the main frontman and wrote the majority of the songs, both Snow and Francois offered some tasty treats to The Sinceros' repertoire.

On The Sound Of Sunbathing, the band's 1979 debut, was a hook-filled Power Pop party dressed up in dayglo colors... with a little New Wave spice thrown in for good measure. Like Squeeze, The Sinceros' songs were instantly catchy and those lucky enough to hear them would have their melodies stuck in their heads for days, weeks, months and, for us lucky ones, decades!

The album is chock full of great tunes including Kjeldsen's "Little White Lie", "Quick Quick Slow" and "So They Know", Snow's "Hanging On Too Long" and Francois' "Good Luck (To You)", but two songs received the most attention: "World's Apart" and "Take Me To Your Leader". Unfortunately, these two tracks were, at best, average Pop tunes dressed up in quirky New Wave arrangements, which possibly made them more appealing to the masses. Thankfully, the rest of the album is loads better, so anyone suckered in by those two tracks were more than pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the rest of the material. Now, don't get me wrong, those are fine tracks, but compared to the rest of the album, they sound like b-sides!

For music fans not familiar with this great debut, the best way to describe it would be a cross between Squeeze's Cool For Cats and Argy Bargy: not quite as Pub-like as ...Cats, but not quite as accomplished as Argy.

While there's not really a bad song on the album, The Sinceros were still in the process of becoming a GREAT band, something they achieved on Pet Rock, their sophomore album (which I'm hoping is reissued soon!). After that, the band split and the members went their separate ways: Snow ended up in Squeeze (ironically enough) for their Sweets From A Stranger album; Francois joined The Teardrop Explodes and Irwin played drums for Nick Lowe for years and years. Kjeldsen unfortunately passed away in the '90s.

Cherry Red's excellent reissue of The Sound Of Sunbathing retains the UK album cover and track listing and adds three non-album bonus tracks, making this an absolutely essential purchase for any Power Pop, New Wave and '80s music fan.

I can only think of ONE reason why The Sinceros may not have clicked with the youth of the '80s: Kjeldsen's moustache! When New Wave was considered the music of the young generation, anyone with a mustache was considered uncool (including The Stranglers' Dave Greenfield!). Fortunately, Kjeldsen had a full, slightly more fashionable beard by the time of their sophomore album, but it may have been too late! The moustache did them in! Well, I'm not entirely serious... but kinda.

Pure Pop For Now People,

Stephen SPAZ Schnee

THE SINCEROS/The Sound Of Sunbathing review

In the late '70s and early '80s, the line between Pure Pop bands and New Wave outfits became intertwined. Most bands that played slick, melodic Beatles-influenced pop were considered Power Pop in the mid '70s but by the time bands like Squeeze, The Sinceros, 20/20, Nick Lowe, The Plimsouls and other like minded acts hit the music scene, they were quickly branded New Wave and marketed as such.

This was not necessarily a bad thing in terms of commercial sales, but we all know that when a music scene dies, it takes most of the bands with it. Some bands (Squeeze, Nick Lowe) were able to rise above but when New Wave became old news, then the bands lost label support and any momentum they had built up.

The Sinceros were an excellent Pop band consisting of four great musicians: Mark Kjeldsen (vocals/guitar), Ron Francois (bass/vocals), Don Snow (keyboards/vocals) and Bobby Irwin (drums). While Kjeldsen was the main frontman and wrote the majority of the songs, both Snow and Francois offered some tasty treats to The Sinceros' repertoire.

On The Sound Of Sunbathing, the band's 1979 debut, was a hook-filled Power Pop party dressed up in dayglo colors... with a little New Wave spice thrown in for good measure. Like Squeeze, The Sinceros' songs were instantly catchy and those lucky enough to hear them would have their melodies stuck in their heads for days, weeks, months and, for us lucky ones, decades!

The album is chock full of great tunes including Kjeldsen's "Little White Lie", "Quick Quick Slow" and "So They Know", Snow's "Hanging On Too Long" and Francois' "Good Luck (To You)", but two songs received the most attention: "World's Apart" and "Take Me To Your Leader". Unfortunately, these two tracks were, at best, average Pop tunes dressed up in quirky New Wave arrangements, which possibly made them more appealing to the masses. Thankfully, the rest of the album is loads better, so anyone suckered in by those two tracks were more than pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the rest of the material. Now, don't get me wrong, those are fine tracks, but compared to the rest of the album, they sound like b-sides!

For music fans not familiar with this great debut, the best way to describe it would be a cross between Squeeze's Cool For Cats and Argy Bargy: not quite as Pub-like as ...Cats, but not quite as accomplished as Argy.

