80's New England Bands

[SomebodySomewhere]

Is there anyone here who doesn't know who The Fools are? After nearly 35 years together, you all better! They've had, like, 147 CDs (actually, I think it's , none of which have included their debut 7" single, "She Looks Alright in the Dark." That ode to ugly yet perfectly bangable chicks everywhere (b/w "Crash Boom Bang" - Castle Music Productions, 1978) would have fit right at home alongside their EMI albums, but remains confined to that limited self-release.

After being let go by EMI (I guess that was their reward for a pair of Billboard Top 200 albums and a pair of Hot 100 hit singles), they put out the hard-to-find "Hook in You" b/w "Out of My Head" 7" (Johnny Apollo, 1982) -- a 45 so meticulously-done, the title on the label of the "A" side was misspelled on most of the copies as "Hooking You" before being rubber stamped over with the correct title. Although the single's artwork and its B-side were carried over to the U.K.-only EP, "Out of My Head" (Invasion, 1983), the A-side was not. (Justifiably, I suppose. The B-side is the better tune.) "Colleen" is a fine track on "Out of My Head."

The Fools' EMI albums were released earlier this year on a CD 2-fer. Given the somewhat-ridiculous retail price and the totally-ridiculous omission of 1 track, I have no idea why anyone would want it. To buy reasonably-priced Fools CDs that are worth buying, head over to their website at www.thefools-band.com and visit the store. You can also get some of their music at iTunes.



[b]The Fools - She Looks Alright in the Dark[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/46s9us

[b]The Fools - Hook in You[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/3iwrim

[b]The Fools - Out of My Head[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/051zmm

[b]The Fools - Colleen[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/y5b030



The Fools
Mike Girard - lead vocals
Richie Bartlett - guitar, guitar synth, vocals
Stacey Pedrick - guitar (Castle Music/EMI years)
Doug Forman - bass, vocals (Castle Music/EMI/Invasion years)
Joe Holaday - bass, keyboards, vocals (PVC years)
Chris Pedrick - drums (Castle Music/EMI years)
Leo Black - drums, vocals (Invasion/PVC years)

[SomebodySomewhere]

tileboy, the 3 CDs are still in-print and can be had at both CD Baby and iTunes. (In fact, one's on sale for $5 right now.) That severely limited what I can offer, but here are the 4 tracks off "Whole New World" that don't appear to be available elsewhere. (Was in the process of doing "3rd Floor for Me" off "A Wicked Good Time" until I realized it's on one of the CDs as "3rd Floor.") "The Provider" is one of their better tunes. Not sure why that one was overlooked.

Don't have a bio pre-written, so write your own.


[b]Outlets - The Provider[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/l40mim

[b]Outlets - The War Is Over[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cafin9

[b]Outlets - Tilted Track[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/zr5qlh

[b]Outlets - What I Did[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hyf5nw


Outlets (1985 lineup)
Dave Barton - lead vocals, lead guitar
Rick Barton - guitar, backing vocals
Mike County - bass, backing vocals
Walter Gustafson - drums

[SomebodySomewhere]

No Boston band were as obsessed with Joy Division as Someone & The Somebodies were. They copied Joy Division's sound. They did Joy Division covers. They recorded an ode to Ian Curtis. Someone were winners of the 1981 Rumble (beating out The Dark), though it did nothing whatsoever for their career -- the Somebodies remained Nobodies. Over their brief existence, they recorded a number of things for Newbury Comics' label, the "Bops on the Head" EP (Modern Method, 1981), two compilation tracks on each of the "Wicked Good Time" albums (Modern Method, 1981) and the 7" single, "Newvo" b/w "Ian" (Modern Method, 1982). "Bops on the Head" -- which has better jacket art than it has music -- was notable for including a de-evolutionized cover of "Workin' in a Coal Mine" the same year as Devo's. "Before and After" was their cut on the first "Wicked Good Time" LP. On "Ian," which was decidedly their best song, the band finally found what was missing on their earlier releases: melody. Can't say they didn't go out on a high note.

Frontman Tristram Lozaw (real name) later became a music journalist for the Boston Globe, and was a lot better at that than he was songwriting.


[b]Someone & The Somebodies - Ian[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/upxzko

[b]Someone & The Somebodies - Before and After[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/y9f08k

[b]Someone & The Somebodies - Workin' in a Coal Mine[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ue4fft


Someone & The Somebodies
Tristram Lozaw - lead vocals, bass, guitar
Michael Glickman - guitar, bass
Rob Davis - keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
Jon Coe - drums, backing vocals

[SomebodySomewhere]

Wishing you all a merry Christmas from Rash of Stabbings, Jeff and Jane Hudson, Native Tongue, Sonny Columbus & His Del Fuegos, and, naturally, Christmas.



