19 October 2013

SING SING EXCLUSIVE: The Romantics - Little Red Or White Lies?



























































THE ROMANTICS, 'LITTLE WHITE LIES' (Spider, 1977)  AR SPDR 101A - RED WEB

v.

THE ROMANTICS, 'LITTLE WHITE LIES' (Spider, 1977)  101-A - WHITE WEB

A tale of two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT recording sessions.

...which, to this point, no one has cared about because:

1 - It's THE ROMANTICS

AND

2 - The record - in all its incarnations - has always been common and affordable

However, inspired by PATRICK LUNDBORG's recent research and championing of the original, non-hit version of THE STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK's 'Incense & Peppermints' on All American Records v. the more familiar and staid hit arrangement on UNI, I figured it was high time to definitively diagnose this depressingingly uncharted discrepancy hitherto only whispered about in the language of wind and ghosts.

First hinted at briefly in a short review of THE ROMANTICS' follow-up single on BOMP! in issue 29 of BLITZ (formerly BALLROOM BLITZ) magazine out of Detroit, Michigan, Nov. '78, which reads:

'In the face of accusations of "sell out" and "commercialism" from many of their fans who were disappointed with their re-recording of their classic "Little White Lies" last year, Hamtramck's Romantics bounce back with a masterpiece that easily qualifies as one of the year's best.'

...an incorrect assessment; nevertheless, I became intrigued.

Not least because I found any allegations of insincerity aimed at the future Budweiser/T.G.I. Friday's commercial kings of poodle-perm, leather-suit, schlock-rock laughable, but also because I've always wanted to see what all the early taste-makers ever saw in THE ROMANTICS anyway. 

Cue Young Steve and the Japanese.

Tentatively mentioned on the PoP "n" RoLL blog (home of THE CHOOSERS among many others), Atsushi and Co. pondered:

'This can certainly be called a pop 'n' roll classic. But did you know that there is a different version of the a-side 'Little White Lies?'

As far as appearance goes the difference is the color of the spider web. The regular version is white  and the special version is RED. The matrix number for the white version is 101-A and for the RED version it's AR SPDR 101A.

As far as the difference in sound, the intro is cut on the special RED version. It starts suddenly from the vocal. The tempo is faster than the usual version, and more than anything, it's a raw, rough performance that is very exciting to listen to.'   *

Which says just about as much as I need to.  As ridiculous as it may sound (and they look), maybe THE ROMANTICS' debut album cover was meant to be a red-leather post-it note pointing back to this earlier recording.

As irreconcilable to their later, major label facelessness as 20/20's early sides and demos on BOMP!, the original version of 'Little White Lies' is as jumping with vitality, energy and an argument for POP! as anything by THE NERVES, SHOES, or DWIGHT TWILLEY.

Too bad the b-side recording on both pressing - featuring some HORRENDOUS Dad-Rock, Blueshammer harmonica - didn't benefit from any second thoughts or re-record re-considerations

Enjoy then, the ORIGINAL, non-hit, RED web version of 'Little White Lies' and the later, tamer, more new-wave ready rendition and decide for yourself which is superior.

SING SING NEWS - YOU HEAR IT...

FIRST!

'LITTLE WHITE LIES' - RED VERSION  (ORIGINAL)

 

'LITTLE WHITE LIES' - WHITE VERSION (RE-RECORDING)

  

PoP "n" RoLL blog translation work courtesy of every one's favorite MMA documentarian, Young Steve 'Don't Call Me Mark' Borchardt

02 October 2013

BEAT FEET, ''No Ties' b/w 'Aundrea' (FUN'Y Records, 1983)























BEAT FEET, 'No Ties' b/w 'Aundrea' (FUN'Y Records, 1983)

'Discovered' (maybe?) by a Tucson garage turkey recently celebrating his 3Xth birthday and - less recently - allowing me free access to booze and to abuse at his nuptials, this, the lone 45 by BEAT FEET is in - actuality - pretty standard striped-shirt/head-band/heybra new-wave/power pop fare.

...if'n you do not take into account the stirring color string bikini cover art and ragged BEACH BOYS harmony remnants and STEVE JONES rip-off riffs on the A-side chorus.

However, even if you do decide to take stock of neither of those elements, the amateurism displayed by the LEAD drummer on each side is endearingly dumb.

Enjoy then these indiscriminate and un-claimable misogynists - the world is renewed by their passing.  Where they're from I haven't the first idea.

This bud's for you T Dawg!

'NO TIES'

 'AUNDREA'


01 October 2013

Sing Sing on WFMU 91.1 FM

Sing Sing Records DJ Night! 
Wednesday, October 2nd, 9pm - Midnight
on 
The Evan "Funk" Davies Show 

The Sing Sing Records label has been putting out a steady stream of amazing reissues ever since Trey Lindsay and Jeremy Thompson launched it in 2009. Their focus has been mostly on punk and power-pop from the '70s, with the occasional glam nugget mixed in, so you can expect to hear a similar selection of rocking rarities and killer cuts when Trey and Jeremy take over the Evan "Funk" Davies show at 9pm on Wednesday night, Oct. 2. You'll want to dust off your cassette recorder for this one -- don't miss it! 


LISTEN LIVE AT WFMU.ORG