REVIEW: Various, Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites Volume 2 & 3
- Bob Gajarsky
The new-wave sound of the early 1980's has been recaptured on compact disc by Oglio Records and their two recent compilations, Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites, Volume 2 and Volume 3. Blade, a popular Los Angeles disc jockey for station KROQ, has helped in selecting both classics and lesser-known new-wave songs for this multi-disc compilation.
One such "unknown" song appears on Volume 3. "Chamber of Hellos", by Wire Train, bears an uncanny resemblance to the Cure's "Jumping Someone Else's Train" and "Boys Don't Cry". According to the liner notes, this song appeared on the 1983 LP In A Chamber and the band reappeared in 1990 for a brief moment, with a self-titled album.
Ah, the liner notes. Dutifully written by Blade himself, they are both insightful about each band and song. Each song has a 100 word or greater write-up about the background of the band, the song, and the ever-famous "whatever happened to them?" question. This part of the collection is crucial to its success, as many of the bands are not quite household names.
Each volume contains two tracks which are known by everyone, even those who aren't new wave fans; Volume 2 stacks an extended mix of Madness' "Our House" and Grandmaster & Melle Mel's "White Lines", while Volume 3 contains the Romantics "What I Like About You" (long before it was ever featured in a commercial), and the extended mix of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love", medleyed in its 12" version into "Where Did Our Love Go".
Extended, rare mixes appear of other songs as well. Volume 2, which tends to have better-known songs on it, includes extended versions of Bananarama's "Shy Boy", Roman Holiday's "Don't Try To Stop It" and the 7 1/2 minute version of "White Lines". Volume 3 tends towards slightly more obscure tracks, including the Bongos "Numbers With Wings", 20/20's "Yellow Pills", and Felony's "The Fanatic".
Standout tracks? There's plenty, but suffice it to say that anyone who doesn't immediately recognize, from Volume 3, Blancmange's "Don't Tell Me" or EBN-OZN's "AEIOU (Sometimes Y)" probably hasn't had the song properly identified by a radio disc jockey. Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" still gets played to an enthusiastic response in dance clubs.
Oglio Records was founded by former club dj Carl Caprioglio to help preserve the late 70's / early 80's "New Wave" music and finally bring these out-of-print classics to compact disc. Unlike other compilations, Caprioglio has worked out the politics to bring different labels' works onto one disc. These releases can be found at retail outlets and also from Oglio's "New Wave Connection", which can be reached at 1-800-COOL-CDS. I recommend this to anyone who wants to get an excellent sampling of the 1980's "new wave" tracks.
Track listing, Volume 2: ABC-The Look of Love; Red Rockers-China; B Movie-Nowhere Girl; Bananarama-Shy Boy; Madness-Our House; Roman Holiday-Don't Try To Stop It (Extended Club); OMD-Electricity; The Kings-This Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide; Leisure Process-Cashflow; Adam and the Ants-Antmusic; Romeo Void-Never Say Never; Grandmaster & Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Do It)
Track listing, Volume 3: Wire Train-Chamber of Hellos; The Bongos-Numbers With Wings; The Buggles-Clean Clean; 20/20-Yellow Pills; Romantics-What I Like About You; Human Sexual Response-What Does Sex Mean To Me; XTC-Making Plans For Nigel; Gary Myrick & The Figures-She Talks In Stereo; Felony-The Fanatic; Blancmange-Don't Tell Me; EBN OZN-AEIOU (Sometimes Y); Soft Cell-Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go
