Obscure Worldwide #1

Moving thousands of records really is a pain. Everything is finally moved but unpacking may take some time. While I decide what direction this blog will take I'll just be posting selected tracks from various random records that I happen to find interesting. Future posts may veer away from the usual 70s/80s punk and power pop as I listen to less and less of that kind of thing on a regular basis. For now, check these ones out: 

Bad Lizard - (Belgium, 1982)



Mountain Cannabis - (Germany, 1981)



Clit - (Germany, 1980) 1st release. Later releases are NDW.





Dehex! (Sweden, 1982)





Indicators (Belgium, 1983)



Ferrum (Austria, 1979)



Cenci (Finland, 1980)



Kivi & Eksyneet Äänet (Finland, 1981)



Ray Wright Band (USA, 1983)



Sean Benjamine (USA, 1984)





Black & White The Holey Smoke Show (USA, 1976)





Doug Lindsay & Pegge Hopper (USA, 1980)



Nemesis (Netherlands, 1981) from "Unable" EP. If you think this is bad, the rest of the EP is way worse. Pretty lame for a band with a name like Nemesis.



Sputniks (Switzerland, 1981)



Students (Sweden, 1981)



Harald Råg (Sweden, 1980)



Temp (Sweden, 1983)

mediafire account deleted

I have deleted my mediafire account. I'm tired of those assholes and their bullshit. I have better things to do.

I will likely return at some point but since I'm now in the process of moving not much is likely to happen for a while. 

Anatole Frantz (France, 1978)

Punk/rock from France. There doesn't seem to be much about them online though copies of the record seem to be available.

Anatole Frantz - Scandale / Le monde est fou 7" (Sonopresse 2 S 008-16614, 1978)

Korroosio (Finland, 1981)

Korroosio were a pop-punk/new wave band formed in 1979. Their first recordings from 1980 were released on the Asfalttidisco compilation LP. Their second release and best known song, Hei Hei Hei, was first released in 1980 on the Vaahtopäät compilation LP. The same version of the song also appeared on the Kyllä Tytöt Ymmärtää LP in 1982 (reissued in 2012). It has since appeared on several retrospective Finnish punk/new wave compilations. The song was re-recorded in 1981 and released as a 7". The B side, Hän on niin puhdas, is the same version as the LP.

Korroosio - Hei hei hei / Hän on niin puhdas 7" (California CS 001, 1981)

You can find the original version of Hei hei hei on youtube. Here's a 2010 reunion version:

Äpyli (Finland, 1981)

Discogs calls this "lo-fi rock". Another calls it "minimal wavePunk". This one doesn't even try to assign it to a particular genre. I previously posted one of their releases as Äpyli Ja Utu Ptrui Tänne Prutui.

Äpyli - Junalla Timbuktuun / Nowe Czasy 7" (Selecta SES 009, 1981)

Benny Blue (France, 1979)

Benny Blue had a number of releases in 1979 - 1980 that are categorized as electronic / funk / soul / rock / disco / power pop / pop rock / Italo-Disco and even punk. This 7" is the one that falls into the power pop / punk category with the B side being the punk track.

Benny Blue - Singin' In The Morning / Made Cap 7" (Disc'Az SG 704, 1979) 

If you're more inclined towards disco / Italo-Disco then this might be more your style:

Ian G. Harling vs Andrew Rance (UK, 1979)

The 45 Revolutions book lists these two 7"s with an "index of collectability" of 2.5 - 3 out of 5, meaning they are "rare and collectable". The first A side of the Ian Harling 7" is described as a "clever New Wave pop/rocker" while the second A side is an "irresistible Ska/Powerpopper". Andrew Rance provides two "rather interesting compositional New Wave efforts with loose Powerpop(py) overtones". Neither came with a picture sleeve.

Ian G. Harling - Heavy Breathing / Black & White 7" (P T O Records, PT 109/209 / EJSP 9410, 1979)
Andrew Rance - It Really Shouldn't Matter / Cold 7" (Trash TRA 1001, 1979)

AKA (Japan, 1985)

Japanese punk/hardcore. What is it about the Japanese and flexi's? I hate the damn things!

