Streetcar Eyes - Time After Time EP (1983)

Non-threatening new wave on this one. Professional sounding new wave rock with occasional saxophone. I'm all for positivity but this band was a little to cheery for my taste. Is bubblegum-new wave a thing?
The song "I'm in it for the Fun" is my favorite song on the record. It has a bit of a ska influence.

This band does not have much of an internet presence so I'll tell you a bit about them:

They were formed in California in July of 1983 by three members of a band called Third Raile
*Red Jenkins - vocals and guitar
*Lane Vallier - bass and vocals
*Jim Briggs - sax and vocals

The drummer Barry "Snoop" Smith was the new addition to the lineup.  He played previously in bands Scoundrels, Rage, and The Rings.

The band formed with the intention of doing something different than the same old club sounds that were popular in L.A. and San Diego and wanted to focus more on vocal harmonies and stripped-down instrumentation and less on synthesizers.

Their biggest claim to fame is having recorded the song "The Chicago Blitz" that was used in the early 80s as the theme song for the US Football league team The Chicago Blitz.

They didn't focus too much on cover songs and had written and played over 20 original songs. It's not known if any of the songs that are not on this EP were ever recorded in a studio.

Anyone But Me
Cause and Effect
Caveat Emptor
Closer
Get Back Too
Gypsy Border
I'm in it for the Fun
It's Over
Just What Raymond Needed
Our Mirror
Red Head Blues
Reputation
Save One for Me
Springtime
Streetcar Eyes
The Next Door
Time After Time
Time in the Hand
Want You
Whispers in the Night 

The four songs on this record are:
 
1 Time After Time
2 I'm in it for the Fun
3 Whispers in the Night
4 Closer

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The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet

People have been searching for this song for a long time. It came from a cassette that was a recording of a German radio station in 1984. The cassette has a lot of songs that would have been current in 1984 so it is assumed that this song is also from 1984 but it could have been recorded in the few years before then.

(For some reason Blogger isn't letting me post the YouTube video on the blog but it's HERE)

Rolling Stone Magazine did an article about the song.

This post is not entirely about this song in particular. This post is about a German band called The Subterraneans who had a song called "Blame" that an astute investigator on Reddit discovered. Nobody has heard this song yet but the bands only release - a self-released 10-track tape called Subterranean Observation - was available for sale on Discogs. This could be the song that everybody is looking for but I'm willing to bet a few dollars that it's not the song. In fact I put my money where my mouth is and I bought the tape.

Since this is the sort of thing I appreciate anyway I will be ripping it on a 1991 Nakamichi cassette player in 320 and will post the whole tape in its entirety for your enjoyment/disappointment.

Even though I don't think it's the song.

The reason I'm saying all of this is because somebody mentioned that some asshole is probably going to buy this and hide it away from the world.
You know, like when somebody in the early 2000s bought that copy of "Ken by Request Only" from eBay and didn't share it. Bastard.

Stay tuned. 

The Bricks

The Bricks - Volume 1 EP (1979)
A1 - Rock Steady
A2 - Sartorial Song
B1 - Leisure Complex
B2 - Local Boys

The Bricks - Startrekker 7" (1980)
A - Startrekker
B - Smash and Grab



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Ouida and the Numbers - Runaway 7" (1980)

This was produced by Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers.

A - Runaway
B - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

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Click Clack

Click Clack (not to be confused with Click Click) was a Belgian new wave/synth pop band.
I first heard of them because I bought their "Ketchup" single and it was excellent. I was impressed with it and wanted to hear their other recordings. The song "Get Up" is almost on par with the Ketchup single but the rest of their stuff  kinda goes in a disco direction.
These four 7"s is everything they released with the exception of a song called "Never Got this Feeling" from a 1981 compilation called "Lof". I strongly believe that I have that compilation but I just can't find it right now. I may stumble across it and I may post it when I do find it, but I may not.

