“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!
I was introduced to The Church by my dear friend Curtis during my sophomore year at UT in the spring of 1987. The Cult had just released the Electric album, and Curtis bought the vinyl the day it was released. After a few weeks of non-stop “Wildflower”-ing, I was anxious to hear more from this “new” (to me, anyways) band. Curtis then let me borrow his home-taped cassette copy of Love, which of course absolutely blew me away– in fact, I still cite Love as one of all-time Top 10 albums. I played that tape constantly for a few weeks, and every now and then I’d flip the cassette over and play side two. The album on side two of Curtis’ tape was The Church’s Heyday.
Heyday didn’t blow me away on first listen the way Love did, but I was definitely intrigued by the psychedelic sound of the record. I finally had to give the cassette back to Curtis, and I kinda/sorta forgot about The Church for a little while. Actually, it was a very little while: Starfish came out less than two years later, and that classic record made me a fan of The Church for life. I still buy each and every one of their albums, and my signed LP copy of Starfish (acquired in person after one of the band’s rare Dallas gigs) is one of my most-prized possessions.
I finally bought my own copy of Heyday on CD in the late ’80s, and it has since become my favorite album from The Church (The Blurred Crusade is a close second). I still have that same CD copy, and it’s a good thing that I do– it’s out of print now, and the cheapest used copies sell on Amazon in excess of $50. You can’t even download Heyday on Amazon or in the iTunes store, and that fact saddens me. How can one of my all-time favorite records be completely out of print in North America? I didn’t realize that Heyday was so hard to find until this morning, so there was only one thing to do: rip a new 320 kbps copy of my CD and start blogging. I even ripped new high-quality copies of the b-sides from the singles off the album, and you can find those vinyl rips in the bonus tracks.
Curtis isn’t with us anymore, but I still think of him during many unguarded moments. I think of him when I see paisley shirts. I think of him when I smell dope. I think of him when I do crossword puzzles. I think of him on the rare occasion that I stumble upon an L.A. Law reference. And I definitely think about him every time I listen to The Church.
The Church: Heyday
Warner Bros. Records, 1986
1. “Myrrh” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
2. “Tristesse” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
3. “Already Yesterday” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
4. “Columbus” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
5. “Happy Hunting Ground” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
6. “Tantalized” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
7. “Disenchanted” (Steve Kilbey)
8. “Night Of Light” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
9. “Youth Worshipper” (Steve Kilbey/Karin Jansson)
10. “Roman” (Marty Willson-Piper/Peter Koppes/Richard Ploog/Steve Kilbey)
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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.
The Cult: “Wildflower” (Ian Astbury/Billy Duffy)
From the album Electric
Sire Records, 1987
The Cult: “Hollow Man” (Ian Astbury/Billy Duffy)
From the album Love
Sire Records, 1985
The Church: “When You Were Mine” (Steve Kilbey)
From the album The Blurred Crusade
Arista Records, 1982
The Church: “The View” (Marty Willson-Piper)
B-side of the U.K. 7″ Tantalized
EMI Records, 1986
Vinyl rip courtesy of The Analog Kid
The Church: “Trance Ending” (The Church)
B-side of the Australian 7″ Columbus
Parlophone Records, 1986
Vinyl rip courtesy of The Analog Kid
The Church: “As You Will” (Peter Koppes)
B-side of the Australian 7″ Already Yesterday
Parlophone Records, 1985
Vinyl rip courtesy of The Analog Kid
The Church: “Destination” (The Church)
From the album Starfish
Arista Records, 1988
The Church: “The Unguarded Moment” (Steve Kilbey)
From the album Of Skins And Heart
Parlophone Records, 1981
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