The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s Albums (“Visions Of Excess” By The Golden Palominos)

“The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s Albums” gives you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album from the ’80s in its entirety. Some will be from CD, but most will have been lovingly transferred from pristine vinyl culled directly from the Analog Kid’s vast collection. Whatever album I choose, it will be one that you can’t easily find a physical copy for sale on Amazon or in your local record store (if you even have one anymore). Death…by stereo!

Legendary Dallas DJ George Gimarc first introduced me to The Golden Palominos back in 1989. George played “Boy (Go)” on 94.5 The Edge that summer, and of course I was instantly intrigued by the unmistakable voice of Michael Stipe. I immediately made a quick trip to my local Sound Warehouse and purchased Visions Of Excess, the 1985 album from alternative super-group The Golden Palominos.

Stipe sang lead on three songs on Visions Of Excess, but he wasn’t really even a member of the band. The only two “permanent” members of the Golden Palominos were founder/drummer Anton Fier and bassist Bill Laswell. The rest of the musicians varied from track to track and album to album, and the list is an impressive one– in addition to Stipe, Richard Thompson, Bernie Worrell, Chris Stamey, Johnny Lydon, Syd Straw, and Jack Bruce all made appearances on Visions Of Excess.

Lydon provided vocals for “The Animal Speaks,” a song that was likely recorded around the same time that Laswell was producing the P.I.L. classic Album. Stipe also sang on “Clustering Train” and “Omaha” (a Moby Grape cover), but it was Straw who handled the majority of the album’s vocals. Visions Of Excess was Straw’s first appearance on an album, and she would go on to make some fantastic solo records in the late ’80s and ’90s.

I love this entire album, but “Boy (Go)’ is the track that still stands out to me. Stipe sounds energized to be singing outside of his R.E.M. comfort zone, and Richard Thompson’s blistering guitar fills give the song an eerie edge. Thanks again, Mr. Gimarc– I can’t even imagine what my musical landscape would look like today without all of the music you introduced me to on The Edge in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

The Golden Palominos: Visions Of Excess

Celluloid Records, 1985

1. “Boy (Go)” (Fier/Harris/Stipe)

Boy (Go)

2. “Clustering Train” (Fier/Harris/Stipe)

Clustering Train

3. “Omaha” (Spence)

Omaha

4. “The Animal Speaks” (Kidney)

The Animal Speaks

5. “Silver Bullet” (Fier/Straw/Harris)

Silver Bullet

6. “(Kind Of) True” (Fier/Straw/Harris)

(Kind Of) True

7. “Buenos Aires” (Fier/Straw)

Buenos Aires

8. “Only One Party” (Fier/Harris/Lindsay)

Only One Party

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Bonus Tracks!

The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.

Syd Straw: “Think Too Hard” (Holsapple)

From the album Surprise

Virgin America Records, 1989

Think Too Hard

Public Image Ltd.: “Rise” (Lydon/Laswell)

From the album Album

Elektra Records, 1986

Rise

Moby Grape: “Omaha” (Spence)

From the album Moby Grape

Columbia Records, 1967

Omaha