8-Trackin’: ‘Logan’s Run’ (Soundtrack & Film, 1976)

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‘LOGAN’S RUN’ (SOUNDTRACK AND FILM, 1976)

16 fun facts about the campy sci-fi classic and the stunning Jerry Goldsmith score that brings it to life.

1. Goldsmith created themes for the sinister City and the liberated lovers. For scenes of the Domed City’s technology and oppression, he uses a pair of rising, three-note motifs. These are heard clearly in main-title cue “The Dome,” which also brings hints of the lush, lyrical love theme heard later in the film.

Jerry Goldsmith: ‘The Dome’ (‘Logan’s Run’ Soundtrack, 1976)

2. Life in the City never gets old. As in Neil Young’s “Sugar Mountain” and modern-day tech firms, the film’s Domed City favors the young. Citizens turning 30 are publically slain in the bizarre Carrousel ritual: they float into the air and are destroyed with an unseen laser. Happy birthday, bro!

3. This wasn’t Goldsmith’s first use of synthesizers. He had explored synths on his score for The Illustrated Man but really mastered them here. The Carrousel theme “Flameout” layers sixteen synthesizer tracks to create a swirling vortex of abstract sounds.

Jerry Goldsmith: ‘Flameout’ (‘Logan’s Run’ Soundtrack, 1976)

4. The film gives the Dome’s citizens nine more years to live. In the original 1967 novel, citizens reach their Last Day at age 21. To accommodate the ages of the lead actors, the screenwriters extended this to age 30.

5. The Sandmen were the original Blade Runners. Hoping to live past 30, some citizens attempt to flee the City. These “runners” are tracked and retired by wisecracking hitmen known as Sandmen, whose name references the Deep Sleep computer that gives them orders.

6. The film invented Tinder – but with humans instead of pics. After a fun evening of Carousel and killing runners, Sandman Logan 5 (Michael York) relaxes with an in-home transport booth that brings him willing sex partners — in the flesh. By accident, the so-called Circuit brings him Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter), who’s more interested in making Logan a rebel than a lover.

Jerry Goldsmith: ‘On The Circuit’ (‘Logan’s Run’ Soundtrack, 1976)

7. Logan doesn’t want to run — the City forces him to. Deep Sleep wants Logan to investigate a rumored runner sanctuary outside the City. By changing the color of Logan’s palm-embedded “lifeclock” crystal and robbing him of four years of life, the computer forces its Sandman to run — or die.

8. Look closely and you’ll see an Angel. Three months before instant superstardom on TV’s Charlie’s Angels, Farrah Fawcett-Majors plays a small but memorable role as a glamorous assistant at a plastic-surgery parlor.

9. One racy scene cut from the movie remains on the soundtrack album. As they explore an icy zone beneath the city, Logan and Jessica encounter amiable robot Box. In a seemingly gratuitous sequence scored by “Ice Sculpture,” Box chisels a frosty nude carving of the duo, but the scene was cut to ensure a PG rating. Now that’s cold!

Jerry Goldsmith: ‘Ice Sculpture’ (‘Logan’s Run’ Soundtrack, 1976)

10. Runner. It’s what’s for dinner. Box’s job is capturing and freezing seafood for consumption by City dwellers. When runners try to escape through his habitat, he freezes them as well. Protein is protein, right?

11. Goldsmith used synths for scenes in the Domed City, saving full orchestra for the great outdoors. Though strings are heard on some synth-y City cuts, we don’t hear brass or woodwinds until we step outside. “The Sun” is a joyous, uplifting fanfare with brass stabs simulating blinding rays of natural light.

Jerry Goldsmith: ‘The Sun’ (‘Logan’s Run,’ 1976)

12. You may have Peter Ustinov to thank for the Cats stage musical. Logan and Jessica make their way to a vine-encrusted Washington, D.C., where Ustinov plays a doddering fool quoting at length from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. A year after the film was released, Andrew Lloyd Weber started putting those poems to music to create the musical Cats. Coincidence?

