Minnesota Punk and New Wave 7″ singles and flexi discs 1976-1984

Under Construction- I’ll link these to You Tube clips as I find them. As always, please comment below & include any additions I’ve missed (more Ice Stars 7″s? Musical Chairs 7″?).

Twin Tone Records:

Suicide Commandos “Emission Control” b/w “Cliché’ Ole’”, “Monster Au-go-go 1976 PS Records

Suicide Commandos “Mark He’s a Terror” b/w “Match Mismatch” 1977 PS Records

Orchid Spangiafora “Dime Operation” b/w  “Sput”, “‘Trapped Heir Suite Part One” 1978 PS Records 7801

The Suburbs The Suburbs EP 1978 Twin Tone 7801 (Memory/Go/Stereo/Teenage Run-in/Chemistry Set/Your Phone/Couldn’t Care Less Anymore/You/Prehistoric Jaws)

Spooks Spooks EP 1978 Twin Tone 7802 (1980-1990/Fun is Everything (Science Fiction World)/Sinister Forces…peculiar points of view/Evil Eye/Hit the Lights, Laugh it Up (it’s all a big joke anyway)/Scum of the Earth (for Travis Bickle))

Fingerprints Fingerprints EP 1978 Twin Tone 7803 ((Now I Wanna Be a) Space Girl/Burn Those Bridges/Track 9/Wasted on You/Made in the Shade)

Fingerprints “Down” b/w “Christmas Down” 1978 Twin Tone 7804

The Jets “Lover Boy” b/w “Paper Girl” 1978 Twin Tone 7805

The Suburbs “World War III” b/w “Change Agent” 1979 Twin Tone 7909

Curtiss A “I Don’t Wanna Be President” b/w “Land of the Free” 1979 Twin Tone 7912

Fingerprints “Smiles for Sale” b/w “You Have to Push Them Over”, “Nothing to Say” 1980 Twin Tone 8013

The Pistons “Investigations” b/w “Circus (Like it or Not)” 1980 Twin Tone 8017

The Overtones “Red Checker Wagon” b/w “Surfer’s Holiday” “The Calhoun Surf” 1980 Twin Tone 8018

Spooks “Afraid” b/w “Lycanthropy (Larry Talbot’s Disease)” 1980 Twin Tone 8019

The Replacements “I’m in Trouble” b/w “If Only You Were Lonely” 1981 Twin Tone 8120

The Form “It Happens That Way” b/w “All the Young Dudes” 1985 Twin Tone 8552

Soul Asylum “Tied to the Tracks” b/w “Long Way Home” 1985 Twin Tone 8560

Break’er Records:

Gregor MacKenzie & The Misanthropes “Torture That Girl” b/w “Contact Overdose” 1978 Break’er Records 45-101

Gregor MacKenzie & The Misanthropes “Window Peeper” b/w “Judy’s Wimp/Concealed Weapon” 1978 Break’er Records 45-103

Gregor MacKenzie & The Misanthropes self-titled 9-song double single 1978 Break’er Records 45-105 & 106 (Piston Boy/Andrea Teen/Winged Bat Anthem/Debby is Electro-Cute/Space Walk/Baby Sitter/Oedipus Blues/When Havoc Struck/Gertrude is the Guitar Queen)

Danger Roads “My Metaphysical Friend” b/w “Only in LA” 1978 Break’er Records 45-107

Danger Roads “It’s Time to Become Robots” b/w (one-sided single) 1979 Break’er Records 45-108

MOR’s “The Girl Next Door” b/w “Telephone Action”  1979 Break’er Records 45-109

The Turnbuckles “Super Destroyer Mark II” b/w “Rearranged” 1979 Break’er Records 45-110

Magnetic Head Cleaners “I Want to Function With You” b/w “Mechanical Rights (Service Me)” 1979 Break’er Records 45-111

The Hit Squad “Pictures of Matchstick Men” b/w “Thou Shall Not Steal” 1979 Break’er Records 45-112

Wilma & The Wilbers “Chronic Alkie” b/w “Poor Little Joey”,”The Hole” 1980 Break’er Records 45-114

Wilma & The Wilbers self-titled four-song 7″ EP  1981 Break’er Records 45-116 (Tiger Beat/My Guy/I Like it Thick/I Speak Russian)

The Misanthropes “Northfield Girls” b/w “Soviet Girl” 1981 Break’er Records 45-117

the rest:

NNB “Slack” b/w “New World” 1978 Wave Seven 1001

Hypstrz self-titled four-song 7″EP 1979 Bogus (Hold On/Can’t Stand the Pain/Action Woman/Hey Joe)

Smart Alex “Chitter Chat” b/w “Tonight” 1979 Lickey split

Flamingo The Flamingo EP 1978 Bigger Than Life 101 (I Remember Romance/We Do What We Like/Smart Girl/One More Night)

The MOR’s “Attention” b/w “The Love Is”, “Crime Games”  1980 Bogus

Shock Treatment “Johnny’s No Fun (Anymore)” b/w “I’d Rather Be With the Girls” 1980 Radii 101