Aka - Dara Dara Dara / Finger Love // 偽想愛 / とまらない 7" flexi EP (Jisatsu GL-006ES, 1985)

Fuzz (France, 1981)

Hard rock / punk from France.

Fuzz - Satan's Fans / Renonce Pas! 7" (Les Productions Amicalement Vôtre 8101.0201, 1981) 

Wasting time ...

Recently I made a trip to the Ottawa / Toronto area to visit family and some old friends. While in the area I checked out some local record stores and a few record shows. I had long ago decided spending much time at such places was pretty much a waste of time. This trip didn't do much to change that opinion. I did find a few interesting things for possible trades (such as an Active Dog 7" and the first Wheezing Dogz EP) but nothing from my main want list. If I ever actually see anything from that list for sale somewhere other than eBay or some other online auction I'll probably faint from the shock.

I did end up buying a bunch of records, mostly from dollar bins: Quebec 60s pop/rock, some 50s/early 60s Canadian country, some obscure 70s/80s Canadian things I expected to be crap (and they really were - hello garbage dumpster, meet really shitty record) and others just because I thought the covers were cool and might look good on my wall. Mostly the sort of thing I'd never buy online because the shipping cost would be far more than they're actually worth. So in that regard record stores do serve a purpose when you have some time to kill and they're around the corner. Sure, people still pull KBD rarities out of dollar bins but the sheer amount of garbage 70s/80s rock you have to sift through really doesn't make it appealing to me as a regular pastime. I also find with many stores that either someone working there scoops anything good that comes in, or it goes straight to eBay. Popsike / Collectors Frenzy / Museum of Canadian Music / (insert internet site here) says this is worth that much! eBay it is!

Record fairs really don't do much for me either. There's lots to choose from (and even more 70s/80s rock crud to dig through). There are often some gems to be had, but try and find them before someone else does. And that's if someone selling at the show hasn't nabbed it before the doors even opened. At one show, I heard some variant of "I saw that sold on eBay for ..." a number of times within minutes of going through the door. If I want to spend $$$ for it on eBay, I can do that from the comfort of home and not have to deal with a bunch of other record dorks. The only advantage is I can actually look at it first and see if "NM" is really NM or more like VG.

More music posts coming soon ...

Blank Generation (Canada, c1980)

Out Of The ... Igloo!! just posted the 12" EP from this Edmonton band. Since I've started digging through some old tapes lately, here are some songs from a demo. Recorded in 1980 I think. Some of the songs titles are just a guess.

Star Magazine


Lied To Us


Rather Be A Loner


Shoot To Kill

Touchtones (USA, 1980)

This one is listed as power pop on Discogs. It's sort of catchy, especially the A side, but nowhere near punk as I recall at least one eBay auction suggesting.

Touchtones - Dance All Night / Time (Won't Pass Me By) 7" (For The Eighties FOR THE 80's A/B, 1980)

Gangster (Netherlands, 1978)

This is the first single from this excellent Dutch glam/punk band. I'm still looking for the second one at a reasonable price.

Gangster - Run For The Police / Loving All The Time 7" (Mercury 6013 507, 1978)

Ny Våg - Svensk Punk book

It looks like I missed out on the first edition of this book. Just too many crazy things going on in my life the past 6 months. I see there is now a revised version of it available, but without the CD that the first version had? I can get the new version of the book easily enough ... but would anyone be willing to send me a cd-r copy or mp3's of the CD - or know somewhere I can buy the book + CD? 

Children Of The Morning (1972 - 1974)

This Italian based group released 2 7"s between 1972 and 1974. Both have been blogged previously - the first (Hey America, America) was released in several European countries. Discogs lists the Italian, Dutch and German releases. Mine is French. I think there are also Spanish and Portuguese versions. The second was issued only in France and Italy as far as I know. These aren't very raer and shouldn't be too hard to find if you would like the original records.

Children Of The Morning - Hey America, America / Children Of The Morning 7" (Spot ST 40020 (France), 1973)
Children Of The Morning - Ku Klux Man / Lady Lady 7" (Disc Az SG 490, 1974)