13. Don’t blame Jerry for “Love Theme from Logan’s Run.” Perhaps attempting a radio hit, other arrangers took Goldsmith’s romantic melody and turned it into overblown schmaltz. It’s tolerable, but if the whole score had sounded like this, it would have been long forgotten.

Jerry Goldsmith: “Love Theme” (‘Logan’s Run’ Soundtrack, 1976

14. The 8-track seems to be rare — and sounds fantastic. I saw this tape once, bought it, and never saw it again; there’s no reference to it anywhere online. If you wind up paying a lot for this cart, rest assured that the quality is breathtaking. The cuts are not in movie order but they weren’t on the LP either, and no tracks are broken.

15. It was the end of an era. As online reviewer James Southall notes, Logan’s Run was “probably the last high-profile futuristic film with everyone walking around in brightly-coloured pyjamas, listening to disco music.” Star Wars came a year later and changed the game utterly with its high-flying, space-jockey action.

16. The movie never got a sequel, but the soundtrack did. The film’s success inspired a TV series, a comic book, and a few spinoff novels, but never a followup film. However, in 2000 Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish) and Brian Reitzell concocted their own electronica score (and plot) for the imaginary Logan’s Sanctuary. The fake film’s storyline finds former Sandman Ian searching decadent Metropia for an elusive plant that will heal stricken City refugees. The lusty “Pleasure Dome 12” was likely inspired by Goldsmith’s “Love Shop,” and “Escape” is a worthy ripoff of Pink Floyd’s “On The Run.”

You can read last week’s installment here: The Kinks, ‘The Kink Kronikles’ & More (1971-73)

Join us for more of Andrew Tonkin’s 8-Trackin’ next Thursday!

More Jerry Goldsmith: Disco Lab (Halloween Edition): Menage – ‘Alien’ (1979)

Vintage Ads (Look & Listen): Cream, ‘Live Cream Volume II’ (1972)

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Cream, ‘Live Cream Volume II’ (‘Cash Box’ magazine, April 01, 1972)

Recorded in San Francisco and Oakland in 1968 and released in March of 1972, Cream’s Live Volume II featured only six songs but still ran at 40 minutes long. Plenty of foot-tapping and head-nodding jams to be had here.

The LP hit a high of #27 in the US and #15 in the UK. Have a listen to a smoking version of “Tales of Brave Ulysses” below.

Cream: ‘Tales of Brave Ulysses’ (Live, 1968)

Previously on Vintage Ads: Loretta Lynn, ‘The Pill’ (1975)

8-Trackin’: The Kinks, ‘The Kink Kronikles’ & More (1971-73)

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THE KINKS, ‘THE KINK KRONIKLES’ (1972), ‘GOLDEN HOUR’ (1971), ‘GREAT LOST KINKS ALBUM’ (1973)

Three tapes rich with stories, characters, and music-hall sounds from the late-’60s Kinks.

The Kinks went through many phases in their long career; after just eight years, they’d already been through a couple. The band’s first era yielded a series of urgent, punky singles a la the Stones and Who, gathered on the US Reprise Greatest Hits! But it’s their second period — what Wikipedia calls their “Critical Success” stage — for which the Kinks are probably best loved.

Starting with “A Well Respected Man” and “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” leader and songwriter Ray Davies crafted a series of witty, satiric tales featuring memorably oddball characters, all distinctly British. These stories were underscored with music that borrowed from music hall, Tin Pan Alley, and country-western along with rock and blues. This incredible arc carried through five albums — Face to Face, Something Else, The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, and Lola Versus Powerman — and a torrent of lovely, quirky singles.

In America, a few of these 45s made the charts and the albums sold okay, but Reprise thought they could do better. In 1972 they asked Kinks fanatic John Mendelsohn to compile a hits-and-rarities collection for the US market, as many UK smashes went unheard over here. Picking up where Greatest Hits! left off, The Kink Kronikles dug deep into British singles and album tracks to paint a definitive portrait of the Kinks’ most influential era.

The Kinks: ‘Dead End Street’ (1966)

To help listeners appreciate the scope of Davies’ songwriting, Mendelsohn grouped songs into four lyrical themes — places, ambition, characters, women — each on its own album side, adding copious liner notes to fill in the details.