Teenage Boat People self-titled four-song 7″ EP 1980 Barney Fife 0900 (Consumation/My Friends Know Too Much, uh/Dirty or Sweet/Weez Boatpeople (Can Dance))

The Dads “’64 Valiant” b/w “Thorazine Shuffle” 1981 PG Records

The Trend “Pat Miles” b/w “Eileen” 1981 Presss 5610

Husker Du “Statues” b/w “Amusement” 1980 Reflex A

Red House “25 Reasons” b/w “Teenbeat” 1983 Wave Seven 17

Flamin’ Ohs “I Remember Romance” b/w “Everyday” 1980 Fat City 250

The Phones “I’m So Neat” b/w “She Said Goodbye” 1980 Phone-O-Graph

Peer Group “Change of Plans” b/w “No Attraction” 1981 Unscene 6562/3

Mutuals No Wasps EP 1980 Tyrannorecords 01 (Privacy Act/Love Isn’t Something (That You Can Pretend)/Demenial Labor/Heat)

Johnny Rey “No Emotion” b/w “Lookin’ for Trouble” 198? Bigger than Life 106

Things That Fall Down “Things That Fall Down (Theme)” b/w “Day In” 1981 REM 8100

Ice Stars “Geared Down Low” b/w “Emergency One” 1980 New Age

Tuff Bunnies “Landscape Architecture” b/w “Fast Food Girl” 1982 Tuff Bunnies

Chuck Wow “Happy Birthday, Sucker” 1981 Chuck Wow (flexi-one song)

NNB “Well, Oh Well” 1979 No Magazine (flexi- one track by NNB)

The Inclusions “Unamerican Activity” b/w “Russian Youth” 1980

Chuck Wow self-titled three-song flexi 1982 (flexi) (Symphony in White/Under Glass/Touch)

Sonny Vincent & The Extreme self-titled three-song flexi 1982 (Wingdale/Top Dog/Phantom)

The Phones “Suspended Animation” b/w “Kids Today” 1980 Phone-O-Graph 6006

Flamin’ Ohs “Stop” b/w “Gotcher’ Head” 1981 Flame 324

The Flyboys self-titled three-song EP 1980 (Jetsetter/Cruel World/Hippy Hippy Shake)

The Wallets “Twas the Night Before Christmas” b/w “A Visit to a Temple of a Slow Poke” 1983 Spiffola 334

Chuck “Last Love” b/w “Your Knees” 1983 See Doubleyoo Music

Kevin Calhoun “Stop Killing Those Kids” b/w “My Turn to Try” 1981 UNI International KC 101

Husker Du “In a Free Land” b/w “What Do I Want?”, “M.I.C.” 1982 New Alliance 007

Otto’s Chemical Lounge self-titled four-song EP 1983 Reflex h (Fire/Trip With Me/Noodle Man/I’m Otto Your Mind)

800^th Lifetime “OCIN” 1985 Tel (one-song flexi)

Robert Ivers “I’ve Been Down” b/w “The Great N.Y. Subway Tragedy” 1982 New Age 2

Urban Guerillas “Urban Guerilla (part one)” b/w “(part two)” 1984 Camouflage (oversize two-sided flexi)

Advanced Life Support “I Only Cry at Weddings” b/w “Days Later” 1984 REM 8384

Final Conflict self-titled four-song EP 1983 Reflex g (In the Family/The Lines have Faded/Your/Self-Defeated)

Summer of Love “Killing the Blues” b/w “The Walls” 1984

Darrell & the Derelicts “Cadillac” b/w “One Track Mind” 1984 Creeple People

Snaps “Conversation” b/w “Sexual” 1982 Paradise

Blue Boy “Kissing You” b/w “Middle Class Square” ?

Robert Ivers  John Lennon(?) b/w USA Boys & Girls(?) (test pressing with no info)

Rock & Roll (Robert Ivers) “We Got Rock & Roll” b/w “Emergency One” Generic Records

Thanks to Tom Tourville and his Minnesota Rocked! books, they inspired me to compile this.

The Ex-Lion Tamers and Wire- the amazing story via cassette

You may (or may not) have heard the story; it’d actually be the premise for an amusing film: a band-obsessed rock critic forms his own band to cover his idols’ first album, and tours the USA opening for said idols playing that album. The Ex-Lion Tamers’ were Jim DeRogatis’ version of that story, and Wire is the article herein covered. 1987 was the year, and The Ex-Lion Tamers perfected a live version of Wire’s “Pink Flag”LP, playing the entire album in order in every worthy venue in the USA on Wire’s Summer “comeback” tour. Wire at that point had moved onto a new sound, but their perverse sense of humor showed a bit by allowing The Ex-Lion Tamers the opening slot on the tour. And what a great idea! This would placate anyone in the audience expecting the “old” Wire of ten years previous, and- let’s face it- The Ex-Lion Tamers did a better job performing “Pink Flag’ in 1987 than anyone could ever expect Wire to perform it. So- it worked perfectly. The Ex-Lion Tamers introduced their set with two words: “Side One”, and intersected the set with “Side Two” in the middle. This was truly the sign of men accustomed to a vinyl LP instead of a CD. I’m not sure Wire CDs were even available in 1987!
I also have the original studio demo that the ELTs submitted to Wire early in 1987, which got the whole idea flowing. I’ll include the entire session at a later date when I document my master tape collection. It was intended to be released on a 7″ EP which never materialized, and has been sitting in the can ever since.

