2 posts tagged “alternative”

Just a quickie here: last night I put up the Doors' "Peace Frog" and another song that recycled its rhythm, "The Only One I Know" by the Charlatans.  I also wanted to include another of its descendants, Echo and the Bunnymen's "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo," but I couldn't find it at the time.  Now I've found it, so here it is as an addendum:

Here's another faceless band from the 80s, Everest the Hard Way--faceless due to the lack of any band picture, their music has plenty of character.  One 7" single ("Tightrope" b/w "When You're Young") and this four-song 12" EP (extended version of "Tightrope" plus "When You're Young," "Quarter to Six," and "Take the Strain") from 1983 are the band's only release(s), as far as I know (on the Do It label, completely unrelated to yesterday's Do It band and "Do It" song, but a nifty coincidence nonetheless).  (Did Do It release any other records?  The catalog numbers for these two are DUN17 for the 7" and DUNIT17 for the 12", so I suppose there are at least sixteen other releases from Do It.  Damned if I can find any on the Web, though, "Do It" is eminently unGooglable.)  All four songs are very good!  I guess that's one way to ensure consistent quality: quit before you record anything bad.  The sound is vital and anthemic, in the vein of early-80s Simple Minds, an additional similarity being the muscular bass.  Here is the longer "Tightrope:"

The singer adds some interesting vocal embellishments; my only quibble is that he sings the chorus in too low a register and thus is unable to put much power into it.  I think this band had the potential to be as big as Simple Minds, maybe even U2, but they just disappeared.  Dang.