Between big US hits such as “Lola,” “Apeman,” and “Sunny Afternoon” he tucked lesser-known gems like “Big Black Smoke,” “Berkeley Mews,” and the bittersweet classic “Days,” making the album essential both for Kinks fanatics and newbies alike.

The Kinks: ‘Days’ (1968)

Meanwhile, the UK had just released its latest Kinks kollection, Golden Hour of the Kinks, which squeezed twenty of the band’s hits onto a single slab of vinyl.

This was a fairly complete sampling of the band’s Pye singles to date, including a few classics not on the US Greatest Hits! or Kink Kronikles (“See My Friends,” “Animal Farm,” “Where Have All The Good Times Gone”). (1977’s The File Series is a more succinct rundown of hit singles, and most are in original mono.)

The Kinks: ‘See My Friends’ (1965)

Back in the US, Reprise hoped to reprise the success of Kronikles with The Great Lost Kinks Album, a collection of mostly unreleased songs recorded between 1966-70, once again compiled and annotated by John Mendelsohn.

These outtakes had been provided to fulfill the band’s Reprise contract, with the understanding that they remain unreleased. Learning that they’d been issued anyway, the band quickly filed suit, and the album was soon withdrawn and never reissued, making it instantly collectible.

The Kinks: ‘Misty Water’ (1968)

Since most tracks were recorded around the time of the highly regarded Village Green Preservation Society, I wish I could tell you that this was a treasure trove of Kinks klassics. Alas, weak lyrics render most ‘Lost’ songs trivial rather than profound. Still, the music is bouncy and strong; it’s a fun listen if you manage your expectations. Highlights include “Where Did My Spring Go?” (“Where did the pleasure go? Where did my hair go?”), a comic look at old age, “Lavender Hill”, and the driving “Misty Water.” Still, it’s telling that the best thing here is an overlooked B-side from 1966, the searing “I’m Not Like Everybody Else.”

The Kinks: ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’ (1966)

8-track notes: Since many double albums were split over two tapes, it’s great to have the entire Kink Kronikles double album on a single cartridge. Mendelsohn’s thematic groupings are mostly retained, with a few odd swap-outs (“King Kong” gets thrown in with the “women” songs). Sadly, great opener “Victoria” and closer “Days” get moved into less prestigious spots. The Golden Hour 8-track sounds much better than its vinyl counterpart, whose extreme microgrooving resulted in muffled sound and surface noise. Program 3 is terribly British, featuring “Victoria,” “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” and “Shangri-La” (with “Louie Louie” in the middle just to mix it up).

Bonus listening: Greatest Hits! from 1966 was issued on 8-track a few times, always with two broken songs (ten into four won’t go). 1984’s A Compleat Collection (a double LP issued on 8-Track by Columbia House) covers the early beat-group era more deeply than Greatest Hits!, adding essentials such as “Stop Your Sobbing,” “Where Have All The Good Times Gone,” and “Who’ll Be The Next In Line.” Both Greatest Hits! and A Compleat Collection include the stellar album track “Something Better Beginning” — reason enough to venture past the three tapes featured here.

You can read last week’s installment here: Tomita, ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ (1974); Yellow Magic Orchestra (Self-Titled, 1979)

Join us for more of Andrew Tonkin’s 8-Trackin’ next Thursday!

More Kinks: Playback!: The Kinks, ‘Father Christmas’ (1977)

Playback!: The Walker Brothers, ‘No Regrets’ (1976)

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In tribute to Scott Walker, here’s a clip of The Walker Brothers performing “No Regrets” on Euro rock show TopPop in early 1976.

“No Regrets” appeared on the reunion album of the same name in 1975. The single hit the Top Ten in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

The Walker Brothers: ‘No Regrets’ (‘TopPop,’ 1976)

Previously on Playback!: Mandrill, ‘Mandrill’ (Live, 1971)

8-Trackin’: Tomita, ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ (1974); Yellow Magic Orchestra (Self-Titled, 1979)

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TOMITA, ‘SNOWFLAKES ARE DANCING’ (1974); YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA (SELF-TITLED, 1979)

Two pioneering works of Japanese synthpop bring together Debussy, Martin Denny, and Afrika Bambaataa.