Click Clack - Gimme the Lights 7" (1981)
A - Gimme the Lights
B - Yocomototto

Click Clack - Get Up 7" (1982)
A - Get Up
B - Papa

Click Clack - Ketchup 7" (1982)
A - Ketchup
B - Theo

Click Clack - Hot Stuff 7" (1983)
A - Hot Stuff
B - Hot Stuff (instrumental)

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The Reply - All Good Things (1987)

This was a band from the US that played that punk/post-punk/power pop/mod/ska type of music. Guitar driven with noticeable keyboards. I forget where they're from - New York, or D.C., or some small island off the coast of Nebraska. Somewhere.
I remember they were known as a "ska" band but this record says otherwise. Maybe by 1987 ska wasn't in high demand so they chose to not record those songs.

From what I've heard this isn't their only release. Rumor has it that they put out a CD that includes these song with lots of other unreleased stuff. Anybody know anything about that? I've searched but found nothing except for the comment on Discogs that said the CD is for sale on Amazon. But it's not.

1 All Good Things
2 With a Purpose
3 Wake Up!
4 Work it Out 

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Lift the Lid

Rare Australian power pop

Lift the Lid - Keep Your Distance 7" (1987)
A - Keep Your Distance
B - Books 'n' Things (live)

Lift the Lid - Little by Little 7" (1988)
A - Little by Little
B - Stay with Us


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The Inserts [Australia] - Amateur Hour 7" (1980)

A - Amateur Hour
B1 - White Reggae
B2 - Bad for Me

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The Bowling Balls [Belgium]

This band started out as a joke by a journalist named Billy Bertrand. The Bowling Balls was a band in a comic called "Germain Et Nous" that Bertrand created for a music magazine called "En Attendant". The popularity of the band who had a fake manager named Peyo and gave fake interviews for music magazines convinced Billy Bertrand (who may or may not have created the name "Plastic Bertrand") to start a real band. Their music was intentionally cheesy but they really did have talent. They released four singles and recorded a music video before Billy Bertrand committed suicide in New York in 1983.

The Bowling Balls - God Save the Night Fever 7" (1979)
A - God Save the Night Fever
B - Dreadlock'N'Lol (Chinese Reggae)

The Bowling Balls - Visco Video 7" (1980)
A - Visco Video
B - When You Walk in the Room

The Bowling Balls - The Boys 7" (1981)
A - The Boys
B1 - The Girls
B2 - Goys and Burls

The Bowling Balls - You Don't Know What it's Like to be Alone in the House 7" (1981)
A - You Don't Know What it's Like to be Alone in the House
B1 - R-Dance
B2 - Oh I Miss You

Billy Bertrand's journalistic talent is evident in the song "The Girls" where each line is subliminally a girl's name. Some are obvious but others are less so. Even the lyric "I'm looking for a single girl" is clever in its context.

I don't know all of the lyrics but here's what I pieced together. I will appreciate any suggestions that help me fill in the blanks.

I always grow so weak in the knees (Denise)
When I ring ringy the bell (Isabel)
I need some kind of release (Lisa)
Pull muscles from the shell (Michelle)*
I never say (?)
When I ain't got a Penny
She'd say that I can't cheat her (Conchita)
I want her for her money (Wanda)

All around me
I see beautiful girls
They don't look at me
I'd be happy with just one girl
I'm looking for a single girl

I'll travel down to Vienna
I'll find true love in Virginia
(???? something something the fairer?")
As long as I can Priscilla
I don't care if she's a deadbeat (Debbie)
(???)
Just need some heavy petting (Betty)
(????)

All around me
I see beautiful girls
They don't look at me
I'd be happy with just one girl
I'm looking for a single girl

All day long I watch TV (Stevie)
I really love I Love Lucy
I keep on counting the days (Daisy)
Someday I'll show my true aim (Amy)
I'll drink a whole litre (Alita)
Would I die for Diana?
(????)
When I kiss and I hold her (Holga)

All around me
I see beautiful girls
They don't look at me
I'd be happy with just one girl
I'm looking for a single girl

* "Pulling Muscles from the Shell"  is from the Squeeze song that was released that same year.



Either YouTube or Blogger isn't letting me post the only video they made. It's for the song "You don't Know What it's Like to be Alone in the House" but you can see it HERE.


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Vital Organs - Radio Active 7" (1982)

A - Radio Active
B - Glastonbury

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