MI-SEX - Castaway / Young Maniacs (7" Single)

I previously posted a 1984 LP, "Where Do They Go," by New Zealand new wave act Mi-Sex, which was the band's final album and represented a shift from quirky synth pop to more straightforward new wave pop. One of the album's strongest tracks, "Castaway," was actually a single two years prior.

The song is one of the catchiest new wave tunes you'll never hear on flashback radio, and one that belongs on any list of the best 80s songs the world forgot (or maybe never knew in the first place). The 1982 single version is quite different from the version that appeared on "Where Do They Go," offering a much less polished take of what would eventually become the album cut.

The B side, "Young Maniacs," is an album track taken from the 1981 LP "Shanghaied."

Mi-Sex - "Castaway" / "Young Maniacs" (7" Single, 1982)

Track listing:
1 - "Castaway"
2 - "Young Maniacs"

BREAKFAST IN BED - Sorry Babe / Going Home (7" Single)

Here's a cool little single I know next to nothing about.

What I do know is that Breakfast in Bed were an Australian band and that they released this single, Sorry Babe backed with Going Home in 1983 on Jonathon Apple Productions. I don't know if they released anything else.

The style is female-fronted power pop in the vein of other Aussie acts from around the same time such as Flaming Hands and The Dugites. For a less obscure reference, it sounds kind of like Blondie.

Breakfast in Bed - Sorry Babe / Going Home (7" Single, 1983)

Track listing:
1 - Sorry Babe
2 - Going Home

RUBBER RODEO - She Had to Go (12" Single)

Recently I wrote about country-new wave hybrid Rubber Rodeo's second and final LP, Heartbreak Highway. By request, here's one of the band's earlier singles, She Had to Go from 1982.

By the time Rubber Rodeo released Heartbreak Highway in 1986, its sound had developed from a self-described "cross between Gene Autry and Devo" to polished, radio-ready pop with country touches thrown in here and there. She Had to Go is a perfect example of the band's quirkier early stage (which also saw the release of a new wave cover of Dolly Parton's Jolene).

She Had to Go is a bizarre, Devo-esque track about death, strangely enough. Check out the last minute or so, which sounds something like the hoedown from hell. The B-side includes Rubber Rodeo's take on The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as well as another instrumental, Forbidden Valley.

(2/17/09 - You can now purchase this music, along with the band's self-titled EP, on iTunes! Go get it!)

Track listing:
1 - She Had to Go...
2 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
3 - Forbidden Valley

THE RECORDS - Rock and Roll Love Letter (12" Single)

Here's one from another of the superb power pop acts to emerge in the late 1970s - The Records.

The Records were a British band most remembered for their debut single Starry Eyes, which is undoubtedly a timeless power pop classic and what I consider to be one of the greatest singles in the history of rock 'n' roll. The band's non-LP follow-up single, a cover of Tim Moore's Rock and Roll Love Letter, is also brilliant, but much less discussed.

The 12" single also includes another track that never appeared on an LP, Wives and Mothers of Tomorrow, in addition to an excellent live version of Starry Eyes.

The Records - Rock and Roll Love Letter (12" single, 1979)

Track listing:
1 - Rock and Roll Love Letter
2 - Wives and Mothers of Tomorrow
3 - Starry Eyes (live)

MARK KJELDSEN - Are You Ready (7" Single)

Just in case my other two posts about The Sinceros didn't give you a clear enough idea of how much I love them, here is another one. Well, sort of.

This one's actually about a solo single released by the band's lead guitarist and singer, Mark Kjeldsen, in 1980. It's called Are You Ready, with Something's Happening as the B-side. Both tracks were later recorded by The Sinceros, and although those versions were released as B-sides, didn't appear on either of the band's LPs (The Sound of Sunbathing and Pet Rock).

Kjeldsen's lone solo single contains arguably the best versions of the songs. Are You Ready is a simple, insanely catchy reggae-infused number, while Something's Happening is straight-up power pop.

All in all, a very nice complement to the Sinceros albums. Check it out:

Mark Kjeldsen - Are You Ready (7" Single, 1980)

Track listing:
1 - Are You Ready
2 - Something's Happening

JOBOXERS - Just Got Lucky (12" Single)

JoBoxers were a British new wave group fronted by American singer Dig Wayne, and scored a minor, now mostly forgotten hit in 1983 with this joyful, soul-infused little number. Like the better-known Dexys Midnight Runners, JoBoxers had a street urchin type image, but produced crisp and bouncy soul-pop tunes.

Just Got Lucky also later appeared on JoBoxers' debut LP, Like Gangbusters. Despite a few other singles that were mildly successful in Britain, the group unfortunately never found a large audience and disbanded after the release of their second LP, 1985's Skin and Bone.

A JoBoxers best of compilation was released in 2006, and is available here.

The CD includes the album version of Just Got Lucky, but also check out my vinyl rip of the shorter, alternate single mix below. The B-side is a cool, jazzy track called Forget Me Love that did not appear on either LP.

JoBoxers - Just Got Lucky (12" Single - 1983)

Track listing:
1 - Just Got Lucky
2 - Forget Me Love