With Japan’s keen grasp on technology, you’d think the country would have been on the cutting edge of synth-pop. Not so, apparently; ’60s synthesizer music in Japan was largely technical experimentation. That changed when Isao Tomita, inspired by Wendy Carlos’ Switched-On Bach, bought a Moog III synthesizer from the factory in upstate New York. However, the huge, menacing device couldn’t clear Japanese customs since no one knew what it was. It stayed in storage for months until Tomita produced a photo of Keith Emerson playing a Moog III, at which time Tomita was allowed to claim his instrument.

After building a home studio and mastering the Moog, Tomita released an album of electronic pop covers (Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock).

He followed this with Snowflakes Are Dancing, a painstakingly realized set of pieces by composer Claude Debussy. Since polyphonic synths (capable of playing chords) did not exist, Tomita had to overdub each melody and harmony line separately on individual tracks, which is why it took him 14 months to make the album.

Tomita: ‘Golliwog’s Cakewalk (Children’s Corner, No. 6)’ (1974)

Snowflakes Are Dancing is a wild ride, sounding at times like a lush symphony orchestra or a movie-theater organist, then quickly turning bizarre, sci-fi, and comedic, with strange clanging and buzzing sounds never heard before and seldom since. On the wacky side is “Golliwog’s Cakewalk,” a ragtime novelty that sounds like a futuristic Scott Joplin. More sublime is the gorgeous “Clair De Lune,” with synth swells that tug at the heartstrings even as they astound the ears (Steven Soderbergh would use the recording in Oceans Thirteen).

Tomita: ‘Clair De Lune (Suite Bergamasque, No. 3)’ (1974)

Tomita’s hard work paid off and Snowflakes Are Dancing was a global success, becoming 1974’s top-selling classical album in the US. He went on to record several more classically-themed Moog albums, and his pioneering synth work inspired many artists, especially in Japan.

Big fans of Tomita were three musicians — Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto — who had just started a musical project called Yellow Magic Orchestra. They wanted to make fun of dreamy Western notions of Asian music and lifestyles, and, inspired by Tomita, they chose to do it all with a synth-heavy sound. The trio reached out to engineer/musician Hideki Matsutake, who had apprenticed under Tomita and knew his way around the Moog III. Serving as an unofficial fourth member of YMO, Matsutake mastered many other synths as well, in particular the brand-new Roland MC-8 Microcomposer used to sequence the album’s funky beats.

The group had come together with a specific goal: to record a dance version of “Firecracker” by Martin Denny, whose “exotica” lounge albums had romanticized Hawaiian and Asian cultures. The perky cover version became an international hit. In America the track was known as “Computer Game (Theme from the Circus)” taking its name from the intro montage of videogame sound effects. The track inspired electro hip hop and techno artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Carl Craig and would later be sampled by 2 Live Crew, De La Soul, and Jennifer Lopez.

Yellow Magic Orchestra: ‘Computer Game (Theme From The Invaders)/Firecracker’ (1979)

Most of the album (including the entire second side of the LP) is brisk dance music, not quite disco, proudly bearing its Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder influences. The passion and mischief of Tomita’s work are echoed in “Simoon,” with its faux-strings lead melody; compare it with “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” above and I think you can hear the connection. YMO and Tomita were pivotal to the synth-pop movement, especially in Japan, and it all started with these two albums.

Yellow Magic Orchestra: ‘Simoon’ (1978)

Both 8-tracks sound sublime. The Tomita cart is the usual high-quality RCA dupe and has no broken songs. The YMO tape on A&M sounds really incredible (note that the 1978 album was remixed and resequenced in 1979 for the American market). To preserve each LP side’s seamless musical suite, two songs are broken, albeit at tasteful points.