[b]Rash of Stabbings - A Christmas Song[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/xka52a

[b]Jeff & Jane Hudson - Jingle Bells[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vqkg44

[b]Native Tongue - Do You Hear What I Hear?[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/h0fgg1

[b]Sonny Columbus & His Del Fuegos - That Punchbowl Full of Joy[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hcckfe

[b]Christmas - O Holy Night[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/plgkoy

[BostonRocker1]

[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>Wishing you all a merry Christmas from Rash of Stabbings, Jeff and Jane Hudson, Native Tongue, Sonny Columbus & His Del Fuegos, SSD, and, naturally, Christmas.
[/quote]

Here's a holiday rarity from The Stompers:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/703819505bff5281/

Enjoy!

- BR1

[BostonRocker1]

[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by tileboy[/i]
<br>Somebody , have anything by the Outlets. I used to have a single of theirs.[/quote]


There's 3 CDs and the "Whole New World" LP in the boxes. (Plus at least one comp track.) Need to check what's commercially available and still in print first.
[/quote]
Their track "Knock Me Down" was on the Rhino "MASS AVE" compilation. "Can't Cheat The Reaper" was released commercially around 1985 or so, but a demo tape was playing on WBCN or WAAF before that. I may have a tape of it, I'll try to find it & also see if it can be legally posted.

- BR1

[BostonRocker1]

Re: The Fools

Their LP "World Dance Party" was huge. Once I bought it, I went back & got a copy of an earlier release, "Heavy Mental" (I think that was the title.) It was more serious-sounding. Was their sequel album "World Dancy Party Too" any good? I never heard anything from it. I passed up a copy at a local record show, but now I see it for sale on line at $89.00.

Whoops!

- BR1

[SomebodySomewhere]

[quote][i]Originally posted by BostonRocker1[/i]
<br>Re: The Fools

Their LP "World Dance Party" was huge. Once I bought it, I went back & got a copy of an earlier release, "Heavy Mental" (I think that was the title.) It was more serious-sounding. Was their sequel album "World Dancy Party Too" any good? I never heard anything from it. I passed up a copy at a local record show, but now I see it for sale on line at $89.00. Whoops![/quote]


"World Dance Party Too" was retitled "World Dance Party 2003" and rereleased (take a guess what year), and is available at the store link on The Fools' website. It's the "World Dance Party" album with 4 (less than vital) bonus tracks - "I Love Your Tits," "Bigfoot Stole My Wife," "Long and Hard," "Back to the Real World."

[tileboy]

[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>tileboy, the 3 CDs are still in-print and can be had at both CD Baby and iTunes. (In fact, one's on sale for $5 right now.) That severely limited what I can offer, but here are the 4 tracks off "Whole New World" that don't appear to be available elsewhere. (Was in the process of doing "3rd Floor for Me" off "A Wicked Good Time" until I realized it's on one of the CDs as "3rd Floor.") "The Provider" is one of their better tunes. Not sure why that one was overlooked.

Don't have a bio pre-written, so write your own.


[/quote]


Thanks Somebody, I went to their Myspace and realized "Best friends" was the single I had. Here's some video , with David Minehan joining in on "Knock me down"

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=26769067

[SomebodySomewhere]

I hope you're not going to ask me to do The Neighborhoods. Wasn't a big fan, sorry!

I have the "Best Friends" 45 myself. Somewhere. Not sure where it is right now. I think I have 1 or 2 other 45s of theirs. (I have about 50,000 45s I need to alphabetize one of these days.) But "Best Friends" was definitely their best song.

[SomebodySomewhere]

Zodio Doze didn't last long, but they left Boston with a powerpop gem in 1982, "Americommandoes." Singer-songwriter Beverly Bond Tatro's intelligent lyrics resonated instantly with me -- even if I was too young at the time to understand what she was singing about. (And how sad the song is.) That 33 1/3 single, their lone release, was only released as a laminated cardboard flexi, the gimmick of which was that the non-playable side of the thing looked like a real Boston postcard. (It also doubled as a lyric sheet.) It was a novel idea that made it great to look at in stores... not so novel to listen to it. Like all flexis, it wasn't really meant to be played. Me? I played my copy over and over again until it sounds like, well, just listen for yourself. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it sounded wicked bad the first time I played it.

Guitarist Bartholomew "Bart" Caruso, previously in The Buzzarians, went on to front Dharma Bums. Drummer Gregory Gilmartin went on to Green Magnet School. My vague recollection is that Beverly and Philip were married but subsequently got divorced. (Beverly appears to have a different surname now.) I have no clue what they went on to. But I'd certainly like to hear them from and possibly coax all the unreleased tunes they registered with the Library of Congress between '80 and '82.

This song is available on the Teenline series at hyped2death.com, except it fades out early on there. That's the only reason I'm making the complete version available. I apologize for the poor audio, but it's the best I can do. I don't think even Rubellan can do anything with this. The band should really dig out the master tapes and get thee to CD Baby. They still have fans.


[b]Zodio Doze - Americommandoes[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/f0cx0e


Zodio Doze
Beverly Bond Tatro - lead vocals, bass
Philip Tatro - vocals, keyboards
Bartholomew (Bart) Caruso - guitar
Gregory Gilmartin - drums

[SomebodySomewhere]

They've been name-dropped in this thread, so they should probably be featured in it, right? Cranston, Rhode Island's Hi-Beams were one of the first two RI bands invited to play in the WBCN Rumble in 1982, thanks to some local airplay for their catchy single, "Hyperactive," and ended up knocking out a lot of Boston-area faves to finish runner-up. Hi-Beams were hi-ly family-oriented. Two married couples plus two siblings. (The siblings were NOT the married couple! They were from Rhode Island, not Kentucky!) Singer Margie Olerio and drummer Matt Olerio were husband and wife, as were guitarist Lou Lilli and bassist Debra Lilli. And Matt and Debra are brother and sister. Although the Lillis registered 8 collections' worth of songs at the Library of Congress from '81-'84 and the "Hyperactive" b/w "White People" (New Breed, 1981) 7" sold well in RI, they apparently couldn't afford to make any other records. Their only other release was the compilation cut "Live in Shadows" off "The Living Room" LP (Big Bubble, 1983).

The band fractured when Margie found Jesus in 1983 and she and Matt ended up leaving. (I guess born-again Christians are not allowed to be hype-hype-hype-hype-hyperactive.) She later recorded a religious CD which I've given a wide berth to. I don't know who were their replacements, if any, but the Lillis soldiered on until 1984. Today, Debra is an English professor at the Community College of Rhode Island. (For a laugh, look her up on RateMyProfessors.) She and Lou also had 2 post-Hi-Beams bands, Open City in the late '80s and Mercy Velvet in the '90s. Matt Olerio is president of the gelato company, I Dolce.

Credit for "Live in Shadows" mp3 goes to wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com . I gave my only copy of "The Living Room" record to a buddy -- and it had serious playback issues, anyway.


[b]Hi-Beams - Hyperactive[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/xexj90

[b]Hi-Beams - White People[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vn1qnk

[b]Hi-Beams - Live in Shadows[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vnware


Hi-Beams
Marjorie "Margie" Olerio - lead vocals
Lou Lilli - guitar, vocals
Tom Estes - keyboards (not on records)
Debra Lilli - bass, vocals
Matt Olerio - drums

[Yachtingtype]

[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>
[b]Christmas - O Holy Night[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/plgkoy
[/quote]

Is this the same band who recorded the song "Stupid Kids?" on I.R.S. records, I believe...

[SomebodySomewhere]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Yachtingtype[/i]
Is this the same band who recorded the song "Stupid Kids?" on I.R.S. records, I believe...[/quote]

Yeah.

[SomebodySomewhere]

Limbo Race (1979-1984) were the band that squeaked past Hi-Beams in the '82 Rumble. Like all bands who won the Rumble and didn't have the words "Til" and "Tuesday" in their name, that did wonders for their career. The post-punk Cambridge trio debuted on record in 1981 with the compilation cut "There Goes Kafka" on "A Wicked Good Time Volume Two" (Modern Method, 1981). In the middle of '82, they had a BCN "hit" with "Down and Backwards," which was the best Mission of Burma song Mission of Burma never wrote. (I know this because Mission of Burma never wrote any good songs.) They released that as a 7" single (b/w "What It Is") in July, 1982 on their own Limborations label. Sometime later that year, sax player Mark Chenevert, a guest musician on that 45, became a full-time member and they added keyboardist Catherine Coleman to become a quintet. That lineup recorded a second 7" released in March (or July, the date stamp on both of my copies) the next year - "Ina's Song" b/w "Small Talking" (Limborations, 1983) - which suggested the band had already run out of material. Limbo Race split in early 1984. A couple of previously-unavailable tracks were released posthumously on a 1987 compilation.

Frontman Randy Black (real name Edwin Steckevicz) later fronted Dr. Black's Combo, and did a couple solo albums. Bassist John Neidhart joined the former members of The Rings in The Wicker Men -- whom we've already heard.


[b]Limbo Race - Down and Backwards[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/stjzlw

[b]Limbo Race - There Goes Kafka[/b]
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qu482e


Limbo Race
Randy Black (a.k.a. Edwin Steckevicz) - lead vocals, guitar
Mark Chenevert - saxophone (1981-1984)
Catherine Coleman - keyboards, vocals (1982-1984)
John Neidhart - bass, vocals
Peter Keaveney - drums (1979-1981 - not on records)
Mark Poulin - drums, vocals (1981-1984)