FLEX! - Discography of North American Hardcore, Punk and Powerpop

Great news! FLEX Book 4 is now available. I received the limited preorder hardcover edition a few days ago and have been browsing through it whenever I have a few minutes to spare. You may be familiar with previous editions of the book. It has received excellent reviews in the past and this edition is even better.
It comes in 2 volumes and has:
- more than 10,000 records listed and reviewed, many for the first time
- extensive coverage of punk, hardcore, powerpop, synth, new wave records from 1975 - 1985
- details with song titles, pressing info, band location, reissues, etc
- 7,000 new reviews; many previous reviews updated and rewritten
- sleeve scans

So far I am quite impressed by the coverage of obscure and rather unknown releases. There are many Canadian records that I was surprised to see included. I'm not especially knowledgeable on US obscurities so I expect this book to be helpful in the future when it comes to getting more info on the latest eBay "previously unknown punk/powerpop/KBD/synth punk killer". One of the reviews I happened to read sums it up rather nicely: "It's OK and I'd pick this up from the 99 cent bin, but certainly not for the three-figure amounts that have been paid on eBay.". I could say that about a lot of US records from the 1975 - 85 period.

If you are at all interested in US records of this era this is a must have.

Masterbeats (Canada, c1981-1982)

From Kitchener, Ontario they were active for several years in the early 80s and played around town as well as in places like nearby London, as shown by the above flyers. I went to the University of Waterloo from 1978 - 1983 and vaguely remember hearing them on the campus radio station (CKMS). During those days we regularly attended shows around town ... places like the Kent Hotel, Level 21, The Back Door, etc and quite likely saw them. Memories from those days are somewhat fuzzy now but given the amount of various alcoholic beverages imbibed, "wacky tabacky" smoked (I didn't inhale though) and other substances ingested, I'm not surprised. I just wish I had been smart enough to record even a fraction of what I heard on the radio back then.

If anyone has any info about the band or recordings they would like to share feel free to get in touch and I'll add it here. What info I have is sketchy so any more would be welcome. Someone out there somewhere must have some tapes!

Lineup:
Vocals: Bink J.
Bass: Mona Morbid (replaced by Kenny M.)
Guitar: Robert B.
Drums: Bob H.
2(?) members were later in Black Betty around the mid-late 1980's.

New posts coming ... sometime.

I was planning to post a couple of things but when I try and upload files to Divshare, I get a very informative "upload error" and nothing happens. It would also seem all the embedded Divshare playlists are now dead. I tried with Chrome, Firefox and even IE and ... nothing. I will think about alternate solutions since Divshare seems to now be a POS. And I don't mean "point of sale". I feel sorry for anyone who paid money for their so-called "service".

Jacky Lagger and Baramine (Switzerland, 1983)

I posted the first Baramine 7" back in the very first Swiss Vinyl Feast post. Now, here is what appears to be their second, with Jacky Lagger on vocals. Much harder to find than the first one. As an added bonus you get can also listen to a 7" from "Jack", also from Switzerland and likely released sometime in the early 80s. It's somewhat of a mystery and even more raer than the Baramine record. I used the images from Discogs because I'm lazy.

The Beast Discography (USA, 1978 - 1980)

From 1978 to 1980 the Beast label from Worcester, MA released several 7"s and a compilation LP of local bands. These were all pressed in small quantities and are now quite difficult to find. As far as I know none of the bands went on to do any other releases. Rave Up Records released a compilation LP of Commandos material called Fight To Win in 2003 that included the tracks from their 2 split 7" releases.

Beast
710x10 Blue Moon 7" (1978)
10108  Various - Wormtown 78 LP (1978) 
4      Commandos / Crazy Jack & The Automatics 7" (1979)
5      Blue Moon Band 7" (1980) 
6      Commandos / Performers 7" (1980) 

Have a listen to all of them.

Diefenbakers (Canada, c1980)

The Diefenbakers were from Edmonton. Nothing was ever released at the time. In 2005 one song ("Color T.V.") was released on the Only In Canada, Eh 77-81 Volume 1 CD.

The notes from the CD booklet state: "What originally started in 1978 as Paul and some friends getting onstage at a Subhumans gig and doing a couple covers as a lark soon took them to practicing on a regular basis. In the fall of 1980, two members left and the band went on a temporary hiatus until Paul met Dan, Kevin and Dave. Before long they had a repertoire of about a dozen songs. Soon after, the Diefenbakers headlined their first show with the Rock and Roll Bitches with about 200 people in attendance. A month later they opened for the Braineaters and in 1981 for the Subhumans. Not long after the Subhumans gig, the Diefenbakers split due to differences in musical direction but this was only temporary. The band underwent changes with George Kelly replacing Dave on drums and adding John Gilchrist on bass thus allowing Dan to sing exclusively. The reformed Diefenbakers played their first gig with the Nostrils and their next show was the climax of their career, opening for DOA on their Hardcore 1981 tour. After a three night stand at the Calgarian and a gig opening for Moe Berg's Troc 59, they dissolved due to members of the band moving away from Edmonton. This spelled the end for a band that was essential to the Edmonton scene, and influenced many people to start bands. There are a few live tapes around, but the song quality can never do the band justice."