While there's not really a bad song on the album, The Sinceros were still in the process of becoming a GREAT band, something they achieved on Pet Rock, their sophomore album (which I'm hoping is reissued soon!). After that, the band split and the members went their separate ways: Snow ended up in Squeeze (ironically enough) for their Sweets From A Stranger album; Francois joined The Teardrop Explodes and Irwin played drums for Nick Lowe for years and years. Kjeldsen unfortunately passed away in the '90s.

Cherry Red's excellent reissue of The Sound Of Sunbathing retains the UK album cover and track listing and adds three non-album bonus tracks, making this an absolutely essential purchase for any Power Pop, New Wave and '80s music fan.

I can only think of ONE reason why The Sinceros may not have clicked with the youth of the '80s: Kjeldsen's moustache! When New Wave was considered the music of the young generation, anyone with a mustache was considered uncool (including The Stranglers' Dave Greenfield!). Fortunately, Kjeldsen had a full, slightly more fashionable beard by the time of their sophomore album, but it may have been too late! The moustache did them in! Well, I'm not entirely serious... but kinda.

Pure Pop For Now People,

Stephen SPAZ Schnee

THE SINCEROS/The Sound Of Sunbathing review

In the late '70s and early '80s, the line between Pure Pop bands and New Wave outfits became intertwined. Most bands that played slick, melodic Beatles-influenced pop were considered Power Pop in the mid '70s but by the time bands like Squeeze, The Sinceros, 20/20, Nick Lowe, The Plimsouls and other like minded acts hit the music scene, they were quickly branded New Wave and marketed as such.

This was not necessarily a bad thing in terms of commercial sales, but we all know that when a music scene dies, it takes most of the bands with it. Some bands (Squeeze, Nick Lowe) were able to rise above but when New Wave became old news, then the bands lost label support and any momentum they had built up.

The Sinceros were an excellent Pop band consisting of four great musicians: Mark Kjeldsen (vocals/guitar), Ron Francois (bass/vocals), Don Snow (keyboards/vocals) and Bobby Irwin (drums). While Kjeldsen was the main frontman and wrote the majority of the songs, both Snow and Francois offered some tasty treats to The Sinceros' repertoire.

On The Sound Of Sunbathing, the band's 1979 debut, was a hook-filled Power Pop party dressed up in dayglo colors... with a little New Wave spice thrown in for good measure. Like Squeeze, The Sinceros' songs were instantly catchy and those lucky enough to hear them would have their melodies stuck in their heads for days, weeks, months and, for us lucky ones, decades!

The album is chock full of great tunes including Kjeldsen's "Little White Lie", "Quick Quick Slow" and "So They Know", Snow's "Hanging On Too Long" and Francois' "Good Luck (To You)", but two songs received the most attention: "World's Apart" and "Take Me To Your Leader". Unfortunately, these two tracks were, at best, average Pop tunes dressed up in quirky New Wave arrangements, which possibly made them more appealing to the masses. Thankfully, the rest of the album is loads better, so anyone suckered in by those two tracks were more than pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the rest of the material. Now, don't get me wrong, those are fine tracks, but compared to the rest of the album, they sound like b-sides!

For music fans not familiar with this great debut, the best way to describe it would be a cross between Squeeze's Cool For Cats and Argy Bargy: not quite as Pub-like as ...Cats, but not quite as accomplished as Argy.

While there's not really a bad song on the album, The Sinceros were still in the process of becoming a GREAT band, something they achieved on Pet Rock, their sophomore album (which I'm hoping is reissued soon!). After that, the band split and the members went their separate ways: Snow ended up in Squeeze (ironically enough) for their Sweets From A Stranger album; Francois joined The Teardrop Explodes and Irwin played drums for Nick Lowe for years and years. Kjeldsen unfortunately passed away in the '90s.

Cherry Red's excellent reissue of The Sound Of Sunbathing retains the UK album cover and track listing and adds three non-album bonus tracks, making this an absolutely essential purchase for any Power Pop, New Wave and '80s music fan.

I can only think of ONE reason why The Sinceros may not have clicked with the youth of the '80s: Kjeldsen's moustache! When New Wave was considered the music of the young generation, anyone with a mustache was considered uncool (including The Stranglers' Dave Greenfield!). Fortunately, Kjeldsen had a full, slightly more fashionable beard by the time of their sophomore album, but it may have been too late! The moustache did them in! Well, I'm not entirely serious... but kinda.

Pure Pop For Now People,

Stephen SPAZ Schnee