Kaspar Hauser

Entirely for no other reason than my new phono cartridge arrived this afternoon and I wanted to give it a spin, here's another blurt :

I've got a special fondness for odd New Wave music.

You know, the stuff that wasn't quite Punk Rock because it had a synth or cheap ass Farfisa in the band, but certainly didn't have any sort of commercial potential.

I suppose it's that thing where people become kind of fixated on what was popular when they were in high school. For better or worse for me that's the early 80's. So over the years as I came across stuff from the period for cheap, I'd buy it. Have a sizable chunk of stuff. (Probably should have been more aggressive about it earlier because it seems to becoming more collectible.)
I've always sort of thought (and been scoffed at for saying so by Baby Boomer types who would then drone on and on endlessly about how fuckin' great their hairy ass hippie generation was and how nothing anybody ever did would be half so cool as they were...) that 1979-84 was every bit as an important and fertile time for music as the ever lauded latter half of the 60's. Everybody seemed to be in a band and thousands of thousands of DIY records appeared out of the ether as arenas were rocked and discos were king.

I'll probably post a bunch of it too. Sure the clothes and hairstyles were horrible, but there was some fine music. Or music so incompetent and awful it becomes something else.

I also grew up in the Boston area, so I've got an affinity for the local flavor. It's my youth.
And to that end here's Kaspar Hauser from 1982.

Living With Fire
Personal Space
Emperor Vito

David Wildman - voc, synth
Ted Selke - drums, b voc
Steve Traiger - guitar
Tim Power - bass



To be honest, I have absolutely no clue about this band. I have no recollection of their existence. A quick google only comes up with a 2003 article about a (then) new project by the frontman David Wildman and some video footage on Youtube which is actually rather good which also has the following info :

"Kaspar Hauser formed out of the ashes of the Moral Majority and the Paper Dolls. The band attended UMass, played clubs in Amherst, Northampton and Boston, and released a 7" single that was produced by David Minehan of the Neighborhoods..."

This would be that single. First song seems to be the one that they thought had the commercial potential, but for my money "Personal Space" is the winner here. Nice driving bass (with a tone reminiscent of the Stranglers) with a hint of Echo & the Bunnymen in the vocals.
Enjoy.

Balloon Guy

Drug Testing in the Workplace
Drug Testing (instrumental)

Here's a fine example of why I started this. I've been meaning for years to digitize these singles...

The story is that way back when, when my girlfriend of that era graduated from Boston University she decided it was time to leave Boston. I had nothing keeping me there, so I went with her. There was a bit of triangulation about where to light though. It was 1989.
After each of us proposing a few places. We finally hit upon Minneapolis. It had produced Husker Du and the Replacements. If nothing else, it had a music scene. So the Twin Cities it was.
What I didn't know was that by the time we arrived that particular music scene had all but dried up. Things were in a bit of lull. I mean, there was still no shortage of bands to see in that pre-Intertube era when people actually had to leave their houses to be entertained. And at that point Minneapolis was still very much part of most touring itineraries, so I saw all kinds of amazing shows, but there really wasn't much locally that really appealed to me. I just wasn't a Grunge/ AmRep kind of guy.

One of the bands that I did really like was the unfortunately named Balloon Guy.

I swear they probably had the second worst name for a really good band I've ever come across. (The uncontested champion will forever be Zen Frisbee in my book.)

I sense a theme building. (Where are my Hypnolovewheel singles?)


Incidentally

Dapper








They had some of the guitar hooks that liked about early Pavement and some lyrical twists and quote worthy phrases that tickled me in the same way the Fall do. And a live intensity. Plus the singles were just ace. Just good stuff all around.


Scars

Moxabustion








After a few years and a double 7" recorded with Steve Albinie and "Soundbull" ep on compact disc, they were snapped up by Warner Brothers in the Major Label Post-Seattle frenzy when they were signing up indie bands left and right hoping to cash in big on a next big thing. Didn't happen.

I Ratted on You
Anodized
I Read It All
Russell



They released "West Coast Shakes" as their major label debut and swan song. It's an ok disc, but certainly didn't capture what the band was capable of. Worth picking up on Ebay if you come across it.

Anyway I've wasted enough of my valuable time and typing skills.

Bing Crosby

For my inaugural post, I thought it'd make sense to put up something that even on the vast resources of the Aether highly unlikely to be otherwise stumbled across. I mean, I've got my favorite 45's and such, but you only pop your blog cherry once...
My other thought was, screw it, just throw something up and the three people who'll actually accidentally show up here, no doubt looking for free porn and/or a MMF three-way can wrinkle their nose and head off to moister pink pastures. Really. It's a single page in an endless ocean of trivia and drivel. It's an experiment. Grab the closest thing and see if it works.

I ended up killing two birds.

You see long ago I worked a crappy kitchen job and on Sunday's about the only thing I could bear listening to on the radio as I toiled in sweat and a burning misanthropy was a show devoted entirely to Bing Crosby. It was comforting, I suppose. One day they played a song from der Bingle's sole 1967 recording session and perhaps as close as he ever got to Psychedelic in that long hot Summer of Love. A snazzy little ditty entitled "What Do We Do With the World?"
It took me nearly a decade, but I recently scored a copy. It mostly holds up. Not as revelatory as it seemed back when I first heard it, but certainly an odd thing for Bing to sing. (though it'll never replace his unintentionally hilarious 20's recording of "Gay Love")

So enjoy.