Great Lost Albums of the '80s

If you ask me, more Blood is pretty much the worst of them. I suppose there are a few of those pseudo-metal tracks that are alright, I guess, but they aren't great. Fresh Blood is definitely the standout, so I’d honestly recommend that one instead.

au Pairs: Sense & Sensuality

Mekons: Mekons (though those first two from the seventies were actually better)

Green On Red: Green on Red (maybe it isn't even that obscure)

Raincoats: self-titled—or as Ilko Čulić would probably call it, self-titled😠

How does > stack up against >? I’m absolutely loving that first one...

Different Sex is actually better, but I wasn't positive if it was recorded back in the '70s, so I left it out. My bad—it's actually from '81. Sense is just a hair weaker because you can really hear that eighties production style, you know? That whole "strictly no cymbals" vibe, but I'm not complaining because the tracks are brilliant regardless. Honestly, if you're into gang of Four or Mekonse, you can't go wrong with au Pairs.

... does anyone remember those "super easy penguins" from the first half of the '80s?
Thanks!

😁

I think I can find this on vinyl in Indianapolis. If you're actually interested, shoot me a PM and I'll check the price tag—send over the cash and I'll pick it up for you.

By the way, Chokebore - Thin as Clouds (man, this stuff is pure bliss...)

I’ve already got the vinyl, now I'm hunting for the CD!
thanks!

Well, I'm pretty sure that track never actually made it onto the CD. If you're really that desperate for it, find someone to rip it from the vinyl to a computer, run it through CoolEdit to clean up the surface noise and pops—it's easy enough—and then burn it to a disc.

like Chokebore - plus more

Does anyone have an email address or a phone number for that record store over in Indianapolis?

Well... if I end up buying something I don't actually need, that's on me. 😁

Aesop Antiquities, 555-012-444.

Thanks, man.

Fischer Z put out two albums, Going Deaf for a Living ( 1980 and red Skies Over Paradise.

Kevin Chavez3 said:Look, I’m pretty sure that track never actually made it onto the CD. If you're really that desperate, just find someone to rip it from the vinyl to a computer, clean up the surface noise and pops (CoolEdit handles that perfectly fine), and burn your own disc.

for example Chokebore - plus more

I remember driving through the famous "Arizona" once, and on the way there, I stumbled upon about 40 different local record shops—you know, those guys with their trunks popped open on the curb 🙏 . I’m certain I spotted those light penguins on a CD in one of them...
Nothing much. Next time the opportunity presents itself, I won't pass it up...

If anyone happens to have the means to transfer something from a turntable, let me know. Otherwise, my vinyl is toast thanks to some totally irresponsible guy mishandling that relic...

So, are the Penguins actually worth checking out? I feel like I caught one of their tracks on that terrible compilation ("sav marš na ples"), and honestly, it didn't exactly blow me away...

np Cavo - Stranger Than Kindness

I wouldn't say Pingvinima belongs in the pantheon of all-time great lost albums, but since we’re discussing them—they were absolutely massive back in the summer of '83 thanks to that maxi single. It wasn't exactly common for a format like that to be released in the States back then, but they managed it, and suddenly every post-new wave disco hipster across the country was hunting down copies, especially after getting some serious airplay from Hit Mesec TV Belgrade. Then came Muzika za mlade u zima in '84, their first LP featuring that new mega-hit, a catchy little techno-pop track called moj devojka. There was this really nicely executed synthesized piano on that track playing the melody in a sort of quasi-50s style—pretty slick, actually. The rest of the record, though, suffered from some questionable choices—for instance, that cover of the Bay City Rollers song "No, I'm Not Your Hero." They released one more LP the following year, Striptiz, which flopped pretty quickly, leading to the band breaking up shortly after.

I actually have all three records on vinyl. I'll digitize them to MP3 once I get around to it—and if you guys keep badgering me, I might just move them up the priority list.

None of these albums were ever officially released on CD, at least not before the year 2000 (if you trust the Janjatovicevoj encyclopedia). There is a comeback album called Stereo from '95 that I don't know much about, but my guess is it probably isn't anything special.

dustyridge12 said:They fall asleep to this little techno-pop track, moj devojka. There was this beautifully crafted synth piano part playing the melody in a sort of quasi-50s style—really classy stuff.

Then you have some lovely guitar fingerpicking woven into the same song, followed by a psychedelic keyboard solo—they really nailed the arrangement for that hit. My only gripe is that rigid, metronomic drum machine beat—but honestly, that was just the standard flaw of that era...

Kevin Chavez3 said:np Chokebore - plus more

My buddy would probably just say, "Check this out."

In the context of au pairs:
The Beatles
beasts of bourbon - axeman jazz (I don't think this one is forgotten either)

evan johns - rollin through the night (this is my second favorite E. Johns album, right after Rock It Fuel, which came out in the 90s)

Douglas Robinson12 said:Rank and file: Sundown

Let’s pull this thread back up to the top so we can hopefully dig into a few more details...

I’ve been diving into the latest issue of The Big Takeover, and it actually features a review of Rank and file. These guys really know their stuff! They mentioned that besides The Beatles, even Bruce Springsteen has covered tracks from this album—and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I stumbled upon confirmation of that on Soulseek too. The way the Everly brothers handled "Amanda Ruth" was just fantastic, especially considering how much influence they had on Kinman. There’s even a story about Bruce mumbling through "Lucky Day" during a soundcheck, backed by a keyboardist and Clarence on sax—it sounded like they’d never heard the song before and hadn't rehearsed it once, yet somehow the whole thing felt incredibly moving. I don't know; there was just something about it that really struck a chord with me.

Here is another one for the "forgotten gems" pile:
The Sleepers: - The Less An Object This 79/81 band hails from San Francisco, featuring Rick Williams (formerly of Crime) and Tim Mooney (who later joined American Music Club). The collection I have includes the self-titled EP, a single, and an LP (which was titled Painless Night)—essentially the entire recorded output they ever produced. I first took notice of them while reading a brilliant piece on post-punk in Mojo. Though, strictly speaking, this isn't post-punk, at least not stylistically, despite the timing. Since the LP came out in '81, I tend to view it as one of those lost treasures of the eighties. It’s a gritty, raw rock'n'roll record where melodies and somewhat sparse poetry peek through Rick’s vocal outbursts (his voice reminds me a bit of Romeo from our local Spoons, though you can definitely hear echoes of David Bowie on the LP itself) and those distorted, chainsaw-like guitars played by Mike Befler (later of Toxedo Moons). The songs possess a rich structure; there is a lot going on under the surface. I find myself wondering if Grant Hart ever heard this, because certain tracks feel like they could have influenced his earlier work—stuff like "Diane," "What's Going on?", or "Standing by The Sea" almost feel like spiritual descendants of "No Time," "Flying," "She's Fun," or "Linda" from this set. There is quite a noticeable shift between the EP and the full album—the guitar work is significantly smoother on the latter—but both versions are excellent. Occasionally, the drum patterns shift into a machine-like rhythm, which is really the only thing that anchors the album to its era (even though that specific beat originated on a standalone single)—otherwise, the production is timeless. It truly sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday.