4 Rare 80s Albums [Part 116] New Wave, Power Pop

Here we have four more obscure but very good new wave music from our beloved decade. My favorite of all is the Victims record that has been on heavy rotation recently. It dates mid-eighties and the three piece all are sporting mullets and OP-ish gear on the cover. it has a charm about it though, with its sporty plucked new wave keyboards and high pitched guitar overlays. The title song is strong as is "tokyo waits", but on side 1, the rest of the songs are pretty standard faire. side two starts decently with 'oh no'. the chorus is repeated often, but this is the charm. 'whispering walls' is another strong track that reminds me of Robert Hazard & the Heroes. on several tracks, the music sounds pretty much straight out of miami vice opening My second fav. here is The Elavators. They were a new wave group from the Northampton, western Massachusetts Pioneer Valley area that gigged around Boston and made an excellent, but overlooked LP, “Frontline,” in 1980. Produced by guitarist (ex-Sparks), “Frontline” was recorded at Sound City, in Van Nuys, California in late ’79- early 1980. The Elevators sounded a lot like The Cars. “Frontline” featured a group with a strong, heavy drum sound (William Benjamin), and tight, vibrant bass from Jerry Ellis. The guitars (Zonder Kennedy, John Clark) and keyboards (Tom Myers) were catchy and effective, just like on “The Cars”. Unit 5, "Scared Of The Dark" is also a very solid record. Some members of this Akron, Ohio group were in an early incarnation of the Waitresses; Unit 5's vocalist, Tracey Thomas, however, is more from the school of Debbie Harry than the late Patty Donahue. The band plays sprightly, slightly synthesized pop with craft and dedication, making Scared of the Dark easy to like. Threshold was formed by Toni Guccione Biggs after she finished working on the Caligula: The Music soundtrack for which she wrote We Are One - Caligula Love Theme. Enjoy and seed. The Elevators - Frontline [1980] The Victims - Silent Dreams [1985] Threshold - St [1982] Unit 5 - Scared Of The Dark [1981]

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z-nith (2011-10-20)

Can't wait to check these out !! Thanks as always. Not at home now but will d.l and seed for you to get it goin.

 neon (2011-10-20)

Thanks 80z ....Never heard of them before but The Victims are great :)

 80zforever (2011-10-20)

welcome guys. z-nith also thx for seeding man.
neon, it's a catchy record but needs a few listens to really get you hooked. lol
cheers guys

brianscottmatthew (2011-10-21)

Thanks once again, I have another hard to find request for you. You filled my request for Spoons' "Listen to the City" awhile back and I'm hoping you can do it again for the Canadian jangle pop obscurity "Glow" by the band Plasterscene Replicas. This album is nowhere to be found on the internet!

dragonbandit314 (2011-10-21)

As usual, many thanks. I will feel like I have lost an old friend when you retire from TPB. Cheers, T.

smurphyzeke (2011-10-23)

Thanks

cheesy212 (2011-10-24)

Awesome work! I'll seed this and each of your rare albums as I download them, for a very long time :-)

 80zforever (2011-10-26)

brianscottmatthew, I have only heard You Can Walk from that LP. I don't recall ever seeing a vinyl record anywhere back in the day. sounds like it was obscure even then.
cheesy212, dragonbandit314 and smurphyzeke, thanks for taking the time and leaving comments.
cheers people

brianscottmatthew (2011-10-26)

Ah, damn... one of us has to track this one down been in contact with the band via facebook, asked for a digital copy of the LP. They are yet to respond...

z-nith (2011-10-27)

The Victims album is superb! Great stuff
brianscottmatthew, that's a clever idea to contact them on Facebook. but like a lot of other things, it can be difficult to get a responce. sometimes I contact equipment makers from the 70s if theyre still in biz looking for parts and manuals and hardly ever get a reply. Good luck!