(For this article I owe a large debt to Patrick St. Michel’s 33 1/3 book on the 2008 technopop album GAME by “idol” group Perfume, in particular his insightful connection of Tomita to YMO.)

You can read last week’s installment here: Paul McCartney, ‘Cold Cuts’ (Custom 8-Track, 1971-79)

Join us for more of Andrew Tonkin’s 8-Trackin’ next Thursday!

Vintage Ads (Look & Listen): Loretta Lynn, ‘The Pill’ (1975)

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Loretta Lynn, ‘The Pill’ (‘Record World’ magazine, February 22, 1975)

Recorded in late 1972 and finally released as a single in January 1975, Loretta Lynn’s “The Pill” caused some controversy. The song’s subject matter made some radio programmers skittish and the record was banned on some stations. Once the tune became a hit, in Lynn’s words, “They had to play it.”

“The Pill” appears on the 1975 LP Back To The Country and hit #70 on the US Hot 100 and #5 on Billboard’s Country chart.

Loretta Lynn: ‘The Pill’ (1975)

Previously on Vintage Ads: The Doors, ‘Morrison Hotel’ (1970)

More Loretta Lynn: Playback!: Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, ‘Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man’ (1974)

8-Trackin’: Paul McCartney, ‘Cold Cuts’ (Custom 8-Track, 1971-79)

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PAUL MCCARTNEY, ‘COLD CUTS’ (CUSTOM 8-TRACK, 1971-79)

Paul’s own collection of ’70s gems slipped through the cracks to become a bootleg and a homemade 8-track.

Who’s the artist? Sir Paul McCartney, CH, MBE, ex-Beatle, pop half of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting team, leader of ’70s rock band Wings, able to compose Number One records in his sleep.

What’s the album? Cold Cuts is an artist-compiled, unreleased collection of outtakes recorded between 1971 and 1979, embellished and remixed over the next several years. (The 8-track shown is my own dub of a 1987 bootleg; more on that later.)

What does it sound like? The music is Paul’s usual blend of catchy hooks, inane lyrics, brisk guitar rock, dulcet love songs, folk and country tunes, and oddball comedy.

Why did you choose it? I thought most readers would be unfamiliar with it as it’s bootleg-only.

Is this his best album? Probably not, yet I revisit Cold Cuts more often than his legit releases for its mirth, cheer, and musical excellence.

What else had he done? Between 1970 and 1979 Paul had issued nine successful solo albums and a handful of worldwide hit singles, including six US Number One records. Most of these singles had non-LP B-sides, so it’s remarkable that Paul had even more great, unreleased stuff in the can.

How and/or why did he record it? Starting with Ram in 1971, Paul started amassing a small stack of great songs that just wouldn’t go away. As early as 1974 Paul had planned to issue a bunch of these on a bonus record with a greatest-hits set, the double album to be called “Hot Hits and Cold Cuts.” This was almost issued in 1978, but either Paul or label EMI decided the single-album Wings Greatest would perform better at Christmas (it sold a ton). Paul revisited the project in 1979, 1981, and 1986, overdubbing, remixing, and reconfiguring tracks, but ultimately shelved the project.

What songs would I know? You probably heard “Did We Meet Somewhere Before” in the 1979 film Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (though it’s not on the album), and the superb “A Love For You” was used in the 2003 remake of The In-Laws. A few others trickled out as late ’80s B-sides, memorably the lilting mini-epic “Mama’s Little Girl.”

Paul McCartney: ‘Mama’s Little Girl’ (1972)

What other songs are good? The hit here is probably London Town outtake “Waterspout,” a reggae-tinged synth number about a mystical wellspring that causes visitors to fall in love.

Paul McCartney: ‘Waterspout’ (1978)

Was the album a hit? It never came out, so no. But many bootleggers have released versions of the title.

What’s a cool song quote from the album? Paul stretches beyond his usual moon/June lyrics for the oddball “Robber’s Ball,” a kind of Disney-villain song with a Russian Cossack feel: “Naught can beat us Northern lads, the spitting image of our dads, especially when we’ve had a pint or two.” A shrewd prediction of “Gaston” from Beauty and the Beast, as it turns out.