Here are 2 recordings of the band. The song titles are a best guess that came written on a piece of paper that came with the tapes. The first is from a show at Bon Accord, Alberta in 1980. The version of "Color T.V." appearing on the "Only In Canada" CD was taken from this show. At the end of the show, someone mentions that Joey Did and The Necrophiliacs will be on next. We'll have something from them coming soon.

This session is a practice/rehearsal recording. No details available as to when or where.

Modern Minds (Canada, 1980)

Edmonton's Modern Minds released one 7" EP in 1980 that is quite likely to cause collectors to go apeshit whenever it appears on eBay. This is a live recording from shortly after the EP release - at one point during the show they are handing copies out to the crowd. It was recorded at the Riviera Rock Room and broadcast over radio station K-97. In 2007 Record Shop Base in Japan released a CD with the EP and 8 demo songs that may still be available. Some of these song titles are guesses but Moe was nice enough to quite often name each one before it was played.

Besökarna (Sweden, 1979 - 1980)

Besökarna had 2 releases on the Heartwork label as well as 2 songs on a cassette compilation. Back in 2000 a CD-r appeared with a collection of 1979 recordings. Have a listen below.

Obscure Worldwide #2

Another collection of odds and ends, mostly from Canada with some other things thrown in. 1981 seems to be a popular year this time.
NOTE: No downloads for now. Maybe later.

Elan (Canada [Penticton, BC] - 1980)
2 songs from their only release, a 4 song 7" EP. The other 2 songs are totally different and not recommended.
Singles (Canada [Calgary, AB], c1981)
Taken from the "Rocky Mountain Magic" compilation LP. Everything else on the LP sucks but I'd really like to hear anything else the Singles recorded. 
Prodigy (Canada [Regina, SK], 1981)
Taken from the "Saskatchewan Seeds" compilation LP.
Straitjackets (Canada [Montreal, QC], 1981)
Taken from the "L'esprit '81 CHOM" compilation LP.
Thomas King (USA [San Diego, CA], 1982)
Humanist Advent Concept  (Canada [Laval, QC], 1976)
A side of their second 7".
A.J. Nobes (Canada [Drumheller, AB], early 70's?)
Taken from the LP "It's A Matter Of Time" by A.J. Nobes & His Country Mistics. The cover says "Mistics", the labels say "Mystic's".Typical small town band that played weddings, parties, etc. Dig the mistic organ!
Magnum (Canada [Montreal, QC], 1981)
Taken from the "L'esprit '81 CHOM" compilation LP.
Hourglass (Canada [Yarmouth, NS], late 70's?)
Taken from the "As Luck Would Have It" LP. Maybe worth the price I paid (someone gave it to me)?
Friday (Canada [Montreal, QC], 1981)
Taken from the "L'esprit '81 CHOM" compilation LP.
Howard Brook Band (Canada [Carleton County, NB], 1981)
Found this one in a dollar bin and the only reference I could find online for it was a list selling it for $110 with the following description: "early 80's Canadian release of excellent Folk-Rock album spiced w/jammed-up Anglo-Folk tapestries executed in a laid-back, West-Coast-Sound vybed way w/acoustic/electric guitars, mandolin, banjo, fiddle ...and excellent femme back-ups; tasty lead licks on the outstanding "I choose"; all original material and no hanger in the bag; sound-scape is of that mid-70's nature, production maintains natural colors, sleeve is a cool photo showin' a vintage mercury parked out in the green by the riverside".
Scoop (Canada [Montreal, QC], 1981)
Taken from the "L'esprit '81 CHOM" compilation LP.
Orghestar (Iceland, 1982)
Taken from their 12" EP.
Utangardsmenn (Iceland, live 1982, released 1994)
From a CD of a live recording made in Stockholm.
Ronnie and His Calypso Ramblers (Bahamas)
Another dollar bin find. Add to your collection of songs that mention someone having his balls shot off with a shotgun.
S To S (Belgium, 1978)
Hard rock raer, supposedly only 100 copies made. 

Those crazy Finns ...

It must be the long winter nights. First, a couple tracks from the AD LP from 1984 (recorded in November 1983). The first track on the LP is called "Rockabilly":


And the last one is "Viesti":


Nothing too strange there. But then there's this, an EP from Super Ladex released in 1985 in a numbered edition of 199 copies, making it somewhat raer. The music? Who cares, didn't I just say it was raer?

Super Ladex: Olet Valloissasi EP

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)

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: