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.

D-DAY - Self-Titled LP

Texas new wave band D-Day were most famous for their controversial 1979 single Too Young to Date, which included inspiring lines such as "Got an older guy and his name is Michael/He just told me 'bout my menstrual cycle." All Music Guide reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes it as "tastelessly vulgar, even for those with a taste for the tasteless, especially since it sounds like it's sung by a 50-year old divorcee." I personally think that makes it all the more charming. Oh well, to each his own. Anyway, the song reached the top spot on KROQ in Los Angeles before being banned thanks to complaining mothers (I wonder if they were the same ones who protested Garbage Pail Kids a few years later).

In any case, the song is a new wave classic, but D-Day didn't release anything else until 1982's 7" single Right to Know / Your History Complete. Both Too Young to Date and Right to Know applied a definite raw punk vibe to pop hooks, but by the time the band released their first and only LP in 1983 they had turned less punk, more straight-up new wave.

Thankfully, that didn't mean the music lost any appeal. In fact, the D-Day album is entertaining all the way through and contains some true lost new wave gems. The bouncy Desperation, for example, is a hit single that never was. Lead singer De Lewellen shines with her unique vocal delivery, really belting it out and at times sounding like a Broadway star who decided to sing off-kilter new wave music. The energetic Dream Song offers up some really cool imagery of bizarre sleep-time visions. Secret World is a catchy little ditty with lead vocals by bassist John Keller. More Than That is ska-pop bliss. Hold On and Lonely People are cold synth-rockers.

Unfortunately, the album didn't take off and D-Day didn't produce anything else. It's a shame, as the LP and its preceding Too Young to Date and Right to Know singles are high quality new wave. Too Young to Date can be found on a new wave compilation CD, but the LP was never released on CD. Here is a high quality vinyl rip I made of the album from a sealed copy I recently found:

D-Day - self-titled album (1983)

Track list:
1 - Dance It Off
2 - Strange Feeling
3 - Join the Ranks
4 - Dream Song
5 - Desperation
6 - Radio On
7 - Secret Worlds
8 - Do You Read Me
9 - Hold On
10 - More Than That
11 - Lonely People

D-DAY LINEUP:
- De Lewellen - lead vocals
- Will Fiveash - guitar
- David Fore - drums
- Glover Gill - keyboards
- John Keller - bass

FOR FANS OF:
The Waitresses, Blondie, Martha and the Muffins, Holly and the Italians