Paul McCartney: ‘Robber’s Ball’ (1978)

What’s awesome musically? At first sounding like a flimsy Ram throwaway, “A Love For You” progresses to reveal sophisticated overdubs added by Wings members in later years. It’s like a whole history of the band in just one song!

Paul McCartney: ‘A Love For You’ (1970)

Do the title and cover art work? They work extremely well, especially for a bootleg. Club Sandwich, Paul’s long-running official fanzine, is borrowed as a fake record-label name to make this seem like a fan-club release. The happy coincidence of “cold cuts” and “club sandwich” inspired the cover photo of a record player that spins classy deli slices but “no baloney!” (Ah, the irony of McCartney, a vegetarian since 1975, selling slabs of animal flesh — did we “meat” somewhere before?)

How’s the 8-track version? My fake boot-of-a-boot 8-track came out very nice, if I say so myself; sorry (not sorry) that all three of the killer ballads wound up together on Program 4. I thought about making it a ’70s Capitol cart but didn’t have a proper black shell, so just made it kinda bootleg looking like the original vinyl (with a variant spelling of “momma,” sorry). As on the original release, Paul’s name is nowhere to be found, to avoid alerting suspicious workers at the pressing and duping plants.

What’s missing on the tape from the LP album art? Only pen-and-ink caricature drawings, presumably by Paul himself.

Is this an old favorite of yours? Big time! Found the bootleg in spring 1987 at the long-gone Rene’s All Ears Records in Los Angeles, gave it to my friend Mark Kadlec, and listened to it plenty that year (since we were also roommates).

Are people still listening to it? Apparently so, and Paul hasn’t forgotten either. In 2009 he supposedly announced a sprawling three-disc outtakes anthology called “Cold Cuts And Hot Hits” (which may have been a myth; at any rate it never came out). In 2014 bootleggers released Hot Hits, Cold Cuts Completed, an anthology of all four versions of the album. As for me, I’m happy with just these twelve songs in their current form, playing over and over on endless loop cartridge…

Paul McCartney: ‘Cage’ (1979)

What’s some random trivia about this? First, Back to the Egg outtake “Cage” has a chord sequence of C-A-G-E. Second, to use “Did We Meet Somewhere Before” in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, director Alan Arkush paid just $500 — the McCartney deal of a lifetime.

Paul McCartney: ‘Did We Meet Somewhere Before?’ (1978)

When should I play this album? When visiting Mardi Gras, larceny festivals, or romantic geysers.

What’s another good album of his? Check out Wings’ underappreciated Wild Life or Paul’s electro-experimental McCartney II, itself the subject of another fine Club Sandwich bootleg.

You can read last week’s installment here: The Records, ‘The Records’; Bram Tchaikovsky, ‘Strange Man, Changed Man’ (1979)

Join us for more of Andrew Tonkin’s 8-Trackin’ next Thursday!

More Paul McCartney: Disco Lab: Wings – ‘Goodnight Tonight’ (1979)

Vintage Ads (Look & Listen): The Doors, ‘Morrison Hotel’ (1970)

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The Doors, ‘Morrison Hotel’ (‘Record World’ magazine, March 13, 1970)

The Doors’ Morrison Hotel LP released in February of 1970 and quickly obtained Gold status. The album garnered good reviews and climbed to #4 on the Billboard 200.

While only one single was released, “You Make Me Real” (US #50), classic Doors tunes such as “Roadhouse Blues,” “Peace Frog,” and “Waiting For The Sun” appear. Lend an ear to “The Spy” below.

The Doors: ‘The Spy’ (1970)

Previously on Vintage Ads: Alice Cooper, ‘Be My Lover’ (1972)

More Doors: 8-Trackin’: The Doors, ‘Morrison Hotel’ (1970)

8-Trackin’: The Records, ‘The Records’; Bram Tchaikovsky, ‘Strange Man, Changed Man’ (1979)

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THE RECORDS, ‘THE RECORDS’; BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY, ‘STRANGE MAN, CHANGED MAN’ (1979)

Two shining moments of British power pop and the very nice 8-tracks that came with them.

