Unreleased D-DAY Material to be Unearthed

According to the Web site of David Fore, the former drummer of Texas-based new wave act D-Day, there is a CD of the band's previously unreleased material on the way!

Here's the excerpt from his site:

"'The Lost Studio Sessions' CD is in the final stages of production. It features the tunes we wrote while waiting for our record to be released by A+M."

For those who don't remember, D-Day is most known for the delightfully trashy new wave gem Too Young to Date, which controversially hit #1 on "Rodney on the Rock" on L.A.'s famous KROQ station upon its release. The band followed it up with just one other single and an LP that are both fantastic, so it will be great to hear what else they had up their sleeves that never saw the light of day.

So far there are no details on specific content or exactly when and how the collection will be released. For now, have a listen to the classic Too Young to Date below.

Post Your Requests Here

Some of you have requested or recommended bands and albums you'd like to see here. I've lost track of most of the suggestions and have given up on sifting through all the old comments, so feel free to repost them in the comments to this entry.

Chances are I won't have what you're looking for, but I'm always up for the challenge of hunting down excellent, obscure and forgotten new wave/power pop stuff.

THE PHOTOS - Crystal Tips and Mighty Mice

The Photos were a British new wave band that has been described as Blondie-meets-the Buzzcocks, surviving long enough to release just one LP, a self-titled release in 1980. The album is an infectious lost gem, but before dissolving the group did manage record an even better follow-up cleverly and oddly titled Crystal Tips and Mighty Mice.

Up until now Crystal Tips has remained in the vaults, only to be heard by a select few new wave fanatics have who managed to track down mp3s ripped from a promo copy of the record. That's about to change thanks to London-based Cherry Red Records, which secured the rights to the album and has it slated for release on July 21. Hey, much better 25+ years late than never - especially for an album of this caliber.

Crystal Tips is full of masterful pop songs delivered with punk spirit. Singer Wendy Wu has an unmistakable voice that ensures you won't confuse the tunes with any other band's, and serves as an effective vehicle for getting across the slightly twisted themes found throughout the album.

Both opener My Life Story and the one song that was actually released from the collection way back when - Life in a Day, as a 7" single - are punchy numbers sung from the perspective of disenchanted souls plodding through everyday society. Luke Come Back is a catchy plea that sounds sort of like ABBA on steroids, while Kill That Girl is a dismal tale of deadly jealousy set to a bouncy tune. Quite possibly the star of the record is the stunning For Beauty's Sake, which features a truly dreamy melody and thoughtful lyrics.

According to Cherry Red, the album has been remastered from the original master tapes and will also boast a number of bonus tracks, including It's Always the English and Charlotte, two more tracks that were never released in any capacity. Here is the full track listing:

My Life Story / Life In A Day / Luke Come Back / Let's Pack Our Bags / Kill That Girl / The Final Scene / We Fight / Thinking Of His Girlfriend / Wish You Well / For Beauty's Sake / Time Of My Life / Bonus Tracks - More Than A Friend (B - Side Life In A Day ) / You Won't Get To Me (B - Side of We'll Win ) / It's Always The English (Unreleased, Recorded At Good Earth Studios For Muff Winwood) / We'll Win (A - Side S/T Single) / Charlotte (Unreleased, Recorded At Good Earth Studios For Muff Winwood) / Shy (B - Side Irene ) / Cridsilla (B - Side Irene , Double Single)

Click here to order the disc directly from Cherry Red or here to get your copy from Amazon UK.

For a taste, check out a vinyl-ripped mp3 of Life in a Day here, and look below for a clip of The Photos performing Do You Have Fun from their debut LP.

Video Rarities

I thought about titling this post "I'm Not Dead, Part 2" because again, it's been a while since I posted and again, I blame it on being extremely busy.

Until I have time to rip and write about more stuff more extensively, I thought I'd post some very rare video clips from bands I have written about here. Oh, the things you can find on YouTube.

Click on the links to check out what I have previously written about these bands.

Blue Peter - Video Verite (live 1981) - A really energetic live performance of one of my favorite tracks from this Canadian power pop/new wave act!



Karen Lawrence & the Pinz - Girl's Night Out (1981) - I heard there was a promo video made for this album, but never really thought it would surface. Well, here it is. Karen Lawrence (who now does bluesier stuff) in all her throaty, untamed new wave glory.



JoBoxers - Is This Really the First Time (1985) - This band is best known for the bouncy semi-hit Just Got Lucky, but in my opinion, this tune is just as good (and just as bouncy). It was culled from their second and final album Skin and Bone, which I still haven't been able to confirm was actually released.



The Reels - Prefab Hearts (1980) - This video by Aussie new wavers the Reels is just a tad bit scary (in a harmless 1980 sort of way), but the song is truly one of my all time favorite forgotten pop songs. Just try to get it out of your head. I dare you.



The Crocodiles - Tears (1980) - Before New Zealand's Jenny Morris went on to a successful solo career in her native land, she had this local hit with The Crocodiles. A very catchy, well-sung pop tune.



Pearl Harbour (live with the Clash) - Fujiyama Mama (1982) - The larger than life Pearl Harbour appears on stage with the Clash to sing this track, a Wanda Jackson rockabilly cover off her debut solo LP, Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too. At the time she was romantically linked with Paul Simonon. Fun stuff.