“The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s Albums” gives you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album or EP 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!
Waiting For A Miracle was the 1980 debut album from The Comsat Angels, a post-punk band from the UK. The Comsat Angels never received the same type of attention showered upon Joy Division or Echo & The Bunnymen, but they made compelling music that still deserves to be heard.
“Independence Day” is the one song on Waiting For A Miracle that you might know. The band re-recorded the song in 1983, and the video even received some airplay on MTV. I happened to catch that video on VH1 Classic about ten years ago, and it set me off on a quest to find all of the albums from The Comsat Angels. It was not an easy task, but it was well worth the effort.
Waiting For A Miracle has been issued on CD at least twice, but it is currently out of print and not even available as a download. I know at least a few of my regular readers will really enjoy this one, so let me know if you’d like to hear more from The Comsat Angels in future posts…
I absolutely love this Billboard Top 5 from Christmas Day 1965. It has a little bit of everything…
#5:
Simon & Garfunkel: “The Sound Of Silence” (Simon)
From the album Sounds Of Silence
Columbia Records, 1965
Can you imagine a world without “Mrs. Robinson” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water?” If not for the interference of record producer Tom Wilson, these classic songs likely never would have happened. Simon & Garfunkel actually had broken up after recording their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, which subsequently went nowhere on the charts. After “The Sound Of Silence” started receiving some minor airplay on east coast radio stations, producer Wilson decided to add some electric instrumentation to the song (without Simon or Garfunkel’s consent) and release it as a single. Simon had relocated to England by that time, but he returned to the U.S. after “The Sound Of Silence” started moving up the charts. It reached #1 on New Year’s Day, 1966, and Simon & Garfunkel decided to give it another go. They quickly recorded their second album, The Sounds Of Silence, and the rest is history.
#4:
The Four Seasons: “Let’s Hang On!” (Crewe/Linzer/Randell)
From the album The 4 Seasons’ Gold Vault Of Hits
Philips Records, 1965
“Let’s Hang On!” was the ninth Top 10 hit for Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. It peaked at #3 on the charts in late 1965, and it would take the Four Seasons almost ten years to reach the Top 3 again with 1975’s “Who Loves You”. Of course, you can make a strong case that Valli’s 1967 #2 solo hit “Can’t Take Me Eyes Off You” was essentially a Four Seasons song if you want to get nitpicky…
#3:
James Brown: “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (Brown)
From the album I Got You (I Feel Good)
King Records, 1965
James Brown had 99 songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 during his career, but he never had a #1 song on the pop charts. “I Got You (I Feel Good)” came the closest when it reached the #3 slot on Christmas Day, 1965. Twenty years later, Brown would score his second biggest pop hit with “Living In America.”
#2:
The Byrds: “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (Seeger)
From the album Turn! Turn! Turn!
Columbia Records, 1965
“Turn! Turn! Turn!” reached #1 in early December of 1965, and was the second #1 hit for The Byrds (“Mr. Tambourine Man” topped the charts in June of 1965). The song was written by the legendary Pete Seeger, although the lyrics (other than the title itself) were really just an adaptation of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
It’s true, folks: King Solomon had a #1 hit. I wonder who got the royalties?
#1:
The Dave Clark Five: “Over And Over” (Day)
From the album The Dave Clark Five’s Greatest Hits
Epic Records, 1965
The Dave Clark Five had 17 Top 40 hits in the United States, but “Over And Over” was their only #1 single. The song was written in 1958 by Bobby Day, and first appeared on the flip side of Day’s “Rockin’ Robin.”
I didn’t know much about the DC5 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, but Tom Hanks’ passionate induction speech inspired me to learn more. If you have thirty minutes to spare, this video is well worth your time…
The Analog Kid blog has been featuring out-of-print ’80s albums on “The Lost Boys” series for quite a while, and now it’s time for the ’70s to join the party! “Lost In The Flood: Hard-To-Find ’70s Albums” will give you the chance to listen to some great music from the ’70s that can no longer be easily acquired on-line or at your local record store (especially since many of you probably no longer even HAVE a local record store!).
Live At Leeds if often hailed by critics as the best live album of all time, and for once I completely agree with them. This is the first Who record I ever purchased– the brand-new vinyl cost me a whopping $3.99 at Sound Warehouse, and I also bought Who’s Greatest Hits that day to put on the other side of my home-recorded cassette. That was in the spring of 1985, and those purchases helped me discover the true and correct answer to the eternal “Beatles or Stones?” question:
“The Who.”
Obviously, I couldn’t have picked a better record to introduce myself to the power of The Who. Live At Leeds will make your speakers bleed, and it literally crackles with excitement. Hey, it says so right on the label!
I love the crackles on Live At Leeds. They are part of its great charm, along with the polite applause from the English crowd after each song.
“I say, these chaps are bloody good. Do you realize that they are basically redefining the hard rock genre right before our very eyes? Simply marvelous.” Golf clap.
At this point, some of you may be asking yourself, “I wonder why the Analog Kid is featuring a classic that is obviously not out of print on a series about hard-to-find albums. Has he gone mad?”
It’s true: Live At Leeds isn’t out of print. You can hop on Amazon right now and order a single-disc copy, and you can also purchase a stunning double-disc set of the entire show (including their performance of Tommy). Both of these CDs are amazing, but they are actually quite different than the original album that I fell in love with. The crackles have been digitally removed, and even the single disc contains bonus tracks and a different mix. If you want the original Live At Leeds in all of it crackled glory, you have to find an old vinyl copy or seek out the original 1985 CD release.
Or, of course, you can just visit the Analog Kid blog. Put that cigarette out!
The Analog Kid Blog had to take an unexpected detour to the emergency room today. Everything is OK, with the unfortunate exception of Mrs. Analog Kid’s broken ankle. Regular blogging will resume tomorrow, and maybe you’ll get a double shot of R&B next Groovy Tuesday!
In the meantime, please enjoy this highly appropriate track from one of my wife’s favorite movies!
Bone Symphony: “One Foot In Front Of The Other” (Levinthal/Wilk)
“The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s Albums” gives you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album or EP 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!
Sammy Hagar’s Three Lock Box was one of the defining albums of my high school years. I purchased a vinyl copy of Three LockBox on the day of its release in 1982, and I immediately recorded it onto a TDK SA90 (with Hagar’s Standing Hampton on the other side, of course). I don’t think that tape left my car at any point during the next three years.
How much did I love Sammy in high school? I still have my t-shirt from the 1983 Three Lock Box tour:
Night Ranger opened the show that night, and Sammy used a wireless headset mic. I had never seen one before, and I thought he was lip-syncing until I figured out what was going on. And yes, I still wear the shirt…
Most people think that “I Can’t Drive 55” was Sammy’s biggest solo hit, but that isn’t true: “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy” reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, 13 places higher than “I Can’t Drive 55.” “Remember The Heroes” (co-written by Hagar and Journey’s Jonathan Cain) wasn’t actually released as a single. but the duet with Loverboy’s Mike Reno still received massive amounts of FM radio airplay. And what can you say about the title track– it’s simply one of the best album openers of the ’80s.
Three Lock Box has been out of print on CD for a few years now. It saddens me that one of my favorite ’80s albums is no longer available in a physical format, but I am happy to share it with you here on the Analog Kid blog!
The Analog Kid 