In fall 1979, there was a flurry of British new wave gems on the US charts. Certainly you know Nick Lowe’s “Cruel to be Kind”; alongside it were moody guitar rockers “Hold On” by Ian Gomm and “Driver’s Seat” by Sniff ‘n’ the Tears. Two other sparkling pop numbers, “Starry Eyes” by The Records and “Girl of My Dreams” by Bram Tchaikovsky, came from fine albums I’ve been lucky enough to snag on 8-track.

Bram Tchaikovsky: “Girl of My Dreams” (1979)

Sweet and sour singles: With their romantic, aspirational titles, both hit songs are gorgeous gems of power pop. “Girl of My Dreams” features Bram’s trademark triplet-strum on guitar (“dugga-dah”), while “Starry Eyes” has a sort of chiming Byrds riff over its fast tempo. Bram’s words couldn’t be more sincere: “there ain’t no tellin’ when I feel like yellin’ I love you.” The Records’ lyrics, meanwhile, reveal a bitter breakup with a spouse or perhaps band manager: “I don’t want to argue, I ain’t gonna budge / Won’t you take this number down before you call up the judge?”

The Records: ‘Starry Eyes’ (1979)

Pub rock parentage: Both acts came from earlier bands: Bram Tchaikovsky had just quit the Motors (“Airport,” “Forget About You”), while the Records had morphed out of the Kursaal Flyers. Both of those groups came out of the pub rock scene, a rootsy, back-to-basics movement that paved the way for the punk explosion. Pub rock’s chugging boogie sound pervades Tchaikovsky’s album in particular.

Getting Stiff’ed: Though neither artist was signed to Stiff Records, the plucky indie label played a part in both careers. The Records joined its Be Stiff Tour ’78 backing teen sensation Rachel Sweet (perhaps inspiring “Teenarama,” their song about a teenage girl). Tchaikovsky was signed to Radar, home to recent Stiff acts Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and the Yachts. (Ian Gomm was actually on the Stiff roster, it should be noted.)

Kool kovers: Back then, every new-wave group was virtually required to record a tasty old-school cover song, either as a heartfelt tribute or sardonic spoof. With their LP the Records delivered a whole covers EP (sadly left off the 8-track). Alongside songs by the Kinks, Rolling Stones, and cult band Blue Ash, they offer a very earnest version of Spirit’s “1984.” For his cover Bram turned to the Monkees; he offers a cheeky cover of “I’m A Believer” that doesn’t sound like he believes a thing.

Bram Tchaikovsky: ‘I’m A Believer’ (1979)

Take it slow: The real test of a power-pop act is whether they can handle a ballad; both artists manage beautifully. The Records offer the dreamy afterhours “Up All Night,” while Bram’s country-tinged “Lady From The USA” sounds like a slowie by (yes) The Eagles, perhaps “Take It To The Limit.”

The Records: ‘Up All Night’ (1979)

Further listening: Related albums by Ian Gomm, Sniff ‘n’ the Tears, and Nick Lowe are also available on 8-track. Hits by those three (but not Records or Bram) can be found on the K-tel LP and 8-track Rock 80.

You can read last week’s installment here: Cat Stevens, Sonny & Cher, Bee Gees Reissues (1971-78)

Join us for more of Andrew Tonkin’s 8-Trackin’ next Thursday!

Vintage Ads (Look & Listen): Alice Cooper, ‘Be My Lover’ (1972)

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Alice Cooper, ‘Be My Lover’ (‘Cash Box’ magazine, March 04, 1972)

Alice Cooper’s “Be My Lover” originally appeared on the Killer album in November 1971. The tune, written by guitarist Michael Bruce, was released as a single early in 1972 and climbed to #49 on the US Hot 100.

Alice Cooper: ‘Be My Lover’ (1971)

Previously on Vintage Ads: John Lennon, ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll’ (1975)

More Alice Cooper: Spooky Vintage Ads: Alice Cooper ‘School’s Out’ (1972)