Colin and Graham discussing The Ex-Lion Tamers on WNYU radio:

6-20-87 at The Cabaret Metro, Chicago:

“Ex-Lion Tamer”

“Pink Flag”

“12XU”

To make the whole tale even more interesting, The Ex-Lion Tamers re-grouped a few months later in November of 1987 at the now-legendary venue Maxwell’s in Hoboken to perform ONLY ONCE the entire “Chairs Missing” LP in its entirety! The only words uttered from the stage at this show? “Side Three” at the beginning . “Side Four” at the halfway point.

11-15-87 Maxwell’s, Hoboken, New Jersey:

“Practice Makes Perfect”

“Heartbeat”

“From the Nursery”

I have a recording of Wire and The Ex-Lion Tamers onstage together at First Avenue performing a large-group rendition of The Modern Lover’s “Roadrunner”. Alas, the audio isn’t up to snuff, sorry.

Side Note: One thing I can say about Wire that amazes me: I saw them around ten years ago, they played a fantastically blistering set at First Avenue. I loved the performance, but -get this- they only played ONE SONG that I knew. How many bands can come back from the dead and satisfy without “rolling out the hits”? I’d expect that list is short enouugh to include a four-letter name only : Wire.

Thanks again to Jim DeRogatis for providing me this magical tape and letting me tell the story via cassette

The Tranques two-song cassette from 1987

Both of these songs were intended for release on a 7″ single in 1988, but for some reason it never came out on vinyl. I have a master tape for it transferred to digital, I just need to master it to digital also. I’ll replace these recordings with some better and crisper recordings soon. But until then, enjoy the cassette versions, they sound pretty good too. I love both of these songs! BTW, K.C.O.R. is R.O.C.K. spelled backwards.

K.C.O.R.

Clean Genez

Big thanks to Rory Schoenheider & Roger DeBace, both sang each track respectively too.

5-8-11: Here is a video of The Tranques performing K.C.O.R. at First Avenue.

The Suspects 13-song cassette, 1981

Tapes of bands from EAST of downtown St Paul always intrigue me the most since I grew up in that area (see the Three Car Garage feature from last month). The Suspects cassette is perhaps the most historically significant I’ve found recently; it contained 60% of hardcore legends Willful Neglect performing a much more subdued yet sophisticated style of music. This cassette is a bridge between proto-punkers The Reactors and WN, and I’m really glad I found it! I can tell the handwriting on the cassette’s insert is Rogers.

The East Side of St Paul’s Suspects featured Roger DeBace, Rory Schoenheider, and Scott Peterson; all three went on to play and record with Willful Neglect a year later, releasing two sought-after 12″ EPs ad touring the Midwest and California.. Local bass-whiz Marc Herzberg is on bass on this tape. I literally grew up with all of these guys, they were my best friends, and I played in bands myself with all of them at one time or another. Harding High School, class of 1980. I wouldn’t change a thing from my past hanging out & playing music with these guys, and I’ll always remember fondly the time Rory laid it on me after everyone realized I wasn’t up to snuff musically compared to the rest of them: “John, you should be our MANAGER”. So with that, I entered the record biz, and here I still am (thanx for the suggestion, Rory).

Push it to The Limit

Take a Pill

Johnny’s Comin’ Home

Puttin’ Me Down

Thanks to Roger and Rory for giving me the green light to put these up. Please try to gain some wisdom from the sideways-written note (on the cassette card) signed by Thurston Howell.

The X-Offs “Dunning for Dollars” (1983) and Live at First Avenue cassettes

The X-Offs were Peter Fleming, Don Gallo, & Mark Jones, and are a largely-undocumented part of the Minneapolis Punk & New Wave scene that centered around The Longhorn Bar at 5th & Hennepin, in downtown Mpls.  Bassist Mark Jones explains that the band exploded apart all in one fateful day that included jail time & injury- not a pretty way to finish up a band. They were nice n’ raw, and had plenty of straight-ahead rock sensibility, but they added some weirdo-goofy New Wave vocals. I like these tapes a lot. I saw ‘em once at The Longhorn myself. The First Avenue tape, opening a show for The Suburbs,  features lead guitar by Ernie Batson. NOTE the live tape has some technical glitches, please don’t adjust your set.

Lipstick Killers

There’s Just No Limit

Buddy’s Song (live)

Thanks to Mark Jones for giving me the go-ahead to present these tracks.

Photos: bands at CEDARFEST 1993

Remember Cedarfest? It’s the one street fair everyone agrees had it all right (except parking). LOTS of bands played there, here is my documentation of one year. Here is photos I took of Spider John Koerner, The Magnolias, The Mighty Mofos, Uptighty, & Arcwelder.